iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- NATO forces are preparing for their largest exercise since 2002, one that sends a message to one nation: Russia.
Exercise Trident Juncture takes place in Norway and the surrounding seas later this month (Oct. 25 - Nov. 7) and involves 45,000 troops from 29 NATO countries, as well as partners Sweden and Norway.
With approximately 150 aircraft, over 60 ships, and 10,000 vehicles, the training exercise represents how NATO could respond to an enemy invasion of a European NATO ally.
But there's only one actor in the region the exercise is meant to deter.
"[Trident Juncture] will have a deterrent effect on anybody who might want to cross those borders, but one nation in particular," Adm. James Foggo, the top U.S. admiral in Europe and the commander of Allied Joint Forces Command Naples, told reporters on Friday.
While NATO has invited the Russians to attend the massive exercise, Foggo said they have not accepted, but he expects they'll want to attend.
"It's in their interest to come and to see what we do. And they'll learn things. But you know what? I want them to be there so they can see how well we work together," he said.
Foggo noted that Russia no longer holds the naval capabilities it once did during the Cold War, downplaying the sophistication of its surface fleet. But he did warn about Russia's advancements in submarine warfare.
"Russia is not 10-feet tall, but they do have capabilities that keep me vigilant, concerned," Foggo said. "One of them is in the undersea domain."
The admiral told reporters that Russia has six Kilo hybrid-class submarines operating in the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean armed with Kalibr cruise missiles capable of hitting any European capital.
"That's a concern to me, and it's a concern to my NATO partners and friends," Foggo said. "So we should know where they are at all times. Do I think that they would do something like that? No, I think they'd be foolish to do something like that. But, nevertheless, we should have that situation awareness. So it's in our best interest to have a better submarine force, and I believe that we do."
Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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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.
More Evidence Of Manipulation In The Gold Market
This past week, we saw that the Bank of Nova Scotia was charged by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with multiple acts of spoofing in gold and silver futures between June 2013 and June 2016. Traders placed orders to buy or sell precious metals futures contracts with the intent to cancel the orders before execution, the CFTC said.
So, the tin-foil hat wearers are back out in full force screaming about how this market rigging has caused gold to collapse over the last seven years. Unfortunately, anyone who believes this is simply not dealing with the facts of any of the supposed manipulation cases. You see, believing that these manipulation cases caused the gold market to drop from is 2011 high is no different from believing that a paper cut can cause someone to bleed to death.
I have discussed my thinking on this matter before, and I think it is necessary to reiterate my perspective. Last year, Gold-Eagle reached out to me to write a section on market manipulation for their e-book on gold. Within that section, I addressed this paper cut argument:
The second method through which they attempt to prove wholesale manipulation is to point to evidence of small price manipulations and suggest that these "paper cuts" have caused the market to bleed to death. None of their supposed "proof" provides even a shred of clear evidence that the gold market was manipulated to drop over 40% and that the silver market was manipulated to drop over 70%.
The latest supporting "evidence" to which the manipulation theorists proudly hang their hat is the recent news about Deutsche Bank's admission of "manipulation." Everyone now assumes they have found the smoking gun which "caused" silver to drop by over 70%, which proves they were not wrong to be bullish all the way down. Of course, they can now "prove" that everyone was cheated out of their money due to this "manipulated" decline of 70%. Right?
Wrong. This was not the first case regarding market manipulation, nor will it likely be the last. But, what many do not point out is that the manipulation dealt with in these cases is not the "manipulation" to which all the analysts have been pointing to explain why silver lost 70% of its value when they did not see it coming.
You see, the manipulation dealt with in these cases were attempts by these banks to move the market by a very small percentage in order to make a quick buck off a very small move which they attempted to control, often during low volume periods of market action. This is what is claimed within the actual legal complaints filed against these banks, which generally provide that the banks "manipulated the bid-ask spreads of silver market instruments throughout the trading day in order to enhance their profits at the expense of the class."
Moreover, and quite importantly, this type of small degree "manipulation" occurred whether the market was going up or going down, and such manipulation was not geared towards only dropping the market lower, as the manipulation theorists want you to believe. Please read that again. It was not claimed in these lawsuits that the manipulation had the purpose of taking the market down as you have been led to believe.
These lawsuits do not support the commonly held proposition that the market was "manipulated" to drop 70%, as in the case of silver. To claim that these small degree "manipulations" caused the market to drop 70% is complete unsupportable nonsense, and is only used as a scapegoat by those who have been very wrong about the market, but refuse to take responsibility for their decisions.
While many will undoubtedly misread my conclusions as my claiming that there is no manipulation in the market, and post comments about how wrong I am about claiming there is no manipulation at all in the market, I suggest you actually read what I have said again. And, if you still cannot come to the correct conclusions, allow me to lead you in the right direction.
I do recognize that there is "manipulation" in the market by larger market participants. But, as the cases on the matter clearly point out, these "manipulations" are of a very small degree of market movement, or, "paper cuts," as I have referred to them above. Moreover, as the cases also present, these small degree manipulations occur in both directions. Please read that again: THESE SUPPOSED SMALL DEGREE MANIPULATIONS OCCURRED IN BOTH DIRECTIONS.
Therefore, my proposition is that such "manipulation" did not cause gold to drop by 40% and silver to drop by 70%. And, I will reiterate my proposition that proof of a "paper cut" is not what caused the market to bleed to death. Rather, we call that a market correction and not a market manipulation. Accept it.
So, as I said regarding the Deutsche Bank case, this recent case was not the first case regarding market manipulation, nor will it likely be the last. But, what many do not point out is this: the manipulation dealt with in these cases is not the gross manipulation to which all the analysts have been pointing to explain why silver lost 70% of its value when they did not see it coming.
Remember, a paper cut did not cause this market to bleed to death, no matter what anyone wants to believe. To suggest otherwise is simply dishonest.
Last week, I outlined my expectation on the gold market through the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) structure I have been tracking:
Yet, we still have a pattern that can count as an initial 5 waves off the recent lows. But, it is the wave degree higher that will either confirm or invalidate whether a bottom has been struck in the market. My suspicion, based upon the lack of a standard pattern off the low, is that we are stuck within a corrective rally, which will lead to a lower low once completed. And, based upon the current structure, we have resistance overhead between $116.25 and $118, which will likely turn us down deeper into our target box below. But, based upon the current structure, it does look as though resistance will be tested within the next week or two.
As I write this, it would seem that GLD is in the midst of the rally I expected which would test the overhead resistance. Again, our main resistance is 116.25-118. Based upon the current structure, I am expecting resistance to hold, and set us up for one more decline to the final lows in this pullback off the April highs. Should the market provide more strength than I currently expect, then I will clearly be open to the lows having been struck already.
Avi Gilburt is a widely followed Elliott Wave technical analyst and author of ElliottWaveTrader.net (www.elliottwavetrader.net), a live Trading Room featuring his intraday market analysis (including emini S&P 500, metals, oil, USD & VXX), interactive member-analyst forum, and detailed library of Elliott Wave education.
2018 Copyright Avi Gilburt - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.
2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.
Prepare for a Gold/Silver Rally
Our modeling systems are suggesting that Gold and Silver will begin a new upside rally very quickly. We wrote about how our modeling systems are suggesting this upside move could be a tremendous opportunity for investors over 2 weeks ago. Our initial target is near the $1245 level and our second target is near the $1309 level. Recent lows help to confirm this upside projection as the most recent low prices created a price rotation that supports further upside price action. What is needed right now is a push above $1220 before we begin to see the real acceleration higher.
The Daily Gold chart, below, shows our Fibonacci modeling system suggesting that $1235 to $1250 are the upside target ranges. Near these levels, we should expect some price rotation before another leg higher begins. Currently, support near $1180 is the floor in Gold.
If you are a fan of the shiny metals and want to know what we believe is likely to happen over the next 8+ months, then please take a moment to join the Wealth Building Newsletter to learn how we can help you find and execute better trades. We provide even more detailed research and predictive price modeling for our subscribers and we believe this bottom setting up in Gold may be the last time you see $1200 prices for a while. Check out www.TheTechnicalTraders.com today.
Chris Vermeulen
www.TheTechnicalTraders.com
Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic
Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better.
His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility.
He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk
Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.
Chris Vermeulen Archive
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Assistant Treasurer the Honourable Stuart Robert MP is now flogging and hosting trips to the Holy Land.
Sign up here!
This bloke has no judgement.
He was in the shit for a stupid trip to China with a party donor.
He's allowed someone to run up a $2,800 bill in one month using a taxpayer funded mobile broadband modem.
Now he's selling and going on tourist jaunts to Israel..
The man is a member of the cabinet - Assistant Treasurer.
Let him go off on his travel jaunts.
Let him go to Israel.
After he resigns from the parliament.
Thanks to the incomparable Seeker of Truth for the tip on this - it's a big story.
"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.
October 06, 2018 Scientists Raise Alarm Over U.S. Bio-Weapon Programs Recent evidence about deadly tests of biological substances in Tbilisi, Georgia raised alarm about U.S. biological weapon research in foreign countries. European scientist are extremely concerned about a dubious research program, financed by the Pentagon, that seems designed to spread diseases to crops, animals and people abroad. The creation of such weapons and of special ways to distribute them is prohibited under national and international law. The U.S. is running biological weapon research across the globe: Bio warfare scientists using diplomatic cover test man-made viruses at Pentagon bio laboratories in 25 countries across the world. These US bio-laboratories are funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) under a $ 2.1 billion military program Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP), and are located in former Soviet Union countries such as Georgia and Ukraine, the Middle East, South East Asia and Africa. Until the mid nineteen-seventies the U.S. military tested biological warfare weapons on U.S. people, sometimes over large areas and on specific races. After a Congress investigation revealed the wide ranging program such testing was moved abroad. Private companies use U.S. government controlled laboratories in foreign countries for secret biological research under contract of the U.S. military, the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security. Last month the Bulgarian journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva reported of one of these U.S. controlled bio-laboratories: The US Embassy to Tbilisi transports frozen human blood and pathogens as diplomatic cargo for a secret US military program. Internal documents, implicating US diplomats in the transportation of and experimenting on pathogens under diplomatic cover were leaked to me by Georgian insiders. According to these documents, Pentagon scientists have been deployed to the Republic of Georgia and have been given diplomatic immunity to research deadly diseases and biting insects at the Lugar Center the Pentagon biolaboratory in Georgias capital Tbilisi. Al Mayadeen TV broadcasted a video reportage about the laboratory and its deadly effects on Georgian 'patients'. Last week the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of illegal biological weapon research in the Tbilisi laboratory: The question of what really might have taken place at the secretive US-sponsored research facility hosted by Russias southern neighbor was raised by the Russian military on Thursday after they studied files published online by a former Georgian minister. The documents record the deaths of 73 people over a short period of time, indicating a test of a highly toxic chemical or biological agents with high lethality rate, said Igor Kirillov, commander of the Russian military branch responsible for defending troops from radiological, chemical and biological weapons. The U.S. rejects the claims but it does not explain the documents, what kind of research is done near Tbilisi, and the unusual secrecy and security around the laboratory. It is not only the Russians and Georgians who are concerned about secret U.S. biological warfare research. German and French scientists recently raised alarm over another dubious Pentagon research project.
by MPG/D.Duneka - bigger In October 2016 the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced a new project called Insect Allies: A new DARPA program is poised to provide an alternative to traditional agricultural threat response, using targeted gene therapy to protect mature plants within a single growing season. DARPA proposes to leverage a natural and very efficient two-step delivery system to transfer modified genes to plants: insect vectors and the plant viruses they transmit. In the process, DARPA aims to transform certain insect pests into Insect Allies, the name of the new effort. The scenario DARPA describes is quite complicate. If a crop, for example maize, were widely infected with some illness, a virus would be manipulated and applied to the crop. The itself genetically modified virus would genetically modify the crop to 'cure' the illness. Infected insects would be used to distribute the viruses across the fields. The program is run by the Biological Technologies Office (BTO) of DARPA. It does not come cheap. At least $27 million have been committed to it. If the discussed program were for purely agricultural purposes why would the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is part of the Pentagon, propose and finance such research? Scientist from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plon, Germany, and the Institut des Sciences de lEvolution de Montpellier, France, along with legal scholars from the University of Freiburg point out that the method DARPA wants to apply makes little sense for the stated agricultural purposes. The eminent U.S. magazine Science published their work. The scientists ask if the project is Agricultural research, or a new bioweapon system? [A]n ongoing research program funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) aims to disperse infectious genetically modified viruses that have been engineered to edit crop chromosomes directly in fields.
...
In the context of the stated aims of the DARPA program, it is our opinion that the knowledge to be gained from this program appears very limited in its capacity to enhance U.S. agriculture or respond to national emergencies (in either the short or long term). Furthermore, there has been an absence of adequate discussion regarding the major practical and regulatory impediments toward realizing the projected agricultural benefits. As a result, the program may be widely perceived as an effort to develop biological agents for hostile purposes and their means of delivery, whichif truewould constitute a breach of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). It its response to the Science paper DARPA again insists that the program is for purely agricultural purpose. But the response does not answer the questions the scientists put up. The mechanism of spreading infectious genetically modified viruses to genetically modify and 'heal' plants in the fields is itself full of problems and dangers. To use insects for distributing such viruses borders on insane. If one has access to the targeted crop fields and if one has a genetically modified virus to influence the plants why would one use insects to distribute it? Why not use the well known targeted process of spraying the affected fields, just like it is widely done today? Only when one does not have access to the fields, when these are situated in a foreign country the U.S. has no access to, does it make sense to use insects for such purposes. The idea that the real (and illegal) purpose of such U.S. research is biological warfare is not far fetched at all. During the Korea War the U.S. dropped infected insects and rodents over north Korea and China to infect people with deadly diseases. Various pathogens, including anthrax, were used against the civilian population. During the Vietnam war the U.S. sprayed thousand of square miles with poisonous defoliants. It tested biological weapons on the people of Hawaii, Alaska, Maryland, Florida, Canada and Britain. In 2002 weaponized anthrax spores from the U.S. biological warfare laboratory in Fort Derrick were used to scare U.S. politicians into agreeing to the Patriot Act. At least five people were killed. And why is the U.S. Air Force looking for synovial tissue and RNA samples collected specifically from Caucasian people in Russia? Biological warfare programs are extremely dangerous. Not only to 'the enemy' but to ones own population. Infectious diseases and pathogens can spread around the globe within a few days. Genetic modifications can have unpredictable secondary effects. Viruses can jump over the species barrier. These are the sound reasons why such weapons, and research into using them, are prohibited. The U.S. government should follow the law and stop all such programs. Even if only in the self interest of protecting its very own people. Posted by b on October 6, 2018 at 14:02 UTC | Permalink Comments
We are still far from where ...
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Social networking platform Facebook Saturday said it will encourage engagement between people and political leaders on its platform for 'free and fair election' and deploy task force to check hate speeches during polls.
"We want our platform to support free and fair election and positive civic engagement.
We welcome people to engage with their political leaders but we don't want people to abuse that," Richard Allan, VP Global Policy Solutions, Facebook, told reporters.
The company has faced criticism for misuse of its platform for manipulating views during elections, spreading hate speech etc.
Facebook has come up with a policy around hate speech under which it removes content that intend to spread hate speech and violence etc.
Allan said that the abuse differs from country to country but principle is same, and Facebook is accordingly fine-tuning its policy to address the issue.
"When we see elections coming up, obviously India is top of mind, biggest democracy in the world, so we have a task force working on that -security specialist, content specialist.
We try to understand what is possible form of abuse in India versus UK versus any other country," he said.
Assembly elections are due in five states --Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram.
Chhattisgarh will go to the polls in two phases on November 12 and 20, the Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram Assembly elections will be held on November 28.
Assembly elections in Rajasthan and Telangana will be held on December 7.
Facebook blocks content using automation as well as through experts after scrutinising it.
The social media major has developed its guidelines based on feedback from local community experts.
"We have a general policy that applies all across the world.
As we have looked issues in different country, one of the things that came out was that there is a view that hate speech is directed against people in India, in particular, and Indians outside India also.
They may direct hate speech against each other on the basis of caste," Allan said.
He said that one should not carry out hate speech attack based on gender, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religion etc.
Allan said that attacking a concept or saying someone that he doesn't like a religion is not a hate speech.
However, one can not say that he hates followers of that religion or concept.
"Trust is very clear distinction between no liking a concept, not liking an idea.
Some people find that controversial.
They feel attacking religion is same as attacking the same as followers," Allan said.
He said that the company has a policy against excessively violent content and hate speech.
"You can show images to raise awareness about violence, You can't show the image to encourage more violence.
Video would not be allowed to be shown if it is a hate crime, somebody is killing someone because of their religion and there is any sense that person is trying to encourage more people to do the same.
That will be a very very serious breach of the policy," Allan said.
Facebook executive claimed that the company has developed good capacity to remove terrorist content, child abuse images and other images that cannot be legally shared through automation.
Facebook has plans to have around 20,000 people working across different aspect of building the automation tools, security and content review to check hate speech.
"When we got an election coming up, we will pull together specialists to work with political parties to understand. We will pull together security specialists.
We will pull together people from our community operations team to check the standards are working well," Allan said.
Facebook is working on features to enhance transparency on political advertisements on its platform during Indian elections by March.
Allan said that phase one of the plan has been already implemented in India.
"What the task force is trying to do is to make sure we don't miss things (abusive content) because we have seen in the past that we have missed things.
In the run-up to US elections, there were things happening on the service issue, we didn't respond.
It is really about making sure, in Indian context, in particular, we are not missing things," Allan said.
BENGALURU: During the state elections last year, a campaign carried out by the Karnataka Janashakthi, a city-based youth group, urged citizens to Vote for Jobs when choosing a candidate.Mallige, one of the leaders of the campaign, says that the campaigns main focus was four groups the unemployed, students, unorganised labour and rural youth. Mallige was one of the panellists who spoke during the launch of the State of Working India 2018 report on unemployment trends, released by Azim Premji University on Thursday.
The campaign concentrated mostly on rural and semi-urban areas, says Mallige. We found out that it was the unorganised labour group that responded to our campaign the most. It will surprise you all to know that the unemployed youth responded the least, says Mallige, adding, Youth are made to believe that unemployment is a personal problem, but this is not the case.
One of the findings of the report states that despite the GDP growing over many years, it did not necessarily guarantee a growth in jobs. For example, the study says that between 2011 to 2015, the rate of GDP growth was 6.8 per cent, while the rate of jobs grew at only 0.6 per cent.
Another reason, says Amit Basole, lead author of the report and a faculty at the university, is that the educated youth wait for better employment opportunities commensurate with their qualifications. However, the fact is that despite enrolment in educational institutions being high, at around 25 per cent, the number of jobs is not growing. Sectors such as agriculture have not grown, and the manufacturing sector has also lost jobs with increasing automation, Basole told CE.
During his many field visits across the 30 districts of the state, Madan Padaki, founder, Bridge, a rural market platform, found out that at least 20-30 per cent migrants came back to their villages, unable to sustain themselves with the earnings in these cities.
A father with four children was paying through his nose to get them educated. When I asked him if he had any savings, he said his children (three girls and one boy) were his savings. One was studying BEd, one BA, another DEd, and the boy was doing a nursing course, for which the father was paying `1 lakh per year. I didnt have the heart to shatter his dreams and tell him that there are no jobs, says Padaki.
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Twenty-four persons were arrested for allegedly duping customers of Microsoft by impersonating the company's tech support experts, police said Friday.
Based on a complaint filed by a representative of Microsoft India, Nripendra Kashyap, a case was registered in the Cyber Crime Cell, they said.
In his complaint, Kashyap alleged that numerous illegal Delhi-based call centres were targeting their customers by fraudulently circulating pop-up messages that their systems were affected by malware and are compromised, police said.
He also alleged the accused charged somewhere between 100 and 500 USD from their customers.
Acting on his complaint, 10 such call centres were identified and subsequently, raids were conducted on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday at locations across Delhi, including Rohini, Janakpuri, Dwarka Mod, Kirti Nagar, Moti Nagar, Hari Nagar, Mahipalpur, Shahdara and Okhla Phase-II, police said.
Cheques from customers in the name of Microsoft Tech support, call recordings, virtual dialers, Microsoft Tech support training material, call log transcripts detailing the conversation with victims of fraud, payment gateway records, servers were seized from these centres, they said.
Subsequently, 24 persons, including the owners and team leaders, were arrested, Anyesh Roy, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime), said.
The companies -- ABS World Pro Click, Rise Solutions, Pegasus, Printer Tech, Instant PC Care, Pc Patchers technology Pvt.Ltd, ABS World, Pro Click services, ACS (Electronics & telecom e service), PAG Service Private Ltd, Star Enterprises, Tech Heracles, C-Zone were found to be running the call centres at their premises during the raid, he said.
They created fake websites and designed advertisements to confuse customers into believing they will reach the official support service, he added.
Microsoft said they have received several complaints from customers, who thought that they were calling Microsoft, and ended up speaking with a tech support scammer, the senior official said.
The accused even used web browser pop-up messages which appear while a consumer is using a web browser, the officer added.
Once the accused established contact with the customer, he persuaded the victim to allow him to remote access his computer to diagnose the alleged problem on the system, he said.
The accused then tricked the victim into believing the system has a serious virus threat and tried to sell a service, often a costly long-term subscription agreement with an assurance to fix their problem, the DCP said.
The accused sometimes even accessed financial and identity data from the victim's computer while fixing the issue and even installed malware onto their systems, the police said, adding that the arrested persons were taken into police custody and further investigation is underway.
by Reese Erlich
Filipinos still remember the disaster that hit their country thirty-five years ago.
Philippine leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., the leading crusader against the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, was brutally murdered after he stepped off a plane in the Manila airport on August 21, 1983.
His murder set in motion the People's Power Revolution of 1986, which brought his wife Cory Aquino to power. Their son Benigno Aquino III served as elected president from 2010 to 2016.
In the years since his death, Ninoy has become almost a saint in the Philippines, an apostle of spirituality and nonviolence.
But in a 1981 interview I did with him in Boston, Ninoy emerged as far more complex. While professing nonviolence, he admitted ties with a group that bombed tourism hotels in Manila. While professing to be a man of the people, he revealed himself as a coldly vindictive and profane politician. His legacy continues to impact contemporary Philippine politics as seen in the election of right-wing authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte.
Ferdinand Marcos was elected Philippine president in 1965 but imposed martial law in 1972 and ruled as a brutal dictator for fourteen more years. The United States backed Marcos almost to the very end. U.S. corporations had major investments in the Philippines, and the Pentagon maintained two important military bases there as well. As always, U.S. military and corporate interests were more important than democracy or human rights.
Ninoy and Cory Aquino both came from wealthy and powerful families who had fallen out with Marcos. Ninoy was arrested in 1972 for opposing the dictatorship and spent over seven years in prison. In 1980, Marcos allowed him to travel to Houston for heart surgery.
Then Aquino landed a fellowship at Harvard University where he met with many Filipino exiles and students. He told me of an incident that revealed he wasn't the saint his supporters would later claim. It was about a business administration student who refused to meet with him, saying Marcos might see it as black mark on his parents.
"Fuck you," Aquino recalled saying to the student, still seething as he recalled the incident months later. "What about your black mark with me? What if I come to power? I have all your names and I will remember you."
As with other historical figures, it matters how Ninoy Aquino is remembered.
Philippine Daily Inquirer. "Ninoy was an old-school politician, but he couldn't abide by the injustice and impunity of the Marcos regime," Rene Ciria-Cruz told me in a recent interview. Ciria-Cruz was a Marxist and anti-dictatorship activist in the 1980s, and is now U.S. bureau chief for the
In 1983, Aquino returned to Manila with a plane full of supporters and journalists. He was shot as he walked onto the tarmac. Marcos's military officers were later convicted of planning the assassination.
"I met him before he went on his fateful trip home," recalled Ciria-Cruz. "He had fantasized about flying his plane, filled with bombs, into the presidential palace. We thought it was just macho posturing. But it also became clear that he was approaching his fight not as a personal rivalry with Marcos but with a real concern for the country."
Aquino was interested in talking with me because just months before our interview, I had interviewed members of the New People's Army, which was led by the Communist Party of the Philippines . The communists had become a growing political force because of their staunch opposition to Marcos. The party carried out a Maoist strategy of people's war in which the peasants in the countryside would surround the major cities and bring down the regime. The NPA aimed its armed actions against politicians, businessmen, the military and police, although civilians were inevitably killed.
The Aquinos, on the other hand, were social democrats who initially called for nonviolent struggle to restore democratic institutions and reform the crony capitalism of the Marcos regime. Unable to participate in elections, however, the soc dems, "as abbreviation happy Filipino activists called them," turned to armed struggle as well.
Clandestine groups known as the Light a Fire Movement and the April 6 Liberation Movement set off bombs in hotels to discourage tourism and hurt Marcos's economy. They intended only to destroy property, but one U.S. tourist was killed and thirty-three other civilians were wounded.
The Marcos administration accused Aquino of leading the Light a Fire Movement, which Ninoy publicly denied. In December 1980, Imelda Marcos, the president's politically powerful wife, met with Aquino in New York. In my interview, Aquino let slip his support for the terrorist tactics.
Referring to the bombings, Aquino told me Imelda Marcos was "candid enough to admit that we have caused damage to tourism and foreign investments." I asked him who were the "we."
"All the opposition groups I suppose," he replied rather lamely, knowing that his allies were bombing the hotels. He had let the cat out of the bag. Aquino went on to admit that he had the ability to stop the bombings if the Marcos regime made concessions.
Anti-Marcos activist Ciria-Cruz said Aquino was connected with Light a Fire, "but he was most likely not the leader who determined and knew all the details."
Several Light a Fire leaders later became prominent officials in the Cory Aquino administration.
The social democratic effort at armed struggle failed militarily, with some of the leaders getting caught smuggling arms through the Manila airport. But after Ninoy's assassination, Cory Aquino took the reins of the anti-Marcos opposition. By February 1986, mass demonstrations and a rebellion in the military forced Marco to flee to the United States and brought Cory to power.
She carried out many of Ninoy's policies, according to Ciria-Cruz. "Cory's publicly declared goal was to reestablish liberal democracy and its institutions, to be merely a transition government, and that was it." She didn't fight to eliminate poverty or develop an independent foreign policy.
"I think Ninoy would have done the same thing," Ciria-Cruz continued. "I didn't detect any predisposition for groundbreaking social reforms from both of them. Other traditional politicians disenfranchised and marginalized by Marcos became resentful of the U.S., if not openly nationalistic, which led to the willingness of some politicians to remove the U.S. bases after Marcos was ousted."
Ninoy's son Benigno Aquino III, president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016, carried out many of the same centrist policies and did little to fight poverty, establish full rights for workers or implement land reform. Corruption remained rampant.
In 2016, right-wing populist Rodrigo Duterte took advantage of popular discontent with the centrists. Like Trump, he talked tough about helping ordinary people. He promised to crack down on drugs and corruption, the Filipino version of draining the swamp.
Duterte has arrested more than 50,000 people on minor offenses, such as public intoxication or using drugs. He has jailed one senator on trumped-up corruption charges and is trying to arrest another.
Critics have compared Duterte to Marcos. David Borden, a leader of the U.S.-based Stop the Drug War.com , told me Duterte has created "a dangerous situation for anyone who criticizes the president, and he is a danger for democracy."
Filipinos are increasingly opposed to Duterte's policies. The lasting legacy of Ninoy Aquino may well be the need for another Filipino uprising against a dictatorial ruler.
Donita Jose By
Express News Service
HYDERABAD: I am the first person in my family to graduate from a college, says 20-year-old Aruna N. Hailing from an agrarian family based in Mahbubnagar, Aruna lost her father a month ago, threatening her prospects of higher education. But today, Aruna was awarded a gold medal for her outstanding academic performance during the graduation ceremony of University College for Women, Koti.
Not just that, Aruna, who studied B.A. Telugu from the University College for Women, is now pursuing her masters in political science from Delhi University. This is an emotional moment for me, says Aruna speaking to Express. I never saw myself coming this far. Being one of the seven gold medal winners, Aruna was felicitated by the Chief Guest of the occasion Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.
The highest point for me today, Aruna beams, was when the Vice President highlighted the importance of mother tongue. She always felt that people who conversed in Telugu were looked down upon here, she says. As a student who really loved Telugu literature and excelled in it, the Vice Presidents speech on mother tongue was very moving for me, she says.
Studying in Kamla Nehru college in Delhi now, Aruna recalls how shifting from Mahbubnagar, where she completed her schooling, to Hyderabad for graduation was scary for her. Since then Aruna moved again from Hyderabad to Delhi and switched her mode of study from Telugu to English. I was very scared moving to Hyderabad. This would not have happened if not for my mother and teachers, she says. Arunas parents are farmers who cultivated ragi and jowhar for a living.
About a month ago, after her father passed away, Arunas mother had to dig into money from insurance claims to ensure her education is not disrupted. My mom was even contemplating selling her jewels but we managed to get past that crunch without having to do so, she says. Since our father isnt with us anymore, I need to find a job fast, maybe in the next three years. I am planning to give a shot at civil service exams as that is my real passion, says Aruna.
Ajay Kanth By
Express News Service
KOCHI: Some state-based companies are under the scanner as the National Investigation Agency and Central enforcement agencies raised red flags after tracking money trails that allegedly lead to people involved in anti-national activities.
According to intelligence officers, the agencies have flagged a few bank accounts belonging to the suspects after a probe found links to the bank accounts that have already been frozen for involvement in terror funding.
As per the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), 20 bank accounts belonging to companies and individuals suspected to be involved in terror funding were frozen in 2016-17. The accounts had `14.09 crore. The NIA is also probing two cases related to the involvement of companies in connection with terror funding. Its suspected that a few organisations are being funded by these firms under the cover of education and charity projects. We are verifying the transactions that have taken place between the bank accounts, said the officers.
The Financial Intelligence Unit under the Ministry of Finance has been coordinating with the MHA to keep tabs on the flow of foreign funds to Indian NGOs.
There is no clarity on the purpose for which the money is spent by these NGOs. The MHA has already cancelled the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration of 980 NGOs in the state between 2012 and 2015, they said.
A probe by Central agencies had found that a few Qatar-based institutions, including government departments, were transferring funds to organisations in Malappuram and Kozhikode districts. In 2016, six such organisations received more than `7 crore from Qatar. As per the details, the Gulf countrys Ministry of Endowment was the biggest contributor with `3.5 crore, followed by institutions called WNO Qatar WC in Doha, Qatar Charity and Hassan Group.
By Express News Service
KOCHI: The widening of the road between Chambakkara and Petta, which was one of the major stumbling blocks in the construction of the Metro Rails first phase, is nearing completion. As per the authorities concerned, the widening work will be completed in another seven to 10 days. Once the work is over, the stretch will be handed over to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
Though the DMRC was able to launch the construction of Metro Rail between Aluva and Vyttila in a time-bound manner, the construction from Vyttila to Petta remained a non-starter for nearly two years due to the delay in land acquisition.
Later, the land up to Thykoodam was acquired and handed over to DMRC. However, the reconstruction of Chambakkara bridge and the widening of the road between Chambakkara and Petta delayed the construction beyond Thykoodam.
We hope the stretch will be handed over to DMRC in another 10 days. Once it is handed over, the piling work for Metro will be launched without any delay, said the official spokesperson of DMRC.
By PTI
SINGAPORE: Actor-director Nandita Das hopes that her latest feature "Manto", gets a global release, especially in Pakistan, as the film is a biographical drama on famed Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto who had left India after the Partition.
"I wish, like many other Bollywood films, it is screened in Pakistan," she told PTI after screening of "Manto" at the South Asian Film Festival on Friday.
" 'Manto' must be shown in Pakistan as the author is an Indian and a Pakistani too," said Das, who left for Busan for the film's screening at the Korean film festival.
The film follows the title character, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and shows the painful strains of separation following the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.
Das said Indian writers should be known globally, with Manto being one of the greatest among them, just like Shakespeare is considered a great playwriter, not just one of an English origin.
"Manto" opened the Singapore festival to a full house at the 1,000-seat cinema hall, one of the largest seating capacity theatres in the country.
Thirty-five films from South Asian countries are scheduled for screening over the 10-day festival, said Abhayanand Singh, CEO of organisers, Indie Moviz Pte Ltd.
"At the heart is great content and good cinema," added Singh, pointing out that "Manto" has attracted strong interests even from non-South Asian cinema fans in Singapore.
The festival is also hosting series of other cinema related events, including workshops on acting and filmmaking as well as the inaugural film market, where investors would evaluate opportunities to finance creative films, said Singh.
By PTI
MUMBAI: Tanushree Dutta filed Saturday a police complaint against Nana Patekar for allegedly harassing her on the sets of a film in 2008, police said.
ALSO READ | Nana Patekar denies Tanushree Dutta's sexual harassment allegations, says "a lie is a lie"
"Tanushree Dutta has given us a complaint against Nana Patekar.
As of now, there is not any FIR registered in this case," Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Manoj Kumar Sharma told PTI.
Dutta, in an interview recently, had alleged that Patekar misbehaved with her while filming a special song for the film 'Horn Ok Pleasss' 10 years ago.
ALSO READ | Women should call out perpetrators to create safe work environment: Malaika Arora
Several actors from Bollywood lauded Dutta for talking about this incident but there were some celebrities who questioned her for not taking a legal route.
Patekar, who was shooting for "Housefull 4" in Jodhpur, landed here Saturday.
"I said this 10 years ago. A lie is a lie (Dus saal pehle bol chuka hoon, ab jo jhoot hai woh jhoot hai)," Patekar told reporters here at the airport Saturday.
The actor will hold a press conference on October 8 at his residence in suburban Andheri.
Patekar's lawyer has sent a legal notice to Dutta demanding her apology.
A Sharadhaa By
Express News Service
The countdown for Prems upcoming film The Villain has begun. Starring Shivarajkumar and Sudeep in lead roles, the film is slated for a mega release on October 18. Meanwhile, the director is reportedly miffed with the films heroine, Amy Jackson, the reason being her absence at the promotions.
According to Prem, the south Indian, Bollywood and Hollywood heroines presence was expected at the pre-release teaser launch, which was held early this week. But she went incommunicado, and this is not going down well with the director who didnt see why she should have gotten an exemption from the promotions when the other actors were present.
I respect her work, and she has done justice to the role, but to be honest, she lacks communication skills. Even superstars like Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan take some kind of responsibility when it comes to promoting their films, and acknowledging the directors work. But here, forget being present, it takes days to get a reply from Amy to even know whether she will be present at an event, says Prem, whose film will be released in Kannada and also in Telugu and Tamil.
The director is clear that this treatment towards a Kannada film is unacceptable. Any actor part of a project, should take responsibility of promoting the film. We will accept this if she did the same in Bollywood, Hollywood and other language films, says Prem, adding, In fact owning to Amys busy schedule, every one in the team, including lead actors Shivanna and Sudeep cooperated and adjusted their dates to match Amys.
Thankfully, nobody had any complaints about it, he says, adding that since she was making her debut in Kannada with The Villain, people would expect to know her experience in working in her first Kannada film. And that is possible only if she participates in media interactions. With just two weeks left for the films release, she has not made any kind of attempt to promote the film. This is really upsetting, says Prem.
Namita Bajpai By
Express News Service
LUCKNOW: While three police station house officers (SHOs) were removed, three constables were suspended for leading "Black Day" protest at three separate police stations of the state capital here on Friday.
Meanwhile, two dismissed cops -- Avinash Pathak and Brajendra Yadav -- were arrested in Mirzapur and Varanasi, respectively, also on Friday for inciting policemen and garnering support for constable Prashant Choudhary, the prime accused in Apple executive Vivek Tiwari murder case.
Both Pathak and Yadav were dismissed from provincial armed constabulary (PAC) in 2012 for gross indiscipline and dereliction of duty.
Notably, the constables against whom action has been initiated had instigated the fellow cops to sport black band on their arms over uniform at three police stations of Lucknow and also at the camp office of the senior superintendent of police in Lucknow, and then uploaded their images in social networking sites.
Taking affront of the issue, CM Yogi Adityanath summoned UP DGP, Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, home, and directed them to initiate action against the protesting cops who were backing Vivek Tiwari murder accused constable Prashant Choudhary. While the DGP ordered a probe into the protests, slain Apple executive Vivek's widow Kalpana Tewari demanded action against cops who were supporting her husband's killers.
The Lucknow police went into a tizzy as soon as pictures of police constables sporting a black band at Aliganj, Naka and Gudamba police stations in state capital went viral. Initially, the senior police officials kept claiming that the pictures doing rounds on social media were morphed but in the evening Lucknow SSP was asked to conduct an inquiry into the protests.
According to SSP, Lucknow, Kalanidhi Naithani, the initial probe indicated the involvement of three constables -- Jitendra Kumar Verma, Aliganj police station, Sumit Kumar (Gudamba) and Gaurav Chaudhary of Naka police station - were suspended as they were held accountable for gross indiscipline. The SSP also added that action against in-charges of three police stations -- Parshuram Singh (SHO Naka), Ajay Yadav (SHO Aliganj) and Dharmesh Shahi, SHO, Gudamba -- was also taken on account of indiscipline.
To a question on cops wearing black ribbons standing outside his camp office- the SSP claimed that they were not from the district and had come from other districts to be deployed in ongoing science festival. Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) (Law&Order) Praveen Kumar Tripathi said that no indiscipline would be tolerated in the force. "We are a disciplined unit and the law is taking its course in the FIRs lodged against unidentified constables' case," said Tripathi.
He also said that all the SP/SSPs of the district have been told to keep an eye on the activities of the constables of their districts on social media and WhatsApp groups."If any constable is found making any post then the police will initiate legal action against them," said Tripathi.
In the meantime, the two ex-cops -Brijendra Yadav of Varanasi and Avinash Pathak of Mirzapur are respectively the founder-president and general secretary of Arajpatrit Police Welfare Association which had given a call to the cops sport black band on Friday in support of Choudhary.
As per Mirzapur SP Shalini, Pathak was booked under Sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 505 (statements inducing to public mischief), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of IPC. However, Yadav was booked under Sections 353 and 505 of IPC.
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Fresh off the controversy over the presence of Muhammad Ali Jinnahs portrait in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in May, the university administration on Friday served a show-cause notice to the librarian of the Central Library, Dr Amjad Ali, for displaying photographs featuring Jinnah as part of an exhibition on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
The exhibition was inaugurated by AMU pro vice-chancellor Mohammad Hanif Beg.According to AMU public relations officer Shafey Kidwai said the exhibition is an annual affair and photographs and books related with the Mahatma are put on display at Central Library. The university authorities were not aware about the selection of photographs and thus, in view of past controversies, the photographs were removed... said Kidwai.
A show cause notice was served to Dr Ali in which, he has been asked to reply within three days, said officials.AMU student union president Mashkoor Usmani however, said, First remove Jinnahs photos from Parliament then ask us to remove it from campus. The Muslim league leader had been a part of AMU history, he said.
BJP leader Shakuntala Bharti however, said, An educational institute should not be disgraced by a few elements (Jinnahs photo) like this.In May, violence was reported on the AMU campus after right-wing activists clashed with students over Jinnahs portrait at the students union office.
Old stir
BJP MP Satish Gautam had demanded the removal of Jinnahs portrait from the central hall of AMU
By Express News Service
MUMBAI: The Congress needs to rethink its alliance with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as Sharad Pawar negated Congress President Rahul Gandhis Rafale logic, Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh(BBMS) leader Prakash Ambedkar said on Friday.
Ambedkar, who has already forged an alliance with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) to gather Dalit and Muslim votes, has also been eyeing an alliance with the Congress.
We have told the Congress that of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra that they havent been able to win over past three elections, 12 should be left for us. Im confident that we can win all the 28 seats. But, we are demanding only 12 as of now, Ambedkar said adding that it is the Congress that needs to take a call.
Prakash Ambedkar
Ambedkar also slammed the grand old party for tying up with the NCP saying that the Congress should rethink the alliance.
While Congress party president Rahul Gandhi had been alleging corruption over the Rafale deal, NCP chief Pawar has given a clean chit to the Modi government. [This] is nothing but an insult to the Congress president. How can the Congress go with the NCP in such a case? asked Ambedkar.
Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the Centre, Ambedkar said around 3.30 lakh families with a wealth of over `50 crore are feeling unsafe in the country due to the various policies implemented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and are fleeing the country.
Families are fearing that they may get arrested at any time and are trying to flee the country by selling off their wealth. Out of 3.30 lakh such families having a wealth more than `50 crore, 75,000 families have already left the country and others may leave if the BJP government comes to power again, Ambedkar said.
Wealthy families leaving the country is one of the reason behind the depleting rupee. They fear sudden, undue prosecution by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Income Tax or other agencies, he added.
By PTI
NEW DELHI: India and Russia on Friday signed a pact to further enhance cooperation in the area of nuclear energy and agreed to expand collaboration in the arena in third world countries.
A joint statement said the two sides reiterated their commitment to further strengthen global non-proliferation, and Russia expressed its support for India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
"The sides noted the progress achieved in the construction of the remainder of the six power units at Kudankulam NPP as well as the efforts being made in the components manufacturing for localization. The sides welcomed consultations on the new Russian designed NPP in India, as well as on the NPP equipment joint manufacturing of nuclear equipment, cooperation in third world countries," the joint statement said.
Also Read | PM Modi, Russian President Putin pledge to boost ties
Russia has build two VVER reactors with a capacity of 1000 MW each at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.
Work on building four more reactors is underway.
"We have discussed in detail the flagship project of Kudankulam on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The first two units of this power plant are running in their full capacity. Third and fourth are being constructed, the fifth and sixth units are being constructed next," he said.
Putin said Russia plans to build 12 more nuclear reactors in next 20 years.
Read | PM Modi invites Russia to set up defence industrial park in India
"In particular the two countries intent to develop the project of six nuclear power units of Russian design at a new site in India, further enhance cooperation in the third countries and in new perspective nuclear technologies along with joint construction of nuclear power plants," the joint statement added.
The two countries are cooperating in the Roppur Nuclear Plant in Bangladesh.
In his joint press statement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the talks, Putin said Russia is a "reliable supplier" of hydrocarbons to India.
Read | S-400 Triumf air defence system can launch 72 missiles simultaneously, engage 36 targets at a time
He said India imports Russia's Liquified Natural Gas (LNG).
"We are supplying this gas from Sakhalin 1 field in which Indian partners own 20 per cent. In June, the first batch of LNG was sent to the Indian market," he said.
Putin also welcomed Indian energy companies to expand their business in Russia.
He said Russian railways companies are ready to participate in the project to build modern rail roads in India.
The president said "we will work closely to strengthen security cooperation in Asia and will combat threats such as international terrorism, drug trafficking".
By PTI
SRINAGAR: The body of a man, who was abducted by militants from Sopore town, was found with his throat slit in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district Saturday, police said.
Tawseef Ahmad Ganie (30), a resident of Tujjar area of Sopore, was abducted from his shop Wednesday, a police official said.
The body, was found in an orchard in the Check Harwan area of the north Kashmir district Saturday morning, the official said.
Preliminary investigations reveal that proscribed militant organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was behind the abduction and killing, he said. The official said police have registered a case and the matter is being investigated.
READ| Jammu and Kashmir local body polls: Can democracy sustain amidst militancy?
Amit Agnihotri By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Congress, which has decided to make the plight of farmers a major poll plank, plans to hold mega protests in Delhi for presenting itself as a champion of the agrarian community.
After experimenting with protests related to farm crisis in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana over the past one year, it wants to stage a coordinated mega national rally of its own in Delhi on October 23 and another one in January next year.
We will hold a big farmers rally in Delhi on October 23. Later, we will hold a bigger protest in Delhi in January, Khet Mazdoor Congress Cell chairperson Nana Patole told TNIE.
The Congress leaders are also in touch with over 100 farmer organizations, urging them to join hands with the party for the rallies. Issues such as hollow promises over MSP hike, crop insurance scheme, farmer suicides, rising input costs, marketing problems and non-payment of dues are some of the points that the Congress will flag against the Centre.
Patole, a former Lok Sabha member from Bhandara-Gondia in Maharashtra, claimed the BJP hardly cared for the farmers and has been only paying lip service to the community.
BJP chief Amit Shah used to tell us that development does not help in winning elections, otherwise the Congress would not have lost. The Modi government has not done anything for the farmers. I was frustrated with the BJP. Hence, I left them, he said.
For Patole, the new responsibility of heading the Kisan and Khet Mazdoor cell means that he must live up to the expectations of party chief Rahul Gandhi. The farmers plight will dent the Modi government. We will organize the community and raise their voice.
Commenting on the recent farmers march to Delhi from western Uttar Pradesh, he said the new group will enter Delhi from all possible routes.
Planning for the October 23 event has started in coordination with the state units, he added.
By PTI
SRINAGAR: A day after two of her party workers were killed here in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference (NC) MLA Shameema Firdous Saturday blamed the BJP-RSS and the governor's administration for the killings.
"I have no hesitation in saying that the BJP-RSS killed my workers. I have no doubt about it," she told reporters here.
The Habbakadal MLA also blamed the Governor Satya Pal Malik-led administration for the killings, which she claimed were the result of a well-planned conspiracy to deter the NC and the people of the state from participating in the Assembly polls.
The two NC workers were shot dead by militants in the Karfali Mohalla area of the city Friday, while another worker of the party was injured in the attack, the police said.
Firdous criticised the governor and police for making "false claims" of security arrangements, saying the gunmen had come to the locality twice with a design to open fire on her party workers.
"Where was the police? Where were the security checkpoints? What happened to the assurances of the governor of free, fair and secure polls?," she asked.
Firdous said NC workers had always helped the poor and needy and would go to the houses of the people to inquire about their well being.
"No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for these killings. The government and the governor are equally responsible for the killings of my workers," she said while breaking into tears.
Firdous said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was going all out to ensure victory in the local bodies' polls, which her party had boycotted over the issue of Article 35A.
"We have no connection with the election process, but the BJP has. A BJP leader has admitted that his party has fielded candidates as independents. They are doing everything to win these polls," she added.
The NC leader asked the governor to order a probe into the killings of her party workers and ensure that the killers were unmasked.
"There is much more to the killings of my workers than meets the eye," she said.
Amit Agnihotri By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: All is not lost for the Opposition unity ahead of the 2019 general election, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said in his first reaction to BSP supremo Mayawatis snub of going alone in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Rahul, who is being projected by the Congress prime ministerial nominee, said the opposition parties have to defeat the BJP-led NDA together and then decide the PM candidate. But if alliance partners wanted me, I will become the PM, he said at an event.
Mayawati has announced a pre-poll alliance with Congress-rebel Ajit Jogis Chhattisgarh Janata Congress. But, Rahul sounded confident of doing well in the polls. I dont think that Mayawatis decision not to have an alliance with the Congress in MP will impact us.
Noting that pacts for state polls and alliances for the national elections were two separate issues, Rahul hoped Opposition parties would come together, particularly in UP where he is pushing for a BSP-SP-Congress-RLD alliance to take on the BJP.
Rahul took a question on soft Hindutva, saying he had been visiting temples in the past. Ive been going to temples, gurdwaras, mosques for the last 16 years...The BJP feels that only they can go to temples, he said, adding his fight with the BJP was ideological.
Rahul said his leadership style was different from his mothers functioning. She (Sonia) told me that she goes on gut feeling, and I go on thinking, he said, and pointed that leadership evolves with time. I am going much more into listening to people and understand what is it that they are trying to do.
She has taught me patience. I used to be much more impatient... Sometimes I tell her she is too patient.
Regarding the Centres economic policies over demonetization and a flawed GST, Rahul said the Congress had hit the streets to protest against the government.
The Indian government has gone to war with its own people because it wants to impose one imagination on 1.3 billion of us. It wants to impose one singular, suffocating memory on our 1.3 billion memories, he said.
By PTI
NEW DELHI: In a fresh attack on industrialist Anil Ambani, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said one can land Rafale deal contracts worth "Rs 1.3 lakh crore" if he is the prime minister's "BFF" (best friend forever).
Gandhi's comments referred to the offset deal between French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation and Ambani's Reliance Defence after the BJP-led NDA government entered into an agreement with France to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets.
ALSO READ | Find out which 'version' is true: P Chidambaram on Arun Jaitley's Rafale deal remarks
"When your BFF is the PM, you can get the 1,30,000 Cr. Rafale deal, even without relevant experience. But wait. There's more! Apparently, 400,000 JK Govt staff will also be arm-twisted into buying health insurance ONLY from your company!" he said in a tweet, citing a media report.
The report claimed that the Jammu and Kashmir government has chosen Reliance General Insurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ambani's Reliance Capital, to provide health insurance for its employees, pensioners and accredited journalists.
READ | Prashant Bhushan calls Rafale deal the 'largest defence scam' in India
Ambani has earlier rejected Congress allegations on the Rafale offset contract and said the government had no role in Dassault choosing his company as a partner.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has also denied any irregularity in the deal with France.
By PTI
PUNE: Central Railway Saturday informed that it had given compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased in Friday's hoarding collapse incident.
A 40-feet hoarding Friday collapsed on vehicles which had halted at Shahir Amar Shaikh Chowk traffic light near Pune Railway Station, killing four people and injuring five others.
The hoarding was being dismantled at around 2 pm by a contractor hired by the railways when it came crashing down.
Two railway employees -- junior engineer Sanjay Singh and his assistant Pandurang Wanare, were produced before a court here Saturday and remanded in police custody till October 11.
"We have paid compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of Shamrao Kasar (70), Shamrao Dhotre (48), Shivaji Pardeshi (40) and Javed Khan (40)," said Divisional Railway Manager Milind Deouskar in a press conference.
"We have given Rs 1 lakh to those who are grievously injured while people with simple injuries have been given Rs 50,000," he added.
He also said that all the medical expenses of the injured would be borne by the railways.
He claimed that the contractor, who was given the job to dismantle the structure, had successfully removed four other hoarding metal frames.
"It seems that he had not followed the procedure this time while removing the metal frame that came crashing down and claimed four lives and injured five others," he said.
He added that a high level committee is investigating the incident and it is expected to submit its report in 15 days.
Central Railway officials said that the railways, in January this year, had told the advertisement agency to stop putting up hoardings at the site after the latter failed to submit the structural audit report of the hoarding frames.
"Though the present structures were strong and legal, as the agency did not furnish the structural report, we took a conscious decision to dismantle the hoardings and had started the work," he added.
Manish Anand By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: With the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Friday setting January 31 as the deadline for the Narendra Modi government to enact a law to construct a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya, the emotive issue was back on the frontburner. The deadline comes at a time when the title suit is still pending before the Supreme Court.
If the deadline is not met, a Dharma Sansad of 20,000 religious leaders would decide on the next course of action at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, the VHP warned.This is the first-ever deadline set for the Modi government by any outfit in the saffron fraternity. The erstwhile Vajpayee government had been publicly pressured by the parivar on multiple occasions, but there has hardly been a ripple against Modi so far.
The hardening of the VHP language happened after a day-long meeting here of 50 saints who lead the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. Saying they were disappointed with the delay in the Supreme Courts final verdict, the saints approved a four-pronged plan, including gheraoing MPs and meeting governors to pressure the Centre.
VHP working president Alok Kumar demanded the enactment of a law in the winter session of Parliament. When the Representation of the People Act could be amended during the pendency of Indira Gandhis appeal in the SC against her election being set aside, why cant a law be brought in on Ayodhya, he argued.
We had expected the Dipak Misra bench to deliver its verdict in September. But rivals put roadblocks to delay the hearing of the main title suit case, he claimed.
A delegation of saints called on President Ram Nath Kovind earlier in the day and submitted a memorandum.
The SC has set October 29 as the date for the next hearing in the case. The course it would take is not clear, so please ask your government to enact a law, the memorandum urged Kovind.The BJP at its Palampur meet in 1989 adopted a resolution to join the Ram movement. But now it is maintaining distance, saying the matter is sub-judice.
By Online Desk
It is going to be 'camelicious' Diwali for Amul as the Indian dairy cooperative is all set to launch deodorised camel milk in Ahmedabad.
Following PM Narendra Modi's speech about benefits of camel milk during the inauguration of Amul's chocolate plant, the company announced that it will sell packed camel milk from December 2018 and the trial run for the same is to take place by November, around Diwali, the Indian Express reported.
During PM Modi's recent visit to Gujarat, he claimed that when he was the CM of the state, people had mocked him for suggesting camel milk as nutritious. But, today, he is happy that Amul has fulfilled his dream by marketing camel milk chocolates, which are in great demand. The PM also said that camel milk fetches more money than cow milk.
A long time back, I had gone to Kutch and spoken about the need to popularise camel milk. That time a group of people mocked me.
But, today the camel milk chocolate of Amul is doing well: PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 30, 2018
To reduce camel milk's volatile odour, Amul said that it will be deodorised. Amul's new camel milk processing unit in Kutch is under construction and is expected to be operational by December this year.
This is the first time packed camel milk will be sold in India. It will be available in 500 ml pet bottles. Officials said that a litre of camel milk will be sold at Rs. 50-55 in Gujarat -- double the price of cow milk.
This is not the first time Amul has launched a camel milk project. Earlier in 2016, Amul had announced plans to launch camel milk in Ahmedabad, and later, in other cities.
Camel milk, which is rich in vitamin, mineral and immunoglobin content, has various health benefits. Researchers say that it helps in boosting immunity and reduces the risk of diabetes. They even claim that it has cancer-preventing properties.
So, who's up for some camel milk this Diwali season?
By Express News Service
BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) on Saturday took cognizance of Fridays alleged assault on toll both staff by BJP MP Nandkumar Singh Chauhan and aides in Shivpuri district.
The Commission directed the Shivpuri district police superintendent to submit before it within three weeks, the report detailing about the investigations and action in the matter.
The SP Shivpuri district has also been directed by the state human rights panel to conserve the CCTV footage of the alleged incident and submit along with the report, the video recordings of the incident in CD format.
However, when contacted in the matter by The New Indian Express on Saturday, the Shivpuri district superintendent of police Rajesh Hingankar said the police was yet to receive the formal complaint from any of the toll plaza staff about the alleged episode. We cant act in the matter unless someone submits a complaint about it to the police.
On Friday evening, the staff on the toll plaza near Purankhedi village in Kolaras area of Shivpuri district was allegedly beaten up by Nandkumar Singh Chauhan (Lok Sabha member from Khandwa seat and ex-state BJP president) and aides, after the toll plaza staff demanded from the BJP MP his ID proof.
The video of the incident had gone viral over the social media. Importantly, MPs and MLAs are exempted from paying a toll on national highways.
On Friday after the incident happened and was captured in the CCTV cameras installed at the toll booth on the Shivpuri-Guna highway, the toll booth manager Mahendra Singh alleged that the MP and aides beat up the staff members, after the staff demanded the MPs ID card. The toll manager said two staff members were hurt in the attack, one of them sustained head injury and was hospitalized.
In his interview granted to Vietnam News Agency on the threshold of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs visit to Japan and his participation of the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting in Japan from October 8-10, Ambassador Cuong highlighted Vietnams positive contributions to the mechanism with various activities like the Green Mekong Forum, and cooperative programmes in environment, clean water, disaster prevention, among others.
Vietnam is drawing up a plan for the cooperative activities in 2019-2021 period, he said.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong (Photo: VNA)
Bolstering the mechanism development is in line with the benefits of both Vietnam and the whole region. Vietnamese ministries and sectors have involved in some 100 projects carried out in the framework of the mechanism. Among them, Lach Huyen deep-water port, Noi Bai International Airports terminal 2, O Mon thermal power plant, and Nghi Son 2 thermal power plant are important projects to Vietnams infrastructure system.
Thanks to the mechanism, Vietnam has already built and operated an electric customs clearance system and produced measles-rubella vaccine, he added.
Besides, the country has put forth projects to connect the sub-Mekong region and integrate the Mekong water resources management into the cooperation mechanism.
On the development of the Mekong-Japan cooperation mechanism, Ambassador Cuong said that it has attained significant achievements in the past 10 years across the prioritised sectors of soft and hard infrastructure cooperation, and sustainable development.
Member countries have worked together to build comprehensive transport system that helps link the sub-Mekong region through connecting the East-West Economic Corridor to the South Economic Corridor. Also, their cooperation facilitates customs clearance and human resources training.
Attaching much importance to the mechanism, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe committed USD7 billion for the Mekong-Japan cooperation mechanism under the Tokyo Strategy 2015 for the 2016-2018 tenure.
On bilateral activities of PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Ambassador Cuong said that the leader will have bilateral meetings with Japanese high-ranking officials to develop the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership into a more effective and practical manner.
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart are scheduled to hold talks on bilateral and international cooperation. Besides, the Vietnamese Government leader will have several meetings with Japanese officials to further all-round collaboration.
An investment forum will be held in the East Asian country, with 1,000 representatives of businesses expected to attend. The event shows Vietnams respect for the extensive strategic partnership with Japan, particularly in economy, trade and investment./.
Dr Sumanth C Raman By
The worlds largest health insurance scheme is here, say the ads. Healthcare in India is going to be transformed, we are informed. See how the PM is helping the poor access affordable healthcare, exult his supporters. But is Ayushman Bharat worth the hype?
There are two types of government schemes. The majority of them are well thought through but poorly implemented; so the benefits do not reach the intended beneficiaries fully. But there are a few schemes that are daft even at the policy stage. They have little chance of working and if they actually worked well, would paradoxically be impossible to sustain. Ayushman Bharat falls squarely in the second category.
What could possibly be wrong with a health insurance scheme that aims to provide free and universal healthcare to every Indian? Nothing, except that free universal healthcare should already be available. In most parts of India treatment in government hospitals is either free or a nominal fee is charged. But accessibility and the quality of care are different matters. Also, secondary and tertiary care are in scarce supply in many states. But on paper free healthcare exists. So we are creating a scheme partly to do what an existing scheme, meant to do the same, is not doing.
Private sector infrastructure will be utilised for delivering the services, but some government hospitals will also chip in. The logic: government hospitals lack the infrastructure and as the governments aim is to ensure accessible and affordable healthcare, how should it matter who provides the care?
It should. There can never ever be a substitute to strengthening public healthcare infrastructure in India and schemes like Ayushman Bharat and state health insurance schemes weaken the already critically ill public health space. There is a strong feeling among people that private healthcare is better than government healthcare and such schemes only reinforce that impression.
What is the problem if the private sector provides the service for a fee? They have the infrastructure and poor patients will benefit anyway. The problem is there is no regulatory mechanism in place to monitor the quality of service provided, its ethical necessity and of course whether the patient was made to pay more than what the scheme covered. And the rates under the scheme are low; hospitals say they cannot support the scheme long-term without revision of rates. Who is to check if hospitals are not cutting corners and putting patients lives at risk? The most vulnerable people are being led by the government to the mercy of the private sector with very little regulation.
The mind also boggles at the enormous scope for corruption that Ayushman Bharat and similar schemes can lead to. From the enrolment stage to approvals to payments, everything could have a price. The issue is also one of virtually killing off public sector hospitals. Unless you use the TN model of paying insurance money to government hospitals and doctors just to do the job they are already paid to do, who will now want to have a procedure or surgery done at a government facility? Alternately if we are to say that a set of 500 procedures will be done only at government facilities, then would that not take out a large chunk of patients from the insurance scheme?
Let us now look at budget allocations. Even to a non-economist, it is clear that the around Rs 3,200 crore allocated for the scheme this year will not even be enough to cover a small subset of the 10 crore families enrolled. If we assume that just 5 per cent of those enrolled claimed 20 per cent of their eligible Rs 5 lakh, the scheme will need Rs 50,000 crore. What would Rs 3,200 crore be able to accomplish? And we have not taken into account the running cost.
Next look at the so-called wellness centres to be opened under this scheme. How are they different from primary health centres? If they are just upgraded PHCs then that could be accomplished without the scheme. The interplay between state health insurance schemes and Ayushman Bharat will also be keenly watched. States may try to reduce their financial burden by pushing their patients through this scheme.
The IT backbone needed for such a scheme is humungous and it is doubtful if the government has thought through the complexities, especially of data privacy and security. We are seeing the mess unfolding in Aadhaar and this could be an even bigger disaster with confidential health information accessed without authorisation.
Finally, what if the scheme becomes successful with all the beneficiaries becoming aware of it? Simple: There would be no money to run it and it would collapse. Example: If the claim rate was even, say 15 per cent at an average of 10 per cent of the maximum limit, thats Rs 75,000 crore needed each year. The claim rates are likely to be much higher as no one is excluded here unlike in private insurance where many who actually need the care are ineligible to be covered due to various exclusions including old age, pre-existing illness, etc.
So why the need to go ahead with such a scheme? Because, these schemes are seen to be vote catchers. In Andhra Pradesh, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy built a huge reputation for himself through Arogyasri, the pioneer among state health insurance schemes. There will no doubt be people who benefit and the photo ops help create a strong populist message. Such schemes also cater to the aspirations of the poor, who can receive healthcare at private hospitals they couldnt earlier afford to go to. The criticism of Ayushman Bharat isnt to say that people wont benefit from it. Many of course will, but this is certainly not enough to justify its costs and the damage it will do in the long-term to public health infrastructure.
The government will realise its folly at some stage but for now its election time. And states havent realised their folly in years. There is never going to be a substitute to strengthening public health institutions. Technology can greatly help improve the quality of care that public hospitals can provide. That should be the way to go. And that is where the money must be spent.
Dr Sumanth C Raman
TV anchor and political analyst
Email: sumanthcraman@gmail.com
By Express News Service
TIRUPATI: In a tragic incident, a retired judge committed suicide by lying down on a railway track seconds before a Howrah-bound express train hurtled over him here on Friday morning.
After hearing the news of her husbands death, his wife too committed suicide in a similar manner at the same spot in the evening.
According to Tiruchanur police, P Sudhakar (62), retired as a judge in Mahabubnagar, three years ago. He also worked as a district judge in Tirupati between 2006 and 2008.
Though the police found a suicide note at the spot, they refused to divulge details and told the media that he took the extreme step due to health reasons.
When the police informed the death of her husband to P Varalakshmi (58) in the evening, she was heartbroken and rushed to the railway track, where her husband committed suicide, and ended her life in a similar manner.
At that time Rayalaseema Express was passing on the track. The distraught wife of Sudhakar resorted to the extreme step, when her brother-in-law went to the hospital to collect her husbands body.
By Express News Service
BENGALURU: Bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats, to be held on November 3, promise to be a preview of the larger and more hotly contested Lok Sabha elections a few months from now in 2019. The polls will be a trial run for the JD(S)-Congress coalition to test the waters and will also be an opportunity for the BJP to judge if it can take on the combined might of both the parties. The election will also give an insight into the voters mood in the state.
Of the three LS seats, Shivamogga and Ballari were held by BJP while Mandya was with the JD(S). Bypolls were necessitated after B S Yeddyurappa and B Sriramulu of BJP, and C S Puttaraju of JD (S) resigned from their LS membership after they were elected to the state assembly in the recent elections. Puttaraju is a minister in the H D Kumaraswamy government.
Though the newly elected LS members will have a very short tenure and will hardly get an opportunity to attend two sessions of Parliament, the byelections are likely to witness a fierce fight as the results will be an indicator of things to come in the 2019 elections.The Congress and the JD(S) that have decided to go together in next years elections will have to work out a seat-sharing arrangement. While there wont be any contention over the Mandya seat as that was represented by JD (S), the regional party may not stake claim for Ballari seat as the Congress has considerable base in the district.
However, Shivamogga is likely to be an issue. Sources said that the JD (S) had shown a keen interest to field its candidate here, while the Congress will be in no mood give up its claim. In 2013, Yeddyurappa had won with a huge margin of 3.62 lakh votes and this time around JD(S)-Congress together hope to give a fight.
The BJP, faced with the tough task of retaining its seats, started the campaign within hours after the poll dates were announced. In Shivamogga, Yeddyurappa announced the candidature of his son B Y Raghavendra and sought support from voters in the district.For Congress, the byelections will be crucial as it would be a big morale booster as it has not done so well in the assembly polls. We are confident of retaining the seats and doing well in other constituencies too, said BJP General Secretary and MLC Ravi
Kumar.
We are confident of retaining the seats and doing well in other constituencies too, said BJP General Secretary and MLC Ravi Kumar. The party candidates and strategy will be discussed during a meeting on Monday, he added. The party will finalise the names of candidates for Mandya and Ballari LS seats and Ramanagaram and Jamkhandi assembly constituencies.
For Congress, the byelections will be crucial as it would be a big morale booster as it has not done so well in the assembly polls. Good results will set a tempo for its strategy to defeat BJP in next years election. These elections will also put state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Raos leadership to test and his ability to ensure that the faction-ridden party works as one unit, while also accommodating a very demanding coalition partner JD(S).
We will have a strategy to defeat BJP, Dinesh said after the bypoll dates were announced. He said they are yet to discuss and finalise party candidates and also seat-sharing arrangement with the JD (S). According to him, the byelection results wont be an indicator of general elections. We take all elections seriously and candidates will be finalised after discussing with the party high command, said former CM Siddaramaiah. JD (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda said there is no confusion among the coalition partners.
In the assembly bypolls, the JD (S) is likely to field CMs wife Anita Kumaraswamy from Ramanagaram, while the Congress is yet to decide on its candidate from Jamkhandi assembly segment. Ramanagaram was represented by Kumaraswamy and Jamkhandi by Siddu Nyamagouda of Congress. Bypolls were necessitated as Kumaraswamy, who won from two seats, vacated Ramanagara and retained Channapanta. Nyamagouda died in an accident.
POLL POSITION
Ramanagara and Jamkhandi (assembly segments)
Ballari, Shivamogga and Mandya (LS seats)
Date of poll November 3 (Saturday)
Date of counting November 6
BSY son to fight from Shivamogga
Former chief minister and State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa said in Shikaripura on Saturday that his son B Y Raghavendra will contest from Shivamogga in the byelections.
Poll break for cabinet expansion
With the EC announcing dates for bypolls to 3 LS and 2 assembly seats in the state, plans for ministry expansion have yet again fizzled out. The Congress had assured the aspirants of completing the process by Oct 10.
By Express News Service
KOCHI: As the India Met Department (IMD) has issued a cyclone warning due to the formation of a low-pressure area over the southeast Arabian Sea, the fisherfolks in Kochi cited that fishermen of around 150 boats which ventured into the sea from here have been stranded in the sea 500 nautical miles off Lakshadweep coast. According to the fishermen, the Union Government should initiate immediate steps to bring back the fishermen to shore, though the authorities now citing that there are no possibilities for a cyclone.
Earlier, fishermen have been advised not to venture into the southeast and the central Arabian Sea from October 4 and deep-sea fishers who had gone out to sea have been directed to return to the coast. Following this, about 500 boats returned to the coasts. Of this few returned to the nearby coasts in the country while a few reached safely in Kochi. According to Kerala Matsythozhilali Aikyavedi president Charles George, the fishing boats which anchored near Lakshadweep coast were in the dangerous situation. "They could not return back to Lakshadweep as it is the center of the cyclone as per predictions. As per the information available, the gill net and longlines fishers are 500 nautical miles north-west of the coast. It would take more than a day to reach Lakshadweep. The Union Government should take immediate steps to bring them to nearby coasts safely. It is learned that they are nearby Oman or Iran," Charles George added.
The issue came to light after a boat which involved in the same area reached Kochi on Friday. "We have communicated the matter to Coast Guard. The Coast Guard should deploy naval flight for the rescue of the fishermen. The matter was also informed to Fisheries Minister Mercykutty Amma", Charles George said.
Earlier, during Ockhi the authorities could not recover 17 fishing boats which sunk in the sea. The bodies of 82 persons who went missing during Ockhi are yet to be recovered. This has raised the concern in the wake of the alert, said, fishermen.
By Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With protests mounting from various corners over the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to enter Sabarimala, the CPM has taken a middle path. In what could be termed as its first major response after the verdict, the CPM state secretariat made clear the party wants to ensure equal rights for women also. However, its not for the CPM to take women to the hill shrine.
Those who are disappointed with the SC order have the right to approach the apex court again. But using this situation to create tension and make political gains against the Left Government cannot be allowed, it stated.
In a statement, the CPM state secretariat said the party has a clear opinion in ensuring equal rights for women. The party has taken this stance in issues related to Christian Succession law and polygamy issue in the Muslim community.
The LDF Government, in its affidavit before the SC, had demanded women believers should be given equal rights. However, based on the CPMs stance, the government has not brought in any legislation or rule amendment. Now, with the apex court issuing its final verdict, its the duty of the state government to implement the same.
The CPM said as per the verdict, women believers can go to Sabarimala temple. However, it is not for the CPM to take women to the hill shrine. Its a decision to be taken by the devotees. The BJP and Congress, through their propaganda, have been trying to create a negative impression about the CPM on the issue, it stated. The party also said in the wake of the SC verdict, the state government should ensure the rights of women devotees to go for darshan at the temple.
The party leadership alleged the Congress-BJP combine has been trying to create communal polarisation for narrow political interest.
A section in both parties have come out rejecting the stance taken by their central leaderships. It reminded modern Kerala is the result of relentless fights for renaissance against superstitions and negative rituals.
By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: Anticipating an escalation in Maoist violence as elections draw close, police chiefs of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh met here on Friday to chalk out a plan of action to intensify operations in the bordering areas of the two States which continue to be Naxal hot-bed.
Close on the heels of the cold-blooded murder of Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former legislator Siveri Soma at Dumbriguda Mandal in Visakhapatnam on September 23, the meeting between Odisha DGP Dr RP Sharma and his Andhra counterpart RP Thakur assumes significance.
Since the movement of political leaders will increase with the polls getting closer, the meeting discussed strategies for increased operational activities.
However, it would require creation of more road network on both sides of the border and the two DGPs discussed how infrastructure can be given a push in the coming days.In the recent months, there have been developments in bordering regions, including the incident in Visakhapatnam, following which issues like enhancing coordination, cooperation and sharing of intelligence between the police forces of the two states were discussed, Dr Sharma said declining to divulge the details.
Sources said the meeting also discussed plans to go after top Maoist leaders including Rama Krishna who continues to be elusive. Actionable intelligence from both the State Police forces would be used to zero in on RK who leads the Andhra Odisha Special Border Zonal Committee.
Joint operations in the bordering areas will soon be launched in this connection, the sources added.
Andhra Pradesh DGP Thakur said the coordination meeting was fruitful adding, police forces of both the states get a lot of information which must be converted into actionable intelligence.
We had excellent coordination earlier also and joint operations are still going on. However, we wanted to have more systematic approach for future and in that direction first meeting at the DGP level was held. Every month, coordination meeting at the ground level will also be held, Thakur said.
Thakur said priority areas would be discussed with respective State Governments as well as the Centre. If need be, demand for deployment of more forces would be placed before the Centre.
Top police officers of both the States also participated in the meeting.
Rebels issue death warrant to four in Mathili
MALKANGIRI: A Maoist banner issuing death warrants to four persons alleging loot of their money surfaced in Baladiaguda village under Mathili police limits in the district on Friday. The banner, written in Odia by the Maoists, was spotted by some villagers on a tree in the morning. The Maoists named Adu Golari, Ramnath Nayak (teacher), Sunadhar Bhumian and Desu in the banner stating that the four have looted the money of their outfit and announced death sentence for them. Meanwhile, police reached the spot and seized the Maoist banner.
By Express News Service
BALASORE: The Congress on Friday assured the farmers to waive off their loans and increase their old-age pension from Rs 300 to Rs 1,000 if the party comes to power in Odisha. Speaking at Jana Jagaran Yatra at Rupsa in Balasore district, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik said at a time when the prices of even the basic utility items are skyrocketing, how would `300 suffice for a poor old man.
On unemployment, Niranjan said at least 36 lakh educated youths have registered for jobs but Naveen Patnaik Government has failed to do justice to them. In the 18-year BJD rule, no employment scope has been generated for the youth, he said. The Government has failed to provide jobs to 60 lakh youths in the State, who have gone to other States looking for jobs, the OPCC chief added.
Addressing the gathering, Niranjan said crores of rupees which has come from the Centre has been misappropriated by the State Government in the name of Vikaas. Where is Vikaas, the fund is just used for media advertisement, he said and came down on Naveen, saying, he is a postman who uses the Central fund by converting it into schemes in his fathers name and other persons name to win peoples vote. Public should realise this and think before voting in the next elections.
He lamented the fact that at at least 40 per cent people are poor in the State and due to lack of financial support from the Government, farmers are forced to commit suicide.If the Congress comes to power in Odisha, we assure to give incentives to farmers for five years. The Government, which promised to provide Rs 600 crore for farmers as insurance, has not reached out to them, he added.
For the people of Bhograi where 3.5 lakh people earn their livelihood from betel cultivation, no support has been provided by the Government. The production of Pana (betel), Mina (fish) and Dhana (paddy) has slumped due to Government apathy, Niranjan said. On BJP-BJD friendship, he remarked that BJD rebukes BJP in the State but in Delhi, the two parties are close.
The BJD has no contribution in setting up the Government Medical College at Balasore. It was only made possible by the UPA government, he added. Among others, former MP Srikant Jena, MLA Chiranjib Biswal, District Congress president Saraj Raj, Bhakta Charan Das and Rudra Sahu attended.
By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: A 57-year-old man from Cuttack tested positive for H1N1 at a city hospital on Friday. He is the second confirmed swine flu case in the State this season.
The man was admitted to Kanungo Institute of Diabetes Specialities (KIDS) with symptoms of respiratory infection and breathlessness on Wednesday.
He was found to have developed pneumonia and shifted to the ICU.
On suspicion, doctors sent his swab samples to the Regional Medical Research Centre laboratory here which confirmed H1N1.
He has been shifted to the Special H1N1 unit of the SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack for treatment.
The patient had visited Jammu and Kashmir recently and returned home with sickness. As his condition with fever, cough and respiratory problems aggravated, he was admitted to KIDS.
The patient has been referred to SCBMCH which has a specialised set-up for treatment of H1N1, KIDS chairman Dr Alok Kanungo said.
By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: The annual tourist footfall to Odisha is growing at a rate of about nine per cent per against the global average of four per cent, said Chief Minister Patnaik on Friday. Addressing international tour operators, travel agents and hoteliers at the second edition of Odisha Travel Bazaar jointly organised by Odisha Tourism and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here, Naveen said the increasing trend of tourist arrival is a positive sign for the State and its tourism sector.
The strength of Odisha lies in its rich cultural heritage and the new Ethnic, Buddhist and Ecotourism products have helped attract a lot of tourists to the State.
Odisha is lavishly gifted and endowed with a plethora of natural sites which spellbound tourists visiting the State, he said.
The Chief Minister expressed hope that the Air Asia link to Malaysia will connect more international air operators to Bhubaneswar. Moreover, the opening of an airport at Jharsuguda will provide connectivity to the western parts of Odisha which in turn will boost tourism in the region.
Naveen welcomed all the 60 foreign tour operators from 23 countries and 16 tour operators from within India who are in the City to attend the three-day as buyers.
Tourism Minister Ashok Chandra Panda said more such events will be organised in future and infrastructure developed for promotion of high-end tourism in the State. In the last few years, over Rs 400 crore have been spent for development of tourism sector, Panda said.
Tourism Secretary Vishal Kumar Dev said, Odisha has one of the finest tourism policy of the country which is in place since 2016. We are working to rope in more hotels to provide comfortable stay to the variety of tourists visitng the State.
The foreign tour operators participating in the event are from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Netherlands, UK and USA.
A total of 57 hoteliers, tour operators and travel agents from Odisha are also taking part to sell their tourism products and packages to buyers.
Lameness prevention: it's all in the head
An understanding of how cows think, how they see the world and how they move is essential for lameness prevention.
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
By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: The men in khaki may have gone after those involved in the unprecedented violence in Puri but that is clearly damage control mechanism. What about their own ineptitude?
The District Police ignored all the signs of an amplified reaction despite the fact that on October 1, barricades inside the 12th-century shrines were damaged as a protest against the queue system.
Effigies were also burnt. But it was not heeded to. So much so that it assumed the much-publicised bandh to be a peaceful one and did not even requisition deployment of the Odisha Swift Action Force which was in Bhubaneswar till Wednesday morning. The law and order problem started around 9 am but there was no request for movement of the rapid action force.
It was only at 11 am that the swift action force was proposed to be mobilised to Puri by the State Police Headquarters. By that time, it had moved back to Cuttack.
When it finally reached Puri, the damage was done. Such was the lethargy of the District Police that it did not bother to carry out preventive arrests at all. And when it made a move at the end, it picked up only one person which led to further anger among the agitators.
Interestingly, Puri District Police had at its disposal 11 platoons of Odisha State Armed Police and three units of APR force. Still, no attempt was made to secure Grand Road which encouraged the uncontrolled mob to unleash mayhem in the busiest and most thronged area of the town.
Temple office was attacked, hundi looted, tourists were stranded and pilgrims hassled by the law and order failure even as Puri Police watched as a mute spectator and the holy town grabbed the headlines for yet another wrong reason while the State Government cut a sorry figure.
Top cops of Odisha, AP meet on Maoist ops Bhubaneswar
Anticipating an escalation in Maoist violence as elections draw close, police chiefs of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh met here on Friday to chalk out a plan of action to intensify operations in the bordering areas of the two States which continue to be Naxal hotbed.
By Express News Service
CHENNAI: Governor Banwarilal Purohit alleged on Saturday that crores of rupees had been exchanged for Vice Chancellor appointments before he took over as ex officio chancellor of State universities.
Speaking at a higher education meeting here, he said, "I couldn't believe it."
Governor Purohit claimed that news about corruption influenced his decision to change the way V-Cs are appointed. He claimed that all the nine Vice-Chancellors he appointed had been picked based on their merit.
However, the Governor's appointment of candidates from other States as V-Cs of key State universities had come under criticism and evoked protests.
The Governor's allegations has opened a Pandora's box with questions being raised as to whether former Governors were also in on corruption. These allegations also put the State Government in a tight spot.
State Higher Education minister K P Anbazhagan was quick to distance the State government from these allegations. "Appointments of vice chancellors is done by the Governor. The State Government has no role in it," he told presspersons.
Fisheries minister D Jayakumar, promised action. "If the Governor discloses the names of the V-Cs who have paid money for their posts, the government will take action," he said.
Meanwhile, in a statement here, DMK president MK Stalin said: "Since the governor himself had revealed the irregularities in the appointment of vice chancellors, at least now he should take action against those responsible for this." He also urged the governor to act on the petitions given by the DMK already on the corrupt deeds of the ministers.
Sadaf Aman By
Express News Service
HYDERABAD: In a goof up by different government agencies, the dates of two major competitive examinations are clashing, giving sleepless nights to the aspirants who are worried that they will lose good opportunities if they have to choose one exam over the other.
Telangana State Junior Panchayat Secretary Exam and RRB Group D exam are both scheduled to be held on October 10. Panchayat secretary exam was initially going to be held on October 4 but was later rescheduled by TSPSC. However, both dates, initial and the rescheduled one, are clashing with the Railway Group D exam.
The Railway Group D recruitment is being conducted for 62,907 vacancies in various level 1 posts. There are 9,000 posts to be filled through the Panchayat secretary exam.
It may be recalled that the government received 1.9 crore applications of the Group D recruitment, with a sizeable number for Telangana too. Even though the exam is being conducted from October 1-31, a number aspirants who are giving both Group D and Panchayat Secretary exam will be affected as they will have to choose one of the two.
Aspirants have been staging protests for several weeks now demanding TSPSC to reschedule the exam again. On Thursday, O Krishna, a PhD scholar from Political Science Department, Osmania University, attempted suicide inside the Art College Building demanding action by the State. A protest will be conducted on Saturday at OU from Arts College to NCC Gate by the Unemployed JAC in this regard.
By Express News Service
HYDERABAD: TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday said that TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Raos hunger strike in 2009 was a fake one and a broker like KCR did not have the right to criticise him.
KCR did a fake deeksha in 2009, not a hunger strike. He was given IV fluids, water and medication under doctors supervision at NIMS. The only thing he did there was to grow his beard. Irom Sharmila in Meghalaya has survived for 12 years under similar conditions, said Uttam Reddy, showing to media persons a medical report from NIMS about the details of the treatment.
Pointing out KCRs personal attacks, Uttam reiterated, KCR was a fake passport broker while I was serving the nation as a fighter pilot. He was even arrested by Delhi police for duping people in the name of fake passports and visas. Our partys senior leader M Satyanarayana Rao saved KCR from those cases.
Meanwhile, TPCC treasurer Gudur Narayan Reddy alleged that KCR was falsely blaming Congress in the case of Bathukamma sarees distribution. As there are KCRs pictures on the sarees and model code of conduct is in place, we only requested the Election Commission to ensure that KCRs pictures are removed and sarees be distributed through fair price shops. But EC has asked State government to stop the distribution altogether, said Reddy.
CPI miffed with its big brother Congress
HYDERABAD: CPI, a key member in the grand alliance proposed by Congress, is miffed with its big brother. Congress delay in finalising the seat sharing is not going down well with the Left party.
CPI is seeking about 12 seats. We have even given the list of constituencies to Congress and other allies. But there has been no decision till now. Unless seat sharing and allocation is finalised, we cannot get begin campaigning properly. Look at TRS, it has already announced candidates and KCR is zooming ahead in the campaign, said CPI Telangana secretary Chada Venkat Reddy, speaking to Express.
By PTI
WASHINGTON: Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the US Supreme Court appeared all but assured after two key lawmakers who had wavered on his controversial nomination signaled their support.
Senate Republican Susan Collins Friday affirmed in a closely-watched floor speech that she will vote for the conservative jurist nominated by President Donald Trump, and moments later Democrat Joe Manchin broke ranks to announce his own backing.
Their declarations of brought the number of senators publicly supporting the 53-year-old judge -- who has faced accusations of sexual assault -- to 51 in the 100-member chamber.
A final confirmation vote is expected Saturday afternoon.
Kavanaugh's nomination was left teetering on the edge after university psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford claimed in harrowing testimony last week that he tried to rape her when they were high school students.
ALSO READ | 'I am independent, impartial': US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
But Collins, a moderate, pro-choice lawmaker from Maine, said Kavanaugh was entitled to the "presumption of innocence" as the allegations against him lacked corroborating evidence.
While Collins acknowledged that Blasey Ford's testimony was sincere, painful and compelling, and that the accuser is a sexual assault survivor, she added that "I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court.
My full statement on my decision to support Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to be an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court: https://t.co/FVDdlvYkWG Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) 5 October 2018
" Immediately after the Collins speech Manchin announced his support, calling Kavanaugh a "qualified jurist" who "will not allow the partisan nature this process took to follow him onto the court."
Manchin faces extraordinary political pressure.
He is up for re-election in West Virginia, a state Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016.
Earlier on Friday the Senate voted 51-49 to end debate on Kavanaugh's nomination, setting up a final showdown on Saturday.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is followed by members of the media as she walks to the Capitol before a vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 in Washington. (Photo | AP)
The outcome had remained in doubt, however, after one Republican, Lisa Murkowski, defied her party and voted against moving ahead.
Trump nevertheless cheered the result of the cloture vote.
"Very proud of the US Senate for voting 'YES' to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!" the president said on Twitter.
Very proud of the U.S. Senate for voting YES to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 5 October 2018
After Collins's speech, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders took to Twitter to thank her "for standing by your convictions and doing the right thing."
If he wins confirmation, Kavanaugh -- who has faced a bruising process that raised questions over his candor 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 tweeted.
The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Dont fall for it! Also, look at all of the professionally made identical signs. Paid for by Soros and others. These are not signs made in the basement from love! #Troublemakers Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 5 October 2018
Collins appeared to fall in line with Trump's accusation that outside funding was being pumped into the process, as she slammed the "unprecedented amount of dark money opposing this nomination."
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 reporters that barring any dramatic changes, he will vote yes on Kavanaugh's confirmation.
ALSO READ | US Senate leans towards confirming embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
Another wrinkle for 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 tweeted that he spoke with Kavanaugh and assured him: "I will be back to vote yes this weekend if needed."
Protesters have spent days in Washington urging swing senators like Collins and Murkowski to vote no.
On Thursday 302 people were arrested and charged with unlawfully demonstrating inside the Senate complex.
Friday saw dozens of people crowd into Collins's office pleading with her staff to tell the senator to oppose Kavanaugh, to no avail.
In this Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 photo, hundreds march in a protest, organized by Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, through downtown Seattle opposing the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Photo | AP)
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 prompted 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.
By AFP
HONG KONG: China on Saturday warned foreign countries not to "interfere" over Hong Kong's decision to effectively blacklist a senior Financial Times journalist after the UK and other governments expressed alarm over eroding freedoms in the former British colony.
ALSO READ | Protest in Hong Kong over China suppression
Victor Mallet, the FT's Asia news editor and a British national, earned the ire of authorities for hosting a speech in August by Andy Chan, the leader of a tiny pro-independence political party.
The FT said Friday that immigration authorities in Hong Kong had declined to renew Mallet's visa, prompting the UK to request an "urgent explanation" for a decision described as unprecedented by rights groups and media organisations.
"The Central Government firmly supports the SAR (Hong Kong) Government in handling the related matters in accordance with law," a spokesperson at China's foreign ministry in Hong Kong said.
"No foreign country has any right to interfere."
In a strident speech at the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC), where Mallet serves as vice president, Chan attacked China as an empire trying to "annex" and "destroy" Hong Kong.
ALSO READ | Hong Kong democracy group says members were detained in China
China's foreign ministry had asked the club to pull the talk, but the FCC refused, arguing that all sides of a debate should be heard.
Rival protesters picketed the lunchtime event and the city's former leader Leung Chun-ying called for the club to be evicted from its government-owned premises.
"We have asked the Hong Kong government for an urgent explanation," the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement addressing the visa denial.
"Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and its press freedoms are central to its way of life, and must be fully respected."
Semi-autonomous Hong Kong enjoys rights unseen on the mainland, including freedom of expression, which are protected in the city's Basic Law and the handover agreement between China and Britain.
But the space for dissent is shrinking as Beijing flexes its muscles.
Hong Kong authorities last week banned Chan's Hong Kong National Party, calling it a threat to national security.
It was the first ban on a political party since the territory reverted to Chinese control in 1997.
The US consulate said Mallet's visa denial was "especially disturbing".
"It mirrors problems faced by international journalists in the Mainland and appears inconsistent with the principles enshrined in the Basic Law," US consulate general spokesman Harvey Sernovitz told AFP.
Hong Kong's last British governor Chris Patten said the move was a "serious blow against free speech" as well as defying the promise of a high degree of autonomy made to the city when it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.
"The Hong Kong and Beijing authorities should think again and fast," Patten told AFP.
A handful of demonstrators rallied outside Hong Kong's immigration department on Saturday morning to protest the decision.
"No political red line. We support the free press," protesters chanted as they shredded a strip of red fabric to create a long ribbon.
The slogan was in response to comments by Hong Kong's former leader Leung Chun-Ying - whose administration faced down major youth-led democracy protests in 2014 - that discussion of Hong Kong independence "is an absolute and clear red line".
The decision to deny Mallet a new visa was welcomed by pro-Beijing media in the city, however.
A commentary in the Ta Kung Pao newspaper said the veteran journalist had to "pay the price" for giving exposure to Hong Kong's fringe independence movement and said authorities may still act to evict the FCC from the premises it has occupied since 1982.
By Associated Press
PARIS: He left his home in Lyon, France, for a visit to his homeland, and then vanished putting the International Criminal Police Organization, best known as Interpol, at the center of its own missing persons case.
Meng Hongwei, Interpol's president, boarded a plane and arrived in China, according to a French judicial official. But then, nothing. His wife, who put out a call on Friday, said she hasn't heard from her 64-year-old husband since the end of September, the official said.
To make matters murkier, Meng is not just the head of Interpol: He's also a vice minister for public safety in China.
Interpol, based in Lyon, would say only that reports that its president is missing is "a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China."
In this July 4, 2017 file photo, Interpol President, Meng Hongwei, walks toward the stage to deliver his opening address at the Interpol World congress in Singapore. A French judicial official says Friday Oct.5, 2018 the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to China. (Photo | AP)
France launched its own investigation on Friday morning, according to the judicial official who wasn't authorized to speak publicly and asked for anonymity.
Whether China was taking action was unknown. But the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, hinted that Meng may have been the latest target of an ongoing campaign against corruption in China.
The newspaper said that upon landing last week Meng was "taken away" for questioning by what it said were "discipline authorities." The term usually describes investigators in the ruling Communist Party who probe graft and political disloyalty. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's secretive internal investigation agency, had no announcements on its website about Meng and could not be reached for comment.
ALSO READ | France opens probe into Interpol president Meng Hongwei's disappearance
Meng is the first from his country to serve as Interpol's president, a post that is largely symbolic but powerful in status and not without political weight. But because Interpol's secretary general is responsible for the day-to-day running of the police agency's operations, Meng's absence may have little operational effect.
Far from being a Hollywood-style agency with agents toting weapons across the globe, Interpol is low-profile and discrete about its cases, unless it wants to talk.
The organization links up police officials of its 192 member states, who can use Interpol to disseminate their search for a fugitive, or a missing person. Only at the behest of a country does the information go public via a "red notice," the closest thing to an international arrest warrant. "Yellow notices" are issued for missing persons.
But Interpol walks a fine line between its noble mission facilitating international police cooperation and the politics and policies of some of its member countries.
Meng's appointment as president in 2016 amid Chinese leader Xi Jinping's sweeping anti-corruption drive alarmed some human rights organizations, fearful it would embolden China to strike out at dissidents and refugees abroad.
This Oct.16, 2007 file photo shows the entrance hall of Interpol's headquarters in Lyon, central France. A French judicial official says Friday Oct.5, 2018 the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to China. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for an ongoing investigation, said Meng Hongwei's wife reported him missing on Friday. (Photo | AP)
Such actions would be contrary to Interpol's mission statement: "Action is taken within the limits of existing laws in different countries and in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." It adds that "intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character" are prohibited.
Meng has a shiny curriculum vita, having held down various 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. His term in Lyon runs until 2020.
His duties in China would have put him in close proximity to former leaders, some who had fallen afoul of Xi's campaign. He likely dealt extensively with former security chief Zhou Yongkang, now serving a life sentence for corruption.
Xi has placed a premium on getting officials and businesspeople accused of fraud and corruption to return from abroad, making Meng's position even more sensitive.
The anti-corruption drive recently drew headlines after the disappearance three months ago of "X-Men" star Fan Bingbing, one of the country's best-known actresses.
Her whereabouts remain unknown. But on Thursday, Chinese tax authorities spoke publicly about her disappearance public, ordering her and companies she represents to pay taxes and penalties totaling $130 million. Fan is being fined around $70 million personally for tax evasion. Still out of the public eye, she issued a statement apologizing for her actions.
China, in the midst of a weeklong holiday, offered no comment on the disappearance of Meng.
In France, there were only questions.
The French are "obviously aware of the disappearance but know nothing more at this stage," said one diplomatic official, unauthorized to comment publicly on the matter and speaking only on condition of anonymity.
By AFP
ISTANBUL: A Saudi columnist remained missing on Friday as supporters rallied outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul calling for his "release" despite Riyadh's denials that he was being held there.
Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post, has not been seen since he went to the Saudi mission on Tuesday to receive an official document for his marriage.
The Turkish-Arab Media Association (TAM) organised a rally in front of the consulate for Khashoggi, a former government adviser who has been critical of some policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Riyadh's intervention in the war in Yemen.
He has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since last year to avoid possible arrest.
The crown prince told Bloomberg that the journalist was not inside the consulate and said he was ready to allow Turkish authorities to search the building.
"We are ready to welcome the Turkish government to go and search our premises," he said, which is Saudi sovereign territory.
He added, "we will allow them to enter and search and do whatever they want to do... We have nothing to hide," he said in the interview published on Friday.
According to Khashoggi's fiancee, a Turkish woman called Hatice A., he went to the consulate and never re-emerged.
Ankara and Riyadh have given contradictory versions of the circumstances of Khashoggi's disappearance, with Turkish officials saying they believed he was still inside the consultate.
But Saudi Arabia claimed he had entered and then left the mission on Tuesday.
"As journalists we are concerned by the fate of Jamal. We do not know if he is alive or not, and the statements by Saudi Arabia on the subject are far from satisfactory," Turan Kislakci, a friend of Khashoggi and TAM chief, said in a statement to supporters.
As Kislakci spoke, supporters held up images of the journalist, with the words "Free Jamal Khashoggi".
"We believe that Jamal Khashoggi is the consulate's 'host' and call for his immediate release, or to tell us where he is," Kislakci added.
'Petrifying signal'
Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International's Middle East research director, urged Riyadh to "immediately disclose the evidence supporting their claim" that he left the consulate, "otherwise their claims are utterly baseless".
Yemeni activist and 2011 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Tawakkol Karman, hit out at the Saudi authorities and told AFP that she believed Khashoggi "was kidnapped in this gangster's den that is supposed to be a consulate".
"What we want is Jamal Khashoggi's release. He entered the building of the consulate, he has to come out of there safe and sound. And the Turkish government must assume its role and deal with the case of Jamal Khashoggi because Turkish sovereignty has been violated," she added.
Human Rights Watch called on Ankara to "deepen their investigation" into the journalist's whereabouts, saying his possible detention could "constitute an enforced disappearance" in a statement late Thursday.
"If Saudi authorities surreptitiously detained Khashoggi it would be yet another escalation of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman's reign of repression against peaceful dissidents and critics," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW, said.
Amnesty's Maalouf said the incident "sends a petrifying signal" to the kingdom's critics and dissidents.
By AFP
ANKARA: Turkey has opened a probe into the disappearance of a Saudi journalist who has not been seen since he went inside the Saudi mission in Istanbul four days ago, the state-run Anadolu news agency said Saturday.
ALSO READ | Supporters of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi rally for his 'release'
Riyadh says Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post, had left the consulate but Ankara says he is still inside.
The news agency quoted Istanbul prosecutors as saying that an investigation had been launched on Tuesday and had been widened since.
Khashoggi went to the consulate to receive an official document for his marriage.
ALSO READ | Turkey summons Saudi ambassador over missing journalist
A former government adviser who has been critical of some policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Riyadh's intervention in the war in Yemen, Khashoggi has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since last year to avoid possible arrest.
The Saudi crown prince has told Bloomberg that the journalist was not inside the consulate and said he was ready to allow Turkish authorities to search the building.
"We are ready to welcome the Turkish government to go and search our premises," he said, which is Saudi sovereign territory.
"We will allow them to enter and search and do whatever they want to do. We have nothing to hide," he said in the interview published on Friday.
According to Khashoggi's fiancee, a Turkish woman identified only as Hatice A, he went to the consulate and never re-emerged.
Ankara and Riyadh have given contradictory versions of the circumstances of Khashoggi's disappearance.
By Associated Press
WASHINGTON: The bitterly polarized U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday to join the Supreme Court, delivering an election-season triumph to President Donald Trump that could swing the court rightward for a generation after a battle that rubbed raw the country's cultural, gender and political divides.
The near party-line vote was 50-48, capping a fight that seized the national conversation after claims emerged that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted women three decades ago which he emphatically denied. Those claims magnified the clash from a routine Supreme Court struggle over judicial ideology into an angrier, more complex jumble of questions about victims' rights, the presumption of innocence and personal attacks on nominees.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., heads to the Senate floor for the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Washington. (Photo | AP)
Acrimonious to the end, the battle featured a climactic roll call that was interrupted several times by protesters in the Senate Gallery before Capitol Police removed them.
The vote gave Trump his second appointee to the court, tilting it further to the right and pleasing conservative voters who might have revolted against GOP leaders had Kavanaugh's nomination flopped. Democrats hope that the roll call, exactly a month from elections in which House and Senate control are in play, will prompt infuriated women and liberals to stream to the polls to oust Republicans.
In final remarks just before the voting, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said a vote for Kavanaugh was "a vote to end this brief, dark chapter in the Senate's history and turn the page toward a brighter tomorrow."
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York looked ahead to November, appealing to voters beyond the Senate chamber: "Change must come from where a change in America always begins: the ballot box."
Rep. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, confronting a tough re-election race next month in a state that Trump won in 2016 by a landslide, was the sole Democrat to vote against Kavanaugh. Every voting Republican backed the 53-year-old conservative judge.
Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, the only Republican to oppose the nominee, voted "present," offsetting the absence of Kavanaugh supporter Steve Daines of Montana, who was attending his daughter's wedding. That rare procedural manoeuvre left Kavanaugh with the same two-vote margin he'd have had if Murkowski and Daines had both voted.
It was the closest roll call to confirm a justice since 1881, when Stanley Matthews was approved by 24-23, according to Senate records.
Murkowski said Friday that Kavanaugh was "a good man" but his "appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable." Republicans hold only a 51-49 Senate majority and therefore had little support to spare.
Activists chant as they are arrested by Capitol Hill Police officers after occupying the steps on the East Front of the U.S. (Photo | AP)
The outcome, telegraphed Friday when the final undeclared senators revealed their views, was devoid of the shocks that had come almost daily since Christine Blasey Ford said last month that an inebriated Kavanaugh tried to rape her at a 1982 high school get-together.
Since then, the country watched agape at electric moments. These included the emergence of two other accusers; an unforgettable Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which a composed Ford and a seething Kavanaugh told their diametrically opposed stories, and a truncated FBI investigation that the agency said showed no corroborating evidence and Democrats lambasted as a White House-shackled farce.
All the while, crowds of demonstrators mostly Kavanaugh opponents ricocheted around the Capitol's grounds and hallways, raising tensions, chanting slogans, interrupting lawmakers' debates, confronting senators and often getting arrested.
Trump weighed in Saturday morning on behalf of the man he nominated in July. "Big day for America!" he tweeted.
President Donald Trump calls on a reporter as he speaks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House. Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Washington, en route to Topeka, Kansas. Trump said he is looking forward to the Senate confirmation vote on Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. (Photo | AP)
Democrats said Kavanaugh would push the court too far, including possible sympathetic rulings for Trump should the president encounter legal problems from the special counsel's investigations into Russian connections with his 2016 presidential campaign. And they said Kavanaugh's record and fuming testimony at a now-famous Senate Judiciary Committee hearing showed he lacked the fairness, temperament and even honesty to become a justice.
But the fight was defined by the sexual assault accusations. And it was fought against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and Trump's unyielding support of his nominee and occasional mocking of Kavanaugh's accusers.
About 100 anti-Kavanaugh protesters climbed the Capitol's East Steps as the vote approached, pumping fists and waving signs. U.S. Capitol Police began arresting some of them. Hundreds of other demonstrators watched from behind barricades. Protesters have roamed Capitol Hill corridors and grounds daily, chanting, "November is coming," ''Vote them out" and "We believe survivors."
On Friday, at the moment that made clear Kavanaugh would prevail, Collins delivered a speech saying that Ford's Judiciary Committee telling of the alleged 1982 assault was "sincere, painful and compelling." But she also said the FBI had found no corroborating evidence from witnesses whose names Ford had provided.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the chamber for the final vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. (Photo | AP)
"We must always remember that it is when passions are most inflamed that fairness is most in jeopardy," said Collins, perhaps the chamber's most moderate Republican.
Manchin used an emailed statement to announce his support for Kavanaugh moments after Collins finished talking. Manchin, the only Democrat supporting the nominee, faces a competitive re-election race next month in a state Trump carried in 2016 by 42 percentage points.
Manchin expressed empathy for sexual assault victims. But he said that after factoring in the FBI report, "I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution."
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has repeatedly battled with Trump and will retire in January, said he, too, planned to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation.
Vice President Mike Pence planned to be available in case his tie-breaking vote was needed.
In the procedural vote Friday that handed Republicans their crucial initial victory, senators voted 51-49 to limit debate, defeating Democratic efforts to scuttle the nomination with endless delays.
When Trump nominated Kavanaugh in July, Democrats leapt to oppose him, saying that past statements and opinions showed he'd be a threat to the Roe v. Wade case that assured the right to abortion. They said he also seemed too ready to rule for Trump in a possible federal court case against the president.
Yet Kavanaugh's path to confirmation seemed unfettered until Ford and two other women emerged with sexual misconduct allegations from the 1980s.
Kavanaugh would replace the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was a swing vote on issues such as abortion, campaign finance and same-sex marriage.
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.
Champaign, IL (61820)
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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.
Slay goddess Pokello Nare would really not ordinarily come across as the everyday person who would rent out portions of her heart for others.
After all she has a whole lot of swaglicious self to love and pamper, in between her modelling, business, Instagram slay and everything glamorous in between. Never mind the glamorous parties that she always headlines with her trademark self.
Yet when she raised eyebrows last weekend in a Chicken Hut jaunt, many speculated that the queen of slay was not here simply for the juicy thighs in the Portuguese eatery. After all she has juicy thighs of her own . . . back in her kitchen which she could whip up for herself! And as fate would have it, the usually reclusive socialite agreed to open up on the reason behind her much-hyped visit to Avondale.
The truth is I have decided to team up with Chicken Hut in what they we are calling the Good Heart initiative which I feel is something that is very noble and needed in our society at the moment, she said.
While many struggled to talk to Pokello, who is now media-wary, the Queen of Swag agreed to an interview with Saturday Herald Lifestyle and lay bare her latest initiative which is a whole different ball game.
I was motivated to join the Good Heart initiative after the momentum of a fan I went on a date with and how much it trended on social media just to see how many people felt so impressed and happy. I said I want to be part of what Chicken Hut is launching and be part of it because the more people you put smiles on their faces, the happier you can be.
As part of the Good Heart initiative we are going to be doing a lot of programmes, starting with disadvantaged girls, sex workers doing things like HIV testing, just a lot of day to day issues that affect young women and people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
I am impressed with where Chicken Hut are trying to take the vision of their social corporate responsibility in terms of their branding. I am happy to partner with Chicken Hut and I am now part of the initiative, said the socialite.
And while she was talking it was easily evident why she leaves a lot of people star-struck. Like a portrait painted by Picasso, which she stole and used as a face, the radiant Pokello is the stuff that dreams are made of.
Ok, imagine a juicy chicken, dripping of the most succulent sauces. It is enough to leave your fingers dripping and your lips smeared in sauce. And yet she finished the whole thigh glamorously, eating like some super creature without once leaving her signature fascia pink lipstick disturbed in any way as she chewed like a heavenly apparition.
Slaying is definitely hard work!
And it is this brand that she hopes will push a people-centred, feel good project that will bring elation to a nation in need of such.
With initiatives ranging from cancer, uplifting the esteem of the underprivileged in society, working with underprivileged girls and women from poor backgrounds to a wide array of causes that abound in the nation, Pokello hopes her appeal and eyeballs that follow her every move will now follow her as she makes a change in the nation for a good cause complete with her signature heels and all. Call it her attempt to heel the world.
I was won over that an organisation would get out of its way to want to help the underprivileged people in Zimbabwe. Many other businesses are solely concentrating on making money and their core business. They spoke to a shared ideal between us and we immediately could see that we were perfect partners going forward, she said.
And in a month like October in which causes like breast cancer awareness are at the top of peoples agenda, Chicken Hut and Pokello, whose colour of choice is interestingly pink the colour of breast cancer awareness could not have picked a better time to start their admirable crusade.
This also cuts away from the everyday perception of Pokello as a mere socialite. Shes not just a pretty face it would seem. She is also a pretty heart.
I am impressed. I also learnt that she is a mother and a philanthropist over and above what we knew of her. When I heard she was here in Avondale, I rushed to see a socialite and get pictures. As I go, I leave with respect for a woman who has so much virtue than we ever knew and I will definitely follow the initiative as it unfolds, said a star-struck fan at the unveiling of the Good Heart initiative.
In a world where there is so much negativity we wanted to look for positivity. We wanted to bring smiles to Zimbabwe. Pokello is a brand in Zimbabwe, and when we dined with her, that is when she got to know of our initiative and we felt we had the same goals of healing our world and making people smile so we decided to partner in this. Zimbabwe will certainly be a happy place thanks to our efforts, said Navhraj S Chauhan, the companys Chief Operating Officer.
October opens up the floodgates of love amongst many corporates, with Zimbabwes leading and largest media organisation, Zimpapers, also embarking on the now hugely popular Cancer Walk in support of breast cancer initiatives as well as other cancers in general.
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(Newser) She was deemed the Democrats' "last big hope" to derail the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as Supreme Court justice. But as it became clear Friday during Susan Collins' 45-minute-long speech on the Senate floor that Maine's GOP senator was going to greenlight Kavanaugh, money started flowing in to the two crowdfunding efforts set up to fund her 2020 opponent should she back the judgeefforts she has previously deemed an attempt to bribe her. By the time she wrapped up her words, USA Today reports, those two funds had more than $3 million stockpiled between them, with donations being posted every three seconds, the activist groups behind them said in a statement. One of the fundraising pages was apparently so overwhelmed with traffic, in fact, that it temporarily crashed, they added. Fast Company notes the Crowdpac site was back up within an hour.
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Meanwhile, CNN reports on a surprise development from Susan Rice, national security adviser under President Obama. After an ex-White House official wondered on Twitter, "Who wants to run for Senate in Maine?," Rice responded with a one-word tweet: "Me." It turns out Rice's mother was born in the Pine Tree State, and Rice still has a home there. Rice later softened her tweet, adding, "Many thanks for the [encouragement]. I'm not making any announcements. Like so many Americans, I am deeply disappointed in Senator Collins' vote for Kavanaugh. Maine and America deserve better." The Hill reports on another big name seemingly taking aim, but at Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the lone Republican to say no on Kavanaugh. "Hey @LisaMurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house," Sarah Palin tweeted, leading to speculation she may be planning a primary challenge against Murkowski. (Read more Susan Collins stories.)
(Newser) For Hayward Duresseau, a "terrifying" diagnosis ended in one of the happiest moments of his life. The 27-year-old had just visited San Francisco with boyfriend Kerry Kennedy in February when he grew exhausted, lost some vision, got a killer headache, and fell violently illwhich landed him in an emergency room in their hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana, reports NBC News. His eye problem soon developed into hearing loss and a new diagnosis: bacterial meningococcal meningitis, a possibly fatal infection that WebMD says inflames membranes covering the spinal cord and brain. An outbreak had just struck San Francisco, spreading by prolonged contact with a carrier via kissing or shared food or water, per Buzzfeed.
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"When he was first diagnosed, it was terrifying," Kennedy said. "I was really scared. I wasn't sure if he was ever going to leave the hospital." But Kennedy, 37, stayed by Duresseau's side for his three weeks in hospital and six months of recovery. Paralyzed from the hips down, Duresseau did regain mobility and sight but lost all hearingso the couple learned American Sign Language together, reports People. When a cochlear implant allowed him to hear again, the first thing he heard was Kennedy's marriage proposal: Down on one knee, Kennedy asked, "Will you marry me?" Amid tears and laughter, Duresseau said one word: "Yes." See the video on Kennedy's Facebook page, where he writes, "These have been some of the most challenging months of our lives, but we made it together." (Read more meningitis stories.)
(Newser) "It's a lot of workmaybe they don't want to do it." So says Sen. Chuck Grassley on why the Senate Judiciary Committee that supported Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination had no female Republicans, per the Wall Street Journal. "My chief of staff of 33 years tells me we've tried to recruit women and we couldn't get the job done," adds Grassley, the committee's chair. But the 85-year-old Republican later walked back his remarks, saying the committee's workload made it less enticing to male and female senators alike: "We have a hard time getting men on the committee. It's just a lot of work whether you're a man or a woman, it doesnt matter."
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What exactly makes it so hard to get senators on board? "Well, I love it. I've been on it 38 years," the senator responded. "On average, any woman in the United States Senate, whether theyre on Judiciary or any other committee, probably works harder than the average man." Continuing his apparent change of heart, Grassley said the Supreme Court should have more women: "Probably five would be about right." All Republicans on the committee are male, while the Democrats have ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein and three other women, per the Huffington Post . In fact Republicans haven't had a single female member since the committee was established in 1816, Vox notes.
(Read more Senate Judiciary Committee stories.)
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In a letter sent to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Raul Castro said he was saddened when learning about the death of the former Party chief.
As a close friend of Cuba, comrade Do Muoi had contributed to consolidating the fraternity between the two countries, he said.
Raul Castro extended the deepest sympathy to Party General Secretary Trong and former Party General Secretary Do Muois family.
President of Cubas Council of State and Council of Ministers Miguel Diaz Canel also cabled condolence messages to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Acting President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh.
The government and people of Cuba always keep in mind comrade Do Muois contributions to the development of the long-standing friendship and fraternity between the two countries, he said.
Myanmars State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi expressed her sympathy to PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc while President Win Myint extended condolences to Acting President Thinh.
They highly valued former Party General Secretary Do Muois outstanding leadership and great contributions to advancing political, economic and social position of Vietnam in regional and international arena.
Thailands Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai sent messages of sympathy to PM Phuc and Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.
The Thai leaders praised the Vietnamese former Party chiefs great contributions to Vietnams Doi Moi (Reform) process, and laying a firm foundation for the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Other condolence messages came from Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, and President of Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance and Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan Toshihiro Nikai to PM Phuc and President of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Parliamentarians Group and head of the Party Central Committees Organisation Commission Pham Minh Chinh.
Deputy PM and FM Minh also got a message from Japanese Foreign Minister Kono Taro.
In their letters, the Japanese leaders praised former General Secretary Do Muoi as a talented leader who significantly contributed to national development and paid due attention to promoting the Vietnam-Japan relationship.
In a message to Party General Secretary Trong, President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in hailed former Party General Secretary Do Muoi for his great contributions to the relations between Vietnam and the RoK, especially the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic ties.
Saudi Arabia has agreed in principle to invest in a new oil refinery in Pakistans Chinese-funded deep-water port of Gwadar, the South Asian nations petroleum minister said yesterday. State-owned Pakistan State Oil will partner with Saudi state oil giant Aramco on the project, Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told reporters. Details of the refinerys costs and capacity are to be worked out later, once a formal memorandum of understanding that was approved by Pakistans cabinet on Thursday is finalised, he added.
Gwadar, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, is the crown jewel of Chinas more than $60 billion in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Pakistan. Last month, Pakistan invited Saudi Arabia to invest in projects related to BRIs China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), though the government clarified this week that China was still the only true partner. Petroleum Minister Khan said a visiting Saudi delegation visited Gwadar on Tuesday.
They showed an interest to immediately invest in the refinery, Khan said. We sat down and held initial discussions with them and it was principally decided by both sides that it will be a government-to-government agreement. The offer came after new Prime Minister Imran Khan made Riyadh his first foreign visit since taking office.
The Finance Ministry is considering not applying a reduced tax rate to food and nonalcoholic beverages sold and consumed at the same stores when Japan's consumption tax is raised from 8 pct to 10 pct in October next year, it was learned Thursday.
The ministry now plans to apply the reduced rate of 8 pct to all food and nonalcoholic beverages at retail outlets, such as convenience stores, on condition that they are not consumed inside outlets, informed sources said while citing new criteria for the application of the reduced rate compiled by the ministry.
The new criteria do not reflect the convenience store industry's request for leaving the 8 pct tax rate unchanged for all food and nonalcoholic drinks, including those consumed in dining spaces.
To get full application of the reduced rate, grocery stores with sitting spaces will be required under the new rules to explicitly notify shoppers of prohibition of eating and drinking there, the sources said.
Japan's Financial Services Agency ordered Suruga Bank <8358> on Friday to stop extending fresh loans for real estate investment for six months, over its improper practices related to such financing.
The FSA also ordered Suruga Bank, based in Numazu in the central prefecture of Shizuoka, to clarify management responsibility over the scandal and submit specific improvement measures by the end of November.
The ban on real estate investment loans will be in place between Oct. 12 and April 12 next year. A business suspension order effective for such a long period is rare in Japan.
The bank can continue other services, such as deposit withdrawals.
It is the first business suspension order issued in Japan to a domestic bank since one given in December 2013 to Mizuho Bank, a unit of Mizuho Financial Group Inc. <8411>, over loans extended to antisocial forces by an affiliated lender.
Japan will not send any Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to an international fleet review to be held in South Korea on Thursday, due to a South Korean request not to display the MSDF's rising sun flag during the event, Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Friday.
The South Korean request reflects antipathy among the country's public toward the flag, which features a rising sun with sun rays, the same design as that for the now-defunct Imperial Japanese military's flag.
As the Korean Peninsula was under Japan's colonial rule in 1910-1945, the flag is regarded as a symbol of its past militarism by South Koreans. In South Korea, a law revision to ban the use of the flag in the country was submitted to its parliament on Tuesday.
The flag row is hitting the Japan-South Korea relationship as the two countries mark the 20th anniversary this month of the 1998 joint declaration on their 21st-century partnership being adopted by then Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.
According to Defense Ministry officials, Japan received South Korea's invitation to the fleet review in October last year, and the MSDF had been considering sending a destroyer to the event.
Restaurants near Tokyo's Tsukiji market are concerned about a possible rat invasion after the demolition of the iconic wholesale food market, to be closed Saturday for relocation to the Toyosu district.
While authorities are attempting to get rid of the rats in the market in Chuo Ward, an expert believes that their efforts will have limited results.
It is not known how many rats are in the market. Tatsuo Yabe, the 77-year-old head of a consultation group for exterminating rats, said there should be nearly 10,000 of them, given the size of the market and abundance of food there.
Restaurants in the so-called outer market, the popular shopping area next to the Tsukiji market, especially fear brown rats, which can spread infectious diseases and food poisoning. The outer section will stay on after the market's relocation.
In the current fiscal year, the Tokyo metropolitan government spent 35 million yen to get rid of the rats in the market, deploying 40,000 adhesive rat traps and rodenticides.
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Writing in the condolence book, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh lauded the former leader for his contributions to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation.
Minh wrote that in his capacity as the General Secretary, comrade Do Muoi made historic and strategic directions in external relations such as normalising ties with China and the US, signing the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation with the European Union, joining ASEAN and launching negotiations on the Bilateral Trade Agreement with the US.
At the ceremony, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Royal Palace Kong Sam Ol conveyed a letter of condolences from King Norodom Sihamoni to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
Sim Ka, a member of the Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) Central Committees Standing Board expressed his profound condolences to the Vietnamese Party, government and people and family of comrade Do Muoi and wished that he will rest in peace.
The ambassadors of Laos, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Myanmar, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, and representatives from embassies and international organisations in Phnom Penh also came to pay their last respects to the former Party leader.
On October 5, the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia, the Vietnamese Consulate Generals in Sydney and Perth also held respect-paying ceremonies and opened funeral books for the former Party chief.
Representatives of the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, diplomatic corps, embassies of Laos, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Venezuela also paid tribute to comrade Do Muoi.
Lao Ambassador to Australia Sisavath Inphachanh wrote that the former General Secretary was a great leader who made great contributions to national liberation and development, as well as ties between the two Parties and special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Laos and Vietnam.
A similar ceremony was also held in Myanmar on October 5.
Two sons of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, Prince Akeem Adeyemi and Prince Bayo Adeyemi will battle each other for the Afijio...
Two sons of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, Prince Akeem Adeyemi and Prince Bayo Adeyemi will battle each other for the Afijio/Atiba/Oyo East/Oyo West Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives during the 2019 general election.
Prince Akeem Adeyemi fondly known as (Skimeh) is currently representing the constituency under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He was elected to represent the constituency in 2015.
The duo of Akeem and his brother, Prince Bayo Adeyemi popularly called (D-Guv), secured the tickets of APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Reps seat during the primary elections of the parties respectively.
Akeem got the APC ticket while Bayo secured the PDP ticket during the primary elections held in Oyo town.
Abdulaziz Yari, governor of Zamfara state, has asked the panel the national working committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (...
Abdulaziz Yari, governor of Zamfara state, has asked the panel the national working committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) set up to conduct a fresh governorship primary, not to visit the state.
Yari said this while reacting to the dissolution of the state executive committee of the ruling party.
The NWC had dissolved the exco and scheduled a fresh primary election for Saturday.
This followed the cancellation of the previous exercise over violence.
Yari has been accused of igniting the crisis in a bid to impose his candidate on the people.
But the governor denied this allegation, accusing Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the ruling party, of working against the interest of the APC.
He accused Oshiomhole of attempting to influence the outcome of the primary, saying he is ready to go any length, even laying down his life, to prevent that from happening.
We are here for another briefing regarding the primary elections in Zamfara state. We have barely less than 52 hours by the guidelines of electoral act 2018 and we are still here with no member of the committee to conduct the primary election, he said.
One development which is yet not clear, the APC national chairman announced through the publicity secretary the dissolution of party executives. Though, they have sent the counter release that what they mean is that the state exco should not take part in the processes of primary elections in Zamfara state, that we have no problem with.
Now, we heard that the committee of the chairman is not in consultation with any working committee. He (Oshiomhole) is trying to be a kind of mini-godThe committee he sent to Zamfara state, I want to say it categorically, they should never step into Zamfara for one minute.
I, Abdulaziz Yari, governor of Zamfara state, head of government and security, I am saying that the committee sent by Oshiomhole to come and do a dirty job should not dare come into Zamfara state.
We are ready, including myself, to be taken to the graveyard tomorrow. If he knows that his father and mother gave birth to him, he should send those people and see and it is fight to finish.
Sokoto State governor and Presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) Aminu Tambuwal on Saturday said only a candidat...
Sokoto State governor and Presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) Aminu Tambuwal on Saturday said only a candidate that understands the complexities of the country can deliver it from challenges.
The governor who spoke during a visit to the Lagos State PDP Secretariat, told party members that the country is highly complex to be managed by politician who is not well grounded on developments in the country.
He added that if he becomes the President next year, the country would be turned around by providing basic necessities for the people.
According to him, the country could no longer lag behind in the comity of nation, urging the PDP to elect a candidate that would deliver in the dividend of democracy.
He said: This time around we must get it right by ensuring that the party field a candidate that can defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019. We must bring someone who can revive the country and must be someone the people can trust.
As former Speaker House of Representatives, what we did still speaks volume. I shall give each and everyone in this country a sense of belonging. That is to say, we will all work for the development of the country.
Ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention, presidential aspirants are making final arrangements to get a chance ...
Ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention, presidential aspirants are making final arrangements to get a chance at the partys ticket.
Two of the aspirants Senate President Bukola Saraki and David Mark, his predecessor met with key stakeholders vital to their success, on Friday night.
While Saraki met with members of the national assembly in Port Harcourt, Mark met with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo at his Abeokuta residence in Ogun state.
The agenda of the meeting between Saraki and the lawmakers was unknown but it is believed to be seek their supper before the convention begins.
In a statement, Paul Mummeh, spokesman of Mark, said this principal was endorsed by Obasanjo during the visit.
He said the former president was of the opinion that Senator Mark possess the requisite skill, knowledge and experience needed to put the nation back on track.
Mark was quoted as saying: I have come to brief our leaders of my ambition and to seek their guidance and blessings. I am happy to report that I got their endorsement.
I am grateful for this gesture. I promise to do only those things that would give them pride and honor. I am flattered by their show of affection and encouragement. I can only promise not to let them down.
Obasanjo is not a member of the party but he wields influence, having served his two terms as president under the PDP.
The Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, on Saturday pointed out qualities the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, should look o...
The Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, on Saturday pointed out qualities the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, should look out for before picking their Presidential candidate.
Spokesperson of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin in an interview said PDP delegates should pick a candidate who can restructure the country and can be trusted by Nigerians.
Odumakin said this while reacting to who should emerge PDP candidate that can muscle power from President Muhammadu Buhari among the crop of aspirants contesting.
PDPs Presidential primary election will hold today in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Among those jostling for the Presidential ticket include, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Senator from Kano, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, former Kaduna State Governor, Ahmed Makarfi, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki among others.
Speaking, Odumakin added that PDP delegates should pick a candidate who is impartial, put Nigeria on the path f productivity and one who will give Nigeria a fresh start.
According to Odumakin, Looking at it, PDP is parading about 13 aspirants and at the end of the day, only one will emerge and from the look of things they have some very formidable names, I mean Atiku is a very strong candidate, Saraki, Kwankwaso are all strong candidates.
I dont think that there is short supply of good material but I wish delegates pick the best of the best who can carry out this assignment of taking over Nigeria and putting us on the right path, who can restructure the country to true federalism; a President with a very wide mind and is well connected and can be trusted among Nigerians.
We need a president who is not parochial, not looking at his corner of the country, a President that can bring everybody on board and run an inclusive government, who can give Nigeria a fresh start and put the country on the path of productivity, and that is the kind of person the delegates should pick today.
It is rare for someone to live for more than 100 years like comrade Do Muoi. It is even rarer when such a man has made significant contributions to the country and its people, set an example of diligence, thrift, integrity and fairness, and won the respect of Party members and the people, both during his career and when he departed this life.
Devoting more than 80 years to the revolutionary cause, comrade Do Muoi was jailed by the French colonialists at Hoa Loa Prison and entrusted to hold many important Party and State posts, every one of which he was completely dedicated to.
Comrade Do Muoi was at the helm when the country was undergoing tremendous difficulties, notably the fall of socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and the Doi Moi reform process, which abolished the central command economy that was deeply ingrained in the minds of millions of people.
The real stories of how he led the Party and people to overcome those days might seem quite alien when retold today.
During those days, the fall of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe sowed confusion and shook the confidence in the countrys way forward. A big question was raised: Without the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc to lean on, can Vietnam withstand and continue on the socialist path?
With a renewed mind-set and political sensitivity, as the captain of the Vietnamese revolutionary ship, comrade Do Muoi gave an answer not by lengthy, abstract and incomprehensible preaches but prompt and creative policies in politics, economics and external relations, which lifted the country out of danger to continue going forward.
Reforming to go forward and going forward requires reforming. Such a practicality, as I understand, is a both revolutionary and scientific solution of the Party that comrade Do Muoi was brave enough to embrace in order to steer the revolutionary ship out of the fierce storm.
In order to unify perception and action within the Party, many classes on new theoretical issues were conducted after the 7th Party Congress with a crop of carefully chosen lecturers, however, most students only preferred listening to General Secretary Do Muoi, whose lectures were not only profound but also animated and practical.
During his years as General Secretary, the world witnessed Vietnams significant watershed on the diplomatic front, from an isolated country, Vietnam normalised its relations with China in 1991, with the United States in 1995 and joined the ASEAN in the same year.
In memory of comrade Do Muoi, I want to recall a few stories that many might consider trivial. As everyone witnessed, when receiving international or domestic guests, working with central leaders or local leaders, he was always associated with simplicity. Once he was asked Why do you always wear the Zhongshan suit? He answered truthfully, I often have a sore throat so I wear this suit to keep my neck warm and so as not to have to put on a tie. And then to avoid further why-questions, he turned to the suits made domestically from popular materials. Those with an opportunity to visit his house at 11 Pham Dinh Ho Street, where he had lived for decades, could see his simplicity even more clearly as any precious or expensive items were barely present.
Comrade Do Muoi not only set an example on but also called on everyone to practise thrift. As General Secretary, that he asked the Central Committee members to drink green tea only, and not bottled water, was a true story. It is also true that he disapproved of building a new Party headquarters.
One time when he attended an anniversary ceremony, he refused to have a flower pinned on his chest, explaining that a flower costs a small amount of money but thousands or millions of such flowers are a waste of money. Following his example, I directed my subordinates to put an end to the practice of pinning flowers on the chest of delegates. Later as Minister of Culture and Information, I also succeeded in scrapping the practice of giving gift bags at national anniversary ceremonies.
Many officials were able to learn the habit of reading books every day from comrade Do Muoi. Quite a lot of those who visited him felt awkward when they saw him holding a newly published book and asked Have you read this book yet?.
Comrade Do Muoi is no more but he has left many good memories of his dedication to the country and people. The country and people of Vietnam will always remember him and accord him deep respect.
The Senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Dino Melaye has stated that the invitation extended to him, the Senate President...
The Senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Dino Melaye has stated that the invitation extended to him, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and Senator Ben Bruce was to stop them from resuming at the National Assembly on the 9th of October.
Melaye, Saraki and Bruce were yesterday at the centre of the protest against the result of the Osun State governorship election.
The lawmakers, among other topshots of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had stormed the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, demanding the commission to declare Ademola Adeleke, the candidate of PDP, as winner of the election.
Bruce had alleged that police attacked the protesters .
The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, had summoned the Senate President and Senators Melaye and Ben Bruce over their alleged involvement in the disturbance of public peace and safety in the FCT.
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has reacted to a press release issued by the Nigeria Police over the protest staged by the Peo...
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has reacted to a press release issued by the Nigeria Police over the protest staged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Sarakis reaction was contained in a statement by Yusuph Olaniyonu, his Special Adviser on Media.
He said police made various forms of spurious, unfounded and false claims about the protest in which they singled out three senators, Saraki, Senators Dino Melaye and Ben Murray-Bruce, of the many leaders of the PDP, including three Governors, a former Governor, presidential aspirants and members of the national working committees, and accused them of involvement in the disturbance of public safety, unlawful blockade of Shehu Shagari Way.
He said: After carefully reading the Police statement, one cannot but describe the claims made in it as laughable, crude and and another low point in the posture of the police against the opposition in the country.
In exercise of their constitutional rights of assembly, expression and movement, leaders of the PDP decided to stage a peaceful procession from the partys campaign office on Ibrahim Babangida Way to INEC and Police Headquarters. The procession consisted of the Senate President, the party national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, presidential aspirants, members of the National Assembly, Governors of Ekiti and Sokoto States. Later, the Governors of Taraba and Gombe States joined the procession,
The purpose was to express the opposition of the PDP to the manner in which the electoral body and the security agencies had been colluding with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate election results and subvert the will of the people, as evidenced by the conduct of the gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun State. We wanted to send a clear signal that such official subversion of the will of the people in favour of the APC should not be repeated in the 2019 elections.
At the INEC secretariat, the procession spent over 40 minutes where the various leaders addressed the crowd in the presence of two national commissioners of INEC, including the one in charge of legal matters, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu. The two INEC commissioners equally responded to the complaints raised by the PDP leaders. It was a civilised, frank and enlightened exchange, devoid of any rancour.
The procession then headed towards the Police Headquarters while being hailed on the streets by ordinary Nigerians who came out to cheer the leaders standing in an open van. From the Eagles Square end, the procession was on the other side of the road going to Police Headquarters. The procession did not even get to the point where it will turn to the side where the Police Force Headquarters is located when the police rained tear gas on the people. They deliberately targettted the open vans in which the Senate President and other VIPs were standing.
The procession quickly diverted to the Area 11 Junction leading to FCDA. The diversion was done to avoid a repeat of the 2003 event in which a similar tear gassing event led to the death of a former Senate President, Senator Chuba Okadigbo.
Let it be known that the hostile, brutal, needlesss, tactless and uncivil response of the Police under the present leadership of Mr. Ibrahim Kpotum Idris to the peaceful, lawful and justified procession was in contrast to how the same police responded to a similar protest by the opposition in 2014.
In 2014, the protesters then led by the Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), the candidate of the opposition party, were not attacked. They were tolerated and their grievances listened to by the police leadership. In 2014, it was the same Nigeria Police as we have today. The difference is the temperament and democratic credentials of the then administration, in general, and that of the Police leadership, in particular.
The fabrications by the Police as contained in their press statement only show the new police leadership as mere jesters trying to hone their skills in comic script-writing. Every move of the PDP procession today was recorded by the media Television, print, radio and online -, citizens, members of the civil society and the international community. These independent observers know that nothing is far from the truth than the claims made by the Police in their statement.
It should be noted that the Police under Idris are simply setting the stage for another onslaught on members of the Nigerian Senate and that is why they singled out the Senate President and two other Senators as the people being invited and accused of all these false charges.
It is clear that the Idris-led Police are intent on turning Nigeria into a police state and destroying members of the opposition at all cost and that that is why they specialize in framing up leaders of the opposition and other outspoken legislators on false charges.
The Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki has said that they will not allow the Police under the present leadership to turn Nigeria into a Banana Republic and that the hostile, brutal, needlesss, tactless and uncivil response of the Police under Mr. Ibrahim Kpotum Idris to the peaceful, lawful and justified procession was in contrast to how the same police responded to a similar protest by the opposition in 2014.Saraki responding to the Police claim on Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)s protest in Abuja yesterday said the Nigerian Police under Idris Ibrahim was setting the stage for another onslaught on members of the Nigerian Senate and that is why they singled out the Senate President and two other Senators as the people being invited and accused of false charges.He also said that It is clear that the Idris-led Police intent was on turning Nigeria into a police state and destroying members of the opposition at all cost and that is why they specialize in framing up leaders of the opposition and other outspoken legislators on false charges.The statement signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, Special Adviser to Senate President on Media and Publicity, further said the invited Senators and their party will exercise their right at all times and in all cases. We know that Nigeria has not turned to Banana Republic and we will not allow the Police under the present leadership to turn it to one, no matter the expertise for evil being displayed by its top personnel.Read full statement belowOur attention has been drawn to the blatant lies contained in a press release issued by the Nigeria Police this afternoon over the protest match staged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja against the infamous roles that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigeria Police have been playing in recent elections across the country, particularly in the Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections.The Police in their statement made various forms of spurious, unfounded and false claims about the protest in which they singled out three senators, Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Senators Dino Melaye and Ben Murray-Bruce, of the many leaders of the PDP, including three Governors, a former Governor, presidential aspirants and members of the national working committees, and accused them of involvement in the disturbance of public safety, unlawful blockade of Shehu Shagari Way., causing innocent people to scamper for safety and violent attack on Policemen posted to ensure security of Force Headquarters, pushing and hitting the policemen to forcefully enter the Force Headquaters, pushing and hitting the policemen to forcefully enter the Force Headquarters to cause damage to Police Equipment and properties.After carefully reading the Police statement, one cannot but describe the claims made in it as laughable, crude and and another low point in the posture of the police against the opposition in the country.In exercise of their constitutional rights of assembly, expression and movement, leaders of the PDP decided to stage a peaceful procession from the partys campaign office on Ibrahim Babangida Way to INEC and Police Headquarters. The procession consisted of the Senate President, the party national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, presidential aspirants, members of the National Assembly, Governors of Ekiti and Sokoto States. Later, the Governors of Taraba and Gombe States joined the procession,The purpose was to express the opposition of the PDP to the manner in which the electoral body and the security agencies had been colluding with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate election results and subvert the will of the people, as evidenced by the conduct of the gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun State. We wanted to send a clear signal that such official subversion of the will of the people in favour of the APC should not be repeated in the 2019 elections.At the INEC secretariat, the procession spent over 40 minutes where the various leaders addressed the crowd in the presence of two national commissioners of INEC, including the one in charge of legal matters, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu. The two INEC commissioners equally responded to the complaints raised by the PDP leaders. It was a civilised, frank and enlightened exchange, devoid of any rancour.The procession then headed towards the Police Headquarters while being hailed on the streets by ordinary Nigerians who came out to cheer the leaders standing in an open van. From the Eagles Square end, the procession was on the other side of the road going to Police Headquarters. The procession did not even get to the point where it will turn to the side where the Police Force Headquarters is located when the police rained tear gas on the people. They deliberately targeted the open vans in which the Senate President and other VIPs were standing.The procession quickly diverted to the Area 11 Junction leading to FCDA. The diversion was done to avoid a repeat of the 2003 event in which a similar tear gassing event led to the death of a former Senate President, Senator Chuba Okadigbo.Let it be known that the hostile, brutal, needlesss, tactless and uncivil response of the Police under the present leadership of Mr. Ibrahim Kpotum Idris to the peaceful, lawful and justified procession was in contrast to how the same police responded to a similar protest by the opposition in 2014.In 2014, the protesters then led by the Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), the candidate of the opposition party, were not attacked. They were tolerated and their grievances listened to by the police leadership. In 2014, it was the same Nigeria Police as we have today. The difference is the temperament and democratic credentials of the then administration, in general, and that of the Police leadership, in particular.The fabrications by the Police as contained in their press statement only show the new police leadership as mere jesters trying to hone their skills in comic script-writing. Every move of the PDP procession today was recorded by the media Television, print, radio and online -, citizens, members of the civil society and the international community. These independent observers know that nothing is far from the truth than the claims made by the Police in their statement.It should be noted that the Police under Idris are simply setting the stage for another onslaught on members of the Nigerian Senate and that is why they singled out the Senate President and two other Senators as the people being invited and accused of all these false charges.It is clear that the Idris-led Police are intent on turning Nigeria into a police state and destroying members of the opposition at all cost and that that is why they specialize in framing up leaders of the opposition and other outspoken legislators on false charges.This fresh attempt will fail. The invited Senators and their party will exercise their right at all times and in all cases. We know that Nigeria has not turned to Banana Republic and we will not allow the Police under the present leadership to turn it to one, no matter the expertise for evil being displayed by its top personnel.
Nguyen Dinh Can, Former deputy head of Hoa Lo prisons liaison board:
Remembering a resilient revolutionary soldier
On receiving the news of former Party General Secretary Do Muois passing away, I recollected my memories of those fierce days at Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi. During the time I was imprisoned, I fully understood the obstacles and fierceness faced by brother Do Muoi and I became more respectful of the strong will and courage of brother Muoi and his fellow prisoners, who made their escape from the prison to continue to serve the Party in March 1945.
Brother Do Muoi joined the national revolutionary in 1936. In 1941, he was arrested by the French colonialists and sentenced to 10 years in jail. He served his sentence at Ha Dong and Hoa Lo prisons in Hanoi.
Although revolutionary soldiers faced fierce living conditions at Hoa Lo prison, brother Muoi joined his fellow prisoners to manage their lives. Despite being sentenced, he and his fellow prisoners made every effort to collect news about the revolutionary happenings outside, while nurturing their intention of escape. A number of plans were mapped out and they waited for proper time to execute them.
In March 1945, when Japan staged a coup detat, he joined other revolutionary soldiers, including Tran Tu Binh, Cao Dam, Tran Quang Hoa, Nguyen Tuan, and Phan Lang, and successfully escaped from the prison. Soon after the escape, they took part in the preparation for the August Revolution.
Recalling those days past, I feel great admiration for the firm stuff, strong will and trust in victory of brother Do Muoi. During his arduous time serving his sentence, he still maintained his calm and clear mind to find a way in the dark of prison.
Experiencing hardship, brother Do Muoi attached great care and devotion to the country, as well as his fellow countrymen and comrades, which could be seen through his practical actions.
No matter if he was working in an office or even after retiring, brother Do Muoi always paid great attention to former Hoa Lo prisoners and had regular meetings with us, during which he fuelled us with motivated sprit and courage.
We will always remember him, today and forever more.
Hoang Van Nghien, former Party Central Committee member, former Chairman of Hanoi city Peoples Committee:
Contributing to the capital citys development
During my time in office, I had the opportunity to meet and directly work with comrade Do Muoi, during which I received his directions and suggestions on a number of issues in Hanoi, particularly those related to space organisation, urban construction and management.
I remember that when we were crossing by collective buildings, comrade Do Muoi said that the State budget was not enough for the construction of new urban areas, thus the city authorities need to search for solutions to attract businesses participation in this work.
During the construction of the Linh Dam new urban area, comrade Do Muoi showed a lot of attention to the project. He visited the apartments and contributed opinions on the project. He said that the construction and design for the complex should be in accordance with the residents demand.
He also told the leaders of Hanoi city that Hanoi is the capital of the country, with rapid growth in population, thus a thorough consideration was needed in the building of a socio-economic development strategy for the city, which must satisfy the peoples need while ensuring social welfare.
He listened to and made a number of revisions on the Hanois master plan until 2020. Many of his ideas have become reality and contributed to the beautiful appearance of Hanoi today.
Party General Secretary Do Muoi (C) exchanges with delegates attending the 7th National Party Congress in June 1991 (Photo: VNA)
Tran Vinh Tuyen, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh Citys Peoples Committee
Devoted to the Party, State and people
In the early 1990s, I joined Youth Union officers throughout the country at the talk with Party General Secretary Do Muoi on the implementation of the eighth Party Congress Resolution. Former Party leader Do Muoi left a vivid impression on us thanks to his impassioned speech, which included practical realities and touched upon many existing problems at that time. He called on drastic and immediate actions from officers, Party members and the entire system to bring the Resolution to life.
Through his talk, we could feel his dedication to his work, his readiness to embrace difficulties and his concern about the countrys situation. Comrade Do Muois enthusiasm strongly inspired all of the participants at the talk, motivating each of us to make more contributions to the country and its people and promote the vanguard role of youth.
This touching memory of mine about former Party leader Do Muoi reminds me that in any circumstance or in any position, leaders must inspire others and put themselves in others shoes in order to develop a close connection with the people and fully understand them.
Truong Van Trinh, Secretary of Tan Lap hamlets Party Committee, Tan Trao commune, Son Duong district, Tuyen Quang province:
A leader with close attachment to the people
Uncle Do Muoi visited Tan Trao commune to attend the 50th anniversary of August Revolution and National Day in 1995 when I was Secretary of Tan Lap hamlets youth union.
Soon after his arrival, uncle Do Muoi saluted the families of policy beneficiaries, the elders, children and households in the hamlet to learn more about the living conditions of the locals.
He asked the leaders of the province, district, and the relevant ministries and sectors to pay greater care for people in the mountainous region. He also ordered the construction of a kindergarten for students in the hamlet.
During his speech at the celebration, he called on the Tuyen Quang people to advance economic development, reduce poverty, and build a prosperous life.
Residents in Tan Lap hamlet have kept their impressions of the former Party chief as a humble leader who had a close attachment to the people and penetrated the peoples aspiration.
A delegation of the Central Committee of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and the State of Laos led by LPRP General Secretary and President of Laos Bounnhang Volachith paid last respects to Do Muoi at the Vietnamese Embassy in Vientiane on October 6 morning.
The Lao party leader and President wrote in the condolence book that with the passing of Do Muoi, not only the Party, State and people of Vietnam lose an exemplary revolutionary and a beloved leader, but the Lao Party, State and people also lose a close friend.
Comrade Do Muoi has made great contributions to Vietnams cause of national defence, construction and development over the past more than 80 years. He also contributed greatly to strengthening and fostering the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Laos and Vietnam, Bounnhang Volachith wrote.
The day before, Chairwoman of the Lao National Assembly Pany Yathotou also led a delegation to pay homage to Do Muoi at the Vietnamese Embassy.
Representatives from Lao ministries, agencies, and foreign embassies in Vientiane came to the Vietnamese Embassy to pay tribute to the former Party chief of Vietnam and offer condolences.
In Singapore, the Vietnamese Embassy is opening the condolence book from October 5 to 7.
On behalf of the Singaporean Government, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan paid last respects to Do Muoi at the Vietnamese Embassy.
Writing in the condolence book, the minister hailed the role of former Party General Secretary Do Muoi in Vietnams process of integration into the world economy, noting that under his leadership, Vietnam joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995.
At the Vietnamese Embassy in Cuba, on behalf of the Communist Party and State of Cuba, Secretary of the Party Central Committee Jose Ramon Balaguer wrote in the funeral book that during the most difficult time of Cuba, Do Muoi as Party General Secretary had demonstrated permanent friendship and love for Cuba, provided the biggest possible help to Cuba and warmly welcomed Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz when he visited Vietnam in 1995.
Vietnamese Embassies in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, France and Canada have also held tribute ceremonies and opened funeral books for former Party General Secretary Do Muoi.
Do Muoi, who passed away in Hanoi on October 1 at the age of 101, served as General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee from June 1991 to December 1997.
Vietnam holds a State funeral and two days of national mourning for him on October 6 and 7.
One serving, costing VND30,000 (US$1.28), involves two bowls, one each of noodles and snails in snail broth.
Snails are thought to be cold on the stomach, thus the dish is often served with a few drops of chili sauce to warm it up.
At many cold snail noodle stalls in Hanoi, the noodles are bar-shaped vermicelli but tangled noodle strands are always a perfect choice since the thin strands of noodle go well with the coolness of the dish.
The broth is the combination of steamed snail broth and wine vinegar, treating customers sour and sweet savor.
Imerialism, War, Revolution in East Asia
China
China in 1900: as noted in the last section, this arbitrary turn of the century date of 1900 marks nothing for China, except perhaps a rough half-point in a century of foreign aggression, internal challenges of population explosion and natural disasters, elite debate over the best way forward, and successive governments attempting to lead the country. As noted in the previous time period of 1750-1919, developments surrounding the Versailles Peace Treaty, ending WW I in 1919, marked the turning point for China, and for Japan.
To recap Chinas search for a new form of government amid events around 1900:
In the context that US sanctions imposed on Iran have come to force, Irans lawsuit against the US for breaching its commitments in the nuclear agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is causing Iran-US relations to deteriorate quickly. The ICJs ruling, which required the US to ensure that its sanctions do not affect goods in service of Irans people or civil aviation safety, has been applauded by Tehran.
Meanwhile, the US criticised the ICJs ruling and said the court had no jurisdiction in the issue. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of using the ICJ for political purposes. As a judicial agency established by the United Nations (UN) in 1946 to settle disputes between states and the highest court of the UN, ICJs decisions are only binding but not enforceable. Thus, in this case, for the US, which once ignored the ICJs rulings, the courts decision seems to only have political meaning as it gives certain support for Iran in front of US sanctions.
In fact, the pressure from US sanctions has a significant impact on the lives of Iranian people, especially when the second round of sanctions, aimed at the field of oil exports Irans major source of revenues will take effect on November 4.
Iran has called for a multilateral approach to the Iranian nuclear issue to replace the go big or go home solution at present. Despite facing multiple challenges ahead, Iran still affirms its tough policy of conducting no negotiations with Washington over the existing issues while conditions are not yet ripe, with allusions to the lack of trust building between the two parties.
Members of the International Court of Justice conduct a hearing on alleged violations of the 1955 Treaty of Amity between Iran and the United States, August 27, 2018. (Reuters)
The US withdrawal from the JCPOA and the reimposition of sanctions against Iran has damaged the relationship between Washington and its European allies. Many European companies have been forced to leave shortly after they returned to this potential market for fears of US sanctions. In an effort to salvage the fragile nuclear deal, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani highly appreciated Europes big steps to maintain business with Tehran, regardless of US sanctions. However, Europes diplomatic and economic efforts do not seem to be enough to offset the damage brought about by Washingtons JCPOA withdrawal, prompting Iran to repeatedly warn of its declining patience to stay in a deal that was unilaterally broken by the US. Iran recently affirmed that it will possibly make a decision to withdraw from the JCPOA in the case that the European Union (EU), China and Russia could not ensure Irans rights under the deal.
In the legal battle between the US and Iran, Washington does not seem to receive support from any sides. The ICJs ruling contributed to pushing the US into a lonely situation, while asserting its support for Irans opposition to Washingtons unilateral sanctions. However, the retaliatory moves from the US signals a possibility that Washington will once again ignore the decision by the court.
The ICJs verdict is seen as a temporary solution to cool down Irans fierce response to US sanctions. There is no guarantee that the decision will be complied with by the US. Washington has even called for a full review of international agreements that force the US to abide by the ICJs binding decisions. Although Iran is seizing the advantage over the US in some respects, with a history of tense relations between the two sides, the US-Iran confrontation is expected to proceed in an unpredictable manner.
Beijing responds to remarks by Pence, says China adheres to noninterference
The Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it was "ridiculous" for Washington to characterize China's regular exchanges with the US as interference, after US Vice-President Mike Pence accused Beijing of meddling in American politics.
"It is very ridiculous for the US side to stigmatize its normal exchanges and cooperation with China as China interfering in its internal affairs and elections," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.
"China always follows the principle of noninterference in others' internal affairs, and we have no interest in meddling in US internal affairs and elections," Hua said.
"The international community has already known fully well who wantonly infringes upon others' sovereignty, interferes in others' internal affairs and undermines others' interests. Any malicious slander on China is futile," the statement said.
Pence's speech "made unwarranted accusations against China's domestic and foreign policies and slandered China by claiming that China meddles in US internal affairs and elections", Hua said.
"This is nothing but speaking on hearsay evidence, confusing right and wrong and creating something out of thin air. The Chinese side is firmly opposed to it," she said.
In Washington on Thursday, Pence said in a speech at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, that China was using "wedge issues" such as tariffs to advance its political influence in the US and globally. He accused China of seeking to sway the US midterm elections on Nov 6, in retaliation for US trade policies against Beijing.
Hua said China's policy toward the US is "consistent and clear-cut".
"We are committed to joining hands with the US to work for nonconflict, nonconfrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation," she said.
"We urge the US to correct its wrongdoing, stop groundlessly accusing and slandering China and harming China's interests and China-US ties, and take concrete actions to maintain the sound and steady development of China-US relations," she added.
Pence also credited the US for China's rapid development, noting that China has become the world's second-largest economy.
"Much of this success was driven by American investment in China," he said.
Hua said China's development is mainly due to the Chinese people's hard work and its mutually beneficial cooperation with countries around the world.
Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to the US, said China wants to end the trade conflict, but the US position keeps changing, "so we don't know exactly what the US would want as priorities".
"We are ready to make a deal. We are ready to make some compromise, but it needs the goodwill from both sides," Cui said in an interview with National Public Radio on Wednesday.
Cui said he does not see sufficient goodwill from the US.
"We offered to reduce the trade deficit of the United States, for instance. And we also presented a very good proposal to the US side about the further reform and opening-up in China, some of the so-called structural issues," he said.
"Then 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 the US changed. So this is very confusing, and this is making things very difficult," he said.
Cui also spoke about the South China Sea.
"We have sovereignty over many of the islands in the South China Sea. And this has been a long-standing position of China," he said.
Cui said that at the end of World War II, the then-Chinese government, with the help of US naval ships, took back the islands from Japan.
"It was American naval ships that sent Chinese troops to take back these islands from Japan. So we have a long-standing sovereignty over these islands, but we are also aware there are some territorial disputes," Cui said.
"And now we're ready to work with other countries to have negotiations to have a final solution to such disputes," he said. "We understand this will take a long time, 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.
"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," Cui said. "So I just hope that the United States will join our efforts, will be helpful, not try to disrupt the process toward peaceful negotiations."
People's Daily, in an opinion article published on Friday on its website, said US leaders' recent unwarranted accusations regarding China's internal and foreign policies are outdated and full of mistakes.
The US accusations distort facts and confuse right and wrong, and are full of factual and logical errors that don't conform to the times, it said, describing the US positions as "numerous absurd arguments".
Georges Mihaies, a member of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Task Force at UNESCO, said the US administration's harshness toward China is a temporary thing, since the two sides have many shared interests.
Jon R. Taylor, professor of political science at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, said Pence's claim that China is attempting to tilt the US midterm elections against Trump is laughable.
"After all, it was the US, not China, that initiated a series of massive tariffs and trade restrictions. To then turn around and claim that China is trying to influence the midterm elections because it responded to US tariffs is ludicrous," he said.
Dong Leshuo contributed to this story.
Members of the 19th Chinese medical team in Rwanda pose for a group photo with guests from China and Rwanda at a farewell and welcome reception in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, on Oct. 5, 2018. The 19th Chinese medical team in Rwanda has taken over the role from their predecessors following Friday's farewell and welcome reception in Kigali. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran)
KIGALI, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The 19th Chinese medical team in Rwanda has taken over the role from their predecessors following Friday's farewell and welcome reception in Rwanda's capital city Kigali.
The size of the Chinese medical team in Rwanda reached over 200 members in only 18 missions, signifying the intensity of health cooperation between Rwanda and China, said Zuberi Muvunyi, Director General of Clinical and Public Health Services at Ministry of Health of Rwanda at the reception.
Muvunyi, who awarded certificates of honor to members of the 18th Chinese medical team, said health cooperation between the two countries have important developments in different areas including infrastructure, equipment and education, envisaging further cooperation in redeveloping Rwanda's health sector in harmonization with needs of the Rwandan people and considering developments in regional integration.
The 18th Chinese medical team working in Kigali's Masaka Hospital and Kibungo Hospital in Eastern Province made real contribution to the improvement of local health services, said Xing Yuchun, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda.
Since 1982 when China sent its first medical team to Rwanda, Chinese medics have treated more than 800,000 Rwandans and carried out over 26,000 operations, said Xing. Besides, they have been providing medical equipment, training Rwandan medical personnel and transferring medical knowledge and skills to trainees and other Rwandan people, she added.
The Chinese medical team helped us and treated our patients, which led to improvements of Rwandan people's health, director of Kibungo Hospital William Namanya told Xinhua.
They also helped capacity building of medical staff working in the hospital, said Namanya.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi, India on Oct. 5, 2018. The Russian president arrived in the Indian capital Thursday on a two-day visit. (Xinhua/Partha Sarkar)
NEW DELHI, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- India Friday inked a multi-billion dollar defense deal with Russia to acquire S-400 Triumf missile systems from Moscow, government sources here said.
The pact was signed during talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin here.
"The missile deal worth over five billion U.S. dollars has been signed between India and Russia. Under the deal, India will get five such missile systems. The deliveries will begin in two years' time," the sources said.
The Russian president arrived in the Indian capital Thursday on a two-day visit.
"As and when the government approves it, delivery (of the missiles) will be in 24 months," Indian Air Force chief B.S. Dhanoa had earlier said.
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Yesterday Apple and their Contract Manufacturers filed an opposition brief / memorandum in San Diego. Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents who is covering the Qualcomm-Apple patent infringement cases extensively, especially in Germany and the U.S., reports that in simple terms, Qualcomm is trying to duck any patent-specific decisions on infringement, validity, and (especially) exhaustion. They just say they have 130,000 patents and want billions in royalties.
Mueller's commentary is supported right at the start of Apple's brief under the "introduction" segment wherein they state: "As Qualcomm's pattern of conduct should now make clear, Qualcomm is desperately seeking to make this case about the value of its "immense portfolio of patents" in the abstract while avoiding any discussion of the actual merits of any of the patents that Qualcomm claims are valuable." Based on that, "The Court should deny Qualcomm's latest attempt to avoid putting its patents to the test."
For the record, the yellow highlighting in this report is not found in Apple's filing but rather added by Patently Apple for emphasis.
When reading the brief, the use of the common acronyms "CM" or "CMs" stands for contract manufacturers Compal Electronics, Inc., FIH Mobile Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., Pegatron Corporation and Wistron Corporation (collectively, the "CMs").
Apple goes on to state in their motion that "Qualcomm's narrow covenant not to sue ("Covenant") does nothing to moot the exhaustion, invalidity, and noninfringement counts that Qualcomm seeks to dismiss.
Qualcomm's Covenant is carefully worded to promise only that Qualcomm will not sue Apple or the CMs for infringement of the nine patents-in-suit 'under the patent laws.' Yet, nothing in Qualcomm's Covenant prevents it from making claims about these patents to support its demands.
Despite the Covenant, Qualcomm contends that Apple and the CMs owe billions in royalties and that these patents assist in demonstrating the value of the Qualcomm patent portfolio being licensed. As a result, questions of whether the patents-in-suit are exhausted, invalid, or not infringed remains highly relevant and subject to the Court's jurisdiction.
The claims that Qualcomm seeks to dismiss are similarly material to the 'broader licensing dispute.' For years, Qualcomm has pursued illegal and abusive business practices aimed at extracting exorbitant royalties from companies, like Apple and the CMs, in the market for baseband processor chipsets that cellular devices use to communicate. In this case, Apple and the CMs have challenged Qualcomm's licensing of patents for which Apple and the CMs owe Qualcomm no payment because they are exhausted, invalid, and/or not infringed.
For example, patent exhaustion issues arise throughout Apple's Complaint and the CMs' Counterclaims, including in counts seeking (1) a declaration of unenforceability of patents due to exhaustion (2) declaration of unenforceability of the CMs' license agreements, (3) a determination that Apple is entitled to restitution of monies paid pursuant to the CMs' license agreements for patents that were exhausted, and (4) violations of the Unfair Competition Law including Qualcomm's seeking and obtaining license fees from Apple and others for exhausted patents.
Apple and the CMs also have asked the Court to order disgorgement of the overpayment of license fees that they have paid for, among other things, exhausted patents. Therefore, Qualcomm's current demand for a license fee for exhausted patents, and Apple's and the CMs' past payment of monies for exhausted patents, remain live in the case.
Importantly, Apple's and the CMs' claims for exhaustion extend beyond just the nine patents-in-suit. Apple's and the CMs' pleadings raise a broader case or controversy 'regarding the exhaustion of Qualcomm's patent rights with respect to patents substantially embodied in baseband processor chipsets sold by Qualcomm to Apple's CMs.'
Qualcomm itself has put at issue in this case the exhaustion of 93 additional patents by claiming that they are essential to certain cellular standards with which Apple products comply, and by using them to support its assertions regarding the value of its portfolio.
More specifically, in response to the claims of Apple and the CMs, Qualcomm is trying to prove that Apple and the CMs owe billions in royalties based on the value of its entire portfolio. Qualcomm's Covenant as to the nine patents-in-suit does nothing to moot the broader case and controversy over the exhaustion of other patents in Qualcomm's portfolio, including the 93 declared standard-essential patents ("SEPs") that Qualcomm has now injected into the case. Because Qualcomm's Covenant does not moot the case or controversy over the exhaustion, invalidity, and noninfringement counts, the Court should deny Qualcomm's motion.
The rest of the brief covers Apple's 'Factual Background.' In the conclusion of Apple's brief they state in-part: "Apple and the CMs respectfully request that the Court deny Qualcomm's partial motion to dismiss, as to their Counts of unenforceability due to exhaustion, invalidity and noninfringement."
To read Apple's full motion before the court and Florian Mueller's broad analysis of the motion, click here.
For those deciding to review the full Apple brief on FOSS Patents, let it be known that the first 26 pages of the 103 Scribd document found in Mueller's report relate directly to Apple's brief. Beyond that point are other documents and exhibits that are both viewable and not viewable that could confuse matters.
Other Recent Patently Apple reports on Qualcomm
01: Legal Analyst Claims that Qualcomm is clearly Stumbling in their battle with Apple in Mannheim Trial due to Tech-Savvy Court
02: Intel's General Counsel Weighs in on Qualcomm's Failure to win its Patent Infringement case involving Intel Modems
03: Qualcomm is angry over a U.S. International Trade Commission Judge Refusing to Ban iPhones in the U.S.
04: In Qualcomm's most recent case against Apple, we learn that Apple cleverly developed a Workaround in iOS 12 to defeat Infringement
05: An Expert Opinion from the Swedish Patent Office says that Qualcomm's Patent used to Sue Apple Should be Invalidated
06: An Amicus Brief filed by two Technology Associations fully Support the FTC's Motion against Qualcomm over Essential Patent Licensing
07: Qualcomm to Face new Antitrust Investigation into German iPhones using Intel Chips by the European Commission
CANBERRA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Canberra on Friday refuted Australian senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells' remarks against China on its economic cooperation with the Pacific Island Countries, saying she once again "made unwarranted invective and blatant slander against China".
"The ridiculous and absurd allegation, filled with cold-war mentality, reflected the senator's prejudice, arrogance and ignorance," said the embassy in a statement.
The the senator's article, titled "Bellicose China is popping up everywhere", was carried by Friday's newspaper The Australian.
"The senator this time, in repeating the cliche of the so-called 'debt trap', attempted to prove her baseless accusations by quoting Tongan Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva and citing the case of Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka," said the statement.
According to the statement, however, Prime Minister Pohiva has already clarified his earlier remarks, making it clear that "China has never claimed to collect the debts or take the assets from Tonga in any way, and the governments of Tonga and China have maintained contacts regarding the repayment of the concessional loans."
Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, has also publicly stated that "Sri Lanka was not falling into a debt trap caused by high-interest Chinese loans" nor "ceding control of strategically vital ports to Chinese control."
The statement said that whether China's assistance is productive or not, and whether it is a pie or a pitfall, the people of the island countries have the best say.
"Over the years, China has provided assistance to relevant island countries within its capacity and with no political strings attached, based on fully respecting the will of the Pacific island countries' governments and people and taking into full account of their development needs. China has also actively carried out mutually beneficial economic cooperation with these countries. All this has effectively promoted the economic and social development of island countries, and been widely appraised by them," it said.
"Cooperation between China and the island countries is transparent and open," the statement concluded. "No one could deny the positive outcomes delivered by such cooperation with their assumption or imagination. Any attempt to obstruct the development of relations between China and the island countries is doomed to failure."
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells was former minister for international development and the Pacific, who resigned and backed Peter Dutton before the leadership spill.
This is not the first time she makes such accusation. Earlier this year, she made similar irresponsible claims, which were questioned and refuted by many island countries.
Government has committed about 50 million to embark on a program to grow and export coffee as a commercial crop, Agric Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has said.
This was made known at the Ghana Coffee Conference in Accra which saw stakeholders within the coffee value chain deliberate on ways of making Ghana a leading producer of coffee in the world.
Speaking at the Ghana Coffee Conference in Accra, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, said the government has pulled the needed resources to begin the large-scale cultivation of coffee under the Planting for exports and rural development project.
We have to diversify into coffee cultivation and export. We have over depended on cocoa over the decades and this has to change. We [government] have committed 50 million into this project and we expect to be in business with coffee exports, he said.
The maiden edition of the coffee conference has been described as very timely especially when Ghana is documented to be losing billions of dollars for not investing in this enterprise.
President of the Coffee Federation of Ghana, Chief Nat Ebo Nsarko expressed confidence in this project. He said global investors are already on standby to cash into this new coffee enterprise by the government.
He said, There is a growing local market for coffee characterized by high demand. This situation leaves us with no option than to hop into production for both export and local consumption. It is sad to know that in the face of Ghanas great potential to rank as one of the worlds leading producers, coffees share of Ghanas GDP stood at a paltry 0.12 per cent in 2015.
The commodity, apart from having the potential to rake in more revenue to shore up the $2billion that cocoa generates annually, according to experts, could also create more than 500,000 jobs in the Ghanaian economy.
Industry experts say the commodity, especially; the Robusta coffee is better adapted to slightly higher temperatures and is a better alternative to the countrys number one export commodity, cocoa.
Industry experts present at the occasion included; the Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Ghanas Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Chairman of the Global Coffee Platform, Mr. Carlos Brando and Chief Adams Tiapzi, former Chair, Fairtrade Africa.
Source: Joy Business
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COURTING foreign investors into a developing country such as Ghana is not an easy task, though it has loads of advantages.
FIRST and foremost, these foreign investors should be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that where they are sending their money is safe.
THAT is to say that the environment is peaceful and stable for meaningful business.
IT is a fact that no investor would want to invest in an unstable climate, which can result in huge losses.
BESIDES the conducive investment climate, it is important to also point out that there should be in place incentives attractive and enticing enough for investors.
THESE are usually in the form of tax reliefs, subsidised infrastructure among many others.
IT must be said that having investors in a country comes with loads of benefits.
THESE come in the form of opening up of an economy, creating jobs and more importantly contributing to the payment of taxes to the state for the development of a country.
THANKFULLY, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was recently in the United States of America courted investors to come and invest in Ghana.
I urge representatives of Fortune 500 companies to look at Ghana and not to ignore it. Regardless of where the investments are, I am confident that through our policies we can bring greater dignity to the lives of millions of people in Ghana and beyond, President Akufo-Addo was reported to have said this when he addressed Fortune 500 business executives on the sidelines of the ongoing 73rd United Nations General Assembly.
IT was a good thing that the President wooed investors into the country. Certainly, investors investing in the country will contribute to the growth of our country.
Source: Today
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The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey (MP) received open letters from the Ambassador-Designate of the Lebanese Republic, His Excellency Maher Kheir, on Wednesday, September 3, 2018.
In her welcome remarks, Hon. Ayorkor Botchwey recalled that Ghana and Lebanon have had long standing relations. She added that there is a large number of Lebanese nationals who have lived in Ghana for many years and have well integrated into the Ghanaian society.
She indicated that, over the years the two countries have cooperated for their mutual benefit. She intimated that Ghanas Armed Forces has for several years contributed to peacekeeping in Lebanon.
She called for stronger economic cooperation and increase in high profile visits between the two countries. She also assured the Ambassador- Designate of the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration during his tenure.
His Excellency Maher Kheir, for his part,recalled the long standing relations between the two countries which dates back to many decades and indicated that most Lebanese nationals see Ghana as their second homeland. He assured that Lebanese living in Ghana are prepared to contribute towards the countrys development.
H.E Kheir acknowledged that Ghana has helped Lebanon in several ways, particularly, in contributing to peacekeeping in Lebanon. He pledged to continue from where his predecessor left off to further deepen the bilateral relations between Ghana and Lebanon.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has lost an accumulated revenue of GH4.5 billion over the past five years as a result of infractions by traders, importers and governmental agencies, the Head of Tax Policy Unit at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Daniel Nuer, has said.
That, he said, followed the abuse of the suspense regime system which consisted of warehousing, temporary importation, re-exportation and transit by some importers and traders engaged in the stated trades.
Warehousing, re-export and transit processes, he stated, allowed the Customs Division of GRA to defer tax revenue on imports, so importers and traders could only pay the needed revenue as and when they are ready to clear them for distribution in the country.
Mr Nuer intimated that the situation had seen some recalcitrant importers, traders engaged in diverting the imports for sale and consumption in Ghana without paying the requisite revenue to the authority, thus leading to loss of revenue to the government.
We can no longer sit for people to continually defraud the state, while the state loses huge revenues, Mr Nuer stated.
Measures
At a forum organised by the Maritime Courier Publications in Tema recently, Mr Nuer indicated that although administrative measures were in place to block the loopholes, some traders and importers, as well as some agents, often create other avenues to cheat the system.
The forum attracted representatives from the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), shipping lines, the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), the Berthing Meeting Association (BEMA), Customs and the Maritime Police Unit of the Ghana Police Service, as well as representatives of the Burkina Faso Chamber of Commerce.
The discussions focused on the Cargo Tracking Notes (CTN) policy, demurrage, container detention, rent, security and shipping service regulations.
Mr Nuer said GRA had imposed administrative penalties of about 300 per cent on traders / importers caught to have engaged in the abuse of the warehousing, re-export and transit mechanisms but the trend had not yielded any positive results.
Presently, the GRA, he said, was trying to introduce more mechanisms, including electronic monitoring to police the warehousing, re-export and transit regimes.
Prosecution
Mr Nuer hinted that the ministry had also encouraged the GRA to commence actions of prosecution of cases identified to have criminal element.
He suggested that whereas the GRA regulations made provisions for the institution of criminal charges against persons caught to be engaged in trade fraud, the slow nature of the justice system informed the decision to rather implement the administrative procedure where penalties are imposed on offenders.
However, it seems that these actions are not being too deterrent, thus the ministry will support the GRA in any criminal action it intends to take against persons abusing the suspense regime, Mr Nuer stressed and added that the ministry had thus made a commitment in the 2018 mid-year budget to that effect for the enforcement of compliance not only administratively but also using criminal procedures as well.
CTN
The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Operations, Customs Division of GRA, Mr Seth Dwira, gave an overview of the CTN policy and argued that the GRA had evaluated the policy and was convinced that its implementation would add value to the national single window platform.
Answering a question on why a stand alone system by way of CTN was created when the countrys Ghana National Single Window project was being implemented by harmonising all trade process flow, Mr Dwira intimated that the CTN allowed for external verifications to avoid incidents of fake invoices covering imports and served as a checklist for checking diversion of goods in transit.
Representatives of the Burkina Faso Chamber of Commerce questioned the slapping of the CTN charges on transit operators who he said had already paid such charges in their home country, but Mr Dwira pointed out that GRA would look at the regime and come out with modalities to address the challenges.
Source: Graphic.com
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The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, left Ghana on Friday, 5th October, 2018, to attend the 5th Edition of the Financial Times Africa Summit taking place in London, United Kingdom from 7th to 9th October.
The Summit, being held on the theme Africa Means Business, is featuring high profile speakers in business, politics and economics, as well as Heads of State committed to making business central to their development goals. President Akufo-Addo will also hold meetings with CEOs of some important global enterprises, whilst in London.
On Wednesday, 10th October, 2018, the President will fly to Yerevan, Armenia, to lead the Ghanaian delegation to the 17th Summit of Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, which will take place from 11th to 12th October. Ghana, which has been an Associate Member of La Francophonie since 2006, will be admitted at the Summit as a Full Member. Ghana will then be only one of a handful of countries that enjoy full membership of both the Commonwealth and La Francophonie.
The President will, after the Summit, fly to Paris, France, for a series of meetings with some potential investors on Saturday, 13th October, 2018.
He will return to Ghana on Sunday, 14th October, 2018, and, in his absence, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, shall, in accordance with Article 60(8) of the Constitution, act in his stead.
President Akufo-Addo was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchway MP, and officials of the Presidency and the Foreign Ministry.
Source: Peacefmonline.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.
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Casual workers of the Intermodal Shipping Company Limited say the management of the company has deliberately ignored their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in the determination of who gets what after their forcible lay-off.
Only twenty-eight out of several hundred casual workers were given between 5,000 Ghana cedis and 11,000 Ghana cedis by management as severance award, denying the local union an official seat at the negotiation table as directed by the CBA.
Although the management said the union was consulted, Madam Christiana Adoo, Vice Chairperson, told the Ghana News Agency in telephone interview that she was on leave and therefore knew nothing about the arrangement.
According to the CBA sighted by the Ghana News Agency, management was obliged to contact and negotiate with the local union on such matters.
Mr Daniel Mensah, a causal worker of the company, told the Ghana News Agency that after working the quays, spending days and nights stuffing containers with cocoa beans and enduring the rain, hunger, thirst and mosquito bites for more than ten years as a casual worker, all that he could take home was 5,000 Ghana cedis.
According to him, he was told many times that if he worked hard, he would be made a permanent worker so, I put in all my heart, mind, body and soul into the work only to be laid off after ten long difficult years.
Several workers told the Ghana News Agency stories of neglect, betrayal and hopelessness endured in an atmosphere of modern slavery and contempt.
The company had earlier held an uncompromising stand, arguing that casuals were not covered by any conditions of service and that they worked for their wages and did not deserve any other form of compensation.
But Article three of the companys CBA which came into effect on 4th January 2016 says, This agreement shall apply to all permanent, probationary and non-permanent employees of the Company on or before the date of this agreement.
In an earlier conversation with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Van-zyl Rhett, the South African born Managing Director, Intermodal Shipping Company branch in Ghana, sympathised with the workers describing them as poor Ghanaian workers, who work so hard but not aggressive enough to assert their rights.
The Company has enough money to give them handsome redundancy packages. If this had happened in South Africa, the workers would have burnt the companys properties, he said.
Source: GNA
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Seasoned journalist, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has issued a stern warning to former President John Mahama not to dare touch the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) free Senior High School (SHS) education policy.
According to him, Mr. Mahama will be embarking on a suicide mission should he decide to advance his decision to review the double-track policy, peradventure he is elected President of the Republic of Ghana in 2020.
Kweku Baakos warning comes on the heels of recent statements by the former President promising to review the Akufo-Addo government's free SHS double-track policy if elected President in December 2020.
Ex-President Mahama told his party faithfuls at Cape Coast North constituency during a tour in the Central Region ahead of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential primaries that the governments free SHS policy is ill-timed.
"Our NPP friends, they don't listen to advice, they think they know everything . . . We just finished vacation. Children have been at home for nearly three months. It is time to go to school you say you have to stay at home for nearly 41 days and let your friends go. After 41 days, they will come home and sit down; it doesnt make sense, Mahama said, adding that when elected President for a second time, he would hold a national stakeholders conference where he would panel educationists to revise the policy.
But commenting on Peace FMs Kokrokoo, Kweku Baako told host Kwami Sefa Kayi that there will be utter disorder under the heavens should the former President succeed in his agenda.
If you abolish double track now, there will be disorder under the heavens. There will be disorder under the heavens; total chaos, he stated categorically, further stressing that Mr. Mahama and the NDC are potentially suicidal.
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.
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Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has left Ghana for the United Kingdom to attend the 5th Edition of the Financial Times Africa Summit, which begins from Sunday to Tuesday.
He left Accra Friday accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, officials of the Presidency and the Foreign Ministry.
The summit is on the theme Africa Means Business and features high profile speakers in business, politics and economics, as well as Heads of State committed to making business central to their development goals.
While in London, the president will hold meetings with CEOs of some important global enterprises.
The President will on Wednesday October 10 fly to Yerevan, Armenia, to lead a Ghanaian delegation to the 17th Summit of Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.
The summit will take place from October 11 to 12, 2018.
Ghana, which has been an Associate Member of La Francophonie since 2006, will be admitted at the Summit as a Full Member.
It will thus make Ghana one of a handful of countries that enjoy full membership of both the Commonwealth and La Francophonie.
Nana Akufo-Addo will after the Summit, fly to Paris, France, for a series of meetings with some potential investors on Saturday, October 13, 2018.
He will return to Ghana on Sunday, October 14, 2018.
The Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in accordance with Article 60(8) of the Constitution, is acting as president of 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.
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This October is a month to experience the miraculous Jesus Christ, a month where humanity will meet divinity!
The Maker's House Chapel International (TMHCI) at Kwabenya in Accra will this month hold another powerful edition of its annual programme the "Experience Conference" under the theme "Jesus, The Miracle Worker".
This year's event comes off from Sunday, October 7 to October 14, 2018 at 6 pm each day.
Speakers at this year's conference are Pastor Jonathan Miller from the United States of America, Bishop Miracle Williams (Nigeria), Rev. Eastwood Anaba of the Eastwood Anaba Ministries and the General Overseer of TMHCI, Dr. Michael Boadi Nyamekye.
Experience Conference is aimed at bringing people together to experience the "Almightiness of God" and galvanizing both believers and unbelievers into the consciousness of Jesus Christ.
There will be an avalanche of testimonies during and after the conference as patrons experience the tangible presence and awesome miracles of the Maker.
Indeed, "He healed by faith, exocised the afflicted and He resurrected the dead"!
Experience conference 2018 is for you. Come and be mightily blessed!!
Video below:
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.
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WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Senate Republicans appear to have secured enough votes for the confirmation of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, as key Republican Senator Susan Collins said on Friday that she will vote yes despite bitter partisan fights over sexual assault allegations against the judge.
It now appears that there will be 51 votes in favor of Kavanaugh, since Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia came out minutes after Collins' announcement, the only Democrat to back Trump's nominee.
Only one Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, is expected to vote against Kavanaugh.
The Senate is expected to hold its final floor vote on Saturday. It's widely thought that Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court would give Republicans a win that lasts at least a generation.
In a speech lasting more than 40 minutes, Collins said she believed Kavanaugh was well qualified and she cannot abandon the "presumption of innocence" over the sexual assault allegations against the nominee.
Meanwhile, the senator from Maine slammed the confirmation process "looks more like a caricature of a gutter-level political campaign".
"Our Supreme Court confirmation process has been in steady decline for more than 30 years. One can only hope that the Kavanaugh nomination is where the process has finally hit rock bottom." she said.
As Collins stepped onto the Senate floor to make her speech, protesters in the Senate gallery chanted loudly, "Vote No! Show up for Maine women! "
Earlier on Friday, the Senate wrapped up the debate on the confirmation in a procedural vote along partisan lines, paving the way for the final vote.
A FBI report sent to the Senate on Thursday said that based on its one-week supplemental background investigation, there is no corroboration of sexual misconduct allegations made against Kavanaugh.
White House and Republican Senate leaders said the FBI report revealed no evidence of wrongdoing, while Democrats said the White House tied the FBI's hands and the probe is not thorough.
In a Quinnipiac poll issued on Monday, 48 percent of Americans said that Kavanaugh should not be confirmed to the Supreme Court, while 42 percent said he should be confirmed.
Three women have come forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting or harassing them during his high school and university years. Kavanaugh has denied all the accusations.
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Cui Tiankai (File photo)
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.
MOROTO Standing tall, the wooden building looks old-fashioned with its black-coloured wooden walls losing colour.
It is clear that the building has cracked ceiling, floor and partly the wooden walls, crumbling old wood, very old timber, doors and paint, and damaged verandas as a result of rainwater with broken door and window glasses.
But the sunlight streaming in through old glass windows and door illuminates books left open by children visiting and students seeking a quiet refuge.
But this venerable keeper of fairytales and stories of faraway lands has long been ahead of the times.
Moroto Public Library the oldest public library still standing in Moroto municipality became the first branch to be fully utilized in 1965.
According to records at Moroto municipal council, the building was constructed by the British colonial masters as a guest house for their stay whenever they visited Moroto in 1955.
But that in 1965 [ten years later], the wooden colonial building was turned into a library by the then Public Library Board of Uganda.
While talking to PML Daily in Moroto municipality Mr Stephen Okurut, the Librarian says the municipal authorities have endeavoured to maintain the Library.
The lower end of the Library has been reinforced with hardcore stones and concrete in order to protect the wooden walls from getting soaked in water.
The gutters have rusted off; the original timber and doors are very old and need replacement, which the municipal authorities are thinking about, Mr Okurut says.
On the other hand the original timber and iron sheets on the Library are still strong. However, soft ceiling boards have been lost and require urgent replacement and veranda repaired.
Mr Okurut says because the walls including the floor are made of wood throughout, termites find it easy to destroy the timber and soft boards on the walls.
Although we have fumigated to control the termites all the time, this has not helped much.
Our biggest challenge is lack of funds to maintain these historic buildings. The situation is even made worse especially now when the ministry of Education sends funds for UPE and USE and does not send funds for the libraries. The best we have done is to keep re-painting the building to make it look good but we still need general maintenance so that the building can last for more years, Mr Okurut adds.
We should appreciate such buildings, technology, and architecture of the colonial masters and the people who lived before us serve as memory. We should thank them for their initiative to promote the reading culture in Karamoja even when there was Karimojong going to school at that time, he says.
Heritage
The British Colonial masters established Moroto guest house (later Moroto Public Library] in 1955. The Moroto Public library building was the first public library in 1965, shortly after independence.
The wooden building that accommodates 20 to 30 people is surrounded by shrubs that were seen visibly during its inauguration and still stand at the east yard of the public library to date.
Moroto public library building is among the old few buildings that were constructed before 1960 reflecting Ugandas socio-cultural, religious, political and economic history.
According to the town clerk Mr Swaibu Balaba, the building has been identified by the municipality and district local government and the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), Uganda National Museum for preservation as a potential tourist attraction.
Mr Noah Ewaru, the mayor Moroto municipality said Karamoja and Moroto especially the municipality are fast expanding and becoming a modern, but they are also losing their historical and cultural identity, especially as historical buildings and sites get modified or even demolished.
He observed that heritage preservation efforts in Uganda and the world over are, however, confronted with a number of challenges.
In Uganda particularly, rapid population growth causes intense demand for space and resources for development. This coupled with a lack of sufficient awareness of the significance of cultural and historical buildings and monuments put them at risk of being modified or demolished, said Mr Ewaru.
Challenges
According to Dr Fredrick Okalebo, a lecturer at the Department of Architecture and Physical Planning, Makerere University, the significant historic buildings are at risk because their owners or managers are unaware of their importance.
In his paper titled Preserving Historical Buildings in Uganda, Dr Okalebo, observes: many have been neglected and abandoned; some are being threatened or eyed for destruction, some have been altered, some destroyed, many have been destroyed (like Fort Lugard Historical Museum and the Nakawa African Housing Estate in Kampala); and a few are preserved or under conservation (like Parliament Building and Makerere Main Building).
The levels of preservation and conservation also leave a lot to be desired, Dr Okalebo notes in the paper that he presented at the launch of the map titled Kampalas Historical Buildings and Sites Our Valuable but Vanishing Heritage in Kampala in November last year.
Strategy
Mrs Ewaru says photo documentation of some of these buildings also highlight their aesthetic quality and unique design.
Mr Ewaru adds that through this initiative, it is anticipated that buildings and sites of cultural and historical significance in Karamoja will be better known and preserved by policymakers and the general public.
He said it is hoped that Uganda will be able to offer an enhanced tourism experience, for local and international tourists, who will discover the history of religions, cultures, education, health and political systems in Uganda.
Call to authorities
First, the district authorities and the government have a duty and responsibility to enforce the protection of historic buildings. Without this, no one will preserve them for future generations, Mr Ewaru said.
The LCV chairman for Moroto Mr Andrew Napaja said UTB has pledged to support the promotion of cultural tourism by ensuring that Moroto district passes a policy framework to identify and protect historical and cultural buildings.
He added that the region was thrown into international limelight in 2011 when Ugandan and French scientists discovered a 20 million-year-old fossil skull of an ancient primate, more specifically a tree-climbing ape in Napak Mountain.
He said other attractions in this region they are planning to preserve are Karamojas rocks as they stand out of the landscape and include Kadam Rock in Nakapiripirit, Napak Rock in Napak District and Mount Moroto.
And do you know that in 2010, ancient paintings were discovered on Kobebe hills in Moroto District, Nakapeliet rock, Loteleit rock, Mogoth rock, and Nakadanya rock, all these we must preserve for tourism, said Mr Napaja.
The deputy commissioner Uganda Tourism Board Ms Rosemary Kobutagi said through the Department of Museums and Monuments, provision shall be made to develop these national assets into viable tourism products that will be used to promote respect for Ugandas cultural diversity and history.
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Jon Adler
As a former law enforcement trainer, I live by the credo: Always wear your body armor and always wear your seat belt. But I don't recall dust masks being part of that safety proclamation. Yet on the 17th commemoration of 9/11, I saw news clips of first responders protected only by dust masks as lethal toxins rained down upon them. I also saw former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani wearing a dust mask as he walked around the impacted area of Ground "Hero."
Dust masks were pretty much useless at Ground Zero. I know; I was there and I witnessed first responder honor and leadership on that fatal day, and the days after, but I did not see science.
I recall grabbing a five-minute break with my partner Ron Gardella. It was after midnight and technically 9/12. As we sat there drinking bottles of water that a Salvation Army worker was nice enough to give us, the toxic ashes fell on us like lethal snow. Ron looked at me and said, "You know, this probably isn't good for us." He was referring to our breathing in and ingesting the airborne toxins, which we minimized as ashes at the time.
Now 17 years later, many first responders are continuing to deal with the sustained exposure to 9/11 toxins. We lost 72 law enforcement heroes on 9/11, and since then, we've lost more than 100 9/11 first responders to diseases associated with sustained toxin exposure. Wearing a dust mask on 9/11 was like bringing a knife to a gun fight. While we all carried firearms, handcuffs, radios, and flashlights, we were not equipped with the knowledge of how to protect ourselves from the toxins.
In retrospect, we all understand there was no pause button on 9/11 for medical experts to hit while they researched the impact of sustained toxin exposure. The attacks were unprecedented and we did not have a section on protecting officers from crushed building toxins in our defensive tactics manuals. But much like the evolution of ground fighting, we update our tactics manuals periodically as we learn. By updating equipment, training, and officer knowledge, we better protect our first responders from tomorrow's hazards. And sadly, tomorrow's hazard has arrived in the form of lethal drugs such as fentanyl.
Officers and investigators continue to be exposed to lethal synthetic opioids in the course of their duties. After experiencing either touch or inhalation exposure, officers have become immediately ill and have required emergency medical care. Concerns associated with fentanyl exposure have escalated to the point where some judges won't allow it to be brought into their courtrooms as evidence. While that may be a wise decision, simply banning something as a safety precaution doesn't fill the knowledge void. Officers will continue to come into contact with extremely strong and potentially lethal opioid drugs and need to be armed with scientifically validated facts and not fiction.
In the past year, POLICE Magazine has published informative articles addressing the dangers of officer exposure to opioids and how officers should protect themselves and even their K-9 partners. To build upon the value of this content, a federal interagency working group created an informative video titled, "Fentanyl: The Real Deal" and unveiled it in August. Supported by the national law enforcement organizations, this seven-minute video has been disseminated nationwide. The video itself provides valuable information on the types of exposure, what to do if exposed, and the anticipated effects, and also dispels misinformation. One point that resonated with me is that officers should clean their hands with soap and water if contact is made and not hand sanitizer, which will only increase the absorption of fentanyl through the skin.
During 9/11, and the days after, we did not have a video to guide us. We had dust masks, failed EPA air sensors, and a nagging sense that the toxin exposure wasn't good. The risks of the job are high enough, and we don't need to lose more officers to toxic exposure. Whether it's risks associated with pulverized building toxins, fentanyl, or any other potentially lethal substance, we need to ensure that our law enforcement officers stay informed, stay prepared, and stay safe.
All students except preschool now eligible for free meals under special federal guidelines
Dearborn Public Schools is expanding its free lunch programs to all students, regardless of family income.
The District was recently informed by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) that it was eligible to offer free meals across the district based on criteria in the Community Eligibility Program (CEP) under the U.S. Department of Agricultures school meals program. Previously, free meals under CEP were offered to all kindergarten to 8th-grade students at 14 schools in the district. Free meals across the rest of the district started the week of September 10.
Any time we can provide our students with resources that will help them be successful in school, such as a nutritious breakfast and or a healthy lunch, thats a positive that we cannot pass up, said Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko.
Studies show that good health, including good nutrition, is important to student success.
While students will not need money to buy meals, most schools will continue to offer individual items for sale in their cafeteria such as extra milk, snacks, or a second lunch. Children would need money in hand or in their student account to buy those items.
The CEP program will be retroactive to the beginning of the school year. Students who already paid for lunches will have that money refunded to their student accounts or might be eligible for a refund. Any refund details are still being considered and details will be shared with schools as soon as they are available.
Even with the expansion of the lunch program, the district will still ask families to fill out information about household income, although on a different form. This information is needed for schools to be eligible for other programs, including federal Title 1 funding. Dearborn Public Schools received more than $12,300,000 in such funding last year. Dearborn Schools will also have to occasionally survey selected families to see if the district still qualifies for CEP.
While not all of Dearborns schools qualify for CEP on their own, the district used a provision that allows it to average schools together to meet the threshold for all its 36 kindergarten through 12th-grade schools. The program is not available to preschool students, so it will not be offered at Cotter School. (Students enrolled in the GSRP program at Cotter can qualify for free or reduced lunch under other federal programs.) Students will also be able to get free breakfasts in the buildings that offer the CEP program. Across Michigan, 652 schools participate in CEP.
CEP was designed to allow schools or districts with a higher percentage of low-income families to streamline the free lunch process. To qualify for the program, the area needs to have 40 percent of students automatically identified for free lunch. Typically, that means the family already receives some other type of assistance such as food stamps or Medicare.
The schools that were already enrolled in CEP include Becker Elementary, Henry Ford Elementary, Lowrey School, Maples Elementary, McCollough Elementary, McDonald Elementary, Miller Elementary, Oakman Elementary, River Oaks Elementary, Salina Elementary and Intermediate, Unis Middle, William Ford Elementary and Woodworth Middle.
Source: Dearborn Public Schools
BEIJING, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday hit back at U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's unfounded accusations against China on issues concerning Taiwan, the South China Sea, human rights and religion.
Pence delivered a speech at a think tank on the evening of Oct. 4, claiming that China interferes in U.S. internal affairs and elections and making accusations against China's domestic and foreign policies.
"There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, adding the U.S. 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, the spokesperson said.
"We urge the U.S. to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three Sino-U.S. 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-U.S. relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," said Hua.
Hua said China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters, and that installing necessary national defense facilities on the Nansha Islands which are Chinese 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'," she said.
"We urge the U.S. to stop stirring up troubles and creating tensions. The U.S. should respect efforts made by relevant parties to resolve the issue through negotiation and consultation," said Hua.
The spokesperson said the Chinese government attaches great importance to protecting and advancing human rights, and people of all ethnic groups in China enjoy full freedom of religious belief in accordance with law.
The Chinese people have a greater say on the human rights situation in China than all others, said Hua, calling on the U.S. side to "look in the mirror and reflect on its own human rights problems," instead of exploiting human rights and religious issues to interfere in China's internal affairs.
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Food and drinks sold at many Chinese tourist spots are often notoriously priced higher than their market price. But there are always exceptions. A national geological park in central China is winning hearts during the National Day holiday week by offering "one-buck lunch meal."
Mt. Laojun Mountain National Geological Park, located in Luoyang City, central China's Henan Province welcomed thousands of tourists with a bowl full of noodle soup almost for free.
As swarms of tourists lined up for the lunch service, they were greeted with a transparent donation box asking people to toss in just one yuan (0.15 US dollars) for the tasty meal.
"One-yuan lunch, no cashier. Pay consciously and help yourself with changes," read a note on the donation box.
The lunch meal consisted of a bowl of noodle soup, a sausage and a steamed bun. Staff cooked the meal with local food ingredients which were affordable regional specialties, China News reported.
"To offer visitors a bite of warm food is to share our sincere and heartfelt welcome," said Gao Hong, deputy manager of the scenic park. He explained that charging tourists one buck is just a tactic to prevent food waste.
Many visitors applauded the park's effort, with some voluntarily paying extra for the food.
On Monday, a total of 1,200 tourists queued for the lunch treat, while the park received 1,275 yuan from the cash box.
"One yuan for a bowl of noodle soup, a sausage and a bun is so worthy," a local visitor told China News. "I decided to pay five extra bucks since they've offered us such a good treat."
"Food price keeps rising in other tourist spots," another tourist from north China's Hebei Province said. "I've never seen a food meal service like this."
Laojun Mountain's "one-buck lunch meal" has set the social media platforms buzzing with heated discussions. While some netizens believed the service was just another marketing scam, others praised the park for offering food at a reasonable price.
"Some tourist spots charge 10 yuan for a bottle of water. This is honest business," a netizen commented on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
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She is only the third woman and second Indian after Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to be made a permanent member of the economics department at Harvard.
She is also the Managing Editor of Harvard's Review of Economic Studies.
She is also co-director of the International Finance and Macroeconomics programme at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, member of the economic advisory panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
She is also co-editor of the American Economic Review, co-editor of the current Handbook of International Economics and was managing editor of the Review of Economic Studies.
She has also served as a member of the Eminent Persons Advisory Group on G-20 Matters for India's ministry of finance.
Before Harvard, she was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business from 2001 to 2005.
Some of us still remember a time before smartphones and Google Maps, when you had to rely on conventional maps and meticulously plan your itinerary beforehand - unless you were the adventurous type. But then came Google Maps, and everything changed. The most comprehensive navigation app has been embraced by everyone, as it constantly added new features that make life easier for travellers. For all travellers? Not quite. Features that are focused on how cyclists experience a city have only been added recently and they still much to be desired.
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Google Maps Has Included Cyclists...
Google Maps has decided to incorporate a specialized tool that allows cyclists to plan a route specifically designed for bicycles, just as a car driver or a pedestrian would do. But it has also included specialized map services that are geared towards people commuting by bicycle. By turning the specialized maps on, the maps will show you features that are otherwise invisible, by highlighting bicycle lanes and paths, as well as train tracks. The specialized option can be turned on through the Google Maps menu and is a crucial tool, especially when navigating an unknown area.
The Rajasthan government has launched a scheme to provide free electricity to farmers having general category connections, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said on Saturday.
Addressing a public rally on the culmination of her Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra, the chief minister said the scheme launched on Friday would help increase the income of farmers.
I want to announce that the government yesterday had started a scheme of free electricity for all farmers in rural areas having electricity connection in general category for specific limit, she said.
Raje said the electricity infrastructure in the state was in bad shape when she came to power, adding that the government turned the situation around by infusing nearly Rs 40,000 crore.
She said currently, domestic power was available for 20-22 hours a day.
We want the farmers to get free electricity to some extent so that they their income can increase, Raje said.
She also announced that the state government was working on the Rs 37,000 crore "Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project to address the water-related issues of the region.
Taking the stage after Rajes address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Centre was evaluating the issues of the ERCP and a decision would be taken soon.
The project will provide water for drinking and irrigation purposes to 13 districts in eastern Rajasthan.
Modi said ever since the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojna, Rajasthan had not laid foundation of any other irrigation project.
He lauded the developmental work carried out by Chief Minister Raje, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state had worked hard to electrify 13 lakh villages, ensure housing for all and implement strict laws against crimes like rape.
It takes courage to reach out to people to get a report card of the works done in five years, the prime minister said referring to Raje's yatra.
He asked party workers to strengthen their booth management, saying booths won meant elections won.
The rally ended shortly before the Election Commissions press conference in Delhi announcing the polling dates for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana.
Rajasthan will go to the polls on December 7. Counting will take place in all five states on December 11, the EC announced.
The BJP had earlier said Raje would be its chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
The Samajwadi Party said on Saturday it will no longer wait for the Congress to decide on an alliance for Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, suggesting it preferred Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party.
The SPs snub to the Congress comes just days after Mayawati ruled out any BSP alliance with that party for Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, a move which could hit opposition efforts to form an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party front before the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
The Congress has made us wait for too long. How much longer must we wait? SP president Akhilesh Yadav said.
We will now consult the Gondwana Gantantra party with which we had an alliance, and also the BSP, for the coming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Yadav told reporters.
Time is passing by and we cannot wait any longer, he said.
Reacting to Yadavs remark, the Congress said in New Delhi that it had not been planning an alliance with the SP in Madhya Pradesh in any case.
But Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala added there had been a possibility of an alliance with the BSP in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
On Wednesday, Mayawati said her Bahujan Samaj Party will contest the assembly polls on its own or in alliance with a regional party.
She had said Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi wanted an alliance but some selfish senior leaders in their party were out to foil any understanding.
Reacting to Mayawatis statement, Akhilesh Yadav had then urged the Congress to show large-heartedness by taking along other parties.
If there is any delay, there is a possibility that other parties may declare their candidates. After this, there will be a levelling of allegations that they colluded with the BJP, he had said.
Madhya Pradesh will go to the polls on November 28, the Election Commission announced Saturday.
The ABVP has put the onus on Delhi University to verify Ankiv Baisoya's degree and is defending its leader.
But there's not a single word of support from its political masters.
Veer Arjun Singh reports.
IMAGE: Ankiv Baisoya, who supposedly graduated two years ago from the Thiruvalluvar University in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, failed to name the head of his department there or teachers who taught him. Photograph: Kind courtesy @AnkivBaisoya_DU/Twitter
Who: Ankiv Baisoya, 23, kept fidgeting with his hands as the mic was brought closer to his mouth.
'Can you recall a few subjects you had studied during your undergraduate course?' the reporter from the news channel Aaj Tak had rephrased the question several times to make a point.
Baisoya shifted his weight from one leg to the other and repeated his answer, 'Several subjects including English, skill-based subjects and core theory.'
It only got worse from there. He was then asked to name his head of department or any other teachers that he liked.
Baisoya, who supposedly graduated two years ago from the Thiruvalluvar University in Vellore,
Baisoya is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and the newly-elected president of the Delhi University Students' Union.
Tamil Nadu, fired blanks.
What: Soon after the ABVP won three of the four key posts at the Delhi University elections, which were marred by vandalism and accusations of poll rigging, the Congress's student body, the National Students Union of India, accused Baisoya of faking his Bachelor of Arts degree.
It produced a letter from the Thiruvalluvar University signed by its controller of examinations.
Despite the counter-claims of Baisoya and his colleagues at ABVP, many news organisations have spoken to the Thiruvalluvar University and independently confirmed the authenticity of the letter, which states that the copy of the certificate of the following candidate is verified and found to be 'NOT GENUINE', conspicuously in bold letters.
'It is a FAKE CERTIFICATE,' it read.
Where: Delhi University polls this year have been a whirling controversy from the start. The tearing of posters and the episodes of violent show of strength by student organisations have become a trademark of these elections.
This time, even the counting of votes was halted twice after a technical snag in the electronic voting machines.
The accusations of poll rigging are being heard by the Delhi high court. And for Baisoya, who is now at the centre of the controversy, the problems are only getting bigger.
Why: There's little defence coming from the trolls on this one. Attendance records of the College of Vocational Studies are now being circulated over Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp groups, indicating that while Baisoya claims to be studying in Vellore, he was also enrolled as a student of CVS in Delhi.
A report by digital media portal Newslaundary claims that a few teachers at CVS remember Baisoya because of his participation in students' protests at the college.
The ABVP has put the onus on Delhi University to verify Baisoya's degree and is defending its leader. But there's not a single word of support from its political masters.
Despite his shaky media interview, where he could not elaborate on the 'several subjects' he had studied, Baisoya repeatedly said that his focus was on subjects that improve 'skill'.
Looking at the criticism on social media, his stress on the keyword is playing out as a cruel irony for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday termed mahagathbandhans in India as tried, tested and failed ideas, saying if such an alliance is formed again then 2019 will be a contest between a stable government led by a strong leader and an anarchic combination.
Expressing confidence about the Bharatiya Janata Partys win in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said this is not a time for India to test an anarchic kind of combination when it is on the growth path.
Giving historical accounts of mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in India, Jaitley said, You tried it under Chandra Shekhar, it was partly tried under V P Singh, it was tried under Charan Singh and it was tried under I K Gujaral and Dewe Gowda. Its an experiment where policy gets killed and the longevity of the government is a few months.
So, these (mahagathbandhans) are tried, tested and failed ideas much that they sound very fancy. In order to have a big alliance, you must have a large nucleus and smaller groups aligned around them. You cannot have a nucleus of a handful of people and you cannot have an alliance of political parities whose interests are regional, the finance minister said at the HT Leadership Summit.
Jaitleys comments have come in the run-up to the upcoming assembly polls in some major states and also the Lok Sabha elections. These remarks assume significance amidst talk of formation of a grand alliance of opposition parties to defeat the BJP in 2019.
He further said, You cannot have an alliance with parties whose leaders are maverick or they want to be in alliance to have criminal cases to be closed. If you get together this kind of a crowd then 2019 will be a choice between a stable government with a strong leader versus a completely anarchic combination.
Observing that history had provided India a great opportunity, he said, India has been growing fast consistently despite global slowdown and other factors.
So, therefore, this is when we need coherence, governance and policy. This is not the time where you can go in for an anarchic kind of combination. I think aspirational societies never commit suicide. So, I am very clear what will happen in 2019, he said.
Dismissing Congress president Rahul Gandhis allegation that the Narendra Modi-led government is responsible for mounting bad loans in the banking sector, Jaitley said, I think some people need to grow up and understand these issues. Debate on these issues has to be a grown-up debate.
The total amount of debt given till 2007-08 was about Rs 18 lakh crore by public sector banks in the country and when the global slowdown began this Rs 18 lakh crore went up to Rs 55 lakh crore in 2014, he said.
Year after year, he said, the previous United Progressive Alliance government was asking banks to grow their lending by 31 per cent.
So the undeserving and unstable projects were all been funded. Thats when the bank loot started. So the Congress president must realise that this was the genesis of the problem, he said.
The second crime that they committed was instead of accepting the problem of additional capacity, banks were asked to roll over the debt when the borrower started defaulting, he said.
Citing an example of Vijay Mallya without taking his name, Jaitley said in one of the most controversial cases where person has escaped to the United Kingdom, it was the Reserve Bank of India which wrote to State Bank of India to please give him (Mallya) a second restructuring.
So you have managed the system to such an extent that the RBI telling State Bank of India that someone should be given a second restructuring, he added.
Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom, has been charged of defaulting on bank loans to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of working for the interest of a few rich people and ignoring the farmers and other sections of the society.
IMAGE: Speaking at an event organised by a tribal organisation, Adivasi Ekta Parishad, Rahul Gandhi raked up the Rafale deal and demonetisation . Photograph: @INCIndia/Twitter
He also raked up the multi-billion Rafale fighter jet deal with France to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Gandhi said his party will ensure implementation of the tribal rights bill if voted to power in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajashthan, which go to polls in November and December.
If you want to help out the rich, do it but also help the farmers and other poor sections of the society. If Rs 3 lakh crore of the rich can be written off, then why not give such concessions to farmers and other poor sections of the society? he asked.
Speaking at an event organised by a tribal organisation, Adivasi Ekta Parishad, he said, The tribal bill is not a gift, but right of the tribal people. The tribal people must have their rights over land, water and forests.
The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, is a key piece of forest legislation passed when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in power at the Centre.
Also called the tribal bill, it concerns the rights of forest dwelling communities to land and other resources denied to them for decades due to colonial forest laws.
IMAGE: The Congress chief alleged that in the 2016 demonetisation exercise, black money became white, nobody went to jail and contrary to the BJPs promise. Photograph: @INCIndia/Twitter
Gandhi charged the Modi government with diluting the consent clause in the Land Acquisition Bill and also weakening the Panchayati Raj institutions.
The Congress chief alleged that in the 2016 demonetisation exercise, black money became white, nobody went to jail and contrary to the BJPs promise, no one received Rs 15 lakh in their bank account.
He said before taking a decision, unlike the BJP, he thinks whether it will benefit the poor.
If the decision will harm the interests of the poor, I never go ahead with its implementation. On the other hand, the BJP thinks whether its decisions will benefit the rich, Gandhi said.
The BJP goes ahead with the implementation only if the decision benefits the rich, he added.
IMAGE: Rahul Gandhi offers his prayers at Gwari Ghat near Jabalpur. Photograph: @INCIndia/Twitter
He further told the gathering that he always fulfils the promises he makes to the people.
I am in politics since 2004 and you can check my speeches. Give me one example where I have made promises like depositing Rs 15 lakh in your bank account, he said.
In Karnataka, I promised that if the Congress returns to power, farmers will get a loan waiver. Accordingly, the chief minister implemented the decision after the new government was formed, the Congress chief said.
Gandhi said the BJP wanted to implement the rural employment guarantee scheme MNREGA and Right to Food policies of the UPA through bureaucracy, while the erstwhile dispensation had empowered panchayats and pradhans (village heads) to take decisions regarding them.
The bureaucracy doesnt want these schemes, so their budgetary allocations have been reduced, he alleged.
IMAGE: Large number of people came out to attend Rahul's Morena rally. Photograph: @INCIndia/Twitter
He also targeted the Modi government for letting liquor baron Vijay Mallya and diamantaire Nirav Modi flee the country with public money.
Nirav Modi robbed your money from the banks to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore and fled the country. Similarly, Vijay Mallya took away Rs 10,000 crore from the banks and informed (Finance Minister Arun Jaitley) before leaving the country, Gandhi said.
So far, no action is being taken in these two cases, he alleged.
Mallya is facing charges of money laundering and defaulting on loan payments, while Nirav Modi is an accused in the over $2 billion PNB fraud case -- the countrys biggest financial scam.
Reiterating his allegations about the Rafale fighter jet deal, Gandhi said Modi cancelled the contract that the UPA had signed with France and inked a new deal to buy the aircraft at a much higher price.
The prime minister gave the (offset) contract to his friend Anil Ambani instead of the state-run company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, he alleged.
The BJP-led government has repeatedly denied any irregularity in the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale deal.
Ambani has also rejected Gandhis allegations and emphasised that the government had no role in Dassault, the French makers of Rafale, choosing his company as offset partner.
In a scathing attack on Saturday on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the opposition party of practising vote bank politics and dividing people to get into power.
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves at his supporters during Vijay Sankalp Sabha, in Ajmer. Photograph: PTI Photo
The prime minister made the charge at a rally in Ajmer just ahead of the announcement of assembly election dates for Rajasthan and four other states in November and December.
He asked people not to let the Congress get into power again.
Modi said vote bank politics is not limited to elections now.
Political parties which do vote bank politics divide the bureaucracy when they are in power and this badly affects governance, he said.
They allocate the budget as per vote bank politics and therefore overall development does not happen, he said at the meeting which marked the end of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Rajes state-wide political yatra.
The Congress has established this tradition in the past 60 years, Modi said.
With great difficulty, the country has picked the right direction now after 60 years. Dont give them another chance again, he said.
He said the Congress leaders high command is a family and they can do politics only be revering it.
He accused the party low-level politics.
The Congress leaders were questioning the surgical strikes by the army across the Line of Control two years ago and insulting soldiers, he said.
They should be ashamed of indulging in such politics, Modi said.
The rally marked the end of Rajes Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra, an outreach exercise by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The prime ministers rally ended shortly before the Election Commissions press conference in Delhi announcing the polling dates for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana.
Rajasthan will go to the polls on December 7. Counting will take place in all five states on December 11, the EC announced.
The Congress on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi put pressure on the Election Commission to delay its press conference to announce poll dates in five states as he was scheduled to address a rally in Rajasthan, a claim rubbished by the poll panel chief.
Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat said in Delhi that the EC does not work under pressure and listed three reasons for the nearly three-hour delay in giving out the schedule.
In Kolkata, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the prime minister of putting pressure on the EC to delay its press conference. He also said the CECs explanation is preposterous and wondered whether Bharatiya Janata Party is the super EC.
The EC was set to hold a press conference at 12.30 pm but had rescheduled it subsequently to 3.00 pm.
The five states where assembly polls will be held in November-December are Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana.
There is no pressure... EC does not work under pressure... if someone thinks concessions have been made, they are free to complain, Rawat told reporters in New Delhi.
On shifting of the press conferences timing, the CEC listed three reasons -- last-minute assessment of timeline for publication of Telangana electoral rolls, a high court direction that Telangana electoral rolls be shown to it before final publication and request from a state to delay bypolls due to possibility of bad weather.
Responding to a series of questions on Congresss accusation regarding postponing of the press conference, Rawat said, Politicians are political creatures and they have to see politics in everything. We have no comments.
He explained that the electoral rolls being punched into the system was proving to be a problem in Telangana and the engineers from C-DAC were on the spot to help personnel using the system.
Now, the final publication of electoral roll will be made on October 12 instead of October 8.
He said keeping in mind the delay in publication of electoral rolls, Telangana polls have been kept at the fag end of the schedule so that preparations are not affected.
Telangana and Rajasthan will have elections in a single phase on December 7.
He said EC officials will visit Telangana and Mizoram in the coming days, though usually such visits take place before announcement of poll schedule. Rawat said ECs team of officials had already been to the state and the poll panel was satisfied that elections can be held there.
However, Surjewala was not impressed with the CECs reply.
The ECs explanation for the delay is preposterous. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is guilty of pressuring the EC to delay its press conference as he was scheduled to address a rally. The EC was made to wait for Modis rally, he told reporters.
The prime minister addressed a public rally at Ajmer.
Surjewala also said that the EC had done a similar thing while announcing poll dates for Gujarat last year.
But both the BJP and the EC should remember that such tactics wont bear any results and the people of Rajasthan and India wont give in to any sort of allurement as they have made up their mind against the anti-people BJP government, he said.
In Gujarat, BJP IT cell tweeted the election dates even before ECI. ECI delinked Gujarat elections from Himachal to enable PM Modi to make a slew of announcements. ECI again deferred PC to enable PM Modi to do the same in Rajasthan. Is BJP the Super EC? Surjewala later said in a tweet.
He said the people of the country are under attack from their own government and the economy is in doldrums with the rupee sliding every day.
On who will be the prime minister after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said the people will decide.
But it will be a peoples government and not be at war with the people, he said.
The Modi government has declared war on the people of this country and the present regime has to be defeated in the next elections, he added.
Putin's last-minute intervention with PM salvages $5.43 bn pact.
Ajai Shukla reports.
IMAGE: Russian President Vladmir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi interact with students in New Delhi, October 5, 2018. Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo
The low-key announcement on Friday, October 5, of India's $5.43 billion purchase of Russia's S-400 air defence missile system contrasted sharply with the flourish with which Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and then French president Francois Hollande announced the April 2015 agreement to supply India 36 Rafale fighters.
Meeting the press in New Delhi, Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin avoided any mention of the S-400 during their comments to the media. Nor did the contract feature in an official Ministry of External Affairs list of documents signed.
Eventually, India's biggest overseas arms contract since the Rafale buy found official mention only through one brief sentence in the Indo-Russian joint statement, released by the MEA.
The joint statement noted: 'The sides (New Delhi and Moscow) welcomed the conclusion of the contract for the supply of the S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile system to India.'
I learnt it was not wrangling over the price that clouded the deal with uncertainty. Instead, top Indian government officials disagreed on whether to risk US ire by concluding a deal that Washington has made clear it disapproves of.
Sources close to the negotiations said while Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharman has consistently backed the S-400 purchase, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval -- who is more alert to the US signalling -- wanted to postpone signing the contract.
On his visit to Washington in mid-September, Doval met top US officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defence Secretary James Mattis and his American counterpart, John Bolton.
They are understood to have warned him that India's purchase of the S-400 might trigger US sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAATSA.
CAATSA binds the US administration to impose sanctions against countries that engage in 'significant transactions' with Russian, Iranian and North Korean defence and intelligence entities.
To exempt close partners such as India and Vietnam, the US Congress has legislated a waiver that the US president can invoke.
However, Doval was told there is no guarantee that President Donald Trump would invoke the waiver for India.
Two days after returning from the US, Doval received a top-level delegation from Rosoboronexport, Moscow's defence exports agency, to tie up details of defence contracts to be signed during the Modi-Putin summit.
Doval expressed his strong reservations about signing the S-400 contract, given the 'current climate' -- an apparent reference to the Rafale controversy, but which could have also meant pressure from Washington.
In the days leading up to Putin's visit, Moscow remained in touch with Doval's office to tie up the visit agenda.
The NSA steadfastly maintained that neither the S-400 deal, nor the deal for four Krivak III-class frigates, would be signed during Putin's visit.
As late as Thursday, when Putin landed in New Delhi, the Russian side was told that no defence agreements would be signed during the summit.
However, Putin raised the subject with Modi, both on Thursday night and in the Friday talks.
"Eventually, it was Modi who took the call on Friday morning to go ahead with the S-400 contract," says an individual close to the decision-making.
Even so, the announcement was done without flourish. "It is hard to say whether the government is more worried about blowback from the US Congress, or from the Indian National Congress," quipped a senior civil servant.
According to Russian language technical papers published by designers of the S-400, it is designed primarily as an air defence system with only limited capability to shoot down ballistic missiles.
The designers of the S-400 Triumf (NATO designation SA-21 Growler) say it is built to shoot down aircraft at low and very low altitudes, even when stealth technology greatly reduced their target signatures.
Its ability to track multiple targets caters for a crowded airspace with large numbers of aircraft, as well as drones.
It is designed to defeat advanced electronic jammers and survive on a battlefield where the enemy is targeting the S-400 with precision-guided munitions.
The capability to engage tactical ballistic missiles and intermediate range ballistic missiles -- the anti-ballistic missile role -- is mentioned at the end, almost as an afterthought.
Even though the first S-400 units might be deployed to protect Delhi -- its long range allows it to cover the area up to the Indo-Pakistan border from deployment areas in the National Capital Territory -- its primary mission will remain anti-aircraft protection.
Guarding Delhi from ballistic missile attack will be the job of an ABM system the Defence Research & Development Organisation is currently developing and testing.
While the S-400 will be paid for from the air force budget, its vehicle-mounted configuration allows it to provide air defence cover to the army's mechanised strike corps. It can also be fitted onto capital warships such as the Aegis system, which guards US Navy warships.
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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."
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'Egypt was able to reclaim its land to the last inch ... It was able to impose a different strategic reality and formulate the equations in the region based on an orientation towards peace not war and destruction,' said Sisi
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Saturday that "the victory of 1973 was not a coincidence because the roots of victory and conquering hardships are deeply embedded in the soil of our great country," adding "that's how Egypt crossed the bridge between defeat and victory from 1967 to 1973."
In a televised speech on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of victory in the 1973 October War, the President explained "The October war was not only to regain our land, but achieving peace was also part of our vision ... Egypt has proved its capabilities in maintaing the peace just as it proved it in waging battle ... Keeping the peace represents a challenge no less than war."
"On these days in 1973, the people rose behind their armed forces to declare to the world that Egypt is hard to break ... Egypt, thanks to Allah and the efforts of its sons, was able to overcome the difficult period after 1967 ... It rebuilt its army ... It fought a long war of attrition under the leadership of the late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser ... The people proved they were pulsating with will and determination ... Then came the 6th of October War through the decison of the late President Anwar Sadat," El-Sisi said.
The Egyptian President then paid tribute to the late president Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat, describing him as "The Hero of War and Peace."
Egypt was able to reclaim its land to the last inch ... It was able to impose a different strategic reality and formulate the equations in the region based on an orientation towards peace not war and destruction, the President stressed.
He said that recent difficult challenges did not weaken the country's determination to face the threat of terrorism and deal harsh blows to it, stressing that the state was capable of stabilizing the country following a difficult period of polarization and tensions.
The President then pointed out that these critical tasks did not distract the state from economic development through a realistic approach to the facts on ground, and without illusions or sloganeering.
Sisi highlighted that the Egypt has been able to preserve and maintain the unity of the nation's institutions, and prevent the spread of terrorism.
Sisi added that the goal is to transform the Egyptian reality to a better state through modern science, due diligence and confidence, adding that what has been achieved of national developmental projects calls for a sense of pride with the aspiration to achieve more.
He continued saying "Egypt has proved its ability to sustain peace, just like its ability in war, and perhaps maintaining peace is a challenge that is not any less than the challenge of fighting, and in both cases, Egypt made it clear that when it takes decisions it is capable of implementing them."
At the end of his speech, the president paid tribute to the lives of the heroes and the martyrs of the Egyptian army, who shed their blood on the holy sand of Sinai to achieve peace security for the lives of all Egyptians.
The President further paid tribute to the Arab armies that participated in the October War alongside Egypt.
He also paid tribute to the martyrs of Egypt in the war on terror, saying that Egypt will always remember their sacrifices and heroism in the effort to secure a safe life for future generations.
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Norsk Hydro ASA (NHY,NHYDY.PK,NHYDY.PK) announced that its alumina refinery Alunorte was granted an exceptional authorization by federal environmental agency IBAMA to utilize its state-of-the art press filter in the processing of bauxite residues.
After receiving authorization, Alunorte will be able to re-start the operation at 50% of capacity.
Following IBAMA's decision, Alunorte will be working with SEMAS, Secretary of State for Environment and Sustainability, to obtain the authorization to use the press filter on DRS1. This filter provides stackable residues with considerably less water content than the drum filter.
On Wednesday, Hydro said it would halt production at Alunorte as the refinery's waste deposit area is close to full capacity due to an embargo on the new press filter and as an ongoing dispute with Brazil's authorities had been preventing Hydro from using a newly created residue facility.
"We are ready to re-start our operations.... We are now making every effort to go back to producing as we maintain our dialog with authorities to resume full production," said John Thuestad, head of Hydro's Bauxite and Alumina area.
Resuming 50 percent production at Alunorte would also allow Hydro's bauxite mine Paragominas and its joint-venture primary aluminium smelter Albras to continue operating at half capacity, as opposed to being fully shut down as a consequence of Alunorte being idled.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
Conflict affects education in Yemen: Intl org.
[06/October/2018]
SANAA, Oct.6 (Saba) - International organizations confirmed that the war in Yemen has severely affected the education of millions of children, the teachers are the most affected because they are without salary since three years from the beginning of the war until now.
The UNESCO and UNICEF said in statement obtained by Saba that at least half a million children are out of school since 2015.Meanwhile, 3.7 other million child also cannot continue their studies unless teachers' salaries are paid.
In the statement they said that it is necessary to pay the salaries of 145 thousand teachers to begin teaching in those difficult circumstances.
They said that delay of salaries caused in collapse of the education sector and led children to work, to recruit, to trafficking and abuse.
The organizations called on the international community to end violence against children and to protect their right to education.
Amal/Ahmed Al-Mutawakelsaba
By SA Commercial Prop News
Student accommodation interior.
For South African students, being accepted at a tertiary institution is just the first hurdle in the race to higher education. If being accepted at university is like gold dust, suitable, affordable accommodation is like striking a gold mine.
Budget cuts, reduced financial support from government and increasing student numbers mean that student accommodation provided by universities and colleges in South Africa is now incredibly scarce. Just 18% of the student accommodation needs are provided for by these institutions according to the Department of Higher Education.
However, this state of affairs is nothing new. And over the past five years, property development and management company, The Aengus Property Group, has made it its business to step into this accommodation chasm.
Aengus, which holds a portfolio of upmarket yet affordable housing in Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth, is a pioneer in converting mothballed commercial buildings into stylish, modern and affordable loft apartments. It has also worked closely with the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Johannesburg to meet the needs of students who seek accommodation close to campus.
Previous Aengus developments in Johannesburgs trendy Braamfontein area have been hugely successful, offering around 1000 one-bedroom loft apartments with 100% occupancy rates since inception a few years ago.
In February this year, Aengus is set to unveil a further seven trendy loft apartment buildings literally on the doorstep of Wits University. Boasting 934 beds, the accommodation is also very close to other tertiary institutions.
Given the entrepreneurial spirit of the company, which has at its heart an honest appreciation for the real needs of those who desire affordable housing and accommodation, it comes as no surprise that Aengus has set the bar high for those who want the modern conveniences of residential living but have much smaller budgets.
This time around, Aengus has yet again raised the standards, offering double rooms with en-suite bathrooms that should appeal to older students, or those who prefer a bit more privacy. The units come fully furnished with beds, desks, fitted cupboards, kitchens with a fridge and Wi-Fi pretty much everything a modern, globally connected student needs and wants.
The buildings also feature 24 hour security with biometric fingerprint access control, and on-site maintenance teams.
The lofts are on average thirty paces from the campus, and given the security measures in place, students can walk to and from campus any time of day or night, says Aengus Property Holdings CEO, Richard Rubin. Our strategy meets our ethos which is very South African: safety first. Parents can rest assured in the knowledge their children will be taken care of. And it goes without saying that affordability is synonymous with Aengus brand.
Rental contracts are typically for 10 months of the year and vary from R1950 to R2500 per student per month. Not only does Aengus cater for accommodation during the academic year, but its new offering also allows Aenguss student tenants to qualify for discounts if they wish to stay in other Aengus-owned student accommodation in the coastal cities of Durban and Port Elizabeth during the holiday period in December and January. This new offering is known as The Aengus Vacation Club, which we think will be a huge success and will add to the lifestyle offering of the brand, says Rubin.
And amidst the luxurious touches the loft apartments have a uniquely student touch with trendy names such as LOL (Love Our Lofts, with 130 beds on 6 Ameshoff Street), KISS Lofts (Keepin It Slick And Stylin Lofts, 208 beds on 30 De Beer Street).
Oh go on, the other names are too cool not to mention: RAD Lofts (Right Across the Drag Lofts on 34 Bertha St with 200 beds); LMFAO Lofts (Lofts Made For All OK!, 36 beds on 38 De Beer St); JAW Lofts (Just Across The Way Lofts, 216 beds on 36 De Beer St); ACE Lofts (At Campus Early Lofts, 100 beds on 25 Stiemens St) and lastly WTF! Lofts (not what you think: Walk To and From Lofts, 44 beds on 21 Biccard St)
Parliaments session yesterday was quite quick.
If you blinked you wouldve missed it. Thats not a joke by the way.
You see after not having a session since June when they only convened to pass the 2018/2019 Budget, if you were hoping for a decent debate on a number of issues and the Bills tabled yesterday, you would have been disappointed. And rightly so.
After a few long-winded speeches, sometimes full of nonsense, by the usual suspects, Parliament was then adjourned until 18 December 2018. Yes it was that quick.
Now the next sitting is just a couple of days before Christmas. We all know what that means. After a few pleasantries, it will be an opportunity for Members of Parliament to wish everyone merry Christmas and Happy New Year before its adjourned again.
The trend has become quite noticeable during the past few years.
Looking back at this year, it would be interesting to count the number of days Parliament had met. It would probably not even amount to a month.
Which is quite telling, isnt it? We accept that what we have in Samoa today is a one-party state. There is no doubting that. What the ruling Government wants will be done with very little opposition if any at all.
But heres the thing. If Parliament is supposed to be the supreme law making institution on the land, why does it feel like every time they meet, someone is trying to rush everything through as if this most sacred institution merely exists to rubber stamp what the Government of the day wants?
If that is the case, whats the point of Parliament? Who needs it anyway? Why doesnt the Government just pass everything and carry on if they think thats the direction for Samoa to take?
Thats certainly what it looks like from the outside. Its always a rush.
Sometimes its almost a joke.
For those of us who follow the proceedings, every time certain Members of Parliament attempt to speak about important issues, and this includes members of the ruling Human Rights Protection Party who often make some wonderful points, they are quickly reminded to keep their remarks to a minimum.
Why do they need to keep their remarks to a minimum?
Someone should remind the Speaker of Parliament that Members of Parliament are representatives elected by their constituents to represent their voices in the House?
Which means they need to be given time to do just that. However long it takes. Who cares if the opinions are irrelevant and stupid? Even those stupid opinions can contribute to a healthy discussion about issues affecting Samoa today?
And looking around this country, there are so many issues. From crime, rape, incest, poverty and hardship. Then there is the issue of public servants behaving as if public properties belong to them, abusing their power and positions for greed and gains. We can go on.
The point is that members of the public should expect transparency and accountability especially from Parliament, when it comes to their sessions.
Voters and constituents deserve better.
Lets not forget that the short session yesterday had already been postponed from Tuesday. Why that was done, we dont know. We should know. We are talking about Parliament, an institution that should feel duty bound to exercise transparency and accountability when it comes to its decision-making.
Interestingly enough, Salega Easts Member of Parliament, Olo Fiti Vaai, claimed the decision was made to allow Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, who was in New York, to return to Samoa.
Whether thats true, we dont know and we will probably never know.
Judging from yesterdays display though, there was absolutely no need to wait for Prime Minister Tuilaepa. In fact it was the Prime Minister who moved a motion to adjourn the session until December because he had to be somewhere else.
Well we understand he is a busy man and he had to leave but why did they have to stop Parliament? Which brings us back to a point Olo made last week.
When we look at this, all members of Parliament are available, the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Deputy Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and all Members of Parliament, are all available, he said.
The number we have exceeds the number we need for a quorum and therefore the Parliament session should proceed.
Does this mean Tuilaepa does not think his Cabinet as well as Members of Parliament are capable of holding the Parliament session?
What do you think? A one-state party dominated by a one-man band?
Write and share your thoughts with us.
Have a wonderful weekend Samoa, God bless!
The Government is moving to amend the Constitution once more in relation to the role of the Head of State to make the Office a lot more professional.
Thats what Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi told Parliament yesterday during the second reading of the Head of State Amendment Bill 2018.
The amendments seek to bring the entitlements and salaries of the Head of State and members of the Council of Deputy to be in line with the public service salary scale.
The Bill was among three Bills tabled and discussed during Parliaments half a day session.
The other Bills include the Alcohol Control Amendment Bill 2018 and the Intellectual Property Amendment Bill 2018.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa said Samoa has been independent for 56 years. In the beginning, he reminded that more than 160 chiefs of Samoa deliberated on the Articles of the Constitution. They agreed on having two Heads of State.
There was Tupua Tamasese Meaole and Malietoa Tanumafili II, he said.
According to Tuilaepa, a lot of articles in the Constitution in relation to the Head of State no longer apply which is why the amendments are necessary.
A lot has changed and now the tenure is limited to five years. This means the conditions at the time were specifically for the first two Heads of States, Tupua and Malietoa. This is why we are moving to amend the Act.
He made it clear that anyone is entitled to become the Head of State now, as long as they are a chief and elected by Members of Parliament.
Tuilaepa also took issue with the word faletua (wife of a paramount chief) used in the proposed amendments.
The English word spouse is relevant but the Samoan word must be changed to reflect both genders, but not faletua, said Tuilaepa.
The amendments also touch on how to address the Head of State.
It proposes that instead of His Highness, it should be the Afioga i le Ao o le Malo. The same goes for the Masiofo.
Member of Parliament for Vaimauga Sasae, Sulamanaia Tauiliili Tuivasa, objected to this.
The use of the Afioga i le Ao o le Malo is a bit shallow. It does not reflect the sacredness of the title as used before with His Highness, he said.
Sulamanaia also took issue with the plan for the Ministry of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to administer the affairs of the Head of States Office.
It means the administration of the office will appoint the Secretary to the Head of State on a three-year contract.
The Head of State is appointed by Parliament that is that, said Sulumanaia. Then there are Cabinet Ministers who appoint their own secretaries. Why cant the Head of State appoint his own secretary?
Tuilaepa intervened and said the executive are paying for the salaries, therefore the selection must come from them.
Please be reminded that Cabinet gives the final approval on anything, he said.
Salega East Member of Parliament, Olo Fit Vaai, supported Sulamanaia.
The correct salutation should still be His Highness the Head of State and not just plainly the Head of State."
Just leave that part the way it is.
Another amendment states the Head of State must be paid an allowance at a rate fixed from time to time by Cabinet for the following: telephone and overseas official travels and medical entitlements.
Another proposed change relates to the allowances and privileges of the spouse of the Head of State.
If the Head of State is living with his or her spouse at the time of his or her death, the spouse is entitled to be paid an amount equal to the salary of the Head of State for three months from the date of death of the Head of State as a one off payment.
The running cost including maintenance of all motor vehicles (assigned to the Office of the Head of State) is to be paid for by annual appropriation under the Ministry budget.
The second reading of the Head of State Amendment Bill 2018 was passed yesterday.
Parliament has been adjourned until 18 December 2018.
Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi welcomed on Saturday USs First Lady Melania Trump at Ittihadiya Presidential Palace, as she embarks on her first visit to Egypt as part of her Africa tour.
In an official statement, Egyptian Presidency Spokesman Bassam Rady said El-Sisi expressed to Mrs Trump Egypts keeness on boosting and supporting the special strategic partnership between the two countries.
The meeting was attended by the President's spouse, Entissar Amer El-Sisi, who had welcomed Mrs Trump at Cairo International Airport earlier today.
Mrs Trump praised the reception and hospitality she has recieved in Egypt, expressing her appreciation and admiration of ancient Egyptian heritage and her respect for the friendship between the two nations.
She also expressed her keeness on working on boosting cooperation across social domains, as an extension of the fruitful partnership between the two countries.
The president discussed with Mrs Trump the government's efforts in developing the health, education, and tourism sectors, as well as paying attention to boosting womens roles in the community and protecting childrens rights.
El-Sisi praised bilateral cooperation between the two countries, especially through the role of USAID in funding projects in the sectors of health, education and tourism in support of Egypts efforts toward economic and social reform to accomplish sustainable and comprehensive development.
Before arriving in Egypt, Mrs Trump traveled to Kenya, Malawi and Ghana where she focused on promoting her signature issue of advocating for children with stops at a hospital, primary school, and an orphanage, Reuters reported.
The US first lady tour to Africa has been part of her BE BEST initiative which focuses on improving the lives of children.
BE BEST is a public awareness campaign promoted by Melania Trump, focusing on well-being for youth and advocating against cyberbullying and drug use, according to the BE BEST website.
"The mission of BE BEST is to focus on some of the major issues facing children today, with the goal of encouraging children to BE BEST in their individual paths, while also teaching them the importance of social, emotional, and physical health. BE BEST will concentrate on three main pillars: well-being, social media use, and opioid abuse."
The US first lady is expected to launch her initiative in Egypt in partnership with the USAID, according to Ahram Arabic news website.
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International tourism in the Pacific has increased in a sustainable manner, with the 2017 statistics released by the World Tourism Organisation stating an increase of seven percent in 2017.
This was highlighted by U.N.E.S.C.O. Director of Office and Representative to the Pacific States, Nisha, during the roundtable discussions at the Council of Tourism Ministers Meeting earlier this week.
South Pacific Tourism Organisation C.E.O., Christopher Cocker, said this growth rate is good for the region.
This is very fortunate, although tourism is booming in Fiji, but Fiji is able and has the capacity to cater for that. Some of the islands, on the other hand, are very vulnerable in terms of size and fragile in terms of culture, these are the ones that are of concern to us, Mr. Cocker said.
He said educating the communities, pulling resources together and working with international partners will help increase peoples understanding on sustainable tourism.
The challenge is sustainability because very little people know and understand about the issue, Ill give you an example, out of all the Pacific Islands only three have focused sustainable development plans, the rest are integrated into their national development plans. It means that those countries are conscious and concerned that they want to develop their destination in a sustainable manner, Mr. Cocker said.
The new traveler, Mr. Cocker said, is more environmentally conscious.
They will go and visit and stay in a place that is environmentally responsible, theyll pay for it even though how expensive it is. These travelers also want to look for a destination that is culturally rich and they are seeking for off-the-beaten destinations and as well as giving back to the community. So that fits very well into our Pacific Islands."
We need to develop and prepare ourselves, and also maximise the opportunity because tourism changes, who knows what the next traveler wants.
Mr. Cocker said while the region welcomes tourism, the focus is more on niche tourism.
This is what we call high yield low impact. We are trying to avoid mass tourism, in this case like weve experienced and learned lessons from our neighbor such as Hawaii and also other mass tourism destination in the region and we should learn from it, and if we can benefit from tourism, develop it in a sustainable manner.
He also said there is the need for non-government organisations and international and regional partners to work together and channel the initiative to the grassroots because this is where more tourism activity happens.
Nisha said for tourism to be sustainable, it needs three pillars economic, social and environmental, which means tourism of today, should not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, enjoy their natural and historical resources.
Sustainable tourism doesnt say tourism cannot be for masses, it can be for masses, but its about controlling the number, not preventing."
What is the ecological sustainable number of visitors in a particular environment setting, for a particular heritage site, for a particular community because they have their own life, so it is about better regulation and better management.
More than 40 women from the tourism and environment sector in Samoa and globally will gather in Apia next Tuesday to discuss the growing linkages between the two sectors.
To be held at the Taumeasina Island Resort, the gathering is sponsored by the Women in Tourism International Alliance (W.I.T.IA.) and facilitated by the Women in Climate Change Network.
The two organizations have come together to highlight the increasing threats of the impacts of climate change on the tourism sector from a gender perspective.
South Pacific Tourism Organisation Manager of Sustainable Tourism Development Christina Gale is a key speaker with Director of W.I.T.I.A., Anne Isaacson also presenting remarks.
We were pleased to receive an invitation from W.I.T.I.A. to network with members of our informal network, and this is an excellent opportunity in the backdrop of the Pacific Tourism Ministers Meeting to once again highlight issues relating to climate and tourism, said Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson of W.I.C.C. in a press statement.
As early onset events continue to increase in frequency such as cyclones, flooding and warmer temperatures, the tourism sector will have to be prepared at all levels to ensure that there is minimum interruption to their services, said the statement.
Cyclone Gita was proof of the damage that climate induced disasters can have on our tourism sector, as seen with the extensive damage to one of Samoas largest resorts, the Sheraton, said Lagipoiva.
From a gender perspective, its important that women who depend on the tourism sector are prepared and protected from the financial implications of disasters impacting their livelihood sources.
W.I.C.C. was founded in Samoa in January 2018 by the Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa, Fiame Naomi Mataafa with 35 women leaders from across various sectors with an interest in environmental issues; it is the first network of its type globally.
W.I.T.I.A. is a professional association focused on assisting women selling tourism services.
Created by female travel professionals in Australia, U.S.A. and Canada, W.I.T.I.A. facilitates access to information, enhances business opportunities and provides a greater understanding of diverse cultures through interaction of members worldwide.
Down by the seawall at Mulivai, there is a small bar youre probably familiar with called Cocktails on the Rocks.
And perhaps, if youve been there in the past six months you will have noticed the once vacant kitchen at the back has been pumping out creative and healthy meals for lunch and dinner.
As of this week, that kitchen has a new name: Phat Burger.
Its power couple chefs believe it might be Samoas first and only gourmet burger bar, where you can find more than 15 different kinds of burgers on the one menu, including the Spongebob Squarepants inspired speciality.
Kelly Walker and Kylie Stephen Fauchelle have worked in hospitality for 20 years, and Kylie even worked as a burger joint manager at some stage.
Ive perfected the crabby pattie recipe, and its amazing, said Kylie laughing.
When you order food at Phat Burger (previously Food on the Rocks), its a real kitchen to plate experience. Dont expect waitstaff to arrive at your table, just walk up to the kitchen window and tell Kelly or Kylie what you want.
We love that interaction with our customers and that way we can make sure they get the best possible service, said Kylie.
Kelly said the food is always good quality, but the idea is also to be accessible.
We are not quite at the upper end, but we are also not quite four tala lunches, so hopefully we can reach both locals and tourists.
For these chefs, using fresh local produce is important and they said they will shop around until they find what they need.
We also get herbs delivered from Poutasi farm and local beef from Samoa Meat Supply, said Kylie. That makes a big difference, getting deliveries.
But Phat Burger doesnt just get their ingredients delivered; they are also branching out into meal delivery themselves.
One or two spontaneous catering requests led the two to think they could tap into the marketplace outside the restaurant doors and now they do lunch deliveries and function catering.
Their tiny kitchen packs a big punch. Kelly thinks they can cater for up to 100 people in just a couple of hours, despite only having a couple of meters squared between them.
Now that weve been in the space nearly half a year we are used to the space, and we are good in it, she said.
Having their own kitchen in the space they rent from Cocktails on the Rocks means the two can make business decisions they are proud of.
Well never do takeaways or deliveries in styrofoam, that stuff is so bad for the environment, she said.
It probably costs us twice as much to buy cardboard boxes and paper bags, but its not worth it.
Phat Burger is open from 11:30am-7pm at Cocktails on the Rocks, and is on Facebook.
Outspoken Salega East Member of Parliament, Olo Fiti Vaai, has been called a pencil pusher who doesnt know anything about international airports.
Thats Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaois response to Olos criticisms of the Governments multi-million-tala Tiavea Airport.
He was a pencil pusher, Tuilaepa said, that is what I recall of his position at the airport.
Last week, Olo, a former Technical Manager at the Samoa Airport Authority, raised questions about the safety of the Tiavea Airport.
He warned that lives would be at risk if the Government proceeds as planned.
I have 18 years of experience and I understand very well how the specs of an airport should be, and where it should locate and Im telling you that space is very dangerous in terms of shear winds, he said.
As you can see all our airports here, they are lying east to west and the reason being is because of the easterly winds that come from that way."
I have never seen an airport that faces north to south, they are built facing east to west because it measures the landing and the taking off of the plane.
But Tuilaepa rubbished Olos claims, saying he is talking nonsense.
In justifying the Governments plan, Tuilaepa referenced two plane crashes in the past, which he said could have been avoided if there was an airport at Aleipata.
The plane crashed due to bad weather, he said. Now if there was an airport in the area where the project is now underway, there wouldnt be any crash. History tends to repeat itself and this is why this project is vital.
He also disputed the claim about the positioning of the runway.
Airport runways do not necessarily need to lie east to west, Tuilaepa said.
I have been all over the world and I have seen runways lying north to south. Where does he come up with all these terms when he is not an engineer by trade?
Tuilaepa added that despite working for the Samoa Airport Authority in the past, Olo knows nothing about runaways.
Does Olo know that the traditional honorific of Aleipata is the eye-of-the-storm (matamatagi). Only me would understand that. What that means is that the wind comes from all directions.
The Prime Minister also justified the need for an airport at Tiavea, saying it is critical in terms of the Governments future plans.
He said the market for travellers to and from American Samoa will only expand and the Government needs to be proactive in terms of preparations for it.
But Olo is still not convinced.
That is one of the foggiest locations I know, he said.
Fagalii airport is okay but up there, especially in the evening, which means if we were to build an airport there a lot of people will lose their lives.
Olo also reminded about another white elephant project at Aleipata which cost taxpayers millions of tala.
This is just the same as the Satitoa Wharf, Olo said.
I was the one who totally disagreed with the building of that wharf. But what happened Tuilaepa said I dont know anything and look at it now. Not even two years since that wharf was opened and its gone with the wind. Its a waste of more than $60million tala
The National University of Samoas Centre for Samoan Studies had a first-hand look at how the ancient vaa alo (canoe) is used for fishing, in an impromptu demonstration.
In a public presentation, N.U.S. artist in residence Ioane Ioane shared the vaa he built under the tutelage of a tufuga in Savaii, Mulitalo Malu Fautua.
He explained how the building and carving of the ancient canoe, with no modern tools or artificial joins, taught him the essence of his own self.
Ioane has been with N.U.S. for two months, travelling between Manono and Savaii to learn from two tufuga, the art of building vaaalo.
With the floor open to questions or comments, Samoan Studies lecturer Matauiau Naumati Vasa explained that the root of the proverb Ua le o gatasi le futia ma le umele comes from vaa, like the one Ioane built.
Its about working together, said Matauiau.
The fishing rod has a hook at the bottom, called the futia, which must hook into the umele, or rope ring perfectly positioned to catch it.
If the hook doesnt fit into that ring, the fishing rod will not be strong enough to raise the fish, he said.
In English, the proverb can be translated as the hook and the ring do not go together, or the two parts are not working in cooperation with each other.
But explaining the proverb was not quite enough with Matauiau getting into the vaa to demonstrate.
Casting the fishing line back and forth, he showed the room full of visual art and Samoan studies students how the vaa is designed as a whole of separate parts.
Ioane hasnt sailed his vaa yet. He said seeing Matauiau at the rod was wonderful.
It was good to see him in there, so casually, I am grateful to him for that.
Part of the project was to start a conversation about the ancient crafts so they arent lost, so I am grateful to him and his knowledge for being a part of that.
Togialelei Dr. Safua Akeli Amaama is the director of the Centre of Samoan studies, and she said Matauiaus presence in the vaa added another layer to it.
Seeing him inside gives us a sense of what the fishermen or women had to do in order to capture the fish.
Sometimes these objects are not meant to be touched but to actually see Matauiau inside the vaaalo, it gives us a sense of space and dimension, said Togialelei.
Togialelei said she hopes the next artists who come through N.U.S. will also focus on Samoan arts and crafts.
She said the C.S.S. is drafting its own artist in residency program, to encourage local artists to produce work over two or three months.
That will be open to filmmakers, crafts artists, poets, and we are looking forward to trying to encourage art because its such an important part of Samoan society.
As we heard today, the expressions associated with these, the rituals associated with them, they are important objects, said Togialelei.
Ioane travels back to his home in Christchurch, New Zealand this weekend and will take his vaa with him, but he hopes to return shortly to continue learning the art of the seven types of vaa.
Not so long ago, manipulating living cells to serve as therapies was a difficult and mysterious art. Only a few biomedical companies and academic labs could claim proficiency.
But in recent years, theres been an explosion of knowledge about how cells work, how they can become diseased and how they can be cured. Three groundbreaking cell and gene therapy products have been approved since 2017; two for relapsing blood cancers, and one for a genetic disease that leads to blindness.
This transformation attracted nearly 70 presenting companies to La Jolla for this years Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa, an annual conference in the field.
These treatments are now costly and performed for a small number of patients. But scaling up this artisanal industry through mass production is expected to reduce costs and bring the benefits to many more people.
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To prepare for this wave of cell therapies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been updating its standards for assessing therapies, standards developed for pills and injections of drugs, not of living cells.
Its the nature of this whole meeting that the process of characterizing something as squishy and variable as human biology, packaging it and heading toward the clinic, is cutting-edge for the FDA, said Taylor Crouch, CEO of San Diegos Organovo.
Organovo made a name for itself by selling bioprinted human liver cells for toxicology screening of potential drugs. The San Diego company is preparing to take its technology to patients with end-stage liver disease, Crouch said.
The company collects cells from donor livers, and prints them with a device that arrays the cells into a three-dimensional form, with various cells that support each other, Crouch said.
Transplanted liver cells could supplement function of a diseased liver until a donor liver can be found or perhaps even help the patients own liver recover, Crouch said.
The company plans to file in 2020 to begin clinical testing, Crouch said.
Another presenting company, Athersys, is in late-stage or Phase 3 clinical testing of its cell therapy for strokes caused by blood clots. The product, called MultiStem, consists of cells taken from a donors bone marrow, grown in the lab and frozen. When needed, they are thawed and then infused into a patient, said Gil Van Bokkelen, chairman and CEO of the Cleveland-based company.
MultiStem consists of a class of cells that reproduce prolifically in the lab, so the cells from one donor can yield millions of clinical doses, he said. These cells reduce inflammation, promote regeneration, and are tolerated by the patients immune system, Van Bokkelen said.
We can administer them just like Type O blood, he said.
San Diegos ViaCyte is clinically testing a cell therapy for type 1 diabetes. The San Diego companys product replaces insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, which are destroyed in the disease.
ViaCyte turns embryonic stem cells into precursors of these beta cells. These cells are then encapsulated in a device that is implanted into patients. The company is testing two variants of this approach.
Early human testing of one approach, using cells shielded by a semi-permeable membrane, hit a roadblock when the devices caused growth of fibrous tissue. This blocked diffusion of insulin into the patient. Testing has been suspended while ViaCyte reworks the encapsulating material, with help from W.L. Gore & Associates, the makers of Gore-Tex.
That trial is expected to be restarted next year once approval is granted, said Paul Laikind, ViaCytes CEO.
Meanwhile, ViaCyte has advanced development of a somewhat different device, which allows direct contact between the cells and patient tissue. This risks an immune reaction, so patients receiving the devices must take immune-suppressing drugs.
So far, side effects have been like those expected from taking immune-suppressing drugs, and appear controllable, Laikind said. But its too early to know if the cells can produce therapeutic quantities of insulin.
Patients and others looking for more information on clinical trials from these companies can search for the name of the company on www.clinicaltrials.gov.
Science Playlist On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds
bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com
(619) 293-1020
The 128-room Moxy, a hip boutique hotel that will have a decided millennial vibe, is due to open next month in downtown San Diegos East Village.
Located just outside the Gaslamp Quarter on the east side of Sixth Avenue between E and F streets, the eight-story hotel represents the first California property to carry Marriott Internationals now 2-year-old Moxy brand. Now and Wow is how the lodging behemoth characterizes its latest millennial-focused concept.
How millennial-focused is it? Unlike most hotels, you wont be checking in at the front desk. Youll head straight to the bar for a libation and entry to your room.
The entire lobby is oriented all around social space, its very fun and you literally check in at the bar. so thats one way how (the hotel operation) can be lean, said Rick Mansur, founder of Azul Hospitality Group, which will be managing the hotel. Its almost like a European proprietor model, you come in, get a drink and check in.
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Its the first brand catering to the 20-and 30-year-olds and those who are 20 and 30 at heart.
In preparation for the expected opening in early November, the hotel will be holding a job fair on Saturday, Oct. 13 at noon at The Nolan (453 Sixth Ave.). The hotel is looking to hire about 50 people, from room attendants and engineers to food and beverage personnel.
Developed by San Diego-based J Street Hospitality, the eight-story Moxy occupies a site that was once a surface parking lot. Meant to feel contemporary in design, the hotel will feature an open lobby with multiple communal spaces for lounging, plus large writing walls and 56-inch televisions.
Rendering of Moxy lobby (Courtesy of Moxy hotel)
A whimsical, custom-made LED lighting fixture will span the lobby ceiling.
The lobby will also include a video wall, and grab-and-go food and beverage options will be available throughout the day. The limited service hotel, though, will not have a traditional, three-meal-a-day restaurant.
According to a report prepared for the project when it was going through the approval process, the development is supposed to provide 38 parking spaces in the building basement accessed by a car elevator.
Its unknown how much J Street Hospitality is spending on the downtown project. The developer did not respond to phone inquiries on Friday.
Mansur would not say specifically what room rates would be but said the nightly rates will be typical of what one would expect at a mid-level priced hotel. Marriott says Moxy hotels will have an affordable price point.
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lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com
(619) 293-2251
Twitter: @loriweisberg
A developer hoping to build nearly 700 homes on Oceanside farmland has contributed almost $500,000 to the effort to defeat an agriculture preservation measure on the Nov. 6 ballot, disclosure forms show.
Meanwhile, proponents of Measure Y, led by the nonprofit group Save Open space and Agricultural Resources, or SOAR, have raised less than $20,000, according to statements filed with the Oceanside city clerks office.
This is truly a David vs. Goliath scenario, said Oceanside resident Nadine Scott, a Measure Y supporter.
Integral Communities, the developer of the North River Farms project proposed for South Morro Hills, is playing the role of Goliath. Integral has built thousands of apartments and single-family homes throughout California.
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If passed by a majority of Oceanside voters, Measure Y would require any proposed zone change on land now designated for agriculture or open space to go on a citywide ballot. That could create a large hurdle for projects like North River Farms, which could go to the City Council for initial approvals by the end of this year.
Supporters of the measure gathered 13,000 signatures to place it on the ballot last year. Their effort came in response to the possibility that the City Council could support the North River Farms project, which outlines plans for 789 homes, a hotel and commercial space on 177 acres in the agricultural area of northeastern Oceanside.
Both the campaigns for and against Measure Y say they would protect the citys remaining farmland, and each side accuses the other of misrepresenting the facts.
Their misleading ads are popping up all over social media and websites, Scott said. People are starting to get mad about that for good reason.
Integral project manager Ninia Hammond said Monday it is the Measure Y proponents who are misleading.
North River Farms has continued to be the target of a deceptive marketing campaign, Hammond said by email. We simply want North River Farms to be honestly considered on its own merits. Having been in the planning process for years,the proposed community is carefully conceived to be a farm hub that can serve as a catalyst to help achieve the vision for agritourism and sustain the long-term viability of farming in Oceanside.
Integral and the two large farming families opposed to Measure Y say they are unlikely allies forged by circumstance.
The local farmers lack the resources to defend themselves without support from businesses invested in the community that share their opposition to selfish ballot box planning, Hammond said. We share a common interest to defeat this measure and are willing to provide funds necessary to help the farmers battle.
Neil Nagata, a third-generation Oceanside farmer, has said repeatedly that hes willing to take money from developers to stay in the farming business.
There is no commitment to the development project, Nagata said in a Sept. 6 forum on cable television station KOCT. We are trying to stay in business We need every angle and everything that we can do to sustain ourselves.
I understand that there could be a feeling that we are in bed with (Integral) and that we want them to develop our land, but thats not the case, said Michelle Castellano-Keeler, vice president of Mellano & Company Farms, at the forum. Like the Nagatas, the Mellano family has farmed in Oceanside for generations.
We were shocked at what (the campaign for) a measure like this costs, and so we had to accept money from people to get our word out, Castellano-Keeler said.
Measure Y supporters say the developers money shows the farmers true intentions.
The $475,000 contribution by Integral, together with the $10,000 contribution from the (San Diego County Building Industry Association), makes it clear that the two large landowners want to change the zoning on their land so they can sell it to developers of high-density residential/commercial projects, SOAR founder Dennis Martinek said Monday.by email.
North River Farms, based in Newport Beach, also contributed employee-compensated time worth $3,705 in August, according to the disclosure statements.
The North River Farms property is owned by the Self-Realization Fellowship Church, which farmed tomatoes and other crops on the land for years. The church also contributed $10,000 to the No on Y campaign, documents show.
Other contributors to the No on Y campaign include several members of the Nagata family, mostly in individual donations of $100 each, and a total of $450 so far this year from Oceanside Planning Commission member and South Morro Hills resident Louise Balma.
The No on Y campaign had raised $525,747.97 and spent $656,518.04 for the calendar year through Sept. 22, according to the latest campaign disclosure statement on file.
The Yes on Y campaign had raised $17,637.81 and spent $19,130.60 in the same time frame, the documents state.
Donations to the Yes on Y campaign include $2,000 from the nonprofit North County Advocates, which is the largest single contribution, also $500 each from the League of Women Voters and the Sierra Club, and contributions of $100 to $1,000 each from various Oceanside, Fallbrook and Bonsall residents.
philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @phildiehl
Coronados beach is routinely ranked among the best in the country. Celebrities and heads of state vacation at its famous hotel. Prince Harry drank beers in the local Irish pub. And Tom Cruise is currently filming the Top Gun sequel there.
Each year, thousands of tourists and day-trippers drive over the 2-mile-long Coronado Bridge from San Diego to enjoy the islands shoreline, dine at the historic Hotel del and browse the shops on Orange Avenue.
But apparently locals are tiring of the increasing number of tourists who they say are having a negative impact on the citys quality of life. That rising anti-tourist sentiment has surfaced as a campaign issue in Coronado.
Perhaps, City Council candidates say, its time to reinstate a bridge toll. Its an idea thats been bandied about over the years for a variety of reasons, most recently as a way to pay for a proposed bike and pedestrian path. Its seldom looked at as a device to discourage tourism.
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Derik Mundt, who is running on a Residents First, Residents Only campaign, praised tourists fiscal contributions through hotel taxes, but has a problem with people crossing the bridge and enjoying Coronado without paying for it.
Its ok to have hotels; the hotels make money that support our city, he said. What is not ok is having day-trippers come over here and use our resources and not give anything back to us.
Coronado had a $1 bridge toll until 2002. The city explored bringing back the toll in 2015, but nothing materialized.
Because the city has so many attractions that it basically is an amusement park, it makes sense to charge admission, said Daron Case, another council candidate.
Its Disneyland and I think we might want to look into charging, he said. Bring back the (bridge) toll.
Tourists contribute more than $14 million in hotel tax revenues a year more than a quarter of Coronados general fund. They also help seasonal businesses survive the winter lull and account for a large portion of the citys $3 million sales tax revenue, which comes mostly from restaurants and bars.
While locals appreciate tourists financial benefits, they arent exactly fond of the crowds, traffic and parking congestion that comes with it.
For our bands at Concert in the Park, they bring 800 groupies with them, candidate Mary Sikes said at a recent forum. We can get great bands who are dying for a chance to get known and we can cut the head count at Concert in the Park with just simple things like that.
Mundt said the city can kill two birds summer traffic and large crowds with one stone by getting the Coronado Police Department to write more tickets during the peak-season, he added.
I dont know if we need more police officers, but in the summer we need to step up enforcement, he said. I think that would solve some of the problem.
Coronado collected about $260,000 from vehicle code and parking fines, and $361,000 from parking meter collection during the 2017-18 fiscal year, according to the city budget.
Anti-tourist sentiment also runs outside of the political arena in Coronado.
Locals commonly refer to summer tourists as Zonies because a lot of them come from Arizona.
Earlier this year, the city celebrated an end-of-summer party on Sept. 21, which coincided with the citys 92118 zip code. Part of the events draw is that it was after the end of the summer tourist season.
The official website had a not-so-subtle message about the intended audience: Who is invited? Residents of Coronado, CA (this will not be monitored, but target audience will be Coronado residents).
This isnt the first time managing tourism has become a campaign issue in Coronado.
In 2016, residents complained about traffic and congestion to the City Council who in turned complained to Discover Coronado, a hotel-funded tourism district that promotes Coronado as a tourist destination.
Prompted by complaints, Discover Coronado shifted its marketing strategy by focusing its attention on convention guests instead of leisure tourists.
There has been no marketing of Coronado in San Diego since February 2016, said Discover Coronados president Todd Little.
And thats been a good thing, he said.
Convention guests pay higher room rates, visit during the off-season, normally dont bring cars, and tend to spend more money in restaurants because they are CEOs and executives.
It has actually increased hotel tax revenues while decreasing congestion, Little said.
I think it was a smart decision, we were happy to do it, Little said.
But Little said a bridge toll would be disastrous for local businesses and he dismissed the proposal as campaign rhetoric.
Bill Sandke, the lone incumbent in the race, supports mitigating the negative impacts of tourism but he took issue with the anti-tourist rhetoric on the campaign trail.
Its very troubling to hear people say, We dont want you in Coronado, whoever you are, he said.
While on the council, Sandke has looked at bringing back the bridge toll to mitigate traffic on Third and Fourth streets. He said a study suggested tolls could be $4 generally and about $6.50 during peak hours to incentivize less traffic, Sandke said.
But any move to charge tolls would require buy-in from alot of stakeholders.
Mayor Richard Bailey called the bridge a bureaucratic nightmare because of all the state, regional and local agencies involved in managing the bridge.
Bailey said Coronados natural beauty and attractions are a double-edged sword because they makes it a great place to live and attract tourists. The key to managing tourism, he said, is finding the right balance between quality of life concerns and hosting visitors.
Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter
She will stand tall, with a torch held high, on a hilltop in San Ysidro, overlooking the U.S.-Mexico border region.
Inspired by the Statue of Liberty, the 40-foot-tall monument of Mary, mother of Jesus, will stand as a symbol intended to welcome immigrants and refugees headed to the U.S.
The statue will go up on the hilltop parking lot of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, where community members convened Friday to kick off a crowdfunding campaign to raise $1 million to build the monument.
Inspired by the Statue of Liberty, the 40-foot-tall monument of Mary, mother of Jesus, will stand as a symbol intended to welcome immigrants and refugees headed to the U.S.
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It will stand as a beacon of hope and encouragement for people engaged in the struggle of the migrant, said artist Jim Bliesner, who drew inspiration from immigrants across San Diego for the statues design.
The $2 million project, spearheaded by nonprofit San Diego Organizing Project, already has received $1 million from the California Endowment, a private health foundation. The hope is to raise the next $1 million and build the statue by early 2019.
Rendering of the Welcome the Stranger, a monument of Mary inspired by the Statue of Liberty. (Michael Ojeda)
It will be named Welcome the Stranger.
Bishop Robert McElroy, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, said the monument and its location will send a strong message about the border.
It is a symbol and powerful reminder that for us, for us as people of faith, for us as America, the border represents not a line of separation, he said, but a line that unites us to Latin America.
He said the statue will commemorate the past, the present and the future of the U.S.
First, he said, it will be a reminder that the U.S. is a nation of immigrants who contributed to help build America.
That gets lost in the current conversation so easily, he said.
The statue also will represent hope for a brighter future for the waves of immigrants and refuges who one day will begin what McElroy described as an arduous journey to the U.S.
The idea of the sculpture surfaced roughly a year ago. It was designed by Bliesner with input from community members who attended workshops, where they shared their ideas and personal stories.
Most of the inspiration came from listening to members of the congregation and the community about how emotional this subject is. People were crying, people were telling their stories, Bliesner said. I couldnt help but take that away as the primary element in creating the piece.
As ideas were generated, Mary emerged as a symbol of hope. Community members noted she fled with her family to Egypt as a refugee soon after the birth of Jesus.
The statue incorporates several symbolic elements. The turgid, severe geometry of Marys robe, which has several perforations, represents the difficult trek immigrants embark on, while spots of color in the folds of her robe symbolize moments of kindness in their journeys, Bliesner said.
The torch, he said, represents hope for a brighter future.
LEED lighting within the statue will illuminate it at night. Seating and drought-tolerant landscaping will surround the base.
As part of the fundraising campaigns kickoff, community members tied ribbons to a makeshift fence at the site where the statue will stand. The pink, orange, green and yellow ribbons had written on them the names of loved ones affected by the countrys immigration policies, including relatives who were deported or who are living in the U.S. illegally.
San Ysidro resident Maria Elena Esquer, a parishioner at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, wrote the names of her two adult sons who live in Tijuana and are awaiting visas to visit her.
I have a lot of faith they will come, she said.
Carolina Ulloa wrote the names of her brother, who was deported 15 years ago, and her sister, who was deported 10 years ago.
She, too, said she hasnt lost faith her siblings will be able to return to the U.S.
For more information about the statue, visit welcomethestranger.us.
Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com
Phone: (619) 293-1876
Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom's main sovereign wealth fund (PIF) will surpass its target of increasing its assets to $600 billion by 2020, as part of a plan to reduce the economy's dependence on oil.
"We are now above $300 billion, were getting close to $400 billion. Our target in 2020 is around $600 billion. I believe we will surpass that target in 2020," the prince said in a Bloomberg interview published on Friday.
He added that the fund, with more than 50 percent of its investments located in Saudi Arabia, will be investing in more places next year.
The fund would invest another $45 billion in Softbank Vision fund, the worlds largest private equity fund, backed by Japans Softbank Group and the PIF, which invests in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics.
"We have a huge benefit from the first one. We would not put, as PIF, another $45 billion if we didnt see huge income in the first year with the first $45 billion," the prince said.
Locally, one of the biggest investments for the PIF is a planned $500 billion business and industrial zone called NEOM extending into Jordan and Egypt, announced in October 2017.
Prince Mohammed said the first town in NEOM will be ready in 2019 or 2020, with the entire site completed by 2025.
Privatisation
The Crown Prince said his country will privatise more than 20 companies in 2019, helping the government's strategy of diversifying away from oil exports.
In 2019, we will have more than 20 services that will be privatised, most of them in water, agriculture, energy and some of it in sports, the prince said in an interview with Bloomberg published on Friday.
In April, the Saudi government said it aims to generate 35 billion to 40 billion riyals ($9 billion to $11 billion) in non-oil revenues from its privatisation program by 2020 and create up to 12,000 jobs.
The privatisation initiative targets 14 public-private partnership (PPP) investments worth 24 billion to 28 billion riyals. It includes the corporatization of Saudi ports and the privatization of the production sector at the Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corp (SWCC) and the Ras Al Khair desalination and power plant, according to official document published in April.
The prince said unemployment, which now stands at a record level near 13 percent is part of the side effects of restructuring the economy.
He added that the kingdom's economy today was much more powerful, with 2019 budget planned to exceed one trillion riyals ($267 billion) for the first time, and with non-oil revenue rising by 300 percent
"I believe the unemployment rate will start to decline from 2019 until we reach 7.0 percent in 2030 as targeted," he said.
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Claude Alexander Rowe Jr. of Chula Vista, who served in the armed forces of two allied nations during World War II, was laid to rest Friday at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego with full military honors, including a gun salute and a missing man formation flyby of WWII-era fighters.
Rowe died on Sept. 20 at age 97. He was born in Detroit on July 7, 1921. He was a student at the Lawrence Institute of Technology during World War II and left college during his second year to serve his country as a pilot.
Because Rowe was black, he was not eligible to fly in the Army Air Corps. Instead, he went north, to the Royal Canadian Air Force, where he earned his wings in 1944.
In September 1945, Rowe came back to the U.S. and joined the Army, this time as part of the Tuskegee Airmen Experiment, a segregated unit. He earned his wings in June 1946 and flew bombers such as the WB-50 and B-29.
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Rowe talked about his experience in the segregated military in a 2009 community essay in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
It was routine to be separated, and although the discrimination was uncomfortable, we were too determined to let that stop us, Rowe wrote. We were not just fighting for our country, we were fighting for our dreams, and we were willing to give our lives for it.
Rowe stayed on as the Air Corps transitioned into the Air Force, eventually becoming a weather officer. He retired in 1966 as a captain.
1 / 14 Members of the March Air Force Base Honor Guard hold an American flag over the coffin of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., a member of the famed World War II Tuskeege Airmen during his funeral service at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the group to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 2 / 14 Retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., a member of the famed World War II Tuskeege Airmen died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the group to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 3 / 14 A member of the Patriot Guard Riders holds his hand on the coffin of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., a member of the famed World War II Tuskeege Airmen during his funeral at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the group to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 4 / 14 Winifride Rowe, left, the wife of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe is comforted by their daughter, Dorothy Rowe as they say their final goodbye at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 5 / 14 Winifride Rowe, the wife of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., holds the American flag that draped his casket at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 6 / 14 Members of the March Air Force Base Honor Guard hold an American flag over the coffin of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., a member of the famed World War II Tuskeege Airmen during his funeral service at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the group to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 7 / 14 The coffin of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., a member of the famed World War II Tuskeege Airmen arrives at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the group to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 8 / 14 Dorothy Rowe, left, and her mother, Winifride Rowe, right, the daughter and wife of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., hold the American flag that draped Rowes coffin at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 9 / 14 Winifride Rowe, left, the wife of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., is presented the American flag that draped her husbands casket, by a member of the March Air Force Base Honor Guard, right, at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 10 / 14 The coffin of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., a member of the famed World War II Tuskeege Airmen arrives at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the group to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 11 / 14 The horse drawn funeral carriage with the coffin of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., a member of the famed World War II Tuskeege Airmen arrives at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the group to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 12 / 14 Bagpipes were played during the funeral at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., a member of the famed World War II Tuskeege Airmen. Rowe died on September 20th, at 97-years-old and the only member of the group to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 13 / 14 The coffin of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., a member of the famed World War II Tuskeege Airmen is removed from the horse drawn funeral carriage at Fort Rosecrans NationalCemetery by members of the March Air Air Force Base Honor Guard. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the group to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 14 / 14 A missing man formation flies over the funeral of retired Air Force Captain Claude A. Rowe, Jr., a member of the famed World War II Tuskeege Airmen at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Rowe, who died on September 20th, was 97-years-old and the only member of the group to have flown for both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Corps/U.S Air Force. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune)
The Air Force gave Rowe the opportunity to travel extensively, serving in post-war Germany, Japan, Korea and England. In England, he met his wife of 67 years, the former Winifride Swinnerton. They went on to have eight children.
After retirement, Rowe went into banking, eventually becoming a bank manager and vice president in Michigan.
It was when one of his daughters, Dorothy, joined the Navy that the Rowes relocated to San Diego in 1975.
Rowe, who was retired at the time, visited to help Dorothy settle in.
We lived in Portage, Michigan, and when I graduated from high school I wanted to leave, Dorothy Rowe said. So I took off and joined the Navy. When he saw (San Diego), he said, Oh, I love this place. So he flew back home and told my mom to put the house up for sale. It was like the Beverly Hillbillies driving out to San Diego.
Marlene Marien, Rowes eldest daughter, said her dad was a fantastic cook.
One of my fondest memories from childhood, I always looked forward to Sunday dinners, because that was when my dad cooked, she said. To this day, his fried chicken was the only fried chicken I would eat.
Marien said she wanted people to know her father was a man of character.
No matter what negative treatment he received throughout his life as one of the first black pilots, he never held any malice in his heart, Marien said. He always held his head up high and he never let anyones opinion of him change his opinion of himself. He was a very, very honorable man.
Marien remembered one incident when her parents were driving cross-country.
They stopped to get gas, she said, and the lady gave him the wrong change. He realized it after hed driven about 50 miles, so he drove the 50 miles all the way back to return the change because he didnt want her to get in trouble.
Dorothy Rowe said her father left an impression on everyone he met.
(He was) just a wonderful person, anyone who came into his life felt blessed, she said. Everybody just adored him.
She said her father was an exceptional grandfather as well, and took on the tasks some of her siblings were wary of, such as teaching their kids to drive.
He took care of all his grandkids and taught them how to drive, she said. I was afraid, but my dad didnt mind taking them out.
Erica Kimble, Dorothy Rowes daughter, said her grandfather was more like a father to her.
He would watch us all the time after school, she said. When we were little, hed do our hair in the morning...since our dad wasnt around.
Not only did he raise all of his eight kids, he raised most of his 18 grandkids, Dorothy Rowe said.
Rowes burial service Friday included an escort and honors by the Patriot Guard and a horse-drawn carriage. Representatives from the Royal Canadian Legion also attended, as well as Nelson Robinson, who is also a Tuskegee Airmen veteran.
California State Sen. Joel Anderson was in attendance and spoke briefly about the historical significance of the men who joined the then-segregated U.S. military to serve during World War II.
The men who met the call to become Tuskegee Airmen were the best our nation had to offer, he said.
Contact Andrew Dyer via email or Twitter.
October 6, 1892 The San Diego Union
The San Diego Union-Tribune will mark its 150th anniversary in 2018 by presenting a significant front page from the archives each day throughout the year.
Thursday, October 6, 1892
In 1892 it was front page news when the notorious Dalton Gang was gunned down while attempting to rob a pair of banks in Kansas.
One Dalton brother, Emmett, was shot 23 times during the raid, but survived and spent 14 years in prison for robbery. After being pardoned in 1907, Emmett Dalton moved to California, where he advocated for prison reform, dealt in real estate and played himself in the movie version of his book, Beyond the Law.
Here are the first few paragraphs of the story:
EXTERMINATED.
The Dalton Gang Wiped Off the Face of the Earth.
Three of the boys Fulfil Their Fate and Die With Their Boots On.
A companion Episode to the Northfield, Minn., Raid.
Coffeyville, Kansas, the Scene of the KillingFour of the Citizens of That City Also Shot.
COFFEYVILLE, Kan., Oct. 5 The Dalton gang has been exterminated; wiped off the face of the earth. Caught like rats in a trap, they were today shot down, but not until four citizens of this place yielded up their lives in the work of extermination.
Six of the gang rode into town this morning and robbed two of the banks of this place. Their raid had become known to the officers of the law, and when the bandits attempted to escape the were attacked by the marshals posse.
In the battle which ensued four of the deperadoes were killed outright and one so badly wounded that he has since died. The other escaped but is being hotly pursued. Of the attacking party four were killed, one fatally and two seriously wounded. The dead are:
BOB DALTON, desperado. GRATTON DALTON, desperado. EMMETT DALTON, desperado. JOSEPH EVANS, desperado. JOHN MOORE, Texas Jack, desperado. T. C. CONNELLY, city marshal. L. M. BALDWIN, bank clerk. G. W. CUBINE, merchant. C.J. BROWN, shoemaker.
The wounded are:
THOMAS G. AYERS, cashier of the First National bank, shot through the groin and cannot live. T. A. REYNOLDS, wounded in the right breast. LAIS DETZ, shot in the right side.
THEIR VISIT EXPECTED.
It was rumored a month ago that the Dalton gang contemplated a raid upon the banks of the city. Arrangements were made to give them a warm reception, but the excitement finally died away and the street patrol was given up.
RODE IN BY DAYLIGHT
About 10 o'clock this morning the gang rode into town. Thy came in two squads of three each, and passing through unfrequented streets rendezvoused in an alley in the rear of the First National bank.
A DIVISION OF FORCES
Robert Dalton, the notorious leader, and Emmett, his brother, went to the First National bank. The other four, under the leadership of Texas Jack, or John Moore, going to the private bank of C. M. Congdon & Co. In the meantime an alarm was give. The Dalton brothers were born and bred in this city and had been recognized. City Marshal Connelly was quickly notified and began collecting a posse.
View anniversary front pages online at sandiegouniontribune.com/150-years. For more from the Union-Tribune digital archives, go to newslibrary.com/sites/sdub. Searching is free, with registration. A fee is required to view full stories.
For decades, Los Angeles city candidates who wanted to tap into public money for their campaigns have had to agree to debate their opponents.
But actually participating in a debate has never been required, according to the Ethics Commission.
Ethics Commission staffers said they feared that a candidate could lose out on the matching funds because a rival refused to debate them. That public money is provided by the city to qualifying candidates to help offset the influence of wealthy donors.
Now, under a revised rule backed by the City Council on Friday, city officials say candidates who get matching funds would have to take part in either a debate or a town hall meeting where they face questions from the public.
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Ethics Commission staffers said that would require candidates to engage with voters and share their views, while giving them another way to follow the rules if they couldnt get their opponents to debate.
The California Clean Money Campaign, the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and Unrig L.A., among other groups, had urged the city to require candidates getting the money to actually participate in an event where voters could learn what they stand for, whether it was a debate or a town hall, so that candidates dont skirt this important civic responsibility.
But Studio City Neighborhood Council member Eric Preven, who ran against Councilman Paul Krekorian three years ago, argued that allowing a town hall rather than a debate would leave too much wiggle room for incumbents to avoid getting on a stage with their challengers.
Preven complained that Krekorian received $44,000 in matching funds when he ran, yet never debated him. He said he had reached out to a Krekorian aide who was assisting with the campaign to try to arrange a debate, but nothing came of it. He later emailed Krekorian himself the day before the election, inviting him to join him at a campaign event that afternoon.
Krekorian spokesman Ian Thompson said that it isnt custom in any election for one candidate to directly set up a debate with the other. Instead, outside groups usually set up debates, Thompson said, but none of them ultimately did.
Under the old rules, candidates met the debate requirement as long as they signed a form pledging to participate in debates, regardless of whether one occurred, according to Nancy Jackson, director of strategic communications for the Ethics Commission.
The new ordinance says candidates must now provide the date they participated in a debate or a town hall meeting, along with a copy of the invitation or event announcement, in order to claim the money. David Tristan, the commissions deputy executive director, said candidates would get the money only after participating in such an event.
Carolina Goodman, a member of the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles, said she was worried that the new law still might not have any teeth. Goodman also challenged whether the city definition of a town hall was strict enough to ensure that such an event didnt devolve into a campaign rally.
The City Council also voted Friday to draft new rules that would sharply accelerate the rate at which candidates can receive taxpayer money to match their campaign donations. The new rules would make the system simpler and more generous. They also moved to halve the number of donations from district residents that candidates need to get before qualifying for matching funds.
Council members touted those changes as a way to help level the playing field for grass-roots candidates.
Under the existing system for getting matching funds, it turns out that most of the people that benefited were City Council members who already have an advantage in raising funds and other well-funded candidates, Councilman Paul Koretz said, calling the proposed changes a no-brainer.
However, council candidates would still not qualify for matching funds until they had raised a minimum of $25,000 that meets a complicated set of requirements. Several groups warned Friday that reaching that threshold would become even harder because the city is poised to slash the amount of each donation that counts toward the target, reducing it from $250 to roughly $115 for council candidates.
In reaction, Councilman Mike Bonin suggested lowering the minimum to roughly $11,500 in council races a target that could be reached with 100 donations from city residents.
The California Clean Money Campaign and other groups said they hoped that change, which was referred to a committee for more discussion, would be included when the new regulations come back to the council for a final vote.
If this is a city for the many, not just the money, I hope you will vote for it and show that, said Rob Quan, an organizer with the Unrig L.A. coalition.
emily.alpert@latimes.com
Twitter: @AlpertReyes
Of all the monsters that have risen from the toxic swamp of the Brett M. Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation drama the Partisan Posturer, the Tear-Stained Table-Pounder, Sen. Lindsey Grahams Wagging Finger one of the scariest is the looming, yowling specter of the Victimized Male.
Driven out of his cave by Christine Blasey Fords allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were in high school, the Victimized Male has been very busy of late.
He appeared when U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel of Mississippi said during a radio interview that allegations like Fords are absolutely fabricated 99 percent of the time.
The Man Under Siege narrative popped up again during Donald Trump Jr.s recent interview with DailyMailTV, in which he said that in this current environment, he was more worried about his sons than he was about his daughters.
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But the grandest appearance of all came Tuesday, when President Donald Trump told reporters, Its a very scary time for young men in America, where you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of. That night, the president mocked Ford during a rally in Mississippi.
In other words, the young men in America should be very, very afraid of the many women who cant wait to jump out of the bushes and falsely accuse them of rape or sexual assault.
Because apparently, thats what women do.
In fact, it is something women rarely do.
False rape claims do happen. Depending on the source, the national percentage for false allegations of rape ranges from 2 percent to 10 percent. According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Forensic Psychology, 5.55 percent of rape allegations were found to be false or baseless. That was higher than the rate of false murder allegations 3.3 percent but lower than the rate of false robbery allegations, at 5.78 percent.
It is only a dangerous time if you refuse to acknowledge the equality of the person you are dealing with, said Richard Gates, a chief deputy public defender for San Diego County.
I dont believe men are in danger. I dont think any woman is looking to hurt any guy who has not gone out of his way to somehow traumatize her.
The numbers do not support the Victimized Males vision of a world in which women are ruining mens lives with false accusations of rape or sexual assault. What the numbers do support is the everyday nightmare where a woman is raped or assaulted and never reports it.
That is something that sexual assault victims do all the time.
Its not that false allegations dont happen, but it is a small percentage, said Verna Griffin-Tabor, CEO and executive director for the Center for Community Solutions, the only rape-crisis center for the city of San Diego.
What is playing out now nationally is what survivors locally have faced. They are being scrutinized and questioned when they are not the person doing the harm. With rape and domestic violence, we tend to blame the victim, which silences them and leads them to feel ashamed.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, rape is the most under-reported crime. One in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives, but 63 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police.
So in addition to being factually flawed, the Victimized Male narrative is insulting and hurtful to the real victims. By perpetuating the idea that rape is the product of the vindictive, hysterical, unreliable female brain, the Victimized Male trope gives women yet another reason to keep their experiences under wraps.
The last two weeks have been really, really hard, said Diana, who was raped outside a Hollywood nightclub in 2009. She came to San Diego in August to attend the second Sunlight Retreat for Rape Survivors, a healing experience that came at a good time.
The knowledge that survivors are vilified and not being protected is really so disheartening. It just feels like we dont have an ally anywhere. People should be against this happening. Rape is not a womens issue. This is happening to boys and girls and men. I dont think people understand the trauma of this. There is a death of the soul when this happens. I rebuilt my life and I figured out a new way to live, but it is awful.
Men do not need to live in fear of women wielding the pitchfork of the false rape allegation. But all of us need to worry about a world where boys grow into men who dont know how to treat women with respect and girls who grow up thinking they dont deserve to be respected.
That is one of the scariest scenarios of all, but it doesnt have to stay scary.
We need to be having conversations with our kids about what healthy boundaries are and when no means no, Tabor said. We need to talk about consent, and how there is no consent when somebody is passed out, and there is no consent when youre trying to get someone drunk so you can have sex with them. We need to give young people the language to have a healthy conversation.
Lets not come from a place of fear. Lets come from a place of facts. There is every reason to hope that going forward, we can prevent this type of violence.
The number for the Center for Community Solutions sexual violence hotline is: 1-888-385-4657.
Twitter: @karla_peterson
karla.peterson@sduniontribune.com
About 100 homeless veterans in San Diego County will receive vouchers for subsidized housing through $1.1 million in funds released this week from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The money will fund 50 housing vouchers administered by the city of San Diego Housing Commission and 50 vouchers administered by the San Diego County Housing Authority.
The new vouchers are in addition to 1,031 vouchers already in use to subsidize housing for San Diego veterans countywide.
We have few responsibilities greater than making sure those who have sacrificed so much in service to their country have a home they can call their own, HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a statement Thursday.
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The housing vouchers awarded today ensure homeless veterans nationwide have access to affordable housing and the critical support services from the VA, Carson said.
Nationwide, $35.3 million has been released to fund 4,077 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers. Of that, $18.3 million is going to California for 1,658 vouchers.
The rental assistance announced Thursday is provided through the HUD-VASH Program, which combines rental assistance from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by the VA.
When our neighbors answer our countrys call to service, we must answer their call when they return home, HUD Deputy Regional Administrator Wayne Sauseda said in the news release. Together with the VA, HUD remains committed to meeting the supportive housing needs of veterans, so that, one day, we end veteran homelessness in San Diego.
Since 2008, more than 93,000 vouchers have been awarded and about 150,000 homeless veterans have been served through the HUD-VASH program nationwide.
More than 600 public housing agencies administer the HUD-VASH program, and this most recent award includes 22 new agencies, increasing coverage to many communities.
The program also helps VA Medical Centers assess veterans experiencing homelessness before referring them to local housing agencies for vouchers.
Decisions are based on how long a person has been homeless and the need for longer-term care, among other factors.
Veterans participating in the HUD-VASH program rent privately owned housing and generally contribute no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. VA offers eligible homeless veterans clinical and supportive services through its medical centers across the U.S., Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
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A group of indigenous Canadians is outraged that a convicted child killer has not only been freed from prison but is being transferred to a healing lodge located on Nekaneet First Nations land.
Terri-Lynne McClintic was sentenced to a prison term of life with no parole for 25 years when she kidnapped and murdered 8-year-old girl Tori Stafford in 2009.
Tori was taken by McClintic after leaving school in Woodstock, Ontario, on April 8, 2009. Her grandmother called police about two and a half hours later when she didnt arrive home. When the little girls remains were discovered more than three moths later, she was naked from the waist down, had suffered broken ribs and liver lacerations and was killed by repeated blows to the head by a hammer.
McClintics boyfriend, Michael Rafferty was charged with first-degree murder and McClintic was charged with being an accessory to murder before her charges were upgraded to first-degree murder.
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McClintic, 28, who claims to be a First Nations descendant, will now be the responsibility of the Native Canadians, reported the Toronto Sun.
In my opinion, if the elders were there in the intake process, I believe that McClintic wouldnt be in our community right now because they would have screened her out and said her crime is too horrendous to come to our community, said furious tribe member Cherish Francis. But they didnt have that opportunity.
Healing lodges are Canadian correctional institutions created to suit the needs of Native Canadian inmates.
The man accused of strangling Pennsylvania model Christina Carlin-Kraft in August claimed the cause was a drug-fueled fight over cocaine.
In an enthralling Friday court hearing in Ardmore, Pa., accused killer Jonathan Harris revealed that on Aug. 22 he thought he would be going to Carlin-Krafts apartment to sell her $1,200 of cocaine. He said the two partook of the drug before having sex.
But Carlin-Kraft, 36, allegedly refused to pay for the drugs, which led to a severe struggle, reported TV station WPVI.
Harris, 30, claims the model bashed him with a glass bottle. He responded by slapping her, repeatedly punching her and binding her to prevent her from escaping. When the model asked to call her father, he gave her a phone. But when she attempted to contact 911, Harris began choking her.
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I never meant to kill her, Harris allegedly told authorities. She was breathing when I left the apartment.
Her battered body was discovered in her bloodstained bedroom after police were asked to make a safety check.
His court appearance was just blocks from the murder scene.
Charles Peruto, Harris attorney, refused to comment on the charges.
It really leaves a bad taste in my mouth to watch lawyers give a press conference before a trial, said Peruto. It shows your hand, and its not proper to give evidence before its heard in court.
According to booking-page credits, Carlin-Kraft appeared in big-name publications such as Victorias Secret catalog, Maxim and Vanity Fair.
Police officers in Texas had a double dose of Friday drama when they arrived at a home to serve a search warrant and their accompanying K9 dog attacked a cop instead of the perp!
According to local authorities, the dog inexplicably turned on its handler, biting him in the groin area, close to the femoral artery. Earlier reports claimed the injury was to the hand. Another cop then shot the dog to save the man, reported the Waco Tribune-Herald.
At that point, another officer on scene was forced to put down the canine to save the officer, said Waco police spokesman Garen Bynum.
The injured cop was transported to a nearby medical center. Bynum said the officer, who was not identified, was expected to be OK, before adding no further details would be publicized until Oct. 8.
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Several hours after the dog, a Belgian Malinois, was killed, a Waco SWAT squad stormed the home. But the suspect the team was seeking was not in the residence.
Numerous streets in the residential neighborhood were cordoned off, and neighbors claimed to have heard just the one gunshot believed to be the canine kill shot.
Many cops remained in the neighborhood for several hours as the dogs carcass remained in the homes front yard. The name and sex of the canine cop were not disclosed.
Belgian Malinoises resemble German Shepherds and can weigh as much as 66 pounds. Theyre prized for their alertness, high energy levels and adaptability in learning new tasks.
Now that Bill Cosby is serving three to 10 years in prison for sex assault, hes starting to feel the onslaught of civil lawsuits previously placed on hold.
A California judge ruled Friday that the 2016 sexual battery complaint filed by model Chloe Goins can move forward after it was virtually frozen pending the outcome of Cosbys Pennsylvania criminal case, Goins lawyer, Spencer Kuvin, said.
The judge said the discovery hold blocking Cosbys deposition would end Oct. 25, Kuvin told the Daily News.
Weve already requested they provide us with convenient dates to take his deposition by the end of the year, Kuvin said, referring to Cosbys camp. Ill take it by video in jail.
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Chloe Goins, left, stands with attorney Spencer Kuvin as he addresses the media after Goins gave an interview to investigators in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. Goins alleges Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her. (Carlos Delgado / for New York Daily News)
Attempts to reach a spokesperson for Cosby were not immediately successful Friday.
Goins, 28, stepped forward in December 2014 with claims Cosby drugged and assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008, when she was 18 years old.
After speaking with police in January 2015 to file a report, Goins sued the Fat Albert star for sexual battery.
Cosby, 81, has denied the allegations through his lawyers.
According to Goins, she met Cosby at a private party at the Playboy Mansion in the spring or summer of 2008 and consumed a drink that Cosby retrieved from the bar and provided to her.
After taking a few sips, she started feeling woozy, Kuvin said Friday, reiterating her claims.
Cosby then guided Goins to a bedroom in the mansion where she blacked out, he said.
She woke up some time later, all of her clothes off, with Cosby down by her toes. He bit one of her toes, causing her to wake up. Her breasts felt wet and sticky, like someone had been licking them, Kuvin said.
The lawyer said Goins immediately demanded to know what was happening, and thats when she allegedly saw Cosby pull his pants up and bolt out of the room.
Goins initially claimed the alleged assault took place at the Midsummer Nights Dream party held at the Playboy Mansion in August 2008.
Cosbys lawyers disputed the claim, saying they had evidence Cosby was in New York on the date of that specific party.
Goins later said it was possible the party had a different title and date.
Prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue any charges. They said the two potential crimes in the case would have been misdemeanor sexual battery and misdemeanor indecent exposure.
Both of these offenses occurred in 2008 and are barred by the statute of limitations and as such any consideration of a criminal filing is barred by law, the rejection paperwork released by the Los Angeles County District Attorney read. Therefore prosecution is declined.
Kuvin said Friday that his firm stands behind Goins.
He said a June 2017 incident in which Goins was arrested for alleged heroin possession outside a jail facility in southern California has no bearing on the civil action.
Nothing came of it, Kuvin said Friday. Police said they found something in her car, something that had been in the back under the seat. She doesnt know where it came from, and ultimately the charge was thrown out.
He said while Goins has struggled with issues throughout her life and following the alleged encounter with Cosby, her claims remain credible.
Mr. Cosby has been convicted of a violent sex assault. He may very well live out the rest of his life behind bars, Kuvin said Friday. This is our opportunity to get to the truth of what he did to our client, Ms. Goins, in 2008. We think his conviction certainly supports our case.
Cosby, 81, was sentenced last week to three to 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University staffer Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004.
He fought the charges during two criminal trials but never testified in his own defense.
Beyond the Goins case, Cosby is also facing civil lawsuits from multiple accusers around the country.
Accuser Judy Huth claims Cosby molested her inside the Playboy Mansion in 1974 when she was just 15 years old.
Huths case has a hearing next month and a trial date set for December.
Model Janice Dickinson is suing Cosby for defamation in California while seven other accusers are plaintiffs in a similar defamation lawsuit pending in federal court in Massachusetts.
A status conference in the Boston case is set for Oct. 24.
A woman was killed in Jamul late Friday by a hit-and-run driver who officers were ultimately able to track down and arrest, the California Highway Patrol said Saturday.
Around 7:20 p.m. Friday, a 65-year-old woman was crossing Route 94 near Rancho Miguel Road when she was struck by a white Toyota Corolla heading west on the highway, CHP officers said.
The Corolla driver at first pulled over and got out of the car, then hopped back in and fled the area, continuing west on Route 94, officials said.
The victim was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries, according to the CHP.
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Authorities did not release the names of either the victim or driver.
Saudi Arabia will allow Turkey to search its consulate in Istanbul for prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing for three days after entering the diplomatic mission earlier this week.
"The premises are sovereign territory, but we will allow them to enter and search and do whatever they want to do. We have nothing to hide," Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a Bloomberg interview published on Friday.
He said Khashoggi had left the building not long after he entered. Asked if Khashoggi faces charges in Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed said it was first important to discover where he was.
If hes in Saudi Arabia, I would know that, he added.
Human rights groups have called on Saudi Arabia to verify Khashoggi's whereabouts after Turkish and Saudi authorities offered conflicting accounts of his disappearance, with Ankara saying there is no evidence he left the diplomatic mission and Riyadh saying that he exited the same day.
Khashoggi entered the consulate on Tuesday to secure documentation for an forthcoming marriage, according to his fiancee, who waited outside.
Turan Kislakc, a friend who heads the Arab Turkish Media Association, said Khashoggi received assurances from Saudi officials before his visit that he could enter safely.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters that Khashoggi remained in the consulate and the authorities were negotiating with the Saudis to resolve the issue.
The consulate said it was working with the Turkish government to "uncover the circumstances" of his disappearance.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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Military officials Friday identified the San Diego-based Marine sergeant who died in an apparent murder-suicide in Houston early Wednesday, just two days after hed received a promotion.
Massamba Diatta, 29, was an active duty infantryman who was assigned in August to recruiter school at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, a Marine spokesman said. He had been promoted from corporal to sergeant on Monday.
Houston police said they were awaiting autopsy results to help investigators determine whether the suspect in the shooting was Diatta or the 23-year-old woman found inside a room with him at a Red Roof Inn. The womans name has not been released.
Houston police said a toddler was found wandering around the hotel after the incident, which occurred around 12:15 a.m. Officers in Texas told the Houston Chronicle the child, 4, might have witnessed the incident and reported it to the front desk.
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Our deepest condolences and thoughts are with the families of all involved during this difficult time, Capt. Martin Harris, a spokesman for the Marine Corps Western Recruiting Region, said in a statement.
According to Harris, Diatta joined the Corps as a recruit in April 2013, from The Bronx in New York City. He \earned a number of awards and honors, including a Good Conduct Medal, which is given to any active-duty enlisted Marine who completes three consecutive years of honorable and faithful service.
The Good Conduct Medal means Diatta went three years without any court martial offense, disciplinary infractions or non-judicial punishment.
Houston police said Thursday they were continuing to investigate the deaths while awaiting the autopsy results.
We are cooperating with civilian and military authorities during the investigation to collect all the details of the incident, the Marine captain said.
Earlier in the week, Harris said the Marine Corps was working closely with the Houston Police Department and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which have jurisdiction over the investigation.
Anyone with information in the case was urged to contact the Houston Police Departments homicide division at (713) 308-3600.
Twitter: @Alex_Riggins
(619) 293-1710
alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com
The Senate on Saturday narrowly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, securing a historic conservative majority on the nations highest court after a tumultuous confirmation process marked by partisan rancor, tearful testimony and tense allegations of sexual assault and bad faith.
Kavanaugh was confirmed 50 to 48, the thinnest margin for any Supreme Court nominee in the modern era. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who opposed the nomination, voted present to balance out a fellow Republican who could not attend but wanted to vote yes.
The angry protests that shadowed Kavanaughs confirmation process continued until the bitter end, interrupting the Senate vote several times. Vice President Mike Pence, who also serves as president of the Senate, directed police to remove shouting protesters from the gallery.
Several hundred protesters gathered in front of the Supreme Court after the vote, chanting past nightfall after police forced them off the broad stone steps. Many hugged. Some wept.
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President Trump, who called Kavanaugh after the vote, signed the commission appointing him to the court while flying to Topeka, Kan., for a political rally. Kavanaugh was sworn in later Saturday.
The 53-year-old conservative jurist can join the high court as early as Tuesday, when it next meets, and formally replace the swing vote of retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on issues as broad as abortion, gay rights and the environment.
I think hes going to go down as a totally brilliant Supreme Court justice for many years, Trump told reporters in Topeka. Many years. He was chosen for the reason of his temperament, his incredible past, his outstanding years on the court.
He added, And were very honored that he was able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats. Its a horrible attack that nobody should have to go through.
Kavanaughs confirmation once considered certain, only to be upended over the last three weeks by decades-old allegations of sexual misconduct marks a major political victory for Trump and his supporters, one likely to resonate in next months midterm election.
Both parties bemoaned a broken confirmation process albeit for different reasons that could have a lasting impact on the Senate and further inflame a nation polarized by tribal politics amid the cultural reckoning of the #MeToo era.
Both Republicans and Democrats insisted that the tumult would motivate their voters to turn out for the Nov. 6 election with both sides citing the anti-Kavanaugh protests that have roiled Capitol Hill and far beyond as a sign of change to come.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) credited the protests in the Capitol, at lawmakers homes, in restaurants and at airports for unifying Republican lawmakers and the GOP voter base. He said the anger at the demonstrations would rouse Republicans to vote next month.
Weve been wondering how we can fire up our own people because we know the Democrats are energized going into an off-year election, McConnell told the Los Angeles Times before the vote Saturday.
Nothing unifies and energizes Republicans like a court fight. So the good news about it from a political point of view is it has allowed us to put what I think is our single biggest accomplishment that is, the transformation of the court system in the course of this Congress front and center going into the election a month from now, he said.
Democrats said the protests showed the indignation not just at Kavanaughs alleged sexual assault of Christine Blasey Ford when both were teenagers, but at his fiery and strikingly partisan Sept. 27 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The nominee shouted, wept and angrily interrupted Democratic senators, giving rise to questions about his impartiality and temperament.
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)
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) sought to leverage the anger, urging the many millions who are outraged by what happened here to vote next month. If you believe Dr. Ford and other brave women who came forward and you want to vindicate their sacrifice, vote, he said on the Senate floor.
McConnell said he held a crucial procedural vote Friday without knowing how it would end. He and Trump had agreed that if the Kavanaugh nomination failed, they had to quickly move on to another appointment.
If this nomination was not successful, we were going to go with a second one and finish it before the end of this calendar year, he said. He said he wanted to hold a vote to give senators a chance to weigh in on the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh.
For McConnell and the GOP, Kavanaughs confirmation is a reminder of why the party embraced Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign: the chance to make lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court.
For lawmakers of both parties, the brutal confirmation process marked a low point in the Senates modern record of considering Supreme Court nominees.
Everybody is losing in this situation, said Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who last year defeated Republican Roy Moore, whose campaign was undermined by multiple allegations of sexual abuse. The biggest losers are the people sitting over there in that court. This is a partisan Supreme Court and will be, and theyre the ones who are going to have to try to make it nonpartisan because we cant do it.
Murkowski the only Republican to oppose Kavanaugh in the procedural vote warned that emotions on Capitol Hill are raw, calling her decision painful and the toughest of her political career.
It was hard reconciling my heart and my head this week, she told reporters after explaining her opposition on the Senate floor.
Murkowski voted present Saturday so that Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) didnt have to leave his daughters wedding in Montana to vote yes. The vote margin of two would remain the same.
Murkowski said Kavanaugh had eased her concerns over how he would consider cases on healthcare, abortion rights and Alaska Native issues.
But she ultimately opposed his confirmation because of worries about his judicial independence and temperament after his emotional and passionate testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He had furiously denied Fords allegations that he had pinned her to a bed and covered her mouth to stop her from screaming while sexually assaulting her at a party when they were both high school students in 1982.
Much of the Republican fury targeted Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. She first received word of Fords allegations on July 30 and kept them confidential at her constituents request. When reporters learned of the allegation, Ford decided to come forward.
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) have called for an investigation, suggesting Feinstein or her staff may have been responsible for leaking the information. Feinstein, who is campaigning for reelection next month, has strongly denied it.
On Saturday, McConnell echoed the call for a review. The initial conclusion really ought to be reached over there in the [Judiciary] Committee, he said. Id be happy to take a look at whatever they recommend.
Feinstein and other Democrats complained that a supplemental FBI investigation on Kavanaughs background failed to contact all the witnesses, and that the vote was called before all the facts were known about the nominees past.
Ive never experienced anything like this, Feinstein said Saturday.
Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia was the only Democrat to break party ranks to support the nominee, saying that he hopes Kavanaugh doesnt allow the partisan nature of his confirmation to follow him to the bench.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he wants to return to the tradition of Supreme Court nominees getting nearly unanimous votes in the Senate such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg did in 1993 or Stephen Breyer the following year.
Those votes followed the bitter 1991 battle over Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, who angrily denied Anita Hills allegations that he sexually harassed her in the workplace. Thomas ultimately was confirmed by a vote of 52 to 48, but the dispute turned sexual misconduct into a still-evolving political fault line.
When asked what he will do to change the atmosphere, Grassley admitted he didnt know.
The acrimony around Kavanaughs nomination could linger in the Senate, particularly around judicial nominations.
It will have an impact for a little while, but there arent that many of us, said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of the GOP leadership.
The Senates not very big, he said. Its a matter of figuring out how you can find what you agree with somebody on and move forward on that. There are clearly some hard feelings here, but this is not a place you get by not being fairly willing to roll with the punches. I think well move on, but I think it will take a while.
The latest from Washington
jennifer.haberkorn@latimes.com
@jenhab
UPDATES:
4:20 p.m.: This story was updated with Kavanaugh being sworn in.
3:58 p.m.: This story was updated with President Trumps comments.
3:03 p.m.: This story was updated with details and reaction to the confirmation vote.
1 p.m.: This story was updated with the Senate vote
This story first posted at 12:45 p.m.
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.
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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
With Californias race for governor narrowed down to two big-city rich guys, the mayor of the tiny farm town of Fowler worries that the San Joaquin Valley might continue to be a political afterthought.
David Cardenas wants to see Democrat Gavin Newsom and Republican John Cox in the Valley a lot more often so the candidates can see firsthand the fallow fields, dry wells and farmworkers packing up and moving to other states.
But even that might not be enough, he said.
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Its hard to know what life is like here if you havent lived here, said Cardenas, who owns a small auto shop in town. I think that we will be better represented if we have someone who understands, has lived as a person from a very different background.
No matter who wins in November, the next governor wont resemble most Californians. In a state where Latinos outnumber whites, women outnumber men and the median family income is just under $64,000 a year, both gubernatorial candidates are white men who earn more than a $1 million a year.
Jose Antonio Romualdo Pacheco Jr., who served briefly as governor in 1875, remains the only non-white male to hold the office. The last governor from rural California was Earl Warren, who was elected during World War II. Warren grew up in Bakersfield in the early 1900s and later became chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. No woman has ever been elected governor.
I think there are many folks who are very disappointed that were again going into the general election under these circumstances, said political scientist Mindy Romero, director of USCs California Civic Engagement Project. Breaking that barrier can inspire and signal to others that times have changed.
Sen. Kamala Harris, left, speaks during a rally in downtown Los Angeles and Sen. Toni Atkins, right, speaking at the Ronald Reagan State Building in Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times, Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
California has made strides elsewhere. Women have represented the state in the U.S. Senate since 1993, including Sen. Kamala Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent. Four of Californias statewide officers are Latino or Asian American, the Assembly speaker is Latino and earlier this year Toni Atkins became the first lesbian leader of the state Senate.
But there is still something about the governors race being the top elected official in our state, Romero said. Californians dont know a whole lot about politicians, but they do know who the governor is.
While Newsom and Cox have vastly different political views, they share some similarities. Both spent most of their lives in big cities Newsom in San Francisco and Cox in Chicago. Both own Teslas and live in exclusive, expensive parts of California.
Newsom and his family own a home in Marin County that is more than 4,000 square feet and worth $4.2 million, according to the real estate website Zillow. Cox and his family live in a 6,700-square-foot home worth $3.3 million in a Rancho Santa Fe gated community.
From those perches, Newsom and Cox have vowed to end the critical shortage of affordable housing in California and address the explosion of homelessness in the state, where an estimated 134,000 people are on the streets or have no permanent place to live.
Both candidates say voters should consider their life experiences, including difficult upbringings, and the ideals and accomplishments that have defined their adult lives. Their wealth is a reflection of success in business, an accomplishment that requires intellect, responsibility and a grasp of the inner workings of job creation and the economy essential traits for Californias next governor, they said.
Newsom dismissed a recent story in The Times detailing how some of San Franciscos wealthiest families, including heirs to the Getty oil fortune, helped accelerate his rise in politics and business in San Francisco. To really understand him and the primary influences in his life, Newsom said voters should know that he spent half his childhood with his father in Placer County, one of the most conservative pockets of rural California, and was raised by a mother who scratched out a living to provide for her children.
California Lt. Gov. and California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom, center, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, left, talk with a resident as they visit the Alice Griffith Apartments on Aug. 22 in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
I grew up with a single mom who knew no wealth and struggled all her life, and thats a very raw and real experience for me, Newsom said during a recent campaign bus tour through California.
The lieutenant governor said that as mayor and supervisor in San Francisco, he championed racial, social and economic justice, including his efforts to alleviate poverty and homelessness in the city. He gained national attention as mayor of San Francisco in 2004 when he directed the city to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a catalyst in a legal battle that ended when the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right of LGBTQ people to marry in 2015.
So as it relates to advocacy, gender equity, gender equality, racial justice thats my Why, Newsom said. So I think I bring that all to bear despite the Northern California pedigree, the proverbial straight white male Ive always tried to see the world through a different set of eyes.
Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox chats with media inside his campaign bus. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
On the campaign trail, Cox also talks about his difficult childhood in Chicago, and being raised by a single mother when he was young after his father left. Cox said he worked his way through college, earning a degree to be a certified public accountant, then did the same when he went to law school.
If youre going to compare Mr. Newsom and I, compare the fact that I started at the bottom, worked my way and build my business with efficiency and quality, Cox said at a campaign event in San Luis Obispo in August. He started by being funded by a billionaire, Gordon Getty. Thats who put him in business. Thats who put him in politics. Ive had to work and produce and deliver results.
Cox has also lashed out at Newsom and Californias Democratic political leadership, saying the most dire crises facing California poverty, homelessness and the lack of affordable housing all happened while Democrats controlled the governors office and Legislature. The increase in gas taxes signed into law in 2017 are just one example of a Democratic policy that hurts working Californians, he said.
It doesnt matter what color you are if you cant afford gasoline, Cox said. People who are brown or black are still being beaten down in this state by the cost of gasoline, by the cost of housing, by schools that dont teach, by fires that threaten their lives.
Harmeet Dhillon, one of Californias representatives on the Republican National Committee, said voters should be more concerned about a candidates ability to improve their lives than their gender or the color of a politicians skin. Still, she noted that Neel Kashkari, the Republican nominee in the 2014 governors race, was Indian American, and the GOP nominee in 2010 was a woman, former EBay President and Chief Executive Meg Whitman. Their Democratic challenger was Jerry Brown, who won both elections.
In my party, were post-racial, Dhillon said. The Democrats are more hung up on it.
Senate candidate Kevin de Leon chats with David Martinez, left, and Carlitos Valencia, 10, right, at a meet and greet with farmers at a barbecue in Somis. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles state Sen. Kevin de Leon, who is challenging fellow Democrat Dianne Feinsteins bid for reelection in the U.S. Senate, said candidates who reflect the lives and experiences of the Californians they represent lead to better public policy. He questioned how Feinstein, the second wealthiest member of Californias congressional delegation, could know the struggles of those she represents.
I dont criticize her for being wealthy, said De Leon, who was raised by a single mother in San Diego. But I think I have a better understanding of why so many families want an increase in the minimum wage, quality healthcare and have criminal justice issues.
Among the biggest blind spots for politicians in Sacramento are the issues facing rural California, since the vast majority of lawmakers represent urban areas, Assemblywoman Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) said.
Its a fight to get them to recognize that one size doesnt fit all, said Caballero, who is running for state Senate.
One glaring example, she said, was the landmark legislation recently signed by the governor that will require all of Californias electricity to come from clean power sources by 2045. The legislation limits the credit given to hydroelectric power as a renewable energy source, and that is expected to increase utility bills in the Central Valley one of the hottest regions in California.
It totally left out rural California, Caballero said. We need a governor whos going to listen.
Coverage of California politics
phil.willon@latimes.com
Twitter: @philwillon
Updates on California politics
An online campaign to fund Republican Senator Susan Collins Democratic opponent in the next election saw a significant uptick in donations Friday after Collins announced that she would vote yes on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh all but guaranteeing his confirmation.
As Collins spoke from the Senate Floor, explaining her support of President Trumps embattled pick for the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh opponents flocked to the Crowdpac campaigns site to empty their pockets.
Donors gave more than $50,000 over the course of Collins nearly 45-minute speech, bringing the total amount of funds raised to more than $3 million.
The page was so overwhelmed by eager contributors Friday that it crashed briefly.
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Two activist groups Maine Peoples Alliance and Mainers for Accountable Leadership joined dying father Ady Barkan to form the campaign in August, urging people to start funding Collins eventual opponents 2020 campaign.
Either Sen. Collins votes no on Kavanaugh or we fund her future opponent, the site reads. Its unclear who Collins challenger will be.
Collins accused the activist groups behind the campaign of attempting to bribe her into voting against Kavanaugh.
The page explains that donors wont be charged if Collins votes no on Kavanaugh.
Susan Collins has betrayed the people, and especially the women and survivors, of Maine, the campaign organizers said in a statement. Thousands of Mainers wrote, called, visited, protested, begged and pleaded with Susan Collins to do the right thing to be a hero and vote no. She ignored them.
Collins said Christine Blasey Fords accusations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when the two were teens fail to meet the more likely than not standard and believes voting against him would set a dangerous precedent.
The Senate this afternoon will vote on Kavanaughs confirmation.
Q&A with Gary Kreep, San Diego County Superior Court Judge
San Diego Superior Court Judge Gary Kreep seeks re-election in 2018. Nelvin C. Cepeda/San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego voters will choose a Superior Court judge for Office 37 this November. Incumbent Judge Gary Kreep faces challenger Matt Brower, a deputy district attorney. Each candidate met separately with The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board. Here is the transcript for Gary Kreep.
Editor's note: Once during this on-the-record interview, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board agreed to let Kreep go off the record while discussing a personal matter.
Union-Tribune: There were 47 San Diego Superior Court judges up for reelection this year. Only two were challengers and youre the only one not elected outright. Why is that?
KREEP: Well, first of all, you have to go back six years to when I was elected the first time. The judicial establishment, the legal establishment, the Republican establishment, the Democratic establishment, a number of special interest groups all opposed me. I was supposed to lose the election by 20 points that was the consensus of everyone and I won and when I won, I made some enemies by winning because there were my opponent, whos a very nice man.
Garland Peed and I got along fine. My opponent didnt like campaigning, and thats his right. He stopped campaigning two weeks before the election. He told me that right out and but what happened was is because I stood up to the judicial, legal, et cetera, et cetera establishment a lot of people took it very hard and as I was told by one of the senior judges shortly after I took the bench, I had a target on my back and so then came the CJP [Commission on Judicial Performance] inquiry and $250,000 was spent by my opponents in the primary election to try to knock me out.
I survived the primary and now Im in the runoff. I can go into details about why people, you know, supported me or didnt support me, but essentially, as was shown by a map that was in the CityBeat that name you know what Im talking about?
Union-Tribune: San Diego CityBeat.
KREEP: San Diego CityBeat. I won the a majority of the minority precincts in San Diego. I won almost all of the rural precincts in San Diego, except for two or three around Camp Pendleton. I lost the kinda high-end Republican precincts in San Diego and I wound up winning.
Union-Tribune: How about talk a bit about that because, obviously, there were a lot of challengers in this race for you got 30 percent of the vote, they collectively split the other 70. As an incumbent, whats your path to victory if you polled 30 percent in the primary?
KREEP: Well, the two my two major opponents Mr. Torres and Mr. Brower focused their campaigns entirely on attacking me. They didnt talk about themselves. They attacked me. You can still see that if you go under his website Mr. Browers website. The other two, Mr. Miller and Mr. Nader they promoted themselves as candidates what they would bring to the job as opposed to why I shouldnt be a judge.
As I said, there was about $250,000 spent between them to try to knock me out. Thats a lot of money and they each had their own ways of attacking me and their own appeal to they had you had the Nader and the Miller appealing to the more moderate wing of the party, you had the progressive wing of the party supporting Brower and a substantial part of the Hispanic community supporting Torres. So my job my path to victory, if you will, is to convince the people who voted for me in 2012 to come back and to increase my vote
Union-Tribune: Hey, guys. Sorry Im late.
KREEP: And to increase my vote in areas that I did well six years ago.
Union-Tribune: And how aggressively are you campaigning now? Is it knocking doors and the traditional stuff? Are you
KREEP: Peoples minds Ive Ive been involved in politics since 1964. Thats when I started my first clinical activity and campaigns and peoples minds dont get onto the election really until Labor Day or after. Now, does that mean Im sitting around on my rear-end? No. Im speaking to groups. Im seeking endorsements. Im planning my strategy for the September and October and working with with several people who have been longtime friends who are interested in helping me, raising money to pay for the execution of my campaign strategy.
Union-Tribune: Have you got a good list of endorsements yet?
KREEP: Well Ive got I think its 17 or 18 current former judges. Ive got Joel Anderson, a state senator. Ive got Jim Miller whos on the El Cajon School Board. Ive got somebody thats on the Democratic County Central Committee. Ive got somebody thats on the Republican County Central Committee. The judges who back me Hispanic, black, very liberal, Democratic, Republican, white, male, female.
You know, a lot of the people that support me dont agree with my politics, but politics has got nothing to do with being on the bench. Judge Gary Kreep
Union-Tribune: I saw your opponent also has a number of judges. I think it was seven current and five retired San Diego, California Superior Superior Court judges. He also lists a wider range of endorsements, I think its fair to say, from Democrats and Republicans elected to office.
Does does he appeal to a broader range? I mean you just listed kind of a diverse cross-section of San Diegans, but is his appeal less partisan than yours?
KREEP: If you well, I make it a habit I dont attack my opponents. Okay? And Im not going to tell you what I think of him or anything else. Thats up to him. I mean Ive seen some of the things that hes written about me, which are not very generous and in some cases not particularly accurate, but thats thats up to him. Im not going to attack my opponent.
Im going to talk about what Ive done about the things that Ive done to promote justice in the San Diego judicial community. There are people who on the bench who despise me tell you that right out. Tim Taylor, Randa Trapp, they both despise me. Thats their theyre extremely partisan people, and they appear to have joined in the idea that if you dont agree with them you shouldnt be on the bench. Thats why I talk about the Republican and Democratic judges that I have supporting me.
You know, a lot of the people that support me dont agree with my politics, but politics has got nothing to do with being on the bench. Being on the bench has to do with enforcing the law, in my case ensuring due process is given to everybody that appears before me, being sure that their rights are not ignored or violated in the judicial process, and I spent a lot of time doing that.
Union-Tribune: But isnt troubling for you to complain that other people are partisan when youre so prominent in the birther issue, which is, to me, like the ultimate partisan issue? In September 1959, Barack Obama Sr. arrived at the University of Hawaii, and it was considered news in the state because he was the first [student from Africa] ... to study at the at the center they had the UH Pacific Center.
In August 1961, the state Department of Health published birth records showing that Barack Obama Jr. had been born, and 50 years later you were at the center of attempts to say this didnt happen, that he really wasnt there and how can you then turn around and criticize others for being partisan when journalists spent millions of dollars going all over the place to try to determine the truth of this and found there was nothing there?
KREEP: Well thats your view on the situation, sir. I didnt think I was here to talk about things that happened two that I was involved with before I was a judge. Now, sir
Union-Tribune: You raised the issue of others (for being partisan).
KREEP: Sir, can I finish, please? Can I finish, please?
Union-Tribune: Sure.
KREEP: You know, we talked before you came in, and you told me youre the one that told me how crazy I was six years ago when you interviewed me for the this the your editorial board and went to some lengths telling me how crazy I was and, you know, thats your right to think that, sir. As I told you, there is in the record a statement by Barack Obamas so if you really want to get into this so is this what were going to talk about?
Union-Tribune: Id like to hear your answer. Sure.
KREEP: Okay. Barack Obamas grandmother who lives in Kenya where Barack Obamas cousin as according to the mainstream media as president of Kenya or was at the time and who Barack Obama its in the federal register spent several million dollars making sure he got reelected as president of Kenya federal your taxpayer money. She said that she was present in Mombasa at his birth and performed a Zulu birth ritual on him. Thats her statements, not mine.
Now, in indirect response to this gentlemans attack, I was brought I was contacted about suing Senator McCain over his lack of status in the United States and I looked into that, but he didnt win the presidency. Barack Obama did. Senator McCain was not born in the Panama Canal. There is a birth certificate that was obtained certified copy that showed that Senator McCain was actually born in the country of Panama at a hospital there in I believe it was Panama City.
Because of a law in effect at that time, his grandfather, the admiral, had the law changed by Congress two years later. John McCain was not a citizen of the United States at the time of his birth because, at that point in time, if you were born to a military person you were not a citizen of the United States out outside of the United States. You were not a citizen of the United States.
You had to go through a procedure to become a citizen. The Congress passed changed that law two years later, but did not make it retroactive. So I was contacted about suing both of them. So if you want to make that a partisan issue, okay, but I thought we were here to talk about my being a judge rather than what I did before I was a judge, but thats okay. Im ready to answer any questions you have.
Union-Tribune: Yeah... and Im Jeff Light, by the way. Im sorry that I was late. Im the editor. I just wanted to hear a little bit of your take on you know, you brought it up you said like some of these judges are super against me. I think we had some stories about how there was an effort to marginalize you like through assignments and I have to say like when I saw oh, its Gary Kreep I cant wait.
I want to hear what this guys got to say, you know, because its a controversial name. What is it what is that all about? Why are the you mentioned, you know, some of these guys dont like you and I think I caught a little bit of the flavor of perhaps its because of your determination to run a fair courtroom in a way that maybe is crossways with their interpretation. Tell me about that.
KREEP: Okay.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Gary Kreep goes before the commission on Judicial Performance where he is charged with various violations of the judicial ethics code. Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune
Union-Tribune: Hows this gone, whats it like being that guy and whats the whole environment, you know?
KREEP: Okay. In January I think it was January 23rd, 2013, I was I went to the executive committee meeting of the San Diego County Judiciary. They have an executive committee, but all judges are allowed to participate just to listen. You cant vote. Im not I was never executive committee. Never have been, dont want to be and at that time there was a motion brought forward by an ally of then presiding Judge Robert Trentacosta to officially endorse a policy of allowing the presiding judge to keep secret files on each judge in the county, files that the judge could not see without the presiding judges approval and I spoke up against that. I mean I was brand-new.
I was told not to. I was told to keep my mouth shut. Just but I have my own version and you can disagree or not of whats right and wrong and I thought that it was just insidious for a judge to collect random attacks, anonymous attacks, critical attacks on judges and keep them in a secret file so the judge didnt have a chance to respond to them. I spoke out against it. I was not the only one, by the way. I the other two judges, though, were in positions of power. As far as I know nothing happened to them.
The next day I was visited by one of the senior judges who said you have a target on your back. You have to watch your back. You have to understand that other judges can say and do things that youre not going to be able to say and do because theyre not under the microscope of Judge Trentacosta. So that went on from there. Then the City Attorneys Office, when I was handling Department 3 in custody misdemeanors I have a policy that I believe which I believe in the United States Constitution, and I dont believe that the prosecutors should be able to violate the constitutional rights of people.
The City Attorneys Office in San Diego and you can talk to a number of judges who, if theyre being honest I could give you names of judges who will confirm this to you believe that theyre in charge at that time they were in charge of Departments 1, 3 and 9. Those were the misdemeanor departments and that if any judge did not do what they want they would blanket challenge the judge to get rid of them so they could get a judge that they had more control over. Judge Peter Gallagher was blanket challenged twice for not kowtowing to the City Attorneys Office.
Union-Tribune: And and what is it that the city how did they violate the rights of whats the, you know
KREEP: Well, I will
Union-Tribune: Youll tell me, okay.
KREEP: Well, its different in with Pete it was different issues. With mine they wanted the every time a defendant pled guilty they wanted that person to give up their Fourth Amendment rights to search and seizure for as long as three years and if the defendant was willing to do that I didnt interfere, but if they didnt agree to do that the City Attorney would often come back and try to impose that and I wouldnt do it and I would refuse to do it and I got took a lot of flak over it from the City Attorneys Office because they believe they should be controlling the census in those departments.
Now, if you read our Cannons of Ethics, it says that a judge is supposed to look at each case individually. Were not supposed to say oh, these are all DUIs so Im going to give the sentence or these are all petty thefts or these are all, you know, urinating in public and give the sentence. I looked at each case on as an individual case. Several times I dismissed cases that I thought were inappropriately brought and that they just went through the they just went through the ceiling on that because how dare I, as a judge who has every power to do so dismiss dismiss some of their cases? Let me give you an example.
The law says that if you have used drugs and you call the for medical assistance because you believe youre overdosing you cant be prosecuted for that. I dont remember the code section, but I could dig it up for you. They insisted on prosecuting a guy who called 9-1-1, said look, Ive overdosed on drugs, I need medical help.
So they came, picked him up, he was arrested, he was prosecuted. The laws says they cant prosecute him. They insisted that they had the right. I said heres the law. The defense attorneys brought me the law. It was right in the code section very clear, so I dismissed the case. They went ballistic. Okay? I had another case where a man was arrested for dropping a cigarette on the ground and stepping on it in front of police. They arrested him for littering.
Now, they dont really have the right to arrest him, but he refused to sign the ticket because he said youre selectively prosecuting me. The City Attorneys Office came to me and said we want this case handled by you in Department 3 where he can get custody as opposed to be handled in Kearny Mesa where they do traffic where they do infractions and the Clerk actually Im sorry. It was the Clerks Office that came to me and says that they were the City Attorneys was demanding. So I said look, youve got to keep your peace with the City Attorneys office. Go ahead, set it here. By the time it got to me, this man had been in custody for eight days on a crime he could not be in custody for.
Union-Tribune: Oh, I want his name. Send us his name.
KREEP: Well, Id have to go back through a lot of files. Im sorry.
Union-Tribune: Oh, no, no. Yeah.
KREEP: But anyway. So I dismissed the case. The City Attorneys Office went ballistic. There was another case there are several cases where the City Attorneys Office would renege on deals theyd made with defendants through defense counsel and they said well we dont have to we dont have to do that and I said no, you made a deal, Im going to enforce it. They didnt like this.
Now, you know, I really shocked the heck out of the defense bar because here I am this right-wing nutcase of a judge attorney, and Im sitting there upholding the constitutional rights of their defendants. I became very popular with the defense bar and I became very unpopular with the City Attorneys Office, so they finally found some excuses and they filed a blanket challenge of me.
Now, in the old days when I was 20 years ago, if the City Attorneys Office filed a blanket challenge against the judge because they didnt like his or her ruling theyd be trying their downtown cases in El Cajon because the judge is supposed to have independence, but over the past few years its become the position of the local judiciary that if the City Attorneys Office wants a judge gone theyre gone. So I was then transferred to Kearny Mesa to do hear traffic and small claims, and there was some furor about it and then I was brought that was in September, I believe, and I was brought back in November.
In the meantime, I made I raised hackles with the City Attorneys Office. They had they were bringing cases to me that were not proper. They had they were prosecuting a father who had a fishing license who had his 10-year-old son with him on a fishing pier. So they wanted to fine him I dont know like $100 for having his 10-year-old son with a fishing pole out there because the son did not have a fishing license and I thought that was ridiculous so I dismissed the case. I guess were getting another being joined by someone else. I guess Im popular.
Union-Tribune: Yeah. No, sometimes its bigger. So just to finish that up on the search and seizure piece so just so I could track on that. Like the
KREEP: If you got picked if you
Union-Tribune: The city attorney would like make some sort of plea deal they would say okay, part of the terms youre going to be were going to search your house or your phone
KREEP: Your person. Your car.
Union-Tribune: Then the guy gets in there and they say your honor, okay, were weve settled the case, heres the and the guy says like wait a minute, I dont want that.
KREEP: No, no. If they because if they settled the case with that agreement, I did not touch it.
Union-Tribune: Okay.
KREEP: But sometimes theyd forget to add that in. So theyd want to come back in later and add that in, and I said no, you made a deal.
Union-Tribune: I got it.
KREEP: Im not going to force them because I have a problem with that. I mean were talking about in in misdemeanors were talking about people who, you know, stole a cupcake. I mean you name it. I mean it could be anything and theyd want three years of of car, house, person. Police can stop and search and seize at any time, and that bothered me from a constitutional point of view.
Union-Tribune: Got it.
KREEP: Okay? Does that answer your question?
Union-Tribune: Yes, yes. Thats very interesting. How dig into some of that because I wanted to ask you about the severe public censure on these 29 specific acts. You have denied all of those?
KREEP: No, I admitted a number of them.
Union-Tribune: Okay.
KREEP: I I admitted them right out. Id said some stupid things. Okay? I admitted what I said. I admitted what I did and denied what I didnt do. Okay?
Union-Tribune: Okay.
KREEP: Now, do you want to talk about the charges about me greeting non-English speaking defendants by saying hola, senor or buenos dias, senorita or senora? There were 20 different charges. They they funneled them into, I think, one or two charges, but there were 20 some allegations that I was handling cases in Spanish in my courtroom.
What I did was someone came in, they did not speak English, I believed in showing everybody respect in my courtroom. I would greet each defendant Mr. Jones, Mr. Smith, Mr. Brown, whatever. I would greet each Spanish-speaking defendant buenos, dias Senor Garcia, buenes tardes, Senor Hernandez. Thats all I did. I did not conduct the cases in Spanish.
Now, there are judges at this courthouse who have conducted entire hearings in Spanish with no interpreter, and thats okay because theyre Hispanic and theyre not me. Okay? But for me to just greet people, that was deemed a major offense by the City Attorneys Office.
Do you know that every courtroom Ive been in has a recording device in it? Thats because Ive been assigned to departments with recording devices. Misdemeanors in custody misdemeanors Department 3 at 220 West Broadway, which is now closed, traffic and small claims up in Kearny Mesa and unlawful detainers in Department 7, now in Department 60 because weve moved over to the new courthouse. The powers that be have gone to essentially every one of my cases and listened to every tape of every case that Ive ever had to try to find things to go after me on. You dont have to believe me.
Theres a lot of discussion about how many cases they had gone through. They were bringing up they charged me with allegations, then they brought up Im sorry the disks, you know the audios from cases that they didnt even charge me with just to try to attack me. Okay, I understand. Im a target. You know, Ive been you grow up with a last name like mine you know. I was I was short, I was fat, I wore glasses, I had a terrible last name and my mama dressed me funny. I mean I wasnt even allowed to wear sneakers until I was 13 years old because thats just the way my mother and her husband were. So Ive been a target for a good part of my life for a whole variety of reasons.
The new $555.5 million state court building was formally dedicated in a ceremony closed to the public on Monday, June 5, 2017. John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune
Union-Tribune: But you came close to losing your seat. I mean that what happened is the second most harsh sanction against a judge and I read that four out of the 10 commissioners voted for removal.
KREEP: Thats right.
Union-Tribune: Was that a conspiracy or is that people looking
KREEP: No.
Union-Tribune: at the record and seeing a problem?
KREEP: Well, 10 of them refused to remove me and its interesting. The four who voted to remove me were all judges appointed by the Chief Justice, just a fact. The 10 people that all voted to not remove me were the 10 people that were attorneys and citizens who had no legal background. Now, they were only given two options, severe censure or removal, so thats how they voted.
If you want to get back to some of the basis for which they brought me up I mean do you know they actually charged me and I could dig up the document for you with walking in my chambers in stocking feet not wearing shoes. Now, thats a crime. I got to tell you thats a real crime and thats one of the charges.
Now, they didnt take that to the trial, but I had to respond to an investigation into that act. Another one. An attorney that I had sworn in when she passed the bar I saw her four months later. She had gotten a job. I walked into a courtroom. She ran up to me, threw her arms around me and hugged me. That was I had to I had to respond to a complaint about that because I was having an inappropriate relationship with this attorney. Id seen her once since I swore her in. That was the last time Ive seen her.
They harassed her so bad that shes afraid to even come near me because they said well youre having a relationship with Judge Kreep, arent you? At the trial there was a memo ... that claimed that I was having inappropriate relationship with three deputy public defenders while I was in Department 3, that I was having clandestine meetings with them behind closed doors in my chambers. Now, that was done by a deputy city attorney who recanted that on the stand when it was she was asked about it and the interesting thing is have any of you been into 220 West Broadway?
Union-Tribune: I dont think so.
KREEP: Okay. Well its closed now so you cant. Department 3 was on the front end. My chambers were on the back end. For anybody to know that there was even a closed door, they would have had to have x-ray vision, see through five walls to see it because there was no straight shot because I had the in custody behind me. So there were metal doors so nobody could go in without (a chip).
Only the bailiffs and the clerks and I could go in and she finally recanted and said yeah, I and she also claimed that these three deputy city deputy public defenders were flirting with me to get better census for their clients, which is ridiculous. All three of them testified. They all said it never happened and one of them two of them are married, one of them to a deputy district attorney and they all said its one of them said it was ridiculous and also it never happened.
Every attorney that appeared for the Public Defenders Office said it never happened, this is crazy and the Public Defenders Office even consulted with an attorney about the possibility of suing because basically theyre saying that these that I but more importantly that these deputy public defenders were committing criminal acts and that could result in them being disbarred, but since she recanted it on the stand
Union-Tribune: I want to one of the charges was that you asked a woman charged with prostitution is it you like the money or you just like the action?
KREEP: Yeah, I did, and I admitted that. I was trying to talk her out of being a prostitute. I had people come women come in there young women 18, 19 first-time prostitution cases, and I would try to talk them out of ever doing it again. Okay? Maybe I shouldnt.
Maybe I should just throw the book at them like the City Attorneys Office wanted me to, but this woman was pretty hardcore and I was trying to figure out what it would take to get her off doing this because you probably know as well as I do that that life is going to lead to drugs and death either from AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, drug overdose or being murdered and so I made a real effort to try to talk these women out of this lifestyle. So yes, I did say those things, and I admitted it and I explained it, but that didnt make any difference because it was deemed inappropriate.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Gary Kreep is shown in a 2012 file photo. Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune
Union-Tribune: Do other judges make similar comments do you believe, have the same sort of attempt to change peoples ways of life?
KREEP: According to the Los Angeles Daily Journal, which is the main newspaper (unintelligible) transcript is basically, you know, just an ad situation anymore. Yes, theres been judges in this county profiled for doing the same thing, and that was okay.
In fact, I tried to bring in a judge to testify that she does essentially the same thing, and the at the hearing they wouldnt allow it. This the prosecutor oh, no, your honor, this is irrelevant. It doesnt matter what these other judges do. Its only what Judge Kreep does. So they wouldnt allow it. I mean the trial went on for two weeks. Give me a break. So I can understand why they were trying to keep it down.
Union-Tribune: Can I take you back to you said the four of the commissioners who voted for removal were all appointees?
KREEP: Were were all judges appointed to the Judicial Commission, its my understanding, by the by the presiding judge.
Union-Tribune: So are you suggesting a conspiracy there?
KREEP: No, Im not. Im just
Union-Tribune: Youre just laying out the fact.
KREEP: Im just laying out a fact. Im not much into conspiracy, so despite what you may think.
Union-Tribune: Well there are people on the other side of the birther issue who might disagree with that.
KREEP: Well, you know, I originally refused to get involved in that case and the reason I did was because people who I respected told me there was nothing to it and then I was approached by somebody who was a long at that time a long-term friend of mine, and he brought me a variety of documents.
He brought me some and it wasnt those phony birth certificates and all that that were that guy was selling on the Internet. They were real it was real information that seemed to support the claim and I felt that the that the public had the right to know, number one. Number two, I argued one of those cases. I took, I think, four up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Argued one of those cases before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal and one of the Justices on the Ninth Circuit and I could dig up her name, but I I dont remember it off the top of my head.
It was Pregerson was one judge and I forget the other two names, but the female judge on that and this is on this is televised nationwide on C-SPAN 2 said that its an important constitutional issue, but I just dont think this is the case to bring it in. Thats her quote, not mine. So you can laugh at me all you want or say Im nuts or whatever, but I spent a lot of time I spent 37 years on constitutional law cases. I handled and, you know, when people say well, youre a racist thats what Judge Trapp thinks. Ive Ive got to be a racist because I sued Barack Obama.
Youre a racist for doing that case. I said well, how does that square with the class action cases that I filed representing hundreds of thousands of poor mostly black and Hispanic children all across the State of Californias school districts who are denying them their constitutionally guaranteed right of free public education California Constitution guarantee? And I won most of those cases, okay, and stopped some unconstitutional things that school districts were doing, including several around San Diego County and if Im such a racist, why do I have so many black and Hispanic friends?
I mean when the Bar Association said well youre not qualified because youre a racist, I gave them the name of a bunch of people. They called contacted them all, and then they came back and said well yeah, youre youre not a racist. These were people thatd known me for decades, worked for me, former employees, business people, people Id gone on vacations with known me for decades.
So then they decided the reason why I was lacking qualifications was because all Christians are too biased to be judges, therefore any Christian is lacking qualifications to be a judge. This is what was told me back in 2012 by the San Diego County Bar Association in a meeting with I think it was 21 of their leadership, and they none of them disagreed with that.
So how do you think I feel when people start saying to me well youre a racist? Well they dont know me. Okay? Theres a lot of things they dont know about me. Im also told that Im homophobic because I defended Prop 8 in court in six different cases. Well, I happen to believe that people have a right (unintelligible) and you can say you may disagree. I have one of my good buddies Peter Gallagher recently performed same-sex marriage. Ive attended same-sex marriages with friends.
I dont think that disagreeing on same -ex marriage being legal has anything to do with being homophobic. Ive had relatives that were homosexual, gay. Thats their business. Its not my business to sit there and judge them or condemn them, but it is my right to object when some when somebody decides oh, weve got to change the law, a law thats been in effect for hundreds of years and and a law that the voters passed. That bothers me, so condemn me for it. Okay.
New federal courthouse annex building in downtown San Diego. Nelvin C. Cepeda
Union-Tribune: Let me the Me Too movement is a big part of our cultural zeitgeist right now.
KREEP: Right.
Union-Tribune: Back in 2012, I believe, San Diego City reported on your divorce proceeding with your second wife. Let me just read this to you in light of current times.
This is a statement from your ex-wife written in a declaration on file with the East County Courthouse: Since my marriage to my husband it has become very clear that he has a very strong need to control me emotionally, physically and financially. The reason I left my husband is because he was verbally and physically and emotionally abusive. He is a recovering alcoholic and unfortunately has to lay blame on me for things he cannot accept in himself. He accuses me of addictive behaviors I dont have, throws bottles at me, punches holes in walls and belittles me.
KREEP: Well, I never punched a hole in a wall. I have punched a hole in a wall a number of years ago when somebody did something that I was really mad about way before I knew her and when youre losing a thousand dollars or more a night gambling, I would say thats somewhat addictive and I was having to foot the bill for it, so and when I and we because Im old-fashioned, we didnt live together before we got married. Okay?
We dated and she had a PhD in Psychology from UCLA and shes a very attractive woman. I fell in love with her and we married. Within six months, I learned that she was an alcoholic, that she just concealed it from me. When youre drinking a bottle of wine, half a bottle of Kahlua and half a six pack of beer every day, Id say thats a little bit over the edge. I never shes admitted this, by the way, that I never touched her in anger.
She said that my idea that her idea of physical abuse was when she started screaming at me one time and I pounded the table, and I was like 10 feet away from her. She said that was physically abusive when I pounded the table. Okay? She was having an affair with four different men while we were married. She was advertising herself on newspapers to meet meet men. You know, not newspapers, but you know what Im saying. Those websites. I I dont anyway. I found all this out, and it wasnt me saying oh, it happened.
Her daughter came to me and told me it was happening because she would go away for weeks at I was having serious surgery, and I was laid up for about two to three months. While Im laid up in a hospital bed on the bottom floor, my wife would leave for a week at a time to go up to gamble in Northern California with her sister and I was there alone. Okay. Now, I can prove this because there were people who came to visit me and things like that, but I didnt feel the need to.
My wife has some serious problems. Seven years after we the divorce was final she brought me back into court again, made a number of false statements that Id concealed things from her. The court decided I hadnt. They appointed a special (unintelligible) who decided I hadnt concealed anything from her. Okay? And I finally paid her $7,000 just to go away. Her attorneys fees were like $25,000, $30,000 dollars, so but nothing was found. I did nothing wrong and you have to understand Im going to tell you something that I would appreciate not go into your article.
Union-Tribune: Just to be clear, back on the record.
KREEP: Sure.
Union-Tribune: So you never abused her?
KREEP: I never touched her in anger ever. Did I raise my voice at her when she would be screaming at me and when shed be throwing things? She threw a suitcase across the hotel room. Okay? And, yeah, I raised my voice to her. Never touched her in anger.
Union-Tribune: Let me a secondary kind of question I had about this issue is in that same CityBeat story another thing thats in the news, obviously, is journalism fake news, anger towards journalism, journalists as enemy of the people, all of this is in the zeitgeist at this moment. CityBeat shared this email from you in response to their questions.
I just want to get your reaction to it. So this is an email you wrote. You really, really in caps hate me or youre really again in caps being paid a lot to go after me by the downtown crowd. I hope that your bootlicking is getting you the crumbs from the table of the powers that be that you are seeking as your journalistic integrity and accuracy certainly is lacking.
KREEP: I forget the name of the guy who wrote that article and
[Editors note: Not only does Dave Maass dispute Judge Kreeps following claim, he provided an email exchange that backed up his version of events.]
Union-Tribune: Dave Maass.
KREEP: Dave Maass, thats it. He approached me and said that if I would feed him dirt on the judges in Downtown San Diego, he wouldnt write any more negative stories about me and I said no, I wont do that. I mean I may have specific and this was right when I first got on the bench. Okay? I may have specific feelings about some of the inappropriate activities that go on in the courthouse, and theres more than a few, but I Im not somebody whos trying to buy my way out of something.
Besides, I didnt trust him anyway. So yes. I mean do you know that they had a reporter sitting in my courtroom apparently for weeks trying to find something that they could write about me. That came out later. Okay, I guess I must be awfully important to have all these people so interested in getting me off the bench to go to those to go to those lengths.
Union-Tribune: But those are public courtrooms, right?
KREEP: Of course they are. How have you do you put reporters in courtrooms on for no specific case to sit there hoping the judge will say something bad?
Union-Tribune: I dont oversee the reporters, so
KREEP: Well do you think its a good use of resources?
Union-Tribune: Id have to take that situation on a case-by-case basis, but
KREEP: Okay. Well, I think you get my point, though. Mr. Maass decided that I was a good one to try to pressure into giving him information. I wouldnt do it. Thats just not my way. I will speak directly to people about my feelings about them and tell them what I think about them or I will just avoid them. Lifes too short.
Union-Tribune: Whats your view of the media in terms of how its covered your courtroom? Do you think that youve that the issues that have been handled in your courtroom apart from your politics and your election has the media covered you accurately and fairly?
KREEP: No. You want me to get specific?
Union-Tribune: Sure.
[Editors note: Greg Moran said that Kreep has never spoken to him about his earlier coverage.]
KREEP: Well your Greg Moran he wrote an article last year saying that I was mysteriously off work from July 1st to the end of November, something like that. He based it on comments by two attorneys. Kind of interesting. If you go back and look at the calendars, I was in the courtroom every except for holidays or weekends, I was in the courtroom every workday in all of July up through the 11th of August.
I then went on my honeymoon, which was previously scheduled. Now, the courts dont comment about when where judges are and when because if theyre ill or something like that its confidential. Its not a matter of public.
So I got back in the last week of August, went back to work, started September and then I came down with a very serious potentially life threatening disease and I was off work til the third from the first part of September until the third week of November. Thats all documents in doctors in doctors reports. Okay. Then I came back and because of the I mean I actually they actually had to do go into my brain and remove tissue to make sure that I didnt have a life threatening problem.
Thats the only way they could finally do it and I can produce all the medical records you want if you really care about that, but I went back to work the Monday before Thanksgiving, but because of my health issues the judges didnt put me back into the courtroom until I think it was November 30th or December 1st I forget which, but I was there handling court cases that needed to be worked on default judgments, judgments that had been submitted from other judges that they didnt have time to handle, PCDs, probable cause declarations, you know, warrants. I was doing all that for those two weeks.
The font for the signage on the old courthouse is a classic from the 1950"s and 60's. John Gibbins / U-T
Union-Tribune: So Gary, like when when something like that happens and lets set aside the reporting leading off just for a second when you read that story did you call Greg and say oh, man, you totally have it wrong, heres what happened, let me fill you in?
KREEP: No, I didnt because I had talked to him about other stories that had written and it didnt seem to do any good, so I just stopped talking to you to you guys. It was whats Repardo Repard?
Union-Tribune: Me, Pauline Repard. Pauline Repard.
KREEP: Oh, Im sorry.
Union-Tribune: Thats okay.
KREEP: I didnt realize that was you. She called me and we talked, and I agreed to talk to her because she promised me a square shot. I dont care. You know, you write bad things about me thats fine. You give me a fair shake thats all I want.
Union-Tribune: Yeah. No, Im just trying to like to be fair like if the guy got the story wrong.
KREEP: Mr. Moran
Union-Tribune: Like there was, you know, confidentiality, it was difficult to find where you were, whatever, or he he did weak reporting. Im not saying he did, but if any of those things happened, but if you read the story and it was wrong, it just seems to me like you would call up and say oh, my gosh, lets get this correct. I would like to make sure the facts are correct and that the record is correct and that Im giving you, the reporter the courtesy of setting you straight.
KREEP: He wrote an article early in the year having nothing to do with me. It was an article about the Council on Judicial Performance talking about how they were revising the rules, and at the end he interviewed Leonard Simon who was the one who was behind a lot of the charges against me with the CJP.
We subpoenaed his records, his communication with CJP. He refused to produce them. There was a hearing on it. The CJP itself argued against producing them because they have a habit of not producing all the records that they have that they gather on a judge, and so we didnt get out to it, but he quoted Leonard Simon saying its about time they get after this Gary Kreep, you know, hes a terrible guy, blah, blah, blah, and you can read it in his article. He never
Union-Tribune: He wrote something about you, and he didnt call you or give you a chance to respond?
KREEP: Nope. He was just quoting somebody who obviously wanted me off the bench.
Union-Tribune: And you never got to to give your side?
KREEP: No, I didnt even know the article had been written til months afterwards. I mean I I dont check you know, I dont do Google search on myself on a maybe once a year.
Union-Tribune: It seems like, as a practice in general, we need a better way to communicate if things are being written and you know, it could be that Greg is placing calls and theyre going to the judicial administration and theyre (overtalking).
KREEP: Gregs had my personal phone number for years. I havent changed it. He talked to me during the so-called Tea Party Marine case.
Union-Tribune: Okay.
KREEP: Ive talked to him. He has my cell phone. He just didnt call it, so
Union-Tribune: Interesting.
KREEP: But and again, I didnt know about the article til months afterwards. So you know, what are you going to do then? Dredge up the story again and have a reprint of it about how
Union-Tribune: Well, were talking about it now. I mean you know, because it still seems germane in some way.
KREEP: It is to me, but then what do I know?
Union-Tribune: When people hear the name Judge Gary Kreep, what do you want them to think?
KREEP: Hard working, someone who cares about people. If you were to talk to the attorneys who appear before me regularly, the plaintiffs attorneys will say that I dont rule in their favor often enough because sometimes they screw up and I and let me explain one thing. Unlawful detainer law is unique in California law.
The normal Rules of Civil Procedure do not apply. All right? Where you sue somebody, you serve them, theyve got 30 days to respond. Not in unlawful detainer law. They have five days to respond. I get when they file a motion, most of the motions are on five days. I get a 150-page motions for summary judgment filed five days before the hearing on them, and thats legal. All right? And I have to go through all of that. Okay?
So its you take a normal case thatll take you a year, two years to get to trial statutorily an unlawful detainer trial has to go to trial within 20 days after the trial date is requested. Thats the law. Okay? The upside the other side of it is that if the plaintiffs landlords make one mistake in their mandatory language of the lawsuit the law the case has to be dismissed. Thats the law.
Not my saying it, thats the law and so Im required to deal with people, and probably half the people who come before me are pro pers. They have no idea whats going on, and I have to deal with that and so it can make it very difficult because why am I here? I mean you know, they just have no idea. They get served a stack of papers and they come to court and they dont understand anything and they havent read the papers.
A lot of times they dont know they have to file an answer excuse me within five days of being served. You know, thats a pretty close time. Now, unlike other types of civil cases, California law provides for what are called Shriver Counsel named after Maria Shriver and those are civil attorneys who are provided free of charge to pro per defendants in unlawful detainer cases, but they are rules.
If the case is from North County no Shriver Counsel. If theres not an attorney for the plaintiff if the plaintiffs pro per no Shriver Counsel. So I wind up with a lot of trials where its pro pers versus pro pers. Neither of them has any idea how to do the case and Im not knocking them. Theyre not attorneys. I try to explain to them, you know, Im not a doctor. When I had my quadruple bypass and died twice a few years ago, you know, it wasnt me operating on myself. I wouldnt have known how to do it.
You dont know how to operate this procedure. Okay? And I have to be very patient and explain to them what theyve got to show and whats wrong with their case, and its very difficult sometimes and because of the way the law is set up, I am mandated to dismiss a lot of lawsuits because theres errors in the paperwork.
If the three-day notice doesnt have certain language, if the 30-day notice doesnt have certain language, if the 60-day notice doesnt have certain language, if the 90-day notice doesnt have certain languages the cases are have to be dismissed because under the code the court does not have jurisdiction to hear them if this mandatory language is not in the paperwork. So I get a lot of angry people... you dismissed my case. Im sorry, sir. I try to explain to them whats wrong and I say I have to, I dont have the choice. Okay, so I wind up with angry people. Then on the other side so
Union-Tribune: And these are like typically landlords or
KREEP: Yes, theyre all landlords.
Union-Tribune: And theyre used to having stuff go through? Theyre surprised? I mean is that the deal or
KREEP: Well, the attorneys know that they have to do their job. Every but on a regular basis Ill get an attorney in there whose never done one of these before, has no idea what theyre doing and that basically they you know, its like a wink and a nod. Well you know, your honor, you can you know, you can no, Im required to comply with the law and so I get some attorneys mad at me because they dont want me to enforce the law.
Now, I enforce the law against the defendants, too. You know, if they havent done something theyre supposed to do and they want me to give them slack standard a lot of the cases go by whats called default. No defendant shows up whats called a default prove up. (Unintelligible) and then the day before the lockout, which is about three weeks later, I need to stay the lockout. Well you didnt answer the lawsuit.
Well I didnt understand what I was supposed to do, you know, and then we get into that and I have very definite philosophies on that. I think that people should be given a trial on the merits, not just get nailed by them messing up, but they have to show theyre really trying to correct it, not just wait three weeks and then come in on the last day, but there are attorneys who theres Shriver Counsel, then theres a group of defense attorneys who specialize in those types of cases and so I mean I have 21 I have 21 trials tomorrow morning. That may not sound like a lot to you, but even a default prove up takes 10 or 15 minutes.
So think about that. Yvonne Campos is a friend of mine. She will tell you, as she has told other people in my presence, that when Im not there it takes three judges to cover me because Im a workaholic. I work through the calendar. I push the calendar. I have come up with shortcuts not legal shortcuts, but shortcuts on how we do things and we move the calendar because weve got this problem.
The plaintiffs are entitled to a trial within 21 days of requesting a trial date, statutory and if they dont get it within their 20 days they can file an appeal and then were going to the appellate court saying well youre not doing what youre supposed to, you know, so then we have to put more judges into it or something like that. Because its me, my law my courtroom clerk, one backroom clerk and a part-time second backroom clerk.
Thats it and if you look at a lot of these unlawful detainer cases, they have 100 pleadings in them 100 pleadings. I mean youre talking about a lot of paperwork, and it takes a lot of time and because what happen was before I was handling just three three of the courts South Bay, East East County and here. In September we started handling North County, which was another like 20 percent of cases. Its a very onerous amount of work and Im not saying Im wonderful. Its just that I and my staff have worked out ways to do it.
Union-Tribune: I want to be mindful of your time. Im curious, though
KREEP: I will stay a few minutes past, but I have to be out of here no later than 1:15.
Union-Tribune: Yeah, Im going to have to get up and go, everyone, so I apologize. I have to run. Yeah, yeah. No, 1:00 is a good ending time. Im curious about bail reform in the news now with this new bill heading to the governors desk. He sounds like he will sign it. What are your thoughts on getting rid of cash bail and giving judges more discretion?
KREEP: I dont do criminal. I havent done criminal on a regular basis since 2013. I have concerns about it. I know from talking to my friends that are criminal judges and I have a lot of friends that are criminal judges theyre concerned about it. I mean you know, when everything became a misdemeanor instead of not everything, but a significant number of cases were knocked down from felonies to misdemeanors and now were getting according to what Ive heard and I dont know this. Okay?
Im just telling you, you know, what Ive heard. Were getting swamped with motions all over the state. The courts getting swamped with motions to reduce these former felony drug convictions to misdemeanors so that people can are able to do this, that or the other. I dont know. (Judge) Brown keeps appointing new judges. We have, last time I heard, 10 judges in this county without any staff because weve had to cut a quarter of our clerk staff or thereabouts in the last couple years due to budget cuts.
Now, those 10 judges, they, you know, vacation, illness, you know, official business, they fill in, but you know, as well as I do youve seen the stories about how you have to drive 100 miles I think its in San Bernardino County to get to the nearest courthouse. Weve closed Ramona. Okay. We closed Oceanside. Okay.
We closed Escondido. Okay. We closed two of the courthouses over here and moved everybody down to, you know, the big building at 1100. Okay. Thats really great, but talk about talk to some of the civil trial the unlimited the big cases and find out how long its taking them to get to trial. Okay. I deal all the time with cases in UD [Unlawful Detainer] that are related to probate, family law, TRO, temporary restraining orders and unlimited cases. Cases people try to game the system.
I dont know if you understand that, but theyll go to get a TRO so they dont have to go to UD. So they kick their tenant out by saying well hes abusing me, hes harassing me, whatever that way they dont have to go through a UD trial. They get a TRO. They go to UD to try to get around a family law order you know, who gets custody of the house, for instance. Same thing in probate. I get people coming in on probate cases, one side or the other, trying to get around the probate orders and we have to so every time we get one of those cases, if I know theres another case involved, I call the judge and we talk about it seeing whats going on. Theres a lot of people gaming the system on both sides of the system.
These deputies work at the Central Jail in downtown San Diego. John Gibbins
Union-Tribune: So and the case bail thing, though, youre working back toward?
KREEP: Well I dont know enough about it to tell you, but it concerns I know that the judges I work with, that I have lunch with theyre concerned about it.
Union-Tribune: What are their concerns?
KREEP: At some point in time you have to be able to well I really cant speak for them. I really shouldnt. Okay? Things they tell me. I mean I can tell you theyre concerned, but I Im not comfortable.
Union-Tribune: Well not name names, but just generally. I think this is an important discussion to have. I mean Yeah. Studies show that California has the highest median bail in American, and yet it doesnt have better rates of getting people to trial than states with much less onerous bail. So shouldnt that matter?
KREEP: Well, again, youre talking about an area that I dont handle cases in. So for me to say that I think this or I think that is a little presumptuous on my part. I think you need to talk to the criminal trial judges, and I and I think that some of them who would be happy to talk to you.
Union-Tribune: Thats fair. So in your area of focus, what do you see is the biggest problem? If you were the dictator of the world, what whats the one area where you could just fix one super important thing?
KREEP: You mean in unlawful detainers?
Union-Tribune: Yeah.
KREEP: California has a law thats in place now requiring the state courts to provide translators for every language. I had five Arabic speaking cases Arabic speaker cases in one month. I have Russian cases, Slovakian cases. Not Czechoslovakian, Slovakian. Southern Sudan Southern Sudanese Arabic, okay? We have San Diegos a melting pot.
We dont have the translators that we need. Nobodys providing the translators, and so were seeing trials put off for weeks. Now, you can say well thats good for the for the tenant because theyre not getting evicted, but its not because if it is just a delaying tactic, you know, thats one thing, okay, but if you put off a trial a month because you cannot get a Russian a court certified Russian interpreter, okay, guess what? The rents going to go much higher.
All right, so these people are going to wind up owing more money and, as you may or may not know, once you are evicted, unless theres a stipulation to mask the case, which is a whole other area that you dont have time for me to explain it to you, then it goes on your credit record and theres these companies that buy records of people who have been convicted, and they sell them to not to the small mom and pop you know, somebody owns one house and thats it but to the big commercial ones that own thousands of units.
They sell them to those people and how do you think how much do you think its going to be for someone whos on that eviction list to be able to rent a new place? I mean I get people in here all the time saying I havent been able to rent a place in four years because my name is still on a you know, a four year old case, and I shouldnt have been on that case. Okay and, you know, I dont know anything about what happened four years ago up in North County. I would do something about that.
There has to be a way to provide language services for these people that are because we have very good Spanish language interpreters. Really we do. We have some good Vietnamese language interpreters. The rest eh, and its a problem and its going to become more of a problem. I mean I can tell you that I see a lot more Middle Eastern sounding names coming in my courtroom all the time, people moving here or theyre buying property because they have money or theyre moving here to get out of some country or for the American Dream or whatever. You know, its becoming an increasing problem, and its just going to get worse until somebody comes up with a good solution and the state of California aint doing it.
Union-Tribune: Any other questions? No. Thank you for coming in. Do you have a 30-second close, an elevator pitch of sorts about why voters should choose you over your opponent?
KREEP: Despite the fact that a number of people dont like my politics, a number of the judges who are supporting me this really is totally on politics, but theyre supporting me because they know I do a good job and if Im and its going to be tough and this sounds conceited, but according to the judges that I work with, its going to be tough to replace me because of my work ethic and its appreciated by my superiors.
My supervising judge has endorsed me because he knows the type of work I do. A number of judges have endorsed me because they know the work I do. Some of them just like me so they just like me so theyve endorsed me, but a number they dont agree with me, but they like the idea that Im a hard worker and they know that I get the job done. So
Union-Tribune: Thanks again.
KREEP: Thank you.
The position of San Diego City Council president is powerful. The person sets the agenda for City Council meetings and thus controls which conversations take place when at City Hall. Its also a jumping-off point. Most of the prior council presidents Scott Peters, Ben Hueso, Tony Young, Todd Gloria and Sherri Lightner remain in politics. Peters is in Congress, Hueso is a state senator, and Gloria is in the state Assembly. Young was CEO of the American Red Cross San Diego/Imperial County Chapter before co-founding RISE San Diego, an urban leadership nonprofit. Only Lightner has faded into the background.
Which brings us to the two-term sitting council President Myrtle Cole. Emphasis on sitting. Ostensibly, Cole has been campaigning for re-election to her City Council District 4 seat for months. But she pulled such a disappearing act in her district in the primary election that she actually finished second to ACLU criminal justice advocate and political newcomer Monica Montgomery, an ex-Cole staffer who has worked for Mayor Kevin Faulconer and also for Gloria, when he was briefly interim mayor.
Amazingly, no incumbent City Council member has lost re-election since 1992, shortly after the city moved to district-only elections. Perhaps her constituents will keep that streak alive and re-elect Cole, who has support from San Diego labor leaders. Or perhaps her constituents will keep their wits about them and realize that its time for a new community leader.
In separate interviews with The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board, Cole and Montgomery, who are fellow Democrats, couldnt have come across as more different. Cole seemed almost aloof. She read her accomplishments from a sheet of paper and was surprisingly reluctant to take stands on big issues from the former Qualcomm Stadium site to subpoena power for the citys Community Review Board on Police Practices to district-only elections for the San Diego Unified School District to rent control.
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Asked for her stance on the state rent control measure on the November ballot, Cole equivocated until her chief of staff said, You dont have a position yet.
Yeah, Cole said, thats my position.
By comparison, Montgomery was quicker with answers, deeper in thought and more engaged as present in our interview as in the district. She leans no on both Mission Valley proposals and is yes on subpoena powers, district-only elections and rent control.
One knock on Cole is she focuses too much on the city instead of her southeastern San Diego neighborhoods. Yes, the council presidency carries extra responsibility, but then isnt it even more inexcusable that Cole essentially ignored the citys Community Review Board on Police Practices for so long?
For nearly two years after a board member from Coles council district resigned and moved to Texas, Cole didnt appoint a replacement from her district, which is populated primarily by people of color.
Worse, in July 2016, Cole, a former police officer, had to issue a public apology amid calls to resign after she said at a council meeting that racial profiling happens because blacks are shooting blacks. In her apology, she pleaded with residents, Please work with me to create solutions and improve relations between the police force and the community they serve.
Coles had a chance to work with her community. Lets give it now to someone who is more responsive and more willing to take stands on difficult issues. We disagree with Montgomery on rent control, for one thing, but shes the better choice. She quit her job as a Cole aide the day after her comments about racial profiling. That shows how passionate Montgomery is. It also shows she deserves the biggest office in that office. Vote Monica Montgomery for City Council.
For the full transcript and audio of Coles interview, go here.
For the full transcript and audio of Montgomerys interview, go here.
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Re Plan eases mercury regulations (Oct. 1): Every day the Trump administration does something totally egregious to the citizens of this country. And it gets buried on Page 4. The Trump administration is proposing weakening or eliminating the regulations that limit mercury from coal-fired power plants, at the specific request of Robert Murray, chief executive of Murray Energy Corp., one of the largest coal companies in the country, and a major donor to the Trump campaign.
And Robert Murray is also the former boss of Andrew Wheeler, now acting administrator of the EPA. Talk about pay for play government. But the story gets even better. In a 2014 court case challenging the mercury regulation, Brett Kavanaugh wrote the dissenting opinion, highlighting the regulations cost to the coal industry. This proves that Kavanaugh is just another right-wing political hack who will do the bidding of Trump.
Where is the concern for the thousands of children and fetuses who will have neurological damage caused by mercury? What happened to Trumps promise of beautiful clean coal? A total lie like everything else he says or tweets. Wake up, voters.
Mark Falcon
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Rancho Penasquitos
The article Plan Eases Mercury Regulations (Oct. 1) notes that the move is the latest and one of the most significant in the Trump Administrations steady march of rollbacks of Obama-era health and environmental regulations on polluting industries, particularly coal.
Indeed, it seems that the acronym MAGA so beloved by Trump supporters no longer stands for Make America GREAT Again but for Make America GROSS Again.
David J Dick
San Marcos
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Readers: Various HOA bills passed the Legislature were approved by Gov. Jerry Brown and will become law in 2019. Future columns will provide more detailed discussions of these new laws]
Sept. 30 was the last day for the governor to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature in 2018. Many bills affecting homeowners associations were signed, and two were vetoed.
SB 261 - This bill, signed by the governor on Sept. 27, amends Civil Code 4040 to allow homeowners to use email to request the HOA send communications via email to the homeowner, and it amends Civil 4360 to require 28 days (instead of the current 30) notice to homeowners for proposed rule changes.
SB 721 - HOAs exempted. SB 721 requires multilevel residential properties to conduct inspections of balconies and other elevated elements every six years. Signed into law by the governor on Sept. 17, the final version of the bill exempts HOAs from its requirements.
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SB 1016 - Time of Usage (TOU) Meters. SB 1016, signed by the governor on Sept. 13, adds a new Section 4745.1 to the Civil Code, protecting the installation of TOU meters for electric vehicle charging stations. HOAs may impose reasonable requirements on the requesting owner.
AB 2912- New Association Financial Requirements. AB 2912 requires boards to review the HOA financials monthly instead of the current quarterly requirement. The new law, approved by the governor on Sept. 14, requires all HOAs to have fidelity (dishonesty) insurance in place. It also requires documentation of board authority for expenditures over $10,000 or 5 percent of the HOAs budget, whichever is lower.
SB 1128 and 1265 - vetoed. Two of the most troubling bills for California HOAs this year were Senate Bills 1128 and 1265. SB 1265 would have made it much harder for common interest development associations to preserve elections if technical errors occurred, and would have outlawed the ability of association members to adopt reasonable board eligibility standards. SB 1128 originally made some technical and sensible changes to the Davis-Stirling Act, but late in the legislative process was amended, adding the harmful content of SB 1265.
On Sunday Sept. 30, Gov. Brown vetoed both SB 1128 and SB 1265 with identical veto messages stating in part that each bill takes a once-size-fits-all (sic) approach, but not all homeowner associations are alike and adding If changes to an election process are needed, they should be resolved by the members of that specific community.
The election procedures from Civil Code 5100-5135 are complicated, applying to all HOAs regardless of size, and necessitate guidance from experienced and qualified managers and legal counsel. HOAs still should consider adopting reasonable board eligibility requirements to make sure associations are governed by the best available volunteers.
A few other technical bills were passed correcting typos, addressing housing density requirements, and timeshares, but will not affect most associations already in operation.
To review California law or legislation, the official site is www.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Click on California Law then Civil Code to review the Davis-Stirling Act, which begins at Section 4000. Click on Bill Information to review current or past bills. Although many law firms and organizations have web sites offering law and legislation references, this is the official California web site.
Kelly G. Richardson, Esq. is a Fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and Senior Partner of Richardson Ober PC, a California law firm known for community association advice. Submit potential column questions to Kelly@Richardsonober.com. Past columns at www.HOAHomefront.com.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he had ordered his ministers to stop receiving consulting services from U.S. firm McKinsey, after the deal came under fire from the main opposition.
Last month, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who is also Erdogan's son-in-law, announced that Turkey had decided to work with McKinsey as part of efforts to implement a new medium-term economic programme.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), this week accused Erdogan of siding with U.S. firms at a time when relations with Washington have been hit by the detention of a U.S. evangelical pastor in Turkey and other issues.
"This person (Kilicdaroglu) is trying to corner us by asking questions about a consultancy firm that has been paid in full to help our economic management," Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party.
"In order to not give him that chance ... I told all my ministers to no longer receive consultancy from them (McKinsey)."
McKinsey was not immediately available for comment.
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Melania Trump concluded her trip to Africa on Saturday by voicing support for her husband's embattled Supreme Court nominee and urging people to pay less attention to what she wears.
The U.S. first lady said the message of her tour to Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt was to show the world that "we care."
She dismissed reports about alleged derogatory comments reportedly made by President Donald Trump about African countries and said the issue had not come up on her visit.
The stylish former model also said she did not always agree with her husbands tweets and gave him her opinion directly, even though he does not always follow her advice.
The four-country trip was a coming out of sorts for the first lady in the world stage. It was her first major solo trip abroad and a rare example of a time when she has answered questions by reporters.
Speaking in Cairo on the tour's final leg, Trump praised Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and said she was glad he and his accuser had a chance to be heard following allegations of sexual assault.
"Im glad that Dr Ford was heard. Im glad that Judge Kavanaugh was heard, FBI investigation was done - is completed - and (the) Senate voted," Trump said, referring to psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford who had accused him of sexually assaulting her.
Kavanaugh has denied all the allegations.
Trump declined to say whether she believed Ford.
"We need to help all the victims, no matter what kind of abuse they had," she said. "Im against any kind of abuse."
Kavanaugh looked likely to win final Senate confirmation on Saturday, weathering the sexual assault allegations and attacks on his character and temperament. His confirmation would give the U.S. president a clear win in his drive to cement conservative dominance of the high court.
Trump flew to Cairo from Nairobi earlier on Saturday on the last stage of her visit to Africa, a continent her husband once referred to derisively.
President Trump has been quoted as saying immigrants from Africa came from "shithole countries". He denied making the remark.
Trump said that her husband's alleged derogatory comment about African countries did not come up on her trip.
"Nobody discussed that with me, and I never heard him saying those comments. And that was anonymous source and I would leave it at that."
She said she did not always agree with her husband's tweets, and that she tells him that. She also said she wished that people would focus on what she does, not what she wears, and then proceeded to pose for pictures in front of some of Egypt's greatest landmarks.
The first lady came in for some criticism back home for her choice of headgear in Kenya. Some commentators said she had made a mistake by wearing a white pith helmet, a hat favoured by 19th century European colonialists, because of its association with the exploitation of Africans.
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Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/05/2018 -- The competitive landscape of the market for garbage bag market is a mildly fragmented one marked with the presence of quite a few large players, according to a report published by Future Market Insights (FMI). The key players in the European garbage bag market are Novolasta, s.r.o Senkvice, Extrapack OOD, Pack-It BV, Achaika Plastic S.A., DAGOPLAST AS, Terdex GmbH, International Plastics, MirPack TM, Plasta.It, Primax D.o.o. The key players are now focusing on research and development of garbage bags in a bid to stay ahead in the competition. These market players are also trying to expand their geographical reach through collaborations with local players.
So far as geography is considered, the market for European garbage bag has been segmented into Germany, France, Italy, Spain, U.K., Russia, and BENELUX. Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg comprise BENELUX.
Owing to the high demand of garbage bags across Europe, the market is anticipated to soar registering a good CAGR during the forecast period of 2016-2026.
Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-eu-3034
Demand for Biodegradable Garbage Bags to Bolster Growth
The market has been segmented into five categories, so far as material is considered. The segments are, namely Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), Liner low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), High-density polyethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP) and others.
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is characterized with high performance and extreme tensile strength and with these qualities, HDPE is forecasted to spearhead the European market for garbage bags. This segment accounted for 30% of the total revenue of the European market in 2016. During the forecast period of 2016-2026, the segment of HDPE is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.5%.
These garbage bags have the ability to contain substantial amount of weight and are cost effective as well. Such characteristics are expected to propel the market for high-density polyethylene garbage bags. Furthermore, high-density polyethylene or HDPE bags come with biodegradable versions. Biodegradable HDPE bags are made of domestic biomass material thereby diminishing oil dependency. They are also easy to recycle and are frequently used.
Developed economies of countries like the U.K. and Germany are expected to fuel the demand for premium garbage bags. These premium garbage bags come with qualities like odour control and ability to stretch and people from the developed countries are willing to pay the extra bucks for these premium quality garbage bags. As such, the opportunity for such premium quality garbage bags are increasing.
Stringent Government Policies to Restrain the Growth of the Market
Governments of several European countries are implementing strict measure to contain the usage of plastic bags. They are imposing regulations wherein the sales of lightweight bags are getting restricted. Countries like Italy, France are applying a complete ban on HDPE plastics bags that are meant for single use. Such bans, though restraining the growth of the market for HDPE garbage bags, help to diminish the harmful effects of plastic bags on the environment, specifically the oceans, lakes, rivers, and the wildlife that inhabit in those water bodies. This is one of the major restraining factors of the European market for garbage bag.
Read Comprehensive Overview with Methodology of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-eu-3034
In addition, imposition of extra charges and increased taxation by the governments of various European countries on the use of plastic garbage bags are dampening the spirit of the market players. Customers are charged extra for plastic garbage bags at various convenience and retail stores. Such government initiatives play a major role in the diminishing the usage of plastic garbage bags in Europe.
This review is as per the findings of a new report by Future Market Insights (FMI) titled, "Garbage Bag Market: Europe Industry Analysis & Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026."
U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump stands in front of the Sphinx as she visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS U.S. first lady Melania Trump stands in front of the Sphinx as she visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump stands in front of the Sphinx as she visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS U.S. first lady Melania Trump stands in front of the Sphinx as she visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump walks with Egypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany during her visit to the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump walks with Egypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany during her visit to the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS U.S. first lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump walks with Egypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany during her visit to the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
U.S. first lady Melania Trump walks with Egypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany during her visit to the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, October 6, 2018. REUTERS
In a divided UN, China blazes quiet path to power
United Nations, United States, Oct 6 (AFP) Oct 06, 2018
Criticized by the White House for alleged interference in US politics, China has quietly blazed a path at the United Nations where it is, little by little, becoming one of the most influential members.
At the Security Council, where China holds one of five permanent veto-wielding seats, its statements remain bland, often recalling fundamentals of the United Nations Charter such as national sovereignty and principles of non-interference.
"In their interpretation, democracy is optional, as are human rights," a European diplomat said.
Yet in peacekeeping missions or when jobs are available in the UN's executive arm at the New York headquarters, Beijing is increasingly making its presence felt.
More than 2,500 Chinese military personnel wear UN blue helmets on peacekeeping missions in Libya, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
China has also "enormously increased" its voluntary financial contributions to the world body while the US under President Donald Trump has slashed its own financing, one diplomat said.
Funding reports and missions allows China to buy some "influence" and push its candidates into top positions, the diplomat added, adding that to have Chinese in multiple roles across the UN provides "a source of information and influence."
Another diplomat, also speaking anonymously, said: "China is taking power at the United Nations."
- Spheres of influence -
In 2017 and 2018, the Asian giant, which is economically expanding in Africa and elsewhere, became a key player on two major international crises: North Korea and Myanmar.
Under American pressure, Beijing imposed unprecedented economic sanctions against Pyongyang, but with the hope that an accord on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will lead to the departure of about 30,000 US troops based in South Korea -- China's behind-the-scenes strategy in the region.
China meanwhile considers the crisis of Myanmar's Muslim minority Rohingya, 700,000 of whom fled a military crackdown to Bangladesh, as a bilateral issue between those two countries, and succeeded in preventing any firm Security Council action.
- Power and erosion -
European diplomats have noted that China's rise at the United Nations has come at a time when Beijing and Moscow are no longer automatically offering each other immediate reciprocal support.
When Moscow makes use of its veto power, China sometimes simply abstains.
Even in lower-profile situations, such as negotiating texts among the 15 Security Council members at the experts level, China is "present on all subjects," one diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Beijing, for example, is now seeking to become chief author on texts about Afghanistan, replacing the Netherlands, which on January 1 will leave its non-permanent Security Council seat, several diplomats said.
The vast majority of UN resolutions still are written by the United States, Britain or France -- a reflection of an older world order.
China, like Russia, is rarely the author, although it was in charge of the Somalia file in the past.
So how far will China go? Some say this is only the tip of the iceberg.
"For China, multipolarity is just one stop on the underground metro line," one diplomatic source said.
For Beijing, it then sees a Group of Two -- China and the US, and eventually, China will reign supreme, a diplomat said.
"They are long-term players. They don't want to create a commotion," another diplomatic source said.
The United States has imposed $250 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods and Trump has gone so far as alleging that Beijing is interfering in the November midterm elections in hopes of helping defeat his Republican Party due to his tough trade stance.
Speaking to a US think tank last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed fears that his country was seeking to overtake the US as the pre-eminent world power.
Concluding that China is about to seek hegemony, he said, is "a serious strategic misjudgment."
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System error
error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.
context: ... 21: %method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: %perl> 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25
/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951
/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17
/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149
Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fdcaa9fb8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdca7c478)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fdcaa9fb8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdca7c478)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fdca6ff78)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdca7c478)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdca7c478)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdb741790)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdc8d4380)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdc8d4380)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error
error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.
context: ... 21: %method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: %perl> 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25
/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951
/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17
/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149
Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fdbf73a78)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdbb30e10)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fdbf73a78)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdbb30e10)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fdbf54a68)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdbb30e10)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdbb30e10)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdbb77220)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdbb77d00)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdbb77d00)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error
error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.
context: ... 21: %method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: %perl> 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25
/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951
/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17
/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149
Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fdc051b20)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdc094650)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fdc051b20)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdc094650)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fdbf26e98)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdc094650)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdc094650)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdb742180)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdbf3c3b8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdbf3c3b8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
-- Those were the words of Djevdet Bey, the governor of Van Province in Ottoman Turkey, who on April 24, 1915 lead 20,000 Turkish soldiers and 10,000 Kurdish irregulars in the opening act of the genocide of Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks.
Between 1915 and 1918 750,000 Assyrians (75%), 1,000,000 Greeks and 1,500,000 Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks and Kurds in a genocide that aimed at and nearly succeeded in destroying the Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire.
Articles
Genocide Memorials
Genocide Recognition
Videos
Your browser does not support the video tag. The Untold Holocaust: the Story of the Assyrian Genocide
Your browser does not support the video tag. The Cry Unheard: the Assyrian Genocide
Your browser does not support the video tag. Turkey in 100 Seconds
Your browser does not support the video tag. Interview with genocide survivor Gawriye Dbe Masoud
Your browser does not support the video tag. Interview with genocide survivor Abdalla Goke
Your browser does not support the video tag. Interview with genocide survivor Cammo Yusef Hanna
Your browser does not support the video tag. Interview with genocide survivor Cammo Yusef Hanna (in Assyrian)
Art and Pictures
Pictures of Genocide Centennial Rallies Throughout the World
Irish man pleads guilty in NY over Silk Road narcotics conspiracy
New York, Oct 5 (AFP) Oct 05, 2018
A 30-year-old Irish man pled guilty in New York on Friday to narcotics conspiracy over the now-defunct "dark web" marketplace Silk Road, just months after being extradited to the United States.
US prosecutors say Gary Davis, who went by the alias "Libertas," was a Silk Road administrator in 2013 -- paid a weekly salary to carry out duties that included resolving disputes between drug dealers and buyers on the site.
The Wicklow man was arrested in Ireland on January 2014 and extradited to the United States in July, where he had faced a battery of charges.
On Friday, he pled guilty in a Manhattan federal court to one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, after cutting a plea deal.
He is expected to be sentenced on January 17, 2019.
"As he admitted today, Gary Davis served as an administrator who helped run the Silk Road marketplace," said Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman.
"The purported anonymity of the dark web is not a protective shield from prosecution," he added.
Until the FBI shut it down in October 2013, the US government called Silk Road "the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet," used by vendors in more than 10 countries in North America and Europe.
Texan mastermind Ross Ulbricht was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for running the online enterprise that sold $200 million in drugs worldwide.
Operating under the alias "Dread Pirate Roberts," his trial was considered a landmark case in the murky world of online crime and government surveillance.
Avoiding climate chaos means 'unprecedented' change: UN report
Incheon, South Korea, Oct 5 (AFP) Oct 05, 2018
The UN's 195-nation climate science body plunged deep into overtime Saturday to finalise a report outlining stark options -- all requiring a global makeover of unprecedented scale -- for avoiding climate chaos.
Working through the night, the closed-door huddle in rain-soaked Incheon, South Korea, was to convene a plenary later in the day to hammer through a "Summary for Policymakers."
Can humanity cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit)? What will it take and how much will it cost? Would climate impacts be significantly less severe than in a 2C world?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was tasked with these questions by the framers of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, which calls for halting the rise in temperatures to "well below" 2C -- and 1.5C if possible.
That aspirational goal -- tacked on to the treaty at the last minute -- caught climate scientists off-guard.
"Our understanding of 1.5C was very limited, all but two or three of the models we had then were based on a 2C target," said Henri Waisman, a senior researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations in Paris, and one of the report's 86 authors.
Based on more than 6,000 peer-reviewed studies, the 20-page bombshell will make for grim reading when it is released on Monday.
"Leaders will have nowhere to hide once this report comes out," said Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, and an observer at the talks.
- 'Negative emissions' -
At current rates of greenhouse gas emissions, Earth will zoom past the 1.5C signpost around 2040, and as early as 2030.
After only one degree of warming, the world has seen deadly storms engorged by rising seas and a crescendo of heatwaves, drought, flooding and wild fires made more intense by climate change.
Without a radical course change, we are headed for an unliveable 3C or 4C hike.
And yet, humanity has avoided action for so long that any pathway to a climate-safe world involves wrenching economic and social change "unprecedented in terms of scale," the report said.
"Some people say the 1.5C target is impossible," said Stephen Cornelius, WWF-UK's chief adviser for climate change, and a former IPCC negotiator.
"But the difference between possible and impossible is political leadership."
The report is set to lay out four scenarios that could result in Earth's average surface temperature stabilising at 1.5C.
The most ambitious -- dubbed the "low energy scenario" -- would see a radical drawdown in energy consumption coupled with a rapid shift away from fossil fuels and a swift decline in CO2 emissions starting in 2020.
It would not require a temporary "overshoot" of the 1.5C threshold, and does not depend on sucking vast quantities of CO2 out of the air, known as carbon dioxide removal, or "negative emissions."
A second pathway emphasises the need for changing our consumption patterns -- eating less meat, travelling less, giving up cars, etc. -- along with an overhaul of agricultural and land-use practices, including the protection of forests.
- Running interference -
The final scenario compensates for a "business-as-usual" economy and lifestyle by allowing a large overshoot of the 1.5C target.
It also calls for burning a lot of biofuels and capturing the emitted CO2, a system known by its acronym, BECCS. Indeed, an area twice the size of India would have to be planted in biofuel crops.
This "P4" plan also assumes that some 1200 billion tonnes of CO2 -- 30 years' worth of emissions at current rate -- will be socked away underground.
Signficantly, and for the first time, the UN panel quantified changes in the use of coal, oil and gas.
For the low-energy demand pathway, for example, coal consumption would drop 78 percent by 2030, and 97 percent by mid-century. Oil would decline by 37 and 74 percent, respectively, and gas by 25 and 74 percent.
The pathway of least resistance, by contrast, would still see nearly a doubling of oil use by 2030, and a 37 jump in gas.
Coal is a big loser in all the scenarios.
The US delegation -- the first since Donald Trump took office to work on an IPCC report -- did not throw a monkey wrench into the process, as many here had feared.
"The United States is quite constructive, though I don't think they want that said out loud," said on delegate who asked not to be named.
Besides special reports, the IPCC has issued five major Assessment Reports that serve as the scientific foundation for UN climate talk. The next one is due in 2022.
'The Children Gone to Poland' traces N. Korea war orphans abroad
Busan, South Korea, Oct 6 (AFP) Oct 06, 2018
A new documentary sheds light on the little-known story of North Korean war orphans sent to Poland, where they formed an unlikely bond with their teachers before their traumatic return home.
"The Children Gone to Poland" -- which premiered Saturday at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea -- traces the journey of the 1,200 orphans sent from the North during the 1950-53 Korean War.
The devastating conflict, which sealed the division of the flashpoint peninsula, killed at least half a million civilians and left at least 100,000 children without parents.
The North's then-leader Kim Il Sung sent thousands of orphans to countries including the Soviet Union, Hungary and Poland from 1951, pleading with his communist allies to take care of them.
The group of 1,200 orphans arrived in 1953 at the small, forested village of Plakowice, where they lived in a former hospital building for six years under the care of Polish teachers.
Famed South Korean actress Choo Sang-mee, who directed the film, visits Poland to find traces of the war orphans, alongside a North Korean defector with her own distressing childhood memories of separation from her family.
"Trains full of children arrived (over) several days," retired teacher Jozef Borowiec said in the film, adding many were in a "state of shock and trauma" after witnessing the horrors of war.
- 'Heartbreaking memories' -
The orphans, infested with lice and suffering from disease, insisted on sleeping under the bed in fear of the bombing campaigns they lived through at home, while constantly screaming and crying in their sleep.
But they quickly learned Polish and formed bonds with their teachers and caregivers, who knew from personal experience the horrors of war.
"Back then, we also went through horrible wars and had many heartbreaking memories ourselves," Borowiec, 91, told Choo.
"We told them to call us mum and dad... We wanted to do everything to help these (North Korean) orphans erase the memories of war and have a sense of family in Poland," he said, wiping away tears.
Old photos and videos showed the orphans laughing, studying Polish, dancing and singing, or playing with teachers and other Polish children -- a typical childhood denied in their homeland.
The teachers soon got to know each of them -- whose names they tearfully remember even decades later.
"The children were brought here as part of international propaganda (to cement diplomatic ties)," Jolanta Krysowata, a Polish journalist who wrote a book about the North Korean orphans, says in the film.
"But the teachers developed real compassion for these orphans... the human feelings they shared with the children had little to do with politics," said Krysowata, whose book inspired the latest documentary.
- Forced return -
North Korea eventually ordered the children to return and join the country's post-war reconstruction efforts, prompting some to lie on the snow and even pour cold water over themselves in a desperate bid to fall sick and avoid repatriation.
Many sent letters back to the teachers, describing their days in Poland as the best time of their lives and bemoaning the backbreaking labour they faced back home.
One child even died during a failed attempt to illegally cross the border to neighbouring China, after sending multiple letters begging Borowiec to take him back.
All letters came to a sudden stop in 1961 as the North's regime limited contact with the outside world.
The film juxtaposes the fate of the orphans with those of today's North Korean child defectors, traumatised by the harrowing escape from their homeland.
The impoverished, isolated state is still under the tight grip of the Kim dynasty that has ruled through three generations with an iron fist and has little tolerance for dissident.
The film shows young North Korean refugees in Seoul telling their childhood memories of losing parents to famine, or witnessing the gruesome death of a sibling in a gulag.
"There are always children who suffer at times of historic turmoil, but they are forgotten as the history eventually heals itself and moves on," said director Choo.
"History erases the story of these children in its path to the future. But some children transform their pain to the strength to live, and they grow."
Thousands bid farewell to Lithuanian anti-Soviet guerilla hero
Vilnius, Oct 6 (AFP) Oct 06, 2018
Thousands of Lithuanians paid their last tributes to anti-Soviet guerilla war hero Adolfas Ramanauskas at a state funeral Saturday, months after his remains were identified solving a 60-year-old riddle.
Crowds gathered along sunny Vilnius streets to bid farewell to the fighter nicknamed Vanagas ('The Hawk'), the most senior commander of the 1944-1953 Lithuanian partisan resistance movement against the Soviet occupation.
"One person was so dangerous to the system that they tried not only to destroy him and his family but also to hide his identity. They failed," President Dalia Grybauskaite said as the flag-draped coffin was lowered into the grave.
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said the state funeral was a day of "historic justice".
Prompted by Soviet terror, killings, mass deportations to Siberia and forced conscription into the Red Army, the partisan movement started in 1944.
A teacher before the war, Vanagas joined the "Forest Brothers" the following year.
Enjoying broad support in the countryside, the movement numbered around 20,000 people in its initial stages, but the number fell dramatically and by 1952 only several hundred active partisans remained.
After several years in hiding, Vanagas was captured by Soviet authorities in 1956, brutally tortured. He was executed the following year and thrown into an unidentified mass grave.
It was only last year that Lithuanian archaeologists received a tip about the whereabouts of fighters executed for "political crimes".
In June, a DNA test confirmed that remains found at a Vilnius cemetery earlier this year were those of Vanagas.
"Now I will finally have his grave where I can go whenever I want to be with him. I think it will be a symbol of all freedom fighters," Vanagas' daughter Auksute Ramanauskaite Skokauskiene told Lithuania's public TV.
The Soviets invaded the Baltic states in 1940 under their Molotov-Ribbentrop pact with Nazi Germany.
Lithuania declared independence in March 1990 as the first republic to secede from the Soviet Union. It joined the EU and NATO in 2004.
But the strained relations between Vilnius and Moscow remain stoked by conflicts over the past, notably Moscow's refusal to recognise its five-decade rule as occupation or the deportations as a crime.
Bouzegaren (Morocco), October 5, 2018 (SPS) - Sahrawi political prisoner Yahia Mohamed Hafed Izza has initiated a 24-hour hunger strike in Bouzegaren prison, Morocco, in solidarity with a group of Sahrawi political prisoners on hunger strike at this prison and Tiflit prison in Khmisat, reported Wednesday the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA).
According to the same source, several groups of Saharawi political prisoners have started hunger strikes in various Moroccan prisons to protest against their miserable situation and against the mistreatment inflicted by the administration of the Moroccan prisons.
In this regard, more than 50 Sahrawi human rights defenders and political prisoners are in political detention in various Moroccan prisons as a result of unfair sentences ranging from life imprisonment to 3 years in prison. (SPS)
062/SPS/TRA
Digital Health Week 2018: Transforming Healthcare through Digital Health Innovation View(s):
The Cinnamon Grand Hotel would transform into a sea of digital health activity next week when it plays host to Digital Health Week 2018, starting October 7. The event organised by the Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka (HISSL) and the Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health (CWCDH) is the largest Digital Health Event in the World in 2018. Over 600 delegates from over 60 countries would descend on the island from all continents of the globe for this once in a life time event.
So how did it all come about? It was clear to me around the beginning of 2017, that Sri Lanka was ready for a major Digital Health Event. So we made a bid for the 10th Biennial Conference of the Asia Pacific Association for Medical Informatics and at the same time invited the Asia eHealth Information Network to hold its annual conference and general assembly in Sri Lanka, explained Prof. Vajira Dissanayake, President of the HISSL and Chairman of CWCDH, in a media release.
We were successful in the bid as well as in getting our invitation accepted. The rest is history because then everyone else wanted to come to Colombo. Of course it was not a simple thing to do, we had to travel, make our case and lobby for support. What worked in our favour was the track record that we have built over the past decade in holding major international conferences, he added.
The event partners are the Sri Lanka Medical Association, the Commonwealth Medical Association, the Asia eHealth Information Network, and the International Medical Informatics Association.
But, the releases said, the key to success was the support of the international development partners. They included the World Health Organization, the Asian Development Bank, Path, Norad, JLN, and USAID to name a few.
The first part of the week, October 7 to 9 is devoted to the Conference on Interoperable Digital Health for Universal Health Coverage and 6th General Assembly of the Asia eHealth Information Network. This is where government officials, officials of intergovernmental agencies, and officials of international development partners meet.
This merges seamlessly with the 10th Biennial Conference of the Asia Pacific Association for Medical Informatics (APAMI 2018) with a gala inaugural on October 9 to 11.
In the lead up to APAMI 2018, leading academics from around the world, who are members of the International Medical Informatics Association also meet on October 8-9 for their Board and General Meetings giving a truly global dimension to the week. The week concludes on October 12 with a celebration of innovation and achievement where the joint conferences; 3rd Commonwealth Digital Health Conference and Digital Health Sri Lanka 2018, ends with the Commonwealth Digital Health Awards.
On the sidelines of all these conferences is the Commonwealth Digital Health Expo which is open to all the delegates attending the conferences.
Organising such an event would have been an enormous undertaking. Prof. Dissanayake said: HISSL has been organizing Digital Health Conferences since the year 2010. We had major conferences in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. So organizing conferences is in our blood. But we must admit that we are truly exhausted this time.
Organizing six conferences and an expo in one venue in one week tested us to our limits.
Treasury Secy Dr. Samaratunga retires end 18 View(s):
Sri Lankas Finance Ministry will face an unavoidable void and tug of war among few top officials for the high post, following the retirement of Ministry Secretary and eminent SLAS officer Dr. R.H.S Samaratunga scheduled for end December, official sources said.
Dr. Samaratunga counts more than 30 years of experience in the public sector and is tipped to receive a top advisory post at the Treasury after his retirement, a reliable source told the Business Times.
A deputy secretary to the treasury and top official of a presidential council are among the contenders for the finance ministry secretarys post, the source said. At least four top officials of the Ministry are expected to retire before the end of this year while secretaries to 10 key ministries have already retired from service.
Ministry Secretaries Udaya Seneviratne, I.H.K. Mahanama (who is under investigation), Kingsley Fernando, Abhaya Ratnayake, W.M.P.G. Wickremasinghe, Sarath Vithana, Neil de Alwis, Chandra Ekanayake, Piyasena Ranepura and Secretary to the Public Service Commission A. Kulatunga retired from public service this year.
Why not a US trade war with Sri Lanka View(s):
One of the hot topics in the world today is the trade war between the US and China which began after they raised tariffs against each other. China is not the only country that the US wanted to fight with higher tariffs; it had already raised tariffs against the EU, Canada and Mexico. Recently, I began to wonder why the US doesnt fight a trade war with Sri Lanka. Therefore, I want to take this question today which might sound ridiculous: Why on earth should the US ever think of fighting a trade war against Sri Lanka?
Trade war with China
The US has so far imposed higher tariffs three times this year on its imports from China worth US$250 billion. This coverage amounts to little less than half of the total US imports from China. As of 2017, the total value of Chinese imports to the US exceeded $505 billion.
At the initial stage a 25 per cent tariff was imposed on $50 billion worth of imports. The higher tariffs were scheduled to be effective from September 24, initially with a 10 per cent tariff rate which will be raised to 25 per cent from the beginning of next year.
China retaliated with the same weapon imposing higher tariffs on $50 billion worth of imports provoking the US. In return, the US extended the coverage to $200 billion. If China retaliates, the US is planning to bring another $267 billion worth of Chinese goods under higher tariffs. This means that then all Chinese goods exported to the US will be subject to higher tariffs.
Impact of the trade war
With new tariffs, Chinese goods will be expensive in the US resulting in a lower domestic demand for Chinese goods. Consumers, who will have to pay higher prices for Chinese consumer goods, will have to look for some other alternatives. The producers who will have to pay higher prices for Chinese raw materials, accessories, parts, components, tools and machines, will have to look for some other sources to buy these producer goods.
All in all, Chinese exports to the US are bound to fall in the years to come, although many others including the US will have to share the burden of higher US tariffs on Chinese goods. The inverse is also true; if China retaliates as it has already done, the US exports to China will decline too.
If the bilateral trade dispute between the US and China continues, it would be extended beyond merchandise trade towards foreign investment, travel and tourism and, holding of assets spreading and expanding the negative repercussions all over the world.
Why a trade war?
As the US has explained, the reasons for its actions against China were stealing such things by China as US technology, US property rights, and US jobs which resulted in an unfair bilateral trade. Although it wasnt clarified enough, all above and things that are even beyond all above should be ultimately reflected through bilateral trade performance.
In their bilateral trade, the US has a trade deficit and China has a trade surplus. Last year the US has imported $505 billion worth of goods from China, but exported only $130 billion worth of goods to China; for the US, this has resulted in $376 billion bilateral trade deficit with China.
Actually, the US has an overall trade deficit amounting to $807 billion last year. More than 46 per cent of this overall trade deficit is due to bilateral trade with China!
US trade with Sri Lanka
The US has even more reasons to be disappointed about its bilateral trade with Sri Lanka, but perhaps only one reason for not declaring a trade war against Sri Lanka.
The bilateral trade between the US and Sri Lanka has also resulted in a trade deficit for the US: The US imports $2,858 million worth of goods from Sri Lanka but exports to Sri Lanka only $336 million worth of goods. This has resulted in a bilateral trade deficit of $2,522 million ($2.5 billion) to the US.
By looking at trade statistics from a twisted angle, the US can even argue that it exports to Sri Lanka just 12 per cent of what it imports from Sri Lanka; for China, still the US exports more than 25 per cent of what it imports from China!
Prohibitive tariffs
After all, the US knows clearly why there is no fair trade with Sri Lanka. As the International Trade Administration of the US Department of Commerce advises the US exporters, Sri Lanka has a prohibitive tariff regime:
Sri Lanka imposes a variety of import duties, which combined can result in high duty rates. US exporters should be aware that fees incurred when exporting to Sri Lanka include the customs-import tariff, Export Development Board levy, Value Added Tax (VAT), Port and Airport tax, Nation Building Tax, Port Handling charges, and agent commissions, all of which could add up to more than 100 per cent of the cost-plus-insurance-plus-freight (CIF) value for items at the higher tariff bands. The Embassy has received complaints from U.S. exporters regarding this prohibitive tariff regime.[Source: https://www.export.gov/article?id=Sri-Lanka-Import-Tariffs]
A prohibitive tariff regime has import duties high enough effectively to prohibit imports. It is because once imported, such goods become excessively expensive in the local market so that there will be no domestic demand. In fact, I do not need to explain the excessive price of imported goods in Sri Lanka, which is mostly a result of too many and too high taxes.
Freedom for international trade
The US has an open economy with relatively lower taxes on imports. While in Sri Lanka, 21.5 per cent of government revenue is collected from taxes on international trade, in the US it is only 1.1 per cent; even in China, it is only 2.5 per cent.
According to the ranking of countries by Freedom for International Trade (Economic Freedom Index 2018), the US is a mostly free country, while Sri Lanka is a mostly unfree country. Out of 180 countries in the world, the US is in the 18th position, Sri Lanka is in the 111th position. China is also a mostly unfree country for international trade; with its lower scoring for Freedom for International Trade, in the 110th position just one position above Sri Lanka.
Therefore, in respect of international trade with its mostly free position the US is engaged in trade with mostly unfree Sri Lanka and China, while Sri Lankas unfree position is worse than that of China.
Calculations of the scores of Freedom for International Trade are based on tariffs and taxes as well as the non-tariff barriers applied on international trade. The non-tariff barriers are numerous, including the old-fashioned quantitative restrictions. As quantitative restrictions are not common these days, there are many other barriers hindering international trade. The most important among them are the regulatory barriers affecting trade, foreign investment and, customs procedures as well as the governments various forms of interventions including competition policies and immigration procedures.
Too feeble to fight
The US is one of the major markets for more than a quarter of Sri Lankas exports. Therefore, just one punch can possibly be a knockout punch to the Sri Lankan economy! In spite of unfair trade practices by Sri Lanka, the US has still favoured Sri Lanka by offering not only a free market access for Sri Lankas exports, but also a duty-free access under the GSP system.
Although Sri Lanka tries to pinch the US, I believe the US tolerates all that and still favours us because we are too small and too weak to hurt the US economy. From the US point of view, Sri Lankan exports are too small to impact on the US trade balance, and it has not been growing either so that there is no threat to the US economy even in the near future. If the country continues to remain too feeble most people will hardly notice it.
(The writer is a Professor of Economics at the University of Colombo. He can be reached at sirimal@econ.cmb.ac.lk)
Defence Attache recalled from Moscow after Dayans protest View(s):
Air Force Group Captain Channa Dissanayake, Sri Lankas Defence Attache in Moscow, has been re-called to Colombo.Instructions went out last week after an official complaint by Sri Lanka new Ambassador in Moscow Dayan Jayetilleke.
The ambassador has said the Air Force officer had allegedly partitioned the Embassy premises calling it the Defence Section leaving other areas in the diplomatic mission outside it. Dr. Jayetilleke contended that he could not be the head of only one part of the Sri Lanka Embassy. He also alleged that the Defence Attache had imported a vehicle for his use in Moscow and it cost US$ 80,000. This payment, however, has been authorised by Air Force Commander Kapila Jayampathi.
Air Marshal Jayampathi quipped to top officers recently that even he did not have such a good vehicle.
Air Marshal Jayampathi was first told of the actions of the Defence Attache by Ambassador Jayetilleke when he visited Moscow recently. Thereafter, the envoy had also sent in a report to the Foreign Ministry which in turn went to the Defence Ministry. Both have concurred that the Defence Attache, a pilot and the son of an SLAF high ranker, should be asked to return immediately.
MoD sources said yesterday that the Sri Lankan Defence Attaches name had also been linked to other issues. One is an instance where he had asked Air Force Commander Jayampathi for a VSV (Vishista Seva Vibushana) award but it had been turned down. However, notwithstanding this, a senior official in the Presidential Secretariat had written to the Defence Attache in Moscow that the award had been granted. This official has since been moved out of the Secretariat.
Another has been the allegation denied by the Defence Attache that he regularly visited a compound of the United States diplomatic mission in Moscow and mingled with military personnel there. A request by the Defence Attache for an extension of his service has been turned down.
Sri Lankas new Defence Attache in Moscow will be Group Captain Uditha Piyasena from the Technical Engineering Division of the Air Force.
Presidents Qatar pictures: CID questions official close to top minister
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) detectives have taken in for questioning an official closely associated with a loquacious minister.
The man had been on President Maithripala Sirisenas entourage to the UN General Assembly sessions in New York, though not formally in the official list. He had been taken along by the minister concerned.
The move came after President Sirisena was infuriated seeing pictures of him and members of his family, taken at the Hamad International Airport in Qatars capital of Doha in a website banned in Sri Lanka. They were all en-route to New York. He had asked the Sri Lanka Ambassador in Qatar, a former school teacher and property businessman, to investigate who took the pictures at the VIP Lounge. President Sirisena had also directed the CID to conduct an investigation.
Government sources said Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage, a close associate of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and who has his own Labour Party had personally reviewed surveillance video at the airport and identified the official taking photographs from the entrance to the Lounge. The local official had stayed behind in the US after the UNGA sessions and returned to Colombo only this week.
This is whilst another English language website reported with pictures Ambassador Liyanage receiving the sons of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Hamad International Airport. Both Yoshitha and Rohitha had been part of a rugger team that arrived in Doha to play matches. One photograph showed an embassy employee pushing the trolley with the baggage of the Rajapaksa siblings.
CID detectives who were questioning him are trying to ascertain whether the photographs, were still in his possession and how he reportedly transmitted them.
These sources also said that the official in question had previously worked for another judicious minister who was forced to give up his portfolio. He was since re-instated but the official had then been found to have leaked information to the same website. He had since been removed.
Lankas defence deal with Russia threatened by US sanctions, but India goes ahead
Governments efforts to make military procurements from Russia have hit another serious snag the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States.
Among two major deals negotiated with Russias Rosboronoexport are the purchase of a Gephard 5.1 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), Armoured Personnel Carriers (BTRs) and Mi 17 helicopters. They were to come from the state own company Rosboronoexport.
However, this company and other Russian companies dealing in military hardware are under sanctions by the US. On August 2, President Donald Trump signed the Countering Americas Adversaries through Sanctions Act of 2017. The sanctions follow the US demand that Russia returns the control of the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine. Yet in Colombo, Some Defence Ministry officials are keen to get the deal through and argue Sri Lanka could obtain exemption from the US since relations are now close. However, diplomatic sources discount this claim.
As reported earlier in the Sunday Times, the Russian Government has extended credit to the tune of US$ 135 million (Rs.20 billion) exclusive of 15 percent of Sri Lanka Governments contribution. The total ship value including on board spares and ammunition is placed at US$ 158.5 million (Rs.24 billion). This is besides a further Government commitment of US$ 7 million (Rs.1 billion) for training of Navy personnel.
The Government is to pay a four percent interest on the credit extended by the Russian Government. Payment is to be semi-annual in equal instalments within ten years including a grace period of five years.
While Sri Lanka is facing problems, in New Delhi on Friday, Russia and Indias leaders announced a raft of deals worth billions of dollars including for a S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system, as New Delhi walks a tightrope between Moscow and Washington with a wary eye on China. Indias decision to purchase the S-400, flies in the face of the US imposing sanctions on countries buying Russian military hardware, as happened with China last month.
All-powerful Press Council at Kasal Street
The state-backed Sri Lanka Press Council (SLPC) officials are made so powerful by the law that they can order corrections for erroneous publication of reports and even send to jail those who caused violations. However, since being established in 1973, the SLPC has so far not chosen to send a scribe within the confines of a prison wall though journalists have been summoned and put in a temporary cell in Magistrates Courts.
Recently in a complaint against the Sunday Times, it was pointed out by the newspapers Counsel that the Council had been illegally constituted. The then Press Council obtained legal advice and was told that the newspaper was right. The Council didnt have what it takes to admit it to the newspaper. Then the Councillors got the President to re-constitute the SLPC, but this would surely not be the end of the story.
If one is to go by SLPCs own address on its website, those at the statutory body set up to uphold media freedom do not know where they have located themselves. The website gives the Councils address as 155/15 Kasal Street. In Sinhala Kasal means dirt and the Colombo Municipal Council has no record of a Kasal or Dirt Street, though it might be a Freudian slip. The recently concluded international conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility called for the repeal of the Press Council Act.
As far as we know, the Council is at Castle Street. That is not all. It says the location is Colombo 7 8. Are they still not sure in which city zone they sit?
Little wonder, an office assistant who came to the main entrance of the Kanatte Cemetery (located not far from Castle Street) and asked directions from an employee there how he could get to Kusal Street, koheda Kusal Pedesa?or where is Kusal Place? The employee heard it wrong and replied: Thavama Avey nehe, or they have not come yet. He thought that the man was asking about funeral procession that was being awaited.
The unnerving madness of Sri Lankas political establishment View(s):
Sri Lankas political landscape is distinguished by an oddity not evidenced to that unnerving extent elsewhere in this region, even with all its considerable turbulence.
How the jaundiced citizen sees it
This oddity is that despite an increasingly uncertain economic future as the rupee free falls to unfathomable depths and law and order falters with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) embroiled in one unseemly controversy after another, there is little unified thinking by national level politicians on how to face risks to the countrys economic and political stability which gather in ominous storm clouds above us.
From the jaundiced standpoint of citizens, what we see are quarrelling politicians who are only concerned with how to retain or usurp power while national policies from the economy to industries are left to gather dust on bureaucratic shelves. An excellent recent example is the spectacle of President Maithripala Sirisena lambasting the IGP and calling for reform of the entire police force while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe lauds the police for effective crime control. Meanwhile former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his cacophonous supporters cackle with glee but offer no sensible solutions which indeed, may be somewhat vain to hope for in the first instance since it was the Rajapaksa Presidency that unprecedentedly squandered public finances for personal gain.
And in accordance with what appears to be the increasing madness of the political establishment, a state television channel blares triumphantly after taking television cameras to a hamlet to interview open mouthed residents, that stories saying that villagers ate murunga (drumstick) leaves out of hunger was a diabolical lie spun by Rajapaksa propagandists.
Acute need for independent regulation of electronic media
Indeed, it seems that state electronic media channels are rapidly reaching the asinine levels of Rajapaksa propaganda immediately leading up to the shock election defeat in January 2015. This asininity is deplorable but nevertheless, the pattern is all too familiar. In the first years of a new Government coming into power, a measure of fairness is maintained in state news broadcasts. We saw this time around as well in the months after January 2015. But as the centre of power grows uncertain, that impartiality dissolves to be replaced by blatantly partisan coverage. On its part, the private electronic media is marked by a lack of professionalism and is even more sensationalist and politically partisan in its functioning.
This is exactly why an independent broadcasting authority, exercising its neutral writ over state and private electronic media channels remains a dire necessity. Sri Lanka already has an excellent blueprint for this, laid down more than two decades ago, (in terms of the deterioration of the countrys collective intellect, it seems two eons ago) in a seminal decision of the Supreme Court in the Broadcasting Authority Bill case. Here, our best judges of the day laid down guidelines for the constitutionality of such an Authority, (Athukorale and Others v The Attorney General, 1997). It was cautioned that having regard to the limited availability of frequencies, and taking account of the fact that only a limited number of persons can be permitted to use the frequencies, it is essential that there should be a grip on the dynamic aspects of broadcasting to prevent monopolistic domination of the field either by the government or by a few..
It is interesting that the Court addressed its mind not only to the question of governmental control but also by a few in that the independence of the media is affected equally by politically biased corporates seeking to expand their sphere of influence as it is by political control. The way an Authority should operate, its composition and character was also discussed in this decision which remains a signal example of the Court taking its constitutional role seriously at the time. This is a standard that we should return to even as future priorities in media law reforms are being discussed at the national level.
Injustices that occur due to failure of Rule of Law
Meanwhile, the madness of the political establishment has far reaching consequences. This week, a police officer, reprimanded by his superiors for stopping a lorry carrying sand without (as he alleges) adhering to the conditions of the issued permit, pointed a gun to his head in public and threatened to shoot himself. He was speedily dealt with by being clapped into prison but his relatives bemoaned the fact that corrupt superiors flout the law with impunity while subordinates implementing the law are imprisoned.
There is a point here which ought not to be missed. The police sought to justify the action taken against one of its kind by saying that a permit to operate the lorry in question had been in possession of the lorry driver and that a police officer cannot go around waving a firearm in the open. This seems eminently reasonable. However, it is less clear as to whether the conditions of the permit had been flouted.
If so, the monumental injustice meted out to this police officer illustrating the failure of the Rule of Law links up to President Maithripala Sirisenas outburst that the entire police force must be revamped, starting from its head, the IGP. It is not a particularly reassuring sight to see Ministers shrugging off this IGPs excesses by saying airily that this is merely due to his over-familiarity with the media. There is far more in issue here as discussed in these column spaces during the preceding weeks. And this problem must be addressed if the Government is serious about retaining public legitimacy though this tends to be in doubt given its erratic actions.
A nation perpetually in chaos
But to be clear, the reference in these column spaces to the gathering madness of the political establishment is meant equally for ruling politicians and their opponents alike. Excuses offered by Government frontliners including the Minister of Finance, citing Rajapaksa-era degradation as justification for the unsteady if not wayward stumbling of this Government is nonsensical. Even so, this is trumped by the sound and fury of the Rajapaksa lobby signifying precisely nothing.
The danger however is that the vote in impending elections next year may be compelled by sheer disgust of the right royal mess being made in the corridors of power rather than a sensible contemplation of the worse horrors that an alternative may bring.
Some weeks ago, when engaging in an exchange of views on the state of politics in this resplendent isle with a more indifferent conversationalist, I was met with the cynical reflection that Sri Lanka was in chaos when we were born, it remains in chaos while we live and assuredly it will be still in chaos when we die.
That may indeed be a fitting epitaph for this nation and this land.
Policing the Police View(s):
President Maithripala Sirisena has had enough of the Police Department, so he said at this weeks Cabinet meeting, though what made him come to that conclusion is not clear. What we know is that he wants heads to roll; from the topmost officer the Inspector General of Police to unspecified lower rankers.
It was not too long ago that the President wanted, and got the Minister in charge of the Police replaced. If one is to hazard a guess, it has something to do with his recent public pronouncement that there was a plot to assassinate him and the former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a prospective Presidential candidate of the future.
The IGP himself has made an unusual remark that he too has information on that matter and wished his subordinates at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to question him to find out what he knows. That is some procedure he mentions, and clearly at variance with normal Police investigation methods. Why must the IGP wait for his subordinates to come to him without voluntarily divulging the information he says he has?
The IGP must not then be familiar with the provisions of the Police Ordinance in that case. Section 56 refers to the Duties and Liabilities of a Police officer; any police constable quite apart from the IGP must surely know this by heart. S. 56 says; It shall be his duty to collect and communicate intelligence and use his best endeavours and ability to prevent all crimes, offences and so on. The IGP is concealing evidence by not providing the information he has. No wonder some old-timers are saying the once proud service has gone to the pits and others are talking of the days when certain elements of the top brass of the Police were involved in the infamous failed coup of 1962, asking if history is repeating itself.
The CID is already under a cloud over what appears to be a ham-handed, botched attempt at trying to eke out evidence that would compromise the Prime Minister among others in the Central Bank bond scam probe. Problems with the Police have been endless. The deterioration process began quite some years ago and its image has been on a downward spiral.
With the rapid expansion of the Department in recent times, partly due to the twin insurgencies in the country, the decline of its image has been conversely in the opposite direction. It was inevitable that discipline would give way. That it got entangled in political meddling at every level was the blow that felled it to the canvas floor. From the President to the local MP, telephone calls put paid to the impartiality and efficiency of the Force. It became the most corrupt public institution in the country, and to be ranked with that dubious honour in a country where corruption is endemic, is no mean doing.
The President cannot just say the Police need a good shake-up. The investigations into the corrupt activities of the past Government are a textbook case of what has happened to the Police. It has become an appendage of the ruling party or parties. Citizens naturally ask what has happened to the investigations on a former Monitoring MP (as they were called). Allegations about his deeds, or misdeeds, were supposedly widespread but all of a sudden everything seems hushed up. If he is innocent of what he was alleged to have committed, the Attorney General must enter a nolle prosequi and discharge the accused from all charges. Not keep the public in animated suspension and suspicion.
What about the pump and dump cases of the Colombo Stock Exchange of yesteryear? What about those indulging in money laundering that is seeing blue chip companies being swallowed up and real estate in residential Colombo falling like ninepins into their hands.
From the Police side, there is a justifiable grouse that the criminalisation of politics and the close nexus between many politicians and the underworld have made investigating crime a futility. The President cannot simply blame the Police for all these sins that are kept under the lid. These are cases involving political patronage at the highest levels of Government past and present.
The 17th Amendment to the Constitution set up the Police Commission in a bid to stem the decline and politicisation of the Police over a decade ago. It was meant to give back the spine the Police lost over the years. But like the Bribery and Corruption Commission also set up under 17A, the politicians clawed back their powers and got the better of the situation. It reduced what were to be Independent Commissions to almost rubber stamps of Government as they succumbed to the sheer weight of political pressure that pervades the national life of this country.
Tsunami can hit twice
Last weeks earthquake-triggered tsunami that ravaged the Indonesian city of Palu should be treated as a wake-up call to the Sri Lankan authorities and the people that a disaster of such magnitude can come upon them like a thief at night.
Indonesia is on that dangerous faultline of active tectonics and Sri Lanka is not that far away. The confluence of geophysical conditions that gave rise to last weeks tsunami cost more than 1,500 lives (with the death toll still rising) and wiped out a whole beachfront city.
After the devastating 2004 tsunami that hit Sri Lanka and many countries in the region, the UN set up an Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System. Warnings are sent to National Tsunami Warning Centres that act as a focal point in case of an emergency in countries of the Indian Ocean rim. But the system failed to alert the people of Palu last week.
This time Sri Lanka was not treated as a threatened country. Only a month ago (Sep. 5), 28 countries including Sri Lanka had taken part in the annual international tsunami drill. However, that drill seems to have had little publicity.
There is a danger in the proverbial wolf, wolf childrens story, but a national drill must be taken seriously when the cost, both in human lives and property is so terrible if and when the real wolf, a tsunami, does hit like it did on that fateful day of December 26, 2004.
Three more drills along the coastline are to be completed before December 31 and it is hoped that they will be taken with utmost seriousness. The no build zones within 200 metres of the coastline has been now modified and increased to 300 metres in general but in Unawatuna it could be 10 metres and Uswetakeiyawa 30 metres, but permission from the Coast Conservation Authority can be obtained. This discretionary power needs to be de-politicised and carefully enforced.
When the 2004 tsunami hit, many said the next tsunami would take another century to happen. Last weeks tsunami in Indonesia does not seem to corroborate that theory.
CTSU opposes AL students compulsory attendance at Education Fair View(s):
The Ceylon Teachers Services Union (CTSU) has strongly objected to making it compulsory for GCE Advanced Level students to attend an Education Fair held in Kuliyapitiya, which ends today.
According to the Ministry of Education (MoE) circular, it has been made mandatory for students of National schools and their Teachers to participate in the Education Fair held at Kuliyapitiya MMV from October 3-7.
They had been advised to attend the Fair and familiarise with the Higher Education (HE) opportunities available in overseas HE institutes.
The MoE is well aware of the need for Vocational and HE obligations for those who have competed their 13-year school career, and the involvement of allied State institutions in conducting Education programmes for NVQ opportunities in that field, while the MoE has initiated the students to get exposure in this HE Fair, said CTSU President Mahinda Jayasinghe.
Hence, it is deplorable to make the AL students and their Teachers in National schools to get exposure in 19 + Education Fair, at the expense of bursaries of School Development Boards, as per a circular issued by the Additional Secretary for School Affairs in the MoE, under your instructions, Mr Jayasinghe said.
However, an MoE Spokesman said it was a good opportunity for the students to get an idea of future Educational prospects available.
He said they had instructed to get the participation of Over-19 students who had already sat the AL exam.
The Education Times learns that, as most AL students who sat the exam, do not come to school, some of the Principals had got the participation of other AL students to attend the event. - DW
D.S. Senanayake College takes home coveted inter-school drama prize By Tarini Pilapitiya A look back at the gripping performances by the Boys Finalists at the 45th inter-school Shakespeare Drama competition View(s): View(s):
Sitting at the Bishops College Auditorium last weekend, the palpable excitement weighed heavy in the air at the 45th annual Interschool Shakespeare drama competition Boys organized by the Colombo YMCA and Rotary Club of Colombo North.
Judging over the four finalist schools; Ananda College, St. Peters College, D.S. Senanayake College and St. Benedicts College was Vinodh Senadheera and Jill McDonald.
All four schools emerged consistent in their production delivery in the finals from the semi finals. Kicking off the competition was Ananda College as they tackled Shakespeares Comedy of Errors.
A somewhat dark take to the farcical comedy Ananda played on the tones of enmity surrounding the play through their use of non speaking roles. White statue like figures hissed and curled their fingers at the leads characters. It was in fact Rithmaka Karunadhara the Dromio of Sycracuse/ Ephesus, Best Supporting Actor, who coaxed the laughs with his witty one liners, childlike muddled expressions and overall bursts of energy that brought out the true comedic elements of the overall production.
The performance by St Peters College had a few changes from their semi-final act. However, Petruchio carried his consistent robust energy from throughout into the finals with his philosophical ponderings mixed with a carefree countenance. Although the ensemble cast displayed their well branded knack for slapstick comedy, it was Petruchio who ended their exercpt with his final soliloquy brandishing his questionable methods of Taming the Shrew as he physically gifted his advice in the form of a red blanket to a stunned audience member in the first row.
A strong solid performance that evening was put on by D. S. Senanayake College who also did a double act in their exerts of the Comedy of Errors. Sending the audience into peals of laughter the play was set against a picturesque scene. A charming vintage atmosphere surrounding the play made it all the more memorable.
Notable was also the partnership of the two young actors playing Antipholus and Dromio of Sycracuse/ Ephesus who brought individual mannerisms to each of their two characters making neither alike nor identical in their portrayal. Quick costume changes, extra characters with their own unique storylines, a strong ensemble cast from the lovely Luciana to the hilariously befuddled Adriana the play was consistent in the pace of production never neglecting a minute of teasing the audience with laughter.
Much kudos to the supporting cast who kept the play lively and enjoyable.
St. Benedicts College also emerged a strong contender with their take on Henry the VI Part III securing them a first runners up in the competition. The production had many highs from its portrayal of a villainous queen Margaret, a vengeful Clifford and emotive Earl of Northumberland and even the range of emotions from the Dukes sons. Noteworthy was Dimithry Jayawardhena who played Richard, the Duke of York who showed his prowess in capturing the shades of tragedy of the fall of power and the loss of a child giving the audience an emotive performance to remember and leaving no room for debating his well deserved award as Best Actor that evening.
Overall Winners:
3rd runners up Ananda College
2nd runners up St. Peters college
1st runners up St. Benedicts College
Winners D. S. Senanayake College
Best Actor
Richard, the Duke of York Dimmithry Jayawardene (St. Benedicts College)
Best Supporting Actor
Dromio of Sycracuse/ Ephesus Rithmaka Karunadhara (Ananda College)
Best Stage Craft
Ananda College
Best Novice School
Lyceum International School, Wattala
Getting on the familiar Lionel Wendt stage in an unfamiliar role By Purnima Pilapitiya Freddys sole female voice Shannon Misso is ready to speak up in more than one way View(s): View(s):
I dont even think Im funny, was Shannon Missos initial reaction when Feroze Kamardeen approached her about joining his growing comedy franchise Freddy. But the vivacious, self-deprecating actresss knack for being blunt yet endearing (all of which she will laugh off and deny vehemently) backed by a spark for risk taking and passion for gender equality and social justice made her the ideal candidate to be Freddys first female performer.
Making her debut this October in Freddy: A New Hope Shannon will provide a female voice and perspective to Colombos popularly growing mainstream comedy platform, tackling sociopolitical issues close to her own heart and maybe even giving the other performers and the writer himself a piece of her mind.
For a seasoned actress who has been in the drama scene since her days at her alma mater Holy Family Convent, this will mark Shannons big plunge into comedy. She began her relationship with the stage at a young age immersed in Shakespeare, her first role in Richard III being nominated for best actress at the All Island Shakespeare Drama Competition (but it was good that I didnt win, she giggles). She did go on to bag the title at the age of 17 for her role in Measure for Measure and continued to act out of school with theatre groups such as the Workshop Players and StageLight&Magic. After Othello in 2010 she took a break and the recent StageLight&Magic production The Pillowman marked her return to theatre, this time as director.
Part of the reason Feroze approached Shannon about performing stand-up came after seeing her blog post about the effect her school life had on her adolescence- a piece she shared online after seeing her students go through similar experiences. I am the kind of person who will give it back to a catcaller. Maybe its also Shannons unapologetic mouth and mind that made her a good fit for Freddy.
Some of the things I say are pretty nasty, she warns, laughing, but cant see why she cant be as colourful in her language as some of Freddys performers who are accepted for it. If female comediennes are still struggling to make it as big as their male counterparts, Shannon will bring not only the female voice to Freddy, but specifically, the voice of the Sri Lankan woman. For Shannon, the chance to get on the familiar Lionel Wendt stage in a very unfamiliar role gives an under-represented group a chance to speak up in more than one way.
At the heart of her performance, the teacher and mother of two wants to show her own kids an important message. I need them to see that I love being a mother but that my identity is more than that. I want them to see some of the things Ammi can do.
Shannon is also looking forward to the criticism that may come her way after October 23.
StageLight&Magic.Inc present Freddy 3- A New Hope! directed by Feroze Kamardeen from October 18-23. Box plan and tickets will be available at the Lionel Wendt.
Lets hear it for the girls: Thrilling performances at the Shakespeare Drama Competition By Joshua Surendraraj The Mirror Magazine revisits the performances of the finalist Girls Schools at the recently concluded 45th Inter-school Shakespeare Drama Competition View(s): View(s):
Theres certainly an emotional intensity that revolves around William Shakespeares King Lear. It was this character that proved to be the driving force behind the Bishopian journey to win the Girls finale of the 45th Shakespeare Drama Competition organised by the Colombo YMCA and Rotary Club of Colombo North recently.
The judges panel comprised Kaushalya Fernando, Vinod Senadheera and Eraj De Silva.
Following the two strong performances put on by Museaus College Colombo 7 and Gateway College, Dehiwala, Bishops College certainly had their work cut out for them.
Their production packed a punch from the onset, gradually building up the energy on onstage. But the clear highlight came about with King Lears portrayal by Raaedha Faizel, whos rich and lithe voice had the audience hooked and earned her the best actress award in the competition.
Her performance managed to move the crowd as she casually avoided any form of eye contact, preferring to look beyond them as if searching for something that was long lost. And in this case it was the old Kings only faithful daughter Cordelia.
The rest of the cast seemed to feed on this energy and brought in the same level of intensity to the setting, making King Lear the clear winner in the eyes of the judges that night. Despite having a tough act to follow from, St Bridgets Convent were up for the challenge with their rendition of Taming of the Shrew. The girls brought out the best of the comedic elements in the play through carefully orchestrated scene changes and the well timed executions of the actresses.
When it came to deciding the first runner up, the competition was clearly between St. Bridgets and Musaeus College. The judges however, preferred to lean towards the latter. For indeed, earlier that evening the girls from Musaeus had managed to put on an intense portrayal of Shakespeares Measure for Measure.
Their strength showed clearly in their emotive characters, especially that of Isabella, Claudio and Lord Angelo.
Aside from the acting, Musaeus College could also be commended for their swift scene changes and skillful utilisation of props. Musaeus College took home the award for runners up.
Gateway College, Dehiwala walked away with the third runners up trophy and could also be applauded for putting on a well fought performance.
The Girls Finals showcased the best and perhaps some of the more interesting takes on some of the bards sacred pieces. Their mastery of Shakespeares poetic scripts and attention to detail proved just why these schools were worthy finalists.
Winners at a glance Best stage craftWinner : St Lawrences Convent Colombo 6 (Macbeth)
Novice School
Winner : Lyceum International School Gampaha (King Lear)
Best supporting actress
Joint Winners- Luxmi Wijeyenathan (Bishops College) and Celina Randeniya
(Visakha Vidyalaya)
Best actress Winner Raaedha Faizel-Bishops College Colombo 3 Overall Winners Winners- Bishops College Colombo 3
1st Runners-Up Museaus College Colombo 7
2nd Runners-Up St Bridgets Convent Colombo 7
3rd Runners-Up Gateway College (Dehiwala)
Mithuruwela: A unique initiative offering hope and support to cancer patients and caregivers By Joshua Surendraraj View(s): View(s):
When Nelun Ratnasekera first took her husband for cancer treatment, back in 2003, she recalls observing the sadness prevalent throughout the clinic. All around her were several caregivers and patients, in tears, unable to fathom the uncertainties of the future. But at this point, she realized there were many of them, who found solace in talking to another person, going through a similar situation.
So whilst waiting for her husband to receive his treatment, Nelun would spend her time engaging in conversation with the caregivers. Her enthusiasm to help them led her to join Mithuruwela a cancer support network.
We want to show these people that we care and that were there for them, she tells me as the team behind Mithuruwela sit with us for a chat.
Mithuruwelas story began in 2005, when its founding members, Professor Ryhana Raheem and Mala Thalayasingam (AAL), survived cancer and took the initiative to start a support group for cancer in Sri Lanka.
Sooner, they were joined by their family members, friends, their doctors and other survivors. Today, Mithuruwela, strives to help Sri Lankans, battling cancer, find the support they need to carry on. When Mala Thalayasingam, first started treatment at the Maharagama Cancer Hospital, she had access to information on cancer through the internet etc. But what she also realised at the time was that there were several other patients, who did not know anything about treatment or what they should do or avoid, when it comes to cancer.
Today, Mithuruwela conducts several awareness programmes, aiming to educate the population. In fact quite recently, they also started programmes for the Sanasa Assurance and Sanasa Development Bank.
Their last project with the bank was conducted in July this year at Mapalagama in the Galle District by Sister Devika from the National Cancer Care Programme, Narahenpita. It focused on cancer in general, whilst also paying close attention to oral cancer which is often an issue in rural Sri Lanka.
Using illustrated flash cards, Sister Devika, explained how a simple self-examination for breast cancer could be carried out at home. She also advised participants to consult a doctor if they found anything unusual. Following her presentation, a screening session was also conducted for the female participants who wished to be tested.
About 35 female participants presented themselves and two of them, with breast lumps were referred for further screening.
Mithurwela has also conducted several similar programmes across the country, including areas such as Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Jaffna etc. The chairperson for Mithuruwela, Suhendran Thalayasingam explains that over the past few years, they have also managed to cover most of the plantation districts.
Through their work, the team also observed a stigma that surrounds cancer. This is more evident amongst the estate population. We have to get over this stigma and the people have to be educated about it, Suhendran tells us.
Mithurwelas efforts arent just limited to the awareness programmes. Rather, they also focus on befriending and supporting both the cancer patient and their caregiver. At times they also provide nutrition and medicine to the patients.
In order to raise funds for their projects, the organization has put together Pink Ribbons, a musical fund-raiser which will be held on Sunday (October 14) at the Sri Lanka Tourist Board Auditorium, Galle Road, Colombo 3. The evening will showcase the soulful tunes of Dr. Feizal Zavahir of Pennsylvania, USA, who will also be joined by Flame.
Cancer is not the end of the world, Mala says. She adds that today there is a growing number of people wanting to be tested, which is encouraging. Back when Mithuruwela first started Prof. Ryhana, who has been working in the cancer wards, recalls observing the fear in people coming for surgeries. But as the years passed, she has also found people to be quite accepting of their situation. There has been an educative shift among the women, who know that cancer is a problem, but that there is hope, she says.
Tickets for Pink Ribbons priced Rs. 2000 can be obtained by calling the hotline 0776303550.
For more information log on to
www.cancersupportlk.org.
DIG Nalaka Silva faces arrest; recorded voice authentic, says Govt. Analyst View(s):
The Government Analyst has confirmed that the voice of DIG Nalaka Silva, the former head of the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), contained in recorded telephone conversations over an assassination plot now under probe is authentic and that of the DIG. In the light of this, DIG Silva faces arrest anytime now, highly placed Police sources said yesterday. He has already been directed to appear before the Colombo Fort Magistrates Court on October 8. Also asked to appear is Namal Kumarage who said that there was a conspiracy.
The senior Police officer is at the centre of an alleged conspiracy to assassinate President Maithripala Sirisena and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
A self-styled anti-corruption activist, Namal Kumarage, revealed details of the alleged plot at a news conference in Kandy and played the recorded telephone conversations he had with DIG Silva. It is in those taped conversations that he had quoted DIG Silva as saying how the conspiracy should be carried out.
The Governments Analysts report has already been sent to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters. It is expected to be produced in court next week by detectives.
Now the CID has also handed over to the Government Analyst the two Light Machine Guns seized from the TID. The two weapons had been issued from the Police Central Armoury with the approval of the Inspector General Pujith Jayasundera. The Government Analyst has been asked to analyse the weapons and whether they had been used in the recent past.
Detectives are probing whether these weapons, together with a request for Special Task Force training for a group of TID personnel, have any links to the alleged conspiracy.
Also coming under investigation is an official in an important ministry. He is suspected of leaking information to a website banned in Sri Lanka. He had alleged that the conspiracy in question has been engineered by President Sirisena. Detectives say the move is to deflect attention and suggest that the conspiracy was political. CID sources said he is likely to be questioned.
Killings on the rise, but police say crime down By Sandun Jayawardana, Damith Wickramasekara and Asiri Fernando Former senior DIG hits out at Police for misleading the Government and public by not accurately reporting facts View(s): View(s):
Murders are mounting but the Police Department insists that the crime rate is down according to their statistics. Just this week, two persons were shot and hacked to death in Uragasmanhandiya near Elpitiya. It was followed by the shooting of a woman in Ja-ela when she was driving. Her eight-year-old daughter escaped miraculously. There was a gun battle between a gang leader and Police in Athurugiriya.
Law and Order Minister, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, flanked by a group of DIGs held a news conference on Thursday to exhort how well the Police were doing fighting crime. During the first eight months of 2018, 320 murders have occurred islandwide, a senior police official revealed to the Sunday Times. Subsequently, 285 suspects have been arrested in relation to the said 320 murders.
However, a senior retired Police officer, former Senior DIG H.M.G.B Kotakadeniya explained the reasons behind the claim. People dont believe there is law and order in the country and all is well. Senior officers do not allow Officers in Charge of the Police Stations to report crime without their approval he said. Mr. Kotakadeniya was formerly Senior DIG Crimes.
There are many reasons for this sad state of affairs, he said. Political interference was one. There were also senior officers who colluded with criminals. That has contributed heavily to the deterioration of law and order, he added. The veteran police officer claimed that the Police is misleading the Government and public by not accurately reporting facts. Further, much of the minor crimes goes unreported to the police as the public has little faith in the system and do not want to go through the hassle.
Mr. Kotakadeniya said he had voiced concern regarding linkages between senior police officers and criminal elements in the mid 1990s. Today, the situation is a manifestation of such issues he added. The current situation with allegations of corruption and collusion between police high ups and criminals is the culmination of the degeneration in the department which began with political interference in the early 1990s he opined.
A serious concern at present is the rise in violence unleashed by underworld gangs, at least some of which seem to be operating with powerful political backing. Gang violence is fuelled by the drug trade and the circulation of illegal firearms within these groups, said Prof. M.W. Jayasundara of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice of the Sri Jayewardenpura University. A murder committed through sudden, uncontrollable rage is vastly different to something thats premeditated and well-planned. The murders connected to the underworld fall to the latter category, Prof. Jayasundara stressed, adding that society is far more sensitive to such organized crime. Therefore, there is much pressure on the Government to curb such crimes. A Police source told the Sunday Times that in the first 8 months of this year, 38 murders using firearms have occurred and that in 33 of the cases suspects have been arrested and arms recovered. 622 firearms have also been taken in to custody during the same period.
While there is some justification to the claims made by Police that the number of certain grave crimes have decreased, the level of brazenness associated with violent crimes, which are then widely reported across all media, amplify their shock value, Prof. Jayasundara opined. People are being gunned down in broad daylight, he observed, pointing out that the shooting of a 40-year- old woman at Weligampitiya in Kandana as the latest in a string of similar incidents in recent times.
With the intense media exposure surrounding these heinous crimes, it makes one incident equivalent to 50 or a 100 such crimes in the minds of the public, he argued. In effect, the general perception is that there are far more killings now than there ever were after the end of the war. The Government in turn, must find a way within the rule of law to curb the underworld, he remarked.
Minister for Law and Order, Ranjith Madduma Bandara on Thursday, told the media that the crime rate in the country was statistically low. His comments come days after President Matripala Sirisena had raised concerns that the crime rate in the Island is trending upwards at a Cabinet meeting. Recently, the concerns regarding gang activity by the Ava gang in Jaffna, saw a Senior Army Officer claim that the Army can get the situation under control in two days.
Addressing the news conference which focused on the crime and security situation in Jaffna, Minister Madduma Bandara emphasized that the Police was in control and the deployment of armed forces for law enforcement duties in the North and Eastern provinces was not necessary. He further claimed that unfair media publicity was directed at the Police. The Police is in control of the law and order situation in Jaffna claimed Senior DIG Roshan Fernando (Northern Range) Today the situation in the north, especially regarding the activities of the Ava gang is being blown out of proportion he noted. Some politicians try to portray the Ava gang as an reemergence of the LTTE however, their activities have not caused murder up-to date he added. SDIG Fernando claimed that Ava was not a major security concern, pointing out that the group has splintered and there was friction between the groups. There are youth in the north who are idling, lack of employment opportunities are a contributing factor too. Further, these youth get funds from their relatives abroad, they are influenced by violence they see in the south Indian cinema and try to behave like thathe pointed out. The Commandant of the Special Task Force (STF) Senior DIG Latheef added that the activities of the Ava group up-to-date are normal crimes and not terrorism.
The Sunday Times learns that the Police is to put in place a number of measures to tackle organised crime related violence. In the Western province alone there are 11,000 warrants which are yet to be executed, a police source said. A plan has been put in place for 112 police stations in the province to serve one warrant per day in an effort to clear up the backlog of suspects who are at large. Head of the Police Narcotics Bureau, DIG Sajeewa Medawatta told the press that 25 special rapid response teams are to be deployed with the help of the STF to combat drug and related organized criminal activity. Further, a dedicated 24hr hot line for drug related tip-offs is being trialed DIG Medawatta noted. Police will step up night patrolling of high risk areas with the community policing teams and plan to request stricter bail conditions for suspects involved in violent crimes a Police source informed.
On Friday (05th) evening, a 33-year-old resident of Kalapaluwawa, Rajagiriya was shot dead by two assailants on a bike. Earlier that morning, a 29-year-old individual was stabbed to death Samithpura in Mattakkuliya. Each day brings another violent death. Is this the new norm?
Ministry enlightens agitating residents around garbage site View(s):
Following agitations launched by area residents, against shifting the sanitary landfill from Arawakkaru to Serakuliya, Puttalam, the Megapolis Ministry intends to educate and create awareness among the residents. The Ministry officials who met the protestors, will make the area residents inclusive and involve them in the project. With this in mind, representatives of the protestors, religious dignitaries, pradeshiya sabha members and grama sevaka niladharis of the area had a discussion on September 27. An Advisory Committee formed will meet every month and review the progress of the construction, with residents given the opportunity to participate in its progress, and will have the right to oppose any deviation from the approved plan.
Waste Management Director Jayavilal Fernando said the residents will be enlightened on the environmental impact of the project, and will be allowed to visit the site to ensure adherence to the approved plan. Responding to residents concerns that contaminated water from the garbage, may leak into the lagoon situated 5 km from the site, endangering the lagoons marine life, he said the possibility of leakages is minimal, as only compressed garbage will be brought to the site.
The garbage, he said, will be first sent to a compacter yard in Kelaniya where 80% of the moisture will be squeezed out, before it is transported by train in special sealed containers, to the site. Mr. Fernando said the residents protesting against the change in the location of the construction site is incorrect, as Arawakkaru is a large area and Serakkuliya is part of it. The original plan to have the site at Arawakkaru was abandoned due to its adverse environment impact.
The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report states that the site being only one mile from the buffer zone of Wilapattu National Park, there is the possibility of wild animals straying into the area of the garbage pit, aggravating the elephant-human conflict. Also, there was the disadvantage to the Kalu Oya and Lunu Oya 200 metres northeast of the site.
All environmental precautions and safeguards have been followed. There is no contamination, every day the garbage will be covered with a thin layer of sand, he said.
The new site identified at Serakkuliya is a large pit excavated and abandoned by the Cement Corporation around 20 years ago.
Mr. Fernando maintains that all protocols including the approval of the Central Environment Authority (CEA) of the North Western Province have been obtained for the project. We have got the EIA report from the CEA distributed to the PSs, divisional secretariat and the provincial environment secretariat for their input. We will go ahead with it, he said.
Elaborating on the project, he said that, Stage I will take 85 acres of land with a maximum capacity of 1,200 metric tons of garbage. Garbage from Colombo, Puttalam and Wanathawilluwa will be dumped at this site.
Disputing concerns of the residents of the adverse impact on salt production, he said that, It is not possible, as the site is 40 km away from the salterns and the possibility of contamination of lagoons very low. Further there will be no discharge, he said.
He said the sophisticated treatment plan for the garbage site has been accepted and approved by the CEA. The treated water is to be re-circulated into the system, he said.
As Arawakkaru is an arid zone, with over 9 months of dry weather, and lack of ground water in the area, we plan to re-circulate the treated water for household purposes such as washing vehicles, containers and irrigation purposes.
The project, at an estimated cost of US$ 101 million, undertaken by the China Harbour Engineering Co., is expected to be completed by November 2019.
Payment dispute may bring Colombos garbage collection to a halt: Mayor View(s):
Colombo citys garbage collection could come to a grinding halt following a dispute over payments to the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation Development Corporation (SLLRDC) which manages the Kerawalapitiya garbage disposal site, Mayor Rosy Senanayake warned yesterday. She said the councils efforts to maintain a clean city had contributed to bringing down the number of dengue case by 62 percent in the city in the past six months but the council would not be able to maintain the momentum if the garbage remained uncollected.
It is not my doing if epidemics spread due to garbage accumulation. The SLLRDC will be responsible for the issue, Ms. Senanayake said, claiming that the SLLRDC had refused to allow garbage to be dumped at the Muthurajawela-Karadiyana area until the council paid more for the garbage. She said the CMC had paid Rs 3,000 a metric tonne of garbage until July, but the SLLRDC wanted Rs 5,000 per metric tonne. The total amount worked out by SLLRDC was Rs. 207 million.
This is unfair. They are behaving like they are asking for a ransom. Suddenly yesterday evening they announced that they would not allow to unload garbage at the site, she charged. She said she had been unable to contact the President; neither could she notify the Prime Minister who was overseas. However, she said she contacted Megapolis Minister Champika Ranawaka and he had asked her to meet officials to sort out the dispute.
The mayor said she had no authority to take a decision at such a short notice regarding payments. She added that if the council spent such a big amount on garbage, it would not have enough money for other council activities.
SLLRDC chairman Roshan Gunawardena said they stepped in when the CMC could not find a disposal site after the Meethotamulla garbage dump disaster. We provided our land but we did so according to an agreement. We told the CMC to make payments until July. They have to pay Rs 207 million before September 31, he said.
He acknowledged that the CMC had paid the SLLRDC Rs 50 million but there was still Rs. 157 million to be paid.
We said we would give them time until October 2. But due to their lack of response we have decided to halt accepting garbage, he said. If the council pays, we will allow them to dump the garbage, he said.
Rains bring smile to drought-hit farmers; DMC issues disaster warning By Shaadya Ismail View(s): View(s):
The current wet weather conditions have finally brought relief to drought stricken farmers, who suffered hardship due to lack of water for cultivation.
The Director of Irrigation, Water Management and Training W B Palugaswewa told the Sunday Times that the prevailing weather conditions will be favourable for paddy cultivation in the East and the North Eastern provinces.
According to Mr Palugaswewa, the forecast is favourable and sufficient rainfall is expected to increase the water levels to provide for cultivation purposes and crop damage can be avoided. The Meteorological Department said that heavy rains associated with strong winds are expected to prevail during this month and November.
Duty meteorologist Kason Pasqual said that thundershowers can occur in any part of the island and according to the usual pattern, rains are expected during the evenings. However there can be areas which may experience rains the whole day. The director of development and media spokesman to the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy, Sulakshana Jayawardena said that the average water levels of the main six reservoirs have increased to 75%.
The main impact of the current weather is that the increasing water levels in the reservoirs will reduce the daily demand, he said.
However, according to Mr Jayawardena, the negative impact, on the other hand, is associated with heavy winds as a result of which people can face frequent interruptions to their power supply due to trees falling on power transmission lines. Meanwhile, the Disaster Management Centre said that the prevailing weather conditions have caused severe damage in Kurunegala and Puttalam districts.
Deputy director and media spokesman, Pradeep Kodippili said that the most number of casualties were reported from Chilaw and Anamaduwa.
The DMC with the help of the Ministry of Disaster Management has given Rs 10,000 compensation on the spot to the people affected. A team has been sent to assess damaged houses.
Moreover, District Secretary of Puttalam N.H.M. Chithrananda told the Sunday Times that Anamaduwa, Pallama and Mahakumbukkadawala were the worst affected areas. He revealed that 200 families and houses are affected in Anamaduwa, while 117 houses and 146 families are affected in Pallama. And 386 houses and families are affected in the Mahakumbukkadawala area.
According to Mr Chithrananda, a school and a temple in the Puttalam district have been severely damaged.
Traffic built up as Colombo saw heavy rains yesterday. Pic by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
Safety hazard check for Ratmalana airport border wall By Asiri Fernando View(s): View(s):
Sri Lankas aviation regulator will review the safety of the perimeter wall bordering the Galle Road at Colombo Airport in Ratmalana because of safety concerns expressed by pilots and others. Rohan Manukulasooriya, the regulators deputy director general (airspace and security regulation), said a committee will be named this month. The terms of reference are being drafted.
For several years, some aviators have voiced concerns that the wall is a safety hazard for flights in and out of Ratmalana. They claim the structure will be a significant safety hazard if an aircraft overshoots the runway and crashes into the wall, causing death or injury to passengers and crew.
The solid wall contravenes International Civil Aviation Organization recommendations contained in the Runway End Safety Area guidelines that call for frangible fencing. A material is said to be frangible if through deformation it tends to break up into fragments, rather than deforming elastically and retaining its cohesion as a single object.
The Colombo Airport management plans to seek aerodrome certification from CAASL to expand their operations and fly larger commercial and cargo aircraft later this year, the Sunday Times learns. The aircraft that will land there in the event of such operational expansion will require the safety measures already in place to be revisited.
The perimeter wall was built during the war against terrorism as a security measure and is an uncommon sight in Sri Lanka. All airports in
Sri Lanka have fencing at the end of each runway in accordance with ICAO guidelines. The perimeter of the Bandaranaike International Airport is also fenced, not walled.
The safety assessment comes in the wake a meeting on domestic aviation held earlier this year at the Prime Ministers office. The concerns voiced by a group of aviators relate to a hypothetical situation, he said, maintaining that the airport complies with regulations. There is a safety area of 240 metres between the end of the runway and the wall, he said.
And the aircraft which use Ratmalana are of a category that does not require use of the full length of runway to take off. Therefore, there was adequate room to land safely in the event of an aborted takeoff. The management is ready to take down the wall if the regulator advises them to do so, said Aruna Rajapaksha, manager of the Colombo Airport, which recently started to accommodate corporate jets that have different takeoff and landing characteristics than the common training aircraft based there before.
The wall does present a safety hazard, said a qualified flying instructor of a leading flying training school at Ratmalana. He did not wish to be named.
If during landing there is a failure in the landing gear or breaks of the wheels, or there is a sudden gust of wind, the height of the wall presents a problem, he insisted. It is an obstacle to novice pilots training at Ratmalana can do without.
Although such barriers are not unprecedented in the world, the fact that novice pilots use this runway makes it a matter of legitimate concern and we acknowledge and accept that this is not the ideal set of circumstances, said Air Vice Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana, director of Air Operations of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).
The SLAF had no objections to demolishing the wall, he said, adding that they have already expressed our agreement although we do believe that it has to be done with due care given to ensuring that the removal does not expose the runway and associated infrastructure to any security threat.
The CAASL was responsible for not only the safety of aircrew and passenger but also for public safety, Mr Manukulasooriya pointed out. In the event of an accident, the aircraft colliding with the wall could possibly prevent it from running on to the Galle Road. This sentiment was echoed by the H M C Nimalsiri, CAASL director general.
He said there were many airports in India that had solid perimeter walls for security reasons. On August 6, 2018, a Cessna Caravan aircraft operated by Supreme Airlines from Jaipur to Sri Ganganagar in India overshot the runway at Lalgarh and crashed into the solid perimeter wall. There were no reported injuries among the seven passengers and two pilots.
SC green light for SSPs rights petition against Police Chief By Ranjith Padmasiri View(s): View(s):
The Supreme Court on Friday granted leave to proceed in a fundamental rights petition case filed by a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) against the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the National Police Commission (NPC) and the Ministry of Law and Order.
The Court also granted an interim order preventing the IGP, the Minister of Law and Order and the Secretary to the Ministry of Law and Order from not giving effect to the recommendation of the NPC to promote the petitioner to the rank of Acting Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police.
SSP Rohan Siriwardana, who serves in Kilinochchi and who has 40 years of service with the police, has filed the petition stating that IGP Pujith Jayasundara had tried to transfer him arbitrarily and engaged in falsely and maliciously seeking to initiate certain inquires against him to prevent promotion.
The petitioner alleged that the NPC has recommended that he be promoted to the position of Acting DIG. However, IGP Pujith Jayasundara had failed to give effect to the said recommendation on the purported basis that there were disciplinary reasons against such promotion. The NPC had come to the conclusion that there was no basis to issue any charge sheet on the petitioner and had again recommended the IGP to give effect to such promotion. The IGP had still failed to adhere to the recommendation and promote the petitioner to the position of Acting DIG, the petitioner claims.
SSP Siriwardena alleges that the IGPs conduct is motivated by malice. He says that repeated attempts by the IGP to harass him and denigrate his professional reputation by unfairly and arbitrarily persecuting him through his office, amounts to a violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 11 of the Constitution.
IGP Pujitha Jayasundara, Minister of Public Administration, Management and Law and order Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Secretary of National Police Commission, Padmasiri Jayamanna and members of the NPC have been named as respondents along with the Attorney General.
Counsel Shivan Coorey and Pulasthi Rupasinha instructed by Sanjeewa Kaluarachchi appeared for the Petitioner. Senior State Counsel Ms. S. Herath appeared for the respondents.
Sirisena-Mahinda talks to form grand coalition No caretaker govt. with those who "sold the country" Rajapaksa View(s): View(s):
President Maithripala Sirisena and his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa met this week to discuss a potential caretaker grand coalition government. A fruition of the talks could see Rajapaksa emerging as the new Prime Minister.
In Beruwala, yesterday, Rajapaksa spoke of a caretaker government, but said it would never be with those who sold the country. The talks come on the initiative of President Sirisena and were held at the residence of S.B. Dissanayake, a former Minister and a member of the 15-member SLFP rebel group.
As part of the dialogue, Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to take over the leadership of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). The partys ideologue and strategist Basil Rajapaksa was also at the talks.
The next round is expected to be in two weeks after Sirisena returns from two overseas visits. He leaves on Tuesday for Seychelles on a three-day trip. After his return to Sri Lanka, he is also due to travel to Poland.
The power of journalism lies in free, responsible and ethical media View(s):
Canadas Centre for Law and Democracy Director Toby Mendel, who was one of the nine international speakers at the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility, has emphasised the need for journalism to be free, independent, responsible and ethical.
Although everyone agreed on the power of journalism, there is a question about how to maintain this in an ever-changing world where attention seems to be increasingly elsewhere, particularly on social media. One way to maintain the power of journalism is to continue to stress its difference from social media and its importance. To achieve this, journalism needs to be free, independent, responsible and ethical. This brings us back to the Colombo Declaration, which sets out the conditions which are necessary for exactly that: a free, independent and responsible media, Mr. Mendel said in his closing remarks, which were included in the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) statement issued at the end the four-day conference.
Mr. Mendel said the process leading to the Colombo Declaration began, mainly in a series of criminal defamation cases brought by powerful individuals against editors, senior journalists and newspapers. He said: This attack on media freedom was transformed into a strength as an otherwise divided media community came together to fight back.
As part of the process of fighting back, in 1998, the media community adopted the Colombo Declaration. It was a remarkable achievement; a comprehensive statement of what needed to be done to bring the law and policy environment in the country into line with constitutional and international law protection for freedom of expression and the media.
Mr. Mendel said no one else had done something like that at the time, and almost no one else has since. Indeed, the only clear example I know of is Nepal, where I personally worked with local stakeholders and where we specifically used the Colombo Declaration as a source of inspiration.
Another major achievement, he said, was the fact that Sri Lanka repealed its criminal defamation provisions in their entirety. Not only was it the first Commonwealth country to do so, but, even today, only a very small number, including the United Kingdom and Ghana, have followed in its footsteps.
In summing up what transpired during the three day programme, Mr. Mendel said that many speakers welcomed the institutional structures that were put in place as part of this process, namely the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and its associated bodiesthe Sri Lanka College of Journalism and the Sri Lanka Press Complaints Commission. The fact that these institutions were not only created but remain vibrant today is another remarkable achievement in a world where it is increasingly challenging to establish and maintain media freedom institutions.
He said the idea that these systems should reach out more systemically to embrace the broadcast and online media was raised repeatedly. This has been discussed many times over the years but so far it has still not happened. Broadening the reach of the SLPI bodies to cover these media sectors would be a very useful area of growth. Keeping to the institutional point, the need to get rid, once and for all, of the Press Council and, indeed, to repeal the Press Council Act in its entirety, is another clear imperative.
Several speakers noted that supporting media freedom is not only about regulation and law and that Media and Information Literacy has taken on ever greater importance in the modern world.
The statement said:
The lines between professional media and the so-called social media have become all too blurred and disinformation and rumours have become all too prevalent. Media and Information Literacy can help citizens understand the importance of legacy media content and identify inaccurate content.
One of the calls in the original Colombo Declaration was to address the problem of government media in Sri Lanka, but little has been done in this area. The ownership of Lake House has still not been broadbased and the government broadcast media remain just that, government mouthpieces rather than public service broadcasters which serve the public as a whole. The need for transformation in this sector remains as high today as it did in 1998. Despite calls from some actors for an end to public service broadcasters, their role today as reliable news sources remains as important as ever.
Safety was highlighted as a key freedom of expression and media freedom issue. The days of the worst attacks on journalists, during which Sri Lanka was unfortunately a world leader in terms of killings, now seem to be behind us. However, the task of bringing the perpetrators of these crimes to justice, although initiated, has not been brought to completion. Furthermore, there are still ongoing threats and even attacks. There is also a need, in Sri Lanka and globally, to recognise that attacks on right to information (RTI) activists are just as serious as attacks on journalists, and to bring them within the scope of national and global systems for responding to such attacks.
The second day of this event fell on International Right to Know Day, a day when people around the world celebrate the importance of RTI. The Chair of the Sri Lankan RTI Commission highlighted how much progress had been made in Sri Lanka on this issue, from constitutional protection through Article 14A of the Constitution to the adoption of the Right to Information Act in 2016 and now with strong implementation efforts.
It is true that Sri Lanka has dropped from third to fourth place in the RTI Rating, the leading international assessment of RTI laws, with neighbouring Afghanistan having adopted the strongest RTI law in the world. At the same time, the progress in terms of implementing RTI in Sri Lanka is impressive by any measure. Leading these efforts is the strong and independent RTI Commission, which has to date, issued well over 600 decisions. Requests are not just coming from civil society groups based in Colombo, but from people from all sectors of society and from all over the country. Building a strong base of popular support for the RTI law will be very important to defend it against the pushback that will inevitably come.
One of the best lines of the whole conference was the statement: There is no such thing as fake news. Nothing could be truer. Fake news is a term coined by an enemy of the press, specifically to attack the press. We should stop giving oxygen to this double-speak and instead focus on real issues, such as deliberate disinformation (which is not news) on social media.
Closely related to this is the need to differentiate between social media and legacy media. Much of the money and attention has gone online but we still need news. In other words, we need carefully curated information about current affairs information prepared by professional journalists, regardless of how it is disseminated. The new digital environment has created a number of challenges for the legacy media. One is the redirection of funding away from legacy media to social media. Another is the remarkable speeding up of the news cycle. Yet another is how to reach all citizens, including by breaking through the increasingly pervasive information bubbles or silos. Despite these challenges, or perhaps because of them, we need to support the legacy media more than ever.
On the evening of the first day of the conference, the Prime Minister said that he was open to the idea of adopting a Contempt of Court Act.
There is a large gap between the practice in this area not only in Sri Lanka but throughout South Asia, on the one hand, and democracies in the rest of the world, on the other. In countries like not only Canada and the United Kingdom, but also South Africa and the Philippines, journalists and others are largely free to comment not only on decided cases but also cases which remain sub judice. If Sri Lanka does move to adopt a Contempt of Court Act, it should not just build incrementally on current practice but jump forward to align with better practice standards from around the world.
Training has become far more challenging in the modern media environment, and it needs to be very practical in nature. It is not enough to focus on technical issues; the more important need is to foster good journalism. At the end of the day, a good story is a good story and you can learn how to disseminate it effectively.
We are somehow in a brave new world when it comes to technology. Even the notion of journalism being produced by robots using artificial intelligence is no longer simply an idea but, rather, quickly becoming a reality, creating a new set of challenges. It is unclear where this will end up but, at a minimum, media outlets need to build tech into their business models as this is where both efficiency and modern public focus lie.
The conference ended with a session on the power of journalism. Although the title asked whether this was a myth or reality, everyone who spoke emphasised the latter. This was a moving session, with powerful testimonies from young female and male journalists and journalism students who told us why they wanted to work in this difficult and generally poorly paid profession.
Appreciations View(s):
You taught us the meaning of unconditional love
Major General Janaka Perera and Mrs. Wajira Perera
Ten years ago, on October 5, 2008, our parents were taken from this world alongside 30 other innocent civilians in Anuradhapura in a senseless violent suicide bombing. There were no warnings and no goodbyes. While it was the worst day in our lives, dwelling on that act does not take away the pain inflicted on the minds of the families of all those who are no longer here, including us.
Our parents, Major General Janaka Perera and Wajira Perera, to us Ammi and Thaththi, 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.
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 mothers. 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 mother. 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, he 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.
Among his commendations were the awards for gallantry, Rana Wickrama Padakkama and Rana Sura Padakkama, distinguished service medal, 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, the same year he was subsequently by- passed 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 strength of character and sense of 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.
Ammi was such a vibrant soul. She 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, although 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 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 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.
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 by, throughout their lives.
We love you and miss you both, Ammi and Thaththi. Your loss to us is irreparable!!
Janukshi, Shehara and Ashanka
My friend who was a true officer and gentleman
Neville De Andrado
He was my oldest and best friend. I have known him since age nine when we joined St. Josephs College together. Neville joined the Navy as a Dartmouth cadet. He had a distinguished career in the Navy and retired as a commander. He served in Colombo, Trincomalee and Karainagar. He was laid to rest with full Naval honours.
After retiring from the Navy, he served as a harbour pilot.
I was so proud to have been his friend and was so thrilled to witness the naval honours given to him.To have your coffin draped in the Lion flag is a singular honour that all Sri Lankans can be proud of. The Navy band played the Last Post and a gun salute completed the funeral service.
Neville was a remarkable human being. He had a kind word for everyone and never criticized anyone. Neville was a good athlete and held the Public Schools relay record during his time. He had a son Ari and a daughter Nidhani.
During his final illness Nidhani tried everything to keep him alive a bit longer. She was the apple of his eye and a loving and devoted daughter to him. Neville was a devoted Catholic and was prepared to meet his Maker. During his retirement, he did a lot of charity work devoting his time to helping the poor and the needy. He was a true officer and gentleman. He will be missed by all his friends and family.
Farewell my friend, may the good Lord bless and keep you. We will miss you but you will live in our hearts forever.
Dr. Hemal Fernando
A friendship enriched by shared discussions on many topics
CHANDANA B. HERATH
My nodding acquaintance with Chandana grew to a friendship within a short period of time. I first got to know him in 1990 at SCS Sathosa Computer Services.
We used to meet with others at the IT division after work to indulge in interesting conversations which extended to various topics such as politics, education, international affairs, matrimonial issues and many more. We argued on crucial matters and agreed on certain issues.
Chandana was humble by nature, sincere and friendly. He was a remarkable debater and a keen listener.
We were from the same school. At Royal College, Chandana excelled in sports. He was a coloursman in many sports. He also excelled in his studies and was selected to the University of Colombo where he obtained his degree with honours and went on to gain qualifications in Information Technology.
He was a student at the PIM Post Graduate institute of Management, Sri Jayawardhanapura University, where he received his MBA. Thereafter he was employed in Ceylinco (Life) Insurance Company as a Senior Manager. Later he was promoted and designated as the Deputy CIO.
With sheer perseverance and determination, Chandana rose in his career and became the CIO-Chief Information Officer until his untimely demise.
May he attain Supreme Bliss of Nirvana.
Ajith S. Amarakoon
Dance drama Sivakamiyin Sabatham celebrates Kalalaya school of Dance and Music @70 By Ruqyyaha Deane View(s): View(s):
The Sri Lanka Tamil Womens Union inaugurated by Dr. Mary Rutnam in 1909 is a community that strives to preserve the rich culture of Tamils. Their literature, art, music, dance, sculpture and drama have all been nurtured and grown prosperously through the encouragement of the SLWTU. On September 1, 1948, the SLWTU opened the Kalalaya School of Dance and Music to support Tamil culture, art and education.
Celebrating the 70th anniversary of Kalalaya School of Dance and Music, the Sri Lanka Tamils Women Union (SLWTU) presented the poignant dance drama Sivakamiyin Sabatham at the Bishops College Auditorium, Colombo 3, on September 30.
Written by Kalki Krishnamurthy and renowned as one of the most remarkable novels written in Tamil, Sivakamiyin Sabatham depicts a story of political intrigue, forbidden romance and unwavering strength. Through captivating dances from an ensemble of 40, we watched the heartbreaking story of Sivakami and Prince Narendravarmar, the cunning machinations of the monk Nagananthi and the tension between the Pallava and Chalukya kingdoms.
The talented dancers selected were from students across the country, especially from Jaffna, led by Kalai Chelvi Nirmala John who choreographed all the dances in the drama. I.T. Benedict provided the script composition and direction with Isai Mudumaani Arunanthy Aruran supplying the music composition and direction.
Gracing the occasion as Chief Guest was Professor Maithree Wickramasinghe who was welcomed by President of the Sri Lanka Tamils Women Union Nirmala Ragunatha, Principal of the Kalalaya School of Dance and music Selvi Sachithanandam, Chairperson of the fund-raising committee Vijitha Thambinayagam and others of the union.
The concert proceeds would be used to improve facilities at the Kalalaya School of Dance and Music for its students.
Anyone interested in learning music and dance at the Kalalaya Dance School located in 400/2, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7, please contact: Principal Selvi Sachithanandam at 0773679656 or Vice- Principal Selvanithy Kanagaratnam at 0777827315.
Dancing queens get your tickets and support Zontians Mithuru Piyasa project View(s):
A hundred years ago Marion de Forest had a dream. The American playwright and journalist from Buffalo, New York believed that women all over the world needed a voice, champions to protect their rights, their freedoms. And she attracted a group of like-minded women with whose help the Zonta International movement was born.
Today there are some 30,000 Zonta women in 63 countries around the world, with some 200 of them in five Zonta Clubs in Sri Lanka. On October 23, the Zonta Club 11 of Colombo have put together a Mamma Mia Theme Party as a fundraiser for their most significant project the Mithuru Piyasa Counselling Centres. There are five such centres, sensitively designed and much supported by Zonta Club 11 where professional counsellors work devotedly with needy, often distressed families providing support, most significantly for the woman in the home.
The Mamma Mia theme party at Elevate, Access Towers 2 will feature the awesome music of Abba from the well-loved musical Mamma Mia. There will be dancing, great food, themed cocktails and intriguing surprises. The Zontians hope for enthusiastic support from fun loving ladies and their men friends.
So Colombos Dancing Queens and their Super Trouper guys might want to grab their tickets and be there. Secure in the knowledge that while they are having an unusually good time, they are supporting the Mithuru Piyasa Counselling Centres
Banners for display at the event, and any voluntary donations will be gratefully accepted- please contact Zonta Club 11 President Meneka on
0777 669977.
Tickets priced at Rs. 3,500 inclusive of dinner are available at Salon Nayana at Flower Road, at Commons by Harpo or with Zonta Club 11 President Meneka.
The unheard voices of the left-behind By Smriti Daniel October 11 is International Day of the Girl Child View(s): View(s):
An innovative project by Save the Children seeks to give a unique platform to children whose mothers have gone overseas in search of work Every day, Malini* meets another woman determined to leave Sri Lanka.
As a Foreign Employment Officer in the islands Nuwara Eliya province, Malini is responsible for issuing Family Background Reports she fields, on average, 100 to 120 of these every month.
To produce the report which migrant women workers must have Malini has to visit the womans home and see if there are children under five. If she finds any, the government official cannot approve the womans application. However, if there are children above five, and under 18, then Malini must confirm that safe arrangements are in place for their care and that the womans husband is aware of his wifes plans. If Malini isnt convinced on either count, then she wont clear the mother to leave.
This government policy, in place since 2007, has been a controversial one; critics allege it prevents vulnerable women from supporting their families by banning them from the only form of work they can find. Malini says the main reason women leave is to address the familys income poverty or to escape a difficult home life. For many, migrating for work is their only hope of a better future for their families.
As a result, the steady stream of departures continues. So much so that it is a key driver of this islands economy in 2015 alone, the World Bank estimated that Sri Lanka received $7.2bn in official remittances, the equivalent to 8.9 percent of the countrys GDP.
However, the heart of the debate is not the women but the plight of left-behind children with their mothers miles away, many children are at risk of neglect and abuse. Strong measures, such as the Family Background Reports, are ostensibly all about protecting children. However, there are few to actually listen to their concerns.
Now, an innovative new project by Save the Children is seeking to change this, raising awareness around these children by giving them a unique platform. As part of the Mother and Child Friendly Plantations programmedesigned to promote mother and child well-being in Sri Lankas tea industry the Every Last Child campaign is focused on child-led advocacy and research on the effects of parental migration on the children left behind.
Under its umbrella are a slew of initiatives. These range from establishing the clubs themselves and training teachers and youth mobilizers to conducting workshops for the children. From these efforts have come a series of child-led videos and magazines produced by Childrens Clubs dotted across the plantations.
Left behind children struggle to cope
When it was Shanthinis* turn to submit a piece for the magazine, she decided to write a letter to her mother, who went abroad in 2010, when Shanthini was only 11 year-old. I missed my mother especially when I saw other children with their mothers, she says.
In the comfort of their childrens club, Shanthini and her friends swapped stories. Other children spoke of being bullied by classmates or neglected by teachers; as one would expect not all caregivers were kind some made the children bear an unfair load of housework to earn their stay. Others dealt with alcoholic or physically abusive relatives. Many had no one to turn to in a crisis.
Niranjala says its not uncommon for children to act out in such circumstances, something which 15-year-old Siva* confirms. Some of his closest friends have dropped out of school. They stay home, and many of them are addicted to alcohol and drugs, he says, frankly.
Young girls in particular, have their own challenges. Walking home alone or returning to an empty house after school could be frightening, says Priyadarshini,* another young Childrens Club member. It can be hard to find words for these things. Priyadarshini settles on bad touching, saying:There are some things you can only tell your mother.
It does not help their case that the child protection system in Sri Lanka does not prioritize the plantation community or children of migrant parents. Programmes targeted specifically at the children of labour migrants are few or non-existent.
For Shanthini and her friends, the childrens club is that rare thing a completely safe space. Here, they can explore their talents and make new friends. They understand each other in the way adults never seem to.
Siva is a favourite of Shanthini and the others. He is a skilled painter and loves to invent funny skits which he performs for the others to sounds of uproarious laughter. Because of this place I got a stage and platform to share my talents, otherwise they would have been buried and lost, he says.
Children should be part of the
decision-making
Dr.Ramaswamy Pushpakaanthan, a child psychologist who himself grew up in this area says he sees the family dynamic shifting in the lives of the Childrens Club members not only have the children become more confident about speaking their minds, they also now have new platforms through which they can express themselves.
The short films and magazines produced by the children were shared with their families and with the larger community. He believes adults were first surprised by the idea of children having a place at the table, but that this has slowly morphed into respect. We saw how they finally began to accept that children had to be part of the decision making process.
Niranjala too has seen the videos. As a Foreign Employment Officer, she thinks theyve got the parents themselves thinking differently. There are some really good messages there, she says, explaining that she feels parents are beginning to consider how migration could impact their children.
Priyadarshini, whose mother returned after three years abroad, says parents break down when they read the essays their children have written. She and her mother have had some honest, difficult conversations since the latter returned home. It is clear they both suffered because of the separation.
Now, Priyadarshini hopes other families will pay attention to their childrens needs and be able to find new solutions to the challenges they face. We too are affected, so our voices must also be heard, she says.
*Name changed to protect interviewees
privacy.
Upskirted on the streets of Maharagama Driven by anger, revulsion and a sense of duty to fellow Lankan women, Andrea Boekel, well known textile artist, speaks out View(s): View(s):
It is 3 a.m. and I am awake with my heart pounding wildly. The sounds of nocturnal animals and insects outside provide a faint sense of reality that I am actually in my own surrounds. I have not been able to sleep for two whole nights; my appetite is non-existent and I am afraid to go out of the house. Images of a large bearded man with a protruding belly and an odour of stale sweat keep appearing in front of me. I feel humiliated, shamed and disgusted. I am one of the many victims who was unwittingly upskirted by a lecherous predator and I am taking a stand to speak of my anguish.
Pamunuwa Road in Maharagama town is at any given time, a bustling, lively area. Known for its shops selling fabric, accessories, garments and all items related to the garment industry, this place is frequented mostly by females. There are many tiers of shops there large, fancy stores; pavements selling cut pieces and makeshift stalls selling fabrics, buttons, thread, clothes hangers and a variety of other craft-related items. Naturally, the largest volume of visitors would be women.
That Thursday morning was no exception. I had decided to go to Pamunuwa with my employee, Dhammika, to buy some fabric. For more than 20 years, I have been engaged in a self-funded womens empowerment project employing widows and downtrodden women. I teach them hand embroidery and textile crafts that embellish garments. These garments are then sold and the funds go back into their wages and purchases of raw material. The garments are well received by the public.
I was at a makeshift stall on the pavement choosing fabric and the lady proprietor was assisting me. Suddenly, I felt a shuffling by my feet and gave a cursory glance to see a well-built man bending down and picking something off the pavement that looked like money. It was then that Dhammika shouted to me that the man was using his camera phone to take pictures or videos up my skirt. By the time I recovered from my shock and horror, the man had disappeared into the milling crowd. I was totally unaware of what had transpired and it was Dhammikas watchful eye that had caught him first believing he was a pickpocket.
Unable to take immediate punitive action, we walked back to my parked vehicle, when suddenly Dhammika pointed out the offender returning. Livid and trembling with revulsion I accosted him on the pavement and asked him in Sinhalese why he used his camera phone to upskirt me. I raised my voice as I was by now, furious. The man became defensive and suddenly switched to perfect English. I used my own phone to take a photo of him so I could post it on social media to warn other females of this country, but he grabbed my phone and threw it on the ground.
Loathing and disgust overtook my sense of fear; I lashed out at him. The shopkeepers across the road saw the commotion and came to my assistance. They grabbed the phone from the man and demanded that he show them the photos on his device. He then claimed that the battery was dead. One shopkeeper located a phone charger but then he claimed that he had forgotten the password. By then, I was trembling with powerlessness. The shopkeepers asked me to take his phone to the Maharagama Police Station and told the offender to go to the Police to retrieve his phone.
Something that shocked me occurred then; whilst I had the support of every man there, there were some women who were telling me that I was wrong to retain his phone!! I was aghast at their response I would imagine that they would empathise with me, but this was not so.
Upon reaching the Maharagama Police I waited for my turn to record my statement when the offender walked in with another man. I then spoke to the Officer-in-Charge who brought the offender into his room and ordered him to open his phone for us to see the stored images. Again he mentioned the same excuses that he had forgotten his password, and he did not know his phone number. The Officer in Charge did not falter he ordered him to be remanded, the phone to be sent to the Government Analyst and a court case filed. His response was prompt and appropriate.
However, the response from the woman police officer who was to record my statement was disturbing. Across the room I could see the man in a holding cell supported by his friend. The woman Police Officer was not upfront when answering my questions. I asked what the process would be from now on, she mentioned that the phone would be sent to the Government Analyst and a court case would be filed. I would be required to attend court when summoned and the embarrassing photos would have to be identified by me. She also said it would most likely be a long and protracted course of action. I felt I was being dissuaded from the whole process.
I asked her through my tears, if there was no other recourse to justice. Could the Police not open his phone? Could they not persuade him to open the phone? Could they not do anything apart from filing a court case? The answer was a succinct no. She told me that I could take his phone, attempt to open it and if I found any compromising images, I could bring it back to the Police. With no other option available to me, I took the offenders phone and over a day, made several unsuccessful attempts to open it. Conceding defeat, I finally handed it over to the man in the presence of the Police the next day.
The offender was a cab driver from Avissawella who had come to Pamunuwa with a client; it was obvious that he was very experienced in upskirting women. His reluctance and refusal to open his phone could have been because he probably had several more photos possibly even more horrifying, on his mobile device. He left the police station, with his phone in hand.
In recent times, sexual molestation of women using digital devices has increased alarmingly. The perpetrators become bolder and more confident by the day, knowing that justice for the victimised woman is almost non-existent. While in theory, laws may exist, their implementation means that eventually the victim will be victimised.
Sharing my story with several other women unearthed a shocking revelation there was not one woman who had not been a victim of sexual harassment in public. Respect towards women in Sri Lanka is on the wane; perpetrators are being dealt with very lightly and as a result, as technology spurts forward, more and more devices will be used to abuse women.
It will take me a while to get over this sordid incident what I find hard to endure is the fact that the man still has unauthorised photos of me on his mobile device. Ironically, despite the fact that I brought the device to the very place that was supposed to offer me some reprieve, I found myself more isolated than ever.
Support on social media has been very encouraging and although my voice may be a whisper on the wind, that Thursday certainly changed me. If my story and my experience can raise awareness and protect my sister Sri Lankans, I would consider my voice a deafening crescendo with the power to crush predators down to the murky depths where they belong.
What is upskirting? Upskirting is the act of taking a photograph underneath a persons skirt without their consent. It is often performed in a public place such as on public transport or on an escalator, with crowds of people making it harder to spot people taking these photos. A large proportion of women are targeted in places such as busy streets, restaurants and shops. Being victim to such an incident can cause emotional distress for a long time after it has happened. Not only is the act itself sexually invasive, but the perpetrator can get photos of underwear or genitals which may be distributed or kept unbeknownst to the victim. Being a witness to or the victim of such an indecent act may make you feel incredibly uncomfortable and vulnerable, particularly if you are alone. If the person or persons responsible are exhibiting intimidating behaviours, then you may feel unable to confront them for fear of further discomfort and/or of being threatened. The knowledge that someone has taken potentially graphic images without consent can cause emotional distress for a long time after the event itself. Some upskirt and downblouse photos and videos are made specifically to upload onto the Internet, where many viewers seek such images taken surreptitiously. Such photographs are common on fetish and pornographic websites, as well as on video sharing sites such as YouTube. Attitudes hardened with the very widespread availability and use of digital photographic and video technology, most recently camera phones. Such technology was also being used to record upskirt and downblouse images for uploading onto the internet. Specialist websites came into existence where people could share such images, and terms such as upskirt, downblouse came into use. Celebrities were popular victims of such efforts. Issues of privacy and reputation began to be raised. Upskirt photos can be made in a variety of situations when a woman is ascending stairs or getting out of a car or sitting on a park bench; and downblouse photos can similarly be made in many innocent situations. Upskirt photos are usually taken by a mobile phone camera attached on the shoe or carried within a bag so it is very hard for a woman to notice that she is being photographed in this manner. The motives Sometimes, upskirt videographers or photographers are simply doing it for a thrill or on a dare from friends. However, such actions may also indicate a mental disorder. A psychiatrist in Singapore explains that the act could be part of a voyeuristic disorder where the offender frequently takes upskirt footage over a prolonged period. The idea behind taking the photos or videos is to achieve sexual arousal, either during the photography session or later on, when the offender reviews the photos at home. In some cases, these photography sessions may progress to an obsession, and the perpetrator may take more aggressive action, stalking or harassing the victim. The consequences At first glance, it may seem that the act of upskirting is fairly harmless, resulting in no direct bodily harm to the woman. However, studies show that women who are the victims of upskirting often feel violated and targeted. They may feel nervous and jumpy when they are going about their normal business during the day, and they may be more suspicious of strange men nearby. If these heightened feelings of suspicion and anxiety continue for a few weeks or more, victims of an upskirt photographer may be required to visit a counsellor or psychiatrist. Underlying mental issues
of the perpetrator Men who find themselves obsessed with taking upskirt photos should also consult with a mental health professional. According to psychiatrists, the habit often begins with a pornography addiction that becomes stale. To keep obtaining the same level of sexual stimulation, the user progresses to the taking of live-action upskirt images. With proper mental health care, men who struggle with this compulsion can find ways to channel and control these feelings so that they can avoid traumatising or harming anyone. The law Upskirting is a criminal offence in the UK and Australia and several other countries. Perpetrators could face extended periods behind bars if found guilty. In Sri Lanka, the law surrounding such molestation is still sketchy.
When garbage is music to the ears Brad Allgood, whose unique movie with a timely message on the environment, Landfill Harmonic will be screened today at the Viharamadevi Park, talks to Yomal Senerath-Yapa View(s): View(s):
Deep in the rain forest of Nicaragua live the Mayangnas, a people of the mist. The music of this isolated forest people had never before been recorded by sound engineers. The first expedition that set out on the task was followed by Brad Allgood. The filmmaker recalls their venture into the region known ominously as Mosquito Coast. Their dug-out canoe would get stuck in the river as darkness spread, and the only option was to sleep in a house on the steep, muddy river bank, below which 26 pigs squealed in mortal terror of two jaguars crouching atop a jungle tree. We managed to sleep about 10 minutes, Brad marvels.
Then there was the time, again in the Nicaraguan rain forest, when a type two hurricane flew about in fury all around them, bringing down trees. The team managed to escape and recorded the adventure on the next film Brad would be bringing out: Patrol, the story of the Rama Indians fighting for their traditional territory against infringing cattle ranchers.
Brad Allgood is happy to share these tales of adventure, here in Colombo as part of the American Film Showcase, the film diplomacy programme of the USAs State Department. This is the first time the programme is visiting Sri Lanka, Jennifer Phan of the AFS says, and they wish to highlight Brads highly acclaimed movie, Landfill Harmonic.
Brad, despite a gruff ginger beard and mustache, is gentle and handsome. He had always had a deep interest in behaviour change, and was in public health communications when he stumbled upon the idea of filmmaking as a concrete way to affect behaviour change.
Standing out in Brads filmography is the unusual film Landfill Harmonic. It is the story of the recycled orchestra of Cateura, a small community outside the capital city of Asuncion, Paraguay. The instruments they play are entirely made from garbage. It is the kind of story that filmmakers crave, but takes a rare eye to hunt down. Both entertaining and educational, it looks at the power of music as a tool for transformation, as well as the message of believing in yourself, not giving up your dreams, and making the most out of what you have in life.
Brad calls the movie an audience pleaser with a playfully affectionate smile. It had a great reception worldwide, appealing to many demographics: children, adults, students, teachers. For Brad it was a great source of inspiration, while he was making it and afterwards. Motivating, entertaining and fun, funny, heart warming- with surprises and twists, the movie has gone around the world through 200 odd festivals- I honestly cant remember exactly how many, Brad smiles apologetically.
It gave him the signal honour of winning the Humanitas Prize for 2016, an accolade that celebrates television programmes and films that tell stories that change the world. Landfill Harmonic in fact beat Citizenfour, the 2015 Academy winner for best documentary feature.
However, his favourite film was one he did in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Titled The Story of Abby and Kyalu, the film chronicled the story of a husband and wife abducted by rebels in 2008. Abby was forced into hard labour and Kyalu, his wife, was raped, and had a child as a result. Once they returned home, Abby sent Kyalu away. The film records how, through a group therapy programme, Abby was then able to change his behaviour. It turned out to be a touching story with moving emotions.
Brads filmography makes for a long list, including such unique works as My Village, My Lobster on the indigenous lobster divers in Nicaragua. They address diverse issues, and not just the burning, urgent ones. One film in the pipeline for example is on Doc Severinsen, the band leader from Johnny Carsons Tonight Show, still playing the trumpet and touring at 91 years. Exploring his life through his music career, the film is about how to live a vibrant life to the end.
Brad says he would like to move from the niche of documentary and feature films to narrative films. The transition would be slow though. His advice to novice filmmakers is that in the end, it all comes down to storytelling. By watching films you enjoy and reading books about stories, you learn to craft a sound story. Practise, and find people who are doing what you want to be doing; shadow them; find a mentor. Find like-minded people, work together and dont give up. Work hard and put in the effort and you can make it happen. Just as, after harrowing journeys into the heart of wild Nicaragua or the concrete jungles of Paraguay, he and his team would come up with movies which were to have deep social impact the world over.
Brad Allgoods acclaimed film Landfill Harmonic will be screened today, October 7, at 5 p.m. at the open air theatre of the Viharamahadevi Park. The screening is open to all and will be supported with subtitles in English, Sinhala and Tamil. Keeping with the theme of the film, there will also be a stall specializing in products made with recycled waste.
Munich betrayal was followed by 1939 Soviet betrayal Letters to the Editor View(s): View(s):
This refers to Russian Ambassador Juri Materys article headlined Reflections on 80th anniversary of Munich betrayal (Sunday Times, Sept. 30 2018).
The Russian Ambassador is basically right in criticising the outcome of the 1938 Munich Conference which led to the dismemberment of former Czechoslovakia by Hitlers Germany.
Yet it is hard to fathom that the Ambassador does not mention a single word about another betrayal barely 11 months later: on August 23, 1939, the so-called Hitler-Stalin Pact was signed by the Soviet foreign ministers Vyacheslav Molotov and Nazi Germanys Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop (see pic), whereby the two dictators, Hitler and Stalin, not only entered into a non-aggression agreement but also divided Eastern Europe into spheres of interest. Only one week later, Hitler invaded Poland, thus starting the Second World War, and almost simultaneously Stalins troops occupied Eastern Poland. There Soviet troops some months later killed over 10,000 Polish officers in Katyn who had surrendered and been taken as prisoners.
Moreover, while Hitlers Germany invaded Western Europe, several months later, Stalins troops annexed the independent Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, plus parts of Finland and Romania (Bessarabia). The brutal invasion resulted in the sending of thousands of citizens from these annexed countries to Stalins infamous Gulag prison camps where millions of interned Soviet citizens also suffered. Only when Hitler invaded Russia in June 1941 did the anti-Hitler coalition come into being. That is the complete historical reality.
When the Russian Ambassador refers at the end of his article to the need for respect for the principles set down in the United Nations Charter, his words do not match the current reality. Just four years ago, in 2014, Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine although in 1994 Russia had guaranteed Ukraines territorial integrity. Moreover, Russian-supported militia still occupy large areas in Eastern Ukraine. As a consequence of this, the EU, the USA and Canada have imposed sanctions against Russia. So much for Russias respect for UN principles like national sovereignty and non-interference!
Jorn Rohde, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany
The disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi: Saudis let Turkey to search consulate View(s):
RIYADH (Reuters) Saudi Arabia will allow Turkey to search its consulate in Istanbul for prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing for days after entering the diplomatic mission earlier this week. The premises are sovereign territory, but we will allow them to enter and search and do whatever they want to do. We have nothing to hide, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a Bloomberg interview published on Friday.
He said Khashoggi had left the building not long after he entered. Asked if Khashoggi faces charges in Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed said it was first important to discover where he was.
If hes in Saudi Arabia, I would know that, he added.Human rights groups have called on Saudi Arabia to verify Khashoggis whereabouts after Turkish and Saudi authorities offered conflicting accounts of his disappearance, with Ankara saying there is no evidence he left the diplomatic mission and Riyadh saying that he exited the same day.
Khashoggi, who has lived in self-exile in Washington for the past year fearing retribution for his critical views, entered the consulate on Tuesday to secure documentation for a forthcoming marriage, according to his fiance, who waited outside.If Saudi Arabia had detained Khashoggi without acknowledging it, his detention would constitute an enforced disappearance, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. It called on Turkey to deepen its investigation into the case.
The burden of proof is on Saudi Arabia to produce evidence for its claim that Khashoggi left the consulate alone, and that Saudi agents have not detained him, said Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson.Press freedom watchdogs also raised red flags, while the Washington Post, which has regularly featured Khashoggis writing since last year, published a blank space where his column would normally appear.
Given the Saudi authorities pattern of quietly detaining critical journalists, Khashoggis failure to emerge from the Saudi consulate on the day he entered is a cause for alarm, said Sherif Mansour, Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists. Sophie Anmuth, head of the Middle East desk for Reporters Without Borders, called on both governments to ensure Khashoggi reappears quickly.
Until otherwise demonstrated, he is still inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and the Saudi authorities are responsible for his safety and well-being, she said in a statement. Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggis fiance, told Reuters he had been concerned about a crackdown on dissent in the kingdom, but assumed he was safe outside the country.
Turan Kilak, a friend who heads the Arab Turkish Media Association, said Khashoggi received assurances from Saudi officials before his visit that he could enter safely.Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters that Khashoggi remained in the consulate and the authorities were negotiating with the Saudis to resolve the issue.
The consulate said it was working with the Turkish government to uncover the circumstances of his disappearance.Khashoggi is a familiar face on political talk shows on Arab satellite television networks and used to advise Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to the United States and Britain.
Over the past year, he has written columns inveighing against Saudi policies towards Qatar and Canada, the war in Yemen and a crackdown on dissent which has seen dozens of people detained. Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt said the newspaper had reached out to anyone we think might be able to help locate him and assure his safety, including U.S., Turkish and Saudi officials.
Saudi Arabia is ranked 169th out of 180 countries in RSFs 2018 World Press Freedom Index, a few places behind Turkey. All public protests are banned in the kingdom, as are political parties.
Yemen war: UN investigation mission is only hope to address horrific crimes View(s):
GENEVA, Switzerland The UN Human Rights Councils decision last week to renew an investigation into possible war crimes committed by parties involved in the Yemen conflict brought a faint glimmer of hope on a bloody war that the international community seems to have long forgotten.
It is difficult, however, to say whether the extension of the mandate of the UN experts, who are looking into human rights violations, will force the warring factions to sit at the negotiating table. Given the disastrous situation in Yemen, this seems the only hope the country can cling to right now.
A turn for the worse
After the UN-sponsored talks between the warring parties failed to take place in early September, fears mounted that the conflict may irremediably take a turn for the worse, as if the cholera outbreak and the famine threatening some 22 million people werent bad enough.
The continuation of the investigative mission led by UN experts, despite accusations of bias and lack of independence by the Saudis and the Emiratis, is perhaps the only tool left to wake up the world to the tragedy of Yemen and keep the consciences of the parties in check.
The UN investigation led by the Tunisian, Kamel Jendoubi, has brought to surface horrific crimes committed by the Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni government forces on one side, and the Houthi rebel forces on the other.
But the councils renewal of Jendoubis mandate succeeded by a razor-thin three votes, with a majority of Arab and African countries voting against it or abstaining. A no vote would have meant giving regional players and their proxies a free hand to butcher countless Yemenis virtually undisturbed.
The vote showed how divisive the decision was and how the war on Yemen remains a controversial terrain where geopolitical interests of the three key players, Saudi Arabia and the US on one side and Iran on the other, will continue to clash in Yemen as well as in other conflicts of the Middle East.
Some Western countries and in particular the US, UK, France and Spain, have come under increasing criticism for their arms sales to Saudi Arabia, with Amnesty International saying they should also be held accountable for war crimes in Yemen. Two of them, the UK and Spain, sitting on the council, voted in favour of the mandate.
Horrific crimes
The work which Jendoubi and his colleagues hope to continue has so far investigated violations committed between September 2014 and June 2018.
From the recruitment of child soldiers to the creation of torture prisons, to the random kidnappings of women and children who are sexually abused and sold, the UN experts produced a report, titled Situation of human rights in Yemen, including violations and abuses since September 2014, that tells of Islamic State group-like practices performed by Saudi and Emirati defence forces and their proxies.
The report unequivocally blames both the Arab coalition and the Yemeni government as well as the Houthis of committing horrific crimes in Yemen, suggesting they may constitute war crimes under international law.
The coalition, according to the report, is using systematic torture and rape against prisoners and civilians, recruiting child soldiers and using blockades of food and fuel as collective punishments that have brought the countrys population on the brink of famine.
The Houthis, who are a minority Shia group allegedly backed by Iran, are indiscriminately using weapons with wide area effects in a situation of urban warfare, in particular in the besieged area of Taiz. They also stand accused of practising torture of prisoners, persecuting minorities and recruiting child soldiers as young as eight.
The findings are unequivocal: individuals in the government of Yemen, from among coalitions members including Saudi Arabia and the UAE and from the de facto authorities [the Houthis], have committed acts that, subject to determination by a competent court, may amount to international crimes, said Kate Gilmore, deputy high commissioner for human rights.
The military campaign
Since 2015 Saudi Arabia has been leading a military campaign in Yemen with the logistical support of the UK and the US, aimed at reinstating the legitimate government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, after the Houthis took control of the north of the country and the capital Sanaa.
In retaliation for the Houthis launch of ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia, since 2015 the coalition has imposed a blockade of Yemeni sea and land ports, thus disrupting the distribution of food, fuel and medicines amongst other essential goods. Prior to the conflict, Yemen imported nearly 90 per cent of its food, medical supplies and fuel.
As a result, about 22 million out of a population of 29.3 million are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, including 11.3 million in acute need. Some 2.9 million children and women are acutely malnourished, and less than 50 per cent of health facilities are functioning in the country, with 18 districts with no doctors. Clean water is less accessible and Yemen is suffering from the largest outbreak of cholera in recent history.
Coalition air strikes have caused most of the documented civilian casualties, so far. In the past three years, such air strikes have hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities, the UN experts said.
According to UN figures, from March 2015 to June 2018, there were at least 16,706 civilian casualties, with 6,475 killed and 10,231 injured in the conflict. However, the real figure is likely to be significantly higher.
- Barbara Bibbo is an Italian journalist living between Doha and Geneva. She has worked at Al Jazeera English for eight years, doing extensive research on international issues and world-leading figures for the Talk to Al Jazeera show.
Courtesy the Middle East Eye. A longer version of the article appears on www.middleeasteye.net
The Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it was "ridiculous" for Washington to characterize China's regular exchanges with the US as interference, after US Vice-President Mike Pence accused Beijing of meddling in American politics.
"It is very ridiculous for the US side to stigmatize its normal exchanges and cooperation with China as China interfering in its internal affairs and elections," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.
"China always follows the principle of noninterference in others' internal affairs, and we have no interest in meddling in US internal affairs and elections," Hua said.
"The international community has already known fully well who wantonly infringes upon others' sovereignty, interferes in others' internal affairs and undermines others' interests. Any malicious slander on China is futile," the statement said.
Pence's speech "made unwarranted accusations against China's domestic and foreign policies and slandered China by claiming that China meddles in US internal affairs and elections", Hua said.
"This is nothing but speaking on hearsay evidence, confusing right and wrong and creating something out of thin air. The Chinese side is firmly opposed to it," she said.
In Washington on Thursday, Pence said in a speech at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, that China was using "wedge issues" such as tariffs to advance its political influence in the US and globally. He accused China of seeking to sway the US midterm elections on Nov 6, in retaliation for US trade policies against Beijing.
Hua said China's policy toward the US is "consistent and clear-cut".
"We are committed to joining hands with the US to work for nonconflict, nonconfrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation," she said.
"We urge the US to correct its wrongdoing, stop groundlessly accusing and slandering China and harming China's interests and China-US ties, and take concrete actions to maintain the sound and steady development of China-US relations," she added.
Pence also credited the US for China's rapid development, noting that China has become the world's second-largest economy.
"Much of this success was driven by American investment in China," he said.
Hua said China's development is mainly due to the Chinese people's hard work and its mutually beneficial cooperation with countries around the world.
Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to the US, said China wants to end the trade conflict, but the US position keeps changing, "so we don't know exactly what the US would want as priorities".
"We are ready to make a deal. We are ready to make some compromise, but it needs the goodwill from both sides," Cui said in an interview with National Public Radio on Wednesday.
Cui said he does not see sufficient goodwill from the US.
"We offered to reduce the trade deficit of the United States, for instance. And we also presented a very good proposal to the US side about the further reform and opening-up in China, some of the so-called structural issues," he said.
"Then 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 the US changed. So this is very confusing, and this is making things very difficult," he said.
Cui also spoke about the South China Sea.
"We have sovereignty over many of the islands in the South China Sea. And this has been a long-standing position of China," he said.
Cui said that at the end of World War II, the then-Chinese government, with the help of US naval ships, took back the islands from Japan.
"It was American naval ships that sent Chinese troops to take back these islands from Japan. So we have a long-standing sovereignty over these islands, but we are also aware there are some territorial disputes," Cui said.
"And now we're ready to work with other countries to have negotiations to have a final solution to such disputes," he said. "We understand this will take a long time, 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.
"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," Cui said. "So I just hope that the United States will join our efforts, will be helpful, not try to disrupt the process toward peaceful negotiations."
People's Daily, in an opinion article published on Friday on its website, said US leaders' recent unwarranted accusations regarding China's internal and foreign policies are outdated and full of mistakes.
The US accusations distort facts and confuse right and wrong, and are full of factual and logical errors that don't conform to the times, it said, describing the US positions as "numerous absurd arguments".
Georges Mihaies, a member of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Task Force at UNESCO, said the US administration's harshness toward China is a temporary thing, since the two sides have many shared interests.
Jon R. Taylor, professor of political science at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, said Pence's claim that China is attempting to tilt the US midterm elections against Trump is laughable.
"After all, it was the US, not China, that initiated a series of massive tariffs and trade restrictions. To then turn around and claim that China is trying to influence the midterm elections because it responded to US tariffs is ludicrous," he said.
Indonesia mulls leaving quake-flattened villages as mass graves
Palu, Indonesia, Oct 6 (AFP) Oct 06, 2018
More bodies were unearthed from the earthquake-and-tsunami-ravaged Indonesian city of Palu on Saturday, as authorities move closer to calling off the search for the dead trapped under flattened communities and declaring them mass graves.
Officials said Saturday the death toll had climbed to 1,649 with more than a thousand feared still missing in the seaside city on Sulawesi island.
More than 82,000 military and civilian personnel, as well as volunteers, have descended on the devastated city, where relief groups say clean water and medical supplies are in short supply.
After days of delays, international aid has slowly begun trickling into the disaster zone where the UN says almost 200,000 people need humanitarian assistance.
But hopes of finding anyone alive a full eight days later have all but faded, as the search for survivors morphs into a grim gathering of the dead.
At the massive Balaroa government housing complex, where the sheer force of the quake turned the earth temporarily to mush, soldiers wearing masks to ward off the stench of death clambered over the giant mounds of mud, brick and cement.
Vast numbers of decomposing bodies could still be buried beneath this once-thriving neighbourhood, the search and rescue agency said.
Two soldiers who are part of the search emerged from a ditch with a body bag sagging in the middle but looking too light to be a corpse -- they said they had found the heads of two adults and one child.
"There are no survivors here. We just find bodies, every day," said Sergeant Syafaruddin, from an army unit in Makassar south of Palu, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
- Health fears -
At the flattened Hotel Roa-Roa -- where early optimism that survivors might be found faded as the days wore on -- rescuers reviewed CCTV footage to get a sense of where the doomed guests could be buried.
In Petobo -- another village all but wiped off the map -- teams struggled to extract bodies from the muck, often dislodging limbs loosened by decomposition after more than a week exposed to the elements.
The search for survivors has not officially been called off.
But security minister Wiranto said the government had been discussing with local leaders and religious figures as to when the worst-hit areas would be declared mass graves, and left untouched.
"We have to make a decision as to when the search for the dead will end. Then, we later must decide when the area will be designated a mass grave," he told reporters late Friday.
Concerns are growing that decomposing bodies could pose a ticking time-bomb for public health.
"Most of the bodies we have found are not intact, and that poses a danger for the rescuers. We have to be very careful to avoid contamination," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told AFP from Palu.
"We have vaccinated our teams, but we need to be extra cautious."
Thousands of survivors continued to stream out of Palu to nearby cities in the aftermath of the disaster.
Hospitals remain overstretched and short on staff and supplies.
In Karawana village, nurse Iyong Lamatowa can offer little more than antibiotics and painkillers to treat those flocking to a makeshift clinic with badly-infected wounds.
Project HOPE, a medical NGO, said only two of its 82 staff in Palu had reported for duty since the quake.
"We still don't know the fate of the clinic doctors, nurses and technicians who usually staff the clinic," the organisation said in a statement.
A floating hospital run by the Indonesian navy and docked in Palu has already assisted with the delivery of four babies.
One named her child Suharsi, after the ship that helped deliver her baby -- the KRI Dr Soeharso.
- Short supplies -
Survivors have ransacked shops and supply trucks in the hunt for basic necessities, prompting security forces to round up dozens of suspected looters and warn that they will open fire on thieves.
Hundreds of people Saturday rushed a truck transporting gas cylinders for cooking while a supermarket that opened for business under military guard refused to allow people inside, instead passing goods through the door.
A convoy of five hundred trucks laden with donated food, cooking oil and other essentials was on its way to Palu, agriculture minister Amran Sulaiman said in the devastated city on Saturday.
"Palu's ordeal is grief for all of us and that's why everyone is lending a hand to help," he said.
The United Nations said Friday it was seeking $50.5 million "for immediate relief" to help victims.
Getting vital supplies to the affected areas has proved hugely challenging, with the number of flights able to land at Palu's small airport still limited, leaving aid workers facing gruelling overland journeys.
Oxfam had sent water treatment units and purification kits to Palu and Swiss aid teams on the ground were providing drinking water and emergency shelter, both said in statements Saturday.
Indonesia sits along the world's most tectonically active region, and its 260 million people are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
Brief History of Assyrians
Peter BetBasoo
Revised on November 1, 2013
Geography
Assyria is located in north Mesopotamia and spans four countries: In Syria it extends west to the Euphrates river; in Turkey it extends north to Harran, Edessa, Diyarbakir, and Lake Van; in Iran it extends east to Lake Urmi, and in Iraq it extends to about 100 miles south of Kirkuk. This is the Assyrian heartland, from which so much of the ancient Near East came to be controlled.
Two great rivers run through Assyria, the Tigris and the Euhprates, and many lesser ones, the most important of which being the Upper Zab and Lower Zab, both tributaries to the Tigris. Strategically surrounding the Tigris and the two Zabs are the Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Ashur, Arbel, Nimrod and Arrapkha.
To the north and east of Assyria lie the Taurus and Zagros mountains. To the west and south lies a great, low limestone plateau. At the southern end of Assyria the gravel plains give way to alluvium deposited by the Tigris, and farther south there is insufficient rainfall for agriculture without irrigation. These two features create a geogrpahical boundary between Assyria and the neighboring land to the south.
To the south of Baghdad lies Babylon. There is a stark geographical distinction between Babylonia and Assyria. To quote Saggs,
A journey in spring from Baghdad, the capital of modern Iraq and within the Area of Ancient Babylonia, to Mosul [Nineveh], which is near several old Assyrian capitals, takes the traveller into what is manifestly a different country. In the region of Baghdad and southwards the predominant vegetation is palm trees. . .The terrain is flat to the horizon, and for most of the year its sun-parched earth is arid and dead wherever irrigation ditches do not reach. Approaching Mosul [Nineveh] the traveller finds a striking change. The flat terrrain gives way to undulating plains, in spring green with pasturage or cereal crop and gay and scented with flowers and clover. The rolling plains are cut with wadis, aflow after spring rains, with higher ranges of hills on the horizon. The traveller has reached Assyria. [Might that was Assyria, page 5]
The Assyrian land is rich and fertile, with growing fields found in every region. Two large areas comprise the Assyrian breadbasket: the Arbel plain and the Nineveh plain. To this day these areas remain critical crop producers. This is from where Assyria derived her strength, as it could feed a large population of professionals and craftsmen, which allowed it to expand and advance the art of civilization.
Racial Type
Assyrians are a Semitic peoples indigenous to Mesopotamia. They are Mediterranean Caucasoids, and are ethnically distinct from Arabs and Jews.
Language
Assyrians have used two languages throughout their history: ancient Assyrian (Akkadian), and Modern Assyrian (neo-syriac). Akkadian was written with the cuneiform writing system, on clay tablets, and was in use from the beginning to about 750 B.C.. By 750 B.C., a new way of writing, on parchment, leather, or papyrus, was developed, and the people who brought this method of writing with them, the Arameans, would eventually see their language, Aramaic, supplant Ancient Assyrian because of the technological breakthrough in writing. Aramaic was made the second official language of the Assyrian empire in 752 B.C. Although Assyrians switched to Aramaic, it was not wholesale transplantation. The brand of Aramaic that Assyrians spoke was, and is, heavily infused with Akkadian words, so much so that scholars refer to it as Assyrian Aramaic.
Religion
Assyrians have practiced two religions throughout their history: Ashurism and Christianity. Ashurism was, of course, the first religion of the Assyrians. The very word Assyrian, in its Latin form, derives from the name of Ashur, the Assyrian god. Assyrians continued to practice Ashurism until 256 A.D, although by that time, most Assyrians had accepted Christianity. Indeed, Assyrians were the first nation to accept Christianity, and the Assyrian Church was founded in 33 A.D. by Thomas, Bortholemew and Thaddeus.
History of Assyrians
It is convenient to divide Assyrian history into six periods:
Emergence: Beginnings To 2400 B.C. First Golden Age: 2400 B.C. to 612 B.C. First Dark Age: 612 B.C. to 33 A.D. Second Golden Age: 33 A.D. to 1300 A.D. Second Dark Age: 1300 A.D. to 1918 A.D. Diaspora: 1918 A.D. To The Present
Emergence: Beginnings To 2400 B.C.
In 1932, Sir Max Mallowan, the eminent British archaeologist, dug a deep sounding which reached virgin soil ninety feet below the top of the mound of Nineveh; this gave a pottery sequence back to prehistoric times and showed that the site was already inhabited by 5000 B.C.. Very soon after that, the two other great Assyrian cities were settled, Ashur and Arbel, although an exact date has yet to be determined. Arbel is the oldest extant city, and remains largely unexcavated, its archaeological treasures waiting to be discovered. The same holds for Ashur. It is clear that by 2500 B.C., these three cities were well established and were thriving metropoli.
This period of history saw the development of the fundamentals of our civilization: animal domestication, agriculture, pottery, controllable fire (kilns), smelting, to name but a few. As regards Assyrians, because of it rich corn fields, Arbel was one of the very earliest permanent agricultural settlements.
Between 4500 and 2400 B.C., complex societies appear in the form of cities, with craft specialization and writing. These features were associated with the Sumerians, but they quickly spread to other parts of Mesopotamia, including Assyria. In Assyria, settlements had become large and guarded by fortifications walls, which implies the risk of attack from outside, and hence the need for defense and warfare.
First Golden Age: 2400 B.C. to 612 B.C.
We enter into an extremely fruitful period in Assyrian History. This period would see 1800 years of Assyrian hegemony over Mesopotamia, beginning with Sargon of Akkad in 2371 B.C. and ending with the tragic fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C.
Sargon of Akkad established his kingdom in 2371 B.C., becoming the first king to assert control outside of his city-state. His model would be followed by all succeeding empires, down to our times. From his base at Akkad, south of Baghdad, Sargon would come to control territories stretching north to Ashur and west to the Mediterranean.
Shamshi-Adad I would establish his kingdom in 1813 B.C. Shamshi-Adad forever united the three cities of Ashur, Nineveh and Arbel into one cohesive unit, and brought Arrapkha firmly into the Assyrian sphere, so that henceforth these four cities, and Nimrod, would constitute the very core of Assyria. Under Shamshi-Adad I, the long established Assyrian merchant colonies of Cappadocia saw renewed activity. Shamshi-Adad accomplished this through his administrative efficiency and political skill.
In 1472 B.C. or there about, a Mittanian king annexed Assyria, and this lasted for about 70 years. Mittanian control was decisively thrown off by about 1365 B.C. by Ashuruballit, who laid the foundation of the first Assyrian empire. Invaders from the Taurus mountains, north of Assyria, posed a significant threat to Assyria, and occupied Arik-den-ili for a number of years, but were successfully repelled, paving the way for Adad-narari (1307 B.C.) to establish the first Assyrian empire, which lasted until approximately 1248 B.C.
A new power from south-west Iran, the Elamites, would assert control over Babylon for 30 years. This affected Assyria slightly. The death of Ashurdan in 1135 B.C. brough instability as his two sons vyed for the crown. Their terms only lasted one year, and Ashur-resh-ishi I ascended to the thrown in 1133 B.C.
The Middle Assyrian empire began in 1307 B.C. with Tiglath-Pileser, who greatly expanded Assyrian territory. It is also during his reign that a significant development occurs, that of the Aramean migrations into Assyria. This would have a profound impact on Assyria and Assyrians, as we shall see. Tiglath-Pileser states "I crossed the Euphrates twenty eight times...in pursuit of the Arameans." This would ultimately prove unsuccessful.
Tiglath-Pileser was not only a military man, but also a sportsman. Upon reaching the Mediterranean, he took the time, he tells us, to go dolphin hunting. He also established several zoos in Assyria, as he had a fascination with foreign animals.
The Aramean problem persisted during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser's successor and son, Ashur-bel-kala 1074-1057), who tells us that the Arameans were penetrating deep into Assyrian territory, including Tur Abdin, Harran and Khabur. For the next century Assyria declined, the Aramean disruptions being the principal cause. It was not until 934 B.C., by which time the Arameans had settled into stable kingdoms in Mesopotamia, that Assyria would reemerge.
Ashur-dan II would concentrate on rebuilding Assyria within its natural borders, from Tur Abdin to the foothills beyond Arbel. He built government offices in all provinces, and as an economic boost, provided ploughs throughout the land, which yielded record grain production. He was followed by four able kings, who used the foundation which he had laid to make Assyria the major world power of its time.
The four Kings that followed Ashur-dan II were Adad-nerari II (his son), Tukulti-Ninurta II, Ashur-nasir-pal II, and Shalmaneser III. Adad-nerari would provide the final solution to the Aramean problem. He defeated the paramount Aramean chief at Nisibin and, marching up and down the Khabur, he obtained formal submissions from a series of Aramean controlled cities.
Ashur-nasir-pal II would bring under Assyrian control the area from south Lebanon to the Zagros mountains, with loose control over the Taurus region. Diyarbekr was under direct Assyrian control.
Skipping ahead to Shamshi-Adad V, and I mention him because his wife was none other than Sammurammat, or Shamiram, whom so many Assyrian woman are named after today. There is a stele about her, it says:
Stele of Sammurammat
Queen of Shamshi-Adad
King of all, king of Ashur
mother of Adad-nerari
King of all, king of Ashur
Daughter-in-law [kalta] of Shalmaneser
King of the four regions
We come now to the beginning of greatest expansion of the Assyian empire with Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727); through a series of able kings, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Ashurbnaipal, Assyria would extend its rule over a vast area, from Egypt up to cyprus to the west, through Anatolia, to the Caspian in the east.
The Assyrian empires, particularly the third one, had a profound and lasting impact on the Near East. Before Assyrian hegemony would come to an end, the Assyrians would bring the highest civilization to the then known world. From the Caspian to Cyprus, from Anatolia to Egypt, Assyrian imperial expansion would bring into the Assyrian sphere nomadic and barbaric communities, and would bestow the gift of civilization upon them.
And though today we are far removed from that time, some of our most basic and fundamental devices of daily survival, to which we have become so accustomed that we cannot conceive of life without them, originated in Assyria. One cannot imagine leaving his home without locking the door; it is in Assyria where locks and keys were first used. One cannot survive in this world without knowing the time; it is in Assyria that the sexagesimal system of keeping time was developed. One cannot imagine driving without paved roads; it is in Assyria where paved roads were first used. And the list goes on, including the first postal system, the first use of iron, the first magnifying glasses, the first libraries, the first plumbing and flush toilets, the first electric batteries, the first guitars, the first aqueducts, the first arch, and on and on.
But it is not only things that originated in Assyria, it is also ideas, ideas that would shape the world to come. It is the idea, for example, of imperial administration, of dividing the land into territories administered by local governors who report to the central authority, the King of Assyria. This fundamental model of administration has survived to this day, as can be seen in America's federal-state system.
It is in Assyria where the mythological foundation of the old and new testament is found. It is here that the story of the flood originates, 2000 years before the old testament is written. It is here that the first epic is written, the Epic of Gilgamesh, with its universal and timeless theme of the struggle and purpose of humanity. It is here that civilization itself is developed and handed down to future generations. It is here where the first steps in the cultural unification of the Middle East are taken by bringing under Assyrian rule the diverse groups in the area, from Iran to Egypt, breaking down ethnic and national barriers and preparing the way for the cultural unification which facilitated the subsequent spread of Hellenism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
First Dark Age: 612 B.C. to 33 A.D.
The Assyrian empire collapsed in 612 B.C. The Assyrian people survived the loss of their state, and they remained mostly inconspicuous for the next 600 years. The Persians mention employing Assyrians as troops, and there is the failed attempt at reestablishing an Assyrian Kingdom in 350 B.C.; the Persians squelched this attempt and castrated 400 Assyrian leaders as punishment.
Second Golden Age: 33 A.D. to 1300 A.D.
Assyrians continued living in their homeland throughout this dark age, until that momentous moment in human history, when the Lord Son of God gave himself for the salvation of mankind. Very soon after the crucifixion, the bulk of the Assyrian population converted to Christianity, although there remained to be Ashurites, until 256 A.D. It was the Apostle Thomas, with Thaddeus and Bartholomew who came to the Assyrian city of Edessa and founded the Assyrian Church of the East, the first and oldest church in the world.
Armed with the word of God, and after 600 years of dormancy, the Assyrians once again set out to build an empire, not a military empire, but a religious empire founded on divine revelation and Christian brotherhood. So successful was the Assyrian missionary enterprise, by the end of the twelfth century the Assyrian Church was larger than the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches combined, and it spanned the Asian continent, from Syria to Mongolia, Korea, China, Japan and the Philippines.
When Marco Polo visited China in the thirteenth century, he was astonished to find Assyrian priests in the Chinese royal court, and tens of thousands of Chinese Christians. The Assyrian missionaries had reached China in the sixth century. With only the bible, a cross, and a loaf of bread in hand, these messengers had walked thousands of miles along the old silk road to deliver the word of God. So successful were the missionaries, when Genghis Khan swept through Asia, he brought with him an army over half of which belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East. So successful were the missionaries, the first Mongolian system of writing used the Assyrian alphabet.
Armed with the word of God, Assyrians once again transformed the face of the Middle East. In the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries they began a systematic translation of the Greek body of knowledge into Assyrian. At first they concentrated on the religious works but then quickly moved to science, philosophy and medicine. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Galen, and many others were translated into Assyrian, and from Assyrian into Arabic. It is these Arabic translations which the Moors brought with them into Spain, and which the Spaniards translated into Latin and spread throughout Europe, thus igniting the European renaissance.
By the sixth century A.D., Assyrians had begun exporting back to Byzantia their own works on science, philosophy and medicine. In the field of medicine, the Bakhteesho Assyrian family produced nine generations of physicians, and founded the great medical school at Gundeshapur. Also in the area of medicine, Hunayn ibn-Ishaq*s textbook on ophthalmology, written in 950 A.D., remained the authoritative source on the subject until 1800 A.D.
In the area of philosophy, the Assyrian philosopher Job of Edessa developed a physical theory of the universe, in the Assyrian language, that rivaled Aristotle*s theory, and that sought to replace matter with forces.
One of the greatest Assyrian achievements of the fourth century was the founding of the first university in the world. The School of Nisibis had three departments: theology, philosophy and medicine, and became a magnet and center of intellectual development in the Middle East. The statutes of the School of Nisibis, which have been preserved, later became the model upon which the first Italian university was based.
When Arabs and Islam swept through the Middle East in 630 A.D., they encountered 600 years of Assyrian Christian civilization, with a rich heritage, a highly developed culture, and advanced learning institutions. It is this civilization which became the foundation of the Arab civilization.
But this great Assyrian Christian civilization would come to an end in 1300 A.D. The tax which the Arabs levied on Christians, simply for just being Christian, forced many Assyrians to convert to Islam to avoid the tax; this inexorably drained the community, so that by the time Timurlane the Mongol delivered the final blow in 1300 A.D., by violently destroying most cities in the Middle East, the Assyrian Christian community had dwindled to its core in Assyria, and henceforth the Assyrian Church of the East would not regain its former glory, and the Assyrian language, which had been the lingua franca of the Middle East until 900 A.D., was completely supplanted by Arabic (except amongst the Assyrians). This, from 1300 A.D. until World War One, became the second Assyrian dark age.
Second Dark Age: 1300 A.D. to 1918 A.D.
The Assyrian missionary enterprise, which had been so successful throughout the Asian continent, came to an abrupt end with the coming of Timurlane the Mongol. The indiscriminate destruction leveled by Timurlane against the civilizations he encountered put to a permanent end the Assyrian missionary enterprise. A large segment of the Assyrian population escaped the ravages of Timurlane by fleeing into the Hakkary mountains (present day eastern Turkey); the remaining Assyrians continued to live in their homelands (presently North Iraq and Syria), and Urmi. The four Assyrian communities, over time, begin defining themselves in terms of their church affiliation. The western Assyrians, all of whom belonging to the Syriac Orthodox Church, began identifying themselves as "Jacobites". The remaining communities belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East. After the division of the Church of the East in 1550 A.D., the Chaldean Church of Babylon, a Roman Catholic Uniate, was created, and members of this church began to call themselves Chaldean. By the end of the nineteenth century, these three communities no longer saw themselves as one and the same.
Diaspora: 1918 A.D. To The Present
In this century, Assyrians have suffered massive genocide, have lost control of their ancestral lands, and are in a struggle for survival. The Assyrian nation today stands at a crossroad. One third of is in a diaspora, while the remaining two-thirds lives perilously in its native lands. These are some of the dangers facing the Assyrians:
Denominationalism and fragmentation Islamic fundamentalism Arabization Cultural immersion and absorption into Arab societies Mass emigration to the West, and absorption into Western societies
Population
For over 6600 years Assyrians lived in their ancestral homeland, but beginning with the Turkish genocide of Assyrians in World War One, which began on April 24, 1915 and claimed 750,000 Assyrian lives (75%) by 1918, Assyrians began moving to the West. Today there are more Assyrians living in the West than in their ancestral homeland, and this exodus has accelerated sharply in the 21st century.
World Assyrian Population Country Population click on a column name to sort
The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nadia Murad, a Yazidi human rights activist and survivor of sexual slavery by Islamic State in Iraq, and Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist treating victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a statement Friday that the award recognizes "their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.''
Murad, 25, is the founder of Nadia's Initiative, an organization devoted to helping women victimized by genocide and other atrocities.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that Murad's "powerful advocacy has touched people across the world and helped to establish a vitally important United Nations investigation of the harrowing crimes that she and so many others endured."
Murad, herself a victim of war crimes, "refused to accept the social codes that require women to remain silent and ashamed of the abuses to which they have been subjected," the Nobel Committee statement said. "She has shown uncommon courage in recounting her own sufferings and speaking up on behalf of other victims."
In 2016, Murad told VOA Kurdish service that violence by Islamic State, or ISIS, against the Yazidis amounts to genocide. "Thousands have been killed -- 5,800 girls, children and women were sold, raped by ISIS... They kidnapped our children in order to train and preach [to] them on ISIS ideology: No future is left for the Yazidis." She said thousands of her people have fled and now live in "miserable" conditions in refugee camps.
Murad called for the Islamic extremists to be held responsible for their actions. "An international tribunal should be formed as soon as possible," she said, "and Yazidis and other minorities who cannot protect themselves should be protected." Murad promised that she would stand up in such a court to make the case for her people. "I will be ready to testify in that court for every child, every woman, that has been raped by ISIS... so that justice can be done," she said.
Activist Murad Ismael, who works with the global Yazidi organization known as Yazda, told VOA on Friday that this year's peace prize brings welcome attention to a crisis that is not over. "We're happy that this is finally being recognized and that the prize will hopefully put the Yazidi situation on the agenda to be discussed, as the Yazidi genocide is still ongoing," he said.
Ismael added that the return of the Yazidis to their homeland is "almost impossible" at this time because northern Iraq is still studded with explosives.
Designer Billy Tjong presented a collection based on tenun doyo hand-woven fabric and sulam tumpar (tumpar embroidery) at the Serenade of Tenun Doyo fashion show on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, Central Jakarta.
Originating from the East Kalimantan regency of West Kutai, tenun doyo is made of doyo plant fibers with patterns inherited from one generation to another, while sulam tumpar is an embroidery technique that mainly uses pop colors with patterns inspired by flora and fauna.
The fashion show consisted of three parts; Madeind x Billy Tjong ready to wear collection, a deluxe collection and a wedding collection with a total of 26 looks. For the ready to wear collection, Billy has collaborated with online shopping platform Madeind for a fall/winter 2018 collection that combines tenun doyo with modern designs and asymmetrical patterns. It is available online with prices starting from Rp 800,000 ($52).
Billy incorporated other materials into the collection as well, including silk, denim and silk organza. Hand-woven fabric can be stiff, so I tried to find a way to apply it to clothes, Billy told The Jakarta Post after the show on Wednesday.
Read also: Preserving the weaving legacy
Hand-woven fabrics usually have their own standard size, but Billy said several tenun doyo were made larger than their normal size for the show. He was also involved in the coloring process together with Lia Candrasari, one of the events initiators. We decided to display the original version of tenun doyo and sulam tumpar this time, said Billy.
The show was part of The Beauty of West Kutai event that includes a book launch for Tenun Doyo dan Sulam Tumpar Seni Wastra Kutai Barat (doyo hand-woven fabric and tumpar embroidery art of West Kutai traditional fabric) by Syahmedi Dean, the Potret Indah Dayak Benuaq (beautiful portrait of Dayak Benuaq) photography exhibition by Honda Tranggono and a screening of The Beauty of West Kutai, a fashion film directed by Reza Bustami. Moreover, the event was the fruit of a collaboration between the West Kutai Handicraft Council (Dekranasda) and entrepreneur Lia Candrasari.
Known as an art and Indonesian culture enthusiast, Lia explained the reason why she wanted to highlight tenun doyo. I saw its potential, Lia said during a press conference on the same day. I saw a traditional fabric that hasnt yet been brought to the public before and its not as popular as batik or songket [a sumptuous cloth interwoven with golden and sometimes silver thread].
Yayuk Seri Rahayu, head of the West Kutai Handicraft Council and wife of West Kuta Regent FX Yapan, said tenun doyo was worn by people from the Dayak Benuaq tribe. They usually wear it for traditional events, but as time goes by we want tenun doyo to be worn by anyone at any events, said Yayuk, adding that they have about 600 tenun doyo makers under the council with Tanjung Isuy village as its center.
For now, Yayuk is focusing on marketing both traditional fabrics in Indonesia, but she has already seen the change in the economic side. The makers are now more active, she said. We also recommend students in West Kutai learn to weave tenun doyo and make sulam tumpar. (mut)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) - Sat, October 6, 2018 21:06 1135 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877653437 1 Entertainment djakarta-warehouse-project,festival,#festival,DWPX,music,#music,Afrojack,Ismaya-Live Free
Electronic music festival the Djakarta Warehouse Project (DWP) is set to return for its 10th edition on Dec. 7 to 9.
However, unlike previous editions, the event returns under a new name, DWPX, and is slated to be held at Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) cultural park in Badung regency, Bali.
Kompas.com reported that the organizer, Ismaya Live, had always wanted to hold the event in other cities, explaining that DWP was a global brand and not limited to Jakarta.
Ismaya Live brand manager Sarah Deshita shared that she had been toying with the idea of holding the festival in Bali since last year.
Since the development of GWK has been completed, I think this is the best time to hold DWP in Bali, said Sarah.
Read also: Djakarta Warehouse Project returns
In regard to the performers, the organizer has announced the first and second phase line-up.
Among the performers are The Weeknd, Major Lazer Soundsystem, DJ snake, Alesso, Dutch DJ Afrojack and Baauer, American record producer best known for hit song Harlem Shake.
In a statement received by The Jakarta Post, Sarah mentioned that they would announce more names in the next two months.
DWPX three-day passes are available on the events official website and other official sellers with a starting price of Rp 1.8 million (US$118.56). (jes/kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang, Banten Sat, October 6, 2018 10:06 1136 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087763f73a 1 Lifestyle Pet-Kingdom,Garda-Satwa-Indonesia,Davina-Veronica,animals,animal-shelter,animal-lover Free
Pet supplies center Pet Kingdom in Alam Sutera, Tangerang, Banten province, has donated 800 kilograms of dog and cat food to animal rescue organization Garda Satwa Indonesia (GSI).
The donation made on Saturday was part of the one-month Care for Paw program, according to kompas.com.
Meutia Kumala, managing director of PT Graha Satwa Paramita, which runs Pet Kingdom, said the program aimed to raise awareness about animals in shelters.
We plan to make this a routine event, with the hope of helping organizations that care for abandoned animals, she added.
Read also: Jakpost guide to all about petsa
GSI CEO Davina Veronica said the group appreciated the gesture.
We hope that this will inspire other people to care for animals in shelters. We would also like to advocate for adoption, instead of buying, as there are many abandoned animals who need homes and affection, she said.
The organization currently houses 40 dogs and 60 cats. The donation from Pet Kingdom will be able to feed the animals for up to four months, said Anisa Ratna Kurnia from GSI. (wng)
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6, 2018 23:03 1135 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877654754 1 Entertainment Joko-Anwar,a-mothers-love,marissa-anita,HBO-Asia,actress,Movie Free
Following her role in the 2017 teen drama Galih dan Ratna (Galih and Ratna), actress Marissa Anita makes her horror debut in Joko Anwars A Mothers Love.
Penned by Joko himself, A Mothers Love follows the story of Murni (Marissa Anita) who discovers mysterious children in an attic. Her life with her son, Jodi (Muzakki Ramdhan), will never be the same as apparently the attic is the hiding place of Wewe Gombel, a female ghost who kidnaps children, and rescuing them means disturbing the ghost.
I never thought Id be in a horror film, said Marissa Anita during a recent press conference in Jakarta, admitting that she actually fears horror movies. But when I read the script, I thought that its more drama than horror, with high emotional levels.
Marissa explained that she did not do any research about the ghost before filming. I asked Joko about everything, he was able to give me the backstory and he really helped me to shape the character of Murni, Marissa said.
Murni is said to be quite a challenging character. She has to maintain her love for her son despite being psychologically and emotionally disturbed by Wewe Gombel. I was inspired by my mother who takes care of her three children. As a mother, sometimes she gets annoyed by her children, but it doesnt mean she doesnt love them. But I wasnt imitating her. I can feel what she feels because were close enough, Marissa said.
Read also: Joko Anwar explores emotional layers of Indonesian ghost in Folklore: A Mothers Love
Director Joko Anwar (left), actor Muzakki Ramdhan (center) and actress Marissa Anita (right) talk at a press conference for 'A Mother's Love' on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018 at Grand Hyatt, Central Jakarta. (JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)
Joko first cast Marissa in his 2015 series Halfworlds. During the press conference and phone interview with The Jakarta Post, he often praised her acting. Actors should be intelligent so they can accept my direction well and later develop it into something that is beyond my expectation, Joko said. I think Marissa exceeds that.
Marissa is no stranger in the Indonesian film industry. She garnered attention in Selamat Pagi, Malam (In the Absence of the Sun, 2014), 3 Nafas Likas (2014), Istirahatlah Kata-kata (Solo, Solitude, 2016) and Galih dan Ratna. But it does not mean she accepts every role that is offered to her.
She usually notices two things when selecting a film: the script and the director. If the script makes me feel something and the director does his best because of his understanding and love of the film, Id take it, Marissa said. I have declined several scripts because I was afraid Id disappoint the director by not being able to give my best and did not 'feel' the script.
A Mothers Love is one of six episodes in HBO Asias Folklore anthology. It had its world premiere at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) held on Sept. 6 to 16 in Toronto, Canada, but will be aired for the first time via HBO, HBO GO and HBO On Demand on Oct. 7. (kes)
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Linkedin Vela Andapita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6, 2018 12:07 1136 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087764274d 1 Food warteg,cuisine,local-business,food,food-business Free
Warteg (food stands from Warung Tegal a northern coastal town in Central Java) are commonly located in crowded areas and notorious for being cramped and unhygienic. But they do have their loyal customers from blue and white collar workers to students.
A conventional warteg, which is usually 4 meters length, is simply furnished with wooden benches for customers.
Warteg are known for being cheap and filling because owners are known to dish big porsi kuli (portions for laborers). But some businesses are taking warteg to the next level. (sau)
Unlike conventional ones, some modern warteg are situated in shopping malls, providing clean and spacious areas with extra features like aircon and Wi-Fi, as well as offering comfortable seats while still serving affordable yet filling meals.
One of them is Warteg Hitz, which was established by businessman Andri Yuda Permadi.
Situated on Jl. Karang Tengah Raya in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, Warteg Hitz looks more like a cafe. The interior is dominated by monochrome colors like black, white and brown.
Andri reminisced about the days when he still worked for a private company in the early 2000s and often had lunch at a warteg close to his office. He said he loved the concept because it served a variety of dishes that never bored him.
Im a warteg enthusiast, he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. Ive been to most of the popular warteg all over the city. A few years ago, I had a dream to create a better warteg.
In 2016, he and some of his partners opened Warteg Hitz. As of today, the stall employs 12 people and it has 40 menu items.
We have almost everything that regular warteg has, such as sauteed vegetables, chicken, beef and eggs, as well as plant-based protein like fried tempeh and tofu, Andri explained.
A meal complete with rice, vegetables, protein and a beverage at Warteg Hitz costs around Rp 20,000 (US$1.33) to Rp 30,000.
Andri said the eatery was initially aimed at inspiring conventional warteg to upgrade their facilities while maintaining their special characteristic: cheap homemade food.
At first, I wanted to introduce this concept to those who have been eating regularly at warteg [including low income people]. But as time goes by, we receive more well-off workers who want to eat cheaply but comfortably, he said.
Andri also wished someday he could work with conventional warteg and help them improve their services.
Warteg Hitz and other modern warteg also keep the traditional touch screen method, where customers can choose whatever dishes they like by simply pointing at the displayed food behind the glass shelf while the vendors scoop the dish onto their plates.
According to an article titled History of Jakarta Warteg Cooperative published in Tempo magazine in December 2012, glass shelf dates back to 1948 when warteg Pak Warno near the old airport in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, first used them.
Unlike conventional warteg (food stalls selling homemade food), some upgraded eateries in Jakarta offer the same affordable and filling meals but with better services. Warung Pedes in Kemang, South Jakarta, sells dozens of dishes in an air-conditioned restaurant with free internet connection. (Courtesy of Warung Pedes/-)
Another modern warteg located in Kemang, South Jakarta, is Warung Pedes, which specializes in spicy food. By charging customers only around Rp 35,000 per meal, Warung Pedes operational manager Ade Nugroho claims the eatery has no competitor in the area.
Were open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The place is crowded during lunch hours, after work and on weekends, he told the Post. We have three specialty sambals namely sambal gledek (extremely spicy sambal), sambal goreng (fried sambal) and sambal matah (raw sambal).
Anita Rahmi, who works in South Jakarta, said she sometimes visited Warung Pedes to have lunch or just hang out with her colleagues after work. I love the place because its clean and comfortable. I can have a variety of dishes for the same price I would spend on the cheapest item at other restaurants around here.
Warteg meals have been upgraded by Dade Akbar and he has shared photos of his version of simple dishes turned into a five-star presentations on his Instagram account @warteggourmet, which has about 45,000 followers.
Amid the growing modern warteg, Warteg Warmo is still popular as many prominent figures have visited the place. It was established by a pedicab driver from Tegal and his brother in the 1970s.
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6, 2018 16:01 1135 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877649451 1 Art & Culture Atreyu-Moniaga-Project,photography,Chrysalis,exhibition Free
Most people believe that the death deity takes the form of a scary, black-winged figure holding a sharp scythe. But through the lens of Rapha Lisa in the Memento Mori fashion editorial, it transforms into colorful figures based on different mythologies, including the Norse and Welsh.
Rapha Lisa stands in front of her works at 'Chrysalis' fashion photography exhibition on Thursday, Sept. 27 at Artotel Thamrin, Central Jakarta. Although based on mythologies and history, Rapha still gives some twists to her 'Memento Mori'. (Atreyu Moniaga Project/File)
Rapha, who is fond of history and fashion, was inspired by her fear when creating the works. At the age of 25, I feel like Im running out of time to make artworks, Rapha said during a press conference for the "Chrysalis" fashion photography exhibition on Thursday in Central Jakarta.
She believed that death is actually the beginning where people meet the death deity. I want [the death deities] to be beautiful, so I wont be afraid to meet them.
Rapha is one of the three photographers from the fifth generation of ST/ART, a class that is part of the Atreyu Moniaga Project photography incubation program.
The Atreyu Moniaga Project is an art community established by illustrator Atreyu Moniaga that offers an annual incubation program for young photographers and artists. For Chrysalis, they have collaborated with Persona Management and all of the behind-the-scenes will be put into an artbook, Chrysalis, with Nin Djani as the editor-in-chief. The event runs for 25 days from Sept. 27 to Oct. 21 at the mezzanine floor of Artotel Thamrin, Central Jakarta.
Read also: Emerging illustrators ponder the past at Mixed Feelings: 03 exhibit
Yon Beni sits in front of his 'Revelare' photos at the 'Chrysalis' fashion photography exhibition on Thursday, Sept. 27 at Artotel Thamrin, Central Jakarta. (Atreyu Moniaga Project/File)
Photographer Yon Beni, meanwhile, aims to humanize models in honest and melancholy ways in the fine art documentary photography series Revelare.
I had never taken photos of models before and I thought they were snobbish and arrogant, Beni said. But that didn't happen with [the models he shot]. Theyre just human beings. They have their own problems and there is more to them than just looking glamorous at parties.
Meanwhile, photographer Nathanael Moss celebrates the young Jakartans through his Suck Party fashion editorial. Its about five close friends who want to attend a party, but it turns out to be awful, said Nathanael. So instead of going home, they decide to have fun in the street.
Nathanael Moss in front of his 'Suck Party' fashion editorial. The photos were shot in places that symbolize Jakarta, including Mangga Besar, West Jakarta. (Atreyu Moniaga Project/File)
Chrysalis is an attempt by Rapha, Beni and Nathanael to be honest through their works. Prior to the exhibition, they used to follow trends instead of their hearts.
I once did everything Atre [Atreyu Moniaga] asked and I always played 'safe'. When it was finished, I was confused because I kept following him, Nathanel said.
Beni also spoke of his honesty in Revelare. Its about how I talk to myself. When youre honest, your works will speak, he said. Success happens when our work can deliver a message to people. (kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) - Sat, October 6, 2018 20:07 1135 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308776525b7 1 Art & Culture batik,#batik,village,#village,Yogyakarta,#Yogyakarta,Communications-and-Information-Ministry,batik-village Free
The Communications and Information Ministry has introduced what it calls a cyber-batik village in an effort to fuse age-old tradition with modern technology.
Kampung Batik Manding Siberkreasi is located in the Wonosari district of Yogyakarta, and anyone who cannot visit right now may follow it on Instagram.
Kompas.com reported that in the village, digital technology is used to design and spread information about batik. However, despite using technology, the village still relies on human skills to create the traditional fabrics.
Read also: Mattel Indonesia launches Barbie Batik Kirana for younger generation
Introducing the project, the ministrys information applications director general, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, said on Tuesday that art was a unique thing in the digital era, and people were looking for art pieces like batik.
Meanwhile, Kampung Batik Manding Siberkreasi head Guntur Susilo said 15 houses in the village offered batik. They were managed by cooperatives and would receive profits at the end of the year.
We have [established] cooperatives to avoid unhealthy competition, explained Guntur.
FX Endro Tri Guntoro, one of the administrators of Kampung Batik Manding Siberkreasi, added that the village also welcomed other areas that wanted to collaborate in promoting batik. (jes/wng)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6, 2018 06:51 1136 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087763c8a8 1 National Central-Sulawesi-earthquake,Palu-Earthquake-Tsunami,Donggala-earthquake-tsunami,#CentralSulawesiQuake,#PaluTsunami,#DonggalaEarthquake Free
The National Police have arrested over 90 suspected looters in disaster-hit areas in Central Sulawesi following a strong earthquake and a killer tsunami that swept the region last week.
National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto said the arrested suspects allegedly stole cash from ATM machines, as well as cellphones.
The first report I received said the police arrested 49 [suspected looters]. And then the second report added 42 more. So, in total, the police arrested over 90 suspects, Setyo said on Friday, as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the suspects had been detained by the Central Sulawesi Police.
He went on to say that everyone who broke the law would receive punishment.
Read also: Aprindo blames govt for looting in earthquake-hit Palu
In addition to the arrests, the police have also been conducting regular patrols in certain parts of the region to restore order and security.
Previously, Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo advised against looting, not even in the wake of a natural disaster, calling it a criminal act.
Theres no justification whatsoever for looting. Everyones equally affected by the disaster; their shops destroyed, shopping malls devastated, Tjahjo said.
Prior to last weeks statement, news spread on social media that the government had approved of survivors taking from convenience stores and that the losses would be covered by the government.
However, Tjahjo denied this, saying that what the government had approved of was the transfer of aid funds to the Central Sulawesi administration, to be used for food supplies for survivors. (rfa)
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Linkedin Marc Burleigh (Agence France-Presse) Rio de Janeiro Sat, October 6, 2018 10:18 1136 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877640d1a 2 World Brazil,Jair-Bolsonaro,presidential-bid,presidential-election,communism,socialism,Far-Right,Catholicism,evangelist-church Free
Brazil holds presidential and legislative elections on Sunday. A far-right politician promising a hard line on crime and corruption, Jair Bolsonaro, is the frontrunner for the top job.
Here's what you need to know:
How important are the elections?
Brazil is one of the most important emerging economies out there, one of the BRICS and Latin America's biggest democracy.
Whoever ends up as president will be at the helm of the world's 8th-biggest economy, an oil producer and major energy consumer whose chief trading partner is China.
Yet it's only three decades since Brazil shucked off a military dictatorship. And it has just emerged from its worst-ever recession, which wiped away much of a preceding decade of prosperity.
Who is Bolsonaro?
Out of a field of 13 presidential candidates, Bolsonaro is by far the most controversial and polarizing.
Once an army captain, he has been a deputy in Brazil's congress since 1991, during which he became known for offensive remarks against women, gays and Brazil's mostly black poor.
But he also has a healthy polling lead over rivals -- attributed to his tough-guy promises to crack down on crime and graft, and his canny use of Facebook to reach out to voters.
Massive protests by Brazilian women have been held against Bolsonaro.
Although a Catholic, he has the backing of an influential evangelical bloc in congress that would help him govern if he wins the presidency.
A stabbing attack by a lone knifeman last month as he campaigned only increased sympathy for him -- and for his pledge to be ruthless with street criminals.
Is he a shoo-in?
Not yet. Sunday is the first round of the presidential elections. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent, then a second, knockout round will be held on October 28 between the two with the highest scores.
Bolsonaro boasts he will win outright on Sunday and Brazilians can go to the beach instead on October 28. But analysts say that while a first-round victory can't be excluded, the polling numbers available make it unlikely.
In a second round, the outcome would be uncertain. Surveys suggest Bolsonaro would be neck-and-neck with his nearest rival, leftist candidate Fernando Haddad, the Workers' Party's choice to replace popular ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is in jail for bribery.
Against the candidate currently trailing in third place, center-left politician Ciro Gomes, Bolsonaro would likely lose, recent polls show.
What changes does he promise?
If he does enter Planalto, Brazil's equivalent of the White House, Bolsonaro has promised big changes.
He wants looser gun laws for "good" civilians to help counter rife street assaults and murders, and for the army to go after organized crime.
Political corruption will be quashed and the government streamlined, he has said. Brazil would sell off state enterprises to bring down spiraling public debt.
In foreign relations, Brasilia would "cease coddling murderous dictatorships," his manifesto says.
That looks like a reference particularly to neighboring Venezuela, whose implosion under the rule of Socialist President Nicolas Maduro has sent tens of thousands of people fleeing over the border into Brazil.
Instead, it would turn more towards countries such as the United States, Israel and Italy.
"We've got to give Socialism, Communism, a kick up the ass," he told a Brazilian TV station, Record, late Thursday.
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Linkedin Dyaning Pangestika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6, 2018 17:10 1135 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087764bf98 1 National jailbreak,correctional-facility,#CentralSulawesiQuake,#DonggalaQuake,#PaluTsunami,Central-Sulawesi-earthquake,Donggala,Palu Free
More than 1,000 escaped prisoners in Central Sulawesi remain free following the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that damaged several correctional facilities in the area.
During an inspection of six prisons and detention centers in Palu, Parigi Moutong regency and Donggala regency, the Law and Human Rights Ministrys secretary director for correctional facilities, Liberti Sitinjak, said 1,031 out of 1,425 prisoners had not reported their whereabouts to the authorities.
According to Liberti, 433 of the 465 prisoners in Palu prison escaped to save themselves when the quake occurred. Only 32 prisoners remained inside after the quake, Liberti said in a written statement received by The Jakarta Post on Friday night.
Liberti added that 314 of the 433 prisoners who escaped had yet to report to the authorities.
In another correctional facility in Palu, all prisoners fled to save themselves. Out of the 549 prisoners who escaped, only 130 have reported their whereabouts. However, most of them remain free.
In Palu female correctional facilities, 44 out of 88 convicts are still missing. While Palu juvenile detention centers also reported that 13 out of 29 detainees remained missing.
In Parigi Moutong, of the 186 prisoners, six escaped, while in Donggala prison, 235 out of 342 had yet to surrender.
There will be dire consequences for convicts who do not report their whereabouts in a week after the incident, Liberti said.
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Linkedin Dyaning Pangestika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6, 2018 19:58 1135 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087765181a 1 World Rizal-Sukma,London,Indonesian-Embassy,UK,bilateral-relation Free
Indonesia's bond with the United Kingdom is growing stronger despite any rise or fall between the countrys relationship, Indonesian ambassador to the UK, Rizal Sukma, said during a diplomatic reception on Thursday in London.
Rizal, the ambassador to the UK, Ireland and the International Maritime Organization, said both Indonesia and the UK share similar characteristics when it comes to upholding each respective nations values.
Both countries see the importance in fostering and developing democratic values, as well as respecting human rights values, Rizal said in a written statement received by The Jakarta Post on Friday.
As Indonesia will celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom in 2019, Rizal also thanked the UK government for its recent support for Indonesias candidacy as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in 2019-2020.
Minister of State for the Commonwealth and United Nations at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, who attended the reception as the guest of honor, expressed appreciation for the great bond between Indonesia and the UK.
Lord Ahmad added that Indonesia and the UK have the same vision of battling ocean plastic pollution as well as global warming. He also sent his condolences and prayers to the victims of Central Sulawesi's earthquakes.
The diplomatic reception was held at the Indonesian Embassy in London to coincide with the Indonesian Military's anniversary. The reception was attended by 300 guests, comprising ambassadors, diplomats, as well as representatives from the UK's government and the embassys partners. (evi)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6, 2018 18:42 1135 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087764ee0a 2 City Jakarta-administration,Jakarta-police,Ratna-Sarumpaet Free
The Jakarta administration has said it welcomes applications from anyone or any group seeking sponsorship for attending overseas events amid the recent brouhaha surrounding the arrest of activist Ratna Sarumpaet, who was about to embark on an overseas trip at the city's expense.
Jakarta Regional Head and Foreign Cooperation Bureau chief Mawardi said the city can approve funding proposals from individuals or groups. But there are several conditions, such as whether the trips represent Jakarta, bring honor to Jakarta or Indonesia as well as promote the countrys cultures.
"[Proposals] are welcome, we will see what they represent, he said as reported by kompas.com on Friday.
The individuals or groups must first coordinate with the agency related to their field and then send an official proposal to Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan. The governor will then discuss the proposal with related agencies, Mawardi said.
The funding for overseas trips is stipulated in the 2018 gubernatorial decree on overseas trips.
Ratna was arrested by the Jakarta Police onboard an aircraft in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Thursday evening. She was about to depart for Santiago, Chile to attend the 11th Women Playwrights International Conference.
Anies, through the Jakarta Tourism Agency, had approved her proposal to pay for her travel and accommodation.
She received Rp 70 million (US$4,614) for her trip, which Mawardi said must be returned to the city after it was cancelled.
Ratna, he added, must also write an accountability report for the administration on the funding she had received.
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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6 2018
The Afghan government says it is always open for talks with the hardline Taliban group by seizing all opportunities for indirect talks, including a recent meeting in Indonesia.
Unfortunately, the Taliban have not been serious so far, Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said in a discussion held by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia in Jakarta on Friday.
In spite of the nature of the war, Abdullah said, the government and the absolute majority of the people of Afghanistan still wanted peace and were calling on the Taliban to give up violence, sever links with terrorist groups and join discussions about their ideas and be part of the process.
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Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6 2018
Indonesia has asked New Zealand to grant its fruit and animal feed products improved access to the New Zealand market so that bilateral trade between the two countries can reach US$2.65 billion by 2024.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi made the request during the 8th Joint Ministerial Commission meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters on Friday in Jakarta.
We hope to increase our mutual trade cooperation. Indonesia has asked New Zealand to provide more access for our fruit products, like bananas, mangoes and pineapples, as well as our animal feed products, said Retno, who began her remarks by thanking Wellington for supporting and showing respect for Indonesias territorial integrity.
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6, 2018 07:01 1136 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087763d05f 1 News GATF,Garuda-Indonesia,travel-fair,travel,Airlines,garuda-indonesia-travel-fair Free
More than 40 travel agencies, including five pilgrimage agencies, are joining the second phase of the Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair (GATF) 2018. The event, held by the flag carrier in partnership with Bank Mandiri, is held at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) in Senayan, South Jakarta, from Friday to Sunday.
Various travel packages are offered by the agencies, including for the umrah as well as for cruise and winter vacations. Garuda Indonesia promises competitive prices for international as well as domestic routes. The South Korean capital city of Seoul, for instance, can be visited with round trip fares starting at Rp 2.7 million (US$177), while a return ticket to Raja Ampat in West Papua can be bought for Rp 2.1 million.
Other programs available throughout the biannual event are Happy Hour, which offers up to 80 percent discounts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Best Deal with up to 50 percent discounts, an additional 1,000 miles for GarudaMiles customers and 30 percent discounts on prepaid baggage.
Read also: Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair returns late September
Pikri Ilham Kurniansyah, Garuda Indonesia's commercial director, speaks at the opening ceremony of the second phase of the Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair (GATF) 2018 at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) in Senayan, South Jakarta, on Friday. (JP/Charisa Vanessa)
Having joined the GATF in 2017, Bank Mandiri also presents numerous special offers, including a 50 percent discount with fiestapoin, zero percent installments for up to 12 months using their credit card and up to Rp 2 million cashback using their credit or debit cards.
One of the visitors, Citra, 27, from Bekasi, West Java, praised the variety of travel agencies there. Its worth it [coming to the travel fair], especially if youre on a budget, said Citra, who plans to fly to Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara. The place is also comfortable.
The GATF has been held in 30 cities since last September. It targets total transactions of Rp 448 billion, including Rp 218 billion in Jakarta.
Collaborating with the Tourism Ministry, Garuda Indonesia has also conducted the Wonderful Indonesia Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair (WI-GATF) abroad to lure foreign travelers to Indonesia.
Pikri Ilham Kurniansyah, the airline's commercial director, said its WI-GATF event in Shanghai, which ended in early September, had generated 8.5 million yuan ($1.3 million) in sales, and the airline was focusing on the WI-GATF this year by adding Singapore and Australia as forthcoming venues. (kes)
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Linkedin Mathieu Gorse and Julien Delacourt (Agence France-Presse) Madrid, Spain Sat, October 6, 2018 15:02 1135 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308776487fe 2 News lime-app,lime-scooter,electric-scooter Free
Cities across Spain are grappling with electric scooters that have popped up on sidewalks across the country, helping riders zip around but exasperating drivers and pedestrians.
In Madrid public opinion is divided over the hundreds of electric scooters which California-based start-up Lime -- partly owned by ride-hailing Uber and Google parent company Alphabet -- has made available since mid-August.
Unlike schemes involving shared bicycles that typically must be left in docking stations, the scooters are dockless, leaving riders responsible for parking them out of the way. The next rider can find the nearest scooter with a smartphone app, unlock it and use it for a fee.
Similar electric scooter sharing programmes have been introduced in other European cities including Paris, Vienna and Zurich.
In Madrid, Lime's scooters -- which have already been used over 100,000 times -- are tolerated by the left-wing city hall, intent on reducing pollution.
But the scooters are often left in places where they obstruct sidewalks -- and their users often speed by pedestrians or hog roads.
Last month a video of two people, including a child, wearing masks while they raced along a highway near the Mediterranean port of Valencia on an electric scooter went viral.
"They don't respect anything at all. We need rules. It's crazy. They ride on lanes reserved for buses and taxis. They cross in front of cars," Fernando Sobrino, a 59-year-old taxi driver, told AFP as he waited for passengers in the centre of Madrid.
Jose Manuel, a 55-year-old salesman, complained the scooters "ride on sidewalks without any control".
"There is a risk of getting rear-ended by one as happened to me the other day," he said as he made his way along the Gran Via, a busy shopping street in central Madrid.
- 'Dangerous and annoying' -
The arrival of the scooters in Madrid follows the introduction of a public electric bike share system in June 2014.
Users of the scooters are delighted.
"You move around faster, you can visit more areas, it's relaxing and easy to use," said Monica Rodriguez, 58, at Madrid's bustling Retiro park.
She admitted, though, that the scooters can be "dangerous and annoying for people who are walking".
The introduction of this new form of transport caught big Spanish cities off guard.
In Madrid, which is home to around 3.2 million people, the city hall only adopted measures on Friday.
The scooters are banned on pavements and pedestrian streets, but they are authorised on all roads where the speed limit is 30 kilometres (19 miles) an hour -- a limit set to be implemented soon on 80 percent of the city's streets.
Valencia is set to adopt new rules banning scooters from sidewalks.
Read also: Electric scooters launch in Paris, to spread in Europe
- Seizures -
Barcelona, Spain's second-largest city which is overwhelmed by mass tourism, already bans the use of privately owned scooters from sidewalks.
"Self service" scooter rentals like those offered by Lime are banned.
When German firm Wind launched an electric scooter sharing programme in Barcelona in August, within hours police removed the vehicles from the streets.
The municipality of Llobregat near Barcelona stopped Lime from setting up shop.
The scenario was repeated in Valencia, which has an extensive network of bike lanes.
Lime deployed a fleet of scooters in the city in August without authorisation from city hall, which demands a licence for anyone who carries out a commercial activity on public roads.
Lime's scooters were removed and the firm was slapped with a fine. It is now trying to convince Valencia city hall to allow it to pay a fee in exchange for an operating licence.
Lime's representative in Spain, Alvaro Salvat, said he regrets the lack of specific laws for electric scooters in Madrid and most Spanish cities.
"We are the first to ask for them for our users, for residents, so we know where to go and where not to go," he told AFP.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) - Sat, October 6, 2018 12:05 1136 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308776424c7 1 Destinations floating-mosques,floating-mosques-in-Indonesia,Oesman-al-Khair-mosque,Amirul-Mukminin-Mosque,Arkham-Babu-Rahman-Mosque Free
As the worlds largest Muslim-majority country, Indonesia is home to more than 800,000 mosques.
Some parts of Indonesia have strong coastal cultures, and people living in areas surrounding the countrys principal rivers are more than familiar with making a life close to the water or even on it. This includes practicing their religion, which has inspired a number of communities across the archipelago to build their mosque above the water.
Here are three of these unique places of worship, as compiled by kompas.com.
Oesman Al Khair Mosque, North Kayong
Officiated by President Joko Jokowi Widodo in late 2016, the mosque is named after its founder: politician and businessman Oesman Sapta Odang. According to a report by kompas.com, the name Oesman al Khair itself means Oesmans kindness and is reportedly meant to inspire people to be kind to one another.
The mosque, located by the beach in North Kayong regency, West Kalimantan, was designed by an Indonesian architect whose name was never revealed. Its design took inspiration from Saudi Arabia and is further complemented by Moroccan influences.
Oesman al Khair Mosque looks as if it is floating on the surface of the water, thanks to 23-meter-high poles supporting it from the bottom of the sea.
Amirul Mukminin Mosque, Makassar
Also known as 99 Al Makazzary Mosque, referring to the 99 names of Allah, Amirul Mukminin Mosque was built to serve as the primary landmark of Makassar, South Sulawesi. The three-story mosque is located east of Losari beach and is able to host 500 worshipers.
Amirul Mukminin Mosque has two domes, each measuring 9 m in diameter. Worshipers praying and contemplating inside the mosque can also enjoy the view of the sea and cool breeze coming through its windows.
Read also: Getting to know Asasi Mosque, one of Indonesia's oldest mosques
Arkham Babu Rahman Mosque, Palu
Built in close proximity to Taman Ria Beach in Lere village, Central Sulawesi, Arkham Babu Rahman Mosque features four towers and a dome. It is 121 square meters with the capacity up to 150 worshippers.
Perched above the waters about 30 m away from the beach, the mosque is accessible from the coast via a bridge.
Unfortunately, Arkham Babu Rahman was among the many buildings affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami that hit Palu on Friday. An aerial photo of Hasanuddin International Airport shows the mosque disconnected from the shore, its bridge nowhere in sight. (mut)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 6, 2018 19:06 1135 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087764f22d 1 News UI,Times-Higher-Education,World-University-Ranking Free
Times Higher Education (THE), the magazine behind the worlds most influential university rankings, has released their World University Rankings (WUR) 2019. Kompas.com reported that the University of Indonesia (UI) was the only Indonesian university to enter the rankings.
UI is now ranked in the range of 601-800 in the world, an improvement on its 2018 ranking, when it was in the 801-1000 bracket. The ranking includes 1258 universities in 86 countries.
This is the third year an Indonesian university has been entered into the ranking, in which each university is scored on their core missions, namely teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
In order to provide the most comprehensive, balanced and trustworthy comparisons for the universities, THE uses carefully calibrated performance indicators that are grouped into five areas.
The first area is teaching, which includes learning environment. Next is research, comprising its volume, income and reputation. The third area is citations, which takes into account research influence. Fourth is international outlook, which covers staff, students and research. And finally, the fifth area is industry income, in which knowledge transfer is evaluated.
UI rector Muhammad Anis was quoted by the universitys website as saying, UIs performance has been improving, according to THE scoring. We are now focusing on upgrading the capacity and quality of research, innovation and public service. Meanwhile, we are also expanding our network with campuses in Asia, Europe and other continents.
Read also: UI medical, law programs most favored among applicants
Anis went on to say that while competing to become a better university, UI also needs to look up to a role model in the same region. He mentions the National University of Singapore, for instance, which made it into the worlds top 25.
Hopefully what our neighboring country has achieved shall inspire us to join the rank of Southeast Asias top university, said Anis.
The achievement made by UI should also be considered the nations accomplishment in higher education. UI is well on its way to becoming a university that contributes more to improving the nations growth and competence in the global competition.
Moreover, UI expects to further promote innovation, entrepreneurship and overcome social challenges. (mut)
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The excavation has brought to light Thessalonikis central 6th-century highway, a marble plaza, a fountain as well as a headless statue of Aphrodite
The metro construction in Greeces city of Thessaloniki has brought ancient ruins from the citys life back in the 4th century BC to the surface.
The excavation has brought to light Thessalonikis central 6th-century highway, a marble plaza, a fountain as well as a headless statue of Aphrodite.
Thousands of ancient discoveries such as coins, mosaics and statues have also been uncovered.
Thessaloniki is unique in that from its foundation in the 4th century BC until today there is city under a city, Tania Protopsalti, an archaeologist told Greek Reporter.
The city of Thessaloniki was founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon. A significant metropolis by the Roman period, Thessaloniki was the second largest and wealthiest city of the Byzantine Empire. It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1430, and passed from the Ottoman Empire to Greece on Nov. 8, 1912.
Most of the findings relate to the Byzantine era. Nevertheless, Protopsalti says that, as excavations continue, new findings from the Roman era come to the surface.
Eventually we hope to reach the remnants of the city when it was founded in the Cassander-era, the Greek archaeologist noted.
She added that some wall paintings and small sections of floor mosaics from the 4th century BC have already been unearthed.
The excavations, filling in gaps in the citys long history for archaeologists, have focused on the site of Hagia Sophia where a central metro station is being constructed.
It was there where a central 6th-century highway and marble plaza, two of the most exciting finds, were found.
The discovery of the marble plaza located south of the central highway gave us an invaluable insight into the urban planning in the 6th century, archaeologist Stavroula Tzevreni told Greek Reporter.
The marbles have been carefully removed to be reinstated when the metro works are concluded at Hagia Sophia.
Impressive buildings adorned by mosaics
The square was surrounded by impressive buildings adorned by mosaics that remain in good condition.
They were found in the south entrance of the station Hagia Sophia and are believed to be part of an almost 315 square meter urban villa dated to the first half of the 4th century AD to the 5th century AD.
Decoration of the mosaic floors consists of geometric patterns, while one includes a central medallion, probably depicting Aphrodite.
The mosaics will be extracted, cleaned and exhibited at the same station they were excavated in.
At the southeast end of the square archaeologists discovered a 15-metre (nearly 50-foot) fountain structure believed to be one of the largest in the Roman world.
Alongside the stone-paved highway, the Decumanus Maximus, the remains of mud-bricked workshops were uncovered where jewellers plied their trade as they still do today, in blocks of flats over the subway dig.
Scheduled to be operational by late 2020, the 1.5-billion ($1.7 billion) Thessaloniki metro will at first have 13 stations and run a distance of 9.6 kilometres (six miles).
A future expansion is programmed to include the city airport.
Read more at greekreporter.com
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Konstantinos Stampoulis License: CC-BY-SA
One-day meeting on Thursday on the Greece-Russia Year of Tourism (2017-2018)
The Greek Parliament held a one-day meeting on Thursday on the Greece-Russia Year of Tourism (2017-2018) that included parliamentary and church representatives of Greece and Russia, ANA reports.
The conference took place in the context of the Greece-Russia Year of Tourism (2017-2018) and was also attended by representatives of the two countries' Tourism Ministries.
Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Markos Bolaris welcomed collaborations between churches and tourism organizations of the two countries that promote understanding, and spoke of the efforts of the Church of Greece to promote religious tourism, especially to sites of pilgrimage.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: A.Savin License: CC-BY-SA
Herbal teas have been used for thousands of years for holistic and healing aims, refreshing beverages, and energizing elixirs
PRNewswire reports from Astoria that the Loose Leaf Herbal Tea Experience Store recently opened in the Ditmars area of Astoria, Queens. The cafe offers select herbs and herbal teas imported from mountainous regions of Greece that have been untouched by industry for thousands of years. These herbs, of the highest purity, helped heal founder Peter Zotis autoimmune disease and inspired this new business, according to the companys press release.
Herbal teas have been used for thousands of years for holistic and healing aims, refreshing beverages, and energizing elixirs. Hippocrates, considered by many to be the father of modern medicine, exhorted the many benefits of herbs and herbal remedies. Hippocrates said, Foolish the doctor who despises knowledge acquired by the ancients. Loose Leaf is committed to making these ancient herbal remedies available and practical in our busy modern lives.
The Experience Store is located at 28-10 23rd Ave. Astoria, NY 11105 and is open 7 days a week. The Store is outfitted with modern brewing technology, smell jars, samples and a variety of accessories, and healthy snacks. The herbs can also be bought online at ShopLooseLeaf.com and shipped worldwide.
Read more at thenationalherald.com
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Thamizhpparithi Maari License: CC-BY-SA
Al Ezzel Power Company, a key electricity supplier in Bahrain, today (October 6) celebrated the closing of a $243-million new financing facility.
This is a landmark achievement in the Bahrain infrastructure financing market, as the entire financing was extended by local and regional banks, said a statement from the company.
The new financing was provided by Arab Banking Corporation, National Bank of Kuwait, Mashreq Bank, National Bank of Bahrain and Ahli United Bank. All of these banks are present in Bahrain and have in-depth knowledge of the market.
The new financing replaces the original one provided in 2004 by a consortium of nine international banks and only two regional banks.
Al Ezzel power project was awarded in July 2004 by the Bahrain Ministry of Finance and National Economy, following an international competitive tendering process that attracted five bids and resulted in a record low tariff.
The 950MW Project was contracted on a Build, Own, Operate basis, utilising gas-fired Combined Cycle Gas Turbine technology supplied and constructed by Siemens.
The company started commercial operations in June 2007 and the inauguration was held under the auspices of Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Al Ezzel instantly proved itself as a key reliable electricity supplier to Bahrain and today accounts for about one quarter of Bahrain electricity needs.
The project was initially developed by Engie and Gulf Investment Corporation. The Social Insurance Organization of Bahrain joined soon thereafter. These three parties remain today as the shareholders of the company.
The celebration was held with participation of representatives from the shareholders, financing banks and Bahrain and company officials.
On the deal, Chairman Shafic Ali, said: The success of this refinancing is a testimony to the confidence of the local and regional banks in the long-term credit worthiness of infrastructure projects in Bahrain. The new financing prepaid the balance of the loans provided in 2004 and extends the final maturity date to 2026."
Cedric Girod, the regional Head of Acquisitions, Investments and Financial Advisory at Engie, said: We are pleased by the response and strong support on this transaction of the Bahraini and regional banks which demonstrates the strength of this asset."
"We received a significantly higher liquidity appetite than expected allowing us to implement an optimum refinancing structure within a short timeframe, stated Girod.
Al Ezzel has performed at a high level of operational availability and efficiency and produced consistently solid financial results, he added.
Saber Ayadi, the group head of specialized finance at Bank ABC, commenting on behalf of the lending group, said: We are very proud of the successful completion of this transaction and delighted with the collaboration with Al Ezzels executive team as well as its shareholders."
"The lending group is pleased with its continuous contribution and strong added value to finance the power sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The Bahrain and Kuwait governments have signed an agreement in the field of cloud computing.
The MOU facilitates government processes, increases efficiency and contributes in speeding the implementation of projects while maintaining security and confidentiality of information and data.
The agreement was signed by Mohamed Ali AlQaed, the chief executive of the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) and Engineer Salim Muthib AlOzainah, the chief executive and chairman of the Communication & Information Technology Regulatory Authority (Citra) following the approval from cabinet and in line with relationships between both countries.
AlOzainah said the agreement with Bahrain demonstrates the strong ties between both neighboring countries as well as stressing that such initiative comes in line with achieving Kuwaits Vision 2035 that aims at supporting eTransformation.
Kuwait has recently inked a number of MoUs in the field of IT so as to keep pace with the advanced technology and meet the future needs of Kuwait.
Lauding the Kuwaiti efforts, AlQaed said it was one of the GCC countries which led in benefiting from Bahrains experiences within the cloud computing field.
He also highlighted the positive impact of this initiative to develop, enhance and sustain the quality of services provided to users; in addition to providing appropriate environment to attract more foreign investments to the region.
Al Qaid pointed out that the kingdom is always pleased to exchange experiences with all countries which support government direction in developing government services and accelerating eTransformation in all sectors.
In 2017, Bahrain has adopted the Cloud First Policy in the public sector becoming the first Arab country to adopt such policy and one of the first worldwide.-TradeArabia News Service
US President Donald Trump said that he does not have any plans to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, but does not rule out such a possibility in the future.
Previously, Rouhani said that in order to negotiate with Tehran, Trump must return to the nuclear deal, from which the US pulled out in May.
Despite requests, I have no plans to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Maybe someday in the future. I am sure he is an absolutely lovely man! Trump tweeted on 25 September.
President Rouhani said that the Iranian authorities will block the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf of Oman in the southeast with the Persian Gulf in the southwest, should the US continue the policy of pressure.
In an interview with NBC, Rouhani stressed that his words are not a warning, but a reality.
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree at a government meeting establishing a Financial Monitoring Service under the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan.
According to the decree, the Service is to ensure the efficient implementation of tasks arising from the Law of Turkmenistan On Countering the Legalization of Illegal Earnings and Financing of Terrorism" and international treaties that the country acceded to. The decree also approves the structure and the Regulations of the Service.
TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021
Hindus in Bangladesh decrease by 7 5 million over 50 years: Census 15 Nov 2021 | 11:31 AM By Mir Afroz Zaman
Dhaka, Nov 15 (UNI) The Hindu population in Bangladesh is on a steady wane. Over the past 50 years, the total population of the country has more than doubled, but not in the case of Hindus. The number of Hindu persons in the country had dropped by around 7.5 million (75 lakh). see more..
US Navy's Mount Whitney ship on way from Black Sea to Mediterranean Sea: Navy 15 Nov 2021 | 11:27 AM Washington, Nov 15 (UNI/Sputnik) The US Navy Sixth Fleets flagship Mount Whitney has begun transit from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea after ending operations and drills with NATO allies, the fleet said on Monday. see more..
Death toll from Travis Scott's concert rises to 10 as nine-year-old dies at hospital 15 Nov 2021 | 11:24 AM Washington, Nov 15 (UNI/Sputnik) The death toll from Travis Scott's tragic Astroworld music festival in Texas has gone up to ten: a 9-year-old boy who had been on life support has passed away, a family attorney said. see more..
class="ng-binding">Stoltenberg says no consensus on having Ukraine become full NATO member 15 Nov 2021 | 10:53 AM Brussels, Nov 15 (UNI/Sputnik) North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members have no consensus on inviting Ukraine to become a full member, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says. see more..
EU signs deal with Albania on European Border, Coast Guard cooperation
Tirana, Oct 6 (UNI) The European Union signed an agreement with Albania on cooperation on border management between Albania and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
The agreement was signed on Friday behalf of the EU by Herbert Kickl, Minister of the Interior of Austria and President of the Council, Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship and on behalf of Albania Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj.
Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship said in a statement issued by the European Commission "The migratory and security challenges do not stop at our external borders. Nor should we. A Europe that protects is a Europe that works together with partner countries in its neighbourhood and beyond.
Historian, noted writer Babasaheb Purandare passes away at 99 15 Nov 2021 | 11:11 AM Aurangabad, Nov 15 (UNI) Indian writer, historian and theatre personality from Maharashtra, Babasaheb Purandare passed away at the age of 99, Union minister of state for finance Dr Bhagwat Karad stated on Monday. see more..
Arunachal detects 4 more COVID-19 cases 15 Nov 2021 | 10:20 AM Itanagar, Nov 15 (UNI) Four more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh during the past 24 hours, pushing its tally of confirmed cases to 55,220, a senior health official said. see more..
HP: Magnitude 2 9 earthquake jolts Mandi 15 Nov 2021 | 8:23 AM Shimla, Nov 15 (UNI) A 2.9 magnitude earthquake was experienced in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh early today, the Indian Meteorological Department said. see more..
COVID: Three deaths, 56 new cases, 60 cured in HP 15 Nov 2021 | 8:18 AM Hamirpur (HP), Nov 15 (UNI) Three aged people, one each from the districts of Hamirpur, Kangra, and Shimla succumbed to coronavirus and 56 new cases were found positive besides sixty older cases were cured in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, according to a spokesman of the HP Health Department. see more..
UNESCO Director-General condemns killing of two journalists in Afghanistan
Paris, France, Oct 6 (UNI) The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has condemned the deaths of two Afghan journalists, who were among at least 20 people reportedly killed in two successive suicide bombings in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on 5 September.
I condemn these two bombings, which killed Tolo TV reporter Samim Faramarz and his cameraman Ramaz Ahmadi. This is strong reminder of the deadly risks Afghan journalists face daily, and an illustration of their great courage in continuing to do their jobs in such difficult and dangerous circumstances. I send my condolences to the families of all victims and to the people of Afghanistan and call on the authorities to investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime, Mr Azoulay said in a statement on Saturday.
At least 70 more people were wounded in the two blasts, including journalists working for Khorshid TV, TV1 and the Associated Press news agency.
Timeline of ISIS in Iraq
The Arabic letter "n" (inside red circle), signifying "Nasrani" (Christian), on an Assyrian home in Mosul. (AINA) -- The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) captured the city of Mosul, Iraq on June 10. Almost immediately thereafter it began to drive Assyrians out of Mosul and destroy Christian and non-Sunni institutions.
There are no Assyrians/Christians remaining in Mosul, all have fled to the north, to Alqosh, Dohuk and other Assyrian villages.
All Christian institutions in Mosul (churches, monasteries and cemeteries), numbering 45, have been destroyed, occupied, converted to mosques, converted to ISIS headquarters or shuttered (story).
All non-Sunni Muslim groups in Mosul -- Shabaks, Yazidis and Turkmen -- have been targeted by ISIS. Most have fled.
Water and electricity to the Nineveh Plain have been cut off by ISIS.
Mosul is now governed under Sharia law.
200,000 Assyrian have fled from Baghdede (Qaraqosh), Bartella, Karamles and dozens of Assyrian villages and towns in the Nineveh Plain north of Mosul.
150,000 Yazidis have fled from Sinjar and Zumar. 40,000 trapped on Shingal mountain. Thousands have died from exposure. Thousands have been killed by ISIS.
See also: Incipient Genocide: The Ethnic Cleansing of the Assyrians of Iraq
See also: Church Bombings in Iraq Since 2004
See also: Attacks on Assyrians in Dora, Baghdad
The following is a summary of the events that have unfolded in North Iraq.
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Unbox kicks of their snazzy travelling Glow Show with tonights (Saturday 10.6 Japan time) event at Milkboy Gallery in Harajuku, Tokyo. As you might guess by the name, the show celebrates toys that come to life in the dark both glow-in-the-dark and black light reactive figures.
Unbox has revealed a pirates haul of special Glow Show editions from Christopher Ulrich, John Kenn Mortensen, Kenny Wong, Milkboy, Retroband, Taku Obata, Tetsunori Tawaraya, Too Natthapong, Ziqi and more. Toys will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis rather than lottery-based. Customers are limited to three toys and no more than one of any particular toy per trip through the line.
After tonights Japan stop, the Unbox Glow Show packs up and heads to final two stops: October 27 at Freight Gallery in San Antonio Texas and October 27th at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre in Bangkok.
Hit the jump for a preview gallery. Many of these figures will be available at the remaining stops, while some are specific to tonights event.
Unbox Glow Show Japan
Opening: Saturday, October 6th (6 to 9 PM)
Harajuku Milkboy B1F Gallery
Jingumae 6-29-3 B1F
Shibuya-Ku
Tokyo
Street Art Murals
Gibraltar Cultural Services and the Ministry of Culture, the Media, Youth & Sport has announced the creation of street art murals at Castle Steps.
The Castle Street murals are the brainchild of Ronnie Alecio together with street artist Jupp and they aim to celebrate the work of one of Gibraltars most renowned artists, Gustavo Bacarisas. The murals take inspiration from the paintings created by Bacarisas who was a resident of Castle Street. The proposal is supported by the Street Art Committee which includes representatives from the Heritage Trust and several Government Departments including Town Planning.
After this project, HM Government of Gibraltar will continue to work with Ronnie Alecio and his team to extend this concept further in other areas of Gibraltar next year. This will support the street art initiative, started by the Government in line with its urban regeneration and cultural development programmes.
Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
This isnt Banksys first time at the rodeo and even if it was, well, that rodeo would be covered in priceless graffiti. He knows when he needs to kick things up a notch, though. Like on Friday night, when Sothebys auctioned off the anonymous street artists famous 2006 work Girl with a Balloon for the equivalent of over $1.2 million. After the auction closed, an alarm reportedly sounded from the piece and the canvas slowly started to slide down into a shredder mounted in the paintings frame, ripping it into little strips, a truly wonderful Banksy moment you can see for yourself in the photos below.
It appears we just got Banksy-ed, Alex Branczik, Sothebys European director of contemporary art told the Art Newspaper. He is arguably the greatest British street artist, and tonight we saw a little piece of Banksy genius. Branczik also said he was not in on the ruse, which really takes it to that next level.
According to the Financial Times, the vendor selling the piece acquired Girl with a Balloon directly from the artist himself. Said Sothebys in a statement, We have talked with the successful purchaser who was surprise by the story. We are in discussion about next steps. Several outlets have postulated that the stunt required Banksy (or an agent there of) to be in the room to remotely activate the shredder. Reports the Art Newspaper, a man dressed in black sporting sunglasses and a hat was seen scuffling with security guards near the entrance to Sothebys shortly after the incident.
Daniel Craig. Photo: Columbia Pictures
While one certain, timey-wimey British franchise has recently embraced the X chromosome as its lead for the first time in its history, dont expect the James Bond universe to follow suit. Ever. In a new interview with The Guardian, longtime Bond gatekeeper (a.k.a. executive producer) Barbara Broccoli is asserting that the martini-loving chap will always be played be a man, as she doesnt consider the character to be a feminist property. Bond is male. Hes a male character, she explained. He was written as a male and I think hell probably stay as a male. Lets just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters It was written in the 50s, so theres certain things in [Bonds] DNA that are probably not gonna change. The way she looks at it, the world has changed, and thats reflected in the franchise in other ways such as the increasingly empowering nature of the Bond girls.
I think Bond has come through and transformed with the times, Broccoli continued. Ive tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, theyve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed. The next Bond outing, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, will likely be Craigs last hoorah. Which dude should replace him?
Kacey Musgraves. Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images for The New Yorker
Shout it from your cattle ranch in the Cheyenne suburbs or your balcony overlooking the Hudson: Kacey Musgraves is a gay icon, yall! And the world needs to know! (The world also needs to know about Golden Hour, the best country album of the year. Dont fight us on that.) Such a topic was brought up at Musgraves New Yorker Festival event on Friday evening, when an audience member asked the songstress how it felt to be an icon within the LGBTQ community a rare crowning for a country music artist to achieve. While Musgraves said she was honored to be receive such high praise, it spurred a few musings about a more significant topic: the genres horrible track record when it comes to inclusivity.
What I think it is someone told me this recently and it broke my heart they said, Ive grown up loving country music and I grew up gay in a small town, and country music has always felt like a big party that I wasnt invited to. Oh my god, youre invited to my party, she explained. Its crazy that a certain kind of a person could feel excluded from a genre thats so real or supposed to be so real. That has always really pissed me off. Because I love the genre so much, I felt, Well fine, maybe Ill just have an all-gay audience. Musgraves said the catalyst for being an ally stemmed from a good friend coming out to her when they were younger, which he only did when they moved away from their repressive small towns.
I was the first person he told, she recalled. I had an idea, it was an unspoken thing, but it was so painful and hard for him to tell me, even though I was totally fine with it. Thinking about him and all of those other kids who are like, I love country music, why cant I be a part of this? Why isnt my narrative included? I dont know. What she does know, though, is shell never stop supporting the LGBTQ community. Yee-haw to that.
Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams. Photo: Amy E. Price/2017 Amy E. Price
Weve been hard-pressed for many (or any) details on the final season of Game of Thrones, which wrapped filming this summer and will premiere in 2019. As much as fans are obsessed with GoT, we at Vulture are just as taken by the loving, adorable friendship of Sophie Turner (Sansa) and Maisie Williams (Arya), a.k.a., the Stark sisters. At New York Comic Con 2018 on Saturday, Turner, who will soon shift gears and hair color for Dark Phoenix, reflected on her time on GoT with her tattoo sister, their sleepovers after shooting, and, ahem, taking baths while high.
Were kind of like loners on Game of Thrones, just because the past few seasons Maisie and I have sleepovers every night when were shooting. Or every night whenever both of us are in town. We just used to sit there and eat and watch stupid videos and smoke weed, said Turner. I dont know if my publicist will kill me for saying this. Wed get high and then wed sit in the bath together and wed rub makeup brushes on our faces. Its fun.
Turner said the two actually met while auditioning for their star-making roles. We did a chemistry read together, said Turner. It was the final three for Sansa, and I was like, Fuck, I really need to up my game. I went in, and was I like, Whats up?! I gave her a big hug. I was like high-five after every take. I was super extra, but it worked. I read with other Aryas before, but Maisie was special. We just got on like that.
Later on, Turner shared a few details on the upcoming season and how many precautions are taken to keep its secrets. The secrecy is crazy, said Turner. We have a whole different name for it when were shooting it. I think this season it was like the Tree of Life or something. The actors names are changed on the script and the call sheets. Turner said they also have a drone killer that shoots down any that fly over the set. I dont know how it does it. It creates like this field around and the drones just drop, she said. Also, we shoot fake scenes. We got into costume in Croatia because we know the paparazzi lurk around there, so we would spend like half a day doing nothing.
As far as Sansas journey for season eight, Turner said, I know I say this every season, but Sansa really comes into her own this season. The past few seasons for her and the whole series for her, shes kind of been somewhat lost as a matter of where she wants to be, who she wants to be, who she wants to surround herself with, and this season she is very very self-assured. She knows what she wants. She knows what she stands for. She knows who she wants to be around, and she faces threats to that this season. But, well, well see how that goes.
(ABC News) Protestors began screaming in outbursts during the Senate's vote that confirmed Brett Kavanaugh as the next Supreme Court justice. They screamed "shame! Shame! Shame!" and caused brief upsets in the roll call vote. Vice President Mike Pence, who serves as the president of the Senate, had to repeatedly call for the Sargent at Arms to restore order in the gallery.
In the end, the vote came down as anticipated, with 50 votes in favor, 48 votes against, and 1 present, effectively confirming Kavanaugh as the next highest court in the land.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, noted that she would like her vote to be marked as "present," in a logistical maneuver aimed to address the fact that another Republican, Sen. Steve Daines, was unable to attend the vote because he is scheduled to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. Daines wanted to vote in favor of Kavanaugh, and Murkowski paired her vote with his because they would have cancelled one another out since she would be voting against.
The vote came after weeks of high-stakes political and human drama, as Kavanaugh defended himself against accusations of sexual misconduct.
The victory marked an instance of President Donald Trump following through on a key campaign promise to turn the court more conservative for generations.
Trump spoke briefly from the White House lawn before the Senate vote session started, saying that "in the end maybe the process, it was really unattractive, but the extra week was something that I think was really good. I thought it was really good. I think a lot of very positive things happened in the last week. It didn't look that way but in the end that's what happened." As for Kavanaugh, Trump said "he's going in looking really good."
Kavanaugh's confirmation essentially became a done deal on Friday afternoon when Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a key undecided vote, announced on the Senate floor that, despite allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against him, "I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh."
Just hours earlier, with Kavanaugh's fate still uncertain, the full Senate had voted 51-49 to end debate and advance the nomination, after an additional FBI investigation seemed to turn nothing to corroborate the allegations. "This is not a criminal trial, and I do not believe that claims such as these need to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt," Collins said in a lengthy speech defending her decision.
The Maine moderate Republican faced heavy political pressure, including from women who came from her home state and demanded that she side with Kavanaugh's chief accuser, California professor Christine Blasey Ford, who claimed that a drunken Kavanaugh had attacked her at a party decades ago when they were both in high school in suburban Maryland.
"Nevertheless," Collins continued, "fairness would dictate that the claims at least should meet a threshold of more likely than not as our standard. The facts presented do not mean that professor Ford was not sexually assaulted that night or at some other time, but they do lead me to conclude that the allegations fail to meet the more likely than not standard." "Therefore," she said, "I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court."
Collins was quickly followed by West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, another key undecided vote, who issued a statement saying he, too, would vote "yes" on Kavanaugh, apparently giving Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell the support he needs to get Kavanaugh confirmed, even if by one of the narrowest margins in history for a high court nominee.
Manchin, a red state Democrat in a close re-election fight, said that while he had "reservations' given the accusations, he did what was "best for West Virginia," persuaded Kavanaugh will "follow the Constitution." Protesters shouted "shame" at him as he tried to board an elevator near his office.
Outgoing Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, also a key vote, voted "yes" to move forward, but Collins' fellow Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, split from her party to vote "no." Explaining why to reporters, Murkowski said, "I believe were dealing with issues right now that are bigger than the nominee and how we ensure fairness and how our legislative and judicial branch can continue to be respected. This is what I have been wrestling with, and so I made the took the very difficult vote that I did."
"I believe Brett Kavanaughs a good man. It just may be that in my view hes not the right man for the court at this time, " she said."
Although protests on Capitol Hill and in front of the Supreme Court were expected to continue ahead of Saturday's vote, Democrats seemed to concede defeat, and after the long, bitter fight, reaction on both sides was relatively muted.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, whom Kavanaugh famously tangled with when she asked whether he had ever blacked out from heavy drinking, spoke out to Ford from the Senate floor. "This may not end up the way you want and may not feel worth it. There's one reason it was worth it: The American people learned something." She said Ford had caused a "seismic change" in the country's thinking about sexual assault, ending by quoting the title of a song by Bob Dylan, a fellow Minnesotan.
The president, who had been roundly criticized for mocking Ford just days before, kept his immediate comments to a minimum, tweeting he was "very proud of the U.S. Senate." White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted, "Thank you @SenatorCollins for standing by your convictions and doing the right thing to confirm Judge Kavanaugh."
White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah on Saturday morning defended Trump's apparent mocking of Ford, saying the president was pointing to "facts." "You can disagree with his tone, but can you disagree with the substance?" Shah told "Good Morning America." "And I think that the key here is that what he was pointing to are facts," he continued, referring to Trump. "He was stating facts."
Ford's attorneys said their client has no regrets. "I think she feels good about the fact that she came forward and did what she felt strongly was her civic duty to do -- which is to provide the information she had to the Judiciary Committee so that they could make a better decision a more informed decision," her attorney Lisa Banks told ABC News' Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce.
Will she ever be able to live a normal life again? Bruce asked.
"She's going to go back to teaching. She loves being a teacher. She's very good at it," attorney Debra Katz said. "And she's looking forward to getting back to her family and her friends and her job. And we continue this fight, we continue to look for corroborating evidence against Judge Kavanaugh."
A family filed a lawsuit against Decatur Utilities and the City of Decatur after their family member was killed by a water main cover.
The accident happened in April on Wilson Street. That's where Karen Jenkins was driving when a car in front of her drove over the cover. Police say the cover flew into the air, slammed through the windshield and hit her while driving. She died several days later from her injuries.
The 18-page lawsuit goes into detail about what happened that day, but it also claims that this isn't the first time a water main cover hit a driver. The lawsuit describes a similar incident on April 7, 2015, three years before Jenkins's accident. The suit said a cover came out of the road on Wilson Street, hitting a truck and a trailer. No one was hurt. Later that day, another truck drove over the same cover and flew through the air again. This time it was replaced.
A lawyer for the family said they learned about these two incidents after filing a Freedom of Information request. The family is suing Decatur Utilities and the city for wrongful death, saying they "had notice and knowledge of prior incidents involving the distribution system's water valve boxes and covers located in the roadway."
WAAY 31 went to Decatur Utilities to ask if the water main cover has been replaced and if there are other ones that could come out. A spokesperson said they could not comment on pending litigation.
We also tried reaching the Jenkins family but were not able to get ahold of them. The family lawyer told me the family hopes the lawsuit will bring "recognition of the risk of unsecured valve covers and the need for proper inspection and maintenance protocols."
The lawyer also said they are concerned there are more unsecured covers throughout Decatur that could hurt someone else.
Huntsville City Schools Director of Finance has submitted his resignation. It comes less than two months after the Deputy Superintendent of Finance told the school board that the district is short millions of dollars.
According to documents obtained by WAAY 31, Willie Davis's resignation goes into effect on October 15th. It's unclear if his resignation has to do with the district's financial status. Huntsville City Schools told WAAY 31 it has no intention of filling Davis's position.
Elisa Ferrell, the School Board President, said Davis was in charge of bank reconciliations, making sure bills were paid and depositing money in a timely manner. Ferrell said she couldn't say if Davis made any errors that were a part of the district's financial problems, because his resignation is a personnel matter.
Bob Hagood, Deputy Superintendent of Finance for Huntsville City schools, is Davis's boss. Hagood is the one who informed the school board in August about the financial problems. This was after an error was made by Hagood's department.
The district's 2019 budget has millions in spending cuts but doesn't have cuts that will impact jobs. Superintendent Christie Finley told WAAY 31 the budget can be adjusted throughout the year.
WAAY 31 is working to learn more about the Director of Finance's resignation. Check back here for more updates.
(CNN) -- A 74-year-old man has been charged with murder in this week's ambush of law enforcement officers in Florence, South Carolina, officials said Friday.
Frederick Hopkins also faces six counts of attempted murder in the shooting, said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, whose office is conducting the investigation.
Three Florence County sheriff's deputies went to Hopkins' house Wednesday to interview his adopted son, 28-year-old Seth Hopkins, as part of an investigation into criminal sexual assault, Lott said. The deputies also had a search warrant.
"They got out of their car," Lott said, "and they were shot without warning."
Sgt. Terrence Carraway, a 30-year veteran of the Florence Police Department, was among those responding to the scene to provide backup. He was killed, and six other law enforcement officials were injured during the two-hour standoff.
Frederick Hopkins, who was formally charged at noon Friday, is in custody at a medical facility, Lott said. Officials anticipate he'll be released later Friday and transferred to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention center in Richland County.
Seth Hopkins has also been arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct in the second degree, Lott said. He did not elaborate on that charge. Seth Hopkins will also be transferred to the Richland County facility.
Lott earlier had said Seth Hopkins was 27, but his office later corrected the age in a statement.
"This a very large, complex puzzle that we're filling the pieces in, piece by piece -- what, why and who," Lott told reporters in a press conference Friday afternoon.
The investigation is ongoing, he said. The FBI is helping to process the crime scene.
It's unclear whether either suspect are represented by attorneys.
A source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN before the press conference that a foster child who lived in the home was the victim of the alleged sexual assault, but authorities did not address that point at the Friday briefing.
'This was an ambush'
It's unclear whether authorities have determined why officers were fired on when they arrived at the house.
Seth Hopkins had been made aware the deputies were coming to question him, Lott said.
"These officers did absolutely nothing wrong," he said. "I don't want anybody to think their procedures were incorrect, that anything they did was improper. They did not. This was an ambush that you just can't prevent."
Frederick Hopkins was disbarred as an attorney in 1984, four years after he got his law license, according to records. He was ordered to pay $18,000 to a court in Lexington County, an amount said to be equal to the sum of "wrongfully collected attorney fees."
He was charged in 2014 with disorderly conduct, court records show. It is his only known prior arrest.
Hopkins and his wife have nine adopted children, a woman who said she was a longtime friend of the Hopkins family told The State newspaper.
Officials did not provide details about how many children were in the house at the time of the shooting, but Florence County Solicitor EL Clements III told reporters there was a hearing in family court Friday regarding emergency protective custody for the youths.
Officers still recovering
Four law enforcement officials hurt in the shooting remain hospitalized Friday.
Two sheriff's deputies are in critical condition, Chief Deputy Glenn Kirby said, and the third is in stable condition.
One police officer also is still in the hospital, Florence police Lt. Mike Brandt said. Two other wounded officers were released Wednesday night.
Scores of gunshots can be heard in footage recorded by a witness near the shooting.
The officers ultimately had to be rescued, with an armored vehicle used as a shield.
Carraway, whom the Florence mayor described as a "great cop" and a "great person," died on his way to the hospital, city spokesman John Wukela said.
Slain officer was a 'gentle giant'
City officials lauded Carraway as a man with a steady temperament and a deep commitment to his community.
Florence police Chief Allen Heidler fought back tears Thursday as he recalled Carraway as a good friend and "the bravest police officer" he's ever known.
Carraway had started a mentoring program for disadvantaged youths called Camp FEVER, Heidler said.
"He had a passion for kids ... to see kids in impoverished areas have the opportunity to do the things they might not have the opportunity" to do, Heidler said. "He was a giant of a man, but he was the proverbial gentle giant, and I loved him."
An autopsy was to be performed at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, WBTW reported.
Carraway's pastor, the Rev. Cecil Bromell of First Baptist Church of Florence, said there would be a public viewing from 9 to 11 a.m. Monday at the Florence Center, and a memorial service at noon.
UPDATE: The victim is still in critical condition at Huntsville Hospital. His name is 40-year-old Willie Lashawn Malone. The suspect was taken in for questioning. Charges are pending, so his name has not been released yet.
Investigators are asking that anyone with information about the incident call 256-386-5630.
---
A shooting happened around 8 Friday night at a home on Blake Street in Sheffield.
According to Sheffield Police, one person was airlifted to Huntsville Hospital. There is a possible suspect in custody but no word yet on the condition of the person who was shot.
Neighbors told WAAY 31 that police have previously responded to several issues at the home. The person who owns the building said he rents it out to a man who has had eight eviction notices but refuses to leave the building.
The owner said he is working through the court, so they can legally force the tenant to go. Neighbors said they believe he's the man in custody. WAAY 31 is still working to find out if and how the shooting victim is connected to the suspect.
UPDATE (3:04 p.m.) - The Senate confirms Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice with a 50-48 vote.
WASHINGTON (AP) Democrats and demonstrators vented rage and resistance but the Senate rolled toward approving Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination Saturday as President Donald Trump and Republicans approached an election-season triumph in the most electrifying confirmation battle in years.
Capping a venomous struggle that transfixed Americans when it veered into claims that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted women in the 1980s and his fierce denials, the 53-year-old conservatives nomination was on track for afternoon approval. He seemed certain to win by a slender two votes in a near party-line roll call.
Trump weighed in Saturday morning on behalf of the man he nominated in July and who as justice would tilt the court rightward, possibly for decades. Big day for America! he tweeted.
Democrats paraded to a nearly empty Senate chamber overnight to lambast the nominee. They said hed push the court farther right, including possible sympathetic rulings for Trump. And they said his record and fuming testimony at a now famous Senate Judiciary Committee hearing showed he lacked the fairness, temperament and even honesty to become a justice.
But the fight was defined by sexual assault accusations, especially Christine Blasey Fords allegation that a drunken Kavanaugh tried raping her at a 1982 high school gathering. Kavanaugh vehemently denied all those claims.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Friday she will vote to confirm Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination, all but ensuring the Senate will elevate the conservative jurist to the nations highest court. (Oct. 5)
All but one Republican lined up behind him, arguing that a truncated FBI investigation turned up no corroborating witnesses and that Kavanaugh had sterling credentials for the court. Exactly one month from elections in which House and Senate control are in play, Democrats tried making sure that female voters were paying attention.
Republicans are saying: your voices just dont matter, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Saturday. Your experiences, your trauma, your pain, your heartache, your anger none of that matters. Their message is, we dont have to listen. We dont have to care. Sit down and be quiet.
As she spoke, several hundred anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators chanted on the lawn between the Capitol and the Supreme Court. We believe survivors, they yelled. Protesters have roamed Capitol Hill corridors and grounds daily, raising anxieties and underscoring the passions the nomination fight has aroused.
On Friday, announcements of support by Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia made Saturdays confirmation vote an anticlimactic formality. That roll call will end on a contest fought against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and Trumps unyielding support of his nominee.
Republicans control the Senate by a meager 51-49. Support from Collins and Manchin would give Kavanaugh the majority he needs.
In the moment that made clear Kavanaugh would prevail, Collins delivered a speech saying that Fords Judiciary Committee telling of the alleged 1982 assault was sincere, painful and compelling. But Collins said the FBI had found no corroborating evidence from witnesses whose names Ford had provided.
We must always remember that it is when passions are most inflamed that fairness is most in jeopardy, said Collins, perhaps the chambers most moderate Republican.
Manchin used an emailed statement to announce his support for Kavanaugh moments after Collins finished talking. Manchin, the only Democrat supporting the nominee, faces a competitive re-election race next month in a state Trump carried in 2016 by 42 percentage points.
Manchin expressed empathy for sexual assault victims. But he said that after factoring in the FBI report, I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution.
Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a fellow moderate and a friend of Collins, became the only Republican to say she opposed Kavanaugh. She said on the Senate floor Friday evening that Kavanaugh is a good man but his appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable.
In a twist, Murkowski said she will state her opposition but vote present as a courtesy to Kavanaugh supporter Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who is attending his daughters wedding in Montana. That procedure lets a senator offset anothers absence without affecting the outcome, and will allow Kavanaugh to win by the same two-vote margin hed have received had both lawmakers voted.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has repeatedly battled Trump and will retire in January, said hed vote for Kavanaughs confirmation unless something big changes.
Vice President Mike Pence planned to be available Saturday in case his tie-breaking vote was needed, which now seems unlikely.
In a procedural vote Friday that handed Republicans an initial victory, senators voted 51-49 to limit debate, defeating Democratic efforts to scuttle the nomination with endless delays.
When Trump nominated Kavanaugh in July, Democrats leapt to oppose him, saying that past statements and opinions showed hed be a threat to the Roe v. Wade case that assured the right to abortion. They said he also seemed ready to rule for Trump if federal authorities probing his 2016 campaigns connections to Russia try to pursue him in court.
Yet Kavanaughs pathway to confirmation seemed unfettered until Ford and two other women emerged with sexual misconduct allegations from the 1980s.
Kavanaugh would replace the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was a swing vote on issues such as abortion, campaign finance and same-sex marriage.
___
Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Matthew Daly, Padmananda Rama, Ken Thomas and Catherine Lucey contributed to this report.
Man who went to space with Shatner dies in plane crash
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
Oct. 03, 2018 | PADUCAH
By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 03, 2018 | 11:07 AM | PADUCAH
The Paducah Parks & Recreation Department is holding the sixth annual Wooftober on Saturday, October 6.
The event, which includes a dog costume contest, will be held adjacent to the Paducah Dog Park in Stuart Nelson Park. Festivities will take place from 10:30 am until 4 pm, with the Dog Park will be open before and after the event to let dogs play.
Also on Saturday come out to the 2nd Annual Rover Fun Run/Walk, a fun 5K (3.1 miles) that uses the Greenway Trail. Registration begins at 10:30 am with the event at 11 am. There is a $5 entry fee which provides participants with a t-shirt. Proceeds benefit local animal charities.
Returning this year is a pumpkin carving contest. Carve your best pet-themed pumpkin at home and bring it to the event. Judging will be at 1 pm.
Beginning at 2 pm, participants can register for the Doggie Costume Contest, which is free. The small dog costume judging parade will be at 2:30 pm with the large dogs strutting around in their costumes at 3 pm. The categories are based upon weight with 30 pounds as the dividing weight between small and large dogs. The awards ceremony will be at 3:30 pm.
There are six chances to win in each size group. The awards are the Clowning-Around Award for the funniest costume, the Scaredy-Cat Award for the scariest costume, the Paws-itively Pup-tastic Award for the most gorgeous costume, the Top Dog Award for the best owner and dog costume combo, the Best Dog Team Effort Award for owners who have more than two dogs all in costume, and the Hot-dogger Award for the best overall costume.
There will be several animal rescue, educational, and service groups in attendance to provide a variety of pet-related information and services. Puppies and dogs will be available for adoption. Services available include micro-chipping, nail trimming, vaccinations, pet boarding, grooming and healthcare information.
Wooftober is a family-friendly event for all ages; however, some dogs dont respond well to new places, children, or other animals. Please use your best judgment in determining if your pet will enjoy the event. If you are participating in Wooftober or using the dog park, please make sure to follow the Paducah Dog Park rules including the requirements to keep dogs on leashes until they are inside the dog park enclosure and to clean up after pets using the available doggie bags. Children under age 15 must be accompanied by an adult. Also, please do not bring human food into the Paducah Dog Park or to Wooftober.
For more information about Wooftober, contact Special Events Coordinator Molly Johnson at 270-444-8508 or by email at mtjohnson@paducahky.gov. Visit the Parks & Recreation Department online at www.paducahky.gov.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 05, 2018 | 02:20 PM | MAYFIELD
Generations Adult Day Services in Mayfield has received a grant from the Honorable Order Kentucky Colonels (HOKC) in the amount of $2,500 to purchase a magnetic lock door. Generations Executive Director Maureen Platt-Russell said that this grant is part of a record $2 million awarded by the Kentucky Colonels.The Generations Adult Day Services serves individuals who are disabled, frail, are in need of socialization, nursing supervision, or who have Alzheimer's disease or a dementia related disorder. The goal of Generations is to provide respite and support to the caregiver, while offering a day of encouragement, socialization and tender care to the participant.The $2 million mark is a record for the Kentucky Colonel's annual grant program, according to HOKC Executive Director Sherry Crose, as more than 230 charities throughout the Commonwealth will receive grants this year, and three million Kentuckians will be aided through the combined impact of the non-profit organizations receiving these grants.Lynn Ashton, Commanding General of the Kentucky Colonels said, "A Kentucky Colonel is more than just a certificate, it is a group of compassionate people who care about people."HOKC is a 501(c)(3) supporting Kentucky charities and worthy organizations through its Good Works Program. Donations are given by Colonels appointed by the Governor, who chose to exercise this honor in a meaningful way. For more information go to www.kycolonels.org.Generations Adult Day Services is located at 225 West Water Street in Mayfield, and can be reached at (270)-247-1311.
On the Net:
BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) - A western New York shoe manufacturer founded by two Civil War veteran brothers more than 150 years ago has closed, putting its 82 employees out of work.
P.W. Minor in Batavia shut down Friday. A layoff notice filed with the state Department of Labor said the company would close Oct. 5. A layoff notice filed in September had said the company planned to cut 45 jobs but remain open.
The company said it closed for economic reasons.
Chief Operating Officer Hundley Elliotte thanked employees for their dedication and work.
In 2016, two western New York-based entrepreneurs bought the company just days before it was scheduled to close.
Union Army veterans Peter and Abram Minor founded the company outside Ithaca in 1867. Peter Minor eventually moved the company to Batavia in the 1890s.
(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
CANASTOTA Three people are facing charges after they were allegedly found to be in possession of bath salts and other drugs, according to the Madison County Sheriffs Office.
At 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the Sheriffs Office and Canastota Police Department executed a search warrant at 130 West St. in the village of Canastota.
Deputies say 58-year-old Daniel Depugh of Canastota and 38-year-old Colleen Collins of Syracuse were both found to be possessing 40 grams of MDPV (commonly known as bath salts), 20 cigarettes dipped in PCP, several ounces of marijuana butter, 90 dosage units of LSD, 1.5 pounds of marijuana, and several scales and envelopes used for measuring and packaging controlled substances, according to deputies.
The two are each charged with:
- 4 Counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 7th degree (Misdemeanor)
- Unlawful Possession of Marihuana (Violation)
- Criminal Possession of Marihuana in the 5th degree (Misdemeanor)
- Criminal Possession of Marihuana in the 2nd degree (Felony)
- Criminal Possession of a Stimulant in the 2nd degree (Felony)
- Criminal Possession of a Stimulant in the 3rd degree with intent to sell (Felony)
- Criminal Possession of a Stimulant in the 4th degree (Felony)
- Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 4th degree (Felony)
- Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 5th degree with intent to sell (elony)
- Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 5th degree (Felony)
- Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd degree (Felony)
- Criminal Possession of Controlled Substance in the 4th degree (LSD) (Felony)
- Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia in the 2nd degree (Misdemeanor)
Depugh is also charged with misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon for allegedly possessing metal knuckles.
Deborah Collins, 57, of Canastota, is charged with misdemeanor seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance for possessing bath salts.
Daniel Depugh and Colleen Collins were arraigned and sent to the Madison County Jail. Depugh is being held without bail, and Collins is being held on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.
Deborah Collins was issued an appearance ticket for the Village of Canastota Court.
OXFORD A Chenango County man is facing charges after he was allegedly found to be in possession of crystal meth and several weapons, according to the Chenango County Sheriffs Office.
Around 5:45 a.m. Friday, the Sheriffs Office and the New York State Police CNET and SORT teams executed a no-knock search warrant at 24 N. Washington St. in the village of Oxford.
Deputies say prior to their no-knock search, they conducted a lengthy investigation at that location and found that 40-year-old Joshua Figery was allegedly involved with the distribution of crystal methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana in Oxford. That investigation then led authorities to the no-knock search warrant at that location.
Deputies say during the search, crime scene technicians and detectives found several loaded handguns, including a .380 caliber handgun, two .22 caliber handguns, and a .40 caliber handgun. They also found approximately 20 grams of crystal methamphetamine, which was individually packaged to be sold, and more than $1,200 in cash. Deputies say their investigation also found that one of the handguns was stolen.
Figary was then located at 10 Franklin St. in Oxford and taken into custody without incident. Hes charged with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of drug paraphernalia, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal possession of stolen property.
Utica, N.Y. - Quite a nice and very spirited turnout Saturday at Aqua Vino in Utica for the Proctor High School Class of 1948 class reunion.
Class of 1948 Alumnus Al Altieri, who still lives in Utica, was one of the organizers.
Altieri says it's believed that 44 out of the 259 graduating seniors from 1948 are still alive and he says just about every one of them attended Saturday's reunion, "When you look back, in my opinion, your high school days are the best times of your life."
This is the 70 year class reunion, which makes the alumni that attended either 88 or 89 years old.
Altieri says the class of 1948 has been holding reunions every five years for a while now and it seems this particular one is extra special.
Mary Morreale Ritz says it was great to grow up in Utica at the time when she and her classmates did. Her family was of Italian decent and so were so many of the other families in east Utica. She remembers vividly waking up to the smell of a fresh pot of sauce brewing on her mother's stove and the meatballs coming out of the frying pan. But she says many of those meatballs never made it into the sauce pan, as she and her family members would eat them right out of the frying pan, "We still do that today."
Morreale Ritz says another thing she vividly remembers is a bustling downtown Utica, "Downtown was wonderful. We used to walk downtown, everything was downtown, it was nice."
Margaret Putrelo Montanaro, who is 89, brought her date to the reunion, her longtime husband, who is 91 years old and was in the Proctor High School Class of 1946. Margaret says it's sad to see classmates pass away between reunions, "We lost a lot in the last five years, we lost a lot, it really hit us hard, but we're still hanging in there."
Margaret says she is looking forward to the Class of 1948 75 year reunion, five years from now.
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Some have questioned...what are the rules on window regulations for high rise apartments?
This question comes after the tragic suicide of a 19-year-old Purdue Student at The Hub apartments almost two weeks ago.
As you walk past The Hub, its noticeable that the windows dont have screens or any kind of protection on them.
It's always very sad when you lose a student," said 27th District State Representative Sheila Klinker.
West Lafayette building commissioner Chad Spitznagle says the windows on the building are up to code. A code that is established on the state level.
"Those permits receive a construction designer release, CDR, through the state, their plan reviewers, before it even comes to our office, he said.
He said The Hub was not a rushed project.
Everything was done back in 2016, so the contractors did a nice job over the last couple of years working through those scenarios, state releases, he said.
The process to get approved by the state is pretty lengthy. When a town or city gets a new building request, it goes straight to Indianapolis where it goes through rigorous scrutiny.
Every hallway, window, and electrical socket needs to be approved by the state.
They even continue inspections throughout the construction process, where any violation that arises must be addressed.
And when it comes to high rise buildings like The Hub, Spitznagle said a lot more is taken into consideration than just the safety of those inside.
"Fire departments, when they are there, they need to open up windows to get smoke out to ventilate things in a fire," he said.
Klinker says addressing window regulations is a fine line.
"They have to meet code and our firefighters in these high rises have to be able to get to them quickly but you also have to make sure that you feel like you're safe too," she said
Klinker said she's had people come to her from all backgrounds about this.
"It isn't just legislators who are talking about this its people who have students that are coming into the university setting," she said.
And she's ready to bring this up with her colleagues.
"There are two sides to every problem that we have and so we'll be discussing this with our safety officers at the State House, she said.
Anyone looking to voice their concerns about safety code regulations can contact Doug Boyle, director of the FPBSC at the state house, at doboyle@dhs.in.gov.
Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for the 2014 killing of African-American teenager Laquan McDonald by a jury on Friday.
The verdict was reached after fewer than eight hours of deliberation and was publicly released by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Gaughan. Van Dyke now faces a minimum sentence of six years in prison. Daniel Herbert, attorney for the defense, told the press there are plans to appeal the decision.
Van Dyke murdered the 17-year-old in an industrial area on Chicagos southwest side four years ago this month. The conviction on 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm is for each bullet that Van Dyke shot into the teens body.
The defense attempted to convince the jury that Van Dyke acted out of fear for his life, painting a picture of McDonald as a deranged criminal.
However, overwhelming evidence, including the dashcam video and testimony from witnesses and experts, made clear that McDonald posed no threat to Van Dykes safety. He was not lunging or otherwise moving toward Van Dyke before being shot. Dashcam footage showed that McDonald was not acting violently and was walking away from officers before the shooting.
Officer Joseph McElligott, who trailed McDonald in a squad car and shone a light on him for blocks on foot, testified that he never felt the need to shoot the teen.
An FBI ballistics expert said of the shooting that Van Dykes emptying of the clip of his magazine into McDonald was consistent with a deliberate rate of fire, taking time to aim each shot. Another witness for the prosecution testified that the use of deadly force against McDonald, who held a three-inch pocketknife, was completely unnecessary.
The verdict came in spite of the attempts at cover-up by the office of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, then-Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent Garry McCarthy and the entire Chicago city Council. After the shooting, the city suppressed the police dashcam recording for over one year and allowed Van Dyke to walk free, while it paid McDonalds family $5 million in exchange for agreeing not to talk about the case.
Van Dyke went to trial only because of the public outrage at the dashcam footage, which was leaked in late 2015. The release exposed the cover-up of the murder in a city notorious for sweeping routine police brutality and killings under the rug.
Chicago police began preparations on Thursday to suppress protests in the event of a not guilty verdict. Squad cars and police buses assembled in staging areas at Guaranteed Rate Field on the citys south side and in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the citys west side. The Chicago Police Department announced that it would require officers to work 12-hour shifts with no days off in the period after the verdict.
Several schools and universities announced that they would take increased security measures on Friday, with some campuses shutting down early in anticipation of protests. St. Ritas High School on Chicagos south side said Thursday that school officials were meeting with police captains and ramping up security measures in preparation for the verdict. South Loop Elementary School told the press that it was ready to go into lockdown mode if protests broke out.
Crowds of protesters gathered outside of City Hall before the verdict was handed down, with cheers breaking out when the verdict was read. Demonstrators marched around city hall and through the Loop, blocking some streets.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will not seek reelection in 2019, due in part to the exposure of his role in the cover-up of McDonalds murder. After the trial, he issued a statement with CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson, declaring, The effort to drive lasting reform and rebuild bonds of trust between residents and police must carry on with vigor.
The calls to reform the police are echoed by Democratic Party politicians and pseudo-left groups throughout the city and state, who attempt to frame the shooting as primarily a racial issue. On Friday, Illinois state Attorney General Lisa Madigan spoke of the need to increase so-called community policing to prevent police violence. This is a cloaked term meaning that the ruling class will move to increase policing of working class communities, while hiring more minority and female cops.
The same sentiments were echoed by Timuel Black, the 99-year-old Chicago civil rights activist and college professor, a long-time friend of former US President Barack Obama. An honorary member of the pseudo-left group Democratic Socialists of America, Black said during a talk hosted at the University of Chicago by radio station WBEZs podcast 16 Shots on Wednesday that the replacement of foot soldiers with squad cars in poor communities of color is to blame for the rise in police shootings, and said that McDonald would not have been shot if he had been white.
Such an account leaves out the basic class issues involved in police violence. Whatever role racism plays in individual shootings, police violence affects workers of all races. Data shows that while the blacks and Latinos are overrepresented in police murder statistics, the largest number of victims of police killings are white. Like McDonald, the vast majority are working class and poor.
For Obamas part, as president he oversaw both the growth of record social inequality in the US and an epidemic of police killings. Obama armed police departments around the country with military-grade weapons and refused to prosecute killer cops. During his two terms, he did everything he could to cover up the class basis of police repression and promoted the idea that it is entirely an issue of race.
The city of Chicago is taking measures to increase policing and suppress public protests while thousands of hotel workers in the city remain on strike for higher wages and benefits and UPS workers have voted against a concessions contract which the Teamsters Union is intent on pushing through. The ruling class in Chicago and throughout the country fears that anger over police violence will connect with the struggles of workers for higher wages and better working conditions.
This is the reason why the ruling class is so desperate to cover up the true causes of police violence behind the smoke screen of identity politics and police reforms, hiding the truth that it is the capitalist system of social inequality that lies at its root.
The US Senate voted Friday to close debate on the confirmation of Trumps right-wing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by a 5149 margin, as Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Joe Manchin announced their support for the appeals court judge. The final confirmation vote will take place Saturday.
Barring last minute theatrics, the cloture vote secures the confirmation of the arch-reactionary to what will be the most right-wing court in over a century. Kavanaughs confirmation will bring to a close an anti-democratic process from which the masses of people are entirely excluded.
With Kavanaugh on the court, the composition of the body will reflect the domination of the financial oligarchy over the political process like never before. Four of the nine justices will have been nominated by presidents who lost the popular vote (George W. Bush and Donald Trump). Including the two nominated by Clinton, six of the justices will have been nominated by presidents who received less than 50 percent of votes.
The Democratic Party opposed Kavanaugh not because of his political record as a supporter of torture, deportation, war and attacks on the rights of the working class, but based on uncorroborated, 36-year-old allegations of sexual assault that became the sole focus of the confirmation process.
From the start, the Democrats opposition to Kavanaugh was never intended to block his nomination. The Democrats fundamentally agree with Kavanaughs right-wing views. They offer no principled opposition to his hostility to the right to abortion, which the Democratic Party has abandoned as a political issue.
In an editorial board statement Friday, the New York Times signaled that the Democratic Partys opposition to Kavanaugh was not based on political differences with Trumps nominee. The newspaper even encouraged Trump to replace Kavanaugh with an equally reactionary justice, as long as the person nominated had not been accused of assault:
President Trump has no shortage of highly qualified, very conservative candidates to choose from, if he will look beyond this first, deeply compromised choice, the Times wrote.
The right-wing character of the Democratic Partys opposition to Kavanaugh was hinted at by Republican Senator Susan Collins, who spoke from the Senate floor Friday afternoon to defend her decision to vote for Kavanaugh. At the appellate level, Collins said, Kavanaugh had a voting record similar to that of Merrick Garland, whom Barack Obama and the Democratic Party attempted to elevate to the Supreme Court in 2016. Garlands nomination was blocked by the Republicans.
Garland and Kavanaugh served together on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Collins explained, and voted together in 93 percent of cases. They joined one anothers opinions 96 percent of the time. From 2006, one of the two judges dissented from an opinion written by the other only once.
In the end, each party has gotten what it wanted out of the process. The Republicans secured the confirmation of their nominee, while the Democrats succeeded in creating a new narrative leading up to the midterm elections, which are a month away.
In appearances on cable news following Fridays vote, numerous Democratic Party hacks explained that Kavanaughs confirmation would increase Democratic support among suburban women. CNN talking head and Clinton confidante Gloria Borger explained that the ordeal would boost Democrats running for the House of Representatives, especially in more affluent suburbs, where women were outraged by accusations against Kavanaugh. Recent polls show the obsessive focus on allegations of sexual assault may benefit Democrats in congressional elections where suburban voters in swing districts will determine the outcome of the vote.
There is a possibility, however, that the Democrats strategy could backfire, especially in swing Senate races. Polls published in the last several days show that Republican voters are far more energized than they were before the Democrats attempted to block Kavanaughs nomination on the basis of largely uncorroborated sexual assault allegations.
To keep momentum building in the month before the midterms, Democrats staged a number of demonstrations yesterday to distract from Kavanaughs right-wing politics. Outside of Washington D.C., turnout was almost non-existent. Within the capital, dozens gathered to shout at senators on Capitol Hill. A handful of people held a kegger protest outside the office of Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, at which they drank beer and denounced Kavanaugh as an alcoholic, singing, What do we do with a drunken justice early in the morning?
There are concerns among the more astute representatives of the ruling class that the Kavanaugh confirmation charade has done real damage to public support for the institution of the Supreme Court, which has historically been viewed as less susceptible to political pressure than Congress or the presidency.
Senator Collins herself said she feared the confirmation could lead to a lack of public confidence in the judiciary, something that could be hugely damaging to the political establishment.
The New York Times published an op-ed Friday by Michael Tomasky, who expressed concerns over the fact that the Supreme Court will shift to the right at a time when the population is moving rapidly to the left.
This is a severe legitimacy crisis for the Supreme Court, he wrote. The court was intended never to stray far from the mainstream of American political life. The fact that justices represented that mainstream and were normally confirmed by lopsided votes gave the courts decisions their legitimacy. Its also why past chief justices worked to avoid 54 decisions on controversial matters: They wanted Americans to see that the court was unified when it laid down a major new precedent.
Fearful of the growth of the class struggle and rising anger among workers over stagnant wages, workplace deaths and injuries, and rising gas, rent and healthcare costs, the ruling class concerns over the legitimacy of its institutions are well-founded.
Polls show increasing disdain for the government and increasing support for socialism, especially among young people. To confront this growing opposition to capitalism, the ruling class has installed a Supreme Court that will protect its privileged position and facilitate state repression by rubber-stamping surveillance, censorship, xenophobic attacks on immigrants and the buildup of the police powers of the state.
Asia
India: Police arrest 600 protesting Yamaha workers
Police arrested around 600 demonstrating Yamaha India workers on October 2 during a protest outside the Kancheepuram bus terminus. The arrested workers were detained at a nearby hall. The demonstrations erupted after the company, a major two-wheeler manufacturer, sacked two workers for their involvement in union activities.
More than 750 Yamaha India employees began an indefinite strike and occupation of the plant on September 21 to demand the two workers be reinstated. The two workers had led the struggle to establish a new union, the Yamaha Motor Thozhilalar Sangham (India Motor Workers Association). The union is linked to the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its Centre of Indian Trade Unions.
On September 26, police attacked the striking Yamaha workers as well as 1,300 Royal Enfield workers, who had walked out on September 24 and occupied their plant to demand a wage rise. Police violently broke up the occupation and ejected the auto workers from their respective plants. Both of the manufacturing facilities are located in Tamil Nadus Oragadam special economic zone, near Chennai, the state capital.
Tamil Nadu sanitary workers protest for better compensation
On October 2, hundreds of contracted sanitary workers in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, held a sit-down protest blocking the Collectors Office to demand compensation for a fellow worker who was accidently killed collecting garbage on September 28.
The sanitation workers also demanded abolition of contract employment and strong action against the contracting company who employed the dead worker. They also denounced company officials who failed to ensure the seriously injured man was given proper medical treatment. Protesters alleged that the officials had not even bothered to listen to workers demands until three days after the incident.
Pakistan teachers, municipal workers and others demand unpaid wages and benefits
Protests have erupted across Pakistan over the non-payment of wages and other benefits because the federal, state and local governments have failed to provide the necessary funds.
On September 28, teachers at government schools in Karachi demonstrated to demand the immediate payment of five months outstanding wages and benefits. About 1,500 teachers in the city have been impacted by the non-payment. According to the National Testing Service Teachers Ittehad, the union which organised the protest, the affected teachers were only recently given permanent jobs by the Sindh state government after a protracted industrial struggle.
Social austerity measures by the Sindh government have also affected workers running more than 450 reverse osmosis water treatment plants in the Thar district. Plant operations have been outsourced to a private firm but workers blamed the government for not paying the private firm. The osmosis water treatment workers have threatened to expand their protests and shut down the plant if the payments are not made.
On Monday, Municipal Committee Parachinar employees demonstrated in Peshawar denouncing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa state government for not paying outstanding wages and other payments in the past three years.
Pakistan miners demand better safety and working conditions
Hundreds of miners demonstrated in cities throughout Pakistan last week for better working conditions and the implementation of modern safety measures. The IndustriALL Pakistan Council, a trade union syndicate, led the protests, which were held in Quetta, Karachi, Islamabad, Gujarat, Faisalabad, Multan, Lahore, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and other cities.
While mines in Pakistan are governed under the official Mining Act of 1923, mine owners are notorious for violating the most basic safety measures and imposing a super-exploitative work regime. Workers are only paid between 7,000 ($US56.78) and 12,000 rupees, which is less than the government mandated minimum wage, and according to the union between 100 and 200 miners die each year in Pakistan.
The main demonstration last week was held on September 29 in Quetta under the slogan Black Friday. Workers have called for mine owners to implement ILO Convention 176 on safety and health conditions in mines.
Ninety-eight workers have been killed so far this year. At least 23 workers were killed in two incidents in the past month. The most recent incident occurred on September 30 when four mine workers were killed by a methane gas explosion in the Sanjdi area of Balochistan. Five miners were rescued by their co-workers.
Bangladesh airline workers stop work
Casual ground handling workers for Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national carrier, at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, struck for five hours on Sunday and protested outside the companys Biman headquarters to demand permanent jobs.
While loading and unloading operations were hampered, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh employees and members of the security forces were ordered to maintain operations.
The strikers returned to work after airline authorities claimed they would investigate workers demands.
Sacked Hong Kong cabin crew protest termination arrangements
About 20 sacked crew members from British Airways Hong Kong staged a sit-down protest outside the carriers office in Sheung Wan on Thursday night. The demonstration resulted in a two-hour negotiation between the airline and union representatives.
Last Wednesday, the airline sacked 57 crew members immediately, with another 24 to finish at the end of October.
Permanent staff were previously given until last Saturday, three days after being axed, to accept the companys compensation terms. If they did not agree, they would only receive the minimum required under Hong Kong labour laws. This deadline has now been extended to next Friday.
Britains national airline has been reducing its international operations to cut costs. Cabin crews based in Singapore, Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo were laid off last year.
Burmese workers continue month-and-a-half strike over dismissals
Some 200 workers at the Chinese owned Fu Yuen garment factory in the Dagon Seikkan Industrial Zone in Burmas largest city Yangon have been on strike for more than 45 days over the dismissal of 30 fellow workers.
On August 14, hundreds of workers protested at the factory, demanding fair overtime pay and on time payments. They demanded the hiring of more workers to decrease demanding workloads.
On August 20, the 30 workers, all of them union members, were sacked for instigating the protest. The current strike began the next day when workers barricaded entrances to the factory. The company agreed to meet most of the demands of the strikers but refused to rehire the 30 former employees.
Ma Thet Htar Swe, one of the 30 and a union leader at the plant, said the workers had appealed to the regional and national government for help but received no reply. The National League for Democracy, the ruling party, claimed its Labour Affairs Committee was trying to resolve the dispute but put responsibility onto the arbitration court.
Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
Hundreds of building workers strike in Queensland
Over 700 building workers went on strike this week at the financially troubled $1 billion Jewel Resort construction development site in Surfers Paradise on the Queenslands Gold Coast.
The workers walked off the job after Multiplex, the major contractor, told a number of its subcontractors that it was reducing work on the development's three high-rise buildings. An earlier suspension of some work on internal floors in apartments had led to 150 job losses. Yuhu Group Australia, the project developer, has announced plans to re-tender some unfinished parts of the building and is also trying to find a hotel operator.
While Yuhu claims it is committed to completing the project, many subcontractors believe the developer will only be able to finish construction of the resort's hotel and around 90 of the 512 planned apartments. Some fear they will not receive payment for the materials they have already purchased and may have to lay off staff.
Lion cuts jobs at breweries amid dispute for work agreement
Castlemaine Perkins Four X brewery in Milton, Queensland announced this week that it will axe 25 full-time jobs, a quarter of the facilitys workforce. The brewery is the site of a protracted enterprise agreement dispute involving the United Voice union.
The brewery workers have been involved in a number of stoppages and protests opposing the attempts by Lion, which owns the facility, to use contract labour to cover full-time employees leave. They have denounced the proposal as a move towards greater casualisation. The contract workers would be paid up to 25 percent less than permanent staff.
In July, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), the federal industrial tribunal, upheld an application by the company banning all industrial action. United Voice had already restricted industrial action to extremely limited stoppages. The union immediately complied with the FWC order.
This week Lion also announced that it will reduce shifts at its West End brewery in South Australia, resulting in the axing of 36 full-time jobs or a third of its current workforce of 100.
New Zealand ministry of justice workers continue industrial action
After a two-hour nationwide strike on September 19, court workers throughout New Zealand continue to take various forms of industrial action, after pay negotiations with the Public Services Association (PSA) remain unresolved.
Court staff are maintaining a work-to-rule, which is planned to last until October 19. An hour-long strike was held at district courts in South Auckland on September 27 and workers walked off the job at the Whangarei District and High Court buildings for an hour on Monday morning. The Whangarei strike included five security guards.
The PSA is limiting the court workers pay dispute to closing the gender pay gap. It has not called for another nationwide strike and restricted any strike action to only one or two hours. The union recently negotiated and imposed a sell-out deal on Inland Revenue workers.
New Zealand primary teachers union recommends rolling strike
The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) has recommended one-day rolling regional strikes in the face of mass opposition by primary school teachers to two government pay offers. The recommendation follows 24-hour, nationwide strike action on August 15. A vote for further industrial action in November will be taken between October 16 and 25.
The ministry of education offer was around 3 percent for three years, far below the 16 percent increase teachers are demanding, with no proposals to lessen workloads or increase support for students with special education needs.
NZEI delegates met on October 1 to discuss strike options. While there is popular support for a two-day, nationwide strike, the union claims that some delegates were concerned about the financial cost to teachers.
The union is continuing to sow illusions that the government will offer a better deal. Acting Education Minister Tracey Martin attended an NZEI conference dinner last Sunday but did not mention the pay dispute.
New Zealand anaesthetic technicians strike
Apex, the union representing hospital anaesthetic technicians, announced strikes for its members in Hawkes Bay and Northland. Hawkes Bay technicians went on strike for 24 hours last Friday and strikes in Northland are planned for next month.
Industrial action is being taken after negotiations to improve pay and working conditions broke down.
According to the union, the technicians are understaffed with five out of 19 Northland positions left vacant. Strike action could spread to the Lake District and Southern District Health Boards (DHBs) if an offer is rejected.
The strike follows 30,000 healthcare workers who struck in July after numerous rejected pay offers from the DHBs. The New Zealand Nurses Organisation eventually secured a sell-out deal by dragging out the negotiations and wearing down workers until they accepted a deal far below what they were demanding.
Strikers lift blockade in French territory of Wallis and Futuna
On Wednesday, striking officials in the remote French territory of Wallis and Futuna were told by the court to lift their blockade. It follows an offer made the previous week from the French prefect that the workers could be reclassified as French public servants if they pass a written and oral exam.
The workers have been on strike over the issue since September 17 and set up the blockade on September 20.
New Caledonia firefighters strike
Firefighters on the French-Polynesian island of New Caledonia went on strike on September 27. Five unions presented the government with a series of demands to restructure the organisation of firefighting. This included creation of a professional corps and drawing up a plan for the mass hiring and training of staff.
The strike follows industrial action by firefighters in Wallis and Futuna on September 18.
The Rail, Maritime Transport (RMT) and ASLEF trade unions are escalating their efforts to sell out rail workers fighting the imposition of Driver Only Operated trains (DOO).
The fight against DOO is in grave danger due to the unions opposition to mobilising their tens of thousands of members in an all out fight against the orchestrated Tory government/transport conglomerates assault on rail workers. This operation has continued over the last two years, involving well financed scabbing operations, the courts, threats of violence against strikers by ministers and the rolling out of new anti-strike lawsall backed by the corporate media.
Rail workers desire to fight DOO is seen in the support for the series of ongoing strikes. Guards at South Western Railway began a 48-hour strike at midnight Thursday against DOO, with a further stoppage set for October 15, while guards on Arriva Northern are striking today over the issue, with more strikes on October 13 and 20.
The latest sellout is being pushed through at Merseyrail, which carries 110,000 passengers per weekday and employs 1,200 staff. It runs services across the Liverpool City region and into Cheshire, Chester and West Lancashire.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash recently called off strikes by Merseyrail conductors for months, based on a deal to impose a form of DOO.
The RMT, Merseyrail and the Labour Party led Liverpool City Region Combined Authority agreed in principle in a joint statement that the design of the new trains proposes that the door control and dispatch of the trains will transfer to the driver.
Transport giants Serco and Abellio between them own 100 percent of shares in the Merseyrail franchise. Serco is a private outsourcing operation based in the UK and Abellio is a private arm of the Dutch state railways, Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
Merseyrail conductors have been in dispute for 18 months, taking 16 days of strike action. They were supported by train drivers from the ASLEF union who refused to cross picket lines. This powerful act of solidarity in the face of legal threats, which threatened to become a rallying point across the rail network, has been systematically undermined at every stage by the unions.
Cash hailed the Merseyrail deal as significant because a second so-called safety critical person on the train will be retained. The statement agreed only to examine ways to pay for a second member of staff on each train but only if additional funding is generated. All parties would over the next months develop a full proposed agreement.
The safety critical aspects of a new role are all up for grabs as an element of this will be agreeing the role and safety responsibilities of this second member of staff as part of the process. The current business case will need to be revisited. Whilst this takes place and until dialogue has been completed there will be no further industrial action.
Merseyrail Managing Director, Andy Heath, committed only to explore the affordability of retaining a second person on board the new trains.
The proposed sellout came after the RMT pushed through a deal in July at Greater Anglia, covering the region of Eastern England. After a series of strikes by workers confronting a massive strikebreaking operation, the RMT secured a vote to transfer door procedures from conductors to drivers.
The Tories with the support of the unions are responsible for the largest expansion of DOO services in more than 30 years. In December 2017, the RMT published figures showing that under the current plans at that time, a million more trains per year would run across the UK without a conductor.
* The RMT assisted the removal of 130 conductors from London Overground services in 2013-14. They overturned a strike mandate, forcing conductors to take redundancy or migrate into London Overground ticket office jobs.
*In 2016, the RMT described as a victory the imposition of a form of DOO on ScotRail conductors, where drivers now open doors and conductors close them. Prior to this, 50 percent of ScotRail services were already DOO.
*The majority of Southern GTR conductors are now On-Board Supervisors stripped of door operations. After first rejecting company threats to accept the new role or lose their jobs in 2017, the RMT told members to accept the new role. Before the strikes initiated in early 2016, GTR services were already 50 percent DOO.
*There are advanced preparations for DOO at Great Western Railways and West Midlands Trains (WMT), where the RMT has blocked calls by workers to organise industrial action.
Behind the assault on the conductors is the massive cuts package initiated by Lord McNulty's recommendations in 2011. Commissioned by the last Labour government, the McNulty report became Tory government policy, with many of his proposals enforced with the collaboration of the unions.
McNulty recommended cutting 20,000 jobs, pay cuts, productivity drives and insisted the default position for all services on the GB Rail network should be DOO (driver-only operation), with a second member of train-crew only being provided where there is a commercial, technical or other imperative.
With workers standing firm to fight these plans, the rail unions initiated a joint campaign in 2015, claiming they opposed DOO in all forms and would restore conductors to trains where they had previously been removed. However, they limited actions to isolated one-day and two-day strikes to minimize the impact while allowing workers to dissipate their anger.
The Socialist Equality Party warned from the outset that the unions pledge was a smokescreen behind which they would collaborate with the government to impose DOO. Everything that has happened since, now underlined by the Merseyrail agreement, confirms that without the connivance of the rail unions the McNulty report would have been stopped in its tracks.
Crucially, the deal was welcomed by the Labour Party Metro Mayor for the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram. Rotherams predecessor and now Labour Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson, is notorious for attacking Merseyrail strikes and ridiculing the conductors role in the face of a mountain of evidence proving their vital safety contribution to safety.
Whilst presenting a more left face, Rotheram warned no rail workers job was safe, saying, I also want to be clear that it requires a significant financial commitment and hard choices on all sides.
Even more attacks on rail workers jobs are planned. According to the RMT, ASLEF are collaborating with GTR to upgrade the new technology to introduce full DOO dispatch that eliminates train dispatchers jobs on the platforms.
Arriva Rail London and Transport for London (TFL) have just announced the planned closure of 51 of 100 London Overground ticket offices. When DOO was imposed on London Overground, the RMT confronted conductors with the choice of redundancy or migrating into tickets offices, which 40 conductors did. They now again face losing their jobs.
The RMT have demanded right-wing Labour Party London Mayor Sadiq Khan step in to halt the closures. During his mayoral election campaign Khan promised to reconsider the closure of 265 London Underground (LUL) ticket offices carried out by his Tory predecessor Boris Johnson. As soon as he took office, the pledge was dropped and the ticket offices remained closed.
Over the last two years, conductors and drivers have fought for a unified struggle in the face of an onslaught by the Conservative government and right-wing Labour Party figures demanding the crushing of the strikes. Workers must confront the fact that they face equally determined opponents in the RMT and ASLEF bureaucracy, who are actively supporting and collaborating in imposing DOO in various forms.
Without a break with the pro-capitalist unions, the struggle against DOO is heading for defeat.
The Socialist Equality Party calls for the formation of rank-and-file committees to take the struggle out of the grip of the union bureaucracy. Such committees must draw up demands for powerful unified strikes of drivers and conductors and all rail workers across the UK and Europe to oppose the state backed transport conglomerates:
* Oppose DOO in any form.
* Revoke the McNulty attacks on workers jobs.
* Billions for rail transport, affordable fares, pensions, jobs and wage increases.
* Workers control over safety, end the dictatorship of private corporate profiteers!
* For joint action by rail workers across the UK and Europe facing the same brutal attacks.
The Socialist Equality Party calls for the private rail companies to be expropriated, without compensation to franchise owners, and controlled democratically by transport workers and the travelling public. It is the only way to create a safe, affordable, comprehensive and democratically controlled modern transportation system free from the transport conglomerates.
Only one week ago, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders presented himself as the arch-enemy of the online retail giant Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest man on the planet. After Amazon announced it would increase starting pay for its workers from $12 to $15 an hour, Sanders spoke of Bezos as though the two were close friends and mutual admirers.
For months, Sanders posted videos and articles to his Facebook pages denouncing the company's abuse of low paid workers in its warehouse fulfillment centers, where workers are pushed to the point of exhaustion and physical incapacitation.
Sanders also criticized Bezos obscene wealth, including him in one of his Faces of Greed videos. He sponsored a bill in the Senate, which had no chance of passing, called the Stop BEZOS Act. The bill would have taxed low-wage employers such as Amazon at a rate commensurate with what their employees receive in government assistance.
Sanders did everything he could to present himself as the representative of growing popular outrage in response to revelations about the abuse and exploitation of workers at Amazon, including those exposed by the WSWS.
However, after Bezos increased his employees pay to a still poverty-level rate of $15 an hour, Sanders rushed to embrace Bezos as an altruistic reformer.
Today I want to give credit to where credit is due, and I want to congratulate Mr. Bezos for doing exactly the right thing, Sanders said in a speech in the Senate. He added on Twitter, What Mr. Bezos has done today is not only enormously important for Amazons hundreds of thousands of employees. It could well be, and I think it will be, a shot heard around the world.
Further, Mr. Bezos has indicated his support for raising the national minimum wage, Sanders added. And as someone who has introduced the $15 an hour federal minimum wage, I very much look forward to working with him in this area. Mr. Bezos and Amazon are now leading the way.
Bezos tweeted his appreciation to Sanders for his kind words. Thank you @SenSanders. Were excited about this, and also hope others will join in.
Amazons pay raise is a cynical public relations exercise. An increase to $15 an hour would still leave workers struggling to pay their bills, and it could even reduce income by pushing them past the eligibility threshold for welfare programs such as food stamps and subsidized rent.
Moreover, the company is pairing the rise in hourly pay with the elimination of productivity incentives, bonuses and stock options. Financial analysts have pointed out that Amazon will get its pound of flesh back through speedup and lower hiring levels.
Sanders is now actively working to shield Amazon from the widespread belief among workers that the announced pay rise is a sham. Our understanding is that the vast majority of Amazon workers are going to see wage increases, including some very significant increases as the minimum wage goes up to $15 an hour, Sanders said in a statement to Fox Business Channel. I would hope that as a result of Amazons new policy, no worker, especially long-time employees, sees a reduction in total compensation. Amazon can afford to make all workers whole and should do that.
Sanders use of phrases such as our understanding is and I would hope that amounts to an indirect admission that the things he is denying are in fact true.
Sanders sudden about-face shows what his campaign against the internet company was from the beginning: An attempt to get out in front of growing working class anger at Amazon and other low-wage employers in order to demobilize it. It recalls his political striptease at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, when he voted with both hands for Hillary Clintons nomination after spending months criticizing her for being in the pockets of the banks, and after Wikileaks revealed that the Democratic National Committee had conspired with Clinton against his own campaign.
According to Sanders narrative, popular pressure, exerted through union campaigns such as Fight for $15 and through progressive Democrats such as Sanders himself, succeeded not only in forcing a concession from Amazon, but transformed the company and Jeff Bezos into advocates on behalf of the very workers that they ruthlessly exploit.
This encapsulates the basic dishonesty of Sanders politics, which claims that the Democrats, a party of Wall Street, the military and the privileged upper-middle class, can be transformed into the vehicle for a political revolution against the very billionaires that control that party. But no amount of popular pressure can change the social interests of the capitalist class, which is based upon the exploitation of the working class.
Sanders, who claims to be a democratic socialist, works tirelessly on behalf of the very billionaires he claims at times to oppose, seeking to obscure and disguise this basic truth, elementary for any genuine socialist, and to promote illusions in the possibility of capitalist reform.
As with his presidential campaign in 2016, Sanders campaign against Amazon was motivated by concern that workers seeking to oppose exploitation will find their way to genuine socialism. No doubt the growth in the readership of the World Socialist Web Site's International Amazon Workers Voice was a source of anxiety in the Sanders camp, which attempted unsuccessfully to co-opt homeless Amazon worker Shannon Allen after the WSWS broke her story earlier this year.
Now that everything, allegedly, is fine at Amazon, Sanders is moving on to the next campaign, this time focusing on McDonalds, which has also been targeted for protest stunts by Fight for $15.
Today McDonald's pays wages that are so low many of its workers need Food Stamps, Medicaid, and public housing to survive, Sanders stated in a recent Facebook post. If McDonalds raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour and respected the constitutional rights of their workers to form a union it would set an example for the entire fast food industry to follow.
Workers should place no more faith in this latest charade than in his campaign against Amazon.
In its print edition on Wednesday, the New York Times devoted eight full pages to a 14,000 word investigative report on the financial practices that gave rise to the multibillion-dollar fortune of President Donald Trump.
The article is the result of an 18-month investigation that included interviews with former employees of Trumps real estate mogul father, Fred C. Trump, and a review of some 100,000 pages of financial records. It presents a detailed, factual case that Trump and his siblings benefited from tax fraud to the tune of at least half a billion dollars.
Even within the context of inheritance tax laws that are riddled with loopholes, some, if not all, of the tax dodges used by the Trumps to evade hundreds of millions of dollars in tax payments were very likely illegal. Whatever the legal issues, however, the picture of criminality and corruption that emerges from the Times report is one that characterizes not just the Trump clan, but the corporate-financial oligarchy as a whole.
The Times found that Fred and Mary Trump transferred well over $1 billion in wealth to their children, paying a total of $52.2 million in federal taxes, an effective rate of about 5 percent. The actual estate and gift tax rate at the time was 55 percent, meaning the Trumps paid less than 10 percent of the $550 million they owed to the government.
This massive tax fraud was achieved through the setting up of shell companies owned by Donald Trump and his siblings and the systematic undervaluation of the assets of Fred Trumps real estate empire, which resulted in a sharp reduction in inheritance taxes when the properties were transferred to the children prior to Fred Trumps death in 1999.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) repeatedly cited Fred Trump in the 1950s and 1960s for underpaying taxes. In 1995, it audited his gift tax return and concluded that he had undervalued assets being transferred to his children by 38 percent. But it did nothing to stop the practice, exemplifying its role and that of the government as a whole in running protection for Americas financial aristocracy and facilitating its crimes.
In 1992, the Trump family established a company called All County Building Supply & Maintenance. Its purported purpose was to serve as the purchasing agent for Fred Trumps buildings, buying everything from boilers and other equipment to cleaning supplies.
In reality, All County was a dummy firm. Its listed address was the Manhasset home of John Walter, a favorite nephew of Fred Trump. Walter was the legal owner of All County, along with Donald Trump and his sisters Maryanne and Elizabeth and brother Robert. The company did not actually organize the purchase of items for Fred Trumps apartment buildings. Instead, it served as a middleman, systematically padding the prices it charged Fred Trump over and above the actual cost of the purchases, sometimes by 20 percent, sometimes by 50 percent or more.
By agreement with the father, the Trump children used All County as a vehicle for siphoning millions of dollars from the Fred Trump real estate empire to themselves without having to pay gift taxes to the government.
Fred Trump then used the artificially induced hit to the profitability of his apartment buildings to apply for and receive permission from the state to raise rents on tenants in his rent-regulated properties. The Times cites Robert Trump as acknowledging in a deposition, The higher the markup would be, the higher the rent that might be charged.
The Times reported Friday that New York City was joining New York State in investigating the allegations in its report on the Trumps finances. The newspaper cited First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan as pointing out that by driving down the profitability of his buildings, Fred Trump may have fraudulently reduced his city property taxes, which are based in part on the profits reported by owners.
In January of 1994, some two years after the founding of All County, the Trumps set up a new firm called Apartment Management Associates Inc. This was, according to the Times, yet another dummy company with a mailing address at John Walters home. Two months after its establishment, Apartment Management Associates, owned by Donald Trump, his siblings and cousin Walter, began collecting fees for managing Fred Trumps buildings that previously went to the fathers firm, Trump Management.
Like All County, Apartment Management Associates was a mechanism for transferring wealth from Fred Trump to his heirs, without paying gift or estate taxes. The Times writes: By 1998, records show, All County and Apartment Management were generating todays equivalent of $2.2 million a year for each of the Trump children. Whatever income tax they owed on this money, it was considerably less than the 55 percent tax Fred Trump would have owed had he simply given each of them $2.2 million a year.
According to the newspaper, Donald Trump, Freds favorite child and the one most involved in his business dealings, played an active role in these and other shady operations.
The Times article goes on to detail how the Trumps transferred assets from father to children in the 1990s, making use of a tax dodge widely used by the super-rich, a grantor-retained annuity trust, or GRAT, to drastically undervalue the assets being transferred and thereby pay only a fraction of the gift taxes legally owed. In this way, the Trumps evaded hundreds of millions in taxes.
The Trumps claimed that the fathers properties were worth $41.4 million. The same buildings were sold off over the next decade for more than 16 times that sum.
In the end, the authors write, the transfer of the Trump empire cost Fred and Mary Trump $20.5 million in gift taxes and their children $21 million in annuity payments. That is hundreds of millions of dollars less than they would have paid based on the empires market value, the Times found.
Much of the article details the vast sums Fred Trump transferred to Donald, which the Times estimates to have totaled $413 million in todays dollars. The newspaper makes much of the fraud of Donald Trumps claims to be a self-made billionaire, having received only a $1 million loan from his father that he parlayed into a multibillionaire-dollar empire.
This is significant in as much as it points to the immense role of inherited wealth in the fortunes piled up by the corporate-financial oligarchs. However, the Times focuses on the sham of Trumps self-promoting narrative in order to score political points and distract attention from the more fundamental issue: the pervasive criminality of the corporate-financial ruling elite as a whole, its plundering of society and the complicity of the entire political establishment, which it controls.
The Times seeks to present the Trumps as an aberration from the norm for very definite class reasons. It and the Democratic Party with which it is allied are defenders of the capitalist system and the oligarchy that rules it. In fact, its own expose gives a glimpse of the standard, everyday practice of the ruling class and the official institutions of governmentthe courts, the regulatory agencies, Congress and the Democratic and Republican parties.
This rampant corruption and criminality have only increased in recent decades, in tandem with the social counterrevolution carried out against the working class, over which both parties have presided. The decades of deindustrialization and decimation of industrial cities and towns have coincided with the ever more dominant role of financial speculation and manipulation in the economic life of the country and, indeed, the world.
Trump embodies the degraded and gangster-like social forces that have risen to the top. He is the product and expression of the decay of American capitalism and capitalist democracy. He is no aberration.
A key mechanism in the social counterrevolution and consolidation of a financial oligarchy has been the systematic skewing of the tax system in favor of the rich and the super-rich.
By 2009, the average federal tax rate on income from work and savings was 18 percent. This compares with 4 percent for inherited income.
Estate and gift taxes have fallen from 2.6 percent of federal revenues in 1972 to less than 1 percent today, even as the share of wealth and income monopolized by the mega-rich has dramatically increased. This process was vastly accelerated with the signing of Trumps tax reform in December, which drastically slashed corporate taxes and tax rates for the rich.
Systematic tax evasion by the super-rich, facilitated by the government, is by no means a purely American phenomenon. As a team of economists headed by Gabriel Zucman documented in a study published in August, the 0.01 percent richest households worldwide evade about 25 percent of their taxes just through the hoarding of assets in offshore tax shelters.
With its detailed exposure of the Trump fortune, the Times has unwittingly confirmed the insistence of socialists that the continued existence of a parasitic oligarchy is incompatible with the most basic social and democratic rights of the vast majority of the population.
The sordid saga of the Trumps underscores the need for the working class to expropriate the wealth of the oligarchy and put its trillions to use providing good-paying jobs, decent schools and housing, clean air and water, a secure retirement and access to culture for all people. That is to say, the need for the unification and mobilization of the working class to carry out a socialist revolution and restructure society on the basis of social equality and common ownership and democratic control of the corporations and banks.
Tuesday, October 2 marked the passage of 50 years since the slaughter of protesting students by Mexicos military in the Plaza of Three Cultures in the Tlatelolco area of Mexico City.
Tens of thousands of university students, teachers, and relatives of disappeared persons marched from Tlatelolco to the Plaza of the Constitution or Zocalo in downtown Mexico City, as did thousands of others in least 13 states, to commemorate the massacre, so that brutal day and the memory of those who perished or disappeared would not be forgotten.
National student strikes, occupations and demonstrations had begun on July 26, 1968 with a march to the Zocalo. A half million attended another demonstration in the Zocalo in August.
The student movement, part of a global radicalization of layers of students, youth and workers, was inspired by major political developments that year, such as Czechoslovakias Prague Spring, when workers rose up against its Stalinist regime, and a general strike of 10 million workers in May-June 1968 that brought France to the brink of proletarian revolution.
The student strike committee included delegations from 70 universities and college preparatory schools. Its principal demands included autonomy for the countrys universities, the freeing of political prisoners, and an end to police repression and violence.
On October 2, 1968 upwards of ten thousand working- and middle-class students marched to the Plaza of the Three Cultures, joined by university employees, as well as workers from dissident trade unions, including railroad workers. Some demonstrators had brought their spouses and children.
Thousands of army troops and tanks surrounded the Plaza as members of the student strike committee addressed the crowd. At 6 p.m., one green and one red flare slowly wafted down from a military helicopter. As the flares reached the ground gunmen posted in the apartments above commenced firing on the speakers and demonstrators. That was the sign for a combined military and police assault on the protesters.
Army troops sealed off the exits from the Plaza and proceeded to indiscriminately mow down the crowd. Witnesses described how students ran from one end of the plaza to the other in an attempt to escape, only to be met by more machine gun fire.
As the operation proceeded, bodies were loaded onto army trucks and carted away. Anonymous cadavers were dropped that very same night from military airplanes over the Gulf of Mexico. At dawn on October 3rd, apartment dwellers overlooking the Plaza described seeing hundreds of shoes and pools of blood below, as bodies were still being carted away.
The wounded were dragged away by their hair and disposed of. For hours, ambulances were prohibited from coming to the aid of the dying demonstrators. Military personnel even invaded hospitals, seeking to finish off those who made their way there. Many who survived were forced to run a gauntlet of soldiers who beat them with rifle butts.
Over 1,300 were arrested. The whereabouts of many of them are still unknown. The Mexican government has never officially admitted to more than 30 dead. At the time, international press agencies gave an estimate 10 times higher. Others have put the figure between 300 and 400.
The Mexican military was not called to account for its savage repression because the operation had been approved at the highest level of the Mexican stateby President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)and had been overseen by his interior minister, Luis Echeverria, who succeeded Diaz Ordaz as president.
The two had planned this attack while working closely with the upper echelons of the American security apparatus. Despite posturing behind a veneer of Mexican nationalism and independence from Yankee imperialism, in 1968 Diaz Ordaz and Echerverria had in fact served as de facto agents of the American CIA, in close contact with its Mexico City station chief Winston Scott.
The highest levels of the American government closely followed the development of the 1968 Mexican student movement, and with considerable trepidation. They feared the prospect of a mass movement in what they considered their American backyard. They provided arms and munitions to the Mexican police and military units that were attacking the protestors.
The Mexicans fed the Americans information about supposed Trotskyist cadres organized into an Olimpia Brigade that intended to arm themselves and provoke an uprising during the protest at Tlatelolco. Declassified cables show that President Lyndon Johnson and his national security adviser Walter Rostow initially concluded that this heavily armed brigade had opened fire on Mexican security forces on October 2, 1968, which in turn provoked the bloody reaction by Mexican forces. This was the official story that had been purveyed by the Mexican government and military heads.
This was soon proven to be a fraud. The initial shooting had come from the armys Olympic Battalion, a specially trained force that had been planted in civilian clothing as a fifth column, both to create the pretext for the army to intervene, and to terrorize the demonstrators. Battalion members were distinguished by their white handkerchiefs or gloves, so troops would not fire on them as well.
During a 1997 investigation by the Mexican Congress Echeverria admitted to investigators that the students had not been armed, and that the operation had been meticulously planned in advance. In preparation, the army had already occupied the Mexico Citys Polytechnic Institute, and the national university, UNAM. Nearby jails had been emptied a few days prior to October 2 in order to house those who would be arrested.
It is widely accepted that Tlatelolco marked a willingness by the Mexican state to resort to a new level of violence in response to social and political opposition and dissent. This systematic violence has continued, with little abatement, to this day.
During Echeverrias presidency (1970-76), the Mexican state conducted a Dirty War against left-wing students, workers, and intellectuals.
On Corpus Christi day in June 1971, a CIA-trained special shock army unit called the Halcones (hawks), formed from Olympic Battalion veterans and right-wing student thugs known as porros, massacred at least 120 students who were marching in support of university autonomy, greater education funding and political freedoms for students, workers and peasants.
President Echeverria called for an investigation, but instead he covered up what had been his own operation. Meanwhile, Echeverria postured as a left populist in support of Third Worldism. He sought to the lead the block of so-called non-aligned nations, and reached out to cement good relations with Fidel Castros Cuba and Salvador Allendes Chile.
From 1968-74 the Mexican army, under Echeverrias orders, also conducted a scorched earth policy in quelling peasant rebellions in the mountains of southern Guerrero state, including one famously led by Ayotzinapa-trained teacher Lucio Cabanas.
In January 1994, as NAFTA took effect, with its abrogation of the article of the Mexican constitution prohibiting the sale or privatization of communal landholdings, an armed insurgency broke out in the southern state of Chiapas, led by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation demanding social, cultural and land rights for the indigenous population. Although the uprising posed little threat to Mexican political stability, the government determined to eliminate the Zapatistas in order to demonstrate to international capital its effective control of the national territory and of its security policies. The Mexican army was sent in to quell the uprising.
Vicente Fox, of the conservative Party of National Action (PAN), who headed the first non-PRI government since the Mexican Revolution (2000-2006), established with much fanfare a Special Prosecutors Office for Social Movements and Crimes of the Past to look into these massacres and military operations. But this office handed only a single case over to a judge during its six-year existence, charging Echeverria with genocide for his role in the Tlatelolco and Corpus Christi massacres. During the case Echeverria was sentenced to two years of house arrest, but was soon thereafter ordered freed in 2009.
Similarly, Foxs call for unveiling of 80 million archives of the federal departments on security operations against social and political movements came to nothing. Documents about the Tlatelolco massacre largely remained hidden based on national security objections by the military. Such documents would detail the number of dead and disappeared, and the manner in which the massacre was organized, including the role that the American CIA and military played in the operation.
Then Foxs successor Felipe Calderon, also of the PAN, unleashed the armed forces in the streets of Mexico in the name of fighting the narcotics cartels. Well over $2 billion in American aid has funded these military operations.
Studies indicate that this warfare has resulted in over 150,000 dead and more than 40,000 persons disappeared. Employment by the military of summary executions, torture, and clandestine prisons became commonplace.
Violence on this level has equaled if not surpassed that seen in Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina and Chile.
In 2006, Enrique Pena Nieto of the PRI, then governor of Mexico state, sent hundreds of state police to clear residents of the town of Atenco who were blocking a highway in support of flower vendors. Two protestors were killed, and dozens of people assaulted, including many women who were sexually assaulted.
The Popular Assembly of the peoples of the southern state of Oaxaca was also violently repressed in 2006, through employment of death squads, summary executions, and shooting of unarmed persons, including medics. Over 27 died.
State and military violence famously continued under the presidential administration of Pena Nieto, which commenced in 2012.
In June 2014, soldiers of the 102nd Battalion of the Infantry of the Mexican Army killed 22 people in Tlatlaya, Mexico state. The soldiers claimed to have fired in self-defense in a shootout with local gang members. An Associated Press investigation later revealed that the killings of all but one involved executions of youth who had surrendered.
Most infamously, 43 teaching students of the Isidro Burgos Rural Normal School in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero state who were protesting regressive federal educational policies were disappeared and likely killed in the city of Iguala in September, 2014. An independent investigation overseen by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights determined that a local army battalion had participated in the extrajudicial executions of these normalistas, and that the chain of command up to president Pena Nieto covered this up. To this day the federal government has blocked any inquiry into the armys role.
In 2016, teachers of a dissident union protesting Pena Nietos attacks on education and students supporting them who were blocking a highway in Nochixtlan in the state of Oaxaca were fired upon by federal police without provocation. At least six died and 108 were injured.
In 2016 the Mexican Congress amended the Constitution to give the president the power upon congressional approval to restrict or suspend civil liberties in the event of serious disturbances to the public peace, or anything else that places society in grave danger or conflict, that is, effectively to declare martial law.
In January 2017, over ten thousand police were deployed to quash widespread protests against surging gasoline prices, in what was known as the gasolinazo. Upwards of a thousand people were arrested.
In a March, 2017 speech before 32,000 active military members which was watched online by another 86,000 military personnel, Pena Nieto fervently defended the Mexican military against criticisms of human rights abuses. He charged that denigrating the armed forces or their work was inadmissible and unacceptable, bordering on the treasonous.
In December 2017, the Mexican Congress enacted an Internal Security Law which grants Mexicos armed forces, federal police and intelligence services jurisdiction over civilian matters, but without civilian review. The law grants these state agencies the power to identify domestic security threats, lead security operations, and collect information from civilian institutions.
Raids and arrests can be carried out without a judicial order. The Center for Investigation and National Security (CISEN) in the interior ministry is to assign a level of risk to national security to any social or political group or protest, for example, a risk of ungovernability by mobilizations.
The Pena Nieto government had already been caught employing a program called Pegasus to spy on its media and political critics. The Internal Security Law also lays a legal foundation for mass spying on the Mexican population. Telecommunications service providers can be forced to deliver private communications, real-time geographical location or delivery of retained data on mobile communication equipment, without judicial overview or accountability.
After hearing testimony on the Internal Security Law, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights sharply criticized the scope of the increased role of the military and intelligence, while the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights warned the law may be implemented extensively and in an arbitrary manner.
Drawing on earlier conceptions of Marx and Engels, Lenin in his 1917 work The State and Revolution defined the state as an organization of violence for the suppression of some class. Lenin stressed that the fundamental nature of the order imposed by a state involved the oppression of one class by another, and the systematic denial of means of struggle to the oppressed class.
Lenins definition well captures the violent nature of the Mexican bourgeois state of the last half century, operating in the interests and at the behest of Mexican and internationalprimarily Americancapital.
This is a capitalist state that is incapable of bringing justice to the workers and youth who have been victimized, because the needs of the state for social control are opposed to the aspirations of the masses for equality and democratic rights.
Moreover, the use by the Mexican state of widespread force and police-state measures has only increased in scale and intensity since 1968. This itself is a concentrated expression in Mexico of the intensifying class struggle arising from the world capitalist crisis, including the increasing aggression of American imperialism, and bourgeoning inequality.
There can be little doubt that American imperialism would bring strong pressure to bear on the Mexican government in order to head off any significant turn away from these policies.
On Wednesday of last week, in marking the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of the Ayotzinapa 43, Mexicos incoming president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Morena, the National Regeneration Movement, promised their families that he would institute a truth commission to get to the bottom of the atrocity.
However, when the question of whether the role of the army would be thoroughly investigated, the man Lopez Obrador has designated as the next Undersecretary of Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior, Alejandro Encinas, who will oversee the operation of the truth commission, insisted that the object of the commission could not be to investigate the armed forces.
On Saturday, Lopez Obrador spoke at Tlatelolco to observe the fiftieth anniversary of the massacre. The president elect said In this historical square we commit ourselves never to use the Army to repress the people of Mexico.
In virtually the same breath, however, AMLO backtracked from his campaign promise that he would immediately order the military to be withdrawn from the streets and send soldiers back to their barracks.
Members of the Committee of 68, who organized Tuesdays Mexico City demonstration, called upon Lopez Obrador reactivate the Special Prosecutors Office established under President Fox. Lopez Obrador responded that while he would consider the matter, we do not want to open prosecutors for everything.
Lopez Obrador has otherwise made contradictory pronouncements about fully investigating state atrocities without impunity for those involved, while at the same time dangling amnesty before their perpetrators. Such statements signal that sooner rather than later the Morena government will undertake to actively suppress an investigation as to past and future state killings, including the bloody state crime that was Tlatelolco, as well as its coverup.
As Ricardo Raphael, director of the UNAM Cultural University Center on Tlatelolcowhich is currently digitalizing and making public hundreds of documents from the 1968 periodwarned earlier this year, Whoever wants impunity will try to destroy the memory.
Many in Mexico, including veterans of the 1968 student movement, such as the Committee of 68, have expressed grandiose expectations for Lopez Obrador, who has long been depicted as a left populist. He has been lauded by the pseudo-left as a progressive social democrat who will pursue what he calls a fourth Mexican revolution, and has even been supported critically by political groups claiming to be Trotskyist.
But as his recent equivocations as to investigating government atrocities express, Lopez Obrador is a thoroughly bourgeois politician, who will not challenge the fundamental nature or operation of the Mexican state.
In truth, the Mexican ruling class, and international capital, have made their peace with this his victory precisely because he is seen as better suited to convince the Mexican working class that its fundamental interests can be protected through tepid and half-hearted reforms, rather than through a socialist revolution to take power and overturn the capitalist system.
On Friday, UPS workers voted to reject a sellout contract backed by the Teamsters union and UPS management. The union, however, has announced that it considers the contract ratified and will seek to impose it in the face of mass opposition.
The ballot results were released last night, with 50,248 workers (54.7 percent) voting against and 42,356 (45.74 percent) in favor. Workers at the subsidiary UPS Freight voted by 62 percent against a separate contract. Both votes follow the no vote by 1,300 UPS airline mechanics in Louisville, Kentucky on Wednesday, meaning all three of the Teamsters contracts have been defeated.
The UPS depot in Madison Heights, Michigan
The Teamsters is citing an anti-democratic clause in its constitution that provides it with virtually unchallengeable authority against the workers. The clause states that if turnout in the contract vote is less than half, a two-thirds majority of workers is required to reject the final agreement. Voter turnout on the national UPS agreement was 44 percent.
The Teamsters statement cynically attempts to blame those workers who did not participate in the vote. As we saw in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, it declares, winning the popular vote does not necessarily win the election when the Constitution requires you to win the Electoral College vote. As Teamsters, we too must abide by the rules in our Constitution. Thus, the National Master UPS Agreement has been ratified.
Nervous of a wildcat strike, the Teamsters statement threatens: You are reminded that the terms of the 2013 Agreement remain in effect, including the no strike/no lockout clause.
In effect, the union is counting those workers who did not vote as votes in favor of its agreement. No organization that was in any way accountable to workers could have such rules. Why is a two-thirds majority not required to ratify the agreement, rather than to reject it?
From the beginning, the Teamsters has done everything it could to force through a sellout agreement over mass opposition. In July, workers voted overwhelmingly for strike authorization, by 93 percent, a vote that the union has simply ignored.
After reaching a sellout agreement with the company, the Teamsters then dispatched local officials across the country to threaten workers with the loss of health insurance if they went on strike. The union declared that rejecting the contract would lead to a worse deal. It has spent workers dues money to hire the marketing firm BerlinRosen to promote its lies. And it has kept workers on the job for three months without a contract to buy time to wear down overwhelming anger over its sellout.
Many workers have raised concerns about the integrity of the voting process. Several workers told the WSWS UPS Workers Newsletter yesterday, the final day of voting, that they had still not received their form in the mail providing an electronic online voting code. This is the first year that the Teamsters has used electronic voting on its contract.
Now, to justify its efforts to repudiate the clear will of UPS workers, the Teamsters is claiming that it is merely upholding its constitution. However, in the vote on the last contract, the Teamsters ignored overwhelming defeats of local supplementary agreements to push through the national master contract, violating its own statutes. In that case, the Teamsters amended the constitution to override the votes at locals.
The Teamsters is also refusing to call a strike at UPS Freight, where the turnout was approximately two thirds of the workforce. It has declared that it will request further negotiations with the companyand will force workers to vote again.
Throughout this whole process, the Teamsters has demonstrated that it is not a workers organization, but an outfit of scabs and strike-breakers. It exists as a permanent conspiracy against the workers it claims to represent.
UPS workers are faced with two alternatives. Either the union will remain in control and impose its sellout contract, which will create a new tier of lower-paid hybrid drivers, set a precedent for expanding the conditions of part-time work from the warehouses to deliveries, maintain poverty-level wages for part-time warehouse workers, and give a green light to the company to ramp up speedup and victimizations.
Or workers can take the struggle into their own hands.
The WSWS UPS Workers Newsletter urges workers follow the second course by electing rank-and-file committees in every warehouse and hub, independently of the Teamsters, to prepare an immediate nationwide walkout.
These committees should draw up their own demands as the basis for a strike, including an immediate 30 percent wage increase, abolition of all tiers, the transformation of all part-time workers into full-time workers with a corresponding raise in pay and benefits, a reduction in the full-time work week from 40 to 30 hours, with no loss in pay, and workers control over production, line speed and delivery quotas.
There is widespread support for a struggle. Heather, a UPS worker in Portland, told the WSWS last night, I think the union will try to push it through anyway, perhaps in some kind of quiet way as to avoid pushback. If they do, people are going to get very, very angry and I would expect a strike from workers independent of the union. We definitely need to organize in a substantial way, so we can stay informed and in discussion with each other.
The votes at UPS are an expression of the growing radicalization and determination to fight in the working class across the United States and internationally. This militancy is developing in opposition to the anti-working class and pro-corporate trade unions. The no vote at UPS follows the strikes by US teachers in the spring of this year, which occurred through a rebellion against the national teachers unions, the nationwide strike of New Zealand nurses, and a growing strike wave by workers across Europe and the Middle East.
These are the allies of the workers at UPS. Rank-and-file committees should send delegations to workers at Amazon, FedEx and the United States Postal Service, as well as to teachers, autoworkers and other sections of the working class, to organize a united struggle, including preparation for a general strike.
The WSWS UPS Workers Newsletter is holding a second online call-in meeting to discuss a way forward for UPS workers to defeat the Teamsters effort to impose its sellout. The meeting will be at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, October 8. To participate, register here. You can also dial in by phone, by calling (571) 317-3122 and entering the access code 615-917-277.
What four letters spark the ire of President Donald Trump more than almost any other? O-P-E-C. This week, oil prices marched to another four-year high.
Why has this happened? There is a growing chorus insisting that Washington's policy against Iran has ratcheted up geopolitical tensions and could knock out up to 2 million barrels a day of Iran's exports. This has sparked a surge in prices two months after the US "snapback" sanctions against Tehran took effect.
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"Let's be frank, such oil prices are to some extent the result of the US administration. I'm talking about sanctions against Iran, about political problems in Venezuela and just looking at what's happening in Libya," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during an annual energy conference in Moscow.
Trump has singled out the 15-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on a handful of occasions to release more oil onto the market. But the most recent example -- Trump's recent address to the UN General Assembly -- a senior OPEC source said takes the verbal attacks and tweets to an alarming level.
"OPEC and OPEC nations are, as usual, ripping off the rest of the world, and I don't like it. Nobody should like it. We defend many of these nations for nothing, and then they take advantage of us by giving us high oil prices. Not good," Trump said.
As if that were not enough, the US Congress began debate Wednesday on the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, so-called NOPEC legislation to lift immunity on sovereign states and punish them for energy price collusion.
The President has criticized OPEC as an organization but has made implicit reference to his allies in the Gulf: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
This effort to target the major Gulf exporters in Trump's mind is a quid pro quo: He backs a tougher line against the Gulf states' regional archrival Iran and in return, they supply crude to bring down oil prices.
"We protect the countries of the Middle East, they would not be safe for very long without us, and yet they continue to push for higher and higher oil prices. We will remember. The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now!" he tweeted.
Trump does not welcome the more measured approach decided by OPEC and non-OPEC producers at their last committee meeting in Algiers.
Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih made it clear the kingdom was poised to release more oil onto the market, but only when there were real orders made by its customers. It pledged at the OPEC meeting in June to release up to 1 million barrels a day in the second half of the year -- and energy analysts say it is halfway there.
The Saudi minister and his Russian counterpart, Alexander Novak, are walking a tightrope. They do not want to see a repeat of 2016 or 2008. When oil prices spiked higher, major producers released more crude, and the market collapsed, with the international benchmark crude, North Sea Brent, tumbling to below $30 a barrel during both crises.
But the multibillion-dollar question today is this: Are prices trading above $80 due to a shortage of supplies? Or is it the ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions by Trump himself against Iran?
"The current market conditions cannot be attributed to us or our actions," Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC's secretary-general, told CNN during a phone interview after Trump's speech to the United Nations.
"Stability in the oil market has always been our objective. Geopolitics is a huge challenge," Barkindo added, referring to the pressure applied to one of the organization's founding members, Iran.
Sources at state-oil giant Saudi Aramco insist there is no shortage of oil and point to the latest survey by JBC Energy, which states that due to US trade measures, demand is beginning to tail off outside the United States.
And there is more of the same in the pipeline coming from the United States against Iran, with Trump promising to impose additional measures against Tehran after the second round of snapback sanctions targeting oil exports, which take place November 4.
Therein lies the conundrum. Trump seems determined to maximize economic sanctions against Iran by pushing oil exports to zero and to force a retreat in what is called the Shia Crescent that reaches to Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen.
At the same time, he does not want higher oil prices becoming an economic factor during midterm elections in November just as gas prices move higher.
"I say you cannot have your cake and eat it, too. You cannot have Iran at zero and as well as prices lower. These two cannot go together," said Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, Iran's governor to OPEC and longtime diplomat in the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The governor admitted that Iran's exports are already down by 650,000 barrels a day, from an official figure of 2.8 million in June. The Institute of International Finance pegged that drop at 800,000 barrels, pushing Iran into a recession of negative 3% this year and deepening to 4% in 2019.
In the meantime, the five other signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement are scrambling to set up a barter mechanism, which would allow Tehran to continue exporting its crude by avoiding trade in the US dollar.
"I think when he (Trump) goes to the end of his reasoning, he'll see it's actually good for oil prices to be able to sell again. It's good for peace and it's also good for the world price of oil," French President Emmanuel Macron said.
That is the political view. But chief executives of the big energy companies such as Total of France, BP and Royal Dutch Shell have said that effort is a nonstarter due to their US shareholdings and dependency on Wall Street for financing projects.
No one, it seems, wants to challenge Trump when it comes to Iran. He has declared that those who do not comply with the US sanctions regime will face "severe consequences."
The same, unfortunately for the US President, could be said for the price of oil as well, with many expecting $100 a barrel by the close of 2018.
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) An Ohio man driving home from work Tuesday says he did a double-take before firing up his cellphone to record a cow poking her head out the back window of a pickup truck.
WKEF-TV reports the video posted by Tipp Citys JD Blair on Facebook has gone viral with more than 200,000 shares and nearly 8 million views.
The pickup trucks driver, Cory Morris, of Ludlow Falls, says 18-month-old Annie has been part of his life since her mother rejected her at birth. He says the 800-pound (363-kilogram) Annie regularly climbs into the back seat of his truck.
Morris says when people ask about Annies road tripping habits, he replies, Where else would I put her?
People can follow Annies life and adventures on her new Facebook page .
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Information from: WKEF-TV, http://abc22now.com/
Despite the turbulent, bitter fight surrounding his nomination, my fervent hope is that Brett Kavanaugh will work to lessen the divisions in the Supreme Court so that we have far fewer 5-4 decisions and so that public confidence in our Judiciary and our highest court is restored, she said. Mr. President, I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.
The full vote will now be held sometime Saturday and, barring a drastic and unforeseeable twist, elevate Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
It will conclude a particularly contentious period in American politics, even by rancorous modern standards.
Kavanaughs public hearings began on Sept. 4. Then the focus was on jurisprudence, with Democrats questioning him on his positions regarding abortion rights, executive power, civil liberties and national security, and his how own religious convictions shape his legal thinking.
JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - A 70-year-old woman was killed in a two-car accident in Jackson County.
Linda McKinney, a passenger in a Dodge Caravan, died at Southeast Health as a result of her injuries sustained in the crash.
According to Florida Highway Patrol, the accident happened at about 6:17 p.m. Friday on U.S. Highway 231 and Dionne Road.
FHP said the Dodge Caravan was making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic, when a Honda Accord was unable to avoid a collision.
FHP stated both cars hit each other on a paved driveway on the shoulder of the road.
The driver of the Dodge Caravan was not injured in the accident and a 17-year-old from Marianna, who was driving the Honda Accord, was also not injured in the accident.
The crash is currently under investigation by FHP and charges are pending.
BONIFAY, Fla. (WTXL) - A Florida police officer has been arrested after he was found to be selling opioid tablets out of his marked patrol car.
Bonifay Police Officer, Dwayne White, 48, was arrested by Florida Department of Law Enforcement Agents Friday night.
FDLE began its investigation in Sept. at the request of the Holmes County Sheriff's Office. HCSO received information that White was selling prescription opioid tablets.
Earlier this month, FDLE agents made a controlled purchase of opioid tablets from White. At the time of the purchase, FDLE said White was selling the drugs out of his marked patrol vehicle, while in uniform, and was using his personal cell phone to facilitate the drug deals.
White is being charged with selling a controlled substance within 1000 feet of an assisted living facility and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
He was taken to the Walton County Jail.
The Office of the State Attorney, 14th Judicial Circuit is prosecuting this case. The Holmes County Sheriffs Office and Bonifay Police Department are helping with the investigation.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - It looks like a beloved Southside restaurant will continue to serve its faithful customers.
Oleans Cafe, a Tallahassee staple for 20 years had reportedly been facing foreclosure.
When we arrived at the restaurant on South Adams Street Friday, the line was out the door, no doubt a testament to the soul kitchen's great food and popularity.
When asked about the foreclosure, Johnny McCaskill, who is co-owner of the restaurant with his wife Olean, assured us that "everything has been handled and we are not facing foreclosure."
Johnny referred us to Timothy Traenor, a trial attorney with the small business administration in Washington DC, who has been working with the McCaskills to reach a resolution to the problem.
"We have reached an agreement, in principle, with Mr. McCaskill, we will hold the foreclosure action," said Traenor.
As long as they are compliant with the new agreement, the people of Tallahassee can continue to eat well.
| 2018-10-06 00:26:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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by Dana Halawi
BEIRUT, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Winemaking industry is rapidly growing in Lebanon. Years ago, there were only a few well-known wineries in the country. But things have tremendously changed nowadays with Lebanese wine filling many glasses locally and globally.
Vinifest 2018, an annual four-day wine exhibition, is a clear indication on the development of the wineries that have entered the Lebanese market in the past few years.
More than 50 exhibit booths filled the center of the horse-racing venue at Beirut Hippodrome. Each represents a thriving winery in Lebanon.
However, the industry still faces challenges despite the popularity that the Lebanese wine has gained over the years.
"We want the government to impose higher custom fees on imported wine in a bid to protect our local production," Rami Chidiac, managing partner at Byblos Wine, told Xinhua.
"You can find French wine for only 2 euros (2.3 U.S. dollars) in the Lebanese market," he said.
Marie Therese Moubarak, coordinator at the Lebanese winery Chateau Faqra, said her winery is also suffering from foreign competition.
"The government barely imposes custom fees on imported wines. No one is protecting us against foreign competition," she said.
Likewise, Ramez Saliba, national sales and marketing manager at Lebanon's Chateau Ksara winery in the Bekaa valley, said foreign wine is the biggest enemy of Lebanese wine.
"Foreign wine that comes to Lebanon is not always of good quality. Our wine is much better. Foreign wine with high quality in Lebanon is very expensive," he said.
Patricia Gebrayel, representative of Chateau Musar, said some local clients prefer the imported wine only because it is imported even if it is of low quality.
For Peter Abi Younes, co-owner of Chateau Wadih, the most challenging problems are "paper work and bureaucracy."
"You either have to wait for a long time to get your papers done or pay bribes," he said.
A recent study published by Linkedin reveals that Lebanon produces around 7.5 million bottles of wine per year, of which 2.2 million are exported.
Most of the wineries interviewed by Xinhua said around 30 percent to 40 percent of their produce are exported to countries including the United States, Britain and other European countries.
They are also planning to enter the Chinese market soon.
"Lebanese wine will reach the Chinese market soon," said Edgar Maalouf, a lawmaker who represented Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil during the opening of Vinifest 2018.
Louis Lahoud, director general of Lebanese ministry of agriculture, said Lebanon is coordinating with its embassy in China to promote the Lebanese wine there through exhibitions.
However, some wine producers have concerns about their wine export to China.
"It is not easy to enter the Chinese market. We need distributors there because it is a huge market," said Mubarak of Chateau Faqra.
The government should help Lebanese wine producers in promoting their products in China and other countries, she said.
"What is also hard in China is the different language. We have to change our bottles' labels from English and French to Chinese," the Faqra coordinator added.
| 2018-10-06 00:59:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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NEW DELHI, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and five others injured Friday after a mini-bus they were travelling in skidded off mountainous road and fell into a gorge in northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, officials said.
The accident took place near Maneri town in Uttarkashi district, about 158 km north of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand.
"This evening in a tragic road accident, a tempo traveller (mini-bus) carrying Hindu pilgrims skidded off the road on Gangotri highway and fell into deep gorge here," a police official posted in Uttarkashi said.
According to police, the passengers in the ill-fated vehicle were returning after offering prayers at the Himalayan shrine of Gangotri.
Following the accident, locals informed police, who along with disaster response force personnel, rushed to the spot to carry rescue work of removing the injured to the hospital and retrieving bodies from the gorge.
Disaster management officials said the victims were identified as residents of western Gujarat state.
The cause of accident was not immediately known.
Deadly road accidents are common in India, often caused by overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving. Officials say on an average, over 400 deaths take place every day in India due to road accidents.
| 2018-10-06 01:18:34|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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GENEVA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The latest Europe-wide figures confirm Switzerland's reputation as a country of trains, with average trips and kilometers covered by each inhabitant far higher than elsewhere, an organization monitoring travel said Friday.
"In Switzerland, each person travels an average of 72 times a year by train and 2,463 kilometers are covered," said Litra, the Swiss information service for public transport.
Litra cited the latest Eurostat figures for 16 countries noting that they leave the Alpine nation far ahead of other countries in Europe, with Austria (1,425 km) and France (1,354 km) logging the next-largest distances.
Luxembourg (38) and Denmark (37) are the next most frequent.
At the bottom end of the scale, Irish travelers take the train just nine times annually for a total of 416 kilometers.
The survey does not, however, include every European nation as for example Belgium and The Netherlands keep their figures confidential.
The figures represent an increase on the 2015 statistics, with each Swiss citizen traveling 13 times more, and 186 kilometers further than that year.
Switzerland is regularly commended for the quality and punctuality of its rail network, but the increasing demand has also increased problems.
Absorbing the influx of passengers on an already dense network is expected to be difficult in coming decades, says Litra.
Globally, Japan has traditionally been the only challenger to Switzerland's rail usage, though statistics from the Asian nation have not been included in this study, reported Swissinfo, the website of the Swiss national broadcaster.
Palestinian protesters run to take cover from tear gas fired by Israeli troops during clashes on the Gaza-Israel border, east of the southern Gaza Strip City of Khan Younis, on Oct. 5, 2018.(Xinhua/Khaled Omar)
GAZA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least two Palestinians killed and more than 370 wounded on Friday afternoon in clashes between thousands of Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, medics said.
Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of Gaza Health Ministry, told reporters that two Palestinians, including a child, were killed by Israeli soldiers' gunfire in eastern Gaza City, close to the border with Israel.
Al-Qedra said that the identity of the two is still unknown, adding that their bodies arrived on Friday evening at Shiffa Hospital in Gaza City after they were shot dead in their heads.
He said that more than 370 wounded Friday during clashes, including two paramedics and two journalists, and 64 were hospitalized.
The clashes on Friday broke out when thousands of Palestinians joined the 28th Great March of Return, defying the Israeli blockade which has been imposed on the Gaza Strip for around 12 years.
The demonstrators gathered before the fence of the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel, burning tires, waving Palestinian flags, and throwing stones at the Israeli soldiers stationed on the border with the Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses said that the soldiers fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition at the crowds of the protesters.
The demonstrators also cut parts of the barbed wire of the fence of the border, where some of them managed to infiltrate into Israel. They burned tires and returned to Gaza.
Several masked activists released dozens of arson balloons during the protests, which landed into Israel and caused large fires to various farms and natural resorts, according to Israeli media reports.
Al-Qedra said that since the outbreak of the Great March of Return on March 30, the Israeli army has shot dead 197 Palestinians and wounded more than 21,000 others.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 06:10:23|Editor: Chengcheng
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BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- American Olympic swimming legend Donna de Varona, 71, has called for greater gender equality in sport, saying that discrimination still exists despite greater awareness of women's rights.
De Varona, who had won the first of her three gold medals as a 13-year-old at the Rome 1960 Games, told the official Youth Olympics website that men still dominate the most important roles within international federations and the media.
"We have to refer to women in a different way, elevate them when we're covering men's sport and put more women on prime-time television," De Varona said.
"We need more women announcers and more women in executive positions," she added.
De Varona is currently in Buenos Aries, where she is working with trainees in the International Olympic Committee's young reporters program. The initiative coincides with the Youth Summer Olympics, which begin in the Argentine capital on Saturday.
De Varona said she had suffered prejudice all her life, having quit swimming as a teenager to earn a living as TV commentator.
"I thought that if I become a journalist then some day I can talk about how unfair it is - male athletes getting more than women. I am going to try to make a difference," said De Varona.
She said that many of her male colleagues resented her being in the press room despite her Olympic achievements and tireless work ethic.
"I had to hustle harder and faster than anybody else. I would have to work at Thanksgiving, Christmas and every holiday because in order to gain respect from my producers and co-workers I had to pay my dues," she said. "I would have to carry coffee, get up early in the morning, do anything I possibly could to get respect. And in some ways I never did."
Despite recognizing that there have been improvements in recent years, De Varona said that gender inequality still exists in sport.
According to IOC figures from 2015, only 14 percent of IOC-recognised international federations' executive board members were women. On the final day of competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, there were 19 men's gold medal events and only two for women.
"We have an old tradition where the people who've been involved with making these decisions have been making these decisions since I was 18, 19, 20 and 30," De Varona said. They are still involved. So in order to really get there, to open up their minds, you need the facts and hopefully these facts can open up their minds so that in 2020 [Tokyo Olympic Games] we don't have only two finals on the last day, we have an equal number."
Palestinian protesters run to take cover from tear gas fired by Israeli troops during clashes on the Gaza-Israel border, east of the southern Gaza Strip City of Khan Younis, on Oct. 5, 2018. (Xinhua/Khaled Omar)
GAZA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Three Palestinians were killed and 376 wounded on Friday in clashes between thousands of Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said.
Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesperson of Gaza Health Ministry told reporters that three Palestinians, including a child, were killed by Israeli soldiers' gunfire in eastern Gaza City.
A total of 192 of the wounded were hospitalized, including 126 shot by Israeli soldiers' live gunshots, he said.
Al-Qedra said that among the casualties, two paramedics and two journalists, including a female, were also injured.
Since the outbreak of the clashes called "Great March of Return" on March 30, the Israeli army has shot dead 197 Palestinians and wounded more than 21,000 others, he said.
Clashes on Friday broke out when thousands of Palestinians joined the 28th Friday of the event.
Demonstrators gathered before the fence of the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel. They burned tires, waved Palestinian flags, and threw stones at the Israeli soldiers stationed on the border with the Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses said that the soldiers fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition at the crowds of the protesters who were calling for ending the Israeli blockade.
The demonstrators also cut parts of the barbed wire of the fence of the border, where some of them managed to infiltrate into Israel. They burned tires and returned to Gaza.
Several masked activists released dozens of arson balloons during the protests, which landed into Israel and caused large fires to various farms and natural resorts, according to Israeli media reports.
Security officials and an Israeli army statement said that Israeli army drones fired two missiles at Palestinians who cut the barbed wire of the fence of the border and threw homemade hand grenades at the soldiers, no injuries reported.
Khaled al-Batsh, a senior Islamic Jihad movement leader, told reporters in eastern Gaza that the Palestinians will carry on the rallies "until we achieve victory and reach our goals."
Meanwhile, Hamas movement's spokesperson in Gaza, Hazem Qassem, also said that the practical response to the Israeli threats to end the Great March of Return is "an endless and largest popular participation."
Efforts sponsored by Egypt and the UN to reach calm between Israel and Hamas-led factions had so far achieved no progress.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 22:50:53|Editor: Liu
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File photo shows the National Exhibition and Convention Center, the venue of the 2018 China International Import Expo (CIIE), in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua)
SHANGHAI, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- As China International Import Expo (CIIE) is only a month away, Shanghai, host of the event, has reached the final stage of its preparations, while products from all over the world have been arriving in the city.
The CIIE is China's first expo event that is expected to give firm support to trade liberalization and economic globalization, and actively open the Chinese market to the world, according to its official website.
A total of 2,800 companies from all the G20 member states, as well as 50 countries and regions along the Belt and Road will participate in the expo.
Of the world's 44 least developed countries, more than 30 will be present at the event.
Shanghai has been holding rehearsals, improving city infrastructure and training volunteers to meet needs of the approaching event.
At the National Exhibition and Convention Center, where CIIE will be held, the event organizer held a comprehensive rehearsal on Thursday covering various scenarios.
Shanghai municipal government has been renovating the roads around the convention center, and developed cellphone applications to better guide traffic around the area. The city has also added eight bus routes and prepared 100 spare buses.
Light decorations have been added to the 20km-long banks of the city's signature Huangpu River, as well as four bridges that span across it. Hundreds of thousands of pots of flowers are dotted across Shanghai.
The city has trained 5,000 volunteers who will offer various services including language translations.
As the event is drawing near, goods from foreign exhibitors have arrived at local customs. Shanghai has opened green channels for the products, significantly cutting the time needed for them to be unloaded and stored in local warehouses.
So far, it is estimated that products from more than 1,500 exhibitors have arrived in the Chinese mainland, while that from another 1,000 have been or are being shipped.
Chinese companies are eyeing great potential in boosting imports through the event.
"During the CIIE, we expect to import at least 1,000 kinds of products and services that have not been sold in the domestic market," said Wang Zhe, Party head of China's commercial giant Suning Holdings Group, "In the next three years, we plan to import goods worth 10 billion Euros (around 11.5 billion U.S. dollars).
Liang Feng, president of state-owned China National Machine Tool Sales and Technical Service Corporation, said CIIE will witness eight leading companies in the machine tool industry launch a dozen of new products in China for the first time.
More than 100 new products and technologies are expected to make debut at the expo, according to statistics from the organizers.
Forty-three African countries have confirmed to participate in the expo. About 190 enterprises from Africa will promote local products such as Egyptian data palm, ethiopian coffee, and Amarula from South Africa, at the event, according to the organizers.
"The CIIE shows China's changing trade strategy and its resolve to fulfill its responsibility as a major country and achieve mutual benefits and win-win cooperation with all nations," said Zhao Beiwen, deputy head of the World Economy Institute under the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 23:27:37|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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PYONGYANG, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday spoke highly of the friendly relations between the DPRK and China on the 69th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
China and the DPRK established diplomatic relations on Oct. 6, 1949, and it is a meaningful day for both the DPRK people and the Chinese people, said the official Rodong Sinmun.
The official daily of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea said in a commentary that the establishment of diplomatic ties served as an epochal occasion to develop the friendly relations between the two peoples.
Created and nurtured by the older generations of leaders of both countries, the DPRK-China friendship is the valuable treasure of the two peoples, the newspaper said, adding that the friendship has been developed and strengthened through generations without wavering in any trials and storms.
By analogy to a deep-rooted tree that could brave any weather, the traditional friendship between the DPRK and Chinese peoples was hailed by the newspaper as "impregnable."
It is an unshakable stand of the party and government of the DPRK to boost the traditional DPRK-China relations of friendship as required by the era, the newspaper said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 23:35:18|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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TRIPOLI, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Saturday praised the new security arrangements in the Libyan capital Tripoli adopted by the UN-backed government.
"UNSMIL welcomes the progress made by the Greater Tripoli Security Arrangements Committee, created by PC (Presidency Council) Decree 1303 & supported by UN," the UN mission said in a statement.
The finalized plan, submitted by UN-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, stipulates "the withdrawal of armed groups from sovereign institutions" to be replaced by regular forces, according to the statement.
The Libyan Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday that the armed group al-Nawasi handed over Tripoli's seaport to the government as part of the new security arrangements.
The new security arrangements, which focus on forming joint police and army forces to secure Tripoli, were adopted by the government last month when violence broke out in the capital city between the government forces and several armed groups.
The fighting lasted almost a month, killing and injuring hundreds of people, and forced many families to flee their homes.
On Sept. 12, UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame announced the start of the implementation of the new security arrangements.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 07:58:12|Editor: Yurou
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RABAT, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Morocco and Benin inked a Memorandum of Understanding on housing and urban planning on Friday.
The agreement was signed by Moroccan Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Policy Abdelahad Fassi Fihri and Jose Tonato, Benin's minister of Living Environment and Sustainable Development, aiming to promote bilateral exchange of housing and urban planning in three years.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Rabat, capital of Morocco, Fassi Fihri stressed that the signing of this memorandum will allow the two countries to benefit from each other's experiences in handling the issues of accelerated urbanization.
For his part, Tonato expressed his country's willingness to benefit from Morocco's experience in territorial policies.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 08:01:27|Editor: Yurou
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MOGADISHU, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The UN migration agency said on Friday that it has helped 17 Somali migrants to voluntarily return home from Tanzania following months of confinement in detention centers.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the returnees who returned home on Wednesday were rounded up by Tanzanian authorities as they embarked on an unsuccessful journey to South Africa.
"This assistance was provided in close coordination with the governments of Somalia and Tanzania and will enable the Somali returnees to build a future back home," the IOM said in a statement.
It said the assistance includes medical check-ups, housing, group and psychosocial counseling, along with longer-term support towards developing job skills and starting up small businesses to have gainful employment and decent livelihoods.
The UN agency said the latest intervention was made under the auspices of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in the Horn of Africa
"The latest return will bring the number of Somalis assisted by IOM under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative to 82 since March 2017," said the UN migration agency.
According to IOM, the Joint Initiative aims to assist at least 1,000 Somali returnees before March 2020, noting that the project has been set up in close cooperation with a total of 26 African countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 08:10:57|Editor: Yurou
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BERLIN, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- A widely-publicized dispute in Germany over the future of the Hambach forest in North Rhine-Westphalia has taken a surprising turn on Friday after the Muenster Higher Administrative Court ordered a temporary halt to the felling plans by energy company RWE.
The court approved an emergency appeal filed by the Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) environmental group to stall the scheduled felling of 100 hectares of woodlands from October onwards which could cause "irreversible damage" to local biodiversity.
BUND argued that the presence of an endangered species of bats in Hambach meant that the forest fulfilled the regulatory criteria of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in the European Union (EU) and hence required protection from the coal-mining activities of RWE.
The Hambach forest forms part of a property owned by German energy giant RWE which comprises the world's largest open pit brown coal mine. An illegal treehouse settlement inhabited by environmental activists on the site for several years has become a well-known symbol for grassroots resistance against coal power generation and deforestation across Europe. At least 4,000 protestors recently assembled for a demonstration in the forest prior to its now-concluded clearance in a major police operation.
The federal government in Germany plans to phase out the country's coal power generation at a still undefined date in order to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The "Growth, Structural change and Employment" commission established by Berlin towards this end is scheduled to present a plan by the end of October on how to manage and finance structural change in the affected regions.
At least for the time being, the Muenster Higher Administrative Court ruled that RWE can continue operating the open pit mine as long as none of the nearby forest areas are impaired by the activity. The judges noted that the legal questions raised by the case were too complex to be resolved within an emergency appeal process and hence required closer scrutiny.
RWE already obtained official approval for felling the Hambach forest long before police started removing activists and their makeshift dwellings from the site. The Essen-based company has repeatedly argued that the felling is necessary to ensure the security of energy supply generated from coal power. However, the Muenster court rejected this line of argumentation on Friday on the grounds that RWE had not provided sufficient evidence to support its claim that energy regional- or even nation-wide energy supply was at risk.
The temporary halt of the felling was welcomed enthusiastically by BUND on Friday. "This is a great success of our long-standing legal efforts and really marks a turning point here in North Rhine-Westphalia", BUND spokesman Dirk Jansen told press.
Jansen also announced that his organization was still pursuing plans to hold a further demonstration in Hambach on Saturday in spite of a formal police ban on the assembly.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 08:14:20|Editor: Yurou
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BAKU, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry denied Russia's allegations that the U.S. Pentagon-controlled bio labs function in the country, Interfax-Azerbaijan agency reported.
Head of the Russian military's radiation, chemical and biological protection troops Maj. Gen. Igor Kirillov earlier alleged that the United States operates more than 30 labs with a high level of biological protection in the Russian neighborhood. "The laboratory buildings continue to be upgraded in Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan," he said.
The Defense Ministry refuted the claims, saying that there are no labs controlled by other states in the territory of Azerbaijan. "So their upgrade is out of the question," the ministry added.
Speaking at a news briefing on Thursday, Maj. Gen. Kirillov stated that the choice of locations of the Pentagon's secret bio facilities is not accidental.
"Many of them are in countries neighboring Russia and China, being a permanent source of biological threats to our countries," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 08:03:34|Editor: Yurou
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OSLO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese car producer Toyota recalled more than 14,000 hybrid cars in Norway after revealing technical mistakes that could lead to car accidents, public broadcaster NRK reported Friday.
A total of more than 2.4 million Toyota hybrid cars have been recalled worldwide, the report said.
In Norway, this applies to the hybrids Prius and Auris that were produced between October 2008 and November 2014, as well as Prius+ 7.
Toyota discovered that the failure could in rare cases lead to failure of the electronic systems and the cars could then lose engine power and stop.
Although steering and braking systems will continue to work, at high speed such a failure could increase the dangers of a collision.
"There have been no accidents in Norway after the error has been detected. I have just heard of some cases in the United States where cars had stopped. We are now contacting the Norwegian car owners to inform them about the situation," said Espen Olsen, information manager of Toyota Norway.
This also affects 1.25 million cars sold in Japan, 830,000 cars sold in North America, and 290,000 cars sold in Europe. The cars sold in Africa, Oceania and other regions are affected as well.
This piece of news was announced only one month after Toyota recalled over 1 million hybrid cars worldwide after revealing a technical issue that could lead to fire, NRK wrote.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 08:25:40|Editor: Yurou
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BANGKOK, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Wildlife and Plants Protection Division on Friday announced that Thailand has been removed from an international watch list of eight countries of primary concern in the illegal ivory trade.
The decision was made at the 70th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) standing committee that was held from October 1 to 5 in Russia.
Somkiat Sunthornpitakkul, director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation's Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Division, said that Thailand's success was the result of the governments effort in implementing strict measures in preventing and suppressing African ivory smuggling into Thailand.
Thailand was one of eight nations that CITES marked as a source, transit or destination country of illegally traded ivory.
Somkiat said the standing committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at the meeting in Sochi, Russia during October 1-5 agreed to delete Thailand from CITES National Ivory Action Plan (NIAP) after the panel was satisfied with Thailands efforts to crack down on the illegal trade of ivory tusks.
In 2017, Thai customs officials seized 16,730 items of ivory products weighing about 75 kg worth about 7.5 million baht.(1 U.S. dollar = 32.78 Thai Baht)
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 09:15:41|Editor: Lu Hui
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The China-Europe freight train from Tangshan City in north China arrives in Antwerp of Belgium May 12, 2018. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)
by Tian Dongdong
BRUSSELS, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Coinciding with the 5th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative, the European Union (EU) recently adopted a document outlining the bloc's vision for a new and comprehensive strategy to better connect Europe and Asia.
Dubbed as the EU version of Belt and Road, the new strategy prompts both cheers and jitters across the continent. Some believe that it is a perfect match for the China-proposed trans-continental initiative, while others say the two grand plans are natural rivals.
COUNTERING BELT & ROAD?
Following the Joint Communication by the European Commission (EC) and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy that sets out the EU vision, the EU's executive arm issued a statement on Sept. 19 saying that "with sustainable, comprehensive and rules-based connectivity at its core, the Communication will help to guide the EU's external action in this field and is a part of the implementation of its Global Strategy."
Why has the EU released the Joint Communication at this moment?
It is "increasingly urgent for the EU to formulate its policy on Euro-Asian connectivity" as a connected Asia offers increasing opportunities for investment and in some other fields.
Some media organizations, like the Financial Times, said the strategy is "an answer" or "a counter" to the B&R Initiative.
But for Alicia Garcia-Herrero, senior fellow of the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, the strategy "is long in the making. It is not a new plan."
Commenting on those reports, Garcia-Herrero, who is also the chief economist for Asia Pacific at Paris-based investment bank Natixis, told Xinhua that "the EU has had such connectivity plans for many years."
In another statement released on the same day after the Joint Communication, the EU clearly said that "the European Union and China share an interest in making sure that our respective initiatives work well together, despite the differences in approach and implementation."
"Connectivity is not possible if systems and networks are not interoperable. As we have already been doing, the European Union will continue to engage with China -- in our bilateral Connectivity Platform, in the wider bilateral relationship, and in multilateral fora -- to create synergies and to find commonalities," said the statement.
COOPERATION OVER COMPETITION
China put forward the B&R Initiative in 2013 with the aim to promote trade and infrastructure connectivity along the ancient Silk Road routes linking Asia with Europe. China has said its potential cooperation partners are welcome to dovetail their own development initiatives with the grand development plan.
Massimo Bagnasco, vice president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, expects that there will be more cooperation than competition between the EU's new connectivity plan with the B&R Initiative.
"In principle competition is always useful because with competition you can have a better service or a better product to the final user. In this case I believe that competition is important in joint cooperation."
"I am not saying that for each project we could have a joint cooperation but at least we should have the attitude in the approach to let these two initiatives have some common ground for cooperation," he noted.
"Basically the point from the European Commission (for the strategy) is to have a tool that could be used for cooperation with China in the topic of connectivity," said Bagnasco.
Bagnasco, who has been doing business in China for over 15 years, told Xinhua that the European side is both confused yet has high expectations regarding the B&R Initiative and that calls for "more dialogue, communication and engagement to find a common ground for cooperation between the Belt and Road and the (EU's) connectivity platform."
OPEN ARMS
Shortly after the unveiling of the EU strategy, China welcomed it with open arms.
"We expect that the European Union will play a constructive role in improving connectivity between Europe and Asia, send a positive signal to the world to promote economic cooperation among all countries on the two continents and build an open world economy," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.
"China always supports the push for enhancing connectivity between the Asian and European continents, which is also a major goal of the Belt and Road Initiative," Geng said.
"We believe that with the joint efforts of China and Europe, connectivity between Asia and Europe is sure to continue forging ahead, bringing more benefits to people in all countries across the region," said the spokesperson.
To create synergy between the two connectivity plans, Garcia-Herrero believes that the EU and China would need to share.
"They should not compete for projects but actually agree on jointly financing a project. That makes sense for both," she added.
Echoing Garcia-Herrero, Bagnasco noted that China could be a potential partner to facilitate the financing for the EU's newly released strategy.
Though the private sector in Europe "is always very active and ready to take action as soon as they see opportunities which are reasonable, with a solid business plan and transparent conditions, there may be more difficulty from the public sector," said Bagnasco.
"I mean actually we will have some technicalities that may slightly slow down the speed of the (implementing) process," said the business leader, who eyes more cooperation on finance between China and the EU.
By putting together the strengths of Europe and China, better results could be achieved, he told Xinhua.
"I don't think that the two are antagonistic, or zero-sum," said Ruan Zongze, executive vice president and senior fellow at China Institute of International Studies.
"This is not a black and white issue. The two can work with each other and get their own," Ruan said. "Healthy competition is not bad for us."
(Video editors: Liu Ruoshi, Li Jingchen)
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 10:11:58|Editor: Yurou
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BARCELONA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Italy and Austria shared the top spot in the first round of the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final 2018 here on Friday night.
The Austrians and Italians collected just a single time fault each. And with just four faults apiece, Sweden, Belgium and the defending champions the Netherlands have also made the cut along with the Irish who picked up five faults.
But it came down to the combined times of team riders to separate the Swiss, French, Germans and Americans when they all completed with eight faults on the board.
When the calculations were done, Switzerland and France finally reached Sunday afternoon's second and deciding round which features the world's top eight teams at the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, which also hosted the equestrian competition during the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
The Germans and Americans will join Canada, Britain, Brazil, the UAE and host nation of Spain in Saturday night's Challenge Cup.
"We won already," said Austrian team manager Marcus Wallishauser. "For us to be in the final is already perfect - now we just need to focus like we did today and let's see what we can do."
Italian anchorman Lorenzo de Luca said, "There's still a big day ahead - Sunday is going to be huge."
He picked up four faults with Ensor de Litrange but was under absolutely no pressure when he was last to go as team-mates Luca Marziani (Tokyo du Soleil) and Riccardo Pisani (Chaclot) had both jumped clear while Bruno Chimirri (Tower Mouche) clocked up just a single time fault. So that was all they would have to put on the board when the best three scores were taken into account.
"It was a very good night for Italy, my team all jumped great so I didn't have to jump but I decided to bring my horse in to let him see the fences. We are going to celebrate tonight but we will still be focused for Sunday, I promise you," de Luca added.
The Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup is equestrian sport's oldest and most prestigious team challenge, with teams from around the world competing for one of the most coveted prizes in the Olympic discipline.
Celebrating 109 years of team competition in 2018, this year's series is set to be incredible with jumping teams competing from 14 countries and regions across Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 10:19:00|Editor: Yurou
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PHNOM PENH, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen embarked on a two-nation tour to Japan and Indonesia on Saturday morning, a senior official said.
In the first leg of his four-day visit, Hun Sen will first visit Tokyo on Saturday evening, where he will attend the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit and hold bilateral talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, said Sry Thamarong, a minister attached to the prime minister.
On Oct. 10, Hun Sen will leave Tokyo for Bali, Indonesia, where he and other leaders of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will join a high-level ASEAN meeting on Oct. 11 ahead of the International Monetary Fund(IMF)-World Bank(WB) annual meetings to be held on Oct. 12-14, he said.
"The ASEAN leaders' gathering is to show the bloc's potential and future concept," Thamarong said, adding that the ASEAN leaders will attend the opening ceremony of the IMF-WB annual meetings on Oct. 12 in the morning.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 11:24:48|Editor: Yurou
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HAVANA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP) urged the U.S. Congress on Friday to put an end to the economic and financial blockade against the island nation.
In a public hearing, Cuba's highest legislative body condemned the economic embargo imposed by Washington on the country almost six decades ago.
"We invite the U.S. Congress to listen to the opinions of the majority in broad sectors of its society, who are advocating an end to the blockade, and thereby finish off this obsolete policy against Cuba," said Yolanda Ferrer, president of the ANPP international relations commission.
The ANPP also invited other countries to "reinforce the international demand" to eliminate this "harmful policy" that contravenes the rights of Cubans and other states.
"We call on parliamentarians from all nations to speak up, encourage and support their respective foreign ministries in support of Cuba's draft resolution at the UN to end the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade," added the lawmaker.
In recent days, several public hearings have been held all over the island nation by different sectors of the country to reject the U.S. embargo and expose the damage caused by this policy in different spheres.
On Oct. 31, Havana will present for the 27th time before the UN General Assembly a non-binding resolution condemning the unilateral policy. Year after year, Cuba receives overwhelming support from the international community.
In 2017, only the United States and Israel opposed the Cuban initiative, while 191 countries condemned Washington's policy towards Cuba.
However, the United States is not obliged to comply with the UN mandate and claims the blockade is a bilateral issue with Cuba which should be resolved between the two nations.
In its annual report to the United Nations, Havana indicated that economic losses caused by the U.S. blockade, which has been reinforced during Donald Trump's administration, totaled over 4.3 billion U.S. dollars between April 2017 and March 2018.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 11:25:50|Editor: Yurou
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MINSK, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko highlighted the importance of creating new types of Belarus-made weapons and modernizing the existing military equipment, the presidential press service said Friday.
Visiting the training ground in the Brest region in the southwestern corner of Belarus, Lukashenko said that in recent years, Belarus had to modernize and adapt its armed forces to modern conditions several times, taking into account the experience of wars and local conflicts in the world, as well as the development of technical means.
He said it is the fourth attempt to upgrade the Belarusian armed forces.
According to Lukashenko, Belarus first cut its armed forces to about 100,000 people and stopped the sale of the remaining weapons from the USSR, the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Then, Belarus launched research groups to study modern warfare. At the third stage, Belarus set up special operational forces.
In light of the current situation, one task is to proceed with the development of new types of weapons necessary for the defense of Belarus, the president said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 11:38:39|Editor: Yang Yi
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YAOUNDE, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese nationals were killed Thursday in the southwestern Central African Republic (CAR), the Chinese Embassy in the CAR confirmed Friday.
A boat carrying four Chinese and a local young man capsized Thursday in the town of Sosso-Nakombo, causing the disappearance of the Central African.
The surviving Chinese then went to a gendarmerie brigade to report the incident. At this moment, bandits, who were informed of the disappearance of their compatriot, came to attack the Chinese, killing three of them and seriously wounding the fourth one.
The gendarmerie brigade was also attacked and ransacked.
On Friday, Chinese Ambassador to the CAR Chen Dong had a telephone conversation with the country's President Faustin-Archange Touadera, and met with Prime Minister Simplice-Mathieu Sarandji and Minister of the Interior in charge of public security Henri Wanzet Linguissara.
The Chinese ambassador called on the CAR authorities to do everything necessary to find and punish the criminals, as well as to ensure the safety and other legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals in the CAR.
Touadera and Sarandji condemned the brutality of the perpetrators, and expressed their condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and the government of China.
Reinforcements have been deployed to the locality of the tragedy. The bodies of the three victims and the person who was seriously injured were sent to the capital Bangui, where the injured are currently under intensive medical care.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 11:46:57|Editor: Yang Yi
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KATHMANDU, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- A Myanmar delegation led by chairman of the Joint Monitoring Committee at Union level (JMC-U) has arrived in Nepal to study about the Himalayan country's peace process, a foreign ministry press statement on Friday said.
The delegation led by Lt. General Yar Pyae held an interaction with Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on the four major aspects and modality of Nepal's home-grown peace process that started in 2007 following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord between the government and the then rebel.
Nepal witnessed a 10-year-long armed conflict between the Maoists and the state since 1996, in which over 13,000 individuals were killed and thousands displaced and disappeared.
The minister assured the Myanmar delegation that Nepal was ready to provide any help they may need in their efforts to bring lasting peace in their country, according to the statement.
"The members of the delegation expressed their interest to take Nepal's peace process as a reference in the ongoing peace process of Myanmar," the ministry stated.
The Myanmar delegation includes Lt. General Ye Aung, minister of Border Affairs and members of JMC-U representing major stakeholders from government, civil society and armed groups.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 11:49:28|Editor: Yang Yi
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BEIJING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- A cold front will chill most parts of north China on Saturday, the country's national observatory said Saturday.
Most parts of Inner Mongolia, northeast and northwest China will see strong winds and temperatures 4 to 8 degrees Celsius lower than Friday, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.
Temperatures in some parts of Inner Mongolia and northeast China will decrease by up to 10 degrees Celsius, the NMC forecast.
The northeastern part of Inner Mongolia and northwest Heilongjiang will be hit by light to moderate snow or sleet, said the NMC.
The observatory also renewed a blue alert for Typhoon Kong-rey, this year's 25th typhoon, on Saturday morning.
The eye of Kong-rey, which was located over the ocean in the Korea Strait as of 5 a.m., is expected to unleash gales in northeast China.
Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights Issues Report on Christian Persecution in Syria
The St. Odisho Assyrian Church in Tel Tal, Syria, was bombed by ISIS. (AINA) -- The Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights has released a report titled The Good Shepherd - A Report on Brutality Against Christian Clerics in Syria.
The report documents the suffering of Christians in Syria, who over the course of seven years have been the innocent victims of a conflict that became a proxy war for global and regional powers. The report focuses on crimes and acts of brutality against Christian clerics from all Christians denominations in Syria, acts which were committed by unidentified persons.
The reports aims to shed light on these crimes that target the core existence of Christians in the region.
In his introduction to the report, Jamil Elias Diarbakerli, Executive Director of the Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights, elaborates on the history of the Christianity in Syria and its role and contribution in building Syria's culture and society.
The heritage goes back to the "first civilizations of Assyria, Babylonia" he writes.
At the beginning of the 20th century, according to the report, Syrian Christians comprised 30 percent of the Syrian population. But their numbers have dropped for most of the century, caused by a variety of factors, including emmigration for political, economic, social and religious reasons, as well as a low birth rates. The current population of Christians in Syria is half a million. In 2010, according to semiofficial statistics, Christians were eight to ten percent of the total population of about 25 million.
In context of the outbreak of popular protests in Syria, Diarbakerli sees the cards in the Christian collective consciousness reshuffled. "On the one hand, the relative stability that revived their community was threatened," he says, "but on the other hand the fall of the regime that prohibited them from exercising their political and constitutional rights was not something that was of no consequence. The Syrian Christians were perched uncertainly between the two ends of this ambiguous duality, hesitant to respond to the question of the revolution, which turned into an ordeal and a dilemma that was difficult to deal with."
As a consequence of this existential uncertainty, Diarbakerli sees the Christians divided into three groups. The first are supporters of the regime, which constitute the "majority in the Christian streets." A second group that officially and openly stands with the Syrian opposition, though a minority. The overwhelming majority of Syrian Christians constitute a third group that can be called"the silent group."
Diarbakerli concludes that Christians "have offered thousands of victims while hundreds of them have been detained, abducted, and forcibly made to disappear. Their churches and monasteries have been destroyed, their shops, factories, homes, and lands have been plundered, and several Christian clerics have been persecuted during the current events."
In addition, Syrian cities and villages throughout the country have been abandoned by their Christian inhabitants, such as Raqqa, Deir El-Zor, Ras al-Ayn, Ma'loula, and the Assyrian villages of the Khabur Basin, leaving hundreds of thousands people internally displaced or forced to escape to Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and elsewhere.
The persecutions and acts of brutality against the people profiled in the report are only a portion of what the Christians in Syria have suffered so far. With this report the Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights intends to bring to the attention of the international community the suffering of the Christians who became a specific target. In addition, the report aims to appeal to the international community to end the chaos in Syria, protect the victims of genocide, and preserve what is left of these historic communities before it is too late.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 11:53:25|Editor: Yang Yi
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PYONGYANG, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea called for a complete end to the danger of war, the official media reported here Saturday.
The appeal was issued on Friday at an event held here to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the 2007 inter-Korean summit and released on Saturday by the Korean Central News Agency.
Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, and Unification Minister of South Korea Cho Myoung-gyon were present at the ceremony.
The two sides called for "a complete end to the danger of a war on this land and turn our land into the peaceful one without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats."
They also called for thoroughly carrying out the historic Panmunjom declaration signed at the 2018 inter-Korean summit held in April and the September declaration signed last month by leaders of the two countries.
In October 2007, then DPRK leader Kim Jong Il and then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun held a summit in Pyongyang. Both sides announced a declaration on the development of inter-Korean relations and peace and prosperity.
The South Korean delegation led by Cho and Lee Hae-chan, chief of the ruling Democratic Party, arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday.
Confiscated elephant tusks to be burnt are seen during the destruction ceremony of confiscated elephant ivory and wildlife parts in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on Oct. 4, 2018. (Xinhua/U Aung)
by Fone Ying Kyu
YANGON, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar burnt confiscated ivory and wildlife parts in the capital of Nay Pyi Taw Thursday aiming to combat illegal wildlife trade in the country.
The authorities ceremonially destroyed seized wildlife parts, including 277 ivory, 227 elephant and other wildlife bones, 45 pieces of different wildlife skins, 1,544 various horns, 45.5 kg of pangolin scales and 128 varieties of other wildlife parts with total estimated weight of 849.26 kg.
The public burning, the first of its kind in Myanmar, sent a clear message that trade in illegal wildlife parts is unacceptable.
Noting that poaching and illegal trade of wildlife in Myanmar have been increasing, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation said in a statement that "the confiscated items of wildlife were destroyed to raise public awareness for law enforcement on illegal trade of wild fauna and flora, for legal action taken against illegal wildlife, trading and poaching and for promoting international cooperation with Myanmar in fighting the illegal trade in wildlife."
"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," said Minister U Ohn Win at the wildlife parts destruction ceremony.
Some 42 areas which account for 5.79 percent of the total land of Myanmar, have been designated as protected zones, he added.
Confiscated wildlife parts to be burnt are seen during the destruction ceremony of confiscated elephant ivory and wildlife parts in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on Oct. 4, 2018. (Xinhua/U Aung)
Under the Conservation of Biodiversity and Protected Areas Law enacted in May, wildlife protection has been classified at three levels -- totally protected, normally protected and seasonally protected species.
Elephant, tiger, leopard, gaur, bear, golden deer and pangolin are named as totally protected species.
Under the law, one can be sentenced to at least 3 to 10 years in prison with a fine if he or she kills or injures animals on the list of totally protected species, collects or trades their parts.
Illegal trade of totally protected fauna and flora will also be punished under the law.
About 284 suspects have been arrested in connection with 140 wildlife crime cases since fiscal year 2016-2017.
The wildlife crimes mostly occurred in Yangon, Bago and Ayeyarwaddy regions.
The national wildlife enforcement task force, formed in 2016, has been implementing an action plan to combat poaching and illegal trade in cooperation with local and international organizations.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there exists a big market for illegal wildlife trade in the Golden Triangle area where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet and Myanmar has become a trading hub with increasing demand of wildlife products.
Meanwhile, Myanmar forest authorities are conducting awareness campaign to stop shops selling wildlife animal souvenirs at pagoda precincts, airports and markets.
Myanmar's Wildlife Protection and Protected Areas Law 1994 was revised and enacted on May 21, 2018.
Elephant conservationist U Kyaw Myint Tun was selected as the monthly gratitude honor to the people in July by Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi for his actively participating in wild elephant protection and conservation.
Joining hands with the authorities in protecting wild elephants from being poached, U Kyaw Myint Tun was awarded the Hero of Elephant Conservation by the WWF and the Friends of Wildlife (FOW).
Two poachers were caught in 2016 with arms used to poach wild elephants, and four guns and materials used to kill elephants were seized in 2017 due to his active cooperation with the government.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 12:23:52|Editor: Yang Yi
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QUITO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian authorities on Friday signed investment contracts worth about 1.6 billion U.S. dollars with private companies to develop six oil fields in the country's northeastern provinces, local newspaper El Comercio reported.
Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno was present at the signing ceremony held in the coastal city of Guayaquil.
With four other contracts signed in February, the country has "picked up investments of more than 2.3 billion U.S. dollars in the petroleum sector" this year, Moreno said.
According to the president, the country produces some 500,000 barrels of crude oil daily and with the new investment, the output will increase by about 6 percent in the next 15 years.
Ecuador is one of the smallest producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Oil is the main source of its export earnings.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 12:33:42|Editor: Yang Yi
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Michel Temer on Friday called for tolerance and understanding in the upcoming general elections, and promised to maintain dialogue with the new government.
"Democracy is the regime of peaceful coexistence, of acceptance and tolerance with differences. Electors choose the ruler and the opposition, whose job is to supervise the winner, according to the rules of the constitutional game," the president said in a speech published on the government's social networks.
He advised electors to make the best choice for the country based on their conscience, and highlighted the importance of respecting democracy.
"Vote in peace with yourself and others, even if their choice is different from yours," he said.
Brazilians are expected to head to the polls on Sunday to choose a new president, 27 state governors, 54 senators, 513 federal representatives and 1,059 state representatives.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 12:38:11|Editor: Yang Yi
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MEXICO CITY, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Sales of goods during the upcoming "El Buen Fin" (The Good Weekend) holiday shopping season could grow 5 percent year-on-year, thanks to the good pace of domestic consumption, government and business officials said Friday.
Announcing the promotion campaign due to take place on Nov. 16-19, business representatives and the government agreed that sales could reach 97 billion pesos (more than 5.1 billion U.S. dollars).
"The (economic) indicators look good, we've been growing for 34 consecutive quarters," said Finance Minister Jose Antonio Gonzalez Anaya.
"El Buen Fin" is a government-backed campaign aiming to spur domestic consumption. It has taken place annually since 2011, featuring promotion of goods and services offered by the business sector.
Some 60,000 businesses are going to take part in the campaign this year, which is akin to Black Friday in the United States.
"There is good enthusiasm because Mexico has economic stability, it has stable variables and there is greater certainty that we can build toward the future," said Juan Pablo Castanon, president of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE).
Castanon, who was a member of a group of advisors during the negotiations to upgrade the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), said now is the time to encourage the development of the domestic market.
"El Buen Fin" was created with the objective to move company inventories and strengthen the domestic market as a way to drive the economy, said economic minister and chief NAFTA negotiator Ildefonso Guajardo.
"It has become good public policy and the agreement of collaboration (with the businesses) allows us to provide a certain level of certainty for the next decade," Guajardo said.
Mexico's economy, the second largest in Latin America after Brazil, could grow 2-2.6 percent this year, according to forecasts by the Central Bank of Mexico (Banxico). In 2017, Mexico's GDP grew 2 percent.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 13:00:50|Editor: Yang Yi
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BEIJING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- China's government procurement jumped 24.8 percent year on year to 3.21 trillion yuan (about 467.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, official data showed.
The figure is equivalent to 12.2 percent of the country's fiscal expenditures, or 3.9 percent of GDP, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
Both percentages rose from a year ago. The growth rate for government procurement in 2016 was 22.1 percent.
Procurement of goods, construction and services accounted for 24.9 percent, 47.4 percent and 27.7 percent, respectively.
Procurement of services surged 83.1 percent to 890 billion yuan, exceeding procurement of goods for the first time. The government is buying more services not only for its own need but also the public.
Government procurement last year continued to prioritize energy-saving and environmentally friendly products and favored small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), said the ministry.
In 2017, 77.4 percent of government procurement contracts went to SMEs, said the MOF.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 13:23:26|Editor: Yang Yi
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CHANGSHA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- It was a rainy day in early autumn, and Shi Liujin was leading a team carrying a bridal sedan chair. He couldn't have been happier. He was getting married.
Shi's home village Shibadong, tucked away in remote mountains in central China's Hunan Province, was once an extremely impoverished village. Its per capita annual net income was just 1,668 yuan (240 U.S. dollars) in 2013, with 136 out of 225 households living below the poverty line.
There were more than 30 single men who were over 40 years old then. Non-local girls were reluctant to marry into the poor village.
Shi made an oath to find himself a wife three years ago at the village's first ever matchmaking event. He struck a gong while exclaiming "I am a good guy with a kind heart. Anyone who marries me must rest assured!"
Unfortunately, he failed.
His kindness is widely recognized among his fellow villagers. He dropped out of school and became a migrant worker to support family when his father fell ill 20 years ago. Years passed when his sisters graduated from schools and got married, and the family did better. He was entering his 40s.
"I used to see someone. But after visiting the village and my dilapidated home, she backed down," Shi said.
The villagers' committee realized poverty reduction could be a shortcut to helping single men start a family. Thanks to a string of targeted poverty alleviation policies, Shibadong has seen tremendous changes since 2014.
Muddy mountain passes became asphalt roads. Tap water ran into every household. ATM machines appeared.
In 2015, Shi decided to end his unsettled life in the city and returned home to implement his "plans" to shake off his single status.
First, he and his family opened a restaurant as an increasing number of tourists came to visit the idyllic village, and became a tourist guide in the village. Then he joined a kiwi fruit cooperative, as the local fruit began to gain popularity in nearby cities.
In 2017, a spring water factory went into operation, and he was employed as a technician.
By the end of last year, the village's per capita net income climbed to 10,180 yuan. More and more migrant girls chose to go home and get married. More girls from outside married local men.
At this year's matchmaking event in February, Shi took the courage to get on stage to introduce his village and himself to the audience.
"I'm not only representing myself, but the village as a whole. As life is getting better in Shibadong, I hope to marry a woman soon," he said.
His words touched Wu Chunxia, a girl from a nearby village who was working in Shanghai. The two added each other on WeChat, an instant messaging app.
Shi invited her to visit Shibadong, and the girl was deeply impressed by Shi's optimism and vigorous development of the village.
Before long she decided to return home and make a living with Shi. At the wedding, she received a surprise gift from the spring water factory, which accepted her as a regular employee.
Now Shi not only has a wife, but one more co-worker as well. A married life and a blue-collar job, he has achieved both without leaving his home village.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 13:33:53|Editor: Yang Yi
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BEIJING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The seventh China International Copyright Expo will be held from Oct. 19 to 21 in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, according to the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC).
With the Republic of Korea as the guest of honor, the expo is expected to attract more than 300 companies and organizations from around the world, the NCAC said in a statement.
The expo, sponsored by the NCAC and organized by the provincial copyright administration of Jiangsu and the Suzhou city government, will display the latest progress and encourage exchanges in the copyright industry so as to stimulate innovation, promote protection and advance development in the sector, the statement said.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the NCAC will also hold a ceremony during the expo to present the WIPO-NCAC Copyright Awards.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 13:45:33|Editor: Yurou
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SYDNEY, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Wild deer numbers are jumping in southeast Australia, with many farmers calling on authorities to do more to control what they see as pests threatening livestock and the environment, according to latest local media reports.
They physically eat trees and shrubs so they're browsing for food as well, snapping branches off, running through fences, and actually grazing our pastures, livestock farmer Tom Abbottsmith Youl from Victoria state told local reporters.
"It's not a game. This is serious business. It's affecting our small business here and it's affecting our native bushland," the ABC news channel quoted Youl, who added that he has had to reduce his livestock numbers by 5 percent to accommodate the impact of deer on his land, as saying on Saturday.
Deer, which were introduced into Australia in part for recreational hunting, are still considered game animals that can be hunted under regulations in Australian states such as Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania but their growing numbers are increasingly fueling calls by farmers to categorize them as pests for better management.
Up to 1 million deer are estimated to be in Victoria alone, with reports of sightings rising across the state.
"We want deer to be transferred from being a game animal to a feral animal or an introduced species, invasive species, and that then allows different methods of control," Victorian Farmers Federation livestock president Leonard Vallance told ABC.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 13:55:13|Editor: Yurou
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CANBERRA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert has promised to pay back thousands of dollars of taxpayer money he claimed for his home internet bills.
The Member of Parliament (MP) came under fire on Friday after it was revealed that he charged taxpayers more than 11,000 Australian dollars (7,758 U.S. dollars) for internet at his Queensland home over a six-month period after he exceeded his data allowance.
The bills worked out to an average of 90 Australian dollars per day despite some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offering unlimited data packages for 90 Australian dollars per month.
In a statement released on Friday night he said that his home was located a significant distance from the telephone exchange resulting in poor broadband internet connectivity but said he would repay the money.
"The costs are much higher than anticipated and higher than what our community expects," he said.
"Accordingly I will immediately and voluntarily pay back the total amount to ensure I continue to meet community expectations and standards."
Prime Minister (PM) Scott Morrison said that the MP responsible for the administration of entitlements was investigating the matter.
"I've asked the special minister of state to report back to me," he said on Friday.
"Once I've heard from the special minister of state, we'll take the next step.
"I think (voters would) want an explanation and that's why I've asked for one."
Robert served as the Minister for Human Services for five months between September 2015 and February 2016 but was sacked by then-PM Malcolm Turnbull after he "acted inconsistently" with ministerial standards by using his position to help a company that he had a financial interest in.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 14:08:24|Editor: Yurou
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MANAGUA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Nicaraguan government said on Friday that it will maintain its "yellow" alert as heavy rains continue to pose dangers such as landslides and floods in low-lying areas.
The alert has been activated as a preventive measure in case of any emergency in the country, said Guillermo Gonzalez, co-director of the National System for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters.
He stressed that under these circumstances, it is very important to take preventive measures in order to safeguard the lives of children, pregnant women and the elderly, adding that no one should risk crossing rivers for the time being.
"The rain will continue for the next 48 hours due to the low pressure weather system in the Caribbean and Pacific," said Gonzalez.
Marcio Baca, director of meteorology of the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies, explained that the presence of two low pressure systems in the Caribbean and Pacific has caused high humidity.
"The ground is reaching the saturation point, and there could be floods and landslides," he said, urging residents to exercise extreme precaution.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 14:07:19|Editor: xuxin
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An employee with Bjork Carle Woodworking works at the company's workshop during a press preview for the Made In NYC Week, in Brooklyn of New York, the United States, on Oct. 3, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
by Xinhua writers Liu Yanan, Xu Feng, Wang Wen
NEW YORK, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- New York City kicked off its first-ever manufacturing week on Friday to raise public awareness, especially among young people.
Based on Made in NYC initiative and National Manufacturing Day, the Made in NYC Week program features factory tours, hiring events, open studios, interactive meetings of manufacturing communities and sales of locally made articles.
JOB LOSSES
The manufacturing sector of non-durable goods in New York State witnessed an increase of 5,900 jobs from August 2017 to August 2018 while that of durable goods lost 8,100 jobs, leading to a total loss of 2,200 jobs in the manufacturing sector, according to the New York State Department of Labor.
Hiring people is not easy. Tech Products, a local identification product maker, has raised payment for employees above minimum wage of 15 U.S. dollars per hour to make its offers more competitive in a brisk market, according to Daniel D. O'Connor, vice president of sales and marketing.
Only one in the 32 employees at Tech Products's company in Staten Island, the southernmost and westernmost Borough of New York, is under the age of 30, said O'Connor on Friday, adding that labor and raw materials respectively account for around 35 and 15 percent of the total cost.
"We're not considering expansion of business now and would have all moved production facility to New Jersey if the company doesn't own the land," said O'Connor.
The company once made a plan to build new production facilities on its own land but scrapped it due to the additional cost of around 4 million U.S. dollars.
"They are trying to get us out of here. New York City hates manufacturing. Every regulation is against us. It's hard time for maintaining manufacturing. Real estate is the No. 1 cause changing that," said O'Connor.
"Large-scale manufacturing is gone," said Brian T. Coleman, chief executive officer of a local non-profit promoter of manufacturing Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC).
URBAN MANUFACTURING REVIVAL
Urban manufacturing is preserved by local authorities in New York to secure job opportunities for low-income groups and people without a high education background.
"I think there is a great appreciation in the country and certainly locally in New York City for domestically and locally made products," Coleman told Xinhua. "We think the prospect (of urban manufacturing) is strong and we hope to continue to service the demand as long as it's there."
The GMDC, since its inception in 1992, has rehabilitated seven manufacturing buildings in Brooklyn for small manufacturing enterprises, artisans and artists. Now it owns and operates six of them, which house more than 110 small- and medium-sized businesses and over 600 workers.
"It's wonderful to be here as we collaborate with wonderful groups here with lots of artisans and different skill sets," said Erin Campbell, an employee with a local industrial design company In.sek Design, which is situated at a GMDC-developed building.
"We believe this is the best location for us," Campbell said. "There are many contractors and manufacturers throughout the city so we're not paying much for shipping out to projects. It really ends up saving and make possible to run at a small scale."
Rent in New York is "so expensive that any kind of manufacturing in New York City is not going to happen," said John Danabashian, project manager with a local carpentry company Bjork Carle Woodworking, which is also housed at a GMDC-developed building. "That's why GMDC is ideal because they keep rental down at manageable level."
Alchemy Paintworks, a small company that provides spray coatings for art and industry, moved into a GMDC-developed building in 2015. Its business has expanded by around 50 percent in three years, according to Jason Brown, the company's founder.
"Our advantage in New York is understanding of the sense of artists and use my knowledge to work out doable solutions with artists," said Brown.
GMDC MODEL
Oct. 5, 2018 marked the 6th National Manufacturing Day of the United States as over 1,600 manufacturers opened doors to the public and around 3,000 events were held.
New York City has 5,700 small manufacturing businesses with 78,000 employees, according to Tom Donohue, program director of Made In NYC.
In the United States, the manufacturing sector provided 342,000 new jobs from December 2016 to September 2018, and by this September, the private manufacturing sector had employed 12.685 million people, according to ADP, an American provider of human resources management software and services.
The government-funded GMDC provides a model of creating and operating urban manufacturing space for small businesses, artisans and artists by acquiring, rehabilitating and managing neglected industries properties.
It is now renovating three buildings in an entire city block in Ozone Park, Queens that will provide 85,000 square feet of new industrial space, according to its official website.
The GMDC has worked with other cities including Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, Saint Paul in Minnesota and Hoboken in New Jersey.
"We ... try to replicate our model," Coleman said. "We're not looking to expand our businesses (into these cities). We're giving them a kind of tips, points, the dos and don'ts on how to replicate the model we've created here in New York."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 14:17:42|Editor: Yurou
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian presidential candidates are making a conservative, shallow campaign, and no clear projects for the country's future are being discussed, a Brazilian expert told Xinhua.
According to Carlos Lessa, professor of economics at the Rio de Janeiro Federal University (UFRJ) and a former head of Brazil's Development Bank (BNDES), though the main candidates for the Brazilian presidency come from widely different parties, their plans for the economy are similar in the sense that they call for a conservative stabilization strategy.
"I am under the impression the candidates' proposals converge towards a vision of conventional stabilization," Lessa said. "It is as if they created some consensus towards the need for a conservative stabilization policy."
And with the absence of clear directives and strategies, voters are seeing only a debate of personalities instead of a debate of ideas.
In addition, the matter of corruption has taken over the discussion arena in a way that left no space for a more profound analysis, Lessa said, adding that candidates present themselves as being against corruption, but not much more than that.
"It cheapens the debate. Not that the fight against corruption is not relevant, but it should be a permanent statement of belief for all candidates to all positions," he said. "Putting the fight against corruption at the main point of the debate is incredibly cheap."
"It is not enough to say they are against corruption. You must present some proposal for the education system, for a system of awards and punishments. But nothing new comes up. Being against corruption is a common denominator which should already have been left behind in the debate," he added.
Left and right-wing representatives should debate their ideas for the future of Brazil, of what sort of country they want to build, Lessa said.
"I would like very much to see interesting discussions about projects for Brazil, but that never comes up," he said. "I am 82 years and I have seen people talking about corruption and how they will fight against corruption since I can remember. I hope that in 2022, we can finally have clear, explicit projects for Brazil. At this moment, I cannot see that."
Brazil is having a very tense presidential race, with Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right candidate, and Workers' Party's Fernando Haddad in the lead. The two are regarded as the most likely to advance to a second round of elections.
Both candidates have high rejection rates as well as voting intentions. Lessa believes the winner of this election will have a very narrow margin, as that happened in 2014, when Dilma Rousseff had only 3.5 million votes more than her adversary.
But regardless of who wins, the new president will have difficulty making drastic changes. Since the current government approved a spending cap to last for the next two decades, the next Brazilian president, whoever he is, will have very limited space to work.
New presidents normally have somewhat of a honeymoon period in which they have more freedom, and in that period the president could theoretically call for a change or revocation of the spending cap. However, approving such changes in the Congress would be tough.
"Today I think that it will be very difficult for any of them to approve any significant change," Lessa said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 15:02:26|Editor: xuxin
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KHARTOUM, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Sudan and South Sudan on Friday agreed to establish a buffer zone on their joint border, demarcate the Zero line and open border crossings before the end of 2018, Sudan's official SUNA news agency reported.
Sudan and South Sudan on Friday concluded military talks, where the two countries' chiefs of staff signed the minutes of the talks before developing them into a memorandum of understanding for military cooperation.
"The talks were held under appropriate circumstances that allow boosting the military cooperation between the two countries to reach common understandings and pave the way for a great breakthrough in a number of outstanding issues," Lt. Gen. Kamal Abdul-Marouf Al-Mahi, Sudanese Army's chief of joint staff, was quoted in the report as saying.
For his part, Gen. Gabriel Jok Riak, chief of staff of South Sudan's Army, reiterated his country's full commitment to what has been agreed on, the report said.
"What has been reached is considered a strong push on the course of the two countries' bilateral political and military relations. These talks constituted a new breakthrough in various areas of military cooperation and means of strengthening and developing them further," he said.
Riak started a visit to Sudan five days ago, where he held talks with his Sudanese counterpart and met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and National Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Awad ibn Auf.
Sudan and South Sudan signed a deal in 2012 on security arrangements stipulating withdrawal of the two countries' troops for 10 km north and south of the zero line agreed on to establish a demilitarized zone on the joint border.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 15:04:41|Editor: xuxin
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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of five pro-trade organizations published on Friday a joint op-ed on The Hill, a popular U.S. political newspaper and website, questioning the U.S. government's moves to escalate trade tensions with its leading trade partners.
The article, titled "Why cripple the U.S. economy with tariffs when it's hitting full stride?", was co-authored by Deirdre T. Flynn, Sandy Kennedy, Brian Kuehl, Nathan Nascimento and Matthew R. Shay, who respectively represent the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, Farmers for Free Trade, Freedom Partners Chamber and the National Retail Federation.
The op-ed cited four local manufactures' struggling situation as examples, showing that even before the announcement of new tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars worth of imports from China, trade barriers already had dire consequences for American businesses, workers and consumers.
Due to the tariffs on steel and aluminum imposed earlier this year, Philadelphia-based Howard-McCray, which manufactures commercial refrigeration and display units, not only lost profit by 8 percent, but also will have to consider cost-cutting measures, such as workforce reduction, decreased benefits, deferred salary increases and reduced spending on research and development.
Brinly-Hardy Co., a 125-year-old Indiana-based Lawncare accessories manufacturer, has laid off 75 employees, while Grandall Industries in Ohio postponed hiring at least 30 new workers, and Vollrath Co. in Wisconsin also stopped hiring in response to aluminum price increases.
Meanwhile, the op-ed indicated that farmers have been hit hard by retaliatory tariffs from China, the European Union, Mexico and Canada. "Soybean prices have plummeted while dairy, beef and poultry inventories are piling up in warehouses across the country. The administration's farm assistance has done nothing to offset the potentially permanent damage to trade markets."
Moreover, the article said, "on top of fewer jobs for American workers and less income for farmers, families will find their budgets stretched as prices rise for everyday goods. We've already seen double-digit price increases for washing machines following tariffs imposed earlier this year."
"Soon, Americans will be paying more to furnish a new home or nursery, repair a car, own a pet, buy groceries or even purchase necessities like toilet paper. Shopping bills will be higher, and those costs will start to add up, erasing savings provided by tax reform," it warned.
Even though the U.S. economy is roaring, these trade organizations leaders doubted the administration's purpose to continue the trade war.
"In the face of these positive indicators, the administration seems determined to snatch failure from the jaws of success by escalating its trade war with our top trading partners," they said, predicting this policy will not fulfil the wishes of its proponents to deal with unfair trade practices claimed by them but do more damage to U.S. businesses, workers and consumers.
"We should be resolving these disputes through existing international trade agreements and organizations instead of inflicting harm on our own people," the op-ed concluded, adding: "We ought to be eliminating all trade barriers and doing everything we can to keep the good times rolling for all Americans."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 15:03:34|Editor: xuxin
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian presidential candidates ended their major campaign events on Friday in the tensest race in recent history.
Friday was the last day for the candidates to make paid ads, and Thursday was the last day for debates. Candidates can still hold minor campaign events until 10:00 p.m. on Saturday local time (0100 GMT Sunday), and on election day Sunday all campaign activities at voting sites will be forbidden.
For the first time since 1989, the presidential election is not just a contest between the Workers' Party (PT) and the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB): though PT is in the race, the PSDB's candidate has given way to far-right Jair Bolsonaro of the conservative Social Liberal Party.
PT had to replace its intended candidate, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, because he was found guilty of corruption and money laundering and is now serving a jail sentence of 12 years.
Though Lula can still appeal to the superior court, he has already started serving the sentence and was barred from running.
PT's new candidate was Lula's running mate, Fernando Haddad, who served as education minister for several years and was also mayor of Brazil's largest city Sao Paulo.
Other major candidates are Ciro Gomes, from the Democratic Labor Party, who served as Lula's integration minister and governor of Ceara state; Marina Silva, from Sustainability Network Party, who was a senator and environment minister; and Geraldo Alckmin, from PSDB, a former governor of Sao Paulo state. Another eight candidates are also fighting for the presidency.
The presidential race saw an attack on Bolsonaro on Sept. 6 when he was stabbed in the intestines during a campaign event. The attacker was immediately arrested and the police concluded that he was a lone wolf who acted out of political motivation.
Bolsonaro was severely injured in the attack, and had been hospitalized until last week.
The government is using a command center first used in 2013 when the country hosted the FIFA Confederations Cup, to coordinate security and logistics efforts, and ensure the tranquility of the election process.
Some 24,000 people, among policemen, military officers, traffic officers and electoral court agents, will provide security and be in charge of transporting and distributing the electronic ballots.
In addition to a new president and vice president, Brazilian voters will choose new governors, senators, and state and federal representatives in Sunday's elections.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 15:07:18|Editor: xuxin
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KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian police said on Saturday that eight terror suspects had been arrested in recent operations for spreading extremist ideology in Malaysia.
Seven of the suspects were foreign nationals and the rest one is Malaysian, with five from an unnamed European country, one from the American continent and one from the Middle East, according to Malaysian police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun.
The suspects were aged between 24 to 38 and all linked to a religious teaching center in Malaysia's northern Perlis state, either as current students or former student and teaching staff, Mohamad Fuzi said in a statement.
The arrests were made in the states of Johor, Perlis as well as the capital of Kuala Lumpur in simultaneous operations by the counter-terrorism division of the police, following intelligence showing the effort by a terrorist group in Yemen to set up a regional religious study center in Southeast Asia to spread extreme ideology, the statement said.
It added that extreme ideology was hidden behind the terror acts by terrorist groups like Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 15:35:11|Editor: xuxin
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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Around a dozen people are feared killed and at least 15 others injured Saturday after a mini-bus carrying them skidded off a mountainous road and fell into deep gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.
The accident took place near KalaMorh in Ramban district, about 135 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
"Today a mini-bus carrying passengers skidded off the road here and fell into gorge," Showkat Aijaz Bhat, deputy commissioner Banihal told Xinhua. "We have sent rescue teams to the spot and right now our concern is to remove injured to hospitals."
"The rescue operation is underway and so far 15 people have been rescued in injured condition from the deep gorge," Bhat said. "I have sought help from air force to airlift critically injured to Jammu hospitals."
Bhat said there are reports about deaths but the exact toll was yet to come.
"Of course there are deaths also, but at this point we aren't sure about the exact toll," he said.
Reports said no sooner the news about accident spread, locals and police rushed to the spot to carry out rescue work.
Deadly road accidents are common in India, which are often caused due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 15:50:13|Editor: xuxin
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ISLAMABAD, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Head of Pakistan's opposition party appeared in a court for the first time on Saturday since his arrest 18 hours ago in what the country's anti-corruption body called a campaign against corruption, officials said.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, chanting slogans in support of Shehbaz Sharif, president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
NAB officials took Shehbaz in custody on Friday afternoon after he appeared before NAB investigators in alleged corruption cases, officials said.
The anti-graft authority had said in a statement that the PML-N leader was involved in corruption in a housing scheme namely "Ashiana-i-Iqbal housing project" during his rule in 2013-2018.
NAB said in a brief statement that Shehbaz, the younger brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was taken into custody in a house scheme scandal in Lahore.
A NAB prosecutor told the judge that Shehbaz had "misused his powers" as chief minister of Punjab province and granted the contract to a favorite company, causing "losses of millions of rupees to the national exchequer."
Shehbaz's defense lawyer rejected the NAB's assertions as baseless and opposed NAB's request for physical custody of him.
Angry PML-N supporters gathered in the premises of the NAB court and stopped the armored vehicle of the police in which Shehbaz was brought to the court. Paramilitary troops and anti-riot police removed the protesters and Shehbaz was taken to the NAB court.
Shehbaz Sharif is also the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, lower house of the parliament, and the PML-N lawmakers on Saturday called emergency meeting of the parliament to discuss the situation.
Senior PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq and senator Raja Zafar-ul-Haq told the media that the PML-N has sought cooperation from other opposition parties to requisition a special session of the parliament to discuss Shehbaz's arrest, which they described as "unjustified."
Nawaz Sharif condemned the arrest as a "ridiculous and state victimization."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 15:49:23|Editor: xuxin
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KABUL, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least two Afghan security personnel were killed and nine people were wounded in two back to back bomb explosions in an eastern neighborhood of Kabul on Saturday, local police said.
"A sticky bomb attack targeted a military vehicle at around 07:30 a.m. local time, killing two security personnel. The second blast came about 20 minutes after police and rescue team's arrival, injuring nine people, including three passers-by and six police officers," the police official told Xinhua anonymously.
The incident occurred in Shena locality, in Police District 12 and the district police chief was among the injured, he said.
Further details about the incident are still forthcoming amid the absence of any official statement.
Over the past few months, Afghanistan, especially Kabul, has witnessed waves of terror attacks by the Islamic State (IS) outfits and Taliban insurgents opposing the country's long-delayed parliamentary elections scheduled for later this month.
During the upcoming Oct. 20 elections, nearly 9 million registered voters, including 3 million women, will cast their ballots to elect members of the 249-seat lower house of parliament for a five-year term, while they will also vote to elect members of the district councils.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 15:54:14|Editor: xuxin
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NEW DELHI, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Two dreaded left-wing Naxalite rebels have been arrested in the eastern state of Jharkhand, police said Saturday.
"The two rebels, wanted in several crimes, were nabbed in the state's Giridih district late Friday evening. They have been identified as Geeta Devi, a woman, and Sonaram Marandi," a police official said.
"These arrests are a major achievement for us as it will help us track down their fellow rebels. We are interrogating the two," he added.
Naxalites are currently active in at least seven Indian states, including Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
The Naxalite insurgency began in the eastern state of West Bengal in late 1960s.
Though major offensives by security forces in recent years have pushed the rebels back to their forest strongholds and the levels of violence have fallen, hit-and-run attacks are still common, killing hundreds of people, mostly security personnel, every year.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 16:14:25|Editor: Yurou
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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Neuroscientist Doris Tsao from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) was awarded the Genius Grant for her creativity and talent in neuroscience, it was announced here on Thursday.
The Genius Grant, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship, is a no-strings-attached award with 625,000 U.S. dollars to people of "outstanding talent," for their "originality, insight and potential," according to the MacArthur Foundation.
Tsao is a systems neuroscientist studying the neural mechanisms underlying primate vision. She and her group aim to discover how the brain "stitches together" individual pixels of light, the photons hitting retinas, to create the visual experience of discrete and recognizable objects in space.
In 2017, Tsao and her team discovered the neural mechanism for face recognition. Even though an infinite number of different possible faces exist, they found that the brain needs only about 200 neurons to uniquely encode any face, with each neuron encoding a specific dimension of facial variability.
Tsao is widely recognized for pioneering the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to target electrodes for studying visual processing in monkeys. She also demonstrated the existence of "face patches" in the macaque brain.
"I've been lucky to be on this journey with incredible mentors, colleagues, students and postdocs. This award is every bit a recognition of their hard work and brilliance," said Tsao.
She said her lab is taking some completely new directions right now, venturing into new parts of the brain and a new species.
"Doris has been a true pioneer in exploring how we perceive the world around us and she has completely revolutionized our understanding of how our brains see faces," said Stephen Mayo, Chair of the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 16:42:18|Editor: Yurou
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KUNMING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists in southwest China's Yunnan Province have unearthed a cluster of 209 tombs believed to be from between the late Neolithic and early Bronze age.
The tombs were discovered during the latest excavation of 100,000 square meters of ruins in Jiangbian Village in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, according to the provincial archaeology institute.
Wan Yang, a researcher with the institute, said that most of the tombs were earth pits with well-preserved human skeletons lying flat on their back.
But in some tombs, two skeletons overlapped each other, he said. While in other tombs, bones dislocated, a result of funeral rituals according to which people were buried long after death.
"Findings from the tombs carry important information about the lifestyles, culture and views of life and death of early humans living in this area," Wan said.
More than 1,500 pieces of pottery, 80 pieces of bronze ware, 168 pieces of stoneware and 130 bone artifacts were also unearthed in the tombs.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 16:49:17|Editor: xuxin
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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people were killed and 15 others injured on Saturday after a mini-bus carrying them skidded off a mountainous road and fell into gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.
The accident took place near Kala Morh in Ramban district, about 135 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
"Today in a tragic road accident a mini-bus on its way from Banihal town to Ramban rolled down into deep gorge here," Superintendent of police Ramban Anita Sharma told Xinhua.
"Fourteen people were killed on spot and one woman who was airlifted has also succumbed, which means death toll as of now is 15."
Sharma said the bodies were retrieved from gorge and have been kept in mortuary to be handed over to the victim families.
Locals said following the accident, they rushed to the spot and subsequently informed police who also arrived immediately bringing along ambulances.
"As the news about accident spread, locals as well as police officials and disaster response force personnel came to the spot to carry out rescue work of removing injured and retrieving bodies," Mushtaq Tehseen, a local, said. "It was really a tough job to carry injured and dead from the deep gorge."
Eyewitnesses said the vehicle was mangled after fall from a huge height.
According to police the mini-bus was carrying over 30 local passengers, more than its capacity.
Police officials have registered a case and ordered an investigation to ascertain the reason behind the deadly accident.
In a separate accident in the region at least 16 Indian army troopers were injured in a road accident in Shopian district, south of Srinagar, on Friday night.
The injured troopers, according to police, were immediately removed to hospital.
Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.
Officials say on an average over 400 deaths take place every day in India due to road accidents.
Last month 17 people were killed and 16 others injured in a similar accident in the region.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 18:22:08|Editor: mmm
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SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- City Attorney for the U.S. city of San Francisco Dennis Herrera announced a victory in a legal battle against the federal government over an immigration law that was invoked by the White House to deny a federal grant to the city.
In response to a ruling by Judge William Orrick of the U.S. Court for the Northern District of California that declared San Francisco's sanctuary ordinances are lawful, Herrera said the federal government's attempt to impose conditions on law enforcement grants for San Francisco is "unconstitutional."
"We're pleased the court has recognized that San Francisco's sanctuary laws and policies comply with federal law," Herrera said.
Orrick's ruling asked the U.S. Department of Justice to give California 28 million U.S. dollars that was withheld after the White House challenged the state's immigration policies.
Herrera filed a lawsuit on Aug. 11, 2017 along with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to deny San Francisco law enforcement more than 1.4 million dollars in grants for the 2017 fiscal year.
The funds are from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, which was created by Congress and awarded annually for more than 30 years, but the federal government has not disbursed the 2017 funds to San Francisco because of the federal and local disputes over immigration policies.
San Francisco and other sanctuary cities have declined to obey orders from the White House requiring local police to cooperate with federal immigration law enforcement units in rounding up undocumented immigrants.
The sanctuary cities said such cooperation with federal immigration officers would turn away local people who feared to be questioned about their immigration status if they want to report crimes to police.
"There is no law requiring state or local governments to participate in immigration enforcement," Herrera said, adding that San Francisco's police and firefighters "are not going to be commandeered and turned into the Trump administration's deportation force."
He said San Francisco will use the Byrne funds for important law enforcement purposes, including programs designed to reduce recidivism, provide alternative forms of prosecution or enable treatment for underserved populations.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 18:49:19|Editor: xuxin
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KINSHASA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- More than 50 people died on Saturday morning in a tank truck fire at the Mbuba village in the Kongo Central Province, west of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to an official source.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 19:13:14|Editor: xuxin
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ASADABAD, Afghanistan, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least one militant affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) was killed and six others arrested, following an Afghan and coalition forces operation in eastern Afghan province of Kunar overnight, an official said Saturday.
"Afghan commandos supported by U.S.-led NATO coalition forces conducted an operation in Watapor district of Kunar province, late on Friday night, killing one IS militant and arresting six militants," Col. Haq Nawaz Haqyar, the provincial police chief, told Xinhua.
Some light and heavy weapons have also been seized from them during the operation, according to the official.
The violence has been on the rise as Afghan security forces struggle against a surge in attacks by militants at the time when the country is preparing for parliamentary and district council elections slated for Oct. 20.
Afghan security forces, backed by the coalition troops, have increased ground and air offensives against militants in the past few months as the country is preparing for parliamentary and district councils' elections slated for later this month.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 19:26:00|Editor: xuxin
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KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Seven police officers and three militants were killed and five policemen and three militants wounded following fierce clashes in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province overnight, local police said Saturday.
"Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint with guns and rocket launchers in Surkh Bital area of Qalay-i-Zal district of Kunduz province, triggering a fighting lasting for hours," Inamuddin Rahmani, provincial police spokesman, told Xinhua.
Among those militants killed was Qari Jalal who served as a divisional commander of Taliban's Sara Keta or special force in Kunduz, he said.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, told local media that insurgent's fighters killed at least seven police offiers and wounded five others without commenting on casualties on their side in the incident.
Violence has been on the rise as Afghan security forces struggle against a surge in attacks by militants at a time when the country is preparing for parliamentary and district councils elections slated for later this month.
During the Oct. 20 elections, nearly nine million registered voters, including three million women, will cast their ballots to elect members of the 249-seat lower house of parliament for a five-year term while they will also vote to elect members of the district councils.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 19:42:07|Editor: xuxin
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NEW DELHI, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Indian President Ram Nath Kovind will be on a standalone state visit to Tajikistan on Oct. 7-9, official sources said on Saturday.
This will be Kovind's first visit to Central Asia since he took over the country's highest office last year.
During his visit, the Indian president will meet his Tajikistan counterpart Emamoli Rahmon. Besides, Tajikistan Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda and Speaker of lower house of parliament Shukurjon Zuhurov will call on him.
India's junior defence minister Shubhash Bhamre and parliamentarian Shamsher Singh Manhas will be a part of the Indian President's official delegation, said a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
During the visit, all areas of bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation are expected to be discussed.
India-Tajikistan bilateral relations have steadily grown and have diversified in many fields. Since 2012 both countries have elevated their relationship to the level of strategic partnership.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tajikistan in 2015 as part of his visit to all the five Central Asian countries.
Tajikistan President Rahmon has visited India five times.
India and Tajikistan are engaged in bilateral cooperation in multifarious fields to promote their trade and investment. The bilateral trade had reached almost 74 million U.S. dollars last year.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 19:54:55|Editor: xuxin
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RABAT, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's trade deficit increased by 12.6 percent to 7.8 billion U.S. dollars between January and August this year, up from 6.9 billion dollars a year earlier, the foreign exchange regulator said on Saturday.
According to the statistics, the rise in the deficit was driven by a 10.4-percent increase in imports, particularly due to a hike in energy bill of 19.1 percent, raw materials of 17.8 percent and equipment of 12.5 percent.
Morocco's exports registered a higher increase of 11.3 percent to reach nearly 18.1 billion dollars, but remained far less in value than imports.
The increase in exports was pushed by a hike of 26.9 percent in aeronautics products, 17.8 percent in car industry and 17.2 percent in phosphate.
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Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 20:27:18|Editor: xuxin
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KINSHASA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- More than 50 people died on Saturday morning in a tank truck fire at the Mbuba village in the Kongo Central Province, west of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to an official source.
There was considerable material damage at the scene of the fire, according to an statement of local authorities.
According to Atu Matubuana, interim governor of the province, the tanker truck with gasoline, which came from Matadi, capital city of the province, to Kinshasa, crashed into a parked truck.
The shock caused a fire that quickly spread to the houses nearby, resulting in casualties and material damage.
Authorities from Matadi deployed a local rescue team to help the local community at the scene of the fire.
The Kongo Central Province is home to the Matadi and Boma ports, which link the country to various international river traffic.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 20:29:15|Editor: xuxin
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by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Saturday's major mini-bus accident in Indian-controlled Kashmir has risen to 20, police said.
The accident took place near Kala Morh in Ramban district, about 135 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
According to officials, the mini-bus with 36 passengers onboard skidded off the mountainous road and fell into a gorge in the morning.
"The death toll in today's tragic accident has now risen to 20 and the dead include children and women," Superintendent of police in Ramban, Anita Sharma, told Xinhua. "The injured are undergoing treatment at different hospitals."
According to Sharma, the ill-fated vehicle was going from Banihal town to Ramban district headquarter.
Officials said the victims were local passengers heading to the main town.
Following the accident locals informed police who along with disaster response force personnel and medical teams rushed to the spot to carry out rescue work of removing injured to the hospital and retrieving bodies from the gorge.
"As the news about accident spread, locals as well as police officials and disaster response force personnel came to the spot to carry out rescue work of removing injured and retrieving bodies," Mushtaq Tehseen, a local said. "It was really a tough job to carry injured and dead from the deep gorge."
Eyewitnesses said the vehicle was mangled after fall from a huge height.
According to police, the 36 passengers were inside the mini-bus at the time of the accident, more than its carrying capacity.
Deputy commissioner in Ramban, Showkat Aijaz Bhat, said the administration sought help from airforce to airlift the injured to a hospital in Jammu.
"The injured have been admitted to a district hospital here, while as eight critical ones were airlifted to Jammu government medical college hospital for specialised treatment," Bhat said. "I appreciate the role of locals, who worked side by side with police and disaster response force personnel during the rescue work."
Police officials have registered a case and ordered an investigation to ascertain the reason behind the deadly accident.
Officials suspect "negligent driving" the cause of the accident.
Meanwhile, the region's Governor Satya Pal Malik has expressed grief over the accident and announced financial assistance of 6,749 U.S. dollars for each family that lost member in the accident.
"Governor Satya Pal Malik has announced an ex-gratia of INR 500,000 (6,749 U.S. dollars) each to the family of deceased and INR 50,000 (674 dollars) to each of the injured," a statement issued by local government said.
In a separate accident on Friday night in the region at least 16 Indian army troopers were injured in a road accident in Shopian district, south of Srinagar.
The injured troopers, according to police, were immediately removed to hospital.
Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.
Officials said on an average over 400 deaths take place every day in India due to road accidents.
Last month 17 people were killed and 16 others injured in a similar accident in the region.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 20:34:08|Editor: xuxin
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A security force member takes part in a military operation in Ghazni Province, east Afghanistan, Oct. 6, 2018. More than 54,000 Afghan troops will be deployed to safeguard the parliamentary and district council elections, scheduled for later this month. (Xinhua/Sayed Mominzadah)
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 20:52:21|Editor: xuxin
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MANILA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Soldiers and policemen on Saturday shot dead one of the suspected terrorists behind the two bombings in Isulan town in southern Philippine Sultan Kudarat province that killed four people and injured several others.
Army spokesman Major Arvin Encinas identified the suspect as Norodin Taib, a member of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. Taib was killed around 2 a.m. local time during a joint manhunt operation in a village in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao province, he added.
Encinas said the operatives were forced to shoot Taib after suspected terrorists inside the house lobbed a homemade grenade at the government forces.
"While the troops were moving towards the house of the suspected bomber with more or less five individuals scampered towards different directions, but one of them threw a homemade hand grenade which prompted the troops to neutralize the said suspect," Encinas said.
He said the suspects were involved in the bombings at Isulan, Sultan Kudarat on Aug. 28 and Sept. 2, 2018.
The government forces also recovered one improvised explosive device, two improvised hand grenades, three cellphones and "subversive documents" from Taib's house, Encinas said.
Encinas said the operation was launched after civilians informed the security forces about the presence of the bombers in the village.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 20:53:25|Editor: xuxin
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YAOUNDE, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Seven armed separatist were killed Friday in Otu, a village in the Southwest, one of the two crisis-hit English-speaking regions of Cameroon, after the military forces raided a building where the fighters had been camping, the Cameroon army said in a statement on Saturday.
"A task force undertook on October 5 a raid in Otu village that has been under the control of secessionist terrorists since April 2018," the army said in the statement that was published on its Facebook page.
Cameroon army regularly calls the armed separatists as "secessionist terrorists".
It added that a health center that was serving as their camp was destroyed and seven separatists were killed.
Government forces have beefed up security in Cameroon's restive Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest ahead of Sunday's presidential poll in the country.
The armed separatist forces had vowed to stop the election from taking place in the regions.
The government has taken exceptional measures to ensure national security. Borders are closed 48 hours to polling day. The circulation of goods and persons within the territory by road, railway, and airlines is banned from 6 p.m. Oct. 6 to 6 p.m. Oct. 7.
Since November last year, government forces have been clashing with armed separatist forces who want the two regions to secede from the majority French-speaking nation and form a new country called "Ambazonia."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 21:42:57|Editor: mmm
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NAIROBI, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday called on the country's leaders to stop unnecessary politicking and instead focus on development to improve the lives of Kenyans.
Speaking in Nairobi during a clean-up exercise, Kenyatta urged the leaders to slow down political contests and thus refrain from fueling needless tension as Kenyans want service delivery.
"We have elections every five years. Why can't we wait for the next elections? We will not feed on our parties but on development. We should respect each other as no development is delivered on party lines," said Kenyatta.
"Let us work together as this is our country. We have nowhere to go to, so let us pull together to help our people," said the Kenyan leader who joined United Nations Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim and UN Habitat Deputy Executive Director Victor Kisob for a clean-up exercise of Uhuru Market in Nairobi.
He said Kenyans need service from those they elected to serve them and there was need for calm on the political front until the next polls.
Kenyatta said the objective of improving the lives of all Kenyans cannot be achieved if there is disunity among political leaders.
"Kenyans want service from those whom they elected. Leaders should respect each other because when it comes to development it is for all of us," he added.
Kenyatta's remarks came amid debate on whether Kenya should conduct a national referendum to amend the constitution in a bid to address a political, social and economic challenges peaked late last year after the divisive and highly disputed polls.
The calls shutter a lull of political activities that had been witnessed in the East African nation since March 9 when Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga made peace after acrimonious polls in 2017.
They further prepare the country for a long political duel between proponents and opponents of the referendum.
Proponents of the referendum are led by Odinga while deputy president William Ruto is against any change of laws.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-06 21:55:30|Editor: xuxin
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BEIJING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- A fugitive suspected of economic crimes in East China's Shandong Province has turned himself in to the authorities, only five months after he fled to Canada, the country's top anti-graft watchdog said on Saturday.
The surrender of Wang Weixin, 62, in just five month has again illustrated the unwavering resolve of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to eradicate corruption, said the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in a statement on its website.
Wang, former head of Daxinzhuang Village, Jinan City, is suspected of involvement in a case of illegal transfer of land use right.
In the statement, the CCDI also urged fugitive suspects to let go of illusions and take the opportunity to surrender to the authorities as early as possible.
Fugitives who opt to surrender before Dec. 31 and confess to their crimes will be eligible for lesser punishments, according to an announcement jointly released in August by several central agencies, including the National Supervisory Commission and the Ministry of Public Security.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-07 03:48:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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ISTANBUL, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Iran would not militarily support a potential Turkish operation against the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in Syria despite their concern that an emerging autonomous Kurdish area is a major threat to Syrian territorial integrity, analysts said.
"Turkey would be ill-advised to start a military operation because neither Russia nor Iran is likely to support it," Faruk Logoglu, a former senior diplomat, told Xinhua.
The initial concurrence of Turkish, Russian and Iranian positions regarding the eastern part of the Euphrates River in Syria is only "skin-deep," he said.
Thanks mainly to the U.S. support, the Kurdish militia, known as the People's Protection Units (YPG), has managed to control much of the eastern part of the Euphrates during the civil war.
In recent weeks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said Ankara is determined to eliminate the threat posed by the YPG, because Turkey sees the group as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been fighting the Turkish government for more than three decades.
Since Turkish, Russian and Iranian leaders met in Tehran in September, Russia and Iran have also voiced concern about the Kurdish-controlled area and the U.S. presence there.
Still, Ankara cannot count on support from Moscow or Tehran to battle against the Syrian militia given a divergence of interests.
"Russia and Iran want the United States out of Syria while Turkey aims to curb the YPG influence in the area," noted Logoglu.
Despite an apparent convergence of discourse, it is unlikely that Moscow and Tehran, Ankara's partners in the Astana peace process which seeks a political settlement of the Syrian war, will back a Turkish military offensive to drive out the YPG, said Cahit Armagan Dilek, a former staff officer in the Turkish military.
Iran would not want Turkey, which it sees as a U.S. ally, to extend its control to the eastern part of Syria, while Russia would by no means take military action against the United States on the eastern part of the Euphrates, argued Dilek, head of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute.
Dilek referred to the fact that Russia has not even attempted to prevent Israel from striking Syrian army positions so far.
"The strategy pursued by the Astana partners, as far as the YPG-held territory is concerned, is to use one another against the U.S.," he stated.
At the Tehran summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again stated Moscow's position on not treating the YPG as a terror group, saying 95 percent of the Syrian territory, except for Idlib, had been cleared of terrorists.
The area under the YPG control, which lies along the Turkish border, makes up more than 25 percent of the Syrian territory.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently said the area under U.S. control on the eastern part of the Euphrates poses a main threat to Syria's territorial integrity, demanding a cessation of efforts to carve out an autonomous, independent entity there.
At the Tehran summit, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on his Astana partners to persuade the United States to leave Syria and clear up the tangle on the eastern side of the Euphrates.
Both Dilek and Logoglu felt that Moscow and Tehran would want to see a direct confrontation between Turkish and U.S. forces.
The U.S. military has more than 20 bases and an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 troops in the area under YPG control.
Turkey's Erdogan recently said the United States had provided the YPG with 19,000 truckloads of weapons, accusing Washington of assisting terrorists.
"We are determined to clear the terror corridor in the eastern part of the Euphrates," he vowed.
Neither analysts, however, expected a Turkish military operation against the YPG, as such a move would mean a confrontation with the United States.
Despite sharp Turkish criticism, the United States continued providing sophisticated weapon systems to the YPG and has installed radars and air defense systems in its bases in the YPG area.
The YPG area is now totally under U.S. protection, said Dilek.
"Tendered by Russia, Turkey has already shouldered 'mission impossible' in Idlib and should, therefore, be better off leaving the business of handling American hold in the east of the Euphrates to the Russians and the Syrian state," stated Logoglu.
Turkey is currently tasked with persuading the Islamist groups, designated as terrorists in Idlib, to surrender their heavy weapons under a deal concluded with Russia last month on the creation of a demilitarized zone in the Syrian province, the last major bastion for rebels.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-07 05:43:05|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-backed Yemeni government on Saturday tightened security to confront possible terror attacks in the southeastern province of Hadramout, according to a provincial statement.
The decision was made during an exceptional military meeting held by Faraj Bahsani, governor of Hadramout, with leaders of the army brigades in the 2nd Regional Military Command over the challenges of terrorism, the statement by the Hadramout authorities said.
The military leaders agreed to tighten security measures, especially in the areas of Hadramout Valley and surrounding areas, the statement added.
During the past two years, militant groups, including the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), had seized key areas in Hadramout Province, but were expelled later by the Yemeni forces backed by the United Arab Emirates.
The AQAP network, mostly operating in Yemen's eastern and southern provinces, has been responsible for numerous high-profile attacks against security forces in the country.
The U.S. military has carried out several airstrikes against AQAP fighters in different provinces of the war-torn Arab country since President Donald Trump approved expanded military operations against the group.
The Yemen-based al-Qaida branch, seen by the United States as the global terror network's most dangerous branch, has exploited years of the deadly conflict between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence in the country, especially in its southeastern provinces.
Photo taken on Aug. 3, 2018 shows people drinking outside a bar in downtown Dublin. Irish Rail announced on Friday to extend alcohol bank on more train services following the recent approval of a bill by the Irish parliament to curb excessive drinking in the country. (Xinhua)
DUBLIN, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Irish Rail announced on Friday to extend alcohol ban on more train services following the recent approval of a bill by the Irish parliament to curb excessive drinking in the country.
The state-owned national railway network operator said that staring from next Friday, October 12, alcohol will be banned on five Friday train services running from the country's capital Dublin to two western cities of Galway and Westport and one southern city of Waterford.
The five train services affected by the ban involve three from Dublin to Galway between 11:25 am to 15:35 pm, one from Dublin to Waterford at 13:25 pm and another from Dublin to Westport at 2:45 pm, said the company.
Passengers taking the above-mentioned five train services are not allowed to drink alcohol on board and those who have brought alcohol on board will have it confiscated or they will be barred from boarding the train, it said, adding that no alcohol will be sold on these services.
People will be informed about the ban on these services at railway stations or when they book tickets online, said the company.
Prior to this, Irish Rail has already banned alcohol on a number of other services including those running from Galway and Waterford to Dublin on Sundays.
The extension of the ban is made in response to "persistent complaints from customers about regular instances of anti-social behaviour connected to excessive alcohol consumption on board", said a spokeswoman of Irish Rail.
Earlier on Wednesday night, the lower house of the Irish parliament eventually passed a bill which was first introduced some 1,000 days ago to tackle the alcohol-related problems in the country.
Under the new legislation, a minimum pricing for per unit of alcohol and labelling of cancer warnings on alcohol products will be introduced and alcohol advertising will be restricted.
Irish Health Minister Simon Harris said that the new legislation is a positive achievement for the well-being of the the entire country and will help change the drinking culture in Ireland.
Ireland has a high rate of alcohol consumption which has led to a high level of alcohol-related harm in the country.
The Irish government intends to reduce the country's alcohol consumption for people aged above 15 from the 2016 level of 11.46 litres per person per annum to 9.1 litres by 2020.
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, Mont., Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sandfire Resources America Inc. (Sandfire America or the Company) is pleased to provide the following update regarding activities related its underground Black Butte Copper project.
Technical Update
The Company is planning an Autumn 2018 drilling program designed to collect additional data for resource verification and to collect geotechnical data necessary to the Feasibility Study. The Company has selected Ruen Drilling, Inc. as the contractor for the drilling program. Drilling will commence upon approval of the drill program by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MT DEQ). The DEQ determined the drill amendment complete on September 6th and the environmental review is underway.
The Company has signed a letter of intent with GR Engineering Services Limited to be the lead consultant on the Feasibility Study. Under the arrangement with GR Engineering Services Limited, Mining Plus Pty Ltd will prepare the Mineral Reserve Statement. SRK Consulting have been selected to prepare the Mineral Resource Statement. Each group is expected to manage the Feasibility Study work through their Denver offices. Initial feasibility work is planned to start soon with the bulk of the work commencing in November with a target completion date of the June Quarter 2019. Tetra Tech has completed initial design work and the specification report for the portal pad and the contact water pond. This is a key milestone as the first completed design for construction of the project.
Corporate Activities
On the corporate front, the Company is pleased to announce Rob Scargill has been appointed as the CEO of Sandfire Resources America Inc. Since the unexpected passing of John Shanahan in early June, Mr. Scargill acted as Interim CEO. Mr. Scargill will also continue in his role as VP of Project Development for the Companys wholly-owned subsidiary.
The Company is currently undertaking a Rights Offering which will be completed on October 30, 2018 to fund ongoing permitting costs, the bankable feasibility study and future development costs related to the Black Butte Copper project. In addition to the US$1M loan referred to in our June Quarter MD&A, a bridge loan of US$1.5M has been advanced to the Company from an affiliate of its major investor, Sandfire Resources NL who indirectly owns approximately 78% of the Company. This bridge loan will ensure the Company can meet current obligations and continue working toward its goals through timely implementation of drilling and feasibility work. The rights offering is expected to raise up to CAD$18.9M.
CEO and VP of Project Development Rob Scargill stated, Sandfire America continues to make demonstrable progress on our Black Butte underground copper project. We are bringing together a high caliber team with significant mine design and development experience to undertake the Feasibility Study. Once all approvals have been received, this study work will provide a robust platform upon which we can confidently construct a sustainable mining project, whilst protecting the local environment and communities.
The MT DEQ is currently in the final stages of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and expects to have a draft EIS out for public comment sometime this Autumn. The ROD, which would be issued by the MT DEQ, could be completed in early 2019.
Community
Sandfire America continues to engage local communities and stakeholders throughout Montana. Monthly tours continue and will be hosted into November and then will resume next Spring. The Meagher County Stewardship Council, developed as a stakeholder oversight entity for the community and facilitated through the neutral third party help of One Montana, hosted its inaugural meeting September 25, 2019. The Company embraces this development and is pleased to see the interest in making sustainable investments and decisions in the local community related to Black Butte Copper.
VP of Communications Nancy Schlepp shared It is exciting that we are assisting in creating a model of community engagement that will benefit our community and that others may be able to emulate and benefit from as well. The ability to maintain and grow our social license while bringing the underground Black Butte Copper project to fruition is very important to everyone here at Sandfire America.
Contact Information:
Sandfire Resources America Inc.
Nancy Schlepp, VP of Communications
Mobile: 406-224-8180
Office: 406-547-3466
Email: nschlepp@sandfireamerica.com
CAUTIONARY NOTE
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain disclosures in this document constitute forward looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the completion of the Feasibility Study, permitting timelines and the Companys plans for advancing the Black Butte Copper Project and expected outcomes. In making these forward-looking statements, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable, including that the Company will receive required regulatory approvals, that the Company will continue to be able to access sufficient funding to execute its plans, and that the results of exploration and development activities will be consistent with managements expectations. However, the forward-looking statements in this document are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors, including factors relating to the Companys operation as a mineral exploration and development company and the Black Butte Copper Project, that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, including that results of exploration and development activities will not be consistent with managements expectations, delays in obtaining or inability to obtain required government or other regulatory approvals or financing, failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, the risk of accidents, labor disputes, inclement or hazardous weather conditions, unusual or unexpected geological conditions, ground control problems, earthquakes, flooding and all of the other risks generally associated with the development of mining facilities. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-07 06:05:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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RABAT, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan authorities arrested 59 illegal immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa off its northern coast, a local news website reported Saturday.
Morocco's security services arrested these migrants near the coastal city of Nador while they were embarking on a boat toward the Spanish coast, Hespress.com said.
The arrested include six women and children, it added.
An investigation was launched to determine the circumstances of the incident.
In recent months, Morocco has been witnessing a significant hike in illegal immigration attempts.
Morocco thwarted at least 54,000 attempts to smuggle illegal immigrants into Europe in the first eight months of 2018, compared with 39,000 attempts a year earlier, the Moroccan government said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-07 06:11:54|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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LONDON, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- China's Belt and Road Initiative will create a two-way street between the east and west, the leader of the University of Chester has told Xinhua.
The university's vice chancellor and principal Timothy Wheeler heads a university that sits on the English side of the border with Wales, based in a city steeped in history.
With 20,000 students, every one of them known by name to the staff, Chester is one of Britain's smaller universities. But under Wheeler's stewardship it has big ideas and big ambitions.
While Chester is proud of its historic past, Wheeler looks to the part being played by China on the 21st century world stage.
CHINA LINK
With Brexit fast approaching, Wheeler is eager to foster even greater links with China, inspired by the eight visits he has made to the country over recent years.
That has prompted him to foster close links with around seven or eight Chinese universities.
But it is the rapid development in China and the Belt and Road initiative that impress the academic with a degree in psychology.
"Our activity in China gave us a much greater understanding, so ... when the idea of Belt and Road (came into being), we were aware of that. It was probably the last 18 months that people have become aware of all of the implication of Belt and Road," said Wheeler.
Wheeler said: "If you look at global politics, you have China as a major emerging world power particularly economically."
He added: "From Britain's point of view, as we leave the European Union, whether with a hard break or hopefully with a soft break, we will inevitably look to world trade. One of the significant players in the world trade is China."
In the eight or nine years he's been going to China, Wheeler has seen the development of high speed rail in China.
"There are new ideas, plans for not only 330 km/h, but 500 km/h, and that research is actually being undertaken in China," he said. "The precision, the speed, the time... all of those I think probably will be a major opportunity for China when we build our high-speed rail line here in Britain."
"I wouldn't be very surprised if China wins the contract because of the technology is now so advanced," he said.
EXPANSION
Famed for its city walls, Chester was home 2,000 years ago to one of the main army fortresses in Roman Britain. The ruins of a one-time amphitheater are a reminder of the Romans who once conquered and ruled Britain.
Wheeler very cannily expanded the university estate with new campuses, bought during the recession, and now paying dividends for the university.
When the oil giant Shell decided to close its extensive research facility just a few kilometers outside Chester, Wheeler stepped in and bought the whole complex, for less than 2 U.S. dollars.
"When Shell decided not to continue as actively in research they sold us their international research center which has 110,000 square meters of buildings and covers 40 hectares.
"We've been able to develop courses in energy engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, as well as some fairly sophisticated working in software engineering and software development," he said, adding that those are the strengths of the university, that's what set itself aside from other university.
It's a sign of the ambitions of a university that almost 180 years ago started life as the first teacher training college in Britain.
Today teacher training accounts for less than 10 percent of its academic activity, with courses that have earned a double gold standard from Ofsted, Britain's official education watchdog.
Its large faculty of Health and Social Care is renowned for training tomorrow's nurses and midwives.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-07 06:20:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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DUBAI, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese carrier Uni-top Airlines is planning to operate Boeing 747 freighter flight between Kunming, capital of China's Yunnan Province, and Dubai, business metropolis of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Chinese airline said in a statement on Sunday.
"In order to support the development of civil aviation and trade between China and the UAE, Uni-top airlines is planning to operate Boeing 747 freighter flight with three flights per week between Kunming and Dubai," the statement said.
The statement was made during a Kunming delegation's visit to Dubai to attend the UAE Air Transport Cooperation Promotion Conference.
More than 20 traders, cargo agents and media appeared at the promotion conference.
"We expect to strengthen joint airline and tourism market ... in order to push the development of bilateral economy and trade," said Zhang Changsheng, leader of the Kunming delegation.
"Strengthening tourism, trade and commercial links between China and the UAE is a key strategy for Dubai Airports," said Khalil Lamrabet, director of Aviation Business Management in Dubai Airports.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-07 06:18:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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ANKARA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish authorities are conducting a thorough investigation on the disappearance of the Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
"There is an ongoing investigation on this foreign individual by the police and affiliate organizations," a Turkish source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The Turkish police said on Saturday that the missing Saudi journalist hasn't left the Saudi consulate.
The Washington Post's columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident critic of the country's crown prince and a former government adviser, entered the consulate last Tuesday.
His visit to the consulate was related to getting official documents for his re-marriage. But he had reportedly expressed concerns about his safety.
The 59-year-old journalist has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States since he fled the kingdom in September 2017.
Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters on Wednesday that Khashoggi remains inside the Saudi consulate, a day after his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, reported his disappearance.
"He didn't inform me of a threat or anything of the kind but I felt that he was fearful of something that might concern him. I waited outside the (Saudi) consulate for three hours but he didn't come back, at least I didn't see him coming back," Cengiz told CNNTurk news channel.
Kalin said Turkish Foreign Ministry and police were closely monitoring the case, adding that Ankara was in touch with Saudi officials.
On Thursday, Turkey's Foreign Ministry summoned the Saudi ambassador to Turkey "for consultations" over Khashoggi's disappearance.
In contrasting opinion to the Turkish side, Saudi officials insisted that Khashoggi had left the building.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomed Turkey to search the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
In an exclusive interview with Bloomberg published on Friday, bin Salman said Saudi Arabia is "very keen to know what happened" to the Saudi citizen, adding "we have nothing to hide."
Turkish and foreign journalists held demonstrations outside the consulate, demanding Saudi authorities shed light on Khashoggi's disappearance for fear of his safety.
The mystery surrounding the missing Saudi journalist happened at a time of strained relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, putting the two regional powers at odds.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar on Jun. 5, 2017, over unsubstantiated claims that Doha has supported extremism and fostered relations with Iran.
When the current Gulf crisis broke out, Turkey sent rapid aid to Qatar including food supplies.
On Jun. 7, 2017, the Turkish parliament ratified a bilateral defense bill previously signed with Qatar.
Last month, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani pledged 15 billion U.S. dollars investments in Turkey during a visit in Ankara to help its ally to overcome a serious economic volatility.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-07 06:39:50|Editor: zh
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A man leaves a voting booth after casting his vote in Bucharest, Romania, Oct. 6, 2018. Voter turnout was low in the first of two days of Romania's referendum on family redefinition, according to the latest report on turnout released by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) late Saturday. (Xinhua/Cristian Cristel)
BUCHAREST, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Voter turnout was low in the first of two days of Romania's referendum on family redefinition, according to the latest report on turnout released by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) late Saturday.
Only 5.72 percent of the electors have showed up to the polling stations in the first day of referendum, the data centralized by the BEC after the conclusion of the first day of voting showed.
Over 18,000,000 voters are expected on Saturday and Sunday at the polls for a referendum to revise the Constitution to redefine family as a freely consented marriage between a man and a woman, replacing the current form that defines the family as the free-willed marriage "between spouses."
The question the voters will have to answer, with "Yes" or "No", is "Do you agree with the Law for the revision of Romania's Constitution in the form adopted by Parliament?"
Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said that the topic of family is an important one for all and she voted for the values she believes in.
"Consulting citizens is the essence of democracy. It is the civic duty of each of us to express ourselves in regards to the topics important to society," said Dancila, after voting at the Jean Monnet High School in northern Bucharest.
Under the laws, in order for the national referendum to be valid, it's necessary a voter turnout of at least 30 percent of the persons registered on the permanent electoral lists. The referendum will be validated if the validated choices represent at least 25 percent of those registered on the permanent electoral rolls.
The cabinet decided on the date of the referendum on Sept. 18, in response to an initiative signed by 3 million citizens calls for a clear definition of the family concept.
The initiative, launched by the Coalition for Family in late 2015, is considered to block any possibility of same-sex marriages in Romania.
The Senate, as a decision-making chamber of the parliament, adopted on Sept. 11 this year the citizens' initiative which was previously passed by the Chamber of Deputies on May 9, 2017.
The amendment is supported by most politicians and the major Orthodox Church with over 85 percent adherence among the population, as well as many other religious groups in the eastern European country.
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Reglajele BNR tin euro in frau
Inflatia a devenit aproape imposibil de controlat, iar evolutia pandemiei poate oferi surprize in continuare, mai ales in Romania, unde rata vaccinarii impotriva COVID-19 este dintre cele mai scazute din Europa. Cu toate acestea, BNR a decis, in ultima sedinta de politica monetara din acest an, care a avut loc marti, 9 noiembrie, [citeste mai departe]
87.73% of Iron Bridge common shares tendered
Velvet Offer for Iron Bridge Resources expires
Velvet sets shareholder meeting to approve final acquisition transaction
CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Velvet Energy Ltd. ("Velvet") and Iron Bridge Resources Inc. (TSX: IBR) ("Iron Bridge") today announced that Velvet's amended $0.845 per share all cash offer has expired, and that a total of approximately 87.73% of Iron Bridge common shares equating to approximately 143,810,584 common shares have been tendered to the offer.
Since Velvet's initial take up of shares on September 24, 2018, approximately 10.29% of additional Iron Bridge common shares equating to approximately 16,872,875 common shares have been tendered to the offer. Velvet has taken-up and will pay for these shares in accordance with the terms of the offer.
Following this additional take-up of shares, Velvet expects to complete a subsequent acquisition transaction to acquire the remaining Iron Bridge common shares. Iron Bridge previously filed on SEDAR under Iron Bridge's profile at www.sedar.com a Notice of Special Meeting of Iron Bridge shareholders to be held in Calgary on November 6, 2018, for the purposes of approving the acquisition and amalgamation of Iron Bridge by Velvet.
About Velvet
Velvet Energy Ltd. is a privately-held, full-cycle exploration and production company. Focused in the liquids-rich gas and light oil window of the Deep Basin of Alberta, the Company executes an organic growth business plan, including early land capture, technical evaluation, exploration and development of internally generated prospects. Headquartered in Calgary, Velvet has current production of approximately 30,000 boe per day, prior to the acquisition of Iron Bridge, and a focused land position consisting of over one million net undeveloped acres spanning from its core liquids-rich Ellerslie development in the greater Edson area to early phase Montney light oil development and delineation at Gold Creek.
Important Notice
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information can be generally identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "expected", "intend", "may", "will", "project", "plan", "should", "believe" and similar expressions. Specifically, forward-looking information in this news release includes statements respecting the subsequent acquisition transaction, including the timing of any such transaction and the completion thereof, if at all. Forward-looking statements in this news release describe the expectations of Velvet as of the date hereof. These statements are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons. Although Velvet believes the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, and they should not be unduly relied upon.
For further information:
Ken Woolner
President and Chief Executive Officer
(403) 781-9134
Chris Theal
Chief Financial Officer
(403) 781-9162
Peter Henry
Vice President, Finance
(403) 781-9133
The Mifflin Square neighborhood in South Philadelphia have seen waves of immigrant groups over the last century. Religious buildings that used to serve Jews and Christians are now house the Preah Buddah Rangsey Temple and its former funarium at Sixth and Ritner. Adath Shalom occupied the synagogue until 20087. The Buddhist temple was originally St. Andrews Lutheran Church, built in 1904. Read more
The only thing you can say with certainty about Philadelphia neighborhoods is that there will be churn. Sometimes it comes from depopulation and disinvestment, other times from growth and gentrification. The markers of these shifts are best seen in religious buildings as they are passed from one group to another.
The intersection of Sixth and Ritner in South Philadelphia offers a vivid snapshot of the ever-changing Mifflin Square neighborhood. The land south of Moyamensing Avenue was only lightly settled at the turn of the 20th century but quickly started filling up with Germans and Italians. Jews pushed south from Queen Village after World War I. Beginning in the mid-'70s, with the end of the Vietnam War, Southeast Asians Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian began arriving. Joined by African Americans and Latinos, they have thoroughly regenerated the neighborhood.
It's the Cambodians who really make their presence known at this intersection. Cambodian Buddhists acquired the somber St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in 2004 exactly a century after it opened and converted it into a golden, Technicolor compound. The Preah Buddah Rangsey Temple underwent such exponential growth that, three years later, it acquired the Adath Shalom synagogue across the street, where the aging congregation could no longer sustain the building. In a neighborhood that had once been dotted with dozens of rowhouse "shuls," Adath Shalom was one of the last holdouts.
The fusion of Jewish and Cambodian imagery is what makes this otherwise modest, tawny brick building so compelling. Rather than completely redesign the interior, the Cambodian Buddhists simply burrowed into the existing shell.
Two tablets representing the Ten Commandments still preside over the main entrance, but they are capped with a plaster mokut, the ceremonial headdress worn throughout Southeast Asia. Inside, you can still see the unusual zodiac mural on the sanctuary ceiling, inscribed with Hebrew characters. But images of Buddha now share the space. Because the Cambodians had no need for the Orthodox Jewish women's gallery on the second floor, it was transformed into a gallery for Buddhist funeral urns.
It is not clear when Adath Shalom opened, or even whether it was a purpose-built synagogue. The brick on the Ritner Street facade differs significantly from the side walls. Rakhmiel Peltz, director of Drexel University's Judaic studies program, believes the synagogue may have been created by combining two rowhouses. Founded by Lithuanian Jews, who represent just a small subgroup of all Philadelphia Jews, the synagogue was incorporated in 1922, as Beth Samuel Nusach Ashkenazi. After merging with another congregation in 1961, it was renamed Adath Shalom and adopted the practices of Conservative Judaism. As the small shuls disappeared, it became the largest synagogue in the neighborhood.
During the three years that Adath Shalom and Preah Buddah Rangsey Temple shared the intersection, the Cambodian Buddhists dramatically altered the Lutheran church. The original dark granite blocks remain on Sixth Street, but the Ritner Street side is now layered in shades of saffron. An elaborate ornamental fence, featuring traditional mandala wheels, forms a generous courtyard. Griffins, lions, and warriors stand sentry at the gates.
The procession through the courtyard leads to a small covered porch, where worshippers remove their shoes before entering the temple proper. The large building contains several worship areas, as well as rooms for monks, who are sometimes seen walking around the neighborhood.
How long they will remain a presence is unclear. The Khmer Buddhist Humanitarian Association, which runs the temple, is building a large compound in South Jersey to serve the region. In February, it sold Adath Shalom to a development company whose name combines Cambodian and Philadelphia references: Penh Investment Penn LLC. We can only hope this deeply resonant building will be allowed to evolve along with the continually changing neighborhood.
Multiple lawsuits accuse Stockton University of failing to protect students against a rogue fraternity and mishandling students' sexual assault complaints. Read more
The first lawsuit came in early July: A freshman at Stockton University alleged she was sexually assaulted while incapacitated by a man who later posted footage of it on Snapchat.
Then three more lawsuits in July and one last month. In each, women claim they were lured to parties, in some cases their drinks drugged or heavily spiked, and afterward choked, bitten or badly bruised, and sexually assaulted.
The common thread in each: The cases were connected to a rundown off-campus house occupied by men who call themselves members or associates of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. The problem is both the South Jersey university and the national fraternity office revoked recognition of the group in 2010 for violations, but the wild parties continued.
The women alleged their attacks occurred at the house or were carried out somewhere else by members or associates of the fraternity.
Stockton isn't the first to grapple with the problem of unsanctioned or rogue off-campus fraternities. But the lawsuits, which name not only individual men but also the school and the national fraternity could plow new ground. They contend that the school could have done more to protect students from the rogue fraternity and mishandled assault reports.
"These are all Stockton students," said Robert Fuggi, the lawyer for the plaintiffs. "They certainly could have taken action against that fraternity or any other fraternity, whether they are on or off campus and they chose not to."
Only one of the claims so far has resulted in criminal charges.
Last month, an Atlantic County grand jury indicted Zachary Madle, 25, described in the lawsuit as a Stockton alumnus and fraternity member, for invasion of privacy and aggravated criminal sexual contact. Madle is accused of videotaping "inappropriate touching" of a young woman without her consent and posting it on Snapchat, the Prosecutor's Office said.
Stockton officials declined to comment, citing the litigation, as did the attorney general's office, which is representing the public college.
The suits have roiled the 9,500-student campus, nestled in the Pinelands National Reserve of Galloway Township, again raising questions about what a university can do about off-campus, unrecognized fraternities that engage in problem behavior.
At a student senate meeting on the issue last week, junior Mikaila Strano, 19, said Stockton has failed to adequately inform students about the specific dangers of unrecognized fraternities.
"It's Stockton's responsibility to address Pi Kappa Phi and to address these parties that are happening, not only at orientation, not only at Welcome Week," she said, drawing applause from the room.
About 70 students and staff attended the two-hour meeting, where administrators, too, expressed frustration over how to handle underground Greek groups.
"I definitely share your pain," said Joe Thompson, assistant director of student development and Greek adviser, "and think we need to find other ways as to how we can really inform the student body to stay away from these groups."
Stockton officials said at the meeting that they are planning new health and safety standards for off-campus Greek events and a violence intervention team. The university said later in a statement that it also is considering "options to enhance the warnings we provide" about conduct infractions and allegations against recognized and unrecognized groups.
The problem is not isolated to Stockton.
At Pennsylvania State University, officials last month warned in a letter to parents that two fraternities, Alpha Sigma Pi and Sigma Alpha Mu, continue to operate even after losing the university's recognition. And in the case of Alpha Sigma Pi, the national fraternity also ordered the group to cease operations.
"We strongly discourage any student from joining these groups," the university warned.
The university also relies on a State College Borough ordinance that says suspended houses are no longer allowed to operate as such without a special permit.
The University of Pennsylvania's struggle with off-campus groups flared in 2016 when one sent a sexually suggestive party invitation to freshmen. Penn formed a task force on the issue and last fall began requiring the groups to register parties and comply with rules or their members would face discipline.
Though Maureen Rush, vice president for public safety at Penn, said she believes that "great strides" have been made, she said: "We have much work to do."
Penn has brought members who haven't followed the rules into the student conduct office, she said.
Amherst College in Massachusetts is among schools that have threatened to discipline students for joining unsanctioned fraternities, while others warn students and parents against joining. But often those warnings, said Douglas E. Fierberg, a Washington-based lawyer who has been involved in litigating fraternity cases, don't fully specify why a group has lost recognition.
It's difficult, for instance, to find information on Stockton's website about why Pi Kappa Phi lost its status in 2010, except for a page that notes: "Assault by members that resulted in hospitalizations."
Stockton declined to release more details.
"Why is it a mystery?" Fierberg asked.
Fuggi cited a 2014-15 Stockton report on Greek life that listed Pi Kappa Phi but failed to note that the group was unrecognized.
"Five years after they said they had kicked them off, there was no indication to current students and parents that this fraternity was a rogue fraternity," Fuggi said.
The university countered that the report was "internal" and meant to be shared only among those who knew the frat was unrecognized.
Fierberg said national fraternity offices could do more to stop rogue groups and shut down the houses. And he said universities could more aggressively discipline students for behavior that occurs in the off-campus houses; Stockton has a policy that says students can face discipline for off-campus violations, and it also states that students could be disciplined just for belonging to an unrecognized fraternity.
But at the town hall meeting, the Greek life adviser noted that without another code of conduct infraction, that's not an easy penalty to apply.
"It's really difficult for us as a university to legally hold them accountable simply for being part of a group, for walking around wearing letters," Thompson said.
Mark E. Timmes, chief executive officer of the national Pi Kappa Phi, said his organization tried to intervene. It sent cease-and-desist letters to the Stockton group among other steps, he said, but declined to elaborate.
Property owners also aren't immune to question. One Stockton lawsuit names the owners of the house at 600 W. White Horse Pike in Egg Harbor City as Amy and Yin Ben Tomm, who could not be reached for comment. The house appeared last month to be unoccupied, with boarded or taped windows.
From 2010 through 2017, Galloway Township police logged 50 calls to that address, including 11 noise complaints, five disturbances, seven thefts or burglaries, two sexual assault attempts, and one assault, Fuggi said.
Fuggi also filed two additional lawsuits against Stockton that don't involve the fraternity but compound concerns about Stockton's response to sexual assault allegations. One accuses a Stockton counselor's son of rape he has denied it and countersued, and the university's discipline process found him not culpable of assault. The other alleges that a female student with cerebral palsy was stalked for months by an autistic male student without satisfactory intervention by the college.
Fuggi declined to make the women who filed the seven lawsuits available for comment. Several have since graduated or left; one is taking online courses; one remains on campus, he said.
With a new semester underway, Stockton students have been demanding answers. Tuesday's town hall meeting was scheduled after students complained that a prior forum didn't allow for enough discussion. An anonymous opinion piece in the student newspaper was accompanied by a cartoon depicting university president Harvey Kesselman sweeping rapes under a rug.
In a women's restroom at the campus center last month, notices atop the sinks screamed in red ink: "No More Victims No More Silence #RapeFreeStockton."
Senior Samantha Kelly, 21, president of Stockton's Coalition for Women's Rights and a student senator, said the forum gave her hope.
"There were direct questions, and I'm happy that they were directly answered," she said. "From this, the line might be more open now."
Administrators said they couldn't answer some questions, such as whether men named in the lawsuits had been disciplined or remained on campus, citing privacy or litigation.
"My family is constantly worried," said junior Victoria Bonelli, 20.
Some Stockton students interviewed on campus last month were torn over how much responsibility Stockton should bear, noting that the university warns students to stay away from unrecognized frats. Administrators, for their part, said it also would help if students promptly reported incidents.
But some at the forum said Stockton must better inform students where and how to report. One suggested putting important numbers on the back of student IDs.
"What you guys are doing is not working," a student senator told administrators. "So maybe we try to find another way."
Ramiro Cantero Galicia performs in a Copili, a traditional Aztec crown at the Methacton Mennonite Church with La Danza Azteca. Read more
In July 2017, when the historic Charter Oak tree outside Methacton Mennonite Church in Worcester Township, Montgomery County, fell following a storm, people of the community didn't know its cracking sound would one day reverberate as the beat of a drum.
But following Sunday's weekly worship service, a drum made from the wood of the pre-colonial-era tree it's thought to date back to the 1630s was part of a performance outside the church by the indigenous dance group La Danza Azteca, which shares Aztec culture with audiences around Philadelphia.
Danza Azteca members Nicolas, 16, and Jonathan Morales, 13, of Souderton, had built the drum, or wewetl, using wood from the fallen tree. They used traditional Aztec tools for part of the process.
"After they built the drum, we asked them to come and bless the land where a new tree is growing," said Pastor Sandy Drescher-Lehman.
The dance group is familiar to Philadelphians from performances at the annual Mexican Independence Day festival at Penn's Landing, which is where the Morales boys and their father, Victor, first met Danza Azteca teacher Ruben Chico del Rosario of South Philadelphia.
Chico del Rosario has performed traditional Aztec dance in Philadelphia for more than 10 years and formed the group two years ago. It is part of the larger national organization Movimiento de la Mariposa, or "Movement of the Butterfly," that carries on ancestral practices from central Mexico.
At the church last Sunday, group members dressed themselves in Aztec attire, added feathers into their crowns, and applied face paint before heading outside for their blessing.
Copal incense burned to purify the dance circle, the land, and the community. The drum, which represents the beating heart, sat at the center of the group during a rotation of three dances representing birds, mother earth, and fire.
Then La Danza Azteca returned inside the church, where the dancers shared thanks with each other.
We have the privilege to express our culture day to day and then to dance. What else can we ask for? said group member Ramiro Cantero Galicia, whose wife, Mayra Morales Lozada, and daughter Arlett Cantero Morales also dance with Chico del Rosario. We are that seed, and we have to make it grow, so people can see we have a great culture.
From late Friday night into Saturday afternoon, seven people, including three teens, were shot and an eighth person was stabbed in seven incidents throughout the city. None of the injuries were fatal.
Most of the violence occurred in a span of about two hours.
Shortly after 11:30 p.m. Friday, a 31-year-old man was shot once in the left leg while outside on the 2000 block of Judson Street in North Philadelphia. A Philadelphia Housing Authority officer who was walking in the area and heard gunshots transported the victim to Hahnemann University Hospital in stable condition, Philadelphia police said.
Around that same time, police responded to a shooting on the 800 block of Marcella Street in Summerdale, where they found a 16-year-old boy hit once in the lower back. Police took him to Einstein Medical Center in stable condition.
About 11:46 p.m. Friday, two 18-year-old males were shot and wounded in a double shooting on the 3900 block of Glendale Street in Juniata Park. The victims were sitting on steps outside when two men in hoodies came up from an alley and started shooting at them, an East Detectives supervisor said Saturday. One victim ran a few blocks away and called police.
Officers took the victims to Temple University Hospital, where one of them shot three times, in the groin, back, and leg was in critical condition, and the second, shot once in his left forearm, was in stable condition.
About 12:19 a.m. Saturday, a gunman fired several shots at a vehicle on the 400 block of East Loudon Street in Feltonville, the East Detectives supervisor said. A 26-year-old man who was sitting in the vehicle was grazed by a bullet in his upper left arm. The victim refused medical treatment and told police that he had a dispute over money with the alleged 24-year-old male shooter, who was taken into custody, the supervisor said. It was not immediately known Saturday if the suspect would be charged.
At 1:27 a.m. Saturday, a 22-year-old man was shot once in his left leg while outside near Island and Woodland Avenues in Southwest Philadelphia. He was taken by medics to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in stable condition. Before he was shot, the victim had been in a dispute with another man over a woman at the Happy Inn bar on Main Street in Darby, 6ABC reported. The victim then walked to Philadelphia and was followed by the other man, who then shot him, police said. Officers tried to chase the gunman, but he got away, according to 6ABC.
About 1:50 a.m. Saturday in Center City, a 52-year-old man was stabbed once in his left abdomen while outside on the 300 block of South 12th Street, just south of Spruce. He was taken by medics to Jefferson University Hospital in stable condition. No further information was available.
The violence continued Saturday afternoon when, at about 1:30, a 40-year-old man was critically injured after being shot three times in the abdomen and once in his left leg while outside on the 4200 block of Tackawanna Street in Frankford. He was taken by medics to Temple University Hospital.
Police were seeking suspects in all of the cases except for the Feltonville shooting.
The shootings of the three teens occurred a day after two 15-year-old boys were shot at a South Philadelphia gas station. One of them, Rasul Benson, died. Surveillance video from the Gulf station on Passyunk Avenue near 25th Street showed two shooters one who emerged from the backseat of a car and another who remained there and fired.
Kate Simson, state office representative for Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, fields phone calls from constituents about their opinions on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court in Collins' Portland office on Thursday. Read more
PORTLAND, Maine The first visitor Kate Simson greeted Thursday morning at Sen. Susan Collins' office was a pastor who came to share her story of sexual abuse.
The 72-year-old woman, her cleric's collar loose around her neck, bent her head and began reading from a letter that described how her grandfather molested her. "He would take me in his lap and fondle me beneath my underpants," the Rev. Anne Fowler read in a trembling voice.
She glanced up at Simson, who was taking notes. Simson has done this for thousands of protestors who have passed through this small office in the three months since Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination was announced and for tens of thousands of others who began showing up here to register their frustrations starting the day after President Donald Trump's election in 2016.
Trump's boisterous, unruly, norm-defying presidency has shaken up the country's political life. No place has been more changed than the small four-person office that Simson runs for Maine's lone Republican senator.
Collins, one of a vanishing breed of moderates, has for the last two years been a key swing vote on just about every contentious issue that has come before the U.S. Senate and the nation.
That role has transformed Simson, a single mother of two and Collins' state office representative, into a portal for aggrieved Mainers, and increasingly the entire country, to vent, rage, share personal stories and plead their case. Most of the demonstrators at her office opposed the nomination.
"A professional protest greeter" is how Simson sometimes describes herself these days. On Thursday and Friday she was also a last hope for those seeking to influence the vote on Kavanaugh's nomination, scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
She briefly locked eyes with Fowler, who was still recalling her trauma. "And yet as a young child I kept being sent up to say hello to Grandpa," the reverend continued. "I'm living proof of the power of repression, of the elusiveness of memory."
"Thank you for sharing that," Simson said.
"It's never easy, but it's necessary," the reverend replied.
And with that Simson walked through the locked door into her small gray-carpeted office where the phones have been ringing nonstop for much of the last two years. Outside in the waiting room, which Simson recently cleared of furniture so that there would be more room for protestors to gather, Fowler wondered if her letter had moved Simson.
"When I looked up she had stopped taking notes," Fowler said. The reverend took that as a sign that the emotional impact of her words had forged a connection. "It seemed as if she was listening carefully," she said.
Behind her office door, Simson glanced out her eighth-floor window toward Lobsterman Park, where the protestors usually gather before they make their way to her office. There were a handful of marchers holding signs.
"Dare I say, it seems quiet," she told her staffer Ryan Angelo, 31, who was fielding calls from around Maine and around the world. He arched an eyebrow.
Simson, 40, was raised as a political junkie in neighboring Vermont, where her mother served as a Republican in the state legislature. As a child, she helped her run for office, blowing up helium balloons bearing her mother's face and campaigning door to door with her. She moved to Maine with her former husband in 2007, volunteered for a congressional campaign, worked on a local referendum in her hometown of Scarborough, and got involved in county politics.
She landed a full-time job with Collins in 2014. Her first two years were filled with typical fieldwork helping constituents negotiate the federal bureaucracy and business outreach. She went suit shopping with the senator at Macy's and learned to keep an extra set of stockings for Collins in her purse in case she got a run in them right before an event.
Everything changed, though, with Trump's election. The first waves of protestors came to the office in February 2017 to oppose Betsy DeVos' nomination to be education secretary. "DeVos was huge," Simson said. "We had outraged families coming by, especially those with disadvantaged children" who worried that services were going to be cut. Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, were the only two Republicans to oppose her nomination.
Other waves of disapproval followed Jeff Sessions' nomination as attorney general and last year's votes to repeal Obamacare. In December, Simson had to call police to arrest nine religious leaders who set up a portable toilet in her waiting room and tried to stage an overnight sit-in at her office to oppose Trump's tax bill.
"We are gentle, loving people, and we are singing for our lives," they sang as police led them away in handcuffs.
Christine Blasey Ford's allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982 vaulted the protests to a new level. Out-of-state progressive groups, such as UltraViolet Action and MoveOn.org, began organizing the demonstrations, Simson said. Protestors no longer just wanted to share their stories. "Increasingly, they are focused on filming me as they hand me something," Simson said.
In the last month protest groups have delivered more than 1,000 hangers many of them spray-painted red to Simson's office, symbolizing the threat to women if Kavanaugh votes to overturn Roe v. Wade. One group staged "a die in" at Collins's office in Lewiston, about 30 miles north, that included a woman splashing her pants with red paint as part of a mock abortion. Last week another group mailed cardboard penis cutouts with the message: "FYou and the donor class you rode in on."
There have been regular death threats. "You don't deserve a uterus," protesters have yelled at Simson.
Last Friday, she had to close the office 15 minutes early so that police would have time to detain protesters who refused to leave and also finish their paperwork. Her worry: If she waited until 5:01 p.m. the normal closing time she'd be late to pick up her children, ages 12 and 14, from their after-school activities.
It has become harder and harder for Simson not to take the stress home with her. She was deboning a roasted chicken a few weeks ago after work and started sobbing. "I was just mentally and physically exhausted by the barrage," she said. "I get that people feel the need to tell me how they feel face to face. When you are looking a person in the eye you feel more heard. But it becomes a lot. That night it just pushed me over the edge."
Another frustration: The almost ceaseless demonstrations are making it hard for constituents who needed help with VA benefits or emergency medical visas to get through to Simson and her team. For years this had been their bread and butter.
Simson also had begun to worry about the pressure the country's dysfunctional politics imposed on Collins, her boss. "Is this even sustainable for everything to come down to the same handful of senators?" she asked. "Is it fair?"
She glanced up at CNN. A picture of the senator looked back at her, over a chyron that read: "Key GOP Sen. Collins: FBI probe 'appears very thorough.' "
Simson snatched up one of the office phones that never stop ringing. On the other line a man was spitting expletives. "How can Senator Collins say this is a full investigation?" he yelled. "She needs to get her head out of her ass!"
On Thursday most of the big outside protest groups were focused on ferrying demonstrators to Washington for thunderous demonstrations of the sort that would paralyze the Hart Senate office building.
The 100 or so protesters who came to Collins' Maine office were of mix of Simson's regulars from the last two years, most of whom she knew by name, and some newcomers. A pair of women had driven seven hours from Syracuse, New York. A hotel worker had hopped the 6:25 a.m. ferry from Chebeague Island.
Amanda Nash, 59, and Susan Erony, 69, decided to drive two hours up the coast that morning from Gloucester, Massachusetts.
"Fing sham of an investigation," Nash had texted her friend after flipping on the morning news and seeing that the FBI had finished its work. "Let me know if you want to go."
Now they were standing in front of Simson, who was jotting notes in a black notebook, her 11th since Trump became president. Most of the days' comments from the in-person visits, the phone calls and the thousands of letters that clutter the conference table in Simson's office will get boiled down into a few paragraphs that she will email to Collins' D.C. office at the day's end. From there, someone will pass them to the senator.
"We're so depressed," Erony told her.
"We're freaked out," Nash added.
Around 2 p.m. about a half-dozen of the Simson's regulars arrived and took up positions on the floor in Collins' waiting room. Naomi Mayer, 68, a member of the protest group March Forth, asked about Simson's kids and offered her some homemade cookies. Then she delivered her remarks of the day for Simson, who wrote them down.
"We do believe we're watching the demise of our democracy," Mayer told her.
Jackie, 52, who declined to give her last name to protect her privacy, pulled Simson aside for a more personal testimony. "I'm a sexual abuse survivor and my wife is too. We've been through so much therapy," she said, her face turning red and her voice choked with emotion. "But the hardest part is my 16-year-old daughter who woke up the day after the election and said, 'Does this mean it's OKfor a man to grope and violate me?' "
"I can't have my daughter go through life feeling like a piece of meat," she said. "I know you feel the same way."
"I have a 14-year-old daughter," Simson replied.
Back inside her office Simson glanced at the latest CNN chyron, which now read: "Key GOP Sen. Collins Returns to Review FBI report." On the office's voice mail was a death threat that she would report to the Capitol police and a tirade from a local nursing professor who had visited the office several times previously.
"If she caves on this, she can fing forget about ever getting anything done in this state," he screamed. "I am fing irate and you are pathetic."
With that she shut down the office for the day. It was a little after 5 p.m. as Simson strode past protesters in Lobersterman Park who were shouting in the direction of Simson's now empty office.
"Susan Collins, sexual violence is not a partisan roadblock," a woman yelled through a bullhorn.
On Friday morning, with the phones still ringing, Simson watched the senators vote 51 to 49 to advance the nomination to a final vote. Murkowski was the lone Republican who voted against pushing the nomination forward. Collins voted in favor but said that she would reveal her final decision on Kavanaugh later that day.
"It's not going to be her and Murkowski anymore," Simson said, looking up at her television where the two female lawmakers, seated next to each other on senate floor, were talking. "It's just going to be her."
Just after 3 p.m. Collins began speaking. Simson kept one eye on the senator on television and another on security footage from her waiting room, packed with about two dozen protesters praying that she would oppose the judge.
"When passions are most inflamed, fairness is most in jeopardy," said Collins, making a dispassionate case for the judge's respect for legal precedent. The senator's speech was also a plea for comity, moderation and the "common values" that bond Americans together. All have been in increasingly scarce during the last two years.
"I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh," Collins said.
Simson's eyes at that moment were fixed on her boss. She had been unsure what Collins would decide, but was prepared to support her either way.
"It was the best speech I've ever heard her give," Simson said. "I've got goose bumps. I'm so proud."
Outside her office door Simson could hear the two dozen protesters moan: "Shame." She could see them on the security camera, staring at the floor, hugging and crying. After about 10 minutes most of the protesters quietly collected their belongings and filed out. A few who remained said they would wait in the room until Simson called the police at 5 p.m., when the office closed, to have them arrested.
MONTREAL, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alphinat Inc. (TSXV: NPA) is pleased to announce that it has offered its Class A and Class B Debentureholders to proceed to the Conversion of their Class A and Class B Debentures at a conversion price of $0.05 per share, being the minimum issuance price pursuant to the TSX Venture Exchange regulations. The closing price of the Common Shares of Alphinat today was $0.035.
If all the Debentures in the aggregate principal amount of $824,287 are converted Alphinat will issue a total of 16,485,740 shares, of which 5,174,536 shares could be issued to insiders representing approximately 8% of the 65,485,536 issued and outstanding shares assuming full conversion. Currently there are 50,503,220 shares outstanding.
The conversion and issuance of shares will take place pursuant to the TSX Venture Exchange Shares for Debt Policy 4.3. The transaction is subject to the approval of the TSXV. Closing is expected to take place in the second week of October.
About Alphinat
At Alphinat, we are driven by the passion to make application development easy for everyone. We are empowering people with the vision of how a finished application should look and behave to be fully involved from the start of the process. After all, what better way to ensure a favourable outcome than to provide those closest to an applications end-users with a vested interest in its success throughout its development?
We are constantly working to reduce the need to code in order to make application development and maintenance simpler and less error-prone no matter how complex, enabling both current and legacy infrastructure to outperform.
So whether you choose to develop your applications with the help of our low-code platform SmartGuide, kickstart your project using one of our pre-built apps or engage us or one of our partners to do the work for you, were here to help you deploy better applications in record time. Visit https://www.alphinat.com for more information. We look forward to hearing from you.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements in this document, including those which express management's expectations or estimations with regards to the Company's future performance, constitute "forward-looking statements" as understood by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are, of necessity, based on a certain number of estimates and hypotheses; while management considers these to be accurate at the time they are expressed, they are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and risks on the commercial, economic and competitive levels. We advise readers that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other known and unknown factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. A number of factors could cause significant differences between actual results and those described in forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, the Company's capacity to increase acceptance of its products on the market, and to penetrate new markets; the potential existence of defects or undetected problems in the Company's products; the Company's ability to manage its growth; the Company's ability to compete with others; potential commitments; maintaining the Company's intellectual property rights and defending against litigation putting those rights in question; the Company's reliance on the knowledge of its key personnel; and the Company's access to sufficient capital to finance its future needs. This is a partial and non-exhaustive list of factors that could bear on any of our forward-looking statements. Investors are advised to not rely unduly on the forward-looking statements. This advisory applies to all forward-looking statements, whether expressed orally or in writing, attributed to Alphinat or to any individual expressing them in the name of the Company. The Company is under no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events, or other circumstances. Risks and uncertainties that bear on the Company are described in greater detail in the Company's Annual Report.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information please contact:
Mr. Curtis Page
Chief Executive Officer Alphinat Inc.
(514) 398-9799 ext 225
Coun Perez reiterates warning to barangay leaders involved in drugs
07 Aug 2017 Hits:37 Comments(0)
Liga ng mga Barangay President, Councilor Jerry Perez yesterday reiterated his warning to all barangay officials from using or selling drugs. Perez said he is closely monitoring the activities of all the barangay officials and vowed sanctions against erring leaders. Aqui gane na mio barangay ya quita ya iyo na puesto cunel dos barangay leaders quien mas temprano ya sale positivo na...
KEMP, Texas, Oct. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Larson Electronics, leader in explosion proof lighting and equipment, has released a new explosion proof enclosure designed to safely house fire alarm strobe lights in hazardous locations. This enclosure has a bold red finish and adjustable trunnion mount for ideal strobe visibility.
The EPL-AEY-6.7ID-RED-MOD1 is an explosion proof fire alarm enclosure most compatible with Gentex Commander4 series of fire alarms. This enclosure has a red finish to help indicate its purpose. An adjustable trunnion bracket allows users to mount the enclosure and re-position it to make the enclosed strobe light easy to see.
This enclosure is constructed of copper-free aluminum and the protective lens of tempered soda lime glass. It is IP66 waterproof and resistant to the corrosive effects of dust, dirt, humidity and weather. With this housing, the enclosed fire alarms can operate safely in hazardous locations with temperatures ranging between -22F and 140F, as well as 0% to 95% non-condensing, humid environments. This enclosure is rated for use in Class I Divisions 1 & 2 Groups B, C, & D, Class II Divisions 1 & 2 Groups E, F, & G and Class III hazardous locations.
This enclosure makes it possible to safely operate fire alarms in explosive environments, which is very important to worker safety, said Rob Bresnahan, CEO of Larson Electronics LLC. Also, the adjustable bracket gives operators the flexibility to position the enclosure to ensure the alarms strobe can be effectively seen.
About Larson Electronics LLC: Larson Electronics LLC is a manufacturer of industrial lighting equipment and accessories. The company offers an extensive catalog of industry-grade lighting and power distribution products for the following sectors: manufacturing, construction, food processing, oil and gas, military, marine and automobile. Customers can benefit from the companys hands-on, customized approach to lighting solutions. Larson Electronics provides expedited service for quotes, customer support and shipments.
For further information, please contact:
Rob Bresnahan, President and CEO
Toll-free: 1-800-369-6671
Phone: 214-616-6180
Fax: 903-498-3364
E-mail: sales@larsonelectronics.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8392bf8b-ef54-4d3a-bc21-e9f9c15ffdb7
New Delhi: YRF's upcoming action-adventure saw a grand trailer launch amid much fanfare recently. Within days of the launch, the trailer set the internet on the storm and with over 5.44 crore views on the YouTube.
However, as latest reports, Mr Perfectionist Aamir Khan seems to be tensed about the response that film first official trailer has received by the people. Reportedly, several fans have criticised the trailer saying it wasn't as good as hyped and even questioned the average VFX used in the film.
As per the report from Dainik Bhaskar, a source close to the actor said that Aamir keeps a hawk's eye on audience reaction towards his films. And going by the audience reactions to the trailer, he has got a little worried about the VFX used in the movie. "Aamir is now in talks with the team to see what best could be done to make sure the special effects in the final movie is up to the mark. He has conveyed the message subtly that VFX needs to be of superior quality," he said.
The source added that the actor has suggested the makers to make VFX changes in some of the crucial scenes in the film. Though it is known that it will be highly difficult to change the scenes entirely since the film is only a month away from the release, he is planning to do a few corrections to make those scenes look as best as possible. The film is slated for this Diwali release.
'Thugs of Hindostan' features Aamir Khan in the lead role besides Bachchan senior. Fatima Sana Shaikh and Katrina Kaif play female leads in the period drama by Yash Raj Films. The venture is helmed by 'Dhoom 3' helmer Vijay Krishna Acharya. The film is reportedly based on Philip Meadows Taylor's 1839 novel Confessions of a Thug.
At least three SHOs were removed, four constables suspended and two ex-policemen arrested after the Uttar Pradesh police cracked down on social media protests from within the force over the action taken against two constables who allegedly shot dead an Apple executive in Lucknow last week.
Pictures on social media show police personnel wearing black armbands in support of their colleagues who were arrested after the tech company executive was shot dead when he refused to stop his car for checking.
Incharges of Naka, Gudamba and Aliganj police stations in the state capital were removed and three constables posted there suspended on Friday. A departmental probe is on, said DIG (Law and Order) Praveen Kumar.
The photographs of constables of the three police stations went viral on social media, after which officers swung into action. They, however, did not confirm whether the photographs were current or old.
On Thursday, former constables, Brijendra Yadav and Avinash Pathak, dismissed from service earlier in different cases, have been arrested from Varanasi and Mirzapur, while a policeman, Sarvesh Chowdhury, posted in Raebareli has been suspended over the same issue, police said.
An FIR has also been registered against Sarvesh Chowdhury for posting an 11-minute video in which he purportedly claims that he had offered and has been collecting money for the two constables accused in the killing of the Apple executive. He is also seen taking swipes at political leaders and top police officials.
Officials said a probe has been ordered into reports that constables were posting their pictures with black armbands on in support of their two accused colleagues, and that action would be taken against those found involved in such acts.
Vivek Tiwari, the Apple executive, was shot dead early on September 29 when he allegedly refused to stop his car for checking in Lucknow's posh Gomti Nagar neighbourhood.
Two constables, Prashant Chowdhury and Sandeep Kumar, were arrested after an FIR was lodged on basis of a complaint by Tiwari's colleague Sana Khan, who was travelling with him.
Some people claiming to be batchmates and sympathisers of Prashant Chowdhury and Sandeep Kumar are seen campaigning for them on social media and seeking donations to help them.
"An FIR has been registered at Hazratganj police station here on Thursday against unnamed people under the Police (Incitement to Disaffection) Act, and cyber teams are looking at such posts to take the case to a logical end," a senior police official said here.
The Act provides a maximum punishment of six months. "Rumours are being spread on social media... We have taken the matter seriously and surveillance is going on to track such people. It has come to the fore that some constables terminated from service are involved in it," the DIG said.
A Uttar Pradesh police spokesperson said, "It has come to our notice that constables are tying black ribbons and posting such pictures on social media."
The posts are being examined, he said, adding in the last two days, investigating officers have come across instances where morphed or old pictures were posted on social media.
Clarifying the situation, the DIG said, "Some people posing as policemen and anti-social elements are involved in it. We will take strict action."
When asked about the issue, Vivek Tiwari's wife Kalpana said, "My innocent husband was killed, I want justice for him. I am not against the police. This (campaign in support of accused constables, if any) should not be held. Senior officers should take cognisance of it and take action."
About reports that constables were collecting money to help their arrested colleagues and other such items flooded the social media, DGP O P Singh had on Thursday said, "We have alerted our officers and a close watch is being kept on social media. The officers have been asked to interact with constables and tell them about the incident and explain the circumstances under which they were arrested and dismissed.
New Delhi: The bail applications filed for Surendra Gadling and Shoma Sen, accused in Bhima-Koregaon case, will be heard on October 10. On the same day, the prosecution will file their reply on bail application for Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Arun Ferreira.
On Friday, bail applications were filed for Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves while on Thursday bail application was filed for Sudha Bharadwaj in Pune Sessions Court. All of them are currently under house arrest following the Supreme Court's order.
On Monday, the Delhi High Court freed Gautam Navlakha, another activist accused in the case, from house arrest.
Last month, police arrested five left-wing activists, after raiding their homes in several states for suspected Maoist links over the Elgar Parishad meeting which was held a day before the violence.
The police raided the homes of the activists and lawyers from five states - Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, Bharadwaj in Faridabad and Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.
In a media briefing, the police had released details of seized letters related to five activists arrested in June in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence.
The police also claimed they have "conclusive proof" to link Left-wing activists arrested in June and this week to Maoists, saying one of them spoke of a "Rajiv Gandhi-type event to end Modi-raj".
Lucknow: Former Samajwadi Party Spokesperson Pankhuri Pathak on Saturday said that she and her team members were allegedly attacked by Bajrang Dal activists when they were trying to meet families of the two persons who were killed in a 'fake' encounter in Aligarh.
Mustaqeem and Naushad, who carried a bounty of Rs 25,000 each on their heads, were killed in an encounter with police in Harduaganj area here on September 20.
Taking to Twitter, the ex-SP spokesperson said, "Leader of the Bajrang Dal Mob that attacked me. First they tried provoking us, when that did not happen they attacked. The attack on us was preplanned. Will @Uppolice @myogiadityanath @dgpup dare to arrest these people ? Total mobocracy in the state !"
Along with her tweet, the ex-SP spokesperson shared a video and tagged the handles of the state police, chief minister and the DGP while daring them to arrest the alleged attackers.
Pathak alleged that while she was returning from Atrauli at least three members of her team were assaulted and injured by alleged Bajrang Dal activists who attacked them 'in the presence of the police' and also stoned their cars.
Bajrang Dal is the youth wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
She added, "We were warned not to come back to Atrauli. We are not reporting this matter to the Aligarh police because we have no faith left in them. We are returning to Delhi and will decide our future course of action in this matter."
Pathak further said, "Our only objective in meeting the families of those who were killed in police encounter last month was to ascertain on humanitarian grounds whether they facing any sort of harassment."
Despite several efforts no senior district police official was available for comment.
Meanwhile, a senior office bearer of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (western UP) termed the allegations levelled by Pathak as "completely false and baseless".
(With inputs from PTI)
Apollo Hospital in Chennai on Saturday submitted a five-page affidavit in which it said that the management had been requested to keep CCVTs in the hospital off each time Jayalalithaa was taken out of her room.
In its affidavit submitted to the Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry, the hospital's management said that four police officers - including IG (Intelligence) KN Sathiyamurthy - has requested them to keep the CCTVs off when 'Jayalalithaa was taken through the route and it would be switched on when she was back in the room.'
The lack of adequate CCTV footage from around the time the former Tamil Nadu chief minister was admitted here in late 2016 has raised several eyebrows. Doctors at Apollo Hospital are among many who have been questioned and cross-examined.
(Also read: Was Jayalalithaa murdered? Seven conspiracy theories)
Jayalalithaa passed away on December 5, 2016 after being treated in the hospital for 75 days from September 22 for various ailments. In September 2017, the state government had constituted the probe panel under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, mandating it to probe the circumstances leading to Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation and also the treatment provided by the hospital until her demise. The commission, whose term has been extended twice since then, had invited all those having "personal knowledge and direct acquaintance" to furnish information related to her.
Several persons, including present CM O Panneerselvam and his followers, had earlier raised suspicions about the circumstances leading to Jayalalithaa's death.
Pala: A Kerala court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of former Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who was arrested on the charge of raping a nun repeatedly between 2014 and 2016, till October 20.
Mulakkal, after undergoing a routine medical check-up, was produced before Judge M Lekshmi of the Pala Judicial Magisterial Court here who extended his judicial custody for another two weeks.
Mulakkal was arrested on September 21 after three days of questioning and on September 24, he was sent to two weeks judicial custody by the very same court.
The entire proceedings took around five minutes and he informed the court that he had no problems in the Pala sub-jail, where he has been kept since he was remanded.
However, his counsel informed the media that in the coming week, they will approach the Kerala High Court again seeking bail.
On October 3, the Kerala High Court denied Mulakkal`s bail plea as Justice V. Raja Vijayaraghavan observed that there was evidence against the bishop.
Mulakkal, who heads the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar, Punjab, is the first bishop in the country to be sent to jail on charges of rape and since then he has been getting a steady stream of high profile visitors including leading politicians.
New Delhi: The election season in the country is here with the Election Commission announcing the dates of polling and counting on Saturday. With five states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana going into polls, the stage is set for a massive political battle which could have ramifications for the crucial Lok Sabha elections next year.
The full schedule announced by the Election Commission is as follows:
Rajasthan (200 seats):
Last date of filing of nomination - Nov 19
Scrutiny of nomination - Nov 20
Polling - Dec 7
Madhya Pradesh (230 seats):
Last date of nomination - Nov 9
Scrutiny of nomination - Nov 12
Polling - Nov 28
Chhattisgarh (90 seats):
1st phase (southern Chhattisgarh) -
Last date of nomination - Oct 23
Scrutiny of nomination - Oct 24
Polling - Nov 12
2nd phase (northern Chhattisgarh)-
Last date of nomination - Nov 2
Scrutiny of nomination - Nov 3
Polling - Nov 20
Mizoram (40 seats):
Last date of nomination - Nov 9
Scrutiny of nomination - Nov 12
Polling - Nov 28
Telangana (119 seats):
Last date of filing of nomination - Nov 19
Scrutiny of nomination - Nov 20
Polling - Dec 7
Counting of votes in all states would be on December 11.
While the BJP would look to retain power in the states of Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh, the Congress would be hoping to hold on to Mizoram. The Congress has also not named its CM candidates for any of these states and, instead, would be looking at party president Rahul Gandhi to spearhead the campaign. For BJP, party president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have already hit the ground running and party workers at the state level have been told to reach out to the masses to highlight the work done by the party and the central government.
Model code of conduct came into effect in these states - as well as in Telangana - has come into effect.
In a major shocker, several rooms in a hostel at the University of Allahabad, including those of the winning candidates, were set ablaze on Friday night after the results for the student union elections were declared.
In the Holland Hall Hostel, the rooms of newly-elected president Uday Prakash Yadav, of Samajwadi Party (SP), and another winning candidate Avnish Yadav were set on fire by unknown miscreants. Several other rooms were also set ablaze. The miscreants also hurled bombs after setting fire to the hostel rooms.
The incident took place under the Colonelganj Police station. After the news of the incident, several fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire.
Speaking to reporters, one of the winners of the elections said that his entire room was engulfed in the fire burning all his possessions. He also accused of getting targetted for being a Yadav.
The vehicles that were parked inside the hostel compound were also engulfed in fire. Everything in the compound from clothes, bed, documents were burnt to ashes.
SSB Allahabad Naveen Tiwari said the entire night there was the ruckus in and around the university.
With state elections round the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit the ground running in Rajasthan on Saturday by addressing a rally in which he fired shots galore towards Congress. Asking people to choose between vote bank politics and politics of development, he highlighted that the BJP has been relentless in its endeavour for the people's betterment.
Touching upon the fractions in the opposition camp, PM Modi said that while rivals make efforts to make uneasy alliances, BJP is busy in unifying the country. "Some only indulge in politics of vote bank and think of ways to divide. Vote bank politics affects bureaucracy and eats our system from within. Please don't let parties doing this kind of politics enter the country anymore," he said. "For BJP, it is all about working together with everyone and for everyone. In this lies the future of India."
PM Modi once again accused Congress of being a dynastic party. "People of the state and of the country are our high command. Congress' high command is one family. They can go to any extent to safeguard their own interest. Should they be allowed to be in power, should they be allowed to loot, should the road of development be turned into road of destruction?" he asked.
For 60 long years, the Congress practiced vote bank politics. This led to severe problems. Politics of development was never acceptable to Congress: PM @narendramodi Dial 9345014501 to hear him LIVE. #VijaySankalpWithPM BJP (@BJP4India) October 6, 2018
The elections in Rajasthan are expected to be a litmus test ahead of Lok Sabha elections next year. The BJP and Congress have taken turns to be in power since 1993. Vasundhara Raje though would be hoping the trend ends and she is able to retain power. BJP won 163 out of 200 seats - with a 43% vote share - in the 2013 state assembly elections. This year too, the party has unleashed a comprehensive plan to retain power with party workers being told to reach out to people in the state to highlight achievements of the state and central government.
President of Bharatiya Kisan Union Balbir Singh Rajewal on Saturday said that he will file a PIL in Punjab and Haryana High Court against the government and NGT.
Balbir says that he will file a PIL against NGT's decision to ban the burning of stubble, news agency ANI reported.
Speaking on the ban, Balbir said that the farmers have no alternative other than burning stubble. He added that it will continue.
"The farmers have no alternative, so stubble burning will continue," Singh said.
Accusing NGT and the government of not understanding the situation, Singh added that NGT and government both penalises the farmers.
Singh said that NGT had asked to provide machinery and then penalise the farmers if they burn stubble. "The government is penalising us but not providing machinery," he added.
"Why did NGT not consider the scientific angle of the matter that microbes and rats which are harmful to crops, won't be burnt now?" Singh added.
Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana Pradeep Kumar said that according to the available information, appropriate numbers of machineries have been ordered.
Kumar said, "As per the information available with us, there was a requirement for 550 machineries and we have already ordered 540-545 machineries."
"350 machineries have been delivered & 290-300 subsidies have also been released," Kumar added.
(With Agency Inputs)
PASCAGOULA, Miss., Oct. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division christened the guided missile destroyer Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) today with approximately 900 guests in attendance. The ship is the 71st in the Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) class of destroyers and the 33rd built by Ingalls.
Alfred Gray, a retired general and former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, was the keynote speaker. Were here to honor a great American, a great ship and a great shipyard as well, Gray said. Frank is the person who really gave all of the people that youve met here today their inspiration to go forward, to be tough about everything, to be disciplined and to never forget that above all, youre a Marine warrior. It is that kind of spirit and that kind of belief that we honor today by naming this great ship Frank E. Petersen Jr.
A photo accompanying this release is available at: https://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file?fid=5bb8fbc32cfac245196f55df .
DDG 121 honors Frank Emmanuel Petersen Jr., who was the Marine Corps first African-American aviator and the services first African-American general. After entering the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in 1950, Petersen would go on to fly more than 350 combat missions throughout the Korean and Vietnam wars.
We are here to christen this ship to the life and service of a true pioneer in the Navy and Marine Corps, Frank Petersen, said Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller. The USS Petersen is now a reality, and it is a ship that will be in service to our nation for decades to come. DDGs play a vital role, not only in the Navy and defense of the United States, but for our allies around the world. To the shipbuilders, we really appreciate your efforts, skill, professionalism and hard work in building this ship. Thank you so much for that.
DDG 121 is co-sponsored by Alicia Petersen, widow of the ships namesake, and DArcy Neller, wife of Gen. Neller. Together, Petersen and Neller officially christened the ship by successfully breaking two bottles of sparkling wine across its bow. Petersen spoke on behalf of both sponsors at todays ceremony.
Our family has been in Pascagoula for about two days now, and the love and friendship that we have felt from everyone has been so contagious, Petersen said. We believe that you are our family now and feel so happy that Franks ship is here in your home being built under the wonderful leadership of Ingalls. Ingalls not only does great work, but they take great pride in its ownership.
Over the course of 30 years, Ingalls has built and delivered 30 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The shipyard currently has five DDGs under construction, including Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), the first Flight III ship, which started fabrication in May. Ingalls was recently awarded a $5.1 billion multi-year procurement contract to build six more destroyers.
All Ingalls ships are built for men and women like General Petersen with one goal in mind: to protect the brave Americans who defend our freedom, and Frank E. Petersen Jr., the ship, will be no exception, said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. Today, alongside our Navy partners, the leadership of the great State of Mississippi, of Jackson County and of the City of Pascagoula, we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in modernizing our facilities. Combine that with a hot production line and our talented and experienced shipbuilders, and we are uniquely positioned to provide our country with the highest quality, most capable destroyers in the world. Simply stated, Ingalls builds the finest warships the world has ever knownright here in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are capable, multi-mission ships and can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, all in support of the United States military strategy. The guided missile destroyers are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface battles. The ship contains myriad offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century.
Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HIIs Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Integrated Missions Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 40,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:
The son of abducted Lucknow jeweller Kishorilal Soni, Vikas Soni on Saturday questioned the responsibility of the Indian government towards his father after he was taken away to Nepal.
Kishorilal, a 65-year-old jeweller, was abducted on September 28 from Lucknow while he was returning from his shop. He was taken to Nepal and is currently under police custody.
While Vikas accused the Nepal Police of abducting an innocent citizen of India and whisking him away to the country, his mother said that they didn't trust the Nepal Police.
Stating the plight of the family, Vikas said that the Uttar Pradesh Police has said that they won't be able to help the family further as the matter is currently under the Nepal police. The UP Police added that Kishorilal is being held for questioning in Nepalgunj in connection with an old theft and murder case.
He also said that the police has given them a number on which a Nepal police personnel helped him speak to his father. Vikas said that his father verified that he was abducted from near his shop but did not know his current location.
In an interview to news agency ANI, Vikas said, "Nepal Police abducts an innocent Indian citizen from Lucknow and takes him to Nepal. Does Indian government not feel responsible that one of its citizens has been taken away to another country? UP Police told us that my father is being held for questioning in Nepalgunj in connection with an old theft and murder case. They said they won't be able to help us further as the matter was now with Nepal police."
He added, "UP police gave us a number on which a Nepal police personnel made me speak to my father. My father said that he was abducted from near his shop but did not know his current location. My father's statement was verified with CCTV footage which proved he was abducted."
A teary-faced wife of Kishorilal said, "A thorough investigation should be conducted and my husband should be brought back to India respectfully. We don't trust Nepal police."
Earlier, Vikas had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj urging for an impartial probe by higher officials in the case.
After a CCTV footage of the incident, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Lucknow confirmed the news and said that a case was registered on September 28 under section 364 of IPC (Kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) in Madiyava Police Station. The victim's family received calls from Nepal stating that he was being placed under police custody.
Informing more about the case, the SSP said that in 2004, his daughter was married in Nepal and same year there was a theft reported at Nepal's Newdeep Jewellers.
The Nepal Police said that the man has been taken into custody in connection with the case. The SSP confirmed that Nepal Embassy has been contacted for the same and a detailed investigation is underway.
Giridih: Two wanted Maoists including a woman were arrested by police in Jharkhand's Giridih district, a senior police officer said Saturday.
Two Maoists - Sonaram Marandi and Badki Devi alias Geeta were arrested in the raid conducted by police in Pirtand area on Friday, Superintendent of Police, Surendra Kumar Jha said.
Both the Maoists had allegedly triggered blast in the SIS security guards vehicle in the district in 2010, which had claimed lives of four security guards, the SP said.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday declared a 12-hour strike in Pathanamthitta district against a clash that broke out between the party's youth wing state president and police during a protest march. The bandh has been called from 6 am until 6 pm.
A violence had marred the protest march taken out by activists of Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of BJP, to the house of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar at Aranumla in Pathanamthitta district, where police chased them away.
The BJP state youth wing was protesting against the recent Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa Temple issue. According to Yuva Morcha, about 10 people, including its state president Prakash Babu, were injured in the melee.
Rejecting the Opposition demand to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its order, allowing women of all age groups into Sabarimala, the Kerala government had on October 3 said it would implement the verdict in the coming pilgrim season itself.
A high-level meeting here of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the Lord Ayyappa temple, also decided to make necessary arrangements for women pilgrims visiting the hill shrine when it opens for the annual pilgrimage season on October 16.
Former Miss India and actress Tanushree Dutta on Saturday filed a police complaint against noted actor Nana Patekar, who she has accused of sexually harassing her on the sets of a Bollywood film in 2008. Popular choreographer Ganesh Acharya has also been named in the police complaint.
The complaint was filed by the actress, who has featured in films like Aashiq Banaya Aapne and Dhol, at the Oshiwara police station in Mumbai, reported news agency ANI.
This comes just hours after Nana Patekar broke his silence on the issue. Responding to questions on the allegations, the critically-acclaimed actor said, Jo jhuth hai woh jhuth hi hai (What is a lie is a lie only).
Tanushree had earlier also named choreographer Ganesh Acharya, director Rakesh Sarang and producer Sami Siddiqui as accomplices in the harassment she faced. The actress had also alleged that while shooting for her debut film 'Chocolate' in 2008, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri commanded her to strip and dance off-camera to give cues to her co-star Irfan Khan.
Notably, Nana Patekar and Vivek Agnihotri have already sent legal notices to Tanushree, who had termed the move as ironical.
I haven't really figured out how one tackles a situation where the offender takes a legal recourse. I am the one who is the aggrieved party and they are threatening legal action against me. Isn't this highly ironical? she had told news agency ANI.
She has also said that it was not a sudden outbreak of her silence, instead she had tried to get justice when the incident happened. Even the police and the judiciary let me down. When the perpetrator filed a counter-FIR, I was advised to just keep quiet about it, she had said.
Meanwhile, farm widows from Maharashtra have extended their support to Nana Patekar. The Vidarbha Farm Widows Association staged a demonstration at Pandharkavada village, demanding an end to "the victimisation of brother Nana Patekar."
Last month, Tanushree accused Patekar of harassing her on the sets of their 2008 film Horn Ok Pleassss.
NOIDA: Police on Saturday used tear gas on protesters who created ruckus after a Bajrang Dal worker was killed in Noida's Sector-8 on October 4.
Speaking about the incident, Superintendent of Police (SP) Noida said that people created ruckus after a Bajrang Dal worker was killed and minimal force was used to disperse the crowd.
The situation is now under control now, he confirmed.
A 24-year-old Bajrang Dal worker was shot dead in Noida on Thursday.
The worker was allegedly killed because he had complained about the gambling and illegal liquor trade.
People had gathered to protest about police inaction on the situation.
The deceased has been identified as Ajay Chaudhary, a resident of J J Colony in Sector 8. Chaudhary was called out his house at 9.30 pm on Thursday by Sarfaraz who took him outside to the other accused.
"There they caught hold of him and Jeetu shot him in the chest while four more rounds were fired on him by others before they fled the spot brandishing the firearms," the police said.
One of the neighbours who saw the incident rushed to help and alerted others. Soon Ajay was taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, the police said, citing the complaint.
Those accused have been identified as Shehzaad, Ashraf, Zafar, Sartaj, Rafeeq, Jeetu Yadav, Sitabu while two others remained unidentified, the police said.
"Three of them -- Zafar Ali, Sitabuddin Ansari and Sartaj Khan -- have been arrested," the police said.
According to Vijay Chaudhary, his brother Ajay had made several complaints with the police as well as local authorities about the accused persons running betting racket, illicit liquor trade, drug trafficking and other illegal businesses.
A case was registered at the Sector 20 police station which has lodged an FIR for murder and related offences.
Scores of protesters reached the Noida Sector 20 police station and demanded strict action against the culprits and sought compensation for the family of the victim.
"We have demanded Rs 1 crore in compensation to the family of the deceased along with a house. Ajay was staying with his old parents in a J J Colony and was the sole support for them as his elder brother lives in some other city," Umanand Kaushik, in-charge of Gautam Buddh Nagar unit of the Visva Hindu Parishad (VHP), said.
"We have also demanded strict action against the errant police officials because Ajay had already made complaints to them. Had they taken some action, a precious life would not have been lost," Kaushik said.
The protestors have submitted a letter of their demands, addressed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, to the Noida City Magistrate.
Taking note of the concerns raised by the protesters, the police have initiated an inquiry against the policemen concerned in the case.
"The in-charge of police post Jhundpura in Sector 8 has been suspended while orders given for a departmental inquiry in the matter over the complaints of negligence by local police," a police spokesperson said.
(With Agency Inputs)
New Delhi: From working in Indian films for over three decades to achieving global fame with several international projects, veteran actor Anupam Kher, who is currently in the US shooting for his new American series "New Amsterdam", says he can never overlook Indian cinema for foreign projects.
"It feels good when I get recognition for my international movies and shows, but for me, my own (Indian) cinema is very much important. When I am in some foreign country, I always introduce myself as, 'I am an international actor from India'.
"Being an Indian actor, I cannot overlook our cinema. And I feel there is no dearth of South Asian actors in world cinema because it completely depends upon the person whether he/she wants to act in international projects or not. Our Indian cinema is self-sufficient in its own way," Anupam told IANS over phone from New York.
After playing pivotol roles in Oscar-nominated Hollywood movies like "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Big Sick", the 63-year-old is currently working in medical drama "New Amsterdam".
According to Anupam, he has "reinvented" himself by essaying the role of Vijay Kapoor in the show.
"Through 'New Amsterdam', one of the main things I have learnt is the relationship between doctors and patients. For this show, we are shooting in a real hospital, so I often get a chance to meet patients and doctors. Interacting with the patients made me understand the real value of relations and emotions.
"Now I know what families go through if their loved ones are battling with some illness. I am evolving as a person with this project."
As the show is already on air and is garnering great response from viewers, Anupam considers this project a "huge achievement".
Like Anupam always says, "Kucch bhi ho sakta hai (anything can happen)", seeing his journey so far, he wonders how god has forever been kind to him.
Be it his negative role in "Dushmani" or his comic avatar in "Haseena Maan Jayegi", the versatile actor, who has been entertaining people with his performances for over 30 years. He has also been feted with civilian honours like the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
"A young boy from Shimla who dreamt of becoming an actor, successfully paved a path in Bollywood and is now working in Hollywood. What else could I have asked for? I feel blessed that god has always been kind to me. This project has given me a different kind of achievement. I always wanted to do something different and now I have reinvented and explored my new side with 'New Amsterdam'," he added.
Apart from his international projects, Anupam is also preparing for his next Hindi film "The Accidental Prime Minister", a biopic based on the life of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Anupam, who plays Manmohan Singh in the film, underwent transformation to get into the role. He says it is one of the most challenging roles he has ever done.
The actor said: "It took 4-5 months to make my body language similar to Manmohanji and a complete month for having control over my voice. It was not like 'Go inside (the make-up room) and come out (dressed) as Manmohan Singh'. The character demanded huge hard work and I tried my best to play the role with sincerity and conviction.
"Portraying Dr Manmohan Singh's life on-screen was like a scientist working on his/her discoveries and theories because it is not easy to represent someone who is known by the world. Manmohan Singh is a politician and leader of this generation. People know everything about him. I hope I have done justice to his character."
Yavatmal: Bollywood actor Nana Patekar, accused of sexually harassing his co-star Tanushree Dutta a decade ago, on Saturday found support from unexpected quarters: farm widows of Maharashtra.
The Vidarbha Farm Widows Association staged a demonstration at Pandharkavada village, demanding an end to "the victimisation of our brother Nana Patekar."
The women raised slogans in favour of Patekar and said that Dutta is "unnecessarily defaming Patekar", a 'father-figure' who has been helping these women whose husbands committed suicides due to agrarian crisis.
They also burnt photos and an effigy of Tanushree.
Last month, Tanushree accused Patekar of harassing her on the sets of their 2008 film "Horn Ok Pleassss". She said she had raised her voice then too, but that was suppressed by people in powerful positions.
In 2008, at a press conference to respond to the allegation, Nana had said that he was highly surprised at the charges by the actress, who he said was "my daughter's age.
Police on Saturday arrested the Deputy engineer of Railway and his assistant in connection with the flex board mishap in Pune's Shivaji Nagar railway station.
The incident took place on Friday when a hoarding collapsed near Shivaji Nagar station claiming the lives of four people and injuring nine.
Five auto-rickshaws, two-wheeler, and a car were damaged in the collapse.
"We have arrested one Sanjay Singh, a junior engineer of the Central Railways and his assistant, identified as Pandurang Wanare, who works as a 'lohar' (blacksmith) in the Railways in connection with the Friday's incident.
"They have been arrested under the IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder)," said Jayashree Gaikwad, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Lashkar Division).
The railways also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for injured.
The deceased were identified as Shamrao Kasar (70), Shamrao Dhotre (48), Shivaji Pardeshi (40) and Javed Khan (40).
On late Friday night, a case was registered against the railway officials, contractor and his workers who had been given the responsibility to dismantle the structure.
A CR official said an inquiry has been initiated into the incident.
(With Agency Inputs)
New Delhi: Bhajan Samrat Anup Jalota, who broke all ties with his 28-year-old girlfriend Jasleen Matharu on Bigg Boss, on Friday rekindled his romance with her. They duo was seen having a patch-up on the show and were even sent for a romantic candle light dinner in the activity area that Bigg Boss arranged exclusively for them.
Anup and Jasleen were seen getting extremely close and were seen to have let bygones be bygones. While Jasleen stated how she missed doing a romantic dance with her beau, Anup went on his knees with a red rose saying I love you to her.
Now, as per latest reports, in the tonight episode, Bigg Boss will whisk Anup Jalota to a secret room and will make it look like he has been eliminated, leaving Jasleen alone. However, there is a twist to it. But he will be kept in a secret room and will keep a watch on everyone through a camera there.
It appears like this way, Anup will test Jasleen's true love and admiration for him.
Surbhi Rana, a wildcard entrant, has raised her doubts several times on Anup-Jasleen's love story. She is suspicious that their romance is all made up and is only for TRPs. It will be interesting to see if Surbhi's doubts get cleared in coming episodes.
New Delhi: It is indeed a pleasant day for all the Kapil Sharma fans out there. The comedian took to Twitter on Saturday to announce that he will indeed be back with 'The Kapil Sharma Show'. Even though we don't know exactly when will Kapil return to give us our daily dose of laughter, what we do know is that it will happen soon. Fans have already started flooding the thread, expressing their happiness to hear the news.
Kapil wrote, Jalad wapas aa raha hoon The Kapil Sharma Show lekar aap ke liye sirf @SonyTV par. @TataSky subscribers Sony TV ka mazza without any additional cost lijiye, Abhi call kariye 18002086633 or email contact@tatasky.com
Jalad wapas aa raha hoon The Kapil Sharma Show lekar aap ke liye sirf @SonyTV par. @TataSky subscribers Sony TV ka mazza without any additional cost lijiye, Abhi call kariye 18002086633 or email contact@tatasky.com KAPIL (@KapilSharmaK9) October 6, 2018
The actor-comedian enjoys a massive fan following on social media. He has over 9.9 million followers on Instagram and 12.6 million on Twitter.
Kapil's health had taken a toll due to which he had to take a break from the small screen. He now looks visibly heavier than before. After getting back to Mumbai, he even tweeted and briefed about having changed his lifestyle for good.
Earlier this year, Kapil made his comeback with 'Family Time With Kapil Sharma', however, it didn't flag off as expected and it has reportedly gone off air. Many television celebs have supported Kapil, from Shilpa Shinde, Sugandha Mishra, Krushna Abhishek and Bharti Singh, to Sunil Grover, Kiku Sharda, Ali Asgarall have expressed their concerns about his health.
Here's hoping the comedian returns to tickle our funny bones as soon as possible!
A crisis that opened the gates for China
The implosion of the western banking system was a stroke of good fortune
Philip Stephens
When historians cast around for 21st-century hinge points they will settle on two events during the late summer and early autumn of 2008.
At the Beijing Olympics in August of that year China laid out its claim to be counted one of the worlds great powers.
Weeks later, the wests assumption of global hegemony was laid low by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Just as China began to push on the gates to power, the west threw them open.
Fast forward a decade and the geopolitical map has been redrawn. The lavish spectacle of the Beijing games has slipped from memory amid anniversary ruminations on the causes and consequences of the financial crash. Yet the coincidence was pivotal; the wests lost decade became Chinas march to power.
Between the turn of the millennium and 2008 the size of Chinas economy more than tripled. Hosting the Olympics was at once a celebration of this leap and a statement of intent. Topping the medals table, Beijing threw off the calculated modesty of the hide and bide policy pursued since Deng Xiaopings opening at the end of the 1970s.
The occasion had been an essential expression of national self-confidence, I heard a senior Communist party figure say some time later. China had drawn a veil over the centuries of humiliation.
The Peoples Liberation Army soon moved to assert historic, but hitherto passive, claims to island chains in the south and east China seas. The nine-dash line delineating Beijings assumed sovereignty over most of the South China Sea suddenly looked rather solid.
President Xi Jinpings Belt and Road Initiative has since added an overarching geopolitical purpose to the countrys expanding economic reach. Visitors to Beijing are now invited to acknowledge the fact of Chinas great power status. Officials have shed their reluctance to speculate as to when China will overtake the US as the worlds largest economy.
By these lights, the implosion of the western banking system in September 2008 was an extraordinary stroke of good fortune. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had badly dented Americas post-cold-war primacy.
The financial crash was of a different order. It marked the collapse of the US-designed international system and of the liberal market worldview embedded in the Washington consensus. Previous crashes had hit Asia, or Latin America. This failure struck at the systems core.
The resulting psychological boost for rising nations of the east and south and for none more than China was as significant as the heavy economic costs imposed on rich democracies by recession and austerity. China acted decisively to mitigate the deflationary impact of the crash. Europe opted for self-defeating fiscal austerity.
The emperor had shed his clothes. The end-of-history theorising so fashionable after the fall of Soviet communism was revealed as hubris an impression bolstered further by the wests slide towards populism and beggar-thy-neighbour nationalism.
Before the crash, Chinese policymakers never seemed quite sure how far they might have to travel towards liberal capitalism to sustain economic growth; nor were they certain they could hold the line against some loosening of control to the forces of democracy.
The wests misfortunes removed the self-doubt. Mr Xi is unapologetic about state direction of the economy. He has tightened the partys grip on power. We can forget about any notion of democracy with Chinese characteristics.
During the decade since the Olympics, the size of the Chinese economy has almost tripled again. The Belt and Road Initiative has emerged as a grand strategy to shrink the distance between east and west and thus establish China as the pre-eminent Eurasian power.
Its military might still trail far behind the US, but Beijing is investing heavily in aircraft carriers and expeditionary capabilities. By many calculations its military budget is more than twice that of Russia and three times that of India.
Washingtons rhetorical response has been to designate China, along with Russia, a strategic competitor a revisionist power intent on shaping a world antithetical to US values and interests, as the US National Security Strategy puts it. Donald Trump has slapped import tariffs on Chinese products in response to economic aggression.
Yet all the while America has been surrendering its greatest advantage the network of alliances, treaties and norms underpinning a US-designed global system. Chinese officials once fretted it would take decades to undercut the world order established after 1945.
China has few natural allies think Cambodia, Myanmar. The US, in theory, has dozens. Washington gave itself a leadership role in the big international institutions. China mostly sat at the other end of the table.
Now, each successive attack by the US president on the post-1945 multilateral order creates more space for the new competitor. Beijing need not show fealty to a system now disavowed by the US.
None of this predetermines Chinas trajectory. The country has its problems an ageing population, a deeply unequal distribution of its riches, and growling resentment in poorer nations at the political price Beijing extracts for financial largesse.
All that said, if Mr Xi does stumble along the way, he can scarcely blame the west for failing to offer a helping hand.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured that Balochistan will be given its due share in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), adding that the agreement will be reviewed. According to Pakistan-based Geo News, Imran Khan gave the assurance during a meeting with members of Balochistan Cabinet.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief further said that the progress of Pakistan was linked with that of Balochistan.
In September, a report in Financial Times had said that the Pakistan government would be looking to review the deals of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and renegotiate a trade pact signed with Beijing a decade ago.
The Pakistan Prime Minister reportedly constituted a nine-member committee to analyse the USD 62 billion project.
Abdul Razak Dawood, an industrialist, who is a part of the committee, was quoted by The Financial Times as saying, "The previous government did a bad job negotiating with China on CPEC - they didn`t do their homework correctly and didn`t negotiate correctly so they gave away a lot."
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi indicated that Beijing would be willing to renegotiate the trade deal signed in 2006 with Islamabad. "CPEC has not inflicted a debt burden on Pakistan. When these projects get completed and enter into operation, they will unleash huge economic benefits," Wang said.
Pakistan is currently reeling from a huge financial crisis. The new government is planning to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its 13th bailout in the last three decades, as the Pakistani rupee continues to weaken further in a volatile global financial market.
(With agency inputs)
Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia`s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman dismissed remarks by Donald Trump in which the US president said he had warned the king he would not last in power "for two weeks" without US military backing and demanded he pay up.
"I love working with him. You know, you have to accept that any friend will say good things and bad things," Prince Mohammed said in a Bloomberg interview published on Friday.
We believe that all the armaments we have from the United States of America are paid for, its not free armament. So ever since the relationship started between Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, weve bought everything with money, Prince Mohammed added.
Trump made the comments at a rally in Mississippi on Tuesday. Despite the harsh words, the Trump administration has had a close relationship with Saudi Arabia, which it views as a bulwark against Irans ambitions in the region.
Trump made Saudi Arabia his first stop on his maiden international trip as president last year.
Saudi Arabia is the worlds top oil exporter and the de facto leader of OPEC, which has been criticised by Trump for high oil prices.
The decision on pressure was supported even by those people's deputies, who declared their intention to run for the presidency of Ukraine - Tymoshenko, Lyashko, Derevyanko, and Chumak
October 4, Ukraines Verkhovna Rada urged the countrys National Security and Defense Council to introduce sanctions against NewsOne and 112 Ukraine TV channels. If these sanctions are implemented, the leading information channels of the country will stop broadcasting. The rationale of the people's nominees, who voted for, remains unclear, as the media have not violated the current legislation. Serhiy Tomilenko, the head of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, many experts, and market participants assure. In fact, these sanctions are nothing but a political decision.
229 MPs supported the draft law No. 9157 on Approval of recommendations to introduce personal special economic sanctions and other restrictive measures (sanctions). The decision was supported even by those people's deputies, who declared their intention to run for the presidency of Ukraine. These people should have been among the first to stand up for freedom of speech. The hypocrisy of some deputies could be clearly traced if you compare their previous expressions on the freedom of speech.
Yulia Tymoshenko is a famous activist for freedom of speech. She repeatedly accused the authorities of putting pressure on journalists and attempts to lock down the countrys information field. Of course, many have forgotten that, in 2009, then Prime Minister Tymoshenko successfully petitioned the court to banned criticism of herself. It served a precedent for the country. After defecting to the opposition, the discourse of Yulia Tymoshenko has changed dramatically.
In 2019, Tymoshenko will run for the presidency and will certainly tell about how the authorities restrict freedom of speech, and that she has no place to speak, and so on. Keep in mind her vote on October 4, it is significant.
* * *
Oleh Lyashko, leader of the Radical Party was a journalist with work experience over many years. His voice calling for the freedom of speech was one of the loudest in Ukraine. You are the real conscience of the nation, you do not let the MPs forget their sins, he told the journalists, reproaching the authorities for pressure and attempts to influence the media.
Next year, Oleh Lyashko, like Yulia Tymoshenko, qualifies for the presidents post. He is clamouring furiously about alleged suppression of his ratings and his potential to become president of Ukraine.
* * *
Yuriy Derevyanko, not affiliated with any faction, became one of the particularly prominent politicians supporting Mikheil Saakashvili, New Forces Movement leader, who started a rally in October last year near the Verkhovna Rada. Then he repeatedly stated that the authorities were blocking the dissemination of information about the relevant protest actions and did not give words to opponents. His rhetoric about Ukraines freedom of speech has intensified after the decision to run for president.
Viktor Chumak is not affiliated with any faction. Earlier, he publicly called himself a fighter for freedom of speech and accused the authorities and opposition forces of a desire to put the Ukrainian media under supervision. "This has just never happened before!" he claimed.
Volodymyr Ariyev is a Ukrainian peoples deputy from Petro Poroshenko Bloc. A few years ago he presented his own report on issues of freedom of speech and security of the journalists at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe(PACE). He is known as an arrant fighter against censorship in Ukraine since 2010. Then, he has expressed his concern on the pressure put on media by Yanukovych regime.
The authority in the country has been replaced with the one which understands the democratic values and Ariyevs oratory has also changed a bit: he starts justifying the pressure put on media, yet he still considers himself their defender.
The staff of 112 Ukraine TV channel insists that the steps made by the Ukrainian Parliament, which aim to apply sanctions against 112 Ukraine TV channel are nothing but a political decision; there is not enough evidence to make such decision, which badly lacks argumentation and may be considered unconstitutional.
Donbas conflict zone, anthrax, restrictions of freedom of speech, Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia - the whole week on one page
1. Developments in Donbas conflict zone
2. Freedom of speech under threat in Ukraine
3. Sentsov ceases hunger strike
4. Anthrax outbreak
5. Hungarian Consul from Ukraine
6. Holodomor recognized in U.S. Senate
About developments in Donbas conflict zone
This week, Ukraine boasted a couple of victories on the battlefields in Donbas.
A new TV tower, which made 190 meters in height has been built in the town of Hirnyk, Donetsk region; the new facility is supposed to broadcast the Ukrainian TV programs to the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk region.
It was also reported that since August, the Ukrainian military has increased the government-held territory of Donbas by more than 10 square kilometers.
Certain events may just be referred to as memorable; specifically, Ukraines Envoy in Minsk talks group Leonid Kuchma left the negotiation group.
The Ukrainian Parliament extended the special status of separate areas of Donbas for another year till December 31, 2019.
U.S. and Canada urged Russia to stop the preparations to elections in republics in Donbas.
***
About freedom of speech in Ukraine
The staff of 112 Ukraine TV channel insists that the steps made by the Parliament are nothing but a political decision; there is not enough evidence to make such decision, which badly lacks argumentation and may be considered unconstitutional. 112 Ukraine TV channel published an open letter to attract public attention to the urgent need to protect one of the most popular Ukrainian TV channels. 112 Ukraine TV channel also turned for help to international organizations for the protection of journalist rights. Related: Freedom of speech under threat in Ukraine
***
About Sentsov ceases hunger strike
Political prisoner Klykh asked Sentsov to stop his hunger strike, which is very supportive as Ukrainian film maker is in a very bad health condition here are the photos of Sentsov, published on September 29. Media reported that Russia was ready to exchange him for three Russians convicted in the U.S., yet official Kremlin denied this information.
On October 5, Russia informed that Sentsov ceased hunger strike. Ukrainian Ombudsman explained that it means he is in a critical condition.
***
About
On October 2, an outbreak of anthrax was spotted in Odesa region. The possible source of the disease is a domestic cow, who was slaughtered for meat. Later a woman with suspicion of anthrax was hospitalized in Zhytomyr region.
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Hungarian Consul from Ukraine
On October 1, Hungary informed it would not withdraw its consul from Berehove due to the scandalous video about issuance of Hungarian passports to the Ukrainians. Later, Ukraine gave a response - if Hungarys Foreign Ministry does not withdraw its consul from Berehove, Ukraine will offer him to leave the territory.
On October 4, Ukraines Foreign Ministry declared the Hungarian consul persona non grata and obliged him to leave Ukraine within 72 hours. And Hungary reacted to that the country expels the Ukrainian consul in Budapest.
***
Holodomor recognized in U.S. Senate
On October 4, the U.S. Senate recognized the Holodomor 1932-1933 as the genocide of the Ukrainian people. Later President Petro Poroshenko urged the EU member countries and the international organizations also to recognize this tragedy as genocide.
***
Open source
Some 8 of the 26 million working Ukrainians receive 'black' and 'gray' salary. This was stated by the Deputy Chairman of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine Yevhen Bambizov, reports Dzerkalo Tyzhnya.
He noted that as a result of inspections of business entities regarding the payment of salaries 'in envelopes', it was found that this practice takes place in 46 percent of checked enterprises and companies.
'According to the State Statistics Service, 8 million of the 26 million working Ukrainians are paid in envelopes - the entire salary or its part. That is, the scale is quite substantial,' Bambizov said as quoted by the outlet.
As a result, local budgets do not receive huge amounts of taxes.
Bambizov also noted that the penalty for each non-official employee is USD 4,000.
Earlier, the State Statistics Service reported that the average salary in Ukraine was USD 320. At the same time, the highest average salary in Ukraine is in the Donetsk region. Also, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said that the minimum wage would be raised as soon as the economy allowed.
Related: Ukraine's Parliament Chairman to sign decree on sanctions against 112 Ukraine and NewsOne
Open source
Germany has joined the British and the Dutch authorities in accusing Russia of instigating massive international cyber-attacks, Deutsche Wille reported.
The Federal Government also believes that Russian military intelligence of GRU is likely standing behind APT28 company. This assessment is based on very reliable own facts and sources, claimed the representative of the German Government as quoted by DW.
He noted that Berlin fully trusts the assessment of British and Dutch authorities regarding the cyber-attacks from the Russian side.
We sharply condemn such attacks on international organizations and institutions of our allies and call on Russia to meet its responsibility and cease such actions, Seibert claimed.
Related: U.K. accuses Russia's GRU of organization of worldwide cyber-attacks
Earlier, the Netherlands announced the prevention of Russias cyber-attack at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and accused Russian Main Intelligence Directorate officers (GRU) of trying to get the information from the international investigation of the MH17 tragedy.
It is expected that the diplomatic establishment will facilitate the Slovakian businesses interested in Kharkiv region
The formal opening of the Honorary Consulate of Slovakia in Kharkiv is to take place in the nearest future. Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin claimed this on the air of one of the Ukrainian channels, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
The consular office is to be formally opened in the nearest future - by the end of the year, since we are already finishing formal procedures. Todays visit of Miroslav (Miroslav Lajcak, the Slovakian foreign minitser, - 112 International) in Kharkiv is a political opening of this consulate, Klimkin said.
Related: Ukraine's Consulate General opened in Edmonton, Canada
According to the Minister, the Honorary Consulate will assist the Slovak businessmen interested in Kharkiv region, provide a possibility for Slovaks to better understand the peculiarities of this region, and get a consultation in case they need it.
Earlier, it was reported that Moldova plans to open an Honorary Consulate in Kharkiv.
Brussels offers to grant the countries of the Western Balkans the option of 'preliminary accession', in order to not exacerbate the conflict
The European Union has to accelerate negotiations on the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the EU. Otherwise, another war can start in the region. President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker claimed this in Vienna on October 5, Bloomberg reports.
According to the official, the European Union has to review the idea of the preliminary accession for the candidate states to the Union in order to increase their economic situation before the accession.
Related: NATO not considering possibility of synchronized accession of Ukraine and Georgia into Alliance
'If we rob the western Balkan states of their accession perspective, if in this highly complex European area the impression emerges that were not serious about that perspective, we will later, or rather sooner, again experience what we had in the Balkans in the 1990s,' Juncker said.
Only two former Yugoslav states, Slovenia and Croatia, have joined the EU so far. Serbia has so far opened 14 so-called 'negotiating chapters' with the EU, but its biggest hurdle is normalizing ties with Kosovo, which split away after the war almost 20 years ago and unilaterally declared independence in 2008.
Serbia still considers Kosovo its administrative territory and does not recognize its independence.
Open source
Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin rules out the possibility of closure of Russian consulates in Ukraine. He claimed this in the interview with one of the Ukrainian TV channels.
First of all, we dont have diplomatic relations with Russia: we dont have ambassadors there, and the diplomats don't do any political or other activity. Our diplomats just help Ukrainians, in particular, the political prisoners. From the utilitarian perspective, it would be easier not to have our diplomats in Russia... but from the practical point of view, it is impossible not to have a representative or someone who can care about Ukrainians, he said.
Related: Ministry of Health to attract $3.5 million for treatment of Ukrainians abroad
The Minister reminded that almost three million Ukrainians stay in Russia despite the conflict in Donbas.
Earlier, Ukrinform news agency published a video where a few Ukrainians get Hungarian passports and owe allegiance to Hungry in the Consulate in Berehove. The Hungarian diplomat recommended not to inform the Ukrainian authorities about receiving the new documents.
Related: Ukraine's Consulate General opened in Edmonton, Canada
Later, Pavlo Klimkin, the Foreign Minister, said that the video is being checked for the authenticity. If it is authentic, the Hungarian consul might be expelled from the country.
In his turn, Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, claimed the attempts to intimidate the Transcarpathian Hungarians and threatened to make Ukraines integration more complicated.
Later it was also reported that for seven years, the Hungarian consulates in Berehove and Uzhhorod of Zakarpattia region have been granting Hungarian citizenship to local residents who are citizens of Ukraine.
Related: Honorary Consulate of Slovakia to open in Kharkiv by late 2018, - minister
Tamas Menczer, Hungarys Foreign Minister Spokesperson later reported that Hungary does not intend to withdraw its consul from Berehovo due to the scandalous video about the issuance of Hungarian passports to the Ukrainians.
In its turn, Ukraine claimed that in case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary does not withdraw their consul from Berehove, Zakarpattia region, and then Ukraine will offer him to abandon the territory.
Assyrian Organizations Ask Iraq to Recognize 1933 Massacre of Assyrians
(AINA) -- A coalition of four Assyrian organizations from the Unites States, Canada and Europe has sent a letter to the Iraqi government asking for official recognition of the massacre of Assyrians by the Iraqi army in August, 1933. Called the Simmele massacre, it was conducted in the Assyrian town of Simmele and its surroundings by the Iraqi army and Kurdish and Arab irregulars, between August 7 and August 11 of 1933.
At the time massacre drew world wide attention. It also drew the attention of Raphael Lemkin, the international lawyer who was moved to coin the term "genocide" as result of the Simmele Massacre and the Turkish massacre of Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians in World War One (AINA 2007-01-15)
The letter, signed by the Assyrian American National Federation, The Assyrian Confederation of Europe, The Centre for Canadian-Assyrian relations and the Assyrian Policy Institute, states:
This August will mark the 85th anniversary of Iraq's genocidal campaign targeting its Assyrian citizens. As many as 6,000 Assyrian civilians were systematically targeted and massacred on the orders of the Iraqi Army and tens of thousands of Assyrians were externally-displaced. Historical injustices against the Assyrian people in Iraq have lasting consequences that threaten their future. The Simele Massacre stands as an important reminder that crimes against humanity must not go without recognition, condemnation, and resolution.
The massacre was carried out by the Iraqi Army, led by General Bakir Sidqi, a Kurd, and Kurdish and Arab irregulars.
Your browser does not support the video tag. Interview with Simmele Survivor.
The letter states:
Tragically, the anniversary of the Simele Massacre now coincides with the anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide of 2014 at the hands of the Islamic State (IS), which claimed the lives of thousands of innocent Yazidis. The Yazidi people were subject to unspeakable crimes, including mass executions and sexual enslavement, and many of those who survived were forcibly displaced.
ISIS drove into the Nineveh Plains on August 7, 2014, massacring Yazidis and causing 200,000 Assyrians to flee their homes. Most have not returned. August 7 is Assyrian Memorial Day.
The letter asks the Iraqi government to establish a commission to investigate the massacre and to allocate funds for a memorial for the victims of the massacre:
We also call for the establishment of an impartial historical commission that includes Assyrian scholars to investigate the archives related to the Simmele Massacre of 1933, and ask that you address biased educational curricula related to Assyrians which omit historical injustices, consequently demeaning their position in Iraqi society and denying their rightful status as an indigenous component in Iraq. Finally, we ask the Iraqi Government to allocate funds for a permanent memorial honoring the victims of the Simmele Massacre of 1933 at the massacre site in Simmele, whilst offering a dignified reburial of the human remains which continue to lie in open view. This memorial should be designed and built by Iraqi citizens of Assyrian origin selected by the community.
Mrs. Attiya Gamri, president of the Assyrian Confederation of Europe, told AINA that recognition of the massacre is neccessary to address the injustices against Assyrians, which continue to this day. "There can be no peace and no future for a country without justice," she said.
Brazilian Democracy on the Brink
Robert Muggah
RIO DE JANEIRO With Brazils presidential and state elections just days away, the countrys citizens are frustrated, disillusioned, and angry. Many are taking to the streets, disgusted by years of cynical politics, breathtaking corruption, economic stagnation, and obscene levels of crime. Although roughly 85% of Brazils 147 million voters agree that the country is heading in the wrong direction, they are more polarized than ever, both online and offline. These deepening divisions threaten to squeeze the life out of democracy in South Americas largest country.
Not since the restoration of democracy in 1985 has a Brazilian election been so contentious and unpredictable. At stake is the presidency, but also positions for 27 state governors, 54 senators and nearly 1,600 elected officials. Although 69% of Brazilians have faith in democracy, more than half admit they would go along with a non-democratic government so long as it solved problems. Despite efforts by a new generation of young leaders working to restore faith in democracy, Brazilians are ranked as the least trusting and most pessimistic people in Latin America today. And now, the rise of digital propaganda and fake news is making a bad situation much worse.
Still, the suffocation of Brazilian democracy is not inevitable. While hard to imagine at the moment, its revival will require a combination of foresight, self-awareness, humility, and the courage to confront seemingly insurmountable class and racial divisions, and even rifts within families.
Among the crop of presidential candidates in this cycle, a few thrive on division, while most including Marina Silva, the only woman in the race advocate a middle ground. Unfortunately, the populists are ascendant, and the pragmatists have struggled to break through. Opinion polls suggest that the election will most likely come down to a second-round contest between the ultra-right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro and the left-wing Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad, a former Sao Paulo mayor.
Despite spending 27 years in government, Bolsonaro is campaigning as a drain the swamp outsider. With the blessing of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the jailed ex-leader of the Workers Party, Haddad is promising to restore economic prosperity. Although at least a third of Brazilians appear to be rallying around Bolsonaro, an even greater share of the electorate, including a growing coalition of women, adamantly opposes him.
Bolsonaro has gained a surprisingly wide, and in some cases fanatical, following. Some of his base 60% of whom are men aged 16-34 share his worldview. Many Brazilians, including women, also like his tough on crime message. And many of the countrys business elite see Bolsonaro along with his running-mate, the retired army general Hamilton Mourao, and his Chicago School financial adviser, Paulo Guedes as a bulwark against the return of the Workers Party.
It would be naive to dismiss Bolsonaro as a useful idiot for the conservative establishment. His turn to economic liberalism flies in the face of a long record of support for state-driven development. And, like US President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Bolsonaro is an expert at sowing division. Following the populist playbook, he portrays Brazilian society as comprising two homogeneous and antagonistic groups: the real people and the elites. As Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt of Harvard University have shown, this attack on mutual toleration strikes at the foundation of democracy.
Brazils three major political parties also share blame for the countrys deepening divisions. Faced with mounting corruption scandals, both Lula and former President Dilma Rousseff, also of the Workers Party, routinely invoked us-versus-them rhetoric. They dismissed damning evidence unearthed during the Operation Car Wash investigations as an elitist conspiracy against a popularly elected government. The countrys other two main parties, meanwhile, confirmed Workers Party supporters fears when they voted to impeach Rousseff in August 2016. What Workers Party loyalists described as an illegal coup reinforced Brazils divisions. The new government was itself soon ensnared in corruption scandals, and its popularity plummeted.
For almost three decades, first as a city councilor and then as a congressman, Bolsonaro waited in the wings for precisely this moment. Promising clean government and law and order, and casting himself as the champion of the military and police, he has the credentials to lead an authoritarian backlash. Bolsonaro has repeatedly supported the military dictatorship that reigned from 1964 to 1985, when the government tortured and murdered its opponents. As far back as 1999, he called for the National Congress to be shuttered, and lamented that the dictatorship had not killed 30,000 more people, starting with former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
Moreover, in a country with the worlds highest number of police killings, Bolsonaro has openly supported expanding official impunity, saying that police who kill bandits should be awarded medals, not penalized. Despite soaring gun violence and 45,000 firearm-related homicides in 2018, he objects to all gun regulation and is the only candidate calling for repeal of the countrys Disarmament Statute, which is credited with saving more than 160,000 lives. And in a country that already has more than 725,000 people in jail, he wants to reduce the age of criminal liability from 18 to 16 or even 14 and, not surprisingly, wants to restore the death penalty.
Having secured support from several influential evangelical leaders, Bolsonaro also supports religious interference in public life. Last year, Bolsonaro declared that Brazil is a Christian country; that there is no such thing as a secular state; and that those who disagree should leave or bow to the majority. He also adamantly opposes gay marriage, condones hate speech against LGBTQ people, and has been sanctioned no fewer than 30 times since 1991 by the Brazilian Bar Association for racism, xenophobia, and homophobia. In 2011, he said that he would rather have a dead son than a gay one.
Bolsonaro also routinely taunts women about rape and expresses misogynist views. He once told a female fellow legislator, I wouldnt rape you because you dont deserve it, and he is on record calling a female journalist a whore. Furthermore, Bolsonaro is openly hostile toward Afro-Brazilian communities, indigenous populations, and members of landless movements, whom he has described as terrorists.
Lastly, Bolsonaro fundamentally rejects climate science and favors Brazils withdrawal from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, claiming that climate change is a fable and nothing more than a globalist conspiracy. Brazils Congress, unlike the US Senate, actually ratified the Paris agreement, making withdrawal less likely. Even so, Bolsonaro and his three eldest sons all of them elected officials regularly describe global warming as a fraud.
Bolsonaro is frequently characterized as a comical character or a Tropical Trump. But if one takes his record at face value, it should be clear that his candidacy is no laughing matter. Like Trump, he is more a symptom of division than a cause. Like Trump, he has said he will reject the elections outcome if he does not win. But he is also potentially more destructive than Trump, and Brazils democracy is much younger and more fragile than that of the United States. He was not considered a serious contender until quite recently just as few saw Trump coming until it was too late.
Robert Muggah is the co-founder and research director of Instituto Igarape and a co-founder and principal of the SecDev Group.
According to the second president of Ukraine, the resolution of the situation in Donbas depends not on the number of countries
Open source
It is unlikely that the negotiation format in Minsk for the resolution of the situation in Donbas, in particular that sponsored by the USA will be expanded. Leonid Kuchma, the second president of Ukraine and, until recently, the representative of the country in the Trilateral contact group (TCG) said that as Interfax-Ukraine reports.
Do you really think that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wouldnt want the format to be, referring to our Budapest Treaty? He would. But Obama and Russia didnt want the United States of America to present the three... Of course, we would like Trump to take part (in funding of the negotiation group, - 112 International), Kuchma claimed.
Related: Ukraine's evoy to Minsk talks ex-president Kuchma leaves the group
Those who shout every day from the rostrum that we need another format (of the negotiation group, - 112 International), should just go on and agree with Trump', the former president added.
Also, Kuchma said that 'the resolution of the situation in Donbas 'does not depend on the number of countries participating'.
Related: No POW exchange before 2019 presidential election in Ukraine, - Kuchma
The TCG includes the representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and OSCE who hold meetings in Minsk and discuss matters related to the resolution of the conflict in Donbas, including the exchange of hostages. Representatives of the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions also take part in the work of the subgroup of the TCG. Leonid Kuchma, the second president of Ukraine (1994-2005) represented this country in the TCG until October 2018. The Minsk format talks were initiated after teh armed conflict in Donbas began in 2014.
The officials are yet to discuss a new mechanism of introduction of the restrictions
Open source
On October 15, 2018, the EU member countries' foreign ministers are going to consider a new regime of the introduction of sanctions for the use of chemical weapons. This is mentioned on the website of the EU Council.
Thus, the Council has to adopt a number of decisions without debates; among them, there is the said regime for the use of chemical weapons and the EU strategy on the interaction of Europe and Asia.
Besides, it is planned to discuss the results of the past meetings of the UN General Assembly, the situation in Libya, Venezuela, and immigration developments.
It is expected that 28 MFA Heads of the EU countries will be present at the meeting.
Earlier, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Secretary of State for Defense of the United Kingdom Gavin Williamson discussed the strengthening of the sanctions against Russia due to the poisoning of ex-GRU officer Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.
Related: Hungary may be deprived of right to vote in EU Council
As it was reported, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in British Salisbury. Later, Theresa May, British PM, stated that Russia was responsible for that, and the investigation has confirmed the use of the Novichok nerve agent, which is produced in Russia.
The Speaker of the Parliament Andriy Parubiy claims that signing of the document hampered by the registration of several decrees the Ukrainian Parliament to cancel the decision of the parliamentarians of October 4 regarding sanctions against these TV channels
Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament Andriy Parubiy will sign the decree on the approval of the offerings on the introduction of personal special economic and other restrictive measures to legal entities related to the television channels - after consideration of the submitted draft cancellation resolutions. The Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament claimed this today during his working visit to Georgia, the press office of the Ukrainian Parliament reported.
In particular, Parubiy told reporters that two resolutions were registered regarding the repeal of this parliamentary decision in accordance with the Law of Ukraine on the Sanctions.
Related: Sanctions appeal against 112 Ukraine, NewsOne not sent to National Security and Defence Council
According to him, in order to sign the primary decision, these decisions must be presented to the Ukrainian Parliament and rejected.
Yet, Parubiy noted that the consideration of the relevant decrees will take place on the nearest plenary week; he said he was sure that they would be rejected.
I have no doubt that they will be rejected - at the same time, it gives me the opportunity to sign the decree on the sanctions, and it is already taking efffect. I am sure that the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine wont hesitate to study this situation and make the appropriate decision.
Earlier, Oleksandr Turchynov, the Secretary of National Defense Council, said that the appeal of the Ukrainian Parliament to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine concerns only the founders of 112 Ukraine and NewsOne TV channels.
Related: 112 Ukraine TV channel needs protection: Open letter
Ukraines Verkhovna Rada urges the countrys National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to introduce sanctions against several Ukrainian TV channels. 229 MPs supported the draft law No. 9157 on 'Approval of recommendations to introduce personal special economic sanctions and other restrictive measures (sanctions)'.
CEO of 112 Ukraine TV channel Yegor Benkendorf stated that the attempt to stop the operation of 112 Ukraine is a part of a large-scale process and concerns an unsatisfactory situation with the respect of freedom of speech in Ukraine. According to him, 112 Ukraine TV channel has to confirm the impossibility to protect its rights independently by legal tools, and soon, it might lead to cessation of the broadcasting.
Related: NSDC must appoint expertise of 112 Ukraine and NewsOne, - ex-prosecutor general
The appeal was sent to the President of the European Commission Donald Tusk, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjrn Jagland, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Liliane Maury-Pasquier, President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Coordinator of the Europe and Central Asia Program of the Committee to Protect Journalists Nina Ognianova, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists Anthony Bellanger.
Related: OSCE concerned about Ukrainian parliaments call for sanctions against 112 Ukraine
112 Ukraine TV channel emphasizes again that it was following the principles of the journalistic work, giving an opportunity to express ones opinion for all the Ukrainian politicians, the representatives of the governmental bodies and independent experts during its existence. Also, the channel does not avoid covering acute political and social issues, and such position of the TV channel cases and will cause opposition from individual politicians and political forces.
***
The staff of 112 Ukraine TV channel insists that the steps made by the Ukrainian Parliament, which aim to apply sanctions against 112 Ukraine TV channel are nothing but a political decision; there is not enough evidence to make such decision, which badly lacks argumentation and may be considered unconstitutional.
Related video:
112 Agency
Two explosions took place in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, in the province of Salah al-Din. One person deceased, and at least 16 sustained injuries. AP reported that, referring to the local police.
'Police said two bombs exploded in the former strongholds of the Islamic State group in central Iraq, killing one person and injuring at least 16,' the report said.
The explosion of a parked car was reported in the city of Fallujah to the west of Baghdad. Two guards and three civilians were injured.
Another attack was aimed at a bus that transported employees of the Al-Siniyah oil refinery in the area of Beiji in the province of Salah al-Din. As a result of this terrorist attack, one worker died and another 11 were injured. The attack occurred on the Beiji highway, north of Baghdad.
At the moment, none of the terrorist organizations have yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In September, Iran attacked the base of the Kurdish opposition group in northern Iraq; 11 people were killed and 20 to 30 got injured.
Related: Russia not yet provided information on Balukh's health, - Ukraine's ombudswoman
112 Agency
The Light Avalanche 2018 military drills took place at the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security of the National Academy of Ground Forces named after Hetman Petro Sagaidachny. Tysa division of the multinational engineering battalion took part in the drills. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this on Facebook.
'The servicemen of the armed forces of Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine improved their skills in using the multinational engineering battalion Tysa in the aftermath of a natural disaster in the Tysa river basin,' the representatives of the Ukrainian military stated.
According to the legend of the exercise, the engineering battalion conducted the elimination of the effects of flooding. The exercises were conducted in conditions as close to the real ones as possible, using the actual engineering equipment.
'A special feature of the exercises was that we are connecting two bridges of different types: the heavy mechanized and the pontoon; we are working on the issue of evacuating the victims from the island using a helicopter, as well as evacuating the equipment and property from flooded territories,' said Major General Oleg Mikats, the deputy commander of the Operational HQ of the Western Direction.
Earlier, the National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov said that the Ukrainian military would conduct large-scale exercises in the Sea of Azov.
Related: Investigation launched against EBRD head Chakrabarti, - Reuters
Radio Liberty
Russia has not yet provided information on the state of health of the Ukrainian political prisoner Volodymyr Balukh. Lyudmila Denisova, the representative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Human Rights posted that on Facebook.
'I am concerned that there is still no news from the Russian Federation about Volodymyr Balukh and his state of health. For months, I've been demanding to give me the opportunity to visit a political prisoner and receive information about his health. Instead, answers without any specifics come from the Russian Federation,' she wrote.
Denisova said that now the Ombudsman in the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova appealed to the director of the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments with a request to allow Denisova to visit the prisoner.
'I continue to insist on a simultaneous visit to Balukh and Vyshynsky (Kyrylo Vyshynsky, the editor-in-chief of RIA News agency, detained in Ukraine, - 112 International). Thus, I will be able to personally meet with the Ukrainian, who is starving for 202 days in a row. At the same time, the Commissioner in the Russian Federation will be able to visit Vyshynsky,' the Ombudsman stressed.
According to her, the head of RIA Novosti Ukraine, Kyrylo Vyshynsky, who is suspected of treason has no health problems.
'And I know for sure that he doesnt complain about the deterioration of his health. Ive already visited him twice. My representatives constantly communicate with him and give him the necessary high-quality medicines. For 4.5 months the doctors examined Kirill Vyshinsky 9 times. This is confirmed by a medical certificate, and I have my hands on it,' she concluded.
On Wednesday, October 3, the 'Supreme Court of Crimea' softened the sentence for Ukrainian political prisoner Volodymyr Balukh, cutting it down for one month.
Related: Ukraine's Parliament Chairman to sign decree on sanctions against 112 Ukraine and NewsOne
Ukraine may introduce biometric visas for citizens of the Russian Federation. Pavlo Klimkin, Foreign Minister of Ukraine said this
on the air of 'UA: Kharkiv'.
According to him, the biometric control system on the border with Russia proved to be effective, since a data bank with biometric information is being created.
This is justified, taking into account the recent case of poisoning of the former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal, the minister said.
'We are creating a data bank, we are well aware that there can be manipulations, as you can see. If there is biometric data, we know perfectly well what kind of people are we talking about, and just changing documents
will not help them,' said Klimkin.
At the same time, the minister insists on the need for prior approval of the visits of Russians to Ukraine.
According to him, currently, the authorities provide control of the movement of those citizens of the Russian Federation who appear to be possible suspects.
'But, of course, its quite difficult to keep track of everyone. Ordinary visas with Russia will not help us ... if its not efficient enough, we will need to think about introducing biometric visas,' he added.
Earlier, the
Ukrainian political prisoner in Russia Stanislav Klykh wrote a letter to another Ukrainian prisoner, film director Oleg Sentsov , in which he thanked him for his hunger strike, which now makes the problem of Ukrainian political prisoners get more attention worldwide.
The text of the letter was published by human rights activist Maria Tomak on Facebook.
According to her, she received this letter from Klykh's mother, Tamara Klykh, who visited her son in Russia.
'It did not got into Olegs hands before he stopped the hunger strike, but I hope he will receive it after in kind of moral support,' Tomak wrote.
In the letter, Klykh asks Sentsov to stop the hunger strike and thanks for the fact that after it began, the problem of the Ukrainian political prisoners received more attention.
'If you have very bad health, I would ask you to stop the hunger strike. We dont need your death, your mom and children need you. Im not judging you if you stop the hunger strike, but nevertheless, I understand that you are annoyed because of
the promise of speedy release in letters. I also receive such letters and it is also annoying, but you need to understand that people who write letters from all over the world wish us good things,' Klykh wrote in the letter.
The enemy performed one shell using weapons prohibited by the Minsk Agreements
Open source
During the current day, from 7 a.m. through 6 p.m., Russian occupation forces shelled the JFO positions four times, as a result, one Ukrainian serviceman was injured. The press office of the Joint Forces Operation reported this on Facebook.
The rival opened aimed fire from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms at Vilny farmstead; shelled the stronghold in Marinka from small arms; used 82mm mortars, the weapons of infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms at the positions in the area of Pavlopil, and used mounted grenade launcher against the defenders of Hruntove.
One Joint Forces serviceman received injuries in the afternoon during hostilities, the HQ reported.
Reportedly, over the last day, the illegal armed formations violated ceasefire regime 20 times, as a result, three Ukrainian servicemen were injured.
A photo exhibition by former LA Times photojournalist, Don Bartletti, documenting Central American stowaways on Mexican freight trains. Bartletti shares stories from his 30-plus year career.
Join us Friday, October 5, 6:00 pm 8:00 pm for the opening of Enriques Journey, a photo exhibition by former LA Times photojournalist, Don Bartletti, documenting Central American stowaways on Mexican freight trains. Bartletti will share stories from his 30-plus year career as a photojournalist. The exhibit opens October 5 and runs through December 28, 2018 at the New Mexico Humanities Council, 4115 Silver SE, Albuquerque. Visitors are welcome Monday through Friday, 9:00 am 4:00 pm.
In the vast migration thats changing the face of America, thousands of Central Americans annually attempt a harrowing 1,500-mile journey through the length of Mexico on the tops of freight trains.
Nearly all are visited by cruelty, hunger and fatigue. Stowaways call the unscheduled train they run to catch La Bestia or The Beast. Some are maimed or killed by the iron wheels. In the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mara Salvatrucha gangsters, corrupt immigration and police officers and opportunist citizens hunt them like animals. By contrast, in the state of Veracruz trackside residents throw gifts of food, water and clothing to migrants as the train passes by.
Among these migrants are children as young as 12 who travel alone. Most are trying to find parents usually mothers - who left them behind years ago to work in the U.S. For children, the dream of reunification becomes the quest for the Holy Grail. Success comes only to the brave and the lucky.
In 2003, Bartlettis six-part photo essay in the Los Angeles Times, Enriques Journey was awarded a Pulitzer for Feature Photography. Bartletti was the first U.S. photojournalist to document the ongoing Central American diaspora of children clinging to freight trains and their dreams of crossing into the U.S.
Bartletti has an interesting New Mexico connection, too. In 2003, he was assigned to photograph legendary New Mexico author, Tony Hillerman, for a Los Angeles Times Travel Section story written by Hillerman. Bartletti will share with exhibit reception guests his wild adventure in the Sandia Foothills capturing the portrait of a New Mexico treasure.
Enriques Journey exhibition is part of the "Democracy and the Informed Citizen" initiative, which is administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils. The series is aimed at deepening the public's knowledge and appreciation of the interconnections joining democracy, the humanities, journalism and an informed citizenry.
Special thanks go to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for its generous support of the initiative and to the Pulitzer Prizes for their partnership. Thanks, too, to the City of Albuquerque's KiMo Theatre as a major sponsor of the series.
press release
Washington, DC On Tuesday, July 24, 2018, Corporate Council on Africa hosted a working group on Investment Opportunities in Eritrea, with guest speaker, Dr. Woldai Futur, Director, Eritrean Investment Center. CCA President and CEO, Florie Liser delivered the opening remarks, noting the historic change in the relationship between Eritrea and Ethiopia and its implications for investment in Eritrea.
Before introducing the Eritrean delegation, Carol Pineau of Africa Today TV recounted her experience in Eritrea in 1998, when the war started, and recently in 2016, 18 years later. She described Eritrea as "a country that is self-actualized" and urged participants to "leave [their] assumptions at the door. The reality is completely different: roads are good, markets are doing well, and people talk freely about their country." She stressed the importance of understanding that Eritrea is a country that for the past sixteen years has been ready for peace and ready for business, going further to say that before the war, Eritrea was known for promoting the idea of 'trade over aid'.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Futur thanked CCA for hosting such a historic meeting He acknowledged that Eritrea has had to play "catch up" with respect to integration into the global economy, but emphasized that "the engine of growth [in Eritrea] is the private sector", noting that from 1991-1998, the economy grew by 11%.
The newly established relationship between Eritrea and Ethiopia has significant implications for Eritrea's ability to establish new trade/investment relationships globally. In 1991, Eritreans met in Asmara and debated what approach to take towards economic development. They chose an open-market economy-based approach. This strategy, he believes, will achieve the results Eritrea needs across various sectors.
He highlighted the key role agriculture plays in ensuring food security in Eritrea, noting that investment in water harvesting techniques would significantly impact the agribusiness sector. He also acknowledged the potential of the Red Sea with regards to the fishing industry.
Dr. Futur indicated that investment opportunities also exist in the travel and tourism industry, as well as the manufacturing industry. "We need manufacturing to solve the problem of the labor market", he said. He highlighted the textile and leather manufacturing industries and packaging industry as viable areas for investment.
He stressed the need for financing within the mining industry, specifically with regards to mineral extraction.
In closing, he affirmed that the peace dividend and the normalization of relations with Ethiopia will have massive implications for Eritrea and ended with a call to private sector stakeholders to invest in Eritrea's emerging sectors.
Moving Downtown
Homes and condos sprout where factories once stood.
by Julie Halpert
Published in October, 2018
Within just a few short blocks of downtown Dexter, eleven acres of land that were once used for industrial operations are being transformed into housing developments. At 150 Jeffords, where dilapidated trailers and commercial buildings once stood, there will be a four-story building with commercial space at ground level and twenty-two residential units above. Just a block away, at 3045 Broad St., there's a plan to build up to ninety new condominiums on the site of the old DAPCO factory. Just past Forest Lawn Cemetery, two duplexes under construction are the first of seventy-six units in a development called Grandview Commons. From there, it's a quick walk to Main St.
"There will be a lot of activity in a small area," says Michelle Aniol, Dexter's community development manager. With no residential units currently available downtown, the developments will help to satisfy growing demand.
Dexter, Chelsea, and Saline are beginning to mirror larger cities, with new housing intertwined with old commercial districts. As more people crave to live in downtowns, developers are turning to former industrial properties to meet the need. Once, workers walked to their jobs here. Now, new upscale abodes offer an easy walk to downtown restaurants, shops, and cultural amenities.
At the old DAPCO site, Norfolk Homes has a concept plan that includes eighty to ninety condos, plus retail and office space. The city, which owns the land, entered into a predevelopment agreement with Foremost Development Company in 2015, but the developer and the city agreed to let it lapse. Aniol says Foremost had a preconceived vision--luxury apartments--that wasn't what the city wanted. Norfolk, she says, is working with the city to develop a project that responds to the community's needs. It's holding a series of community engagement workshops to get input on a suitable density and scale. The goal is to start construction in roughly a year. "Norfolk has been fantastic. They learned a lot about the community, and the community learned about what's possible,"
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says Zach Michels, a city council member who served on the site committee. He says the new developments will serve people who are eager to move from the newer subdivisions on the outskirts and will help keep downtown vital. With more than 150 units between the Grandview and DAPCO sites, he says, "that's a lot of money that comes in to support local businesses."The units at Grandview Commons--duplexes, townhomes, and condos--are being built by A.R. Brouwer on the site of the former Sweepster/Pilot factory. It's a $22-$25 million project. So far, two of the four duplex units have been sold, and tenants are expected to move in by December. Steve Brouwer, the company's founder and president, says a one-bedroom, 1,050-square-foot unit is $284,000, while a 2,650-square-foot three-story townhome will cost $599,000. All the units have granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances and several will have views of Mill Creek.To fit in with Dexter's historic architecture, there will be gabled roofs on all Grandview Commons units and an extensive use of brick. But though Brouwer's project met all the city requirements, Michels feels the development is too suburban "and looks like it belongs more in Pittsfield Township instead of two blocks from downtown."There's also concern about the price. Michels, director of planning and zoning for Dexter Township, would have preferred a denser development, with more and less expensive units. Brouwer acknowledges that higher density could bring down the housing costs, but says his company must meet zoning, engineering, and landscaping requirements, and more residents would require more parking. A park area, which the city council wanted, also took away room for housing.Downtown living isn't new--some downtown buildings have upstairs apartments that date back a century or more. Those are more affordable, but they aren't abundant. Aniol says city council plans to set up a committee to explore housing affordability. The key, she says, is to determine whether a firefighter, teacher, or owner of a local coffee shop can afford to live downtown. The city doesn't want only the wealthy living downtown: "We want a nice, healthy, diverse mix of people. That makes for a more vibrant city."---In Chelsea, developer Joe Ziolkowski is redeveloping the Mack Building, on the corner of Main and Jackson. It was built in 1901 by the Chelsea Manufacturing Company and most recently was Longworth Plating. As manufacturers moved to more flexible and accessible buildings in industrial parks, it sat vacant for six years before the city bought in 2008.Ziolkowski previously bought and rehabbed the former police station on Middle St. Disturbed by the languishing Mack Building, he thought, "I can either keep looking at it or try to do it myself," adding that its high visibility on Main St. was "really a black eye on the city." He purchased the 7,700-square-foot building in August 2015. The redevelopment is a $1.7 million-plus project; the city is paying $260,000, while the Michigan Economic Development Corporation is providing $680,000 in grant money for blight elimination. There will be four apartments upstairs, while the first floor will have three or four food-oriented businesses. The project is due to be completed by March 2019.A condition of the Mack Building grants is a historic preservation review, ensuring that the work is faithful to the building's original character. While the interior has been gutted and reframed to ensure it is structurally sound and up to code, the building's shell remained intact, keeping the original facade.Ziolkowski says he could have built a new structure for half the cost of preserving and updating the old one. But there was grant money available to help with that--and a new building "would never quite have the [same] feel or history."Chelsea city councilmember Tony Iannelli says developers always need to weigh whether it's more cost effective to remodel or build something new. But, he says, Chelsea has a "unique, small-town charm to it, and any of the residents you would talk to would want to preserve that as much as possible." And with a shortage of residential options downtown, he sees the appeal to refurbishing old buildings for residential use.Jan Bernath, who is on the board of the Chelsea Area Historical Society, says these types of renovations help connect the town to its past and provide diversity in architecture. Society member Kathy Clark, who has written extensively about Chelsea's history, is disappointed that the building was allowed to deteriorate so badly. "It's totally gutted, and all the [interior] remnants are gone." Bernath acknowledges that it's "a shell of its former self, but architecturally, it's still a contribution to the visual landscape."Another industrial-to-residential conversion may be on the horizon. Iannelli says Norfolk Homes has bought the Rockwell Building on Railroad St., built in 1906 and originally part of the Glazier Stove campus. The company is contemplating converting it to condos, with construction to possibly begin next year. (Norfolk did not respond to requests for comment.)---In Saline, the residential vacancy rate downtown is less than 10 percent, says Holli Andrews, executive director of Saline Main Street, a nonprofit focused on the revitalization of downtown Saline. The more people living downtown, the better it is for small businesses, she says. As in Dexter and Chelsea, developers are looking at former factory sites to accomodate them.An industrial site on Maple between Michigan Ave. and Woodland recently housed the Department of Public Works, a police station, and a senior center. Now it is being turned into a model inclusive development. Vacant since 2007, it was sold to Three Oaks Communities in October 2017, and the company began construction that month.Three Oaks founder Bill Godfrey says they are the first private developer to build a neighborhood of homes for the general public that also includes customized homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The neighborhood, called Maple Oaks, will include ten single-family homes, sixteen townhomes, and eight condos set up in a multifamily format with large community rooms for special-needs adults. Construction costs will exceed $7 million.Godfrey says the idea emerged after he met with families in Saline who needed housing and services for their special-needs adult children. It's personal for him: His uncle was intellectually disabled, and his mother, aunt, and sister managed his care after Godfrey's grandparents could no longer do so. Maple Oaks will have a community room staffed by a caregiver, security systems, heated bathroom floors, lower countertops, and ADA-standard handicapped accessibility. Godfrey says the entire development is already reserved, and 62 percent of the buyers have no connection to special needs. "The Saline community has embraced this," he says. Single-family homes start at $250,000 for a three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,600-square-foot ranch. Condos start at $175,000; the first is slated to be finished within the next four months, with completion of the entire neighborhood expected by the end of 2019.Saline Mayor Brian Marl says the response to Godfrey's development "has been overwhelming. It's a marvelous addition to the community," providing housing for a demographic that's often overlooked. He expects it will be a model emulated elsewhere. The fact that it sold out immediately also speaks to the desire to live in downtown Saline, he adds.There's also possible future housing at 147 Michigan Ave. Guenther Homes purchased the land in July 2017. Brian Brickley, sales manager for Guenther, says the company hasn't yet decided what to build, but one option is a mix of condos and retail.---Redeveloping old factory sites often requires some kind of environmental cleanup--and sometimes, a lot. Five years ago, plans to build luxury condos on the site of the former Universal Die Casting factory were derailed by contamination left from a chrome-plating operation. Dexter's Aniol says most such "brownfield" cleanups tend to be very straightforward. "It's like following directions on making a cake. You follow the directions and end up with a really good cake," she says. An extensive amount of cleanup was required in preparation for Grandview Commons, says Brouwer, including trucking a great deal of soil contaminated primarily with petrochemicals to a landfill in Salem Township.In Chelsea, Ziolkowski says the environmental report on the Mack Building site "wasn't as scary" as he expected. The remediation involves capping soil contaminated with heavy metals with a layer of concrete. This exceeds state environmental requirements by adding an additional concrete slab on top of an existing one, he says.Iannelli says the former Federal Screw Works property in Chelsea, built in 1916, would make for an ideal residential development. All but two of the buildings were demolished, and they have been vacant since 2005. But he says it cannot be used for housing due to extensive contamination.Bernath disagrees and has been active, along with Clark, in trying to preserve the buildings. The company's "office on Congdon St. is the last Art Nouveau building we have in town," she says. She adds that while there is now a deed restriction in place that excludes residential development, the DEQ has told her that a developer could work with it on a plan to use tax credits and grants for mitigation and cleanup. She says using only the second floor for residences would make the cleanup less arduous.Despite the challenges involved in cleanup and preservation, many, like Bernath, view redeveloping industrial sites as a worthwhile way to keep their cities vital and relevant. She sees the trend of residents migrating downtown as reminiscent of her youth. Now seventy-eight, she lived above a grocery store in Chelsea in 1947. "It's the new urbanism," she says. [Originally published in October, 2018.]
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Francophonie events will take place in Armenia on October 7-12. Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the general coordinator of the preparatory works for the Summit of La Francophonie Vahagn Melikyan gave an interview to ARMENPRESS.
- Mr. Melikyan, when did the preparatory works kick off and at which point are they now?
- The preparatory works of the 17th summit of the Francophonie kicked off 1.5 years ago. Today we have reached a point when we make the final adjustments and corrections so as we manage to carry out this responsible task with honor. Such a large-scale event has never been held in Armenia. There over 40 Heads of State and Heads of Governments, Foreign ministers, representatives of different levels that have arrived and will arrive in Armenia. We expect 1000s of guests. In short, we are ready to host Francophonie summit.
-What kind of events will be held on October 7-12?
-The summit will take place on October 11-12, but the main events will kick off on October 7. The 105th session of the Permanent Council of Francophonie will take place on October 7. This is the gathering of the representatives of the Francophone countries and one of the 3 bodies. On October 8-9 we will hold the 35th session of the foreign ministers and the economic forum will take place on October 10, as well as the round table of the digital ministers of the Francophone countries and the summit is on October 11-12 with the participation of the Heads of State and Governments. Francophonie Village is also quite a massive event, which will be located at the Freedom Square. This is a unique zone where the representatives of the Francophone countries will present their culture, traditions, cuisine, sights and interesting information about their countries. There will be a stage installed there, where artists and different groups from the universities and colleges of our Francophonie countries will perform. I will not open the brackets fully in order to preserve excitement. The entry is free for all and the Francophonie Village will start operating from October 7, but the official opening ceremony will take place on October 9 with the participation of Armenian FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and OIF Secretary General Michaelle Jean.
We have organized a major gala concert on October 11 at the Republican Square where the entry is free also for our public and this concert will be unprecedented by its scale and representation.
To the question how many guests are expected to arrive, Vahagn Melikyan said that they expect 3500 people, which is a record high number compared with the previous 16 summits, adding that the recent developments in Armenia have raised the interest towards Armenia.
The general coordinator of the preparatory works for the Summit of La Francophonie said that October 11-12 are non-working days in Armenia in order to ensure the movement of the delegations, as well as the people.
Yerevan is hosting the XVII International Organisation of La Francophonie summit October 7-12. Armenia is a member of the organization since 2008. The International Organisation of La Francophonie represents one of the biggest linguistic zones in the world. Its members share more than just a common language. They also share the humanist values promoted by the French language. The French language and its humanist values represent the two cornerstones on which the International Organisation of La Francophonie is based. The International Organisation of La Francophonie was created in 1970. Its mission is to embody the active solidarity between its 84 member states and governments (58 members and 26 observers), which together represent over one-third of the United Nations member states and account for a population of over 900 million people, including 274 million French speakers.
OIF organizes political activities and actions of multilateral cooperation that benefit French-speaking populations. Its actions respect cultural and linguistic diversity and serve to promote the French language, peace and sustainable development. IOF has concluded 33 cooperation agreements with international and regional organisations and has established permanent dialogue between the major international linguistic zones (the English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arab-speaking zones).
The IOF has its head office in Paris as well as four permanent representations in Addis Ababa (at the African Union and at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa), in Brussels (at the European Union), in New York and in Geneva (at the UN). It has three regional offices (West Africa ; Central Africa and Indian Ocean ; Asia-Pacific) located respectively in Lome (Togo), Libreville (Gabon) and Hanoi (Vietnam) and two regional antennas in Bucharest (Romania) and in Port-au-Prince (Haiti). Alongside the IOF, the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie and the four direct operators are responsible for implementing the programs decided at the Summits.
The four direct operators are : the Academic Agency of La Francophonie, TV5Monde, the International Association of Francophone Mayors and The Senghor University of Alexandria. 58 Member States and Governments : Albania, Principality of Andorra, Armenia, Kingdom of Belgium, French Community of Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Canada-New-Brunswick, Canada-Quebec, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, , Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Laos, Lebanon, Luxembourg, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Mauritania, Moldova, Monaco, Niger, New-Caledonia, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Vanuatu, Vietnam. 26 Observers : Argentina, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada-Ontario, South Korea, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Montenegro, Mozambique, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Thailand, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay.
Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
Japanese troops are in the Philippines for an exercise with Filipino and US troops.
They brought armoured vehicles with them, marking the first time Japanese armour has landed on foreign soil since World War II.
The US stressed that the exercise is not directed at anyone, but it comes amid heightened tensions with China.
A small contingent of Japanese troops and armoured vehicles engaged in military exercises with the US and the Philippines in the Philippines on Saturday, assisting in a humanitarian role during an amphibious exericse simulating recapturing territory from a terrorist group.
A total of about 150 troops took part in the landing on Saturday. Fifty Japanese troops, unarmed and in camouflage, followed four of their armoured vehicles ashore, moving over beach and brushland while picking up Filipino and US troops playing wounded.
Japanese Maj. Koki Inoue stressed that Japanese personnel weren't involved in the combat portion of the exercise but added that the drills were the first time the Japanese military's armoured vehicles had been used on foreign soil since World War II. After being defeated in that war, Japan adopted a pacifist constitution.
Japan Ground Self-Defence Force amphibious assault vehicle landing
"Our purpose is to improve our operational capability, and this is a very good opportunity for us to improve our humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training," Inoue said, according to AFP.
The exercise, called Kamandag - an acronym for the Tagalog phrase, "Kaagapay Ng Mga Mandirigma Ng Dagat," which translates to "Cooperation of Warriors of the Sea" - started in 2017 and has focused on counterterrorism, disaster response, and interoperability.
This year's iteration of the exercise runs from October 2 to October 11, and the US has said it is not directed at any outside power.
"It has nothing to do with a foreign nation or any sort of foreign army. This is exclusively counter-terrorism within the Philippines," 1st Lt. Zack Doherty, a Marine Corps communications officer, told AFP.
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US Philippines Marines medics
But the drill's timing and location put it in the middle of simmering tensions between China and its rivals in the region.
The landing took place at a Philippine navy base in the province of Zambales on the northern island of Luzon. The same base hosted an expanded annual US-Philippine military exercise earlier this year.
About 130 miles west in the South China Sea is Scarborough Shoal, a group of rocks long administered by Manila until China seized it after a stand-off in 2012.
China has ignored a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal that rejected its expansive claims in the South China Sea and found that it violated the Philippines' territorial rights.
China has built up other islands and reefs it claims in the South China Sea, adding military outposts and hardware. It has not done that on Scarborough, and doing so would have strategic implications for the US and the Philippines. Manila has said such activity would be a "red line."
The exercise also kicked off after a series of shows of force by US and Chinese forces in the East and South China Seas, including numerous flyovers by US bombers and a close encounter between US and Chinese warships.
Japan's presence was one of several recent firsts for that country's military, which has looked to increase its capabilities and readiness.
Earlier this month, British troops became the first non-US military personnel to be hosted by Japan for military exercises, joining members of the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force for Exercise Vigilant Isles.
This spring, Japan stood up an elite Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade for the first time since World War II. Japan has its own territorial dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea, and that force, which has carried out several exercises already this year, would likely be called on to defend those islands.
Its only a matter of weeks before Meghan Markle and Prince Harry arrive in Australia, before continuing their royal tour in Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.
The Duchess of Sussexs role will be different from previous visits made by royals, as she will be fronting two solo engagements, a contrast to Kate Middletons less hands-on approach in the months after she married Prince William.
Meghans two solo engagements will take place in Fiji, one being a morning tea at the British High Commissioners Residence, which she will attend on her own.
Meghan Markle will take on two solo engagements during her visit to Fiji. Photo: Getty
She will also visit female stallholders at the markets in capital city, Suva, linked to the UN Women program, Markets for Change.
Fiji asked the Duchess to do those events, a palace insider told Hello! magazine.
Theres a movement in Fiji to encourage women to move away from the stereotypical roles of cooking and looking after children.
Shes a very confident speaker. When the Duchess launched (Grenfell cookbook) Together she spoke confidently, and off the cuff. Its only natural at some of the events shes doing by herself that she would want to speak, the source added.
Meghan and Harrys tour is set to take place from Tuesday, October 16th, until Wednesday, October 21st. Photo: Getty
Meghan has previously been involved with UN Women, after delivering an inspiring speech back at its annual conference in 2015.
Meghan and Harrys tour is set to take place from Tuesday, October 16th, until Wednesday, October 21st.
During that time, they will take in all the sights of Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand, meeting with locals and carrying out engagements at the Invictus Games in Sydney.
Kensington Palace has revealed that their trip will focus on youth leadership, and projects being undertaken by young people to address the social, economic, and environmental challenges of the region.
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Former Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern announced Saturday he would retire from politics, thereby also ending his bid to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as EU Commission president next year. Kern, who stepped down as head of the opposition Social Democrat (SPOe) party last month, earlier indicated he had considered putting himself forward as a candidate to take over from Juncker. But on Saturday, the 52-year-old told reporters he was ending his career because "domestic political games" were overshadowing key debates over European parliamentary elections in May 2019. "As a former head of government, it's impossible to leave the domestic political stage," he said in Vienna. Describing next year's parliamentary vote as "the battle of all battles over the future of our continent", Kern said Europeans had to unite to avoid a takeover by far-right and rightwing parties. Kern became chancellor in 2016, but lost in a snap election to conservative Sebastian Kurz just a year later. At an EU summit in Salzburg last month, he had sought to drum up support for his candidacy for the EU's most powerful job ahead of a meeting in Lisbon in December where the Social Democrat (S&D) grouping will choose its contenders. Juncker is scheduled to leave office at the end of October 2019 after a term marked by a series of crises, including a huge influx of refugees, soaring debt and Brexit. His successor will be chosen by a so-called "Spitzenkandidat" procedure, a term meaning "lead candidate" in German, which was used was for the first time to appoint Juncker in 2014. Under the system, the largest party in the European Parliament after elections nominates its contenders for the post. Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic, a 52-year-old Slovakian, has already announced his candidacy for the S&D grouping. It is the second biggest group in the European Parliament after the right and centre-right EPP from whose ranks Juncker came. The German head of the EPP parliamentary group, Max Weber, enjoys the support of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and is seen as a frontrunner. Last week, former Finnish prime minister Alexander Stubb also threw his hat into the ring for the EPP grouping. Former Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern described next year's European parliamentary elections as "the battle of all battles over the future of our continent"
Brazil holds presidential and legislative elections on Sunday. A far-right politician promising a hard line on crime and corruption, Jair Bolsonaro, is the frontrunner for the top job. Here's what you need to know: - How important are the elections? - Brazil is one of the most important emerging economies out there, one of the BRICS and Latin America's biggest democracy. Whoever ends up as president will be at the helm of the world's 8th-biggest economy, an oil producer and major energy consumer whose chief trading partner is China. Yet it's only three decades since Brazil shucked off a military dictatorship. And it has just emerged from its worst-ever recession, which wiped away much of a preceding decade of prosperity. - Who is Bolsonaro? - Out of a field of 13 presidential candidates, Bolsonaro is by far the most controversial and polarizing. Once an army captain, he has been a deputy in Brazil's congress since 1991, during which he became known for offensive remarks against women, gays and Brazil's mostly black poor. But he also has a healthy polling lead over rivals -- attributed to his tough-guy promises to crack down on crime and graft, and his canny use of Facebook to reach out to voters. Massive protests by Brazilian women have been held against Bolsonaro. Although a Catholic, he has the backing of an influential evangelical bloc in congress that would help him govern if he wins the presidency. A stabbing attack by a lone knifeman last month as he campaigned only increased sympathy for him -- and for his pledge to be ruthless with street criminals. - Is he a shoo-in? - Not yet. Sunday is the first round of the presidential elections. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent, then a second, knockout round will be held on October 28 between the two with the highest scores. Bolsonaro boasts he will win outright on Sunday and Brazilians can go to the beach instead on October 28. But analysts say that while a first-round victory can't be excluded, the polling numbers available make it unlikely. In a second round, the outcome would be uncertain. Surveys suggest Bolsonaro would be neck-and-neck with his nearest rival, leftist candidate Fernando Haddad, the Workers' Party's choice to replace popular ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is in jail for bribery. Against the candidate currently trailing in third place, center-left politician Ciro Gomes, Bolsonaro would likely lose, recent polls show. - What changes does he promise? - If he does enter Planalto, Brazil's equivalent of the White House, Bolsonaro has promised big changes. He wants looser gun laws for "good" civilians to help counter rife street assaults and murders, and for the army to go after organized crime. Political corruption will be quashed and the government streamlined, he has said. Brazil would sell off state enterprises to bring down spiraling public debt. In foreign relations, Brasilia would "cease coddling murderous dictatorships," his manifesto says. That looks like a reference particularly to neighboring Venezuela, whose implosion under the rule of Socialist President Nicolas Maduro has sent tens of thousands of people fleeing over the border into Brazil. Instead, it would turn more towards countries such as the United States, Israel and Italy. "We've got to give Socialism, Communism, a kick up the ass," he told a Brazilian TV station, Record, late Thursday. Jair Bolsonaro's tough line on crime and market-friendly policies have gained him as much support as his controversial views on women, homosexuality, race and torture have provoked scorn Popularity of Brazil's main presidential candidates Brazilian women have spearheaded massive protests against right-wing presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, like this one in Sao Paulo Surveys suggest that if Brazil's presidential election goes to a runoff, right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro would be neck-and-neck with his nearest rival, leftist Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad (C) Supporters of Brazilian right-wing presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro have also rallied, especially after he was stabbed on the campaign trail in September
A new documentary sheds light on the little-known story of North Korean war orphans sent to Poland, where they formed an unlikely bond with their teachers before their traumatic return home. "The Children Gone to Poland" -- which premiered Saturday at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea -- traces the journey of the 1,200 orphans sent from the North during the 1950-53 Korean War. The devastating conflict, which sealed the division of the flashpoint peninsula, killed at least half a million civilians and left at least 100,000 children without parents. The North's then-leader Kim Il Sung sent thousands of orphans to countries including the Soviet Union, Hungary and Poland from 1951, pleading with his communist allies to take care of them. The group of 1,200 orphans arrived in 1953 at the small, forested village of Plakowice, where they lived in a former hospital building for six years under the care of Polish teachers. Famed South Korean actress Choo Sang-mee, who directed the film, visits Poland to find traces of the war orphans, alongside a North Korean defector with her own distressing childhood memories of separation from her family. "Trains full of children arrived (over) several days," retired teacher Jozef Borowiec said in the film, adding many were in a "state of shock and trauma" after witnessing the horrors of war. - 'Heartbreaking memories' - The orphans, infested with lice and suffering from disease, insisted on sleeping under the bed in fear of the bombing campaigns they lived through at home, while constantly screaming and crying in their sleep. But they quickly learned Polish and formed bonds with their teachers and caregivers, who knew from personal experience the horrors of war. "Back then, we also went through horrible wars and had many heartbreaking memories ourselves," Borowiec, 91, told Choo. "We told them to call us mum and dad... We wanted to do everything to help these (North Korean) orphans erase the memories of war and have a sense of family in Poland," he said, wiping away tears. Old photos and videos showed the orphans laughing, studying Polish, dancing and singing, or playing with teachers and other Polish children -- a typical childhood denied in their homeland. The teachers soon got to know each of them -- whose names they tearfully remember even decades later. "The children were brought here as part of international propaganda (to cement diplomatic ties)," Jolanta Krysowata, a Polish journalist who wrote a book about the North Korean orphans, says in the film. "But the teachers developed real compassion for these orphans... the human feelings they shared with the children had little to do with politics," said Krysowata, whose book inspired the latest documentary. - Forced return - North Korea eventually ordered the children to return and join the country's post-war reconstruction efforts, prompting some to lie on the snow and even pour cold water over themselves in a desperate bid to fall sick and avoid repatriation. Many sent letters back to the teachers, describing their days in Poland as the best time of their lives and bemoaning the backbreaking labour they faced back home. One child even died during a failed attempt to illegally cross the border to neighbouring China, after sending multiple letters begging Borowiec to take him back. All letters came to a sudden stop in 1961 as the North's regime limited contact with the outside world. The film juxtaposes the fate of the orphans with those of today's North Korean child defectors, traumatised by the harrowing escape from their homeland. The impoverished, isolated state is still under the tight grip of the Kim dynasty that has ruled through three generations with an iron fist and has little tolerance for dissident. The film shows young North Korean refugees in Seoul telling their childhood memories of losing parents to famine, or witnessing the gruesome death of a sibling in a gulag. "There are always children who suffer at times of historic turmoil, but they are forgotten as the history eventually heals itself and moves on," said director Choo. "History erases the story of these children in its path to the future. But some children transform their pain to the strength to live, and they grow." South Korean director Choo Sang-mee (R), pictured here with actress Lee Song (L), chronicled the lives of 1,200 North Korean orphans who took refuge in Poland
China remained silent Saturday over the disappearance of the head of Interpol, deepening the mystery over the international police chief's fate after reports said he was detained for questioning on arrival in his homeland. Meng Hongwei, 64, was last seen leaving for China in late September from the Interpol headquarters in Lyon, southeast France, a source close to the enquiry told AFP. His wife has since reported him missing. It is the latest high-profile disappearance in China, where a number of top government officials, billionaire business magnates and even an A-list celebrity have vanished for weeks or months at a time. Beijing has so far said nothing on Meng's case. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment from AFP. But news of his absence was swiftly followed by speculation that Meng -- who also serves as a vice-minister of China's Ministry of Public Security -- had been swept up in Beijing's secretive anti-corruption campaign. Citing an anonymous source, the South China Morning Post said authorities from the country's disciplinary commission had snatched Meng upon arrival in Beijing. China's recently established National Supervisory Commission holds sweeping powers to investigate the country's public servants with few requirements for transparency. While the law requires authorities to inform family members of a detention, it makes exceptions for cases involving national security, terrorism, or concerns over destruction of evidence or witness tampering. People have been known to disappear into the commission's custody for weeks or even months without a word. Interpol has also kept quiet on Meng's whereabouts. "This is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China," the police agency said on Twitter, adding it would make no further comment. - Anti-corruption? - It is not clear why Meng -- the first Chinese president of Interpol -- would be under investigation. Chinese president Xi Jinping has presided over a popular anti-graft drive since coming to power in 2012 that has punished more than one million officials, with critics comparing it to a political purge. Meng rose up the ranks of the country's domestic security apparatus when it was under the leadership of Zhou Yongkang, a rival to Xi and the highest-ranking official to be brought down on corruption charges. Zhou -- who was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 -- was subsequently accused of conspiring to seize state power and authorities have continued working to root out his influence. He appointed Meng vice security minister in 2004. In the role Meng has been entrusted with a number of sensitive portfolios, including heading up the country's counter-terrorism division, which saw him in charge of the response to several major incidents in China's fractious western region of Xinjiang. Critics of Meng's 2016 election to Interpol's presidency said he would use the position to help China target dissidents abroad under the guise of pursuing corrupt officials. Interpol has downplayed the concerns, saying the president has little influence over the organisation's day-to-day operations, which are handled by secretary-general Juergen Stock, a German. The Chinese effort to track down corrupt officials abroad, known as Operation Fox Hunt, has led to claims in some countries that Chinese law-enforcement agents have been operating covertly on their soil without the approval or consent of local authorities. China currently has 44 outstanding red notices, mostly related to murder, intentional injury and drug smuggling, according to Interpol's web site. During Meng's tenure, Interpol issued a red notice for fugitive Chinese billionaire real estate tycoon Guo Wengui, who threatened to reveal corruption at the country's highest levels. Authorities in China and Hong Kong have accused Guo, who resides in the United States, of laundering billions of dollars among other crimes. Meng Hongwei, 64, was last seen leaving for China in late September from the Interpol headquarters in Lyon, southeast France
A couple on the outskirts of Mexico City have been detained on suspicion they may have killed as many as 10 women and sold a dead womans baby.
Police said the couple had been placed under surveillance with officers spotting them coming out of a house with a baby carriage on Thursday (local time).
Inside the carriage, they found dismembered human body parts the pair intended to dispose of in a nearby vacant lot, Mexico State police said on Friday.
Police said they went to the lot and found more body parts, but they were in such bad condition that forensic tests will be needed to identify the victim.
Police in Mexico have detained a couple. Source: Getty, file.
Police said the couple acknowledged disposing of other bodies in a similar fashion, and authorities were searching two other properties. In all, police said, the couple confessed to killing at least 10 women.
The couple, who were identified only be their first names in a police statement, also reportedly confessed they had sold one of the dead womens two-month-old baby to another couple. The baby was recovered and the other couple was detained.
The couple came under suspicion because they knew three women who had disappeared over the last five months in the sprawling suburb of Ecatepec, just north of Mexico City.
Mexico State, which borders Mexico City to the east, north and west, has suffered from waves of womens killings in recent years.
While it is unclear how widespread trafficking in children is in Mexico, the Network for Childrens Rights in Mexico estimates that an average of four minors disappear every day in Mexico.
Also Thursday, police in the northern Mexico border state of Sonora said five police officers died after unidentified assailants attacked their patrol vehicle in the town of Guaymas.
Four of the Guaymas police officers died at the scene; another died while being taken by helicopter for treatment.
Authorities have launched a search for the assailants.
The seaside fishing town had largely been spared the violence affecting other parts of northern Mexico.
A group of young men have been thrown from the back of a ute in Perths northwest after it rolled, prompting a warning from their families.
The eight men were rushed to hospital after their Toyota Landcruiser rolled in Scarborough on Saturday about 2.20am.
It was a confronting scene for neighbours.
Eight men were rushed to hospital after their Toyota Landcruiser rolled in Scarborough. Source: 7 News
I thought to myself, I dont know whats going on here actually and then there was some bloodied individuals with their heads and so on, resident Niall Turnbull said.
I thought this looks pretty grim actually.
Seven News has been told many of the young men thrown from the ute were part of a local footy team, and earlier in the night had been celebrating an end of season wind-up.
Police are still investigating the crash. Source: 7 News
Three are currently in a stable condition in hospital.
Brent Campbell, a father of one of the men, said it could have easily been a different outcome.
Bad decisions result in bad outcomes and theyre lucky the outcome isnt as bad as it could have been so, he said.
Boys, youve got to think.
Police said the driver has helped them with their investigation, but they still want anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page.
More bodies were unearthed from the earthquake-and-tsunami-ravaged Indonesian city of Palu on Saturday, as authorities move closer to calling off the search for the dead trapped under flattened communities and declaring them mass graves. Officials said Saturday the death toll had climbed to 1,649, with more than a thousand feared still missing in the seaside city on Sulawesi island. More than 82,000 military and civilian personnel, as well as volunteers, have descended on the devastated city, where relief groups say clean water and medical supplies are in short supply. After days of delays, international aid has slowly begun trickling into the disaster zone where the UN says almost 200,000 people need humanitarian assistance. But hopes of finding anyone alive a full eight days later have all but faded, as the search for survivors morphs into a grim gathering of the dead. At the massive Balaroa government housing complex, where the sheer force of the quake turned the earth temporarily to mush, soldiers wearing masks to ward off the stench of death clambered over the giant mounds of mud, brick and cement. Vast numbers of decomposing bodies could still be buried beneath this once-thriving neighbourhood, the search and rescue agency said. Two soldiers who are part of the search emerged from a ditch with a body bag sagging in the middle but looking too light to be a corpse -- they said they had found the heads of two adults and one child. "There are no survivors here. We just find bodies, every day," said army sergeant Syafaruddin, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. - Health fears - At the flattened Hotel Roa-Roa -- where early optimism that survivors might be found faded as the days wore on -- rescuers reviewed CCTV footage to get a sense of where the doomed guests could be buried. In Petobo -- another village all but wiped off the map -- teams struggled to extract bodies from the muck, often dislodging limbs loosened by decomposition after more than a week exposed to the elements. The search for survivors has not officially been called off. But security minister Wiranto said the government had been discussing with local leaders and religious figures as to when the worst-hit areas would be declared mass graves, and left untouched. "We have to make a decision as to when the search for the dead will end. Then, we later must decide when the area will be designated a mass grave," he told reporters late Friday. Concerns are growing that decomposing bodies could turn into a serious health hazard. "Most of the bodies we have found are not intact, and that poses a danger for the rescuers. We have to be very careful to avoid contamination," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told AFP from Palu. "We have vaccinated our teams, but we need to be extra cautious." While the World Health Organization says there is no evidence to suggest bodies in such disaster situations could spark an epidemic, it has warned that those handling corpses are at a risk of contracting diseases like tuberculosis, cholera, and bloodborne viruses. Thousands of survivors continued to stream out of Palu to nearby cities in the aftermath of the disaster. Hospitals remain overstretched and short on staff and supplies. In Karawana village, nurse Iyong Lamatowa can offer little more than antibiotics and painkillers to treat those flocking to a makeshift clinic with badly-infected wounds. Project HOPE, a medical NGO, said only two of its 82 staff in Palu had reported for duty since the quake. "We still don't know the fate of the clinic doctors, nurses and technicians who usually staff the clinic," the organisation said in a statement. - Short supplies - Survivors have ransacked shops and supply trucks in the hunt for basic necessities, prompting security forces to round up dozens of suspected looters and warn that they will open fire on thieves. Hundreds of people Saturday rushed a truck transporting gas cylinders for cooking while a supermarket that opened for business under military guard refused to allow people inside, instead passing goods through the door. A convoy of five hundred trucks laden with donated food, cooking oil and other essentials was on its way to Palu, agriculture minister Amran Sulaiman said in the devastated city on Saturday. "Palu's ordeal is grief for all of us and that's why everyone is lending a hand to help," he said. The United Nations said Friday it was seeking $50.5 million "for immediate relief" to help victims. Getting vital supplies to the affected areas has proved hugely challenging, with the number of flights able to land at Palu's small airport still limited, leaving aid workers facing gruelling overland journeys. Oxfam had sent water treatment units and purification kits to Palu and Swiss aid teams on the ground were providing drinking water and emergency shelter, both said in statements Saturday. Indonesia sits along the world's most tectonically active region, and its 260 million people are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. More than a thousand people are still feared missing in the seaside Indonesian city of Palu Latest toll on Sulawesi's quake-tsunami disaster Hopes of finding survivors a full eight days after the quake-tsunami have all but faded International aid has started to trickle in but access to the disaster-struck areas remains difficult Soldiers in face masks clambered over the giant mounds of mud, brick and cement in the search for quake victims Tens of thousands of military and civilian personnel are involved in the rescue and relief efforts
Criticized by the White House for alleged interference in US politics, China has quietly blazed a path at the United Nations where it is, little by little, becoming one of the most influential members. At the Security Council, where China holds one of five permanent veto-wielding seats, its statements remain bland, often recalling fundamentals of the United Nations Charter such as national sovereignty and principles of non-interference. "In their interpretation, democracy is optional, as are human rights," a European diplomat said. Yet in peacekeeping missions or when jobs are available in the UN's executive arm at the New York headquarters, Beijing is increasingly making its presence felt. More than 2,500 Chinese military personnel wear UN blue helmets on peacekeeping missions in Libya, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. China has also "enormously increased" its voluntary financial contributions to the world body while the US under President Donald Trump has slashed its own financing, one diplomat said. Funding reports and missions allows China to buy some "influence" and push its candidates into top positions, the diplomat added, adding that to have Chinese in multiple roles across the UN provides "a source of information and influence." Another diplomat, also speaking anonymously, said: "China is taking power at the United Nations." - Spheres of influence - In 2017 and 2018, the Asian giant, which is economically expanding in Africa and elsewhere, became a key player on two major international crises: North Korea and Myanmar. Under American pressure, Beijing imposed unprecedented economic sanctions against Pyongyang, but with the hope that an accord on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will lead to the departure of about 30,000 US troops based in South Korea -- China's behind-the-scenes strategy in the region. China meanwhile considers the crisis of Myanmar's Muslim minority Rohingya, 700,000 of whom fled a military crackdown to Bangladesh, as a bilateral issue between those two countries, and succeeded in preventing any firm Security Council action. - Power and erosion - European diplomats have noted that China's rise at the United Nations has come at a time when Beijing and Moscow are no longer automatically offering each other immediate reciprocal support. When Moscow makes use of its veto power, China sometimes simply abstains. Even in lower-profile situations, such as negotiating texts among the 15 Security Council members at the experts level, China is "present on all subjects," one diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Beijing, for example, is now seeking to become chief author on texts about Afghanistan, replacing the Netherlands, which on January 1 will leave its non-permanent Security Council seat, several diplomats said. The vast majority of UN resolutions still are written by the United States, Britain or France -- a reflection of an older world order. China, like Russia, is rarely the author, although it was in charge of the Somalia file in the past. So how far will China go? Some say this is only the tip of the iceberg. "For China, multipolarity is just one stop on the underground metro line," one diplomatic source said. For Beijing, it then sees a Group of Two -- China and the US, and eventually, China will reign supreme, a diplomat said. "They are long-term players. They don't want to create a commotion," another diplomatic source said. The United States has imposed $250 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods and Trump has gone so far as alleging that Beijing is interfering in the November midterm elections in hopes of helping defeat his Republican Party due to his tough trade stance. Speaking to a US think tank last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed fears that his country was seeking to overtake the US as the pre-eminent world power. Concluding that China is about to seek hegemony, he said, is "a serious strategic misjudgment." At the Security Council, where China holds one of five permanent seats, its statements remain bland, often recalling fundamentals of the United Nations Charter such as national sovereignty and principles of non-interference More than 2,500 Chinese military personnel currently wear UN blue helmets on peacekeeping missions China considers the plight of Myanmar's Rohingya refugees -- seen here arriving on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River after fleeing violence at home in September 2017 -- a bilateral problem for the two countries Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing in April 2018 -- but the two nations no longer work in strict tandem at the United Nations
Evangelical churches are flourishing across traditionally Catholic Latin America and as the religious movement grows, its influence -- including in this weekend's elections in Brazil -- transforming the region and swinging its politics to the right, analysts say. Sharply opposed to abortion, same-sex marriage, the legalization of marijuana and leftist ideology in general, the evangelical movement has boosted conservatives and helped unseat a slew of left-leaning governments across the region. Powerful evangelical churches are now helping tip the balance in Brazil, where far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro is riding high in the polls ahead of Sunday's presidential election first round. "The recent elections in Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala and the upcoming one in Brazil reveal both greater electoral polarization and a shift to the political right," says Andrew Chesnut, director of Catholic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. In Mexico, "even though he's left of center, Lopez Obrador felt he had to make an alliance with a small conservative party founded by a Pentecostal pastor, to ensure his victory," he says, referring to President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. - Political fervor - Latin America has 40 percent of the world's Roman Catholics, but evangelical churches that grew out of American Protestantism at the beginning of the 1900s are attracting more and more followers, and they are increasingly influential come election time. According to a 2014 study by the Pew Investigation Center in the US, one in five Latin Americans are Protestant. The figure rises to 41 percent in Honduras and Guatemala, where General Efrain Rios Montt became the world's first Pentecostal head of state when he came to power in a 1982 military coup. Most of the new churches are Pentecostal, a movement energized by expectation of the imminent second coming of Christ. Pentecostal growth has been so strong in Brazil that the South American behemoth "now is home to the largest Pentecostal population on earth with more believers than even in the USA," said Chesnut. William Mauricio Beltran, a professor at Colombia's National University, said evangelical churches had "managed to respond better to the needs of new generations of Latin Americans. "Particularly in the context of accelerated social change, characterized by rapid urbanization and globalization, increasing uncertainty, and increasing social pluralization." Those "processes that have left large sectors of the population excluded, or with very few opportunities." For both Beltran and Chesnut, pedophile scandals in the Catholic Church -- of the kind currently roiling the church in Chile -- have helped push more Christians towards evangelical movements. - At the heart of political debate - Evangelism has played a key role in some of the biggest political upheavals in the region in recent years, said Gaspard Estrada, a specialist in Latin American politics at Paris' Science Po university. They include the impeachment of Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff, the "No" vote in the Colombian referendum on the 2016 FARC peace deal, and Guatemala's recent decision to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "The themes that are dear to the evangelicals are increasingly present in public debate," said Estrada. He points out that the evangelism embraced by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales weighed heavily on his decision to move the embassy. According to evangelists, Jews should rebuild their biblical temple in Jerusalem, which is a key step in a series of events that would lead to a second coming of Jesus Christ on Earth. "Evangelical pastors intervene much more in the daily lives of the faithful, they have no problem to call on people to vote for someone," said Estrada. Ahead of Brazil's election on Sunday, the influential Universal Church of the Kingdom of God has come out strongly for Bolsonaro, the tough-on-crime former army captain who is favored to win. - Swing to the right- Even more than a swing to the right, the Evangelical surge "is a victory for alternativsm," Estrada believes. "Because of the corruption scandals, lack of leadership and stalled growth, there is a radicalization of the electorate in Latin America. Voters are being pushed to extreme and alternative candidates," Estrada said. "This affirmation of the evangelical and conservative vote is a reaction to the progress of feminist voting and civil society." According to Beltran from Colombia's National University, the churches have managed to mobilize into a political machine "whose role and power must be taken into account at each election." Worshipers pray at an evangelical church in Brasilia, for the recovery of Brazilian right-wing presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who was stabbed while campaigning Powerful evangelical churches are helping tip the balance in Brazil, where far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro is riding high in the polls ahead of the upcoming presidential election first round The evangelism embraced by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales weighed heavily on his decision to move the country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem Evangelism has played a key role in some of the biggest political upheavals in the region in recent years, including the impeachment of Brazil's president Dilma Rouseff
A referendum in Romania this weekend to define marriage explicitly as between a man and woman underlines the largely East-West split in Europe over same-sex unions. - Western Europe: pioneers - In 2001 the Netherlands became the first country in the world to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in a civil ceremony. Fifteen European countries have followed: Belgium, Britain (but not Northern Ireland, which only accepts civil partnerships), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, with Austria due to join next year. In several of these countries, gay marriage had been preceded by civil partnerships, which come with fewer rights, Denmark being the pioneer in 1989. Some European countries still only allow such partnerships, rather than marriage, including Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland. Slovenians also allow civil partnerships but in 2015 rejected in a referendum a proposal to legalise gay marriage. - Bans in the east - In June 2018 the Czech government backed draft legislation that would make the country the first post-communist member of the European Union to legalise same-sex marriage. But most Eastern European countries allow neither gay partnerships nor marriages, including Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. In 2014 Estonia became the first former Soviet republic to authorise same-sex civil unions. In Russia homosexuality was considered a crime up to 1993 and a mental illness until 1999. Now legal, a 2013 law however punishes the promotion of homosexuality among minors. - West opens to gay adoption - Western Europe also leads the way on the rights of same-sex couples to adopt children, whether within marriage or civil partnerships. This is allowed in Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Malta and The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Other countries, like Finland and Slovenia, allow gay people to adopt their partner's children. Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP) is allowed for lesbian couples in Austria, Belgium, Britain, The Netherlands, Spain and the Nordic countries. France is examining whether to make such a move. Most European countries however ban surrogacy although the use of surrogate mothers is allowed -- as long as they are not paid -- in Belgium, Britain and The Netherlands. In an exception, Greece in 2014 authorised paid surrogacy. Further afield, homosexual couples can also marry in Canada since 2005 and in the United States since 2015, as well as in four Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay. South Africa in 2006 became the sole African nation to allow gay marriage. Gay rights campaigners march through Belfast July, 2017 to protest a ban on same-sex marriage
Thousands of anti-coal demonstrators descended on Germany's Hambach forest Saturday, celebrating an unexpected court victory that suspended an energy company's planned razing of the woodland to expand a giant open-cast mine. The ancient forest near Cologne has been occupied by activists for the past six years and become a symbol of resistance against coal energy in Germany, a country that despite its green reputation remains heavily reliant on this dirtiest of fossil fuels. Basking in early autumn sunshine, young people, families and pensioners flocked to a field next to Hambach forest, a day after a court in Muenster said it needed more time to consider an environmental complaint against RWE's upcoming clearing operations. Organisers said 50,000 people had turned out for what they called the region's "biggest-ever anti-coal rally". Police however did not confirm the figure. Chanting "Hambi bleibt!" (Hambi stays) and cheering loudly, the crowd listened to live music and speeches in a festival-like atmosphere. Many held up banners and balloons demanding an immediate exit from coal energy. "The mood is great," said Greenpeace spokeswoman Gesche Juergens, welcoming "the strong signal" sent by the court. "But it's only a first step. The battle goes on to start phasing out coal." The forest's days had appeared numbered after its owner RWE announced plans to clear half of the remaining 200 hectares (500 acres) from October 15 to expand its massive nearby open-pit coal mine. Police last month began dismantling activists' treehouses in a forced eviction that took nearly three weeks and fanned public sympathy for the activists' cause. Tragedy struck when a freelance journalist covering the evictions died on September 19 after falling through a walkway suspended between two trees. Demonstrators at the rally held a moment's silence in honour of the victim, Steffen Meyns. - Saved by a bat - RWE on Friday said it believed a final judgement in the court case could take until late 2020, sending its share price plunging -- the mention of which was greeted with loud applause at the demo. The energy firm has long argued that the expansion of Hambach mine in Germany's industrial heartland of North Rhine-Westphalia state is necessary to fuel coal-fired power plants in the region -- which are among the most polluting in the European Union. But judges said RWE had not sufficiently proved that renewed logging was urgently needed to ensure energy supply. The plaintiffs in the case, environmental group BUND, meanwhile are arguing that the forest is home to rare species like Bechstein's bat and therefore qualifies as a protected area under EU legislation. The fight has taken on fresh urgency as it comes just as a government-appointed coal committee is discussing an end-date for coal in a bid to combat climate change. Germany gets around 40 percent of its energy from coal, contributing significantly to the country's carbon dioxide emissions and undermining Chancellor Angela Merkel's role as a leading advocate of the Paris Climate Agreement. - 'They can't keep us down' - Buoyed by the court's temporary reprieve, demonstrators said they were hopeful Hambach forest could be saved. "I have faith. So much can happen in two years' time, they'll have no choice but to keep the forest," said 43-year-old teacher Julia. "I hope so," her son Arne, 10, chimed in. But forest occupiers were more muted in their celebrations, saying it had been a bitter experience to watch police tear down more than 80 treehouses they had built with their bare hands. "It's a double feeling," said Musel, a dreadlocked man in his early 50s who was twice dragged out of the trees by police and even wrapped himself in barbed wire. "The court's decision is a step in the right direction... but the people who have lived here for years are traumatised." But he added that the activists were unbowed, and that the rebuilding had already begun. "The first hammocks are already back up," he smiled. "They can't keep us down." At the edge of the forest, demonstrators paused to take in the sweeping view of RWE's open-pit mine. Two coal plants in the distance were belching clouds of smoke into the sky, while dozens of wind turbines dotted the horizon. "One is the future, the other is the past," mused 40-year-old local resident Benjamin. A banner reads "Hambi for Bambi" as thousands of demonstrators gather to celebrate the suspension of the planned razing of the forest in what they dubbed the region's "biggest-ever anti-coal rally" "Stop coal - RWE hands off Hambi" reads a poster close to the forest, whose days had appeared numbered before a court ruling which prompted a Greenpeace spokeswoman to hail what she termed a first step in the battle to phase out coal Activists have occupied the ancient forest for six years, their protest a symbol of opposition to dirty coal, and they had cause to celebrate -- the graffiti reads Hambi stays -- after a court suspended razing of the woodland
Candidates vying to be Brazil's next president made last-ditch bids Saturday to woo undecided voters on the eve of a first-round election that polarizing far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro is favored to win. Even though campaigning in public ended Thursday, many of the 13 candidates continued to make their case via social networks in Latin America's largest democracy. Bolsonaro has been particularly adept at using the internet. Since being stabbed by a lone knifeman while campaigning a month ag,o he has been convalescing in hospital and at home, but remained very active on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On Saturday, he used Instagram to say "it is necessary to use force to combat crime so that criminals understand that their action will not go unpunished." The 63-year-old ultraconservative, an ex-paratrooper advocating tough law-and-order measures and looser gun laws, surged in the polls in recent days. He has 35 percent of voter support according to the Datafolha firm. That puts him well ahead of his nearest rival, Fernando Haddad, who became the leftist Workers Party replacement candidate after its iconic figure, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was declared ineligible because he is in prison for corruption. Haddad is credited with 22 percent support. If those scores are borne out in Sunday's general election, Bolsonaro and Haddad will go on to a run-off ballot on October 28. That round is seen as too close to reliably call. But analysts say Bolsonaro's rise has been so swift there is an outside possibility he could even carry off the presidency on Sunday without going to a second round. A political analysis consultancy, Eurasia Group, said it viewed a first-round outright victory as "unlikely," estimated its chance at 20 percent. - Strongly for and against - Bolsonaro is seen as a "clean" candidate, unmarred by corruption scandals that have sullied so many other politicians despite him spending the past 27 years in congress. Though a Catholic, he has close ties to evangelical groups that form a powerful political lobby. Yet he is reviled by around 40 percent of voters, according to surveys. Many object to his comments degrading women, making light of rape, expressing hostility to homosexuals and criticizing the poor. His nostalgia for Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship has also chilled voters. But he has solid support from better-educated Brazilians fed up with crime and corruption, and by business leaders and investors swayed by his promises to reduce Brazil spiralling debt through privatizations in the world's eight-biggest economy. "Bolsonaro has better scores from voters with high revenues and good levels of education than from the poor. He also has wooed more men than women," noted political analyst Jairo Nicolau. Around 50 percent of Brazilian women say they would never vote for Bolsonaro, surveys show. - Yearning for prosperity - Much of Brazil did very well economically under the 2003-2010 rule of former president Lula, and yearns for that heyday after suffering through a subsequent 2014-2016 recession that was Brazil's worst ever. But many don't trust the Workers Party to bring back the good times. The sharp decline, which has resulted in 12 percent unemployment, happened under Lula's chosen successor Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached and booted from office in 2016 for fiddling public finances. Haddad, a former mayor of Sao Paulo, climbed into second place thanks to Lula's lingering popularity. He sold himself as "Lula's candidate" and promised to open the public purse strings to recover prosperity. On Saturday, Haddad was in Brazil's poverty-stricken northeast region in an effort to rustle up more votes. "We are arriving at the big day. Don't decide your vote by rumors, lies on WhatsApp. Decide on the basis of the proposals, on who is by the side of Brazilian workers," he tweeted. Lula himself tried Friday to give Haddad a fillip by sending a letter from jail in which he said: "October 6 is my official birthday. I hope my gift on October 7 is a vote by the Brazilian people for Haddad as president." Lula really turns 73 on October 27, but his birth was registered a year after he was born in 1945 with October 6 given as his birthdate. Sunday's election, as well as deciding among the presidential candidates, is to choose new federal and state legislatures. Polling stations were to open at 8:00 am (1100 GMT) and close at 5:00 pm (2000 GMT). Voting is compulsory and entered electronically, with results expected within a couple of hours of the closing time. A worker at an electoral court storage facility in Rio de Janeiro carries electronic ballots for distribution during preparations on the eve of Brazil's general election Supporters of Brazil?s far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro take part in a campaign rally in Brasilia on the eve of the ballot he is favored to win Popularity of Brazil's main presidential candidates A supporter of Bolsonaro takes a snapshot with a campaign sign in Brasilia Brazilian presidential candidate Fernando Haddad (R), who sells himself as "Lula's candidate," rallied with his running mate Manuela d'Avila (2-R), the Governor of Minas Gerais Fernando Pimentel (2-L) and former president Dilma Rousseff (L)
The pro-Kremlin Harmony party won Latvia's general election ahead of populists, final results showed Sunday, but talks on forming a governing coalition looked thorny due to the country's fragmented political scene. Harmony topped Saturday's vote with 19.8 percent of the vote ahead of two populist parties -- KPV LV with 14.25 percent and the New Conservative Party with 13.6 percent. "No coalition combination is possible without Harmony that would appear able and stable," Harmony chairman and Riga mayor Nils Ushakovs told the LETA agency. Harmony is popular with Latvia's ethnic Russian minority which makes up about a quarter of the country's 1.9-million population. It was formerly allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party and has won the largest number of votes in the last three elections. It never entered government as it failed to attract coalition partners, but KPV LV suggested before the vote that they may help propel it to power this time. "KPV LV can work with anybody. We don't have any red lines regarding any other political force," lawyer Aldis Gobzems, KPV LV's candidate for prime minister, said in a recent TV debate. But the New Conservative Party leader, Janis Bordans, ruled out any cooperation with Harmony, saying this was "our red line before and after the election." Political analysts predicted hard and long talks. They said Harmony and KPV LV looked too lonely to form a coalition, mustering a mere 39 seats between them in the 100-member parliament. "On the one hand, voters want changes. On the other, people do not want their country given away to the Kremlin and populists," analyst Marcis Krastins told AFP. "It looks like Harmony and KPV will indeed work together... in opposition!" voter Andris Latvers quipped on Facebook. - 'Fragmented' - The pro-EU, pro-NATO liberal For Development/For! party came fourth in the vote with 12 percent, beating parties from the current centre-right governing coalition including the rightwing National Alliance, which earned 11 percent. The centre-right Greens and Farmers Union of Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis won 9.9 percent and New Unity took 6.7 percent as the last party crossing the five-percent threshold to have seats in parliament. The ruling three-party government coalition fared poorly despite having improved the country's economy, which was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis. Still, its leaders and analysts believed it would have a say in the next government coalition. "I am sure that initiative in the coalition talks must come from the centre-right parties," Augusts Brigmanis, the Greens and Farmers Union chairman, told LETA. Political scientist Filips Rajevskis said the new parliament is "very fragmented" and predicted "ugly" talks. Political science professor Juris Rozenvalds from the University of Latvia said the talks could go on until the end of the year with the old cabinet kept in place for the time being. - Pro-Russian hack - The vote was tarnished by a hacker attack on the Draugiem.lv social network, second in popularity only to Facebook in the Baltic state, which displayed a pro-Russian message. "Comrades, Latvians, this concerns you. The borders of Russia have no end," it said in Russian, followed by images of soldiers annexing Crimea, Russian tanks parading in Moscow and a smiling Vladimir Putin. Turnout for Saturday's vote was 54.6 percent, according to the election website. Formerly part of the Soviet Union, Latvia is now a member of the eurozone and NATO, having joined the military alliance in 2004. Harmony has suggested it may tip Latvia's foreign policy in favour of Russia. Political analyst Marcis Bendiks said Harmony's campaign promise to cut defence spending to one percent of GDP went against NATO agreements. Latvia is one of NATO's most disciplined spenders on defence, meeting the two-percent-of-GDP target demanded by the Alliance. A poster of Nils Ushakovs, the chairman of pro-Kremlin party Harmony which came first in Latvia's general election The turnout for Saturday's vote was 54.59 percent, according to the election website The Pro-Kremlin Harmony party came first in Latvia's general election
About 200 mariachis performed in Mexico City's iconic Garibaldi Plaza on Friday in a bid to bring wary tourists back to the capital after a deadly attack last month in the square by gunmen dressed as musicians. Performing classic Mexican songs such as "Guadalajara," the musicians joined with business owners to try to reassure visitors that the plaza is safe. Hundreds of people came to watch the display, which also included a performance from a traditional dance group who twirled their skirts in time to the music. "The incident was a totally isolated one. (...) Those people who are committed to drug dealing and controlling the plazas are killing themselves," one musician, Tiziano Cervantes, told AFP. On September 14, Garibaldi Plaza was packed with tourists and locals taking part in Mexican Independence Day festivities when gunmen disguised as mariachis fired off at least 60 rounds, investigators say. The assailants fled on motorcycles. Six people were killed and several others were wounded in the attack, which Mayor Jose Ramon Amieva blamed on a turf war between two local drug gangs, La Union and Anti-Union de Tepito. Both gangs operate in a nearby neighborhood and have been fighting for control of Mexico City's drug trade, Amieva said. "We have nothing to do with that," said Cervantes, who added that about 5,000 families depend on the income of the mariachis who play nightly in Garibaldi Plaza. Mariachis perform at Garibaldi Plaza in downtown Mexico City -- the scene of a deadly attack last month by gunmen dressed as musicians Dancers joined the mariachi musicians for the performance in Garibaldi Plaza -- an effort to attract tourists back to Mexico City in the wake of the deadly shooting Six people were killed and several others were wounded in the "mariachi" gun attack, which Mexico City Mayor Jose Ramon Amieva blamed on a turf war between two local drug gangs, La Union and Anti-Union de Tepito
In the buzzwords of George W. Bush's administration, China needed to become a "responsible stakeholder." For Barack Obama, China had an interest in embracing "the rules-based international order." President Donald Trump's message to Beijing is, true to his character, starker. Trump, his Vice President Mike Pence vowed, "will not back down." On Thursday, Pence delivered one of the most hawkish speeches by a senior US official since the two countries restored ties four decades ago. Pence assailed China as a military aggressor, a prolific thief of US technology and, controversially, as interfering in American elections. Yet in a sign that the United States still sees a need for China, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit on Monday after his latest negotiations in North Korea, the nuclear-armed regime which counts on Beijing as its diplomatic and economic lifeline. Pompeo, speaking to the traveling press on his way to Asia, said China was "determined to support our efforts" on North Korea despite the high tensions. Pence in his speech said the United States still hoped for improved relations with China but otherwise drew a bleak picture. He said the United States will keep ramping up its military spending to counter a rising Beijing and he renewed threats to more than double the $250 billion in tariffs placed on Chinese products. "I do think that this marks a significant change in the bipartisan approach to China that has dominated over the last several decades," said Jamie Fly, a former official in the George W. Bush administration who heads the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Pence's speech "doesn't completely preclude cooperation on narrow areas like North Korea, but it's much more clear in the US assessment of Chinese intentions and China's goal of really replacing the US and pushing back US power," he said. - Wide US pessimism on China - While Trump and Pence are polarizing figures, the hard line on China has been increasingly shared across the US political spectrum. Few policymakers with ties to the rival Democratic Party raised broad objections when the Trump White House in December released a National Security Strategy that cast China as a competitor. The bargain set forth by former president Bill Clinton when he welcomed China into the global trading order -- that greater prosperity would bring reforms -- has fallen flat, with President Xi Jinping increasingly clamping down on domestic dissent and religious freedoms tightly controlled. US business leaders, who long advocated warm ties with China as they coveted the world's largest consumer market, have cooled markedly toward Beijing amid complaints of widespread industrial espionage, which Beijing denies. A survey published in August by the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of Americans who viewed China favorably had fallen to 38 percent. Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking China expert who now heads the Asia Society in New York, in a recent speech said that "engagement," for decades the narrative in relations for both Washington and Beijing, "is now officially and effectively dead." "As a result, I fear we may now also find ourselves on the pathway to medium-term strategic confrontation, as each side competes for ascendancy in what is now seen increasingly on both sides as a zero-sum game," he said. - Domestic factors for Pence - China denounced Pence's speech as "ridiculous." But it has largely stayed measured in its public statements, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi promising last week at the United Nations that the Asian power had no ambition to overtake the United States as the pre-eminent global power and wanted to nurture a stable multilateral system. Without naming the work, he voiced anxiety about the popularity in the United States of Harvard scholar Graham Allison's theory of the "Thucydides Trap," which cites the lessons of ancient Athens and Sparta to predict inevitable US rivalry with a rising China. Beijing may also be emboldened by the turmoil in US politics, with chief Asian allies Japan and South Korea both unnerved by simmering trade tensions with Trump. And Pence was clearly speaking at least partly for a domestic audience in his speech, delivered at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, a little over a month before critical congressional elections. Pence charged that China was taking action that is more malicious than Russia's, just as Trump is under a cloud as special counsel Robert Mueller probes whether his presidential campaign colluded with Moscow. And as evidence of China's election meddling, Pence cited a paid advertisement in a US newspaper and countertariffs that targeted politically important states -- both steps that are commonplace. "China poses a major challenge to the US economic, political and strategic posture, but gratuitously demonizing them with half-truths and distortions only complicates efforts to find a new balance of interests and a redefined relationship with Beijing," said Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. US Vice President Mike Pence delivered one of the most hawkish speeches by a senior US official since the two countries restored relations four decades ago
Pope Francis said Saturday that silence on sexual abuse can "no longer be tolerated" as he ordered an investigation into Vatican archives concerning former archbishop of Washington Theodore McCarrick, who resigned in July. "Both abuse and its cover-up can no longer be tolerated," said Francis in a Vatican statement in which he declared the Church had to tackle "the grave scourge of abuse within and beyond" the institution. The case of McCarrick triggered a storm in August after Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to Washington, dropped a bombshell letter accusing the pope of ignoring allegations about the prominent US cardinal, one of the most senior Catholic leaders to face abuse allegations. Following Vigano's letter, US groups representing survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests urged the Vatican to publish a list of clerics accused of sexual assault. Saturday's Vatican statement said Francis was "aware of and concerned by the confusion that these accusations are causing in the conscience of the faithful." The statement added: "Both abuse and its cover-up can no longer be tolerated" and said the Church had a duty "to prevent such crimes from being committed in the future to the harm of the most innocent and most vulnerable in society". The statement also underlined that Francis had in an August letter to Catholics stated that "the only way that we have to respond to this evil that has darkened so many lives is to experience it as a task regarding all of us as the People of God. "This awareness of being part of a people and a shared history will enable us to acknowledge our past sins and mistakes with a penitential openness that can allow us to be renewed from within," said the statement. Regarding McCarrick, the Vatican said Francis "has decided that information gathered during the preliminary investigation be combined with a further thorough study of the entire documentation present in the Archives of the Dicasteries and Offices of the Holy See ... to ascertain all the relevant facts, to place them in their historical context and to evaluate them objectively." The Vatican concluded the Holy See recognised "it may emerge that choices were taken that would not be consonant with a contemporary approach to such issues" but that, as Francis said in 2015, "we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead." 'We will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead', Francis said in 2015
Romanians voted Saturday in a referendum on whether to alter the constitution to define marriage as explicitly between a man and woman, in a move critics say will block same-sex marriage in future. The ruling Social Democrats hope the vote will re-energise flagging grassroots support among the country's overwhelmingly Orthodox population. The current definition -- which speaks simply of "spouses" -- has been in place since 1991. The "yes" vote is widely expected to win, with a poll on Friday showing as many as 90 percent of people in favour. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) has opted to let voters also cast their ballots on Sunday to ensure maximum turnout, as at least 30 percent is required for the result to be valid. Turnout was just over five percent two hours before close of polls on Saturday, according to official figures. There are an estimated 19 million voters. "We expect a stronger showing in rural areas on Sunday after mass, but this trend will have to be replicated all day, including in the cities, to reach the (30 percent) threshold," said sociologist Barbu Mateescu. Among the first to cast their votes was PSD strongman Liviu Dragnea. "The time has come to decide ourselves how we want to live in our country," he said, adding that a "yes" vote was "absolutely not a vote against a minority". From a legal point of view, nothing will change if the "yes" side wins the referendum. Same-sex couples are already not allowed by law to marry or enter into civil partnerships in Romania. Nevertheless, critics say a change in the wording of the constitution will make it difficult or nigh-on impossible for gays and lesbians to marry in future. - Homophobia fears - In Bucharest, voters in favour of the constitution change said they wanted to protect the traditional family. "If we allow gay people to marry, tomorrow they will be asking to adopt children and that would be unacceptable," said one retired man. The country's LGBT community, which already complains that gay people are subject to widespread discrimination on an everyday basis, believes the referendum -- which has the explicit backing of the Orthodox church -- will fuel homophobia still further. Romania, which joined the European Union in 2007 and is the bloc's second-poorest member after Bulgaria, only decriminalised homosexuality in 2001. A defeat would deal a severe blow to the PSD who have been campaigning, albeit unofficially, alongside Orthodox priests for the "yes" side. "My Orthodox education and my traditional upbringing make me say 'yes'," Dragnea said earlier. It was Dragnea, 55, who led the PSD to a sweeping victory in 2016 elections. But he was unable to run for the post of prime minister due to legal troubles, including a two-year suspended prison sentence for vote-rigging in a referendum in 2016. And he is scheduled to appear in court on Monday -- the same day the result of the referendum is expected to be announced -- to appeal another sentence, of three-and-a-half years, over a fake jobs scandal. - Concern in Brussels - The government's decision to press ahead with the referendum has alarmed Brussels, with the EU Commission's deputy chief, Frans Timmermans, reminding Bucharest of its human rights commitments. "I don't want family values to be transformed into arguments that encourage the darkest demons and hatred against sexual minorities," he said earlier. Bela Marko, a poet and former president of the Ethnic Hungarians' Union in Romania, warned that "everything will change the day after the vote, as other initiatives will follow, first against abortion, then on the state's religion, the death penalty, the Roma" and other issues. "In a democracy, the rights of minorities are not put to a vote. That's the difference between the Middle Ages and the 21st century," added the Centre for Legal Resources, a non-profit NGO. A poster calls for a 'Yes' vote in Romania's referendum on whether to alter the constitution to define marriage as explicitly between a man and woman, rather than simply "spouses" Romanian Orthodox Catholic nuns cast their votes. Romania, which joined the European Union in 2007 and is the bloc's second-poorest member after Bulgaria, only decriminalised homosexuality in 2001 Social Democratic Party strongman Liviu Dragnea says his 'Orthodox education and my traditional upbringing' means he will vote yes The message was clear at the Bucharest Pride parade in June
During the Soviet era, the country's top computer scientists and programmers largely worked for the secret services. That practice appears to have resumed under President Vladimir Putin, as Russia faces accusations of waging a global campaign of cyber attacks. Dutch officials on Thursday accused four Russians from the GRU military intelligence agency of attempting to hack into the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague. The agency has investigated both the fatal poisoning of Russian former double-agent Sergei Skripal; and an alleged chemical attack by Moscow-allied Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Baltic states were the first to accuse Moscow of mounting attacks to knock out their sites back in 2007. Estonia said one such attack had put the country's main emergency service phone number out of action for over an hour. Since then, accusations of cyber attacks have continued against Moscow. The Russian hacker group variously known as Fancy Bear, APT 28 and Sofacy has been linked to GRU and accused of attacks on the US Democrats' 2016 presidential campaign, together with Russia's FSB security service, the successor to the KGB. The skills of Russian hackers today developed from a tradition of excellent computing and programming skills dating back to the Soviet era. "The whole structure of the economy was skewed towards the military sector," said Oleg Demidov, a consultant at the Moscow-based independent think-tank PIR Center. "All the achievements of Soviet science including the first computers went to serve the military sector." The most brilliant students were pushed to work in the military and space sector, he added. - Banking crime - After the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, its armed forces were broken up and most of the top specialists turned to the nascent banking sector in Russia, either to work there or to attack it. In this era saw the first cyber attacks on banking operations and the first mentions of Russian hackers. "Now Russian hackers are excellently trained and equipped and they still occupy one of the top positions in banking crime," said Demidov -- even if the Russian justice system has begun to crack down on them. In 2016, Russian cybersecurity giant Kaspersky estimated that between 2012 and 2015, Russian hackers had stolen at least $790 million worldwide. Russian computer scientists study at "very strong universities in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Kazan or Krasnoyarsk", said Denis Kuskov of TelecomDaily specialised research agency. They "can work anywhere in the world, in any international company," he added. In recent years, however, more have opted to stay in Russia, he said. "The secret services have grown more interested in good programmers and it's easier for them to find work in Russia now." In 2012, the Russian defence ministry announced it was creating its own "cyber troops". It launched a wide recruitment drive that included promotional videos on social media. For Demidov, the growing wave of attacks attributed to Russian hackers has come about as Russia becomes better able to defend its own cyber security more strongly, the military sphere included. "These efforts... have began to bring results," he said. Today however, even the most established players in Russian IT are in the sights of the West. The US in 2017 imposed a ban on the use of Kaspersky's anti-virus software by federal agencies amid concerns about the company's links to the Russian intelligence services. While many young Russians may choose to work for the military and secret services for reasons of patriotism, some may still be more interested by the money. This week a military tribunal in Moscow held a closed-doors trial for the head of operational control at the FSB's centre for information security, Colonel Sergei Mikhalkov and three alleged accomplices. Kommersant daily reported that they were accused of passing secrets on the Russian secret services' cyber technology to the FBI in return for $10 million. The latest alleged Russian cyber-attack involved what Dutch officials said was an attempt to hack the global chemical weapons watchdog, the OPCW, in The Hague
Seven puppies have died and a man in his 50s hospitalised after a fire broke out at a home in Sydneys west.
Emergency services were called to the blaze on Michigan Road, Seven Hills at around 11.50pm on Friday.
The male sole occupant managed to escape and was taken to Blacktown Hospital for minor smoke inhalation.
Firefighters descended on the property late on Friday night. Source: Sunrise
Seven red setter puppies died in the fire, with three adult dogs surviving.
There were some animals located in the property. Unfortunately some puppies were found deceased but the parents of the dogs were removed safely from the property, Fire and Rescue NSWs Inspector Russell Johnson said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
It is not believed to be suspicious.
Seven Red Setter puppies died in the fire. Source: Getty, file.
Syrian rebels said Saturday they have begun withdrawing heavy arms from a planned buffer zone in northwestern Idlib province, ahead of a deadline to set up the demilitarised area. The Turkey-backed National Liberation Front (NLF) "has started pulling out its heavy weapons from the zone", the rebel coalition's spokesman Naji Mustafa told AFP. The buffer zone, agreed last month between rebel backer Ankara and government ally Moscow, aims to separate regime fighters from the myriad rebel and jihadist forces of the Idlib region. The accord, reached on September 17, aims to stave off a massive regime assault on the last major rebel bastion by creating a 15 to 20-kilometre (nine to 12-mile) buffer zone ringing the area. All rebels in the demilitarised zone must withdraw heavy arms by October 10, and radical groups must leave by October 15. NLF spokesman Mustafa said the rebel coalition was "maintaining its positions and headquarters with medium and light weapons" inside the buffer zone. The NLF is the main Turkey-backed rebel alliance in the Idlib region, but jihadist heavyweight Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) holds most of the province. The HTS has yet to announce its stance on the buffer zone deal. Fighting erupted on Friday between Ankara-backed rebels and HTS jihadist hardliners near the planned demilitarisation zone, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting first began between HTS, led by former Al-Qaeda fighters, and Nour al-Din al-Zinki rebels in the town of Kafr Halab. HTS had reportedly been trying to arrest a local commander in the town on the western edge of Aleppo province, near the administrative border with Idlib. "Zinki sent reinforcements to the area, and the clashes expanded to several areas and the National Liberation Front joined in," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. The Britain-based Observatory said HTS had taken two towns, including Kafr Halab. At least three civilians, two NLF fighters and an HTS member were killed, the monitor said. Syrian rebels in the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front (similar to the ones pictured Septebmer 2018) have started removing heavy weapons from the buffer zone in northwestern Idlib province
Thousands of people attended rallies Saturday across Europe to show support for migrant rescue ship Aquarius, stuck in port in the French city of Marseille after Panama revoked its flag. Dozens of demonstrations were held in France including in Paris, as well as in Brussels, Berlin, Madrid and Palermo. Many dressed in the boat's orange colours and chanted for "a flag for Aquarius" while slamming the "criminal inaction" of EU governments to resolve the impasse. Marseille, home to the SOS Mediterranee NGO which operates the vessel with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), saw the largest show of support. Organisers said 10,000 people took part in the demonstration though police put the figure at nearer 3,500. A similar rally in Paris also drew a crowd of around 10,000, according to the organisers, while police put the figure at a tenth as many. "The goal is to make an appeal to citizens and show that SOS Mediterranee draws its legitimacy from civil society," said the NGO's spokeswoman Sophie Rahal in Paris. Panama last month pulled the ship's flag following a request from Italy's far-right, anti-establishment government, meaning the Aquarius cannot legally set sail. The boat's operators say it has rescued some 29,500 migrants to date and SOS Mediterranee president Francis Vallat said "the situation is more critical than ever". Vallat said although migrant volumes had dropped "we are passing from one death per 42 migrants (at sea) last year to one in 18 migrants" this summer. Attending the Marseille rally, French leftist champion, local lawmaker and leader of La France Insoumise Jean-Luc Melenchon insisted "Aquarius must have a flag -- and a French flag". Meanwhile, around 100 flouted an official protest ban and gathered in the northern port of Calais -- where authorities in late 2016 dismantled the notorious Jungle refugee camp, which at its height at been home to some 10,000 migrants. Immigration remains a hot-button issue in the European Union following the 2015 migration crisis. There are deep divisions among member states over how to handle the continent's biggest influx since World War II. Frontline state Italy has clamped down on asylum-seekers under far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Saturday saw protesters gather in Riace -- a small hamlet in Italy's deep south which has earned praise for its integration of migrants -- demanding the release of their leftist mayor. Domenico Lucano was placed under house arrest on Tuesday under suspicion of arranging "marriages of convenience" for immigrants and for allegedly skipping a tender process while awarding a garbage management contract to co-operatives with ties to migrants. In office since 2004, Lucano has made headlines around the world for welcoming migrants to the sparsely-populated village in Calabria in a bid to boost jobs and development. "Keep strong, continue fighting," his supporters chanted Saturday as they gathered outside his window from where he raised a fist in support. Many protesters attending rallies across European cities, like here in Marseille, dressed in the rescue boat's orange colours and chanted for "a flag for Aquarius" Protest organisers in Paris said 10,000 people turned up while police put the figure at a tenth as many The largest show of support was in Marseille, where the vessel is currently stuck in port and which is home to its operator the SOS Mediterranee NGO Panama last month pulled the ship's flag following a request from Italy's far-right, anti-establishment government, meaning the Aquarius cannot legally set sail Demonstrators in Marseille held up a banner reading "Aquarius saves lives"
A white Chicago police officer was found guilty of murder Friday for fatally shooting a black teenager and triggering months of protests in America's third largest city. Jason Van Dyke fired 16 bullets into 17-year-old Laquan McDonald during the 2014 confrontation. The slaying was captured on police video that showed the knife-wielding teen appearing to walk away from officers when he was shot. The 12-person jury reached a verdict just one day after beginning deliberations. They chose to dispense of first-degree murder charges, and instead convicted Van Dyke of lesser second-degree murder. The officer was also found guilty of 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm -- for each bullet he fired -- and acquitted of one count of official misconduct. "This is a victory for America," said McDonald's great-uncle and family spokesman Marvin Hunter. "Laquan McDonald represents all of the victims that suffered what he suffered." The city of Chicago had already reached a $5 million civil settlement with McDonald's family. A jubilant crowd -- some of whom told local media that they were in shock over the outcome -- grew steadily in the city's downtown business district, demanding additional resignations of city officials and more police reform. - 'Historic for Chicago' - "This is historic for Chicago," community organizer Janette Wilson told reporters. "I would hope that the people of Chicago will really look at this case as a model for the nation." The city had been on edge in advance of the verdict, since the case had already caused political upheaval and months of earlier protests. City officials and business owners beefed up security as the trial neared an end, while thousands of police officers were deployed to the streets. Lead prosecutor Joe McMahon said he hoped the verdict "begins a new chapter in the relationship between law enforcement and the community." "It provides validation and a sense of justice for many residents," he said. The jury reached its verdict after 10 days of testimony in which the officer claimed self-defense, while the prosecution accused him of making a rash and unjustified decision to shoot. The trial had hinged on the video footage showing Van Dyke continuing to fire bullet after bullet -- even after the teen falls to the ground and lies motionless. Crucially, Van Dyke is also seen taking steps toward McDonald before firing, even though he testified that he shot because the teen had gotten too close with his knife. Several jurors told reporters under condition of anonymity that convicting had been straightforward -- although they went for the lesser second-degree murder verdict because they believed Van Dyke's claim that he felt threatened. "Instead of escalating the situation, he should have de-escalated," one said, however. - 'Sacrificial lamb' - Van Dyke was taken straight into custody. Under Illinois state law, he faces four to 20 years for the murder finding while aggravated battery with a firearm carries six to 30 years. The head of Chicago's police union, which funded Van Dyke's defense, promised an appeal and criticized the jury for punishing an officer for simply doing his job. Van Dyke's attorney Dan Herbert said the officer had been made into a "sacrificial lamb" by politicians who wanted to appease an angry public. Van Dyke wasn't criminally charged until the day the video was made public -- which itself did not happen until a year after the shooting and only after a judge forced city officials to do so. The shooting became emblematic of decades of police abuse in the Midwestern city -- often targeted at Chicago's African-American population. There were months of protests and calls for resignations. Activists accused city officials of an attempted cover up. Similar cases of deadly police encounters between police and African Americans have rarely been prosecuted. And when officers have been charged, they have rarely been convicted. In Chicago, the aftermath of the McDonald shooting convulsed the city's politics and led to significant changes in its police department. The city's police chief and lead prosecutor both lost their jobs. The new police chief, Eddie Johnson, recommended that seven officers be fired for filing false reports about McDonald's shooting. Three of the officers have been charged with conspiring to mislead about the threat McDonald had posed. They are awaiting trial. Crowds outside the court house celebrate the guilty verdict in the murder trial of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke
The National Labor Relations Board issued a decision Friday following a hearing last month regarding which categories of employees at Auburn Memorial Medical Services would be allowed to vote in an effort to unionize.
The hearing was held in late September after the petitioning employees, who are seeking to form a union under 1199 SEIU Healthcare Workers East, and AMMS administration disagreed over which employees should be included in the bargaining unit.
According to the board hearing officer's decision, the petitioners sought to include approximately 20 types of employees including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and more, while the administration said the unit should also include 14 nurse practitioners, seven physician assistants, four nurse midwives and one clinical coordinator.
The officer ruled in the petitioner's favor, finding that the registered nurses, the only professional-level employees sought by the petitioners, shared "a community of interest sufficiently distinct from the nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and nurse midwives to constitute an appropriate voting unit."
"I conclude that the positions of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and midwives have important and significant distinguishing features that weigh against requiring that they be included in a voting unit with RNs," the decision reads.
The officer also ruled that the multi-facility bargaining unit, constituting the 16 different offices divided among seven addresses operated by AMMS, was appropriate.
Matthew Chadderdon, vice president of marketing communications and public affairs at Auburn Community Hospital, which is affiliated with AMMS but does not directly employ those workers, said the decision did not change the administration's view of the situation.
"We've always said that these employees should be allowed to vote to unionize if that's what they're interested in doing," Chadderdon said in a phone interview Friday.
Chadderdon, who had not yet seen the decision, said the administration had argued against the multi-facility approach and for the inclusion of the disputed categories because the "one-size-fits-all approach" was contrary to how AMMS operates and would inhibit flexibility.
"With that said, we encourage our employees to get the facts to vote and to see what happens," Chadderdon said.
In reaching the conclusion, the officer cited a number important factors including that the nurse practitioners and physician assistants frequently operate as supervisors when doctors are absent, are salaried rather than paid on an hourly rate, and have additional capabilities like the discretion to prescribe drugs or order lab tests.
Similarly, the officer ruled that midwives are sufficiently distinct because of differing certification requirements and independent employment agreements with the employer.
Another type of position, a clinical coordinator, of which there is only one, must vote under challenge, according to the decision.
Anne Bishop, an AMMS nurse who started the process with 1199 SEIU, said the decision, which, like Chadderdon, she had not yet seen, was "amazing" when reached by phone Friday evening.
"I am very excited about it. That is great news, I'm ecstatic."
Bishop said she would quickly reach out to the union's representatives to determine their next steps, which she said would likely mean creating a listing of eligible employees and determining the date of the election and the number of polling sites for the secret ballot vote.
According to Bishop, the employees and the hospital administration had agreed upon an Oct. 18 election date. Documentation from the NLRB was unclear, as it cites a Sept. 26 election date, presumably unchanged from the date set prior to the hearing.
The effort to unionize began, according to Bishop, in response to concerns regarding wages and raises, benefits particularly health insurance costs, and time off.
AMMS is a multi-specialty group practice that, according to its mission statement, seeks to "engage in the practice of medicine and serve the medical needs of the community served by Auburn Community Hospital, by providing office based primary care and specialty services."
The group includes practices for diabetes and endocrinology, ENT, gastroenterology, general surgery, nephrology, neurology, OBGYN services, orthopedic surgery, podiatry, primary care, pulmonary care and urology, according to Chadderdon.
All members of the medical staff at AMMS have full hospital privileges at Auburn Community Hospital, but AMMS employees are not employed by the hospital, Chadderdon said.
Staff writer Ryan Franklin can be reached at (315) 282-2252 or ryan.franklin@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @RyanNYFranklin
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Archeologists have uncovered 'slaves' room' near Pompeii, Paul McCartney is looking back on his life and career with a new book, and more of t
HIT: To taking advantage of educational opportunities.
Cayuga Community College radio station programming director Jeff Szczesniak said that students Chianna Boatman and Autumn Brewer have always gone above and beyond the minimum requirements of working in college radio, so it was no surprise that the two jumped at the chance to explore their passion further.
The three recently participated in College Radio Day in Washington, D.C., where they met with Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai and toured the Sirius XM radio station there. Both students plan to continue their education after CCC, and we believe that their ambitiousness will serve them well.
MISS: To a bizarre criminal case in Auburn.
A man was sentenced this week to five years in prison for attacking multiple people with a knife last fall near the Mill Street dam. The problem began with a verbal argument, police had said, but only the attacker knows for sure why it ended in violence.
The prison sentence is small consolation to one of the victims, who was injured so badly that one of his fingers had to be amputated.
HIT: To having a cup of coffee with a cop.
The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office sent officials to Dunkin' Donuts shops in Moravia and Fair Haven on Wednesday as part of a national program to help break down misunderstandings between community members and police officers. We think a cup of coffee with a cop is a great way to help people feel more comfortable about interacting with officers, so we applaud the effort.
The Citizen editorial board includes publisher Rob Forcey, executive editor Jeremy Boyer and managing editor Mike Dowd.
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WASHINGTON, D.C.Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who has faced three separate allegations of sexual assault or misconduct, appears headed to a narrow confirmation victory in the United States Senate on Saturday, after one of the last supposedly undecided Senators, Republican Susan Collins of Maine, announced that she would vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
Collins in a lengthy 3 p.m. speech on the Senate floor Friday, directly addressed the allegations by Palo Alto University research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford, that Kavanaugh sexually attacked her at a teenage house party when he was 17 and she was 15.
But in her speech, Collins appeared reluctant to accuse Blasey Ford of fabricating the allegations, instead endorsing the view that Blasey Ford had somehow mistaken Kavanaugh for someone elsedespite the fact that Blasey Ford testified to her "100 percent" certainty in her recollections.
I believe she's a survivor of sexual assault and this trauma has upended her life, Collins said. But she went on to claim that Blasey Fords allegations did not meet a standard she decsribed as more likely than not.
I do not believe that the claims such as these need to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, fairness would dictate that the claims at least should meet a threshold of more likely than not as our standard, she said. The facts presented do not mean that Professor Ford was not sexually assaulted that night or at some other time, but they do lead more to conclude that the allegations fail to meet the more likely than not standard. Therefore, I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court.
Moments after Collins concluded her speech, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin became the only Senate Democrat to announce his support for Kavanaugh, saying on his Twitter account that though he had reservations about this vote given the serious accusations against Judge Kavanaugh, he had concluded that Kavanaugh was a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution.
Earlier on Friday, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska signaled that she may become the only one of the 51 Republicans in the Senate to oppose Kavanaugh, when she voted no on a procedural vote that allowed the Senate to proceed with the confirmation process. No other Republican voted no on the procedural vote, but all Democrats except Manchin opposed it.
Another potentially undecided Republican, Arizonas Jeff Flake, also announced that he would support Kavanaugh, meaning that if Murkowski sticks with her no vote, Kavanaughs confirmation will be approved in Saturdays vote, 51-49.
Reaction to Collins' decision, apparently sealing Kavanaughs confirmation, was swift and sharp.
Senator Collins just committed to casting a vote to confirm an accused sexual predator, a vote to confirm a nominee that has been promised to criminalize abortion, a vote to disregard the trauma of women and survivors. SHAME, wrote NARAL Pro-Choice America on the groups Twitter account.
You can tell the bad-faith is strong with this speech because shes complaining about the dark money spent opposing Kavanaugh without mentioning the considerably larger amount spent on his behalf, noted Vox.com editor Matthew Yglesias.
Collins in her speech also dismissed allegations by Julie Swetnick, a client of Stormy Daniels lawyer Michale Avenatti, who says she recalls Kavanaugh participating in parties at which girls were drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple high school boys.
Collins called Swetnicks allegations outlandish and "stark reminder of why the presumption of innocence is so ingrained in our American consciousness."
That prompted a quick response from Avenatti, posted to his Twitter account.
Senator Collins should be ashamed of herself for attacking my client and Dr. Ford, Avenatti wrote. How did she make a credibility determination as to my client? How is she qualified to do that without ANY investigation? She did ZERO to determine whether my client and her witnesses were credible.
The final vote to confirm Kavanaugh, which now appears to be at best a formality, is scheduled for Saturday.
Photo By U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
SAN FRANCISCOLeading sex ed platform O.school has launched a new, educator-focused initiative in honor of World Teachers Day (Friday, October 5), to help teachers across the world better answer student's sex-and-gender related questions.
The O.school Sex Educators Pack raises awareness of the dangers of abstinence-only-sex ed, and provides free instructional tools and videos related to sex and sexuality to any teacher that wants to use them.
Most educators want to speak accurately about issues facing youth, but lack the resources or institutional support, said Andrea Barrica, the founder of O.school. As a leader in online sex ed, we want to help educators across the globe talk confidently about sexuality, gender and consent by providing media-rich resources free from shame, censorship or stigma.
Beginning today, O.school will provide free videos for educators on topics including the genital anatomy, sexuality, gender identity, pornography, masturbation, and consent. In addition to the videos, O.school will also send any educator who asks a free, 3D model of the clitoris, Tea and Empathy Cards to help students talk about feelings, and recent data and studies about teen sexuality.
On October 17, O.school will host an interactive livestream specifically for teachers to engage on issues specific to youth sex education and development.
If we want to educate children properly, we need to support our educators properly, said Barrica. For this World Teachers Day, we wanted to provide resources for educators and help them talk with students in ways that minimize shame and stigma.
Some sample videos include:
Educators who wish to sign-up for the free pack may contact [email protected]
LOS ANGELESHey, adult fans: Ever tried one of those dating applications like Tinder? And how was it? Did you successfully get to date one of those girls and, what is even more important, have your rendez-vous finish with some hardcore fucking? Even though this world is full of willing women, usually it is not that easy to get to bed one of themor at least, VR Bangers claims, it was not before the introduction of the VR Bangers dating app.
With Splindr, a new mobile dating application from Virtual Reality Bangers, the producers claim a 100% success rate of getting into the panties of some wet babesor at least, that's what happens in the company's latest VR porn scene Its A Match!, a VR porn fantasy about the Splindr app starring hottie Lena Paul. In this VR scene, the girl becomes a horny beta tester of the app, hoping to get herself a hard dick to jump on to finally achieve the sexual satisfaction.
Lena Paul is one of beta testers of our Splindr app inside of this VR porn movie, said Alex Nash, the producer of VR Bangers. She is a professional VR porn starone of those girls who are always hornyand she was more than happy to browse for some hot dudes from her neighborhood to make one of them get lucky today. Thanks to our virtual reality technology, every fan of ours can now impersonate the guy chosen by Lena, even though she was really picky and kept swiping left all the time; in the end she chose our gifted male VR porn performer and a hardcore banging could finally begin.
Though presented in 6K ultra high definition, this is still just a VR porn fantasy and Lena gets to the meeting place really fast to begin the whole fuck date as soon as possible. In only a matter of minutes, she will be kneeling naked in front of the viewer's own eyes, getting his schlong ready for some hard pounding, letting all the VR Bangers fans enjoy her juicy pussy inside of their virtual reality.
We are sorry to say that but we are not going to release the application for any users in real life, Nash explained. Even though, as it can be seen in this latest VR porn movie of ours, it works flawlessly and provides a 100% guarantee of getting laid, making it available to a broader audience would literally ruin our virtual reality porn business. Who in his right mind would watch porn if getting into the panties of a girl was so effortless? Yeah, my point exactly!
Those interested can watch this VR porn scene in 3D 180 by going over here, and those who would like to view some other VR Bangers productions in HD, 4K or 6K UHD can visit the company's main page, here, as well.
North Carolina has won a federal grant totaling $23.6 million over five years to expand charter school opportunities.Dave Machado, state Office of Charter Schools director, announced the awards Wednesday, Oct. 3 during the monthly meeting of the State Board of Education. Machado told board members the state has tried to win the grants over the past three years.North Carolina is one of eight states to receive the Expanding Opportunities through Quality Charter School Program grants from the U.S. Department of Education. The other states are Michigan, Arkansas, Idaho, New York, Arizona, Delaware, and Colorado.Machado said.The federal grant will be divided into four sub-grants. One will assist new charter schools, which will serve a large economically disadvantaged student population during their planning year. Another will assist charter schools in their first three years of operation serving a large economically disadvantaged student population. The third grant will assist high-quality charter schools that want to expand to serve more low-income students.State Superintendent Mark Johnson said in a news release.The application deadline for charter schools to apply for the grants is early next spring. Awards will be announced by the end of the school year. North Carolina has 185 operating charter schools, and eight more plan to open next year.
Hurricane Florence damages U.S. 421. Photo from the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Hurricane Florence severely damaged schools across North Carolina and left hundreds of thousands of children without homes or classrooms. State education officials are working to return the communities back to normal with help from charitable giving and the legislature.Education officials outlined the devastation wrought by Hurricane Florence at the Oct. 3 State Board of Education meeting.The storm battered eastern North Carolina in September and led to extensive flooding. At least 39 people have died as a result of the storm. Thousands have lost their homes and are living in hotels or temporary shelters. The cost of damages to housing, infrastructure, and crops could be in the billions.The storm caused at least 1.2 million students - or 80 percent of all PreK-12 students in public schools - to miss some school time. Several school districts including Craven County schools and Robeson County schools remain closed from the severity of damages.Eileen Townsend, section chief for school insurance at DPI, said more than 100 claims have been filed in the wake of Hurricane Florence. More are coming. Townsend said the fund has reserved $40 million to address the claims. Damages have surpassed Hurricane Matthew, which saw $14 million in losses for DPI-insured property.Townsend said.Those with the most immediate need will be the top priorities, Townsend told board members.Lynn Harvey, section chief of DPI's child nutrition services, told the board the school food program will lose about $14 million in federal money and has losses of about $2 million in food and equipment. Kevin Harrison, the DPI transportation services chief, said while bus garages did flood, destroying files and computers, only a few school buses were damaged or lost. Harrison said buses are ready to start transporting kids to and from school once the schools reopen.Meanwhile, steps at the state and local level will help communities recover from the devastating storm.The General Assembly met briefly Oct. 2 to pass legislation that appropriates $6.5 million to DPI. The money will supplement lost compensation for school lunch employees who are paid through the national school lunch program. When school isn't in session, they don't get paid.Gov. Roy Cooper on Oct. 3 signed bills passed during the one-day special session. FAST NC - Florence Aid for Students and Teachers - was created to address the needs of public school students and teachers who were hurt by the storm. The initiative was formed by current and former state superintendents in an effort to help those affected.said Mike Ward, a former state superintendent.Along with Ward, a coalition of education leaders, including the current state Superintendent Mark Johnson; former state Superintendent June Atkinson; State Board of Education Chairman Eric Davis; former SBE Chairman Phil Kirk; and Henry Johnson, former U.S. assistant secretary of education, make up the steering committee for FAST NC.While in-kind donations are appreciated, Ward said FAST NC prefers monetary donations to help with the recovery effort. Donations can be made on FAST NC's website or sent via check to NC Education Fund, State Board of Education, 6336 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699. A bipartisan committee will decide where the money will go after assessing requests and determining which agencies or groups should handle the donations.Atkinson said.
Participants pose after a debate on a proposed photo ID amendment to the N.C. Constitution, hosted in Washington, N.C. by the N.C. Institute of Politics. From left to right: Sen. Erica Smith, D-Northampton; Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett; Spectrum News host and moderator Loretta Bonita; Civitas Institute president Donald Bryson; and Southern Coalition for Social Justice director Kareem Crayton. (Photo by Will Rierson).
Board of Elections, Oct. 9, at the Clayton Center in Clayton
Income tax cap, Oct. 16, at the Gastonia Conference Center
WASHINGTON. N.C. A proposed constitutional amendment requiring a photo ID to vote has sparked controversy in state politics.The amendment , which will appear on the November ballot, represents a second attempt at enacting photo ID rules for state voters. An earlier law that required photo ID was struck down in 2017 by the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as a violation of the Voting Rights Act.Four political veterans debated the amendment here Wednesday, Oct. 3, in the second of the four-part Hometown Debate Series hosted by the N.C. Institute of Political Leadership.The panels consisted of two legislators and two policy experts.State Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, and Civitas Institute president Donald Bryson spoke in support of the amendment. N.C. Sen. Erica Smith, D-Northampton, and Kareem Crayton, director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, spoke in opposition.Lewis said requiring photo ID would help prevent voter fraud.Lewis said.Smith said North Carolina already has voter identification, though the state's current voter registration card doesn't include a photo of the registered voter.Smith said.Bryson said Civitas Institute polling finds North Carolina voters appear to broadly support requiring a photo ID to vote.Crayton echoed Smith's statement that North Carolina already has a voter registration and identification process. He said passing the amendment would mean trusting lawmakers to implement it and was different from supporting the general concept of voter ID.Crayton said.Smith and Crayton said requiring photo ID would disproportionately affect African-American voters, some of whom don't have driver's licenses, which are the most common form of identification. They asked why a bureaucratic process was needed to mandate IDs and how it would work.Smith said.She and Crayton said there were far fewer instances of voter fraud than disenfranchisement in the state. Smith cited a Democracy North Carolina study that says African-Americans were disproportionately affected by the original photo ID requirement, which only affected the 2016 primaries.Bryson said it was impossible to determine the level of voter fraud in the state because no description is taken of those who try to vote.Smith suggested Russian meddling posed a bigger threat to the integrity of North Carolina elections than domestic voter fraud due to lack of identification.Lewis dismissed the idea that the Russians could hack the vote-counting system and said photo ID is a simple concept.Lewis said.Lewis said if the amendment is passed the legislature would construct a law to implement photo ID that withstands legal scrutiny. He's not sure it would happen during the lame duck 2018 session or next year.In 2013, the Republican-led General Assembly passed a law in 2013 dealing with the regulation of elections. The law included a photo ID requirement to vote, and the state specified several forms of acceptable identification. Photo ID was required during the 2016 primary elections, before the law was overturned later that year. Federal judges ruled the legislature acted with discriminatory intent.Wednesday's debate was held at the Turnage Theatre and recorded by Spectrum News. Spectrum senior political reporter and host Loretta Boniti moderated. The debate will appear online in its entirety and in an edited form to be broadcast 11:30 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 7, and again at 8:30 p.m. on "In Focus With Loretta Boniti."The N.C. Institute of Political Leadership is a nonpartisan organization that since 1988 has worked to train leaders for public service in North Carolina.Series sponsors for the 2018 Hometown Debates include North Carolina's Electric cooperatives, the N.C. Sheriffs Association, and the John William Pope Foundation.Two debates on proposed constitutional amendments remain for the fall 2018 series. Both will start at 7 p.m. and are open to the public:
Assyrians Commemorate Martyrs Day Amid Strife and Exodus From Middle East
The Arabic letter "n" (inside red circle), signifying "Nasrani" (Christian), on an Assyrian home in Mosul. (AINA) -- August 7 is Assyrian Martyrs Day. It is commemorated worldwide by Assyrians to remember their fallen, including the 3,000 who were killed by the Iraqi army in Iraq between August 7 and 11, 1933 in the town of Simmele (), North Iraq, and its surroundings. It was carried out by the Iraqi Army, led by General Bakir Sidqi, a Kurd, and Kurdish and Arab irregulars.
On August 7 Assyrians will commemorate Assyrians Martyrs Day world wide, but the situation for Assyrians in the Middle East is bleak, with an unstoppable exodus to the West.
Assyrian Organizations Ask Iraq to Recognize 1933 Massacre of Assyrians
A coalition of four Assyrian organizations from the Unites States, Canada and Europe has sent a letter to the Iraqi government asking for official recognition of the massacre of Assyrians by the Iraqi army in August, 1933. Called the Simmele massacre, it was conducted in the Assyrian town of Simmele and its surroundings by the Iraqi army and Kurdish and Arab irregulars, between August 7 and August 11 of 1933 (Read the full story here).
Your browser does not support the video tag. Interview with Simmele Survivor
The Turkish Genocide of Assyrians
Between 1915 and 1918 750,000 Assyrians (75%), 500,000 Greeks and 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks and Kurds in a genocide that aimed at and nearly succeeded in destroying the Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire.
The ISIS Genocide
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) captured the city of Mosul, Iraq on June 10. Almost immediately thereafter it began to drive Assyrians out of Mosul and destroy Christian and non-Sunni institutions.
200,000 fled from Baghdede (Qaraqosh), Bartella, Karamles and dozens of Assyrian villages and towns in the Nineveh Plain north of Mosul, most have not returned.
In Syria, ISIS attacked Assyrian villages, abducted and killed Assyrians, destroyed churches and Assyrian archaeological sites.
I am offering the solution to a problem most Republicans don't know they have -- that they can be outmaneuvered and thrown on the defensive endlessly, on nearly any issue, because they accept as true Democrat lies about the Republican Party. To correct that misperception and to help the Republican Party get 'back to basics' is why I'm a man on a mission.
A few years ago, after one of my speeches, a man told me "Do you know what your problem is? You're too far ahead of your time!" My efforts to show Republicans how they would benefit from celebrating the heritage of our Grand Old Party have been arduous, but if this were easy someone else would have already done it.
Among my speech topics are Reconciling the Tea Party and the GOP; Barack Obama, the Worst President Ever; Socialism, the new Slavery; Appreciating the Heritage of our Grand Old Party; Returning to the Founding Principles of the United States; The Womens Rights Achievements of our Grand Old Party; Abraham Lincoln, Republican; Frederick Douglass, Republican; Martin Luther King and the Republican Civil Rights Legacy.
Opinion
It suits Steve Bannon to be martyr in prison
If I was planning a coup detat and the overthrow of the government of the United States of America, Id not really go out of my way to blab about what I knew, before or after the event. If what they say is true about Steve Bannon,
Top official of the Catholic Church in Czechia rails against a convention guaranteeing women's human rights
6. 10. 2018 / Jan Culik
cas cteni 3 minuty
Former Czech Education Minister and currently "Chaplain of His Holiness", Monsignor Petr Pitha has voiced the resistance of the Czech Catholic Church against the Istanbul Convention, which is trying to guarantee women's rights. Pitha sharply criticised The Istanbul Convention in his sermon in the Prague cathedral, accusing it of "destroying the institution of the family".
Pitha is one of the most senior officials of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic. In his sermon in the Prague cathedral, he warned that "your families will be torn apart, your children will be imprisoned, your children themselves will be deciding about what is their sex. For your disagreement you will be deported to concentration camps. Homosexuals will rule supreme over you. All animals will be above you, because they will not be suffering under such subjugation as you will be."
"Freedom either exists, or it does not and then it is non-freedom," he said. "We are now supposed to succumb to the pressures of a powerful pressure group of gender activists and homosexualists and to make non-freedom law. Your families will be torn apart and destroyed. This will happen whenever you will say to your children that a man and a woman are not identical. They will take away your children and will hide from you where they have put them, where they are imprisoning them. A false accusation will be enough for this. It will no longer be allowed to determine the sex of your new-born children by looking at their crotch. The child himself or herself will be deciding what its sex is. This is why you will be forced to bring up your children as sexless beings and you will not even be allowed to give them names. Whenever you express disagreement, you will be deported into corrective and educational labour camps of a genocidal nature. Homosexuals will be proclaimed to be a superior ruling class. You will become a part of an inferior auxiliary class and you will be forced to work according to the orders of powerful elites which will be determining what can and what cannot be said in public. You will be made subordinate to all animals who multiply by means of sexual intercourse because no laws will be imposed on cats, frogs or insects."
Monsignor Petr Pitha's speech in Czech:
What is the Istanbul Convention?
This is a 2011 European Convention whose aim it is to create an environment of zero tolerance of violence against women. The text of the Convention is HERE. The Istanbul Convention demands preventative action and accessible help for victims of violence. It defines gender-based violence as an infringement of human rights and as discrimination of women. Only Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia have refused to sign the Istanbul Convention.
Seven Czech churches have demanded that the Czech Republic does not sign the Istanbul Convention:
V souvislosti se svatovaclavskym kazanim Petra Pithy (dostupne https://t.co/bz3TddOY11 ) doplnujeme, ze cirkve v CR formulovaly spolecne stanovisko ke schvalovani dokumentu, dostupne https://t.co/x0DpToS6la Arcibiskupstvi (@apha_cz) October 5, 2018
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Czech extreme right wing activists, nativists and nationalists are also protesting strongly against the Istanbul Convention which is trying to protect women's human rights.Sources in Czech HERE
Republican senator Susan Collins of Maine gave a lengthy speech in the Senate today, announcing she'll vote in support of Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The judge is an accused serial sexual assaulter who repeatedly lied to lawmakers under oath during his confirmation hearings. It looks like Collins will cast the deciding "yes" vote to place Trump's dirty candidate on the nation's highest court.
"As she delivered her lengthy speech on the Senate floor, a crowd-funding site created to fund a Democratic challenge to Collins in 2020 crashed," Rolling Stone reports.
"This entire process was up to Collins," says Amy Halsted, co-director of Maine People's Alliance, which launched the campaign. "And today she did the wrong thing."
The Crowdpac campaign, which the progressive grassroots organization started with the express purpose of swaying Collins' vote on the Kavanaugh nomination, had raised more than $2 million before Collins' speech.
Halsted was listening to Collins on the radio while picking her children up from school. She hadn't heard, when contacted by Rolling Stone, that the site had crashed under the weight of requests, but she says, "it doesn't surprise me that the website is crashing because people are mad."
"This vote is a complete betrayal of Maine voters, of the women who have called her offices, and written letters and organized phone banks and attended rallies and told their very deeply painful stories to her and her staff. I think it's the end of whatever legacy she has worked so hard to achieve as a moderate," Halsted ssays. "I don't think Mainers will forget this vote."
Collins won reelection in Maine with 67 percent of the vote in 2014, but her home state support has dropped in recent months. A Suffolk University poll in early August found that less than 50 percent of respondents had a favorable opinion of the Republican senator, and a Public Policy Polling survey conducted just this week found that more than half of Maine voters thought Kavanaugh's nomination should be rejected, and 49 percent said they would be less likely to support Collins if she voted to confirm.
Voters, Halsted said, "are ready to support a senator from Maine who is going to stand up for Mainers and do what's right for the country, regardless of political party and I think people realize Susan Collins is not that senator."
- The Job Summit introduced SA to President Ramaphosa's job pact
- In this pact, the president makes a lot of big promises
- The aim of the pact is to secure jobs for more South Africans
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President Ramaphosa shared his jobs pact with South Africans at the Jobs Summit on Thursday.
In this pact, Ramaphosa outlined a number of things that he proposes to change and implement to give unemployment in SA a slow death.
The president's ideas include focusing on funding black businesses and moderating executive payments.
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Briefly gathered all the information available on the president's job pact and put into a brief list, for your convenience.
1. Focus on agriculture
President Ramaphosa did not mention land expropriation but he did talk about land. He says fresh food exports will become much more lucrative in the future.
By the President's prediction, exports could rise to R90 billion by 2030. He wants to support black and woman-owned farms so they can cultivate land better and help ease unemployment by expanding. A R600 million facility has been developed for new owners of distributed land.
2. Big numbers
The president did not aim low with his job pact. He wants drastic changes and for that to happen he has big ideas.
The aim is to have 275 000 new jobs every year over the next 5 years. Once again, the focus fell on black-owned businesses. Targeted investments and loans will be given by banks - up to the value of R100 billion over 5 years.
3. The 6% unemployment target is unlikely
The president wants to cut down unemployment to 6% by 2030. This is an unrealistic expectation, according to a report by News24. Even at 275 000 new jobs a year, this ideal could not be reached.
Unless some really extraordinary measures are taken, even more than those proposed by the President, will this be feasible.
READ ALSO: Nhlanhla Nene responds to his testimony: 'I beg your forgiveness'
4. Unemployment erodes dignity
When President Ramaphosa spoke about the effects of unemployment, he spoke not as a politician, but as a fellow South African.
It diminishes the human ability to eradicate poverty, tackle inequality and working poor. It has a devastating effect on families and communities. It erodes dignity. As you look at unemployed people, they go around like zombies aimless. They have their dignity destroyed and eroded.
Financial disclosure and lifestyle audits for civil servants
5. Civil servants scrutinised
The president is aware that government officials stand between South Africa and its employment hopes. By acting corrupt and not awarding business to South Africans that need it, unemployment is aided. President Ramaphosa wants lifestyle audits undertaken and full financial disclosure from government employees.
6. The reason for SA's crisis
President Ramaphosa dived a bit into the history of the country to explain why it is in the current situation.
Extreme unemployment is the product of an economy starved for decades of meaningful investment in its people through education. The structure of our economy which was built on the extraction of minerals and (to some extent it) remains untransformed.
7. Cut salaries, not jobs
An idea that the president calls revolutionary, is to make cuts on salaries rather than fire employees. While this is a noble idea welcomed by the public, it is sure to ruffle the feathers of those whose salaries could be in danger now.
8. A small start, but a start none the less
A new clothing factory that will employ 200 people will be opened in the Eastern Cape by the trade unions. This may be a small idea when compared to the president's other aims, but at least something will get done.
9. A timelined plan
Previously, ideas proposed at Job Summits withered away and died. This time, President Ramaphosa hopes to keep his plans alive by having a structured timeline for implementation.
The social partners have agreed that there will be a framework agreement that is both ambitious and realisable.
In conclusion
President Ramaphosa wants to make South Africa great again. He wants South Africa to come first. By supporting local goods and businesses, the president is convinced that South Africa can grow greatly.
The president said that if we do not buy goods made by South African hands, there will be no factories and no workers, as reported on by Briefly.co.za.
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Source: Briefly.co.za
- Amid South Africa's economic crisis, some MEC's continue to live a financially care-free life
- North West MEC Hoffman Galeng enjoys security detail worth R50 000 a month at a home he doesn't permanently reside in
- The MEC is also accused of using a state vehicle for private matters, but this allegation is denied
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According to reports, the social development department of the North West is spending R50 000 a month on 24-hour security detail for Hoffman Galeng.
Galeng has 4 security guards that work 2 per shift at his home in Vryburg every day. Why Galeng need these guards is unclear because he normally stays at his home in Mahikeng.
Galeng's security detail comes from a company that has contracts to protect governmental buildings.
If this protection continues, the department would have spent roughly R650 000 on protecting Galeng's house by the end of October.
When asked about this protection, the department didn't say if the right procedures were followed to procure the security guards, according to a report by TimesLIVE.
A reason for the guards was not supplied either.
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Galeng became MEC when he was appointed by former North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo in August 2017. The security detail has been at his house since then.
According to an ex-MEC and chairperson of Scopa (standing committee on public accounts ), this is irregular.
Since Galeng does not live at his Vryburg home regularly, the protection shouldn't be assigned there.
READ ALSO: Steve Hofmeyr explains why he refuses to call Grahamstown Makhanda
The security is not the only perk Galeng seems to be enjoying. The MEC is apparently also in possession of a state vehicle that was assigned to his office in Mahikeng that he uses for personal reasons.
Departmental spokesperson Petrus Siko denies this allegation.
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Source: Briefly.co.za
Bradley Steyn's brother-in-law was murdered on his farm in Nelspruit last week and it shook his family. He recorded a video pleading with the rest of the world to help South Africa do something about the murders in the country.
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Farmers are being murdered in South Africa. It's happening, and it's real.
That's the message that Bradley was trying to send to the world when he recorded himself shortly after the murder of his sister's husband.
The murders across South Africa are affecting all of our citizens. We ask that you share this around the world and we urge you to please contact your local government representatives, and forward this information and make the World aware that farm attacks in South Africa are very real.
John Bosman was shot and stabbed as he tried to fight off the intruders while telling his wife to barricade herself in their bedroom and call their security company.
The armed response arrived and shot at the murderers, but they were too late. John did not survive the attack.
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It's not only white farmers that are murdered. Last week a black farmer was also murdered on his farm in the Free State.
Bradley called on the world to help lift what he called gag orders on the press. He feels the media is being forced to keep quiet about the extent of farm murders.
READ ALSO: SA prophet claims he holds demons prisoner in his bible
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News / National
by Staff reporter
AN 18-YEAR-OLD man from Cowdray Park suburb in Bulawayo has been arrested after he allegedly raped a nine-year-old girl who was left under his uncle's care.The man - who cannot be named to protect the identity of the minor - allegedly raped the minor several times and threatened to stab her with a knife that he kept in his room.The victim, a court heard, was scared of telling her mother but she wrote a letter and left it on her bed. The man appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Sibonginkosi Mnkandla and pleaded guilty to rape charges.He was sentenced to a wholly suspended three years in jail on condition that he does not commit a similar offence in the next five years. He was also ordered to go for counselling.The prosecutor, Ms Concilia Ncube said sometime in January this year, the minor's mother left her and her younger brother at their pastor's house as she returned to South Africa.In February, the minor and her younger brother were sleeping on the floor while the accused was sleeping on the bed.The minor woke up screaming and her brother noticed the accused was sleeping next to her undressed and he immediately went back to his bed. "On the following day, the boy ordered the minor's younger brother to take a bath while he took the minor into his bedroom," said Ms Ncube."He ordered the minor to sleep on the bed and raped her once before threatening to stab her if she told anyone about the matter".The court heard that she once told her friend who told the accused about the matter and he assaulted her with a knobkerrie before threatening to kill her if she told anyone. The accused continued to rape the minor until August when the juvenile and her younger brother returned to their mother in South Africa. A few days after she had arrived in South Africa, she wrote a letter and left it on top of the bed for her mother to see."When her mother saw the letter she asked her neighbour to talk to the minor before taking her to hospital," said Ms Ncube.She was taken to a hospital in South Africa and they were advised to report the matter to the Zimbabwean police. The matter was reported at the Cowdray Park Police Station leading to the man's arrest.
News / National
by STep[hen Jakes
Zimbabwe Communist Party secretary genral Ngqabutho Mabhena has said Zimbabwe's Minister of Finance Prof Mthuli Ncube, is no different from the late Minister of Finance Dr Bernard ChidzeroHe said the nation went through pain in 1991 when Dr Chidzero introduced Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) and it is are once again going through economic pain thanks to Prof Mthuli Ncube and the reactionary former liberation movement ZANU (PF)."Unfortunately, the MDC Alliance offers no alternative, it is competing with ZANU (PF) on a neo liberal agenda. The only alternative lies in the unity of the working class and peasants under the leadership of its vanguard," he said.he made reference to Ncube's presentation that,*Civil servants to be retrenched Finance Minister*Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has presented his eagerly anticipated policy statement and has announced a raft of cost-cutting measures including retrenchment of civil servants.Measures will include:- Cutting down on travel expenses- Cutting down vehicle purchases- Reduction of MP allowances- Closing some foreign missions- State-owned enterprises to be sold- AIPPA and POSA to be repealedCivil servant wages currently account for 90% of all government expenditure while government is the largest buyer of new vehicles (about $200 million).Ncube described his 2% money transfer as "necessary pain" but said it might be "fine-tuned" in the next budget. The fine-tuned caveat suggests he may be trying to create political room to backpedal to the rumoured 0.5% position.
News / National
by Simbarashe Sithole
Guruve prison officers were left with an egg on the face after a Mushumbi prisoner took to his heels in a nearby bush at the prison yesterday.A reliable source alleges George Chahukura (20) fled at a tremendous speed there by forcing prison officers to chase shadows for the better part of the day."The prisoner fled unexpectedly from a brick moulding site in the camp to an unknown destination up to now prison officers are clueless on where to find him ,"said the source.Chahukura was serving three months of assault and was set to be released on 5 November 2018.Apparently, there is another prisoner Tafadzwa Gwata (24) who escaped in August 2018 after being convicted of attempted stock theft and he is still at large.People who spoke to Bulawayo24.com have expressed dismay over the continuous escape of inmates at Guruve."This habit of inmates escaping from prison is not good for both the organasation and the community mind you inmates are dangerous people but l strongly feel corruption is the root cause here," said David Gwinje.Another source blamed the prison officers of not valuing their work as most of them are slaves of beer."You see why we have inmates running away, it's because these officers are slaves of beer hence they do not value their work it is very disgusting," fumed Phelimon Dambaza.
News / National
by Staff reporter
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube has warned Zimbabweans to brace for more pain as he tries to pull the country's tottering economy out of its current state.The well-regarded former banker has also said there is no going back on the controversial two cents per dollar transactional tax which has left a wide cross- section of Zimbabweans apoplectic with rage following its effect on the economy.Addressing a media briefing where he unveiled his Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), Ncube said things were going to be painful before they got better."We need to stop the bleeding and this is one way to do it; we can't do this without pain. At the end we will be glad, we need to fix our problem together; I need all hands on the deck."I will be honest; there will be a little pain as we try to redress the economy. People don't realise that already they have been paying indirectly for the sickly economy."The previous tax has been regressive, people were paying very little. We do, however, have leeway in future to fine-tune the taxes," Ncube told journalists.The founder of the now defunct Barbican Bank said the two cents per dollar tax was "nothing" compared to what other countries were paying, adding that the collected proceeds would benefit the social services sector."There is a country in Africa; I won't name it, which is charging 15 percent for electronic transactions. It is a norm across Africa. Government will do its part in controlling expenditure; we will be accountable for the taxes you are paying."Soon we shall come back and tell you how many hospital beds we have bought, how many roads we have fixed," Ncube said."The new tax will be mainly set aside for the social services sector, and focus will be on the marginalised areas; to ensure that they have access to health and education."We have made a commitment, you will not see this money going into travel expenses or purchasing of motor vehicles. If it means we will scale down on the vehicles that we buy as government then we will do that. We will even buy locally," he added.Ncube said contrary to the criticism that he didn't consult when he announced his measures this week, he had consulted widely before unveiling them."Oh, I did make consultations people should not focus on whether I made consultations or not, but rather what we want to do," he said.On Monday, Ncube announced a slew of measures in the Fiscal statement as President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government put in motion plan to reverse the current economic slide."I hereby review the Intermediated Money Transfer Tax from 5 cents per transaction to 2 cents per dollar transacted, effective October 1, 2018."I am therefore directing financial institutions, banks and Zimra, working together with telecommunication companies to extend the collection to all electronic transactions," Ncube announced on Monday.But the government's new measures to stabilise the country's sickly economy have been rejected by a wide cross section of the Zimbabwean populace - who feel that the steps taken by authorities will worsen their suffering.Already militant labour unions have warned they are preparing to go on strike - to protest the two cents per dollar tax - and which they say must be reviewed by the government as a matter of urgency.
News / National
by Simbarashe Sithole
A Gweru man was last week sentenced to 15 years in jail by Bulawayo High Court judge sitting on circuit in Gweru Martin Makonese for killing a patron during a beer binge.Emmanuel Bhumure (38) of stand number 43 Hertfordshire Gweru fatally stabbed Brigadiah Mahachi with a knife after a misunderstanding .Justice Makonese convicted Bhumure of murder with constructive intent before sentencing him to 15 years.On 5 September 2017 around 2200 hours Bhurmure was drinking beer with the deceased at Red Tuckshop along the Harare'Gweru highway when the two had a misunderstanding after the deceased allegedly restrained the accused from fighting with another patron.Bhumure pulled a knife and stabbed the deceased once on the left side of the chest, just above the left breast, the deceased screamed as a result of the stab and shouted that he had been stabbed by the convict.The convict ran away and the deceased was ferried to Gweru General Hospital where he died the following day.On 7 September 2017, the accused was arrested in Harare and made indications at the scene which resulted in the discovery of the knife which he used.In mitigation counsel for the accused Mr Lenon Mapfumo acting Prodeo argued that he had been incarcerated since 13 September last year, sentence must not be retributive but must give offenders a second chance and the possibility of rehabilitation and reintegration into the society, that accused was a father of four and his health was also in poor condition.However, the judge in passing sentence noted that drinking places were becoming synonymous with violent behaviour instead of places where people relax and enjoy themselves."The sentence to be imposed must be just hence 15 years would retain the confidence of the public in the justice system," said Makonese.
Opinion / Columnist
"In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes," observed presciently Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), one of the founding fathers of the United States, who was both a philomath - a seeker of knowledge and facts; and a polymath - a person of wide knowledge and learning, whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.Indeed, taxation is as certain as death, thus, while unwelcome as death, cannot be avoided as death. That is largely one of the reasons why the recent measure to tax 2% of all electronic money transfers announced by Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya has, like death, not been celebrated. It has been criticised in some circles, but that is only natural because people - including economists themselves - don't all see things the same way.However, what is important is to establish the validity or not of that condemnation; and the genuineness of outright condemnation so as to establish whether those doing that are merely taking sides against the government for political expediency - like those claiming to be against the removals of vendors from the streets of Harare. Or whether they are expressing their views like Franklin as both philomaths and polymaths, people of wide knowledge and learning who have mastery of the subject of taxation, not just commenting with reckless abandon over a matter they know next to nothing about. A caveat: I am neither a tax expert nor an economist, but am very much into pragmatic economics, thus, unlike playing politics that has everything to do with the political agenda of some political parties and their interest groups and very little to do with getting the economy moving. Necessary and painful measures have to be taken. It's about short-term pain for long-term gain, because there is no other way. So, all this talk about taking the government to court and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions threatening demonstrations should be seen for the brouhaha that it is - a noisy, alarmist and over-excited response from the usual suspects in the business of being "anti" everything from the top. Of course, lawyers will make money in the mix.And, in the same vein, to get the economy moving, vendors must be removed from the streets. An uncontrolled and harmful increase in the numbers of a particular animal, insect or plant species, like the invasive water hyacinth which is choking Lake Chivero, Harare's main source of water, cannot do anyone any good. These vendors might try to re-invent themselves as having always been opposition supporters and the opposition itself might try to "steal them" as their own loyal and unwavering supporters, but the truth of the matter is that the vendors were released onto the streets by Grace Mugabe like a swarm of bees, like a plague of rats. Only last year, these vendors clashed with MDC demonstrators calling for a shutdown of Harare, didn't they?Before Grace's unlawful directive, vending in the city was manageable. After her "directive" ordering the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and Zimbabwe Republic Police not to touch the vendors, tax revenue diminished as floodgates of smuggling were opened. Vending became the problem, not the solution. One vendor said last week: "When we were still operating in the city centre, in Park Street, I could make $200 a day on a good day."You can bet that she was not selling local goods, but smuggled goods without any duty paid, which became a sink hole swallowing the economy, completely destroying jobs. They were selling brand new imported goods supplied by sophisticated smuggling networks. They had become a parallel economy, and this had to be put to a stop. So, sending vendors mixed signals, on the one hand, by giving them false hopes and empty assurances that they will not be evicted, and, on the other hand, condemning the new tax measures necessisated by, among other factors, loss of revenue due smuggling by the very same vendors, is highly irresponsible hypocrisy. As any police officer knows, killers don't always look the part. Similarly, liars don't always look the part, so it's up to the vendors themselves to listen closely and carefully to determine if they are not being lied to.Back to the tax, Oxford University-educated former Zanu-PF MP Charles Majange's observation was quite helpful as he factored in the sensitivities of those people against the move at face value: "The Ministry of Finance must find a way of distinguishing between business and non-business transfer. I don't think a tax on wedding gifts, lobola and school fees was being envisaged. The principle of tax exemption has to be maintained."Majange can separate issues without using offensive language unlike a section of vile intellectuals who spit venom at anyone who does not hate who and what they hate. This is a helpful, educated and informed problem-solving approach refocusing the tax authorities, on the one hand, and disarming the usual suspects who criticise anything and everything through selectively using their learnedness because in the real world, solutions always lie somewhere in the middle. By extension, the solution to Zimbabwe's economic problems does not lie with any one political party.Ethan Malibongwe Moyo has unpacked the tax measure thus: "I feel it's more about raising money. It's projected to raise an incremental $2,5 billion per year - that's over 60% of the current budget at no incremental cost or infrastructure as banks and mobile platforms remit."This will plug the fiscal budget, it will reduce the crowding-out effect, lower rates, lower domestic borrowing and the surplus can be used as an infrastructure stimuli."The surplus can also be used to fund exporters so as to reduce the trade deficit."It also has to be coupled with austerity measures to cut expenditure. In any case balances in the mobile platforms sit with banks somewhere, which is why there is incest between Econet and Steward Bank."Moyo - as both a philomath and a polymath - has laid it out lucidly, and this can be a starting point for refinement of the tax measure, as it should be. As one can see, Zimbabwe is not short of calm and composed intellectuals who can dissect issues without using offensive language, of which Moyo's namesake, the toxic Jonathan Moyo, is notorious for, making all his comments tainted by political partisanship right from the beginning.And tax should always be viewed through a cost-benefit analysis lens because viewing it in isolation through only the percentage stipulated or increase is meaningless. In Israel and Sweden, taxation is quite high, but so are the benefits from it. So, in those two countries, it is a necessary evil.Observed Malibongwe Moyo: "We may debate about the rate of the tax, but the principle is right on the mark as it is an effective tool to raise and broaden fiscus in an informal economy with low banking penetration rates, another advantage of financial inclusion, Uganda is on 3% and Kenya is on 10%."Indeed, in principle there is everything right and proper with taxing 2% of all electronic money transfers and the tax will stay in one form or another as happened in the past when the government announced its intention to set up the National Aids Levy and National Social Security Authority and went on to do so - despite the noisy, alarmist, and over-excited reaction from the usual suspects.Conway Nkumbuzo Tutani is a Harare-based columnist. Email: nkumbuzo@gmail.com
More than 100 people filled a room in Edmonton's Boyle Street Plaza Thursday night for a vigil honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
The 13th annual event was one of many Sisters in Spirit vigils that took place across the country.
"The vigil is important because it creates awareness and provides support for families whose relatives have gone missing or are murdered and are no longer with us," said co-organizer Freda Ballantyne.
Families shared stories and ate bannock and stew together. Chanting and holding candles, they walked up and down 96th Street, from 103A Avenue to Okisikow (Angel) Way/101A Avenue.
Madeleine Cummings/CBC
The issue is a deeply personal one for Ballantyne. Shortly after she began searching for her birth mother, the Sixties Scoop survivor discovered her mother had been murdered.
Ballantyne said learning what happened lit a fire in her to start providing support and comfort to other people who have lost family members to violence.
It was a night of sadness, grief and anger, but not without laughter and hope.
Eight-year-old drummer Noah Green provided a playful performance and teenage activist Alexa Blyan drew a lot of applause for her inspirational essay about the power of Indigenous women working to reduce violence in their communities.
Madeleine Cummings/CBC
"I think it's sad that it's happening, but I also think it's enlightened that we're all here coming together, healing," said Chevi Rabbit, who served as MC for the ceremony.
Rabbit said she recently learned about the unsolved case of an aunt who was murdered in the 1980s.
Nearly everyone in the room had a story like hers.
"It's sad but it's also very empowering that's we're coming here as a group and none of these names are forgotten," Rabbit said.
"I'm hoping that by us coming together, the future generations will have that sense of community, that sense of resiliency built within them."
Madeleine Cummings/CBC
According to Statistics Canada's 2016 Homicide Survey, Indigenous women were five times more likely to be victims of homicide than non-Indigenous women.
The federal government launched a $54-million inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) two years ago.
The inquiry continues in Winnipeg this week before travelling to St. John's later this month.
MACAU (Reuters) - Nearly 20 years have passed since Portugal handed Macau over to China, and although colonial culture still infuses parts of daily life, the influence of the territory's Portuguese elite is declining rapidly as the special administrative region becomes increasingly closer to mainland China. Authorities say they want the world's largest gambling hub to diversify into a trade and business center for Portuguese-speaking countries including Brazil, Portugal and Angola, but there is a gaping disconnect, Portuguese residents say. Two Portuguese top legal advisers, renowned for their expertise and training of local judges and prosecutors, were abruptly dismissed in August, far ahead of retirement age. And legislation this year proposed Portuguese judges should be removed from sensitive cases altogether. "They say everywhere that Portuguese are part of Macau and are always welcome, part of the history. In fact, what they are doing is not what they are saying," said Alvaro Rodrigues, a lawyer in Macau. The removal of Paulo Taipa and Paulo Cardinal, both of whom served for more than 20 years in the government, is a bad signal, said Rodrigues, who came to Macau 28 years ago from Cape Verde, a former Portuguese colony in Africa. The head of Macau's legislature, Ho Iat Seng, who orchestrated their dismissal, said in September it was because of "restructuring." Ho has been touted as a candidate for Macau's chief executive in 2019. Ho and Macau's Legislative Assembly office did not respond to requests for comment. "Both of the jurists have for the past few years internally criticized some of the government's bills by stating, in their confidential legal opinions, that they breached the Basic Law, several of which the assembly ended up passing, said assembly member Jose Coutinho. For example, he said, a law on government salaries runs afoul of the Basic Law by discriminating against low-level civil servants. Like neighboring Hong Kong, Macau operates under China's "one country, two systems" policy. Its Basic Law is supposed to allow a high degree of autonomy and greater liberties like a free press and an independent judiciary. The legal system is broadly based on Portugal's. But influence from the Chinese mainland is squeezing it, experts said, in an accelerated version of the scenes unfolding in Hong Kong. "We can feel it. If you look to the legislation that has been passed in recent years, we understand that there is a big influence from the first system (China) on the second system (Macau)," said Pedro Cortes, a lawyer in Macau. Jorge Neto Valente, head of the Macau's Lawyers Association, said freezing out Portuguese judges violated the Basic Law and created a sort of patriotism test based on their feelings toward China. And in the business community, many worry about increasing interference - an issue that could hurt the casino industry. Casino executives say they are closely watching what official policy will be as their licenses begin to expire in 2020. CHINESE REALISM These days, the only real remaining elements of Portuguese influence are colonial architecture and its distinctive cuisine. Portuguese and Chinese are both official languages in Macau, but there are signs that Chinese is being prioritized in government. There are no longer any Portuguese judges in Macau's criminal court, and they account for around 10 percent of the city-state's 49 jurists. Courts have largely stopped providing Portuguese translations. During the trial of Sulu Sou, Macau's youngest lawmaker, and Scott Chiang on charges of aggravated disobedience their lawyers, Jorge Menezes and Pedro Leal, were denied translation of a 66-page Chinese ruling. The judge said Sou and Chiang "took the risk" of hiring Portuguese lawyers and should have considered language when making their decision. Experts said the government was increasingly hiring only Chinese for jobs as lawyers, advisers and jurists. Rita Assis Ferreira, a lawyer in Portugal and representative of PLMJ Law Firm in Macau, said this was part of a long-term government plan to promote Chinese policies after the handover. "I dont see this as bad or dramatic; it's what we agreed 20 years ago with China mainland," she said. Jose Luis de Sales Marques, Macau's mayor from 1993 to 2001, who now heads Macau's Institute of European Studies, was also more optimistic. He said the government supported the teaching of Portuguese, despite closer assimilation to the mainland's laws and administration. "We have to see that there is this formula 'One Country, Two Systems' and the real meaning of that ... is one country," he said. "This is the kind of realism that we have to have." (This story has been refiled to clarify comment from lawmaker Coutinho in paragraph 8) (Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte raised questions about his health on Thursday when he said in a public address that he had gone to a hospital for tests, a day after he missed a cabinet meeting and another event. Duterte has disappeared from public view before. He was not seen for a week last year, fuelling speculation he was ill. The government insisted then the speculation was baseless. But this was the first time he seemed to confirm he might have health problems. "I don't know where I'm now physically, but I have to wait for that," Duterte told a dinner he hosted for soldiers and police officers at the presidential palace, in a speech that was televised nationally. "But, I will tell you if its cancer, it's cancer. If it's third stage, no more treatment. I will not prolong the agony in this office or anywhere." Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed the president underwent a colonoscopy on Wednesday, a procedure the president "submits to on a yearly basis". He underwent the same test three weeks ago, but his doctors wanted to get more tissue samples, Duterte said. But presidential spokesman Harry Roque told a news briefing early Thursday Duterte got tired and took a day off, denying rumors he had been admitted to a hospital. Known for a busy schedule and long speeches, often several a day, the 73-year-old Duterte's frequent disappearances have fueled rumors he is in declining health and that the government is trying to keep that under wraps. After a trip to Israel and Jordan last month, Duterte said his skin was burned by his long exposure to desert sun when the public notice discoloration in his face. Before addressing Congress in late July, Duterte also made a routine check at a hospital and his aides were quick to say there was nothing wrong with his health. (Reporting By Manuel Mogato, editing by Larry King)
When Taz the nine week old Pit Bull puppy first meets Turklet the giant turkey in the backyard of her farm, this little pup is determined to turn him into her new best friend! Watch as they get to know each other, hilariously barking and gobbling at each other in a conversation we wish we could understand. The dog sure wants to play with the bird, but Turklet doesnt want anything to do with her and so the challenge is on! The two are trying to figure each other out and both animals take on their own special approach to each other! Watch as the puppy tries to get in close for a sniff of feathers and the turkey, not too sure how to handle the little dog bouncing around him, tries to escape the puppys curiosity. They run around in what looks to be a game of tag, with the puppy definitely winning this round. Their back and forth banter is absolutely hilarious. Every time the dog barks at the turkey, Turklet gobbles right back in a hilarious tone that sends the puppy into hysterics. The turkey puffs up his feathers and stands as tall as he can, letting the puppy know that he is not interested in this friendship, and the puppy is not welcome on his territory. Taz doesnt seem to get the message though, and just tries even harder to make friends. All the Pit Bull puppy wants to do is play with the turkey, and she sure is trying hard to get him to play back, but with little success. This happy, energetic puppy is so used to making friends wherever she goes, she does not know how to handle this unfriendly reaction. The pup takes it as a challenge it seems, because she doesnt give up and keeps trying to make a friend out of the giant turkey.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - About 320 people were injured when a packed train traveling from South Africa's business hub Johannesburg to the capital Pretoria crashed into the back of a stationary train, Metrorail authorities said on Friday. The collision, which occurred at 5:50 p.m. (1530 GMT) on Thursday during peak rush hour travel, left 32 passengers with serious but not critical injuries. "The injured commuters were taken for medical attention at various hospitals," Metrorail said in a statement. "A board of enquiry will be instituted soon to determine the root cause of the accident." In January, a similar train accident on the outskirts of Johannesburg injured 200 people. South Africa has the continent's largest railway network, but it has been plagued by mismanagement and under-investment that has seen train use dwindle despite it being the cheapest form of public transportation. In a report, the government's Rail Safety Regulator said that, in the 2016/17 financial year, 495 people lost their lives on the country's railways and 2,079 were injured. The death toll was up 5 percent from the previous year. (Reporting by Joe Brock; editing by Darren Schuettler)
SEOUL (Reuters) - A Seoul court on Friday jailed former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak for 15 years for corruption, making him the latest in a string of high-profile political and business leaders ensnared by graft charges. Lee, in office from 2008 to 2013, is the fourth former South Korean president to be jailed, with his successor Park Geun-hye imprisoned for her role in a separate corruption scandal that toppled her from power in early 2017 and also led to jail time for Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee. Lee Myung-bak faced charges that he accepted around $10 million in illegal funds from institutions like Samsung and his own intelligence service, fuelling ongoing concerns over the cozy ties between government and business leaders. The Seoul Central District Court found Lee guilty of embezzlement of about 24.6 billion won ($21.77 million) from a private auto parts maker headed by his brother, and accepting bribes from Samsung and others, fining Lee 13 billion won in addition to the jail sentence. "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," judge Chung Kye-sun said. Lee, 76, has denied any wrongdoing, saying the investigation that led to the trial was politically motivated "revenge" by current President Moon Jae-in, who came to office vowing to clean house after the Park scandal and who has previously criticized Lee over an investigation into another former president, Roh Moo-hyun. Moon served as Rohs chief of staff, and the two liberal leaders had a close relationship before Roh committed suicide in 2009 after being questioned on corruption allegations during Lees presidency. Lee was not in attendance at the verdict, which was televised live. Prosecutors had sought a 20-year sentence for Lee. ($1 = 1,130.1900 won) (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Michael Perry)
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese authorities have seized more than eight metric tonnes of pangolin scales and ivory in one of the Southeast Asian country's largest wildlife trafficking cases for years, the government said on Friday. Trade in ivory and pangolin is illegal in Vietnam, but wildlife trafficking remains widespread. Police found more than two tonnes of ivory and six tonnes of pangolin scales hidden in a plastic waste container at Tien Sa port in the central Vietnamese city of Danang on Thursday, the government said in a statement. The container, owned by Vietnam's Thien Truong Su Co., originated from Nigeria, according to the statement. Calls to Nguyen Xuan Su, the company's general director, went unanswered on Friday. The raid came days after authorities at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi said they seized nearly a ton of ivory and pangolin scales hidden in cargo boxes, also sent from Nigeria. Nguyen Van Thai, director of Save Vietnam's Wildlife said pangolin trafficking has been on the rise over recent years. "Most of pangolin scales seized in Vietnam originate from Africa and are bound for China, which is the bigger market" Thai told Reuters, adding that part of the shipments were for the Vietnamese market. Thai said some Vietnamese people believe that consuming ground pangolin scales is good for their health, particularly for issues with the liver, bones, and for mothers to produce milk for newborn babies. (Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by James Pearson and Michael Perry)
By Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) - Women in Greek migrant camps are too scared to leave their tents at night or use communal showers, and many pregnant women have to sleep on the floor in unsanitary conditions, Amnesty International said on Friday. More than half of refugees and migrants arriving in Greece are women and children, according to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR. The numbers are small compared to those at the height of Europe's migrant crisis in 2015. But slow and lengthy asylum procedures mean thousands of asylum-seekers are holed up in crowded facilities on a few Greek islands. There, everyday activities like taking a shower have become dangerous for women and girls, Amnesty said in a report. Lack of sanitation and clean drinking water, as well as streams of raw sewage and mice infestations, are common in all camps, it said. "[The] shower in the camp is cold and there is no lock. Men walk in when you are inside. There are no lights in the toilets," Amnesty quoted one woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose name was changed to Adele, as saying. "At night, sometimes I go to the toilet with my sister or pee in a bucket," said Adele, who arrived on the island of Samos in December. Pregnant asylum-seekers told Amnesty they had to sleep on the floor and had little, if any, access to antenatal care. Other women spent their limited cash on sanitary pads. "Everything is dirty here. It's impossible to keep clean and when we have our period, it is very difficult," Adele said. "This is not the Europe that the world imagines," Amnesty Secretary-General Kumi Naidoo told Reuters on Friday, after visiting Greece's biggest migrant camp on the island of Lesbos. "The conditions are appalling. This is a wake-up call that we need to push very hard for the suspension and cancellation of the EU-Turkey deal," he said, referring to a 2016 accord to stem refugee flows to Greece that has stranded thousands of people in the country. Some of Greece's island camps have grown so congested that they operate at more than double their capacity, according to the latest government figures. To ease overcrowding, authorities have begun moving hundreds to facilities on the mainland. Amnesty said women there said they felt "abandoned". "We feel totally forgotten. Some of us have been in the camp for two years and nothing is changing. We don't know what will happen to us," said one Yazidi woman from Iraq, staying in the Skaramagas camp near Athens. Humanitarian organizations working in the camp had reported that smugglers and people bearing weapons had been in the facility, Amnesty said. (Editing by Richard Balmforth)
THURSDAY, Oct. 4, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin D supplements have long been touted as a way to improve bone health and possibly ward off the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis in older adults.
But a new study contends that claims of benefits from supplements of the "sunshine vitamin" fall flat.
A review of previously published studies found that taking either high or low doses of vitamin D supplements didn't prevent fractures or falls, or improve bone density.
Vitamin D is found in very few foods. One of the biggest sources of the vitamin is exposure to sunlight.
"Vitamin D supplement use is common, particularly in North America," where up to 40 percent of older people take them, said lead researcher Dr. Alison Avenell. She is clinical chair in health services research at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
"Most adults don't need to take vitamin D supplements, although they are unlikely to do harm if taken in low doses," she added.
Vitamin D supplements do prevent rare conditions, such as rickets in children and osteomalacia (softening of bones) in adults. People at risk of vitamin D deficiency include those with little or no sun exposure, such as nursing home residents who are indoors all the time, or those who always cover their skin when outside, Avenell said.
There's also existing evidence that vitamin D helps prevent cancer or heart disease, she added.
"Preserving bone strength involves keeping active, not smoking, not being too thin, and taking medications for osteoporosis," Avenell said.
Based on the new findings, Avenell thinks guidelines that recommend vitamin D supplements for bone health should be changed.
For the new report, Avenell and her colleagues reviewed 81 studies, most of which dealt with vitamin D alone, not in combination with the mineral calcium.
"Calcium supplements on their own have minimal effect on bone mineral density and fracture, and may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease," Avenell said.
The only evidence that calcium and vitamin D together prevent fractures comes from a trial of older people with very low vitamin D levels in nursing homes. But calcium and vitamin D may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, Avenell said.
In addition, most of the studies covered in the new review included women aged 65 and older who took more than 800 IUs (international units) of vitamin D daily.
The new study found no meaningful effect of vitamin D supplementation when it came to reducing any fracture, hip fractures or falls.
This type of study, called a meta-analysis, tries to find common elements among previously published studies. This kind or research, however, is limited by differences in the methods and conclusions of the different studies analyzed by researchers, so the findings may not be consistent across the board.
A group that represents the supplement industry took issue with the findings.
"There is evidence that vitamin D is very helpful, especially when you have low levels," said Duffy MacKay, senior vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition.
Over 94 percent of the U.S. population has vitamin D levels that are too low, he said. "Most Americans do not get enough vitamin D to meet their needs and supplements can fill that gap, but if your vitamin D levels are sufficient you don't need to supplement."
The benefit of proper vitamin D levels are seen over a lifetime and can't be judged in short-term studies that look at any specific benefit, he added.
Dr. Minisha Sood, an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said this new study should convince doctors that vitamin D supplements don't have a role in maintaining healthy bones, but they do have other benefits.
Previous research suggests that vitamin D, when taken in tandem with calcium, may help prevent certain cancers and protect against age-related declines in thinking and memory.
"What is important to keep in mind is that those with low vitamin D were not represented in this meta-analysis, and vitamin D supplementation -- repletion, actually -- is still necessary for those with low vitamin D levels, regardless of age," Sood said.
The findings were published online Oct. 4 in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.
More information
For more on vitamin D, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
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National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) will be set up on the banks of the Ganga river in Patna University campus in Patna, capital of Bihar. It will Indias and Asias first Dolphin research centre. The announcement for the centre was made on the occasion of Dolphin day (October 5), observed in Bihar for protection and conservation of Gangetic river dolphin to create awareness to save endangered species. NDRC will play important role in strengthening conservation efforts and research to save endangered mammal whose population is decreasing. Bihar is home to around half of the countrys estimated 3,000 dolphin population.
Gangetic river dolphin
Gangetic river dolphin (scientific name: Platanista gangetica) is one of the four freshwater dolphin species in the world. The other three are found in Yangtze river, Indus river in Pakistan and Amazon river. Gangetic river dolphin species are found in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Gangetic river dolphin is Indias national aquatic animal. It is almost completely blind and finds its way and prey using ultrasonic echoes, with sound being everything for them to navigate, feed, escape danger, find mates, breed, nurse babies and play.
Gangetic Dolphins presence signals healthy river ecosystem. Dolphins prefer water that is at least 5-8 feet deep and are usually found in turbulent waters where there is enough fish for them to feed on. They prefer deep water with adjoining shallow water and live in zone where there is little or no current that helps them save energy.
Threats: Entanglement in fishing nets, hunting for their oil and meat, poisoning of water supply of river from industrial and agricultural chemicals. They are facing most significant threat from building of dams along the upper course of their habitable rivers. It causing the segregation of populations and has a narrowed gene pool in which dolphins can breed.
Protection Status: Gangetic river dolphins fall under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and have been declared an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Conservation Program: Environment Ministry had launched Ganges River Dolphin Conservation Programme in 1997 to build scientific database of their population status and also study their habitat quality of the dolphins distribution range. Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary located in Bihars Bhagalpur district of Bihar is Indias only dolphin sanctuary is spread over 50 km along the Ganges
A visibly furious Theresa May rounded on EU leaders for hanging her our to dry yesterday as she battled to keep her Chequers Brexit plan alive in the face of fierce Tory criticism.At an extraordinary press conference in Salzburg, Mrs May said she still believed a deal was possible, and offered a fresh concession on Northern Ireland but acknowledged there was 'a lot of hard work to be done'.It came after Brussels issued a calculated snub to her Chequers plan, saying it was a non-starter.EU chief Donald Tusk said the other 27 leaders 'all agreed' that the complex plans at the heart of the Chequers deal 'will not work'. It forced Mrs May to declare she was closer than ever to walking away without a deal.The Prime Minister acknowledged she had had a 'frank' meeting with Mr Tusk shortly before she faced the press diplomatic code for a blazing row.In a warning to EU leaders that she cannot be pushed much further, she added: 'Let nobody be in any doubt we are preparing for "no deal" so that if we get to a position where it is not possible to do a deal then the British people can have confidence that we will have done what is necessary to ensure we make a success of leaving the European Union regardless of the terms on which we do so.'Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith accused the EU of 'bullying' Britain.'This demonstrates that the EU are behaving like bullies, throwing their weight around and using the Irish border as an excuse,' he said. 'This will demonstrate to so many people why we need to leave. Mrs May should go for free trade, and call their bluff.'The Prime Minister also angrily rejected calls for a second referendum, after the prime ministers of Malta and the Czech Republic publicly backed the idea. She said: 'There will be no second referendum.'Mrs May had travelled to the EU summit in Austria hoping for warm words from fellow leaders to give her political cover for the Chequers plan, which is set to be savaged by critics like Boris Johnson at next month's Tory conference.But despite a personal plea from her over dinner, the EU leaders issued a humiliating rebuff designed to hand fresh ammunition to her critics.Mrs May suggested that rejection of Chequers was a negotiating 'tactic' designed to wring further concessions from her. Privately, aides said they had expected a similar 'stunt' at some point in the negotiations, but had not anticipated EU leaders deserting her in her hour of need.Mr Tusk, who came under pressure from Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel to adopt a tough stance, said the two sides now faced a 'moment of truth' next month, which would decide whether a Brexit deal was possible or not.He also cast doubt on whether a special Brexit summit pencilled in for November would take place at all unless Britain changes course.The diplomatic ambush led to recriminations last night against Mrs May's advisers, who had briefed that she was poised for a breakthrough.Mr Duncan Smith said: 'I don't know what the civil service were up to when they told her the EU would accept the Chequers deal. It's clearly not going to fly and Ollie Robbins [Mrs May's chief Brexit adviser] should take the blame for that.'Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said EU leaders were split between those who want a pragmatic Brexit deal and those who want one that 'punishes' the UK.He said some leaders believed 'Britain must suffer', adding: 'I don't like that approach at all. What we need is a fair Brexit and good cooperation between the UK and EU in future.' Asked if more people were coming round to his camp, he said he was 'getting a majority'.But hours later, President Macron, Chancellor Merkel and the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier persuaded the bloc to toughen its stance.Mr Macron made it clear he wanted to punish Britain to dissuade other member states from heading for the EU's exit door. The French President branded pro-Brexit politicians as 'liars' adding: 'Brexit shows that it is not easy to leave the EU. It is not without costs. It is not without consequences.'Mrs May insisted Chequers was 'the only proposal' that would deliver frictionless trade with the EU and keep the UK's pledge to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland.Theresa May's EU adviser last night faced questions about his role in the Salzburg summit after he assured the Prime Minister that her Chequers plan would be a success.Amid shock and anger over the rejection of her deal by the EU yesterday, Olly Robbins's name was repeatedly mentioned. The senior civil servant, who Mrs May appointed as her personal Brexit adviser last year, helped draw up the Chequers strategy, which is threatening to split her party.Earlier this month he assured the PM that EU leaders thought her Brexit plan was a 'game changer'. He indicated that his attempts to sell the proposals to the remaining EU 27 member states had been a success.The wholesale rejection of the Chequers blueprint yesterday just over a week before the Tory party conference will make the PM's job even more difficult.As a furious Mrs May returned to London, pressure was mounting on the man she trusted to be her 'eyes and ears' in Brussels.Mr Robbins, 43, joined her team a year ago as part of a move by Number 10 to exert more control over the Brexit negotiations.He repeatedly clashed with then Brexit secretary David Davis, and was said to have suggested that he should be the opposite number to Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator. Earlier this month, Mr Robbins refused to say whether he believed leaving the EU would be a 'good thing'.A Europhile since his days at Oxford University, he became private secretary to Tony Blair aged just 31. He was steadily promoted before becoming an adviser to Mrs May and taking the helm of the Brexit negotiations. This summer, it emerged that Mrs May's right-hand man was paid a bonus of up to 20,000 despite the chaos surrounding the Brexit strategy.The PM personally signed off on the money, which comes on top of Mr Robbins's bumper pay packet of up to 165,000 a year.But his performance in selling the Chequers deal to the EU will raise questions about his future.She said EU leaders were wrong to believe that her controversial plan for a 'common rule book' on goods would undermine the single market a point made specifically by Mr Tusk yesterday. 'Yes concerns have been raised,' she said. 'I want to know what those concerns are. There is a lot of hard work to be done. But I believe that there is a willingness to do a deal.'The hardline approach from Brussels prompted an angry reaction in the UK. Former Tory chairman Grant Shapps said the PM was right to stick to her pledge to leave without a deal if Brussels continued to act unreasonably.Mr Shapps said: 'I'm no Brexiteer in fact I voted Remain but we may fast be approaching a situation where our handling over 39billion [in 'divorce' payments] won't work for us either.' Fellow Remainer Tory MP Anna Soubry said it was clear the Chequers deal was 'bereft of life' and urged the PM to pursue membership of the EU single market after Brexit.Meanwhile, Eurosceptic MPs stepped up their vows to kill off the Chequers deal at the Conservative conference. Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs, said: 'Everyone expected there would be some softening of Mr Barnier's line. That hasn't happened, it has been made firmer. I think Chequers now has no supporters at all. I doubt even the Downing Street cat is any longer backing the Chequers plan. I think the time has come for Mrs May to say, "This is not going to work".'Former Brexit Secretary David Davis last night claimed more than 40 Tory Brexiteer MPs are ready to vote against Chequers. He said rebels have a 'solid core' of around three times the number needed to defeat the plan in Parliament.Emmanuel Macron branded the leaders of the pro-Brexit campaign 'liars' for telling voters it would be easy to leave the EU.The French president said the decision was 'not without costs' and 'not without consequences'.'Brexit is the choice of the British people and it is a choice pushed by certain people who predicted easy solutions,' he said in Salzburg.'Brexit has shown us one thing and I fully respect British sovereignty in saying this it has demonstrated that those who said you can easily do without Europe, that it will all go very well, that it is easy and there will be lots of money, are liars.'This is all the more true because they left the next day, so they didn't have to manage it.' Mr Macron said it was true that Brexit negotiations had been complex and lengthy.But he added: 'That fact must not be exploited by those very people who are the cause of this problem, who got us into the Brexit situation and who now tell us that Europe is going from crisis to crisis.'His claim the leaders of the Brexit campaign 'left the next day' after the vote appeared to confuse them with David Cameron, who quit as PM after calling on voters to back Remain. By contrast, Brexit supporters David Davis, Boris Johnson and Liam Fox were brought into the Cabinet.Theresa May is facing a bruising and potentially nightmarish end to 2018.After the EU yesterday all but killed off her post-Brexit Chequers plan, she flew home last night to lick her wounds and work out how to navigate the choppy months ahead.The Tory conferenceThe first of the Prime Minister's challenges is the Tory party conference which starts on Sunday September 30 in Birmingham.Former foreign secretary and arch Brexiteer Boris Johnson is planning a pro-Brexit rally for hundreds of the party's grassroots activists. The event, hosted by the ConservativeHome website, will see further scorn poured on Mrs May's Chequers plan.Its aim will be to put more pressure on her to 'chuck Chequers'. The event is the night before her keynote party conference speech.Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage is planning a nationwide tour of 'Leave Means Leave' rallies to hammer home the anti-Chequers message.It starts in Bolton this Sunday and he will lead a Save Brexit rally on September 30 at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham where he will be joined by Tory MPs Peter Bone and Andrea Jenkyns.Mrs May will have painful memories of her disastrous speech to the conference last year wrecked by a coughing fit and a collapsing stage set.Return of Parliament and leadership plottingParliament returns from recess on October 9, having stopped sitting for the conference season. This will be the first time when MPs outraged at Mrs May's insistence on sticking with her Chequers plan will have a chance to voice their opinions.Many Eurosceptics will delight in telling Mrs May 'I told you so' when she reports back on the Salzburg summit. It would also provide the first opportunity for a potential leadership challenge.A handful of members of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Tory MPs, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, have been threatening to overthrow the Prime Minister for weeks. Last night former Brexit secretary David Davis claimed he had 40 MPs signed up to vote against Chequers.More awkward dates with EU leadersEU president Donald Tusk has warned that the next EU summit on October 18 is the moment Brexit talks could collapse if Britain does not make more concessions on Chequers and the Irish border.This would lead to him abandoning a further special summit that is due to be held on November 15.Mrs May yesterday said she was willing to walk away without a deal. But it is unclear what her position would then be after she has spent months failing to sell her Chequers plan to MPs and the EU.If she manages to get past the October summit with the basis of an agreement with the EU, she then faces the emergency summit, at which both sides have said they will aim to finalise matters. Any 11th-hour complications could turn this summit into a nightmare.But will any deal get MPs' backing?Mrs May's biggest challenge could be getting any Brexit 'divorce' deal past MPs. Labour has said it will vote against any deal she reaches.This, combined with Brexiteers angry about her not seeking their preferred Canada-style free trade deal, could mean she does not have the numbers to get it passed.Both the UK and EU have agreed that a deal should be done by no later than November so there is enough time to get it signed off by their respective parliaments in time for March 29, 2019, when Britain will leave the EU.Brexiteers and Remainers declared Theresa May's Chequers plan dead after it was brutally savaged by the EU at a crucial summit.The Prime Minister made a plea to European leaders to compromise as she desperately tries to get a deal agreed with less than two months to go in negotiations.But leaders across the EU lined up to savage her plans in a series of scathing press conferences at the Salzburg summit.EU council chief Donald Tusk insisted her Chequers proposal 'will not work' while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said 'substantial progress' is still needed.May's allies within the Conservatives have even moved to distance themselves from the Chequers plan.Former minister Sir Mike Penning, who helped to orchestrate her 2016 leadership campaign, said her proposals were 'as dead as a dodo' and that she was 'deluded' if she thought she could persuade Tory Eurosceptics to vote in favour of any Brexit deal based on Chequers.A visibly shaken Mrs May appeared tetchy as she faced the world's cameras at a press conference to defend her embattled plans.She bluntly dismissed the EU commission's latest proposals for resolving the Northern Ireland border issue, saying they would break up the UK.'The backstop cannot divide the UK into two customs territories,' she told a press conference at the close of the summit.And she insisted that Chequers remains the only viable and serious proposal on the table.But after the unexpected onslaught of criticism from EU leaders she conceded that there is 'a lot of work to be done' over the next few weeks.And she said that Britain is pumping resources into preparing for a no deal Brexit if Britain crashes out of the bloc.Leaders from across the EU savaged Theresa May's Chequers Brexit plan at the Salzburg summit.Here is what they said:Donald Tusk, EU Council President:'Everybody shared the view that while there are positive elements in the Chequers proposal, the suggested framework for economic cooperation will not work, not least as it risks undermining the single market.'Emmanuel Macron, French President:'It was a good and brave step by the prime minister,' he said of her trade plan. 'But we all agreed on this today, the proposals in their current state are not acceptable.'The Chequers plan cannot be 'take it or leave it'.'Angela Merkel, German Chancellor:'We need substantial progress on Brexit by October.'Jean-Claude Juncker, EU Commission President:'No deal is not my working assumption, but would it happen, then we are prepared because the Commission has prepared in detail all the elements of consequences of a no-deal.''So don't worry. Be happy, don't worry.'Mark Rutte, Dutch PM:'I do not feel more confident, but also at the same time not less optimistic.'Leo Varadkar, Irish PM:'Time is running short. There's proposals for another summit in October and then in November.'Ireland is a country that obviously wants to avoid a no deal scenario, we want to avoid a no deal Brexit, (but) we are preparing for that, we are hiring extra staff and officials, putting in IT systems, we're ready for that eventuality should it occur.'Charles Michel, Belgian PM'Today I can see that it is necessary to make all the steps because the proposals are not enough in order to have an agreement.'As the pressure on Mrs May increases, Nicola Sturgeon has called for all British political parties to back an extension to the Article 50 process - meaning Brexit could be delayed.She told the BBC: 'Taking the UK off the Brexit cliff edge without knowing where it lands would be the most irresponsible thing any prime minister has done in a very, very long time.'That's why I think if that's the situation we end up in (then) extending Article 50 is a far better way of proceeding.'The bruising clashes came as the bloc's leaders warned a Brexit deal is still 'far away' - and urged the UK to hold another referendum.Ramping up the pressure, Dutch PM Mark Rutte jibed that his country had made more preparations for a no-deal outcome than Britain.French President Emmanuel Macron, whose stance on Brexit has been among the toughest, took a swipe at 'liars' who said the UK could 'live easily without Europe'.Angela Merkel said 'substantial progress' must be made by October for there to be any chance of getting an agreement.The unexpected ferocity of the language from the EU appeared to take Mrs May aback, as she looked tetchy and slightly shaken answering questions from journalists.Downing Street had been hoping fellow leaders would give her a soft ride to avoid fueling a mounting mutiny by Tory Eurosceptics ahead of the looming party conference in Birmingham in a week's time.Over dinner with her 27 counterparts last night, Mrs May ruled out any delay to Britain's departure from the EU in March insisting there were no circumstances in which she would consider another national vote on the issue.But her fellow leaders - who received the speech in stony silence as they have vowed not to discuss Brexit directly with the UK - were unimpressed.At a press conference closing the gathering this afternoon, Mr Tusk said: 'Everybody shared the view that while there are positive elements in the Chequers proposal, the suggested framework for economic cooperation will not work, not least as it risks undermining the single market.'Mr Macron took a clear swipe at Mrs May's proposals to align with EU rules on goods but not services, saying he would not accept so-called 'cherry-picking' that eroded the EU single market.'Those who explain that we can easily live without Europe, that everything is going to be alright, and that it's going to bring a lot of money home are liars,' he said.Other leaders said the talks were at a 'standstill', and called for the UK to hold another public vote to reverse Brexit altogether.Mr Rutte suggested little had changed over the two days in Salzburg.'I do not feel more confident, but also at the same time not less optimistic.'He added: 'I think we have made more preparations for a no deal than the UK has.'Mrs May greeted Mr Juncker warmly at the summit but the negotiations are deadlockedEU council president Donald Tusk took to Instagram to joke about the standoff, posting a picture of himself choosing cakes with Mrs May and the message: 'Sorry, no cherries.'Tory MPs rounded on Theresa May's Chequers Brexit plan after the EU's damning verdict - with Remain-voting Grant Shapps calling for the divorce bill to be withheldArch Remainer and Conservative MP Anna Soubry also declared the Brexit proposal deadTory MP Marcus Fysh urged the PM to accept that her Chequers plan is unworkable and to move on to a new proposalMrs Merkel told her own press conference in Salzburg that 'substantial progress' was needed on the UK's withdrawal agreement by the next European Council meeting in October, in order to pave the way for it to be finalised at a special summit in November.She warned there was 'still a large piece of work' on the separate issue of future trade relations with the UK.The EU27 were 'united that, in the matter of the single market, there can be no compromises', she said.'No-one can belong to the single market if they are not part of the single market.'Mr Tusk mocked Mrs May on social media, posting a picture of them choosing cake at the summit with the message: 'Sorry, no cherries.'It was a swipe at EU claims that Britain is trying to 'cherry pick' from the Brussels project.Asked at her press conference how she can cling on to her Chequers plan in the face of so much opposition, Mrs May said: 'Yes concerns have been raised, I want to know what those concerns are. There is a lot of hard work to be done.'But I believe that there is a willingness to do a deal.'But let nobody be in any doubt, as I've always said, we are preparing for no deal so that if we get to a position where it is not possible to do a deal then the British people can be confident that we will have done what is necessary to ensure we make a success of leaving the European Union regardless of the terms on which we do so.'Mrs May said that the UK would 'shortly' be coming forward with new proposals on the 'backstop' arrangements for the Northern Irish border.This is the major stumbling block to agreeing a deal with the bloc.She again categorically ruled out holding a second referendum.'There will be no second referendum. There has been a vote of the people, it took place in June 2016 and people voted to leave the European Union,' she said.Meanwhile, Mrs May is facing a growing revolt at home with Tory plotters branding her 'deluded' and calling Chequers 'as dead as a dodo'.Mrs May held talks with Irish PM Leo Varadkar this morning, and was seen deep in conversation with Mrs Merkel as they arrived at the summit venue this morning.But after a discussion on security, she will again be shut out of proceedings as the 27 remaining member states hold a private discussion on Brexit.Arriving this morning, EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the two sides remained 'far away' from a deal.Slovak PM Peter Pellegrini said: 'There has been no progress' and Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite said simply: 'It's a standstill'.Malta's PM Joseph Muscat said there was 'almost unanimous' support among EU leaders for Britain to hold a second referendum on membership of the union.Mr Muscat said that any deal would be 'sub-optimal' to continued membership, saying 'it won't be as easy as yesterday to trade between the two sides'.Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme he said: 'There is a unanimous, or almost unanimous I would say right now, point of view around the table that we would like the almost impossible to happen, that the UK has another referendum.'I wouldn't know what the result would be, whether it would be any different from the first result.'I think most of us would welcome a situation where there is the possibility of the British people putting things into perspective, seeing what has been negotiated, seeing the options and then deciding once and for all.'But Mrs May did get backing from controversial Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, who complained that some of his fellow leaders wanted the British to 'suffer' because they voted to leave.'I don't like that approach at all. So what we need is a fair Brexit and a good cooperation between the UK and the European Union in the future,' he said.Tory conspirators believe the Prime Minister could be forced to stand down after Brexit according to a memo circulating among MPs last night.The document also assesses who Mrs May's likely successor will be and rates their chances.The document is based on the assumption that the 1922 Committee of senior backbench Tories will 'invite the PM to stand-down soon(ish) after March 2019'.It advises MPs to 'manoeuvre immediately' and sets out details of 27 potential candidates, according to the Daily Telegraph. It describes Environment Secretary Michael Gove as being 'on manoeuvres', says Chancellor Philip Hammond is 'thinking he has a chance' but has 'not a hope', while Trade Secretary Liam Fox's prospects are 'fading'.Boris Johnson is described as 'the front runner' but is considered an unlikely successor because 'the front runner never wins'. Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tories, was not on the leaked list.There is a deep rift in the party over her Chequers deal - with Brexiteers and Remainers both unhappy with it.An ally of Mrs May said her Chequers plan was as 'dead as a dodo' and claimed the Prime Minister tried to 'blackmail' her MPs to support it.Sir Mike Penning told the Daily Telegraph that Mrs May was 'deluded' if she thought she could persuade Tory Eurosceptics to back a Brexit deal based on Chequers.The former minister said she was playing 'Russian Roulette' with the country and had treated her own MPs 'like children on the naughty step'.In recent weeks, senior figures in Brussels have floated the idea of extending the Article 50 process for up to a year to allow the talks to drift on as the Irish border issue caused deadlock.With Labour and several Tory MPs wobbling on the issue, some harbour hopes that ministers could even agree to hold a second referendum.Treasury minister Mel Stride went off message yesterday when he warned Eurosceptics that they could 'end up in the situation where we could have a second referendum' if they vote down the Chequers deal in Parliament.But speaking directly to EU leaders at a special summit in Salzburg last night, Mrs May said delaying Brexit was 'not an option'.Over a dinner of wiener schnitzel and Austrian wines at Felsenreitschule, the theatre where The Sound of Music was filmed, she said: 'We all recognise that time is short, but delaying or extending these negotiations is not an option.'I know for many of you, Brexit is not something you want, but it is important to be clear there will be no second referendum in the UK.'The public has delivered its verdict and I as Prime Minister will deliver on that. The UK will leave on March 29 next year. I have put forward serious and workable proposals.'We will not, of course, agree on every detail, but the onus is now on all of us to get this deal done.'Theresa May held talks with Irish PM Leo Varadkar (pictured) before the summit entered its second day in Salburg this morningOver dinner last night (pictured), gathered EU leaders were told that Britain would be prepared to walk away from the negotiating table if a deal was not struck quicklyThe male premiers appeared to be enjoying themselves as they prepared for the group photo. Pictured front row left to right, Mr Macron, Austria's Sebatian Kurz, Mr Tusk; back row left to right, Mr Rutte, Luzembourg PM Xavier Bettel, Latvian PM Maris KucinskisLarge-scale protests were undertaken near the venue in opposition to the Austrian government's controversial migration policiesArriving at the summit yesterday, Mrs May said she remained 'confident' of a good deal but warned that the EU would have to 'evolve' its position and move closer to her Chequers proposals, which have been greeted with scepticism in Brussels.Mr Tusk described elements of the Chequers proposals as a 'positive evolution in the UK approach', particularly on security co-operation.But he said key differences remained, adding: 'On other issues such as the Irish question or the framework of economic co-operation the UK proposals will need to be reworked and further negotiated. Today there is perhaps more hope but there is surely less and less time.'The commission is hostile to the proposal for a 'common rule book' with the UK on goods and the idea of the UK collecting tariffs for the EU, but some EU leaders made it clear they were desperate to avoid a no-deal Brexit.Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who holds the EU's revolving presidency, said: 'We are convinced that we need a deal. We must do everything to avoid a hard Brexit.'It would not just harm British, but would also cause damage for us in Europe. We are striving to make a compromise possible.'Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel said: 'We need to find a deal, a no-deal is a really bad solution. It's a terrible solution for the UK and a bad solution for Europe. So we need to find a deal.'The Chequers proposals led to the Cabinet resignations of Mr Johnson and David Davis.Meanwhile, Michel Barnier reiterated his demand for Northern Ireland to stay within the EU's customs jurisdiction after Brexit - something the UK has repeatedly ruled out.The DUP, which is propping the Tories up in power, dismissed the Eurocrat's promise to 'improve' his Irish border solution by using technology to reduce the need for checks.Mr Barnier renewed his efforts to 'de-dramatise' the Irish border issue yesterday by saying he was working on a new draft of his blueprint.Eurocrats have been sounding a more optimistic tone about the way checks can be enforced over recent weeks, including admitting that technology and 'trusted trader' schemes can largely do away with the need for physical infrastructure.The EU official suggested officials could inspect goods entering the UK via Ireland on ferries and in business premises away from the border.He said: 'We are ready to improve this proposal. Work on the EU side is ongoing. We are clarifying which goods arriving in Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK would need to be checked and where, when and by whom these checks could be performed'.
Leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg last night called an African country 'the people's republic of jam jar or something' at a packed meeting of the Tory Party conference.The Conservative MP was referring to the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, which was the name of Libya under its late leader Colonel Gaddafi.He was warning against the perils of a second Brexit referendum - dubbed a 'people's vote - and said anything with the title people's in it has the whiff of totalitarianism.He said: 'All the countries who are least interested in their people call themselves "people's", don't they?'So the People's Republic of China? Oh, that's communist.'And the People's Republic ofjam jar, or something like that, of Libya, was what it was called when Colonel Gaddafi was in charge.'He made the remark while addressing a packed-out fringe meting hosted by Brexit Central at the conference in Birmingham last night.Around 500 party activists flooded into the hall to listen to Mr Rees-Mogg and several other Tory MPs rail against Theresa May'a Brexit Chequers plan.But Mr Rees-Mogg has been criticised for making the remark at the meeting - with Labour MPs accusing him of insensitivity.Alex Sobel, a Labour MP and Remain activist with the Best for Britain group, took aim at the MP for North East Somerset.Philip Hammond risked fuelling Tory splits today by warning the UK economy is already suffering due to Brexit - and things will get worse if there is no deal with the EU.The Chancellor said Britain had taken a 'hit' from the uncertainty since 2016 and suggested some businesses would leave if negotiations with Brussels failed.He also jibed that many critics of Theresa May's Chequers blueprint for future relations did not 'understand' the proposals.But he insisted the government would not break its red lines in the talks - saying the UK had the 'fiscal capacity' to survive crashing out of the EU.The comments came after Mr Hammond used an interview with the Daily Mail to launch a furious volley at Boris Johnson.He said the Brexiteer was incapable of 'grown-up' politics and did not have a clue how his own proposal for a future relationship with the EU would work.He said: 'This not only shows the same sort of casual racism Boris Johnson has displayed but also a disdain for the rest of the world which would leave us isolated and economically eviscerated if he is allowed his hard Brexit.'Labour's shadow business minister Chi Onwurah tweeted a link to the MP's remarks with the sarcastic comment: 'It's their respect for other countries and attention to detail which will be such an asset for the hard Brexiteers as they negotiate trade deals post Brexit.'Lib Dem frontbencher Christine Jardine told The Daily Mirror: 'This sort of remark is becoming too common from the Brexiteers, coming as it does in the wake of Boris's recent burka jibes.'Insulting other people is not the way I want my country represented and the public see it for what it is, petty politics.'Last night's Brexit Central saw Tory MPs line up to condemn the PM's plans and demand that she ditch them and strike a looser free trade deal with the bloc instead.Mr Rees-Mogg branded Chequers a 'dying duck' and demanded an upbeat 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' Brexit instead.Conservative backbenchers warned the PM that they do not want to see her ousted from Number Ten, but warned her that she must chuck her under-fire Brexit plan.Their comments, at a packed fringe meeting at the Tory Party conference in Birmingham, piles yet more pressure on Mrs May who is facing a Tory revolt on Brexit.It came after Boris Johnson branded her plan 'deranged' and former Brexit Secretary David Davis toured the television studios and fringe events to urge her to ditch it.Mr Rees-Mogg borrowed the lengthy tongue twister from Mary Poppins to explain the sort of 'super Canada Brexit' terms that Britain should demand, adding that 'it is a word developed by a nanny and nannies are jolly good things'.He said Chequers is 'simply remaining under the yoke of the European Union'.He added: 'It is a dying duck in a thunderstorm, it is the deadest of dying ducks.'Mrs May has insisted her Chequers plan is the only viable proposal on the negotiating table and the alternative would be a no deal Brexit.But Mr Rees-Mogg said there is 'nothing to fear' from crashing out of the EU without a deal and trading on world trade organisation terms as it would mean that Britain would not have to pay a 'farthing' of the 40billion Brexit Bill.He added: 'And we would be able to immediately get on with trading with the world...we would not have 21 months of vassalage where we have to be told what to do by the European Union and have no say in what was happening.'In a rallying cry to the 500 or so activists in the hall, the Tory MP added: 'Making a success of Brexit is easy as long as we hold our nerve.'We either leave on supercalifragilisticexpialidocious terms - we want a super Canada Brexit, and to be positive about this.'And I can't be more positive than supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - which as you all know is a word developed by a nanny and nannies are jolly good things.'If we don't do that we leave on World Trade terms and then we have a proper, red-blooded Conservative approach to governing that frees the UK from being tied down.'
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Employees work at the assembly plant of a foreign direct investment car factory in Hai Duong, Vietnam. Photo by Reuters/Kham
Vietnam will get selective with new FDI projects, rejecting those that dont benefit the country, a senior official says.
Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said even though FDI projects have made remarkable contributions to the Vietnamese economy, there were several drawbacks to be dealt with.
Many FDI projects focus on assembling, resulting in a low localization rate in some industries, Dung told VnExpress on the sidelines of the 30 Years of FDI Mobilization conference held in Hanoi Thursday.
"They have not transferred the technology to Vietnam, and there is only a small number of them using high technology that creates high added value."
Another problem is that a lot of pledged investments are not disbursed, Dung said, adding that as of last year, only 55.5 percent of the registered capital had been disbursed.
This means that almost half of the FDI projects have not or could not be completed.
Furthermore, some FDI businesses do not strictly abide by the laws on protecting the environment, causing serious pollution, which has had major negative impacts on peoples lives and the stable development of Vietnam, he said.
There were also FDI businesses that were dishonest and evaded tax, the minister added.
Sharing economy model
Dung said Vietnam should change its FDI strategy. Instead of only focusing on traditional investment, the country should encourage non-traditional business models like the sharing economy'."
Vietnam should grab new technologies brought in by Industry 4.0, as well as new investment methods and new forms of business, he noted.
We will not take in low-tech projects which are not environmental-friendly, he said.
In order to make this change effective, Dung said Vietnam needs to complete its legal framework and policies to attract those businesses, and at the same time help local firms grow.
The country is developing policies that support local small and medium businesses to meet global standards so that they can partner with FDI businesses, he added.
Vietnam has made substantial changes in restructuring the economy and reforming growth models in recent years.
Equitization of and divestment from state-owned enterprises have been accelerated, while the domestic private sector was growing at a rapid pace.
These factors make Vietnam a long-term destination for foreign investors to expand their businesses, the minister stressed.
Speaking at a conference on 30 years of FDI mobilization on Thursday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that by leveraging the current market and distribution channels that the FDI firms have, domestic investors acquiring a stake in such firms would be able to master new technologies and develop new management. Vietnamese firms can and should buy into FDI peers, the PM said.
He said domestic enterprises should be encouraged to enter joint ventures, become capital contributors and purchase shares in FDI firms with advanced and new technologies.
As of now, 129 countries and territories have pledged to invest over $334 billion in 26,500 FDI projects across Vietnam.
The sector has created direct employment for nearly 4 million people and 5-6 million indirect jobs.
The recent encounter between their warships in the South China Sea shows China will confront the U.S. on key issues.
U.S. and China warships have a close brush in the South China Sea on September 30. Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy
Experts also say that the encounter is a sign that tensions have escalated and are unlikely to abate in the near future.
Chinese destroyer Luyang approached the USS Decatur, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer, as the latter passed within 12 nautical miles of the Gaven and Johnson reefs of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Sunday.
The USS Decatur was carrying out a freedom of navigation operation (FONOPs) in the Spratlys. Captain Charles Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the Chinese warship conducted a series of increasingly aggressive maneuvers accompanied by warnings for the Decatur to depart the area.
He said the Chinese destroyer "approached within 45 yards" of the front of the U.S. ship, adding that the USS Decatur "maneuvered to prevent a collision."
Carl Schuster, a former U.S. Navy captain who spent 12 years at sea, now a Hawaii Pacific University professor, said this was very dangerous. "Captains get very nervous when ships get closer than 1,000 yards," he said.
Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia and the director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, told VnExpress that the incident demonstrated China's willingness to confront the U.S.
The U.S. and China are at loggerheads on several issues, including trade and the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
"As U.S. willingness to confront China across a range of issues increases, the Chinese are demonstrating their willingness to confront the U.S.," she said.
The trade war between the U.S. and China has no sign of de-escalating after the Trump administration imposed 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods on September 24.
Then the tariffs will increase to 25 percent at the start of 2019. U.S. President Trump stressed that if China retaliates, as is expected, we will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion of additional imports.
China hit back at the U.S. with tariffs on $60 billion worth of American goods, in a tit-for-tat move. On September 25, China released a 71-page white paper, accusing the Trump administration of "trade bullyism practices" that have become "the greatest source of uncertainty and risk for the recovery of the global economy."
The U.S. and China previously applied tariffs worth $50 billion on imports of each.
As regards Taiwan, the U.S. State Department has approved the sale of spare parts worth $330 million for F-16 fighter planes and other military aircraft, raising Chinas hackles. It has warned that the move jeopardized Sino-U.S. cooperation.
At the United Nations Security Council during the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 26, President Trump claimed that China is trying to damage his political standing before the midterm elections because of his imposition of tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese goods.
They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president to ever challenge China on trade," said Trump.
Glaser said that China's "aggressive response" to the U.S.' navigation practice was "part of the larger strategic friction in the bilateral relationship," not simply a push back against the U.S. Navy ship sailing close to Chinese-occupied islands in the Spratlys.
She makes clear that the incident took place around Gaven and Johnson reefs, two features that are above water at high tide. Therefore, the USS Decator was conducting an "innocent passage" operation, without a military activity.
The USS Decatur was on a routine mission in the South China Sea when it came close to a Chinese warship on Sunday. Photo by AFP
Expressing the same stance, Peter Harris, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University, stated that it's true that we are witnessing a hardening of the U.S. stance towards China, on the South China Sea and also other issues such as trade and technology.
There are several reasons for why President Trump might be adopting a more hardline stance. First, it's clear that the Congress is now opposed to cooperation with China. There have been bipartisan bills to urge a more confrontational approach to China, especially in the military sphere.
"Hawkish attitudes towards China are more prevalent among Republicans but also are evident among Democrats. The Trump administration is responding to these domestic pressures and seems to have recognized the political advantages in demonizing China. In short, it's a popular domestic strategy to "get tough" on China," said Harris.
It is interesting to note that Trump has not sought to politicize China's human rights record, however, which is something that other presidents have done when they have wanted to look "tough" on China. It would be easy for him to do, but he hasn't, perhaps because he is holding out hope of a "grand bargain" over trade and strategic issues, or perhaps because human rights are not as important to him as they have been for previous presidents, according to Harris.
He worries that people are witnessing a gradual increase in Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, and so these small but dangerous incidents are likely to become more frequent in coming years unless something can be done to lessen tensions between the U.S., China, and other regional powers. China's message seems to be fairly clear: that they regard the South China Sea as their domain and that the U.S. should not test China's resolve over this core interest.
Carlyle Thayer, Emeritus Professor, the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defense Force Academy, gives more reasons for China's encountering in the South China Sea.
First, the Trump Administration has markedly stepped up freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea since it took office.
Second, the U.S. has also increased the number of continuous bomber presence patrols of B-52s and B-1s over the South China Sea and East China Sea. Not only are bombers flying from Guam towards China's east coast and turning back before they enter China's airspace, but the U.S. is also demonstrating global reach by flying B-52 bombers from North Dakota in the U.S. and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean over the South China Sea. The most recent U.S. B-52H flight over the East China Sea was accompanied by an escort of Japan Air Self-Defence Force jets.
He said the most important factor is the U.S. recently approved the sale of $3,300 million in spare parts for Taiwan's F-16 fighters.
China also cancelled a scheduled port visit by the USS Wasp to Hong Kong and then conducted live firing exercises by People's Liberation Army Air Force planes over the South China Sea. A Chinese Navy Commander also cancelled his visit to the U.S.
"China has always vowed to push back against challenges to its sovereignty so it was not surprising that the Chinese warship manoeuvred at dangerous closure to the USS Decator. This should be viewed as posturing," said Thayer.
Harris said that the impact of U.S.-China conflict will be bad for everyone in the region, contributing to a perception that international politics is zero-sum game. It would be much better if the U.S. and China could put their bilateral relationship on firmer foundations and work towards a truly positive-sum set of interactions. The spillover effects of such a positive relationship would be felt across the region, he said.
Harris added: "A new cold war between the U.S. and China would force others in East Asia to choose sides even more than is currently the case."
A HCMC court has found a group of five people guilty of 'activities aimed at overthrowing the peoples administration.'
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on Friday sentenced Luu Van Vinh, 51, to 15 years in prison; and four other men, accused as his accomplices, to 8-13 years each.
After serving their prison sentences, the defendants would also be placed under house arrest for another three years, the court ruled.
According to the indictment, Vinh and his accomplices worked together to establish an organization called the "National Alliance of Vietnam." The organization allegedly criticized and distorted the policies of Vietnams Communist Party in an attempt to overthrow the government.
The defendants were arrested after police caught them distributing documents promoting the organization at a church in Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Binh District in November 2016.
Investigators subsequently identified Vinh as the group's mastermind, responsible for setting goals and policies for the "National Alliance of Vietnam" as well as recruiting members for the illegal organization.
Other defendants meanwhile were found guilty of serving as his advisors in expanding and financing the organization, encouraging and strengthening its new members' belief and making preparations for the organization to establish its own army.
At the trial on Friday, only one of the defendants admitted to the crime. Vinh and his three accomplices refuted the confessions they had made during the investigation.
They claimed that they had simply been making jokes on Facebook and had committed no crime. Prosecutors however said that there was enough evidence to convict them.
The court concluded that the defendants' actions had violated national security, as well as the existence and strength of the people's administration and the State of Vietnam, meriting strict punishment.
Under Vietnam's Penal Code, "carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" is a crime punishable by 12-20 years in prison, life imprisonment or the death sentence for organizers, instigators and active participants, while accomplices could face 5-15 years in prison.
In August this year, the HCMC court had sentenced 12 members of the "Provisional National Government of Vietnam," a U.S.-based group that aimed to overthrow the Vietnamese government, to 5-14 years in prison.
A member of Viet Tan, an organization Vietnam has classified as a terrorist group, was also sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in Nghe An Province that same month.
In a similar case, a Hanoi court in April sentenced six members of the "Brotherhood for Democracy," an organization accused of trying to overthrow the government, to 9-15 years in prison.
Le Viet Dat and Dang Ba Dat are held at a police station in Nghe An Province for alleged dog theft. Photo courtesy of Nghe An Police
Police in Nghe An Province have arrested two men whod stolen at least 11 canines before they were caught.
The duo are being held under the charge of stealing property, a crime punishable by up to three years in prison and for resisting officials in the performance of their duties, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison under Vietnams Penal Code, police said Friday.
Some police officers on a patrol Wednesday noticed the pair driving around a commune in Nghi Loc District and acting in a suspicious manner.
When they asked the duo to stop for a check, the men refused to comply and tried to escape. One of the thieves made a futile attempt to resist the police officers with a knife.
Two stolen dogs weighing around 35 kilograms, six pieces of poisoned meat used to kill the dogs and a sharp knife were seized from the pair.
Le Viet Dat, 23, and Dang Ba Dat, 24, admitted that theyd stolen 11 dogs earlier.
Police seize two stolen dogs, six pieces of poisoned meat to kill the dogs, and a knife from two dog thieves in Nghe An Province on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Nghe An Police
Dog theft is rarely treated as a criminal offense in Vietnam. Stolen animals have to be valued at more than VND2 million ($86) for stricter action to be taken.
Over the last two decades, however, there has been a public outcry against dog stealing and suspected thieves have been lynched by angry mobs.
Vietnam consumes an estimated five million dogs a year, second only to Chinas 20 million.
Many of the dogs that make it to the frying pan are stolen pets sold to small, unregulated abattoirs.
Recently, the Hanoi Peoples Committee called on residents to stop eating cat and dog meat, saying this reflected badly on the capital city in foreigners eyes. The proposal has received mixed reactions from the public.
Soldiers perform a ritual to fly the national flag at half mast at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi to start two-day state mourning for former Party chief Do Muoi on Saturday morning. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh
The state funeral for Vietnam's former Party General Secretary received top officials, veterans and residents in Hanoi Saturday.
The funeral is held at the National Funeral Home at 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street from 7 a.m., one hour after the country officially entered two-day state mourning by flying flags at half mast at all government buildings and public places.
Vietnam's Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attend the funeral with other former and current top government officials. The funeral also received delegations led by National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Acting President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh.
Top former and current officials attend Do Muoi's funeral in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh
The deceased leader will lie in state at the funeral house for mourners to pay their respects until 7:30 a.m. Sunday.
Among honored guests are Nguyen Thi Binh, 91, who served as Vietnam's Vice President between 1992 and 2002, and veterans who spent time at Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi with Do Muoi. In 1941, at age 24, Muoi was arrested by the French colonialists and sentenced to 10 years at the prison, but he broke out four years later and continued active participation in revolutionary campaigns.
The funeral also received delegations from Cambodia, Cuba, Japan and Singapore.
Some residents came all emotional. Nguyen Xuan Hung, a 90-year-old grey hair man from Hanoi, cried as he came to pay his respect on Saturday.
Hung said his family helped shelter revoluntionaries during the colonial war in 1940s and he, as a 10-year-old boy, brought meals to Do Muoi every day. "He was an extremely nice and honest soldier," Hung said of the late leader.
Nguyen Xuan Hung (L, 4th) cries as he comes to Do Muoi's funeral in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh
Memorial ceremonies are held at the same time at the Independence Palace in Ho Chi Minh City.
A memorial service will be held at 9 a.m. Sunday and Do Muoi will be buried in his hometown in Hanoi's Thanh Tri District at 1 p.m. the same day.
For his state funeral, several major streets near the funeral home will be closed on Saturday and Sunday.
The former Party chief passed away at the 108 Military Hospital on Monday night, after battling ill health for a long time. He was 101.
Born Nguyen Duy Cong in Hanoi, Do Muoi was a key figure in Vietnam's revolutionary struggles and its opening up era. He became an active revolutionary at an early age, joining the French Popular Front at 19 and leading campaigns against French colonialists in Hanoi and across northern Vietnam.
He served as Vietnam's Party General Secretary from 1991 to 1997, during the countrys transition to a market economy.
He is remembered as "an excellent and prestigious leader," "a resilient revolutionary," Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong and his predecessor Le Kha Phieu wrote in the condolence book.
Chasing gold in the northern mountains of Vietnam
A spectacular, golden panorama appears at this time of the year in a mountainous district of northern Vietnam.
Rice terraces in Mu Cang Chai in Yen Bai Province. Photo by Nhat Tan
Mu Cang Chai is a rural district of Yen Bai Province, about 300 km northwest of Hanoi.
It is one of three places in the northern highlands, including Sa Pa in Lao Cai Province and Hoang Su Phi in Ha Giang Province, where the most beautiful terraced rice fields have been carved into mountains. Around the end of September and beginning of October, the terraced fields along the road look like stairways to heaven, with the rice plants gleaming in golden hues for the harvest season.
At this time, the terrace fields do not just depict the ingenuity of locals in carving out a sustainable livelihood; they become aesthetic masterpieces.
While there are many videos and photographs capturing this heavenly sight, the experience of seeing and feeling it directly cannot be matched, because, once you get here, the views are supplemented by a cultural exploration and discovery of the HMong people. The itinerary Day 1
- 7:00 AM: A sleeper bus from My Dinh bus station in Hanoi takes you to Nghia Lo Town in Yen Bai. The distance of about 190km is covered in around five hours. Then, you get to drive or ride pillion on a rented motorbike from Nghia Lo to Mu Cang Chai District, which is 100km away and will take around three and a half hours. Motorbike rentals are around VND100,000 ($4.28) per day. - As a bonus, this drive goes through picturesque locations like Tu Le Town, Cao Pha Valley and Khau Pha Pass. - Evening: Arrive at the homestay residence and relax for the night. Day 2
- Morning: After breakfast, depart for Mam Xoi Hill that straddles La Pan Tan and Che Cu Nha villages. You can take Highway 32 to get there. It would take around 30 minutes to get to La Pan Tan and around an hour to get to Che Cu Nha. These are great places if youre hunting for some killer landscape shots.
- Afternoon: return to Mu Cang Chai for lunch then get ready to depart for Than Uyen District in Lai Chau Province, which is nearly two hours away. The route from Mu Cang Chai and Than Uyen also has great views, especially at sunset. Watching and participating in everyday life of the locals is a great option to choose. The majority of people who live in this area are of the Thai ethnic minority. Evening: Back to homestay Day 3 - Return home
While on the Mu Cang Chai trip, also visit:
Khau Pha Pass
- Khau Pha Pass: This is one of the four daunting passes in the northwest of the country. In Yen Bai Province, it is about 30 km long, and offers great views of rolling mountains and pristine jungle, and occasional glimpses of waterfalls cascading down. - Tu Le Village: Located in Van Chan District, Yen Bai, about 50 km away from Mu Cang Chai on Highway 32, Tu Le is home to the Black HMong and Thai communities. The roads through Tu Le show off all of what makes northwestern Vietnam so beautiful. The scenery here is a big attraction for photographers and trekkers. Tu Le is also famous for its fresh hot springs, making it a great place to relax and rejuvenate.
- Lim Mong Hamlet, Cao Pha Valley: Hidden by mists and clouds, this hamlet can be reached by following Highway 32 toward Tu Le Village for about 32 km from Mu Cang Chai and taking a turn to Lim Mong Hamlet During the harvest season, the hamlet becomes an enormous, colourful painting with blue skies, the fresh green of new crops, the golden colour of crops ready to be harvested, and the warm brown of the earth.
La Pan Tan Village
Bookings and travel trends in Singapore place the central city of Da Nang in the top 10 destinations for Singaporeans.
Tourists enjoy the blue sea in Da Nang in central Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong
This is shown by data compiled by Kayak, a Singapore-based travel booking site that allows people to look for cheap flights and hotels for holidays.
The site named Da Nang among top 10 places of choice for Singaporean tourists in 2018, based on booking increases and travel trends in the first eight months of this year.
Da Nang, home to Asias most beautiful My Khe Beach and a neighbor to the popular ancient town of Hoi An, was third on the list, followed by Indonesias Yogyakarta, Luzon Islands in the Philippines and Malaysias Kuching.
Dragon Bridge is an iconic symbol of Da Nang City, a top holiday destination for Singaporeans in 2018. Photo acquired by VnExpress
The Indonesian city of Bandung, surrounded by the lush green Parahyangan mountains, topped the list.
Along with China and South Korea, Singaporeans have been among the biggest groups of visitors to Da Nang in recent years.
Several new international flight routes have been launched to connect Da Nang with other Asian destinations, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.
Apart from Da Nangs long and beautiful beaches and natural landscape, Singaporeans are also lured by the open visa policy that facilitates travel.
Vietnam currently provides a reciprocal 30-day visa exemption for citizens of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Singapore.
Earlier, Singapore's Channel News Asia had included the central city in a list of five under the radar destinations in South and Southeast Asia.
Once a sleepy fishing town, Da Nang is now a major tourism destination.
Travel magazine Live and Invest Overseas, which calls itself the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, voted Da Nang among worlds most livable cities earlier this year.
In the first seven months of this year, Da Nang received more than five million visitors, up 30 percent over the same period last year, according to the city's Tourism Department. More than 1.8 million were foreign arrivals, up 54 percent.
The Chicago Tribune has recommended Vietnamese ice coffee as among the best to try in the state.
The American newspaper recently listed seven types of coffee that readers should taste. First on the list was Vietnam custard coffee, more often known as egg coffee.
The newspaper suggested that readers try this drink at a coffee shop in Chicago, Illinois, where this coffee is made with egg yolk, vanilla and condensed milk through a filter system called phin.
The other drinks recommended by the paper include: Ethiopian coffee ceremony, Turkish Coffee, Mexican Cafe de Olla, Coffee Milk Tea, Japanese coffee jelly, Colombian-style coffee.
Vietnamese egg coffee is a signature drink of the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. It was invented in the 1940s when there was scarcity of milk in the city, prompting a bartender to use a replacement.
The alternative, whisked egg yolk, turned the coffee into one of the most renowned drinks in the country.
A cup of Vietnamese egg coffee. Photo acquired by VnExpress
The coffee has three main elements: condensed milk at the bottom, coffee and whisked egg yolk, creating a mixture that combines sweet, bitter and fatty flavors.
The inventors descendant now serves the most authentic egg coffee on Nguyen Huu Huan Street in Hanoi.
Try it, for the heck of it, and see what happens.
The Body Shop is the first international beauty brand to campaign against animal testing in cosmetics. Photo by Reuters
Activists on Thursday brought 8.3 million signatures against cosmetic animal testing to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
On World Animal Day (October 4), dog activists and their owners eagerly joined the global movement to end animal testing in cosmetics organized by The Body Shop and Cruelty Free International. The dogs and their owners took more than 8 million signatures to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, calling for an end to animal testing in cosmetics globally.
The celebration of these signatures is a culmination of more than 30 years of advocacy between The Body Shop, the first international beauty brand to campaign against animal testing in cosmetics, and its long-time campaign partner Cruelty Free International, the first global, non-profit organization dedicated to ending cosmetic product and ingredient testing on animals.
The joint effort is the most ambitious campaign ever against cosmetic animal testing and serves as a model to inspire action from businesses, governments and citizens to advance Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG12): Responsible Consumption and Production.
Lise Kingo, Executive Director of the U.N. Global Compact, joined The Body Shop to discuss how businesses can do more to engage and mobilise consumers in support of the SDGs.
The petition signatures, collected from supporters around the world in just 15 months, call on the countries of the U.N. to formalize an international framework to end cosmetic animal testing, everywhere and forever.
Cosmetic animal testing is cruel, old-fashioned, expensive and inefficient. Today, there are more reliable alternatives. The Body Shop and many other cruelty-free companies use innovative and effective cruelty-free ingredients in all their products, all tested through non-animal methods.
Although there has been sizable progress, 80 percent of countries still have not made it illegal to test cosmetics on animals. Cruelty Free International estimates that more than 500,000 animals each year are used in cosmetics testing.
A global framework is the only way to eliminate animal suffering and create a level playing field around the world.
Harmonizing safety testing requirements globally would allow companies to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and test duplication when accessing international markets.
Not only would a global framework give confidence to companies that they are producing safe and effective cosmetics while meeting consumer demand for truly cruelty-free products, but also, the global framework would align with the United Nation's vision of a world in which, "humanity lives in harmony with nature and in which wildlife and other species are protected."
"In just 15 months more than 8 million people signed their names in recognition that cosmetic animal testing is outdated and unnecessary," said David Boynton, CEO of The Body Shop. "We are determined to finish what Dame Anita Roddick started back in 1989, and today we are at the United Nations to call for collaboration among the cosmetic industry, civil society and governments to finally end cosmetic animal testing everywhere."
"This campaign demonstrates that consumers around the world want to see real change," said Jessie Macneil-Brown, Global Head of Activism at The Body Shop. "We look forward to working with U.N. leaders to make this a reality."
"A global framework is the only way to truly eliminate animal suffering," said Michelle Thew, CEO of Cruelty Free International. "The petition demonstrates that across the globe, people want this practice to end."
"This initiative shows the potential for brands to engage and mobilize consumers at scale in support of the SDGs, and how, by combining business innovation, enabling policies and consumer power, real change can be achieved," Lise Kingo said. "The SDGs are everybody's business, and we look forward to working with The Body Shop to build and share industry knowledge and insights on how to harness consumers and drive collective action."
This exchange of experience is useful in the light of the start of an EU-supported Covenant of Mayors Demonstration Project in Chernivtsi.
Representatives of Chernivtsi city administration visited Zhytomyr at the end of September to learn about the city's experience in the field of improving energy efficiency and energy consumption management and monitoring, including with EU support.
Read alsoNew power line to be built between Ukraine and Slovakia
This exchange of experience is useful in the light of the start of an EU-supported Covenant of Mayors Demonstration Project in Chernivtsi, EU Neighbours reported.
The city plans to upgrade its public lighting with energy-efficient replacements. LED lamps will be installed and more than 145 km of electricity cables will be replaced. Additionally, six solar-powered lighting systems will be built to light up three children's playgrounds. It is expected that the city will reduce its CO2 emissions and will save electricity and money on public lighting.
It comes at a time of sharply increasing investment in renewables in Ukraine.
Ukraine unveiled a solar plant in Chornobyl on Friday, just across from where a power station, now encased in a giant sarcophagus, caused the world's worst nuclear disaster three decades ago.
Built in a contaminated area, which remains largely uninhabitable and where visitors are accompanied by guides carrying radiation meters, 3,800 panels produce energy to power 2,000 apartments, as reported by Reuters.
Read alsoChornobyl goes solar as first panels in nuclear zone near finish - media
In April 1986, a botched test at reactor number 4 at the Soviet plant sent clouds of nuclear material billowing across Europe and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.
Thirty-one plant workers and firemen died in the immediate aftermath of the accident, mostly from acute radiation sickness.
Thousands more later succumbed to radiation-related illnesses such as cancer, although the total death toll and long-term health effects remain a subject of intense debate.
"It's not just another solar power plant," Evhen Variagin, the chief executive of Solar Chornobyl LLC, told reporters. "It's really hard to underestimate the symbolism of this particular project."
The one-megawatt solar plant is a joint project by Ukrainian company Rodina and Germany's Enerparc AG, costing around 1 million euros ($1.2 million) and benefiting from feed-in tariffs that guarantee a certain price for power.
It is the first time the site has produced power since 2000, when the nuclear plant was finally shut down. Valery Seyda, head of the Chornobyl nuclear plant, said it had looked like the site would never produce energy again.
"But now we are seeing a new sprout, still small, weak, producing power on this site and this is very joyful," he said.
Two years ago, a giant arch weighing 36,000 tonnes was pulled over the nuclear power station to create a casement to block radiation and allow the remains of the reactor to be dismantled safely.
It comes at a time of sharply increasing investment in renewables in Ukraine. Between January and September, more than 500 MW of renewable power capacity was added in the country, more than twice as much as in 2017, the government says.
Yulia Kovaliv, who heads the Office of the National Investment Council of Ukraine, said investors want to reap the benefits from a generous subsidy scheme before parliament is due to vote on scrapping it in July next year.
"Investors expect that in the renewable energy sector facilities launched before 2019 will operate on the current (beneficial) system of green tariffs," she told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Odesa in September.
"And that is why investors want to buy ready-to-build projects in order to complete construction before that time."
Over 30% Ukrainians get under-the-table wages Fiscal Service
Shadowing wages leads to the loss of huge amounts of taxes by local budgets.
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Distributed via the CDC Health Alert Network
September 7, 2018, 1345 ET (1:45 PM ET)
CDCHAN-00414
Summary
The Israeli Ministry of Health is reporting an outbreak of leptospirosis in persons with exposure to natural water sources in the Golan Heights region of northern Israel after July 1, 2018. As of September 6, 2018, three persons with leptospirosis who traveled to Israel have been identified in the United States, with additional suspected cases reported and under investigation. Early symptoms of leptospirosis include fever, headache, chills, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea, cough, conjunctival suffusion (conjunctival redness without exudates), jaundice, and sometimes a rash. Clinicians should consider leptospirosis as a diagnosis in any patient who develops an acute febrile illness within 4 weeks of travel to one of the areas in northern Israel listed below since July 1, 2018.
Background
Seven recreational water sites in the Golan Heights region have been linked to the outbreak:
Gilabun (Jilbon)
Yarden (Jordan) Park
Majrase (Majrase-Beteha Nature Reserve)
Meshushim (Meshushim Nature Reserve)
Yehudiya (Yehudia Nature Reserve)
Zaki (Zakhi)
Zavitan
Leptospira species are spread by the urine of infected animals and can survive for weeks to months in fresh water, soil, and mud. The incubation period is usually 5-14 days, with a range of 2-30 days. Humans acquire the disease through direct contact with urine from animals infected with leptospirosis or with urine-contaminated water or mud. High-risk activities can include wading, swimming, or boating in floodwater or freshwater (rivers, streams, lakes) that may be contaminated with animal urine. Some actions like prolonged immersion in, submerging head in, or swallowing contaminated water can particularly increase risk. Other high risk activities can include direct contact with animals and activities that can lead to skin abrasions and water or soil exposure. Human-to-human transmission is very rare but has been documented through sexual intercourse and breastfeeding. Transmission has also rarely occurred through animal bites.
In humans, leptospirosis can cause a wide range of symptoms. Most patients have a mild flu-like illness with symptoms including fever, headache, muscle aches, conjunctival suffusion, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, and sometimes a rash. Some patients may go on to develop severe illness, including liver and renal failure, hemorrhage (especially pulmonary), aseptic meningitis, cardiac arrhythmias, and pulmonary insufficiency. Leptospirosis is fatal in approximately 5-15% of patients with severe illness.
Recommendations
Clinicians should evaluate patients for leptospirosis who have onset of an acute febrile illness within 4 weeks of travel to the Golan Heights region in northern Israel, especially with exposure to one of the seven natural water recreational sites listed above. If clinicians suspect leptospirosis in a patient, they should initiate treatment with antibiotics (e.g., doxycycline or penicillin) prior to receiving results of diagnostic tests, as earlier treatment is associated with a decrease in duration and severity of disease. For more specifics about antibiotics and dosage, please see CDCs leptospirosis fact sheet for clinicianspdf icon.
Commercially available tests include:
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): a positive result is confirmatory, but a negative result does not rule out leptospirosis. In the acute phase of illness, leptospires are present in the blood (septicemia) for approximately the first 46 days of illness. Leptospires may be shed intermittently in the urine after approximately the first week of illness onset.
Screening (non-confirmatory) IgM-based serologic assays (ELISA, ImmunoDot): serologic test results may be falsely negative early in the course of the disease. Antibodies to leptospires develop between 3-10 days after symptom onset, thus any serologic test must be interpreted accordingly. Negative serologic test results from samples collected in the first week of illness do not rule out disease. Repeat serologic testing on convalescent-phase samples collected 7-14 days after the first testing.
Samples can be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for confirmatory testing (PCR and confirmatory serologic testing by the microscopic agglutination test). Send all specimens through the state/territorial public health department, unless authorized to send directly to CDC. Specimen submission instructions are available at CDCs Zoonoses and Select Agent Laboratory website (https://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dhcpp/bacterial_special/zoonoses_lab.html).
It is best to submit as many specimen types as possible (both in terms of type of body fluid and collection date within illness progression). Recommended specimens based on collection timing:
Acute-phase illness (first week): whole blood and serum
Convalescent-phase illness (after first week): serum, with or without urine
Leptospirosis is a nationally notifiable disease. Clinicians should report leptospirosis cases to their local/state health department according to their states disease reporting requirements.
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Parliamentary Speakers Irakli Kobakhidze of Georgia, Andriy Parubiy of Ukraine and Andrian Candu of Moldova signed a charter of the Interparliamentary Assembly, which has been founded by the parliaments of the three countries, in Tbilisi on Friday.
The three countries have common goals and challenges, with "the problems related to territorial integrity" being one of the main common challenges, the Georgian parliamentary speaker said at a joint press conference.
"We also pursue common goals, including ensuring the European future for our countries. In this respect, it is extremely important to expand cooperation between the three countries," Kobakhidze said.
The Assembly also seeks to jointly protect the interests of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in the world in various multilateral parliamentary formats, he said.
"We try by taking joint efforts to attain that our association agreements with the European Union will turn into the prospect of joining the EU. To these ends we should share with each other the experience of reforms, which have been carried out on the path of integration in Western institutions," the Georgian parliamentary speaker said.
The platform of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine will help these countries find a solution to the problem of how to ensure security of all of the three countries in order to manage to join the EU quicker, Candu said.
"All of us are members of Eastern Partnership. All of the three countries have an agreement on association, and expanded and comprehensive trade with the EU. At the same time, we face common challenges, which are related to security in that region. It is in particular territorial security, energy independence and those threats, which exist in the area of cyber security, and the problem of disinformation also exists," Candu said.
By taking joint efforts within the framework of the Interparliamentary Assembly the parliaments will manage to help the three countries join the EU as soon as possible, and tackle the challenges to security more successfully, Parubiy said.
"When we will say in one voice, our partners will hear us quicker and better [...] I am sure that together we will quicker achieve our strategic goal, that is, the accession to the EU," Parubiy said.
Two wounded in 19 attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas over past day
Militants have fired 19 times on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbas over the past 24 hours, including seven times using weapons banned by the Minsk agreements, wounding two Ukrainian soldiers, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) headquarters has said.
"Russian invaders opened fire on the positions of our troops 19 times, including seven times with the use of weapons proscribed by the Minsk agreements. Two servicemen of the Joint Forces were injured in fighting," the JFO HQ said in a report on its Facebook page on Saturday morning.
Over the past day, militants shelled Ukrainian positions near Krymske, Svobodne, Komyshuvakha, Troitske, Luhanske, Shumy, Maryinka, Novotroitske, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Vodiane, and Shyrokyne.
Illegal armed formations used grenade launchers, heavy machineguns and small arms.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, two militants were killed and seven wounded in the past day.
Ukraine rules out the possibility of legalizing dual citizenship with Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.
"I would like to say that I categorically object and am opposed to even any ideas and thoughts to legalize dual citizenship with Russia, the aggressor. Any instances of receiving Russian citizenship must duly be investigated by our special services," Klimkin told the UA: Kharkiv TV channel on Friday evening.
The possibility of legalizing dual citizenship with other countries can be considered, he said.
"Ukrainians have moved to Canada or the United States, but they still have their Ukrainian mindset and are ready to help us. Possibly, we may assess on what terms and in what way they can also receive temporary or full Ukrainian citizenship, at the same time retaining their current citizenship," the minister said.
Ukraine needs a new law on citizenship, Klimkin said.
When asked whether he sees the need to introduce criminal liability for Ukrainians with dual citizenship, Klimkin said that "a lot of ethnic Hungarians and Romanians in our country hold dual citizenship, and if we introduce criminal liability for all, would it mean that all of them are by definition criminals?"
Verkhovna Rada First Deputy Chairwoman Iryna Gerashchenko, who represents Ukraine in the working group on humanitarian issues, has received two letters from Ukrainian political prisoners held in Russia, Oleh Sentsov and Roman Sushchenko.
"Today I received two letters. With a few sentences. One was written with such a weak hand that I had to decipher words and letters. These letters are very important and dear to me. From Roman Sushchenko and Oleh Sentsov. They were handed over by their lawyers and relatives of political prisoners. These are personal letters. They were written by very strong people who believe in Ukraine. They were convicted for this," Gerashchenko wrote on her Facebook page on Friday evening.
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II has said he hopes that autocephaly will soon be granted to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, according to Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy.
"We had a long conversation about the path of autocephaly. He [Patriarch Ilia II] says that this is not an easy path, but he hopes that this path will be passed, and the decision will be positive," Parubiy said after a meeting with the patriarch in Tbilisi on Friday, October 5.
When asked whether the Georgian patriarch spoke about pressure from the Russian Orthodox Church, the parliament speaker noted that they had not discussed this issue.
"However, we know that the day before yesterday a letter came from Moscow Patriarch Kirill, in which he calls on all the patriarchs to meet and discuss the Ukraine issue," Parubiy added.
A Syria woman, who arrived at the Hoptivka checkpoint in Kharkiv region from Russia, has appealed to Ukrainian border guards with the request to grant her refugee status in Ukraine, the press office of the Eastern Regional Directorate of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service reported on Saturday.
"During border control, the woman turned to border guards with the request to grant her political asylum in Ukraine. During the conversation, the woman explained that she was pregnant and arrived in Ukraine to save her life and the life of her future child, because there is a civil war in Syria which Russia fruitfully supports, and she is forced to seek asylum in Ukraine," reads the statement.
The woman also told border guards that she had arrived in Russia legally, but is afraid to stay there due to oppression by Russian special services because of her Islamic faith (Islam).
After filing the documents, the Syrian citizen was sent to the General Directorate of the State Migration Service in Kharkiv region.
People's Front Party leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk believes that a permanent international monitoring mission should immediately be deployed to the Sea of Azov, and NATO member states must send their military ships there to prevent Russia from isolating the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
"We will not allow Russia to block the Azov Sea and Mariupol. It is necessary to urgently deploy a permanent international monitoring mission to the Sea of Azov," the party's press service quoted Yatsenyuk as saying in an interview with Radio Liberty during his visit to Berlin.
He stressed that the conflict in the Sea of Azov is "part of the plan of Russia's aggression against Ukraine."
According to Yatsenyuk, Russia plans "to isolate Mariupol, destabilize it, and try to implement a plan to capture further territories of Ukraine."
"The annexation of the Crimea, then Donetsk and Luhansk, then Putin hoped that he would capture Mariupol, Kherson, reach Odesa, and fully extend the chain to Transdniestria," he said.
He stressed that the Ukrainian Navy is increasing its presence in the Sea of Azov, but it is not enough. He noted that Ukraine is at war with a nuclear power, "which spends tens of billions of dollars on its armed forces."
"I believe that NATO member countries, not just the United States, should decide on the supply of military vessels to protect the Sea of Azov. Regarding the political aspects, then, of course, we don't want escalation. But we will not allow Russia to block the Sea of Azov and Mariupol. Therefore, I believe that it is urgent to deploy a permanent international monitoring mission to the Sea of Azov," Yatsenyuk said.
While Iran's parliament is preparing to vote on a bill restricting money laundering and support for terrorism demanded by the international community, the Friday Prayer Leaders across Iran bitterly attacked President Hassan Rouhani for backing the bill.
Iran is under pressure by the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to accept a number of U.N. conventions against unlawful financial activities and support for terrorist entities.
Joining international anti-corruption conventions is crucial for Iran if it ever wants to emerge from economic isolation and attract foreign investments.
In tandem with fiery sermons delivered by the clergy, who are directly appointed by the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an anti-FATF rally was held at Friday Prayers location in the capital city, Tehran.
Furthermore, a member of the influential Expediency Council (EC) has also insisted that it will definitely reject the bill.
Debate on Iran joining the international convention against financing global terrorism has triggered widespread protests among the conservative camp that rules country, while ordinary people showed their anger against corruption in mass protests this year.
The ever-growing protests by conservatives forced parliament to temporarily shelve the bill and other bills related to it, last June.
The bill was scheduled to be re-introduced to parliament last Sunday, September 30, but, once again a crowd gathered outside to protest the move.
The protesters, numbering over 200, said endorsing the bill would amount to betraying the values of the "Islamic Revolution" and is against guidelines of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Several ultra conservative lawmakers, including former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Javad Karimi Qoddousi, were among the participants.
The protesters, introducing themselves as Tehran university students, carried banners and chanted "joining the FATF will harm Iran's security and economy", deploring the government for presenting the FATF to the legislative body for a final approval.
Rouhani's proposed bill is part of four sets of legislation, known as "Palermo Bills" in Iran, and is intended to get Tehran out of FATF's black list.
Two other bills have been approved by the parliament, so far, but rejected by the legislative watchdog, the Guardian Council (GC), calling for amendments. After parliament refused to amend the bills, they were referred to the Expediency Council, which is entrusted with acting as an arbiter between the two bodies.
Attacking the bills in recent days, mainly after the publication of a diagram against them on Khamenei's official website, has significantly intensified.
Responding to Khamenei's position, the Friday Prayer Leaders across Iran barraged the bills with vitriolic criticism, on October 5.
City of Rasht Friday Prayer Leader, Rasoul Falahati blasted FATF, insisting, "The Islamic Republic is an independent regime with independent planning; therefore, it will never bow to 'Zionist' conventions."
Moreover, dozens of people were carrying placards condemning the Palermo bills on the fringes of Tehran Friday Prayer, October 5, IRGC affiliated news agency, Fars, reported.The possible signatories of FATF bill were accused of "treason" on the placards, Fars said.
Responding to these attacks, Tehran's outspoken MP, Mahmoud Sadeqi, has tacitly pointed out that widespread propaganda by "certain circles" against Palermo Bill is a sign that shows the involvement of those certain circles with money laundering, smuggling and financing terrorism.
Heated debate on the controversial bills is going on in Iran at a time that U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser has called the Islamic Republic "the central banker of international terrorism"
Laying out a wider strategy for countering Tehran in the Middle East, John Bolton told reporters on October 4 that the U.S. strategy toward Iran would use both military and nonmilitary means to push back on Iranian-backed militants, and their financial backers.
Iran, he said, had been "the worlds central banker of international terrorism since 1979."
The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to witness a rise in the amount of seized opium and opiates such as heroin or morphine, owing largely to its locationon the Golden Crescent, a drug pathway leading fromAfghanistan and Pakistan through Iran to Europeanmarkets.
This pathway is integral to the issue of drug abuse in Iran, which is often centred on the use of opium and its derivative substances.
Other reports say Iran's drug policy is failing to grasp the significance of this public health crisis; an immense challenge hard to tackle.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Iran has seized almost 529 thousand kilograms of opium in 2016 alone, making it the country with the largest amount of seized opium in the world.
The 2018 World Drug Report published by the UNODC also shows that Iran is the worlds second country in the amount of seized heroin, with the government seizing over 21 thousand kilograms of heroin in 2016.
While both of these substances are derived from the poppy straw of the opium plant, it is heroin which remains the drug of choice to a majority of Iranian drug uses, says the report.
According to research carried out by the Iranian Drug Control Organization, out of the total 2.8 million drug addicts in Iran, 67% use heroin or some other forms of refined opium. While the widespread use of heroin may be caused by its highly addictive nature, it is also very likely that its popularity is due to the sheer amount of opium circulating in the country.
With that in mind, the large amount of opium moving through the country also results in the drugs low price. According to UNODC statistics from 2009, a gram of heroin can be bought for less than 2 US dollars. In comparison, the typical price of a gram of heroin in the United States ranges from 34 dollars up to 40 dollars.
Despite the governments efforts to capture drug traffickers at the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan, as shown by both the number of drug seizures but also the frequent violent clashes between armed forces and drug traffickers in the Sistan-Baluchistan province, its policy towards drug users has proven thoroughly unsuccessful.
Indeed, Abdol Reza Rahmani Fazli, Irans interior minister, said during the 61st session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, It is unbelievable that we have been incapable to control 3 percent of the population who use narcotic drugs?
Fazli has described Irans campaign against drug addiction as a vicious cycle where most drug users quickly return to drugs. Indeed, this vicious cycle could be partly attributed to the oppressive policy of Iranian authorities.
According to the Interior Minister, up to 43% of Iranian prisoners have been imprisoned for drug-related charges. This clearly shows that drug users in Iran are perceived as criminals by the authorities, instead of being victims of their addiction who need rehabilitation and support. By doing so, the users enter this vicious cycle which throws them into poverty and prisons.
Yet the implications of drug use in Iran are not only limited to the abuse of opium and the imprisoning of many of its users. While methamphetamines constitute only 8% of the countrys drug consumption, they became integral to Irans drug culture, the Iranian Drug Control Organization maintained.
According to UNODC, Methamphetamines or, in Farsi, Shisheh, are often used as a supplementary substance to opiates, either as substitute for heroin or a way how to avoid heroins severe withdrawal symptoms.
This highlights the problematic nature of Iranian drug policy, which seeks to punish the user. Mohammad Bakhshandeh, the chief of the Drug Police of Greater Tehran, has said that the whole policy needs restructuring.
If we have accepted the fact that addicts are not criminals and consider them as sick individuals, we should also accept that it is municipal and health departments duty to look after them, not the polices, he said, describing the disorganized policy where the policies of individual offices do not pursue one collective aim.
Meanwhile, Moreover, drug abuse in Iran has a significant gender dimension. According to statistics published by The Washington Post in 2014, 350 thousand women were addicted to drugs in 2012, a number which doubled to 700 thousand by 2014.
Although heroin is again the chief substance used by these women, methamphetamines have been reported as a widely used drug by female addicts. Indeed, some reports have gone to the extent as saying that some Iranian women now use methamphetamines to lose or maintain their weight. This drug abuse is often carried out in female-only environments such as beauty salons, which makes it difficult to monitor.
Akin to the governments treatment of the growing HIV epidemic, Iran's drug policy is failing to grasp the significance of this public health crisis. While officials have called for reform, it is clear that a well organised policy should have been implemented much earlier. Indeed, drug use has permeated through Iranian society and will prove to be an immense challenge for the government to tackle.
Washington, Oct 5, 2018 (AFP) -
Former secretary of state John Kerry voiced fear Friday of conflict with Iran after the United States pulled out of a denuclearization deal, saying regional leaders had privately pressed him for military strikes.
Kerry spearheaded diplomacy that led to the 2015 agreement in which Iran promised Western powers, Russia and China to scale back its nuclear program drastically in return for sanctions relief.
By pulling out of the accord, President Donald Trump has "made it more likely that there will be conflict in the region because there are people there who would love to have the United States of America bomb Iran," the former senator and presidential candidate told the Council on Foreign Relations as he promotes his memoir, "Every Day is Extra."
Kerry said that Saudi Arabia's late king Abdullah and Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak had both told him that the United States should attack Iran, even while they would not take the position publicly.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an outspoken critic of the Iran deal, had also asked then US president Barack Obama for the green light to bomb Iran, Kerry said.
While UN inspectors found that Iran was complying with the accord, Trump declared the deal to be a disaster for not addressing other US concerns with Iran including threats to Israel, support for Islamist militant moves such as Hezbollah and Tehran's missile program.
But Kerry said the United States was "actually getting them to do things, quietly," including on easing the conflict in war-ravaged Yemen, and believed that President Hassan Rouhani was "trying to move the country in a different direction."
"What Trump has done is now empower the guys in Iran who said don't deal with the United States, they'll burn you," Kerry said.
"He has made it more likely that if there is an implosion in Iran internally through pressure or otherwise, it will not be an unknown Jeffersonian democrat who is going to appear and take over, it will be the IRGC or another Ahmadinejad, and we will be worse off and the people of Iran will be worse off," he said, referring to the hardline Revolutionary Guards and former firebrand president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Trump has lashed out at Kerry for meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif since leaving office, accusing him of violating an obscure US law that prohibits private citizens from negotiating on disputes with foreign governments.
Kerry said Trump was seeking to distract from his own scandal related to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and said it was normal for former officials to maintain communication with foreign counterparts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 6
By Samir Ali - Trend:
Konstantin Zatulin, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the Lower House of Russian Parliament, is attempting to undermine the strategic partnership that exists between Russia and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani MP Tahir Karimli told Trend.
According to Karimli, such activities of the Russian deputy is unacceptable and should be seriously discussed.
"This issue should also be discussed in the Russian Parliament. Zatulins responsibilities include regulating relations with the CIS countries. This person should strive to improve Russia's relations with these countries, rather than slander," Karimli said.
The MP added that Zatulin's position does not reflect Russia's position on Azerbaijan.
"It is known that Zatulin has close ties with Armenians and always depends on the Armenian lobby. Therefore he always slanders Azerbaijan. His attempt to undermine relations between Azerbaijan and Russia is unacceptable. In general, we need to seriously address this issue, because Zatulin is a state official," Karimli added.
The MP added that the Azerbaijani embassy in Russia should raise this issue in the Russian Foreign Ministry and Parliament, because Zatulin seeks to belittle Azerbaijan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 6
Trend:
It is necessary to prepare a document to form a unified logistics system of the Turkic-speaking states, chairman of Azerbaijans State Customs Committee, Lieutenant-General of Customs Service Safar Mehdiyev said.
He made the remarks Oct. 6 at a meeting with a delegation led by Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States (CCTS) Bagdad Amreyev, Azerbaijans State Customs Committee said in a message.
Mehdiyev noted that as part of the organization, both bilateral relations and high-level ties of mutually beneficial cooperation were established between the fraternal countries, and a common position was demonstrated.
It was also noted at the meeting that the ties in the customs sphere, just like in all spheres, are at a high level. It was said that a vivid example of this is the exchange of information among the CCTS member states, the signing of agreements and protocols, the implementation of a test project for the early transfer of information.
Mehdiyev added that the heads of the Turkic-speaking states gave specific instructions to further strengthen cooperation in the customs field. He noted the need to prepare and implement a document on the formation of a unified logistics system in order to fulfill the obligations arising from these instructions.
Mehdiyev also said that the Azerbaijani customs service and a number of countries in the region implement electronic exchange of information, and noted that the use of such an exchange among all members of the organization creates conditions for simplifying trade and customs control, speeding up export-import operations.
In turn, Secretary General of the CCTS Bagdad Amreyev said that a unified position of the leaders on strengthening economic ties, cooperation in the field of transport and logistics was demonstrated and important steps were taken in this direction at the final summit of the CCTS.
Amreyev noted that this meeting and contacts to be held in October in Kyrgyzstan will also play an important role in enhancing cooperation.
Then, an exchange of views took place at the meeting on a number of issues of mutual interest.
Tehran, Iran, Oct. 6
Trend
The Iranian capital city of Tehran will host an international industry exhibition from October 13 to 16, an IRIB news agency report said.
According to the report, representatives from domestic and foreign brands and factories will set up pavilions at the exhibition in Tehran to display their latest achievements in the sector of industry.
Mohammad Khazraei, the director of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran, said 180 foreign firms from 10 countries, including Germany, India, China, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, and France would participate in the four-day event.
On the sidelines of the 18th edition of the international event, talks will be held with trade delegations and investors from various countries to enhance ties, he added.
The exhibition will be held at Tehran international permanent fairground.
Tehran, Iran, Oct. 6
Trend
The Iranian Ministry of Industry has lifted a ban on the export of packing paper and tissue paper, a report said.
In a directive circulated recently, all customs points across the country were allowed to export packing paper and tissue paper, Mehr news agency reported.
On August 15, the exports of packing paper, tissue paper, powdered milk, bulk and packed tea, and over 500g packets of butter were prohibited in a move to regulate the domestic market.
Due to the reinstatement of US sanctions, the Iranian administration is considering amendments to the country's exports and imports regulations.
The ministry also passed an order to ban the export of several commercial items, including woods, MDF, and newsprint.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 6
Trend:
Azerbaijans State Customs Committee hosted a joint meeting of the boards of the State Customs Committee and the Ministry of Taxes to discuss the implementation of the Action Plan to improve the control system of export-import operations approved by the decree of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev dated July 28, the State Committee said in a message.
The meeting was attended by chairman of Azerbaijans State Customs Committee, Lieutenant-General of the Customs Service Safar Mehdiyev, Minister of Taxes Mikayil Jabbarov, as well as the heads of relevant structures.
Mehdiyev touched upon the importance of the flawless implementation of the presidential instructions to both structures in a short period of time. Mehdiyev also noted that the State Customs Committee and the Ministry of Taxes established links of effective cooperation and all entrepreneurs and business entities will feel the benefit of this cooperation in their daily activities.
In turn, Jabbarov noted that holding the meeting in an expanded format will serve expanding cooperation between the two structures and the joint activity will be continued in the future to successfully fulfill the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev.
The minister also noted the need to intensify the work envisaged by the action plan. He added that the measures taken to coordinate the activities of the customs and tax authorities will have a positive result.
Then the representatives of both structures made a report on the work on the implementation of the action plan and spoke about the organization of the mutual exchange of information, a single platform for risk management, changes in the legislation and other issues.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 6
By Ilkin Shafiyev Trend:
The Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR hopes to complete the process of selecting a contractor for the preparation of a feasibility study of the project of providing Bulgarias certain regions with gas by the end of the year, head of SOCAR Balkans company Murad Heydarov told Trend.
"SOCAR was charged with exploration of the possibilities of participating in the project of providing Bulgarias certain regions with gas," Heydarov added. "A working group was created to fulfill that. The working group held several meetings at the working level, in particular, with the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy, Bulgarian Bulgartransgaz EAD."
"We received initial information and analyzed it," he said. "On this basis, a decision was made to carry out a detailed feasibility study. Today we are selecting a contractor, a consultant who, in fact, will carry out a feasibility study. According to the feasibility study, a decision will be made on our participation in the project. We hope that by the end of the year the contractor will begin work."
Back in 2015, the Bulgarian government submitted a package of projects on energy cooperation to Azerbaijan. In particular, the Azerbaijani side was offered to participate in the construction of filling stations, invest in the construction of oil and gas storages, oil refineries.
Bulgaria expects to receive Azerbaijani gas through IGB, a gas pipeline that will be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
The initial capacity of IGB will be three billion cubic meters of gas.
TAP worth 4.5 billion euros is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor. The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italys south.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.
The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor project was held in Baku on May 29.
A ceremony to launch TANAP took place June 12 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.
At an initial stage, the gas to be produced in the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.
As part of the Shah Deniz Stage 2, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets via the South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and TAP.
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Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 6
Trend:
Uzbekistan introduced a visa-free regime for French citizens, Uzbek media reported citing the presidential decree on the issue.
The visa-free regime is introduced in order to create favorable conditions for the development of international relations between Uzbekistan and France, promote cultural, scientific, educational exchange, improve the investment climate and positively influence the development of tourism potential.
The visa-free regime is valid for 30 days.
The number of French tourists visiting Uzbekistan is growing annually. In 2016 their number was 4,889 people, in 2017 - 5,748 people and in the first eight months of 2018 - 9,172 people, which is almost two times more than in the entire 2017.
Cooperation in the tourism sector between the relevant institutions of Uzbekistan and France is carried out on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on November 2, 2011.
According to the memorandum, the parties support cooperation in promoting tourism in both countries, in expanding and strengthening close ties between the tourism companies of Uzbekistan and France. Training and improving the skills of personnel, as well as in attracting investment in tourism are also among the aims.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 6
Trend:
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay an official visit to France on October 8-9 at the invitation of his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Uzbek media reported.
The visit is expected to include talks between the presidents, meetings with the leadership of the parliament, representatives of leading companies and financial institutions of France.
The agenda of the Uzbek-French summit includes issues of further development of political dialogue, expansion of practical cooperation in trade, economics and finance, joint implementation of investment projects in various sectors, as well as enhancing cultural and humanitarian exchanges.
Following the meetings and negotiations, more than 10 intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents will be signed. These include agreements on cooperation in the fields of economics and finance, transport, tourism, ecology, culture and art, a program of cooperation between foreign ministries and others.
A meeting of the President of Uzbekistan with the UN Director-General for Education, Science and Culture Audrey Azoulay will also take place. Prospects for deepening the partnership between Uzbekistan and UNESCO will be discussed during the meeting and a joint action plan for 2018-2021 will be adopted.
Representatives of a number of Iranian knowledge-based companies visiting Uganda to the accompaniment of Vice President for Scientific and Technological Affairs Sourena Sattari signed four memoranda of understanding with the Ugandan firms, IRNA reports.
A conference of Iranian and Ugandan companies was in held Kampala with participation of Ugandan Minister for Science and Technology Elioda Tumwesigye, Sourena Sattari and Irans Ambassador Seyyed Morteza Mortazavi.
Representatives of Iranian knowledge-based companies active in health and pharmaceutical, chemical industries, communications and technology, electricity and electronics, aerospace, engineering services, machinery and equipment and banking sectors held talks with the representatives of Ugandan private and state-run sectors on ways of promoting cooperation.
During the meeting, the Ugandan minister said that grounds are prepared for the Iranian companies to invest in the country.
He also called on the Iranian firms to work out a long-term plan for presence in the countrys market of 40-million.
Sattri also commented on Irans scientific and technological status, saying that Iran is ready for sharing its technology with the country.
Former Pakistans Ambassador to the US and senior politician has urged the Pakistani government to pay special attention to enhance trade ties with Iran, IRNA reports.
In an interview, Syeda Abida Hussain added Iran-Pakistan relationship is extremely important. Iran is not only a neighboring state, but we have many many things in common, she noted.
Former minister added that in order to improve the relationship we should try to increase our bilateral trade because that will give a big boost to the relationship between Iran and Pakistan.'
Abida Hussain was of the view that Pakistan should try to make a block of Iran, Turkey, Russia and China as that would serve the interests of all of the countries of this region. I think that is where we should be heading, former Ambassador added.
She said that if Iran and Pakistan work together, Afghan peace would be more feasible.
I feel that new Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan should make an effort to bring Iran and Saudi Arabia closer together, said the former minister.
The politician strongly believed that Pakistan should definitely go for the completion of Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project to overcome its energy problems.
This project is very important for Pakistan and should be completed as early as possible, she viewed.
According to published reports, Iran holds the world's second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia. We are ready to transfer more gas to other countries in the form of LNG and pipeline deliveries, the deputy minister concluded. Iran is a large producer of gas and neighbors will need more gas in the near future. We should prepare the grounds as a promising future is awaiting Irans gas industry, Araqi said. The forum kicked off in the Russian capital on October 3 and will come to an end on October 6. Subscribe to Trend in Google News! Turkeys Samsun bans unvaccinated visitors from abroad Turkey relaxes COVID-19 restrictions at mosques Turkey reports 23,637 daily COVID-19 cases Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh was supposed to attend the meeting but could not make it. Iran has the capability and capacity to expand its export markets and boost its gas exports to neighboring nations and other clients, Hamid-Reza Araqi said, who is in Moscow attending the Russian Energy Week-2018 forum, said recently, according to Shana.
The managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said the country has the capacity to increase its gas exports to neighbors and its other clients.
Tehran, Iran, Oct. 6
Trend
Flooding across the northern and northwestern parts of Iran has claimed four lives since Friday, a report said.
Floods hit several areas in the northern and northwestern parts of Iran after days of heavy rain, destroying homes and bridges.
Citing sources in Irans Rescue and Relief Organization, Tasnim news agency said at least four were killed as results of flooding and lightning.
Over the past two days, four provinces of Mazandaran, Gilan, Ardabil, and West Azarbaijan were hit by floods.
Rescue teams are helping people pump out flooded houses and pull out cars stuck in flood, the report added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, October 6
By Azer Ahmadbayli Trend:
In the near future, it will depend on President Macron whether the European Big Three (France, Great Britain, and Germany) will continue to maintain unity in the issue of preserving the Iranian nuclear deal.
One recent issue may have an impact on how France will decide on the nuclear deal.
In early July, the media reported on the operation of the Belgian police to detain two immigrants from Iran suspected of preparing a terrorist attack in France.
The detention of Iranians occurred in the town of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. Police found materials used for production of a bomb in their car. According to police, they were going to carry out a terrorist attack in the suburbs of Paris during a conference that gathered many representatives of the Iranian opposition in exile.
And, several days ago, i.e. three months after the incident happened, official Paris eventually revealed its position on the issue.
France has accused Iran's intelligence ministry of being behind a foiled plot to bomb an exiled opposition in a move that risks straining already complicated ties between Paris and Tehran, AFP reported on October 3.
"This extremely serious act envisaged on our territory could not go without a response," France's interior, foreign and economy ministers said in a rare joint statement.
Also, a French diplomatic source told AFP that the security forces had concluded that "the head of operations at the (Iranian) intelligence ministry ordered it".
Iran denied any involvement, how could it not?
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told AFP in an interview that Tehran rejected the French complaint "completely and forcefully", but said the door for discussion was open.
Reportedly, Assadollah Asadi, an Iranian diplomat based in Vienna, is directly relevant to the plot, and has been detained in Germany for further proceedings.
That is another serious accusation among many others, which has been made against Iran, now by France. Article 421-1-4, 421-2-1, 421-6-2, 421-6-3 of the Criminal code of France clearly qualify these actions as a felony.
The only thing that raises doubts is that there is no hard evidence of the crime which has been made public in a transparent manner.
This is why, commenting the issue, all media outlets have to use expressions such as allegedly, reportedly etc.
But this will not hinder France to use this incident and join the US by withdrawing from the nuclear deal if official Paris decides to do so.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, was on his visit to Washington from October 4 to 5. During this visit, Jean-Yves Le Drian met with Michael Pompeo. He was also planned to meet John Bolton, President Trumps national security adviser.
Perhaps, at those meetings Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Bolton tried to convince the French side that it should take a proper decision.
Georgia has been steadily intensifying its economic relations with the EU in recent years. With a growing confidence and vision to develop the energy sector, its intention to expand has attracted many aid programs, GeorgiaToday reports.
The Georgia and German development bank, KfW, and Georgia and French development agency, AFD, signed a loan agreement for aid amounting to a total of EUR 74 mln that will go towards improving Georgias energy sector. According to the loan agreement, KfW and AFD are ready to fully support the Georgian energy sector reforms and plan to cooperate with Georgia over the next four years (2018-2021).
These agreements are proof that the EU and countries such as France and Germany are committed to playing a role in our energy development and reforms. We are fully mobilized to develop and support the reform, said Giorgi Kobulia, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.
With the agreement, we will further enhance the fruitful cooperation in the energy sector which was established by the Georgian authorities. The energy sector is a crucial area, as it includes topics of high-importance such as energy security and effective use of a countrys resources, said Carl Harcelli, the EU Ambassador to Georgia.
The European Union will also approve disbursement of EUR 8.5 mln in grants to assist in funding the energy sector reform within the frames of the Neighborhood Investment Platform (NIP).
Kurds in Syria Shutdown Assyrian School for Refusing Kurdish Curriculum
(AINA) -- Kurdish PKK authorities closed an Assyrian school in Derbiseye, Syria after Assyrian school officials refused to adopt a Kurdish teaching curriculum. The Kurdish PKK prosecutor in Derik/Malikiye, Syria, issued the order on August 7, which is Assyrian Martyrs Day.
Letter from Kurdish PKK ordering closing of the Assyrian school in Derbiseye, Syria.
The Syrian government is expected to take control of all schools in the area in the upcoming weeks, but that did not stop PKK officials from attempting to impose the Kurdish curriculum on Assyrians.
The PKK has targeted Assyrian schools in the past. In November, 2015 sixteen Assyrian and Armenian organizations issued a statement protesting Kurdish expropriation of private property in the Hasaka province of Syria. The statement accused the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian wing of the Turkish Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), of human rights violations, expropriation of private property, illegal military conscription and interference in church school curricula (AINA 2015-11-02, 2016-05-24).
The Kurdish-language primary school curricula introduced by the PYD-led Kurdish authorities in northern Syria in October, 2015 was heavily criticized for being too ideological and "prioritizing a single view over all others." (AINA 2015-10-21)
The Assyrian Bishop in Hasaka, Maurice Amsih, denounced the Kurdish curriculum in September, 2016 (AINA 2016-09-16).
Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdoms main sovereign wealth fund (PIF) will surpass its target of increasing its assets to $600 billion by 2020, as part of a plan to reduce the economys dependence on oil, Reuters reports.
We are now above $300 billion, were getting close to $400 billion. Our target in 2020 is around $600 billion. I believe we will surpass that target in 2020, the prince said in a Bloomberg interview.
He added that the fund, with more than 50 percent of its investments located in Saudi Arabia, will be investing in more places next year.
The fund would invest another $45 billion in Softbank Vision fund, the worlds largest private equity fund, backed by Japans Softbank Group and the PIF, which invests in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics.
We have a huge benefit from the first one. We would not put, as PIF, another $45 billion if we didnt see huge income in the first year with the first $45 billion, the prince said.
Locally, one of the biggest investments for the PIF is a planned $500 billion business and industrial zone called NEOM extending into Jordan and Egypt, announced in October 2017.
Prince Mohammed said the first town in NEOM will be ready in 2019 or 2020, with the entire site completed by 2025.
China will be part of the solution to the North Korean crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, brushing aside the possibility that worsening U.S. tensions with Beijing could hamper efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons, Reuters reports.
Speaking to a pool reporter en route to his fourth visit this year to North Korea, Pompeo said the aim of his talks in Pyongyang at the weekend would be to make sure we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve.
He said he also hoped to be able to agree a general date and location for a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Asked whether increasing tensions with China would hamper his efforts after Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday signaled a tough new approach to Beijing going beyond a bitter trade war, Pompeo said China had consistently made clear it wanted to see North Korean denuclearization.
And they have said in spite of places where we have disagreements and other things - we have had disagreement on trade and the like - that they are determined to support our efforts to see this through to its completion, consistently since we first began this process, he said.
We know that China is going to be part of the solution, thatll ultimately be when we get to the end, he said. If we do this well we will have signed a peace treaty that ends the armistice, that China will be part of that.
Kim pledged at an unprecedented June 12 meeting with Trump to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but his actions since have fallen short of Washingtons demands for irreversible steps to give up an arsenal that potentially threatens the United States.
Representatives of the European Union and Russia have held consultations in Brussels on issues of flight safety for Russian aircraft to member countries in the Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) program, Russia's Permanent Mission to the EU said, TASS reports.
"On October 5, 2018, Russia-EU bilateral technical consultations were held in Brussels on issues of ensuring flight safety for Russian airlines that transport passengers and cargoes to airports of member countries in the SAFA program. At the meeting, the results of inspections of Russian airlines' aircraft were discussed," the diplomatic mission said adding that the Russian delegation was headed by deputy head of Rosaviatsiya air transport agency Oleg Storchevoy.
Russia's Permanent Mission to the EU said that "representatives of the European Commission noted the continuing positive tendency of improvements in flight safety of Russian airlines." "The sides confirmed high effectiveness of holding meetings in this format," the mission added.
The diplomatic mission stressed that meetings in this format between the EU and Russia have been held without any interruptions. "Despite freezing dialogue on transport overall, work in this sphere [flight safety of Russian airlines] has continued without any disruptions since 2009," the mission said.
The Standard & Poors credit scoring agency upgraded its credit rating for Israel, citing the Jewish states steady economic growth and improved debt outlook, The Times of Israel reports.
With the raising of its credit score from A+ to AA- with a stable outlook, Israel notched its highest ever rating from S&P and other international credit rating firms.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the upgraded rating as a reflection of the strength of the Israeli economy.
In announcing its decision, S&P cited Israels stable growth and improved fiscal position in light of the sharp reduction in net government debt.
Chilean Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica, on Friday agreed to jointly collaborate with the European Union (EU) to incorporate new technologies into the country's mining industry, mainly the exploration of lithium, according to Xinhua.
Prokurica met with the EU delegation headed by Neven Mimica, EU's commissioner for International Cooperation and Development and the EU's ambassador to Chile, Stella Zervoudaki.
The minister explained Chile's need to apply new technologies to increase the industry's economic output, strengthen safety, raise efficiency and tighten cybersecurity.
According to Prokurica, technology has already offered advances to the nation's mining industry, such as automation, "Now we have 330-ton trucks that are driven by GPS."
"The use of remote on-site controls allow mining processes to be managed from a distance, which is why it is important that Chile has sound cybersecurity," he added.
Outlining the EU's stance, Zervoudaki said that cybersecurity and technology are issues already under discussion at an international level and meetings could be held to address these matters together.
"Cybersecurity is important for everyone; some of our delegates are working in Spain, France and Germany. Today in Chile we could establish joint work," said the ambassador.
The two sides also discussed the potential that Chile has regarding lithium, commonly used in heavy industry and technology, which is vital to the Chilean economy.
They agreed that the EU could send experts to Chile to analyze the investments required to fully recognize its potential.
"Scientists and researchers could come together with those Europeans so that they could generate a value chain for lithium, which is so important for Chile," he said.
Chile is one of the major producers of lithium in the world, with an approximate annual production of 80,000 tons. The number could exceed 300,000 tons a year by 2035, according to official estimates.
Russia and Madagascar have signed an intergovernmental agreement on military cooperation, the press service of the Russian defense ministry said, TASS reports.
The agreement was signed during the visit of Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Yevgeny Burdinsky who was received by Prime Minister of Madagascar Christian Ntsay.
"The meeting yielded an agreement between the governments of Russia and Madagascar on military cooperation," the Russian defense ministry said.
Burdinsky and Ntsay discussed issues of regional security and areas of cooperation between the two countries armed forces.
Burdinsky visited a number of units of Madagascars army, familiarized himself with its structure, weapons and hardware.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday has talked about the upcoming Russian President Vladimir Putin's birthday, Sputnik reports.
"The president will spend this day with loved ones, relatives and friends," Peskov said answering a question about Putin's plans for the birthday.
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said that he will fly to his friend Vladimir Putin on his birthday.
"I'm flying on a plane to celebrate my friend Vladimir Putin's birthday. I will take the opportunity to discuss all the most important international problems," the message says on his Facebook page.
Putin often spent his birthdays with his family. For instance, in 2016 the Russian leader spent most of the day with his relatives and friends.
On Sunday, October 7, Putin will turn 66.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 6
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Yousef Al-Othaimeen condemned the attack on the military convoy in Turkey, the OIC said in a message on Oct. 6.
Othaimeen also expressed condolences to the Turkish government and people.
"The OIC and all of its members are united in the fight against terrorism," the message reads.
In Turkey's Batman Province, four servicemen were killed and five were injured after an explosion hit a military convoy on Oct. 4.
The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has lasted more than 25 years, claiming more than 40,000 lives. The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by the UN and the EU.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 6
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The Armed Forces of Turkey will fight for the complete destruction of the terrorists, Turkish media reported citing the Minister of National Defense of Turkey Hulusi Akar Oct. 6.
The Turkish Armed Forces, as before, will wage a fierce and merciless fight against the PKK, Akar said.
He stressed that Turkey is one of the few countries that is fighting against all terrorist organizations alone.
In Turkey's Batman Province, four servicemen were killed and five were injured after an explosion hit a military convoy on Oct. 4.
The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has lasted more than 25 years, claiming more than 40,000 lives. The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by the UN and the EU.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
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KYODO NEWS - Oct 6, 2018 - 19:45 | World, All
Indonesia said Saturday that the death toll from last month's powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck Central Sulawesi province has risen to 1,649, as a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force transport plane arrived in the provincial capital as part of international relief operations.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said the number of people listed as missing has more than doubled from 113 the previous day to 265, the number of people with serious injuries remains unchanged at 2,549.
The number of people displaced has decreased from 70,821 to 62,359 as residents who sought refuge following the Sept. 28 quake and tsunami and have starting returning home or relocating to outside the province.
The ASDF C-130 transport plane arrived in the provincial capital Palu, bringing humanitarian relief goods from the nearby island of Kalimantan. Foreign aid is being directed to Kalimantan across the Makassar Strait because parts of Palu's airport were damaged by tremors.
(Japan's relief goods at Palu airport)
After arriving in Palu, Col. Masashi Ota, who is directing Japan's transportation operation, told reporters that he wants to provide support to the victims as quickly as possible.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency has donated equipment including 500 tents, 80 generators and 20 water purifiers, which earlier arrived in Balikpapan, the main city on Kalimantan.
Also on board were some 50 ASDF personnel, including eight tasked with assessing damage and the needs of victims. The group departed Wednesday from Komaki Air Base in Aichi Prefecture.
According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, the aircraft will be transporting supplies from Kalimantan to Sulawesi daily.
Cargo planes from countries including Singapore, New Zealand and Australia are already involved in the effort to transport supplies to Palu.
KYODO NEWS - Oct 6, 2018 - 21:30 | World, All
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is visiting Tokyo from Saturday for a regional summit, said he plans to seek support from Japan for Cambodia's hosting of the Asia-Europe Meeting in 2020.
Hun Sen told Kyodo News in a written interview on Friday that the meeting will allow a developing country like Cambodia to showcase its potential to attract investment and tourism, which are significant factors to further develop its economy.
Hun Sen flew to Japan for the Japan-Mekong summit, which will also be attended by the leaders of Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam. He is slated to have a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the summit.
During his five-day stay in Japan, Hun Sen said he will seek to strengthen relations with Japan in many fields.
In Cambodia's general election held in July in which no credible opposition took part, Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won all seats in the National Assembly.
The European Union has been critical of the Cambodian government over the election, especially with regard to the forced dissolution of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party ahead of the election and a five-year political ban for 118 members of the party.
When asked whether Cambodia is concerned about the possibility of some European countries boycotting the Asia-Europe Meeting over the election, Sok Siphana, an adviser to the Cambodian government who is involved with ASEM preparations, said Cambodia is supported by all nine other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
If the summit takes place as planned, it will be the first time for Cambodia to host such a large gathering of leaders from Asia and Europe.
Regarding logistics and accommodation, Sok Siphana said Cambodia will be able to cater to and entertain world leaders given that many new hotels and high-rise buildings have been sprouting up all over the country, especially in the capital city Phnom Penh, over the past 10 years.
Hun Sen, who has been in power for 33 years, also said that he regards his eldest son, Hun Manet, as a possible future leader of the Southeast Asian country.
However, he acknowledged that no matter how capable the four-star general may be, "When the time comes, only the power of the people nationwide could determine who will become their new leader."
The Asia-Europe Meeting was established in 1996 as a forum for dialogue and cooperation between Europe and Asia. It aims to strengthen the relationship between the two continents.
The forum brings together 53 partners, including the 30 European countries -- 28 EU member states, Norway, Switzerland -- 21 Asian countries, and the ASEAN Secretariat
The ASEM summit is organized every two years to set out the priorities of the partnership. These summits are held alternatively in Asia and Europe.
KYODO NEWS - Oct 6, 2018 - 23:00 | All, World
A project to build an oil refinery in Iraq with Japanese financial aid will begin by year-end, after being delayed by the Islamic State militant group, according to an executive of an Iraqi state-run company.
South Refineries Co. is set to call for bids by December to build the plant in the southern city of Basra, with an eye toward construction beginning next year, director general Husam Weli said in a recent interview with Kyodo News.
[Photo courtesy of Iraq's South Refineries Co.]
Japan, which has already provided around 42 billion yen in loans for the project, will extend additional official development assistance to bring the total to more than 300 billion yen ($2.6 billion), Weli said.
Japan and Iraq agreed on the project in 2012, but construction was delayed in part by the IS seizing control of large swathes of Iraq over ensuing years.
As many refineries in Iraq were destroyed by the extremist group or are old, one of the largest oil-producing countries in the world has been forced to import gasoline and other petroleum products.
Weli visited Japan in late September to meet with officials of companies wishing to participate in the bidding.
By Satoshi Iizuka, KYODO NEWS - Oct 6, 2018 - 22:29 | World, All
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed Saturday to urge North Korea to take concrete steps toward denuclearization as they coordinated policies ahead of Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang.
Pompeo, who is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday, promised Abe too that he will raise the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the North in the 1970s and 1980s.
Abe and Pompeo also reaffirmed that U.N. sanctions should be implemented until North Korea denuclearizes, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
"We would like to coordinate our policies toward North Korea's abduction, nuclear and missile issues," Abe said at the outset of the meeting with Pompeo at the prime minister's office.
As Tokyo and Washington have been in even closer contact with each other than before the historic U.S.-North Korea summit in June, Pompeo said, "We'll have a full coordinated, unified view of how to proceed, which will be what is needed if we're going to be successful in denuclearizing North Korea."
Abe has placed priority on resolving the abduction issue and he has expressed his willingness to engage in direct talks with Kim.
Pompeo also met with Foreign Minister Taro Kono later in the day.
"It's our shared goal between Japan and the United States to resolve the abduction issue," Kono told reporters after the meeting.
[Pool]
In Pyongyang on Sunday, Pompeo will seek to work out the details of a second U.S.-North Korea summit that President Donald Trump has said he would hold "in the not too distant future."
But speaking on his plane en route to Tokyo, Pompeo said, "I doubt we will get it nailed," according to U.S. media reports. He said he hopes to "begin to develop options for both location and timing for when Chairman Kim will meet with the president again."
U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun is accompanying Pompeo. It will be Biegun's first visit to North Korea since assuming the post in August, while Pompeo is making his fourth trip there.
Following his trip to Pyongyang, Pompeo will visit South Korea to meet with President Moon Jae In and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung Wha, and stop over in China on Monday, the U.S. State Department said.
Speculation has emerged recently that Washington will agree with Pyongyang on a conditional end-of-war declaration in return for concrete steps toward the North's denuclearization, which is expected to be a major issue at the envisioned U.S.-North Korea summit.
The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, which means U.S.-led U.N. forces, including South Korea, are technically still at war with North Korea.
Beijing and Seoul have expressed expectations for the declaration, while Tokyo has remained cautious.
Pompeo canceled his planned trip to the North Korean capital in late August due to a lack of credible action by Pyongyang, even though Kim pledged to work toward "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit in June in Singapore.
Kim expressed his readiness, in a meeting with Moon in Pyongyang last month, to permanently dismantle the North's main nuclear complex if the United States takes "corresponding measures."
In New York in late September, Pompeo and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho agreed that the secretary of state would visit Pyongyang to prepare for the second Trump-Kim summit.
(Contribution by Noriyuki Suzuki)
The Supreme Court had earlier directed Tamil Nadu to immediately submit the details of the exact quantity of leak in the dam.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Delhi's Hyderabad House held delegation level talks during the 19th India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit. After the exchange of agreements both leaders issued press statements at Hyderabad House where India inked a $5 billion deal to get hold of Moscow's most advanced air defense system the S-400 Triumf. India is intending to buy five units.
In his address Putinsaid It is my great pleasure to once again invite Prime Minister to participate in the next Vladivostok Forum as the main guest. Russian president informed the PM Modi about the situation in Syria and also discussed the situation that came as a result of action of US to withdraw from Iran deal.
While PM Modi on his press address said India gives priority to its relations with Russia. He added that Russia has always been a part of India's growth story.PM Modi also said ,Our countries have mutual benefits in supporting struggle against terrorism, Afghanistan & Indo-Pacific events, climate change; organisations like SCO, BRICS, G20 & ASEAN. We have agreed to continue cooperation to these international organizations.
Deal for five Russian S-400 Triumf missile shield systems has been signed by India. Deal for space cooperation also signed between Russia and India. An Indian monitoring station will be built near the Russian city of Novosibirsk in Siberia, said Sources.
President Putin arrived Thursday and was greeted by Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj at the airport and welcomed by PM Modi at his residence on lavish dinner.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by top officials including foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
Condolence books for former Party leader opened abroad
Vietnamese embassies abroad held tribute-paying ceremonies and opened condolence books for former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Do Muoi.
Large numbers of foreign officials, diplomats, friends and overseas Vietnamese around the world paid tribute to former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Do Muoi at Vietnamese Embassies around the world.
Do Muoi, who passed away in Hanoi on October 1 at the age of 101, served as General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee from June 1991 to December 1997.
Vietnam holds a State funeral and two days of national mourning for him on October 6 and 7.
In Chile, after the Vietnamese Embassy opened a condolence book on October 5 (local time), a representative from the Chilean foreign minister Juan Carlos Barrientos and President of the Chile-Vietnam Cultural Institute Angela Margarita Jeria Gomez were among the guests who came to pay last respects to the deceased Vietnamese party leader.
Ambassadors and diplomats from the embassies of Russia, Cuba, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, El Salvador, Brazil, Venezuela and Turkey also paid tribute and wrote in the funeral book.
At the tribute ceremony held by the Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic, the embassy staff were joined by representatives from the Communist Party of Bohemia and Morava, ambassadors and diplomats of ASEAN countries, Japan, Russia, the Palestine, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Libya, Ghana, and Vietnamese associations in Europe and the Czech Republic.
A representative from the Communist Party of Bohemia and Morava wrote in the funeral book: On behalf of the leader of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Morava and Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies Vojtech Filip, we offer deepest condolences to the Vietnamese people over the loss of a great son, a great politician who is also a friend of the Czech Republic.
Similar events were held and funeral books opened at the Vietnamese Embassies in Germany, Belgium, Ukraine, Myanmar and Israel on October 4 and 5. Most funeral books will remain open through October 6.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia organised a tribute-paying ceremony for former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) Do Muoi on October 4-5.
Writing in the funeral book, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh lauded the former leader for his contributions to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation.
Minh wrote that in his capacity as the General Secretary of the CPVCC, comrade Do Muoi made historic and strategic directions in external relations such as normalising ties with China and the US, signing the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation with the European Union, joining ASEAN and launching negotiations on the Bilateral Trade Agreement with the US.
At the ceremony, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Royal Palace Kong Sam Ol conveyed a letter of condolences from King Norodom Sihamoni to General Secretary of the CPVCC Nguyen Phu Trong.
Sim Ka, a member of the Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) Central Committees Standing Board expressed his profound condolences to the Vietnamese Party, government and people and family of comrade Do Muoi and wished that he will rest in peace.
The ambassadors of Laos, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Myanmar, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, and representatives from embassies and international organisations in Phnom Penh also came to pay their last respects to the former Party leader.
On October 5, the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia, the Vietnamese Consulate Generals in Sydney and Perth also held respect-paying ceremonies and opened funeral books for the former Party chief.
Representatives of the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, diplomatic corps, embassies of Laos, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Venezuela also paid tribute to comrade Do Muoi.
Lao Ambassador to Australia Sisavath Inphachanh wrote that the former General Secretary was a great leader who made great contributions to national liberation and development, as well as ties between the two Parties and special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Laos and Vietnam.
A similar ceremony was also held in Myanmar on October 5.
Foreign leaders extend sympathy over former Party chiefs passing
Former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Do Muoi (left) and Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Foreign leaders have extended messages of condolences to their Vietnamese counterparts over the passing of former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) Do Muoi.
In a letter sent to CPVCC General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Raul Castro said he was saddened when learning about the death of the former Party chief.
As a close friend of Cuba, comrade Do Muoi had contributed to consolidating the fraternity between the two countries, he said.
Raul Castro extended the deepest sympathy to Party General Secretary Trong and former Party General Secretary Do Muois family.
President of Cubas Council of State and Council of Ministers Miguel Diaz Canel also cabled condolence messages to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Acting President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh.
The government and people of Cuba always keep in mind comrade Do Muois contributions to the development of the long-standing friendship and fraternity between the two countries, he said.
Myanmars State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi expressed her sympathy to PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc while President Win Myint extended condolences to Acting President Thinh.
They highly valued former Party General Secretary Do Muois outstanding leadership and great contributions to advancing political, economic and social position of Vietnam in regional and international arena.
Thailands Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai sent messages of sympathy to PM Phuc and Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.
The Thai leaders praised the Vietnamese former Party chiefs great contributions to Vietnams Doi Moi (Reform) process, and laying a firm foundation for the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Other condolence messages came from Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, and President of Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance and Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan Toshihiro Nikai to PM Phuc and President of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Parliamentarians Group and head of the Party Central Committees Organisation Commission Pham Minh Chinh.
Deputy PM and FM Minh also got a message from Japanese Foreign Minister Kono Taro.
In their letters, the Japanese leaders praised former General Secretary Do Muoi as a talented leader who significantly contributed to national development and paid due attention to promoting the Vietnam-Japan relationship.
In a message to Party General Secretary Trong, President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in hailed former Party General Secretary Do Muoi for his great contributions to the relations between Vietnam and the RoK, especially the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic ties.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Israel Cao Tran Quoc Hai writes in the condolence book
Guests pay tribute to former CPV General Secretary Do Muoi at the Vietnamese Embassy in Ukraine
Lao Ambassador to Australia Sisavath Inphachanh pays tribute to the deceased leader and writes in funeral book at the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Royal Palace Samdech Kong Sam Ol lit incense in memory of the deceased Vietnamese Party leader at the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia
The tribute-paying ceremony at the Vietnamese Embassy in the Republic of Korea
The Cuban Ambassador to Thailand writes in the funeral book opened by the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand
Staff of the Vietnam's Permanent Mission to the United Nations pay tribute to Party leader Do Muoi
The US Ambassador to Myanmar writes in the funeral book
VNA
A delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee led by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong pay tribute to Do Muoi
CPV General Secretary lit incense in tribute to Do Muoi National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, former President Nguyen Minh Triet, former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, former National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Van An paid last respects to the Party leader Former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, former National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Van An, former President Truong Tan Sang, former NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, former CPV General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, former President Tran Duc Luong CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, former CPV General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc Former President Truong Tan Sang, former NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and other officials The delegation of the Central Military Commission and Defence Ministry is led by Politburo member, Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission and Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich The delegation from the Finance Ministry is led by member of the CPV Central Committee and Minister Dinh Tien Dung The delegation of the Supreme People's Procuracy is led by member of the CPV Central Committee and Prosecutor General Le Minh Tri The delegation of the Ministry of Home Affairs is led by member of the CPV Central Committee and Minister Le Vinh Tan The delegation of the Party Committee of the Naval High Command The delegation of the Health Ministry is led by Deputy Minister Nguyen Viet Tien The delegation of the Foreign Ministry is led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh The delegation of the Vietnam News Agency is led by member of the CPV Central Committee and General Director Nguyen Duc Loi
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 5, 2018 -- In the world of catalytic reactions, polymers created through electropolymerization are attracting renewed attention. A group of Chinese researchers recently provided the first detailed characterization of the electrochemical properties of polyaniline and polyaspartic acid (PASP) thin films. In AIP Advances, from AIP Publishing, the team used a wide range of tests to characterize the polymers, especially their capacity for catalyzing the oxidation of popularly used materials, hydroquinone and catechol.
This new paper marks one of the first pairings of standard electrochemical tests with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis in such an application. "Because these materials can be easily prepared in an electric field and are cost-effective and environmentally friendly, we think they have the potential to be widely used," said Shuo-Hui Cao, an author on the paper.
Although PASP has shown excellent electrocatalytic responses to biological molecules, newer areas of inquiry have explored the material's ability to lower the oxidational potential in oxidation-reduction reactions. Reducing the oxidation potential is key for finding further uses for two materials used extensively as raw materials and synthetic intermediates in pharmaceuticals, hydroquinone and catechol.
Conductive polymers, like polyaniline, have attracted attention for their high conductivity and low cost. To better understand these materials, Cao and his colleagues tested how well PASP and polyaniline were able to oxidize hydroquinone and catechol using several standard electrochemical techniques, including attenuated total reflection Fournier transform infrared spectrophotometry, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
Using proton-based NMR, they monitored the progress of each reaction by directly measuring how quickly reactants were used and products were created. Cao said that their work using NMR analysis on catechol looks to fill a gap they found in the literature.
"The NMR technique allows us to find out more about their molecular structure and better compare the catalysts' characteristics quantitatively," Cao said.
The group discovered that the polymer-modified electrodes both improved conductivity. PASP's catalytic activity of both hydroquinone and catechol was found to outpace that of polyaniline by a factor of two. Later NMR studies confirmed that electrically induced molecular transformations allowed PASP to serve as a better catalyst.
The findings led the researchers to postulate that polyaspartic acid electropolymerized thin films might be more suitable for use as catalysts over polyaniline in many situations.
Cao said he hopes to further develop NMR techniques that pair with electrochemical testing. So far, the group has used a type of NMR that incorporates one dimension of frequency analysis. In addition to being able to examine new material features, using two-dimensional techniques will allow the group to extend their work to more complicated molecules.
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The article, "The electrochemical oxidation of hydroquinone and catechol through polyaniline and poly(aspartic acid) thin films: A comparative study," is authored by Ye Feng, Chengsen Zhao, Shuo-Hui Cao, Shuhui Cai, Huijun Sun and Zhong Chen. The article appeared in AIP Advances Sept. 11, 2018 (DOI: 10.1116/1.5042135) and can be accessed at http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1116/1.5042135.
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
AIP Advances is an open access journal publishing in all areas of physical sciences--applied, theoretical, and experimental. All published articles are freely available to read, download, and share. The journal prides itself on the belief that all good science is important and relevant. Our inclusive scope and publication standards make it an essential outlet for scientists in the physical sciences. See https://aip.scitation.org/adv/.
Fossil teeth from Italy, among the oldest human remains on the Italian Peninsula, show that Neanderthal dental features had evolved by around 450,000 years ago, according to a study published October 3, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Clement Zanolli of the Universite Toulouse III Paul Sabatier in France and colleagues. These teeth also add to a growing picture of a period of complex human evolution that we are only beginning to understand.
Zanolli and colleagues examined dental remains from the sites of Fontana Fanuccio, located 50km southeast of Rome, and Visogliano, located 18km northwest of Trieste. At around 450,000 years old, these teeth join a very short list of fossil human remains from Middle Pleistocene Europe. Using micro-CT scanning and detailed morphological analyses, the authors examined the shape and arrangement of tooth tissues and compared them with teeth of other human species. They found that the teeth of both sites share similarities with Neanderthals and are distinct from modern humans.
There has been much debate over the identities and relationships of Middle Pleistocene ancient humans in Eurasia. The discovery of Neanderthal-like teeth so early in the record adds support to the suggestion of an early divergence of the Neanderthal lineage from our own, around the Early-Middle Pleistocene transition. The teeth are also notably different from other teeth known from this time in Eurasia, suggesting that there may have been multiple human lineages populating the region at this time, adding to a growing list of evidence that the Middle Pleistocene was a time of more complex human evolution than previously recognized.
Zanolli adds: "The remains from Fontana Ranuccio and Visogliano represent among the oldest human fossil remains testifying to a peopling phase of the Italian Peninsula. Our analyses of the tooth internal structural organization reveal a Neanderthal-like signature, also resembling the condition shown by the contemporary assemblage from Atapuerca Sima de los Huesos, indicating that an overall Neanderthal morphological dental template was preconfigured in Western Europe at least 430 to 450 ka ago."
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In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0189773
Citation: Zanolli C, Martinon-Torres M, Bernardini F, Boschian G, Coppa A, Dreossi D, et al. (2018) The Middle Pleistocene (MIS 12) human dental remains from Fontana Ranuccio (Latium) and Visogliano (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), Italy. A comparative high resolution endostructural assessment. PLoS ONE 13(10): e0189773. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189773
Funding: Publication of this work was supported by the Centro Fermi (Roma). The ICTP/Elettra. EXACT Project has been funded by the Regione Friuli-Venezia Giulia. We acknowledge the excavation team from Atapuerca-Sima de los Huesos for their arduous work. The excavation, scanning and analysis of the Atapuerca sample has been funded by the CGL2015-65387-C3-1, 3-P project of the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) and CEN074A12 from Consejeria de Educacion from Junta de Castilla y Leon Government, Spain. Gordon Getty (2013) and Dub Crook (2014, 2015, 2016) of the Leakey Foundation provided financial support to one of the authors (MMT). MMP has a predoctoral contract from the Junta de Castilla y Leon (BOCYL-D-20052013-14), co-financed by the European Social Funds and LMF had a postdoctoral research grant from Fundacion Atapuerca.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Rush University Medical Center today received the Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Award, given annually by healthcare services company Vizient to academic medical centers, complex teaching medical centers and community hospital members that demonstrate superior performance in its Quality and Accountability Study.
"This year's award winners demonstrate how leadership, collaboration, adaptability and the use of advanced analytics can create the shared sense of purpose that is necessary to achieve a high level of performance across the care continuum. We are proud to recognize the achievements of each winning organization," said Byron Jobe, president and chief executive officer for Vizient.
Rush ranked second among 99 leading academic medical centers in the United States in the study, the sixth consecutive time Rush has been ranked in the top five among participating academic medical centers.
"Being ranked so highly again among so many of our peer institutions in Vizient's survey shows once more that the patient care Rush provides is among the best in the nation," said Dr. Larry Goodman, CEO of the Rush system and of Rush University Medical Center. "It's just as important that we so consistently have been ranked among the top five participating medical centers, demonstrating the consistent excellence of the care Rush provides, year after year."
Ratings are based solely on objective data measures
The Vizient study, which also included 100 complex teaching medical centers and 93 community hospitals, evaluated participants' performance based on the Institute of Medicine's six domains of care -- safety, timeliness, effectiveness, efficiency, equity and patient centeredness.
Unlike other reviews of hospitals that take reputation into account or that are limited to data about patients with Medicare or Medicaid, the Vizient study is based entirely on objective data related to patient outcomes for all inpatients regardless of insurance. The analysis determined the rankings based on the most recently available full year of data from the Vizient Clinical Data Base; the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Core Measures and the centers' Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey; and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network.
Rush uses data to guide improvements in care
Rush's improvement in the rankings in part reflects the Medical Center's continuous dedication to quality improvement. "When we get our data back from Vizient, we don't just say, 'it's great.' Instead, we look for where have opportunities for improvement and use the data to drive change in those areas," said Dr. Omar Lateef, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Rush
For example, Rush improved its ranking in the study's safety domain by reducing avoidable patient harm by 8.7 percent during its past fiscal year, with a significant focus on reducing hospital acquired infections, hospital acquired pressure injuries and falls with injuries. "Focused efforts that included doctors, nurses, information technology, housekeeping and care quality team members resulted in a 21 percent reduction in C difficile infections," said Richa Gupta, MBBS, vice president, performance improvement and operational effectiveness, and chief quality officer at Rush.
Rush also improved in the efficiency of care and effectiveness domain, which partially is due to a recently established collaboration between physicians, nurses and case managers to assess patients potential discharge needs early in their hospital stay. Such assessments help avoid patients being kept in the hospital for extra days while arrangements such as home care or rehabilitation are made, enabling them to begin the process of returning home sooner.
"If you know up front the patient is going to have additional needs after hospitalization, you can start making plans and involving the family members, which can shave days off their length of stay," said Dr. Brian Stein, associate chief medical officer. "Reducing unneeded days spent in the hospital, and getting home sooner, is always a good thing for patients." "The extraordinary physicians, nurses and staff at all levels of Rush are at the heart of why we are routinely recognized through such objective quality rankings," said Michael Dandorph, president of the Rush System and Rush University Medical Center. "These committed professionals are focused on providing excellent, compassionate care and accommodating our patients wherever they choose to see their Rush health care provider."
Vizient ranking the latest in steady stream of honors for Rush.
The Vizient ranking is the latest in a consistent stream of honors for Rush University Medical Center and the other Rush system hospitals that are unique among U.S. academic health systems, including the following recognitions:
U.S. News & World Report ranked seven programs at Rush University Medical Center among the best in the country in the latest edition of its annual "Best Hospitals" issue.
For the fourth consecutive time, all three Rush hospitals -- Rush University Medical Center, Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rush Copley Medical Center -- received an 'A' grade for safety, the highest possible, from the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit patient safety watchdog organization, in its latest round of its twice-yearly safety grades, which were announced in April.
The Leapfrog Group also named Rush University Medical Center a Top Teaching Hospital (which is different from Leapfrog's safety grade) in December.
Rush University Medical Center and Rush Copley Medical Center each received five stars, and Rush Oak Park Hospital was awarded a four-star rating, in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' latest Hospital Compare overall rating in December. Rush is the only medical center in Chicago with a five-star rating.
Rush University Medical Center received its fourth consecutive Magnet designation, the highest honor in nursing, in January 2016, and Rush Oak Park Hospital received Magnet status in March of that year.
In March, the Human Rights Campaign -- a civil rights organization that advocates for equality for people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and/or queer/questioning -- named Rush University Medical Center a Leader in LGBT Health Equality for the tenth consecutive year. The HRC also named Rush Oak Park Hospital a leader for the fifth consecutive year.
Rush University Medical Center and Rush Oak Park Hospital both have received the Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award, which recognizes hospitals that provide an overall outstanding patient experience. Healthgrades evaluates patient experience performance by applying a scoring methodology to 10 patient experience measures, using data collected from the 32-question survey of the hospital's own patients. Hospitals in the top 15 percent with the highest overall patient experience scores are recognized as Outstanding Patient Experience Award recipients.
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OTTAWA and BOSTON and CARLSBAD, Calif., Oct. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akcea Therapeutics Inc. (AKCA), an affiliate of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IONS), announced today that TEGSEDITM (inotersen injection) is now approved in Canada for the treatment of stage 1 or stage 2 polyneuropathy in adult patients with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR).1
Following a priority review by Health Canada, TEGSEDI, an RNA-targeted therapeutic, is the first treatment approved for Canadians living with hATTR amyloidosis, a disease caused by the abnormal formation of the transthyretin (TTR protein), resulting in TTR amyloid deposits in various tissues and organs throughout the body. The progressive accumulation of these deposits leads to sensory, motor and autonomic dysfunction, affecting multiple aspects of a patient's life.
We appreciate Health Canadas thorough and timely evaluation of TEGSEDI under priority review, and we look forward to working with all stakeholders to ensure that patients can receive timely and appropriate access to this important new treatment for Canadians living with hATTR amyloidosis, said Jared Rhines, general manager at Akcea Therapeutics Canada. On the heels of TEGSEDIs marketing authorization in Europe, this news also represents an exciting milestone for Akcea with our first drug approval in Canada. We believe this achievement underscores Akceas commitment to the global rare disease community and our mission to deliver innovative therapies to patients no matter where they call home. We are excited to launch this innovative therapy along with Akcea ConnectTM, our comprehensive support program, for patients and their healthcare providers coast to coast.
TEGSEDI is a once-weekly at-home subcutaneous injection that targets hATTR amyloidosis at its source by reducing the production of TTR protein.
Today marks an exciting day for Canadians living with hATTR amyloidosis and their families as inotersen is the first approved disease-modifying therapy to address the significant burden many bear in living with debilitating and progressive symptoms. A tremendous emotional burden often comes with an inherited disease, and we believe this approval, and the innovation behind this treatment, means that today an important step in their hope for a brighter future has been realized. We now look forward to Akcea working with stakeholders to make this drug available to patients as soon as possible, says Durhane Wong-Rieger, President and CEO, Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD).
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"hATTR amyloidosis is a debilitating disease that carries with it significant morbidity and mortality, and we are extremely limited in options to offer patients with this disease and their families. The approval of inotersen changes this and is a welcome advance. In NEURO TTR, the study upon which Health Canada approval was sought, the changes from baseline showed statistically significant benefit in favor of inotersen treatment, including polyneuropathy symptoms and quality of life, says Dr. Vera Bril, Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Director of Neurology at University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital and the Krembil Family Chair in Neurology.
ABOUT TEGSEDITM (INOTERSEN INJECTION)1
TEGSEDITM (inotersen injection) is an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) inhibitor of human transthyretin (TTR) production. TEGSEDI, discovered and developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals, is also approved in the E.U. for the treatment of stage 1 or stage 2 polyneuropathy in adult patients with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR) and is currently under regulatory review in the U.S.
The approval is based on data from the NEURO-TTR study which was a Phase 3 randomized (2:1), double-blind, placebo-controlled, international study in 172 patients with hATTR amyloidosis with symptoms of polyneuropathy. The 15-month study measured the effects of TEGSEDI on neurological function and on quality-of-life by measuring the change from baseline in the modified Neuropathy Impairment Score +7 (mNIS+7) and in the Norfolk Quality of Life Questionnaire-Diabetic Neuropathy (Norfolk QOL-DN) total score. TEGSEDI provided significant benefit on both of these co-primary endpoints in the NEURO-TTR study, including improvement in disease relative to baseline measurements in both co-primary endpoints for a substantial portion of patients as published in the New England Journal of Medicine2.
Special Warnings and Precautions
TEGSEDI is associated with reductions in platelet count, which may result in thrombocytopenia. Platelet count should be monitored at least every two weeks during treatment with TEGSEDI and for 8 weeks following discontinuation of treatment.
Glomerulonephritis has occurred in patients treated with TEGSEDI. Careful monitoring of UPCR and eGFR is important during treatment with TEGSEDI.
The most common adverse reactions that occurred in at least 20% of TEGSEDI-treated patients and that occurred more frequently than on placebo were injection site erythema, nausea, fatigue, diarrhea, headache and injection site pain.
For more important safety information for TEGSEDI, including method of administration, drug interactions and adverse drug reactions, please see the Health Canada approved product monograph at www.akceatx.ca .
ABOUT HEREDITARY TRANSTHYRETIN (hATTR) AMYLOIDOSIS
hATTR amyloidosis is a progressive, systemic and fatal inherited disease caused by the abnormal formation of the TTR protein and aggregation of TTR amyloid deposits in various tissues and organs throughout the body, including in peripheral nerves, heart, intestinal tract, eyes, kidneys, central nervous system, thyroid and bone marrow. The progressive accumulation of TTR amyloid deposits in these tissues and organs leads to sensory, motor and autonomic dysfunction often having debilitating effects on multiple aspects of a patient's life. Patients with hATTR amyloidosis often present with a mixed phenotype and experience overlapping symptoms of polyneuropathy and cardiomyopathy.
Ultimately, hATTR amyloidosis results in death within three to fifteen years of symptom onset. Therapeutic options for the treatment of patients with hATTR amyloidosis are limited and, until this approval, there have been no disease-modifying drugs approved for the disease in Canada. There are an estimated 50,000 patients with hATTR amyloidosis worldwide.
About Akcea Therapeutics Canada
Akcea Therapeutics Canada, based in Ottawa Ontario, is the Canadian subsidiary of Akcea Therapeutics. Akcea is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing drugs to treat patients with serious and rare diseases. Akcea Therapeutics Canada is a member of Innovative Medicines Canada, the industry association representing Canadas research-based pharmaceutical companies.
ABOUT AKCEA THERAPEUTICS
Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., an affiliate of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing drugs to treat patients with serious and rare diseases. Akcea is advancing a mature pipeline of six novel drugs all with the potential to treat multiple diseases. All six drugs were discovered by and are being co-developed with Ionis, a leader in antisense therapeutics, and are based on Ionis proprietary antisense technology. TEGSEDITM (inotersen) is approved in Canada and the E.U. for the treatment of stage 1 or stage 2 polyneuropathy in adult patients with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR) and is currently under regulatory review in the U.S. WAYLIVRATM (volanesorsen) is under regulatory review for the treatment of familial chylomicronemia syndrome, or FCS, and is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of people with familial partial lipodystrophy, or FPL. Akcea is a global company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts with Canadian operations headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. Additional information about Akcea is available at www.akceatx.com .
About Ionis Pharmaceuticals
As the leader in RNA-targeted drug discovery and development, Ionis has created an efficient, broadly applicable, proprietary antisense technology platform with the potential to treat diseases where no other therapeutic approaches have proven effective. Our drug discovery platform has served as a springboard for actionable promise and realized hope for patients with unmet needs such as children and adults with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). We created SPINRAZA (nusinersen)* and are proud to have brought new hope to the SMA community by developing the first and only approved treatment for this disease.
Our sights are set on all the patients we have yet to reach with a pipeline of more than 40 drugs with the potential to treat patients with cardiovascular disease, rare diseases, neurological diseases, infectious diseases and cancer. We created TEGSEDI (inotersen) the worlds first RNA-targeted therapeutic approved for the treatment of stage 1 or stage 2 polyneuropathy in adult patients with hereditary transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis (ATTR) that our affiliate Akcea Therapeutics is commercializing. Together with Akcea, we are also bringing new medicines to patients with cardiometabolic lipid disorders.
To learn more about Ionis follow us on twitter @ionispharma or visit http://ir.ionispharma.com/.
*Spinraza is marketed by Biogen.
AKCEAS AND IONIS FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT
This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding the business of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the therapeutic and commercial potential of TEGSEDITM Any statement describing Akceas or Ionis goals, expectations, financial or other projections, intentions or beliefs, including the commercial potential of TEGSEDI or other of Akceas or Ionis drugs in development is a forward-looking statement and should be considered an at-risk statement. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, particularly those inherent in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics, and in the endeavor of building a business around such drugs. Akceas and Ionis forward-looking statements also involve assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove correct, could cause its results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Akceas and Ionis forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of its management, these statements are based only on facts and factors currently known by Akcea and Ionis. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These and other risks concerning Ionis and Akceas programs are described in additional detail in Ionis and Akceas quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual reports on Form 10-K, which are on file with the SEC. Copies of these and other documents are available from each company.
In this press release, unless the context requires otherwise, Ionis, Akcea, Company, Companies we, our, and us refers to Ionis Pharmaceuticals and/or Akcea Therapeutics.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals is a trademark of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Akcea Therapeutics, TEGSEDITM and WAYLIVRATM are trademarks of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc.
Akcea Investor & Media Contact:
Kathleen Gallagher
Vice President of Communications and Investor Relations
617-207-8509
kgallagher@akceatx.com
Ionis Investor Contact:
D. Wade Walke, Ph.D.
Vice President, Investor Relations
760-603-2741
wwalke@ionisph.com
Ionis Media Contact:
Roslyn Patterson
Vice President, Corporate Communications
760-603-2681
rpatterson@ionisph.com
References
1TEGSEDI Product Monograph
2Benson et al., N Engl J Med 2018;379:22-31
An infographic accompanying this release is available at http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/dcb498ad-f1ce-4650-bc4e-0f64e8aed1a5
By Toby Sterling
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his government would reconsider plans to scrap its dividend tax in a major political climbdown only hours after Unilever (ULVR.L) dropped plans to move its headquarters to the Netherlands.
Rutte, who had argued that getting rid of the 15 percent withholding tax on dividends was vital for the country's business climate, said his government must reconsider its entire package of tax reforms.
"We didn't decide to scrap the dividend tax for just one company, but the fact that such a large company that had decided to come to the Netherlands has withdrawn its plan is very relevant," he told reporters in The Hague.
"That's why we will reconsider our proposed measures," added Rutte.
Rutte's coalition holds a single-vote majority in both parliament and the senate. Despite some equivocation, no lawmaker has broken ranks over the issue.
Rutte, who leads the liberal VVD party, is heading his third government since coming to power in 2010.
Unilever, which along with fellow Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.AS) has long lobbied against the tax, said earlier Friday it had suspended plans to consolidate a single headquarters in Rotterdam, Europe's largest port.
The company said it was bowing to pressure from shareholders at its British arm, who were worried about leaving the FTSE index, weaker Dutch rules on shareholder rights, and about the future tax treatment of Dutch dividends.
Rutte, who worked for Unilever from 1992-2002 before entering politics, had defended getting rid of the tax multiple times in front of a sceptical parliament.
He survived a no-confidence vote in April after lobbying memos of which he said he had no memory emerged.
One memo said Unilever considered the tax issue "decisive" in headquarter deliberations.
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But political opponents successfully branded the dividend plan as a costly tax break for foreigners.
A poll published early last month said just 11 percent of Dutch voters supported getting rid of the tax.
In a debate last month, Rutte warned keeping the tax could lead to Shell and Unilever abandoning their Dutch headquarters -- and a loss of jobs.
"You could still opt to hold on to the tax, but theres a large risk that these companies would then decide to leave," he said.
Unilever CEO Paul Polman, a Dutchman, said the unexpectedly strong Dutch opposition to Rutte's plan had indeed been "a factor" as it withdrew its plan to move to Rotterdam.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling and Bart Meijer; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Keith Weir)
Enbridge Inc. ENB recently decided to replace its 65-year old crude pipes of Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac. The decision has been backed by the Michigan government. The company will install a multi-use utility tunnel that is to be drilled through the bedrock of the channel and decommission the old pipes. The cost of the project is estimated in the range of $350-$500 million.
The project involves extensive engineering works and is expected to take 7-10 years for completion. Until then, around 23 million gallons of natural gas liquids and oil, which are used to make propane, will be transported through the lines daily. The cost of designing, building and maintaining the tunnel will be met by the company.
This decision is in line with the recent demands from environmental activists, who were wary of the oil lines present state, fearing that it could lead to a potential spill. In April, the pipeline suffered damage from a ships anchor. Moreover, protective coating of the pipes is not intact at several places. Hence, the project further ensures safety of the pipeline as well as the water body. It will enable the company to deliver uninterrupted energy sources to the residents of the state.
The independent state agency of Michigan, Mackinac Bridge Authority (which controls operations of the Mackinac Bridge across the Straits of Mackinac) will help Enbridge to receive necessary government permits for the project. Once the project is completed, the agency will own the tunnel and lease it to Enbridge for pipeline operations. Going forward, the agency may strike similar deals with providers of electric and telecommunication cables.
Price Performance
Calgary, Canada-based Enbridge has lost 18.2% in the past year compared with 11.4% collective fall of its industry.
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
Currently, Enbridge has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the oil and gas sector can opt for some better-ranked stocks like Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. PBR or Petrobras, Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. SHLX and CNX Resources Corporation CNX, each flaunting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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Petrobras is the largest integrated energy firm in Brazil and one of the major players in Latin America. It pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 10.4% in the last four quarters.
Shell Midstream Partners is involved in owning, operating, developing and acquiring pipelines, and other midstream assets. The partnership delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 7.9% in the trailing four quarters.
CNX Resources is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 250.0% in the last reported quarter.
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are holding an annual summit in New Delhi.
Modi's government has announced a $5 billion purchase of a Russian surface-to-air missile system.
The deal is widely seen as Modi's way of offsetting Chinese activity in his country's backyard.
India signed a $5 billion purchase of advanced missile technology from Russia on Friday, a deal seen as New Delhi's response to China's growing influence in the Indian Ocean .
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi Thursday to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an annual bilateral summit that's has focused on energy, security and defense issues.
Of particular interest is India's purchase of the Russian-built S-400 Triumf, a long-range surface-to-air missile system capable of destroying both cruise and ballistic missiles.
The order, which has been under discussion since 2015, was finalized on Friday afternoon according to several news agencies who cited both Indian and Russian officials.
The deal is a signal that the Modi administration is "trying to take steps to counter China," said Richard Rossow, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who specializes on U.S.-India relations. He believes that India wants high-end defense equipment for power projection in the Indian Ocean, where Beijing has been growing increasingly assertive.
From Tanzania to Sri Lanka, the two Asian heavyweights have been competing to establish a stronger military and economic presence in countries along the massive waterway. Since China launched its first overseas military base in Djibouti last year, Modi's government has secured access to naval facilities in Indonesia , Iran , Oman and the Seychelles .
"The S-400 range would enable India to track aircraft beyond its borders, making it a valuable asset as the People's Liberation Army Air Force extends its training and deployments closer to Indian territory," said Zoe Stanley Lockman, an associate research fellow specializing in defense at Singapore-based Nanyang Technological University.
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There are other reasons behind Modi's interest in the S-400 system.
"China is certainly a motivating factor not only because of Chinese assertiveness in the Indian Ocean, but also because Beijing supplies about 70 percent of the weapons imported by Pakistan," said Lockman.
"The S-400 Triumf is far superior to the Chinese-supplied Pakistani surface-to-air missile defense systems," Lockman said, adding that acquisition of the S-400 would be a way for India to counter Pakistan's advances in nuclear technology.
New Delhi's concerns about close ties between China and Russia could also be a factor, according to Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, head of the nuclear and space policy initiative at the Observer Research Foundation.
The world's second largest economy was the first overseas buyer of Russia's S-400 and Su-35 fighter jet. Beijing also purchased numerous Russian submarines in recent years.
Those purchases put India's security at some risk and illustrate an important shift in Russia-China security dynamics, Rajagopalan said in a Thursday note. "Beijing for a long time was not given access to the best and most modern Russian technology and there was no technology transfer," she pointed out.
Risk of sanctions
Analysts have warned that New Delhi runs the risk of getting hit with U.S. sanctions if it pushes ahead with the S-400 purchase.
Countries doing business with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors could face the risk of automatic penalties under a U.S. law called Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) that President Donald Trump enacted last year. Last month, Washington imposed sanctions on China's military for purchasing Russian weapons. And on Thursday, U.S. Army General Joseph Votel criticized Russian deployment of the S-300 in Syria .
India, however, could be exempted from punishment.
"The ability to give waivers was widened by Congress, specifically with India in mind," Rossow said: "The Trump administration made a pitch on a number of occasions to (Capitol) Hill, trying to make sure there was a little bit more space to offer waivers to countries and India was often named in that."
Asian security is a defining characteristic of the U.S.-India relationship, with New Delhi a major player in the U.S. Indo-Pacific initiative a program that aims to offset rising Chinese influence in the region.
"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," said Rajagopalan.
Also announced by the two countries is an agreement to develop six nuclear power plants in India. Putin and Modi have also agreed to cooperate on India's plan to launch a manned space mission.
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OSLO, Norway (AP) Raped after being forced into sexual slavery by the Islamic State group, Nadia Murad did not succumb to shame or despair the young Iraqi woman spoke out. Surgeon Denis Mukwege treated countless victims of sexual violence in war-torn Congo and told the world of their suffering. Together, they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their campaigns to end rape and sexual abuse as weapons of war.
The award "is partly to highlight the awareness of sexual violence. But the further purpose of this is that nations take responsibility, that communities take responsibility and that the international community take responsibility," said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairwoman of the committee, which bestowed the $1.01-million prize.
"Dear survivors from all over the world, I would like to tell you that, through this Nobel Prize, the world is listening to you and refusing indifference," Mukwege, 63, told a news conference outside the hospital he founded in Bukavu in eastern Congo, where he has treated tens of thousands of victims among them "women, teenage girls, small girls, babies," he said Friday.
"The world refuses to remain idle with arms crossed facing your suffering. We hope that the world will not put off acting with force and determination in your favor because the survival of humanity depends on you," Mukwege said.
Murad, 25, was one of an estimated 3,000 girls and women from Iraq's Yazidi minority group who were kidnapped in 2014 by IS militants and sold into sexual slavery. She was raped, beaten and tortured before managing to escape three months later. 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.
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In 2016 she was named the United Nations' first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking, and her advocacy helped spur a U.N. investigation that is collecting evidence of war crimes by Islamic State extremists.
In a statement, Murad said she was "incredibly honored" by the prize.
"As a survivor, I am grateful for this opportunity to draw international attention to the plight of the Yazidi people who have suffered unimaginable crimes since the genocide" by IS, she said. "Many Yazidis will look upon this prize and think of family members that were lost, are still unaccounted for, and of the 1,300 women and children, which remain in captivity."
This year's peace prize comes amid heightened global attention to the sexual abuse of women in war, in the workplace and in society that has been highlighted by the #MeToo movement.
"#MeToo and war crimes are not quite the same thing, but they do, however, have in common that it is important to see the suffering of women," said Reiss-Andersen of the Nobel committee.
In the United States, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also noted that the award comes amid a global reckoning over sexual violence. She tweeted a link to the Nobel announcement, saying "the timing of this topic is extraordinary as we fight for the end of #ViolenceAgainstWomen."
Many of the women treated by Mukwege were victims of mass rape in the central African nation that has been wracked by conflict for decades. He faced great personal risk in doing so: Armed men tried to kill him in 2012, forcing him to temporarily leave the country.
Solange Furaha Lwashiga, a Congolese women's activist, noted the surgeon's work repairing not only the physical damage but also the mental scars suffered by the victims, empowering them. "Dr. Mukwege brings smiles and helps repair women from the barbaric acts of men in Congo," she said.
Mukwege was in surgery his second operation of the day when the peace prize announcement came, and he learned about it from patients and colleagues who were crying with joy.
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 "honor for all Iraqis who fought terrorism and bigotry."
Congo's government congratulated Mukwege, while acknowledging that relations with him have been strained because of his criticism of the government.
In a statement, President Joseph Kabila's special representative said: "We are proud that the fight and initiatives led by (Democratic Republic of Congo) through Dr. Mukwege, for the re-establishment of the dignity and the respect of women is finally recognized internationally."
In other Nobel prizes this year, the medicine prize went Monday to James Allison of the University of Texas and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University, whose discoveries helped cancer doctors fight many advanced-stage tumors and save an "untold" numbers of lives.
Scientists from the United States, Canada and France shared the physics prize Tuesday for revolutionizing the use of lasers in research.
On Wednesday, three researchers who "harnessed the power of evolution" to produce enzymes and antibodies that have led to a new best-selling drug won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
The winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, honoring Alfred Nobel, the founder of the five Nobel Prizes, will be revealed on Monday.
No Nobel literature prize was awarded this year due to a sex abuse scandal at the Swedish Academy, which chooses the winner. The academy plans to announce both the 2018 and the 2019 winners next year although the head of the Nobel Foundation has said the body must fix its tarnished reputation first.
The man at the center of the Swedish Academy scandal, Jean-Claude Arnault, a major cultural figure in Sweden, was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for rape.
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Heintz reported from Moscow and Petesch from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Cara Anna in Johannesburg, Dave Bryan in Cairo, Bassem Mroue in Beirut, David Keyton in Stockholm, Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations and Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo, contributed to this report.
Seoul Blockchain
A South Koran politician has committed a $53.39 million fund to develop blockchain regions in Seoul, local media reported.
Park Won-soon, who is the mayor of the South Korean capital city, said their government would create two business complexes to settle 200 blockchain-related companies by 2021. The districts would also serve the purpose of training 730 experts in the field over the course of the next five years.
Theres no doubt blockchain is the core technology of the fourth industrial revolution, which will shape the future IT industry. I will make efforts to help Seoul become the center of a blockchain industry ecosystem, Park said during his 10-day diplomatic visit to Switzerland, Estonia, and Spain. The minister also signed a memorandum of understanding in Zurich to lay the foundation of their blockchain tie-ups.
Park, who has been a strong advocate of the digital ledger technology for public and government services, also visited Zug, Switzerlands crypto valley, with his 30-person delegation. He studied the citys business atmosphere and structure to understand the potential of his blockchain hub plans for Seoul, as he comes closer to launch a state-backed cryptocurrency, tentatively called S-Coin.
Seoul has committed a 100 billion-won public-private fund almost $88.56 million to invest in local startups, research centers, and to train workers in the field of the blockchain. The citys efforts in digital ledger will focus on offering social services to citizens. S-Coin is a result of the governments plans to fund public welfare programs or compensate private contractors. A blockchain-based asset should enable the Seoul municipalities to put expenditure details in public.
The city is planning to insert close to $12 million into the proposed fund.
Samsung Partnership
In 2017, the Seoul government, under the mayorship of Park, entered into a partnership with Samsung SDS to create a blockchain development framework for the city. The company later started testing its proprietary blockchain protocol, the NexLedger, with a purpose to integrate it into the Seouls entire municipal cooperations by 2022. Just recently, the Municipality of Seoul and Samsung SDS announced that would build the worlds first exports customs clearance on the top of the blockchain. They had already tested the solution on a Korea-China shipment a year ago.
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The South Koran government is also utilizing NexLedger in digital identity storage and verification, online payment solutions, and digital record storage systems. The local enterprises are also integrating the NexLedger range of solutions to innovate their IT solutions with blockchain.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The post Seoul Mayor Announces $53.39 Million Fund for Blockchain Districts appeared first on CCN.
As trade tensions escalate between the U.S. and China, Washington is sending a warning to U.S. companies: Think twice about doing business with China.
If I were a business, I would basically just stay away from China right now. Their misbehavior is so terrible. Kevin Hassett, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers said on Yahoo Finances Market Mover Friday. Thats why President Trump is taking a hard line with them. Theyve got to change the way they behave if they want to be part of this modern world global economy.
Hassett also cited the bombshell story from Bloomberg Businessweek, which claims Chinas military deployed a microchip to attack hardware in the supply chain and had infiltrated U.S. tech giants like Amazon and Apple. Both companies have denied the report. But it still raised many concerns about Chinese electronic manufacturers. Hong Kong-listed Lenovo and ZTE saw share prices drop by 15% and 10%, respectively, on Friday.
Hassetts sentiment was widely echoed by the Trump administration. In an aggressive speech about China on Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence claimed Beijing directed its bureaucrats and businesses to obtain American intellectual property. He also called out Google to end its project of developing a censored search engine for China, a market the internet giant exited in 2010.
Not easy to give up on China
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The ongoing trade negotiation adds many uncertainties to U.S. companies that are planning to access the Chinese market, with its population of 1.3 billion and an expanding middle class. American companies have been active in the Chinese economy since the reform period in the late 1970s, investing hundreds of billions of dollars. President Trump has said the U.S. rebuilt China.
Meanwhile, China has become the growth engine of some U.S. companies. Starbucks (SBUX) is among the biggest success stories. Since opening its first store in Beijing in 1999, the Seattle-based coffee chain now runs 3,400 stores and plans to open a new one every 15 hours through 2022.
Apples premium iPhones are red-hot status symbols in China, where the iPhone maker (AAPL) reported $13 billion in revenue during its fiscal second quarter this year, contributing more than 20% to its global revenue.
Now U.S. businesses are facing a more complicated situation against the backdrop of the trade disputes. Tesla (TSLA), the high-profile electric car maker, is caught in the rising geopolitical fight. The company said the trade conflict has led to a 40% retaliatory tariff on Tesla vehicles exported to China. Exports to the country accounted for about 20% of Teslas automotive revenue during 2017, according to Moodys.
A pedestrian using a smartphone walks past a Tesla showroom in Beijing, China, on Saturday, July 7, 2018. (Giulia Marchi/Bloomberg)
U.S. companies operating in China have already felt the pinch of the trade war, but its hard for them to walk away, citing difficulties moving a supply chain or creating a new one over a short period of time. More than 60% of U.S. companies have been hurt by tariffs imposed by both countries, according to a survey by American Chambers of Commerce in Beijing and Shanghai.
We support President Trumps efforts to reset U.S.-China trade relations, address long-standing inequities and level the playing field. But we can do so through means other than blanket tariffs, Eric Zheng, chairman of AmCham Shanghai, said in a statement last month.
Krystal Hu covers technology and economy for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
Read more:
El-Erian: Trump has a 75% chance of winning the trade war
Why the $375 billion US-China trade deficit can be totally misleading
How Chinas tariffs on soybeans fueled the US GDP bump
Chinese stocks are more sensitive to non-energy commodity price volatility, contributing to the price decline in domestic share prices.
China's major indexes have posted steep losses, with market volatility rising so far this year, but U.S. stocks are up and volatility in the American market is down.
With the American markets on a tear and Chinese shares on a downturn, it appears that U.S. stocks are weathering the escalating trade war far better than China
One reason for the trend is due to Chinese markets' exposure to non-energy commodities, according to a study published in August by Axioma, a risk and performance analytics provider.
"The tariff spat caught China more exposed to changes in broad non-energy commodity prices, and the recent downturn in these commodities has weighed heavily on the Chinese market," said Diana R. Rudean, director of applied research at Axioma.
Shifts in the commodity trade are early indicators of global economic health and trade flows and are especially pertinent in the ongoing trade dispute as China consumes much of the world's raw materials.
Chinese indexes have posted steep losses, with market volatility rising so far this year, but U.S. stocks are up and volatility in the American market is down.
"Indeed, the U.S. at least the U.S. equity market appears to have largely skirted the effects of the trade war," Rudean added in the report.
As a comparison, the American Russell 1000 is up about 10 percent in 2018 while China's CSI 300 an index measuring 300 stocks on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges is down about 15 percent in the same period. The Russell 1000 represents the top U.S. companies by market capitalization.
In fact, the sensitivity of the Russell 1000 to the GSCI Non-Energy Index has been trending downward since 2010, indicating that changes in broad commodity prices had a declining impact on the U.S. market, wrote Rudean.
In contrast, the CSI 300's sensitivity to commodities fluctuated, Axioma found.
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Non-energy commodity prices started falling after the trade war between the world's two largest economies heated up in June. The GSCI Non-Energy Index is down 4.5 percent so far this year.
The U.S. market's declining sensitivity to non-energy commodities could be due to reasons such as deregulation, tax cuts and protectionist policies such as tariffs boosting investor sentiment in the U.S. market.
Those factors "may have decoupled the moves of the market from the moves of the global non-energy commodities," Rudean told CNBC.
"Also, as the U.S. market rose after November 2016, it may have moved towards stocks that are less sensitive to the commodity market. For example, technology stocks became a bigger part of the Russell 1000, and their lower sensitivity to commodities may have also drawn down the index sensitivity to commodities," she added.
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Afghan officials said at least four civilians were mistakenly killed when the Afghan Air Force carried out an air strike targeting Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan.
Abdul Raziq, the police chief of Kandahar Province, said the Taliban had mounted an attack in the Maroof district when security forces responded with an airstrike late on October 4.
Raziq said the militants "tried to flee and got mixed up with villagers at a wedding procession," leaving a child, three women, and 10 insurgents dead.
Aziz Ahmad Azizi, the provincial governor's spokesman, said eight others, including a child and seven women, were wounded in the air strike.
Taliban fighters often hide in civilian homes after staging attacks on government targets and use civilians as human shields to escape.
Afghan officials said an investigation had been launched into the incident.
According to the United Nations, at least 1,692 civilians have been killed in fighting in the first half of the year.
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
Dear Ken: You mentioned that the disposer rubber splash guard needs to be replaced when it gets worn. Is this an easy job? John
Answer: Im glad youre working on this. Yes, the splash guard keeps dirty water from spraying backwards up into the sink. More important, it is a vital safety device that can keep small pieces of bone, plastic and glass contained within the disposal body. The best indicator that you need a new one is visual. If you can see the blades sitting down there on the turntable, its time for a new guard.
This task is for two people. You can buy a splash guard for your brand of disposer at any hardware store for $5 or so. To install it, you dont remove the disposer entirely. You simply lower it a few inches to lift off the old guard and snap on a new one. Heres how. Loosen the disposers horizontal waste pipe from the sink drain by unscrewing the flanged ring. Now from underneath, look at the top of the disposer where it joins the sink. Youll see a metal flange with some small rings in it. Insert a screwdriver into one of the metal rings and turn it counterclockwise a half turn or so. The disposer will then release and drop from the sink. One of you will have to hold it in place for a few seconds while the other makes the exchange.
Then simply reverse the process to reinstall. Check for leaks before you close the sink cabinet. And note: The fittings on todays PVC (white plastic) pipes should only be snugged hand-tight. If you overdo it with a set of pliers, you could crack a fitting and cause a leak.
Dear Ken: We have a 1973 house. Our basement concrete floor has developed a crack, and a white residue is around it. We wipe it up, but it reappears in a short time. Do we need to worry about this? Ron
Answer: Its probably not a big deal, structurally speaking. But the residue, called efflorescence, is an indicator of other things. Moisture carries those alkali salts from the underlying soil and the concrete to the surface of your floor. Its sudden appearance means new water is under the slab. So you need to start checking for leaky pipes and other moisture sources, such as downspout and drainage issues. Make sure the downspouts dump 6 to 20 feet away from the foundation into a sloping area. And check the outside hose spigots to make sure they arent dripping.
Dear Ken: Can you tell me about those foil radiant barriers that are supposed to add insulating value? Beth
Answer: If you want savings on your heating bill, this is probably not the answer. In areas with a high cooling load, such as the Southeast, Arizona and Texas, some evidence shows that reflective foil, laid on top of the loose attic insulation, can save cooling dollars by reflecting high attic temperatures away from the living space.
But here, the reverse is true, so they are of limited benefit. We cool only about three months a year along the Front Range, so saving heating dollars is the more important goal. A layer of foil will reflect away from the living space that precious, passive solar heat we gain in winter. Bottom line: The foil systems dont provide enough payback to justify their installation expense.
Dear Ken: The labels on my set of plastic drawers wont come off. Any ideas? Ellie
Answer: Manufacturers seem to always put price tags in the wrong place, such as on the front of a framed picture instead of the back, and they use glues that defy most chemicals. But Goo Gone is just the ticket for removing these stickers or even crayon, lipstick and most greasy residues. You can find the yellow, lemony-smelling liquid at most hardware stores and home centers.
Its name is similar to another favorite of mine: Goof Off. Thats a petroleum-based solvent that reminds me of the lighter fluid my dad used in his Zippo. Its invaluable for dissolving paint resides and other stubborn material around the house and workbench.
Dear Ken: Whats the best way to remove mineral scale build-up around faucets and showers? Steve
Answer: If youve tried all the usual suspects Lime Away and CLR, for instance try steam. A friend of mine has a small portable steamer whose output from a tiny jetted nozzle will eat away even the toughest scaly build-ups and stains. I saw one on-line with several nozzle attachments for less than $40.
Ken Moon is a home inspector in the Pikes Peak region. His radio show airs at 9 a.m. Saturdays on KRDO, FM 105.5 and AM 1240. Visit www.aroundthehouse.com.
If you spot smoke on Fort Carson over the next month, it's probably a reason to smile.
The 135,000-acre installation is conducting prescribed burns over the next several weeks to rid training areas of dry grass that has been tinder for wildfires over the past year. Fires now, carefully managed, will avoid disasters next year.
The business and arts sectors can make promising bedfellows.
More than 350 people came together Friday to celebrate that pairing at the 11th annual Business and Arts Lunch at The Antlers, A Wyndham Hotel. It coincided with Arts Month, an initiative started in 1993 by Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit organization that works to advance the arts across the country.
This years event featured a paradigm shift. Instead of the usual ceremony that bestowed three awards for creative workspace, philanthropy and business leader, five organizations were celebrated for their collaborations and partnerships with the arts community: Progressive Insurance, Women in Reel Estate, Local Relic, Wells Fargo and Kaiser Permanente.
The change came as event sponsors Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region and the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and EDC noticed a shift in the landscape. The event committee received 18 nominations after a call was put out in July.
Over the past few years our nominations have become much more diverse than the three award categories, said Angela Seals, COPPeRs deputy director. People are collaborating on projects that are mutually beneficial. We were interested in shifting from the emphasis on how business supports art, but looking at how they support each other, and they do so in many interesting ways.
In keeping with its theme, lunch attendees were entertained by live music by The Sarah Groh Quartet, Out Loud Colorado Springs Mens Chorus, Urban Action Figure Ivan Manriquez and others in-between short videos by Pikes Peak Library District about each honoree.
Progressive Insurance was recognized for its nationally known art collection.
We collect art to spark thought, to spark even sometimes controversy, said Cristi Daugherty, a Progressive data analyst, to make sure we are looking a little deeper inside of ourselves than maybe just insurance.
Women in Reel Estate, a group of women in the real estate profession, offered to sponsor Rocky Mountain Womens Film Institute.
By pooling resources, we could provide more support to the institute, said Michelle Blessing of the real estate group, and get more benefit for us for our business, too. Being creative is something we should all be better at until our city grows.
When Claire Swinford, urban engagement manager for Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs, approached Jeff Zearfoss, owner of Local Relic brewery, about doing a special beer for the 20th anniversary of Art on the Streets, he suggested doing 10 beers instead. Each one bears a label with a photo of a sculpture from an Art on the Streets exhibit.
Its a way to bring a higher level of consciousness to the general beer consumer and the general public, Zearfoss said.
Wells Fargo senior financial adviser Herman Tiemens extolled the benefits of aligning his business with the arts. Every financial adviser on the team is on a nonprofit board that supports the arts.
Artist Mike Fudge and folks at Kaiser Permanente worked together on the organizations Finding Your Words campaign to help alleviate the stigma of talking about mental health. The company now has three murals in Colorado, including Fudges giant We Are in This Together piece that adorns one side of the Cottonwood Center for the Arts.
I would tell businesses and leaders in the community to really seek out opportunities to partner with our arts and creativity community, said Holly Kortum, executive director of operations for Kaiser.
It was a fantastic partnership that created fabulous results for us.
Contact the writer: 636-0270
WASHINGTON The bitterly polarized U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday to join the Supreme Court, delivering an election-season triumph to President Donald Trump that could swing the court rightward for a generation after a battle that rubbed raw the country's cultural, gender and political divides.
The near party-line vote was 50-48, capping a fight that seized the national conversation after claims emerged that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted women three decades ago which he emphatically denied. Those claims magnified the clash from a routine Supreme Court struggle over judicial ideology into an angrier, more complex jumble of questions about victims' rights, the presumption of innocence and personal attacks on nominees.
Acrimonious to the end, the battle featured a climactic roll call that was interrupted several times by protesters in the Senate Gallery before Capitol Police removed them.
The vote gave Trump his second appointee to the court, tilting it further to the right and pleasing conservative voters who might have revolted against GOP leaders had Kavanaugh's nomination flopped. Democrats hope that the roll call, exactly a month from elections in which House and Senate control are in play, will prompt infuriated women and liberals to stream to the polls to oust Republicans.
In final remarks just before the voting, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said a vote for Kavanaugh was "a vote to end this brief, dark chapter in the Senate's history and turn the page toward a brighter tomorrow."
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York looked ahead to November, appealing to voters beyond the Senate chamber: "Change must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box."
Rep. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, confronting a tough re-election race next month in a state that Trump won in 2016 by a landslide, was the sole Democrat to vote against Kavanaugh. Every voting Republican backed the 53-year-old conservative judge.
Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, the only Republican to oppose the nominee, voted "present," offsetting the absence of Kavanaugh supporter Steve Daines of Montana, who was attending his daughter's wedding. That rare procedural maneuver left Kavanaugh with the same two-vote margin he'd have had if Murkowski and Daines had both voted.
It was the closest roll call to confirm a justice since 1881, when Stanley Matthews was approved by 24-23, according to Senate records.
Murkowski said Friday that Kavanaugh was "a good man" but his "appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable." Republicans hold only a 51-49 Senate majority and therefore had little support to spare.
The outcome, telegraphed Friday when the final undeclared senators revealed their views, was devoid of the shocks that had come almost daily since Christine Blasey Ford said last month that an inebriated Kavanaugh tried to rape her at a 1982 high school get-together.
Since then, the country watched agape at electric moments. These included the emergence of two other accusers; an unforgettable Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which a composed Ford and a seething Kavanaugh told their diametrically opposed stories, and a truncated FBI investigation that the agency said showed no corroborating evidence and Democrats lambasted as a White House-shackled farce.
All the while, crowds of demonstrators mostly Kavanaugh opponents ricocheted around the Capitol's grounds and hallways, raising tensions, chanting slogans, interrupting lawmakers' debates, confronting senators and often getting arrested.
Trump weighed in Saturday morning on behalf of the man he nominated in July. "Big day for America!" he tweeted.
Democrats said Kavanaugh would push the court too far, including possible sympathetic rulings for Trump should the president encounter legal problems from the special counsel's investigations into Russian connections with his 2016 presidential campaign. And they said Kavanaugh's record and fuming testimony at a now-famous Senate Judiciary Committee hearing showed he lacked the fairness, temperament and even honesty to become a justice.
But the fight was defined by the sexual assault accusations. And it was fought against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and Trump's unyielding support of his nominee and occasional mocking of Kavanaugh's accusers.
About 100 anti-Kavanaugh protesters climbed the Capitol's East Steps as the vote approached, pumping fists and waving signs. U.S. Capitol Police began arresting some of them. Hundreds of other demonstrators watched from behind barricades. Protesters have roamed Capitol Hill corridors and grounds daily, chanting, "November is coming," ''Vote them out" and "We believe survivors."
On Friday, in the moment that made clear Kavanaugh would prevail, Collins delivered a speech saying that Ford's Judiciary Committee telling of the alleged 1982 assault was "sincere, painful and compelling." But she also said the FBI had found no corroborating evidence from witnesses whose names Ford had provided.
"We must always remember that it is when passions are most inflamed that fairness is most in jeopardy," said Collins, perhaps the chamber's most moderate Republican.
Manchin used an emailed statement to announce his support for Kavanaugh moments after Collins finished talking. Manchin, the only Democrat supporting the nominee, faces a competitive re-election race next month in a state Trump carried in 2016 by 42 percentage points.
Manchin expressed empathy for sexual assault victims. But he said that after factoring in the FBI report, "I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution."
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has repeatedly battled with Trump and will retire in January, said he, too, planned to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation.
Vice President Mike Pence planned to be available in case his tie-breaking vote was needed.
In the procedural vote Friday that handed Republicans their crucial initial victory, senators voted 51-49 to limit debate, defeating Democratic efforts to scuttle the nomination with endless delays.
When Trump nominated Kavanaugh in July, Democrats leapt to oppose him, saying that past statements and opinions showed he'd be a threat to the Roe v. Wade case that assured the right to abortion. They said he also seemed too ready to rule for Trump in a possible federal court case against the president.
Yet Kavanaugh's path to confirmation seemed unfettered until Ford and two other women emerged with sexual misconduct allegations from the 1980s.
Kavanaugh would replace the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was a swing vote on issues such as abortion, campaign finance and same-sex marriage.
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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Matthew Daly, Padmananda Rama, Ken Thomas and Catherine Lucey contributed to this report.
KUSA The Boulder woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct has released a statement hours before the Senate could vote on confirming the controversial judge.
Deborah Ramirez has claimed Kavanaugh exposed himself to her and shoved his penis in her face at a dorm party while they were students at Yale University.
Kavanaugh has denied those allegations and others that have been lodged against him.
On Saturday morning, Ramirezs lawyer John Clune released this statement on her behalf:
Thirty-five years ago, the other students in the room chose to laugh and look the other way as sexual violence was perpetrated on me by Brett Kavanaugh. As I watch many of the Senators speak and vote on the floor of the Senate I feel like I'm right back at Yale where half the room is laughing and looking the other way. Only this time, instead of drunk college kids, it is US Senators who are deliberately ignoring his behavior. This is how victims are isolated and silenced.
But I do have corroborating witnesses speaking for me, although they were not allowed to speak to the FBI, and I feel extremely grateful for them and for the overwhelming amount of support that I have received and continue to receive during this extremely difficult and painful time. There may be people with power who are looking the other way, but there are millions more who are standing together, speaking up about personal experiences of sexual violence and taking action to support survivors. This is truly a collective moment of survivors and allies standing together.
Thank you for hearing me, seeing me and believing me. I am grateful for each and every one of you. We will not be silenced.
We stand in truth and light,
Debbie Ramirez"
Small retail projects are becoming a big part of Colorado Springs shopping scene.
At prominent intersections and along some high-profile corridors, developers have opted against large-scale shopping centers anchored by department stores, groceries and other big boxes and instead are thinking small.
Big-box anchored projects remain popular with shoppers and arent going away. Among the areas more recent large-scale developments, a King Soopers shopping center opened a year ago at Constitution Avenue and Marksheffel Road on the Springs east edge, and a Walmart Supercenter and Sams Club in Fountain debuted in 2015.
Likewise, smaller strip centers always have been part of the retail landscape, lining Academy Boulevard, Fillmore Street, Austin Bluffs Parkway and other major Colorado Springs roadways.
But as large national retailers shutter brick-and-mortar stores and even go out of business, small projects that dont rely on big-box anchors are becoming popular alternatives for developers and consumers. And because small retail projects are being developed near fast-growing neighborhoods, they typically include restaurants and service providers tax preparers, fitness facilities, physical therapy centers and the like that appeal to homeowners and families who are just a walk or bike ride away.
A lot of these smaller retailers are finding they want to be very visible to an existing neighborhood and traffic and very convenient to that, said John Winsor, a commercial broker with Olive Real Estate Group. If people are going home or going to work, its an easy stop, its an easy decision to go in and out.
Winsor co-developed the already opened Dublin Commons II and the still-under-construction Dublin Commons III. They followed the first Dublin Commons building, which was developed by a separate group; the three projects are southeast of Powers and Dublin boulevards on the Springs northeast side.
Combined, the three buildings are smaller than a single Safeway grocery. Still, they have a variety of fast-casual and sit-down restaurants to go with services such as a beauty salon, massage therapy and Pilates.
A mix of offerings in small retail buildings is especially attractive to homeowners who want to avoid the hassle of driving to large commercial centers, said John Egan, a broker with NAI Highland in the Springs. Hes also developing Dublin Heights Plaza, a 10,000-square-foot, multitenant building under construction at Dublin and Marksheffel Road. His project is full, and if he had another 6,000 square feet, he could fill it, Egan said.
Were going back to the neighborhood, Egan said. Instead of going to this big central mall, were coming back to these little, almost, suburbs or these little boroughs, in a way. Which I think is cool.
Nothing Bundt Cakes is a specialty bakery thats enjoyed strong sales since it opened five years ago in University Village Colorado, said Alyssa Cihak Lopez, who owns the local franchise with her parents, Rick and Regina Cihak. University Village is a sprawling, 650,000-square-foot retail center on North Nevada Avenue, where anchors Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse, Kohls and Costco Wholesale Club help drive customer traffic.
Nothing Bundt Cakes is in a stand-alone building at University Village and the storefront is hard to miss, Cihak Lopez said. Yet shes heard from customers whove been to University Village multiple times and didnt know her store was there, she said.
When Nothing Bundt Cakes owners opened a second location a year ago on the northeast side, they bypassed the King Soopers-anchored Ridgeview Marketplace and First & Main Town Center, where big boxes include J.C. Penney and SuperTarget. Instead, Nothing Bundt Cakes chose a storefront at Dublin Commons II.
The building is highly visible, Cihak Lopez said; it faces Powers Boulevard and can be seen easily by the thousands of cars that pass by daily. Its tenants include restaurants Over Easy, Salsa Brava and Mod Pizza, who attract diners that come by Nothing Bundt Cake for dessert, she said.
Sales at the two Nothing Bundt Cake locations have been comparable, but customer demographics are somewhat different, Cihak Lopez said.
The University Village location gets plenty of attention from business people who might come to the regional center and its dozens of stores and restaurants on their lunch hour, she said. But the Dublin Commons II store draws many customers who come from nearby neighborhoods that line the Powers corridor, and they buy items for birthday parties, family gatherings and other special events.
At the Dublin Commons location its not uncommon to see people walking over from the neighborhood just east of us, because its a bike ride or a stones throw away, especially during the summer, Cihak Lopez said. People are just on foot versus kind of trying to fight parking or something like that.
At the same time, the dining and service choices at small retail buildings are popular because they cant be purchased online, Winsor said.
A lot of these smaller strip centers are internet competitive, he said. Youre seeing more restaurant types of uses, which they cant get on the internet. Youre getting exercise facilities. Youre seeing those kinds of services that benefit both from heavy traffic thats driving by day to day, as well as that immediate neighborhood.
While smaller centers dont have big-box or even junior- box stores, they still might have people generators that take the place of traditional anchors, said Mark Useman of brokerage Colorado Springs Commercial. He markets the InterQuest Commons retail development southwest of InterQuest and Voyager parkways on the Springs far north side.
Apartment complexes feed customers to smaller retail projects, Useman said. And at InterQuest Commons, three hotels are planned that will generate customers for the restaurants, stores and service providers in the projects smaller multitenant and free-standing buildings, he said.
They serve kind of as a minianchor, in the sense they bring people in all the time, Useman said of the hotels. Those people need services and they need food. And so, the retailers like hotels, which is what youre seeing. Youre seeing high density and multifamily and hotels taking the place of some of the traditional retail anchor activity.
Despite rocky times for retailers, traditional shopping center anchors havent disappeared.
We will see them again, Useman said. We still have to have grocery stores, right? People can buy some stuff online, but most people go physically to a grocery store. But theres not a big need yet in certain areas of Colorado Springs to place new grocery stores.
And with competition from Amazon and other online retailers, and after taking financial hits during the Great Recession, fewer department and discount store retailers are looking to add buildings with large footprints, said Springs real estate developer John Gatto. He recently opened a Best Western Plus Fillmore Inn west of Interstate 25 and Fillmore Street as part of his small retail project at the site.
There are only so many locations for those anchors, Gatto said. Theyre more regionally driven, so that they serve a larger, geographical area. Whereas, the smaller retail buildings, as the neighborhoods grow, they serve the immediate needs of those neighborhoods.
Large retailers also have shifted strategies, Egan said. They dont necessarily build stores near their rivals just to compete, and they hesitate to overbuild in a market that leads to one of their stores cannibalizing another, he said.
Thats the change the tenants themselves saying, I dont know if I want to go in and split our market anymore when its already been split, Egan said. Thats why I dont see a lot these large-box developments happening anymore like they did in the early 2000s.
An 18-year-old Pine Creek High School student was arrested at school Tuesday on suspicion of sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact and harassment of male and female classmates. Colorado Springs police have declined to identify the suspect, but Ryan Maikell, 18, was booked into El Paso County jail on suspicion of sexual assault and harassment, sheriff's spokeswoman Jacqueline Kirby said. He is being held without bond, according to jail records. Police had been investigating the Pine Creek senior since the end of February, when Pine Creek Theater Director Carrie Barnhardt-Roberson was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with Maikell.
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.
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souvik101990 wrote:
Company policy : An employee of our company must be impartial, particularly when dealing with family matters. This obligation extends to all aspects of the job, including hiring and firing practices and the quality of service the employee provides customers.
Which one of the following employee behaviors most clearly violates the company policy cited above?
(A) Refusing to hire any of ones five siblings, even though they are each more qualified than any other applicant
(B) Receiving over 100 complaints about the service ones office provides and sending a complimentary product to all those who complain, including ones mother
(C) Never firing a family member, even though three of ones siblings work under ones supervision and authority
(D) Repeatedly refusing to advance an employee, claiming that he has sometimes skipped work and that his work has been sloppy, even though no such instances have occurred for over two years
(E) Promoting a family member over another employee in the company
Please make sure to post a brief reply without revealing your solution to enter the contest! Day 16 Question of the Verbal Contest: Race Against the GMAT Club Timer Please make sure to post a brief reply without revealing your solution to enter the contest! : An employee of our company must be impartial, particularly when dealing with family matters. This obligation extends to all aspects of the job, including hiring and firing practices and the quality of service the employee provides customers.Which one of the following employee behaviors most clearly violates the company policy cited above?(A) Refusing to hire any of ones five siblings, even though they are each more qualified than any other applicant(B) Receiving over 100 complaints about the service ones office provides and sending a complimentary product to all those who complain, including ones mother(C) Never firing a family member, even though three of ones siblings work under ones supervision and authority(D) Repeatedly refusing to advance an employee, claiming that he has sometimes skipped work and that his work has been sloppy, even though no such instances have occurred for over two years(E) Promoting a family member over another employee in the company
to put the argument in brief:company employee must be impartial toward jobs in firing or promoting or customer services--> find which one partial, or say, violate the given policy ...(A) refuse to hire someone more qualified for the job, since its his own siblings, just this sounds having bias toward one group of people this choice perfectly involves "comparing the competency" of two groups of people, and it could also be a partial example in that the more competent group is his own relatives but you don't hire them since they have blood relationship with you(B) if he is willing to listen to complaints from all people except his mother, then this will be partial, and also vice versa, thus this must be an impartial one(C)trap choice, never firing a family member sounds a bit of nepotism as well as partial, however compare (C) to (A), we dont know, in reality, whether the family member is worth firing or not or how its competency is.(D)just that its no family matter or firing or hiring involved in this statement, or break down in another way--as we know from statement in (D) that "over these two years" there indeed has bias occur, however beside these two years maybe bias occur-then (D) in this situation would be correct- or maybe no bias no violation to the policy occur, so its just too ambiguous to determine whether (D) violate the given policy or not(E)this choice same as (C), though at first sight seems partial in that it promote a family member, however if compare to (A) we dont know whether the family member is worth promotion or not
aragonn wrote:
Disturbed by growing obesity levels among citizens, the Mayor of Vargonia donated cookware and kitchen appliances to schools and colleges in the county that offered cooking classes. He wanted to promote better eating habits by encouraging people to cook their own food at home. Quite a few citizens of Vargonia have decided to vote for the Mayor in the upcoming elections.
Which of the following inferences is best supported by the passage given above?
(A) Eating home-cooked food is the simplest way to combat obesity.
(B) Schools and colleges that offer cooking classes were affected by a lack of cookware and kitchen appliances.
(C) Making donations is the best way to garner political support.
(D) Actions that benefit others sometimes have positive consequences for those who perform them.
(E) The primary driver of citizens voting decisions is the donations that election candidates make to public causes.
source -
M did something that he thought would improve obesity. Some people voted for him in election
SIMPLEST is too extreme. Nowhere the para talks of best way of reducing obesity. Rather M feels it is a way
There is no mention of lack of funds. It is just that M helps them this way.
BEST is again too extreme
Now this starts with SOMETIMES so it makes a very subtle connection between two and is correct
again PRIMARY is extreme
Few points..1) whatever M did was in his view a good way to tackle a problem.2) there is no clearcut relation in two - he being voted because of his work - MEANS it is not a must relationship.3) we can take two - doing good and being rewarded for it- to be just slightly connectedLet's see the choices..(A) Eating home-cooked food is the simplest way to combat obesity.(B) Schools and colleges that offer cooking classes were affected by a lack of cookware and kitchen appliances.(C) Making donations is the best way to garner political support.(D) Actions that benefit others sometimes have positive consequences for those who perform them.(E) The primary driver of citizens voting decisions is the donations that election candidates make to public causes._________________
vmdce129907 wrote:
Modern warfare does not revolve around the usage of standard weapons and armaments only.Recently China held India hostage, when an artificial lake was formed in a region in Tibet under the control of the Chinese, and the overflow of the lake or a leakage in the dam could overflow the Sutlej and hence flood the entire Sutlej basin in India. China refused permission to Indian specialists to inspect the lake, and held the country ransom to a water bomb. Again, the US is arm-twisting India to support US on major issues like Iraq and terrorism, in return for supporting Indias demand for a UNSC seat. These are symptoms of war, albeit of a different kind.
Which of the following would qualify as war, according to the definition of war described above ?
A. The refusal of the Taliban government in Afghanistan to permit Indian forces to free hostages by use of force, of an Indian plane hijacked in India and taken to Afghanistan.
B. The refusal of a groom to marry just before the marriage ritual if the bride's family did not provide him a Maruti 800 car in dowry.
C. The US slapping high duties on Chinese exports to USA, in retaliation to rising trade deficit of USA with China, and the Chinese refusal to devalue its currency to set into order the imbalance in trade.
D. A strike called by farmers in the rest of Maharashtra to protest against the decision of the government to cut power in the rest of the state to provide uninterrupted power to the capital Mumbai, when the power was actually generated outside Mumbai.
E. None of these
This is not a GMAT like question.Hence locking this topic.
For All U of U Health Patients & Visitors
Assyrians Walk Across Golden Gate Bridge for Genocide Awareness
Assyrians walk across Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to raise awareness of Assyrian genocides. ( AINA) San Francisco (AINA) -- The Assyrian people in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran have been subjected to systematic ethnic cleansing for over a century. The biggest human losses suffered by the Assyrian nation happened between the years 1915 and 1933 -- this period of atrocities and oppression against the Assyrian people is commemorated every year on August 7th, and is known as Assyrian Martyrs' Day.
Turkey killed 750,000 Assyrians between 1915 and 1918, as well as one million Greeks and 1.5 million Armenians. It was a genocide against Christians.
Between August 7 and 11, 1933, the Iraqi military massacred more than 3,000 Assyrians in Simmele and many other villages in Iraq. Assyrians were indiscriminately slaughtered on that day. Furthermore, many Assyrian families lost their homes and were forced into exile.
Modern Turkey and Iraq have been found guilty of the Assyrian genocide and both governments have failed to acknowledge their crimes. As the two governments continue deny their actions and they campaign to erase the Assyrian Genocide from history, the Assyrian people around the world fight on and demand for justice.
The Assyrian Genocide and Research Center, in conjunction with Assyrian Associations in California, held a walk across Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco to raise awareness about the Assyrian genocides.
( AINA)
Hundreds of Assyrians gathered participated in the walk, waving Assyrian flags holding banners written in both Assyrian and English. The demonstrators demanded recognition of the Turkish genocide of Assyrians during World War One and the Simmele Massacre of 1933.
Emmanuel Homer Younan welcomed all participants on behalf of the Assyrian Genocide and Research Center and thanked the Assyrian American Association of San Jose, Assyrian American Civic Club of Turlock, Assyrian American Association of Modesto, the Assyrian National Council of Stanislaus County and American Mesopotamian Organization for their cooperation and endorsement of the walk.
( AINA)
Thirteen-year-old Tiamet Lazar spoke on the genocide, saying "We are the voice of the Assyrians throughout the world, we are the future of Assyria. I assure you that my generation, for as long as it's alive, will not let the Assyrian cause rest. Our Martyrs will not be forgotten."
After her speech, Larissa Petrosspour was invited to give her speech on behalf the Assyrian Genocide and Research Center. Petrosspour stated that 'hundreds of thousands of lives were stolen in 1843, 1894-1896, 1909, 1915 by Ottoman Turks, and in 1933 by Iraqi army and most recently by ISIS in 2014 to this day in Iraq and Syria. These are all dark pages in our history and we carry these atrocities with us as our identity."
Petrosspour concluded by saying "It is a big mistake to think that what happened in 2014, 1933, and 1915 lies in the past and should be forgotten. History is not about oblivion. It is about knowledge. It is about education. It is about the future. And, we will hold our future in our hands. We will continue to seek justice for the Assyrian people."
Adam Liddle of Arygle, N.Y., was named the 77th winner of the Klussendorf Award, the highest recognition given to a dairy cattle showman in the United States during the 52nd World Dairy Expo. Liddle is a self-made man who worked hard to learn from others and eventually built up enough equity to rent, and then buy, his own dairy farm. Throughout that journey, he eventually started an eight-year run in which he either bred or owned an All-American nominee each and every year.
The award is given in memory of Arthur B. Klussendorf, considered an outstanding showman of his time and a model for all those who have followed him. This years selection was made by members of the Klussendorf Memorial Association, formed in 1937, at its annual meeting held earlier this week in Madison, Wis. Liddle received the silver trophy designed by Tiffany Jewelers of New York City.
This years winner learned early on the value of great cow families when he spent his teenage years working with family at Pamtom Farm in Hudson Falls, N .Y. During that time span, the farm garnered two Premier Exhibitor banners at World Dairy Expo. From that foundation, Liddle went on to work for Ridgedale Farm in Sharon Springs, N.Y., where he had the opportunity to work with great cows and gained an even deeper appreciation for deep cow families.
By 1999, this years Klussendorf winner branched out on his own with a rented facility that he and his wife purchased just three years later. Within the next decade, Liddle developed an impressive herd. His diligence not only earned him the New York Holstein Associations Outstanding Young Breeder Award in 2007, it also led to a highly successful sale the very next year.
That Liddleholme Farm dispersal averaged $7,573 on 179 lots for a total gross of $1.2 million. Award nominators Wayne Conard and Steve Briggs state, It will go down in history as one of the greatest herd sales in New York state history. Cattle were sold to 17 states and two Canadian provinces.
Liddle also has a distinguished judging career that has taken him to Europe, Africa, Australia, and throughout North America. At World Dairy Expo, he has judged the Guernsey, Junior Holstein, Holstein, and Red and White shows over the past decade. Adam and his wife, Nicole, have three children Anthony, Brock, and Hailee.
Kyle Barton of Copake, New York was named the 15th Merle Howard Award winner at World Dairy Expo on Saturday, October 6.
Barton would be the first to thank his grandfather, Ken Main and his grandfathers business partner, Peter Vail, for an incredible opportunity to own and show some of the best Brown Swiss in the world. With that said, Barton also seized the opportunity by working on the grass roots level by handling all show-string tasks including washing, clipping, and working with all the farms cattle.
In a previous interview at World Dairy Expo, this New York native was quoted as saying, My grandfather and his business partner have been great mentors, teaching me a great work ethic, and a lot more about show cattle and what to look for. Tim Coon, has been a terrific mentor, too, teaching me about how to care for and prepare show cows. There is no one better.
The 15th Merle Howard award winner got his start as a six-year-old boy when his grandfather bought him a Jersey calf. From that point, he was hooked. And since that launch pad, he has been soaking everything in about all things dairy.
Up until this year, Bartons favorite World Dairy Expo memory would have been when his Brown Swiss cow was named Reserve Supreme Champion of the Junior Show two years ago. That all changed all changed Thursday when his homebred cow, Cutting Edge T Delilah won both the Junior and Open Shows of the 2018 International Brown Swiss Show. That cow will compete for Supreme Champion in both the Junior and Open divisions at the close of the 2018 World Dairy Expo.
Respected among his peers, past Merle Howard award winner, Kelly Reynolds had this to say about Barton, Kyle always takes time to hello to fellow exhibitors. He is a humble showman and has graciously won with Delilah all fall. In addition, Kyle can be found doing numerous tasks in the Elite Cattle show string . . . from washing to clipping to bedding to bagging. There is no task he wont take on.
Duncan MacKenzie winner Barrie Potter, who won that award in 1998 adds, Kyle has a very calm demeanor around cows. Hes also a young man who works hard and has a work ethic that mirrors grandfathers generation.
Hes just such a pleasure to be around. He simply wants to watch the show string and provide the best quality cattle care, added 2015 Duncan MacKenzie winner Tim Coon.
Barton is the son of Donna and Michael Barton, both of New York.
All of the previous award winners of the Merle Howard Award were on hand for the award presentation. They include: 2004, Robert Teixeira, Turlock, Calif.; 2005, Matthew Mitchell, Lafollette, Tenn.; 2006, Greta Koebel, Three Oaks, Mich.; 2007, Brandon Ferry, Hilbert, Wis.; 2008, Kelly Lee Reynolds, Corfu, N.Y.; 2009 Kyle Natzke, Fond du Lac, Wis.; 2010 Stephanie Aves, Popular Grove, Ill.; 2011 Karen Anderson Johnson, Willmar, Minn.; 2012 Cy Conard, Sharon Springs, N.Y.; 2013, Cassy Krull, Lake Mills, Wis.; 2014, Jade Jensen Kruschke, New Richmond, Wis.; 2015, Jared Dueppengiesser, Perry, New York; 2016, Doug Boop, Millmont, Pa., and Dawson Nickels, Watertown, Wis.
Merle Howard was a respected dairy industry pioneer. Winner of the 1954 Klussendorf Award, Howard was a herd manager, Holstein classifier and later a sales and export businessman. Serving on the first National Dairy Shrine Board, he became one of only eleven people to receive the 4-E Award for outstanding service.
As judge Blair Weeks made his much anticipated final Red and White Champion selection of the day, the crowd rhythmically clapped along to Here we go as he circled the six contenders. After evaluating 268 head, he high fived Oakfield A Shampagne-Red-ETs leadsperson as his Grand Champion selection. Earlier in the day, this Mr Apples Armani-ET daughter was also awarded Intermediate Champion, as well as Best Udder of Show after topping the Junior Three-Year-Old class for Westcoast Holsteins of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada.
Reserve Grand Champion honors went to Highcroft Absolute Lily-Red. She was the winning 4-year-old cow and was exhibited by Maple-Downs Farm II and Thomas Hoskings, Jr. of Middleburgh, N.Y. Lily had been tapped as Senior Champion just moments before.
Best Bred and Owned of Show went to Westcoast Defiant Addison-Red. She was the winning Senior Three-Year-Old.
In the Junior Show, Grand Champion honors went to Robin-Hood Pretty In-Red. This 4-year-old was exhibited by Regan Demmer of Peosta, Iowa. Ms AOL Diamondback Rasberry-Red-ET was Intermediate and Reserve Grand Champion for Jaydn, Kennedy, Caroline, and Andrew Kimball of Windham, Maine.
The youth exhibitors took the lead in the heifer show, claiming champion honors in both the Junior and Open Shows. Junior Champion was the Fall Calf, Ms Kress-Hil Saphire-Red-ET. Saphire is owned by Owen and Kendyll Kress and Savanah Barts, Newton, Wis. Mason, Carter, and Evan Jauquet, along with Carmen and Spencer Haack of Pulaski, Wis., earned Reserve honors with Synergy Jordys Spike-Red-ET, who was also from the strong Fall Calf Class of 40 entries.
The Nasco Type and Production Winner was Hilrose Advent Anna-Red-ET. She was also recently named Wisconsins Cow of the Year for Joseph Brantmeier of Sherwood, Wis.
Premier Breeder went to Oakfield Corners of Oakfield, N.Y., on the strength of the Grand Champion Cow. They also were Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor of the heifer classes. Westcoast Holsteins owned the Grand Champion, and they took the Premier Exhibitor banner.
Apples Absolute-Red-ET was named Premier Sire. Nearly all of the champions in the show trace to KHW Regiment Apple-Red-ET either through her daughters, her clones, or her sons and grandsons. So, if there was a Premier honor on the maternal side, Apple would have taken that prize.
The author is the online media manager and is responsible for the website, webinars, and social media. A graduate of Modesto Junior College and Fresno State, she was raised on a California dairy and frequently blogs on youth programs and consumer issues.
IceViking strongly condemns physical attacks and harassment directed towards them.
They are also often victims of the Islamic idea. This is true when it comes to the cruel and tragic treatment of Muslim women and children when it is in accord with the Koran, the example of Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia, which may be applied regardless of where a Muslim male may find himself in the world, whether in a Muslim or non-Muslim country.
However, in no way, shape or form should one judge all Muslim men because of what is in Islamic scripture and what constitutes the Islamic law, Sharia.
"Race", ethnicity or basically anything that you are "merely" born with should never be a basis for bigotry and discrimination.
Apostates from Islam have been executed for 1400 years in accord with the Koran and the words and actions of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia.
They should be lovingly helped.
Furthermore, approximately as many as 11,000,000 Muslims may have been killed by other Muslims since 1948.
To quote the website The Religion of Peace (TROP), edited by Glen Roberts:
While it may be safe to say that a true Muslim would not intentionally kill another true Muslim ( 4:92-93 ), the Quran places no such value on the life of a Muslim who is not true. Consider verse 9:73 :
Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them, their abode is Hell.
The Arabic for strive hard uses the same root as Jihad - and the context in this sura is holy war (see v. 86 and 91). Thus, there are two distinct classes of people that a true Muslim is to target with harshness: disbelievers and hypocrites.
A disbeliever obviously refers to a non-Muslim, so a "hypocrite" must be a Muslim of some sort. In fact, hypocrites are those who say they believe, but do not act as they should. In other words, they are "Muslims", but not true Muslims. They will go to hell just as unbelievers do, and so, according to the verse, their lives matter for naught.
The same sura says that a hypocrite can be recognized not just by lack of piety (reluctance to follow Sharia), but by fear of death ( 9:56 ), reluctance to fight ( 9:44-45 ) and even friendliness toward non-believers ( 9:67 ). A true Muslim would thus be a pious person who relishes martyrdom, is eager to fight, and shuns non-believers.
Even the Quranic passage that warns against killing "believers" ( 4:88-94 ) is more complicated than it first appears. It never says that a true Muslim is incapable of killing another Muslim, just that it should not be done. In fact, it makes exceptions for the unintentional killing of "believers" in war and mandates the killing of "hypocrites."
Verse 17:33 says, "Do not kill anyone which Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause" . The greatest cause of all is that Islam be superior ( 9:33 ), which is exactly what Islamic terrorists say is their goal. Thus believing Muslims are allowed to be collateral damage in the war on unbelievers.
There is sadly a phenomena that I`ve noticed in Sweden and elsewhere of people using true facts about Islamic doctrine and history as a cover for all sorts of irrational targeting of Muslims, ranging from xenophobia and racism to verbal abuse and physical attacks.
This is strongly condemned by this website and does not in any way serve serious criticism of orthodox Islam and other important work.
It`s also important that one tries to express oneself in a civilized way. Words matter.
In this bloggers humble opinion the root cause of the problem is the ancient doctrine of orthodox Islam.
In simple terms a non-Muslim is a Kafir.
" The Koran defines the kafir and kafir is not a neutral word. A kafir is not merely someone who does not agree with Islam, but a kafir is evil, disgusting, the lowest form of life."
An exact quote, as stated in the writings of Dr. Bill Warner in the article "Kafir" at http://www.politicalislam.com/kafir .
In the perfect Koran (Allah`s direct and literal word as revealed to Mohammed through the angel Jibril), Muslims are told 89 times to emulate Mohammed in all ways (see Koran 33:21 for instance).
Mohammed`s example, the Sunna, is found in the Hadith (stories of what Mohammed said and did) and the Sira (biographies of Mohammed).
Islamic law, Sharia , is directly derived from these unchanging scriptures. It is based on the Koran`s numerous commands to obey Allah and obey the Messenger, that is Mohammed (see Koran 4:59 for instance).
Islam is Sharia. Sharia is Islam.
It is a capital crime for Muslims to deny Sharia in any way.
A Muslim is someone who submits to Islam and submitting to Islam means obeying the Sharia of Allah.
Sharia law includes pronouncements for both Muslims and non-Muslims (Kafirs).
Islam is a "complete way of life", a "complete code of life", a "complete system of life".
Islam is not just a religion but also a comprehensive ideology.
Islam is a supremacist ideology.
Islam is a totalitarian and imperialistic ideology akin to Communism and Nazism.
Islam is a civilization.
Islamic law, Sharia, is a manual for a civilization.
Islamic law, Sharia, governs every aspect of life.
It has a say about every conceivable human act .
Non-Muslims are morally and legally inferior in Islam. Women are morally and legally inferior in Islam.
The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS by Robert Spencer is the first one-volume history of jihad in the English language and a great book on the topic.
Allah guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Koran 9:111).
A hadith depicts a Muslim asking Muhammad: "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." Muhammad replied, "I do not find such a deed." (Bukhari 4.52.44)
Muhammad himself said:
I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah. (Sahih Muslim 30)
Freedom of speech, human rights, democracy, science and human lives are all at stake in the fight against the Islamic Jihad.
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The report indicates that it is not presently known whether a detailed plan was formulated or put into practice, but the story is indicative of some of the challenges that the US might face from major global adversaries as it works to economically and diplomatically isolate the Islamic Republic of Iran. But at the same time, federal prosecutors revelation of that plot underscores the notion that the US will be diligent in identifying and obstructing instances of illegal behavior that strives to alleviate pressure on the Iranian regime.
On the same day that the New York Times reported upon the plot by CEFC executive Patrick Ho, another Chinese business returned to the headlines after a federal judge ruled that ZTE Corp had violated the terms of its probation and would not remain under monitoring for an additional two years, until 2022. As Reuters notes, the original judgement against ZTE related to its illegal shipment of goods to Iran in defiance of US sanctions that were in place at the time.
Vigorous enforcement of past sanctions is arguably of particular importance under present conditions, as the Islamic Republic is bracing for the re-imposition of banking sanctions and secondary sanctions on the Iranian oil trade that were suspended under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. US President Donald Trump pulled out of that deal in May, and the first round of sanctions returned to force in August, prompting further declines in the value of Irans national currency, as well as further economic protests among the Iranian population.
These sorts of developments have been highlighted by multiple Trump administration officials who insist that economic pressure is already having the desired effect, even before full-scale re-implementation and even in the presence of defiant attitudes among many European governments and some Asian businesses. The European Union has gone so far as to announce its intention to form a special purpose vehicle for sanctioned transactions between Iran and European companies, but details of the project were sparse and it has so far had little impact on the exodus of European companies from the Iranian market.
The Financial Times elaborated upon this situation on Thursday, noting that major oil companies were spurning the EUs attempt ahead of the November sanctions deadline, because of fears the effort would leave businesses exposed to harsh penalties from the Trump administration. The reported added that a survey of oil trading executives failed to identify any who would be willing to risk the consequences involved in continuing to purchase Iranian oil.
And while countries like China may be historically more willing to take on these risks, it bears mentioning that even some close allies of the Islamic Republic are currently taking steps that could help to increase the pressure from US-led sanctions. As an example, Newsweek reported on Thursday that Russia, which has supported Iran in nuclear negotiations and in its intervention on behalf of the Assad regime in Syria, has joined Saudi Arabia in quietly increasing petroleum outputs in order to compensate for the loss of Iranian exports among those countries that are complying with the forthcoming sanctions.
The silent nature of the increases is reportedly part of an effort to not look as if Russia or OPEC are acting on the orders of the US. President Trump tweeted in June that he hoped the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would increase output substantially in order to keep prices down. The perception of a response to this demand is perhaps less important to Saudi Arabia, a close US ally that is already routinely subjected to Iranian accusations of subservience to Western powers. But Russia may be keener to avoid such perceptions at a time when its relations with the US are in flux and it still shares some but not all of Irans strategic goals in the Middle East region.
Regardless of Russias motivations or any fears regarding how it will be perceived, it reportedly entered into an agreement to begin raising output last month and to continue doing so through December. This reverses a previous agreement between Russia and OPEC to reduce outputs in order to buttress prices that were falling at the time. Iran was exempted from that deal prior to the American withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement, as it sought to bring its output back up to self-reported pre-sanctions levels.
The Newsweek report indicates that Tehran quickly seized upon the reversal in order to accuse Moscow and Riyadh of violating their preexisting commitments. It remains to be seen whether this will put substantial strain on cooperative relations between Iran and Russia, but it is essentially certain that Irans protests will contribute to the escalating war of words between the Islamic Republic and its Gulf Arab adversaries.
In some cases, questions linger about the extent to which the rhetorical exchanges between these countries have been reflected in actual policy. But those questions may begin to fade as the developing situation prompts some of the more tentative Arab nations to truly step up pressure on the Iranian regime and its oil economy. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates had continued to buy Iranian oil despite standing right alongside Saudi Arabia in raising the alarm over Tehrans expanding, destructive influence on the region.
But the report went on to say that this situation may be coming to an end as the UAE looks to tightly police the flow of oil imports through its ports in advance of the return of US sanctions on November 4. Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei declared on Tuesday that alternatives are available in the market, although he did not go into detail as to what these alternatives might be. The expanded Russian and Saudi Arabian supplies may represent two such alternatives, but it has yet to be determined whether those and other countries will be both willing and able to quickly compensate for the loss of Iranian oil.
The answer to this question may depend in part on how vigorously the UAE and the rest of the world demand those alternatives, and the Bloomberg report concluded by noting that the extent of that demand may depend on the U.S. and whether it emphasizes strict adherence to sanctions. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has slightly moderated its tone on that point, suggesting that it might grant some waivers to countries that depend on Iranian oil, but only if they first took measures to substantially reduce those imports.
This is certainly not to say that the administration has seriously scaled back the overall assertiveness of its Iran strategy. Quite the contrary, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton both offered strong warnings to the Islamic Republic in recent days, with Bolton insisting that there will be hell to pay if Tehran continues its malign behavior, while Pompeo said that the Iranian regime will be held responsible for any deaths of American personnel or damage to diplomatic infrastructure following a missile attack on the Basra consulate by militant proxies of the Islamic Republic.
This attack presumably contributed, also, to Secretary of Defense James Mattis conclusion that Tehran has grown resistant to any sort of restraint, thereby underscoring the need for strong, multilateral efforts to constrain its behavior. According to the Washington Examiner, Pompeo echoed this sentiment but also suggested that the Iranian regimes apparent efforts to step up its threats against regional and Western adversaries are evidence that the US governments comprehensive pressure campaign [is] serious and succeeding.
Pompeo went on to say, We must be prepared for them to continue their attempts to hit back, especially after our full sanctions are re-imposed on the 4th of November. The White House evidently perceives these prospective attempts as falling into a number of different categories, and PJ Media reported that Secretary Mattis had identified several distinct examples of Irans lack of restraint, including its interventions in Syria, its provision of weapons to proxies that have fired them into Arab states, and the attempted bombing of the June 30 rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran just outside Paris.
This last incident and other terror plots against Western targets may be especially important in turning the US pressure campaign into something truly multilateral. Recently, the French government announced asset freezes for two Iranian intelligence agents and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence as a whole, based on its firm determination that Tehran was responsible for the plot against the NCRI. Agence France Presse then reported on Thursday that this was likely to have a strongly adverse impact on the European Unions efforts to buttress the nuclear deal and assist the Islamic Republic.
So far, Iranian officials have generally remained defiant of US sanctions threats, and the Associated Press quoted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as telling a gathering of the Basij civilian militia that Iran would slap the US over the issue. No doubt, the recent actions of several different countries and businesses have emboldened this attitude. But many of these actions, including Chinese sanctions evasion, Arab oil policies, and EU commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal, are under significant threats, either from US sanctions enforcement or from the Iranian regimes own threatening behavior against would-be advocates in the West.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)
Today
Mainly clear skies. Areas of patchy fog. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable..
Tonight
Mainly clear skies. Areas of patchy fog. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable.
Artsakh State Minister Grigory Martirosyan today, in Stepanakert, met with Haykak Arshamyan, the newly appointed executive director of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund.
Martirosyan congratulated Arshamyan on his recent appointment, saying he was sure the new director would be able to steer the organization clear of its temporary challenges following the resignation of its previous director.
According to an Artsakh government press release, Martirosyan said that the people and government totally backed the fund, noting that the achievements of the organization can be seen throughout the country.
Arshamyan thanked Martirosyan for his warm reception and said that the fund would restore its credibility through a transparent work ethic.
Arshamyan said that the fund is studying a project to build manufacturing facilities in Artsakh.
Photo (from left): Haykak Arshamyan, Grigory Martirosyan
Have you ever wanted to ask someone in English about the kind of work they do but were unsure how? Many cultures have ways of doing this.
Today on Ask a Teacher, our question comes from Azra in Turkey.
Question:
Is it polite to ask people about their jobs? How can I ask someone without sounding impolite? - Azra, Turkey
Answer:
Hello Azra and thanks for writing to us!
In the United States, asking someone about their job is one of the most common things to do when meeting that person for the first time. But in some other cultures, this question may be considered disrespectful, so be careful.
Although questions such as What is your job? and What are you? seem like the most direct ways to ask, we do not use them. The questions are structured correctly but, to Americans, they can sound impolite and unnatural.
Ways to ask
Instead, we have a few ways to ask that sound more natural.
When you meet someone in a social situation, and you want to know what kind of work they do, the most common question is this:
What do you do?
It is a shorter way of asking:
What do you do for a living?
Listen to both questions and some answers you might hear. Pay close attention to the pronunciation of What do you do? as it usually sounds like Whaddya do? when said quickly:
What do you do?
Im a teacher.
What do you do for a living?
I work in photojournalism.
What do you do?
I run an arts program for teenagers.
What do you do for a living?
Im a musician.
Compare the question What do you do? to What are you doing? They sound similar, but the second is not work-related. It is asking what the person is doing right now, this minute.
Two other friendly ways to ask some about their work are What kind of work do you do? and What line of work are you in? You can answer in the same way, saying something like, I run an arts program for teenagers or Im a musician.
Following up
After the person answers the question, it is a good idea to ask one or two more questions. Listen to an example:
What do you do for a living?
I run an arts program for teenagers.
Nice! How long have you been doing that?
For about five years now.
Where do you work?
At the citys arts and culture division.
What not to ask
Despite how common job-related questions are in social situations in the U.S., situations differ. Some people may find these questions too personal if asked too soon. If youre ever unsure, you can start a conversation in other ways, such as asking what the person does for fun in that city. Or, you can comment on something interesting or funny at the event or activity.
You should avoid asking the questions What is your profession? and What is your occupation? They sound too official, so we do not use them in friendly situations. You would probably only hear them during a job interview or in an office environment.
Another thing to know is that, in American culture, we do not ask about a persons wages. Even some close friends and relatives do not discuss this subject. So, unless someone shares this information with you or asks for wage advice, avoid asking this question.
And thats Ask a Teacher.
Im Alice Bryant.
Do you have a question for Ask a Teacher? Write to us in the Comments area. Be sure to list your country!
What do you do for a living? How long have you been doing it? Do you enjoy your work? We'd love to hear from you.
Ways to Ask Following Up What Not to Ask What do you do? What do you do for a living? What kind of work do you do? What line of work are you in? How long have you been doing that? Where do you work? What company do you work for? What are you doing?
(It's not work-related)
What is your profession (or occupation)?
How much money do you make? _______________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
polite adj. having or showing good manners or respect for other people
pronunciation n. the way in which a word or name is said
interview n. a formal meeting with someone who is being considered for a job or other position
profession n. a type of job that requires special education, training, or skill
run v. to direct the business or activities of something
teenager n. someone who is between 13 and 19 years old
Brazilians will vote Sunday in presidential elections.
A total of 13 candidates are on the ballot.
The leading candidate is said to be 63-year-old Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party. He is supported by 35 percent of likely voters in the latest opinion survey.
During the election campaign, Bolsonaro has said that, if elected, he will help Brazil deal with a number of problems. He has promised to take steps to reduce crime, strengthen the economy and fight corruption.
But many Brazilians are concerned about some of the statements Bolsonaro has made in the past. Some believe many of his ideas are racist, homophobic and unfair to women.
Bolsonaros supporters say tens of millions of Brazilians hope he will be elected, even if they will not say so to friends or family members.
In opinion surveys, his nearest opponent is Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad, who replaced former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula is serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption. Brazils top electoral court barred him from serving as a candidate in August.
Last month, Lula told supporters, I want everyone who would vote for me to vote for Fernando Haddad for president of Brazil. From now on, he will be Lula for millions of Brazilians.
Haddad and Lula are said to be friends and similar in their political positions. But for many voters in Brazil, the two men are also very different.
Lula served as the countrys president between 2003 and 2011. Haddad was mayor of Sao Paolo for four years, from 2013 to 2017. Before becoming a candidate for mayor in 2012, Haddad served as Brazils education minister under Lula and then former president Dilma Rousseff.
American Mark Jones has been watching the election campaign. Jones is head of the Latin American Studies program at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He says a Bolsonaro victory would represent a move away from traditional party candidates in Brazil.
Jones told VOA, In a country thats hungry for someone whos a non-traditional politicianhes providing the vehicle for them to cast their vote.
Jones added that the Workers Party is being blamed for the countrys recession, high crime rate and political corruption. He says that has helped Bolsonaros rise in popularity.
Another candidate is Marina Silva of the Sustainability Network Party. Silva was born in a rubber-producing community in the Amazon rainforest. She served as Brazils environmental minister while Lula was president. She was a candidate in the past two presidential elections.
Since early 2014, Brazilian police and government lawyers have launched a major anti-corruption operation. Their efforts have led to discovery of political wrongdoing in every major party, except Silvas.
If no candidate wins a majority of the votes on Sunday, an election with only the top two candidates will be held October 28.
Im Jonathan Evans.
Victor Beattie reported this story for VOA News. Jonathan Evans adapted his report for Learning English with additional information from the Associated Press and Reuters. George Grow was the editor.
_____________________________________________________________
Words in this Story
survey n. a public opinion study; examination
homophobic adj. of or relating to a fear or opposition to sexual activity between persons of the same sex
sustainability adj. involving a method of harvesting so that the Earth is not permanently damaged
network n. a system or organization
A United States official says the U.S. military is offering its cyber warfare technology, including computer software tools, to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The move is meant to help the 69-year-old alliance better deal with cyber threats from Russia and China.
The Associated Press says an announcement is expected soon.
Katie Wheelbarger is a deputy assistant defense secretary for the United States Department of Defense. She said the U.S. is prepared to use defensive and offensive cyber operations for NATO allies. One condition, however, is that the U.S. will keep control of its own personnel and operations.
NATO members accept cyber operations
The U.S. offer comes just three months after leaders of NATO member countries gathered in Belgium. They agreed to let the alliance use cyber technology that is provided voluntarily by NATO members. Their goal is to protect computer networks and fight off cyberattacks.
The agreement shows that the United States and its allies are increasingly concerned about Russias use of cyber operations to influence elections worldwide.
On Thursday, the Netherlands reported that Russias military intelligence service, the GRU, attempted a cyberattack on a group investigating chemical weapons use. Hours earlier, Britain accused the GRU of carrying out a worldwide campaign of cyberattacks.
Russia is constantly pushing its cyber and information operations, said Wheelbarger. She added that the cyber effort is a good way for the U.S. to show its continued support for the alliance.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said offensive cyber operations are just one of many elements in our strengthened NATO cyber defenses. He told reporters it is important to have the ability to destroy networks used by groups like the Islamic State for financing and expanding membership.
Stoltenberg said that Britain and Denmark also have agreed to help NATO with cyber warfare activities, and he expects other countries to follow. He noted the use of computers to influence political processes as well as cyberattacks against infrastructure. He said that cyber warfare will be an important part of any future military conflict.
A new cybersecurity strategy
Observers say the new declaration of cyber support can help serve as a warning to keep other nations and enemies from attacking. In September, the U.S. Defense Department released a cybersecurity strategy. That document calls for more aggressive use of cyber activities by the military. And it criticizes Russia and China for their use of cyberattacks.
China, the document said, has persistently taken information from government and private businesses for economic reasons. It said Russia has used cyber information operations to influence our population and challenge our diplomatic processes.
U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Russia of interfering in U.S. elections in 2016 by using, among other things, social media.
For these and other reasons, the new cybersecurity strategy calls on defense officials to work to strengthen the capacity of allies and partners.
NATO has slowly moved to expand on offensive cyber activities.
At a NATO meeting in Warsaw in 2016, the alliance recognized cyberspace as an area of warfare. It went on to say that a computer-based attack on any ally would activate NATOs promise to defend its members.
In 2017, NATO officials agreed to create a cyber operations center. So far, the alliance has been taking steps to defend NATO networks and those of its members, and not on offensive computer technology.
Im Mario Ritter.
The Associated Press reported this story. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
_________________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
cyber adj. related to computers
networks n. a system of computers and other devices that are connected to each other
infrastructure n. basic equipment and structures (such as roads and bridges) that are needed for a country, region or organization to work properly
persistently adv. to continue to do something although it is difficult or other people want you to stop
challenge v. to test the ability, skill or strength of someone or some group
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A view of a street in Limbe township, which hosts the busiest marketplace in Blantyre, Malawi, on Oct. 6, 2018. (Charles Pensulo/Special to The Epoch Times)
For Some Malawi Business Owners, Closer China Ties Has Meant Losing the Shop
Business owners in the southeast African nation say their government has done little to help, to avoid upsetting Beijing
BLANTYRE, MalawiA group of business owners in Malawis financial hub may be feeling the side effects of the southeast African nations government getting closer to China, with local business owners getting evicted from their places of business in favor of Chinese business owners.
Kiliro Mbisa is one of six business owners in Blantyre, Malawis center of finance, who have recently been evicted from a Chinese-owned building they had set up business in.
The owner of the building duped us into believing that he has sold the building and that the new owner doesnt want us, she said. After we did our research, we noted that the landlord wanted to rent the property to fellow Chinese nationals.
According to Mbisa, one of the tenants at the premise was Chinese, and to their surprise, he wasnt given a notice to evict and even ended up getting an additional shop after the six business owners had vacated.
We went to Ministry of Trade, Competition and Fair Trading Commission, and even the mayors office to find a redress, but nothing happened. The ministry said this was a tenancy issue and they couldnt get involved. The principal secretary of trade and industry said if we cant compete, then we had to move, she said.
Were fighting for the government to protect us as small and medium enterprises. The way things are going, all these places are going to be occupied by Chinese and Asians, she added.
According to Timothy Mtambo, executive director at Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), the government could be failing to assist the local businesses due to projects and funding the government is getting from the Chinese regime.
Foreign direct investments are good, but not all foreign direct foreign investment were seeing are good for this country, said Mtambo, an expert in international corporation and development.
In pursuit of gaining greater geopolitical influence, the Chinese communist regime in recent years has been increasing its presence in Africa on both the economic and military fronts.
Very, Very Bad
Limbe township in southeast Blantyre hosts some of the biggest shops in the urban district. Several business owners in the town who have set up shop in buildings owned by Chinese nationals have found themselves in a situation similar to Mbisas.
Chinese-owned businesses grew after Malawi established diplomatic relations with China in 2007, at the cost of its relations with Taiwan. Since then, Chinese have been coming in large numbers.
CHRRs Mtambo described what is happening with the local businesses as very, very bad.
I agree with the people in Limbe because the foreigners already have an advantage. The foreigners should come here to add value, and not do things that locals can do like opening small shops, he said.
Denis Kalekeni, general secretary of the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions, said while trade in the country is liberalized, fair trade principles should be respected so that small-scale local businesses are protected.
Kalekeni described the move by the Chinese and other Asians evicting local Malawians in preference of their fellow nationals who pay higher rentals as very unfair and something the trade union cant condone.
These are issues that weve heard and are not happy with. Right now, we are carrying out investigations on the matter. We want to put it in the strongest terms, that should this practice continue, we will have no option but to march against the perpetrators, he said.
Meanwhile, Mbisa has found a temporary shop to continue operating her business, though the new place is too small to accommodate all of her fridges and machinery.
Im losing millions now. After years in the shop, my business has come to a standstill at a notice of 60 days, she said.
Mbisa has laid off nine employees, and the other five businesses owners evicted from the building complex have together laid off another 25.
The group of disgruntled business owners is currently seeking permits from the city to hold an event to protest their evictions.
Britain has expressed concern over freedom of speech in its former colony Hong Kong after authorities refused to renew the work visa of a senior editor of the Financial Times.
A statement dated today [Saturday, Macau time] said Britain has asked for an explanation as to why Victor Mallets visa renewal application was rejected.
Hong Kongs high degree of autonomy and its press freedoms are central to its way of life, and must be fully respected, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement posted on its website.Mallet is a vice president of Hong Kongs Foreign Correspondents Club, which recently drew criticism from the authorities for hosting a talk by Andy Chan, the leader of a now-banned pro-Hong Kong independence party.
Hong Kong was promised semi-autonomy for 50 years as part of its 1997 handover from British rule.
Rights groups have called the visa rejection the latest sign of Beijings expanding restrictions on the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
The London-based Financial Times said in a statement that it was given no reason why Asia editor Mallets application was rejected.
This is the first time we have encountered this situation in Hong Kong, it said.
In response to a query from The Associated Press, Hong Kongs immigration department said it would not comment on individual cases but that it makes visa decisions in accordance with the law.
In handling each application, the Immigration Department acts in accordance with the laws and prevailing policies, and decides whether to approve or refuse the application after careful consideration of individual circumstances of each case, it said in a statement.
The president of the Macau Portuguese and English Press Association (AIPIM) told Radio Macau yesterday [Friday] that the decision by Hong Kong authorities to not renew the work visa of Victor Mallet, is a worrying sign.
Mallet is a big name for journalism, especially in Asia, that unfortunately finds itself forced out of Hong Kong, AIPIM President Jose Carlos Matias said.
In March, the Asia news editor for the Financial Times said in a seminar organised by AIPIM and part of The Script Road Macau Literary Festival, that he believes freedom of the press in East Asian countries, and especially in Greater China, has been on the decline in recent years.
MDT/AP
Assyrians in Northern Syria Condemn School Closures By Kurds
The Amal Assyrian Elementary School in Hasaka, Syria. (AINA) -- In a letter sent to the so-called "Autonomous Self-Government in the Jezira Region," the German Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), the Assyrian Federation in Germany and the European Sections (ZAVD) appealed to the Kurdish authorities in the northern Syria region of Jazira not to impose new curricula on Christian private schools in the province of Al-Hasakah. The letter was signed by Society's Middle East spokesman Kamal Sido and Aziz Said, President of the Assyrian Federation in Germany.
"Many Assyrian and Armenian Christians fear that their children's credentials will not be recognized by the Syrian government or elsewhere, and their future plans may be curtailed," said Society's spokesman Kamal Sido on Tuesday in Goettingen. He warned that "the worries and fears of Christian communities must be taken seriously on an equal footing. Otherwise it can quickly give the impression that Christians in northern Syria are no longer welcome. The region has also been home to them for millennia."
The Assyrian communities in Jazira feel pressured by an administrative decree issued by the Democratic Union Party or PYD (affiliated with PKK) authorities to immediately "re-register" their private and church schools in Al-Hasakah province. "Many are worried that this decree could mean a complete closure of these schools if they do not comply," said Sido. Around 7,000 pupils would then no longer have lessons. The new school year begins in early September, 2018.
Kurdish authorities closed a Assyrian school in Derbiseye after Assyrian school officials refused to adopt a Kurdish teaching curriculum (AINA 2018-08-09).
In a press release, the Assyrian Democratic Party (ADP) accused the YPG of "intimidating" the region's Assyrian community. "The YPG is harming education by promoting its ideologies through school curricula," and demanded that the Kurds immediately allow the schools to reopen.
Various Assyrian groups, among them the Assyrian Democratic Organisation (ADO), a founding member of the Syrian Opposition, also condemned the closures. The ADO said in a statement:
We strongly condemn this arbitrary decision by the self-governing authorities, and we believe that it targets the Assyrian Syriac people and exerts more pressure on them...the concern shown by this administration for the unity of the country contradicts the democratic claims that it boasts, the core of which is the freedom of education. We emphasize that the position of the YPG reflects a deficient vision and serves to strike the rest of the educational process and deprive the students to continue their study by imposing certain ideological approaches that have not convinced even the supervisors of teh schools.
Assyrians are demanding the Kurdish PYD group to immediately revoke the decision, to allow the opening of Assyrian schools in Derek and Darbasiya and to allow all students from different ethnicities who want to register in order for them to start the new school year.
The private Assyrian schools, among them those administered by the Syriac Orthodox Church, have been operating in the region since mid-1930s and teach a curriculum specialized in the Assyrian language and religion developed jointly with the Syrian Education Ministry.
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.
Jeffersonville, IN - A convicted sex offender who got out of prison early is back behind bars for molesting another child.
Brandon Nevils, 34, is charged with child molestation after a co-worker found pornographic photos of his 5-year-old daughter and reported them to police.
Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said Nevils, of Jeffersonville, was on parole when he was arrested Wednesday on 20 counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of child molestation. He pleaded not guilty in court Friday, and the judge scheduled a tentative trial date of Feb. 26, 2019.
Nevils remains jailed on a $100,000 full cash bond. The prosecutor is also charging Nevils as a repeat sex offender, which means he will face harsher penalties if convicted of these crimes.
A probable cause affidavit says Nevils took photographs of the victim when she and her parents spent the night after a bonfire at Nevils home in Jeffersonville last month. Court records show the child "had fallen asleep on the couch" and "Brandon offered to allow her to sleep with him in his bed." Her mother agreed, and that's when investigators believe the abuse happened.
Prosecutors do not have any evidence the parents knew about Nevils' criminal past.
"They would have not let their child obviously be around him, but being unaware of that unfortunately this did occur," Mull said.
Nevils works with the child's father. Court records show the father was looking through a shared work computer this week and found photos of his daughter being molested.
"To go to work, to be on a shared computer, and find that your co-worker has photos of your daughter being molested is a horrendous thing to undergo," Mull said.
Online records say Nevils was released from prison last year. The former EMS worker in Louisville was sentenced in Clark County, Indiana, in 2010 to 20 years for sexually abusing girls in the care of his mother's babysitting service in Sellersburg. His victims were between 4 and 10 years old.
For prosecutors, offenders being released early is a frustrating reality of the criminal justice system.
"To get out on probation or parole or with time cuts to commit additional crimes ... This is a constant frustration that I face," Mull said. "In my mind, if you're sentenced to 20 years in prison, you ought to go serve 20 years."
To Amy Hall, yoga is like a fountain of youth.
Year after year, I continue to enjoy ongoing improvements in balance, posture, strength, and energy, thanks to yoga, Hall said.
Yoga makes me feel goodeven when its challenging.
Hall and her husband Peter recently purchased the yoga studio formerly known as Napa Valley Yoga and Wellness.
Today, the studio has been renamed Napa Valley Yoga Center. It is located at 1115 Jordan Lane.
The Halls said that for now, they plan to retain the existing class schedule, which includes more than 35 classes at all levels and in many styles of yoga. Napa Valley Yoga Center is open daily.
Offerings will evolve over time with new workshops and meditation classes soon to come, said a news release.
Yoga practitioners and teachers themselves, Peter and Amy said they want people to know that, yoga can make a real difference for anyone at any age and ability level. You dont have to be a 20-something Gumby! We offer classes with specific goals in mind, whether it is stress reduction and relaxation, or to get fit and build muscle.
We are especially interested in reaching absolute beginners who might say, I cant do yoga, Im too stiff! said Peter Hall. But, of course, thats exactly who can benefit the most.
Napa Valley Yoga Center offers a beginner series to welcome newbies to experience the flexibility, balance and strength that yoga is known for.
Yoga practitioners at any level can take advantage of single class drop-ins as well as discounted class packs and memberships. The studio is offering a new student special (10 classes for $75) to encourage folks to come see the space, meet the team of talented teachers, and enjoy the benefits of yoga.
There are even classes geared towards visitors (three out-of-towner classes for $50).
Just like we seek out yoga classes whenever we travel to relax and recharge, we want visitors to Napa Valley to look to us, said Amy Hall.
The new owners said they are excited to connect with local hospitality partners, event planners, wedding planners, and the business community to create customized yoga experiences. The spacious studio is walkable from downtown and has a free parking lot.
As one of the largest yoga studios in Napa, Napa Valley Yoga Center offers a great number of classes, as well as dedicated front desk support to help students find the right fit.
According to the Halls, it is also the only studio in Napa Valley to offer Yoga Alliance 200-hour yoga teacher certification, with the next training program scheduled to begin in February 2019.
The Halls said their most important goal today is building upon the warm, inviting community that they originally found at this yoga studio.
Both have practiced in the space for many years and love the big-hearted feeling from everyonefrom the desk staff to the teachers and fellow students, that includes lots of smiles and friendships.
Napa Valley Yoga Center will host an open house on Dec. 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. The public is invited to visit, meet the yoga teachers, and enjoy raffles, specials available only at the party as well as a henna artist. RSVP to connect@NapaValleyYogaCenter.com.
Sometimes two heads are better than one.
Just ask Peyton OHara and Carter Mills.
Both students, eighth-graders at Redwood Middle School, recently ran for student body president of the school.
OHara won, but what she did next surprised many. She invited Mills, who is on the autism spectrum and has special needs, to be her co-president for the year.
Carter is really well-loved at the school, said Redwood Middle School teacher and leadership advisor Betsy Whitt. He got a number of votes for president. But OHara did win the election, she noted.
So when Whitt heard of OHaras idea, her first reaction was Oh my gosh. Everyone got kind of teary-eyed, she said.
I cried when I heard this story, wrote Redwood Middle School language arts teacher Teresa Silvagni. Middle-Schoolers often get a bad rap. But this is the sweetest thing Ive ever heard anyone do in a while. Its peer support and inclusion at its finest.
Mills said he decided to run because hes very interested in politics and figured some experience would be helpful if he ever ran for public office. Yes, he was disappointed not to win, but he was happy for Peyton. The two have been friends since kindergarten.
I felt she really earned the job and deserved it, he said.
Mills platform included advocating for inclusivity of all students at the school. Because I have special needs, I feel its important to make our school inclusive to all the kids because it makes our school respectful and welcoming, he said.
OHara said that at first, she wasnt sure she was going to run. But after her friends encouraged her, she decided to go for it.
I wanted to make the school a better place and encourage more of a community feeling at the school, she said.
Even though she was campaigning against her longtime friend, No matter what, we both knew each other could do the job, said OHara.
It was weird that they both were running for the same position, said Mills. But I knew if I didnt win Peyton would do a good job.
When OHara heard she had received the most votes, my first reaction was I was glad to win, but I felt kind of down because I knew Carter didnt win, she said.
By the time OHaras mom had picked her up that afternoon at school, she already had a new idea.
I want Carter to do this with me, OHara said. I need his encouragement and ideas.
Just hours later, during dinner that night, Mills heard of OHaras proposal.
I was surprised, he said. And he accepted.
The two co-presidents are about to have their first student council meeting.
Topics will probably include setting a budget and discussing plans for spirit week. Each day of Spirit Week will have a different theme, explained OHara.
Ideas already include a hat day, pajama day and pink day. Or an election-themed day, suggested Mills.
It seems to be the first time in Redwood Middle School history that there have been co-presidents of the student body. In fact, the student body constitution had to be amended to allow for this shared role, Whitt noted.
Neither student has heard any negative comments about OHaras decision to name Mills her co-president.
If they did, I would have a strong opinion about that, OHara said.
I would have a strong argument with anyone who objected to the shared role, Mills agreed.
After all, teamwork is helpful.
Its important that leaders partner so they can share ideas, said Mills. If the national leadership would work together thered be less arguing and fighting.
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We've known for months that Republicans obstructed the Obama administration's attempts to warn states and the public about Russian interference in the 2016 election. The Post previously reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in particular threatened to label "any effort by the White House to challenge the Russians publicly an act of partisan politics." But a new book from The Post's Greg Miller contains a chilling McConnell quote that shows just how paranoid the entire GOP has become.
In late summer 2016, Miller writes, then-CIA Director John Brennan hurriedly arranged meetings with senior congressional leaders over intelligence that Putin had authorized "a covert operation aimed at destablizing the American presidential election." The connections among Russian intelligence, WikiLeaks and the Democratic National Committee hack were already public knowledge. But the CIA had two intelligence sources "deep inside the Kremlin" reporting the same finding. Yet when Brennan briefed McConnell, he did more than just play down the findings. He told Brennan, Miller reports, "You're trying to screw the Republican nominee."
McConnell is as cynical a politician as you'll find in Washington, but what makes this quote so frightening is that it goes beyond cynicism into delusion. It is not surprising that the Kentucky Republican publicly undermined something that might hurt the GOP down the ballot. But this accusation came in a private meeting, where McConnell had no reason to accuse the CIA of a liberal conspiracy unless he believed it, or at least thought it likely. I am no fan of Brennan, but there was no reason to suspect that a career CIA employee and veteran of the George W. Bush administration was scheming to undermine Trump, or that other CIA officers would go along with such a plan. (Plus, McConnell must have known, as most of Washington did, that the Obama White House assumed Hillary Clinton would win.) And yet the mind of the country's most powerful senator warped Russia's plot into a liberal plot.
We've seen this in other areas as well, most notably climate change. The president and his supporters in the Fox News-and-company echo chamber are not just skeptical of the science that (overwhelmingly) shows climate change is man-made; they believe that "climate change" is cover for somebody else's dastardly deeds. As Hurricane Irma approached Florida last year, radio host Rush Limbaugh told listeners, "There is a desire to advance this climate change agenda, and hurricanes are one of the fastest and best ways to do it." Then-Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee James Inhofe, R-Okla., said global warming "is the first component of authentic global governance." Trump, meanwhile, has said that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."
Right-wing conspiracy theories about liberal causes are nothing new. In the 1950s and 1960s, for example, the fringe John Birch Society believed the civil rights movement was a Soviet strategy to create a "Negro Soviet Republic." These delusions usually stayed on the fringes of the Republican Party, sometimes indulged by its leadership but never acted upon. For the Senate majority leader to ardently accuse the CIA of conspiring against a domestic political party is, as far as I can determine, unprecedented. It seems conspiracy theories now rule the day from the top to the bottom of the Grand Old Party. And with Trump as leader, Republicans are likely to remain in delusion's clutches, consequences be damned.
James Downie is The Washington Posts Digital Opinions Editor. He previously wrote for The New Republic and Foreign Policy magazine.
By all political logic, Democrats ought to find it easy to attract an outpouring of Hispanic votes. After all, from the day Donald Trump trashed Mexicans in his 2015 Trump Tower announcement speech to his administrations multiple anti-immigration policies, the Republican president has conducted a virtual war on Americas largest minority.
Trump and the House GOP have repeatedly blocked broad-ranging immigration reform and efforts to protect 800,000 DACA Dreamers brought here illegally as children. And his administrations controversial zero tolerance policy on illegal immigrants has separated hundreds of children from their parents.
But there are signs the blue wave that is buoying Democratic hopes this fall is not reaching Hispanic voters, at least so far. In Hispanic heavy Florida and Texas, polls show some Democratic candidates under-performing anticipated levels of support.
Some of it stems from insufficient outreach to Hispanic voters, but there are also unique factors in some key races.
The degree of Hispanic support could be especially crucial in four races that are key to Democratic hopes of regaining the Senate: Florida, where Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is seeking re-election; and Arizona, Nevada and Texas, where Democrats hope to capture GOP-held seats.
Democrats received a dramatic warning signal last month in south Texas when a Republican won a special election in a heavily Hispanic state Senate district. Among the post mortems was Democratic concern about their difficulty in motivating potentially favorable voters.
That may be a pattern elsewhere, too. There doesnt seem to be the level of interest that some might have expected, said Mark Hugo Lopez, the director of global migration and demography research at the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. But he added it might hamper both parties, citing a September survey for the National Association of Latino and Elected Officials (NALEO) showing nearly 60 percent of Hispanics reported no contact from either party.
Lagging Hispanic turnout is hardly new. In 2016, census figures show, the Hispanic turnout was 47.6 percent of eligible voters, behind whites (61.4 percent), blacks (59.6 percent) and Asian-Americans (49.3 percent).
And it could especially be a problem in Texas, where Democrats have long predicted the growing Hispanic population would be crucial in ending the three-decade Republican domination of the states politics.
In 2016, the network exit poll showed Hillary Clinton defeating Trump among Hispanics, 61-34. Latino Decisions, an independent polling firm, put her margin at a far larger 80-16. But Hispanic turnout barely surpassed 40 percent of eligible voters, more than 20 points lower than white turnout.
This years polls show Senate hopeful Beto ORourke lagging behind that. A Mason-Dixon poll for Telemundo Spanish language television stations in early September showed him leading by just 54-31, while other surveys show a narrower lead.
ORourke, an Anglo with a Hispanic nickname, is hampered by the fact that Cruz, the son of a Cuban immigrant, is one of the nations highest profile Hispanics. And though the Democratic nominee for governor, Lupe Valdez, is Hispanic, she is regarded as a weak candidate who only marginally leads Gov. Greg Abbott among Hispanics and trails among all voters.
In Texas sprawling majority Hispanic 23rd Congressional District, which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso and overlaps that state Senate district the GOP flipped, a poll showed Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones trailing Republican Rep. Will Hurd, an African-American who opposes Trumps plan for an anti-immigrant wall and favors legal status for the Dreamers.
In Florida, Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott, the states current governor, has sought to separate himself from Trump, making multiple visits to Puerto Rico and criticizing the administrations handling of last years hurricane damage there. Polls have shown him making inroads among the states growing number of Puerto Ricans, usually pro-Democratic. But Nelson this week got the endorsement of the islands Democratic governor.
In a majority Hispanic Miami-area congressional district now represented by retiring GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Democrats nominated Donna Shalala, the 77-year-old former Cabinet member and University of Miami president who doesnt speak Spanish. Polls show she is struggling against Republican Maria Elvira Salazar, 56, a Cuban-American former television newswoman.
In Arizona, Democrats nominated a Hispanic educator, David Garcia, for governor, but he is trailing incumbent Republican Doug Ducey.
In California, Hispanics have strongly supported Democrats, but encountered difficulty in winning the top positions. Democrats have two Hispanics on their state ticket, but former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa lost his bid for governor and, in the all-Democratic Senate runoff, Senate President pro tempore Kevin de Leon trails veteran Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Democrats do control 11 of the 12 Hispanic majority districts. But their hopes of winning the remaining one, which Clinton carried in 2016 and leans Democratic, may have been damaged when they nominated a non-Hispanic to challenge GOP incumbent David Valadao.
Overall, Democrats will likely win most Hispanic votes again this year. The question is whether enough will vote to make the difference.
Carl P. Leubsdorf is the former Washington bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News.
I am all for the federal government's ban cannabis; they are right now.
The states have no right allowing this industry, even by putting it to the vote for the people. All the states want is to collect tax from these pot businesses.
The National Academics of Sciences has found cannabis use by youth can adversely affect learning and memory and may impair later academic studies and education.
So do you want the next generation lead our country with brains that do not function?
Also, it has been proven that marijuana use for pregnant women is detrimental for the developing fetus. The baby's birth weight will be lower and its brain will be affected negatively.
Please, tell your Napa City Council representative to stop the sale of cannabis, with all the negative side effects it brings.
Kerstin Hughes
Napa
Lynne Rodgers didnt like what I wrote in my Sept. 14 letter, The Real Housewives of Vatican City. She was obviously upset as she penned her Sept. 29 response, claiming that my tone was vastly Immature and unfair.
I just want to know how she knew I wore my Mickey Mouse ears to Sunday mass until I was nearly 17. That was supposed to remain a dark secret of my past. Anyway, after reading her letter, I have to say that, personally, I will take vastly immature and unfair over vastly illogical and sanctimonious any day.
In case you missed her letter, let me give you a taste of some of her reasoning in trying to legitimize the endearingly backward and destructive Catholic traditions of clerical celibacy and male dominance.
She seems to want to conflate sex education and gender identity issues with the corruption of youth, which in her mind is apparently as bad as sexual molestation by clergymen. In other words, society itself is corrupting young people at an earlier and earlier age, so thank God priests are there to molest them properly before these terrible influences are felt. (Because her reasoning is so hazy, I have to take a stab at what she actually meant, you understand.)
She says reprovingly that Pedophilia is on the march to becoming normalized. So by all means the Church should lead the way?
Using information from a study funded by the National Conference of Bishopsso there is clearly no spin on any of itshe also wants you to know that most molestations by clergy are of youths who are post-pubescent. So its not really so bad. She wants you to know that rates of molestation by Catholic clergy are no worse than in other institutions. She doesnt say which ones, but you can bet that none of them engage in manhandling children while talking about how it is Gods will.
She apparently doesnt want to talk at all about the shockingly generalized administrative cover-ups of this ugly problem, acts that represent a scar as repugnant as the molestations themselves. She absolutely wants to limit the discussion of these criminal activities to the last 50 years in the United States, ignoring the certainly more gruesome horrors that have existed for centuries in Europe and elsewhere, when there was no free press, no transparency, no social safety net, no law but the authority that the Church so brutally misused.
How many homeless or orphaned children faced unlimited abuse by monks and priests, without any recourse, no one to hear them cry or scream? Try reading some recently unearthed Church history of the last 200 years in Ireland. But dont do it before bed. Youll never sleep.
When it comes to male dominance, and specifically the Churchs refusal to ordain women as priests, Ms. Rodgers argues that Jesus himself made that call himself, and that Church authorities have no authority to change it. Interesting stance, since Jesus supposedly gave them the power to rule the Church absolutely, in Matthew 18:18Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Doesnt that sound like pretty comprehensive decision-making power? Especially if you happen to accept all this Biblical stuff?
If were playing by the Bibles rules, Ms. Rodgers, you cant have it both ways. It seems like Church leaders should put on their big boy vestments and pointy hats and start making decisions that square with the advances in justice and equality that humanity has made in the last 200 years or so. Not just ordaining women to the priesthood, but also, say, endorsing the use of birth control, which would not just prevent unwanted pregnancies but would radically reduce third-world deaths from STDs, most notably AIDS.
In the end, as so many Catholics do, Ms. Rodgers plays the Magical Mystery Card and tells us that, you know, Catholics are protecting the most priceless bit of mystical conservatism, a bastion of truth in a tempest-tossed world, and that there are no other stars to steer by.
To that I would say: Wholly Baloney.
The best star to steer by, and one that requires none of the weird, contorted, arcane beliefs of Catholicism, is a simple one that we all know, and that if practiced would serve the world better than any religion. Maybe youve heard of it: Treat other people the way you would like to be treated.
The Union Home Ministry has decided to grant the power of issuing Protected Area Permits (PAP) and Restricted Area Permits (RAP) to foreign nationals to the home departments of State governments and the Union Territory administration concerned.
The decision came after the provisions for the grant of PAP and RAP to foreign nationals were reviewed in the Home Ministry by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Friday.
The powers to grant PAP or RAP to foreign nationals have been delegated to the home department of the State government/UT administration concerned or the Foreigners Regional Registration Officers.
The delegation of power will not be applicable to nationals of countries under Prior Reference Category. This move will facilitate foreign tourists to visit some of the pristine locations of the country, an official statement issued from Rijijus office said on Friday.
As per previous guidelines, approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs was required before grant of PAP or RAP to a foreign national, in case they intended to visit a place which needed a PAP or RAP for activities other than tourism on a visa other than tourist visa.
Presently, whole of Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Uttarakhand are covered under the provisions of the Protected Areas.
Certain areas of Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been declared as `Restricted Areas.
While Arunachal Pradesh shares its boundary with China and Bhutan, Sikkim is surrounded from three sides by three countries Bhutan, China and Nepal.
Sikkims Red Panda Winter Festival will see music maestro AR Rahman perform for the home crowd on November 17.
The Sikkim tourism department is also trying to give an international feel to this years fest with participation from Britain, Australia, America, Nepal and Bhutan.
The world famous composer is also the brand ambassador of Sikkim. The concert is likely to be held at the Paljor Stadium in Gangtok.
We are expecting about 70,000 people to come for the concert. We will only have to bear about 10 to 15 per cent of the cost of hosting the show. Rahman will be raising the money for the show on his own, said Ugen Gyatso Bhutia, the Sikkim tourism and civil aviation minister.
Although AR Rahman had visited the Himalayan state twice till now, this will be his first performance there. He was the chief guest in last years carnival.
Bhutia said around the time of the festival, actor Priyanka Chopra will also be visiting the state.
She is not only a Bollywood star, but an international celebrity. She will come here on December 5 and attend the premiere of the Nepali movie Pauna, which is produced by her company, on December 6, he said.
The tourism minister said the dates of the festival were yet to be firmed up, but indicated that it could be sandwiched between the Rahman and Chopra visits.
This time the festival will be a little different. We are trying to lend an international flavour to the festival. The British Council will be taking part. There could also be participation from Australia, America, Nepal and Bhutan. However, the major focus will remain on local events, he said.
Bhutia said efforts were also on to bring Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt to Sikkim sometime around Christmas and New Year to spread awareness of drug abuse, reports The Telegraph.
Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling had recently said Dutt would be appointed the anti-drugs ambassador of Sikkim.
Sikkim government has decided to decriminalize the use of contraband substances, and treat drug abuse as a disease.
World oil prices dropping
Russia creates spacecraft for space tourism
Poll: Biden approval rating reaches lowest level since inauguration
Mayor of Armenias Chakaten village: No one called, came from the authorities
Parsyan on Azerbaijan checkpoint at Chakaten village section: 7-8 km road to reach Kapan will become 150 km
Armenia local elections: Ruling party wins in Ijevan
Azerbaijan to set up checkpoint on Armenias Kapan-Chakaten motorway as of 12am Monday
Mayor of Armenias Kapan: This was victory of dignity
Armenia local elections: Incumbent mayors victory is celebrated at opposition bloc headquarters in Kapan
Poland police say group of 50 migrants broke through border with Belarus
Armenia local elections: Final voter turnout at 47.4% as of 8pm
Armenia local elections: Incumbent mayor clear leader in Kapan city, preliminary results say
Queen Elizabeth misses Remembrance Sunday service after back sprain
Muammar Gaddafi's son to run for Libya president
Armenia MOD: Situation relatively stabilized at eastern part of border with Azerbaijan
At least one person killed after 2 strong quakes strike southern Iran
Armenia local elections: Voter turnout at 38.38% as of 5pm
Armenia FM to head for Brussels
Putin: Europe itself is to blame for thousands of migrants going there
Azerbaijan army attempts to secure positional advance in eastern direction of Armenia border
Several climate issues were not addressed during COP26, UN Secretary General says
Armenia local elections: Voter turnout at 25.71% as of 2pm
Putin to address Russia MFA board enlarged meeting next week
Artsakh ex-ombudsman: UN Human Rights Committee advised Armenia not to deploy police troops at peaceful assemblies
Zakharova: UK has no right to accuse anyone of refugee situation on Poland-Belarus border
Armenia local elections: Voter turnout at 10.3% as of 11am
2 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh
Armenia pizzeria chain restaurants reopen after mass food poisoning
Bulgaria holding presidential, snap parliamentary elections
Russia, Turkey discussing possibility of jointly manufacturing weapons
Azerbaijanis set up shack near Armenias Chakaten village, says mayor
Earthquake hits Armenia-Georgia border zone
EEU countries approve roadmap for industrial cooperation until 2025
882 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia
Mayor of Armenias Kapan: Road at Chakaten village is now used in same mode
Potentially dangerous asteroid approaching Earth is discovered
At least 13 Syria soldiers, fighters killed in fight against terrorists in Deir ez-Zor Governorate
Armenia local elections continue
One dead after accident on Yerevan-Meghri motorway
US conducts joint drills with Ukraine, Turkey and Romania in the Black Sea
US authorities unseal oil reserves to stabilize market prices
UNICEF reports increase in number of child marriages in Afghanistan
COAF, US Embassy, Armenia's ministry sign three-year Memorandum of Understanding
Search work to find bodies of those killed in Artsakh suspended since October 18
itizen who threw a grenade near Shushi is in Artsakh Investigative Committee
Armenian Defense Ministry: Azerbaijanis opened fire on Armenian positions in the direction of Verin Shorzha
Azerbaijan says three people injured due to explosives incident
Bloomberg: US authorities rejected Intel's proposal to increase chip production in China
Stepanakert-Berdzor road is temporarily closed
US and Japan begin consultations to solve the problem of overproduction of steel
Russia creates unified satellite communication system for UAVs
Artsakh NSS: No injured among Artsakh citizens
1,251 new cases of coronavirus infection registered in Armenia per day
Celebrities ask Biden to give pardoned turkeys for Thanksgiving to animal rights activists
Lavrov, Shoygu discuss situation in Karabakh with French counterparts
Armenia PM to send High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs to Russia on business trip
Explosion takes place in mosque in Afghanistan, leaving 15 injured
Armenia Parliament Deputy Speaker meets with Karabakh Security Council Secretary and parliamentarians
Gunshots heard in computer game room in Yerevan
RFE/RL Armenian Service: Iranian drivers complain that new Tatev-Aghavni road is narrow for trucks
EU, UNDP launch Mayors for Economic Growth Program in Armenia
Armenia Deputy PM: We support adoption of documents for further enhancement of defensibility of CIS countries
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin says COVID-19 vaccination does not present spiritual danger
Armenia Deputy PM meets with representatives of Asian Development Bank
Monument to officers of Russian helicopter downed in 2020 unveiled during ceremony in Armenia's Yeraskh
Armenia Kotayk Province's general jurisdiction court has new judge
Armenia ruling party MP appointed Ambassador to Spain
NEWS.am daily digest: 12.11.21
Armenia Justice Ministry, UNDP to cooperate for constitutional reforms and in anti-corruption field
Turkey, Qatar agree to strengthen military cooperation
Armenia defense minister, India Ambassador discuss cooperation in defense sector
Armenia has new Ambassador to Germany
Armenia appellate court releases ex-MP from custody
Armenia economy minister meets with Charge dAffaires of Georgia
12-year-old Armenian boy's 4 fingers cut, undergoes 10-hour surgery
Armenia Deputy PM opposes Azerbaijani premier, says Karabakh conflict can't be resolved by force
Dollar continues going down in Armenia
Lithuania ambassador to parliament speaker: Relations with Armenia are priorities of our country
Millions of Austrians not vaccinated against COVID-19 may be quarantined
Georgian and Turkish border guards conducting joint military exercises in Javakhk
Charles Michel thanks Turkey for prohibiting citizens of Iraq, Syria and Yemen from flying to Belarus
Myanmar court sentences US journalist to 11 years in jail
Armenia official: Azerbaijan continues to torpedo implementation of agreements reached
Opposition MP to Armenia minister: Who will perform the duties of the mayor of Goris?
Man in photo died from railway accident in Russia, there is suspicion that he was from Armenia's Armavir Province
Armenia ex-deputy defense minister: Pashinyan is lying when he says there is no logic of corridor
Video showing another act of vandalism of Azerbaijanis in Karabakh disseminated on social networks
Armenia, Palestine FMs discuss Armenian heritage in Holy Land
Azerbaijan says it is ready to sign with Armenia peace agreement recognizing territorial integrity
Armenia official: We are building many roads in Syunik Province
Karabakh state minister delivers lecture at Columbia University in New York
Ukraine delegation to visit Armenia next week
Armenia FM in Paris, meets with French Armenian figures (PHOTOS)
Armenia to host Eurasian Intergovernmental Council session
80 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh
Erdogan says 'Greece has turned into a U.S. military base'
Sweden lifting entry ban for Armenia citizens fully vaccinated against Covid
Russia peacekeepers escort more than 8,000 traveling vehicles in Karabakh in 1 year
1,309 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia
11 foreign nationals living illegally in Armenia are found in downtown Yerevan hotels
YEREVAN.- Many in the Prime Minister's team, who do not distinguish a revolution from power change, take every opposing tendency as hostility. Who needs that revolution if the same problems are maintained? Armenia's Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) MP Gevorg Petrosyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.
He underlined that he welcomed the new government's entry into Armenia, but it has been five months already and, according to his observation, the promises have not been fulfilled.
"You have said that the red lines should be removed from the first day, and today the red lines are oppressing the population, you would say that speedometers should be pulled out of our lives a day before, especially if you were talking about reducing the penalties for their infringements, so far the speedometers are going to be imported , and the size of the fine has not been revised," he noted.
Dear Newsie Readers,
Newsie has now permanently ceased it's services as of Friday 20th December 2019.
Newsie has been an owner-funded operation since day one.
Coming up to three years old, while we still firmly believe Newsie has a place in the New Zealand media landscape, the cost in both time and money has become too burdensome for the owners to continue alongside other ventures.
With the current government looking to restructure public broadcasting, and seemingly supporting NZME buying a ring-fenced Stuff, the time seems right to call it a day.
Should it happen, the combination of NZME and Stuff will ensure New Zealands national media will die a death by a thousand opinion-based articles.
Newsie has always tried to stick to balanced news, to inform readers of the facts of a situation, amid being largely ignored by government. Hopefully, one day someone else will take up the challenge to fight the good fight.
The good news, however, is that there were no job losses as a result of Newsie closing. Thanks to careful structuring, everyone involved in Newsie will retain their current positions.
We hope you all have a happy Christmas and new year. Stay safe, and stay out of the news.
The team at Newsie
(Bloomberg) -- Tech providers vying for a $10 billion Defense Department cloud-computing contract may come under added pressure to prove their systems are secure after a report that China sneaked spy chips onto servers used by U.S. companies including Amazon.com Inc., a top contender for the Pentagon award.
Amazon, the market leader in cloud-computing services, was among almost 30 companies including Apple Inc. whose servers were infiltrated according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report based on more than a dozen sources in the government and private sector.
Apple, Amazon, server component seller Super Micro Computer Inc. and the Chinese government denied the report. When asked for comment on the implications for its Pentagon bid, Amazon pointed to its statement denying the report.
The Big Hack: Amazon, Apple, Supermicro, and Beijing Respond.
Security and procurement experts said Amazons prospects for winning the cloud services award may not be affected because it can argue that it was a victim that uncovered the problem. According to the report, Amazon unearthed the breaches, which happened at factories run by subcontractors in China, alerted authorities and took action to limit the consequences.
Still, the revelations increase pressure on the Pentagon as well as on Amazon and the other bidders to step up measures to secure their systems in a global marketplace where integral equipment is manufactured in China.
Representative Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that panel should seek more information from agencies about whether China sought to infiltrate the computer-chip supply chain.
No one is safe, said Darrell West, director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution. Im sure Amazon has some of the very best security people. The fact that they had a problem should alarm everybody.
Deadline Looms
The deadline for companies including Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle to submit bids for the Pentagons project, which involves moving massive amounts of sensitive government data to a commercially operated cloud system, looms in just over a week.
Story continues
Amazon Web Services was seen as the front-runner from the start because it had already won a $600 million cloud contract from the Central Intelligence Agency in 2013. Microsoft Corp. is catching up as it expands its work with the intelligence community.
Oracle Corp. declined to comment on the implications of the report on its bid for the Pentagon contract. Microsoft and International Business Machines Corp. didnt respond to requests for comment.
The Defense Department released in July its final requirements for the project, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud, or JEDI. Bids for the project, which could last as long as 10 years, are due on October 12th.
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Heather Babb, responded to questions about addressing the risk of infiltrated equipment by referring to documents detailing the procurement requirements. Under those, the Pentagon is asking companies to meet strict security guidelines, including the ability to obtain top-level security clearances, offer government-approved encryption, provide local data centers and staff them with U.S. citizens.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Bloomberg Businessweek report provides more evidence that Chinas pattern of behavior is a serious threat to national security and supply chain risk management.
Security experts are grappling with the threat from secret devices being inserted into U.S. networks, in addition to cyberattacks from afar. The weaknesses in the global supply chain require constant vigilance from tech companies to stay ahead of developing threats, said Stan Soloway, president of consulting firm Celero Strategies and a former Defense Department official under President Bill Clinton.
You could have the toughest security requirements in place but downstream you are connected to a global supply chain over which the government does not have direct contract control, Soloway said.
While Amazon may have uncovered evidence of Chinese infiltration, according to the report, other companies that bought from Supermicro, the company whose subcontractors made the servers that were compromised, are also at risk, said William Carter, deputy director of the Technology Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Given their market share, theres a decent chance that AWSs competitors use some of their hardware as well, Carter said, referring to Amazons cloud division. Many Chinese factories that do this kind of assembly work with multiple big U.S. companies," meaning the Chinese military could use them to compromise all sorts of hardware.
David Wilcox, a cybersecurity expert who spent 37 years at the National Security Agency, said if the reports are correct, Amazon did the right thing. They took their product and had it scanned by a security company that was doing their job."
Amazon rebuttal: Setting the Record Straight on Bloomberg Businessweeks Erroneous Article
Single-Provider Debate
Cybersecurity experts are divided over the question of whether its safer for the Pentagon to invest in securing a single top cloud provider, as the Pentagon plans despite objections from Amazons rivals. Oracle, Microsoft and IBM have all argued that having multiple providers isolates risk, ensuring that a problem in one companys cloud services wouldnt compromise the entire department.
In a report to Congress earlier this year, the Defense Department said making multiple awards under current acquisition law would be a slow process that could prevent DoD from rapidly delivering new capabilities and improved effectiveness to the warfighter that enterprise-level cloud computing can enable.
Security experts pointed to the challenges of securing systems with components made in disparate parts of the world.
The problem is most of our electronics are made in China, said West of Brookings. Even if a file server is made in the United States, its still likely to have components from abroad and especially from China. The fact that they are able to insert a microchip into devices is very scary.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Bach said the problem should spark a discussion about supply chain security that goes far beyond the JEDI contract award and should involve all the large tech companies and Congress.
"Everybody has their hands in this," Bach said, noting that supply chain vulnerabilities pervade the U.S. government. "Its not just Amazon or Apple."
To contact the reporters on this story: Naomi Nix in Washington at nnix1@bloomberg.net;Ben Brody in Washington at btenerellabr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
2018 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- The White House national security adviser said Chinese cyber attacks on the U.S. validate the Trump administrations emphasis on offensive cyber operations of its own, after Bloomberg News reported that Beijing had hacked American computer networks using a microchip built by its spies.
Separately, two Democratic lawmakers said the report shows the risk of Chinese cyber-espionage to U.S. companies and the government.
John Bolton, who leads the National Security Council, didnt confirm whether the White House was aware of the Chinese hack before Bloombergs report. I dont want to address anything that might touch on specific intelligence questions, he told reporters.
But I will say the Chinese efforts to threaten us in cyberspace and across the information technology spectrum are a very high priority for us -- countering them, establishing structures of deterrence to prevent China from even thinking about doing it, touches on the offensive cyber operations that the president has authorized, Bolton said.
Bloomberg Businessweek reported Thursday that Chinese spies exploited vulnerabilities in the U.S. technology supply chain to infiltrate computer networks of almost 30 U.S. companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., a major bank and government contractors. Among the targets was a contractor that made software to helped funnel drone footage to the Central Intelligence Agency and communicate with the International Space Station.
Investigators found that tiny microchips, not much bigger than a grain of sand, had been inserted during manufacturing in China onto equipment made by subcontractors of Super Micro Computer Inc., one of the worlds biggest suppliers of server motherboards, the fiber-mounted clusters of chips and capacitors that act as neurons of data centers. Investigators determined that the chips allowed the attackers to create a stealth doorway into any network that included the altered machines, according to people familiar with the matter.
Story continues
In emailed statements, Amazon, Apple, and Supermicro and the Chinese government disputed summaries of Bloomberg Businessweeks reporting.
The report that China sought to infiltrate the computer chip supply chain, if true, is deeply disturbing and the latest example of the lengths that Beijing will go to in order to steal Americas official and commercial secrets, Representative Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.
Further Clarification
He said the panel is seeking further clarification from the Intelligence Community regarding this latest report and will be reaching out to the companies affected. The committees chairman, Republican Devin Nunes of California, didnt respond to a request for comment.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senates intelligence panel and a former technology executive, also expressed concern. The report provides more evidence that Chinas pattern of behavior is a serious threat to national security and supply chain risk management.
Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the report is deeply disturbing and Congress must investigate.
"We must hear directly from the companies potentially affected by this devastating security breach to get a better understanding of what happened," he said.
Intellectual Property Clash
The U.S. government has long accused China of stealing American intellectual property through cyber espionage and other means, a charge that has ramped up since President Donald Trump took office promising to take on the Chinese government.
Earlier this year, a Commerce Department investigation Trump ordered into Chinese trading practices found that China had hacked into U.S. businesses for commercial gain. The report referenced intelligence findings that took place during the administration of former President Barack Obama, and highlighted the ongoing nature of Chinas hacking.
The investigation of the altered motherboards began during the Obama administration, people familiar with the matter said.
Trump himself has accused China of stealing U.S. technology, and has recently ratcheted up his rhetoric toward Beijing. He has engaged in a trade war with the country, leveling tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports and threatening more. China has responded with counter-tariffs on American products with particular political resonance, including agricultural goods.
We have a tremendous problem with theft of intellectual property with China, Trump said Monday during a news conference to announce a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.
The Chinese government has denied allegations of state-sponsored hacking of U.S. companies.
--With assistance from Ben Brody, Justin Sink, Jennifer Epstein, Jordan Robertson and Michael Riley.
To contact the reporters on this story: Toluse Olorunnipa in Washington at tolorunnipa@bloomberg.net;Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Mike Dorning
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
2018 Bloomberg L.P.
Professor Yabing Qi and his team from OIST in collaboration with Professor Shengzhong Liu from Shaanxi Normal University, China, developed the cells using the materials and compounds that mimic the crystalline structure of the naturally occurring mineral perovskite.
The team described their technique in a study published in the journal Nature Communications.
In what Professor Qi refers to as the golden triangle, solar cell technologies need to fulfill three conditions to be worth commercializing: their conversion rate of sunlight into electricity must be high, they must be inexpensive to produce, and they must have a long lifespan. Today, most commercial solar cells are made from crystalline silicon, which has a relatively high efficiency of around 22%. Though silicon, the raw material for these solar cells, is abundant, processing it tends to be complex and shoots up the manufacturing costs, making the finished product expensive.
Perovskite offers a more affordable solution, Professor Qi said. Perovskite was first used to make solar cells in 2009 by Prof. Tsutomu Miyasakas research team at Toin University of Yokohama, Japan, and since then it has been rapidly gaining importance.
Research on perovskite cells is very promising. In only nine years, the efficiency of these cells went from 3.8 % to 23.3%. Other technologies have taken over 30 years of research to reach the same level, explained Qi. The fabrication method he and his research team have developed produces perovskite solar cells with an efficiency comparable to crystalline silicon cells, but it is potentially much cheaper than making silicon solar cells.
Related: Should The U.S. Oil Industry Fear The Midterms?
To make the new cells, the researchers coated transparent conductive substrates with perovskite films that absorb sunlight very efficiently. They used a gas-solid reaction-based technique in which the substrate is first coated with a layer of hydrogen lead triiodide incorporated with a small amount of chlorine ions and methylamine gas allowing them to reproducibly make large uniform panels, each consisting of multiple solar cells.
In developing the method, the scientists realized that making the perovskite layer 1 micron thick increased the working life of the solar cell significantly. The solar cells are almost unchanged after working for 800 hours, says Dr. Zonghao Liu, a postdoctoral scholar in Prof. Qis research unit at OIST and the first author of the study.
In addition, a thicker coating not only boosted the stability of the solar cells but also facilitated the fabrication processes, thereby lowering its production costs. The thicker absorber layer ensures good reproducibility of solar cell fabrication, which is a key advantage for mass manufacturing in the realistic industrial-scale setting, said Dr. Liu.
The big challenge Professor Qi and his team now face is in increasing the size of their newly designed solar cell from the 0.1 mm square sized prototype to large commercial-sized panels that can be several feet long. This is where the industry can help.
There exists a large gap between the findings in lab and reality, and the industry is not always ready to cover this entire gap by itself. So, the researchers need to take one more necessary step beyond their labs and meet the industry half-way, said Qi.
To take that step, Prof. Qi and team received a generous grant from OISTs Technology Development and Innovation Center, under their Proof-of-Concept Program. With that funding, the team has built a working model of their new perovskite solar modules consisting of multiple solar cells on 5cm 5cm substrates, with an active area of 12 square cm much bigger than their experimental prototype but smaller than what is required for commercial purposes.
Related: Gazprom's Bid To Maintain European Energy Dominance
Although the process of up-scaling has reduced the efficiency of the cells from 20% to 15%, the researchers are optimistic that they will be able to improve the way they work in the coming years and successfully commercialize their use.
This pretty encouraging work. 20 percent efficiency at low cost is enticing, while 15% not so much. Where that 25% loss is caused must be of some considerable interest.
The new fabrication process looks very promising, as the scale loss is sure to be found and more efficiency is likely in there to be developed. With fresh funding this technology will likely pay off for producers and consumers. Well probably not be told in a few years our new device has this technology, but the device will cost less.
By New Energy And Fuel
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Under a new deal being signed with Russia on October 3, Kazakhstan will be permitted to export car fuel a sign that severe domestic shortages may be a thing of the past.
As of this past year, and since July 2013, Russia has sold around 1 million tons of petrol to Kazakhstan every year and waived export duties, but on one condition: Kazakhstan could not take that same fuel and resell it elsewhere at a profit.
The arrangement has proven a valuable lifeline for Kazakhstan, which has endured a number of fuel-shortage crises over recent years amid growing demand. The last such crisis struck last fall, when two of the countrys three refineries were under refurbishment. As a result, kilometer-long lines formed at gas stations across the country, causing much public ill-will.
There is a profound irony in the fact that for all its oil riches, Kazakhstan has needed to bring in around 15 percent of its petrol from Russia. This was to a great extent because the countrys three aging refineries have long operated at well below optimal level and, to make matters worse, they turned out a low-grade product.
Related: $200 Billion Saudi Solar Megaproject Might Never Happen
The modernization of the three country's refineries was completed this year a development that has allowed for expanded production and the output of higher-grade Euro-4 and Euro-5 fuels. The Energy Ministry has even begun to talk of a fuel oversupply, which would enable a turn to exporting probably to Kyrgyzstan for now. It is this that lends such importance to the energy sector cooperation agreement now being signed between Kazakhstans Energy Minister, Kanat Bozumbayev, and his Russian counterpart, Alexander Novak.
Still, with ever-increasing domestic demand, this period of bounty may not be certain to last indefinitely. In an acknowledgement of possible supply problems down the pike, the government plans to build yet another refinery by 2022. If that plan should fall through or be delayed, Kazakhstan may yet again have to return to reliance on imports.
By Eurasianet.com
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Oman has long been nicknamed the Switzerland of the Middle East thanks to the nations peace-focused diplomacy measures and a tendency toward neutrality and mediation. Despite being geographically surrounded by conflict and political turmoil, Oman has been able to stay out of regional squabbles for decades, often going so far as to act as an intermediary between warring neighbors.
Muscat has also managed to maintain good relationships with both Iran and the United States for many years--no small feat. The Omani Sultan fell into Irans good graces back in the 1970s when he sent troops to help subdue the Dhofar revolt. Meanwhile, through free trade deals, anti-terrorism cooperation, U.S. troops basing rights, and other diplomatic measures, Oman has also been able to stay on the United States good side for decades.
Now, for the first time in many years, Omans policy of neutrality is being challenged thanks to increased pressure on Iran coming from the United States, as well as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Through the center of this dilemma runs a proposed natural gas pipeline between Iran and Oman.
After over a decade of discussion, the Iran-Oman gas pipeline was greenlit last year, and a joint committee was formed in July to finalize the deal. The massive energy and engineering project will cost an estimated $1.2 billion and will funnel 28 million cubic meters per day of Iranian natural gas from the southern port of Kuhmobarak to the port of Sohar in Oman, according to the National Iranian Gas Company. Kuhmobaraks location near the Strait of Hormuz on the Sea of Oman makes it an ideal launch point. 30 percent of global seaborne oil and gas pass through the Strait of Hormuz each day.
Related: Kuwait Stops Exporting Crude To U.S.
After arriving in Oman, the natural gas would be liquefied for export or kept in Oman to replenish the gulf countrys own long-dwindling reserves. In light of their diminishing natural gas output and ensuing gas shortages, as well as other economic shortcomings, Oman has been working diligently to diversify their economic landscape in the past few years. This proposed pipeline in conjunction with Iran is part of that plan.
Iran is expected to add a massive amount of pipeline to infrastructure across the Middle East in the coming years, contributing a projected 12,698 km by 2022. Irans plans alone account for more than 50 percent of the entire regions publicly planned pipeline additions according to numbers from GlobalData. Iran is followed by Iraq in terms of planned pipeline. The neighboring nation has planned to invest approximately US $29.6 billion by 2022 to add a total length of 5,105 km of oil and gas pipelines. Turkey comes in third in the Middle East with a planned 2,030 km pipeline addition with a price tag of around US $5.8 billion.
But soon this will all be challenged by heavy U.S. sanctions against Iranian petroleum. The Trump administration has announced it will reimpose sanctions on Iranian petroleum, petroleum products and petrochemical products, and all transactions with the National Iranian Oil Company starting November 5. Tensions with Iran have been ramping up since Trump began threatening to roll back the Obama-era nuclear deal on the campaign trail.
Related: Underwhelming OPEC Fuels Oil Price Rally
Now Oman has been caught in the crossfire, like many other countries who dont want to have to pick a side between the two economic and political powerhouses of the U.S. and Iran. If the Trump administration follows through on their proposal to re-introduce sanctions on Iran next month, it will create major problems for the viability of the Iran-Oman natural gas pipeline. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical location in the pipeline plans, has long been a site of contention between Iran and the U.S. In August both nations simultaneously claimed to have complete control of the essential oil and gas crossing and the U.S. threatening force if Iran tried to disrupt any of the shipping.
Despite the tricky political waters and economic doubts, Oman has publicly stated that it intends to go forward with the project, but there is no denying that it will be with much more roadblocks than they initially bargained for.
By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com
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French police have opened an investigation into the reported disappearance last week of Meng Hongwei, the Chinese head of the international police organisation Interpol, a source close to the inquiry said. Meng was last seen leaving for China from Interpol's headquarters in Lyon, southeast France, in late September, the source said. His wife reported him missing. "He did not disappear in France," the source told AFP. Europe reported that he left the country on September 29. Before being elected head of Interpol in November 2016, Meng was vice minister of public security in China, which critics say gave him control over the secret police. He was the first Chinese leader of Interpol, which connects the law enforcement agencies of its 192 member countries. It does not have agents of its own with powers of arrest. Beijing saw Meng's election as a chance to enlist more international help in tracking down alleged economic criminals, including corrupt officials, targeted by President Xi Jinping's anti-graft campaign. But the drive, known as Operation Fox Hunt, has led to claims in some countries that Chinese law enforcement agents have been operating covertly on their soil without the approval or consent of local authorities. Since it began several top officials have been detained and charged with crimes including "severe disciplinary violations", a phrase which usually refers to corruption or graft. Meng's term is scheduled to run until 2020.
During the Soviet era, the country's top computer scientists and programmers largely worked for the secret services. That practice appears to have resumed under President Vladimir Putin, as Russia faces accusations of waging a global campaign of cyber attacks. Dutch officials on Thursday accused four Russians from the GRU military intelligence agency of attempting to hack into the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague. The agency has investigated both the fatal poisoning of Russian former double-agent Sergei Skripal; and an alleged chemical attack by Moscow-allied Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Baltic states were the first to accuse Moscow of mounting attacks to knock out their sites back in 2007. Estonia said one such attack had put the country's main emergency service phone number out of action for over an hour. Since then, accusations of cyber attacks have continued against Moscow. The Russian hacker group variously known as Fancy Bear, APT 28 and Sofacy has been linked to GRU and accused of attacks on the US Democrats' 2016 presidential campaign, together with Russia's FSB security service, the successor to the KGB. The skills of Russian hackers today developed from a tradition of excellent computing and programming skills dating back to the Soviet era. "The whole structure of the economy was skewed towards the military sector," said Oleg Demidov, a consultant at the Moscow-based independent think-tank PIR Center. "All the achievements of Soviet science including the first computers went to serve the military sector." The most brilliant students were pushed to work in the military and space sector, he added. - Banking crime - After the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, its armed forces were broken up and most of the top specialists turned to the nascent banking sector in Russia, either to work there or to attack it. In this era saw the first cyber attacks on banking operations and the first mentions of Russian hackers. "Now Russian hackers are excellently trained and equipped and they still occupy one of the top positions in banking crime," said Demidov -- even if the Russian justice system has begun to crack down on them. In 2016, Russian cybersecurity giant Kaspersky estimated that between 2012 and 2015, Russian hackers had stolen at least $790 million worldwide. Russian computer scientists study at "very strong universities in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Kazan or Krasnoyarsk", said Denis Kuskov of TelecomDaily specialised research agency. They "can work anywhere in the world, in any international company," he added. In recent years, however, more have opted to stay in Russia, he said. "The secret services have grown more interested in good programmers and it's easier for them to find work in Russia now." In 2012, the Russian defence ministry announced it was creating its own "cyber troops". It launched a wide recruitment drive that included promotional videos on social media. For Demidov, the growing wave of attacks attributed to Russian hackers has come about as Russia becomes better able to defend its own cyber security more strongly, the military sphere included. "These efforts... have began to bring results," he said. Today however, even the most established players in Russian IT are in the sights of the West. The US in 2017 imposed a ban on the use of Kaspersky's anti-virus software by federal agencies amid concerns about the company's links to the Russian intelligence services. While many young Russians may choose to work for the military and secret services for reasons of patriotism, some may still be more interested by the money. This week a military tribunal in Moscow held a closed-doors trial for the head of operational control at the FSB's centre for information security, Colonel Sergei Mikhalkov and three alleged accomplices. Kommersant daily reported that they were accused of passing secrets on the Russian secret services' cyber technology to the FBI in return for $10 million.
A new study from Biodesign researcher Gary Moore appears on the October cover of the journal ACS Catalysis. Credit: Jason Drees
Publishing a high-impact scientific article is a significant achievement for researchers. Being featured on the journal cover is even better.
A new study outlines advances in the field of catalysis research, with broad applications for innovative energy technology.
Gary Moore, an assistant professor in the School of Molecular Sciences and a researcher with the Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery, and his team won the coveted honor when their research article, "Electrocatalytic Properties of Binuclear Cu(II) Fused Porphyrins for Hydrogen Evolution," was selected for the cover of the October edition of ACS Catalysis.
Moore's graduate students, Diana Khusnutdinova and Brian Wadsworth, were the lead authors on the study. Jason Drees, former multimedia developer for Biodesign designed the journal cover.
"It's always a pleasure to have others take special notice of my group's research," Moore said.
Established in 2011, ACS Catalysis is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes manuscripts covering experimental and theoretical research on materials and molecules that are catalytic in nature. Catalysts play an essential role in energy conversion processes in biology and technology. They act to provide low-energy pathways for chemical reactions and find their way into applications ranging from fuel manufacturing to guiding the bioenergetic reactions essential to all living organisms.
Moore's lab studies the ways in which catalytic materials powered by photovoltaics can produce energy to meet humans' needs while minimizing environmental impact. According to Moore, their studies are inspired by the process that plants and other photosynthetic organisms use to convert sunlight to fuels through a series of photochemical reactions.
"This process powers our biosphere and supplied the fossil fuels our modern societies rely on," Moore said.
The cover art illustrates the molecular structure of the reported catalyst, a binuclear copper(II) fused porphyrin which is composed of two porphyrin macrocycles, as well as the union of two protons to synthesize hydrogen (H2). The study explores the electrocatalytic properties of the porphyrins in this hydrogen evolution reaction.
"In our recent ACS Catalysis publication we describe a new class of catalyst for driving the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)," Moore said. "The product of this reaction is a fuel and an important chemical feedstock. The reported catalyst uses a molecular framework to house two copper metal centers. Under appropriate conditions, a single molecule of the catalyst produces more than 2,000,000 molecules of hydrogen per second. This rate constant is among the highest reported in the literature."
By understanding the physical and chemical properties of these electrocatalysts, Moore believes further enhancement of their catalytic properties is possible.
With human energy demands rapidly increasing and with serious concerns about the environmental impacts of the fossil fuel economy, clean alternatives in energy production are desperately needed. Research like Moore's may pave the way for a more sustainable future that will enable humans to meet acute energy needs with a more eco-friendly, low carbon regime.
"We imagine the promising features of the catalyst described in our current report will provide a foundation for achieving new energy technologies requiring enhanced control of matter and energy at the molecular level," Moore said. "Human-engineered systems capable of converting sunlight and water to fuels offer a promising approach to obtaining a sustainable energy future."
As Moore explains, one innovation that makes this study stand out is the use of copper in lieu of the industry's standard, platinum.
"The long-established industrial catalyst for activating this reaction is elemental platinum. However, concerns that future market demands for platinum and other rare-earth elements could outpace availability have prompted researchers to seek alternative materials and design principles to prepare catalysts for the production of hydrogen and other industrially relevant chemicals," Moore said.
Not only did the study pave the pathway for the use of copper in hydrogen evolution reactions, but it also yielded results on the kinetics associated with the compound.
"The copper-based assembly achieves one of the highest maximum turnover frequencies reported for a molecular hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst," Moore said.
Moore and his team are pursuing follow-up studies that will continue to shed light on the electrocatalytic properties of these assemblies.
"Members of my research team and I, including Diana Khusnutdinova and Brian Wadsworth, are currently in France to perform in situ X-ray absorption measurements at the SOLEIL synchrotron. These studies will investigate the electronic structure of the catalyst described in our current ACS Catalysis article and other related materials," Moore added.
Work is also currently underway involving catalysts that make use of other types of earth-abundant metal centers and molecular-based scaffolds to house them, which Moore's group looks forward to reporting on in the near future.
Explore further Finding the right balance for catalysts in the hydrogen evolution reaction
More information: Diana Khusnutdinova et al, Electrocatalytic Properties of Binuclear Cu(II) Fused Porphyrins for Hydrogen Evolution, ACS Catalysis (2018). Journal information: ACS Catalysis Diana Khusnutdinova et al, Electrocatalytic Properties of Binuclear Cu(II) Fused Porphyrins for Hydrogen Evolution,(2018). DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.8b01776
Assyrian Confederation of Europe Condemns Kurdish Occupation of Assyrian Schools in Syria
The Amal Assyrian Elementary School in Hasaka, Syria. (AINA) -- The Assyrian Confederation of Europe, which represents over 500,000 Assyrians in Europe, issued a statement condemning the Kurdish occupation of Assyrian schools in northeast Syria.
The local Kurdish government in the Hassakah province has shutdown Assyrian schools which refused to adopt the Kurdish curricula.
The following is the full statement:
1 hour ago
Washington seeks over $38 billion from opioid distributors
SEATTLE (AP) Having rejected a half-billion-dollar settlement offer, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is taking the state's case against the nation's three biggest drug distributors to trial Monday, saying they must be held accountable for their role in the opioid crisis. But his gamble isn't without risk, as a loss by three California counties in a similar case this month demonstrates.
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The city of Guadalupe is set to begin the search for a new chief of police after Public Safe
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"We should let him finish, and afterwards we can judge," said Denis. "No, he should go!" responded Bernardin, debating with his friend the long legacy of Cameroonian President Paul Biya who has ruled since 1982 and will seek a seventh term in Sunday's election. Denis and Bernardin sat on a low wall in the Nkol Eton district of the capital Yaounde discussing the future of their country, where 75 percent of the population have only known Biya as their president. Across all of Africa, only Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema has been in power longer. "He should have time to complete the projects he started, or else they will fail," said Denis. Since coming to power three-and-a-half decades ago, Biya has launched many high-profile prestige projects, several of which have never seen the light of day. "If he hasn't managed to do something I think that's enough, he's not going to do it later," responded Bernardin, who voted for Biya in the last presidential election in 2011. "I was deceived," he sighed. "Now I'm 30 years old. In 2011 I was 23 and I believed in him. But now if he's reelected? I will be 37 and I will only have ever known him. Ouch!" - 'At least Biya has experience' - The two friends' cigarette-fuelled, late afternoon conversation turned to politics even though Biya himself has been all but invisible during the campaign, except for a brief appearance in the country's far north last weekend. Thousands of Biya posters have been put up across the country proclaiming the 85-year-old to be "the force of experience". "Have faith in him, he's the father," said Denis, exhaling as he leant on a nearby car. "No, no! That's not the way to look at it," interrupted Hugues, a 44-year-old casual labourer who had been listening to Denis and Bernardin's debate. "My son just graduated from high school. But me, I'm not 'in the system', I want to know what to do so he has opportunities. I don't have the money to give." But Denis insisted that Biya "is not the problem. It's his entourage. I don't think he knows what's going on, with corruption and all that". "It's up to you young people to take charge," said Hugues. "What youngsters? Can you imagine handing power to a young person? Look at the state of the youth, it would be a disaster. At least Biya has experience," said Denis. - 'The youth candidate' - But despite his defence of Biya, Denis admitted he would not be voting for the president on Sunday and had not even collected his polling card. "What's the point, he'll be elected without me, and that's good. I don't need to vote," he said. All three men agreed that the election would have no impact on their daily lives. For them, Cameroonian politics is defined by self-advancement rather than deeply held values. The young people campaigning for Biya "don't have political motives, but they have to drink, they have to eat and so people take the money, that's just the way it is," said Bernardin. The ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) party's youth wing has descended on communities across the central African nation to hand out shirts, hats and key-rings bearing Biya's likeness, hoping to mobilise voters. "But for me, even if they gave me 10,000 CFA francs ($17, 15 euros) this year, I wouldn't vote for Biya!" laughed Bernardin. Of the seven opposition contenders, Cabral Libii is Bernardin's favourite "because he is the youth candidate!" Libii, a TV news analyst who is new to politics, is the youngest presidential candidate at the age of 38. He was just three years old when Biya began his first term. Bernardin is reluctant to imagine yet another Biya victory. "In this system, those who have nothing will have nothing, and those who already have something will still have something," he said, grimly.
By Kanupriya Kapoor and Fathin Ungku PALU, Indonesia (Reuters) - A week after a major earthquake brought devastation to Indonesia's Sulawesi island, Ichsan Hidayat told how the bodies of his sister and her 43-day-old daughter were found under a sea of mud and debris, the mother clutching her baby to her chest. Hidayat was not on Sulawesi last Friday when the 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck, triggering a phenomenon called soil liquefaction, which turns the ground into a roiling quagmire. (GRAPHIC: Catastrophe in Sulawesi - https://tmsnrt.rs/2OqQlUo) The neighborhood of Petobo, in the south of the city of Palu, where his sister, Husnul Hidayat, lived with her daughter, Aisah, was wiped out. Rescuers who recovered the bodies told Hidayat his sister was found holding Aisah close. "Today, I prayed that they are in a better place. They deserve better, Hidayat told Reuters as he left Friday prayers at a mosque in the center of Palu, 1,500 km (930 miles) northeast of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. (GRAPHIC: Destruction in Palu - https://tmsnrt.rs/2IDFukK) Worshippers knelt to pray on red carpets put down outside the mosque as the building is unsafe due to quake damage. Indonesia has the world's biggest Muslim population but also pockets of Christians, including on Sulawesi, and other religions. The official death toll from the quake and the tsunami it triggered stands at 1,571, but it will certainly rise. Most of the dead have been found in Palu. Figures for more remote areas, some still cut off by destroyed roads and landslides, are only trickling in, if at all. No one knows how many people were dragged to their deaths when the ground under Petobo and nearby areas south of Palu, dissolved so violently. The national disaster agency says 1,700 homes in one neighborhood alone were swallowed up and hundreds of people killed. Hasnah, 44, also a resident of Petobo, has trouble remembering all of the relatives she's trying to find in the tangled expanse of mud and debris. "More than half of my family are gone," Hasnah said as she sobbed. "I cant even count how many. Two of my children are gone, my cousins, my sister, my brother in law and their children. All gone." Homes were sucked into the earth, torn apart and shunted hundreds of meters by the churning mud. "The earth was like a blender, blending everything in its way," said Hasnah, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name. 'THEY LIED' Hasnah said she has enough food and water but she's furious that a search and rescue operation in her area only began on Thursday. "They said they would come with the heavy machines but they didnt," she said. "They lied." Sick of waiting for help, villagers themselves have been searching, Hasnah said. "Weve marked the possible bodies with sticks. You can see a foot sticking out, but there's no one here to dig them out." Rescue workers retrieved several bodies later on Friday. As the sun set, a mass prayer ceremony was held by Palu's seafront that was scoured by the tsunami. "We pray for the ones who have died and for those yet to be found," the imam said. "Allahu Akbar," or God is Greatest, responded the congregation. The first signs of recovery are evident in Palu. Electricity has been restored and some shops and banks have reopened and aid and fuel are arriving. Vice President Jusuf Kalla, visiting the disaster zone, said recovery would be completed in two years, beginning with a two-month emergency response phase when everyone who lost their house would get temporary shelter. Doctors have been flocking to help from other parts of Indonesia. The Budi Agung hospital has 134 beds with about 20 more set up in a tent outside, all full. A hospital ship is also due to arrive. Doctors said many patients have been at high risk of infection because they were buried in mud. Rescue workers are pushing into outlying districts cut off for days. Villagers rushed a Red Cross helicopter that landed at Sirenja village near the quake's epicenter, about 75 km (45 miles) north of Palu, to drop off supplies. Some quake damage was evident but the coast did not appear to have been battered by the tsunami, a Reuters photographer said. Sulawesi is one of the archipelago nation's five main islands, and like the others, is exposed to frequent earthquakes and tsunami. In 2004, a quake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia. (Additional reporting by Tom Allard, Ronn Bautista in PALU, Darren Whiteside in SIRENJA, Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Maikel Jefriando, Tabita Diela, Gayatri Suroyo, Fransiska Nangoy, Fanny Potkin, Ed Davies in JAKARTA; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Nick Macfie.)
European Union Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday warned of a new war in the Balkans if Bosnia, Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo do not feel the EU is serious about offering them future membership. "If, in Europe's highly complicated landscape, the impression arises that we're not serious about offering the prospect of EU membership to the western Balkans, then we might see later -- and probably even sooner -- what we saw in Balkans in the 1990s," Juncker said in a speech to the Austrian parliament. The six Balkan states -- which during the 1990s formed the battleground to Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II that led to the break-up of former Yugoslavia -- are currently at different stages of accession talks with the EU. While membership negotiations have officially started with Serbia and Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia are still in the waiting room to talks and classified as "candidate countries". Bosnia and Kosovo are listed as "potential candidates". Juncker already said last December that expanding into the Balkans was vital to maintain stability in the region and he expected Serbia and Montenegro to join the bloc by 2025. Nevertheless, the road to full EU membership for those states was "still very long", Juncker said. While some of the countries had made progress, "that progress still hasn't gone far enough." He suggested that the EU could offer the states a sort of "economic area where they can partially behave as they will eventually do as full member states." And Juncker reiterated that he didn't see any of them attaining full membership "before 2025, and even then it won't be quick". The EU must "tend to the west Balkans intensively and help where necessary," the EU Commission chief said. It should "ensure it is understood that all border conflicts between the west Balkan states must be resolved before the membership can be attained," he said. Among the most pressing issues is the status of Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but which Belgrade still refuses to recognise. Juncker was in Vienna to attend the centenary celebrations marking the foundation of the Republic of Austria.
Oil-rich Gabon, ruled by the same political dynasty for nearly half a century, voted Saturday in long-delayed legislative and municipal polls, the first since a presidential election two years ago that was marred by deadly violence and allegations of fraud. A divided opposition is unlikely to mount a successful challenge to President Ali Bongo's ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), polls suggest. His key rival, Jean Ping, is boycotting the election, but most other opposition groups entered the contest. Bongo himself voted in Libreville where, like elsewhere in the country, the election appeared to be proceeding calmly under grey skies and light rain. - 'Dice are loaded' - "Like everyone in Gabon, I've just done my civic duty, and all I hope is that everything goes well," the president said after casting his ballot. An early voter, 53-year old shopkeeper Stanislas Bidoubi told AFP he was backing an opposition party. "I want change in my country," he said. Another voter, 34-year old civil servant Rodrigue Taika, said he was backing the ruling party. "I'm voting for the party in power because today there are reforms that are painful, but they are for the benefit of the population," he said in reference to recent austerity measures. Others, meanwhile, decided to stay away, some giving their reasons on social media. "I'm not going to vote because the electoral process is biased, the dice are loaded," wrote Samy Maghoumbou, a teacher, on Whatsapp. "We know in advance who will win, so there's no point in pretending," he said. Posters dotted Libreville asking the country's 680,000 voters to turn up to elect 143 new MPs as well as other local officials. - 'Never missed an election' - Turnout in Gabon elections is usually low, but queues outside Libreville stations pointed to lively voter interest in the capital. "I've never missed an election," said 52-year-old Rainatou Wagne. "Even if there's cheating in every African election, as a Gabonese citizen I prefer to vote," she said. The controversial re-election of Bongo in August 2016 by just a few thousand votes led Ping to claim that victory had been stolen from him. Violence broke out and dozens of people were killed according to the opposition, but the government says only four died. Ping's headquarters was bombed and the opposition also claimed that widespread human rights abuses were committed by armed militias that took to the streets. On Saturday, some opposition candidates were pointing to alleged irregularities, saying that voting papers had gone missing, there had been attempts to buy votes, and their representatives had been denied access. - 'No real opposition' - Political divisions run deep in the equatorial African nation, ruled by Omar Bongo from 1967 until his death in 2009, when his son Ali took over. And Gabon's oil-dependent economy has been hit by falling crude prices. "I am not sure that this election will ease tensions because since 2016, the country has been torn by a crisis that has divided families and changed the political scenario," said political expert Wilson Andre Ndombet. The opposition, which rallied around Ping in 2016, is now fractured, easing the way for the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) which, however, is also facing party in-fighting. Ping, a veteran diplomat who once headed the African Union Commission and has held senior UN posts, was a stalwart in Omar Bongo's government. "There is no real opposition in Gabon," said Gabin Yalanzele from the ruling PDG ahead of polling day. A Libreville resident, who identified himself as Steven, said before the vote that the ruling party and the opposition were "buying consciences" with T-shirts and other goodies. "The electoral process has always been biased," said political expert Ndombet, adding that "officials manning voting stations were bought" by the ruling party. The government closed the country's borders on polling day and banned alcohol sales until the end of voting.
Interpol demanded an official "clarification" from China on the whereabouts of its missing police chief Saturday, after reports said he was detained for questioning on arrival in his homeland. Beijing has remained silent over the mysterious disappearance of Meng Hongwei, who was last seen leaving for China in late September from the Interpol headquarters in Lyon, southeast France, a source close to the enquiry told AFP. His wife has since reported him missing. "Interpol has requested through official law enforcement channels clarification from China's authorities on the status of Interpol President Meng Hongwei," Jurgen Stock, the secretary-general of the international police body said in a statement. "Interpol's General Secretariat looks forward to an official response from China's authorities to address concerns over the President's well-being." It is the latest high-profile disappearance in China, where a number of top government officials, billionaire business magnates and even an A-list celebrity have vanished for weeks or months at a time. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment from AFP. But news of his absence was swiftly followed by speculation that the 64-year-old Meng -- who also serves as a vice-minister of China's Ministry of Public Security -- had been swept up in Beijing's secretive anti-corruption campaign. Citing an anonymous source, the South China Morning Post said authorities from the country's disciplinary commission had snatched Meng upon arrival in Beijing. China's recently established National Supervisory Commission holds sweeping powers to investigate the country's public servants with few requirements for transparency. While the law requires authorities to inform family members of a detention, it makes exceptions for cases involving national security, terrorism, or concerns over destruction of evidence or witness tampering. People have been known to disappear into the commission's custody for weeks or even months without a word. - Anti-corruption? - It is not clear why Meng -- the first Chinese president of Interpol -- would be under investigation. Chinese president Xi Jinping has presided over a popular anti-graft drive since coming to power in 2012 that has punished more than one million officials, with critics comparing it to a political purge. Meng rose up the ranks of the country's domestic security apparatus when it was under the leadership of Zhou Yongkang, a rival to Xi and the highest-ranking official to be brought down on corruption charges. Zhou -- who was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 -- was subsequently accused of conspiring to seize state power and authorities have continued working to root out his influence. He appointed Meng vice security minister in 2004. In the role Meng has been entrusted with a number of sensitive portfolios, including heading up the country's counter-terrorism division, which saw him in charge of the response to several major incidents in China's fractious western region of Xinjiang. Critics of Meng's 2016 election to Interpol's presidency said he would use the position to help China target dissidents abroad under the guise of pursuing corrupt officials. Interpol has downplayed the concerns, saying the president has little influence over the organisation's day-to-day operations, which are handled by secretary-general Stock, a German. The Chinese effort to track down corrupt officials abroad, known as Operation Fox Hunt, has led to claims in some countries that Chinese law-enforcement agents have been operating covertly on their soil without the approval or consent of local authorities. China currently has 44 outstanding red notices, mostly related to murder, intentional injury and drug smuggling, according to Interpol's web site. During Meng's tenure, Interpol issued a red notice for fugitive Chinese billionaire real estate tycoon Guo Wengui, who threatened to reveal corruption at the country's highest levels. Authorities in China and Hong Kong have accused Guo, who resides in the United States, of laundering billions of dollars among other crimes.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hoped to make progress on denuclearisation and a second US-North Korean summit as he kicked off an Asian trip Saturday that will feature a meeting with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang. Pompeo arrived in Tokyo on the first leg of a tour that will take him to Pyongyang Sunday for a fourth time as the contours of a possibly historic US-North Korea deal take shape. Speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Pompeo said the two historic allies would have a "fully coordinated, unified view of how to proceed, which will be what is needed if we are going to be successful on denuclearising North Korea." Japan, which has seen North Korean missiles fly over its territory and been threatened with annihilation, has historically taken a hard line on Pyongyang and stressed the need to maintain pressure on the regime. More recently, however, Abe has said the only way to improve strained ties is a face-to-face meeting with former international pariah Kim. It was important for the US and Japan to be "fully in sync" before he headed to Pyongyang, insisted Pompeo. He also promised to bring up with Kim the matter of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago, which is a huge issue domestically in Japan. Abe called for "coordination" on this issue and also on North Korea's nuclear threat. - 'Sufficient trust' - On the plane over, Pompeo said his aim was to "develop sufficient trust" between Washington and Pyongyang to inch towards peace. "Then we are also going to set up the next summit," said Pompeo. However, he played down expectations for a major breakthrough. "I doubt we will get it nailed but begin to develop options for both location and timing for when Chairman Kim will meet with the president again. Maybe we will get further than that," said the top US diplomat. In June, US President Donald Trump met Kim in Singapore for the first-ever summit between the countries. No sitting US president has ever visited North Korea, which according to human rights groups remains one of the most repressive countries on Earth. Since the Singapore summit, which yielded what critics charge was only a vague commitment by Kim towards denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, the road towards warmer ties has been bumpy. Trump scrapped a previously planned trip by his top diplomat to Pyongyang after what he said was insufficient progress towards implementing the terms of the Singapore declaration. But the unorthodox US president has since declared himself "in love" with the strongman in Pyongyang. Pompeo has repeatedly declined to be drawn publicly on the shape of an eventual agreement. The United States has called for a comprehensive accord and strict enforcement of sanctions on North Korea in the meantime. - Grand bargain - After Tokyo, Pompeo travels to Pyongyang and then on to South Korea, whose dovish president Moon Jae-in has served as a go-between for the two sides. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has given a hint of what a grand bargain between the two countries could look like. In an interview with the Washington Post, she said 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 concluded 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. Pompeo did not discuss the possible outlines of a deal, saying only that his "mission is to make sure that we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve." After Seoul, Pompeo closes his trip Monday in China, North Korea's political and economic lifeline. The Beijing stop could be tense as it comes days after Vice President Mike Pence delivered a blistering speech accusing China of military aggression, commercial theft, rising human rights violations and electoral intervention against Trump. burs-pool-ric/amz
Uber has faced a struggle with regulators - AFP
Uber has driven up revenues for its UK business by 61pc despite spending the year battling regulators in London and across the country.
Last year, the ride-hailing app was threatened with the loss of its London licence by the city's transport regulator and issued with suspensions in several towns and cities.
Despite this, Uber increased its revenues to 59.5m for the year ending in December 2017, up from 36.9m the year before, according to its accounts.
Profits at the ride-hailing firm grew by 1.6m to 4.6m. London has been one of Uber's most important international markets outside the US, with the ride-hailing company turning a profit in the UK even as it withdraws from costly operations in South East Asia and targets profitability ahead of a planned 2019 float.
Uber has faced a struggle with regulators over its future in London. In September last year, Transport for London refused to renew Uber's licence over issues of passenger safety, although the company was allowed to keep operating while it appealed. The ruling was overturned by a court in June.
The company has also seen several rivals launch in the city, all of which let riders book private hire vehicles through similar smartphone apps.
Uber faces a further court battle later in October against drivers who have claimed further workplace rights from the company. Uber has maintained its drivers are self-employed.
An Uber spokesman said: We continue to invest in expanding across the UK with more than five million riders and 60,000 licensed drivers now using our app. Over the last year weve introduced a number of improvements for both passengers and drivers, from 24/7 telephone support to free sickness, injury, maternity and paternity protections."
Meanwhile, Airbnb, an online holiday booking platform and fellow US tech giant, reported it had boosted revenues at its UK-based company. Airbnb Payments Ltd, which accounts for sales of all Airbnb's operations outside of the US, China and India, recorded revenues of $280m (213m) last year, up from $194m.
Like Uber, Airbnb is also targeting an initial public offering in 2019. It recorded international profits of $1.2m and paid $282,000 of UK corporation tax.
The United Nations has detained one of its peacekeepers suspected of sexually abusing minors in the Central African Republic (CAR), the UN's MINUSCA mission there said Friday. The latest alleged incident was just the latest in a string of cases implicating the blue helmets. The UN had identified the suspect, a Mauritanian national, and placed him in "confinement" pending an enquiry into the alleged crimes in the south of the country last month, said the force. Three alleged victims have been sent for medical and psychological testing. "Due to the seriousness of these allegations and the information gathered by the preliminary fact-finding mission, the United Nations took immediate and appropriate measures, including the confinement of the one suspect who has been identified," MINUSCA said in its statement. A team of investigators had been sent to the scene to collect evidence and identify any other perpetrators. MINUSCA chief Parfait Onanga-Anyanga backed the UN secretary general's zero-tolerance policy on sexual crimes committed by their peacekeepers. The case is just the latest in a series of allegations of sex abuse against UN peacekeepers. Peacekeepers have also been accused of failing to help civilians caught up in violence, notably in the Central African Republic and South Sudan. Last month, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution aimed at toughening the UN response to peacekeeper misconduct following a string of such failures. The United States, the top contributor to the UN's $6.9-billion peacekeeping budget, has moved to cut funding, raising concern about the performance of missions. On Tuesday, a UN spokesman announced that a Nigerian policeman serving as a peacekeeper in the Democratic Republic of Congo had been sent home and barred from peacekeeping after an investigation found he had sexually exploited a woman. MINUSCA has been present in impoverished and unstable Central African Republic since 2014 and includes troops from 20 nations. One of the world's poorest and most unstable countries, the CAR spiralled into bloodshed after longtime leader Francois Bozize was overthrown in 2013 by a mainly Muslim rebel alliance called the Seleka. The United Nations has 96,000 peacekeepers serving in 14 missions worldwide.
Zimbabwe has begun an oral vaccination drive to curb a cholera outbreak which has claimed at least 49 lives over the past month, a WHO official said Friday. The cholera outbreak, first detected outside Harare on September 5, prompted the health ministry to declare an emergency in the capital. With 9,000 suspected cases so far, the disease has spread to other towns as well as rural areas across the country. Authorities have banned public gatherings in Harare while health ministry personnel are supervising the burial of victims "The oral cholera vaccination is targeting 1.4 million people in high-density areas from the age of one with one dose, Marc Poncin, a WHO vaccination expert in Harare, told AFP. "A second dose will be provided within six months in order to provide at least three years' protection," he said adding that the protection was temporary and that the best way to prevent cholera remained "improved water, sanitation and hygiene". Residents attended health centres in the capital Friday for their first dose. I came here so get vaccination.... Too many people have died of the disease. Its scary," said Noreen Mahiya, 20. Cholera outbreaks occur regularly in Zimbabwean cities where supplies of drinking water and sanitation facilities are erratic and infrastructure has collapsed due to years of neglect. Zimbabwe, which was ruled by Robert Mugabe from independence in 1980 until his ouster last year, suffered its worst cholera outbreak in 2008. Around 4,000 people died and at least 100,000 people fell ill. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who succeeded Mugabe, has pledged to tackle the current outbreak which he called "this medieval disease".
Non-Violent Offender's
Gun Rights Restored
By Stephen Gutowski. October 4th, 2018
A federal judge restored the rights of a Pennsylvania man on Friday after determining that his misdemeanor driving under the influence convictions were not serious enough to justify a lifelong restriction on his Second Amendment rights.
Chief Judge Christopher Conner of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled that Raymond Holloway's second misdemeanor DUI conviction in 2005 was not a serious enough crime to result in a lifetime abridgment of one of his constitutional rights. Connor applied the standard set in the landmark case Binderup v. the U.S. Attorney General where the Third Circuit Court of Appeals found those convicted of certain nonviolent offenses can't be barred from owning firearms for the rest of their lives.
He said the government had failed to show that Holloway's misdemeanor DUI convictions meant he should be disarmed for life. .......
Innate rights cannot be taken away, but they can often be put 'on hold' or diminished when it comes to punishment for law breaking. The debate over whether rights should or should not be returned to normal after a punishment has long continued, in particular as to whether there is a felony or a misdemeanor and whether violence is or is not involved. There are too many cases where a misdemeanor is used to deprive gun rights but this case usefully shows a sensible judgement and should set a precedent.
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The British artist Banksy managed to pull off what many are calling one of the most daring and audacious pranks in the art world as one of his paintings self-destructed moments after it was sold for $1.4 million at auction. The work, Girl With Balloon, obtained a winning bid of 860,000 pounds, which came out to 1.042 million pounds once the buyers premium is taken into account. That was more than three times the estimate and a record.
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Then those who were at the Friday night auction suddenly heard an alarm go off. Everyone turned round, and the picture had slipped through its frame, Morgan Long, the head of art investment at the London-based advisory firm the Fine Art Group, said. The painting passed through a shredder that had been installed in the frame and by the time it was carried out, most of the work was hanging in strips from the bottom of the frame. Weve been Banksy-ed, Alex Branczik, Sothebys head of contemporary art in Europe, said at a news conference afterward. We have not experienced this situation in the past, where a painting is spontaneously shredded upon achieving a record for the artist.
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Banksy posted a video on Instagram Saturday showing how he built a shredder into the painting in case it was ever put out for auction. Although Banksy has previously expressed disdain for the art market, his actions may have actually increased the value of the work. It is normal for an auction house not to expect a buyer to go through with a purchase if the work was damaged somehow. But in this case, experts speculated the painting could now be even more valuable given its status as the subject of one of the greatest pranks to have been played on the art market, notes the Financial Times.
Pierre Koukjian, an artist who was at the auction, told the Associated Press the buyer was very lucky to own the now-historic piece. He said the prank was a turning point in the history of contemporary and conceptual art. Koukjian, who has met Banksy, said he thought he caught a glimpse of the artist as confusion reigned at the auction about what happened. Some said they saw security escort a man out of the building.
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The website MyArtBroker.com, which resells Banksy pieces, agreed the piece had suddenly become much more valuable after the prank. This is now part of art history in its shredded state and wed estimate Banksy has added at a minimum 50% to its value, possibly as high as being worth 2m plus, the website said in a statement.
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So far the auction house has not revealed much information about what will happen next. The successful bidder was a private collector, bidding through a Sothebys staff member on the phone. We are currently in discussions about next steps, Sothebys said in a statement without identifying the buyer.
Some, however, have their suspicions that Sothebys may have actually known this was going to happen. The New York Times explains:
On Monday, Donald Trump referred to sexual misconduct allegations against new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as a hoax set up by the Democrats. While Trump put his own typically hyperbolic spin on the talking point, other Republicans have been saying for some time that Kavanaugh is the victim of a character assassination campaign orchestrated by elected Dems and their wealthy left-wing co-conspirators. Last week, Republican Iowa Senator and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley angrily declared that Democrats have just about destroyed a good person and told CNBC that he suspected anti-Kavanaugh protesters were being paid by liberal philanthropist George Soros. Texas Senator and Judiciary Committee member John Cornyn compared Kavanaugh to Tom Robinson, the black victim of a bogus rape accusation (and target of an attempted lynching) in To Kill a Mockingbird. Republican Sen. Susan Collins, explaining her deciding vote in favor of Kavanaughs confirmation on Friday, called his nomination hearings a dysfunctional circus and complained of dark money interest groups driving American discourse to a rock bottom level.
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Its not just partisan hacks making the argument: Kavanaugh described himself as the victim of a coordinated and well-funded smear campaign in his Senate response to Christine Blasey Ford, and his supporters in the ostensibly highbrow, Trump-averse conservative punditsphere have adopted the claim as well. The notion has even crept into the analysis of avowedly reasonable, centrist-respected figures like the New York Times David Brooks and Republican Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse. Kavanaugh has become a pinball in the partisan politics of personal destruction, Brooks wrote; Sasse, who elsewhere has prominently defended the credibility and honor of sexual assault victims, said that he was heartbroken for Kavanaugh and blamed Democrats for turning his confirmation hearings into a made-for-TV circus.
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With this in mind, lets review how the most prominent allegations against Kavanaugh were made, limiting ourselves just to individuals whove identified themselves publicly.
Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor in Northern California, contacted the Washington Post and her local congressional representative when she saw that Kavanaugh was being considered for a SCOTUS nomination. She says she remembers Kavanaugh and one of his classmates, Mark Judge, attempting to rape her in 1982 while they were very drunk.
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Deborah Ramirez, a city employee in Boulder, Colorado, came forward to the New Yorker to accuse Kavanaugh of having exposed himself to her while intoxicated when they were both freshmen at Yale. Two other Yale alumsa theological history professor from New Jersey and an ER doctor from Californiatold the New Yorker they remember hearing about such an incident at the time.
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Several classmates of Kavanaughs came forward to dispute his claims, made in a Fox News interview and Senate testimony during which he disputed Fords and Ramirezs allegations, that he never behaved belligerently or inappropriately while drunk and had never been drunk enough to have caused gaps in his memory. One of those people is an oncologist in Washington, one is a history professor in North Carolina, one is the COO of a health care company in Pennsylvania, and another works in software in the Bay Area. The health care executive, Lynne Brookes, says further that she specifically remembers Kavanaugh and a friend drunkenly breaking into a room where a female classmate was involved in a sexual encounter in order to embarrass her.
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Police records in New Haven, Connecticut, also cut against Kavanaughs claims about his demeanor while drinking, indicating that he was questioned by police after being accused of instigating a bar fight with a man who was then attacked with a beer glass by one of Kavanaughs friends.
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What we have here, then, is either:
A) A Democratic conspiracy to plant operatives close to Kavanaugh in the 1980s, including one whose job was to, I guess, frame him for a UB40-related bar fight, then disperse those operatives across the country for decades to establish themselves in nonpolitics careers until the time was right to ruin his Supreme Court nomination.
Or:
B) The cumulative result of individual decisions to come forward to reporters, law enforcement authorities, and elected representatives with information relevant to Kavanaughs fitness to serve in a high officeoften directly in response to claims Kavanaugh made to defend himself from initial allegations.
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Respectable conservatives like Sasse and the writers at the Weekly Standard have pinned their case that Kavanaugh has been wronged on Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinsteins failure to bring Fords initially confidential letter of allegations to the attention of the Judiciary Committee over the summer, when it might have been investigated privately and without the partisan smear-taint of a Democrat-orchestrated media circus. Its true that we dont know why Feinstein sat on the letter so long or who then leaked its contents to the press; its also true that Ford and Ramirez retained attorneys with connections to Democratic politics and had their allegations amplified by Democratic politicians.
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At the same time, these accusers and witnesses had absolutely zero chance of having their testimony taken seriously by the Republicans who, given the way our government works, are the only other people who would have been in a position to do anything. The judiciary staffer leading the committees Kavanaugh background investigation responded to Fords allegations by tweeting that he was still determined to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. The judiciary spokesman who initially handled its response to Fords allegations worked for the same right-wing PR firm that promoted an insane conspiracy theory that implied one of Kavanaughs classmates was the real rapist; that spokesman also turned out to have left a previous job after being accused of sexual harassment. Republican judiciary member Orrin Hatch responded to Ramirezs allegation by saying it was phony on the grounds that I know it is, thats why.
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Assuming that a good-faith request for a confidential investigation somehow made it through that group of impartial woman-trusters, it would have been supervised by the White House
Counsels Office, whose initial instructions to the FBI for this weeks abbreviated reinvestigation of Kavanaugh were so narrow that they prompted Republican judiciary member and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake to call for a real investigation that wasnt just set up to give Republicans cover to vote for the nominee. The White House Counsels Office is, of course, also nominally supervised by a president who regularly derides the FBI as an instrument of the Democratic Deep State and who belittled Ford at a rally this week by mockingly and incorrectly claiming that she didnt remember whether her assault had taken place upstairs or downstairs. The idea that this Judiciary Committee and this White House would ever have responsibly supervised and responded to an impartial, confidential FBI investigation into allegations against Kavanaugh is farcical. That Democratic legislators, Fords attorneys, and other allies of hers and Ramirezs would ultimately choose to circumvent that process and make their case in public is not a sign that they were acting as cynical agents of a leftist smear conspiracy but rather a sign that they possess simple common sense.
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There actually was, by contrast, a set of Kavanuagh accusations that was promoted irresponsibly by a Democratic activist who seemed to be nakedly exploiting them to advance his own aspirations: those made by Julie Swetnick, whos represented by aspiring 2020 candidate Michael Avenatti. But NBC and other outlets have reported skeptically on Swetnicks story, and Democratic politicians generally treated them with caution relative to the allegations made by Ford and Ramirez. While some Democratic judiciary members discussed Swetnick after she initially released her sworn declaration about Kavanaugh, the party did not subsequently press her claims as a reason to vote Kavanaugh down. In any case, Avenattis questionable behavior doesnt discredit allegations that were made earlier and pursued by individuals who dont have any connection to him.
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The Republican argument that Kavanuagh was smeared has often been accompanied by crocodile tears over the purportedly-just-as-abhorrent way that Democrats have exploited Christine Blasey Ford. Ford did initially ask for confidentiality, and Democrats, like all politicians do regarding every issue, engaged in grandstanding about her claims. One other thing Ford was very consistent about requesting, though, was for Congress to reject Kavanaugh as unfit to serve on the Supreme Court. Perhaps those claiming to have her interests in mind while supporting Kavanaughs confirmationand describing Ford as a mixed-up, memory-addled lightweight too confused to realize shes being used in a hoaxshould think twice about just who exactly is being smeared.
This post was updated with Donald Trumps Monday comments.
Sen. Susan Collins Friday speech announcing her decision to support Brett Kavanaughs elevation to the Supreme Court revealed that her vote had never really been in doubt. The Republican senator declared herself undecided until the last possible minute, but it now appears that this very public ambivalence was a charade. Collins address started as a bad-faith attack on Democrats, then transformed into an astoundingly naive defense of Kavanaughs jurisprudence. It concluded with a condescending sop to Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, suggesting that shed misidentified her alleged assailant. The speech might as well have been written by Mitch McConnell and Ed Whelan. It was an embarrassment and a travesty.
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Collins began in full own-the-libs mode, condemning the special interest groups that raced to oppose Kavanaugh. This criticism is astonishingly hypocritical. Anti-Kavanaugh organizations have been consistently outspent by pro-Kavanaugh forcesparticularly the Judicial Crisis Network, a dark-money group funded largely by a single anonymous donor. JCN spent more than $12 million boosting Kavanaugh, far outpacing Demand Justices $5 million anti-Kavanaugh push. Moreover, JCN pioneered the kind of special interest campaign for Supreme Court justices that Collins bemoaned. It spent $10 million promoting Justice Neil Gorsuch, and $7 million opposing Merrick Garland. Liberal groups like Demand Justice were formed to counteract JCN, and they havent (yet) resorted to the smear tactics for which JCN is notorious.
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Then Collins asserted that these special interest groups whipped their followers into a frenzy by spreading misrepresentations and outright falsehoods about Judge Kavanaughs judicial record. Her implication was that the thousands of Americans who have written, called, and pleaded with their senators to vote against Kavanaugh were misled sheep responding to propaganda. Collins essentially disparaged her constituents on the Senate floor, portraying them as gullible fools.
It was an ironic critique given that Collins proceeded to reel off talking points about Kavanaughs jurisprudence that reflected a profound misunderstanding of the law. First, she suggested that Kavanaugh is some kind of judicial minimalistthat he has argued for severing an unconstitutional provision of legislation as surgically as possible while allowing the overall law to remain intact. In reality, Kavanaugh wrote that Supreme Court precedent says that when a law gives an executive agency too much independence from the president, that independence must be severed. Thats itKavanaugh was quoting SCOTUS in a highly specific and technical area of the law. Once on the Supreme Court, he may well agree with Justice Clarence Thomas that, when one part of a law is unconstitutional, the whole act must be struck down.
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Later, Collins insisted that Kavanaugh struck a compromise in a case challenging Obamacares contraceptive mandate. She said he incurred the disfavor of both sides of the political spectrum by seeking to ensure the availability of contraceptive services for women while minimizing the involvement of employers with religious objections. And though his critics frequently overlook this point, Collins declared, Kavanaugh wrote that the Supreme Court precedent strongly suggested that there was a compelling interest in facilitating access to birth control.
Collins disparaged her constituents on the Senate floor, portraying them as gullible fools.
It appears that Collins totally misunderstands this case, Priests for Life v. HHS. What Kavanaugh actually said is that the government could not require religious employers to sign a form announcing their opposition to birth control so that a third party could provide it instead. It was not a compromise at all; in fact, it evinced profound hostility to the contraception mandate. Collins fixation on his compelling interest language is asinine.
Kavanaugh merely acknowledged that, in Hobby Lobby, the Supreme Court strongly suggests that birth control access is a compelling interest. He then asserted that the mandate did not provide the least restrictive means of furthering that interest and must therefore be blocked. Religious conservatives did not disfavor his opinion. Rather, it gave them everything they wanted, subverting employees access to contraception. Collins claim to the contrary is a fantasy.
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Then there is Collins insistence that Kavanaugh follows precedent and would therefore refrain from overturning Roe v. Wade. He believes, she said, that precedent is not something to be trimmed, narrowed, discarded, or overlooked. How, then, does she explain Kavanaughs opinion in Garza v. Hargan? In that case, the Trump administration barred an undocumented minor in federal custody from obtaining an abortion even though she had already received judicial bypass from a judge, as required by state law. Kavanaugh wrote that this flat ban was perfectly constitutional, because the Supreme Court has not granted minors a right to immediate abortion on demand.
Thats true, as far as it goes: The Supreme Court has ruled that states may force minors to get their parents consent before terminating a pregnancy or, if thats impossible, to obtain a judicial bypass. It has not, however, authorized additional restraints on minors, like the ones imposed by the Trump administration. How did Kavanaugh contend with these precedents, which clearly establish the maximum obstacles the government can place before minors seeking an abortion? He ignored them. Kavanaugh willfully overlooked precedent to reach an anti-abortion ruling, illustrating exactly how hell gut Roe once he joins the Supreme Court.
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The rest of Collins speech was an insult to Americans intelligence. She pointed out that Justices Sandra Day OConnor, Anthony Kennedy, and David Souter were appointed by Republicans but voted to uphold Roe. Thats correct, and its why the Republican legal establishments refrain is No More Souters. Its why the Federalist Society created a network of conservative lawyers unified by their opposition to Roe. Its why Donald Trump, who campaigned on overturning Roe, outsourced judicial nominations to the Federalist Society. And its why Kavanaugh, a Federalist Society loyalist, was selected for this seat.
Collins concluded by delivering a modified Ed Whelan defense of Kavanaugh, stating that Ford must have been assaulted by somebody else. It was a perfectly disingenuous capstone to her dishonest speech. The senator said nothing revealing or insightful on Friday. Collins praised her allies, discredited her opponents, and dismissed the concerns of her constituents. She did not sound like a statesperson carefully weighing a crucial decision. She sounded like a partisan hack.
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Bathana-Biratnagar rail by October end
Railway service between Bathana, India, and Biratnagar is set to start within a month, according to officials.
Bengal tigers streak in parks, but protection is a challenge
Nepal needs to continue with its conservation efforts to protect its tiger population, conservationists have said.
Burning, raging
In how many ways can you write on loyalties in times of war, fragility and manipulation? Karachi-born author Kamila Shamsie has just done this, for the seventh time, in her latest novel Home Fire. Through her usual brilliant writing, she makes the subject matter seem as novel, raw and hard-hitting as if she were exploring this politically fraught and religion-ridden world for the very first time.
Mountain Shadows in Wayanad is just the place for a dreamy vacation
Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years.
Congress meeting put off over charter row
The Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting of Nepali Congress, which was scheduled to take place on Friday, was deferred by three days, owing to the dispute in the partys student wing, Nepal Student Union.
Duo who jumped from window during gambling raid die
Two persons, who jumped out of a window of the third floor to escape police raid at a gambling den in Mulpani-7, Kathmandu on Friday, have died.
When Kevin Spacey fell from grace his role in the film All the Money in the World was famously and speedily replaced by Christopher Plummer.
The story of the 1973 kidnapping of J. Paul Getty III, grandson to billionaire J. Paul Getty, also forms the basis of Trust, a 10 part miniseries produced for FX. It comes with serious cachet: written by Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty, Slumdog Millionaire), directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, The Beach, Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later) and starring Donald Sutherland.
Sutherland plays the eccentric elderly oil baron, ensconced in Britain but with a family in such disarray he fears having no worthy heir. Getty has staff to dress him, brush his teeth, with a payphone in his mansion and taking notes of where every penny is spent. He also has a personal harem of 4 women, who are little more than his sexual playthings.
Son John Paul Getty Jr. (Michael Esper) is desperate to win back the affections of his father, and inherit control of the company, under pressure from wife Gail (Hilary Swank). But there are serious addiction problems which do not impress his father.
When his rebellious teenage grandson John Paul Getty III (Harris Dickinson) turns up unannounced, the elderly Getty warms to his intelligence and youth, declaring him the future of the company. But the teen has amassed his own debts in Rome and will prove a serious strain on the family when his life is endangered.
I can always tell when one of my brood wants money, says the elderly Getty.
Beaufoys tale is inspired by actual events, but its hard to know how much dramatic license has taken place here (it feels like a lot) in order to construct a super-soap with criminal elements. Putting that to one side, there is much to enjoy here and more than I had expected.
Watching Donald Sutherland lord over the Getty clan with such cold brilliance is one such joy. The locations and backdrop are dripping in wealth but it unfolds without the glossy satire of Dirty Sexy Money.
Harris Dickinson brings charisma to his role as the wayward grandson, if looking somewhat too old for a 15 year old heir (he was 17 in real life).
Boyle injects some striking imagery to this canvas and the soundtrack authentically draws upon songs by Pink Floyd, David Bowie and The Rolling Stones, adding to the period British flavour. Theres even a bit of a #MeToo moment in the opening episode.
Trust is an ultimate dysfunctional TV family, artfully weaving dramatic license across a bizarre true tale.
Trust begins 9:30pm Sunday on FOX Showcase.
By Sabina Zawadzki
PRESTON, England (Reuters) - Shale gas developer Cuadrilla Resources expects to start gas fracking in northwest England next week, seven years after its first attempt to hydraulically fracture a well led to earth tremors, public protests and an overhaul of regulations.
The process, behind a surge in U.S. gas production, involves fracturing rock deep under ground using a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to encourage the flow of hydrocarbons from shale, a dense and tightly-packed sedimentary rock.
It has draw criticism from the public and campaigners concerned about the environmental impact of fracking and the pollution caused by fossil fuels. Protests against the practice led to work at Cuadrilla's site being halted in 2011.
But the government, keen to cut Britain's reliance on gas imports which soared to more than 50 percent of gas supplies, has tightened regulations and earlier this year gave consent for Cuadrilla to go ahead again.
Cuadrilla Chief Executive Francis Egan told Reuters that fracking of two wells and associated work would test gas flows.
"From that we'll be able to make an assessment of how much gas is recoverable and whether it will be commercially viable to develop the site," he said on the muddy Preston New Road site.
The industry's future in Europe may hinge on the outcome. Although fracking has grown rapidly in the United States, it has not been proved viable in Europe despite several attempts, including projects that failed in Poland five years ago.
Fracking has been banned in France, Germany and several other European countries.
Cuadrilla's well will be the first fracked horizontal well in Britain and the results will be watched by shale explorers such as IGas , Egdon and Third Energy, as well as majors like Exxon which was unsuccessful in Poland.
The plans could also be delayed by an injunction hearing due on Oct. 10. Environment group Friends of the Earth said the injunction was sought by Bob Dennett, a resident in Lancashire, the English county where the project located.
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RESERVES
The hearing "will decide whether the injunction is upheld or whether fracking can commence whilst there is an outstanding judicial review over emergency planning procedures at the site," Friends of the Earth said in a statement.
Egan said this was a "last ditch, desperate attempt to slow us down" and said: "We think we have a very strong case to have that rejected and we will be in court next week arguing that."
The British Geological Survey estimates shale gas resources in northern England alone could amount to 1,300 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, 10 percent of which could meet the country's demand for almost 40 years.
Britain has just 6.5 tcf in proved reserves and last year pumped 1.5 tcf, according to the BP Statistics Review. Proved reserves are the strictest calculation of oil and gas that can be commercially extracted. They change as discoveries are made.
Cuadrilla, owned by Australian mining servicing company AJ Lucas and U.S. private equity fund Riverstone, said resource estimates were about 330 tcf for its licence area.
Cuadrilla's aimed to test a consultancy estimate that a single 2.5 km (1.25 mile) well would produce 6 billion cubic feet (bcm) of gas over its lifetime or about 5 million cubic feet a day, Egan said.
If the tests are positive, Cuadrilla has permission for two more wells at the site located next to a road connecting the northern English towns of Preston and Blackpool.
Cuadrilla has enough funds for the current tests. Its shareholder Riverstone, a $38 billion private equity fund, has invested in U.S. shale firms such as pipeline operator Kinder Morgan.
(Additional reporting by Susanna Twidale in London; Editing by Jan Harvey and Edmund Blair)
(Reuters) - Danske Bank faces a widening investigation into suspected money laundering at its Estonian branch.
Denmark's biggest lender released a report last month showing the branch handled 200 billion euros ($230 billion) in transactions - 10 times Estonia's GDP - between 2007 and 2015.
It said of the approximately 6,200 accounts it had examined so far that most were linked to clients registered in Russia, Britain and the British Virgin Islands and "the vast majority of these customers have been deemed suspicious".
The following timeline summarises recent developments:
Oct 5 - Danske's shares are dragged to a four-year low on Friday as it seeks to reassure investors over the impact of a U.S. criminal investigation into its Estonian branch.
Oct 4 - Danske says it has "received requests for information from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in connection with a criminal investigation relating to the bank's Estonian branch".
Oct 4 - Danske halts a share buyback programme 3.2 billion Danish crowns ($493 million) short of its target of 10 billion after Denmark's Financial Services Authority raised Danske's capital requirements, citing a rise in its "compliance and reputational risks".
Oct 2 - The European Parliament invites a whistleblower in the Danske scandal to testify before its special committee on financial crimes, tax evasion and tax avoidance on Nov. 21. Danish newspaper Berlingske a week earlier named him as Howard Wilkinson, Danske's former head of trading in the Baltics.
Oct 1 - Less than two weeks after saying CEO Thomas Borgen would stay on until a replacement is found, Danske appoints Jesper Nielsen, head of its Danish banking business, as interim chief executive with immediate effect.
Sept 21 - Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) says it is "aware of the use of UK registered companies in this case and has related on-going operational activity".
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Sept 19 - Danske Bank CEO Thomas Borgen resigns pending the selection of a successor after the bank publishes a report on suspected money laundering in Estonia. Borgen tells a news conference: "Even though I was personally cleared from a legal point of view, I hold the ultimate responsibility. There is no doubt that we as an organisation have failed in this situation."
Aug 6 - Denmark's state prosecutor announces the start of a criminal investigation into Danske over alleged money laundering through its Estonian branch.
July 31 - Estonia's general prosecutor announces the start of a criminal investigation into Danske over alleged money laundering through its Estonian branch.
July 25 - Estonia's prosecutor's office confirms U.S. investor Bill Browder, once the biggest foreign money manager in Russia, has filed a criminal complaint concerning Danske.
July 12 - Bill Browder says he has filed a criminal complaint with Danish authorities against Danske. Browder leads a campaign against Russian officials he blames for the 2009 death of his Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky while investigating fraud.
(Compiled by Jason Neely; edited by Alexander Smith)
Fundamental questions are being raised about the ability of governments to stop the Earth from spiralling into a hothouse. Photograph: Peter van der Sleen/University o/PA
This week, hundreds of scientists and government officials from more than 190 countries have been buzzing around a convention centre in the South Korean city of Incheon.
They are trying to agree on the first official release of a report the bit called the Summary for Policymakers that pulls together all of whats known about how the world might be affected once global warming gets to 1.5C.
What will happen to coral reefs? How will extreme weather events and droughts change? What about heatwaves? And then, what are the different pathways that economies could choose to keep temperatures to 1.5C?
On Monday morning, the summary document is expected to be released, and there will be a cascade of headlines around the world.
The report, being pulled together by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was one tiny part of the Paris climate change agreement.
As things stand, if you add up all the things that the 190-plus countries have committed to do as part of that Paris deal, global temperatures will probably go well above 3C.
Were already at 1C of warming, so the extra half a degree isnt far away many scientists will say its already locked in, while others say there are plausible ways to stabilise temperatures at that level.
But in August, one of the worlds leading scientific journals the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a perspective article that has become known as the hothouse earth paper.
There was no new science in the paper and while it was speculative, it did raise fundamental questions about the ability of governments around the world to stop the Earth from spiralling into a hothouse.
I think the dominant linear, deterministic framework for assessing climate change is flawed Will Steffen
One of the reports authors, Professor Will Steffen, of Australian National University and the Stockholm Resilience Centre, talked me through it.
The problem lies with feedbacks in the supplementary information attached to the paper, Steffen and colleagues actually listed 10 of them. With each, they include estimates of how much extra CO2 and temperature they could add once you hit about 2C of global warming.
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For example, the ability of the land and ocean to keep soaking up CO2 could weaken, giving you an extra 0.25C of warming. Dieback of trees in the Amazon and subarctic could give us another 0.1C.
Permafrost, which is already starting to defy its name by not being all that permanent, could release ever more methane and carbon that might add a bit more warming again (0.09C is the estimate there).
The point is that once you add them all up, you get close to 0.5C of warming by the end of the century. Given were already at 1C of global warming, that makes the job of keeping warming well below 2C or even holding it at 1.5C much, much harder than it already is.
And theres the rub.
While governments have the means to affect how much CO2 gets released through policies that radically cut the use of fossil fuels, it would be much harder to get a grip on thawing permafrosts, mass forest collapses or the loss of polar sea ice.
By failing to get a grip on a thing thats feasibly under your control, we end up risking the release a whole gang of other monsters that we cant.
This gets us to another big issue, says Steffen, because climate models dont include some of these feedbacks. In essence, the warmer things get, the less reliable the models become. He tells me:
I think the dominant linear, deterministic framework for assessing climate change is flawed, especially at higher levels of temperature rise. So, yes, model projections using models that dont include these processes indeed become less useful at higher temperature levels. Or, as my co-author John Schellnhuber says, we are making a big mistake when we think we can park the Earth System at any given temperature rise say 2C and expect it to stay there.
For those who understand the idea of a carbon budget where scientists have calculated how much CO2 you could emit before hitting certain temperature rises it looks even meaner than before if Steffen and his colleagues are right.
But as they also point out, several of these feedbacks might have tipping points that then set off a cascade of other issues. Steffen says:
Even at the current level of warming of about 1C above pre-industrial, we may have already crossed a tipping point for one of the feedback processes (Arctic summer sea ice), and we see instabilities in others permafrost melting, Amazon forest dieback, boreal forest dieback and weakening of land and ocean physiological carbon sinks. And we emphasise that these processes are not linear and often have built-in feedback processes that generate tipping point behaviour. For example, for melting permafrost, the chemical process that decomposes the peat generates heat itself, which leads to further melting and so on.
For the record, Steffen thinks the assumptions in climate models that cuts in fossil fuel emissions will deliver relative cuts in temperatures is OK for perhaps lower temperature rises of 1.5 or 2C but beyond that, hes sceptical.
The paper has received a bit of pushback from scientists, largely, it appears, because of the sensational headlines it attracted.
For example, Professor Richard Betts, of the UKs MetOffice, has a measured perspective thats well worth a look.
Dr Glen Peters, an Australian scientist and climate modeller based at the Centre for International Climate Research in Norway, also thought some of the media coverage went too far with the doomsday vibe.
But he told me that while it was true that many of the feedbacks in the paper were not well covered by climate models, this was partly because they were not that well understood. Ill leave you with his thoughts:
RIGA (Reuters) - Latvia's pro-Russian party Harmony, regularly the biggest party but never in government, looks set to top polls again in Saturday's general election, but pro-Europe parties registered strong gains, an exit poll suggested.
The poll conducted by national broadcaster LTV said Harmony got 19.4 percent while Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis' party Union of Greens and Farmers got 9.7 percent and populist newcomers KPV LV got 11.5 percent.
In an upset, liberal party the Development/For got 13.4 percent and the conservative National Alliance got 12.6 percent. Both have strongly pro-European stances.
The current ruling coalition of Union of Greens and Farmers, the National Alliance and Unity together got 29.2 percent, meaning they would have to find at least one other coalition member to form a majority government.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander and Gederts Gelzis, Editing by William Maclean)
BERLIN (Reuters) - A man drove a car into a cafe in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, injuring several people but there are no indications that the incident is terrorism-related, German police said on Friday.
"According to the initial findings of our colleagues on the scene, the driver had health problems," Berlin police said on Twitter, giving no further details.
"There are no signs of terrorism," a police spokesman said, adding that it was more likely to have been an accident caused by the driver losing control because he was unwell.
Germany is on high alert for militant attacks, almost two years after a Tunisian Islamist rammed a hijacked truck into a Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 11 people as well as the driver.
(Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Joseph Nasr and Maria Sheahan)
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Oasis ex-frontman Noel Gallagher has claimed he would reform the band if it would stop Jeremy Corbyn from becoming the prime minister.
The musician, who is a vocal critic of the Labour Party leader, was asked by TalkSport if hed rather reunite Oasis or see Corbyn elected. He replied: Id have to get the band back together, I think. I dont want that lunatic running the country.
Last year, during promotion for his band High Flying Birdss album Who Built the Moon?, Gallagher said in an interview: F**k Jeremy Corbyn. Hes a Communist. And Trumps aaIm not even going to name him. But they dont affect my life. Well, Donald Trump, maybe, because his views on the environment are pretty f**king scary, and that will affect my children.
But politicians? Theyre f**king idiots. Theyre economiststhats all they are. Theyre f**king full of shit, and I should know because Ive known quite a few of them.
The rock star had publicly supported Tony Blairs New Labour in 1997 but has said he was disappointed by their actions in government. Speaking as somebody from the left, I thought the New Labour years, coming up to 1997, were amazing. It was so exciting to be in England at the time, because there were so many things going on, he said in a 2016 interview. But then, the Labour Party proved themselves to be Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, and until that changes, Im not having it.
Alan Brazil: Which is more likely to happen: Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister or you and @LiamGallagher getting Oasis back together?
Noel: "Oh my god... I'd have to get the band back together!"
This was brilliant... pic.twitter.com/vTaxEYWEfu talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) October 5, 2018
He also made clear his distaste for the Conservative Party, adding: "The Tories dont care about the vulnerable, and the communists dont care about the aspirational."
Follow Independent Culture on Facebook for all the latest on Film, TV, Music, and more
An influential figure in the UK pensions industry is to lead a new vehicle targeting the consolidation of hundreds of billions of pounds-worth of liabilities in private sector retirement schemes.
Sky News has learnt that Chris Hitchen is to be named as the founding chairman of the Pension SuperFund (PSF), which wants to become Britain's first giant pension pool for companies wrestling with ballooning scheme deficits.
The appointment of Mr Hitchen, who ran the rail industry's 28bn pension scheme RPMI Railpen for well over a decade, is expected to be announced on Friday.
He currently chairs the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, which manages about 46bn of pension assets on behalf of 12 local government pension scheme funds.
Mr Hitchen's arrival will be announced alongside that of Wolf Becke, a former chief executive of Hannover Life, who will join the PSF's commitments committee - the panel responsible for examining prospective transactions with pension scheme sponsors.
The duo's recruitment will provide a welcome boost to the new vehicle, which last month saw its chief executive and a big financial investor walk away following a disagreement about its strategy and pace of development.
In total, there are about 6,000 defined-benefit pension schemes in the UK, with total liabilities of about 1.7trn.
The PSF is the brainchild of Edi Truell, a former pensions adviser to Boris Johnson during his tenure as the mayor of London.
Mr Truell, who previously headed the private equity firm Duke Street Capital and now runs Disruptive Capital Finance, is a prominent City figure.
He has been a strong advocate for DB pension consolidation in the public and private sectors, arguing that such combined pools benefit from significant cost savings and avoid the duplication which curtails returns for thousands of individual schemes.
Alan Rubenstein, the former chief executive of the industry-funded lifeboat, the Pension Protection Fund, had taken on the role of the PSF's inaugural chief executive, but has since been replaced by Luke Webster, who served as chief investment officer at the Greater London Authority.
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The SuperFund is set up to offer companies which want to offload their pension obligations a cheaper alternative to insuring their schemes with a private sector player such as Legal & General (LSE: LGEN.L - news) or Rothesay Life.
Its model is designed to work by targeting better-funded private sector pension schemes whose trustees are capable of writing a cheque to allow them to offload their liabilities in full.
The schemes will then be consolidated into the single "SuperFund", giving them the prospective cost and investment benefits associated with such a vast pool.
There are approximately 500bn of assets in defined benefit schemes that could be considered by PSF, according to insiders.
"Businesses that are constrained by their pension liabilities have a fundamental need to find a more affordable way to fulfil their promises to pension scheme members, and the positive response to the Pension SuperFund showcases the role consolidation can play in meeting that need and in providing a solution to the pressing issue of funding DB schemes," a PSF spokeswoman said.
Both the government and the Pensions Regulator have expressed support for the principle of pension fund consolidation.
High-profile corporate collapses which have affected workers' pensions, such as those at BHS and Carillion (Frankfurt: 924047 - news) , have also prompted ministers to create new powers to punish bosses who put their company's retirement schemes at risk.
FNJ condemns Banskota comment
Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has condemned Communication Minister Gokul Prasad Banskota for his prejudiced views on private media.
FILE PHOTO: gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is actively considering waivers on sanctions it will reimpose next month for countries that are reducing their imports of Iranian oil, a U.S. government official said on Friday.
The administration withdrew from a deal over Tehran's nuclear programme in May and is unilaterally reimposing sanctions on Iran's crude oil consumers on Nov. 4. The sanctions aim to force Tehran to stop its involvement in conflicts in Syria and Iraq and halt its ballistic missile programme. Iran says it has abided by the 2015 nuclear deal, which was struck with five other world powers, besides the United States.
The administration is "in the midst of an internal process" of considering exceptions called SRE waivers, or significant reduction exemptions, said a government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
It was the first time a U.S. official said the administration was in the process of considering waivers. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in India last month that the administration would consider waivers and that some buyers of Iranian oil would take a "little bit of time" to unwind their trade with Iran.
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Thursday that the administration's objective was that there be no waivers and "exports of Iranian oil and gas and condensates drops to zero." He added that the administration would not necessarily achieve that.
The administration is "prepared to work with countries that are reducing their imports on a case-by-case basis," the official said.
The comments followed news that India, Iran's No. 2 oil customer after China, will buy 9 million barrels of Iranian oil in November. It was an indication that India will continue purchasing crude from Iran, despite the Trump administration's push to get countries to stop their purchases.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Tom Brown)
Children pose for a group photo in a neighbourhood in Bamako, Mali - 1.4 Images
The French military vehicle broke down in the unforgiving desert of northern Mali, 80 miles from the nearest base.
Jihadists, bandits and armed villagers all criss-cross the arid plains, and attacks targeting French counter-terrorism forces are common.
This time, however, following a commitment made by Prime Minister Theresa May to President Emmanuel Macron in January, an RAF Chinook airlifted the dust-whipped vehicle and its personnel to safety.
The RAF deployed three helicopters and 120 personnel to Gao, northern Mali, in July, but their presence marks the tip of a much broader British pivot to the Sahel a renewed focus on West and Central Africas poorest and most insecure countries.
We have carried a huge amount of troops and equipment between here and a forward operating base in the north, right up to the Algerian border, explained Wing Commander Matt Roberts, the most senior British presence on Gaos French base.
Children wait for the armed forces to proceed at the military parade during the National Day military parade marking the 58th anniversary of Malian independence Credit: Xaume Olleros for The Telegraph
Britain is still very much committed in security terms to our European partners, and France is an absolute stalwart in that relationship, he added.
Although the deployment of troops does not serve direct British strategic or economic interests, it is aimed squarely at containing insecurity and limiting illegal migration that might otherwise spill over into Europe, officials and experts told the Sunday Telegraph.
An increase in diplomatic, military and humanitarian assistance to Mali - as well as the opening of new embassies in Chad and Niger - will also help pacify European partners during increasingly bruising Brexit negotiations. Any help with security in the region is a boost in the war against illegal migration already dividing the EU.
The restive Sahel strip hugs the southern Saharan desert. For southern European nations, whose borders are a short hop across North Africa, the deterioration of the Sahels security since the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 is especially troubling.
Jihadists exploited a separatist uprising in northern Mali in 2012 to take over key towns and impose hardline sharia law in the north, including Gao, leading to a French military intervention to chase them out in January 2013. But Mali's army is still inefficient and prone to commit abuses against civilians, and the administration is largely dependent on foreign assistance.
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Five years on, the conflict has morphed into a cross-border jihadist insurgency intertwined with armed groups operating profitable smuggling routes for drugs, arms and people.
Around 5,000 French troops operate across the Sahel, and have brought in their tailwind a 15,000-strong UN peacekeeping operation and a European Union training scheme for Malis struggling armed forces.
It is into this fray that the RAF has entered, supporting the highly controversial French force known as Barkhane, which has faced accusations of killing civilians in airstrikes, and destroying homes in Gao by setting off explosions.
If the British are going to repeat what the French are doing, its better if they stay at home, the MP for Gao, Ibrahim Dicko, told the Sunday Telegraph, later admitting he was not aware that the RAF were already present in Gao, or that the British role was limited to logistics and transport.
A soldier from the Cambodian contingent demonstrates demining tools ahead of the visit of the Force Commander Jean Paul Deconinck of Belgium (not pictured) at the MINUSMA United Nations Supercamp Credit: Xaume Olleros for The Telegraph
On a recent visit to the city accompanied by the UN peacekeeping mission, The Telegraph found a population living in fear despite a heavy presence of foreign troops.
We are not living in security here. People pass through the checkpoint and get robbed a kilometre away. We just get by a la malienne, that is to say, by ourselves, complained Oumar Maiga, a tax collector, drinking tea next to a police post.
UN peacekeepers patrol the streets slowly in white armoured vehicles, while Cambodian explosives experts scour the nearby countryside for the homemade bombs that have killed hundreds of soldiers and civilians.
In July, a suicide bomber targeted Barkhane personnel on the outskirts of Gao, killing four civilians and wounding four French soldiers.
The presence of foreign forces makes things worse, Maiga added pointedly.
The UN force has suffered particularly badly, losing 104 blue helmets to malicious acts since 2013 and earning it the unenviable title of the worlds most deadly active peacekeeping mission.
In rural areas, jihadists circulate freely and schools have stayed shut for years because of the insecurity, depriving a generation of Malian children of an education.
Al-Qaeda and an Islamic State branch operate in Mali, while neighbouring Niger also suffers incursions from those terrorist groups, along with Boko Haram militants in its southeast.
US Special Forces suffered an ambush in Niger last year that left four US personnel dead, though Washington has pledged to maintain support for French-led military operations.
Meanwhile a joint force of five Sahel nations meant to replace the French force is struggling with funding, procuring weapons, and accusations of poor management. Its base was blown up in the town of Sevare in June.
Malis security problems are exacerbated by the presence of armed groups who battle for territory in the north, and whose on-off ceasefire, signed in 2015, is punctuated by accusations of collaboration with jihadists.
Youre a compliant armed group during the day and at nighttime youre a terrorist armed group element. The family relationships and ethnic ties a lot of times cross over, asserted Jayci Jiminez, a US Air Force captain who serves as an intelligence advisor to the UN peacekeeping mission.
A woman walks by an UN vehicle carrying goods as she crosses a checkpoint on the outskirts of Gao Credit: Xaume Olleros for The Telegraph
For Boubacar Dicko, the Vice-President of Gaos Chamber of Commerce, and the co-ordinator of pro-government armed group, these actions are about survival in an unforgiving economy.
If you give a man nothing to eat, he lives by the force of his gun, he said, gesticulating to friends sat on plastic chairs in the street.
Beyond security support, Britains Department for International Development (DFID) has also pledged to increase its own aid commitments to provide alternative employment to the criminal and jihadist groups fuelling unrest.
DFID said in a document released in July it was increasing its engagement in the Sahel as part of increased UK government support to the region, adding the department was addressing the root causes of instability and pervasive poverty - which can indirectly increase the risk of violent extremism.
On her visit to Africa in August, Theresa May pledged 145m million in family planning assistance for Sahel and northern Nigeria, and investment in the Sahels Conflict, Security and Stability Fund has already doubled this year to 8.7 million.
Mali and Nigers average fertility rate is six-seven children per woman, exacerbating a lack of education funding and sky high unemployment.
The future is unclear for several other projects, including funding for the EU military training programme, pending the results of Brexit negotiations.
Mr Maiga, the tax collector in Gao, believes the roots of Malis conflicts can be traced back to the dire economic situation of the countrys north.
Unemployment has got us where we are today. Most young people are unemployed and that aggravates our lack of security, he said.
Thousands of young people from Mali risk their lives on the smuggling routes through the Sahara, Libya and the Mediterranean every year as a result, and Malians are the sixth largest source of arrivals to Italy by boat, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Back in Bamako, Malis capital, Britains embassy has already doubled the number of British nationals working there over the last 18 months, and is in the process of selecting property for its embassy and staff housing in Niamey, Niger.
Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are preparing to embark on their first major overseas tour, with stops in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga planned. They have an action-packed schedule of 76 engagements over 16 days, and according to a senior royal aide, their trip has been designed to reflect "the age of the Duke and Duchess and their interests". The aide added: "It's designed for the Duke and Duchess as a young married couple. It's a different type of visit from a single man's tour."
Harry has been on countless overseas visits before, but this will be Meghan's first major tour and she will be visiting some countries she's never been to. She will also take on two engagements without her husband in Fiji and will be reunited with one of the charities she used to work with before her marriage, as she hears more about a UN Womens project called "Markets for Change".
prince-harry-and-meghan-markle-sussex-visit
Harry and Meghan are carrying out 76 engagements in 16 days
The couple's royal tour will focus on youth leadership and projects being undertaken by young people to address the social, economic, and environmental challenges of the region. Harry is particularly keen to highlight these youth-led initiatives in his new role as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, and to shine a light on the work and aspirations of young people across the Commonwealth.
MORE: Kate's very artsy outing revealed - all the details
A major focus of the tour is the Invictus Games, which will launch in Sydney for 2018. Harry and Meghan very poignantly made their first official appearance as a couple at the Invictus Games in Toronto last year, two months before they announced their engagement.
Harry and Meghan visit their namesake county of Sussex:
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Their trip will also concentrate on environmental and conservation efforts, and a highlight will be a visit to the stunning Fraser Island. They will also get up close to koalas at Taronga Zoo and name a pair of Kiwi chicks in Rainbow Springs, New Zealand. Other highlights include meeting locals on Sydney's Bondi Beach, riding the tram in Melbourne and visiting Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand.
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MORE: Princess Eugenie shares special moment with sister Beatrice before royal wedding
Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, will travel from 16 to 31 October, kicking off their tour in Sydney. But a few days before they jet off, the couple will attend Princess Eugenie's royal wedding on Friday 12 October in Windsor.
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Fugitive former Kist Bank manager Gyawali arrested
The police have arrested Kamal Gyawali, fugitive former managing director of then Kist Bank who has been absconding since 2016 after being convicted of financial crime. Kist Bank was part of a mega merger between multiple banks to form Prabhu Bank.
Pagan Perspectives
Back in 2013 and 2014, when I was getting ready to start gathering sources for my masters thesis in Old Norse Religion, I realized something: while the vast majority of medieval Norse-Icelandic sagas were readily accessible in Old Icelandic, quite a few of them were hard to get a hold of in translation. Sure, I could have soldiered on, armed with only my trusty Old Icelandic-English dictionary and go through every single saga in the original language, but it would have taken such a long time that, had I done so, Id probably still be at it today. What I needed were more general editions and translations, with enough notes and index-entries to quickly find relevant information.
When it came to the more popular sagas, such as the so-called family-sagas (Islendingasogur), I had little problem finding good versions. In my excessive exhaustiveness, however, I found a severe lack of material related to the more obscure sagas. In particular, the Sagas of the Hrafnista Men (Hrafnistumannasogur), a series of four Medieval sagas following the lives of powerful North-Norwegian chieftains, were very hard to find. These could only be found in very rare books or questionable amateur translations. After a little researching, I was able to find a recently-released translated anthology of all four of the sagas, complete with a great introduction, an impressive number of notes and, thank the gods, an index.
Surprisingly, the translator and editor for this impressive (and nearly life-saving) work wasnt a weathered philologist or literature scholar from Oxford, but an assistant professor in biology at the University of Central Arkansas by the name of Ben Waggoner. As I later learned, Waggoner, a native of Louisiana and a member of the Troth, wasnt a novice when it came to translating sagas. By the time his sagas of the Hrafnista men had come out, he had already published half a dozen other texts, including other legendary sagas (fornaldarsogur) and a number of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. As opposed to most amateur authors, translators, and editors writing about Paganism and Heathenry, his work managed to uphold high standards of scholarship, to the point that I ended up mentioning his work in my now thankfully completed MA thesis.
Since then, I have had the occasion to talk to Waggoner a couple of times online and read some of his books. As time went by, I became increasingly curious about how a biologist from the American south ended up as possibly the most prolific and talented translator and editor in contemporary Heathenry. As someone who has been involved in Norse scholarship and academia, I was also interested to hear his perspective on a number of issues related to the sagas, the Eddas, and translating in general. The following is based on a series of questions I sent in September and which Ben Waggoner had the courtesy to answer to the best of his abilities in, I quote, a modestly witty fashion.
1988 was the first time I met anyone who was openly Pagan of any sort, and the first time I heard about Asatru. I was a freshman at Tulane University in New Orleans and I used to spend weekend days on Jackson Square in the center of the French Quarter. Eventually, I was introduced to one of the tarot card readers on the square, an engaging and witty fellow named Jerik Daenarson who was leading a large neopagan group called Southshire.
While the group was an eclectic one, Daenarson himself identified as Asatru and lived with a group of like-minded Heathens, the House of Scorpio, in New Orleans. This is where Waggoner got his first glimpse of his future path, with the help of another wondrously-named fortune-teller.
Gutterrhyme Bambibreeches read runes for me once and predicted that my spirituality would be taking a very Norse path. As I was still a card-carrying Methodist at the time, I thought this sounded a little goofybut eventually, he was right.
While it was biology that had been Waggoners main interest since his childhood (I dont think Ive ever wanted to do anything else when I grew up), his first encounter with Heathenry had planted in him something that would blossom a few years later. Waggoner had been accepted as a graduate student at the University of California Berkeley, far from his native Louisiana, and this is where he met Heathenry anew.
I picked up a used copy of Edred Thorssons A Book of Troth and the Poetic Edda in a Berkeley bookstore circa 1995. Edreds description of what was then called The Ring of Troth sounded intriguing.
As the internet became more widely available to the general public, the Troth ended up posting most of another one of their foundational books, Our Troth, online.
I read it over and over, and was very impressed. I could tell that the work tried to meet high scholarly standards. At the same time, these people were clearly using the lore as a foundation and as a stepping stone to lived religious experience in the present daynot just as an end in itself.
After some more years of reading and soul-searching, Waggoner came to the conclusion that this path was his to take. By then, he had graduated from Berkeley with a thesis on integrative biology, and he had started teaching at the University of Central Arkansas and publishing scholarly papers. While it is safe to say that his earlier works, such as Biogeographic Analyses of the Ediacara Biota: A Conflict with Paleotectonic Reconstructions, or Testing the Evolutionary Relationships of Ediacaran and Paleozoic Problematic Fossils Using Molecular Divergence Dates, had little to do with his newfound spiritual path, Waggoner would eventually find a way to successfully combine it with his advanced academic skills.
In 2007, while researching the enigmatic god Hnir, Waggoner dug up the no-less obscure document called the Saga-fragment of Some Ancient Kings (Sogubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum), a short text set in the legendary pre-viking times. As with a number of lesser-known medieval Norse-Icelandic documents, the Sogubrot had never been translated to English. Waggoner, being a polyglot for example, he knew a considerable amount of Russian from time spent living in Moscow in the early 90s did not let this detail get in the way of knowledge, and he set out to translate the short part of the text where Hnir is mentioned. As it turned out, Waggoner ended up significantly expanding his original project.
Once I got that done I didnt have any context for what the heck was going on in the saga, so I started working on fleshing out the whole text, and then found that the Sogubrot leads into the story of Ragnar Lodbrok, he says. As the old man says, one word led to another word.
In this case, it all lead to much more than just another word. Waggoner eventually published The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok through The Troth in 2009. In addition to the self-titled saga on Ragnar Lodbrok, Waggoner also included translations of the Tale of Ragnars Sons (Ragnarssona attr), the Sogubrot, the Death Song of Ragnar Lodbrok (Krakumal), as well as a Latin list of Swedish kings. In its scope, thoroughness, and exactitude, The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok was an impressive witness of things to come for Waggoner.
Since publishing that first volume, Waggoner has published no less than twelve more books of translated and edited Norse and Anglo-Saxon texts, with a thirteenth in the works, a collection of tales from the fourteenth-century Flateyarbok manuscript. Through this body of work, Waggoner has developed a style, a method, and an overall vision about what it means to translate the tales of Scandinavian antiquity.
Heathenry has often been referred to as the religion with homework. One could easily make a comparison between Waggoners effort of translating myths and legends about the old gods with that of a Christian scholar delving deep into Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts to produce a faithful translation of the words of Yahweh. Yet Waggoner does not see his work in such a light. I think its important that Heathens today not take The Lore as gospel. We cant treat it as something handed down to us unaltered from some utopian happy time before the coming of Christianity. Being aware of the complex academic discourse surrounding the authenticity, nature, and origin of Norse-Icelandic sagas and Eddas, Waggoner strongly insists that the ancient texts including the Eddas have to be understood not only in the context of pre-Christian Scandinavia, but as the product of a post-Pagan society was well.
When Iceland adopted Christianity in the year 1000, says Waggoner, that not only brought a change of religion, it brought what scholars call manuscript culture. This monumental evolution of a previously orally-dominated culture (Waggoner calls it an information revolution) brought new ideas, interpretations, attitudes and even narrative elements to the ancient oral corpus, which should be treated as such. What we call The Lore isnt holy writ; it went through long stages of oral transmission, and then it changed more as it was written, copied, recopied, interpreted, reinterpreted, mixed, remixed, sliced, diced, chopped, and screwed. Thats just what writers and compilers and storytellers do.
To illustrate the dynamic nature of Old Norse literature and myth, Waggoner uses the ever-controversial figure of Loki as an example. While most Heathens know the story about the death of Baldr and how his resurrection was thwarted by Lokis refusal to weep for the beloved god, few have ever considered that this part of the story might have had Christian origins. Richard Cole has pointed out that the idea of everything weeping for the slain god, except for one bad guy who just has to ruin everything, is almost exactly like medieval Christian thinking about Jews, Waggoner explains. According to Gregory the Great in the sixth century, all creation had acknowledged Jesuss divinity and mourned his death except for those wicked, blind, hard-hearted Jews. This part of Snorris account is almost a straight steal from Gregory the Great, whose sermons were translated and widely circulated in Scandinavia at the time. Snorri wasnt necessarily being anti-Semitic at least not more so than most medieval Christians, not that thats saying a lot but he almost certainly borrowed that detail for his account of the death of Baldr, with Loki depicted in some of the same terms as Jews in medieval literature: kin to the Aesir / Christians, but still a scheming malevolent other, not one of us.'
Understanding the lore as a dynamic and evolving corpus of texts, at times influenced by, and always transmitted through, Christian learning might have some long-lasting implications for todays Heathens. Yet, most Heathens are neither directly aware of the modern academic debate surrounding that myth, nor do they read Old Norse-Icelandic.
With access to the foundational texts of most of what comprises todays Heathen belief and a more-than-respectable knowledge of academic theory and discourse, some individuals in Waggoners position likely would be tempted to present themselves as meaningful authoritative figures, but not Waggoner. Reading the Eddas in Norse doesnt really give you access to deep ancient mysteries, unless you consider How the f does the dative case work, again? to be a deep ancient mystery. Just knowing the dictionary definitions of every word doesnt mean you can catch all the allusions, all the inside jokes and obscure meanings and connotations. Youre still not receiving the text in the same way, with the same mental background, that our ancient Heathen forebears would have, just as learning Greek and Aramaic and Hebrew doesnt make you a better Christian than people who just stick with the King James Version. In addition, I figure the gods are smart enough to speak and understand English. They havent complained when Ive done it, anyway.
Waggoners open-mindedness also appears in stark contrast to the view some Heathens might hold regarding modern interpretations and development of Heathenry. I think our gods can change and develop and growor at least our perceptions of them and understandings of them can change. I dont think they have ever revealed, or ever will reveal, everything well ever need to know about them. Yet, well always need some people who can try to bring the best modern scholarship into the Heathen community, we cant keep on endlessly rehashing Gronbech and Turville-Petre.
As for the issue of innovation within Heathenry, Waggoner takes a similarly understanding stance. An authoritative Heathen authority will distinguish between what is based in old lore or folk custom and what is personal or community insight and let the reader decide whats worthy of trust. Theres room in our faith for both the nerd with overflowing bookshelves that would be me and the guy who may not have the time or desire to dig into academic lore, but who honors the gods and ancestors and land and tries to live a worthy life.
While he has produced a number of high-quality translations of the sagas and the Eddas, Waggoner remains modest about his approach to translation as well. You never get translation exactly right. In a way, its like knitting, every word tugs on other words. If one knitting stitch is too tight or too loose or otherwise poorly done, it puts tension, or fails to put enough tension, on the stitches that it touches, and the whole sweater can end up with awkward bulges. Its the same with words; the choice of a particular word sets up allusions and shades of meaning that may or may not go well with other words you might use. I cant say that Im perfect at itsome of my verbal sweaters still bulge or pinch in unfortunate places.
Inspired by the works of Herman Palsson, Paul Edwards, John McKinnell, and Stephen Mitchell among others, Waggoner has translated and edited no less than two-thirds of the entire legendary saga corpus and plans to eventually finish it. Lately, though, he has focused his attention on other projects, namely his translation of what he dubs the Sagas of Imagination and translations of both the Havamal and the Rigsula.
While the main goal of the Sagas of Imagination is to familiarize Heathens and saga-enthusiasts with some of the least talked-about texts, including some more of the legendary sagas, and sagas of bishops, saints, and knights, his translations of the Eddic poems are likely to find a wider audience. While attempting to balance the stylistic mastery of Hollander with the accuracy of Orchard and Larrington, Waggoners translation of the Havamal and the Rigsula comes with a great number of useful notes. The Troth plans to use them for outreach programs such as in the military and prisons.
Waggoner does not forget to remind us that, while they are important, there is more in life than books, even in the life of footnote-hungry Heathens. His advice for Heathens involves just as much contact with the natural world and the community as scholarship. Try talking to the gods and making some offerings and see what happens, he says. Get away from your glowing screens for a while. Grow or hunt some of your own food if you can. Be nice to kitty-cats. Learn the stars and constellations and weather patterns. Find like-minded folk and try to live your religion as part of a community, if possible. Eat together when you can. Make mistakes and learn from them. Keep trying.
Editors note: This column has been updated to include a more substantial quote from Dr. Waggoner on the topic of the relationship between Gregory the Greats sermons and the account of Baldrs death in the Prose Edda.
* * *
The views and opinions expressed by our diverse panel of columnists and guest writers represent the many diverging perspectives held within the global Pagan, Heathen and polytheist communities, but do not necessarily reflect the views of The Wild Hunt Inc. or its management.
Govts mistakes hyped unnecessarily: Dahal
Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal said there was a plot going on against the government and its mistakes were hyped unnecessarily.
The flu's challenges
The development of effective flu vaccines has been a challenge since the shots were first administered in the 1940s to protect U.S. soldiers, a group that had suffered a huge number of flu deaths during World War I.
In its best years, the flu vaccine is 60 percent effective, meaning people who get a flu shot are 60 percent less likely to get the disease than people who do not get a shot. In its worst years, the vaccine is only 10 percent effective. The CDC projected in February that the 2017-18 vaccine was about 36 percent effective, meaning that people who get the shot were 36 percent less likely to contract the flu. The CDC has not assessed the 2018-19 vaccine. But a study by Rice University predicts that the flu vaccine will likely have the same reduced efficacy as the vaccines used in the previous two years.
The shortcomings occur because the flu virus has many forms, or strains; scientists must try to predict the strain that will dominate in an upcoming season for vaccine development. This is different for viruses such as measles, which dont change; childhood vaccinations protect people for life.
The flu virus is constantly changing. Its a moving target, CDC epidemiologist Alicia Budd says. Each year youre basically creating a brand-new product.
As they are grown in labs, the viruses used in the vaccines are matched to the expected flu strain. But during growth, their genetic makeup often changes, which can make them less effective, Budd says. Theres a lot more work that needs to be done to try to understand exactly what these genetic changes are and what the subsequent implications might be, she says.
In people 65 and older, the problem is heightened because their immune systems have become inherently weaker due to age. That makes them even less responsive to vaccines.
In 2012-13 the flu vaccine was only 11 percent effective for seniors, even though it was 49 percent effective for the overall population, according to a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The vaccine in 2010-11 was 60 percent effective in the overall population but only 38 percent effective for seniors, another CDC-funded report shows.
A vaccine for older Americans
For years, researchers vastly overestimated the flu vaccines effectiveness on people age 65 and older. In assembling study groups, researchers included too many healthy individuals who were generally more resistant to the flu. Scientists discovered the errors in the mid-2000s and began designing more accurate studies. But the overestimations minimized any urgency to improve vaccines for the 65-plus population, says Lone Simonsen, an infectious disease expert at George Washington University, who helped debunk the earlier studies.
If you thought the vaccine worked so well in the elderly, you wouldnt question that the existing vaccines werent good enough, Simonsen says. Our research led to better formulations for seniors, and those are used now.
A high-dose flu vaccine for individuals 65 and older, Fluzone High-Dose, has been shown to be more effective, according to the CDC. But some health clinics have been slow to offer it because it is new and unfamiliar.
The Washington State Vaccine Advisory Committee recommended in August 2017 that health care providers in the state offer seniors the high-dose vaccine or an adjuvanted vaccine that has an added ingredient to boost the bodys immune response. It was the first time the committee had made such a recommendation, says Kathy Lofy, the state health officer in Washington.
We had been hearing after the high-dose vaccine came out that a lot of clinics werent even buying it, Lofy says. Some clinics were just deciding to stick with the standard-dose vaccine. The high-dose vaccine was new, and initially there wasnt a lot of data about it.
Lofy says she does not know how many clinics offered the high-dose vaccine in 2017-18 or how many people received it.
The CDC urges everyone who is at least 6 months old to get an annual flu shot and says older people and infants are at particular risk for the flu. Although the vaccine may provide only limited protection, health officials say it is better than nothing. Says Budd, the CDC epidemiologist: While we have an imperfect vaccine, it still ends up preventing a significant amount of illness.
Watertown episode of HBO's 'We're Here' airs Monday
After filming an episode of "We're Here" in Watertown this summer, HBO is ready to air the state's first episode Monday.
Locals offer 500 ropanis to dump stinking Sisdole
Suffering the unbearable garbage stink drifting from the Sisdole landfill site for months, residents have offered 500 ropanis of their land in Chape Kholsa gorge as an alternative dumping site to the civic authority that has done little to resolve the problem.
Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal
Deeming the status quo unacceptable, University of New Mexicos top administrators are asking to conceal a series of controversial murals in Zimmerman Library at least until a decision is made about the artworks long-term fate.
President Garnett Stokes and interim Provost Richard Wood will recommend to the Board of Regents Historic Preservation Committee that Kenneth Adams 1939 artwork be covered with theater curtains, according to a letter they sent this week to a campus murals task force.
If approved by the committee and the regents, the curtains would provide a temporary fix so the institution can further discuss symbols, climate, public art, and place names on campus and how to deal with the murals long term, according to their message.
Adams Three Peoples paintings have drawn criticism for decades, with some calling them racist in their representations of Native Americans, Hispanics and Anglos.
New complaints emerged in 2016, when library staff and faculty said they contributed to a hostile work environment.
Amid those concerns and a raging national debate about historic-but-controversial public arts value to modern society sparked by the protests in Charlottesville, Va. UNM last fall assembled a task force to help identify a plan for the library murals.
The university also offered a mural-centric, interdisciplinary class last spring that allowed students to make their own recommendations after hearing 30 lectures representing various perspectives.
Associate Vice Provost Alex Lubin, who convened the task force and co-taught the murals course, said most task force members voted in favor of removing the murals. Several of the class groups also proposed removal.
In fact, every class group recommended change of some kind, such as putting different art in front of the Adams murals or installing plaques to provide more information and context.
Lubin said his research indicated proper removal and storage of the historic artwork could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and also could present environmental hazards because of lead paint and adhesive.
Wood says any long-term mural plan will depend on a number of factors, including cost, Historic Preservation Committee input and the regents.
But he and Stokes said they wanted to start the process of shielding them for the time being.
At UNM we must remain focused on matters of campus climate, equity, and inclusion; the status quo is not acceptable. We have heard from several faculty, staff and students that the murals make them feel excluded and attacked, Stokes and Wood wrote in their Oct. 3 letter obtained by the Journal. We know that many people enjoy the murals, and we remain committed to a solution that ensures that everyone feels welcome at UNM.
The two also are asking UNMs Division for Equity and Inclusion to establish a committee on how UNM should address the controversial university seal.
Lubin said he would present the administrations recommendation to cover the Zimmerman murals with curtains at the Historic Preservation Committees next meeting. Its unclear when that will happen; the committee has no calendar on its website and did not respond to a Journal email Friday asking when it would next meet.
Lubin said the curtains would be just one step while deliberation continues about the murals.
I think this is an intermediate solution that isnt meant to please everyone, but is at least meant to address a serious campus climate issue right now, he said. I hope people understand that.
Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal
Almost two months after 6-year-old Ariana Jade Romeo was found dead on a makeshift foam mattress, police arrested a young man suspected of raping and killing the little girl in the home where she and her mother were staying in Rio Rancho.
Leland Hust, 21, was booked into the Sandoval County Detention Center on Friday night. He is charged with child abuse resulting in death and aggravated criminal sexual penetration.
In a surprising development Friday night, Rio Rancho police said they also arrested the man who owned the house where Ariana was killed.
Winston Scates Sr., 63, is charged with at least one count of criminal sexual contact involving a different minor.
Rio Rancho Police Chief Stewart Steele said the charges are the result of a very thorough investigation.
The men and women of the Rio Rancho Police Department have worked diligently since Aug. 11 with the goal of justice for Ariana, he said. Our officers and detectives, many of whom have children of their own, have been profoundly impacted by the death of Ariana.
The investigation began on Aug. 11, when Rio Rancho officers were called to the 200 block of Moonstone, near N.M. 528 and Northern NE, because Arianas mother had found her cold and unresponsive. She was dead, there was damage to her genitals and the home was in total disarray, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Police have not said how Ariana was killed.
According to a police report, when officers arrived several people were standing outside the house, crying and very emotional. An officer who did a sweep through the house reported that most of the rooms were empty. He found Ariana lying on a foam mattress in the garage, which had been converted into a bedroom. There was a pornographic magazine next to the mattress.
As I was exiting the room a male later identified as Leland Hust came out of a room across from the kitchen, the officer wrote in the report. The room had a black blanket hanging in the doorway. Leland was told to wait outside the residence.
After the initial trickle of information, Rio Rancho police did not answer questions about the case except to say that they were still investigating. Search warrants showed detectives were combing through the home for materials related to drug use and child pornography and that many different people, adults and juveniles, had been staying there.
The New Mexico State Police and the Albuquerque office of the FBI assisted with the investigation.
Friday night, Capt. Ron Vigil, a spokesman for Rio Rancho police, said it took detectives nearly two months to collect evidence against Hust, including DNA that linked him to Arianas death. He would not say whether Hust had confessed to the crime.
DNA is one element of this investigation, he said, adding that detectives also found evidence against Hust through interviews with people who were at the home when the girl was killed.
Vigil said that during the investigation detectives discovered that other children may have been sexually assaulted by Scates, the homeowner.
Unfortunately, weve identified other juvenile victims, Vigil said. They are separate and distinct investigations. We have looked at not only older cases but new accusations.
Vigil would not say how many other potential victims there were or give the ages or genders of those victims or say when or where the abuse occurred.
I would say its at least two, he said. This case is still an open investigation. Additional charges are always a possibility.
Vigil would not say how Hust was related to Scates, Arianas mother, or anyone else at the home. However, according to police records, Hust was reported as a missing juvenile from the home in 2011 and returned there shortly afterward.
We know that a number of individuals reside at that residence, he said. We have taken steps to identify the relationships of those parties. Some may be blood relatives. Others are not.
Vigil would not say where Hust and Scates were during the investigation but said they were not arrested at the home on Moonstone. He said there could be more suspects but detectives have arrested only the two men whose involvement they believe they could prove.
Neither Scates nor Hust has a criminal history in New Mexico, according to online court records.
But this is not the first time Scates has been accused of sexual contact of a minor. According to a police report filed in 2011, a female relative reported her 4-year-old daughter had said he inappropriately touched her.
The case was submitted to the 13th Judicial District Attorneys Office for review, but charges were not filed.
Friends and relatives say Ariana and her mother, Stephanie, bounced around the southeast before moving across the country to New Mexico over a year ago.
The two eventually landed in Rio Rancho, where Ariana attended Ernest Stapleton Elementary School. She had just graduated kindergarten.
A close friend of the family, Angelea Torn, said she was thankful police finally made an arrest.
Sadly, it doesnt make it feel any better, she said. Justice doesnt bring her back.
Deputies say a new hire at a South Valley liquor store pistol whipped two people who were hanging out in front of the store last week.
Luis Delgadillo-Vasquez, 23, is charged with kidnapping, three counts of aggravated battery, unlawful possession of a firearm in a licensed liquor establishment and other charges.
Manuel Castellanos, who later told deputies he was homeless, was taken to University of New Mexico Hospital in critical condition with a possible brain bleed and a chunk of his ear missing, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
On Sept. 26, Bernalillo County Sheriffs deputies were called to Kelly Liquors on Coors south of Arenal SW for reports of a beating. They found a man, later identified as Castellanos, covered in blood, with deep cuts on the back of his head and what looked like a mark made from the muzzle end of a firearm on his face. He was taken to the hospital.
Through interviews with customers and co-workers and a review of the security camera footage, deputies learned Delgadillo-Vasquez, a new employee, left the store, picked up two bags that had been left near the parking lot and brought them to the entrance.
Then, deputies say, he saw a woman walking to where the bags used to be, snuck up behind her and hit her with an object.
The subject appears to lose consciousness and falls uncontrollably into the middle of the driveway, a deputy wrote in the complaint. It appears the injured subject regains consciousness and flees on foot away from the Kelly Liquors.
When the woman, later identified as Elizabeth Juarez, was interviewed later she had a deep cut on her nose exposing the bone.
After Delgadillo-Vasquez brought Juarezs bags inside the store, it appeared Castellanos went to confront him.
Thats when deputies say the clerk beat Castellanos with this hands and with a firearm, causing the serious injuries. Then he dragged the mostly unconscious Castellanos outside into the parking lot, according to the complaint.
The other employee called 911.
When deputies arrived they talked with a customer who said he saw some of the fight and that Delgadillo-Vasquez tried to give him the firearm afterward, explaining that he is a felon and cant have a gun.
Delgadillo-Vasquez had left the scene by the time deputies arrived. He was arrested Thursday and the District Attorneys Office has filed a motion to keep him in jail until trial. That will be decided at an upcoming hearing.
No one from Kelly Liquors was available to comment Friday afternoon but an employee who answered the phone said he didnt think Delgadillo-Vasquez worked there anymore.
CHICAGO A few weeks ago, my aunt came to visit from Mexico for the first time in nearly 20 years. During her month-long stay, my family and I were treated to hand-made sopes a deep-dish tortilla topped with beans, meat, cheese and a meticulously minced raw salsa and posole, a chicken, corn and hominy soup so time-consuming to prepare that my mom usually only makes it at New Years.
These kinds of from-scratch, labor-intensive meals are what Alyshia Galvez, a professor in the Department of Latin American and Latino Studies at Lehman College/City University of New York, calls milpa-based cuisine, a term derived from the Spanish words for maize field.
In her new book, Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies, and the Destruction of Mexico, Galvez describes this style of cooking as found across a wide variety of regions in Mexico. They share a core set of ingredients like ground corn and the kinds of fresh vegetables and plants squash, beans, tomatoes, chiles that can be grown in a small field close to home to create meals that are made fresh immediately prior to their consumption.
This way of eating is nearly the opposite of what is generally considered Mexican food in the United States especially if you stop to consider the brain-numbing reality that a Harris poll recently found: Taco Bell is Americans favorite Mexican restaurant. And it is in danger of becoming extinct.
Thats because NAFTA, and other trade policies, have incentivized people all over the world to migrate for work or take jobs in factories for low wages breaking up their way of life. This has made an attractive alternative of the super-cheap, ultra-processed foodstuffs that industrialized food manufacturers are increasingly finding it harder to sell to nutrition-conscious Americans.
Along with their counterparts in other countries, rural and low-income Mexicans have provided a market for producers of industrial foods to offset declining sales in the United States, Galvez writes. Yet economic trends and policy decisions that have taken ancestral ways of eating out of the reach of the average Mexican citizen (are also) making traditional foods available as a high-value, high-status commodity to be elevated and reinterpreted by global elite chefs.
In a recent interview, Galvez told me that she became interested in connecting the dots between trade, food policy, migration and health in both the U.S. and Mexico when she started seeing her loved ones in Mexico becoming ill with the same kind of weight-related diseases obesity, diabetes and heart disease that afflict so many Americans, even though those relatives never migrated.
I wasnt really aware of those interconnections at all; trade wasnt something I was particularly interested in, Galvez said, But I pulled on one string and all these other strings unraveled. The story of how NAFTA has altered the food system in the whole continent, and the health effects, affects every single one of us.
Galvez touches on such issues as the rise of the avocado, how soda taxes get watered down by corporate interests and the role of personal responsibility in how populations eat . Spoiler: make fresh fruits and vegetables more expensive and harder to find and poor people will turn to cheap, processed foods. She ultimately wants people to understand the unintended consequences of wide-ranging trade deals, and she does it by appealing to our self-interest.
Sure, we get access to fresh fruits and vegetables from Mexico year-round, but the takeaway problem is fundamentally about democracy, Galvez said. When these deals are negotiated behind closed doors by the executive branch, with Congress then voting up or down, we all lose, because these policies affect 99 percent of the population in three countries, yet we are not at the bargaining table. Very specific interest groups and corporations are at the table, and they get their well-defined wish lists met. If we care about democracy, then we have to care about representation and about who is being taken into consideration when these deals are made.
Still, as President Trump renegotiated the trade pact of what will reportedly be called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Galvez said, Im in the uncomfortable position of hoping (Trump) doesnt recklessly trash NAFTA. There would be a lot of pain for everyone involved. We cant afford the crumbling of our current food system. We just dont realize how intertwined and interdependent we are. (Drastic changes) could cause an incredible logjam on products we depend on daily. Wed see unbelievably high costs, farmers would see their crops rotting on the vine and hunger on a massive scale.
The evolution of how we eat is a fact of life. But negotiating away the gastronomical cultural heritage of whole countries including ours in the name of enhanced trade, is not a deal many would make if they were aware of what was at stake.
E-mail estherjcepeda@washpost.com; Twitter: @estherjcepeda. (c) 2018, Washington Post Writers Group.
The U.S. Constitution guarantees that no American citizen shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without being afforded due process of the law. It is one of the bedrocks of our legal system. The 14th amendment to the Constitution guarantees to every person, including aliens, equal protection under the law. And, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
What has happened to those ideals?
I honestly do not want to get into the briar patch of the Brett Kavanaugh vs. Professor Christine Blasey Ford drama. But the divisive episode raises deep and troubling issues.
There is a seething anger in todays America. Too many have developed the habit of dismissing and vilifying those who dont think the same way. We dont listen I mean really listen to each other anymore. Our us vs. them mentality has morphed past the mere political to include a new sort of gender war. Its now become popular to hold men up to scorn and suspicion. And then theres the idea that if a woman makes a claim of sexual harassment or assault she must be believed, no questions asked. She must automatically be referred to as a victim survivor.
But if everyone is supposed to be treated equally under the law shouldnt we be open to the possibility that sometimes an accusing woman or man might be exaggerating? She/he might be covering up their own misbehavior by deflecting attention to the other party. Or she/he might be spitefully lying. One case in point: the false gang rape allegation made against members of the Duke University lacrosse team.
If every single claim made must automatically be held as holy writ then, really, the veracity of all claims becomes questionable.
I have spent a career reporting on the physical/emotional/sexual abuse of victims. I am overly sympathetic to women and children who have endured domestic, stranger or pedophilic violence. As I have written here, #MeToo applies to me, too. I have personally experienced the shock of being pushed and held against a wall and violently invaded by men who thought I wanted it. I completely understand why a woman might not immediately come forward with a complaint. I didnt.
Back then if I had gone to the police and made an official statement the matter likely would have gone to court, because if Id had the courage to come forward I darn well would have made sure to take it all the way to trial. I would have told my story under oath and the man would have been given a chance to do the same. Then the judge, or maybe a jury, would have decided who was right and who was wrong. That is due process. It might be a slow course of action, but it is the fair way to do things.
Due process is what delivered justice to the dozens of victims of Bill Cosby. After his first trial ended in a hung jury the justice system plodded along and held a second trial. Cosby, 81, was then found guilty, labeled a sexually violent predator and sentenced to three to 10 years in prison.
Presumably, this procedure will soon take place in another headlined sexual assault case, the one which awaits disgraced movie maker Harvey Weinstein.
It may not be a fast-enough process for some, but I refuse to believe returning to Salem witch hunt-era tactics is acceptable. It is simply not the American way to declare a suspect guilty or brand them a liar from the get-go. It is not acceptable to allow agitators to scream for immediate justice.
It is not helpful when shrieking members of a group that opposed any and all Trump nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court corner decision makers like Sen. Jeff Flake in a Capitol Hill elevator.
I was sexually assaulted, and nobody believed me! one of the confrontational activists screamed as a CNN camera rolled. I didnt tell anyone, and youre telling all women that they dont matter!
Wait a minute. She either told about her assault and no one believed her, or she didnt tell anyone both cannot be true. But I digress.
Sen. Flakes offense? Participation in a respectful fact-finding mission regarding what to do in the Kavanaugh/Ford matter. At the hearing, Flakes face revealed his anguish with the task. Out in the hall, what did that temper tantrum accomplish besides giving the finger-pointing activists 15 minutes of fame? Nothing, I say.
We now live in an enlightened world where age-old acts of sexual victimization have been exposed, perpetrators revealed for all to see. Im hoping women everywhere understand they no longer have to endure sexual harassment and assaults. Saying No is the new norm.
The path to justice has now been paved. Lets not sabotage it with screeching displays in hallways. Lets restore and demand dignity and due process fairness for everyone female and male.
www.DianeDimond.com; e-mail to Diane@DianeDimond.com.
Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal
SANTA FE The race for New Mexico treasurer pits a politically experienced incumbent, Democrat Tim Eichenberg, against a former state employee making his first run for public office.
Republican Arthur Castillo, who worked as chief financial officer under a previous state treasurer, James Lewis, says he would bring a fresh perspective to the office and provide independent leadership.
Eichenberg, a former state senator and Bernalillo County treasurer, says he hopes to continue pushing for greater disclosure of investment fees paid by state agencies while making sound financial decisions as the states banker.
The state treasurer manages and invests the cash used to operate state government, runs an investment pool for local governments and serves as a member of key state boards, such as the State Investment Council and Mortgage Finance Authority.
Eichenberg said he oversees an experienced staff that has a background in banking and is committed to his role as a board member on state agencies that help develop affordable housing for New Mexicans.
He said he would continue pushing for legislation aimed at requiring more public disclosure of how much state agencies pay in investment fees, commissions and similar expenses.
The public has a right to know, he said.
A proposal he supported in 2017, Senate Bill 2, passed the Senate and House by overwhelming margins but was vetoed by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, who said it would replicate information thats already available. Martinezs tenure ends this year.
Castillo said he has a broad mix of experience as an accountant and administrator for the state Treasurers Office, the city of Albuquerque, the University of Albuquerque and the Bernalillo County Treasurers Office.
My whole plan is not to go in there and make wholesale changes, Castillo said. I want to get in there and see what needs to be adjusted or fixed and then move from there.
He said he has never run for office and has no political baggage.
I dont owe anybody anything, Castillo said. I dont have to bow down to anybody in the party or any political group.
Q-and-As online: To find out these candidates positions on key issues, go to ABQJournal.com/election2018. The site also includes links to Journal stories on statewide, legislative and county-level races, district maps, key election dates and other voter resources. It will be updated regularly with new candidate profile stories and other information.
Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal
Editors note: This is part of a series of election stories about 2018 New Mexico races and candidates that started Sunday. Look for more stories in the coming days and weeks leading up to Election Day.
SANTA FE New Mexicos next land commissioner will oversee more than 14,000 square miles of state trust land scattered across the Land of Enchantment.
And the three-way race is shaping up as perhaps the closest contest on the fall ballot.
Just 2 percentage points separated Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard and Republican Pat Lyons in a Journal Poll last month, with Libertarian Michael Lucero trailing well behind.
The campaign is wide-open, because incumbent Aubrey Dunn, a Libertarian, is stepping down after four years in office. He won election as a Republican but later switched his affiliation.
Garcia Richard, who represents the Los Alamos area in the state House, is campaigning as someone who knows firsthand the importance of generating revenue for New Mexico schools. Shes an educator for the Pojoaque Valley School District.
I bring a completely different perspective than this office has ever had, she said.
Lyons, a Quay County rancher who served as land commissioner from 2003 to 2010, describes himself as an experienced land manager who would work well with private industry, such as oil and gas producers and ranchers.
Ive managed lands all my life, he said. You need a land manager there.
Lucero, a rancher from the Jemez Springs area, is urging people to disregard party labels.
Im not a politician, he said. I see things as right and wrong not one party or the other.
The commissioner of public lands oversees state trust lands and generates revenue through leases to ranchers, oil and gas producers, and others. Much of the money flows into the states Land Grant Permanent Fund, which provides hundreds of millions of dollars a year for public schools, universities and other beneficiaries.
Environmental regulations
The candidates have clashed over environmental regulations, Lyons record as land commissioner and who has the right experience to lead the office.
Garcia Richard said her northern New Mexico House district is a microcosm of the state. She has worked with cattle growers and handled concerns about public lands and water, she said.
Ive been able to sit down and compromise with folks Ive earned a reputation for doing that in my district, Garcia Richard said.
If elected, she said, she plans to pursue a rule aimed at limiting methane emissions from oil and gas operations on state trust land, modeled on a similar regulation in Colorado. Methane is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.
Colorado requires companies to fix methane leaks and install equipment to help capture the emissions.
I havent been shy about talking about the industry needing to be responsible to take corporate responsibility for their actions and to pay their fair share, Garcia Richard said.
Lyons, in turn, said Garcia Richard would hurt the oil and gas industry and damage revenue streams for New Mexico. He said that as a rancher, he understands the importance of managing land in a sustainable way that protects the environment, but without unnecessary regulation.
I know how to manage lands better than her, Lyons said. Thats just a fact. Im better-suited for it, easily.
As for methane emissions, he said, the answer is to cut red tape and promote the development of pipelines to get the methane to the marketplace so it isnt wasted or causing safety problems.
He touted his record of exchanging trust land to promote business development and create jobs.
Lucero said his approach to the office would be to encourage cooperation among energy producers, ranchers, environmentalists and other groups.
The priority I would pursue is to get all sides to sit down and visit with each other, he said. If we can come to an agreement where we get all parties involved and not leave any individual out, thats what Id like to see.
Controversies
Lyons saw his share of controversy when he ran the State Land Office for eight years.
In 2010, for example, a special audit of the State Land Office concluded that some of the agencys transactions had relied on flawed appraisals and financial analyses, costing the state millions.
It also said that in some transactions, the applicants who succeeded in getting leases, exchanges or sales of trust land had made contributions to Lyons.
Lyons and others in the State Land Office blasted the audit as inaccurate, politically motivated and misleading. Lyons called it delusional.
In a recent interview, Lyons said the auditors hired to do the report under then-State Auditor Hector Balderas, a Democrat didnt understand how to do land exchanges. The transactions were sound deals that maximized revenue for the state, Lyons said.
Everything went through (seven attorneys in the Land Office) to make sure it was legal, Lyons said.
In 2007, the Journal reported that a political action committee, largely funded by a Las Cruces developer and led by a Santa Fe lobbyist representing that developer, gave Lyons 2006 re-election campaign nearly $20,000. The contributions came in the months before Lyons signed a lucrative lease with the developer, who was required to provide planning services for a 4,200-acre stretch of trust land near Las Cruces city limits.
Garcia Richard has seized on that history as part of her campaign. In a recent forum, she told the audience to support her candidacy if you are tired of backroom deals at the State Land Office. She vowed to boost transparency in the office.
In an interview, she said the office has earned a reputation over a century for having its decisions made behind closed doors, in the dark, out of the public eye.
Lyons, in turn, said his work helped generate billions of dollars of revenue for the state. He also said land transactions were publicized to allow for competition.
Theres no insider dealing, he said.
At the campaign forum, Lyons put it this way: Campaign donations dont influence me.
He said he has a nonpartisan approach dedicated to making the best deals for the people of New Mexico.
Candidate backgrounds
Lyons has had plenty of political success. He is now wrapping up eight years as a member of the state Public Regulation Commission, representing the states east side.
He also served in the state Senate from 1993 to 2002.
Garcia Richard is finishing her third term in the state House. She has risen through the ranks to become chairwoman of the House Education Committee.
She won the Democratic nomination for land commissioner in June, defeating two better-funded opponents.
Garcia Richard would be New Mexicos first female land commissioner.
Lucero is a member of the Jemez Valley school board.
Campaign finances
Lyons had a substantial financial advantage in the race, according to reports filed Sept. 10.
He has about $184,000 in cash in his campaign account. His contributors include ranchers, oil and gas producers and business professionals.
Garcia Richard had about $33,000 in her account. Her contributors include teachers, attorneys and real estate professionals.
Lucero hasnt reported any recent activity. Earlier this year, he reported $10,000 in contributions from the campaign account of Dunn, the incumbent land commissioner.
In a Journal Poll from Sept. 7 to 13, Garcia Richard had support from 39 percent of proven, likely voters; Lyons was at 37 percent; and Lucero had 9 percent.
The margin of error was plus or minus 4.8 percent points. The scientific survey was conducted by Research & Polling Inc.
Q-and-As online: To find out these candidates positions on key issues, go to ABQJournal.com/election2018. The site also includes links to Journal stories on statewide, legislative and county-level races, district maps, key election dates and other voter resources. It will be updated regularly with new candidate profile stories and other information.
TOKYO Americas top diplomat left Tokyo for Pyongyang on Sunday after pledging that the U.S. will coordinate with allies Japan and South Korea on efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
On the eve of his fourth visit to North Korea, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Saturday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to try to unify the countries positions as he looks to arrange a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and chart a path toward denuclearization.
Japan has been wary of Trumps initiative, fearing it could affect its long-standing security relationship with the U.S.
Pompeo said it was important to hear from the Japanese leader so we have a fully coordinated and unified view. Pompeo also pledged that during his meeting with Kim on Sunday, he would raise the cases of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.
Pompeo later planned stops in South Korea and China to review the negotiations.
It is important for us to hear from you as I travel to Pyongyang to make sure that we are fully in sync with respect to missile programs, (chemical and biological weapons) programs, Pompeo told Abe. We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well and then we will share with you how we hope to proceed when we are in Pyongyang tomorrow.
Trump is pressing to meet with Kim for a second time after their June summit in Singapore produced a vague agreement on denuclearization with few, if any, specifics. Despite the historic meeting, the two sides are deadlocked over how to achieve that goal. Trump canceled Pompeos initial planned return to North Korea last month.
In contrast with South Korea, where President Moon Jae-in has been at the forefront of encouraging Trumps rapprochement with the North, Japan has been decidedly cautious, insisting its interests and concerns be addressed.
Abe did not speak of differences but highlighted the importance of demonstrating to the world that the U.S.-Japan alliance is more robust than ever and stressing the importance of thorough coordination with Washington on all aspects of North Korea policy.
Pompeo has repeatedly refused to discuss details of negotiations, including a U.S. position on North Koreas demand for a declared end to the Korean War and a proposal from Seoul for such a declaration to be accompanied by a shutdown of the Norths main known nuclear facility.
The U.S. and Japan have pushed for the North to compile and turn over a detailed list of its nuclear sites to be dismantled as a next step in the process; the North has rejected that.
Japans foreign minister, Taro Kano, said the accounting continues to be a priority for his country.
Disclosing all nuclear inventories is the first step toward denuclearization, he told reporters after Pompeo wrapped up his meeting in Tokyo.
Kono also said he and Pompeo didnt go into details of a possible war-end declaration because its premature while there is virtually no progress in denuclearization. We are not even talking about whether to do it or not, he said. Its not an issue that we are even considering.
Many believe such a declaration could reinforce North Koreas demands for the U.S. to withdraw its forces from South Korea and Japan.
While traveling to Asia, Pompeo said his mission was to make sure that we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve and how we can deliver against the commitments that were made in Singapore. He said they would develop options, if not finalize, the location and timing of a second Trump-Kim summit.
He has also distanced himself from an earlier stated goal of achieving North Koreas nuclear weapons abandonment by the end of Trumps term in January 2021.
Since the effort got underway with a secret visit to the North by then-CIA chief Pompeo in April, there has been only limited progress.
North Korea so far has suspended nuclear and missile tests, freed three American prisoners and dismantled parts of a missile engine facility and tunnel entrances at a nuclear test site. It has not taken any steps to halt nuclear weapons or missile development.
The North also has accused Washington of making unilateral and gangster-like demands on denuclearization and insisted that sanctions should be lifted before any progress in nuclear talks. U.S. officials have thus far said sanctions will remain in place until the Norths denuclearization is fully verified.
___
AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
At some point during Judge Brett Kavanaughs testimony last week, Marion Stanford grabbed a piece of wooden paneling, some paint and the $5 brushes she had purchased a while back.
She brought the items back to her living room, where she had been glued to the television watching the drama unfold in the Senate that day. She had heard Christine Blasey Ford tell senators that Kavanaugh, President Donald Trumps nominee to the Supreme Court, was the boy who sexually assaulted her 36 years ago, when they were both in high school. And as she listened to Kavanaughs forceful denial and defense of himself, Stanford began to paint.
She drew an elephant, the Republican symbol, in red, white and blue with its trunk climbing up the skirt of a little blonde girl in pink. Her eyes are wide open, and so is her mouth. The word HELP! is right next to her face. On the opposite side of the paneling, she painted the words, YOUR VOTE MATTERS in the same shade of pink.
The message is if you recognize this, if you understand this pain, if you are part of this movement, your vote matters, Stanford said, referring to the #MeToo movement.
Stanford placed the sign outside her home in the Central Texas town of Hamilton, right below another sign supporting Beto ORourke, the Democrat trying to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz.
A few days later, on Tuesday night, a police officer showed up at her house. Stanford said the officer told her there had been complaints about her sign, which some saw as a graphic depiction of child abuse. Earlier a woman knocked on Stanfords door and told her she found the sign disgusting.
It is pornography, and you cant display it, Stanford recalled the police officer saying. She was given a few choices, she said: Take the sign down, refuse and get arrested, or let police confiscate it. She said she chose the last option.
City officials denied threatening arrest.
Its a political sign, and a citizen here placed a yard sign that featured a political animal taking an inappropriate position with a young child, Pete Kampfer, Hamiltons city manager, told the Dallas Morning News. A police member visited the owners home, and the owner asked the officer to take the sign.
The Washington Post was unable to reach the Hamilton Police Department for comment Saturday.
Earlier that Tuesday, the sign caught the attention of Sid Miller, the Texas agriculture commissioner. Miller, who was reportedly on President Trumps shortlist for U.S. agriculture secretary, posted pictures of the sign on his Facebook page and claimed that the girl depicted was one of Kavanaughs young daughters.
The Democrat sleaze knows NO bounds, Miller, whos again running for agriculture commissioner, wrote in a post that was later shared more than a thousand times.
Millers campaign did not respond to a call and email seeking comment Saturday.
Stanford said the girl does not depict Kavanaughs daughter, and portraying child abuse wasnt her intention. She said the yard sign was based on an editorial cartoon that Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes drew last year, when then-Senate candidate Roy Moore was accused of making sexual advances to minors.
I knew what the symbolism was. I know what my motivations were, she said.
Stanford, a self-described independent who frequently leans liberal, said she found Ford to be credible.
I stand with those women. I stand with the women who wants change, who have a voice and are making their voice heard, Stanford said, again invoking the #MeToo movement. And the whole community is not going to stop me.
Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court was in peril a few weeks ago, after Ford accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s, when the two were in high school in Maryland. Two other women accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, and the judge has unequivocally denied any wrongdoing.
On Saturday, after a bitter and partisan battle, the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a narrow 50-to-48 vote, cementing a conservative majority on the nations highest court. Hundreds of protesters many chanting We believe survivors! Vote then out! and Shame, shame, shame converged on the Capitol in Washington as the Senate prepared to vote.
Kavanaughs confirmation became apparent Friday after Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., said they would vote yea. One Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, broke with her party.
The next time youre standing at the edge of a scenic cliff or on top of a waterfall, take care when you have the urge to snap a quick selfie. It could very well be the last thing you do.
More than 250 people worldwide have died while taking selfies in the last six years, according to a new study from researchers associated with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a group of public medical colleges based in New Delhi. The findings, which analyzed news reports of the 259 selfie-related deaths from October 2011 to November 2017, were published in the July-August edition of the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.
Of the 259 deaths, researchers found the leading cause to be drowning, followed by incidents involving transportation for example, taking a selfie in front of an oncoming train and falling from heights. Other causes of selfie-related death include animals, firearms and electrocution.
The selfie deaths have become a major public health problem, Agam Bansal, the studys lead author, told The Washington Post.
Though the study found India to have the highest number of deaths of all countries, numerous reports of fatal selfie incidents have also come from Russia, the United States and Pakistan. Bansal noted that while the simple act of taking a selfie isnt deadly, the hazard arises when people take risks while trying to get that perfect shot.
If youre just standing, simply taking it with a celebrity or something, thats not harmful, he said. But if that selfie is accompanied with risky behavior then thats what makes the selfies dangerous.
What worries me the most is that it is a preventable cause of death, Bansal said. Taking a toll on these many numbers just because you want a perfect selfie because you want a lot of likes, shares on Facebook, Twitter or other social media, I dont think this is worth compromising a life for such a thing.
Bansal added he was also concerned about how many of the selfie-related fatalities involved young people. More than 85 percent of the victims were between the ages of 10 and 30, Bansal said.
They form the future of a nation, he said. They havent even realized what their goals are. They arent even sure what they want to do. Theyre just beginners in their lives.
While the number of deaths reported in the study may seem high, Bansal said there could be many more cases that just havent been documented due to issues with reporting.
In 2018 alone, there have already been several selfie-related deaths. In May, a man in India tried to take a selfie with an injured bear and was mauled to death, the Independent reported.
Just last month, two people died in the U.S. in separate cases also involving selfies.
On Sept. 5, an 18-year-old hiker from Jerusalem died after he fell more than 800 feet off a cliff at Yosemite National Park, according to ABC News. The mans mother said he had been trying to take a selfie at the edge of Nevada Fall, a popular waterfall in the park, when he fell, the Times of Israel reported.
Roughly two weeks later, a 32-year-old California woman met a similar fate while hiking at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan when she slipped and fell to her death after stopping at the edge of a 200-foot cliff to snap some selfies, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Mohit Jain, an orthopedic surgeon who was not involved in the recent study but has done research into selfie deaths, described the work of Banal and fellow researchers Chandan Garg and Abhijit Pakhare as really necessary to make people aware that you can die while taking a selfie. Jain published his own study last year about selfie-related mortality in the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion. Sometimes eyes dont see if your mind doesnt know.
Jains research found that 75 people had died attempting to take selfies from 2014 to mid-2016.
Its like a man-made disaster, he told The Post. Its not a natural disaster.
One possible way to prevent selfie deaths would be no selfie zones, Bansal said, banning them in certain areas such as water bodies, mountain peaks, and at the top of tall buildings.
Efforts to dissuade people from taking dangerous selfies has already been attempted in multiple countries, including India, Russia and Indonesia.
Three years ago, Russia launched a Safe Selfie campaign, which featured the slogan, Even a million likes on social media are not worth your life and well-being, the BBC reported. An informational graphic with icons of bad selfie ideas highlighting stick figures posing on power poles and while holding guns was also distributed, Jain noted in his study.
In 2016, Mumbai declared 16 no selfie zones across the city following a slew of selfie-related deaths, the Guardian reported. Earlier this year, a national park in Indonesia announced it would be working to create a safe spot for photos after a hiker died taking a selfie, according to the Jakarta Post.
Its easy to just neglect all this sort of risky behavior because sometimes we think its not possible, like Im just going to take this picture for five seconds and its okay to take this risk,' Jain said. But when people actually read in the newspaper that almost more than 150 or 200 people are dying in the last couple of years, then theyll realize, Okay, I should not take this much of risk just to take one picture.'
Memento mori
Picture a dimly-lit room, its contents in disarray. Books are strewn about haphazardly, bedcovers are in shambles, shards of a broken vase lie on the floor. The ceiling has been pulled low, creating a claustrophobic space and a sense of being trapped. There are sounds of marching boots, an insistent pounding on a door and then, a wailing cry.
LOS ANGELES As Wilson Guarin watched the green helicopter roaring above, he wondered if the men being hoisted into the sky felt the risk had been worth it.
Moments earlier, Guarin and his children, Olivia, 11, and Brandon, 12, had hiked to Hermit Falls in Angeles National Forest, one of the most popular waterfalls in the Los Angeles area.
Soon after they arrived, they saw a man dislocate his shoulder when he jumped into the rock pool at the base of Hermit Falls. Less than a minute later, another man jumped and appeared to break both his legs.
Guarin, 40, of Long Beach said the cliff jumpers intentions were obvious: They wanted to get a video of themselves and post it to social media.
A thirst among hikers, often inexperienced and under-prepared, to gobble up likes and shares on Instagram and other social media sites has led to a significant increase in rescue missions by first responders.
The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Departments Search and Rescue teams conducted 681 missions in 2017, the largest number in five years. Its a 38 percent increase from the 491 rescues they did in 2013.
The teams leaders say the single largest factor for that increase is people posting videos of extreme activities online. Then, without any thought about the difficulty, others try to re-create their own 15-second version of glory. Rescue teams in Santa Barbara and San Bernardino counties have seen similar increases.
People will post videos of themselves jumping off of Hermit Falls or the Malibu rock pool, and they post it in the springtime when theres a decent amount of water, but now, the water is a lot less, so what used to be a 10-foot pool is now a 5-foot pool, said Michael Leum, who oversees the Sheriff Departments Search and Rescue teams. You dont want to be a lawn dart going into that shallow pool.
On Instagram, posts from visitors venturing to waterfalls and swimming holes in Angeles National Forest and other recreation areas show hikers morphing into models, striking seemingly the same poses in the same places. Theres the sexy pose on a rock. Sometimes its the contemplative one, where they gaze into the sky. The subject line is often a quote about nature, but sometimes its just a pun referencing Waterfalls, a hit by the 90s R&B group TLC.
Or maybe just someone bragging about how cool his friends are. A few visitors even dress up, either in suits and evening gowns for a photo shoot, or as mermaids. And then, sometimes, people just get naked because YOLO (you only live once).
Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, Robert Garcia remembers when Eaton Canyon and Monkey Canyon, a harder-to-reach swimming hole, were known only to locals. Today, its easy to find the routes online and videos on YouTube that explain just how much fun a person might have.
Garcia, the fire chief for Angeles National Forest, doesnt discourage people from enjoying the outdoors. But he points out that many accidents are avoidable and happen either when people go off trail or ignore official warnings about an area being closed such as the upper falls of Eaton Canyon and go anyway.
Beyond the safety element, theres an element of resource damage, Garcia said. Trails are designed with mitigation and resource protection in mind, so user-created trails dont have that level of planning.
Three years ago, Daniel Sedha and his family wanted to visit Switzer Falls, a stunning 50-foot waterfall and rock pool in Angeles National Forest. But they ended up on the wrong path. Planning to end their hike at the base of the waterfall, they instead ended up trekking to the top of the falls.
The waterfall dry, Sedha walked to the ridge and decided to try to climb to a flat spot where the top of the waterfall usually cascades down. Within seconds, Sedha was sliding.
Sedhas family heard him fall, a thud like a sack of potatoes hitting the ground, before they saw him. They thought he was dead.
Sedha broke his pelvis and tailbone. He smashed the right side of his face and still doesnt have feeling above his eyebrow. His elbows still have scars from his attempt to stop himself from plummeting onto dry rock.
I just remember feeling that sliding sensation, and then it was almost like a feeling of super bliss, like euphoria, that feeling of just lifting up, said Sedha, 19, of La Mirada. From the slope, I caught air, and thats it. Boom! I fell 50 feet.
Sedha is quick to admit he wasnt prepared for his hike that day. For one, he was wearing sneakers that didnt provide the same level of grip of hiking boots.
In the hiking world, the 10 essentials is a common phrase for an informal list of recommended items: a map, a compass, sunscreen, extra food, extra water, extra clothing, a flashlight or headlamp, a first aid kit, matches and a knife.
The lists vary, but officials agree that the majority of people they save dont carry a fraction of the list. And sometimes, they hike in flip-flops.
The proximity of Angeles National Forest to Los Angeles a drive from downtown L.A. to the Switzer Falls trailhead usually takes less than an hour can give people a false sense of safety. But soon after entering Angeles, a visitor will lose cellphone reception, which will remain spotty throughout the forest. Many folks dont plan for that, either.
Instead, people often enter the forest in hopes of mimicking an #adventure they saw.
They might Google map the hike, and not realize its a 3,000-foot elevation change as well as a three-mile hike, said Quintin Humphrey, an engineer with the Los Angeles County Fire Department who regularly goes on rescue calls to Angeles National Forest. I think those are the things that never cross peoples minds, whereas 20 or 30 years ago people were maybe more prepared for it and had more of a camping mentality.
Guarin still thinks about the two men he watched hitching helicopter rides to a hospital.
You get concerned about what people are willing to do to not have fun. Its risking everything for no reason.
Well, there are the likes.
bigbasket (https://www.bigbasket.com/), Indias largest online supermarket, announced its participation in the DaanUtsav (formerly the Joy of Giving Week), a 100% volunteer initiative. As part of this initiative, bigbasketeers can purchase an essential pack consisting of 2 kg Arhar/Popular Toor dal and 1 kg bb Royal Basmati Rice from the app or website up to 8th October 2018 and bigbasket will donate 20% of each purchase to the DaanUtsav. The donations will be distributed to deserving old age homes, orphanages and underprivileged people.
Speaking about this, Mr. Vipul Parekh, Co-Founder, Chief Finance Officer & Chief Marketing Officer, bigbasket, said, At bigbasket, we have always believed in giving back to the society and thus, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not just another policy for us. It is about being inclusive of the society and its surroundings. In this light, we are proud to be associated with the DaanUtsav and give bigbasketeers the satisfaction of having contributed to a larger good. True joy does ultimately lie in giving and this idea complements our philosophy in every way. We urge all of you to contribute generously.
Commenting on the association, Ms Sara Adhikari, Volunteer, DaanUtsav said, As this is the 10th year of DaanUtsav, we volunteers decided to get everyone to do one common act of giving. So we thought of A Fistful of Joy - where people give a handful of dry rations like rice, dal or sugar to those who need it. It's something everybody can do! So far we've had a fantastic response with schools, corporates, village communities, apartment blocks all making collections to give to either NGOs near them or the destitute in their communities. We are thrilled that bigbasket is helping their customers to join the nation in this common act of giving."
DaanUtsav encourages people to do any act of giving of their choice. Started in 2009, the festival is celebrated between 2nd and 8th October across the country. As of 2018, over 1000+ cities and towns, several districts and villages all over India came forward and celebrated giving in their own way. DaanUtsav is a great platform that brings together people from all walks of life and encourages them to celebrate Giving time, money, material, skill or just love.
Jaquar Group, Indias leading complete bathroom and lighting solutions brand, has joined hands with Star World for its flagship show- Koffee with Karan. Jaquar Group is the official lifestyle partner for the sixth season of the show starring star host Karan Johar, which premiers on 21st October.
Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Sandeep Shukla, Head of Marketing and Communication, Jaquar Group, adds, We at Jaquar Group are excited to partner with Star World for its flagship show, Koffee with Karan that takes viewers up-close to their favourite film personalities. This partnership gives us the opportunity to connect with the core audience that enjoy the show and at the same time, strengthen our lifestyle positioning.
Conceived in 1960, Jaquar Group caters to luxury, premium and value segments with Artize, Jaquar and Essco brands respectively. They recently forayed in complete LED lighting solutions as well. With presence across 45+ countries in Europe, Middle East, Africa, SAARC region and South East Asia, Jaquar Group is one of the fastest growing bathroom brands in the world, delivering over 2 million bathrooms every year. The products by Jaquar Group hold an unviable style quotient which has been admired and awarded across the world, iF, Elle Decor, Good Design, Plus Awards and Red Dot Design are some of the awards in the Groups kitty.
Mr. Shukla, further added, Karan Johars inimitable mastery of the genre, reflects in the longevity of the show is akin to Jaquars leadership in the bathroom segment, where it has turned a purely functional space like the bathroom into an aspirational one. Now with the increased visibility of Jaquar Lighting and with Deepika Padulone as its brand ambassador, the brand values of Jaquar and KwK match beautifully. As the style partner of the show, Jaquar Group will refresh each guest with its most extensive and wide range of concepts and products!
It is common for companies to organize various informal events where workers can come with their partners. One of those...
Minister Yadav claims government powerless in capping sugar price
The government claims that it is powerless in maintaining the sugar price at Rs63 per kg and expressed discontent over the intervention by Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Unruly has today announced the formation of the U7, a brand and agency-powered council designed to engage the advertising community in discussions around emerging trends and the health of the industry, as part of Unrulys mission to lead the charge in cleaning up digital marketing.
The U7 is comprised of 10 of the worlds largest advertisers including Nestle, Unilever, Diageo, Samsung, American Express, LOreal, GSK, The Wall Street Journal and Mars. They will be joined by leaders from Wavemaker, Havas, and Carat.
The purpose of the U7 is to create a dialogue with advertisers so they can play an active role in shaping the future of digital marketing. Members will get exclusive access to new Unruly products and features, including Programmatic Guaranteed, which launches globally from October and allows buyers to access guaranteed buys across exclusive sites at a fixed price.
Commenting on the need for a body like the U7, Nigel Conway, Global Head of Media Communications, Nestle, said: The industry needs better digital standards particularly with brand safety, and the U7 Council will help us accelerate better practice and accountability with senior industry client leaders and agencies.
We want to prove that adtech can live up to a higher standard of openness and honesty. For too long, clients have had to put up with solutions forced on them by adtech companies, said Norm Johnston, CEO, Unruly, the U7 puts brand and agencies in the driving seat. Were bringing clients inside every team of Unruly, from product development to business practices, and weve brought together an incredible bunch of people for some provocative and inspiring discussion.
The first meeting, subtitled Hearts & Minds, will explore the role that emotions and trust play in the future of advertising. Special guests bringing their own expertise and insight to the event include award-winning CMO Dana Anderson, Matt Murray, Editor-in-Chief of The Wall Street Journal, consultant and digital guru Rob Norman, and Brian Wieser, Senior Analyst at Pivotal.
One of the long-term goals for the committee is to bring clients closer to the decisions made in adtech, as well as helping advertisers make sense of emerging tech trends, such as the use of emotional intelligence and opportunities presented by ambient technology.
U7 member Luis Di Como, EVP Global Media, Unilever commented: Back in February we said we needed to collectively rebuild trust back into our digital systems and wider society Unilever committed to not investing in platforms that do not protect children or create division in society, creating responsible content and only partnering with organisations who are committed to creating a better digital infrastructure. Scaling this digital responsibility framework across the industry is the action we need, which is why I am very excited to join the U7 council and to collaborate with like-minded advertisers.
The first meeting of the U7, hosted by Johnston, will establish a roadmap of future activity for the group, which includes a series of global research projects, summits and workshops. The U7 line up includes:
Amanda Richman, US CEO, Wavemaker, WPP
Ben Sutherland, Chief Digital Officer, Diageo
Colin Kinsella, CEO, Havas Group Media North America, Havas
Jay Altschuler, VP, Media & Partnerships, Samsung
Joe Bihlmier, VP Global Media, American Express
Juan Pendavis, Global Head of Creative & Media, Nestle
Luis Di Como, EVP Global Media, Unilever
Michael Epstein, CEO, Carat USA, Dentsu Aegis Network
Nadine Karp McHugh, SVP Omni Media, LOreal
Nigel Conway, role TBA, IHG
Scott Grenz, VP, Global Head of Media, GSK
Suzi Watford, Chief Marketing & Membership Officer, WSJ
The full U7 agenda is available here, and outputs from the discussions will be published during October.
The U7 will meet in a venue supplied by Realtor.com, one of News Corps Move,Inc brands. From a penthouse apartment at 50 Gramercy Park North, the U7 and its guests will enjoy impressive views of Manhattan and the highly coveted Gramercy Park, the only private park in the city.
In a development that further bolsters its position as a top online publication and content creator, Quintillion Media, one of Indias leading and fastest-growing digital content platforms, has reached 1 million subscribers on YouTube and nearly 8 million followers on Facebook, redefining the digital news space in India. The platform has garnered more than 100 million pageviews and over 30 million unique visitors on its websites, along with 10 million unique visitors on YouTube in September. Quintillion Media also has a monthly reach of 170 million+ and nearly 1 billion impressions on Facebook, surpassing some of the biggest legacy media houses in the country.
The groups flagship products thequint.com and hindi.thequint.com took home prizes across 15 categories at some of the prestigious awards conducted in September. Bloomberg|Quint (BQ), a joint venture between Quintillion Media (74%) and Bloomberg Media (26%), won the Website of the Year (Business) award in the English language category.
The Quints haul of 15 titles included Golds for Best Use of Social Media (English) for the I Have A Question series; and for Best Article/Video Feature for Bollywood Paparazzi. The Quint also won multiple Silvers, including Best Innovation in Publishing for its Talking Stalking series and Best Article/Video Feature for Rape is Consensual: Inside Haryana's Rape Culture. Quintillion Media has won awards across various categories such as Best Branded Project, Best in Social Media Engagement, Best Innovation to Engage Youth Audiences, and Best Use of Online Video (including VR).
Ritu Kapur, co-founder & CEO of Quintillion Media said, We have consistently used technological innovations to transform the digital news space in India through our two platforms, Bloomberg|Quint and The Quint. The unique mix of strong, credible journalism and novel digital reporting formats has helped us achieve this amazing milestone and establish The Quint as the go-to-platform for young, digitally-savvy users to access high-quality and relevant news content. To be recognised at such a prestigious stage firmly consolidates our position among the leading online publishers in the country. Winning the Website of the Year awards for both The Quint and Bloomberg|Quint just goes to show that audience engagement can be easily achieved through good quality content, no matter what the format is.
AHVAZ, Iran A mother covers her daughters mouth and nose with her headscarf as they rush through the heavy smog that blankets a crowded street. She stops to cough, but then continues to walk while covering her own mouth with her free hand. Maryam and her daughter Mina are not the only ones struggling with the air in this southwestern Iranian city. For over two months, Ahvaz and its people have been choked by fires engulfing the Hawizeh Marshes that straddle the border with Iraq. Nearly two-thirds of the marshes are located in Iraq, with the rest not far from Ahvaz.
In mid-August, the governor of the town of Hawizeh, west of Ahvaz, said fumes and the smoke from flames originating on the Iraqi side of the marshes have sent over 250 people to the hospital. Things are not looking any better on the Iranian side of the border.
Dr. Shiva Akbari Fazli, who works in a hospital in Ahvaz, told Al-Monitor that her ward has received dozens of patients suffering from respiratory problems in past weeks. Many of the patients who come to our hospital are not aware of the conditions that they have," she said. "They are mostly people with allergies or asthma problems that had gone undiagnosed so far. Now with the smoke in the air, we see several cases of asthma attacks or skin problems like eczema. Even people without health conditions could get coughs or teary eyes, but the conditions could get critical when a patient has allergies or is asthmatic.
While patients prone to allergies or asthma are the most affected, others are also paying a price for the smoke. Azita Pourali, a 40-year-old mother of two, told Al-Monitor about her own traumatic experience. It was past midnight when the smell of something burning woke me up. It was so intense that I thought our apartment was on fire. I anxiously woke my husband up so we could evacuate the house with the children, but he knew what the smell was: It was the Hoor-ol-Azim fire, she said, using a local name for the Hawizeh Marshes.
Pourali said that while she never had any health conditions in the past, she has experienced several symptoms since that night: burning and itchy eyes, watery and running nose and eyes, headaches and a severe cough. While she believes that the Iranian authorities do not pay sufficient attention to the living conditions of people in Ahvaz and blames them for her health problems, Dr. Zahra Farajzadeh, an official with Khuzestan Province Health Center, believes that those in charge are doing all they can at this point. She told Al-Monitor, It seems like the Hawizeh fire is one of the priorities for the authorities, yet there isnt enough support for them to implement their projects.
Dr. Farajzadeh insisted that all Iranians ought to feel responsible for environmental challenges. My personal belief is that we are not that culturally rich when it comes to protecting and preserving the environment," she said. "I therefore think that [the challenge] is more about culturally educating the public than about the authorities tackling the environmental issues.
Indeed, whether the authorities are using all the tools at their disposal to tackle the fires is not the preeminent question. This is not the first time the Hawizeh Marshes have faced widespread fires. Similar catastrophic blazes have engulfed the natural reserve at least five times in the past, resulting in the destruction of a total of 28 million square meters of marshlands. Sadly, the Hawizeh Marshes are not the only natural reserve in Iran where such incidents have taken place. In August, over 5 million square meters of the Miankaleh wetlands in the northern province of Mazandaran were also burned in wildfires. Those wetlands are a part of an internationally acknowledged natural reserve that is home to various types of local and migrant birds, among other species. The jungles of Marivan in the northwestern province of Kurdistan are yet another natural reserve that has been destroyed by fires, with over 100,000 square meters of land burned to a crisp in less than two hours.
What makes Irans natural reserves prone to fire? In some cases, authorities have blamed locals, accusing them of littering flammable objects like shards of glass that can intensify sunlight and ignite fires. On Sept. 21, the authorities reported they put out a fire in the Hawizeh Marshes that had been started by two individuals. Terrorist groups have also allegedly played a role in some of the fires in the region. The armed Arab separatists of al-Ahwaziya, which has claimed responsibility for the recent attack on a military parade in Ahvaz, are among the groups that Iranian officials say have started fires in the past.
Maryam Safaripour, an expert in the field of agroecology with a research focus on environmental pollution, agrees that humans have played a role in these fires. But she has a different view on how direct the impact has been. She told Al-Monitor, I think human-induced climate change is one reason to blame in causing these fires. But as for why they spread out to have such catastrophic impacts, I think we do not see efficient responses from authorities when it comes to the prevention of environmental crises.
Due to their generally hot climate, Ahvaz and the southwestern province of Khuzestan endure droughts. Like much of the rest of Iran, the region faces a devastating water shortage. The latest statistics from the Ministry of Energy show that, in several provinces, aquifers are depleting. Many of Irans dams have also deteriorated, with up to 50% of their water supplies lost this year.
Irans drought and water crisis constitutes a major challenge, especially when issues are mismanaged or aggravated. Soil degradation is one issue. Many of the natural reserves that have been subject to wildfires in recent years suffered from weak vegetation, either due to undergrazing or overgrazing. On Aug. 22, Ali Bakhtiari, a member of the board of Irans Agricultural Commission, said the fires were a result of not allowing livestock to graze on the protected natural reserves. He said that grazing the land would rid the reserves of the dry vegetation that fuels the fires. This is while others believe that overgrazed farms are more prone to fires than intact natural reserves.
Other agricultural, urban and industrial misuses of land in Iran have played major roles as well. For instance, deforestation is another issue. In the past 40 years, Iran has lost 1 million hectares of its jungles.
Ramin Gorji, who has researched the environmental conditions of the Hawizeh Marshes, told Al-Monitor that the lack of interaction between the different governing bodies might have been a core cause of the recent fires. Unanimity does not exist in the Iranian governments management of crises," he said. "In general, and in many instances, different governing bodies want to exercise different solutions. This means that time will be wasted and if theres an ongoing fire, its bound to expand.
Most of the time, political squabbling in Israel starts just as war is breaking out. As soon as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) start plodding into Gaza, Cabinet members start lashing out at one another in an effort to prove to their right-wing base that if they had their way, the government would not allow Gaza to win. Sometimes, they manage to restrain themselves and leave the feuding until the next round of fighting dies down. Then there is the case at hand, with two ministers, Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, taking pot shots at each other even before the IDF sets off for another unnecessary round of fighting in the Gaza Strip. In this case, they are paying the bill even before theyve eaten their meal and in this case, they have good reason for doing so, especially Bennett.
Over the next few days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is supposed to decide whether he wants to advance Israels next election to the first quarter of the coming year. Bennett needs desperately to distinguish himself from Netanyahu, who isnt giving him as much as a foothold on the right. Meanwhile, Liberman is insisting that he continue to serve as defense minister in the next coalition, regardless of how many seats his party, Yisrael Beitenu, or Bennetts party, HaBayit HaYehudi, actually win. Netanyahu has already promised his coalition partners that they will keep the same positions in the next coalition. Thats not good enough for Bennett. He would much rather be the minister of defense, knowing that it is a necessary stepping stone on his path to the Prime Ministers Office.
Liberman describes Bennetts claims against his Gaza policy as messianic, but that is hardly precise. Bennett does have some reasoned arguments based on the situation on the ground. He is not calling on the IDF to invade Gaza. In fact, he is firmly opposed to sending ground troops in without any preset expectations. At the same time, he also knows that Netanyahu and Liberman are doing everything they can to protect Hamas, just so that it is not replaced with a unified Palestinian partner in the West Bank and Gaza. What concerns Bennett is that the deterrence that Israel has built up during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 has since been worn down.
What is happening now, Bennett explained this week in a conversation with Al-Monitor, is that rioters come right up to the fence, tear up several meters of it, penetrate Israeli territory, leave explosives and return to Gaza practically undisturbed. All the IDF ever does is shoot at their legs. The situation as it stands now is impossible. Liberman inherited a high level of deterrence and is leaving behind a scorched earth policy. I cant recall any precedent of the IDF receiving orders to shoot at their legs when terrorists are actually penetrating Israeli territory. It doesnt happen in the north. It doesnt happen in the center of the country. The only place it happens is Gaza. Why?
Bennett knows why. He knows that Liberman and Netanyahu are focused on the northern front. He knows that ever since the Great Return March the popular Gaza uprising by the border fence began last March, around 200 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more have been injured. He knows that another round of mass killing could ignite the Gaza Strip in seconds, which is exactly what Hamas wants. But he is outraged by the current approach.
What the other side is actually doing is branding these terrorists as kids with balloons, he said, referring to the ongoing campaign of incendiary balloons and kites launched from the Gaza Strip to the south of Israel. But the people launching them are not kids, and those are not balloons. They are terrorists with explosives, Molotov cocktails, incendiary and explosive-carrying balloons, and a variety of other means, which are becoming more and more dangerous. I expect the defense minister to get the entire system in line so that we can end this party. Ive been saying since day one that anyone who launches an incendiary balloon should be shot. Thats what any other sovereign state would do. If Hezbollah fighters infiltrated Israel tomorrow, they would be killed at once. The same thing should happen to Hamas.
You want to be defense minister, I said to Bennett. Thats the whole story, isnt it? Bennett did not deny his ambitions but claimed that they were irrelevant. I am fighting for my positions. I fought when there was reconciliation with Turkey [in 2016], but unfortunately, I did not succeed then. I fought the decision to take away the metal detectors installed at the entrance of the Temple Mount compound [in 2017], and I lost, but I did succeed on other issues. We prevented the government from releasing terrorists, and now we are fighting to ensure Israeli deterrence in Gaza. We are fighting to maintain Israels sovereignty.
The question that really embarrasses Bennett is why he insists on attacking the defense minister and not the prime minister himself. After all, Netanyahu is the final authority on all matters concerning policy. He can whip up Cabinet support and order the IDF to change its policies along the southern front. Netanyahu holds the keys, and while Bennett wont admit it, attacking Netanyahu now would be political suicide. The prime ministers strength among right-wing voters and even a significant part of the Israeli center is unprecedented. Bennett knows that he only stands to lose if he attacks Netanyahu, even if he does so with very detailed arguments from the right. He knows that Netanyahu will cannibalize him again in the rapidly approaching next round of elections. Bennett fears that the scenario of the last elections when Netanyahu managed to bring HaBayit HaYehudi supporters to vote for Netanyahus Likud will repeat itself. That is why Bennett must find himself another target that he can use to highlight and hone everything that distinguishes him from the other leaders of the Israeli right. His target is Avigdor Liberman.
Liberman doesnt really like his new status as Bennetts electoral punching bag and responds with everything he has in his arsenal. As aforementioned, he calls Bennett messianic. He exposes his political goals. He says that Bennett may attack the governments policies in the media, but he still votes for them and has an impact on the decision-making process within the Cabinet. Liberman is trying to build up a reputation as the pragmatic, sensible and sane right. The problem is that the space for this to the right of Netanyahu is too narrow for both Bennett and Liberman. This leaves them fighting like alligators over a pond that is rapidly drying up. They both know that one of them will eventually be forced to concede. What they are fighting over now is which one of them it will be.
More fox and raccoon attacks have been reported in the Fairhope area, the Alabama Department of Public Health announced Friday.
A woman was attacked by a fox at her home in a residential area of Fairhope when she went outside on her porch to feed her cat Wednesday, ADPH officials said. She was immediately attacked by the fox and was bitten on her calf and thumb, officials said. The fox was not caught.
On Thursday, another woman was bitten by a raccoon while she was in the parking lot of Thomas Hospital in Fairhope. Officials were able to catch the raccoon, which tested positive for rabies.
Both women have begun post-exposure rabies treatment that consists of series of injections as prophylactic treatment, officials said. Health officials recommend people bitten by animals that aren't proven to have rabies still undergo rabies treatment.
"Foxes have bitten seven people and two dogs in Baldwin County since May 21. This is especially disturbing since these incidents have occurred in densely populated areas," Environmental Director Greg Dunn, Southwestern District.
Rabies is usually transmitted by direct contact of infected saliva, usually through a bite or scratch. Other less common exposures can happen through contact with mucous membranes like the eyes, nose and mouth.
"Rabies prevention is multifaceted; it involves people taking precautions with wildlife, making sure their pets are current on rabies vaccinations, and always reporting an animal bite or other exposure to their medical provider or the health department," said State Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Dee W. Jones.
Area residents are advised to take the following precautions to avoid possible exposure to rabies:
Do not allow pets to run loose; confine them within a fenced-in area or with a leash.
Do not leave uneaten pet food or scraps near your residence.
Do not illegally feed or keep wildlife as pets.
Do not go near wildlife or domestic animals that are acting in a strange or unusual manner.
Caution children not to go near any stray or wild animal, regardless of its behavior.
Advise children to tell an adult if they are bitten or scratched by any animal.
A person who is bitten or scratched by an animal should wash wounds immediately with mild soap and water, apply first aid, and seek medical attention or contact the county health department immediately.
Alabama state law requires that dogs, cats and ferrets 12 weeks of age and older be current with rabies vaccination. Rabies vaccines are also available for horses and other livestock if recommended by a veterinarian. Vaccinating animals reduces the risk of rabies infection should an exposure occur, which helps protect animals, as well as their owners and caretakers.
For more information about rabies and prevention, please contact the Baldwin County Health Department at (251) 947-3618. You may also call ADPH at 1-800-338-8374 or (334) 206-5100 or visit http://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/infectiousdiseases/rabies.
Law enforcement leaders taking part in a national initiative to reduce violent crime said an effective strategy in Alabama has been to steer the worst offenders to federal court where there's no chance of parole after a conviction.
State, federal and local officials held a news conference today at the U.S. attorney's office in Montgomery to mark the one-year anniversary of an anti-crime initiative spearheaded by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
They said the program, Project Safe Neighborhoods, has built effective partnerships between federal, state and local crime-fighters that are getting results. A key step, they say, is using federal firearms laws and the certainty of prison terms to put criminal ringleaders out of commission.
Project Safe Neighborhoods aims to root out the worst offenders, including those involved in drugs and organized crime rings that fuel violence.
David Hyche, the ATF agent in charge of Alabama, said those hardened offenders are generally unafraid of prosecution in state courts because of the expectation of parole.
"If a criminal is arrested and they think they're going into the state system in Alabama, it's not a great tool to use to try to get cooperation because they know they're not going to be there long," Hyche said. "And often they use that as a badge of honor, 'Hey, I just served time.' There's no fear."
There's no parole in the federal system. Offenders serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.
"There's great fear when somebody is sentenced to 15 years and they determine they have no parole," Hyche said.
Hyche said law enforcement can use that certainty of prison time to gain cooperation from offenders in tracking down the sources of guns used in crimes and targeting organized crime.
"And there are criminal organizations that are violent operating in the state of Alabama," Hyche said.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama Richard Moore speaks at a news conference on Project Safe Neighborhoods, a Department of Justice Initiative to target the worst criminal offenders, partly through prosecutions on firearms charges. (Mike Cason/mcason@al.com)
The three U.S. attorneys for Alabama, Louis Franklin of the Middle District, Jay Town of the Northern District and Richard Moore of the Southern District, said the partnerships with state and local police are working.
Franklin said he worked on Project Safe Neighborhoods when it was started under Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2001. He said the program has been revitalized under Sessions. A key component, Franklin said, is using firearms laws to go after some of the worst offenders, such as felons who have lost their gun rights but still use firearms.
"Drug traffickers who possess and use firearms do so for three reasons," Franklin said. "To protect their drugs. To protect their assets. And to protect themselves while they're trafficking in illegal narcotics.
Franklin said Project Safe Neighborhoods helped Montgomery achieve a 16 percent drop in violent crime in May but said there is more work to do.
Town said Project Safe Neighborhoods applies a philosophy similar to what authorities used when they prosecuted renowned gangster Al Capone for tax evasion in the 1930s.
An example of that approach, he said, would be obtaining a federal conviction and 33-month prison sentence on a firearms charge for a criminal ringleader. That person might be guilty of more serious crimes, but the gun charge offers a more certain route to prosecution and takes the offender off the streets for a time.
"We give those citizens in that neighborhood, that community, their neighborhood back, they're the rightful owners, for that 33 months," Town said. "That's better than nothing. That's better than hoping that we can put an actual homicide case or a shooting case or some other violent crime case on that individual."
In the Southern District of Alabama, the U.S. Attorney's Office has charged 192 cases with 205 defendants in federal gun crimes in the past 12 months, a Department of Justice news release said.
Statistics from the Mobile Police Department showed that from Jan. 1, through the end of September, violent crime dropped by 1.7 percent, criminal homicides dropped by 34.4 percent and robberies dropped by 9.4 percent, the news release said.
Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey, one of the officials at the news conference, said Alabama's reliance on federal prosecutions is unacceptable.
"It is really embarrassing for me to stand back here and listen to all the great things that they're doing, and I applaud them because they're doing great things," Bailey said. "But it's embarrassing that the feds have to come in and save us. We should be doing that for ourselves. But we don't have anybody who has the courage to do that right now in the state of Alabama, in my opinion.
"Nobody is stepping forward and saying we need to do something about it and we need to do something about it immediately."
Bailey restated concerns he had expressed earlier this week. On Thursday, his office released a letter he wrote to Gov. Kay Ivey asking her to investigate what he said was the alarming rate of paroles for violent offenders granted by the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Bailey said sentencing reforms passed by the Legislature in recent years has lowered the proportion of Alabama state prisoners who are nonviolent offenders. Bailey said the reforms were needed. But he said the result has been that the remaining prison population is made up mostly of violent offenders.
Because Alabama's prisons are overcrowded, Bailey said he believes the parole board is under pressure to grant parole for violent offenders.
"That's the only rational explanation I can give," Bailey said. "Because why else would a parole board be doing what they're doing right now?"
Darrell Morgan, an assistant director for the Board of Pardons and Paroles who handles media relations for the agency, referred AL.com to a statement issued earlier this week:
"The Agency's position is we do not have data showing a dramatic increase in violent inmates being considered for parole prior to their original set date. If such data exists from another entity, we would be happy to analyze their numbers. There have been no procedure changes that would generate an increase in cases considered fitting your description."
Morgan said he expected the board to have additional response next week.
Daniel Sparkman, spokesman for Ivey, said the governor plans to meet with Attorney General Steve Marshall and a member of the parole board on Oct. 15. On Thursday, Sparkman said Ivey had met with the victims' advocacy group VOCAL about its concerns.
Moveable feasts
Anil Jaiswal, 35, makes egg rolls for a living, which he sells for Rs 100 a piece in Thamel, on a cart no larger than an ice cream trolley. On this cart is an old, greasy stove, a chopping board, a few egg cartons, some dough in a container, and a large plastic bag with vegetablestomatoes, cabbage, green chillies, onions, carrots. This small cart is Jaiswals only means of income, with which he feeds his family of four.
The State Board of Veterans Affairs voted Friday to proceed with a plan to build a fifth state veterans home in Alabama.
It will be in southeast Alabama, but a site has not been determined. The designated region includes Barbour, Butler, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Pike counties.
A feasibility study found that Alabama needs a fifth state veterans home and recommended placing it in the southeastern district.
The Veterans Homes Committee of the State Board of Veterans Affairs received a presentation on the report Wednesday and voted to recommend the board move ahead with building a home with up to 175 beds.
The board unanimously adopted that recommendation today, said Ken Rollins, chairman of the Veterans Home Committee. Rollins said the next steps include determining a site and applying for a federal grant to help pay for the facility. Rollins said the state's four existing veterans homes were all built on donated land.
Those homes are in Alexander City, Huntsville, Bay Minette and Pell City. They provide nursing home level care and care for veterans with dementia and similar conditions. The home in Pell City, the newest, also provides assisted living-type care. It opened in 2012.
There are waiting lists of at least 80 war time veterans for admission to the homes. There are 354 war time veterans on the waiting list for the Colonel Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home in Pell City.
The U.S. Veterans Administration has two long-term care facilities in the state.
A Florida man was arrested this week after he allegedly threatened to kill Senators who didn't support Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
James Royal Patrick Jr. was arrested Wednesday by the Polk County, Florida Sheriff's Office on charges of making written threats to kill or injure, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The arrest came after a tip about a post Patrick, 53, made on his Facebook page.
In the post, Patrick allegedly threatened to shoot Senators and their families based on their confirmation vote. He also reportedly threatened law enforcement that might respond to his home.
"Getting ready if Kav is not confirmed," Patrick wrote on his public Facebook page. "Whoever I think is to blame may God have mercy on their soul...just cleaned out the gun shop where I get guns ammo and target practice....bought all their 50 cal hollow points. I expect to be confirmed and I will be ready to kill and ready to die."
His posts specifically mentioned Democrats and "weak Republicans," saying those that do not vote for their controversial Supreme Court nominee "need to pay with their lives."
Deputies said they found a rifle, handgun and ammunition while searching Patrick's home in Winter Haven.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Department, Patrick admitted to making the comments but said he had no intention of carrying out the threats and didn't name a specific lawmaker so he "thought he could get away with it."
Patrick is being held in the Pole County Jail on $500,000 bail.
One person was flown to Huntsville Hospital for treatment after being shot in front of a home in downtown Sheffield, authorities said.
The shooting happened on Blake Street, just south of Atlanta Ave. Sheffield police said the shooting happened 8:20 p.m. Friday, AL.com news partner WHNT News 19 reported.
The victim was taken from Helen Keller Hospital to Huntsville Hospital via medical helicopter, police said. The victim's condition was unknown.
Further details about the shooting were not immediately available.
The boat looks like some kind of space capsule.
The guys planning to row it across 3,000 miles of Navy territory are all from the Army and the English voice on the phone really likes the futuristic-looking tactical tomahawk labeled "anti-piracy measure."
"I'm a big fan," says the disembodied voice of Ian Couch, who has been scrutinizing piles of adventure gear via a trans-Atlantic cellphone video connection. "I've got boat envy now. You've got all the toys."
Couch mentions that hatchets used to be custom gear, ostensibly because they were handy if someone got trapped in a damaged hull and a hatch had to be chopped open. He says something about having had to outlaw spearguns out of concern that racers might point them, however playfully, at competitors.
Between his accent and the distance of the connection, it's hard to say to what extent Couch is joking. Overall, however, it's clear that he's making sure an extremely hazardous venture is being undertaken with all due respect for details that could mean not just success or failure, but life or death.
The boat is the Woobie, a lightweight craft whose odd form is dictated by its highly specialized function. Four U.S. military veterans -- team Fight Oar Die -- are competing in the 2018 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, which calls for competitors to cross from the Canary Islands to Antigua & Barbuda. The Woobie has no mast, no propeller, no clever motivating tech. This is a 3,000-mile, open-ocean rowboat race.
Team Fight Oar Die bills itself as "the first-ever all-American, Military Veteran, ocean rowing team to race across the Atlantic Ocean." The intensity of the challenge matches the enormity of the cause they're trying to promote: Awareness of the post-traumatic stress disorder and other post-combat hardships that trouble military personnel after their service. (Fight Oar Die maintains a fundraising site also focused on the issue.)
Inside the Woobie's tiny cabins, well-wishers have written words of encouragement. "The trip ahead is a huge challenge," wrote one, "But not as big as the one you are bringing awareness to. God Bless You."
One team member, Bryant Knight, has family in Mobile who are members of Buccaneer Yacht Club, and that's why the Woobie and the rest of its crew -- Alex Evans, Beau Maier and Christopher Kuntz -- made Buccaneer their base of operations for a critical period in late September and early October.
As Evans and Kuntz conducted a "layout" of their gear for Couch's appraisal on Friday, that time was almost at an end. The Woobie was soon to be trailered to Charleston, there to be loaded into a shipping container for transfer to the race's starting harbor in San Sebastian de La Gomera. In late November, the crew will follow.
The race starts Dec. 12. According to its website, 29 teams ranging from solo rowers to five-person squads will participate. Last year a four-man team set a new record by doing it in a mere 29 days.
Being a little crazy might help in a venture like this, but that doesn't mean you want to be stupid about it. That's where Couch comes in. He's a rower himself, having earned several Guinness World Records in such events, and he's also the head safety & duty officer for Atlantic Campaigns SL, the company running the race.
On the face of it, the layout is a chance for him to inventory Fight Oar Die's equipment, to make sure that they've got everything the rules require and everything they might reasonably need, and to verify that the Woobie is properly outfitted.
This proceeds methodically, taking well over an hour, as Evans turns his phone's camera toward whatever is next on Couch's checklist. At one point they spend a few minutes focusing on the antenna bar across the top of the forward cabin, zeroing in on the exact spot where Couch wants a race tracking beacon to be attached. "We'll be using that to monitor your position minute by minute," he says.
That sorted, they move on. "Okay, grab lines, external grab lines around the boat," commands the phone. Evans and Kuntz climb off the boat again and display the stout lines rigged along its flanks. Should anyone find themselves in the water, they'll have something to get a grip on. The process continues for the literal boatload of stuff laid out under the Buccaneer clubhouse: food, tools, satellite phones, safety harnesses, emergency gear, more. Couch is impressed that the toilet bucket has a lid that incorporates a seat. He notes Evans's comment that you don't necessarily have to heat the water you put in the dehydrated camping meal packs, you can just use cold water and let them soak a while. "Eating them without heating them up just reminds me of MREs," says Evans.
As the process moves on, it's clear that this also is a chance for Couch to sound out the team's fighting stance. He asks how their trial runs have gone, what their duty rotation will be. Most teams use a two-hour rotation, but Fight Oar Die plans to go with three-hour shifts. They also plan to have two guys rowing most of the time, adding a third when conditions require more horsepower.
Kuntz says that approach worked well on a recent 24-hour run in the Gulf of Mexico. Coming back into Dauphin Island, the Woobie faced contrary winds and tidal flow. Two men weren't able to make much headway, but three could push on through.
"We muscled into it," says Kuntz. "It was a good lesson learned to us."
Kuntz, looking on as Evans handles most of the conversation with Couch, says that the three-hour rotation is a product of the team's association with a specialized program at the University of Denver graduate school of psychology, the Sturm Specialty in Military Psychology. The university describes this as the only non-governmental U.S. clinical psychology graduate program focusing on veterans' issues.
"We have a few doctors following us," Kuntz says. "They suggested a three-on, three-off cycle because it gives us a better sleep cycle." A guy who's not rowing has one hour to take care of business and two to sleep. Business includes tending the water system that will turn saltwater into something the crew can drink. "We're probably always going to be at a hydration deficit out there," Kuntz says.
The association with the University of Denver program is a big plus, Kuntz says, but there's another side of it that brings out quiet frustration in his voice. After 18 years of war, he says, with a generation of soldiers struggling with PTSD and vulnerable to an epidemic of suicide, shouldn't there be many more such programs he asks? Shouldn't the issue be getting a lot more practical attention?
"But that's why we're here," he says.
The layout goes on. Couch asks if the team has a spare rudder (it doesn't), then suggests including hardware that would allow another component to be used as an emergency rudder if necessary.
"One of the things I advise is to look at ways of improvising a rudder if in a worst-case scenario you lose your rudder," he says. "It's kind of a MacGyver way ... It's not a rule requirement, but it's something you can do which will potentially save you a lot of trouble."
In his advice there's a recurrent theme: Salt creates problems for skin, and if people exerting themselves continuously in a saltwater environment don't take proper care of themselves, hygiene issues turn into medical issues. The Woobie is well stocked with baby wipes. "Every time you come off the oars, you wipe yourself down with a wet wipe," says Couch.
Some of his advice is both practical and psychological. Crews should record their positions every day as a matter of course. By way of filling the session's quota for British understatement, he recommends they don't mark it on their charts every day.
"If you do it more than every three days, it's too depressing," he says. "The dots aren't very far apart."
Kuntz says the team understands the scope of the effort it will have to put forth to prevail. One measure: The Woobie will carry 48 days of rations, plus 12 days of emergency rations. It's taken the four men two years to get to this point, he says, and they know their mission.
"You're fighting the two worst enemies," he says. "Yourself and Mother Nature."
This is an opinion column.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court has been a political slobberknocker. From the moment Trump nominated Kavanaugh, Democrats planned to reject him because they understand the political stakes in replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. So do Republicans. Most Senate Republicans likely intended to support Trump's nominee come hell or high water. We'll keep trading political blows, but deciding Kavanaugh's confirmation with a vote is a testament that our republic still works.
As I've watched this proceeding, progressives have absolutely hammered anyone who so much as considers a vote to confirm Kavanaugh as a rational choice. Democrats cast questions about the accusations against Kavanaugh as evidence that Republicans don't take sexual assault seriously. If there's even a non-zero chance of misconduct, the political left demands senators reject Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh's life isn't ruined if he's not confirmed. He would continue to serve as an appellate judge. That doesn't mean the Senate should concede that uncorroborated allegations are enough to derail nominees. Assuming that a nominee isn't charged with a crime, Senators are left with a judgment call over which our elected officials may disagree passionately--particularly in consequential situations like Supreme Court confirmations.
Information that allegedly speaks to a lack of character should absolutely be considered by the Senate. Each senator decides the appropriate weight those allegations deserve. That may indeed mean arguing about how much alcohol a nominee drinks and whether we have a shared national definition of a "Devil's Triangle." Sometimes those exchanges won't be particularly dignified, but sometimes we aren't either.
I've seen enough of this to know that Republicans wouldn't be any more high minded if the shoe were on the other foot. If Hillary Clinton were appointing a nominee for confirmation by a Democratic-controlled Senate, Republicans would be howling, looking for every shred of incriminating information, and accusing Democrats of trying to rush to a vote.
The confirmation process itself demonstrates that placing people in high offices is a tough decision which needs additional oversight. If this process were easy, the Constitution's framers might have allowed the president to unilaterally select Supreme Court justices. The "advice and consent" power of the United States Senate is more than legislative window dressing.
Votes are how Americans sort out divisive political issues. It's what makes us unique. The vast majority of us don't resort to violence when we lose in politics. Why? Because we have the opportunity to actually change our representation at the next election.
If enough moderate Republicans defect to deny Kavanaugh's confirmation, I'm not going to go attack my friends celebrating such a result. If Kavanaugh is confirmed, I don't expect progressives to storm my home and beat my family. Such reactions rightly seem extreme to most of us. We should keep it that way. Our unruly and increasingly uncivil political culture remains radically preferable to so many regimes around the world.
When the dust settles after the confirmation vote, Democrats can work tirelessly to unseat all the Republican senators who voted for Kavanaugh. Republicans will try to stop them and pick up seats of their own. The talking heads will continue to vent on cable news, and social media will host the latest outrage of the hour. Thankfully, our Constitution protects our ability to engage in all of those activities. Whether we're on the winning side or not, letting votes decide our politics is about as American as it gets.
Cameron Smith is a regular columnist for AL.com and vice president for the R Street Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
This weekend, the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) meets in Glasgow for its fall conference.
After more than a decade in power at Holyrood Scotlands devolved parliament in Edinburgh the party continues to defy all the established rules of mainstream politics.
It is still riding high in the polls; its leader, Nicola Sturgeon, remains Scotlands most commanding politician; and, in the event of a snap Westminster election, it would stand a good chance of reversing the losses it suffered last year at the hands of Labour and the Tories.
However, in recent months, the remarkable durability of Scottish nationalism has come under increasing strain. The SNP faces two significant, even potentially critical, challenges.
The first relates to independence: Sturgeon has to decide whether or not to stage a second referendum on separation from the UK. The first, in September 2014, returned a close-run victory for the union.
For a while, her plan was to hold indyref2 shortly before Britain leaves the EU in the spring of next year, with the aim of rescuing Scotlands membership of the European bloc.
But the rapid shift in favour of independence that Brexit was expected to provoke among Scotlands staunchly europhile electorate simply never materialised.
As a result, Sturgeon has been forced to reassess her strategy, leaving many nationalist campaigners waiting anxiously for a poll that could be delayed for years or, indeed, called at a moments notice.
The second and arguably more acute problem for the SNP is the #MeToo controversy that currently surrounds Sturgeons predecessor, Alex Salmond.
Over the summer, it emerged that two separate allegations of sexual misconduct had been made against Salmond by Scottish government staff members dating back to his time as SNP leader and Scottish first minister.
Unhappy with the way the claims had been handled internally by civil servants, Salmond launched a dramatic legal action against his successors government. He then abruptly quit the SNP and set up a crowd-funder to cover his legal costs which directly, and perhaps cynically, linked his fate to that of the Scottish independence movement as a whole.
The fallout from this decision has, to put it mildly, divided nationalist opinion. Some activists believe Salmond is trying to leverage his political clout in an attempt to intimidate his accusers, while others including senior party figures see him as the victim of an opaque anti-nationalist conspiracy; the crowd-funder raised $131,200 in three days before Salmond closed off donations.
Sturgeon, whose working relationship with Salmond stretches back to the 1990s, has dealt with the issue as sensitively as possible. The complaints should not be swept aside because of the identity of the person involved, she said at the outset of the crisis, in reference to her ex-boss, and the ongoing police investigation into Salmonds conduct must be fair to all parties concerned.
Nonetheless, the SNP now finds itself in a deeply uncomfortable position: just as the UK governments Brexit negotiations with the EU reach the breaking point and grassroots demands for a second independence referendum escalate, the party has been plunged into a bitter dispute over the behaviour of its talismanic former leader.
Sturgeon is grappling with obstacles on the domestic policy front, too.
Last month, one of her administrations flagship education reforms standardised testing for pupils in their first year of primary school was defeated in parliament.
And a recent report into the economics of independence commissioned by the SNP and led by Andrew Wilson, a private sector lobbyist with close ties to the party leadership, came under heavy fire from the left for its putative commitment to spending constraints and fiscal discipline.
All these factors have contributed to a growing sense of restlessness and inertia among supporters of Scottish independence.
In the absence of a clear roadmap to national sovereignty, the so-called Yes coalition that brought Scotland within touching distance of independence four years ago has retreated back into its respective ideological subgroups.
In particular, the gap between traditional nationalists who view independence as key to the survival of Scottish cultural identity and left-wing activists who see it in more practical terms as a constitutional mechanism for social and economic change has never been more obvious or entrenched.
This matters because, until now, unity had been the cornerstone of nationalist success.
In the face of concerted attacks by the British political and media establishments, SNP campaigners remained rigidly focused on one thing: independence, even as other major UK parties notably, the Conservatives over Brexit and Labour over Jeremy Corbyns leadership collapsed into acrimony.
It would be an exaggeration to say that unity had vanished completely: dozens of autonomous Yes groups are still active across Scotland and the SNP is conducting a series of member-led national assemblies in a bid to coordinate planning for the next referendum, if and when it arrives.
But the adhesive is visibly beginning to wear off. And if the independence movement splinters apart now, no one, not even Nicola Sturgeon, will find it easy to piece back together again.
The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Nepal, Canada bilateral body holds first meet
The first meeting of Nepal-Canada Bilateral Consultation Mechanism was held at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development in Ottawa, Canada, on Friday.
Brazil election: Is Haddad the former presidents puppet?
Fernando Haddad has little time to convince the undecided that he is not the puppet of the imprisoned former president whom he replaced on the ballot.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Sitting in a small and airless living room on the edge of northern Rio de Janeiros winding Acari favela, Christian Lucas Fonsecas mother says she is worried.
Theres no opportunity for young people, Ana Paula Lucas Fonseca, 45, says.
Its very difficult and a lot of mothers have lost hope because they cant control it (their childrens future).
Christian left school prematurely nearly a year ago after missing too many classes. He has since faced the daunting prospect of trying to find work amid the sparse opportunities in Brazils stuttering economy.
For now, like millions of other young Brazilians, 18-year-old Christian is unemployed in a country suffering from an economic hangover that followed its worst recession in recorded history.
Unemployment within the general population stands at above 12 percent, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), but among those aged 18-24 the jobless rate leaps to 26.6 percent.
Im trying to find work but Im feeling very unmotivated. I keep going after it but it doesnt work out, Christian says, adding that he aspires to go into the army and move up through the ranks.
And with elections looming, one of the pressing issues concerning young voters regardless of who wins is ensuring there are more jobs and other opportunities.
Youth lost the most
Brazils recession, which began in mid-2014, saw the economy contract sharply from 2015-2016, shrinking by nearly eight percent.
Economists speculate the downturn was linked to a variety of factors, including a fall in the global commodity prices, which had previously fuelled an economic boom in Brazil from 2000-2012, domestic fiscal decision-making and several high-level corruption scandals that prompted market uncertainty.
What is clear, however, is that the biggest losers during the slump were young people, according to Macelo Cortes Neri, head of the Center for Social Research at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) higher education institute.
The youth lost the most right from the beginning of the crisis, Neri says, pointing to significant falls in income rates among people aged 15-24 in the four years after 2014 compared with the overall population.
[And] this crisis is deep and long and has a very long and shy recovery process.
More than 12 percent of Brazilians are jobless, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics [File: Paulo Whitaker/Reuters]
Despite growing modestly again last year, the Brazilian economy remains in fragile health and weak growth is prompting little optimism from young Brazilians about their future prospects.
According to the National Confederation of Brazilian Industry, fear of unemployment peaks at 68.6 percent among those aged 16-24 and falls through every older age group until 55 and above.
Since September 2017, around the time Brazil officially exited recession, the number has risen by three percent.
Educational divides
Inextricable from prospects for employment is education.
More than 21 percent of Brazilians who fail to finish high school are jobless, according to IBGE.
Unemployment among those who complete university studies, by comparison, is 6.3 percent.
Wellington Costa, 19, from underprivileged northern Rios Iraja neighbourhood, is hoping to transition from the former group into the latter.
Hes trying to finish high school and plans to go proceed on to university to study engineering.
But hes currently having to balance his schooling with odd jobs, commonly known in Brazil as be cools, in order to make money to support his family.
I feel unsatisfied, it sucks, but I need to keep doing what I must to survive, Wellington, whos dreamed of making submarines since the age of five, says.
My financial situation has always been like this, independent of whatever the government is or whether theres a recession or not, he adds.
The people writing about unemployment and putting together the data are all in good financial condition and dont really think about how things are affecting the poorer, working classes.
Aspiring engineer Wellington Costa, 19, is balancing education with work [David Child/Al Jazeera]
According to Neri, Brazilian officials could do more to support young people like Wellington through school and in finding jobs.
In terms of education policy, everything after high school is about going to university, but only a few go to university, Neri says.
We dont have an agenda for the young in terms of professional education [and] youth becomes a problem when it should be the solution [for the economy].
Squeezed middle class
Even those who have undertaken higher education, however, have not been immune from Brazils economic crisis.
About 30km south of Acari, in the tree-lined avenues of the largely middle-class Botafogo neighbourhood, sisters Aline and Leticia Domingues da Rosa, both graduates of the Rio-based prestigious, private Pontifical Catholic University, are also feeling the effects of the downturn and a subsequent slow and stuttering recovery.
Leticia, 27, was laid-off from her job at a radio station last year as part of severe cutbacks.
Along with Aline, 28, she now runs a homemade baking business producing cookies, cakes and other confectionaries.
The enterprise has leaned on financial support from the wider family and the sisters own savings.
Neither express any confidence they will be able to find work if the business fails to get off the ground.
The end of the recession wont be felt yet, in the long run, things might get better, but at the moment, I dont see anything getting better, Leticia says.
If I had the money, I would leave Brazil in a heartbeat.
Aline Domingues da Rosa, 28, sells cookies, cakes and other confectionaries [David Child/Al Jazeera]
Half of all Brazilians aged between 25-34 would like to change countries if they could, according to a survey published by polling institute Datafolha in June.
Among those 16 to 24 years old, the number rises 62 percent.
Election approaching
The disenchantment that has seemingly gripped many young Brazilians comes as the country is set to vote on Sunday as part of national and state-level elections.
At stake are more than 1,650 positions, including the presidency.
Presidential frontrunner candidates far-right Jair Bolsonaro and leftist Workers Party contender Fernando Haddad, who replaced former widely popular former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva last month after he was barred from running in the vote, have presented widely different proposals for kick-starting Brazils economy.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has pledged to cut red tape and minimise the size of the state through privatisation.
Haddad, a former mayor of metropolis Sao Paulo and minister of education under Lula, has vowed to cut taxes for Brazils lowest earners and boost employment.
Despite leading opinion polls in the run-up to Sundays vote, both also have high rejection rates among the electorate.
Costa is one of a number of Brazilians not convinced by either candidate.
The election doesnt have much of an impact on me, things are bad and difficult regardless of who wins, so Im going to vote null, he says.
For Leticia, meanwhile, none of the candidates present a solution for the economy.
But in Acari, where a light flickers momentarily and then sparks into life following a power cut, Christian speaks with aspiration about the future.
I dont know much about politics, and I dont know who would be the best politician [But] I hope things will get better after the election, Christian, who didnt register to vote, says.
I want a permanent, fixed job. Thats how I will be able to go up in life.
Peoples Development Front and Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon join forces as they try to unseat President Biya.
Two Cameroonian opposition parties have agreed to form a coalition in an effort to dislodge six-term President Paul Biya in Sundays presidential polls.
The announcement on Friday confirms rumours of an opposition manoeuver to try to defeat 85-year-old Biya but the new union will not include the main opposition Social Democratic Fronts hopeful Joshua Osih.
Akere Muna, leader of the Peoples Development Front (FDP) agreed to withdraw his candidacy and to support Maurice Kamto who is the leader of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), Munas spokesman said in a statement.
On Friday, Kamtos party alleged that a massive fraud was under way to ensure the sitting president wins a seventh term.
Kamtos campaign chief Paul-Eric Kingue said efforts to rig Sundays ballot had the blessing of the electoral commission.
We wont accept any result if this kind of fraud continues, he said at a media briefing by Kamtos MRC in the capital Yaounde.
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Cameroons authorities have long faced accusations of unfairly favouring Biya, one of Africas longest-serving rulers, who won 78 percent of votes in the polls that took place in 2011.
They were described as flawed by observers and the opposition.
Cameroon will place a ban on internal travel by road, rail and air from 17:00 GMT on Saturday until the conclusion of voting.
The borders of the central African nation of 25 million people will also be sealed 48 hours before voting day, according to a decree seen by the AFP news agency.
Kamtos MRC has alleged that polling cards have been forged and that voter registration has continued despite the process being officially closed.
In 62 percent of areas, the [ruling] Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement party is still adding names to the voter roll, said Kingue. Were not preparing for war, but wherever there is fraud, there will be a firm response.
Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in a statement that measures have been taken to prevent any actions that might create violence or disorder around the elections.
He added that political figures linked to foreign interests were preparing groups of agitators to stir up violence in the event that the results dont go their way.
The minister did not specify who he was referring to.
By attempting to spread chaos, they risk being unpleasantly surprised, he said. The authorities would not tolerate any disorder before, during or after the presidential vote, he added.
Biya has been in power for 35 years and now faces seven opposition contenders following Munas withdrawal. The opposition frontrunners are Osih and Kamto.
The agency has officially asked China for information about the disappearance of the Meng Hongwei on a trip to China.
The International Criminal Political Investigation (Interpol) has officially asked China for information regarding the disappearance of the agencys President Meng Hongwei on a trip to China.
However, the Chinese government has not said anything publicly yet about Mengs disappearance.
His disappearance was made public on Friday, when French authorities said they were opening an investigation to find out what happened to Meng, a Chinese national who served a lengthy term as the vice minister for public security.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post newspaper, Meng was taken in for questioning by Chinese authorities. The paper, which based its reporting on an unnamed source, said the reason for Mengs questioning was unknown.
Interpol said in a tweet that the case was a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China.
Mengs disappearance was originally reported by his wife, who told French police in the city of Lyon she had not heard from him since he travelled to China.
Meng was last seen in Lyon, Interpols home base, late September.
Al Jazeeras Adrian Brow, reporting from Beijing, said Chinas silence is a reflection of how sensitive this case is.
So far China has said absolutely nothing about the disappearance of Meng Hongwei. State-controlled media is so far not reporting this story either and any mention of his name on social media is being deleted, he said.
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That is I think a reflection of how sensitive this case is.
According to Interpols website, Meng has nearly 40 years of experience in criminal justice and policing, and has overseen matters related to legal institutions, narcotics control and counterterrorism.
Following the appointment, critics suggested that Mengs appointment gave Beijing a chance to enlist more international help in tracking down alleged economic criminals, including corrupt officials, targeted by President Xi Jinpings anti-corruption campaign.
But Interpol has, in the past, denied this, saying its head does not intervene in day-to-day operations, which are handled by secretary-general Juergen Stock who is German.
Operation Fox Hunt
Al Jazeeras Brown added that Meng was vice minister of the Public Security Bureau prior to his Interpol appointment and that made him a very powerful man.
For some context, [Mengs] boss is a man who was jailed for corruption. Zhou Yongkang was the J Edgar Hoover of Chinese politics, he was the security tzar of China, he said.
Then, in 2016, another vice minister of public security was jailed for corruption, so there is a pattern emerging. It is quite possible that Meng found himself on the wrong side of the political divide in China, at a time when President Xi Jinping is intensifying his crackdown on corruption.
The Chinese clampdown on corruption, known as Operation Fox Hunt, has led to claims in some countries that Chinese law enforcement agents have been operating covertly on their soil without the approval or consent of local authorities.
Some critics also view the campaign as a way for President Xi to purge the party of political foes. Since it began, several top officials have been detained and charged with crimes including severe disciplinary violations, a phrase that usually refers to corruption.
DR Congo: Six dead in Beni after suspected ADF attack
Witnesses say a group of armed fighters killed four soldiers and two civilians in North Kivu near the border with Uganda.
Officials say at least 50 killed after oil tanker collided with vehicle in Mbuba village, 200km southwest of Kinshasa.
At least 50 people were killed and more than 100 sustained burns after an oil tanker collided with a bus on a highway in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to witnesses and officials, villagers had rushed to collect the leaking fuel when it caught fire on Saturday.
We have about 50 dead and a 100 people have suffered second-degree burns, Atou Matabuana, the interim governor of Kongo Central region, said.
Officials were preparing to identify the charred bodies and bury them, Matubuana added.
The accident occurred in the village of Mbuba, not far from Kisantu city and about 200km southwest of the capital, Kinshasa. Kisantu is on the main highway between the capital and the countrys Matadi seaport.
Overloaded trucks carrying goods as well as oil tankers regularly ply this highway.
A doctor at the Saint-Luc hospital told AFP that they had taken in many patients for the most part with second-degree burn injuries.
We are trying to help them, we are trying to rehydrate them but sadly there are those who are dying, Doctor Tresor said.
Two mobile clinics are evacuating the injured, he said.
The UNs Okapi radio said the flames spread rapidly engulfing nearby houses.
Matabuana said that the government has taken measures to take charge of all the victims.
But photographs on social media showed the injured being transported on motorbikes and private cars. A witness said he had not seen any ambulance at the site.
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No ambulance and no hospital worthy of its name in Kisantu. Preventing this kind of disaster, lets just not speak about it said the pro-democracy movement Lucha (Struggle for Change) in a tweet.
The UN mission in DR Congo, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, said it had sent nine ambulances to the spot to evacuate the injured.
In 2010, more than 200 people were killed when a tanker truck overturned and burned in DR Congos South Kivu province. Many of the victims had been trying to collect the leaking fuel when it caught fire.
A forensic report revealed Greek polices failure to prevent the murder of Pavlos Fyssas by far-right Golden Dawn party.
By
Judge Kavanaugh looks poised to ascend to the Supreme Court, but there could be a price for supporting the nominee.
The US Senate is expected to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as the next Supreme Court judge, offering President Donald Trump a big political win and tilting the nations high court decidedly to the right.
The Senate vote, expected on Saturday afternoon, will bring an end to a nomination process defined by harrowing testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who said Kavanaugh groped her and tried to remove her clothing when they were both teenagers. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
A contentious Senate committee hearing, during which Ford testified, led to a limited FBI investigation into the allegations.
Kavanaughs confirmation was all but sealed on Friday when he won the support of key Senate Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona, as well as that of West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin.
Their statements of support brought the number of senators supporting Kavanaugh to 51 in the 100-member chamber.
Manchin said he was voting in favour of Kavanaugh because it what is best for West Virginia. He is running for re-election this year in a traditionally Republican state.
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Collins looks poised to fight a tough re-election campaign in 2020 because of her decision to back Kavanaugh.
A crowdfunding effort for her challenger who has not been selected raised well over two million dollars. The money will only be collected if Collins votes to confirm Kavanaugh. Collins called the campaign bribery.
All eyes were also on the decision of Democrat Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who is also running for re-election in a traditionally Republican state. Last year, Heitkamp, along with Manchin and one other Democrat supported Neil Gorsuch, Trumps first Supreme Court pick. Heitkamp, however, announced on Wednesday she would be voting no on Kavanaugh.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, which has the highest rate of sexual assault in the US, has indicated that she will vote against Kavanaugh, the only Republican to do so.
The Supreme Court nominee is assumed to be an anti-abortion rights choice for the court. According to a Washington-based news site The Hill, many anti-abortion rights Democrats are shying away from their previous stance on reproductive rights, fearing a backlash from the Kavanaugh hearings.
No Democrat in a competitive race for a seat in the US House of Representatives is running on an anti-abortion rights platform, The Hill said.
Not a meaningful investigation
Prior to the key senators announcements, much of the focus was on the contents of the FBI probe into the allegations.
Senators and select aides spent hours in a special room on Thursday and Friday, reading the secret document.
Republicans maintained the report did not corroborate the sexual assault allegations. Collins said it seemed very thorough.
Democrats, however, called it very limited, saying that the most notable part of the report into sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh is not whats in it.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that the report looks to be a product of an incomplete investigation.
Two other women have also made allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh, which the judge strongly denies.
Fords lawyers also questioned the handling of the investigation altogether.
An FBI investigation that did not include interviews of Dr Ford and Judge Kavanaugh is not a meaningful investigation in any sense of the word, Fords lawyers said in a statement on Friday.
Had the FBI interviewed Dr Ford, she would have answered questions about Judge Kavanaughs assault, including questions that Ms Mitchell [who questioned Ford on behalf of Republicans] and the Judiciary Committee members failed to ask during the hearing, they said.
Hundreds arrested
Meanwhile, the days of protests on Capitol Hill against the Kavanaugh nomination have resulted in hundreds of arrests, according to Capitol Police.
On Thursday, protesters poured into the Senate office buildings, chanting believe survivors.
After Manchin announced how he planned to vote, dozens screamed Shame on you! and You betrayed us!.
Reacting to the protests, Trump touted a conspiracy theory popularised by the European far right, claiming that the protesters had been paid by the Jewish Hungarian American billionaire George Soros. There is no evidence to back up this claim.
Smaller protests in favour of Kavanaugh have also taken place.
What happens next?
Senate rules allow for 30 hours of debate after Fridays procedural vote before the final vote takes place.
If both parties decline to use their allotted time, which is divided equally, the debate could end before the 30 hours are used.
A final vote is expected sometime after 19:30 GMT.
Missing Saudi journalist Khashoggi supporters rally in Turkey
Supporters call for the Washington Post columnists release outside Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul from where he went missing on Tuesday.
Kavanaugh takes oath after Senate votes to confirm him following bitter battle between Republicans and Democrats.
Brett Kavanaugh has been sworn in as the 114th US Supreme Court justice after the Senate narrowly voted to confirm him.
The confirmation on Saturday ended a bitter battle between Republicans and Democrats during a confirmation process that transfixed the nation following allegations of sexual misconduct against the nominee, which he has denied.
Senators voted 50-48 in favour of Kavanaugh, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Montana opposed the nomination, but voted present out of courtesy for fellow Montana Senator Steven Daines who was out of town for his daughters wedding. He was in favour of Kavanaugh.
The confirmation is seen as a clear win for President Donald Trump in his efforts to further push the court to the right.
I applaud and congratulate the US Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court, Trump tweeted just after the vote.
Kavanaugh replaces Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired earlier this year. Although Kennedy was seen as a conservative judge, he was often a swing vote on key issues such as reproductive rights, affirmative action and gay rights.
Kavanaughs confirmation comes a little less than three weeks after Christine Blasey Ford publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s. According to Ford, the judge groped her and tried to remove her clothing at a party when they were both teenagers. Two other women also came forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh. The judge has vehemently denied the allegations.
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Fords allegations disrupted what had appeared to be a relatively smooth confirmation process for Kavanaugh. Following the accusations, both Ford and Kavanaugh gave emotional testimonies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The testimony eventually led to a limited FBI investigation into the allegations.
On Thursday and Friday, senators and select aides read the secret FBI report. Republicans called it very thorough, while Democrats said the report looks to be a product of an incomplete investigation. Fords lawyers denounced the probe, saying an FBI investigation that did not include interviews of Dr Ford and Judge Kavanaugh is not a meaningful investigation in any sense of the word.
Kavanaughs confirmation seemed all but sure on Friday when key Republicans and one Democrat, who had been undecided on the nomination, said they would support the judge.
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Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine cast their votes in favour of Kavanaugh. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the sole member of his party to vote for the nominee. Manchin is running for re-election in his traditionally Republican state.
November is coming!
Saturdays confirmation may give Trump a boost as he continues to hit the campaign trail on behalf of Republicans in the lead up to Novembers midterm elections. It may, however, also galvanise Democratic supporters.
Bill Schneider, a US political analyst, said that the confirmation process represents a turning point for the country.
It really captures the polarisation, not just of the Court, but of all American political institutions and of the country, Schneider told Al Jazeera. President Trump was elected because of that polarisation, he added. He exploited it in ways that no president before him has ever done, and the country remains as bitterly divided as it has been since the Civil War in the United States.
Several polls show that Republican enthusiasm about voting, which had lagged behind, jumped after the Kavanaugh hearing last week.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told the Reuters news agency that the political brawl over Kavanaugh will help Republicans at the elections.
Nothing unifies Republicans like a court fight, McConnell said in an interview before the vote. Its been a seminal event leading into the fall election.
But Democrats hope women angered at the Kavanaugh accusations will turn out in large numbers to vote out Republicans.
Thousands of protesters gathered on Capitol Hill prior to the vote, chanting November is coming! and Vote them out!. At least 150 people were arrested. Some also disrupted the vote in the Senate chambers. A smaller group of Kavanaugh supporters also gathered.
Protesters wore the comments President Trump has made about women as they demonstrated outside the Supreme Court: pic.twitter.com/RjTl5uMpj9 AJ+ (@ajplus) October 6, 2018
After the vote, protesters moved to the Supreme Court building and occupied the steps. Online, some activists reported that police started to arrest those refusing to leave.
One protester told Al Jazeera that she was not surprised by the vote.
I honestly I wish I was surprised but Im not, we all knew that this was going to happen, she said. But we all wished that there was some bit of shame in them (the senators) that they wouldnt confirm him but we all kind of knew it was going to happen, she added.
The Womens March tweeted that the movement is going to become strong because we are fighting for our lives.
Women and especially women of colour are voting, we are running for office, and we are organizing in numbers large enough to overturn every last remnant of the Trump Agenda.
Our movement is only getting stronger because we are fighting for our lives. Women and especially women of color are voting, we are running for office, and we are organizing in numbers large enough to overturn every last remnant of the Trump Agenda. Women's March Text WOMENSWAVE to 44310 (@womensmarch) October 6, 2018
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Twitter: Confirming Brett Kavanaugh in the face of credible allegations of sexual assault that were not thoroughly investigated, and his belligerent, partisan performance undermines the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.
Nepal joins Nursing Now Campaign
Nepal has adopted the global Nursing Now Campaign to improve the contemporary health issues by training its nursing staff.
At least a million Venezuelans have fled amid ongoing crises which President Maduro blames on an economic war.
Venezuelas government has announced the creation of a new police force to strengthen border controls as thousands of people continue to flee the countrys spiralling political and economic crises.
In a televised address on Friday, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said the new Migration Force will start taking control of Venezuelas 72 official entry and exit points immediately.
She added that the specialised force would reinforce the existing controls at ports, airports and border crossings.
It is intended to assist in monitoring migration, according to Rodriguez, who said its establishment will ensure the truth will come out and not the imperial lies that Washington want to be sold to the world.
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Once one of Latin Americas wealthiest countries, Venezuela has been hit hard by a drop in oil prices from 2014, with the economy further weakening under the fiscal mismanagement of President Nicolas Maduro.
According to the United Nations, more than a million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2015, with Colombia being one of the most popular destinations.
The influx has overwhelmed aid agencies and forced new arrivals to set up makeshift tent communities in some parts of the capital, Bogota.
The spreading crisis is also affecting Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and several other American countries.
Colombian aid agencies are struggling to cope with the influx of Venezuelan refugees and migrants [File: Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters]
Tense relations
Colombias President Ivan Duque, a long-standing critic of Maduro, has ramped up his attacks in recent months, branding the Venezuelan governing a dictatorship and recently calling Maduro a devil who hates Venezuela.
In Fridays speech, Rodriguez poured bile on Colombia, saying Venezuela was a victim of a campaign of falsehoods to justifying something that will never happen, an international intervention.
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The Venezuelan government claims to have taken in some eight million Colombians, displaced during Colombias decades-long internal warfare between government forces and rebel groups.
Colombia says the figure is closer to 900,000.
Colombia is one of seven countries which issued an unprecedented petition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on September 26 to investigate Maduro for crimes against humanity.
It is the first time ICC member countries have asked for a probe into a fellow member. The investigation was initially proposed by Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru, with Canada and France later adding their support.
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Maduro has denied any migration crisis, asking the UN to be more sincere in its figures. He has also rubbished claims that the chronic lack of food and medicine in Venezuela has led to a humanitarian crisis.
He blames the situation on an economic war being waged against Venezuela by the US and other foreign powers.
In September, it was revealed that officials from the Trump administration held secret meetings with Venezuelan military officers to discuss plans to overthrow Maduro.
Willie Sutton, a bank robber during Prohibition, is famously quoted that he robbed banks "because that's where the money is." His insight has become known as "Sutton's Law," or "follow the money." Drier writers use the Latin cui bono, or "who benefits?" In short, Sutton's law tells us a lot about how we should understand the circus surrounding Judge Kavanaugh.
Brett Kavanaugh sailed through his confirmation hearings because he is a solid candidate for the Supreme Court. But Senator Dianne Feinstein concealed the letter from Christine Blasey Ford until the committee vote was pending. Then she leaked it, and the firestorm started. She denies leaking, but the evidence is pretty clear that Feinstein is either the arsonist or gave the match to the arsonist.
While Feinstein's leak is a clear violation of trust with Dr. Ford, it's also an ethical violation. Senate Judiciary Committee Rule II, 1 presupposes fourteen-day advance notice of witnesses in regular order. There was no reason to not present Dr. Ford in regular order. If her wish to not testify was sincere, then she shouldn't have appeared at all. The only excuse for a late reveal was to delay as a Hail Mary pass to derail the nomination. Ethics be damned!
Feinstein had her willing accomplices in the media, who located two other accusers to lend credence by piling on. If you can get more "victims," obviously Kavanaugh will be more guilty. One of them, Julie Swetnick, was found to be so in-credible that the New York Times reported the allegation but included that fact that "[n]one of Ms. Swetnick's claims could be independently corroborated[.]" Now Ms. Swetnick is walking back her sworn complaint, saying, "I don't know what he did."
How many times do we have to hear this song to realize it's time to turn off the jukebox and get a new D.J.? If we don't pull the plug, this will just get worse and worse. Fortunately, Willie Sutton shows us just what we need to do.
Every time the Democrats pull a stunt like this, one of two things happens. Either it works, and they get what they want, or it fails, and they move on to another drama. In other words, either they rob the bank and get the money or they miss, just to try later. Unlike Willie Sutton, they don't go to jail. They don't even skip a turn. They just miss their two hundred dollars.
The currency in government "service" is not necessarily dollars, even though many profit handily. Rather, the quid for their quo is power. The longer you serve, the more powerful you become, and power is a powerful aphrodisiac. This tells us where to find the solution to our problem.
We have to shut off the power. That brings us back to the Senate.
Dianne Feinstein is the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. If the Democrats flip the Senate in November, she'll assume the chair and can stick her thumb in President Trump's eye any time she wants. That's raw power, and it is intoxicating. But what if she is actually charged with an ethics violation, as Senator Cotton suggests? In theory, with great power comes great responsibility. A proper penalty for her ethical violation would be expulsion from the committee.
What about Julie Swetnick? Her offense is a bit more obvious and easy to prove. She submitted a sworn statement, and both her subsequent statements and other investigation will show that she perjured herself. Lying to Congress is a felony under 18 USC 1001. She could go to jail for up to five years. That's not trivial, and it points out the value of prosecuting this sort of sordid fabrication.
Laws exist to show us what sort of behavior is acceptable. But the fact that they punish those who misbehave serves as a disincentive for those who might do wrong. Even if the DOJ loses the case, the mere fact that Swetnick would have to defend herself would be a huge deterrent for someone else launching a phony attack against an otherwise qualified candidate.
Swetnick, Ford, and the other accusers have acted in the anticipation that even if they are not successful, they will suffer no consequences. Their fifteen minutes of fame will pass, and they will go about their lives. So the next time the Democrats issue a cattle call, the pigs will line up again at the trough, expecting a heaping helping of GoFundMe and television face time.
But suppose that Swetnick is publicly shamed (even convicted) through a public trial of her demonstrated perjurious actions. The left may scream that a hero for women is being humiliated. Or the left may ignore her, since she has already served her purpose as a useful idiot for the moment. In either case, another line of liars will be more careful about coming forward, since the pain of legal action is not hypothetical the way their accusations are.
This brings us to the larger issue. Punishing the useful idiots does little to the power-hungry leftists who exploit them. There will always be GoFundMe contributors to lessen the cost. The Democrats at the top who solicit these lies should suffer. In the case of Michael Avenatti, the crime is subornation of perjury (18 USC 1622). But for Dianne Feinstein and others of her ilk, the solution must be directed at the currency in which she is paid by this evil: power.
The first fix must be to explicitly state the implication of Senate Judiciary Committee Rule II, 1. The chair must set a date certain by which all contrary evidence must be submitted before it can be considered. No Johnny-Come-Lately will be allowed to bollix up the works. If the next Christine Blasey Ford has information, she must volunteer it to the committee by a pre-set cutoff date.
Next, Senator Feinstein must undergo an FBI investigation into how Ford's letter found its way to the media. At the same time, she must undergo a Senate Ethics Committee review, with the possibility of being removed from the Judiciary Committee. This would remove her reward, taking the piggy bank she craves away. If she were demoted to "just another senator," Feinstein would lose her reason to be in the Senate.
With Feinstein gone, another Democrat would take her place, since for the time being, California is locked in the throes of a leftist coup. But that Democrat would think twice about pulling a stunt like Feinstein did. Not having the benefits of your seat is as bad as not having your seat.
This won't solve everything, but it's a beginning. The Rule of Law is the only thing that separates us from being Zimbabwe or Venezuela. A little bit of law applied to our lawmakers seems to be a modest place to start. They won't be as anxious to rob that bank if there's no money there to steal.
A lot of MSM people are hyperventilating that Donald Trump has been exposed by the New York Times as a tax cheat, a criminal. For example, Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post lit into President Trump over his alleged "tax dodging," in effect accusing him of a crime. She said Trump "ducked" the tax code and implied that funding cuts to the IRS made it easy for him. She frets that "as president, Trump has worked diligently to either preserve or multiply other tax breaks his family has benefited from," apparently referencing the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, an Act of Congress.
Why doesn't she explain to her readers what a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) is? She should let them know why families are allowed to take minority discounts and non-marketability discounts on closely held stock and investment properties.
It does not appear that she, the New York Times, and all the other people writing this garbage accusing Trump of fraud or dubious tax schemes understand that the Trumps had to have appraisals for everything she did.
I am over 99% sure that IRS went through 100% of the appraisals and valuations used to transfer the properties. Each gift tax return plus the final estate tax return would have been thoroughly audited before the taxes were finalized.
De Blasio and the N.Y. attorney general seem to have nothing better to do than to re-investigate Trump for something that has already been thoroughly investigated.
It is truly a shame that so many supposed journalists just repeat Democrat talking points over and over again with little concern for the truth.
I don't recall when so many unverified, anonymous or gossip stories were used in supposedly reputable papers to destroy people just to promote an agenda.
It is pathetic that so many greedy people think the government, bureaucrats, and politicians think they are entitled to so much of what other people earn. It is especially appalling that they think families should be forced to sell off assets to satisfy the government instead of allowing people to continue creating jobs with productive businesses.
Reporters say the IRS needs more money. Have they analyzed the IRS budget line by line to make sure the billions they get each year are spent wisely? Maybe if the IRS did their job instead of stifling the free speech of groups they don't like and destroying computers to hide evidence, they wouldn't need more money.
And it would be a good start if the IRS were allowed to fire employees who don't pay their own taxes.
The head of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, State Lodge president Chris Southwood, blasted the guilty verdict in the Jason Van Dyke trial, saying, "This is a day I never thought I'd see in America, where 12 ordinary citizens were duped into saving the asses of self-serving politicians at the expense of a dedicated public servant."
It's a point of view shared by many Chicago police officers who are often on the firing line in the most violent city in America.
Chicago Sun-Times:
"This sham trial and shameful verdict is a message to every law enforcement officer in America that it's not the perpetrator in front of you that you need to worry about, it's the political operatives stabbing you in the back. What cop would still want to be proactive fighting crime after this disgusting charade, and are law abiding citizens ready to pay the price?" The head of the FOP in Chicago, Kevin Graham, was more cautious in his response to the verdict. He told reporters outside the courtroom where the verdict was read that he was disappointed in the finding and said that many police officers he talked to didn't agree with the verdict. He said he personally was upset the case had been used by critics to attack the entire police force. "They have used this case to really kick around the Chicago Police Department, which has been unfortunate," he said.
Van Dyke, a 14-year veteran of the Chicago police force with a long history of citizen complaints for excessive force, fired 16 shots into the body of a 17-year-old black teen, Laquan McDonald, in October 2014. He was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.
One can certainly understand why there would be bitterness by police over the politics of the situation. In fact, city leaders up to and including Mayor Rahm Emanuel are guilty of trying to cover up the incident. The shooting was originally ruled as justified, but it took more than a year for dash cam video of the confrontation to be released showing Van Dyke pumping several shots into the back of the motionless body of McDonald lying on the ground. By any reasonable standard, Van Dyke was guilty of a homicide. But the officer was charged with first-degree murder because he told police who arrived on the scene before the killing that "you're going to have to shoot the guy," thus proving intent to the jury's satisfaction. He was convicted of second-degree murder because of "mitigating circumstances."
The city erupted in protests that have gone on for three years. Black activists used the incident as political leverage to pressure the mayor to sign a consent agreement that radically alters the way that Chicago police will be able to do their jobs. Other activist groups have lionized McDonald who had a record as long as his arm as some kind of civil rights hero. The bottom line, as stated by the prosecutor in his closing argument, is that McDonald deserved to be arrested, not killed.
So there is something to the complaint that politics played a role in the trial and verdict of Van Dyke. But before we rush to defend the police department, it should be noted that there are currently three officers under indictment for tampering with and destroying evidence in the case. This goes to the basic corruption of the police force in the city, which, even more than the consent decree, makes it harder for Chicago cops to do their jobs.
Van Dyke is one of those cops who slipped through the cracks and got on the force. His superiors looked the other way when citizens complained about his use of excessive force. He never should have been issued a badge and a gun in the first place.
How many Van Dykes are still out there patrolling the streets of Chicago? New York? L.A.? It's true that the overwhelming majority of police are decent, courageous, and honest. But until we can figure out how to weed out the undesirables and prevent them from serving, there will be more shootings like that of Laquan McDonald to deal with.
Susan Collins of Maine rose yesterday to give a thoughtful and well reasoned speech on the floor of the Senate in support of Brett Kavanaugh. She decried the destructive nature of the confirmation process. This was one of the finest speeches in Senate history and ranks among the greatest of statesman moments.
Our Supreme Court confirmation process has been in steady decline for more than thirty years. One can only hope that the Kavanaugh nomination is where the process has finally hit rock bottom.
Collins is not a lawyer, yet she provided a thoughtful analysis of Kavanaugh's legal thinking:
In a dissent in Seven-Sky v. Holder, Judge Kavanaugh rejected a challenge to the ACA on narrow procedural grounds, preserving the law in full. Many experts have said his dissent informed Justice Roberts' opinion upholding the ACA at the Supreme Court. ... Judge Kavanaugh has been unequivocal in his belief that no president is above the law. He has stated that Marbury v. Madison, Youngstown Steel v. Sawyer and United States v. Nixon are three of the four greatest Supreme Court cases in history. What do they have in common? Each of them is a case where the Court served as a check on presidential power. And I would note that the fourth case that Judge Kavanaugh has pointed to as the greatest in history was Brown v Board of Education. ... Judge Kavanaugh described the Obergefell decision, which legalized same gender marriages [sic], as an important landmark precedent. He also cited Justice Kennedy's recent Masterpiece Cakeshop opinion for the Court's majority stating that: "The days of treating gay and lesbian Americans or gay and lesbian couples as second-class citizens who are inferior in dignity and worth are over in the Supreme Court." ... Noting that Roe v. Wade was decided 45 years ago, and reaffirmed 19 years later in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, I asked Judge Kavanaugh whether the passage of time is relevant to following precedent. He said decisions become part of our legal framework with the passage of time and that honoring precedent is essential to maintaining public confidence.
Collins went on compare Judges Kavanaugh and Merrick Garland, the D.C. chief judge nominated by Obama but not given a hearing by the GOP Senate, and found that they are both mainstream:
That Judge Kavanaugh is more of a centrist than some of his critics maintain is reflected in the fact that he and Chief Judge Merrick Garland voted the same way in 93 percent of the cases that they heard together. Indeed, Chief Judge Garland joined in more than 96 percent of the majority opinions authored by Judge Kavanaugh, dissenting only once.
This leads some on the right to argue that his nomination by Trump was a mistake. However, with such a slim margin in the Senate, Kavanaugh is a substantial constitutionalist. One could not imagine the level of vitriol aimed at Kavanaugh. It is mostly aimed at Trump.
Collins forcibly explained the need for the presumption of innocence in our nation. It is our only protection from the mob or dictators:
The presumption of innocence is relevant to the advice and consent function when an accusation departs from a nominee's otherwise exemplary record. I worry that departing from this presumption could lead to a lack of public faith in the judiciary and would be hugely damaging to the confirmation process moving forward. Some of the allegations levied against Judge Kavanaugh illustrate why the presumption of innocence is so important. I am thinking in particular not of the allegations raised by Professor Ford, but of the allegation that, when he was a teenager, Judge Kavanaugh drugged multiple girls and used their weakened state to facilitate gang rape. This outlandish allegation was put forth without any credible supporting evidence and simply parroted public statements of others. That such an allegation can find its way into the Supreme Court confirmation process is a stark reminder about why the presumption of innocence is so ingrained in our American consciousness.
Today, the final vote will take place. Senator Joe Manchin of WV will join Collins and the other Republicans to give Kavanaugh a victory. Senator Murkowski of Alaska will be the sole Republican voting against the judge. But the vicious attacks have energized the Republican base, and this will likely mean gains in the Senate. It will most likely lessen losses in the House for Republicans, too.
Last week, Senator Graham of S.C. gave one of his finest speeches in the Judiciary Committee hearings. Two of the more moderate Republicans have risen within a week to spur on the party to counter unreasonable and unwarranted hate and dishonesty by the opposition. This is the beginning of a new period and heralds a better future for our nation. A good week for America!
Image: Medill DC via Flickr.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the maverick Republican who will cast the deciding vote in the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, has got the left unhinged.
For years, she's been the bane of Republicans because she's strongly pro-choice (or pro-abortion, depending on how you want it put) and she's also shown a willingness to support the detested Obamacare setup for health care. She famously cast a vote to acquit Bill Clinton of impeachment charges back in 1999. Sounds a bit soft and mushy, right? 'Cuz, hey, she's a woman?
Her Kavanaugh vote today says no. For all her appearances of leftishness, she seems to have a thing against being pushed around, and her independent backbone is not confined to Republicans. That comes as a shock to the left because she was, up until now, always "theirs," and pushing her around was the left's whole plan. They used the foulest tactics, far worse than the media reported, according to Sen. Marco Rubio. And it all backfired, so they're seething yet, incredibly, not stopping. With the witch hunt over, they are coming for the heretics.
In doing the same thing over and over again, they aren't going to get a different result.
It was quite a sequence for them, though. Leftists started early in the confirmation process, well before the Christine Blasey Ford accusations, zeroing in on Collins over most other Republicans, in the hopes of bludgeoning her into submission to their party line.
First, dangling offers of money:
A crowdfunding website is trying to strong-arm Senator Susan Collins, the Republican from Maine, by giving more than $1 million to her 2020 opponent unless she opposes Judge Kavanaugh. Donors are asked to make a financial pledge and then enter their credit-card information. As of Tuesday afternoon, 37,425 people had put down $1,041,878. The fine print makes clear the quid pro quo: "Your card will only be charged if Senator Susan Collins votes for Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court." To avoid the money bomb, all Ms. Collins must do is vote "no."
That cash, by the way, snowballed to $2.9 million at the latest reading, an intimidating prospect, indeed.
Money didn't work, and Collins called it what it was: bribery. The Wall Street Journal in its editorial above explained why that was accurate:
But federal law defines the crime of bribery as "corruptly" offering "anything of value" to a public official, including a Member of Congress, with the intent to "influence any official act." The crowdfunders in this case are offering something of value withholding funds from her opponent in return for a Supreme Court confirmation vote. "I have had three attorneys tell me that they think it is a clear violation of the federal law on bribery," Ms. Collins says. "Actually, two told me that; one told me it's extortion."
Second, the left tried rabid threats and piggery. According to USA Today:
Collins, in particular, seems to have become the focus of the stop-Kavanaugh movement. The senator's office has reported receiving threatening calls and letters as well as more than 3,000 wire coat hangers in grim a reference to the unsafe, illegal abortions that abortion-rights defenders say would follow the end of Roe v. Wade. And a controversial crowdfunding campaign has raised more than $1.1 million to give to a future Collins opponent if she votes to confirm Kavanaugh.
Well, that didn't work. Leftist threats to rape Collins's staffers in the name of standing up for women's "health" had a weird way of not being persuasive.
They then tried political warnings.
The Huffington Post warned that if Collins voted for Kavanaugh, she was commiting "political suicide" because Democrats were going to win anyway. More persuasive.
They also tried symbolism, mailing her thousands of coat hangers, as if coat hanger abortions were just around the corner (instead of going on now, given the state of supposedly "safe" abortion clinics). Lovely. Way to persuade, Democrats.
All of this was well before Blasey Ford's accusations came out, and when that happened, the left just escalated: leftists flooded her with protests and warnings and the wails of domestic violence survivors turned activists. According to left-wing Vox:
She became "the most sought-after senator in Washington," as Vox's Dylan Scott put it, meeting with multiple sexual assault survivors as she weighed her final decision on Kavanaugh.
Vox noticed that she was specially targeted as a woman, and then whined at the end of its piece that she was supposed to be independent which, to the left, means always voting Democrat.
When Collins refused to be pushed around by that, leftists let the dogs out.
Planned Parenthood declared her a heretic, saying she could no longer call herself "a champion of women's rights" as the famous sellers-of-baby-parts outfit defines such things.
Now they are talking Senate challenges this, to a multi-term senator who won her seat with two thirds of Maine's voters. Former Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice and a minor left-wing Maine politician, Rep. Chellie Pingree, along with a much disciplined (and not in a good way) doctor who's constantly in trouble with the authorities, have all thrown their hats in to challenge Collins, though Rice seems to have retracted her offer. All a lot of voters can see is that there's a big pot of money waiting and probably dollar signs in some of their eyes. Protests, protests, protests, and now the Senate challenges as the last resort now that there's a heretic to burn.
The New York Times, in a 2,000-word piece on Collins, failed to mention any of this disgustingness. As Rubio said, the tactics were far fouler than reported.
Yet Collins stood firm, scolded the hell out of the Democrats, seeing right through them, and the left isn't stopping. It continues its campaign to vilify, threaten, and harass her, so her massive majority among Maine's voters is now likely to just get bigger now. Voters notice these things. And Collins is standing tall and powerful. Funny that the left, despite getting slapped in its fat mug for its "persuasion" tactics over and over, hasn't. It just wants to keep coming back for more.
Wikipedia pretends to be a new kind of crowd-sourced, non-profit "people's encyclopedia" containing fair and unbiased material. In theory, anyone is allowed to edit material, thus providing a wide range of input rather than one expert's ideas as in conventional encyclopedias.
I have written one entire entry, on my great-grandfather, who was a candidate for president. I have edited a few other entries to correct errors.
The theory is great, but in practice Wikipedia, like most media ventures, is a vehicle for liberal ideas. Two examples may suffice.
The Wikipedia entry on fascism follows the liberal line that the political spectrum runs from fascism on the right to communism on the left. This is nonsense and the basis for the constant references to conservatives as "Nazis" by liberals, who fancy Nazis to be fascists. Any meaningful political spectrum would run from total freedom, or anarchy, on the right to totalitarian government with no freedom on the left. The Nazis were, in fact, socialists, and as Jonah Goldberg wrote in Liberal Fascism, they differed from the Soviet communists only in methods, not intended results.
When I edited the entry to provide some balance, my edit was rejected in its entirety.
In its entry on Fox News, Wikipedia says, "Fox News has been described as practicing biased reporting in favor of the Republican Party, the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations, and conservative causes." I added to that paragraph, "just as networks such as CNN and CBS have been accused of biased reporting in favor of liberal causes."
It took the editors eight minutes to reject and remove my addition.
This despite the fact that the entry has this label:
This article reads like a press release or a news article or is largely based on routine coverage or sensationalism. Please expand this article with properly sourced content to meet Wikipedia's quality standards, event notability guideline, or encyclopedic content policy.
On CNN, Wikipedia is much more laudatory and has only a few paragraphs suggesting any bias. Even that has a cautionary label saying:
This section only describes one highly specialized aspect of its associated subject. Please help improve this article by adding more general information. The talk page may contain suggestions. (November 2017)
Both CNN and Fox have a separate topic on "controversies," along with other news outlets.
On many matters, Wikipedia's information is useful. When it comes to politics, you are likely to get the same viewpoint you would get from the New York Times or CNN. The gatekeepers make certain of that.
Police arrest 3 men with ancient Tibetan book worth Rs2million
Police have arrested three persons in possession of an ancient Tibetan book believed to be worth nearly Rs 2 million in Dolakha district. Dolakha police said on Friday that Shivahari Thapa, Tek Bahadur Thami and Uddhav Gautam of Bhimeshwor Municipality-3 were arrested with the book that has 49 pages with Buddhist texts written in gold ink.
When you submit to a power structure, you legitimize and reinforce its power. When you defy a power structure, you delegitimize and undermine its power. Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court isn't merely good for the Court or for the political right in America (despite my personal distaste for his love affair with executive power); it is both a real and a deeply symbolic victory for the true resistance movement in modern America, the resistance to the actual dominant forces here, the forces of Cultural Marxism.
Republicans in the Senate could have buckled beneath the weight of the lying press's ceaseless, screeching anti-Trump, anti-Kavanaugh propaganda, but they didn't. Republican men (and even Republican women) in the Senate could have followed the press's marching orders and bought in to the lie that their political careers were over when they dared to stand up to the #MeToo movement and its neo-Bolshevik sponsors, but they didn't. It is a good day to be an American, because Americans are supposed to be all about resistance to rigid, extractive, and crooked power structures. The Cultural Marxist power structure in Washington is nothing if not rigid, extractive, and crooked.
Kavanaugh's nomination, like Trump's election before it, was a victory for the people over the demonic forces in Washington that lord it clumsily but viciously over the people, in thorough opposition to our interests. I do not think it an exaggeration to claim that the power structure in Washington, which is supposed to represent us, wants our religion and traditions abolished; our people replaced with hordes of third-world peons; our sons sacrificed for Middle Eastern kingdoms and kleptocracies; and our civilization transformed into a Soviet dystopia, where #MeToo show trials pass as justice and the law has no relationship whatsoever with the text it is supposed to be premised upon.
The press will tell you Kavanaugh's confirmation debases the Court's standing because Kavanaugh isn't an objective judge, but a biased ideologue and partisan. Leon Trotsky's Mad Aunt Ruth (Ginsburg) isn't biased or partisan, however. Her many offhand, highly political statements, and her many crude attacks on President Trump, never managed to undermine the standing or the independence of the high court, according to that same press. Funny how that works! The press will also tell you Kavanaugh is morally unfit to be a justice because he may have committed some venial sins as a youth. Of course, Democrat Beto O'Rourke isn't equally morally unfit to serve in the U.S. Senate despite committing burglary in his youth and getting behind the wheel while drunk and then fleeing from the police. Of course not! His far more serious and actually corroborated sins are not disqualifying...because your Cultural Marxist overlords said so.
The press will likewise tell you Kavanaugh's nomination is a disaster for America, as Trump's electoral victory was a disaster for American democracy. What the press really means is that Kavanaugh's confirmation, like Trump's electoral victory before it, is a disaster for smug Western elites and for the dominance of their twisted Marxist values.
So, let's just cut the nonsense. Everything and everyone the left-wing press and power structure oppose, they oppose to advance the Cultural Marxist cause, and everything and everyone they support, they support to advance the Cultural Marxist cause. It's not about right and wrong, or justice and injustice, or putting an end to sexual assault, or anything of the sort. It is about advancing Cultural Marxism, nothing more, nothing less.
The left doesn't have a problem with partisans on the high court; it has a problem with our partisans on the high court. It doesn't object to putting flawed men into power; it just doesn't want our flawed men in power. The left's support for Bill Clinton, despite his checkered past, proves this definitively, and the left's support for (former?) black nationalist Keith Ellison, despite his checkered present, proves that the left is ready and willing to pardon serial sexual abusers who have engaged in abuse not as minors or in their remote past, but recently as adults, even when there is actual physical evidence confirming that abuse, so long as those abusers support the political left's agenda.
Since the baseless Kavanaugh accusations were never about anything except advancing leftism, and since the left's deplorable plot to derail Kavanaugh's nomination failed, it follows that Cultural Marxism was not advanced, which means that the left-wing power structure lost indeed, was beaten back by our own forces. When you defy a power structure, you delegitimize and undermine its power, which means that the Cultural Marxist left's grip on the throat of America is slipping. If that is not something to celebrate, nothing is.
We are all taught at an early age not to rejoice in the unhappiness of others. Yet, watching the leftist mob and liberal press scream at the inevitable confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, decent, law-abiding Americans can't help but feel joy in their hearts.
Why is this so? I can think of a number of reasons:
1. The demise of mob rule. Far-left activists believed they could overturn the Senate's confirmation process by harassing senators. At first, it seemed to work with the aptly named Jeff Flake. But Republican senators quickly stiffened their spines and were unmoved.
2. Guilty before proven innocent has been rejected. The narrative that a Supreme Court nomination is a "job interview" and not a trial and therefore standards of innocence and guilt do not apply was refuted by none other than Susan Collins, who reinforced the commonsense wisdom that of course people should be considered innocent before being found guilty, whatever the situation. The fact that this nugget of common sense came from Collins, a liberal female Republican, made it all the more powerful and harder for the liberal media to refuse.
3. The newest virtue class, alleged victims of sexual assault, were found not to be invincible. President Trump was severely criticized by the establishment media for pointing out that Dr. Ford's account of her alleged sexual assault was full of gaps and thus not so believable. Yet, after he did this, the dam seemed to break, and other Republicans found the courage to resist people who claimed to be "sexual assault survivors." Check out this video of Orrin Hatch merely waving to a far-left activist. Listen to the outrage in her voice as she screams, "How dare you?," as if she is stunned that anyone would dare make an ambiguous hand gesture to someone as virtuous as herself.
Or check out the expression on this woman's face when Lindsey Graham refuses to be intimidated by her victim group credentials. The hard left is panicking because more and more people are feeling free to ignore screaming activists.
4. Even liberal Republicans are turning against the leftist narrative. Perhaps most surprising is that the strongest voices against the new victim class are moderate and even liberal Republicans like Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins. When the hard left has gone so far that it has even alienated liberal Republicans, you know that leftists have overplayed their hand.
5. The results of the election have not been overturned. President Trump won the election and the right to name Supreme Court justices. Leftists, not interested in elections, only results, tried to stymie his ability to name justices, in effect overturning the election. They failed.
6. President Trump's Supreme Court legacy is now equal to Obama's. Now the president has made two Supreme Court picks in two years, as many as Obama did in eight.
7. The liberal media narrative is unmade. The liberal media narrative is that you are a sexist if you challenge the accounts of any of these self-proclaimed "survivors," egged on by radicals like Mazie Hirono, who asserted that men should "shut up" and accusers should always be believed. Susan Collins stabbed that narrative in the heart with a giant stake when she talked about the importance of innocence before guilt. She's just as responsible as President Trump for making it possible to challenge uncorroborated accounts of "survivors" and will make it more difficult for Democrats to use them as weapons in the future.
8. This debacle could cost the Democrats three Senate seats. The media narrative is that this whole confirmation process will alienate women against Republicans. But curiously, women in red states seem to be suffering a different kind of alienation, an alienation from those who tried to trash Judge Kavanaugh's life record with uncorroborated accusations. This could cost Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and Jon Tester of Montana their Senate seats. It has probably already cost Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota her own.
9. This searing experience may prevent Kavanaugh from going left over time. Republican appointees sometimes drift left over time to seek the approval of the liberal media, like David Souter and more recently John Roberts. But Clarence Thomas, after the searing events of his own confirmation, never did. I suspect that this experience may harden Judge Kavanuagh's attitude. He knows full well that the left tried to destroy him, and I suspect that it may make him less sympathetic to their pleas for "social justice" when he joins the Court.
So there are plenty of reasons to be happy with the left's unhappiness. The tyrants, bullies, and would-be masterminds have failed once again.
Ed Straker is the senior editor of Newsmachete.com.
Secretariat meet to settle issues rocking ruling party
In an effort to defuse discontent brewing within the party after senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal publicly criticised the leadership and the government, the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has called its secretariat meeting on Sunday.
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
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Image: University of Dayton Research Institute
AVwebs weekly news roundup found reports of recently released drone strike research, the launch of a mobile avionics and maintenance service, an improved propeller blade measuring system, a new flight animation system, a free safety webinar and a discussion of international pilot medical standards. The University of Dayton Research Institute recently released itslatest drone-strike test data, which replicated a midair collision at 238 miles per hour. The testing was conducted by firing a 2.1-pound DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter at the wing of a Mooney M20 aircraft.
New Jersey-based Metrix AV is launching a mobile avionics and maintenance service designed to help aircraft owners meet the upcoming FAA ADS-B mandate. Company personnel will travel to client locations to retrofit general aviation aircraft with the avionics and ADS-B instruments. In other maintenance news, Aeroscan announced that it has improved its Aeroscan M5 blade measurement system. The system, which uses laser sensor technology to measure propeller dimensions, is now fully automated and more accurate.
CEFA Aviation is introducing its Aviation Mobile Services (AMS), which can deliver tablet-viewable flight data feedback after landing. According to the company, CEFA AMS wirelessly collects flight data recorder information and provides animations of selected flight segments within 10 minutes of landing and will enhance situational and operational awareness for aircrews. Also regarding digital teaching tools, the Helicopter Online Ground School will be hosting afree safety webinaron Oct. 9. The webinar will discuss using the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) weather tool to assist with flights below 5,000 feet.
Finally, a group of British MPs and American Senators and Congressmen wrote a letter to the CAA, FAA and EASA asking for a new bilateral agreement on medical standards for private pilots. As it stands, pilots who fly in both countries must maintain separate medical certificates for each. The letter calls for equal recognition of medical certificates between the two countries.
I recently heard the following between Kansas City Center and an airliner. The airliner was trying to top some weather and had been granted an even altitude even though he was flying west, because he was too heavy to go any higher.
Kansas City Center: Airliner 123, how long til you can go up? I have to sell this wrong way to Denver.
Airliner: About 15 minutes.
Slight pause, then:
Kansas City Center: Well, what do you know? I told Denver you were the pride of the fleet and its your birthday, and he took it. Contact Denver Center on 133.9.
Airliner: How did you know?
Don Stansberry
Huntsville, TN
The Hong Kong government has denied the Financial Times Asia news editor their visa renewal, the first time the publication has had a problem with getting their accreditation for its foreign correspondents.
The details: Victor Mallet, who has run FT's news operations in Asia for two years, was the acting president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong in August when it was highly criticized from Chinese and Hong Kong officials for hosting a talk by the leader of the pro-independence Hong Kong National party.
On Sunday evening eastern time, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is scheduled to release its special report on the risks and benefits of limiting global warming to 1.5C, or 2.7F, above preindustrial levels.
Why it matters: The report is expected to contain sobering findings about how difficult it will be to meet the 1.5-degree target, which is an aspirational goal contained in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Every country in the world except the U.S. intends to honor the 2015 agreement, and the report will help inform negotiators in the next round of climate talks, set for December.
By the numbers:
We are currently on track for global warming of between 2.7 to 3.7C by 2100, according to Kelly Levin, a scientist with the nonpartisan World Resources Institute.
To meet the 1.5-degree target, we'd need to reach net zero emissions by mid-century, and negative emissions thereafter, using carbon removal technologies.
Emissions in 2030 would also need to be about 50% less than 2010 levels.
Yes, but: Current emissions projections show the world is on track to increase emissions through 2030.
Between the lines: Some climate scientists are making clear that the 1.5-degree target, which is seen as low-lying island nations' best hope for long-term survival, is effectively out of reach. For example, the report is expected to call for a scaling up of carbon removal technologies, such as direct air capture, in order to reach negative emissions as soon as possible.
That alone will be a heavy lift, since these technologies are currently in their infancy.
"Overall, the idea that we can limit warming to 1.5C is so ridiculous that it doesn't seem to even merit thinking about it," said Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist at Texas A&M University.
"It is technically feasible for me to fly to the moon in the next 10 years, but it is clearly not feasible in a broader sense. With 1.5C it is potentially feasible from a technical perspective, but unless the political, social and technical aspects of feasibility are aligned, it is not going to happen."
Glen Peters, research director at the Center for International Climate Research in Norway
Tom Damassa, climate program director at Oxfam America, told Axios that even 1.5 degrees of warming will cause hardships for millions.
We're already seeing widespread changes due to the nearly 1-degree of warming experienced so far. "1.5 [degrees] was never going to be some sort of magical threshold. I hope what the report makes clear is there is no safe level of climate change, Damassa said.
At his rallies, President Trump's base gets fired up about the creation of a Space Force. And behind the scenes, the Pentagon is pushing to stand it up on deadline. But publicly at least, it's not much more fleshed out than the idea.
The big picture: A stated objective of the new force is to pull together U.S. space operations 90% of which remain under the Air Force to defend satellite infrastructure and combat adversaries. But as of now, the U.S. is far behind its rivals in organizing militarily in space.
Between the lines: Russia has had sophisticated launch systems for decades, in addition to another that tracks objects more than 30,000 miles above the Earth, according to the CSIS 2018 Space Threat Assessment.
"Our main rivals in space have already begun reorganizations to elevate space within their military establishments," Todd Harrison, senior fellow at CSIS, told Axios.
have already begun reorganizations to elevate space within their military establishments," Todd Harrison, senior fellow at CSIS, told Axios. Both China and Russia are working to field anti-satellite weapons "that could blind or damage sensitive space-based optical sensors, such as those used for remote sensing or missile defense," according to a February report from the Director of National Intelligence.
to field anti-satellite weapons "that could blind or damage sensitive space-based optical sensors, such as those used for remote sensing or missile defense," according to a February report from the Director of National Intelligence. China recently launched an anti-satellite weapon useable against orbiting military, missile-warning and communication satellites, per the assessment.
an anti-satellite weapon useable against orbiting military, missile-warning and communication satellites, per the assessment. The debris such a strike would produce could linger for generations and interfere with satellites.
What's next: The Pentagon and Air Force have separately estimated $8 billion and $13 billion budgets for these tasks over the next five years, respectively. They expect to complete a new U.S. Space Command by the end of this year, and to include the cost of standing up a space force in the President's 2020 Budget Request.
By Trend
Thanks to the measures taken to develop viticulture, one of the oldest and traditional spheres of the Azerbaijani economy, growing more productive grape varieties and improving the quality of wine production, the winemaking sector has entered a new phase of development.
The viticulture and wine-making complex of Shirvan Wines LLC in Shamakhi district, which opened with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on August 25, aims to bring back the former glory to this sphere, to contribute to the development of wine-making tourism and to take its rightful place in foreign markets.
For the first time in Azerbaijan, there are plans to annually produce 1.4 million liters of wine (1.866 million bottles) at a plant specializing in the production of organic wine by using advanced technologies at all stages - from planting grape seedlings to supplying the consumer with ready-made wine.
The plant carries out intensive work on ISO 22000 certification of wine recognized by the EU as organic one.
The natural climatic conditions of the Meysari village of Azerbaijans Shamakhi district, the volume of annual precipitation, temperature indicators, as well as the results of analyzes of soil samples taken from various places of the territory and carried out in various laboratories in France, confirm that there is an opportunity to grow high-quality and productive types of grapes.
At the stages of selection, planting, rendering agrotechnical care to the seedlings according to local conditions, the collection and processing of grapes, regular consultations are held with experts specializing in the viticulture sphere of France. All these are factors that cause the production of high-quality winemaking products that are easily competing in the markets.
The results of tests on the quality and safety of samples of white dry wine Sadaf, red dry wines Marjan and Makhmari Premium of the Meysari brand, carried out in the test laboratory of the Food Safety Institute of the Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency, confirmed their compliance with the requirements of world and Azerbaijan standards.
When conducting the tests, the Agencys laboratory used certified material from the French company BIPEA, and all results were confirmed according to this standard.
The work carried out on the application of modern technologies in the field of organic wine production, compliance of product quality and safety indicators with the requirements of local and international standards, as well as international certification of the plant creates an opportunity for Shirvan Wines LLC to gain credibility in global markets by its competitive products in a short time.
On August 25, 2018, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening of a viticulture and wine-making complex of Shirvan Wines LLC as part of a trip to Shamakhi district.
By Trend
Azerbaijans State Customs Committee hosted a joint meeting of the boards of the State Customs Committee and the Ministry of Taxes to discuss the implementation of the Action Plan to improve the control system of export-import operations approved by the decree of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev dated July 28, the State Committee said in a message.
The meeting was attended by chairman of Azerbaijans State Customs Committee, Lieutenant-General of the Customs Service Safar Mehdiyev, Minister of Taxes Mikayil Jabbarov, as well as the heads of relevant structures.
Mehdiyev touched upon the importance of the flawless implementation of the presidential instructions to both structures in a short period of time. Mehdiyev also noted that the State Customs Committee and the Ministry of Taxes established links of effective cooperation and all entrepreneurs and business entities will feel the benefit of this cooperation in their daily activities.
In turn, Jabbarov noted that holding the meeting in an expanded format will serve expanding cooperation between the two structures and the joint activity will be continued in the future to successfully fulfill the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev.
The minister also noted the need to intensify the work envisaged by the action plan. He added that the measures taken to coordinate the activities of the customs and tax authorities will have a positive result.
Then the representatives of both structures made a report on the work on the implementation of the action plan and spoke about the organization of the mutual exchange of information, a single platform for risk management, changes in the legislation and other issues.
By Trend
The attempts of bringing the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists to the negotiating table are not only unacceptable but also dangerous, Azerbaijani MP, Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) Azay Guliyev said.
He made the remarks at a meeting of the Standing Committee held during the PA autumn session.
Guliyev added that a quarter of a century has passed since the beginning of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but, unfortunately, no progress has been achieved in solving the problem.
Armenia grossly violates the norms and principles of international law, the decisions of the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, the Helsinki Declaration of the OSCE PA, adopted in 2015, continuing the illegal occupation of Azerbaijans territories, he said.
Commenting on President of the OSCE PA George Tseretelis proposal about holding a meeting of the heads of parliaments of the countries that are parties to the conflict, Guliyev said that he would soon inform them about the official position of the Azerbaijani parliament on this issue.
"I think that we must use all possible means to resolve the conflict, including the meeting of the heads of the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Armenia, he added. This can give a certain impetus to the negotiation process and help change the existing status quo."
Guliyev clarified two main components of the current situation related to the conflict settlement for the members of the Standing Committee and the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly.
Indeed, if we do not take into account bilateral meetings of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, there are currently no real negotiations at the highest level, he added. The negotiation process has been suspended by the new leadership of Armenia.
After Pashinyan came to power, he pointedly turns a blind eye to the results achieved so far and refuses from the format of negotiations within the OSCE Minsk Group, he said. Thus, he tries to change the format of the peaceful settlement of the issue and bring the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists to the negotiating table as an independent side. There are two sides of the conflict - Armenia and Azerbaijan. This has been confirmed by the international community and OSCE."
Guliyev stressed that Pashinyans unrealistic and unreasonable attempts to change the existing format are aimed at disrupting the peace negotiations and completely abandoning them.
"Each of us can clearly imagine the dire consequences of disrupting the negotiation process for peaceful settlement of the conflict," he said.
Guliyev added that Baku is ready to support a joint decision that the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno-Karabakh will made about their future within the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, supported by international organizations.
The MP drew the attention of PA members to another aspect that should be clarified.
Some people mistakenly call the conflict as Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is wrong, Guliyev said. Besides Nagorno-Karabakh, seven more adjacent districts of Azerbaijan are under occupation, the territory of which is three times bigger than the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the population is six times bigger than the population of Nagorno-Karabakh - Aghdam, Fizuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan districts.
These seven districts are not connected with Nagorno-Karabakh and we witness that Armenia uses these territories and politically manipulate them, he added. The status of this region is not a topic for discussion.
"Armenias armed forces must be unconditionally withdrawn from these lands, he said. This issue cannot be a far-fetched topic of compromise."
In his speech, Guliyev stressed that by continuing the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding areas, creating an illegal puppet regime there, the political leadership of Armenia must not forget that it will not achieve anything.
"Such steps will not change anything and will not bring peace and prosperity to Armenia, he said. On the contrary, they will complicate the situation even more and end the lives of numerous young people."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
By Trend
Konstantin Zatulin, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the Lower House of Russian Parliament, is attempting to undermine the strategic partnership that exists between Russia and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani MP Tahir Karimli told Trend.
According to Karimli, such activities of the Russian deputy is unacceptable and should be seriously discussed.
"This issue should also be discussed in the Russian Parliament. Zatulins responsibilities include regulating relations with the CIS countries. This person should strive to improve Russia's relations with these countries, rather than slander," Karimli said.
The MP added that Zatulin's position does not reflect Russia's position on Azerbaijan.
"It is known that Zatulin has close ties with Armenians and always depends on the Armenian lobby. Therefore he always slanders Azerbaijan. His attempt to undermine relations between Azerbaijan and Russia is unacceptable. In general, we need to seriously address this issue, because Zatulin is a state official," Karimli added.
The MP added that the Azerbaijani embassy in Russia should raise this issue in the Russian Foreign Ministry and Parliament, because Zatulin seeks to belittle Azerbaijan.
By Trend
Azerbaijan cannot take as Russia's position the words of Konstantin Zatulin, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the Lower House of Russian Parliament, the Member of Azerbaijani Parliament Chingiz Ganizadeh said Oct. 5 at a plenary session of the Parliament, commenting on Zatulins latest aggressive statements against Azerbaijan.
Ganizade noted that demonstration of such a position by the deputy chairman of the committee of the Lower House of the Russian Parliament is unacceptable.
"Naturally, we cannot accept his words as Russia's position. Zatulin argues that if war breaks out in Nagorno-Karabakh, this could lead to the collapse of Azerbaijan. He also claims that Azerbaijans policy does not correspond to what is reflected in the bilateral documents," the Azerbaijani MP said.
He said Zatulin, by drawing on someone's personal opinion, is trying to present it as a policy of Azerbaijan.
"Naturally, we strongly condemn it," Ganizade said.
The Azerbaijani MP also spoke about the relations of Zatulin with the Armenians.
"Zatulin took part in the "parliamentary election" of the separatist regime established in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and this person was included in the list of undesirable persons of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani MP said.
By Trend
The development of Azerbaijan-Vatican relations is a geopolitical phenomenon for the beginning of the 21st century, which has no analogues, editor-in-chief of Baki Xeber newspaper, expert Aydin Guliyev told Trend on Oct. 5.
The 21st century began with interfaith, interethnic and intercultural conflicts worldwide, he added.
"During this period Azerbaijan began to more consistently carry out conceptual universal policy which became exemplary for the whole world, he said. The foundations of state policy facilitating the full manifestation of all the creative power of interethnic and interreligious solidarity within the country were created and implemented."
For the whole world today Azerbaijan has become one of the rare exporters of tolerance and multicultural values, Guliyev added. "This factor is as valuable as Azerbaijans exports of oil and gas."
The expert said that the visits of the Pope of Rome to Baku, the contribution of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation to the improvement in the Vatican, as well as the fact that the Vatican attaches particular importance to political and diplomatic ties with Azerbaijan testify to that.
There is no other Muslim country in the world, which has made such a contribution to the Muslim-Christian understanding, as Azerbaijan, he said. For the world shrouded in conflicts, deeper cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Vatican has historical and universal significance. Such a policy of Azerbaijan has played a decisive role in smashing Armenias strategy demonstrating the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a Christian-Muslim confrontation.
Guliyev also said that the Azerbaijan-Vatican relations are of strategic importance not only from the point of view of the interests of the two countries, but also for the whole world.
By Trend
The State Migration Service of Azerbaijan detained 92 foreigners as part of the measures taken over the past four days against illegal migration, the service said in a message Oct. 5.
Among the detainees, 18 people violated the stated objectives of their arrival in Azerbaijan, five didnt live at the place of registration, and 69 people lived illegally in the country.
Administrative decisions were made in respect to 68 detained foreigners, and the appropriate measures are being taken in respect to others in order to expel them from Azerbaijan.
The State Migration Service continues measures in the fight against illegal migration.
By Trend
The Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR hopes to complete the process of selecting a contractor for the preparation of a feasibility study of the project of providing Bulgarias certain regions with gas by the end of the year, head of SOCAR Balkans company Murad Heydarov told Trend.
"SOCAR was charged with exploration of the possibilities of participating in the project of providing Bulgarias certain regions with gas," Heydarov added. "A working group was created to fulfill that. The working group held several meetings at the working level, in particular, with the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy, Bulgarian Bulgartransgaz EAD."
"We received initial information and analyzed it," he said. "On this basis, a decision was made to carry out a detailed feasibility study. Today we are selecting a contractor, a consultant who, in fact, will carry out a feasibility study. According to the feasibility study, a decision will be made on our participation in the project. We hope that by the end of the year the contractor will begin work."
Back in 2015, the Bulgarian government submitted a package of projects on energy cooperation to Azerbaijan. In particular, the Azerbaijani side was offered to participate in the construction of filling stations, invest in the construction of oil and gas storages, oil refineries.
Bulgaria expects to receive Azerbaijani gas through IGB, a gas pipeline that will be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
The initial capacity of IGB will be three billion cubic meters of gas.
TAP worth 4.5 billion euros is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor. The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italys south.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.
The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor project was held in Baku on May 29.
A ceremony to launch TANAP took place June 12 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.
At an initial stage, the gas to be produced in the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.
As part of the Shah Deniz Stage 2, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets via the South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and TAP.
The Californian's Robert Price answers your questions and takes your complaints about our news coverage in this weekly feedback forum. Questions may be edited for space and clarity. To offer your input by phone, call 395-7649 and leave your comments in a voicemail message or email us at soundoff@bakersfield.com. Include your name and phone number; they wont be published.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
The Californian has interviewed dozens of local candidates for office in recent weeks. Over the next several weeks, we will offer information, analyses and endorsements on all major political races and ballot measures in the Nov. 6 general election. You can also find complete coverage, including video interviews with candidates, at Bakersfield.com/election-2018.
Community Voices: Help is on the way to help fix teacher shortage but we must partner and move now
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
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Three sentenced in federal cocaine case
ALBANY Three people were sentenced Friday for conspiring to distribute crack and cocaine, federal prosecutors said.
Shenika D. Boyd, 38, of Albany, was sentenced to four years in prison and six years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York said. Bobby R. Graham, 51, of Albany was sentenced to three years of probation, to include six months of home confinement.
Jalessa Scott, 27, of Schenectady was sentenced to time served, which was nearly 17 months in jail, and three years of supervised release. As part of the federal investigation, Scott also pleaded guilty in Schenectady County Court to criminal possession of a firearm, prosecutors said.
U.S. District Judge Mae A. D'Agostino sentenced all three defendants, who were among 12 indicted in August 2017 for their involvement in a drug trafficking ring operating in Schenectady and Albany.
Staff report
Stolen car crashes, two men arrested
WATERVLIET Police used an infrared camera attached to a drone Tuesday to find one of two men suspected of stealing a car and fleeing police, city police said Friday.
A Watervliet resident called police at about 5 p.m. to report their car had been stolen. Within minutes, Troy police found the car and tried to stop it but it sped away, Watervliet police said.
A short time later, a Watervliet officer saw the car crash at Third Avenue and First Street in Watervliet, police said.
The two men in the car ran toward Idlewild Park. One man was quickly arrested but the other led police on a manhunt.
Colonie officers then used a drone and found the suspect hiding in a field.
Carey Conyers, 28, of Cohoes and Tyon Baker, 17, of Watervliet are charged with felony criminal possession of stolen property and misdemeanor obstruction of governmental administration.
Staff report
He ordered a coffee to go and then he went, for eternity.
A stealthy hit man gunned down a Luchese family associate at a Bronx fast food drive-thru window while the gangster waited in his idling car for a cup of joe, cops said Friday.
Sylvester Zottola, after surviving at least two previous violent attacks, was shot five times Thursday while behind the wheel outside the McDonald's, police said.
A worker at a nearby body shop recounted seeing Zottola's lifeless, blood-spattered body after the gunshots echoed down the street around 4:45 p.m.
"I heard 'Bang! Bang! Bang!'" said the employee. "I went out, I saw him there (dead). He's a mobster. He got what he deserved."
The 71-year-old victim was unarmed and appeared unaware of impending danger as the lone shooter approached his vehicle on Webster Ave. in Claremont.
The gunman slipped through a hole in the fence opposite the restaurant and walked right up to to Zottola, whose car was "boxed in" with vehicles in front and behind him, police sources said.
Zottola, pronounced dead at the scene, was shot once in the head, three times in the chest and once in the shoulder, cops said. The shooter, carrying a 9-mm. weapon and wearing a black hoodie, fled through the same fence hole and climbed into a waiting gray Acura sedan.
South Jacksonville police and fire departments expenditures were approved Thursday by the South Jacksonville Village Board.
Trustees approved sending a police officer to a police dog training academy on Nov. 5 in Arkansas.
Police Chief Tim Mann said the police department will buy a dog on or before then.
The police canine will be a huge asset to the villages police department and the villages citizens, Mann said, adding that the dog will partner with one of the police departments drug officers to assist in narcotics detection.
Trustees also approved the purchase of 12 mobile radios for fire department vehicles and 21 portable radios for firefighters at a cost of about $23,000. The radios will be purchased from Global Technical Services.
We are replacing outdated analog radios with the newest digital radios to provide our fire department with better communication equipment, Fire Chief David Hickox said. The radios should arrive within 10 days, he said.
In other business, trustees approved the installation of a weather siren on Loves Drive. The siren should be installed this fall, Mann said.
Village President Harry Jennings announced that the WJVO Thin Blue Line 5K & Kids Fun Run in memory of Scot Fitzgerald kicks off at 8 a.m. today on Sequoia Drive. At 10 a.m. today, the South Jacksonville Celebration Parade begins at South Main Street and Michigan Avenue. The procession will travel south on Main Street and end at Sequoia Drive.
All other celebration activities go from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sequoia Drive.
Greg Olson can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1224, or on Twitter @JCNews_Greg.
Saturday, October 6, 2018
The Law Society of Upper Canada Tribunal Hearing Division (David Wright, chair) denied a recusal motion that sought to deny him authority to assign a hearing panel and dismissal of charges
The respondent calls himself Spirit Warrior. He is an Ontario lawyer whose licence is currently suspended on an interim interlocutory basis. He self-identifies as non-status Metis, and as a member of the Kinakwii Nation/Confederacy. The Law Society has brought a motion for an interlocutory suspension, as well as a capacity application.
Under the Law Society Act, RSO 1990, c. L.8, s. 49.23 (the Act), the Tribunal Chair, or in the Chairs absence, the Vice-Chair, assigns Tribunal members to hearings. The respondent asks that I recuse myself from assigning the panel for cases to which he is a party on the basis of reasonable apprehension of bias.
He raises two types of arguments. First, he alleges that various things I have allegedly said or done, or failed to do, show a reasonable apprehension of bias, either conscious or unconscious, about this case. Second, he says that because he is Indigenous, any panel of Tribunal members I assign would be biased. He argues that I am required to end the existence of the Tribunal under Ontario law and have it continue under the joint jurisdiction of Chief Buffalo Eagle. He submits that his status as an Ontario lawyer should have already been decided in a circle led by a Clan Mother.
The respondent argues that I am not limited by Ontario legislation and that the principles of equity permit and require me to act in accordance with my conscience. He asks that I recuse myself from naming any more panels, reinstate his licence, establish the rule that Indigenous issues are adjudicated by three Indigenous panelists who are status, non-status or Metis as elected by the respondent, receive nominations for a Clan Mother co-chair, and strike down the federal Indian Act, RSC 1985, c. I-5.
The allegations about my conduct do not establish a reasonable apprehension of bias. The respondent takes issue with decisions such as how the case has been managed and whether I agreed with or anticipated legal arguments. None of those things, assuming the correctness of everything alleged, would be interpreted by a reasonable person to suggest I would not have an open mind in assigning panels or deciding matters in this case.
The respondents broader arguments suggesting a legal requirement for an Indigenous panel also do not establish a reasonable apprehension of bias. The respondent is repeating the argument that a panel that is not composed of Indigenous people is biased, previously heard and rejected in Law Society of Upper Canada v. Bogue, 2018 ONLSTH 38 (CanLII) (Bogue #1). The same relief, in essence, was also sought and rejected in the motion for the appointment of an Indigenous tribunal: Law Society of Upper Canada v. Bogue, 2018 ONLSTH 46 (CanLII) (Bogue #2). The parties are bound by those decisions and their conclusions should not be re-litigated.
(Mike Frisch)
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2018/10/the-law-society-of-upper-canada-the-respondent-calls-himself-spirit-warrior-he-is-an-ontario-lawyer-whose-licence-is-curren.html
A judge dismissed two more charges against Charleston, W. Va., gastroenterologist Steven Matulis, MD, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. A judge has dropped four charges against Dr. Matulis already. He is still charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual abuse.
2. He allegedly performed breast and vaginal exams on patients during gastrointestinal medical procedures without their consent.
3. The judge dismissed charges brought by a surgical technician at Dr. Matulis' practice.
4. The technician claimed to witness Dr. Matulis sexually assault a patient under anesthesia during a colonoscopy, but the technician did not see Dr. Matulis perpetrate the assault firsthand. The technician claimed movement on a screen documenting the procedure captured the assault.
5. Dr. Matulis' attorney presented a medical record that debunked the claim. According to the record, Dr. Matulis had to navigate around stool present in the patient's colon. The defense said that was why the technician saw movement.
6. The defense attempted to get other charges thrown out, but the judge found sufficient evidence for the jury to consider.
Venture capitalists poured $10.6 billion into healthcare startups in the first half of this year, putting 2018 on pace to be a record year for venture capital investing in healthcare, according to data from the MoneyTree report from PwC and CB Insights.
Here are 13 healthcare venture capital deals announced in the past month:
1. Ooda Health, a San Francisco-based healthcare payments startup, completed a $40.5 million funding round, led by Oak HC/FT and DFJ Venture Capital.
2. Palo Alto, Calif.-based cancer immunotherapy company Immune-Onc raised $33 million in Series B funding from Northern Light Venture Capital, Vivo Capital and the Stanford-StartX Fund.
3. Alydia Health, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based medical device company, raised $10 million in Series B funding led by the Global Health Investment Fund.
4. Tvardi Therapeutics, a Houston-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of STAT3 inhibitors, raised $9 million in Series A funding from undisclosed investors.
5. Galera Therapeutics, a Malvern, Pa.-based biotechnology company focused on the development of drugs targeting oxygen metabolic pathways with the potential to transform cancer radiotherapy, secured $150 million in a joint, oversubscribed Series C financing and royalty purchase agreement. The financing was led by Clarus.
6. New York City-based biotech startup MouSensor raised $3.3 million in seed funding co-led by imec.xpand and Alexandria Venture Investments.
7. Ceribell, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of a rapid response EEG system, completed a $35 million Series B financing led by Optimas Capital Partners Fund and The Rise Fund with participation by UCB and LivaNova.
8. Maven, a digital health startup and benefits platform focused on improving access to healthcare for women, raised $27 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia and Oak HC/FT.
9. Lyra Therapeutics, a Watertown, Mass.-based biotechnology company developing medicines designed to target ear, nose and throat diseases, raised $29.5 million in Series B funding led by Perceptive Advisors.
10. Proscia, a Philadelphia-based digital pathology startup, completed an $8.3 million Series A financing led by Flybridge Capital.
11. Cambridge, Mass.-based drug discovery startup KSQ Therapeutics raised $76 million in Series B funding led by Flagship Pioneering.
12. Akrevia Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based immunotherapy company, raised $30 million in Series A funding led by F-Prime Capital Partners and Atlas Venture.
13. VelosBio, a San Diego-based biotechnology company focused on developing novel antibody-drug conjugates to treat hematological cancers and solid tumors, raised $58 million in Series A funding led by Arix Bioscience.
More articles on healthcare finance:
15 health systems with strong finances
Nurses call for Michigan hospital CEO to step down as possibility of bankruptcy looms
Dignity Health's net income more than doubles
A study suggests employers and consumers are paying more for healthcare because Indianapolis hospitals overcharge health insurers. However, some hospitals are questioning the study's results and methodology, according to the IndyStar.
The study, published in the International Journal of Health Economics and Management in September, examined publicly available data on four major nonprofit health systems in Indiana to calculate their margins. The study found each had margins of more than 10 percent, and Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Health had the highest at 20 percent.
Michael Siebold, a Tucson, Ariz.-based healthcare consultant and the author of the study, said Franciscan Health, IU Health and St. Vincent collectively made almost $8 billion from 2013-17. This represents a 23 percent margin, while nonprofit hospitals nationwide usually operate at a margin between 2 and 3 percent. Mr. Siebold said Anthem dominates 70 percent of the market share in Indiana, which may lead some to believe it could have controlled prices better than evidenced.
However, stakeholders in the state's healthcare industry raised questions about what the article, which was partially funded by an Optum subsidiary, concludes, as well as its methodology. Franciscan Health Central Indiana's CFO Keith Lauter told the IndyStar, "Our negotiations with the large companies such as United and Anthem are extremely challenging. They're very tough negotiators. We do not feel like we have an advantage in terms of leverage in negotiating power."
Brian Tabor, president of the Indiana Hospital Association, told the publication, "Typically when you look at a study like this, you like to have apples to apples, and this is kind of a whole fruit salad. A lot of things are lumped together in a way that seems to drive a narrative. I have a lot of questions about the methodology here."
To view the study, click here.
Access the full IndyStar report here.
Particularly during my sojourns in South Africa, it may not be possible for me to perform the moderation function speedily. I regret the necessity of moderation but it has been rendered inevitable by the behaviour of a particular commentator whose contributions will always and without exception be rejected.
No correspondence will be entered into regarding moderation decisions.
Readers are invited to comment on blog posts. All comments require to be pre-moderated by me, and I shall reject all (a) that are not related to the Lockerbie disaster or (b) that fail to meet my -- perhaps idiosyncratic -- standards of courtesy towards other contributors. Comments will not be rejected simply because I disagree with them or because I, or other contributors, find them irritating. But comments will be rejected if they distort or misrepresent the evidence; are defamatory; or if they risk embroiling me, as publisher, in defamation proceedings. I am perfectly relaxed about being sued in respect of material which I personally have posted -- but not in respect of material that others wish to post as comments and which, in any case, I often strongly disagree with.
Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan became the first public university to raise $5 billion during a fundraising campaign and will use more than $1.4 billion of it to support the school's academic medical center, according to The Detroit News.
The money was raised as part of the university's "Victors for Michigan" campaign, which launched in 2013 and is slated to end Dec. 31. It's initial goal was to raise $4 billion.
More than 382,000 donors pledged dollars to University of Michigan to push the campaign over $5 billion. The university plans to use $1.1 billion for student support and more than $1.4 billion for the school's academic medical center.
The funds for the academic medical center will support patient care, research and education.
"I am thrilled with the broad base of support we've been able to secure through this campaign," Stephen Ross, campaign chair, told The Detroit News.
From the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suing a Tennessee health system over its flu shot policy to a Montana health system paying $24 million to settle a whistle-blower lawsuit, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.
1. EEOC sues Saint Thomas Health over mandatory flu shot policy
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Nashville, Tenn.-based Saint Thomas Health Sept. 28, alleging Murfreesboro, Tenn.-based Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital violated federal law by ordering an employee to receive a flu shot despite his religious beliefs.
2. Montana hospital pays $24M to settle ex-CFO's whistle-blower suit
Kalispell (Mont.) Regional Healthcare System and six subsidiaries and related entities agreed to pay the federal government $24 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act, Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute.
3. DaVita resolves false claims, whistle-blower allegations for $270M
HealthCare Partners Holdings, which does business as DaVita Medical Holdings, will pay $270 million to settle False Claims Act violations and a whistle-blower lawsuit.
4. AmerisourceBergen to pay $625M to settle civil fraud charges linked to repackaging scandal
Drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen will pay $625 million to resolve allegations that the company improperly distributed tampered and repackaged drugs.
5. Kansas physician awarded $29M in wrongful termination suit
A jury awarded a Kansas emergency physician $29 million for his lawsuit claiming he was wrongfully terminated by the emergency room staffing company he worked for after voicing concerns about the organization's business practices.
6. Disability advocacy firm sues Arizona hospital over access to patients
The Arizona Center for Disability Law filed a lawsuit Sept. 12 against Phoenix-based Arizona State Hospital, claiming hospital officials violated federal law by refusing to provide the center with access to the facility, patients and their records.
7. Louisiana health system stuck in antitrust suit brought by ex-hospital operator, health plan
BRF, a hospital operator in Shreveport, La., and the regional Vantage Health Plan are surging forward with an antitrust lawsuit against Shreveport-based Willis-Knighton Health System, even though BRF left the hospital business Oct. 1.
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Numerous resources and strategies exist for physicians seeking to help patients with opioid use disorder access specialized care, according to AMA Wire.
Kelly Clark, MD, president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, said physicians should first perform a traditional assessment of the patient to identify specific treatment needs before taking any action to secure specialist care.
Dr. Clark also shared three strategies for physicians looking to send patients with opioid use disorder to specialists:
1. Use search tools to find specialists. ASAM's website contains a list of specialists that is searchable by name, city state and ZIP code. They can also be filtered by board certifications, such as addiction medicine, preventive medicine, psychiatry or neurology.
2. Form relationships with specialists. Physicians should make the most of their connections and relationships through state and county medical societies to better locate specialists treating opioid use disorder, according to Dr. Clark.
3. Learn how to provide specialized treatment. Dr. Clark suggests physicians take an eight-hour course to gain certification for administering buprenorphine. Physicians could also take a 40-hour course offered by ASAM, highlighting the fundamentals of addiction medicine.
"Primary care physicians and doctors of all types can enter the fight against the opioid epidemic," Dr. Clark said.
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California children in some counties visited emergency rooms for asthma at much higher rates than the statewide annual rate in 2016, according to a California Healthline report.
In 2016, the annual statewide rate of ER visits for asthma per 10,000 children under age 18 was 75, data from the California Department of Public Health shows. That represents 69,375 ER visits for asthma that year.
But some counties had much higher rates: Merced and Madera's rates were 131 and 140, respectively. Fresno County had the highest rate in 2016, at 143.
All three counties are in the state's San Joaquin Valley, where, according to a California Health Interview Survey, one in four children have asthma.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describes the San Joaquin Valley as having "some of the nation's worst air quality" due to the valley's topography, tThe area is surrounded by mountain ranges.
In addition to air pollution, wildfires such as the ones earlier this year can also make asthma worse in children, according to California Healthline. The 2016 rate of childhood ER visits for asthma in Del Norte County, close to the Oregon border, was 121. According to the report, fires are a likely contributing factor.
Read the full story, and see a graphic with California's rates by county, here.
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The CGCN Group, a Republican lobbying firm, confirmed to STAT that it has played a role in the launch of a new pro-pharma advocacy group, the Alliance to Protect Medical Innovation.
Eight things to know:
1. The Alliance to Protect Medical Innovation launched Oct. 3 as "a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) organization, committed to fostering a national conversation on medical innovation and patient access to care that is holistic and fact-based."
2. The alliance's website does not include funding details. However, the group acknowledged that it relied on some "seed money from people inside the [pharma] industry," according to STAT.
3. The alliance's website also does not include a staff list. Ken Spain, partner at CGCN Group, which is also a communications firm, told STAT: "APMI is our client and is in the process of naming the executive director. We are helping them with the rollout of the organization."
4. As the alliance gets off the ground, it is defending high drug list prices and speaking out against insurers and pharmacy benefit managers.
5. Patients for Affordable Drugs told STAT the group "should disclose its funders immediately," and described the alliance's approach as "misleading, self-serving 'facts' with the same old threat: your money or your life."
6. According to the report, Patients for Affordable Drugs also claimed the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America helped finance the effort. PhRMA and APMI deny the assertion.
7. APMI said in a website post Oct. 4: "Activists and media outlets assumed we were just a front group for PhRMA. Sadly, this is exactly why we launched the alliance. The debate over drug costs has become so corrosive and one-sided that we wanted to introduce a new voice that could point out some basic facts about the groundbreaking medicines developed by biopharmaceutical companies."
8. In the same post, APMI also said it "actually [doesn't] have a lot of funders to reveal. We have been given some seed money from people inside the industry, but our aim is to add as many people, from as many walks of life, as possible. And when we do, we will start disclosing those names."
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Two Red Cross workers were seriously wounded Oct. 2 after they were attacked by community members while performing safe burials of deceased Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeastern city of Butembo, according to The Guardian.
Here are four things to know:
1. The incident represented the most violent attack on Red Cross workers since the outbreak began in Aug. 1, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement cited by The Guardian. The U.N. Security Council on Oct. 3 requested an immediate end to hostilities in the country.
"While we categorically denounce the attack on our colleagues, we understand the fear and frustration that many communities in North Kivu feel right now," Dr. Fatoumata
Nafo-Traore, IFRC regional director for Africa, said in a statement cited by The Guardian. "People are scared and there are many rumors circulating that only serve to heighten the sense of fear and distrust."
2. Safe burials for Ebola victims help prevent disease transmission. The Red Cross has performed about 162 such burials in North Kivu since August.
3. Security issues posed by armed militia groups stationed in the Congo's outbreak area near the country's border with Uganda have been a major obstacle for health workers.
"We are very concerned about the potential for the virus to spread into Uganda, but also into Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi. We are working very closely with those governments on operational readiness for Ebola," Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's director general, said during a U.N. Security Council meeting Oct. 3, according to The Guardian.
4. Congo's health ministry has confirmed 130 Ebola cases and 74 deaths linked to the outbreak.
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About 3,000 health workers vaccinated more than 306,000 people against cholera in Yemen as part of a six-day vaccination campaign from the World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund.
More than 164,000 children under age 15 were vaccinated as part of the campaign, which ended Oct. 5.
Yemen has reported more than 1.2 million suspected cholera cases and 2,515 deaths attributed to the disease since April 2017. Health workers administered most of the vaccines during a four-day "Days of Tranquility" period, in which UNICEF convinces all parties to temporarily cease hostilities to grant children access to healthcare.
"It is unacceptable for people to die from preventable diseases," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press release. "We are grateful for the pause in fighting, which enabled us to complete the cholera vaccination campaign. Vaccination is one of many health services people need. Ultimately, peace is the only road to health."
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A pilot program run by Bremerton, Wash.-based Harrison Medical Center offers homeless patients a place to stay while still in recovery after a hospitalization, according to The Seattle Times.
Here are four things to know:
1. Harrison Medical Center pays for three beds at the Benedict House, a men's shelter also located in Bremerton, to house eligible respite patients.
2. The hospital launched the programs in July through a collaboration with its parent company Tacoma, WA.-based CHI Franciscan Health, Kent, WA.-based Catholic Community Services and Wheaton Way, WA.-based Peninsula Community Health Services.
3. Hospital officials said they hope the program will help homeless patients receive appropriate treatment and follow-up care after a discharge, while also opening up more beds and reducing readmissions rates at the hospital.
4. At present, the beds are only open to male patients, although program supporters said they hope to add more beds across the county.
"Although it doesnt solve the affordable-housing crisis in our area, it does put one more piece into the complex puzzle of healthcare for the vulnerable in our society," Jennifer Kreidler-Moss, CEO of Peninsula Community Health, told The Seattle Times.
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Dayton (Ohio) Children's Hospital will host a job fair to fill hundreds of positions, according to a WKEF/WRGT report.
Positions are available in nursing, clinical support and other areas.
The job fair is scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at UD Marriott in Dayton.
Candidates are encouraged to apply online for an open position before attending the job fair.
With more than 2,000 employees, Dayton Children's serves 300,000 patients annually.
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New Look's flagship Belfast store will close its doors in four weeks' time with "minimal redundancy packages" and redeployment offered to its 60 employees, some workers have claimed.
It comes after Primark confirmed that it was involved in commercial discussions in relation to Fountain House where fashion retailer New Look has been a tenant for 11 years.
And Land Registry documents seen by the Belfast Telegraph show Primark, whose main Belfast store was destroyed by a fire in August, entered into a contract to purchase the building on Donegall Place on September 20.
However staff at New Look say they are angry their future job security remains unclear, even after a meeting with the companys senior management.
In a letter to a Belfast politician, members of staff at the New Look store said the company only commented on speculation of a closure one week after news reports.
And they said there were no guarantees by New Look of redeployment, adding that information being shared with them was conflicting, and that redundancy packages were minimal.
They added there was talk from management that New Look are looking for a new building but staff dont feel that a new building is possibly going to happen this side of Christmas.
New Look, which has 26 Northern Ireland stores six of which are in Belfast has refused to comment on its plans.
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said the developments were concerning.
Mr Carroll (right) said: There are staff with families who have been there 10 or 11 years.
New Look needs to come out and let staff know if they are losing their jobs or not.
He added: People are really frightened of potential repercussions if they talk, and no-one should be in an environment where their job or conditions are threatened.
The letter said staff morale was at an all-time low, adding: This is a horrendous time for everyone, so much so that certain staff members family life and mental health has been affected so badly that they have had to seek medical/doctors advice and support.
The store is expected to close to the public on November 3 and staff say they will remain working at the unit for four days to clear out the building by November 7.
They described it as the final nail in the coffin in relations with management.
Redeployment opportunities for the Belfast staff could potentially include roles at New Looks CastleCourt, Yorkgate, Boucher Road, Forestside, Park Centre and Connswater stores in Belfast.
Mr Carroll advised staff to join a union, adding: People are strong when they stand together.
Fountain Houses current owners are British Overseas Bank Nominees Limited and WCTC Nominees Limited, who are understood to have bought the building for 13m in 2013.
New Look announced a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in March which included the closure of 60 out of its 593 outlets.
However, none of its Northern Ireland stores were among that figure.
Its directors are thought to have entered into legally binding agreements with creditors and landlords, including the current Fountain House owners, to avoid going into administration or liquidation.
The retailer explained that its CVA was approved by the overwhelming majority of its landlords.
'Wrightbus said that Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) has ordered 150 units and its sister company LongWin Bus is taking a further 10'
Ballymena bus manufacturer Wrightbus has announced it has secured orders for more than 200 buses from Hong Kong in deals thought to be worth tens of millions of pounds.
The orders are good news for Wrightbus and its workforce and come days after the group company revealed a collapse in pre-tax profits in 2017 from 10.7m to 1.5m.
And the deals have been hailed as an example of the ability of exporters in Northern Ireland to secure orders in far-flung markets as Brexit draws closer.
However, North Antrim DUP MP Ian Paisley said the firm also needed more orders from home markets, including from Translink.
Vehicles for both orders will be manufactured at the new Wrightbus site in Gracehill, Ballymena, which was bought by the firm after it was vacated by tobacco giant JTI Gallaher.
The company employs around 1,700 people.
The buses for KMB will be among the first to be produced and delivered from the repurposed site.
Wrightbus said that Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) has ordered 150 units and its sister company LongWin Bus is taking a further 10. All are double-decker vehicles with Wrightbus bodywork and Volvo chassis.
The company confirmed that it also received an order for seven buses for New World First Bus (NWFB) and 46 for its sister company City Bus Ltd.
No value has been put on the orders by the company but it's believed they are worth tens of millions of pounds.
The deals bring the total number of bus bodywork orders won by the company in Hong Kong in the last two years to 484 units.
Stephen Kelly, chief executive of industry body Manufacturing NI, said: "This is great news for Wrightbus, workers and the supply chain.
"The company's success in winning healthy orders has a far reaching impacts in communities across north Antrim and Northern Ireland.
"We know we can compete and win in markets at home and abroad when the conditions are right which make the next couple of weeks critical as the Brexit withdrawal agreement negotiations come to a head.
"Hopefully some sense will prevail and we get a deal which is great for Northern Ireland firms and families."
Mr Paisley said he was "delighted and encouraged" for Wrightbus and its workforce.
"The Far East has been a great market for this local company and the order will help sustain the company at a time when we have seen a downturn in national and international bus orders," he said.
"Once again I reiterate my call to Translink and to the Secretary of State to find some mechanism that will allow Translink to commence an order book with Wright bus going forward.
"Overseas orders are fantastic news and are a cherry on top in many cases but local and national bus orders are where the big prize rests."
John McLeister, group business and product development director at Wrightbus, said: "We are honoured to receive these two new orders from our long-standing customers in Hong Kong.
"Working closely with our partners Volvo, we have supplied almost 1,500 double-deckers for operation in Hong Kong since we shipped the first bus in 2001.
"The Hong Kong double-deckers will be manufactured at our facility in Ballymena and will provide a real boost for our workforce and the local economy."
Wrightbus International was established as a separate division of the Wrights Group to generate growth in key overseas markets.
Difficult memories: Gina Murray and son Gary with a picture of daughter Leanne, who was 13 when she was killed in the Shankill atrocity
Relatives who lost loved ones during the Troubles have called for a "complete overhaul" of the compensation system following massive payouts to some of the families of those killed on Bloody Sunday.
The Ministry of Defence this week paid compensation to relatives of Gerard McKinney and Michael McDaid, who were killed in January 1972 by the Army.
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The family of Mr McKinney, a 35-year-old married father-of-eight, was awarded 625,000.
Mr McDaid's family received 75,000, a lower amount, due to the fact the 20-year-old single man had no dependants when he was killed.
Although welcoming the payouts to the grieving families of those killed in Londonderry, families who lost loved ones in some of the most brutal and notorious murders have called for the compensation system to be changed to allow all families to receive a set amount.
Kevin Skelton lost his wife, Mena, in the 1998 Omagh bombing. He says she "was treated differently because she was a housewife".
"No disrespect to the lady who received the compensation, but where is the level playing field?" he asked.
"When my wife was murdered, she had four children and she didn't even get a sixth of what was paid out.
"She was a housewife. It was a case of, 'Take this or you don't'. It was plain and simple. My son, who was 18 years old, actually got nothing for his mother dying.
"I'm not saying money will replace her, but there just doesn't appear to be a level playing field for victims. It's very hurtful.
"They talk about dealing with the past. How can you deal with the past when you have a figure like that?
"I'm not saying those people don't deserve it, because they do. But what about a woman who lost her son 40 years ago who got 650? It's an absolute disgrace.
"After Mena died, I was posted 7,500 by the Northern Ireland Office to cover her funeral.
"Some people posted it back, some didn't because they couldn't afford it. Then I got 100,000 compensation and I was told to take it or leave it.
"Because she was a housewife, she had no monetary value, as opposed to someone who worked 80 hours a week. She looked after our children, she was their mother.
"If she had been a solicitor, or a teacher, they would have given money out from she was 39 years old until she was 65 years old, for what she would have earned. But because she was a housewife, she was treated like garbage.
"At the end of the day, it is not about money - it is about fairness for all. I'm not begrudging the family of the man murdered on Bloody Sunday at all, but we are being left behind.
"I just feel that that is what human life has come to in this country. If someone is murdered by the security forces, they seem to be worth more than someone murdered by terrorists.
"A murderer to me is a murderer. I don't care where he comes from."
Alan McBride lost his wife, Sharon, in the 1993 Shankill bomb. He says everyone should be treated in exactly the same way when it comes to compensation.
"Looking at it at face value, I wondered how some people get so much money and others get very little," he adds. "It is not unusual. I got some compensation because my wife was working, but I know that there were others that day whose loved ones were not working who basically got nothing.
"It seems to me the way that compensation is awarded is unfair. I was given some compensation. My wife was in junior management in the health service and there is no doubt that she would have risen through the ranks to senior management and on a huge salary. But life took a very different course and we have to live with the consequences of that.
"The way that compensation is awarded - given that it is attached to earnings and loss of earnings - is completely mercenary in some respects, because you have just no way of knowing what people would have earned.
"I would have thought that a much better solution would be to have a standard payment, paid out no matter what the circumstances are.
"I think it would be fairer and it would say that nobody's life is judged better than the other.
"But, unfortunately, the way that it works is you don't get compensated for the loss of life, rather the loss of income. I think it is very unfair.
"I am not begrudging this family the money they got. My goodness, I know what it is like to lose someone.
"They deserve every penny they got, but others deserve it, too."
Gary Murray's sister, Leanne, was also killed in the Shankill bombing. His mother Gina received enough to bury her daughter and pay for passage to England for her and Gary, her only surviving child.
"My mum got around 5,000 when Leanne died," he says. "They didn't know what Leanne would have grown up to be. I think that my mum getting 5,000 after Leanne died and someone else getting 625,000 after they lost their loved one is wrong - it should be the same for all victims.
"I don't begrudge the family the money - they deserve it. But I am angry about that. It is like putting a price on life. And you can't do that. It's disrespectful.
"My mum wasn't able to do very much with the money she was given, except bury her daughter and get us over to England. My mum had just me and Leanne. My father died a few months before Leanne was taken.
"My baby brother was stillborn and my other brother was killed in a road accident when he was just six years old. We moved away straight after the bomb to get away from it all. It was just myself and my mum left. I was just 15 years old.
He adds: Compensation should be the exact same for everyone. Everyone should get a decent amount of money especially families who lost a loved one.
If some families are getting that kind of money, my mum should have got that too.
My sister was really smart. She was the top of her class and brilliant at everything. She could have been a doctor, or a solicitor, or anything she wanted to be. She was that type of girl; she concentrated and was always getting stuck into her school work. She was a bubbly, intelligent girl.
There should be a set amount of compensation given to everyone, no matter what religion, or who they are.
The NIO should review their compensation policy. They should treat people fairly and level the playing field.
My sister was a young girl she had her whole life in front of her. Who knows what she would have grown up to be? I think my mum should have got what the Bloody Sunday family got. A life is a life, no matter what age.
Denise Fox, whose father, Denis Mullen, was gunned down by the notorious Glenanne Gang at his Co Tyrone home in September 1975, says her mother received just 12,000 compensation and that life was hard for the family.
I think that the family of the Bloody Sunday victim should have got more money, considering who the perpetrators of the murder were, she says.
And to only be getting it now ... its disgraceful. Id be sad to think of anyone objecting to a Bloody Sunday family getting compensation. At the end of the day, its over 40 years too late. The money that my mother got some 12,000 was totally inadequate.
I remember reading about a woman, whose UDR husband was murdered around the same time as my daddy, was awarded something like 70,000. My mother had to bring up two children and had to give up work.
She was bad with her nerves and had post-traumatic stress disorder after being shot at herself. The whole thing took a toll on her. That money that she got was ludicrous.
Life was very difficult for us growing up. We had no money. We lived for my mothers widows pension coming in every week and we didnt have a fridge until I was 11 years old.
The Northern Ireland Office was contacted for comment, but had not responded at time of going to print.
The DUP could end up being the party that stops Brexit, a campaigner has claimed.
Anti-Brexit crusader Gina Miller made the statement as she addressed business delegates in Newry yesterday.
Ms Miller, who also criticised former First Minister Arlene Foster's "lack of sensibility", said she believes the entrenched position of the DUP could backfire in spectacular fashion.
"The DUP has its agenda, but the irony is that the very thing they are fighting for could have the outcome they dread the most, and I think the thing they are dreading is going to be the thing that happens," she said after concluding her End The Chaos event yesterday.
She cited Mrs Foster's "offensive" blood red line' description earlier this week as an example of her party alienating voters and leaving Prime Minister Theresa May with no wriggle room in negotiations.
"To lack basic sensibilities and use the word blood was so disrespectful to all the people who died in the conflict. She should absolutely not have done that," Ms Miller added. "That's the kind of digging your heels in that is going to backfire."
The businesswoman, who won a High Court case to ensure that Parliament has the final say on any Brexit deal, also dismissed as fantasy the European Research Group proposals to use "imaginary technology" to avoid a hard border.
"I have been told by the biggest global technology providers that the proposals are impossible," she said.
As a result she does not believe agreement can be reached in time for a crunch Summit in Brussels on October 17, when EU leaders will meet to discuss a possible Brexit deal with the UK.
"I believe we are heading towards a General Election which will give the people a chance to have the last say," she added.
Ms Miller also took aim at business leaders who refuse to speak up about the danger and who say one thing in private and a different thing in public.
"I invited 25 to this event and they all said no - the Consumer Council pulled out at the last minute with no explanation, which is a dereliction of duty," she said.
The statutory body said it had wanted to attend but had existing diary commitments.
However, Ms Miller did express some sympathy with those intimidated by "a climate of fear" which sees her receive daily death threats.
During the multi-panel event in the Sean Hollywood Arts Centre, she read out a "moving and historic" message from US Senator George Mitchell, who played a crucial role in brokering the 1998 Agreement.
In it he called for politicians involved in Brexit negotiations to reflect on the work of their predecessors, who displayed "extraordinary courage" in securing a deal to end decades of bloodshed in "dangerous and difficult" circumstances.
Mr Mitchell also recalled a commitment to avoiding a hard border made by the UK Government and the EU in December 2017 - a promise he said "we should all insist is kept'.
Panel member and policy manager at the Freight Transport Association, Seamus Leheny, was among the business leaders and academics who warned of chaotic consequences of a reckless Brexit.
He said the A1 road, which leads to the border, could be transformed into a massive car park "to rival Dover" and that only 60 transport lorries from here could be allowed to operate within the European Union at any one time.
Ms Miller told the small audience that a failure to stop "a buccaneering bunch of scheming, quarrelsome Westminster politicians with an extreme agenda" hanging Northern Ireland out to dry could see a "new Calais" emerge on the border.
Hopes of a Brexit deal within weeks have been renewed with EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker signalling a new note of confidence in negotiations.
Officials in Brussels expect a fresh proposal from the UK on the Irish border after an earlier London paper was rejected by EU leaders.
Speaking in Vienna, Mr Juncker said his main focus was on securing a deal which was possible within the outer deadline of a special EU leaders' summit on November 17 and 18.
"Negotiations are not easy because we also have to be critical that we receive different signals from London," Mr Juncker told the Austrian parliament.
Yesterday the Republic's Foreign Minister hit out at leading Brexiteers for pushing "crazy" ideas about what a no deal withdrawal from the EU would mean.
The rebuke from Simon Coveney came as Dublin urged Prime Minister Theresa May to bring forward her proposals to break the deadlock in the Brexit talks over the Irish border.
When it was put to him that Brexiteers believe the Republic would not erect a border in a no deal scenario, Mr Coveney told Channel Four News: "That is a crazy argument."
In another swipe at Brexiteers like Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mr Coveney said: "You can't say we're leaving the single market, customs union, and have our own free trade agreements and we have to have seamless access to your market too.
"I always say when I'm confronted with comments that Boris Johnson has said, or Jacob Rees-Mogg has said, or indeed (former Northern Ireland Secretary) Owen Paterson have said - you know, fine people who I know and I've worked with in other areas - I believe that they are not describing the full picture or its complexity in Ireland and the challenges we face here."
Dublin's Europe Minister Helen McEntee said she was confident a deal could be done but that the negotiations were reaching a "critical point".
Robin Ballantine who's dog Cole had part of his ear cut off outside Tesco in Bangor. Pic by Peter Morrison
The owner of a dog which had part of his ear cut off during a shopping trip has said he can't understand who would carry out such a cruel act, or why.
Bangor man Robin Ballantine returned home from a trip to his local supermarket only to discover his pet, Cole, had part of his ear sliced off.
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He had left the five-year-old tied outside the Springhill branch of Tesco on Friday, September 21. On returning he said he did not notice anything strange with the dog but on getting home he spotted a trail of blood around the home leading him to discover part of his ear was missing.
"It's disgraceful. I just can't understand it," the 55-year-old told the Belfast Telegraph.
Robin took the dog to his vet. He was told the injury could only have been done by a blade or scissors as it was such a straight cut. He said the dog had been whimpering around the house and has been very reluctant to let people stroke him, particularly males.
"But they are a resilient dog and it's not long before they are running around like nothing happen," he said.
"He will be ok. Every now and again he shakes his head and lets out a little cry. And you have to be careful around his ears. I notice he backs away from people when he never did before.
"Cole is such a lovable dog and has always been very friendly, I just can't understand this."
In the days after the incident Robin returned to the shop and noticed what may have been blood in and around the area where the dog was. He said CCTV may show something happen. He also reported the matter to the police.
Since the shop's community group posted about the incident on Facebook there has been an outpouring of revulsion at the incident.
Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The vet said the injury had to have been done on purpose. Tesco staff held a collection for the dog. Pic Tesco Springhill Community group The dog was tied up outside a Northern Ireland Tesco store. Pic Tesco Springhill Community group / Facebook
Twitter
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Whatsapp The vet said the injury had to have been done on purpose.
"People are also not too happy with me," continued Robin, "saying I should not have taken the dogs with me, or not have left him outside for so long.
"But I had been leaving him there for years and to me he was in a safe, dry place with plenty of people passing by. I'd never any problem before.
"There have also been some nice comment and people passing on their support."
Staff at the Tesco store also held a collection and presented Robin with a box of dog treats and some cash to help with the vet bills.
"That bowled me over," he said
"All I could say was thank you, it was such a lovely gesture, I was overwhelmed.
"But I would just like to know why anyone would do this in the first place, I just can't fathom why."
A police spokesman said: "On Sunday, 26 September police received a report of a dog having sustained an injury to its ear when its owner had left it tied with its lead in the underground parking area of a local shopping centre in Bangor on Friday, 21 September."
Ian Paisley has said he was "being helpful" and denied he was acting as a broker in an email exchange in which he told a Sri Lankan official that he had "two significant arrangements with national oil suppliers in either Oman or Nigeria".
Mr Paisley has been banned from the House of Commons for 30 sitting days for failing to declare two 2013 family holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan government.
In July a parliamentary watchdog found that a year after the luxury holidays Mr Paisley lobbied then Prime Minister David Cameron not to support a UN probe into alleged Sri Lankan human rights abuses.
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Last month Mr Paisley survived a bid to oust him from his North Antrim seat after a recall petition fell short of the 10% of constituents needed to force a by-election.
In an interview with BBC Talkback yesterday, he addressed the failure of the petition, saying that while haters will always hate, he puts his continued public service down to his work delivering for everyone he meets.
Mr Paisley also said he "disagrees with about 10% of the findings" of the parliamentary inquiry into his conduct, but accepted the ruling.
He said: "I did not deliberately hide the holiday, I was wrong in not declaring it, I failed to do that, hands up, I apologise.
"Their read across a year later that this letter (to Mr Cameron) somehow was to do with that holiday and was some sort of paid advocacy as a result of that. I've said: 'That's not what it was about but that is your finding'.
"I have apologised for it. When you are accused of something and you feel that it is harsh and it is wrong but you accept it I think that it is actually the honourable thing to turn around and say: 'Well look, that's your finding, I really don't agree with it but I'm accepting your ruling'."
Mr Paisley called the failure of the recall petition "a miracle" as he thought achieving the number of signatures required to force a by-election was "relatively easy."
He added: "I was certainly prepared for an election, I had arranged my advertising campaign, I had arranged my slogan, I had prepared my election literature.
"I also had other material in place. My wife was cracking up, I had two massive 'A board' vans acquired for the campaign and parked in my driveway. The fact of the matter is that 90.6% of the people, for their own reasons, decided not to sign the petition. It was a positive resolution."
Asked if his father's name could carry him through another election, he said that he "can't win on any of that".
And he said that his reputation would be "damaged amongst the haters who will always hate".
"Am I delighted with the outcome of it? No," he continued. "I just wish that the Commissioner had been more sympathetic to the mitigation that I would put forward. She wasn't, I have to take that on the chin."
He said he knew he had to be "ultra careful" going forward and that public service was "not about self-glorification".
"You have to move away from things which are evil but also which appear and could be interpreted as wrong and I think that there are things there which can be clearly interpreted as ways which were not right for me and I should have been more careful and I think I have tried to consider that and recognise that's really the space that I should occupy," he said.
Mr Paisley was quizzed on an email exchange in which he asked a Sri Lankan official about the "quantity and quality of specifications of oil requirements" for a potential oil purchase and said he could "certainly make this happen very quickly".
He added that he had an upcoming meeting in Africa in which he could "progress this immediately".
Mr Paisley wrote: "Let me know your requirements, as you know this is the most lucrative project you could be involved in and government to government will attract the most discount."
Yesterday Mr Paisley said he had "a number of contacts in that line of business" and would have made the offer "to anyone if they came to me seeking help".
He adde: "I said: 'There's two contacts, that was to your benefit, it's a lucrative project for you, I can put you in touch with those people.'"
Mr Paisley said that his contacts in Oman were in the national petroleum company, and those in Nigeria were in "a similar petroleum industry".
He stated that the issue had arisen in a discussion over dinner, and he had offered to check his contacts. "I came back to them by email and said: 'There's people I do know, I can put you in touch with them,'" he added.
"'Give me the details of it, I will pass it onto the right people'. That's exactly what I offered to do, and the offer was there. Did they take it up? No, they didn't, but the offer was there."
Mr Paisley said that, when questioned by the Commissioner for Standards as to why he had made the offer, he had replied that he "was being helpful".
"I was making available to them my contacts, simple as that," he said yesterday.
Mr Paisley said he didn't think he was "overstating" his influence but was "giving them access to my contacts".
"One individual who I knew in particular in one of the petroleum companies I had got to know reasonably well and I was happy to pass that on," he explained.
He added: "I'm not a broker.
"That is not what a broker would do anyway, a broker deals with costs."
Comedian Patrick Kielty has urged Prime Minister Theresa May to listen to the people of Northern Ireland and not allow the creation of a new hard border.
Kielty gave the stark warning via a statement issued to Remain campaigner Gina Miller.
It came after he ripped apart former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's vision of how Northern Ireland would look after Brexit.
In his message of support, Kielty, who is originally from Dundrum, Co Down, delivered another stinging verdict on pronouncements about Northern Ireland made by high-profile Conservative Party members in recent days.
He wrote: "Last week I politely told Boris Johnson how Brexit will change Northern Ireland - okay, maybe not that politely.
"I'm still waiting for a reply yet he continues to tell people who don't know what he also doesn't know. He wants them to believe that Brexit will have no effect on lives in Northern Ireland.
"What he actually means is that Northern Ireland will have no effect on his life whatever happens."
Kielty took a pop at other senior Tories, who he said hadn't grasped the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland.
"David Davis says we've nothing to worry about because you can buy a pint in Belfast with Euros," he added.
"Yes, you can David. Just not at a same-sex wedding reception."
In a direct plea to Mrs May, he added: "So, Prime Minister, if you really care about Northern Ireland, please listen to what's being said here today and what people here voted for - not once but twice."
A man has been left with possibly life changing injuries after he was shot in both legs in a paramilitary style attack in Londonderry.
Police described the attack as "brutal".
Detective Inspector Conor McStravick said: "We received a report around 8.30pm that a number of men wearing masks, gloves and dark clothing had knocked on the door of a property in the Brandywell road area.
"When a man in his 50s answered, he was pushed to the floor and shot twice in one leg and once in the other.
"Police attended the scene and the ambulance service took the man to hospital for treatment to injuries which may be life-changing. This was a brutal attack, which is being treated as a paramilitary style assault at this time.
Our enquiries are an early stage and I would appeal to anyone who was in the Brandywell road area between 8pm and 8.30pm last night and saw a number of men in the area acting suspiciously to get in touch.
We need support from the public in providing us with the information we require to bring the perpetrators to justice and I would appeal to anyone who has information that could assist us to contact detectives at Strand Road on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 1286 of 5/10/18.
"Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime."
Defendant Kyle Keegan has been remanded to stand trial in the Crown Court, accused of causing unnecessary suffering to Sparky the pup, whose body was found in a bin after a house party in Lurgan
A man accused of beating a puppy to death with a hammer will stand before a jury, accused of animal cruelty, a judge ordered.
Kyle Keegan appeared at Craigavon Magistrates Court yesterday in relation to the alleged incident in February.
The 23-year-old confirmed he was aware of the single count against him and that he had no objections to the holding of a preliminary enquiry (PE) - the legal process necessary to move a case to the Crown Court.
In cases of animal cruelty, the maximum sentence in the Magistrates Court is 12 months; in the Crown Court it is five years.
Keegan, from Gilpins Manor in Lurgan, is in custody charged with causing unnecessary suffering to the pup, called Sparky, on February 3 this year.
Previous court hearings have heard how the dog's bloodied remains were found in a bin in the Ailsbury Park area of Lurgan after a house party. An initial post mortem revealed Sparky had sustained a number of fractures as well as severe brain trauma.
There have also been allegations that the 11-week-old pup was microwaved, and detectives investigating the case have sent samples to Scotland for testing.
Police also conducted enquiries with social media outlets after claims the alleged incident was broadcast online.
Judge Bernie Kelly previously commented that in her almost 40-year legal career: "I have never in my life come across something as cruel as what's alleged" against Keegan.
In court yesterday, the prosecution lawyer submitted that based on the papers and statements before the court, there was a case against Keegan for him to answer.
Defence barrister Barry McKenna said he had no contrary submissions but revealed that despite the allegation that Sparky had been put in a microwave, there was "no evidence" of that in the PE papers.
Judge Kelly told the barrister, however, there was nothing to stop the prosecution introducing further evidence but that was for another day so he "shouldn't get too excited yet".
She added that she had been shown the photographs of the dog before the case had even started as they had made their way onto Facebook.
Keegan, whose parents sat in the public gallery, was told he had the right to comment on the charge or call evidence on his own behalf but he declined the opportunity.
Remanding Keegan back into custody, Judge Kelly returned the case to Craigavon Crown Court for trial. The Judge ordered the defendant to appear in the higher court for his arraignment on November 8.
Fewer people believe community relations in Northern Ireland are improving - but what do our young people really think?
A report this week painted a worrying picture of the future, with less than half our young people feeling relations have got better in the past five years.
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The Northern Ireland Good Relations Indicator showed that the proportion of young people who believe relationships have improved fell from 52% to 46%.
But what is to blame for the decline? And on the streets do young people feel the situation is getting worse?
Yesterday we took to Belfast city centre to find out.
The answer to the first question is all too clear. The main responsibility lies with our politicians.
The answer to the second seems to be no but that our politicians are threatening to undermine 20 years of reconciliation by petty feuds and the embarrassing inability to form a government.
Reid Donaldson, a 20-year-old optical assistant from Donacloney, Co Down, said: Community relations are not getting worse in my experience but what I do see now is a lot of talk about culture. It stirs people up in a way this country doesnt need.
His friend Hanna Maguire (19), also from Donacloney, said she has noticed a difference between school life and her new student life at Queens University.
Were both from an integrated education background and perhaps that has helped our outlook. Now Im at Queens Ive noticed young people are more engaged in politics and there are going to be different views. Topics like Brexit havent helped, by putting border issues into the limelight.
Expand Close Fewer than half of people in Northern Ireland believe community relations are improving, according to a new survey. / Facebook
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Daryl Young (28), from Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, and currently unemployed, said there are more important things to be focusing on. Theres been a negativity about Northern Ireland these past couple of years and thats down to our politicians not working for the people, he said.
Michael Smyth (30), from Loughinisland, Co Down, has watched community relations develop through his links with Belfast-based martial arts club SGB and doesnt want to see the years of progress undermined.
The clubs young people there are just that young people, not Protestant or Catholic, he said.
I have friends from a different religion, a different culture, who vote for a different political party, but to me, and to the people I know, were friends.
Lewis Teer (19) and Emily McCormick (17) feel there may be a difference depending on where young people were brought up.
Im from Portstewart, said Emily. It was a quiet town and I wouldnt have seen any community tension at all.
Lewis, from Cliftonville, north Belfast, said relations are still not how they should be, adding: Yes, there are still areas where community relations are bad around the city, but theyre definitely getting better.
Ballymena friends Daniel Buick and Jane Kyle are both 18. Daniel said: Where we both lived, we would have been classed as being in a minority, but Id like to think that hasnt influenced my friendships.
Jane added: Perhaps the fact nothing changing at the top of our country is why theres a negative reaction further down.
Division keeps politicians in a job.
A pipe bomb was the cause of a security alert in Belfast on Saturday afternoon.
Police were called to the scene in north Belfast outside a property in Stanhope Street just before 1pm.
Cordons were put in place and residents forced to leave their homes as the Army bomb squad attended.
The bomb has been taken away for further investigation and residents allowed back to their homes.
Detective Sergeant McPhillips said: Police would like to thank the local community for their patience while we worked to keep them safe. I would appeal to anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the area or anyone with any information that could help our investigation to contact detectives at Musgrave on 101, quoting reference number 619 of 6/10/18.
Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.
Dr Bob Ballard, at Titanic Belfast, during the launch of the campaign to fund buying the artefacts
A collection of 5,500 artefacts salvaged from the wreck of the Titanic will not now be coming home to Belfast, it emerged last night.
It comes after the National Maritime Museum Greenwich and National Museums Northern Ireland decided not to bid for the items.
The UK institutions, along with Titanic Belfast and Titanic Foundation Limited, had been trying to raise 14m to buy the relics from the present owners.
The rare collection became available after the company that currently owns the items - Premier Exhibitions - filed for bankruptcy in the US.
However, a rival bid of 16.5m was made by a US hedge fund, and the UK institutions withdrew.
The campaign to raise funds to bring the relics to Belfast was launched in July, and had been supported by Titanic film director James Cameron and Dr Bob Ballard, who discovered the wreck of the doomed ocean liner in 1985.
Soon after the wreck was found, the privately-owned company RMS Titanic Inc gained exclusive rights to salvage it and recovered a massive range of items from statues to shoes of the victims.
The thousands of relics were recovered from the seabed over the course of seven expeditions between 1987 and 2004.
In a statement, the National Maritime Museum Greenwich and National Museums Northern Ireland told the BBC: "The requirements for submitting a bid set forth in the debtors' bid procedures appear to have been drafted to prevent museums like ours from participating.
"The institutional limitations of our bid were made clear to the debtors well in advance of, and again after, the filing of the bid procedures with the bankruptcy court."
"We have raised significant funds to acquire the artefact collection and remain committed and willing to acquire the collection if given the opportunity."
The famous ship - built in Belfast, sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912 - resulting in the deaths of more than 1,500 people.
The head of a UK energy watchdog regulating the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme has expressed "regret" that his organisation didn't share information about its potential abuses with Stormont officials.
Day 100 of the RHI Inquiry focused on energy regulator Ofgem (the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets), which failed to effectively advise the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Deti) about a loophole known as "gaming".
This meant scheme users could install multiple small boilers and claim a higher level of subsidy, instead of installing a larger, more efficient system.
Some 75% of installations under the scheme had multiple boilers.
Ofgem has faced criticism for allowing abuse of taxpayers' money while administering the scheme.
Facing questioning, Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan said it didn't believe it had a role to prevent gaming, but instead focused on technical compliance of thje boilers.
Gaming was one of the biggest issues that led to the projected 490m overspend of the scheme.
Inquiry counsel Joseph Aiken said this lack of communication between Deti and Ofgem amounted to a "major systems failure" and led to public money "literally going up in smoke".
Deti set up the ill-fated green energy initiative in 2012, with Ofgem tasked with running it. Ofgem's contractors were required to visit businesses and farms to check that boiler installations were compliant and to detect any fraud.
However, only 31 installations were checked in the first three years of the scheme, despite 2,120 applications.
Mr Nolan described the finding as "sobering" and admitted that Ofgem had been "far from perfect" when sharing key information with Deti.
He added: "I have accepted that there were significant failings.
"It seems that somehow people didn't think that it was their function to deal with gaming with the scheme. It may not sound terribly impressive but it's broadly the truth."
Mr Nolan added that he believed both agencies, Deti and Ofgem, were "culpable".
He also acknowledged that Ofgem's relationship with Deti was "not as effective" as it was with the department running the RHI scheme in Britain.
Difficulties around the sharing of data between Ofgem and Deti have also been probed by the inquiry, which has heard about a lack of auditing.
Inquiry chairman Sir Patrick Coghlin said the purpose of this was to ensure that a representative number of installations were looked at in Northern Ireland, but no one took those steps. He said Ofgem would have had the ability to smell the "odour of gaming", but this wasn't referred to Deti.
Mr Nolan has acknowledged that not enough audits were carried out for RHI. When asked why the audit reports were not forwarded to Deti, he replied that had these been asked for, they would have been provided.
The inquiry also heard that Ofgem did not make Deti explicitly aware of the "phenomena" of the use of multiple boilers with heating systems serving the same loads until late 2014 or early 2015.
At this point the scheme was facing huge budgetary pressures. Mr Nolan accepted that Ofgem "probably should have" made this information available.
Unlike in Britain, no cap or payment tier system was placed on the money that could be claimed in proportion to the size of boiler here.
In effect, this enabled unnecessary heat to be burned just to make money.
Mr Nolan said it was his understanding that Deti had insisted to Ofgem that they were "absolutely not going to do tiering".
Sir Patrick described the revelation as "news" to the panel.
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The head of the European Commission has said the chances of a Brexit deal have increased in recent days.
Interviewed by three Austrian newspapers, Jean-Claude Juncker suggested a deal could even be done in time for the next EU summit at the end of the month.
His comments came after Irish government sources suggested a deal was very close.
Asked if he thought a deal would be finalised at the summit, Mr Juncker said: I have reason to think that the rapprochement potential between both sides has increased in recent days.
I'm always amazed that I'm always blamedJean-Claude Juncker
In a wide-ranging interview, he suggested the European Commission could have helped bring about a different result in the referendum if David Camerons government had not asked him to stay out of the debate.
Asked how he felt about being the first Commission president in the history of the EU to see a member leave the bloc, he said: If the Commission had intervened, perhaps the right questions would have entered the debate.
He added: At that time it was already clear to us to what trials and tribulations this unfortunate vote of the British would lead to. Im always amazed that Im always blamed.
Asked if an exit from Brexit was still possible, Mr Juncker said: That is in the discretion of the British Parliament and the Government. I do not interfere in inner cabinet debates in the UK. There is enough confusion.
Mr Juncker also took a swipe at the British press, claiming they do not respect the human rights of political actors at all and adding: I will not miss it.
A march in support of Scottish independence has seen tens of thousands of people take to the streets of Edinburgh.
Organisers said more than 100,000 people attended, making the event the biggest ever in support of the cause.
Police Scotland said the local authority estimates 20,000 people took part.
Expand Close Yes flags blow in the wind as the campaigners march down the Royal Mile (Jane Barlow/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook
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The All Under One Banner event began near Edinburgh Castle at 1pm on Saturday before making its way down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood Park.
Gary Kelly, of the campaign group, said: Its amazing, the fight for independence is well and truly alive.
Glasgow was the biggest, now Edinburghs beaten it well need to beat it again in Glasgow.
The fact it was in the capital is brilliant.
Linda Hamilton, from Glasgow, was one of those who took part.
She said: I believe in Scottish independence and I believe today is a demonstration a visual demonstration that there is a need for independence in our country.
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Bob McKendrie, 67, originally from Dumfries but now living near Hull, said: Westminster should listen to us, weve been ignored for too long we want our independence.
A small number of union-supporting counter-protesters were on the Royal Mile as the pro-independence crowds walked past.
They shouted they are proud to be Scottish and British.
Independence supporter Iona Young, 20, from Dunfermline, claimed the contrast in numbers for each side showed their togetherness.
She added: It just proves that we all agree on the same thing. There were a few unionists back at the top there, but theres only about 20 of them compared to how many weve got here.
Scotland in Union chief executive Pamela Nash said: Poll after poll shows that a majority of Scots dont want a divisive and unnecessary second independence referendum.
Those marching in Edinburgh are not representative of Scotland, and they are talking to nobody but themselves. The organisers should also be ashamed of the way they have attacked Historic Environment Scotland staff for doing their job.
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Rather than listen to these protesters, most voters want the SNP to listen to concerns about the NHS, schools and the economy and they want Nicola Sturgeon to get back to the day job.
Bands, bikers, people in fancy dress and countless Saltire flags were all part of the march towards Holyrood.
Those who gathered in the park listened to speeches and live music performances.
Others scaled Arthurs Seat to get a better view of the event.
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It comes despite Historic Environment Scotland which looks after the green space saying the rally had not been given permission to take place.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government body said: Our position on use of the park for any rally after the march remains the same. It has not been overruled by Police Scotland.
To confirm, we have not given permission for the set-up of stalls, staging, branding and other static presence within Holyrood Park.
Inspector Murray Starkey said: Police Scotland worked alongside event organisers and partners for a planned march in the capital.
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City of Edinburgh Council estimate that 20,000 people took part in the march from Johnston Terrace to Holyrood Park.
Disruption to the city centre was as expected and all roads reopened as planned.
Queens Drive was temporarily closed to ensure public safety.
One arrest was made in connection with a minor offence.
Both the participants and the wider public are thanked for their patience and co-operation during the event.
Soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland have been welcomed home by their families after a six-month tour of duty.
Crowds gathered in Ayr for a homecoming parade for 400 troops from the 2nd Battalion (2 Scots) of the regiment following their deployment in Iraq, South Sudan and Cyprus, where they worked with local military and UN forces.
After the parade soldiers met with their loved ones, including Lance Corporal Anthony Boyle who was reunited with his six-year-old and seven-month-old daughters.
The battalion then attended a reception in Ayr Town Hall where operational service medals were presented for their role in Iraq, which saw them provide training and mentoring for Kurdish security forces.
In South Sudan, 2 Scots provided security to a British Army Engineer Battlegroup assisting a UN mission in the country, while they also joined UN troops patrolling the green line in Cyprus.
Lieutenant Colonel DC Close, commanding officer of 2 Scots, said: After six months of performing operations, 2 Scots are back to say thank-you to our communities, to our recruiting areas, to our families and friends who have supported us throughout the last year.
It is a joy to be in amongst our Scottish community, who play a major role in supporting us and have done for many years.
The soldiers also added knitted poppies to a remembrance banner in Ayr Town Hall to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War.
South Ayrshire Provost Helen Moonie said: I would like to thank the people of South Ayrshire for welcoming the soldiers home.
I know how much it means to those that took part in the parade to see and hear people young and old cheering them on, its something that will stay with the men and women of 2 Scots for many years to come.
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It was a particularly poignant moment to see serving soldiers attach crochet and knitted poppies to the First World War memorial banner in the town hall, and I would like to thank everyone who has contributed so far.
Last month, soldiers from the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 Scots) held a series of homecoming parades in the north of Scotland following their return from Iraq.
Soldiers from 2 Scots will continue their homecoming events with a parade in Glasgow on Saturday.
The commander of a US air carrier strike group has said he is comfortable with the threat posed by Russia as his aircraft carrier visits the UK.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman has moored in the Solent close to Portsmouth Naval Base to allow its 5,000-strong crew a chance to visit the local area.
Rear Admiral Eugene Gene Black, commander of carrier strike group 8 of the US Navy, said that the 100,000-ton carrier which has a 1,096ft long flight deck with 75 aircraft onboard was a symbol of power and flexibility which could be deployed wherever needed.
We are up here operating in the north Atlantic and I think it sends the best signal possible of our commitment to NatoRear Admiral Eugene Black
Earlier this year, the commanding officer of the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, Captain Jerry Kyd, described the Russian threat in the Atlantic as eye-watering.
When asked by the Press Association if he agreed with this description, Rear Admiral Black said: They are professional mariners, good aviators, I am not sure I would go as far as eye-watering, I dont lose sleep over them.
Im not sure I want to go into describing the threat but I can say we bring a lot of combat power, and when you match it up with Queen Elizabeth in the near future and some of our other Nato partners, I am very very comfortable at our ability to operate where we wish, when we wish.
Describing his ships capability, he added: It is a pretty impressive symbol of power and flexibility, I can take this thing anywhere in the world, anywhere we are directed and we can work with partners and friends however we need to.
Explaining his strike groups deployment strategy in response to Russia, he added: The best description is dynamic force deployment, so we are strategically predictable and operationally unpredictable.
He continued: We are up here operating in the north Atlantic and I think it sends the best signal possible of our commitment to Nato, our partners in the region and how seriously we take our commitments in this part of the world.
Rear Admiral Black said that the US Navy was happy to work alongside the navys new aircraft carrier.
He said: We are absolutely thrilled to have the British back in the fixed wing and aviation business, they are absolute pros, I have operated with them many times and its wonderful to have the Royal Navy sailing alongside you because they are as good as they come.
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When asked if he had any concerns about the F35 jets being purchased by the UK from the US to be deployed on the new carriers following a recent crash of one of the aircraft in South Carolina, he answered: Absolutely not, I know nothing about the crash and I cant comment either way about the F35s.
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Captain Nicholas Dienna, the carriers commanding officer, said his crew had been looking forward to sampling the local beer and visiting local historical sites such as HMS Victory in Portsmouth and Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
He said: From the bottom of the hearts of 5,000 men and women embarked in or assigned to USS Harry S Truman, I would like to say thank you to the people of the UK and the people of the city of Portsmouth for allowing us to spend some well-deserved time to rest in this wonderful city.
A Congolese doctor who treats rape victims and an Iraqi woman who speaks out for those, like herself, who were raped and tortured by Islamic State have won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad were recognised for their work to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Both "have made a crucial contribution to focusing attention on, and combating, such war crimes", 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."
Dr Mukwege (63) founded a hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern Bukavu region and has treated thousands of women, many of whom were victims of gang rape in the central African nation that has been wracked by conflict.
At 19, Ms 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.
Interpol says it has asked Chinese authorities for information about its president Meng Hongwei, who seemingly vanished on a trip to China.
The international police agency, based in France, said in a brief statement that it looks forward to an official response from Chinas authorities to address concerns over the presidents well-being.
The Lyon-based agency said it used law enforcement channels to submit its request for information about Mr Mengs status.
His wife says she has not heard from him since he left Lyon at the end of September.
Statement by INTERPOL Secretary General Jurgen Stock pic.twitter.com/bRXYjDMCsc INTERPOL (@INTERPOL_HQ) October 6, 2018
France has launched its own investigation. Authorities say he boarded a plane and arrived in China, but the 64-year-olds subsequent whereabouts are unknown.
Mr Meng is a vice minister for public security in China.
The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, has suggested Mr Meng may have been the latest target of a campaign against corruption in China.
The newspaper said that on landing last week Mr Meng was taken away for questioning by what it said were discipline authorities.
The term usually describes investigators in the ruling Communist Party who probe corruption and political disloyalty.
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The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the partys secretive internal investigation agency, had no announcements on its website about Mr Meng.
He is the first from his country to serve as Interpols president, a post that is largely symbolic but powerful in status.
Because Interpols secretary general is responsible for the day-to-day running of the agencys operations, his absence may have little operational effect.
The organisation links police officials of its 192 member states, who can use Interpol to disseminate their search for a fugitive, or a missing person.
Only at the behest of a country does the information go public by a red notice, the closest thing to an international arrest warrant. Yellow notices are issued for missing persons.
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Mr Mengs appointment as president in 2016 amid Chinese leader Xi Jinpings sweeping anti-corruption drive alarmed some human rights organisations, fearful it would embolden Beijing to strike out at dissidents and refugees abroad.
He has held various positions in Chinas security establishment, including as a vice minister of public security since 2004. His term as Interpol president runs until 2020.
His duties in China would have put him in close proximity to former leaders, some who fell foul of Mr Xis campaign. He probably dealt extensively with former security chief Zhou Yongkang, now serving a life sentence for corruption.
A jury has convicted white Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Van Dyke was charged with first degree-murder in the October 2014 killing, a charge that requires a finding that the shooting was unnecessary and unreasonable.
The judge told jurors the second-degree charge was also available requiring them to find Van Dyke believed his life was in danger, but that the belief was unreasonable.
Jurors also convicted him of aggravated battery, but acquitted him of official misconduct.
Expand Close The grave of Laquan McDonald (Martha Irvine/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook
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It is the first time in 50 years that a Chicago police officer has been convicted of murder for an on-duty death.
Mr McDonald was carrying a knife when Van Dyke fired 16 shots into the 17-year-old as he walked away from police.
Second-degree murder usually carries a sentence of less than 20 years.
By far the most serious charge Van Dyke, 40, faced was first-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
But Judge Vincent Gaughan told jurors before they began deliberating that they could consider the charge of second-degree murder.
Second-degree murder typically carries a sentence of less than 20 years, especially for someone with no criminal history.
Probation is not an option for a first-degree murder conviction, but it is with second-degree murder.
Van Dyke was the first Chicago police officer to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting in more than 50 years. That case, which also involved an officer shooting someone with a knife, ended in conviction in 1970.
The verdict is the latest chapter in a story that has made headlines since a judge ordered the release of a patrol car video of the shooting in November 2015.
Officers had Mr McDonald largely surrounded on a city street and were waiting for someone to arrive with a stun gun to use on the teenager when Van Dyke arrived, according to testimony and video.
The video, played repeatedly at trial, showed Van Dyke opening firing. Mr McDonald spins, then crumples to the ground. Van Dyke continues to shoot when the 17-year-old is lying in the street.
Protesters against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh gather in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
Protesters have disrupted the Senates vote on Brett Kavanaughs confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Demonstrators began shouting I do not consent as the roll call on Mr Kavanaugh began.
Senators were seated at their desks for the vote.
When Sen Jeff Flake of Arizona cast his vote in favour of Mr Kavanaugh, one protester shouted: Youre a coward Flake, a total coward.
Vice President Mike Pence, who is presiding, repeatedly called for the Senate sergeant-at-arms to restore order in the chamber.
The protesters were removed by gallery staff.
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Page: 1 2 Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 463563
10-05-2018 10:11 PM
Post: #1 Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-carol...k-hopkins/ According to a senior law enforcement source, the shooter was Frederick Hopkins, a 74-year-old Vietnam War veteran and disbarred attorney who is known to law enforcement as an accomplished marksmen. Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler said the officers were overwhelmed during the ambush. 1110.00)
lop guest
User ID: 198896
10-05-2018 10:12 PM
Post: #2 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
One of those "flying saucer" vets, like on that "news" program - I forget what it is called. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 456532
10-06-2018 01:22 AM
Post: #3 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 453005
10-06-2018 01:40 AM
Post: #4 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
He was running 3 gun matches on the regular.
I would guess that had more to do with the demonstrated acumen. Archangel
Michael
User ID: 466182
10-06-2018 01:42 AM
Posts: 14,103
Post: #5 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
What took him over the line? I tried reading a thread about it, but I didn't see what set him off. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466325
10-06-2018 01:47 AM
Post: #6 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
Another fine democrat LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 463592
10-06-2018 01:55 AM
Post: #7 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 01:47 AM) Another fine democrat
Not this time.
Look how close Winter Park is to Lake Nona.
Google "who built Lake Nona"
They have a VA hospital there.
They are turning out Manchurian candidates.
Look how many shooters have connections to Florida. Not this time.Look how close Winter Park is to Lake Nona.Google "who built Lake Nona"They have a VA hospital there.They are turning out Manchurian candidates.Look how many shooters have connections to Florida. Archangel
Michael
User ID: 466182
10-06-2018 02:01 AM
Posts: 14,103
Post: #8 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
The way the VA used to treat Vets, I'm surprised more haven't happened. Grace of God. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466356
10-06-2018 02:03 AM
Post: #9 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 01:55 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 01:47 AM) Another fine democrat
Not this time.
Look how close Winter Park is to Lake Nona.
Google "who built Lake Nona"
They have a VA hospital there.
They are turning out Manchurian candidates.
Look how many shooters have connections to Florida.
Tavist0ck Tavist0ck LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 465047
10-06-2018 02:06 AM
Post: #10 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 01:55 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 01:47 AM) Another fine democrat
Not this time.
Look how close Winter Park is to Lake Nona.
Google "who built Lake Nona"
They have a VA hospital there.
They are turning out Manchurian candidates.
Look how many shooters have connections to Florida.
VA Medical Center
The 1.2 million-square-foot Orlando VA Medical Center serves the regions 400,000 veterans by providing acute care, complex specialty care, advanced diagnostic services, a large multi specialty outpatient clinic, administrative and support services. This campus is also home to the SimLEARN National Simulation Center.
http://www.lakenona.com/health/medical-c...al-center/ VA Medical CenterThe 1.2 million-square-foot Orlando VA Medical Center serves the regions 400,000 veterans by providing acute care, complex specialty care, advanced diagnostic services, a large multi specialty outpatient clinic, administrative and support services. This campus is also home to the SimLEARN National Simulation Center. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 465047
10-06-2018 02:07 AM
Post: #11 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
Archangel Wrote: (10-06-2018 02:01 AM) The way the VA used to treat Vets, I'm surprised more haven't happened. Grace of God.
Orlando VA Medical Center at Lake Nona
https://www.orlando.va.gov/locations/directions.asp
Scroll down. Read the directions how to get there?
See anything strange? Orlando VA Medical Center at Lake NonaScroll down. Read the directions how to get there?See anything strange? LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 465047
10-06-2018 02:08 AM
Post: #12 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
Build-to-Suit and For-Lease Medical Office Opportunities
http://tavistockdevelopment.com/portfoli...s-cluster/ Lake Nonas Health & Life Sciences ClusterBuild-to-Suit and For-Lease Medical Office Opportunities LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466357
10-06-2018 02:08 AM
Post: #13 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
Could have been dementia related. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 465516
10-06-2018 02:13 AM
Post: #14 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
Archangel Wrote: (10-06-2018 01:42 AM) What took him over the line? I tried reading a thread about it, but I didn't see what set him off.
At this point, I'm beginning to suspect foul play, on the part of the police. The Sheriff has a substance abuse problem, and dismissed State investigators in a strange manner. I'm not calling it a FF, but "Something fawky happened".
There had better be unedited body cams from the officers on the ground(should be a criminal offense for a police officer not to have one, and engaging in police duties if it is broken or malfunctioning). At this point, I'm beginning to suspect foul play, on the part of the police. The Sheriff has a substance abuse problem, and dismissed State investigators in a strange manner. I'm not calling it a FF, but "Something fawky happened".There had better be unedited body cams from the officers on the ground(should be a criminal offense for a police officer not to have one, and engaging in police duties if it is broken or malfunctioning). LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 465516
10-06-2018 02:18 AM
Post: #15 RE: Vietnam War vet identified as suspect in deadly ambush of 7 officers
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 01:55 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 01:47 AM) Another fine democrat
Not this time.
Look how close Winter Park is to Lake Nona.
Google "who built Lake Nona"
They have a VA hospital there.
They are turning out Manchurian candidates.
Look how many shooters have connections to Florida.
Sadly, I had white neighbors, that moved North from Florida, and based upon a cross country trip I once went on, Whites do not belong south of Central Tennessee. The climate isn't suitable to Gaelic, Germanic, Flemish or Norse, Caucasian biology.
I suspect, the increase of erratic behavior is due to brain damage caused by mini heat strokes, over the course of ones lifetime in those climates.
Some may call me racist for supporting strong ethnic and racial segregation, but I also support biological territorial segregation. Sure, many humanoids are sentient, self aware, lifeforms, but we are still biological beings, whose bodies survive best in different climates.
In much the same way, Whites don't belong anywhere near the Equator, the darker races/breeds, do not belong in the Northern Hemisphere, as they begin to develop their own ecological health problems, from being removed from their natural environment. Sadly, I had white neighbors, that moved North from Florida, and based upon a cross country trip I once went on, Whites do not belong south of Central Tennessee. The climate isn't suitable to Gaelic, Germanic, Flemish or Norse, Caucasian biology.I suspect, the increase of erratic behavior is due to brain damage caused by mini heat strokes, over the course of ones lifetime in those climates.Some may call me racist for supporting strong ethnic and racial segregation, but I also support biological territorial segregation. Sure, many humanoids are sentient, self aware, lifeforms, but we are still biological beings, whose bodies survive best in different climates.In much the same way, Whites don't belong anywhere near the Equator, the darker races/breeds, do not belong in the Northern Hemisphere, as they begin to develop their own ecological health problems, from being removed from their natural environment. Advertisement
Bangladeshs Rapid Action Battalion personnel detain a suspected extremist after he surrendered in Ashulia community, near the capital Dhaka, July 16, 2017.
Two suspected members of a banned Bangladeshi militant group blew themselves up Friday as security forces cordoned off a house occupied by the pair in Southeastern Chittagong district, an official said.
Members of the elite anti-crime unit Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were urging the two suspected militants to surrender but the duo opened fire, prompting officials to fire back, spokesman Mufti Mahmud Khan told a news conference.
During the exchange of fire, the suspects killed themselves in a suicide explosion, Khan said.
The exchange of fire continued for about half an hour. At one stage, the militants exploded two bombs, Khan said. The two men were believed to be members of the Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), he said.
Khan said the two militants were planning to attack a local court.
Police seized an AK-22 rifle, three pistols, five improvised explosive devices, explosives and bomb-making materials, he said.
It was the second suicide blast in Bangladesh this year. Three militants killed themselves as law enforcers raided their hideout in Dhakas Nakhalpara neighborhood on Jan. 12, authorities said.
Officials have accused the JMB and its offshoot Neo-JMB of involvement in attacks on secular activists and foreign targets, including the 2016 attack on a cafe in an affluent Dhaka community.
The U.S. State Department in February declared the Neo-JMB as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, allowing Washington to block assets that members of the group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) may have in American jurisdictions. The designation also bars U.S. citizens from making financial transactions with the Bangladeshi terrorists.
Gunmen belonging to the Neo-JMB shot and killed an Italian aid worker in Dhaka in September 2015, according to a State Department news release, which also said that the group had claimed attacks carried out across the country, including an overnight siege at the Dhaka cafe in 2016.
In all, 29 people, including the five militants, died when the gunmen who claimed to be members of the Neo-JMB stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe, killing 20 hostages, police said.
Since the attack, officials have rejected allegations of IS presence in the country even as security forces have launched crackdowns that led to the killings of top JMB leaders, mostly in what police said were shootouts.
An activist holds a sign bearing a portrait of jailed photographer Shahidul Alam during a protest outside the Bangladeshi High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct. 2, 2018.
A High Court panel is scheduled on Sunday to hear a fifth bail request for noted photographer Shahidul Alam since his arrest and jailing two months ago for allegedly violating Bangladeshs online defamation laws.
Alam was arrested on Aug. 5 after he posted Facebook updates and gave an interview to Al Jazeera about week-long street protests which broke out after two students were run down by a bus. So far, he has been denied three requests for bail in four hearings.
My belief is the charges brought against Alam will ultimately not be proved in court. This is because the charges are baseless, his wife, Rehnuma Ahmed, told BenarNews.
Police told the court that investigators feared Alam could leave the country if granted bail.
The investigation of the charges against Shahidul Alam is ongoing. It is not possible to predict a timeframe for filing the charge-sheet, Moshiur Rahman, deputy commissioner of the polices detective branch, which filed the case under the Information and Communication Technology, told BenarNews.
Alams wife challenged the police statement regarding bail.
This is absolutely the wrong idea that Shahidul will flee, Ahmed said.
Bail attempts
A court turned down Alams first bail request when it granted police a seven-day remand to hold Alam for questioning.
Since then, defense lawyers have appealed to the High Court and a lower court to free Alam.
On Aug. 14, a Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court denied him another bail request.
Two weeks later, Alams attorneys submitted a bail petition before the High Court. On Sept. 4, a panel refused to hear the petition, forcing the chief justice to order another panel to take on the case.
The second High Court petition ordered the lower Sessions Court to handle the bail petition, and the lower court rejected it on Sept. 11.
Seven days later, the defense lawyers returned to the High Court seeking Alams release. That panel is expected to hear the latest bail request on Sunday.
While he lingers behind bars, the High Court ordered that Alam be moved to a more comfortable cell with better food.
A plane towing a banner calling for Shahidul Alam to be freed in Bangladesh flies over the Statue of Liberty in New York, Sept. 30, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Wasfia Nazreen)
Worldwide protests
Since Alams incarceration, Bangladeshis have launched protests in Dhaka and across the globe.
About a month ago, supporters posted a Facebook video of men wearing cages to signify being locked up as they sang a protest song, while hundreds gathered in Dhaka to protest Alams arrest. The protesters set up a motorcycle helmet where they gave alms and worshipped its power.
The helmet was significant because during the earlier street protests that Alam had reported on just hours before his arrest, stick-wielding gangs attacked students.
Seeking a global stage, a group whose Facebook page is titled In support of Shahidul Alam, took to the skies over New York City during the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 30.
The group hired an airplane to tow a banner that read Free Shahidul Alam.
Dr. Alam is an inspiration for Bangladesh and beyond. He should be celebrated amongst Bangladeshis for the treasure and pride that he is, said Bangladesh mountaineer Wasifa Nazreen, who has summited the worlds seven highest mountains and was on the plane flying over New York.
We, the youth of Bangladesh who comprise almost 70 percent of the nation, urge the government of Bangladesh to immediately and unconditionally release him and all our teachers.
Two days earlier when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressed the General Assembly, actress Sharon Stone, American human rights activist Kerry Kennedy, Columbia University Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and others took to the streets in New York to protest Alams arrest.
What is really important for the state is that if one silences the creative artists and intellectuals, then the conscience of the state is killed because its the role of the creative artists and intellectuals to make constructive criticism so that the state can be a real democracy, Spivak said in a news release issued by South Asian Citizens Web.
Seven foreigners were among eight men arrested by Malaysian officers on suspicion of involvement in Southeast Asian recruitment efforts by a terror cell linked to a Yemen-based Salafi extremist group, Malaysias police chief announced Saturday.
The arrests were carried out during coordinated raids in Perlis, Kuala Lumpur and Johor on Sept. 24, Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement. Six of the foreigners were students at an Islamic school located in the northern state of Perlis, Fuzi said.
The arrests by counter-terrorist police were made following an intelligence report obtained by the police regarding efforts by a Salafi Jihadist terror group in Yemen to establish a school in the Southeast Asian region to propagate Salafi Jihadism ideology, Fuzi said.
Five of the suspects came from the same European country while a sixth suspect was a citizen of a country in the Americas. He did not elaborate, but said the eight suspects ranged from 24 to 38 years old and that most of them, based on information shared by foreign intelligence, were linked in their home countries to the so-called Islamic State (IS) organization or other extremist groups.
A former student of the school and a former member of its faculty were among those arrested, Fuzi said. He did not disclose the schools name.
The former teacher, 33, who comes from the Middle East, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur and known to be giving unsanctioned classes in the Malaysian capital on Salafi Jihadism, the police chief said.
All eight suspects were connected to a madrassa, or Islamic boarding school, in Yemen that was founded by an icon of Salafi Jihadist movement, the late Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadii, according to Fuzi.
The Yemeni madrassa adheres to strict Salafi Jihadist ideology that allows for the murder of non-Muslims and Muslims who differ from them in their beliefs, Fuzi said.
They also label democracy as a system hostile to God.
The eight men were arrested on suspicion of committing terrorist-related offenses and were being investigated under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA), Fuzi said. None of the suspects have been charged yet.
Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, the chief of the Malaysian polices counter-terrorist special branch, told BenarNews that the school in Perlis where most of the suspects were arrested had been operating since 2011. He declined to reveal the campuss name.
Perlis is reputed for permitting the Salafist or Wahhabist strain of Islam that has been exported to Southeast Asian Muslim countries by predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia. Salafism is a revivalist movement that advocates for the return to the Islam as practiced during the time of Prophet Muhammad.
Reacting to the Fuzis announcement about the arrests, Asri Zainal Abidin, the mufti of Perlis, said the state was not a center for radical teachings, according to Bernama, the Malaysian government-run news service.
He said students who intended to pursue their studies at religious learning centers in Perlis, as well as teachers who wanted to work there, must first be screened by police as a security measure.
I always ask the state police chief about the students at these learning centers, especially the foreigners, Bernama quoted him as saying. Only with police confirmation will we allow them (to pursue studies at the religious learning centers).
Earlier last month, Malaysian police said they had arrested five other suspects who were allegedly involved in a terrorist plot targeting a country in the Middle East. When he announced those arrests at the time, Fuzi did not identify the country in question but said the five were believed to be members of an extremist group known as Asoib.
A government source told BenarNews then that the suspects had planned to travel to Yemen to carry out the attack in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has been a hotbed of al-Qaeda, like in other countries in the Middle East. Some groups which advocate Salafi Jihadism set up school there, Ahmad El Muhammady, an expert on counterterrorism at the International Islamic University Malaysia, told BenarNews.
According to him, such groups are taking advantage of an interest in Islamic studies among Malaysians by importing Yemeni-based teachings into the country.
Unfortunately the content is Salafi jihadism, El Muhammady said.
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Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466343
10-06-2018 12:26 AM
Post: #1 Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
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Almaz design bureau custom job, they've has this ready to roll for 6 months.
Grab the popcorn. Fully upgraded missiles, radar and control systems. They have also assigned Russian operations teams to train Syrian troops and optimize usage. They will also network with the S400 installation and extensive radar installation in LatakiaAlmaz design bureau custom job, they've has this ready to roll for 6 months.Grab the popcorn. Moranic_Mayhem
lop guest
User ID: 345079
10-06-2018 01:01 AM
Post: #2 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
Annnd? LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466350
10-06-2018 01:05 AM
Post: #3 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
Moranic_Mayhem Wrote: (10-06-2018 01:01 AM) Annnd?
Counter moves...Israel in check. Counter moves...Israel in check. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 465516
10-06-2018 02:35 AM
Post: #4 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 12:26 AM) Fully upgraded missiles, radar and control systems. They have also assigned Russian operations teams to train Syrian troops and optimize usage. They will also network with the S400 installation and extensive radar installation in Latakia
Almaz design bureau custom job, they've has this ready to roll for 6 months.
Grab the popcorn.
Here comes reality:
It was built by Slavic's, who often have an IQ under 95. It might work, or it might not.
Don't get me wrong, Slavic geniuses are pretty damn imaginative and super intelligent in their own right(Tesla anyone?), but the average Slavic? Yeah, not so much. Here comes reality:It was built by Slavic's, who often have an IQ under 95. It might work, or it might not.Don't get me wrong, Slavic geniuses are pretty damn imaginative and super intelligent in their own right(Tesla anyone?), but the average Slavic? Yeah, not so much. Pasta Lover
Registered User
User ID: 418981
10-06-2018 02:37 AM
Posts: 9,463
Post: #5 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
They've had the 400s there for a while. They are there to protect the Russian forces. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466332
10-06-2018 02:43 AM
Post: #6 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
More theater. Russia could have just sold all of this stuff to Syria years ago and Syria would have roundly defeated the terrorists just as quick. But Russia doesn't want the terrorists to be defeated, they just want to prolong the war to please their masters in Washington.
Did they really ship anything or is it just posturing to pretend that Putin is "standing up" to Israel when in fact he is an obedient puppet? LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466372
10-06-2018 03:01 AM
Post: #7 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
Pasta Lover Wrote: (10-06-2018 02:37 AM) They've had the 400s there for a while. They are there to protect the Russian forces.
Yes but now the Syrian government has them. Yes but now the Syrian government has them. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466372
10-06-2018 03:02 AM
Post: #8 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 02:43 AM) More theater. Russia could have just sold all of this stuff to Syria years ago and Syria would have roundly defeated the terrorists just as quick. But Russia doesn't want the terrorists to be defeated, they just want to prolong the war to please their masters in Washington.
Did they really ship anything or is it just posturing to pretend that Putin is "standing up" to Israel when in fact he is an obedient puppet?
You have no idea how difficult urban combat is do you? You have no idea how difficult urban combat is do you? LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 436986
10-06-2018 03:03 AM
Post: #9 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
Good.
The invading and attacking, uninvited fuckfaces of all kinds need to go home and/or stay out of where they're not invited.. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466332
10-06-2018 03:29 AM
Post: #10 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 03:02 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 02:43 AM) More theater. Russia could have just sold all of this stuff to Syria years ago and Syria would have roundly defeated the terrorists just as quick. But Russia doesn't want the terrorists to be defeated, they just want to prolong the war to please their masters in Washington.
Did they really ship anything or is it just posturing to pretend that Putin is "standing up" to Israel when in fact he is an obedient puppet?
You have no idea how difficult urban combat is do you?
Syria has to use inaccurate barrel bombs because Russia doesn't want to sell them missiles for their planes. Just one example there. Syria has to use inaccurate barrel bombs because Russia doesn't want to sell them missiles for their planes. Just one example there. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466386
10-06-2018 03:49 AM
Post: #11 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 03:29 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 03:02 AM) You have no idea how difficult urban combat is do you?
Syria has to use inaccurate barrel bombs because Russia doesn't want to sell them missiles for their planes. Just one example there.
So much derp I dont know where to start.... So much derp I dont know where to start.... LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466388
10-06-2018 03:53 AM
Post: #12 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 02:35 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 12:26 AM) Fully upgraded missiles, radar and control systems. They have also assigned Russian operations teams to train Syrian troops and optimize usage. They will also network with the S400 installation and extensive radar installation in Latakia
Almaz design bureau custom job, they've has this ready to roll for 6 months.
Grab the popcorn.
Here comes reality:
It was built by Slavic's, who often have an IQ under 95. It might work, or it might not.
Don't get me wrong, Slavic geniuses are pretty damn imaginative and super intelligent in their own right(Tesla anyone?), but the average Slavic? Yeah, not so much.
They probably get more vitamins and mineral from their food then you do with your processed microwave sh*t.
Keep buying what their selling son They probably get more vitamins and mineral from their food then you do with your processed microwave sh*t.Keep buying what their selling son LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466390
10-06-2018 03:58 AM
Post: #13 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 03:29 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 03:02 AM) You have no idea how difficult urban combat is do you?
Syria has to use inaccurate barrel bombs because Russia doesn't want to sell them missiles for their planes. Just one example there.
barrel bombs are pretty damn effective. Whats easier then loading s ton of ordinance you cant use (or returning it back to its owners) into a barrel and dropping it on the heads of those you dont want around anymore...Very Effective. More so then a $100K ATGW now being use to shoot at troops with barrel bombs are pretty damn effective. Whats easier then loading s ton of ordinance you cant use (or returning it back to its owners) into a barrel and dropping it on the heads of those you dont want around anymore...Very Effective. More so then a $100K ATGW now being use to shoot at troops with Bao2
Banned
User ID: 422170
10-06-2018 04:26 AM
Posts: 12,562
Post: #14 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
Moranic_Mayhem Wrote: (10-06-2018 01:01 AM) Annnd?
If you want to have more veterans dead in USA send them to Syria now to fight for Israel trying to grab south of Syria. Trying. If you want to have more veterans dead in USA send them to Syria now to fight for Israel trying to grab south of Syria. Trying. (This post was last modified: 10-06-2018 04:27 AM by Bao2 .) Pasta Lover
Registered User
User ID: 418981
10-06-2018 05:03 AM
Posts: 9,463
Post: #15 RE: Russia delivered S400 in a S300 skin
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 03:01 AM) Pasta Lover Wrote: (10-06-2018 02:37 AM) They've had the 400s there for a while. They are there to protect the Russian forces.
Yes but now the Syrian government has them.
The Syrian government won't have total control of the S300 complexes. They will be at least partially manned by Russian forces. The Syrian government won't have total control of the S300 complexes. They will be at least partially manned by Russian forces. Advertisement
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Page: 1 2 German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant rape. Loud Sneeze
lop guest
User ID: 397577
10-06-2018 02:17 AM
Post: #1 German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant rape.
Advertisement https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/10/german...Px.twitter
German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant violence Her house vandalised as well
By STAN M 5 October 2018
During a Poetry Slam in Speyer, Ida-Marie Muller a 14-year-old girl dared to ridicule the welcome culture of the left and denounce refugee rapists all in one.
Not only did she receive the most applause for her poem but would have won the competition because the winner was determined this way.
From far away the man fell into the hands of traffickers, with no passport and a mobile phone. He arrived in our hallowed German land. Because he cant get a lady, he helped himself to one with a knife.
The left-wing organisers couldnt have that, of course, and simply disqualified her, the winner. She was barred from the award ceremony and another competitor was awarded first prize. German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant violence Her house vandalised as wellBy STAN M 5 October 2018During a Poetry Slam in Speyer, Ida-Marie Muller a 14-year-old girl dared to ridicule the welcome culture of the left and denounce refugee rapists all in one.Not only did she receive the most applause for her poem but would have won the competition because the winner was determined this way.From far away the man fell into the hands of traffickers, with no passport and a mobile phone. He arrived in our hallowed German land. Because he cant get a lady, he helped himself to one with a knife.The left-wing organisers couldnt have that, of course, and simply disqualified her, the winner. She was barred from the award ceremony and another competitor was awarded first prize. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 460404
10-06-2018 02:53 AM
Post: #2 RE: German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant rape.
they've burnt out the minds and destroyed all germans who would oppose destruction of their culture , destruction of their people
http://www.mikrowellenterror.de
it takes more than just "talk" to get a people to assist in their own replacement , allowing themselves to be replaced as the majority in their own country this is the result of Israel and the jews using directed energy , mind control weapons in Germany for many decades nowthey've burnt out the minds and destroyed all germans who would oppose destruction of their culture , destruction of their peopleit takes more than just "talk" to get a people to assist in their own replacement , allowing themselves to be replaced as the majority in their own country LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466321
10-06-2018 03:12 AM
Post: #3 RE: German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant rape.
LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 465516
10-06-2018 03:28 AM
Post: #4 RE: German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant rape.
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 02:53 AM) this is the result of Israel and the jews using directed energy , mind control weapons in Germany for many decades now
they've burnt out the minds and destroyed all germans who would oppose destruction of their culture , destruction of their people
http://www.mikrowellenterror.de
it takes more than just "talk" to get a people to assist in their own replacement , allowing themselves to be replaced as the majority in their own country
Sadly, your wrong, it is an act of God.
Read Jeremiah, and replace "Ephraim/Israel", with "Germany". There is a reason why this started, exactly 70 years after WW2 ended. God's goal is simple, give Ephraim's Children* two choices: Flee to the land of promise, or die.
That is why if you study regions in America, Canada and elsewhere, even South Africa, you see the same exact pattern of genocide against Germanic's. God wants to thin the numbers enough, so that God can use Germanic's as a bone soup, to heal the Jew's of their innate biological evil doing.
If that doesn't work, then God will just slaughter every last Jew and call it a day( fawk the Germanic's if it doesn't work out? It is why I gave up on God, for God is an unrighteous Judge, who punishes the least sin as the greatest, and the greatest as the least; my heart is weary of corrupt judges.).
It is one of the reason's, Israel is obsessed with land expansion, as the Israeli government is run by fanatics obsessed with fulfilling Biblical prophecy, and they know they will need more land for the influx.
I wouldn't be surprised, if eventually, dirty bombs are used to make Germany uninhabitable.
God tries to offer the Germanic's and olive branch, by swearing to utterly, and brutally, exterminate "Ephraims" enemies(Allied Powers). Why do you think, the allied power leadership went nutters as the 70 year period of rest, came to a close?
The reality is, every single Anglo Saxon, French, Polish, Dane, Czech, Polish, Russian and etc, in the next few years, will all be eradicated. I must admit, a world without Anglo Saxons, is a pleasant idea to contemplate, but it is all a lie to prop-up prophecy, as Ephraim is long dead.
The German tribes are descendants of the lost tribes of Israel, but are not the lost tribes themselves, as they are all dead now. Sadly, your wrong, it is an act of God.Read Jeremiah, and replace "Ephraim/Israel", with "Germany". There is a reason why this started, exactly 70 years after WW2 ended. God's goal is simple, give Ephraim's Children* two choices: Flee to the land of promise, or die.That is why if you study regions in America, Canada and elsewhere, even South Africa, you see the same exact pattern of genocide against Germanic's. God wants to thin the numbers enough, so that God can use Germanic's as a bone soup, to heal the Jew's of their innate biological evil doing.If that doesn't work, then God will just slaughter every last Jew and call it a day(It is why I gave up on God, for God is an unrighteous Judge, who punishes the least sin as the greatest, and the greatest as the least; my heart is weary of corrupt judges.).It is one of the reason's, Israel is obsessed with land expansion, as the Israeli government is run by fanatics obsessed with fulfilling Biblical prophecy, and they know they will need more land for the influx.I wouldn't be surprised, if eventually, dirty bombs are used to make Germany uninhabitable.God tries to offer the Germanic's and olive branch, by swearing to utterly, and brutally, exterminate "Ephraims" enemies(Allied Powers). Why do you think, the allied power leadership went nutters as the 70 year period of rest, came to a close?The reality is, every single Anglo Saxon, French, Polish, Dane, Czech, Polish, Russian and etc, in the next few years, will all be eradicated. I must admit, a world without Anglo Saxons, is a pleasant idea to contemplate, but it is all a lie to prop-up prophecy, as Ephraim is long dead.The German tribes are descendants of the lost tribes of Israel, but are not the lost tribes themselves, as they are all dead now. LoP Guest
lop guest
User ID: 466377
10-06-2018 03:32 AM
Post: #5 RE: German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant rape.
She may not be a nazi. Or maybe she is.
But YOU definitely are a nazi OP. D3VILSR3J3CT
...
User ID: 464456
10-06-2018 03:56 AM
Posts: 15,604
Post: #6 RE: German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant rape.
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 03:12 AM) Illumisketti
Registered User
User ID: 418616
10-06-2018 04:10 AM
Posts: 789
Post: #7 RE: German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant rape.
Nazism (National Socialism ) was a leftist movement. Loud Sneeze
lop guest
User ID: 397577
10-06-2018 04:24 AM
Post: #8 RE: German teenage girl called Nazi for reading poem about migrant rape.
LoP Guest Wrote: (10-06-2018 03:32 AM) She may not be a nazi. Or maybe she is.
But YOU definitely are a nazi OP.
WOMP WOMP
"She might be a nazi for speaking out against mohammedan rape" - libfucToday: ToryDiary: Scottish Labour may yet do Britain a service by sparing it Corbyn
Ministers 1) Embattled Grayling faces new inquiry into rail chaos
Beleaguered Transport Secretary Chris Grayling faced fresh humiliation yesterday after the regulator opened an inquiry into this summers rail crisis. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) confirmed they would probe failings on Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and Northern. Experts will probe their communication with passengers before and after the introduction of new timetables which led to major disruption and tens of thousands stranded. Both companies are suspected of breaching a condition of their operating licence. This requires them to provide appropriate, accurate and timely information to enable passengers to plan journeys with a reasonable degree of assurance The investigation is expected to be concluded by the end of next month. An ORR spokesman added: If ORR finds the companies in breach of their licence obligations, it could result in enforcement action such as a financial penalty. The Sun
Ministers 2) Duncan warns that bid to oust May would bring down the Government
Prime Minister banks on Brexit to keep her in place until March The Guardian
A bid by arch-Brexiteers to try and topple Theresa May would trigger collapse and disarray, Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan has sternly warned the partys backbenchers. The senior politician told the BBC: Dont believe all those things you read in the newspapers and take it that there are a lot of numbers behind the noise. And thats where you need to apply a lot of political judgement to work out whether the complainers are just a fringe, or whether they represent the main body of opinion in the middle. The main body of opinion in the middle and right to the edges is absolutely solidly behind her. Because the idea that we can go for anybody else at the moment is just folly. It would lead to collapse and disarray. Its not a credible option. Sir Alan also took another swipe at his former boss at the Foreign Office Boris Johnson, saying: I think support for Boris politically has always been exaggerated over the last two years. Daily Express
Comment:
Truss is building a following with the membership Sam Coates, The Times
>Today: Leon Emirali in Comment: A wider lesson from last weeks Tory digital disaster. The Party must adapt or die.
Ministers increasingly alarmed by Universal Credit rollout
Ministers are becoming increasingly alarmed about the rollout of universal credit after Esther McVey, the work and pensions secretary, confirmed privately to colleagues that millions of families would lose 200 a month under the new system. Ms McVey told cabinet colleagues that half of lone parents and about two thirds of working-age couples with children would lose the equivalent of 2,400 a year. The revelation will add to Tory angst about universal credit, which is being introduced in stages nationwide to replace existing benefits including tax credits and housing benefit. The Treasury is expected to publish a consultation in the next few weeks about giving breathing space to people on low incomes who are in debt, partly as a result of universal credit. Ministers are extremely sensitive about the reputation of the new system as a growing number of Tory MPs have to deal with cases in their constituency surgeries. The Times
100,000 middle-class families face unexpected tax demands Daily Mail
Comment:
Pledge to end austerity has opened the way to a cash free-for-all James Forsyth, The Sun
Mays caught Corbynitis, and were all going to pay Peter Oborne, Daily Mail
The Prime Minister dances towards an attractive alternative to Labour Robert Shrimsley, FT
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: The end of austerity must not mean a return to the bad old days of Brownite mismanagement
Tim Montgomerie: Kavanaugh hearings highlight how little we know about the prejudices of our own judges
F
Fury as Whitehall bosses behind witch hunt of Ulster veterans are awarded
or too long the Conservative Party has ignored the ways in which the Left has marched through the institutions of what Americans have called the deep state that part of government, which encompasses the courts but also quangos and the civil service, and which is almost impervious to changes in democratic control. Before David Cameron and Theresa May came to power, almost five times as many people appointed to public bodies were affiliated to Labour than to the Tories. But even after Mr Cameron and Mrs May occupied Downing Street there were still more elevations of Labour people than Conservatives. While I hope Britain can avoid importing the rancorous and hyper-partisan hearings that America uses to vet public appointments, we need to worry more about who is being installed in our own countrys most influential courts and public bodies. Until we do so, our democratically elected governments may be in office but they are not in power. Daily Telegraph
Whitehall bosses overseeing the witch-hunt of Northern Ireland veterans have been put up for a gong for their controversial work, The Sun can reveal. The Cabinet Office was last night branded heartless for nominating them for the top prize at a glitzy bash for mandarins. The annual Civil Service Awards are designed to recognise the best and brightest in government but the inclusion of Northern Ireland office sparked uproar. They topped the nominations despite their dogged refusal to halt an inquiry into all 302 killings by troops during 30 years of conflict in Ulster. Earlier this year they rejected calls from Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson to offer an amnesty to British troops who served in the Province. Some cases date back 40 years and critics say they are traumatising ex-troops now in their 70s and 80s and there has been outrage that IRA killers are not being pursued in a similar fashion. The Sun
News in Brief:
If you havent been following the stop-motion inferno that has been Scottish Labours latest reshuffle, let ex-minister Tom Harris bring you up to speed over in the Daily Telegraph.
The short version is that Richard Leonard, the left-wing but not quite Corbynista leader, has sacked two of the partys highest-profile and most able front-bench performers (both to his right, obviously).
More remarkably one of these, Anas Sarwar, was apparently dismissed from his health brief during a discussion on the NHS in the Holyrood chamber just as the SNP were fighting off some bad news on the subject. Superb timing.
Theres more to it (weve not even talked about Alex Rowley), but one things for sure: Scottish Labours continued failure to pull itself back into as much of a semblance of its former self is very helpful to the Conservatives.
In the most obvious sense, it will obviously lift Ruth Davidsons fortunes in the Scottish Parliament election in 2021 if her biggest unionist rivals dont enter the contest looking like a credible opposition. Not only will it help her solidify the Tories grip on their key unionist base (a mission aided greatly by Labours ongoing dithering on the constitutional question) but it will give swing voters minded for a change from the SNP with fewer alternatives to consider.
Of course, in the event that the unionist parties did manage to deprive the SNP and their Green foederati of their Holyrood majority and the Conservatives are second that will force Labour to decide whether or not to put a Conservative in Bute House, which might be the end of them.
But this matters in a UK context too. Even simply considered in terms of seats, Jeremy Corbyn will find his path to Downing Street that much longer if he isnt able to count on a substantial bloc of Scottish MPs to get him over the line.
Worse, he might have to fight a general election on the prospect of forming a government supported by the Nationalists who have just announced as their price the abolition of Trident. Weve already seen in 2015 how badly that can play for Labour in crucial English marginals, and the SNP pitch seems calculated to highlight one of the Labour leaders beliefs most likely to spook those very voters.
This must be extraordinarily frustrating for Corbyns office, which shows every sign of presiding over an increasingly well-oiled machine in the UK-wide party. Scottish Labour is often derided by devocrats and nationalists alike as a branch office. At present, it might be better off if that were the case.
System integrators frequently ask automation and robotics practice attorneys to review a "master services agreement" (or MSA) by which several small integration projects or separate control system deliverables will be covered under one overarching legal agreement. Typically, the "business terms," such as the price, schedule, and scope of each project, are included in individual purchase orders (POs) or "scope of work" documents (SOWs) issued under the MSA, while the "legal framework" for all of the two companies interactions during the term of the MSA is covered in the MSA itself.
There are several business reasons to like MSAs, including they may create a long-term "sticky" relationship with a customer since a system integrator with a MSA will have less "ramp-up" time to take on new work for the customer compared to an automation vendor competitor that would need to negotiate a new contractual relationship with the customer. But MSAs have legal benefits, too. The following are a few benefits to consider when deciding about entering a MSA:
Sales and project support staff can concentrate on pricing and efficiency.
If the legal risks and protections of the parties have already been established in the MSA by the risk management and legal consultants, a system integrators staff can focus on areas within their expertise. POs and SOWs can be negotiated with little need for additional legal and risk management support. Legal terms, such as indemnity arrangements, intellectual property (IP) provisions, insurance requirements, warranties, dispute resolution procedures, etc., should only be in the MSA and not addressed in the POs or SOWs. The MSA should also have control over any conflicting or additional legal terms inserted into the PO or SOW.
Risk management terms can be addressed globally.
When a MSA is used, the customer and the automation vendor naturally will have a more "high-level" view of the parties overall business relationship. For example, if a separate agreement was used for each SOW, a limitation of liability provision capping an automation vendors risk to the contract price may not be reasonable or acceptable to its customer. If the overall MSA relationship is considered, there may be a greater opportunity to negotiate a maximum limit on the automation vendors risk exposure arising from its relationship with the customer.
Confidentiality provisions can cover project proposals.
Due to the nature of the control systems and integration market, confidentiality can be a key term for both parties. Worries regarding exposing sensitive information often arise well before the parties sign an agreementtypically in the early conceptualizing and estimating phase. Instead of requiring separate confidentiality agreements for each project discussion, a MSA can cover these types of "potential new work" exchanges of information.
MSAs are not appropriate in all circumstances. For large or complex projects, a SOW may be insufficient, and a "full project agreement" should be negotiated to address the unique aspects of the particular services and deliverables being provided. Likewise, if the marketplace has a lot of volatility, a long-term arrangement on terms such as pricing may not be advantageous. The next time a new customer or a new "routine-type" project comes in, however, companies may want to consider using a MSA.
Brian Clifford is a partner in the automation and robotics practice of Faegre Baker Daniels, a law firm in the U.S., U.K. and China. Edited by Mark T. Hoske, content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, mhoske@cfemedia.com.
KEYWORDS: System integration, engineering projects, MSA
Master services agreements (MSAs) can benefit system integrators and their clients.
With other details settled, team members can focus on pricing and efficiency.
Confidentiality can include potential new work.
CONSIDER THIS
Would time savings gained through using an MSA for smaller system integration projects help?
Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Republican senator Chuck Grassley suggested on Friday that one of the reasons there arent any Republican women on the Senate Judiciary Committee was because they couldnt handle the workload. Its a lot of work maybe they dont want to do it, Grassley responded when he was asked why the GOP hasnt been able to recruit any women to the committee, which he chairs. My chief of staff of 33 years tells me weve tried to recruit women and we couldnt get the job done, he added.
No Republican woman has ever served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, while four of the 17 Democratic women currently in the Senate do.
The 85-year-old senator, whose efforts to shield Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh from allegations of sexual assault, perjury, and extreme partisan bias paid off on Friday, later tried to walk his comment all the way back and say the opposite. Per the Wall Street Journal, Grassley returned to reporters and said that he meant that neither women nor men wanted to deal with the workload. We have a hard time getting men on the committee, he added. Its just a lot of work whether youre a man or a woman it doesnt matter.
Grassley then apparently discovered feminism in the time between his original comment and the inevitable walk back. On average, any woman in the United States Senate, whether theyre on Judiciary or any other committee, probably works harder than the average man, he declared.
He then even suggested women should outnumber men on the Supreme Court.
Probably five [women justices] would be about right, he proposed.
Republican presidents have nominated two women to the Supreme Court: Sandra Day OConnor, who was confirmed after being nominated by President Reagan in 1981; and Harriet Miers, who President George W. Bush nominated and then withdrew following bipartisan criticism about her qualifications in 2005. The three women currently serving on the court were all nominated by Democratic presidents, and Grassley voted against two of them. President Trumps two nominees to the Supreme Court and nearly all of the judges and U.S. attorneys that he and the GOP have nominated have been white men.
Just 18 Republican women have ever served in the Senate, including five at present one of whom, Senator Susan Collins, adhered to the party line and cast the deciding vote on Friday to allow Kavanaughs impending confirmation.
Russia's very sober president, Vladimir Putin, has spent 18 years erecting barriers to selling alcohol to a population that's still recovering from the decade-long bender that followed communism's collapse.
Crackdowns on kiosks and ads, electronic inventory tracking and higher taxes have all succeeded in suppressing consumption. They've also cleared the field for a Soviet-era bootlegger with a knack for navigating complex rules to make a fortune selling cheap booze.
Sergei Studennikov opened his first discount liquor store near the gritty industrial hub of Chelyabinsk on the Asian side of the Ural Mountains a dozen years ago. Today, his Krasnoe & Beloe chain is the fastest-growing major retailer in the country, with 6,700 outlets in 57 of 85 regions, a rollout that intensified during the longest economic slump of Putin's rule.
A sales jump of about 50 percent to 215 billion rubles ($3.3 billion) last year and another 40 percent this year has turned the former wholesaler into Russia's newest billionaire, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. And with funding from state-run banks including Sberbank and VTB, Studennikov, who got a taste of profit selling illegal vodka amid an anti-alcohol campaign in the 1980s, said he has no intention of slowing down.
"We're opening an average of six new stores every day," the media-averse tycoon said in an interview in the lobby of a hotel in the Russian capital, where he spends so much time discussing often contradictory regulations with officials that he's moving his headquarters here next year.
The breakneck expansion puts Krasnoe & Beloe, or Red & White, on pace to overtake Dixy and Auchan and challenge Lenta for third place among Russian chains by 2021, according to Infoline, a St. Petersburg-based research group. Market leaders X5 and Magnit, which have spent years studying each other's strategies, now have a self-proclaimed negotiating whiz to contend with.
Studennikov's no-frills business is based on tacking a small array of food items onto a larger assortment of beverages rather than the other way around. An obsession with margins means shelf space is allocated to whichever supplier offers the cheapest price. The mix may vary, but the number of products is held at about 1,300, almost two-thirds of which contain alcohol.
It's a model that isn't just making Studennikov rich. It's upending the whole supermarket industry, Infoline chief Ivan Fedyakov said.
"Alcohol has been the most profitable category for the largest food retailers, but Krasnoe & Beloe is disrupting the market," Fedyakov said. "It's offering a wider range of beer, wine and spirits at lower prices and even taking on the grocery chains on their own turf by selling food."
A typical Krasnoe & Beloe store offers 800 types of alcohol, including imports such as Corona beer, Jack Daniel's whiskey and Barton & Guestier wine-when the bulk price is right. Roughly 400 are basic foodstuffs like coffee, milk and sausages, with the rest a hodgepodge of cigarettes and whatever Studennikov can get a good deal on, be it barbecue grills or toys.
He drives a relentlessly hard bargain, with suppliers as well as his 100,000-plus employees. Former shop assistants, who are paid as little as 25,000 rubles ($380) a month in some regions, say they often had to pay for unsold inventory at the end of every month, a practice he's defended as motivational.
Even the standard storefront in most regions is cheap-sheets of building material painted half red, half white. That gives the outlets, which have a selling space of just 80 square meters, not much more than the average two-bedroom apartment, a kind of retro-Soviet look befitting the brand itself.
Asking someone if they wanted red or white when Studennikov, 51, came of age, meant wine or vodka. These days, after the millennial-led shift away from spirits, it means the same in Russia as it does just about everywhere else.
"The most efficient retailer is the one who offers a limited assortment-like Aldi does in Europe," Studennikov said. "Having too many items to choose from raises costs that are ultimately passed on to consumers."
The newly minted billionaire said it's not all about making money. He also aims to change what he called Russian "attitudes" toward drinking, a history of using alcohol as a way to tune out life.
One thing he's doing that competitors aren't is selling makes of wine that are already rated by international experts. The cost of the service adds as much as 30 percent to wholesale prices in the industry's fastest-growing segment, but he said he's consistently able to sell decent vintages for less than the ruble equivalent of $15 a bottle.
Studennikov uses the same cherry-picking strategy for food as does for wine and miscellaneous items. He sells Jacker, for example, a Malaysian brand of potato chip, instead of Kellogg Co.'s better-known Pringles because it's much cheaper and the quality is similar. He doesn't have the space to offer both.
But it's beer, the biggest alcohol segment, that offers the clearest indication of which distributors are offering Studennikov the steepest discounts. Krasnoe & Beloe carries only a handful of products made by Carlsberg, the biggest brewer in Russia. It sells a much wider variety of brands from Anheuser-Busch InBev, a laggard in the once-booming domestic market.
Putin has overseen one of the world's steepest declines in alcohol use in the past decade, yet Russians still drink about 80 percent more than the worldwide average, 11.7 liters of pure alcohol a year, according to the World Health Organization. The UN body said its latest global status report that Russia's level of "heavy episodic drinking" continues to be "very high."
Russia has long been plagued by alcoholism in part because vodka has always been cheap. The government instituted a price floor for retail sales in 2009 only to cut it slightly during the depths of the recent recession to discourage the proliferation of often deadly moonshine. But at less than $3, the minimum price for a half-liter bottle is still less than a Burger King Whopper.
Studennikov said he fully supports stricter oversight of the industry in part because it's dealt a body blow to the black market. Tougher rules have also helped repair some of the catastrophic demographic damage the country suffered during the chaos of the 1990s, when economic and emotional depression drained six years off the average man's life.
"Alcohol should be a flavor of life," he said. "Look at Italy and France, where people just enjoy wine and don't drink themselves to death."
Spokane man shares story of his father's murder at Jonestown
KXLY News, Washington/September 28, 2018
By Melissa Luck
Spokane, Washington -- Friiday night, an ABC News Special will revisit the massacre at Jonestown, when an enigmatic cult leader ordered the mass suicide of hundreds of people. For one Spokane family, it's a story they live with every day.
The ABC special Truth and Lies features interviews with survivors of the mass suicide in Guyana in 1978. Reporters also interview cult leader Jim Jones's sons. But, Jones' followers weren't the only ones who died that day; Jones followers also murdered five people on an airstrip, including journalists who were there to expose the truth.
One of the journalists was the father of former KXLY reporter Jeff Humphrey.
"What I remember the next day is that my mom came into the room," Humphrey told us 10 years ago, on the 30th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre. "She said, 'it's time to get up son... Your father is dead.'"
Humphrey's dad Don Harris was in Guyana and was the last reporter to interview Jones before the mass suicide. Humphrey said it was typical of his dad to put aside his own concerns in pursuit of the truth.
"I'm not sure I would have done it," Humphrey said about his father's questioning of a clearly agitated Jones. "But, that's my dad - he was up for asking the tough questions."
Even though it's been 40 years since that day, the pain still feels fresh for Humphrey and his family. ABC is not the first network to revisit the tragedy in recent months and more press coverage is expected in the months leading up to the 40th anniversary of the tragedy in November.
Humphrey told me he watches the documentaries and news specials, though it's hard to watch his father's final seconds on the airstrip, captured by NBC News cameras.
Friday, I reached out to Humphrey and asked if he'd be watching. He said it was okay that I shared what he said in a text that had me in tears.
"I watch because every time, someone has uncovered a new detail about my dad. His commitment to the truth, his bravery to the last second as he allegedly helped people find cover under the plane after the bullets started flying. I've never told anybody this, but inside my dad's wallet we found a family photo with a bloody fingerprint on it... I still wonder if dad had the time to look at his wife's face one more time. Was he trying to send us a message we were definitely his last thought?"
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Los Angeles A man who says he was sexually abused decades ago by his parish priest said Tuesday he is suing all Catholic bishops in California and the Archdiocese of Chicago, seeking to compel church officials to release records on clergy abuse.
The filing Tuesday in Los Angeles by Thomas Emens claims a civil conspiracy among church officials to cover up clergy sexual assault and move offending priests to other parishes.
Emens said at a news conference that he was abused for two years starting in 1978 when he was 10 years old by Monsignor Thomas Joseph Mohan. The priest, who is deceased, arrived at St. Anthony Claret Catholic Church in Anaheim in the early 1970s from Chicago, according to the lawsuit.
"This lawsuit is to find justice to get the clerics at the top to come clean and tell the truth," Emens said.
Attorney Jeff Anderson said the goal of the so-called nuisance lawsuit is to force the church to reveal the names of all priests accused of child molestation. He said church documents would reveal a playbook among bishops and other officials to protect offending clergy by keeping files under wraps and moving the priests across the country and, in some cases, out of the U.S.
The lawsuit asks a judge "to abate the continuing nuisance" of abuse by ordering each diocese to name all accused priests, detail their history of alleged assault and identify their last known addresses.
The California Catholic Conference of Bishops, which oversees the state's 12 dioceses, didn't directly address the lawsuit in a statement Tuesday afternoon. Instead the group pointed out the "positive steps taken by California dioceses over the past 15 years to protect children and young people from abuse."
Every diocese has also instituted programs to train students and staff in identifying and preventing abuse, the group said.
A call seeking comment from the Archdiocese of Chicago was not immediately returned.
The court filing invokes both public and private statutes of nuisance law in California. Such laws generally involve behavior that negatively affects a community or interferes with the use and enjoyment of private property, said John Nockleby, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Alleging nuisance violations in relation to past sexual abuse by a single priest is a "creative approach" by Emens' lawyers, said Nockleby, adding that it will be very difficult to prove in court.
Criminal charges are not feasible in this case because they would fall outside California's statute of limitations.
For Subscribers Holiday flight forecasts for Latrobe, Johnstown airports
Three of the AAA's forecasted top 10 Thanksgiving travel destinations are served by the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe.
EAST COVENTRY As they waited for the ribbon to be snipped in front of the brand-new East Coventry Elementary School on Friday, students broke out in a spontaneous chant of Cut it! Cut it! Cut it!
When the scissors finally sliced through the bright red ribbon, the cheers were heartfelt and the excitement palpable from both children and adults who gathered for the official opening of Owen J. Roberts School Districts newest elementary building.
The ceremony was attended by about 200 students, as well as teachers, staff, school board members and administrators. Also in attendance were Congressman Ryan Costello, R-6th Dist., State Senator John Rafferty R-44th Dist., and State Rep. Tim Hennessey, R-26th Dist.
The ribbon was cut by school board President Melissa Booth, with the help of students Nola Herbic, Grace Pryzborowski, Terner Whitten and Paige Faith, all of whom had wielded shovels during a groundbreaking ceremony in February 2017. Each of the four students held onto the oversized scissors while the ribbon was cut.
Booth addressed the crowd and spoke of the long road to bringing the building to fruition.
Todays event has been long awaited and highly anticipated, Booth said. This is the day we step with history. We have created tangible evidence of our communitys energetic commitment to future generations, our nations source of perpetual hope.
After the ribbon was cut, students filed excitedly into the school to get a look at their new classrooms, which were already partially set up. The building is located on the same lot as the old school, so it was a short walk for students and teachers to visit the new facility.
Teachers will use an in-service day on Monday to finish moving in and arranging their classrooms while students are off for the Columbus Day holiday. Classes will begin in the new facility on Tuesday.
This new school will make a difference for our students learning each and every day for years to come, district Superintendent Susan Lloyd said during the ceremony.
The ribbon-cutting marks a new beginning for East Coventry students and faculty. But it also puts an end to a lengthy $28 million construction project that district officials began planning more than half a decade ago.
This has been a long time in the making, Principal Todd Oswald told the students. But seeing this excitement on everyones faces as you walked in to see your new school, that has made everything worthwhile.
The construction project was beset by delays almost from the start. The building was approved in November 2014, one of two elementary schools that the board had voted to rebuild on their existing lots. At that time, plans called for East Vincent and East Coventry Elementary School to be constructed simultaneously. Both projects were expected to be completed by 2017.
While the East Vincent school remained on schedule, the East Coventry building quickly hit roadblocks stemming from a failed percolation test and unforeseen East Coventry Township land development requirements. Construction did not get underway until February 2017.
The board had hoped to have the facility open on the first day of school in August, but a summer of wet weather led to further delays. In early August, Lloyd announced that there were too many outstanding issues for the school to open on schedule. At that time, the board came up with a plan to move into the building over the Columbus Day holiday weekend.
So, when the students paraded into the building for the first time, it was indeed a moment that had been highly anticipated.
This structure takes its first breath and shines its very brightest when our student body enthusiastically steps into these welcoming halls, Booth said, quoting words she had spoken during the groundbreaking ceremony. Today we cut this ribbon to welcome your shining, anxious faces to your new educational home. Today is the day this brick and mortar awakens.
EAST WHITELAND-Police are searching for two suspects who robbed the Castenita Market on Friday.
East Whiteland Police Chief Chris Yeager said the Castenita Market at 366 Lancaster Avenue in the Fazer section of the township was robbed at about 1:35 p.m. Friday. No one was injured during the incident and no weapon was displayed, according to Yeager.
He said the two suspects, described as possibly Hispanic males, with their faces covered, were wearing black hooded sweatshirts and gloves. Police said the suspects fled on foot to the rear of the store toward the railroad tracks.
Police had notified the public in the area to take precaution while they searched for the suspects.
Police searched the area using a helicopter from the Pennsylvania State Police, K-9 from Chester County Sherifffs Department, as well as officers from Tredyffrin Township, Willistown Township, Malvern Borough Amtrak Transit police, and Pennsylvania State troopers.
Police ask that anyone with information to contact East Whiteland Township Police at 610-647-2100 or 610-647-1440 or dial 911.
Thirty five years after Judi Dench created the part in the West End, her daughter Finty Williams plays Fifties housewife Barbara Jackson, who was deceived by Soviet spy Helen Kroger.
Hugh Whitemores Pack Of Lies is based on true events in blameless Ruislip where Kroger and her husband Peter befriended their neighbours (here called the Jacksons).
A Ford Consul outside the front door, tea cosy on the kitchen-table pot, swirly carpet on the living-room floor and Anaglypta on the ceiling. We are deep in postwar suburbia.
Gushy Helen, allegedly Canadian, is forever dropping in on the Jacksons neat, lower middle-class home for tea and dress alterations and girly chats. She makes modest, honest Barbara feel liked and somehow skittish. Barbaras teenage daughter Julie calls the Krogers Auntie Helen and Uncle Peter. Barbara and her cautious, decent husband Bob have never been so happy.
Hugh Whitemores Pack Of Lies (pictured) is based on true events in blameless Ruislip where Kroger and her husband Peter befriended their neighbours
Yet all this time the Krogers, in reality American communists, are transmitting Royal Navy secrets to the KGB. One day MI5 quietly visits the Jacksons and asks to use their top front room for surveillance purposes.
Brilliantly, the espionage has crossed the road. But Barbara finds it less easy than vivacious Helen to maintain the many petty betrayals needed in deception.
The play is not faultless playwright Whitemore, who sadly died this summer, is pretty soft on the duplicitous Krogers and this production at South Londons fringey Menier Chocolate Factory has a couple of minor shortcomings.
But Marchs Salisbury poison attack lends the tale a fresh topicality. A line about how the KGB dont employ hooligans drew a knowing and rueful laugh from the audience.
And what a performance from Miss Williams. It may seem unfair to define her by her distinguished mother but you can tell her lineage: the poise, the birdlike glances, the clarity of voice.
Does she maybe have touches of Imelda Staunton, too? But again, this is not fair. She is Finty Williams, a fine actress in her own right.
Alongside her is Chris Larkins Bob, both characters instinctively obedient to the British system. One telephone call to Scotland Yard assures them that MI5 officer Mr Stewart (the intensely watchable Jasper Britton) is genuine. Bob calls Stewart sir. They keep quiet about the surveillance operation on their great friends.
The Jacksons are the kind of people who stand in queues and dont ask questions and dont answer back. In that sense, the 20th century may have been an aberration but it is superbly captured here.
Tracy-Ann Obermans Helen is blousily autumnal. Macy Nyman is spot on as teenager Julie.
Everything unfolds on a detailed period set by Paul Farnsworth. Mind you, it worried me that the whisky bottle had no top.
The final moments capture the anguish of law-abiding folk who become mere chaff in geo-political rivalries. It is exquisitely done.
The grass is immaculate, mown in straight lines to a Wimbledon-standard finish.
Its odd to think of this vast tract of lawn nearly half a mile long and 50 yards wide as a sea of red.
Yet that was the scene which drew the Queen, the Royal Family, politicians, celebrities and five million members of the public to this spot four years ago.
The poppies at the Tower of London proved to be one of the most powerful and popular pieces of contemporary art this country has ever seen when they filled the great moat in 2014 to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War.
So what on earth is the Tower going to do by way of an encore as we approach November 11 and the centenary of the Armistice of 1918?
The poppies at the Tower of London proved to be one of the most powerful and popular pieces of contemporary art this country has ever seen when they filled the great moat in 2014 to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War
There is about to be another show in the moat. However, things are going to be very different this time.
And let us hope that, on this occasion, the Government, the arts establishment, the Left and the critics rally round this admirable tribute to the fallen, unlike 2014.
Back then, they either ignored or mocked the poppies, only embracing them when they belatedly woke up to the depth of public feeling.
I have no doubt the public will be back in great numbers, as contemplative and respectful as before.
But next month it will not be poppies at the centre of this vast commemorative exercise but flames.
And, from next Tuesday, Daily Mail readers will have the chance to play a very special part in the proceedings.
It was back in the summer of 2014 that artist Paul Cummins started planting 888,246 ceramic poppies in the moat around our most famous fortress one for every soldier who died for King and country in World War I. He called the installation Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red.
By the time the last poppy went into the ground on Remembrance Sunday, more than 20,000 volunteers had helped the projects designer, Tom Piper, to install a display which, for days on end, brought the streets around the Tower to a silent, tearful standstill
As more poppies appeared, so the crowds grew, too, along with the number of volunteers wanting to help. This stunning depiction of a lost generation struck an instant chord with much of the country.
By the time the last poppy went into the ground on Remembrance Sunday, more than 20,000 volunteers had helped the projects designer, Tom Piper, to install a display which, for days on end, brought the streets around the Tower to a silent, tearful standstill.
There was also a short twilight ceremony each night as the Last Post was played and a guest speaker stood amid the poppies reciting names from the Roll of Honour. The names 180 each night were nominated in advance by the public.
On one evening, an entire village from Derbyshire turned up to hear a list of local lads read out.
People flew from Australia and Canada just to be present when a kinsman was being honoured. Everyone wanted to be involved.
One night, the organisers invited Helen Mirren to do the honours. Oscar-winning actress she might be but even her voice cracked at times.
The only sour note was that those bodies charged with supporting the arts including the National Lottery failed to see any merit in the idea.
The artist had to take out a high-interest loan to underwrite his brilliant idea, while the Towers appeals for help from all our main arts organisations were rejected.
There will be no need for that this time, for generous backers have come forward to support what should be a very fitting conclusion to four years of national commemorations.
During that time, we have seen poignant parades and services right across the World War I battlefront led by the Royal Family, ministers and Royal British Legion standard-bearers.
From Mons to the Somme and Vimy, from the North Sea ceremonies to mark the Battle of Jutland, to a heartbreaking service in memory of the staff and pupils of an East End primary school killed in 1917 during Londons first daylight bombing raid, Britain has faithfully honoured the memory of a noble generation who are no longer with us.
Now comes the final episode in this great commemorative undertaking, with a series of events planned for next month. Historic Royal Palaces, the charity which runs the Tower of London, has once again teamed up with poppies designer Tom Piper to create a fresh work called Beyond The Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers.
But whereas the poppies sought to convey monumental loss and sacrifice, this display will be about remembrance but also forward-looking, too.
At the outbreak of war, the Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey grimly declared that the lamps are going out all over Europe. From November 4, on successive nights until November 11 itself, we will see them slowly come back on.
Unlike the poppies, this is an idea which has evolved from a long series of collective discussions between the Tower staff and their advisers.
Spread throughout the moat of the Tower, roughly three feet apart and at various heights, will be 10,000 torches. The precise number has no particular significance and will simply be determined by the surface area of the moat.
As with the poppies, no one knows for sure what it will look like until it actually happens.
The power of this piece will be in the creeping wall of flame as it gradually spreads out until the whole moat is ablaze, while a choral tribute plays throughout. It will begin each evening at 5pm as the Tower is cast in to darkness and a lone bugler plays the Last Post. Then comes what Tom Piper calls the ignition.
This, he explains, is as much a part of the spectacle as the end result. It will have a strong dramatic element, says the award-winning theatre designer.
Led by the Yeomen Warders of the Tower in their traditional Tudor Beefeater uniforms, a team of 80 volunteers will move outwards from the walls armed with wand-like zappers and begin lighting the torches one by one.
We are not talking tea lights. Each will produce a deep orange flame up to a foot tall from a canister the size of a small paint pot.
One of the things people found most appealing about the poppies was watching the volunteers planting them, Tom Piper tells me.
At the same time, the specially commissioned choral work will ring out from loudspeakers stretching the length of the moat. Each torch will have enough (alcohol-based) fuel to last precisely four hours in all weathers, whereupon the flames will cease at around 9pm and the Tower will flick the lights back on.
As in 2014, large crowds are expected. This time, however, a few lucky members of the public can actually immerse themselves in the display.
A limited number of tickets are on sale (for just 5 each), allowing people to enter the moat and walk along a path through this sea of fire from one end to the other at a safe distance, of course.
The health and safety manual for this event is this big! exclaims Commander Debra Whittingham, the Deputy Governor of the Tower, stretching her arms wide. A former Royal Navy officer and the first female Deputy Governor in the Towers 1,000-year history, Commander Whittingham is in charge of all the practicalities.
Her duties extend to deciding on the clothing the volunteer torch-lighters must wear each night. Thankfully, the commander has already vetoed one inevitable demand. Whatever the health and safety commissars may say, there will be no hi-viz jackets.
We want people dressed appropriately, she says, adding that a range of dark, weatherproof, flame-retardant kit is being sorted out.
She is seeking a pool of 300 volunteers to be part of the torch-lighting programme, and a further 300 to help replenish all the torches the following morning. After the poppy experience, there should be a stampede.
As for the Yeomen Warders, they are very much looking forward to taking part.
It will be in our own time, so we have asked for volunteers and everyone wants to be part of it, says Yeoman Gaoler (second-in-command) Bob Loughlin MBE, 63. He joined the Beefeaters at the Tower after 36 years in the RAF Regiment, and well remembers being on duty here during the poppy saga.
Most of all, he recalls the evening when he was picked to read out the roll of honour. It was just astonishing to hear people in the crowd crying as I was reading out the names, he recalls.
I suggest that some people will, inevitably, be concerned for the ravens. Might not the sudden appearance of ten thousand flames be enough to drive these famous residents away and thus spell doom for the Tower, the Crown and the nation, as legend foretells?
Dont worry, the ravens will all be safely tucked up in bed by then, Bob assures me.
There is still much planning to do. Eva Koch-Schulte, creative producer for all the Historic Royal Palaces is presently working out the shape and timings of the torch procession.
It is all about light seeping out from the shadows and that sense of shared sacrifice, explains German-born Eva, who has commissioned composer and artist Mira Calix to create the music.
Like the title of the display, the words of the choral piece will be based on Sonnets To A Soldier by Mary Borden, a war poet and nurse on the Western Front during World War I who went on to run an ambulance service in World War II.
There are going to be major events all over Britain to mark the centenary of the Armistice, including a peoples parade at the Cenotaph, and a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey involving the Royal Family and (almost certainly) the President of Germany.
But the blazing moat at the Tower will surely be among the most memorable tributes. And this display will also be less financially precarious than the 2014 poppy show. It seems astonishing now, but Paul Cummins risked bankruptcy to create that dazzling Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red.
The National Lottery, so ready to toss money at any modish tat masquerading as culture, had refused to cough up a bean towards the Towers costs. Ditto the Arts Council.
Perhaps, if Cummins had said he wanted to create a sea of white flags or a giant Tracey Emin bed, it might have found some cash. He might even have been nominated for the Turner Prize.
But no. His war-themed work was not worthy of public funding. For good measure, a Guardian columnist weighed in and attacked it as a Ukip-style memorial.
So Cummins had to take out a hefty loan to get it all off the ground and pay for a ceramic production line, using unemployed youngsters in Derby.
Historic Royal Palaces (which runs the Tower without a penny of public money), agreed to foot the bill for crowd control and logistics. Yet when the time came to take the display down, there was an outcry. The public wanted their poppies to stay. So, a compromise was found.
To recoup his costs, Cummins sold the poppies for 25 each, with any profit going to charity. Such was the demand that they generated a whopping 9.5 million for good causes.
Fifty pairs of tickets to be won The Mail is honoured to have 50 pairs of tickets to Beyond The Deepening Shadow at the Tower of London to give away to worthy nominees. The winners will get the chance to be there as the Yeomen Warders light the first torches of the evening. They will then be able to walk through the displays as it comes to life, accompanied by the stunning new choral music based on the work of the poet Mary Borden, before standing back to admire the sight of the whole moat ablaze. It promises to be a spectacular and emotional experience as we commemorate a century since the end of the Great War and honour the memory of those who gave their lives. Entries are not yet open, but full details on how to nominate someone who deserves to take part in this unique and deeply moving event will be published in Tuesday's Daily Mail. Advertisement
A group of philanthropists also bought the two most dramatic aspects of his display Wave and Weeping Window, the two great arches of poppies and gave them to the nation in perpetuity.
The then Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, produced a further 2 million to take these two displays on tour around the United Kingdom.
They have enjoyed astonishing success, with a further 4.5 million people coming to see them.
Tom Piper has spent much of the past four years touring the country re-erecting the poppies at regional sites, and has been bowled over by the reaction to them.
He was particularly touched when he took them to Caernarfon Castle where his great-uncle, Lieutenant Arthur Griffiths, is among the thousands of gallant Welshmen listed in the Roll of Honour.
I felt this very powerful connection, he says. It left me very proud and very moved.
He tells me how Newcastles Woodhorn mining museum enjoyed a 1,500 per cent increase in visitors when the poppies went on show there. And so it continues.
This weekend, Weeping Window has gone on display at the Imperial War Museum in London, while Wave is on show at the IWM North in Manchester.
Four years on, Poppy Power is undiminished. The judges of contemporary arts increasingly ludicrous and tawdry Turner Prize might continue to ignore Cummins.
Yet, it is a measure of the enduring almost sacred status of his work that, to this day, you will not find a single one of those 888,246 original ceramic poppies on eBay.
Fortunately, funding for the flames is already in place. The City of London Corporation and the Charles Wolfson Trust will pay for the torches, and the Tower will sort out everything else.
Once the flames have flickered and disappeared for the last time, all the torches will be recycled and the moat will revert to grass again.
We very much wanted something ephemeral, which is why we have gone for sound and light, says Eva Koch-Schulte.
Amid all our squabbles over Brexit and our 21st-century inter-generational feuds, this will be a moment to pause and reflect on the sacrifice of a generation who never lived to enjoy our freedoms and privileges.
It will be spectacular, appropriate and deeply impressive.
Catch it while you can.
FOR tickets and volunteering, visit hrp.org.uk-tower-of-london/ explore/the-tower-remembers.
The decision of consumer goods giant Unilever to abandon plans for the relocation of its corporate headquarters from London to Rotterdam is a spectacular victory on almost every conceivable level.
Its a victory for shareholders, who rose in furious rebellion against the Unilever boards ill-considered proposal and have now succeeded in thwarting it.
Its a victory for the City of London, confirming once again its position as Europes undisputed financial hub.
And its a victory for the Daily Mail, which has highlighted the deep folly of this plan from day one, campaigned passionately to kill it off, and helped give an estimated 35,000 small investors in the firm a voice they would not otherwise have had.
The decision of consumer goods giant Unilever to abandon plans for the relocation of its corporate headquarters from London to Rotterdam is a spectacular victory on almost every conceivable level
For the Anglo-Dutch companys chairman and senior directors however, this has been a costly and humiliating debacle one which they should not be allowed to survive with their jobs intact.
The truth is that this scheme was obviously wrong-headed from the start.
Unilever the makers of such domestic staples as Persil washing powder and Marmite is a company with a great British heritage and still does most of its business in this country.
As Lever Brothers, its name was synonymous with far-sighted and benevolent management and it remains a great powerhouse of the FTSE 100 share index.
As this paper has said all along, the idea of delisting in London and moving it to the financial backwater of Rotterdam was simply irrational.
Yes, there may have been superficial tax advantages in Holland and slightly greater protection against aggressive takeover bids. But it would also have made the firms shares far less attractive.
Britain has vastly greater inward investment than any other European country and infinitely more dynamic financial markets. For Unilever to turn its back on that would have been an act of insane self-harm.
It would also have forced large British investors including pension funds which track the FTSE 100 to sell their shares, disadvantaging countless ordinary savers.
So the dramatic U-turn, while crushing for the board, is a huge relief to everyone else.
Above all perhaps, this has been a great victory for the reputation of UK plc. With Brexit approaching, it provides a welcome reminder that Britain is still the country where the world wants to do business.
No deal, no money
Meanwhile, could it be that we are inching slowly towards a Brexit trade deal? Irish premier Leo Varadkar previously so pessimistic about the progress of negotiations now says an agreement could be reached within two weeks.
And arch-Eurosceptic minister Liam Fox gave tacit support to the Chequers plan by saying any flaws could be revised later.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar previously so pessimistic about the progress of negotiations now says an agreement could be reached within two weeks
Of course, the devil will be in the detail and there are many hurdles to negotiate yet.
In the meantime, Theresa May should refuse to hand over any of the 39billion divorce bill until a comprehensive agreement is reached.
Brussels is desperate to get its hands on this huge tranche of cash. It remains our trump card.
Appalling treatment
Which bone-headed Home Office drone can possibly have thought it right to order the deportation of Dr Shashi Awai, a Nepalese doctor who has served the NHS with distinction for 16 years?
With hospital trusts offering relocation fees of up to 18,500 to attract foreign doctors, the idea of throwing this perfectly good one out of the country on a technicality is simply perverse. It is a completely absurd decision.
It should be rescinded immediately and Dr Awai offered a profound apology.
Imagine Theresa Mays horror when she arrived at her Birmingham conference hotel to discover the next-door suite was reserved for Boris Johnson. Aides explained the reservations had been made while Bojo was still her technically loyal Foreign Secretary. What a relief for Mrs May that the blond bombshell restricted himself to one crowd-pleasing Chuck Chequers conference day trip.
Imagine Theresa Mays horror when she arrived at her Birmingham conference hotel to discover the next-door suite was reserved for Boris Johnson
Rising Tory star Matt Hancock is boldly risking enemies as he climbs the greasy pole. Interviewed by Alastair Campbell for GQ magazine, Hancock who owes his job as Health Secretary to the Brexit resignations of Boris and David Davis was asked if the Cabinet was a better place now the duo had quit. There is definitely less leaking, he quipped.
Even staunch Leaver Liam Fox seems to doubt that the Tory tribe will ever arrive in the blessed land of Brexit. Warning activists that time was running out to restate core Tory values, the International Trade Secretary told a conference fringe meeting: A year from now we may have left the EU. May have?
The Maybot? I'm a Wonder woman
Hot on the heels of Theresa May, below, arriving on the Tory conference stage to the strains of Abbas Dancing Queen, Diane Abbott was asked what she would choose for a grand entrance. The Shadow Home Secretary replied: A Stevie Wonder song Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Im Yours. Which is presumably what she once said to former lover Jeremy Corbyn.
Diane Abbott was asked what she would choose for a grand entrance. The Shadow Home Secretary replied: A Stevie Wonder song Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Im Yours
Tory egghead Jesse Norman came unstuck at a conference quiz night on of all things recent party history. The Oxford-educated Minister was beaten to the buzzer by a rival journalists team when asked to name two Tory MPs who have never revealed how they voted in the EU referendum. Answer: Tracey Crouch and, er, Jesse Norman.
Moggster's red menace
As Achilles had his heel, so even Brexit high priest Jacob Rees-Mogg has a weakness for Remainers to exploit his dread of an interruption in supplies of fine claret. The Moggster reveals: The hardest Brexit question I have ever had was from my son Peter, who asked: Daddy, if we leave the EU, where will you get your claret from?
No one can say Corbyn cheerleader Chris Williamsons Democracy Roadshow targeting moderate Labour MPs isnt working wonders for party fortunes Lib Dem fortunes, that is. Critics note Williamsons visits to Chesterfield and Bermondsey were followed by council by-election losses to Vince Cables yellow peril.
Laura is having an affair with her married boss which mainly involves grabbing each other in pub toilets, Alison is so desperate for a baby she gets back together with her ex, while divorced Katie cant decide whether to give her daughter a sibling using IVF.
It is decidedly less glamorous than Sex And The City, but new comedy Women On The Verge is Dublins answer to that hit series, tackling female friendship and bad romance.
Co-created by actress and screenwriter Sharon Horgan, of Catastrophe fame, this show about the lives of three thirtysomething women contains the same dose of laughs, sex, and frank talking which has made Sharons brand of sitcom a hit across the world.
The six-part comedy, airing on the W channel, is based on the best-selling book Woman On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown by journalist Lorna Martin.
Sharon Horgan revealed the inspiration behind a new six-part sitcom adapted from Lorna Martin's bestselling book Woman On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown . The comedy features three thirtysomethings: Eileen Walsh as Alison, Kerry Condon as Laura and Nina Sosanya as Katie (pictured left to right)
'I started reading the book one holiday and I immediately loved it, recalls Sharon.
There was a lot of humour and I liked the friendships in the book too. The women are blunt and honest with each other. I liked that it was based on real life.
The main character is a journalist and from the outside you might think its glamorous but shes missing deadlines and missing flights and screwing up.
'Viewers respond to seeing people having difficulties on screen because it makes them feel its OK, as if, Maybe Im not the only one.
'Its nice to escape into an aspirational world, but a lot of time if youre telling a story that is honest and relatable, then people want to see that too.
Sharon first talked to Lorna about adapting the book in 2011, but children and her other hit shows got in the way of moving forward and it has taken seven years to finally get it on screen. Sharon co-wrote the series with Lorna, as well as producing and starring in it.
Although the drama has been moved from Glasgow to Dublin, and many of the characters have been changed, Lorna says that her story is still at its core.
The Laura character is definitely who I was in my mid-30s; a woman who is a car crash and anxious and very insecure and a bit lost in life, she says.
Shes basically self-destructive and very impulsive.
I had a breakdown and did end up seeing a therapist. This could easily have been a misery memoir, but laughter is a defence mechanism.
Katie (pictured with her dysfunctional family) who has a daughter feels broody for another child and considers using IVF
'Comedy and tragedy are very closely linked. I think women often dont feel good enough, so try to find ways to be more acceptable.
'Laura thinks the solution must be to find a man, because women are bombarded with that whole romantic narrative.
'It is nonsense but at the same time if youre in your late 30s and you want kids but dont have a partner its really, really tough and not something people like to talk about.
When we meet Laura played by Irish actress Kerry Condon, whos appeared in US series Better Call Saul (a spin-off from Breaking Bad), she is trying and failing to end her affair with her boss Kieran, played by former Hollyoaks actor Emmett J Scanlan.
They get jealous and row, then make up over drinks
She is also frustrated at work because the column she thought would be hers is being given to an influencer. So she starts to see inscrutable therapist Dr Fitzgerald, played by Sharon.
Laura is a bit lost really, says Kerry. Shes trying hard at her career but its a bit mediocre and shes picking the wrong kind of guys as well.
'She doesnt find nice guys attractive. She can be self-destructive and really lonely.
'Her friends have children or are thinking of having children but there is no sense of that with Laura.
The actress who plays my mother, Dearbhla Molloy, has known me for years and said to me, Did they write this with you in mind? Its just me.
'Im not saying Im drinking myself into oblivion every night, but there is a stream of consciousness in the way that I talk and Im very honest about things that annoy me, like Laura is.
Sharon (pictured as Dr Fitzgerald) claims the real depiction of female friendships was one of her key reasons for making the show
Eileen Walsh, best known as Kate in Catastrophe, says she can also identify with her character Alison, who is so desperate for a baby she gets back together with an ex who annoys her.
Alison is ready to settle down and she wants the package, says Eileen.
She wants the fella, she wants the wedding, she wants the baby, she wants everything in place.
'But over the course of the series she realises that you cant just tick boxes, sometimes its more complicated than you think.
'I do have lots in common with her I think sometimes casting directors see the seed of the character youre about to play in you. Sometimes you can almost forget the camera is there.
The third partner in this messy trio of friends is Katie, played by W1A and Last Tango In Halifax star Nina Sosanya.
She has a daughter but still feels broody for another child and things become even more complicated when she discovers her ex-husbands new girlfriend is pregnant.
Nina (pictured right as Katie) says her character is doing her best to be a mother in a situation that she probably wouldn't have chosen. She believes shows about not being perfect reflect all of us
Shes doing her best to be a good mum in a situation that she probably wouldnt have chosen, says Nina.
Shes trying not to repeat patterns but she is repeating them because thats the nature of people.
'I like that in the last two or three years there have been shows about how its OK to not be perfect and to actually be a bit rubbish at stuff.
'It reflects all of us. We, as human beings, muck up.
One of the shows joys is the very real depiction of female friendship, which is rarely captured on television.
They get jealous of each other and row, they complain about each other and then they make up over drinks.
For Sharon this was one of the key reasons for making the show. They do care about each other, she says.
But sometimes you dont feel great for your friends when things are going well for them and your life is unravelling.
Women On The Verge, Thursday, 10pm, the W channel.
From live ants to edible noodles, this Russian beauty salon is known for creating nail art designs that are utterly extraordinary.
But the latest creation from the pioneering Nail Sunny might just be the most bizarre of them all.
The Moscow-based company, which boasts 1.9million Instagram followers, has gone viral with its remarkable design that sees thick strands of hair stuck onto the nail bed.
The effect is fingers that appear to be growing hair from the tips.
A clip revealing how the look is created was viewed more than 189,000 times within the first 24 hours - but not everyone is rushing to recreate the look at home.
One posted: 'That's nasty. How would you eat with those nails'. While another hit out: 'Unfollowing now, these post are just getting ridiculous'.
However a handful pointed out the design would add an extra eerie touch to a Halloween costume.
'Omg whatttt THESE are my Halloween dream nails,' gushed one.
The step-by-step video shows a manicurist starting by painting the nails with black varnish.
Moscow-based beauty company Nail Sunny, which boasts 1.9million Instagram followers, has gone viral with its remarkable design that sees thick strands of hair stuck onto the nail bed. Pictured, the process starts with the manicurist painting the nail in thick black polish
The nail artist then snips brunette hair hair extensions (left) - roughly double the length of a finger - into narrow portions roughly the width of a nail bed. The strands are then applied seemingly directly onto the wet polish, as seen right
With an eye for detail, the nail artist then takes a small brush to detangle the hair extensions, pictured. The step-by-step video has been viewed thousands of times online
She then snips brunette hair hair extensions - roughly double the length of a finger - into narrow portions roughly the width of a nail bed.
The strands are then applied seemingly directly onto the wet polish. With an eye for detail, the nail artist then takes a small brush to detangle the hair extensions.
Asking for views on the design, the salon captioned the clip: 'Hair on the nails - new trend - YAY NAY?'.
Nail Sunny definitely thinks outside the box, considering they've done a variety of other unique nail designs in the past.
Social media followers were divided over the unusual look - with some branding them 'ridiculous'. Others claimed the creepy design would be perfect for Halloween
In June, the nail salon created another crazy manicure called the 'brush nails', which featured crafted combs on each finger that someone can rake through her own hair.
And in January, the salon revealed an intricate and over-the-top design in honor of Valentine's Day complete with two miniature dolls and a heart-shaped box with a sparkly wedding ring inside.
The founders of the amazing salon, which does a ton of different transformation manicures and pedicures, are sisters Eleonora and Arina Movsisyan.
They lived in Los Angeles before taking their experience to Moscow to open the salon.
Thought of the week Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away; Lengthen night and shorten day; Every leaf speaks bliss to me, Fluttering from the autumn tree. Emily Bronte (1818-48) Advertisement
Dear Bel,
My own situation is similar to that of lonely Janette, who wrote to you in the summer (August 25). Im 48, employed and still living comfortably at home with my mum.
However, everything else in life is stale and mundane. I dont have any friends (theyve either let me down or got married, with other priorities now) and I havent had a girlfriend for 20 years. The last relationship was unhappy and after four years I ended it.
I hardly go out except church, shopping, walking and swimming. People at work seem to like me, but theres rarely an opportunity to make any more of this.
Every job in the past has been the same people have their own lives, families and friends. It makes me feel that, unlike them, Ive missed my chances.
Life at home isnt that good, as my mum is often ill. Shes used to me being around and although she wants to see me happy and going out more, me having a girlfriend would now be a problem to her.
I feel that she is fearful of me having any type of relationship with a woman and I believe this is also influencing the way I act and feel in womens company. Its making me feel increasingly trapped and sometimes so frustrated its unbearable.
In your reply to Janette, you advised her to show more interest in people and care about them, but I can honestly say I do this already.
Id describe myself as caring and friendly, and people seem to like being with me. But it feels like Ive got some sign over my head saying: Great talking with you, but dont get any ideas.
You advised Janette to shift her mindset, which was very useful. However, could you offer some practical advice here?
Ive tried so hard to find a club or association that would accommodate someone in my situation, but there isnt that much out there for a guy like me to join.
There seem to be many more opportunities for women (eg, female-only walking groups or female social events/making new friends type of groups).
I dont necessarily feel that meeting my life partner is the answer (although it would be great if I did), but Im desperate to be around women and would love to have female friends.
Loneliness seems to be such a big topic at the moment, but shouldnt there be more opportunities out there (apart from dating agencies) for people in my position?
Can you please recommend any online friendship associations or internet-based clubs for people who just want to chat about their interests?
DARREN
This week, Bel advises a man who feels like a prisoner in his own home caring for his mother
When letters arrive about loneliness, I am aware of the dangers of making glib replies. After all, advice columnists have been suggesting joining a club for decades now and Im no exception.
Thats because its quite a good idea, although obviously it depends on the group and the individual. Joining a club or group can work well, or it can be a disappointment.
All you can do is try. The key thing is getting out of the house and reaching out. Being brave. Breaking away from old habits and trying something new. This is why I am wondering why you ask me about online clubs.
Is sitting in front of your computer while your mother watches TV going to help you make friends?
Lets talk a little bit about your domestic situation. You describe it as comfortable, but by that you mean you dont have to worry about rent or furniture.
Yet surely you are far from being truly comfortable.
It sounds as if you feel ground-down by the situation and your mothers increasing neediness, and realise this can only get worse. You would be a saint not to chafe. Older people can become self-centred and it seems your mother has reached that stage.
So the feeling of social isolation you have had for many years is made much worse by this new feeling of being trapped. It seems to me that you need to break out with some urgency.
At this stage your mother must become used to your absences when you try to lead your own life otherwise theres a real danger you will end up feeling terribly resentful.
Unusually in an email, you gave me your postal address. So knowing you live in Merseyside (a large area) allowed me to do what I advise isolated people to do in their own areas: use an online search engine.
The internet has brought many problems, but it does enable people to discover possibilities. (By the way, I know not everybody is online; if thats true in your case, you need to use the local paper and library noticeboards).
With you in mind, I did my own search. Here is a quick list of some of the things I found: Wirral aged 35-50 Social Group; Liverpool Humanists Social Meetup; Lancashire Walking Group; Cheshire and Merseyside Social Meet Ups For Fun. Theres bound to be many more, but part of the solution to your problem is putting some work in and finding out.
Have you thought of volunteering or learning? If so, visit volunteercentreliverpool.org.uk or liverpool.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/ adult-learning.
Some years ago I had a letter from a man who felt sorry for himself: overweight and scruffy and not computer literate (his letter was a scrawl). I gave him rather a brisk talking-to and was delighted to hear later that he had acted on all my suggestions.
One of them was to go to the public library and check out the noticeboard for computer lessons. He did so, got chatting to a lady and was happily dating her!
The point is, you never know what is going to happen.
Why dont you go to your nearest library and stick up a notice (use coloured felt-tip pens to stand out) suggesting a local natter-group for singles, to meet in such and such a pub? See who turns up.
When its your birthday, why not suggest you buy a round for workmates?
Let the sign above your head proclaim: Lets Make Life Good.
Is no-strings sex OK when you're 64?
Dear Bel,
I READ your advice recently to a man whose wife refuses to have sex.
My husband and I are friends with another married couple. The woman, who is my age 64 has told me and other friends that she hasnt had sex with her husband for 23 years.
Her husband has a healthy libido. Yet she is not pleasant to him, never shows him any affection or emotion, and is always criticising him . . . and in public, too.
I felt sorry for this man and one day he confided in me. He didnt know I already knew about his marriage, but told me he was desperate.
Well, we ended up having sex with no emotional strings. He loves his wife, but finds it unbearable having no attention or closeness.
You advised that other man to be careful and think things through but thats not the answer in our case. I also have a healthy libido, but my husband can no longer have sex due to health reasons.
If only what we are doing was OK as its only filling a sexual closeness we dont have at home.
Yes, we are playing with fire and I do worry what would happen if we were caught. But I would really miss the sex if we stopped, which we have tried to do. I would appreciate your thoughts.
AVRIL
The contentious, fascinating journalist Malcolm Muggeridge (19031990) once told me one of the benefits of age was that he could admire a beautiful young woman without wishing to impose my aged frame upon her.
Hed been (shall we say) a wayward husband; in his later years he settled (as so many do) into the comfort of companionable marriage.
As someone once said, losing the sexual itch is like being released from a bothersome animal, tied to you for years, snapping at your heels.
After the letter you refer to was printed, I had an interesting response from T. He writes: We have a perfect, married, loving life apart from that bugbear in the corner. My advice if you love her: put up with it, I have a great life. I have thought about mistresses etc but done nothing.
Marriage is not just sex. Now Im glad I put up with the situation. We still have a loving, happy relationship. At times it was hard and I did miss the physical side, but looking back and also seeing where we are now, it was all worth it.
I suspect Ts response to this marital situation is common. Yours perhaps less so, because although the desire is there, not acting on it can be as much a lack of opportunity as morality.
But you and your friends husband have found each other and are satisfying a mutual need, with no emotional strings except of course the threads of sexual desire now tying you together, which youve already tried and failed to break. Youll probably say the wife is not a close friend. In that case, surely she was wrong to confide intimate details of her marriage to a mere acquaintance.
Youre highly critical of her, which makes a convenient justification for having sex with the husband who also confided in you, clearly picking up your interested vibes.
The complications of this deception must be quite tiring (lying takes much thought if you are not to be found out) and you are quite aware of the risks.
Im not unsympathetic to the needs that still hold you both in thrall, but hate the thought of two innocent people being harmed.
So what is to be said? You are both consenting adults, your spouses did not consent to being deceived but if this is what you want to do, be very careful.
And finally... Let's help those who need help
Counselling (and there are many sorts) can help people of that I have no doubt.
It may not always work (and you must want it to), but acknowledging you need help, then taking steps to seek it, can become a vital part of the healing process. I know because Ive done it myself.
As many letters to the column are about relationships, I often advise going to Relate. I wouldnt be one of two patrons (the other is Professor Tanya Byron) of this charity if I didnt know the good it does.
But counselling does not come free. How can it? I always murmur that if youre willing to spend money on outings, a daily coffee or clothes, then why wouldnt you invest in making relationships better?
Yet times are tough and money is tight and thats when relationships come under strain.
Is it any surprise that those with lower household incomes are more likely to say mental health issues, money worries, debt, housing problems and physical health conditions put pressure on relationships?
Bel answers readers questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT, or email bel.mooney@dailymail.co.uk. A pseudonym will be used if you wish. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Advertisement
But the very people who might need professional advice the most can least afford it.
A new report by Relate and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) reveals 87 per cent of Relate website users said they felt they and their partner would benefit from counselling. It saddens me that 41 per cent on lower incomes said theyd sought counselling, but either didnt go ahead or dropped out early owing to the cost.
Yet we know that good relationships are the bedrock of a stable society. Think of the children whose lives are scarred by their parents unhappiness.
Thats why Relate and the BACP are calling on the Government to increase funding for relationship support to ensure anyone who needs it gets access.
Please, see the full report and sign the petition at relate.org.uk/investinrelationships
Make no mistake, this matters to us all.
A grandmother-of-thirteen had her hair cut for the first time in more than 40 years while undergoing a dramatic ambush makeover.
Ranae Capps, 59, from Jerome, Idaho, was wearing a tie-dye T-shirt and jeans when she was plucked from the crowd in the Today show plaza on Thursday morning.
The mother-of-five, who is known as 'Nana,' said she was ready to 'get out of the '70s,' admitting that she hadn't updated her long brown locks in four decades.
Scroll down for video
Then and wow! Ranae Capps, 59, from Jerome, Idaho, received a dramatic ambush makeover on the Today show Thursday. She admitted she hadn't cut her hair in more than 40 years
Ready for a new look: The mother-of-five, who is known as 'Nana,' was wearing a tie-dye T-shirt and jeans when she was plucked from the crowd in the Today show plaza
Modern look: Nana was all smiles when she stepped on stage sporting a shorter new 'do
'I'm ready. Not sure if my husband is, but he'll be so surprised,' she gleefully told Today fashion expert Jill Martin, who couldn't resist asking Nana if she was willing to cut her hair.
'Yes, I'm yours,' she replied with confidence.
Nana was joined by her sister Gloria, her son Nathan, her daughter-in-law Jill, and her granddaughter Lauren, who were all on stage when she made her big reveal.
Jill let out a shriek and gushed, 'I love it!' after they removed their blindfolds and saw Nana's new look.
When Nana turned around to look in the mirror, she threw her fists in the air to show how thrilled she was with her transformation.
The family was so happy they couldn't resist coming in and giving Nana a big hug.
Amazed: Nana was joined by her sister Gloria, her son Nathan, her daughter-in-law Jill, and her granddaughter Lauren, who were all on stage when she made her big reveal
Memorable day: The family was so happy they couldn't resist giving Nana a big hug
Hurrah! The devoted grandma couldn't have looked happier about her new look
Stunning: Nana's hair, which skimmed the middle of her back, was cut into a chic wavy lob that was softy layered around her face
'Woodstock is over, thank God. The '70s are over. We've updated her,' celebrity hairstylist Louis Licari said of Nana's new 'do.
Nana's hair, which skimmed the middle of her back, was cut into a chic wavy lob that was softy layered around her face.
Louis, meanwhile, added flattering golden highlights to soften her color.
'You look gorgeous,' he told her.
Jill opted to dress Nana in a sleek black jacket featuring pearlized floral embroidery on the cuffs of the bell sleeves and hem.
The topper was worn over a black shell and black skinny jeans, and Jill accessorized the look with a white statement necklace and a pair of hot pink pumps.
Beauty before and after: Arlene Lazzaro from Boca Raton, Florida, also received an ambush makeover on Thursday morning's show
Milestone: The grandmother-of-two was celebrating her 60th birthday, and the only thing she wanted to do on her big day was get a new look
Arlene Lazzaro from Boca Raton, Florida, also received an ambush makeover on Thursday morning's show.
The grandmother-of-two was celebrating her 60th birthday, and the only thing she wanted to do on her big day was get a new look.
'I am busting for this. I have been planning it. Every time I watch you guys on Thursday I dream of having one,' she told Jill.
'When it was my 60th birthday and I knew I was going to be here, I just said: "I'm going for it."'
Arlene stepped on stage modeling a sleek new 'do and a flattering black dress and pumps.
Loving it: 'Oh my gosh! You look beautiful,' gushed her sister Ann during the big reveal
Added touch: Arlene's short hair was relayered and styled more towards her face
'Oh my gosh! You look beautiful,' gushed her sister Ann, who ran over to give her a big hug.
Arlene was just as impressed when she turned around and saw her new look for the first time.
'That's me?' she asked. 'I love my hair.'
Louis explained that Arlene's short hair was relayered and styled more towards her face, while he gave her golden highlights to add more 'softness' to her hair.
Jill topped off Arlene's all-black look with a pair of dangly earrings and a thick gold cuff on her left wrist.
It was a well-deserved makeover for Arlene, who admitted that she also celebrated her 50th birthday in the Today show plaza a decade before.
Italian-born Aldo Zilli tested 82 cans of tomatoes to find out which is the best
Hundreds of people gathered in Warwickshire last week for the 21st annual conference of British tomato-growers.
Being Italian-born, I have to admit I much prefer tomatoes grown in my home country. Indeed, Im addicted to tomatoes.
As an Italian, inevitably some of my earliest memories feature tomatoes. I was the youngest child of nine, growing up in the Abruzzo region, and like most families, we grew our own.
Sometimes, however, its just easier to buy them in a tin.
Or is it? These days, supermarket shelves are brimming with some 82 varieties of them. Tesco alone sells a whopping 26 types of tinned tomato.
My tips? When shopping, never go for the cheapest. Instead (with apologies to the British Tomato Growers Association!), I suggest you choose those that contain Italian tomatoes. That way, youre not skimping on quality.
Experience tells me that supermarkets own-brands are often little more than tins of reddish water. And dont waste money on cans with added herbs. They are just an excuse for manufacturers to overcharge.
Take my word for it. Ive tasted every tin of tomatoes so you dont have to. Here are the ones to look out for...
TESCO
Finest Cherry Tomatoes, 1
Rating:
Good but theyve left the skin on. Not the finest.
Everyday Value Plum Tomatoes, 30p
Rating:
The tin was only two-thirds full, the rest was air.
Growers Harvest Chopped Tomatoes, 29p
Rating:
So watery it even looks bland. Theres no flavour.
Italian Chopped Tomatoes, 35p
Rating:
Good lots of taste, but pips will get stuck in your teeth.
WINNER: East End Peeled Plum Tomatoes, 40p
Rating:
Lots of tomatoes and theyre delicious, too.
The supermarkets Tesco and Morrisons scored highest for their cans but there was no winner for Co-op
ASDA
Chopped Tomatoes with Herbs, 39p
Rating:
So disgusting I had to spit them out. I cant describe the horrible taste.
Chopped Tomatoes with Garlic, 55p
Rating:
Full of water, not much tomato and you cant taste the garlic. Wouldnt even use them for a Bloody Mary.
Extra Special Pomodorini Cherry Tomatoes, 1
Rating:
From southern Italy so should be sweet, but are a bit acidic.
Smartprice Peeled Plum Tomatoes, 29p
Rating:
Watery with no taste. Cheap and not even worth 29p.
WINNER: Asda Peeled Plum Tomatoes, 35p
Rating:
Unusually bitter but would taste ok grilled.
Aldo Zilli suggests to buyers to choose ones the popular Italian item
SAINSBURYS
SO Organic Italian Organic Chopped Tomatoes, 80p
Rating:
Dont taste like tomatoes woody and processed.
Taste the Difference Peeled Italian Pomodorini Cherry Tomatoes, 80p
Rating:
Quite bitter but at least theyve removed the skin.
Basics Italian Plum Tomatoes, 30p
Rating:
Slogan is a little bit of peel, a whole lot of taste and thats true.
Italian Chopped Tomatoes with Herbs, 30p
Rating:
Sweet, but not in the right way due to added sugar.
WINNER: By Sainsburys Italian Plum Tomatoes, 40p
Rating:
Yum succulent tomatoes with a dense sauce.
Experience tells me that supermarkets own-brands are often little more than tins of reddish water
WAITROSE
Duchy Organic Chopped Tomatoes, 89p
Rating:
Chunks are big, ripe and sweet and wouldnt need added sugar.
Rich & Tangy chopped Italian Tomatoes with Sliced Olives, 65p
Rating:
Smells dreadful as olive overwhelms the tomato. Wouldnt even put it on a pizza.
Sweet & Vibrant Peeled Italian Cherry Tomatoes, 65p
Rating:
Bitter and full of pips. At least theyre peeled.
Essential Chopped Tomatoes, 32p
Rating:
A lot of tomatoes bursting out of this little tin and they taste good.
WINNER: Duchy Organic Plum Tomatoes, 84p
Rating:
Nice, plump, juicy tomatoes, with right amount of thick juice. A taste of summer.
M&S
M&S Italian Cherry Tomatoes, 1
Rating:
Left the skin on to save on money. Lets product down.
Simply M&S Chopped Italian Tomatoes, 39p
Rating:
Bland tomatoes in a tin thats full of water.
WINNER: M&S Italian Plum Tomatoes, 35p
Rating:
Cant believe they do quality tomatoes at the price.
CO-OP
Globe Chopped Tomatoes, 34p
Rating:
Bitter and horrible. I
Suma Organic Peeled Tomatoes, 1.05
Rating:
Left the cores in they dont cook down.
Italian Chopped Tomatoes, 55p
Rating:
The word Italian on the packaging is the only good thing about it! Quite dull.
Italian Chopped Tomatoes with Herbs, 65p
Rating:
Terrible product. Herbs are dried, horrible and totally overpower the tomatoes.
Peeled Plum Tomatoes, 55p
Rating:
Watery and insipid.
WINNER: None
MORRISONS
Italian Chopped Tomatoes, 35p
Rating:
Not bad at the price.
Italian Plum Tomatoes, 40p
Rating:
Good product thick, rich and lots of tomato.
The Best Italian Cherry Tomatoes, 1
Rating:
Left the skin on. Not useful
The Best Italian Chopped Tomatoes with Mediterranean Vegetables, 1
Rating:
Disastrous sweet with a high added sugar content.
WINNER: The Best Italian Chopped Tomatoes, 1
Rating:
Worth the extra money full of tasty chunks.
Red-faced: The top chef after taste-testing all 82 cans
LIDL
Freshona Chopped Tomatoes with Basil, 35p
Rating:
Sweet and sugary.
Freshona Chopped Tomatoes with Herbs, 35p
Rating:
Herbs surprisingly add to the taste of the tomatoes.
Freshona Chopped Tomatoes with Onion and Garlic, 35p
Rating:
Both the onion and garlic are subtle. It works.
WINNER: Freshona Chopped Tomatoes Arrabiata, 35p
Rating:
For a nice arrabiata just add basil, olive oil and penne.
ALDI
Everyday Essentials Chopped Tomatoes, 29p
Rating:
Watery and tasteless.
Sweet Harvest Peel Plum Tomatoes, 35p
Rating:
Fine can for the price.
Sweet Harvest Chunky Chopped Tomatoes, 35p
Rating:
Good value for money.
WINNER: Everyday Essentials Peeled Plum Tomatoes, 29p
Rating:
Nice, big, plump tomatoes with good flavour.
The young woman sitting in front of me suddenly, violently, twitches. Her whole body appears to spasm. Once she has recovered and composed herself, she tells me: Thats what I was talking about. Now youve seen it, but no one believes me.
The patient had begun experiencing what she described as zapping feelings shortly after coming off antidepressant drugs, but her GP had told her she was imagining it.
Imagination or not, it kept happening, as did the tremor in the hands and constant, disruptive feelings of anxiety.
She was referred to me and it didnt take long to work out what was going on: the woman was in throes of withdrawal from her antidepressant pills.
A major review of this class of drugs gives lie to the misinformation peddled by the pharmaceutical industry and exposes the ignorance of some doctors.
Yet these drugs are not classed as addictive and, according to official guidelines, they shouldnt trigger significant withdrawal symptoms and certainly none that persist for more than a week or two.
But some of my patients have a different story to tell, and now a major review of this class of drugs gives lie to the misinformation peddled by the pharmaceutical industry and exposes the ignorance of some doctors.
The review, published in the Journal of Addictive Behaviour, found that more than half of users will experience withdrawal symptoms. Thats four million people in England alone. And for 25 per cent of patients the symptoms are severe, including nausea, anxiety, insomnia and agitation that can last for up to three months.
It makes sobering reading as did my colleague Sarah Vines brave piece in the Mail this week about her own nightmarish experience trying to wean herself off antidepressant medication.
The review, published in the Journal of Addictive Behaviour, found that more than half of users will experience withdrawal symptoms
For many people these drugs can be a lifesaver. Depression can kill and antidepressants are a valuable clinical tool.
But while there have been occasional reports that the drugs are overprescribed indeed, Britain has one of the highest levels of antidepressant use in the world their negative aspects are rarely discussed.
I think that, historically, doctors have done patients a massive disservice in not acknowledging the side-effects of the drugs.
Many younger patients, for example, stop taking their anti-depressants with potentially damaging consequences for their mental health because of loss of libido, erectile dysfunction and decreased orgasm. Yet few doctors ever bother to discuss this. Nor do many clinicians acknowledge that patients must be weaned off the drugs slowly to minimise the side-effects.
Or that, as doctors, they must distinguish between symptoms that may be mistaken for the effects of withdrawal, but which indicate the underlying disease is still active and vice versa.
I also worry that too many prescriptions are being written for people who dont need the drugs. They may have mild depression or are dealing with social problems, relationship difficulties or challenges at work things that no pill could ever fix.
Others have personality disorders, the symptoms of which can include feelings of emptiness and low mood that mimic depression, but for which anti-depressants are ineffective.
But still GPs dish them out without properly establishing a clinical need. In what other area of medicine would this be acceptable?
I have enormous sympathy for GPs under pressure, with just ten minutes per patient to deal with complex problems and individuals who may be in great distress. But its time we took this class of drugs far more seriously because we have been here before.
From the Sixties onwards, doctors happily gave out benzodiazepines sedative drugs such as Valium, Xanax and Librium used to treat anxiety. They became known as mothers little helper because they were frequently prescribed to stressed housewives.
It wasnt until the Eighties that their powerful addictive qualities and the severe withdrawal symptoms they triggered were established. Today, as the Mail has highlighted in a long-running campaign, many people remain addicted decades after being prescribed them, unable to cope with the physical and mental consequences of withdrawal.
Modern antidepressants are unlikely to present as big a problem as benzodiazepines, but we doctors have no excuse not to get this right.
When prescribing an antidepressant drug, patients must know the risks, as well as the benefits and we need to listen more closely to what they are saying about their experiences of taking them.
DON'T BE DUPED: CANNABIS IS HARMFUL
Whether its schizophrenia, anxiety or depression, serious mental health problems as a result of cannabis use are well-established.
But many of us working in mental health and drug addiction and who have experience of the criminal justice system as a result have long worried about other effects weve observed in patients.
Now a new study at the University of Montreal has identified the damage cannabis can inflict on teenage brains.
A new study at the University of Montreal has identified the damage cannabis can inflict on teenage brains
The drug appears to have a direct affect on the pre-frontal cortex, shrinking a part of the brain involved in memory, mental processing, decision-making and, crucially, empathy.
This can have a devastating effect, profoundly limiting an individuals ability to engage with the emotional response of others. Some scientists have drawn comparisons between the brains of cannabis users and autistic brains in this respect.
Such research is routinely dismissed by the pro-cannabis lobby, which seeks legalisation of the drug. Cannabis is a drug that leaves users amiable and chilled out, they counter.
But just as alcohol relaxes some people and makes others aggressive, the same is true with cannabis. The evidence is out there. Cannabis campaigners cant ignore it for ever.
APPY ENDING! FOR INSOMINIA
The NHS is developing and testing a new app for people suffering from insomnia. If its successful, then it will be made available nationwide.
Ive had a look at the app and Im impressed. Developed by experts at Oxford University, it uses cognitive behavioural therapy techniques very similar to those used in sleep clinics.
Such an innovative approach is far better than what the sleep-deprived get from the NHS now, where there is an over-reliance on medication sleeping tablets or a total disregard for the severe consequences of insomnia.
Yet sleep problems can have a dramatic impact on mental health and are closely linked to depression and even suicide, as well as high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.
I welcome the app, but I also hope that using digital technology in this way isnt just an excuse to further reduce the number of NHS sleep clinics. We need both.
GO ON - JOIN THE ARMY OF THE WILLING TO HELP THE NHS
The new chair of the health and social services monitor, Healthwatch England, is a man on mission. Sir Robert Francis wants every hospital patient to give something back by volunteering to work in the NHS once they get better.
An army of the willing is how he describes them.
Yes! Volunteers are the backbone of the health service and we need more. Ive been really humbled by some of those Ive come across in my work mostly older, retired people, I have to say.
But I believe that the younger generation so vociferous in its defence of the NHS against Tory cuts should take note. Giving up one day a month, perhaps a Saturday or Sunday, to help out is surely not too much to ask?
I remember one patient, a Mrs Mullen, whod just got a new hip after waiting a year. Even though she was recovering from a major operation, she wanted to make her bed every day to save the nurses from having to do it. She was 83 years old!
Weeks after being discharged, she was back in the hospital, working in the Friends shop. What are you doing here? I asked. Youre supposed to be taking things easy.
Oh I am! she replied. Its only a few hours a week. Its my way of saying thank you for all this hospital has done for me.
Its people like Mrs Mullen who keep the NHS ticking along, so why not do the same? Check out royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk or nhs70.nhs.uk/get-involved/support-the- nhs/volunteer
Patients are to be asked to share GP appointments with up to 14 other people.
Already undergoing a trial at dozens of surgeries, the NHS scheme is aimed at saving cash and doctors time.
Sufferers of long-term conditions such as diabetes, asthma and arthritis will be invited to the group sessions to discuss their care.
The two-hour appointments will typically be led by admin staff or healthcare assistants.
A new NHS scheme may see patients sharing GP appointments with up to 14 other people. It is aimed at saving doctor's time and cash and is already undergoing a trial at dozens of surgeries
Doctors will attend for around an hour to discuss tests and treatments.
Patients will have to sign confidentiality waivers to ensure they do not discuss details of other peoples ailments afterwards.
The conference of the Royal College of GPs was told yesterday the group sessions will be rolled out nationally later this year as part of a new ten-year plan for the NHS.
Health chiefs want the approach to become the default care option for those with long-term conditions.
At present, many of these patients book regular, individual appointments.
Doctors admit the plans require a leap of faith but say trials have shown that sessions involving up to 15 people are good for patients, save money and spare GPs from having to repeat the same advice over and over.
Other benefits include patients effectively having longer consultations and learning from the experiences of others.
Alison Manson, who is leading the national training for group consultations, said: Its a different way of consulting with patients its a one-to-one clinical consultation delivered in a supportive peer-group setting.
In primary care, thats largely done with everybody in the room listening in and contributing to the care of that patient.
The interesting thing is that you may only have a matter of a couple of minutes with each patient but they leave the session feeling like theyve had 45 minutes or an hour of your time and thats a massive thing for patients.
They cant believe that theyre getting all this time with the GP, nurse or hospital doctor.
Patients will have to sign confidentiality waivers to ensure they do not discuss details of other peoples ailments afterwards
Many GP surgeries are in crisis with heavy workloads, with one in seven family doctor posts empty. Vacancy rates are up three-fold in six years.
Dr Emily Symington, a GP in Croydon, south London, who runs a group session, said it helped cope with demand.
If we are going to start to address the tide of lifestyle conditions and long-term conditions we need to start thinking about how we do things differently, she added.
Group consultations have started to address that. It is putting people in control. It takes a bit of a leap of faith.
The practices who have had the best success with group consultations are those that have taken the plunge and made group consultations the default method of care for certain long-term conditions.
Research has shown that group appointments in psychiatry, diabetes and elderly care can reduce waiting times, emergency admissions and hospital bed days
We have a practice in Croydon where all diabetics have their annual reviews ... done through groups. Its been massively successful.
The consultations are normally held monthly, and GPs say they are more relaxed than ten-minute appointments.
But Joyce Robins, of the campaign group Patient Concern, said group consultations were a ghastly idea.
She added: GP appointments are supposed to be a private matter where you can openly talk about your most personal health issues.
If youre discussing things in front of a group of strangers, you might as well tell the local town crier so he can shout it from the rooftops.
Many people will feel incredibly uncomfortable with this idea, especially if they know their weight and BMI is going to be on the wall for all to see.
Research has shown that group appointments in psychiatry, diabetes and elderly care can reduce waiting times, emergency admissions and hospital bed days.
Statistics from the innovation group Nesta found that consultants using group clinics saw 15 patients in the time it had previously taken to see nine.
GPs say the group model could be extended further and offered to pregnant women, men with erectile dysfunction and even for recipients of the flu vaccine.
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: Group consultations could be helpful to some patients by providing an opportunity to have discussions about their conditions.
It could also be reassuring to patients to see others share their concerns and challenges, and can provide the benefit of peer support.
But patients must be given the choice as to whether to participate, or to continue with more traditional GP services.
The group sessions have been trialled at GP surgeries in London, Manchester, Sheffield and Newcastle.
Britain's top school nurse last night accused health chiefs of downplaying the EpiPen crisis as it was revealed an international shortage of the jabs could halt child vaccination programmes due to begin this month.
The news will add to the worry and frustration for the UKs estimated 250,000 allergy sufferers who rely on the adrenaline auto-injectors to halt life-threatening reactions to foods, insect stings and bites, and medicines.
If this condition, anaphylactic shock, is not swiftly treated, there can be dire consequences, as proved by the tragic death of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan Laperouse, who suffered a fatal reaction to a Pret A Manger baguette.
The UK has an estimated 250,000 allergy sufferers who rely on the adrenaline auto-injectors to halt life-threatening reactions to foods, insect stings and bites, and medicines
The first indications of the global EpiPen shortage came in April when Mylan, a US-based firm that makes the pre-loaded syringes, warned of supply problems. The two other brands of shots available in the UK, Jext and Emerade, are now also hard to find.
In an effort to provide a temporary fix, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency issued guidance at the end of September that the use-by date of adult-use EpiPens, which have a 12-month shelf-life, can be extended by four months. The extension does not apply to EpiPen Junior versions.
There are no official figures on how many EpiPens remain in the UK but many pharmacies report that they do not have any left.
Now it has emerged that the shortage may throw various national vaccination schemes into chaos, including the childhood jabs for MMR, HPV and meningitis, and for seasonal flu.
Sharon White, CEO of The School and Public Health Nurses Association, said: You cant give vaccines of any type unless you have an anaphylaxis pack containing adrenaline jabs, because of the risk of a severe allergic reaction to ingredients used in vaccines. At the moment theres no information to be had from anyone and everyone in officialdom just wants to play down the crisis.
Pharmacist Sid Dajani in Eastleigh, Hampshire, says he has no adrenaline auto-injectors at all. I havent seen an EpiPen for two months and we ran out of Jext auto-injectors a month ago. As of last week he was no longer offering flu vaccines.
Natasha Ednan Laperouse (pictured) suffered a fatal reaction to a Pret A Manger baguette
Parenting forums and Twitter are awash with concerned parents and allergy sufferers saying they cannot get their prescribed auto-injectors, despite calling multiple pharmacies on a daily basis.
The experts advice
Do not dispose of expired devices before receiving a new one. Remember, the four-month extension on expiry dates is advice from UK charity the Anaphylaxis Campaign.
Keep trying. Anyone who doesnt have an auto-injector and cant get one should call all the pharmacies in their area until they find one that still has stock. Getting one may involve travelling. Be quick due to high demand, pharmacists wont reserve auto-injectors.
One auto-injector is enough for most people, though those with more severe problems who carry two doses should continue to do so.
Take extra care to avoid allergens. Dr Pamela Ewan, consultant allergist at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, says: Most allergic reactions can be treated with antihistamines.
Small studies show that EpiPens can remain potent for years. Researchers in California found EpiPens that were 50 months out of date contained at least 90 per cent of the stated amount of the adrenaline. The drug does not become toxic.
Ask your childs school to go nut-free. Dr Adrian Morris, an allergy doctor at the Surrey Allergy Clinic, says: Otherwise, make sure your school knows about your childs triggers and takes steps to minimise any contact during the school day.
Schools may have a stock of EpiPens as they can buy them without prescription. If you cant get one, write to your childs teacher to see if there is one on site.
If your child has severe allergies, and you cannot get an auto-injector then you could be justified in keeping them away from school. Dr Morris said: Children may have to be kept at home and out of harms way.
In extreme cases, Dr Morris suggests asking your doctor for ampoules of adrenaline and syringes. The GP may need to prescribe the age- appropriate amounts and instruct the parent how to inject this into the child in a situation of anaphylaxis.
Never try to make your own EpiPen, as some people are advocating online, says Dr Morris. They can fail and its really not a safe and reliable option.
If youre travelling by air, the Anaphylaxis Campaign advises: Stick to plain foods without sauces and dressings and take safe, non-perishable snacks with you. If you dont know whats in the food, dont eat it. Some airlines have removed peanut snacks from flights, but you should carry wipes to clean surfaces on the aircraft to minimise the risk of skin contact with traces on seat-back trays and armrests.
In an emergency whether or not you have an auto-injector call 999 or go to your nearest accident & emergency department, says Dr Ewan.
Ask a stupid question: why can't you tickle yourself?
Cognitive neuroscientist Professor Sarah-Jane Blakemore, from University College London, says: The answer lies at the back of the brain in an area called the cerebellum, which is involved in monitoring movements. Our research shows the cerebellum can predict sensations when your own movement causes them but not when someone else does. So when you try to tickle yourself, the cerebellum predicts the sensation and this prediction is used to cancel the response of other brain areas to the tickle. There are also two brain regions that process how tickling feels and both of these regions are less active during self-tickling than during tickling performed by someone else.
For West Sussex farmer Keith Gadd and his family, last years Fathers Day, June 18, was an unusually happy one. That April, he had undergone major surgery to remove a sizeable tumour from his bowel, but the operation had been a complete success: scans showed he was cancer-free, and he was rapidly regaining his physical fitness, able to walk miles and shift bales of hay.
He and his daughter Louise, son-in-law Martin and youngest granddaughter Daisy enjoyed a summer picnic on his land near Petworth. Afterwards, he hurried off to meet his wife Pamela and friends from their hiking group for afternoon tea and cakes.
Just over five weeks later, on July 24, 2017, Mr Gadd, 73, was dead not because of the tumour, but from the side effects of the chemotherapy tablets he was given to reduce the chances of the cancer coming back.
Keith Gadd (far right) died last year from DPD poisoning. He is pictured here from left to right with his son Andrew, granddaughters Daisy and Georgia and Andrew's girlfriend Lucy
The reason? An otherwise harmless genetic condition meant his liver did not produce an enzyme called dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase or DPD and so could not process the chemo drug, called capecitabine.
His deficiency, shared by five to eight per cent of the population, could have been spotted by a cheap, simple test, but Mr Gadd was never offered it. For him, the tablets, which for most patients have only mild side effects, became a deadly poison.
DPD can help with digestion, but experts say most people with DPD deficiency have no symptoms and would never know unless they needed capecitabine or 5FU (fluoropyrimidine), an intravenous form of the same drug. These chemotherapy drugs are toxic chemicals which help kill cancer cells, but in most people they are quickly broken down by the liver and excreted. With someone who is DPD-deficient, this doesnt happen, so even a small dose can have very serious consequences.
And as our investigation reveals, this means tens of thousands of cancer patients each year are potentially at risk of a ghastly but avoidable death.
Since 2000, under the official Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency Yellow Card monitoring system, doctors have filed reports of 871 cases of serious adverse drug reactions and 233 fatalities, all caused solely by capecitabine.
Doctors say these figures are likely to be a fraction of the true total.
Now leading cancer specialists, patients, campaign groups and the coroner who heard the inquest into Mr Gadds death are calling for routine DPD testing.
Keiths family say he was not warned of the possible threat to his life, and his decline was terrifyingly fast.
He first started taking capecitabine on June 29 last year. Over five days, his health deteriorated before his doctors, at St Richards Hospital in Chichester, advised him to stop taking the tablets. Six days later, on July 8 he was readmitted to hospital, and two days after that placed in intensive care in a Portsmouth hospital. Two weeks later, he died.
Keith (pictured) had started taking capecitabine on June 29 last year and after five days using the drug his health deteriorated
We had to watch Dad suffer as the drug ate away at him from the inside out, says his heartbroken daughter, Louise, 48.
Within 12 hours of starting the pills, he had severe nausea. The day after that, he had sores in his throat which were so bad that he couldnt eat, along with terrible diarrhoea. Later he could barely walk, and found it difficult to breathe.
Thankfully, Louise says, her father spent the last 15 days of his life in an induced coma, so was protected from the excruciating pain that characterised the earlier stages of his ordeal.
By the time he died, his body was covered in sores, and his eyes were filled with pus.
No one should have to see their loved one like that, Louise says. The worst thing is, he would probably have lived a long time without this treatment. He was told it would only increase his chances of long-term survival by three per cent.
With about 42,000 new cases each year, bowel tumours are Britains fourth most common cancer, and our second-biggest cancer killer. I would guess between 7,000 and 10,000 patients receive capecitabine for bowel cancer in this country each year, says Dr Rob Glynne-Jones, medical adviser to the charity Bowel Cancer UK and a consultant at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Hertfordshire.
He could have lived another ten years...he was robbed of that
Of these, he adds, about one in 200 will die from the side effects of capecitabine pills. Others including one patient interviewed by this newspaper develop life-threatening symptoms but survive.
Capecitabine is also prescribed for some breast, stomach, pancreatic and oesophageal cancers. Dr Glynne-Jones says three of his own patients died from taking the drug: I can still see their faces. I do feel quite uncomfortable that we dont test all patients routinely for DPD deficiency. If you have to have this form of chemotherapy, I would make sure you get tested.
The test, requiring a single blood sample, is not perfect because it does not spot all cases, but it costs just 60.
Sarah, who has asked The Mail on Sunday not to use her real name, was a healthy 69-year-old when she was diagnosed with a small bowel tumour last year. Treated at a London teaching hospital, she was prescribed simultaneous radiotherapy and capecitabine: for many patients, the drug makes radiotherapy more effective.
Sarah says she was warned there might be side effects sore hands and feet, possible damage to her bladder and fatigue but DPD deficiency was not mentioned.
Sarah was an outpatient, and went back home and started taking three capecitabine pills twice a day on December 4. She recalls: From the second day, I felt extremely sick. The following day, she felt nauseous while she was having radiotherapy, and the nurse asked her oncology registrar to reassure her. Sarahs sister Judith, who accompanied her to many of her appointments and took notes, says: The registrar insisted, You will not be feeling nausea at this stage. It is psychological, you are worried.
Later, Judith says, it transpired neither the nurse nor the registrar was aware of DPD deficiency.
Sarah continued taking the tablets but her condition worsened swiftly. Soon she was unable to eat, and developed uncontrollable diarrhoea. On December 16 she collapsed and was taken by ambulance to a local A&E, where her blood was tested but not for DPD deficiency.
Finding nothing untoward, Sarah was sent home. She continued to deteriorate and her consultant finally advised her to stop taking capecitabine on December 20.
Next day doctors admitted her to hospital. On Christmas Day, Sarah was moved to intensive care. Only then was she tested for DPD deficiency, and found to be positive.
Sarah spent seven weeks in intensive care, finally going home in May, five months after she was admitted. Nearly six months later, she still needs round-the-clock help from a team of carers. I would like to see this test done as a matter of routine, Sarah says. It is vital that everyone concerned with caring for patients is aware of the symptoms of DPD deficiency. Im alive, but Ive lost my mobility. No one should have to go through this.
There is one area where DPD testing already is routine Dorset. Oncology consultant Dr Bryony Eccles began treating NHS bowel-cancer patients there two years ago after one of her patients died from taking capecitabine.
Dr Eccles is convinced that testing reduces the risk.
She and her colleagues have managed to obtain charitable funding to pay for testing throughout Dorset.
She also makes clear to every patient that capecitabine and 5FU do carry risks: severe nausea and diarrhoea should be red flags. She says: Its very important for doctors to be aware of the possible side effects and to act accordingly if they appear. There are now signs of change. In May 2018, the Portsmouth coroner David Horsley held an inquest into the death of Mr Gadd and sent a report to NHS England raising concerns. He stated: In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths, and I believe your organisation has the power to take such action.
Professor Stephen Powis, NHS Englands medical director, replied in August. He agreed there should be a national alert card setting out the dangers to every patient and their carers. And he agreed that there should be an investigation into whether DPD testing should be made available for all patients before they were treated with either capecitabine or 5FU.
Bowel Cancer UK is already convinced that it should be. Deborah Alsina, its chief executive, says it is vital that all cancer sufferers should be protected from avoidable toxic reactions, which can have a devastating effect on patients.
An NHS England spokesman said a circular telling hospitals to warn patients that the side effects of the drug could be life-threatening would be sent out later this month, and would be shared with other bodies involved in cancer treatment. The warning card would be ready by the end of the year.
John Knighton, medical director for the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, in whose care Keith Gadd died, said: Our condolences and thoughts are with the family of Mr Gadd. As a designated cancer centre, we actively adhere to and follow national guidance and best practice. We have implemented the recommendations made by Professor Powis in his letter.
Welcome as this may be for future patients, Keith Gadds family are still reeling. We feel broken by his death, Louise says. His post mortem showed he had no secondary tumours, so he would probably have lived for at least five or ten years. He was robbed of all that.
That Fathers Day picnic in the shade of his favourite oak tree was the last one Keith and his family shared together and that is where they scattered his ashes.
Tens of thousands of families are being forced to pay up to 6,000 for dental braces for children who should get them free on the NHS.
A Mail on Sunday investigation has found that at least 20,000 youngsters a year are being denied the corrective treatment they need for seriously misaligned teeth. The figure could be even higher, but there are no official figures.
In some cases, orthodontists have been accused of incorrectly advising parents their children are ineligible for free treatment. And in others, those who qualify for NHS braces are told they have to wait up to six years to have them fitted putting intense pressure on parents to opt for private treatment because waiting risks leaving children with permanent dental problems.
Specialists are paid about 1,250 for fitting a teenager with braces under the NHS contract, but can earn far more if parents pay for them to be fitted privately
Last night, the General Dental Council admitted that some orthodontists are deliberately stopping children from accessing braces on the NHS so they can make more money out of them privately.
The specialists are paid about 1,250 for fitting a teenager with braces under the NHS contract, but can earn far more if parents pay for them to be fitted privately. A dental council spokesman said: This is something that we have come across. Such malpractice would be officially regarded as dishonesty.
According to the NHS, the ideal age to have braces is 12 or 13. If a childs regular NHS dentist thinks they might need a brace, they refer them to an orthodontist.
A recent NHS study stated that between 35 and 42 per cent of 12-year-olds have teeth that clinically require braces meaning at least 245,000 should be fitted each year. But only 225,000 people in the UK had NHS orthodontic treatment last year and that includes some adults.
Consequently, at least 20,000 youngsters a year are not having braces fitted on the NHS who should. Braces are free for under-18s who need it, but local health service managers cap the number, meaning patchy provision and long waits in some areas, which the NHS admits. The service says there can be a long waiting list and appears to encourage patients to go private.
On its website, the NHS says: If you dont want to wait for treatment, you may choose to have private treatment. They say its widely available, but expensive citing fees of 2,000 to 6,000, possibly more.
One teenager took to the internet to say was told he needed braces when he was 13, but had to wait six years to get them fitted. Because he had turned 18 by the time his treatment started, he had to pay 233.
And one mother wrote on Mumsnet that her sons orthodontist repeatedly insisted he didnt quite qualify for free treatment but could always go private. But when their dentist made an appointment with another specialist, he confirmed the boy did qualify and started treatment straight away.
Tory MP Andrew Selous, who is on the health select committee, last night called the postcode lottery on waiting times grossly unfair.
EpiPen crisi puts pupils' flu jabs at risk
Thousands of children could be denied vital flu vaccinations due to a shortage of EpiPen injectors.
To ease the shortage, health chiefs have issued information to the 250,000 Britons who rely on the device that they are safe to use for 16 months
Youngsters aged two to nine should have the jab by the end of November, but nurses can only give it if they have access to adrenaline usually injected by EpiPen if a child has an adverse reaction.
Sharon White, of The School and Public Health Nurses Association, said: You cant give vaccines unless you have adrenaline jabs because of the risk of a severe reaction to ingredients in vaccines.
To ease the shortage, health chiefs have issued information to the 250,000 Britons who rely on the device that they are safe to use for 16 months, rather than the official 12-month shelf-life.
What allergy sufferers should do: Health, Page 56
'Toxic': Anjem Choudary was jailed in 2016 for publicly supporting the Islamic State
A notorious hate preacher due to be released from jail within days is more dangerous than ever and will poison the minds of a new generation, it was claimed last night.
Anjem Choudary could be released as early as this week from the maximum-security Frankland Prison in County Durham after serving less than half of his five-and-a-half-year sentence.
He was jailed in 2016 for publicly supporting the Islamic State terror group.
But last night a source said: He is still a dangerous individual. He has become more aggressive in his views.
The Mail on Sunday has also learned that keeping Choudary in a safe house after his release will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Choudary is accused of radicalising Khuram Butt, 28, ringleader of the 2017 London Bridge attacks, and Michael Adebolajo, 33, who murdered soldier Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks in May 2013.
Choudary is being released even though internal monitoring by the Ministry of Justice has deemed that he has not changed his views, and will portray himself as a martyr when he comes out of jail.
He will be provided with a safe house in a well-to-do suburb of North London, where renting a modest two-bedroom flat can cost 1,300 a month.
Round-the-clock monitoring to ensure that Choudary adheres to bail conditions will add to the expense facing taxpayers.
The total bill is expected to exceed 100,000 a year.
The Mail on Sunday has also learned that the preacher has written a book inside prison, recording his experience within an isolation unit and presenting it as an example of how the state oppresses Muslims.
Prison staff fear he will now disseminate the book to foment his victimhood narrative.
Choudary could be released as early as this week from the maximum-security Frankland Prison in County Durham after serving less than half his five-and-a-half-year sentence
A source said: He is writing that he is being oppressed. He believes his human rights are being violated. Fiyaz Mughal, founder and director of inter-faith anti-extremism group Faith Matters, said: The victimhood narrative is utterly toxic. I would have liked to see Choudary serve out his whole sentence and I hope that the conditions placed on him when released are restrictive enough within the law, to ultimately save other young lives from his poison.
Choudary, leader of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), is a trained lawyer but has shamelessly claimed state benefits all of his working life, and even nicknamed Jobseekers Allowance Jihad Seekers Allowance.
When released, he will be free to travel to his family home in Ilford, East London, to see his wife and three children, but will have to observe a night-time curfew and sleep at his safe house.
He will be banned from visiting certain mosques, including the London Central Mosque near Regents Park.
He is also prevented from using the internet, will be allowed to use only one mobile phone, which will be monitored by the police, and must wear a GPS tag that will track his movements at all times.
Fellow ALM leader Mizanur Rahman, 35, who was jailed for five years in 2016, will also be released in the coming weeks.
Sources have said that Choudary will be banned from contacting a number of leading figures within the ALM network, including Rahman.
QUEEN VICTORIA'S MATCHMAKING by Deborah Cadbury (Bloomsbury 10.99, 400pp)
QUEEN VICTORIA'S MATCHMAKING
by Deborah Cadbury (Bloomsbury 10.99, 400pp)
Grandparents and grandchildren often share a special bond, and Queen Victoria took a particularly keen interest in her 42 grandchildren.
Her husband Albert had cherished a vision that his children would establish a network of marital alliances across Europe, uniting the continent, with Britain at its head.
Albert died before realising his vision, but Victoria, determined to carry out his wishes, took an energetic role in steering her grandchildren towards suitable suitors.
They proved resistant to her advice. The hapless Prince Eddie inconsiderately died six weeks before his wedding to May of Teck, who was married off to his younger brother, the future George V.
Deborah Cadburys rather fascinating history traces the often tragic destinies of Victorias grandchildren.
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ANTHONY POWELL
ANTHONY POWELL by Hilary Spurling (Penguin 20, 528pp)
by Hilary Spurling (Penguin 20, 528pp)
The novelist Anthony Powell, a contemporary of Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh, is best remembered for A Dance To The Music Of Time his 12-volume cycle of novels depicting British life in the mid-20th century.
An intensely private man, he managed, according to his biographer Hilary Spurling, almost to leave himself out of his own memoirs.
In this affectionate biography, Spurling gives a vivid portrait of the writer: his lonely childhood, Eton schooldays and the seedy London of his 20s, where he worked for a publisher and had an affair with the painter Nina Hamnett.
Success came slowly Powell didnt begin to write A Dance until he was 45. But Spurlings elegantly written biography confirms his reputation as a novelist of the very first rank.
ROGUES' GALLERY by Philip Hook (Profile 9.99, 288pp)
ROGUES' GALLERY
by Philip Hook (Profile 9.99, 288pp)
Art dealers are purveyors of fantasy. . .the sort of fantasy that stimulates soarings of the imagination and tantalising glimpses of highly remunerative investment, writes Philip Hook in his entertaining history of art dealing.
By the 17th century, an international art market was well-established; but while fortunes were to be made, the business of placating demanding buyers and temperamental artists could be stressful.
No detail was too small for the powerful 20th-century dealer, Joseph Duveen, who would place calls to the valet of the collector Maurice de Rothschild, to learn whether the state of his bowels made it a good day on which to offer him a masterpiece.
The history of art dealing, Hook concludes, is the story of human folly, interspersed with occasional acts of heroism.
Holiday rentals giant Airbnb is stepping up security measures to help end the scourge of fraudsters using its website to dupe holidaymakers into sending cash to scam accounts.
The menace of fake Airbnb bookings was exposed last year by The Mail on Sunday after numerous families were tricked into transferring payments for seemingly genuine properties to conmen disguising themselves online as the real property owners.
Now, as the US-based company reports that booking numbers are exploding ten million British holidaymakers alone arranged accommodation via its online service in 2017 it has pledged to stamp out the practice.
Airbnb is increasing security measures after a number of people were conned on the website
As well as reinforcement measures such as ID checks and checking names against regulatory, terrorist and sanctions watchlists, the company has introduced stricter authentication requirements when customers log in from an unrecognised device.
It has also developed new guides to help guests and hosts protect themselves, compiled with the help of internet safety group Get Safe Online.
Nick Shapiro, global head of trust and risk management at Airbnb is former deputy chief of staff at the CIA.
He says: While we already take steps to help keep bad actors off our platform we think these guides will further protect customers.
The growing band of booking websites rely on trust between owners and bookers. But some users have paid thousands of pounds for properties that turned out to be sham listings.
Among them were the Gilmour family from South London who handed over more than 5,000 to a fraudster posing as the real host of a luxury property on the Balearic island of Majorca.
Other victims are also hoodwinked by websites set up by fraudsters using photos and details lifted from genuine web pages.
In all cases the holidaymakers are tricked by convincing patter to send cash quickly by bank transfer to secure a booking.
Figures from Action Fraud reveal crooks stole 6.7 million from holidaymakers last year but it is the tip of the iceberg as embarrassment means many frauds go unreported.
Airbnb checks the ID of members but this does not stop fraudsters from hijacking real profiles.
Customers using online marketplaces such as Airbnb can protect themselves by only communicating with owners through the booking websites private messaging system and paying via the firms own secure payment set-up.
But not all online marketplaces do ID checks or provide secure booking.
One way to be safe is to pay by credit card. Your bank may provide a refund if the booking proves fake.
If a bank transfer is the only option then do extra homework. Use Google maps to track down properties and search engines to verify an owners details.
Report any holiday fraud to Action Fraud online or by calling 0300 123 2040 or contact sally.hamilton@mailonsunday.co.uk.
Citroens new C5 Aircross, unveiled in Paris this week, will be its first vehicle to offer a plug-in electric hybrid option that can be charged from the mains while still having the security of a conventional engine.
Coventry-born Linda Jackson, whos run the Citroen wing of parent company PSA for the past four years, says its just the start of Citroens electrical revolution.
By 2023 about 80 per cent of the range will include fully electric and electric hybrid options as well as traditional petrol and diesel versions rising to 100 per cent by 2025.
Parisian showcase: Citroen boss Linda Jackson introduces the new C5 Aircross
Moves by cities to ban all but zero-emissions cars from their centres will accelerate the revolution, she predicts.
Orders for the C5 Aircross open on November 1 with first UK deliveries in early February.
Expect it to cost from about 23,200 to 32,700. A year later, the UK will get the plug-in hybrid.
This latest family SUV promises to be the most comfortable model yet thanks to a system that includes clever suspension and specially designed seats.
It can be highly personalised with 30 exterior colour combinations.
The plug-in electric hybrid version can be charged from the mains while still having the security of a conventional engine
Expect the new C% Aircross to cost from about 23,200 to 32,700. A year later, the UK will get the plug-in hybrid
There are three sliding, folding and reclining rear seats, and ample boot space. It incorporates 20 driver assistance systems, including Highway Driver Assist and grip control, as well as wireless smartphone charging.
Mrs Jackson said Britain is her fifth largest market and her target is to boost global sales from 1.1 million to 1.6 million by 2021.
The C5 Aircross is our flagship until we get a new saloon car.
Orders for the C5 Aircross open on November 1 with first UK deliveries in early February
Some of the older cars in the firms line-up face the axe.
Customers should brace themselves for major developments, she predicted: So much is going to change over the next ten years. Will people even own a car in the future?
Leasing and mobile phone-style fixed monthly payments are becoming increasingly the norm, she told me.
Next generation Land Rover Defender spotted
The next generation of the classic Land Rover Defender has finally arrived, though in disguise while it undergoes tests on Britains roads.
The original Land Rover, which began life in 1948, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
In disguise: Land Rover's replacement for its classic Defender was spotted being put through its paces near Jaguar Land Rovers design and engineering centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire
The latest version was spotted near Jaguar Land Rovers design and engineering centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire, ahead of going on sale in 2020.
The appearance of the chunky 4x4 in a black and white camouflage coincided with JLRs attendance at the Paris Motor Show where a spokesman said: We can confirm that the Defender programme is progressing well.
However, a big question mark remains over whether it will be built in Britain or abroad.
The company has invested heavily in a new factory in Slovakia, and bosses have already warned more production could be shifted overseas in the event of a Hard Brexit.
New BMW 3-series gets personal
BMWS 3-series compact family and executive saloon has been the marques mainstay for more than 40 years accounting for around a third of sales.
Now a magnificent seventh generation has been unveiled in Paris bigger, sharper and more high-tech than ever.
The seventh generation BMW 3-series has been unveiled in Paris bigger, sharper and more high-tech than ever
It is the first to have an onboard electronic intelligent personal assistant not only can drivers speak to it and receive replies, they can give it a name, too.
The new series will be available initially in three engines two diesels and one petrol, with a new six-speed manual gearbox or 8-speed automatic transmission.
The new series will be available initially in three engines two diesels and one petrol, with a new six-speed manual gearbox or 8-speed automatic transmission
The two-litre four cylinder 190hp rear-wheel drive auto diesel starts at 33,610, accelerates from rest to 62 mph in 6.8 seconds up to 149 mph, averages 67.3 mpg with CO2 emissions of 110g/km.
Figures are slightly higher for manual versions.
Order next month for deliveries from March.
Activist investing, which sees big shareholders chivvy companies into improving themselves in the hope their value will soar, has taken Europe by storm.
Beginning in America, the phenomenon has become increasingly popular in the UK with activist investors hunting for fresh opportunities as rising stock markets make value harder to come by.
But once solely the preserve of hedge funds such as Elliott Management and Third Point, which have shaken up companies from Dulux-maker Akzo Nobel to Nestle, shareholder activism is being opened up to the normal investor.
Activist investin has become increasingly popular in the UK with activist investors hunting for fresh opportunities as rising stock markets make value harder to come by
Earlier this week, the Mobius Investment Trust began trading on the London Stock Exchange.
And later this month, fund house AVI will float its Japan Opportunity Trust. Both claim they will work with companies as an activist investor and anyone can buy shares in them.
AVI's Joe Bauernfreund, who will manage the Japan Opportunity Trust, believes activism is only going to get more important as stock markets reach a peak.
He says: 'Investors recognise that where there's value, you're going to have to work to unlock it rather than wait passively.'
Many investors have recently been piling money into cheap passive funds which track an index, since they have performed well as indices such as the FTSE 100 have climbed. But these will also start to slide if the markets fall.
For Bauernfreund, activism is the solution.
He has significant experience of managing such a fund, having been at the helm of AVI's British Empire Trust for three years.
Although Bauernfreund is now listing his second activist fund on the London Stock Exchange, there were previously very few for investors to choose from.
Targetted: Dulux-maker Akzo Nobel has been shaken up by shareholder activism
One was Crystal Amber, the fund behind the sale of chocolate brand Thorntons to Italian rival Ferrero and Pinewood Studios to property group Aermont Capital.
More recently it has been trying pushing for change at De La Rue, the British banknote maker which earlier this year lost the contract to produce post-Brexit blue passports.
Run by City veteran Richard Bernstein, the trust would have made an investor more than 1,800 if they had invested 1,000 just five years ago.
The average UK investment trust, on the other hand, would have returned 1,450.
Unlike Crystal Amber, which is UK-focused, and the British Empire Trust, which looks at companies across the world, the two new funds will concentrate on specific regions.
Bauernfreund chose to launch a Japan trust due to the huge amounts of cash which companies there often hold on their balance sheets.
The Mobius trust, headed by 82-year-old emerging markets veteran Mark Mobius, will stick to what its manager knows best and invest in frontier and emerging markets such as Kazakhstan and Indonesia.
But there are downsides to activist investing.
Anthony Leatham, head of investment trust research at Peel Hunt, notes that sometimes 'corporate inertia' can be too great for the fund manager to overcome.
But if one campaign fails, this could drastically squeeze the trust's returns.
Investors should put money with a manager they trust, who has a good track record, and be prepared to wait out the ups and downs.
Changing a company can take time but when it works, you can reap rewards.
Two machete-wielding thugs who hacked a man to shreds in an inner-city park have gasped in disbelief as a tough new female judge sent them to prison for their cowardly attack.
Supporters of Abdirizak Mohamed Scek, 25, and Said Abdirahman, 28, swore and disrupted the court when newly-appointed County Court of Victoria Judge Sarah Dawes sent them both to jail.
The men, who are Somalian asylum seekers, pleaded guilty to just a single charge each of intentionally causing serious injury.
County Court of Victoria Judge Sarah Dawes is bringing a no-nonsense approach to crime
However, no-nonsense Judge Dawes sentenced Abdirahman to five-and-a-half years in jail, with a non-parole period of three-and-a-half and Scek to four years and nine months, with a minimum of two years and nine months.
The sentence came just hours before a gang of African thugs terrorised commuters on a train in Lynbrook, in Melbourne's south-east.
Judge Dawes' sentence comes amid community outcry for tougher sentences, with thugs frequently walking from the court with little more than a slap on the wrist.
JUSTICE DENIED April 2017: County Court Judge Liz Gaynor cut loose Apex-linked thug Akon Mawien despite him committing two terrifying jewellery heists because she believed his case was 'exceptional'. March 2018: Mastermind of those heists, Mahmoud Taha, 21, was jailed for five years and nine months jail with a non-parole period of just three years. Advertisement
The savage attack on March 17 last year at a North Melbourne park left Nathan Brett with a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and his finger hanging by a thread.
Mr Brett had attended a birthday party at a mate's house earlier that night in which the thugs also attended.
The court heard the victim knew Abdirahman from the neighborhood, but had no idea who Scek was.
The offenders - both refugees from Somalia - got booted from the party after Scek lost his pants in the toilets with a young woman.
A scuffle erupted outside, the police were called and the party ended.
The men left, but they didn't go far.
When Mr Brett joined the party host for a late night snack at a nearby convenience shop, they found a friend suffering a wound from a machete.
They called him an ambulance and the friends set about home.
But a decision to take a short cut across an oval on Boundary Road almost cost Mr Brett his life.
A decision to walk through this North Melbourne park at night almost cost a young man his life
Judge Dawes said the men were confronted by a group of African males armed with machetes and pointing them in the air.
One of the African men said to Mr Brett: `Why did you send him?'. Mr Brett replied that he did not understand what they were talking about.
'All I am trying to do is stop this s***,' he said.
Abdirahman struck Mr Brett in the head with a machete, with Scek following up with a blow to his hand as Mr Brett tried to defend himself.
The wounded man ran for his life, but the thugs chased him and hacked him as he fled.
Mr Brett was saved when someone opened the door of his mate's home and let him inside.
Abdirahman should have learnt his lesson in 2010, when he was convicted of affray, intentionally causing injury and recklessly causing injury.
He escaped jail on that occasion and was placed on a community-based order for a year.
He blamed drugs and alcohol for his latest offending.
Judge Dawes said it remained unclear why the men attacked Mr Brett.
'I am troubled that there has been no explanation provided,' she said.
Like his mate, Scek claimed he was 'wasted' on the night.
Judge Dawes said she hoped the sentence would come as a warning to like-minded offenders.
'It is important to deter other young men from settling their differences with the use of violence and machetes,' she said.
'A significant term of imprisonment is the only appropriate disposition in this case.'
Each of the men have already spent more than 200 days in jail.
A former high school student who claims she was abused hundreds of times by two teachers will be interviewed by detectives investigating historical sex crimes.
The 53-year-old woman alleges she was groomed and sexually assaulted at Beacon Hill High School on Sydney's Northern Beaches while in Year 9 and 10.
She claims she gave police two statements in the past, but has been given new hope by detectives from Strike Force Southwood, who are investigating the vanishing of Lynette Dawson.
The woman has been given new hope by detectives from Strike Force Southwood, who are investigating the vanishing of Lynette Dawson (pictured)
She said 'police are taking it [her allegations] very seriously' and are willing to travel interstate, where she now lives, to get her statement, the Manly Daily reported.
'I know it happened to others,' she said, adding: 'I feel like I have never been believed.'
The now mother-of-one, who does not wish to be named, claims she was a target for paedophiles due to her troubled home life.
She said one of her abusers threatened to expel her from the school if she didn't follow their orders, and the attacks have had a long-lasting impact on her life.
The 53-year-old claimed she was raped by two teachers at Beacon Hill High School (pictured) in 1979 and 1980
'I've lost count the amount of times I've tried to kill myself or have self-harmed over this,' she said.
Beacon Hill High School has since closed due to falling student numbers.
Strike Force Southwood, led by the NSW Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad, was launched in July after multiple allegations of historical sexual abuse at Cromer High on the Northern Beaches.
Mother-of-two Lynette Dawson, 33, was reported missing from her home in Bayview in January 1982.
She vanished just a year after her husband Chris Dawson, at PE teacher at Cromer High, began having an affair with his 16-year-old student Joanne Curtis.
The federal government is moving to take control of Paul Manafort's Trump Tower condo.
That property is one of several that Manafort, Trump's former campaign boss, agreed to forefeit under a plea deal last month with the office of special counsel Robert Mueller.
In a court filing Friday, prosecutors said the government would take control and custody on or after October 20 of the Trump Tower condo and a luxury estate in the Hamptons.
Mueller is also moving to seize three other New York properties of Manafort's as well as funds from three different bank accounts.
The government is moving to take control of the Trump Tower condo Paul Manafort forfeited as part of his plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, prosecutors said Friday
Manafort purchased the 43rd-floor condo at Trump Tower in Manhattan in 2006 for $3.7million
Manafort pleaded guilty last month to charges related to his Ukrainian political consulting work and agreed to cooperate with Mueller's investigation. He had earlier been found guilty in a trial in Virginia.
As part of his plea deal, Mueller agreed to hand over five New York properties - a ritzy estate in the Hamptons, a Brooklyn brownstone, and three Manhattan apartments -worth an estimated $22million total.
An initial agreement would have required that Manafort forfeit his home in Arlington, Virginia, but the 69-year-old traded that property for one of the Manhattan apartments.
He also negotiated to hold onto one of four bank accounts the government planned to seize by giving up his 43rd-floor apartment at Trump Tower, which he purchased for $3.7million in 2006.
In April 2017 Manafort was accused of having received an illegal tax break by claiming both the apartment and another home in Florida as his primary residence.
In addition to the real estate, Manafort agreed to hand over $30million in cash and other assets, including a life-insurance policy.
In exchange, the lobbyist will be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and will cooperate with Mueller's ongoing Russia probe.
An Alabama police chief was arrested at his office on Thursday for allegedly masturbating at a beach while teenagers were around, and fondling himself in an elevator with women and children.
Billy Maurice Driggers is charged with four counts of disorderly conduct after witnesses told police that they saw him sitting outside of the Aqua Condominium in Panama City Beach, Florida touching himself.
Police said Driggers was not a guest at the hotel and had no valid reason to be there. Witnesses told cops that Driggers was seen on three separate occasions allegedly putting his hand in his pants and masturbating while on an elevator with women and children.
Billy Maurice Driggers, a police chief in Alabama, was arrested on Thursday for disorderly conduct
According to authorities, the 44-year-old was also seen allegedly masturbating while walking behind teenage girls on the beach and filming them while they used the outdoor showers.
Driggers allegedly fondled himself in an elevator with women and children and masturbated while teenage girls were around
Investigators said Driggers did not expose himself, but said his behavior was obscene and sexually deviant, leading them to obtain a warrant for his arrest.
Driggers, chief of police in Level Plains, Alabama, was arrested at his office on Thursday and is being held at the Dale County Jail. He is awaiting extradition to Bay County, Florida.
Level Plains Mayor Bruce Grantham placed Driggers on paid administrative leave pending an employment review.
'The City of Level Plains will be cooperating and assisting with the ongoing investigation with Alabama and Florida law enforcement agencies. In the interim during Driggers absence, another Police Officer will be appointed to serve as the acting police chief pending the resolution of the investigation,' Grantham said. 'This incident will not affect current police department services to our citizens.'
The son of the man accused of shooting seven police officers, killing one, has been charged with child sex abuse.
Seth David Hopkins Jr, 28, was charged with second-degree criminal sexual contact with a minor on Friday in Florence, South Carolina, two days after the shooting on Wednesday afternoon.
He is the adopted son of Frederick Hopkins, 74, who was also charged on Friday with the murder of Florence Police Sergeant Terrence Carraway, along with six counts of attempted murder.
In a televised press conference, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said that the shooting began when police arrived to interview Seth Hopkins at the home where he lived with his adoptive parents.
Seth David Hopkins Jr (left) and his adoptive father Frederick Hopkins (right) both appeared in court in Florence, South Carolina for bond hearings on Friday
Seth Hopkins, charged with sexual contact with a minor, said little to the judge except to acknowledge that he understood his rights and the charges against him
Frederick Hopkins, charged with murder and six counts of attempted murder, had to be helped into the courtroom from a wheelchair, appearing dazed
'They were ambushed', said Lott. 'As soon as they go there the ambush was in place.'
Police say they were investigating a report that someone in the home was sexually abusing a foster child who lived there. The charges later filed indicate the child is between the ages of 11 and 14.
Police scheduled an interview with Seth Hopkins for 4pm, and had a search warrant for the home but did not have an arrest warrant.
Lott defended the fact that the interview was scheduled in advance, saying that it was standard procedure unless an arrest warrant was already in hand.
Both Seth and Frederick Hopkins appeared in court on Friday for bond hearings, where deputies lined the walls of the courtroom, scowling in silence.
The father and son were both denied bond in Friday's hearings. They are being held in custody at the Florence County Detention center.
When asked if he had a wife, Frederick Hopkins said 'I dont know about that today'
Seth Hopkins was dressed in a blue hospital gown, video of the hearing from Fox Carolina shows.
He said little to the judge except to acknowledge that he understood his rights and the charges against him. He did not request a public attorney and said that his mother, a family law attorney, would seek private representation.
Frederick Hopkins was dressed in green jail clothes at his bond hearing, and had to be helped from a wheelchair, appearing dazed.
When asked if he had a wife, Frederick Hopkins said 'I dont know about that today.'
Frederick Hopkins requested a public defender, at which the prosecutor scoffed and said that he lived in a 'palatial home' and was far from indigent.
Property records show the home where the shooting occurred is owned by one Yogeshkumar K. Patel, but his connection to the Hopkins family was unclear.
The home is a large brick two-story structure at the end of a cul-de-sac and surrounded by woods.
The home where Seth and Frederick Hopkins live, and where the shooting occurred, is seen above. A prosecutor scoffed that it is 'palatial' when Frederick Hopkins claimed indigence
Florence Police Sergeant Terrence Carraway, 52, was killed in the 'ambush' of gunfire
Three Florence police officers were among the injured (left to right): Corporal Brian Hart, Lieutenant Corporal Travis Scott and Sergeant Scott Williamson (still in hospital)
Seven officers were shot in Wednesday's standoff, and 52-year-old Carraway, a 30-year veteran of the department, did not survive his injuries.
The standoff lasted nearly two hours, with the gunman holding children hostage.
Three Florence County deputies were shot and four Florence police officers were also wounded while trying to rescue the wounded deputies.
The sheriff department's armored personnel carrier was brought in to recover the wounded, and the gunman finally released the children as he was taken into custody.
Seth Hopkins and his father were both hospitalized with injuries, but both were released and transported to jail on Friday, Lott said.
The sheriff called the case 'a very large complex puzzle' and said the large size of the crime scene was a challenge to investigators.
He said the FBI Evidence Response Team had partnered with his department, which has taken over the investigation from the Florence County Sheriff's Department to allow that office to cope with the casualties it suffered in the shooting.
Authorities direct traffic on Hoffmeyer Road near the Vintage Place neighborhood where several law enforcement officers were shot, one fatally, on Wednesday
Deputies are seen on the scene of the shooting Wednesday night. Investigators say the shooting was an 'ambush' as deputies arrived for a scheduled interview with Seth Hopkins
Seth Hopkins works at the family and divorce law firm of his mother, Cheryl Turner Hopkins, according to his Facebook page.
The page shows that his interests include anime, martial arts, video games and cars.
Frederick Hopkins is a disbarred lawyer and Vietnam veteran who claimed on Facebook to have suffered the effects of Agent Orange.
Military records obtained by The Associated Press show Frederick Hopkins served 11 years in the Army, including time in Vietnam after joining in 1966.
The records show Hopkins was awarded a marksman badge with pistol bar and a sharpshooter with rifle bar during his service.
The records show he was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroism defending a firebase under attack by North Vietnamese forces on May 6, 1970.
Seth Hopkins (left) and Frederick Hopkins (right) were both denied bail on Friday
Police patrol the area of the fatal 'ambush' shooting in Florence, South Carolina on Thursday
The elder Hopkins is also a gun enthusiast who bragged online about maintaining his target-shooting skills.
Authorities have not described what weapons were involved, but Hopkins apparently owned several guns.
A 2014 post on his Facebook page said he celebrated his 70th birthday at a shooting range by repeatedly firing his M-14 rifle, set up exactly like the one he used in Vietnam.
'I have been shooting competitively since 1984 and lovin' it. I just love the smell of gunpowder in the mornin's,' said the post.
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.'
'Darkness consumed me': Aspiring pastor from North Carolina, who stabbed his wife 123 times, pleads guilty to first-degree murder after blaming 'haze' from taking too much cough medicine
Matthew Phelps pleaded guilty to the murder of his wife Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps, both 29, in 2017 on Friday and will spend the rest of his life in prison
Phelps initially claimed he had taken too much Coricidin Cough and Cold and had woken up to find his wife dead in their bedroom with 'blood all over me'
In court the Bible College graduate apologized for his actions, saying 'darkness consumed me until I was blind to the path I had taken'
Documents show Phelps was spending more than the couple was earning and Lauren was planning to leave him because of this before he murdered her
An aspiring pastor who said taking 'too much cough medicine' may have caused him to stab his wife to death in North Carolina has pleaded guilty to her murder. Matthew Phelps, 29, claimed 'darkness consumed me' as he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the death of his wife Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps, also 29, in 2017. Phelps, 29, who prosecutors allege was obsessed with the movie American Psycho, will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole, WRAL report. The Bible college graduate called 911 in September 2017 and told dispatchers he woke from a dream to find himself covered in blood near his dead wife and a bloody knife in their bed. Matthew Phelps (left) pleaded to guilty to murdering his wife Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps (right) having initially claimed he woke up to find her dead after taking too much cough medicine The couple (pictured) were married for less than a year before Lauren's death and prosecutors allege they had problems as Matthew Phelps was spending more than they were earning An autopsy later showed Lauren Ashley-Nicole Phelps suffered 123 cuts and stab wounds in the attack at the couple's two-bedroom Raleigh townhouse. He explained on the 911 call that he had taken a heavy dose of Coricidin Cough and Cold because 'it can make you feel good and sometimes I can't sleep at night'. 'I have blood all over me and there's a bloody knife on the bed, and I think I did it, I can't believe this, Matthew Phelps said in the 911 call at the time. Lauren's body was reportedly found in the fetal position in the couple's bedroom on September 1 2017. RELATED ARTICLES Previous
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Next Pictured: Man who strangled former Playboy model in her... Murderer, 90, charged with killing his stepdaughter after... Share this article Share Phelps had initially pleaded not guilty. However on Friday, Phelps replied 'yes' when Judge Paul Ridgeway asked if he was admitting to the murder in Wake County Court. His plea to first-degree murder implies premeditation, countering the possibility that the murder was committed in a cold-medicine induced haze. As part of a plea agreement, Phelps will spend the rest of his life in jail and will not be eligible for parole. In court Friday, Phelps apologized for his actions and pointed to 'drinking, drugs and carelessness'. 'This was a senseless, mindless act and I regret every step that led me in that direction', Phelps said. 'I feel like a monster, one of the wretched, a part of the darkness we don't speak of', he added. 'That darkness consumed me until I was blind to the path I had taken and deaf to my own cries for help'.
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Lauren Hugelmaier (pictured) was remembered as a beautiful soul by her family in court
Phelps (pictured) will serve the rest of his life in prison and will not be eligible for parole
'I feel like a monster, one of the wretched, a part of the darkness we don't speak of', he added.
'That darkness consumed me until I was blind to the path I had taken and deaf to my own cries for help'.
Phelps dialed 911 at about 1.10 am and voiced fears that he was responsible.
In documents used to obtain seven search warrants after the murder, investigators revealed that tensions had allegedly erupted between the couple over finances.
Phelps was allegedly 'was spending more money than the couple made'; and that Lauren allegedly 'had recently taken drastic steps to limit her husband's spending,' according to The News & Observer.
Despite being married for less than a year, Lauren was 'preparing to end the relationship,' the documents allege.
Lauren (left) had to take a second job as her husband (right) spent thousands of dollars on iTunes cards and Xbox subscriptions and was obsessed with the movie American Psycho
Lauren was a Sunday school teacher and Matthew was studying to be a pastor.
Matthew's social media presence shows that he studied missions and evangelism at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College.
It also emerged that Phelps was obsessed with the movie 'American Psycho' and [his] Instagram account shows numerous photographs of scenes from the movie and Phelps dressed as the main character,' a detective wrote in the documents.
'The movie is about a serial killer, and Phelps expressed interest to a friend regarding what it would be like to kill someone.'
The documents also reveal that investigators found evidence suggesting Phelps had allegedly cleaned himself up before placing the 911 call, although he did have some blood on him when investigators reached the couple's home.
On Friday, prosecutors said that when Phelps was interviewed by police after the killings, he showed little emotion and did not shed actual tears.
The News & Observer reported that 'more than 50' supporters of Lauren were in court Friday morning to watch the sentencing.
More than 50 supporters of Lauren attended court for Phelps' sentencing on Friday
They wore buttons that featured Lauren's picture and T-shirts that said #LaurensLight. WRAL estimated the crowd numbered more than 100 supporters.
Her mother, Laurie Hugelmaier, said in court: 'The thoughts of all her little body endured at Matthew's hands are what my nightmares are made of.
'Heaven doesn't have phones, computers or social media. Lauren will live on in my memory'.
Prosecutors said Lauren Phelps was thrifty and hoped to start a Hallmark store, an outgrowth of her work selling Scentsy candles and fragrances.
Matthew Phelps, they said, did not work or contribute to household finances.
He spent thousands of dollars on iTunes cards and Xbox subscriptions, forcing his wife to work more than one job.
In April, court documents described problems between Phelps and his wife, who had been married less than a year.
Phelps grew up without a father, and his mother, 17 when he was born, gave him to his grandparents to be raised, Cheshire said.
The father of a girl Phelps wanted to date called him 'illegitimate' and forbade it. In high school, Cheshire said, Phelps began abusing cold medicine and got kicked out.
Corey Christensen and Tom Davy pursued her to the home and were stabbed
Whether Ms Locke was in a relationship with one of the assailants is unclear
Candice Locke allegedly knocked on the teenager's door to call an ambulance
Mr Webber grabbed a kitchen knife and fatally wounded two of the intruders
Teenager recalls the chilling words he was told after three men broke into house
A teenage Air Force cadet heard a chilling threat just moments before three men tore his door off its hinges and stormed into his home.
Moments earlier Dean Webber, 19, had let a distressed and injured stranger, Candice Locke, 29, inside the property and called police.
'We've got you now, you little p****,' one of the men told Mr Webber early on Monday morning before the trio burst inside, The Weekend Australian reported.
In the melee that followed, Corey Christensen, 37, and Tom Davy, 27, were fatally stabbed, shocking the sleepy north Queensland tourist town of Alva Beach.
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It is believed Dean Webber, 19 (pictured) was acting in self-defense when he grabbed the small kitchen knife
Candice Locke, 29 (pictured) begged Mr Webber for help after knocking on his door in the early hours of Monday morning
Mr Webber opened his home (pictured) to a terrified Candice Locke, after she begged for shelter
One of the men was stabbed twice in the chest near the heart and lungs, while the other had an artery severed after being stabbed in the armpit, The Courier Mail reported.
Mr Webber was believed to be acting in self-defence, having lashed out in the dark with a small kitchen knife at the three intruders.
Ms Locke had been riding quad bikes on the beach with a group of locals including Mr Christensen, a father-of-three, and her alleged boyfriend Tom Davy.
Whether or not Ms Locke and Mr Davy were in a relationship is unclear, with locals telling The Australian the pair had split.
During alcohol-fuelled Grand Final night festivities Ms Locke fell off her bike and injured her shoulder.
She wanted to call an ambulance but the men told her not to for fear of being arrested, so she ran off in search of help and came across the property of Mr Webber.
Thomas Davy, 27 (pictured) was fatally stabbed by Dean Webber in the early hours of Monday morning
Father-of-three Corey Christensen, 37 (pictured) smashed down the door and stormed Mr Webber's property alongside two other men
Ms Locke warned the teenager that there were a group of men after her, one of whom who she was allegedly in a relationship with.
'Don't let them get me. They are bad people,' she told Mr Webber.
The young Air Cadet had dialled triple-0 twice that night, when Ms Locke first arrived at his house and a second time when the group of men were outside the property.
He was first told by the officer on-duty at the nearest station that no one would be able to attend the property as they were observing people in custody and he should sit tight.
The second time he dialled, it took police 40 minutes to reach the house.
By that time, the men had broken down the door and Mr Webber had grabbed a kitchen knife as he was set upon by the men.
Flowers have been laid out the front of the Alva Beach home where the two men died
Ms Locke had told Mr Webber to keep the lights off in the house and hid herself in the kitchen.
Mr Christensen and Mr Davy both suffered fatal stab wounds. One was administered CPR but died at the scene. The second man bled to death in a gutter.
Mr Webber has told police he did not realise he had seriously wounded them until he noticed blood on his hands.
Earlier that night Ms Locke and Mr Davy had been watching the NRL Grand Final with Mr Christensen, who they had met that night.
They then decided to join other locals and continue their night of drinking until the early hours of the morning, when the tragic incident occurred.
Flowers have since been laid out the front of the home where the two men died. The home has since been taped off pending an investigation.
Mr Webber was taken into custody after the incident but has since been released.
Sarah Palin has hinted that she may run against incumbent Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska Senate after she voted against Brett Kavanaugh's nomination.
'Hey @LisaMurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house...' the ninth Governor of Alaska tweeted at 3.06pm.
The broadcast to her 1.49 million followers seemingly suggested she was going to challenge her in the expected re-election campaign.
Murkowski is the only Republican Senator who is voting 'no' to Brett Kavanaugh getting the vacant seat on the Supreme Court.
Former Governor Sarah Palin hinted Friday that she might be running for the Alaska Senate in 2022
Palin tweeted Friday afternoon as Murkowski voted no for Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court Justice of the United States
Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke against Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation for Supreme Court Of The United States
The joke within the tweet would not have been lost on fans of Saturday Night Live Tina Fey said the memorable line, 'I can see Russia from my house' in a 2008 episode of the comedy sketch show.
It was when Palin who served in her role from 2006 until 2009 - was at the height of her political fame.
Swing voter Murkowski suggested she'd vote against Kavanaugh despite calling him 'a good man.'
However she could swing back toward the GOP on Saturday when senators officially make the call.
Murkowski told reporters: 'It just may be that in my view, he's not the right man for the court at this time.
'This has truly been the most difficult evaluation of a decision that I've ever had to make and I've made some interesting ones in my political career.'
Tina Fey famously said 'I can see Russia from my house' when playing the politician on Saturday Night Live in 2008
Murkowski especially expressed her distaste for the way Kavanaugh conducted himself in a hearing last Thursday as he defended himself against allegations from Christine Blasey Ford.
The judge was criticized for his emotional statements, making viewers question whether he had the right temperament for SCOTUS.
Murkowski added: 'I believe we are dealing with issues right now that are bigger than a nominee and how we ensure that our institutions, not only the legislative branch but our judicial branch, continue to be respected. This is what I've been wrestling with.'
'I also think we're at a place where we need to be thinking again about the credibility and the integrity of our institutions,' she told the Washington Post.
Palin says she would like to get back into the forefront politics again in an interview in April
It may be bad news for those who wish to see Kavanaugh confirmed despite numerous allegations of sexual assault in his past, however for Palin it could be to her advantage in the popularity vote.
Palin said in April she's keen to be involved in public office again.
After bid for Vice President with the late Senator John McCain in 2008 she told Fox News' Mark Levin she's up for the challenge in the future.
'Oh yes. I would do it again in a heartbeat,' replied Palin when asked if she was glad she ran for the position. 'I will push back harder on some of those who were trying to mold me into something that I was not during the campaign. I would've pushed back and gotten more truth out there, but yes.'
In a landmark ruling, a sheriff in a civil action has ruled Stephen Coxen (pictured) raped a woman and has demanded he pay damages
A woman has been awarded 80,000 in damages in a civil case against a man who had previously been cleared of raping her during a freshers' night out.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sued Stephen Coxen, accusing him of raping her in St Andrews, Fife, after a night out in September 2013.
Coxen, of Bury in Lancashire, denied the charges and in November 2015 a jury acquitted him on a not-proven verdict in a criminal trial.
But now, in a landmark ruling, a sheriff in a civil action has ruled Mr Coxen raped the woman and demanded he pay damages.
A civil case was raised at the Personal Injury Court in Edinburgh over the incident and Sheriff Robert Weir QC ruled that it was rape, with 80,000 to be paid in damages to the woman.
In his written judgment made at the Personal Injury Court in Edinburgh, Sheriff Weir said the evidence was 'cogent compelling and persuasive'.
He went on to say that at some time between 2am and 2.30am on Saturday September 14, 2013 'the defender took advantage of the pursuer when she was incapable of giving meaningful consent'.
This he claims was 'because of the effects of alcohol'.
He said: '[Coxen] continued to do so even after she manifested distress and a measure of physical resistance, and that he raped her.
'Accordingly, I shall grant decree against the defender in the agreed sum of 80,000 with judicial interest to run from September 21 2018 until payment.'
The victim had earlier told the court that during a night out at a student party and a nightclub she drank a four cans of cider, a bottle of rose wine, a bottle of champagne and three glasses of sparkling wine which were mixed with vodka.
She told Sheriff Robert Weir QC that she awoke in her bed to find a man she didn't know having sex with her - and could not have consented.
Describing the night the woman had earlier told that court that during Freshers Week 2013 she attended a party at a friend's flat.
Stephen Coxen (pictured) was cleared of rape in a 2013 trial but a sheriff has now awarded 80,000 in damages to the woman
She claims to have left the party and attended the students union at St Andrews University before going onto a nightclub called the Lizard Lounge.
She said she had problems recollecting what happened after going to the club. But she said the next thing she could remember was being outside her house.
The woman told the court that she thought she was with a male friend. But she said she realised that she didn't know who the man was.
The woman told the court that she dropped the keys to her property in the street. Miss M said the person she was with took the keys.
She added: 'My hand was pushed out of the way and the person picked up the keys. I was quite afraid.'
The woman then told the court that the next thing she remembers was that a man was having sex with her.
Sheriff Weir ruled the woman was drunk, 'resulting in a lack of capacity to make free agreement'.
He described her as a 'credible and reliable witness'.
The personal injury court judgment comes after a seven-day hearing in June.
The sheriff added: 'She gave her evidence in a way which I found convincing on all of the material points.
'At times in her evidence the pursuer became emotional.
'I found it impossible to conclude that this manifestation of emotion was anything other than a genuine response to the recounting of traumatic events from her recent past.
'Her distress was evident and, so far as these things can be judged, seemed to me to be entirely genuine.'
The sheriff said he has 'reservations' about Mr Coxen's evidence in the civil case.
He said: 'The paucity of detail in his description of the night actually extended to the circumstances of his arrival in St Andrews, and what he was doing before reaching the Lizard Lounge late on that Friday night.'
The incident is said to have taken place at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland
Simon Di Rollo QC, who represented the woman during the civil case, said following the ruling: 'The pursuer is an extremely courageous woman.
'It is understandable that she found it impossible to come to terms with the verdict of the jury in the criminal proceedings.
'Although the findings by the sheriff in these civil proceedings are of assistance, there can be no doubt that her experience of the criminal justice system was unsatisfactory.
'Unfortunately, that is not as unusual as it should be. I think that everyone must strive to ensure that, so far as is possible, others in the future do not feel as let down as she did.'
During a phone-in on radio station LBC yesterday, a caller named Paul told host Nick Ferrari his son had been punished after declaring he would vote for the Right-wing party
A 15-year-old boy was given detention after voicing his support for Ukip during a classroom debate, his father has claimed.
During a phone-in on radio station LBC yesterday, a caller named Paul told host Nick Ferrari his son had been punished after declaring he would vote for the Right-wing party but shouldnt be called racist.
The caller said: One boy said hed vote for Ukip and the teacher said all Ukip voters are racist, so my boy came in and said, Id vote for Ukip and Im not racist.
He was given a detention, [with] the three boys that said it, and when he came home and told me I didnt believe him.
Paul later phoned his sons head of year to complain about the incident, which Ferrari described as outrageous and absurd.
He said the teacher in question was later reprimanded and the family received an apology from both the teacher and the school.
Ukip leader Gerard Batten said: Sadly this is not a unique occurrence Ukip people have told me that teachers have told their children that their parents belong to a Nazi party.
Its happening because the teaching profession is under the domination of the extreme Left who are the real fascists in modern-day Britain.
Ukip leader Gerard Batten said: Sadly this is not a unique occurrence Ukip people have told me that teachers have told their children that their parents belong to a Nazi party
Parents must insist the law is upheld in schools and teachers are not allowed to promote political agendas. It came after it was reported Alissa Cook-Gray, 17, quit her college course after her tutor warned her she was Right-wing for supporting former EDL leader Tommy Robinson.
She claimed a teacher told her Get out, we dont want people with your views during a political debate in Crewe.
A Ukip spokesman said: There is an increasing number of reports across the country of this behaviour by teachers against pupils who say they support Ukip.
Unilever bosses were fighting for their jobs last night after they were forced to abandon controversial plans to quit the UK.
Facing a huge revolt from investors and following a Mail campaign the consumer goods giant dramatically scrapped a move to the Netherlands.
The humiliating U-turn came as it dawned on the board that the backlash meant they could lose a crucial vote on the plan.
Mr Polman, 62, chief executive of Unilever, above, was understood to be heading towards retirement but critics said he could be forced out sooner. Analysts last night called the episode embarrassing and predicted the debacle could end in an early retirement for Mr Polman [File photo]
Chairman Marijn Dekkers and chief executive Paul Polman conceded in a 6.30am conference call that opposition was too strong.
Mr Dekkers later admitted it was appropriate to withdraw.
Analysts last night called the episode embarrassing and predicted the debacle could end in an early retirement for Mr Polman.
The climbdown means one of Europes most valuable companies which owns brands including Marmite and Persil will now stay in Britain ahead of Brexit.
The Mail has highlighted the impact Unilevers plans would have had on British shareholders including its removal from the FTSE 100 index that would have forced some investors to sell up.
Unilever, with its household brands, above, was created in 1929 with the merger of Dutch firm Unie with British soap maker Lever Brothers, which dates back to 1885. The climbdown means one of Europes most valuable companies which owns brands including Marmite and Persil will now stay in Britain ahead of Brexit
A string of major City institutions have spoken out against the move in what one source described as unprecedented. Thousands of ordinary savers with shares in Unilever are also understood to have already voted against the plan.
A source close to Unilever said: It was the momentum. The Mail was reporting it every day. There was a feeling that opposition was growing. Tim Bush, of Pensions and Investment Research Consultants, which had opposed the move, said: Its always common for a vote to be pulled when its going to lose.
Investors welcomed the change of heart at Unilever, whose links with Britain date back to Victorian times with the creation of soap maker Lever Brothers.
But the debacle has cast doubt over the future of Mr Dekkers and Mr Paul Polman as well as finance director Graeme Pitkethly.
Mr Polman, 62, was understood to be heading towards retirement but critics said he could be forced out sooner.
Veteran City commentator David Buik, of spread-betting firm Core Spreads, said: Polman is on his way out. A new broom would be desirable. Unilever now needs a new chairman and chief executive.
One major shareholder said: I suspect there wont be too many tears shed on either side if Mr Polman accelerated his departure.
Another City source said: They didnt listen to shareholders. No one was convinced that Holland was a better place for the company than the UK.
And Laith Khalaf, of savings and investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said: Questions will now legitimately be asked about the judgment of Unilevers top brass.
Unilever was created in 1929 with the merger of Dutch firm Unie with British soap maker Lever Brothers, which dates back to 1885.
The company, whose brands include PG Tips, Dove, Domestos and Hellmanns, now sells goods in 190 countries, employing 7,300 staff in the UK. It has joint legal headquarters in London and Rotterdam a structure it wanted to simplify by basing itself solely in the Netherlands. The changes were proposed after an aborted 115billion bid by US giant Kraft Heinz last year.
But as a backlash from investors grew, at least ten big City institutions holding around 12 per cent of Unilever stock publicly opposed the move.
This included Aviva Investors, Legal and General Investment Management and M&G Investments which look after the pensions, savings and investments of millions of workers.
Stockbroker AJ Bell said almost a third of its 3,000 customers with Unilever shares had already voted to oppose the move.
The company has joint legal headquarters in London, above, and Rotterdam a structure it wanted to simplify by basing itself solely in the Netherlands. The changes were proposed after an aborted 115billion bid by US giant Kraft Heinz last year
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: The episode looks to have been badly mis-managed and the position of Paul Polman and the rest of the board is likely to come under severe scrutiny. Questions may be asked of the chairman and the chief executive.
Analyst Eddy Hargreaves, of banking group Investec, said: This is somewhat humiliating at least humbling for Polman and may accelerate his retirement.
James Targett, an analyst at Berenberg, said: It is rather embarrassing for management who had lobbied hard for simplification.
Last night there was jubilation at the news at Port Sunlight, the utopian workers village on the Wirral built by William Hesketh Lever for his soap factory staff. despite being warned by email not to speak publicly, one worker said simply: Im happy its not moving. It means I still have a job.
Retired Unilever worker Jim Smith accused bosses of trying to move because of Brexit. They said it wasnt about Brexit, it was about having two headquarters, but they dressed that up, he added.
It was mainly about Brexit. And now the shareholders have said, No, we want to stay here.
Resident Richard Lunn, 47, added: The tradition and the heritage why fix something thats not broken and use Eurosceptic reasons as an excuse?
While travelling the world with a licence to kill, James Bond often finds himself in the arms of beautiful women.
But we should no longer call them 'Bond girls' as people now find the term offensive, according to author Anthony Horowitz, who has written two novels featuring the superspy.
He said the phrase 'offends modern sensibilities', adding: 'I'm still struggling to find another word for 'Bond girls', I think you can't use it in the 21st century.
Daniela Bianchi and Sean Connery, then James Bond, pictured in From Russia With Love, made in 1963. We should no longer call them 'Bond girls' as people now find the term offensive, according to author Anthony Horowitz
'Those two words are somehow offensive in a strange way.
'One of the hardest things to get right in a Bond novel is the love interest the lady.
'Because, of course, you have to swerve a circle between 1950s attitudes and the 'Me Too' generation, where we are now. I don't want to put people's backs up.'
However, Horowitz, 63, warned against changing the spy's character to suit modern times, saying the novels were rooted in the 1950s when author Ian Fleming created James Bond.
Sean Connery pictured in a high end white suit as Bond in 1964 film Goldfinger. However, Horowitz, 63, warned against changing the spy's character to suit modern times, saying the novels were rooted in the 1950s when author Ian Fleming created James Bond [File photo]
Speaking at Cheltenham Literature Festival yesterday, he added: 'I'm not going to give Fleming's character Silk Cut or whatever it is, low-tar cigarettes, or vaping.
'Can you imagine Bond vaping?'
Horowitz also insisted that Bond is not a chauvinist, saying: 'He is very highly sexually-driven but I don't see him as a rampant chauvinist.
'He is kind towards women.'
A woman has been killed in a horror smash which saw her blue BMW sliced in half after hitting a power pole.
The car crashed into a pole on the Nepean Highway in Cheltenham, south-east Melbourne, at about 5.30am on Saturday.
The woman who is yet to be identified, was the only person in the vehicle and died at the scene.
A woman has been killed in a horror smash which saw her blue BMW sliced in half after hitting a power pole
The woman who was driving a blue BMW crashed into a pole on Nepean Highway, in Cheltenham, south-east of Melbourne at about 5.30am this morning
Debris from the car was scattered across the highway near Southland Shopping Centre, near the intersection of Bay Road.
Authorities are yet to determine how the accident occurred.
Both directions of Nepean Highway have been closed off while the police investigation is underway.
A spokesperson from Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia the highway is expected to be closed off for another couple of hours until the late morning.
Sergiy Mykhaylov, 38, transformed his home in Stratford, East London, into a forgery factory
A master counterfeiter who ran a fake ID factory sold thousands of forged driving licences, identity cards and work permits to foreign nationals looking to get a foothold in the UK.
The professional printer set up a sophisticated and lucrative Amazon-style service which ran for at least seven years.
Customers used email and text messages to order custom-made documents allowing them to work, drive, open bank accounts and claim benefits.
A fake UK driving licence could be bought for just 130.
Investigators said it was impossible to assess how many people may still be using the cards to remain in the country illicitly.
Officers recovered more than 3,000 identity documents, 3,500 passport style photos and 300 construction skills certificate cards.
They also found 15,000 in cash and enough material to create another 40,000 fake bank cards.
At the centre of the conspiracy was Ukrainian company director Sergiy Mykhaylov, 38, who transformed his home in Stratford, East London, into a forgery factory.
Undercover officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) watched as he met Albanian middlemen who distributed the forged documents to clients.
In June, Mykhaylov was caught red-handed outside the printing business where he worked in Hackney, just a few miles from his home.
Officers recovered more than 3,000 identity documents, 3,500 passport style photos and 300 construction skills certificate cards (file photo)
Moments earlier he had been seen handing over six forged ID cards to one of his regular customers, a street-level Albanian criminal.
Mark McCormack, of the NCA, said the vast majority of customers were from Albania and countries on the fringes of Europe.
These cards would provide the basis for someone to start off in the UK, to establish themselves under a different name or even their own.
It opens up credit, job prospects, the banking system, he said. It was like the Amazon of false identity documents. His services spread rapidly by word of mouth.
The organisation would provide cards to anybody. It is a very lucrative market.
Mr McCormack said he was particularly concerned at the danger posed by fake construction skills certificates, designed to keep the building industry safe.
Mykhaylov pleaded guilty to multiple fraud offences at Blackfriars Crown Court last month. He was jailed for five-and-a-half years.
Accomplices Sergiy Kalinins, 37, and Dmytro Mykhailytskyi, 39, were also jailed for a total of more than 11 years after admitting various offences including fraud.
Brett Kavanaugh's performance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week may have snagged him a seat on the Supreme Court, but it also could get him disbarred in the coming.
The American Bar Association revealed it is reopening its evaluation of Kavanaugh, a week after requesting that the Senate wait a week to vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation so the FBI could conduct an investigation.
This after Kavanaugh launched into explanations of slang like 'boofing' and the phrase 'Devil's triangle' while also inquiring if one female senator ever suffered blackouts from drinking.
'Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Feinstein: New information of a material nature regarding temperament during the September 27th hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee has prompted a reopening of the Standing Committees evaluation,' stated the letter, which was shared by the ABA on social media.
'The Committee does not expect to complete a process and re-vote prior to the scheduled Senate vote. Our original report must be read in conjunction with the foregoing. Our original rating stands.'
Fire and fury: The American Bar Association revealed it is reopening its evaluation of Brett Kavanaugh
Respect: 'The Committee does not expect to complete a process and re-vote prior to the scheduled Senate vote ... Our original rating stands,' said the ABA
Kavanaugh currently has a 'well-qualified' rating by the ABA, a fact that he touted during his Senate Judiciary testimony last week.
That could take a hit though in the wake of this evaluation, and there is also a slim chance that he might even find himself disbarred because of his actions.
He would be the first Supreme Court Justice to suffer that fate and one of only a few high-ranking politicians, alongside Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.
This would have no impact on his position however as there is no requirement that a member of the Supreme Court be part of the bar to hold that position.
The news of the reopening is a bit shocking given that the ABA announced just last week that it stood by Kavanaugh's rating.
That point was highlighted by the ABA, and Kavanugh did dial back on his outrage in a Wall Street Journal op ed published on Thursday.
'I might have been too emotional at times,' wrote Kavanaugh.
'I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said. I hope everyone can understand that I was there as a son, husband and dad.'
Officials have known for months about the stockpiled body parts scandal that has shaken the NHS, the company at the centre of the crisis claims.
The scandal erupted on Thursday when it emerged that hundreds of tonnes of human body parts and medical waste from NHS hospitals had been allowed to pile up across the country.
The Environment Agency has been updated on the crisis every week since January and was first made aware of problems as long ago as 2015, the firm claims.
The company, Healthcare Environmental Services Limited, with its warehouse pictured above, claims the Environment Agency has been updated on the crisis every week since January and was first made aware of problems as long ago as 2015
Yet the NHS is now having to spend millions on last-minute emergency measures to deal with tonnes of stockpiled waste. Some may be stored in open yards.
Opposition politicians last night demanded to know why the public has been kept in the dark.
The Environment Agency told the Department of Health and Social Care about the problem in July but the details were only made public on Thursday when leaked documents were revealed by the Health Service Journal.
Workers at the company site in Normanton outside yesterday. The scandal erupted on Thursday when it emerged that hundreds of tonnes of human body parts and medical waste from NHS hospitals had been allowed to pile up across the country
Labour MP Yvette Cooper down at the site of Environmental Healthcare looking for answers yesterday. The company, Healthcare Environmental Services, is subject to a criminal investigation
The company, Healthcare Environmental Services, which is subject to a criminal investigation over stockpiling medical waste, claims it is a victim of a government witch-hunt.
Instead of burning the material, which includes amputated limbs and waste from cancer treatment, it has been storing it at six sites in England and Scotland. The material also includes old drugs and used equipment.
Last night, the firm was said to be looking to send 750 tonnes of medical waste to Holland. Meanwhile, companies were offered lucrative contracts to shift the waste and were even told environmental regulations would be lowered to help them do so.
Some 50 NHS hospitals have been warned they may need to start storing their waste on site, in trailers provided by the Government, rather than sending it to the firm.
In a letter to NHS trusts, seen by the Daily Mail, Garry Pettigrew, managing director of Healthcare Environmental Services, claimed the NHS plan to deal with the crisis was completely unworkable, illegal and financially unviable.
Two firms in Liverpool and Wrexham, for example, had been asked to store a combined 330 tonnes of waste outside their building, even though it would usually be earmarked incineration only.
Another in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, had received dispensation to store 300 tonnes in an open yard, he claimed.
Mr Pettigrew wrote: We have found ourselves in the middle of a witch-hunt towards making this company commercially unviable and [a] personal vendetta being organised behind the scenes to somehow justify putting in place emergency measures.
We have highlighted to the Environment Agency, and customers, since October 2015 that there was a serious reduction in incineration capacity. The main reasons for this was... ageing infrastructure, which is unreliable, coupled with no investment in new equipment due to cost constraints from the customer base.
The Environment Agency has begun a criminal investigation, saying the firm has breached its environmental permits at four sites in Normanton in West Yorkshire, Bradford, Newcastle upon Tyne and Nottingham.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said it had issued enforcement notices at sites in Dundee and Shotts.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock chaired a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee three weeks ago to discuss the growing volume of waste.
Jonathan Ashworth, Labours health and social care spokesman, said: Given the public health implications and that Cobra was convened it is shocking the Health Secretary didnt update Parliament last month.
Instead of burning the material, which includes amputated limbs and waste from cancer treatment, it has been storing it at six sites in England and Scotland. The material also includes old drugs and used equipment [File photo]
The Department of Health said there was absolutely no risk to the health of patients or the wider public, adding that contingency plans were being put in place.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: We are taking enforcement action against the operator, which includes clearance of the excess waste, and have launched a criminal investigation.
A spokesman for Healthcare Environmental Services said: HES has never stockpiled hundreds of tonnes of human body parts and dangerous waste at any of our sites throughout the UK.
Fracking for gas could resume in the UK next week, despite protesters launching a last-ditch legal bid to block the controversial process.
A High Court hearing will be held on Wednesday after campaigners applied for an injunction to stop the work, but energy firm Cuadrilla is confident that drilling will go ahead at its site near Blackpool.
Fracking, which involves blasting water at high pressure underground to release gas, was halted in 2011 after it was blamed for triggering tremors off the Lancashire coast.
An engineer opens a valve next to the coil tubing tower as shale gas developer Cuadrilla Resources prepare to start fracking for gas next week at its Preston New Road site near Blackpool
Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan, speaking at the site in Little Plumpton, near Blackpool, said: Everything has been set up, everything has been tested and we should be ready to start fracturing next week.
He said of the court hearing: I think its a last-gasp attempt at trying to slow the process, but this is going to go ahead.
Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan, pictured above, speaking at the site in Little Plumpton, near Blackpool, said: Everything has been set up, everything has been tested and we should be ready to start fracturing next week' [File photo]
Cuadrilla will initially carry out tests to see whether the site is viable, but if the operation is a success up to 20 wells could be built.
Gas production on the land would be expected to last for up to 30 years.
Laurie Underwood, from campaign group Reclaim the Power, said: We remain undeterred by attempts to silence dissent. The Government have underestimated the depth of public opposition to fracking.
Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green was embroiled in an extraordinary row last night after a display promoting a feminist book was allegedly torn down in his flagship womens clothing store
Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green was embroiled in an extraordinary row last night after a display promoting a feminist book was allegedly torn down in his flagship womens clothing store.
The pop-up promotion for Feminists Dont Wear Pink And Other Lies had been set up in the Oxford Street shop, only to be dismantled 20 minutes later.
The book, a collection of feminist essays, was compiled by Scarlett Curtis, daughter of comedy writer Richard Curtis and broadcaster Emma Freud.
Proceeds will go to the United Nations initiative Girl Up, which provides leadership development training for young women around the world. Its publisher, Penguin, announced the cancellation of the Topshop display on Twitter revealing the promotion had been taken down soon after being assembled.
That prompted award-winning actress Thandie Newton to suggest Green was responsible for the move, labelling him a loser. The 45-year-old Line Of Duty star tweeted: Yesterday Philip Green used his big muscles to smash up the Topshop penguinrandom FeministsDontWearPink pop-up because he thought it was too controversial!!? LOSER.
Miss Freud, a regular on Radio 4s Loose Ends, tweeted: This is such a bizarre shocker: yesterday Topshop tore down @scarcurtiss pop up shop for #feministsdontwearpink on the day the book came out. On the bosss orders. No explanation given. Maybe he just doesnt like pink.
Last night, it was claimed that the stall was removed shortly after Green viewed it on a morning walk through the store before it opened, prompting a Penguin press officer to burst into tears.
A source told the Mail: They were setting up, it was all going well, but then there was a bit of a commotion, Philip Green was stomping round. The women from Penguin were told to go for a walk for 20 minutes, when they got back inside it had all been torn down.
Photographs shared on Twitter before it was removed show a backdrop emblazoned with slogans including Feminists dont like fashion and feminists dont wear make-up with the word dont crossed out in each case.
Neither Topshop nor Penguin responded to questions about exactly what happened or who ordered the display to be removed. But Miss Curtis said: It was a heartbreaking and shocking act. The fact they clothe an entire nation of teenage girls but wont support something that fights for their equality is awful.
Penguin Books UK has accused Topshop of dismantling this display at its flagship Oxford Circus store promoting Scarlett Curtis' new book Feminists Don't Wear Pink (And Other Lies), a collection of essays on feminism from 52 women amid claims its was deemed 'controversial'
Scarlett Curtis, daughter of screenwriter Richard and Emma Freud, told MailOnline she was 'heartbroken and a little shaken' by Topshop's decision to remove the pop-up display
Last night Green, 66, denied he had personally been involved in dismantling the display, telling the Mail: I did not pull it down myself. Topshop said it had had a change of heart over the book being in its store but would still donate 25,000 to Girl Up.
Journalist Miss Curtis said: Everyone is a bit shaken. If you dismantle our shop you better believe were coming to smash the patriarchy down in return.
Stand-up comedian Grace Campbell, daughter of former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell, said: Im so sick of brands profiting from feminism when its convenient for them to make money but not when its making real change.
He has done this to try and minimise our voices but this is the exact reason this book is being written; womens feminist voices need to be heard and men like Philip Green trying to quieten us and prevent us from being heard.
Star-studded essays at centre of row Scarlett Curtis: I didnt know I was a feminist until I was 15... While my 15-year-old self was wrong about a lot of things, she was right about one thing. Feminists are rare birds... who fly above us, trying to look down and see the world for what it is. Saoirse Ronan, actress: Feminism, for me, is the quiet kid in the corner of the classroom who doesnt talk much. The kid you dont even notice is there, until one day youre performing in the annual school show and she takes centre stage, only to belt out a Whitney ballad like nobodys business. Boy, do you take notice of her then. Doctor Whos Jodie Whittaker: Mum, am I feminist? Are you a feminist? Mum, whats a feminist? It was the early 90s, and the word was new to me. It had been said angrily sort of spat at me by some lad, when Id argued about something. Apparently my short hair and unshaven armpits were all the proof he needed. US activist Elyse Fox: Ive learned feminism isnt a corporate scam. The world needs the reassurance that feminism can create monumental change. Advertisement
Penguin said: Were working on finding another place to host our pop-up and the amazing products that support Girl Up. In the meantime, thank you for your support. This book aims to prove that the word feminist is accessible to everyone. Todays events suggest there is still some work to do.
Naomi Colthurst, a commissioning editor at parent company Penguin Random House, said: A fairly extraordinary day in the office yesterday when Topshop decided for some reason they didnt want to host our Feminists Dont Wear Pink pop-up after all. Proof, if proof were needed, about how much work is still needed to make feminism accessible for everyone.
The book has received rave reviews with actress Reese Witherspoon calling it: Brilliant, hysterical, truthful and real. These essays illuminate the path for our future female leaders. Hollywood comedian Mindy Kaling said: As a feminist who loves pink, I give this brilliant book an enthusiastic YES.
Last night a Topshop spokesman said: We made the decision from a production and creative standpoint to retract the Feminists Dont Wear Pink And Other Lies pop-up from one of our stores.
We are sorry. This in no way reflects our stance on feminism and we will be making a donation of 25,000 to Girl Up.
We continue to fully support the sentiment of the book, Scarlett Curtis, feminism and equality.
Paul David fell for Jobeth Daguia when she was looking after his grandchildren (pictured with their own children)
When 70-year-old Paul David first grabbed and kissed the 28-year-old Filipina au pair employed to look after his two young grandchildren, he says he felt as though all Christmases had come at once.
As well he might. The pair ended up in bed together, that memorable Christmas Eve five years ago. I was very happy, says Mr David, now 75. Falling in love is not something you can explain to anyone. You ask yourself why, but there are no words.
His daughter, however, millionaire City solicitor Audra Wamsteker, whose children the au pair was looking after, was able to come up with a few choice words of her own when she discovered the affair: Unthinkably repugnant, was how she described it.
In fact, the relationship between father and daughter fractured so badly that, earlier this year, they faced each other in court, fighting over the ownership of a multi-million-pound portfolio of properties built up across London and the U.S. and 23 items of jewellery, including family heirlooms.
In a bitter volley of accusations, Mr David claimed hed helped his daughter finance the property deals, and had only given her the jewellery for safe keeping, which she fiercely disputed.
Even the judge described it as desperately sad to witness this once close family at each others throats.
Mr David faced his daughter (right) in court, fighting over the ownership of a multi-million-pound portfolio of properties built up across London and the U.S. and 23 items of jewellery, including family heirlooms
It is. Audra, Pauls daughter from his first marriage, says shed once worshipped her father, while he loved her from the bottom of his heart.
Now, apart from a very frosty encounter in court, they havent spoken in five years.
Their situation was not eased this week when the judge sided wholly with Audra in the case. In a truly damning judgment, handed down yesterday, Judge Simon Monty QC ruled against Mr David stating: He struck me as a bitter man, now that his relationship with his daughter has collapsed, who was prepared to say anything, and be untruthful, in order to win this case.
In short, Mr David wont receive a penny. Suffice to say, hes furious.
Before his relationship with Jobeth Mr David was married to Sundra who was the mother of his daughter who he faced in court
In a bitter volley of accusations, Mr David claimed hed helped his daughter finance the property deals, and had only given her the jewellery for safe keeping, which she fiercely disputed
Meanwhile, the very pretty au pair, Jobeth Daguia, now 33, whom he married five years ago and is now mother to his two young daughters Lisa, four, and two-year-old Patricia, sobs beside him on the sofa. She has every right to be upset.
Today they have to rely on her income as a nanny to another family to keep theirs afloat. To make matters worse, Mr David has been ordered to pay legal costs of 120,000.
Meanwhile, the very pretty au pair, Jobeth Daguia, now 33, whom he married five years ago and is now mother to his two young daughters Lisa, four, and two-year-old Patricia
Why has this happened? Mrs David sobs. I feel so sad. He always thinks of others and never buys anything for himself. He is very kind and generous.
Indeed he is: a brief tour of their 460,000 home in Stratford, East London, bears testament to her elderly husbands generosity. The two double bedrooms are more like walk-in wardrobes, with countless pretty frocks and enough shoes to give his wifes fellow countrywoman Imelda Marcos a run for her money.
In fact, everything here, from the exquisitely dressed oversized double bed in the master bedroom to little Patricias painted wooden cot, is the best money can buy except for a curious shabby, stained mattress propped against the wall.
Thats where I sleep, explains Mr David. Hang on a minute. You sleep on a mattress on the floor in the childrens room?
Only since the small one came, he says. Jobeth needs a good nights sleep because she has to get up in the morning. Shes got a five-year residents permit, so she has a job looking after two children in Earls Court. When it runs out next year, she can apply for permanent residency.
But does this infatuated (his word), toothless retired car broker ever wonder if hes being taken for a ride? That maybe Jobeth thought she was marrying a wealthy old man, meaning she could put her nannying days behind her? That maybe, now shes found herself in a different situation altogether, shes only hanging around for the stamp in her passport?
Even the judge described it as desperately sad to witness this once close family at each others throats
Mr and Mrs David are having none of it. It never occurred to me she was attracted to my money, he says. Shes not a gold-digger. Why did Macron (French President Emmanuel Macron) marry his wife? Shes 35 years older than him. Im not mimicking him. Im just saying if it happens, it happens.
President Macrons wife, Brigitte, is, in fact, only 25 years his senior. And, as Mr David concedes, he is no superfit leader of France. Instead, a Pakistani by birth, he lived in Singapore before moving to the UK in 1990 and now suffers with a heart condition and severe arthritis.
So much so that his wife has to . . . well, best let Mr David explain. Before Jobeth began working as an au pair for his daughter in 2009, he was inordinately close to his daughter, particularly since first wife Sundras death from a stroke in 2008.
Unable to return to his marital home in Stratford because of his grief for the woman he had loved for 43 years, he began living in the hugely successful Wamstekers Surrey home.
Indeed, Mrs Wamsteker cared so deeply for her father that she allowed him access to her bank account. Meanwhile, his grandchildren upon whom he doted a boy now aged 13 and a nine-year-old girl helped to fill the hole for the wife he so desperately missed.
And it was here he met Jobeth. Their eyes met over his shirt buttons. With my arthritis I cant always do them up, and she used to help me, he explains. Thats when I had the feeling she was quite close to me. Even now, in the mornings, I cant wake up without her help because of the arthritis in my back. She uses a hairdryer to warm it up so I can start moving again. I thought my daughter would care for me, but she isnt.
My wife has been taking care of me for the past five years. I want to provide for her from my lifes work.
Which is all very well, except for the fact the judge has ruled that the property empire is actually his daughters life work.
Mr David had insisted and continues to insist he was unable to secure mortgages for the properties himself owing to his age, so his daughter agreed to help him out. He swears as God is my witness that he helped to finance the properties. Their agreement, he says, was built upon filial love and trust.
He added: When I saw her in court, I was just thinking to myself, why are we going through all this rubbish?
After all Ive done for her, bringing her up, helping her with her education. She looks like me and I look like her. How can a daughter do this to her father?
Im going to appeal the decision. Im also writing to the solicitors regulatory board to investigate her.
Youd threaten your own daughters career? He sucks his toothless gums and sticks his chin defiantly in the air.
In truth, much of what Mr David says must be taken with a huge pinch of salt. After all, the judge dismissed his claims based on evidence from bank accounts. Instead, he supported Mrs Wamstekers claims that she had financed the property portfolio, ruling that her father, to whom she had once been giving 70 per cent of her salary, had no beneficial interest.
He also accepted Mrs Wamstekers insistence that her mothers jewellery was gifted to her by her father in 2009, not given to her for safe keeping as Mr David claimed.
What is undisputed is the fact that the family has been shattered. Apart from facing each other in court, Mr David hasnt seen his daughter or two grandchildren for five years, while his 53-year-old son Alvin still has reservations about my marriage and didnt attend their October 2013 wedding. Mrs Wamsteker has never met her two little half-siblings.
Its being separated from his grandchildren that seems to hurt Mr David the most: Grandchildren are very precious to grandparents in my culture, he says.
We spoil them. I bought my grandson the complete set of Thomas the Tank Engine trains. He loves trains. I used to take him to Stratford station to train spot. I miss him and Im sure he misses me, too. Every day he went to sleep on my lap.
Those first years after his first wife died were horrible, he says. When I fell in love with Jobeth, I felt I was blessed that God had given me another girl who was the same nature as Audras mother, Sundra. In many ways it was like she was coming through her. When Id cut the grass in Surrey, she would come out with a drink for me. Thats the sort of thing my first wife would do.
Their closeness, he maintains, developed in 2012 when his granddaughter began school.
I couldnt park the car outside the nursery so I needed someone to come with me. Thats when we started spending every day together. Wed go shopping after the school run and come back and cook together.
I taught her how to cook Indian food. My feelings for her started changing. Maybe youd call it an infatuation initially. I was kind to her. I advised her to take up driving and gave her driving lessons. She comes from a very poor country. I used to tell her: You dont want to be a maid all your life. Think of a different direction. Youve only got one chance. Dont waste it.
On a visit to Mr Davids home on Christmas Eve, they shared their first kiss, and ended up in bed. I cooked breakfast the next morning, he says. What had happened started playing over and over in my head. I wasnt sure if Id done the right thing. Also, I was frightened she might reject me. She didnt.
Instead, his young lover gratefully accepted a pair of gold earrings on Christmas morning and kept their relationship a secret when they both returned to his daughters house. We didnt rush it after that night, he says. There was no creeping into each others bedrooms. Nothing like that. Yes, wed kiss when the children werent there, but nothing more. After about a month or so we came back here again.
Despite their secrecy, his daughters husband Jayco sensed something was going on and Audra confronted her father in February 2013. He says: I know her so well I could see from her eyes she already knew there was something going on. She just wanted confirmation. I wasnt her husband. I wasnt her partner. There was no need to lie to her.
In her evidence, however, Mrs Wamsteker insists her father denied the relationship to her and continued to conduct a secret affair for several more months.
Jobeth, meanwhile, according to Mr David, was desperate to convince everyone that she wasnt a gold-digger.
I showed her an article from the internet about how Filipina girls break up families, marry the man and once theyre married, grab all his assets. She said: I am not that kind of girl. If you trust me, marry me.
Whatever the truth, by April of that year the close relationship between father and daughter was becoming increasingly fraught while Mr David and Jobeth were talking about marriage.
Family relations deteriorated so badly that, during one of many heated rows in August, the police were called to the house, and the couple went to Stratford.
Mr David claims he packed a bag and asked his daughter, wheres Mummys jewellery?
Audra said it was all mixed up with hers and that shed give it back tomorrow.
The next day, though, all the locks were changed, he says.
At the hearing, however, Audra said shed promised to return her fathers belongings, which she duly did, but said that the jewellery had been a gift from her father a version of events upheld by the judge.
The legal wrangling began when Mr David discovered his daughter had obtained a restraining order. He also made arrangements to marry Jobeth. The wedding took place on October 23, 2013, at Newham register office, less than a year after that fateful Christmas Eve kiss.
When she moved in here I spoke to my neighbour George about it. Hes 80-plus. I said, George, Im so happy with Jobeth, what do you advise me to do? He said: Go ahead. If youre happy, and Jobeths happy, youve got my blessings.
Jobeth smiles sweetly as Mr David talks about this. Wasnt she concerned about the 42-year age gap? After all, her husband is 11 years older than her own father.
Mr David answers for her. He gave me his blessing. Age isnt the issue. The only time it has come up was the other day when I was in a restaurant with my family. A table next to us was making a lot of noise so came to apologise for disturbing my granddaughters.
I said: Theyre not my granddaughters, theyre my daughters.
I repeat the question to his wife. Age is one thing, but human life is another, she says. It doesnt mean I cant die before you. She nods at Mr David.
What happens if he does die? Has he provided for his wife and daughters in his will? She has this house and I own a property in Malaysia, says Mr David.
When I win my appeal I will give her what is mine, too. I wouldnt have before any of this happened, but now a daughter can only do so much to her father.
My daughter hasnt taken care of me for five years so Im going to take it back and give it to someone who is taking care of me.
With which his young wife treats him to such a look of delight, you cant help but wonder if the mattress will be staying propped up against the wall tonight.
Two Associate Supreme Court Justices are worried for the future of the highest court in the federal judiciary after Justice Anthony Kennedy leaves.
The man who has served since 1988 retires this year and is likely to be replaced by controversial judge Brett Kavanaugh who has been the subject of an FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations.
Although Justice Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor were not directly addressing the push to confirm Kavanaugh for SCOTUS, they spoke at a Princeton University conference on the eve of the all-important voting day for senators.
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Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan spoke at Princeton University Friday on the eve of an important decision about SCOTUS
The Justices are concerned for the future of the Supreme Court as senators get ready to vote on the confIrmation of Brett Kavanaugh
'I think that that, institutionally, has hurt the court a lot and may continue to do so,' Sotomayor, who was appointed by Barack Obama in 2009 said about the legal theories Democrats and Republicans have 'superimposed on the court'.
The 64-year-old was agreeing with sentiments earlier expressed by Kagan suggesting that the exit of Kennedy could mean the reputation of the Supreme Court suffers.
'It's been an extremely important thing for the court that in the last 40 years, starting with Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor and continuing with Justice Kennedy, there has been a person who found the center, where people couldn't predict in that sort of way,' Politico reports she told the audience of 3,000 students and alumni.
'That's enabled the court to look so it was not all by one side or another and it was indeed impartial and neutral and fair. And it's not so clear that I think going forward that sort of middle position it's not so clear whether we'll have it.'
Sotomayor said the polarizing legal theories have hurt the court a lot and may continue to
Both women (Kagan pictured top left and Sotomayor center right) were appointed by Barack Obama respectively in 2009 and 2010
Kagan, 58, who was nominated in 2010, added that the removal of a swing Justice like Kennedy may make the SCOTUS seem biased.
In a nod to the politically-charged arguments between senators and the American people in recent weeks that have rarely seen any middle ground, Kagan made it clear that she fears the court won't be so highly regarded from now on.
'All of us need to be aware of that every single one of us and to realize how precious the court's legitimacy is,' Kagan said. 'It's an incredibly important thing for the court to guard is this reputation of being impartial, being neutral and not being simply extension of a terribly polarizing process.'
During the event Sotomayor questioned whether the court would have the ability to unify after the ruling but added that whether people personally agree going forward, all that has to be left outside the court room doors.
'We have to rise above partisanship and personal relationships, that we have to treat each other with respect and dignity and with a sense of amicability that the rest of the world doesn't ... share,' she added.
A man was banned from his local pub for 24-hours on the day of the AFL Grand Final, all because he threw a beer in the bin within 50metres of the venue.
Luke Hayson had just showered and gotten ready to meet his friends at his local pub in Sydney to watch the AFL Grand Final.
He was shocked to find that when he got to the pub, where his friends were already inside, the bouncers turned him away and banned him for 24 hours.
A man was banned from his local pub for 24-hours on the day of the AFL Grand Final, and because he threw a beer in the bin within 50 metres of the venue (stock image)
'It makes a bit of an example, it just feels like our nanny state going a bit crazy,' Mr Hayson told Ben Fordham on 2GB Radio.
Before leaving to meet his friends, he decided to crack open a beer and drank most of it while still at home.
Poll Do you think the 24-hour ban from the pub was fair? Yes No Do you think the 24-hour ban from the pub was fair? Yes 14 votes
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He then began to walk the short journey down the road to the pub, with the remains of his beer.
Finishing the drink, Mr Hayson put the bottle in the bin and decided to make his way into the pub to join his mates.
When he approached the door, the bouncer said he couldn't go inside, despite the fact that he wasn't acting carelessly.
'I was openly speaking to the bouncer and they were saying nah mate, you've come within 50 metres of our premises with an open bottle of alcohol,' Mr Hayson said.
As it was his first beer, he asked if he could come back to the venue within 30-60 minutes as his friends were already inside.
'I was more dumbfounded with anything. I was like, really? Is that really what our society - especially Sydney - is that really where we're at? ' he asked the radio host.
He ended up getting his friends to leave the bar and go elsewhere to spend their afternoon.
Luke Hayson was shocked to find that when he got to the pub, where his friends were already inside, the bouncers turned him away and banned him for 24 hours (stock image)
Sir Ben Kingsley cuts a fearsome and chilling figure as he transforms into the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Chris Weitz's Operation Finale.
The actor, 74, is unrecognisable as the brutal architect of The Holocaust in the film which follows a group of Israeli Mossad agents in their pursuit of Eichmann so that he could stand trial for his crimes against humanity.
But despite being billed as a 'true story', advertisements for the movie in European countries have removed military insignia from his SS cap because of stringent laws banning Nazi symbols.
Sir Ben Kingsley transforms into the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Chris Weitz's Operation Finale - but adverts for the film in Germany have been airbrushed
According to The Times, in Germany the insignia can appear in the film but not in advertising.
Eichmann was one of the major organisers of The Holocaust, and was tasked with organising the mass deportation of Jews into Ghettos and Concentration Camps between 1941 and 1945 by SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich.
The genocide resulted in the systematic murder of 6 million European Jews as part of Nazi Germany's 'Final Solution to the Jewish Question.'
A total of 17 million people were targeted and killed by the Nazis in this time, and other persecuted groups included the Roma, the 'incurably sick', Ethnic poles, Soviet citizens, Soviet Prisoners of War, political opponents, gay men and Jehovah's Witnesses.
Following Germany's defeat by the Allied powers in 1945, Eichmann ran away to Austria before escaping to Argentina under false papers in 1950.
Ten years later Israel's intelligence agency Mossad confirmed his location in Buenos Aires, where they captured him and brought him to Israel to stand trial for his crimes.
Weitz's film follows this mission, and focuses primarily on Nazi hunter Malkin and his team of secret agents as they try to track down and extract the war criminal.
Sir Ben Kingsley (left) and the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann - with Nazi insignia (right)
A 1998 court ruling had blocked video games in Germany from using Nazi symbols, with judges fearing at the time that children 'will grow up with these symbols and insignia and grow accustomed to them'.
Other art forms have already blazed a trail in recent years, with many movies for the first time daring to satirise the dictator.
Films like 'My Fuehrer: The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler' (2007), 'Heil: A Neo-Nazi farce' (2015) and 'Look Who's Back' (2015), based on the best-selling novel of the same name, have packed cinemas.
And a new edition of Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' accompanied with reams of historical annotations was published in 2016.
One of Australia's most bizarre missing persons cases has been re-opened after compelling new evidence triggered a fresh coronial review.
Victoria Police have confirmed they are now reviewing the case of Warren Meyer, who went missing in the Dom Dom Saddle park in Fernshaw, Victoria in 2008.
Illegal drug activity, reports of rapid gunfire and an even an escaped homicidal patient, all witnessed within the area the day Mr Meyer disappeared, will be taken into account for the review.
Case of bushwalker Warren Meyer (pictured), who bizarrely disappeared in the Dom Dom Saddle national park in Victoria is to be reopened after 'new and compelling' evidence was discovered
Mr Meyer set off on his Easter Sunday walk around Dom Dom Saddle national park at around 7.45am with a map, handheld GPS, fully charged phone and snacks, telling his wife he'd be back for lunch
Mr Meyer, 57, vanished without a trace after telling his family he was going on a bushwalk on Easter Sunday, 2008.
Despite the attention the disappearance garnered, the case went cold and in December 2017 Coroner John Olle concluded that Mr Meyer had died of 'unknown causes' and that 'no further investigation' was required.
At the time Mr Olle explained that he believed there was no evidence to suggest that a third party was involved in the disappearance.
Undeterred, Mr Meyer's family pursued other options and the case has since been investigated pro-bono by a retired police detective.
The family is now confident the findings will warrant an inquiry.
'We're not disputing that he's deceased, but we're disputing aspects of the case,' his wife Zee Meyer, 68, told The Herald Sun.
The Meyer's family hope that the new findings brought forward by retired detective and police review will lead to a re-opened case (pictured is the area where he vanished)
'We believe that it should have been an inquest.'
They still maintain that Mr Meyer did not organise his own disappearance as he was making plans for the future.
At the time, Mr Meyer was an experienced bushwalker and was confirmed to be mentally and financially stable.
The family believe there is a connection between his disappearance an alleged shooting, and illegal drug-growing in and around where he was walking that day.
During the massive search just days after he went missing, 32 marijuana plants were found in bushland around his last whereabouts, with a commercial-sized crop and tools found hidden the following year.
The family don't rule out foul play either as reports of rapid gunfire were heard coming from a semiautomatic weapon around the time he went missing.
Mr Meyer, 57, (pictured) on Easter Sunday 2008 vanished without a trace after telling his family he was going on a bushwalk
From Saturday March 22 until the morning of Sunday 23, nearby witnesses estimated 400 shots were fired and were able to match up the exact timing they heard the gunshots with the timing Mr Meyer would have been in that exact spot.
Another eerie twist that emerged early in the investigation was a involuntary psychiatric escapee with homicidal tendencies confirmed to have escaped and was within the area at the time.
Police however, ruled out both the gunfire noises and the escapee as probable causes due to insufficient evidence.
Mr Meyer set off on his Easter Sunday walk at around 7.45am with a map, handheld GPS, fully charged phone and snacks, telling his wife he'd be back for lunch.
After he still hadn't returned by 4pm, an extensive air and land search was launched.
Despite being investigated by local police, the Missing Persons Unit and the Homicide Squad, no trace of him has ever been found, apart from his car, which was found locked and undisturbed in the Dom Dom Saddle car park.
The Meyer's family hope that the new findings brought forward by retired detective and police review will lead to a re-opened case.
The family have since launched a website, rewarding anyone with information that leads to the recovery of the remains of Mr Meyer with $200,000.
Local authorities are seeking answers after a massive object barreled into the side of a New Jersey home on Friday afternoon.
The object - comprised of fiberglass - blasted through the side wall of a two-story home on the Western Avenue in Jersey City.
Bouncing inside the home for a brief moment, the massive object then blew a second hole in the same wall.
The object - comprised of fiberglass - blasted through the side wall of a two-story home on the Western Avenue in Jersey City on Friday afternoon
The object bounced inside the home before blasting a second hole through the same wall
The scene is currently being investigated by local personnel, ABC 7 reports.
It is currently unknown what the object could have been.
But Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said that the cylinder was filled with compressed gas and 'came from the direction of a scrap metal yard' on Country Road, NJ.com reports.
Pictures from the scene show plaster from the walls littering the floor with other debris.
Pictures from the scene show plaster from the walls littering the floor with other debris
The wall appears to have cracks coming from the hole, suggesting that the damage could get more extensive.
No one was reported a being at the home at the time. Arlene Silverstri, owner of the property, told reporters that she received a call notifying her of the explosion.
A neighbor is said to have heard a loud boom coming from the private residence.
Police reported in their statement that a scrapyard is stationed just a quarter of a mile away.
As the Senate debates the naomination of Brett Kavanaugh, nemerous false claims have been repeated to undermine the credibility of D. Christine Blasey Ford. Whatever the outcome, Senatores deserve to know the truth:
1. An FBI investigation that did not include interviews of Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh is not a meaninful investigation in any sense of the word.
2. Had the FBI interview Dr. Ford, she would have ansered questions about Judge Kavanaugh's assault, including questions that Ms. Mitchell and the Judiciary Committee members failed to ask during the hearing. She would have provided corrogorating evidence, including her medicale records and access to the phone from which she sent messages to a reporter about the assault propr to his nomination to the Supreme Court.
3. The suggestion that our refusal to give medical reciords to the Judiciary Committee bears on Dr. Ford's credibility is completely false. The Committee has released every document we have exchanged, and in the case of their letters to us, sometimes before we recieved them. We lost confidence in the Committee's ability or desire to maintain the confidentiality of materials and infromation we provided, especially with respect to something as sensitive as medical records.
4. Dr. Ford wandted to detail the events of the sexual assault by Judge Kavanaugh directly to members of the Judiciary Committee. Dr. Ford was timely provided with all communications from the Majority's staff and chise from the multiple options she was given by them. At the hearing, Dr. Ford understood Senator Grassley's comment to be that he personally would have flown to California to speak with her. She would have welcomed Senator Grassley and other Committee members to California but that was not one of the options offered by Committee staff.
5. At no time did members of Dr. Ford's team advise Committee staff that she could not travel to Washington, D.C. because of her fear of flying. Rather, staff was told that Dr. Ford could not travel on the schedule the Committee demanded because she was focused on taking measures to protect her family from threats, including death threats. Those measures included meeting with the FBI to report these disturbing threats. In fact, Dr. Ford dies have a decades-long fear of flying for which she takes medication prescribed by a physician, but this had no impact on the timing of her testimony.
6. Committee staff repeatedly rejected our requests for multiple corroborating witnesses to be allowed to restify, including Jeremiah Hanafin, the highly expreienced former FBI agent who administered the polygraph to Dr. Ford on August 7, 2018. He was also prepared to cooperate with the FBI's investigation, including making the underlying polygraph results and process available. Had Mr. Hanafin been permitted to testify or been interviewed by the FBI, he would have explained that his conclusions of 'no deception' were validated by four independent outside reviewers. There were seven people whom Dr. Ford told about the assault prior to the nomination who could have testified to the Committee or been interviewed by the FBI.
In her testimony, Dr. Ford said: 'It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth.'
We believe Christine Blasey Ford and we fully support her. Senators claiming to want a dignified debate should not repeat lies constructed by the Judiciary Committee that were cynically designed to win support for Judge Kavanaugh.
The family of slain Chicago teen Laquan McDonald feels like justice has been served after the white cop who fatally shot him in October 2014 was convicted of second-degree murder.
'This is a victory for America,' McDonald's great uncle Rev. Martin Hunter told reporters, the Chicago Sun Times reports. 'America was on trial.'
He added: 'Now we can go hone and sleep knowing Laquan is at peace.'
Hunter said he 'absolutely' feels justice was served. He told reporters that McDonald's mother, who did not want to speak following the verdict, was relieved and cried 'tears of joy'.
'This family wanted justice because revenge belongs to God,' he said.
Laquan McDonald's great uncle Rev. Martin Hunter (center) said the family thinks justice was served
Supporters of Laquan McDonald leave the Leighton Criminal Court building after the jury found officer Jason Van Dyke guilty
A jury has convicted Officer Jason Van Dyke (pictured upon hearing the verdict, right, and his mugshot after being found guilty, left) of shooting dead black teenager Laquan McDonald
Van Dyke was later led away after his guilty verdict in his murder trial in the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, in Chicago
Hunter, the pastor of Grace Memorial Missionary Baptist Church in North Lawndale, said he feels 'compassion' for the family of Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer charged with killing 17-year-old McDonald.
Hunter, however, pointed out that Van Dyke showed no remorse during the trial and has never contacted McDonald's family to apologize.
'It was touching my heart to see their pain. But it was also bothering me that they could not see the pain that was within us. They never really gave their condolences,' he said.
'I want the world to know you can't just go around forgiving people who, number one, don't think they did anything wrong and number two, never asked for forgiveness. Jason Van Dyke has never asked this family for forgiveness ever.'
While Hunter feels Van Dyke's guilty verdict is fair, others are angry that he was convicted of the lesser second-degree murder charge instead of first-degree, which would have carried a longer prison sentence.
Van Dyke was originally charged with first-degree murder, but Judge Vincent Graham told jurors before they started deliberations that they had the option of replacing first-degree murder with second-degree murder.
First-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. And with enhancements for having used a gun, Van Dyke would have faced a mandatory minimum of 45 years, Chicago defense attorney Steve Greenberg told the Associated Press.
Officer Jason Van Dyke (left) sat stone faced as the jury returned a verdict of guilty for one count of second degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm
The judge revoked bail for Jason Van Dyke (right) who shot Laquan McDonald (left) 16 times, killing him
Protesters had gathered outside of Leighton Criminal Courts Building in Chicago ahead of a jury handing down a guilty verdict
Many demonstrators celebrated the guilty verdict. Raymone Saffold raises his fist as he celebrates the verdict in the murder trial of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke
: Demonstrators protest as they celebrate the verdict in the murder trial of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke
'Law enforcement is not above the law': A demonstrator holds up a sign as a jury finds Van Dyke guilty of murder
The punishment for second-degree murder is no less than four years but no more than 20 years behind bars.
Each count of aggravated battery carries a mandatory minimum six years and a maximum of 30 years in prison. If Van Dyke had to serve six for each of the 16 counts - and do so one sentence after another - that would add up to 96 years. But Greenberg said judges almost always order defendants to serve such sentences simultaneously. So, if Van Dyke gets the minimum for each count, he'd serve six years for all the battery convictions.
Another possibility is that the defense will ask, under complicated legal rules, for the judge to merge the crimes for which Van Dyke is convicted for sentencing purposes since they were all tied to a single event, Greenberg said. That could mean Van Dyke is effectively sentenced only for second-degree murder, with its lower four-year mandatory minimum.
For a man convicted with no previous criminal record, Greenberg said the mandatory minimum is his best guess for a sentence handed down on Van Dyke.
'I would be shocked if he got a day over the four or six years,' Greenberg said.
Demonstrator Bryant Williams, who protested with others outside of the Leighton Criminal Courts Building as the verdict was read, told the Chicago Tribune that he thinks its unfair Van Dyke could possibly only serve six years for killing McDonald.
Many people hugged and cried as the guilty verdict was announced for the October 2014 killing
People react outside of City Hall after a jury convicted white Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder
Demonstrators are pictured outside of the criminal court building in Chicago on October 5
Protesters take to the streets after a jury convicted white Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder
Protesters stand near police in the downtown area after a jury convicted white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder
Family and friends of Laquan McDonald leave the Leighton Criminal Courts Building after the verdict was announced
'If you shoot a deer outside of hunting season, they are doing more time than that,' he said.'I just don't think that justice prevailed. A lot of people may not agree with me, but I think the system really failed us, again.'
Other demonstrators were happy with how the trial played out and were heard chanting 'Justice for Laquan! Justice for Laquan!' after hearing news of the verdict.
Many carried signs telling officers that 'law enforcement is not above the law' and 'black lives matter'. A number of protesters cried after Van Dyke was found guilty.
Judge Graham revoked the bail for Van Dyke after the verdict came through. Van Dyke will be sentenced on October 31.
After the officer was walked out of court, his wife appeared to be struggling to hold back tears as her family surrounded and comforted her.
Van Dyke's wife, Tiffany, looked emotional as she listened to the verdict being read after jurors found Officer Van Dyke guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated battery
Laquan McDonald, 17, was shot 16 times by officer Jason Van Dyke in October 2014
Prosecutor Jody Gleason begins closing statements. 'Laquan's body was riddled, broken and bleeding,' she said. She added: 'He even had bullet fragments in his teeth'
McDonald was fatally shot on October 20, 2014. Police dashcam shows the teen walking erratically down the middle of the street holding a knife before Van Dyke opens fire shooting him 16 times.
During closing arguments, prosecutor Jody Gleason noted that Van Dyke had old detectives that McDonald raised the knife, that Van Dyke backpedaled, and that McDonald tried to get up off the ground after being shot.
'None of that happened,' she said. 'You've seen it on video. He made it up.'
But Van Dyke's attorney, Dan Herbert, said the video, the centerpiece of the prosecutor's case, doesn't tell the whole story and is 'essentially meaningless based on the testimony' jurors heard.
He pointed to testimony from Van Dyke's partner that night, Joseph Walsh, who said he saw McDonald raise the knife, even though the video doesn't show that. Van Dyke made similar claims on the witness stand as he told jurors that he was afraid for his life and acted according to his training.
'The video is not enough,' he said. He added: 'It shows a perspective, but it's the wrong perspective.'
Van Dyke will be sentenced on October 31.
A white former Cleveland police officer who fatally shot a black 12-year-old boy who was holding a toy gun has been hired as a part-time cop by a different police department.
The police chief in Bellaire, Ohio confirmed Friday that he hired Timothy Loehmann as a part-time officer,The Times Leader Reports.
Tamir Rice was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center in 2014 when he was shot by Loehmann.
Published reports indicate he shot Rice less than two seconds after he arrived to investigate a complaint about the boy carrying what turned out to be a fake gun.
He was never indicted on any charges related to the shooting and was cleared by a Cuyahoga County grand jury and Clevelands Critical Incident Review Commission, The Times Leader reports.
Timothy Loehmann (left) has been rehired as a police officer four years after he fatally shot Tamir Rice, 12, (right) as he played with a pellet gun outside a recreation centre in Cleveland
However, Loehmann was fired by the Cleveland Police Department in 2017 for allegedly omitting information from his employment application.
He previously had worked for the police department in Independence, Ohio, and failed to note that on his application.
Loehmann was told he either had to quit his job in Independence or be fired, officials said at that time.
Bellaire Police Chief Richard Dick Flanagan said he never had reservations about hiring Loehmann because he was cleared of any wrongdoing regarding Rices death.
He told The Times Leader: He was cleared of any and all wrongdoing. He was never charged. Its over and done with.
The other part-time officer who was hired by Bellaires police department is Eric Smith, Bethesdas still-suspended police chief.
He remains under investigation by the Ohio Attorney Generals office for allegedly misusing a statewide computer system for law enforcement.
Flanagan said he does not believe it is fair for people to crucify Loehmann over what happened.
I have full confidence and faith in every police officer here, Flanagan said.
We have eight full-time officers and five part-time officers. And if anyone is looking for a part-time job, call me. All officers are on a probationary period of one year.
Bellaire is a small town of about 4,000 people that borders the Ohio River at the West Virginia border directly across from Wheeling.
Tamir's mother Samaria Rice believes Timothy Loehmann shouldn't serve with any police force
The news came as a shock to Tamir's mother, Samaria Rice, who issued a statement on Friday to Cleveland.com through her attorney Subodh Chandra.
Ms. Rice believes that Timothy Loehmann does not belong on any police force, anywhere, period.
Someone with his record should not be subjected upon the citizenry. But she does hope that this means that he will not ever return to Cleveland,' he said.
Loehmann shot and killed Tamir November 14, 2014 outside the Cudell Recreation Center on the city's West Side.
Loehmann was a rookie officer, and a passenger in a car driving by veteran training officer Frank Garmback.
Flanagan said that if any Bellaire police officer does something wrong in the line of duty, the department will handle the situation.
If there is some wrongdoing or someone breaks a policy, there are procedures to deal with that accordingly,' he added.
Flanagan said his officers have a lot of experience even though they are young.
Since he took over the chiefs position, Flanagan said the lines of communication have been open between officers and the public.
That has led to more successful investigations and arrests, he said.
Weve had more crimes solved in the past eight months than weve had in the past 10 years, Flanagan said.
As the majority of Australia prepares to lose an hour of sleep when daylight saving starts on Sunday, neglected states are lobbying to gain it.
Queensland residents say its finally time for a shift after a recent poll saw 55 percent of Queenslanders wanted it introduced.
'There's a whole generation of Australians who haven't had a say on this, all we ask is that this divisive issue is put back on the public agenda to be properly debated' the Director of Australian Industry Group Shane Rodgers said.
Don't forget to change your clocks! Daylight saving set to end on Sunday as residents in unaffected states such as Queensland lobby for the time shift (stock image)
Despite the polls numbers, it was still ruled out by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, stating the numbers were still not strong enough for change.
David Prerau, who has written books on daylight savings and has consulted with the US Congress around the law, believes moving the hour forward has numerous benefits.
'Daylight saving time will generally promote public health and physical fitness, reduce outdoor crime like breaking and entering and mugging, reduce energy usage, increase economic activity and provide most people a better quality of life,' Dr Prerau said.
Economic and urban geographer Thomas Sigler agrees an extra hour of sunlight would promote a healthy lifestyle.
'Queensland has the highest rate of obesity out of all the states in Australia and most workers are now office-bound,' Dr Sigler said.
STATES AFFECTED BY DAYLIGHT SAVINGS New South Wales Victoria Australia Capitol Territory South Australia Tasmania All clocks turn forward from 2am Advertisement
As the neglected states lobby, the states affected are being warned of the affects of drowsiness daylight saving can bring, and how it can increase a chance of accidents.
Research shows a rise in accidents within the first 24 hours after the time shift.
Dr Moira Junge from the Sleep Health Foundation says more sleep is needed around this time shift and to be careful not to drink or party too much.
Dr Junge also encourages people to go outside and get some sun to suppress melatonin levels in the body to ensure a good nights sleep is had.
Despite the warning, she says not to over-think the time difference too much, as the body adapts in a matter of days, just like it does when flying interstate into a new time zone.
Clocks will be turned forward one hour on Sunday 7 October from 2am in NSW, Victoria, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania.
Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia are currently not affected.
Taylor Michael Wilson, 26, was convicted Friday on charges related to terrorism for the incident on an Amtrak in southwest Nebraska October 21, 2017
A 26-year-old Missouri man was sentenced to 14 years in prison Friday after terrorizing a train full of 175 passengers last year, telling them: 'I'm the conductor now b***h'.
Taylor Michael Wilson, 26, was convicted Friday on charges related to terrorism for the incident on an Amtrak in southwest Nebraska October 21, 2017, where terrified passengers had to wait an hour for law enforcement to reach them in the rural Furnas County.
Wilson had a loaded gun on him when he broke into a secured part of the train and disabled the engine using a control panel before three conductors heroically wrestled him to the ground.
He reportedly hurled racially slurs at one of them who was black and later told law enforcement: 'I was going to save the train from the black people.'
Since then Wilson has claimed he had no intention of harming anyone and was on high on acid. However he had attended a Unite the Right rally last August in Charlottesville, Virginia and spoke of killing black people according to an affidavit.
He was initially released on bond but was also found to illegally have a stash of guns including a short barrel rifle and a fully automatic machine gun plus evidence he planned to make an explosive device.
He stopped an Amtrak in southwest Nebraska, hurling racial slurs as he was wrestled by three train conductors
Wilson he insists he is not racist and did not want to harm anyone on the train but was 'angry at the country'
Law enforcement also discovered links to neo-Nazi groups inside his home on the outskirts of St Louis.
US District Judge John Gerrard said at his sentencing: 'I hope that you will make the right choices. You're certainly going to have time to think about it.
'You now have a choice to make. You can either renounce the white supremacist nonsense that you've been fed and go back to the way you were raised as a young man. Or you can coddle up to plenty of other white nationalists that you will find incarcerated.'
The judge was not hearing his excuses as he described how Wilson was 'incoherent' and 'uncooperative' at the time of committing the crime. He added they were lucky he was caught on his path to destruction during 'this particularly senseless and violent act' before anyone got hurt.
'An attack on African Americans is an attack on Americans, period,' Assistant US Attorney Lesley Woods said when asking the judge to give him a severe punishment reports Lincoln Journal Star.
White supremacist Wilson had attended a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia August
That's exactly what he got.
He pleaded guilty to terrorism and gun charges in July and his sentencing was one of the rare cases of a white American person. Wilson was hoping to get nine to 11 years but prosecutors were able to exceed that because the crime was committed on a train.
While many politically motivated crimes are not considered terrorism, attacks on mass transport systems on land, water or through the air federally outlawed.
The US Code said is applies to anyone who knowingly does something that 'would likely, derail, disable, or wreck a mass transportation vehicle used, operated, or employed by a mass transportation provider'.
It adds the person 'shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if the offense results in the death of any person, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or subject to death'.
The defendant said Friday to the judge that for the last seven years he has been 'angry with the country I live in and was looking for someone to blame'.
'This was not the terrorist act. My actions were stupid and immature and I'll pay for those actions with years of my life and with no one to blame but myself,' he told the court in Nebraska.
'My actions that day had nothing to do with the ideologies I bought into. I never had the intention of hurting anyone. I did not have any hate or ill-will toward anyone on the train.
'I did stop the Amtrak train with passengers on it. It was an incredibly stupid and dangerous thing to do. That is why I'm here today.'
The White House counsel reportedly warned President Donald Trump that an indiscriminate investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would be illegal and potentially damaging to his confirmation prospects.
Trump called Don McGahn, the top White House lawyer, on Sunday to tell him the FBI could investigate anything it wanted, but McGahn warned him that supplemental background checks are narrow by definition, according to people familiar with the conversation cited by the New York Times.
McGhan said that the White House could not legally order the FBI to go digging indiscriminately through a person's life under the guise of a background check, the sources said.
The White House counsel also reportedly warned that the type of wide-ranging probe that Democrats demanded - probing Kavanaugh's youthful drinking habits and obscure phrases in his yearbook - could prove disastrous for the confirmation.
Don McGahn (left) reportedly warned Trump that supplemental background checks are narrow by definition and an indiscriminate probe such as Democrats sought would be illegal
The probe was not a criminal investigation, but rather an expansion of Kavnaugh's background check for the nomination
McGahn specifically instructed the FBI to seek witnesses who might have firsthand accounts of the alleged attack on Christine Blasey Ford in 1982 or other sexual misconduct, according to the report.
The investigators uncovered no new corroborating accounts of such misconduct, Senators say.
The probe was not a criminal investigation, but rather an expansion of Kavnaugh's background check for the nomination, the sixth such check he has undergone over decades of government service.
Experts say that such expansions are common in response to new information in a background check, but that by definition they are narrow investigations.
In the end, the FBI requested interviews from 11 people, and were able to speak with 10.
Ford's lawyers (flanking her above) issued a statement on Friday blasting the FBI for not interviewing her or Kavanaugh during the expanded background check
Ford and Kavanaugh were not among the interview subject, with the FBI instead choosing to rely on their public testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.
The White House insisted that neither McGahn or any other White House lawyer told the FBI not to interview Ford and Kavanaugh.
But Ford's lawyers were outraged that she and Kavnaugh were not questioned, issuing a statement late Friday.
'An FBI investigation that did not include interviews of Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh is not a meaninful investigation in any sense of the word,' they said.
Kavanaugh's confirmation in the Senate on Saturday appeared all but certain after wavering Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said Friday that she would cast the deciding vote in his favor.
A paedophile Catholic school teacher has been found guilty of 21 child sex offenses.
Edward Smith Hall, 68, committed most of the offences at St Pius X, a Catholic High School in Newcastle, where he taught maths, history and geography.
One victim, known to the court as DK, described how Hall had raped him in 1984 and had threatened to kill his parents if he told anyone about the assault.
Hall had also warned his victim that he would tell everyone the boy was a 'p***ter'.
Edward Smith Hall, 68, (pictured) was found guilty of committing 21 offences between 1973 and 1986
Another boy, known as PM, said he was sexually abused on multiple occasions by his teacher while on school trips, ABC News reported.
He was also abused at Hall's unit in Merewether, after he was invited there to help Hall move his belongings to another apartment.
RD, another of the eleven boys who gave a testimony, told the court that Hall had asked him to put sunscreen on his naked body on a trip to the Barrington Tops.
Years later in 2004, the victim went to the Catholic Education office to complain, only to be told that Hall was dead.
Edward Smith Hall, 68, (pictured) warned his victim that he would tell everyone the boy was a 'poofter'
RD only discovered that his former abuser was in fact still alive after seeing media reports in 2016.
'I saw a news article and contacted police that day,' he said.
Hall pleaded not guilty to the charges made against him, but out of the 31 sexual and indecent assault offences, the jury found him guilty of 21 of them.
However, Newcastle District Court Judge Tim Gartelmann noted that a fire which had ripped through the school in 2012 had destroyed evidence including archival records and photographs.
Edward Hall will receive his sentencing on December 13.
A nanny in New York has been charged with trying to murder a baby boy in her care by suffocating him with a baby wipe, prosecutors allege.
Marianne Benjamin-Williams, 45, 'shoved a wadded up baby wipe down the throat' of baby Maxwell on May 18 2017 inside the family's Waterside Plaza home, Assistant District Attorney James Zaleta said at her arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Williams was hired by a Manhattan doctor and his investment-banker wife to care for their two children, a 14-month-old girl and their infant son.
Firefighters had removed an inch-long piece of jagged plastic from the babys mouth, but he was still struggling to breathe.
Marianne Benjamin-Williams (pictured) arrives at the State Supreme Court for her trial
Benjamin-Williams listens as prosecutors announce the charges against her including assault
Benjamin-Williams consults with her lawyers who argue she tried to stop the baby choking
DNAinfo reported that the child was rushed to Bellevue Hospital as his distraught parents, Dr Salomon Blutreich and Meredith Sondler-Bazar, waited to learn if he was going to live or die, said Assistant District Attorney Kristen Caruso.
He's choking, Benjamin-Williams allegedly told police during the horrific ordeal. He likes to chew on baby wipes, according to DNAinfo.
Doctors determined that a baby wipe had been deliberately pushed down the baby's throat and that it was not possible that his sister, 14 months, had the motor skills to do so, according to court papers.
During surgery on May 19, doctors removed a 'balled-up baby wipe' from the child's throat.
They believed was placed in his mouth and intentionally pushed down his throat, causing the child to 'suffer respiratory distress' court papers show.
Prosecutors say Benjamin-Williams was the only one with the baby in the time that he was choking.
However her lawyer Leonard Levenson said she testified in her own defense before a grand jury to tell them what happened and that she in fact had tried to save the baby, who was struggling for air.
He was having trouble breathing and she was trying to clear his airway.
The boy was rushed to the hospital and she was questioned by the police the next day.
Levenson said the family his client worked for adored her and that the baby must have swallowed the gauze on his own.
The baby's parents Dr Salomon Blutreich (left) and Meredith Sondler-Bazar (right)
Responders were called to the Waterside Plaza apartment complex (pictured) to save the baby
Levenson said the family his client worked for adored her and that the baby must have swallowed the gauze on his own.
Levenson said Benjamin-Williams was a sergeant in the Israeli army before coming to the US 11 years ago.
FDNY paramedic Timothy Anson described the terrifying scene as he arrived to the East Side building to find little Maxwell nearly slipping away.
Anson, who was one of the first witnesses, said: I saw a blue, limp, pale, barely breathing baby.
A crying baby means the airway is good, he explained. Theyre alive, theyre healthy.
This baby was not crying it was more like a dull whimper.
Benjamin-Williams is also charged with falsifying documents, which she used to get her job.
Benjamin-Williams was indicted for attempted murder, assault, strangulation, reckless endangerment, possession of a forged instrument and endangering the welfare of a child.
Her bail was set at $100,000 bond or cash. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Obama's national security adviser Susan Rice has hinted that she may challenge Susan Collins for her Senate seat in 2020 following her announcement to confirm Brett Kavanaugh.
When another Obama official tweeted asking who would challenge Collins in the 2020 Senate election, Rice said she'd rise to the occasion replying 'Me', stirring surprise on the internet.
Rice also condemned Collins for pledging support to Kavanaugh despite the multiple allegations of sexual assault against him.
Obama's national security adviser Susan Rice hinted that she may challenge Susan Collins for her senate seat come 2020
On Friday she replied to a tweet asking 'Who wants to run for Senate in Maine' after Collins announced she'd vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh by writing 'Me'
Her answer stirred surprise on the internet leading her to following up saying she isn't officially making any announcements just yet
Her tweet was in response to former Obama White House communications director Jen Psaki's post Friday afternoon writing: 'Who wants to run for Senate in Maine? there will be an army of supporters with you'.
Rice followed up with a clarifying tweet saying: 'Many thanks for the encouragement. Im not making any announcements.'
'Like so many Americans, I am deeply disappointed in Senator Collins vote for Kavanaugh. Maine and America deserve better,' she added.
Rice has a home in Maine and her mother was born there, meaning she could run for a senate seat there.
Rice worked as Obama's ambassador to the United Nations and then became his national security advisory.
On Friday she tweeted: 'Like so many Americans, I am deeply disappointed in Senator Collins vote for Kavanaugh. Maine and America deserve better'
Maine Senator Susan Collins was an crucial swing vote in Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation vote. On Friday she announced she'd support him saying: 'My fervent hope is that Brett Kavanaugh will work to lessen the divisions in the Supreme Court'
After her time with the Obama administration she became a fellow American University's School of International Service and was appointed to the board of directors of Netflix, according to CNN.
She's a controversial figure in the world of politics.
She was in charge of foreign and national security policy when there was attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya in 2012 that left four Americans dead.
Republican lawmakers accused her of underplaying the attack as a spontaneous act of violence in response to an anti-Muslim film. But Obama admitted it was a premeditated attack.
She has also been criticized for inappropriately 'unmasking' the names of associates of President Donald Trump that appeared in intelligence reports last year.
All eyes were set on Senator Susan Collins on Friday ahead of her announcement on the Kavanaugh vote.
She was one of four wavering senators - including Republican Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski - who would be the deciding votes on Kavanaugh's nomination to the highest court in the land.
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (left) crossed the aisle and indicated that she will not vote to confirm Kavanaugh, while Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (right) flipped and said he would confirm him on Friday
Speaking on the Senate floor on Friday she said: 'I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. My fervent hope is that Brett Kavanaugh will work to lessen the divisions in the Supreme Court.'
'The president has broad discretion to consider a nominee's philosophy,' she said, blasting Democrats for 'over-the-top rhetoric and distortions' of Kavanaugh's professional record.
Manchin announced he would vote for Kavanaugh, Flake announced he too would support the Judge, Murkowski said she'd vote no but would be listed as 'present' in the vote tomorrow.
Manchin crossed the aisle surprising the Senate floor on Friday.
'I have reservations about this vote,' he said in a statement, but 'based on all the information I have available to me, including the recently completed FBI report, I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution and determine cases based on the legal findings before him.'
Murkowski said: 'I could not conclude that he is the right person for the court at this time.'
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Protesters on Capitol Hill and across the country have erupted in outrage that the path is now clear to confirming Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
On Friday, after Republicans secured the votes needed to confirm Kavanaugh on Saturday, protesters angrily harassed senators and staged massive demonstrations.
The fever pitch of the protests led conservative pundit Sean Hannity to call for Congressional office buildings, which are normally open to the public on weekdays, to be placed on lockdown.
'I really believe the people should be close to their elected representatives, and its sad what Im about to say: Before somebody gets hurt or worse, these office areas of elected officials now need to be closed to the public,' Hannity said on his Fox News program on Friday night. 'This is now dangerous and out-of-control.'
Demonstrators protest against the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill on Friday
US Capitol police arrest demonstrators protesting against the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
US Capitol police arrest demonstrators protesting against the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
Republican Senator Susan Collins from Maine was rushed from the Senate floor by Capitol Police to a waiting vehicle
After Republican Senator Susan Collins from Maine announced her decision to cast the deciding vote for Kavanaugh, she was rushed from the Senate floor by Capitol Police to a waiting vehicle.
The Women's March responded by calling Collins a 'rape apologist' in a tweet.
Donations also poured into a fundraising page set up to collect campaign donations for a future opponent to unseat Collins, whose term ends in 2020.
The donation page had collected $2.8million in pledges on Friday night, with the donations to be triggered if Collins casts her vote for Kavanaugh on Saturday as she says she will.
'If you fail to stand up for the people of Maine and for Americans across the country, every dollar donated to this campaign will go to your eventual Democratic opponent in 2020. We will get you out of office,' the fundraiser's organizers wrote.
Minutes after Collins' speech, protesters mobbed Democrat Senator Joe Manchin from West Virgina, screaming 'shame, shame, shame' as he told reporters that he also planned to vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
Protesters mobbed Democrat Senator Joe Manchin (right) from West Virgina, screaming 'shame, shame, shame' as he told reporters that he also planned to vote to confirm Kavanaugh
Protesters crowd the office of Democratic Senator from West Virginia Joe Manchin after a vote to advance the confirmation process of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh
Demonstrators block the office door of Senator Jeff Flake to protest against the pending confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh
Outside of the Senate office building, protesters were waiting to mob South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham, who offered a fiery defense of Kavnaugh during last week's blockbuster Judiciary Committee hearing.
'You old, white privileged patriarchy!' a female protester screamed as Graham walked to his car flanked by Capitol Police, video shot by the Daily Caller shows.
'Yeah, please move to South Carolina,' Graham retorted with a smile as the protester threatened to vote him 'out of office'.
'I hope you come, you'd be welcome in South Carolina,' Graham continued, adjusting the knot of his tie jauntily.
'He lied under oath!' the woman shouted as Graham got into a waiting car and drove away.
'You old, white privileged patriarchy!' a female protester screamed as Graham walked from the Senate office building. 'Yeah, please move to South Carolina,' Graham retorted with a smile as the protester threatened to vote him 'out of office'
I WITNESSED BASED LINDSEY GRAHAM IRL
Graham was walking to his car. Protesters followed him screaming that they would remove him from office.
Graham spins around & says: Well, please move to South Carolina."
Then looks back at me & smiles.
Cryinghttps://t.co/3LuzaR6Adh pic.twitter.com/J8mI2X8b2u Benny (@bennyjohnson) October 5, 2018
Inside the Senate offices, protesters gathered outside of the office of Arizona Republican Jeff Flake, chanting angrily.
Outside of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Washington DC home, protesters gathered to hold a 'confirmation kegger'.
The protesters said their goal was to show McConnell how much the Kavanaugh nomination has damaged the Supreme Court in the minds of the Americans as the GOP leader prepares to hold a final Senate confirmation vote on Saturday.
In a last-ditch effort to block Kavanaugh's lifetime appointment, hundreds of women and their allies have descended on Washington, DC, on Friday for a second-straight day of protests.
Kegger organizer Jennifer Flynn Walker said the protest was designed to reflect the absurdity of Kavanaugh's Judiciary Committee testimony last week, particularly his repeated mentions of liking beer.
'We're not even talking about the serious issues,' Walker, director of mobilization and advocacy at the Center for Popular Democracy, told HuffPost.
Protesters held a 'confirmation kegger' for Brett Kavanaugh outside of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's house in Washington on Friday morning, kicking off another day of protests against the Supreme Court nominee
'That's the thing about this protest today this is just ridiculous at this point. Half of the country is actually deeply hurt.'
Walker explained that while the protest was designed as a joke, it was based on serious fears that Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women, would cause lasting damage if he is appointed to the Supreme Court.
'Essentially, we just think he's a frat boy,' she said.
One hour before the cloture vote Friday morning President Donald Trump slammed protesters, making the claim that billionaire liberal activist George Soros is among those funding the demonstrations against the judge.
In a tweet denouncing the protests, the president specifically mentioned 'elevator screamers' - an apparent reference to the two women who confronted Senator Jeff Flake on Friday to tell him about their sexual assault experiences.
'The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Don't fall for it! Also, look at all of the professionally made identical signs. Paid for by Soros and others. These are not signs made in the basement from love!' Trump wrote.
New York mayor Bill de Blasio had to call it quits on his Friday workout session because he didn't want to deal with a homeless activist.
Mayor de Blasio was in the midst of his daily exercise session at the Park Slope YMCA when Nathylin Flowers Adesegun, 72, began asking him to provide 30,000 extra units for the homeless.
'I'm in the middle of doing my workout, I can't do this now,' the mayor responded, before getting up and darting to the nearest exit.
Mayor de Blasio was in the midst of his daily exercise session at the Park Slope YMCA when Nathylin Flowers Adesegun, 72, approached him
Adesegun had arrived at the Ninth Street Y with a dozen other VOCAL-NY activists to advocate for the homeless folk of New York City
Adesegun had arrived at the Ninth Street Y with a dozen other VOCAL-NY activists to advocate for the homeless folk of New York City.
'He made it clear that his morning workout was more important to him,' Adesegun asserted to Patch. 'Am I just supposed to stay homeless?'
The activists contended that the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program excluded the 62,000 homeless New Yorkers who couldn't meet the steep income mark to get the 'affordable housing' promised through it.
'I'm in the middle of doing my workout, I can't do this now,' the mayor responded, before getting up and darting to the nearest exit
Of the 300,000 units added to affordable housing, only five per cent has been allotted to those who identify as homeless.
'Mayor de Blasio may love working out, but his plan for housing homeless New Yorkers is just weak,' said Coalition for the Homeless policy director Giselle Routhier. 'This is simply unacceptable and perpetuates the 'Tale of Two Cities' he vowed to fix.'
Outside of the gym, de Blasio could be seen being hounded by more activists as he grabbed his suit and rushed back into the facilities.
The activists contended that the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program excluded the 62,000 homeless New Yorkers who couldn't meet the steep income mark
'Why won't you commit more housing for homeless New Yorkers Mayor de Blasio?' shouted an activist. 'Five per cent is not adequate!'
Activist outside the YMCA could be seen holding signs that read: 'De Blasio To Homeless NYers: Stay Homeless.'
The mayor never engaged with the protesters in the clips.
She has built up a reputation for being rather reserved.
But Melania Trump shocked onlookers during her solo tour of Africa by dropping her guard and dancing with children in Kenya.
The First Lady, 48, was pictured being unusually tactile with the bright and bubbly kids from The Nest Children's Home in Limuru.
Then the mother-of-one demonstrated her cool moves as she held hands with the youngsters during the photo call Wednesday.
The Nest primarily cares for youngsters whose parents have been incarcerated.
A song and dance! Melania then paid a visit to The Nest, a children's home that primarily cares for youngsters whose parents have been incarcerated, and was met by a group of singing children
To the beat! The first lady swayed her hips as she walked up a pathway with the kids, while they continued to sing and dance
Children living there greeted her with singing and dancing, and it didn't take long before she relaxed.
She walked up a pathway through the home holding hands with two children, then began to sashay to the beat as she approached the building.
Many people on social media said the Slovenian-born former model had more rhythm than they expected.
Others felt the White House resident had cheated them out of potentially seeing her throw some serious shapes though, and criticized her for strutting like a model to save face.
But Vicki Irvin put it down to the natural model in her: 'That's not dancing. That's a catwalk. #modellife'
One user was just grateful she didn't dance anything like British Prime Minister Theresa May who was subject of much chatter this week for walking on stage at a Tory conference to an ABBA tune.
Memes of the 62-year-old dancing with children in Africa were also all over the Internet recently.
'OMG our Prime Minister Waddled onto the stage to Dancing Queen at a Conservative party conference and embarrassed herself , her party and country yesterday. You think you have problems.' On user wrote.
She ends her trip in Egypt, before returning home on October 7
Egypt marked her final stop on her tour of the continent which focuses on child welfare, education, tourism and conservation
The focus of Melania's tour, which will end in Egypt, is humanitarian efforts, specifically those funded by US government aid, and those that work to better the lives of children
Trump was briefed on the children living at the house for babies, with staff explaining that some had been abandoned, while others had parents who had been incarcerated. Melania took time to cuddle with several of the infants, looking delighted to get the chance to spent so much time with them.
'Thank you for what you do and taking care of them,' Melania said, while holding a baby girl originally handed to her wrapped in a blanket bearing the logo of Be Best, the child welfare initiative she launched this year and is promoting during this week's Africa visit.
She returned the girl and kneeled down to lift a boy from a mat and turned to face the media with him in her arms, asking, 'Do you see the cameras?' before cradling another baby.
Close: She was then introduced to some of The Nest's youngest residents, and enjoyed cuddling several of the babies
What an experience: Later Melania was seen watching the zebras while on the safari, during her day-visit to the country during her solo tour of Africa promoting her children's welfare program
The singing and dancing performance then continued outside, where Melania read a story to the same group of children who had walked up the pathway with her, before being read a story by a young a boy. After the readings, she was encircled by the singing children and danced some more.
Following her visit to the children's home, Melania quickly changed outfits - switching her safari-style ensemble for a billowing green and white striped dress - before meeting Kenyan first lady Margaret Kenyatta at the State House in Nairobi.
Trump has undertaken the trip without her husband, President Donald Trump, 72.
Kenya was the third stop on Mrs Trump's African tour, which began on Tuesday in Ghana and continued in Malawi on Thursday.
Her first-ever visit to Africa is also her first extended solo international trip as first lady, during which she is helping to promote child welfare and education.
Friends: After her safari, and subsequent visit to the children's home, Melania changed her ensemble before joining Kenya's first lady for a meeting at the State House in Nairobi
Taking center stage: After the show was over, Melania and Margaret joined the performers on stage for a photo opp, with some of the young participants flashing peace signs at the camera
Further details about her trip will likely come to light next week, when ABC News will air an exclusive sit-down interview with Melania as part of a special edition of 20/20.
According to a release issued by the network, the 'wide-ranging interview' with Tom Llamas, which took place during the first few days of Melania's Africa trip, will feature as part of Being Melania: The First Lady, which is set to air on Friday, October 12 at 10pm ET.
Egypt marked her final stop on her tour of the continent which focuses on child welfare, education, tourism and conservation.
According to her spokesperson, Stephanie Grisham, the focus of Melania's tour, which will end in Egypt, is humanitarian efforts, specifically those funded by US government aid, and those that work to better the lives of children.
Another key purpose of her tour is to promote 'education, healthcare, some conservation, and tourism'.
Melania is expected to return to Washington, DC on October 7.
A teacher at a Christian school was refused sick leave to visit an IVF clinic because her sexuality is 'self-inflicted'.
Jayne, who wishes to remain anonymous, was working at the religious school in Brisbane in 2015 when she and her wife decided to have a baby by undergoing IVF treatment.
Jayne claims that other heterosexual staff at the school had been offered time off to get the same treatment.
Jayne was working at the religious school in Brisbane in 2015 when she had her wife decided to undergo IVF treatment (stock image)
However she had been refused the sick-leave due to the fact that she was a lesbian.
'The first thing they said was you're not unfit for work, it's more self-inflicted,' she told The Courier Mail.
'When I argued that I had had medical reasons beside my relationship, they said: "You're also within a lifestyle choice making this more necessary".'
'What my issue was, was that different rulings had been made for others on the basis of their relationships,' Jayne explained.
Since then, Jayne has quit her job at the school.
She and her wife are now expecting their first child.
House Democrats say theyll open an investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh if they win control of the House in November.
Representative Jerrold Nadler, who is in line to become chairman of the Judiciary Committee if Democrats take over the House, made the stunning announcement on Friday.
The New York Democrat said he believes the Senate Republicans and FBI led a 'whitewash' investigation after the Judiciary Committee permitted a week-long probe into Kavanaugh's past.
Representative Jerrold Nadler announced that if Democrats win over the House then they will launch an investigation into the sexual assault accusations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh
'It is not something we are eager to do,' Nadler said to the New York Times.
'But the Senate having failed to do its proper constitutionally mandated job of advise and consent, we are going to have to do something to provide a check and balance, to protect the rule of law and to protect the legitimacy of one of our most important institutions,' he added.
The investigation would take a deeper look into accusations of sexual assault and misconduct against Kavanaugh that have been made by multiple women and date back more than three decades.
It would also take a closer look at the allegations made by principal accuser Christine Blasey Ford.
Nadler said House Democrats would call for a closer look at the allegations made against Kavanaugh by Christine Blasey Ford and by other accusers who have come forward as well
He condemned Senate Republicans and FBI for conducting a 'whitewash' probe into the allegations against Kavanaugh
'We have to assure the American people either that it was a fair process and that the new justice did not commit perjury, did not do these terrible things, or reveal that we just dont know because the investigation was a whitewash,' Nadler said.
He didn't threaten to impeach Kavanaugh but if given power, the Committee could subpoena cooperation into a more thorough investigation into the Judge's past.
Nader expressed interest in interviewing all of Kavanaugh's accusers and those who can speak on their behalf. He added he would like to speak to the Judge himself but it may be difficult if he's confirmed.
The Senate is set to vote to confirm Kavanaugh tomorrow. As of Friday there were 51 confirmed votes for Kavanaugh and 49 against.
In U.S. history only one Supreme Court Justice has ever been impeached - but that was in 1804.
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Members of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang have been surrounded by heavily-armed police as they gather for a weekend celebration.
Armed plainclothes police officers along with the Public Order Response unit descended on the Rebels' clubhouse in Sunshine West, Melbourne, on Saturday.
More than 100 Rebels bikies arrived from around Australia on Friday and were forced through a series of rigorous police checkpoints.
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Members of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang have been surrounded by heavily-armed police as they gather for a weekend celebration
Others were from Sydney's Mount Druitt chapter and wore black jumpers, shirts and vests with bold white writing with the gang's logos to indicate their membership and area
The clubhouse remained under close guard on Saturday afternoon as a series of Harley-Davidson convoys blazed up and down the highway outside their industrial unit base.
Bikies seen gathered at the site, located in an industrial area 15km outside of the CBD, appeared to be under strict instructions not to talk to the media.
But one member told Daily Mail Australia he was looking forward to a weekend away with his friends.
'We're just here to have a good time and catch up with mates we haven't seen in a while,' he said.
Those inside the Fairbairn Street base looked like they were in the mood to celebrate, with one member driving a car loaded to the roof with beer into the building in the middle of the afternoon.
Another bikie called Kurt carrying out his lookout duties said he had travelled from interstate to be at the event.
Members of the gang have travelled from as far away as Western Australia to take part in the event.
A number of police officers heavily patrolled the venue where over 100 members of the Rebels motorcycle gang attended
Those inside the Fairbairn Street base were in the mood to celebrate, with one member driving a car loaded to the roof with beer into the building in the middle of the afternoon
The clubhouse remained under close guard on Saturday afternoon as a series of Harley-Davidson convoys blazed up and down the highway outside their industrial unit base
Bikies seen gathered at the site, located in an industrial area 15km outside of the CBD, appeared to be under strict instructions not to talk to the media
Others were from Sydney's Mt Druitt chapter and wore black jumpers, shirts and vests with bold white writing with the gang's logos to indicate their membership and area.
Names of beloved gang members who have died were visible on one bikie's jumper including Simon Rasic, Micky D and Matty King below the words 'rest in peace'.
Simon Rasic, known as 'The King', was sergeant-of-arms of the motorcycle gang, who died due natural causes at age 43 in 2014.
Michael 'Ruthless' Davey, known as Micky D was gunned down and killed in Sydney's west in early 2016 while Matt King reportedly died after a drug overdose in October 2013.
Names of gang members who have died were visible on one bikie's jumper including Simon Rasic, Micky D and Matty King
Britons looking to make the most of their weekend could face major disruption as rail services across large parts of the UK will be crippled due to strikes.
Workers on South Western Railway (SWR) and Arriva Rail North are set to take industrial action in a row over the role of guards on trains.
SWR said just half of its services would run today, while just a third of Northern trains are expected to be in action. Customers have been urged to check before travelling.
RMT members who work for SWR are on the second day of a 48-hour strike. It is the seventh 24-hour strike of nine planned for Northern RMT members
Members of South Western Rail's union, the RMT, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the 48-hour walkout, which began yesterday.
RMT members who work for SWR are on the second day of a 48-hour strike. It is the seventh 24-hour strike of nine planned for Northern RMT members.
The RMT is calling for a guarantee that guards will remain on trains and halt the 'driver-only' operations.
Some routes on SWR will not have any train service or a replacement bus services, with customers urged to check their website before travelling. Tickets can be used on additional bus operators outside of London.
An SWR spokesperson said: 'We continue to call on the RMT to talk to us rather than strike.'
A further strike on SWR is planned on 15 October, with walkouts also planned on Northern on 13 and 20 October.
Northern has said a 'very limited' service will be running and urged passengers to check if trains are running up to the 'last minute before travelling'.
Only a third of services are expected to be running and the operator admitted 'very few' trains will be running before 9am and after 6pm.
Some routes on Arriva North will have no services at all but there is bus replacement services.
Liverpool is expected to come under severe pressure today, where The Giants festival is due to draw thousands of revellers.
Northern regional director Liam Sumpter called on customers to plan their journeys carefully. 'Those services we are able to run will be extremely busy,' he said.
Rachael Maskell, shadow transport minister, said the spike in crime 'underlines the importance of a properly staffed railway to keep passengers and employees safe'.
News of the strikes come as new figures show that train operators apologised more than 420,000 times in 2018 after delays rose to their highest level in 12 years.
The analysis, carried out by sorryfortheinconvenience.co.uk, was carried out on rail firms social media accounts and found that they have said sorry at least 1,530 times a day on average since the start of the year.
The Association of British Commuters said: 'The frustration caused by this never-ending industrial action can no longer be tolerated. The government must step in and guarantee a second staff member on every train, which is essential to the long term rights of all passengers, especially older and disabled people's rights to equal access.'
A Qantas flight bound for Sydney has been forced to make an emergency landing in Perth after an issue on board the aircraft.
Flight QF64 flying from Johannesburg to Sydney was diverted to the Western Australian airport after an 'issue' with the aircraft, a spokesperson told PerthNow.
The flight departed from South Africa on Friday night, and was expected to land in Sydney just before 3pm on Saturday.
Flight QF64 departed from the South African capital on Friday night, and was expected to land in Sydney just before 3pm on Saturday
The Boeing 747 touched down in Perth to refuel just after 12pm.
A spokesperson for Sydney Airport said the flight was due to arrive at 7.30pm - more than four hours later than scheduled.
The Qantas flight was believed to have left two hours later than expected from Johannesburg.
A Qantas spokesperosn told the Daily Mail Australia the aircraft made the planned stop due to a technical issue with the fuel pump.
Flight QF64 is now on-route to Sydney after the stop at Perth Airport.
On Thursday, a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing at Sydney Airport after a mayday call from the pilot that he was running out of fuel.
Kremlin-backed trolls have been targeting Western teenagers with memes featuring celebrities and Harry Potter characters, it has emerged.
Twitter accounts run from Russia have gathered thousands of young British followers, targeting impressionable youngsters with posts about a range of issues including Brexit, feminism and the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
Moscow-based accounts have also sought to sow fears in the West with Twitter campaigns undermining public confidence in vaccines and genetically modified foods.
Highlighting the issue of GM crops may be intended to foster divisions between Europe and the United States, where they are more widespread, The Times reports.
In one meme shared on Twitter, Harry Potter actress Emma Watson is quoted saying that feminism had become 'synonymous with man-hating'
Twitter accounts run from Russia have gathered thousands of young British followers, targeting impressionable youngsters using celebrities such as Cara Delevingne (left)
The Russian trolling campaign has also spread to YouTube where Western teenagers have been exposed to a channel labelled the 'Blue Peter of Russian propaganda'.
In one meme shared on Twitter, Harry Potter actress Emma Watson is quoted saying that feminism had become 'synonymous with man-hating'.
One teenager told the newspaper the Russian-sponsored memes looked believable, saying: 'If I saw one of these on my social media I would probably sent it to one of my group chats not even realising where it came from and its purpose'.
An expert in Russian disinformation from Clemson University, South Carolina, said: 'What they are doing is political warfare on an industrial scale, and it is aimed at all western democracy.
'It is well funded, it is dangerous and it is hiding in plain sight.'
One Russian-backed campaign targeting GM crops used the profile of an attractive young woman - who called herself OrganicErica - to praise Russia's anti-GM stance.
Moscow-based accounts have also sought to sow fears in the West with Twitter campaigns undermining public confidence in vaccines and genetically modified foods
The account reportedly sent the same pattern of messages every day, suggesting it was an automated bot.
Experts said the 'bikini troll' has become one of Moscow's leading methods of gaining followers in the West.
Many of the GM-related tweets were linked to the Internet Research Agency which has also been accused of spreading fake news during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Some troll accounts have also promoted wilder theories including a flat earth and the 'chemtrails' conspiracy alleging that plans spread chemicals behind them for secret government purposes.
Last year it emerged that an account wrongly accusing a Muslim woman of ignoring the victims of the Westminster terror attack was run from Russia.
A viral photograph of the Muslim woman accused her of walking past the injured victims while checking her mobile phone, but the photographer later revealed she was calling for help and a later frame showed her visibly distressed.
Last year it emerged that an account wrongly accusing a Muslim woman of ignoring the victims of the Westminster terror attack was run from Russia
The account was later revealed as a Russian bot in a list published by American Democrats, prompting Twitter to shut the account down.
The latest claims come after days of revelations about Russian intelligence officers' attempts to hack the international body investigating the Novichok attack.
Dutch authorities disclosed on Thursday how they thwarted an attempted cyber attack on the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.
Moscow has called the accusations 'another orchestrated act of propaganda' as part of an 'anti-Russian campaign of spy mania'.
Earlier this week it was claimed that most of the Twitter accounts blamed for spreading false information during the 2016 election in America are still active.
Researchers believe the fake news accounts are still publishing more than a million tweets a day, just weeks before the U.S. votes in midterm elections.
The study by the Knight Foundation - which found as many as 70 per cent of the fake news accounts may be bots - comes in spite of Twitter's claims that it has cracked down on bogus accounts, many of which have been linked to Russia.
Barbara Broccoli (pictured) says that James Bond will never be played by a woman
Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has ruled out the possibility the amorous spy could ever be played by a woman.
Mrs Broccoli, the daughter of Cubby Broccoli, the man responsible for turning Ian Flemings espionage novels into the worlds biggest spy film franchise, has insisted the part was written for a man and should remain a man.
Last night the 58-year-old said: Bond is male. Hes a male character. He was written as a male and I think hell probably stay as a male. And thats fine.
We dont have to turn male characters into women. Lets just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters.
It marks a significant U-turn for the Bond matriarch who last year responded to a question about whether future Bonds could be black or female by saying anything is possible.
She said at the time: These films tend to reflect the times so we always try to push the envelope a little bit.
Barbara Broccoli (picture centre) with Daniel Craig (pictured left) and director Sam Mendes (pictured right). Mrs Broccoli
Anything is possible. Right now its Daniel Craig, and Im very happy with Daniel Craig, but who knows what the future will bring?
Mrs Broccoli, whose first taste of the spy franchise was at the tender age of 17 when she worked in the publicity department for the The Spy Who Loved Me, has overseen many incarnations of Bond.
As current head of Eon Productions she reinvented Bond from a tall, dark-haired agent played by Sir Roger Moore to a blond assassin played by Daniel Craig.
Rumours continue to circulate that under her watch, Idris Elba, 45, will play the first black James Bond.
Mrs Broccoli says that she is happy with actor Daniel Craig currently playing the role of James Bond
The executive producer admitted Bond films were not widely considered to be feminist, but insisted women were portrayed more fairly under Mr Craigs Bond.
She said people reference those early movies. It was written in the 50s, so theres certain things in [Bonds] DNA that are probably not gonna change.
She told the Guardian: But look at the way the world has changed. And I think Bond has come through and transformed with the times.
Mrs Broccoli and Mr Craig in 2008. The executive producer insisted women were portrayed 'more fairly' under Mr Craig's Bond
'Ive tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, theyve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed.
Mr Elbas chances to become Bond were given a significant boost when it was revealed last month that Mrs Broccoli had reportedly told a director friend that it is time for a non-white actor to take the role.
American director, Antoine Fuqua, 52, said: Idris could do it if he was really tight and in shape. He doesnt look 45. No one would even know.
A prominent horse racing figure whose wife remains in a coma after she was seriously injured in a police chase gone wrong says he'd be lost without his beloved thoroughbreds.
Bert Vieira spends most nights sitting beside his wife Gai's hospital bed, where she remains in a coma following the horror car crash at Cronulla in Sydney's south on September 5.
As a result of the crash, the 58-year-old remains in a critical condition after she sustained a broken pelvis, elbow, ankle, ribs, a punctured lung and bleeding on the brain.
Mr Vieira has taken time away from racing to be by his wife's side, but his family is encouraging him to be trackside when his beloved stallion Trapeze Artist runs in The Everest next weekend, the world's richest horse race.
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Bert Vieira (pictured), whose wife is fighting for her life in hospital, says he wants the police officer who smashed into her car to be held accountable
Gai's Vieira (pictured) was rushed to hospital after a police car - involved in a high-spreed chase pursuing a driver on their phone - smashed into her Mercedes at 124km/h
Gai Vieira was rushed to hospital after a police car - involved in a high-speed chase pursuing a driver using their mobile phone - smashed into her Mercedes at 124km/h.
The 58-year-old took the impact of the crash while her three-year-old grandson, who was sitting in the back seat, escaped uninjured.
While Mr Vieira remains positive about his wife's recovery, he can't believe anything so tragic could have happened in the first place, The Daily Telegraph reported.
'Why did it happen to her? The most beautiful, the most loving personality,' Mr Vieira said.
Along with his children Cassie and Trent, Ms Vieira take turns reading inspiring messages of hope, prayers and words to the matriarch, willing her to get better.
Mr Vieira's family members are encouraging the horse racing figure to take time away from the bedside next weekend when his beloved horse Trapeze Artist (pictured) runs in The Everest
While Ms Vieira has shown some subtle signs of improvement, such as wiggling her toes in response to videos of her grandchildren, she is mostly unresponsive.
Mr Vieira remains hopeful but said if it weren't for his beloved thoroughbreds he would be 'lost'.
'Without the horses, I don't know, I know you've got to have something and I don't have anything else all my life has been with her,' he said.
Since the accident, Mr Vieira has avoided going to work altogether, instead, spending his time with his wife, allowing son Trent to run the family business.
Despite the last few weeks being especially traumatic, Mr Vieira (left) said he and his wife (right) are firm believers that - as tragic is it might sound - everything happens for a reason
Despite the last few weeks being especially traumatic, Mr Vieira said he and his wife are firm believers that - as tragic is it might sound - everything happens for a reason.
And in this case, he believes the reason is for 'things' to be changed - specifically to prevent high-speed police chases for 'minor matters'.
'It's got to stop - for my wife's sake - for the next wife, husband, or child who could be the next innocent victim of a police high speed chase,' he said.
The police officer who crashed into the driver's side of Ms Vieira's Mercedes has since been charged with dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.
But Mr Vieira said it's not enough and is calling for the NSW government to follow the example of other states and stop police from pursuing drivers for minor matters.
The horse owner is urging others to turn up to court on November 12 to show their support for law reform in regards to 'minor matter' police pursuits.
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One of the biggest events on the Australian motorsport calendar is in full gear.
Thousands of revved up petrolheads have made the annual pilgrimage to New South Wales' central west to Mount Panorama for the Bathurst 1000.
After a wet start of the festivities on Friday which failed to put a dampener on the spirits of drivers or fans, the sun was shining down on Bathurst by Saturday afternoon, just in time for the Top 10 shootout.
One punter stood out from the crowd with his 'mobile' Esky, worth more than $35,000.
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Who says the Bathurst 1000 is just for the blokes? These girls are enjoying the action on and off the track
It wouldn't be a Bathurst 1000 without stunning grid girls trackside at Mount Panorama
Bananas in Pajamas B1 and B2 stood out from the crowd at Bathurst's Mount Panorama on Saturday
The Bathurst 1000 was a chance for these high spirited mates to let their hair down with a few beers
David Reynolds will go into the final day of racing on Sunday in pole position for a second consecutive year after the reigning race champion took out Saturday's thrilling Top 10 shootout by 0.94 seconds, edging out Jamie Whincup.
While the drivers battled it out on the circuit in their quest to become King of the Mountain, there was just as much action off the track.
Whether it was snaring an autograph from their favourite driver, snapping a selfie with a hot grid girl, checking out the cars or enjoying a beer or two with mates, Mount Panaroma had something to keep everyone busy.
Former racing car driver turned television games show host and Bathurst local Grant Denver was also trackside and a big hit with fans.
Brad Denning's 10 metre long mobile esky worth $35,000 named Team Bin Racin (pictured) was nine years in the making
Some early Saturday morning drizzle didn't dampen the spirits of these ladies at the track
Former racing car driver turned television games show host and Bathurst local Grant Denver (left) was a big hit with fans
Sydneysider Brad Denning made the two-and-a-half hour trek from Sydney and has attracted a lot of attention with his 10 metre long mobile esky worth $35,000 and nine years in the making.
Named Team Bin Racin, it has everything he and partner Michelle Branch need for their weekend getaway, including a 40-inch and 50 televisions with their own sound systems, 20-inch televisions with PlayStations and simulators, a dry ice Esky, tap with running water, a fully-stocked fridge, barbecue and a Foxtel satellite dish.
'It gets bigger every year, but I am running out of space and pulling power,' Mr Denning told The Sunday Telegraph.
'It makes things very easy. We have beer and did a 6.5kg pork roast last night while watching Friday Night Live on Foxtel.'
Team Bin Racin (pictured) has everything Brad Denning and partner Michelle need for three days of Bathurst 1000 action
Local Bathurst leaders have predicted record crowds for this year's Bathurst 1000
Mount Panorama has hosted the 1,000-kilometre race since 1963
Bathurst deputy mayor Bobby Bourke predicted a record crowd for this year's Bathurst 1000.
'I walked in here at around about 11am and I had trouble walking through the entrance from the crowd. I thought it was Sunday and it's only Saturday,' he told the Western Advocate.
'I'd say the crowd here tomorrow will be a record crowd, [it is] essentially a record crowd here today. It's good to see.'
This racing fan and his lady friends had a cheeky one fingered salute for the cameras
There was just as much action off the track than on it at Mount Panorama on Saturday
Put your hands in the air if you're having a great time in Bathurst, like these guys
It's not just the racing car drivers that turn heads at Mount Panorama each year
This year's Bathurst 1000 will be the last for retiring legend and six-time race winner Craig Lowndes, who finished ninth in Saturday's Top 10 shootout.
Known as the Great Race, Mount Panorama has hosted the 1,000-kilometre race since 1963.
It was held at Victoria's Phillip Island for three years prior to that.
The winner is presented the Peter Brock Trophy in honour of the late racing car champion who's the most successful driver in the history of the race, having won the event nine times.
hether it was snaring an autograph from their favourite driver, snapping a selfie with hot grid girls (pictured), checking out the cars or enjoying a beer or two with mates, Mount Panaroma had something to keep everyone busy.
The rainy weather cleared up by Saturday afternoon as fans flocked to Mount Panorama
Retiring racing car legend Craig Lowndes was in hot demand in lead up to his last Bathurst 1000
Record numbers of visitors camped out at and near Mount Panorama
A resilient therapy dog who lost all four of her paws has inspired humans who have also had a limb amputated to carry on.
Golden Retriever Chi Chi was left for dead in South Korea, with her legs bound together, her skin worn down to the bone and with her flesh necrotising.
The horrific abuse left her needing a quadruple amputation to save her life and it was believed she would never walk again.
But the adorable pup has bounced back by helping others who have lost a limb or have an injury to cope - and she has now been awarded for her bravery at the American Humane Hero Dog Awards.
Chi Chi has four prosthetic paws and loves to walk, play and work with people as a therapy dog
The golden retriever was rescued after being tied up in a rubbish bag inside a dumpster in South Korea
Owner Elizabeth Howell said: 'She helps people see life in a different way. One person told me, if Chi Chi can carry on with four amputated limbs they can do it with one.
'People with depression have told us how they didn't want to get out of bed, but then they saw a post about Chi Chi and what she does motivates them.
'Then with children, we are able to communicate important messages about disability and that people with differences are just like anyone else.
'We try to show people that disabilities shouldn't define a person's ability or potential. They should still follow their dreams.'
Chi Chi is an 'inspiration' to many people as they see that they can also do as much as the brave dog
Human friends: She is now a certified therapy dog, and has visits with people who are disabled, just like her
Buds: She has a bond with ten-year-old Owen Mahan. Ninety-eight per cent of Owen's body was burned by boiling water in an accident when he was two, and he lost both of his legs
Good doggie! Chi Chi, who is thought to be four years old, won American Humane's 2018 Hero Dog award in the Therapy Dog category
On Friday, American Human hosted the Hero Dog Awards, where dogs doing great things were honored on stage. The ceremony was filmed and will air on the Hallmark Channel on October 24.
Chi Chi, a four-year-old Golden Retriever, took home the top honor in the Therapy Dog category, and earned a special purple harness for the win.
Two years ago, Chi Chi nearly died when someone tossed her into a dumpster inside a garbage bag in South Korea.
By the time she was found, her legs were worn to the bone and had necrotized, so the only way to save her was to amputate parts of all four of her legs.
Soon after, she was rescued by the Howell family in Phoenix, Arizona.
Some pup! She was honored on stage on Friday, and the ceremony will air on October 24 on the Hallmark Channel
Poor little pooch: Chi Chi has had all four of her paws amputated and wears prosthetics
A bit of fun! Chi Chi also visits with the elderly and cheers them up
'When she first arrived at our home, she was afraid of people,' the family told American Humane. 'But with time and lots of love and grace, she realized that she is safe and no one will ever hurt her again. She forgave and decided to trust people again.'
They got her a pair of custom prosthetics, which are purple and allow her to easily pad around the house.
As she began to do better, Chi Chi became a certified Therapy Dog. Her owners now take her to visit the sick, the elderly, and the disabled, and have even introduced her to children with amputated limbs.
One of those children is ten-year-old Owen Mahan from Indiana, who flew to Phoenix to visit Chi Chi after falling in love with her on social media and feeling a connection to her. Ninety-eight per cent of Owen's body was burned by boiling water in an accident when he was two, and he lost both of his legs.
'They both had to endure such horrible things and they both still have such a positive outlook on life,' Owen's mom Susan told People. 'To see them together was amazing. There's a lot of mean in the world and these two bring out the good.'
Chi Chi has plenty of fans, especially now that she is an award-winner.
She sees the doggy bowl as half-full! Still, she remains in high spirits and is a happy companion
Tragic: In 2016, Chi Chi was left for dead by owners in South Korea, who bound his legs and tossed him into a dumpster inside a trash bag (pictured shortly after his rescue)
Cared for: Doctors had to amputate his paws, but he was soon adopted by a family in Phoenix, Arizona
Struggles: The dog still has health issues, including Lupus and now cancer
Pictured: Molds for Chi Chi's prosthetics, which his adoptive family had custom made
'When people meet Chi Chi, they are inspired by her courage, perseverance, ability to overcome adversity and her never give up attitude,' says the family.
'She exemplifies resilience and forgiveness and openly shares her love and compassion in abundance.'
Unfortunately, the struggles aren't over for Chi Chi, who has continued to have health problems. According to the family's GoFundMe page, she also has Lupus, for which she take medication and has laser therapy.
What's more, in 2017 doctors found that Chi Chi had two mast cell Skin Cancer tumors.
They successfully removed them, but she has continued to develop more cancer, and has come down with nasal and thyroid cancer as well.
'It's been really difficult,' owner Elizabeth Howell told People. 'She's been through so much, and survived so much, and she's a fighter, and to have her have to go through all of this too it isn't fair. She has so much more love and joy to give and share with the world.
He's a brave little guy! Chi Chi is a happy dog, though he also suffers from Lupus and is on a lot of medication
Fetch! In December, he had his first tumors removed, but he continued to fight cancer with chemoterpay
Said her family: 'When people hear Chi Chi's story and experience her attitude of joy, they are often inspired to face their challenges with renewed courage and a fresh perspective'
As she continued to battle cancer and other serious health problems, she also hasn't stopped bringing joy to her family and her 42,000 Instagram followers.
'Her sweet-tempered and gentle spirit opens people's hearts and her perceptive spirit senses where her love is needed,' the family said.
'When people hear Chi Chi's story and experience her attitude of joy, they are often inspired to face their challenges with renewed courage and a fresh perspective.
'Chi Chi brings joy everywhere she goes and her optimism and smile spreads quickly to others. She positively impacts thousands of people all over the world via her online Therapy work through her social media account.
Dutch influencer Charlotte Groeneveld wore a pair of Chloe socks with matching heels during Paris Fashion Week last Thursday
Designer socks are the must-have accessory this season - and fashionistas have even been spotted wearing them under their stilettos.
The high fashion crowd isn't interested in a statement bag or impressive heels this Autumn, but a very pricey pair of socks.
These designer accessories could cost as much as 855 for a single pair - with Gucci, Chloe, and Prada among the designers offering the luxury garment.
Designer socks made an impression at New York Fashion Week, when model Natalie Suarez wore a pair of pink and green Gucci socks with sandals in the front row at a Michael Kors show.
Then in Milan, mesh black socks made their way down the runway styled with dresses and stilettos in a Dolce & Gabbana show, the Times reported.
But it's Chloe's 115 socks that are the most popular among Instagram influencers on the streets of Paris - and these aren't even the most expensive pair on the market.
Gucci have a pair on sale for 855 - embellished with crystal beads in an interlocking G design.
This is one of 14 designs the Italian brand has on offer, including a classic brown and tan pair covered with the GG design for 90.
Alessandro Michele, the creative director for Gucci, has been credited for this high fashion makeover of socks.
His models donned classic green and red striped pairs under open-toed shoes at the designer's 2016 show.
And now, there are dozens of luxury pairs on the market for fashionistas to splash their cash on.
Designer socks are the must-have accessory this season - and they could cost as much as 855 for a single pair
Designer socks made an impression at New York Fashion Week, when model Natalie Suarez wore a Gucci pair (pictured left, Veronika Heilbrunner and right, a guest at Paris Fashion Week)
Alessandro Michele, the creative director for Gucci, has been credited for this high fashion makeover of socks
Balenciaga, Burberry and Valentino are among the designers selling the garment for 85, 50 and 75 respectively.
But the resurgence of a bold socks-and-sandals look isn't all that's shaken the fashion world this season.
Pop socks have also made a high fashion return - Prada are selling a sheer black pair for 70.
A 35-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a mum-of-four who was found stabbed to death after she failed to turn up for the school run.
Avan Najmadeen, 32, was pronounced dead after being found with multiple stab wounds on Monday.
Dana Abdullah, an Iranian-born man of no fixed address, appeared before magistrates at North Staffordshire Justice Centre this morning accused of killing Ms Najmadeen.
He was remanded in custody to appear at Stafford Crown Court on Tuesday.
Police launched a murder probe after the body of the 32-year-old was discovered at her home after she failed to turn up at school to pick up her children.
Mum-of-four Avan Najmadeen was found dead at her home in Fenton after teachers at her child's school raised the alarm when she failed to pick them up
Teachers raised the alarm and police forced their way into the property on Glebedale Road, in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent at around 5pm on Monday.
Minutes later, police reportedly forced their way into the home she shared with her four sons, believed to be between four and 11 years old.
Neighbours said the family had only moved into the three-bedroom semi-detached house two months ago.
A post mortem revealed she died as a result of multiple stab wounds.
Police forced their way into the property on Glebedale Road and found Avan Najmadeen with multiple stab wounds
A neighbour who did not want to be named, said 'I didn't know her really she's only been here for around ten to 12 weeks.
'I knew she had kids but I didn't know if she had a partner - I didn't hear anything at all when it happened.
'All the children used to play in the front garden all the time. It's a horrible thing to have happened.'
Another neighbour added: 'I've seen the woman around quite a lot, I think she was in the house most of the time with her kids. She moved in quite recently.
'It's very sad what has happened. Her partner, I think, used to come around quite a lot but I only saw him a few times - I'm not sure if he lived there.'
Two other men, both 33, who were also arrested on suspicion of murder, have been released - one with no further action and one released under investigation.
Dana Abdullah will appear in court today charged with the murder of Avan Najmadeen at her home in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent on Monday
Police asked anyone with dashcam footage of Glebedale Road around the time of the killing to get in tough as it could hold vital clues.
Detective Inspector Victoria Downing, from Staffordshire Police, said: 'Enquiries into Avan's tragic death are continuing and we are urgently appealing for any driver who may have dashcam footage from around Glebedale Road on Monday October 1 between 9am and 4pm to contact us.
'Avan had lived in Fenton Road with her four children and we are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen her or knows her movements over the weekend of September 28 to 30, before she was found on Monday afternoon.'
At least 13 police cars, ambulances and fire engines were scrambled to the scene at around 5pm on Monday before a cordon was set up.
Anyone with information about Ms Najmadeen's death is asked to call Staffordshire Police.
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An aerial video shows the moment an Indonesian village was wiped out in the devastating tsunami and earthquake, amid fears decaying bodies of the victims could cause a further public health crisis.
The death toll has climbed again to 1,649 and hundreds of people are still missing, eight days after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake sent destructive waves barrelling into the seaside city.
Shocking overhead footage in the Balaroa and Petobo neighbourhoods shows the ground turning to mud and thousands of homes being torn apart and sucked into the earth as the natural disaster struck last week.
With the search still going - and as many as a thousand people still potentially missing - there are fears that vast numbers of decomposing bodies may still be buried beneath the city and could contaminate the rescue workers.
Officials said the the worst-hit areas would have to be declared mass graves and left untouched, with rescue workers vaccinated amid fears they could contract diseases such as typhoid or cholera.
Rescue workers and a soldier remove a victim of last week's earthquake in the Balaroa neighbourhood in Palu on Saturday as officials said the death toll had risen again
Indonesian and Japanese military personnel unload relief aid from a Japan Air Force plane
Residents walk towards the gate before boarding military airplanes for evacuations at the Mutiara SIS Al-Jufrie Airport in Palu, eight days after the devastating tsunami-quake
Satellite images show the devastating impact of the earthquake as ground turned to mud and houses were swept away
Hopes of finding more survivors are fading but the country's president Joko Widodo has said all of the victims must be found.
The areas of Petobo and Balaroa have been virtually wiped off the map, with soldiers wearing masks to ward off the stench of death clambering over mounds of mud and brick.
'Most of the bodies we have found are not intact, and that poses a danger for the rescuers. We have to be very careful to avoid contamination,' Indonesia's search and rescue body said.
After days of delays, international aid is slowly making its way to the disaster zone, where the UN says almost 200,000 people need humanitarian assistance.
This morning French rescue experts began hunting through a huge expanse of debris on the outskirts of Palu, while the Japanese air force unloaded relief aid from a cargo plane.
British military experts and an RAF A400M aircraft stationed in the Middle East have also been sent to help in the relief effort.
The Queen made a private donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for survivors of the Indonesia earthquake and tsunami, Buckingham Palace announced.
Thousands of survivors continued to stream out of Palu to nearby cities in the aftermath of the disaster. Hospitals remain overstretched and short on staff and supplies.
Indonesian soldiers carry a dead body from the debris in Perumnas Balaroa village today
Kusniran, 34, who lost her newborn baby Grace Suharso, at a floating hospital in Pantoloan
Indonesian people check for valuable items at a devastated area in Mamboro on Saturday
A part of a collapsed mosque is seen along with debris at Perumnas Balaroa village today
A victim of last week's earthquake is recovered in the Balaroa neighbourhood in Palu today
Hundreds of people are believed to be entombed in slowly drying mud that enveloped communities in the south of the small city.
Bodies like these can easily fuel the spread of typhoid or cholera.
The authorities say they will take finger prints and digital images to allow for facial recognition technology at a later date, making sure the dead do not remain anonymous.
Survivors have ransacked shops and supply trucks in the hunt for basic necessities, prompting security forces to round up dozens of suspected looters and warn that they will open fire on thieves.
Hundreds of people rushed a truck on Saturday carrying gas cylinders for cooking, with long and desperate queues quickly forming.
One supermarket that opened its doors refused to allow people inside, instead passing goods through the door as armed troops stood watch.
People inspect the Palu Empat bridge that was destroyed during the devastating earthquake and tsunami eight days ago
Indonesian rescuers recover bodies from the debris in Palu eight days after the disaster
Indonesian soldiers walk through debris at Perumnas Balaroa village as rescue work continues
The remains of a mosque destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami seen in Palu this morning
A damaged boat is seen stranded on a beach in Mamboro today a week after the disaster
A local resident inspects some ruins in Petobo, Palu, more than a week after the earthquake and tsunami hit the island
A convoy of five hundred trucks laden with donated food, cooking oil and other essentials was on its way to Palu.
Project HOPE, a medical NGO, said only two of its 82 staff in Palu had reported for duty since the quake.
'We still don't know the fate of the clinic doctors, nurses and technicians who usually staff the clinic,' the organisation said in a statement.
A floating hospital run by the Indonesian navy and docked in Palu has already assisted with the delivery of four babies, local media reported.
Getting vital supplies to the affected areas has proved hugely challenging, with the number of flights able to land at Palu's small airport still limited, leaving aid workers facing gruelling overland journeys.
Oxfam had sent water treatment units and purification kits to Palu and Swiss aid teams on the ground were providing drinking water and emergency shelter, both said in statements Saturday.
Residents receive medical attention in Sigi, in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi, on Saturday in the aftermath of the tsunami
A villager holds egg, rice and noodles during an aid distribution at the epicentre of the earthquake in Lende Tovea
A US military aeroplane (top) leaves after sending humanitarian aid from the Mutiara SIS Al-Jufrie Airport in Palu
Hermawati, 44, cries near the area where her family members went missing at Perumnas Balaroa village in Indonesia today
A damaged mosque sits in the water near Talise beach in in Palu on Saturday
An elderly woman boards a military plane for evacuation with the help of Indonesian police at the airport in Palu
Displaced people queue for water at a temporary camp in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Saturday
An Indonesian search and rescue member walks near a collapsed mosque on Saturday
Indonesian patients get medical treatment at the floating hospital KRI Soeharso on Saturday
Villagers build a temporary mosque at the epicentre of a devastating earthquake at Lende Tovea village in Donggala
Marines carry a patient into the floating hospital KRI Soeharso, run by the Indonesian navy
Residents wait to board a military plane for evacuation at the airport in Palu on Saturday afternoon
A local resident navigates the ruins of Petobo in Palu with a clock seen at a damaged house
A puppy is seen among the ruins of house at the epicentre of the devastating earthquake in Indonesia eight days ago
An Indonesian military airplane carrying residents of Palu leaves the Mutiara SIS Al-Jufrie Airport in Palu
French police investigating the disappearance of Interpol president Meng Hongwei have placed his family under special protection.
The country's interior ministry said they were under police supervision in Lyon - where Interpol's headquarters are located - after Meng's wife was threatened over the phone and on social media.
Meng, who held many senior positions in Chinese Government since entering politics in 1972, 'disappeared' on September 25 after travelling to his native country.
A source familiar with the investigation said the working assumption was that the 64-year-old had antagonised Chinese authorities and had been detained as a result.
Meng Hongwei's wife and children have been placed under special protection by French police
Hong Kongs South China Morning Post said the Interpol chief had been taken away for questioning by Chinese authorities as soon as he landed in the country.
Interpol said it was aware of reports of the 'alleged disappearance' of its president and said the issue was a matter for France and China.
In a statement, it said: 'This is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China.'
The organisation went out of its way to say that its secretary general, not Meng, was responsible for the day-to-day running of Interpol.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party's secretive internal investigation agency, had no announcements on its website about Meng and could not be reached for comment.
Meng became the first Chinese citizen to be elected as president of Interpol in November 2016 when he replaced French police officer Mireille Ballestrazzi. Meng's term is due to run until 2020.
The Interpol director 'disappeared' after travelling to China last month from Lyon, France
At the time, his appointment raised fears among human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International, that he would be used by the Chinese Government to pursue political dissidents who fled the country.
In 2014, China worked through Interpol to issue notices for 100 Chinese corruption suspects who fled abroad.
Meng has held many senior positions in Chinese Government since entering politics in 1972.
The working assumption is that the he'd antagonised Chinese authorities and had been detained as a result
The 64-year-old served as vice minister of Public Security in China, vice chairman of the national narcotics control commission and director of the National Counter-Terrorism Office for China.
News of Meng's apparent disappearance comes after Chinese officials announced that Hollywood star Fan Bingbing, who also vanished without a trace several months ago, has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in alleged back taxes and penalties.
The announcement of the fines this week by Communist Party officials shed no light on her current whereabouts.
Chinese actress Fan Bingbing disappeared from public view after a scandal over tax evasion
Fan took to social media for the first time in months on Wednesday to apologise to fans and the Communist Party for tax evasion, shortly after news broke that authorities had ordered her to pay nearly $130 million in back taxes and fines.
The 36-year-old took to China's Twitter-like Weibo to acknowledge her wrongs, beg for her supporters' forgiveness, and apologise to 'society, the friends who care about me, the public and the national tax authorities.'
'Without the Party and country's good policies, without the loving attention of the masses, there would be no Fan Bingbing,' she wrote to her 62 million followers.
The 36-year-old actress was previously the highest paid Chinese actress following her role in X-Men (pictured)
She added: 'I've been suffering unprecedented pain recently. I'm so ashamed of what I've done. Here, I sincerely apologize to everyone.
'I completely accept all the penalty decisions made according to law, after the investigation done by tax authorities. I will follow the order, try my best to overcome difficulties, raise fund, pay taxes and fines.'
The actress, model and producer had been a ubiquitous household name in China for years and tasted Hollywood success with a role in the 2014 blockbuster 'X-Men: Days of Future Past.'
But she disappeared from the public eye and her once active social media presence went silent in May after allegations emerged that she had evaded taxes on a lucrative movie shoot, charges her studio called 'slander'.
A woman dubbed the 'Spunky Mumma' has faced court on drug-related charges including trafficking and the supply of ice and MDMA.
Chelsea Shirley Djukich is set to stand trial for drug trafficking and supply charges which date back to 2016.
The mother-of-two briefly appeared in Maroochydore Magistrates Court in Queensland on Friday but will be under house watch until she meets with her lawyer on Wednesday.
Chelsea Shirley Djukich is set to stand trial for drug trafficking and supply charges dating back to 2016 (pictured)
The 42-year-old is also facing charges of failing to appear in magistrates and supreme court and supplying dangerous drugs.
She is also accused of possessing utensils, failing to dispose of a syringe and breaching a community service order.
The accused runaway was extradited from New South Wales to the Sunshine Coast to face the extensive charges, the Courier Mail reported.
Four arrest warrants were issued for Djukich before she was found on September 29 this year.
Four arrest warrants were issued for the mother-of-two before she was found on September 29 this year
Magistrate Matthew McLaughlin said Djukich has 'very large number' of charges and he was 'very reluctant' to deal with any of her charges while she had outstanding supreme court matters.
Djukich social media accounts are rife with scantily dressed images of her self and her friends have dubbed her as a 'spunky mumma'.
She is set to face court again on October 10.
Theresa May has been wooing Labour MPs in an effort to gain their support for her Brexit plan.
Senior Tories have been making secret contact to Labour MPs sympathetic to Brexit hoping them to defy Jeremy Corbyn's plan to collapse the government and force a general election.
Mrs May's closest advisers realise that it is likely hardline Brexiteers in her own party will vote against any deal she brings back from Brussels if it requires Britain to remain in the Customs Union.
Theresa May wants to secure the support of a group of Labour MPs to help pass any Brexit deals she secures from Brussels as she can no longer rely on her own divided party
A group of Brexit hardliners within the Tory party, such as Jacob Ress-Mogg, pictured, have threatened to vote against her deal - especially if it involves Britain remaining within the customs union
Jeremy Corbyn and Labour's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer, left, have told the Prime Minister that any deal will need to pass six tests in order to support the plan
Also, the future of the Irish border could jeopardise the support of the ten DUP MPs, whose leader Arlene Foster described the issue as a 'blood red line' for her party.
According to The Guardian, one Tory source said securing a deal with Brussels which will be acceptable to both sides of her party is akin to 'landing a jumbo jet on the penalty spot'.
The Labour Party officially claims it will vote against any deal which does not meet its six tests - although up to 15 MPs are expected to defy Jeremy Corbyn. Up to 30 could consider abstaining to avoid accusations that they are 'blocking Brexit'.
Officials in Brussels have indicated the chances of a deal with Britain over their exit of the European Union have increased, despite last month's disastrous summit in Salzburg.
Tories loyal to Mrs May have warned that any attempt to topple her and install a hard-line Brexiteer in Number 10 would end in 'collapse and disarray'.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker sounded an upbeat note as he signalled a deal could be hammered out in time for a crunch EU summit in less than two weeks' time.
Both Theresa May, left, and Jeremy Corybn, right are facing Brexit rebellions in their respective parties, with hard-liners on both sides expect to defy the three-line whip
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Junker, pictured, has suggested a deal with Britain over Brexit could be agreed within a fortnight, although senior Tories have said the chance of it uniting the opposing wings of the party is akin to 'landing a jumbo jet on a penalty spot'
As negotiations reached a frantic final phase, Irish government sources suggested an agreement on the crucial border issue was 'very close'.
Mr Juncker struck an unusually positive note when asked if a deal could be made, telling Austrian media: 'I have reason to think that the rapprochement potential between both sides has increased in recent days.'
The remarks raised hopes of a deal at an EU summit on October 17, or at another gathering slated for November.
Labour's six tests for any Brexit Deal Does it ensure a strong and collaborative future relationship with the EU? Does it deliver the "exact same benefits" as we currently have as members of the Single Market and Customs Union? Does it ensure the fair management of migration in the interests of the economy and communities? Does it defend rights and protections and prevent a race to the bottom? Does it protect national security and our capacity to tackle cross-border crime? Does it deliver for all regions and nations of the UK? Advertisement
The comments came as Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan insisted Tory MPs seeking to oust the Prime Minister represented a fringe element.
Warning against a move to replace the PM, Sir Alan told the BBC: 'Don't believe all those things you read in the newspapers and take it that there are a lot of numbers behind the noise.
'And that's where you need to apply a lot of political judgment to work out whether the complainers are just a fringe, or whether they represent the main body of opinion in the middle.
'The main body of opinion in the middle and right to the edges is absolutely solidly behind her.
'Because the idea that we can go for anybody else at the moment is just folly.
'It would lead to collapse and disarray.
'It's not a credible option.'
As talks intensified, Ireland's deputy prime minister Simon Coveney accused leading arch-Brexiteers of peddling 'crazy' ideas about the impact of a no-deal withdrawal.
Mr Coveney's rebuke came as Dublin urged Mrs May to bring forward her proposals to break the deadlock in the Brexit talks over the Northern Ireland border.
When it was put to him that Brexiteers believe the Republic would not erect a border in a no-deal scenario, Mr Coveney told Channel 4 News: 'That is a crazy argument.'
Meanwhile, prominent pro-Europe Labour MP Chris Bryant insisted he had not been involved in talks with the Government on backing a deal after reports Downing Street had launched a 'charm offensive' to try and win opposition support for Mrs May's stance.
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The American aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman has arrived in Hampshire on a mission to 'strengthen regional stability' in the North Atlantic - while Britain's new naval giant HMS Queen Elizabeth is put through her paces on the opposite side of the ocean.
The 1,092-foot U.S. vessel arrived in thick fog on the Hampshire coast on Saturday morning as part of a North Atlantic voyage to 'foster co-operation' with Washington's NATO allies.
Capable of carrying 90 aircraft, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier - named after America's 33rd president who led the country at the end of World War II - returned to sea late last month and has moored near Portsmouth for the weekend.
With the vessel docked at Stokes Bay south of Gosport, local ferry firms have been offering sailing trips to see the aircraft carrier with planes on display on the deck.
After the ship arrived on Saturday morning, queues of hundreds of sailors built up in the hangar as they waited for ferries to take them ashore.
USS Harry S. Truman carrier in Portsmouth on Saturday where thousands of US sailors will spend the weekend
A sailing boat passes the American Aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman as it arrives at Portsmouth in Hampshire
F-18 jets line the deck on board the US Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman following its arrival in Hampshire
Britain's new naval giant HMS Queen Elizabeth Weight: 65,000 tonnes Length: 932 feet Propulsion: Two Rolls-Royce Marine 36MW MT30 gas turbine alternators and four 10MW diesel engines Speed: 25 knots (29mph) Range: 10,000 nautical miles (11,500 miles) Ship's crew: Currently 700, will increase to 1,600 Aircraft carried: Up to 36 fighter jets and 14 helicopters Armament: Three Phalanx guns, four 30mm calibre guns Advertisement
The U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered USS Harry S Truman Weight: 105,000 tonnes Length: 1,092 feet Propulsion: Two Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors and four steam turbines Propellers: Four Speed: 30 knots (35mph) Range: Unlimited Ship's crew: 3,200 Aircraft carried: 90 fixed wing and helicopters Armament: Sea Sparrow, RIM-116 Missile and three Phalanx guns Advertisement
Once on land, the sailors were met by staff from local nightclubs handing out flyers hoping to attract the young crew members into their establishments later on.
Commander Kent 'Brewski' Smith, the ship's navigator, said he was looking forward to seeing a football match.
'European football, I was hoping to catch a game, I heard Arsenal was playing in the next couple of days, hopefully I will get to do that, and working on my soccer cheers,' he said.
Rear Admiral Eugene 'Gene' Black, commander of carrier strike group 8 of the U.S. Navy, said the vessel was a 'symbol of power and flexibility' which could be deployed wherever needed.
Describing the Russian navy, he said: ''They are professional mariners, good aviators, I am not sure I would go as far as eye-watering, I don't lose sleep over them.
'I'm not sure I want to go into describing the threat but I can say we bring a lot of combat power, and when you match it up with Queen Elizabeth in the near future and some of our other Nato partners, I am very very comfortable at our ability to operate where we wish, when we wish.'
Washington's ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson said: 'A warm welcome awaits the USS Harry S Truman here in UK waters for port visit before carrying on with deployment.'
Launched in 1996, the vessel can hold up to 5,500 people, and is home to Black Hawks and a twin rotor Osprey V22 aircraft.
The ship is part of the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet which has a mission to 'advance security and stability in Europe and Africa' in co-operation with its allies.
It previously docked on Britain's south coast in July to provide backup when President Donald Trump made his first visit to the UK since he was elected.
The US Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman, following its arrival into Stokes Bay, Hampshire
A view of the flying deck of the USS Harry S Truman carrier in Portsmouth where the warship has moored for the weekend
US Navy personnel at work at the Harry S. Truman carrier in Portsmouth after it arrived on the south coast on Saturday
The 1,092-foot U.S vessel USS Harry S Truman arrives in thick fog on the Hampshire coast on Saturday morning
U.S. Navy personnel prepare to go ashore in the USS Harry S. Truman after it moored at Britain's south coast on Saturday
A Navy officer stands on the flying deck of the USS Harry S. Truman in the harbour at Portsmouth today
Rear Admiral Eugene H. 'Gene' Black, Commander, Carrier Strike Group 8, talks to the media on the flight deck
Captain Nicholas Dienna, the carrier's commanding officer, said that Stonehenge and HMS Victory were among the top attractions for his crew.
He said: 'From the bottom of the hearts of 5,000 men and women embarked in or assigned to USS Harry S Truman, I would like to say thank you to the people of the UK and the people of the city of Portsmouth for allowing us to spend some well-deserved time to rest in this wonderful city.
'We have been at sea for over a month, we have been working hard, we have been operating to our maximum capacity and we are very much looking forward to a few days sampling your cuisine, seeing the sights and history of this part of the world and retouching with the roots of both of our navies.'
The $4.5billion carrier was designed to 'project American presence and power off any coast, according to naval chiefs.
It has also supported attacks on Islamic State targets in Syria under Operation Inherent Resolve.
The U.S. Navy said the vessel's latest mission was 'fostering co-operation with regional allies and partners, strengthening regional stability, and remaining vigilant, agile and dynamic'.
It comes after stealth fighter jets landed on the deck of the UK's new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, for the first time, as the British vessel is put through its paces on the U.S. east coast.
F-35 Lightning fighter jets touched down on the Royal Navy's 3.1 billion flagship last week in an event which Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said marked Britain's naval 'rebirth'.
He said: 'The largest warship in British history is joining forces with the most advanced fighter jets on the planet. This marks a rebirth of our power to strike decisively from the seas anywhere in the world.
'The historic first landing on the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth is a monumental moment in our country's proud military history. It is also a statement of Britain's determination to promote peace and prevent war.'
More than 500 take-offs and touch-downs are taking place from the warship over 11 weeks, with the jets being put through their paces in a range of weather conditions.
HMS Queen Elizabeth remains set to be deployed on global operations from 2021.
A member of the USS Harry S Truman crew studies a map on board the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier on Saturday afternoon
Aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman can just be seen through thick fog as it arrives at Portsmouth on Saturday
Commanding officer Nicholas Dienna (pictured) said Stonehenge and HMS Victory were among top attractions for his crew
A bust of President Harry S Truman after whom the aircraft carrier is named. He served in the Oval Office from 1945 to 1953
The $4.5billion U.S. carrier (pictured today) was designed to 'project American presence and power off any coast'
An American sailor looks outside with binoculars on board the nuclear-powered USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier
A F-35B lands on board Britain's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time as it carries out tests in the U.S.
Parents are afraid to let their children play outside after a ten-year-old girl was violently attacked in a quiet residential area.
Forensic experts attended the scene in Exmouth, East Devon, following an incident police have described as 'shocking' and 'extreme' attack on a young child.
A 16-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and the force said magistrates in Exeter had granted an application to hold the suspect for further questioning until 5am on Monday.
A member of the public found the child in a distressed state and took her home where emergency services were called
A member of the public found the child in a distressed state and took her home where emergency services were called.
She was later taken to hospital, where she remained last night.
Police said the girl 'remains in the care of her family and health experts', supported by officers from the force's public protection unit.
Superintendent Matt Lawler, the local policing commander for Exeter, East and Mid Devon, said: 'This investigation is being progressed at full pace, with teams from across the force pulling together to establish the facts of what has occurred.
'The complexity, extensive range of our lines of enquiry, and the need to be diligent and thorough, means that we need this further time.
'The victim remains in the care of her family and health experts, together with specially trained officers who have now been able to speak to her about what happened.'
The young girl was later taken to hospital, where she remained receiving treatment last night
Officers also warned local people not to publish rumours about the attack on social media.
Cordons were still in place last night around a wooded area close to where the girl was found after police forensic experts had spent the day searching for evidence.
Residents in the Marley Road area of Brixington where the girl was found have spoken of their shock.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: 'It's quite scary to think that something like this could happen.
'It is just too close to home. My son is six and it's horrible to think that someone could do that to a 10-year-old girl. I won't be letting my son out of the house.'
Police forensics on the scene in Exmouth hunting for clues after the schoolgirl was violently attacked
Dawn Hines said she was out walking her dog when the incident allegedly took place.
She said: 'I have three children and two grandchildren and it's sickening to think something like this could happen here.
'I have lived here for 25 years and it's such a lovely quiet area. I was out walking my dog yesterday afternoon and I could have passed by anyone.
'You just can't imagine something like this to happen. It has left an eerie atmosphere in the area and it's shaken the community.'
Resident Tracie Mitchell, who has a five-year-old daughter, added: 'There's such an eerie feel this afternoon.
'I was in yesterday and it's scary because I live so closely and I didn't hear a thing and I wish I did so I could have helped the poor girl.'
Superintendent Lawler described the attack as a 'shocking event given it is so extreme and rare', adding that the force is 'putting significant resources to this investigation'.
He thanked those members of the public who had come forward with information but re-appealed for anyone who may have CCTV or dashcam footage from the local area on Thursday afternoon to get in touch.
'I would like to thank the public for their messages of support to the young girl and her family, for the feedback and support we have had to officers on patrol and at cordons, and for the information we have had so far,' he said.
A 16-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder after the youngster was attacked near a wooded area
'Our appeal for information on Friday led to the arrest that has been made, however, it is vitally important that anyone who has yet to speak to us and who may have information, dashcam or CCTV footage, comes forward.
'If you were in the immediate area of Marley Road on Thursday afternoon, or may have seen anything suspicious in that area in the past few days, no matter how insignificant, please tell us.'
He earlier stressed that 'this is still very much a live and active police investigation and we are keeping an open mind, which is why it is essential that anyone with information that can assist us, comes forward'.
Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, added: 'It's horrific to know that our kids play in this area all the time and the fact it happened in broad daylight is so frightening.
A 10-year-old girl was found in a distressed state after being attacked near Marley Road, Exmouth
'I was home all afternoon and I heard nothing at all. It has shocked us all.'
One resident, who gave her name as just Lucy, added: 'Most of us can't believe it's happened and right on our doorstep as well.
'Usually our kids would be out playing tonight, but they're not because of this.'
Yesterday Superintendent Lawler warned residents not to post rumours about the incident online as it was causing distress to the victim's family.
He added: 'Given the complexity and sensitivity in supporting the child, the full details of what has happened may take a little while to become clear.
'That said, this a very proactive and thorough ongoing investigation and will involve searches of the scene and local area, house to house and CCTV inquiries, and further detailed forensic work.
'I would ask everyone to try to remain calm and allow the investigation to take place. For example, it is not helpful to spread rumour or speculation on social media, as this may lead to further upset for others, including the family.'
The council linked to the Grenfell Tower disaster has asked for new powers to seize empty properties owned by millionaires, wealthy oligarchs and foreign royalty to use for social housing.
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council (RBKC), proposed a drastic overhaul of rules for acquiring unused properties in a letter to the government.
Kim Taylor-Smith, deputy leader of Conservative-led RBKC wrote a letter to housing minister Kit Malthouse requesting the authority be given the powers to seize empty stock in the borough and use it for social tenants.
Mr Taylor-Smith said in his letter the growing demands for social housing in the west London borough had been 'framed by the Grenfell tragedy', which led to the deaths of 72 people and left hundreds of council tenants homeless in June 2017.
The former Brompton Road Underground station, previously owned by the MoD, was sold for 53m and has been left vacant since 2014 when Ukrainian oligarch, Dmytro Firtash, bought the distinctive building
The Boltons in Kensington and Chelsea. An eight-bedroom property in the street was sold by an American family for 40 million in January this year
Owners of the 1,652 properties listed as unoccupied by RBKC council include a Ukrainian billionaire fighting extradition to the US, a former mayor of New York, a high-profile luxury property developer and a senior television executive.
The plea echoes the calls made by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who demanded homes left vacant by rich overseas investors be 'requisitioned' for survivors left homeless by the fire.
The day after the Grenfell disaster the Labour leader described the borough as 'a tale of two cities' with vast well sitting next to areas of extreme poverty and that the devastating blaze represents 'everything that is unequal and wrong about this country'.
Some the lavish unoccupied properties are just a few hundred yards from the remains of Grenfell Tower.
Duke Lodge building which property developer Christian Candy plans to build a 300 million apartment block
A computer generated image of 300 million apartment block with 26 homes in the 1930s mansion currently valued at 85m
These include Ukrainian oligarch, Dmytro Firtash, who owns the former Brompton Road tube station building, once used as a top secret command centre for Winston Churchill during WWII, but which has been vacant since it was bought for 53m in 2014.
Former New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg's seven bedroom grade II-listed mansion he bought for 16m in 2015 is also said to be on the authority's list.
Luxary property tycoon Christian Candy's apartment block appeared on a list of vacant properties on Kensington and Chelsea council
Other unoccupied buildings include Dukes Lodge, which is listed as owning 26 homes in a 1930s mansion block valued at 85m in 2015.
The building is owned by offshore companies that make up part of Christian Candys vast luxury property business.
CPC London, a subsidiary of Mr Candys property business, said Dukes Lodge was undergoing major refurbishment and was currently unsafe and uninhabitable for use.
Another on the list is Smech Properties Ltd, owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates.
Peter Fincham, the former director of ITV television and controller of BBC1, said a 6m property he owns was in the process of being transferred to a new owner and was being redeveloped.
The list of names were revealed when the details were accidentally sent by the council to multiple organisations, including the Guardian newspaper, and details the confidential council tax information of the property owners.
Kensington and Chelsea borough was said to have a 'huge buy-to-leave investment market', meaning properties are bought and left empty, often to accrue value.
The Grenfall Tower tragedy 'framed' the growing demand for social housing in the west London borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Dmytro Firtash, one of Ukraine's richest men, (right) with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich. He he former the former Brompton Road Underground station, previously owned by the MoD, for 53m in 2014
Mr Taylor-Smith said 621 properties in the area have been empty and unfurnished for more than two years, 347 of which are 'amongst some of the most expensive in the borough', including one worth almost 30 million.
His letter added: 'At the same time, many residents are desperate for a place of their own, but cannot afford to rent or buy in the borough in which they were born, live and work.
'This disparity does not sit easily with the council's leadership team.'
An Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) is required for a local authority to temporarily seize properties and offer them to social tenants, but Mr Taylor-Smith described it as 'cumbersome, slow and expensive, making its use prohibitive'.
The use of EDMOs was restricted in 2012 by then communities secretary Eric Pickles, limiting them to empty properties that have become 'magnets for vandalism, squatters and other forms of anti-social behaviour' and had been empty for two years, according to a House of Commons Library briefing paper.
But Mr Taylor-Smith claimed the prerequisite for a council to demonstrate vandalism had curtailed the use of EDMOs.
Properties owned by UAE Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (left), and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg were listed in a council document of vacant properties that could be temporarily seized if the council gets new powers
'We believe that the burdens can be lightened and EDMOs financially incentivised such that it is easier, quicker and financially viable to target all empty properties that could and should be put to use to alleviate pressing housing needs,' he wrote.
His proposal suggested offering a 'favourable tax scheme' on rent income for owners of property if they agree to offer the premises to the local authority.
'Owners should not lose out. We want to collaborate with, not clobber, the property investor,' Mr Taylor-Smith wrote.
The letter also requested that councils be able to levy a management fee to help cover the costs of taking over the homes.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for multi-million pound properties to be seized the day after the Grenfell tragedy
RBKC owned Grenfell Tower and faced criticism after the fire amid accusations that it and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which ran the block, ignored repeated safety warnings from residents.
The length of time taken to rehouse survivors following the disaster was also condemned, with dozens forced to spend months in hotels.
In response, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said there were no plans to change the system.
A spokeswoman said: 'Local authorities have a range of powers at their disposal to tackle long-term empty homes, and we expect them to use these to best address the needs of their residents.
'We have no plans to change the existing laws in this area, but are clear that all councils have a duty to provide affordable homes.'
Mr Corbyn said in June on the first anniversary of the tragedy: 'A year on I would have thought everybody who was affected by Grenfell would have been rehoused.
'Everybody who had an issue about permanent residency in Britain despite suffering in this fire would have been sorted and been allowed to permanently remain.
'That they would have been rehoused in this area within this community.'
Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski protested Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme court, but social media was more concerned about her outfit
Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski joined about 300 others on Thursday to protest the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who has been accused of multiple counts of sexual assault.
Holding a sign that read: 'Respect female existence or expect our resistance', the 27-year-old helped storm the atrium of a senate office building before being arrested.
Ratajkowski shared news of her arrest on Twitter, accompanied by a picture of herself at the rally.
'Today I was arrested protesting the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, a man who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault,' she captioned the image.
'Men who hurt women can no longer be placed in positions of power.'
And though she was protesting against sexual assault and campaigning for the voices of women to be respected, many appeared to miss the point, and instead directed their comments straight at her chest.
'Why no bra tho [sic],' one man responded, while another ignored her message and wrote: 'My guess is you dressed like this to catch the eyes of ... (looks at notes) ... men'.
The actress was arrested after her protest group stormed the atrium of a Senate office, as was Amy Schumer. They starred together in Schumer's recent movie I Feel Pretty
Women were also behind the ugly attacks, with one slamming Ratajkowski's 'f me clothes' and 'twisted toxic feminism'.
In addition to comments about her outfit, some joked about her arrest and what they would have done if they were the police in that situation, suggesting they would take the opportunity to touch the actress, who was protesting a Supreme Court candidate on the basis multiple women had accused him of sexual assault.
'If I were a cop I would arrest you on the off chance that I would be the one who gets to frisk you! For several hours,' one man wrote.
A furious fan jumped in to defend Ratajkowski, and said people commenting on the model's appearance were only proving her point.
Many questioned why Ratajkowski did not wear a bra to the protest, while others made vile comments about 'frisking' the 27-year-old
'To all the men commenting about her appearance, saying things like "I would've liked to frisk/cuff ya", asking why she's not wearing a bra, you're a huge part of the problem that she's protesting.' she wrote.
'Educate yourselves, respect women.'
Though there was widespread outrage about the Kavanaugh nomination following allegations of sexual misconduct from at least three different women, a brief FBI investigation concluded Friday, paving the way for his confirmation vote to reach the Senate floor.
Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation will still likely sail through as swing votes Jeff Flake (R- Arizona), Susan Collins (R - Maine) and Joe Manchin (D - West Virginia) have all announced their support for the Judge.
The Senate is expected to vote about 4pm on Saturday, and if he is confirmed as expected, he will become a Supreme Court justice, which is a lifetime role.
This is the moment a lorry misjudged a bridge and became wedged inside a tunnel.
The moment of the smash, that happened in Tarporley, Cheshire, was captured on CCTV and has been released in an effort to try and urge HGV drivers to 'wise up'.
The lorry was eventually winched free by a crane and the driver was not seriously harmed but trains were brought to a halt during the rescue, reports Manchester Evening News.
A lorry tipped and became lodged under a railway bridge in Cheshire after it misjudged how much space there was to get through
In the short clip, the lorry can be seen confidently approaching the tunnel and not slowing down to check it will fit through.
The right side of its load hits the bridge causing the entire vehicle to tip to the left and a piece of signage from the bridge can be seen falling to the floor.
A few seconds later a man, and then two women, run out of a nearby building to check on the driver.
The footage was released as part of Network Rail's campaign to educate drivers.
Network Rail said statistics show five 'entirely avoidable incidents like this' take place every day across Britain, costing the taxpayer 23 million a year.
The campaign aims to highlight bridge sizes and figures show there are around 1,800 similar bridge strikes a year.
In CCTV footage released by Network Rail three people can be seen running across a car park towards the lorry after the crash to check on the driver
A crane winched the lorry out of the tunnel and nobody was seriously injured, however there were delays to train lines over the bridge while the recovery happened
Firefighters were called to the scene and the driver, who wasn't trapped, is not thought to have suffered any serious injuries.
Phil James, head of operations for Network Rail's London North Western route, said: 'Drivers need to know the height of their vehicle, not guess.
'Dangerous incidents like this one at Tarporley cause huge inconvenience to train passengers and to motorists, not to mention the cost to the taxpayer.'
A devastated family has returned home from a holiday to find 12 of their sheep mauled to death.
It's understood the flock were mauled by dogs between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon at the Waimauku property on the western outskirts of Auckland in New Zealand.
One of the sheep was still alive when the family came across the gruesome discovery, which had to be euthanised.
A neighbour has since taken to social media to alert other property owners and try to solve the mystery.
A family with children returned home from holidays to this gruesome discovery
'My neighbour on Mahana Road had 11 lambs and an ewe killed sometime between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon,' Greg Todd posted to the Muriwai & Waimauku Area Community Group Facebook page.
'It was pretty traumatic for the kids to go to the paddock and discover this. We are up on the plateau near Awa and also close to the end of McPike Rd. I'm sure the dog/s owner/s would have noticed their dog/s come home covered in blood. Anyone with any info, please contact Kumeu Police or Auckland Council, and other sheep owners in this area might want to keep a look out.'
Commenters on the Facebook post expressed concern.
'It shouldn't be too difficult to keep dogs contained! There is so much wrong with this and it happens every year. We know that humans not containing their dogs are the culprits and they must be found and made to understand their crimes,' one person commented.
Another added: 'Let's hope the dogs human family have learnt from this and not let their wonderful dog/ s to roam and do this again. I have a feeling it will be short lived and forgotten soon enough.'
The family lost half of their flock in the horrifying massacre, Stuff reported.
The attack happened sometime between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon on a Mahana Road (pictured) property in Waimauku, in Auckland's western outskirts
Mr Todd said his heartbroken neighbours were still struggling to come to terms with what happened.
He now has grave fears for his own flock following the shocking incident.
'They'd just got back from the school holidays, so that was pretty harrowing for the children,' Mr Todd told Stuff.
Neighbour Greg Todd has taken to social media to warn other property owners
'We sort of border his place and we've got lambs as well. We're a bit concerned at the moment too.'
Mr Todd is confident dogs were responsible for the attack and urged nearby dog owners to not let their pets wander off their properties.
'People were saying are you sure it's dogs. Well, apart from humans we don't have any other predators in New Zealand capable of doing that.'
A House representative has promised an investigation into Judge Brett Kavanaugh if he succeeds in being confirmed to the US Supreme Court, and if the Democrats win control of the House in November's midterm elections.
The Senate is expected to hold its final vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation to the court on Saturday, following weeks of uncertainty during which several woman have accused him of sexual assault and misconduct during his high school and college years.
Jerrold Nadler, who represents New York's 10th District and is in line to chair the House Judiciary committee should he be re-elected, said on Friday that Senate Republicans and the FBI oversaw a 'whitewash' investigation into the claims, calling into question the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh has denied all allegations against him, including those made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnik.
It became apparent on Friday that Kavanaugh likely has the votes in the Senate to become the next Justice on the Supreme Court.
US Representative Jerrold Nadler (pictured) has pledged to spearhead a further review of sexual assault and misconduct allegations ag; Nadler is pictured during a press conference with House Judiciary Committee Democrats to announce new legislation to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation on April 12
Republican leaders have said that Democrats would have opposed any nominee to the court put forth by President Donald Trump and wouldn't have been content with any investigation.
The majority has argued it is the Democrats who are now undermining the legitimacy of the Supreme Court with their refusal to accept Kavanaugh.
Ford and Kavanaugh both testified on September 27 before the Senate Judiciary Committee related to his alleged sexual assault of her, while she said Mark Judge was in the room.
Ford has stated repeatedly that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and covered her mouth with such force that she feared he might accidentally kill her, as he tried to remove her clothing while his friend watched, during a party in high school.
Ford conducted herself with decorum and maintained a professional demeanor throughout her testimony.
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford (left) has stated repeatedly that Kavanaugh (right) pinned her to a bed and covered her mouth with such force that she feared he might accidentally kill her, as he tried to remove her clothing while his friend watched, during a party in high school; Kavanaugh has denied that claim
Kavanaugh became emotional, visibly crying and often raising his voice. He repeatedly talked over senators as they asked him questions. On multiple occasions he responded to direct questions by asking questions back at the senators, and incorrectly stated under oath that he could legally drink while in high school in Maryland.
A second sexual misconduct allegation came to light against Kavanaugh by Deborah Ramirez, in mid-September.
Ramirez stated that the nominee exposed himself to her, putting his penis near her face and ultimately forcing her to touch it without her consent during his freshman year at Yale University, at some time in the 1983-84 academic year, as reported by the New Yorker on September 23.
And on September 26, Julie Swetnik alleged in a sworn statement that she saw Kavanaugh at multiple house parties in the Washington, DC area between 1981-83, where she witnessed him and Judge engaging in conduct that included the 'fondling and grabbing of girls without their consent.'
Swetnik also implied that Kavanaugh may have participated in multiple 'gang rapes' by 'running a train' on women at these parties.
Swetnik said that Kavanaugh was present at a party where such an incident happened to her, personally, in approximately 1982.
Kavanaugh has denied each of these allegations, and is expected to be confirmed to the Supreme Court on Saturday.
Additional sexual assault and misconduct allegation came to light against Kavanaugh by Julie Swetnik (left) and Deborah Ramirez (right), respectively
On September 27, Swetnik alleged in a sworn statement that she saw Kavanaugh at multiple house parties in the Washington, DC area between 1981-83, where she witnessed him and Judge engaging in conduct that included the 'fondling and grabbing of girls without their consent'
Swetnik also implied that Kavanaugh may have participated in multiple 'gang rapes' by 'running a train' on women at these parties
Swetnik said that Kavanaugh was present at a party where 'a "gang" or "train rape"' happened to her, personally, in approximately 1982
When asked whether Nadler would look to impeach Kavanaugh if he is confirmed, the representative waivered.
'It is not something we are eager to do,' Nadler said.
'But the Senate having failed to do its proper constitutionally mandated job of advise and consent, we are going to have to do something to provide a check and balance, to protect the rule of law and to protect the legitimacy of one of our most important institutions.'
It's quite possible, even likely, that Nadler will have the power to bring about such an investigation.
Every seat in the House is up for re-election on November 6, and 35 seats are on the ballot in the Senate.
Republicans currently control both bodies, holding 236 seats in the House where 218 are needed for control when there are no vacancies.
Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight House forecast predicts a three-in-four chance, or 74.2 percent likelihood that Democrats will regain a majority in the House in next month's election.
The most likely in a range of possible outcomes where Democrats would hold the majority is a composition of 222-213, according to the analysis.
Nadler said with Democrats in power, he would spearhead a push to immediately subpoena records from the White House and the FBI, which conducted a brief investigation into two of the misconduct claims against Kavanaugh since last week. The subpeona would include a request for communications between officials at both entities, the New York Times reported.
The committee would also seek to interview Kavanaugh's accusers as well as dozens of recently-identified potential witnesses who were not contacted by the FBI, as well as compel FBI director Christopher A. Wray to testify,
The most likely in a range of expected possible outcomes where Democrats would hold the majority in the US House of Representative is a composition of 222-213, according to analysis by Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight
When asked whether Nadler would look to impeach Kavanaugh if he is confirmed, the representative waivered; Nadler (second from left) is pictured speaking as Rep. Maxine Waters (second from right), Rep. Al Green (right), Rep. Jared Huffman (center, in back), and Rep. Dan Kildee (left) during a news conference to show support of Special Counsel Robert Mueller on December 21 in Washington, DC.
But even with the power to bring about the review, it's not clear what the end result would be, because even if the House did vote to impeach a confirmed Justice Kavanaugh, two-thirds of the Senate would be required to remove him from the bench.
There, Republicans currently hold 51 seats, meaning Democrats would need to pick up two seats to gain control, and 18 total to reach a two-thirds majority.
According to Silver's project, it's far more likely that Republicans with retain power in the Senate, with FiveThirtyEight putting those odds as seven-in-nine, or 77.7 percent likelihood of no change in majority.
Silver's analysis treats senators Bernie Sanders and Angus King as Democrats because they caucus with that party.
Most of the 35 seats in the Senate that are on the ballot this year are currently held by Democrats, with only two open seats being considered 'toss-up' contests, where the winner could go either way in terms of party affiliation.
One is currently held by Republican Dean Heller in Nevada, and the other is now held by Democrat Claire McCaskill in Missouri, both of whom are seeking re-election.
Ford has said she's not advocating for impeachment, should Kavanaugh be confirmed.
'Professor Ford has not asked for anything of the sort,' Debra Katz, Ford's attorney, told CNN. 'What she did was to come forward and testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and agree to cooperate with any investigation by the FBI.'
Ford said she felt it was her responsibility to come forward once she learned Kavanaugh had been nominated to sit on the highest court in the land.
'I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified,' Ford said during testimony on September 27. 'I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school.'
She continued: 'It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell you the truth.'
A man has been charged with attempted murder and armed robbery after he went on an alleged crime spree to feed his ounce-a-day meth habit.
Gavin Pallister, 29, is facing a total of four charges after he allegedly committed a spate of crimes in Merrylands in Sydney's westerns suburbs about 4pm in on Friday.
Police allege Pallister tried to steal a 66-year-old man's car at an intersection where Newman Street meets Burford Street in Merrylands before going on the spree.
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Gavin Pallister, 29 (pictured), has been charged with attempted murder and armed robbery after he went on an alleged crime spree to feed his ounce-a-day meth habit
Gavin Pallister (pictured) allegedly severed a man's ear while trying to steal his Toyota Rav4
Police allege Pallister tried to steal a 66-year-old man's car at an intersection (pictured) where Newman Street meets Burford Street in Merrylands before going on the spree
The 29-year-old approached the elderly man and allegedly stabbed him in the chest before demanding he hand over the keys to his Toyota Rav 4, police said.
When the 66-year-old refused to hand over the keys, Pallister then allegedly stabbed the man again, partially severing his left ear.
The 29-year-old allegedly tried to stab the man a third time, but it's understood the victim grabbed the knife from him, while allegedly cutting his hand at the same time.
After failing to steal the man's car, Pallister then fled the scene.
Ambulance Inspector Jennine Kiely told 9News: 'I believe [the 66-year-old] had a laceration to his ear, but at the time the chest and hand was the most serious.'
A short time later, it's alleged Pallister attempted to rob a woman and child in the car park at Merrylands Bowling Club on Cambridge Street.
Shortly afterwards, at about 5.15pm, Pallister allegedly stole a Holden Calais sedan from Lockwood Street in Merrylands, after he took the key's from its owner who was attempting to sell it.
The woman told the publication she was trying to sell her son's car, when Pallister allegedly took the keys and drove off.
After allegedly taking the woman's car, Pallister was later arrested by police after they found him allegedly trying to sell it to a man on Montrose Street.
When the 66-year-old refused to hand over the keys, Pallister then allegedly stabbed the man, partially severing his left ear
Pallister was taken to Granville Police Station, where he was charged with attempted murder, armed robbery with wounding, steal motor vehicle and malicious damage.
After his arrest, it was revealed Pallister had allegedly been homeless since he was released from jail on parole last week, 9News reported.
The 29-year-old also told police he has been using 'one ounce of ice... every day' and needed to get out of jail so he could 'get some sleep'.
He remains in custody after he was refused bail at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday.
The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police decried the jury verdict finding Chicago Officer Jason Van Dyke guilty of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald. Speaking to reporters on Friday, FOP President Chris Southwood (pictured) called the ruling 'shameful'
The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police has slammed the jury verdict finding Chicago cop Jason Van Dyke guilty of murder in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald, describing it as 'shameful' and a 'sham trial'.
Van Dyke - the first Chicago officer to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting in about 50 years - was convicted Friday of second-degree murder and aggravated battery. Shocking dashcam footage showed 17-year-old McDonald crumpling to the ground in a hail of 16 bullets as he walked away from officers.
The video, some of the most graphic police footage to emerge in years, stoked outrage nationwide, and the high-stakes trial gripped the nation's third-largest city for nearly three years. The shooting also led to a federal government inquiry and calls to reform the Chicago Police Department.
'This is a day I never thought I'd see in America, where 12 ordinary citizens were duped into saving the asses of self-serving politicians at the expense of a dedicated public servant,' Chris Southwood, the state organization's president, said in a statement decrying ruling. 'This sham trial and shameful verdict is a message to every law enforcement officer in America that it's not the perpetrator in front of you that you need to worry about, it's the political operatives stabbing you in the back.'
He added: 'What cop would still want to be proactive fighting crime after this disgusting charade, and are law abiding citizens ready to pay the price?'
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Jason Van Dyke, 40, (right) was convicted of second-degree murder for the on-duty shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald (left) in Chicago in October 2014.
Shocking dashcam footage captured 17-year-old Laquan McDonald's last moments as he was gunned down in a hail of 16 bullets by officer Jason Van Dyke (above)
The second-degree verdict reflects the jury's finding that Van Dyke believed his life was in danger but that the belief was unreasonable. The jury also had the option of first degree-murder, a charge that required a finding that the shooting was unnecessary and unreasonable.
Second-degree murder usually carries a sentence of less than 20 years, especially for someone with no criminal history. Probation is also an option.
The head of the FOP in Chicago, Kevin Graham, also responded to the verdict, telling reporters that he was disappointed with how the case has been used by critics to attack the entire police force, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
'They have used this case to really kick around the Chicago Police Department, which has been unfortunate,' Graham said.
That sentiment is shared by many others in Mount Greenwood, a neighborhood on Chicago's South Side where blue ribbons signalling support for law enforcement have been tied to numerous trees, street lights and utility poles.
'He's a political prisoner. A sacrificial lamb,' resident Tim Horner told the Sun Times.
'This anti-police movement has gotten so strong these last few years and they made Van Dyke take the fall.'
Horner, who has relatives in law enforcement, added: 'Do you think he went out that night wanting to kill someone? He was faced with a threat and he had to act. It's not murder.
'People don't understand how hard it is to be a police officer.'
Van Dyke, 40, is led out of the Chicago courtroom following the guilty verdict on Friday
Another resident, Julie Grossman, called the verdict 'shameful', telling the Sun Times: 'Those lawyers had months to think about the case. Those jurors had weeks. That officer had half a second.
'It seems like people these days don't want the police to be able to do their jobs.'
Meanwhile, McDonald's family has praised the verdict, expressing their feeling that justice has been served.
'This is a victory for America,' McDonald's great uncle Rev Martin Hunter told reporters. 'America was on trial.'
He added: 'Now we can go hone and sleep knowing Laquan is at peace.'
Hunter told reporters that McDonald's mother, who did not want to speak following the verdict, was relieved and cried 'tears of joy'.
'This family wanted justice because revenge belongs to God,' he said.
McDonald's great uncle Rev Martin Hunter (center) said the family thinks justice was served
Supporters of slain 17-year-old McDonald leave the Leighton Criminal Court building after the jury found Van Dyke guilty of second degree murder and aggravated assault
Hunter, the pastor of Grace Memorial Missionary Baptist Church in North Lawndale, said he feels 'compassion' for the family of Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer charged with killing 17-year-old McDonald.
Hunter, however, pointed out that Van Dyke showed no remorse during the trial and has never contacted McDonald's family to apologize.
'It was touching my heart to see their pain. But it was also bothering me that they could not see the pain that was within us. They never really gave their condolences,' he said.
'I want the world to know you can't just go around forgiving people who, number one, don't think they did anything wrong and number two, never asked for forgiveness. Jason Van Dyke has never asked this family for forgiveness ever.'
While Hunter feels Van Dyke's guilty verdict is fair, others are angry that he was convicted of the lesser second-degree murder charge instead of first-degree, which would have carried a longer prison sentence.
Van Dyke was originally charged with first-degree murder, but Judge Vincent Graham told jurors before they started deliberations that they had the option of replacing first-degree murder with second-degree murder.
First-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. And with enhancements for having used a gun, Van Dyke would have faced a mandatory minimum of 45 years, Chicago defense attorney Steve Greenberg told the Associated Press.
Protesters had gathered outside of Leighton Criminal Courts Building in Chicago ahead of a jury handing down a guilty verdict
Many demonstrators celebrated the guilty verdict. Raymone Saffold raises his fist as he celebrates the verdict in the murder trial of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke
The punishment for second-degree murder is no less than four years but no more than 20 years behind bars.
Each count of aggravated battery carries a mandatory minimum six years and a maximum of 30 years in prison. If Van Dyke had to serve six for each of the 16 counts - and do so one sentence after another - that would add up to 96 years. But Greenberg said judges almost always order defendants to serve such sentences simultaneously. So, if Van Dyke gets the minimum for each count, he'd serve six years for all the battery convictions.
Another possibility is that the defense will ask, under complicated legal rules, for the judge to merge the crimes for which Van Dyke is convicted for sentencing purposes since they were all tied to a single event, Greenberg said. That could mean Van Dyke is effectively sentenced only for second-degree murder, with its lower four-year mandatory minimum.
For a man convicted with no previous criminal record, Greenberg said the mandatory minimum is his best guess for a sentence handed down on Van Dyke.
'I would be shocked if he got a day over the four or six years,' Greenberg said.
Demonstrator Bryant Williams, who protested with others outside of the Leighton Criminal Courts Building as the verdict was read, told the Chicago Tribune that he thinks its unfair Van Dyke could possibly only serve six years for killing McDonald.
'If you shoot a deer outside of hunting season, they are doing more time than that,' he said.'I just don't think that justice prevailed. A lot of people may not agree with me, but I think the system really failed us, again.'
Many people hugged and cried as the guilty verdict was announced for the October 2014 killing
Demonstrators are pictured outside of the criminal court building in Chicago on October 5
Protesters stand near police in the downtown area after a jury convicted white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder
Other demonstrators were happy with how the trial played out and were heard chanting 'Justice for Laquan! Justice for Laquan!' after hearing news of the verdict.
Many carried signs telling officers that 'law enforcement is not above the law' and 'black lives matter'. A number of protesters cried after Van Dyke was found guilty.
Judge Graham revoked the bail for Van Dyke after the verdict came through. Van Dyke will be sentenced on October 31.
After the officer was walked out of court, his wife appeared to be struggling to hold back tears as her family surrounded and comforted her.
Van Dyke's wife, Tiffany, looked emotional as she listened to the verdict being read after jurors found Officer Van Dyke guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated battery
Prosecutor Jody Gleason begins closing statements. 'Laquan's body was riddled, broken and bleeding,' she said. She added: 'He even had bullet fragments in his teeth'
McDonald was fatally shot on October 20, 2014. Police dashcam shows the teen walking erratically down the middle of the street holding a knife before Van Dyke opens fire shooting him 16 times.
During closing arguments, prosecutor Jody Gleason noted that Van Dyke had old detectives that McDonald raised the knife, that Van Dyke backpedaled, and that McDonald tried to get up off the ground after being shot.
'None of that happened,' she said. 'You've seen it on video. He made it up.'
But Van Dyke's attorney, Dan Herbert, said the video, the centerpiece of the prosecutor's case, doesn't tell the whole story and is 'essentially meaningless based on the testimony' jurors heard.
He pointed to testimony from Van Dyke's partner that night, Joseph Walsh, who said he saw McDonald raise the knife, even though the video doesn't show that. Van Dyke made similar claims on the witness stand as he told jurors that he was afraid for his life and acted according to his training.
'The video is not enough,' he said. 'It shows a perspective, but it's the wrong perspective.'
European Council President Donald Tusk said on Saturday it was possible to agree a deal with Britain on leaving the European Union by the end of 2018.
Britain and the remaining 27 EU member states are due to hold crunch talks during a summit between October 17 and 18.
Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Krakow, Poland, Tusk said: 'We will try for it in October ... and I think there is a chance to have an accord by the end of the year.'
European Council President Donald Tusk, pictured, has indicated he believes a deal on Britain's exit from the European Union could be completed before the end of the year
PM Theresa May will be given an opportunity to address EU leaders in Brussels during a crunch summit in Brussels on October 17-18
This follows encouraging words from Commission President Jean-Claude Junker, who also indicated a deal was possible.
With less than two weeks to go before a crunch summit in Brussels billed by the EU as the 'moment of truth' for Brexit negotiations, Juncker gave an upbeat assessment of the chances of a deal.
The change in tone comes two days after EU Council President Donald Tusk gave London a stern warning that time was running out to strike a deal in time for Britain's departure from the bloc at the end of March.
Deadlines in EU talks are notoriously elastic, and Juncker told Austrian media that if an agreement was not reached at the October 17 and 18 summit, he was confident it could be done in November.
If Mrs May secures a deal in Brussels she will have to sell it to her party, some of whom are vehemently opposed to any proposal which will see Britain remain in the customs union
'I have reason to believe that the potential for rapprochement between the two sides has increased in recent days,' Juncker said in comments reported by the Standard newspaper.
'But it is not possible to predict whether we will be able to conclude the talks in October. If not, we will do so in November.'
May has been invited to address the other 27 EU leaders over dinner on October 17, to give her a chance to convince her peers that a solution can be found to the sticking points in Britain's tortuous negotiations to leave the bloc.
Diplomats have suggested the leaders could talk through the night and approve the outlines of an agreement while they are still in Brussels for the broader October 18 talks.
At their annual conference this week, May urged her Conservative party - which is bitterly divided between Brexit hardliners and moderates - to unite behind her negotiating stance during what she warned would be the 'toughest phase' of talks.
Juncker said the EU was determined to reach an agreement to avoid a 'no deal' Brexit, which experts say would cause chaos for both sides.
'I believe that we must distance ourselves from this no deal scenario.
'We are not there yet. But our will to reach an understanding with the British government remains unbroken.'
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Thousands of people have lined the streets of Liverpool this weekend to marvel at huge puppets walking through the city.
By the end of the tour on Sunday the three giants, Giant Man, Little Boy Giant and Xolo The Dog, will have travelled 20.6 miles across Liverpool and Wirral.
The impressive street performance is the work of daring and ingenious magicians from French theatre company, Royal de Luxe, and was made to celebrate it being 10 years since Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture.
This year is the group's third and final visit to Liverpool after they performed in 2012 for the centenary of the Titanic and in 2014 to mark 100 years since of the outbreak of World War One.
On Saturday crowds were stunned to see a huge 30ft tall marionette, called Giant Man, jump over a washing line on Castle Street before continuing on his way around the city centre.
Each day the puppets - and their masters- will take a small break of roughly two hours to recuperate and prepare for the next stretch of the adventurous journey.
This years performance is titled Liverpool's Dream and is due to end at Canning Dock by 4pm on Sunday after a Giants parade of all three marvelous puppets.
Thousands of people lined the streets in Liverpool to watch puppet Giant Man walk and jump over a huge washing line suspended from the buildings
Street puppet Xolo the dog, who is nine foot tall, walks down James Street as part of the procession today as he is manned by a dozen puppeteers
The Giant Little Boy and Xolo the dog sleep at the Mann Island buildings during the Saturday afternoon performance
Giant Man also takes a nap during the show. Each afternoon the puppets and their masters rest for roughly two hours before continuing the route around Liverpool and Wirral
The Giant Boy is the third marionette used by French theatre group Royal De Luxe in the street performance across Liverpool and Wirral
Giant Man hangs over the awestruck crowds on Castle Street as they wait for the procession through town to begin
The huge and detailed puppets are operated by dozens of skilled puppeteers, seen here dressed in red and pulling on one of the complicated strings
The world-famous street marionettes look extremly life like, with detail even being payed to their eyebrows and hair
Xolo the dog moves its head around to look at the adoring crowds during the morning walk on Saturday
Spectators couldn't help but smile as the puppets came to life and walked along the promenade at New Brighton, Wirral
The Giant Spectacular started with Giant Man laying on the beach at New Brighton, Wirral. He is said to be 'shipwrecked before he is woken up and goes for a walk'
A crane is used to lift the puppet into the air as dozen of puppeteers dressed in red uniforms make sure he doesn't fall
Spectators try to get the perfect shot of the impressive creation as it rises from sleep ready to perform in the Liverpool's Dream performance this weekend
The 20-foot Little Boy Giant sleeps in an enormous hammock inside St George's Hall making sure to rest before the big walk
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld has compared the treatment of SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, giving a bizarre history of the event in his explanation.
Kavanaugh, who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault and aggressive behavior, faced tough grilling from Democrats during his confirmation hearings and an additional FBI investigation ahead of the vote to confirm him as a member of the Supreme Court bench.
To Gutfeld, who told viewers he attended 12 years of Catholic school and believes the Son of God was killed to stop 'mob rule', said the additional pressure was similar to the brutal death of Jesus.
Greg Gutfeld just compared Kavanaugh to Jesus Christ and the investigation to the crucifixion pic.twitter.com/zXATHmpMfC Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) October 4, 2018
Brett Kavanaugh's senate judiciary committee hearing, held to investigate allegations of sexual assault made against him, has been compared to the crucifixion of Jesus
'Crucifixion was an important event because it was designed to establish a wall between justice and mob rule Christ died so that the mob wouldn't survive,' Gutfeld said.
'What Democrats have tried to do is tear down the wall between justice and mob rule.
'They decided to crucify someone once again.'
Kavanaugh's confirmation process has been extremely political, with the judge himself claiming opposition to his nomination from Democrats was not based on concern there were allegations of sexual assault against him, but in fact simply a means of taking 'revenge on behalf of the Clintons'.
'This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups,' he ranted during the hearing.
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld said Christ had died to end 'mob rule'
His testimony during his hearing on the sexual assault allegations ranged from furious to tearful, and left many questioning if he could handle the lifetime job in the nation's highest court.
On Thursday, he tried to curry favor with the public with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
In his piece, he admitted he had been 'too emotional at times' while he read his testimony to the judiciary committee.
I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said,' he wrote.
'I hope everyone can understand that I was there as a son, husband and dad.'
On Friday, after viewing a contentious report by the FBI into the allegations, the Senate announced there would be a 51-49 vote for his nomination to the Supreme Court.
The vote will be finalized on Saturday afternoon.
Ray Galton, one half of the Galton and Simpson writing duo who created ground-breaking sitcoms including Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe & Son, has died aged 88, his family has announced.
His writing partner Alan Simpson died in February 2017.
The pair met while in hospital and wrote Hancock's Half Hour for Tony Hancock.
Ray Galton, pictured left, with his writing partner Alan Simpson outside Tony Hancock's house in London has died aged 88, his family has announced
Galton, left, and Simpson, right, pictured with Frankie Howard collaborated with the comedian for his BBC TV series in December 1964
The pair, pictured here, first met in in hospital where Simpson, left, was recovering from TB
Comedian Nick Pegg said: 'Raising a glass to the mighty Ray Galton, who with his partner Alan Simpson, created as much laughter as any writer who ever drew breath'
The show originally was broadcast on the radio before moving to television in 1956.
The pair later collaborated on Steptoe & Son.
The iconic scriptwriter died last night after a 'long and heartbreaking battle with dementia'.
His family released a statement saying: 'Ray passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family.
'We respectfully request there are no attempts to contact the Galton family home at this time.'
Mr Galton's family said the script writer died following a long battle with dementia
His manager Tessa Le Bars said: 'I have had the great honour of working with Ray for over 50 years and for the last 40 as his manager and friend.
'With his lifelong co-writer, the late Alan Simpson, they were regarded as the fathers and creators of British sitcom.
'The end of an iconic era, but the legacy of Hancock's Half Hour, Steptoe and Son and over 600 scripts is huge.
'They will endure, inspire and bring laughter to the nation for evermore.'
Actor, writer and presenter David Walliams praised Mr Galton for his inspirational work, saying that he and his onscreen comedy partner Matt Lucas had cherished meeting the pioneering TV writers.
He described Mr Galton and Mr Simpson as 'the masters', adding: 'What an incredible body of work Ray Galton has left us with. Some of the greatest TV comedy ever written, 'Hancock' & 'Steptoe & Son' are still the gold standard of sitcoms.
'Matt & I got to spend time with him & Alan Simpson. I was in complete & utter awe.'
Meanwhile, Emmy award winning comedy writer and producer Simon Blackwell tweeted: 'Very sad indeed to hear that Ray Galton has died. He and Alan reached such heights in terms of structure and character.
'Steptoe is as profound as Ibsen, and he never had an old bloke in a sink scrubbing his nuts with Ajax.'
The pair, pictured in 1970, first met as teenagers while recovering from TB at Milford Sanatorium in Surrey
Hancock's Half Hour was written for comedian Tony Hancock, left, and featured, Moira Lester, Bill Kerr and Sid James, right, and was considered the first true situation comedy
Mr Galton, pictured at Mr Simpson's funeral in February 2017, battled with dementia for years
The pair met at Milford Sanatorium in Surrey when both were diagnosed with tuberculosis as teenagers.
As well as work with Tony Hancock and Steptoe actors Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell, they wrote television, film and stage scripts for the likes of Frankie Howerd, Peter Sellers, Leonard Rossiter and Arthur Lowe.
Their work is still screened regularly around the world in English and in foreign language versions.
Steptoe and Son was adapted for US TV as Sanford and Son and ran for several years in the 1970s on NBC.
The much-loved show Steptoe & Son happened after Mr Galton came up with the idea of a comedy series about two rag and bone men.
It featured a 'dirty old man', Albert Steptoe who was played by Wilfrid Brambell, and his frustrated son, Harold - played by Harry H Corbett.
Critics lauded the 'sad, tragic and funny' sitcom, which ran for eight series, spawned two feature films and ended with a 1974 Christmas special.
Mr Galton and Mr Simpson were honoured with lifetime achievement awards from the Writers' Guild in 1997, and OBEs in 2000.
The pair also received the Bafta Fellowship, the Academy's highest honour, in 2016.
Philanthropist financier David Einhorn says Tesla executive Elon Musk has been acting erratically over the past few months in a deliberate attempt to be removed from the company.
The president of Greenlight Capital offered the unusual explanation for Musk's bizarre behavior in a poison pen letter to investors on Friday.
Einhorn, who has been shorting Tesla stocks for some time, speculated that the company is unable to build the mass-market Model 3 vehicle without losing money, but that Musk is too proud to admit defeat and cancel orders.
'His conduct suggests that he is doing his best to be relieved of his position as CEO to avoid accountability,' Einhorn wrote.
Although he didn't mention any specific incidents, there is a long list of erratic behavior that Einhorn could be referring to, including a September live web show appearance where he smoked marijuana and a legal row with a rescue diver in Thailand, whom Musk called a 'child rapist'.
Musk has also been in trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following a July tweet in which he claimed he had 'funding secured' to take Tesla private at $420 a share - an apparent marijuana reference intended to impress his rapper girlfriend Grimes.
In a letter to investors, Greenlight Capital President David Einhorn (right) postulated that Tesla CEO Elon Musk (left) has been acting erratically in the last several months in a deliberate attempt to be removed from the company so he can avoid blame if it goes under
Musk's bizarre behavior has made headlines numerous times this year, including when he smoked marijuana during a live web show with comedian Joe Rogan (above)
The SEC subsequently slapped the billionaire with fraud charges, which were settled last weekend after Musk stepped down as Tesla chairman and he and the company each agreed to pay a $20million fine.
Musk attacked the SEC again in a Thursday tweet, calling it the 'Shortseller Enrichment Commission.'
Tesla's shares dropped more than seven percent after the public hit, closing at $261.95 on Friday.
Musk has vilified short sellers, who bet that the price of a stock will go down, on several previous occasions, blaming them for spreading bad press and negative analysis on Tesla's prospects.
Einhorn wrote another harsh criticism of Musk in a letter to Greenlight investors last month, calling Tesla CEO 'erratic and desperate' and saying that he was glad his Model S lease had ended, citing 'problems with the touchscreen and power windows'.
Musk replied to the 'tragic' letter in a tweet, writing: 'Will send Einhorn a box of short shorts to comfort him through this difficult time.'
Musk mocked the SEC in a tweet Thursday, calling it the 'Shortseller Enrichment Commission'
Musk recently settled SEC fraud charges stemming from a July tweet in which he joked that he had 'funding secured' to take Tesla private at $420 a share - an apparent marijuana reference meant to impress his rapper girlfriend Grimes (pictured together in May)
While the bad blood between the two billionaires could have colored Einhorn's assessment of the CEO, other analysts have agreed with the theory.
Yale University professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who has penned a number of articles about Tesla's management situation, told the New York Post that Musk seems to be 'looking for scapegoats'.
'He'll blame the board for taking him out, or the SEC for derailing his genius,' Sonnenfeld said. 'He wants to create this sense of martyrdom that fits with this whole cult-like imagery.'
Sonnenfeld added that Musk acts as though he is 'intoxicated with his own brilliance'.
'He resents anyone second-guessing him and challenging the cult-like reverence he enjoyed until last year,' he said.
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Police are seizing 900 cannabis plants a day with Britain's weed hotspots located in the the West Midlands and the North of England, new figures have revealed.
Landlords have been advised to check for smells of cannabis, noise coming from extraction fans and evidence that tenants could be stealing electricity from nearby homes or street lights.
Officers have faced a wave of electricity thefts as cannabis growers steal energy to help them produce the drugs, with 10 such investigations a week since 2016.
The North West of England, including Greater Manchester and Merseyside, had the highest raw number of cannabis plant seizures last year with just over 55,000.
However the North East emerges with the highest rate when the figures are divided by population, with one seizure for every 98 people in that region of England.
And the East Midlands had the greatest increase last year, with police seizures of cannabis plants shooting up by some 28 per cent compared to the previous 12 months.
This map reveals Britain's cannabis hotspots, showing the number of cannabis plants seized by police in 2017
Where are the cannabis hotspots in England and Wales? Cannabis plant seizures in 2017, absolute figures: 1. North West - 55,166 2. West Midlands - 48,873 3. East Midlands - 43,090 4. South East - 36,422 5. North East - 26,992 6. Yorkshire and the Humber - 26,672 7. East of England - 25,161 8. Wales - 19,843 9. London - 19,397 10. South West - 16,823 Cannabis plant seizures by population - one per ___ people: 1. North East - 98 2. East Midlands - 111 3. West Midlands - 120 4. North West - 132 5. Wales - 157 6. Yorkshire and the Humber - 204 7. East of England - 245 8. South East - 249 9. South West - 330 10. London - 454 Advertisement
London was at the bottom of the cannabis-seizures-per-population table, with one for every 458 people, followed by the South West of England with one seizure per 330 residents.
The South West also had the smallest absolute number of cannabis raids over the same period, with 16,823.
Among individual police forces, West Midlands Police, Sussex Police and Merseyside Police made the greatest number of confiscations.
Two in five investigations into cannabis cultivation concerned rental properties, sparking fears for landlords, research by insurance firm Direct Line found.
Landlords have been warned to check for cabling which could be used to illegally extract energy from street lights or neighbouring properties.
The police forces in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire have had the highest numbers of such energy theft investigations since 2016, with 213 and 212 respectively.
The North West accounted for 36 per cent of all of England and Wales' drug related electrical theft investigations.
Matt Boatwright of Direct Line said: 'Cannabis cultivation remains prolific across the country and is a particular concern for landlords whose properties are being used for illegal activity.
'The last thing a landlord wants is to find out a tenant has been using their property to grow drugs as not only will they face a police investigation, but there could also be significant damage to the property.
'It can cost thousands to repair the damage caused by cannabis growers as buildings are often riddled with damp and require extensive repairs.
'Repairing your property if it has been used as a cannabis farm will be a costly and disruptive process.
'It is essential to conduct proper background checks on tenants, regularly inspect the property inside and out and watch out for suspicious activity such as the tenant asking to pay in cash for months in advance.'
Landlords were also warned to check for the distinctive smell of cannabis and noise coming from extraction fans if they suspected tenants of growing weed.
This week sacks full of cannabis were dragged out of Britain's 'biggest drug factory' by police who found the substance hidden in tunnels at a disused quarry.
An estimated 1million haul of the drug was removed from a cannabis farm near Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire.
In March this year some 80,000 worth of cannabis was seized by West Yorkshire Police after they spotted a house with a suspicious lack of snow on the roof during cold weather.
The heat from the lamps which helped to grow the plants was melting the ice and snow off the roof at the four-bedroom home in Keighley.
Rebels have paid tribute to three of the country's most notorious bikies - including one enforcer who was so feared he was simply dubbed 'The King'.
The outlaw motorcycle gang donned branded black and white shirts commemorating their slain fellow members - as hundreds of gang members descended on Sunshine in Melbourne's west for a Rebels celebration on Saturday.
Armed police officers along with the Public Order Response Unit monitored the Rebels' clubhouse and forced members through rigorous vehicle and bag searches.
A member was photographed wearing a shirt which read 'Rest in Peace Simon Rasic, Mickey D and Matty King' - all late members of the outlaw motorcycle gang.
Names of gang members who have died were visible on one bikie's jumper including Simon Rasic, Micky D and Matty King
Simon Rasic (pictured) was sergeant-of-arms of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang, once the largest in Australia with over 2000 members
Simon Rasic - who was known as 'The King' - was sergeant-at-arms of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang, which was once the largest in Australia.
Rasic held one of the lead positions within the Rebels for more than a decade, overseeing around 2,000 gang members from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Malta.
At the time of his death from natural causes, Rasic, 43, was tipped to become the motorcycle clubs national president.
The father-of-four had been a member of the gang for 20 years.
His son Alex has kept close with members of the gang and leads a luxurious life filled with designer clothing, exotic holidays and expensive purchases such as planes as well as boats.
Only months ago, Alex took a recent trip to Perth with infamous bikie Chris Rymer.
Michael 'Ruthless' Davey (pictured with girlfriend Sarah Gerrard) was gunned down outside his home at Kingswood in western Sydney, in a deliberate assassination in 2016
Michael Davey (pictured) who was shot dead when he stood on a driveway after he allegedly received a phone call from a friend was convicted for manslaughter as a teenager
Michael 'Ruthless' Davey - also known as the Prince of Penrith - was assassinated outside of his home in Sydney's west on March 30, 2016.
The popular bikie was shot and left to die in a pool of his own blood in Kingswood aged 30.
The father-of-one had told his girlfriend Sarah Gerrard he was going to meet a friend just moments before he was shot.
Police investigated if the feared bikie was killed by a fellow Rebels member, but have never charged anyone over his death.
More than 300 people attended his funeral at chapel of Pinegrove Cemetery in Michinbury on April 8, 2013.
Wearing jackets with the letters 'RFFR' - which means 'Rebels Forever Forever Rebels' - and T-shirts printed with an abbreviated 'Rthlss', they formed a guard of honour outside the chapel.
The boys' father refused to comment on the shooting when contacted, but said such attacks on his family 'were wearing a bit thin on the a**e' (Pictured is his son Michael's coffin)
Red, white and blue balloons were taken into the chapel and Davey's coffin was adorned with red, white and purple flowers.
At the time, bikies embraced outside the chapel, and women wept and hugged as they prepared to go inside for the 'celebration of life' of Davey as The Hollies 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' played.
The crowd of bikies could not all fit in to the chapel to hear Davey's father, Will, and brother Geoff deliver eulogies, and spilled outside into the courtyard and grounds.
The final name branded on the black and white sweater was Matt King, who died from a suspected overdose on October 2013.
Matt King (white t-shirt) and Simon Rasic (on bike) were commemorated for their service in the Outlaw Motorcycle gang
A series of Harley-Davidson convoys blazed up and down the highway outside their industrial unit base ahead of the Melbourne-based celebration
On Saturday, a series of Harley-Davidson convoys blazed up and down the highway outside their industrial unit base ahead of the Melbourne-based celebration.
Bikies seen gathered at the site, located in an industrial area 15km outside of the CBD, appeared to be under strict instructions not to talk to the media.
One member of the notorious gang told Daily Mail Australia he was looking forward to a weekend away with his friends.
Those inside the Fairbairn Street base looked like they were in the mood to celebrate, with one member driving a car loaded to the roof with beer into the building in the middle of the afternoon.
'We're just here to have a good time and catch up with mates we haven't seen in a while,' he said.
Scores of gang members travelled across the country - some as far as Western Australia - for the weekend event with fellow Rebel bikies.
Members of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang have been surrounded by heavily-armed police as they gather for a weekend celebration
One of the two men responsible for one of Australia's worst mass killings now claims he never confessed to starting the deadly nightclub blaze.
Convicted murderer James Finch served 15 years in prison for the 1973 deadly firebombing of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley, which killed 15 people.
Deported back to England when released from prison, Finch, now 74, broke his silence when News Corp tracked him down living in Essex, southeast of London.
James Finch (pictured) is willing to take a lie detector to back up his claims he never confessed to police to starting the nightclub fire that claimed 15 lives
The fatal firebombing of Brisbane's Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub (pictured) was Australia's worst mass murder until the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre
He blamed 'corrupt cops' for the confession, which he says he never signed.
'There was no statement, I was never there, I was never in the room,' Finch said.
'I'm willing to still take a lie-detector test to say I never made that confession in the room.'
When asked if he was guilty of causing the deadly fire, Finch replied: 'I pleaded not guilty, didn't I?'
After he was released from prison, he allegedly confessed to a newspaper that he threw two drums of fuel into the nightclub's doorway in a videotaped interview but later retracted the confession.
One of the six cops who initially questioned Finch was notorious corrupt cop Roger Rogerson, who's serving a life sentence for the murder of Jamie Gao in 2014.
Finch's comments come after Queensland government announced last year that it would reopen the coronial inquest into the fire after Garry Dubois and Vincent O'Dempsey, were convicted of the 1974 murder of Barbara McCulkin and her two young daughters.
Ms McCulkin was the estranged wife of Jimmy McCulkin, a debt collector with underworld connections.
There are claims Ms McCulkin was murdered because she knew too much about the firebombing mass murder.
James Finch, one of two men convicted over the Whiskey Au Go Go firebombing (pictured) insists he never confessed to police to starting the deadly blaze
A date for the new inquest is yet to be set.
The Attorney-General's office told News Corp it was unable to comment on Finch;s claims as the police homicide investigators were still collecting evidence.
Brisbane's nightclub district changed forever in the early hours of March 8, 1973 when two 43 gallon drums of diesel were thrown into the Whiskey Au Go Go foyer.
Around 100 people were in the venue at the time.
Many escaped by jumping from broken windows onto an awning and jumping four-and-a-half metres to the ground.
The firebombing claimed 15 lives, including a waitress and three musicians who were performing there that night.
A plaque in memory of the victims was unveiled at the site in 2014, 41 years after the tragedy.
It was Australia's worst mass murder until the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
James Finch blamed 'corrupt cops' for the confession, which he says he never signed. One of the six cops who initially questioned Finch over the firebombing was notorious corrupt cop Roger Rogerson (pictured), who's currently in prison serving a life sentence
The Queensland Government offered a $50,000 reward for information two days after firebombing.
A jury found that the motive for the firebombing was an extortion campaign against local nightclub operators.
Finch, then 29, and John Andrew Stuart, 33, were charged with arson and murder and later sentenced to life in prison.
Stuart died in prison in 1979 aged 38.
Finch made several appeals before he was released in 1988.
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Melania Trump has been mocked for the all-white menswear inspired outfit she wore on the last day of her tour in Africa
The First Lady began wrapping up her solo tour of Africa in Egypt on Saturday with a trip to the pyramids and the Great Sphinx.
Her visit will wrap up what has been considered a successful trip, where she has been promoting her Be Best program, focusing on things like cyberbullying and wellbeing.
Trump's outfits have also struck a chord with voters , who have mostly praised her colorful choices.
Saturday elicited a different reaction though, with some suggesting instead of taking sartorial inspiration from the beauty that surrounded her, she had instead leaned towards 11 secret herbs and spices.
Dressed in a tan linen blazer, white pants and Chanel ballerina flats, Melania channelled Colonel Sanders with a black necktie deeply reminiscent of the chicken tycoon's standard uniform.
Twitter users lit up, asking: 'why is she dressed like Colonel Sanders going on an archaeology trip', and another joked she was auditioning for a new job.
Others were not settled on the Colonel, and said it had to be a mix of beloved characters.
One Twitter user hypothesized the First Lady's outfit was a specific combination.
'Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego meets smooth criminal, meets Colonel Sanders,' he wrote.
Another called her outfit the 'worst Meryl Streep impersonation ever', referencing the actress' role in Out of Africa.
The First Lady paired a tan linen blazer, white pants and Chanel ballerina flats with a black necktie
The combination reminded many of Colonel Sanders, the KFC chicken tycoon (pictured)
Others suggested the first lady was channeling Meryl Streep from her role in Out Of Africa
The First Lady was in Egypt on Saturday to wrap up her four-country tour of Africa, but she was not able to escape the news at home.
In a brief five minute press conference, she also told reporters she believes SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford when the pair were in high school is 'highly qualified', and said: 'I'm glad Dr Ford was heard'.
She refused to comment when asked if she believed Ford's claims.
The First Lady laughed as she admitted she's told her husband to put the phone down amid one of his famed rants.
'I don't always agree with what he tweets, and I tell him that,' she said.
'I give my honest opinion and honest advice. Sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesn't, but I have my own voice and opinions, and it's very important to me I express what I feel.'
When a reporter asked her: 'Have you ever told him to put his phone down?' she responded: 'Yes'.
Trump received a warm welcome from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his wife, Entissar, at the presidential palace in Cairo before she headed to visit the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx.
At the meeting which lasted for nearly an hour, Sisi sat in the middle, with Trump on one side and his wife on the other. No statements were made to the press.
Trump has spent the week touring Africa to promote humanitarian efforts, specifically those funded by US government aid
She also highlighted organizations that work to better the lives of children across the continent
Trump met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his wife, Entissar, before heading out to the pyramids and the Great Sphinx
In a Facebook post on Friday, Sisi's wife welcomed Melania by saying she would arrive to her 'second country, Egypt'.
'I am honored to meet the honorable lady, the wife of the American president, in Cairo tomorrow, and to wish her a successful and happy stay in her second country, Egypt,' she wrote in Arabic.
While she is at the iconic landmarks, Melania will be promoting US backed efforts to preserve the wonders.
During her trip, the First Lady's focus has been on humanitarian efforts, specifically those funded by US government aid, and those that work to better the lives of children.
Another key purpose of her tour is to promote 'education, healthcare, some conservation, and tourism', her spokeswoman said earlier.
Could this be the moment elusive street artist Banksy photographed his own publicity stunt?
Shocked bidders and Sotherby's staff watched in horror as that the painting, which sold for 1,042,000 one second was torn to shreds the next.
Experts now say that last night's stunt may have actually doubled the value of The Girl With Balloon because of the huge interest it generated.
A picture posted onto Banksy's Instagram account showed the moment the piece was destroyed by the booby-trapped picture frame.
And separate video posted on Twitter shows the stunned reaction of the packed auction house in London last night.
As the camera pans around, a curly-haired man in glasses taking a picture from the same position as the Instagram image can be seen.
He appears to have taken the picture posted online by the mysterious 'graffiti guerrilla' could have been the the man himself documenting his prank in action.
Banksy posted on Instagram a picture of the moment the painting was shredded
Robin Gunningham was named as street artist Banksy, which he claimed was untrue
He is seen holding his phone and zooming into the painting to get a good shot of the damage.
The man is wearing thick glasses, a suit, and has curly hair and if it is the man himself could have just pressed the button to remotely trigger the shredder.
A video released by Banksy shows the auction room from several different angles, adding ton speculation he may be a team of people who were all in the room at the time of the sale.
A stunned member of auction staff can be seen on the phone to the winning bidder as the painting is destroyed in front of his eyes.
Banksy posted the clip on his Instagram but then deleted it. In it, he reveals video of himself building the shredder.
He explains: 'A few years ago I secretly built a shredder into a painting in case it was ever put up for auction...'
Over the years speculation about the identity of the artist has been rife and many different identities have claimed to 'unmask' the real Banksy.
In 2008 Robin Gunningham was said to have been revealed as Banksy when a Mail on Sunday investigation published a pictures supposedly at work, but his representatives denied it was him.
Lo ultimo: @banksy destruye si #GWRB Girl With Red Balloon, antes que cayera el mazo en plena subasta en Sotheby's.
Subasta iba el 860,000@jaimesancristo pic.twitter.com/a10DlEnLbi Vanessa Hernandez (@VanessaVonZed) October 6, 2018
The packed auction house gasped as the Bansky work destroyed itself moments after being sold
Banksy's artwork, Girl With Balloon which shredded itself after being sold for more than 1 million at auction
He was said to have been filmed spraying graffiti in Melbourne, Australia and Jamaica.
Eight years later, scientists said investigation identifying Mr Gunningham as 'the only serious suspect' was correct, when researchers at Queen Mary University of London used 'geographic profiling' to tie him to his work on a pub, playing fields and a house.
Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack was touted as the anonymous artist last year when fellow Bristol-based DJ Goldie and friend appeared to name him a personal friend, in an interview.
Investigators claimed to have matched up Massive Attacks touring schedule with appearances by art by Banksy.
Goldie said: 'No disrespect to Rob, I think he is a brilliant artist. I think he has flipped the world of art over.'
Sightings of the secretive artists walking away from finished pieces have also been reported over the years.
In 2004 a photo showing a man wearing a high-vis jacket appearing to start work on a giant painting of a giant white rat on the White Horse pub in Liverpool.
Then in 2007 William Kasper, from London, believed he had unmasked Bansky with pictures that later turned out to be James Ame, also known as aka AM72, a UK painter who lives in Israel.
Massive Attack's Robert del Naja (left) was rumoured to be Banksy and (right) a man nthought to the be illusive artist finishing off his most recent artwork in Bethlehem
Video footage taken in Bristol in 2010 showed a man in a hoodie and a painter's mask using stencils to spray graffiti on an underpass.
It was claimed in 2014 he was named Paul Horner, 35, and mug shot was provided stating he had been arrested in 'sting operation', but it was a false story.
In 2015, fans were convinced they spotted a man who they thought might look like Banksy outside his Dismaland installation in Weston-super-Mare, but it was later revealed to be a parking attendant from the local council.
Last year Jason Stellios took a photo in a courtyard close to the Chapel of the Milk Grotto in Bethlehem that showed a man dressed in a distinctive fedora hat with shorts and Nike trainers.
Perspex now covers the Banksy graffiti art on a disused drawbridge in Hull after it was defaced
The middle-aged man is seen looking nervously over his shoulder as he clutches a stencil and aerosol can and walking away from a freshly spray Banksy work.
But again the artist claimed the sighting was not him.
He said in an interview: 'I haven't seen the photo but I can categorically tell you it's not me. Especially if it is.'
Banksy was also claimed to have been pictured this year after one of his pieces appeared on a disused bridge in Hull.
The photos of the man wearing a cap and sunglasses sitting in a van were taken before Banksy had even claimed the art as his own.
There are also theories Banksy is not be just one person, but a collective of artists working around the world with a standardised style.
Today Joey Syer, co-founder of MyArtBroker, said the piece may actually be work more now it has been shredded.
Banksy posted a video showing how he installed a shredder in the frame in case it was auctioned
In 2007 when Sotheby's sold three of Banksy's works he posted an image of an auction house and the people bidding with the caption 'I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This S**t'
He added: 'The auction result will only propel this further and given the media attention this stunt has received, the lucky buyer would see a great return on the 1.04million they paid last night.
'This is now part of art history in its shredded state and we'd estimate Banksy has added at a minimum 50% increase to it's value, possibly as high as being worth 2million plus.'
The Girl With Balloon, which was signed and acquired from Banksy by a mystery buyer in 2006, was the final piece auctioned in a contemporary art sale on Friday night.
The framed stencil painting is one of Banksy's most recognised murals, and the original appeared on a shop wall in east London, depicting a girl reaching towards a heart-shaped balloon.
It is not known who the successful bidder is but Sotheby's said they are talking to them and that they were 'surprised' by the bizarre stunt.
Sotheby's described the work ahead of the sale as 'authenticated by Pest Control', the handling services organisation that acts on Banksy's behalf. It was signed and dedicated on the reverse and had been acquired by the vendor directly from the artist in 2006, the auction house said.
But there is speculation that the shredded art could be fake. It is not known who bought the work from Banksy in 2006 and whether or not they were in on the stunt.
In 2007 Sotheby's sold three of Banksy's works. The day after the sale he updated his website with an image of an auction house and the people bidding on a picture with the written words 'I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This S**t'.
Melania Trump has revealed even she sometimes finds herself begging the President to stop tweeting.
The First Lady laughed on Saturday as she admitted she's told her husband to put the phone down amid one of his famed rants.
'I don't always agree with what he tweets, and I tell him that,' she said.
'I give my honest opinion and honest advice. Sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesn't, but I have my own voice and opinions, and it's very important to me I express what I feel.'
Melania Trump has told reporters in Cairo even she has told the President to put his phone away
When a reporter asked her: 'Have you ever told him to put his phone down?' she responded: 'Yes'.
The pair have long clashed about how best to use the internet.
While Trump is known for vicious tweets targeted at those who wrong him, Melania has put time and energy into developing a program that hopes to stop cyber bullying.
In a brief five minute press conference, she also told reporters she believes SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford when the pair were in high school is 'highly qualified', and said: 'I'm glad Dr Ford was heard'.
She refused to comment when asked if she believed Ford's claims.
Speaking near the Sphinx, Trump said that the message of her trip has been to show 'that we care. And we want to show the world that we care'.
The former model and her husband have very different uses for the internet. While the President uses his Twitter account to hurl insults at those he believes are against him, Melania has been working to stop cyberbullying
The First Lady was in Egypt on Saturday to wrap up her four-country tour of Africa.
She visited the Great Sphinx and the pyramids, after meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and his wife, first lady Entissar Mohameed Amer.
Trump received a warm welcome from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his wife, Entissar, at the presidential palace in Cairo before she headed to visit the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx.
At the meeting which lasted for nearly an hour, Sisi sat in the middle, with Trump on one side and his wife on the other. No statements were made to the press.
Trump was promoting US backed preservation efforts of Egyptian landmarks while she visited one of the seven wonders of the world
The First Lady also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his wife, Entissar, at the presidential palace in Cairo (pictured)
In a Facebook post on Friday, Sisi's wife welcomed Melania by saying she would arrive to her 'second country, Egypt'.
'I am honored to meet the honorable lady, the wife of the American president, in Cairo tomorrow, and to wish her a successful and happy stay in her second country, Egypt,' she wrote in Arabic.
While she is at the iconic landmarks, Melania will be promoting preservation efforts backed by the US.
During her trip, the First Lady's focus has been on humanitarian efforts, specifically those funded by US government aid, and those that work to better the lives of children.
Another key purpose of her tour is to promote 'education, healthcare, some conservation, and tourism', her spokeswoman said earlier.
A young man who trekked across the world in order to learn more about untapped magic was kidnapped and sold to a Nigerien drug dealer for a lump of heroin.
Architect and university lecturer Jan Golembiewski was only 18 when his yearning to learn more about the supernatural and the world's untouched capabilities drove him to the United States and later Mexico, where he met a Rastafarian mystic.
The mystic, who doubled as a kung fu master, opened Mr Golembiewski to a new interpretation of his world, and pushed him further into his journey toward a spiritual awakening.
A young man who trekked across the world in order to learn more about untapped magic was kidnapped and sold to a Nigerien drug dealer for a lump of heroin
Jan Golembiewski is now an architect and University of Technology Sydney lecturer
It led him to Niger, in western Africa, where he ventured penniless and with only a handful of possessions.
After sacrificing everything he had in the name of spirituality, Mr Golembiewski chose to take a further step away from his western heritage and leave his fate in the hands of the gods by tearing up his only identification, his passport.
'It was the most incredible and liberating experience, because we're born free and we just get caught up with so much s**t in our lives which doesn't mean anything,' he said.
He describes the man who opened him up to new interpretations and experiences as a Rastafarian mystic and kung fu master
His love of magic and spirituality led him to Niger, in Western Africa, where he ventured penniless and with only a handful of possessions
With no passport, no money, and no possessions, he quickly became a liability to those he was travelling with, but remained lucky while crossing borders, an experience he now attributes to magic.
But his good fortune couldn't last indefinitely and he was finally arrested at the Nigerien boarder.
He was isolated from his friends, and forced to walk alone in the desert, convinced that if he turned back he'd be shot.
He claims the experience was all a part of his spiritual journey, even though it led to a stint of imprisonment in a cell with a thick layer of human excrement from the floor up.
With no passport, no money, and no possessions, he became a liability to his companions, but remained lucky while crossing boarders, an experience he attributes to magic
He was able to develop a relationship with his guards, and spread the word of Rastafarianism in the meantime.
Just when his prospects appeared to be changing, trouble struck yet again.
After earning himself a place in the guards' good graces, Mr Golembiewski managed to get a trip to the Australian embassy, where he was given copies of his identification and freed from custody.
He was provided a first class ticket back home to Australia from the embassy after his ordeal in prison.
He claims the experience was all a part of his spiritual journey, even though it led to a stint of imprisonment in a cell, he says, had a thick layer of human excrement from the floor, up
He celebrated at a Rastafarian party that night, before he was approached by a beggar on the street the following day.
He claims the beggar invited him to take a journey together on the bus, to which Mr Golembiewski accepted, believing it to be the next stage of his spiritual and magical journey.
Instead, he discovered the beggar had sold him to a local drug dealer for a soggy lump of heroin.
'He said he had bought the right to send me home to my mother,' Mr Golembiewski said.
And after two weeks of being the man's slave, that's exactly what happened.
He was sent home on his first-class flight to Australia, thankful for his experiences and still in awe of the magic in the world.
Mr Golembiewski has shared his remarkable story in his novel, Magic, which was released earlier in October.
A monkey has been filmed driving a bus in India in a hilarious clip shared online.
The primate was filmed steering a public bus and driving the vehicle itself in Tamil Nadu in southern India.
In the video, the animal can be seen sitting on the steering wheel as it drives the bus full of passengers.
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You steer, I'll do the gears: The Indian langur monkey seems to have the full control of the steering wheel as the driver sits back
The Indian langur monkey seems to have the full control of the steering wheel as the driver sits back and relaxes.
Shocked passengers watch as the monkey drives the huge vehicle on a busy highway.
Indian officials have ordered a probe against the driver, who drove the bus on behalf of Tamil Nadu State Transport.
The driver, reportedly named Prakash, was filmed last Monday letting a monkey drive his vehicle while driving through Davanagere, Karnataka in southern India.
One of the passengers who was taken aback by the ape's driving skills immediately took out his mobile phone and captured the rare incident.
The passenger can be heard asking the driver, 'Is he an expert driver?' to which the driver replies that the primate knows how to drive.
The monkey can be seen turning the steering wheel as it drives through the busy traffic.
Langur monkeys are a common sight in India, and live on fruit and grass.
When the video was shared on the social media, it drew different reactions from users from across India.
A passenger, pictured on the bus, looks alarmed by the primate's antics. The driver faces an investigation by the company
While some appreciated the incident and praised the driving skills of the ape, others found it dangerous to put lives at risk.
Santosh Perumal commented online: 'What a funny driver, I would love to take the joy ride and see the monkey drive itself.'
Another user commented: 'However funny it may look there is a serious problem here.
The primate was filmed hijacking a bus of the Tamil Nadu State Transport and driving the vehicle itself in Tamil Nadu in southern India
The driver, Prakash, pictured above, was filmed on October 1 letting a monkey drive his vehicle while driving through Davanagere, Karnataka, in southern India
'You can't put the passenger's life at risk just for your fun.'
The clip has gone viral and has been shared around the world.
The driver faces an investigation by Tamil Nadu State Transport.
BHS is set for a gradual return to the high street with four concessions due to open inside Beales department stores as soon as next week.
The brand is also relaunching its website and is though to have a new specialty in lighting with other types of homeware said to be coming soon.
The relaunch comes two years after BHS closed more than 160 stores when it went into administration, bringing an end an 88-year trading history.
BHS has struck a deal with store chain Beales that will see new concessions open inside the Mansfield, Skegness, Peterborough and Bournemouth branches and a further 15 are planned, reports the Sun.
British Home Stores concessions are set to open inside four Beale department stores across the country within the next week. The news comes two years after BHS went into administration
The BHS website also appears to be relaunching with the message 'the lights will be back on soon' next to a picture of a chandelier
Tony Brown, Beales chief executive, told the FT that BHS were 'passionate about getting the brand back on the UK high street.'
He said added different products will be trialed in each store, saying 'it's to understand if the brands can still resonate with the customer.'
For example, Mansfield will only sell BHS ladies clothing but Bournemouth will sell both mens and ladies wear.
Mr Brown himself worked as the retail director at BHS between 2001 and 2008.
BHS's website is also set for a relaunch with the homepage proudly announcing 'the lights will be back on soon.'
No other information is available on the site but there is an image of a chandelier, suggesting the brands move into homeware and lighting.
Al Mana, a Qatari firm, bought the BHS website and its international operation in 2016.
More than 11,000 jobs were lost when BHS closed in 2016. It is hoped up to 15 more concessions can open in the coming months
At the time Al Mana said: 'The British heritage of BHS is one of quality and value, we are confidant that with this acquisition such a legacy will grow and succeed in new markets,' reports the Mirror.
Businessman Philip Green famously sold the company to former bankrupt Dominic Chappell for 1 in 2015.
MPs at a parliamentary inquiry found Green's decision to sell the business led to the collapse of the brand.
The company crashed with the loss of 11,000 jobs after it was sold leaving a pensions black hole of around 571million.
Beales is a small chain of stores and currently has 22 branches. The flagship store is in Bournemouth.
Brett Kavanaugh's Yale classmate has revealed explosive text messages that 'prove' the Supreme Court nominee told a potential witness to his alleged sexual assault to report 'no bad' about him.
Kathy Charlton, who attended Yale University with the judge, disclosed a text message conversation to NBC News between herself and an unnamed mutual friend of Kavanaugh's.
This mutual friend was identified to the FBI by Deborah Ramirez as a witness to the sexual misconduct Kavanaugh allegedly committed against her at a college party in which he shoved his genitals in her face.
Ramirez's story was published in The New Yorker on September 23, but two days before the allegations were made public, the same friend texted Charlton clearly upset after she spoke to the press about the call.
'Hellllllooooo. Don't F****** TELL PEOPLE BRETT GOT IN TOUCH WITH ME!!! I TOLD YOU AT THE TIME THAT WAS IN CONFIDENCE!!!' the messages read.
A potential witness to Deborah Ramirez's (left) sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh sent explosive messages to a former classmate because she had spoken to the press
Three days before Ramirez's allegations were published in The New Yorker, Charlton told NBC News that this former classmate told her Kavanaugh had called him, advising him to not say anything 'bad' if the press called.
Ramirez was the second woman to come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Trump's Supreme Court pick follow Dr Christine Blasey Ford's claims he drunkenly assaulted her at a high school party when she was 15.
She alleges Kavanaugh exposed his penis to her during a drunken party at a Yale University dorm in the early 1980s and she was forced to touch it.
Ramirez was interviewed last week by the FBI regarding her allegations and a source familiar with the matter said she provided the agents with names of witnesses who she said could corroborate her account.
She reportedly named the friend Kavanaugh had called.
'From the content and all capital letters of the text (the alleged witness) seemed to feel that there was a great deal at stake for Brett if Brett's fears of exposure ever became public,' Charlton wrote in a statement to the FBI, which was shared with Senator Chuck Grassley's office Thursday.
Charlton said Kavanaugh (pictured in college) told the friend to report 'no bad' about him before Deborah Ramirez's claims of sexual misconduct were made public
Charlton and several other of Kavanaugh and Ramirez's former friends and classmates had not been interviewed by the FBI despire having evidence they say is pertinent to the bureau's background check.
Kerry Berchem says she also has texts showing Kavanaugh knew about Ramirez's claims before they appeared in the press, despite telling senators otherwise
Kerry Berchem, another Yale alum who knew both Kavanaugh and Ramirez, also claims to be in possession of texts that show the judge was preparing a defense against Ramirez's claims with friends before they were printed in the New Yorker on September 23.
If true, those texts would contradict sworn testimony Kavanaugh gave to senators when he said the first time he heard of the allegations was when they appeared in print.
Berchem says she has reached out to the FBI with the evidence, but has not been contacted back.
The text exchange is between Berchem and Karen Yarasavage, another friend of Kavanaugh's.
In one of the texts, which was obtained by NBC, Yarasavage said she had been in contact with 'Brett's guy' and with 'Brett' because he had asked her to defend him on the record about Ramirez's claim he exposed himself to her at a drunken party at a Yale University dormitory in the early 1980s.
Other texts suggest Kavanaugh's team had been communicating with his former Yale classmates before the story's publication.
Yarasavage also indicated to Berchem that she had sent Kavanaugh a photo of their group of Yale friends - Ramirez included - from a wedding in 1997 - a decade after the alleged sexual misconduct occurred.
Kavanaugh has denied his claims and is on track to becoming the next Supreme Court Justice.
More than 120 endangered baby giant turtles have been stolen from a breeding facility in the Galapagos islands, it has emerged.
'They were all taken at once, 123 in all. It was a robbery,' Washington Paredes told AFP on Thursday, adding that it happened Tuesday, last week.
Galapagos National Park said it was preparing a statement on the alleged theft of the 123 hatchlings from a facility on Isabela, one of the islands.
More than 120 endangered baby giant turtles have been stolen from a breeding facility in the Galapagos islands, it has emerged (file image)
'They were all taken at once, 123 in all. It was a robbery,' Washington Paredes told AFP on Thursday. He said it happened Tuesday of last week (file image)
Galapagos National Park said it was preparing a statement on the alleged theft of the 123 hatchlings from a facility on Isabela, one of the islands (file image)
Lumbering adult giant turtles are a beloved symbol of the islands that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The Environment Ministry also said it would issue a statement when it had official information.
Paredes complained that the breeding facility where the theft occurred was poorly protected, with no security cameras or light sensors.
'The turtles are just there. If somebody wants to go in by night and steal, they can,' he said.
In June, 26 adult turtles that had been smuggled to Peru were returned to the islands.
Twelve species of giant turtles live on the islands, which are a United Nations natural heritage site.
A former ISIS sex slave has revealed the harrowing moment she was picked by a giant jihadi brute from a group of terrified Yazidi women - as they screamed and vomited in terror.
Nadia Murad, 25, has spoken in shocking detail of her experiences at the hands of ISIS sex traffickers - who treated women as 'animals' touching them wherever they pleased.
Writing in her autobiography, the now Nobel peace prize winner, spoke of her experiences one night at a slave market.
She said: 'We could hear the commotion downstairs where militants were registering and organising, and when the first man entered the room, all the girls started screaming.'
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Nadia Murad (pictured here addressing the U.N.) was captured by ISIS sex traffickers when her home village of Kocho in Sinjar, northern Iraq, was attacked
Ms Murad has spoken in shocking detail of the slave market and how women would start screaming and vomiting when ISIS (pictured is the ISIS flag) militants would enter
The entrance of the men would terrify the women who, Ms Murad says 'would double over and vomit on the floor'.
They would then ask if the women were virgins to which the vendor would reply 'of course.'
Ms Murad's autobiography, which is featured in The Guardian today, recalls in harrowing detail this examination process.
She says: 'The militants touched us anywhere they wanted, running their hands over our breasts and our legs, as if we were animals.'
Eventually Ms Murad was sighted from among the crowd by a high-ranking militant named Salwan - a man she claims 'looked like a monster'.
His strength was daunting, she claims.
Ms Murad said: 'He could crush me with his bare hands. No matter what he did, and no matter how much I resisted, I would never be able to fight him off. He smelled of rotten eggs and cologne.'
Nadia Murad walks through a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece in 2016
The terror of this jihadi brute became so overwhelming that she eventually threw herself at a smaller man - begging him to take her.
The man, who was a judge in Mosul, agreed.
Ms Murad had found herself at the hands of ISIS sex traffickers after her home village of Kocho in Sinjar, northern Iraq, was attacked.
She was captured alongside her sisters and lost six brothers and her mother.
Eventually Ms Murad was able to escape her ISIS captors, smuggling herself out of Iraq.
She later went as a refugee to Germany in early 2015.
This year's Nobel peace prize was awarded to her alongside two others.
Nadia Murad (left) a Yazidi former captive of the Islamic State, and Amal Clooney (right) during a High-level event at United Nations headquarters. The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday was awarded to Murad and Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege. Clooney helped Murad with the foreword to her 2017 autobiography The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and My Fight Against the Islamic State
Ms Murad speaks to members of the Security Council during a meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York in 2015
Outlining the reason for the decision, the committee said: 'She has shown uncommon courage in recounting her own sufferings and speaking up on behalf of other victims.
'Nadia Murad is one of an estimated 3,000 Yazidi girls and women who were victims of rape and other abuses by the IS army.
'The abuses were systematic and part of a military strategy. They served as a weapon in the fight against Yazidis and other religious minorities.'
ISIS jihadists organised slave markets for selling off the women and girls, and Yazidi women were forced to renounce their religion.
For the jihadists, with their ultra-strict interpretation of Islam, the Yazidis are seen as heretics.
Yazidi survivor and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human trafficking Nadia Murad (C) reacts as she visits her village for the first time after being captured and sold as a slave by the Islamic State three years ago
The Kurdish-speaking community follows an ancient religion, revering a single God and the 'leader of the angels', represented by a peacock. They numbered around 550,000 in Iraq before 2014, but some 100,000 have since left the country.
Nadia Murad (pictured arriving at the Glamour Women Of The Year 2016) was able to escape ISIS capture by smuggling herself out of Iraq
After herself being granted asylum in Germany in 2015, Murad continued the fight for the 3,000 Yazidis who remain missing, presumed still in captivity.
She has said that IS fighters wanted 'to take our honour, but they lost their honour' and has dedicated herself to what she calls 'our peoples' fight'.
Murad has now become a global voice, campaigning for justice for her people and for the acts committed by the jihadists to be recognised internationally as genocide.
At just 25, is the second youngest Nobel peace prize winner. The youngest was Malala Yousafzai, who won in 2014 at 17-years-old after she was shot in the head at close range by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education in Pakistan, where she grew up.
Nadia Murda's biography The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and My Fight Against the Islamic State, published by Virago, is out now.
It was a letter written by a man who clearly felt trapped. Weighed down by responsibility, the author was desperate to escape it all with the woman he loved. And, as he fantasised about resigning his position as heir to the throne and starting a new life, Edward, then Prince of Wales, told his married lover he could be free to live or die according to how hard I worked, though I should have you all to myself sweetheart and should only then be really happy and contented.
For anyone familiar with the abdication crisis of 1936, such sentiments might seem unsurprising. After all, Edward VIII had gone so far as to relinquish the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Yet this particular letter was written 17 years earlier and the lover he addressed was not Wallis but another woman entirely.
Freda Dudley Ward (pictured) was the wife of the lieutenant commander the the R.N.R and M.P for Southampton
For a decade and a half, Freda Dudley Ward was the most important person in Edwards life, a woman for whom he felt an all-consuming passion every bit as strong as that he later felt for Wallis.
Indeed, Fredas power over Edward was emotional as much as sexual. She was not just the princes lover, she was also his confidante, one who seemed almost to wield the authority of a dominatrix. As he repeatedly begged her to marry him, Edward demonstrated an unsettling level of devotion, frequently abasing himself with baby talk in letters to his precious darling little Mummie and even begging for punishment a fervour no doubt increased by the knowledge that Freda not only had a husband, but a second, more agreeable lover.
Fredas hold over Edward was powerful indeed and had she acquiesced and agreed to marry him, then it is likely she would have been the woman provoking a constitutional crisis. And we would never have heard the name Mrs Wallis Simpson.
Freda and Edward first met during a Zeppelin raid in March 1918, after Freda took refuge in the doorway of a grand house in Belgrave Square, London. A party, with the Prince of Wales among the guests, was taking place inside, and when the hostess invited Freda inside, Edward was captivated. Petite and pretty, with dark curly hair and sparkly, periwinkle blue eyes, 24-year-old Freda exuded sex appeal and warmth. She gave the impression of needing a mans protection, yet beneath the vulnerable exterior, she was a strong woman.
Perhaps the quality that made her most attractive to men particularly rather insecure ones was her ability to build them up and make them feel good about themselves. And the prince, charismatic, charming and dapper but with complex insecurities, was looking for a woman just like Freda.
True, there was an awkward disparity in social status as Freda was no aristocrat. Born Winifred Birkin in 1894, she was the eldest child of a Nottingham lace manufacturer, Colonel Charles Birkin, and his American wife. There was, however, another, even more significant problem: she was not free.
Freda had married William Dudley Ward, a handsome, up-and-coming Liberal MP, shortly before her 19th birthday in 1913, and together they had two daughters, Penelope (Pempie) and Angela (Angie).
By the time Freda met the prince, however, the marriage was under strain. And when, in 1917, her husband William, or Duddie, was made vice-chamberlain to the Royal Household a job that took him away from home a bored Freda found new ways of amusing herself; among them, a growing dalliance with the most eligible bachelor in the world.
Soon, the besotted couple found ways to be together almost every day. Physically they were well matched. Edward was a little taller than Freda, but both were fashionably svelte. When not in London, Freda stayed at Kilbees Farm, near Windsor, owned by one of her husbands sisters, and the couple could meet there undetected.
The Prince of Wales (second left) and Prince George of Hanover (far right) are seen outside the Plaza Theatre with Freda Dudley Ward (right), and Viscountess Furness (left) to see 'The League of Mercy'
Edwards passion for his married mistress became all-consuming. If they were apart, he would phone her four or five times a night. If she were not at home, he was bereft.
He spent much of the 1920s on a series of Royal tours around colonies to thank them for their war effort. While he was away, he bombarded Freda with dozens of letters written to My Angel and signed with tons and tons of love from your E.
He would look at her photograph, which was kept in a little leather frame by his bed when it was not in his pocket, and kiss it. He told her that thinking of her made him feel fearfully naughty.
Freda was the grown-up in their partnership, and that was a large part of her appeal. Indeed, Edward had found dominant women attractive long before Wallis Simpson arrived on the scene. Explaining to Freda what he needed in a relationship, he wrote: You know you ought to be really foul to me sometimes sweetie and curse and be cruel; it would do me worlds of good and bring me to my right senses!!
In one he asked her to come up to London to give me that hiding. In another he wrote: I do need you so so badly to chase me into bed with a big big stick.
Sex had been a major preoccupation for him since 1916, when his equerries took him to Amiens and introduced him to a French prostitute called Paulette.
Soon afterwards, he began having an affair with a Parisian courtesan called Marguerite Alibert, known as Maggy, who enjoyed a reputation as a dominatrix (and who would later make headlines when, in 1923, she shot her Egyptian playboy husband, Ali Fahmy, in the Savoy).
In his relationship with Freda, it was clear that he was looking for a mother figure as much as for sex. He complained to her about the stifling formality of court life, his dislike of official duties and even his doubts about whether he ever wanted to be King. For all his popularity, meeting so many people who had such high expectations of him was a constant strain.
When he said to Freda that he had had enough of princing and wanted to be an ordinary person with a life of his own, she was honest with him. She told him that he could not be an ordinary person because he was born to be King and whether he liked it or not, that fate was awaiting him. He could not escape it. Edward wrote to Freda that the only thing he wanted in the world was to be with you always and that it would break his heart if she stopped loving him.
He promised to just nip off with you at any moment and to any place in the world if you will make up your mind to do so if you knew how very deeply and truly I loved you to the exclusion of all else in the world
For Freda, though, the idea of marrying or running away was ridiculous. As she was already married there would have to be a divorce, and his parents and the Church would never have allowed it. Nonetheless, the couple enjoyed a lively social life, with dances every night in Mayfair and Chelsea. The prince loved to dance. Gossip columnists noted how perfectly he partnered Freda.
They went to nightclubs including Ciros, Quaglinos and the Kit Kat but their favourite was the Embassy, in a basement in Old Bond Street.
When the Charleston arrived in London from the US they had lessons at the Cafe de Paris.
Freda, however, was interested in politics and preferred thinking people to the cocktail set.
One friend described her as one of the brightest women hed ever known. She visited slums and reported back to the prince about the experience.
Meanwhile, Fredas husband seems to have accepted his wifes relationship with the heir to the throne. It is likely that Duddie would have wanted to avoid the inevitable scandal involved in divorce, not to mention the detrimental effect on his career and on his daughters. Increasingly, Freda and Duddie led separate lives.
Freda introduced her daughters to the prince and he genuinely adored them. Pempie and Angie saw so much of their mothers lover that he was soon treated as an honorary uncle whom they called Little Prince. When Freda was away, he would sit with the girls, cutting out pictures until their bedtime.
Much of London society knew about Freda and Edward, as did the Government, but the affair was kept secret from the public.
When Edwards parents discovered the truth, they were horrified, of course, seeing Freda as a scarlet woman or, in the snobbish words of King George V, the lace-makers daughter. As time went on, upset by all the gossip and suffering bouts of depression, Freda made several attempts to end the relationship, but Edward just would not let her go and used every form of emotional blackmail he could muster.
On one occasion, he wrote in terms that would give Freudians a field day: From now onwards Ill twy [sic] to teach myself to look on you only as Fredie Mummie though its going to be the hardest task of my life; [...] but I swear I will twy [sic], though a chap can love his mummie. Addressing her as little slave or parpee (puppy), there was a slavish quality to his adoration that prevented it being completely reciprocated.
There was another barrier, too because for most of their relationship, Freda had been involved in an equally intense affair with Michael Herbert, a banker and a cousin of the Earl of Pembroke.
Dark-haired, handsome and slight, not only was Michael an eligible bachelor, he was fun to be with and had an infectious smile.
The prince, too, had additional affairs, often with women in Fredas circle. It was even rumoured that he had a fling with her youngest sister, Vera.
In 1926, Edward met, and later started seeing, a twice-married American, Thelma Furness as well as Freda, of course. Thelma was kind and beautiful, yet she could only provide the physical comfort the prince needed, not the emotional support. Thelma recognised that Edward was a complex personality, but she never came near to understanding him although for that there was no need, as Freda was still there, playing the role of mother confessor in his life. He continued to visit her most afternoons.
In June 1930, Freda finally divorced Duddie on the grounds of his adultery. The divorce came too late for Michael. In September 1932, he died from an abscess on his lung, bronchio-pneumonia and cerebral toxaemia. He was only 39. Freda was devastated. Her family believes that he, rather than the Prince of Wales, was the love of her life.
Edward and his TWO menages a trois...at the same time This remarkable photograph, above, illustrates how Edward conducted two of his affairs simultaneously. Though his adultery was kept secret from the public, his lively social life meant it was well-known on the London scene. This 1932 picture shows the prince accompanied by two of his mistresses on a trip to the theatre. On the left is Freda Dudley Ward, the glamorous, sexually dominant woman who was one of the loves of his life, despite her being married and conducting a separate affair with banker Michael Herbert. On the right is another lover, Thelma Furness, an American who was at the time married to Marmaduke, Viscount Furness. She later introduced Edward to Wallis Simpson. Advertisement
Now, for the first time, the prince could have been the only man in Fredas life. Yet, as with Michael, her freedom had come too late. The relationship with Edward, although intense, was already past its peak.
Today Thelma Furness is best-known for her role in introducing her fellow American Wallis Simpson to Edward. It was at Burrough Court, her country home, that the two first met on January 10, 1931.
After that, Thelma encouraged Edwards friendship with Wallis, then married to Ernest Simpson, an Anglo-American shipping broker, because she hoped finding witty guests outside of his usual circles would keep him amused.
Walliss sharp wit and repartee had piqued the princes interest more than Thelma one of his two mistresses had intended, however. In 1934, after returning from a trip to America and reunited with Edward at her Regents Park house, she found him polite but distant.
The next weekend, she joined the prince and the Simpsons at Fort Belvedere, Edwards home in Windsor Great Park. At dinner, Thelma noticed that Edward and Wallis had developed private jokes.
After watching her friend and lover together, Thelma knew what had happened: she had been replaced. She left Fort Belvedere the next morning, never to return.
THE end of Edwards 16-year relationship with Freda was equally brutal and abrupt. After she hadnt heard from him for a few weeks, she called St Jamess Palace and was told by the operator: I have orders not to put you through.
Freda and the prince never spoke again, and she was deeply hurt by his neglect. He had made up his mind that he wanted to be with Wallis. And this time, he was not willing to listen to reason and take no for an answer. Edward was determined to make a lasting commitment, no matter how great the cost.
Rachel Trethewey, 2018
Abridged extract from Before Wallis: Edward VIIIs Other Women, by Rachel Trethewey, published by The History Press on October 15, priced 20. Offer price 16 (20 per cent discount, with free p&p) until October 14. Pre-order at mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640.
Senator Elizabeth Warren delivered an impassioned speech to hundreds of protesters on the steps of the Supreme Court before she headed to the Senate's vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
The Massachusetts Democrat was one of 48 senators who voted against Kavanaugh, leaving a majority of 50 senators in the nominee's favor - enough to appoint him to the highest court in the land.
Warren, a potential candidate for president in 2020, took the podium Saturday afternoon and addressed the cheering crowd by exclaiming: 'Hello Democracy!'
She continued: 'So lets start with the hard part: This hurts. What the United States is about to do hurts.'
'It hurts every survivor of sexual assault who has been ignored. It hurts every woman who has been told to sit down and shut up.
'It hurts every person who will be on the losing end of a Kavanaugh swing vote against them and in favor of states that keep American citizens from voting, in favor of corporations that cheat consumers, in favor of gun traffickers that put our children at risk,' Warren said, pausing as a chorus of 'boos' rang out.
Senator Elizabeth Warren delivered an impassioned speech to protesters on the steps of the Supreme Court before leaving to cast her vote against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh
Warren, a potential candidate for president in 2020, took the podium Saturday afternoon and addressed the cheering crowd by exclaiming: 'Hello Democracy!'
Hundreds of protesters bearing anti-Kavanaugh signs descended on the capital Saturday morning ahead of the Senate confirmation vote
The Senate is expected to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on Saturday in a 50-48 vote following a bitterly partisan monthlong battle over his nomination
The senator went on: 'This hurts, but I want to be clear: I am not sorry I got in this fight.'
'Because when we fight, we get stronger. I want to remind everyone what this fight has done.
'We have called out men of privilege and power who protect other men of privilege and power.
'We have lifted the voices of millions of survivors of sexual assault. We have refused to be the women who sit down and shut up.
'And we have forged the bond that will make us stronger in the next fight.'
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks on the Senate floor before the final Brett Kavanaugh vote on Saturday
President Trump speaks to the media about the upcoming Senate vote on Brett Kavanaugh before departing the White House for a rally in Topeka, Kansas
Warren then began criticizing her Senate colleagues who would vote in favor of confirming the judge, saying: 'What's about to happen over in the United States Senate, make no mistake, this is about power.
'This is about raw, naked power. The people who have power and the people who contend that no one else will have that power.'
Protesters behind the camera could be heard voicing their agreement.
Demonstrators are arrested on the steps of the Capitol as they protest the Senate vote
Hundreds of protesters flocked to Capitol Hill on Saturday for a third day of demonstrations
Speaking over a rising cacophony of praise from the crowd, Warren said: 'So here's how I see it: This hurts, but now is the time to turn our hurt into power.
'I've got a plan, right now I call it a 30-day plan,' she said, laughing at her own coy reference to the midterm elections coming up in 30 days.
'Take back the senate, take back the house, vote Democrat up and down, return power to the people where it belongs.'
Warren closed by introducing the man who would speak after her, saying: 'The best partner in this fight that I could have ever hope for is my senator from Massachusetts Ed Markey.'
She shared the four-minute video on Twitter with the caption: 'Im about to go vote against Brett Kavanaugh. But first, I want to tell everyone who fought with us what comes next.'
The clip was viewed nearly 50,000 times within an hour of being posted.
Kavanaugh is seen at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, ahead of the Senate vote Saturday
Kavanaugh's confirmation went from pitched battle to likely outcome after GOP Sens. Jeff Flake (left) and Susan Collins (center), along with Democrat Joe Manchin (right), announced Friday they would vote to confirm him
The Senate's 50-48 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh took place just before 4pm EST.
The slim margin of just two votes makes Kavanaugh's confirmation the closest vote for a Supreme Court justice since 1881.
The confirmation went from pitched battle to likely outcome after GOP Sens. Jeff Flake and Susan Collins, along with Democrat Joe Manchin, announced Friday they would vote to confirm Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women.
Vice President Mike Pence was on standby to cast the deciding vote in the event that the Senate motion ended in a tie - which has never happened in a Supreme Court confirmation.
William Clyde Allen (pictured), 39, could face life in jail after sending crushed castor seeds used to make ricin to the President and other government officials
A former naval officer accused of sending letters laced with ricin to high level government officials has told the FBI was trying to send a message.
William Clyde Allen was arrested on Wednesday for mailing crushed castor beans to the President, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Admiral John Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations.
He did not elaborate on the message he was trying to send, but told FBI agents he'd also mailed the crushed beans which can be used to make ricin, a deadly poison to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Vladimir Putin and Queen Elizabeth, ABC reported.
In each envelope was a letter which read: 'Jack and the Missile Bean Stock Powder' and he had included a return address his home in Logan - which is how he was arrested so quickly.
An affidavit presented to the court from the FBI claims Allen had bought the castor beans from eBay, and was preparing for World War III.
'When asked about the purpose of purchasing the castor beans, Allen III said he wanted to have them in case World War III broke out,' the affidavit said.
'Allen elaborated and stated he could make them useful, to bear arms, and to defend our nation.'
He included the seeds in a letter that read: 'Jack and the Missile Bean Stock Powder', and added his return address, which led to his easy capture
Allen served in the Navy from 1998 to 2002 as a fireman apprentice on supply and support ships. He is shown right in a 2008 mugshot after being arrested for aggravated assault in Logan, Utah. He pleaded guilty and spent one year in prison
Investigators are seen outside Allen's home on Wednesday. Allen claims he also mailed the seeds to Vladimir Putin and the Queen
Allen has been charged with one count of threatening to use a biological toxin, which carries a maximum life sentence and four counts of making threats through the mail, which carry 10-year sentences.
But this is not the 39-year-old's first brush with the law. In 2015, Allen emailed the CIA, threatening the President's life, and in February 2017 wrote a letter to the Lackland Air Force Base which read: 'I have a bomb to kill your people'.
According to court documents, he sent an email to the CIA threatening to kill the president in 2015. In February 2017, he sent a bomb threat to Lackland Air Force Base; the letter read, in part, I have a bomb to kill your people.
Ricin can be extracted from the seeds which can be lethal if eaten in large quantities but otherwise harmless.
If a person is exposed to ricin in its extracted form, they can die within 72 hours by inhaling much smaller amounts of the toxin which causes respiratory failure.
None of the envelopes reached their intended targets.
Ricin can be extracted from castor seeds (pictured), which can be lethal if eaten in large quantities
Pictured: US Defense Department personnel work in the mail room at the Pentagon the day after two of the poisoned envelopes were found
They triggered alarms during screening at a mail facility which is not inside the main building but is nearby, defense officials said. They were sent to the FBI for additional testing.
At around the same time, two people were hospitalized after being exposed to a white powder that was contained in mail sent to Sen. Ted Cruz's Houston campaign office.
Their injuries are not known. Neither of the victims worked for Cruz's campaign.
It is not known if the two incidents are linked or what the substance sent to Cruz's office was.
After the incident at Cruz's office, the Houston Fire Department conducted tests in the building but no harmful substances were found.
All mail sent to the Pentagon via the US Postal Service on Monday was placed under quarantine as a precaution and all workers from Cruz's Houston campaign office were evacuated.
All mail that was sent to the Pentagon was placed under quarantine as a precaution after the seeds were found. Law enforcement wore protective suits and masks while they searched Allen's home
All mail that was sent to the Pentagon was placed under quarantine as a precaution.
Several terror plots which use the toxin have been foiled in Europe in the past including an intended attack on a London Underground station in 2003 and a separate attack in Germany in June this year.
After initial exposure to ricin, symptoms ordinarily appear in around 10 hours and death can occur within 72 hours.
Since the anthrax attacks which killed five people after the powder was distributed through mail in 2003, the US Government has increased measures to protect workers and officials from exposure to any harmful substances.
They include putting mail through X-Ray machines and scanners which detect vapors and identify anything poisonous or toxic.
In Washington DC, the US Postal Service also samples the air as mail is being sorted before it is sent to government buildings.
It's usually James Bond in peril, but the spy's faithful gadget-maker Q is at risk too of losing his job.
Britain's three intelligence agencies are softening their traditional rivalry by merging a raft of key back-office roles.
MI5, MI6 and GCHQ are advertising for a joint director of estates and similar roles for finance and personnel.
The posts are being created to save money, which could spell danger for real-life versions of Q or Miss Moneypenny.
MI5, MI6 and GCHQ are advertising for a joint director of estates and similar roles for finance and personnel to save money which could spell danger for real-life versions of Q (pictured Ben Whishaw as Q and Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall 2012)
The agencies were given a 2.6 billion budget boost in 2015, but were ordered to find 1.3 billion in efficiencies.
The Shared Corporate Services organisation will be based in Thames House, MI5's Central London headquarters which is located across the river from MI6's distinctive Vauxhall Cross building that has featured in several Bond films.
A Whitehall job advert seeking a 'Director of MI5/MI6 estates' asked for candidates with 'proven experience leading and embedding large-scale transformative change'.
The joint Finance Director advert said: 'We are in the process of creating a new Shared Corporate Services organisation to deliver a range of services including HR, Finance, Security, Commercial and Estates.
The agencies were given a 2.6 billion budget boost in 2015, but were ordered to find 1.3 billion in efficiencies (pictured Daniel Craig in Skyfall, 2012)
'This organisation will sit at the heart of the Agencies' strategies and mission and will allow us to deliver more whilst keeping our staff safe and secure.'
A Government source told The Mail on Sunday: 'It will be the first time some of the administrative or other services have been shared in such a way.
'This is designed to increase efficiency but it certainly doesn't signal a desire for the three agencies to dilute their own organisation's identity or to merge buildings.'
Markets regulator SEBI imposed a total fine of Rs 10 lakh on five promoter group members of Chhattisgarh-based Mahamaya Steel on Friday for failing to comply with disclosure requirements regarding the shares of the company.
In a five separate but similarly worded orders, the regulator imposed fine on Anand Kumar Agrawal, Asha Agrawal, Neha Agrawal, Nitin Agrawal, Ravi Agrawal for violating PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading) regulations.
Anand Kumar Agrawal is the promoter of the firm and Asha Agrawal is wife of Anand while Neha, Nitin and Ravi are children of the promoter Anand.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said, during May-August period, all members of promoter group except Ravi Agrawal sold shares on several occasions in 2016 exceeding the value of Rs 10 lakh.
In May, Ravi Agrawal bought shares on one occasion which exceeded Rs 10 lakh in value, SEBI said.
Under PIT norms, promoter and director of company is required to disclose the transaction to the company within two trading days if the value of securities traded is in excess of Rs 10 lakh.
However, they failed to do so, the regulator noted.
"The provision clearly shows that intent of the legislation. It is not only the promoters, but all those who are related to them may be privy to unpublished price sensitive information and are required to disclose the change in their shareholding to the public," SEBI said
Accordingly, SEBI fined Anand Kumar Agrawal Rs 5 lakh, Asha Agrawal Rs 2 lakh and Neha Agrawal, Nitin Agrawal, Ravi Agrawal Rs 1 lakh each.
Police in Central Texas confiscated a woman's political sign after a Texas politician complained about it, potentially violating the woman's first amendment rights.
Republican Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller took to Facebook to complain about a homemade yard sign made by Marion Stanford, of Hamilton, Texas.
Miller, who is up for reelection in November, posted two pictures of the sign, which features a Republican-themed elephant with its trunk poking up under the skirt of a female in a pink dress. The female has a shocked expression on her cartoon face and the exclamation 'HELP!' written next to her head.
Next to the illustration are the words, 'Your vote matters.'
Police confiscated this sign, depicting a GOP elephant and a girl, from Texas woman Marion Stanford, after a Republican politician Sid Miller complained about it on his Facebook page and claimed that the girl was supposed to be Judge Brett Kavanaugh's daughter
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller posted pictures of the sign on Facebook
Stanford denied that the image was supposed to depict Kavanaugh's daughter and said that it was her take on rendition of this editorial cartoon by Ann Telnaes
'This is in Hamilton, Texas and is supposed to be Judge Kavanaugh's young daughter,' Miller wrote on October 2, even though there is no evidence suggesting the identity of the figure.
'Notice my opponent's sign in the background. The Democrat sleaze knows NO bounds!'
Behind Stanford's homemade sign, are official-looking campaign posters supporting Democratic congressional candidates Julie Oliver and Beto O'Rourke.
There is also a sign advocating for Miller's opponent for the Texas Agriculture Commissioner seat, Democrat Kim Olson, a fourth generation farmer and retired US Air Force colonel.
After Miller posted the pictures on Facebook, Stanford told the Dallas Morning News that police arrived at her home and told her to either remove the sign or they would confiscate it and arrest her.
'So I let them take the sign,' she said.
Pete Kampfer, city manager of Hamilton, told the newspaper that Miller told police to take the sign and denied any notion that the police threatened to arrest her or forcibly took the sign.
On October 4, Stanford took to Facebook took refute those claims, stating that the police threatened her with arrest if the sign was not removed.
'True to Republican form, they now say I requested them to take the sign away. Will their "alternative truths" never end!?' Stanford wrote.
Republican Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller posted about Stanford's handmade political yard poster. He is up for reelection against Democrat Kim Olson (right) in November
Stanford also said that she made her 'talentless drawing' after the 'exasperating experience' of listening to Brett Kavanaugh testifying on September 27.
'The more I listened to his juvenile, "I'm the victim," defense the more I felt emboldened to take a public stand,' Stanford wrote.
Stanford said her illustration was inspired by an editorial cartoon created by Ann Telnaes for the Washington Post in 2017, which also features a GOP-style elephant with its trunk under a female figure's dress.
'I saw and replicated the cartoon of a political party using its power to subjugate women, a party that supports the activities of a p***y grabber (trump) a pedophile (Roy Moore) and now a judge who once thought he was entitled to use women as his personal playground,' she wrote, referring to newly-confirmed Supreme Court justice Kavanaugh.
Stanford denied the fact that the female in her painting was Kavanaugh's daughter, as Miller stated.
'I've actually never seen a photo of his daughter but I sure hope she doesn't have any resemblance to this talentless drawing,' she wrote, noting that after Miller's Facebook post went up 'his supporters came out like cockroaches.'
'So I ask you--do you see a) pornography b) a sign encouraging child abuse c) inappropriate material?' she asked.
Still, candidate Olson distanced herself from the sign and called it 'clearly inappropriate.'
'We don't know who made this sign or what they intended, but it's clearly inappropriate,' Olson said in a statement to the Dallas Morning News.
'Anyone who continues to share such an image that makes light of sexual assault is out of line and out of touch.'
After the sign was removed, Miller said that he was was 'glad that he 'called out this offensive campaign sign and am pleased that hundreds of others did so as well,' according to the Star-Telegram.
He added it was 'vulgar and just plain wrong and it had no place in someones yard visible from the street.'
Miller then said that 'Not only was the sign an attack on Judge Brett Kavanaughs daughter, it made a mockery of sexual assault which is NO laughing matter.'
Southern Methodist University law professor and First Amendment expert Dale Carpenter told the Dallas Morning News that if Hamilton police took the sign, it's possible that the city infringed on Stanford's first amendment right to free speech.
Carpenter said the sign was not obscene and that 'no court would find it to be. You can say its offensive or distasteful, but thats protected under the Constitution.'
Hamilton's Kampfer told the newspaper that the city supports both freedom of speech and the Constitution and said that the Stanford's sign is still being held at the police station.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh's mine-laden trek to the U.S. Supreme Court ended Saturday with a narrow Senate approval, his skids greased by a November-shy Democrat and a president who defended him against an onslaught of uncorroborated sexual assault claims.
The court returned from eight to nine justices on Saturday night when Chief Justice John Roberts swore Kavanaugh in during a private ceremony.
Also present was retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who Kavanaugh once clerked for and whose retirement opened up a seat on the nine-member panel
The political fallout won't be known until November 6, when more than one-third of the senators and every House member will face voters.
Chief Justice John Roberts (right) administers the Constitutional Oath to Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the Justices' Conference Room of the Supreme Court Building. Ashley Kavanaugh holds the Bible. In the foreground are their daughters, Margaret (left) and Liza
Retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy (right) swears Kavanaugh in to the Supreme court after taking the Constitutional Oath on Saturday night in a private ceremony
'He's going in looking very good,' President Donald Trump said on the South Lawn of the White House, a day after Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins offered her stamp of approval and guaranteed the narrowest of victories.
Hours later on Air Force One, he told reporters he is '100 per cent' certain that Christine Blasey Ford, who claimed Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her decades ago, pointed her finger at the wrong man.
'There is no one with a squeaky clean past like Brett Kavanaugh,' the president said. 'He is an outstanding person and Im very honored to have chosen him. Were very honored that he was able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats.'
When Vice President Mike Pence's gavel fell Saturday, Kavanaugh had won on a 50-48 tally with his lone Republican opponent sitting on the sidelines as a favor to a friend.
Protesters in the Senate gallery, mostly female, were in no mood for good will. They interrupted the vote at several stages, prompting police to remove them. Pence, presiding over the Supreme Court reckoning, demanded order as cries of 'Shame! Shame!' and 'I do not consent!' rang out.
Federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed Saturday as the next Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, despite Democrats objections centered on the uncorroborated sexual assault allegations of a woman who claimed he attacked her 36 years ago; he left his house Saturday en route to the Supreme Court to be sworn in
The 50-48-1 vote reflected pro-Kavanaugh Republican Sen. Steve Daines' decision to spend the day at his daughter's wedding in Montana, anti-Kavanaugh Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski's decision to vote 'present' instead of 'no' in a show of respect for him
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday that liberals' vehement opposition to Kavanaugh has fired up the Republican base in time to make a different in the November 6 midterm elections
Protesters, estimated at 1,000, descended on the U.S. Capitol Saturday and took over the building's giant staircase to voice their opposition; about 100 who disobeyed U.S. Capitol Police or crossed barricades were arrested
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spent Saturday predicting a red wave of Republican election turnout, saying activists on the left have shot Democrats in the foot.
'Our base is fired up,' he told reporters after the vote. 'We finally discovered the one thing that would fire up the Republican base. And we didn't think of it. The other side did it.'
'The tactics that have been employed, both by Democratic senators and by the virtual mob that's assaulted all of us in the course of this process has turned our base on fire,' McConnell said, looking forward to an election exactly one month away.
'I want to thank the mob, he told The Washington Post.
McConnell denied the controversy would have an impact on the partys prospects among women voters in November: 'This was about someone being treated fairly ... not about unsubstantiated charges.'
The Women's March, the group behind protests the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration last year, tweeted that its members were responsible for disrupting the Kavanaugh vote.
Trump thanked the lawmakers for giving him his second Supreme Court pick in two years.
'I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court,' the president tweeted from Air Force One. 'Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!'
Senators knew before Saturday's vote how it would end. Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia crossed the aisle to support Kavanaugh in the hope of flattening a hurdle to his re-election in a deep red state that Trump won in a landslide.
Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins left the Senate floor under armed U.S. Capitol Police guard; it was her pro-Kavanaugh speech on Friday that tilted the nomination fight against the women's-issues groups that hoped she would reject the nominee
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House as he left for a Kansas rally that he has 'great respect' for Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who saved Kavanaugh's nomination with a speech endorsing his nomination on Friday
The president's tweeted victory lap came as he sat on Air Force One, after watching the vote on television
Trump congratulated Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines, who was able to skip the vote in favor of his daughter's wedding because the GOP had 51 'yes' votes and could spare him
Centrist Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski refused to cast a 'yes' vote, but called out 'present' instead of 'no' so fellow Republican Steve Daines of Montana could skip the roll call and walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day.
Trump tweeted that 'Steve was ready to do whatever he had to, but we had the necessary number. To the Daines Family, congratulations-have a wonderful day!'
But the president had harsh words for Murkowski, the lone Republican senator who couldn't get to 'yes.'
'I think she will never recover from this,' he told The Washington Post. 'I think the people from Alaska will never forgive her for what she did.'
Murkowski was re-elected in 2016, meaning she won't have to face voters again until 2022.
The final tally, 50-48-1, was every bit as razor-thin as the national fault-line that rumbled under weeks of hearings for the man Trump nominated to replace retired Justice Anthony Stevens.
About 1,000 protesters occupied the Capitol steps on Saturday, some willingly arrested and loaded into police buses.
'Vote them out!' was the most common chant, directed at every Republican who sided with Trump despite a heartfelt sexual assault claim from a woman who claims a 17-year-old Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her at a 1982 party, when she was 15.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican who didn't vote for Kavanaugh; President Trump said that 'she will never recover from this' and 'the people from Alaska will never forgive her'
The Women's March claimed responsibility for the protesters in the Senate gallery who disrupted Saturday's Kavanaugh vote with cries of 'Shame! Shame!' and 'I do not consent!'
Vice President Mike Pence, fulfilling his constitutional duty to preside over the Senate, called for police to eject protesters from the gallery after about a half-dozen outbursts
A dejected California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke to reporters after exiting the Senate floor
Ford had hours of Senate Judiciary Committee time to make her case, and won converts outside Congress. But none of the witnesses she cited recalled the events she described in a letter to her senator, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, that was later leaked to the press.
Ford's attorney said Saturday that her client would not continue to press her allegations, and does not want to see Congress impeach Kavanaugh.
Liberal forces never abandoned Ford, though, even after Sen. Collins said she found her unpersuasive.
'I believe that she believes what she testified to,' Collins told CNN in a needle-threading exercise.
And Trump, normally cool to Collins' moderate form of Republicanism, declared before leaving for a Kansas rally that 'I have great respect for Susan Collins and I always have.'
The partisan political split on Kavanaugh, and its implications for political opportunism, never showed signs of letting up on Saturday.
Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke on the floor, addressing the millions watching on TV more than the other 99 senators.
'I share the deep anguish that millions of Americans are experiencing today,' he said. 'But I say to you, my fellow Americans, there is one answer: Vote.'
'I share the deep anguish that millions of Americans are experiencing today,' Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, 'but I say to you, my fellow Americans, there is one answer: Vote'
Demonstrators were arrested on the steps of the U.S. Capitol as they protested the big political win that will tilt the nation's high court to the right
Trump gave a thumbs-up as he walked to Marine One for the lift to Joint Base Andrews, where Air Force One awaited to take him to a rally in Kansas
Republican majority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted back, saying Kavanaugh 'unquestionably deserves confirmation,' and sniping about the nature of Ford's claims and the nominee's denials.
'This is an institution where the evidence and the facts matter,' McConnell said. 'This is a chamber in which the politics of intimidation and personal destruction do not win the day.'
He said in a post-vote press conference that Republicans 'stood up for the presumption of innocence.'
'We refused to be intimidated by the mob of people that were coming after Republican members at their homes, and in the halls,' he said.
McConnell still has a slate of a dozen or more lifetime judicial appointments on his calendar, and he wants them confirmed before the midterm election.
A Senate aide told DailyMail.com on Saturday that he is privately threatening to keep the Senate in session as long as it takes to get that done, even if senators have to stay in Washington instead of going home to campaign.
This year, that would especially hurt Democrats.
Protesters in Washington, D.C. set up the next round of political tensions as the midterm elections loom
Trump fans in Topeka, Kansas lined upSaturday hours before the start of a rally where he's expected to take an extended victory lap about his Supreme Court success
Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, which contributes to female Democratic candidates, complained that the Senate had confirmed 'an alleged sexual assailant and anti-choice radical to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court.'
'But we will carry that anger into the election. Women will not forget this,' Schriock vowed.
Kay Coles James, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, called the vote 'a victory for liberty in America' and said Kavanaugh is 'a good man and good jurist.'
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Judiciary Committee chair, told reporters he had a message for protesters: 'Thank god that you're willing to exercise your First Amendment rights of association and free speech. Keep it up because it's going to make America stronger.'
But he had no such charity for his Democratic colleages, claiming they 'resorted to outright character assassination' an in attempt to torpedo Kavanaugh.
'Their smear campaign featured baseless allegations of perjury and claims that, as a teenager, he participated in the gang rapes of women,' Grassley said in a statement.
'Ive been around long enough to see ugly left-wing smear campaigns against Supreme Court nominees, but this was beyond the pale.'
Street artist Banksy is estimated to have a net worth of more than $20million (15million) a year. But how does he make his money?
The elusive artist's Girl With Red Balloon artwork was sold at auction yesterday for more than 1million, before shredding the moment it was sold.
He has previously slammed the concept of 'commercial success' and has encouraged people not to buy his work.
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The packed auction house gasped as the Bansky work destroyed itself moments after being sold on Friday in London
The auction house was forced to admit it got 'Banksy-ed' after the canvas suddenly passed through a shredder installed in the frame
He does not earn money from his wall mural work, and sprayed One Nation Under CCTV on building on a London street in 2007.
It depicted a small girl being watched by a CCTV camera, a security guard and a dog.
The mural was removed by Westminster City Council a year later.
The artist has called out 'unauthorised' galleries and outlets which profit from the his creative pieces.
When his artwork is sold, he prefers the money to go to charity instead.
Last year, he drew Civilian Drone Strike, depicting three drones bombing a house as a girl watches on.
The artwork sold for 200,000 at an auction which raised money to oppose an arms fair taking place in London.
It is thought Banksy makes some of his money through publishing books about his work which he earns royalties from.
His best-selling book Wall and Piece was published in 2005 by Random House Publishing.
Banksy's now famous Girl With Red Heart Balloon, first sprayed in 2002, on display in Moscow earlier this year
Perspex now covers the Banksy graffiti art on a disused drawbridge in Hull after it was defaced in January earlier this year
A pedestrian walks by the work by elusive British street artist Bansky in March this year: a mural showing support for an imprisoned Turkish-Kurdish artist and journalist
He also directed a documentary called Exit Through The Gift Shop, exploring modern and underground art.
The film is about a young French artist who goes looking for Bansky, and the artist also earned money from this.
The film grossed more than $5million (3million) and was nominated for an Academy Award.
He also sells pieces through his agency, called Pest Control, which also validates his work to prevent fraud.
Pest Control claims it is now the 'sole point of sale for new work by Banksy'.
But the artist does not want his commercial success to define him.
The mural, painted ten years ago in London, depicts a child painting the words 'One Nation Under CCTV' with a security guard watching him
Banksy's Slave Labour piece sprayed on a wall in north London in May 2012, which became iconic
The Mild Mild West Polar Bear Riot Police Bomb Graffiti sprayed by Banksy on the outside of Hamilton House in Bristol
Speaking to Village Voice back in 2013, the artist said: 'Graffiti art has a hard enough life as it is, before you add hedge-fund managers wanting to chop it out and hang it over the fireplace.
'For the sake of keeping all street art where it belongs, Id encourage people not to buy anything by anybody, unless it was created for sale in the first place.'
The true identity of the street artist remains unknown.
Three soldiers from the same Army base who were born male have changed their gender, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
They were given full backing from commanders after declaring they want to live as women. At least one plans to undergo reassignment surgery.
It is understood they have been given separate sleeping quarters and washing facilities at their barracks in Germany.
Two of the three, Tom Marshall now Katie Tom Rodriguez-Marshall and Paul Jones now Catherine Jones serve with a regiment named after Princess Diana.
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Lance Corporal Tom Marshall (pictured before he changed gender) is now called Katie Tom Rodriguez-Marshall and identifies as a woman
Katie, from Kent, posted a picture of herself in a floral dress on Facebook (pictured) which prompted a friend to respond: Seriously? Dude? Fancy dress competition?. But Katie replied: 'No permanently changing'
Senior officers in the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment also known as the Tigers are now receiving refresher training to ensure they have a close knowledge of the strict guidelines surrounding transgender troops.
The motto on the regiments badge translates as: Shame on him who thinks ill of it.
Pictures of both Katie, a lance corporal, and Catherine dressed as women have been posted on open Facebook pages, with Katie, who married in 2016, candidly responding to friends comments.
Asked by one if she would just be dressing as a woman or becoming one, she replied: Getting a sex change.
The third soldier, whose identity is not known, serves with the Adjutant Generals Corps. All are based at Paderborn in Germany. The news has surprised top brass as official figures show there are only up to ten other troops changing gender across the whole of the British Army.
Under military regulations, the trio must identify as women for a full 12 months before transitioning. The first step involves hormone therapy, which can lead to the development of breasts, and later reassignment surgery.
Private Paul Jones (pictured before he changed gender) is now called Catherine Jones and identifies as a woman
Katie, from Kent, posted a picture of herself in a floral dress on Facebook which prompted a friend to respond: Seriously? Dude? Fancy dress competition?
Katie replied: No permanently changing. Then the friend comments: Thats a good one mate.
Katie responds: Really? Thanks.
Elsewhere she writes: Yeah Im gonna be a woman from now on.
Her Facebook page from just a few years earlier features a picture of a gadget-laden sofa, which Katie then Tom described as: Mans best friend.
In 2016, she shared a picture of his fiancees hand after her marriage proposal, captioned: Yes she said yes. I love you princess!
After getting married, she joked about having to take all her heavy metal posters down.
In other images seen by the MoS, Catherine, wears what appears to be a long blonde wig and in another picture is seen in full uniform on a parade ground. Last night she was on leave with family in Portsmouth.
Transgender personnel now serve in the Royal Navy, Army and RAF at many levels. The Armys first female combat soldier, Guardsman Chloe Allen of the Scots Guards, was born a boy.
When her decision to change gender was revealed two years ago, General Sir James Everard, Commander of the Field Army, said the Army, which has had an employment policy for transgender servicemen and women since 1999, is proving itself as an inclusive organisation where everyone can thrive.
And in an encouraging message to others in similar positions, Chloe said: The military has every walk of life, especially the Army. You just need to go out and ask for advice and go down that route.
However, it was revealed last week that Army chiefs had confused soldiers by issuing contradictory guidelines on gender. The eight-page Gender Identity Guide for Army Personnel aims to inform troops of the right terms to use with LGBT comrades.
A picture of Catherine (pictured) dressed as women has been posted on an open Facebook page. In other images seen by the Mail on Sunday, Catherine, wears what appears to be a long blonde wig and in another picture is seen in full uniform on a parade ground
On one page it says gender identity is self determined. But on the next it tries to answers the question, So, its a social choice? by stating: Quite the opposite. One does not choose their gender. The guidelines are now being updated.
Last year it emerged that 34 troops across the Armed Forces are having medical treatment to change gender.
That figure is now likely to be higher. The treatment is available on the NHS and may be limited to hormone therapy for some patients, while others will undergo surgery costing at least 20,000 in each case.
It is not known whether the troops are being treated at public expense or from their own pockets. In 2015, Captain Hannah Winterbourne became the Armys most highly ranked transgender soldier and the first officer to transition.
Captain Winterbourne, who had previously completed an tour of Afghanistan as a man, serves with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
She has said: In Afghanistan, I was acting for everyone around me. I was sharing a tent with seven men and I realised I could not go on as things were.
The number of troops who have already completed transgender treatment before or after joining up has not been revealed.
Last year, Donald Trump banned transgender soldiers serving in the US military in any capacity. The US President said that he made the decision to keep troops focused on... victory and to avoid medical costs.
British transgender people are protected by law to serve in the military under the Equality Act 2010 and some of the UKs most senior officers criticised Presidents Trumps ban.
Rear Admiral Alex Burton said: As a Royal Navy LGBT champion and senior warfighter I am so glad we are not going this way.
And Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral Jonathan Woodcock tweeted: So proud of our transgender personnel... I will always support their desire to serve their country.
The Armys LGBT champion, Lieutenant-General Patrick Sanders, said: Only if individuals are free to be themselves can we release the genie of their potential.
On its diversity pages, the Army website states that transgender soldiers serve throughout the Army playing their part in the countrys security.
It adds: The Army welcomes transgender personnel and ensures all who apply are considered for service subject to meeting the same mental and physical entry standard as any other candidate.
ITV's biggest stars could face bills running into millions after the taxman launched a 'test case' against Eamonn Holmes.
The This Morning host revealed he is in the middle of a legal battle with HMRC, which claims he owes them tax stretching back seven years. Experts estimate he could face a bill of up to 2 million.
Officials are challenging the fact that the presenter receives a freelance salary from ITV through his own limited company, which means he pays less tax.
BBC celebrities whose salaries are paid in the same way have already been targeted by HMRC, which insists they are employees.
It is demanding the stars pay income tax at up to 45 per cent instead of corporation tax at 19 per cent.
ITV's biggest stars could face bills running into millions after the taxman launched a 'test case' against Eamonn Holmes
Now, says Holmes, it's the turn of ITV's big names.
'I am the test case,' he told The Mail on Sunday. 'If they win against me they will go after everyone else, everyone. Ant and Dec will be next.
'They can come after seven years of the difference [between tax paid and what is owed].' Presenters whose freelance status is successfully challenged would face at least a doubling of their tax bill, plus interest, National Insurance payments and possibly penalties, tax experts said last night.
Holmes's company, Red White and Green Ltd, had just under 3.1 million in cash, according to its latest accounts, dated April last year.
'The country is broke and they are coming to get us,' he said. 'I was in court in Central London for a week in June. I've been freelance for 28 years and that's been okay. Now they've said it's not okay.
So is he right? A leading tax expert said last night that the tax authorities were pursuing an 'aggressive strategy' against certain groups including TV personalities. Chartered accountant Michael Ogilvie said: 'The HMRC are behaving like playground bullies. The higher the profile of the person they can get, the better it sends a message far and wide.' Ant and Dec on their show Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway in 2016 Britain's Got Talent's Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, pictured two of ITV's biggest stars are understood to have earned a total of 29.5 million between them in 2016. But how their contracts are drawn up and by what mechanism they are paid for their TV work is not known. This would be a crucial factor in whether, as Eamonn Holmes suggests, HMRC might challenge them over their tax bills. Advertisement
'They have reinvented the rules in the past couple of years. There is nobody more freelance than me, but they are trying to prove our jobs are regular and guaranteed. But they could go at any moment.'
The 58-year-old revealed he has been waiting 17 weeks to hear the result of the ruling in his case. 'It has cost me a lot of money to fight it and trust me, in that court room there were a lot of them against me.'
Holmes is estimated to earn at least 700,000 a year from his TV work, which does not include the income of his co-presenter wife, Ruth Langsford, who is a co-director with him of Holmes and Away Ltd. It is not known on what basis Ms Langsford, also 58, is paid.
Other ITV stars are directors of their own limited companies, including Ant and Dec, Phillip Schofield, Holly Willoughby and Lorraine Kelly.
However, the exact arrangements through which each is paid by ITV are not known.
Tax authorities say that under rule 'IR35', presenters should not be able to hide behind a 'corporate veil' and must be classed as employees.
An HMRC spokesman told The Mail on Sunday last night: 'It is clear that most TV presenters will fall into the category of being employees based on the nature of their work, and the policy that sets this out has been the same for years.
'HMRC has a responsibility to ensure everyone pays the right amount of tax at the right time.'
A leading tax expert said that the tax authorities were pursuing an 'aggressive strategy' against certain workers including those in the media and doctors with private practices. A spokesman for ITV said last night: 'ITV manages its UK operations in compliance with the tax laws of the UK.
'When ITV engages a presenter through a personal service company that company is entirely responsible for any income tax and national insurance liabilities.'
Soldiers kicked out of the Army for taking illegal drugs including cocaine, cannabis and ketamine are being lured back with payments of up to 10,000 to plug a chronic manpower shortage.
Thousands of troops expelled after failing drugs tests are being contacted by Ministry of Defence officials and told they can qualify for golden hello payments and return to active duty at the same rank they achieved before they were booted out.
The controversial move is the latest attempt to solve a severe recruitment crisis. The Army is 4,000 short of the number it needs to be an effective fighting force. Earlier this year, The Mail on Sunday revealed how top brass had dropped a one strike and youre out drugs policy, allowing officers to keep hold of thousands of soldiers caught taking banned substances.
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The Army (pictured stock image) is 4,000 short of the number it needs to be an effective fighting force. So now thousands of troops expelled after failing drugs tests are being contacted by Ministry of Defence officials and told they can qualify for golden hello payments if they return to active duty
More than 40 per cent of soldiers who fail compulsory drugs tests are being allowed to remain in uniform. Now soldiers booted out over drugs are being told they can re-enlist just two years after their most recent offence. The only proviso is that they agree to be drug-tested as soon as they return to service.
Last night, MPs and anti-drug campaigners warned of a significant risk in recruiting known drug users, while the move has caused uproar among troops past and present. Falklands War hero Simon Weston, 57, said: I am truly appalled by this decision. That troops who have been discharged for taking drugs can qualify for jobs which come with 10,000 golden hellos, and keep their old ranks, adds insult to injury.
The former Welsh Guardsman, who suffered terrible burns during the 1982 conflict, added: It is such a kick in the teeth for long-serving soldiers who have obeyed the rules and resisted temptation to see former colleagues who displayed such a lack of discipline and a lack of respect for the Armys values swanning back into their regiments. Drugs are incompatible with military life, soldiers should know that.
I know people deserve second chances but bringing back drug-takers just two years after they were caught is a step too far for me. We have to stomach it because the Government has made such a terrible mess of managing Army recruitment.
One serving soldier added: Its unfair for many reasons. Weve obeyed the rules while they behaved irresponsibly. Yet they can come back in at the same rank as they left. That is ridiculous. I wouldnt have said no to a couple of years off if I knew I could come back with no loss of seniority and a golden hello. The Army is acting like one of those banks that forgets its existing customers and gives all the nice offers to new customers.
Former Labour Shadow Defence Minister Kevan Jones said: Ministers should address the recruitment crisis and not jeopardise operational effectiveness by changing drugs policy to hide its failings.
David Raynes of the National Drug Prevention Alliance said that the Armys drug culture stemmed from the increasingly soft attitude towards drug taking in civilian society. Last month, The Mail on Sunday revealed footage of uniformed British soldiers appearing to take cocaine inside their military accommodation. The videos were shared on a Facebook page called The Sesh on which one soldier wrote: Hope everyone is as high as me. Ket [ketamine] and coke equals happy Wednesday.
And Coldstream Guardsman Charanpreet Singh Lall, the first to wear a turban during Trooping the Colour, was last month reported to have tested positive for cocaine.
Mr Raynes said: There is a high risk here. We cannot afford to create a situation whereby recreational drug use is part of the culture of someone who is, say, part of the crew of a drone. He cannot do his job if he is under the influence of drugs.
Earlier this year, The Mail on Sunday revealed how top brass had dropped a one strike and youre out drugs policy, allowing officers to keep hold of thousands of soldiers caught taking banned substances (such as cocaine pictured)
Of the re-recruitment of drug users, he added: This is unsurprising as it reflects societys attitude towards drug taking.
To combat the Armys manpower crisis, defence chiefs have spent 22 million on golden hellos to try to tempt retired troops to fill hundreds of highly technical roles needed to maintain weaponry.
In total, 175 specific jobs come with five-figure golden hello payments.
This newspaper has also revealed how the Army has drawn up plans to use recruits who are yet to complete their training in national emergencies, a policy which could see trainee troops coming face-to-face with armed jihadis.
The situation has worsened since the MoD contracted out recruitment to the firm Capita in 2012. Since then, the time it takes to join the Army after expressing an interest has gone from three months to 12, causing thousands of potential recruits to take jobs elsewhere instead.
Last night Tory MP Julian Lewis, the chairman of the Defence Select Committee, said: While it is right to give second chances to suitable candidates, the priority must be to fix a broken recruitment system.
The Ministry of Defence said it did not have figures for how many ex-soldiers previously discharged for taking drugs had now returned to the Army.
Between 2005 and 2015 the Army booted out around 500 soldiers a year for drugs offences. The figure has dipped since then as commanders have been more lenient.
A spokesman said: We have always welcomed applications from individuals whose circumstances have changed since leaving the Army. Those re-applying must meet our high standards to re-join, and applications are considered on a case-by-case basis.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he is '100 percent' certain that Christine Blasey Ford named the wrong person when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in testimony during his Supreme Court nomination hearings.
'This is one of the reasons I chose him is because there is no one with a squeaky clean past like Brett Kavanaugh.
'He is an outstanding person and Im very honored to have chosen him,' Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while flying to a campaign rally in Kansas.
'Were very honored that he was able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats.'
On the South Lawn, just before departing on Air Force One on Saturday, Trump told reporters: 'He's going in looking very good.'
U.S. President Donald Trump said he is '100 percent' certain that Christine Blasey Ford named the wrong person when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in testimony during his Supreme Court nomination hearings. He spoke to reporters before departing for Kansas
Trump thanked the lawmakers for giving him his second Supreme Court pick in two years.
'I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court,' the president tweeted from Air Force One. 'Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!'
He also criticized the protests on the steps of the Supreme Court. In a tweet on Satruday night he said: 'The crowd in front of the U.S. Supreme Court is tiny, looks like about 200 people (& most are onlookers) - that wouldnt even fill the first couple of rows of our Kansas Rally, or any of our Rallies for that matter! The Fake News Media tries to make it look sooo big, & its not!'
Senators knew before Saturday's vote how it would end. Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia crossed the aisle to support Kavanaugh in the hope of flattening a hurdle to his re-election in a deep red state that Trump won in a landslide.
Centrist Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski refused to cast a 'yes' vote, but called out 'present' instead of 'no' so fellow Republican Steve Daines of Montana could skip the roll call and walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day.
Trump tweeted that 'Steve was ready to do whatever he had to, but we had the necessary number. To the Daines Family, congratulations-have a wonderful day!'
But the president had harsh words for Murkowski, the lone Republican senator who couldn't get to 'yes.'
'I think she will never recover from this,' he told The Washington Post. 'I think the people from Alaska will never forgive her for what she did.'
Murkowski was re-elected in 2016, meaning she won't have to face voters again until 2022.
The final tally, 50-48-1, was every bit as razor-thin as the national fault-line that rumbled under weeks of hearings for the man Trump nominated to replace retired Justice Anthony Stevens.
About 1,000 protesters occupied the Capitol steps on Saturday, some willingly arrested and loaded into police buses.
'Vote them out!' was the most common chant, directed at every Republican who sided with Trump despite a heartfelt sexual assault claim from a woman who claims a 17-year-old Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her at a 1982 party, when she was 15.
Ford responded to Kavanaugh's conformation on Saturday by saying she doesn't want to see him impeached if the Democrats retake the House in November.
Ford's attorneys Debra Katz and Lisa Banks spoke to CNN on Saturday, shortly after Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate in a nearly party-line votes as protesters screamed from the gallery.
Asked if Ford would welcome impeachment, Katz said: 'No.'
Ford responded to Kavanaugh's conformation on Saturday by saying she doesn't want to see him impeached if the Democrats retake the House in November. She is pictured during her testimony to the Senate last week
Trump thanked the lawmakers for giving him his second Supreme Court pick in two years
He also criticized the protests on the steps of the Supreme Court. In a tweet on Satruday night he said
Kavanaugh leaves his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on Saturday after being confirmed
'Professor Ford has not asked for anything of the sort. What she did was to come forward and testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and agree to cooperate with any investigation by the FBI and that's what she sought to do here,' Katz said.
After delivering searing testimony to the committee last week, inflaming partisan passions on both sides of the aisle, Ford has no regrets about speaking out, her lawyers say.
'I don't think she has any regrets. I think she feels like she did the right thing,' Banks said.
Ford's lawyers also revealed that she had watched President Donald Trump mock her inability to recall key details in her claim that Kavnaugh pinned her down and groped her in 1982, which Kavanaugh strongly denies.
The 50-48-1 vote reflected pro-Kavanaugh Republican Sen. Steve Daines' decision to spend the day at his daughter's wedding in Montana, anti-Kavanaugh Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski's decision to vote 'present' instead of 'no' in a show of respect for him
Protesters, estimated at 1,000, descended on the U.S. Capitol Saturday and took over the building's giant staircase to voice their opposition; about 100 who disobeyed U.S. Capitol Police or crossed barricades were arrested
At a rally in Mississippi earlier this week, Trump ridiculed Ford's testimony in a mock cross-examination: 'How did you get home? 'I don't remember.' How did you get there? 'I don't remember.' Where is the place? 'I don't remember.' How many years ago was it? 'I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.''
'I had one beer that's the only thing I remember!' Trump said as the crowd cheered.
'She was upset by it,' Banks said of Ford's reaction.
'It was very hurtful, as it would be to any woman, any survivor who had the courage to come forward only to be mocked and belittled by anyone, really, but certainly by the President of the United States. It was very upsetting,' Banks said.
The attorneys also again addressed controversy over Ford's supposed reluctance to let the Judiciary Committee interview her in California. They said that only staffers had offered to fly to California, and that the Senators themselves had never offered to travel to California.
Democratic donors and political activists are launching a multi million dollar bid to defeat the Republic Senator who pledged her support for Brett Kavanagh which likely sealed his nomination to the Supreme Court.
A deeply divided Senate voted on Saturday to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, delivering a victory for President Donald Trump.
As senators entered their final hours of debate on Saturday, hundreds of Kavanaugh opponents protested on the steps of the Supreme Court.
Campaigning is underway to ensure Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins (pictured) does not retain her seat in the 2020 election over her decision to support Justice Brett Kavanaugh
Collins delivered a 40 minute speech in the Senate announcing her support for Kavanaugh
Justice Brett Kavanagh (pictured) was confirmed as the 114th Justice in a narrow vote Saturday
Dr Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her while the two were in high school, prompting a week's delay in his confirmation to allow the FBI to conduct an investigation into the alleged incident.
Kavanaugh has denied all allegations.
Maine Senator Susan Collins reviewed the results of the investigation, which included testimony from ten different witnesses but not from Ford or Kavanaugh on Friday.
She subsequently voted to advance Kavanaugh's nomination and said that she will vote yes on Kavanaugh' during the full Senate's confirmation vote on Saturday.
Recruiting efforts have now begun to ensure that Senator Collins is defeated by whichever Democrat runs against her in the 2020 election campaign.
In the day after Collins threw her support behind Kavanaugh, a crowd-sourced effort to finance her eventual 2020 opponent raised more than $1 million.
The whopping sum brought the total amount raised to just about $3.2 million far more than Collins last challenger spent in total in the 2014 midterm race.
Major donors already pledged $1 million to an effort to register and educate voters in Maine ahead of the contest, organizers told the Huffington Post.
More than 100,000 pledges were made as of Saturday afternoon, with around 30,000 of those coming in the previous 24 hours.
Jesse Graham, the co-executive director of Maine Peoples Alliance said: 'Were in conversations with lots of major donors over the last couple of weeks.
They want to make sure that everyone who is upset by this vote is actually a registered voter by 2020, and that we have resources to make sure everyone in Maine remembers how Sen. Collins voted'.
Jesse Graham (pictured) hopes his fundraising drive can ensure Collins is defeated by the opponent who runs against her in Maine in the 2020 election
She won her last two Senate elections in 2008 and 2014, with more than 60 percent of the vote.
She has a strong reputation for bipartisanship in her home state both because of her clashes with more right-wing Republicans like unpopular outgoing Governor Paul LePage, and her votes against Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare.
But the big donors funding the effort think Collins reputation as a bipartisan crowd-pleaser is overstated after her votes for Kavanaugh, Justice Neil Gorsuch and the GOP tax law.
A major Democratic donor who is helping organize the effort said: Theres this narrative out there about Collins being untouchable.
And I think thats an outdated narrative, based on her running in an off year, in a pre-Trump era, against an underfunded candidate with no name ID'.
The separate crowdfunding campaign crossed the $2 million mark while Collins was delivering her speech explaining her vote for Kavanaugh.
There is already one announced challenger for Collins named Dr Cathleen London, a physician who announced her bid in July.
Former United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice indicated that she would consider running
Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon (pictured) announced she would consider a bid after November's election, saying Kavanaugh doesn't deserve a seat on the highest court in the land
Dr Cathleen London (pictured) announced her candidacy for US Senate against Susan Collins
But Democratic operatives in Maine named several other potential challengers including Democractic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and her daughter, Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the state House.
Adam Cote, a lawyer and Iraq War veteran who finished second in this years Democratic gubernatorial primary and Jared Golden, the Democratic nominee in Maines rural 2nd District and a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars , were also touted as contenders.
Two other potential candidates expressed interest Friday. Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon wrote on Facebook she would consider a bid after Novembers elections.
'Women both in Maine and across the country have raised our voices loud and clear,' Gideon wrote.
'Brett Kavanaugh should have no seat on the highest court in the land. Unfortunately, Senator Collins has chosen to vote against the interests of us all. Maine deserves a champion in the US Senate'.
Susan Collins (left) believes that Dr Christine Blasey Ford (left) was assaulted but she does not believe Justice Brett Kavanaugh was the assailant as Blasey Ford had previously indicated
Former United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice indicated on Twitter she would consider running. Rices mother is from Maine and she spent summers there as a child.
The crowdfunding project, which had an average donation of $28.40, was organized by the Maine Peoples Alliance, Mainers for Accountable Leadership and progressive activist Ady Barkan.
The funds will sit in an escrow account until her opponent emerges, Barkan told the Huffington Post.
Collins denounced the fundraising drive, saying she considered the 'quid pro quo fundraising to be the equivalent of an attempt to bribe me to vote against Judge Kavanaugh'.
Meanwhile, Collins said Saturday that while she believes that Dr Christine Blasey Ford was sexually assaulted, she does not believe that now-confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh did it.
'I do not believe that Brett Kavanaugh was her assailant,' the Republican told CNN's Dana Bash onState of the Union in an interview slated to air on Sunday.
'I do believe that she was assaulted. I don't know by whom. I'm not certain when'.
President Donald Trump criticized Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski for opposing the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court - just a day after former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin hinted she may challenge the Republican for her seat.
Trump on Saturday told The Washington Post that Murkowski 'will never recover' politically from her decision to be the lone Republican Senator to vote against Kavanaugh.
'I think she will never recover from this,' Trump said.
'I think the people from Alaska will never forgive her for what she did.'
Kavanaugh was confirmed to the high court by the Senate on Saturday by a vote of 50-48.
Murkowski ultimately voted 'present' rather than 'no' as a gesture to Senator Steve Daines.
President Donald Trump (left) criticized Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (right) for opposing the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court
Kavanaugh was confirmed to the high court by the Senate on Saturday by a vote of 50-48. Murkowski ultimately voted 'present' rather than 'no' as a gesture to Senator Steve Daines, who was in Montana for his daughter's wedding
Daines, the Montana Republican, traveled to his home state to walk his daughter down the aisle.
Murkowski's 'present' vote was to ensure that the outcome isn't threatened.
Trump, meanwhile, praised Senator Susan Collins of Maine for voting in favor of Kavanaugh's ascension.
'I think what Susan Collins did for herself was incredibly positive,' Trump said.
'It showed her to be an honorable, incredible woman. I think shes got a level of respect thats unbelievable. I really mean it.'
Collins' vote pleased conservatives but outraged liberals, igniting hopes among Democrats that a candidate will be able to unseat her in 2020.
But Trump doesn't believe she is in any danger politically.
'I think Collins is so popular right now for what she did,' the president said.
Trump wasn't the only prominent Republican to attack the Alaska Senator.
Sarah Palin on Friday hinted that she may run against Murkowski in the Alaska Senate.
'Hey @LisaMurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house...' the ninth Governor of Alaska tweeted at 3.06pm on Friday.
The broadcast to her 1.49 million followers seemingly suggested she was going to challenge her in the expected re-election campaign.
Former Governor Sarah Palin hinted Friday that she might be running for the Alaska Senate in 2022
Palin tweeted Friday afternoon as Murkowski voted no for Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court Justice of the United States
The joke within the tweet would not have been lost on fans of Saturday Night Live Tina Fey said the memorable line, 'I can see Russia from my house' in a 2008 episode of the comedy sketch show.
It was when Palin who served in her role from 2006 until 2009 - was at the height of her political fame.
Swing voter Murkowski suggested she'd vote against Kavanaugh despite calling him 'a good man.'
Murkowski told reporters: 'It just may be that in my view, he's not the right man for the court at this time.
'This has truly been the most difficult evaluation of a decision that I've ever had to make and I've made some interesting ones in my political career.'
Tina Fey famously said 'I can see Russia from my house' when playing the politician on Saturday Night Live in 2008
Murkowski especially expressed her distaste for the way Kavanaugh conducted himself in a hearing last Thursday as he defended himself against allegations from Christine Blasey Ford.
The judge was criticized for his emotional statements, making viewers question whether he had the right temperament for SCOTUS.
Murkowski added: 'I believe we are dealing with issues right now that are bigger than a nominee and how we ensure that our institutions, not only the legislative branch but our judicial branch, continue to be respected. This is what I've been wrestling with.'
'I also think we're at a place where we need to be thinking again about the credibility and the integrity of our institutions,' she told the Washington Post.
Palin says she would like to get back into the forefront politics again in an interview in April
It may be bad news for those who wish to see Kavanaugh confirmed despite numerous allegations of sexual assault in his past, however for Palin it could be to her advantage in the popularity vote.
Palin said in April she's keen to be involved in public office again.
After bid for Vice President with the late Senator John McCain in 2008 she told Fox News' Mark Levin she's up for the challenge in the future.
'Oh yes. I would do it again in a heartbeat,' replied Palin when asked if she was glad she ran for the position.
'I will push back harder on some of those who were trying to mold me into something that I was not during the campaign. I would've pushed back and gotten more truth out there, but yes.'
The Twittersphere has spoken out in reaction to Brett Kavanaugh's United States Supreme Court confirmation Saturday and that includes celebrities who couldn't hold back from expressing their feelings about the decision.
The final Senate vote held just before 4pm and the judge passed 50-48, with a slim margin of just two votes, leading to a whole host of stars and popular accounts revealing their thoughts.
Outspoken comedienne and TV host Chelsea handler led the way with a tweet where she described the outcome as 'gross'.
Donald Trump appeared to rub salt into the wound of many by tweeting his congratulations to Brett Kavanaugh as he was confirmed as Supreme Court Justice
The final Senate vote held just before 4pm and the judge passed 50-48, with a slim margin of just two votes
Comedienne and TV host Chelsea handler led the way with a tweet where she described the outcome as 'gross'
Ellen DeGeneres focused on Christine Blasey Ford's bravery for coming forward with her story of being sexually assaulted in high school by a man she believed to be Kavanaugh
Despite controversy Trump maintained that his nomination for SCOTUS was a 'great' decision
'Another gross day in the history of our country, but the midterms are coming. We are stronger than this bulls**t. We can fight and fight and we may not see the results right away, but we will see them. Our daughters will see them. Don't give up. Fight harder,' she posted on Twitter.
Fellow funny woman Ellen DeGeneres expressed the same sentiments, focusing on Christine Blasey Ford's bravery for coming forward with her story of being sexually assaulted in high school by a man she believed to be Kavanaugh.
Her hearing last Thursday didn't appear to have much of an affect on all members of the Senate however, as the majority voted to push ahead with his conformation for Supreme Court Justice.
The daytime talk show host wrote: 'This tweet is for Dr. Ford. You put yourself through so much and I want you to know it wasnt in vain. You started a movement and well see it through. If they wont listen to our voices, then theyll listen to our vote.'
Donald Trump however appeared to rub salt into the wound of many by tweeting his congratulations.
The President of the United States emphasized that despite criticism for his selection, he though Kavanaugh was a 'great nominee' and told followers how 'excited' he was for him to begin the role.
'I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court. Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!' he posted on Twitter.
In reference to protesters who came out to show opposition to the decision, Trump poked fun by suggesting the number of people didn't compare to his supporters at rallies.
He posted: 'The crowd in front of the U.S. Supreme Court is tiny, looks like about 200 people (& most are onlookers) - that wouldnt even fill the first couple of rows of our Kansas Rally, or any of our Rallies for that matter! The Fake News Media tries to make it look sooo big, & its not!'
It didn't stop many other famous names and national causes posting their opinion and encouraging Americans to vote in the mid-term elections this November.
Nawaz Sharif condemned arrest of Shehbaz Sharif
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif Friday condemned the arrest of party president Shehbaz Sharif, terming it regretful and ridiculous.
According to a statement released by the PML-N, Nawaz said that Shehbaz Sharif served the people of Punjab with dedication and honesty. This (arrest) is the worst form of political victimization and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is responsible for it, he said, and maintained that PTI should not forget that such tactics of victimising the political opponents are of no use. Whatever they do with their opponents today will haunt them in the future they should stay prepared for similar treatment, he said. The PML-N leader was of the view that Shehbaz Sharifs honesty, dedication and enthusiasm for serving the masses was lauded by even foreign governments, international institutions and the people of Punjab.
Christine Blasey Ford does not want Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to be impeached in the event that Democrats retake the House in November, her lawyers have said.
Ford's attorneys Debra Katz and Lisa Banks spoke to CNN on Saturday, shortly after Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate in a nearly party-line votes as protesters screamed from the gallery.
Asked if Ford would welcome impeachment, Katz said: 'No.'
'Professor Ford has not asked for anything of the sort. What she did was to come forward and testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and agree to cooperate with any investigation by the FBI and that's what she sought to do here,' Katz said.
Christine Blasey Ford does not want the next Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to be impeached, her lawyers have said
Ford's attorneys Debra Katz (left) and Lisa Banks (right) spoke to CNN on Saturday, shortly after Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate
After delivering searing testimony to the committee last week, inflaming partisan passions on both sides of the aisle, Ford has no regrets about speaking out, her lawyers say.
'I don't think she has any regrets. I think she feels like she did the right thing,' Banks said.
Ford's lawyers also revealed that she had watched President Donald Trump mock her inability to recall key details in her claim that Kavnaugh pinned her down and groped her in 1982, which Kavanaugh strongly denies.
At a rally in Mississippi earlier this week, Trump ridiculed Ford's testimony in a mock cross-examination: 'How did you get home? 'I don't remember.' How did you get there? 'I don't remember.' Where is the place? 'I don't remember.' How many years ago was it? 'I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.''
'I had one beer that's the only thing I remember!' Trump said as the crowd cheered.
'She was upset by it,' Banks said of Ford's reaction.
'It was very hurtful, as it would be to any woman, any survivor who had the courage to come forward only to be mocked and belittled by anyone, really, but certainly by the President of the United States. It was very upsetting,' Banks said.
The attorneys also again addressed controversy over Ford's supposed reluctance to let the Judiciary Committee interview her in California.
They said that only staffers had offered to fly to California, and that the Senators themselves had never offered to travel to California.
'Dr. Ford wanted to speak to the committee members themselves,' Banks said.
The Senate confirmed Kavnaugh in a 50-48 vote at around 4pm on Saturday. He was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday night
The attorneys also addressed accusations that they are Democrat partisans who sought a public spectacle.
Katz in particular came under scrutiny after video emerged of her at an anti-Trump protest in February 2017.
'We are going to fight back,' she told a Good Morning America reporter. 'We are going to resist. We will not be silenced.'
Katz, who is known for pursuing high-dollar sexual harassment suits, also defended former Democrat Senator Al Franken after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct.
'That is such ludicrous accusation,' Katz said when asked about any partisan motivations.
'We've been listening to it and we have not wanted to respond to it because it's such a distraction and a deflection.'
The Senate confirmed Kavnaugh in a 50-48 vote at around 4pm on Saturday. He was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday night.
Dianne Abbott was condemned by police last night for claiming that officers are using a disproportionate level of force to arrest young black men.
The Shadow Home Secretary sparked controversy by accusing Scotland Yard of poisoning relations with the black community through their stop-and-search tactics.
The row erupted after the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington took to Twitter to highlight a video of a 23-year-old man being wrestled to the ground and sprayed with CS gas by four officers, adding that unnecessary force by police against young black men has to stop.
Shadow Home Secretary Dianne Abbott has been accused of 'poisoning police-community relations' after claiming that police are using disproportionate level of force to arrest young black men
But John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation that represents rank and file officers, hit back. These comments are inflammatory and cause tensions within communities, he said. Such sweeping anti-police statements without knowing the facts are incredibly damaging. It is comments like these which poison police-community relations.
Serving and retired officers pointed out that the man in the video, who was detained last Thursday in Harlesden, North-West London, had been suspected of involvement in a stabbing, was resisting arrest and had been caught smoking cannabis.
The Police Inspectors Forum told Ms Abbott: It really is so disappointing that you continue to make such ill-informed comments. No mention of the personal responsibility to co-operate. You carry no credibility to be Home Secretary.
Steve Treharne, vice-chairman of South Wales Police Federation, said: Easy to criticise from behind the relative safety of a keyboard.
The Labour MP made the claims while responding to a video showing the arrest of a black man
Armed response officer Sergeant Harry Tangye wrote: This sort of tosh is why this person should never be in charge of the police.
And former Met officer Mike Pannett added: What a disgraceful comment to make. All police officers know exactly what the individual in the video was trying to do. Resist arrest and intimidate the officers. I and others have seen this thousands of times. Shes not helping.
Ms Abbott is no stranger to controversy. Ahead of last years General Election, she forgot details of Labours law and order plans during a live radio interview and claimed her party would recruit between 10,000 and 250,000 extra officers for between 300,000 and 80 million. This would have meant an average salary of between 30 and 8,000.
John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation that represents rank and file officers, hit back and said: These comments are inflammatory and cause tensions within communities'
The incident in Harlesden was filmed by bystanders and posted on social media. The footage shows an angry crowd and bottles being thrown at officers. At one point the suspect arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis, obstructing a drugs search and two counts of assaulting police appears to try to bite an officer.
The Met has referred the incident to its internal Directorate of Professional Standards.
Jean-Claude Juncker has slammed the British media and says his human rights aren't being respected
Jean-Claude Juncker has hit out at the British media and demanded curbs on press freedom over Juncker the drunker? headlines which have dogged him ever since he became European Commission President.
In an outspoken interview, given as the Brexit negotiations near their critical phase, Mr Juncker said he was looking forward to being free from press scrutiny after he steps down next year.
They do not respect the human rights of political actors at all, he said. Press freedom also has its limits. You must not intrude and put pressure on our private space.
At the time of his 2014 appointment which was strongly opposed by Britains then prime minister David Cameron it was reported that Mr Juncker enjoyed cognac for breakfast, with numerous claims of his alleged drinking emerging since then.
Earlier this year, he was accused of being intoxicated at a Nato summit in Brussels after a video showed him apparently unable to walk without assistance and being taken away in a wheelchair.
His spokesman insisted at the time that he was suffering from a painful attack of sciatica accompanied by cramps, with Mr Juncker appealing for respect after concerns were raised about his health.
The 63-year-old has previously spoken of his anger at false implications that his late father Joseph who was forced to fight in the Wehrmacht after the Nazi regime invaded Luxembourg had been a Hitler sympathiser. In his interview with Austrian reporters on Friday, Mr Juncker revealed that he was more confident a Brexit deal could be reached by next month. Our will is unbroken to reach agreement with the British Government, he said. It must be remembered... that Britain is leaving the Union, not the European Union from the UK.
I have reason to think the rapprochement potential between both sides has increased in recent days. But it can not be foreseen whether we will finish in October. If not, well do it in November. Asked if a Brexit U-turn was still possible, Mr Juncker added: That is in the discretion of the British Parliament and the Government. I do not interfere in inner Cabinet debates in the UK. There is enough confusion.
The Mail on Sunday has been told by a senior Government source that British negotiators are close to securing the EUs agreement to Theresa Mays Chequers plan after offering to allow Northern Ireland to remain subject to Brussels rules on state aid, which prevent Government subsidies to give a competitive advantage to key industries.
If agreed, it would align the province with Dublin and is likely to trigger strong protests from the Democratic Unionist Party, whose MPs allow Mrs May to hold the balance of power in the Commons.
There will be a frenzy of diplomatic activity next week ahead of a Brussels summit on October 17, which the EU hopes will thrash out the fundamentals of the withdrawal agreement.
Downing Street officials are preparing for a Car Crash Brexit if the Prime Ministers Chequers plan is rejected by Brussels or voted down by the Commons.
Secret war games have been held to tackle a possible fuel crisis, vital medicines running short and power blackouts. Senior No 10 figures have warned in private briefings that they are deeply worried about Britains preparation for a no-deal exit.
One leading official said last week: The no deal is now a real prospect. And it would be a car crash. We are talking about a number of Cobra-level crises. Cobra is the Government committee that meets in times of national emergencies.
Britain will leave the EU in under six months time and there are only ten days left to convince Brussels to accept Chequers before a key meeting of European leaders. The deal would keep large sections of manufacturing in line with European rules while allowing the UKs booming services industry to remain independent.
The EU dismisses this as cherry picking while Brexiteers object to continued allegiance to EU rules.
Downing Streets concerns have been deepened by warnings from the diplomatic service that French President Emmanuel Macron is deliberately engineering a no-deal because it would be in his countrys economic interest. The alarm in No 10 is shared in the Cabinet, with an increasingly vocal cell of Ministers led by Environment Secretary Michael Gove, Home Secretary Sajid Javid and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt urging the adoption of a Plan B.
The most popular option is a free- trade agreement along the lines of the deal recently signed between Brussels and Canada.
The biggest sticking point remains Northern Ireland, which would have to implement border checks with the Republic or down the middle of the Irish Sea if Britain fulfils Mrs Mays promise to leave the customs union.
Last night, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, from anti-Brexit campaign group Best For Britain, said: Its now clear that the Prime Minister is blatantly lying when she says no deal is better than a bad deal. The list of consequences, especially for the NHS, crime and jobs, beggars believe. No one was told about this in 2016. No one voted to damage the NHS, be less secure or be poorer. Thats why we need this Government to commit to a peoples vote with the option to remain in the EU.
However, Former MI6 boss Sir Richard Dearlove insisted the UK will still be a major player in European geopolitics after Brexit. In an interview broadcast today on Skys Sophy Ridge On Sunday show, he said: Im absolutely confident we can survive and thrive.
Hic! Juncker lashes out at 'Druncker' headlines as he demands a curb on press freedom
Jean-Claude Juncker has hit out at the British media and demanded curbs on press freedom over Juncker the drunker? headlines which have dogged him ever since he became European Commission President.
Jean-Claude Juncker has slammed the British media and says his human rights aren't being respected
In an outspoken interview, given as the Brexit negotiations near their critical phase, Mr Juncker said he was looking forward to being free from press scrutiny after he steps down next year.
They do not respect the human rights of political actors at all, he said. Press freedom also has its limits. You must not intrude and put pressure on our private space.
At the time of his 2014 appointment which was strongly opposed by Britains then prime minister David Cameron it was reported that Mr Juncker enjoyed cognac for breakfast, with numerous claims of his alleged drinking emerging since then.
Earlier this year, he was accused of being intoxicated at a Nato summit in Brussels after a video showed him apparently unable to walk without assistance and being taken away in a wheelchair.
His spokesman insisted at the time that he was suffering from a painful attack of sciatica accompanied by cramps, with Mr Juncker appealing for respect after concerns were raised about his health.
The 63-year-old has previously spoken of his anger at false implications that his late father Joseph who was forced to fight in the Wehrmacht after the Nazi regime invaded Luxembourg had been a Hitler sympathiser. In his interview with Austrian reporters on Friday, Mr Juncker revealed that he was more confident a Brexit deal could be reached by next month. Our will is unbroken to reach agreement with the British Government, he said. It must be remembered... that Britain is leaving the Union, not the European Union from the UK.
I have reason to think the rapprochement potential between both sides has increased in recent days. But it can not be foreseen whether we will finish in October. If not, well do it in November. Asked if a Brexit U-turn was still possible, Mr Juncker added: That is in the discretion of the British Parliament and the Government. I do not interfere in inner Cabinet debates in the UK. There is enough confusion.
The Mail on Sunday has been told by a senior Government source that British negotiators are close to securing the EUs agreement to Theresa Mays Chequers plan after offering to allow Northern Ireland to remain subject to Brussels rules on state aid, which prevent Government subsidies to give a competitive advantage to key industries.
If agreed, it would align the province with Dublin and is likely to trigger strong protests from the Democratic Unionist Party, whose MPs allow Mrs May to hold the balance of power in the Commons.
There will be a frenzy of diplomatic activity next week ahead of a Brussels summit on October 17, which the EU hopes will thrash out the fundamentals of the withdrawal agreement.
Sameh Habeeb was suspended by Labour following remarks in an interview where he allegedly suggested the media was owned by Jews
A Palestinian activist suspended from the Labour Party for alleged anti-Semitism was chosen to represent the UK on an official Government-backed trade mission.
The Department for International Trade last night announced a review into its vetting process after this newspaper discovered that Sameh Habeeb, a former editor of the Palestine Telegraph, joined the trip to Indonesia and Malaysia in July.
Department sources admitted Mr Habeeb had slipped through the net and should not have been allowed on the mission, which promoted education.
In April, Mr Habeeb was suspended by Labour following remarks in an interview with a student newspaper that allegedly suggested the mainstream media was owned by Jews. The investigation is ongoing.
Mr Habeeb, 32, from Uxbridge in West London, is the director of the British Academy Of Training And Development, which claims to offer courses in up to 50 cities worldwide. He also runs a series of interlinked websites carrying news feeds, some of them bearing misleading names such as FoxNews24 and ParliamentNews.
Investigative news website al-bab.com traced almost 50 such internet domain names to Mr Habeeb, all seemingly intended to increase traffic to his PR vehicle called newswirenow.co.uk.
A department spokesman said: We will ensure the processes are reviewed.
Mr Habeeb denied his website names were misleading, and said that his comments about who controls the media referred to supporters of Israel, not specifically Jews.
Some moderate Republicans who opposed President Donald Trump in the 2016 election are lamenting the bitter partisan divide over Brett Kavanaugh's ascension to the Supreme Court - though others are basking in victory.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who voted to confirm Kavanaugh on Saturday, rebuked liberals for 'stirring rage' and 'gloating' of an anticipated voter backlash.
'SCOTUS vote was about a specific nominee facing specific & ultimately uncorroborated allegations,' Rubio wrote in a tweet shortly after the vote.
'Some now gloating about how its going to help win elections. Others stir rage & now tears from victims by portraying it as referendum on sexual violence. Just terrible for America,' wrote Rubio.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who voted to confirm Kavanaugh on Saturday, rebuked liberals for 'stirring rage' and 'gloating' of an anticipated voter backlash
Rubio went on to denounce mainstream media coverage of protesters (above) that descended on the steps of the Supreme Court ahead of Kavanaugh's swearing in
Rubio went on to denounce mainstream media coverage of protesters that descended on the steps of the Supreme Court ahead of Kavanaugh's swearing in.
'Imagine the coverage on cable news if an angry mob of conservatives stormed the steps of the Supreme Court building. It wouldnt be the breathless giddiness we are seeing right now,' Rubio wrote.
Another Republican who opposed Trump in the 2016 election, Ohio Governor John Kaisich, also issued a searing statement decrying partisanship in the nomination process.
'American may have gained a new member of the Supreme Court, but a part of our nation's soul was lost during this toxic process,' Kasich said.
Ohio Governor John Kaisich, also issued a searing statement decrying partisanship in the nomination process
'The zero-sum game environment we are in today, where many are focused on winning at all costs instead of what's best for our country, must end if we ever wish to begin healing these partisan divisions and tackling some of the most serious problems facing our nation,' the governor continued.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, another former 'Never Trumper' who ran for president in 2016, took a starkly different tone, though.
'Im not tired of winning.....Victory!' Graham tweeted, along with a photo of himself smiling with Kavanaugh.
Graham's transition from moderate to staunch Trump defender appeared to unfold almost in real time during the confirmation process, most notably when he reclaimed his time during last week's blockbuster hearing to issue a fiery denouncement of Democrats.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, another former 'Never Trumper' who ran for president in 2016, took a starkly different tone
Graham, like other Republicans, was eager on Saturday to savor their victory. Im not tired of winning...Victory! Graham tweeted. He posted a photo of him with Kavanaugh with the word CONFIRMED scrawled on the photo
On Saturday night, he stuck strongly by his vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
'Brett Kavanaugh is exactly the right person, at the right time to serve on the Supreme Court,' Graham wrote on Twitter.
'A conservative jurist. A good man with the background and experience worthy of this high honor.'
The Senate confirmed Kavnaugh in a 50-48 vote at around 4pm on Saturday. He was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday night.
Woman's hour presenter Dame Jenni Murray is heading for a tax tribunal showdown with HMRC.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that tax officials have asked the 68-year-old mother of two, who is one of the BBC's most respected presenters, for a 'very significant' sum of money.
It is understood that the demand relates to money paid to Dame Jenni by the BBC via a so-called personal service company.
Tax officials have asked the 68-year-old mother of two, who is one of the BBC's most respected presenters, for a 'very significant' sum of money
Until recently the use of such companies was common within the BBC before HMRC began to target them.
Tax officials say that, contrary to what the set-up might suggest, the stars were not self-employed and should have been making income tax and NI payments.
Dame Jenni, who joined the BBC in 1973, used to be paid through Jay Mo Broadcasting Ltd, a company she owns with her husband, but she is now a PAYE employee of the BBC.
It is understood that the demand relates to money paid to Dame Jenni by the BBC via a so-called personal service company (pictured at Buckingham Palace 2011)
A source who asked not to be named said last night: 'Jenni is in talks with her accountant and the whole thing is headed for a tribunal.'
It is thought that if the case does go to tribunal, Dame Jenni will argue she was obliged to set up the company by the BBC.
A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after two police officers responding to reports of a fight were stabbed, Scotland Yard has said.
Two other officers were also injured during the melee in Islington, north London, on Saturday night.
Police were called to reports of a fight in a home in Liverpool Road at about 10.45pm.
Video footage captured at the scene (pictured) of the incident on Liverpool Road, Islington shows police and ambulance in attendance
Two men have been arrested following the stabbings. One of the detained men was taken to a north London police station while the other was taken to a hospital for treatment
'Upon arrival, the officers were immediately met with hostility, with a man inside the address producing a large knife,' the Metropolitan Police said.
The two stabbed officers were both men while two women officers were also injured - with one suffering a head injury and the other a suspected fractured wrist.
One remained in hospital being treated for stab wounds on Sunday morning.
Police recovered a knife from the scene and also arrested a second 19-year-old man, who was held on suspicion of affray.
Superintendent Mike Hill said: 'This incident demonstrates the courage and professionalism officers show day in, day out in what can often be a dangerous job.
'When officers respond to what can often be a difficult situation or go to assist members of the public they should not be met with violence, it is completely unacceptable.'
Astronomers have revealed the night sky could be full of 'ghost' objects.
Researchers spotted an extremely bright source of radio emissions that blazed into existence in the 1990s and then faded out over next 25 years.
The say the objects could be commonplace.
California researchers spotted an extremely bright source of radio emissions that blazed into existence in the 1990s and then faded out over next 25 years
WHAT WAS IT? Researchers believe the find was the afterglow of the explosion of a massive star. The radio source (FIRST J141918.9+394036), now too faint to show up in sky surveys but still detectable by large radio telescopes, was a bright spot in a radio survey of the sky conducted in the early 1990s by the Very Large Array in New Mexico. It was on a par with the brightest radio sources in the universe: quasars and active galactic nuclei fueled by stars and gas falling into the massive black holes in the cores of galaxies. Advertisement
Casey Law, an assistant research astronomer in the Department of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, is leading the search to scour vast amounts of data in search of bright objects that disappear, never to be seen again.
Based on the extreme brightness of the radio source and the type of galaxy in which the flare-up occurred, he believes the find was the afterglow of the explosion of a massive star.
This would have emitted an undetected long-duration gamma-ray burst.
These are among the most intense flashes in the universe because much of their explosive energy is in a tight beam, rather like the light from a lighthouse.
'We believe we are the first to find evidence for gamma-ray bursts that could not be detected with a gamma-ray telescope,' said Law, an assistant research astronomer in the Department of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley.
He says the strange 'orphan' signals could be relatively common.
'These are known as 'orphan' gamma-ray bursts, and many more such orphan GRBs are expected in new radio surveys that are now underway.'
Gamma-ray bursts, such as that detected last year accompanying gravitational waves from the merger of two neutron stars, are rarely seen because the source of the gamma rays - a relativistic jet of material emerging from the explosive merger - must be pointing directly at Earth.
Perhaps only one in 100 explosions can be seen from Earth by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, for example.
The fact that these explosions are followed by a decades-long radio afterglow provides a way for astronomers to find the rest of these explosive events, not just those heralded by a gamma-ray burst.
Finding many more gamma-ray bursts will help astronomers find out more about the massive stellar explosions that generate them, and what's left behind.
Law believes the explosion produces a rapidly spinning and highly magnetized neutron star, known as a magnetar.
An artists depiction of a gamma ray burst, emitted in oppositely directed beams after a massive stellar explosion. While the beams often miss Earth, these explosions create a telltale transient radio glow that can be detected. NRAO image.
The surrounding matter emits intense radio waves that slowly fade away, during which time the magnetar spins down and occasionally emits fast radio bursts, creating another 'ghost' event.
The radio source (FIRST J141918.9+394036), now too faint to show up in sky surveys but still detectable by large radio telescopes, was a bright spot in a radio survey of the sky conducted in the early 1990s by the Very Large Array in New Mexico.
It was on a par with the brightest radio sources in the universe: quasars and active galactic nuclei fueled by stars and gas falling into the massive black holes in the cores of galaxies.
'We thought, 'That was weird,'' Law said.
Gamma-ray bursts are the most violent explosions in the universe Gamma ray bursts (GRBs), energetic jets of gamma rays that come from black holes, can be created in two different ways resulting in long or short GRBs. They are created from some of the most violent deaths in the universe. Long GRBs last about a minute, and scientist think they are produced by supernova: when the core of a massive star collapses to become a black hole. Short GRBs last a second and are produced when two neutron stars merge. Advertisement
'Its peak brightness in the '90s was quite high, so it was a big, big change: about a factor of 50 decrease in brightness. We basically went through every radio survey, every radio dataset we could find, every archive in the world to piece together the story of what happened to this thing.'
He and his colleagues discovered 10 other sets of radio observations of that area of the sky, in the constellation Bootes, that allowed them to document the object's appearance and disappearance.
They concluded that the radio emissions first reached Earth in 1992 or 1993, though their first detection was around the source's peak brightness in 1994.
It then faded away over a period of 23 years. It was fainter in a 2010 survey and barely visible in 2015. It was invisible in a 2017 Very Large Array Sky Survey.
The mystery object is located inside a dwarf galaxy 284 million light years from Earth that is still forming stars: a special environment that has previously been associated with fast radio bursts and, independently, gamma-ray bursts and the formation of magnetars.
This led Law to conclude that the radio emissions from the dwarf galaxy were the 25-year-long afterglow from the explosion of a massive star, perhaps more than 40 times the mass of the sun, which would have produced a long gamma-ray burst that went undetected. Most GRBs last less than a minute.
One theory is that the resulting magnetar, because of its high rotation rate and huge magnetic fields, emits periodic fast radio bursts - each just a millisecond long - as it winds down to a run-of-the-mill pulsar.
Employees may have to get used to feeling a chilly blast of air in the early afternoon.
Japanese air-conditioning manufacturer Daikin Industries has developed an intelligent system that shoots out cold air when it detects office workers are falling asleep.
The firm said it conducted research and found that making the room colder for a few minutes was more effective at rousing employees than things like bright lights or a refreshing aroma, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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The firm said it conducted research and found that making the room colder for a few minutes was more effective at rousing employees than things like bright lights or a refreshing aroma
Daikin, which also owns US-based air conditioning-maker Goodman Manufacturing, hopes to collaborate with Japanese tech firm NEC Corp. to develop the high-tech air conditioning system.
The firms expect that it could be ready as soon as 2020.
'I have tried coffee, a quick workout and short chats when I get drowsy after lunch, but the [Daikin] system was much better than all of that,' Yurino Kan, a Daikin employee who participated in the study, told the Journal.
However, critics point out that there may be more effective methods of encouraging employees to overcome their afternoon slump.
Researchers have found that taking a nap can boost productiveness more than most methods, such as coffee, or in this case, being hit with a cold blast of air.
Daikin, which also owns US-based air conditioning-maker Goodman Manufacturing, hopes to collaborate with Japanese tech firm NEC Corp. to develop the high-tech air conditioning system
Still, Daikin believes there is a market for this kind of product, in the same way that people are willing to pay for premium water, they might be inclined to pay for an AI-infused air conditioner, the Journal noted.
Daikin engineers even propose developing luxury air.
'We are developing air that makes food taste better, starting with wine,' Sanae Kagawa, a Daikin engineer, told the Journal.
Daikin has also conducted research on how temperatures in the workplace might affect employees differently.
The firm's researchers found that in winter, men tend to be more productive in rooms where the temperature is 68 degrees and 30 percent humidity.
DOES WORKING FROM HOME MAKE YOU MORE PRODUCTIVE? Employees who work remotely are actually likely to be more productive, according to a recent study led by the University of Cardiff. Those who work from home put in more hours than if they were in the office, and are more likely to go above and beyond what is required. There are more than four million people in Britain who spend at least half their time working from home, according to the latest figures. Those who work from home put in more hours than if they were in the office and are more likely to go above and beyond what is required (stock image) The researchers examined the responses of around 15,000 working people supplied in 2001, 2006 and 2012. Professor Alan Felstead, the studys lead author, from Cardiff Universitys School of Social Sciences, said: The evidence suggests that remote workers are over-compensating to prove to their colleagues they are not in their pyjamas at home and prove to their employers they are a safe pair of hands willing to go the extra mile in return for the discretion an employer gives them to work at home or in a remote location. Advertisement
Meanwhile, women work better in conditions where it is 72 degrees and with 50 percent humidity.
The company hopes to develop another service that can tailor the air for each worker, according to the Journal.
It has yet to address concerns that the high-tech air conditioning system for the workplace could resemble a pseudo-Big Brother, switching the room's temperature without your consent.
Instead, Daikin sees those criticisms as a net positive.
'Well, that might be a good sign because when an idea is truly innovative youll get about 70% of people opposed to it,' Daikin engineer Satoshi Hashimoto told the Journal.
'What we want ultimately to create is air that makes a happy family circle.'
Shahbaz Sharif arrested in Ashiyana-i-Iqbal housing project 06 October, 2018
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Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry
Ways that Players Used to Take Advantage of Slot Sites LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday arrested Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif in the Rs14 billion Ashiyana-i-Iqbal housing project scam, causing a blow to the party ahead of by-elections.
Opposition leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif reached the NAB office at 2:50pm. A combined investigation team (CIT) quizzed him for an hour regarding his role in awarding contract to his favourite firm in violation of laws in the Ashiyana-i-Iqbal housing project in Lahore launched by the Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) in 2013-14 during his tenure as chief minister,.
Mr Sharif, he said, was also confronted with the statement of Fawad Hassan Fawad who apparently confessed to NAB that the contract of a company that qualified for it was cancelled at his (Shahbazs) behest.
Mr Fawad was implementation secretary to then chief minister Shahbaz Sharif in 2013. Before his arrest this year, Mr Fawad was principal secretary to the prime minister. Shahbaz Sharifs blue-eyed officer former Lahore Development Authority director general Ahad Khan Cheema has also been in jail on judicial custody in this case.
Shahbaz Sharif clarified his position and dismissed the allegations in this regard, the source said, adding that after an hours interrogation the investigators told Mr Sharif that NAB had enough evidence to take him into custody for further investigation into the case. On this, Mr Sharif expressed his shock, the source said.
NAB later issued a statement only declaring former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif has been arrested in the Ashiyana-i-Iqbal housing scam and he will be presented before an accountability court on Saturday (today).
NAB spokesperson Nawazish Ali Asim said: Grounds of arrest will be presented before the accountability court on Saturday.
According to an official, Shahbaz Sharif had allegedly cancelled the award of the projects contract to successful bidder M/s Chaudhry Latif and Sons and instead obliged M/s Lahore Casa Developers (JV) a proxy group of M/s Paragon City (Pvt) Limited (which is stated to be developed by former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique) thus causing millions of rupees of losses to the exchequer.
Mr Shahbaz also allegedly directed the PLDC to assign the project to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), resulting in award of contract to Lahore Casa Developers (JV), resulting in a loss of Rs715 million and ultimately failure of the project. Similarly, the former chief minister had also directed the PLDC to award consultancy services of the project to M/s Engineering Consultancy Services Punjab for Rs192m, whereas the actual cost was Rs35m as quoted by Nespak, he said.
The official said Mr Fawad, who has been on judicial remand, had called the project director of Ashiyana-i-Iqbal housing scheme to his office and threatened him with consequences and, under the garb of allegations of wrongdoing in the award of the contract to M/s Latif and Sons, forced him to cancel it.
Lahore Casa Developers owner Shahid Shafiq and four LDA officials have also been in jail on judicial custody in this case.
NAB summons for Khawaja brothers
In a related development, NAB also summoned the Khawaja brothers of the PML-N Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique to appear before it on Oct 16.
Saad Rafique is contesting by-poll from NA-131 against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insafs Humayun Akhtar.
Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hasan Chohan said the names of the Khawaja brothers had been put on the Exit Control List as Paragon City was a beneficiary of the Ashiyana-i-Iqbal housing project, hinting their arrest. More arrests will be made in the Ashiyana housing scam in coming days, he said, adding that Mr Fawad would become an approver against Shahbaz Sharif (in this case).
Saad Rafique said: We served the country and are getting this reward. I warn (Prime Minister) Imran Khan to stop this political witch-hunting as he will regret one day.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, however, denied that the names of the Khawaja brothers have been placed on the ECL. No decision to place the names of Khawaja Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique has been taken. However, the government will help NAB in implementing its order as per law, he tweeted.
NAB had launched investigation into the scam in November last. It had got details of the contract agreement between the PLDC and M/s Anhui Construction Engineering Group owned by director of Paragon Exchange Ali Sajjad, M/s Bismillah Engineering Company of CEO of Paragon City Nadeem Zia and M/s Sparco Group.
NAB probe history
NAB initiated the probe after receiving a number of complaints regarding illegal deal involving 3,000 kanals of land between the PLDC and these companies. The PLDC had signed an agreement with Bismillah Engineering and Sparco for construction of 6,700 apartments on 1,000 kanals. In lieu of this construction, some 2,000 kanals of the government land was to be given to these two companies. These companies were to be given land corresponding to their construction work, whereas the entire piece of land was given in possession of these companies without getting any construction work done.
According to the Land Disposal Act, a land measuring beyond five-marla cannot be sold without auction. But in this case gross violation has been committed as both companies were to deposit 20 per cent of the total value which they did not, a source said.
The Punjab colonies department had also specifically maintained that if this land was not utilised for the scheme (Ashiyana-i-Iqbal) it would be surrendered back to the department as the government land could not be used for any other purpose. Only 200 apartments were reportedly built while the affected persons had paid four-years installments.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Hamza Shahbaz addresses a press conference in Lahore on Friday.INP
The PML-N termed Shahbaz Sharifs arrest political victimisation. A handful of PML-N workers held demonstrations outside the NAB office at Thokar Niaz Baig and Shahdara, condemning the arrest of their leader.
Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif said the arrest of Shahbaz Sharif was regrettable and ridiculous. Shahbaz Sharif being chief minister had set great examples of transparency and honesty in all projects. The PTI is responsible for this political victimisation. The PTI should be ready to reap what it is sowing today, the elder Sharif warned.
Nawaz Sharif said the PTI government should not make Shahbaz victim of its own inefficiency. All know that the PTI government is responsible for this revenge, he added.
PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Auranzeb said NAB had summoned Shahbaz Sharif in the Saaf Pani Company case but arrested him in the Ashiyana housing scam. She said the PML-N president was arrested without any evidence against him. She said efforts were made to break the PML-N but it remained united, adding that party would announce its protest plan after consulting its allies.
Shahbaz Sharifs son and opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz told a news conference that if this political victimisation continued, the PML-N would be on roads to fight this war.
Before elections PML-N leaders workers are arrested. We had faced NAB in the Musharraf regime and we have courage to face it in Imran Niazis government, he said, adding that his father was arrested in the case in which not a single rupee corruption had been proved.
We are sitting in the national and provincial assemblies with a heavy heart, Mr Hamza said, adding that the National Assemblys session had been requisitioned to debate the arrest of Shahbaz Sharif.
Controversy surrounded over Mr Sharifs arrest without NABs intimation to the National Assembly speaker. PML-N said NAB had violated rules and arrested a sitting MNA without approval of the speaker of the assembly.
Padua used to be more venerated than Venice. Home to one of the oldest universities in Europe founded in 1222 and where Galileo was a tutor it attracted scholars from all over the world, and the biggest names in Renaissance art.
It was here that the artist Andrea Mantegna, son of a carpenter, was born in 1430. His vivid work and that of his brother-in-law, Giovanni Bellini, is now on show in a new exhibition at Londons National Gallery.
Mantegnas hometown is a lot less crowded than the lagoon city, 25 miles away, and its full of masterpieces.
Padua, pictured, used to be more venerated than Venice. Lord Byron visited, and you can have a coffee in his former haunt, Cafe Pedrocchi, writes Jenny. Mantegna was born there
Padua is home to one of the oldest universities in Europe (pictured) founded in 1222 and where Galileo was a tutor it attracted scholars from all over the world, and the biggest names in Renaissance art
Now is the perfect time to go. Its still warm gelato and T-shirt weather but you wont break a sweat.
Start at the Scrovegni Chapel, Paduas Sistine ceiling. It was built by a banker, Scrovegni, who was trying to guarantee his father, a usurer, a spot in heaven. Decorated inside with detailed frescoes by the artist Giotto, surely it must have done the trick. Bad luck if it didnt.
Giottos Last Judgment depicts a daring vision of a Bacchanalian, naked hell, which must have been the talk of the town when it was unveiled.
You have to gobble up this masterwork quickly as theres a strict entry system and you only get 15 minutes.
Pop into the nearby Church of the Eremitani (Church of the Hermits) for Mantegnas very war-damaged frescoes in the Ovetari Chapel. Padua was bombed in World War II and this church suffered but you can still admire his attention to architectural detail and skill at perspective.
Wander on to Piazza del Santo for another statement piece, Donatellos monumental bronze horse (1443). The sculptor spent ten years in the city and lived almost opposite his horse. A plaque marks the building.
Lord Byron, naturally, visited Padua and you can have a coffee in his former haunt, Cafe Pedrocchi, which opened in 1831, and quickly became a hot spot for exchanging gossip and ideas. It would also be perfectly acceptable to have an Aperol Spritz in nearby Piazza dei Frutti as the tipple was invented here.
Glorious: The cathedral in Sordello Square, Mantua. Painter Andrea Mantegna lived and worked there in the 15th century. At the Palace of Te and Palace Ducale there you can see his work in all its glory
In 1459, Mantegna became court painter to the Marquis of Mantua, Ludovico Gonzaga, and left Padua for Mantua, the lake city, around 80 miles away.
Like Padua, its rich in art and grand palaces, including the Palace of Te and Palace Ducale where you can see Mantegnas work in all its glory. He decorated the walls of the Wedding Chamber between 1465 and 1474. Look up at the Oculus for cherubic bottoms and peer closely at the decorative border for a self-portrait of the artist.
In an early example of Grand Designs, Mantegna was the architect of his home in Mantua, an unusual square house with a circular courtyard open to the sky. It seems made for evening soirees beneath the stars, but sadly the artist got into debt and had to sell up after living there for only five years.
Today, his work would fetch a small fortune. Catch him at the National Gallery or, better still, in Italy and youll understand why.
Continuing our series featuring the holiday adventures of famous people, this week Inspector Morse actor Kevin Whately, 67, recalls his lifetime of adventures
First holiday I can remember:
We would have a couple of weeks by the seaside each summer when I was very small. Wed rent a cottage in Bamburgh with some of my cousins. The beaches are huge and windswept, and I remember beautiful sunny days playing by the sea.
Sleuths on tour: Kevin, right, in Sydney in 1999 with his Inspector Morse co-star John Thaw
My first trip abroad:
When I was five or six we went to Connemara in western Ireland and stayed in a pretty place called Kylemore Abbey. On the first day, our car broke down ten miles from where we were heading. We had to rent another car to get there and the only one available was an embarrassing tomato colour.
My most adventurous trip:
In the late 1960s, I went hitch-hiking across Europe after Id got a place at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and had five months to kill first. I started in France, then visited Florence and Venice. I had a one-man tent and survived on very little. I was happy on my own but I had my shoes stolen in Luxembourg and had to come home barefoot.
Best holiday:
For an episode of Morse in Australia, we filmed a lot in Cowra in New South Wales, which has a high street like an old western town. During the last week we filmed in Sydney and my wife Madelaine and children Kitty and Kieran came out to join me. It was a lovely trip, rounded off by spending Christmas at Whale Beach with Morses director, producer and their families.
And my worst:
Kevin says that he rented a 'terrible' flat in Lisbon, pictured - 'and it rained all the time'
My least successful getaway was a trip to Lisbon about three or four years ago. My daughter, who is a mezzo-soprano, was singing in an opera there, so we went over with her daughter to join her. But the flat we rented was terrible and it rained all the time. I like Lisbon I have visited a few times but this time was a bit of a disaster. My granddaughter had a cold, too, so she couldnt really go near her mum as she was trying to protect her voice.
Essential holiday item:
A book of poetry. I often take one by someone like Michael Ondaatje. If I am working abroad, I love having breakfast on my own, reading and studying a poem.
Ultimate dream destination:
Antarctica. The jagged ice landscape would really inspire me.
She is a devoted single mother to her daughter Sunday.
Yet Ferne McCann took some time off mummy duties when she headed for a night out in the West End to see Chicago with a pal on Friday night.
The former TOWIE star, 28, nailed her edgy vibe with a leather trousers and a green bandeau to make up her racy evening ensemble.
Girls night out: Ferne McCann, 28, took some time off mummy duties when she headed for a night out in the West End to see Chicago with a pal on Friday night
The blonde beauty wore a pair of patent black leather shows and waist high skin-tight leggings under a floor length black cardigan.
She wore just a tiny green bandeau and flashed a glimpse of her toned abs and lacy black bra.
A black Gucci belt cinched in her enviably tiny waist and she carried her possessions in a dark see-through bag.
Stunning: A black Gucci belt cinched in her enviably tiny waist and she carried her possessions in a grey see-through bag.
Edgy: She wore just a tiny green bandeau and flashed a glimpse of her toned abs and lacy black bra
The reality TV personality wore her bleach blonde tresses loose and waved, tumbling far past her shoulders.
Finishing off the look were giant gold hooped earrings that didn't stop until the end of her neck.
Looking every inch the star, the Essex beauty wore a full face of make-up including a thick smokey eye and glossy clear pout.
Glamorous: Looking every inch the star, the Essex beauty wore a full face of make-up including a thick smokey eye and glossy clear pout
Holding hands with a pal who wore a matching ensemble, Ferne teetered thorugh the West End in chunky black boots.
The blonde bombshell is the devoted single mother to her daughter Sunday who she welcomed into the world 10 months ago.
Ferne shares her baby with jailbird ex Arthur Collins who was handed a 20-year prison sentence for a London nightclub acid attack in April last year.
The former I'm A Celeb! star spoke to OK! magazine about the day-to-day dilemmas she faces without the baby's father around.
Pals: Holding hands with a pal who wore a matching ensemble, Ferne teetered thorugh the West End in chunky black boots
She said: 'While I was pregnant, I knew I was going to be a single mum, but it didn't hit me until I actually had Sunday...
'That was tough to deal with - realising I really was totally on my own. I don't have another person to confer with. I don't have another person to discuss my day-to-day decisions with - like choosing what food she has. It's tough.'
The star moved back in with her own mother within just four months of moving into her own home last year.
After welcoming her baby, she now shares her own Brentwood home with just Sunday and is adjusting to life as a single parent.
It was one of his most iconic characters, who shot to stardom around the world in the nineties thanks to his comedic charm.
But Rowan Atkinson, 63, admitted that he probably wouldn't return to the role of Mr Bean as he feels like he's done all that he can with the character.
During an appearance on the Graham Norton show, he candidly admitted: 'I doubt he will ever reappear.'
He (won't) be back: Rowan Atkinson admitted he doubts he'll play iconic character Mr Bean again as he's done all that he can in the role... but coyly adds 'never say never'
'There does come a point when you have done all you can. But, never say never.'
The actor first took on the role in 1990, in a 15-part series created by the comedian and award-winning writer Richard Curtis.
Audience numbers peaked at 19 million for the show, and spawned an animated series and two films, the last of which -Mr Beans Holiday- was released in 2007.
Iconic: The actor first took on the role in 1990, in a 15-part series created by the comedian and award-winning writer Richard Curtis
Although the character is iconic, Rowan admitted he's not always been recognised, as he explained: One man said, You are the spitting image of Mr Bean. When I told him I was, he said, I bet you wish you were.
The man added, The resemblance is uncanny youd get lookalike work. Youd make an absolute fortune.
The Blackadder star returns to the big screen with the next chapter in his comedy spy series Johnny English Strikes Again, the third instalment in the franchise.
Guess who's back? The actor returns to the big screen with the next chapter in his comedy spy series Johnny English Strikes Again, the third instalment in the franchise
Talking about the film, and asked if he ever makes himself laugh, he admitted, 'I find film very difficult and stressful. Only very, very occasionally do I find what I do funny.
'When they tried to make a blooper tape of Blackadder, they couldn't find anything of me laughing or making mistakes.'
He then added: 'There was nothing of me even being remotely amused.'
Serious: Talking about his film work, he said of his other classic show: 'When they tried to make a blooper tape of Blackadder, they couldn't find anything of me laughing or making mistakes'
World famous: Rowan Atkinson guest on the TV show 'Che tempo chef?' in Milan, Italy on Sunday night
Funny man: Talking about the film, and asked if he ever makes himself laugh, he admitted, 'I find film very difficult and stressful. Only very, very occasionally do I find what I do funny'
She hasn't had the easiest time in the spotlight and is putting herself on national television once again in upcoming The Bachelorette.
Ali Oetjen tried to find love on the first season on The Bachelor and earlier this year The Bachelor In Paradise - but to no avail.
But not everyone has been kind to the 32-year-old while on her journey to find love.
Online hate: Bachelorette Ali Oetjen opened up about the online backlash she faces, on Saturday. She is pictured with Osher Gunsberg on Bachelor In Paradise
'I definitely have nights when that one comment can just get me so down, but I put it in perspective and then the next morning comes,' she told BW Magazine on Saturday.
'I have to bounce back, I have to keep on moving forward.'
Her number one motivation to push past the trolls is love.
Unlucky in love! Ali (pictured) tried to find love on the first season on The Bachelor and earlier this year on The Bachelor In Paradise - but to no avail
Bouncing back? 'I definitely have nights when that one comment can just get me so down, but I put it in perspective and then the next morning comes,' she told BW Magazine on Saturday
Ali said that she looks at her parents and wants what they have with their long-term relationship, and so it wasn't a tough decision to do it all again.
She said being the Bachelorette gave her the opportunity to take her time, rather than fall hard and fast as viewers have seen her do previously on TV.
The healthy lifestyle motivator said she is in control on her third attempt at finding love on the small screen.
On her terms! She said being the Bachelorette gave her the opportunity to take her time, rather than fall hard and fast as viewers have seen her do previously
While on Bachelor In Paradise viewers saw Ali fall head over heels for American Bachelorette star Grant Kemp.
However the pair split shortly after the show finished filming and Ali has been forced to defend herself against cheating claims ever since.
Despite being unlucky in love, Ali is optimistic about her chances this time around.
Inspiration! Ali said she is inspired by successful reality TV couples such as Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich, Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski and Georgia Love and Lee Elliot
She revealed to the publication she is inspired by successful reality TV couples such as Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich, Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski and Georgia Love and Lee Elliot.
His girlfriend withdrew from the show as she jetted off to Marbella's Holistic Bootcamp to tackle her battle with 'severe depression'.
And James Lock proved to be every inch the doting boyfriend as he praised his partner Yazmin Oukhellou for dealing with her issues during a candid discussion with BFF Pete Wicks on Sunday's edition of The Only Way Is Essex.
In unseen scenes obtained exclusively by MailOnline, the 31-year-old said Yaz, 25, 'seems to be in a better place', while admitting the pair 'needed time apart' to improve their relationship.
Caring: James Lock proved to be every inch the doting boyfriend as he praised his partner Yazmin Oukhellou for dealing with her issues during a candid discussion with BFF Pete Wicks on Sunday's edition of The Only Way Is Essex
Speaking to Celebrity Island star Pete, 29, the former electrical supervisor lifted the lid on the current status of his relationship: 'It's mad, Yaz and I are with each other everyday, 24/7. I do miss her.'
He continued to gush over the brunette's state following her departure: 'Yaz leaving Essex and other people has done her a world of good. I spoke to her, she seems to be in a better place, I'm proud of her. All my tensions and anxiety are just gone.'
Lauding Yaz's actions, Pete added: 'Hats off to Yaz, what she's done is brave.'
Hard time: Yaz, 25, withdrew from the show as she jetted off to Marbella's Holistic to tackle her battle with 'severe depression'
Candid: In unseen scenes obtained exclusively by MailOnline, the 31-year-old said Yaz, 25, 'seems to be in a better place', while admitting the pair 'needed time apart' to improve their relationship
James, who has been with Yaz for just shy of two years, insisted he's got her back amid her mental health battle: 'I'm here, I'm not going anywhere - I'm here for the distance. I wanther to get better, a weight has been lifted. This time apart, that by itself, is something that we both needed.
Last week, Yazmin was pictured breaking down in tears as she visited the Holistic Bootcamp in Marbella with a source exclusively telling MailOnline that her mental health struggles are so bad she 'hasn't wanted to get out of bed.
They added that she has had the full support of James, as well as friends and family.
'I miss her': Speaking to Celebrity Island star Pete, 29, the former electrical supervisor lifted the lid on the current status of his relationship
Praise: Lauding Yaz's actions, Pete, 29, added: 'Hats off to Yaz, what she's done is brave.'
Fierce: Only recently Yazmin (L) had an explosive row with co-star Amber Turner (R), which saw her brand the bombshell 'disgusting' and 'pathetic' when she tried to apologise
Only recently Yazmin had an explosive row with co-star Amber Turner, which saw her brand the bombshell 'disgusting' and 'pathetic' when she tried to apologise.
The source said: 'Its true that Yazmin has gone to Holistic Bootcamp in Marbella to escape her troubles. Things have just got too much for her on the show and issues with various cast members have really got her down. Shes a very normal girl with no ego and she doesnt need that negativity in her life.
'Shes been treated for anxiety there but its not been revealed that shes also being treated for severe depression that has been debilitating to the point where she hasnt wanted to get out of bed.
'Flying out to Spain to work with Rob Hisee was the only answer for her. James (Lock) her boyfriend is behind her 100% and like her friends and family, just wants her to back to her old self and well again.'
If you've been affected by Yazmin's issues, please call Mind on 0300 123 3393 or text 86463.
She's known for not holding back when it comes to her Halloween costumes.
And Heidi Klum was at it again on Friday when the German-born beauty gave her fans another sneak peek at her latest spooky offering.
Later, the 45-year-old was spotted heading into a taping of America's Got Talent: Champions in Pasadena, CA.
Scary: Heidi Klum was at it again on Friday when the German-born beauty gave her fans another sneak peek at her latest spooky offering
Heidi Klum was at it again on Friday when the German-born beauty gave her fans another sneak peek at her latest spooky offering.
In the post, the model can be seen stroking the cheek of a plaster head, presumably used to make a face mask for Klum.
The video was captioned: 'I told you Id share more soon! Here is another sneak peek at my #HeidiHalloween costume! Thanks @prorenfx, I cant wait for you all to see how it turns out'.
Two-faced: Heidi Klum was at it again on Friday when the German-born beauty gave her fans another sneak peek at her latest spooky offering
Wild thing: Later, the 45-year-old was spotted heading into a taping of America's Got Talent: Champions in Pasadena, CA
Later, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl head off to a taping of America's Got Talent: Champions at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
The iconic beauty displayed no shortage of patterns, combining a leopard print dress with snakeskin boots and handbag.
Around her slender waist, the talent show judge had knotted a plaid shirt.
Heidi's wavy blonde tresses were held back from her fine features with a scrunchie and she shielded her eyes with dark shades.
Animal instincts: The iconic beauty displayed no shortage of patterns, combining a leopard print dress with snakeskin boots and handbag
Style: Heidi's wavy blonde tresses were held back from her fine features with a scrunchie and she shielded her eyes with dark shades
Klum's top secret costume is always revealed at her annual Halloween bash.
Last year, the German model paid homage to Michael Jackson's Thriller music video when she dressed as a werewolf.
Heidi told Ellen DeGeneres that she had to really 'give it some' after her costume fell flat in 2016.
'I had like five clones and I could just be me, but I don't think people were too impressed with that,' she explained.
Australian actor Margot Robbie is 'in talks' to star in a forthcoming live-action film about Barbie, the world's most famous doll.
The 28-year-old actress is also tipped to produce the project through her production company, according to a new report in Variety.
Claims of the Australian beauty's casting come after Amy Schumer dropped out of the movie due to scheduling conflicts.
She's a doll! According to Variety, Margot Robbie (pictured) is in talks to star in a highly-anticipated Barbie movie... after Amy Schumer dropped out of the role
IMDB reports that the film will revolve around 'a doll living in Barbieland who is expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world'.
According to Variety, the movie had 'an adult comedy tone' when Amy was attached to star, but it's unclear whether there will be script changes if Margot picks up the project.
The publication further claims that actor Anne Hathaway, 35, was once rumoured to be a front-runner for the film.
New role? IMDB reports that the Barbie film will revolve around 'a doll living in Barbieland who is expelled for not being perfect enough'
Dropped out: Amy Schumer (pictured) was previously attached to star in the film but pulled out of the project due to scheduling conflicts
Margot is currently one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood, fresh off the back of the Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role in I, Tonya.
She is currently hard at work in Los Angeles on Quentin Tarantino's highly-anticipated film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
In the movie, the blonde beauty will be playing Sharon Tate, the actress who was brutally murdered at her LA home by members of the Manson family in 1969.
Hot property! Margot is currently one of the most in-demand actresses in Hollywood, fresh off the back of a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role in I, Tonya
The all-star film is also set to star Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Dakota Fanning.
And Margot's personal life is also going swimmingly.
It was widely reported that the stunner married her British beau, Tom Ackerley, in December 2016, however she was reportedly overheard last year boasting that they wed two years earlier.
He's known for his hard-hitting rhetoric on Channel 5's The Wright Stuff.
But TV presenter Matthew Wright, 53, looked happy as he sipped on cocktails at The Tenth Anniversary of The Club at The Ivy on Friday night in London.
Legendary Carry On actress Amanda Barrie, 83, joined the star as they both rocked smart casual ensembles at the exclusive party.
Unlikely pals: TV presenter Matthew Wright, 53, looked happy as he sipped on cocktails at ten years of The Club at The Ivy on Friday night in London with legendary actress Amanda Barrie
The father-to-be paired blue jeans with a navy jacket and suede shoes as he smiled ecstatically.
Clutching onto a martini glass, the star put his arm on the Coronation Street star who sipped on an orange drink.
The gorgeous Celebrity Big Brother alum looked half her age in an all black ensemble with a peep toe shoe.
Celebrating: Clutching onto a martini glass, the star put his arm on the Coronation Street star who sipped on an orange drink
It comes just days after Matthew shed tears as he discussed he and wife Amelia's road to parenthood during an emotional interview on Wednesday's episode of Lorraine.
They had announced their miracle pregnancy with a baby girl last month, following eight years of 'challenging' IVF treatments.
The former Wright Stuff host, and his 42-year-old wife, who is around five months pregnant, spoke of their previous IVF heartache, which saw them endure a heartbreaking six miscarriages.
Father to be: Matthew shed tears as he discussed he and wife Amelia's road to parenthood during an emotional interview on Wednesday's episode of Lorraine
Emotional: The former Wright Stuff host, 53, and his 42-year-old wife, who is around five months pregnant, spoke of their previous IVF heartache, which saw them endure a heartbreaking six miscarriages
A blooming Amelia said she was still in shock the couple were expecting their longed-for first baby.
She said: 'I feel sick, I have nausea all day but I'm really really happy, I cant believe its happening.
'We spent eight years trying, had six miscarriages, but it really is seventh time lucky.'
Matthew added: 'Last time Amelia met you Lorraine I was in the jungle, she was just talking then about struggling to have kids. After that we had two very big miscarriages which was so hard for us.'
Tears: A blooming Amelia said she was still in shock the couple were expecting their longed-for first baby as Matthew teared up over their baby joy
Final chance: She said: 'We spent eight years trying, had six miscarriages, but it really is seventh time lucky'
Amelia continued: 'After that happened I thought I need to have a break, maybe it's not meant to be, had to take a break and think about what we wanted to do. It really was the last chance saloon.'
The couple said they had one remaining embryo which had been in the freezer for six years. They considered donating it to medical science, but in the end Amelia said:'I couldnt give it up.'
Although the couple are happily looking forward to the arrival of their baby on Valentines Day, they admitted the pregnant had been 'difficult.'
Matthew said: 'It is considered a high risk pregnancy. She is scanned twice a week, there have been little bleeds, which can be very normal but also can be frightening, we've been in casualty half a dozen times.'
Tears: Lorraine arranged for a montage of well-wishes from Matthew's celebrity pals, including Anne Diamond and Christoper Biggins to be played, which left Matthew in tears
Hospital dash: Matthew said: 'It is considered a high risk pregnancy. She is scanned twice a week, there have been little bleeds, which can be very normal but also can be frightening, we've been in casualty half a dozen times'
The star also admitted that previously he had not seen fatherhood in his future.
He said: 'I never truly even had a flicker of interest in being a parent, I looked at them and thought, look at them polluting the world. And now Im going to be a father!'
Amelia added: 'He is going to be the most doting dad.'
Matthew, who recently quit his talk show after 18 years said: 'The baby news came three days after I quit. I can be a pensioner parent.'
Parenthood pending: He said: 'I cant quite get my head around it to tell the truth. Everyday, I look at Amelia and think, "what have you done?". It's amazing'
Lorraine arranged for a montage of well-wishes from Matthew's celebrity pals, including Anne Diamond and Christoper Biggins to be played, which left Matthew in tears.
Matthew said: 'There is so goodwill in the world to us, our families, we couldnt have more goodwill from the world
'I cant quite get my head around it to tell the truth. Everyday, I look at Amelia and think, "what have you done?". It's amazing.'
Matthew has been with his second wife Amelia, a Sony music executive, since 2007 and they have been married since 2010.
Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe has been announced as one of The Star Sydney ambassadors ahead of Spring Carnival season.
And on Saturday, the 35-year-old told The Daily Telegraph he's not missing his days as a swim star, especially the smell of the pool during his early morning training sessions.
His eye-opening comments come after the Olympic champion was told he had to quit competitive swimming due to shoulder reconstruction surgery.
'I never liked the smell of chlorine anyway': Olympic Champion Ian Thorpe says he won't miss the pool after being forced to stop swimming due to shoulder reconstruction surgery
'I never enjoyed the smell of the chlorine anyway,' Ian said by way of comment on his new circumstances.
'I can catch a wave at the beach and enjoy a swim in the waves, but since my shoulder surgery, I work out in the gym,' he added.
Meanwhile, the swimmer will join fellow Star ambassadors model Jennifer Hawkins, 34, and radio host Emma Freedman, 29, at Randwick in Sydney to cheer on the racehorse, Shoals.
The Everest, held next Saturday, is the richest horse race in the country, and one of the highlights of the Spring Racing season.
New life: 'I can catch a wave at the beach and enjoy a swim in the waves, but since my shoulder surgery, I work out in the gym,' Ian said
The athlete got candid last month in an interview with The Daily Telegraph about him 'coming out' as a gay man and the struggles he faced, lamenting that he wished he'd done it sooner.
'I remember being on a plane when I was about to turn 18 and for the first time it was going to be published that I was accused of being gay,' Ian said.
'And this is the problem - we're "accusing" people. It's a terrible way to phrase it, but for me that's how it felt,' he added.
Sexual healing: The athlete got candid last month in an interview with The Daily Telegraph about him 'coming out' as a gay man and the struggles he faced, lamenting that he wished he'd done it sooner. Pictured with boyfriend Ryan Channing (left)
'And it was hard. But now that I have (come out) I wish that I had done it sooner and been comfortable to do it sooner.'
Ian suffered from depression since he was a teenager and explained that his mental health worsened after he retired from swimming.
In the same year that Ian came out as gay, he was admitted to a rehabilitation clinic after struggling with his mental health.
We might be able to turn page and move forward: John Bolton
WASHINGTON: The White House has said that the United States still believes the inception of a new government in Pakistan provides an opportunity to turn a page and move forward towards rebuilding a strong relationship between the two countries.
On Oct 2, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi visited Washington on Secretary of State Mike Pompeos invitation. He held separate meetings with Mr Pompeo and White House National Security Adviser John Bolton before flying back to Islamabad.
Mr Bolton while briefing the media on the new National Strategy for Counterterrorism on Thursday afternoon described the talks as productive but gave few details of the discussions that Secretary Pompeo and he had in their meetings with Mr Qureshi.
When asked if they talked about the suspension of US security aid to Pakistan and the progress made by Islamabad in the fight against terrorism, Mr Bolton said: I discussed that with Foreign Minister Qureshi. We had a very productive meeting. He had a very productive meeting, I hear, from Mike Pompeo, as well, later in the day.
He said: We certainly talked about the suspension of security assistance and the importance that we placed on Pakistan renewing an effective campaign against the terrorists.
The talks, he said, covered a wide range of other issues, as well. But I think one of the things we wanted to stress, following up on Mike Pompeos visit to Pakistan just a few weeks ago, was that we hope with a new government there, that we might be able to turn a page and move forward.
Mr Bolton said that Secretary Pompeo and he had two important opening meetings with the Pakistan foreign minister in Washington.
I think he believed they were successful, and so were going to continue the discussion and see what conclusion we might be able to reach, he said.
Asked about Mr Qureshis handshake with US President Donald Trump in New York last week, which some Pakistani media outlets described as a meeting, Mr Bolton said: I wasnt at the luncheon, so I dont know, but if the foreign minister had come up to introduce himself and shake his hand, Im sure the president would have shaken his hand.
Responding to another question, Mr Bolton said that Secretary Pompeo and he did discuss the release of Dr Shakil Afridi who facilitated the US raid on Osama bin Ladens hideout in Abbottabad with Mr Qureshi.
In terms of Afridi, yes, he was the subject of discussion between Secretary Pompeo and myself, we pretty well covered the waterfront of issues, and were glad to do it, he said.
Mr Qureshi also addressed this issue at a news conference on Wednesday but rejected the suggestion that he had offered to release Dr Afridi in an interview with Fox News.
I said you look at Dr Afridi in a certain way. Our people look at Dr Afia Siddiqui in a certain way. You have expectations. They have expectations too. They also want Dr Siddiquis released.
During The Block's bathroom week, Sara Vale spent $75,000 on renovations that they believed would blow the competition away.
But the show's judges slammed the makeover as both 'ugly' and 'dated', causing the star to storm off the show.
On Friday, however, the TV 'villain' invited two other reality contestants around to her Melbourne apartment in order to test out the crowning feature of the bathroom - a big brass bathtub.
Rub-a-dub-dub, two men in a tub! MAFS stars Telv Williams (left) and Nick Furphy (right) tried out Sara Vale's $11,000 brass bath on Friday
Married At First Sight stars Telv Williams and Nick Furphy were both seen sitting in the tub, which set Sara back a whopping $11,000.
'Just having a random bath with @telvwilliams at the Gatwick. Cheers to @haydenandsara you guys have killed it. Thanks for the sneak peek,' Nick wrote beneath a picture of the tub.
Telv was similarly impressed with the ritzy bathroom feature, and also shared a photo to Instagram.
While the judges and general public weren't enamoured with the brass bath, Telv was taken by the tub, writing: 'If I had a spare 3 mill I'd buy it!'
Ouch! While Hayden and Sara (pictured) were happy with their ritzy bathroom reveal, they placed bottom of the leader board as a result
'Absolutely loved sitting in this bath, thanks again @haydenandsara for the grand tour. If I had a spare 3 mill I'd buy it (the apartment) for shiz,' the FIFO worker captioned the image.
But while Nick and Telv were taken by the fixture, the general public were less than impressed.
When the bath was installed back in August, offended viewers took to Twitter to trash it.
'That gold bath looks like a f***ing trough to feed cows': Viewers were less than impressed with the ritzy tub
'That gold bath looks like a f***ing trough to feed cows,' one raged.
'You've got no taste. That's the worst bath I've ever seen,' another added.
Sara, on the other hand, was overwhelmed when she first set eyes on the tub.
'This is our masterpiece!' Sara was overwhelmed when she first set eyes on the tub
She cooed: 'You have to wear gloves to touch this bath. This is our masterpiece. I can't wait to just let it unravel in front of the judges' eyes!'
Actor Callan McAuliffe says Hugh Jackman is his idol, and has offered an insight into what fans can expect from season nine of The Walking Dead, which premieres on Monday.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia on Friday, the 23-year-old rising star said he's a fan of the Wolverine actor, not for just his acting abilities, but more so his positive reputation within the industry.
'Hugh Jackman - it's less about his work, and more about what I've heard about his character in life,' said Callan. 'I'm a huge fan of him because everywhere I go, people who have met him speak so highly of him.'
EXCLUSIVE: Australian Walking Dead actor Callan McAuliffe (pictured) on Saturday said Hugh Jackman is his idol, and has offered insight into what fans can expect from season nine of popular zombie TV series
'I just really want to work with him and I think just the essence that he puts out as a person of the industry is really extraordinary,' he added.
'He actually reminds me of my co-star Andrew Lincoln, they're both such wonderful, warm and caring people who are just open and passionate and I find that remarkable.'
The Perth-born star made his big series debut on The Walking Dead playing a prisoner of Hilltop, but this says viewers we are going to see a big shift in his character Alden.
'Hugh Jackman - it's less about his work, and more about what I've heard about his character in life,' said Callan. 'I'm a huge fan of him because everywhere I go, people who have met him speak so highly of him.' Pictured: Hugh Jackman
'Last season for the most part I was in a cage, so my character is definitely an upgrade from that,' said Callan.
'One thing I'm excited about in this season is I'll be riding a lot of horses,' he added.
The Great Gatsby actor also revealed that there would be a big change in the tone of the show compared to previous seasons.
Candid: 'Hugh actually reminds me of my co-star Andrew Lincoln, they're both such wonderful, warm and caring people who are just open and passionate and I find that remarkable,' said Callan (pictured)
'What's exciting about the show [season nine], transitionally, is there's a new tone,' he said.
'I think whenever I've seen this kind of scenario, I've always wanted to see a show focus less on the pure survival elements of such a scenario and more on what it takes to rebuild and bring people back together,' he revealed.
'Basically just generally try and move forward finally, and I think that's what everyone's going to try and do this season.'
Big things ahead: The Great Gatsby actor shared some insight into what this season of The Walking Dead will bring, revealing that there will be a big change in the tone compared to previous storylines
'I think everyone's been longing to see that, and they'll finally be able to see something like that, the tone is very different,' he said.
Previously, critics have slammed The Walking Dead for for what they felt was a slow storyline, but Callan insists fans wont be disappointed with the new season.
'Tonally it's going to have a shift [from past seasons]. I can't say too much but I will say it's probably one of the most exciting scrips I've ever read.'
Exhilarating: 'Tonally it's going to have a shift [from past seasons]. I can't say too much but I will say it's probably one of the most exciting scrips I've ever read,' said Callan in reference to the new season of The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead Season Nine will premiere nationally on Foxtel's Showcase at 1:30pm express from the US
She blissfully welcomed a baby girl, Frida, into the world four months ago.
And Brigitte Nielson, 55, showcased her incredible post-baby body on Friday, as she stepped out for dinner with her son Douglas Meyer, 25.
The ex-wife of Sylvester Stallone opted for a youthful look in a black and red sweater dress as she arrived at Craigs restaurant in West Hollywood with her aspiring model son.
Family time: Brigitte Nielsen, 55, displayed her remarkable post-baby body during dinner with her son Douglas Meyer, 25... just four months after birth of daughter Frida
The flashy number showed off her 6ft 1in figure and was paired with black sheer stockings, black heel boots and a a black leather purse.
Her trademark short platinum blonde tresses were styled back off her tanned face and with a little bit of a spiky look.
Douglas kept things simple, but cool, in an all-black ensemble.
Youthful and fun: The reality star wore a black and red sweater dress and black heeled boots for her night out with her son
Doting son: Brigitte's son Douglas is in town visiting his mom and his new baby sister
'When your happy ur boy is in town,' she shared in a photo with her aspiring model son, which she hashtagged: #proudmom #family #son #greattime @douglasaaronmeyer.
The two were in high spirits as they stopped to pose for photographers.
And they have plenty to be grateful for: the Rocky IV star got pregnant through in vitro fertilization after more than 10-years of treatments. Turns out she had the foresight to have some of her eggs frozen when she was 40.
She and her husband, Mattia Dessi, welcomed baby Frida June 22.
Bounce back: The flashy number showed off her 6ft 1in figure, four months after giving birth
Making her mark: Brigitte broke into Hollywood with roles in Red Sonya, Rocky IV and Beverly Hills Cop II in the 1980s
Last month, the Creed II star showed off the newborn in a social media photo that was captioned: 'She is my rainbow'.
'It is such a long road,' Nielsen shared on Twitter and Instagram as reported by People in July. 'What I want women to know is that everything is possible, but you have to be realistic.'
Frida is Brigitte's fifth child; she has four adult sons from previous relationships.
The Denmark-native first made her mark in Hollywood with roles in Red Sonya (1985), Rocky IV (1985), Cobra (1986) and Beverly Hills Cop II (1987). She also has starred in a number of reality shows that includes Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and Flavor of Love.
Proud momma: The actress/reality star showed off Frida in a social media photo that was captioned: 'She is my rainbow'
She is a globally renowned supermodel.
And Gigi Hadid played up those vertiginous legs of hers when she was glimpsed Friday hoofing it in New York City.
The 23-year-old let her luxuriously wavy hair tumble free over shoulders while rocking skintight charcoal DL1961 jeans and high-heeled boots.
Supermodel status: Gigi Hadid played up those vertiginous legs of hers when she was glimpsed Friday hoofing it in New York City
Going for a minimal look where makeup was concerned, the elder sister of Bella Hadid modeled a black and white sweater with her name on the half-turtleneck.
Gigi, whose mother is the former Real Housewife Of Beverly Hills Yolanda Hadid, completed the look by swinging an elegant white purse.
Though she and her beau Zayn Malik broke up earlier this year, they are back on - and there are rumors he is selling his North London home to be in her town more.
The Bradford-born ex-One Direction member is apparently asking 3.5m for his mansion in Hertfordshire, according to a report in The Sun last month.
On the go: The 23-year-old let her luxuriously wavy hair tumble free over shoulders while rocking skintight charcoal DL1961 jeans and high-heeled boots
'Living in New York has made Zayn happier than he has been in a long time. Now feels the right time to sell his house in the UK because he just doesnt really spend any time there,' a Zayn insider gossiped to the paper.
'He went to Bradford last month to celebrate the Islamic festival of Eid with Gigi and his family and feels he just wants to stay there when hes back in the UK, instead of being down south,' the source explained.
Gigi and Zayn dated for roughly two years before they announced their breakup on Twitter within minutes of each other this March.
Customized: Going for a minimal look where makeup was concerned, the elder sister of Bella Hadid modeled a black and white sweater with her name on the half-turtleneck
Shortly after Gigi and Zayn publicly revealed their split, he had multiple tattoos applied in the span of a week, including the number 25 - his age - on his neck.
As early as this January, Zayn could be spotted on Gigi's Instagram page sporting a chest tattoo of what uncannily appeared to be her eyes.
At the end of April, DailyMail.com exclusively obtained photos of Gigi and Zayn sharing a kiss on a New York City sidewalk - she holding a bag from her own line.
Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins appears to have bounced back from Thursday's shocking Bachelor finale, which saw him brutally dump both Brittany Hockley and Sophie Tieman.
On Saturday, the 31-year-old was spotted smiling on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea with a group of other Aussie trekkers.
The travelers shared a photo of their encounter with the Honey Badger to their group Instagram page, along with a lengthy caption.
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Feelin' fine! On Saturday, Nick Cummins (right) was spotted smiling on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea with a group of other Aussie trekkers
The group wrote: 'Just when everyone around the country has been trying to reach the MIA @nickbadger after the @thebachelorau finale, the #ZahrasQuest boys were the first to chat to him deep in the Kokoda jungle!'
Nick and his fellow hikers shared an update on Friday as well, but there was no mention of Nick's reality TV fallout back home.
In a post shared to the Australian Kokoda Tours page, the group wrote: 'Once again, perfect weather and track conditions meant that the group made good time.
How's the serenity? Nick is no doubt relishing the tranquil surrounds of the Kokoda Trail (pictured), given the storm in Australia surrounding the Bachelor finale
'It was a pretty easy day... Everyone has had a great day, and are glad to meet the halfway point of their Kokoda journey.'
A photo of the picturesque Papua New Guinean highlands was also added to the bottom of the entry.
And while it seems Nick is relishing in the tranquility of nature, there were far less serene scenes at KIIS FM's studios at the same time on Friday.
Burn the book! Sophie (left) and Brittany (right) took to torching a copy of Nick's new tome, The Honey Badger Guide To Life, during an appearance on KIIS FM on Friday
During a radio interview, Brittany and Sophie - both of whom were spectacularly dumped by Nick during Thursday's grand finale - took to torching a copy of his new book, The Honey Badger Guide To Life.
When KIIS FM's Jackie 'O' Henderson suggested they should burn a copy of the tome, Brittany remarked: 'After last night, there's nothing worse that can happen to us so let's do it!'
Jackie's co-host Kyle Sandilands grabbed a lighter and proceeded to set fire to the book.
It appeared the act of arson delighted The Bachelor rejects who could be heard laughing on the airwaves.
And while the jilted pair have been doing their fair share of media since Thursday's finale, Nick will tell his side of the story in a pre-recorded interview for The Project, to air on Sunday.
Katie Price and her toyboy lover Alex Adderson were spotted checking into a lavish London hotel on Friday amid her bankruptcy woes.
The glamour model, 40, who is facing financial ruin, paid for a hotel room at The May Fair Hotel with a wad of cash alongside the wealthy Essex businessman, 25.
The mother-of-five, who is currently in rehab for PTSD, checked into the hotel after partying at Annabel's private members' club until the early hours of the morning.
Luxury night: Katie Price, 40, and her toyboy lover Alex Adderson, 25, checked into a lavish hotel with a wad of cash amid her bankruptcy woes... after partying at Annabel's during her rehab stint
Katie, who was seen clutching a wad of notes earlier in the night, stood in the lobby with her man as a receptionist counted the cash.
The reality star narrowly avoided bankruptcy back in August, when she was given three months to come up with a plan to pay off her debts, totalling more than 250k, including more than 20k in tax debt.
She has been bidding for months to stave off bankruptcy as her once-lucrative media empire began to fall apart following the demise of her third marriage and the collapse of her businesses.
She is said to already be trying to sell her 2million West Sussex mansion which she bought in 2014.
Cash: The glamour model, 40, who is facing financial ruin, paid for a hotel room at The May Fair Hotel with a wad of cash alongside the wealthy Essex businessman, 25
Night out: The mother-of-five, who is currently in rehab for PTSD, checked into the hotel after partying at Annabel's private members' club until the early hours of the morning
Minted: The Loose Women panellist was seen clutching a wad of cash during the evening
Her outing with Alex comes amid claims she has has taken him to meet Bunny, four, and Jett, five, who she shares with her estranged husband Kieran Hayler.
Sources claimed Katie's romance with Alex has escalated rapidly since they enjoyed a wild holiday in Mallorca - days after she was filmed rapping about 'loving coke'.
'Alex is very much a part of Katie's life and has stayed over at the house when Bunny and Jett have been there, so he's met them,' a source told The Sun.
'She's only introduced him as a friend but they've met him. It might seem quick to most people but she's really loved up with him.'
MailOnline has contacted a representative for Katie for comment.
Date night: Katie drove her and Alex to The May Fair Hotel earlier in the evening in her distinctive pink Range Rover
Moving quickly: It comes amid claims the glamour model has allegedly taken the wealthy Essex businessman to meet Bunny, four, and Jett, five, who she shares with her estranged husband Kieran Hayler
Claims: 'Alex is very much a part of Katie's life and has stayed over at the house when Bunny and Jett have been there, so he's met them,' a source told The Sun
Katie ensured she dressed to the nines for her night out with Alex, donning a skimpy purple slip dress teamed with thigh-high suede boots.
The Loose Women panellist, who is facing bankruptcy, was seen clutching a wad of cash during the evening.
She swept her dark hair back into a high ponytail and framed her features with nude lipstick and plenty of mascara.
Glam: Katie ensured she dressed to the nines for her night out with Alex, donning a skimpy purple slip dress teamed with thigh-high suede boots
Partying: The pair started the night at The May Fair Hotel, with Katie driving them to the lavish venue, before going with a small group of friends to Annabel's in Mayfair at 10pm
Preened to perfection: She swept her dark hair back into a high ponytail and framed her features with nude lipstick and plenty of mascara
Alex, meanwhile, cut a dapper figure in a tailored blazer teamed with jeans and suede brogues.
The pair started the night at The May Fair Hotel, with Katie driving them to the lavish venue, before going with a small group of friends to Annabel's in Mayfair at 10pm.
They then left via the back exit at 2am in a taxi and headed off to collect Katie's pink Range Rover, which Alex then drove Katie home in.
Wrap up! The television personality warded off the October chill with a simple leather jacket
Hasty exit: They then left via the back exit at 2am in a taxi and headed off to collect Katie's pink Range Rover, which Alex then drove Katie home in
Their night out come after her ex Kieran, who she split from in March after he cheated for a second time, introduced their kids to his new girlfriend Michelle Pentecost.
Katie allegedly screamed obscenities at Michelle at the school gates last month, yelling 'are you enjoying f***ing my husband' to Michelle as she picked up Jett and Bunny.
Before she began dating Alex, Price enjoyed a fling with toyboy personal trainer Kris Boyson, 29, who claimed they had discussed marriage and kids before their abrupt split over the summer.
New couple: Katie, who is serving a 28-day stint at The Priory, appeared loved-up with Alex as they strolled along the street together
Suited and booted: Alex, meanwhile, cut a dapper figure in a tailored blazer teamed with jeans and suede brogues
Going strong: Her romance with Alex has escalated rapidly since they enjoyed a wild holiday in Mallorca - just days after she was filming rapping about 'loving coke'.
The former Page 3 girl is on a 28-day treatment plan at The Priory after her family urged her to seek help following her recent wild partying antics in Mallorca.
Katie, who is dealing with financial ruin and divorce from Kieran, was confronted by her loved ones after shocking footage emerged of her rapping 'I love coke' during a booze-fuelled hen do.
She broke down after the intervention and admitted she needed help to get over her chaotic behaviour - which has been blamed on her PTSD.
Moved on: Their night out come after her ex Kieran, who she split from in March after he cheated for a second time, introduced their kids to his new girlfriend Michelle Pentecost
Allegations: Katie allegedly screamed obscenities at Michelle at the school gates last month, yelling 'are you enjoying f***ing my husband' to Michelle as she picked up Jett and Bunny
Summer of romance: Before she began dating Alex, Price enjoyed a fling with toyboy personal trainer Kris Boyson, 29, who claimed they had discussed marriage and kids before their abrupt split over the summer
Rehab: The former Page 3 girl is on a 28-day treatment plan at The Priory after her family urged her to seek help following her recent wild partying antics in Mallorca
She had a consultation at the clinic on September 19, where she was diagnosed with PTSD and started her 28 days of rehabilitation four days later. A source confirmed the news to MailOnline.
The reports come amid claims her ex Peter Andre is 'relieved' the former glamour model is finally seeking help.
A source told new! magazine: 'Pete was actually relieved when he heard Kate was going to rehab.
'Whatever has gone on between them in the past, she's still the mother of his children and he's happy she's finally getting the help she needs. He wants to see her well again for Junior and Princess's sake.'
Dark times: Katie, who is dealing with financial ruin and divorce from Kieran, was confronted by her loved ones after shocking footage emerged of her rapping 'I love coke' during a booze-fuelled hen do
She's is the stunning blonde who is also a high jump champion.
And Amy Pejkovic has put on her race day best for the Royal Randwick Stakes Day, on Saturday.
The 25-year-old showcased her statuesque figure in a ivory blazer mini-dress that featured a deep V-cut neckline.
Leggy lady! Amy Pejkovic has flaunted her statuesque figure in an elegant ivory blazer mini-dress as she attends Royal Randwick Stakes Day, on Saturday
She teamed the look with a pair of elegant black pumps to contrast her outfit and a matching mini cross body bag.
The beauty styled her luscious, shoulder-length sandy tresses in loose waves.
For makeup, opted for a simple day look with defined brows, mascara, winged eyeliner, rosy eye shadow, subtle pink blush on her cheeks and pink lipstick.
Race day best: The 25-year-old showcased her statuesque figure in a ivory blazer mini-dress that featured a deep V-cut neckline. She teamed the look with a pair of elegant black pumps to contrast her outfit and a matching mini cross body bag
Pretty: For makeup, opted for a simple day look with defined brows, mascara, winged eyeliner, rosy eye shadow, subtle pink blush on her cheeks and pink lipstick
Her delicate race day look comes after she recently spoke about her battle with a brain tumour six years ago to Women's Health earlier this year.
At just 19-years-old, Amy's Olympic dreams were dashed when she diagnosed with a benign tumour.
'The past six years have gone so fast! For approximately one year I was struggling with frequent headaches (Im talking one a day - I was going through packets of pain killers).
Fighter: Her delicate race day look comes after she recently spoke about her battle with a brain tumour six years ago to Women's Health earlier this year
She told the publication that she had been experiencing severe nausea, loss of balance, headaches, and vomitting.
'It was lucky my mum took me to the ER when she did, otherwise I may not be here today,' the athlete added.
Although she missed out on the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Amy has her eyes set on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
She parted ways with her Love Island beau Jack Fowler three weeks ago after spending two months together, blaming their busy schedules for the split.
But Laura Crane seemed to take time off from her hectic workload to indulge in a friendly meet up with fellow ex Love Island star Tina Stinnes.
The surfer, 23, looked cute in a casual ensemble as the pair strolled around West London in a low-key yet lovely display.
Friends: Laura Crane seemed to take time off from her hectic workload to indulge in a friendly meet up with fellow ex Love Island star Tina Stinnes
The blonde bombshell highlighted her slender figure in some purple gym leggings while opting for a pair of comfy black trainers.
Laura donned a grey jumper with the slogan Be Cooler etched onto the front for the outing. Completing her easygoing vibe, the athlete kept her blonde locks concealed with a sporty cap.
Meanwhile, Tina opted for a similar casual vibe by wearing a grey chesterfield coat and light wash jeans with a pair of white trainers.
She styled her platinum hair tresses into a high ponytail and added highlighter and bronzer to her complexion to finish her look.
Sporty: The surfer, 23, looked cute in a casual ensemble as the pair strolled around West London
Laura's outing comes after she announced her split from Jack Folwer, which at that time made them the third couple from this year's Love Island to part ways.
Just two months after finding love in the villa, the reality TV couple called time on their romance, with Jack celebrating his single status with a night out in Brighton on Saturday.
Laura told Metro.co.uk: 'Sadly Jack and I have both decided to go our separate ways due to such busy schedules right now and not having the time to spend together.
It's over: Laura's outing comes after she announced her split from Jack Folwer, which at that time made them the third couple from this year's Love Island to part ways
'Feel truly blessed to have got to share my Love Island experience with him and to have made a friend for life, we will carry on supporting each other on this journey and I can't wait to see where it takes us.'
Jack added: 'We met in extraordinary circumstances and had an amazing time getting to know each other, both whilst in the villa and outside of it.
'But our lives are currently taking us in different directions, we will remain friends and I will support her in whatever she does.'
She has soared back in to the spotlight of late after releasing her incredible new album No Shame and explosive memoir My Thoughts Exactly.
And Lily Allen is continuing with her stratospheric return to the showbiz world as she kicked off her new American tour in Santa Ana, California on Friday night.
The 33-year-old Smile hitmaker looked sensational as she took the stage in a camo crop top with high-waisted trousers while putting her incredible vocals on display.
Belting it out: Lily Allen is continuing with her stratospheric return to the showbiz world as she kicked off her new American tour in Santa Ana, California on Friday night
Lily looked stunning as she started her stage show, while rocking the bold crop top with high-waisted tracksuit bottoms.
Prior to hitting the road, Lily spoke with Fault Magazine, about her money troubles, her political views and her penchant for sex and drugs in her youth.
She admitted in the interview that she was 'running out of money' so felt obliged to write her book before confessing she is still locked in a shocking five album record deal with just a 25K price tag.
Lily has caused shockwaves with her new book, in which she confesses to a host of explosive secrets including flings with Mike Skinner and Liam Gallagher.
Sporty: The 33-year-old Smile hitmaker looked sensational as she took the stage in a camo crop top with high-waisted trousers while putting her incredible vocals on display
Hot stuff: Lily looked incredible as she started her stage show, while rocking the bold crop top with high-waisted tracksuit bottoms
When asked why she opted to write a memoir, she said: 'Money and running out of it! Not seeing many avenues to make it anymore...
'And also, aside from that I get really bored of repeating myself and I think that this period, the last four years at least, have been not only really important formative years for myself but for my children as well...
'And theyre going to ask questions about what happened with Mummy and Daddy and Im not going to want to go over it.'
Happy days: She has soared back in to the spotlight of late after releasing her incredible new album No Shame and explosive memoir My Thoughts Exactly
Belting it out: In the book, Lily revealed she signed a record deal for an extremely humble 25,000 for a whopping five albums 14 years ago - and she is still locked in the contract
In the book, Lily revealed she signed a record deal for an extremely humble 25,000 for a whopping five albums 14 years ago - and she is still locked in the contract.
She explained: 'Sign this record deal for 25,000 from my lawyer at the time In all seriousness I think theres a real issue with the legal firms that are giving advice to really young people...
'I signed that deal when I was 19 years old and Im still in it. It was a five-album deal for 25,000. And I paid for the advice to sign that deal and it was not good advice.'
Rebecca Gibney has divulged more harrowing details about her dark battle with depression.
Speaking to Stellar, the actress said that she felt like a 'failure' during her first marriage to Irwin Thomas and was filled with 'self-loathing.'
'I'd built up a library of self-loathing which I covered up with make-up and roles and pretending, but deep down I was dying inside,' said the 53-year-old.
Darkness: Rebecca Gibney has divulged more harrowing details about her dark battle with depression in the new issue of Stellar magazine (pictured)
'I felt like a failure in my first marriage, I felt a failure as an actor because I was pretending and I felt like a failure in my friendships because they weren't real.'
She finished: 'A lot about me felt fake and I hated it.'
This isn't the first time that the A-lister has opened up about her battle with depression.
Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph last month, the New Zealand-born actress revealed she contemplated suicide during her mental health battle.
'I felt like a failure in my first marriage, I felt a failure as an actor because I was pretending and I felt like a failure in my friendships because they weren't real,' she revealed
'I suffered severe depression in my 30s and contemplated taking my life,' Rebecca said.
'No one knew how I was feeling. On the surface I had the perfect life - great job, wonderful family and friends, but inside I was dying,' she explained.
Rebecca delved deeper into her battle telling Yahoo7 Be she had a breakdown.
'I had a nervous breakdown and emotional collapse in my early 30s so I just let it build up and build up,' she told the publication.
'Inside I was dying': Rebecca previously revealed to The Daily Telegraph, she 'contemplated taking her life' in her 30s
'It was ultimately a self-loathing that I developed from quite a young age. I didn't love myself. In fact, I hated myself; I was crumbling on the inside,' she said.
The talented revealed a close friend suggested she seek professional help from a psychologist and revealed the advice saved her.
After two years of therapy she was able to overcome the severe panic attacks and depression she has fought since her early teens.
She also urged people who are struggling with their mental health to start a conversation and reach out for help.
If you or someone you know needs support, contact on Lifeline on 13 11 14 or at www.lifeline.org.au
IRAN: Ahmadinejad Lambasts Chief of IRGC's Notorious Intelligence Organization
09/17/18
Source: Radio Farda
Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has levelled damning charges against IRGC Intelligence Chief calling him "psychologically imbalanced" and thus not fit for the job.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Related Article by Radio Farda:
Ahmadinejad Lashes Out At the Establishment, Again
In a video released on the ultra-conservative former president's page on the popular messaging service Telegram on Sunday September 16, Ahmadinejad lashed out at Hossein Taeb, the hard-line cleric who chairs the notorious intelligence organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and said all he does is "fabricating cases."
Ahmadinejad added in the video that during his presidency, he was against Taeb taking the job, saying, "All state officials know that he is imbalanced and everyone knows what he has been up to."
He said he believed at the time that if Taeb was appointed the IRGC intelligence chief he would sow discord between powers of the government and state institutions.
Ahmadinejad also revealed that Taeb who was a deputy intelligence minister under former President Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani was removed from his post for instigating disputes among various officials.
"They kicked him out of the Intelligence Ministry, but later they gave him a top post with full authority elsewhere, violating the law," said Ahmadinejad.
The IRGC intelligence has been in charge of nearly every controversial security case including those involving the detention of a dozen environmentalists and scores of Sufis, charging all of them with espionage and other accusations.
Iran's Supreme Leader elevated the former IRGC Intelligence Unit, which was established in 1997 to clamp down on reformist activists, to the higher level of an "Organization" with a broader mandate and appointed Taeb as its chief in 2009 following the unrest after the disputed 2009 presidential elections.
Before 1997, IRGC Intelligence mainly dealt with breach of security within the ranks of the Guards Corps.
The IRGC Intelligence unit has arrested hundreds of political and civil right activists, particularly after 2000.
Taeb has been sanctioned by EU because of "gross violation of human rights" of Iranian citizens and is barred from entering EU countries.
Ahmadinejad said the IRGC Intelligence Organization has its own prisons, and this is "unlawful."
Coronation Street viewers were left seething with anger when Carla Connor 'betrayed' Roy Cropper by indulging in a Costa Coffee over a Roy's Rolls.
Fans went wild when the Weatherfield resident was seen sipping on a large coffee outside of the new Costa Coffee store on the cobbles during Friday's episode.
Social media was flooded with angry comments from viewers at home who labelled Carla's choice to pop into Costa as a 'betrayal'.
'It's a betrayal': Coronation Street fans left fuming as Carla Connor 'betrays' Roy Cropper by treating herself to Costa Coffee over Roy's Rolls during Friday's episode
'Also HOW DARE Carla betray Roy by going to Costa? #corrie.' One fan commented, leading the troops on social media.
Others penned: 'Of course Ms Connor would go to Costa but to betray Roy? #Corrie.'
'#Corrie Hope Roy knows that Carla would betray a friend by going to Costa. (And Roy probably pays tax).'
Viewers have been reassured that Roy's Rolls will still remain on the show despite Costa Coffee moving onto the premise.
Ouch! Social media was flooded with angry comments from viewers at home who labelled Carla's choice to pop into Costa as a 'betrayal'
The outrage shortly follows the announcement that a Costa Coffee and a Co-op were going to have a place on the show after ITV signed a product placement deal.
Now Costa Coffee, decorated in the same burgundy chic style as real life, has been built on the extended part of the television set.
Sales director at ITV Mark Trinder said: 'The expansion of the Coronation Street set has given us a great opportunity to feature branded shop facades as more of Weatherfield is opened up to viewers.
Burn! 'Also HOW DARE Carla betray Roy by going to Costa? #corrie.' One fan commented, leading the troops on social media
'Incorporating product placement on this scale is something we have wanted to do for some time and were delighted with this exciting opportunity.
'Weve worked really closely with the Coronation Street team to make sure weve got a great brand fit for Co-op and Costa Coffee with the nations favourite soap while still ensuring editorial integrity.'
Commercial marketing director for Costa Coffee UK and Ireland Eric Tavoukjian said: 'As the nations favourite coffee shop and a presence on the UK high street for more than 40 years, we feel its perfect to have a presence on one of the nations favourite and most iconic soaps.'
Lauren Pesce has spoken out after her boyfriend Mike The Situation Sorrentino was sentenced to prison for eight months for tax fraud.
Writing on Instagram, she posted: 'Thank you for all of your messages of love & support. We are happy to put an end to this chapter and excited to move forward in our future.
'We are blessed to have our health and the outpouring of support from family, friends & fans. We love you.'
Spouses to be: Mike Sorrentino arriving hand-in-hand at the court house Friday with his fiance, Lauren Pesce
Feelings: Lauren Pesce has spoken out after her boyfriend Mike The Situation Sorrentino was sentenced to prison for eight months for tax fraud
Lauren shared a picture of herself hand in hand with The Situation outside court on Friday.
The Jersey Shore star and his brother, Marc Sorrentino, were sentenced Friday morning after having pleaded guilty in January to multiple charges of tax fraud associated with almost $9million in income.
Mike's Jersey Shore cast mates were in the Newark, New Jersey, court while the judge handed down an eight-month prison sentence for the 36-year-old reality star.
He apologized to the court during brief remarks and said he has overcome substance abuse.
Friends: Jersey Shore star Mike The Situation Sorrentino pictured with cast mates who were in court supporting him as he was sentenced to eight months in prison for tax evasion charges
Mike posted an Instagram photo Friday of himself with his castmates, writing: 'We are very happy to put this behind us. Thank you So much for all the Love & Support'
Marc Sorrentino, meanwhile, was sentenced to two years in prison by the judge.
Jersey Shore stars Jenni 'JWoww' Farley, Pauly D, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, Deena Cortese and Angelina Pivarnick were said to have been in the courtroom to show support for their friend.
Mike posted an Instagram photo Friday of himself with his castmates, writing: 'We are very happy to put this behind us. Thank you So much for all the Love & Support'.
Before the sentencing, the Jersey Shore cast and Mike's fiancee, Lauren Pesce, were pictured together standing on the sidewalk outside the court house together.
So sweet: Mike (center) receiving a hug from Jersey Shore cast mate Angelina Pivarnick
Mike's lawyer Henry Klingeman said Friday that his client and Pesce plan to marry near the start of November, according to People.
'No matter what happens, he wont be designated to begin his sentence until sometime after that wedding,' Klingeman said to reporters.
The Sorrentinos were arrested over the tax offenses in 2014.
The Situation's lawyers had asked for probation after he pleaded guilty, while prosecutors had been hoping for a 14 months sentence, the Associated Press reported.
Rough time: The Jersey Shore cast looked on while Mike Sorrentino (far left) headed to his waiting car
Jersey Shore stars outside the courthouse (L to R): Jenni 'JWoww' Farley, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Deena Cortese, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, Angelina Pivarnick, Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino
Family affair: Marc Sorrentino (pictured right in 2014) was sentenced to two years in prison
In January, Mike admitted that he had hidden his income in 2011 by making cash deposits that came in under the amount that usually triggered bank federal reporting requirements. His attorney said that he had had only a small role in the supposed tax cheating scheme.
Marc pleaded guilty to one count of assisting in the preparation of a false return.
Mike's lawyers had previously argued that the reality star was being treated too harshly because of his celebrity status and that he he should be awarded a measure of leniency due to having overcome his substance addiction since being arrested.
Prosecutors said that in giving Mike prison time, it would show that 'tax fraud will be met with real punishment.'
Weeks after Bachelor in Paradise star Jordan Kimball split with fiancee Jenna Cooper, Cooper's lawyer claims Kimball himself fabricated the texts that claimed Cooper was with another man.
Kimball, 26, took to Instagram on Friday, posting images from a letter he reportedly received from Cooper's lawyer, Justin R. Apple, claiming that he and Cooper, 29, have proof that the texts were fabricated by Kimball himself.
The attorney gave Kimball until Saturday, October 6 at 12pm EST to release a statement that he knows Cooper didn't send those texts, and to apologize.
The accused: Bachelor in Paradise star Jordan Kimball has been accused of fabricating the texts supposedly sent by Jenna Cooper that revealed she was cheating
Taking to Instagram: Kimball, 26, took to Instagram on Friday, posting images from a letter he reportedly received from Cooper's lawyer, Justin R. Apple
Time to apologize: The attorney gave Kimball until Saturday, October 6 at 12 PM Easter time to release a statement that he knows Cooper didn't send those texts, and to apologize
The letter also adds that if Kimball releases the email publicly, which he did, then 'this opportunity is gone and he will respond accordingly.'
This incident started on September 11, when the blogReality Steve released texts reportedly sent from Cooper to another man, where she said, 'Jordan and I aren't together for real. I don't even like him, let alone love him.'
Cooper has denied from the beginning that she was cheating, and that she even sent those texts.
The once-happy couple: Kimball and Cooper share a moment together on Bachelor in Paradise
Apple claims to have 'clear and convincing forensic results' that proves Jenna didn't send those texts, and while Kimball told Apple's partner Bill Young that he was 'willing to discuss this matter,' he has been unreachable.
'You are clearly avoiding the situation because you know the truth already,' Apple said in his letter.
If Kimball doesn't comply, which he apparently doesn't plan on doing since he posted this email to social media, Apple will not only 'release historic texts' that the public can compare to the fabricated texts, but he will also sue 'Reality Steve,' a.k.a. Stephen Carbone.
Under fire: 'You are clearly avoiding the situation because you know the truth,' Apple wrote
When Apple files his suit against Carbone, he will then be 'compelled to produce all of his communications, files,' which would supposedly confirm Kimball created the fabricated texts.
'This is your final opportunity to release a public statement and remediate some of the harm done to Jenna,' Apple added. ]
'I know the truth and I am giving you an easy "out,"' the letter concluded.
Cooper herself took to Instagram on September 12, issuing a statement that said, 'those texts were completely fabricated and I never sent them to anyone.'
'I did not cheat on Jordan, and I have nothing to hide. I have been extremely open and vulnerable throughout this whole process,' Cooper continued.
'I was looking for love, and I found it,' the reality star said. 'I was excited to share this journey with all of you. I am hurt by these fake texts, and that anyone would believe this story so quickly without proof.'
Happier times: Cooper herself took to Instagram on September 12, issuing a statement that said, 'those texts were completely fabricated and I never sent them to anyone'
Ben Affleck's time with his children is to be closely monitored, under the terms of his divorce from Jennifer Garner.
With the Oscar-winner only just completing a 40-day rehab stay for alcoholism, he and his former spouse have agreed to the restrictive controls for the sake of their three children, reports TMZ.
While the children will mainly live with their mother, when with Ben, they will also be accompanied by a monitor. However both parents will each have equal input into decisions about the future of their children, such as schooling and medical treatment.
Over: Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have finalized their divorce. The two met with a private judge at her Pacific Palisades, California mansion where they finished up their paperwork, according to People; here he is seen going to therapy on Friday
They are civil: Ben and Jennifer seen on Wednesday in LA with their three kids
The custody agreement does not formally specify how much time with be spent with each parent, with the former couple planning to adjust their arrangement based on Ben's health.
They have three children together. Violet, 12, Seraphina, nine, and Samuel, six.
The two finalized their divorce late Thursday, three years after they first split, and shortly after Ben completed his inpatient treatment.
They met with a private judge at Jennifer's Pacific Palisades, California mansion to finish up their paperwork.
Happy: Garner was last seen on Wednesday looking fine as she went to a market
Garner, 46, had already asked that the divorce be taken out of the court system, which had been moving slowly. And she wanted the case to be handled by a private judge, who could move it along faster.
Affleck has just completed a 40-day stay at The Canyons in Malibu after Garner took him in for treatment.
And on Thursday Affleck shared a note to Instagram that he wanted to remain sober for his 'family.'
'This week I completed a forty day stay at a treatment center for alcohol addiction and remain in outpatient care,' he wrote. Ben then thanked his family for their support as he battles his 'illness.' And the Live By Night star made it clear that he will always be in treatment and it's a 'full-time commitment.'
Alias vet Jennifer filed for divorce in April 2017 but they have been separated since June 2015. They had started dating in 2004 and wed in 2005.
Before it all fell apart: One of their last red carpet appearances together in 2013
Ben has already moved on romantically. He was dating Lindsay Shookus, a producer at SNL, for about one year. They split this summer.
He is now seeing Playboy model Shauna Sexton, 22, who is 24 years younger than him.
Garner does not appear to have dated anyone and seems to be focusing on parenting as well as her career: her last film was the action packed drama Peppermint.
She also spends time on charitable causes, like visiting children that have been at a disadvantage. This weekend she spent time with Save The Children.
Ben and Jennifer seem to be on good terms; on Sunday they were seen with their kids attending church services in Los Angeles.
She is the former Atomic Kitten star who is known for bold new looks.
And Kerry Katona, 37, debuted her new purple hair as she stepped out the Vitality Health Centre in Crowborough, Sussex after a meeting with her spiritualist on Saturday.
The mother-of-five wore her waist-length tresses loose in a middle parting tumbling over a red padded jacket.
Bold: Kerry Katona, 37, debuted her new purple hair as she stepped out the Vitality Health Centre in London after a meeting with her spiritualist
Kerry showed off her trim figure in leather leggings and black studded boots, nailing her newly edgy look.
She paired the sexy trousers with a plum padded zip-up Montpellier ski coat and fluffy grey hood, stylishly contrasting with her lilac hair.
Giant hoop earrings dangled down to the nape of her neck and she put on a big smile as she looked at her phone with boyfriend Ryan Mahoney.
New look: She paired the sexy trousers with a plum padded zip-up Montpellier ski coat and fluffy grey hood, stylishly contrasting with her lilac hair
Strutting her stuff: Kerry showed off her trim figure in leather leggings and black studded boots, nailing her newly edgy look
Always dressed to impress, the series three I'm A Celeb champion wore a full face of make-up with emphasise on thick black mascara around her eye.
Finishing off the look was a brown chequered Louis Vuitton bag.
Meanwhile, beau Ryan wore a dressed down look in a grey tracksuit bottom, black cotton t-shirt and box-fresh white trainers.
Expensive taste: Finishing off the look was a brown chequered Louis Vuitton bag
Loved up: The mother has recently boasted of the new man in her life, the hunky entrepreneur Ryan Mahoney, and the outspoken star shared a glimmer into their romance on TV
The mother has recently boasted of the new man in her life, the hunky entrepreneur Ryan Mahoney, and the outspoken star shared a glimmer into their romance on TV.
She told presenters on Good Morning Britain: 'Yes, I am seeing someone it's really new and I'd like to keep it just for me this time.'
Prompting Phil Schofield to quip: 'I hope you've picked carefully!'
New romance: She told presenters on Good Morning Britain: 'Yes, I am seeing someone it's really new and I'd like to keep it just for me this time'
Hugs: Lilac haired Kerry cuddled her new beau as she left a meeting with her spiritualist in London
Checking up: Former Atomic Kitten Kerry checked her phone before getting in the car
Kerry replied: 'It's still early days. I'm enjoying it for what it is, I'm not getting married and I'm not having no more babies, saying that, it depends how much a magazine offers me first. I'm joking!'
It comes as Kerry issued an impassioned plea on Instagram as her cousin Chloe Cummings went missing.
The image shared by concerned Kerry, which included a photograph of the missing relative, read: 'PLEASE SHARE Chloe Cummings has been missing since about 3am from Hulme'.
Family: It comes as Kerry issued an impassioned plea on Instagram as her cousin Chloe Cummings went missing
Spiritual guide: Kerry visited her spiritual guide after sharing that her cousin was missing
Rainy days: Kerry put up her hood and sheltered herself from the rainy Sussex day
The appeal went on: 'She was last seen walking towards town on Curry mile at 5am.
'If anyone sees her please contact me immediately, friends and family are very worried. She's most likely wearing blue jeans and a white puffer coat.'
Kerry captioned the post, which she'd taken from a friend's Facebook page: 'Morning everyone this is my cousin Chloe shes gone missing please share and help find her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'
Their first wedding was a surprise one, screened live on TV as part of Fox's 2017 New Year's Eve broadcast.
But this time Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro couldn't be more traditional, with the two embracing every little moment of a big white wedding as they had a do-over in Greece on Saturday.
The two renewed their vows in Akovos Village in Greece, in a fairytale ceremony organised by Maria's father - who had missed out on the first celebration.
She said yes to the dress: Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro finally get their big white Greek wedding... ten months after tying the knot on live TV
The TV host and Undergaro, 50, exchanged vows surrounded by friends and family, nearly 10 months after they first wed in December 2017.
The 40-year-old TV personality wore an off-the-shoulder dress by designer Celia Kritharioti, featuring hand-pained white flowers, and a matching 10-foot lace veil.
The designer wrote on Instagram: 'Maria is wearing Celia Kritharioti off the shoulder wedding creation made from silk organza with hand-painted flowers and veil made from silk tulle.
Proud as punch: Maria and Kevin pose with family inside the church
Sealed with a kiss: The bride and groom puckered up outside the church
Here comes the bride!The two look delighted as they stand together after the wedding
White wedding: This time, Maria had all the traditional trimmings
Radiant: Maria was glowing as she sat in her carriage with a flower girl and boy
You may kiss the bride: The couple celebrate, moments after saying their vows
Veiled beauty: The blushing bride covered her stunning features with a veiled as she left the church
Arriving at the church: Maria shared her horsedrawn carriage with her flowergirls
Happy couple: Maria and Keven couldn't contain their glee as they posed for snaps
Fantasy day: The dream wedding had obviously spared no expense
Before her nuptials, Maria took a moment to post on social media about her feelings.
'I've been planning this for maybe a month but really been planning this for a long time in my heart because I always wanted to return to Greece and do our wedding here. Greece means so much to us and our village and our roots and im so beyond thankful to all of our friends who put this together.'
And she continued: 'Honestly, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
'I have the best husband, I have the best family, nothing is without its problems and nothings perfect but I am so blessed and so so happy today that we get to do this amazing wedding in this beautiful village that I want to move to although I think Keven may divorce me and that would kind of suck.'
Glowing: Maria beamed outside the church showcasing her flawlessly applied wedding make-up
Mwah! She greeted fans by blowing a kiss into the crowds
Sunshine: The bride was blessed with a gloriously sunny day to get married
Press: Following the ceremony the presenter chatted to reporters and cameramen
Wow: Maria stunned in her Bardot style gown which was adorned with floral detailing
Tradition: Traditionally-clad men and women honoured Maria's Greek heritage
Greek style: The wedding was organised by her father, Constantinos ' Costas' Menounos, who wanted to honor Maria's Greek heritage
Horsedrawn carriage: The family greet Maria
Daddy's girl: Maria with Constantinos 'Costas' Menounos before the ceremony
Mrs Undergaro: With her husband, and partner of 20 years
The wedding party: The group posed for snaps outside the church
Maria told Us Weekly before her big day that it was going to be a 'wild journey'.
'Trying to plan something internationally when your dad's running the show is a reality show,' she added.
Maria said her father Constantinos ' Costas' Menounos was 'crazy' and offered up wacky wedding ideas including having the bride ride to church on a horse.
'So I just have decided I'm gonna drink heavily to get through. By the time I land, I'm gonna be nip queen,' she said.
Maria also told Us that she and Keven hope to start a family after their second wedding. She has already looked into surrogacy, with the help of close friend Kim Kardashian.
Lucky! It is said to be a good omen if it rains on one's wedding day
Welcome: There was plenty of dancing as Maria arrived at the reception
First dance: Maria and Kevin enjoyed all the traditional wedding trimmings
Unveiled: Having removed her flowing 10-foot veil, Maria was ready to dance
Photo magic: A wedding photographer captured every special moment
Bride and groom: The two enjoyed their fairytale experience
Family comes first: The pair had invited dozens of guests to share their special day
Traditional: The event was organised by Maria's dad, who made sure it was a fantasy come true
She also admitted to some hesitations.
'I'm enjoying being free, and I'm like, ''Really, is this a good idea right now? Maybe we need to put this on the backburner for a minute','' she said.
Maria and Kevin have been a couple of 20 years, and he supported her during surgery to remove a benign brain tumor in summer 2017.
Maria's mother Litsa was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer in 2016.
Family day: Maria is seen while in Greece for her wedding
First time round: Their first wedding was a surprise one, screened live on TV as part of Fox's 2017 New Year's Eve broadcast
Lauren Goodger has said she's looking to date a girl after a failed romance with jailbird ex-Joey Morrisson.
Taking to her Instagram stories, the former TOWIE star, 32, said 'I'm not joking, I'm considering dating a girl next time' after a female fan poured out her affection to her.
She had earlier said that she was 'gutted about the time she had wasted' with Joey Morrison and 'sometimes things aren't for the long run'.
Confessions: Taking to her Instagram stories, Lauren Goodger, 32, said 'I'm not joking, I'm considering dating a girl next time' after a female fan poured out her affection to her
Dating a girl: The former TOWIE star had earlier said that she was 'gutted about the time she had wasted' with Joey Morrisson and 'sometimes things aren't for the long run'
Lauren famously dated Mark Wright for 10 years, before her romance with Jake McLean for four years and most recently her jailbird romance with Joey Morrisson.
During his time in prison for a string of offences, including possession of a firearm, kidnapping, blackmail and actual bodily harm, Joey 'met' Lauren over the phone before embarking on an on-off romance from behind bars.
Lauren's romance with Joey hit headlines in 2016, when she revealed having answered the phone at her friend Charlotte's house she began speaking to the convict and their tumultuous relationship began.
Failed romance: The star embarked on a failed romance with Joey
In June, she took to Instagram to share an image with Joey during one of his weekend releases and on a date in London's swanky Novikov restaurant however he has now been released permanently.
During a social media Q&A session, the star also confirmed that her recent image transformation is the result of botched filler in her jawline.
Taking to both Instagram and Snapchat the reality TV personality documented her trip to the doctors to dissolve the filler, which caused a dramatic change in her looks.
Her confession comes after she has denied having any work done, even taking to Twitter last month to write: 'Are my followers happy with the natural look! Less make up! No pout ! No big lip!!! Appreciate it thank you x'.
Shocking: Lauren has finally confirmed that her recent image transformation is the result of botched filler in her jawline
Speaking in the video, Lauren revealed she was having the next stages undertaken in her braces, shortly before making the confession about her fillers.
It seems she had suffered a botched batch in her jawline and revealed that she already has 'strong features' so needed help softening the look.
She also admitted in the video that she was yearning for 'her old face' as she had the enhancements dissolved and vowed never to return to the clinic where she has the original work done.
Earlier in the week, it was claimed her transformed look is the result of 'crippling insecurities' following heartache from her ex-boyfriends.
Changing faces: The 32-year-old former TOWIE star took to both Instagram and Snapchat to document her trip to the doctors to dissolve the filler, which caused a dramatic change in her looks, while he scolded her for undergoing the treatment
Changing faces: Insiders told Closer Magazine that the star is going under the knife to 'feel better about herself' after the stunner hit headlines last week
Yet defiant Lauren was continuing to flaunt her chiseled visage on Wednesday as she headed out in her native Essex to get her nails done - prior to her reverse work.
Insiders told Closer Magazine that the star is going under the knife to 'feel better about herself' after the stunner hit headlines last week when she emerged with a dramatically shaped jawline and cheekbones.
While she initially threw herself into a rant on Twitter regarding the changes - insisting she had not had work done - she changed her tune on Friday evening as she admitted she was 'getting her old face back' amid botched fillers.
Different look: Lauren openly admitted to undergoing a nose job, boob job, liposuction to rid her of 'lumps and bumps' and fillers in the past yet has maintained that her shapely posterior is the result of weight training and 'feeding her bum'
Lauren openly admitted to undergoing a nose job, boob job, liposuction to rid her of 'lumps and bumps' and fillers in the past yet has maintained that her shapely posterior is the result of weight training and 'feeding her bum'.
Following her widely-publicised weight struggles since being in the public eye, Lauren had slimmed down to a size eight in 2015, releasing a fitness DVD to mark her successful weight loss journey and inspire others.
With her changing looks, most recently when she emerged with her sharp new features, it has been claimed her past is to blame for her pain.
Plumped up: 'Lauren's said she has surgery to feel better but friends worry she's addicted to the procedures and is now always looking for the latest treatment to get her next fix'
The sources revealed to the publication: 'Lauren puts on a front in the public eye but friends know she suffers from crippling insecurities due to what fans have said about her and things her past boyfriends have commented...
'Lauren's said she has surgery to feel better but friends worry she's addicted to the procedures and is now always looking for the latest treatment to get her next fix.'
MailOnline has contacted Lauren's representatives for comment. There was no clarity from the sources which of her boyfriends were referenced.
Lauren has been open about the guidance she received from her former loves, including Joey's penchant for her slimmer frame: 'Joey would have locked me in a room on a treadmill and would feet me water and bloody veg.'
She confessed that Mark would cruelly urge her to slim down to raise their profile, saying: 'Mark told me wed be more successful if I lost weight.'
Shocking: She confessed that Mark would cruelly urge her to slim down to raise their profile, saying: 'Mark told me wed be more successful if I lost weight'
Mark would also make comments during their time on The Only Way Is Essex, much to the shock of devoted fans, with a memorable moment seeing them discuss their wedding and him stating he did not want her 'walking up the aisle at about 20 stone'.
The source continued: 'A lot of her friends have settled down and have started a family. Instead, Laurens turning to surgery as a crutch...
'She thinks she looks the best she ever has but pal are pleading with her to stop. Theyve told her shes a natural beauty and she need to curb the surgery.'
Last week, the determined star hit back at claims that she had changed her features, saying: 'I've seen pictures of me today... I was in a board meeting and they all turned around and said to me, 'that's not today' and I went, 'that is today'.
'I can assure you I have not had any surgery done. We literally are crying. Does my face look like that? No - and this is a video.'
She received endless criticism after posting a photo of herself in a swimsuit to her Instagram page on Friday.
But by the evening hours of that same day, Sarah Hyland, 27, braved the public as she enjoyed a night out on the town with her boyfriend Wells Adams, 34, at Beauty & Essex in Hollywood, California.
Hyland looked lovely in her outfit, comprising of a plaid coat, loose pants in the shade of khaki, and a low-cut top that left her tanned bra peeking through.
Date night: Sarah Hyland appeared nonchalant while headed to Beauty & Essex restaurant with boyfriend Wells Adams in Hollywood, California on Friday
She adorned her clothing with a brown belt which easily kept her jeans situated at her midsection while including small pieces of jewelry in the form of a necklace and earrings to add a little glitz to the ensemble.
A burgundy bag went with the actress' garments while a pair of larger than average glasses added a sophisticated vibe to Hyland's attire.
Adams, on the other hand, kept things straightforward, as he wore a plain sweater and dark jeans, which were added by a set of brown boots.
That's quite the stylish effort: She adorned her clothing with a brown belt which easily kept her jeans situated at her midsection
Making their arrival: A burgundy bag went with the actress' garments while a pair of larger than average glasses added a sophisticated vibe to Hyland's attire
In the midst of receiving an outpouring amount of backlash for posting her revealing bikini photo, Adams had taken things into his own hands to defend his girlfriend of one year.
The Bachelorette contestant turned Bachelor In Paradise barman told one detractor to 'eat sh**' before asking his love to 'Please come home now. K thanks.'
Sarah had captioned her image: '#feelinmyselffriday Thought I came up with a cool new hashtag... turns out I'm wrong. ALSO. Turns out I'm not the first person to take a selfie in the bathroom... weird.'
Controversy: Sarah had posted a bikini shot on Instagram to her 5.9 million followers and the reaction wasn't all that great
Known for her slender appearance, Sarah, 27, has blamed ongoing chronic health issues for preventing her from putting on weight.
A Lupus sufferer, she has had multiple surgeries over the years.
Diagnosed with kidney dysplasia as a young child, she even received a kidney transplant from her father in April 2012.
Despite this she has worked since a young age, and has starred as Modern Family's fresh-faced boy-obsessed Haley Dunphy since her teenage years.
Proud to be his girlfriend: Sarah posted a screenshot of Wells' comment and posted it to her official Twitter page
Not-so-nice remarks: Hyland's commenting section was filled with negative opinions
Wells and Sarah have been a couple for 12 months, and just celebrated one year of dating.
She told E! News that he made their special day memorable: 'It was a touching and sentimental [gift]. I take a lot of Polaroids all the time. He took all the Polaroids I take and put them in his typewriter and wrote things on them.
'Then he bought a leather-bound journal that you can put pictures in ... He's amazing. [We're] such a hipster f***ing couple.'
Meanwhile, Sarah previously confessed Wells stole her 'heart' from the moment they met.
Happily in love: Hyland posted this photo to her Instagram on Wednesday, as she joined in to celebrate #NationalBoyfriendDay
Alongside a selfie of the couple, Sarah wrote on her Instagram profile: '1 year ago today, You asked to hold my purse when I was dancing.
'In that moment you took my heart. You then gave me my last first kiss. And in that moment you took my breath away. I love you to Pluto and back @wellsadams *YES PLUTO IS A PLANET. IT WILL ALWAYS BE*'
In August Wells made the decision to relocate from Tennessee to California in an effort to be closer to the TV star.
She's best known for her amazing portrayal of Lady Mary Crawley in hit show Downton Abbey.
And Michelle Dockery, 36, looked smart enough for royal duty as she stunned in a monochrome Giorgio Armani suit at the Remembering Audrey Hepburn Gala held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Saturday.
The gorgeous actress was joined by an array of faces from the film, TV and fashion world at the event hosted by Audrey's youngest son Luca Dotti.
Stunning: Michelle Dockery, 36, looked smart enough for royal duty as she stunned in a monochrome Giorgio Armani suit at the Remembering Audrey Hepburn Gala
Joining the actress was her Downton Abbey co-star Allen Leech.
Allan, 37, looked handsome in a black tuxedo as he smiled on amid a gorgeous arra of flowers at the event.
Looking every inch the star, Michelle opted for a glamorous make-up look with dark black mascara around her eyes and a statement rogue lip.
Pals: Joining the actress was her Downton Abbey co-star Allen Leech
Stylish: Allan, 37, looked handsome in a black tuxedo as he smiled on amid a gorgeous arra of flowers at the event
Michelle added height to her look in a sophisticated black heel.
She paired wide leg black trousers with an off-white silk shirt and blazer, and trendy blazer.
She styled her raven tresses in an edgy straight look, with a statement fringe sweeping across her forehead.
Every inch the star: Michelle styled her raven tresses in an edgy straight look, with a statement fringe sweeping across her forehead
Also at the celebration was former reality TV star Kimberley Garner.
The blonde beauty, 28, teased her ample assets in the plunging black gown which featured delicate spaghetti straps.
The gown hugged her lithe frame before flowing into an elegant and clinging skirt.
Glow: The blonde beauty, 28, teased her ample assets in the plunging black gown which featured delicate spaghetti straps
She boosted her frame with black strapy stilettos.
Her caramel locks were pulled back into a sleek ponytail while her pretty features were enhanced with smoky shadow, fluttery lashes, liner and a slick of coral lipstick.
Adding an extra racy edgy, the gown dipped sharply at the back, showing off the star's tanned skin.
Ex MIC: Kimberley Garner dazzled at the event
Poldark star Ellise Chappell wore a sexy black ensemble to the gala.
The actress, 26, stunned in a little black Emporio Armani dress with a plunge neckline showing off her gym-honed figure.
Large button details emphasised the star's sense of style with bellowing sleeves engulfing her arms.
Poldark: Ellise Chappell , 26, stunned in a little black dress by Emporio Armani with a plunge neckline showing off her gym-honed figure
Presenter: Laura Hamilton, 36, donned a chic black gown to host the evening
Her brunette cropped bob was stylishly straightened down to her chin.
CNBC host Tania Bryer also opted for an all black ensemble, with a daring plunge neckline heading down to her waist.
The journalist added a touch of glamour to her look with dangling sparkly earrings under her well-coiffed golden tresses.
Journalist: CNBC host Tania Bryer also opted for an all black ensemble, with a daring plunge neckline heading down to her waist
Glamorous: The former Dancing on Ice star styled her blonde locks into an elegant up-do
Shameless actress Karen Bryson looked every inch the star in a classic Hollywood inspired look.
The stunning TV personality, smiled as she showed off her tiny waist and ample bosom in a golden dress.
She paired the pretty outfit with a pair of black stilettos.
TV star: The stunning TV personality, smiled as she showed off her tiny waist and ample bosom in a golden dress
Luca Dotti, Audrey's youngest son, 48, shared his mother's remarkable experiences as a Hollywood actress, humanitarian, friend and mother.
It saw music from The Overtones, Julian Smith and Kirsten Orsborn.
All profits went to Lymphoma Action and EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe.
Behind every successful Instagram star, is a very patient photographer.
And it seems Scott Disick is happy to play Instagram husband to Sofia Richie, snapping away to get the perfect shot of the 20-year-old beauty.
The father-of-three, 35, made a fleeting appearance in Sofia's latest photo, reflected in a wall-length mirror in their hotel room.
Richie had taken to the social media site, sharing a sultry snap of herself sitting on a hotel bed.
What a daring photo: Sofia Richie, 20, and Scott Dick, 35, were still going strong on Friday after the father-of-three made an appearance in Sofia's Instagram photo.
She can be seen wearing a little black dress while sitting cross-legged and giving a seductive half-smile for the camera.
Next to Sofia is the small mirrored reflection of Scott, who can be seen taking the photograph in a fairly nonchalant manner.
The TV personality wasn't all that recognizable to fans in the wake of having recently clipped his hair in favor for a buzz trim.
Yet, Sofia ensured that her 3.8 million followers were very much aware of who was taking her appealing image.
The day after: The 20-year-old made it known she was happy, having shared another photo to her Instagram on Saturday
'The man in the mirror,' Richie captioned the photo before including a heart eyes emoji at the end.
Sofia and Scott were in Las Vegas to support her dad Lionel Richie, who performed at his residency show inside Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood on Friday evening.
Taking to her Instagram Story to share her experience, Richie posted footage of her father dancing in front of an audience as he sang portions of his greatest hits from his impressive 36-year catalog.
Despite having made fewer public appearances in recent weeks, the couple is still happily in love with one another.
Lunch with her beau: On Wednesday, Scott and Sofia enjoyed a meal at Nobu in Malibu
Just a month ago, in what seems to be quite a rare instance, Richie had opened up about her relationship with the reality star, depicting the 35-year-old as her 'best friend.'
'We are very happy, very lovey-dovey,' she told Sydney Morning Herald.
The Tommy Hilfiger model proceeded by specifying that she's had a solid connection with Scott since they first got together, before noting that she was happy.
In an apparent attempt to silence breakup rumors, Richie doesn't plan to call it quits with Disick anytime soon, it seems.
'We are best friends and that is mainly the strongest connection we have,' the social media fanatic continued.
'We have always had that best friend connection and from there it has really worked out. I am so happy.'
Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has been jailed for 15 years and fined $11.5m on multiple corruption charges.
Lee was sentenced in a Seoul court on Friday on charges of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. This makes Lee the fourth South Korean former leader to be jailed over corruption, following his successor's imprisonment in April.
Lee, the president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013, was arrested in March. He denied any wrongdoing and claimed the charges were politically motivated.
During the televised trial, the Seoul District Court ruled that the 76-year-old is the de facto owner of his brother's company, DAS, which is at the centre of the corruption investigation.
The court found the former leader accepted billions of won from major electronics firm Samsung in return for pardoning its chairman, Lee Kun-hee. The company denies having given the former president the money.
The judge at Seoul Central District Court said "heavy punishment for the accused is inevitable" because of the serious nature of the crimes.
Judge Chung Kye-sun said:
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.
Bringing everything into consideration, heavy punishment for the accused is inevitable.
Source: ABS-CBN News
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She's had a busy week - juggling motherhood with sunning herself on a yacht in Miami, partying with Jordyn Wood and even fitting in a business meeting with mom Kris.
And after all that strenuous activity, Kylie Jenner is looking forward to some time out.
'Finally the weekend,' she posted to Instagram on Saturday, sharing pictures of herself posing away.
Poser: Kylie Jenner squeezes into blue latex dress as busy working mom writes 'finally the weekend' on Saturday morning
Chock a block: She's had a busy week - juggling motherhood with sunning herself on a yacht in Miami, partying with Jordyn Wood and even fitting in a business meeting with mom Kris
Looking her best: The young mother wore a skintight baby blue latex dress, which clung to her
The young mother wore a skintight baby blue latex dress, which clung to her curves.
Her glam squad had obviously been busy, with Kylie's blonde locks curling around her face.
Bright blue shades and a small clutch bag completed the look.
Kylie, 21, has been posting plenty of updates on Instagram this week.
On Friday night the reality star took to social media, captioned: 'stormis mom has got it goin onnnnnn.'
Doing just fine!On Friday night the reality star took to social media, captioned: 'stormis mom has got it goin onnnnnn.'
Kylie stunned in a black crop top and matching biker shorts with a red trim that left her leg burn scar on show.
She teamed the look with chunky black boots and matching colored socks.
The makeup mogul sported a heavy glam look completed with contoured rosy cheeks and a bold brow and eye.
Gorgeous: The makeup mogul sported a heavy glam look completed with contoured rosy cheeks and a bold brow and eye
Beauty: Kylie's blonde lock were styled out into waves and effortlessly flowing over her shoulders
Kylie's blonde lock were styled out into waves and effortlessly flowing over her shoulders.
The youngest Jenner-Kardashian sister was mommy-shamed earlier in the week after sharing a clip of Stormi using a walker.
After posting a video on her Instagram Stories on Tuesday with a fan account quickly reposting the footage, haters were quick to slam the young mom for allowing her child use the 'dangerous' device.
Fan's weren't impressed: The youngest Jenner-Kardashian sister's post comes after she was mommy-shamed earlier in the week after sharing a clip of Stormi using a walker
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, they're pushing for the walkers to be banned.
'Walker is not good for babies,' one woman warned. 'Please consult with a professional.'
Someone else agreed, adding: 'Finally someone with this opinion. I don't understand why they [are] pushing babies to do something [that] they should learn by [themselves].'
Pediatricians and other consumer groups first called for a ban on infant walkers in the early 1990s, but despite reports about the dangers of the device, they are still popular with some parents.
Supportive: 'Please!! give me a break. My children used them and they are just fine,' one person wrote, while someone else added: 'Exactly, I wish they [would] let Kylie parent her own child'
Many of Kylie's fans who let their own children use infant walkers were quick to jump to the reality star's defense.
'Please!! give me a break. My children used them and they are just fine,' one person wrote, while someone else added: 'Exactly, I wish they [would] let Kylie parent her own child.'
The AAP announced last month that it is calling for a ban on the manufacturing and selling of infant walkers in the wake of them causing severe injuries.
A new study published in the journal Pediatrics found that more than 230,000 children age 15 months or younger were treated for infant walker-related injuries from 1990 through 2014.
They are both part of Dan Fogelman vessels that premiered over the last month.
And Mandy Moore and Olivia Wilde, both 34, appeared on the green turf carpet at the ninth annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic.
The This Is Us star sparkled in a scarlet dress with a plunging neckline, while the LIfe Itself actress mixed chic with classic horse-inspired fashion when she paired a pale blue pant suit with a chestnut brown hat.
Autumnal: Mandy Moore and Olivia Wilde, both 34, appeared on the green turf carpet at the ninth annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic
The frock fell to Mandy's shins and she added a bit of an edge with netted black ankle booties.
Her long dark tresses were pulled into a half bun with her wavy bangs left to fall free and frame her face.
She painted her lips a nude pink and added a hint of blush to brighten up her already rosy cheeks.
Opting to keep accessories to a minimum, the A Walk to Remember star donned a just a simple gold pendant necklace.
She matched her shoes to a small, structured, round purse that she carried in one hand.
All smiles: The frock fell to Mandy's shins and she added a bit of an edge with netted black ankle booties
Cleavage: Mandy flashed a hint of cleavage as she opted to go braless in the plunging red pleated dress
Ladies of leisure: The actress beamed as she posed with Ellen Pompeo (L) and Olivia Wilde at the polo
Scarlet: The This Is Us star sparkled in a scarlet dress with bow detailing on the shoulders
Having a blast: The girls shared a giggle as they posed for photographs
Glam: Mandy rubbed shoulders with (L-R) Garcelle Beauvais, Rumer Willis and Wilmer Valderrama at the star-studded event
The star-studded day out on the hallowed Will Rogers polo grounds, found Olivia Wilde joining in the festivities.
Her Alice + Olivia two-piece outfit featured wide-legged, flowing bottoms and what looked to be a structured but almost weightless jacket.
She went shirtless underneath the coat and a slinky pastel pink bra was visible below various gold necklaces.
Her husband Jason Sudeikis, 43, joined her at the event, donning grey jeans and a black blazer.
Airy: Her Alice + Olivia two-piece outfit featured wide-legged, flowing bottoms and what looked to be a structured but almost weightless jacket
Sharing: Olivia shared a photo of herself to Instagram on the way to the event, and captioned it, 'Ready to day-drink'
Happy couple: Her husband Jason Sudeikis, 43, joined her at the event, donning grey jeans and a black blazer
Weekend fun: Her two-piece outfit featured wide-legged, flowing bottoms and what looked to be a structured but almost weightless jacket
Smiles: (L-R) Harold Perrineau, Justin Hartley, Christina Hendricks, Ellen Pompeo, Olivia Wilde, Mandy, Garcelle Beauvais, Rumer Willis and Wilmer Valderrama were dressed to impress
Black Lightning Actress Skye P. Marshall attended the the Event in a floral knee length ensemble.
She is set to return to screens as Mrs. Fowdy in Season 2 of 'Black Lightning' and will air this Tuesday, October 9th on the CW. Deadline reported that Marshall will seen in a guest-starring role this fall on ABCs new drama series 'The Fix'.
Marshall will portray Angela Ashley, an ambitious young lawyer who becomes involved in the case. Kalupa is Jessica Meyer, the murder victim for whom Sevvy is under suspicion.
She will also be seen in the indie feature opposite Actress Sarah Drew, who produced and will star in the forthcoming film that will premiere October 26th. Skye features as Sgt. Shonda Peterson in the extraordinary true story of Army Chaplain Darren Turner and his wife Heather, played by Sarah drew.
A Dream in Green: Actress Skye P. Marshall dazzled on the green carpet at the 9th annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic
High Pony: Skye P. Marshall is set to return to screens as Mrs. Fowdy in Season 2 of 'Black Lightning' and will air this Tuesday, October 9th on the CW
Spots: Victoria Justice, 25, arrived in a tight, short dalmatian-patterned frock
Leggy: The American actress added a boost to her height with black velvet heels and wore her brunette tresses up in a high bun
American beauty: Victoria finished off the look with a black smoky eye and a mauve pink lipstick
Victoria Justice, 25, arrived in a tight, short dalmatian-patterned frock that fell to a little above the middle of her thighs.
Camilla Belle, 32, donned a black-and-white flannel pant suit and let her dark brown locks fall in gentle waves to her shoulders.
Molly SIms, 45, opted for a long mauve floral number and left her long blonde tresses free to fall and frame her face.
Horsin' around: Camilla Belle, 32, donned a black-and-white flannel pant suit and let her dark brown locks fall in gentle waves to her shoulders
Fun in the sun: Molly SIms, 45, opted for a long mauve floral number and left her long blonde tresses free to fall and frame her face
Justin Hartley, 41, and his wife Chrishell Stause, 37, arrived together at annual end of harvest season and French effervescence-sponsored bash.
Angela Sarafyan donned a spring-leaning white floral dress that fell all the way to the floor.
Jessica Pare, 37, opted for a flower-covered Alice + Olivia garment of her own but hers was in black and red.
Effervescent: Justin Hartley, 41, and his wife Chrishell Stause, 37, arrived together at annual end of harvest season and French effervescence-sponsored bash
Blossoming: Angela Sarafyan donned a spring-leaning white floral dress that fell all the way to the floor
Blooming: Jessica Pare, 37, opted for a flower-covered Alice + Olivia garment of her own but hers was in black and red
Lady in white: Rumer Willis, 30, arrive in a shin-length, sleeveless white dress with a black belt clasped tight around her waist
Rumer Willis, 30, arrive in a shin-length, sleeveless white dress with a black belt clasped tight around her waist.
Her blonde tresses were cut to an inch above her shoulders and she added a couple inches with thick black heels.
Rebel Wilson, 38, donned a black-and-white patterned dress and shaded her eyes with oversized dark sunglasses.
Sun's out: Rebel Wilson, 38, donned a black-and-white patterned dress and shaded her eyes with oversized dark sunglasses
Kaley Cuoco, 32, chose a matching red and white plaid shirt and shorts combo.
White low-tops and a red leather handbag emblazoned with hearts completed her laid-back look.
Mad Men vet Christina Hendricks, 43, kept things classic in a beige partially sheer floral Alice + Olivia number that also featured a ruffled bodice and hemline.
Coordinating! Kaley Cuoco, 32, chose a matching red and white plaid shirt and shorts combo
Fitting outfit! Mad Men vet Christina Hendricks, 43, kept things classic in a beige partially sheer floral Alice + Olivia number that also featured a ruffled bodice and hemline
As most Australians get ready to wind their clocks forward, some in the states left behind say it's high time daylight saving was put back on the agenda.
In Queensland, the last referendum was held 26 years ago in 1992 and peak industry bodies are agitating for political leaders to re-evaluate the economic cost on the state.
"It's rare that you have two leading political parties opposing what the industry wants, Director of Australian Industry Group Shane Rodgers told AAP.
"There's a whole generation of Australians who haven't had a say on this, all we ask is that this divisive issue is put back on the public agenda to be properly debated."
Daylight saving always falls on the first Sunday of October, which for all states bar Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia occurs on Sunday 7 October from 2am.
Following an opinion poll in the Courier-Mail indicating 55 per cent of Queenslanders supported the introduction of daylight saving, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ruled it out stating the numbers weren't strong enough for change.
David Prerau has written books on the topic and been a consultant to the US Congress around daylight saving law.
He believes moving the hour forward results in numerous benefits.
"Daylight saving time will generally promote public health and physical fitness, reduce outdoor crime like breaking and entering and mugging, reduce energy usage, increase economic activity and provide most people a better quality of life," Dr Prerau told AAP.
Dr Prerau acknowledged farmers are generally opposed to the change but less so in areas where techniques and equipment aren't dependent on the sun.
Economic and urban geographer Timothy Sigler agrees an extra hour of sunlight would promote a healthy lifestyle.
"Queensland has the highest rate of obesity out of all the states in Australia and most workers are now office-bound," Dr Sigler told AAP.
"Changing this will happen through lifestyle and being active after work is a good step forward; I'm not saying it will completely solve it but it will certainly help."
For those in the states that will lose an hour over the weekend, sleep experts advise people adequately prepare for the changing circadian rhythms in the body.
Strategies include rising earlier on the days leading up to Sunday and getting access to daylight immediately after to suppress melatonin - the sleep regulating hormone.
"Research in the past has shown an increase in accidents in the first 24 hours after the clock changes," Dr Moira Junge from the Sleep Health Foundation told AAP.
"This highlights the importance of losing an hour's sleep and the importance of being aware of your own levels of sleepiness."
A fight between two people on houseboats on the Gold Coast's Broadwater has left a man with several stab wounds.
The 30-year-old got into a dispute with a 49-year-old man near Wavebreak Island on the Gold Coast about 9.30pm on Thursday where he received multiple stab wounds.
A 53-year-old woman, reportedly the 30-year-old's mother, was punched in the face after stepping into the dispute before the injured man was taken to hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. The 49-year-old man is assisting police but no charges have been laid.
Senior cabinet minister Mathias Cormann has warned Australia must be increasingly vigilant about cyber attacks following reports Russia hacked the investigation into MH17's demise.
British and Dutch authorities have accused Russian agents of trying to access files relating to the investigation of the downing of the Malaysia Airlines flight, which killed 38 Australians.
"We've got to be increasingly vigilant in relation to cyber attacks from any source, in particular in the context of the investigations in relation to the downing of MH17," Senator Cormann told Sky News on Friday.
"We are very concerned about what's being reported."
The passenger jet was shot down by a Soviet-made missile over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people aboard.
Australia on Thursday condemned Russia for a pattern of malicious cyber activity including four attacks on political, business, media and sporting institutions worldwide.
Senator Cormann backed the approach of the UK and the Netherlands in calling out Russia's behaviour.
"It's obviously a serious attack on the integrity of the international order," he said.
Two veterans face fights to have their Supercars ready for qualifying for the Bathurst 1000 as reigning champion Luke Youlden put car No.9 back on top at Mount Panorama.
The garages of Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom have work to do after their co-drivers suffered setbacks in practice on Friday morning.
Youlden had no such problems, firing his Commodore to the top of the timing charts in the first dry session of the Enduro Cup meet.
Running in slicks for the first time, the field slashed almost half a minute from Thursday's go-slow in the rain.
Youlden, re-united with 2017 champion David Reynolds, charted 2:06.6471.
For second-fastest runner Dean Canto, pairing with Winterbottom, there was woe.
The long-time co-driver slid into the tyre wall at Forrest Elbow and shunted his Falcon into the fence in a crash that brought a red flag and an early end to proceedings.
Winterbottom struck a miserable figure in pit lane watching his car get a tow back to pit lane.
"I'm not sure what happened. He was actually on a slow down lap," Winterbottom said.
"He did a good job, he was fast.
"But now we're going to be putting bits on the car rather than trying to make it quicker.
"We'll deal with it. Bathurst throws stuff at you. You roll with the punches."
Drivers have one more hour-long practice session, beginning at 11:15am, before qualifying at 3:50pm.
That means Lowndes' pit team have just a few hours to rectify a power steering issue encountered by his co-driver Steven Richards.
Richards was on pace early in the session but couldn't get the ZB Commodore back onto the drying track, eventually finishing up last in the order.
"There is an issue," Lowndes confirmed.
"It sounds like the car's in the window we've just got to make sure it's okay mechanically.
"We've changed the rack and the pump. We'll see what happens in the next session."
Youlden celebrated the change in weather that allowed his Commodore to return to the front of the field.
"I'm glad it's dry, that's for sure," he said.
"We had our struggles yesterday but we've got a handle on it. Now it's up to me and Dave to put it together."
Australia's military has delivered emergency supplies to an Indonesian city devastated by disaster, with more help on the way.
A total of 1424 people are confirmed dead after last week's earthquake and tsunami in Sulawesi, with 2500 severely injured, 113 missing and more than 70,000 displaced.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed an air force C-130 Hercules carrying tarpaulins, shelter and blankets landed in the city on Thursday, and a second plane with aid supplies will leave Australia on Friday.
"This is a heartbreaking tragedy. We stand with our friends and neighbours," Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeted on Friday.
Three people have been charged with doping of a racing greyhound in southeast Queensland.
Two people directly involved with the greyhound racing industry and a third person have been charged after police and members of the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission executed a search warrant at a property at Coominya, southwest of Brisbane, on Thursday.
It's alleged a greyhound was given the drug diazepam which is similar to valium and acts as a muscle relaxant in dogs.
QRIC Commissioner Ross Barnett slammed the practise as reckless and potentially dangerous.
Two women aged 53 and 45 and a 66-year-old man have been charged with a total of 13 drug-related offences.
The 66-year-old man will face Ipswich Magistrates Court on October 22 while the 45-year-old woman will face the same court on November 7.
The 53-year-old woman has already been dealt with under drug-diversion programs.
The hard yards for federal Labor were done in the past 12 months. Now the spending spree begins.
Bill Shorten unveiled major preschool funding changes, promising to give all three-year-olds at least 15 hours a week.
It's a direct pitch to middle Australia, where the votes are kept.
It's also the sort of middle class welfare John Howard made an art form out of, but with a Labor twist.
"All of the results show that children who are able to get two years of preschool education just do better in school," Shorten told reporters at the kindergarten he went to in 1971.
"The rest of the world has been moving ahead and been implementing universal access for preschool to three-year-olds. What we want to do is give Aussie kids the same chance."
The preschool announcement was the biggest policy call Shorten made this week, but he also promised 10,000 free TAFE courses for early childhood educators.
It's Labor heartland stuff.
There's a reason aspiring Labor leaders aim for the health, education or industrial relations portfolios as they try to build their leadership cases.
The party's membership base prefers its leaders to have been out there campaigning for everyday Aussies to get a better go in life.
The polls say Shorten will be the prime minister after the next election.
"I've got to govern for all Australians," he said, in response to a question about the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
These sorts of policies are the ones that help ensure he will get there.
Shorten is telling middle Australia's mums and dads they can safely vote Labor and their kids will be looked after.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison fired back with the Liberal attack line, about Shorten planning to hike taxes.
"Every time you hear Bill Shorten saying he wants to spend more money, know that you're going to pay for it with higher taxes," he told reporters.
He's not wrong - but Labor has been careful about where those extra taxes are coming from.
They've spent most of the past year making tough decisions to crack down on some of the rorts left over in the federal budget for years.
With the hard-sell policies out of the way, Labor has a clear run to the election with money to spend.
Only true budget nerds or people with huge stock portfolios were aware of the dividend imputation credit refund scheme.
It allowed people to claim cash handouts from the government if the tax credits that came with their dividend payments were more than what they owed the tax office.
No other country in the world has copied this scheme - for good reason.
Labor will end it.
Similarly, Labor is going after one of the biggest reasons young Aussies can't afford homes.
"We have made hard decisions including changes to negative gearing," Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese told the Nine Network on Friday.
"The negative gearing measures won't impact on the housing market in terms of any bad effects.
"What it will do is do what negative gearing was designed to do, which is to encourage new supply, because negative gearing will still be available for new housing, and also, of course, it is grandfathered, so it won't impact anyone's current investment."
So it's not all good news for young Australians.
The people who got rich using a tax break designed to help people who already have homes will get to keep it, while younger people will be locked out.
But at least it will make it harder for future investors to hugely outbid first homebuyers looking to get into the market.
Another one for the nerds, but an important one - Shorten is also going after discretionary trusts, which is a financial trick people can use to limit how much tax they pay.
And Shorten held firm on his opposition to corporate tax cuts for big companies.
Those decisions have given Labor a boatload of money to pay for promises to voters.
Preschool is just the start, there is more to come. Shorten made the hard calls, now the easy part is spending it.
The West Australian government has agreed to contribute taxpayer cash to Carnegie Clean Energy's Albany wave power project, despite doubts about the company's funding capacity.
It emerged in parliament last month that Carnegie had not met any milestones attached to the state government's $15.75 million funding commitment, and later that week, the company admitted proposed changes to federal R&D tax incentives were a risk.
Days later, Michael Ottaviano resigned as the Australian stock exchange-listed company's chief executive and managing director.
The state government announced on Friday it had agreed to pay the first milestone payment of $2.625 million, saying it was satisfied Carnegie had commenced site development and design work, and complied with its contractual obligations.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings has promised to drop a bombshell very soon about the ongoing documentary by Multimedia News Channel, Joy News, on the killing of the three High Court judges and a retired army officer in the heat of the revolution.
He said at the Accra Digital Centre where he attended a United Nations Youth Summit yesterday that he would attend another public lecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (NKUST) in Kumasi in the coming days and take the opportunity to put issues into perspective.
Rawlings appears to be at loss as to the motive of those who put together the documentary on the incident which occurred several years ago.
Ill release a bombshell at UST during a public lecture, he added.
In recent times, Joy News and The Multimedia Group have been broadcasting a comprehensive documentary on the killing of three judges and a retired army officer in 1982 when the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) military junta, led by then young Flt. Lt. Rawlings, seized power from the democratically elected government of Dr. Hilla Limann.
The documentary is pushing that the prime suspect, Joachim Amartey Kwei, could not have committed the crime without the backing of the authorities in the PNDC.
According to the documentary, the dreaded Captain Kojo Tsikata agreed that Amartey Kwei ought to have obtained the pass from a higher authority before having unrestricted movement on that fateful night when there was curfew.
The documentary revealed Amartey Kwei mentioned the names of the authorities with whom he planned and killed the judges to the extent that he was on hunger strike before Dr Koranteng of Police Hospital pacified him.
The dastardly act remains a dark spot in the nations political history after the three High Court Judges namely, Justice Fred Poku Sarkodie, Mrs. Justice Cecilia Koranteng- Addow and Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong, as well as a retired army officer, Major Sam Acquah, were callously murdered under strange circumstances at the Bundase Military Range in the Accra Plains.
Their bodies were found on 3rd July, 1982.
According to the records, all the three judges had adjudicated on cases in which they ordered the release of persons who had been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment during the tenure of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) in 1979.
Investigations were conducted into the matter, after which some active and retired army officers were prosecuted, but there is still the belief that the real people who gave the order for these judges to be killed have been left off the hook.
Special Investigative Board (SIB), chaired by Samuel Azu Crabbe, recommended the prosecution of 10 persons.
Two of them, Joachim Amartey Kwei and Alolga Akata-Pore, were members of the PNDC.
Names like Captain (Rtd) Kojo Tsikata, Sergeant Alolga Akata-Pore, J. Amartey Kwei and Lance Corporal S.K. Amedeka, Michael Senyah, Gordon Nsurowuo, Gowu, Ransford Jonny Dzandu, Gomeleshio and Evans Tekpor, alias Tonny, have always come up for scrutiny as far as the case is concerned.
Even though Amartey Kwei, Tekpor, Senya and Dzandu were executed, Amedeka escaped from jail.
Source: Daily Guide
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A Brisbane taxi driver presented a woman with flowers after he "traumatised and disturbed" her by raping her when she was drunk.
Gurpreet Singh Grewal has been handed a three-and-a-half year jail sentence after pleading guilty to rape and sexual assaults over attacks on two women he gave rides to when they were intoxicated in 2017.
"You were in a position of trust. The two complainants were young women. They were under the effects of alcohol and they are entitled to expect ... a taxi driver would act in a responsible and appropriate manner," Brisbane District Court Judge John Coker said on Friday.
An Instagram bikini model will stand trial in Melbourne over allegations she was part of a steroid trafficking ring between the Ukraine, China and Australia.
Raquel Yasmine Petit, 25, is facing 47 charges including trafficking a commercial quantity of steroids, possessing $46,920 suspected of being proceeds of crime, and making and using false documents.
Magistrate Peter Reardon on Friday ruled there was sufficient evidence for Petit, who now lives on the Gold Coast, to stand trial and ordered she return to court next week.
Wentworth by-election candidate Kerryn Phelps has rubbished a poll funded by her political rivals, which shows the Liberal Party vote has collapsed and taken hers down with it.
The poll, commissioned by independent candidate Licia Heath, shows the Liberal Party will only just retain the previously safe east Sydney seat 51 to 49 per cent in the two-party preferred category.
Liberal candidate Dave Sharma is predicted to grab 40.6 of the first preference votes, Guardian Australia reported on Friday, down from outgoing Malcolm Turnbull's 62.26 in 2016.
Dr Phelps is tipped to receive 16.9 per cent of the primaries, according to the poll.
But the independent candidate says the important poll is the final vote on October 20.
"I'm focused on making sure the people of Wentworth understand what I stand for and they have the choice to elect a strong local independent," she told AAP on Friday.
"I'm getting a strong sense in the streets of Wentworth that people are looking for politics done differently.
"I don't think people have much of an appetite anymore for the bickering and backstabbing and infighting and that's what an independent can bring to parliament."
A study of the electorate, released earlier this week by the Voter Choice Project, showed the electorate wanted to "send a message to the Liberals" that they're upset the party shafted their Prime Minister.
The poll showed 52 per cent of respondent's said Dr Phelp's decision to preference the Liberals made them less likely to vote for her.
But Dr Phelps said her how-to-vote cards would put independents and minor parties at the top and major parties at the bottom.
She has joined former Victorian Court of Appeal judge Stephen Charles QC to back the establishment of a national integrity commission.
Both say the public has lost faith in political institutions as major parties switched prime ministers, spent billions of public money and forged business relationships with no oversight.
Dr Phelps wants a proper register of lobbyists and ministers' diaries published to show who they are meeting with.
Mr Charles said the national body would operate like NSW's Independent Commission Against Corruption and also examine "procurement" spending by departments and other organisations.
He pointed to the federal government's decision to spend billions on French submarines as an example that needed more rigorous examination.
Rebels outlaw bikie gang members from across Australia are converging on Melbourne and the city will be crawling with police in a bid to make sure they behave themselves.
Hundreds of bikers, headed to the capital for a weekend marking 20 years of the club's Melbourne chapter, were spotted at Sunshine West on Friday being subjected to police checks on licences, registration, roadworthiness, helmet compliance and drug and alcohol testing.
"It's important for the community to know that we are aware of this event and will respond quickly when required, however I want to make it clear we are not providing an escort or facilitating participation in this ride," police Commander David Clayton said.
A 37-year-old man has escaped from a minimum-security NSW prison.
Mark Tazelaar escaped from a prison in Goulburn on Friday, say police, who are now scouring the state for him.
Tazelaar, described as Caucasian, 180cm tall and of medium build, was last seen wearing prison greens.
Police believe he may be heading towards Narellan or Campbelltown in Sydney's south or Rooty Hill in the city's outer west.
Members of the public are advised not to approach Tazelaar and instead call triple zero if they spot him.
There is still no firm date for Queensland Rail to restore commuter services to the levels they were at prior to a rostering crisis two years ago.
The issue is being debated by Queensland politicians after the chairman of the public company and two other board members stood down.
The resignations of chairman Phillip Strachan, Paul Wallis and Sandra Birkensleigh came after the government blocked $3.6 million in bonus payments Queensland Rail executives planned to award themselves.
State Transport Minister Mark Bailey refused on Friday to publicise Mr Strachan's reason for standing down, saying that was a matter for him.
He also declined to commit to a date for when the number of services available before the October 2016 bungle would be restored.
"I'm very committed to the process of restoring the full timetable, under my watch we've seen very strong progress," Mr Bailey told reporters in Cairns.
Mr Strachan investigated the major rostering failure and was then hand-picked by the government to roll out his own recommendations for fixing the organisation.
He said it would take two years to implement the measures at the time of his February 2017 appointment.
The latest rail saga has lead to fresh calls from the opposition to sack Mr Bailey but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has again stood by him.
Queensland rail has brought on 101 new train drivers so far as it works to fill the holes in its roster for a net gain of 50 drivers, while 95 more are in training.
A motion to privatise the ABC will be debated at the Tasmanian Liberal state council, where the prime minister could also face some awkward GST conversations.
Scott Morrison is on his first visit to the state as PM and will address the party faithful in Hobart on Saturday morning.
He's likely to encounter Tasmanian Treasurer Peter Gutwein, who is among state and territory treasurers demanding a legal guarantee they won't be worse off under the GST carve up.
Mr Gutwein has previously pledged to fight "tooth and nail" for his state's fair share.
Mr Morrison told reporters in Queenstown on Friday Tasmania has nothing to worry about and the state will get an extra $122 million over eight years.
Several motions will also be put forward for debate, with one state branch calling for the ABC's duties to be put out to tender.
The Western Franklin branch are pushing for the federal Liberal party to investigate the financial advantages to the taxpayer of putting the ABC to tender.
The federal Liberal council in June passed a motion calling for the national broadcaster to be sold, forcing then-PM Malcolm Turnbull to insist it wouldn't be.
Other motions want Australia Day kept on January 26, "radical gender ideology" banned from being taught in schools and for Australia to withdraw from the Paris Agreement before it destroys the country's economy and lifestyle.
Premier Will Hodgman will address the two-day conference on Sunday.
Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert says he will pay back thousands of dollars of home internet bills, which he admits were higher than community expectations.
The Queensland MP came under scrutiny over his home internet costs, after it was revealed taxpayers spent $2832 in just one month on his 4G broadband connection.
Mr Robert says his "semi-rural" home in Nerang, near the Pacific Highway on the Gold Coast, is too far from the telephone exchange to get broadband, so he was forced to use a 4G wireless connection.
He said his taxpayer-funded internet bills will soon drop back to normal levels.
"I can confirm that the NBN is now being rolled out in my local area and I have a connection appointment booked in," he said in a statement on Friday.
"When installed, this will result in an immediate drop in costs to a level similar to other parliamentarians."
Parliamentary expense records in the three months to May show Mr Robert spent more than $2000 a month on average for his Gold Coast residence.
Mr Robert has been charging taxpayers more than $1000 per month for data at his home since 2016.
Mr Robert told Fairfax Media he racked up a high bill in May because he used 300 gigabytes of data, so had to pay for extra after exceeding his 50GB limit.
Optus currently offers unlimited 4G broadband for $90 a month, while Exetel offers 250Gb a month for just $70.
It's understood the NBN won't be rolled out in some parts of Nerang until the first quarter of 2019.
"I've asked the special minister of state to report back to me," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Tasmania on Friday.
"Once I've heard from the special minister of state, then we'll take the next step.
"I think (voters would) want an explanation and that's why I've asked for one."
A man has been charged with attempted murder after a stabbing in Sydney's west.
A 66-year-old man was approached in Merrylands at around 4pm on Friday by a 29-year-old man armed with a knife, who allegedly demanded his car keys and stabbed him in the chest before partially lacerating his ear.
The victim grabbed the knife as the man tried to stab him a third time, causing a severe cut to his hand.
It is alleged the man then attempted to rob a woman shortly afterwards before stealing a Holden Calais sedan and attempting to sell it to a man on Montrose St.
The suspect was later arrested and taken to Granville Police Station where he was charged with attempted murder, armed robbery with wounding, stealing a motor vehicle and malicious damage. He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court later on Saturday.
Tasmania are in the box seat to book a berth in the final of the one day cup after dismissing Queensland for 177.
The Bulls' innings never reached any great heights and they were dismissed in the 45th over of the first semi-final at Drummoyne Oval on Saturday.
While several Queensland batsmen got starts, paceman Mark Stekete top scored with just 30 as the Bulls struggled on a tricky wicket at the suburban Sydney ground.
Paceman Gabe Bell, playing his first domestic 50-over match, provided the early breakthrough, snaring openers Max Bryant (11) and Sam Heazlett (22) cheaply.
And when dangerman Chris Lynn (15) edged Jackson Bird through to keeper Matthew Wade, the Queenslanders had lost two wickets in the space of six balls to be 3-50.
Paceman Bird, who could consider himself unlucky not to be in the UAE as part of the Australian Test squad to face Pakistan, took 2-41 while Gurinder Sandhu was economical, finishing with 2-14 from his nine overs.
When Skipper Jimmy Pierson was trapped lbw by a Tom Rogers delivery which stayed low with his side at 6-131, it marked the end of the Bulls' recognised batsmen.
The winner will face the winner of Sunday's semi-final between Western Australia and Victoria.
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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.
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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!
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder over the fatal stabbing of a young man at Parramatta Station.
The 20-year-old victim died at Westmead Hospital after he was found with a serious stab wound to his chest just after 5am on Saturday, police say.
The 17-year-old, who was among three males arrested on a nearby street, is due to appear before a children's court later on Sunday.
A 20-year-old who was arrested with him was charged with affray and was bailed to appear at Parramatta Local Court on October 31.
The publisher of the New York Daily News and other large dailies is reverting back to the name Tribune Publishing, two years after a widely ridiculed rebranding as Tronc
The US newspaper group known as Tronc announced Thursday it was reverting back to its old name Tribune Publishing, two years after a rebranding effort that drew widespread derision.
The publisher of the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, Baltimore Sun and other newspapers gave no reason for the change, but the name Tronc -- a moniker which stood for Tribune Online Content -- was ridiculed both within and outside the news industry.
"If you wanted to signify the pathetic nasal honks of the last dying dinosaur, 'tronc' would be a pretty good word," tweeted The New York Times deputy tech editor Quentin Hardy at the time of the rebranding.
Despite the name change, which is effective October 9, Tribune Publishing faces a difficult road in an industry struggling to adapt to a digital world.
In July, the company announced it would be cutting half the newsroom staff at the Daily News, the iconic New York tabloid.
Tronc sold its best-known newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, to biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong in June. Some reports said it has been in talks with another newspaper chain, McClatchy, owner of the Miami Herald, Kansas City Star and others.
The settlement sought to rein in the Tesla chief's much-criticized Twitter use
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 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.
The comments come five days after 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.
Brett Kavanaugh said the US Supreme Court "must never be viewed as a partisan institution"
US Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh declared himself "independent, impartial" Thursday in a highly unusual plea following criticism of his performance at a Senate committee hearing on sexual assault allegations against him.
"I am an independent, impartial judge," said the headline to an opinion piece he wrote in The Wall Street Journal as the Senate moves towards a weekend confirmation vote on his nomination by President Donald Trump.
Kavanaugh penned the defense of his performance during last week's Judiciary Committee hearing at which he denied the allegations, made at the same hearing, of a California university professor.
Christine Blasey Ford said he drunkenly groped her and attempted to take her clothes off in what she believed was a rape attempt when they were teenagers decades ago.
More than 650 law professors signed a letter to the Senate, published in The New York Times on Wednesday, saying that at the hearing Kavanaugh "did not display the impartiality and judicial temperament" required for the Supreme Court, and urged that he not be confirmed.
Protesters on Capitol Hill on Thursday carried signs calling the judge a liar and "unfit" to serve.
"My hearing testimony was forceful and passionate. That is because I forcefully and passionately denied the allegation against me," Kavanaugh wrote in the Journal.
"I do not decide cases based on personal or policy preferences. I am not a pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant judge. I am not a pro-prosecution or pro-defense judge. I am a pro-law judge."
He added that the country's top court "must never be viewed as a partisan institution."
In his testimony last week, Kavanaugh complained about "a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election."
He called the campaign against his nomination "a circus" and spoke of a frenzy on the left to come up with something, anything, to block my confirmation."
People walk through the flooded waters of Telephone Rd in Houston in August 2017 during tropical storm Harvey
Governments must provide "major" investment in flood risk reduction to save coastal cities around the world, a charity said Friday, as rising seas and sinking urban areas pose unprecedented threats to millions of homes.
Cities such as Jakarta -- which is sinking 25 centimetres (0.8 feet) each year -- Bangkok, Houston and Shanghai risk being inundated within decades as a mixture of poor planning, megastorms and higher tides wreaks havoc.
London-based charity Christian Aid studied eight coastal cities around the world that are sinking, potentially compounding the misery that rising sea levels will inflict on inhabitants.
"The impacts of climate change will be seen across the world and as you saw this summer we had a very warm northern hemisphere, very abnormally so," Kat Kramer, global climate lead at Christian Aid, told AFP.
"Many of the big cities in the developing world are extraordinarily vulnerable to climate change which is why it's very important that they are given support to adapt and build resilience.
"Lives are already being lost through extreme weather events," Kramer added.
Jakarta, a city of 10 million people that sits on a confluence of 13 rivers, is sinking 25 centimetres (0.8 feet) each year
The call coincides with the release next week of a major United Nations report expected to urge governments to drastically increase their efforts to limit global temperature rises.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will examine the effect of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels.
That is the most ambitious target that nations signed up to in the 2015 Paris treaty on climate change, which aims to limit temperature increases to "well below 2C" by the end of the century.
- 'Natural measures' -
But even keeping the world within that temperature range will have a catastrophic impact on coastal cities, with some studies showing a 2C increase could raise global sea levels by up to half a metre.
Thursday's paper picked out Jakarta, Bangkok, Lagos, Manila, Dhaka, Shanghai, Houston and London -- home to a combined 100 million people -- as particularly at risk.
Climate 'tipping points': the Earth's ticking time bombs
The charity highlighted a host of local factors that contribute to sinkage, the majority manmade.
In Jakarta, a city of 10 million people that sits on a confluence of 13 rivers, half the population lacks access to piped water, so many dig illegal wells to extract groundwater.
This puts greater pressure on the soil, which doesn't get replenished as it should by rainfall as nearly all of the city is covered in asphalt and concrete.
In Houston, efforts to provide a growing population with drinking water have also caused land to sink -- an effect made worse by sea level rises and storm surges.
Cities such as Shanghai risk being inundated within decades as a mixture of poor planning, megastorms and higher tides wreak havoc
Kramer said large infrastructure such as sea walls or London's Thames Barrier could help mitigate the damage, but also urged governments to preserve nature's own defences.
"Something noticeable with the Asian tsunami (2004) of was that areas that had their mangroves intact had greater resilience to that kind of storm surge," she said.
"There are many ways that natural measures can help if they are left intact."
US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Rochester, Minnesota
President Donald Trump shrugged off signs of trouble in midterm congressional elections, telling supporters in Minnesota on Thursday that his bruising fight to get Brett Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court will galvanize a surprise victory.
"This is supposed to be a Democrat state," he told a roaring crowd in Rochester, in the heart of Minnesota farm country.
"They have a very big surprise coming, don't you think?"
The supporters -- many decked out in the red hats of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and already gathering 2020 reelection bid -- cheered wildly.
Polls point to a possible retaking of the House of Representatives by the Democrats on November 6, with a tough fight for the Senate also in the cards.
Even losing just the lower house would end the Republican grip on Congress that has given Trump a free ride in the first two years of his controversy-filled presidency.
It would also open the way to Democrat-chaired House committees opening probes into sensitive areas like Trump's financial arrangements, which have so far been largely off limits.
But at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Trump was in bullish mood.
To cries of "I love you Donald!" he insisted that the extraordinarily bitter struggle over Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation would ignite Republican victory.
Kavanaugh's once near-certain confirmation ran into a minefield of sex assault allegations, quickly transforming into a pitched political battle that Democrats believe will hurt Republicans among women and independent voters.
But hours after senators in Washington indicated they were nearing a confirmation vote over the weekend, Trump told the nationally televised audience that Democrats had miscalculated.
"All you have to do is look at the polls over the last three or four days and it shows that their rage-fueled resistance is starting to backfire at a level that nobody has ever seen before," he said to ear-splitting cheers.
- True believers -
Americans are more deeply divided than they have been for years, but in a series of campaign rallies around the country, Trump is trying to ensure that his fervent base will make its voice heard in the crucial elections.
Disgust with Washington politicians, pride in the military, celebration of the booming economy, rejection of trade deals, disdain for journalists -- Trump hit all his talking points in Minnesota and the crowd loved it.
"Drain the swamp, drain the swamp!" they chanted.
"We love him. He's done so much for the country. He's done amazing things on trade and he's not scared of other countries," one supporter, Chris Layfield, 70, said.
"It's the first time the country's been shaken up after so many other presidents all followed what the one before did," she said, echoing a widespread desire to end business as usual in Washington's sometimes near dysfunctional politics.
Unable to get a seat in the main arena, Layfield went to watch a big screen in the overflow room -- and hoping Trump might even come through the heavily guarded doors from the arena.
"I really just want to see his face in person," she said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to tie up arms deals worth billions of dollars with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
President Vladimir Putin was expected Friday to sign a deal in India worth more than $5 billion for the S-400 air defence system, despite US warnings of sanctions against countries buying Russian military hardware.
Putin, who arrived in New Delhi late Thursday, was also set to discuss with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi further agreements worth some $3 billion for Russian naval ships and military helicopters.
Russia building its second nuclear power plant in India is on the table too, as is the training of Indian astronauts in Russia for New Delhi's first crewed space mission in 2022.
India, walking a tightrope between Russia and the United States while keeping a wary eye on China, is expected to seek sanctions waivers but President Donald Trump's administration has signalled this is unlikely.
However, Washington is in a difficult position when it comes to New Delhi, seeking to bolster ties with India to counter China's growing assertiveness while maintaining pressure on Russia.
Washington and New Delhi announced plans last month for joint military drills in 2019, and agreed on the exchange of sensitive military information. The US is now India's second biggest arms supplier.
But Russia is still number one and is looking to remain so as India carries out a $100-billion upgrade of its military hardware to counter potential threats from China and Pakistan.
"Russia is a time-tested friend. I am really glad some spine has finally been shown by India," R.R. Subramanian, a Delhi-based strategic affairs analyst, told AFP.
"It's about time we... showed that we are not going to be pushed around by Washington."
Putin, accompanied by top officials including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Modi are due to meet at 11:00 am (0530 GMT).
An exchange of agreements and press statements are scheduled for 2:30 pm.
Manuel Vega sued the Vatican seeking the release of names and alleged files pertaining to more than 3,400 sexual predators
A US man who says he was raped by a priest as a child announced Thursday he was suing the Vatican seeking the identification of accused clergy members worldwide.
Over recent months, the Catholic Church has been gripped by a global sexual abuse scandal -- particularly in Australia, Chile and the US -- with allegations that cases were covered up by top church officials.
"I'm seeking the truth -- that's what this is all about," 52-year-old Manuel Vega, who said he suffered five years of abuse by southern California parish priest Fidencio Silva-Flores when he was a choir boy, told a press conference in Los Angeles.
"You have to get the images in your head what these priests did to us. And the Catholic Church has done nothing... the inaction continues to damage children," he added.
Vega was one of around 500 victims of sexual abuse or rape who in 2007 agreed with the archdiocese of Los Angeles, the biggest in the US, to a landmark $660 million settlement.
In 2013, the archdiocese published the names of the 120 clergy members involved. Among them was Silva-Flores, who was accused of abusing at least 28 minors, according to Vega's lawyers.
The priest was allowed to return to his native Mexico just after the first allegations were made, they claim. It is not known whether he remains a priest or if he has contact with children.
Vega's suit, filed in a Los Angeles federal court, aims to force the Vatican to reveal the identities of all priests accused of abusing children, alleged related files and details of clergy members who helped cover up the acts, explained his lawyer, Jeff Anderson.
"In 35 years of working with survivors and bringing actions against top officials in America, one thing is clear,'' Anderson said.
"The problem is at the top and until the problem is addressed at the top, it will continue. We applaud this courageous survivor and all the survivors who have shared their truth to help protect kids."
Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are among the names touted to potentially win this year's Nobel Peace Prize
The bookies' odds point towards the Koreans, or Donald Trump. The experts are betting on the fight against sexual violence or defenders of the press. But all speculation ends Friday when the Nobel Peace Prize is unveiled in Oslo.
At 0900 GMT, the annual Nobel prize-giving week reaches its peak as the five-member Norwegian committee ends the guessing game by announcing this year's winner.
And anticipation is likely to be heightened after the postponement of this year's Literature Prize for the first time in 70 years over a rape scandal that came to light as part of the #MeToo movement which took off exactly a year ago.
This year, a total of 331 individuals and organisations were nominated for the prestigious peace award, almost a record number. But with the list a closely guarded secret, guessing who might be a contender is largely a game of chance.
Among the bookmakers, the choice was largely unanimous with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in frontrunners for the prize for their efforts at rapprochement between the two nations.
But choosing Kim may be a step too far for the Norwegian committee, given the UN's damning verdict on North Korea's "long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights".
Another unexpected favourite is Donald Trump, who at 7-1 is one of three frontrunners flagged by online bookies Betsson, with the odds suggesting the bombastic American president is 10 times more likely to win than figures like France's Emmanuel Macron or Russia's Vladimir Putin.
This year, a total of 331 individuals and organisations were nominated for the prestigious peace award, almost a record number
Taking a step back from the international spotlight, several Nobel experts see the prize honouring those involved in the fight against sexual violence at a time when the aftershocks of the #MeToo movement are still making waves around the globe.
A top contender would likely be Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, better known as "Doctor Miracle", who has spent two decades helping women recover from the violence and trauma of rape in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Another possible laureate is Nadia Murad, a 25-year-old Yazidi woman who was kidnapped by Islamic State militants in 2014 and endured three months as a sex slave before managing to escape.
- Taking on 'fake news' -
One area yet to be honoured by the Nobel committee is the campaign to protect press freedom, which has been spearheaded by organisations like the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Such an award would be a nod to the role of a free press as a pillar of democracy at a time when the profession is increasingly under threat from repression, violence and the proliferation of "fake news".
One area yet to be honoured by the Nobel committee is the campaign to protect press freedom, which has been spearheaded by organisations like the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Other potential laureates include the World Food Programme, the UN refugee agency UNHCR, jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi and Russian human rights champions like the NGO Memorial and opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
Last year, the prize was won by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
The 2018 Nobel season opened on Monday with two immunologists, James Allison of the US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan, winning the Medicine Prize for research into how the body's natural defences can fight cancer.
Tuesday's Physics Prize was won by three scientists, Arthur Ashkin of the United States, Gerard Mourou of France and Donna Strickland of Canada, for inventing optical lasers that paved the way for advanced precision instruments used in corrective eye surgery.
Last year, the prize was won by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
And on Wednesday, US scientists Frances Arnold and George Smith and British researcher Gregory Winter won the Chemistry Prize for applying the principles of evolution to develop proteins used to make everything from biofuels to medicine.
This year's award season will end on Monday with the economics prize.
Up to three nominees can share the prize, which consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a cheque for nine million Swedish kronor (around $1 million or 867,000 euros).
The award will be presented at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of prize creator Alfred Nobel, a Swedish philanthropist and scientist.
Last-ditch efforts are being made to find anyone who might still be alive in the wreckage of Palu, a week on from the quake-tsunami that smashed the city
Search teams made desperate last-ditch efforts Friday to find survivors, a week on from Indonesia's devastating quake-tsunami, as the death toll from the disaster rose above 1,500.
The city of Palu on Sulawesi island has been left in ruins after being hit by a 7.5 magnitude quake and a wall of water, which flattened homes, ripped up trees and overturned cars.
After days of delays, international aid has finally started to arrive in the disaster zone, where the UN says almost 200,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Survivors have ransacked shops and supply trucks in the hunt for basic necessities, prompting security forces to round up dozens of suspected looters and warn that they will fire on thieves.
Authorities previously set a tentative deadline of Friday for finding anyone trapped under ruined buildings, although chances of pulling survivors alive from the rubble at such a late stage are almost zero.
Sulawesi quake-tsunami disaster
Local military spokesman Muhammad Thohir said that the death toll had risen to 1,558, up about 100 from the previous official figure.
Over 100 people are still unaccounted for, while hundreds of bodies have been buried in mass graves in a bid to avert a disease outbreak from corpses rotting in the tropical sun.
Search efforts focused on eight key locations Friday, including a beach and the Balaroa area where the sheer force of the quake turned the earth temporarily to mush.
"We have to use heavy equipment now because it is very difficult to sift through the rubble by hand," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told AFP.
At the badly damaged Mercure hotel on Palu's waterfront, there was growing frustration among a French and Indonesian search team.
The rescuers, using sniffer dogs and scanners, had detected what they believed was a person under mounds of rubble the previous evening but when they resumed the hunt early Friday, any signs of life had disappeared.
- No signs of life -
"Yesterday we had a heart beat and sign of breathing, there were no other movements so it means it was someone who was motionless, confined," said Philippe Besson, president of the International Emergency Firefighters.
"Today we have no signal."
There are almost 200,000 people in need in the area hit by the quake-tsunami, the United Nations says
A week on from the disaster, some roads in the area remain impassable, detritus from the tsunami is scattered everywhere while terrified people are sleeping outside for fear of further quakes.
Improvised white flags -- a pillow case or duvet cover -- fly outside many homes, signifying a death in the family.
Nevertheless there were signs of life returning to normal, with children playing in the streets, radios blaring out music, and electricity back up and running in most places.
"Things are improving," Azhari Samad, a 56-year-old insurance salesman, told AFP at a mosque in Palu.
But for the area to recover fully from the disaster "will take years", he added.
Life is getting easier in Palu, as supplies of food, water and electricity are restored, but it will be a long time before the city is back on its feet
"The first six months will be traumatic, maybe in one year we have some progress. The government will help, people will help from all over the country. Indonesians have a big heart."
Samad spoke to AFP ahead of Friday prayers in the world's biggest Muslim majority country.
Sulawesi is also home to a large Christian minority.
About 20 planes carrying vital supplies such as tarpaulins, medical equipment and generators are now heading from all over the world to the disaster zone after a long delay.
Indonesia was initially reluctant to accept outside help, insisting its own military could handle the response, but as the scale of the devastation became clear President Joko Widodo agreed to allow in foreign aid.
Governments from Australia to Britain are flying in supplies, the United Nations has pledged $15 million to the relief effort, and aid groups including Save the Children and the Red Cross are also on the ground.
Indonesia sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire", the world's most tectonically active region, and its 260 million people are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis addresses a NATO press conference
After years of ceaseless attacks from state-sponsored hackers, the US is taking toughening its stance in the cyber fight against Russia, China and other nations.
Critics have long charged that America's response has fallen woefully short as adversaries targeted US national security networks, government agencies and voting systems.
But under a series of new measures, US officials are touting a more muscular approach -- including a greater willingness to launch offensive cyber operations.
President Donald Trump recently revoked his predecessor Barack Obama's rules requiring high-level authority for big military cyber operations, and National Security Advisor John Bolton warned that any country conducting cyber attacks could face an offensive response.
Then on Thursday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the US is making its cyber capabilities available to NATO, warning Moscow it must "pay the piper" after the Netherlands revealed an alleged plot by Russia's GRU military intelligence agency to hack the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Coincidentally, the US on Thursday indicted seven GRU agents as part of a joint crackdown with Western allies on a series of major hacking plots attributed to Moscow.
Mattis said an international response to hacking attacks would not necessarily be a tit-for-tat cyber offensive, but told Moscow it would "have to be held to account."
RAND Corporation intel and cyber expert Cortney Weinbaum told AFP that in today's modern threat environment, kinetic weapons alone are no longer sufficient.
She said she interpreted Mattis's comments "as meaning that the US will offer all of our warfare capabilities, which now include cyber, to defend the NATO alliance members."
"This pledge will hopefully have a deterrent effect to prevent such a scenario from occurring," she added.
Other experts also approved of the move.
"NATO needs to ensure it has the requisite tools, capabilities and strategies in place to match the current threat environment," Frank Cilluffo, who directs the McCrary Insitute for Cyber & Critical Infrastructure at Auburn University, told AFP.
Still, the Pentagon is playing catch up as it bolsters its capabilities, having for years under invested in talent that all too often is swiped up by the well-paying private sector.
"A great deal of the department's cyber readiness issues revolve around the shortage of skilled cyber-capable personnel," Senator Mike Rounds, who heads a Senate cybersecurity subcommittee, said last week.
"The current recruitment, pay, retention, and career pathway structures in place are not equipped to manage this problem."
- 'Defend forward' -
Last month, the Pentagon released a revamped cyber strategy that states it will conduct cyberspace operations to collect intelligence and prepare military cyber capabilities to be used in the event of crisis or conflict.
The report blasted Russia and China for what it called their continued interference.
"We will defend forward to disrupt or halt malicious cyber activity at its source, including activity that falls below the level of armed conflict," the strategy states.
According to a report in Bloomberg News on Thursday, tiny chips inserted in US computer equipment manufactured in China were used as part of a vast effort by Beijing to steal US technology secrets.
The chips, the size of a grain of rice, were reportedly used on equipment made for Amazon, which first alerted US authorities, as well as Apple and possibly for other companies and government agencies including the military.
The US has not said much about the types offensive cyber operations it has pulled off in the past, though it has acknowledged attacking Islamic State group networks.
But "if you look at what the Russians are doing, figure that we can probably do that stuff too -- whether we would is another question," said cyber expert Martin Libicki, a professor at the US Naval Academy.
"US operational security is pretty good. We may well be doing things that others have not discovered," he told AFP.
This photo, taken by National Geographic photographer Jimmy Chin, shows Alex Honnand during his ascent of El Capitan in California in June 2017
Imagine climbing a 900-meter (3,000-foot) granite wall without ropes and almost nothing to grip, moving slowly and perilously upward for four hours.
A brave soul named Alex Honnold completed such a climb -- and lived to tell the tale.
Honnold was 31 when he pulled off the feat of scaling El Capitan, a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park in California, in June 2017 in a drama that is now the subject of a National Geographic documentary. The film is in US theaters now, in Canada starting October 12 and in the UK in December.
"So delighted," Honnold said once he reached the top -- the climax of the film "Free Solo," which narrates the climb and his preparations for it.
Free solo climbing is an extreme technique practiced only by the most experienced climbers. They scale mountains with their bare hands. Many die trying.
One climber quoted in the film put it this way: It's so difficult and dangerous that it's as if the penalty for Olympic athletes were death if they failed to win a gold medal every time they competed.
A filming team arrayed along the climbing path -- they did use ropes -- accompanied Honnold. A drone and two fixed cameras were also used. It's a terrifying thing to watch.
In some places the rock looks practically smooth, leaving Honnold with nothing more than seemingly invisible bumps and other irregularities in the mountain's surface to get a toehold and hoist himself upward.
At times he can squeeze his fingers into a crack or work his thumb into a small hole. One particularly tricky spot is known as a "Boulder Problem." There, Honnold has to perform a complicated set of arm and leg movements to keep moving ahead.
In months of training, working with a rope, he learned to execute those moves to perfection.
Still, on the day of the big climb, one cameraman looked away -- he couldn't watch -- as Honnold struggled to cling to the granite wall.
Fear is everywhere in the film. Honnold himself is heard calling El Capitan "frickin' scary." The production team spent the whole time holding their breaths against the nightmarish prospect of a fall.
But Honnold seemed so calm as he faced all this that researchers wondered if there was something different about his brain.
- Dying on camera -
With this in mind, Honnold underwent an MRI in 2016 as he got ready for the ascent. That test, which is documented in the movie, shows that a part of the brain that was once usually associated with fear -- the amygdala -- did not activate when he was shown violent or frightening images. It was as if he were incapable of feeling afraid.
Alex Honnold is seen on the summit of El Capitan
But, according to the latest research, the amygdala is no longer considered the fear center of the brain. Instead, it activates when a person sees something unfamiliar -- whether positive, neutral or negative. And fear is expressed throughout the brain, not just the amygdala, according to Lisa Barrett, an emeritus professor of psychology at Northeastern University and the author of a recent article on the brain region.
Honnold himself said he knows what it is to be afraid.
"I'm afraid of death, I'm afraid of danger, I'm afraid of pain. I used to be very afraid of public speaking," he told AFP Tuesday on the sidelines of a pre-screening of the film in Washington.
His explanation of how he conquered fear is simpler. "To me it just shows what 10 years of preparation and practice and de-sensitization does," he said. Hard work has taught him to tame his feelings.
For years he climbed El Capitan with the aid of ropes, recording all of his movements. He was in great physical shape for the solo climb.
The film suggests that Honnold's determination borders on obsession, to the point of his neglecting his girlfriend, Sanni McCandless. She calls him "brutally honest" and a "weird dude."
She recalled how he reacted nonchalantly to news that a climber friend had died in a fall.
"What did she expect?" Honnold asked of the deceased friend's wife, according to McCandless. Honnold himself says he does not understand how his own death would affect other people.
"This is the life he wants," said the documentary's director, Chai Vasarhelyi, who co-directed it with her husband Jimmy Chin, a climber and photographer. "He's thought about mortality deeply. He's constructed his entire existence to have this life."
There was one thing Honnold did worry about: falling in front of the camera.
He said it would be "kind of okay if Im by myself" but "kind of messed up" if it happened in front of his friends. "Nobody wants to see that," he said.
A week on from the disaster in Indonesia's Sulawesi some roads remain impassable, detritus is scattered everywhere and terrified people are sleeping outside for fear of further quakes
More than a thousand people could still be missing after Indonesia's devastating quake-tsunami, officials said Friday, drastically upping the number of people unaccounted for a week after the disaster.
Palu city on Sulawesi island has been left in ruins after it was hit by a powerful quake and a wall of water which flattened houses and flipped over cars, with the official death toll now standing at 1,571.
The number of confirmed missing stands at over 100, but fears are growing that vast numbers of people have been buried in a massive government housing complex at Balaroa, where the sheer force of the quake turned the earth temporarily to mush.
At the heavily damaged Mercure hotel on Palu's waterfront, there was growing frustration among a French and Indonesian search team
"Maybe more than 1,000 people are still missing," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told AFP.
"But we still cannot be sure because there's a possibility that some people managed to get out."
After days of delays, international aid is slowly making its way to the disaster zone, where the UN says almost 200,000 people need humanitarian assistance.
- 'Racing against time' -
Survivors have ransacked shops and supply trucks in the hunt for basic necessities, prompting security forces to round up dozens of suspected looters and warn that they will open fire on thieves.
Children with plastic containers begged for money by the roadside while some shell-shocked residents scoured for anything still salvageable amongst the debris.
Images of the area showed a vast jumble of flattened houses next to a badly fractured road
"We're racing against time," said Dwi Sulaksono, commander of the navy base in Makassar, as supplies were unloaded from an Indonesian warship.
"We have to distribute supplies as quickly as possible, especially to remote areas."
Authorities previously set a deadline of Friday for finding anyone trapped under ruined buildings, although chances of pulling survivors alive from the rubble at such a late stage are almost zero.
Using sniffer dogs and scanners, rescuers at the heavily damaged Mercure hotel had detected what they believed was a person under mounds of rubble the previous evening but when they resumed the hunt on Friday, all signs of life had disappeared.
- 'Doomsday' -
Survivor Risa Kusuma, who had just moved to Palu with her family to escape Indonesia's chaotic capital, recounted the horror of the twin calamities.
As massive tremors threw the family around like rag dolls, the terrified family of five managed to tumble out of their house and run along asphalt roads that were splitting under their bare feet.
There are almost 200,000 people in need in the area hit by the quake-tsunami, the United Nations says
"I thought it was doomsday," the 35-year-old told AFP, days after she and her three children made it back to Jakarta on a flight out of the disaster-stricken region.
Some roads remain impassable, detritus from the tsunami is scattered everywhere, and terrified people are sleeping outside in makeshift camps for fear of more quakes.
Improvised white flags -- a pillowcase or duvet cover -- fly outside many homes, signifying a death in the family.
- Years to recover -
Nevertheless there were signs of life returning to normal, with children playing in the streets, radios blaring out music, and electricity back up and running in most places.
Nevertheless there were signs of life returning to normal, with children playing in the streets, radios blaring out music, and electricity back up and running in most places
"Things are improving," Azhari Samad, a 56-year-old insurance salesman, told AFP at a mosque in Palu.
But for the area to recover fully from the disaster "will take years", he added.
"The first six months will be traumatic, maybe in one year we have some progress. The government will help, people will help from all over the country. Indonesians have a big heart."
A state of emergency could be extended for a couple of months "until people in Palu can stand on their own", Indonesian vice president Jusuf Kalla said during a visit to the shattered city.
"Places that can no longer be inhabited like Balaroa must be relocated," he added.
Life is getting easier in Palu, as supplies of food, water and electricity are restored, but it will be a long time before the city is back on its feet
In a village outside devastated Donggala, Irham Hassan gathered with some 200 men at a local mosque for Friday prayers in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country.
"We feel a bit relieved because there's no sign of another tsunami," the 50-year-old told AFP.
"But we still haven't returned to our homes."
About 500 people, many wearing white skullcaps, gathered to pray near Palu's devastated coastline, where an iconic mosque once on stilts sat lopsided in shallow water by the rocky shore.
- Aid flow -
About 20 planes carrying vital supplies such as tarpaulins, medical equipment and generators are heading from all over the world to the disaster zone.
Indonesia was initially reluctant to accept outside help, insisting its own military could handle the response, but as the scale of the devastation became clear President Joko Widodo agreed to foreign aid.
Governments from Australia to Britain are flying in supplies, the United Nations has pledged $15 million to the relief effort, and aid groups including Save the Children and the Red Cross are also on the ground.
Indonesia sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire", the world's most tectonically active region, and its 260 million people are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
Lee Myung-bak was not in attendance at the court during his Friday sentencing, citing health problems
Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak was jailed for 15 years for corruption Friday, becoming the latest of the country's ex-leaders to be sent to prison.
The 76-year-old CEO-turned-president, who served from 2008 to 2013, was found guilty on charges including bribery and embezzlement and ordered to pay a fine of 13 billion won ($11.5 million) by the Seoul Central District Court.
"Bringing everything into consideration, heavy punishment for the accused is inevitable," said a judge during the trial that was live televised.
Lee was not in attendance, citing ill-health.
The former South Korean leader was indicted in April on 16 charges that included bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.
The court found that Lee was the de-facto owner of DAS -- a controversial auto parts company which he claimed was his brother's -- which he used to create slush funds of around 24 billion won.
Lee was also found guilty of accepting nearly six billion won from Samsung Electronics in return for a presidential pardon for its chairman Lee Kun-hee, who was jailed for tax evasion.
Both Samsung and Lee have denied any wrongdoing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on September 16, 2018
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent a new round of questioning on Friday over one of several graft cases that have threatened to topple him, Israeli media reported.
The veteran premier's 12th round of questioning as a suspect in various cases comes two days before his wife Sara appears in court on charges of misusing state funds for catering at their official residence.
The prime minister has not been charged in any of the cases.
Netanyahu has been repeatedly questioned over allegations involving Israeli telecoms giant Bezeq and its largest shareholder, Shaul Elovitch.
The premier is accused of seeking favourable coverage from another Elovitch company, the Walla news site, in exchange for policies that could have benefited the mogul's interests to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Netanyahu also faces interrogation as a witness in a case involving the purchase of three German submarines.
Israeli television on Friday showed footage of police officers arriving at his office.
The police and Netanyahu's office never confirm he is being questioned until the hearings are over.
Israeli media reported that Friday's questioning will for the first time cover two further cases in which he is suspected of corruption, fraud and breach of trust.
In one, he and family members are suspected of receiving around 1 million shekels ($275,000) worth of luxury cigars, bottles of champagne and jewellery in exchange for financial or personal favours.
In the second, he is suspected of seeking a deal for positive coverage from Israel's top-selling daily newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, in exchange for advancing a law that would have limited the circulation of Israel Hayom, a free competitor.
His wife Sara appears in court on Sunday charged with misusing state funds to buy catered meals costing $100,000 (85,000 euros) by falsely declaring there were no cooks available at the premier's official residence.
Netanyahu, prime minister for around 12 years in total and with no rival in sight, has maintained his innocence in all the cases.
But the investigations have gradually ratcheted up speculation over whether he will eventually be forced from office.
So far his coalition partners have stood by him despite the allegations. He is not obliged to step down as prime minister even if he is formally charged.
US First Lady Melania Trump visited a Kenyan safari as part of her Africa trip.
US First Lady Melania Trump cosied up to baby elephants and went on safari in Kenya on Friday, on the third leg of a solo tour of Africa that has contrasted with the tumult in Washington.
Looking relaxed and smiling, the former model gave a baby elephant bottled formula at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, famed for its work rescuing the orphans from the wild.
Donning a white safari pith helmet, she then took to the Nairobi National Park to spot some more of Kenya's wildlife, and will later visit an orphanage and watch a play.
Melania Trump, who is in Africa to promote her children's welfare programme, began her trip in Ghana, where she visited mothers and their newborns, and toured a former slave trading fort.
She then made a brief stop in Malawi where she toured a primary school.
Her husband tweeted: "Our country's great First Lady, Melania, is doing really well in Africa. The people love her, and she loves them! It is a beautiful thing to see."
The First Lady's visit to Africa has offered up a softer side of the Trump administration, which is facing a critical vote on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on Friday.
US First Lady Melania Trump's visit to Africa has included stops in Ghana and Malawi
Washington has been gripped by high drama and emotion in recent days, from the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford -- who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault -- to protests against his nomination which saw more than 300 arrests, including celebrities.
Melania Trump's visit to Africa is seen by some observers as an effort to mend fences after her husband's reported comment that the continent contained "shithole" countries.
Her office has described the trip as a "showcase" for the work of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), even at a time when her husband's government is looking to slash US aid across the world.
However, in contrast to visits by former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, her tour has not attracted large crowds or much fervour.
Kenya, the home of Obama's father, is also one of the world's biggest fans of the Trump administration, according to a report by the Pew Research Centre on America's global image.
The report showed 70 percent of Kenyans have a favourable view of the United States and 56 percent have confidence in Trump.
Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad speaks as she attends 'The Fight against Impunity for Atrocities: Bringing Da'esh to Justice' at the United Nations Headaquarters on March 9, 2017 in New York
Nadia Murad survived the worst cruelties ever inflicted on her people, the Yazidis of Iraq, before becoming a global champion of their cause and winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
On Friday, Murad and Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege were jointly awarded the prize 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.
The 25-year-old Murad, her thin, pale face framed by her long brown hair, once lived a quiet life in her village near the mountainous Yazidi stronghold of Sinjar in northern Iraq, close to the border with Syria.
But when the so-called Islamic State jihadist group stormed across swathes of the two countries in 2014, her fate changed forever and her nightmare began.
One day in August that year, pick-up trucks bearing the black flag of the jihadists swept into her village, Kocho.
IS fighters set about killing the men, taking children captive to train them as fighters and condemning thousands of women to a life of forced labour and sexual slavery.
Today, Murad and her friend Lamia Haji Bashar, joint recipients of the EU's 2016 Sakharov human rights prize, continue the fight for the 3,000 Yazidis who remain missing, presumed still in captivity.
IS fighters wanted "to take our honour, but they lost their honour," said Murad, now a United Nations goodwill ambassador for survivors of human trafficking.
It is an evil she personally experienced during a harrowing three months.
After being captured by IS fighters, Murad was taken by force to Mosul, the de facto "capital" of the IS's self-declared caliphate.
During her ordeal she was held captive and repeatedly gang-raped, tortured and beaten.
The jihadists organised slave markets for selling off the women and girls, and Yazidi women were forced to renounce their religion.
- Seen as heretics -
For the jihadists, with their ultra-strict interpretation of Islam, the Yazidis are seen as heretics.
The Kurdish-speaking community follows an ancient religion, revering a single God and the "leader of the angels", represented by a peacock.
Like thousands of Yazidis, Murad was forcibly married to a jihadist, beaten and forced to wear makeup and tight clothes -- an experience she later related in front of the United Nations Security Council.
"The first thing they did was they forced us to covert to Islam", Murad told AFP in 2016.
Shocked by the violence, Murad set about trying to escape, and managed to flee with the help of a Muslim family from Mosul.
Armed with false identity papers, she managed to cross the few dozen kilometres (miles) to Iraqi Kurdistan, joining crowds of other displaced Yazidis in camps.
There, she learnt that six of her brothers and her mother had been killed.
With the help of an organisation that assists Yazidis, she joined her sister in Germany, where she lives today.
She has since dedicated herself to what she calls "our peoples' fight", before a well-known spokeswoman even before the #MeToo movement swept the world.
The Yezidis numbered around 550,000 in Iraq before 2014, but some 100,000 have since left the country.
Many others have fled and remain in Iraqi Kurdistan, reluctant to return to their traditional lands.
Slight, and softly-spoken Murad has now become a global voice, campaigning for justice for her people and for the acts committed by the jihadists to be recognised internationally as genocide.
Amal Clooney (R) and Nadia Murad attend a United Nations Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security September 21, 2017 at the United States Mission in New York
And she and the Yazidis have won a high-profile supporter -- Lebanese-British lawyer and rights activist Amal Clooney, who also penned the foreword to Murad's book, "The Last Girl", published in 2017.
The same year, the UN Security Council committed to helping Iraq gather evidence of IS crimes.
Yet in contrast to all the tragedies that have befallen her, recent pictures on Murad's Twitter feed show happier times.
In August, she announced her engagement to fellow Yazidi activist Abid Shamdeen.
"The struggle of our people brought us together & we will continue this path together," she wrote.
Underneath, a photo showed her next to a young man in a bow tie, her face still framed by her long brown hair, but this time, bearing a broad smile.
Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad were awarded the Nobel peace prize for their work to end the use of violence as a 'weapon of war'
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 and armed conflict," 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.
One a doctor, the other a former Islamic State sex slave, both have come to represent the struggle against a global scourge which goes well beyond any single conflict, as the #MeToo movement has shown.
The prize was announced as #MeToo marks its first anniversary after a year in which allegations of sexual abuse, rape and harassment have toppled dozens of powerful men.
By recognising the pair's work, the Nobel committee has placed a spotlight on the use of sexual violence in war as a global problem.
- 'Weapon of mass destruction' -
Mukwege, 63, was recognised for two decades of work to help women recover from the violence and trauma of sexual abuse and rape in the war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Nobel peace laureates since 2012
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".
"Denis Mukwege is the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts," Reiss-Andersen said.
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.
She was one of thousands of Yazidi women and girls who were abducted, raped and brutalised by jihadists during their assault that year on the Kurdish-speaking minority, which the United Nations has described as genocide.
Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukege is known as 'Doctor Miracle'
Her nightmare began when the jihadists stormed her village in northern Iraq in August 2014. From there she was taken to Mosul where she was repeatedly gang-raped, tortured and beaten.
"The first thing they did was force us to convert to Islam", she told AFP two years ago. "After conversion, they did whatever they wanted."
After her escape, she quickly became a figurehead for efforts to protect the Yazidi community and was later named a UN ambassador for victims of human trafficking.
The Nobel committee said Murad had shown "uncommon courage" in recounting her own sufferings and speaking up on behalf of other victims.
"She refused to accept the social codes that require women to remain silent and ashamed of the abuses to which they have been subjected."
- 'Personal security at risk' -
Both Mukwege and Murad had "put their personal security at risk" by focusing attention on and combating such war crimes, Reiss-Andersen 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.
"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."
Nadia Murad from Iraq's Yazidi community was kidnapped by Islamic State militants and endured three months as a sex slave before managing to escape
Whether in Africa, the Middle East or Myanmar, rape has been used against hundreds of thousands of people, either as a weapon of war or tool in the oppression of minorities.
Sexual violence as a weapon of war has been going on for centuries, but it was only recently acknowledged as a crime against humanity with the UN's adoption in 2008 of Resolution 1820.
And the #MeToo movement, which rose up a year ago following allegations of rape, sexual abuse and harassment against Hollywood director Harvey Weinstein and has since swept the globe, has also had a very sobering effect.
"#MeToo and war crimes is not quite the same thing. But they do however, have that in common: that it is important to see the suffering of women, to see the abuses and to achieve that it is important that women leave the concept of shame and speak out," said Reiss-Andersen.
It was a #MeToo scandal that prompted the Swedish Academy to postpone this year's Literature Prize for the first time in 70 years.
Mukwege and Murad will share the prestigious prize of a gold medal, a diploma and a cheque for nine million Swedish kronor -- almost $1 million or 863,000 euros.
The award will be presented at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of prize creator Alfred Nobel, a Swedish philanthropist and scientist who died in 1896.
In June, Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege visited Iraq's Yazidis community which had thousands of its women and girls kidnapped as sex slaves by IS militants in 2014
In Democratic Republic of Congo, they call him "Doctor Miracle" for his surgical skill and dedication in helping women overcome the injuries and trauma of sexual abuse and rape.
Denis Mukwege is a crusading gynaecologist who has spent more than two decades treating appalling injuries inflicted on women in DRC and his work was the subject of an acclaimed 2015 film titled: "The Man Who Mends Women."
A father of five, the tireless 63-year-old is an outspoken critic of the abuse of women in war and has repeatedly accused the world of failing to act.
The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize co-winner had been repeatedly nominated for his work with gang rape victims from the conflicts that have ravaged his homeland.
"Denis Mukwege is the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts," Nobel committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said in unveiling the winners in Oslo.
"His basic principle is that 'justice is everyones business'."
Mukwege has called on the world to take a tougher line on rape as a weapon of war.
"We have been able to draw a red line against chemical weapons, biological weapons and nuclear arms," he told AFP in 2016.
Map of the Democratic Republic of Congo, locating Bukavu, where Doctor Denis Mukwege treats women at Panzi hospital
"Today we must also draw a red line against rape as a weapon of war," he said, describing it as a "cheap and efficient" form of terror which condemns its victims to "a life sentence".
In his French autobiography, "Plaidoyer pour la vie" ("Plea for Life"), Mukwege recounts the "depths of horror" he encountered in his native South Kivu province that led him to set up the Panzi hospital in Bukavu.
He began working at Lemera hospital, south of Bukavu, which was where he first learnt to deal with severe post-natal lesions that left women incontinent for life.
Later he encountered victims of horrific rapes for the first time.
- 'Common humanity' -
Recalling the moment he saw such a patient for the first time in 1999 -- the year he set up Panzi hospital -- Mukwege recounted how the rapists had inserted a gun into a woman's genitals and fired.
Denis Mukwege set up the Panzi Hospital in eastern DR Congo in 1999
"Her whole pelvis was destroyed. I thought it was the work of a madman, but the same year I treated 45 similar cases," he said.
"For 15 years I have witnessed mass atrocities committed against women's bodies and I cannot remain with my arms folded because our common humanity calls on us to care for each other."
His work has also put his own life on the line, with Mukwege narrowly escaping an attack on his life in October 2012, in which his guard was killed.
At the Bukavu hospital, which serves as a clinic for gynaecological and obstetric care, he lives under the permanent protection of UN peacekeepers.
- 'Unbearable atrocities' -
Aid agencies have accused all sides in the conflicts that have ravaged the eastern regions of North Kivu and South Kivu of using "systematic rape" against women as a weapon of war.
In 2016, Mukwege said there were "unbearable atrocities" being committed in the country's east, including the mutilation of babies and the disembowelling of pregnant women.
He said the "crimes and cruelties that have plagued eastern DRC for 20 years had been reborn with a new intensity", as he criticised growing authoritarianism in the country.
Earlier this year, he told AFP there had been a rise in such attacks since 2016, with the majority of sexual violence in South Kivu now committed by civilians and not by armed groups or the security forces.
Many civilians are former rebels.
Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege is known as "Doctor Miracle" for his surgical skill in helping women overcome the injuries and traumas of sexual abuse and rape
The 450-bed Panzi hospital that Mukwege founded treats more than 3,500 women a year, though not all for sexual abuse, providing free consultations and performing reconstructive surgery on women who have suffered serious internal injuries.
Levi Luhiriri, who works as a doctor at the hospital, said Mukwege was fair but tough and strived for internationally-recognised standards.
"He is straight and just but doesn't tolerate mediocrity," he told AFP.
As well as his tireless medical work, Mukwege has fronted a worldwide campaign against trade in conflict diamonds.
- Many awards -
Born on March 1, 1955, in Bukavu, the third of nine children, Mukwege was inspired to become a doctor by his father, a pastor who used to visit the sick.
After studying medicine in neighbouring Burundi, he returned to work in Lemera hospital before pursuing specialist training in gynaecology in France.
Denis Mukwege says there are "unbearable atrocities" being carried out in DR Congo's war-torn east
He has been honoured previously by the United Nations and has received many other international awards, including the Olof Palme Prize in January 2009 and the Sakharov Prize in 2014. In September 2016, he also won the Seoul Peace Prize.
He was appointed a professor at the Universite libre de Bruxelles in Belgium in 2015.
The FT's Asia news editor earned the ire of Hong Kong authorities after hosting a speech by Andy Chan, the leader of a tiny pro-independence political party, at the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club
Hong Kong has refused to renew the visa of a senior Financial Times journalist who hosted a talk by an activist advocating the city's independence from China, the newspaper said Friday.
Victor Mallet, the FT's Asia news editor, earned the ire of authorities after hosting a speech by Andy Chan, the leader of a tiny pro-independence political party.
Chan had attacked China as an empire trying to "annex" and "destroy" Hong Kong in a strident speech at the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club, where Mallet serves as vice president.
Rival protesters had picketed the talk, which Beijing wanted cancelled, and the city's former leader Leung Chun-ying had called for the club to be evicted from its government-owned premises.
"This is the first time we have encountered this situation in Hong Kong," said the FT, in a statement confirming the British citizen had been denied a visa renewal.
"We have not been given a reason for the rejection."
Mallet's visa rejection indicated a "quickening downward spiral for human rights in Hong Kong", said Human Rights Watch senior researcher Maya Wang.
"The Hong Kong government is now following Beijing's leads in acting aggressively towards those whose views the authorities dislike."
Hong Kong's immigration department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Semi-autonomous Hong Kong enjoys freedoms unseen on the mainland, including freedom of expression, under a handover agreement signed by Britain and China.
But the space for dissent is shrinking as Beijing flexes its muscles in the city.
Hong Kong authorities last week banned Chan's Hong Kong National Party, calling it a threat to national security.
It was the first ban on a political party since the city was handed back to China by Britain 21 years ago.
Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia -- head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party -- was jailed in February for corruption.
Ailing Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia will be moved from a notorious prison to a state-run hospital, her lawyer said Friday, following a court order in response to her deteriorating health.
The High Court made the decision late Thursday after the former prime minister's lawyers said the government was putting her health at risk by refusing her specialised treatment.
Zia -- who leads the Bangladesh Nationalist Party -- was jailed in February for corruption.
Facing further charges of graft at a hearing early last month, she said she was "extremely ill" and that her arm and leg were becoming paralysed.
"The court has ordered her treatment at the (state-run) Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University hospital immediately," her lawyer Zainal Abedin told AFP.
He said there would be a shake-up of the five-member medical board in charge of Zia's treatment and she will be able to choose her own doctors from outside the state-run hospital.
"The order has been sent to the jail authorities," he said.
Zia was sentenced to five years for corruption in February, triggering clashes between police and thousands of BNP supporters.
She was found guilty of embezzling money intended for an orphanage, a charge she dismissed as politically motivated.
Zia is appealing against the verdict -- which bars her from standing in a December general election -- and was granted bail earlier this year.
However she remains in jail while she fights dozens of other violence and graft charges.
A former ally of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina turned fierce political rival, Zia had health issues including arthritis, diabetes and knee replacements when she was sentenced.
She is the only inmate in Dhaka Central Jail, built in the 19th century under British colonial rule and declared abandoned in 2016.
Last month the authorities turned a room of the jail into a court -- a move her lawyers said was illegal.
Her party boycotted the 2014 election in which Hasina returned to power but is expected to contest the upcoming election due in December.
MONUSCO's military commander, Brazilian General Elias Rodrigues Filho, reviews troops at Goma, capital of North Kivu province, in May 2018
A delegation from the UN Security Council was awaited Friday in Kinshasa ahead of a long-postponed presidential poll and amid tensions between authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations' largest peacekeeping mission.
President Joseph Kabila's government in the strife-prone country has long been demanding the withdrawal of UN mission MONUSCO, whose initial military observers were deployed in 2000 during the Second Congo War. The force currently counts more than 15,000 troops, 1,000 police and 2,500 civilians in its ranks.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly last week, Kabila vowed to "oppose any interference in the electoral process under way" and said that his country would cover the full cost of the votes on December 23.
The council team, led by French ambassador to the United Nations Francois Delattre, will restrict its visit to the capital Kinshasa and plans to meet Kabila, his prime minister and foreign minister, as well as the electoral commission responsible for organising the vote across the vast equatorial African nation, a MONUSCO source said.
Staying in the country until Sunday, the 15-member team should also have talks with civil society leaders and representatives of women's organisations and religious bodies. The Roman Catholic church is influential in the DRC.
Kabila, 47, has been in power since 2001. His second and final elected term in office ended nearly two years ago, but he stayed in office thanks to a caretaker clause in the constitution.
Months of feverish speculation about Kabila's plans, marked by protests that were bloodily repressed at a cost of dozens of lives, ended in August when he threw his weight behind Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a hardline former interior minister, as his favoured candidate.
The meeting between UN delegates and Kabila has not been formally confirmed, UN sources said.
MONUSCO head Leila Zerrougui this year announced that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres would travel to the DRC in July, but the visit was called off, officially because Kabila would be unavailable at the time.
The UN team has three co-presidents -- France, which drews up UN resolutions on the DRC, Equatorial Guinea, chosen by African nations, and Bolivia, acting president of the Security Council in October.
The electoral commission has so far respected the latest timetable for the vote almost to the day, while opposition parties are looking for a single candidate to rally round rather than boycotting the poll.
There is opposition to voting machines imported from South Korea, regarded as potential for chaos. The election commission says the machines will cut both costs and fraud, but critics point out that they depend on a reliable power supply, which is far from guaranteed.
Conflict persists notably in the North Kivu province on the country's eastern border, which has been subject to consecutive waves of bloodshed and brutality involving militias, rebel groups and government forces for more than 20 years.
Protestors hold pictures of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi who they believe is being held in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul
A Saudi columnist remained missing on Friday as supporters rallied outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul calling for his "release" despite Riyadh's denials that he was being held there.
Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post, has not been seen since he went to the Saudi mission on Tuesday to receive an official document for his marriage.
The Turkish-Arab Media Association (TAM) organised a rally in front of the consulate for Khashoggi, a former government adviser who has been critical of some policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Riyadh's intervention in the war in Yemen.
He has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since last year to avoid possible arrest.
"As journalists we are concerned by the fate of Jamal. We do not know if he is alive or not, and the statements by Saudi Arabia on the subject are far from satisfactory," Turan Kislakci, a friend of Khashoggi and TAM chief, said in a statement to supporters.
As Kislakci spoke, supporters held up images of the journalist, with the words "Free Jamal Khashoggi".
"We believe that Jamal Khashoggi is the consulate's 'host' and call for his immediate release, or to tell us where he is," Kislakci added.
According to his fiancee, a Turkish woman called Hatice A., Khashoggi went to the consulate and never re-emerged.
Ankara and Riyadh have given contradictory versions of the circumstances of Khashoggi's disappearance, with Turkish officials saying they believed he was still inside the consultate.
But Saudi Arabia claimed he had entered and then left the mission on Tuesday.
Yemeni activist and 2011 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Tawakkol Karman, hit out at the Saudi authorities and told AFP that she believed Khashoggi "was kidnapped in this gangster's den that is supposed to be a consulate".
"What we want is Jamal Khashoggi's release. He entered the building of the consulate, he has to come out of there safe and sound. And the Turkish government must assume its role and deal with the case of Jamal Khashoggi because Turkish sovereignty has been violated," she added.
Human Rights Watch called on Ankara to "deepen their investigation" into the journalist's whereabouts, saying his possible detention could "constitute an enforced disappearance" in a statement late Thursday.
"If Saudi authorities surreptitiously detained Khashoggi it would be yet another escalation of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman's reign of repression against peaceful dissidents and critics," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW, said.
Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukege said he was just finishing his second operation of the day when he learnt he had won the Nobel Peace Prize
Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege was operating on Friday when he learned he had won the Nobel Peace Prize, as crowds at his Panzi hospital erupted into ecstatic celebrations.
In a video posted on the Facebook page of the hospital he founded in eastern DR Congo in 1999, co-workers and admirers can be seen swarming around the 63-year-old doctor after he emerged from the operating theatre, cheering, ululating wildly and hugging him as he slowly made his way past them.
"I was in the operating room so when they started to make noise around (it) I wasn't really thinking about what was going on and suddenly some people came in and told me the news," Mukwege told Norwegian daily VG.
In an interview with the Nobel Foundation, he said he was just finishing his second operation of the day.
"It was so touching when I was operating and I heard people start to cry and it was so, so, so touching."
Mukwege is nicknamed "Doctor Miracle" for his surgical skill and dedication in helping women overcome the injuries and trauma of sexual abuse and rape.
"I can see in the face of many women how they are happy to be recognised and this is really so touching," he told the foundation.
Mukwege shared the Nobel with Yazidi campaigner Nadia Murad for their "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict," Nobel committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said in unveiling the winners in Oslo.
The prize was the first Nobel ever awarded to a Congolese, sparking joy and pride in the biggest country in sub-Saharan Africa, plagued by more than two decades of bloodshed and brutality involving militias, rebel groups and government forces.
"I can say it: I am proud to be Congolese," tweeted opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi.
Hossein Salami deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, when he attended a public funeral ceremony for those killed during an attack on a military parade in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz on September 24, 2018
The deputy commander of Iran's revolutionary guards warned Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to "practice swimming in the Mediterranean" because he would be forced to abandon his country.
"I tell the prime minister of the Zionist regime to practice swimming in the Mediterranean because soon you will have no choice, but flee into the sea," Brigadier-General Hossein Salami said, according to the ultraconservative news website Fars news.
Speaking at a rally of the volunteer Basij militia in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, Salami said Israel could be destroyed by Iran's Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
"They are not at the level of being a threat for us, Hezbollah is enough for destroying them," he said.
Iran does not recognise Israel, and opposition to the Jewish state has been a central tenet of its government since the 1979 revolution.
Its officials regularly warn that Israel will soon cease to exist, although they are usually careful to indicate that this will not be due to a direct attack by Iran.
"In 25 years' time, with the grace of God, no such thing as the Zionist regime will exist in the region," said supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2015, which has become a frequently-used prediction among hardliners.
The presence of Iranian troops and equipment in Syria has served to dial up the tension between the two countries.
In September Netanyahu accused Iran at the UN general assembly of still trying to build nuclear weapons and vowed he would "never let a regime that calls for our destruction to develop nuclear weapons. Not now, not in 10 years, not ever."
US President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Rochester, Minnesota on October 4, 2018
US President Donald Trump on Friday accused protesters massing in Washington against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of being "paid professionals" funded by billionaire investor and liberal donor George Soros.
"The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Don't fall for it!" Trump said on Twitter.
"Also, look at all of the professionally made identical signs. Paid for by Soros and others. These are not signs made in the basement from love! #Troublemakers"
The Senate was due Friday to vote on moving ahead with the nomination of Kavanaugh to the highest court in the US, 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 Trump's embattled nominee, who if approved would seal a conservative majority on the nine-seat court for decades.
On Thursday 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.
US-Hungarian business magnate Soros was a supporter of Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
Listed by Forbes magazine as one of the world's richest men, he is accused by nationalists around the world of sponsoring protests and seeking to push a liberal, multicultural agenda.
In 1992, the Wall Street trader became known as "the man who broke the bank of England" when his aggressive speculation against the sterling sent it crashing out of the European exchange mechanism.
ADF rebels have been blamed for massacres of civilians in the east of the country -- and of 14 Tanzanian UN peacekeepers
A rebel attack on an army post in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo left six people dead, civilian and military sources said Friday.
The Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is suspected of having carried out Thursday night's attack in the city of Beni, which sits near the DRC border with Uganda.
The raid is thought to have targetted General Marcel Mbangu but instead killed four other soldiers and two civilians, said the sources.
"We were in the middle of a meeting," said one military source who did not wish to be named. An AFP photographer in Beni saw the bodies of two civilians with machete wounds.
The ADF is a militia created by Muslim rebels to oppose Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni but which also operates in the DRC.
They are held responsible for a string of attacks in the region, including another carried out at the end of September in Beni that left 20 people dead.
In all, they are thought to have killed at least 700 civilians -- and 15 Tanzanian peacekeepers -- in a string of attacks carried out since 2014.
Mbaou believes he has been targeted for criticising one of Africa's longest-serving leaders
The affair reads like something out of a John Le Carre novel: two former French secret service agents accused of plotting to assassinate a senior opposition figure from a former African colony.
But General Ferdinand Mbaou, the target of the alleged plot over which the Frenchmen were arrested last month, says he is "not surprised".
Like several France-based opponents of Republic of Congo's President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Mbaou believes he has been targeted for criticising one of Africa's longest-serving leaders from what he believed to be a safe distance.
The 62-year-old general is known for his outspoken attacks on Sassou Nguesso, who has ruled the oil-rich central African country of 4.5 million people for nearly 35 years in total.
Mbaou fled Congo after his former boss, the country's first democratically-elected president Pascal Lissouba, was overthrown by Sassou Nguesso in 1997.
He had already survived an attempt on his life.
Mbaou believes it was the regime that sent hitmen to shoot him in the back as he was leaving his home in Bessancourt north of Paris in November 2015.
The greying 62-year-old still has the bullet lodged in his torso.
"The doctors couldn't remove it because it is in a tricky spot, close to the heart," he told AFP.
No one was ever charged over the 2015 attack, and little is also known about the latest alleged murder plot.
The interior ministry has declined to comment on the most recent affair, over which two former members of the DGSE intelligence agency have been charged with a criminal conspiracy and possession of explosives.
Congolese opposition members based in France say it fits a pattern of intimidation and harassment.
Roland Levy Nitou, head of a group called The Outraged of 242, after Congo's international dialling code, told AFP threats were a part of his "daily life".
"They told me on the phone: 'One day we'll get you'," said the 42-year-old logistics worker, adding that his parents were in hiding in Congo after they too received threats.
- 'Ill-gotten gains' -
Nitou believes his group is in the president's sights for posting videos on the internet of around a hundred luxury properties where Sassou Nguesso, his family and some of his ministers allegedly live it up when in France.
Some of the properties have been targeted by a landmark French investigation into the purported ill-gotten gains of three big-spending African "first families" -- those of the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Nitou's video of a palatial villa in the Mediterranean resort city of Nice -- which he claimed belonged to Sassou's family -- has racked up nearly 9,000 views on YouTube.
Sassou Nguesso has held power for 35 years
Nitou believes the videos have hit a nerve in a country where around one-third of the population lived on less than $1.90 (1.63 euros) a day in 2016, according to the World Bank, despite Congo sitting on large oil reserves.
In May, as he was on his way to a demonstration against Sassou Nguesso, he was beaten up by one of the president's supporters.
No one has been charged over the case.
Nitou accuses France of "protecting Sassou Nguesso" -- a claim to which the French foreign ministry declined to respond.
Paris has a long history of backing authoritarian pro-French regimes in former African colonies.
But President Emmanuel Macron, like his Socialist predecessor Francois Hollande, has vowed an end to meddling in African affairs.
The Congolese government, for its part, denies going after opponents beyond its borders.
"All those opposition members who accuse Congo over things that happen in France are wrong," said a government source in the capital Brazzaville.
The source claimed Mbaou "lived freely in Congo between 2009 and 2012" -- although he was in fact jailed twice in Brazzaville during that time.
"Why would we take the risk of making an attempt on his life in France?" the source asked.
- Third-term turmoil -
Congo was plunged into turmoil in 2015 when Sassou Nguesso called a referendum on changing the constitution to allow him to seek a third successive term in office.
Hollande expressed support for the referendum -- a move seen by Congo's opposition as a betrayal of his promise not to meddle, and a tacit statement of support for the incumbent.
The opposition boycotted the vote and also cried foul a year later when Sassou Nguesso won another five years in power.
In its 2017/2018 report on the country Amnesty International said "dozens" of Sassou Nguesso's opponents were still in detention.
They include former presidential candidate General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko who was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in May on charges of "undermining state security" for urging protests after Sassou Nguesso's re-election.
Another opposition leader, Paulin Makaya, was released recently after almost three years in prison but has been prevented from leaving the country.
Meng Hongwei is the first Chinese head of Interpol
French police said Friday they are probing the disappearance of the Chinese head of Interpol, who has reportedly been detained for questioning in his home country.
Meng Hongwei 64, was last seen leaving for China from the international police organisation's headquarters in Lyon, southeast France, in late September, a source closed to the enquiry told AFP. His wife has since reported him missing.
"He did not disappear in France" where he lives, the source told AFP.
France's Europe 1 radio reported that he left the country on September 29.
But Interpol would not be drawn on his possible whereabouts.
"We are aware of media reports in connection with the alleged disappearance of Interpol President Meng Hongwei. This is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China," it said on Twitter.
"Interpol will not comment further."
The Hong-Kong based South China Morning Post newspaper reported that Meng was under investigation in China.
He was "taken away" for questioning by the authorities "as soon as he landed in China" last week, the paper said, quoting an unidentified source.
It was not known why Meng was being investigated.
Before being elected head of Interpol in November 2016, Meng was vice minister of public security in China. He also ran the Chinese Interpol office.
The Post said Meng was listed on the website of China's Ministry of Public Security as a vice-minister, but added that he lost his seat on its Communist Party Committee, its real decision-making body, in April.
He was the first Chinese leader of Interpol, which connects the law enforcement agencies of its 192 member countries. His term runs until 2020.
The transnational organisation does not have agents of its own with powers of arrest.
Critics suggested that Meng's election gave Beijing a chance to enlist more international help in tracking down alleged economic criminals, including corrupt officials, targeted by President Xi Jinping's anti-graft campaign.
But Interpol has in the past denied this, saying its head does not intervene in day-to-day operations, which are handled by secretary-general Juergen Stock, a German.
The Chinese clampdown on corruption, known as Operation Fox Hunt, has led to claims in some countries that Chinese law enforcement agents have been operating covertly on their soil without the approval or consent of local authorities.
Some critics also view the campaign as a way for Chinese leader Xi Jinping to purge the party of political foes.
Since it began, several top officials have been detained and charged with crimes including "severe disciplinary violations", a phrase which usually refers to corruption or graft.
- Superstar breaks silence -
A number of well-known Chinese figures have gone missing for weeks or months in recent years.
One of the more public cases was that of Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing who only recently returned to social media after dropping off the radar in May.
The 36-year-old actress, model and producer, re-emerged this week, apologising in a statement to fans and to the Communist Party for tax evasion, after news broke that she had been ordered to pay nearly $130 million (113 million euros) in back taxes and fines.
In other recent cases, the shares of a Hong Kong-based casino operator, Landing International Development, plunged in August after the firm reported that its chairman Yang Zhihui could not be found.
The news site Caixin later said Yang was being investigated by Chinese authorities over his ties to the head of state-controlled Huarong Asset Management and had been detained in Cambodia.
Billionaire Guo Guangchang, chairman of one of China's biggest private-sector conglomerates Fosun, also vanished from public view in 2015 in connection with an investigation by authorities, and then re-emerged.
And in 2016 the chairman of one of the country's most prominent fashion firms also disappeared, returning to work a week later amid speculation he had been caught up in the anti-corruption campaign.
Yazidi pilgrims gather at their holiest shrinein Lalish in northern Iraq for the start of a seven-day celebration coinciding with that one of their, Nadia Murad, had won the Nobel Peace Prize on October 5, 2018
Yazidi pilgrims trekked up a mountain in northern Iraq barefoot Friday for their most important ritual, their joy doubled on hearing that their "daughter" Nadia Murad had won the Nobel Peace Prize.
During the seven-day festival, known as the Jemayyiat, friends and families gather around the tomb of their founder Sheikh Adi at a mountain top temple in the holy town of Lalish.
They unite as a people to worship and eat together in a festive mood which this year has taken on a whole new flavour because of Murad.
"We are very happy because she won," said pilgrim Loqman Suleiman as he walked along the one-kilometre path to the temple.
"She is the Yazidi voice from abroad and she speaks for all our nation," he said.
Iraqi Yazidi gather at Lalish temple in a valley near Dohuk, 430 km (260 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad, on October 5, 2018
All around him, pilgrims flocking to Sheikh Adi's shrine are all smiles and proud of the young Nobel peace laureate, the first Iraqi to receive such an honour.
Murad, a 25-year-old Yazidi campaigner, will share the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize with Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege for their work in fighting sexual violence in conflicts around the world.
The young woman is a former Islamic State group sex slave who in 2014 was kidnapped by the jihadists and held three months before she managed to escape.
She survived the worst cruelties inflicted on her people.
Thousands of Yazidi women and girls were abducted, raped and brutalised by jihadists during their assault on the Kurdish-speaking minority, which the United Nations has described as genocide.
- 'We pray for her' -
In this file photo from December 13, 2016, Yazidi campaigner and former IS sex slave Nadia Murad delivers a speech after becoming co-laureate of the 2016 Sakharov human rights prize at the European parliament in Strasbourg
Murad once lived a quiet life in the village of Kocho in the Yazidi stronghold of Sinjar close to the border with Syria before the jihadists turned it into hell.
Years after her ordeal she campaigns for the 3,000 Yazidis who remain missing, presumed still in IS captivity, with Lamia Haji Bashar, a friend with whom she shared the 2016 Sakharov human rights prize.
Zeri Khodr, who is also from Kocho, said 12 members of her family who were abducted by IS jihadists are still among the missing and Nadia's efforts to lobby for their release is of utmost importance.
"Nadia used to visit us in the (refugee) camps to ask about our welfare," Khodr, 40, said.
"She is like a daughter to us and we pray that she will continue her fight" for the missing Yazidis, she added.
The Yazidis are one of Iraq's most vulnerable minorities who mainly live in remote corners of northern Iraq and are followers of an ancient religion that emerged in Iran more than 4,000 years ago.
Their faith is rooted in Zoroastrianism but has over time integrated elements of Islam and Christianity.
The Yazidis who were persecuted by the Islamic State group are one of Iraq's most vulnerable minorities who are followers of an ancient religion
With no holy book and organised in castes, Yazidis pray to God facing the sun and worship his seven angels -- first and foremost Melek Taus, or Peacock Angel.
Yazidis believe that the seven angels gather during the seven-day Jemayyiat festival to shower those who gather at the Lalish temple with their blessings.
And on Friday they were truly blessed as the Nobel committee announced that Murad became a peace laureate.
"Today marks a special day for the Yazidis and other minorities and all victims of Genocide and mass atrocities committed" by IS, said the Yazidi NGO Yazda.
"We hope that this recognition will help Nadia and Yazidis endeavours to bring justice, peace, and coexistence," Yazda tweeted on Friday.
A worker checking the printing of circuit boards at a factory in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province
The US military relies far too heavily on China and other nations to provide vital components for its weapons and equipment, a new White House study has found.
Due to be released later Friday, the report calls for targeted investments in domestic manufacturing to eliminate vulnerabilities in the Pentagon's supply chain that could pose a risk to national security.
While it bemoans the Pentagon's reliance on parts from several nations, the document focuses largely on China, assailing Beijing for its "economic aggression" and stranglehold on certain markets.
"China is the single or sole supplier for a number of specialty chemicals used in munitions and missiles," states the 146-page report that President Donald Trump commissioned more than a year ago.
"In many cases, there is no other source or drop-in replacement material and even in cases where that option exists, the time and cost to test and qualify the new material can be prohibitive."
The study also decries "antiquated and counter-productive" Pentagon procurement practices that have caused delays, discouraged innovation and increased costs to suppliers.
China's "aggressive industrial policies" have already impacted some critical capabilities, including solar cells for military use, flat-panel aircraft displays and the processing of rare earth elements, the report states.
"China's actions seriously threaten other capabilities, including machine tools; the production and processing of advanced materials like biomaterials, ceramics, and composites; and the production of printed circuit boards and semiconductors," it adds.
Trump is due to officially unveil the report on Friday and sign a related executive order.
The report draws on themes that are now key to the Trump administration's China doctrine, blasting Beijing for intellectual property theft and its forcing of US firms to offshore their research and development in exchange for access to the vast Chinese market.
On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence accused China of military aggression, commercial theft and rising human rights violations as he cast the Asian power as a villain bent on interfering in upcoming US elections.
China hit back furiously on Friday, branding Pence's accusation as "ridiculous," groundless and slanderous.
According to a report by Bloomberg News on Thursday, the Chinese military inserted tiny chips in US computer equipment manufactured in China, part of a vast effort by Beijing to steal US technology secrets.
The chips, the size of a grain of rice, were reportedly used on equipment made for Amazon, which first alerted US authorities, as well as Apple and possibly for other companies and government agencies including the military.
Tunisia's state of emergency was imposed in 2015 following a suicide bomb attack against a bus carrying presidential guards
Tunisia's presidency on Friday announced the extension of the country's state of emergency, imposed in 2015 following a series of deadly jihadist attacks.
The decision to prolong the state of emergency until November 6 comes amid a tense political climate ahead of legislative and presidential elections planned for next year.
President Beji Caid Essebsi took the decision after meeting with the ministers of defence and interior, his office said without giving a reason for the extension.
They discussed "the security and military situation in the country and at the borders", according to a statement.
The president also consulted Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, despite strained relations between the two.
The state of emergency grants exceptional powers to security forces, allowing them to ban strikes and meetings "likely to provoke... disorder".
It also includes measures to "assume control of the press".
The nationwide state of emergency was declared on November 24, 2015, after an attack in the capital Tunis which killed 12 presidential guards.
The suicide bombing was claimed by the Islamic State group.
Earlier the same year attacks by IS jihadists on the capital's Bardo museum and the coastal resort of Sousse left 59 tourists and a policeman dead.
The most recent large-scale assault came in March 2016, when dozens of jihadists attacked security installations in the town of Ben Guerdane on the Libyan border.
Thirteen security forces and seven civilians were killed.
In Tunisia, which since its 2011 revolution has seen the emergence of jihadist groups, soldiers and police officers continue to be targeted particularly in mountainous areas bordering Algeria.
On Wednesday, two soldiers were killed in a land mine blast during an anti-terrorist operation on Mount Chaambi near the Algerian frontier.
Okba Ibn Nafaa, a Tunisia-based division of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), is present in the area.
Nadia Murad is the first Iraqi to become a Nobel peace laureate
New Iraqi President Barham Saleh Friday hailed the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Yazidi, Nadia Murad, calling it "an honour for all Iraqis who fought terrorism and bigotry".
In a tweet, Saleh said he had spoken with Murad to congratulate her, saying the prize was "an acknowledgement of (the) tragic plight" of the religious minority and "recognition for her courage in defending human rights of victims of terror & sexual violence".
Murad, the first Iraqi to become a Nobel peace laureate, was also congratulated by the country's outgoing Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and his intended successor Adel Abdel Mahdi.
"I congratulate Iraq and the Iraqis. I congratulate the Yazidi brothers and sisters. I congratulate Nadia Murad for her award," prime minister designate Mahdi wrote on Facebook.
Non-governmental organisation Yazda said Murad's award was important for all Yazidis who had suffered at the hands of the jihadist Islamic State group.
"Today marks a special day for the Yazidis and other minorities and all victims of genocide and mass atrocities committed" by IS, said the NGO, set up to help Yazidi women recover from the trauma of rape.
"We hope that this recognition will help Nadia and Yazidis endeavours to bring justice, peace, and coexistence", added Yazda in a tweet.
After being captured by IS fighters in August 2014, Murad was taken by force to Mosul, the then de facto "capital" of IS's self-declared caliphate.
She later escaped and has become a champion of the Yazidis and a global voice in their quest for justice.
Jestina Mukoko (pictured March 2016), the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, sought damages after she was abducted, beaten, tortured and held in solitary confinement for weeks by state agents after elections in 2008
A Zimbabwe court has ordered the government to pay $150,000 in damages to a rights activist who was abducted and tortured a decade ago over accusations of plotting to overthrow then president Robert Mugabe, a rights group said Friday.
Jestina Mukoko, the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), sought damages after she was abducted, beaten, tortured and held in solitary confinement for weeks by state agents after elections in 2008.
"The High Court ordered that the total payment of $150 000 must be made on or before 31 October 2018," the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said in a statement.
The ZLHR said the $100,000 will be paid to Jestina while $50,000 will be paid towards her legal costs.
Mukoko and two ZPP employees, Broderick Takawira and Pascal Gonzo, were abducted in 2008 by unidentified people over allegations of trying to topple Mugabe's government.
The three were held for weeks before being handed over to police and charged.
One of the charges included recruiting people to undergo military training in neighbouring Botswana.
The charges were later dropped.
Mukoko who has penned a book about her experience later sued government.
In a statement after the ruling by the high court Mukoko welcomed the judgement and vowed to continue with her human rights work.
"My resort to litigation and the subsequent victory in court sends a strong signal that state sponsored crimes cannot go unpunished," Mukoko said.
"It is also an encouragement to human rights defenders that the dangers of their work will not be in vain."
Zimbabwe's "father of independence" Robert Mugabe was forced out in November 2017 after ruling with an iron fist for 37 years.
French police arrested 30 people connected to the prostitution network during two rounds of raids in June and September 2018 following a 15 month investigation
French police said Friday they have dismantled a Nigerian prostitution and trafficking network suspected of collecting and laundering tens of millions of euros across the country.
Thirty people of Nigerian nationality were arrested during two rounds of judicial police raids in June and September following a 15 month investigation.
Police identified suspects who collected cash from young Nigerian women prostituting themselves in different cities across France, officers said, estimating the network laundered between 30 and 50 million euros $35-58 million) in the last three years.
"The collectors were moving money from Lille, Colmar, Strasbourg, Lyon, Nice, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes or Paris," said head of anti-trafficking agency OCTREH, Jean-Marc Droguet.
A hair salon and a grocery store in northern Paris were used as collection points for the money before it was handed over to carriers who concealed the cash in double-bottomed suitcases and left the country.
The carriers would sometimes pass through other European capitals and African countries to avoid suspicion, officers said, but the money was always destined for Nigeria.
"Everything was going back home," Droguet said.
Two Nigerian mafia gangs, the Supreme Eiye Confraternity (SEC) and Black Axe, were involved in the network, officers said.
Police have do far managed to recover just a fraction of the money: 200,000 euros in March and 250,000 euros in June.
Brett Kavanaugh's Senate confirmation hearing to be a Supreme Court judge has been particulary bitter, but there have been plenty of other controversial nominations in US history
Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the US Supreme Court has been an extraordinarily bitter public spectacle that has laid bare the deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats.
But US history is rife with examples of other nominees to the nation's highest court whose Senate confirmations were equally controversial.
Some nominees ended up being rejected, others passed by the narrowest of margins and some would-be justices never made it to the Senate floor at all for consideration.
Here is a look at other recent notable nominations to the nine-member Supreme Court and their fate.
- Clarence Thomas -
Clarence Thomas faced accusations during his Senate hearings of having sexually harassed Anita Hill while she was his subordinate at the EEOC
Clarence Thomas, a former chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, was nominated by President George H.W. Bush in July 1991 to replace Thurgood Marshall, the first African American justice on the Supreme Court.
Thomas, who is also black, faced accusations during his Senate hearings of having sexually harassed Anita Hill while she was his subordinate at the EEOC.
Thomas denied the allegations and was confirmed 52-48 by the Senate in October 1991 in one of the closest votes in history. A staunch conservative, Thomas, 70, remains on the court and is its longest-serving member.
- Robert Bork -
Senate Democrats opposed Robert Bork's nomination based on his perceived hostility to court rulings on civil rights and other grounds and it was rejected by a 58-42 vote
Robert Bork, an appeals court judge, was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1987.
Senate Democrats opposed Bork's nomination based on his perceived hostility to court rulings on civil rights and other grounds and it was rejected by a 58-42 vote, giving rise to the term "borking."
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "borking" as "to attack or defeat (a nominee or candidate for public office) unfairly through an organized campaign of harsh public criticism or vilification."
Kavanaugh himself accused Democrats of seeking to "bork" his nomination.
Reagan subsequently named Anthony Kennedy to the seat and he was confirmed 97-0. Kennedy announced his retirement this year and President Donald Trump named Kavanaugh to replace him.
Bork died in 2012 at the age of 85.
- Merrick Garland -
The Republican-majority Senate refused to hold hearings on Garland's nomination ahead of the November 2016 election, and it lapsed in January 2017 with the arrival of a new Congress
Merrick Garland, an appellate court judge, was nominated by President Barack Obama in March 2016 to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, a Reagan appointee and staunch conservative who died the previous month.
The Republican-majority Senate refused to hold hearings on Garland's nomination ahead of the November 2016 election, and it lapsed in January 2017 with the arrival of a new Congress.
Several Republican Senators have accused Democrats of opposing Kavanaugh's nomination as "revenge" for their treatment of Garland.
- Harriet Miers -
Harriet Miers, a former White House counsel and deputy chief of staff, was nominated to the Supreme Court by President George W. Bush in October 2005 to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman justice
Harriet Miers, a former White House counsel and deputy chief of staff, was nominated to the Supreme Court by President George W. Bush in October 2005 to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman justice.
Miers' nomination met with immediate resistance from Democrats and some Republicans who questioned her qualifications and experience.
Bush withdrew her name three weeks later and appointed Samuel Alito, who was confirmed by a 58-42 vote and continues to serve on the court.
- Abe Fortas -
Abe Fortas, a former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Yale University law professor, was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 1965 after being nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
In June 1968, Johnson named Fortas, his close friend, to become chief justice, replacing the retiring Earl Warren.
Fortas was forced to withdraw his name from consideration as chief justice, however, when accusations of ethics violations arose during his Senate confirmation hearings.
He resigned from the court the following year amid the threat of impeachment and died in 1982 at the age of 71.
Republican US Senator Susan Collins (L), of Maine, said she could not abandon "the presumption of innocence"
US President Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court appeared all but certain to win approval from the Senate after two key lawmakers endorsed him on Friday.
Senator Susan Collins -- a maverick member of Trump's Republican party -- and her Democrat counterpart Joe Manchin said allegations that Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted a fellow teenager nearly four decades ago were unproven.
"I do not believe these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court," Collins told lawmakers in a speech from the floor of the chamber.
"The presumption of innocence and fairness do bear on my thinking and I cannot abandon them," she added, calling Kavanaugh "an exemplary public servant."
Manchin, who is battling to retain his seat at upcoming midterm polls in a state that voted heavily for Trump in the presidential election, said he had promised constituents to cast his vote "based on the facts before me".
"Based on all the information I have available to me ... I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution and determine cases based on the legal findings before him," Manchin said in a statement.
The pair were the last senators to declare their intentions ahead of a final vote which is now expected to take place on Saturday afternoon.
Admiral James Foggo heads US Naval Forces Europe and other key commands
Russia is bolstering its underwater battle capabilities in a direct challenge to US forces in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, a top US admiral warned Friday.
Admiral James Foggo, who heads NATO's Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, said Russia is investing heavily in its submarine fleet and wants to build an "asymmetric" threat to the US and NATO.
While the Russian navy knows it cannot compete on the level of aircraft carriers and larger surface vessels, "they have continued to do research and development and recapitalize the undersea domain," Foggo told Pentagon reporters.
"They see it as one (in) which there is a challenge, and that challenge is the United States Navy and the United States submarine force."
Foggo said the Russians currently have six Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines in the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean.
When asked if the Navy knows where all Russian subs are at any given time, Foggo, who used to command an attack submarine, declined to elaborate.
"I can tell you that we hold an acoustic advantage and we will continue to do that," he said, referring to the listening technologies that allow sailors to locate subs.
Foggo expressed concerns that the Russians can fire Kalibr cruise missiles that "if launched from any of the seas around Europe... can reach any one of the capitals of Europe."
He also spoke about upcoming NATO military exercises in Norway that will be the biggest such drills since the Cold War.
The exercise trains troops to repel "an adversary that comes across a NATO ally's border," Foggo said.
"There's a strong deterrent message here."
US prosecutors say Gary Davis was an administrator of the now-defunct "dark web" marketplace Silk Road -- paid a weekly salary to carry out duties that included resolving disputes between drug dealers and buyers on the site
A 30-year-old Irish man pled guilty in New York on Friday to narcotics conspiracy over the now-defunct "dark web" marketplace Silk Road, just months after being extradited to the United States.
US prosecutors say Gary Davis, who went by the alias "Libertas," was a Silk Road administrator in 2013 -- paid a weekly salary to carry out duties that included resolving disputes between drug dealers and buyers on the site.
The Wicklow man was arrested in Ireland on January 2014 and extradited to the United States in July, where he had faced a battery of charges.
On Friday, he pled guilty in a Manhattan federal court to one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, after cutting a plea deal.
He is expected to be sentenced on January 17, 2019.
"As he admitted today, Gary Davis served as an administrator who helped run the Silk Road marketplace," said Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman.
"The purported anonymity of the dark web is not a protective shield from prosecution," he added.
Until the FBI shut it down in October 2013, the US government called Silk Road "the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet," used by vendors in more than 10 countries in North America and Europe.
Texan mastermind Ross Ulbricht was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for running the online enterprise that sold $200 million in drugs worldwide.
Operating under the alias "Dread Pirate Roberts," his trial was considered a landmark case in the murky world of online crime and government surveillance.
US Vice President Mike Pence delivered one of the most hawkish speeches by a senior US official since the two countries restored relations four decades ago
In the buzzwords of George W. Bush's administration, China needed to become a "responsible stakeholder." For Barack Obama, China had an interest in embracing "the rules-based international order."
President Donald Trump's message to Beijing is, true to his character, starker. Trump, his Vice President Mike Pence vowed, "will not back down."
On Thursday, Pence delivered one of the most hawkish speeches by a senior US official since the two countries restored ties four decades ago.
Pence assailed China as a military aggressor, a prolific thief of US technology and, controversially, as interfering in American elections.
Yet in a sign that the United States still sees a need for China, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit on Monday after his latest negotiations in North Korea, the nuclear-armed regime which counts on Beijing as its diplomatic and economic lifeline.
Pompeo, speaking to the traveling press on his way to Asia, said China was "determined to support our efforts" on North Korea despite the high tensions.
Pence in his speech said the United States still hoped for improved relations with China but otherwise drew a bleak picture.
He said the United States will keep ramping up its military spending to counter a rising Beijing and he renewed threats to more than double the $250 billion in tariffs placed on Chinese products.
"I do think that this marks a significant change in the bipartisan approach to China that has dominated over the last several decades," said Jamie Fly, a former official in the George W. Bush administration who heads the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Pence's speech "doesn't completely preclude cooperation on narrow areas like North Korea, but it's much more clear in the US assessment of Chinese intentions and China's goal of really replacing the US and pushing back US power," he said.
- Wide US pessimism on China -
While Trump and Pence are polarizing figures, the hard line on China has been increasingly shared across the US political spectrum.
Few policymakers with ties to the rival Democratic Party raised broad objections when the Trump White House in December released a National Security Strategy that cast China as a competitor.
The bargain set forth by former president Bill Clinton when he welcomed China into the global trading order -- that greater prosperity would bring reforms -- has fallen flat, with President Xi Jinping increasingly clamping down on domestic dissent and religious freedoms tightly controlled.
US business leaders, who long advocated warm ties with China as they coveted the world's largest consumer market, have cooled markedly toward Beijing amid complaints of widespread industrial espionage, which Beijing denies.
A survey published in August by the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of Americans who viewed China favorably had fallen to 38 percent.
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking China expert who now heads the Asia Society in New York, in a recent speech said that "engagement," for decades the narrative in relations for both Washington and Beijing, "is now officially and effectively dead."
"As a result, I fear we may now also find ourselves on the pathway to medium-term strategic confrontation, as each side competes for ascendancy in what is now seen increasingly on both sides as a zero-sum game," he said.
- Domestic factors for Pence -
China denounced Pence's speech as "ridiculous."
But it has largely stayed measured in its public statements, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi promising last week at the United Nations that the Asian power had no ambition to overtake the United States as the pre-eminent global power and wanted to nurture a stable multilateral system.
Without naming the work, he voiced anxiety about the popularity in the United States of Harvard scholar Graham Allison's theory of the "Thucydides Trap," which cites the lessons of ancient Athens and Sparta to predict inevitable US rivalry with a rising China.
Beijing may also be emboldened by the turmoil in US politics, with chief Asian allies Japan and South Korea both unnerved by simmering trade tensions with Trump.
And Pence was clearly speaking at least partly for a domestic audience in his speech, delivered at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, a little over a month before critical congressional elections.
Pence charged that China was taking action that is more malicious than Russia's, just as Trump is under a cloud as special counsel Robert Mueller probes whether his presidential campaign colluded with Moscow.
And as evidence of China's election meddling, Pence cited a paid advertisement in a US newspaper and countertariffs that targeted politically important states -- both steps that are commonplace.
"China poses a major challenge to the US economic, political and strategic posture, but gratuitously demonizing them with half-truths and distortions only complicates efforts to find a new balance of interests and a redefined relationship with Beijing," said Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Victor Mallet, the FT's Asia news editor and a British national, earned the ire of authorities for hosting a speech by the leader of a tiny pro-independence political party
Hong Kong's decision to effectively blacklist a senior Financial Times journalist required an "urgent explanation", the UK said Saturday, as foreign governments sounded the alarm over eroding freedoms in the former British colony.
Victor Mallet, the FT's Asia news editor and a British national, earned the ire of authorities for hosting a speech by Andy Chan, the leader of a tiny pro-independence political party.
Chan attacked China as an empire trying to "annex" and "destroy" Hong Kong in a strident speech at the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC), where Mallet serves as vice president.
China's foreign ministry had requested the club to pull the talk, but the FCC refused, arguing that all sides of a debate should be heard.
Rival protesters picketed the lunchtime event and the city's former leader Leung Chun-ying called for the club to be evicted from its government-owned premises.
The FT said Friday that immigration authorities in Hong Kong had declined to renew Mallet's visa, a decision rights groups and media organisations said was unprecedented.
In the aftermath of Andy Chan's speech, former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying called for the Foreign Correspondents' Club to be evicted from its government-owned premises
"We have asked the Hong Kong Government for an urgent explanation," said the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office in a statement.
"Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and its press freedoms are central to its way of life, and must be fully respected."
Semi-autonomous Hong Kong enjoys freedoms unseen on the mainland, including freedom of expression, which are protected in the city's Basic Law and the handover agreement between China and Britain.
But the space for dissent is shrinking as Beijing flexes its muscles.
The US consulate said Mallet's visa denial was "especially disturbing".
"It mirrors problems faced by international journalists in the Mainland and appears inconsistent with the principles enshrined in the Basic Law," US consulate general spokesman Harvey Sernovitz told AFP.
But the decision to deny Mallet a new visa was cheered by pro-Beijing media.
A commentary in the Ta Kung Pao newspaper on Saturday said the journalist had to "pay the price" for giving exposure to Hong Kong's fringe independence movement, and said authorities may still act to evict the FCC from the premises it has occupied since 1982.
Hong Kong authorities last week banned Chan's Hong Kong National Party, calling it a threat to national security.
It was the first ban on a political party since the territory reverted to Chinese control in 1997.
South Korean director Choo Sang-mee (R), pictured here with actress Lee Song (L), chronicled the lives of 1,200 North Korean orphans who took refuge in Poland
A new documentary sheds light on the little-known story of North Korean war orphans sent to Poland, where they formed an unlikely bond with their teachers before their traumatic return home.
"The Children Gone to Poland" -- which premiered Saturday at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea -- traces the journey of the 1,200 orphans sent from the North during the 1950-53 Korean War.
The devastating conflict, which sealed the division of the flashpoint peninsula, killed at least half a million civilians and left at least 100,000 children without parents.
The North's then-leader Kim Il Sung sent thousands of orphans to countries including the Soviet Union, Hungary and Poland from 1951, pleading with his communist allies to take care of them.
The group of 1,200 orphans arrived in 1953 at the small, forested village of Plakowice, where they lived in a former hospital building for six years under the care of Polish teachers.
Famed South Korean actress Choo Sang-mee, who directed the film, visits Poland to find traces of the war orphans, alongside a North Korean defector with her own distressing childhood memories of separation from her family.
"Trains full of children arrived (over) several days," retired teacher Jozef Borowiec said in the film, adding many were in a "state of shock and trauma" after witnessing the horrors of war.
- 'Heartbreaking memories' -
The orphans, infested with lice and suffering from disease, insisted on sleeping under the bed in fear of the bombing campaigns they lived through at home, while constantly screaming and crying in their sleep.
But they quickly learned Polish and formed bonds with their teachers and caregivers, who knew from personal experience the horrors of war.
"Back then, we also went through horrible wars and had many heartbreaking memories ourselves," Borowiec, 91, told Choo.
"We told them to call us mum and dad... We wanted to do everything to help these (North Korean) orphans erase the memories of war and have a sense of family in Poland," he said, wiping away tears.
Old photos and videos showed the orphans laughing, studying Polish, dancing and singing, or playing with teachers and other Polish children -- a typical childhood denied in their homeland.
The teachers soon got to know each of them -- whose names they tearfully remember even decades later.
"The children were brought here as part of international propaganda (to cement diplomatic ties)," Jolanta Krysowata, a Polish journalist who wrote a book about the North Korean orphans, says in the film.
"But the teachers developed real compassion for these orphans... the human feelings they shared with the children had little to do with politics," said Krysowata, whose book inspired the latest documentary.
- Forced return -
North Korea eventually ordered the children to return and join the country's post-war reconstruction efforts, prompting some to lie on the snow and even pour cold water over themselves in a desperate bid to fall sick and avoid repatriation.
Many sent letters back to the teachers, describing their days in Poland as the best time of their lives and bemoaning the backbreaking labour they faced back home.
One child even died during a failed attempt to illegally cross the border to neighbouring China, after sending multiple letters begging Borowiec to take him back.
All letters came to a sudden stop in 1961 as the North's regime limited contact with the outside world.
The film juxtaposes the fate of the orphans with those of today's North Korean child defectors, traumatised by the harrowing escape from their homeland.
The impoverished, isolated state is still under the tight grip of the Kim dynasty that has ruled through three generations with an iron fist and has little tolerance for dissident.
The film shows young North Korean refugees in Seoul telling their childhood memories of losing parents to famine, or witnessing the gruesome death of a sibling in a gulag.
"There are always children who suffer at times of historic turmoil, but they are forgotten as the history eventually heals itself and moves on," said director Choo.
"History erases the story of these children in its path to the future. But some children transform their pain to the strength to live, and they grow."
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (R) administers the Constitutional Oath to Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who is now the ninth justice on the court
Conservative US judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court Saturday by a razor-thin margin in the Senate, ending months of partisan rancor over his nomination and offering Donald Trump one of the biggest victories of his presidency.
Kavanaugh was sworn in shortly after the Senate voted 50-48 in his favor -- a move that cemented the high court's shift to the right under the Republican leader, who has chosen two of the nine sitting justices.
Protesters rallied in Washington and other US cities against the ascent of the 53-year-old judge, who has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and been criticized for his angry partisan rhetoric.
The prolonged nomination battle has roiled American politics, disrupting the status quo on Capitol Hill and firing up both Republicans and opposition Democrats a month before crucial midterm elections.
The two-vote margin of victory made it the closest Supreme Court confirmation vote since 1881 -- and by far the most contentious since Clarence Thomas in 1991.
Trump was triumphant at his "Make America Great Again" rally in Topeka, Kansas after the Kavanaugh confirmation vote
"This is a historic night," Trump told supporters at a rally in Kansas after signing Kavanaugh's commission aboard Air Force One.
"I stand before you today on the heels of a tremendous victory for our nation, our people and our beloved Constitution."
Trump will host Kavanaugh at the White House for a public swearing-in ceremony on Monday, following Saturday's formal oath-taking at the high court.
- Republicans 'fired up' -
Demonstrators joined hands on the steps of the US Supreme Court in protest against the confirmation of new justice Brett Kavanaugh
Kavanaugh's nomination as a replacement for retiring justice Anthony Kennedy was controversial from the start -- but the initial focus was solely on the conservative views held by the married father of two.
But his ascent to the Supreme Court was thrown into doubt when university research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford testified that he had sexually assaulted her at a party when they were in high school.
Ahead of the Senate vote, protesters vented their rage on the steps of the US Capitol.
As they chanted "Shame!" and "November is coming!" police took several dozen demonstrators down the steps and put them in plastic flex-cuffs.
Later, the protesters moved to the Supreme Court, at one point rushing the steps and banging on the building's ornate bronze doors.
"I am here because President Trump mocked sexual assault victims," said North Carolina native Kara Harrington, 50.
"It unleashed something inside me. I was assaulted when I was younger and I didn't tell anybody."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the Republican Party base is "fired up" ahead of midterm Congressional elections in November
In the Senate chamber, the vote was disrupted on several occasions by angry protests from the gallery.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has railed against Kavanaugh's critics, said he was "proud" of his colleagues and predicted a bright future for his party.
"Our base is fired up. We finally discovered the one thing that would fire up the Republican base, and we didn't think of it. The other side did it," he told reporters after Kavanaugh's confirmation.
- Trump triumphant -
Indeed, Kavanaugh's confirmation reflects a high-water mark of the Trump presidency, before the halfway point: Republican control of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives, along with a firm conservative majority on the judiciary's top court.
Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a gathering when they were in high school -- a claim he has steadfastly denied
But the saga -- fueled by ugly accusations and counter-claims aired at nationally televised hearings, followed by an 11th-hour FBI probe to address the assault allegations -- has inflamed political passions.
The nomination laid bare the partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill and the political polarization of America, ahead of the midterm Congressional elections set for November 6.
In Kansas, Trump seized on the moment to skewer his opponents.
"The radical Democrats have turned into an angry mob," he said.
"The Democrats are willing to cause such destruction in the pursuit of power -- just imagine the devastation they would cause if they ever obtained the power they so desperately want."
The make-up of the US Supreme Court, following Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation
He hailed Kavanaugh as "a man of great character and intellect" and said he would work alongside Trump's other Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch, to protect the "sacred rights" of Americans.
Democratic senators, who worked to block Kavanaugh, insisted the caustic battle would motivate their party faithful at the polls next month.
"It is a sad day, but the recourse will have to be on election day," Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar told reporters.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, the only Republican to oppose Kavanaugh, said it was time for the Senate -- and Americans -- to "heal" after such a divisive few weeks.
She acknowledged the anguish of the protesters who interrupted the historic Senate vote, telling reporters afterwards: "I was closing my eyes and praying -- praying for them, praying for us and praying for the country."
Cameroonian President Paul Biya (pictured with his wife Chantal Biya) has made very few appearances on the campaign trail
Cameroon will go to the polls this weekend as opposition parties mount an eleventh-hour unity bid to dislodge six-term President Paul Biya while the country faces unprecedented insecurity.
Two leading opponents of the 85-year-old incumbent have combined forces while talks among the remaining field of seven opposition candidates about a "super coalition", as happened in 1992, were understood to be ongoing on Saturday.
The opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) party's candidate Joshua Osih could suffer at the ballot box because of the violence in the anglophone regions
Cameroon's 6.5 million eligible voters will cast their ballots on Sunday to a backdrop of ongoing violence and tensions in the country's English-speaking southwest and northwest, which have been rocked by an anglophone insurgency launched a year ago in the mainly francophone country.
The violence has claimed the lives of at least 420 civilians, 175 members of the security forces and an unknown number of separatists, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank.
In Kumba, a village in the southwest, one civilian, one police officer and one suspected separatist were killed in the last week alone.
The far north region also continues to be mired in insecurity, as fighters of the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group mount cross-border raids and attacks despite a military surge to drive out the jihadists.
- 'Not preparing for war' -
In a rare coordinated political manoeuvre, one of the key opposition frontrunners, Maurice Kamto, agreed late Friday to a unity deal between his Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon's (MRC) and the People's Development Front (FDP), meaning he will stand on behalf of both parties.
The FDP leader Akere Muna has called on his supporters to back Kamto, in the first such tactical pre-election tie-up since John Fru Ndi stood as the sole opposition candidate in 1992 in polls that his supporters say he won, but were manipulated to hand victory to Biya.
But it is unclear whether the eleventh hour deal was done in time to affect the vote, which runs from 0700 GMT until 1700 GMT Sunday.
"This alliance, though interesting for the vitality of Cameroonian democracy, may have arrived too late," said Hans de Marie Heungoup, an ICG researcher.
In a rare coordinated political manoeuvre, one of the key opposition frontrunners, Maurice Kamto, agreed late Friday to a unity deal between his Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon's (MRC) and the People's Development Front (FDP)
Kamto's MRC has warned that a "massive fraud" was underway to secure a Biya win in the vote.
"We're not preparing for war, but wherever there is fraud, there will be a firm response," said MRC spokesman Paul-Eric Kingue.
But the government hit back, apparently in response to the MRC, saying that it would "not tolerate any disorder before, during or after the presidential vote".
Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in a statement that "measures have been taken... to prevent any actions that might create violence or disorder around the elections".
He added that "political figures linked to foreign interests were preparing groups of agitators to stir-up violence in the event that the results don't go their way".
- Election uncertainty -
It is unclear if polling will proceed normally across Cameroon's English-speaking region where separatists hold a "significant" amount of territory, according to the ICG, and have threatened to disrupt the vote.
"I tell people: after the election, things will be OK," said John Ngomba, a tour guide in the town of Buea, the capital of the southwest region which has been at the heart of the fighting and is rocked by near daily clashes.
A burnt-out lorry and car, allegedly targets of a recent separatist arson attack, sit in a ditch opposite a market, with charred, twisted metal spilling onto Buea's main road, a testament to the ongoing conflict.
President Paul Biya has ruled the country for six terms
A total of 246,000 people have fled their homes in the southwest and 25,000 have left the country altogether for Nigeria, according to UN figures.
It is thought that the displaced will struggle to cast ballots which could favour Biya as anglophones have traditionally backed the Social Democratic Front (SDF) party, whose candidate Joshua Osih could suffer at the ballot box.
In the capital Yaounde however, residents were more concerned about the unpredictable weather.
"I'll vote tomorrow, it's my duty as a citizen and I do it with pride. I'll be voting for my candidate Paul Biya. He's the president of all Cameroonians," said Yaounde resident Ebanda Ebanda Beckey Thomas who wore a blue and white "Biya" scarf.
"His determination to help Cameroon develop pleases us, the things that he's done for our country in the areas of education and health too," he added as he dodged the rain.
Despite the ubiquity of Biya's posters across Cameroon, he has been virtually invisible during the campaign.
"The force of experience," proclaim giant billboards in all of Cameroon's large urban areas.
Biya made a brief public appearance in the electorally-crucial far north region last weekend but otherwise has not been seen or heard.
Results must be posted within 15 calendar days of the poll by law, and authorities have previously waited the full fortnight before announcing the winner.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence charged Thursday that Russia's influence operations in America pale in comparison to the covert and overt activities China is taking to interfere in the U.S. midterm elections and counter President Donald Trump's tough trade policies against Beijing.
Pence laid out measures Beijing is employing to undermine the Trump administration. They include public steps such as targeting Chinese tariffs to industries in states that are crucial to Trump in the midterms as well as behind-the-scenes actions like coercing U.S. businesses to speak out against the Trump administration and intimidating scholars.
China has denied that it interferes in any countries' domestic affairs, but Pence said Beijing's actions add up to a simple message: "China wants a different American president."
"Beijing has mobilized covert actors, front groups and propaganda outlets to shift Americans' perception of Chinese policies," he said. "As a senior career member of our intelligence community recently told me just this week, what the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country and the American people deserve to know."
Pence said China has responded to Trump's tough trade policies against Beijing with tariffs of its own designed to inflict maximum political damage.
"By one estimate, more than 80 percent of U.S. counties targeted by China voted for President Trump and I (sic) in 2016," Pence said during a speech delivered at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. "Now, China wants to turn these voters against our administration."
Vice President Mike Pence speaks Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, at the Hudson Institute in Washington. Pence said China was using its power in "more proactive and coercive ways to interfere in the domestic policies and politics of the United States." (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
He also noted a multi-page advertising supplement that was inserted last week in the Des Moines Register in Iowa, the home state of the U.S. ambassador to China and a pivotal state in this year's elections and the 2020 presidential election. "The supplement, designed to look like news articles, cast our trade policies as reckless and harmful to Iowans."
Pence's speech served as a follow-up of sorts to Trump's charge before the U.N. Security Council last month that China was meddling in U.S. elections to help Democrats.
After Trump's remark, intelligence and homeland security experts said they didn't know of any Chinese influence operations akin to Russian activities during the 2016 presidential election.
U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Russia interfered in 2016 to boost Trump over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton through hacking and releasing sensitive documents and social media manipulation.
Experts say China is more known for conducting economic espionage. A recent intelligence report said China uses joint ventures to try to acquire technical know-how, seeks partnerships with U.S. 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 U.S. export controls.
Pence offered only two examples related to the upcoming elections - the targeted tariffs and the advertising supplement - which did not rise to the level of the Russian effort to meddle in the 2016 election. But he pointed to a document Beijing circulated in June titled "Propaganda and Censorship Notice," which laid out a broader influence campaign, similar to Russia's ongoing disinformation campaign against the U.S.
The document stated that China must "strike accurately and carefully, splitting apart different domestic groups" in the United States, the vice president said.
Pence also said more U.S. companies should think twice before entering the Chinese market if it means turning over their intellectual property.
He urged Google to "immediately end development of the 'Dragonfly' app that will strengthen Communist Party censorship and compromise the privacy of Chinese customers." Google employees and others have protested the company's plan to build a search engine that would comply with Chinese censorship.
Pence said other examples of "proactive and coercive" ways that China is meddling in the U.S include:
-"The Chinese Communist Party is rewarding or coercing American businesses, movie studios, universities, think tanks, scholars, journalists and local, state, and federal officials."
-Senior Chinese officials have tried to influence business leaders to condemn U.S. trade actions, "leveraging their desire to maintain their operations in China." Pence said in one recent example, China threatened to deny a business license for a major U.S. corporation "if it refused to speak out against our administration's policies."
-Beijing compelled Delta Airlines to publicly apologize for not calling Taiwan a "province of China" on its website, he said. It also pressured Marriott to fire a U.S. employee who liked a tweet about Tibet.
-Beijing's censors edit or outlaw U.S. movies that criticize China. The movie "Red Dawn" was digitally edited to make the villains North Korean, not Chinese, Pence said.
-China provides money to U.S. universities, think tanks and scholars with the understanding that they will avoid ideas that the Communist Party finds offensive, Pence said. "Even scholars and groups who avoid Chinese funding are targeted by that country, as the Hudson Institute found out firsthand," he said. After the institute offered to host a speaker from Beijing that Chinese officials opposed, its website was hit with a cyberattack that originated from Shanghai, he said.
National security adviser John Bolton said much of what the U.S. knows about Chinese activities in the United States remains classified.
He said if more were declassified, it would help Americans better understand the scope of the Chinese actions to affect the election and its "broader effort to influence political opinion in this country through academic institutions, through think tanks, through intimidation of scholars."
Vice President Mike Pence speaks Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, at the Hudson Institute in Washington. Pence said China was using its power in "more proactive and coercive ways to interfere in the domestic policies and politics of the United States." (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Vice President Mike Pence speaks Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, at the Hudson Institute in Washington. Pence said China was using its power in "more proactive and coercive ways to interfere in the domestic policies and politics of the United States." (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - President Donald Trump accused Democrats of "rage-fueled resistance" in the battle over his Supreme Court nominee, seeking Thursday to use the blistering nomination process to motivate Republican voters in Minnesota.
Speaking at a packed civic center 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."
President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Mayo Civic Center, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, in Rochester, Minn. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Outside Washington, the focus still remained on the dramatic nomination 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.
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.
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.
"Just made my second stop in Minnesota for a MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN rally," Trump tweeted shortly after landing. "We need to elect @KarinHousley to the U.S. Senate, and we need the strong leadership of @TomEmmer, @Jason2CD, @JimHagedornMN and @PeteStauber in the U.S. House!"
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 argues 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 in an effort 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.
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Colvin reported from Washington. Follow Lucey and Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/catherine_lucey and https://twitter.com/colvinj
President Donald Trump shakes hands with supporters after arriving on Air Force One at Minneapolis- Saint Paul International Airport for a fundraiser, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Stan Thom, of Big Lake, Minn., drove 120 miles Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, to see President Trump speak at 6:30 p.m. in Rochester, Minn. (Mark Vancleave /Star Tribune via AP)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A woman accused of insider trading with former Heartland Payment Systems CEO Robert Carr has reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Kathie Hanratty agreed to pay back more than $500,000, which includes a penalty of roughly $250,000, according to court papers filed this week in Connecticut.
The SEC filed its complaint against Hanratty and Carr in July. In late May, they also were sued by Heartland in New Jersey. The suit alleged Carr provided inside information - along with about $1 million - to Hanratty, characterized as his girlfriend, to buy Heartland stock before the December 2015 announcement that the company was to be acquired by Georgia-based Global Payments Inc.
Carr is alleged to have met with representatives from Global and learned the company planned to offer $97.50 per share for Heartland stock - a fact he allegedly passed on to Hanratty the same day. About a week later, the suit claims, he sent a check to Hanratty to purchase the stock. Rumors of Global's offer surfaced about three weeks later, and shortly after that the companies announced the offer, according to the suit.
That information allegedly gave Hanratty's investment a "25% gain," according to the lawsuit.
At the time the Heartland lawsuit was filed, an attorney representing Carr said he received prior authorization from Heartland's legal counsel for his stock transactions and that the lawsuit was "a smear campaign." Messages left with his attorney weren't immediately returned Thursday.
Carr founded Heartland in Princeton, New Jersey in the late 1990s and grew it into one of the country's largest payment processing companies. Along the way, he formed a foundation that paid college tuition for hundreds of economically disadvantaged students. He also wrote a book about his journey from a working-class upbringing to millionaire entrepreneur. The company sold for roughly $4 billion in 2016.
SEATTLE (AP) - A new scientific effort will sequence the genomes of critically endangered Pacific Northwest orcas to better understand their genetics and potentially find ways to save them from extinction.
The collaboration announced Thursday involves scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the nonprofit Nature Conservancy and BGI, a global genomics company.
The project will sequence the genome - the entire genetic code of a living thing - of more than 100 southern resident killer whales using skin or other samples collected from live and dead orcas over the past two decades. Initial results are expected next year.
Scientists said the information could help explain, for example, whether internal factors such as inbreeding or genetic variation in immune systems are preventing the whales from rebounding.
The distinctive black-and-white orcas have struggled with pollution, boat noise and a dearth of their preferred prey, chinook salmon. The death of a young orca last month - despite a weeks-long international effort to save her - leaves only 74 in a group that has failed to reproduce successfully in the past three years. That's the lowest number in over 30 years.
"This will help us fill in some really critical gaps in our understanding about why the population is not recovering," Mike Ford, director of conservation biology at the Northwest Science Center in Seattle, said during a news conference in BGI's Seattle office. "As we fill in those gaps that will lead us to potentially better solutions."
FILE--In this Jan. 18, 2014, file photo, an endangered female orca leaps from the water while breaching in Puget Sound west of Seattle, Wash. A new scientific effort will map the genomes of critically endangered Pacific Northwest orcas to better understand their genetics and potentially find ways to save them from extinction. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Ford was lead author on a study published earlier this year that found that just two male whales fathered half of the calves that were born and sampled by scientists since 1990.
"Inbreeding could be a problem but we don't have enough data to study that in-depth," Ford said.
Inbreeding, for example, could affect whether a female orca will become pregnant, whether she'll have a calf or how likely that calf would be to survive.
Female orcas have been having pregnancy problems because of nutritional stress linked to lack of salmon. A multi-year study last year by University of Washington and other researchers found that two-thirds of the orcas' pregnancies failed between 2007 and 2014.
BGI Group will sequence the orcas' genomes and provide analyses and results to U.S. fisheries biologists and other scientists. They'll compare that research to the genomes of the Alaska population of killer whales that have been thriving, as well as mammal-eating transient whales.
Yiwu He, CEO of BGI Groups USA in Seattle, said that like so many others in the region, he and his family have been captivated by the iconic whales that spend time in the inland waters of Washington state.
"We very much want to do something to help," he said, adding the genome sequencing could help unravel questions about why the animals are not reproducing. He noted that BGI has extensive experience sequencing whole genomes of humans, plants and animals.
Ford said the results could put other problems faced by the whales, such as lack of prey or contamination, into context and could lead to different solutions. Whales found to have weaker immune systems because of lack of genetic diversity of immune-system genes, for example, could warrant more active treatment or management in the future.
"We don't know what we're going to find," Ford said, adding: "Maybe we'll learn something new about the population that we don't already know."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Tesla CEO Elon Musk is apparently taunting the government agency that accused him of duping investors just days after negotiating a settlement to keep his job.
Musk jabbed the Securities and Exchange Commission on his Twitter account, the same agency that went after him for an August 7 tweet in which he declared he had secured financing for a Tesla buyout. The SEC alleged that Musk hadn't locked up the estimated $25 billion to $50 billion that it would have required to pull off that deal.
In a Thursday tweet , Musk praised the "Shortseller Enrichment Commission" for "doing incredible work."
Musk has long feuded with short sellers, a category of investors that have been betting on Tesla's stock to fall.
Tesla shares declined 2 percent in extended trading after Musk's tweet.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The lead spokesman for the North Carolina Democratic Party has apologized for tweets that used derogatory language about women, which he posted while he was in a previous job.
Communications Director Robert Howard said he sent the tweets while he was trying to become a comedian. The tweets, sent between 2011 and 2013, were first reported by NC Insider, a state government news service.
Among the tweets, Howard expressed excitement that actress Reese Witherspoon was hit by a car on the same day in 2011 that nude photos appeared of two other female celebrities. Howard tweeted, "Greatest day ever?"
Party Executive Director Kimberly Reynolds says she and party Chairman Wayne Goodwin accepted Howard's apology.
North Carolina Republican Party Vice Chairwoman Michele Nix says Howard's tweets were "utterly inappropriate and offensive."
WASHINGTON (AP) - "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.
- "Confirm Brett!" cries from members of the "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.
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. (AP Photo/Matt York)
- 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.
"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 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.
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.
On Thursday, 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.
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Associated Press writers Ashraf Khalil, Juliet Linderman, Mary Clare Jalonick and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
Protesters march toward the Supreme Court as they demonstrate against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, arrives to view the FBI report on sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks about the FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
FILE - 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. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
NEW YORK (AP) - Some 2,000 postdoctoral researchers and associate research scientists at Columbia University have voted for representation by the United Auto Workers.
The union announced the vote by the postdocs Thursday and urged the Ivy League University "to move swiftly toward bargaining."
The move comes months after the university said it would not bargain with the graduate students who voted for union representation in 2016.
Columbia administrators have argued that graduate teaching and research assistants are primarily students, not workers. School representatives did not return emails seeking comment.
Postdocs generally have earned a doctoral degree and are engaged in research or further training in hopes of pursuing an academic career.
The UAW says Columbia postdocs are performing world-class research in areas including Alzheimer's disease, AIDS and climate change.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Mormon church is backing a deal that would legalize medical marijuana in conservative Utah after months of fierce debate.
The church is joining lawmakers, the governor and advocates in a deal Thursday to push medical marijuana forward, even if a November ballot initiative fails.
Gov. Gary Herbert says he'll call lawmakers into a special session after the Nov. 6 election to pass the compromise into law.
Leaders of the Republican-dominated Legislature say the deal guards against the possibility of broad legalization. Medical marijuana advocates say they're backing it to avoid continued fighting and uncertainty.
The deal differs from the ballot initiative by removing a provision that would allow people to grow their own marijuana if they live too far from a dispensary and limiting the types of edible marijuana that would be available.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Despite the gray muck that fouled the Cape Fear River near a Wilmington power plant after Hurricane Florence, water tests so far show heavy metals contained in coal ash are within state standards, North Carolina environmental officials said Thursday.
Water quality samples collected over four dates within two weeks of Florence crashing ashore a few miles away from Duke Energy Corp.'s Sutton power plant found no excessive levels of arsenic, lead, chromium and other metals, the state Department of Environmental Quality said.
The state's test results aligned with the samples Duke Energy collected and tested at an in-house lab. They showed no negative impacts to the river after a dam breached at the company's Sutton power plant, the company said. The state's initial test results demonstrate "that Cape Fear River quality is not harmed by Sutton plant operations," Duke Energy spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said.
The Wilmington area received more than 30 inches (75 centimeters) of rain from Florence before the swollen river rose to its crest and remained at flood stage for days.
Floodwaters breached several points in the earthen dam at Sutton Lake, the plant's 1,100-acre (445-hectare) reservoir. Lake water then flooded one of three large coal ash dumps lining the lakeshore.
The ash left over when coal is burned to generate electricity contains a range of potentially toxic heavy metals. The plant's inundated basin contained about 400,000 cubic yards (305,820 cubic meters) of ash, Duke Energy said.
FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2018, file photo provided by Cape Fear River Watch, heavy rains from Hurricane Florence erode and breach a coal ash landfill at the L.V. Sutton Power Station in Wilmington, N.C. North Carolina environmental officials have yet to release their pollution findings from the breach. (Kemp Burdette/Cape Fear River Watch via AP, File)
The country's second-largest electric company had described the gray material seen floating in the lake and river as "coal combustion byproducts."
A spokesman for Earthjustice, an environmental advocacy group that launched a boat into the river within a week of the breach to collect its own samples, said the reported test results aren't conclusive. The impact of the flooding at the former coal-burning power plant can't be known until the river bottom is tested for pollutants that are likely to linger in the sediment, Earthjustice attorney Peter Harrison said.
"It would be reckless to claim that there have been no impacts to the lake and river, no ongoing threat, and no release of coal ash, without thoroughly evaluating the sediment," Harrison said in an email.
The state environmental agency on Monday reported that sludge washed from buried coal-ash pits at Duke Energy's H.F. Lee power plant in Goldsboro also hadn't polluted a neighboring river with heavy metals at levels concerning to human health.
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Follow Emery P. Dalesio on Twitter at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/emery%20dalesio .
CHICAGO (AP) - A jury is deliberating in the murder trial of white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke nearly four years after he shot black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.
Some key moments in the case:
2014
Oct. 20: Van Dyke fatally shoots McDonald after responding to a call about a teenager breaking into vehicles in a trucking yard. Other officers back Van Dyke's claim that McDonald, who had a small knife with its blade folded, posed a threat to Van Dyke's life.
2015
April 15: The Chicago City Council approves a $5 million settlement with McDonald's family.
A police vehicle dash cam video of the moments after Laquan McDonald was fatally shot is displayed for jurors as Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke attends his first degree murder trial for the shooting death of McDonald, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/ Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
Nov. 24: Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez announces that she is charging Van Dyke with first-degree murder. Hours later, the city responds to a judge's order and releases dashcam video of the shooting that shows McDonald veering away from officers. The footage contradicts the accounts of Van Dyke and other officers on the scene that he lunged at them with the knife. The video's release sparks days of protests.
Dec. 1: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fires police Superintendent Garry McCarthy after a public outcry over the handling of the McDonald case.
Dec. 7: The U.S. Department of Justice announces that its civil rights division will investigate the police force, looking for patterns of racial disparity in its use of force.
Dec. 9: Emanuel apologizes for McDonald's killing in a speech before the City Council. He says Chicago's police force needs "complete and total reform."
Dec. 16: A grand jury indicts Van Dyke on six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct.
2016:
Feb. 16: The city of Chicago says it will release videos of police shootings and in-custody deaths within 60 days, after being criticized for refusing to release the McDonald shooting video for more than a year.
April 12: A task force established by Emanuel to look into police practices in the wake of the McDonald shooting says the department must acknowledge its racist past and overhaul its handling of excessive force allegations. It also recommends abolishing the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates officer misconduct.
April 21: Emanuel announces changes to how police shootings and misconduct cases are handled, but draws criticism for stopping short of abolishing the Independent Police Review Authority.
May 13: Emanuel announces that he is abolishing the Independent Police Review Authority and replacing it with the Civilian Police Investigative Agency, which will have more independence and resources.
June 3: Chicago releases hundreds of videos that offer startling glimpses into violent encounters involving police, including the fatal shooting of a robbery suspect speeding toward officers in a van and an incident in which an officer slammed his night stick against a man's head at a party.
Aug. 18: Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says seven Chicago police officers should be fired for filing false reports in the McDonald shooting.
Oct. 7: Johnson releases details of a proposed new policy that would require officers to use the least amount of force necessary and emphasizes the "sanctity of life."
Nov. 16: A special prosecutor says a grand jury has been impaneled to hear evidence into a possible cover-up by Chicago police officers in the McDonald shooting.
2017
Jan. 13: The Justice Department announces the findings of its civil rights investigation. It says the Chicago Police Department has violated the constitutional rights of residents for years - permitting racial bias against blacks, using excessive force and killing people who didn't pose a threat. It concludes that the pattern was attributable to "systemic deficiencies" within the department and the city, including insufficient training and a failure to hold bad officers accountable for misconduct.
March 23: A grand jury adds 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm to the first-degree murder charges against Van Dyke in the McDonald shooting. The new indictment raises the number of felony counts against Van Dyke to 23.
May 17: The Police Department releases a new use of force policy that requires its officers to undergo de-escalation training and imposes stricter rules on when they can fire their weapons at fleeing suspects.
June 3: Media reports say the city of Chicago and the Justice Department have negotiated a draft agreement that calls for an independent monitor to oversee changes for the police force, which is the nation's second largest. But it is unclear whether there will be court oversight at some stage in the future.
June 14: Leading community groups, including a Black Lives Matter organization, file a class-action lawsuit against Chicago in a bid to bypass or scuttle a draft agreement between the city and the Justice Department that seeks to reform the police without federal court oversight.
June 27: Three Chicago police officers are indicted on felony charges that they conspired to cover up Van Dyke's actions in the killing of McDonald.
Aug. 28: The city of Chicago changes course and says it wants to carry out far-reaching reforms of its police under strict federal court supervision, abandoning a draft deal on reforms with President Donald Trump's administration that envisioned no court role.
Nov. 14: The grand jury that indicted three Chicago police officers on charges that they conspired to cover up what happened when Van Dyke fatally shot McDonald disbands without indicting anyone else in the department.
Dec. 11: The Chicago Police Department says all patrol officers are now equipped with body cameras.
2018
March 20: The American Civil Liberties Union and several community organizations say that they have reached an agreement to provide input into changes being proposed for the Chicago Police Department.
Sept. 13: Lawyers finish choosing 12 jurors and five alternates for Van Dyke's murder trial. Emanuel and Illinois' attorney general Lisa Madigan meanwhile unveil an updated plan to reform the city's police, saying it will ensure permanent, far-reaching changes within a 12,000-officer department that has a long history of committing serious civil rights abuses. The more than 200-page document is submitted to U.S. District Judge Robert Dow for his consideration.
Sept. 17: Prosecutors drop four counts of first-degree murder against Van Dyke. He still faces two counts of first-degree murder, 16 counts of aggravated battery and one count of officially misconduct.
Oct. 4: Jury begins deliberations after being told that they can consider the lesser charge of second-degree murder if they do not find him guilty of first-degree murder.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp's decision to vote against Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination defies her state's heavy support for President Donald Trump.
But the vote could boost Heitkamp's standing with independents and women just as she's in a fight for her political life.
Heitkamp cited Kavanaugh's temperament on Thursday in announcing her decision. She also said she believes the woman who accused him of a decades-old sexual assault - which Kavanaugh has denied.
Heitkamp is in a close race with Republican Kevin Cramer. Ed Goeas, a Republican pollster who's not involved in the North Dakota race, says her stance could energize her base by showing she's up for the fight.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A group of legal scholars is weighing in on the upcoming sentencing of a former Minnesota FBI agent who admitted he leaked documents to a reporter, saying in court documents filed Thursday that the court should consider the value of the agent's disclosure in determining the proper penalty.
Terry James Albury pleaded guilty in April to two counts of unauthorized disclosure or retention of national defense information. The information he shared with an online news organization included a document classified as "secret," that related to how the FBI assesses confidential informants.
Under his plea agreement, he faces a likely penalty of between 37 and 57 months when he is sentenced Oct. 18, but the final decision will be up to U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright. Prosecutors argued Thursday that about 52 months would be sufficient, while defense attorneys asked for no prison time.
In advance of his sentencing, 17 scholars who focus on constitutional law, First Amendment law and media law filed a brief asking the court to craft a punishment that weighs the constitutional protection of free speech and the public's interest in Albury's disclosure against any harm to national security.
The scholars say that the government has acknowledged its classification system has been used improperly before and "ubiquitous overclassification has long required journalists to rely on leaks to expose matters of powerful public concern." The scholars say just because a document is marked "classified," that doesn't mean there will be harm if it is published.
"It is fair to say that if all classified information were somehow hermetically sealed off from the public, ours would no longer be the vibrant, publicly-accountable republic it has been from its birth," the scholars wrote. "This Court can and should consider this reality in determining an appropriate penalty."
The scholars also said the court should consider the government's use of the Espionage Act to prosecute Albury, noting that a law enacted during World War I to go after spies is now being increasingly used for something unintended - to punish those who leak information to the press.
The Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have made prosecuting government employees who leak sensitive information to the media a high priority. Sessions said last year that the Justice Department had more than tripled the number of active leak investigations since President Barack Obama left office.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press also weighed in on Albury's case, saying the over-classification of documents and increase in these prosecutions "poses an independent and serious threat to newsgathering, an informed public, and the ability of the news media to access the information it needs to serve ... as one of the checks and balances on government power that are essential to the preservation of our democracy."
Albury was accused of sharing documents with an online news organization, including a document, dated Aug. 17, 2011, related to how the FBI assesses confidential informants. The date of that document and its subject matter corresponded with a Jan. 31, 2017 story on The Intercept.
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Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti . More of her work at: https://apnews.com/search/amy%20forliti
BUENOS AIRES (AP) - Argentina's highest criminal court acquitted former President Carlos Menem on Thursday 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 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.
Menem has denied the charges, saying he thought the arms were headed to Panama and Venezuela.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - When Robert F. Kennedy decided to duck through the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after declaring victory in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary, Juan Romero reveled at his good fortune.
It meant the 18-year-old busboy might get to shake hands with his hero - the man he'd assured himself would be the next president of the United States - for the second time in two days.
Romero had just grasped Kennedy's hand when gunshots rang out, one of them striking the senator in the head.
Kennedy would die the next day and the teenage Mexican immigrant who had idolized him would carry the emotional burden of that encounter for most of his life.
"I remember him one time saying he felt guilty," his daughter, Josefina Guerra, said Thursday. "He thought it was his fault."
Her father explained: "''If I wouldn't have extended my hand, he wouldn't have gotten shot," she said.
This photo provided by STORYCORPS shows Juan Romero holding a Los Angeles Times photograph that shows Romero with Sen. Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles moments after Kennedy was shot. The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, that Romero died Monday in Modesto, California, at age 68. Romero was a busboy in June 1968 when Kennedy walked through the Ambassador Hotel kitchen after his victory in the California presidential primary and an assassin shot him in the head. He held the mortally wounded Kennedy as he lay on the ground, struggling to keep the senator's bleeding head from hitting the floor. (Jud Esty-Kendall/STORYCORPS via AP)
Romero died Monday in a Modesto, California, hospital following a heart attack, Rigo Chacon, a longtime family friend and former TV newsman, told The Associated Press on Thursday. He was 68.
Romero, who moved from Los Angeles decades ago, spent most of his life in the Northern California cities of San Jose and Modesto, Chacon said.
He worked in construction, including concrete and asphalt paving, enjoying the often-grueling physical labor with no intention of retiring any time soon.
"Juan was a big, brawny guy, a muscular guy and seemingly in good health," said Chacon, adding his death came as a shock to family and friends.
The divorced Romero had recently met a woman and moved in with her in Modesto. He wanted to buy a house and to travel, his daughter said.
"He was happy, he was so happy," she said. "It was just such a short time."
For decades, each time Romero saw black-and-white news photos of himself - a baby-faced busboy gently cradling Kennedy as he lay sprawled on the hotel's concrete kitchen floor - he would wonder what more he should have done to save Kennedy.
Only recently, he said during rare interviews this year, did he finally come to terms with that struggle.
He said he still carried the example Kennedy had set as he campaigned for equality and civil rights.
"I still have the fire burning inside of me," Romero said.
Born in the small town of Mazatan, in the Mexican state of Sonora, Romero lived in Baja California until his family received permission to bring him to the U.S. as a 10-year-old.
The family lived in blue-collar East Los Angeles and Romero was a student at Roosevelt High School in 1968, the year Chicano students started organizing walkouts to protest discrimination against Mexican-American students. As the son of a tough disciplinarian father, however, he said he was too afraid to take part.
He was working at the Ambassador Hotel the day before the June 1968 California primary when Kennedy and his aides ordered room service and he was called on to help deliver it.
"All I remember was that I kept staring at him with my mouth open," he would say later.
Finally, Kennedy approached, grabbed Romero's hand with both of his and said, "Thank you."
"I will never forget the handshake and the look ... looking right at you with those piercing eyes that said, 'I'm one of you. We're good,'" Romero said. "He wasn't looking at my skin, he wasn't looking at my age ... he was looking at me as an American."
After Kennedy won the primary he thanked supporters in the hotel's Embassy Room then cut through the kitchen for a meeting with reporters.
Romero jumped at the chance to meet him again.
After gunfire rang out and Kennedy fell, Romero cradled his bleeding head.
"Is everybody OK?" Kennedy asked. Romero said yes.
"Everything will be OK," the senator replied shortly before losing consciousness.
As they talked, Romero pressed a set of Rosary beads into the senator's hand as news photographers frantically took pictures. Kennedy died the next day at 42.
Because of the beads, his white busboy smock and the beatific look on his face, Romero was misidentified in some early news reports as a priest.
"It was a really dramatic picture with the light coming in from the side, they were strong photos," Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly said Thursday.
"But really the heart of it," Kennerly added, "was this unknown person was there to help Senator Kennedy when he was down. That's what has always struck me about those photos."
Josefina Guerra said her father felt guilty for years about the shooting, which she said broke his heart, and he spoke little about it to her.
"I think that's what made him a tough person, to hold everything in... as a teenager, dealing with that," she said.
When he visited Kennedy's grave at Arlington National Cemetery a few years ago, Romero wept as he spoke directly to the senator.
He "asked him for forgiveness for the fact that he didn't think he reacted soon enough," Chacon recalled. "That perhaps if he took the bullet. Or he could have pushed him out of the way."
Eventually Romero overcame his guilt, thanks in part to the support of Kennedy admirers who told him that he was an example of the type of person Kennedy embraced.
In addition to Josefina, Romero is survived by daughters Elda Romero and Cynthia Medina; a son, Greg Romero, eight grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be Sunday at Chapel of Flowers in San Jose, California.
FILE - In this June 5, 1968 file photo, Hotel busboy Juan Romero, right, comes to the aid of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, as he lies on the floor of the Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles moments after he was shot. The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, that Romero died Monday in Modesto, California, at age 68. Romero was a teenage busboy in June 1968 when Kennedy walked through the Ambassador Hotel kitchen after his victory in the California presidential primary and an assassin shot him in the head. He held the mortally wounded Kennedy as he lay on the ground, struggling to keep the senator's bleeding head from hitting the floor. (Boris Yaro/Los Angeles Times via AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Latest on a California man suing the Vatican for the release of the names of all offenders within the church worldwide. (all times local):
3:40 p.m.
A California man suing the Vatican to release the names of all sexually abusive priests worldwide says he's fighting for the truth for victims.
Manny Vega of Oxnard said at a news conference Thursday that priests raped him and countless other children across the world, and that abuse and a culture of secrecy are still rampant within the Catholic church.
Vega's lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in California seeks to have the Vatican ordered to release the names of all priests accused of abuse and to turn over the names of those found guilty to law enforcement. It doesn't seek monetary damages.
Jeffrey Lena, the Vatican's U.S. lawyer, declined to comment.
Manuel Vega, who says he was sexually abused by a priest over a five-year period decades ago, pauses as he talks about his lawsuit against the Vatican, seeking the names of all offenders within the church worldwide, at a news conference in Los Angeles Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Vega, now 52, reached a settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2007, but his attorneys said Thursday that doesn't release the Vatican from responsibility. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, Oct. 3 in federal court in California, accuses the Vatican of placing the Rev. Fidencio Silva-Flores in a position of power at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Oxnard, Calif., and says it should have known he posed a danger to children. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Vega reached a settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2007, but his lawsuit says that doesn't release the Vatican from responsibility. One of his lawyers has tried unsuccessfully to sue the government of the Catholic Church in U.S. courts before.
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10 a.m.
A California man who says he was sexually abused decades ago by a priest over a five-year period is suing the Vatican.
Although the lawsuit says the man reached a settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2007, his attorneys said Thursday that doesn't release the Vatican from responsibility.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses the Vatican of placing the Rev. Fidencio Silva-Flores in a position of power at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in the southern California coastal city of Oxnard and says it should have known he posed a danger to children.
The lawsuit says Silva-Flores sexually abused the plaintiff between 1979 and 1984. Silva-Flores was charged with 25 counts of molestation in 2003 but they were dropped.
Jeffrey Lena, the Vatican's U.S. lawyer, declined comment.
Manuel Vega, who says he was sexually abused by a priest over a five-year period decades ago, talks about his lawsuit against the Vatican, seeking the names of all offenders within the church worldwide, at a news conference in Los Angeles Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Vega, now 52, reached a settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2007, but his attorneys said Thursday that doesn't release the Vatican from responsibility. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in federal court in California, accuses the Vatican of placing the Rev. Fidencio Silva-Flores in a position of power at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Oxnard, Calif., and says it should have known he posed a danger to children. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Attorney Jeff Anderson, left, with Manuel Vega, who says he was sexually abused by a priest over a five-year period decades ago, describes Vega's lawsuit against the Vatican, seeking the names of all offenders within the church worldwide, at a news conference in Los Angeles Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Vega, now 52, reached a settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2007, but his attorneys said Thursday that doesn't release the Vatican from responsibility. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, Oct. 3 in federal court in California, accuses the Vatican of placing the Rev. Fidencio Silva-Flores in a position of power at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Oxnard, Calif., and says it should have known he posed a danger to children. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Manuel Vega, who says he was sexually abused by a priest over a five-year period decades ago talks about his lawsuit against the Vatican, seeking the names of all offenders within the church worldwide, at a news conference in Los Angeles Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Vega, now 52, reached a settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2007, but his attorneys said Thursday that doesn't release the Vatican from responsibility. Vega points to a what they describe is a Sept. 13, 2018 Vatican photo of Pope Francis meeting with Americans, from left at far end of table, Archbishop Jose Gomez of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese, and Cardinal Sean O'Malley, president of the Pontifical Commission for Protection of MInors. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
NEW YORK (AP) - A United Nations-linked bribery case against a Hong Kong businessman seems stronger after a prosecutor revealed that a former co-defendant will testify at trial that Chad's president rejected the man's $2 million bribe in 2014, a judge said Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska made the observation as she rejected a renewed bail application by Dr. Chi Ping Patrick Ho. Ho, 68, was arrested in November.
Preska also said the case is stronger now than earlier this year because a judge has rejected Ho's effort to suppress evidence and toss out charges.
His lawyers argued unsuccessfully that Ho should be freed because charges were dropped against his co-defendant and the government has revealed that Chad's president, Idriss Deby, took no bribes.
But a prosecutor, Douglas Zolkind, said the case was stronger now than when bail was denied earlier this year because Ho's former co-defendant will testify at trial next month that Ho arranged a $2 million bribe to be delivered to Chad's president in gift boxes. The bribe, he said, was rejected.
Prosecutors say Ho conspired with associates at China Energy Fund Committee and the energy conglomerate that created and funded it. They allege he sought to pay bribes to gain business opportunities in Chad and Uganda.
Ho was once Hong Kong's home affairs secretary.
A trial is set to begin Nov. 5.
BOSTON (AP) - Police say the sound of popping balloons mistaken for gunfire prompted schools around Boston's Fenway Park to go into lockdown.
Boston police say officers responded to a call for shots fired around 2:30 p.m. Thursday near the campus of Simmons University.
The university, as well as nearby Emmanuel College, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston Latin School and the Winsor School all took precautionary measures, including issuing lockdown and "shelter in place" orders.
But Sgt. John Boyle said it was eventually determined a student activity involving balloon popping was the noise source. The lockdowns were lifted just after 3 p.m.
The Boston Globe reports the purpose of the balloon-popping activity wasn't immediately clear. A Simmons spokesman told the newspaper no such activity was planned on campus.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A trial is set in the fatal shooting of a Memphis, Tennessee, police officer three years ago.
Court records show 32-year-old Tremaine Wilbourn is set to stand trial starting Oct. 29 in state court on first-degree murder and other charges in Officer Sean Bolton's killing in August 2015.
Wilbourn has pleaded not guilty. Authorities said Wilbourn shot Bolton several times while Bolton was attempting to detain him. Police said the 33-year-old Bolton interrupted a drug deal in a car Wilbourn was sitting in.
Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty if Wilbourn is convicted.
Bolton is one of four Memphis police officers killed in the line of duty since July 2011.
Wilbourn already has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on weapons charges in Bolton's killing.
NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) - A former police officer in suburban Atlanta has pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle in the 2017 death of a teenager struck by a police cruiser.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Scott Edward York entered a guilty plea Wednesday to second-degree homicide by vehicle and other charges. The former Gwinnett County officer was sentenced to five years, with six months to serve in prison and the rest on probation.
Sixteen-year-old Jose Coreas-Mejia was one of two people struck when York lost control of his police cruiser while speeding to a pedestrian accident. The victim's cousin, Joel Melendez-Coreas, suffered minor injuries.
York was subsequently fired.
An investigators found York broke police rules by heading to the accident at 97 mph (156 kph), more than twice the speed limit.
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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Some Oregon lawmakers and winery owners scrambled Thursday to help a dozen vineyard owners who face the prospect of tons of grapes withering on the vine after a California company abruptly canceled contracts to buy the grapes worth millions of dollars over fears they are tainted by wildfire smoke.
Copper Cane, based in the Napa Valley, canceled contracts to buy 2,000 tons (1,814 metric tons) of grapes just as the annual harvest was getting underway in Oregon.
The value of the grapes totals $4 million. If they go unsold, harvesting crews will be out of work, and earnings and profits won't be pumped into the local economy.
The cancellation of the contracts "is perhaps the most devastating issue facing the Oregon wine industry in our history," said Christine Collier Clair, winery director of Willamette Valley Vineyards.
Lab tests carried out so far show wildfire smoke hasn't had an adverse effect on the grapes, Clair said. The vineyard in northwest Oregon is buying some of the crop for its brand that's made from grapes grown in southern Oregon's Rogue Valley wine country, paying the full market price.
Jim Blumling, Copper Cane's vice president of operations, said both lab and sensory tests showed a high level of smoke taint. The most effective time to test is as close as possible to harvest, he added.
FILE--In this Feb. 23, 2004, file photo, winemaker David Lett savors the bouquet from a glass of Pinot Noir at his Eyrie Vinyards home in Dundee, Ore. Some Oregon lawmakers and winery owners are scrambling to help a dozen vineyards owners who face having 2,000 tons of grapes wither on the vine, unsold, after a California winemaker abruptly cancelled contracts to buy them, claiming they were tainted from some from the summer's wildfires.(AP Photo/Don Ryan)
He said the California company is seeking grapes from elsewhere in Oregon, praising its "reputation for quality and excellence."
"We would not recklessly damage our reputation, erode the image of our brands or that of Oregon's wine growers and vintners by producing a product that does not meet those high standards," Blumling said.
Wildfires cloaked the U.S. West in smoke this summer. It comes as climate change extends the wildfire season and makes blazes bigger and more destructive, worsening air quality and posing problems for businesses.
Ed King, founder of King Estate Winery in Eugene in west-central Oregon, also is buying grapes from the southern Oregon growers and wants other wineries or custom crush facilities with extra capacity to take them in to sell on the bulk wine market.
King Estate, Willamette Valley Vineyards and Silvan Ridge Winery of Eugene are going to jointly make a "Solidarity Vintage" with the grapes, Clair said.
"The goal is to save these growers from catastrophe," Clair said.
Rep. David Gomberg was among several dozen people who went to the vineyards in southern Oregon to harvest pinot noir grapes Thursday and draw attention to the crisis.
Gomberg, accompanied by state Rep. Gary Leif and Sen. Alan DeBoer, was impressed that Oregon wineries are stepping up to help.
"They're saying, 'We're all in this together. We're going to help each other out,'" Gomberg said.
Southern Oregon's economy already had taken a hit from wildfire smoke, which cost the famed Oregon Shakespeare Festival $2 million in revenue. It forced the festival in Ashland to cancel 26 outdoor performances.
Not included in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's calculations is how much revenue was lost from would-be tourists who normally come from around the world but stayed away because of the smoke this year.
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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
DENVER (AP) - Denver Zoo officials say the oldest male giraffe in North America has died.
The Denver Post reports zoo officials say 24-year-old Dikembe was recently euthanized following the steady decline of his quality of life.
Officials say the longtime patriarch of the zoo's giraffe herd was treated by veterinary staff for a variety issues over the past several years.
Dikembe fathered 17 calves while at the Denver Zoo, including Dobby who celebrated his first birthday in February.
The zoo says Dikembe will be remembered as "gentle, charismatic and goofy."
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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
PALU, Indonesia (AP) - French rescuers on Friday were unable to find the possible sign of life they detected a day earlier under hotel rubble, a week after the destructive earthquake and tsunami struck Indonesia's Sulawesi island, killing more than 1,550 people and burying hundreds in mud and debris.
The five-member International Emergency Firefighters team said late Thursday its sensor "detected the presence of a victim" under thick concrete in the wreckage of the Mercure Hotel in Palu city. The device can identify breathing and heartbeats, but gas leaks and other factors can result in false positives.
The team stopped digging overnight. But after an hour of searching Friday morning, team member Philip Besson said they couldn't find the signal again.
"We are perplexed and frustrated mostly. We strongly believed in it yesterday. Now we have nothing at all....we tried everything and have no response," he said.
Local rescuers were continuing to dig at the collapsed hotel. The French rescuers said on their Facebook page that 40 people including six workers are missing from the hotel.
The death toll from Friday's 7.5 magnitude earthquake that spawned a tsunami has risen to 1,558, with scores more believed buried in deep mud and under debris of collapsed buildings and homes.
Members of the French organization Pompiers de l'urgence leave after checking for signs of life on their device at a heavily damaged Mercure hotel caused by the massive earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. French rescuers say they've been unable to find the possible sign of life they detected a day earlier under the rubble of a hotel that collapsed in the earthquake a week ago on Indonesia's Sulawesi island. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
The national disaster agency said the body of a South Korean man was among eight dead pulled Thursday from the wreckage of another hotel in Palu, the Roa Roa, which collapsed sideways in a heap of cement and steel. Local television said the man, the only foreigner known to have perished in the disaster, was a paraglider taking part in an event in the area.
Thousands have been injured and more than 70,000 evacuated to shelters and makeshift tents that have sprouted across Palu, the provincial capital of Sulawesi island that is home to most of the victims, and its surrounding areas. After days of initial chaos and looting by desperate survivors, some stability has returned to Palu with some shops reopened and electricity restored in some parts of the city.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said five ships carrying more than 100,000 tons of badly needed supplies arrived in Palu port on Thursday and two more vessels on Friday. He said the Palu airport will also be resume operations for passenger planes soon.
Military transport planes from Australia, India, Singapore, Malaysia and elsewhere have landed with relief goods. Officials have listed tents or shelter kits, water treatment, electric generators and medical supplies as immediate needs.
Officials said more volunteers will fan out across outlying areas cut off by the disasters to distribute aid to survivors.
"The earthquake and tsunami cut off many transport routes in this remote area. We sent out three teams, on different routes, with as many supplies as they could carry to ensure we could reach people as fast as we could but the journey has taken days. We are relieved that these much-needed supplies have arrived by plane and are starting to get through," Zubedy Koteng from Save the Children said in a statement.
Save the Children said it has sent more than 1,000 kits to support shelter, hygiene, child-friendly spaces and temporary educational facilities.
"Children urgently need shelter and essential hygiene items to prevent the spread of diseases and contamination as families are packed into evacuation centers with limited supply of clean water," Koteng said.
Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who arrived early Friday in Palu to assess the situation, said it will take at least two years to redevelop and reconstruct the disaster zone.
A member of the French organization Pompiers de l'urgence wipes sweat from his forehead after checking for signs of life on their device at a heavily damaged Mercure hotel caused by the massive earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. French rescuers say they've been unable to find the possible sign of life they detected a day earlier under the rubble of a hotel that collapsed in the earthquake a week ago on Indonesia's Sulawesi island. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Members of the French organization Pompiers de l'urgence checks for signs of life on their device at a heavily damaged Mercure hotel caused by the massive earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. French rescuers say they've been unable to find the possible sign of life they detected a day earlier under the rubble of a hotel that collapsed in the earthquake a week ago on Indonesia's Sulawesi island. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A mosque is isolated by water after it's bridge was broken due to the massive earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. French rescuers say they've been unable to find the possible sign of life they detected a day earlier under the rubble of a hotel that collapsed in the earthquake a week ago on Indonesia's Sulawesi island. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A member of the French organization Pompiers de l'urgence walks out of the heavily damaged Mercure hotel caused by the massive earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. French rescuers say they've been unable to find the possible sign of life they detected a day earlier under the rubble of a hotel that collapsed in the earthquake a week ago on Indonesia's Sulawesi island. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Members of the French organization Pompiers de l'urgence prepare to leave after checking for signs of life with their device at the heavily damaged Mercure hotel caused by the massive earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. French rescuers say they've been unable to find the possible sign of life they detected a day earlier under the rubble of a hotel that collapsed in the earthquake a week ago on Indonesia's Sulawesi island. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The main target of participants in the final and most-watched presidential debate in Brazil has been the absent front-runner, far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro skipped the TV Globo debate Thursday, citing doctor's orders after being stabbed during a campaign event on Sept. 6 and only leaving the hospital on Saturday. Instead, he gave an interview to TV Record at the same time.
Second place candidate Fernando Haddad, who was hand-picked by jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, attacked Bolsonaro's record as a lawmaker.
Third place Ciro Gomes said the electing the far-right hopeful would be like dancing near an abyss.
Leftist Guilherme Boulos said he feared a new military dictatorship would begin with a Bolsonaro presidency.
Bolsonaro's support in polls is nearing 40 percent ahead of Sunday's election.
Brazilian presidential candidates pose for a photo before a live, televised debate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, ahead of Oct. 7 general elections. From left are Henrique Meirelles of the Democratic Movement Party, Alvaro Dias of Podemos Party, Ciro Gomes of the Democratic Labor Party, Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party, Geraldo Alckmin of the Social Democratic Party, Marina Silva of the Sustainability Network Party and Fernando Haddad of the Worker's Party. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Ciro Gomes, presidential candidate of the Democratic Labor Party, gestures before the start of a live, televised presidential debate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Brazil will hold general elections on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Geraldo Alckmin, presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, right, talks with an adviser before a live, televised presidential debate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Brazil will hold general elections on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Marina Silva, presidential candidate of the Sustainability Network Party, right, reaches over to speak to Ciro Gomes, presidential candidate of the Democratic Labor Party, left, before the start of a live, televised presidential debate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Behind are Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party, center, and Geraldo Alckmin of the Social Democratic Party, behind, right. Brazil will hold general elections on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Fernando Haddad, presidential candidate of the Workers' Party, attends a live, televised presidential debate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Brazil will hold general elections on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Guilherme Boulos, presidential candidate of the Socialism and Liberty Party, left, Geraldo Alckmin, presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, center, and Marina Silva, presidential candidate of the Sustainability Network Party, get ready for a live, televised presidential debate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Brazil will hold general elections on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
CHICAGO (AP) - Prosecutors say in court documents that three Chicago police officers accused of lying in reports about the threat Laquan McDonald posed before he was killed by Officer Jason Van Dyke gave "virtually identical false information" about the 2014 shooting.
A Cook County judge overseeing the officers' conspiracy case unsealed key prosecution documents Thursday.
Officer Thomas Gaffney, former Detective David March and ex-Officer Joseph Walsh are charged with conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice. The documents also point to several other officers who were at the scene or involved in the investigation and allegedly worked to protect Van Dyke.
Prosecutors allege the three officers said the black teenager had battered, assaulted and attacked the white officer.
The three officers are scheduled to appear in court Oct. 30.
A jury is deliberating in Van Dyke's murder trial.
MEXICO CITY (AP) - It was a lovely wedding, officiated by an archbishop, with designer dresses, palatial decorations and a huge convention-center reception. But for Mexico's austerity-minded president-elect, it was likely the last image in the world he wanted one of his closest advisers projecting, and it quickly drew criticism.
The beaming newlyweds, Cesar Yanez and Dulce Silva, landed on the cover of the society magazine "Hola!" - and so did President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who attended the nuptials and appeared to be out of place and perhaps uncomfortable.
With good reason: Lopez Obrador has prescribed a policy of "republican austerity" for the government after he takes office Dec. 1 as an antidote to decades of corruption and high-living politicians who have disgusted average Mexicans, a promise that helped win July 1 elections.
The cover of Hola! magazine features Cesar Yanez, a personal adviser to Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and his bride Dulce Maria Silva in Mexico City, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. The wedding, officiated by an archbishop, with designer dresses, palatial decorations and a huge convention-center reception, was likely the last image Mexico's austerity-minded president-elect wanted one of his closest advisers projecting, and it quickly drew criticism. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
A 74-year-old who won a sharpshooting decoration in Vietnam ambushed police officers coming to his South Carolina home to question his adult son about a child sexual assault, killing one and wounding six others, the sheriff investigating the case said Friday.
Frederick Hopkins was charged with murder and six counts of attempted murder Friday, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said. Hopkins has been in the hospital since he was taken into custody after the Wednesday afternoon shooting, but should be released and taken to jail Friday, Lott said.
Florence County investigators called Hopkins' home and arranged to speak to his 27-year-old adopted son, Seth Hopkins, about a sex assault investigation Wednesday afternoon, Lott said, adding that they had a search warrant.
The three deputies were shot without warning as they got out of their car, he said.
Dozens of officers rushed to help, and the gunman shot four city of Florence officers. Police Sgt. Terrence Carraway was killed.
So many rounds were fired with such powerful weapons that it took up to 30 minutes to get an armored vehicle close enough to rescue the wounded officers, Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler said. The standoff lasted two hours.
Florence Police officers mourn at a makeshift memorial, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, in Florence, S.C., following a candlelight vigil for Sgt. Terrence Carraway who was killed in the line of duty on Wednesday. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
Several children in the home were not harmed, authorities said.
Seth Hopkins was charged Friday with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Authorities didn't immediately release details about the crime. Lott said he also ended up in the hospital after the shooting but should be released Friday.
Authorities have not said whether the men have attorneys to speak on their behalf.
Frederick Hopkins' wife, Cheryl Turner Hopkins, is an attorney and attended a hearing Friday that Solicitor Ed Clements said concerned emergency custody for children in the home. The solicitor did not provide details on the hearing and the Family Court judge sealed the case.
Cheryl Turner Hopkins told a WPDE-TV reporter outside the courtroom that she is sorry of the officers' families and asked for prayers.
Richland County deputies are investigating the case at the request of the Florence County Sheriff's Office.
Lott said a special FBI team that investigated the fatal shootings of five police officers in Dallas in 2016 and deaths of 59 people and wounding of hundreds more in Las Vegas last year is helping collect evidence from the crime scene at an upscale Florence subdivision.
"This is a large crime scene. This is a very large, complex puzzle that we are still filling the pieces in," Lott said.
Two of the wounded officers have been released from the hospital. Lott said others remain in critical condition but did not provide details.
Frederick Hopkins is a Vietnam veteran and a disbarred attorney. His U.S. Army records obtained by The Associated Press show he was awarded a marksman badge with pistol bar and a sharpshooter with rifle bar decorations during 11 years of service starting in 1966.
Hopkins also was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroism defending a firebase under attack by North Vietnamese forces on May 6, 1970.
Hopkins - then a U.S. Army captain - carried medical supplies across an open area, "braving shrapnel from exploding mortar rounds," according to the letter explaining the award. He was critically wounded when a mortar round exploded near him, the letter said.
Hopkins earned his law license after he left the military but was disbarred a few years later for mishandling money. Several Facebook posts in recent years were about guns, including celebrating his 70th birthday by repeatedly firing his M14 rifle "set up exactly like the one I used in Vietnam."
Authorities also released the names of all the wounded officers. Florence County Deputy Arie Davis, investigator Sarah Miller and investigator Farrrah Turner were shot as they got to the home and Florence Police Officers Brian Hart, Travis Scott and Scott Williamson were wounded along with Carraway as they rushed to help.
Carraway's funeral is scheduled for Monday at the city's civic center.
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Associated Press researcher Monica Mathur in New York and reporters Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, and Rebecca Santana in New Orleans contributed to this report.
Police patrol the area of a fatal shooting in Florence, S.C., Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Frederick Hopkins, a Vietnam veteran who bragged online about maintaining his target-shooting skills was being held in the shooting of multiple law enforcement officers as deputies tried to serve a search warrant at his home Wednesday night. (AP Photo/Jeffrey S. Collins)
South Carolina state troopers gather on Hoffmeyer Road near the Vintage Place neighborhood where several law enforcement officers were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
Blood-soaked evidence lies on Saxon Drive in the Vintage Place neighborhood where several members of law enforcement were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone, from left, Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler and Florence County Chief Deputy Glenn Kirby speak to the media following a shooting where several law enforcement officers were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Authorities direct traffic on Hoffmeyer Road near the Vintage Place neighborhood where several law enforcement officers were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
A police officer directs traffic on Hoffmeyer Road near the Vintage Place neighborhood where three deputies and two city officers were shot Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
A sheriff's deputy exits the crime scene on Ashton Drive in the Vintage Place neighborhood where several members of law enforcement were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
A forensics team member exits the crime scene on Ashton Drive in the Vintage Place neighborhood where several members of law enforcement were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
OSLO, Norway (AP) - 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.
"I can see in the faces of many women how they are happy to be recognized. This is really so touching," the 63-year-old gynecological surgeon told the Nobel Prize organization.
"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.
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.
FILE - The combo of file photos shows Doctor Denis Mukwege, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, left, on Nov. 26, 2014 and Yazidi woman from Iraq, Nadia Murad on Dec. 13, 2016 as they both address the European parliament in Strasbourg, France. The Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 was awarded to the Congolese doctor and a Yazidi former captive of the Islamic State group for their work to highlight and eliminate the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. (AP Photos/Christian Lutz, file)
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.
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 "honor for all Iraqis who fought terrorism and bigotry."
Congo's government congratulated Mukwege while acknowledging that their relations with him have been strained. Government spokesman Lambert Mende told The Associated Press that Mukwege did "remarkable" work, though he claimed the laureate tended to politicize it.
"(Still) we salute that a colleague is recognized," he said.
"I am proud to be Congolese," said the country's top opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, in a Twitter post. "Good done for others always ends up being rewarded."
In the United States, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg tweeted a link to the Nobel announcement, commenting that "the timing of this topic is extraordinary as we fight for the end of #ViolenceAgainstWomen."
Last year's Peace Prize winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
In other Nobel prizes this year, the medicine prize went Monday to James Allison of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University, whose discoveries helped cancer doctors fight many advanced-stage tumors and save an "untold" numbers of lives.
Scientists from the United States, Canada and France shared the physics prize Tuesday for revolutionizing the use of lasers in research.
On Wednesday, three researchers who "harnessed the power of evolution" to produce enzymes and antibodies that have led to a new best-selling drug won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
The winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, honoring Alfred Nobel, the founder of the five Nobel Prizes, will be revealed on Monday.
No Nobel literature prize will be awarded this year due to a sex abuse scandal at the Swedish Academy, which chooses the winner. The academy plans to announce both the 2018 and the 2019 winner next year - although the head of the Nobel Foundation has said the body must fix its tarnished reputation first.
The man at the center of the Swedish Academy scandal, Jean-Claude Arnault, a major cultural figure in Sweden, was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for rape.
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Heintz reported from Moscow. Cara Anna in Johannesburg, Dave Bryan in Cairo, Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal, contributed.
File - In this Sunday, April 3, 2016 file photo, activist Nadia Murad, center, speaks during her visit to the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict, " it was announced on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File )
File - In this Monday, May 22, 2017 file photo, Human rights activist Nadia Murad speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the International Center in Vienna, Austria. Denis Mukwege and Murad have been named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, it was announced on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014 file photo, actor and Eastern Congo Initiative Founder Ben Affleck, right, applauds Dr. Denis Mukwege, founder of Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republican of the Congo, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict, " it was announced on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, file)
FILE - In this Wednesday Nov. 26, 2014 file photo, Doctor Denis Mukwege, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a gynecologist who specializes in treating victims of rape and extreme sexual violence, waves as he gets the Sakharov Prize at the European Parliament in Strasbourg eastern France. Mukwege and Nadia Murad have been named the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Christian Lutz, File)
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - The two congresswomen running for Arizona's open Senate seat are walking a tightrope on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Republican Martha McSally has spoken about her own sexual abuse in high school. She is supporting Kavanaugh while also trying to be sympathetic to the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in high school.
Democrat Kyrsten Sinema is running as a centrist who decries partisanship. She only said she opposed Kavanaugh Thursday night after pointedly refraining from criticizing his nomination.
The women are competing for the seat vacated by Sen. Jeff Flake. It was Flake who launched the recent FBI investigation when he said confirming Kavanaugh the day after the hearing on the allegations would be too fast.
Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who is running against Republican Rep. Martha McSally for the open Arizona Senate seat Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is vacating, talks to campaign volunteers, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018, in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona's Senate race pits Sinema, a careful politician running as a centrist in a Republican-leaning state, against McSally, a onetime Trump critic turned fan. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., who is running against U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., for the senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., talks to Wade Pankey at a crane manufacturing and training facility, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Phoenix. Arizona's Senate race pits Sinema, a careful politician running as a centrist in a Republican-leaning state, against McSally, a onetime Trump critic turned fan. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who is running against Republican Rep. Martha McSally for the open Arizona Senate seat Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is vacating, talks to campaign volunteers, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018, in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona's Senate race pits Sinema, a careful politician running as a centrist in a Republican-leaning state, against McSally, a onetime Trump critic turned fan. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who is running against Republican Rep. Martha McSally for the open Arizona Senate seat Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is vacating, talks to campaign volunteers, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018, in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona's Senate race pits Sinema, a careful politician running as a centrist in a Republican-leaning state, against McSally, a onetime Trump critic turned fan.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who is running against Republican Rep. Martha McSally for the open Arizona Senate seat Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is vacating, talks to campaign volunteers, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018, in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona's Senate race pits Sinema, a careful politician running as a centrist in a Republican-leaning state, against McSally, a onetime Trump critic turned fan. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., who is running against U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., for the senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., talks to tours at a crane manufacturing and training facility, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Phoenix. Arizona's Senate race pits Sinema, a careful politician running as a centrist in a Republican-leaning state, against McSally, a onetime Trump critic turned fan. (AP Photo/Matt York)
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., who is running against U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., for the senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., climbs atop a crane at a crane manufacturing and training facility, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Phoenix. Arizona's Senate race pits Sinema, a careful politician running as a centrist in a Republican-leaning state, against McSally, a onetime Trump critic turned fan. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who is running against Republican Rep. Martha McSally for the open Arizona Senate seat Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is vacating, talks to campaign volunteers, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018, in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona's Senate race pits Sinema, a careful politician running as a centrist in a Republican-leaning state, against McSally, a onetime Trump critic turned fan. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., who is running against U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., for the senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., talks to employees at a crane manufacturing and training facility, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Phoenix. Arizona's Senate race pits Sinema, a careful politician running as a centrist in a Republican-leaning state, against McSally, a onetime Trump critic turned fan. (AP Photo/Matt York)
NEW YORK (AP) - President Donald Trump's Republican Party is threatening to erode Democrats' enthusiasm advantage as the fiery debate over his Supreme Court nominee enters its final phase.
Political strategists suggest the GOP's enthusiastic embrace of Brett Kavanaugh despite multiple allegations of sexual misconduct may have shifted the political landscape - at least temporarily - by injecting new energy into the most passionate Republican voters a month before the election.
Trump's aggressive defense of Kavanaugh has resonated particularly with white working-class men, who are a shrinking voting bloc nationally but remain a critical segment of Trump's political base.
Democrats have claimed an undisputed enthusiasm advantage early in the Trump era. But even a small erosion in the so-called enthusiasm gap could make a big difference on Election Day.
President Donald Trump makes his second visit to Minnesota, with a rally on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, in Rochester, Minn. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP)
CHICAGO (AP) - A white Chicago police officer was convicted of second-degree murder Friday in the 2014 shooting of a black teenager that was captured on shocking dashcam video that showed him crumpling to the ground in a hail of 16 bullets as he walked away from officers.
The video, some of the most graphic police footage to emerge in years, stoked outrage nationwide, and the high-stakes trial gripped the nation's third-largest city for nearly three years. The shooting also led to a federal government inquiry and calls to reform the Chicago Police Department.
Jason Van Dyke, 40, was the first Chicago officer to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting in about 50 years. He was taken into custody moments after the verdict was read.
The second-degree verdict reflects the jury's finding that Van Dyke believed his life was in danger but that the belief was unreasonable. The jury also had the option of first degree-murder, a charge that required a finding that the shooting was unnecessary and unreasonable.
Second-degree murder usually carries a sentence of less than 20 years, especially for someone with no criminal history. Probation is also an option.
Van Dyke was also convicted of aggravated battery and acquitted of official misconduct.
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, left, is taken into custody after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated battery in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
The teen, Laquan McDonald, was carrying a knife when Van Dyke fired at him on a dimly lit street where he was surrounded by other officers.
The verdict was the latest chapter in a story that has made headlines since a judge ordered the release of the video in November 2015. The case put the city at the center of the national conversation about police misconduct and excessive force.
The 12-person jury included just one African-American member, although blacks make up one-third of Chicago's population. The jury also had seven whites, three Hispanics and one Asian-American.
Officers were waiting for someone with a stun gun to use on the teenager when Van Dyke arrived, according to testimony and video. The video, played repeatedly at trial, showed Van Dyke shooting even after the 17-year-old was lying on the pavement.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys argued over what the video actually proved.
Prosecutor Jody Gleason noted during closing arguments that Van Dyke told detectives that McDonald raised the knife, that Van Dyke backpedaled and that McDonald tried to get up off the ground after being shot.
"None of that happened," she said. "You've seen it on video. He made it up."
But Van Dyke and his attorneys maintained that the video didn't tell the whole story.
His attorneys portrayed Van Dyke as being "scared' by the young man who he knew had already punctured a tire of a squad car with the knife. Van Dyke testified that the teen was advancing on him and ignoring his shouted orders to drop the knife.
Van Dyke conceded that stepped toward McDonald and not away from the teen, as Van Dyke had initially claimed. But the officer maintained the rest of his account, saying: "The video doesn't show my perspective."
The officer had been on the force for 13 years when the shooting happened. According to a database that includes reports from 2002 to 2008 and 2011 until 2015, he was the subject of at least 20 citizen complaints - eight of which alleged excessive force. Though he was never disciplined, a jury did once award $350,000 to a man who filed an excessive-force lawsuit against him. Van Dyke testified that McDonald was the first person he ever shot.
To boost their contention that McDonald was dangerous, defense attorneys built a case against the teenager, who had been a ward of the state for most of his life and wound up in juvenile detention after an arrest for marijuana possession in January 2014.
Among those testifying were several current or former employees at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center who said they had violent run-ins with McDonald. They also pointed to an autopsy that showed McDonald had the hallucinogenic drug PCP in his system.
Prosecutors stressed that Van Dyke was the only officer to ever fire a shot at McDonald.
They called multiple officers who were there that night as they sought to chip away at the "blue wall of silence" long associated with the city's police force and other law enforcement agencies across the country. Three officers, including Van Dyke's partner that night, Joseph Walsh, have been charged with conspiring to cover up and lie about what happened to protect Van Dyke. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Even before the trial, the case affected law enforcement in Chicago. The city's police superintendent and the county's top prosecutor both lost their jobs - one fired by the mayor and the other ousted by voters. It also led to a Justice Department investigation that found a "pervasive cover-up culture" and prompted plans for far-reaching police reforms.
A week before jury selection, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced he would not seek a third term, although his office insisted the case had nothing to do with his decision. He had faced criticism that he fought the release of the video until after his re-election in April 2015
Ahead of the verdict, the city prepared for the possibility of the kind of massive protests that followed the release of the video in November 2015, with an extra 4,000 officers being put on the streets.
The issue of race permeated the case, though it was rarely raised at trial. One of the only instances was during opening statements, when special prosecutor Joseph McMahon told the jurors that Van Dyke didn't know anything about McDonald's past when he encountered him that night.
"What we do know, what he (Van Dyke) did see, was a black boy walking down the street... having audacity to ignore the police," McMahon said.
Van Dyke's lead attorney Dan Herbert countered: "Race had absolutely nothing to do with this."
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For the AP's complete coverage of the Jason Van Dyke case: https://apnews.com/tag/LaquanMcDonald
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke listens while attorneys step before Judge Vincent Gaughan bench, as the jury has sent another question to Judge Gaughan, who read it aloud from the bench during deliberations in Van Dyke's trial at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in Chicago. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct in the shooting of Laquan McDonald. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke smiles as he listens to his attorney as the jury has sent another question to Judge Vincent Gaughan bench, who read it aloud from the bench during deliberations in Van Dyke's trial at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in Chicago. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct in the shooting of Laquan McDonald. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
A tombstone marks the grave of Laquan McDonald at the Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Ill., on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, as jurors continued deliberations in the trial of the Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot and killed McDonald in 2014. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
A tombstone marks the grave of Laquan McDonald at the Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Ill., on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, as jurors continued deliberations in the trial of the Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot and killed McDonald in 2014. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
A tombstone marks the grave of Laquan McDonald at the Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Ill., on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, as jurors continued deliberations in the trial of the Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot and killed McDonald in 2014. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2015 file photo, marchers protest the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, in Chicago. The city of Chicago is watching closely for word of a verdict in the case of Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke charged with murder in the 2014 shooting of McDonald. The Chicago Police Department has canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2015 file photo, Chicago police officers line up outside the District 1 central headquarters during a protest of the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, in Chicago. The city of Chicago is watching closely for word of a verdict in the case of Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke charged with murder in the 2014 shooting of McDonald. The Chicago Police Department has canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2015 file photo, a man holds a sign with a photo of Laquan McDonald on it, during a protest of the police shooting 17-year-old McDonald, in Chicago. The city of Chicago is watching closely for word of a verdict in the case of Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke charged with murder in the 2014 shooting of McDonald. The Chicago Police Department has canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty, File)
ISTANBUL (AP) - The Washington Post is printing a blank column in its newspaper in solidarity with a Saudi contributor who has gone missing while on a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
The Post's column in Friday's edition about writer Jamal Khashoggi bears the headline: "A missing voice."
Separately, the Post's editorial board called on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to ensure Khashoggi "is free and able to continue his work."
Khashoggi, who has been living in self-imposed exile in the U.S., has written columns critical of the upstart prince for the Post.
Khashoggi disappeared Tuesday. The Saudi Consulate insists he left its building, contradicting Turkish officials who say they believe he is still there. Turkey summoned the Saudi ambassador Thursday over the writer's disappearance.
A security guard closes the entrance to a blocked road leading to the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul insisted Thursday that a missing Saudi contributor to The Washington Post left its building before disappearing, 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 U.S. while writing columns critical of the kingdom and its policies under upstart Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
A security guard walks behind barriers blocking the road leading to the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul insisted Thursday that Jamal Khashoggi, a missing Saudi contributor to The Washington Post, left its building before disappearing, directly contradicting Turkish officials who say they believe the writer is still inside. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
A Turkish police officer patrols outside the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018. A Saudi journalist who has written Washington Post columns critical of the kingdom's assertive crown prince has gone missing after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, the newspaper said Wednesday, raising concerns over his safety. Khashoggi, 59, is a longtime Saudi journalist, foreign correspondent, editor and columnist whose work has been controversial in the past in the ultraconservative Sunni kingdom. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2015, file photo, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi speaks during a press conference in Manama, Bahrain. The Washington Post said Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, it was concerned for the safety of Khashoggi, a columnist for the newspaper, after he apparently went missing after going to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - "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.
- "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.
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. (AP Photo/Matt York)
- 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.
"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.
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.
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.
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Associated Press writers Ashraf Khalil, Juliet Linderman, Mary Clare Jalonick and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
Protesters against Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh are arrested by Capitol Hill Police in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Protesters march toward the Supreme Court as they demonstrate against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, arrives to view the FBI report on sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks about the FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., with actress and comedian Amy Schumer, right, and actress model Emily Ratajkowski, center, speaks at a rally against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at the Supreme Court in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
FILE - 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. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
JERUSALEM (AP) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been sidelined, isolated and humiliated by the Trump administration. But the embattled Palestinian leader may have the final say in determining the fate of the White House's long-awaited vision for Mideast peace.
In recent weeks, Abbas has thwarted a series of internationally backed initiatives aimed at rehabilitating the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
With Gaza expected to be the centerpiece of the U.S. peace plan, Abbas has given himself a virtual veto over the expected American initiative. The deadlock over Gaza appears to be a key reason behind the repeated delays in unveiling the plan.
For all of its talk about bringing a new approach to Middle East diplomacy, the Trump White House is running into a familiar obstacle: the Hamas militant group's continued control over Gaza.
ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistani authorities say they are in talks with Saudi Arabia to launch several mega projects, including construction of an oil refinery at the country's southwestern Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea coast.
Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan says the country's Cabinet on Thursday approved the refinery proposal with help from Saudi state oil giant Aramco.
A Saudi delegation will arrive here soon to discuss the multibillion-dollar investment in energy-related projects in Pakistan.
The development comes just weeks after Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Saudi Arabia on his first official overseas trip.
The agreements may irk Tehran as Iran is Saudi Arabia's regional foe.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani police say unidentified gunmen have shot and killed the senior leader of a Sunni extremist group along with his guard in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Local police official Javed Iqbal says no one claimed responsibility for the attack that killed Ismail Darvesh before dawn Friday on the outskirts of the city. He said officers are searching for the attackers.
Iqbal said Darvesh was senior leader of Pakistan's radical Sunni militant Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat party, which is an offshoot of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan.
He is the former regional head of Sipah-e-Sahaba, an anti-Shiite party. It reviles Shiite Muslims as heretics and has been accused of violent attacks against them.
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli police are questioning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a 12th time as part of their investigations into corruption allegations.
Investigators arrived Friday at Netanyahu's official residence in Jerusalem as protesters gathered outside with a large banner bearing Netanyahu's face and the words "crime minister" and chanting slogans calling for justice.
Media reported that Netanyahu is to be questioned concerning two corruptions cases in which police have already recommended indictments. One involves allegedly taking gifts from billionaires, and the second involves trading positive media coverage for legislation to weaken a free daily newspaper.
Police had no immediate comment.
Netanyahu was last questioned by police in August concerning a corruption case involving Israel's telecom giant.
The prime minister has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the accusations as a media "witch hunt."
BOSTON (AP) - Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has announced plans to redevelop the old Navy yard in Boston that's home to the USS Constitution, the world's oldest commissioned warship still afloat.
Zinke and Navy Secretary Richard Spencer visited the Charlestown Navy Yard on Friday to tout the approval of $3 million in federal money for the effort.
The money will help address long-deferred maintenance, as well as the design of a new museum and visitor center in an old warehouse near the entrance.
The yard dates to 1800 and is one of the Navy's original yards.
Besides housing "Old Ironsides," the site also has a World War II-era destroyer and a museum dedicated to the USS Constitution, which was built in Boston in 1797.
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, N.J. (AP) - A lifeguard at a beach in New Jersey where three people died when the sand collapsed under their feet as they walked along the shoreline said a year later that "we know it's going to happen again."
North Wildwood lifeguard Lt. David Lindsay made the admission in a secretly recorded conversation played in court Friday as a judge weighed whether to dismiss a lawsuit concerning one of the deaths.
The city and state want a judge to dismiss the lawsuit from the family of Brad Smith, of Horhsam, Pennsylvania, who died in 2012. He will decide within three weeks.
Smith was walking in ankle-deep water with his daughter when the sand collapsed, plunging them into the swirling waters. A passer-by on a personal watercraft rescued the girl, but Smith drowned.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - The Situation has been sentenced to eight months in prison for tax fraud.
A federal judge pronounced the sentence Friday for the "Jersey Shore" star, whose real name is Michael Sorrentino, shortly after his brother Marc received a two-year sentence on the same charge.
Both brothers pleaded guilty in January. They were charged in 2014 with tax offenses related to nearly $9 million in income.
Michael Sorrentino's attorneys had sought probation, while prosecutors wanted a sentence of 14 months.
He appeared on all six seasons of the reality show that ran from 2009 to 2012 and followed the lives of rowdy housemates in the New Jersey town of Seaside Heights.
Michael Sorrentino apologized to the court during brief remarks and said he has overcome substance abuse.
BERLIN (AP) - Factory orders in Germany, Europe's largest economy, rose strongly in August after two months of declines, boosted by strong foreign demand from outside the eurozone.
The Economy Ministry said Friday that orders rose 2 percent in August over July, in seasonally and calendar adjusted figures. That follows a 0.9 percent drop in July and a 3.9 percent drop in June.
Orders are still down 2.1 percent on the year but ING economist Carsten Brzeski says the figures support his forecast of solid German growth in the second half of 2018.
Domestic orders dropped 2.9 percent in August, but that was offset by a 5.8 percent rise in foreign orders.
Foreign orders from countries using the euro currency dropped 2.2 percent, but those from non-eurozone countries rose 11.1 percent.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Authorities in South Africa are investigating a collision between two trains that left more than 300 people injured, 32 of them seriously.
The crash occurred late Thursday on the outskirts of Johannesburg when one train hit another that was stationary. Rail officials were working on Friday to clear the area.
Commuter rail crashes have been worryingly common in South Africa's commercial hub in recent months.
Two trains collided in a Johannesburg suburb last month with about 100 people injured, none seriously. And in January more than 200 people were injured on the city's outskirts when one commuter train rear-ended another that had failed as a result of a technical problem.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Somalia's government has issued a sharp "no" to the candidacy of a high-level al-Shabab defector for a regional presidency.
A statement by the internal security ministry says Mukhtar Robow is not eligible to run for the leadership of the South West region because he is still under sanctions.
Robow is the highest-ranking official to have ever quit the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab. He surrendered to the government last year after the United States cancelled a $5 million reward offered for his capture.
Robow announced his candidacy for the regional presidency this week.
He caused a minor sensation shortly after the massive truck bombing in Mogadishu a year ago when photos showed him donating blood for victims. He also called the bombing that killed well over 500 people an "irreligious" and "heartless" act.
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian authorities say an imprisoned Ukrainian filmmaker has stopped a hunger strike that lasted 144 days.
Oleg Sentsov opposed Russia's annexation of his native Crimea in 2014. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2015 for conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism. Sentsov denied the charged and called his prosecution a political vendetta.
Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service said on Friday that Sentsov decided to stop the hunger strike that he has been on since May.
The Tass news agency quoted the service's deputy director, Valery Maximenko, as saying Sentsov accepted the pleas of prison doctors and his lawyers who had been asking him to stop. Sentsov's lawyer said last month that the hunger strike has irreversibly damaged Sentsov's health.
TOKYO (AP) - Japan has announced it won't send a warship to an international fleet review hosted by South Korea next week after Seoul requested the removal of the Japanese navy's "rising sun" flag.
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Friday that Japan notified the South Korean government of its decision.
Many South Koreans see the flag as a symbol of Japan's World War II aggression, and protested its use during the Oct. 10-14 event near Jeju island.
Japanese officials say the flag, portraying a red sun with 16 rays extending outward, is mandatory under Japan's laws and is recognized as identification for the Japanese military under an international maritime convention.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha had urged Japan to consider how South Koreans remember its brutal 1905-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
HONG KONG (AP) - The Financial Times said Friday that Hong Kong's government has refused to renew the work visa of its Asia news editor, in what human rights activists say is the latest sign of a deteriorating human rights situation in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
The London-based newspaper said in a statement Friday that it was given no reason why Victor Mallet's application was rejected.
"This is the first time we have encountered this situation in Hong Kong," the paper said in an emailed statement.
Mallet is vice president of Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club, an institution dating back more than 75 years ago to when the Asian financial hub was a British colony.
The club recently drew criticism from the authorities for hosting a talk by the leader of a now-banned pro-Hong Kong independence party. It was unclear whether there was a connection between that event and the denial of Mallet's visa.
However, Maya Wang, Human Rights Watch's senior China researcher based in Hong Kong, said in a statement that the rejection of Mallet's visa was "shocking and unprecedented" and showed growing intolerance for views unpopular with authorities.
The rejection "smacks of Beijing-style persecution of critics" and, together with the banning of the Hong Kong National Party, "indicates a quickening downward spiral for human rights in Hong Kong," she said.
Reached by telephone, a spokesman for Hong Kong's immigration department, speaking on routine condition of anonymity, said the department had no immediate comment on the reports.
Jason Y. Ng, president of the Hong Kong branch of the international writer's group PEN, said the visa rejection "appears to be naked retaliation by the authorities to punish the FCC.
"This will have an immediate chilling effect on freedom of expression in the city" that would "directly harm Hong Kong's image as an open, 'world' city that abides by the rule of law," Ng said.
The visa rejection is likely to raise further questions about Beijing's growing influence in the territory. It was promised semi-autonomy as part of its 1997 handover from British rule. Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials have warned separatist activity would not be tolerated, calling any challenge to Beijing's authority a "red line" not to be crossed.
The perception that Beijing is undermining Hong Kong's free elections and freedom of speech is inspiring young activists to calling for greater autonomy, if not outright independence.
Huge pro-democracy protests erupted in 2014 in response to the decision by China's ruling Communist Party to retain the right to effectively pre-screen candidates for Hong Kong's leadership.
BERLIN (AP) - A German court has ruled that a man serving a life sentence for killing an eating an acquaintance in a case that appalled the country can't be released early.
Armin Meiwes was convicted of murder and sentenced to life at a 2006 retrial that capped a long legal saga. He had argued that the death in 2001 of Bernd Juergen Brandes, who he said answered an internet post seeking a young man for "slaughter and consumption," should be classified as a mercy killing.
It is customary in Germany for people sentenced to life to be released after serving 15 years. But a court in Kassel rejected his release, and the Frankfurt state court on Friday rejected Meiwes' appeal.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday in a corruption case that has badly tainted his status as the country's first leader with a business background who once symbolized the country's economic rise.
Lee's conviction came six months after his successor and fellow conservative Park Geun-hye was convicted in a separate corruption scandal that triggered the country's greatest political turmoil in decades. She is serving a 33-year prison term. The back-to-back scandals severely wounded conservatives in South Korea and deepened a national divide.
Few past South Korean leaders are free from corruption scandals. Before Lee and Park, former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun jumped to his death in 2009 amid a high-profile corruption investigation of his family. His liberal predecessor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung was forced to apologize at the close of his term after all three of his sons were arrested or embroiled in scandals.
On Friday, Seoul Central District Court convicted Lee of embezzling 24.6 billion won ($21.7 million) from a company he owned called DAS; taking bribes from Samsung, one of his spy chiefs, a former lawmaker and a financial figure; and causing losses to state coffers. The court fined Lee 13 billion won ($11.5 million). It said Lee committed those crimes before and during his presidency, from 2008 to 2013.
The court said Lee took 6.1 billion won ($5.4 million) from Samsung in bribes that were used in legal expenses for DAS. That money led to a 2009 government pardon of Samsung's convicted chairman, Lee Kun-hee, the court verdict said. The Samsung chief had been earlier fined and sentenced to a suspended three-year prison term in connection with losses at a Samsung affiliate and tax evasion.
Lee Myung-bak "has bitterly disappointed not only citizens who trusted and supported him but also our entire country," chief judge Chung Kye-Sun said in a televised verdict.
FILE - In this March 14, 2018, file photo, former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrives for questioning over bribery allegations at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seoul, South Korea. A South Korean court has sentenced former President Lee to 15 years in prison over a slew of corruption charges. The Seoul Central District Court issued the sentence on Friday, Oct. 5, after convicting Lee of bribery, embezzlement and other charges.(Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Lee, 76, who has denied most of the allegations, didn't attend the court session, reportedly citing his health and in protest of a court decision to allow a live broadcast. His lawyer said the broadcast would hurt South Korea's international image and undermine national unity, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Lee and prosecutors have one week to appeal, according to the court.
Before serving as president, Lee was one of the most famous businessmen in South Korea and had been mayor of Seoul.
He joined Hyundai Group's construction arm 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.
Lee, who once peddled cheap snacks and ice cream on the streets as a poor teenager, started at Hyundai with an entry-level job but eventually rose to CEOs of 10 companies under Hyundai Group. He was dubbed a "salaryman legend" or a "bulldozer," and his success story was chronicled in popular TV dramas.
While serving as Seoul mayor from 2002 to 2006, Lee further built up his can-do image by pushing through an ambitious yet tough project to demolish an inter-city highway and open up a paved-over stream to create a new landmark in central Seoul.
Lee won the 2007 election by the widest margin in South Korean history at the time owing to public hope that he could revitalize the faltering economy. But his five-year term was marred by a global financial meltdown, massive street protests over the resumption of imports of U.S. beef and a rising military animosity with North Korea.
Before his arrest, Lee accused the current liberal government of President Moon Jae-in of retaliating over the 2009 death of Roh, whose corruption investigation occurred when Lee was in office. Moon, who was Roh's friend and chief of staff, responded with fury, calling his accusation a challenge to South Korea's judiciary order. Previously, Moon called the Roh investigation politically motivated by the Lee government.
Moon, who has a public approval rating of about 65 percent, faces growing conservative criticism that he's done little to revive the economy while focusing too much on engaging with North Korea and digging out wrongdoing committed under the Lee and Park governments.
Park supporters have been regularly staging rallies in Seoul, calling for her release. They revere her dictator father Park Chung-hee, whose 1961-79 rule was marked by both severe human rights abuses and dramatic economic development.
After the elder Park was gunned down by his spy chief, ex-military generals Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo ruled successively. After leaving office, both spent time in jail on bribery, treason, munity and other charges.
NEW DELHI (AP) - India signed a $5 billion deal to buy five Russian S-400 air defense systems on Friday despite a looming threat of U.S. sanctions on countries that trade with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors.
The deal was signed in New Delhi during a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss nuclear energy, space exploration and trade.
India has requested that the U.S. grant it a waiver for the deal from sanctions prescribed by the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, a U.S. law passed in August 2017 that is intended to punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea and alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.
The U.S. did not spare China from sanctions last month for purchasing its own Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems and fighter jets.
If the U.S. does impose sanctions on India, it is unclear how India could pay Russia for the military equipment, since the law bars dollar-denominated financial transactions.
Jinnie Lee, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, declined to comment on whether India would be granted a waiver, but said in a statement that the sanctions were "not intended to impose damage to the military capabilities of our allies or partners."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, hugs Russian President Vladimir Putin before their meeting in New Delhi, India, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Putin arrived in India on Thursday for a two-day visit during which India is expected to sign a $5 billion deal to buy Russian S-400 air defense systems despite a new U.S. law ordering sanctions on any country trading with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors. (Yuri Kadobnov/Pool Photo via AP)
Officials with India's external affairs and defense ministries confirmed the deal was signed after Putin and Modi made no reference to it during a news conference following their talks.
An 11-page joint statement made only passing mention, saying that "the two sides welcomed the conclusion of the contract."
The deal will likely bolster the close relationship between India and Russia that dates back to the Cold War, when the U.S. tilted toward Pakistan, India's neighbor and archrival. But it is also likely to strain ties with Washington.
India is the world's largest importer of military hardware, according to Mumbai-based think tank Gateway House, and has depended on Russia for political support as well as billions of dollars in military hardware. Nearly 70 percent of India's present-day defense equipment was procured from Russia, according to India's Defense Ministry.
India's acquisition of the S-400 long-range missile systems has been considered critical to countering a perceived threat from China, which is increasingly making economic inroads throughout South Asia, India's traditional sphere of influence, according to military experts.
"It gives the capability to destroy targets inside another country. It's a very important capability," said retired Indian air force Air Marshal Nirdosh Tyagi.
India has also developed closer defense ties to the U.S. in recent years with joint military drills and defense sales.
India has signed more than $15 billion in U.S. defense contracts since 2008, including for C-130J and C-17 transport aircraft, P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, Harpoon missiles and Apache and Chinook helicopters.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, hugs Russian President Vladimir Putin before their meeting in New Delhi, India, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Putin arrived in India on Thursday for a two-day visit during which India is expected to sign a $5 billion deal to buy Russian S-400 air defense systems despite a new U.S. law ordering sanctions on any country trading with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors. (Yuri Kadobnov/Pool Photo via AP)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive for a meeting in New Delhi, India, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Putin arrived in India on Thursday for a two-day visit during which India is expected to sign a $5 billion deal to buy Russian S-400 air defense systems despite a new U.S. law ordering sanctions on any country trading with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors. (Yuri Kadobnov/Pool Photo via AP)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An Afghan official says at least four civilians - a child and three women - were killed by "friendly fire" when the Afghan air force staged an airstrike in southern Kandahar province.
Aziz Ahmad Azizi, provincial governor's spokesman, says eight others, including a child and seven women, were wounded in Thursday night's strike, which had targeted Taliban insurgents.
Azizi says Taliban fighters attacked villages in Mahrof district but faced strong resistance by police. He said one police was killed and three others wounded.
Ten Taliban were killed and eight were wounded in the battle, Azizi said. After that, the insurgents hid in people's houses, leading to civilian casualties in the airstrike.
The Taliban have not commented, but the insurgents are active in the district and often target Afghan forces.
BERLIN (AP) - A former SS guard is to go on trial in Germany on charges of accessory to murder for serving at the Nazis' Stutthof concentration camp.
The 94-year-old, who hasn't been identified due to German privacy laws, is accused of working as a guard at the camp from June 1942 to the beginning of September 1944.
Dortmund prosecutor Andreas Brendel said Friday that though he's not linked to a specific crime at the camp, the fact that more than 60,000 people were killed in Stutthof made him an accessory to at least hundreds of the killings.
Brendel says the suspect, whose trial starts Nov. 6 in Muenster state court, admits serving at Stutthof but was unaware of the killings and didn't participate.
FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2018 photo activists light candles in front of police officers in the Hambach forest in Kerpen, western Germany. On Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 a German court has ordered a temporary halt to plans to fell part of a forest in the west of the country to allow the expansion of a coal mine. (Oliver Berg/dpa via AP)
PARIS (AP) - The president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to his native China, a French judicial official said Friday.
Meng Hongwei's wife reported Friday that she had not heard from her 64-year-old husband since the end of September, when 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 official said Meng did arrive in China.
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 specified that Interpol's secretary general, and not its president, is responsible for the international police agency's operations.
There was no further word on Meng's schedule in China or what prompted his wife to wait until now to report his absence.
Meng was elected president of Interpol in November 2016. His term runs until 2020.
FILE - In this July 4, 2017 file photo, Interpol President, Meng Hongwei, delivers his opening address at the Interpol World congress in Singapore. A French judicial official says Friday Oct.5, 2018 the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to China. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
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.
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'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.
Xi has also placed a premium on obtaining the return of officials and businesspeople accused of fraud and corruption from abroad, making Meng's position all the more sensitive.
When Meng was elected in 2016 as Interpol president, rights groups expressed concern that he would pursue an agenda of politicized policing that targeted Xi's opponents.
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Bodeen reported from Beijing.
FILE - In this July 4, 2017 file photo, Interpol President, Meng Hongwei, walks toward the stage to deliver his opening address at the Interpol World congress in Singapore. A French judicial official says Friday Oct.5, 2018 the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to China. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
FILE - In this July 4, 2017 file photo, Interpol President, Meng Hongwei, delivers his opening address at the Interpol World congress in Singapore. A French judicial official says Friday Oct.5, 2018 the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to China. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - A court in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City has sentenced five activists to up to 15 years in prison after finding them guilty of running a political group that worked to overthrow the country's Communist one-party rule.
The official Vietnam News Agency said group leader Luu Van Vinh was convicted of attempting to overthrow the "people's administration" and sentenced to 15 years in prison in the one-day trial Friday. It said four others received sentences of eight to 13 years. They were also given three years of house arrest after their release from prison.
The agency said Vinh was leader of "Vietnam National Coalition," which was formed in October 2016, and they were arrested three weeks later at its official launch.
International human rights groups have called for their release.
ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan has ordered 18 international aid organizations to close, threatening the assistance they provide to some of the country's most vulnerable, say international aid workers.
There was no official explanation from the new government Friday and there was no response to queries about the closures from the Interior Ministry, which issued the order. The Information Ministry and Foreign Ministry also did not respond to The Associated Press requests for comments.
The organizations have been given 60 days to wrap up their operations, said Imran Yusuf Shami, country director for Plan International, whose organization was told its registration had been denied. Headquartered in Britain, Plan International is a global organization that focuses on education and child rights.
Shami said the closures will hurt hundreds of thousands of Pakistan's neediest people.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The Latest on Melania Trump's visit to Africa (all times local):
5:05 p.m.
Melania Trump has met with Kenyan first lady Margaret Kenyatta for tea.
Mrs. Trump is on her first extended solo international trip as U.S. first lady and her first visit to Africa. After having tea with Kenyatta on Friday she attended a children's dance performance at the National Theater in Nairobi.
Earlier Friday, Mrs. Trump sashayed to the beat of African music while being welcomed to an orphanage. She had opened the Kenya portion of her visit by feeding baby elephants at Nairobi National Park and going on a safari.
Egypt will be the next and final stop on her Africa tour. She previously visited Ghana and Malawi.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump, center, and Kenya's first lady Margaret Kenyatta, center right, pose for photographs on stage next to Kenyan dancers as they attend a children's performance at the Kenya National Theater in Nairobi, Kenya Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Mrs. Trump is on her first-ever visit to Africa and her first extended solo international trip as first lady. (Dai Kurokawa/Pool via AP)
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2:50 p.m.
Melania Trump has sashayed to the beat of African music while being welcomed to an orphanage in Kenya.
Children living at The Nest in Nairobi greeted her Friday with singing and dancing, and it didn't take long before the typically reserved U.S. first lady gave in to the moment. She walked up a pathway holding hands with two children and then began to sashay to the beat as she approached the building.
Mrs. Trump is on her first extended solo international trip as first lady.
She opened the Kenya portion of her visit earlier Friday by feeding baby elephants at Nairobi National Park and going on a safari. She plans to meet with Kenya's first lady and take in a performance at Nairobi National Theater.
Egypt will be the next and final stop on her Africa tour. She previously visited Ghana and Malawi.
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9 a.m.
Melania Trump is visiting a national park in Kenya to highlight animal conservation efforts.
The U.S. first lady arrived at Nairobi National Park on Friday to learn about steps the east African nation is taking to conserve elephants and rhinos. She'll also go on a quick safari.
Mrs. Trump plans to visit with children at an orphanage and take in a children's performance later Friday at Nairobi National Theater.
She is on her first-ever visit to Africa and her first extended solo international trip as first lady. Mrs. Trump opened the trip Tuesday in Ghana and visited Malawi on Thursday.
Egypt is the final stop on a four-nation tour of the continent to highlight child welfare, education and tourism and conservation.
First lady Melania Trump and Margaret Kenyatta, the wife of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, shake hands as first lady Melania Trump arrives at the State House in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Mrs. Trump is visiting Africa on her first big solo international trip.. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
First lady Melania Trump and Margaret Kenyatta, the wife of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, shake hands as first lady Melania Trump arrives at the State House in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Mrs. Trump is visiting Africa on her first big solo international trip.. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
U.S. first lady Melania Trump, center, and Kenya's first lady Margaret Kenyatta, left, pose for a photograph with Kenyan children after attending a children's performance at the Kenya National Theater in Nairobi, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Mrs. Trump is on her first-ever visit to Africa and her first extended solo international trip as first lady. (Dai Kurokawa/Pool via AP)
First lady Melania Trump observes zebras during a safari at Nairobi National Park in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Mrs. Trump is visiting Africa on her first big solo international trip, aiming to make child well-being the focus of a five-day, four-country tour. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
8:20 p.m.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she opposes Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh but will ask to be recorded as "present" during Saturday's confirmation vote to accommodate another GOP senator who will be at his daughter's wedding in Montana.
Senators often partner like that to allow an absence without affecting the outcome. Murkowski's vote will allow Sen. Steve Daines to walk his daughter down the aisle.
The Alaska Republican was laying out her reasons late Friday for opposing Kavanaugh, a decision she called "agonizing."
She said she was "truly leaning" toward confirming the judge. But after watching his testimony, she could not in her conscience conclude "that he is the right person" for the court at this time.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks to members of the media after a vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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7 p.m.
Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor are raising concerns about partisanship on the high court.
Kagan and Sotomayor spoke Friday at an event at Princeton University.
Without mentioning President Donald Trump or Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the justices responded to a question about the politics of the moment.
Kagan says there had traditionally been a "middle" of the court and it's not clear there will be going forward. She says it's important for the court to guard its legitimacy, or the public could lose respect for it.
Sotomayor says it's important for the justices to rise above partisanship and treat one another with respect and dignity.
Kagan and Sotomayor are both Princeton graduates. Both were appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama. Sotomayor was appointed and confirmed in 2009. Kagan joined the court in 2010.
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4:30 p.m.
Sarah Palin is insinuating she could mount a primary challenge against Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski if she opposes Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
In a tweet Friday, Palin wrote "Hey @lisamurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house."
The tweet was a reference to an infamous "Saturday Night Live" skit in which Tina Fey, portraying Palin, said she could see Russia from her house.
Murkowski is next up for re-election in 2022. She hasn't officially said she would vote against Kavanaugh, but opposed a procedural vote related to the nomination earlier Friday. She later told reporters it's time to think "about the credibility and integrity of our institutions."
Palin is a former Alaska governor and was GOP presidential candidate John McCain's running mate in 2008.
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3:58 p.m.
The remaining undecided Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin, says he will support Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The West Virginia senator announced his decision moments after the remaining undecided Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said she would vote to confirm the nominee.
Kavanaugh is now set to have the votes needed to be confirmed. A vote is expected Saturday.
Manchin says he has reservations because of the sexual misconduct accusations against Kavanaugh and the judge's temperament in denying them. But he says in a statement he is casting his vote on "what is best for West Virginia."
Amid a divisive confirmation that has split the Senate and the nation, Manchin says he hopes Kavnaugh "will not allow the partisan nature this process took to follow him onto the court."
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3:51 p.m.
Sen. Susan Collins will vote yes on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
The Maine Republican announced her decision Friday in Senate speech that was disrupted by protesters before it even began and met with applause when it ended. Her support all but ensures Kavanaugh will be confirmed.
Collins says she does not believe the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh rise to a level to "fairly prevent" him from serving on the court. She says she adheres to a presumption of innocence, and does not believe they reached a threshold of certainty.
Collins has never opposed a Supreme Court nominee, confirming the past five justices from Republican and Democratic presidents.
Kavanaugh cleared a key procedural vote to advance his nomination earlier Friday. A final confirmation vote is expected Saturday.
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2:15 p.m.
A federal judge is rejecting an Oregon senator's attempt to force disclosure of more details on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh before a confirmation vote.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Friday turned down an emergency request by Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley asking the court to order the release of more than 100,000 pages related to Kavanaugh's time in the White House Counsel's Office under George W. Bush.
The White House has declined to make the documents available, citing executive privilege. Merkley filed the suit on Sept. 26, but added a fresh motion Wednesday arguing that lack of access to the documents makes it impossible to properly vet Kavanaugh and "has prevented the U.S. Senate from fulfilling its constitutional duties."
Jackson on Friday rejected Merkley's request to accelerate the date of a status hearing set for Tuesday, and then canceled that hearing. Berman suggested that Merkley waited too long to file his motion - nearly a month after the White House announced the pages would be withheld.
The Senate is expected to hold a final Kavanaugh vote on Saturday.
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1 p.m.
Sen. Steve Daines says he'll return to Washington D.C. by private jet on his daughter's wedding day if his vote is needed to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
The Montana Republican said in a statement to The Associated Press that his Republican colleague, Montana congressman Greg Gianforte, "has come to save the day" by offering him use of his private jet.
Daines' daughter is getting married in Montana on Saturday, when the Senate is expected to hold a final vote on Kavanaugh.
A spokeswoman for Daines said he will walk his daughter down the aisle, and Republicans can hold the vote open if they need him.
There are 51 votes required for confirmation. Republicans hold a slim 51-49 majority. Vice President Mike Pence could break a tie.
The Senate on Friday voted to advance Kavanaugh's nomination. A final vote is expected on Saturday afternoon.
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12:35 p.m.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski is strongly suggesting she will vote no on Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court.
The Alaskan told reporters Friday it's time to think "about the credibility and integrity of our institutions."
Murkowski was the lone Republican to vote against advancing Kavanaugh's nomination on Friday. She's one of two Senate Republicans - along with Susan Collins of Maine - who support abortion rights.
Kavanaugh could tip the court's balance toward conservatives for a generation.
Murkowski's spokeswoman could not immediately confirm she will oppose Kavanaugh on the final vote but indicated it appeared that way.
Murkowski is fiercely independent senator known for bucking her party. She acknowledged she's made "some interesting" votes in her political career.
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12:20 p.m.
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake said he will vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh "unless something big changes."
But Flake added that he doesn't expect anything to change. He was one of a handful of senators who hadn't said how he would vote on Kavanaugh.
He said it was a hard decision and "a difficult decision for everybody."
Flake predicted that Kavanaugh will be confirmed when the Senate votes on Saturday.
Last week Flake forced his fellow Republicans to order an expanded FBI investigation on sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh. Flake and other senators read that confidential FBI report Thursday. Republicans said it showed that the allegations weren't corroborated.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
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Noon
The nation's largest legal organization is reopening its evaluation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh based on his performance during a Senate hearing last week.
The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary said Friday it's revisiting its evaluation based on "new information of a material nature regarding temperament." It said it was unlikely the process will conclude before the Senate votes on Kavanaugh's nomination.
Kavanaugh touted his "well-qualified" rating from the ABA committee during angry, emotional testimony last week, in which he denied sexual misconduct allegations.
Democrats have questioned whether he has the temperament for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.
The ABA was among the organizations that had called for an FBI investigation of allegations against Kavanaugh. That probe was completed this week.
Friday's letter says the original "well-qualified" rating stands, for now.
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11:10 a.m.
President Donald Trump is praising the Senate for pushing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh past a key procedural hurdle.
Trump tweeted Friday: "Very proud of the U.S. Senate for voting "YES" to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!"
The chamber voted 51-49 to move forward with Trump's nominee. A final vote on Kavanaugh's nomination could occur over the weekend.
White House aides and allies expressed cautious optimism Friday.
Trump, who framed the nomination as a rallying issue for Republican voters at a Thursday night rally, has been keeping in close contact with staff and Republican allies in the Senate, the White House indicated.
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10:55 a.m.
The Senate has pushed Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court past a key procedural hurdle.
The chamber voted 51-49 to move forward with President Donald Trump's nominee.
A final vote on Kavanaugh's nomination could occur over the weekend.
There's no guarantee that the senators who supported moving forward will back Kavanaugh on the final vote. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who voted to advance Kavanaugh, said she will announce her decision on confirmation later Friday. Also voting to move the nomination forward was Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who had been undecided. But Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted against moving the nomination forward.
Kavanaugh's nomination has been imperiled by accusations of sexual misconduct. He forcefully denied the allegations.
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10:35 a.m.
The Senate has begun a procedural vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
Several senators have not said how they will vote: Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Kavanaugh's nomination will need 51 votes to advance. If there's a tie, Vice President Pence is expected to cast the decisive vote in Kavanaugh's favor.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has pushed to get Kavanaugh confirmed this week, said he was "feeling good" ahead of the vote.
Senators have been wrestling with the findings of an FBI background investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh. He forcefully denied the allegations.
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10:30 a.m.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says she will vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination in Friday's procedural vote.
Collins told reporters she is "voting yes on proceeding to the final confirmation vote" and will announce her decision on confirmation later Friday.
Collins was one of three Republicans seen as undecided on Kavanaugh's nomination.
Kavanaugh has denied allegations of sexual misconduct in high school and college.
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10:20 a.m.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says Republicans have only themselves to blame for the hurdles in Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. Schumer said Friday, "They have a flawed nominee."
The New York Democrat called it a "shameful culmination" of a process that started when Republicans refused to consider Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's nominee for a seat on the court.
Schumer blamed Republicans' "scorched earth tactics" as they try to put conservatives on the bench.
Senators are poised to vote Friday to advance Kavanaugh's nomination ahead of a final confirmation vote over the weekend.
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10:14 a.m.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein says Brett Kavanaugh's testimony before the Judiciary Committee was "so shocking" it makes him unfit to serve on the Supreme Court.
The California Democrat said that the judge's behavior showed "a man filled with anger and aggression." She said that revealed a temperament and lack of impartiality that's unbecoming for the high court. She spoke on the Senate floor ahead of a Friday procedural vote.
Feinstein is the top Democrat on the committee and made her remarks as the Senate opened for a key test vote to advance Kavnaugh's nomination.
Feinstein says Kavanaugh has not "earned" his seat.
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10 a.m.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has urged his colleagues to say no to "mob rule" and vote to move Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination forward.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said on the Senate floor ahead of Friday's procedural vote, "This should have been a respectable and dignified confirmation process." He says in a previous era a nominee as highly qualified as Kavanaugh would have received unanimous support in the Senate.
Grassley says an FBI investigation "found no hint of misconduct" by Kavanaugh, who has denied a California college professor's allegations he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers.
Grassley blames "left-wing outside groups" and "left-wing dark money" for trying to derail Kavanaugh's nomination. He says what they did to sully Kavanaugh's reputation was "nothing short of monstrous."
Democrats say Republicans have tried to rush the process.
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9:50 a.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's "feeling good" ahead of a crucial Senate vote to advance the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
McConnell made the short comment Friday to reporters as he walked to the Senate floor as the chamber opened.
Key GOP senators have not yet said their positions less than an hour before voting. McConnell has little room for error in the narrowly divided Senate with a 51-49 GOP majority. The Senate is set to vote at 10:30 a.m.
Republicans can rely on Vice President Mike Pence to break a tie, but that has never happened for a Supreme Court nominee, according to the Senate Historical Office.
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9:40 a.m.
President Donald Trump is criticizing female protesters who confronted senators over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Trump is calling them "paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad."
Trump tweeted Friday about the women flooding Capitol Hill to oppose Kavanaugh. Trump described the women as "rude elevator screamers" and said they have "professionally made identical signs."
The Senate will take a crucial vote Friday on whether to move Kavanaugh's nomination forward. The nominee has denied allegations of sexual misconduct from high school and college.
Senators have been confronted by protesters, some of whom who are members or paid staffers for activist groups. Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake was challenged by two women as he entered an elevator last week. Several 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.
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8:20 a.m.
The No. 2 Senate Democrat says an op-ed written by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on the eve of a Senate vote left him unconvinced that Kavanaugh is qualified for the court. Sen. Dick Durbin says he still believes Kavanaugh doesn't have the temperament and is too partisan.
The Illinois Democrat told CBS' "This Morning" on Friday that Kavanaugh's op-ed, in which he conceded being "very emotional" in his Senate testimony was unpersuasive.
Durbin says he understands that "this has to be a terrible ordeal" for Kavanaugh and his family, but adds: "The fire in his eyes when he turned into this partisan screed is something I'm not going to forget."
Kavanaugh has denied allegations of sexual assault by California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford, calling them an orchestrated political hit. In an op-ed published Thursday evening in the Wall Street Journal, the 53-year-old judge acknowledged that he became "very emotional" during his Senate Judiciary testimony but is "hardworking" and "even-keeled."
The Senate is poised for a crucial vote Friday on whether to advance Kavanaugh's nomination. Key Republicans remain undecided.
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7:45 a.m.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, who helped broker a deal with Republican Sen. Jeff Flake that led to an expanded FBI background investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, says he doesn't know how Flake or the other undecided senators will vote.
Coons, of Delaware, told ABC's "Good Morning America" Friday that his undecided friends are not returning his phone calls, "and that typically is a way a senator tells you they're busy deciding."
The Senate is poised to take a crucial vote Friday on whether to advance Kavanaugh's nomination amid his denials of allegations of sexual misconduct when he was in high school and college. Flake, of Arizona, and two other Republican senators have not announced how they'll vote. Neither has Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" he doesn't yet know how the vote will come out but respects his fellow senators' decision to keep quiet as they consider what to do.
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1:45 a.m.
The Senate is taking a crucial vote Friday to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. Key GOP senators remain undecided amid allegations of sexual misconduct and intense protests dividing the nation.
The 53-year-old judge made what were in effect closing arguments by acknowledging that he became "very emotional" when forcefully denying the allegations at a Judiciary Committee hearing last week. But in an op-ed published Thursday he insists he remains the same "hardworking, even-keeled" person as always.
Tensions are high at the Capitol, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing ahead with little room for error. Republicans have a slim 51-49 hold on the Senate. A final vote is expected Saturday.
In this image from video provided by Senate TV, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine., speaks on the Senate floor about her vote on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kananaugh, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 in the Capitol in Washington. Sen Shelly Capito, R-W.Va., sits rear left and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., sits right. (Senate TV via AP)
In this image from video provided by Senate TV, the Senate Chamber is shown during a procedural vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, Friday morning, Oct. 5, 2018 at the Capitol in Washington. (Senate TV via AP)
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is followed by members of the media as she walks to the Capitol before a vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, arrives at the chamber for a procedural vote to advance the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
NEW YORK (AP) - Monica Lewinsky is teaming up with celebrities for an anti-bullying campaign that targets name-calling.
Appearing Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Lewinsky says the #DefyTheName campaign calls on people to change their social media names to include the names they were bullied by. Lewinsky says she'll now be known as: Monica Chunky Slut Stalker That Woman Lewinsky."
Lewinsky says she had a long list of names from childhood on. She says name-calling is the most common form of bullying and it's important not to let those names define you.
Lewinsky says organizers want to recreate a community of empathy online.
Lewinsky was a White House intern when she had an affair with President Bill Clinton. Clinton initially denied the affair before admitting to it in 1998.
BERLIN (AP) - A car crashed into a group of people outside a cafe in Berlin on Friday, injuring at least five, German authorities said.
The driver of the car appears to have had health problems, police said. They said there was no indication that it was a terror attack or that the driver otherwise acted intentionally, news agency dpa reported.
The incident happened in the city's western Charlottenburg district. The car drove onto the pavement, hitting several people who were standing or sitting outside a cafe, and also hitting walls and a van.
At least two people had to be taken to a hospital with serious injuries. They included the driver, who police said may have suffered from a heart attack or stroke, or fainted.
PARIS (AP) - The Latest on the disappearance of the president of Interpol, Meng Hongwei (all times local):
6:00 p.m.
A Hong Kong newspaper has cited an anonymous source saying the president of Interpol was taken away for questioning by "discipline authorities," a term that usually describes investigators in the ruling Communist Party who probe graft and political disloyalty.
The South China Morning Post reported Friday that Meng Hongwei was placed under investigation in his native China as soon as he arrived in the country last week.
An Interpol spokesman says the international law enforcement agency is aware of the Post's story, but would not comment on it or say if Chinese authorities had detained the 64-year-old Meng.
Meng's wife says she has not heard from him since he left Lyon, France, where Interpol is headquartered, at the end of September.
FILE - In this July 4, 2017 file photo, Interpol President, Meng Hongwei, walks toward the stage to deliver his opening address at the Interpol World congress in Singapore. A French judicial official says Friday Oct.5, 2018 the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to China. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party's secretive internal investigation agency, had no announcements on its website about Meng and could not be reached for comment.
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2:55 p.m.
Interpol says it's aware of reports that President Meng Hongwei has been reported missing while making a trip to his native China.
The international law enforcement agency based in Lyon, France did not provide details about Meng's disappearance and said in a statement Friday: "This is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China."
Meng's wife reported Friday that she had not heard from him since the end of September, when he left Lyon. French authorities have launched an investigation.
The president of Interpol heads its executive committee. The police organization said in its statement "the day-to-day running of Interpol" is carried out by its secretary general, Jurgen Stock.
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1 p.m.
A French judicial official says the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to his native China,
The official says Meng Hongwei's wife reported Friday that she had not heard from her 64-year-old husband since the end of September, when he left Lyon, France, where Interpol is based. The official said Meng did arrive in China.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of an ongoing investigation.
There was no further word on Meng's schedule in China or what prompted his wife to wait until now to report his absence.
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.
FILE - In this July 4, 2017 file photo, Interpol President, Meng Hongwei, delivers his opening address at the Interpol World congress in Singapore. A French judicial official says Friday Oct.5, 2018 the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to China. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
FILE - In this July 4, 2017 file photo, Interpol President, Meng Hongwei, delivers his opening address at the Interpol World congress in Singapore. A French judicial official says Friday Oct.5, 2018 the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to China. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
BERLIN (AP) - The German government is calling on automakers to pay for upgrades to diesel vehicles with excessively high emissions, as part of a deal to avert driving bans next year.
A spokesman for the environment ministry said Friday that the government "can't tolerate this refusal" by German automakers to shoulder the cost of fixing diesel cars.
The head of Germany's powerful auto lobby group VDI, Bernhard Mattes, had told Deutschlandfunk radio that manufacturers favor giving car owners rebates to buy new vehicles over hardware upgrades to millions of diesel vehicles.
The ministry spokesman, Nikolai Fichtner, told reporters in Berlin that the upgrades have to start "very, very quickly" otherwise car owners may find themselves banned from driving in certain cities from October 2019.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Through the ages, sexual violence has been a savage feature of armed conflict, often systematically inflicted by combatants on girls and women in what the world today defines as a war crime. It happened in the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and in modern times, too: Mass rape occurred in World War II, as it did during the Balkan wars and the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s.
The atrocities unfold as victorious fighters sweep into seized territory, using sexual violence out of a sense of impunity or entitlement or as a way to terrorize and punish communities. International humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, seeks to prevent warring sides from engaging in such abuses.
While the regulation of wartime conduct is inherently difficult, the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday to a Congolese surgeon and an Iraqi woman who speaks out for those like herself who have been raped helps to shine global light on the crimes. Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad are honored for campaigning against sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Officials and military commanders must take the lead in discouraging a culture of sexual violence among combatants under their authority, activists agree. Even the United Nations has struggled with allegations of sexual violence and exploitation against the peacekeepers sent to calm conflicts around the globe.
There have been steps forward. Last month, a military judge in South Sudan sentenced 10 soldiers to prison for a 2016 rampage in which five international aid workers were gang-raped. In December, a military court in eastern Congo sentenced 12 militiamen to life in prison for the gang-rapes of dozens of children as young as 11 months old.
Here are some recent cases in which sexual violence occurred on a large scale during conflict:
File - In this Sunday, April 3, 2016 file photo, activist Nadia Murad, center, speaks during her visit to the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict, " it was announced on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File )
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ISLAMIC STATE GROUP/YAZIDIS
The Yazidi community, one of Iraq's oldest religious minorities, has been subjected to brutal attacks over the centuries. One of the worst occurred when the Islamic State group committed what a United Nations commission of inquiry called genocide and other crimes against the Yazidi in 2014.
The militants swept into Sinjar, the Yazidis' ancestral homeland near the Syrian border, in August 2014 after capturing the northern city of Mosul and declaring an Islamic caliphate in large areas of Iraq and Syria. Tens of thousands of Yazidis escaped to Mount Sinjar, where they were surrounded and besieged. The U.S., Iraq, Britain, France and Australia flew in water and supplies until Kurdish fighters opened a corridor to allow them to flee.
About 5,000 Yazidi men were killed, several thousand are missing and many Yazidi women were captured, taken as sex slaves and subjected to horrific abuse.
This year, The Associated Press interviewed Farida Khalaf, who was 18 when she was captured and sold into slavery and endured four months of rape, torture and beatings until she managed to escape from her Islamic State captors. The AP does not generally identify the victims of sexual assault but Khalaf went public, writing about her experience in "The Girl Who Beat Isis: My Story."
New Nobel winner Murad was among those who fled from IS and told the world about those horrors, addressing the U.N. Security Council in December 2015.
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CONGO
The sprawling central African nation where Nobel laureate Mukwege works was once called "the rape capital of the world" by Margot Wallstrom, then the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict.
"Women have no rights if those who violate their rights go unpunished," Wallstrom said in 2010. "Our aim must be to uphold international law, so that women - even in the war-torn corners of the world - can sleep under the cover of justice."
Yet rape remains a weapon of war and power in Congo, especially in the east, which has seen more than two decades of bloody conflict among armed groups. Some are fighting for control of the country's mineral wealth, intensifying the cycle of violence.
Women have suffered as rebels and soldiers carry out sexual violence and rape. Mukwege and his team have treated thousands of women, many who have been gang-raped. His work made him a target: Armed men tried to kill him in 2012, forcing him to temporarily leave the country.
"There is impunity in rape and violence," Solange Furaha Lwashiga, a women's rights activist in Congo, told the AP.
"Unfortunately, people look for power by dehumanizing people," she said. "Rape is a manner of seeking power and dehumanizing the Congolese societies."
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MYANMAR/ROHINGYA MUSLIMS
Human rights investigators from the United Nations and independent rights groups have highlighted sexual violence as one of the many egregious abuses they accuse Myanmar's military of carrying out against the country's Muslim Rohingya minority.
A report presented last month to the U.N. Human Rights Council recommended that some top Myanmar military leaders be prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Rohingya during a counterinsurgency campaign that followed militant attacks in August 2017 on government security posts in the western state of Rakhine.
It cited allegations of crimes including murder, torture, pillaging, execution without due process, rape, sexual slavery and hostage-taking. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh.
The AP talked to some Rohingya women who said they were raped by soldiers. Some ended pregnancies from the rapes early by taking cheap abortion pills available in refugee camps. Others gave birth to unloved babies; some agonized over whether to give them away. The infants are reminders of the horrors that the women survived. Their community often views rape as shameful, and bearing a baby conceived by Buddhists as sacrilege.
Before she took power in 2016 as Myanmar's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi said the military used rape as a weapon to intimidate ethnic nationalities. Her government, however, denies acting in that manner against the Rohingya.
But the scale of the actions against the Rohingya in a nation that is about 90 percent Buddhist brought the issue into focus.
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Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal and Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed.
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - A Louisiana library's "Drag Queen Story Time" has been postponed indefinitely, as the college that planned to host says it cannot over safety and other concerns.
The Daily Advertiser reports South Louisiana Community College has announced it wouldn't hold the event Saturday afternoon as planned. Interest in the Lafayette Public Library's event was so high that it had been moved to an auditorium at college last week.
The college says in a statement that law enforcement told school officials they were aware of plans to protest. It also says the school has a limited capacity to manage the large crowds anticipated.
Library officials say in a statement they aren't permanently canceling the program and that many families have expressed support. It was planned to have men in drag reading to children.
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Information from: The Advertiser, http://www.theadvertiser.com
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A multiple-murder suspect was captured Friday after a dayslong search involving helicopters and dogs in rugged terrain.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol announced that Kirby Gene Wallace, 53, was taken into custody after the search narrowed to a heavily wooded area of Stewart County where caves and other hiding places abound.
In a tweet, the highway patrol credited Henry County Sheriff Monte Belew and Henry County Corporal Stacey Bostwick for the arrest.
Wallace faces multiple charges after being accused of attacking a couple and setting their house on fire, killing the wife and seriously injuring the husband. He's also accused of fatally shooting a man Monday and stealing his truck.
The search forced nearby schools to go on "soft lockdown" and bus routes were canceled to keep children safe as area residents were warned to stay inside.
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This photo provided by The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows law enforcement agents holding Kirby Wallace in custody on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 in Tennessee. Wallace is wanted on multiple charges after being accused of attacking a couple and setting their house on fire, killing the wife and seriously injuring the husband. He's also accused of fatally shooting a man Monday and stealing his truck. (The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation via AP)
Information from: WTVF-TV, http://www.newschannel5.com
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The Secret Service agent who famously used his body to shield first lady Jacqueline Kennedy the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated will receive the highest honor bestowed by his home state of North Dakota.
Gov. Doug Burgum announced Friday that former agent Clint Hill will receive the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award during a future ceremony at the state Capitol.
Hill was in the Dallas motorcade as a member of the first lady's detail Nov. 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was shot and killed. He leaped onto the back of the presidential limousine to shield the Kennedys from any additional shots. The Treasury Department, which oversaw the Secret Service until 2003, honored him with its highest award for bravery a month after the attack.
Hill says growing up in North Dakota instilled in him the values of hard work, dedication and integrity, and he's honored to be recognized by his home state.
SAO PAULO (AP) - The number of indigenous Brazilians running for office has surged this year at a time when many feel their cultures and lands are more threatened than they have been in decades.
At least 120 indigenous people are running in Sunday's elections for offices at state and federal levels.
The number is a tiny fraction of the more than 25,000 people running overall, but represents a 60 percent increase over the number of candidates in the last elections in 2014.
Indigenous candidate Airy Gaviao says: "We're tired of being invisible. We're tired of people speaking for us. We want a voice."
Only one indigenous person has ever been elected to Brazil's Congress: Mario Juruna from the Xavante people. She served one term in the 1980s.
In this Sept. 15, 2018 photo, Airy Gaviao, an indigenous candidate for the local legislature in the capital of Brasilia, center, holds a campaign rally in the Ceilandia neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. "We're tired of being invisible. We're tired of people speaking for us. We want a voice," said Airy Gaviao, who is from the Gaviao indigenous people from Para state and represents the Socialism and Liberty Party. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In this Sept. 15, 2018 photo, Sonia Guajajara, indigenous candidate for vice president with the Socialism and Liberty Party, puts on her headdress before a campaign rally in the Ceilandia neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. The number of indigenous Brazilians running for office has surged this year, including the first two vice presidential candidates, at a time when many feel their cultures and lands are more threatened than they have been in decades. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In this Sept.13, 2018 photo, Junior Xukuru, an indigenous candidate is running for the lower house of Congress with the Socialism and Liberty Party, hands out pamphlets as he campaigns at a bus station in Brasilia, Brazil. At least 120 indigenous people are running in October elections at state and federal levels, a 60 percent increase over the number of candidates in the last elections in 2014, the first year in which authorities collected information about candidates' ethnicities. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In this Sept. 15, 2018 photo, Junior Xukuru, an indigenous candidate who is running for the lower house of Congress with the Socialism and Liberty Party, talks on his cellphone during a campaign rally in the Ceilandia neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. Less than 1 percent of Brazilians _ around 790,000 _ count themselves as indigenous, their numbers devastated by disease and oppression following the arrival of Europeans and African slaves whose descendants make up the majority of the country's current population. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In this Sept. 15, 2018 photo, Airy Gaviao, an indigenous candidate with the Socialism and Liberty Party who is running for the local legislature in the capital of Brasilia, campaigns in the Ceilandia neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. The Coalition of Indigenous People of Brazil has accused President Michel Temer's government of the worst attacks on their rights in 30 years. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In this Sept. 15, 2018 photo, indigenous candidates for federal and city lawmakers with the Socialism and Liberty Party, Junior Xukuru and Airy Gaviao, get ready for a campaign rally in the Ceilandia neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. Land recognition is one of the most important issues to indigenous people, who see such reserves as integral to maintaining their endangered cultures. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In this Sept. 13, 2018 photo, Junior Xukuru, who is running for the lower house of Congress with the Socialism and Liberty Party, left, speaks to a vendor as he hands out pamphlets at a bus station in Brasilia, Brazil. A flood of corruption scandals has shaken Brazilians' faith in their democracy, hardened partisan divisions and unleashed a tidal wave of "throw the bums out" anger _ a factor that could benefit indigenous candidates, said Xukuru, an indigenous candidate for the lower house of Congress. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In this Sept. 15, 2018 photo, Airy Gaviao, center, an indigenous candidate for the local legislature in the capital of Brasilia for the Socialism and Liberty Party, poses for a photo with children during a campaign rally in the Ceilandia neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. It's unclear if any of this year's candidates can end the drought of indigenous leaders in politics, though widespread anger at Brazil's traditional ruling class could favor candidates perceived as outsiders.(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In this Sept. 15, 2018 photo, Junior Xukuru wears his indigenous head dress as he campaigns for the lower house of Congress with the Socialism and Liberty Party, in the Ceilandia neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. Indigenous people have played a growing role in the larger culture since Brazil's return to democracy in the 1980s. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In this Sept. 15, 2018 photo, Sonia Guajajara, an indigenous candidate running for vice president with the Socialism and Liberty Party, speaks to supporters at a campaign rally in the Ceilandia neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. Indigenous activists are especially concerned about a recent rule that they say will make the recognition of pending land claims virtually impossible and could even be used to claw back already designated land.(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In this Sept. 15, 2018 photo, Junior Xukuru, an indigenous candidate running for the lower house of Congress, left, takes part in a ritual dance with fellow indigenous candidates Airy Gaviao, right, who's running for the local legislature in the capital of Brasilia, and Sonia Guajajara, who's running for vice president with the Socialism and Liberty Party, during a campaign rally in the Ceilandia neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. Increased political participation may be one of the dividends from policies, including quotas and scholarships, that improved indigenous people's access to universities in the mid-2000s, said Luis Roberto de Paula, a social anthropologist who has studied the issue. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
CHICAGO (AP) - The Latest on the murder trial of white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in the shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald (all times local):
7:25 p.m.
Hundreds of boisterous but peaceful demonstrators briefly blocked several streets in downtown Chicago after white police officer Jason Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder Friday in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Carrying signs reading "Justice for Laquan McDonald" while chanting "16 shots" and "guilty," the marchers started outside City Hall and continued for many blocks. The tone was celebratory as demonstrators pushed past police officers lining the route.
The march ended in front of Trump International Hotel and Tower.
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Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, second from left, watches closing statements with his defense team during his trial for the first degree shooting death of Laquan McDonald at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 In Chicago. From left are: Tammy Wendt, Van Dyke, Elizabeth Fleming, and Daniel Herbert. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
5:50 p.m.
A relative of Laquan McDonald is thanking prosecutors for the second-degree murder conviction of the white Chicago police officer who shot the black teenager in 2014.
The Rev. Marvin Hunter, McDonald's uncle, blamed the teen's death on a rogue police officer "who thought he could be judge, jury and executioner."
Jason Van Dyke testified that McDonald was advancing on him and ignoring his orders to drop a knife. Video showed the 17-year-old crumpling to the ground in a hail of 16 bullets as he walked away from officers.
Hunter told reporters Friday that the family can't rejoice because Van Dyke is going to jail. He said his family could see the pain of the Van Dyke family, adding that what bothered him was that Van Dyke's family couldn't "see our pain."
Hunter said Van Dyke has never asked McDonald's family for forgiveness.
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5:30 p.m.
One legal expert says a white Chicago police officer is likely looking at less than 10 years in prison for killing a black teenager rather than decades because jurors opted to convict him of second-degree murder and not first-degree murder.
Jurors Friday also convicted Jason Van Dyke of 16 counts of aggravated battery for shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times.
Steve Greenberg has defended clients at more than 100 murder trials. He says Van Dyke would have faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 45 years on a first-degree murder conviction.
Second-degree murder carries sentences of between four and 20 years. Each count of aggravated battery carries between six and 30 years.
Greenberg says it's highly unlikely the judge would order Van Dyke to serve the sentences one after the other. Instead, they would be served simultaneously.
Greenberg estimates a judge would impose a prison sentence of no more than six years.
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4:30 p.m.
The lead prosecutor in the case of a white Chicago police officer convicted of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald says the verdict provides justice for many people.
Special Prosecutor Joseph McMahon said the verdict is justice for McDonald and his mother. He also said it "provides validation and a sense of justice for many residents of Chicago and Cook County and beyond this area, many communities, the African American communities across our country."
Van Dyke testified that McDonald was advancing on him and ignoring his orders to drop a knife. Video showed the 17-year-old crumpling to the ground in a hail of 16 bullets as he walked away from officers.
Jurors also convicted of 16 counts of aggravated battery - one count for each bullet.
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3:50 p.m.
Some jurors in the trial of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke say they spent much of their deliberations on whether to convict him of first-degree or second-degree murder, not an acquittal.
Ultimately, jurors convicted the white office on Friday of second-degree murder for shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.
The jurors also told reporters that Van Dyke's testimony didn't help him. One woman says he "messed up" and shouldn't have testified.
The jurors did not disclose their names during interviews with reporters conducted at the courthouse.
Van Dyke testified that McDonald was advancing on him and ignoring his orders to drop a knife.
But a juror says Van Dyke needed to "contain the situation, not escalate it." He says the jury settled on second-degree murder because Van Dyke believed he was experiencing a real threat.
To convict him of that charge, jurors had to find Van Dyke's belief was unreasonable.
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3:40 p.m.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Superintendent Eddie Johnson are urging residents to listen to each other as they react to the murder conviction of white Officer Jason Van Dyke in the death of black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Van Dyke was convicted Friday of second-degree murder and aggravated battery. He was acquitted of official misconduct.
Emmanuel and Johnson said in a joint statement that, "The effort to drive lasting reform and rebuild bonds of trust between residents and police must carry on with vigor."
McDonald was carrying a knife when Van Dyke fired 16 shots into the 17-year-old as he walked away from police.
Second-degree murder usually carries a sentence of less than 20 years.
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3:30 p.m.
A leading civil rights attorney says the second-degree murder conviction of a white Chicago police officer for killing black teenager Laquan McDonald is a watershed moment that sends the signal that police reforms that began after protests over McDonald's 2014 slaying are real.
Andrew Stroth says an acquittal Friday of Jason Van Dyke for murder would have sent the opposite message and would have dashed hopes for change in minority communities. He says Chicago "would have erupted" had that happened.
It was a video released in 2015 showing Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times as he walked away from police with a knife that prompted outrage and protests that lasted weeks. It also led damning Department of Justice report accusing Chicago police of widespread abuses and pledges of reform by city officials.
Stroth says Friday's murder verdict "is a culmination" of years of steps in the city toward meaningful police reforms.
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3:15 p.m.
The defense attorney for a white Chicago police officer convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald says the officer was a victim of politics in the city.
Attorney Dan Herbert called Jason Van Dyke "a sacrificial lamb by political leaders and so-called community leaders to save themselves." His comments came after Van Dyke was taken into custody Friday following his convictions for murder and aggravated battery.
McDonald was carrying a knife when Van Dyke fired 16 shots into the 17-year-old as he walked away from police.
Herbert called it a "sad day for law enforcement" because the verdict tells police officers they can't do their job.
He says, "Police officers are going to become security guards."
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2:25 p.m.
White Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke has been taken into custody just minutes after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated battery in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Special prosecutor Joseph McMahon immediately asked the judge to revoke Van Dyke's bond and jail him after the Friday afternoon verdict. He said the officer was now a convicted felon and faced mandatory prison time of at least several years.
Van Dyke showed no outward emotion as the judge ordered him held pending sentencing. Van Dyke stood up from the defense table and then put his arms behind his back as two deputies led him away.
McDonald was carrying a knife when Van Dyke fired 16 shots into the 17-year-old as he walked away from police.
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2 p.m.
A jury has convicted white Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Van Dyke was charged with first degree-murder in the October 2014 killing, a charge that requires a finding that the shooting was unnecessary and unreasonable. The judge told jurors the second-degree charge was also available, requiring them to find Van Dyke believed his life was in danger but that the belief was unreasonable.
The jury announced the verdict Friday. It's the first time in half a century that a Chicago police officer has been convicted of murder for an on-duty death.
McDonald was carrying a knife when Van Dyke fired 16 shots into the 17-year-old as he walked away from police.
Second-degree murder usually carries a sentence of less than 20 years.
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12:50 p.m.
Jurors have reached a verdict in the trial of a white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.
The verdict will be announced at 1:45 p.m. Central Time.
Officer Jason Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct. Jurors also can consider second-degree murder.
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11:40 a.m.
Jurors deliberating in the trial of a white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald have asked a question about aggravated battery charges the officer faces.
Judge Vincent Gaughan told attorneys that the jurors asked Friday whether they should consider the 16 counts as they were listed on the medical examiner's report or just the "simple" number of shots fired. The judge ordered them to consider just the simple number of shots fired.
One possibility is that the jurors were considering whether to attach specific counts to specific wounds.
Officer Jason Van Dyke fired 16 shots at McDonald. In addition to the battery charges, he faces charges of first-degree murder and official misconduct. Jurors can also consider second-degree murder.
Jurors began deliberating Thursday afternoon.
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10:30 a.m.
A judge has decided against taking a Chicago police officer on trial for murder into custody for being late to a court hearing.
The judge was angry after Jason Van Dyke showed up late to a Thursday evening hearing after jurors began deliberating.
The white officer is charged with murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct for shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014. He's been free on bond.
Judge Vincent Gaughan held a hearing Friday to consider revoking Van Dyke's bond. Defense attorney Dan Herbert told the judge that Van Dyke's tardiness was because he was dealing with a threat to one of his daughters.
He says some students at his daughter's high school were "walking around asking, 'Which one is Jason Van Dyke's daughter because we are going to get her?"
Gaughan said he wouldn't punish Van Dyke this time.
Jury deliberations are continuing.
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11:15 p.m.
The city of Chicago is watching closely for word of a verdict in the case of a white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.
The jury determining Officer Jason Van Dyke's fate is expected to continue deliberations Friday after starting them on Thursday afternoon.
The Chicago Police Department has canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts. A police spokesman says an extra 4,000 officers will be on the street.
The city saw protests after video of the shooting was released in 2015, and activists have been planning how they might react to a verdict.
Prosecutors contend the shooting was unjustified and that Van Dyke was planning to shoot the teen before getting out of his squad car. Defense attorneys said Van Dyke reacted properly to the knife-wielding teen.
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For the AP's complete story: https://bit.ly/2OLRJRX
For the AP's complete coverage of the Jason Van Dyke case: https://apnews.com/tag/LaquanMcDonald
Protesters react in front of George N Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in Chicago, after a jury found white Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated battery in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, left, is taken into custody after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated battery in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke listens while attorneys step before Judge Vincent Gaughan bench, as the jury has sent another question to Judge Gaughan, who read it aloud from the bench during deliberations in Van Dyke's trial at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in Chicago. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct in the shooting of Laquan McDonald. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
A tombstone marks the grave of Laquan McDonald at the Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Ill., on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, as jurors continued deliberations in the trial of the Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot and killed McDonald in 2014. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Protesters take to the streets after a jury convicted white Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald Friday, Oct 5, 2018, in Chicago. Van Dyke, 40, was the first Chicago officer to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting in about 50 years. He was taken into custody moments after the verdict was read. (AP Photo/Matt Marton)
Protesters stand near police in the downtown area after a jury convicted white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in Chicago. Van Dyke, 40, was the first Chicago officer to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting in about 50 years. He was taken into custody moments after the verdict was read. (AP Photo/Matt Marton)
Protesters link arms and close down Michigan Avenue after a jury convicted white Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald Friday, Oct 5, 2018, in Chicago. Van Dyke, 40, was the first Chicago officer to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting in about 50 years. He was taken into custody moments after the verdict was read. (AP Photo/Matt Marton)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - A Michigan man curious about a rock he'd used for decades as a doorstop now knows its secret: it's a meteorite worth $100,000.
In fact, the nearly 23-pound hunk of iron and nickel is the sixth largest meteorite found in Michigan, according to the Smithsonian Museum and Central Michigan University.
David Mazurek said he took his doorstop to the university for examination after seeing reports in January of meteorite pieces selling for thousands of dollars.
"I said, 'Wait a minute. I wonder how much mine is worth,'" Mazurek said.
University Geology Professor Mona Sirbescu first identified the piece as more than just a rock. She then sent two small slices of the rock to the Smithsonian for confirmation.
"I could tell right away that this was something special," she said. "It's the most valuable specimen I have ever held in my life, monetarily and scientifically."
In this Sept. 14, 2018 photo provided by Central Michigan University, Monaliza Sirbescu, a geology faculty member in earth and atmospheric sciences shows off a 22-plus pound meteorite that was being used as a doorstop on a farm in Edmore, Mich. The iron and nickel meteorite is the sixth largest meteorite found in Michigan, according to the Smithsonian Museum and Central Michigan University. Owner David Mazurek said the meteorite came with a barn he bought in 1988 in Edmore. He says the farmer who sold him the property told him it landed in his backyard in the 1930s. (Mackenzie Brockman/Central Michigan University via AP)
Mazurek said the meteorite came with a barn he bought in 1988 in Edmore. He said the farmer who sold him the property told him it landed in his backyard in the 1930s.
"The story goes that it was collected immediately after they witnessed the big boom and the actual meteorite was dug out from a crater," Sirbescu said.
More tests are being conducted to see if the meteorite contains rare elements.
"What typically happens with these at this point is that meteorites can either be sold and shown in a museum or sold to collectors and sellers looking to make a profit," Sirbescu said.
The Smithsonian and a mineral museum in Maine are considering purchasing the specimen.
Mazurek said that when he sells the meteorite, he'll donate some of the money to the university.
"I'm done using it as a doorstop. Let's get a buyer!" Mazurek said.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Latest on the capture of a multiple murder suspect in Tennessee (all times local):
12:00 p.m.
A sheriff credited with arresting a multiple-murder suspect without firing a shot says Kirby Gene Wallace was carrying a loaded handgun and ready for a firefight.
Henry County Sheriff Monte Belew told a news conference that he and Cpl. Stacey Bostwick were hiding in two deer blinds when they saw Kirby Gene Wallace walking toward them at about 10:15 a.m. The sheriff said he shouted at Wallace and pointed an AR-15 rifle at the fugitive.
The sheriff says Wallace reached for a loaded handgun at his waist, but then raised his hands empty and kneeled to the ground. He says Wallace told them he had considered firing, but figures he surrendered once he realized the officers "had the drop on him."
Wallace is wanted in two counties on charges that include murder, arson and kidnapping.
This photo provided by The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows law enforcement agents holding Kirby Wallace in custody on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 in Tennessee. Wallace is wanted on multiple charges after being accused of attacking a couple and setting their house on fire, killing the wife and seriously injuring the husband. He's also accused of fatally shooting a man Monday and stealing his truck. (The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation via AP)
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11 a.m.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says a multiple murder suspect has been captured after a dayslong search involving helicopters and dogs in rugged terrain.
The agency says 53-year-old Kirby Gene Wallace was taken into custody on Friday after a search that narrowed to Stewart County. It says more details will be released at a news conference.
Wallace is wanted on multiple charges after being accused of attacking a couple and setting their house on fire, killing the wife and seriously injuring the husband. He's also accused of fatally shooting a man Monday and stealing his truck.
Authorities say the search was complicated because Wallace knows these woods, which have caves and other hiding places. Area schools have been on "soft lockdown" and school bus routes were cancelled to avoid having children exposed.
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9:37 a.m.
Authorities say they're closing in on a multiple-murder suspect in Tennessee, using helicopters and dogs in rugged terrain.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol says 53-year-old Kirby Gene Wallace has been spotted for a third time in Stewart County, where Sheriff Frankie Gray says his deputies are using K-9 units to encircle the suspect in a heavily wooded area.
Wallace is wanted on multiple charges after being accused of attacking a couple and setting their house on fire, killing the wife and seriously injuring the husband. He's also accused of fatally shooting a man Monday and stealing his truck.
Authorities say Wallace knows these woods, which have caves and other hiding places. Area schools are on "soft lockdown" and have cancelled school bus routes to avoid having children exposed.
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Information from: WTVF-TV, http://www.newschannel5.com
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - The debut of SpaceX and Boeing crew capsules is off until next year.
NASA said this week that the first commercial test flights have slipped from late this year into next. SpaceX is shooting for a January shakedown of its Dragon capsule, without anyone on board. Boeing is aiming for a March trial run of its Starliner capsule, also minus astronauts.
Those tests would be followed by flights with crews next summer. SpaceX is targeting June and Boeing, August. That would be eight years after astronauts last rocketed into orbit from the U.S.
Since the retirement of NASA's shuttles in 2011, U.S. astronauts have had to rely on Russian capsules to get to and from the International Space Station.
NASA stresses these latest launch dates are still subject to change.
RAMONA, Calif. (AP) - Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter is under indictment as he seeks a sixth term in his mainly San Diego County district.
He has spent as much on legal fees as his re-election campaign but still is favored to win because the GOP holds a 15-point registration advantage.
It's become a bare-knuckles affair with Hunter seeming to insinuate his 29-year-old opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, is a Muslim extremist while Campa-Najjar, a Christian, says Hunter has lost his grip on reality.
Hunter is one of two indicted Republican congressmen seeking re-election. The other is New York Rep. Chris Collins, accused of insider trading.
NEW YORK (AP) - NBC's Chuck Todd, who is running a "Meet the Press" film festival this weekend, says news executives are going to have to discuss before the 2020 election the extent to which President Donald Trump will dominate their coverage.
Trump has proven, both in his 2016 campaign and presidency, the ability to crowd other stories out of the news. He's been great for the television news business: Fox News Channel and MSNBC are routinely two of the most-watched cable networks each week.
But with the likelihood that Trump will keep up a running commentary on the Democrats' nomination process - he's already assigned a derisive nickname to one potential challenger - journalists will have to consider how much attention should be paid to it, said Todd, moderator of the 71-year-old Sunday public affairs show.
"As a sitting president, he's going to disrupt things in a way we're not used to seeing a sitting president do," he said.
More immediately, Todd said he's curious to find out the extent to which political changes ushered in by Trump will affect contests throughout the country during the midterm elections.
Before Trump, conventional wisdom held that candidates needed to move to the center to appeal to as many people as possible in order to win general elections. Trump has instead concentrated on keeping a base of supporters happy, he said.
FILE - In this May 14, 2018 file photo, "Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd attends the 2018 NBCUniversal Upfront in New York. Todd is running the second annual "Meet the Press" film festival in Washington this weekend. He hopes it becomes a showcase for shorter films on newsy topics. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
"Painting in bright colors creates the enthusiasm," he said.
He will be closely watching the race for Florida governor between Trump supporter Ron DeSantis and liberal Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, for example. If Gillum can stay on the left and win "the swingiest swing state in the country," that could be a sign that the idea of moderating views to win might not always be the best strategy, he said.
Todd's "Meet the Press" film festival in Washington is the second of what he hopes becomes an annual event. The idea is to support documentarians who are making films on newsy topics; among the 23 films to be featured this weekend are ones on sexual abuse, climate change, voting rights, religion and immigration.
The event takes place Sunday and Monday at the Landmark Atlantic Plumbing Cinema, with Todd and NBC's Andrea Mitchell, Hallie Jackson, Craig Melvin, Kasie Hunt, Kristen Welker and Harry Smith among those moderating discussions. Most films will be available to see digitally through NBC News for a month, and Todd said he hopes to hold later events in New York and Los Angeles.
Todd said the "Meet the Press" festival is a good way to honor shorter documentaries, whose filmmakers often feel overlooked at festivals that pay attention to longer pieces.
"Sometimes 90 minutes is too much," he said. "You can make your point in 30 to 40 minutes."
He feels the event is an important brand extension for "Meet the Press," offering people access to deeper dives on issues than they are apt to see on news programs concentrating on up-to-the-minute news reports.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - The head of Amnesty International said the human rights movement is being mobilized globally by the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty's new secretary general, told The Associated Press in an interview that some of the Trump administration's more controversial policies had energized campaigns on climate change, woman's equality, and other rights issues.
Trump, for example, pulled the United States out of the Paris Accord international climate agreement last year. And following his January 2017 inauguration, critics organized worldwide protests focused on women's rights.
Naidoo was in Greece to visit a severely overcrowded refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. He called on Greece and the European Union to back an emergency evacuation of the site ahead of winter over concerns that conditions there are unsafe.
MIDDLETON, Wis. (AP) - Gov. Scott Walker, reiterating that he's in the toughest race for governor in his career, said Friday he would welcome a visit from President Donald Trump to help him out even as polls show most Wisconsin voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing.
Walker told reporters after a stop at Automation Components Inc. that he's said "100 times" he would be glad if Trump visited, even while admitting that anger over politics in Washington is fueling his opponents. Polls have shown Walker trailing Democrat Tony Evers, the state superintendent, with the Nov. 6 election five weeks away.
Trump narrowly won Wisconsin in 2016 and has not yet scheduled a campaign stop with Walker. Vice President Mike Pence plans to hold fundraisers for the two-term Republican incumbent in Green Bay and Eau Claire on Wednesday. Trump was last in the state in July for the groundbreaking of the Foxconn Technology Group plant in Mount Pleasant.
Walker said he's shown that he can work with Trump and disagree with him at the same time.
"My relationship with the president is straightforward," Walker said. "When he does things that are good for the state of Wisconsin, I praise him for it. When he does things I disagree with, that I think are detrimental to the state of Wisconsin, I call him up or the vice president up or call someone else and do something about it."
Walker said if Evers wins, that access would go away.
"Do you believe if Tony Evers is in office he calls the president up and says 'This is a big deal to the state of Wisconsin' that Donald Trump would say 'Yeah, I'm going to take care of it'?" Walker said.
In Walker's first six years as governor, Barack Obama, a Democrat, was president.
Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback said Walker has been a "doormat" for Trump because he's focused more on his political ambitions than what's best for the state. She cited Trump tariffs that are hurting Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson and the state's agriculture industry and Walker's support, along with Trump, for repealing the national health care law and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
Walker said Trump's recently announced trade deal is good for Wisconsin dairy farmers because Walker has been raising concerns with Trump for the past year and a half. Walker also cited White House approval of the state's reinsurance plan and increase in federal highway money as signs of his good relationship with Trump.
"You don't have to agree with the president all the time to be able to be effective," Walker said. "What we've done is show we can be effective in getting things done for the people of the state of Wisconsin."
He said it's the most difficult run for state office he's ever been in. Walker has been in elective office since 1992. Walker won election as governor in 2010, defeated a recall attempt in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014. He ran for president in 2015, but dropped out in September of that year, trailing in the polls and out of money.
But Walker said having a Republican president makes it tougher for him in a midterm election.
"Any time a candidate running in a close, competitive state like Wisconsin has the same party in office in the White House, historically that's always been the case," Walker said. "I said for a year this is going to be a tough race. I also said complacency was going to be a part of it."
Recent polls have shown Walker trailing Evers. A new Marquette Law School poll is due next week. The last one , released Sept. 18, showed Evers up by 5 points over Walker. It also showed Trump with a 42 percent approval rating and 54 percent disapproving of the job he's doing.
"People are highly motivated by things related to Washington that are out of our control," Walker said. "I hope that in the end the voters in the state will look at what is happening in Wisconsin."
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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Crow Indian leaders blamed U.S. officials for "gross mismanagement" of tribal money after investigators said the Montana tribe couldn't account for almost $13 million intended for water system improvements.
Crow Chairman Alvin "A.J." Not Afraid said in a Thursday statement that he was working to change a system that allows federal and tribal officials to "squander" the tribe's money.
"Program by program we are cleaning up decades of mismanagement between these governments," Not Afraid said.
The statement also deflected some blame onto the Bureau of Reclamation and a tribal subcontractor.
That conflicts with the findings of a U.S. Interior Department inspector general's audit released Tuesday. It said the tribe misused $4.8 million and can't fully account for $7.8 million paid to subcontractors and vendors.
The audit faulted the Bureau of Reclamation for not watching the tribe closely enough and failing to ensure the $4.8 million went into the proper account. However, investigators did not accuse the bureau of mismanagement and most of their report addressed accounting problems within the tribe.
In this Monday, Oct. 1, 2018 photo, Crow Chairman Alvin Not Afraid, Jr. announces new austerity measures during a meeting in Billings, Mont. Crow leaders are blaming federal officials for 'gross mismanagement' of tribal money after investigators said the Montana tribe misused or couldn't account for almost $13 million intended for water system improvements. (Larry Mayer /The Billings Gazette via AP)
Bureau of Reclamation Public Affairs Chief Theresa Eisenman said the agency was working to reconcile the accounting problems and adding financial controls to prevent a recurrence.
The money at issue was intended for water system upgrades under a $460 million settlement reached in 2011 with the U.S. government over the tribe's historical water rights claims.
The tribe said it intends to repay any costs that are "inconsistent" with the water settlement.
The audit examined contracts dating back to October 2014, including more than two years during which the tribal government was led by former Chairman Darrin Old Coyote. Old Coyote has denied responsibility.
It's the third time in recent years the government has raised questions about the tribe's handling of money. Together those cases involve a combined $29 million, including the water funds and money for transportation projects.
Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Tyler Johnson said agency officials requested the audit after they had trouble verifying work and documentation on the water projects. Johnson said the problems are not anticipated to delay the work, which is expected to be completed around 2030.
A timeline provided by Johnson said $12.8 million transferred to the tribe was put into the wrong account in August 2017. Johnson said the tribe was notified within a day.
In September 2017, the tribe moved $8 million into the correct account, according to the agency timeline.
The remaining $4.8 million went to "business expenses unrelated to the contracts," according to investigators. Tribal officials did not immediately respond to questions about those expenses and Johnson said the Bureau of Reclamation has no way to know how the money was spent within the tribe.
It's unclear what happened to the $7.8 million distributed to subcontractors and vendors. Federal officials are trying to determine if those payments went toward appropriate project costs.
The tribe singled out one subcontractor - Bartlett & West - for alleged, unspecified "invoicing irregularities." The Topeka, Kansas-based engineering firm did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment.
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Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MatthewBrownAP .
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota has approved a temporary water permit for an exploratory gold drilling project in the Black Hills despite opposition from Native American tribal officials and environmental groups.
The state Water Management Board's approval clears the way for Mineral Mountain Resources to withdraw water from Rapid Creek through Dec. 31 to lubricate its drilling near Rochford, roughly 35 miles west of Rapid City. The Canadian company had been buying water from the city of Lead since its former water permit expired in May.
Mineral Mountain has already drilled nine holes in the Black Hills to collect core samples and determine whether there's enough recoverable gold for a mining operation. The company has permission to drill more than 100 others, the Rapid City Journal reported.
Mineral Mountain's most recent permit application was met with opposition from residents, Native American tribal officials and the Izaak Walton League, an outdoor conservation group.
"How might you justify destroying this beauty, economic viability, and spiritual value for a mine that despoils everything in its path?" asked Nemo resident Carol Hayse.
Matthew Naasz, the company's lawyer, countered that the permit doesn't sanction mining.
"This is a temporary use for drilling purposes of a small amount of water that is clearly and obviously available," he said.
A mining operation would need separate approval from state regulators, including a public review.
The Water Management Board partially based its decision on information provided by Mark Rath, an engineer with the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Rath said water releases have exceeded winter target levels for a reservoir on Rapid Creek downstream from the drilling site. He predicted larger-than-usual releases from the reservoir in the coming months.
"So there is sufficient water there to get us through the end of the year," Rath said.
Mineral Mountain also has submitted plans to the U.S. Forest Service for additional exploratory drilling on public land sites in the Black Hills National Forest. The plans are under review.
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Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Firefighters say a fire that sent thick, black smoke from a 7,000-gallon (26,500 liter) oil tank at an Oklahoma City power plant has burned out.
Battalion Chief Benny Fulkerson said Friday that the fire in an insulated tank containing heating oil at the Oklahoma Gas & Electric plant burned out Thursday afternoon.
The fire started Thursday morning. Fulkerson says firefighters and plant workers isolated the product from the tank and the flames died out when the contents of the tank burned away.
The fire forced the evacuation of more than a dozen nearby businesses and firefighters warned the public to steer clear because of the smoke. Fulkerson says evacuations were lifted about 2 p.m. Thursday.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Smoke fills the air as a insulated tank that contains 7000 gallons of heating oil and glycerol burns after catching fire at the OG&E Power plant near NW 10th St. in Oklahoma City, Okla. on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Area businesses were evacuated by the fire department as a safety measure. (Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the lone Republican who voted against advancing Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, has carved out a path as a fiercely independent senator known for bucking her party.
But she didn't look especially happy about it Friday.
Murkowski suggested that she will oppose President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee this weekend after she became the only GOP senator to oppose advancing Kavanaugh's nomination during a tense, high-stakes Senate floor vote.
"I believe that Brett Kavanaugh is a good man. It just may be that in my view he's not the right man for the court at this time," Murkowski told reporters. She said she respected her colleagues' support for Kavanaugh, but added: "I also that think we're at a place where we need to think about the credibility and integrity of our institutions."
The Alaskan senator's vote was the latest example of the independent streak she forged since overcoming a Republican primary challenge in 2010 to win re-election as a rare write-in candidate. She was re-elected in 2016.
Murkowski has expressed unease with the sexual assault allegations lodged against Kavanaugh, which he denies. She has faced pressure from home state Alaskans, including Native Alaskan women, who have described the scourge of sexual assault.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, speaks with reporters just after a deeply divided Senate pushed Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination past a key procedural hurdle, setting up a likely final showdown vote for Saturday, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
After remaining undecided on whether Kavanaugh's nomination should move forward, Murkowski rendered her decision Friday in dramatic fashion. As the clerk read the names in alphabetical order, all eyes were on Murkowski. Senators stood up in their chairs and voted, some of them loudly.
But when it came to Murkowski, she stood up, paused, and whispered "no," her voice barely audible.
Then she took her seat, looking down with a stone-faced expression.
As the end of the vote neared, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who sits next to Murkowski, leaned over and put her hand on the arm of Murkowski's chair. The two huddled in deep conversation.
Collins and Murkowski are the only GOP senators who support abortion rights, a crucial issue in the debate over Kavanaugh's nomination. If confirmed, Kavanaugh could tip the court's balance toward conservatives for a generation. Collins said Kavanaugh assured her during a private meeting that Roe v. Wade, the ruling that established abortion rights, is settled law.
When Friday's procedural vote was over, Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio came over to Murkowski and took her hand, shaking it. Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the Senate's No. 2 Republican who has been aggressively lobbying undecided senators to vote for Kavanaugh, also came over and touched Murkowski on the shoulder as they spoke.
Several Democrats conferred with Murkowski as well, including Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. As senators of both parties left the chamber, many lined up to talk to the two women.
Murkowski has a Democratic counterpart in a similarly precarious position: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who voted in favor of moving Kavanaugh's nomination to a floor vote. Manchin is trying to hold off his Republican opponent, Patrick Morrissey, in a state Trump won by about 43 percentage points.
The West Virginia Democrat declined comment to reporters as he boarded a Senate subway, saying he would release a statement on the Kavanaugh nomination later in the day.
A spokeswoman for Murkowski could not immediately confirm that the senator will oppose Kavanaugh on the final vote expected Saturday, but indicated it appeared that way. Kavanaugh could still win confirmation if Murkowski is the only Republican to oppose him.
Murkowski acknowledged she agonized over her vote, telling reporters she didn't make up her mind until she walked into the Senate chamber.
"This has truly been the most difficult evaluation of a decision that I've ever had to make, and I've made some interesting ones in my political career," Murkowski said.
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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Matthew Daly contributed.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks to members of the media after a vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, speaks with reporters just after a deeply divided Senate pushed Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination past a key procedural hurdle, setting up a likely final showdown vote for Saturday, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., center, and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., left, walk together after viewing the FBI supplemental background report on Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the SCIF on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, before the procedural vote on the Senate floor later in the morning. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy, as thousands of people protested Friday along the fence dividing the Gaza Strip and Israel, Gaza's Health Ministry said.
The ministry said the boy was struck in the chest, a 24-year-old man was shot in the back and another man, 28, succumbed to his wounds at hospital.
It added that 126 protesters were wounded by live fire.
Responding to calls by Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, thousands of Palestinians thronged five areas along the fence, burning tires, throwing rocks and chanting slogans against a stifling Israeli-Egyptian blockade on the territory.
The Israeli military said about 20,000 protesters participated. They threw explosive devices and grenades toward the troops which used tear gas and live fire to disperse the crowds, it added.
At least at two locations, young men with bolt cutters tore the frontier fence but did not break into Israeli territory, according to the military.
Palestinians run for cover from teargas fired from Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Israeli aircraft carried out two airstrikes in what the army said was a response to the firing of explosives. One strike hit less than 50 meters away from two clearly marked press cars belonging to The Associated Press. A cameraman said journalists, ambulances and vendors were in the area, about 250 meters away from the fence. There were no casualties.
Hamas, which violently seized the territory from the Palestinian Authority in 2007 after winning legislative elections a year earlier, wants an end to the blockade that has shattered the economy and put the unemployment rate at more than 50 percent, plaguing most of Gaza's 2 million residents.
Hamas has initiated the protests in March on weekly basis but escalated and intensified them recently after Egyptian-mediated efforts to broker a cease-fire deal easing the closure faltered.
The number of participants was higher than last Friday, which, at seven deaths, was the deadliest in the last four months. While hundreds breached the fence last Friday, only dozens ventured to the fortified boundary today.
Israeli fire has killed 148 Palestinians, including 33 children under the age of 18, since the protests began in March. In August, a Gaza sniper shot dead an Israeli soldier, prompting cross-border exchange of gun and rocket fire that fueled fears of a full-blown war.
Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official who attended the rally in east Gaza, said his movement will not give up on lifting the blockade. "We don't seek confrontations, but we want freedom," he said.
Earlier Friday, Hamas' leader told an Israeli newspaper that another war in the Gaza Strip is "definitely not in our interest."
Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth published a rare interview with Yahya Sinwar on Friday in which he viewed a cease-fire with Israel as entailing "complete calm" and an end to the blockade of Gaza. He said "through war we don't achieve anything."
Hamas later issued a statement saying the Italian reporter who conducted the interview misrepresented herself and didn't say she worked for Yedioth Ahronoth.
Palestinians chant angry slogans as they cut the fence during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians carry a wounded protester during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians hurl stones during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians run for cover from teargas fired from Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians run for cover from teargas fired from Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians carry 12 year-old boy, Fares Sersawi, who died later from his wound after being shot by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A Palestinian youth throws a teargas canister away during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A Palestinian man runs for cover as smoke raises following an Israeli missile strike during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A Palestinian woman wears a traditional uniform, waves a national flag during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinian medics carry a wounded protester during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
An Israeli tank is seen near the in Israel and Gaza border, Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. The Israeli military said Thursday it was bolstering its forces along the Gaza border ahead of another expected explosive Hamas-orchestrated protest. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An Israeli tank is seen near the in Israel and Gaza border, Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. The Israeli military said Thursday it was bolstering its forces along the Gaza border ahead of another expected explosive Hamas-orchestrated protest. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) - The Latest on the shooting of seven law enforcement officers in South Carolina (all times local):
7:15 p.m.
Bond has been denied for the man charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a South Carolina police officer.
WBTW-TV reports Judge Tommy Mourounas denied bond Friday for 74-year-old Frederick T. Hopkins Jr., who is accused of slaying Florence police Sgt. Terrence Carraway. Hopkins is also charged with six counts of attempted murder in the wounding of six other law enforcement officers Wednesday.
A reporter from the station describes Hopkins as needing help getting in and out of the courtroom and appearing dazed.
Mourounas asked Hopkins whether he understood where he was and Hopkins responded by saying, "No, where am I?" The judge then told him he was at a bond hearing.
Police patrol the area of a fatal shooting in Florence, S.C., Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Frederick Hopkins, a Vietnam veteran who bragged online about maintaining his target-shooting skills was being held in the shooting of multiple law enforcement officers as deputies tried to serve a search warrant at his home Wednesday night. (AP Photo/Jeffrey S. Collins)
The court made no decision on whether to appoint a lawyer for Hopkins, delaying that issue until his financial status can be verified.
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3:30 p.m.
A 74-year-old man charged with shooting seven police officers - one fatally - in South Carolina was cited for his sharpshooting abilities and marksmanship while serving in the U.S. Army.
Military records obtained by The Associated Press show Frederick Hopkins served 11 years, including time in Vietnam after joining in 1966.
The records show Hopkins was awarded a marksman badge with pistol bar and a sharpshooter with rifle bar during his service.
The records show he was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroism defending a firebase under attack by North Vietnamese forces on May 6, 1970.
Authorities say Hopkins ambushed three Florence County deputies coming to question his son about a sex assault case, then shot four Florence city police officers as they rushed to help.
Florence Police. Sgt. Terrence Carraway was killed.
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2:25 p.m.
The sheriff investigating the shooting of seven police officers in South Carolina says the man charged with murder ambushed them as they came to question his 27-year-old son about a sexual assault on a child.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says three Florence County deputies arranged the interview around 4 p.m. Wednesday and 74-year-old Frederick Hopkins shot them as they got out of their police car.
Authorities say four more officers from the city of Florence were shot trying to rescue the others. Florence Police Sgt. Terrence Carraway died.
Lott says Hopkins was charged with murder and six counts of attempted murder. The sheriff says he should be released from the hospital Friday after suffering a head injury.
Lott says Hopkins' son, Seth Hopkins, has been charged with criminal sexual conduct.
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12:05 a.m.
Authorities say a 74-year-old Vietnam veteran and disbarred attorney shot seven South Carolina law enforcement officers, using his marksmanship to hold officers back as their comrades lay bleeding on the ground.
Fifty-two-year-old Officer Terrence Carraway died in the Wednesday shooting.
Records and social media posts unearthed Thursday showed that Frederick Hopkins became serious about amateur target-shooting around the time he lost his law license in the 1980s for mishandling money.
In recent years, Hopkins had faced several minor criminal charges, including disorderly conduct in 2014.
Hopkins is accused of opening fire from his home in an affluent neighborhood after deputies tried to carry out a search warrant.
Mourners held a candlelight vigil Thursday night for Carraway inside a Florence church.
Florence Police officers mourn at a makeshift memorial, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, in Florence, S.C., following a candlelight vigil for Sgt. Terrence Carraway who was killed in the line of duty on Wednesday. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
South Carolina state troopers gather on Hoffmeyer Road near the Vintage Place neighborhood where several law enforcement officers were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
Blood-soaked evidence lies on Saxon Drive in the Vintage Place neighborhood where several members of law enforcement were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone, from left, Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler and Florence County Chief Deputy Glenn Kirby speak to the media following a shooting where several law enforcement officers were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Authorities direct traffic on Hoffmeyer Road near the Vintage Place neighborhood where several law enforcement officers were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
A police officer directs traffic on Hoffmeyer Road near the Vintage Place neighborhood where three deputies and two city officers were shot Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
A sheriff's deputy exits the crime scene on Ashton Drive in the Vintage Place neighborhood where several members of law enforcement were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
A forensics team member exits the crime scene on Ashton Drive in the Vintage Place neighborhood where several members of law enforcement were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out. Here are the real facts:
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NOT REAL: Records Show Dr. Ford Is Not A Licensed Psychologist, May Have Committed Perjury
THE FACTS: Christine Blasey Ford did not violate the law by identifying herself as a psychologist while testifying last week at the Senate hearing where she accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, as numerous reports circulating online suggested. Some reports speculated that Ford, a California college professor, perjured herself when she used psychologist in her job title because she is not licensed in California. State law requires anyone practicing psychology in California to hold a license but makes an exception for psychologists who are hired by academic institutions, public schools and government agencies under that title. Ford did not identify herself as a licensed psychologist; she referred to herself as a research psychologist at Stanford University School of Medicine and a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University. People hired by a school or university as a psychologist can identify as such, without being licensed, as long as they do not provide services to the general public, said Jeffrey Thomas, an assistant executive officer for the California licensing board of psychology.
NOT REAL: Judge Kavanaugh's Home Vandalized By Left Wing Extremists
THE FACTS: Kavanaugh's home was not vandalized by left-wing protesters, as claimed in false reports circulating online this week. The claim originated on a satire site, America's Last Line of Defense, which wrote a story stating that "200 left-wing protesters" caused $11,000 worth of damage to Kavanaugh's home in Mayo Lake, Pennsylvania, by throwing calendars, bricks and bottles at his house. Some online sites and social media users circulated the claim as true. Kavanaugh's residence is in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Mayo Lake, Pennsylvania, is a fictional location. Police have received no reports of vandalism or protests since he was nominated for the Supreme Court on July 10, according to Sgt. Rebecca Innocenti, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland.
FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018 file photo, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington for the second day of his confirmation hearing to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. On Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, The Associated Press has found multiple untrue stories circulating on the internet regarding Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
NOT REAL: 'This is the alleged sexual assault victim. Wow.'
THE FACTS: A photo of a young girl that a Republican official in North Carolina used to mock Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, is an image that has appeared online for several years. It is not Ford. Cabarrus County GOP chairman Lanny Lancaster shared the photo of a girl wearing large glasses and braces on his Facebook page, with the comment: "This is the alleged sexual assault victim. Wow." Ford's legal team confirmed that the photo was not of her. The post drew sharp criticism. Frank McNeill, a Democratic candidate for Congress in North Carolina's 8th District, called it an "assault on the safety and dignity of American women" in an email newsletter. The Daily Mail Online used the photo in their worst yearbook photos list in 2012, saying it came from Worldwideinterweb.
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This is part of The Associated Press' ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.
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Find all AP Fact Checks here: https://www.apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck
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SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - An Illinois killer convicted of murdering five women in Southern California has been sentenced to death.
An Orange County Superior Court judge issued the sentence Friday for 54-year-old former Marine Andrew Urdiales.
Urdiales was convicted of killing five women in Southern California between 1986 and 1995.
He was previously sentenced to death for killing three women in Illinois in 2002, but that sentence was commuted to life without parole after that state barred the death penalty.
The California murders went unsolved for years until Urdiales was arrested after he had returned home to Illinois.
A California jury earlier this year recommended Urdiales receive the death penalty.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United Nations is asking Mauritania to investigate allegations that Mauritanians serving in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic sexually abused at least three children under 18.
The U.N. said Friday it has detained a suspect after its own preliminary inquiry. The allegations are the latest in a series of sexual misconduct claims which have ensnared U.N. missions in CAR and beyond.
The U.N. is now asking Mauritania to investigate. Countries that contribute peacekeeping troops are responsible for taking action if allegations are substantiated.
Mauritania's U.N. mission didn't immediately respond to request for comment.
U.N. officials say the abuse allegedly happened in southern CAR on various occasions earlier this year. A top U.N. representative there learned about the accusations on Sept. 24.
The U.N. wouldn't divulge more specifics.
CHICAGO (AP) - A look at some of the key players in the murder trial of white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted of second-degree murder on Friday for fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald.
LAQUAN MCDONALD
On the October 2014 night Laquan McDonald was shot to death, he was like so many other children of broken homes on the city's fringes. He spent most of his 17 years as a ward of the state, shuttled between different relatives' homes and foster care from the time he was 3. McDonald wound up in juvenile detention after an arrest for marijuana possession in January 2014. But school officials, relatives and his family's attorney say there were signs that he was trying to get his life back in order. An autopsy showed McDonald had a small amount of the hallucinogenic drug PCP in his system when he died.
JASON VAN DYKE
Before the shooting, Jason Van Dyke never saw his name in the paper. Van Dyke, now 40, was just one of the 12,000 Chicago police officers who showed up to work, worked their shifts and went home to his wife, Tiffany, and their two school-age daughters. He also worked a part-time security job. He had been on the force for 13 years when the shooting happened. According to a database that includes reports from 2002 to 2008 and 2011 until 2015, he was the subject of at least 20 citizen complaints - eight of which alleged excessive force. Though he was never disciplined, a jury did once award $350,000 to a man who filed an excessive force lawsuit against him. On Friday, a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in McDonald's death.
LEAD DEFENSE ATTORNEY DANIEL HERBERT
FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2014 file image taken from dash-cam video provided by the Chicago Police Department, Laquan McDonald, right, walks down the street moments before being fatally shot by Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke in Chicago. After days of prosecutors making their case to jurors that Van Dyke committed first-degree murder when he shot the black teenager 16 times, Van Dyke's attorneys are presenting their own evidence. And almost immediately their strategy became clear: The teenager was a violent, dangerous, knife-wielding suspect "on "a rampage" that Van Dyke was forced to kill. (Chicago Police Department via AP, File)
It makes perfect sense that Daniel Herbert should specialize in representing police officers in everything from civil rights lawsuits to divorce cases, and for arrests for crimes ranging from drunken driving to murder. A Chicago kid, Herbert got out of college and followed his father into the Police Department before he got his law degree and joined the Cook County state's attorney's office. When he set out on his own about eight years ago, he contracted with the police officer's union - a move that has led to a steady stream of cases defending police officers.
SPECIAL PROSECUTOR JOSEPH MCMAHON
Every day, Joseph McMahon comes to the courthouse on Chicago's South Side from his home in Kane County, where he is the county's state's attorney. Appointed special prosecutor when then-Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez recused herself and her office from the politically charged case, the career prosecutor strikes a far calmer, less flashy figure in court than Herbert, who routinely verbally spars with the judge. Though he often appears unflappable, and his questioning of witnesses is typically a quiet march through the evidence he wants to cover, McMahon has also shown a dramatic side, as he did in his opening statement to jurors when he rapped his knuckles on the lectern once for every shot Van Dyke fired.
COOK COUNTY JUDGE VINCENT GAUGHAN
Make no mistake about Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan : He is in charge of Van Dyke's trial. A judge since 1991, the 77-year-old Gaughan, is a stern taskmaster, lecturing attorneys for failing to get to the point, reporters whom he suspects stuck gum on the bottom of their seats in the courtroom, and spectators who do not stand on their feet like everyone else when he takes the bench. He is a decorated soldier in the Vietnam War, and as a judge he appears fearless as he has presided over some of the county's biggest trials in recent years.
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke takes the stand in his murder trial Tuesday Oct. 2, 2018 for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
Defense attorney Daniel Herbert faces the jury as he begins his closing statements for Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke's first degree murder trial for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
Special prosecutor Joe McMahon stands before the judge's bench during the first degree murder trial of Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The U.S. Forest Service is advancing changes to sage grouse protections in five Western states that environmental groups say are part of the Trump administration's efforts favoring industry but that push the imperiled bird closer to extinction.
The agency on Friday made public draft plans altering rules put in place in 2015 by the Obama administration generally viewed as keeping the bird from being listed for federal protections under the Endangered Species Act.
The new plans cover 8,000 square miles (21,000 square kilometers) of greater sage grouse habitat on Forest Service land in Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming and Utah.
The agency says the changes will continue sage grouse protections while improving efficiency and aligning federal efforts more closely with states.
Public comments are being taken for 90 days.
PROVO, Utah (AP) - The girlfriend of a man accused of killing a teenage couple cried Friday while listening to relatives of the victims in a Provo. Utah, courtroom where she pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced to jail and probation.
The Daily Herald reported that 35-year-old Morgan Henderson of Mammoth will serve three years in jail or until authorities resolve the pending murder case against 41-year-old Jerrod Baum.
Henderson was also sentenced to five years of probation.
Baum awaits trial in the killings of 18-year-old Riley Powell and 17-year-old Brelynne "Breezy" Otteson in December. He's accused of throwing their bodies in an abandoned mine shaft.
Court documents allege he acted out of jealousy.
Henderson initially denied knowing about the long-missing teens' whereabouts, but after her March 24 arrest on drug and weapons charges she told police where the bodies were dumped.
Henderson cried as she sat in the courtroom's jury box listening to statements from the family members.
"There are no words to describe the way that I feel," said Amanda Hunt, Otteson's aunt, as she brushed away her own tears. "Morgan deprived us of the closure we desperately needed and wanted."
Henderson pleaded guilty to 10 counts of felony obstruction of justice. An additional 20 counts were dismissed under a plea deal with prosecutors.
Henderson agreed to cooperate in the continuing investigation and the court case against Baum.
Powell's father, Bill Powell, and his younger sister, Nikka Powell, 18, agreed they were not going to give up in pursuing justice against Baum.
"We've got a long road ahead of us, and so we have to keep plugging along and get it done, no matter how long it takes," Bill Powell said.
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Representatives of dozens of U.S. and Latin American advocacy groups pressed their case Friday for access to an FBI-run DNA database to help them locate and identify the remains of thousands of migrants thought to have disappeared over the last several decades while crossing the Mexican border into the United States.
U.S. officials pledged to continue talks on sharing forensic information and efforts to identify the missing - but said they are prevented from making the information public by a federal law that strictly restricts access to and sharing of information from the database.
The comments came during a hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The commission, part of the Organization of American States, conducted a weeklong series of hearings on various hemispheric issues at the university.
Advocacy groups say they have compiled more than 4,000 DNA profiles of people reported missing and presumed dead along the border with samples from relatives. The groups want to compare those samples with the FBI-run U.S. national database.
As some in the audience held enlarged photos of the missing, rights commissioner Margarette May Macaulay offered to facilitate talks to find a solution the groups say they've been seeking for years.
"I have great faith that you do intend and have the will to work toward solving this egregious situation and give peace to these people," Macaulay told U.S. officials attending the hearing.
Margarette May Macaulay, center, president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, confers with fellow commissioner Joel Hernandez Garcia, front, as commissioner Antonia Urrejoia, back, listens during a hearing Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Human rights and advocacy groups from Latin America and U.S border states are pressing for access to an FBI DNA database to help identify the remains of hundreds of migrants reported missing along the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Carlos Trujillo, the U.S. permanent representative to the OAS, and Paula Wolff, an attorney representing the FBI, pledged cooperation on an issue that predates the Donald Trump administration but cited restrictions on what the FBI can do under the 1994 DNA Act, which governs use of the national database.
Wolf cited legal and logistical technicalities preventing sharing of the FBA database with the advocates, academics and investigators collectively organized as the Forensic Border Coalition. Among them:
- The law authorized the database for use by law enforcement, not private actors such as the coalition.
- It requires that DNA samples be taken in the presence of and documented by police officials - a deterrent to relatives of the missing distrustful of Mexican police or who, because of their immigration status, fear coming forward to U.S. authorities.
- DNA matches or other results can only be released to criminal justice organizations and not, for example, to Argentine investigators who have worked in Mexico and along the U.S. border for years. That group has more than 4,000 DNA samples it's eager to cross-reference with the U.S. data.
Distrust of Mexican authorities runs deep, and many Mexicans have turned to the experts, known as the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, to help alleviate their suffering in Mexico's bloody drug war and in locating and identifying those who disappeared migrating north.
All three U.S. officials declined to immediately answer questions by the rights panel but promised to submit written responses. Those queries included how to prevent destruction of remains by local U.S. authorities.
Two mothers of missing children testified during the brief hearing. One of them, Irma Carrillo, is a native of the Mexican state of Sinaloa and mother of two children, ages 25 and 27, reported missing nearly 20 years ago as they were crossing the border into Arizona. She wept after speaking privately with OAS Ambassador Trujillo.
"A solution can change the direction of my life," Carrillo said. "We only want to know what happened to them."
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Associated Press writer Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Paulo Abrao, left, executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, makes a point during a hearing as commissioner Antonia Urrejoia listens in Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Human rights and advocacy groups from Latin America and U.S border states are pressing for access to an FBI DNA database to help identify the remains of hundreds of migrants reported missing along the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Bea Abbott holds up a placard bearing the photograph of a man who went missing while trying to cross the border from Mexico to the United States during a hearing held by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, at the University Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Human rights and advocacy groups from Latin America and U.S border states are pressing for access to an FBI DNA database to help identify the remains of hundreds of migrants reported missing along the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Commissioners, right, listen to testimony during a hearing held by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Human rights and advocacy groups from Latin America and U.S border states are pressing for access to an FBI DNA database to help identify the remains of hundreds of migrants reported missing along the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Bea Abbott, center, joins other attendees in holding up placards bearing the photographs of people who went missing while trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States during a hearing held by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Human rights and advocacy groups from Latin America and U.S border states are pressing for access to an FBI DNA database to help identify the remains of hundreds of migrants reported missing along the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski turned against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh quietly, uttering a single word: "No."
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, her longtime friend and fellow moderate Republican, spoke on the Senate floor for 45 minutes, explaining her support for Kavanaugh in detail.
Though they reached opposite conclusions, both women had faced similar political pressure heading into Friday's key vote on Kavanaugh's high court nomination. As moderates who support abortion rights, their joint opposition could have been enough to sink Kavanaugh, whose nomination was thrust into uncertainty following sexual assault allegations.
Ultimately, it was Collins who put Kavanaugh on the brink of a lifetime appointment. Minutes after she finished speaking, West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said he, too, would back Kavanaugh, ensuring at least 51 "yes" votes in the Senate.
All three senators - along with Arizona Republican Jeff Flake - had been publicly undecided for weeks as they faced unrelenting pressure from both sides.
In the end, Collins and Murkowski diverged.
In this image from video provided by Senate TV, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine., speaks on the Senate floor about her vote on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kananaugh, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 in the Capitol in Washington. Sen Shelly Capito, R-W.Va., sits rear left and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., sits right. (Senate TV via AP)
In a Senate speech that was disrupted by protesters before it began and met with applause from GOP senators when it ended, Collins declared, "I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh."
Collins told a rapt Senate that she does not believe that sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh rise to a level to "fairly prevent" him from serving on the high court. Kavanaugh deserves a presumption of innocence, Collins said, and allegations by Christine Blasey Ford and other women did not reach a threshold of certainty.
Murkowski chose the opposite path.
"I believe that Brett Kavanaugh is a good man. It just may be that in my view he's not the right man for the court at this time," Murkowski told reporters after voting to oppose Kavanaugh in a procedural vote Friday morning.
While she respects her colleagues' support for Kavanaugh, Murkowski said, "I also that think we're at a place where we need to think about the credibility and integrity of our institutions."
Within minutes of their announcements, potential political challengers to both Collins and Murkowski emerged.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin insinuated she could run against Murkowski in a Republican primary, tweeting, "''Hey @lisamurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house." The tweet was a reference to an infamous "Saturday Night Live" skit in which Tina Fey, portraying Palin, said she could see Russia from her house.
Susan Rice, the former national security adviser to President Barack Obama, volunteered herself on Twitter as a Democratic opponent to Collins in Maine. In a second tweet, she cautioned that she was "not making any announcements" but was "deeply disappointed" in Collins' vote.
In the Capitol, however, both senators won praise from their colleagues.
"I think what Susan did today was rise to the occasion when the stakes were so high," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of Kavanaugh's most ardent supporters.
Flake said he thinks "the world" of Murkowski and said she made her own decision despite intense pressure to vote yes. "I admire her a lot," he said.
Murkowski said later she opposes Kavanaugh but will ask to be recorded as "present" during Saturday's confirmation vote to accommodate Republican Sen. Steve Daines, who will be at his daughter's wedding in Montana. Senators often partner like that to allow an absence without affecting the outcome.
Murkowski said her decision was "agonizing" and she was "truly leaning" toward confirming Kavanaugh. But after watching his testimony, she said, she could not in her conscience conclude "that he is the right person" for the court at this time.
Murkowski's vote was the latest example of the independent streak she forged since overcoming a Republican primary challenge in 2010 to win re-election as a rare write-in candidate. She was re-elected in 2016.
Murkowski has expressed unease with the sexual assault allegations lodged against Kavanaugh, which he denies. She has faced pressure from home state Alaskans, including Native Alaskan women, who have described the scourge of sexual assault.
Collins took pains to say she believes Ford suffered a sexual assault that "has upended her life," but said she was not convinced Kavanaugh was the culprit. None of the people at the high school gathering where Ford said the assault took place have corroborated her account, Collins said.
"Believe me I struggled with it for a long time," Collins said after her speech. "I found Christine Ford's testimony to be very heart-wrenching, painful and compelling. But there was a lack of corroborating evidence."
Even so, Collins said she hopes the ugly fight over Kavanaugh's confirmation will raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual assault. She supports the #MeToo movement, Collins said, calling it badly needed and long overdue.
Collins has never opposed a Supreme Court nominee, voting to confirm the past five justices from Republican and Democratic presidents.
Besides interviewing and talking to people who know Kavanaugh, Collins said she assembled a team of 19 attorneys to assist her in examining his judicial record. She called the appeals court judge eminently qualified, adding that his judicial philosophy is well within the mainstream.
In keeping with her deliberative style, Collins had kept mum for weeks about how she would vote.
Still, she sent signals that Kavanaugh had cleared a hurdle by reassuring her that he believed the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights is settled law. Democrats argue that Trump picked Kavanaugh, in part, because he is likely to vote to overturn that ruling.
Collins and Murkowski are the only GOP senators who support abortion rights, a crucial issue in the Kavanaugh debate. If confirmed, Kavanaugh could tip the court's balance toward conservatives for a generation.
Murkowski also rendered her decision Friday in dramatic fashion. As the clerk read names in alphabetical order on a procedural vote to move the nomination forward, all eyes were on Murkowski.
When it was her turn, Murkowski stood up, paused, and whispered "no," her voice barely audible. Then she took her seat, looking down with a stone-faced expression.
Collins, who sits next to Murkowski, leaned over and put her hand on the arm of Murkowski's chair. The two huddled in deep conversation.
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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Juliet Linderman contributed to this story.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks to members of the media after a vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is followed by members of the media as she walks to the Capitol before a vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
One condemned inmate killed another on Friday in the first slaying of a death row inmate in California in more than 20 years, officials said.
Jonathan Fajardo, 30, was stabbed in the chest and neck with an inmate-made weapon in a recreational yard of the cell house that holds the bulk of condemned inmates at San Quentin State Prison, said corrections department spokeswoman Terry Thornton.
Luis Rodriguez, 34, is considered the suspect, she said. Investigators were trying to determine a motive and how he obtained or was able to make the weapon, she said.
Such slayings are common in California prisons but rare on death row, where the last one occurred in 1997.
Death row inmate Luis Rodriguez (left), 34, is believed to have stabbed fellow condemned prisoner Jonathan Fajardo (right), 30, in the chest and neck with an inmate-made weapon Friday
'It's very unusual,' said San Francisco State University associate professor Amy Smith, who studies capital punishment and the psychological impacts of death row. 'It's not supposed to happen, of course.'
There is high security on death row, were every inmate is housed separately but most are allowed to congregate in small groups in the exercise yard where Fajardo was killed, Thornton said.
Aside from the higher security, Smith said that statistically, prisoners serving life sentences and 'folks who are on 'the row' generally have the lowest levels of prison violence, even though it would seem that they might do anything because they have the worst penalty. In fact, they actually have very, very low incidences of violence in prison.'
Fajardo was awaiting execution on two counts of murder in Los Angeles County in what was considered a hate crime. He also received seven life sentences.
Fajardo was stabbed with an inmate-made weapon in the recreation yard of San Quentin State Prison (pictured)
He was identified as a Latino gang member who killed a 14-year-old black girl in a racially motivated shooting. He was also condemned for the stabbing death two weeks later of a man who prosecutors said was killed because fellow gang members believed he might be cooperating with police.
Rodriguez is awaiting execution on two counts of murder, also from Los Angeles County.
Local media reports identified Rodriguez as a member of another Latino gang convicted of killing two men from a rival gang. He was already suspected of another murder that resulted in a life sentence.
No one has been executed in California since 2006, though voters in 2016 passed an initiative that is attempting to speed up capital punishment. Far more condemned inmates on the nation's largest death row have died of natural causes or suicide than have been executed since California reinstated capital punishment in 1978.
A special FBI team that investigated the slayings five police officers in Dallas in 2016 and the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas last year is helping local authorities gather evidence in what's described as an ambush attack that killed one South Carolina law enforcement officer and wounded six others.
"This is a large crime scene. This is a very large, complex puzzle that we are still filling the pieces in," Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told news reporters Friday. His deputies, based in the state capital of Columbia, are investigating the case at the request of the sheriff in Florence County, about 90 miles to the east, where the slayings took place Wednesday afternoon.
The suspect, 74-year-old Frederick Hopkins, was charged with murder and six counts of attempted murder Friday.
The decorated Vietnam War veteran had set an ambush for investigators coming to question his adult son about a child sexual assault, Lott said.
Hopkins was hospitalized after he was taken into custody Wednesday, but was taken to jail Friday, Lott said.
Florence County investigators had called Hopkins' home and arranged to speak to his 28-year-old son, Seth Hopkins, about a sex assault investigation Wednesday afternoon, Lott said, adding that they had a search warrant. Officials had previously given the son's age as 27.
In this undated image released by the Florence County Sheriff's Office is Frederick Hopkins, 74, who was charged with murder and six counts of attempted murder Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in Florence. S.C. Authorities say the Vietnam veteran accused of shooting seven law enforcement officers in South Carolina on Wednesday, ambushed investigators coming to question his adult son about a sexual assault. (Florence County Sheriff's Office via AP)
The three deputies were shot without warning as they got out of their car, he said.
Dozens of officers rushed to help, and the gunman shot four city of Florence officers. Police Sgt. Terrence Carraway was killed.
So many rounds were fired with such powerful weapons that it took up to 30 minutes to get an armored vehicle close enough to rescue the wounded officers, Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler said. The standoff lasted two hours.
Several children in the home were not harmed, authorities said.
Seth Hopkins was charged Friday with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Authorities didn't immediately release details about the crime. Lott said Seth Hopkins also was hospitalized after the shooting but was released from hospital care and jailed Friday.
WBTW-TV reports Judge Tommy Mourounas denied bail for Frederick T. Hopkins, who needed help getting in and out of the courtroom and appeared dazed and tired.
Mourounas asked Hopkins "You understand where you're at right now?"
Hopkins responded, "No, where am I?"
The judge replied, "You're at bond hearing court."
The court delayed a decision whether to appoint him a lawyer until his financial status can be verified.
The judge also denied bail for Seth Hopkins, who was not assigned a public defender.
Frederick Hopkins' wife, Cheryl Turner Hopkins, is an attorney and attended a hearing Friday that Solicitor Ed Clements said concerned emergency custody for children in the home. The solicitor did not provide details on the hearing and the Family Court judge sealed the case.
Cheryl Turner Hopkins told a WPDE-TV reporter outside the courtroom that she is sorry for the officers' families and asked for prayers.
Two of the wounded officers have been released from the hospital. Lott said others remain in critical condition but did not provide details.
Frederick Hopkins is a Vietnam veteran and a disbarred attorney. His U.S. Army records obtained by The Associated Press show he was awarded a marksman badge with pistol bar and a sharpshooter with rifle bar decorations during 11 years of service starting in 1966.
Hopkins also was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroism defending a firebase under attack by North Vietnamese forces on May 6, 1970.
As a U.S. Army captain, Hopkins carried medical supplies across an open area, "braving shrapnel from exploding mortar rounds," according to the letter explaining the award. He was critically wounded when a mortar round exploded near him, the letter said.
Hopkins earned his law license after leaving the military but was disbarred a few years later for mishandling money. Several of his Facebook posts in recent years were about guns, including celebrating his 70th birthday by repeatedly firing his M14 rifle "set up exactly like the one I used in Vietnam."
Authorities also released the names of all the wounded officers. Florence County Deputy Arie Davis, investigator Sarah Miller and investigator Farrah Turner were shot as they got to the home. Florence Police Officers Brian Hart, Travis Scott and Scott Williamson were wounded along with Carraway as they rushed to help.
Carraway's funeral is scheduled Monday at the city's civic center.
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Associated Press researcher Monica Mathur in New York and reporters Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, and Rebecca Santana in New Orleans contributed to this report.
Florence Police officers mourn at a makeshift memorial, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, in Florence, S.C., following a candlelight vigil for Sgt. Terrence Carraway who was killed in the line of duty on Wednesday. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
Police patrol the area of a fatal shooting in Florence, S.C., Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Frederick Hopkins, a Vietnam veteran who bragged online about maintaining his target-shooting skills was being held in the shooting of multiple law enforcement officers as deputies tried to serve a search warrant at his home Wednesday night. (AP Photo/Jeffrey S. Collins)
South Carolina state troopers gather on Hoffmeyer Road near the Vintage Place neighborhood where several law enforcement officers were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
Blood-soaked evidence lies on Saxon Drive in the Vintage Place neighborhood where several members of law enforcement were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone, from left, Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler and Florence County Chief Deputy Glenn Kirby speak to the media following a shooting where several law enforcement officers were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Authorities direct traffic on Hoffmeyer Road near the Vintage Place neighborhood where several law enforcement officers were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
A police officer directs traffic on Hoffmeyer Road near the Vintage Place neighborhood where three deputies and two city officers were shot Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
A sheriff's deputy exits the crime scene on Ashton Drive in the Vintage Place neighborhood where several members of law enforcement were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
A forensics team member exits the crime scene on Ashton Drive in the Vintage Place neighborhood where several members of law enforcement were shot, one fatally, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
HONG KONG (AP) - Britain has expressed concern over freedom of speech in its former colony Hong Kong after authorities refused to renew the work visa of a senior editor of the Financial Times.
A statement dated Friday said Britain has asked for an explanation as to why Victor Mallet's visa renewal application was rejected.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office statement said: "Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and its press freedoms are central to its way of life, and must be fully respected."
Mallet is a vice president of Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club, which recently drew criticism from the authorities for hosting a talk by the leader of a now-banned pro-Hong Kong independence party.
Hong Kong was promised semi-autonomy for 50 years as part of its 1997 handover from British rule.
In this Aug. 14, 2018 photo, The Financial Times Asia news editor, Victor Mallet speaks during a luncheon at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong. The Financial Times said Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 that Hong Kong's government has refused to renew the work visa of Mallet, in what human rights activists say is the latest sign of a deteriorating human rights situation in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. (Pool Photo via AP)
In this Aug. 14, 2018 photo, The Financial Times Asia news editor, Victor Mallet, right, shakes hands with Andy Chan, founder of the Hong Kong National Party, during a luncheon at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong. The Financial Times said Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 that Hong Kong's government has refused to renew the work visa of Mallet, in what human rights activists say is the latest sign of a deteriorating human rights situation in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. (Pool Photo via AP)
SAO PAULO (AP) - Business leaders and financial markets in Latin America's largest economy are shaking off their misgivings to coalesce around the candidacy of poll leader Jair Bolsonaro, a retired army captain who has repeatedly said he doesn't understand the economy.
For many Brazilians, Bolsonaro's candidacy in Sunday's vote has long provoked fears because of his penchant for waxing nostalgic about the country's 1964-1985 dictatorship, along with his steady stream of derogatory comments about women, blacks, indigenous peoples and gays. For their part, industry leaders worried about what they saw a big-government, populist streak in past statements and his voting record.
The growing decision by the business community to essentially hold its nose is being driven by factors ranging from Bolsonaro's decision to name an esteemed banker as head of his economic team to fear about a return of the left-leaning policies of the Workers' Party.
The darling of the markets, former Sao Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin, has largely faded from contention in recent weeks despite major party support and more free air time than any other candidate.
Bolsonaro leads polls in the crowded 13-candidate field followed by Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad, who is likely to meet him in an Oct. 28 runoff.
"For the markets, Bolsonaro is not a dream candidate, but he represents less risk than Haddad," said Gilberto Braga, a finance professor at the business-oriented Ibmec university in Rio de Janeiro.
FILE - In this April 19, 2018 file photo, presidential hopeful, conservative Brazilian lawmaker Jair Bolsonaro flashes two thumbs up as he poses for a photo with cadets during a ceremony marking Army Day, in Brasilia, Brazil. For many Brazilians, Bolsonaro's candidacy in Sunday's Oct. 7 vote has long provoked fears because of his penchant for waxing nostalgic about the country's 1964-1985 dictatorship, along with his steady stream of derogatory comments about women, blacks, indigenous peoples and gays. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
Some are skeptical that Bolsonaro truly represents less risk for the economy, or other aspects of society.
Besides divisive comments, some of Bolsonaro's proposals, such as cracking down on crime by giving freer rein to already-violent police forces, are sending shivers through many communities.
He has promised to fill his cabinet with current and former generals, raising the specter of a de facto military government. Historically, leaders of such governments in many countries have increased state control of the economy, not reduced it.
"The one person who is actually most likely to turn Brazil into Venezuela is Bolsonaro," said Monica de Bolle, director of Latin American Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
During his 27 years in Congress, Bolsonaro, who represents Rio de Janeiro, accomplished very little: Only two bills he proposed were made into law. He also repeatedly voted against privatizations and other economic policies he now says he supports.
Still, in recent months, stock markets have surged and the Brazilian real has gained strength against the U.S. dollar each time Bolsonaro's candidacy has appeared to gain strength. Several polls show Bolsonaro gaining more than 10 points since Sept. 6, when he was stabbed and hospitalized while campaigning.
He now commands 35 percent of voter intentions compared to 22 percent for Haddad, according to a Datafolha poll published Thursday. The poll interviewed 10,930 voters on Wednesday and Thursday and had a 2 percentage point margin of error.
Bolsonaro, who has promised to cut taxes and reduce the bureaucracy, has steadily gained endorsements of businessmen and industrial associations.
Helping push Bolsonaro forward was the naming of Paulo Guedes, a University of Chicago-trained economist, as his lead economic adviser.
Guedes is a banker and a major stockholder at company Br Investments, which owns several companies in retail. He has advocated privatizing of all Brazil's state-owned companies, including oil giant Petrobras.
But while Bolsonaro has frequently deferred to Guedes, he has also contradicted his economic adviser at times, creating confusion. In fact, Guedes has largely disappeared from the campaign since canceling two events on Sept. 21.
A few days earlier, Guedes floated the idea of reinstating an unpopular bank transfer tax. From his hospital bed, Bolsonaro tweeted that his team had ruled out new taxes.
"He doesn't have political experience," Bolsonaro told the daily Folha de S.Paulo, referring to Guedes. "He gives one-hour-long lectures, says one thing in a few seconds and the press goes after him."
Bolsonaro is also getting a large boost from Brazilians who don't want a return to the Workers' Party, which held the presidency from 2003 to 2016. Many blame the party for largest corruption scandals in the nation's history, the so called "Carwash" investigation into billions of dollars in bribes to politicians and other officials by way of kickbacks from construction contracts.
Many economists also say the party's heavy-spending policies, particularly in recent years under ex-President Dilma Rousseff, contributed to the country's worst economic crisis in decades.
Rousseff, who succeeded President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2011, was impeached and removed from office in 2016 for illegally managing the federal budget. Rousseff denied wrongdoing and said was the victim of a "coup."
Da Silva, who is jailed, had been leading polls before being barred from running due to a 12-year sentence for corruption, which he is appealing.
At every step, Bolsonaro has taken advantage of the turmoil, presenting himself as a candidate ready to drain the swamp of corrupt politicians.
For his part, Haddad has promised to cut income taxes for workers making less than $1,216 a month and raise taxes on the rich for offset a drop in revenue. However, he has not made clear how he would deal with an expected deficit of $39 billion in 2019.
"Whoever wins, the day after the election will be filled with doubts for us," said Andre Perfeito, chief economist of broker Spinelli.
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Peter Prengaman reported from Rio de Janeiro.
FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2018 file photo, presidential candidate for the Workers Party, Fernando Haddad, flashes a victory sign to supporters during a campaign event with women in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Haddad has promised to cut income taxes for workers making less than $1,216 a month and raise taxes on the rich for offset a drop in revenue. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)
A supporter of Brazil's presidential candidate for the Workers Party Fernando Haddad shouts slogans in support of him, during a campaign rally, in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Brazil will hold general elections on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in Saturday night as the 114th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, after a wrenching debate over sexual misconduct and judicial temperament that shattered the Senate, captivated the nation and ushered in an acrimonious new level of polarization - now encroaching on the court that the 53-year-old judge may well swing rightward for decades to come.
Even as Kavanaugh took his oath of office in a quiet private ceremony, not long after the narrowest Senate confirmation in nearly a century and a half, protesters chanted outside the court building across the street from the Capitol.
The climactic 50-48 roll call capped a fight that seized the national conversation after claims emerged that he had sexually assaulted women three decades ago - allegations he emphatically denied. Those accusations transformed the clash from a routine struggle over judicial ideology into an angry jumble of questions about victims' rights, the presumption of innocence and personal attacks on nominees.
His confirmation provides a defining accomplishment for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which found a unifying force in the cause of putting a new conservative majority on the court. Before the sexual accusations grabbed the Senate's and the nation's attention, Democrats had argued that Kavanaugh's rulings and writings as an appeals court judge had raised serious concerns about his views on abortion rights and a president's right to bat away legal probes.
Trump, flying to Kansas for a political rally, flashed a thumbs-up gesture when the tally was announced and praised Kavanaugh for being "able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats." He later telephoned his congratulations to the new justice.
Like Trump, senators at the Capitol predicted voters would react strongly by defeating the other party's candidates in next month's congressional elections.
Retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, right, administers the Judicial Oath to Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the Justices' Conference Room of the Supreme Court Building. Ashley Kavanaugh holds the Bible. At left are their daughters, Margaret, background, and Liza. (Fred Schilling/Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via AP)
"It's turned our base on fire," declared Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. But Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York forecast gains for his party instead: "Change must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box."
The justices themselves made a quiet show of solidarity. Kavanaugh was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts and the man he's replacing, retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, as fellow Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan looked on - two conservatives and two liberals.
Still, Kagan noted the night before that Kennedy has been "a person who found the center" and 'it's not so clear we'll have that' now.
Noisy to the end, the Senate battle featured a call of the roll that was interrupted several times by protesters shouting in the spectators' gallery before Capitol Police removed them. Vice President Mike Pence presided, his potential tie-breaking vote unnecessary.
Trump has now put his stamp on the court with his second justice in as many years. Yet Kavanaugh is joining under a cloud. Accusations from several women remain under scrutiny, and House Democrats have pledged further investigation if they win the majority in November. Outside groups are culling an unusually long paper trail from his previous government and political work, with the National Archives and Records Administration expected to release a cache of millions of documents later this month.
Kavanaugh, a father of two, strenuously denied the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford, who says he sexually assaulted her when they were teens. An appellate court judge on the District of Columbia circuit for the past 12 years, he pushed for the Senate vote as hard as Republican leaders - not just to reach this capstone of his legal career, but in fighting to clear his name
After Ford's allegations, Democrats and their allies became engaged as seldom before, though there were obvious echoes of Thomas' combative confirmation over the sexual harassment accusations of Anita Hill, who worked for him at two federal agencies. Protesters began swarming Capitol Hill, creating a tense, confrontational atmosphere that put Capitol Police on edge.
As exhausted senators prepared for Saturday's vote, some were flanked by security guards. Hangers and worse have been delivered to their offices, a Roe v. Wade reference.
Some 164 people were arrested, most for demonstrating on the Capitol steps, 14 for disrupting the Senate's roll call vote.
McConnell told The Associated Press in an interview that the "mob" of opposition - confronting senators in the hallways and at their homes - united his narrowly divided GOP majority as Kavanaugh's confirmation teetered and will give momentum to his party chances this fall.
Beyond the sexual misconduct allegations, Democrats raised questions about Kavanauagh's temperament and impartiality after he delivered defiant, emotional, testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee where he denounced their party.
Schumer said Kavanaugh's "partisan screed" showed not only a temperament unfitting for the high court but a lack of objectivity that should make him ineligible to serve. At one point in the hearing, Kavanaugh blamed a Clinton-revenge conspiracy for the accusations against him.
The fight ended up less about judicial views than the sexual assault accusations that riveted the nation and are certain to continue a national debate and #MeToo reckoning that is yet to be resolved.
Republicans argued that a supplemental FBI investigation instigated by wavering GOP senators and ordered by the White House turned up no corroborating witnesses to the claims and that Kavanaugh had sterling credentials for the court. Democrats dismissed the truncated report as insufficient.
In the end, all but one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, lined up behind the judge. She said on the Senate floor late Friday that Kavanaugh is "a good man" but his "appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable."
In a twist, Murkowski voted "present" Saturday as a courtesy to Republican Kavanaugh supporter Steve Daines, who was to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding in Montana. That balanced out the absence without affecting the outcome, and gave Kavanaugh the same two-vote margin he'd have received had both lawmakers voted.
It was the closest roll call to confirm a justice since 1881, when Stanley Matthews was approved by 24-23, according to Senate records.
As the Senate tried to recover from its charged atmosphere, Murkowski's move offered a moment of civility. "I do hope that it reminds us that we can take very small steps to be gracious with one another and maybe those small gracious steps can lead to more," she said.
Republicans control the Senate by a meager 51-49 margin, and announcements of support Friday from Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine, along with Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, locked in the needed votes.
Manchin was the only Democrat to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation. He expressed empathy for sexual assault victims, but said that after factoring in the FBI report, "I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution."
A procedural vote Friday made Saturday's confirmation a foregone conclusion. White House Counsel Don McGahn, who helped salvage Kavanaugh's nomination as it teetered, sat in the front row of the visitors' gallery for the vote with deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah.
Senators on both sides know they have work to do to put the chamber back together again after a ferocious debate that saw them arguing over the sordid details of high school drinking games, sexual allegations and cryptic yearbook entries.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said, "The Senate has been an embarrassment. We have a lot of work to do."
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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Matthew Daly, Padmananda Rama, Ken Thomas and Catherine Lucey contributed to this report.
Police move activists as they protest on the steps of the Supreme Court after the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump, on board Air Force One, gestures while speaking to members of the travel press after watching a live television broadcast of the Senate confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Trump was traveling from Washington enroute to Topeka, Kan., for a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
TOKYO (AP) - America's top diplomat said Saturday the U.S. will coordinate with allies Japan and South Korea on efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on the eve of the American's fourth visit to North Korea. Pompeo was looking to arrange a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and chart a path toward denuclearization.
Japan has been wary of Trump's initiative, fearing it could affect its long-standing security relationship with the U.S.
Pompeo said it was important to hear from the Japanese leader "so we have a fully coordinated and unified view." Pompeo also pledged that during his meeting with Kim on Sunday, he would raise the cases of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.
Pompeo later planned stops in South Korea and China to review the negotiations.
"It is important for us to hear from you as I travel to Pyongyang to make sure that we are fully in sync with respect to missile programs, (chemical and biological weapons) programs," Pompeo told Abe. "We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well and then we will share with you how we hope to proceed when we are in Pyongyang tomorrow."
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, center, shakes hands with Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono before a meeting in Tokyo Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. (Pool Photo via AP)
Trump is pressing to meet with Kim for a second time after their June summit in Singapore produced a vague agreement on denuclearization with few, if any, specifics. Despite the historic meeting, the two sides are deadlocked over how to achieve that goal. Trump canceled Pompeo's initial planned return to North Korea last month.
In contrast with South Korea, where President Moon Jae-in has been at the forefront of encouraging Trump's rapprochement with the North, Japan has been decidedly cautious, insisting its interests and concerns be addressed.
Abe did not speak of differences but highlighted the importance of demonstrating to the world that the U.S.-Japan alliance is "more robust than ever" and stressing the importance of "thorough coordination" with Washington on all aspects of North Korea policy.
Pompeo has repeatedly refused to discuss details of negotiations, including a U.S. position on North Korea's demand for a declared end to the Korean War and a proposal from Seoul for such a declaration to be accompanied by a shutdown of the North's main known nuclear facility.
The U.S. and Japan have pushed for the North to compile and turn over a detailed list of its nuclear sites to be dismantled as a next step in the process; the North has rejected that.
Japan's foreign minister, Taro Kano, said the accounting continues to be a priority for his country.
"Disclosing all nuclear inventories is the first step toward denuclearization," he told reporters after Pompeo wrapped up his meeting in Tokyo.
Kono also said he and Pompeo didn't go into details of a possible war-end declaration because it's premature while there is virtually no progress in denuclearization. "We are not even talking about whether to do it or not," he said. "It's not an issue that we are even considering."
Many believe such a declaration could reinforce North Korea's demands for the U.S. to withdraw its forces from South Korea and Japan.
While traveling to Asia, Pompeo said his mission was to "make sure that we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve ... and how we can deliver against the commitments that were made" in Singapore. He said they would develop options, if not finalize, the location and timing of a second Trump-Kim summit.
He has also distanced himself from an earlier stated goal of achieving North Korea's nuclear weapons abandonment by the end of Trump's term in January 2021.
Since the effort got underway with a secret visit to the North by then-CIA chief Pompeo in April, there has been only limited progress.
North Korea so far has suspended nuclear and missile tests, freed three American prisoners and dismantled parts of a missile engine facility and tunnel entrances at a nuclear test site. It has not taken any steps to halt nuclear weapons or missile development.
The North also has accused Washington of making "unilateral and gangster-like" demands on denuclearization and insisted that sanctions should be lifted before any progress in nuclear talks. U.S. officials have thus far said sanctions will remain in place until the North's denuclearization is fully verified.
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AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, speak during a meeting at Abe's office in Tokyo Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Pompeo has arrived in Tokyo for talks with Japanese officials ahead of his trip to North Korea. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Gaza's Health Ministry says Israeli forces have shot dead three Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy, as thousands of people protested along the fence dividing the Gaza Strip and Israel.
The ministry said the boy was struck in the chest, a 24-year-old man was shot in the back and another man, 28, succumbed to his wounds at hospital Friday.
It added that 126 protesters were wounded by live fire.
Responding to calls by Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, thousands of Palestinians thronged five areas along the fence, burning tires, throwing rocks and chanting slogans against a stifling Israeli-Egyptian blockade on the territory.
The Israeli military said about 20,000 protesters participated. They threw explosive devices and grenades toward the troops which used tear gas and live fire to, it added.
Palestinians run for cover from teargas fired from Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians chant angry slogans as they cut the fence during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians carry a wounded protester during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians hurl stones during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians run for cover from teargas fired from Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians run for cover from teargas fired from Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians carry 12 year-old boy, Fares Sersawi, who died later from his wound after being shot by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A Palestinian youth throws a teargas canister away during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A Palestinian man runs for cover as smoke raises following an Israeli missile strike during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A Palestinian woman wears a traditional uniform, waves a national flag during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinian medics carry a wounded protester during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
An Israeli tank is seen near the in Israel and Gaza border, Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. The Israeli military said Thursday it was bolstering its forces along the Gaza border ahead of another expected explosive Hamas-orchestrated protest. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An Israeli tank is seen near the in Israel and Gaza border, Israel, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. The Israeli military said Thursday it was bolstering its forces along the Gaza border ahead of another expected explosive Hamas-orchestrated protest. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
PALU, Indonesia (AP) - Search teams pulled bodies from obliterated neighborhoods in the disaster-stricken Indonesian city of Palu on Saturday as more aid rolled in and the government said it was considering making devastated areas into mass graves.
Indonesia's disaster agency said the death toll from the powerful earthquake and tsunami climbed to 1,649, with at least 265 people still missing, though it said that number could be higher. More nations sent aid and humanitarian workers fanned out in the countryside.
The dead were still being recovered more than a week after the double disaster. Eight victims in black body bags of the national search and rescue agency were arranged in a row in the crumpled Palu neighborhood of Balaroa, destined for a mass grave.
Relatives cried as people placed long pieces of white cloth, to represent a Muslim burial rite, inside the bags.
Among them was 39-year-old Rudy Rahman, who said the bodies of his 18- and 16-year-old sons had been found. His youngest son remained missing. He watched as rescue workers unloaded the bags from a truck. His wife wept inconsolably.
"They were found in front of my brother's house opposite the mosque," Rahman said. "They found them holding each other. These two brothers were hugging each other."
Indonesian and Japan military personnel unload relief aid from a Japan Air Force cargo plane at the Mutiara Sis Al-Jufri airport in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. A 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked the city on Sept. 28, triggering a tsunami and mud slides that killed a large number of people and displaced tens of thousands others. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Balaroa was one of the areas hardest hit by the Sept. 28 magnitude 7.5 quake, which threw homes in the neighborhood tens of meters and left cars upright or perched on eruptions of concrete and asphalt. Many children were in the area's mosque at the time of the quake for Quran recitation. An assistant to the Imam had said none survived.
Indonesia's top security minister, Wiranto, who uses a single name, said the government is mulling the possibility of turning Balaroa and Petobo, another neighborhood in Palu, into mass graves. Petobo disappeared into the earth as the force of the quake liquified its soft soil. Liquefaction also struck a large section of Balaroa.
Wiranto said efforts to retrieve bodies are problematic in those neighborhoods, where homes were sucked into the earth, burying possibly hundreds of victims.
He said it's not safe for heavy equipment to operate there.
Wiranto also said on local television that the government is discussing with local and religious authorities and victims' families the possibility of halting the search and turning the areas into mass graves. The victims can be considered "martyrs," he said.
A Japanese Self Defense Force plane landed at Palu's airport Saturday morning. Soldiers unloaded tons of supplies, including medicine and small portable generators, in boxes emblazoned with the Japanese flag and the words "From the People of Japan." Several other nations have also sent planeloads of aid. Video showed the military dropping supplies from helicopters in places and a large Red Cross ship docked at a port in the region.
In the dusty one-road village of Pewunu, excited children shouted "Red Cross! Red Cross!" as one of the aid group's medical teams arrived and set up a makeshift clinic in a field where evacuees were sleeping under tarps. One villager said they survived by ransacking shops.
Volunteers laid out a big white tarp on a stage in front of the village office, plonked a green desk on it and interviewed people about their needs as dozens milled around.
Doctors performed medical checks on elderly residents who emerged from tents and climbed the stage's stairs with canes or others supporting them.
People living in the camp said two residents died in collapsing houses in the village. They said they had clean water and noodles but not much else.
"There were supplies, but these were looted. All along the roads toward here, they were looted by outsiders," said Bahamid Fawzi.
"All this while in this crisis, we don't have water, we don't have food," he said. "After that, we started ransacking the stores and the shops. Not because we're thieves, but because we really needed it. There's no water, no food - like it or not, we had to do it."
The earthquake and tsunami swept away buildings along miles (kilometers) of coastline and knocked out power and communications for several days.
In a rare move, Indonesia's government has appealed for international help to cope with the tragedy unfolding on Sulawesi island.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says $50.5 million is required to deliver "immediate, life-saving" aid.
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Associated Press journalists Eileen Ng in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Andi Jatmiko in Palu contributed to this report.
Indonesian and Japanese military personnel unload relief aid from a Japan Air Force cargo plane at the Mutiara Sis Al-Jufri airport in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. A 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked the city on Sept. 28, triggering a tsunami and mud slides that killed a large number of people and displaced tens of thousands others. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Indonesian and Japan military personnel unload relief aid from a Japan Air Force cargo plane at the Mutiara Sis Al-Jufri airport in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. As the sun slipped behind the mountains and a gentle breeze blew onshore, hundreds of people gathered on an Indonesian beach Friday to chant a Muslim prayer and remember those they lost one week after a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged the area, killing more than 1,500 people.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
RIGA, Latvia (AP) - Latvians were casting their ballots Saturday in a parliamentary election in which a party catering to the Baltic nation's large ethnic Russian minority is expected to win the most support but have trouble forming a coalition government.
Voters in Latvia, which is a member of the European Union and NATO, are choosing from more than 1,400 candidates and 16 parties to fill the small Baltic country's 100-seat parliament, or Saeima.
The left-leaning Harmony party, which is favored by ethnic Russians, is expected to secure the most votes.
Members of the Russian minority account for about 25 percent of Latvia's nearly 2 million people, a legacy of nearly 50 years of Soviet occupation that ended in 1991.
The Harmony party is the country's largest with 24 seats but it has been shunned by Latvian parties over suspicions of being too cozy with Moscow, despite its pro-EU stance.
Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis' centrist Union of Greens and Farmers is expected to end up in second place. Since 2016, Kucinskis has led a three-party governing coalition with the conservative National Alliance and the liberal Unity parties.
An elderly Latvian woman casts her ballot papers at a polling station in Riga, Latvia, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Latvians were casting their ballots on Saturday in a parliamentary election in which a party catering to the Baltic nation's large ethnic-Russian minority is expected to win the most votes, but is seen to be struggling to find coalition partners. (AP Photo/Roman Koksarov)
Observers say it is unlikely that Harmony, led by Nils Usakovs, who has been mayor of Riga, the capital, since 2009, would team up with Kucinskis' party in a coalition because of substantial policy differences.
After casting his vote in Riga, Usakovs predicted the election would bring a political breakthrough for his party.
"After these elections, there will be changes, and people will be proud that there are no more nationalists in charge," Usakovs was quoted as saying by the Baltic News Service.
Other parties in the election include the populist KPV party led by Artuss Kaimins, an actor-turned-lawmaker, which some opinion polls suggest may come third. The New Conservative Party has a strong anti-corruption platform but has struggled to gain support.
Some Latvians were optimistic about the results of the vote. They included Evalds, 75-year-old voter in Riga who would not give his last name - not an unusual demand from someone who spent years under Soviet occupation.
"We're expecting changes. We need patience with the 16 (competing parties)," Evalds told The Associated Press. "The parliament of Latvia and our country will be a good example for Europe, a smart nation, and a civil society."
Others disagreed.
"There will be no changes in the parliament, because every year the main force is the coalition, and the parliament consists of the same people every single year," Igors, a 37-year-old railroad worker, told the AP. He also did not want to give his last name.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a strong interest in defending the rights of ethnic Russians in the Baltics. Relations between Russia and Latvia have been frayed by Russia's annexation of the Crimea Peninsula in 2014 from Ukraine and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
According to the Baltic News Service, Latvian security police were investigating 20 suspected cases of voting fraud. But police said earlier they have found no direct or systematic attempts by foreign nations to influence Saturday's election.
For Alexandra, a 56-year-old retiree who also would not give her last name, picking a party was easy.
"I will vote for Harmony because I'm Russian. But I have lived in Riga my whole life and so have five generations of my ancestors," she told the AP.
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Tanner reported from Helsinki.
Latvians mark their ballots at a polling station in Riga, Latvia, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Latvians were casting their ballots on Saturday in a parliamentary election in which a party catering to the Baltic nation's large ethnic-Russian minority is expected to win the most votes, but is seen to be struggling to find coalition partners. (AP Photo/Roman Koksarov)
A Latvian woman holds her ballot papers at a polling station in Riga, Latvia, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Latvians were casting their ballots on Saturday in a parliamentary election in which a party catering to the Baltic nation's large ethnic-Russian minority is expected to win the most votes, but is seen to be struggling to find coalition partners. (AP Photo/Roman Koksarov)
A Latvian woman casts her ballot papers at a polling station in Riga, Latvia, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Latvians were casting their ballots on Saturday in a parliamentary election in which a party catering to the Baltic nation's large ethnic-Russian minority is expected to win the most votes, but is seen to be struggling to find coalition partners. (AP Photo/Roman Koksarov)
A Latvian casts their ballot paper at a polling station in Riga, Latvia, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Latvians were casting their ballots on Saturday in a parliamentary election in which a party catering to the Baltic nation's large ethnic-Russian minority is expected to win the most votes, but is seen to be struggling to find coalition partners. (AP Photo/Roman Koksarov)
Latvians mark their ballots at a polling station in Riga, Latvia, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Latvians were casting their ballots on Saturday in a parliamentary election in which a party catering to the Baltic nation's large ethnic-Russian minority is expected to win the most votes, but is seen to be struggling to find coalition partners. (AP Photo/Roman Koksarov)
Here's your look at highlights from the weekly AP photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see.
This week's gallery includes riot police pelted with paint during a protest in the Catalonian region of Spain, mourners of a 14-year-old boy killed during protests in the Gaza Strip and a performer dancing at the Gay Pride Parade along Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.
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This gallery contains photos from the week of Sept. 29 - Oct. 5, 2018.
See the latest AP photo galleries: https://apimagesblog.com
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A man looks at a mosque that was isolated by water after its bridge was destroyed due to the massive earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. More than 1,500 people were killed in the area. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Follow AP photographers on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP/lists/ap-photographers
Follow AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images
Visit AP Images online: http://www.apimages.com http://www.apimages.com/
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This gallery was produced by Patrick Sison in New York.
Palestinian relatives of 14 year-old Mohammed al-Houm, who was shot and killed by Israeli troops on Friday's ongoing protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, mourn at the family's home during his funeral in Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Pro-independence demonstrators throw paint at Catalan police officers during clashes in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. Catalan separatists clashed with police on Saturday in downtown Barcelona as tensions increase before the anniversary of the Spanish region's referendum on secession that was outlawed and ended in violent raids by security forces. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
A grove of maple and aspen trees are coated with snow near Canyon, Minn., Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, after about two inches of wet snow fell overnight, coating the trees and mixing with fall colors. (Brian Peterson/Star Tribune via AP)
In this photo released by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, missiles are fired from the city of Kermanshah in western Iran targeting the Islamic State group in Syria. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Monday it launched ballistic missiles into eastern Syria targeting militants it blamed for a recent attack on a military parade. (Sepahnews via AP)
People walk through the main hall of NATO headquarters prior to a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
PALU, Indonesia (AP) - The Latest on the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia (all times local):
5:25 p.m.
Indonesia's top security minister says the government is considering turning some areas of disaster-stricken Sulawesi island into mass graves.
The security minister, Wiranto, says efforts to retrieve bodies are problematic in parts of the hard-hit city of Palu, including the Balaroa and Petobo neighborhoods, where the Sept. 28 earthquake caused loose soil to liquefy, causing hundreds of homes to be sucked into quicksand-like mud and burying possibly hundreds of victims.
Wiranto, who uses one name, said heavy equipment cannot operate in such areas because they could potentially sink in the soft mud.
Wiranto said on local television that the government is discussing with local and religious authorities and victims' families the possibility of halting the search for victims in such areas and turning them into mass graves. The victims can be considered as "martyrs," he added.
Indonesian and Japan military personnel unload relief aid from a Japan Air Force cargo plane at the Mutiara Sis Al-Jufri airport in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. A 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked the city on Sept. 28, triggering a tsunami and mud slides that killed a large number of people and displaced tens of thousands others. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
The powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck Palu and surrounding areas on Sept. 28 left at least 1,649 people dead.
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3:50 p.m.
Indonesia's disaster agency says the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Sulawesi island last week has risen to 1,649.
Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says 265 people are reportedly missing, though more may be buried under deep mud and the rubble of homes and buildings that have collapsed.
He provided the updated figure Saturday at a news conference in Jakarta.
The twin disasters struck Palu and surrounding districts in Central Sulawesi province on Sept. 28.
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2:25 p.m.
Aid is continuing to pour into hard-hit areas of Indonesia's Sulawesi island, which has been rattled by some 450 aftershocks since an earthquake and tsunami struck just over a week ago.
A military transport plane from Japan arrived in the city of Palu on Saturday carrying emergency relief, including food and medicine. Meanwhile, commercial flights to the airport have partially resumed with two to three flights per day.
Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho posted a graphic on his Twitter account showing around 450 aftershocks being recorded in the area since the Sept. 28 quake, but they have decreased in frequency and intensity.
More than 70,000 people have been left homeless from the disaster and 1,571 people have been confirmed dead. Many more remain missing.
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) - Rudulf Arrey ventured out for a campaign rally the other day in Cameroon's restive Southwest region, knowing the simple act of civic curiosity could kill him.
Separatists who declared an English-speaking state have threatened people who wander the streets, and so have government security forces who try to maintain order, the 24-year-old in Mamfe town told The Associated Press.
"If you are caught they may kill you," he said of the separatists' scattered, ragtag forces who have vowed to disrupt Sunday's presidential election. Meanwhile, patrolling security personnel "at times ... are very hostile to people around."
Yet Arrey came out because he wanted to hear more about the ruling party's vow: Longtime President Paul Biya, Africa's oldest leader at 85, will be the one to solve the crisis.
The growing fight over language in an officially bilingual country has killed about 400 people and sent more than 200,000 people fleeing Cameroon's Southwest and Northwest regions.
What began as protests two years ago by teachers and lawyers in the English-speaking regions against what they called the marginalization by majority French speakers turned deadly after the government cracked down. The separatists emerged, cheered on by some in Cameroon's diaspora including the United States. But then fringe groups became violent.
A traffic jam is seen during rush hour under a campaign banner of Cameroon Incumbent President Paul Biya, of the People's Democratic Movement party, in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
The result of Sunday's election should be no surprise. The opposition hasn't been able to rally around a challenger. Biya is expected to defeat his opponents easily and keep his grip on the office he entered in 1982.
But while 6.6 million people across Cameroon are registered to vote, the emptying streets in English-speaking regions point to a victory with a weakened mandate. One-fifth of the largely Francophone nation is English speakers, and many can no longer reach the polls.
The ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement has attempted to campaign as normal in the affected regions, holding several rallies, but Biya has never appeared. The party says at least eight of its officials have been abducted and some of its supporters attacked.
One exasperated opposition official, Mefire Ousmanou with the Cameroon Democratic Union party in the southwest, said the violence is increasing by the day.
Biya should open a dialogue instead of using force, he said. "The government should have encouraged reconciliation."
The government insists the election will be peaceful throughout the country, and "those who try to organize chaos risk being disagreeably surprised," spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary said on Twitter.
It's a difficult promise to keep. The armed separatists, who number more than 1,000, reportedly have grown harsher over time. They once avoided targeting civilians but recently have been accused of attacking schools as well as anyone they suspect of giving information about them to security forces.
Casting a ballot is seen as taking a chance.
"Armed separatists have promised to disrupt the elections by all means. Even if they weren't doing so, I'm not sure the majority of the Anglophone population will vote," said Hans de Marie Heungoup, Central African senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. "While they do not support the violence taken on by armed separatists groups, they are more sympathetic to the ideology."
Even if people want to vote, by law they must do it where they are registered. Many Cameroonians are now sheltering outside the affected regions in places like the nearly city of Douala.
Meanwhile more than 230,000 people are displaced in the country's Far North region because of another security threat from Boko Haram extremists based in neighboring Nigeria.
"Up to now the government and electoral body have not said clearly which means they will put in place for these people to vote," Heungoup said. "There's confusion."
While the international community has urged what U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls "a peaceful, credible and inclusive process" on Sunday, major Western election observers such as the European Union will be absent.
Many of the remaining observers, including the African Union, have said they will not be carrying out their work in the troubled southwest and northwest because of the crisis.
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Petesch reported from Dakar, Senegal.
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Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa
Supporters of Cameroon Incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, walk past an election campaign poster during a rally in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A supporters of Cameroon Incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, during an election campaign rally in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Supporters of Social Democratic front Opposition Presidential Candidate Joshua Osih, dance during an election campaign rally outside the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Joshua Osih, Opposition Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic front party, attends an election campaign rally outside the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Supporters of Social Democratic front Opposition Presidential Candidate Joshua Osih, chant slogans during an election campaign rally outside the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Supporters of Cameroon Incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, dance during an election campaign rally in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Supporters of Social Democratic front Opposition Presidential Candidate Joshua Osih, walks on stilts during an election campaign rally outside the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Supporters of Cameroon Incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, dances during an election campaign rally in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Supporters of Cameroon Incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, dances during an election campaign rally in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Supporters of Social Democratic front Opposition Presidential Candidate Joshua Osih, chant slogans during an election campaign rally outside the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Supporters of Cameroon Incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, dance during an election campaign rally in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Supporters of Cameroon Incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, dances during an election campaign rally in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Supporters of Cameroon Incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, dances during an election campaign rally in Yaounde, Cameroon, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Africa's oldest leader is expected to win Sunday's election despite Anglophone separatists threatening to disrupt it. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Donations to the Indonesian earthquake appeal will be doubled by the UK Government.
More than 1,500 people are thought to be dead, missing or injured after last Fridays 7.5 magnitude tremor and tsunami on the island of Sulawesi and up to 1.5 million people have been affected.
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt has pledged to match the first 2 million of public donations to the Disasters Emergency Committees (DEC) Indonesia Tsunami Appeal.
The move will take the UK Government aid to the devastated Sulawesi region to 5m, on top of sending a team of six aid workers and a plane full of shelters, water filters and solar lamps.
Visiting DEC headquarters, Ms Mordaunt said: The British public have been very moved by the plight of so many people hit by these terrible events.
Aid Match is a chance for the British public to help directly to support people in desperate need.
As well as our support through UK aid, the UK Government will match pound for pound all public donations up to 2 million.
Your help will make a genuine difference, ensuring that lifesaving aid reaches those in dire need in Indonesia right now.
Aid efforts have been hampered in the past few hours by Mount Soputan in North Sulawesi spewing ash nearly 20,000ft into the sky.
A giant plume of volcanic ash rises from Mount Soputan near the town of Tomohon (Hetty Andih/AP)
DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said donations will ensure aid workers from 14 leading UK aid charities can reach those left homeless and in urgent need of food, water and shelter.
We are deeply grateful for the generosity of people in the UK and we hope this announcement will inspire even more people to give, knowing that whatever they donate will be matched pound for pound, he said.
The situation in Indonesia is truly desperate. People have now gone several days without food, many are still believed to be trapped under the rubble, and we have heard stories of children becoming separated from their families.
DEC member charities are on the ground doing everything they can to help, but more funds are urgently needed to ensure we can reach as many people as possible.
A 5 donation can be made by texting SUPPORT to 70000, with the text costing 5 and the whole 5 going to the appeal.
The latest package of support comes less than 24 hours after the Government increased its direct support by 1 million to a total of 3 million in a bid to help more than 70,000 people forced to flee their homes.
Supplies include 1,300 shelter kits, which can accommodate five people each, 2,300 water purifiers and 1,000 solar lanterns.
A team of five UK humanitarian experts left London for Sulawesi earlier this week, and are now helping to coordinate the response on the ground.
A sixth team member has joined them, and the UK will keep its support under review.
The UK has also offered the use of HMS Argyll, currently located in Singapore, to support the humanitarian relief effort.
The government of Indonesia has thanked the UK Government for this offer, but said it is not needed at this time.
The Department for International Development (DfID) funding is on top of existing UK-funded support through humanitarian agencies on the ground.
These include the DfID-backed UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which has allocated 15 million US dollars to the Indonesia earthquake response.
DFID is the top global donor to the UN Emergency Response Fund 20% of all contributions in 2017 and we are proud that they are committing $15 million to the Indonesia earthquake response @UNOCHA @UNCERF DFID (@DFID_UK) October 3, 2018
DfID provided 20% of all contributions to the fund in 2017.
The 15 million dollars will allow UN agencies and humanitarian organisations to rapidly scale up aid operations providing shelter, clean water and health support.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has almost 300 specialist volunteers and staff carrying out search and rescue missions and providing emergency health assistance on the ground.
The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) has made 1.5 million euro available to support the relief effort.
Marion Suge Knight has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for mowing down and killing a Compton businessman.
It is a case that completed the former rap music moguls downfall from his heyday as one of the biggest and most feared names in the music industry.
Knight will now likely live out most, if not the rest, of his life in a California prison.
He showed no emotion in court on Thursday as relatives of Terry Carter, the man he killed, described their loved one as a devoted family man and peacemaker.
Mr Carter was killed after Knight and one of his longtime rivals, Cle Bone Sloan, started fighting outside a Compton burger stand in January 2015.
Knight was upset about his portrayal in the NWA biopic, Straight Outta Compton, which Mr Sloan was serving as a consultant on.
Nearly two dozen of Mr Carters relatives packed the courtroom on Thursday (David McNew/Pool Photo via AP)
Knight clipped Mr Sloan with his pickup truck, seriously injuring him, before speeding through the parking lot and running over Mr Carter and fleeing.
While Mr Carters relatives said they hoped Knights lengthy sentence will bring them peace, many had no kind words for the Death Row Records co-founder, who they criticised for showing a complete lack of remorse.
Mr Carters daughter Crystal called Knight a low-life thug, career criminal and a disgusting, selfish disgrace to the human species.
I ask that you sentence this unrepentant, remorseless, cold, callous menace to society to the maximum of 28 years, she told a judge.
Before Thursdays hearing, Knight had already agreed to his lengthy prison term by pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter and avoiding a trial on murder and attempted murder charges that could have resulted in a life sentence if he was convicted.
The sentencing ended a near four-year court saga that included frequent outbursts by Knight, 53, who also collapsed in court during one appearance and shuffled his defence team 16 times.
Between the restrictions of the three-strikes law and the time Knight has already served, he will likely spend roughly 20 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Knight has been in decline for decades. At his pinnacle in the mid-1990s, he was putting out wildly popular records that are now considered classics from Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur.
Shakur was in Knights car when he was killed in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas in 1996.
He later lost his stake in Death Row Records due in bankruptcy proceedings.
Nearly two dozen of Mr Carters relatives packed the courtroom on Thursday.
His daughter, Nekaya Carter, said she hopes the end of the courtroom saga can bring her some peace.
I wanted justice for my dad and now weve finally got it, kind of, she said.
She then addressed Knight directly, despite the judges instructions not to, saying: My dad can finally rest in peace while you live out the rest of your life in prison.
His sister, Jessica Carter, told Los Angeles Superior Court judge Ronald Coen: He was so much more than the person the defendant killed with his truck.
There have been disputed accounts of why Mr Carter had been at the scene, but his family said he often acted as a community mediator and peacemaker.
This wasnt no cat who went after nobody, his brother-in-law Damu Visha said in court. He helped people.
The death was captured on surveillance video, and family members described their anguish in having to see it repeatedly, and chastised the media for showing it so often.
Mr Coen appeared moved by the familys words and offered his own condolences.
If it hasnt been said by anyone else, Coen said, let me tell you, that my heart goes out to you.
Most victims family members spoke of the need to forgive Knight for their own peace of mind.
I hope and I pray that we find forgiveness, Terry Carters cousin Patricia Hawkins said. But it wont be today.
Actress Emily Ratajkowski has confirmed she was arrested while protesting against the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in Washington DC.
She shared a photograph of herself in front of the US Capitol brandishing a sign reading Respect female existence or expect our resistance.
Today I was arrested protesting the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, a man who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault. Men who hurt women can no longer be placed in positions of power. pic.twitter.com/nnwq1O4qk3 Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) October 4, 2018
She wrote on Twitter: Today I was arrested protesting the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, a man who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault. Men who hurt women can no longer be placed in positions of power.
Amy Schumer was also at the protest, where she spoke on stage and was also reportedly detained.
Schumer recorded a message for a fan, shared on Twitter, in which she can be heard saying: Hi Zola, Im here with your mom, she loves you very much.
I think were going to get arrested and were so proud of you.
Emily Ratajkowski was arrested at the protest (Ian West/PA)
MY MOM AND AMY SCHUMER ARE GETTING ARRESTED TOGETHER AND AMY SAID HI TO ME pic.twitter.com/AqZUBUxUrd Zola (@knotaunicorn) October 4, 2018
Another video shows Schumer being asked by police: Do you want to be arrested? and her replying: Yes.
Amy Schumer at the Hart Senate building.
Cop: "Do you want to be arrested?"
Amy: "Yes." pic.twitter.com/f0JJLyU3tN Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) October 4, 2018
Schumer previously wrote on Twitter: We #BelieveSurvivors and refuse to accept Brett Kavanaugh as our next Supreme Court Justice. Join us in making our voices heard Friday at noon local time. Find or host an event near you: https://www.cancelkavanaugh.com/.
Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee heard emotional testimony from Professor Christine Blasey Ford, who accused has Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers.
We were planning to shut down the Capitol Building but the authorities were so scared of this #WomensWave that they shut it down for us.
1000+ women, survivors, and allies have gathered in the Hart Senate Building.
Every hallway. Every floor.#CancelKanavaugh #BelieveSurvivors pic.twitter.com/rIwjBht6e7 Women's March (@womensmarch) October 4, 2018
He has also been accused by other women and denied all allegations.
The protest in the US capital city took place after senators were given a report by the FBI which investigated the allegations made against Kavanagh and which Republicans have said proves there was no wrongdoing.
The vote to confirm the controversial judge to the lifetime appointment will take place on Saturday.
Clothing retail bosses are under scrutiny over fast fashion high street knock-offs of catwalk couture only designed to last for a few months.
MPs are worried that fast fashion has led to a rise in the amount of clothes being bought, leading to hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothing being dumped each year and poor working conditions in UK garment factories.
Westminsters Environmental Audit Committee has asked bosses at 10 leading UK clothes shops to reveal their environmental record as part of an investigation.
Committee chairwoman Mary Creagh has written to bosses at companies including Marks & Spencer, Primark, Next, Tesco, Asda and Sports Direct.
She said: The way we design, produce and discard our clothes has a huge impact on our planet.
Fashion and footwear retailers have a responsibility to minimise their environmental footprint and make sure the workers in their supply chains are paid a living wage.
Environmental Audit Committee chairwoman Mary Creagh (PA/Lauren Hurley)
We want to hear what they are doing to make their industry more sustainable.
Responses will help the committee investigate how the UKs fashion industry worth 28 billion a year to the UK economy can reduce its environmental footprint.
Expert evidence published by the committee shows people in the UK buy more new clothes than any other European country almost double that of consumers in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands and purchase twice as much as 10 years ago.
The committees latest report also shows ocean pollution from synthetic fibres, as a single washing machine load can release 700,000 fibres to wastewater, according to research from the University of Plymouth.
Up to 90% of garment workers are paid below the National Minimum Wage, do not have employment contracts, and are subject to intense and arbitrary work practices, the committee was told by from the British Retail Consortium.
The global fashion industry produced more CO2 emissions than international flights and maritime shipping combined in 2015, according to a submission from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
The committee expects to invite some of the biggest retailers into Parliament for further questioning from November.
GPs across Shetland could soon be prescribing their patients some time outdoors.
The move comes following a successful pilot at Scalloway surgery last year in a partnership project between NHS Scotland and RSPB Scotland.
The option of a prescription for nature will now be rolled out to all 10 GP surgeries across Shetland.
The concept aims to utilise the benefits of nature on reducing blood pressure and anxiety and increasing happiness.
Watching the Gannet population at Unst. PA/Ian Francis
RSPB Scotland has produced a leaflet and a calendar of seasonal activities that GPs can give their patients.
Dr Chloe Evans, a GP at Scalloway Health Centre, said: I want to take part because the project provides a structured way for patients to access nature as part of a non-drug approach to health problems.
The benefits to patients are that it is free, easily accessible, allows increased connection with surroundings, which hopefully leads to improved physical and mental health for individuals.
Taking time out at the beach. PA/Karen MacKelvie
Karen MacKelvie of RSPB Scotland said there is overwhelming evidence that nature has health benefits.
We saw an opportunity to design a leaflet that helps doctors describe the health benefits of nature and provides plenty of local ideas to help doctors fire-up their patients imaginations and get them outdoors, she said.
The benefits of physical activity are well documented, with regular physical activity reducing the risk of heart disease and strokes, diabetes, cancers, depression, anxiety and sleep problems.
A church in the city still reeling from the Novichok poisoning will host a concert entitled From Russia With Love.
The event named after the James Bond tale about a secret Russian crime organisation is promoted by posters emblazoned with the countrys flag and a big love heart.
Featuring classical music from Russian composers, the performance takes place in St Martins Church, Salisbury, on October 13 just months after the city was struck by the nerve agent attack.
The concert will be held less than two miles from the home of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and not far from the bench where he and his daughter Yulia collapsed in March.
A poster advertising the event was found on Thursday displayed in a car park just metres from Salisbury Cathedral the spire of which suspects Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov famously praised while denying any involvement in the attack. During a television interview they instead claimed they were tourists.
A picture of a poster found in Salisbury city centre promoting a concert due to take place called "From Russia With Love". (Kim Chalet/PA)
Gill Bolton, one of the organisers and performers, said she was not best pleased with the poster design, admitting it was a bit off putting but that no-one had complained.
She said the programme of concerts for the forthcoming season was planned about a year in advance and was not in response to recent events, adding: Its not really anything to do with the Skripals and that sort of thing.
The design was created by someone who did not live in the area but who took inspiration from the James Bond story of the same name, she said.
In the original Ian Fleming novel, a wing of the Soviet military is tasked with assassinating western spies.
The theme was picked because Russian music was really quite good and organisers hoped the choice of pieces from well-known ballets would appeal to a wide audience. The music was mainly composed in the 19th century and well before any conflict, Mrs Bolton said.
Pianists will perform the work of composers including Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich.
She added: Its a pity we chose that title.
The music itself has nothing to do with it [the current events]. Its quite upbeat.
I hope people have looked beyond the title and instead look at the programme of music.
UK authorities believe two Russians, using the aliases Petrov and Boshirov, smeared the highly toxic chemical on the door handle of Mr Skripals home, leaving the pair critically ill.
Dawn Sturgess was three months later exposed to the same nerve agent in Amesbury and died.
On Thursday, US authorities charged seven Russian military intelligence officers for hacking the organisation investigating the poisoning.
Earlier in the day British and Dutch officials revealed they thwarted an attempt by the Russian military intelligence service GRU to hack the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Mrs Bolton said it had been very tough in Salisbury in the last few months, adding: I just think its very sad. Its a shame for the city.
Conor McGregor accused Khabib Nurmagomedov of being petrified as he insisted his rivalry with the Russian will not end after this weekends grudge bout at UFC 229.
McGregor is set to end a near two-year hiatus from the octagon at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night against the person who succeeded him as UFC lightweight champion.
The pair were set to face off at a news conference, open to the public, at 3pm local time on Thursday but McGregors late arrival at Park Theater led to a prompt Nurmagomedov conducting his media duties before walking out.
Nurmagomedov was once again barracked by a largely pro-McGregor crowd, as he had been at Wednesdays open workouts, and the Irishman suggested that may have been one of the reasons his foe refused to hang around.
McGregor, who blamed Las Vegas traffic when he turned up 10 minutes after Nurmagomedov had departed, said: He knew what he signed up for, Ive been later than this.
The traffic is a little heavy, there must be a McGregor fight going on. (But) I did not plan this, I tried to get here.
Conor McGregor is returning to the UFC this weekend after a near two-year hiatus (Scott Heavey/PA)
Im only a couple of minutes late. He should have stayed put. He doesnt want to be around me, he doesnt want to be around these people. He is petrified.
My heart is black towards this man, towards his team, towards his people, I can truly see the inside of that mans head and smile.
I dont give a f*** about him or his people. There is way deeper s*** than just a fight on Saturday night.
The animosity between the pair memorably escalated in April when McGregor threw a hand truck at a bus carrying several UFC fighters, including Nurmagomedov, who won the vacant lightweight title just a couple of days later.
The incident was an apparent retaliation to McGregors friend and training partner Artem Lobov having an alleged confrontation with Nurmagomedov.
"IT'S NEVER OVER"
A rivalry for the ages has just begun. #UFC229 pic.twitter.com/juKwFK7D6G UFC (@ufc) October 4, 2018
McGregor, who was stripped of the 155lb crown because he had not fought since winning the belt in November 2016, believes their forthcoming showdown will not resolve anything.
I plan on knocking that mans nose straight into the nosebleeds, McGregor said. I am coming to put a hole in this mans skull.
There will never be peace here. I always say you should aim for peace but if you cant aim for peace, aim between the eyes. Im going to aim right between that mans eyes and this is never over. Never, ever, ever over.
Nurmagomedov admitted the first defence of his title is not just business for him.
He said: For me this is more than defending my title. For me its personal.
Nurmagomedov has a mixed martial arts record of 26-0 and is prepared to go to extreme lengths to remain unbeaten in his professional career, saying: He has to kill me to stop me.
As for McGregors tardiness, he added: I dont need to wait for nobody. This is 3pm, the fans are here, media are here, everybody is here.
If somebody is late, this is not my problem. I dont think about him. I have a schedule, 3pm I am here. I have to make weight and worry about myself.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Campaigners for the justice to the rape and murder victim 13 years old Niramala Panta have demanded resignation of Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and Inspector General of the Police (IGP) Sarbendra Khanal for their inability to arrest the perpetrator (s).
Hundreds of thousand people from various walks of life including civil society leaders, human rights activists, cine artists and students staged a demonstration at Maitighar Mandala on Saturday demanding immediate arrest of the culprit or resignation of the Home Minister Thapa and IGP Khanal.
The demonstrators have a demand that Home Minister Thapa and IGP Khanal have to step down from the post on moral ground for failing to arrest of the culprit (s).
The demonstrators also chanted slogans against of the incumbent Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Chairman KP Shama Oli led for failing to mention law and order situation in the country.
The protest rally begun from the Maitighar Mandala marched past at Babarmahal carrying placards and chanting slogans.
A 23-year-old British man has died after being bitten by a sea snake in Australia while working on a fishing trawler.
Northern Territory Police said the man was bitten while pulling up a net while working off Groote Eylandt, 400 miles east of the capital Darwin, on Thursday afternoon.
A helicopter crew was summoned and the trawler made its way to Borroloola, inland from the Gulf of Carpentaria, where the victim was pronounced dead, police added.
Craig Garraway, from St John Ambulance, told ABC News: A trawler off Groote Eylandt had reported that one of their male crewmen had been bitten by a sea snake.
The Groote Island health clinic and police responded to the trawler, but unfortunately the male passed away at some point yesterday afternoon.
Inquiries are continuing and a post-mortem will be carried out.
Sea snakes are as venomous as tiger snakes (Arne Rasmussen/PA)
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: We are supporting the family of a British man who had died in the Northern Territory and are in contact with the Australian authorities.
It is the second death of a British man while working on a fishing boat in the north of the country in five years.
In November 2013 a 20-year-old UK-born man died while working on a prawn trawler.
Ryan Donoghue was electrocuted while using a power tool when a wave washed on deck as it returned to Cairns.
Despite the efforts of the crew, he died on board with the trawler still 11 hours from port.
After an inquest in 2016, a coroner found his death was a tragic, unnecessary and avoidable accident and recommended new safety measures for using electrical tools at sea.
Mr Donoghue was born in Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex, and his family moved to Australia when he was six years old.
Coroner Greg Cavanagh said in his findings: The death of Ryan Donoghue was needless and a tragic waste of a young life. It would have been prevented if there was even a modicum of compliance with the law. There was not.
Russia has been accused of acting like a pariah state by the Defence Secretary after allegations intelligence officers from the Kremlin tried to hack the Foreign Office and the international body investigating the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
Dutch authorities disclosed on Thursday how with the help of UK intelligence they thwarted an attempted cyber attack on the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.
Peter Wilson, the UK ambassador in The Hague, said both the Foreign Office and Defence and Science Technology Laboratory at Porton Down were also targeted by a group of GRU military intelligence service hackers in Russia known as Sandworm.
Moscow has called the accusations another orchestrated act of propaganda as part of an anti-Russian campaign of spy mania, according to the news agency Tass.
But Gavin Williamson, speaking to Channel 4 News, said the attacks were those of a pariah state acting from a position of weakness.
He told the programme: These are not the actions of a great power.
These are the actions of a pariah state and we will continue working with allies to isolate them and make them understand they cannot conduct themselves in such a way.
(PA Graphics)
Elsewhere, the US Department of Justice said it had indicted seven suspected GRU officers for malicious cyber activities against the US and its allies including some of those named in connection with the OPCW attack.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the building of tensions between two nuclear powers was a dangerous path.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the disclosures were hard evidence of the activities of the unacceptable activities of the GRU which Britain has previously blamed for the Salisbury attack.
He said the Government would now be entering into discussions with allies on what new sanctions could be imposed against the Kremlin.
The Russian government needs to know that if they flout international law in this way, there will be consequences, they will be exposed, and people will see the Russian government for what they are, he said.
Meanwhile, Labours deputy leader Tom Watson has written to Mr Hunt to ask what investigations are taking place into Russian attempts to influence elections, including the Brexit referendum.
This is not about undermining the result of the 2016 referendum. This is about defending our democracy and protecting ourselves from foreign infiltration and influence, he wrote.
Today I have written to Jeremy Hunt to ask what investigations are taking place into Russian attempts to influence the EU referendum. It's time we followed the money and the lies and held a Mueller-style inquiry into the subverting of our own democracy. pic.twitter.com/FJsooqlt7u Tom Watson (@tom_watson) October 4, 2018
In a day of tensions between East and West, Dutch authorities said GRU operatives sent spear phishing emails to the headquarters of the OPCW which was helping the UK authorities to identify the deadly nerve agent used in the attack in an attempt to compromise its computers.
When that failed, a GRU close access team was sent from Russia to the Netherlands to try to penetrate their cyber defences from close quarters.
On April 13, the Dutch security service seized a hired car containing sophisticated hacking equipment the GRU men were using near the OPCW building.
While the Russians were escorted out of the country, investigators uncovered evidence that they had been preparing to travel on to Switzerland to target the OPCWs laboratory in Spiez.
They also found details of other operations some of the men had been involved in including the hacking of the Malaysian investigation into the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine and the World Anti Doping Agency (Wada) in Switzerland.
"We have further shone a light on the unacceptable cyber activities of the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU."@10DowningStreet and @MinPres statement on today's exposure of GRU cyber activities, including targeting of the @OPCW: https://t.co/3954QVIQZP UK in NL (@ukinnl) October 4, 2018
Europe Minister Alan Duncan said there was a pattern of hacking to distort, corrupt and destroy investigations into Russian crimes.
He said: Whats absolutely apparent is, there we were having Novichok used against us in the UK and the Russians were denying it, when at the very same time, or very shortly afterwards, they were trying to hack into the OPCW in the Hague and subject it to a cyber attack.
The pattern I think we have been able to piece together is they were using cyber attacks and malware to distort, to corrupt and to destroy the processes which were those investigating Russian activity chemical attacks, doping, and downing a flight.
When it comes to interference in elections, the kinds of which we have seen in Montenegro, no country is secure or wholly protected from what could be the next cyber attack or intrusion from the Russian state.
Mr Duncan warned Russian hackers could shut down a bank or disrupt a power station next and he believed there would now be global action on top of sanctions to stop further Russian attacks.
There are lots of sanctions against Russia already and, in economic terms, they are hurting, he said. There must be penalties for doing it and the world will, Im sure, speak further about what collective action they can and should take.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has acknowledged he might have been too emotional when testifying about sexual misconduct allegations as he made a bid to win over wavering Republican senators on the eve of a crucial vote to advance his confirmation.
The 53-year-old judge said in an op-ed that he knows his tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said during testimony last week to the Judiciary Committee. He forcefully denied the allegations.
Going forward, you can count on me to be the same kind of judge and person I have been for my entire 28-year legal career: hardworking, even-keeled, open-minded, independent and dedicated to the Constitution and the public good, he wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
MUST READ: Brett Kavanaugh in the @WSJ: I Am an Independent, Impartial Judge.https://t.co/r7ZtATiUwE Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) October 4, 2018
Mr Kavanaughs column appeared aimed at winning over the three Republican senators who remain undecided.
He got an additional boost late on Thursday from President Donald Trump, who praised his nominees incredible intellect and scoffed at detractors during a campaign rally in Minnesota.
Mr Trump said the protesters and their rage-fuelled resistance is starting to backfire at a level nobody has ever seen before.
He was referring to polling that shows some improvement for Republicans heading into the midterm election.
Earlier on Thursday, a pair of undeclared Republican senators accepted a confidential new FBI report into sex-abuse allegations against Mr Kavanaugh as thorough, bolstering Republican hopes for confirmation as the Senate plunged toward showdown votes.
One of the senators hinted he was open to supporting Mr Kavanaugh as party leaders set a pivotal preliminary vote for 10.30am local time on Friday. If that succeeds, a final roll call was expected on Saturday.
Democrats complained that the investigation was shoddy, omitting interviews with numerous potential witnesses, and accused the White House of limiting the FBIs leeway.
Those not interviewed in the reopened background investigation included Mr Kavanaugh himself and Christine Blasey Ford, who alleged he had molested her in a locked room at a 1982 high school gathering.
A week after a televised Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which Mr Kavanaugh and Ms Ford transfixed the nation, the Capitol campus remained a stew of tension as the election-season cliff-hanger neared its conclusion.
US Capitol Police officers surround protesters in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
A hefty police presence added an air of anxiety, as did thousands of noisy anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators who gathered outside the Supreme Court and in Senate office buildings.
US Capitol Police said 302 were arrested among them said to be comedian Amy Schumer, a distant relative of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
What we know for sure is the FBI report did not corroborate any of the allegations against Judge Kavanaugh, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters about the document, which was sent to Congress overnight.
On the Senate floor, he witheringly called the accusations uncorroborated mud.
Earlier, Senator Jeff Flake, one of the publicly undecided Republicans, told reporters weve seen no additional corroborating information about the claims against the 53-year-old conservative jurist and said the investigation had been comprehensive.
A second undeclared Republican, Susan Collins, also expressed satisfaction with the probe, calling it a very thorough investigation.
She paid two visits to the off-limits room where the document was being displayed to politicians. She told reporters she would not announce her position until Friday.
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said she was still reviewing her decision.
The Senate will be in session at 9:30 tomorrow morning. Under the regular order, the vote to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court will be at 10:30. Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) October 4, 2018
While Republican leaders were not saying they had nailed down the support needed, backing from two of those three would ensure Mr Kavanaughs confirmation because every other Republican was poised to back him.
Republicans have a narrow 51-49 Senate majority, and vice president Mike Pence will be available to cast a tie-breaking vote.
Underscoring the hardening partisan lines, one of the two undecided Democratic senators said she would oppose Mr Kavanaugh.
North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, who faces a difficult re-election race next month, cited concerns about his past conduct and said she felt his heated attacks on Democrats during last weeks Judiciary Committee hearing raised questions about his current temperament, honesty and impartiality.
West Virginias Joe Manchin, the other undeclared Democrat, spent time looking at the report and said he would resume reading it on Friday.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Judiciary Committees top Democrat, said while her party had agreed to a week-long FBI probe with a finite scope, We did not agree that the White House should tie the FBIs hands.
White House spokesman Raj Shah rebuffed Democrats complaints. He said the FBI reached out to 10 people and interviewed nine, including several individuals at the request of the Senate, and had a series of follow-up interviews following certain leads.
Senators said the documents they examined totalled about 50 pages. Some said there were notes on interviews with nine people, though others said 10.
Mr Trump, who on Tuesday scornfully mocked Ms Fords Judiciary panel testimony, tweeted that Mr Kavanaughs great life cannot be ruined by mean and despicable Democrats and totally uncorroborated allegations!
A day of high tension between East and West leads the majority of Fridays papers after Dutch authorities accused Russian spies of an attempted hack into the international chemical weapons watchdog.
The Times carries the headline Russia caught in the act, saying that Western powers joined forces to humiliate President Putin.
Tomorrow's front page: Russia caught in the act #tomorrowspapertoday pic.twitter.com/WQyGCMRcnI The Times (@thetimes) October 4, 2018
The Daily Telegraph carries the same story, saying it was a humiliation for Putin.
The Guardian runs with the same developments, saying the fresh spying revelations escalated the diplomatic war between the West and Vladimir Putin.
Guardian front page, Friday 5 October 2018: Russia accused of cyber-attack on chemical weapons watchdog pic.twitter.com/MFwLzMHbah The Guardian (@guardian) October 4, 2018
The Financial Times leads with the same story, calling it a transatlantic offensive after American and Dutch governments accused Russias GRU of a litany of attacks.
Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Friday 5 October https://t.co/KaT2kZUf5l pic.twitter.com/ISwwqXEZUM Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) October 4, 2018
The Metro calls the foursome bungling and refers to them as Novichumps.
What the papers say - October 5
The i call the group blundering, saying the agents were blown as the campaign of cyber warfare was revealed.
The Independent says Mr Putin faced international condemnation.
The Daily Mirror leads with a criminal probe into how tonnes of NHS waste was left to pile up by a contractor.
The Sun calls the Russian quartet the Novichokle brothers.
Tomorrow's front page: Vladimir Putin's spies are a global laughing stock after a bungled bid to sabotage the Salisbury Novichok probe is exposed https://t.co/yuYDd56bQz pic.twitter.com/5QOLOYLH8P The Sun (@TheSun) October 4, 2018
While the Daily Mail says the agents were bungling.
The Daily Express suggests the Russian spy network is 80,000-strong.
And the Daily Star reports a star of Only Fools And Horses claiming aspects of the show would not be considered appropriate today.
French rescuers have been unable to find the possible sign of life they detected a day earlier under hotel rubble in Indonesias central Sulawesi, a week after a destructive earthquake and tsunami struck the island.
The five-member International Emergency Firefighters team said late on Thursday its sensor detected the presence of a victim under thick concrete in the wreckage of the Mercure Hotel in Palu city.
The device can identify breathing and heartbeats, but gas leaks and other factors can result in false positives.
The team stopped digging overnight. But after an hour of searching on Friday morning, team member Philip Besson said they could not find the signal again.
We are perplexed and frustrated mostly. We strongly believed in it yesterday. Now we have nothing at all we tried everything and have no response, he said.
Members of the French organisation Pompiers de lurgence checks for signs of life at a heavily damaged hotel (Aaron Favila/AP)
Local rescuers were continuing to dig at the collapsed hotel. The French rescuers said on their Facebook page that 40 people including six workers are missing from the hotel.
The death toll from Fridays 7.5 magnitude earthquake that spawned a tsunami has risen to 1,558, with scores more believed buried in deep mud and under debris of collapsed buildings and homes.
The national disaster agency said the body of a South Korean man was among eight dead pulled on Thursday from the wreckage of another hotel in Palu, the Roa Roa, which collapsed sideways in a heap of cement and steel.
Local television said the man, the only foreigner known to have died in the disaster, was a paraglider taking part in an event in the area.
Thousands have been injured and more than 70,000 evacuated to shelters and makeshift tents that have sprouted across Palu, the provincial capital of Sulawesi island that is home to most of the victims, and its surrounding areas.
After days of initial chaos and looting by desperate survivors, some stability has returned to Palu with some shops reopened and electricity restored in some parts of the city.
A vessel which was swept ashore by the tsunami in Wani village on the outskirt of Palu (Dita Alangkara/AP)
Transportation minister Budi Karya Sumadi said five ships carrying more than 100,000 tons of badly needed supplies arrived in Palu port on Thursday and two more vessels on Friday.
He said the Palu airport will also be resume operations for passenger planes soon.
Military transport planes from Australia, India, Singapore, Malaysia and elsewhere have landed with relief goods. Officials have listed tents or shelter kits, water treatment, electric generators and medical supplies as immediate needs.
Alhamdulillah baru saja tiba di Bandara Mutiara SIS Al Jufrie Palu, Sulawesi Tengah untuk penanganan dampak gempa dan tsunami di Palu, Donggala, Sigi. pic.twitter.com/1OPlPypSD3 Jusuf Kalla (@Pak_JK) October 5, 2018
Officials said more volunteers will fan out across outlying areas cut off by the disasters to distribute aid to survivors.
The earthquake and tsunami cut off many transport routes in this remote area. We sent out three teams, on different routes, with as many supplies as they could carry to ensure we could reach people as fast as we could but the journey has taken days.
We are relieved that these much-needed supplies have arrived by plane and are starting to get through, Zubedy Koteng from Save the Children said in a statement.
Save the Children said it has sent more than 1,000 kits to support shelter, hygiene, child-friendly spaces and temporary educational facilities.
Children urgently need shelter and essential hygiene items to prevent the spread of diseases and contamination as families are packed into evacuation centers with limited supply of clean water, Koteng said.
Indonesian vice president Jusuf Kalla, who arrived early on Friday in Palu to assess the situation, said it will take at least two years to redevelop and reconstruct the disaster zone.
Melania Trump is visiting a national park in Kenya to highlight animal conservation efforts.
The US first lady arrived at Nairobi National Park to learn about steps the east African nation is taking to conserve elephants and rhinos.
She will also go on a quick safari.
Thank you Ghana! pic.twitter.com/d34cqFyRdN Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) October 4, 2018
Mrs Trump plans to visit children at an orphanage and take in a childrens performance later at Nairobi National Theatre.
She is on her first-ever visit to Africa and her first extended solo international trip as US first lady.
Mrs Trump opened the trip on Tuesday in Ghana and visited Malawi on Thursday.
First lady Melania Trump (AP)
Egypt is the final stop on a four-nation tour of the continent to highlight child welfare, education and tourism and conservation.
Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak has been sentenced to 15 years in prison over a slew of corruption charges.
The Seoul Central District Court delivered the sentence after convicting Lee of bribery, embezzlement and other charges.
Lee, who has denied most of the charges levelled on him, has one week to appeal.
The man who served as president from 2008-2013 has been held at a detention centre in Seoul since his arrest in March.
His conviction is yet another blow to conservatives in South Korea.
His conservative successor Park Geun-hye is serving a 33-year prison term over a separate corruption scandal.
Melania Trump has helped feed a baby elephant as she visited a national park in Kenya to highlight conservation efforts.
The US first lady laughed after one of the baby elephants made a sudden move, causing her to momentarily lose her footing.
She fed formula milk to two of the elephants raised at Nairobi National Park and reached out to others, patting ones back and stroking the ear of another.
A Secret Service agent holds Mrs Trump to protect her as she steps backwards after being nudged by a baby elephant (AP)
Kenya is the third stop on Mrs Trumps African tour, which began on Tuesday in Ghana and continued in Malawi on Thursday. Her first-ever visit to Africa is also her first extended solo international trip as Americas first lady.
A quick safari is planned for later as Mrs Trump learns more about steps the East African nation is taking to conserve elephants, rhinos and other wildlife.
She is also expected to visit an orphanage and take in a childrens performance at Nairobi National Theatre.
Mrs Trump feeds a baby elephant formula milk (AP)
Egypt will mark her final stop on her tour of the continent which focuses on child welfare, education, tourism and conservation.
Her visit has included promoting the work of the US Agency for International Development, whose funding US president Donald Trump has twice proposed slashing by nearly a third.
Congress members have essentially ignored those requests.
Police have launched a murder inquiry after a man died following an altercation in a house.
Ross Gow, 25, was found seriously injured in Bellvue Crescent, Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, at around 4.40am on Wednesday.
He was taken by ambulance to Monklands District General Hospital, but died a short time later.
It is understood he was involved in an altercation with another man in a house in the street earlier that morning.
Police are treating Ross Gows death as murder (Police Scotland/PA)
Police are treating the death as murder following a post-mortem examination and detectives have appealed for information.
Detective Inspector Susan Balfour from the Major Investigation Team said: Our inquiries are continuing to establish the circumstances surrounding this death and officers are following a positive line of inquiry.
Information has been received that Mr Gow was involved in an altercation with another man within a house in Bellvue Crescent early on Wednesday morning, and officers are currently carrying out inquiries in that street.
Again I would ask anyone who was in the area of Bellvue Crescent between 3am and 5am on Wednesday morning who saw anyone, or any vehicles, to come forward to detectives.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Wishaw Police Office through 101, quoting reference number 0310 of Wednesday October 3. Or details can be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Sagarmatha Network Pvt. Ltd. is the organization dedicated in the field of printing, publishing service since 2001. As part of media, we've been publishing Review Nepal, an English medium weekly registered at District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu with registration number 130-162-163 and reviewnepal.com as an online digital newspaper, with registration number 849-075-076 at Department of Informational and Broadcasting (DIB) from Kathmandu, Nepal since 2003.
An amendment to Irelands Victims Charter is set to be named after a Co Donegal woman who was murdered in India, the Taoiseach has said.
Danielle McLaughlin, 28, from Buncrana, was found dead in a secluded spot in Canacona, an area of Goa popular with holidaymakers, in March last year.
Her mother Andrea Brannigan met Leo Varadkar in Londonderry last month to press the Irish Government to do more to help her and other families who have lost loved ones abroad.
During the meeting at the Bishopsgate Hotel on September 11, Mr Varadkar also apologised personally to Ms Brannigan after an official in his department initially redirected her to the British Foreign Office, because Ms McLaughlin had been travelling on a UK passport.
Within two weeks of the meeting, Mr Varadkar wrote a letter to Ms Brannigan detailing how his government plans to help her family.
It includes a proposal for a new amendment named after Danielle to the Victims Charter to include Irish victims of crime abroad.
Ms Brannigan told the Press Association that so far the proposed actions remain promises.
Letter from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to Andrea Brannigan. PA/Andrea Brannigan
Mr Varadkar outlined some of the actions he has taken since their meeting.
Letter from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to Andrea Brannigan. PA/Andrea Brannigan.
I have asked the Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD to fully examine your recommendations on amending the Victims Charter to include victims of crime abroad, Mr Varadkar wrote.
I have requested him to update me on this as soon as possible and suggested that any change could be framed as Danielles amendment in her memory.
Mr Varadkar also shared with Ms Brannigan a letter he has written to Mr Flanagan about this request.
Letter from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan. PA/Andrea Brannigan
In this letter the Taoiseach writes: I am making this request following a meeting with Ms Andrea Brannigan who is the mother of Danielle McLaughlin who was tragically killed in Goa, India . having heard about their experience, I think this is warranted.
In his letter to Ms Brannigan, Mr Varadkar also reveals that the Irish Government will appoint its first resident Consul General in Mumbai.
I have also asked him (Ambassador Brian McElduff) to dispatch an Irish Consul to Goa before the end of this year to meet local authorities regarding Danielles case and to attend a court hearing of the trial, Mr Varadkar wrote.
I have asked Noreen OSullivan, your assigned case officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to provide you with an update on this first visit, as soon as it is available.
Early next year, we will appoint Gerry Kelly as Irelands first ever resident Consul General in Mumbai, with responsibility for Goa.
Mumbai is far better positioned than New Delhi to allow our diplomatic team engage on a more consistent basis with local authorities.
Ms Brannigan said she was pleased but cautioned that hopefully its carried out and not just talk.
There needs to be changes for families that lose someone abroad, they deserve the same support as families get when their loved one dies in Ireland, Ms Brannigan said.
I believe Danielles amendment might help bring them changes, as a family we have had no support or financial help from the Irish embassy or the UK one, so it puts families in a position they have to look for that help themselves so they cant grieve for their loved ones.
The trial over Danielles murder started in India in April, and is still running.
Vikhat Bhagat, 24, has been accused of the rape and murder of Ms McLaughlin.
Ms Brannigan said she hopes to travel to Goa when the accused is in the dock.
Melania Trump helped feed baby elephants as she visited a national park in Kenya to highlight conservation efforts.
The US first lady laughed after one of the baby elephants made a sudden move and she momentarily lost her footing.
Melania Trump feeds a baby elephant at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi (Ben Curtis/AP/Pool)
She fed formula to two of the elephants raised at Nairobi National Park and reached out to others, patting ones back and stroking the ear of another.
Kenya is the third stop on her Africa tour, which began on Tuesday in Ghana and continued in Malawi on Thursday.
Her first-ever visit to Africa is also her first extended solo international trip as first lady.
Mrs Trump pets a baby elephant (Ben Curtis/AP/Pool)
Mrs Trump also took a brief safari as she learns more about steps the East African nation is taking to conserve wildlife.
Dressed in riding trousers, boots and a white safari hat, she took photos and peered through binoculars for a closer look at zebras, giraffes, impalas, rhinos and hippos.
The national park is where 105 tons of ivory have been burned to discourage the trade.
Mrs Trump observes zebras during the safari (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Mrs Trump signed a guest book at the site.
She was also expected to visit an orphanage and take in a childrens performance at Nairobi National Theatre.
Egypt will be her final stop on her tour of the continent focused on child welfare, education, tourism and conservation.
Her visit has included promoting the work of the US Agency for International Development, whose funding President Donald Trump has twice proposed slashing by nearly a third.
Two train companies are being investigated over their communication with passengers before and after the introduction of new timetables which led to major disruption.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and Northern are suspected of breaching a condition of their operating licence which requires them to provide appropriate, accurate and timely information to enable passengers to plan journeys with a reasonable degree of assurance.
The investigation has been launched by rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) after its wider inquiry into the timetable chaos identified concerns with the quality of updates given to passengers.
The May 20 timetable change was intended to deliver huge benefits to passengers as a result of major upgrades to the network, but instead saw services crippled in the north and south-east of England.
GTR and Northern cancelled up to 470 and 310 trains respectively each day during the disruption, which lasted several weeks.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of passenger watchdog Transport Focus, said: Passengers were badly let down when new timetables descended into chaos on some Govia Thameslink and Northern routes.
Northern is one of two train companies being investigated (Owen Humphreys/PA)
One thing that would have helped passengers work around these problems was accurate, timely and useful information but in many cases that was not provided.
Its only right that the regulator investigates if these companies breached the passenger information obligations in their licence.
The investigation is expected to be concluded by the end of next month.
An ORR spokesman said: The opening of an investigation does not imply that we have made any findings about non-compliance by either company.
If ORR finds the companies in breach of their licence obligations, it could result in enforcement action such as a financial penalty.
GTR said it will co-operate fully with the inquiry.
A 79-year-old election candidate who stirred up anti-Semitic hatred, calling for new and better death camps, has been jailed.
Barbara Fielding-Morriss, whose manifesto praised Adolf Hitler and likened Jews and immigrants to termites, was given a 12-month prison sentence
after a judge condemned her lack of remorse for the vile offences.
Fielding-Morriss, who stood as a candidate in Stoke-on-Trent Central during last years by-election and general election, was convicted in June of three offences of stirring up racial hatred between September 2016 and February
last year.
Passing sentence at Stafford Crown Court, Recorder Julian Taylor said Fielding-Morriss, who represented herself in court, had not helped her cause by offering anti-Semitic mitigation.
The pensioner, who accused the judge of curtailing her freedom of speech, submitted three written statements to the court and in the witness box claimed she was protecting my white nation from annihilation by immigrants.
After saying she believed an infestation of Jews had invaded Britain, Fielding-Morriss returned to the dock and was told she would serve six months of her one-year prison term in custody, and the remainder on licence.
Barbara Fielding-Morriss stood as a candidate in Stoke-on-Trent Central (Matthew Cooper/PA)
Recorder Taylor told Fielding-Morriss: The background to this case is that you stood as a parliamentary candidate.
Your manifesto, which was published on a website and in a blog, contained material that formed the subject of the three counts on the indictment.
What I found particularly sinister during the trial was your attitude. You showed no remorse whatsoever.
Indeed even today, when I gave you a final opportunity to address me, you started to repeat some of the matters you put forward to the jury during your trial.
The judge added: The fact of the matter is you intended to stir up racial hatred.
The fact you were standing in a general election as a parliamentary candidate aggravates this case, because you were putting views forward to an electorate.
The judge said the defendants age was not of itself a barrier to imprisonment, adding: This mater is so serious that it crosses the custody threshold an immediate sentence of custody is appropriate.
Fielding-Morriss, of Draycott, Staffordshire, stood as an independent candidate, receiving 137 by-election votes (0.6%) and 210 votes (also 0.6%) at the 2017 general election.
An MPs assistant has described the moment the Westminster attacker was shot, saying he was a very dangerous threat and had to be stopped.
Matthew Jordan watched the events of March 22 last year unfold from Portcullis House opposite New Palace Yard.
Giving evidence at the inquest into the death of attacker Khalid Masood, he said there were clear instructions for him to stop.
But Masood continued on towards Westminster Hall, regardless of the armed officers with guns raised.
Masood, 52, had two large knives and had already fatally stabbed Pc Keith Palmer and killed four pedestrians when he was confronted by two armed bodyguards.
Pc Keith Palmer was fatally stabbed (Metropolitan Police/PA)
Mr Jordan said: He looked very intent on continuing.
He was clearly trying to get further into the Parliamentary estate. There was no sign he was going to stop.
It was just very perfunctory instructions stop.
They had their handguns raised and aimed at the attacker.
He said there were up to three shots in very quick succession.
He immediately fell on his back and it was at that point the police and close protection officers began to move towards him to disarm him and check he was dead really.
My immediate thought, it was a terrorist attack.
I was not under any illusions there, and it was clear that he was a very dangerous threat and he was stopped.
They stopped it too late, but it was stopped.
Hugo Keith QC, for the Metropolitan Police, said: You believed he seemed very set. There was no hesitation.
You thought that as he went into New Palace Yard he could have attacked members of the public but he ignored them and went straight for that gate.
You described Pc Palmer as being helpless in the face of that attack.
When Masood ran towards the close protection officers you described how it was obvious there had been shouts.
You believed that one of them shouted, but when you first spoke to police you said you could hear them shouting?
Mr Jordan said: It could have been one, it could have been both of them. Either way clear instructions were shouted.
Mr Hugo went on: So obvious it was that he was being told to stop, he nevertheless carried on and you believed that threat had to be stopped and it was?
Mr Jordan agreed.
A share of a 3 million funding boost will help create parking spaces for more than 100 cars at a Scottish landmark featured in the Harry Potter films.
The car park near Glenfinnan Viaduct has been given nearly 270,000 in the latest round of funding from the Scottish Governments Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund.
It is one of 18 projects to benefit from the cash to help with the demand from growing visitor numbers.
Others include 300,000 for toilet and motorhome facilities at the Old Man of Storr on Skye, and 260,000 for upgrading toilets along the banks of Loch Lomond at Luss, Tarbet and Inveruglas.
The Cairngorms National Park is being given around 270,000 for improvements to car parking, toilets and paths, and around 131,000 will be used for parking at Hoswick, Shetland, to help cope with visitors and cruise traffic.
Some of Scotlands most iconic, rural tourist sites will receive a share of 3m funding for new facilities to further enhance the visitor experience @FionaHyslop has announced at #glenfinnan which will receiving support for a new car park https://t.co/UjfiJZzR1H #ScotlandIsNow pic.twitter.com/pawXb4UJC0 Scot Gov Culture (@culturescotgov) October 5, 2018
Scottish Tourism Secretary Fiona Hyslop announced the 3 million funding on a visit to the Glenfinnan Viaduct.
The Hogwarts Express crossesthe Glenfinnan Viaduct (West Coast Railways/PA)
She said: The growing popularity of our stunning natural scenery and rich historical sites is great for bringing jobs and investment to our communities, but can also put pressure on communities, services, transport and facilities particularly in rural areas.
This funding will help our industry keep up with the tourism boom by supporting the creation of much-needed infrastructure such as new pathways, car parks and facilities at some of our most iconic rural and natural attractions.
Highland Council councillor Allan Henderson said parking problems at Glenfinnan are unsustainable, with major congestion and safety issues on the nearby A830 road.
He said: This funding will help to ease some of that pressure with new parking for 100 cars and 10 motorhome or bus spaces and will be great news for both visitors and the local community.
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP Kate Forbes said: This is a turning-point for Glenfinnan.
Thousands flock to the site to see the Hogwarts Express pass over the viaduct, as well as to visit the monument which is so steeped in history.
Glenfinnan is where history meets make-believe, and now tourists can enjoy both in a safer environment.
The Home Office has launched a new drive to tackle the hidden crime of female genital mutilation.
Materials highlighting the potential consequences of the practice will be distributed into communities where statistics suggest it is more prevalent.
Titled Lets Protect Our Girls, the campaign is the latest attempt to clamp down on FGM, which comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons, according to the World Health Organisations definition.
Childbirth complications, infection, anxiety. Female Genital Mutilation has lifelong consequences for us all. Visit https://t.co/9N0OT6uqfr to find out more. #EndFGM pic.twitter.com/OJGE3exaQW Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) October 5, 2018
A 2015 study estimated that 137,000 women and girls who have migrated to England and Wales are living with the consequences of FGM.
NHS England statistics released in July show that between April 2017 and March this year, 6,195 individual women and girls had FGM identified or treatment related to it.
The practice has been illegal in the UK since 1985 but authorities have faced criticism over the failure to secure a single conviction.
The Home Office has launched a campaign aimed at tackling female genital mutilation (Kirsty OConnor/PA)
The new initiative aims to raise awareness over possible effects of FGM, including childbirth complications, period problems, mental health issues and urinary infections.
The campaign will be placed into communities where, according to statistics, FGM may be most prevalent, the Home Office said.
These include Sudanese, Somalian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Egyptian, Iraqi, Gambian and Nigerian communities, the department added.
Activity will be focused in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Leicester, Birmingham and Sheffield.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: Female genital mutilation has no place in modern society.
It is repulsive, unethical and leaves victims with emotional and physical scars that last a lifetime.
We have launched this important campaign to make it clear to everyone that the practice is illegal and has serious health consequences.
I urge everyone to help protect girls at risk by spreading the messages.
The campaign will signpost people who want more information to the NSPCC.
John Cameron, the charitys head of helplines, said: We know from calls to our dedicated helpline that female genital mutilation is still affecting hundreds of girls in the UK.
Sadly, the true picture of how many are affected is unknown because for far too long FGM has been cloaked in secrecy.
We hope this campaign will help to end the silence that surrounds FGM by encouraging young people and any adults worried about them to speak out and get help.
By joining forces across communities, we can bring an end to this dangerous and illegal practice.
The NSPCCs FGM helpline is on 0800 028 3550. Further information can be found at http://nspcc.org.uk/fgm
The Indian owners of the Stanlow oil refinery have been ordered to pay 409 million US dollars (313 million) in unpaid debts to a US hedge fund, paving the way for the plants potential sale.
Essar, which owns the Cheshire site, has lost a High Court battle with Midtown Acquisitions, which is seeking a forced sale of Stanlow as part of efforts to recoup the money it lent to the group.
The court ruled that Essar must stump up the cash, which now totals around 479 million US dollars (367 million) when accounting for interest.
The Press Association understands that Midtown has applied for a forced sale order of the Ellesmere Port refinery in order to recoup the money, also through the High Court.
The sale order is expected to be enforced by the end of the year, or early in 2019, should Essar not pay up, according to people familiar with the matter.
Essar is ultimately controlled by Indias wealthy Ruia family, while Midtown is controlled by US hedge fund giant Davidson Kempner.
Stanlow is one of Britains biggest oil refineries (Martin Rickett/PA)
The refinery employs more than 900 workers and an additional 500 on-site contractors, and supplies 16% of all UK road transport fuels.
The legal dispute centres on money lent against Essars Minnesota steel mine in the US.
Essar has defaulted on the loan and a New York judgment enforcing the debt obligation has been recognised in the UK following this weeks court ruling.
Midtown is one of a number of parties that lent on the Minnesota project, which is now bankrupt.
If the forced sale of Stanlow goes ahead, the operation would be unaffected and no jobs would be at risk.
Stanlow is one of Britains biggest oil refineries and Essar acquired it from Royal Dutch Shell in 2011.
All parties declined to comment.
A Northern Ireland veteran charged with attempted murder has joined protesters rallying against investigations into troops who fought in the Troubles.
A small group gathered outside the Ministry of Defence in London on Friday to demand the end to probes into historical allegations.
Others were expected to meet outside Army recruitment centres elsewhere in the UK to issue warnings to prospective soldiers.
Dennis Hutchings, a 77-year-old former member of the Life Guards regiment, is accused in relation to the fatal shooting of a man with learning difficulties in 1974.
He joined protesters in Plymouth.
Mr Hutchings said the historic investigations are absolutely appalling and called for a statute of limitations on offences for service personnel.
Were in a situation where were being hounded by lawyers, he added.
The Government has hung us veterans out to dry.
Mr Hutchings, from Cawsand in Cornwall, is due to stand trial in Belfast charged with attempted murder and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent. He denies the charges.
John Pat Cunningham, 27, was shot in the back in Co Armagh as he ran away from an Army patrol. His family argued that he ran across a field because he feared men in uniform.
Alan Barry, co-founder of the Justice for Northern Ireland Veterans pressure group and who fought in the conflict with the Grenadier Guards, said: Veterans are being thrown to the wolves.
We laid our lives on the line for this country. We went to Northern Ireland to fight terrorism, and veterans are basically being ignored by the Government.
Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley (Victoria Jones/PA)
Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley has previously said there is no support for a Northern Ireland-only statute of limitations.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) statistics have indicated more of its legacy resources are used to investigate paramilitaries.
The protesters in London planned to hand in their response to the Governments consultation on legacy arrangements, before its deadline later on Friday.
The 2014 Stormont House political agreement involving the British and Irish Governments and the main Northern Irish political parties envisaged a mechanism for dealing with the legacy of violence.
It was to include the creation of an Historic Investigations Unit to probe old cases for opportunities for criminal prosecutions.
Sinn Fein has described as appalling the Police Federation for Northern Irelands (PFNI) stance on legacy issues.
Serving police officers have urged the Government to scrap its one-sided and unfair legacy proposals for Northern Ireland.
The Federation characterised the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) as a parallel police service and said a suggested new offence of non-criminal police misconduct could be construed as another word for collusion.
Sinn Fein policing spokesman Gerry Kelly said: For the Police Federation to warn that PSNI officers and former RUC and PSNI officers will not co-operate with legally-constituted bodies dealing with the legacy of the conflict is appalling.
He challenged the Federation to clarify whether its members are withholding information about past crimes, following comments by its chairman Mark Lindsay.
Mr Kelly added: The Police Federation is supposed to be engaged in upholding the rule of law, yet here we have them warning that they will have no part in legal mechanisms which were agreed at Stormont House and which are a central part of proposed new legislation to deal with the legacy of the conflict.
Police Federation for Northern Ireland chairman Mark Lindsay urged the Government to scrap its `one-sided and unfair legacy proposals for Northern Ireland (Police Federation/PA)
The Police Federations stance is in direct contravention to everything that human-rights compliant and accountable policing should stand for.
A Government consultation on addressing the legacy of past violence is closing, with bodies suggested including an HIU and an information retrieval organisation.
The Federation has reiterated its opposition to equating terrorists with officers and rejected the proposed creation of an Oral History Archive, which it believes could be used as a propaganda tool by people who refused to assist criminal investigations.
The representative organisation for officers said the current legacy set-up was heavily biased and a travesty for the rule of law.
Mr Lindsay said: The draft bill is flawed.
Assessed through tried and trusted justice principles, the PFNI rejects it in its entirety.
This is lop-sided, one-sided and massively unfair on the wider police family.
The words terrorist and murder do not appear in the Government consultation, and that speaks to a lack of objectivity and imbalance.
During the decades of the Troubles, officers were responsible for 51 deaths, almost all lawful killings, and terrorists 3,251, Mr Lindsay said.
Officers accounted for 1% but that hasnt prevented opponents orchestrating a vicious campaign against the reputations of the men and women who thwarted the terrorists and prevented anarchy.
He said the proposals delivered false hope to victims, risked re-traumatising many and weaponised the past.
The Government has an opportunity to stop this ludicrous process in its tracks before it escalates into an ugly political arm-wrestle, he said.
Nepalgunj, Nepal: At least cix people died and 17 were injured when a microbus collided with a truck at Rapti Sonari-2 on Saturday morning.
The ill-fated microbus with registration number Ra 1 Kha, 1662, which was coming from Tulsipur collided with a truck, Lu 1 Kha, 7729, which was heading towards Kohalpur collided on head near o the Muguwa river of Banke district.
According to the police, four persons had died on the spot while two other died during the course of treatment at Kohalpur Teaching Hospital.
Generous Britons have donated more than 6 million to the Indonesia earthquake appeal in just one day.
The death toll stands at 1,500 since last Fridays 7.5 magnitude tremor and tsunami on the island of Sulawesi, with 200,000 more in desperate need.
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched its appeal to help survivors on Thursday, with the UK Government pledging to match the first 2 million donated pound for pound.
Oxfam aid worker Irwan Firdaus said he was working to get seven water hydrants set up to allow refugees access to clean drinking water.
He said: People are desperate for help because they have already spent six nights under the sky.
Many are in outlying villages and they badly need food and water there are 60,000 people spread over more than 109 locations.
We are looking to find good locations to set up facilities so survivors can get clean drinking water in the coming days.
Plumes of volcanic ash rise out of Mount Soputan from the village of Tombatu, North Sulawesi, Indonesia (Yehezkiel Dondokambey/AP)
DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said donations will ensure aid workers from 14 leading UK aid charities can reach those left homeless and in urgent need of food, water and shelter.
As the full impact of the disaster unfolds, DEC member charities and their partners are ready to help devastated communities to rebuild their lives, he said. We would urge people to continue donating.
Authorities fear casualties and the number of those displaced by the disaster will continue to rise in the coming days.
Aid efforts have been hampered in the past few hours by Mount Soputan in North Sulawesi spewing ash nearly 20,000ft (6,096m) into the sky.
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunts pledge to double the first 2 million in donations means the UK Government will send a total of 5 million to the region, on top of sending a team of six aid workers and a plane-load of aid.
Visiting DEC headquarters, Ms Mordaunt said: The British public have been very moved by the plight of so many people hit by these terrible events.
Supplies include 1,300 shelter kits, which can each accommodate five people, 2,300 water purifiers and 1,000 solar lanterns.
A team of five UK humanitarian experts left London for Sulawesi earlier this week, and is now helping to co-ordinate the response on the ground.
A sixth team member has joined them, and the UK will keep its support under review.
The UK has also offered the use of HMS Argyll, currently located in Singapore, to support the humanitarian relief effort.
The government of Indonesia has thanked the UK Government for this offer, but said it is not needed at this time.
A 5 donation can be made by texting SUPPORT to 70000, with the text costing 5 and the whole 5 going to the appeal.
The Department for International Development (DfID) funding is on top of existing UK-funded support through humanitarian agencies on the ground.
These include the DfID-backed UN Central Emergency Response Fund (Cerf), which has allocated 15 million US dollars to the Indonesia earthquake response.
DFID is the top global donor to the UN Emergency Response Fund 20% of all contributions in 2017 and we are proud that they are committing $15 million to the Indonesia earthquake response @UNOCHA @UNCERF DFID (@DFID_UK) October 3, 2018
DfID provided 20% of all contributions to the fund in 2017.
The 15 million US dollars will allow UN agencies and humanitarian organisations to rapidly scale up aid operations providing shelter, clean water and health support.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has almost 300 specialist volunteers and staff carrying out search and rescue missions and providing emergency health assistance on the ground.
The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (Echo) has made 1.5 million euro available to support the relief effort.
Businesses worst affected by the Primark fire will be able to apply for financial help worth up to 19,000, Belfast City Council has said.
Fewer than 14 small city centre firms unable to reopen within an exclusion zone established for safety reasons will be eligible for the maximum amount of help.
Around 90 businesses in the area are in line for varying amounts of funding to help them get back on their feet.
A firefighter and engineers inspect the charred facade of the Primark store in Belfast following the collapse of the internal floors in a devastating fire (PA)
The money is coming from a 500,000 donation from Primark, which is being divided up by the city council.
The fund will be open for a six-week period until Monday November 19.
In August the historic building housing the clothing firm was destroyed by a blaze which burned for days.
Nearby businesses have been badly disrupted and their owners expressed concern about the impact on Christmas trade as engineering work continued.
The Primark money was given on the understanding that it would provide direct support to affected small businesses and that the resources would be focused on local traders.
Those eligible will be independent retailers and single location franchises with fewer than 50 employees, charities and offices displaced by the fire.
City councillor Jim Rodgers said: We have tried to make this as fair and simple a process as possible.
We know some traders may be disappointed that they dont meet the eligibility criteria but we have had to introduce an eligibility scheme which will see the money go to those who need it most.
We have also carried out extensive consultation with the businesses themselves over the last number of weeks, along with our city partners including Belfast City Centre Management, Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, and Belfast One.
Multinational chain stores affected, such as Tesco and Zara, are not eligible for the money.
Belfast City Council said it hopes the main road through the city centre, between Donegall Place and Royal Avenue, can reopen to pedestrians before Christmas.
Cristiano Ronaldo could return to action for Juventus on Saturday.
The Portugal forward has this week firmly denied allegations of rape made against him.
Ronaldo is being sued by a woman in the United States who claims he raped her in the penthouse suite of a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.
The 33-year-old was on Thursday left out of Portugals squad for their forthcoming matches against Poland and Scotland, although he has been given the support of both his country and Juventus.
And Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri says Ronaldo is ready to return to his squad for Saturdays match away at Udinese, having sat out in the Champions League in midweek through suspension.
On who will play in attack, Allegri told Juves official website: Up front itll probably be two from (Paulo) Dybala, (Mario) Mandzukic and Ronaldo, or it could be all three, depending on what I see from them in training today.
Cristiano Ronaldo could play for Juventus this weekend (Nick Potts/PA)
I must say that Ive only known him (Ronaldo) as a person for three months, but over the years Ive seen him as a serious person, both on and off the pitch.
He has broad shoulders, so much so that he can be completely focused on tomorrows match.
After having had a break from the Champions League, he is extremely ready to return, as he demonstrated in training yesterday.
DUP leader Arlene Foster has called for the definition of a victim to be changed to exclude terrorist perpetrators.
Unionists harbour long-standing objections to categorising paramilitaries injured during attacks in the same bracket as their targets and bystanders.
The DUP used its submission to a British Government consultation on addressing the legacy of thousands of Northern Ireland conflict deaths to press for change.
Mrs Foster said: New UK-wide legislation to improve the definition of a victim is necessary.
We consider the 2006 definition of a victim and survivor to be unacceptable.
In our opinion, there is a clear distinction in law between a terrorist perpetrator and their innocent victim.
Arlene Foster has called for the definition of a victim to be changed to exclude the terrorist.
To equate the two is morally wrong and indefensible.
The Government should bring forward plans now to change the definition of a victim so there is a clear distinction made between perpetrators and victims.
We believe this could improve the existing climate and context and offer the best prospect of new bodies proving successful.
A Government consultation on addressing the legacy of past violence is closing, with bodies suggested including an Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) to seek criminal prosecutions and an information retrieval organisation.
The DUP said it had major concerns over elements of the draft Bill proposed by the Northern Ireland Office, and without significant amendment, anticipated it will not meet the objective of properly addressing the legacy of Northern Irelands past.
Mrs Foster said: The Governments latest proposals are being viewed through the lens of two decades of offence and outrage felt by innocent victims, and where the definition of a victim continues to be unjust and unacceptable.
The DUP considers the best opportunity for justice to come from an investigatory team with full police powers.
It is important that any new structures would be proportionate given 90% of deaths were caused by terrorists, and there should be an end to witch hunts against those in the forces of law and order who acted bravely, honourably and appropriately.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has described as appalling the Police Federation for Northern Irelands (PFNI) stance on legacy issues.
Serving police officers have urged the Government to scrap its one-sided and unfair legacy proposals for Northern Ireland.
The Federation characterised the HIU as a parallel police service and said a suggested new offence of non-criminal police misconduct could be construed as another word for collusion.
Sinn Fein policing spokesman Gerry Kelly said: For the Police Federation to warn that PSNI officers and former RUC and PSNI officers will not co-operate with legally-constituted bodies dealing with the legacy of the conflict is appalling.
He challenged the Federation to clarify whether its members are withholding information about past crimes, following comments by its chairman Mark Lindsay.
An eight-year-old girl has stumbled on a pre-Viking era sword in a lake in southern Sweden.
Saga Vanecek was helping her father with his boat in the Vidostern lake when she stepped on an 85cm (34in) sword in a holster made of wood and leather.
The sword is believed to be about 1,500 years old.
Mikael Nordstrom, of the local Jonkoping County museum, said Sagas find prompted others to seek out long-lost treasures in a lake that had been diminished by drought.
A brooch from between 300AD to 400AD was eventually found.
Mr Nordstrom said archaeologists are trying to understand why the items were there, with one suggestion being that it was for sacrificial purposes.
The true identity of the second suspect in the Salisbury nerve agent attack is to be revealed in the Houses of Parliament next week.
The Bellingcat investigative website is set to name the Russian GRU military intelligence officer at a meeting on Wednesday in a Commons committee room hosted by Tory MP Bob Seely.
The two suspects in the attempted poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal were originally named by the Government as Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov although it was made clear that the names were aliases.
The Salisbury suspects originally named as Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov (Metropolitan Police/PA)
Last month Bellingcat, working with the Russian website The Insider, identified Boshirov as Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga a highly decorated officer in the GRU.
A link on Mr Seelys Twitter links to an advertisement for the meeting, entitled Announcement of the identity of the second Skripal suspect, adding the comment Looks interesting.
The deaths of a woman and her baby son at the hands of her callous ex-partner could potentially have been prevented, a report has concluded.
Wesley Williams used a ligature to carry out the chilling, casual and calculated killings of Yvonne and Harrison Walsh, who were found dead in their beds in June 2013.
Williams was jailed for life, with a minimum of 29 years, at Birmingham Crown Court later that year.
The sentencing judge described the 29-year-old cannabis user as clearly evil and dangerous beyond measure.
Wesley Williams used a ligature to carry out the `chilling, casual and calculated killings of Yvonne and Harrison Walsh (West Midlands Police/PA)
A joint domestic homicide and serious case review, published on Friday, concluded the killings of Miss Walsh and her seven-month-old son may have been prevented, if information had been promptly shared about Williams history of domestic violence.
Williams, who was released on licence in February 2013 having been jailed in Wales for an assault against a male, was rightly assessed as high risk to children.
Shortly after his release, Williams struck up a relationship with Miss Walsh but initially refused to tell his West Midlands Police offender manager or Birmingham City Councils childrens services team who his partner was.
However, when Miss Walsh was identified by police, the report concluded: There is no indication that the identity of the woman and her children was shared with any other agency.
The report stated: It is possible that if immediate action had been taken when the identity of the woman (Miss Walsh) was discovered and a prompt disclosure was made to her about the risk posed to her and to her children, then appropriate safeguarding measures could have been taken, and her death and the death of her child could potentially have been prevented.
The joint review team made several recommendations aimed at cutting the risk of a repeat of any of the failings.
In its conclusions, the report by Birmingham Community Safety Partnership (BCSP) stated: Whilst the risk posed by the perpetrator was correctly assessed as high to both known adults and children, it is apparent that when his licence conditions ended, this was not sufficiently focused upon.
This may have been due to the fact that the index offence for which he was imprisoned was a serious assault upon an adult male, but there was overwhelming evidence of the perpetrators violent behaviour towards females with whom he had formed relationships, and in turn a risk to children, his own and those of others.
Indeed whilst in prison he had made threats to the child of an ex-partner.
It added: It was certainly predictable that the perpetrator could cause harm to others.
He was a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse and it is also known from research that a critical time for a victim to be harmed is when a relationship is ended or is about to end.
It appears that the woman refused a marriage proposal from the perpetrator, and that the perpetrator believed that if given an ultimatum she would choose her children over him.
Ms Walsh, 25, and her baby boy were found dead in separate rooms with the curtains drawn at their home in Chells Grove, Billesley, Birmingham.
Williams, who pleaded guilty to the murders, was told by the sentencing judge that he had killed two completely innocent and defenceless people for a reason which no-one of sound mind would understand.
UK-Russian relations could get worse before they get better, the deputy director general of a prominent security think tank has said.
Professor Malcolm Chalmers, from the Royal United Services Institute, highlighted how diplomatic links between the two countries are currently at the lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
His comments come amid allegations that intelligence officers from the Kremlin tried to hack the Foreign Office and the international body investigating the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
UK-Russia relations are at the lowest point they have been since the end of the Cold War, Prof Chalmers told the Press Association.
There are a number of areas which Russia could begin to dig out of this hole, and I think there would be many in the UK who would want to reciprocate.
But, I think the balance of probabilities is that things could get worse before they get better.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Peter Muhly/PA)
On Thursday the Foreign Office, Dutch authorities and US Department of Justice disclosed information on a number of malicious cyber activities allegedly conducted by Russia.
Dutch authorities revealed that with the help of UK intelligence they thwarted an attempted cyber attack on the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.
Peter Wilson, the UK ambassador in The Hague, also said both the Foreign Office and Defence and Science Technology Laboratory at Porton Down were also targeted by a group of GRU military intelligence service hackers in Russia known as Sandworm.
The US Department of Justice also revealed it had indicted seven suspected GRU officers for malicious cyber activities against the US and its allies including some of those named in connection with the OPCW attack.
Taking place within hours of each other, Prof Chalmers said he thinks the disclosures were an example of western countries coordinating their response.
This is a deliberate information operation by western governments because they want to remain on the front foot in relation to what Russia has been doing, he said.
Prof Chalmers said so far the coordination of announcements has been a pretty successful attempt to gain information advantage.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the disclosures were hard evidence of the unacceptable activities of the GRU which Britain has previously blamed for the attack in Salisbury.
He said the Government would now be entering into discussions with allies on what new sanctions could be imposed against the Kremlin.
Prof Chalmers said: The British Government is not going to sanction assassinations or indiscriminate cyber attacks on Russia. So it cant use the same tools.
What it does have is sanctions and what it does have is information, he added.
I think it is a real possibility that there will be further sanctions but I think there is a risk the intensification of counter sanctions against that will dig us progressively into a deeper hole of confrontation.
On Thursday, the National Cyber Security Centre said the GRU was almost certainly to blame for hacking the Democratic National Committee during the US presidential election in 2016.
Asked whether Russia could have interfered with the divisive Brexit referendum, Prof Chalmers said he has not seen a totally convincing narrative to suggest they did.
Warning how a very close eye must be kept on any reports of that, he stressed this is imperative because it is entirely possible the UK may have a national vote in the next year.
I think the UK authorities need to be vigilant in ensuring that there is no outside interference in any national vote we may have, he said.
Following the revelations, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson accused Russia of acting like a pariah state.
Prof Chalmers said he does not think Russia is a pariah state yet, but that it is moving in that directions by its actions.
The British Government doesnt want Russia to be a pariah state, they prefer to have good relations, he added.
But in order for that to happen Russia has to adhere to basic international norms.
A man who pushed a former Eurotunnel boss on to the tracks of the London Underground has been found guilty of attempted murder.
Sir Robert Malpas, 91, said he felt himself flying on to the rails at Marble Arch station, after Paul Crossley, 46, shoved him from behind with both hands.
CCTV footage of the attack drew gasps from the public gallery in the Old Bailey when it was played in court for the first time.
Sir Robert, who was knighted by the Queen in 1998, was rescued by heroic passer-by Riyad El Hussani, who leapt from the platform to save him as the electronic arrivals board showed just one minute until the next train.
The retired industrialist was left with a fractured pelvis and a gash to the head requiring 12 stitches after the attack on April 27.
A second Tube passenger, Tobias French, managed to keep his balance when he was earlier pushed by Crossley as a train pulled in to Tottenham Court Road station.
CCTV footage of the attack drew gasps from the public gallery in the Old Bailey (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)
Crossley told jurors his victims were chosen at random but claimed he had not intended to kill them.
But he was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder on Friday.
Sir Robert, who sat in the public gallery with his arms folded, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out.
The Recorder of London, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, adjourned sentencing for reports.
In a statement read to jurors during the trial, Sir Robert said he had been to a pensioners lunch in central London before using his freedom pass for his planned journey to Oxford Circus on the Central line.
CCTV footage shows him walking along the platform, wearing a brown Burberry raincoat, suit and tie, and carrying an umbrella.
He is then approached from behind by Crossley, who has a hood pulled over his cap, before being sent sprawling on to the tracks.
As I was walking along the platform I felt a two-handed push to my back, said Sir Robert.
I felt myself flying over the tracks and landing on the rails. I may have been concussed but only for a very short time. I banged my head on the rails.
He was rescued by French teacher Mr El Hussani, who had just finished work at the Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair.
He said he heard screams and shouting before running 20 metres to where Sir Robert lay with his clothes and umbrella covered in blood.
I then jumped straight on to the tracks to save his life, he said in a statement on the day of the incident.
Im still in shock with whats happened. I also feel sad as I could have lost my life twice.
I was scared that when I was on the tracks I could have been electrocuted and also could have then been hit by a train.
Mr El Hussani suffered burns to his right hand after touching the electrified rail.
Mr French told of his own lucky escape, having been pushed by Crossley as he waited for a train earlier the same day.
I remember thinking I was very lucky to be alive, he said.
There was a train coming in my direction at the time and if I had been pushed in front of it, Im certain I would have been killed.
I was fortunate I was quick to defend myself along with help from a member of the public.
Crossley, who was living in a homeless hostel in east London, was chased and detained by members of the public after he pushed Sir Robert.
He told them: Its not right, I know its wrong, before explaining to police officers: I didnt get much sleep last night.
Crossley, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 17, admitted he was the man wearing a cap and hood caught on CCTV shoving both men.
He told jurors he had taken crack cocaine the previous day and began feeling paranoid as he made his way to the West End to get coffee.
Crossley claimed he had meant to scare Mr French who had looked at me a bit funny, and said he was having a panic attack at the time he attacked Sir Robert, intending to push him over on to the floor.
He denied two charges of attempted murder and an alternative count of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr French, but pleaded guilty to a wounding charge in relation to the attack on Sir Robert.
A Congolese doctor who treats rape victims and an Iraqi woman who speaks out for those like herself who were raped and tortured by Islamic State have won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Dr Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad have made a crucial contribution to focusing attention on, and combating, such war crimes, 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.
Denis Mukweges basic principle is that justice is everyones business. The 2018 Peace Laureate is the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts. @DenisMukwege#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/KSzecKSkUc The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2018
Dr Mukwege, 63, founded a hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congos eastern Bukavu region and has treated thousands of women, many of whom 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.
At 19, Ms 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.
She was raped, beaten and tortured before managing to escape after three months.
Following her escape from IS, Peace Laureate Nadia Murad chose to speak openly about what she had suffered. In 2016, at the age of just 23, she was named the UNs first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. @NadiaMuradBasee#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/wgEjOxRHS9 The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2018
After getting treatment in Germany, she then spoke to the world about the horrors still being faced by her religious minority.
At 23, she was named the UNs first goodwill ambassador for the dignity of survivors of human trafficking.
Both honorees are the first from their countries Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq to receive a Nobel Prize and will split the award, which is worth nine million Swedish kronor (760,000).
The Nobel Peace award 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 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, said Ms Reiss-Andersen.
Berit Reiss-Andersen announces the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize (Terje Pedersen/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Dr Mukwege, a gynaecological surgeon, said he was nearing the end of his second surgery of the day on Friday when he heard people crying in the hospital.
They had heard about him winning the peace prize.
I can see in the faces of many women how they are happy to be recognised. This is really so touching, he said in a brief telephone interview with the Nobel Prize organisation.
Mobile phone footage of the scene in DRC showed a smiling Dr Mukwege jostled by dancing, ululating medical colleagues in scrubs.
Hallelujah! one man cried as women wiped their eyes.
"I can see in the faces of many women how they are happy to be recognised."
Denis Mukwege was performing his second operation of the day when he found out that he had received the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.
Hear the interview: https://t.co/DcrwhoqOjf The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2018
Dr Mukwege tried to address the crowd in the hospitals courtyard but was drowned out by cheering and song.
Eastern DRC has seen more than two decades of conflict among armed groups that either sought to unseat presidents or simply grab control of a piece of the countrys vast mineral wealth.
The importance of Dr Mukweges enduring, dedicated and selfless efforts in this field cannot be overstated. He has repeatedly condemned impunity for mass rape and criticised 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.
Ms Murads 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 Ms Murad, saying on Twitter that it was an honour for all Iraqis who fought terrorism and bigotry.
DRCs government congratulated Dr Mukwege while acknowledging that their relations with him have been strained.
Government spokesman Lambert Mende said Dr Mukwege did remarkable work, though he claimed the laureate tended to politicise it.
(Still) we salute that a colleague is recognised, he said.
I am proud to be Congolese, said the countrys top opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, in a Twitter post.
Good done for others always ends up being rewarded.
Last years Peace Prize winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Two gamblers died while they had tried to flee police raid at Pulpani of Kathmandu on Friday night.
It is said that Saroj Ghale and Somlal Tamang succumbed to injury in B and B hospital. The gamblers duo sustained serious injuries while they jumped off from a house roof.
It is said that three others injured have been receiving treatment. 23 gamblers were arrested from a house even though the main operator Hema Gurung is at large.
Scotland Yard has announced a new second-in-command, as the force tackles violence across London.
Sir Steve House was named as the incoming deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police on Friday, and will start a five-year contract in January.
Commissioner Cressida Dick, Home Secretary Sajid Javid and London mayor Sadiq Khan celebrated the promotion of the officer who oversaw the merging of eight forces to create Police Scotland.
Sir Steves tenure there was not without controversy, with criticism for his decision to deploy armed officers on routine patrols and the forces large-scale use of consensual stop-and-search.
Sir Steve House appointed as the next @metpoliceuk Deputy Commissioner
https://t.co/ElBVY3x4Sb pic.twitter.com/SzGidMh9rc Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) October 5, 2018
He also apologised after officers took three days to respond to a crash on the M9 near Stirling, which saw two people die.
Mr Javid said: Sir Stephen has demonstrated his leadership qualities, he is the right choice to help steer the countrys biggest force, particularly in its work tackling violent crime in the capital.
Sir Stephen House (Danny Lawson/PA)
So far this year, there have been 105 homicides in London, with about three in five being stabbings.
Sir Steve resigned as chief constable of Police Scotland in November 2015 before working in the private sector.
After returning to the Met as an assistant commissioner in March this year, he will take over from Sir Craig Mackey when he retires at the close of December.
Workers should be paid to to learn new skills, Green Party co-leaders have told delegates at their party conference.
Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley have pledged to allow workers to pursue personal development within working hours.
The party wants to revolutionise work and has already called for a free time index, to measure Britains success by how much leisure time workers have rather than their economic output.
Ms Berry said current employment law was stifling peoples potential in only allowing those working in companies with more than 250 employees to have training leave, which is unpaid.
Stare hard into the so-called centre ground and all you can see is compromise, timidity and more of what has already failed. Its not a vision. Its a collection of capitulations. #gpconf pic.twitter.com/3YLKZAxj07 The Green Party (@TheGreenParty) October 5, 2018
Greens would change all that, so no-one has to feel stuck in one job for life, she said.
All workers should be able to grow and learn throughout their careers, get trained in the things they need to know for their next job, improve how they do the one they have, or learn a new skill or trade.
Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley (PA)
Today we are promising to fight for paid training leave for every worker. With the right political will we can transform employment into more than just work.
Research has found investing in training and personal development decreases staff turnover and encourages career progression within the company, she added.
We all know what is driving Brexit. This pitiful charade is being engineered so the Tories can say they ended freedom of movement. #gpconf pic.twitter.com/xuZtgwcCL5 The Green Party (@TheGreenParty) October 5, 2018
Mr Bartley went on to say the Greens were putting other parties on notice that they intend to replace the Liberal Democrats as Englands third party.
He said: It is our ambition to become the third party in Britain.
Every green vote amplifies our voice and our ideas and makes others sit up and listen. Every green vote sends a message.
So we will get out on our streets, knock on every door and fight for every last vote to win the change we need to see.
Society must emphasise the dangers of knife crime to stop teenagers from believing that carrying a blade is normal, the most senior prosecutor in England and Wales has said.
Alison Saunders highlighted the potentially massive impact on a young persons life, even if they do not intend to use the weapon in their possession.
Her remarks, in an address to schoolchildren, come after a spate of fatal stabbings earlier this year sparked intense concern over serious violence on Britains streets.
While London was particularly badly hit by bloodshed, police figures show rises in knife-related offending around England and Wales.
Speaking at The National Black Crown Prosecutors Association conference, Ms Saunders said: Teenagers need to be warned that carrying a knife, even having one hidden in a school bag, can have a massive impact on their future.
Knives seized in a police raid (Yui Mok/PA)
The Director of Public Prosecutions emphasised that knife crime can affect anyone, not just people in gangs.
Ms Saunders, whose five-year term as head of the Crown Prosecution Service comes to an end later this month, said: Young people say they carry them because of peer pressure or for protection, but in fact you are much more likely to become a victim of knife crime yourself.
Situations involving weapons can quickly get out of control.
If you are found with a knife, you will be arrested and are very likely to be charged with a crime for a first time offence.
We must challenge the assumption that its normal to carry a knife. It isnt.
You are putting yourself, other people and your future at risk.
Police near the scene of a stabbing in Tufnell Park, north London (Caitlin Doherty/PA)
Latest Ministry of Justice statistics show that the number of knife and offensive weapons cases being dealt with by the criminal justice system is at its highest in eight years.
The figures show 13,248 offences of possession of an article with a blade or point, 6,865 of possession of an offensive weapon, and 988 where a knife or weapon was used to make threats against others resulted in a conviction or caution in the 12 months to June.
The combined total of 21,101 was the highest for an equivalent 12-month period since the year ending June 2010.
In nearly 4,500 cases, the offender was aged under 18.
The statistics tally with police-recorded crime figures, which show forces in England and Wales registered 40,147 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in 2017/18 a 16% increase on the previous year.
The future of over 200 Asda workers has been thrown into doubt with the confirmation that a North London delivery depot will close.
The supermarket first announced in July that it would consult staff over the proposed closure of the Enfield Home Shopping Centre, which employs 261 people.
The facility processes orders for Asdas home shopping operation, delivering groceries to around 4,500 customers a week.
Asda has pledged to redeploy some employees in new roles within the company, but a handful of redundancies have already been requested.
Despite great efforts by our colleagues at Enfield, restrictions on the site mean we are not able to make the necessary improvements to meet the speed of fulfilment and product ranges that our customers now expect, said Asda vice-president of grocery home shopping Simon Gregg.
Following a consultation process weve made the difficult decision to close the facility.
Asda has opened new facilities in Dartford and Heston to handle home deliveries (PA)
We will be working closely with our colleagues at Enfield to discuss the impact of this decision on them and look at alternative opportunities.
The decision also follows the opening of two new fully automated facilities in Heston and Dartford since early 2017, which created 700 new jobs.
Employees were informed of the final decision on Friday.
In the event of redundancies, workers will be offered a package which union GMB called comprehensive and valuable.
But Mr Gregg promised in July that redundancies would be a last resort.
Keith Dixon, GMB regional organiser, praised the arrangements made for the sites closure.
The redundancy package is, in short, the most comprehensive and valuable package secured for hourly paid colleagues within Asda in the past eight years, he said.
Asda has also agreed to the proposal raised by GMB, that neighbouring Asda stores can be over contracted to secure redeployment.
Meanwhile, GMB said it was working with its affected members to find new jobs, which may be outside Asda.
A teacher has denied having sex with a student in the toilets of a plane as they returned from a school trip because she was drunk and fancied him, a court heard.
Eleanor Wilson, 29, rejected accusations she was bored with her own boyfriend and had a crush on the good looking young lad.
Bristol Crown Court heard the pair also regularly exchanged text messages, including wishing each other happy new year and a happy Valentines Day.
Wilson is on trial accused of having sexual intercourse with the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, on a British Airways flight home from an overseas camping trip in August 2015.
It is alleged the teacher, then aged 26, kissed and cuddled the boy before beckoning him into the toilet where they had sex.
She is also accused of seeing the boy outside of school where they allegedly kissed and cuddled on three separate occasions.
Giving evidence for a second day, Wilson said she discussed with the boy being pregnant and having an abortion as her then partner of eight years, Andrew Hall, was violent and controlling and was not ready to start a family with her.
I wanted to conceal it because he would have beaten it out of me. You dont know what hes like, she said.
The defendant, who is an able seaman in the Royal Navy Reserve, conceded it had been inappropriate to tell the boy she was pregnant, but added: I didnt have anyone else and I wanted someone to feel sorry for me.
Virginia Cornwall, prosecuting, suggested Wilsons relationship with Mr Hall had become dull as there was a lack of intimacy and not a lot of sex.
You were bored with your life and [the boy] you had noticed before the trip. He was a good looking young lad? Did he remind you of Andy when you got together aged 17?, she asked.
There was a loosening of the boundaries between you and [the boy]. You became like one of the students, moving down to their level, you liked that level of contact. You wanted to feel included and liked.
Miss Cornwall suggested Wilson had drunk more than a 125ml glass of wine and a gin and tonic on the flight home.
You became aroused because your inhibitions had been loosened because you had been drinking? You fancied him?, she asked.
Wilson replied: I dont and still dont.
The prosecutor asked: You did and you went into the toilet and sex took place exactly how he says it happened. You have described it as pornographic and something you see in a movie.
Wilson replied: Yes, ridiculous detail.
The defendant rejected the suggestion she and the teenager were effectively going out on a date when they met up for trips together.
Miss Cornwall asked: Had your sense of reality in some way been distorted by your feelings towards him?
Wilson replied: I didnt have any feelings, apart from I cared. I was still aware that he was [age of boy] and I still wanted to help him.
He texted me and wished me happy valentines day, no kisses or to you. I texted back saying the same.
Wilson insisted she had not lied to her head teacher when she denied being in a relationship with a student when quizzed weeks into the new term.
Eleanor Wilson told the jury she did not want to lose her job over "innocent talking" (Ben Birchall/PA)
There was nothing to get away with and I just didnt want to lose my job over what was innocent talking, she told the court.
The trips were unprofessional and I was ashamed and afraid of losing my job. It wasnt morally wrong because I was trying to help him. I was coming from a good place.
Miss Cornwall said: You had become dependent upon him and you had become increasingly close to him. You had an emotional connection with him.
You thought you were in a relationship with [the boy]. You used [the boy] for your own sexual and emotional gratification.
Wilson replied: Definitely not.
Miss Cornwall asked Wilson why she had not been truthful to her head teacher when the police launched an investigation in February 2016.
You decided that the only way through this was to hold your head up and lie through your teeth. Your purpose is entirely self-preservation.
Your strategy is to blame others, particularly [the boy] and particularly Andy, to excuse your own conduct before this jury. Blaming [the boy] for the situation that you are in.
Wilson replied: I dont blame [the boy] for putting me in this situation entirely. The fact that hes made this about him makes me so angry.
He knows how hard it was for me to go through [the abortion] and now he is making it about him. I dont know whats going on in his head.
Miss Cornwall said: Suggesting that he wanted to meet up and saying he had problems all designed to excuse your conduct and divert the focus away from the sexual conduct you had.
The defendant replied: No.
Wilson, of The Rope Walk, Dursley, Gloucestershire, denies four charges of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.
The trial was adjourned until Monday.
One of the principal architects of Northern Irelands peace process has urged the British government and the European Union to keep to their promises in avoiding a hard border post-Brexit.
George Mitchell, who played an historic part in brokering the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, called for political leaders involved in the Brexit negotiations to look back on the work of their predecessors in reaching the deal that ended decades of bloodshed.
The political giant urged the public to insist that there is no hard border on the island of Ireland following the public pledge made by the British government and the EU in December last year.
His message was shared by anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller to an audience in Co Down on Friday.
With 175 days to go until the official Brexit date, Ms Miller warned that with time running out no one will know what will happen next.
Ms Miller, who won a High Court case against the British government over the involvement of Parliament in Brexit, travelled to Northern Ireland as part of her End The Chaos Brexit campaign.
She told the crowd in Newry that she received a moving and historic message from Mr Mitchell, which he asked her to share.
In a message, he said: I hope the current leaders of Northern Ireland, Ireland, the UK and the EU, as they today reflect on their responsibilities, will look back 20 years to what their predecessors did.
Campaigner Gina Miller arrives at the Sean Hollywood Arts Centre in Newry (Brian Lawless/PA)
The political leaders of that time, in dangerous and difficult circumstances, after lifetimes devoted to conflict, summoned extraordinary courage and vision and reached agreement often at great risk to themselves, their families and political careers.
In December 2017 the UK government and the EU publicly committed themselves to a Brexit outcome that does not re-establish a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
We should all insist that they keep their promise.
Ms Miller said that with the Brexit deadline looming, there is no clear idea of what the future will look like.
I would like to ask the Prime Minister (Theresa May) how do you deliver (a frictionless border) in just two weeks, she said.
The English mainland perspective fails to recognise the full value and lasting benefits that EU membership has brought, to stability and confidence to families and and communities on both sides of border.
She said that the unravelling of EU membership poses a clear and present danger to the stability and prosperity on the island of Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement.
She said the backstop agreement will leave Northern Ireland in a state of potentially never-ending limbo.
Former US senator George Mitchell helped forge the peace process (Niall Carson/PA)
Alternatively it could lead to the return of hard border, she added.
In the case of a no-deal be in no doubt that a hard border will be the consequence of leaving with no-deal.
A return to border controls, barriers, fences, all the physical border infrastructure that disfigured the island of Ireland for decades, divided communities, disrupted trade and destroyed livelihoods must not happen.
No part of the UK deserves to be hung out to dry, uncertain of its future as a result of consequences of a no-deal as a result of ambitious and a buccaneering bunch of scheming quarrelsome Westminster politicians with an extreme agenda.
She also warned that the Irish border could become the new Calais and urged the British government to do everything in its power to prevent a hard border.
Anti-Brexit billboards on the northern side of the border between Newry in Northern Ireland and Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland (Niall Carson/PA)
Following her speech, Dr Conor Patterson, chief executive of Newry Mourne Co-operative Enterprise Agency, told the audience that he was concerned that Brexit has pushed people into trenches.
Since the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) Newry has been transformed because the barriers dissolved and theres no better place to highlight the positive gains that came from the GFA, he said.
Professor Colin Harvey from Queens University, added: Northern Ireland has been systematically and scandalously locked out from this conversation.
From all the warm words about the union, its been shocking to see the way in which voices from this society have not been featuring and not included in discussions.
The consequences of Brexit in this society are disastrous but at the moment Westminster is not listening and that needs to be radically addressed.
Soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland have been welcomed home by their families after a six-month tour of duty.
Crowds gathered in Ayr for a homecoming parade for 400 troops from the 2nd Battalion (2 Scots) of the regiment following their deployment in Iraq, South Sudan and Cyprus, where they worked with local military and UN forces.
After the parade soldiers met with their loved ones, including Lance Corporal Anthony Boyle who was reunited with his six-year-old and seven-month-old daughters.
Lance Corporal Anthony Boyle, from Kilmarnock, is reunited with daughter Ella, six (Jane Barlow/PA)
The battalion then attended a reception in Ayr Town Hall where operational service medals were presented for their role in Iraq, which saw them provide training and mentoring for Kurdish security forces.
In South Sudan, 2 Scots provided security to a British Army Engineer Battlegroup assisting a UN mission in the country, while they also joined UN troops patrolling the green line in Cyprus.
Lieutenant Colonel DC Close, commanding officer of 2 Scots, said: After six months of performing operations, 2 Scots are back to say thank-you to our communities, to our recruiting areas, to our families and friends who have supported us throughout the last year.
Pipers led the homecoming parade in Ayr (Jane Barlow/PA)
It is a joy to be in amongst our Scottish community, who play a major role in supporting us and have done for many years.
The soldiers also added knitted poppies to a remembrance banner in Ayr Town Hall to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War.
South Ayrshire Provost Helen Moonie said: I would like to thank the people of South Ayrshire for welcoming the soldiers home.
I know how much it means to those that took part in the parade to see and hear people young and old cheering them on, its something that will stay with the men and women of 2 Scots for many years to come.
Corporal Martin Buchanan, from Ayr, is greeted with a smile by his six-month-old son Alfie (Jane Barlow/PA)
It was a particularly poignant moment to see serving soldiers attach crochet and knitted poppies to the First World War memorial banner in the town hall, and I would like to thank everyone who has contributed so far.
Last month, soldiers from the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 Scots) held a series of homecoming parades in the north of Scotland following their return from Iraq.
Soldiers from 2 Scots will continue their homecoming events with a parade in Glasgow on Saturday.
A former Eurotunnel boss sobbed in court as the man who pushed him on to the tracks of the London Underground was found guilty of attempted murder.
Sir Robert Malpas, 91, said he felt himself flying on to the rails at Marble Arch station, after Paul Crossley, 46, shoved him from behind with both hands.
CCTV footage of the attack drew gasps from the public gallery in the Old Bailey when it was played in court for the first time.
The shocking moment CCTV captured a man attempting to murder two men on the London Underground.
Today, their attacker has been found guilty of two counts of attempted murder.
Full story https://t.co/nhic8WxzyK pic.twitter.com/V7UMUGi8D0 British Transport Police (@BTP) October 5, 2018
Sir Robert, who was knighted by the Queen in 1998, was rescued by heroic passer-by Riyad El Hussani, who leapt from the platform to save him as the electronic arrivals board showed just one minute until the next train.
But the retired industrialist was left with a fractured pelvis and a gash to the head requiring 12 stitches after the attack on April 27.
A second Tube passenger, Tobias French, managed to keep his balance when he was earlier pushed by Crossley as a train pulled in to Tottenham Court Road station.
I then jumped straight on to the tracks to save his life, he said in a statement on the day of the incident.
Im still in shock with whats happened. I also feel sad as I could have lost my life twice.
I was scared that when I was on the tracks I could have been electrocuted and also could have then been hit by a train.
Mr El Hussani suffered burns to his right hand after touching the electrified rail.
Mr French told of his own lucky escape, having been pushed by Crossley as he waited for a train earlier the same day.
I remember thinking I was very lucky to be alive, he said.
There was a train coming in my direction at the time and if I had been pushed in front of it, Im certain I would have been killed.
I was fortunate I was quick to defend myself along with help from a member of the public.
Crossley, who was living in a homeless hostel in east London, was chased and detained by members of the public after he pushed Sir Robert.
He told them: Its not right, I know its wrong, before explaining to police officers: I didnt get much sleep last night.
Crossley, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 17, admitted he was the man wearing a cap and hood caught on CCTV shoving both men.
He told jurors he had taken crack cocaine the previous day and began feeling paranoid as he made his way to the West End to get coffee.
Crossley claimed he had meant to scare Mr French who had looked at me a bit funny, and said he was having a panic attack at the time he attacked Sir Robert, intending to push him over on to the floor.
He denied two charges of attempted murder and an alternative count of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr French, but pleaded guilty to a wounding charge in relation to the attack on Sir Robert.
Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Detective Inspector Darren Gough, from British Transport Police said: This was a most shocking incident and the victims in this case were extremely lucky to have survived.
This could have easily been a double murder investigation and more victims had it not been for the brave actions of the travelling public who stepped in and restrained Crossley and assisted the victims.
I would like to remind the public that this type of incident is very rare and millions of journeys are made across the Underground without incident.
An incurably ill man who ended his life in a clinic in Switzerland was enduring a living hell, according to his lawyers.
The 54-year-old man, who can only be identified as Omid T, died at a Lifecircle clinic on Thursday, Bindmans LLP confirmed.
The legal firm said in a statement: Omid died peacefully and contentedly knowing that his suffering was about to end and that he would be released from the living hell which he had been in for several years.
Omid, a former property developer, was diagnosed with multiple systems atrophy in 2014 and was effectively bed bound for more than two years.
The rare nervous system disorder causes problems with balance, movement and the autonomic nervous system that controls functions including breathing and bladder control.
Omid was awaiting the outcome of a legal challenge launched in March 2017 against the UKs ban on assisted dying.
The former property developer was diagnosed with multiple systems atrophy in 2014 (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
Saimo Chahal QC, who represented Omid in his High Court case, said her courageous client found life unbearable before his assisted suicide.
She said in a statement: Omid T was a very courageous man. I saw him shortly before he went to Switzerland and he told me that he could not bear living any longer and wanted nothing to get in the way of him having a peaceful and dignified death.
I regret that Omid did not receive the legal resolution he wished for and deserved.
Two campaign groups that supported Omids UK legal challenge paid tribute to him and called for a change in the law on assisted dying in the UK.
Phil Cheatle, co-ordinator of My Death-My Decision, said: Omid faced a tragic situation. Omid faced potentially many more years of increased suffering.
All Omid wanted was a peaceful end, given his hopeless situation.
Sufferers like Omid deserve the option of a medically assisted death if that is their well-considered, persistent choice, when there are no other acceptable alternatives.
Humanists UK said it was a tragedy and national scandal that Omid was not allowed to die in the UK.
Chief executive Andrew Copson said: We are deeply saddened by the death of our member Omid T, who ended his life with medical assistance at Lifecircle in Switzerland today.
It is a tragedy, and also a national scandal, that Omid had to go to Switzerland to die with dignity.
His desire was for a peaceful ending to his life here in England and his case underscores the need for our Parliament to allow people in his position the dignity of choice in their own country.
Our deepest condolences are with his family, friends, and everyone else who was touched by his life.
The European Court of Justice will next month consider whether Britain can unilaterally withdraw its Article 50 Brexit letter.
It comes after Scotlands highest court announced it would refer the question on to Luxembourg.
Due to the urgency of the issue the UK will leave the European Union on March 29 the Court of Session in Edinburgh requested the case be expedited.
#Brexit : #ECJ granted the fast-track procedure on the request for a preliminary ruling from a Scottish Court on the reversibility of article 50 (case number C-621/18) EU Court of Justice (@EUCourtPress) October 5, 2018
The ECJ confirmed on Friday that it has granted the fast-track procedure on the request for a preliminary ruling from a Scottish court on the reversibility of Article 50.
Jolyon Maugham QC, who is one of the people who brought the case, said a hearing would now take place on November 27.
We now have a hearing date from the Court of Justice: 27 November at 9am. This is a case vital in our national interest. Please help us engage the best possible team. https://t.co/ugWQoJlhLm Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) October 5, 2018
Appealing to the public for help with funding the legal challenge, Mr Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, said: This is a case vital in our national interest. Please help us engage the best possible team.
The European Court of Justice will consider if the UK can unilaterally withdraw its Article 50 letter in November (Victoria Jones/PA)
The case has been brought by Mr Maugham and a cross-party group of politicians in Scotland, comprising Labour MEPs Catherine Stihler and David Martin, Joanna Cherry MP and Alyn Smith MEP of the SNP, and Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer.
NEW YORK, Oct 6: Therapy dogs can bring more than joy and comfort to hospitalized kids. They can also bring stubborn germs.
Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore were suspicious that the dogs might pose an infection risk to patients with weakened immune systems. So they conducted some tests when Pippi, Poppy, Badger and Winnie visited 45 children getting cancer treatment.
They discovered that kids who spent more time with the dogs had a 6 times greater chance of coming away with superbug bacteria than kids who spent less time with the animals. But the study also found that washing the dogs before visits and using special wipes while theyre in the hospital took away the risk of spreading that bacteria.
The results of the unpublished study were released Friday at a scientific meeting in San Francisco.
One U.S. health official said the findings add to the growing understanding that while interactions with pets and therapy animals can be beneficial, they can also carry risk.
Whether covered in fur, feathers or scales, animals have the potential to carry germs that make people sick, said Casey Barton Behravesh of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pet therapy can help people recover from a range of health problems. Past studies have shown dogs or other animals can ease anxiety and sadness, lower blood pressure and even reduce the amount of medications some patients need.
But there have been episodes of the superbug MRSA riding around on healthy-looking therapy dogs.
MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, often live on the skin without causing symptoms. But they can become more dangerous if they enter the bloodstream, destroying heart valves or causing other damage. Health officials have tied MRSA to as many as 11,000 U.S. deaths a year.
The bacteria can spread in daycares, locker rooms and military barracks, but public health efforts have focused on hospitals and nursing homes.
The Baltimore study looked at 45 children who interacted with the four dogs petting, hugging, feeding or playing with them over 13 visits in 2016 and 2017.
Among kids who had no MRSA, the researchers found the superbug on about 10 percent of the samples taken from those kids after the dog visits. They also found MRSA on nearly 40 percent of the samples from the dogs. The researchers also determined that the more time someone spent with the animals, the greater the chance of ending up with the bacteria.
The researchers think the dogs were generally clean of MRSA when they first came to the hospital, but picked it up from patients or others while they were there, said one of the authors, Meghan Davis.
Our hypothesis is its really person-to-person transmission, but it happened through contact with the fur, said Davis, a Johns Hopkins public health researcher and veterinarian.
Under hospital protocols, therapy dogs must be bathed within a day of a visit and are checked for wounds or other health problems. Children who see them are supposed to use hand sanitizer but that wasnt strictly enforced, said Kathryn Dalton, another one of the researchers.
Later in the study, the researchers asked the dogs owners to bathe the animals with a special shampoo before the visits. They also had the dogs patted down every five to 10 minutes with disinfecting wipes at the hospital.
Those steps dramatically decreased the bacteria level on the dogs, Dalton said.
She hopes further study will show that such cleanings can reduce any risk of superbug infection.
A man has been slashed across the face in an attack in Cumbernauld.
Police said the man, 25, had been sitting on steps behind the Jack Snipe Bar in Glenacre Road at around 6.30pm on Thursday when he was approached by two men.
The men, who the victim does not know, initially engaged him in conversation but when he got up to leave, one of them slashed him with a bladed object.
The victim made his way to a friends house nearby and raised the alarm.
Police said he was left with a significant facial injury.
He was treated at Monklands Hospital and later released.
The incident occurred in Cumbernauld on Thursday evening (PA)
Detective Constable Shemain Murphy from Coatbridge CID has urged any witnesses to come forward.
He said: This despicable individual assaulted the victim for no apparent reason and he has been left with a significant facial injury.
In particular I would appeal to the woman who passed the suspects prior to the incident to please get in touch. It is believed they may have made some sort of comment to her as she walked by.
I would also appeal to anyone who was in the surrounding area, including the nearby bar, and may have saw or heard anything suspicious to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Coatbridge CID via 101, quoting incident number 3108 of October 4. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, where details can be given in confidence.
Three fracking protesters jailed for causing a public nuisance will appeal against their sentences.
Last week, Simon Blevins, 26, from Sheffield, and Richard Roberts, 36, of London, were both jailed for 16 months, while Rich Loizou, 31, from Devon, was jailed for 15 months.
Preston Crown Court heard they climbed on to lorries outside energy firm Cuadrillas fracking site in Preston New Road in Little Plumpton, Lancashire, in a protest last July which lasted just short of 100 hours.
Simon Blevins (Lancashire Constabulary/PA)
On Friday, a spokeswoman for Robert Lizar Solicitors, representing the men, confirmed they would be lodging an appeal against sentence on the grounds the sentences were wrong in principle and manifestly excessive.
The three activists were convicted of public nuisance following a trial.
Richard Roberts (Lancashire Constabulary/PA)
At their sentencing on September 26, Judge Robert Latham said he felt he could not suspend the jail terms despite accepting the impact of incarceration and the good they did in the community.
He said: I do find they provide a risk of re-offending.
Rich Loizou (Lancashire Constabulary/PA)
Each of them remains motivated by unswerving confidence that they are right.
Even at their trial they felt justified by their actions.
Given the disruption caused in this case, only immediate custody can achieve sufficient punishment.
A fourth defendant, Julian Brock, 47, from Torquay was sentenced to 12 months in custody, suspended for 18 months, after he pleaded guilty to public nuisance.
Northern Irelands restrictive abortion laws have left medics fearing life imprisonment, a court heard.
They have had a chilling effect on doctors, a lawyer for a woman forced to travel to England for a termination for a fatal foetal abnormality said.
Sarah Ewart is applying for a judicial review, seeking a declaration that Northern Irelands regime is incompatible with human rights law in instances where the unborn baby is unable to survive. The case was adjourned.
Abortion campaigner Sarah Ewart arrives for Belfast High Court hearing. Her lawyer argued restrictive laws left medics fearing life imprisonment. pic.twitter.com/sOJRksXWEE michael mchugh (@mmchugh02) October 5, 2018
Her barrister, Adam Straw, said: The chilling effect which results from that offence is something which is likely to impact on my client.
Doctors are most unlikely to want to run the risk of a life sentence if they are convicted of an offence.
Five years ago, Ms Ewart travelled from Northern Ireland for a termination in England after a 20-week scan revealed her baby had anencephaly, which meant the brain and skull had not developed and the infant would either die before being born or shortly afterwards.
Abortion campaigner Sarah Ewart (l) arrives for her latest court case. Her lawyer said doctors were left fearing life sentences due to Northern Irelands restrictive laws.
Abortions in Northern Ireland are illegal in all but exceptional medical and mental health circumstances.
On Friday afternoon, Ms Ewart sought the leave of the High Court in Belfast to take her case against the Government to full judicial review.
Judge Mr Justice Bernard McCloskey urged Ms Ewarts lawyers to provide greater clarity around what kind of legal remedy they are seeking and from which part of the Government.
He said: The court could not have done more to progress these proceedings and, further, no fault can be attributed to any of the proposed respondents.
The judge added: The court is still not sufficiently equipped to rule on that fundamental issue at this stage.
The four proposed respondents in the case are Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley, Stormonts departments of justice and health and the Executive.
The Government has resisted calls to step in to legislate for reform in the wake of a recent Supreme Court judgment that found the current legal framework incompatible with human rights laws.
In June, a majority of Supreme Court judges said the ban on terminations in cases of rape, incest or fatal foetal abnormality needed radical reconsideration.
However, the Supreme Court dismissed the legal challenge by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission by a narrow majority, and said it had no jurisdiction to consider the case because there was no actual or potential victim of an unlawful act involved in it.
A new mental health support scheme is to be introduced to cover all doctors working in the NHS.
NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens announced the move, which will see the NHS GP Health Service expanded to cover an additional 110,000 doctors.
More than 1,500 GPs have already been supported by the service since it was launched in 2017.
A recent survey found the majority (93%) of patients were likely to recommend the service to others, while 88% said it had a positive or very positive impact on their wellbeing.
Currently, support for the mental health of hospital doctors falls to NHS Trusts or Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), but provision is not universal.
Mr Stevens said: The NHS is significantly improving mental health treatment for patients but sometimes doctors need our support too.
A GP completes paperwork in his practice room at the Temple Fortune Health Centre GP Practice near Golders Green, London, as NHS England announces a new mental health support scheme to cover all doctors working in the NHS.
This will mean the NHS will now have a more comprehensive national mental health support offer to doctors than any other country in the world.
This new funding will help all doctors, giving them a safe, confidential service to turn to when they are struggling and need help.
Mr Stevens said the NHS long-term plan, due to be published this autumn, will contain a renewed focus on the mental health of both patients and staff.
Dr Clare Gerada, medical director of the NHS Practitioner Health Programme, has previously warned how doctors are at a particularly high risk of mental illness.
She said: The last taboo in the NHS is the acknowledgement that doctors also have mental health problems and that they are not immune to the pressures we all face.
We have shown that if you offer an accessible, confidential service then doctors will come for treatment, and not just come, they get better.
Im delighted Simon Stevens has announced extra funding to make this service available nationally, so doctors outside of London can access the support they need.
Professor Ravi Mahajan, president of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, also welcomed the announcement, with its own research finding that three out of five (61%) anaesthetists in training said their job negatively affected their mental health.
We know this is not just an issue for anaesthetists its an issue that is indiscriminate of specialty or seniority and it is right that support is provided for all doctors across England, he added.
There is a moral imperative to care for those who care for others, but there is also an economic case when we know that staff absence costs the NHS in England 2.4 billion a year.
Comparatively modest capital investment in staff facilities to ensure the availability of a hot drink, decent meal and a place to take a break after a long shift could have a major impact on the wellbeing of NHS staff.
Irish presidential hopeful Peter Casey has said he does not give incumbent president Michael D Higgins any credit for meeting the Queen.
Mr Casey said Mr Higgins had not inspired the presidency, as some previous presidents had, and he had stopped being wonderful about two or three years ago.
The former Irish Dragons Den star made the comments as he officially kicked off his election campaign at the Irish emigration museum, Epic, in Dublins Custom House Quay building.
The only thing Ive heard about Michael D is he was good with the Queen, Mr Casey said.
Lets engage the powerhouse that is the Irish abroad and in a powerful, meaningful way-not just a token nod in their direction #Aras18 #PeterForPresident #Launch #EPIC pic.twitter.com/ukYhv0tGGA Peter Casey (@CaseyPeterJ) October 5, 2018
The millionaire candidate said he was not impressed, as there would have been protocol in place during the 2011 visit.
I dont really give him points for meeting the Queen, he said.
I dont think hes done anything bad but he hasnt inspired the presidency the way that perhaps some of the other previous presidents have.
But the Londonderry native admitted it was Mr Higginss campaign to lose.
The independent candidate criticised the president for not grasping the opportunity to take part in debates and discuss what he had achieved in the past seven years.
He had an opportunity to explain and he decided to go and have a cup of tea with Prince Edward, Mr Casey said.
President and Sabina Higgins received their HRH's Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, at #ArasAnUachtarain. pic.twitter.com/U2knkIJxev President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) September 27, 2018
Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, met Mr Higgins and his wife Sabina at Aras an Uachtarain last month during a royal visit to the country.
Mr Casey added that he seemed to be the only person who dared be critical of the president.
Im the only one thats actually sort of suggested that he is anything other than Santa Claus, Mr Casey said. Its a little bit like attacking Santa Claus when you say anything negative about him.
Mr Casey is one of six candidates running for the highest office in the State.
The 60-year-old will have to fend off not only Mr Higgins but also two of his former Dragons Den stars Sean Gallagher and Gavin Duffy, Sinn Feins Liadh Ni Riada and senator and Pieta House charity founder Joan Freeman to take up the coveted role.
Peter Casey and his wife Helen arrive at the Epic Centre (Brian Lawless/PA)
Mr Casey, who left his home in the Bogside 37 years ago to emigrate, runs global recruitment firm Claddagh Resources. It operates from five locations across the world, including its European base in Buncrana, Co Donegal. He divides his time between Atlanta in the US and Ireland.
The candidates wife Helen introduced her husband at the launch as a man with a fierce sense of right and wrong, who only wanted to make things better.
She told those gathered: It is with great pride that I introduce you to Peter Casey the next president of Ireland.
Mr Casey said he had a genuine desire to really make a difference of the people in Ireland and that he believed the best way to achieve that was by resonating with the diaspora.
The hopeful said he intended to run for president for a second time if he wasnt successful in this campaign, but added that he was confident Ill be standing again as the president.
The election will take place on October 26.
US President Donald Trump has hit out at female protesters who have confronted senators over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, labelling them paid professionals only looking to make senators look bad.
Mr Trumps tweet came before a crucial Senate vote on Mr Kavanaugh, who stands accused of a high school-era sexual assault, which he denies.
Amid a national reckoning around gender roles and sexual consent, protesters have flooded the Capitol in recent days, with many women angrily addressing senators, some identifying themselves as sexual assault victims.
The president struck a more upbeat note after the Senate pushed Mr Kavanaugh past a key procedural hurdle, saying on Twitter that he was very proud.
As the Kavanaugh nomination has dragged out, protests and direct lobbying have grown.
An emotional exchange last week between Republican senator Jeff Flake and two women quickly went viral and appeared to contribute to Mr Flakes demand that a vote be delayed by a week for an FBI background investigation.
Donald Trumps tweet came before a crucial Senate vote (Evan Vucci/AP)
On Thursday several women approached Republican senator Orrin Hatch near Capitol lifts to ask why he was backing Mr Kavanaugh.
Mr Hatch told them to grow up.
Democrat Joe Manchin was also confronted.
How do you know how Im going to vote? the senator responded after criticism from a protester.
All three voted to push the nomination through.
Taking on the protesters directly, Mr Trump said in Fridays tweet: Dont fall for it!
After initially saying that Mr Kavanaughs accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, should be heard and speaking cautiously, Mr Trump has grown increasingly frustrated.
Placing himself firmly against the MeToo moment, he has warned that this process could lead to false accusations against men and mocked Ms Fords emotional testimony.
Mr Trump has vigorously defended Mr Kavanaugh, who denies the allegations against him.
Other Republicans have echoed Mr Trumps frustration.
On Fox And Friends, Republican senator Chuck Grassley said the protests were a reflection of the incivility of American society generally.
He added: I think its also evidence that people will go to any lengths when they are encouraged by people on Capitol Hill.
Some of the women protesting are members of or paid staffers for activist groups.
Ana Maria Archila, one of the two women who confronted Mr Flake, is co-executive director of the non-profit Centre for Popular Democracy Action.
She said that if Mr Trump wants to say I have a job where I advocate for justice, he is right.
Ms Archila said: This is what he does, hes a bully. But you know what? I am standing next to thousands and thousands and thousands of women who are feeling incredibly powerful in this moment and I am not afraid.
Nationalists in Northern Ireland have said Stormont should not have a say over the Brexit backstop.
The British Government is expected to table new proposals in a bid to break the Irish border impasse, but a role for the devolved Assembly has been speculated.
Prime Minister Theresa Mays DUP supporters are adamantly opposed to any solution which would see any divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Consulting Stormont on the backstop could effectively give the DUP a veto on a deal.
Pro-Remain parties including the SDLP and Sinn Fein met EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Friday.
The Green Party and Alliance Party were also represented.
The SDLP and Sinn Fein have said Stormonts Assembly should not have a say over the Brexit backstop. Steve Parsons/PA.
During a post-meeting press conference, SDLP and Sinn Fein leaders Colum Eastwood and Michelle ONeill told the BBC giving the suspended Stormont Assembly in Belfast any say over the backstop would be unacceptable.
Mr Eastwood said: The time to deliver on a deal is now. The North cannot be left to the fate of a reckless, no-deal Brexit.
Work continues in Brussels today. Good to meet and listen to @moneillsf, @StephenFarryMLA, @columeastwood, and Steven Agnew @GreenPartyNI together to discuss the ongoing #Brexit negotiations and the importance of a legally operative backstop for Northern Ireland. pic.twitter.com/WLDWMlEXYp Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) October 5, 2018
The EU and UK have expressed hope a deal can be reached to avoid a hard Brexit.
Time is running out to secure an agreement and ratify it before the UK leaves in March.
Senior Democratic Unionist, Sammy Wilson, one of the DUPs 10 MPs at Westminster who are holding up the minority Government, went on Twitter.
He said: If she is rolling back on her pledge that there will be no barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, then the Prime Minister should be under no illusions; we will vote against her deal and it will go nowhere.
The EU and UK are at odds over the Irish border and the Prime Ministers Chequers plan is under attack from Brexiteers in her own party.
An EU leaders summit is due in Brussels on October 17 and if a deal is close a special Brexit meeting could be called in November to sign off on it.
Motorists should take additional precautions to protect against sophisticated thieves who can steal some cars without using keys, experts have warned.
Thefts involving keyless entry systems are to blame for a jump in reported vehicle crimes, according to Richard Billyeald, chief technical officer at car safety and security firm Thatcham Research.
The kit fools the car into thinking the key is nearer than it is, explained Mr Billyeald, adding that such crimes were the preserve of organised criminal gangs.
The new technique involves amplifying the radio signal of a key fob inside a house and relaying it to a receiver near the car.
Gangs are honing their techniques and realising theres something to be had here, Mr Billyeald told the Press Association.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show a significant increase in vehicle theft, up by 40% over the previous year.
A high-tech car thief uses a transmitter to steal a keyless car (Jason Lang/PA)
On Wednesday two thieves were caught on camera stealing a 30,000 Toyota in seconds using a radio device in Heywood, Greater Manchester the latest in a string of similar crimes.
Toyota spokesman Richard Seymour said: Its a continuous battle. People out there will always find a way around not just our security but the security of other manufacturers.
He added that car companies like Toyota are always looking to make our technology more secure.
Thatcham Research advises car owners to make sure they understand the digital functions of their vehicles, and check to see if software updates and newer fobs with enhanced security are available.
The research centre also recommends storing keys as far as possible from entry points and using shielding devices to block the signal from the key itself.
Recent research from vehicle tracking specialists Tracker has found a large majority of vehicles could be vulnerable to similar attacks.
A 2017 survey of 350 vehicle types by Tracker found 91% of cars fitted with keyless entry systems could be accessed remotely using relay tools.
The family of a retired British estate agent who was murdered while renovating his dream home in the Dominican Republic have said they want justice following his death.
Stephen Halliday, originally from Maidenhead, Berkshire, suffered machete wounds to his head and neck in the attack, which happened at the home he and wife Angela bought on the Caribbean island.
His family have set up a crowdfunding campaign to pay for a legal fund to fight for justice on his behalf.
Mrs Halliday, 60, said: It is totally overwhelming and at the same time so hard.
Its hard to ask for help when youve always taken care of your own things but the money is to cover the legal fees to get justice for Stephen.
Three men have been arrested in connection with the death of the 64-year-old on September 6.
His family have said the trial is due to begin in the Dominican Republic in December.
Mrs Halliday, who worked away in the US and flew back and forth from the Caribbean, said she had spoken to him on the phone the night before he died and he told her he loved her, as he did ten times a day.
She said: He was just the most special man in the world, I was very lucky.
Stephen, a retired estate agent, moved away from the UK when he was working for Thomas Cook in 1975.
He had lived in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife from 2005 before retiring to the Dominican Republic in 2017.
The couple, who were due to celebrate their 35th anniversary in November, bought the house in June 2017, which was a life-long dream for Stephen after they spent their honeymoon there.
Son Geoffrey, left, says his mother could `never return to the house in the Caribbean (GoFundMe/PA)
His son Geoffrey said his mother could never return to the house in the Caribbean and part of the money from the GoFundMe page will be used so the family are able to fly over for the trial.
Mrs Halliday, who was born in Dominican Republic, is currently staying in Los Angeles with her son.
So far the page has raised 26,000 US dollars (20,000) which will also be used to pay for legal fees and bereavement costs.
The family are in touch with both the British and American embassies about Stephens murder, as both of his sons have dual British-American citizenship.
Geoffrey said the support for the campaign has been overwhelming, adding: I would just like people to know he didnt deserve to die in this way.
During both hurricanes, Irma and Maria, he a spent a lot of time helping and fundraising.
It is a complete tragedy this is what happened.
For more details visit https://www.gofundme.com/in-honor-of-stephen-halliday
Irelands deputy prime minister has hit out at leading Brexiteers for pushing crazy ideas about what a no-deal withdrawal from the EU would mean.
The rebuke from Simon Coveney came as Dublin urged Prime Minister Theresa May to bring forward her proposals to break the deadlock in the Brexit talks over the Northern Ireland border.
When it was put to him that Brexiteers believe the Republic would not erect a border in a no deal scenario, Mr Coveney told Channel Four News: That is a crazy argument.
In another swipe at Brexiteers like Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mr Coveney told the channel: You cant say were leaving the single market, customs union, and have our own free trade agreements and we have to have seamless access to your market too.
I always say when Im confronted with comments that Boris Johnson has said, or Jacob Rees-Mogg has said, or indeed, Owen Paterson have said you know, fine people who I know and Ive worked with in other areas I believe that they are not describing the full picture or its complexity in Ireland and the challenges we face here.
The comments came after Dublins Europe Minister, Helen McEntee, said she was confident a deal could be done but that the negotiations were reaching a critical point.
Her remarks followed premier Leo Varadkar holding talks in Brussels on Thursday with European Council president Donald Tusk and the EUs chief negotiator, Michel Barnier.
Irelands Europe Minister Helen McEntee (Niall Carson/PA)
Mrs May has rejected the EUs proposal for a backstop to ensure there is no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit, arguing that it would effectively impose a border between the North and the rest of the UK.
But with EU leaders set to meet again later this month in Brussels to review progress in the negotiations, Ms McEntee said they needed to see Mrs Mays promised alternative as soon as possible.
I do believe that we can reach an agreement. I am confident given the fact that we have done a huge amount of work on the withdrawal agreement it is about 90% complete, she told the BBC.
We have agreed in principle a transition period. I do think there is a lot of common ground in terms of the future relationship moving forward, so we are really now at the critical point.
I think in the next 10 days if there is a proposal, obviously on its own it wont resolve the border issue, but certainty if something is legally sound and workable, I do believe that the (EUs Brexit) taskforce will work with Prime Minister May.
She added: I do think that the Prime Minister wants to reach an agreement because I think this is the best outcome for all of us. I think a cliff-edge or a no-deal scenario is something we shouldnt even contemplate.
We have 10 days between the teams to negotiate and we have seen what has happened in a short space of time previously. I think where the will is there it can be done, and I do believe the will is there.
Mr Tusk and Mr Barnier have said the next EU summit on October 18-19 will be the moment of truth when it should be become clear whether it is possible for the two sides to reach an agreement.
Leo Varadkar with EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Thursday (Olivier Matthys/AP)
In Brussels on Thursday, Mr Varadkar welcomed the EUs ongoing solidarity with Ireland.
He said Irelands objectives remained as they have been since the start of the process protecting the Common Travel Area on the island; ensuring no hard border; protecting the rights of Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland; and striking a trade deal with the UK.
I want to very much agree with Donald Tusk in his call for us to get down to business, he added.
I am very keen to see an agreement concluded by November if at all possible that is the interests of Ireland, the EU and the UK.
DHANGADHI: Women and teenage girls are uniting for self defence in the wake of growing violence directed at them.
Enthusiastic participation could be seen at a self defense camp organised here at the initiation of National Gojoriyo Karate-Do Association.
Goma Acharya, a participant, said the camp was organised to enable women for self defence. It is a new practice to enable us to protect ourselves in case of misbehaviour and attack. So, I joined it.
She further argued that the camp would make women physically fit to brave any assault. It is an exercise for women who are discouraged to speak aloud and protest in society to be bold, she asserted.
As many as 100 outstanding performers in the camp would be made trainers.
There are nearly 1,000 women participating in the camp, which will continue for a week. Deputy Mayor of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City, Sushila Mishra Bhatt said, This exercise teaches the women and girls to kick properly so that they can ensure their safety.
Similarly, Basanti Chaudhary of Women Rights Defenders Network, Dhangadi Chapter, observed, This training is aimed at developing skills to ensure self defence and chase away anyone who misbehaves and make ill attempts at girls and women.
A jury has convicted white Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Van Dyke was charged with first degree-murder in the October 2014 killing, a charge that requires a finding that the shooting was unnecessary and unreasonable.
The judge told jurors the second-degree charge was also available requiring them to find Van Dyke believed his life was in danger, but that the belief was unreasonable.
Jurors also convicted him of aggravated battery, but acquitted him of official misconduct.
The grave of Laquan McDonald (Martha Irvine/AP)
It is the first time in 50 years that a Chicago police officer has been convicted of murder for an on-duty death.
Mr McDonald was carrying a knife when Van Dyke fired 16 shots into the 17-year-old as he walked away from police.
Second-degree murder usually carries a sentence of less than 20 years.
By far the most serious charge Van Dyke, 40, faced was first-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
But Judge Vincent Gaughan told jurors before they began deliberating that they could consider the charge of second-degree murder.
Second-degree murder typically carries a sentence of less than 20 years, especially for someone with no criminal history.
Probation is not an option for a first-degree murder conviction, but it is with second-degree murder.
Van Dyke was the first Chicago police officer to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting in more than 50 years. That case, which also involved an officer shooting someone with a knife, ended in conviction in 1970.
The verdict is the latest chapter in a story that has made headlines since a judge ordered the release of a patrol car video of the shooting in November 2015.
Officers had Mr McDonald largely surrounded on a city street and were waiting for someone to arrive with a stun gun to use on the teenager when Van Dyke arrived, according to testimony and video.
The video, played repeatedly at trial, showed Van Dyke opening firing. Mr McDonald spins, then crumples to the ground. Van Dyke continues to shoot when the 17-year-old is lying in the street.
Faces of the millions of people whose lives were lost or changed forever by the First World War will be etched on to beaches on the centenary of Armistice Day in a thank you designed by filmmaker Danny Boyle.
The Slumdog Millionaire director is asking people to gather on beaches across the UK on November 11.
A large-scale portrait of a casualty from the First World War, which could be as large as 50 metres by 50 metres and designed by sand artists, will be washed away as the tide comes in.
Danny Boyle at Folkestone Beach (Gareth Fuller/PA)
The public can also join in by creating silhouettes of people in the sand, remembering the millions of lives lost or changed forever by the conflict.
Events will take place at a number of beaches at low-tide.
Boyle, who recently quit making the next Bond film, said that as a small nation, surrounded by beaches, the locations for the tributes were a great stage.
Beaches are unruly, democratic places, he said, where nobody rules other than the tide.
Filmmaker Danny Boyle holds a photograph of Private Walter Bleakley, who was from the same street where Danny went to school, as he announces plans for his Armistice Day commission for 14-18 NOW (Gareth Fuller/PA)
And he added: It doesnt have to be a sad occasion. It could be celebratory.
He said that creating the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games had changed his thinking.
London 2012 was a transforming thing in my life because of the volunteers, he said.
It taught me a lesson about how much people want to contribute.
Boyle admitted that the nature of the day will depend on the weather but said: If it rains, it rains.
The events will be a tremulous thank you for all the people who sacrificed so much.
File picture of a piper playing a lament in front of the names of thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium (John Giles/PA)
Pages Of The Sea is described as an informal, nationwide gesture of remembrance for the men and women who left their home shores during the First World War.
Millions of people served in the First World War and many left by sea.
Poet Carol Ann Duffy has been invited to write a new poem, which will be read by individuals, families and communities as they gather on the beaches.
Copies of the poem will be available at the beaches around the UK.
The public can also explore an online gallery of portraits of some of the men and women who served in the First World War, and select someone to say a personal goodbye to either via social media or as they gather in person on beaches.
The images are drawn from the Imperial War Museums Lives Of the First World War, which aims to tell eight million stories of those who served from Britain and the Commonwealth.
Visitors to the website can also add portraits of members of their family or community who contributed to the First World War.
Boyle said that his original instinct was that this was a line in the sand, the final goodbye, as the nation moves on.
But I have changed, I have to say, in doing the research. I think we should go on commemorating it
When you make that personal connection it feels timeless.
I felt that connection to them and it felt it would be wrong to forget them.
Carol Ann Duffy will write a poem to commemorate the event (Gareth Fuller/PA)
The work is commissioned and produced by 14-18 NOW, and is the culmination of the five-year programme of arts commissions marking the First World War centenary.
Im a great believer in public service Boyle said: We all feel complications in terms of war now
He described the innocence of those who went to war imagining a glorious campaign but faced slaughter.
Jose Mourinho accepts Manchester Uniteds poor run is not good enough, but the under-fire manager stressed that it is not all his fault.
Off-field problems have been compounded by poor performances during the clubs worst start to a league campaign in 29 years.
It leaves United closer to the relegation zone than Premier League leaders and looking to avoid going five successive matches without a win for just the second time this century.
Rafael Benitez has a good record against sides managed by Jose Mourinho (Owen Humphreys/PA)
Old Trafford will be in the spotlight on Saturday as Newcastle arrive under the guidance of old foe Rafael Benitez, who has won six competitive matches against Mourinho a record only bettered by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola
When it was put to the Portuguese that this kind of run for a club of this size is not acceptable, he said: Yes, I accept (it is not good enough).
Mourinho sat motionless when then asked if he could assure fans that he was doing everything he can to try to turn things around as a tense broadcast section to his pre-match media conference ended abruptly.
Jose Mourinho has admitted sometimes things are out of his control (Martin Rickett/PA)
Unsurprisingly, the mood did not improve in the section with written media as he was quizzed on his comments about the squads attitude.
This week Mourinho told his players that the badge on the front of the shirt is as important as the name of the back, having expressed his concern that some care about Uniteds issues more than others.
Asked why it was so difficult to get the players working together with team spirit, the United boss said: Because sometimes things are not just in the managers hands.
It was a striking remark at a time when his relationship with players is under scrutiny, but Mourinho does not believe confidence is at the root of things.
The boss is intent on bringing "the happiness of a win" back to Old Trafford on Saturday. #MUFC Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 5, 2018
No, I think we have enough potential to do better than what we are doing in the Premier League, he said at his press conference, which was scheduled at the earlier than usual time of 8am.
We are better than this and because we are better than this, our situation is going to improve. I have no doubts about that.
Asked who is to blame for the current run, Mourinho said: The same people that were to blame with the fantastic season of last season.
The United boss is certain this team will improve and confident of getting back to winning ways against Newcastle, especially if his players display similar effort and commitment to Tuesdays Champions League draw with Valencia.
Mourinho has described last season, when his team finished without a trophy, as phenomenal (Martin Rickett/PA)
But, once again, Mourinho said this would be a difficult season a tune he has been singing since the pre-season tour of the United States.
He has also been keen to speak up last seasons phenomenal campaign, even though United ended trophyless after losing the FA Cup final having finished 19 points behind Manchester City as Premier League runners-up.
Because the success has a direct relation with your own potential and has a direct relation with the potential of your opponents, Mourinho explained.
The last season was phenomenal exactly because of these two factors our potential and the potential of our opponents.
And I think opponents with much more potential than us finished behind us. Thats the reason why it was a phenomenal season.
With all the respect and I hope they dont interpret me in a negative way, if we are playing in a league like the Swiss league and we dont win that league, anything else apart from winning that league would be an awful season.
In this season with the potential of our direct opposition, last season to finish second was a fantastic season for us.
A pensioner has been honoured by the Church of Scotland for 102 years of service.
Sheila Wyles, 104, has been closely associated with the Kirk family in Perth and Kinross since being taken as a young child in 1916.
More than a century later, Mrs Wyles is now the oldest active Church of Scotland Guild member in the country.
Moderator of the Church of Scotland Rt Rev Susan Brown described the pensioner as an amazing lady and a true inspiration.
Mrs Wyles said she was very proud to have been given a special long service award by Mrs Brown last week.
I never thought I would reach this milestone, Mrs Wyles said.
I first went to Sunday school in Methven when I was two and when I was 14 my mother took me to Guild work party meetings.
I have been involved with the Guild since then and have enjoyed it very much it is a way of life and a big support in times of difficulty and to be honest I do not like missing meetings.
Perth pensioner Sheila Wyles, 104, has been honoured for her long service to the Church of Scotland Guild. PA/Church of Scotland
Born on July 6, 1914, just ahead of the outbreak of the First World War, Mrs Wyles grew up in Methven outside Perth and served in the Home Guard Auxiliary during the Second World War.
She credits her long life to her strong Christian faith and supportive friends and family.
But she has lived through heartbreak, losing her husband Albert in the early 1960s and their daughter Rachel died of lupus in 2001 at the age of 51.
Sheila Wyles with her husband Albert. PA/Church of Scotland
She threw herself into fundraising for research into the systemic autoimmune disease when her daughter was diagnosed, raising thousands of pounds over the years.
Mrs Wyles, who used to sing in the church choir and played the organ, said she has a lot to be thankful for.
I do not think I would have survived without the church, she said.
I have had a very happy life.
There have been ups and downs, but more happy times than sad times.
My faith has kept me going, along with my three families my nieces Morag and Kathleen, my Perth North Church family, and my Guild family.
Mrs Wyles last attended a meeting at her church a few weeks ago, and was at the Guild Annual Gathering in Dundees Caird Hall in September.
She described it as an irreplaceable part of her life, adding: If I have been able to help people in any way, it has been my privilege.
Janice Taylor, convener of Perth and Kinross Guilds Together, said they are very proud of their grand old dame.
She said: Her service to the Guild is second to none, she is an inspiration to everyone who knows her.
Sheila Wyles and Janice Taylor following the presentation to the "Grand Dame" of the Church of Scotland Guild. PA/Church of Scotland.
Whatever difficulties and problems she has had in her life, her faith has shone though.
When people visit Sheila, they leave feeling they have been cheered up instead of the other way round.
We are so very proud that she is our oldest member in Scotland.
A Navy veteran has been charged with threatening to use a biological toxin as a weapon by sending letters to US president Donald Trump and other leaders containing ground castor beans.
William Clyde Allen III, 39, told investigators he wanted the letters to send a message, though he did not elaborate, FBI investigators said in documents filed in US District Court of Utah.
Allen also said he sent similar letters to Queen Elizabeth II, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the secretary of the Air Force, though it is not clear whether those envelopes had been found.
Allen, a US Navy veteran, was arrested on Wednesday (AP)
Authorities traced Allen after finding his return address on the envelopes which contained the substance from which the poison ricin is derived, according to the complaint.
The envelopes that tested positive for ricin also had a note that said Jack and the Missile Bean Stock Powder, the documents said.
US Attorney for Utah John Huber declined to comment on Allens mental state, but said the case is no laughing matter.
Among the recipients of the letters was Jim Mattis (Francisco Seco/AP)
When youre dealing with suspected ricin, this is nothing to trifle with, he said.
During a court hearing on Friday, Allen cried as he told a judge that his wife suffers from a spinal condition and he helps her put on her shoes in the morning.
He smiled at family members and said he had been looking forward to an upcoming general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He did not enter a plea, and his lawyer, Lynn Donaldson, did not comment.
Allen could face up to life in prison if convicted on the biological toxin charge, one of five counts in the complaint.
He is also charged with four counts of making threats through the mail, which carry 10-year sentences.
The envelopes were mailed to the president, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and the Navys top officer, Admiral John Richardson, authorities said.
They were intercepted and no one was hurt.
The FBI said all of the letters tested positive for ricin.
The case is expected to go before a grand jury and Allen could face additional charges at a hearing October 18.
Allen was arrested on Wednesday at his house in the small city of Logan, north of Salt Lake City.
He told investigators he had purchased castor beans on eBay in case Word War III broke out, so he could defend our nation.
Allen served in the Navy from 1998 to 2002, according to Navy records.
He has a criminal record in Utah including child abuse and attempted aggravated assault.
He also had a history of sending threatening emails over the last few years to then-US president Barack Obama, the Air Force and the state of Utah, investigators said.
Drake waved an Ireland flag as he supported Conor McGregor at the fighters weigh-in ahead of a highly anticipated bout this weekend.
McGregor will fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in Las Vegas on Saturday in what is being billed as the biggest battle in UFC history.
As McGregor and his opponent faced off for a ceremonial weigh-in on Friday night, Drake was spotted draped in an Ireland flag on stage before embracing the Irish fighter.
A picture posted to the official UFC Twitter account later showed the Canadian rapper posing alongside McGregor.
Drake & Mystic Mac | and team up at #UFC229 weigh-ins pic.twitter.com/0HGl9Lyrnn UFC (@ufc) October 6, 2018
McGregor also shared an image of the pair together.
The 6 God and The 12 animal! pic.twitter.com/S1KfNlwam3 Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) October 6, 2018
The surprise partnership sparked confusion on Twitter, with one fan calling it the most random thing you will see all day.
Drake waved an Ireland flag as he supported Conor McGregor at the fighters weigh-in ahead of a highly anticipated fight this weekend (Ian West/PA)
Where in Ireland is Toronto @Drake #UFC229 Big Gio Van Bronckhorst (@RFCGW) October 6, 2018
Conor McGregor attempted to take the attack to Khabib Nurmagomedov a day before their eagerly-anticipated UFC lightweight title showdown.
The pair both made the 155lb limit on Friday morning but tensions threatened to boil over at the ceremonial weigh-in for UFC 229 at the final staredown later in the day at the T-Mobile Arena.
As they got into their fighting poses, McGregor brought his arms down on Nurmagomedov before aiming a kick at his bitter rival after being beckoned forward by the Russian.
Nurmagomedov seemed unflustered by the antics or another barracking from a crowd largely supporting McGregor, whose entourage on to the stage at the venue included the rapper Drake draped in an Irish flag.
McGregor made one last attempt to charge at Nurmagomedov but the fighters were held back from each other by a throng of security personnel.
McGregor then turned his attention to the thousands in attendance, the arena a sea of the green, white and orange colours of Ireland, and seemed to revel in their support as he prepares for his first UFC bout in nearly two years.
Conor McGregor, centre, had to be pulled away from Khabib Nurmagomedov (John Locher/AP)
Its good to be back, he said. UFC fans its good to be back. The king is home.
Nurmagomedov was heavily booed at the open workouts and the news conference earlier this week, so it came as little surprise when he was once again subjected to jeers from the crowd.
Addressing the hostile reception, Nurmagomedov, who was wearing his signature papakha hat, said: Tomorrow night Im going to smash your boy.
I want to say thank you to all Irish fans around the world. Because of you guys, this fight is happening.
The unbeaten Nurmagomedov is making the first defence of the lightweight title he won in April by outpointing late replacement Al Iaquinta, taking his professional record to 26-0 as a result.
He has struggled to make weight in the past, most memorably being withdrawn from a contest against Tony Ferguson last year by doctors, but there seemed to be no problems this time around.
All fighters on the card had a two-hour window from 9am local time to weigh in and Nurmagomedov turned up immediately to tip the scales at 155lbs.
McGregor arrived a little over an hour later and came in at half a pound lighter.
This weekends event has been billed as the biggest in the UFCs history and is forecast to set a new benchmark in pay-per-view buys for the organisation.
This is THE biggest fight in UFC history!!!
Khabib vs Conor
THE. WORLD. IS. WATCHING.
Make sure you are too....Watch #UFC229 live on BT Sport 1 HD Saturday from midnight pic.twitter.com/WP4JPGM0Ss BT Sport (@btsport) October 5, 2018
McGregors comeback is unquestionably a factor in that, the 30-year-old set to compete in mixed martial arts for the first time since November 2016, when he defeated Eddie Alvarez to become the only fighter to simultaneously hold two UFC titles.
However, his absence meant he was stripped of both the featherweight and lightweight crowns, with Nurmagomedov succeeding McGregor as top dog in the latter division.
The animosity between the pair ramped up significantly in April when McGregor threw a dolly at the window of a bus containing several rival fighters, including Nurmagomedov.
The war of words has intensified ever since, contributing to plenty of ill-feeling between both camps and adding to the anticipation around the fight.
Supporters of three jailed fracking protesters will hold a demonstration outside the prison where they are being held.
Simon Blevins, 26, from Sheffield, Richard Roberts, 36, from London, and Rich Loizou, 31, from Devon, were jailed at Preston Crown Court last week after being convicted of public nuisance following a protest outside energy firm Cuadrillas site in Lancashire in July 2017.
Simon Blevins (Lancashire Constabulary/PA)
On Saturday, supporters of the activists plan to march from Preston train station to HMP Preston in an effort to send them some love.
A message on a Facebook page for the demonstration said: These guys took action because they get the big picture, they wanted to support folks in Lancashire, and they know that fossil fuel exploitation at home is going to affect millions of vulnerable people worldwide.
Now theyve been torn away from their families and locked up. So lets pay them a visit together!
Richard Roberts (Lancashire Constabulary/PA)
Blevins and Roberts were sentenced to 16 months in prison, while Loizou was jailed for 15 months.
Solicitors for the men confirmed on Friday they would be lodging an appeal against the sentences.
At their sentencing on September 26, Judge Robert Latham said he could not suspend the jail terms despite accepting the impact of incarceration and the good they did in the community.
Rich Loizou (Lancashire Constabulary/PA)
He said: Given the disruption caused in this case, only immediate custody can achieve sufficient punishment.
A fourth defendant, Julian Brock, 47, from Torquay, was sentenced to 12 months in custody, suspended for 18 months, after he pleaded guilty to public nuisance.
A massive march in support of Scottish independence has seen thousands of people pack the length of Edinburghs Royal Mile.
The All Under One Banner event began near Edinburgh Castle at 1pm on Saturday before making its way down the famous thoroughfare towards Holyrood Park.
Conservative estimates put the attendance in the tens of thousands, although there has been no official confirmation.
Linda Hamilton, from Glasgow, was one of those who took part.
Yes flags blow in the wind as the campaigners march down the Royal Mile (Jane Barlow/PA)
She said: I believe in Scottish independence and I believe today is a demonstration a visual demonstration that there is a need for independence in our country.
Bob McKendrie, 67, originally from Dumfries but now living near Hull, said: Westminster should listen to us, weve been ignored for too long we want our independence.
A small number of union-supporting counter protesters were on the Royal Mile as the pro-independence crowds walked past.
They shouted they are proud to be Scottish and British.
Police Scotland said there had been no reports of any disturbances.
The march ended at Holyrood Park, where a rally took place featuring speeches and live bands (Jane Barlow/PA)
Independence supporter Iona Young, 20, from Dunfermline, claimed the contrast in numbers for each side showed their togetherness.
She added: It just proves that we all agree on the same thing. There were a few unionists back at the top there, but theres only about 20 of them compared to how many weve got here.
Scotland in Union chief executive Pamela Nash said: Poll after poll shows that a majority of Scots dont want a divisive and unnecessary second independence referendum.
Those marching in Edinburgh are not representative of Scotland, and they are talking to nobody but themselves. The organisers should also be ashamed of the way they have attacked Historic Environment Scotland staff for doing their job.
Supporters of the union said they are proudly Scottish and British (Jane Barlow/PA)
Rather than listen to these protesters, most voters want the SNP to listen to concerns about the NHS, schools and the economy and they want Nicola Sturgeon to get back to the day job.
Bands, bikers, people in fancy dress and countless Saltire flags were all part of the march towards Holyrood.
Those who gathered in the park listened to speeches and live music performances.
Others scaled Arthurs Seat to get a better view of the event.
The march began near Edinburgh Castle (PA)
It comes despite Historic Environment Scotland which looks after the green space saying the rally had not been given permission to take place.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government body said: Our position on use of the park for any rally after the march remains the same. It has not been overruled by Police Scotland.
To confirm, we have not given permission for the set-up of stalls, staging, branding and other static presence within Holyrood Park.
As if our security forces were not already stretched to the limit in Kashmir and the North East, I fear things could become worse and we may see the break out of a civil war in South India if the recent Sabarimala verdict is sought to be implemented.
The controversy around the entry has not abated. Far from it. (Photo: PTI)
A tide is building up against the judgment.
The Kerala Nair Service Society has announced it will file a review petition, angry BJP workers forced closure of the office of the Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the shrine, at Pandalam, the place where Lord Ayappa is said to have been born, for not filing a review petition, and Congress workers sat on a day-long fast there.
There have been heated protests against the SC verdict on Sabarimala. (Photo: PTI)
But far more ominous and foreboding is the announcement made by the Mala Arayans, a tribal community settled on 18 hills around Sabarimala, and holding some traditional rights to the rituals relating to the temple.
Through their leaders, CR Dileepkumar and KN Padmanabhan, they announced that they will keep vigil in the hills around Sabarimala to make sure its customs are not breached. They said "Our ancestors were close aides of Lord Ayappa, and fought many wars for him. Thousands of our community members will join the movement to protect the customs of the shrine".
The Kerala DGP has announced that 500 female police are going to be posted at the temple. This is bound to further exacerbate the situation by infuriating the Ayappans (devotees of Lord Ayappa), many of whom come from Tamilnadu, Andhra, Telangana, Karnataka, and indeed from all over the world. These 500 policewomen will face the wrath of the devotees of Lord Ayappa, and may even be physically attacked, just as J&K policemen are being attacked in Kashmir.
They will be at the forefront. (Photo: Facebook)
In the meantime, many women organisations in Tamilnadu, Kerala, etc., have declared that their members will not go to Sabarimala till they have crossed 50 years of age.
Women, though debarred from the temple when they are of menstruating age, seem to be even more devoted than men to the centuries' old custom.
Religion is a powerful force in India, and the vast majority of our people are deeply religious and conservative. All this seems to have been forgotten by the majority on the Supreme Court bench which decided the Sabarimala case. In their crusading zeal, they rushed in where angels fear to tread, guided by abstract, theoretical "modern" notions of women's dignity, equality, etc., overlooking the wise admonition of Justice Indu Malhotra, the sole voice of restraint and reason.
Justice Malhotra has exhibited the balance and restraint in her assessment. (Photo: PTI)
If the verdict is sought to be enforced, I fear some kind of guerilla war will break out in South India, because most people are deeply religious, and are not willing to give up their customary religious practises, no matter what the Courts say, and some may even be willing to give up their lives for this purpose.
Also read: Sabarimala temple verdict: Bravo, My Lords! But what about these?
As the threat of US sanctions lingers after the signing of the S-400 air missile defence system deal with Russia, experts feel there is a certain understanding in Washington on New Delhi's position which may allow India to avoid American action.
Strategic affairs expert Commodore (retd) C Uday Bhaskar said the USD 5 billion deal, signed between India and Russia on Friday during the two-day visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is going to test the resilience of the India-US relationship.
The deal could attract sanctions under CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act), a legislation that is aimed to counter Russia, Iran and North Korea through punitive measures by imposing restrictions on deals in defence and strategic areas.
During the 2 plus 2 dialogue, the Modi government had conveyed to the US that for India, the military relationship with Moscow is very deep and goes back to the 1960s. So I feel there is a certain understanding in the US on the Indian position, he said.
He added that as a major arms importer, India is vulnerable, but it cannot allow any country to issue a diktat about its security needs.
Former diplomat Anil Wadhwa, who was a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs looking after Russian affairs, said the deal was under negotiations way before CAATSA came into force.
He said the issue has to be dealt on case-by-case basis and the US should give a waiver to the deal.
The US administration has to put up a strong case before the Congress. Anyways, there is a strong support for India in the Congress from both the parties, he asserted.
India and Russia, he said, must come up with a mechanism to circumvent the sanctions if they are any.
Rajeshwari Rajgopalan, Senior Fellow and Head of the Nuclear and Space Initiative of the Observer Research Foundation, said one of the reasons behind India going ahead with the deal was the technological superiority of the S-400 missile defence system.
The US is well aware of India's requirement for the defence missile system and it could escape sanctions, she said.
Rajgopalan added that it is unlikely that US may give any further concessions to India, especially on its oil imports from Iran.
Much to the chagrin of the conservationists, the Union Environment Ministry's Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) has cleared the controversial 1750MW Demwe Lower hydroelectric project on Lohit river in Arunachal Pradesh. The green activists have warned that the proposed dam which is just is 8.5 kilometers from the Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary in the State is a disaster in waiting.
Up in arms against the approval, they have pointed out that it is also extremely close to cultural heritage site Parshuram Kund, a major Hindu pilgrimage and it would submerge parts of the Parshuram Kund Medicinal Plant Conservation Area that has been identified by the Government for protecting "globally significant medicinal plants".
Bimal Gogoi, a green activist based in Assam's Golaghat district, has written to SC-NBWL chairman and Union Environment Minister, Dr Harsha Vardhan, protesting the construction of the 124-metre high dam to be jointly constructed by Athena Energy Ventures and the Arunachal Pradesh Government.
"I am shocked to see that your committee has granted wildlife clearance to the 1750 MW Demwe Lower project based on a seriously flawed report of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII)(Dehradun Based)," said Gogoi who had also filed an appeal in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) challenging the 2010 clearance to the project by the Ministry.
He pointed out that the NGT had in October last year had cancelled the final forest clearance to the project, citing ecological threat.
In 2014, director of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and NBWL member, Asad Rahmani had studied the site and said the project would submerge parts of the Parshuram Kund Medicinal Plant Conservation Area.
The NGT had sought a peer review of the project, but the Ministry commissioned a short study by a Wildlife Institute of India (WII)-led team, which acknowledged downstream concerns while saying upstream submergence would not be much of an ecological issue. The team admitted the site needed to be studied over three seasons, but its survey in February this year took just for 20 days.
Based on the team's report in May, the project was cleared at the recent 50th meeting of SC-NBWL. The minutes said that that the SC-NBWL has accepted the WII's report on the rapid ecological assessment of impacts (EIA) of Lower Demwe project on wildlife.
The WII report said: "In the light of the history of this dam site, wherein the submergence zone has been studied and an environmental impact assessment was approved to give environmental clearance, we feel that the creation/construction of the dam per se would not be critical in undermining the biodiversity values of the region. The submergence zone of the dam is a habitat which is available elsewhere within the region and is not critical for the conservation of any known threatened, endangered or critically endangered species population. This hydroelectric project is run of the river type water which is released. Hence, the amount of river flow quanta is not likely to be altered once the dam is filled and power generation is based on an inflow-outflow regime."
However, Gogoi argued that based on a rapid foot survey, the WII team could not conclude that the wildlife affected by direct dam construction is not critical for conservation.
He said they had not even surveyed the full submergence area for the rapid survey (at least 35 per cent of submerged river length left out).
Jagdish Krishnaswamy, a hydrologist at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, an NGO, felt that capturing water in the reservoir for several hours a day will leave the water level so low that the river "will become inhospitable" for the Ganges dolphin, a critically endangered species.
The Opposition has slammed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for all the bad things happening in Bihar and accused some of his legislators for patronising the heinous crimes including the recent murder of former mayor of Muzaffarpur and the smuggling of AK-47 weapons.
Leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said, The criminals of Sushasan are selectively killing traders with AK-47 and Nitish government has totally surrendered before the criminals. He also alleged that one JD(U) MLA was involved in the smuggling of AK-47, without revealing his name, and challenged the CM to take action and expel the MLA from the party. The CM has no courage to take action against his Bahubali legislator, he alleged.
In another tweet Tejashwi accused Nitish of the leader of the party of dreaded criminals. During the past two months his 2 MLCs and one MLA are involved in murder of the leaders of opposition parties. One MLA is in the smuggling of AK-47 and they are also involved in murder, rape and bootlegging. When they are caught Rs Naitik (moral) Kumar protect them, he said.
In 1947 India got its freedom to be a sovereign country. Today Bihar has got its freedom to use AK-47 freely. Thank you Nitishji for letting ur MLAs blatantly using AK-47 for good(?) governance, Bihar has truly seen AK-47 terror under ur continuous watch for 13 years, his tweet reads.
RLSP leader and Union Minister of State Upendra Kushwaha also accused Nitish of failing to check worsening law and order. In his tweet two days back he said, Yesterday the body of abducted trader was found and today the body of a bank manager kidnapped from Nalanda was found in the jungles of KodermaIn this situation neither Narendra Modi nor Nitish Kumar will win. I am afraid the NOTA may get majority in next election in Bihar.
The Nitish Government has come under sharp attack from both rivals and allies over law and order where some recent murder after abduction were reported and some high profile murders took place that too with AK-47 rifle.
The large scale recovery of AK-47 rifles and its parts from Munger recently has also put a question mark on the governance and policing. The high level meetings by the CM with top brass of police and civil administration hardly yielded a result or made a difference. Deputy CM Sushil Kumr Modi was even heard urging the criminals to stop their activities at least for a fortnight during Pind-dan in Gaya when devotees from outside and abroad come.
The defence by the JD(U) leaders was even more laughable. Bihar JD(U) spokesman Ajay Alok said, The criminals to Tejashwi will be taken to task, while referring to an incident of Nawada where a mahadalit woman was killed and JD(U) accused RJD men as assailants.
Senior JD(U) leader K C Tyagi alleged that during Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi regimes the ransom money after kidnappings were finalised at the CM residence. He also disagreed with Sushil Modis appeal to the criminals and said instead the Deputy CM should come down heavily on the criminals with harsh warning and rule of law.
The need of the day is to have labour reforms that enable attraction of additional investments coined with equity and fairness resulting in better shop floor climate and reduced social tensions.
CII in association with XISS, Ranchi, organised the fourth edition of IR
Conclave here on Saturday to deliberate on creating a long-term strategy for improved Industrial Relations, which is crucial for sustainable economic growth and development.
Addressing the Conclave as the Guest of Honour, Secretary, Departments of Labour, Employment and Training, Dr Rajeev Arun Ekka, stated that Employees, Trade Unions and Industry must work together and forge partnership to ensure sustained Industrial growth and development.
Ekka said that all the reforms that has come up in the area of IR would be translated into action in Jharkhand. He affirmed that cooperative business solution is the key for sustainable growth.
Dr Onkar Sharma, CLS, Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India sated that employees should be treated as partners and not as mere resources.
He opined that Industrial Relations should be looked at as personal relations.
Suresh Dutt Tripathi, Chairman, CII Eastern Region HR & IR Subcommittee & Vice President Human Resource Management, Tata Steel Ltd in his address stated that to continue with the dynamism in the industry and investment space, Industrial Relations have a key role to play.
He said that excellent labour relations and regulations contribute to a happy, productive workforce that partner with management for best possible outcomes for the enterprise.
He avowed that with a view to showcase industrys commitment to fair and ethical practices while dealing with employees, CIIs National Committee on Industrial Relations has drafted two guidelines for creating a Fair and Responsible Workplace. One is focused around Contract Labour and the other is on Collaborative Employee Relations.
He said that Policy makers, Industry and Labour Unions need to work towards a flexible labour policy with attendant checks and balances that can bring about higher investments and employment.
Killol Kamani, Chairman, CII Jharkhand State Council & Managing Director, Samarth Engineering Co. Pvt Ltd stated that a close look at industry trends in India following liberalisation shows that unlike other emerging economies which have espoused labour-intensive low-skill models of development, Indian industry has gone in for capital-intensive and technology-rich sectors.
At a time when Indias workforce continues to expand, there is a need to shift to a model that generates employment and livelihoods.
The CII IR Conclave 2018 deliberated on Management and Union Perspective in dealing with Millennial Workforce, Paradigm Shift in Employee Relations-Best Practices and Labour Reforms-Evolving legal framework for Employee Relations.
More than 200 delegates attended the conclave.
Other eminent speakers who addressed the Conclave included Father Alexius Ekka, Director, XISS, Ranchi; Subroto Basu Chaudhury, Vice President HR (South Asia), Linde India Ltd; R Ravi Prasad, President, Tata Steel Workers Union; Kamakshi Raman, Executive Director (HRD), Management Training Institute, Steel Authority of India Ltd; Rakeshwar Pandey, General Secretary, Indian National Trade Union Congress; Dr Kumar Mohit Spring, Professor, XISS, Ranchi; D K Bakshi, Chief Mentor & CEO, Global Talent Co Ltd; Navneet Damani, General Manager Employee Relations, ITC Ltd; Dr Pranabesh Ray, Professor, XLRI Xavier School of Management; Zubin Pesi Palia, Chief Group IR, HRM, Tata Steel Ltd.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that the Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases on November 12 and 20.
With the announcement of poll dates, the Model Code of Conduct had been enforced with immediate effect.
The notification for poll in Chhattisgarh will be issued on October 16.The first phase of polling will be held on November 12.The second phase of polling will be held on November 20. Polling will be held in 18 Assembly constituencies in insurgency-infested districts.
The nomination for phase-I will be filed on October 23 and scrutiny will be held on October 24.The withdrawal of nomination can be done on October 26.
In phase-II, nomination will be filed on November 2 and scrutiny will done on November 3.The withdrawal of nomination can be done on November 5 and the polling will be held on November 20.
The counting of votes will be held on December 11, 2018.
The final publication of electoral rolls in Chhattisgarh took place on September 27, 2018. Total number of electors as per final electoral rolls is 1,85,45,819. The number of Polling Stations in 2013-14 in Chhattisgarh was 21,418 which went up to 23,632 in 2018 -- an increase of 10.34 per cent.
VVPATs will be used along with EVMs in all Assembly Constituencies of poll going states to enhance the transparency and credibility of the elections. On a pilot basis, VVPAT from one Polling Station in each Assembly Constituency will be randomly selected to count VVPAT paper slips for verification of the result obtained from the control unit.
An innovative bottom up approach of booth level planning and management has been implemented in the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana where in Booth Level plans for Polling Stations have been prepared containing all information and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for response for smooth conduct of elections at each Polling Station.
These booth level Plans will be used to prepare AC level, District level and State level Election Management Plans.
Webcasting at identified critical stations for LIVE monitoring of election process, to keep a check on illegal activities such as booth capturing, money distribution and bogus voting and to bring about complete transparency in the voting process shall be undertaken. Further, during the election process, CCTV monitoring and webcasting shall also be done at various border check-posts, check-nakas and other sensitive and critical locations across the constituencies to keep a strict vigil on any nefarious activities designed to vitiate the electoral process.
The Commission will deploy General Observers in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram & Telangana in adequate number to ensure smooth conduct of elections. The Observers will be asked to keep a close watch on every stage of the electoral process to ensure free and fair elections. Their names, addresses within the district/constituency and their telephone numbers will be publicized in local newspapers so that the general public can quickly approach them for any grievance redressal. The Observers will be given a detailed briefing by the Commission before their deployment. The Observers will fix a suitable time every day for meeting the political parties, candidates and other stakeholders to redress their election related grievances.
The Commission would deploy senior IPS officers as Police Observers at district/AC level in these states depending upon the need, sensitivity and assessment of ground realities and prevailing law and order and security scenario.
They will monitor all activities relating to force deployment, law and order situation and co-ordinate between civil and police administration to ensure free and fair election.
Principal Chief Conservator of forest-cum-chief wildlife warden (CWW) PK Verma held a two-day review of the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) and took stock of the status of wild life and its habitat here. It was Vermas maiden visit in PTR in capacity of chief wild life warden.
Some crucial issues are like nagging pain for the chief wildlife warden Verma who till joining as CWW was holding the post of director in Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park Ormanjhi in Ranchi.
The prolonged absence of tigers here in PTR since February is the big of all issue. MK Mahaling deputy director south division of PTR in his comment in a WhatsApp group mentioned, In February (2018) a tiger crossed the North Koel at Bagechappa. Its pugmark recorded. From then onwards there is no report from the range of capturing tiger in camera trap.
PTRs field director Mohan Lal known for his candid remarks in his department too wrote back, It is true that as on date there is no direct or indirect evidence of existence of Tiger in PTR.
Apart from this the next crucial issue gripping PTR is the postponement of notification of Eco Sensitive Zone around PTR as Chatra MP Sunil Kumar Singh who was opposing Eco Sensitive Zone around PTR finally got it postponed when minister Dr Harsh Vardhan MoEF&CC wrote a letter to Singh stating government of India has postponed notification of Eco Sensitive Zone around PTR.
The Pioneer has a copy of Vardhans letter to this effect.
Anil Kumar Mishra deputy director North division of PTR said, Our chief wild life warden Verma ji has asked us not to raise any conflict either with the mine operators, villagers or with the Latehar administration on this issue.
Let time settle it in its own course.
Mishra said chief wild lifes concern is twofold water management and grass land management and on both the counts PTR has done works but still there is a big room for doing more works especially on the front of grass land management which is to be done 5 per cent of the total area of PTR which is 1,129 sq km. CWW is understood to have given a three-year calendar work for effective raising and management of grass lands in PTR.
The decision taken by the State Cabinet purportedly to encourage industrial development in the mountainous area amounts to conspiracy to accord priority to people from outside Uttarakhand at the cost of the rights of the natives to exploit the State, said the Pradesh Congress Committee president Pritam Singh.
The PCC president said that in the name of facilitating investment and industrialisation in the State, the Government is usurping the rights of the native people.
Questioning the decision to facilitate convenient purchase of land by people from outside the State, Singh said that this points towards the alliance of the State Government and land mafia.
Such so called investment will not only defeat the basic purpose of the existing land ordinance but will also end up being an attempt to damage the
culture of the mountainous regions. He said, Before taking any such decision, the State Government should have taken all the political parties, social and cultural organisations in to confidence. The Chief Minister should fully clarify as to what type ofindustries does the State Government want to establish in the mountainous regions and what conditions are to be met by those willing to set up such industries.
It is pertinent to mention here that on Friday evening, the State cabinet had removed the limit of land purchase in mountainous areas for industrial purpose. It had also made an amendment to facilitate convenient land use change for industrial purposes in the mountainous regions.
Prog officer Hemant Sinha attends essay competition
Bhopal: State Programme officer (Blindness eradication) Hemant Sinha attended the essay and poster designing competition held here today at Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital.
He was the chief judge on the occasion. Managing Trustee LC Janiyani was also present. As many as 47 students of 5 colleges participated in poster designing. Of them Divya Pawar won first prize, Anjali Sneha Second prize and Nikita Godbole was selected for third prize. Theme of the competition was sight care. Similarly essay competition was also held on Wednesday in which 57 students of 10 schools have participated. Their results will be declared later on.
SPO Hemant Sinha said that before participating in competition the student should get the knowledge of related subject. They told that the visualization of a designer is more important. If anybody doesnt have the knowledge of related subject, they cannot sketch objective design on poster. To get this quality, students must study hard. At last Janiyani felicitated Hemant Sinha by presenting Shawl-Srifal. Sewa Sadan Hospital distributed consolation prizes also to all participating students.
Awadhpuri Branch delivered SBI Life claim amount
Bhopal: SBI Awadhpuri Branch has delivered a SBI Life claim amount cheque of Rs 19,89,428 to the claimant and wife of deceased late Subhash Chandra Sengar. Cheque was delivered to Prashant Sengar S/o late Subhash Chandra Sengar by The Regional Manager, Sharad Shrivastav. Late Subhash Chandra Sengar had availed a Housing Loan from our Awadhpuri Branch of Rs 20,00,000 along with this he had taken insurance cover through SBI Life Rin Raksha scheme. After his sad demise, insurance claim cheque of outstanding loan amount of Rs 19,89,428 was delivered to his son Prashant Sengar.
On this occasion, Sharad Shrivastav, Regional Manager, RBO II, Bhopal, Ramgopal Dhakad, Branch Manager, Shree Prabhulal Thakur, Manager, CVE RBO-2, Bhopal and other respectable customers of the branch were available.
Lai Haroba festival organised
Bhopal: Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya is organising Lai Haroba festival at its premises from October 22 to 26, 2018. Traditional ritualistic activities will the main features of this five days long programme.
Sacred Groves are patches of natural or near-natural vegetation, dedicated by local communities to their ancestral spirits or deities. These Groves are protected by local communities usually through customary taboos and sanction with ancestral and ecological implications. IGRMS has initiated number of activities to spread awareness on the cultural and ecological importance of sacred groves. The Meitei community of Manipur celebrates Lai Haroba festival dedicated to their sacred grove Umang Lai.
The fifth edition of the annual international orthopedics conclave, Orthotrends 2018, began here on Saturday with the theme, Exploring New Horizons in Arthroplasty.
Over 400 orthopedic surgeons from India and select parts of the world are attending the two-day event to catch up with the latest trends in the field of orthopedics.
Several live surgeries were conducted for the benefit of the participants on the first day of the conclave. Keynote addresses on critical aspects of knee and hip surgeries were delivered. Case-based panel discussions, free papers and hands-on workshops for experiential learning were also held. Special sessions on bariatric and liver were other attractions of the conference.
More than 30 eminent orthopedic surgeons, including three international faculties, addressed the congregation. A trade exhibition is also being held on the sidelines of the mega event. The live surgeries, including complex total knee replacement (TKR) and total hip replacement (THR), were telecast live from the Shalby Hospital in Mohali.
Dr. Vikram Shah, Chairman, Shalby Hospitals, is the Chief Patron of Orthotrends, along with Dr. Mandeep Singh Dhillon, Professor & Head, Dept. of Orthopedic Surgery, PGIMER, Chandigarh.
President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the India International Science Festival, 2018 in Lucknow on Saturday.
This is the fourth in a series of events being organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences and Vijnana Bharati.
In his address, the President said that it was appropriate that the IISF was taking place in Lucknow this year. This is a city with a long tradition of learning and of scientific research. Even before Independence, botanist and fossil specialist Birbal Sahni did pioneering work here. His research is symbolised by Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences, Kovind said.
The President said that prominent institutions such as Central Drug Research Institute, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research and Indian Institute of Toxicology Research were set up in Lucknow.
Over the years, Lucknow has become a centre for education and research in medicine especially at Sanjay Gandhi Post-graduate Institute of Medical Sciences as well as in engineering and technology and, most recently, information technology. All this makes the city an excellent setting for such a festival, he said.
Kovind said that science had always been a part of Indian culture. Centuries ago, our ancestors were uncovering the secrets of mathematics and the concept of zero. They were applying lessons of science in fields as far apart as medicine and metallurgy. From Green Revolution to our space programme to the creation of a thriving biotech and pharmaceutical industry, science has driven our post-1947 modernisation. Today, in the first quarter of the 21st century, in the age of robotics and precision manufacture, of bioinformatics and gene editing, of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and artificial intelligence, it is time for a quantum jump, the President opined.
Kovind said that we could not make that jump without converting science into a mass movement and without promoting tinkering and innovation as an everyday activity in our labs, universities and even schools.
Jugaad, cut-paste experiments and frugal innovation have their role. Even so, if we are to transform India into a middle-income economy and an advanced industrial power, we need to upgrade the engines of knowledge creation. Science and technology are not a mere add-on their cross-cutting nature and role in every field and in all our flagship programmes and developmental efforts have to be appreciated, the President said.
Such thinking shapes government policies and lead to putting together of IISF as, if I could call it so, Kumbh Mela of science. Its sessions cover a spectrum of science-related themes. There is a conclave of science ministers of India and of partner countries. There is a coming together of scientists and technologists from Indian diaspora to find ways of engaging their skills in Indian research institutions, Kovind said.
The President added that between 2012 and 2017, 649 Indian scientists had returned from abroad to pursue research opportunities at home. He said in the previous five years, only 243 scientists had returned.
Of course, it is not important where scientists are based. The nature of science is transnational. A few weeks ago, I was at Europes leading centre for laser research, located in Prague (Czech Republic) and among those contributing to it were Indian scientists based in Mumbai, he said.
The President also listed schemes like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan as a mission to remove the curse of open defecation and make living conditions cleaner, hygienic and conducive to modern waste disposal practices. He also mentioned the Mission Indradhanush, Ayushmaan Bharat health insurance programme etc.
The government has announced Prime Ministers research fellowship scheme to promote development through innovation with a budget of Rs 1,650 crore for seven years starting 2018-19.
These are exciting times for science in India as resources are now available. It is for our talent pool to respond, the President said.
Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Harshvardhan also addressed the inaugural session.
Twelve more persons were arrested by the Singhadwar police here on Saturday in connection with the widespread violence that gripped the holy town during the 12-hour shutdown by the Jagannath Sena on October 3.
The accused were identified after examining the CCTV footages near the Jagannath Temple. They all were forwarded to court, police said.
Earlier on Friday, 11 people had been arrested by the Town police for their alleged involvement in the vandalism. According to sources, around 65 persons among the irate mob were identified in the CCTV footages following which initially eight persons had been nabbed on Thursday.
Police suspect some anti-socials were hired to create mayhem during the bandh. A probe into this incident is still underway, police added. On October 3, the bandh by Jagannath Sena opposing the queue system at the Shreemandir had turned violent after the protesters hurled stones at the residence of the local MLA and police officials and ransacked the office of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).
Following this, the Shree Jagannath Temple Information Centre and the SJTA lodged two separate complaints with the police urging stringent action against the violent agitators.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe -mankind's first mission to 'touch' the Sun - successfully completed a flyby of Venus at a distance of about 2,415 kilometres during its first gravity assist from the planet, according to the US space agency.
These gravity assists will help the spacecraft tighten its orbit closer to the Sun over the course of the mission, NASA said in a statement.
Detailed data from the flyby will be assessed which allows the flight operations team to prepare for the remaining six Venus gravity assists which will occur over the course of the seven-year mission, it said.
Parker Solar Probe was successfully launched on August 12 on an unprecedented, seven-year long journey to unlock the mysteries of the Sun's fiery outer atmosphere and its effects on space weather.
The mission's findings will help researchers improve their forecasts of space weather events, which have the potential to damage satellites and harm astronauts on orbit, disrupt radio communications and, at their most severe, overwhelm power grids.
Interpol President Meng Hongwei has been detained in China for questioning as part of an investigation against him, a media report said Saturday, a day after he was reported missing in his native country.
Meng, 64, the first Chinese head of the international law enforcement agency headquartered in France, was "taken away" for questioning by discipline authorities "as soon as he landed in China" last week, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted a source as saying.
It was not immediately clear why he is being investigated or exactly where he is being held.
Meng, who is also a vice-minister at China's Ministry of Public Security, is under investigation in China, the Post reported amid mystery surrounding his disappearance after his wife reported to the French police that he had gone missing.
The French police said on Friday that they have launched a probe for Meng after being contacted by his wife.
Interpol, which is based in Lyon, said on Friday that it was aware of reports of Meng's "alleged disappearance and that the issue was a matter for the relevant authorities in France and China.
Meng was last seen in France on September 29, according to reports from France.
So far neither the public security ministry nor the foreign ministry in China has commented.
Under China's supervision law, a suspect's family and employer must be notified within 24 hours of detention, except in cases where doing so would hinder an investigation. It appears Meng's wife was not informed.
Reports quoted an unnamed French judicial official as saying that Meng arrived in China at the end of September but there had been no news of him since.
While Meng is listed on the website of China's Ministry of Public Security as a vice-minister, he lost his seat on its Communist Party Committee -- its real decision-making body -- in April, the Post reported.
According to his own page on the site, Meng's last official engagement was on August 23, when he met Lai Chung Han, a second permanent secretary of Singapore, it said.
Meng was appointed the head of Interpol in 2016. His appointment also sparked concern about China extending its crackdown on dissidents abroad. He is due to serve until 2020.
Interpol is the world's largest agency facilitating police cooperation with 192 member countries.
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Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA engages in the traditional banking businesses of retail banking, asset management, private banking, and wholesale banking. It operates through the following segments: Spain, the United States, Mexico, Turkey, South America, and Rest of Eurasia. The Spain segment includes mainly the banking and insurance business that the group carries out in Spain. The United States segment consists of the financial business activity of BBVA USA in the country and the activity of the branch of BBVA SA in New York. The Mexico segment refers to banking and insurance businesses in this country as well as the activity of its branch in Houston. The Turkey segment reports the activity of Garanti BBVA group that is mainly carried out in this country and, to a lesser extent, in Romania and the Netherlands. The South America segment comprises of operations in n Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The Rest of Eurasia segment includes the banking business activity carried out by the group in Europe and Asia, excluding Spain. The company was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
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BrightSphere Investment Group, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of asset management services. It also focuses on the development of new business opportunities in domestic and international markets. The firm operates through the following segments: Quant & Solutions, Alternatives and Liquid Alpha. The Quant & Solutions segment leverages data and technology in a computational, factor-based investment process across a range of asset classes and geographies, including Global, non-U.S., emerging markets and managed volatility equities, as well as multi-asset products. The Alternatives segment comprises liquid and differentiated liquid investment strategies that include private equity, real estate and real assets; including forestry, as well as a growing suite of liquid alternative capabilities in areas such as long/short, market neutral and absolute return. The Liquid Alpha segment comprises of specialized investment strategies with a focus on alpha-generation across market cycles in United States. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.
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CONSOL Coal Resources LP produces and sells high- British thermal unit (Btu) coal in the Northern Appalachian Basin and the eastern United States. It owns a 25% undivided interest in the Pennsylvania mining complex, which consists of three underground mines and related infrastructure that produce high-Btu thermal coal located primarily in southwestern Pennsylvania. The company markets its thermal coal principally to electric utilities. CONSOL Coal Resources GP LLC operates as a general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as CNX Coal Resources LP and changed its name to CONSOL Coal Resources LP in November 2017. CONSOL Coal Resources LP was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
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Colruyt SA engages in the retail and distribution of food and non-food products and fuels. It operates through the following segments: Retail; Wholesale and FoodService; and Other Activities. The Retail segment includes stores under the management that directly supplies retail customers and bulk consumers. The Wholesale and FoodService segment supplies wholesalers, commercial customers, and affiliated independent merchants. The Other Activities segment comprises filling stations, printing and document management, and alternative energy. The company was founded by Franz Colruyt in 1928 and is headquartered in Halle, Belgium.
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Ibstock plc manufactures and sells clay and concrete building products and solutions primarily in the United Kingdom. Its principal products include clay bricks, brick components, concrete roof tiles, concrete stone masonry substitutes, concrete fencing, pre-stressed concrete, and concrete rail products. The company provides facing bricks, walling stones, architectural masonry products, cast stones, facade systems, and retaining walls, as well as lintels, sills, and arches; and cladding solutions; roof tiles, chimneys, soffits, and roofing accessories; and fencings, caps and copings, bollards, balustrades, path edgings, and urban landscaping products. It also offers floor beams, door steps, gully surrounds, screed rails, insulated floorings, and hollowcore products; and rail and infrastructure products, such as troughing, cable theft protection, boards, blocks, bases, catchpits, and inspection chambers. In addition, the company offers engraving, cutting, and bonding services; floor beam and block design, supply, and fitting solutions; bespoke concrete products; and staircases and lift shafts services. Its products are used in new build housing; repair, maintenance, and improvement; and infrastructure markets. The company sells its products under the Forticrete, Supreme, Anderton, and Longley brands to customers in the construction industry. Ibstock plc was founded in 1825 and is headquartered in Ibstock, the United Kingdom.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Bristol-Myers Squibb: 1096271 B.C. ULC, 345 Park LLC, A.G. Medical Services P.A., AHI Investment LLC, AbVitro LLC, Abraxis BioScience Australia Pty Ltd., Abraxis BioScience Inc., Abraxis BioScience International Holding Company Inc., Abraxis BioScience LLC, Abraxis BioScience Puerto Rico LLC, Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Adnexus, Adnexus a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D Company, Allard Labs Acquisition G.P., Amira Pharmaceuticals, Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Apothecon LLC, B-MS Generx Unlimited Company, BMS Benelux Holdings B.V., BMS Bermuda Nominees L.L.C., BMS Data Acquisition Company LLC, BMS Forex Company, BMS Holdings Sarl, BMS Holdings Spain S.L., BMS International Insurance Designated Activity Company, BMS Investco SAS, BMS Korea Holdings L.L.C., BMS Latin American Nominees L.L.C., BMS Luxembourg Partners L.L.C., BMS Omega Bermuda Holdings Finance Ltd., BMS Pharmaceutical Korea Limited, BMS Pharmaceuticals Germany Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals International Holdings Netherlands B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Korea Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Mexico Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Netherlands Holdings B.V., BMS Real Estate LLC, BMS Spain Investments LLC, BMS Strategic Portfolio Investments Holdings Inc., Blisa Acquisition G.P., Bristol (Iran) S.A., Bristol Iran Private Company Limited, Bristol Laboratories Inc., Bristol Laboratories International S.A., Bristol Laboratories Medical Information Systems Inc., Bristol-Myers (Andes) L.L.C., Bristol-Myers (Private) Limited, Bristol-Myers Middle East S.A.L., Bristol-Myers Overseas Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Israel) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (NZ) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Proprietary) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Taiwan) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (West Indies) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb A.E., Bristol-Myers Squibb Aktiebolag, Bristol-Myers Squibb Argentina S. R. L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia Pty. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Axia Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb B.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Belgium S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Business Services Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada International Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Delta Company Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Denmark Filial of Bristol-Myers Squibb AB, Bristol-Myers Squibb EMEA Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Egypt LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Epsilon Holdings Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Ltda., Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Portuguesa S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb GesmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holding Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings 2002 Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Ireland Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Pharma Ltd. Liability Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Ilaclari Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb India Pvt. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Company Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Investco L.L.C., Bristol-Myers Squibb K.K., Bristol-Myers Squibb Kft., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg International S.C.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb MEA GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Manufacturing Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Marketing Services S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Middle East & Africa FZ-LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Norway Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Nutricionales de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Peru S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (HK) Ltd, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (Thailand) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Holding Company LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Ventures Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Polska Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Products SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico/Sanofi Pharmaceutical Partnership Puerto Rico, Bristol-Myers Squibb Romania S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.A.U., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Holding Partnership, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Service Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Services Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Spol. s r.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Theta Finance Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Trustees Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Colombia S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Costa Rica Sociedad Anonima, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Guatemala S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb/Astrazeneca EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership, Bristol-Myers de Venezuela S.C.A., CHT I LLC, CHT II LLC, CHT III LLC, CHT IV LLC, CR Finance Company LLC, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Inc., Celem LLC, Celem Ltd., Celgene, Celgene A.B., Celgene AS, Celgene Ab (Finland), Celgene Alpine Investment Co. II LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. III LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. LLC, Celgene ApS, Celgene B.V., Celgene BVBA, Celgene Brasil Produtos Farmaceuticos Ltda., Celgene CAR LLC, Celgene CAR Ltd., Celgene Chemicals Sarl, Celgene China Holdings LLC, Celgene Co., Celgene Corporation, Celgene Distribution B.V., Celgene EngMab GmbH, Celgene Europe B.V., Celgene Europe Limited, Celgene European Investment Company LLC, Celgene Financing Company LLC, Celgene Global Holdings Sarl, Celgene GmbH [Austria], Celgene GmbH [Germany], Celgene GmbH [Switzerland], Celgene Holdings East Corporation, Celgene Holdings II Sarl, Celgene Holdings III Sarl, Celgene Ilac Pazarlama ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Celgene Inc., Celgene International Holdings Corporation, Celgene International II Sarl, Celgene International III Sarl, Celgene International Inc., Celgene International Sarl, Celgene K.K., Celgene Kft., Celgene Limited [Hong Kong], Celgene Limited [Ireland], Celgene Limited [New Zealand], Celgene Limited [Taiwan], Celgene Limited [UK], Celgene Logistics Sarl, Celgene Ltd, Celgene Luxembourg Sarl, Celgene Management Sarl, Celgene NJ Investment Co, Celgene Netherlands B.V., Celgene Netherlands Investment B.V., Celgene Pharmaceutical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Celgene Pte. Ltd., Celgene Pty Ltd, Celgene Puerto Rico Distribution LLC, Celgene Quanticel Research Inc, Celgene R&D Sarl, Celgene RIVOT LLC, Celgene RIVOT Ltd., Celgene RIVOT SRL, Celgene Receptos Limited, Celgene Receptos Sarl, Celgene Research Incubator At Summit West LLC, Celgene Research S.L.U., Celgene Research and Development Company LLC, Celgene Research and Development I ULC, Celgene Research and Development II LLC, Celgene Research and Investment Company II LLC, Celgene S. de R.L. de C.V., Celgene S.L.U., Celgene S.R.L., Celgene SAS, Celgene Sarl AU, Celgene Sdn Bhd, Celgene Services Sarl, Celgene Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Celgene Sp. Z.o.o., Celgene Sro [Czech Republic], Celgene Summit Investment Co, Celgene Switzerland Holding Sarl, Celgene Switzerland II LLC, Celgene Switzerland Investment Sarl, Celgene Switzerland LLC, Celgene Switzerland Sarl, Celgene Tri A Holdings Ltd., Celgene Tri Sarl, Celgene UK Distribution Limited, Celgene UK Holdings Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing II Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing III Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing Limited, Celgene d.o.o., Celgene sro [Slovakia], Celmed LLC, Celmed Ltd., ConvaTec Divestiture, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals AB, Crosp Ltd., Delinia Inc., Deuteria Pharmaceuticals Inc., DuPont Pharmaceuticals, E. R. Squibb & Sons Inter-American Corporation, E. R. Squibb & Sons L.L.C., E. R. Squibb & Sons Limited, EWI Corporation, EngMab Sarl, F-star Alpha, FermaVir Pharmaceuticals L.L.C., FermaVir Research L.L.C., Flexus Biosciences, Flexus Biosciences Inc., Forbius, Galecto Biotech, GenPharm International L.L.C., Gloucester Pharmaceuticals LLC, Grove Insurance Company Ltd., Heyden Farmaceutica Portuguesa Limitada, IFM Therapeutics, Impact Biomedicines Inc., Inhibitex, Inhibitex L.L.C., Innate Tumor Immunity Inc., JuMP Holdings LLC, Juno Therapeutics GmbH, Juno Therapeutics Inc., Kosan Biosciences, Kosan Biosciences Incorporated, Linson Investments Limited, Mead Johnson (Manufacturing) Jamaica Limited, Mead Johnson Jamaica Ltd., Medarex, Morris Avenue Investment II LLC, Morris Avenue Investment LLC, MyoKardia, O.o.o. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Oy Bristol-Myers Squibb (Finland) AB, Padlock Therapeutics, Padlock Therapeutics Inc., Pharmion LLC, Princeton Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Receptos LLC, Receptos Services LLC, RedoxTherapies Inc., Route 22 Real Estate Holding Corporation, SPV A Holdings ULC, Seamair Insurance DAC, Signal Pharmaceuticals LLC, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Societe Francaise de Complements Alimentaires(S.O.F.C.A.), Squibb Middle East S.A., Summit West Celgene LLC, Swords Laboratories, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Westwood-Intrafin SA, Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals Inc., X-Body Inc., ZymoGenetics, ZymoGenetics Inc., ZymoGenetics LLC, ZymoGenetics Paymaster LLC, iPierian, and iPierian Inc..
KKR & Co. Inc. pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 0.74%. KKR & Co. Inc. has been increasing its dividend for 2 consecutive year(s), indicating that it does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio of KKR & Co. Inc. is 6.47%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, KKR & Co. Inc. will have a dividend payout ratio of 14.50% next year. This indicates that KKR & Co. Inc. will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.
View KKR & Co. Inc.'s dividend history.
The following companies are subsidiares of CVS Health: @Credentials Inc., ACS ACQCO CORP., ADMINCO Inc., AE Fourteen Incorporated, AHP Holdings Inc., AMC - Tennessee LLC, APS Acquisition LLC, ASCO HealthCare LLC, ASI Wings LLC, AUSHC Holdings Inc., Accendo Insurance Company, Accordant Health Services L.L.C., Active Health Management Inc., Administrative Enterprises Inc., AdvancePCS SpecialtyRx LLC, AdvanceRx.com L.L.C., Advanced Care Scripts Inc., Aetna, Aetna (Beijing) Enterprise Management Services Co. Ltd., Aetna (Shanghai) Enterprise Services Co. Ltd., Aetna ACO Holdings Inc., Aetna Asset Advisors LLC, Aetna Behavioral Health LLC, Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health of California Inc., Aetna Better Health of Florida Inc., Aetna Better Health of Kansas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Better Health of Missouri LLC, Aetna Better Health of Nevada Inc., Aetna Better Health of North Carolina Inc., Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma Inc., Aetna Better Health of Texas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Washington Inc., Aetna Capital Management LLC, Aetna Card Solutions LLC, Aetna Corporate Services LLC, Aetna Dental Inc., Aetna Dental of California Inc., Aetna Financial Holdings LLC, Aetna Florida Inc., Aetna Global Benefits (Asia Pacific) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bahamas) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bermuda) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Europe) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Middle East) LLC, Aetna Global Benefits (Singapore) PTE. LTD., Aetna Global Benefits (UK) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits Limited (DIFC UAE), Aetna Global Holdings Limited, Aetna Health Holdings LLC, Aetna Health Inc., Aetna Health Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Aetna Health Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company of Europe DAC, Aetna Health Management LLC, Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company, Aetna Health of California Inc., Aetna Health of Iowa Inc., Aetna Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Health of Ohio Inc., Aetna Health of Utah Inc., Aetna HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Aetna Holdco (UK) Limited, Aetna Holdings (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Inc., Aetna Insurance (Hong Kong) Limite, Aetna Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Aetna Insurance Company Limited, Aetna Integrated Informatics Inc., Aetna International Inc., Aetna Ireland Inc., Aetna Korea Ltd., Aetna Life & Casualty (Bermuda) Ltd., Aetna Life Assignment Company, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC, Aetna Multi-Strategy 1099 Fund LLC, Aetna Network Services LLC, Aetna Partners Diversified Fund LLC, Aetna Pharmacy Management Services LLC, Aetna Resources LLC, Aetna Risk Assurance Company of Connecticut Inc., Aetna Rx Home Delivery LLC, Aetna Services (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Aetna Student Health Agency Inc., Aetna Ventures LLC, Aetna Workers Comp Access LLC, Alabama CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Alaska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, American Continental Insurance Company, American Drug Stores Delaware L.L.C., American Health Holding Inc., Arbor Drugs, Arizona CVS Stores L.L.C., Arkansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Badger Acquisition LLC, Badger Acquisition of Kentucky LLC, Badger Acquisition of Minnesota LLC, Badger Acquisition of Ohio LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Company, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Beauty Holdings L.L.C., Best Care LTC Acquisition Company LLC, Busse CVS L.L.C., CCI Foreign S.a R.L. (R.C.S. Luxembourg), CCRx Holdings LLC, CCRx of North Carolina LLC, CHP Acquisition LLC, CP Acquisition LLC, CVS 2948 Henderson L.L.C., CVS 3268 Gilbert L.L.C., CVS 3745 Peoria L.L.C., CVS AL Distribution L.L.C., CVS AOC Corporation, CVS AOC Services L.L.C., CVS Albany L.L.C., CVS Bellmore Avenue L.L.C., CVS Care Concierge LLC, CVS Caremark Advanced Technology Pharmacy L.L.C., CVS Caremark Indemnity Ltd., CVS Caremark Part D Services L.L.C., CVS Caremark TN SUTA LLC, CVS Foreign Inc., CVS Gilbert 3272 L.L.C., CVS Health Solutions LLC, CVS Indiana L.L.C., CVS International L.L.C., CVS Kidney Care Advanced Technologies LLC, CVS Kidney Care Health Services LLC, CVS Kidney Care Home Dialysis LLC, CVS Kidney Care LLC, CVS Manchester NH L.L.C., CVS Media Exchange LLC, CVS Michigan L.L.C., CVS Orlando FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS PA Distribution L.L.C., CVS PR Center Inc., CVS Pharmacy Inc., CVS RS Arizona L.L.C., CVS Rx Services Inc., CVS SC Distribution L.L.C., CVS State Capital L.L.C., CVS TN Distribution L.L.C., CVS Transportation L.L.C., CVS Vero FL Distribution L.L.C., Campos Medical Pharmacy LLC, Canal Place LLC, Care Pharmaceutical Services LP, CareCenter Pharmacy L.L.C., Carefree Insurance Services Inc., Caremark Arizona Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Arizona Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark California Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Florida Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Florida Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Hawaii Mail Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Hawaii Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark IPA L.L.C., Caremark Illinois Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Illinois Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Irving Resource Center LLC, Caremark Kansas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark L.L.C., Caremark Logistics LLC, Caremark Louisiana Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Maryland Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Michigan Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Minnesota Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark New Jersey Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark North Carolina Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ohio Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Pennsylvania Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark PhC L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Redlands Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Repack LLC, Caremark Rx L.L.C., Caremark Tennessee Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ulysses Holding Corp., Caremark Washington Specialty Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Alabama Mail Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Health L.L.C., CaremarkPCS L.L.C., Central Rx Services LLC, Claims Administration Corp., Cofinity Inc., Compscript LLC, Connecticut CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood Tennessee, Continuing Care Rx LLC, Coram Alternate Site Services Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Alabama, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater D.C., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater New York, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Indiana, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Massachusetts, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Mississippi, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Nevada, Coram Healthcare Corporation of North Texas, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Northern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Utah, Coram LLC, Coram Rx LLC, Coram Specialty Infusion, Coram Specialty Infusion Services L.L.C., Coventry Consumer Advantage Inc., Coventry Health Care National Accounts Inc., Coventry Health Care National Network Inc., Coventry Health Care Workers Compensation Inc., Coventry Health Care of Illinois Inc., Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc., Coventry Health Care of Missouri Inc., Coventry Health Care of Nebraska Inc., Coventry Health Care of Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Care of West Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Plan of Florida Inc., Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company, Coventry HealthCare Management Corporation, Coventry Prescription Management Services Inc., Coventry Rehabilitation Services Inc., Coventry Transplant Network Inc., D & R Pharmaceutical Services LLC, D.A.W. LLC, Delaware CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Delaware Physicians Care Incorporated, Digital eHealth LLC, District of Columbia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., E.T.B. INC., Echo Merger Sub Inc., Eckerd Corporation of Florida Inc., Employee Assistance Services LLC, Enloe Drugs LLC, Enterprise Patient Safety Organization LLC, EntrustRX, Evergreen Pharmaceutical LLC, Evergreen Pharmaceutical of California Inc., Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., FOCUS HealthCare Management Inc., First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, First Script Network Services Inc., Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC, Garfield Beach CVS L.L.C., Generation Health L.L.C., Geneva Woods Health Services LLC, Geneva Woods LTC Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Management LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Alaska LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Washington LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Wyoming LLC, Geneva Woods Retail Pharmacy LLC, Georgia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., German Dobson CVS L.L.C., Goodhealth Worldwide (Asia) Limited, Goodhealth Worldwide (Global) Limited, Goodyear CVS L.L.C., Grand St. Paul CVS L.L.C., Grandview Pharmacy LLC, Group Dental Service Inc., Group Dental Service of Maryland Inc., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssuance Pennsylvania Inc., Healthagen LLC, Highland Park CVS L.L.C., Holiday CVS L.L.C., Home Care Pharmacy LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, Hook-SupeRx L.L.C., Horizon Behavioral Services LLC, Idaho CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., IlliniCare Health, Indian Health Organisation Private Limited, Innovation Health Holdings LLC, Innovation Health Insurance Company, Innovation Health Plan Inc., Interlock Pharmacy Systems LLC, Iowa CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., JHC Acquisition LLC, Kansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Kentucky CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., LCPS Acquisition LLC, Langsam Health Services LLC, Lo-Med Prescription Services LLC, Lobos Acquisition LLC, Longs Drug Stores, Longs Drug Stores California L.L.C., Louisiana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., MHHP Acquisition Company LLC, MHNet Life and Health Insurance Company, MHNet Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Managed Care Coordinators Inc., Managed Healthcare LLC, Martin Health Services LLC, Maryland CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Med World Acquisition Corp., Medical Arts Health Care LLC, Medical Examinations of New York P.C., Melville Realty Company Inc., MemberHealth LLC, Mental Health Associates Inc., Mental Health Network of New York IPA Inc., Meritain Health Inc., Merwin Long Term Care LLC, MetraComp Inc., Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Florida LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Georgia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Hawaii L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Illinois LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Kentucky L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Louisiana L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maine L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maryland LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Nebraska L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Hampshire L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Mexico L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Ohio LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oklahoma LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oregon LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Pennsylvania LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Rhode Island LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of South Carolina L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Texas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Utah L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Virginia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Washington LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Wisconsin L.L.C., MinuteClinic L.L.C., MinuteClinic Online Diagnostic Services LLC, MinuteClinic Physician Practice of Texas, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services LLC, Mississippi CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Missouri CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Montana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NCS Healthcare LLC, NCS Healthcare of Illinois LLC, NCS Healthcare of Iowa LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kansas LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kentucky Inc. (Oh, NCS Healthcare of Montana LLC, NCS Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, NCS Healthcare of Ohio LLC, NCS Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, NCS Healthcare of Tennessee LLC, NCS Healthcare of Wisconsin LLC, NIV Acquisition LLC, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Nebraska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NeighborCare Holdings Inc., NeighborCare Inc., NeighborCare Pharmacy Services Inc., NeighborCare Services Corporation, NeighborCare of Indiana LLC, NeighborCare of Virginia LLC, New Jersey CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Niagara Re Inc., North Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., North Shore Pharmacy Services LLC, NovoLogix LLC, OCR Services LLC, Ocean Acquisition Sub L.L.C., Ohio CVS Stores L.L.C., Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Omnicare, Omnicare Holding Company, Omnicare Inc., Omnicare Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania East LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania West LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of the Great Plains Holding LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy and Supply Services LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of Tennessee LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of the Midwest LLC, Omnicare Property Management LLC, Omnicare of Nebraska LLC, Omnicare of Nevada LLC, Omnicare of New York LLC, Oregon CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., PE Holdings LLC, PHPSNE Parent Corporation, PP Acquisition Company LLC, PRN Pharmaceutical Services LP, PT Aetna Management Consulting, Pamplona Saude e Beleza LTDA, Part D Holding Company L.L.C., PayFlex Holdings Inc., PayFlex Systems USA Inc., Pennsylvania CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Performax Inc., Pharmacy Associates of Glenn Falls LLC, Pharmacy Consultants LLC, Phoenix Data Solutions LLC, Precision Benefit Services Inc., Prime Net Inc., ProCare Pharmacy Direct L.L.C., ProCare Pharmacy L.L.C., Prodigy Health Group Inc., Professional Risk Management Inc., Pt. Aetna Global Benefits Indonesia, Puerto Rico CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Red Oak Sourcing LLC, Resources for Living LLC, Rhode Island CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Roeschens Healthcare LLC, RxAmerica, Schaller Anderson Medical Administrators Incorporated, Scrip World LLC, Sheffield Avenue CVS L.L.C., Shore Pharmaceutical Providers LLC, Silverscript Insurance Company, Soma Intimates, South Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., South Wabash CVS L.L.C., Specialized Pharmacy Services LLC, Spinnaker Bidco Limited, Spinnaker Topco Limited, Stadtlander Drug Company, Stadtlander Pharmacy, Sterling Healthcare Services LLC, Superior Care Pharmacy LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Administrative Services LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, T2 Medical Inc., TCPI Acquisition LLC, TargetPharmacy, Tennessee CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Company, Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Texas Health + Aetna Health Plan Inc., The Vasquez Group Inc., Thomas Phoenix CVS L.L.C., Three Forks Apothecary LLC, U.S Healthcare Holdings LLC, U.S. Healthcare Properties Inc., UAC Holding Inc., UC Acquisition LLC, UNI-Care Health Services of Maine LLC, Universal American - Medicare Part D Business, Utah CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., VAPS Acquisition Company LLC, Value Health Care Services LLC, Vermont CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virtual Home Healthcare L.L.C., Warm Springs Road CVS L.L.C., Washington CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Washington Lamb CVS L.L.C., Weber Medical Systems LLC, Wellpartner LLC, West Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Westhaven Services Co LLC, Williamson Drug Company LLC, Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Woodward Detroit CVS L.L.C., Work and Family Benefits Inc., ZS Acquisition Company LLC, Zinc Health Services LLC, Zinc Health Ventures LLC, bSwift LLC, and iTriage LLC.
Varian Medical Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, sells, and services medical devices and software products for treating cancer and other medical conditions worldwide. It operates through Oncology Systems and Proton Solutions segments. The Oncology Systems segment offers hardware and software products for treating cancer with radiotherapy, fixed field intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiotherapy, artificial intelligence based adaptive radiotherapy, and brachytherapy, as well as quality assurance equipment. Its products include linear accelerators, brachytherapy afterloaders, treatment accessories, and quality assurance software; and information management, treatment planning, image processing, clinical knowledge exchange, patient care management, decision-making support, and practice management software. This segment serves university research and community hospitals, private and governmental institutions, healthcare agencies, physicians' offices, medical oncology practices, radiotherapy centers, and cancer care clinics. The Proton Solutions segment designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services products and systems for delivering proton therapy for the treatment of cancer. The company has a strategic agreement with McKesson Corp. to supply treatment delivery systems and planning, services, and radiotherapy information system solutions to its U.S. Oncology Network and Vantage Oncology affiliated sites of care; and a strategic partnership with Siemens AG to represent Siemens diagnostic imaging products to radiation oncology clinics in the United States and other select markets. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. was formerly known as Varian Associates, Inc. and changed its name to Varian Medical Systems, Inc. in April 1999. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.
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Thomson Reuters Corporation provides business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments. The Corporates segment provides a suite of content-enabled technology solutions for legal, tax, regulatory, compliance, and IT professionals. The Tax & Accounting Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on tax offerings and automating tax workflows to tax, accounting, and audit professionals in accounting firms. The Reuters News segment provides business, financial, national, and international news to professionals through desktop terminals, media organizations, and industry events, as well as directly to consumers. The Global Print segment offers legal and tax information primarily in print format to legal and tax professionals, governments, law schools, and corporations. The company was formerly known as The Thomson Corporation and changed its name to Thomson Reuters Corporation in April 2008. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Thomson Reuters Corporation is a subsidiary of The Woodbridge Company Limited.
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Washington seeks over $38 billion from opioid distributors
SEATTLE (AP) Having rejected a half-billion-dollar settlement offer, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is taking the state's case against the nation's three biggest drug distributors to trial Monday, saying they must be held accountable for their role in the opioid crisis. But his gamble isn't without risk, as a loss by three California counties in a similar case this month demonstrates.
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Pembina Pipeline Corporation provides transportation and midstream services for the energy industry. It operates through three segments: Pipelines, Facilities, and Marketing & New Ventures. The Pipelines segment operates conventional, oil sands and heavy oil, and transmission assets with a transportation capacity of 3.1 millions of barrels of oil equivalent per day, ground storage of 11 millions of barrels, and rail terminalling capacity of approximately 145 thousands of barrels of oil equivalent per day serving markets and basins across North America. The Facilities segment offers infrastructure that provides customers with natural gas, condensate, and natural gas liquids (NGLs), including ethane, propane, butane, and condensate; and includes 354 thousands of barrels per day of NGL fractionation capacity, 21 millions of barrels of cavern storage capacity, and associated pipeline and rail terminalling facilities. The Marketing & New Ventures segment buys and sells hydrocarbon liquids and natural gas originating in the Western Canadian sedimentary basin and other basins. Pembina Pipeline Corporation was incorporated in 1954 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
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The following companies are subsidiares of TransDigm Group: 1711 Waterview Pkwy LLC, ARA Deutschland GmbH, ARA Holding GmbH, Acme Aerospace, Adams Rite Aerospace GmbH, Adams Rite Aerospace Inc., Advanced Inflatable Products Limited, Aero-Instruments, AeroControlex Group Inc., Aerosonic, Aerosonic LLC, Air-Sea Survival Equipment Trustee Limited, Airborne Acquisition Inc., Airborne Global Inc., Airborne Holdings Inc., Airborne Systems, Airborne Systems Canada Ltd., Airborne Systems Group Limited, Airborne Systems Holdings Limited, Airborne Systems Limited, Airborne Systems NA Inc., Airborne Systems North America Inc., Airborne Systems North America of CA Inc., Airborne Systems North America of NJ Inc., Airborne Systems Pension Trust Limited, Airborne UK Acquisition Limited, Airborne UK Parent Limited, Aircraft Materials Limited, AmSafe, AmSafe Aviation (Chongqing) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Private) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport Ltd., AmSafe Global Holdings Inc., AmSafe Global Services (Private) Limited, AmSafe Inc., Angus Electronics Co., Arkwin Industries, Arkwin Industries Inc., Auxitrol SAS, Auxitrol Weston Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Auxitrol Weston Singapore Pte. Ltd., Auxitrol Weston USA Inc., Aviation Technologies, Aviation Technologies Inc., Avionic Instruments LLC, Avionics Instruments, Avionics Specialties Inc., AvtechTyee Inc., Beta Transformer Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Beta Transformer Technology Corporation, Beta Transformer Technology LLC, Breeze-Eastern Corporation, Breeze-Eastern LLC, Bridport Erie Aviation Inc., Bridport Holdings Inc., Bridport Ltd., Bridport-Air Carrier Inc., Bruce Aerospace Inc., Bruce Industries, CDA InterCorp LLC, CEF Industries LLC, CMC Electronics Inc., CMC Electronics ME Inc., Champion Aerospace LLC, Cobham, DDC Electronics K.K., DDC Electronics Ltd., DDC Electronics Private Limited, DDC Electronique S.A.R.L., DDC Elektronik GmbH, Darchem Engineering Limited, Darchem Holdings Limited, Data Device Corp., Data Device Corporation, Dukes Aerospace Inc., EST Defence Company UK Limited, Edlaw Limited, Electromech Technologies LLC, Elektro-Metall Export GmbH, Elektro-Metall Paks KFT, Esterline, Esterline Acquisition Ltd, Esterline Europe Company LLC, Esterline Foreign Sales Corporation, Esterline International Company, Esterline Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Esterline Services China Ltd., Esterline Technologies Acquisition Ltd, Esterline Technologies Corporation, Esterline Technologies Europe Limited, Esterline Technologies France Holding SAS, Esterline Technologies French Acquisition Limited, Esterline Technologies Global Limited, Esterline Technologies Holdings Limited, Esterline Technologies Management France SAS, Esterline Technologies SGIP LLC, Esterline Technologies Unlimited, Esterline do Brasil Assessoria e Intermediacao Ltda, Extant Components Group Holdings Inc., Extant Components Group Intermediate Inc., GQ Parachutes Limited, Guizhou Leach-Tianyi Aviation Electrical Company Ltd, Harco, HarcoSemco LLC, Hartwell Corporation, ILC Holdings Inc., Irvin Aerospace Limited, IrvinGQ France SAS, IrvinGQ Limited, Janco Corporation, Johnson Liverpool LLC, Jupiter SAS, Kirkhill Elastomers, Kirkhill Inc., Kunshan Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., Leach Holding Corporation, Leach International Asia-Pacific Ltd, Leach International Europe S.A.S., Leach International Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., Leach International UK Ltd, Leach Technology Group Inc., MarathonNorco Aerospace Inc., McKechnie Aerospace, McKechnie Aerospace (Europe) Ltd., McKechnie Aerospace DE Inc., McKechnie Aerospace DE LP, McKechnie Aerospace Holdings Inc., McKechnie Aerospace US LLC, Mecanismos de Matamoros S.A. de C.V., Militair Aviation Ltd., Norco, Nordisk Asia Pacific Limited, Nordisk Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Nordisk Aviation Products (Kunshan) Ltd., Nordisk Aviation Products AS, North Hills Signal Processing Corp., North Hills Signal Processing Overseas Corp., Norwich Aero Products Inc., Pascall Electronics Limited, Pexco Aerospace, Pexco Aerospace Inc., PneuDraulics, PneuDraulics Inc., Pressure Systems International Ltd, Racal Acoustics Inc., Racal Acoustics Limited, Rancho TransTechnology Corporation, Retainers Inc., SSP Industries, Schneller, Schneller Asia Pte. Ltd., Schneller LLC, Schneller S.A.R.L., Schroth Safety Products, ScioTeq LLC, ScioTeq Ltd., ScioTeq Pte. Ltd., ScioTeq SAS, ScioTeq bvba, Semco Instruments, Semco Instruments Inc., Shield Restraint Systems Inc., Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., Signal Processing Matamoros S.A. de C.V., Skandia, Skandia Inc., Skurka Aerospace, Skurka Aerospace Inc., Symetrics Industries, Symetrics Industries LLC, Symetrics Technology Group LLC, TA Mfg Limited, TDG ESL Holdings Inc., TDG France Ultimate Parent SAS, TDG Germany GmbH, TEAC Aerospace Holdings Inc., TEAC Aerospace Technologies Inc., TREALITY SVS LLC, TTERUSA Inc., Tactair Fluid Controls Inc., Takata Protection Systems, Technical Airborne Components Industries SPRL, Telair International, Telair International AB, Telair International GmbH, Telair International LLC, Telair International Services PTE Ltd, Telair US LLC, Texas Rotronics Inc., TransDigm (Barbados) SRL, TransDigm Canada ULC, TransDigm European Holdings Limited, TransDigm Ireland Ltd., TransDigm Receivables LLC, TransDigm UK Holdings plc, Transicoil (Malaysia) Sendirian Berhad, Transicoil LLC, Wallop Industries Limited, Weston Aerospace Ltd, Whippany Actuation Systems, Whippany Actuation Systems LLC, XCEL Power Systems Ltd., Young & Franklin, and Young & Franklin Inc..
Vivint Solar, Inc. provides distributed solar energy primarily to residential customers in the United States. It owns and installs solar energy systems through long-term customer contracts. The company also sells photovoltaic installation products, as well as solar renewable energy certificates. As of December 31, 2019, it had an aggregate capacity of 1,294.0 megawatts covering approximately 188,300 homes. The company was formerly known as V Solar Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Vivint Solar, Inc. in April 2014. Vivint Solar, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Lehi, Utah.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Xylem: Aanderaa Data Instruments AS, Beijing United Gas Meters Co. Ltd., Bellingham & Stanley Ltd., Bombas Flygt de Venezuela S.A., CMS Research Corporation, EmNet LLC, FARADYNE Motors LLC, Faradyne Motors (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Flow Control LLC, Flowtronex PSI LLC, Fluid Handling LLC, Godwin Holdings Ltd., Goulds Water Technology Philippines Inc, Grindex AB, Grindex Pumps LLC, HYPACK Inc, Heartland Pump Rental & Sales Inc., IMT b.v., Jabsco Marine Italia s.r.l., Jabsco S. de R.L. De C.V., Lowara UK Ltd, Lowara Vogel Polska SP ZOO, Lowara s.r.l., MJK Automation ApS, MultiTrode Inc., Multitrode Pty Ltd, Nova Analytics Europe LLC, O.I. Corporation, PCI Membrane Systems Inc., Pension Trustee Management Ltd, Pims Pumps, Portacel Inc., Pure Technologies, SELC Electronics Ltd, SELC Group Ltd., SELC Ireland Ltd, Safe Sea Services FZC, Sensus, Sensus (UK Holdings) Ltd., Sensus Australia Pty Ltd, Sensus Canada Inc., Sensus Chile SA, Sensus Espana SA, Sensus France Holdings SAS, Sensus France SAS, Sensus GmbH Hannover, Sensus GmbH Ludwigshafen, Sensus Italia SRL, Sensus Japan Kabushiki Kaisha, Sensus Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Sensus Maroc S.A.., Sensus Metering Systems (Fuzhou) Co. Ltd., Sensus Metering Systems (LuxCo 1) S.A R.L., Sensus Metering Systems (LuxCo 2) S.A R.L., Sensus Metering Systems (LuxCo 3) S.A R.L., Sensus Metering Systems (LuxCo 4) S.A R.L., Sensus Metering Systems (LuxCo 5) S.A R.L, Sensus Metering Systems IP Holdings Inc., Sensus Polska sp. zoo, Sensus Precision Die Casting (Yangzhou) Co. Ltd., Sensus SPA, Sensus Services Deutschland GmbH, Sensus Slovensko a.s., Sensus South Africa (Proprietary) Ltd., Sensus Spectrum LLC, Sensus UK Systems Limited, Sensus USA Inc., Sensus de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Sensus metrologicke sluzby s.r.o._Slovakia, Sensus Ceska republika spol. s r.o., Sentec Limited, Smith-Blair Inc., Texas Turbine LLC, Tideland Signal Corporation, Tideland Signal EMEA B.V., Tideland Signal LLC, Tideland Signal Limited, Tirinstal Investments Ltd, UGI Global Limited, Valor Water Analytics, Visenti Pte. Ltd, Water Asset Management Inc., Water Process Limited, Watercompany, Xylem (China) Company Limited, Xylem (Hong Kong) Limited, Xylem (Nanjing) Co. Ltd, Xylem Analytics (Beijing) Co. Ltd, Xylem Analytics Australia Pty Ltd., Xylem Analytics France S.A.S., Xylem Analytics Germany GmbH, Xylem Analytics IP Management GmbH, Xylem Analytics IP Management SCS, Xylem Analytics LLC, Xylem Analytics UK LTD, Xylem Australia Holdings PTY LTD, Xylem Brasil Solucoes para Agua Ltda, Xylem Canada Company, Xylem Delaware Inc., Xylem Denmark Holdings ApS, Xylem Dewatering Solutions Inc., Xylem Dewatering Solutions UK Ltd, Xylem Europe GmbH, Xylem Financing S.a.r.l, Xylem Germany GmbH, Xylem Global S.a.r.l, Xylem Holdings S.a.r.l., Xylem IP Holdings LLC, Xylem IP Management S.a.r.l, Xylem IP UK S.a.r.l., Xylem Industriebeteiligungen GmbH, Xylem Industries S.a.r.l., Xylem International S.a.r.l., Xylem Lowara Limited, Xylem Luxembourg S.a r.l., Xylem Management GmbH, Xylem Manufacturing Austria GmbH, Xylem Manufacturing Middle East Region FZCO, Xylem Middle East Water Equipment Trading & Rental LLC, Xylem Russia LLC, Xylem Saudi Arabia Limited, Xylem Service Hungary Kft, Xylem Service Italia Srl, Xylem Services Austria GmbH, Xylem Services GmbH, Xylem Shared Services Sp. Z.o.o., Xylem Technologies & Partners S.C.S, Xylem Technologies GmbH, Xylem Water Holdings Limited, Xylem Water Limited, Xylem Water Services Limited, Xylem Water Solutions (Hong Kong) Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Argentina S.R.L., Xylem Water Solutions Australia Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Austria GmbH, Xylem Water Solutions Belgium, Xylem Water Solutions Chile S.A., Xylem Water Solutions Colombia SAS, Xylem Water Solutions Denmark ApS, Xylem Water Solutions Deutschland GmbH, Xylem Water Solutions Espana S.A., Xylem Water Solutions Florida LLC, Xylem Water Solutions France SAS, Xylem Water Solutions Global Services AB, Xylem Water Solutions Herford GmbH, Xylem Water Solutions Holdings France SAS, Xylem Water Solutions India Private Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Ireland Ltd., Xylem Water Solutions Italia S.R.L, Xylem Water Solutions Korea Co. Ltd., Xylem Water Solutions Magyarorszag KRT, Xylem Water Solutions Malaysia SDN. BHD., Xylem Water Solutions Manufacturing AB, Xylem Water Solutions Metz SAS, Xylem Water Solutions Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., Xylem Water Solutions Middle East Region FZCO, Xylem Water Solutions Muscat LLC, Xylem Water Solutions Nederland BV, Xylem Water Solutions New Zealand Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Norge AS, Xylem Water Solutions Panama s.r.l., Xylem Water Solutions Peru S.A., Xylem Water Solutions Polska Sp.z.o.o., Xylem Water Solutions Portugal Unipessoal Lda., Xylem Water Solutions Rugby Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Singapore PTE Ltd., Xylem Water Solutions South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Xylem Water Solutions South Africa Holdings LLC, Xylem Water Solutions Suomi Oy, Xylem Water Solutions Sweden AB, Xylem Water Solutions U.S.A. Inc., Xylem Water Solutions UK Holdings Limited, Xylem Water Solutions UK Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Zelienople LLC, Xylem Water Solutions(Shenyang) CO. Ltd, Xylem Water Systems (California) Inc., Xylem Water Systems Hungary KFT, Xylem Water Systems International Inc., Xylem Water Systems Japan Corporation, Xylem Water Systems Philippines Holding Inc., Xylem Water Systems Texas Holdings LLC, Xylem Water Systems U.S.A. LLC, YSI (China) Ltd., YSI (Hong Kong) Ltd., YSI (UK) Ltd., YSI Incorporated, YSI Instrumentos E Servicos Ambientais Ltda., YSI International Inc., YSI Nanotech Limited, and ylem Analytics Germany Sales GmbH& Co. KG.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through four strategic business units: Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S. Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; and Capital Markets. The company offers chequing, savings, and business accounts; mortgages; loans, lines of credit, student lines of credit, and business and agriculture loans; investment and insurance services; and credit cards, as well as overdraft protection services. It also provides day-to-day banking, borrowing and credit, investing and wealth, specialty, and international services; correspondent banking and online foreign exchange services; and cash management services. The company serves its customers through its banking centers, as well as direct, mobile, and remote channels. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Ashland Global: 565 Corporation, ASH GP INC., ASHLAND SPECIALTY CHEMICAL (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD., ASHLAND SPECIALTY CHEMICALS (MALAYSIA) SDN.BHD, Adams Drive Totowa L.L.C., Alera Property Holdings LLC, Alera Technologies Inc., Alix Technologies LLC, Aloe Vemera S.P.R de R.L. de C.V., Ash (Gibraltar) One Limited, Ash B CIS 1 Limited, Ash B CIS 2 Limited, Ash B1 Limited, Ash B2 Limited, Ash B3 Limited, Ash B4 Limited, Ash B5 Limited, Ash CIS Canada Corp., Ash CIS Canada Holdings B.V., Ash CIS GmbH, Ash Global Holding Three GmbH, Ash Global Holdings Two B.V., Ash Junior Global Holding One LLC, Ash Junior Global Holding Two LLC, Ash Swiss Holding Two GmbH, AshLux Three S.a r.l., AshOne C. V., Ashland (Australasia) Pty. Limited, Ashland (Changzhou) Advanced Chemical Co. Ltd., Ashland (Changzhou) Specialty Chemical Co. Ltd, Ashland (China) Holdings Co. Ltd., Ashland (Gibraltar) One Holding Inc., Ashland (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Ashland Argentina S.R.L., Ashland CZ s.r.o., Ashland Canada Corp./Corporation Ashland Canada, Ashland Canada Holdings B. V., Ashland Chemco Inc., Ashland Chemical De Mexico S.A. De C.V., Ashland Chemical Hispania S. L., Ashland Chemical Trading (Shanghai) Company Limited, Ashland Chemicals (Nanjing) Company Limited, Ashland Colombia S.A.S., Ashland Comercio de Especialidades Quimicas do Brasil Ltda., Ashland Danmark ApS, Ashland Eastern Markets LLC, Ashland Ethanol Inc., Ashland Finance Limited, Ashland Finland Oy, Ashland France SAS, Ashland Global Holdings One C.V., Ashland India Private Limited, Ashland Industria de Ingredientes do Brasil Ltda., Ashland Industries Deutschland GmbH, Ashland Industries Europe GmbH, Ashland Industries France SAS, Ashland Industries Italia S.r.l., Ashland Industries Nederland B.V., Ashland Industries UK Limited, Ashland International Holdings LLC, Ashland Italia S.r.l., Ashland Japan Ltd., Ashland Korea Limited, Ashland LLC, Ashland Licensing and Intellectual Property LLC, Ashland ME Holdings Inc., Ashland Mexico Holdings One LLC, Ashland Mexico Holdings Two LLC, Ashland Nigeria Exploration Unlimited, Ashland Oil (Nigeria) Company Unlimited, Ashland Oil Inc., Ashland Pacific Pty. Ltd., Ashland Participacoes Ltda., Ashland Pharmachem International Holdings LLC, Ashland Polimeros do Brasil S.A., Ashland Services B. V., Ashland Services Mexico S.A. de C.V., Ashland Singapore Pte. Ltd., Ashland Specialties Austria GmbH, Ashland Specialties Belgium BVBA, Ashland Specialties France S.a.r.l., Ashland Specialties Hispania S.L., Ashland Specialties Holding C.V., Ashland Specialties Ireland Limited, Ashland Specialties Poland Sp. z o.o., Ashland Specialties Sverige AB, Ashland Specialties UK Limited, Ashland Specialty Chemical Korea Co. Ltd., Ashland Specialty Ingredients G.P., Ashland Technologies GmbH, Ashland-Alaskan Limited, Ashland-Plasticos De Portugal Lda., Ashmont Insurance Company Inc., Ashprop Two LLC, Avoca LLC, Avoele S.A. de C.V., Belleville Realty Corp., Bluegrass Insurance Company Limited, CLTA LLC, CVG Capital III LLC, Carol Clifton Inc., Clevedon Sp. z o.o., Curtis Bay Insurance Co. Ltd, East Bay Realty Services Inc., Ever Success Overseas Limited, FRJ Inc., Fospur, Hercofina, Hercules, Hercules Holding BV BVBA, Hercules Holding II Limited, Hercules Hydrocarbon Holdings Inc., Hercules International Limited LLC, Hercules Investment ApS, Hercules Investments Netherlands B.V., Hercules Islands Corporation, Hercules LLC, Hercules Paper Holdings Inc., Hercules Trading (Shanghai) Company Limited, ISP (Belgium) International N. V., ISP Alginates Inc., ISP Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd, ISP Biochema Schwaben GmbH, ISP Canada Corp., ISP Capital LLC, ISP Chemco LLC, ISP Chemical Products LLC, ISP Chemicals LLC, ISP Environmental Services Inc., ISP France Holding SARL, ISP France Marketing SARL, ISP Freetown Fine Chemicals Inc., ISP Freight Services N. V., ISP Global Operations (Barbados) Inc., ISP Global Technologies Deutschland Unterstutzungskasse GmbH, ISP Global Technologies Inc., ISP Global Technologies LLC, ISP HC Limited, ISP Holdings (U.K.) Ltd., ISP Hungary Holdings Limited Liability Company, ISP International Corp., ISP Investments LLC, ISP Lima LLC, ISP Luxembourg Canada S.a.r.l., ISP Management Company Inc., ISP Marl GmbH, ISP Marl Holdings GmbH, ISP Microcaps (U.K.) Limited, ISP Pharma Systems LLC, ISP Real Estate Company Inc., ISP Singapore Holding LLC, ISP Technologies Inc., ISP Technologies LLC, International Specialty Holdings LLC, International Specialty Products, International Specialty Products (India) Private Limited, International Specialty Products Funding Corporation, International Specialty Products Inc., Jiangmen Ashland Chemicals Company Limited, Nanjing Clear Environment Protection, Northwest Coatings, Oil Can Henrys, PT Ashland Asia, PT ISP Chemicals Indonesia, Pakistan Gum Industries (Private) Limited, Pharmachem Laboratories, Pharmachem Laboratories LLC, Pharmachem Laboratories Utah LLC, Prince Street Paterson LLC, Progiven S.A.S., Proprietary Nutritionals LLC, Ralop S. de R.L. de C.V., Saudi Industrial Resins Co. Ltd. (Polyester), Shanghai Ashland Industrial Trading Co. Ltd., St Croix Petrochemical Corp, Taiwan Ashland Co. Ltd., Techwax Limited, Vemera S. de R.L. de C.V., and WSP LLC.
The following companies are subsidiares of Procter & Gamble: "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, Agile Pursuits, Agile Pursuits Franchising, Arbora, Arbora & Ausonia, Arborinvest, Billie, Braun (Shanghai) Co., Braun GmbH, Braun-Gillette Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG, Celtic Insurance Company, Compania Procter & Gamble Mexico, Compania Quimica S.A., Corporativo Procter & Gamble, Cosmetic Products Pty. Ltd., Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., Eurocos Cosmetic GmbH, FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Fater S.p.A., Fountain Square Music Publishing Co., Gillette (China) Ltd., Gillette (Shanghai) Ltd., Gillette Aesop Ltd., Gillette Australia Pty. Ltd., Gillette Canada Holdings, Gillette Commercial Operations North America, Gillette Diversified Operations Pvt. Ltd., Gillette Egypt S.A.E., Gillette Group UK Ltd, Gillette Gruppe Deutschland GmbH & Co. oHG, Gillette Holding Company LLC, Gillette Holding GmbH, Gillette India Limited, Gillette Industries Ltd., Gillette International B.V., Gillette Latin America Holding B.V., Gillette Management LLC, Gillette Nova Scotia Company, Gillette Pakistan Limited, Gillette Poland International Sp. z.o.o., Gillette Poland S.A., Gillette U.K. Limited, Gillette del Uruguay, Giorgio Beverly Hills Inc., Hyginett KFT, Industries Marocaines Modernes SA, LLC "Procter & Gamble Novomoskovsk", LLL "Procter & Gamble Distributorskaya Compania", Laboratorios Vicks, Liberty Street Music Publishing Company, Limited Liability Company 'Procter & Gamble Trading Ukraine', Limited Liability Company with foreign investments Procter & and Gamble Ukraine, MDVIP, MERCK KGAA NPV, Marcvenca Inversiones, Modern Industries Company - Dammam, Modern Products Company - Jeddah, New Chapter, New Chapter Canada Inc., Olay LLC, Oral-B Laboratories, P&G Distribution Morocco SAS, P&G Hair Care Holding, P&G Industrial Peru S.R.L., P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, P&G Israel M.D.O. Ltd., P&G K.K., P&G Northeast Asia Pte. Ltd., P&G Prestige Godo Kaisha, P&G Prestige Service GmbH, P&G South African Trading (Pty.) Ltd., PGT Health Care (Zhejiang) Limited, PGT Healthcare LLP, PPI ZAO, PT Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia, PT Procter & Gamble Operations Indonesia, Phase II Holdings Corporation, Procter & Gamble (Chengdu) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Sales Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (East Africa) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Egypt) Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble (Enterprise Fund) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Health & Beauty Care) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Jiangsu) Ltd. China, Procter & Gamble (L&CP) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble (Manufacturing) Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble (Shanghai) International Trade Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Acquisition GmbH, Procter & Gamble Administration GmbH, Procter & Gamble Algeria EURL, Procter & Gamble Amazon Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Amiens S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Argentina SRL, Procter & Gamble Asia Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Australia Proprietary Limited, Procter & Gamble Azerbaijan Services LLC, Procter & Gamble Bangladesh Private Ltd., Procter & Gamble Blois S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Brazil Holdings B.V., Procter & Gamble Bulgaria EOOD, Procter & Gamble Business Services Canada Company, Procter & Gamble Canada Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Chile , Procter & Gamble Chile Limitada, Procter & Gamble Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Commercial LLC, Procter & Gamble Commercial de Cuba S.A., Procter & Gamble Czech Republic s.r.o., Procter & Gamble DS Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Danmark ApS, Procter & Gamble Detergent (Beijing) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Deuttschland GmbH, Procter & Gamble Distributing (Philippines) Inc., Procter & Gamble Distributing New Zealand Limited, Procter & Gamble Distribution Company (Europe) BVBA, Procter & Gamble Distribution S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe, Procter & Gamble Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana, Procter & Gamble Europe SA, Procter & Gamble Export Operations SARL, Procter & Gamble Exportadora e Importadora Ltda., Procter & Gamble Exports, Procter & Gamble Fabricacao e Comercio Ltda., Procter & Gamble Far East, Procter & Gamble Finance (U.K.) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Financial Investments LLP, Procter & Gamble Financial Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Services S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finland OY, Procter & Gamble France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH, Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH & Co. Operations oHG, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care, Procter & Gamble Hellas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holdings (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership (KKT), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings, Procter & Gamble Indochina Limited Company, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama, Procter & Gamble International Operations Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Investment Company (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment GmbH, Procter & Gamble Italia, Procter & Gamble Japan K.K., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea, Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble Lanka Private Ltd. Sri Lanka, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Marketing and Services doo, Procter & Gamble Maroc SA, Procter & Gamble Mataro, Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Investments B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Nordic, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan (Private) Limited, Procter & Gamble Partnership LLP, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals France SAS, Procter & Gamble Philippines, Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo, Procter & Gamble Product Supply (U.K.) Limited U.K., Procter & Gamble Production GmbH, Procter & Gamble Productions, Procter & Gamble Productos de Consumo, Procter & Gamble RHD, Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services BVBA, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Satis ve Dagitim Ltd. Sti., Procter & Gamble Seine S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services (Switzerland) SA, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Share Incentive Plan Trustee Ltd., Procter & Gamble South America Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. (Ltd.), Procter & Gamble Sports and Social Club Ltd., Procter & Gamble Sverige AB, Procter & Gamble Switzerland SARL, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Limited, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Sales Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Limited, Procter & Gamble Technology (Beijing) Co., Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Tuketim Mallari Sanayii A.S., Procter & Gamble UK, Procter & Gamble UK Group Holdings Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK Parent Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Universal Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Verwaltungs GmbH, Procter & Gamble Vietnam, Procter & Gamble d.o.o. za trgovinu, Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.C.A., Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.R.L., Procter & Gamble do Brasil S/A, Procter & Gamble do Brazil, Procter & Gamble do Nordeste S/A, Procter & Gamble-Rakona s.r.o., Progam Realty & Development Corporation, Redmond Products, Richardson-Vicks Real Estate Inc., Richardson-Vicks do Brasil Quimica e Farmaceutica Ltda, Riverfront Music Publishing Co., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Scannon S.A.S., Series Acquisition B.V., Shulton, Surfac S.R.L., Sycamore Productions, TAOS - FL, TAOS Retail, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving - FL, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble GBS Company, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon (Shanghai) Academy, Vidal Sassoon Co., WEBA Betriebsrenten-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Walker & Company Brands, and iMFLUX Inc..
According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Vietnamese businesses imported 3.13 million tons of wheat worth US$743 million in the first seven months this year, up 2.2 percent in volume and 16.6 percent in value compared to the same period last year.
Explaining reason for the ban at a forum yesterday, Mr. Le Son Tra, head of Plant Quarantine Division under the ministry's Plant Protection Department said that the weed seed was prone to harm the environment and farming production of Vietnam.
Many wheat consignments shipped to Vietnam from Russia, the US, Canada and Australia might be re-exported in the upcoming time because of the ban order.
By VAN PHUC Translated by Hai Mien
There is not enough analysis data for Bonavista Energy Co. (BNP.TO).
3.6 Community Rank
Outperform Votes Bonavista Energy Co. (BNP.TO) has received 352 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)
Underperform Votes Bonavista Energy Co. (BNP.TO) has received 298 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)
Community Sentiment Bonavista Energy Co. (BNP.TO) has received 54.15% outperform votes from our community.
MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Bonavista Energy Co. (BNP.TO) and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe BNP will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe BNP will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.
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This was particularly imperative for officials who held key positions in the Politburo, the Party Secretariat and the Partys Central Committee, says a draft party rule which is being discussed during the ongoing CPVs eighth plenum in Hanoi.
The 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam spent the fourth working day of its 8th plenum on Friday discussing regulations on the responsibility of Party cadres and members to set good examples.
In the morning, the Party Central Committee (PCC) discussed regulations on responsibility of officials and Party members to be role models, first of all members of the Politburo, the PCC Secretariat and the PCC.
The establishment of sub-committees to prepare for the 13th National Party Congress was also tabled for discussion.
In the afternoon, the PCC gathered for a plenary session, continuing to debate the above issues.
Before the meeting, there had been many instances of high-ranking members of the Party charged with important responsibilities failing to set good examples. Some officials had even committed numerous violations to the Partys code of conduct, becoming involved in corrupt practices causing waste to the State and grievances among the people, said Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong.
Trong had urged the CPV to establish official rules to clearly define what was expected of Party members to maintain ethical standards, especially among top ranking officials.
The draft rules would tackle corruption and improve accountability. This would also extend to relatives who may take advantage of their positions for personal gain through under-the-table deals with businesses.
A number of other important points should include prohibiting the formation of interest groups, extravagant lifestyles and the purchase of financial assets and properties outside the country. Each and every single Party official was expected to maintain a high level of self-discipline, refrain from playing favourites in the promotion of subordinates or illegally tamper with investigation and judicial processes.
Vu Mao, former chairman of the National Assembly Office, said the current Party rules for its high-ranking officials were more like recommendations rather than requirements. Mao supported the view that Party members, especially those in important offices, must be held accountable should they fail to set good examples.
He said the draft rules must be strict but simple enough to leave no room for different interpretations, a problem that had become rampant within the current regulations. In the long run, according to the former politician, they should be established as laws and applicable to all Party members and civil servants.
Commenting on the draft rule, former deputy head of the CPVs Organisation Committee Nguyen Dinh Huong said it was of paramount importance that the Partys top-ranking officials must shoulder the responsibility first.
The fight against corruption must start at the top. This is where Party work on organisation and supervision is crucial, Huong said.
CPV members are expected to vote on the draft rule during the Partys eighth plenum. In the event its approved by the CPV, it is expected to serve as a major turning point in the countrys fight against corruption.
VNS
Deutsche Telekom AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services. The company operates through five segments: Germany, United States, Europe, Systems Solutions, and Group Development. It offers fixed-network services, including voice and data communication services based on fixed-network and broadband technology; and sells terminal equipment and other hardware products, as well as services to resellers. The company also provides mobile voice and data services to consumers and business customers; sells mobile devices and other hardware products; and sells mobile services to resellers and to companies that purchases and markets network services to third parties, such as mobile virtual network operators. In addition, it offers internet services; internet-based TV products and services; and information and communication technology systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions with an infrastructure of data centers and networks under the T-Systems brand, as well as call center services. The company has 242 million mobile customers and 22 million broadband customers, as well as 27 million fixed-network lines. Deutsche Telekom AG has a collaboration with VMware, Inc. on cloud-based open and intelligent virtual RAN platform to bring agility to radio access networks for existing LTE and future 5G networks; and partnership with Microsoft to deliver high-performance cloud computing experiences. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.
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There is not enough analysis data for Marijuana Company of America.
4.7 Community Rank
Outperform Votes Marijuana Company of America has received 144 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)
Underperform Votes Marijuana Company of America has received 64 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)
Community Sentiment Marijuana Company of America has received 69.23% outperform votes from our community.
MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Marijuana Company of America and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe MCOA will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe MCOA will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO ENERGY, XTO Energy Canada, and XTO Holdings LLC.
Fortis Inc. operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 433,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 98,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,233 megawatts (MW), including 59 MW of solar capacity. The company also sells wholesale electricity to other entities in the western United States; owns gas-fired and hydroelectric generating capacity totaling 65 MW; and distributes natural gas to approximately 1,048,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, it owns and operates the electricity distribution system that serves approximately 572,000 customers in southern and central Alberta; owns 4 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 225 MW; and provides operation, maintenance, and management services to five hydroelectric generating facilities. Further, the company distributes electricity in the island portion of Newfoundland and Labrador with an installed generating capacity of 143 MW; and on Prince Edward Island with a generating capacity of 130 MW. Additionally, it provides integrated electric utility service to approximately 67,000 customers in Ontario; approximately 270,000 customers in Newfoundland and Labrador; approximately 31,000 customers on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and approximately 15,000 customers on certain islands in Turks and Caicos. The company also holds long-term contracted generation assets in Belize consisting of 3 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 51 MW; and the Aitken Creek natural gas storage facility. It also owns and operates approximately 91,000 circuit Kilometers (km) of distribution lines; and approximately 49,500 km of natural gas pipelines. Fortis Inc. was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in St. John's, Canada.
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Augusta Gold Corp., a junior exploration company, engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in the United States. It primarily explores for gold, silver, and other metals. The company holds interests in the Bullfrog gold project located in the north-west of Las Vegas, Nevada. It also owns, controls, or has acquired mineral rights on Federal patented and unpatented mining claims in the state of Nevada for the purpose of exploration and potential development of metals on a total of approximately 7,800 acres of land. The company was formerly known as Bullfrog Gold Corp. and changed its name to Augusta Gold Corp. in January 2021. Augusta Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
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iShares S&P SmallCap 600 ETF's stock was trading at $62.31 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, IJR stock has increased by 91.7% and is now trading at $119.47.
View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in Asia, Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; And Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment provides mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, group retirement and savings products, and institutional asset management services through agents and brokers affiliated with the company, securities brokerage firms, and financial advisors pension plan consultants and banks. The Insurance and Annuity Products segment offers deposit and credit products; individual life, and individual and group long-term care insurance; and guaranteed and partially guaranteed annuity products through insurance agents, brokers, banks, financial planners, and direct marketing. The Corporate and Other segment is involved in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance businesses; and run-off reinsurance operations, including variable annuities, and accident and health. It also manages timberland and agricultural portfolios; and engages in insurance agency, portfolio and mutual fund management, mutual fund dealer, life and financial reinsurance, and fund management businesses. Additionally, the company holds and manages oil and gas properties; holds oil and gas royalties, and foreign bonds and equities; and provides investment management, counseling, advisory, and dealer services. Manulife Financial Corporation was incorporated in 1887 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
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MidSouth Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company, through its subsidiary MidSouth Bank, N.A., provides various community banking products and services to commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts, money market, savings accounts, investment accounts, and NOW account deposits, as well as time deposits, such as certificates of deposit; and commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and consumer loans, as well as other loans secured by real estate. It also provides cash management services; and electronic banking services comprising remote deposit capturing services, Internet banking, and debit and credit cards. As of March 1, 2019, the company had 42 offices located in Louisiana and Texas, as well as a network of approximately 55,000 surcharge-free ATMs. MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.
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Woman ChillingMayank Chhaya
There is next to prospect of my visiting Le Trayas, a small village in the Var province of South France. Until the day before yesterday I did not even know there was a place called Le Trayas. I have to thank my painting, the unimaginatively titled Woman Chilling for introducing me to what seems like a charming village in southern France.
After I upload a new painting to my Fine Art America portfolio I track its progress to see who is visiting and whether any has sold. The latter has yet to happen with any work of mine after more than a year and half of trying but I enjoy a fair bit of widespread visibility in terms of visitors from across the world.
While going through the list of places from where visitors checked out Woman Chilling Le Trayas, France, jumped out at me. A quick Google search revealed what seems like an utterly picturesque place. I am curious to find out who in Le Trayas felt the need to look at my painting and to know what that person thought of the work.
Woman Chilling, sketch--MC
I am quite tickled by the fact that an imaginary young woman, who began her life as a pencil sketch on a piece of paper and then was transferred to my computer to be painted digitally, found her way through to Le Trayas in France. I am always conscious of the astonishing confluence of so many complex technologies that made that possiblefrom the paper and pencil to my mobile phone which I used to take a picture to email and broadband which I used to transmit it to my computerthe computer itselfand then to Fresh App to paint it up and finally uploading it on Fine Art America to be viewed by someone in Le Trayas. I have skipped a few steps but you get the drift of my point. We do not acknowledge the amazing amount of work that has gone into creating this one journey by brilliant engineers and scientists and technologists.
Whether or not anyone buys a print or a tote or a greeting card or a fleece blanket with Woman Chilling on it, the realization that it has been seen by someone completely unknown to me in a place whose existence was not even imagined by me two days ago is a pure thrill.
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Ormat Technologies, Inc. operates as a holding company. The firm engages in the provision of geothermal and recovered energy power business. It operates through the following segments: Electricity, Product and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment focuses in the sale of electricity from the company's power plants pursuant to PPAs. The Product segment involves in the manufacture, including design and development, of turbines and power units for the supply of electrical energy and in the associated construction of power plants utilizing the power units manufactured by the company to supply energy from geothermal fields and other alternative energy sources. The Energy Storage segment consists of battery energy storage systems as a service and management of curtailable customer loads under contracts with U.S. retail energy providers and directly with large commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.
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Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes food products primarily in Canada and the United States. It operates in two segments, Specialty Foods and Premium Food Distribution. The company provides meat products and snacks, deli products, beef jerky and halal, sandwiches, pastries, specialty and gourmet products, salads and kettle products, entrees, panini, wraps, subs, hamburgers, burgers, muffins, breads, pastas, and baking and sushi products, as well as processed meat products. It is also involved in the distribution of food products, including meat, seafood, and halal food products, as well as operation of retail/convenience store and concessionary, and provision of food and seafood processing services. The company operates under the brand names of Harvest Meats, Hempler's, Grimm's Fine Foods, Piller's, Freybe, Isernio's, Expresco, SJ Fine Foods, McSweeney's, Made Rite, Fletcher's, Deli Chef, Belmont Meats, Conte Foods, SK Food Group, Oven Pride, Hygaard, Quality Fast Foods, HQ Fine Foods, Creekside Custom Foods, Stuyver's Bread, Bread Garden Express, Audrey's Patisserie, Duso's, Gourmet Chef, Island City Baking, Skilcor, Leadbetter's, Mclean Meats, Buddy's Kitchen, Raybern's, Partner's Crackers, Shaw Bakers, Oberto, Concord Meats, Country Prime Meats, The Meat Factory, and Golden Valley Farms. It serves chains and large format retailers, independent and specialty retailers, foodservice operators, foodservice distributors, and other food manufacturers and food brokers. The company was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Richmond, Canada.
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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.
UBS ETRACS Linked to the Wells Fargo Business Development Company Index ETN's stock was trading at $16.08 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, BDCS stock has decreased by 5.3% and is now trading at $15.23.
View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
The Boeing Co. is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space and Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide. The Defense, Space and Security segment refers to the research, development, production and modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft and weapons systems for global strike, including fighter and combat rotorcraft aircraft and missile systems; global mobility, including tanker, rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft; and airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, including command and control, battle management and airborne anti-submarine aircraft. The Global Services segment provides services to commercial and defense customers. The Boeing Capital segment seeks to ensure that Boeing customers have the financing they need to buy and take delivery of their Boeing product and manages overall financing exposure. T
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Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates in Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Oil Sands segment recovers bitumen from mining and in situ operations, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, or blends the bitumen with diluent for direct sale to market. The Exploration and Production segment is involved in offshore operations off the east coast of Canada and in the North Sea; and operating onshore assets in Libya and Syria. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and intermediate feedstock into various petroleum and petrochemical products; and markets refined petroleum products to retail, commercial, and industrial customers through its other retail sellers. The Corporate and Eliminations segment operates four wind farm operations in Ontario and Western Canada. The company also markets and trades in crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products, and power. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
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iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF's stock was trading at $158.09 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, IWF stock has increased by 92.0% and is now trading at $303.52.
View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
Freehold Raceway hosted the SBOANJ-sponsored New Jersey Futurity on Saturday afternoon in addition to a leg of the New Jersey Standardbred Development Fund.
The non-betting $22,500 New Jersey Futurity for two-year-old trotters was won by the Ron Burke trainee Cheap Tricks. No Drama Please finished second. Joe Bongiorno steered the trotting colt to victory in 2:04.3.
This was the first-lifetime win for the son of Trixton, who has earned $42,612 for his owners Burke Racing Stable LLC, Phillip Collura, Jandt Silva Purnel & Libb and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
The first leg of the NJSDF for three-year-old filly trotters took place in the third race. The odds-on favourite Chaperess nosed out the competition for trainer Trond Smedshammer.
Driven by George Brennan, Chaperess inched past the leader in the stretch to stop the clock in 1:59.3. Diamondstone US finished second, with Michando coming in third.
The daughter of Chapter Seven earned her seventh-lifetime win and $78,898 for her owner Purple Haze Stables LLC.
Freehold resumes racing Saturday, October 6, with the SBOANJ-sponsored Home Grown Pace for two-year-olds. Post time is 12:30 p.m.
(SBOANJ)
Six overseas trotters have arrived in New York in advance of next Saturday afternoons $1 million Yonkers International Trot at Empire City Casino.
The half-dozen, who flew from Belgium, found their way to John F. Kennedy International Airport and the ARKs on-site quarantine facilities.
No worse for wear are Arazi Boko (Italy), Lionel (Norway), Pastore Bob (Sweden), Ringostarr Treb (Italy). Slide So Easy (Denmark) and Up And Quick (France).
Some, if not all, of the six are expected at the Raceway early Monday morning to begin their training for the 40th International.
The mile-and-a-quarter trotting classic is augmented by a pair of $250,000 Invitationals. Theres also a special all-stakes Pick 4 wager with Yonkers and Belmont.
(With files from Yonkers)
The corresponding diesel xLine variant of the X1 is priced at Rs 38.50 lakh (ex-showroom pan-India).
BMW has launched a petrol version of the X1, which was until now available with a diesel engine only, in India. It is available in a single xLine variant and is priced at Rs 37.50. The corresponding diesel xLine variant of the X1 is priced at Rs 38.50 lakh (ex-showroom pan-India).
The X1 sDrive20i is powered by a BS-VI compliant 2.0-litre petrol engine that makes 192PS and 280Nm. Power is sent to the front wheels of the SUV via a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. This combination is capable enough to take the X1 from 0-100kmph in 7.6 seconds before topping out at 224kmph. The X1 petrol, like its diesel counterpart, is also equipped with fuel-saving tech like auto start-stop and regenerative braking. It has a claimed mileage of 15.71kmpl.
As far as features are concerned, the X1 sDrive petrol shares its feature list with its diesel counterpart.
Safety: For safety, the X1 is equipped with six airbags, ABS with EBD and BA, ISOFIX child seat anchors, attentive assistance, corner braking control, dynamic stability control, run-flat tyres and a tyre pressure monitoring system.
Lights: It is equipped LED headlamps with LED DRLs.
Infotainment: Gets a 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth, navigation and Apple CarPlay.
Other features: The X1 also gets a panoramic sunroof, interior ambient lighting, two-zone climate control, rear parking sensors with a camera, electrically adjustable front seats, leather-wrapped steering, 40:20:40 split rear seats and push-button start.
Wheels: 18-inch Y-spoke alloys with 225/50 R18 section tyres.
Also Read: 2019 BMW 3 Series: New vs Old - Major Differences
The petrol BMW X1 will take on other petrol compact luxury SUVs such as the Mercedes-Benz GLA and the Audi Q3. The Volvo XC40 is currently being offered with a diesel engine only.
BMW is also expected to unveil the X1 facelift soon. Read more about it here.
Also Read: BMW Lists M2 Competition, India Launch Soon
Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho.
New Delhi: Massimo Varese, Internationally renowned Helmet Designer with over 25 years of work experience in Production has joined Steelbird Group India. Previously he has been associated with Italian brands such as DAINESE S.p.A as R&D Director; Mavet s.r.l. as CEO; AGV S.p.A as R&D Director; Pastorfrigor S.p.A. as Operation Director; NAVA s.r.l. as Operation Manager; OMEGA s.r.l. as General Manager and Technical Director.
Keeping in mind the rich experience of Mr. Massimo Varese with global helmets brand, he will spearhead the Steelbird Helmet Production in India.
Commenting on the new development, Mr Rajeev Kapur, MD, Steelbird Group said, I am delighted to welcome Mr. Massimo Varese in Steelbird Family. The appointment of Massimo Varese who comes with such a rich experience will be responsible for expansion of Steelbird helmets portfolio including design, development and production for domestic as well as global market. The appointment of Massimo Varese will open up new vistas for the Indian helmet brand to take off for global journey with his strong and fresh ideas.
This is a great opportunity for me to apply my talent and expertise in the industry which is close to my heart. I am extremely excited to join Steelbird Helmet and to serve Asias largest helmet industry i.e. India. Said Mr. Massimo Varese
Steelbird is currently manufacturing 4 million helmets annually and aiming to increase its production capacity to 10 Million helmets by end of 2020.
Like Annu Kapoor, media has been asking almost every celebrity about Tanushree Duttas allegations against Nana Patekar.
Mumbai: Annu Kapoor believes Tanushree Dutta, who has accused Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her on a film's set in 2008, should approach the police instead of talking to the media.
"The dignity and pride of a woman has been hurt. But if this is true, then the person should be punished, be it Nana Patekar or Annu Kapoor.
"You bring the proof, and then the culprit should be punished. But if without any proof, you are just levelling allegations. So many questions have been raised today, and you have to answer those questions. Why this media trial? Why you are not going to the police station? This only makes me doubt your intentions," Kapoor told reporters here at an event Zee5's docu-drama Khaar on Thursday.
Dutta has accused Patekar of misbehaviour on the sets of a 2008 movie. He has denied the allegations and has slapped her with a notice.
Before Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma, other celebrities like Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor, among others had also supported Tanushree Dutta.
Mumbai/ New Delhi: Anushka Sharma is the latest celebrity from the Hindi film industry to support Tanushree Dutta, saying the details that she has given about her alleged harassment on a movie set are "frightening".
Anushka said Dutta, who has accused Nana Patekar of harassing her during the shooting of a 2008 movie, should be respected for choosing to come out and speak her truth. "Not just as a woman but as an individual, your workplace has to be the safest environment after your home. You shouldn't feel threatened or in danger while performing your duties, whatever profession you might be in.
Also read: Maharashtra police files case against Tanushree for comments against political leader
"It's very frightening to know the details that have come out. For Tanushree Dutta to speak up about this takes a lot of courage to come out there and say these things. But if someone is choosing to come out and speak up, the least you can do is listen to them and be respectful about it," Anushka said at the success press conference of Sui Dhaaga.
The actor hoped that the incident will encourage more women to come forward and share their experiences.
"It's not as if this does not happen everywhere. It will be nice if an atmosphere is created where women feel safe to come out and speak up," she added.
Her co-star Varun Dhawan said it is not a good sign that it has taken ten years for people to react to the incident. Dutta had first spoken about the incident in 2008, but she did not get any support at that time.
"It happened in 2008 and we are reacting to it in 2018, it's not a good sign... If something like this happens on my film's set, I'll personally make sure to prevent it. You cannot let violence take over. Law and order should take its course and investigate the matter.
"Let's get to the conclusion of the matter, enough talk about it. The law needs to step in. I'll give my opinion, someone else will give theirs, but it's time the law steps in," he said.
Anushka said it was wrong to taint Dutta's image by posting pictures in certain clothes.
"Let's all be collectively responsible for something like this. When something like this happens, it's the environment that is to be blamed, not a particular person. Environment breeds people to do the wrong thing.
"... We should stop questioning 'Why is this happening so late?' That's also not right. If justice hasn't been served, it can happen anytime.
Meanwhile, Deepika Padukone said Friday that #MeToo movement is about the victory of right over wrong and should not be reduced to men versus women.
When asked about the #MeToo movement in the light of Tanushree Dutta's allegations of harassment against Nana Patekar, Padukone said, "For me, the #MeToo movement is not about gender. It is about the victory of right over wrong."
Also read: Tanushree-Nana row: Union minister Maneka for #MeToo, CINTAA rues decision in case
"Anyone who faces any kind of discrimination or any sort of abuse, I think we as people must support that person. It is not about a woman or a man or about female versus men. Let's not complicate or get confused in that conversation. I think the #MeToo should not be only about gender. It's about right versus wrong," she said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2018 here.
Actor Ranveer Singh, who had accompanied Padukone to the event and shared the dais with her, said he condemns harassment in every form.
"Harassment per se is just wrong. Harassment of anyone, women, men or any person being harassed is wrong, whether it is in the workplace, public place, street or at home. It is wrong. Right now, there is something that has happened. There is all kinds of speculation.
"But if it has happened, then it takes a lot of courage for somebody to come out and speak about it. You know you have been through some very disturbing experience. It takes courage to speak publicly about it. Therefore you must consider what this person is saying... If it has happened, it is absolutely wrong, and I condemn it emphatically," Ranveer said.
Also read: Tanushree Dutta slapped with legal notices by Nana Patekar, Vivek Agnihotri
Dutta has accused Patekar of misbehaviour on the sets of a 2008 movie. He has denied the allegations and has slapped her with a notice.
Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor, who were last seen together in the 2012 film Ishaqzaade, are all set to share screen space once again in Namaste England. At a promotional event for the upcoming film, the actress spoke about how much Arjun had grown since his debut.
I feel so proud that he has become a star and an established actor. Today, when people come to ask for his autograph and when people applaud his performances, I am so proud to be his friend, Parineeti said.
She added, I feel like I share a pure bond with him. Arjun the actor was literally born in front of me. I feel like I have contributed to his growth as a true friend. I also feel very protective of him. Since having a wonderful time together on our first film, our friendship has only become stronger. I am happy that nothing has changed over time.
Every year, a multitude of actors make their debut in mainstream cinema but a select few stand out, thanks to their onscreen charisma and talent. There is also the luck factor and being in the right place at the right time. And what one has are breakout performances, rather than one-off sparks.
What are the chances of lightning hits striking a person again and again? In Nivin Paulys case hits seem to have become his bedfellows. Nivin, clad in a light mundu and black shirt, swaggered his way into a million hearts with his mega hit Premam breaking all-time records. It would have been easy for the actor to just stick to the commercial format, but he chose to break away from his comfort zone by signing Rosshan Andrrews Kayamkulam Kochunni and Geethu Mohandass bilingual Moothon. And the one he is currently busy with is Haneef Adenis Mikhael.
The actors choices are eclectic and experimental and he would not want it any other way. I try not to repeat my roles consciously. An actor grows only when he is ready to experiment, both with roles and different directors. It is not only about hits or misses but about evolving as an actor.
Kayamkulam Kochunni, based on the legendary thief who lived in the 19th century, is one of Mollywoods most expensive films. Elaborating on the reasons why he chose to try out the historic genre, Nivin says, I had immense belief in the director. Rosshan is someone who has done path-breaking films in the past; added to that was the Sanjay Bobby combo and a character which I have never attempted before. These were the immediate reasons but what also allured Nivin was giving life to a thief the whole of Kerala was acquainted with at least through films, folklores and books. That excited me to play the Robin Hood of Kerala, he says, adding, As the script grew so did the canvas and the budget and that gave me an extra responsibility as an actor. This is the biggest film of my career in terms of budget, he adds.
The shoot took a long nine months, I did not take up any other film during this period and gave my complete attention to KK. Getting into the skin of the lovable thief of Kayamkulam also demanded learning new skills. I had to learn kalari, horse riding, sword fighting, and all of which was challenging.
The responsibility that Nivin spoke of earlier is a gargantuan one, if you consider the significance of Kochunni in Kerala history. There have been films made on Kayamkulam Kochunni earlier and Nivin had specific instructions from the makers that he should not see those films. KK is someone born out of the mind and pen of Rosshan and Sanjay- Bobby. We are not recreating him from any book or film so there are fictional moments, fights and dramatics. I just studied who and what Kayamkulam Kochunni was. The film takes reference from Kottarathil Sankunnis Aithihyamala and Amar Chitra Katha but it is fictionalised.
The actor even suffered an arm injury on the sets. Nivin names the fight sequences as risky. The horse riding sequences too were not easy and challenged the actor in him. Normally, an actor trains on a single horse and keeps on training till the actor and the horse are familiar with each other. Here since we were travelling to different locations we could not bring the same horse to those locations. I was almost thrown off a horse on two occasions but managed to stay put, he recalls.
Working with Mohanlal in KK was also a revelation one which he never thought would happen so soon. I shot with him for 12 days and those days were the best in my career. I learnt a lot about professionalism and how to perfect a scene. So what did the captain of the ship Rosshan teach Nivin? Rosshan is like my brother. Professionally, he is a brilliant director who does his home work thoroughly. For example, the fight sequences were already pre-visualised and animated so it was easy to shoot just by following those sequences. The amount of detailing he gave to each aspect has to be seen to be believed!
Rosshan, he says, was not ready for any compromise be it the props or sets or details. He has a special knack for getting the best out of his actors, Nivin adds. At the end of the day cinema should not suffer due to compromises!
Doing films like the upcoming Love Action Drama where he shares screen space with Nayanthara or Hey Jude where he worked with the lovely Trisha, he says, feels like a dream. He reveals he was Trishas fan since Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and recalls. She never had any airs. She is very friendly, silent and down to earth and a very good friend of mine now. Trisha is someone who has a pure heart! He is just getting acquainted with Nayanthara since the shooting has just commenced but says the actor is a thorough professional.
Moving on to the Hindi Malayalam bilingual Moothon, Nivin says that was a film he never would have seen himself acting in. It is very realistic. Director Geethu is brilliant, who sees beyond the actors vision and pushes him to go the extra mile in a constant effort to make the scene better. Mikhael is the story of a brother and sister and he is currently busy with the shooting of the film in Kozhikode.
Nivin never had any film background to fall back on. All he had was a burning desire to get into films that made him shun a career in the IT field and head over to tinsel town. If one has the passion and the ability to never lose sight of your goal, I believe that one will ultimately reach that destination. Of course, one has to get the right scripts and directors too. Nivin also believes in his intuitions. I pay heed to my intuitions and whenever I have chosen to ignore it, I have paid the price!
Before signing off, he says, Learning and evolving are also part of the actors life!
Vitamin D is made naturally by the human body when skin is exposed to the sun. (Photo: Pixabay)
According to a new study by researchers, taking vitamin D pills does not strengthen bones or stop fractures.
The authors of the study who combined results from 81 previous studies said there is little justification in recommending the supplements to maintain or improve musculoskeletal health.
According to the study the report said the sole advantage of taking vitamin D was to reduce the risk of rare conditions such as rickets and osteomalacia, but only in high-risk groups of people who get little sunlight exposure.
Speaking about it, lead author Dr Mark Bolland, of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said that their meta-analysis found that vitamin D does not prevent fractures, falls or improve bone mineral density, whether at high or low dose.
But other experts questioned the relevance of the findings. They insisted the new study included very few people whose vitamin D levels were too low before they took the pills.
Notably, vitamin D is made naturally by the human body when skin is exposed to the sun.
Speaking about the study, Dr Robert Clarke, of the University of Oxford, said that the report included all available trials of vitamin D, but such trials included too few participants, used an insufficient dose of vitamin D, and had an insufficient duration of treatment.
He added, We should wait until the results of the five ongoing trials of vitamin D, involving 57,000 adults, that will be available in the next year or so.
Professor Adrian Martineau, of Queen Mary University of London, added that a major limitation of this study is that people with low vitamin D levels who potentially stand to benefit the most from supplementation were in a small minority in the trials included in the analysis.
The new study was published in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal.
A new study's findings challenge vitamin B supplements' alleged health benefits after discovering it puts men at higher risk of developing lung cancer.
Men who take high doses of vitamins B6 or B12 for a long time are particularly at risk of the disease, the Daily Mail reported.
These vitamins help red blood cells to process proteins, fat and carbohydrate. While they are found in meat, fish, cheese, eggs, milk and cereals, many people resort to taking supplements that are marketed as energy-boosting products, the report revealed.
American researchers examined 77,000 people aged between 50 and 76 for the study called Vital, with the aim to understand the impact vitamins and minerals have on cancer risk.
Data was collected of participants' vitamin B use and dose amount taken over 10 years. The team found men who took high doses of these vitamins over the years were at higher risk of cancer.
Smokers who took more than 20mg of B6 per day were three times more likely to develop lung cancer. The risk was greater for male smokers taking at least 55 micrograms of B12 per day.
Lead author of the study Dr Theodore Brasky, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Centre told the Daily Mail, "In fact, all men who used these supplements in high doses for a decade had approximately double the risk developing lung cancer, and in men who smoked, the risk was three to four times as great." Adding, vitamin B supplements contain "much, much higher than the daily recommended amount".
He recommends not taking these kinds of supplements, as you can naturally get vitamin B from consuming meats, chickpeas and cereal.
The risk for women who took the supplements was not the same, researchers found. Further research is needed to determine whether the effect is the same for post-menopausal women.
UK's National Health Service recommended dose:
Vitamin B6
* 1.4mg a day for men
* 1.2mg a day for women
Vitamin B12
* 1.5mcg a day
The research was originally published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has on Friday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Centres intervention in the release of six fishermen from the state detained by Iranian authorities for alleged violation of its maritime boundary.
The fishermen were reportedly detained in a fishing boat for more than a month and they do not have access to basic amenities and their essential supplies have exhausted, he mentioned in the letter.
Moreover, many of the detained fishermens visas will expire in a couple of months and the prolonged incarceration of these poor fishermen, who went abroad for earning their livelihood, would severely affect the morale and survival of their families, he explained in the letter.
Since the families of fishermen are anxious and are worried about their safety, the Chief Minister urged the Centre to instruct the Indian ambassador in Tehran to provide essential supplies to the fishermen immediately and to take legal measures to secure their immediate release.
It may be noted that the fishermen, who were operating from the fishing base of Dubai in United Arab Emirates, were apprehended and detained by the Iranian Coast Guard on September 1.
Vivek Tiwari, the Apple executive, was shot dead early on September 29 when he allegedly refused to stop his car for checking in Lucknow's posh Gomti Nagar neighbourhood. ((Photo: Facebook | vivek.tiwari)
Lucknow: Three SHOs have been removed, four constables suspended and two ex-policemen arrested as the Uttar Pradesh police cracked down on social media protests from within the force over the action taken against two constables who allegedly shot dead an Apple executive here last week.
Pictures on social media show police personnel wearing black armbands in support of their colleagues who were arrested after the tech company executive was shot dead when he refused to stop his car for checking.
Incharges of Naka, Gudamba and Aliganj police stations in the state capital were removed and three constables posted there were suspended on Friday.
A departmental probe is on, DIG (Law and Order) Praveen Kumar told reporters here. The photographs of constables of the three police stations went viral on social media, after which officers swung into action.
They, however, did not confirm whether the photographs were current or old.
On Thursday, former constables, Brijendra Yadav and Avinash Pathak, dismissed from service earlier in different cases, have been arrested from Varanasi and Mirzapur, while a policeman, Sarvesh Chowdhury, posted in Raebareli has been suspended over the same issue, police said.
An FIR has also been registered against Sarvesh Chowdhury for posting an 11-minute video in which he purportedly claims that he had offered and has been collecting money for the two constables accused in the killing of the Apple executive.
He is also seen taking swipes at political leaders and top police officials. Officials said a probe has been ordered into reports that constables were posting their pictures with black armbands on in support of their two accused colleagues, and that action would be taken against those found involved in such acts.
Vivek Tiwari, the Apple executive, was shot dead early on September 29 when he allegedly refused to stop his car for checking in Lucknow's posh Gomti Nagar neighbourhood.
Two constables, Prashant Chowdhury and Sandeep Kumar, were arrested after an FIR was lodged on basis of a complaint by Tiwari's colleague Sana Khan, who was travelling with him.
Some people claiming to be batchmates and sympathisers of Prashant Chowdhury and Sandeep Kumar are seen campaigning for them on social media and seeking donations to help them.
"An FIR has been registered at Hazratganj police station here on Thursday against unnamed people under the Police (Incitement to Disaffection) Act, and cyber teams are looking at such posts to take the case to a logical end," a senior police official said here.
The Act provides a maximum punishment of six months. "Rumours are being spread on social media... We have taken the matter seriously and surveillance is going on to track such people. It has come to the fore that some constables terminated from service are involved in it," the DIG said.
A Uttar Pradesh police spokesperson said, "It has come to our notice that constables are tying black ribbons and posting such pictures on social media." The posts are being examined, he said, adding in the last two days, investigating officers have come across instances where morphed or old pictures were posted on social media.
Clarifying the situation, the DIG said, "Some people posing as policemen and anti-social elements are involved in it. We will take strict action."
When asked about the issue, Vivek Tiwari's wife Kalpana said, "My innocent husband was killed, I want justice for him. I am not against the police. This (campaign in support of accused constables, if any) should not be held. Senior officers should take cognisance of it and take action."
NCP President Sharad Pawar has told the party not to consider his name as he will not be a candidate. (Photo: ANI)
Mumbai: NCP president Sharad Pawar will not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, party leader Jitendra Ahwad said on Saturday in Mumbai.
Putting to rest speculations that Pawar will contest from Pune Lok Sabha seat, Ahwad told reporters that Pawar had already made it clear in 2014 that he will not contest the Lok Sabha polls again.
"Pawar has told the party not to consider his name as he will not be a candidate. In today's meeting, Pawar said he is not in the (LS) race and nobody should propose his name," said the NCP lawmaker from Mumbra-Kalwa, in neighbouring Thane district.
Awhad also denied that the NCP chief had opposed the candidature of Parth Pawar, son of senior leader Ajit Pawar, for the Mawal Lok Sabha seat.
"Preliminary discussions are on. The name will be finalised after discussions with party workers," Ahwad said.
The former Union Agriculture minister is currently holding a two-day meeting with NCP leaders and functionaries at the party's state unit office to discuss candidates for the Lok Sabha polls scheduled for next year. The meeting started on Saturday morning.
In another development, former Maharashtra NCP chief Sunil Tatkare told reporters that he was willing to step aside if Bhaskar Jadhav, another former state party chief, was keen to contest from Raigad Lok Sabha seat.
Tatkare had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Raigad, near Mumbai, against Shiv Sena leader Anant Geete.
Anant Geete is the Heavy Industries minister in the Narendra Modi government.
"I will work for his (Jadhav) win. If Jadhav is interested, I am willing to withdraw. I am not interested in contesting Lok Sabha polls. More than my candidature, I want to ensure victory of a secular government. If Jadhav is interested, I am supporting him," Sunil Tatkare said.
The NCP has demanded a 50-50 seat-sharing formula for the state's 48 Lok Sabha seats in its alliance talks with the Congress.
The two parties had entered into an alliance in 2014 and the Congress contested 27 seats while the NCP put up candidates on 21 LS seats.
Pawar will discuss the current political situation in the 21 Lok Sabha seats the party had contested in 2014 and discuss the process of selection of candidates, a senior NCP leader had said on Friday.
The NCP has also called leaders from Jalna, Aurangabad, Dhule and Hatkanangle, since the party plans to stake claim to these four seats, party spokesperson Nawab Malik had said.
The Congress had fought from these four seats in the 2014 general elections.
The Hatkanangle LS seat is currently held by Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana's Raju Shetti. He quit the NDA and allied with the Congress recently.
The signing of the deal assumes significance as China, too, has signed a deal with Russia to procure the same missile system. (Photo: File/AFP)
New Delhi: The S-400 Triumf air defence system deal, inked by India and Russia Friday notwithstanding the US pressure of sanctions, can engage up to 36 targets at a time and simultaneously launch 72 missiles.
The long and medium range air defense missile system, which Air Force Chief B S Dhanoa said will provide a much needed "booster" to the Air Force, is designed to destroy air attacks, including stealth aircraft and any other aerial targets.
"The sides welcomed the conclusion of the contract for the supply of the S-400 Long Range Surface to Air Missile System to India," a joint statement released after the delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladmir Putin said.
The delivery of the missile systems, tipped to be over USD 5 billion, will start 24 months from the signing of the contract. Acquiring the missile system will help repulse the air attacks by India's adversaries, especially Pakistan and China.
The signing of the deal assumes significance as China, too, has signed a deal with Russia to procure the same missile system.
"This is the most lethal weapons system in the world and it provides four different types of layered air defence," Air Vice Marshal (retd) Manmohan Bahadur told PTI.
However, the deal comes under the purview of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which targets Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
India has conveyed to the US its necessity to procure this air defence missile system.
In 1999, the system was demonstrated for the first time at the Kapustin Yar practice range (the Astrakhan Region) to then defence minister Igor Sergeyev.
The trials of the most advanced air defense missile system were carried out in the 2000s. The missile system has been in service since April 2007.
The S-400 is based on the S-300PMU2 air defense missile complex. The air defence missile system comprises a combat control post, a three-coordinate jam-resistant phased array radar to detect aerial targets, six-eight air defence missile complexes (with up to 12 transporter-launchers, and also a multi-functional four-coordinate illumination and detection radar), a technical support system, a missile transporting vehicles and a training simulator, experts said.
The S-400 system can also additionally include an all-altitude radar (detector) and movable towers for an antenna post, they said.
The target detection range of this system is up to 600 kilometres and its tactical ballistic missile destruction range varies from five kilometres to 60 kilometres.
After the BSP decided earlier this week to go alone in Assembly elections in these two states, it was the Samajwadi Partys turn on Saturday to dump the Congress.
Lucknow: The Congress could be in for trouble in both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as its move to join hands with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to put up a united fight against the ruling BJP has fizzled out.
After the BSP decided earlier this week to go alone in Assembly elections in these two states, it was the Samajwadi Partys turn on Saturday to dump the Congress.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led party ruled out an alliance with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly delaying a deal and failing to show large-heartedness in seat-sharing.
The Congress, which had tried to play down the BSPs snub on October 3, said in New Delhi that it had not been planning an alliance with the SP in Madhya Pradesh.
The Congress has made us wait long enough. The elections are being announced and we cannot wait any longer. We will, however, talk to the BSP about an alliance in Madhya Pradesh, said Akhilesh Yadav.
Though the SP has no MLAs in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and the BSP has four MLAs in MP and three in Rajasthan, their decision to fight the elections without any understanding with the Congress will convert the contest in both the states into a triangular tussle that may benefit the ruling BJP. A united Opposition against the BJP, led by the Congress and complemented by the SPs appeal to Muslim voters and the BSPs to dalits, would have given the saffron party nightmares.
During the last Assembly polls in MP, the combined votes polled by both the Congress and the BSP were more than that of the BJP.
The BSP has considerable influence in northern Madhya Pradesh and pockets of Scheduled Castes account for 16 per cent of the states population, though, over the past few years the dalit vote bank in the state has shifted to the BJP. PTI
Chief election commissioner O.P. Rawat flanked by election commissioners Sunil Arora (L) and Ashok Lavasa (R) address a press conference to announce the dates for elections in five states, in Delhi, Saturday. (Photo: AP)
Hyderabad: The process relating to the Telangana state Assembly elections is moving as predicted by TRS president and caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, with the Election Commission scheduling the poll for December 7. The results will be declared on December 11.
As Mr Rao had stated earlier, the TS polls elections will be held along with elections to four other states, according to the schedule announced by Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat on Saturday.
Chhattisgarh will go to the polls in two phases on November 12 and 20, elections in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram will be held on November 28 and Rajasthan will vote along with TS on December 7,
After the dissolution of the Assembly on September 6, Mr Rao had told the media that the TS elections would be held along with that of four other states and the election process would be completed by the first week of December.
He said that the election schedule would be announced in the first week of October and the notification issued in November. It so happened that Mr Rawat announced the election schedule on October 6; Mr Rao considers six his lucky number.
The election notification will be issued on November 12, and filing of nominations will start the same day. Polling will be held on December 7 and counting of votes will take place on December 11. The new government will be formed in the third week of December.
Political parties have ample time for campaigning, and the Congress has enough time to work out seat adjustments with its allies. With 36 days remaining for issuing the notification, political parties are in no hurry to take up election-related activities.
The main political parties like the TRS, Congress and the BJP have already started their campaigns. The TRS was at the forefront in announcing 105 out of 119 candidates. The Congress is still in discussions with its allies for a common minimum programme and the BJP has not announced its candidates yet.
The Congress and TD objected to the announcement of the election schedule while a petition with regard to voters list is in the High Court. TPCC election cell incharge Marri Sashidhar Reddy, and Telangana TD president L, Ramana, speaking to the media separately, questioned the necessity for the Election Commission to announce the TS Assembly election schedule in a hasty manner when the court was still hearing the petition.
Hyderabad: The restoration of the heritage block of Osmania General Hospital should be included in the manifesto of all political parties, members of civil society have demanded. They said they wanted a commitment that the building, built in 1917, would be repaired and not allowed to deteriorate further.
The Rs 200 crore, which was sanctioned for restoration in 2013, has not been used. Only Rs 6 crore have been utilised, according to the information secured by the government.
The old block is a heritage structure and there have been issues raised about the contribution from other departments to allow the building to be restored.
Prof. Syed Immamuddin of Osmania Medical College said, We are trying to get different agencies together so that there can be a consensus built at the government level to get the work done.
The building, which has had its two floors vacated, only has patients on the first floor and the ground floor. The proposal put before the government was to keep the hospital administration in the old building and a part of it could be used as a museum.
Mr Mujtaba Hasan Askari, who has a help desk at the hospital, explained, There is a need for scientific assessment of the structure by heritage experts and architects and it must be given top priority. The pillars of the building are 5 feet in width and are made of solid granite stone which gives the building structural stability.
According to senior members of the OGH Joint Action Committee, the structure is very strong but cement from the lime mix is peeling off from the roof. Sewage pipes have been added to the building and there is no proper maintenance, which has led to seepage and affected the structure.
A senior doctor said, Lime mix is very expensive and whenever repairs are carried out, cement is applied but that is not the solution. The building needs experts to handle it and there must be commitment to ensure that it will be restored.
During the last four years, several letters have been written and daily reports of cement flakes falling on patients have been sent to the health secretary by the superintendent. The OGHJAC carried out protests for 100 days demanding that the building be repaired.
The Osmania Medical College Alumni has also volunteered to help as they want the hospital to be restored to its former glory.
Hyderabad: Congress leaders D.K. Aruna and A. Revanth Reddy lashed out at TRS chief and caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao over his remarks about them at the Wanaparthy public meeting on Friday.
Speaking to media on Saturday, Ms Aruna challenged Mr Rao to prove that she offered harathis to Seemandhra leaders and welcomed them to loot Telangana waters. She asked Mr Rao what he had done for Palamuru district when he was an MP for five years from Mahbubnagar and a Central minister. She alleged that TRS ministers had not slept near irrigation projects but slept in guest houses.
Ms Aruna said they were not afraid of Mr Raos threats. She said the people have understood that Mr Rao was a cheat and in fear of defeat in the upcoming elections. Aruna called the TRS a demons and vultures party.
TPCC Working president Revanth Reddy said Mr Rao was provoking the Telangana sentiment again in the upcoming assembly elections in fear of defeat. He alleged that Mr Rao was trying to divert the public attention from the fact that the elections were a TRS versus Congress affair and making it seem a TRS versus Telugu Desam contest. Mr Reddy said TD president N. Chandra-babu Naidu was not even a voter in Telangana. Mr Rao is repeatedly speaking about cash-for-vote case. Do whatever you want, we are not afraid, he said.
Referring to Mr Raos allegation that Mr Naidu had provided `500 crore and three helicopters for an alliance with Congress, Mr Reddy asked him how many crores were taken when the TRS had an alliance with the TD.
Mr Reddy said a section of the media had reported some baseless and false news during IT raids at his residence. He asked the media to tender an unconditional apology or be prepared to face a defamation case.
Telangana Congress president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy takes objection to the governments intolerance of dissent, as much as he highlights its alleged corruption and failure to fulfil promises.
What the Telangana people are unable to tolerate is the arrogance of KCR and his family members, their suppression of all democratic institutions, their severe repression of any voice of decent and their misuse of the police to suppress Opposition or even civil society when they are protesting for the basic rights of the people, Mr Reddy said in an exclusive interview.
To criticism that the Congress pre-poll promises are too extravagant and cannot be supported by the exchequer, the TPCC president said, We have done a very careful analysis of what the people want and what the Budget can cover. We held a series of meetings with financial experts and announced our promises in line with what the state Budget can afford.
My wife is also an MLA, we have no children and we are both committed to working for the good of the public, the TPCC chief said in a free-ranging interview. Excerpts.
Q Do you think people are happy with the TRS government?
When Telangana state was created, almost all sections of society, be it students, unemployed youth, Dalits, tribals, BCs, Muslims, farmers, farm labour or women self-help groups, felt that their lives would improve. On the day the TRS government was formed in June 2014, it undoubtedly enjoyed the goodwill of the people.
But, over the last four-and-a-half years, almost all sections of society are feeling that not only have their lives not become better, they have actually become worse. Even more important, what the Telangana people are unable to tolerate is the arrogance of KCR and his family members, their suppression of all democratic institutions, their severe repression of any voice of decent and their misuse of the police to suppress Opposition or even civil society when they are protesting for the basic rights of the people. Today, the people of Telangana feel that KCR and his family must be taught a lesson for their arrogance, dictatorial attitude, for their corrupt ways and the Congress is definitely their preferred alternative.
Also, we have announced several specific, concrete measures that we will take immediately on forming government, such as the number of jobs that will be provided or vacancies filled in a specified timeframe, the measures we have announced to improve the lot of farmers or the huge financial incentives and encouragement that we are going to give women self-help groups or the revolutionary steps we are going to bring in to markedly improve the civil supply system so that all BPL families will get their monthly rations at a nominal cost. These and many other steps we have announced have received huge response from the Telangana society.
Q What is the main slogan for the Congress for the elections?
Our slogan KCR Hatao Telangana Bachao. Because, as I said earlier, not only has there been no development, there has been a systematic effort to destroy all democratic institutions in Telangana. This is not acceptable to the people.
Q Do you think corruption will be a major issue in campaign?
Among all the state governments so far, KCR and his family members have been the most corrupt. When we try to question their corruption, KCR tries to insult or humiliate the Opposition leaders. The people are watching this. We are quite sure the corrupt ways of KCR and his family members will bring down their party.
Q During the 2014 elections, there are many corruption allegations against the Congress regarding Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and Jagan Mohan Reddy. Do you think that you lost the elections because of those allegations?
No, we lost in 2014 because of many factors. Firstly, we faced a huge anti-incumbency as we were in power both at the Centre and in the state for 10 years before that. Secondly, the promises of KCR attracted a majority of the population, Thirdly, we made mistakes at that time. We will not repeat them, we will win the Assembly elections. I dont want to go into those mistakes now.
Q Will there be no Congress government in the state? Is it going to be a grand alliance government?
There has been no discussion so far. We are open to all options. We are open to the option of forming government on our own or forming one with the allies depending on the situation. The issue will be decided by the Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. He will discuss with senior leaders at that point of time. It is premature to talk about it now.
Q There are so many leaders in the Congress who are competing to be CM. Are you an aspirant?
It is a tradition in the Congress that the Chief Minister will be decided after the elections. Rahul Gandhi will decide it. Most seniors in the party and I will accept any decision that is taken by Rahul Gandhi. The media distorts the issue of CM candidate in the party. It is a matter of pride that there are many leaders in the Telangana Congress who have both the experience and the ability to be Chief Minister. This is not a disadvantage and we feel it as an advantage. Anybody becoming CM is okay with me.
Q Will there be any back-stabbing among the CM aspirants?
No, today we are working in a very good atmosphere. It is the media that is saying that there are differences. We are united in our battle and unanimous among ourselves. Any such issues will be discussed after the elections.
Q Why did the Congress not take action against Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy who spoke against the leadership?
This issue is pending with the AICC, we will be discussing it with them in the next three or four days. The TPCC disciplinary committee has sent a report which was forwarded to the AICC. These issues will be decided by them, I do not want to comment.
Q You have said that soon after coming to power you will initiate an inquiry into the corruption charges against the KCR government. The same was said by Dr Rajasekhar Reddy in 2004 and Mr Chandrasekhar Rao in 2014. Are you really going to do this?
The next Congress government, whoever will be a part of it, will inquire into the wrong doings of the present government and necessary action will be taken.
Q Then, why are you accusing Mr Rao of carrying out political vendetta, when you will be doing the same?
We will go by facts and definitely there will be an inquiry. Action will be taken according to the report.
Q The TRS government is digging up old cases against Congress leaders. How will you deal with it?
KCR is trying to target Congress leaders, he is afraid of us. That is the reason he is using derogatory and abusive language and trying use the police and Central and state government agencies to fix Congress leaders. If he is really confident of winning with a comfortable majority, why is he targeting our leaders? Anyway, we are not afraid and will fight back. KCR is mistaken if he thinks his words or his use of government agencies will browbeat us. This is not going to work.
Q You are saying that the I-T raids against Congress leader A. Revanth Reddy were jointly planned by Mr Chandrasekhar Rao and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If that is true, why did the I-T department raid the houses of TRS MP P. Srinivas Reddy?
I think it was only to cover up and make it look neutral. We have never heard in 70 years of Indian democracy that the Central government agencies were used to influence polls. It is happening for the first time and society is watching.
Q According to a Congress survey, you will get 70 per cent of the votes. The TRS survey shows that it will win 100 seats. How can the two reports be so different? Is this a mind game?
We think that KCR is doing surveys in other states. In Telangana state, the peoples mandate is clear. We are going to form government with an overwhelming majority.
Q If you are confident of the Congress coming to power, why are you taking other parties along with you to fight against Mr Chandrasekhar Rao?
We have given a call to all organisations of employees, students, youth, civil society and political forces to join us in ridding Telangana of this corrupt, dictatorial and despotic family. In line with our call, we are discussing with like-minded parties. We are first discussing the common agenda and then we will discuss about seat-sharing.
Q The TRS says you will need the Budget of all the southern states to fulfil the sops you have promised. What do you say?
We have done a very careful analysis of what the people want and what the Budget can cover. We held a series of meetings with financial experts and announced our promises in line with what the state Budget can afford. We feel the priorities of the KCR government are wrong. With the right priorities, what we announced can definitely be met comfortably within the Budget of 2019-20.
Q What will be the impact of the BJP on the elections?
The BJP is a very nominal force in Telangana state and our surveys show that they will get fewer seats than they are holding presently.
Q Dont you think that the BJP will split the anti-government vote?
I think whatever votes will be polled for the BJP are TRS votes because undoubtedly the TRS is sailing with the BJP for the last four-and-a-half years. The TRS has voted for the BJP in the elections for President, Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman. TRS has supported the BJP during the no-confidence motion in Parliament, demonetisation and GST. So, the BJP and TRS are seen as partners in the public view.
Q What is the stand of the Congress, when it comes to Minorities?
The Minorities of Telangana including Muslims, Christians and others have seen that KCR is working as an agent of Modi. It is almost like Bada Modi in Delhi and Chota Modi in Hyderabad. The minorities will teach KCR a befitting lesson. The reason that the KCR has called for early elections is to cheat the minorities again. He thinks he can get the minorities votes now, win the elections and form an alliance with the BJP for the Parliament elections. The minorities have seen through his drama and are all set to bury the TRS.
Q Will Owaisi carry the Minorities?
We only wish to question Mr Asaduddin Owaisi that all occasions in the last four-and-a-half years KCR has openly backed the BJP on all critical issues, why is he giving his support to Modi and KCR? He should answer the minorities. Is it because of land deals? Or is it because of any cases being withdrawn? Why was the report of the Alair encounter (of four terror suspcets) not put in the public domain? Why has he not questioned KCR after a acquittal of the Macca Masjid case accused? The TS government has taken no measure to file an appeal in the higher court. Why is Owaisi not questioning KCR who supported the BJP when it interfered with Muslim personal law?
Those who will get elected in the by-polls now, will have a tenure of a mere eight or nine months as the present LS goes to the polls in early 2019.
Bengaluru: It's now official. The by-elections to three Lok Sabha seats of Mandya, Ballari and Shivamogga and the two assembly seats of Ramanagara and Jamakhandi will be held on November 3 and the counting will take place on November 6.
The Election Commission of India, which announced the calender of events for the bypolls on Saturday, said the last date for filing of nominations was October 16 and the last date for withdrawal, October 20.
Mr C.S. Puttaraju of JD (S) who had quit his Mandya LS seat, returned to the assembly so, the seats was lying vacant. Similarly, BJPs B.S. Yeddyurappa and B.Sriramulu quit the Shivamogga and Ballari LS seats respectively after they won the assembly polls.
Those who will get elected in the by-polls now, will have a tenure of a mere eight or nine months as the present LS goes to the polls in early 2019. The two assembly seats which will go to bypolls are Ramanagara and Jamakhandi. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy who got elected from two seats, retained Channapattna and resigned from Ramanagara. In Jamakhandi, the newly elected Congress MLA, Siddu Nyame Gouda had passed away forcing a by-poll now.
Who will be the likely candidates?Shivamogga
No sooner were the by-elections announced then BJP state chief, B.S. Yeddyurappa declared that his son, B.Y. Raghavendra would be the party candidate for Shivamogga.
Chief Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy is likely to pull out all stops to help his coalition partner, the Congress, wrest the seat from the BJP as the defeat could psychologically weaken Mr Yeddyurappa, who has been allegedly making attempts to topple his government. But should Mr. Raghavendra win, the BJP leader could boast of his hold over his home turf. Meanwhile , the Congress is said to be considering Mr Kimmane Rathnakar and two other contenders for the Shivamogga ticket. The Shivamogga bypoll has become necessary as Mr. Yeddyurappa, who represented it in parliament, resigned from it after winning the May assembly elections
Mandya
It is a matter of prestige for the Gowda family to win the Mandya Lok Sabha seat as it represented it in parliament until recently. Mr C.S. Puttaraju of the JD (S), who represented it, resigned as Member of Parliament to return to the state assembly in May. Should the party retain the seat, it could see its bargaining power increase for the LS elections next May.
Going by sources, it could field Mr Kumaraswamys son, Nikhil from the constituency. It is also possible that it may decide to field a new face, Ashwini Gowda, to avoid criticism of always promoting the Gowda family, and opt for Mr Nikhil in May when the parliamentary elections are due, they add. Either way, the party stands a good chance at winning if it is backed by its coalition partner, the Congress in the poll.
Ballari
While Mr B Sriramulu of the BJP stepped down as MP of Ballari following his election to the state assembly in May, his sister, J. Shanta could take his place if she is fielded by the BJP in the bypoll and defeats the competition. The Congress could lose from the constituency, giving the BJP the win it is looking for if the ongoing cold war between mining barons like Anand Singh and Nagendra mars the by-poll. Otherwise, the party does have a shot at winning from it.
But those who are elected in these LS bypolls, will now have a tenure of only eight or nine months as the next parliamentary elections are due in mid-2019.
Ramanagara Assembly bypoll
Going by sources, the Janata Dal (Secular) is likely to field Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamys wife Anita from Ramnagara in the hope that she will win the seat he vacated. Having won from Channapatna as well in the last assembly poll, Mr Kumaraswamy chose to retain it and give up Ramanagara, resulting in the bypoll. Should the Congress back Ms Anita from Ramanagara, her victory is a forgone in the Vokkaliga dominated constituency, no matter who the BJP fields.
Jamakhandi Assembly bypoll
The Congress is likely to field its deceased MLA, Siddu Nyame Gowdas son or wife to harness the sympathy wave, according to party sources. It was the MLA's sudden death that has led to the bypoll. The BJP could field former minister, Murugesh Niranis brother, Sangamesh, who is keen on entering the fray and had proved his might as a rebel in the May poll.
BENGALURU: For the fractious coalition, bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats scheduled for November 3 will be a dry run of sorts ahead of next years parliamentary elections specially as two of the three constituencies are boroughs of the BJP while also testing the waters to see if the Congress gameplan of an united Opposition can take on the NDA in 2019.
The bypolls to three Lok Sabha and two Assembly constituencies come at a time when many legislators in both the Congress and JD (S), including some former ministers, have turned restive about their ministerial aspirations going unanswered on numerous occasions. In addition, tension between leaders of both parties has been palpable with Congress ministers and legislators livid with Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for taking decisions without consulting them or putting on hold their pet schemes.
On their part, JD (S) leaders have suspected every move of former chief minister Siddaramaiah and his camp followers, accusing them, in private, of attempting to destabilize the government by tacitly supporting attempts by BJP leaders to poach legislators belonging to coalition parties. Much to their chagrin, the former chief minister set off tremors with his statement that he would return as chief minister at a function held in the home turf of JD (S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda before travelling abroad for a vacation.
Mr Siddaramaiah later clarified that he spoke of a scenario post Assembly elections in 2023. Except his reaction to the poll announcement exposed how unprepared the Congress maybe to face the bypolls in Mandya, Shivamogga and Ballari.
Soon after announcement of the bypolls, Mr Siddaramaiah, however, issued a statement that a decision on the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) contesting three Lok Sabha and two Assembly constituencies as electoral allies would be taken after discussions with central leaders of the party.
The issue of an expansion of the cabinet, too, will be discussed with the high command, he added, although reliable sources have dismissed the notion as mere kite-flying.
Meanwhile, state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa declared that his elder son B Y Raghavendra would be fielded in Shivamogga, a constituency which has
witnessed the father and son combine rule since 2009.
The Rafale deal needs some clarity. That the Indian Air Force is badly in need of modern fighter aircraft is without doubt. The fact that we need to purchase them from abroad is incontrovertible. Our own abilities to manufacture state of the art aircraft, or even weaponry, is highly limited, given the verifiable under performance of organisations like the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and some of our other public-sector units associated with defence. It is also true that procurement of fighter planes has been much delayed, thanks to the proclivity of the UPA government and within it of the then raksha mantri, A.K. Anthony to postpone decisions vital to our national security.
It is true that in the deal negotiated by the previous UPA government in December 2012, Rafale was the most acceptable aircraft in terms of price and strategic requirements. That deal was for 126 aircraft, of which 18 were to come from France in a flyaway condition, and 108 were to be manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), in order to facilitate much needed transfer of technology. In the agreement, 70 per cent of the work was to be done by HAL, and 30 per cent by Dassault Aviation. This workshare agreement, signed in March 2014 was to the tune of about Rs 36,000 crore. The publicly disclosed price per aircraft in the overall deal was Rs 526.1 crore.
It is also true that during his visit to France in April 2015, PM Modi abrogated the earlier deal, and announced an off the shelf purchase of 36 aircraft at a cost of Rs 1,670 crore per aircraft. This was roughly three times the price per aircraft compared to the earlier deal. This price is in the public domain; Dassault Aviation disclosed it in its annual report for 2016. It is also known that in the revised deal, HAL was dropped as the Indian partner. Dassault entered into partnership with several Indian corporate entities, in which the most prominent was Anil Ambanis Reliance Group.
With these facts on board, the Opposition is asking the government why the price of the aircraft escalated to three times the originally negotiated price, especially since the joint statement issued during PM Modis trip to France said that the aircraft and associated systems and weapons would be delivered on the same configuration as had been tested and approved by the Indian Air Force under the UPA government. The Opposition also wants to know why HAL was dropped, and the Reliance Group, among others, was chosen by Dassault as per the offset clause. The essential response of the government is that the procurement of the Rafale aircraft was unacceptably delayed, the needs of the Indian Air Force could no longer be ignored, it was an inter-governmental agreement so there were no middle-men, the price is actually cheaper when you take into account add-ons such as state of the art weaponry and gadgets, and that the government had nothing to do with the choice of Dassaults offset partners, of which the Reliance Group was only one among several others.
Between these strongly opposed narratives is a full-blown perception war. The Opposition would like to make Rafale the Bofors of the current regime, alleging corruption, crony capitalism, and violation of defence procurement procedures. To be honest, even if its accusations are as it believes correct, it is not doing too good a job in projecting them. The perception that there has been a huge defence scandal has hardly percolated down to the common people. Most people dont even know what Rafale is, bird or plane. It is nowhere near being a national issue, or anywhere as close to what Bofors was manipulated to become. Staccato press conferences drowned in technical details, held largely in Delhi, or brief speeches in Parliament, have hardly translated into a mass movement of protest on the ground, and do not seem to have significantly dented the credibility either of the PM or his government.
The government does not seem to be doing too good a job to defend itself either. The initial attempt to not reveal the revised price of each aircraft by invoking a secrecy clause was hardly convincing, since much of the facts on pricing were already in the public domain. One contradictory statement followed another, reinforcing the impression that there was something to hide. On Anil Ambanis company being chosen as Dassaults partner in the offset agreement, the governments defence bordered on the bizarre. First, it was maintained that the government had nothing to do in the matter, and that this was entirely Dassaults decision. Then, when former French President Hollande said that Anil Ambani was chosen as a partner only on the request of the Indian side, the raksha mantri no less actually accused Rahul Gandhi and Mr Hollande to be in conspiracy with each other to malign the government! To make such an allegation against a former head of state of a friendly country borders, quite frankly, on the ridiculous.
The best course for the government would be to opt for transparency. If it has done nothing wrong, then why not share as much information as possible, subject to national security concerns? All the facts relating to pricing should be, to the extent possible, placed in the public domain. Details with regard to price negotiations, and formal clearances, including exact dates, should be made public. Why the price-per-aircraft has increased threefold should be credibly explained. Any doubts about why a particular corporate house was chosen as the offset partner should be clarified. Prevaricating statements should be avoided. And, instead of any and every minister deciding to speak on the subject, only the raksha mantri, or the PM, should do so.
Allegations on defence scams get magnified with every attempt at secrecy. If the government is so convinced of its innocence, it could even agree to a JPC. The JPC is not a party forum. It has been set up in the past, and the BJP itself has asked for it the most.
There was a flurry of activity in the government last week when the massive farmers rally reached Ghaziabad and the protesters insisted on entering the Capital. Ironically, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh, who should have rightfully dealt with the agitating farmers, was nowhere on the scene. The minister was in Motihari, Bihar, to oversee the activities organised in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modis flagship programme Swachch Bharat. Consequently, home minister Rajanath Singh was deployed to negotiate with the farmers. Singh was assisted by a host of ministerial colleagues, including steel minister Birendra Singh, a Jat leader from Haryana who is well networked with kisan leaders and has an understanding of issues relating to the agriculture sector. He was involved in back-channel discussions with the leaders of the kisan unions. The home minister was also joined by the minister of state for agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. But, by the time the protesting farmers ended their agitation, Birendra Singh was pushed to the background by his colleagues for fear that he may take the credit for the successful handling of the farmers stir. Shekhawat was, however, at the forefront and was seen to have played a major role in negotiations with the agitators. The junior minister is said to be the new poster boy in the BJP and is being projected as a future leader with an eye on the year-end Rajasthan polls. Recently, he was also fielded by the BJP to address a press conference on the Rafale deal.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has earned quite a reputation as a master strategist and an excellent organiser, proved several times over in the last four years by the spectacular electoral victories chalked up by the party. However, Shah may end up losing his Midas touch if reports from poll-bound Rajasthan are anything to go by. Though Shah is putting in his best effort to beat the anti-incumbency against Vasundhara Raje government, his team members are having a tough time dealing with the chief minister. Unlike other senior party leaders, Vasundhara Raje has shown that she is no pushover and cannot be dictated to by anyone. According to the political grapevine, the chief minister has not taken kindly to constant interference from the party headquarters and is particularly unhappy with the functioning of Shahs protege Chandra Shekhar, especially deployed in Rajasthan by the BJP president to rev up the party organisation and oversee election-related activities. As mandated by Shah, he has been meeting workers and strategising for the year-end polls. However, this has resulted in considerable tension as Vasundhara Raje is loathed to cede control over the state unit. In a related development, BJP leader and former MP Avinash Rai Khanna, who was given charge of several districts, is said to be incommunicado for the past several days. Clearly, all is not well in Rajasthan for the BJP.
As the next round of elections draws closer, there is palpable tension in the Bharatiya Janata Party. Sitting Lok Sabha members are worried at losing their tickets following inside reports that the party plans to drop a large number of elected members and new faces will be fielded in their place to beat anti-incumbency. Many apprehensive MPs have, predictably, started lobbying with their respective mentors and godfathers in the party to make sure that they are not dropped. Many have made a beeline to veteran leader L.K. Advanis residence to persuade him to break his silence and air his views on the state of affairs in the BJP. They particularly want Advani to go public with the centralised style of functioning of the present BJP leadership. However, Advani has not warmed to the proposal and is of the view that no purpose would be served even if he were to go public with these grievances. Advani and other senior leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi and Yashwant Sinha have been effectively sidelined ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah took charge of the party. These senior leaders did issue a strongly-worded statement following the BJPs humiliating defeat in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls but nothing came of it.
The various committees set up by Congress president Rahul Gandhi to prepare for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls have started working.
While the core committee is yet to come up with an over-arching theme and slogan for next years general election, the publicity committee, headed by former minister and Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma, has laid down some ground rules.
The panel has realised the value of going local and using vernacular languages. It has, therefore, decided that the election publicity material, including advertisements and hoardings, will be put out in local languages. In addition, it was also decided to field local leaders, who can speak fluently in regional languages, to address press conferences.
This followed all-round agreement that regional languages are best in capturing the nuance and flavor of a message which would, otherwise, get lost when communicated in Hindi or English.
In recognising their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and conflict, a message is being sent out. It is another matter whether those at war and inhabiting the many conflict zones of the globe would have any time for niceties.
The Nobel committee could not have made more appropriate choices in this day and age. The too often contentious Nobel peace prize found two great recipients this year in the Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and the Yazidi campaigner Nadia Murad. In recognising their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and conflict, a message is being sent out. It is another matter whether those at war and inhabiting the many conflict zones of the globe would have any time for niceties. It is, however, important that in the age of Trumpism, when plenty of misogyny is being spread around, that such a message should be put out. In picking two other women this year Donna Strickland (Physics) and Frances Arnold (Chemistry) the committee is not just recognising the need to look at gender in a more inclusive way but also trying to ensure more women are encouraged to practice science.
We know how rampant misogyny has become when the US President mocks a survivor of sexual abuse. No one could have done more to end violence against women than Mukwege while Nadias life as an IS sex slave depicts how toxicity is being brought into the treatment of women. The #metoo movement, which began last year while dealing with Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinsteins male chauvinistic behavior, has influenced the decision on the Peace Nobel. It is a time for deep introspection over how women are treated and nowhere more so than in India where rapes have become too common while Bollywoods own #metoo moment is being trivialised. No matter the delay in sexual harassment being revealed, the least expectation is a proper probe. Sadly, not even the Bollywood biggies have responded to the Tanushree-Nana Patekar episode.
India signing the contract for the purchase of the S-400 Triumf missile system from Russia on Friday during President Vladimir Putins two-day working visit to New Delhi stands out as a positive sign. It indicates a meaningful step on Indias part to negotiate a multi-polar world without looking over its shoulder.
The present government had given every impression so far of being too solicitous of US concerns in the foreign policy and security arenas, permitting serious observers to wonder if it was going to turn its back on Moscow, a time-tested strategically which of late had begun to align its foreign policy away from New Delhis in the regional context, in part due to the perception that India appeared to have made up its mind to play second fiddle to Washington.
The signing of the five billion dollar contract for arguably the worlds most advanced system which can not only effectively counteract enemy aircraft but also intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) has come in the wake of threats of the agreement possibly attracting US sanctions under Americas recent law Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). While this law is the latest instrument in the US armoury to be used against Russia, it also menaces other countries with sanctions for entering into defence and other strategic agreements with Russia, although waivers are factored in.
What Washington will do about India concluding the missile deal with Russia is not yet known but the US embassy in New Delhi has spoken with remarkable restraint in its media response on the issue. It has just said that CAATSA is not intended to impose damage to the military capabilities of our allies or partners. This suggests Washington is giving itself more time to devise a suitable view in light of its meaningful all-round relationship with India.
America will be showing maturity if it can sustain this stance. It will be short-sighted of it to expect that any country trying to be in step with it on a broad range of issues must also sign up on adopting all of its political and strategic preferences. The west Europeans, for instance, who are Americas natural allies, do not see eye to eye with it on not doing any business with Iran, which under the Trump administration is seen as the number one adversary of the US after Russia.
Apart from signing up to purchase the Russian missile system, India has also signalled activating synergies on strategic aspects of international life such as space exploration and energy sector cooperation, although it is evident that Moscow and New Delhi have different positions on Pakistan, possibly Afghanistan, and the Asia-Pacific (of late being called the Indo-Pacific by the Americans) where constraining China is emerging as a key US concern. However, this is to be expected in a multilateral global arena in which the leading powers do business with one another to the farthest degree they can but not hesitate to declare their divergences.
Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate, president John F. Kennedy famously said in his inaugural address in January 1961.
In those wise words, Kennedy summed up the essence of the diplomatic process. It is at work today in German Chancellor Angela Merkels moves to hold a summit on Syria and other issues with Russian President Vladmir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, whom she invited to a state visit to put past incidents behind them.
In his recent book, India and Pakistan: Neighbours at Odds, Avtar Singh Bhasin mentions a relevant episode. A summit of the two countries prime ministers took place in New Delhi in May 1955.
While Kashmir was uppermost on Mohammad Alis mind, as the first item, Nehru wanted to discuss an incident that allegedly occurred in Nekowal on May 7, a week before the talks, in which five Indian army personnel and six Indian civilians were killed. It led to a very long correspondence between the prime ministers, spread over a year. But the diplomatic process was not disrupted.
Khrushchev planted deadly missiles on Cuban soil posing an existential threat to the United States. Kennedy made two moves. First, he publicly declared that an attack on the United States by the missiles based in Cuba would be treated as an attack by the Soviet Union itself. Secondly, he initiated talks with the Soviet Union through more than one channel; diplomatic as well as informal through newsmen.
The result was a historic accord. The Soviet Union withdrew its missiles from Cuba and the United States withdrew its Jupiter missiles from Turkey. But the Soviet Union secretly agreed not to publicise this concession.
Since their independence in 1947, India and Pakistan have been holding talks and conducting negotiations in all manner of situations, directly or through mediators, particularly the United States (1962-1963), 1999 and 2003-2004. But, of late, the United States has adopted a rather distant posture.
India under the Modi regime sensed that and adopted a new line. It is coercive diplomacy. In the past, it was used vis-a-vis Sri Lanka on the Tamil issue and more recently vis-a-vis Nepal with a cruel blockade.
Many saw Nehrus grievances on Nekowal as justified. But he did not let the incident disrupt the talks. Modi and his National Security Adviser Ajit Doval have different notions.
Calling off the foreign ministers talks in New York on Sept 21, a day after they were announced, was accompanied with gaucheries that could have been avoided. The spuriousness of excuses is one (the alleged killing of policemen across the Line of Control and Pakistan post stamps issued in July that depicted Burhan Wani), the other is use of language that stops short of expectations (including personal attacks on Prime Minister Imran Khan).
This is not the first time that Pakistans head of government has been called names.
It also happened after the July 2001 Agra summit when prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and foreign minister Jaswant Singh took turns to call president Pervez Musharraf names in parliament. Jaswant Singh made derisory remarks on the English used by Pakistans foreign minister Abdul Sattar, a distinguished diplomat who had spent a lifetime drafting diplomatic documents. Jaswant Singh was a Johnny-come-lately whose English drew ridicule from all.
There is a parallel between the two collapses.
At Agra, a joint declaration was drafted. Internal dissents killed it; Lal Kishan Advani had agreed to a summit only to size up Musharraf. At his very first meeting, he took up the issue of Dawood Ibrahim with the guest, with utter impropriety and lack of sense. When he learnt that a declaration was being drawn up, he hit the ceiling. An Indian Foreign Service officer had worked on him. Both Vajpayee, publicly in parliament, and Singh, to the officials present, complained of intrusions into their respective rooms while they were either talking or drafting. Advani was seen pacing up and down the corridor as if in panic. He wrecked the summit.
In 2018, it is internal pressures that wrecked the foreign ministers meeting.
Hence the spurious excuses and cheap language on both occasions. Clearly the BJPs political culture has scant respect for the niceties of the diplomatic process except with more powerful countries.
This is a reality all have to live with. Grievances and concerns must be addressed. India is sadly mistaken if it believes that coercive diplomacy will improve the situation. Pakistan cannot be driven to a corner. It is not a pushover. There is no substitute for classic diplomacy, which has served the cause of peace for centuries even amidst confrontation.
The United States and China held talks at Warsaw at the worst of times. They yielded an accord on Quemoy and Matsu islands in 1962 and averted war.
Confrontation and talks are good companions.
By arrangement with Dawn
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has riled a section of IAS officers in the state. The cause of the ire is the state governments decision to appoint four state civil service officers as deputy commissioners, a post held by the IAS cadre.
The HCS officers who have been posted as deputy commissioners include Mukul Kumar (Panchkula), Girish Arora (Yamunanagar), Dharamvir Singh (Kaithal) and Jai Kishan Abhir (Fatehabad). While state chief secretary D.S. Dhesi has refused to comment on the issue, some retired IAS officers have been outspoken. The view is that while senior-most HCS officers, selected for promotion to IAS, have been appointed deputy commissioner or to other IAS cadre posts in the past, it is done strictly on merit. The fact that IAS officers in Haryana are upset with the decision suggests that perhaps that was not the case in this instance. It is being said that these HCS officers have been appointed as DCs by pick and choose method, ignoring those HCS officers who are senior to them.
Babu shortage
At a time when the Modi sarkar, barely months away from the 2019 general elections, needs fast decision-making and implementation, it is faced with an acute shortage of IAS and IPS officers. According to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), posts of 1,449 IAS officers and 970 IPS officers are lying vacant apart from other vacancies in Central government ministries and departments. The total posts vacant in Central government are 15,284 in Grade A and 26,310 in Grade B (Gazetted). The sanctioned posts at Group A level in Central government departments are 117,285, while the number of employees is 101,901. Similarly, in Group B (Gazetted), the sanctioned posts are 136,079, while posts occupied are 109,769.
While all state cadres are facing a shortage of IAS and IPS officers, the worst hit are states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Karnataka.
Curiously, despite the crunch, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in its February 2018 notification had announced the hiring of 782 IAS, IFS and IPS officers in all. Last year, the UPSC had announced the recruitment of 980 officers. This was considered the lowest in the last five years, however, this year it went down even further. Arvind Saxena, the acting chairman of UPSC since June, may need to step up the pace. Meanwhile, DoPT Secretary B.P. Sharma says that "filling up of posts is a continuous process depending on vacancies arising across Ministries/Departments during the years and action calendars of the recruiting agencies." But clearly, it is not happening fast enough.
IES: cadre restructuring
The strength of the Indian Economic Service (IES) will increase from existing 518 to 615 after fifth cadre restructuring. This cadre restructuring will lead to an increase in the apex-level positions from five to eight. The Indian Economic Service cadre is undergoing its fifth cadre restructuring.
It may be underlined that this service was constituted in 1961 with a cadre strength of 294. With the passage of time, the requirements of the government of India increased for these specialized officers and at the completion of five decades in 2011, it attained the strength of 511. At present, IES has the strength of 518. Here lies the genesis of a cadre strength which is likely to increase very soon.
The first cadre-restructuring for the IES was done in 1991, 30 years after its inception. Later, the cadre was reviewed in 2000, and third and fourth cadre-restructuring took place in 2005 and 2011 respectively. Now the fifth cadre restructuring is underway.
Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has been in the thick of Dalit politics since the dilution of the SC/ST Atrocities Act. In this interview to Sreeparna Chakrabarty, he explains the perception battle of the government as well as the relevance of dalit leaders in todays polity, including that of BSP chief Mayawati. The BSP supremo he claims has lost her base among the dalit voters:
Assembly elections to five states are just some weeks away. As a dalit leader, how do you think the government has addressed the concerns.
The biggest challenge before the government had been the Supreme Court ordered changes in the SC/ST Atrocities Act or the Dalit Act. Till now whatever the government has done is pro-dalit, but certain incidents like Una and dilution of the Dalit Act have created a perception that the government is anti-dalit. As far as the Dalit Actrocities Act is concerned the main role had been that of the judiciary, but the blame has come on the government. The same is the case with promotion in reservation case.
Do you think that perception has changed?
The Lok Janashakti Party fought for it. The Prime Minister put it in front of Cabinet despite knowing that there would be a backlash. He could have not taken it up as it was a court order. It is pertinent to note that now the Opposition is not saying anything as they are scared of losing upper caste votes.
There have been protests by upper castes in Madhya Pradesh. What is your opinion on that?
The protests are taking place due to a mis-reading of the Act. Section 41 (A) of the Act puts in safeguards. It states that an FIR can be lodged but it is the police officer and not the Senior Superintendent of Police who can take a call on that... So there are already checks and balances.
But does the support to the upper caste rally by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh show that it is trying to protect its upper caste votes?
Well the political messaging should have been that whatever you (upper castes) have been protesting against is already addressed in the Act, then why are you agitating. Anyway, the Madhya Pradesh government cannot do more than this. This Act was made in 2010. Not that Narendra Modi government has made it. There are checks and balances. But there has been a misconception among Upper Castes.
How do you forsee dalit politics play out in the coming times? Do you think the dalit vote-bank has splintered? Does Mayawati still have the largest share?
You have to understand that dalit is not a caste. It is a combination of castes. There are different leaders of different castes. She has limited herself to a particular caste. She has ignored a whole lot of Ambedkarite organisations and these are the ones which are emerging now. The youth who are emerging now are 90 per cent Jatavs. She is just limited to some pockets.
When time comes to vote there will be BJP in one side and Congress on the other side. Who will vote for her in Rajasthan, for example?
Just notice how she is no longer talking about dalits, because she is scared of losing upper caste votes. Now that she is fighting in all three states, she needs upper caste votes. So to please the upper castes, she is not even mentioning the dalit name. Why hasnt she spoken on behalf of dalits in Madhya Pradesh? She is looking for upper caste votes. When you are fighting polls then you should say that what upper castes are doing is wrong. In fact no leader is making any comment. Even the creamy layer issue is not being talked about.
There is speculation is on that Maywati is projecting herself as a prime ministerial candidate.
No political party has said so. Her own party members have been spreading this. There are so many corruption cases against her.
A non-BJP alliance which was being earlier talked about is not looking so promising now.
I have been maintaining this from before. There is no vacancy as of now. Are the people of the country fools that they will bring in an unstable formation when you have a strong leader?
Have the Bihar seat-sharing equations been worked out?
Nothing has been finalised as of now. Everything will be decided in due time. It has been a tradition that major parties will decide first.
The advert mentions a Top Shot mode that will notify users of closed eyes or imperfections while taking a selfie something similar to the Note 9s camera AI feature.
Its only a matter of days before Google will make the Pixel 3 official. However, tipsters had broken all suspense two months ago after a bunch of Pixel 3 XL prototypes leaked and were even unboxed on the web, with all the specifications revealed. However, geeks were expecting Google to have a different surprise for 9th October with a radically different device. Sadly, with the latest leak uncovered, that doesnt seem to be the case.
A contributor on Slashleaks has leaked out a photo of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL advertisements on a magazine. The advert seems legit and unfortunately confirms the worst prediction the world of tech had to make this season. Yes, the Pixel 3 XL will sport that huge and ugly notch. The XL will also sport a wide chin, thereby adding a lot of bezels around the display. The smaller Pixel 3 resembles the Pixel 2 XL. Both the phones appear to sport a stereo speaker setup and a dual front camera setup.
However, this leak also reveals some of the additional features that mostly unknown before. For starters, the dual camera setup includes one sensor for normal selfies and one for wide angle selfies. Google seems to have baked in a lot of software tricks for impressive outcomes. The advert mentions a Top Shot mode that will notify users of closed eyes or imperfections while taking a selfie something similar to the Note 9s camera AI feature. A group selfie mode will allow for wider angles in selfies. The squeeze feature will make a comeback from the Pixel 2 and a new gesture of putting the phone on its face will allow users to silence notifications.
While the leak seems believable, we still hope that these turn out to be false, especially with regards to the design of the Pixel 3 XL. Google will unveil the new flagships on October 9th (October 10th in India).
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The Russian S-400 (Triumph, NATO Name: SA-21 Growler) is an anti-aircraft missile system developed by the Almaz Design Bureau as the successor to the incredibly potent S-300. It is built and operated as a surface-to-air solution much like the 'Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System' designed by the United States but has an effective range and speed that far surpasses it.
Introduced in 2007 after years development, the S-400 boasts an impressive array of technical advances: Multifunctional and panoramic radar system, jamming protection, autonomous detection and targeting, coupled with a battery of high-power and long-range missiles. The system can track up to 100 targets and simultaneously engage up to six, including the Lockheed-Martin F-35.
The missile systems employed by the S-400 have an effective range of up to 400 km and a maximum speed of 4.8 km/second - which translates to Mach 14, making it one of the fastest missile systems in the world.
The S-400 is deployed in Russia, by Russia in Syria and recently, China began acquiring the missile system to augment its air defence technologies.
What can it fire?
1) 40N6 missile up to 400 km
2) 48N6 missile up to 250 km
3) 9M96E2 missile up to 120 km
4) 9M96E missile up to 40 km
Concerns for India?
China's acquisition of the S-400 missile system has been referred to as a "game-changer" in the Asian region, with one report from Defense News stating that the missile system in China's arsenal could further its strength in the regional airspace, allowing it to cover as much as the entirety of Taiwanese airspace, the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, Seoul, Hanoi and even New Delhi and Calcutta in India.
However, a counter to the report says that worries over China owning the S-400 is premature as any increase in its air power will depend entirely on the location of the system and the missile that Russia sells to China.
The report goes into how China would have to position its missile systems if it wanted to target New Delhi, Taiwan or the Senakau Islands, with the analysis saying that it would have to account for the curvature of the Earth in its targeting systems, reducing its effectiveness against low-flying aircraft in the case of Taiwan and that it would have to be moved through the Himalayas if New Delhi was to be made a potential target.
The UN on Friday slammed 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.
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 -- 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.
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.
In the first clear indication of India's willingness to continue trade with Iran despite US sanctions, state refiners have contracted import of 1.25 million tonnes of crude oil from the Persian Gulf nation and are preparing to replace dollar payments with rupee trade.
Top industry sources said Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) have contracted 1.25 million tonnes of Iranian oil for import in November, the month when the US sanctions against Iran's oil sector kick-in.
While India wants to continue importing Iranian oil, albeit a reduced volume, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month stated that Washington would consider waivers on the embargo but made clear that these would be time-limited, if granted.
Sources said IOC is importing the "usual" monthly volumes of oil from Iran. It had planned to import of 9 million tonnes of Iranian oil in the 2018-19 fiscal (April 2018 to March 2019) or 0.75 million tonnes a month.
US sanctions against Iran kick in from November 4, which will block payment routes.
Sources said India and Iran are discussing reverting to rupee trade after November 4.
"Iran has been off-and-on taking rupee payments for oil it sells. This rupee uses for paying for imports of medicines and other commodities. A similar arrangement is in works," a source said.
Details of the payment mechanism would emerge in the next few weeks, he said.
Oil refiners such as state-owned IOC and MRPL could use UCO Bank or IDBI Bank to route oil payments to Iran, sources said.
India had planned to import about 25 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran in the current fiscal, up from 22.6 million tonnes imported in 2017-18. But the actual volumes imported may be far less as companies like Reliance Industries have totally stopped buying oil from Iran and others too are scaling it down in hope of winning a sanction waiver from the US.
Nayara Energy, formerly Essar Oil, too is stopping import from Iran.
US President Donald Trump in May withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, re-imposing economic sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation. Some sanctions took effect from August 6 while those affecting the oil and banking sectors will start from November 4.
Sources said Iran is open to accepting rupee payment for oil and may use the money to pay for equipment and food items it buys from India.
UCO Bank and IDBI Bank have been identified to route the payment as the two have no exposure to the US financial system.
UCO Bank had in the previous round of sanctions handled rupee payments.
Currently, India pays its third largest oil supplier in euros using European banking channels. These channels would get blocked from November.
During the first round of sanctions when EU joined the US in imposing financial restrictions, India initially used a Turkish bank to pay Iran for the oil it bought but beginning February 2013 paid nearly half of the oil import bill in rupees while keeping the remainder pending opening of payment routes. It began clearing the dues in 2015 when the restrictions were eased.
Besides, New Delhi sought to get around the restrictions by supplying goods including wheat, soybean meal and consumer products to Iran in exchange for oil.
Sources said this time around the entire 100 per cent of Iranian oil import bill can be paid in rupees.
Iran is India's third-largest oil supplier behind Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It was India's second biggest supplier of crude oil after Saudi Arabia till 2010-11 but Western sanctions over its suspected nuclear programme relegated it to the seventh spot in the subsequent years. In the 2013-14 and 2014-15, India bought 11 million tonnes and 10.95 million tonnes respectively from it.
Sourcing from Iran increased to 12.7 million tonnes in 2015-16, giving it the sixth spot. In the following year, the Iranian supplies jumped to 27.2 million tonnes to catapult it to the third spot.
Iranian oil is a lucrative buy for refiners as the Persian Gulf nation provides 60 days of credit for purchases, terms not available from suppliers of substitute crudes -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Nigeria, and the US.
Besides blocking of banking channels from November, the absence of payment mechanism may pose a challenge to the transportation of the oil as Iranian crude is bought on a CIF basis and shipped on Iranian tankers.
Under Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) mode of shipping, the seller assumes the responsibility of transportation and insurance. The liability and costs associated with successful transit are paid by the seller until the goods are received by the buyer.
National Conference (NC) legislator Shameema Firdous on Saturday blamed the BJP and the RSS for killing two of her workers in Srinagar on Friday.
She claimed that the killings were a well planned conspiracy to discourage the party from participating in the Assembly elections.
I have no hesitation to say that the BJP and the RSS killed my workers. I have no doubt about it, Firdous said while addressing a press conference, here.
No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for these killings. Government and the Governor (Satya Pal Malik) are equally responsible for the killing of my workers, she said.
Where was the police? Where were security checkpoints created? What happened to the assurances of Governor of free, fair and secure polls? she said.
Distancing herself from the ongoing election process, she said, We had no connection with election process but the BJP had. A BJP leader admitted that his party has fielded candidates as independents. They are doing everything to win these polls.
BJP leaders divided Kashmiri pundits, brought postal ballots to Kashmir. Congress too is in the fray. There is much more in the killing of my workers than meets the eye, she said while breaking down at the presser.
NC workers Nazir Wani and Mushtaq Wani were killed while another worker Shakeel Zangoo was injured, when unidentified gunmen fired indiscriminately on them in Karfalli Mohalla area of old city in Srinagar on Friday.
Sources said that Nazir, a former militant who has served seven-years in imprisonment, was a close confidant of Firdous.
He was the main campaigner for her in the 2014 polls and was her personal assistant for the past eight years. Firdous has fielded proxy candidates for the upcoming civic polls despite NCs boycott call and the slain workers were killed by unidentified militants for secretly campaigning, they said.
The killings have added to the tensions in Kashmir ahead of the civic polls which have been boycotted by the NC, Peoples Democratic Party and other smaller parties. The urban local body elections are set to start in Jammu and Kashmir from October 8.
The Tamil Nadu government on Friday braced itself to handle heavy rains that are likely to lash the state on Sunday by asking all district administration to move people living in low-lying areas to safety and be prepared for any eventuality.
Chairing a high-level meeting with senior ministerial colleagues and officials, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami also advised district collectors to check on the ground whether fishermen who ventured into the sea have returned to their base and keep feeding crucial information on rains to the people through the conventional and social media.
The review meeting asked collectors of districts that are located along the Western Ghats to be more alert and keep their official machinery prepared to handle the crisis if any. And, more importantly, the meeting also asked 1,278 personnel of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to be prepared to fly out of Chennai to districts if necessary.
With incidents of deaths being reported due to the craze for clicking pictures during rains, the chief minister appealed to the people not to click selfies in the flood water.
Messages asking people to move to safer places in case of heavy rains, asking them not to click selfies and advising farmers to move their cattle to safer places should be transmitted every now and then, Palaniswami said in a statement.
Separately, the NDRF is also keeping its teams ready to be flown out of Chennai, if necessary, even as the Union Government promised all help to Tamil Nadu to handle the situation that would arise out of the IMD prediction.
Officials said over 30,000 first responders a team of volunteers and locals well-versed with the topography of the area would be involved in case of emergency.
This is the first time in three years that Tamil Nadu has been issued a red alert for rains. In 2015, when the last red alert was issued, the city of Chennai was swamped as the majority of the areas were under the water for days together. The citys lone airport was closed for a week, buses were off the roads and major roads were inundated due to excess release of water from the citys reservoirs and heavy rains.
The killing in cold blood of a young Apple executive, Vivek Tiwari, by a policeman in Lucknow last week exposed again the lawlessness that pervades Uttar Pradesh under the Yogi Adityanath government. Tiwari was shot dead without provocation merely for not stopping his car for a traffic check. The rule of law is so bad in Lucknow and in other parts of the state that stopping a car at night is a hazard. In any case, the policeman had no authority to fire and, as it turns out, was not authorised to even carry a gun. The immediate response of the police was to defend the constable, cover up and subvert the case. But the police have now had to admit that the man killed without a reason and that there are rogues in uniform in the state. Chief Minister Adityanath has said that the murder was no encounter, as if it would be alright if it were one. The cop has been arrested and dismissed from service.
Tiwaris killing is not a stray incident. He is one of the many people eliminated by the UP police without as much as an arrest or any support of the due process of law. The chief minister himself proposed and endorsed encounter killings, clearly saying that criminals and suspects deserved to be put away. There have been over 2,000 encounters, and at least 60 people have been killed after he came to power in March last year. Policemen indulge in wanton killings, attack and torture people in the name of preventing crime and raise false cases against them. They have even invited the media to watch encounters. And they are not accountable for any of it since they have the governments blessings.
The trigger-happy cops are part of the general lawless culture in the state, which is seen in lynchings, attacks on people in inter-faith relationships and in the actions of anti-Romeo squads. People who complain against ruling party leaders are also not spared, like the man who was killed for complaining that his daughter was raped by the BJP MLA of Unnao. The killing of Tiwari would have gone unnoticed if he were from a lower caste and class and if his clansmen, who are important for the BJP, did not make an issue of it. What emerges is that the UP police is not bound by the rule of law and enjoys absolute impunity and political support even after they commit the worst crimes. This amounts to a breakdown of the constitutional machinery. If it did not rule the state, this would have been enough for the BJP to call for the dismissal of the government.
UPPER PROVIDENCE -Blue was the color of the day, Friday at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic School, not in sadness but to celebrate its naming as a national Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.
The school is one of 349 nationwide to receive the award which was presented by the U.S. Education Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on Monday. In its 36th year, More than 8,800 schools across the country have been presented with the award.
To celebrate, the 350 students and their teachers, all wearing blue shirts with the blue ribbon logo, gathered with on the playground for a group photo.
I believe its always been a blue ribbon school but its official now, Principal Denise Winterberger said a few minutes after photographers documented the moment from the roof of the school. Weve always been an excellent school and this has been one of my personal goals.
Winterberger, who has been the principal at Mary Magdalen for the past four years said this is the first time it applied for the award. To qualify students in grades three to eight had to have an average above 85 percent in standardized test scores.
The morning stated with Mass celebrated by pastor Msgr. Ralph Chieffo and participation by students, faculty, and staff.
Following the photo student attended a pep rally celebration in the gymnasium which included 2,000 blue balloons dropping from the ceiling drop as well as a DJ dance party, blue water ice for students and teachers performing a special flash mob dance.
The Deseret News failed to capture the magnitude of U.S. government involvement in health care (In our opinion: Time to tackle government-supplied health care before it gets unmanagable, Sept. 24). In addition to 122 million on Medicare, Medicaid and military health plans, there are millions more on CHIP, state and local government employee and federal employee plans.
Add to that the additional millions who receive VA health care and Obamacare subsidies and the total approaches 200 million Americans with some form of government health care. In addition, remember that private employer health plans exist because of a massive federal tax credit that has propped them up since World War II. No wonder that most of the money flowing into U.S. health care delivery is from taxes. Americans pay the world's highest health care tax burden. Without public money, there would be no American health care.
This is the health care system that we have chosen for 75 years; we need to stop pretending that somehow we could now choose to have health care without government involvement. We also need to stop pretending that market forces and competition will improve American health care delivery. None of the prerequisites of market economics holds true for health care. Patients are not shoppers because they lack clinical knowledge (no caveat emptor) and are sick and injured, therefore not free to decide whether, where and what clinical services are needed. Sellers of health services are not supposed to act in their own self interest, but should put the patients' needs first. Positive externality refers to a situation when someone other than the buyer or seller in a market has a legitimate interest in the outcome of a transaction, such as is the case when the general public has an interest in assuring the best care for a patient with a communicable disease. We have massive infusions of tax dollars into health systems because of positive externalities.
Finally, the inverse relationship between price and demand does not hold for health services. No one ever bought an appendectomy because it was on sale. And no diabetic willingly forgoes insulin even if the price skyrockets. Demand for health services is determined by epidemiology, not price. Health care is not a market commodity; the invisible hand of Adam Smith will never save us from our health care woes.
I agree with the Deseret News, Congress has abysmally failed us on health care. Hyperpartisanship is part of the problem, but the massive campaign donations and lobbying power of the medical industrial complex assures that both parties defend business as usual in health care delivery. Cost is our principle health care problem. All of the federal debt now and on into the future is due to unfunded health care costs. We have high cost because the health insurance business model is incredibly inefficient (wasting up to $500 billion per year) and U.S. health care is poor in quality (wasting up to $700 billion per year). We don't need more money in American health care, we need to reduce the inefficiency and quality waste inherent in U.S. health care business as usual.
Congress might be able to agree to allow states to attempt sustainable health system reform. Seven Democrats have co-sponsored a bill, the State-Based Universal Health Care Act, that would strengthen the power of states to reform health care systems and even allow neighboring states to band together to achieve better regional health care delivery. I believe many Republicans would agree that state based health system reform is a logical step in our constitutional form of government.
I urge all voters to carefully inquire of their congressional candidates whether they will seek enactment of the State-Based Universal Health Care Act.
Conferencegoers rise in song during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
People arrive before the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Conferencegoers arrive before the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
President Russell M. Nelson raises his hands toward conferencegoers at the start of the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
General authorities arrive for the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
President Russell M. Nelson speaks during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Conferencegoers listen as Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles details adjusted Sunday church schedules during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Two conferencegoers first-bump as Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles details adjusted Sunday church schedules during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Conferencegoers listen as Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles details adjusted Sunday church schedules during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Conferencegoers listen as Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles details adjusted Sunday church schedules during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Sister Wendy Nelson, wife of President Russell M. Nelson, greets Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, before the start of the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
President Russell M. Nelson greets Elder Gerrit W. Gong, second from left, and other members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, at the start of the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, flashes a thumbs-up before the start of the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, greets Elder Gary E. Stevenson, left, and Elder Ronald A. Rasband, center, both of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, before the start of the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, greets Elder Gary E. Stevenson and other members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, before the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
President Russell M. Nelson, center, embraces President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, left, at the start of the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, center, greets President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, right, before the start of the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, walk across the rostrum before the start of the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sings during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Conferencegoers rise in song during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, speaks during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, walk down from the rostrum to greet conferencegoers at the end of the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Teagan Parham, 19, of Redding, Calif., opens her mission call, which called her to serve in Chile, surrounded by family members and her boyfriend outside of Temple Square after the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Conferencegoers depart after the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Oscar Rodriguez, of Tijuana, Mexico, and his girlfriend, Jenny Pereira, of Valencia, Calif., both students at Brigham Young UniversityIdaho, share a moment after the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
People sing hymns outside of Temple Square after the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
People walk outside of Temple Square after the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Attendees leave the morning session during the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks about the new Sunday schedule during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Attendees leave the morning session during the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Conferencegoers attend the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, center, and his counselors, President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor, left, and President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor, right, enter the Conference Center in Salt Lake City for the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Conferencegoers attend the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, right, holds the arm of Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Attendees leave the morning session during the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, acknowledges the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Razzell Beck, Phillipines, waits in line for the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speaks about changes during the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Attendees leave the morning session during the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his wife, Sister Wendy Watson, wave as they leave the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Conferencegoeres gather outside the Conference Center during the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Attendees walk to the Conference Center for the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Attendees line up for the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Rebecca Burroughs waits for friends outside the Conference Center before the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Attendees ask for extra tickets before the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Road barricades line North Temple during the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in downtown Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sings during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sings during the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Attendees listen during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, left, and his counselor, President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency, greet their wives as second counselor, President Henry B. Eyring, and others enter the Conference Center during the Saturday morning session. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Attendees listen during the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Elder Ronald A. Rasband, right, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, waves to an attendee along with Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles prior to the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sings during the Saturday morning session of 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Elder David A, Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
William Boror and his mother, Maria Valazquez, attend the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The FBI background check of Brett Kavanaugh, Canada entering the trade deal and the FEMA test alert were among the popular topics in headlines this week.
Senators gathered Thursday to read the single copy of the FBI's report on their investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said the investigation, which has been ongoing throughout the week, had found "no hint of misconduct."
Many have criticized the investigation for not being taken seriously enough and claim that the FBI did not interview enough people.
An old police report from Kavanaugh's college days gained some attention during the investigation. Kavanaugh was questioned by police after getting into an altercation at a bar while he was a student at Yale in 1985 and was accused of throwing ice on a patron.
On Monday, the White House announced that Canada had agreed to join the "new NAFTA," now called the USMCA.
This announcement comes after months of negotiations among the United States, Mexico and Canada, with the latter being the last to sign the agreement.
This week The New York Times published an article about an investigation into President Donald Trump's family tax history.
The article discusses how Trump, who calls himself a self-made billionaire, received at least $413 million from his father, mostly from tax dodges in the 1990s.
On Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency tested the presidential alert system by sending a test message to cellphones around the country.
Many received the alert, but others did not. FEMA said there are a few reasons people may not have received the message, including if they were taking a call or using their phone at the time.
Other stories this week included Trump's controversial comments on it being a "scary time for young men in America," his claim that trade wars are easy to win and questions about what the recent news cycle means for Republicans in the upcoming elections.
Editor's note: This story was published following the 2018 G20 Interfaith forum.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina Minutes after last month's G20 Interfaith Forum officially began, as stragglers continued to wander in and search for seats, Brian Adams, one of the event's organizers, took the stage to share a harsh truth.
Unbounded potential doesn't guarantee incredible results, he explained. Good ideas don't always translate into meaningful action.
The G20 Interfaith Forum, attended by religious and political leaders from six of the world's seven continents and celebrated as one of the most important interfaith activities undertaken anywhere, can't be content with a strong reputation, said Adams, director of the Centre for Interfaith and Cultural Dialogue at Griffith University in Perth, Australia. It still has growing to do.
"I wonder where we'll be after 20 years, faded from public spaces or seen as legitimate, integral partners in policy development and social well-being," he asked the assembled crowd.
Adams' remarks were both ominous and optimistic, a pairing of tones repeated throughout the three-day event. Participants and speakers seemed confident that, together, they could help end suffering around the world. But they weren't always sure where to start.
"We need better strategies," said Rabbi David Saperstein, the former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, during a presentation on Sept. 27. "How do we actually take what goes on here and have an impact on the G20?"
The G20 Interfaith Forum aims to influence the agenda and policy proposals put before the secular G20, a gathering of leaders from the world's major economies that begins in Argentina at the end of November. Over the last five years, the forum has taken some important steps in that direction, sending recommendations on the refugee crisis and famine directly to G20 participants in Germany and forming friendships with government leaders in Argentina.
But leaders have also faced several roadblocks, like the challenge of honoring religious diversity and trying to appear unified at the same time.
"The religious world is ferociously big and complicated," said Katherine Marshall, senior fellow at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. "The idea that it will somehow speak with a single voice is not plausible."
Why interfaith?
Photos of newly constructed desks and smiling young refugees lit up the screen behind Sharon Eubank, director of LDS Charities, the humanitarian arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as she described faith-based efforts to heal the world's pain. During her Sept. 28 remarks at the forum, she spoke about people instead of government policies, arguing that concern for human dignity should guide humanitarian programs.
"We're dealing with people not at a high level but at the tent level," she said of religious service organizations. "We think a lot about how to make policies work at the level of that family in a tent."
As Eubank's presentation illustrated, religious groups go where high-level politicians rarely do: to refugee camps in Syria or Puerto Rico days after a devastating hurricane. Faith-based organizations embrace local partnerships and work across national boundaries, focusing on lives saved instead of dollars spent, forum participants said.
They also commit to long-term initiatives, instead of regrouping after every election, said Rowan Williams, the former head of the Church of England, during his Sept. 26 address.
"Religious traditions do not operate on a time scale dictated by political elections," he said.
The G20 Interfaith Forum, which was attended by around 300 people this year, was formed to take advantage of these unique characteristics and make a case for more coordination between faith groups and the government, Adams said. People of faith hold special knowledge that benefit efforts to address the refugee crisis, climate change and other global problems.
"When we first developed the (forum) concept more than five years ago, we saw it as an opportunity to showcase the powerful contributions that can be made when people and organizations from across political, national and religious boundaries work together to address pressing challenges," he said in his opening remarks.
Each forum consists of panels on the same topics that will be up for discussion at the secular G20. This year's key themes were workplace ethics, climate change, fair governance and immigration. Speakers explained their on-the-ground work and highlighted best practices for supporting and improving government programs.
These gatherings highlight the moral significance of decisions made by world leaders, said Marshall, who serves on the forum's organizing committee. They focus on the people and communities that the wider world too often forget.
"All our religious traditions hold that there are no superfluous or unimportant human beings," Williams said during the opening session.
Many roadblocks
Although political leaders around the world regularly praise community service work led by people of faith, religious groups have struggled to convince G20 participants to make room for them in policy debates. Lawmakers generally don't want to appear to privilege some faith groups over others, forum leaders said.
Religious groups also worry about the unintended consequences of church-state partnerships, noted Alvaro Albacete, deputy general secretary of KAICIID, an international and multi-religious organization, during his Sept. 28 presentation.
"The dialogue between religion and the politically powerful is not always peaceful and we all know it," he said. Faith groups must consider how to "preserve (their) identity and independence."
Additionally, they must consider how to stay true to their own religious teachings in an interfaith context, Marshall said, noting that conference organizers work hard to acknowledge and respect religious diversity.
"What you want is to have religious communities committed to work together and sharing the best insights and experiences they have," she said.
In addition to addressing church-state and interfaith tensions, forum leaders must navigate a variety of other challenges that stem from how the G20 system operates. The G20, comprised of leaders from the European Union and 19 other major economies, doesn't have long-term directors. Each year, there's a new set of people in the host country to coordinate with and impress.
"Every country is different," Marshall said.
In Germany last year, the forum had a strong relationship with the various think tank leaders who make up Think 20, one of seven official G20 engagement groups. The faith forum, which does not have official status, offered input on the Think 20's policy recommendations, which were then formally submitted to G20 leaders.
This year, forum organizers in Argentina have a close relationship with government officials, including leaders in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship. Argentina's Vice President Gabriela Michetti spoke on the first day and expressed her interest in staying in touch with participants.
"I look forward to the conclusions you will reach and the recommendations you will make," she said.
Both situations are worth celebrating, but they don't offer a guarantee of future growth, Marshall said. In Japan in 2019 and Saudi Arabia in 2020, new connections will be necessary, including with religious communities.
"The (G20) leadership is explicitly and clearly shifted each year to the host country and that's paralleled in the religious voices," she said.
Putting potential into action
Because of various political and practical roadblocks, G20 Interfaith Forum leaders don't take it for granted that their input will be embraced. So they work hard to say something memorable and unique.
Its not clear to me that were going to be listened to just because were religious voices. Well be listened to because of the quality of ideas, Marshall said.
Over the next two months until the secular G20 begins, the forum's organizing committee will rehash what was discussed in September and settle on some concrete suggestions to pass on to government leaders through various channels. This year's recommendations will likely focus on how to counter violent extremism and end government corruption, Marshall said, adding that the forum will also urge G20 members to protect people on the margins of society.
The forum's approach to passing on its conclusions is less formal than other G20-adjacent groups, which bothers some participants. However, others embrace putting more energy into panel discussions than policy papers, arguing that the formality of the Think 20 and other engagement groups hurts diversity and creativity.
"We must not link our work to the G20 so that we aren't limiting our capacity," Albacete said.
Participants on both sides of this debate do agree there's value in the forum even when it doesn't directly lead to new policies. They celebrate the chance to meet with people from around the world and of a variety faiths.
"Many of these organizations efforts ultimately combat divisiveness and insecurity, provide access to education and health care, empower minorities, and promote gender equity," wrote Zahra Jamal, who attended this year's forum and serves as associate director of Rice University's Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance, in an email. "I look forward to finding ways to work with colleagues I met from across the globe and across sectors."
They also share a sense that gatherings like the G20 Interfaith Forum are needed now more than ever before. Around the world, countries are struggling with economic inequality, political polarization and a general lack of empathy. Religious communities need to raise their voices, Rabbi Saperstein said.
We religious people are the purveyors of the most important message that we need today: That we are not the prisoners of a bitter and unremitting past, but that we can be, we must be, we will be the shapers of a better and more hopeful future, he said.
MILLCREEK It's not often you get to celebrate family heritage, along with state and national history in one fell swoop, but sometimes you hit the trifecta.
Scores of local residents gathered Friday to watch as the ceremonial ribbon was cut in commemoration of the final restoration of what has been documented as Utah's oldest residence still standing in its original location.
Built in 1848, the residence located at 1475 E. Murphy's Lane was home to Robert Gardner Jr., one of the first settlers to construct a sawmill on the waterway now called Mill Creek.
Listed among Utah sites on the National Register of Historic Places, the home has gone through several renovations over the years, said Robin Gardner Juvan, great-great-granddaughter of Robert Gardner Jr. It has been continuously occupied since it was first built, she added, though it has not always been in the Gardner family.
For the last couple of decades, Robert's direct descendant, Al Gardner, had planned to reacquire the home so it could be restored to its original condition and preserved as "a living museum," she said.
Once he was able to get the home back, Al's sister Sherill moved in, Juvan said. She has lived there since and been the caretaker throughout the restoration process, which began about six years ago.
Al Gardner spent $1.5 million on the restoration project but died before it was completed. Juvan said having the renovation completed is an emotional triumph he would have appreciated.
"I was able to help complete what my dad started. This is something that he has wanted since he was young," Juvan said holding back tears. "(After this project), I feel like I know my great-great-grandfather really well."
The restoration process uncovered the original foundation, she noted, which was built with river rock gathered from the creek running directly behind the house. She said the timbers from the original floor still have bark on them with raw cut marks of Utahs first original sawmill. The rafters also have saw marks, which were made by the mill built and operated on Mill Creek, she added.
"It took (my father) 52 years to be able to purchase it," she said. "He really wanted it completed and I hope we did him justice in how it turned out."
Among the participants at the commemoration event were Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini, the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake County, Reid Neilson of the Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, along with numerous Gardner descendants.
SALT LAKE CITY After two audits critical of Utah public schools' administration of secondary school fees, the State School Board has directed staff to find resources within its office to better monitor schools' compliance to laws and to train educators on their legal responsibilities.
The Utah State Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to identify "full-time equivalent" positions in the office to work specifically on ensuring schools comply with state laws, state school board rules and a 1994 permanent injunction.
An internal Utah State Board of Education audit released earlier this year found Utah public schools' failure to comply with school fee and fee waiver policies has resulted in an "unreasonable system of fees, which jeopardizes equal opportunity for all students based on their ability to pay."
A legislative audit released in September found "widespread violations of state law" by the State School Board and local boards of education, high schools and charter schools in their handling of secondary school fees.
"This is just as much our problem as it is the (local education agencies') so we need to get our house in order, they'll get theirs' and we'll move forward," said Mark Huntsman, State School Board chairman.
Legislative auditors suggested that the State School Board could penalize schools and school districts that do not comply with laws and court ruling, which could include withholding Minimum School Program funding. Legislative auditors also recommended enhanced monitoring.
Board member Carol Lear said she agreed "310 percent" with the proposal to find internal resources to better monitor schools' compliance with school fees laws and policies. But schools need to be trained on the law before the state school board considers penalizing them, she said.
"I will not support those kinds of consequences for (local education agencies) unless there is training at the front end not punishment first and train later," Lear said.
Huntsman, who is leading a State School Board task force on school fees, said he wants the board to lead out by identifying resources within its existing budget to start to address concerns raised by the two audits in anticipation of the task force's recommendations.
"We know that's going to take some time with or without help from the Legislature and it's such a big issue that we thought we need to get started now or make a recommendation to the board to look within (the Utah State Board of Education) to see if we can find several (full-time equivalents) that would be dedicated to this so we're a little bit ahead of the curve as recommendations come from the task force," he said.
SALT LAKE CITY Saying "it is time for a home-centered church," leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will reduce Sunday worship services for members from three hours to two in a major organizational change announced Saturday morning during the first session of the faiths international general conference.
"As Latter-day Saints we have become accustomed to thinking of 'church' as something that happens in our meetinghouses, supported by what happens at home. We need an adjustment to this pattern," the church's leader, President Russell M. Nelson, said.
"It is time for a home-centered church, supported by what takes place inside our branch, ward and stake buildings."
The weekly sacrament meeting will be reduced from 70 minutes to 60 beginning in January 2019. The second hour of church services will also change. The traditional third hour of church services will be eliminated, replaced by flexible, individual- and family oriented learning and worship, said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who followed President Nelson's remarks.
Read the Frequently Asked Questions published by the church about today's announced changes.
Read the letter from the First Presidency about today's announced changes.
"The long-standing objective of the church is to assist all members to increase their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and in His atonement, to assist them in making and keeping their covenants with God and to strengthen and seal their families," President Nelson said.
The changes are designed to meet that goal and will include a new "integrated curriculum" to strengthen families and individuals both through home study and focused worship at church. Since 1980, the church's Sunday services have included weekly Sunday School classes and a third hour of instruction separately for both men and women.
Now the second and final hour of the new schedule will vary from week to week, with Sunday School classes conducted on the first and third Sundays, and the priesthood quorum meetings and Relief Society and Young Women meetings conducted on the second and fourth Sundays. When there is a fifth Sunday of the month, instruction will be under the direction of each congregation's bishop or branch president, church leaders said.
Instruction for young children in the Primary program will be held every week in the second hour of worship services.
LDS.org has published a "sneak peek" at the new church curriculum.
President Nelson said the adjustment was divinely inspired and necessary in a complex world.
"The adversary is increasing his attack on faith and on families at an exponential rate," he said. "To survive spiritually, we need counter-strategies and proactive plans. Accordingly, we now want to put in place organizational adjustments that will further fortify our members and their families."
Elder Cook echoed that concern.
"World conditions increasingly require deepening individual conversion to and strengthening faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and his Atonement," he said.
President Nelson and Elder Cook were the opening speakers of the morning session, the first of three on the initial day of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often called the Mormon church.
The church had been testing the new curriculum in congregations around the world with success, Elder Cook said. One pilot program was in Brazil and others were reported in Iowa and Tooele.
Leaders also considered a study that found that individual scripture study and prayer did the most to help young Latter-day Saints feel the influence of the Holy Ghost, Elder Cook said.
"Our purpose is to balance the church and the home experience in a way that will greatly increase faith, spirituality and deepen conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," he said.
"As leaders have sought revelation, the guidance received over the past few years is to strengthen the sacrament meeting, honor the Sabbath day and encourage and assist parents and individuals to make their homes a source of spiritual strength and increased faith a place of joy and happiness."
The church had been preparing for the announcement for some time.
"For many years," President Nelson said, "church leaders have been working on an integrated curriculum to strengthen families and individuals through a home-centered and church-supported plan to learn doctrine, strengthen faith and foster greater personal worship. Our efforts over these recent years hallow the Sabbath to make it a delight and a personal sign to God of our love for him will be augmented by the adjustments we will now introduce."
The new Sunday schedule provides more time for families to have a home evening and study the gospel at home. Family activity night can still be held on Mondays.
Gospel learning at home will be enhanced by a harmonized curriculum with "Come, Follow Me" manuals forhome organized for a weekly schedule adult classes, Aaronic Priesthood, Young Women and Primary. The manual for home, "Come, Follow Me For Individuals and Families" will be provided to every member home.
The new plan will begin in January to give the church time to distribute the manual and allow local leaders to change meetinghouse schedules. One goal is to have more wards begin earlier in the day.
Elder Cook said leaders should consider how to emphasize spiritual priorities over administrative function during the condensed Sunday meetings.
As they considered the change, he also said church leaders were mindful that the three-hour block of services now in place can be difficult for elderly members, parents with small children, Primary children, new converts and others.
The announced revelation about a "home-centered church" was bolstered by strong words of testimony and support from those who followed Saturday morning, including President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency who noted that, "modern revelation defines truth as a 'knowledge of things as they are, as they were, and as they are to come.'"
He spoke about divine truths and said that while the church is properly known as a family-centered church, family-centeredness "is focused on more than mortal relationships. Eternal relationships are also fundamental to our theology."
He then reiterated some of those divine truths: that there is a God, who is the loving Father of all; that gender is eternal and "an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal and eternal identity"; and that God's love is so great that "he has provided a destiny of glory for all his children."
Elders David A. Bednar and Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles confirmed the statements made by both President Nelson and Elder Cook that the Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles unitedly endorsed the change.
"We live in a remarkable and revelatory season of the restored Church of Jesus Christ," Elder Bednar said. "The historic adjustments announced today have only one overarching purpose: to strengthen faith in Heavenly Father and his plan and in his son Jesus Christ and his Atonement."
He quoted Handbook 2, a policy manual for church leaders: "God has revealed a pattern of spiritual progress for individuals and families through ordinances, teaching, programs and activities that are home centered and church supported. Church organizations and programs exist to bless individuals and families and are not ends in themselves."
Elder Rasband also emphasized following the Lord's path.
He encouraged conferencegoers to put aside worldly influences and "love what the Lord loves."
He said love can conquer all fears: "When we are tentative in our commitments to the Lord, when we stray from his path leading to life eternal, when we question or doubt our significance in his divine design, when we allow fear to open the door to all its companions discouragement, anger, frustration, disappointment; the Spirit leaves us, and we are without the Lord."
The conference began one day after the church changed the name of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to "The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square."
President Nelson became the faith's 17th president and prophet in January. Saturday's announcement came six weeks after he announced in a brief statement that the church will drop the nicknames "Mormon" and "LDS."
Another historic change will take place tonight. For the first time, the women's session will be held at 6 p.m. on the main weekend of conference. For 53 years, the priesthood session held that slot.
The church announced a year ago that it would trim conference from six sessions to five and equalize the priesthood and women's sessions.
The priesthood session now is held on the Saturday night of conference in the spring, and the women's session, which traditionally was held a week before conference, is held on the Saturday night of conference in the fall.
In April, Latter-day Saints sustained President Nelson in a solemn assembly at the start of conference, then watched him alter the face of the church's senior leadership, calling the first Asian-American apostle, Elder Gerrit W. Gong, and the first Latin American apostle, Elder Ulisses Soares.
He also announced the restructuring of the Melchizedek priesthood quorums in all 30,500 congregations around the world, changed home and visiting teaching to ministering and announced seven new temples, including the first for India, Russia and Nicaragua.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland termed the conference a rush of revelation. Many Latter-day Saints expected a similar conference of announcements and change this weekend.
Read a full profile of President Nelson here.
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SALT LAKE CITY On the day that the U.S. Senate confirmed a controversial nominee as an associate justice on the Supreme Court, a small group of Utahns stood on a street corner in a moment of solidarity for victims who spoke out against Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Similar protests were held in dozens of cities across the country, including at the U.S. Capitol and outside the U.S. Supreme Court, uniting thousands of Americans in support for survivors of sexual violence.
"We need to show these women that they didn't share their pain for nothing," said Chiemi Maloy, of Salt Lake City, who organized the local event. "Even if it doesn't appear that way, and even though the president is shaming us, there is support for them."
Maloy said Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, "knew how difficult it would be and to still do what she did was so brave. It was a favor to all survivors and to the country."
Grid View Vice President Mike Pence announces the result of the vote for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in Washington. The bitterly polarized U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday to join the Supreme Court, delivering an election-season triumph to President Donald Trump that could swing the court rightward for a generation after a battle that rubbed raw the country's cultural, gender and political divides. (AP Photo/APTN) AP
As dusk falls, groups including "Sing Out Louise," of New York City, front in pink, and Herndon Reston Indivisible, of northern Virginia, protest the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, outside of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Jacquelyn Martin
Protesters rally in Time Square in New York, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Hundreds of people rallied in front of Trump Tower then walked to Times Square to protest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Seth Wenig
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., heads to the Senate floor for the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Alex Brandon
President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he leaves the White House, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Washington, en route to Topeka, Kansas. Trump said he is looking forward to the Senate confirmation vote on Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Jacquelyn Martin
Activists chant as they are arrested by Capitol Hill Police officers after occupying the steps on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol as they protest the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Alex Brandon
In this Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 photo, hundreds march in a protest, organized by Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, through downtown Seattle opposing the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Rebekah Welch/The Seattle Times via AP) Rebekah Welch
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen at sunset in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Manuel Balce Ceneta
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks to reporters as he leaves the chamber following a procedural vote to advance the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) J. Scott Applewhite
President Donald Trump calls on a reporter as he speaks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House. Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Washington, en route to Topeka, Kansas. Trump said he is looking forward to the Senate confirmation vote on Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Jacquelyn Martin
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his daughter Liza depart their home in Chevy Chase, Md., enroute to his swearing-in ceremony for the Supreme Court, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Cliff Owen
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, gets into a Capitol Police vehicle as she departs after speaking on the Senate floor, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 in Washington about her vote on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, right, administers the Judicial Oath to Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the Justices' Conference Room of the Supreme Court Building. Ashley Kavanaugh holds the Bible. At left are their daughters, Margaret, background, and Liza. (Fred Schilling/Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via AP) Fred Schilling
Jessica Campbell-Swanson, an activist from Denver, kisses the sculpture known as the Statue of Contemplation of Justice on the steps of the Supreme Court Building where she and others protested the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as the high court's newest justice, in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Kavanaugh took the oath inside the building after the bitterly polarized U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed him, delivering an election-season triumph to President Donald Trump that could swing the court rightward for a generation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) J. Scott Applewhite
Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool) Andrew Harnik
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is followed by members of the media as she walks to the Capitol before a vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks to reporters following the final vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) J. Scott Applewhite
President Donald Trump, on board Air Force One, gestures while speaking to members of the travel press after watching a live television broadcast of the Senate confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Trump was traveling from Washington enroute to Topeka, Kan., for a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Tom Williams/Pool Image via AP) Tom Williams
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., right, and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., left, walk together after viewing the FBI supplemental background report on Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the SCIF in the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, before the procedural vote on the Senate floor later in the morning. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool) Andrew Harnik
President Donald Trump calls on a reporter as he speaks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House. Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Washington, en route to Topeka, Kansas. Trump said he is looking forward to the Senate confirmation vote on Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Jacquelyn Martin
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh departs his home in Chevy Chase, Md., Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Cliff Owen
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, heads to the Senate floor for the vote on the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Alex Brandon
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool) Andrew Harnik
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, speaks with reporters just after a deeply divided Senate pushed Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination past a key procedural hurdle, setting up a likely final showdown vote for Saturday, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) J. Scott Applewhite
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, gets in an elevator to depart after speaking on the Senate floor, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 in Washington about her vote on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Alex Brandon
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., talks with a reporter after speaking on the Senate floor, before the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Alex Brandon
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen at near sunset in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Manuel Balce Ceneta
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the chamber for the final vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) J. Scott Applewhite
Police move activists as they protest on the steps of the Supreme Court after the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Alex Brandon
The protesters shouted at passing cars as they stood at the entrance to City Creek Park, reminding them to vote in the Nov. 6 election.
"I'm deeply concerned and disappointed in our elected officials, who have shown us they are more predator-enablers than representatives," said Terry Mitchell, a victim of sexual abuse. She said the trauma of years of abuse resurfaced in recent weeks during Kavanaugh's dramatic, drawn-out and very public confirmation process.
Mitchell's mouth had a handprint painted over it and "Hatch and Lee must go" was written on a cheek. She held a sign that read "We won't forget 10/6/2018."
Other protesters held signs that read: "Believe survivors," "Americans like justices who don't perjure," "Kava-Nah," and more. They received honks and waves from passers-by, as well as jeers from some LDS Church conferencegoers exhibiting support for Kavanaugh and the Republican majority Senate that confirmed him.
U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, senior member and former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Saturday that Kavanaugh is perhaps "the most qualified nominee he has seen." The confirmation, he added, "is one of the most important things we have done in my 42 years in the Senate."
"Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation sent a strong message to the country that civility, process and the integrity of our institutions matter," Hatch said. "While the American people will not soon forget the unfair and unjust behavior that led us to one of the Senate's lowest points in decades, today we took an important step in overcoming the politics of personal destruction."
Hatch and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, each expressed gratitude for the opportunity to take part in the historic vote.
"Judge Kavanaugh is a good man," Lee, who is also a member of the committee, said. "He is eminently qualified to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States."
Protesters weren't happy with the actions of the Utah senators, though, shouting for change in November.
"At some point you have to be active because you feel things are falling apart around you," said John Cederlund, of Taylorsville.
Kavanaugh's confirmation, he said, "is ruining the whole idea of checks and balances."
"There's no question this candidate is biased," Cederlund said.
Shireen Ghorbani, a Utah candidate for U.S. Congress, attended the protest and said survivors need to see that there is support for them.
"There is a real problem with sexual violence in our own community," she said, adding that she is running to increase diversity on Capitol Hill.
Hatch told protesters earlier this week to "grow up," and to go away. But, that doesn't deter Maloy.
"We will keep fighting until we don't have to anymore," she said.
SALT LAKE CITY Less time in church meetings, more time for family and personal gospel study? Absolutely.
That was the sentiment of several Latter-day Saints streaming out of the Conference Center after the Saturday morning session of the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when a new plan for a home-centered, church-supported, shortened meeting schedule was announced.
Arleen and Vaughn Hawkes, of Orem, said the news is exciting and will be a blessing to the church.
"I think that it will bless families," Arleen Hawkes said. "We'll learn the gospel deeper, it will get down inside of us. And I think it will help us to retain our young people better."
"We recognize that there's a big worldwide church out there, and it's not all in Utah," Vaughn Hawkes said. "There are a lot of changes that are going to take place that will improve the opportunities of Saints across the world to teach and train each other and their children."
Carlos Anugulo, who serves in a bishopric in Venezuela, said it was nice to know that President Russell M. Nelson is thinking about families and homes as holy places.
"Having more time to be with our families and strengthen each other will be nice," said Anugulo, a husband and father of two children. "I think it's inspired and I'm really thankful."
Royce Rhead, the father of a family of six from Boise, Idaho, said that while he won't miss afternoon church meetings, he plans to make a new effort in holding family home evening.
"I think this will give everyone more of an opportunity to fit family home evening in," Rhead said. "With everyone's busy schedule, it's been (a) hard time fitting that in."
Christopher Schuman and his wife, Rebecca Schuman, have been married for 10 years. They are unable to have children, but believe the change is inspired because "it works for all families."
"For me it's been a struggle because I was trying to find my place and if I'm not able to have children, what does that look like?" Rebecca Schuman said. "Just because my husband and I can't (have children) doesn't mean we can't have a family and help inspire those around us that have children and be an example."
She appreciated the words of Elder Ronald A. Rasband, who counseled members not to fear.
"I think that says it all. We need not fear because of what our foundation is built upon," she said. "Maybe when I die, the Lord will give me 100 spirit children and I'm going to have to remember all their names."
Christopher Schuman, her husband, had a more nonchalant reaction to the new meeting schedule.
"To be honest, who is going to complain about two-hour church?" he said.
Austin Smart, 18, and Carter Lloyd, 17, both from Boise, Idaho, and their friend, Megan Baugh, 17, from California, all rejoiced at the news. They agreed that at times church meetings have felt long, but they acknowledged the need to use their Sabbath day to grow spiritually.
"It's not for naps, even though we might want it to be for naps," Smart said with a smile. "It's time to grow closer to family and learn more about the gospel."
SALT LAKE CITY A lot of Utahns are assisting with efforts to curtail the state's uniquely high rates of suicide, specifically among teenagers.
But a new report indicates there isn't much data available on whether these many efforts are producing the desired results, as suicide rates in Utah continue to rise and the phenomenon of suicide remains largely misunderstood.
It also points to the fact that Utahns lack access to sufficient mental health care, beginning in elementary school, where the state has one counselor for every 2,333 students.
"People have to realize that we've got to have engagement across the whole of society on this issue," said Peter Reichard, president at the Utah Foundation, which released its report, "Getting to Tomorrow: Addressing Suicide in Utah and the Mountain States," on Wednesday.
"Whether it is better parenting, having engaged friends, engaged educators and engaged health professionals, help in the criminal justice system, involved employers and policymakers, even the media has a role to play."
Reichard said more research is needed to know out how to properly intervene.
"We have programs in place, we're just not sure they're working," he said, adding that it might also be difficult to determine whether programs or policies are helping. "If they're preventing something, it doesn't happen, so it's hard to know what stopped it."
The Utah Foundation report provides a comprehensive view of what's happening and where it is happening, both in Utah and in a region of mountain states that share uncommonly higher rates of suicide. Some of the highest rates of suicide are in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Nevada, with all but Arizona falling in the top 10 in 2016.
In Utah, the years 1999 to 2016 (the most recent year for which data are available) saw a "startling increase," according to the report, in its suicide rate, from 15.8 per 100,000 to 24.2. Suicide rates increased among all age groups.
The counties with the highest rates include Carbon, Emery, Sevier, Beaver and Duchesne. All five are among higher elevations within the state, whereas, lower elevated counties correlate with lower suicide rates, the research finds.
In addition to elevation, other links to suicide, although "far from absolute," according to the report, include rurality, gun ownership levels, ethnicity and opioid use.
Opioid prescription levels are high in four of the five counties where suicide is highest in Utah, Reichard said. The report also found that suicide deaths are predominantly male and are highest among working age adults.
The report points out that there are 20 suicide crisis hotlines operating across the state, including a statewide affiliate of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, or 1-800-273-8255. Various efforts have been made recently by state and federal lawmakers to upgrade and streamline available services, as well as offer help in other ways.
The state has mobilized crisis intervention teams and the SafeUT smartphone app gets an average of 1,206 chats and 616 anonymous tips per month. Despite this, Reichard said, the rate of teen suicide in Utah has quadrupled since 2007, to more than double the national rate.
While the state requires secondary schools to implement suicide prevention programs, it's up to each school to decide how and which programs to use. Funding for those increased following the 2018 legislative session, to $1,000 per school, according to the report.
Of the suicide prevention laws in Utah, eight are school-based, giving schools and higher education institutions heightened opportunities to promote mental health, though programs vary greatly among institutions, the report says. The remaining 13 laws address a range of different areas such as health care or firearm-related policies.
The Utah Foundation report points out that teachers and student peers specifically play an important role in suicide intervention and prevention.
The report also states that a higher number of teens who commit suicide have contact with the juvenile court system.
The Utah Foundation isn't producing an action plan, but putting information out there for parents, educators, employers and policymakers, among others. The nonpartisan public policy research group wants to inform issues it believes are at the top of Utahns' minds.
"This is what's out there and what ought to be considered," Reichard said. "We need more research to see what works."
The group plans to further research opioid use and mental health access throughout the state, to determine what kind of role they play in the rising number of suicides in Utah.
"The more we know and the more we understand what's happening and where, the more effective our strategies can be," Reichard said. "Addressing suicide requires an all-hands-on-deck effort to improve mental health, from good parenting all the way to ensuring access to highly trained mental health professionals for those who need it."
SALT LAKE CITY The nation's wild horse and burro advisory board will convene for three days in Salt Lake City, including touring Tooele County to take a look at the Onaqui Wild Horse Management area.
Meetings will be livestreamed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at www.blm.gov/live.
"The advisory board is comprised of stakeholders who bring diverse backgrounds, experiences, and expertise to the table as they take on some of the difficult issues facing the program," said BLM Deputy Director Brian Steed. "I look forward to hearing their ideas and recommendations for finding a path to long-term sustainable populations on the range through humane management practices."
The federal agency says that as of May 22, there were an estimated 82,000 wild horses and burros in 10 Western states, including Utah. That number is the largest since the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed and is more than three times the number habitat can support, according to the BLM.
In addition, there are 45,000 unadopted horses in long-term holding pens being cared for at a cost of $50 million a year.
The advisory board meetings will take place at the downtown Courtyard Marriott.
A public comment period will be held from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Individuals who want to make a comment should register in person with the BLM prior to 1:45 p.m. on that same day at the meeting site. Depending on the number of speakers, the board may limit the length of comments, which has been set at about three minutes per person during previous meetings.
Julian de Spainn, General Secretary, Conradh na Gaeilge, Gaeltacht Minister Joe McHugh, Sorcha Ni Chonghaile, Irish Officer at DCU Students Union and Mairtin O Mealoid, Oilean Chleire, Cork, at Clinic na Gaeilge 2018 at Buswells Hotel, Kildare Street. Organised by Conradh na Gaeilge, the 10-hour mobile clinic saw members of the Irish-speaking community from around the country sit down with their constituency TDs in a bid to secure budget funding for an Irish Language and Gaeltacht Investment Plan which could create over 1,000 new jobs. Pic: Sasko Lasarov, Photocall Ireland.
Conradh na Gaeilge members from Donegal met with their local Oireachtas members to voice their concerns around Irish language and Gaeltacht funding as Clinic Na Gaeilge came to Kildare Street in Dublin.
The ten-hour mobile clinic at Buswells Hotel saw Donal O Cnaimhsi and Maire Ui Fhearraigh, Gaoth Dobhair, sit down with local Gaeltacht Minister Joe McHugh and Pat The Cope Gallagher TD to ask for their support for Conradh na Gaeilges Irish Language and Gaeltacht Investment Plan which could create over 1,190 new jobs.
Local representatives from 20 constituencies across Ireland travelled to the capital to meet 83 TDs, Senators and representatives in a bid to secure funding of 9 million for the plan in Budget 2019.
Clinic na Gaeilge brings the voice of the Irish-speaking community to the seat of power, where they can air the local issues that matter to them most, said Donal.
It was good to sit down as Gaeilge with Joe and Pat and encourage them to make investment in the Irish language and in the Gaeltacht a priority for the Government in Budget 2019.
Dr Niall Comer, President of Conradh na Gaeilge said that the Irish Language and Gaeltacht Investment Plan has been agreed by 87 Irish language and Gaeltacht groups, and would create over 1,190 new jobs.
It will also provide essential resources towards the language planning process, and afford the public many opportunities across the country to use Irish, said Dr Comer.
Irish language and Gaeltacht employment authorities have seen their resources slashed by up to 70% since 2007.
It is time to honour the Programme for Government and invest in our Gaeltachts and in our language.
The event was held as part of Conradh na Gaeilges #SEAS18 (seisiuin eolais agus spreagtha) pre-budget campaign, which involves information and progress sessions on Irish language and Gaeltacht affairs.
As well as the representatives of many constituencies who are joining us today, other Irish speakers have been phoning their local politicians, calling into their local drop-in clinics, and sending personal emails or tweets, said Peadar Mac Fhlannchadha, Advocacy Manager with Conradh na Gaeilge.
Like Clinic na Gaeilge, this is all tremendously enormously important work before the Budget is decided.
We are stronger as a community when we work together on these core issues - ni neart go cur le cheile.
Conradh na Gaeilge and their local representatives are calling on the Government and on the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe TD, to allocate 9 million in funding to the Irish Language and Gaeltacht Investment Plan, as agreed by 87 Irish language and Gaeltacht groups, in Budget 2019.
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Margie Roddy (nee Lynch), late of Glasnevin and Lurgangreen, Dundalk, died on August 30 2018, in the loving company of her family at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.
Born in October, 1924 at Lurgangreen, Margie was the second eldest of ten surviving children of the late Tom and Mary Lynch. Margie was educated at Haggardstown National School and won many awards in arithmetic and English compositions.
She grew up in a time when formal education was for the privileged few. However, Margie never lost her conviction for the empowerment of education and imbued her children and grandchildren with the same vigour for learning. Margie did get an opportunity to put her sharp intellect to good use. She cycled the daily ten mile round trip to work in all weathers, to manage what was Wards Shop at 59 Park Street, Dundalk.
All through the War Years without a calculator in sight, and when the acumen for mental arithmetic was a valued tool she measured and dispensed the rations with such grace and consideration that nobody ever left Wards Shop in need or disgruntled. Margie loved to socialise; whether at carnivals, dances, GAA matches (an avid Louth supporter), or simply going to the pictures. Her life would begin a new chapter when she met her husband, Michael Roddy. She left her beloved job and loyal customers behind to start a new and long life as a wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
Of a generation that retained deep religious and neighbourly values of kindness and sharing, Margie endeared herself to new friends in Glasnevin her home for nearly sixty years yet all the while, she never lost sight of her roots and formative years in Lurgangreen.
The essence of her legacy is her wisdom and experience that has enriched the lives of her family and friends as she was always both tutor and student in the classroom of life.
Predeceased by her husband, Michael, and loving mother of the late Bernadette, and by her brothers, Dessie and Brendan and also sisters, Agnes and Jane, Margie will be sadly missed by her loving daughters, Alice and Anne, sons Thomas, Aidan, Brian, Pat, Paul, John and Brendan, along with brothers, Donnie, Joe, Phil, Frank and Kevin, her grandchildren (especially Ciara and David), great-grandchildren, in-laws, nieces, nephews, her dear friend Breda Cashin, and all her other relatives and friends.
Margie reposed in her home on Friday August 31, and the next day was brought to our Lady of Victories Church, Glasnevin, for the con-celebration of funeral mass by Father John McDonagh (Sandymount P.P), Father Eamon Kavanagh (Redemptorist, Dundalk) and Father Eoin Murphy (Glasnevin P.P.). Eulogies were read by her brother Frank and her daughter Alice.
Margie was laid to rest on August 31 in Dardistown cemetery, Santry and her Months Mind Mass took place in Saint Furseys Church, Haggardstown, on Sunday September 30.
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Strong encryption can be a threat to law enforcement and national security, the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand said in a statement issued Sunday.
"The increasing use and sophistication of certain encryption designs present challenges for nations in combating serious crimes and threats to national and global security," maintained the countries, which are known as the "Five Eyes" based on an agreement they entered to cooperate on signal intelligence.
"Many of the same means of encryption that are being used to protect personal, commercial and government information are also being used by criminals, including child sex offenders, terrorists and organized crime groups to frustrate investigations and avoid detection and prosecution," they added.
The statement sets out three principles the nations agreed to abide by when dealing with encryption within their jurisdictions:
Access to lawfully obtained data shall be a mutual responsibility of all stakeholders -- government, carriers, device manufacturers and over-the-top service providers.
All governments should ensure that assistance requested from providers is underpinned by the rule of law and due process protections.
Information and communications technology service providers should voluntarily establish lawful access solutions to their products and services.
Do It or Else
Whether compliance with the lawful access demands of the Five Eyes will be voluntary for long remains to be seen, especially in light of the final paragraph in the statement:
"Should governments continue to encounter impediments to lawful access to information necessary to aid the protection of the citizens of our countries, we may pursue technological, enforcement, legislative or other measures to achieve lawful access solutions."
That language reeks of Australia, noted Nate Cardozo, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation , a digital privacy advocacy group in San Francisco.
For more than a year, Australia has been mulling over legislation aimed at regulating encryption within its borders.
"Australia is looking to lead the charge against security, privacy and technology," Cardozo told TechNewsWorld. "It believes itself to be in a security crisis, and since it doesn't have much hope of getting tech investment, it's more likely to do something to the tech sector."
Good Guys With Bad Encryption
Forcing companies to provide governments access to encrypted data likely will be a losing proposition, both for the governments and the people they're trying to protect.
"Bad guys will just be chased to places where strong encryption is available, and good citizens won't have the opportunity to use the best possible encryption," argued Balakrishnan Dasarathy, information assurance program chair at the University of Maryland University College in Largo, Maryland.
"Good guys will follow the rules and not have all the best technology," he told TechNewsWorld.
Although law enforcement has complained about encryption, the technology has failed to prevent it from getting what it wanted in the past.
"Time and time again law enforcement gets what it needs without backdoors," EFF's Cardozo observed.
"Backdoors make law enforcement's job easier at the cost of all our security," he continued. "Encryption is a magic bullet only if you use it absolutely correctly, which literally no one does."
Backdoors Unnecessary
There is no way to expose data to friendly spy agencies without also risking exposure of this data to not-so-friendly entities, maintained Craig Young, a computer security researcher at Tripwire, a cybersecurity threat detection and prevention company in Portland, Oregon.
"The truth of the matter is that backdoors simply make the process effortless and can enable bulk data collection without individualized suspicion of wrongdoing," he told TechNewsWorld.
"Even without backdoors added into communication protocols, intelligence agencies and law enforcement should generally have other tools at their disposal to gain access to endpoints and thereby circumvent the need to break any encryption," said Young.
"Listening devices, hardware key loggers, and malware can all effectively defeat end-to-end encryption for an individual without adding risk to the general public," he explained.
Encryption is either strong or it is broken, without much of any room for middle ground, Young contended.
Encryption Horse Out of Barn
Backdoors create great risk to the security of data, noted Young.
"Widespread deployment of any backdoor creates tremendous risk if a third party were ever to gain access either through legal channels or reverse engineering," he pointed out.
"Anything you do for the good guys will get into the hands of the bad guys also," said UMUC's Dasarathy. "It's only a matter of time. You're only kidding yourself if you think otherwise."
The Five Eyes' attempt to curb the trend toward encryption may be based on an antiquated notion.
"The cat is very much out of the bag on strong encryption," Tripwire's Young said. "Anyone with an inkling of technology prowess is capable of building their own private communication scheme."
Backdoor keys almost inevitably would fall into the wrong hands, Cardozo suggested. Further they wouldn't enable the good guys to get the bad guys they're after.
Applications with strong encryption would appear online, be downloaded and sideloaded onto phones, he said.
"It takes only the tiniest bit of technical sophistication to install an app, and that's all it will take to get around a backdoor," Cardozo noted.
What's more, "any attacker who is sophisticated enough to recognize a listening device or a physical implant from the NSA is certainly not going to rely on a public communication infrastructure without strong end-to-end encryption," Young noted.
Public Distrust of Government
If the Five Eyes decide to make good on their threat to force the use of backdoors in encrypted products, they may find themselves at odds with a lot of their citizens.
Fewer than half (41 percent) of the 3,000 consumers polled in the U.S., UK and Germany believed laws that provided government access into encrypted personal data would make them safer from terrorists. The survey was conducted last year by Salt Lake City-based Venafi, maker of a platform to protect encryption keys.
Skepticsm of government was high in general, with nearly two-thirds (65 percent) suspecting their governments abused their powers to access the data of citizens. That number was even higher in the United States, where 78 percent of respondents held that belief.
"Giving governments access to encryption will not make us safer from terrorism -- in fact, the opposite is true," said Venafi CEO Jeff Hudson.
"Most people don't trust the government to protect data, and they don't believe the government is effective at fighting cybercrime," he added. "It's ironic that we believe we would be safer if governments were given more power to access private encrypted data, because this will undermine the security of our entire digital economy."
John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.
Public support for the protesting nuns in Kerala signals hope for the cause of gender justice.
The recent protest by five nuns of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation on behalf of a fellow nun, who has accused the former Bishop of Jalandhar of sexually abusing her several times over the course of two years, has placed the Catholic Church of Kerala under serious moral scrutiny. It has not only revealed the churchs objectionable attitude towards the issue of gender justice, but has also exposed the sceptical approach that the state seems to have adopted regarding it. This context, therefore, forces one to take due cognisance of two rather striking aspects of the protest. First is the nuns protest, which appears unusual on account of their ability to demonstrate exemplary courage against the religious institution to which they belong by faith and practice. Second, the nuns legitimate cry for justice has also sought to galvanise the larger community that stood in solidarity with her. Arriving on the heels of the #MeToo movement, and amidst global allegations of sexual abuse of children at the hands of priests and high-level cover-ups, Keralas Church Too movement locates itself within one of the most divisive crises facing the Catholic Church today. But, at the heart of the protests is the question of justice and the impediments that seem to have led to the denial of gender justice.
The sphere of the sacred, by definition, is supposed to empty out from within a person the destructive elements of the sensual and libidinal. In a normative sense, the church is expected to protect the dignityconstitutive of both, the moral and physical integrityof a person, in the present case, the nun. It is perhaps with this expectation in the structures of the church that the nun petitioned the head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, the Apostolic Nuncio of India, and church officials in Rome, including the Vatican state secretary and the Pope. It seems that there was some response on the part of the church authorities, but this was clearly in favour of the accused bishop and positively against the nun. The churchs much delayed intervention led injustice to take a morally more offensive form. This was evident in the ensuing character assassination of the nun, suggesting the biased role of the church in the subversion of the process of justice. It is interesting to note that the Kerala High Court has now rejected the bail plea of the bishop citing prima facie evidence against him, and casting doubt on the merit of the churchs internal inquiry into the matter.
Min Min lights are a mysterious phenomenon that have spooked many people in the outback of Australia. But is there any scientific proof that Min Min lights exist? Or is it simply an Aboriginal folktale that has been passed down for generations?
The lights have been described by witnesses as floating, fast-moving balls of colour that glow in the night sky and stalk people, leaving some feeling confused and frightened. Sometimes the lights are blue and other times they are white or yellow.
In Queensland, the Boulia Shire Council notifies visitors that they are in the land of the Min Min lights and that they may spot them as they drive for the next 120 kilometres.
In the Kimberley in Western Australia some Aboriginal people believe the Min Min lights are the spirits of elders. As a kid growing up the old people used to tell me, they [Min Min lights] were old peoples spirits looking after country, Wyndham local James Birch said.
Mr Birch, a Balanggarra ranger, said everyone from his childhood grew up hearing the stories. If youve lived in the Kimberley you would have experienced spotting a Min Min light once in your life, he said.
Mr Birch has not seen the Min Min lights for two years but said the lights tend to distract people and take them off their chosen path. We were heading back into town after hunting. I was driving towards town when all of sudden a Min Min light appeared, he said. We all stared at the light and all of a sudden we were going in the opposite way, going back into the bush and following the light without even realising.
What does science say?
Curtis Roman, a senior lecturer at Charles Darwin University, is gathering stories from Indigenous Australians about Min Min lights as part of an ongoing research project. Dr Roman said there were several scientific theories that could explain the phenomenon.
One is that theyre a mirage, [caused by] natural gases or warm air and cold coming together, Dr Roman said. Some of the other theories are that they are bioluminous insects, owls or birds.
Although he is only in the early stages of his research, Dr Roman said that all the Indigenous people he had interviewed so far had described how frightened they felt when they saw the lights.
Outback lights star in movie
In 2015, writer and director Jub Clerc directed a short film called Min Min Light based upon her own experiences of the lights when she was growing up in the Pilbara. When I was a young girl lying in my backyard, these lights came down, Ms Clerc said. Two of them came down in front of me and then suddenly shot off. I was in awe. It could be our spirits that look after country. Who knows what it is? I like to think theres more to life that what we think.
Yes, these Min Min lights are really fascinating!
By the way, you can support your Strange Sounds by becoming a Patron on Patreon or donating through Paypal. Please and thank you.
ABC.Net.au Min Min lights: Is there a scientific explanation for the mysterious phenomenon?
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Again and again, President Donald Trump was instructed not to do it. A cadre of advisers, confidants and lawmakers all urged him - implored him, really - not to personally attack the women who had accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
So he did it anyway.
Addressing thousands at a boisterous rally in Mississippi, Trump relied on his own visceral sense of the moment and mocked Christine Blasey Ford for gaps in her memory, directly impugning the accuser's credibility.
Establishment Republicans initially reacted with horror. But Trump's 36-second off-script jeremiad proved a key turning point toward victory for the polarizing nominee, White House officials and Kavanaugh allies said, turbocharging momentum behind Kavanaugh just as his fate appeared most in doubt.
Tuesday evening in Southhaven, Mississippi, Trump laid into Ford with the ruthlessness of an attack dog and the pacing of a stand-up comedian. The crowd roared with laughter and applause. Aides privately crowed as footage of the performance was played and replayed many times over, shifting the national discussion from scrutiny of Kavanaugh's honesty and drinking habits to doubts about Ford's memory. And in Washington, Republican senators - though they condemned Trump's mockery of Ford - felt emboldened to aggressively demand Kavanaugh's confirmation, which became a near-certainty Friday and looks to become official with a vote Saturday.
"As long as he was willing to go to the mat for him, it fortified probably people up here, too," said Sen. John Thune, S.D., the chamber's third-ranking Republican leader.
Now Playing: Brett Kavanaugh's lifetime seat on the US Supreme Court looks all but confirmed after two key senators said they would support the judge's nomination. On Friday, two senators who were considered swing votes - Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Joe Manchin - said they would support Kavanaugh, despite accusations of sexual misconduct against the judge. With this support, he is on track for confirmation. University professor Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were high school students in Maryland in 1982. Two other women have also made accusations of sexual misconducts against him. Collins explained to the Senate floor she backed Kavanaugh as Ford's accusations "fail to meet the more-likely-than-not standard". The final Senate vote is likely to happen on Saturday. The US Senate narrowly advanced President Donald Trump's nominee to a final vote by voting to strictly limit debate on the issue on Friday. In reaction to Friday's vote, he tweeted: "Very proud of the U.S. Senate for voting "YES" to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!" Kavanaugh has previously said in a testimony during the confirmation process that the accusations against him were part of a "political hit" by Democrats, who are trying to take control of the US Congress from the Republicans in an election next month. The Kavanaugh fight has come at a critical moment of the #MeToo social media movement against sexual harassment and assault. Hundreds of protesters against the nomination were arrested on Friday night in Senate office buildings, the Capitol Building, and outside the Supreme Court. Video: Euronews
The three-week maelstrom - from when Ford first shared her story with The Washington Post to Saturday's expected confirmation vote - fused the nation's cultural reckoning over sexual assault with tribal politics, carrying ramifications not only for next month's midterm elections but also for the long-term identities of both political parties.
At the center, as always, was Trump, who used his bully pulpit to champion Kavanaugh and accused men everywhere. Initially restraining his combative impulses and deferring to the Senate on process, the president ultimately followed his own gut as if he were, in the description of one aide, "a strategic boogeyman."
The result is likely to be, according to counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, "a crowning achievement of his presidency."
"If people look at this as an apocalyptic fight, he's the ultimate fighter who doesn't give up, doesn't give in and doesn't back down, even if there's an avalanche of criticism and vicious, vile reactions from the other side," Conway said.
Yet for all of Trump's public declarations, the actual deciders of Kavanaugh's fate were a trio of Senate Republicans with an independent streak - Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona - whose demands for an FBI investigation prolonged the process but also ended up ensuring Kavanaugh's confirmation.
Republican leaders, who for nearly two years have accommodated Trump's brushfires in service to a shared agenda, plowed through the chaos to fulfill a wish of the movement right: replacing the Supreme Court seat held by swing vote Anthony Kennedy with a conservative ideologue.
The GOP's hardball approach left Democrats shaken and defeated.
"They are succeeding because they have broken all the rules and norms," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. "They adopted the strategy that the best defense is a good offense."
This portrait of Kavanaugh's fraught confirmation process is the result of interviews with more than two dozen senators, Senate staffers, White House officials and outside Republican advisers, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss behind-the-scenes machinations.
After three weeks of uncertainty and pitched partisanship, it was Collins on Friday who all but determined the outcome in an extraordinary 44-minute address on the Senate floor.
The Maine moderate had signaled her thinking earlier with a "yea" on a procedural vote to move forward, before sitting down to lunch with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in the members-only Senate dining room.
Collins struck defiant notes in defense of Kavanaugh and lambasted liberal activists and senators, whom she argued never gave the nominee a fair shake. Although she said she found Ford's testimony "sincere, painful and compelling" and believes she has survived a sexual assault, she explained in some detail that she did not see any substantiating witnesses or evidence for her claims that Kavanaugh was the aggressor.
The final words of her address were the ones many GOP leaders had been longing to hear: "I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh."
McConnell led the Republican senators - nearly two dozen in attendance - in a standing ovation. One by one, Collins' compatriots celebrated her decision. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, enveloped Collins in a giant bear hug.
Within moments, Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., became the only Democrat to say he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh, and coupled with Flake's earlier expression of support all but guaranteed the nominee's ascension to the Supreme Court.
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From the moment Kennedy announced his retirement on June 27, the White House realized the battle to fill his seat would be far more difficult than the one for Justice Neil Gorsuch to replace the late Antonin Scalia. Picking a successor for Kennedy's swing seat gave Trump an opportunity to solidify a conservative majority on the court for decades to come - and White House advisers decided they would need to mount a vigorous political campaign.
The chief strategist was Donald McGahn, the White House counsel who has had a tempestuous relationship with Trump but rose up through the conservative movement.
Trump, too, understood the stakes, aides said. If he could solidify the Supreme Court's conservative majority, the president calculated, that move alone could permanently endear him to Republican voters - especially evangelical Christians - and override doubts about how he conducts himself in office.
Trump had no particular personal affinity for Kavanaugh, although a dinner was arranged between the two men and their wives to cultivate a relationship. "I don't even know him," the president told the Mississippi crowd, "so it's not like, 'Oh, gee, I want to protect my friend.' "
Nevertheless, Trump felt invested in Kavanaugh, and he entrusted McGahn, with whom the president barely was on speaking terms, to muscle through this final victory before departing the White House later this fall.
"Kavanaugh's an establishment guy. He was a Bush guy," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., referencing the nominee's experience as White House staff secretary under President George W. Bush. "There was a lot of pushback, you know - 'Don't go [down] that road,' 'That's not why you won,' and he said, 'Wait a minute. I want to pick the best people to be on the court I can,' and he said he was incredibly impressed by his background, just the whole package of Kavanaugh."
McGahn built a war room on the fourth floor of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building staffed with nearly a dozen lawyers, two communications operatives and a stable of Kavanaugh's former law clerks. A farm team at the Justice Department conducted research and drafted talking points. Leonard Leo, a longtime leader of the conservative Federalist Society, and to a more limited degree Republican lawyer William Burck, were key advisers. And an assortment of well-funded outside groups, including the Judicial Crisis Network, worked to buff Kavanaugh's public image through television and online advertisements and surrogate media appearances.
The team treated Kavanaugh like they would a presidential candidate, including choreographing his public movements. When Kavanaugh visited Capitol Hill, McGahn and an entourage of clerks and aides accompanied the judge to meetings with senators and devised routes to avoid interactions with protesters.
Still, even the Kavanaugh operation drew pointed criticism from Republican allies on Capitol Hill and others in Trump's orbit, who at times privately questioned everything from the selection of Kavanaugh himself to the war room's ability to effectively manage a bloody-knuckled partisan brawl.
- - -
The story of Kavanaugh's nomination can be told in two parts. Until Sept. 16, he was a milquetoast Bush Republican whose confirmation hearings had failed to animate much of the country. But that Sunday, when The Washington Post published Ford's detailed account of sexual assault when she and Kavanaugh were teenagers in suburban Maryland, the Supreme Court nomination gripped the nation - casting Kavanaugh as a predator with a drinking problem for some and an unfairly smeared folk hero for others.
The initial Ford allegations momentarily sent the White House reeling, as they scrambled to assess her credibility and the veracity of her claims. The president was immediately advised, including by Conway, not to attack Ford, but to say that she deserved to be heard - a line he stuck to for several days.
In the coming day, stories of Kavanaugh's alleged debauchery as a high school and college student dribbled out from former classmates, as well as two additional claims of sexual misconduct: Deborah Ramirez claimed in the New Yorker that Kavanaugh had exposed himself to her as an undergraduate at Yale University, and Julie Swetnick, represented by attorney and potential Democratic presidential candidate Michael Avenatti, suggested that Kavanaugh had been present at parties where women were gang-raped.
But the additional claims had an unexpected effect: Widely deemed less credible than Ford's assault allegation, they gave Kavanaugh's supporters fresh ammunition to cast all of the charges as a political hit job.
Kavanaugh, a former political staffer who had micromanaged his confirmation process and media coverage of his nomination, was eager to defend himself publicly - and McGahn, McConnell, Trump and other advisers were encouraging him to do just that. Kavanaugh and his wife, Ashley, sat for a television interview with Fox News Channel's Martha MacCallum.
The interview was widely criticized - "objectively a horrible idea," in the words of one White House official. Kavanaugh appeared wooden and dispassionate, sticking only to a few talking points, and Trump, an avid consumer and critic of television news, thought he appeared weak and unconvincing.
But the Kavanaugh team believed the Monday sit-down served its purpose: He was on camera denying allegations in clips that helped fill the news vacuum in the run-up to that Thursday's scheduled Senate testimony from him and Ford.
"It filled the void," a second White House official said.
Then came the whiplash - more than eight hours of Senate testimony, first from Ford, then from Kavanaugh, that captivated the nation and even left the president seesawing from fatalism to enthusiasm about Kavanaugh's confirmation prospects.
When Ford had finally finished, McGahn spoke privately to Kavanaugh, who had not watched, urging him to be passionate. "Speak from your heart," McGahn advised the nominee, according to someone familiar with their discussion.
Kavanaugh roared into the committee room and shouted his opening statement, which he had personally written the night before with the help of one trusted clerk. The hotly defiant performance was so effective in the eyes of his advisers - and, perhaps most importantly, of the president - that a group gathered in Vice President Mike Pence's Capitol Hill office began to cheer and pump their fists. Some even had tears in their eyes.
- - -
The hearing galvanized activists on both sides and left jittery senators - including Flake, one of 11 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee - torn between competing accounts and party loyalties.
Flake, who has repeatedly criticized Trump's rhetoric and had been positioning himself as the pivotal swing vote on Kavanaugh's nomination, decided to vote "yes" last Friday to advance Kavanaugh's nomination from the committee to the full Senate floor.
But Flake was confronted that day in a Senate elevator by two women who tearfully accused him of dismissing credible allegations of assault. He told fellow senators the FBI should reopen its background investigation to review the sexual misconduct allegations.
Flake, along with Murkowski and Collins, met with McConnell and the committee's Republican members in the leader's Capitol office and said they would not vote to confirm Kavanaugh until there had been an FBI investigation. The trio laid out the scope of the probe, which would take no more than one week and which they decided would not include Swetnick's claims.
"How do we confine it to credible allegations versus any number of things that we would've expected to come out?" recalled Senate Judiciary member Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
McConnell spoke with Trump and convinced him that the only option was to delay a vote and move forward with the FBI probe, according to people familiar with their conversation.
McConnell understood that Murkowski, who generally keeps her own counsel, was the true wild card. After being personally lobbied by sexual assault survivors from Alaska, she announced Friday morning that she would not vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
In the closing days of the Kavanaugh fight, Trump's role was mostly public-facing. His aides conceded that the president would not have much sway with the trio of Republicans who were on the bubble.
"I think in terms of the people that we needed to in the end win over, it's sometimes the less said is better," Thune said, referring to Trump's role.
On the campaign trail, however, Trump ratcheted up the partisan warfare at his rallies. In Mississippi, the president - already fuming over a New York Times investigation into his family's allegedly fraudulent tax schemes - felt the media was not properly scrutinizing Ford's account and decided to engage.
"How did you get home? 'I don't remember,' " Trump said, reenacting Ford's hearing. "How did you get there? 'I don't remember.' Where is the place? 'I don't remember.' How many years ago was it? 'I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.' "
The riff lasted less than a minute, but had lasting ramifications. The senators whose votes Kavanaugh was wooing said they were aghast at the president's rally-stage behavior. But Kavanaugh allies saw a clear benefit: An argument by the president that bucked up Kavanaugh, discredited Ford and became a clarion call for conservatives.
More than two dozen Trump supporters interviewed at the president's campaign rally Thursday in Minnesota said they wish he had not gone after Ford, fretting that doing so was not presidential. Yet many also acknowledged the president had simply spoken aloud what many of them thought privately.
"There are things he says that I wish he wouldn't say, but I will take it - for all that he has done, I'll take it," said Matthew Hoffland, 24, a web developer from Sparta, Wisconsin. "It fired up his base."
- - -
The Washington Post's Jenna Johnson in Rochester, Minnesota, contributed to this report.
A cluster of students gathered around Adebayo Adeyeye as he explained Friday how he measured estrogen levels in the water of Cibolo Creek, finding higher concentrations near points where treated wastewater entered the stream.
The graduate student at the University of Texas at San Antonio told the rapt group that hes interested in how that could affect aquatic animals or if it could cause problems in drinking water.
Adeyeye presented his research, done with UTSA Professor Brian Laub, at the 10th annual UTSA College of Sciences Research Conference, a science fair-like event that gave undergraduate students a chance to show off their work alongside graduate and post-doctoral researchers.
Some 320 students like Adeyeye described their research and got feedback from judges. Researchers from around the region are invited to present alongside UTSA students, said Floyd Wormley, a College of Sciences professor and the universitys associate dean for research and graduate studies.
Texas Lutheran University juniors Bailey Corporon and Kristen Pollok, who studied levels of cadmium and arsenic in dog food, said presenting their work was motivating.
We want to have answers to more questions, Corporan said.
After studying how rice can grow to contain chemicals from polluted fields, the chemistry students became curious about whether that would affect dog food, which often contains rice.
They measured the cadmium and arsenic levels in 15 types of dog food and are interested in determining how those levels could affect dogs.
Adeyeye, who will finish a masters degree in environmental science and ecology this winter, said the higher concentrations of estrogen he found in some downstream locations of Cibolo Creek also indicate a need for further study.
People dont really look at the effects of this, he said, with waterway pollution research more focused on metals and petroleum. After discussing his research Friday, he was more committed to pursuing the next questions.
Lorena Roa de la Cruz, a third-year doctoral student at UTSA, studied cancer biology as an undergraduate at Universidad de las Americas Puebla in Mexico.
De la Cruz chose UTSA for her Ph.D. because she wanted to work in Associate Professor Brian Hermanns lab, and she is now studying the tissue responsible for sperm production, hoping to identify causes of infertility.
She said she was really swept up by the work in reproductive biology and wanted to convey that excitement to some of the younger students who spoke with her at the conference and to motivate some of them to pursue the STEM path.
Throughout the room, judges questioned the researchers on their methods and findings, some offering comments on the work.
Wormley said the conference exposes UTSAs research opportunities to potential graduate students. In the past, to be honest, people didnt see us as a research university but that has changed in recent years, and events like Fridays can showcase that, he said.
lteitz@express-news.net
WASHINGTON Judge Brett Kavanaugh is poised to win Senate approval Saturday to become the fifth solid conservative on the U.S. Supreme Court, ending one of the ugliest, most partisan confirmation battles in modern history.
Kavanaughs path to the nations highest court was cleared Friday afternoon after two key undecided lawmakers, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., announced they would support him in the final vote.
The nomination, once seen as a safe bet in the Republican-controlled Senate, almost derailed when multiple women accused Kavanaugh of decades-old sexual assault and misconduct, turning the confirmation process into a referendum on the political power of the #MeToo movement.
Kavanaugh, who currently sits on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, denied the allegations and conservatives rallied behind him.
But the nomination unleashed fierce passions across the nation and particularly on Capitol Hill, where hundreds of protesters swarmed government office buildings and confronted wavering senators in recent days.
Partisan rancor left over from the fight could throw a wildcard into the upcoming midterm elections in November, potentially energizing voters on the left and the right. Suburban women, in particular, are expected to play a crucial role in which party controls the House, and possibly the Senate.
Although Collins was widely considered to be a swing vote, she ultimately delivered a full-throated, 40-minute endorsement of Kavanaugh, praising his record and raising questions about the allegations against him.
I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court, she said.
Top presidential aides burst out in applause in the West Wing while watching Collins speech, according to an administration official. Among the celebrants was White House Counsel Don McGahn, a fixture of the conservative legal scene and the principle shepherd of Trumps judicial nominees.
Kavanaughs ascent would mark another victory for Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who have transformed federal courts by nominating and confirming an unprecedented number of conservative judges.
Shortly after Collins delivered her speech on the Senate floor, Manchin said he would support Kavanaugh as well. Manchin, a Democrat facing a tough re-election in a conservative state, said he was assured that Kavanaugh would carefully consider any cases that could imperil health care protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, a crucial part of President Barack Obamas landmark legislation, the Affordable Care Act.
Judge Kavanaugh assured me personally that he would consider the human impacts and approach any decision with surgical precision to avoid unintended consequences, Manchin said in a statement.
The only Republican to oppose Kavanaugh was Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
I believe Brett Kavanaugh is a good man, Murkowski told reporters afterwards. It just may be, in my view, hes not the right man for the court at this time. She said she worried that the Kavanaugh confirmation battle had eroded Americans faith in the Supreme Court. Native Americans, a key part of her base, also opposed Kavanaugh over some of his past rulings.
The toll of the bitter confirmation process which Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., called a freak show and Collins compared to a gutter-level political campaign was apparent among senators. During the preliminary vote Friday, they sat at their desks and took turns standing when their names were called by a clerk, a practice typically reserved for high-profile or particularly meaningful decisions. Murkowskis voice was barely audible when she cast her vote.
Democrats plan to keep the Senate floor open all night to give speeches in opposition to Kavanaughs nomination.
This process has left the American people with more questions than answers, said Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. This has not been a search for the truth. The minimum standard for a Supreme Court nominee should be someone who we are confident will demonstrate impartiality, integrity, and truthfulness, but the nominee we are voting on has not demonstrated those qualities.
Barring any surprises, the final tally for Kavanaughs confirmation could be either 51 to 49 or 50 to 49, depending on whether Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., casts a ballot. He was planning to attend his daughters wedding in his home state when the voting occurs.
Either way, Kavanaugh would squeak through the Senate by the tightest margin in the last century, even closer than when Clarence Thomas was confirmed 52 to 48 in 1991. Thomas prevailed despite facing allegations of sexual harassment from Anita Hill, a controversy that previewed Kavanaughs own beleaguered confirmation.
Christine Blasey Ford, a Palo Alto University professor, said Kavanaugh and a friend drunkenly pushed her into a room at a party when she was 15 and he was 17. Kavanaugh climbed on top of her and tried to remove her clothes, Ford said, covering her mouth when she tried to shout for help.
Another woman, Deborah Ramirez, said Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while they were drinking with classmates at a Yale University party.
The White House ordered a supplemental FBI background check after an explosive and emotional Sept. 27 hearing where Ford testified about her allegations and Kavanaugh delivered an angry denial. In his testimony, Kavanaugh bitterly and tearfully blamed Democrats for conducting a search and destroy mission against him.
The FBI investigation, which had been demanded by a handful of Republican senators, lasted less than a week and involved interviews with nine people. A single copy of the confidential report was held in a secure room on Capitol Hill, and senators began reviewing it on Thursday.
Kavanaugh would replace former Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired this summer, and become Trumps second nominee to reach the court. The first, Neil M. Gorsuch, was previously confirmed to a seat that Republicans had blocked Obama from filling during his last year in office after the death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
A decorated Army sergeant will spend the rest of his life in prison after being found guilty of sexually abusing several young girls.
State District Judge Frank J. Castro sentenced Martin Balleza to 99 years with no chance of parole on a count of continuous sexual abuse of a child involving several young girls. Castro then added a 10-year sentence for sexual assault of a child. The two terms will be served consecutively.
During the sentencing, Castro admonished the 40-year-old for his demeanor during the weeklong trial.
You showed no emotion in court, certainly not for those most vulnerable in society, the judge said.
You hurt me and showed no remorse, a 16-year-old accuser said after the sentencing. Ill never forgive you.
She was one of several accusers who gave victim impact statements before Balleza was led away in handcuffs.
During closing arguments, the San Antonio attorney who defended Balleza invoked the #MeToo movement, saying his accusers had lied and that the state had brought forth no proof that the abuse happened.
We need proof, defense attorney Monica E. Guerrero told the jurors.
She reminded the panel that there was no DNA evidence presented that established that the assaults occurred and that the state brought a parade of witnesses to say he did this, he did that. The states case came down to his word versus the childrens, she said.
Guerrero told the jury that in 2018, anything goes to ruin someones reputation and career. She referenced the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trumps nominee to the Supreme Court, who has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct.
This guy gave up his life to go to Iraq, to Afghanistan. Hes a decorated sergeant, Guerrero told the jury. Youre talking about taking away someones liberty.
They have nothing. No medical evidence, no physical evidence, nothing. Give me a break, Guerrero said.
Supreme Court? Kavanaugh? Really, prosecutor Daryl Harris told the jury in his closing rebuttal. His military service does not mitigate what he did; his service didnt mean hes telling the truth about the sex abuse allegations.
Harris told the jury that DNA tests were conducted but that nothing was found because tests were conducted days after the alleged incidents.
This week, jurors heard two children, 9 and 11, use their own words to describe oral sex, fondling and attempted assault by the staff sergeant. They also heard from the 16-year-old, who testified that she fought off Balleza.
The defendants brother, Steven Balleza, told the jury that his brother admitted to some of the allegations against him after they spoke when the staff sergeant was hospitalized after he tried to kill himself when the outcry was made.
Harris reminded the panel that the defendant practically confessed to his brother, who came home from a business trip after learning of the suicide attempt.
That (the confession) was his only attempt at being decent, Harris said. He says everybody is lying. Real men dont hide behind children.
An active-duty staff sergeant at the time of the incidents, Balleza was assigned to the 201st Military Intelligence Battalion at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.
He joined the Army in 1997 and worked as a chemical operations specialist. He was deployed three times to Afghanistan and once to Iraq, and he received numerous medals of commendation, according to an Army spokeswoman.
Elizabeth Zavala is a courts and crime reporter in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863
In my spare time, I write about the carnival industry. That includes having researched and produced accounts of varied aspects of the Alamo Citys midway past, including the carnival companies that have long been a part of the citys annual Fiesta celebrations. I know that the carnival used to be situated near Market Square downtown from 1974 to 2007. Where was it assembled prior to that? Id appreciate any assistance you can provide concerning that segment of S.A. history.
Dan J. Zapata
The carnival is the Fiesta San Antonio event that will not die, though there have been many attempts to kill or at least bury it. Through decades of controversy, the whack-a-mole event has survived, scurrying from one location to another as it attracted both protesters and defenders. On the pro-carnival side, its the least stuffy of Fiesta events, family friendly and costs whatever you want to spend. On the con side, it can block permanent businesses and snarl traffic, and it has been the scene of more than a few crimes, from pickpocketing to violent fights.
Unlike other Fiesta events, the carnival is put on by itinerant professionals instead of local volunteers. It doesnt have a consistent set of traditions or a coherent history. The carnival as such is not even mentioned in A Century of Fiesta in San Antonio by Jack Maguire, the Fiesta San Antonio Commissions official centennial history. Its invoked in the early name, though: Spring Carnival with echoes of good times in New Orleans and more exotic settings became the collective name for the municipal festivities from 1900 to 1913, as those festivities grew from a single Battle of Flowers in 1891 into a six-day Carnival Week.
Along with parades and pageants, an actual carnival became part of the festival, run from 1906 by a group of businessmen organized as the Spring Carnival Association. Its members decided to designate the north end of Main Plaza and the west end of Alamo Plaza as lugares festivos (festive places) by building temporary enclosures and filling them with attractions for which admission would be charged, wrote Judith Berg-Sobre in San Antonio on Parade: Six Historic Festivals. Every day, there were commercial midway acts, hired from the Pan American Carnival Co. Main Plaza hosted the sleazier attractions, strictly for men, with dancing girls too warm for the ice box, an artists model, a Filipino wild man and Jennie the double lady; while Alamo Plaza was the place for more G-rated amusements, such as an educated horse, an incubator with live infants and an electrical fountain.
Rides were soon added; a 1913 photograph in the collection of the University of Texas at San Antonios Institute of Texan Cultures shows a Ferris wheel in front of the post office at the north end of Alamo Plaza. The mechanical contraptions such as the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Ride-ee-o and the Whip Z eventually crowded out old-timey carnival shows and brought in more family trade. For many years, organizations sponsored photogenic visits by children from the Protestant Orphans Home and St. Peters and St. Josephs Childrens Home, and carnival operators offered discount tickets for schoolchildren.
As the Fiesta Carnivals popularity grew, it started annoying the heck out of people who owned businesses around the plazas where it was held. Trade was cut off while streets were blocked, and some of the attractions threw unsavory shade on their unwilling Main Plaza neighbors, who asked the City Commission (as the City Council was called then) to prohibit gambling and immoral shows, according to the San Antonio Express, April 14, 1922.
By that time, the Fiesta San Jacinto Association was in charge of the event, and then, as later, the organization wouldnt hear of giving up the revenue paid by carnival operators to lease space for the duration of the festival. As the carnival grew, it came to surround City Hall, where operators were required to pay a dollar a day to make up for lost fees from 78 parking meters. It was a cash cow for the Fiesta organization, while others complained that most of the money San Antonians spent at the carnival went to out-of-town companies and transient workers.
Every now and then, rides broke down and people got hurt, as when six people fell out of swings on the Merry Mix-up at Washington Square (Dwyer Avenue). One broke, causing the other swings to smash against each other, says the Express, April 25, 1941. The passengers were taken to Robert B. Green Hospital and treated for cuts, bruises, sprains and chest injuries. That years Fiesta was the last before World War II called a halt to the festivities from 1942 through 1945.
As soon as Fiesta resumed, a new carnival attraction riled Mayor Gus Mauermann until his face matched the red shirt he was wearing, said the San Antonio Light, April 23, 1946. This was the Motordrome, a rackety structure for motorcycle races sublet by Wonder Shows, that years carnival concessionaire, to local amusements entrepreneur Adolph Booby Obadal of Victory Park (covered here June 24, 2012), who set it up on Milam Square within earshot of Santa Rosa Hospital. A representative of Wonder Shows declared that The Motordrome is the best darned thing we got before agreeing to tear it down and store it in a boxcar.
A battle royal broke out in 1959, when the Battle of Flowers Association challenged the Fiesta Association over a loan taken out by the latter to pay the carnival lessee causing the event to start with a deficit that the parade organization feared might cut into its share of the Fiesta profits. The Battle of Flowers president, identified by the Light on May 3, 1959, as Mrs. William Spice, termed the carnival a discredit to our city. Spice said that the carnival is taking money out of the little mans pocket. They cant even pay their grocery bills. Who suffers? The West Side merchants do. And then there was the element the carnival brings to town planted around the front of the (Bexar County) courthouse and the (Spanish) Governors Palace, preventing interested visitors from seeing the sights during Fiesta week.
City Councilman Jose San Martin, on the anti-carnivalists side, said: Those operating the carnival are showing selfishness and no consideration for other people while clothier Max Penner said moving it out of downtown would kill its usefulness.
In 1967, the carnival moved to the Durango Street parking lot at HemisFair Plaza, site of the HemisFair 68 worlds fair. There, the carnival went from 17 to 48 rides, then ran out of space when the main carnival area (became) the site of construction for the new federal building, said the Light on Feb. 21, 1974. After a proposal to move the carnival to the west side of downtown, the beleaguered event found a more congenial home at Market Square.
Today, the carnival sets up in the huge parking lots of the Alamodome, thus avoiding controversy over blocking city streets or local businesses.
historycolumn@yahoo.com | Twitter: @sahistorycolumn | Facebook: SanAntoniohistorycolumn
Councilman Greg Brockhouse and Mayor Ron Nirenberg are two bitter enemies on a political collision course, but they have more in common than one might think.
Just two years ago, when Ivy Taylor still was mayor, Nirenberg wore his mayoral dreams on his councilmans sleeve and often found himself isolated as a result, a lone voice of dissent on the dais. He had his allies nonetheless, former Mayors Phil Hardberger and Julian Castro among them.
Brockhouses own drive to become mayor now is just as obvious and isolating. Like Nirenberg, he has his allies beyond the council. Among them is a collaborator far more slippery than anyone Nirenberg ever cultivated: the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association.
In a secret recording leaked to media this week, fire union President Chris Steele tells a group of firefighters that the association is pushing to amend the city charter in November to pressure the city for a new contract and to replace Nirenberg with Brockhouse in 2019. These are complementary aims, considering a friendly mayor would hasten a union-friendly contract.
In the recording, Steele refers to Brockhouse as our guy.
Their guy didnt come cheap.
From May 2014 until November 2016, when Brockhouse launched his successful bid for council, the union paid him more than $61,000, according to campaign finance reports. Brockhouse earned much of the money advising the union on how to negotiate a new contract with the city.
His apparent advice: stall and attack. In four years, the association has yet to come to the table, instead launching a series of broadsides at the city that culminated this year in its anti-government charter amendment campaign.
The proposed amendments would make it easier to use referendums to challenge council decisions; cap the salary of future city managers; and give the union unilateral power to decide when contract negotiations would be taken to binding arbitration.
On its face, the campaign is designed to weaken the citys elected representatives. The association itself has defined Proposition A as such: I take power from politicians.
Should it succeed, the campaign also would weaken Nirenberg going into his re-election campaign the better to elect Brockhouse. Steele made this clear in the recording, and the union continues to drive the point home on social media, posting that Brockhouse is ready to step on the stage and debate the mayor about the amendments.
Brockhouse concurred.
Ive made multiple public statements (calling for a debate), he said. What has upset me is I dont like the way Ron has personally attacked Chris Steele. Thats a friend. I know the man he is, and the attacks and disgusting innuendo out there is coming from Ron Nirenberg.
Brockhouse doesnt attempt to hide his confederacy with the firefighters, even acknowledging that his fate is linked with theirs.
Weve always talked about that, Whats the long-term plan? he said. Theyre my staunchest supporters, and Im theirs. I do have the drive to become the mayor of San Antonio because Ron Nirenberg is embarrassing our community.
The mayor hasnt taken the bait.
If the union wants to make this a proxy for the mayoral race, that is a total disservice to the San Antonio taxpayers who theyre trying to dupe in November, Nirenberg told me. The public wont fall for it. Nobody cares about the mayors race right now. Theyre focused on the November ballot.
He added, What people are concerned about is making sure theyre not hoodwinked by Chris Steeles agenda. My focus is going to remain on protecting San Antonio from being schemed by Chris Steele.
The repeated references to Steele are no accident. Nirenberg knows the union leader is a controversial figure. At worst, hes a liability to the unions own campaign.
These days, even Steele seems to recognize this. At a news conference called by the fire union this week, he tried to hand over the campaign to two new volunteer spokesmen, former District 10 council candidate Reinette King and David Van Os, the unions one-time labor lawyer.
When reporters in the room demanded that Steele himself answer questions most of them revolved around the secret recording he ignored them, standing silently in place and ceding the floor to Van Os, who argued that Steeles motivations for launching the campaign were not relevant.
For months, Steele has justified his proposals by arguing he wants to shift power from politicians to citizens. The recording that he refuses to acknowledge shows Steele actually wants to shift power from his enemies to his allies.
As 2019 looms, Nirenberg would be lucky to have such a friend.
bchasnoff@express-news.net
The importance of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz to President Donald Trump is impossible to miss as the White House unleashes an all-out defense of the Texas Republican.
First, it was Ivanka Trump in Houston touring NASA with Cruz in late September. Then last week it was Donald Trump Jr. vociferously defending Cruz at a pair of rallies in Texas on Oct. 3. On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to arrive in Dallas to campaign with Cruz.
Also on deck is the president himself, who has promised to hold a rally in October for the Texas Republican he bitterly fought for the GOP's presidential nomination just two years ago.
While it looks like a mission to save Cruz who is in a surprisingly close battle with U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke political experts say the real concern is that if Cruz loses, Trump will face a Senate even more hostile to his policies.
They know his seat is absolutely required to hold the majority in the U.S. Senate, said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University.
Democrats need to pick up at least two seats currently held by Republicans in the 100-member U.S. Senate in order to take back the majority in that chamber. Democrats have mostly been eyeing seats in Arizona and Nevada as their best prospects. But ORourke has changed that calculus as hes raised more money than Cruz and surged in polls. If ORourke pulls off the upset, Democrats would need only one more seat to retake the majority in the Senate.
That concern is clearly on the mind of the Trumps. In Wichita Falls with Cruz, Donald Trump Jr. warned that if Democrats retake the House and Senate, his father could be left working with Democrats Nancy Pelosi as the speaker of the House and Chuck Schumer as the Senate majority leader.
You think you saw dysfunction over the last two weeks in D.C.?" Trump Jr. told the crowd. "You aint seen nothing yet if you gave Nancy Pelosi the House of Representatives, if you gave Chuck Schumer the Senate. Let that be your motivation."
The president has been even more blunt, using a rally in Tennessee earlier this week to warn that if Democrats win the majority they will burn down everything Republicans have fought for over the last two years.
The newfound alliance between Trump and Cruz belies their animosity during the 2016 campaign cycle. Trump famously tagged Cruz as Lyin Ted and insulted his wife, Heidi Cruz. Trump also suggested falsely that Cruzs father played a role in President John F. Kennedys assassination.
Cruz called Trump a "pathological liar," "utterly amoral" and a "serial philanderer."
Throughout his re-election campaign, Cruz has acknowledged his up and down relationship with Trump but said after Trump won the presidency he made it a point to visit Trump Tower and offered his help to get the presidents agenda through the Senate.
In Wichita Falls, Trump Jr. acknowledged the bad blood between the families was the elephant in the room and praised Cruz for setting those differences aside to work with the Trump administration.
Hes fought alongside of my father ever since, on every major vote, Trump Jr. said.
For Cruz, the midterm election strategy is clear. Trump won Texas in 2016, and the state has more Republicans than Democrats. If the GOP base gets fired up and turns out to vote, he wins. If they stay home or splinter amid a Democratic surge, his re-election could be in jeopardy.
The stakes aint never been higher than they are right now, Cruz said at the rally with Trump Jr.
In other words, Cruz needs Trump supporters to come out for him in big numbers.
In late August, President Trump had praised Cruz and vowed to hold a rally with him.
"I will be doing a major rally for Senator Ted Cruz in October," Trump said in a tweet. "I'm picking the biggest stadium in Texas we can find. As you know, Ted has my complete and total Endorsement.
Details on Pences visit to Dallas on Monday have not been made public, but hes expected to attend a private fundraiser with Cruz.
The visits come months after Politico reported earlier in the summer that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick went to Washington to request the White Houses help in the election cycle.
The trip was about making sure they were focusing on Texas as well as every other state, Patrick said last month.
While the Trumps and Pence stump for Cruz, ORourke has largely avoided help from prominent national Democrats. While former President Barack Obama has endorsed Democrats in Senate races in Arizona and Nevada, hes not endorsed ORourke, who last year made clear he did not want Pelosi campaigning for him in Texas.
ORourke still is getting help on the campaign trial from Democrats like former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and has planned to campaign with U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Massachusetts.
KAZ Minerals PLC, together with its subsidiaries, engages in mining and processing copper and other metals primarily in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. It operates through Bozshakol, Aktogay, East Region and Bozymchak, and Mining Projects segments. The company operates the Aktogay and Bozshakol open pit copper mines in the east region and Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan; three underground mines in the east region of Kazakhstan; and the Bozymchak copper-gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. It also develops greenfield metal deposits; operates Koksay deposit in Kazakhstan, and the Baimskaya licence area in the Chukotka region of Russia; and produces and sells various by-products, such as gold, silver, molybdenum, and zinc. In addition, the company supplies and distributes heat, water, and electricity; and offers construction, project management, financing, management, sales and logistics, and repairs and maintenance services. The company was formerly known as Kazakhmys PLC and changed its name to KAZ Minerals PLC in October 2014. KAZ Minerals PLC was founded in 1930 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.
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iShares Currency Hedged MSCI United Kingdom ETF's stock was trading at $18.93 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, HEWU stock has increased by 26.1% and is now trading at $23.88.
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MasTec, Inc. engages in the provision of infrastructure construction services. It operates through the following segments: Communications; Oil and Gas; Electrical Transmissions; Clean Energy and Infrastructure; and Other. The Communications segment performs engineering, construction, maintenance and customer fulfillment activities related to communications infrastructure, primarily for wireless and wireline/fiber communications, and install-to-the-home customers. The Oil and Gas segment offers services on oil and natural gas pipelines and processing facilities for the energy, and utilities industries. The Electrical Transmission segment deals with the energy and utility industries. The Clean Energy and Infrastructure segment serves energy, utility and other end-markets through the installation and construction of power generation facilities, including from clean energy and renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass, as well as various types of heavy civil and industrial infrastructure. The Other segment comprises of equity investees, other small business units that perform construction, and other services for a variety of international end-markets. The company was founded by
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 5, 2018) -Orestone Mining Corp. (TSXV: ORS) ("Orestone" or the "Company") has, subject to regulatory approval, granted officers, directors and consultants of the Company incentive stock options to purchase an aggregate of 250,000 common shares. The options are exercisable until October 4, 2023 at an exercise price of $0.15 per share.
Orestone Mining Corp. (TSXV: ORS) is a Canadian based company managed by mining industry professionals. The Company controls a portfolio of gold and gold-copper exploration projects in Chile and British Columbia, Canada. The Resguardo project is a drill ready project located 90 km northeast of the City of Copiapo in Region III, Chile. The region is host to many world class gold and copper deposits. The Captain project hosts the Admiral target, a large drill ready gold/copper porphyry system located 30 kilometres south of the Mt Milligan Mine in British Columbia. For more information please visit: www.orestone.ca
ON BEHALF OF ORESTONE MINING CORP.
"David Hottman"
CEO and President
For further information please contact:
Tel: 604-629-1929
Fax: 604-629-1930
Email: info@orestone.ca
Website: www.orestone.ca
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
By Simon Jessop and Martinne Geller LONDON (Reuters) - Unilever and its CEO Paul Polman have a reputation for valuing all stakeholders rather than just shareholders, boosting their corporate governance reputation, but when it came to its planned headquarters move away from London that got it into trouble. A growing list of British institutional refuseniks and the prospect of a retail investor rebellion in the context of Britain's planned exit from the European Union prompted the company to reverse course and ditch the plan on Friday, three weeks before it was to be voted on
By Simon Jessop and Martinne Geller
LONDON (Reuters) - Unilever and its CEO Paul Polman have a reputation for valuing all stakeholders rather than just shareholders, boosting their corporate governance reputation, but when it came to its planned headquarters move away from London that got it into trouble.
A growing list of British institutional refuseniks and the prospect of a retail investor rebellion in the context of Britain's planned exit from the European Union prompted the company to reverse course and ditch the plan on Friday, three weeks before it was to be voted on.
Interviews with UK shareholders, advisors and analysts paint a picture of Unilever as either miscalculating the level of dissent to becoming a single corporate entity headquartered in the Netherlands, or dismissing it in the interests of a broader vision they were convinced was right.
"Better approaches are possible and the problems for shareholders were foreseeable," said Iain Richards, head of responsible investment at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, one of the major institutional agencies to publicly oppose the move.
The change would have seen Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch maker of Marmite and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, be kicked out of Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index, forcing funds mandated to track the index to sell their shares and pressuring the price for remaining shareholders.
Small retail investors added to the momentum opposing the move - an ill-communicated reaction following a surprise $143 billion bid from Kraft-Heinz last year.
Being headquartered in the Netherlands, with its different corporate law, was seen as a move that might have protected it from unwanted takeover bids in the future, among other incentives.
"Unfortunately, it started to get presented in the retail world in the context of Brexit, that 'we want to keep Unilever British', and I think that tipped it over the edge," said one top-30 shareholder, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
In recent weeks, Unilever had gone to great lengths to aggressively market its vision of how a new single corporate entity headquartered in the Netherlands would be good for the company and all its shareholders.
"They were overly focused on the benefits to everyone, as opposed to the concerns of UK shareholders," said Liberum analyst Robert Waldschmidt. He characterised the U-turn as a "bloody nose" for Polman, who is likely nearing the end of a ten-year tenure, but said losing the vote outright would have been worse.
"It would have been like a vote of 'no confidence'."
Public declarations of opposition to the move were around 12 percent of its London-listed share capital heading into Friday's announcement, nearly half of the shares by value needed to vote it down, based on a 100 percent turnout. The threshold for an expected 80 percent turnout was correspondingly lower.
Unilever said it engaged with over 200 shareholders about its proposal, and said it had broad support from most of them, who agreed that a single structure, with a single pool of equity, would be simpler and more efficient.
Shareholders paint a different picture.
"There was very little genuine engagement or dialogue. It was just them telling us what they were doing," said the top-20 shareholder, who had warned Unilever that FTSE inclusion was critical. "They simply ... viewed us as casualties of war."
CEO Paul Polman, who is expected to step down next year, was notably absent from the most recent public discussions of the move.
Two sources suggested that Chief Financial Officer Graeme Pitkethly, who was heavily involved in this effort along with Dutch Chairman Marjin Dekkers, may have edged lower in the company's internal ranking after the debacle.
Shareholder Ali Miremadi of Swiss asset manager GAM said that sometimes Unilever shareholders had been made to feel their concerns about performance were very near-term, whereas Unilever preferred to focus on the long term.
He said he didn't see the U-turn as a black eye, but rather something they just tried and didn't work. "I think they should just get on with it and try to sell more ice cream," he said.
(Additional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia; Editing by Georgina Prodhan and David Evans)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude futures steadied on Friday after climbing to four-year highs earlier this week, and both benchmarks marked weekly gains ahead of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude futures steadied on Friday after climbing to four-year highs earlier this week, and both benchmarks marked weekly gains ahead of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 1 cent to settle at $74.34 a barrel.
Brent crude futures for December delivery fell 42 cents to settle at $84.16 a barrel. On Wednesday, the global benchmark hit its highest price since late 2014, at $86.74.
"They're taking a pause after yesterday's sell-off," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
WTI marked a weekly gain of about 1.3 percent, while Brent gained around 1.4 percent for the week.
Price gains this week were limited by Saudi Arabia and Russia's saying they would raise output to at least partly make up for expected disruptions from Iran, OPEC's third-largest producer, due to the U.S. sanctions that are to take effect on Nov. 4.
But the pullback did little to dent a 15-20 percent rise in oil prices since mid-August, which has pushed them to their highest levels since late 2014.
Washington wants governments and companies around the world to stop buying Iranian oil to put pressure on Tehran to renegotiate a nuclear deal.
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman insisted the kingdom is fulfilling promises to make up for lost Iranian crude supplies, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Saudi Arabia is now pumping about 10.7 million barrels per day (bpd) and can add a further 1.3 million "if the market needs that," he said.
India will buy 9 million barrels of Iranian oil in November, two industry sources said, indicating that the world's third-biggest oil importer is to continue purchasing crude from the Islamic republic.
Many analysts say they expect Iranian exports to drop by around 1 million barrels per day.
"Iranian exports could fall below 1 million bpd in November," U.S. bank Jefferies said. "It now appears that only China and Turkey may be willing to risk U.S. retaliation by transacting with Iran."
The investment bank said there was enough oil to meet demand, but "global spare capacity is dwindling to the lowest level that we can document."
U.S. drillers cut two oil rigs in the week to Oct. 5, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said on Friday , as rising costs and pipeline bottlenecks in the nation's largest oil field have hindered new drilling since June.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in New York; Additional reporting by Christopher Johnson in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Susan Thomas, Marguerita Choy and Leslie Adler)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Akanksha Rana (Reuters) - Shares of Tesla Inc fell 7 percent on Friday after Chief Executive Elon Musk mocked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Twitter and David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital slammed the electric carmaker in its quarterly letter. Musk stirred nerves about a settlement of his securities fraud lawsuit by calling the SEC the 'Shortseller Enrichment Commission' on Twitter, just hours after a federal judge ordered him and the regulator to justify their settlement
By Akanksha Rana
(Reuters) - Shares of Tesla Inc fell 7 percent on Friday after Chief Executive Elon Musk mocked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Twitter and David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital slammed the electric carmaker in its quarterly letter.
Musk stirred nerves about a settlement of his securities fraud lawsuit by calling the SEC the "Shortseller Enrichment Commission" on Twitter, just hours after a federal judge ordered him and the regulator to justify their settlement.
"Just want to [sic] that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work," Musk, a frequent critic of investors betting against the electric car company said in the tweet. "And the name change is so on point!"
In its quarterly letter, Greenlight said its short position on Tesla was its second-biggest winner in the third quarter. The hedge fund said Musk has been deceptive and the carmaker's woes resemble those of Lehman Brothers before its collapse.
The electric carmaker's shares plunged last week after the SEC accused Musk, 47, of fraud over "false and misleading" tweets on Aug. 7 that promised to take Tesla private and said funding had been secured.
The lawsuit threatened to pull Tesla and Musk into a long drawn-out fight that could have undermined the company's operations and ability to raise capital.
In the settlement that was announced over the weekend, Tesla and Musk instead agreed to pay $20 million each to the regulator while the billionaire - also a large Tesla shareholder - would step down as chairman but continue as CEO.
The settlement also provided for the appointment of a new chairman and directors to balance Musk's influence at the company as well as moves to oversee his output on social media.
Peter Haveles, a partner in the Trial and Dispute Resolution Practice Group said Musk's tweets showed his lack of self discipline.
"It will put intense pressure on the board because the SEC will be watching the company like a hawk in this regard and it will create additional tensions with the company and Mr Musk and the marketplace," Haveles said.
Several Twitter users also criticized Musk, who has over 20 million followers on the social media platform, for his tweets targeting regulators and short sellers.
"I have lost 30 years of my life savings all in $tsla thanks to your tweets please stop," TrendTrader007 wrote.
"If you continue this self destructive path you will lose all your ardent supporters and the goodwill from diehard $tsla longs like me," the user tweeted.
In a separate tweet, Musk took another shot at short-sellers and accused BlackRock Inc of enabling them by saying, "The big funds can & will [sic], as they're suffering a net loss. Index managers like Blackrock pocket [sic] make excessive profit from short lending while pretending to charge low rates for 'passive' index tracking."
Widely seen as the driving force behind the company, Musk's talent for promotion has helped Tesla vault much bigger manufacturing operations like General Motors and Ford to become America's most valuable car company.
As the news on the settlement emerged at the weekend, he also told employees in an email that Palo Alto, California-based Tesla was "very close to achieving profitability."
Production numbers on Tuesday showed the company finally meeting its promises on output of the Model 3 sedan, seen as crucial for the its long-term prospects while also fighting hard to overcome logistical issues with deliveries.
Shares of the company, down around 14 percent this year but still up almost 30 percent since the start of 2017, were last down 6.9 percent at $262.63.
(Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday said Pakistan and China had a long-term strategy to destroy Indian Army by smuggling in vast quantities of drugs in the country.
New Delhi: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday said Pakistan and China had a long-term strategy to destroy Indian Army by smuggling in vast quantities of drugs in the country.
"Two-thirds of regiments in the Indian Army are from the northern belt. If you do not have healthy youngsters there, how will Indian Army hire the men? Pakistan and China are looking at the long-term strategy to destroy Indian military system," Singh said speaking at HT Leadership Summit 2018 here.
Pakistan wanted to demolish the youth along the borderKashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujaratfor its own security by pushing drugs in the country, he added.
Singh said 500 kg of heroin was seized from Punjab in the last one year besides 80 kilograms from Uri in Jammu and Kashmir.
"What is the intention of Pakistan? Three weeks ago, 300 kg came to Mandvi port. If you want to sell it, then sell it in Mumbai or Delhi. It is more lucrative. Why is Amritsar your target?" asked Singh.
He said his government had cracked down on drugs business, which had pushed up price of heroin by over four times.
"We have set up a special task force to deal with drugs. And it seems to be working," he said.
However, it did not mean that drugs were not being pushed in India, Singh said.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said he has written to his counterparts of different states seeking support to stall the proposed amendments by the BJP-led central government to the Electricity Act, 2003 in the Rajya Sabha.
New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said he has written to his counterparts of different states seeking support to stall the proposed amendments by the BJP-led central government to the Electricity Act, 2003 in the Rajya Sabha.
Addressing a public rally in northwest Delhi's Rohini, Kejriwal said that he will travel to different states from next week to meet respective chief ministers and convince them to stand together to stall the bill so that it is not passed before the Lok Sabha elections.
"I have written to chief ministers of different states on the dangers of the proposed amendment and how it will break the back of the common man. I have urged them to stand against the proposed amendments," he said.
Kejriwal said he would meet several chief ministers, including Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), N Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala) and HD Kumaraswamy (Karnataka), for consensus against the proposed amendments to the Electricity Act.
The AAP national convener's move comes at a time when the Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held next year. It is also seen to unite opposition parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Aam Aadmi Party is gearing up for the general elections.
He alleged that the Modi government is going to introduce the amendment in the Winter Session of Parliament which will "break" the back of the common man as the power tariffs would be "unaffordable" after it is passed.
According to the Delhi chief minister, the proposed amendment aims at phasing out the cross subsidy, which will mean that power tariffs of the common man will be the same as of the commercial and industrial units.
"This would lead to huge increase in tariffs across the country immediately for small and medium domestic consumers as well as farmers, who account for nearly 90 per cent of all consumers," a statement quoted Kejriwal as saying at the public rally.
He said that Delhi citizens, who use up to 200 units, are currently charged Re 1 per unit, while those using up to 400 units are charged Rs 2.50 per unit.
Kejriwal claimed that once the proposed amendment is done, both the categories will have to pay Rs 7.50 per unit, adding that this would hit hard around 90 per cent of all consumers in Delhi.
Last week, Kejriwal had said the amendments proposed by it to the Electricity Act, 2003 were "very dangerous" and aimed at benefitting "a few power companies" at the cost of the poor people and farmers of the country.
The Administration has indicated that a focus area for the implementation of CAATSA Section 231 is new or qualitative upgrades in capability including the S-400 air and missile defense system
Washington: After India formally signs the mega $5.4 billion S-400 missile defense deal with Russia, which places it in the bracket of a potential American sanction, the Trump administration said the presidential waiver granted by the Congress in this regard is narrow and intended to wean countries off of Russian equipment.
"The (CAATSA presidential) waiver is narrow, intended to wean countries off of Russian equipment and allow for things such as spare parts for previously-purchased equipment," a White House National Security Council Spokesperson told PTI Friday, a day after India entered into an agreement to purchase state of the art S-400 missile defense system.
The S-400 missile defense system would give India's defense a cutting-edge securitCAAy against any missile attack by its enemies.
"India lives in a very turbulent and nuclear-powered region. S-400 provides that assurance and is compatible with its current platform. Friends understand that these discussions with Russia started several years ago hence I do not believe US will impose sanction on India," Mukesh Aghi, president of US India Strategic and Partnership Forum told PTI.
But for the presidential waiver, Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act or CAATSA sanctions kicks in in the event of a major purchase like S-400 missile defense system. Ahead of the deal, the US had urged India not to purchase S-400. It reiterated Friday.
"The Administration has indicated that a focus area for the implementation of CAATSA Section 231 is new or qualitative upgrades in capability including the S-400 air and missile defense system," the White House NSC Spokesperson said.
Last month, US had imposed sanctions on China for the purchase of S-400 from Russia. "Our recent action to sanction a Chinese government entity for an S-400 delivery underscores the seriousness of our resolve on this issue," the spokesperson said.
"The waiver authority is not country-specific. There are strict criteria for considering a waiver," said the spokesperson.
The State Department, which is tasked with reviewing the deal and initiated the process of sanctions or waiver under CAATSAA, and then recommend to the president, did not respond to the question on the time frame and the process.
However, one industry source told PTI that the law is ambiguous about "when a waiver is necessary so this can be avoided for years."
The National Defense Authorization ACT (NDDA) 2019 gives president the power to waive of the CAATSA sanctions if it is national security interest. It also lists out several other options for presidential waiver, prominent among which is the purchase country India in this case is taking or will take steps to reduce its inventory of major defense equipment and advanced conventional weapons produced by the defense sector of the Russian Federation as a share of its total inventory of major defense equipment and advanced conventional weapons over a specified period.
In fact, over the last more than a decade, India the top arms purchaser of the world, has gradually reduced its dependence on Russian arms. It now stands at about 60 percent, which is much lower than it was a decade ago. United States has been a major beneficiary of this.
As part of its diversification plan, India has increased its purchase of arms from the US from about zero to more than $18 billion. India is in the process of purchasing arms and equipment worth billions of dollars from the United States in the coming months and years including armed and unarmed drones and fighter jets.
A presidential waiver can also be given if a country like India in this case is cooperating with the United States government on other security matters that are critical to United States strategic interests. Experts believe that is exactly the case and one of the main reasons for US designating India as a major defense partner.
"I don't like to make predictions in today's Washington but sanctioning India, and surrendering the Indian defense market to Russia, would have exactly the opposite of the intended effect of CAATSA. No American interest group benefits from sanctioning India," Benjamin Schwartz from US India Business Council told PTI. He has previously served as the director for India in the US office of the secretary of defense.
Aparna Pande, from the Hudson Institute think-tank, said "I believe what is more likely is that even though India will sign the S-400 deal it will delay payment, etc so that the sanctions don't come into effect.
"This way India maintains its strategic autonomy and historical ties with Russia and yet ensures its strategic relationship with the US is not impacted either," Pande said.
According to Rick Rossow, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said, "Congress widened the waiver criteria with India in mind, and the fact we had a robust 2+2 Dialogue in Delhi a month back shows that the administration believes in the momentum.
"But 'interest' is not the same as action, and opponents to a waiver may now begin to raise their voices. So nothing is certain, cautioned Rossow.
"The 2+2 meetings and signing of the COMCASA agreement suggest warming relations between the US & India. But its pursuit of the S-400 missile defense system poses some thorny tradeoffs for the Trump admin: how to constrain one party without hurting another?" Caroline Baxter from RAND Corporation said in a tweet.
The Russian Embassy in US tweeted that that the delivery of S-400 will begin in October 2020.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said they waited long to come to an understanding but the Congress showed no willingness to join hands with like-minded parties.
Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) said on Saturday that it will no longer wait for the Congress to decide on an alliance for Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, suggesting it preferred Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The SP's snub to the Congress comes just days after Mayawati ruled out any BSP alliance with that party for Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, a move which could hit Opposition's efforts to form an anti-BJP front before the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
"The Congress has made us wait for too long. How much longer must we wait? SP president Akhilesh Yadav said. We will now consult the Gondwana Gantantra party (GGP) with which we had an alliance, and also the BSP, for the coming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh," Yadav told reporters on the sidelines of a party event. "Time is passing by and we cannot wait any longer, he said.
Reacting to Yadav's remark, the Congress said in New Delhi that it had not been planning an alliance with the SP in Madhya Pradesh in any case. But Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala added there had been a possibility of an alliance with the BSP in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
On Wednesday, Mayawati said her BSP will contest the Assembly polls on its own or in alliance with a regional party. She had said Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi wanted an alliance but some "selfish senior leaders in their party were out to foil any understanding''.
Reacting to Mayawati's statement, Akhilesh Yadav had then urged the Congress to show large-heartedness by taking along other parties. If there is any delay, there is a possibility that other parties may declare their candidates. After this, there will be a levelling of allegations that they colluded with the BJP," he had said.
Madhya Pradesh will go to the polls on 28 November, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.
Electioneering in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh through the day is likely to drive news headlines today, watch out for attractive mobile prices on festive sales at online portals; today's top news
Red alert issued in Tamil Nadu, Kerala heavy rains predicted
Rains continued to lash parts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Puducherry for the second day Friday, prompting officials to declare holiday for educational institutions in Tamil Nadu on Saturday. The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rainfall for Saturday as well, and the weather is likely to deteriorate through Sunday. Authorities had issued a red alert as heavy rains were expected on 6 and 7 October with a low pressure area over South East Arabian sea and area adjoining Lakshadweep islands is likely to concentrate into a depression.
Reservoirs with over 70 percent are being monitored and all district administration authorities have been asked to stay alert. Meanwhile, in Kerala, the Indian Navy has put its air and surface assets at Kochi on high alert in view of adverse weather warning. According to an IMD bulletin, the low pressure is very likely to become more marked during the next 12 hours and concentrate into a depression. It is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm and move towards Oman Coast thereafter.
BJP, Congress to battle it out in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Opposition Congress are all set to battle it out in the poll bound state of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, with star campaigners from both parties set to address rallies through the day.
According to reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Ajmer marking the end of Chief Minister Vasundhara raje's Gaurav Yatra, which she started in August. On the other hand, Congress President Rahul Gandhi will arrive in Morena via Gwalior on Saturday to take part in Ekta Parishad conclave. BJP national president Amit Shah will be in Indore and address local party workers.
Brett Kavanaugh set to take over as US Supreme Court judge
Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, 53, is only a step away from the apex bench as the ruling Republican party managed to gain the crucial backing of enough Senators needed to confirm his nomination.
Republican Senator Susan Collins and Democratic Joe Manchin were Friday the 50th and 51st senators to pledge their support to Kavanaugh in the 100-member Senate. Manchin was the only Democrat to support Kavanaugh's candidature.
With the vote of the Vice President Mike Pence always there in case of a tie, the confirmation of Kavanaugh as the next Judge of the Supreme Court became a foregone conclusion by Friday night (Saturday evening as per Indian Standard Time).
The end of the month-long fierce battle between the ruling Republicans and the opposition Democrats gives a major political victory to President Donald Trump and his party ahead of the 6 November midterm elections.
India vs West Indies, 1st Test, Day 3
India maintained their stronghold over the Windies as Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja slammed tons while young Rishabh Pant missed out on his by eight runs. After declaring on 649/9, the Indian bowlers backed the batsmen by dismissing six Windies batsmen for 94 runs. On Saturday, India would be looking to bowl out the Kraigg Brathwaite-led side, who are trailing by 555 runs.
Mobile phone firms slash prices up to 62 percent on Flipkart for festive season
Mobile phone companies have announced to slash their handset prices by up to 62 per cent for upcoming four day sale at e-commerce portal Flipkart starting 11 October.
Mobile handset major Samsung has announced Rs 20,000 discount on its newly launched smartphone Galaxy S8 which currently sells at Rs 49,000 a unit. Panasonic will sell its 4G smartphone P91 at discount of 62 per cent for Rs 2,990 during the Big Billion Day (BBD) sale period. This smartphone is already available for Rs 3,999 at Flipkart's rival portal Amazon. Huawei's Honor brand has slashed prices of its 4G smartphones in the range of Rs 500-Rs 8,000 for BBD sale. It will also slash the price of the high-end Honor 10 smartphone by Rs 8,000 to be sold for Rs 24,999 a unit during the sale.
Asus has said that it will sell its newly launched 4G smartphones with discount in the range of Rs 1,000-Rs 2,000 a unit. In the budget smartphone segment, priced below Rs 10,000 a unit, Oppo's sub-brand RealMe, Transsion's Infinix, Opp A71 will sell their handsets with discount in the range of Rs 2,000-Rs 4,000 a unit on select models.
Jet Airways assures pilots of paying August salary dues by 9 October
Jet Airways, which has partially paid August salaries to its pilots and engineers along with senior management, has assured the pilots of paying the balance amount by 9 October. The assurance came following a meeting between the Jet Airways management and its domestic pilots' union, National Aviator's Guild. The Naresh Goyal-controlled airline, in which Etihad Airways holds 24 percent stake, has been going through financial turbulence for quite some time now, with two back-to-back quarterly losses driven by sky rocketing jet fuel price, nosediving rupee and an inability to raise fares amid cut-throat competition, particularly in the domestic market.
The airline is also struggling to raise the required capital to meet its various payment obligations, including salaries to over 16,000 employees.
Snoop Dogg to make theatre debut
Rapper Snoop Dogg is making his debut in theatre with Redemption of a Dogg. Dogg told TMZ.com about his new stage production Redemption of a Dogg in which he stars alongside Tamar Braxton. He says the play is all about his life and struggles, covering his rise to fame, his mis-steps and most importantly, his redemption.
With inputs from PTI
Significantly the Kukis have chosen to scale up the Black Day observation this year when the Government of India is all set to seal the Naga peace pact based on the Framework Agreement.
Against the excitement surrounding the prospect of NSCN-IM or the Issak-Muivah faction of the Naga Socialist Council of Nagalim finally concluding its peace deal with the Centre after 21 years of ceasefire and several rounds of talks, the Kukis, the other major tribal group, inhabiting the hills of Manipur are getting anxious. The tribal group is coming up with their own ethnic-based land agenda and is using what it called the Kuki genocide of 1992-1997 to assert their demand.
The peace pact between NSCN-IM, one of the most potent insurgent group of the North East region and the Centre was on the basis of a framework agreement signed by the groups chief negotiator and supremo, Thuingaleng Muivah and the Government of Indias interlocutor RN Ravi on 3 August 2015 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
For the very first time in July 2018, some details of the elusive Framework Agreement came out in the form the 213th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, on the Security Situation in the North Eastern States of India. The report confirmed that the Government of India has signed an agreement with the NSCN-IM for a settlement within Indian federation with special status. Nagas who had maintained a 'no integration, no solution' holding on to the idea of unification of Naga inhabited areas, have now retracted that demand and are likely to agree to a settlement with special status accorded to the Nagas without touching the boundaries of the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. The Parliamentary Committee was told that the special arrangement would be something similar to Article 371A of the Constitution that is operative in Nagaland. "Article 371A accords special status to the Nagas. Similar kind of status with local variation may be given to the Nagas in the neighbouring States, the report said. Soon after the Parliamentary Report appeared in public forum, voices of dissent came to the fore in Manipur saying it is akin to the formation of a state within a state and relay sit-in-protests are going on against the enforcement of Article 371A in Manipur.
NSCN-IM has been pursuing the creation of a greater Nagaland by expanding the present map of the Nagaland state by including large areas of Assam adjoining Nagaland besides Tirap, Longding and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh and six hill districts of Manipur and parts of Myanmar. Even the Nagaland Assembly has endorsed the Greater Nagaland demand by integrating all Naga-inhabited contiguous areas under one administration, as much as five times of the state.
Kukis, through their militant groups, under two umbrella organisations, the KNO or the Kuki National Organisation and the UPF or the United People Front are also engaged in political dialogue negotiating for a Kuki homeland or territorial council under the Constitution of India after signing a Suspension of Operation (SoO) with the Government of India and the government of Manipur since 2008.
Historically, the Nagas and the Kukis have always fought over land ownership. Recent rivalry over the control of land, specifically of the strategic, Indo-Myanmar border town of Moreh, had sparked off the ethnic clash in 1992 and continued till 1997. After losing out Moreh to the Kukis, several Kuki villages and hamlets within the so-called Naga areas (as claimed by the NSCN-IM through its frontal organisations) were served quit notice and asked to leave the respective areas in the districts of Senapati, Ukhrul, Chandel and Tamenglong in Manipur.
Many saw in this campaign an ulterior motive to drive out all Kuki settlements out of the Naga areas. Quit notice or not, barbaric killings of innocent villagers started. Soon casualties were on both sides and villagers voluntarily armed themselves to safeguard their villages. Kukis who were less prepared undoubtedly suffered more with several inhuman stories.
The case of Joupi village may be a pointer to the dynamics of the ethnic conflict allegedly started by the NSCN-IM towards fulfilling its design for a greater Nagalim.
On 13 September 1993, 108 innocent Kuki villagers were killed, mostly beheaded or killed with swords, allegedly by NSCN-IM through their proxy front, the Naga Lim Guards, not sparing women and children. Every year the Kukis mourn the 13 September massacre by commemorating it as the Sahnit Ni or the Black Day. This years the Kukis under the aegis of the Kuki INPI Manipur, the apex body of the Kukis in Manipur and KNO commemorated the Sahnit Ni for three consecutive day from 11 to 13 September at Tuibong ground in Churachandpur, the southernmost district of Manipur, regarded as a Kuki stronghold, mourning over a thousand of Kukis killed during what they called the infamous Kuki genocide of 1992-97.
Unprecedented as it was, besides the usually hoisting of black flags in every Kuki homes in the state of Manipur and mass prayer services for the dead, the homeless and the displaced. This years programme included testimonies by survivors and unveiling of three huge stone megaliths with the names of victims of the Kuki genocide, inscribed on them.
Nguljahao Hangsing, who is one of the survivors of the Joupi massacre, could have been the 89th person from Joupi village who were all butchered that day including a woman when they were fleeing from their village after a quit notice was served on them on 13 September 1993 in Tamenglong district. Disfigured with a deep sword scar on his neck, Nguljahao recounted the ordeal of Joupi in which 88 innocent villagers were killed, one by one.
We were fleeing from our village that day as they told us to vacate. While some of us were going towards Tamei, NSCN-IM cadres stopped us. They ordered us to lie down with our face down near a drain. As we lay, they tied our hands behind our back and all of us were again tied together so that no one could escape. Shortly, they started hacking one after another. I was on the other extreme and was hacked the last. I remembered losing consciousness. They left thinking all of us were dead. It was when I regained consciousness. I was bleeding profusely from my neck and was trying to undo my hands when I hear one of our villagers calling out for his elder brother. His brother was among those butchered. I gathered strength and responded to his cry. This was how miraculously I was saved, said Nguljahao. Joupi saw the worst massacre of the ethnic conflict.
Another survivor of the conflict, Bekhonem who lost 10 of her immediate family members, including her seven-year-old boy on a single day said she was overwhelmed to participate in the
commemoration function and especially by the erection of the three memorial stones with the names of the death, including names of her family members inscribed for eternity.
I didnt imagine there will be such a time when we would do commemoration like this. Im very thankful to the leaders and the organisers for honouring the dead in such a manner, said Bekhonem.
According to her, around 40 Nagas descended on her village, Nongmeiching Khalong, and hurdled everyone together and hacked to death one after another. Miraculously, in spite of the attackers striking at her neck, her long hair and her left hand saved her.
My younger brother was the first to be taken outside. They could have finished him quietly but we heard the sound of him being chopped 2-3 times, my brother cried in pain. His cry still haunts me today. One by one they called my other two brothers, my elder sisters, then my younger sisters. After they had killed four persons, my kid who was sleeping, woke up hearing the commotion. He cried.
"When I tried to get up to go to him, they pushed me down and pointed the gun at me. When I repeatedly requested them to allow me to go and get my son, they went to get him. I thought they would bring him to me. They got him from the bed and hacked him too. All I could hear was my son crying out, mother, mother, mother three times. The killing continued and eventually my turn came. They called me out. Despite the darkness, I could make out a dead body lying close by. When I stooped down to see who it was, they shouted and asked me why I was looking at it? They again caught hold of me by my arm. At this hour, I didnt think I would survive but I was thinking of escaping. They asked me to sit down while still holding me by one of my arms. As I was sitting down I removed my slippers and suddenly pulled out my arm from his grip and ran. I ran for a few yards and felt down. They caught up with me and attacked me with their sword. They struck at my right cheek and also severed my right ear. I was bleeding profusely and I ran blindly. I felt down again at a sloping cliff with one of my legs on the opposite side of the slope and my head on the slopping end. They caught my leg and struck at my buttock and waist with their swords and spears. Somehow I managed to free my leg and rolled down the slope. They continued following me. When I stopped rolling, I was lying on one side with my left hand over my neck. At that time my hair was very long and had covered my neck. So when they struck my neck four-five times trying to hack me to death, my left hand and my hair shielded my neck. That was how my left fingers were all chopped off. They left me thinking I was done, said Nongmeiching describing the horrific incident.
The conflict, which went on sporadically till 1997, witnessed over a thousand Kukis losing their lives and more than a lakh rendered homeless and displaced. But it would be wrong to give an impression that Kukis were the only victims. There were casualties on the innocent Nagas too. Kuki armed groups also attacked Naga villages and killed innocent Nagas in retaliation. Attacks and counter-attacks did take place. The response of an elderly Naga villager from Ngariyan who lost three of his immediate family members in an arson attack by an armed Kuki outfit on the village that was entirely burned down indicate the scale of the violence that even the Nagas villagers went through during the ethnic bloodshed. Seeing the dead, I lost my senses. Three of my dear ones fallen. Everyone was running helter-skelter to find out if their family members were among those killed. Utter confusion prevailed. Whether to be with those who were dying or
to tend to the houses that were burning? narrated the Naga villager.
As armed Nagas pulled down Kuki passengers for the inter-state buses, travelling on the national highways so did the Kukis. On 12 February 1997, three Tangkhul Nagas were pulled down from a bus they were travelling to Shillong by Kuki villagers and handed over to the Kuki militants. Later their dead bodies were found in the jungle.
Despite these losses, the Government of India, as well as the government of Manipur, havent done anything to fix responsibility or address the grievances of the victims, whether Kukis and Nagas. Kukis are insisting that if the Government of India wants a lasting peace in the region, the Kuki issue needs to be solved first.
Seilen Haokip, the KNO spokesperson and one of the negotiators of the Kukis in the political dialogue with the Government of India directly pinpointed the NSCN-IM of carried out the killing.
KNOs primary reason for observing the 25th anniversary of the Kuki genocide is to mourn the victims of NSCN-IM, Tangkhul-led genocide. Its the NSCN-IM, Tangkhul-led cadres, in full army fatigue, killing civilians, not even sparing women and children. Its a heinous crime and as a human being I wonder, what motivated the leader of the organisation and their cadres to carry out such cowardly activities on their fellow human beings and their fellow Christian brothers and sisters? The scale of the atrocities on the victims is just unimaginable. Now the question is what has the government done to address this issue? Are we not in a country with norms of governance? What has the government done for over a thousand people killed?" he asked.
NSCN-IM, which is definitely on the back foot over the Kuki issue as brought forth by the Kuki Black Day commemoration has relied on counter blaming the Kukis for starting the conflict by saying the Kukis militants tried to take control of the strategic border-trading town of Moreh. While denying involvement in the massacre, NSCN-IM claimed the Naga villagers formed the Naga Lim Guards or the volunteer village guards to protect their villages against possible Kuki attacks and this was how the ethnic clashes started.
Significantly the Kukis have chosen to scale up the Black Day observation this year when the Government of India is all set to seal the Naga peace pact based on the Framework Agreement, giving special status to the Nagas and more autonomy for all the Naga inhabited areas in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur without disturbing the political maps of the states in question.
Despite the ethnic conflict, several areas in the so-called Naga areas in Manipur still have Kuki villages in close proximity of the Naga villages. When one party is negotiating for their own homeland or greater autonomy, it is natural for the other party, who is also negotiating for their own territory, that is overlapping, to be apprehensive and try to rake up issues to assert their own agenda before any settlement with the rival party is struck.
While the Sahnit Ni or the Kuki Black Day was a tearful event and one hoped that such conflict never surfaced again among any of the ethnic communities inhabiting the multi-ethnic state that is Manipur, the political message of the give and take negotiation is quite clear and loud if one can decipher between the lines of the general secretary of Kuki Inpi Manipur, Robul Pudaite responded to a question on what the Kuki are trying to articulate through the Black Day platform.
The Government of India is not only talking to NSCN-IM. It is also talking with the KNO and the UPF. While these talks are crucial, were also having this three-day commemoration of the Kuki Black Day because we want justice to be delivered to the thousands of victims of the Kuki genocide that we know was perpetrated by a very prominent militant organisation of the region. We want the government to take notice of the fact that there was genocide in Manipur upon the Kukis. This is a cry for justice. Twenty-five years have passed since the genocide but still, the government is silent on our issue. What were saying through this programme is that Kukis are not expandable. The government must be answerable why more than a thousand Kukis were massacred in the infamous Kuki genocide of 1992-1997? Robul asked.
India on Friday rejected as 'totally unfounded' Pakistan's allegations of chemical weapons' use by Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
New Delhi: India on Friday rejected as "totally unfounded" Pakistan's allegations of chemical weapons' use by Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
"We completely reject allegations made by Pakistan about the reported use of chemical weapons by the Indian security forces against Indian citizens," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to queries.
"Such allegations are not new and are totally unfounded," Kumar said.
India has repeatedly stated its complete opposition to the use of chemical weapons "by anyone, at anytime, and anywhere in the world".
"India is an original signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)," the spokesperson said.
"The international community has recognised India's abiding commitment and contribution to the CWC which is the universal multilateral instrument prohibiting the use of chemical weapons."
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal on Thursday alleged that India was using chemical weapons on "unarmed citizens" in Jammu and Kashmir.
Stating that it is a matter of deep concern that Pakistan repeatedly tries to make such false allegations, Kumar said: "They are acting in a highly irresponsible manner with the sole purpose of repeating untruths in the vain hope that the international community will start believing in their falsehood. Such malicious attempts to deflect international opinion away from the terrorism emanating from Pakistan shall not succeed."
The hospital management informed the Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry, which is investigating Jayalalithaa's death, that the Inspector General (Intelligence) KN Sathiyamurthy was among the four police officers who requested CCTV cameras be switched off when she was being hospitalised.
In another surprising update on the investigation into former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death, Chennai's Apollo Hospital submitted a five-page affidavit, saying Inspector General (Intelligence) KN Sathiyamurthy was among the four police officers who ordered the hospital to switch off the CCTV cameras she was being hospitalised.
According to ANI, the hospital management informed the Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry, which is investigating Jayalalithaa's death, that "CCTV cameras in the corridors would be switched off when the former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa was taken through the route and it would be switched on when she was back in the room".
The announcement comes after the judicial commission probing the death hit a roadblock in its investigation, after failing to retrieve the crucial CCTV footage of the AIADMK chief's final days. The hospital authorities had told the commission that the CCTV recordings of Jayalalithaa's 75-day-long stay in the hospital have been overwritten several times automatically.
"The CCTV recordings get overwritten automatically after 30 days. This information was shared with the commission on 11 September," Maimoona Badsha, counsel for Apollo Hospitals, told IANS.
This was the second response from the hospital about the footage, which is different from its previous statement.
Earlier, Apollo Hospitals' executive chairman Prathap C Reddy had said that the CCTV cameras of the ward where Jayalalithaa was admitted were switched off.
"I am sorry but unfortunately all the CCTV cameras were switched off after Jayalalithaa was admitted. Since she was a VVIP person, she was the only person occupying that ward and all other patients were diverted to another ICU. The cameras were switched off because they did not want everybody to be watching," Reddy had told reporters in March this year.
Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals for fever and dehydration on 22 September, 2016. After a prolonged hospitalisation, she had died on 5 December, 2016, following a cardiac arrest.
With inputs from IANS
Poor turnout will tarnish India's image and the poll-related violence will further burden our security forces and exacerbate the alienation of Kashmiris
Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled to hold its local body and municipal polls from 8 October. These elections are being held after a gap of 13 years. The panchayat elections are being held after seven years. Yet, instead of enthusiasm for polls, there is a hush over the Valley. It's not hard to guess why.
Just before the announcement of elections, there was a furore over Article 35A. While the Supreme Court deferred the hearing to January 2019, lingering suspicions remain among the locals that attempts are being made behind the scenes' to annul this provision. Which has not only angered the populace, but also forced mainstream parties such as the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party to adopt a cautious approach and boycott the elections. The result? Not much poll-related activity on the ground.
The other reason is the threat of violence from militants. The day the election schedule was announced, unidentified gunmen torched some panchayat offices in south Kashmir. It doesnt help that militants have already threatened to pour acid on those who participate in the poll process and that posters threatening the death of those suspected taking part in the elections have begun circulating on WhatsApp groups in south Kashmir.
And there are reports that polling officials are hesitant to display the names of candidates outside the panchayat officesas is the processin south Kashmir, for fears that the candidates may be targeted. Security forces also have the task of ensuring the safety of the elected representatives. The campaign of violence targeting the elected representatives between 2013 and 2015 shows what a difficult task that is. Taking all this into consideration, voter turnout will probably be abysmal. It may even be in the single digits, given last year's exercise of elections in the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat. All of which goes against the principle of free and fair elections.
Let's examine the last time panchayat elections were held: In 2011. After a spate of anti-India agitations and protests, the security situation in the Valley improved considerably by early 2011. This paved the way for the government to hold elections in a relatively secure manner and the Valley witnessed considerable political activity. Voter turnout was at 80 percent, which further demonstrated the willingness of the people to engage politically despite threats from militants and the boycott call from the Hurriyat (which held much more sway over Kashmiris back then).
Taking into account these circumstances, the polls were a resounding success for India, something the government proudly proclaimed on the global stage as a sign of the Kashmiris' unwavering faith in Indian democracy. It also gave India the opportunity to hit back at Pakistan, which has had an iron grip on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
There are reports that the Bharatiya Janata Party has won 71 municipal seats unopposed. The BJP state president Ravinder Raina has, farcically, been pointing to this as a 'historic victory'. The government, through its insistence to demonstrate that 'normalcy' has returned to the Valley, has scored a self-goal.
Poor turnout will tarnish India's image and the poll-related violence will further burden our security forces and exacerbate the alienation of Kashmiris. The preferred course would have been to wait out winter and test the waters by holding elections for the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat. Alas, that is no longer an option.
The extreme heavy rainfall warning issued by the regional meteorological department for south Tamil Nadu has been withdrawn, Deputy Director General S Balachandran said Saturday.
Chennai: The extreme heavy rainfall warning issued by the regional meteorological department for south Tamil Nadu has been withdrawn, Deputy Director General S Balachandran said Saturday. The Met office had Thursday forecast extreme heavy rainfall till Sunday, following the formation of an upper-air circulation over Southwest Bay of Bengal adjoining Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
Talking to reporters, Balachandran said the extreme heavy rainfall warning announced for the southern parts of the state was withdrawn since the upper-air circulation had "weakened". However, he said, places like Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari might receive "heavy to very heavy rainfall", instead of extremely heavy rainfall, in the next 24 to 48 hours.
For Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Balachandran said, there might be moderate rainfall in the next 24 to 48 hours. The fishermen in the Central and South East Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep and Kanyakumari areas were advised not to venture into the sea from 6 to 8 October, he said. There might be light showers in Chennai and its outskirts during the next 24-48 hours, Balachandran added.
Another report said the tourist places in the Kodaikanal hill station were closed as heavy rainfall lashed Dindigul district Saturday. According to forest department officials, the "Pillar" rock, Guna Parai and other tourist spots were closed. Meanwhile, 25 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived in Madurai Saturday following the heavy rainfall warning.
The entry of Pilgrims from Rameswaram into coastal Dhanushkodi was also barred, officials said. According to Ramanathapuram district administration officials, 215 fishermen who had ventured into the sea for fishing had returned.
Allegations against journalists and advertising professionals have emerged on Twitter
Editor's note: Following Rituparna Chatterjee's report Is Indias #MeToo moment here? Women are angry and they are naming and shaming their abusers Firstpost will publish a series of articles collating personal accounts of those who have made allegations of harassment, along with responses from those who have been accused of such behaviour. This is an ongoing exercise and will be updated to reflect new developments. If you wish to draw our attention to instances of harassment you may have experienced or witnessed, tweet to us @firstpost with the hashtag #MeToo.
Also read #MeToo in India: KR Sreenivas, Gautam Adhikari respond to sexual harassment allegations
Also read #MeToo in India: Writer Kiran Nagarkar, photographer Pablo Bartholomew named in harassment accusations
***
After veteran journalists KR Sreenivas and Gautam Adhikari were named in a slew of sexual harassment allegations that surfaced on Twitter over Friday (5 October), more stories have emerged of inappropriate behaviour, involving male media professionals. Many of these allegations have been brought forward by journalist Sandhya Menon on Twitter (@TheRestlessQuill).
Sandhya accused Manoj Ramachandran, who is currently with Hindustan Times, of sending her an inappropriate text message in 2005, when they both worked at the same organisation in Mumbai. When she confronted him, he claimed that he was drunk and had meant to send the message to his wife, not her. She is not sure how he got her number.
Meghnad Bose, a journalist with The Quint, has been accused of objectification, making lewd comments about women, inappropriately touching them, and harassing them by more than three of his peers from the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ). Journalist Poulomi Das posted a thread on Twitter, outlining one instance of harassment in particular.
A journalist who wishes to remain anonymous says that many of ACJ's students were aware of Meghnad's behaviour, adding that he would allegedly often pick on female students while he was with a group of his friends, thus making the woman in question feel embarrassed.
She says that he asked her about the lingerie she was wearing, in front of many students in the college canteen. Meghnad allegedly routinely 'rated' women based on their looks and body shamed them, too. An anonymous first-person account that details how he allegedly inappropriately touched a fellow student who was drunk has emerged on Twitter, and the journalist speaking to Firstpost confirmed its veracity.
Meghnad posted a statement addressing these allegations on his Facebook profile:
Much of Meghnad's work has been on gender and rape culture, and he has also won accolades for it. When contacted by Firstpost, The Quint said that it has been made aware of these allegations and that it will publish a statement shortly.
They also tweeted about the allegations against Meghnad:
We have been made aware of certain allegations against @MeghnadBose93, an employee of The Quint. We are currently in the process of ascertaining further details. The Quint (@TheQuint) October 6, 2018
Ishrath Nawaz, who currently holds a significant position at advertising company Publicis, has been accused of harassment by Sneha Dhakan, an advertising professional. This harassment, she says, allegedly took place from August 2016 to January 2017 in Mumbai at the firm they used to work at together. Ishrath was the creative director and the manager she directly worked under. "He's a habitual predator and still keeps climbing up the ladder in spite of everyone knowing everything," she wrote on Twitter on 5 October. When she complained, she was transferred to another team, and her probation, which was to end at the time, was extended by six months. She says that this was because he allegedly gave her a bad review. She alleges that no action was taken against him. She adds that he did not apologise. When contacted by Firstpost, Ishrath said, "I have no comment to offer at this time. However, I would request you to please verify all the facts and allegations before publishing anything in this regard." Multiple accounts (some anonymous) have also emerged on Twitter against Rameez Shaikh, who has previously been a writer for Homegrown. Journalist Sonia Mariam Thomas has accused him of harassment, and highlighted one incident which allegedly took place in 2014. "On our 'date', I was pushed against my own window and he hit me once. I held his hands behind his back and firmly asked him to stop or I wouldn't let him stay. We continued doing our thing and he made me go down on him and tried to coerce me into sex. I declined but he kept pushing. I stood my ground. Keep in mind. I didn't say no to him at the time. But I wasn't happy about it either. Power dynamics are weird and I was afraid of saying no to anything but sex," she wrote on Twitter. One anonymous Twitter user has accused him of persistently asking for nudes on multiple occasions, as well as harassment. She said that they met over Twitter when they were both college students and that the harassment and demands for nudes allegedly went on for two years (between 2013-15), despite her making it clear that she did not consent to these interactions. Rameez responded to these allegations in a statement he put out on Twitter:
Homegrown has tweeted that it has taken cognisance of the allegations against Rameez.
Firstpost has reached out to Manoj Ramachandran and Hindustan Times for their comments regarding the allegations (on 6 October at 2:32 pm). They have not responded to our emails. We will update this story if they do.
Also read parts one, two, and three of this series.
Network 18, of which Firstpost is a part, has received complaints of sexual harassment as well. The complaints which are within the purview of the workplace have been forwarded to our PoSH committee for appropriate action.
The press club posted the statement by its secretary Lata Mishra on its official Twitter handle late Saturday night.
The Mumbai Press Club issued a statement on Saturday saying it stood in solidarity with the victims of sexual harassment. The press club posted the statement by its secretary Lata Mishra on its official Twitter handle late Saturday night.
"The Mumbai Press Club stands in solidarity with the women journalists who have accused some people in the profession and prominent personalities of sexual harassment," the statement read. "In the last two days, several women colleagues have narrated their woes in the media, particularly in the social media. We condemn such acts against our women colleagues and demand strict action from their respective employers and law enforcement agencies (in case individual cases have been reported to the police and other agencies)".
The statement added that the press club feels the issue needs comprehensive debate to not only discuss a way forward but also find effective solutions. "We are in the process of organising such an event. The date will be announced soon. We appeal to our members to send in their suggestions," the statement finished.
The contamination of oral polio vaccine has increased concerns among doctors because of the constant shortage of a safer injectable polio vaccine.
The contamination of oral polio vaccine reported last week has increased concerns among doctors because of the constant shortage of a safer injectable polio vaccine in the country for the past two years. The injectable polio vaccine would have given children protection from any such contamination, say doctors.
The Health Ministry found that a batch of oral polio vaccines was contaminated with a strain of virus type 2 that has been withdrawn from vaccines globally. The worry is that this batch leaking into the supply of vaccines could be dangerous for children in a community who had never been exposed to this strain before, and didnt have immunity. India was declared free of wild polio virus in 2014.
Oral polio vaccine contains a live, weakened version of the polio virus. The virus in the vaccine replicates in the intestine of a child and is then excreted for six to eight weeks. On the other hand, the inactivated polio vaccine, that is injected, does not have live virus. Both vaccines prompt the immune system of a person to respond as if it were infected by the virus.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in their statement said, As a part of efforts to maintain high immunity against all polio viruses, India provides inactivated polio virus vaccine (IPV) and bOPV to all infants across the country under routine immunization.
However, there has been a major shortage of the IPV. A majority of children have not received 2 doses of IPV to protect them from type 2 infection, transmission, said T Jacob John, a retired professor from Christian Medical College, who has conducted extensive research on polio. Type 2 (polio virus) is not a risk for the vaccinated child.
Recently, two children from a district in Uttar Pradesh were admitted to a hospital with acute flaccid paralysis or AFP, a sudden onset of paralysis or weakness in the limbs. One of the causes of AFP could be poliomyelitis, or polio. Traces of type 2 polio virus were found in the samples of their stools, a senior official told Hindu Business Line. After investigation, the government officials examined the OPV samples which were found to have the type 2 virus. These were traced to Biomed, a Ghaziabad-based pharmaceutical company. Up to 1.5 lakh vials were manufactured by the company, of which two-thirds were administered to children. One-third of the batch has been withdrawn.
The batches of contaminated OPV had traveled to UP and Maharashtra, said government officials. In fact, in August, type 2 polio virus was found in sewage samples in Mumbai. The government planned a mop-up of administering inactivated polio vaccine in specific areas to children who may have missed these doses.
Why was polio type 2 strain withdrawn?
Before April 2016, the oral polio vaccine had three strains of polio virus type 1, type 2, type 3 to prevent acute flaccid paralysis caused by polio. In April 2016, the World Health Organisation called for a withdrawal of the type two polio virus in the oral polio vaccine globally. The WHO said it was to eliminate the rare risk of vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP) and circulating vaccine-derived polio virus (cVDPV).
The vaccine-derived polio virus circulates in a community when the virus is excreted from a vaccinated child for more than six weeks. If allowed to remain in the environment, it can genetically change into a form that can paralyse. Vaccine-acquired polio virus occurs when the oral polio vaccine virus mutates in a vaccinated childs intestine, causing acute flaccid paralysis. This form of polio does not spread. Both these forms of polio cause paralysis.
The type 2 polio virus in the oral polio vaccine is most likely to cause the spread and infection of vaccine-derived polio virus in a community, said Dr John. In India, the last such vaccine-derived polio type 2 case was reported in February 2016 in a five-and-half-year-old boy in Bihars Siwan district.
While withdrawing the type 2 polio virus from the OPV, the WHO introduced the idea of starting the dosage of inactivated polio vaccine in the country. The idea of introducing IPV which covers all three strains of polio is to also protect all the children from type 2 polio (which was withdrawn from oral polio vaccine). The inactivated polio vaccine does not cause any sort of vaccine acquired or vaccine derived polio and is therefore safer.
Since then, the global health community has been facing severe shortages of inactivated polio vaccine, despite reassurances from manufacturers over the past two years. It is only this year that the gap of stocks has been filled to some extent, but many children across India have missed out on inactivated polio vaccine doses.
In India, pediatricians say that IPV is consistently available only in the private sector and is sold as a combination of five of six vaccines, said Dr Vipin Vashishtha, who used to advise the government on the vaccination programme.
Concerns of possible vaccine derived polio outbreak
Doctors are concerned about the possibility of vaccine-derived polio in the community.
We are at Gods mercy. So far, we have been protected by a large outbreak of vaccine derived polio virus, said Dr Vashishtha.
Between April 2016 and August 2017, five outbreaks of vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 cases were reported in Nigeria, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria. The virus can spread via migration, Dr Vashishtha explained.
The Health Ministry in its statement said that children who receive the contaminated vaccine will shed it through their faeces for about 4-6 weeks after which it will die down.
However, the WHO said that on rare occasions, if the population is under-immunised, the excreted virus can continue to circulate longer, and in turn undergo mutations. These genetically changed vaccine-virus can paralyse children in the community who are exposed to it.
In areas of inadequate sanitation, this excreted vaccine-virus can spread in the immediate community, the WHO said. To counter this, the government has said that India has made remarkable progress under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan programme. But doctors arent convinced.
At this point, there are concerns about the outbreak of circulating type 2 vaccine derived polio virus outbreak as 100 percent children are not immunised with vaccine of all three strains in the country, said Dr Vijay Yewale, a Mumbai-based pediatrician, and former President of Indian Association of Pediatrics. Vaccine- derived polio virus is as bad as an wild polio virus infection.
According to an India Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletin, the low pressure is very likely to become more marked during the next 12 hours and concentrate into a depression.
The Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments have put state machinery on alert in view of the possibility that heavy rainfall may continue over the weekend due to the deepening of a low-pressure area over the southeast Arabian Sea.
According to an India Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletin, the low pressure is very likely to become more marked during the next 12 hours and concentrate into a depression. It is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm and move towards Oman's coast thereafter. The IMD has also issued a red alert for Kerala's Idukki and Malappuram districts on 7 October.
Meanwhile, rains continued to lash parts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Puducherry for the second day on Friday, prompting officials to declare a holiday for educational institutions in Tamil Nadu. Following forecast of extremely heavy rain on Sunday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami held a review meeting at Chennai on Friday and issued a series of instructions to officials. These included asking collectors of coastal districts to take steps for the early return of fishermen who have ventured into the sea, an official release said.
In addition to medical assistance, officials were also instructed to keep ready adequate stocks of food and clothes that might be required in the event of people being evacuated to relief camps, the release said. Reservoirs with over 70 percent storage should be monitored, it added.
Kerala CM calls on NDRF
Some parts of Kerala, including Kochi, Thrissur and Malappuram, received rains Friday.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said five teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have arrived in the state and they would be deployed in Wayanad, Palakkad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta and Kozhikode. The Indian Navy too has been asked to stay on standby to take up relief and rescue operations, if need be.
The shutters of the Neyyar and Aruvikara dams and Malampuzha dam in Palakkad were lifted Friday to release water in view of the forecast of heavy rains in the coming days. The state has ordered its officials to monitor water levels in all reservoir that hold water above 70 percent of their capacity.
Officials also said shutters of the Idukki-Cheruthoni dam, Pamba, Moozhiar and Kakki dams in Pathanamthitta, Banasurasagar dam in Wayanad, Sholayar, Peechi and Chimini dams in Thrissur district would be opened, if necessary, after monitoring the water inflow.
The government has also issued a warning to people living on the banks of rivers including the Pamba and Periyar. Fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea for the next few days. Tourists have been advised not to travel to hill stations, especially Munnar in Idukki and Nelliyampathy in Palakkad districts respectively.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said the government took the right decision in opening shutters of some dams in view of the low pressure hovering over the southeast Arabian Sea. Chennithala said if the government had taken such a step in August when the state witnessed a deluge, destruction and loss of life could have been avoided.
Kerala had witnessed the fury of the southwest monsoon in August, the worst in the last 100 years, which claimed 493 lives and left a trail of destruction in several districts.
Tamil Nadu fishermen still at large
Fishermen association sources said about 1,000 fishermen, who had ventured into the sea from Kanyakumari, have not returned. The sources said authorities had issued a red alert, but they were not sure if the red alert message had reached the fishermen.
They had been asked to return before 5 October, but they have not, the sources said. The message would now be sent through the navy to the fishermen, they added.
Following sharp spells of rains in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, educational institutions were closed, officials said.
Meanwhile, Puducherry received heavy rains and an official said the union territory recorded 9.5 centimetre rainfall in the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am.
Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi said the government machinery was geared up to tackle the situation. Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayansamy said educational institutions will remain closed in view of the rains.
Residential areas in Oulgaret and neighbouring municipal segments were waterlogged, throwing normal life out of gear.
Government machinery was geared up to meet any exigency, official sources said.
Farmlands were waterlogged and a farmer said the paddy he had raised on a large extent of land was flooded.
With inputs from PTI
On grounds of non-interference with the executive policy, the dualistic form of the State as well as the fact that India is non-signatory of the Refugee Convention, the Supreme Court is right in its judgment in allowing the deportation of the Rohingya refugees
The Supreme Court of India on Thursday rejected the plea to stop the deportation of seven Rohingya immigrants to Myanmar from Assam. This decision was given by a three-judge bench headed by the new Chief Justice of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi. The court had earlier found them to be illegal immigrants and even Myanmar was ready to accept them as their own national citizens. Prashant Bhushan, who was the advocate of the Rohingyas had termed the decision as 'unfortunate'. He said that this decision goes against the demands put forth by various human rights organisations and the United Nations.
The plea was filed against the decision of the Centre, wherein it had ordered deportation of over 40,000 Rohingya immigrants. Constitutional law forms the basis of the argument put forth by Bhushan and the petitioners, which is where it goes entirely wrong. The case strictly pertains to the domain of public international law and its subsequent interaction with domestic laws.
The principle under consideration is an international law principle, called 'Principle of Non-Refoulement', which puts a restriction on countries from returning asylum seekers to the country in which they would be in a likely danger of persecution based on "race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion". This principle finds it place in the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention. India has not signed the convention; therefore, it squarely remains inapplicable over it.
Now, as it is commonly understood that the call to deport the immigrants or not, lies within the sovereign function of the executive. The Supreme Court can only look at whether there is a justifiable reasoning that has been given and if the answer is in the affirmative, then the court has to approve of the action. It cannot certainly step into the shoes of the policy makers. In this case, the Centre stated that the refugees from Myanmar posed threats to national security. It also specifically emphasised on the argument that the decision on their deportation is best left to the executive. Therefore, being a sovereign nation, it is well within the powers of the State to deport the immigrants.
Moreover, there are arguments to recognise the 'Principle of Non-Refoulement' on the grounds of its applicability under customary international law and thus not deport the Rohingyas. This argument is also legally unsustainable.
Customary international law is defined under Article 38(1)(b) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice as "a general practice accepted as law.
It is, therefore, applicable on nations, even when they havent signed any treaty to that effect. It is, however, usually determined through two factors: the general practice of states and what the states have accepted as law.
The policy standpoint of India, in matters of international law is very clear. India is a dualistic State, which means that international law and domestic law have distinct identities.
International law does not automatically forms the part of the legal system in India, unless incorporated by a legislation made by the Parliament. This is also true for customary international law, and therefore a claim arising out of a rule of customary international law does not legally hold any water before an Indian court, be it the Supreme Court or any other Indian court.
India is also not a monistic country like the UK, wherein customary international law is automatically considered to be the part of British Common Law and hence is amenable to be adjudicated upon by a national court of the UK.
Indias status as a dualist country has also been upheld by the Supreme Court of India. In the case of Jolly George Varghese versus The Bank of Cochin, wherein it held that the executive power of the Government of India to enter into international treaties does not mean that international law, by the virtue of this fact, is enforceable upon ratification. The Parliament of India needs to make a law, specifically incorporating a rule, before such a rule can be argued before an Indian court.
Therefore, on grounds of non-interference with the executive policy, and the dualistic form of the State besides and that India is non-signatory of the Refugee Convention, the Supreme Court is right in its judgment. The statement by Bhushan is more political than legal, his argument is ridden with legal fallacies on such points.
The author is an assistant professor of law at the Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai
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.
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).
"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.
Tanushree Dutta, in an interview recently, had alleged that Nana Patekar misbehaved with her while filming a special song for the film 'Horn Ok Pleasss'.
Mumbai: Tanushree Dutta on Saturday filed a police complaint against Nana Patekar for allegedly harassing her on the sets of a film in 2008, police said.
"Tanushree Dutta has given us a complaint against Nana Patekar. As of now there is not any FIR registered in this case," Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Manoj Kumar Sharma said.
Dutta, in an interview recently, had alleged that Patekar misbehaved with her while filming a special song for the film "Horn Ok Pleasss" ten years ago.
Several actors from Bollywood lauded Dutta for talking about this incident but there were some celebrities who questioned her for not taking a legal route.
Patekar, who was shooting for "Housefull 4" in Jodhpur, landed in Mumbai on Saturday.
"I said this 10 years ago...A lie is a lie," Patekar told reporters at the airport on Saturday.
The actor will hold a press conference on 8 October at his residence in suburban Andheri.
Patekar's lawyer has sent a legal notice to Dutta demanding her apology.
BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday challenged Congress president Rahul Gandhi to a debate with any leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) on the development track record of the two parties in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
Ujjain: BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday challenged Congress president Rahul Gandhi to a debate with any leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) on the development track record of the two parties in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
"I challenge Rahul baba (Rahul Gandhi): decide the city, forum, date and time, and I will send the chief of my Yuva Morcha (youth wing) of that city and let there be a debate on development... (during) your 55 years of rule and (chief minister) Shivraj Singh Chouhan's 14 year-rule," Shah said, addressing a gathering in Ujjain.
However, he said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had much more to achieve.
"There is a lot to be done. (West) Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have to be won. Until the saffron flag of the BJP flutters from the south to the eastern coast, no BJP worker has the right to rest," he said.
Shah stressed the victory in 28 November polls in Madhya Pradesh will boost the enthusiasm of party workers in West Bengal and provide some succour to "mothers of martyred party workers in Kerala".
"MP victory should be so big that the BJP should win all elections from Panchayat to Parliament for the next 50 years," he said further.
Shah said BJP had won all the states which went to polls after 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the Gandhi scion should not "even dream" about winning in Madhya Pradesh.
"Be it Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal, Goa, Gujarat, BJP won every state. How can you (Rahul Gandhi) even dream (of a victory in Madhya Pradesh)?" Shah asked.
Shah also accused former prime minister Manmohan Singh of not uttering a word while infiltrators sneaked into the country and beheaded Indian soldiers.
"After the BJP came to power, they (terrorists from Pakistan) made the mistake of attacking our jawans at Uri at 3 AM and did not give a chance to retaliate. Twelve soldiers were killed," he said.
"On the tenth day (of the attack), Modi ordered our soldiers to retaliate. Our brave jawans conducted a surgical strike and took revenge," the BJP chief said.
Earlier, only the US and Israel were known for avenging the death of their soldiers, now India's name has been added to this list, he said.
Amit Shah was addressing a gathering in Jaora, which is close to Mandsaur town where six farmers were killed in police firing in June last year.
Jaora (Madhya Pradesh): BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has given Rs 2,11,000 crore to farmers since 2014 and it was working with a resolve to double farmers' income.
He was addressing a gathering in Jaora, which despite being in Ratlam district, is close to Mandsaur town where six farmers were killed in police firing in June last year.
"In his address after forming the government in 2014, the prime minister had said that the poor and farmers are close to his heart. With this theme in mind, his government has done many works for them. It has also constituted a chief ministers' committee for the purpose and the Madhya Pradesh chief minister is its chairman," Shah said while addressing a farmers meet.
Shah said, "The Modi government has allocated Rs 2,11,000 crore for farmers' welfare during 2014- 2019 (including the 2018-19 Budget)."
Taking a jibe at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for raising farmers' issues, Shah asked, "What did the UPA government do when it was in power?"
After the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, maximum agriculture production has taken place, Shah said, adding that now it was not middlemen who were purchasing farm produce.
Shah claimed that the Modi government had doubled the minimum support price (MSP) of Rabi and Kharif crops in the country.
Praising Madhya Pradesh chief minister Chouhan, Shah said the latter is the son of a farmer and therefore knows their pain and listens to their problems.
"Those who have never touched soil are talking about farmers," he said, in an apparent swipe at Gandhi.
Shah also said that all round development took place, including laying of a strong road network and improvement in financial condition of farmers, in Madhya Pradesh under Chouhan.
Chouhan, while addressing the gathering, said the government had put Rs 32,701 crore into the account of farmers to mitigate their problems.
Earlier, police arrested activists, allegedly of Karni Sena and Mahavir Sena, for protesting against amendments in SC/ST Act as well as reservations.
Similar arrests were also made in Ujjain and Indore during Shah's visit.
The BJP president also addressed a workers' convention and prayed at the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain.
Shah will launch the BJP's 'Maha Jansampark Abhiyan' from historic Rajwada area and walk for nearly 15 minutes up to Krishnapura Chhatri area to appeal people in the dense commercial area to vote for the BJP
Indore: With an eye on assembly polls due later this year BJP president Amit Shah will arrive in Indore on Saturday to formally launch the party's mass contact campaign in the crucial Malwa-Nimad region of Madhya Pradesh to woo voters especially traders, tribals and farmers.
Shah will launch the 'Maha Jansampark Abhiyan' from historic Rajwada area and walk for nearly 15 minutes up to Krishnapura Chhatri area to appeal people in the dense commercial area to vote for the BJP, a party spokesman said.
From Indore, Shah will go to tribal Jhabua district to address 'Adivasi Sammelan' and later visit Jaora in Ratlam district for addressing farmers, he said.
Shah will also interact with party functionaries at Indore and Ujjain divisions to charge them ahead of crucial assembly polls, the spokesman said.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the state party president Rakesh Singh will accompany Shah during all these programmes, the spokesman added.
Speaking at a media conclave on Friday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi remained confident that his party could work out a nationwide alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections
Speaking at a media conclave on Friday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi remained confident that his party could work out a nationwide alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. His confidence stems largely from the fact that though BSP chief Mayawati had torpedoed a seat-sharing deal with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan a couple of days ago, she had conceded the honesty which United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul showed in pursuing an alliance.
Rahul helpfully pointed out that alliance in states and an alliance at the Centre were two different animals and the indications he had were that the two parties would 'come together' for the national elections. That is an imponderable. There would be little profit in expending time speculating on the possibilities, given the facts that the elections are a distance away and that Mayawati is a mercurial customer at the best of times.
But there's something else that the Congress president also said is significant. "We were," he said, "flexible in states. In fact, I was more flexible than some of our state leaders."
What does this mean? Quite obviously, it is a more nuanced re-statement of what Mayawati had said herself: that while the Gandhis were honest about the alliance, it was sabotaged by state Congress satraps.
How far this is true, and in what exact way, is not the point, but that both Gandhi and Mayawati share this perception, is. This speaks volumes about the functioning of the Congress. It means that state leaders are free, ultimately, to decide on important aspects of party policy such as pre-election alliances. In a theoretical way, this might not be a bad thing. It is eminently desirable that vital party issues be debated and discussed at every level before a determination is reached.
That theoretical position would work, however, if the Congress had had, in all other ways, a democratic institutional structure and culture. It doesnt. Intra-party elections are a distant memory and legislature parties have no freedom to elect their leaders. The principle of electing a part of the Congress Working Committee was junked after the second split in the Congress in early 1978 led to the creation of the Congress (I) led by Indira Gandhi.
In the absence of an overarching democratic context, then, the freedom apparently given to state satraps Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh and Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan appears suspiciously like turf wars fought by other means. That is to say, neither Nath nor Pilot engaged with the high command about the wisdom of entering alliances in the spirit of a democratic freedom, rather they sabotaged negotiations by being formalistic and rigid.
From the point of view of the Congresss larger interests, the failure to cement an alliance is bound to have adverse consequences both with regards to the Assembly elections, later this year, in the two states mentioned and the putative negotiations over a nationwide alliance for the 2019 elections. Gandhi was publicly optimistic when he said the failure to sign a deal would not have an adverse impact on his partys prospects. But it certainly will in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, where an alliance could have lengthened the odds on the existing regimes considerably. In Rajasthan, an alliance would have served as a token of good faith. In other words, Gandhi, or an emissary, should have been more involved in the minutiae of negotiations and asserted the high commands jurisdictional authority.
Another significant statement made by Gandhi pertained to his prime ministerial aspirations. He was undoubtedly diplomatic when he said he was a candidate for the top job if other parties in a proposed alliance were agreeable to his candidature. But in such matters it is hard to be too diplomatic. The Congress president would have been better advised to have let well alone. This is not the time to discuss prime ministerial ambition.
Finally, Gandhi did come into his own when he took the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on, headlong. He made several important points, all valid. First, he said that the time had passed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi could keep blaming the Congress for everything that was falling off the precipice: the economy mainly. The BJP will find it difficult to rebut the robustly pointed at the price the country was paying for hatred: the decimation of the economy signalled by the implosion of the stock market, the unchecked slide of the rupee, farmers suicides and much else.
Gandhi was also spot on when he said that the BJP had gone to war with its own people because it wants to impose one singular, suffocating memory on our 1.3 billion memories. In a limited way, Gandhi also spelt out his own position when he said every person in the country has a stake in it. It was a gesture to a particular type of inclusiveness that, in Gandhis reckoning, embraced rich and poor, state action and liberalisation. Much of this is rhetoric, but as we have come to realise more than ever with the ascent of Modi, rhetoric is an inextricable instrument of politics.
It remains for Gandhi to translate this rhetoric into outcomes, which is the crucial, if unfinished, piece of business that will finally count. To do this he will have to streamline his party so that it works as a synchronic chorus, rather than singing from a perplexing array of hymn sheets. He will have to ensure that the party pursues the issues he has been indefatigably hammering away at, at every possible level.
Unfortunately, the Congress has not been attacking the BJP on its beleaguered fronts with anything like energy and vigour. If that is the result of a lack of conviction and a loss of morale, it will be up to the boss to inject adequate quantities of both into the party.
The EC was set to hold a press conference at 12.30 pm on Saturday to announce the dates of Assembly polls in five states, but had rescheduled it subsequently.
Kolkata: Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "putting pressure" on the Election Commission (EC) to delay its press conference to announce poll dates in five states as he was scheduled to address a rally in Rajasthan.
The EC was set to hold a press conference at 12.30 pm on Saturday to announce the dates of Assembly polls in five states, but had rescheduled it subsequently.
The five states where Assembly polls will be held in November-December are Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana.
"The EC's explanation for the delay is preposterous. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is guilty of pressuring the EC to delay its press conference as he was scheduled to address a rally. The EC was made to wait for Modi's rally," Surjewala told reporters.
However, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) OP Rawat said in Delhi that the press conference was delayed due to official work.
The prime minister addressed a public rally at Ajmer in poll-bound Rajasthan on Saturday.
"The EC was supposed to hold a press conference at 12.30 pm to announce the polls in five states. But, it was postponed to 3 pm," Surjewala had earlier said at the "India Today East Conclave".
The apparent reason could be to "facilitate Modi to deliver his speech at a rally at 1 pm in Rajasthan", he had said.
The Congress leader also said the people of the country were under attack from their own government and the economy was in doldrums with the rupee sliding every day.
On who will be the prime minister after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said "the people will decide".
"But it will be a people's government and not be at war with the people," Surjewala added.
Chief minister E Palaniswami will have reason to be pleased with Friday's developments as TTV Dhinakaran's expose hsa diminished the stature of OPS, his main competitor within the party and the government
All through the Jayalalithaa years, O Panneerselvam was seen as Amma's prostrator-in-chief. The ultimate loyalist who despite being made chief minister twice when Jayalalithaa had to step aside, never sat in the CM's chair. That mask of docility came off in February 2017 when he rebelled against VK Sasikala's leadership of the AIADMK after being asked to step aside as the chief minister. Tamil Nadu was led to believe that here was an anti-corruption crusader with a spine.
That mask of sacrifice for the sake of ethical politics got ripped off in August when he decided to do a ghar waapsi and work as deputy to Edappadi Palaniswami, originally appointed by Sasikala. He tried to justify his decision by publicly admitting that had Narendra Modi not advised him, he would not have agreed to play second fiddle in a government where he was chief minister thrice before was it.
Now if TTV Dhinakaran, the leader of the rebel group of the AIADMK who has since floated his own party, is to be believed, there was yet another mask that OPS was wearing all this while. On 12 July 2017, OPS had a clandestine meeting with Dhinakaran arranged by a businessman during which he reportedly apologised to him for his revolt and evinced interest in joining hands once again. But despite making this offer, OPS merged his outfit with the ruling AIADMK led by EPS a month later.
In the last week of September 2018, OPS reportedly reached out to Dhinakaran through the same businessman and also his son and brother. The message this time was that he wanted to get rid of EPS and help appoint Dhinakaran to an important position. Dhinakaran claims he refused to meet OPS and instead chose to expose Panneerselvam's double face.
OPS did not deny the meeting but in his version, it was Dhinakaran who took the initiative for the meeting. "I met Dhinakaran due to political courtesy and it is not a crime. The meeting was arranged by the other side which kept calling me," explained OPS. Asked if he tried for a meeting last week, OPS dismissed it as a bluff by Dhinakaran and denied any plot to overthrow EPS.
"Why should I try to destabilise this government. I am deputy chief minister and part of this government. I will never become the chief minister through the back door," he said.
What this revelation has done is to hit at Panneerselvam's credibility. Picture this. A sizeable number of AIADMK cadre had thrown its weight behind OPS supporting his 'dharma yuddham (holy war)' against Sasikala, Dhinakaran, and company. But unknown to any of them, he was meeting the same Dhinakaran he was claiming to fight. Also Dhinakaran's party colleagues knew all along that such a secret meeting had taken place but till this was outed on Friday, not a single person in the ruling AIADMK knew about it. This disclosure has irked his close aides and has created a trust deficit vis-a-vis him.
In fact, realising the damage it was doing to the AIADMK's image of a united front, early on Friday, state electricity minister P Thangamani waded into the controversy by accusing Dhinakaran of sending a mediator requesting for a merger and that the ruling AIADMK leadership spurned the offer. Another senior AIADMK leader close to Panneerselvam, KP Munusamy rubbished Dhinakaran's claims, denying any meeting between OPS and Dhinakaran. Now that OPS has accepted that he did meet Dhinakaran, Thangamani and Munusamy have been left with egg on their faces.
Given the BJP leadership's antipathy to the Mannargudi family, Modi is not likely to be pleased about the fact that the man he backed in Tamil Nadu was doing his own thing on the side, without keeping anyone in the loop.
Why did Dhinakaran decide to expose Panneerselvam considering he had kept the meeting a secret for over a year? He claims that after he turned down the request for a meeting, OPS on 30 September mocked him at a meeting in Mannargudi asking "how will a small pin dismantle a mountain". That's when Dhinakaran says he decided to show the true colours of OPS to the world.
But the real intention seems to be with an eye to set the cat among the AIADMK pigeons ahead of the Madras High court verdict in the case related to the Speaker's disqualification of 18 MLAs belonging to the Dhinakaran camp which is expected next week. If the court quashes the Speaker's decision, it will push the Tamil Nadu government into a minority and it is here that the revelation that Panneerselvam was meeting Dhinakaran secretly, would expose the fault lines.
There is also the caste angle to this entire drama. Panneerselvam in terms of stature and seniority is the tallest Thevar leader in the ruling party today. The other biggies in the state cabinet are all from the Gounder community EPS, Thangamani, municipal administration minister SP Velumani and education minister KA Sengottaiyan. The Delhi face of the AIADMK M Thambidurai is also a Gounder.
A weak Panneerselvam will mean Dhinakaran emerges as the tallest Thevar politician in Tamil Nadu and he could leverage that to woo the MLAs from the community on to his side should the court verdict go against the government. With a dented image, Panneerselvam will no longer have the moral stature to command loyalty of the MLAs from his community and region.
EPS will have reason to be pleased with Friday's developments. His competitor within the party and the government has diminished in stature. And while Dhinakaran may succeed in bringing down the government if the court quashes the Speaker's decision, he will find it tough to take control of the AIADMK. This is because 28 of the 135 AIADMK MLAs who were elected belong to the Gounder community and will rally behind the biggies, who apart from wielding political clout are also moneybags. EPS has stayed in office for 18 months despite all odds and even his critics credit his survival skills.
The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday announced the dates for the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly polls.
The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday announced the dates for the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly polls.
While Chhattisgarh will go to the polls in two phases on 12 and 20 November, the Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram Assembly elections will be held on 28 November.
Polling in Rajasthan and Telangana will be held on 7 December, announced Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) OP Rawat.
Counting of votes will be held across all the five states on 11 December, he said.
In the Naxal-hit 18 constituencies of Chhattisgarh, the elections will be held on 12 November 2018, Rawat said.
He said the polls are being conducted separately just for 18 constituencies because these are violence-prone areas and heavy deployment of security forces will be needed.
"The life of each and every voter is precious for us, which is why we are being cautious and splitting the polling exercise into two phases in Chhattisgarh," Rawat said.
However, Congress leader PL Punia said that the party "had requested Election Commission to hold elections in Chhattisgarh in a single phase. But it is holding elections there in two phases."
Rawat said that polling slips will also be issued in Braille because the poll panel's aim remains to make election process accessible to all. He said that all-women booths will also be set up where security officials will also be women.
The chief election commissioner also said that Telangana elections were being kept on the fag end of the current phase of the polling exercise so that the poll panel could get enough time to prepare for conducting the elections.
Notably, Telangana was not due for polls in the current round but Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao dissolved the Assembly early. The poll panel has not been able to prepare the electoral roll owing to the short notice at which the elections were to be conducted and an ongoing case. The voters' list in Telangana will now be published on 12 October.
Major political parties in Mizoram welcomed the announcement of the poll date to the 40-member state legislative Assembly.
Ruling Congress leader and social welfare minister PC Lalthanliana said the party was fully prepared for the Assembly poll and had been expecting an early announcement of the election date.
Lalthanliana said the ruling party was ready and the date of election being after the monsoon season would help polling officials, especially in remote areas.
Former minister and vice president of the Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) Dr R Lalthangliana said the party was enthusiastic about the announcement of the date.
Lalthangliana expressed optimism that the MNF would be voted to power after being in Opposition for a decade.
The election in Mizoram is important as it would decide whether the Congress manages to hold its lone fort in the North East.
Earlier, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "putting pressure" on the Election Commission (EC) to delay its press conference to announce poll dates in five states as he was scheduled to address a rally in Rajasthan.
The EC was set to hold a press conference at 12.30 pm on Saturday to announce the dates of Assembly polls in five states, but had rescheduled it subsequently.
"The EC's explanation for the delay is preposterous. Prime minister Narendra Modi is guilty of pressuring the EC to delay its press conference as he was scheduled to address a rally. The EC was made to wait for Modi's rally," Surjewala had told reporters in Kolkata.
However, Rawat said in Delhi that the press conference was delayed due to official work.
The prime minister addressed a public rally at Ajmer in poll-bound Rajasthan on Saturday.
"The EC was supposed to hold a press conference at 12.30 pm to announce the polls in five states. But, it was postponed to 3 pm," Surjewala had earlier said at the India Today East Conclave in Kolkata.
The apparent reason could be to "facilitate Modi to deliver his speech at a rally at 1 pm in Rajasthan", he had said.
With inputs from PTI
Addressing a rally at Ratlam in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, BJP president Amit Shah Saturday once again described infiltrators as 'termites' and promised to drive them out.
Ratlam: Addressing a rally at Ratlam in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, BJP president Amit Shah Saturday once again described infiltrators as "termites" and promised to drive them out. He also mocked Manmohan Singh, saying the former prime minister used to read out speeches handed to him by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on foreign tours.
"(Former prime minister) Lal Bahadur Shastri had given the slogan 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'. While you (farmers) feed the people, they (soldiers) guard our borders. But infiltrators are like termites who eat away at the country's security. They need to be removed," Shah said. Forty lakh people were excluded from the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and all those living illegally in the country would be evicted, he added.
"We will drive out each and every infiltrator. The BJP will not allow a single infiltrator to stay. For us, vote bank is not important, the country's security is," Shah said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief had compared infiltrators to termites at a rally in Rajasthan last month. In his Saturday's speech, he also mocked Manmohan Singh.
Referring to the criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his frequent foreign tours, Shah claimed that "Mauni Baba Manmohan Singh ji" had made more trips abroad. "When Manmohan ji travelled abroad, he used to carry papers given by Madam (an apparent reference to then Congress president Sonia Gandhi), read them out and come back.
"At times, he used to read the page supposed to be read in Malaysia in Thailand and the page meant for Thailand in Malaysia," the BJP chief quipped. When Modi travels to a foreign country, thousands of people come to greet him and chant slogans, he said. "These slogans are not for Modi or the BJP, but out of respect for 125 crore Indians," Shah added. Earlier on Saturday, Shah launched his party's mass-contact campaign in the BJP-ruled state where Assembly polls will be held on 28 November
The prime minister made the charge at a rally just ahead of the announcement of Assembly election dates for Rajasthan and four other states in November and December.
Accusing the Congress of working for only one family and practising vote-bank politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked the people to keep it away from power, breaking the state's tradition of alternating power between the Congress and the BJP every five years.
Addressing a meeting marking the completion of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's month-long "journey for pride", he said "while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not have the habit of lying as it works on the mantra of 'sarva jana hitay' and 'sarva jana sukhay' (interest of all), the opposition is fond of doing vote-bank politics".
"Those who do vote bank politics, they enjoy the issue of Hindu-Muslim, old-youth, forward-backward, this caste that caste and man and woman," he said in his address to party activists in this religious town, where the BJP lost a prestigious Lok Sabha bye-election earlier this year.
"Wherever they get the opportunity they try to divide the society," Modi said about Congress adding that it was easy to divide but very hard to unite. "And the BJP believes in uniting the society," he said.
"And this vote bank politics is not limited to elections, but it keeps on going for long."
He said that the result of the vote-bank politics was that the poor who voted for them keep on cursing them for five years.
Modi also said that Rajasthan has a tradition of alternating between Congress and BJP every five years and expressed confidence that this time that tradition would be broken.
"This time it should be changed. This time, let us keep Congress away from power in the state and elect the BJP," he said.
"The BJP government in the state believes in accountability and thus we believe in presenting the report card of the works our governments has done, whether it's Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh.
"The BJP never hides its face while giving the report card to the people. But the Congress keeps on spreading lies," Modi said.
"For 60 years the Congress followed the tradition of vote-bank politics," he said.
Accusing Congress leaders and workers of worshipping one family, Modi said: "When I came here, (Chief Minister) Vasundhara Raje told me that the Congress leaders are not present in the Assembly, they do not raise any questions, they do not participate in debates.
"They do not do anything like this because they are busy serving one family, they are busy in worshipping one family.
"For them their high command is one family, but for the BJP our high command is seven and half crore people of the state. Should such forces be allowed again to come to power?" asked Modi and answered himself, "We don't have to allow them to come to power again."
Modi said that the Congress which failed in the government in the last 60 years also failed as the opposition.
"Earlier I had said that there should be a clever opposition, dedicated to people, they should have sensibility of people's problem, keep a tab on the government's works, participate in debate and give ideas to the government.
"But it was unfortunate that they have not only failed in the government but they have also failed as an opposition.
"They don't do hard work, thus they have taken the help of lies and false propaganda. And when we dare them for a debate they flee," he added.
Modi said that after 60 years, the country is in the right direction. "And they should not be given another chance," he said.
Attacking Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his hug in Lok Sabha, Modi said, "There are people who think that they can change the course of their politics with a hug."
Modi also asked the Congress what had stopped them from increasing the minimum support price (MSP) for the farmers.
"Why didn't you increase the MSP for farmers? Who stopped you from doing so?
"We (BJP) did that. We increased the MSP of the farmers and now you (Congress) people have a problem with the Modi government that how I did this. And now as nothing is left for the Congress they are, every morning, manufacturing a new lie," he said.
Modi also said that about Rs 62,000 crore will go to farmers every year after every farming season. "Congress never thought for farmers. Farmers have now insurance for crops like never before. So they never dare to debate over development. Why is the Congress not fighting election on facts?" he asked.
Highlighting the works of his government, Modi said that it brought relief for women against triple talaq. "We do not discriminate on the basis of religion. I thank Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan governments for death sentence against rapists. Now the justice has been fast-tracked. And the demons with such mentality should be scared," he said.
He also said that now 30 percent women are working in government departments, which is not seen in many of the developed nation yet. "Our government also gave maternity leave for 26 weeks," he said.
Hailing the Rajasthan chief minister for implementing the Central Government's task of electrifying all villages in the state, he said, "When Vasundhara Raje came to power, about 13 lakh people were living in the 18th century (darkness). We had promised electrification for all. We provided electricity to 13 lakh people. Those who are yet to get electricity, the Rajasthan government and the Centre are working for them," he said.
Modi also said that about two lakh hectare will have irrigation facilities through water from Chambal. The work on the technical survey in 13 districts are on and after that we shall start the work so that 40 percent people of the state will get sweet water to drink," he said.
The 200-member Rajasthan assembly will go to polls on December 7, where the BJP is in power. The term of the Rajasthan Assembly expires on 20 January, 2019.
Slamming the Congress for questioning the second anniversary of the surgical strike as Parakram Parv, Modi said: "When last week I came to Rajasthan to pay tribute to the brave soldiers, they spread lies that I was going to sound the poll bugle.
"But I was here to celebrate the valour of our armed forces, I was here to celebrate the second anniversary of the surgical strike. "
He said that the surgical strike which was carried out in September 2016 showed the valour of our soldiers.
"But what has happened to Congress? Has politics pushed them to such a low that they belittle the surgical strike? They should feel ashamed for questioning the surgical strike," he said.
'I can assure (you) with full confidence that the Congress alone will generate employment for the youth,' Rahul Gandhi said in Madhya Pradesh.
Jabalpur: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over unemployment and assured youths that his party alone can create jobs for them.
He was addressing a gathering at Raddi Chowk at the end of his 8-kilometre roadshow in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district.
"We brought green revolution, white revolution, computer revolution. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have made false promises," Gandhi said.
"I can assure (you) with full confidence that the Congress alone will generate employment for the youth. We don't lie. If we come to power, we are going to provide employment," he added.
"We don't make fake promises. If we make promises, we stick to them," the Congress chief asserted.
Gandhi alleged Modi wants to create "two Hindustans" one of wealthy businessmen like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi and another for the poor and weaker sections. "We say no to this as we want one Hindustan in which the fruits of progress are reaped by the poor, farmers, labourers and small shopkeepers," he stressed.
"Modi ji with Make in India, Start Up India and Swachh Bharat has ruined the county in the last four and a half years," Gandhi claimed.
"Modi ji and Shivraj ji promised to generate employment but they did not deliver the goods. You relied on them. Now rely on the Congress. We don't believe in making fake promises," he said.
"Modi ji in his public meetings promises to give Rs 15 lakh, 20 lakh and 30 lakh. We will speak the truth. With enthusiasm, we are going to accomplish our promises," Gandhi said.
Earlier, as part of the roadshow, Gandhi moved in a vehicle through the main thoroughfares of the city.
Hundreds of people who had lined up along the route showered petals.
At Model Road, Gandhi was taken aback when a balloon, released to welcome him, exploded with a loud sound.
Earlier on Saturday, Gandhi started his 8-kilometre roadshow after paying obeisance to the Narmada River, with hundreds of posters dotting the route terming him a "Narmada bhakt".
The Narmada River is revered by the people of the state and thousands of them carry out its "parikrama" (circumambulation) as a holy ritual.
Gandhi on Saturday kicked off his roadshow by flying from Dumna Airport to Uma Ghat, named after Union minister Uma Bharti, on the banks of the Narmada and performed "aarti" amid chants of "Jai Narmade" by party functionaries.
Gandhi, after performing puja and giving a gift to a young girl seated on a stage, began his roadshow from Abdul Hamid Chowk. A party functionary was seen handing over a yellow envelope to the young girl as well.
The route of the roadshow covered three Assembly constituencies, namely Jabalpur West, Jabalpur North Central and Jabalpur East (SC) seats. While two of these seats are held by the BJP, the third has a Congress MLA.
Gandhi, during his campaign in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, has been dubbed a "Shiv bhakt", following his return from the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, and a "Ram bhakt" after visiting Satna and Rewa districts of the state.
Pursuing what observers believe is a "soft" form of Hindutva, the Congress last month announced that it would build gaushalas in every district of the state if it attained power.
Besides this, state Congress chief Kamal Nath has promised that, if voted to power, the Congress government would develop "Ram Gaman Path" in Satna district where Rama is believed to have wandered while on a 14-year exile.
Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on 28 November while votes will be counted on 11 December.
Indo-Asian News Service
Facing President Donald Trump administration's ire over its censored Chine Search engine project, Google CEO Sundar Pichai met Pentagon officials during his trip to Washington last week and probably discussed the controversial project "Project Maven", the media reported.
According to a report in The Washington Post on 5 October, Pichai met "a group of civilian and military leaders mostly from the office of the Under Secretary of Defence for Intelligence, the Defence Department directorate that oversees the Artificial Intelligence (AI) drone system known as 'Project Maven'".
Google did not make any comment on this report.
After facing backlash over its involvement in the Pentagon project "Maven", Pichai in June emphasised that the company will not work on technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm.
About 4,000 Google employees had signed a petition demanding "a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology".
Following the anger, Google decided not to renew the project with the US Defence Department after it expires in 2019.
"We will not design or deploy AI in weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people," Pichai had said.
We will not pursue AI in "technologies that gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms," the Indian-born CEO added.
Pichai noted that "while we are not developing AI for use in weapons, we will continue our work with governments and the military in many other areas like cybersecurity, training, military recruitment, veterans' health care, and search and rescue".
Pichai last week met Republican lawmakers and agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in November to allay concerns over privacy issues and the tech giant's entry into the Chinese market.
Kavya Narayanan
The 4th India International Science Festival got off to a grand start on 5 October at the Indira Gandhi Prathishtan in Lucknow.
The first of the four-day festival saw scientists, students, experts in different fields of science from across the country in hundreds, along with members of Indias science policy team that inaugurated and introduced the days sessions.
Setting the stage for diverse voices in the science community
The Union Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan, inaugurated a few of the key events himself, including the Young Scientists Conference and the Global Indian Science and Technology Stakeholders Meet.
If theres a new idea, a new inspiration, a new purpose that our (young scientists) take away from this science festival and devote their lifes work and time to it, the aim of putting this event together will be satisfied, Dr Harsh Vardhan said at the Young Scientist Conference.
I truly believe that our young scientists play a key role in bringing our dream of a New India to life.
Weaving NRI scientists and technocrats into the fold
Another key event from day one was the first or a two-day Global India Science and Technology Stakeholder Meet.
At the session, Dr Y K Gupta, Former Dean of the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences moderated a discussion with five internationally-eminent Indian scientists about what role Indian scientists and technocrats abroad can play in critical areas of Indias development, particularly economic and inclusive growth.
The second session of this Meet, on the 6 October, will bring six such NRI scientists to voice their thoughts about positioning India as a global leader in science and technology, followed by an open discussion with current members of the Departments of Science and Technology and Biotechnology.
Women Empowerment and Child Health
A less public dialogue running parallelly on the sidelines was a panel discussion on Women Empowerment and Child Development at the National Social Organisations and Institutions Meet (NSOIM).
At the gathering, senior researchers in womens health, NGOs and social organisations working towards healthy mother and child development shared short presentations about the work they do and some of their biggest hurdles.
We know that government is working towards improving conditions at the grassroots. We also know our role in helping the government fulfil its role, said Dr Sapna, who runs an organisation addressing malnutrition at the grassroots in Maharashtra.
The majority of speakers and audience at the NSOIM meet were socially-engaged, concerned and proactive women who used the platform as a means to get the word out about successful strategies to some of the grassroots challenges they faced.
They troubleshot this with other social organisations in an open discussion with members and a modest number of audience devoid of any government representatives.
Young scientists talk about their research
One of the more inspiring sights of the day was a poster session by over 80 young researchers from many different states and schools, presenting their research from schools and college to members of the academia, government, public and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Dinesh Sharma.
A common weave of patriotism ran through some of the larger events at the IISF, with variations of Atal Bihari Vajpayees legendary slogan "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan" resounding in mentions of Vigyan se Vikas or 'Science for Development' across different sessions throughout the day.
Many public events are lined up for day two at the science festival, including a formal inauguration by President Ram Nath Kovind, and an attempt to set the Guinness record for the largest public DNA isolation experiment by 500 students from Class VIII to X.
The bitterly polarized US Senate narrowly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday to join the Supreme Court, delivering an election-season triumph to US President Donald Trump that could swing the court rightward for a generation after a battle that rubbed raw the country's cultural, gender and political divides.
Washington: The bitterly polarized US Senate narrowly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday to join the Supreme Court, delivering an election-season triumph to US President Donald Trump that could swing the court rightward for a generation after a battle that rubbed raw the country's cultural, gender and political divides.
The near party-line vote was 50-48, capping a fight that seized the national conversation after claims emerged that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted women three decades ago which he emphatically denied. Those allegations magnified the clash from a routine Supreme Court struggle over judicial ideology into an angrier, more complex jumble of questions about victims' rights, the presumption of innocence and personal attacks on nominees.
Acrimonious to the end, the battle featured a climactic roll call that was interrupted several times by protesters in the Senate galleries before Capitol Police removed them. Vice President Mike Pence presided over the roll call, his potential tie-breaking vote unnecessary.
The vote gave Trump his second appointee to the court, pleasing conservative voters who might have revolted against GOP leaders had Kavanaugh's nomination flopped. Instead, "It's turned our base on fire," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.
Democrats hope that the roll call, exactly a month from elections in which House and Senate control are in play, will do the opposite, prompting infuriated women and liberals to oust Republicans.
"Change must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box," said Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, looking ahead to November.
Rep. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, confronting a tough re-election race next month in a state that Trump won in 2016 by a landslide, was the sole Democrat to vote for Kavanaugh. Every voting Republican backed the 53-year-old conservative judge.
Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, the only Republican to oppose the nominee, voted "present," offsetting the absence of Kavanaugh supporter Steve Daines of Montana, who was attending his daughter's wedding. That rare procedural maneuver left Kavanaugh with the same two-vote margin he'd have had if Murkowski and Daines had both voted.
Republicans hold only a 51-49 Senate majority and therefore had little support to spare.
It was the closest roll call to confirm a justice since 1881, when Stanley Matthews was approved by 24-23, according to Senate records.
Within minutes, dozens of political and advocacy groups blasted out emailed reactions.
Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY's List, which contributes to female Democratic candidates, assailed the confirmation of "an alleged sexual assailant and anti-choice radical to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. But we will carry that anger into the election. Women will not forget this."
Kay Coles James, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, called the vote "a victory for liberty in America" and called Kavanaugh "a good man and good jurist."
The outcome, telegraphed Friday when the final undeclared senators revealed their views, was devoid of the shocks that had come almost daily since Christine Blasey Ford said last month that an inebriated Kavanaugh tried to rape her at a 1982 high school get-together.
Since then, the country watched agape as one electric moment after another gushed forth. These included the emergence of two other accusers; an unforgettable Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which a composed Ford and a seething Kavanaugh told their diametrically opposed stories, and a truncated FBI investigation that the agency said showed no corroborating evidence and Democrats lambasted as a White House-shackled farce.
All the while, crowds of demonstrators mostly Kavanaugh opponents ricocheted around the Capitol's grounds and hallways, raising tensions, chanting slogans, interrupting lawmakers' debates, confronting senators and often getting arrested. Capitol Police said 164 were arrested, raising that count in recent days well into the hundreds.
Inside the Senate, resentments fanned by the battle showed no signs of receding.
Schumer called the GOP's push for Kavanaugh "one of the least transparent, least fair, most biased processes in Senate history." McConnell said a vote for Kavanaugh showed that the Senate was "a chamber in which the politics of intimidation and personal destruction do not win the day."
Trump said Kavanaugh had been "able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats."
Democrats said Kavanaugh would push the court too far, including possible sympathetic rulings for Trump should the president encounter legal problems from the special counsel's investigations into Russian connections with his 2016 presidential campaign. And they said Kavanaugh's record and fuming testimony at a now-famous Senate Judiciary Committee hearing showed he lacked the fairness, temperament and even honesty to become a justice.
But the fight was defined by the sexual assault accusations. And it was fought against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and Trump's unyielding support of his nominee and occasional mocking of Kavanaugh's accusers.
About 100 anti-Kavanaugh protesters climbed the Capitol's East Steps as the vote approached, pumping fists and waving signs. U.S. Capitol Police began arresting some of them. Hundreds of other demonstrators watched from behind barricades. Protesters have roamed Capitol Hill corridors and grounds daily, chanting, "November is coming," ''Vote them out" and "We believe survivors."
On Friday, in the moment that made clear Kavanaugh would prevail, Collins delivered a speech saying that Ford's Judiciary Committee telling of the alleged 1982 assault was "sincere, painful and compelling." But she also said the FBI had found no corroborating evidence from witnesses whose names Ford had provided.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has repeatedly battled with Trump and will retire in January, wavered but also backed Kavanaugh.
When Trump nominated Kavanaugh in July, Democrats leapt to oppose him, saying that past statements and opinions showed he'd be a threat to the Roe v. Wade case that assured the right to abortion. They said he also seemed too ready to rule for Trump in a possible federal court case against the president.
Yet Kavanaugh's path to confirmation seemed unfettered until Ford and two other women emerged with sexual misconduct allegations from the 1980s.
Kavanaugh replaces the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was a swing vote on issues such as abortion, campaign finance and same-sex marriage.
The Lyon-based international police agency says Saturday it used law-enforcement channels to submit its request about the status of Meng Hongwei.
Paris: Interpol has made a formal request to China for information about the agency's missing president, citing concerns for the well-being of the senior Chinese security official who seemingly vanished on a trip home.
The Lyon-based international police agency said Saturday it used law-enforcement channels to submit its request about the status of Meng Hongwei.
It said the agency "looks forward to an official response from China's authorities to address concerns over the president's well-being."
Meng's wife says she hasn't heard from him since he left the French city of Lyon at the end of September to go to China. France has launched its own investigation.
French authorities say he boarded a plane and arrived in China, but the 64-year-old's subsequent whereabouts are unknown.
Meng is also a vice minister for public security in China.
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini accused European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday of destroying Europe, upping the rhetoric in his increasingly acrimonious war of words with European Union officials. Salvini, who heads the far-right League party and is tapping into an increasingly eurosceptic mood in Italy after years of anaemic economic growth and high unemployment, took aim at Juncker and EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini accused European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday of destroying Europe, upping the rhetoric in his increasingly acrimonious war of words with European Union officials.
Salvini, who heads the far-right League party and is tapping into an increasingly eurosceptic mood in Italy after years of anaemic economic growth and high unemployment, took aim at Juncker and EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.
"People like Juncker and Moscovici have ruined Europe and our country," Salvini told reporters in Rome.
Salvini, who regularly denounces EU officials in Brussels as unelected bureaucrats whom he blames for Italy's fiscal plight, has turned up the volume since forming a government with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement in June.
Replying hours later during a visit to Vienna, Juncker told the Austrian news agency APA: "I hope he will never have to remove the heap of ruins."
His apparent irony provoked an immediate response from Salvini. "The insults and threats that arrive every day from Brussels and European bureaucrats are incredible and unacceptable," he said.
"The only ruins that I will have to scoop up are those of the beautiful European dream, destroyed by people like Juncker," he said, adding that he hoped European parliamentary elections set for next May would usher in a new political age.
A founding member of the EU, Italy was once one of its most fervent advocates.
Salvini is allied with far-right groups in other European countries and is working with U.S. President Donald Trump's former political strategist Steve Bannon to build a network of parties opposed to closer European integration.
"I will be happy to rebuild a new Europe with the popular vote of May, I work only for the good and the future of the Italian people," Salvini said.
The Italian government this week unveiled the core of its 2019 budget, trippling the previous deficit goal for next year in direct defiance of EU fiscal rules.
Moscovici has warned that the package might not respect EU regulations. A Commission spokeswoman said on Friday Brussels would only react to the budget plan when it is formally delivered by an Oct. 15 deadline.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Donald Trumps capacity for drama and the ability to speak like the man next door makes him a popular figure.
Editor's note: Men like Trump is a series of dispatches that tell of how a reckless president is steering the White House, and the manner in which his actions are fundamentally altering the office he holds. The writer, being a woman political journalist from India, now transplanted to the US, is in a unique position to observe the three aspects that are critical to defining this presidency: chauvinism, gunslinger politics, and immigration.
US President Donald Trump is a political journalists dream come true. For me, a political journalist from India who is a new migrant into the US, the fact that he is able to speak the way he does, in a shooting-from-the-hip sort of way and still get away with it as a politician, is amazing as well as intriguing.
Ive seen all kinds of politicians in India, from the old fashioned, dhoti-clad behind-the-scenes machinators to the modern, yuppie iPad MPs that the country has currently elected. Ive seen the corporator who makes shifty deals with local cops and contractors and the minister in the 1990s who got elected on Gandhian ideals, with no money-spend whatsoever. I have witnessed changing political scenarios and changing election methods. I have watched with awe the impact of social media on electioneering and share the general fears of group fake messaging.
Trump is, indeed, a new experience! In the space of the last fraught-with-tension nine days, the man did not two, but three somersaults on his position over the Brett Kavanaugh-Christine Blasey Ford scandal that occupied all American public space over the last three weeks. Two days before Dr Ford gave her nationally televised testimony before the US Senates Judiciary Committee on 28 September, Trump tweeted from his personal handle: The Democrats are playing a high level CON GAME in their vicious effort to destroy a fine person. It is called the politics of destruction. Behind the scene the Dems are laughing. Pray for Brett Kavanaugh and his family!
After Dr Ford gave an emotional, controlled and disturbing testimony, complete with memory lapses, which even Republican senators on the Judiciary committee called credible, Trump tweeted his support for Kavanaughs strong response: Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote!
But the very next day, the US saw a different Trump. He told a media briefing: I thought her (Dr Fords) testimony was very compelling. She looks like a very fine woman to me. But certainly, she was a very credible witness. She was very good in many respects. He did, however, state that he was not doing a rethink on his nominee, Kavanaugh, despite the allegations and the compelling testimony.
This fine line between backing his words, sticking to his and his partys stand and the nod to his compatibility with public sentiment following Fords testimony is a political device that is new to me and perhaps something that politicians in India have to master. It changed the perception of the man as this staunch supporter of a political ideology, to someone who has doubts, who is flawed enough to see and accept other points of view. It made him more likeable in a situation very fraught for his women voters.
Then, Trump did his third somersault at a Republican election rally (there are midterm elections for some Senatorial posts in November) at Southaven, Mississippi. He said to cheers and laughter from men and women in the audience: Whats happening now is a gang-rape Guilty until proven innocent is very dangerous for the country. It happened to me, let it happen to me, its part of the job description. (It) shouldnt happen to him. Thirty-six years ago, this happened. (quotes and mocks parts of Dr Fords testimony without referring to her or giving the actual sequence) I had one beer. How did you get home? I dont remember. How did you get there? I dont remember. Where is the place? I dont remember. How many years ago was this? I dont know What neighbourhood was this? Upstairs, downstairs I dont know. But I remember I had one beer. And a mans life is shattered.
Trumps capacity for drama and the ability to speak like the man next door makes him a popular figure. He has managed to humanise the Republican and bring him down to the common man, while the Democrats still look like educated elite, a superior class. He has strong supporters, strong detractors in a country that is split along a single vertical line that doesnt accommodate India-like nuances. He is on the verge of completing two years of his four-year term under the constant shadow of a Russia investigation and allegations of tax fraud that could, technically, impeach him.
He makes for compelling copy and I will share with you all, at regular intervals, the ring-side view of the worlds more powerful presidency from the point of view of an Indian political reporter in an American milieu.
Interpol President Meng Hongwei has been detained in China for questioning as part of an investigation against him, a media report said Saturday, a day after he was reported missing in his native country.
Beijing: Interpol President Meng Hongwei has been detained in China for questioning as part of an investigation against him, a media report said Saturday, a day after he was reported missing in his native country.
Meng, 64, the first Chinese head of the international law enforcement agency headquartered in France, was "taken away" for questioning by discipline authorities "as soon as he landed in China" last week, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted a source as saying.
It was not immediately clear why he is being investigated or exactly where he is being held.
Meng, who is also a vice-minister at China's Ministry of Public Security, is under investigation in China, the Post reported amid mystery surrounding his disappearance after his wife reported to the French police that he had gone missing.
The French police said on Friday that they have launched a probe for Meng after being contacted by his wife.
Interpol, which is based in Lyon, said on Friday that it was aware of reports of Meng's "alleged disappearance and that the issue was a matter for the relevant authorities in France and China.
Meng was last seen in France on 29 September, according to reports from France.
So far neither the public security ministry nor the foreign ministry in China has commented.
Under China's supervision law, a suspect's family and employer must be notified within 24 hours of detention, except in cases where doing so would hinder an investigation. It appears Meng's wife was not informed.
Reports quoted an unnamed French judicial official as saying that Meng arrived in China at the end of September but there had been no news of him since.
While Meng is listed on the website of China's Ministry of Public Security as a vice-minister, he lost his seat on its Communist Party Committee its real decision-making body in April, the Post reported.
According to his own page on the site, Meng's last official engagement was on 23 August, when he met Lai Chung Han, a second permanent secretary of Singapore, it said.
Meng was appointed the head of Interpol in 2016. His appointment also sparked concern about China extending its crackdown on dissidents abroad. He is due to serve until 2020. Interpol is the world's largest agency facilitating police cooperation with 192 member countries.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - China will be part of the solution to the North Korean crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, brushing aside the possibility that worsening U.S. tensions with Beijing could hamper efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - China will be part of the solution to the North Korean crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, brushing aside the possibility that worsening U.S. tensions with Beijing could hamper efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
Speaking to a pool reporter en route to his fourth visit this year to North Korea, Pompeo said the aim of his talks in Pyongyang at the weekend would be "to make sure we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve."
He said he also hoped to be able to agree a "general date and location" for a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Asked whether increasing tensions with China would hamper his efforts after Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday signalled a tough new approach to Beijing going beyond a bitter trade war, Pompeo said China had consistently made clear it wanted to see North Korean denuclearization.
"And they have said in spite of places where we have disagreements and other things - we have had disagreement on trade and the like - that they are determined to support our efforts to see this through to its completion, consistently since we first began this process," he said.
"We know that China is going to be part of the solution, that'll ultimately be when we get to the end," he said. "If we do this well we will have signed a peace treaty that ends the armistice, that China will be part of that."
Kim pledged at an unprecedented June 12 meeting with Trump to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but his actions since have fallen short of Washington's demands for irreversible steps to give up an arsenal that potentially threatens the United States.
Pompeo declined to give details of his planned negotiations when asked if he would agree to North Korean demands for a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War or to South Korea's suggestion that to break the current stalemate, he should avoid pressing again for an inventory of North Korea's nuclear weapons.
Pompeo's last trip to North Korea did not go well. He left Pyongyang in July hailing progress, only for North Korea to denounce him for making "gangster-like demands."
Pompeo has angered North Korea recently by insisting that international sanctions must remain in place until it gives up its nuclear weapons. On Wednesday, he said there was unanimous support for this at last week's U.N. General Assembly, even if Russia and China "had some ideas about how we might begin to think about a time when it would be appropriate to reduce them."
Pompeo will visit Japan on Saturday before heading to Pyongyang, where he is due to arrive on Sunday morning local time, or on Saturday evening U.S. East Coast time.
After a stop in Seoul, Pompeo is due to head to China on Monday.
He said that in Beijing, if it was like previous visits, he would meet the Chinese government's top diplomat, Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi, and his predecessor Yang Jiechi.
(Reporting by pool reporter; Writing by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Sandra Maler)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Protests against the re-election of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez have turned violent with security forces firing tear gas and some marchers breaking windows and setting fires
Tegucigalpa: Protests against the re-election of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez have turned violent with security forces firing tear gas and some marchers breaking windows and setting fires.
Video from Friday 's protests showed former President Manuel Zelaya being shoved by military police. Zelaya and defeated presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla also suffered the effects of tear gas.
Hernandez was awarded the electoral win weeks after the November vote and a disputed vote tally. The opposition
alleged fraud and plans to continue protesting through Hernandez's swearing in on 27 January.
Security forces and protesters were injured during the clash. Miguel Osorio, spokesman at the University School
Hospital, says 10 people were treated there. Hernandez blamed the opposition for the violence, noting that protesters had damaged the nearby Marriott hotel.
The skills of Russia's hackers today developed from a tradition of excellent computing and programming skills dating back to the Soviet era. Many young Russians now may choose to work for the military and secret services for reasons of patriotism, some may still be more interested in the money.
Moscow: During the Soviet era, the country's top computer scientists and programmers largely worked for the secret services. That practice appears to have resumed under President Vladimir Putin, as Russia faces accusations of waging a global campaign of cyber attacks.
Dutch officials on Thursday accused four Russians from the GRU military intelligence agency of attempting to hack into the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague.
The agency has investigated both the fatal poisoning of Russian former double-agent Sergei Skripal; and an alleged chemical attack by Moscow-allied Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Baltic states were the first to accuse Moscow of mounting attacks to knock out their sites back in 2007.
Estonia said one such attack had put the country's main emergency service phone number out of action for over an hour. Since then, accusations of cyber attacks have continued against Moscow.
The Russian hacker group, variously known as Fancy Bear, APT 28 and Sofacy, has been linked to GRU and accused of attacks on the US Democrats' 2016 presidential campaign, together with Russia's FSB security service, the successor to the KGB.
The skills of Russian hackers today developed from a tradition of excellent computing and programming skills dating back to the Soviet era. "The whole structure of the economy was skewed towards the military sector," said Oleg Demidov, a consultant at the Moscow-based independent think-tank PIR Center.
"All the achievements of Soviet science including the first computers went to serve the military sector." The most brilliant students were pushed to work in the military and space sector, he added.
After the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, its armed forces were broken up and most of the top specialists turned to the nascent banking sector in Russia, either to work there or to attack it. In this era saw the first cyber attacks on banking operations and the first mentions of Russian hackers.
"Now Russian hackers are excellently trained and equipped and they still occupy one of the top positions in banking crime," said Demidov even if the Russian justice system has begun to crack down on them.
In 2016, Russian cybersecurity giant Kaspersky estimated that between 2012 and 2015, Russian hackers had stolen at least $790 million worldwide.
Russian computer scientists study at "very strong universities in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Kazan or Krasnoyarsk", said Denis Kuskov of TelecomDaily specialised research agency.
They "can work anywhere in the world, in any international company," he added.
In recent years, however, more have opted to stay in Russia, he said. "The secret services have grown more interested in good programmers and it's easier for them to find work in Russia now." In 2012, the Russian defence ministry announced it was creating its own "cyber troops". It launched a wide recruitment drive that included promotional videos on social media.
For Demidov, the growing wave of attacks attributed to Russian hackers has come about as Russia becomes better able to defend its own cybersecurity more strongly, the military sphere included.
"These efforts... have begun to bring results," he said.
Today, however, even the most established players in Russian IT are in the sights of the West.
The US in 2017 imposed a ban on the use of Kaspersky's anti-virus software by federal agencies amid concerns about the company's links to the Russian intelligence services.
While many young Russians may choose to work for the military and secret services for reasons of patriotism, some may still be more interested in the money.
This week a military tribunal in Moscow held a closed-door trial for the head of operational control at the FSB's centre for information security, Colonel Sergei Mikhalkov and three alleged accomplices.
Kommersant daily reported that they were accused of passing secrets on the Russian secret services' cyber technology to the FBI in return for $10 million.
Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post, has not been seen since he went to the Saudi mission on Tuesday to receive an official document for his marriage. Ankara and Riyadh have given contradictory versions of the circumstances of Khashoggi's disappearance, with Turkish officials saying they believed he was still inside the consulate.
Istanbul: A Saudi columnist remained missing as supporters rallied outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul calling for his "release" despite Riyadh's denials that he was being held there. Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post, has not been seen since he went to the Saudi mission on Tuesday to receive an official document for his marriage.
The Turkish-Arab Media Association (TAM) organised a rally in front of the consulate for Khashoggi, a former government adviser who has been critical of some policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Riyadh's intervention in the war in Yemen.
He has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since last year to avoid possible arrest.
The crown prince told Bloomberg that the journalist was not inside the consulate and said he was ready to allow Turkish authorities to search the building. "We are ready to welcome the Turkish government to go and search our premises," he said, which is Saudi sovereign territory.
He added, "We will allow them to enter and search and do whatever they want to do... We have nothing to hide," he said in the interview published on Friday.
According to Khashoggi's fiancee, a Turkish woman called Hatice A, he went to the consulate and never re-emerged.
Ankara and Riyadh have given contradictory versions of the circumstances of Khashoggi's disappearance, with Turkish officials saying they believed he was still inside the consulate.
But Saudi Arabia claimed he had entered and then left the mission on Tuesday. "As journalists, we are concerned by the fate of Jamal. We do not know if he is alive or not, and the statements by Saudi Arabia on the subject are far from satisfactory," Turan Kislakci, a friend of Khashoggi and TAM chief, said in a statement to supporters.
As Kislakci spoke, supporters held up images of the journalist, with the words "Free Jamal Khashoggi". "We believe that Jamal Khashoggi is the consulate's 'host' and call for his immediate release, or to tell us where he is," Kislakci added.
Lynn Maalouf, a West Asia Research director for Amnesty International, urged Riyadh to "immediately disclose the evidence supporting their claim" that he left the consulate, "otherwise their claims are utterly baseless".
Yemeni activist and 2011 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Tawakkol Karman, hit out at the Saudi authorities and told AFP that she believed Khashoggi "was kidnapped in this gangster's den that is supposed to be a consulate".
"What we want is Jamal Khashoggi's release. He entered the building of the consulate, he has to come out of there safe and sound. And the Turkish government must assume its role and deal with the case of Jamal Khashoggi because Turkish sovereignty has been violated," she added.
Human Rights Watch called on Ankara to "deepen their investigation" into the journalist's whereabouts, saying his possible detention could "constitute an enforced disappearance" in a statement late Thursday.
"If Saudi authorities surreptitiously detained Khashoggi it would be yet another escalation of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman's reign of repression against peaceful dissidents and critics," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW, said.
Amnesty's Maalouf said the incident "sends a petrifying signal" to the kingdom's critics and dissidents.
Google app is getting a new update and besides small tweaks, there is not much on the surface, but a tear down of the app reveals that Google resumed its work on allowing services to stand in for Notes and Lists functionality with Assistant.
The recently re branded Discover section which is formerly Feed was not fully changed before this version. The navigation menu still had a section named Customized Feed until it was changed with the V8.24 version to Customize Discover. At the launch of Google Home, the company used Google Keep as the automatic recipient of notes and lists.
While this was pretty good, the implementation had a lot of bugs, but it was easy enough to open the Keep app to make manual changes if necessary. About a year and a half ago, Google moved the shopping list functionality to Google Express. A tear down of Google app suggested that notes and lists would soon allow third-party developers to register their own apps to fill this role. While there hasnt been much development, the new Google app tear down confirms the feature is still in development, but with no hint of the launch.
Last few Google app updates have been slowly adding duplicate copies of various settings to a general page, and it comes as no surprise that the latest update is following this trend. The latest additions include: Show feed; Get stories based on your interests; Data saver; When data saver is on, your feed wont get the latest content; Autoplay Play video previews automatically on Wi-Fi. There are messages in this update that relate to creating albums in Google Photos, but Unfortunately, theres not much to explain what this will be used for.
Other settings include strings for assistant Households feature details setting a Nickname and how information like birthdays will help you stay connected with other users, Google Lens gallery import + steady warning. You can download the APK and side-load it if you havent got the update from Play Store.
Source 1, 2
Google Pixel 3 event will take place in three days, but we already know most of the details about the flagships that is there to know. The non-stop leaks about the Pixel 3 continues to flow as a new carrier ad from a retailers magazine leaks the Pixel 3 Top Shot camera feature, as well as hinting at a Google Home Hub launch date.
For one, the UK magazine ad once again shows off the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL with its notch display in white color. The listing also has pricing for them in the UK. The smaller Pixel 3 is listed at 58/month and the Pixel 3 XL having a higher 63/month price through EE. Moving along, the listing also highlights the camera feature of the Pixel 3 dubbed Top Shot which will enable the phone to capture the perfect shot every time.
The ad also mentions groupie selfies, which might be referring to the wide-angle camera sensor on the front of each Pixel 3 device. Another detail gathered here is that Google is clearly going to be using Digital Wellbeing as a selling point on these devices, and also mentions that flipping the phone face down to activate Do Not Disturb mode. Finally, the ad also hints at Google Home Hub and If true, the Home Hub will be launching on October 22nd. Another notable inclusion is the refreshed Chromecast which is rumored to launch alongside Pixel 3.
On another note, a Hong Kong-based site has already put up a complete review of the Pixel 3 giving a closer at the features, retail packaging, accessories; a charger, USB-A adapter, headphone adapter, and USB-C earbuds and everything except for the pricing.
According to the review, the 6.3-inch OLED is apparently good, it also includes few low-light camera images compared with the iPhone XS Max. The reviewer goes on to say that the Pixels images are apparently close to real life with even exposure and low noise. Either way, lets wait and see what Google has to say about the Pixel 3 and other products on October 9th.
Source 1, 2
Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) is offering investors exciting dividend growth potential today. In fact, the most recent dividend increase was a massive 60%. And that's just the start. But dividends are only one part of the story. You need to take a look at what backs those dividends, which is why Kinder Morgan investors need to pay close attention to the pipeline giant's balance sheet.
Impressive growth
Kinder Morgan's 60% dividend hike in April was the start of a three-year process that will see the company's dividend go from $0.50 per share per year to $1.25 a year in 2020. The next two years, then, should each see dividend increases of 25%. It's really an understatement to say that Kinder Morgan's dividend growth will be impressive. Using today's stock price, its yield will be roughly 7% once these dividend hikes are complete.
But yield and dividend growth are only two factors you need to consider here. When examining a dividend stock like Kinder Morgan, you also need to look at the business, dividend history, and financial foundation.
A deeper dive
Kinder Morgan is one of the largest pipeline companies in North America. Its assets span across the United States and reach into Canada and Mexico. There are only a small number of competitors -- like Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) and TransCanada Corporation (NYSE:TRP) -- that can match the company's scale. Kinder is in a truly elite group of midstream giants.
Kinder's assets are largely fee-based, meaning that it has a stable business that can support high dividends. However, that's not unique in the midstream space. Its size, meanwhile, gives it an advantage in that it can take on projects and consummate acquisitions that smaller rivals would have difficulty affording. But there's a drawback here, because Kinder Morgan needs to make big moves to keep growing, small transactions and projects won't move the needle much. However, overall, there's nothing to fear about Kinder's business and, generally speaking, it runs its assets well. That said, after 2020, dividend increases are likely to slow down.
The bigger issue that investors need to watch is leverage. Kinder has long made more aggressive use of leverage than many of its peers, and it hasn't always worked out as well as hoped. For example, the pipeline giant cut its dividend in 2016, when access to capital markets was tight, using the cash freed up from the cut to continue funding growth projects. Many pipeline companies have had to cut dividends, too, but there are enough peers that weren't forced to trim their distributions that Kinder's decision to cut its payout by 75% stands out. Especially when you take into account the company's size within the industry. For reference, neither Enterprise nor TransCanada reduced their distributions.
There are two takeaways from this. First, Enterprise has always taken a more conservative approach, preferring to keep its debt-to-EBITDA ratio toward the low end of the industry. That provides a stronger foundation on which to build its business and pay distributions and is a better balance sheet approach for conservative investors. It's also increased its distribution for 21 consecutive years. TransCanada's leverage has been similar to that of Kinder Morgan over time, but it has handled its debt load better, with its streak of dividend increases now up to 18 years. In this case, there's more balance sheet risk but TransCanada has proven more capable of managing its leverage.
Kinder Morgan has a stated goal of reducing leverage. That's a good thing and should reduce the balance sheet risk involved here. But income investors shouldn't get so caught up in the dividend growth that they overlook the leverage issue or take that deleveraging promise at face value. Leverage has caused material problems before and could easily do so again if Kinder Morgan doesn't follow through on this promise.
Think before you buy Kinder Morgan
There's a big trust issue for income investors when it comes to Kinder Morgan. Although the best move for the business, choosing to cut the dividend in the face of adversity caused by a heavy use of leverage was a bitter pill to swallow for investors. And while the company's stated goal is to reduce leverage, debt to EBITDA is still toward the high end of the industry. If you are looking at Kinder Morgan, or own it, keep a close eye on the pipeline giant's balance sheet. If it doesn't live up to the promise of reducing leverage, the dividend may be riskier than you think.
One of the most important programs that Americans turn to for financial support is Social Security. Tens of millions of people receive retirement benefits from Social Security, and that makes it a politically charged issue whenever lawmakers talk about its growing financial difficulties and make suggestions for reform.
But as the latest report on Social Security's trust funds showed, those financial problems aren't getting better by themselves. Social Security needs bold ideas from all corners in order to meet its current challenges. One problem, though, is that the six-person board of trustees that oversees the Social Security trust funds has had two unfilled vacancies for several years. Now, President Donald Trump is looking to get those seats filled, and that could give the general public a key role in helping to determine Social Security's future.
Who runs the Social Security trust funds?
Ever since the Social Security trust funds were created in the late 1930s, there's been a board of trustees to oversee them. Originally, the trustees were all government officials, either cabinet members or civil employees. The Treasury Secretary has historically been the managing trustee overseeing the other trustees, and that remains the case today.
In 1983, Social Security reform led to the addition of two more trustees. Alan Greenspan, who would later become chair of the Federal Reserve, led a commission investigating potential changes to Social Security. The Greenspan Commission recommended that two members of the general public be added to the board of trustees for the trust funds, with the idea that they could represent the views and needs of ordinary Americans. Mary Falvey Fuller and Suzanne Denbo Jaffe became the first public trustees of the Social Security trust funds in 1984, and subsequently, several others have served in the role.
Why aren't there public trustees right now?
Recently, though, the public trustee roles have been vacant. From 2008 to 2010, no public trustees signed Social Security's annual trustees report, with Congress having objected to the continued service of then-President George W. Bush's two selections who had been in the role since 2000. From 2011 to 2015, appointees from President Obama served in the role, but similar conflicts with Capitol Hill led to new vacancies from 2016 on.
The vacancies are a bit difficult to explain. As presidential appointees, public trustees are chosen for four-year terms. In an acknowledgment of political realities, the rules governing the appointment call for the two people not to be in the same political party. Other than that, though, there's no list of criteria, with the idea being that these should be ordinary members of the public with the experience or drive to learn about Social Security and its financial condition. Yet Washington gridlock has still prevailed.
President Trump is now seeking to change that. He's chosen James Lockhart, a former deputy commission of the Social Security Administration, to serve as the Republican public trustee, according to a White House announcement. Democratic leaders say that they're working on coming up with names of a potential second public trustee for the president to consider for nomination.
The first step toward meaningful reform
Appointing public trustees might seem to be more of a photo opportunity moment than a meaningful contribution toward addressing Social Security's difficulties. But public trustees can keep current government workers and cabinet members from seeking to mislead the public, as well as providing a key outside perspective that members of the government lack. In that vein, the appointment of former government employee Lockhart might not seem ideal, but there's no question that he has the experience to address Social Security's problems in an informed manner.
President Trump's attempts to name public trustees to the Social Security trust funds are a good first step in addressing the situation facing Social Security. Hopefully, by the time Social Security releases its trustees report in 2019, its signature page will no longer have any vacancies.
Apple users are considering switching to OnePlus: CMR News oi-Priyanka Dua CMR also pointed out that it is interesting to note that a small percentage of current Apple users are considering switching to OnePlus
According to the CMR survey, among upcoming smartphone brands, the one that consumers are keenly looking for is OnePlus (36 percent), followed by Apple (34 percent) and Samsung (18 percent).
The OnePlus appeal and promise are very high among consumers. In the age group of 18-32, 59 percent of those surveyed favor OnePlus, the firm said.
In addition to that, there is an interesting and significant bump for OnePlus in the above 40 age group, with 15 percent of those surveyed indicating OnePlus as their choice for their next smartphone.
CMR also pointed out that it is interesting to note that a small percentage of current Apple users are considering switching to OnePlus. Samsung stands to gain from brand switching by Nokia users (9 percent).
Amongst women, Apple is known for its "camera", while Samsung was noted by survey respondents for its "durability", and "high repeat purchase value" and 65 percent of consumers consider OnePlus as the "brand that one can flaunt".
The survey findings also allude to the fact that smartphone upgrades are driving the market, with consumers wanting to upgrade to a premium smartphone with good build and design that provides exceptional speed and performance, and amazing gaming experience.
83 percent of those surveyed indicated upgrading their smartphone every 1-2 years. In comparison, there are few consumers looking to replace their existing brand's cause recurring problems, or since it has been a long time since they bought their last phone.
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Motorola One Power sold out within seconds :Next sale on October 11 News oi-Karan Sharma Motorola One Power was up for its first sale in India yesterday. As soon as the sale started the smartphone went out of stock know how.
Motorola launched its latest smartphone the company's first Android One smartphone in India last week. Yesterday the Motorola One Power went on its first sale exclusively on e-commerce giant Flipkart. The sale kick-started at 12 in the noon and the smartphone went out of stock in some fraction of seconds. The company is claiming that it has sold around 100 units per second, however, Motorola didn't agree to share any numbers.
So if you were the one who also tried to grab the smartphone during the sale and failed. Don't worry because the next sale is scheduled on October 11, but this time the sale will not kick start at 12 pm this time the sale will start at 00:01 in the midnite during the Big Billion Day Sale on Flipkart. The company has also promised to bring more stock in the upcoming flash sale.
As a part of Big Billion Day Sale you can avail the following offers on your purchase:
10 per cent instant discount with HDFC bank debit/credit cards and EMI transactions.
No Cost EMI starting Rs. 2667 per month
50 per cent buyback policy available at Rs. 149
Just to recall, the Motorola One Power comes with a 6.2-inch full-HD+ LCD display along with a 19:9 aspect ratio and a notch on the top. Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC, with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage.
On the optical front, the smartphone features a dual camera setup with a 16-megapixel primary camera sensor and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor along with an LED flash. At the front, the device houses a 12-megapixel camera sensor for selfies and video calls. The front camera also comes with AI features and Face Unlock.
The Motorola One Power packs a 5,000mAh non-removable battery, and the company promises that the smartphone is capable of delivering six hours of battery life in 15 minutes of charge. The smartphone also comes with a 15W TurboPower fast-charger which helps in charging the phone much faster than a standard charger.
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Panasonic to launch first waterdrop notch display smartphone in December News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Panasonic is likely to launch two phones under Rs. 20,000.
A few days back, Panasonic launched two smartphones - Eluga X1 and Eluga X1 Pro. These devices are the first ones from the company to feature AI cameras and notch displays. Of the duo, the Pro variant is the first smartphone from the company to feature wireless charging support. These smartphones were launched for Rs. 22,990 and Rs. 26,990 respectively and will go on sale from October 10.
Upcoming Panasonic smartphones
Soon after the launch, the company's roadmap for the near future has been revealed by a 91mobiles report. It notes that Panasonic is in plans to launch the first smartphone with a waterdrop notch display. The exact launch date is yet to be revealed but it is expected to be available for purchase sometime in December 2018 or January 2019.
While the other aspects of this smartphone aren't known for now, we can infer that Panasonic has picked up the trend of launching waterdrop notch smartphones, which is a trend set by Oppo and Vivo. But that's not all! The report citing a Panasonic executive further notes that the brand is in plans to launch another smartphone with IR-based Face Unlock and support for wireless charging. This device is likely to be launched in April 2019.
When it comes to the pricing, both the upcoming smartphones from the brand are expected to be priced under Rs. 20,000 in the country. In that case, we can expect the soon-to-be-launched smartphones to rival the other popular smartphones such as the Realme 2 Pro, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, Honor Play and others.
Panasonic Eluga X1 and X1 Pro highlights
Newly launched Panasonic Eluga X1 smartphones are mid-range offerings running Android 8.1 Oreo. These devices use a MediaTek Helio P60 processor and get the power from a 3000mAh battery. The Eluga X1 has a 4GB RAM and 64GB storage space while the Pro variant has 6GB RAM and 128GB storage space.
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This Pixel 3 camera feature will capture smiling faces in a group selfie News oi-Sandeep Sarkar The new camera feature which the company will introduce is dubbed as "Top Shot".
Google Pixel devices have been at par when it comes to the image quality captured by the cameras. The tech giant's upcoming flagship smartphones Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have been touted to feature powerful set of cameras which will perform better than the previous gen of Pixel devices. Powering the cameras will be Google's advanced artificial intelligence along with powerful software algorithms which will enhance the quality of images captures by the Pixel 3 duo.
The Pixel 3 duo has already been leaked numerous times over the web and the company itself had teased the smartphone on many occasions. This has already given us a fair idea about what both the devices will pack in terms of features and specifications. Some earlier leaks and rumors had suggested that the Pixel 3 duo might feature Super Selfies and dual cameras at the front where the primary lens will have autofocus capabilities. It appears that Google is serious about taking the selfies to next level and in order to achieve this, it might introduce an interesting feature for the camera.
As per Jon Prosser, tech host of the front page, the new feature which the company will introduce is dubbed as "Top Shot". In terms of functionality, this feature will utilize AI so that it can improve the timings of an image in order to capture smiling face in a group selfie. Posner had said in a promotional material that you can "use Top Shot to get smiles, not blinks, and take group selfies that get everyone in the photo (without a selfie stick)".
It would be interesting to see if Google actually rolls out the Top Shot feature with the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, and if the company releases this feature how well will it perform in real-life situations. If we go as per the rumored leaks then the Pixel 3 will sport a 6.0 inch AMOLED display and will offer a screen resolution of 1600 x 3100 pixels. Up top, there is a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for added screen protection. Fo optics, there will be a dual rear camera setup with a 16Mp primary lens and 5MP secondary lens for depth sensing. Up front, there will be an 8MP camera to capture selfies.
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No more mobile phones in high level meeting, says Bihar government News oi-Karan Sharma Bihar government prohibited officials from carrying of cell phones at high-level meetings.
Bihar government has taken a serious initiative and prohibited the carrying of mobile phones at a high-level meeting. Bihar government has followed the footsteps of Union cabinet's and Karnataka government's 'prohibition of mobile phones' move. On Thursday, Aamir Subhani, the principal secretary, of the general administration department has issued this new order.
It has been reported that the order asked all the police officials and secretaries to avoid usage of mobile phones, during a high-level meeting.
According to a report by the Hindustan Times, the order said, "it is found that officials from time to time are busy on their mobile phones, which creates hindrance in smooth conduct of the meetings."
This step has been taken after due consideration. Moreover, this order is also applicable for chief minister of the state departmental ministers, chief secretary, and the state's development commissioners.
This is not the first time the government is taking this step. Back in 2016, the Prime Minister banned all the cell phones in the cabinet meeting. It seems to be a step against cybersecurity threats. This step was taken to avoid any security breach and keep the secrecy of the confidential information of the cabinet meetings. Meanwhile, some officials in Bihar has also seen distracted while using WhatsApp to send messages and using social media platforms during a meeting.
Back in July, the Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy had likewise prohibited the utilization of cell phones in his meetings with a specific end goal to keep away from distractions.
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Sebastian Vettel has insisted that he is "not blaming anybody" at his side Ferrari for the tyre gamble that failed during the qualifying session in Japan earlier on.
Vettel and his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen were the only drivers on the grid to be sent out with intermediate tyres at the start of Q3, but they both returned to the pits after just one lap with the track being dry.
The rain then came in and showered the circuit towards the end of the session, and Vettel lost too much time at the start and couldn't set a quick fast lap at all.
"I think, why we took the decisions, five or six minutes later it started to rain quite heavy so there was something in the air," the German told Motorsport. "I think we expected there was more rain coming and obviously it didn't so then it was the wrong decision. When the conditions are like this then either you get it right or you get it wrong.
"So I'm not blaming anybody."
Vettel was then asked about who made the decision and the man who is second in the drivers' standings replied: "Why does it matter? It's our call!"
The Scuderia driver thought the track was in good condition and refused to blame his misfortunes on that.
"It (the track) was OK," Vettel added. "I lost it into Turn 14, so that was obviously the only lap that I had, which didn't help."
A 2017 Sierra Club study found that the labyrinth of natural gas pipelines underneath Hartford leak enough to power 214 households a year.
Yankee Gas Services the gas provider for Danbury, Stamford, Norwalk and other Fairfield County towns has identified 530 miles of leak prone pipelines in need of repair or replacement, testimony before state regulators shows.
Sudden underground gas explosions in Massachusetts last month rocked neighborhoods in Lawrence and surrounding communities, killing one resident, injuring dozens of others and leaving 8,600 customers without power.
Against that backdrop, a pair of state lawmakers is demanding a comprehensive accounting of the states oversight of Connecticuts more than 8,100 miles of natural gas pipelines.
"Ive sounded the alarm that we should inspect the old lines," said state Rep. Chris Rosario, D-Bridgeport.
"The mayor of Lawrence is a friend and I got a close hand look at what happened," Rosario said. "Its going to take a long time for those families to recover. Many still dont have power. Can you imagine if that happened in Bridgeport?"
Rosario and state Rep. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, said the Massachusetts explosions a sudden pressure spike may have been the cause and growing concern over Connecticuts aging pipelines prompted a request for review by the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
The lawmakers want to know how many pipelines are leaking in Connecticut; the replacement plan; the role of state pipeline inspectors; safety compliance records; emergency procedures; and a overall summary of how PURA guards public safety.
State officials said there is little need for worry and stressed that Connecticut is ahead of Massachusetts in replacing and improving aging gas pipelines and their systems.
"PURA has one of the most robust leak detection programs in the nation that carefully monitors and enforces gas pipeline safety regulations and programs in Connecticut," said Chris Collibee, a PURA spokesman.
Miles of pipe
Connecticuts system of underground gas pipelines has been around for decades, hidden out of sight under tons of dirt, grass and asphalt. But concern over underground pipes is surfacing locally and nationally.
A recent USA Today report found that at least 85,000 miles of aging cast-iron and bare-steel gas pipes are still operating in U.S. communities, despite decades of warnings from the National Transportation Safety Board and other safety officials that they're prone to failure and need replacing.
The best replacement option is plastic pipes that fail at far slower rates than iron and steel pipes.
In 2017, 42.5 percent, or 3,451 miles, of the states main lines and service lines were made of steel and 15.5 percent, or 1,260 miles, were made of iron, according to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which has mandated a replacement program for the states.
The remaining gas pipeline 3,451 miles or 42.5 percent are made of plastic, PHMSA statistics show.
Collibee said the states Gas Pipeline Safety Unit performs about 450 field inspections annually and reviews the design, operations and maintenance of the pipeline infrastructure to ensure compliance with safety standards.
"Gas utility companies are required to report all leaks to PURA, which then takes action to address those leaks," Collibee said.
More Information Total number of natural gas pipelines in Connecticut: 2017: 8,109 miles 2016: 8,033 miles 2015: 7,983 miles In 2017: 42.5 percent of state gas lines were steel 15.5 percent were iron 42.5 percent were plastic Source: Federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Yankee Gas Services inventory of leak prone main line pipes: Cast iron: 321 miles Bare Steel: 50 miles Coupled Steel: 135 miles Unprotected coated steel: 24 miles Copper: .13 miles Total: 530 miles Source: Yankee Gas Company testimony before the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority See More Collapse
"Connecticut is actually in far better shape than our neighbors to the north," Collibee said.
"While I cannot speak for Massachusetts, Connecticut has been very aggressive in the replacement of leak prone infrastructure for many years, and we will continue to do so," Collibee said.
At of the end of 2017, leak prone main pipelines made from iron, steel or copper accounted for nearly 18 percent of the states total main line miles, while nearly 13 percent of service lines were made of iron, copper or steel, Collibee said.
Federal statistics show that gas line leaks in Connecticut have been decreasing, from about 25 leaks per 1,000 miles of pipe in 2010 to about 10 leaks per 1,000 miles in 2017.
Colibee did not provide the number of miles of leak prone pipelines underneath the state, which would include both main transmission lines and service lines.
Paying for replacement
During recent testimony before PURA over a pending rate hike request, Thomas Hart, director of gas engineering for Eversource and Yankee Gas, said leaking pipes have decreased by 52 percent since 2012.
But Hart told regulators the "overall main and service leak rates for Yankee are high within the U.S, and noted those leak rates present "substantial additional risk to Yankees customers."
Hart told PURA those pipes should be replaced as quickly as possible and identified 530 miles of leak prone main lines.
The purpose of Harts testimony was to convince PURA to allocate a portion of the companys proposed rate hike to replacing leak prone gas lines. Yankee G\as is proposing to spend $30 million over the next three years on pipeline replacement and $221 million on reliability.
Michael West, a spokesman for the Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas companies, said "sufficient systems" are in place to ensure public safety.
"Safety is our number one priority for our customers and our employees," West said.
West said Connecticut Natural Gas will spend about $21 million a year replacing gas pipelines and making other improvements and Southern Connecticut Gas plans to spend $86 million by 2020.
West also declined to say how many miles of leak prone pipelines are within the companys service territory.
Deeply concerning
Lesser and Rosario said they dont know the extent of the leak problem in Connecticut, and added thats a troubling admission.
"In wake of the Lawrence disaster, its appropriate to have a review to make sure what happened in Lawrence does not happen here," Lesser said.
"The state does inspections; Im reviewing how that works, Lesser added. They have state workers who do the main transmission lines."
Lesser noted the utility companies are responsible for inspecting service lines that run from the main lines to homes and businesses.
Rosario said the legislature may want to look at PURAs oversight, inspection and safety procedures.
"We want to make sure that the way DOT inspects bridges is something similar to whats done with our pipelines," Rosario said. "Massachusetts found that 70 percent are faulty."
bcummings@ctpost.com
A bird's-eye view of Connecticut's foliage
Take some time to relax and enjoy the whimsical wonder of Connecticut's fall foliage with this visual experience of Fairfield County.
The last time the State Board of Education approved the education plan for a batch of charter schools vying to open in Connecticut, the schools quickly started enrolling students.
Enroll now! Accepting applications for grades 6-12, a billboard facing the highway in Bridgeport read during Spring 2015.
But there was a problem: the state had not committed to spending the $4.6 million needed to open the new schools in the upcoming year.
Lawmakers eventually caved and provided the funding amid pressure from the families who had already won a coveted seat in one of the new charter schools - but only after updating state law to clarify that the state education boards approval of an educational plan does not automatically mean the school will open.
That decision rests with the governor and the legislature providing the funding.
On Wednesday, the state board will consider approving two more charter school plans - including one from the same operator that backed the state into a corner to fund Stamford Charter School for Excellence in 2015.
This time, Northeast Charter Schools Network says it will not conduct a lottery or offer enrollment to any children before state funding is approved.
The applicants are committed to following the approval process step-by-step. If they are approved by the board, they will move on to the next phase in the process, Yam Menon, Connecticut State Director of the Northeast Charter Schools Network, said. These two new schools would be wonderful additions to the communities of Danbury and Norwalk.
Calls to the leaders of the two proposed charter schools were not returned Tuesday.
Their plans propose opening and enrolling 110 children at the Danbury Prospect Charter School and 168 children at Norwalk Charter School for Excellence next school year, which would cost the state $3.1 million. When the schools reach full capacity in five years, 942 additional students would be attending charters, which will cost an additional $10.6 million in state funding.
Chairman of the State Board of Education Allan Taylor said during an interview that the changes in state law clarified already existing state law.
Seems to me its the same situation as it has always been, Taylor, an attorney, said of the process for charters to open in Connecticut. We can say pretty clearly what we are doing is an initial approval But whether parents who want to send their kids to charter school get that message that there is another step to go, I dont know.
Regardless if these new schools open, enrollment in the states existing network of charter schools is already set to increase as they reach capacity. Charters typically open with a couple of grades at a time. This means next year, 527 additional seats will be offered if already existing schools are allowed to increase enrollment as their plans are designed - a cost of nearly $6 million to the state.
If these educational plans are approved by the education board Wednesday, the decision to move them forward will rest with the next governor.
Bob Stefanowski, the Republican nominee, is non-committal.
If elected, Mr. Stefanowski will carefully examine that proposal and make sure its in the best educational interests of the state and, if so, he will approve it, Kendall Marr, Stefanowskis spokesman, said during an interview. There is certainly reason to believe that charters are having positive results, but he is also a product of the public schools.
Ned Lamont, the Democratic nominee, is not supportive of opening more charters.
I just worry about how we get them funded. I am trying to do no harm for our existing districts, our districts most in need. So let me be very careful before I promise funding to any new alternatives, Lamont said during an interview. I am focused on doing everything I can to raise [neighborhood schools] up.
Cos Cob
For 31 years, the St. Lawrence Society has paid tribute each year to a town resident of Italian heritage on Columbus Day. But this year, that tradition will be twice as nice.
On Monday, the group will honor two people: Sharon Vecchiolla, a former registrar of voters for the town, and her husband John Vecchiolla, a prominent attorney and a former member of Greenwichs Board of Education and the Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals.
The days festivities will begin with a flag-raising ceremony at Town Hall at 9 a.m. The public is invited to attend, and then join the group for a light breakfast and coffee at the St. Lawrence Club at 86 Valley Road in Cos Cob.
The main event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails at the St. Lawrence Club, followed by an elegant dinner and the presentation of the award to the Vecchiollas.
Both of them have done an innumerable amount of things for the town of Greenwich and for the community, St. Lawrence Society President Tod Laudonia said. I cant think of any two people more deserving for this honor.
The Vecchiollas were praised for their work with groups such as the Kiwanis Club, the American Red Cross, St. Marys Parish, the Byram Neighborhood Association, the Southwest Greenwich Association and several school PTAs.
Previous honorees include First Selectman John Margenot, Sam Romeo, Peter Gasparino, Renato Berzolla and Sam Telerico.
Tickets for the dinner are available for $100 each. Visit www.stlawrencesociety.com for more information.
Old Greenwich
What is the state of the town? First Selectman Peter Tesei is ready to give his take on that very question.
Tesei will give his annual address at a Greenwich Chamber of Commerce luncheon set for Oct. 29 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich. Check-in will begin at 11:30 a.m., with the program slated to start at noon for this traditional town event.
This is our iconic event where our first selectman shares with us his vision and plan for the town of Greenwich, Chamber President and CEO Marcia OKane said. People look forward to hearing annually from him through this event.
She is expecting a crowd of 125 and 150 people to attend.
Tesei said the address will highlight the successes of the past year and look ahead to the future and the exciting opportunities before us, including the towns first global economic forum on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16.
If you cant make it to the luncheon, Teseis speech will be broadcast live on WGCH-AM 1490 and streamed on www.WGCH.com.
Tickets cost $75 per person, or $700 for a table of 10. Visit www.greenwichchamber.com, send an email to greenwichchamber@greenwichchamber.com or call 203-869-3500 for tickets and more information.
Cos Cob
The Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich sent two of its members to the SoundWaters camp in Stamford this past summer, thanks to the generosity of the Mianus River Boat & Yacht Club.
The MRBYC established the Sandra Willson McMurray Scholarship in memory of its former commodore who passed away last year to allow the two Greenwich kids to go sailing and explore Long Island Sound. This past week, MRBYC representatives presented BGCG CEO Bobby Walker Jr. with a $950 check to cover the cost of what everyone hopes will be an annual summer scholarship.
Fundraising is ongoing at the MRBYC, said Carol Willson, Sandras mother, in an effort to award the scholarship again next year as a tribute to her daughters memory.
Her son went to SoundWaters, and he loved it, Willson said. She felt the yacht club should be more involved in the community. ... The best thing to do was to send the kids to camp, especially something to do with boats and water.
MRBYC Commodore Rick Loh said, Sandy was a very important member of the Mianus River Boat and Yacht Club for many reasons. We want this to carry on and carry forward. Sandy had a little saltwater in her veins, more like a lot, and she was always around the water.
Walker consulted with Jessica Rosa, the clubs aquatics director, to choose the lucky campers. They considered accessibility to SoundWaters and availability to go, but enthusiasm was a major factor. The kids who went identified only as Zach and Mickey, who were in the third and fourth grade class had a great time, he said.
Those kids were ecstatic to go and so were their parents, Walker said. The kids had a really good time.
Rosa added, The kids we sent wouldnt have had this opportunity. They werent able to financially go to SoundWaters. ... The parents were so happy they were literally crying on the phone.
Riverside
A new opportunity has opened up for a civic-minded resident of Riverside to serve in local government.
The Representative Town Meeting has a vacancy in District 5. To be eligible to serve, you must be a resident of the district and a registered voter. For more information or to throw your hat in the ring, contact District Chairman Tom Broadhurst at hanted@optonline.net or 203-561-0269.
The vacancy will be filled at the districts next meeting at 8 p.m. Oct. 18 in Riverside Schools library. At that time, candidates can make their case to the district members, then the district will fill the vacancy.
RTM members serve two-year terms. The current term runs through 2019.
kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
By Vasia Orion | Published on 2018/10/05
Actor Oh Seung-hoon has been cast in "The Item", the upcoming drama about objects with special powers. He joins the crew as a detective, and a colleague of Jin Se-yeon's character, Shin So-yeong.
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Oh Seung-hoon's Seo Yo-han has eye-catching visuals that earn him the attention of women, and he is also a highly skilled detective who has the complete trust of his seniors. At the same time, he is a chic man who does not let the attention he receives faze him. He sounds like an all around cool guy to me.
The actor has commented that he is happy to be playing this character in what is his first role in a fantasy blockbuster drama. He has also added that he will work hard through this new perspective, in order to bring Seo Yo-han to life in a way that meets the audience's expectations. "The Item" will premiere in January on MBC.
Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'
Sources (1)
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, heads to the Senate floor for the vote on the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill today in Washington. Collins, who had not announced how she would vote until Friday, voted to confrim Kavanaugh. Friday, in the moment that made clear Kavanaugh would prevail, Collins delivered a speech saying that Ford's Judiciary Committee telling of the alleged 1982 assault was "sincere, painful and compelling." But she also said the FBI had found no corroborating evidence from witnesses whose names Ford had provided.
By ALAN FRAM and LISA MASCARO, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The bitterly polarized U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday to join the Supreme Court, delivering an election-season triumph to President Donald Trump that could swing the court rightward for a generation after a battle that rubbed raw the country's cultural, gender and political divides.
The near party-line vote was 50-48, capping a fight that seized the national conversation after claims emerged that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted women three decades ago - which he emphatically denied. Those claims magnified the clash from a routine Supreme Court struggle over judicial ideology into an angrier, more complex jumble of questions about victims' rights, the presumption of innocence and personal attacks on nominees.
Acrimonious to the end, the battle featured a climactic roll call that was interrupted several times by protesters in the Senate Gallery before Capitol Police removed them.
The vote gave Trump his second appointee to the court, tilting it further to the right and pleasing conservative voters who might have revolted against GOP leaders had Kavanaugh's nomination flopped. Democrats hope that the roll call, exactly a month from elections in which House and Senate control are in play, will prompt infuriated women and liberals to stream to the polls to oust Republicans.
In final remarks just before the voting, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said a vote for Kavanaugh was "a vote to end this brief, dark chapter in the Senate's history and turn the page toward a brighter tomorrow."
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York looked ahead to November, appealing to voters beyond the Senate chamber: "Change must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box."
Rep. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, confronting a tough re-election race next month in a state that Trump won in 2016 by a landslide, was the sole Democrat to vote against Kavanaugh. Every voting Republican backed the 53-year-old conservative judge.
Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, the only Republican to oppose the nominee, voted "present," offsetting the absence of Kavanaugh supporter Steve Daines of Montana, who was attending his daughter's wedding. That rare procedural maneuver left Kavanaugh with the same two-vote margin he'd have had if Murkowski and Daines had both voted.
It was the closest roll call to confirm a justice since 1881, when Stanley Matthews was approved by 24-23, according to Senate records.
Murkowski said Friday that Kavanaugh was "a good man" but his "appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable." Republicans hold only a 51-49 Senate majority and therefore had little support to spare.
The outcome, telegraphed Friday when the final undeclared senators revealed their views, was devoid of the shocks that had come almost daily since Christine Blasey Ford said last month that an inebriated Kavanaugh tried to rape her at a 1982 high school get-together.
Since then, the country watched agape at electric moments. These included the emergence of two other accusers; an unforgettable Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which a composed Ford and a seething Kavanaugh told their diametrically opposed stories, and a truncated FBI investigation that the agency said showed no corroborating evidence and Democrats lambasted as a White House-shackled farce.
All the while, crowds of demonstrators - mostly Kavanaugh opponents - ricocheted around the Capitol's grounds and hallways, raising tensions, chanting slogans, interrupting lawmakers' debates, confronting senators and often getting arrested.
Trump weighed in Saturday morning on behalf of the man he nominated in July. "Big day for America!" he tweeted.
Democrats said Kavanaugh would push the court too far, including possible sympathetic rulings for Trump should the president encounter legal problems from the special counsel's investigations into Russian connections with his 2016 presidential campaign. And they said Kavanaugh's record and fuming testimony at a now-famous Senate Judiciary Committee hearing showed he lacked the fairness, temperament and even honesty to become a justice.
But the fight was defined by the sexual assault accusations. And it was fought against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and Trump's unyielding support of his nominee and occasional mocking of Kavanaugh's accusers.
About 100 anti-Kavanaugh protesters climbed the Capitol's East Steps as the vote approached, pumping fists and waving signs. U.S. Capitol Police began arresting some of them. Hundreds of other demonstrators watched from behind barricades. Protesters have roamed Capitol Hill corridors and grounds daily, chanting, "November is coming," ''Vote them out" and "We believe survivors."
On Friday, in the moment that made clear Kavanaugh would prevail, Maine Republican Susan Collins delivered a speech saying that Ford's Judiciary Committee telling of the alleged 1982 assault was "sincere, painful and compelling." But she also said the FBI had found no corroborating evidence from witnesses whose names Ford had provided.
"We must always remember that it is when passions are most inflamed that fairness is most in jeopardy," said Collins, perhaps the chamber's most moderate Republican.
Manchin used an emailed statement to announce his support for Kavanaugh moments after Collins finished talking. Manchin, the only Democrat supporting the nominee, faces a competitive re-election race next month in a state Trump carried in 2016 by 42 percentage points.
Manchin expressed empathy for sexual assault victims. But he said that after factoring in the FBI report, "I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution."
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has repeatedly battled with Trump and will retire in January, said he, too, planned to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation.
Vice President Mike Pence planned to be available in case his tie-breaking vote was needed.
In the procedural vote Friday that handed Republicans their crucial initial victory, senators voted 51-49 to limit debate, defeating Democratic efforts to scuttle the nomination with endless delays.
When Trump nominated Kavanaugh in July, Democrats leapt to oppose him, saying that past statements and opinions showed he'd be a threat to the Roe v. Wade case that assured the right to abortion. They said he also seemed too ready to rule for Trump in a possible federal court case against the president.
Yet Kavanaugh's path to confirmation seemed unfettered until Ford and two other women emerged with sexual misconduct allegations from the 1980s.
Kavanaugh would replace the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was a swing vote on issues such as abortion, campaign finance and same-sex marriage.
___
Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Matthew Daly, Padmananda Rama, Ken Thomas and Catherine Lucey contributed to this report.
FLORENCE RELIEF EFFORT OPEN UNTIL 5:50 P.M. WEDNESDAY
A local group is collecting paper goods, diapers, soap, cleaning supplies, canned food, toiletries and other items for victims of Hurricane Florence in Eastern North Carolina. The collection site at old Food Lion parking lot across from the new Publix is open until 5:30 p.m. today.
Bruce Hatfield, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, organized the drive when he heard about the damage in Bladen County, about 40 miles east of Wilmington. Hours of collection are 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday.
"Over the course of the hurricane, we received photos, e mails, and other correspondence from family and friends living in Bladen County," said Hatfield, whose wife, Diane, grew up in Carvers Creek, in Bladen County. "People, who lived in Kelly, where the Black River runs, were forced to evacuate, only to return to find their homes destroyed by the flood. Farmers throughout the county lost everything corn, soybeans, peanuts, cotton, tobacco, hogs, chickens and more. Its all gone, homes, cars, trucks, pets, everything. The people in Bladen County need your help."
Hatfield on Monday night asked the Henderson County Board of Commissioners during its regular meeting for any help they could give in publicity. Commissioners endorsed County Manager Steve Wyatt's idea to publicize the effort on the county's website and social media pages.
When he made an appeal for a central collection point, the owner offered the old Food Lion parking lot across from the new Publix. Hatfield is also asking for volunteers to drive delivery vehicles.
"We need transportation services trucks, vans, trailers that will make the approximate five- to six-hour drive to Bladen County to drop off the relief items," he said.
Residents of Brookdale assisted living facility donated $700 cash. Hatfield also suggests donations of gift cards to Lowe's or Home Depot.
Suggested items to donate include paper goods, washcloths, feminine hygiene products, plates, cups, bowls, towels, bleach, wipes,
paper towels, baby supplies, cleaning supplies, paper shop towels, baby formula, baby diapers wipes, plastic flatware, toilet paper, Band-Aids, insect repellent, disposable razors, shaving cream, hand soap, toothpaste, tooth brushes, deodorant bar soap, mouthwash, chap-stick, sun screen, trash bags, gallon freezer storage bags, liquid soap, mops, brooms, brushes, canned food, can openers, toys, utility knives, pry bars, nail pullers, rubber gloves.
Hatfield thanked Teresa Edwards and the CEdwards Group for their support. For more information contact Hatfield at 828-329-4971 or email noirs@aol.com.
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
Presidential candidate Sean Gallagher has vowed to divest himself of all his business interests if elected to Aras an Uachtarain.
He made the promise as he campaigned in Cork and Kerry in response to a high-profile High Court case involving one of his firms.
The businessman is the chief executive of Clyde Real Estate, which is currently involved in a dispute with one of its tenants, Nokia Ireland, over a property it owns in Blanchardstown, Dublin. Nokia has alleged Clyde is in breach of an agreement over the operation of an air-conditioning system at the building.
Soared
Nokia said temperatures at the building soared to 27C at the height of the heatwave in June.
Almost 100 staff work at the building and complaints have been lodged over the premises being either too hot or too cold.
Clyde has said it wants to install high-tech heating and air conditioning at the old building. Mr Gallagher insisted the case was a normal commercial dispute which would be resolved.
But he stressed that he has taken a step back from his various business interests.
"I [will] divest myself of all my business interests [if elected]," said Mr Gallagher.
"Since 2011 I have worked hard. I have built businesses up and thankfully been able to mentor and support others in business.
"Developing small and medium enterprises in Ireland is something I feel passionately about."
He insisted: "The case before the courts is a standard commercial case. I am not involved in the day-to-day running of the business. I have said I would step back from all my business interests should I be honoured to be elected.
"The case is a very straightforward one. It is an old building we bought with an outdated and obsolete heating system. It is a technical issue... for years I have been trying to put a new heating system in. This would benefit all the tenants in the building," he told Radio Kerry.
"We will get there - this is just what happens with some businesses. We will move on. It is being dealt with by the company itself in my absence."
Mr Gallagher attended a number of campaign events across Cork and Kerry, including a visit to the 18th century English Market in Cork city centre.
Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy's words are of "little comfort" to homeless teens living in hotels, a leading children's charity has said.
Yesterday, a teenage Leaving Cert student - who has been living with her family in a hotel for two years - said there was no chance of getting to college in her current situation.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, Amanda (18) said she couldn't cope with studying in a hotel.
"Time is already flying by, and the next thing I know I'll blink and it's my Leaving Cert," she said.
"If I have to do that in here, there's no chance of me going to college. There's no chance of me going forward with my education.
Diminishing
"It's really diminishing and degrading to wake up and look at the dirt and the mould.
"It's a struggle everyday getting up and even just taking the blankets off yourself every morning. It's horrible.
"People need to know that it is deadly to live like this. You feel like you have no life left, living in here with no help, no sense of security, you just think 'what's the point?' you really do.
"Leo Varadkar and Eoghan Murphy and everyone sitting in the Dail, it's their job to care and if they don't they shouldn't have the job, give the job to someone that actually cares."
Mr Murphy said he heard Amanda speak last year and said two years was too long living in a hotel.
"I remember at the time thinking how brave she was, but also her family, in telling her story because people need to hear these stories," he said.
"Too many times when we have a crisis in Irish society, the reaction is to try and ignore it.
"We have to confront this head on, because too many families are living in insecure accommodation, are in hotels, and that's unacceptable. We have to do more."
Responding to Amanda's plight and Mr Murphy's comments, Head of Advocacy at Barnardos, June Tinsley told the Herald that serious mental health issues are coming down the line for children that have had to live in hotels.
Ms Tinsley said children are being denied the opportunity to reach their potential.
"The long-term implications on their education and the untold psychological damage that this crisis is having on children will pan out and is being done so now, but even more into the long term," she said.
"His [Eoghan Murphy] words are going to offer little comfort to young people who are in that situation today.
"Although we're hearing the Minister say the numbers are going down and our policies are working - on an individual level, she's not experiencing any benefit and we would certainly challenge whether their policies are actually working."
The Government was defeated in a Dail vote on Thursday on a cross-party motion to declare housing and homelessness a national emergency.
Parties
The motion, tabled by Solidarity-People Before Profit, was debated yesterday with support from all parties outside the Government.
The motion was supported by 83 votes, 43 voting against it and one TD abstaining.
Earlier, the Tanaiste said the delay in delivery of social housing is about the capacity of local authorities to deliver at the pace they are being asked to deliver.
Previously, the Minister of State at the Department of Housing said he will examine any proposals to house homeless families, including reports that Dublin City Council is re-visiting plans to house homeless families on a rented cruise ship.
However, Damien English said that would not be his preference.
The Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy has said that the idea of renting a cruise ship is not suitable for homeless families.
Samantha Walsh was beaten to death with a hammer by Danny Whelan
A Tipperary man has been jailed for life for beating to death with a hammer a mother-of-four he met in an addiction treatment centre.
Danny Whelan (30) was "roaring" and high on drugs when he attacked Samantha Walsh. She had just returned home from an AA meeting and had no alcohol in her system.
Whelan, of no fixed address but originally from Thurles, was due to go on trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with murdering Ms Walsh in an apartment in Waterford City.
Blood
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But he pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Walsh (31) in April 2017 and appeared before Mr Justice Michael White yesterday for sentencing.
Detective Sergeant Donal Donoghue said Whelan met Ms Walsh at an addiction treatment centre in Bruree, Co Limerick, in 2016. She moved home to Waterford after her programme and Whelan eventually joined her.
They moved in as squatters into the apartment and had a volatile relationship, neighbours telling of shouting and screaming from their room.
Det Sgt Donoghue said he found blood on the walls around the bed where Ms Walsh's body was found.
Gardai had been called to the flat twice that week and, on each occasion, they convinced Whelan to leave but he later moved back in.
Whelan attended a Narcotics Anonymous meeting the night before he killed Ms Walsh. He then bought vodka and cider before returning home.
He visited his neighbours, who described him as angry and unsettled. Referring to Ms Walsh, he said "I hate the b***h". He drank a naggin of vodka before leaving.
Ms Walsh attended an AA meeting and after returning home she rang a friend, saying Whelan was "going mad" and the friend could hear him "roaring in the background".
She also said "he's killing me". Whelan's friend told her to get out of there.
However, the coroner estimated her time of death to be about 40 minutes after the 1am phone call. CCTV captured Whelan leaving the building at 2am, walking through the city centre and returning later.
He called on a neighbour and said Ms Walsh had left to visit her children and wouldn't be back for a week.
The two men collected their dole and bought heroin. The man later found Whelan unconscious, having overdosed.
While paramedics treated him, one discovered a note addressed to his father, indicating he had murdered Ms Walsh. Whelan later told gardai: "I hit her with a hammer. It's in the river."
Beautiful
The court heard Ms Walsh's brother, Raymond, describe her as a loving daughter, mother, sister and auntie who always had a smile on her face. He said she had a kind and helpful nature and was beautiful, inside and out.
He said that she was old-fashioned and sentimental and would often write letters to her family. She wore her heart on her sleeve.
He said her greatest role in life was that of a loving mother, who was so proud of her children. "She loved nothing more than snuggling up with her four babies," he added.
Justice White said a young woman in her prime with four young children had "met her death in an horrific way".
He said: "The duty of the court is to impose the mandatory sentence, life imprisonment."
Leading local and international real estate developers and agents will be in Abu Dhabi next month to attend a major investment forum being hosted by Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) on the sidelines of International Real Estate and Investment Show (IREIS).
An entity mandated to promote the UAE capital as an attractive global destination for investments in various strategic sectors, Adio said the IREIS will also include the Residency & Citizenship Expo 2018.
Set to run at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) from November 1 to 3, IREIS will bring together several business leaders and international experts from across the world on a unified platform.
This partnership between Adio and IREIS is aligned with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, which aims to build a diversified, sustainable, pro-investment and knowledge-based economy in the emirate.
The upcoming show is anticipated to attract over 12,000 visitors who will get a glimpse of some of the major real estate projects within the UAE and abroad.
Drawing the participation of several ministers, business leaders, government officials, academia and heads of international organisations, the event will allow participants to explore the advantage of investing in Abu Dhabi, learn about the promising investment opportunities in the emirate, and build partnerships between investors and developers.
ADIO deputy CEO Ahmed bin Ghannam said: "We are delighted to take part in IREIS, which plays a key role in supporting real estate investment in Abu Dhabi through attracting a large number of exhibitors and international visitors."
Ghannam pointed out that its collaboration with IREIS offered tremendous scope for public-private partnerships.
"In addition, the recent economic stimulus package announced by the Government of Abu Dhabi will facilitate further opportunities for doing business in the emirate," he added.
Antoine Georges, the managing director at Dome Exhibitions, said: "We are encouraged by the support Adio has provided us in facilitating this partnership."
"In a short span of time since its inception, ADIO has established itself as a one stop window for investors and visitors keen to invest in Abu Dhabi," stated Georges.
Nick Cole, the director of conference, said over the past 10 years, IREIS has offered tremendous benefits to both local and international exhibitors.
"We have launched Abu Dhabi Investment Forum as a platform that facilitates the brainstorming of ideas to drive the future growth of the UAE economy, increase investor confidence and attract foreign direct investment to the country," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
For Subscribers Parents call for removal of books from school system libraries
Two of the books that have explicit content are "Lawn Boy," by Jonathan Evison, and "L8r, g8r," by Lauren Myracle.
Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has awarded contracts worth Dh630 million ($172 million) for the construction of roads and transportation systems in connection with the upcoming Expo 2020 mega event.
These include the last two phases (Five and Six) of the roads leading to the Expo site, said a statement from RTA.
The main objective of the project is to ensure a smooth traffic flow for visitors as well as for future projects in the area.
These two phases include improvements to both Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road and the intersection of Emirates Road with Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road.
HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has issued a directive to immediately begin the construction of roads and transportation systems relating to the hosting Expo 2020, said the statement.
Over the past few months, RTA had awarded four contracts for the improvement of roads leading to the Expo project. Phases One and Two included contracts for improving Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road and the intersection with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road.
These two phases also included the construction of bridges on Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road to serve the traffic from and to the Expo 2020, it added.
Mattar Al Tayer, the director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors of RTA, said: "The improvement of roads leading to the Expo is one of the big projects currently undertaken by RTA to serve the needs of the Expo 2020 in Dubai. Due to the massive nature of the project, it had been split into six phases to ensure the timely completion of works, well before the opening of the Expo. Contracts for the previous four phases had already been awarded."
"Phase Five covers the construction of bridges extending 2.6 km, and roads running up to three km. Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road will be widened from three to six lanes in each direction over a 3 km sector, and service roads will be built to improve the current traffic situation," he noted.
"At the intersection with Al Asayel Road, Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road will be elevated to a bridge spanning 800 m of six lanes in each direction. Two other bridges will be constructed to link Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road with a service road extending 1 km to ensure a smooth traffic flow from and to the Expo," stated Al Tayer.
"During this phase, Al Asayel Road will have a surface signalised at the intersection with Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road to ensure a smooth entry and exit from and to Jebel Ali Industrial Area and Jafza," he added.
According to him, Phase Six covers the improvement of roads leading to the Expo encompassing the construction of bridges extending 1.4 km and roads of 8 km in length.
"Lanes on Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road will be increased from four to six in each direction over a 3-km stretch, and the Emirates Road will be upgraded over a 5-km stretch," Al Tayer said.
"The existing roundabout at the junction of Emirates Road and Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road will be upgraded to a flyover to ensure free traffic flow in all directions," he added.
Accordingly, Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road will be elevated to a bridge of four lanes in each direction, and two-lane service roads will be built on both sides. There will be turns and ramps to facilitate the flow of traffic from Emirates Road to Abu Dhabi and vice versa, and from Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road to Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Road.
Traffic will flow smoothly northward from Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road to the Emirates Road in the direction of Dubai, and southward from Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road to the Emirates Road in the direction of Abu Dhabi," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Leading Bahrain telecom services operator Zain Bahrain has announced the introduction of the Middle East Europe Terrestrial System (Meets), an international cable system that provides state-of-the-art high bandwidth regional connectivity solutions.
It is a partnership between a GCC-wide telecoms consortium, both conceived and co-promoted jointly by Zain - the Meets landing party in Bahrain - along with du, Vodafone and Zajil, with the aim to significantly improve regional connectivity.
It offers connectivity in the GCC region with a design capacity in excess of 2.3 Tbps, said a statement from the company.
By joining Meets, Zain Bahrain will offer superior products to meet the increasing demand for high-speed and reliable connectivity throughout the kingdom, particularly amongst the booming business sector, it added.
Zain Bahrain General Manager Mohammed Zainalabedin said the introduction of Meets supports the kingdoms vision towards positioning Bahrain as a major hub for ICT and data movement in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
"It also supports Zain Bahrains strategic plans to develop a world-class infrastructure locally and globally to cater for the growing demand of high-speed and low-latency connectivity solutions for our Enterprise customers in Bahrain," he noted.
Meets is built on an Optical Ground Wire over a 1,400km regional high-tension electricity network, reducing the risk of cable cuts and enhancing the availability normally associated with submarine cables.
The system is a state-of-the-art, upgradeable optical transport network capable of sustaining the growing bandwidth demand in the region. The system is managed by a 24/7 Network Operating Centre.
"Providing a superior internet experience will help Zain Bahrain retain and attract new customers, while complementing our cutting-edge mobile data expansion strategy and supporting the roll-out of dynamic Enterprise services to our corporate clients," explained Zainalabedin.
"The new system caters to regional and international ICT companies, meeting their wholesale capacity needs, while providing a connection to new areas and end customers, especially enterprises of all sizes," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The UAE, represented by Dr Mohammed Al Ahbabi, Director-General of the UAE Space Agency, has been elected Vice-President of the International Astronautical Federation, IAF, following a vote during the 2018 International Astronautical Congress, IAC, which is being hosted in Bremen, Germany.
Founded in 1951, the Paris-based IAF is a non-governmental organisation aiming to promote worldwide scientific exchange and international cooperation.
Around 4,500 delegates, including policy, business and science leaders, from 90 countries gathered at the Bremen Exhibition Centre between Monday (October 1) and Friday, for the 69th space congress, which is also the world's largest, under the theme "IAC 2018 - Involving Everyone".
Commenting on the global feat, Dr Al Ahbabi, said that the UAE winning the prestigious global position reflects its prominent standing in the national space sector, the large scale of its space programmes and projects and the positive outlook of the sector in terms of growth, human resources development and capacity building.
''The IAF achievement is the second after the UAE obtained membership of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences, which signalled the success of national strategic space plans to leverage the UAE status in the vital sector through partnerships and agreements with world leading space actors,'' he noted.
Washington will be hosting the IAC next year while the UAE's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre will convene the 2020 event.
The IAF is an international space advocacy organisation based in Paris and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organisation to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay the information for international space cooperation.
It has more than 340 members from 68 countries across the world. They are drawn from space agencies, companies, universities, professional associations, government organisations and learned societies.-TradeArabia News Service
Madhya Pradesh Sampark Abhiyan by HJS
Guna (Madhya Pradesh) : All States in India follow Constitution of this country; but it is not followed in Kashmir. They have another Constitution. Decisions are taken based on two Constitutions in India. It is how Kashmir is governed but it is very sad that common Indian citizens have no knowledge about the same and it is very unfortunate for India. It shows the way Indian rulers have cheated citizens, stated Sadguru (Dr.) Charudatta Pingale, national Guide of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) while addressing a meeting held at the office of Shri. Pramod Bhargav of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
It is unfortunate for Indians that they need visa for visiting Arunachal Pradesh !
Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale said further, Indians visiting Arunachal Pradesh have to obtain visa though it is an integral part of this country. Nepal is a free country but we dont need visa to visit Nepal. It is so unfortunate that Indians need visa to go to their own State. It also shows how our rulers have made mockery of Indian democracy. Hindu Rashtra is therefore, required to overcome all such problems and situations for revival of glorifying India. For which, every Hindu needs to learn matters related to Dharma and undertake spiritual practice. Sadguru (Dr.) Pingale also clarified doubts asked by participating devout Hindus.
United Nations peacekeeping is a concrete example of multilateralism at work. It demonstrates how the global community can address some of todays most complex and dangerous issues with a mixture of creativity and pragmatism.
Since the first blue helmets were deployed in 1948, peacekeeping has enabled the countries of the world to meet common threats to peace and security and share the burden under the UN flag. Over the past 70 years, more than one million peacekeepers women and men, soldiers, police, and civilians from countries across the world have responded to a vast range of conflicts, and peacekeeping has adapted constantly to meet these demands.
The UN Security Council has dispatched more than 70 operations to help maintain ceasefires between countries, end protracted civil wars, protect the vulnerable and save lives, strengthen the rule of law, establish new security institutions, and help new countries, such as Timor Leste, come into being.
But peacekeeping is a dangerous business. Tens of thousands of peacekeepers today are deployed where there is little peace to keep. Last year, 61 peacekeepers were killed in hostile acts, and our peacekeepers were attacked more than 300 times almost once a day. In Mali and in the Central African Republic, I saw for myself the important work the blue helmets do every day not only keeping the peace but supporting the delivery of humanitarian aid and protecting civilians. Ive also laid too many wreaths for fallen peacekeepers.
We have enacted new measures to address the rise in fatalities, and I have commissioned independent strategic reviews of each peacekeeping operation. But its clear to me that we dont have any chance of succeeding without the worlds clear and unambiguous support.
Expectations of peacekeeping vastly outstrip both support and resources. Yes, we need more helicopters, we need mine-proof vehicles and night vision, and we need police and civilians with specialised skills to help us build sustainable peace. But we also need UN Member States to send us personnel equipped and trained properly and with the mindset to use these capabilities effectively. And, above all, we need their sustained political commitment, a critical factor in the long-term success of our peacekeeping operations.
That is the background to the Action for Peacekeeping initiative, launched in March. It aims to ask all UN Member States and other partners to revitalise their commitment to UN peacekeeping so that we can continue to improve it together. Weve had in-depth and candid discussions to identify the areas where more effort is required and created a Declaration of Shared Commitments on UN Peacekeeping Operations.
The declaration represents a clear and urgent agenda for peacekeeping. By endorsing the declaration, governments show their commitment to advancing political solutions to conflicts, to strengthening protection for the vulnerable people under our charge, and to improving the safety and security of our peacekeepers. Now we need to translate these commitments into practical support in the field.
The declaration calls for all of us to improve our operations, to increase the participation of women in all areas of peacekeeping, to strengthen partnerships with governments, and to take measures to ensure our personnel live up to the highest standards of conduct and discipline.
Unacceptable cases of sexual exploitation and abuse have tarnished the reputation of UN peacekeeping, and I am determined to do everything in my power to prevent and end this scourge. We must hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards of performance and conduct. As of today, 141 countries [including India] and three international and regional organisations have made these commitments, signalling a consensus around renewed support for UN peacekeeping.
These countries include those that decide on peacekeeping mandates in the Security Council and those that contribute the women and men who serve as peacekeepers; those that pay for peacekeeping missions; and the governments of countries where peacekeeping missions are deployed.
Representatives from these countries and organisations met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week to express their commitment to peacekeeping, celebrate its many achievements, discuss the challenges we face, and renew their support.
But the real test will come on the ground in our missions around the world. Real, sustainable peace does not come about by chance. It is hard and sometimes expensive work to support countries on their path from conflict to stability
It is hard and sometimes expensive work to support countries on their path from conflict to stability, but it is a lot cheaper than war in every sense.
For our part, we are determined that UN peacekeeping will live up to the expectations of the millions of people we serve and who depend on us.
The cost of failure is unacceptable. We cannot let them down.
Antonio Guterres is UN Secretary-General
The views expressed are personal
Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan are among Bollywoods most loved couples. The two married in 2007 and have a daughter, Aaradhya, together. Recently, Abhishek Bachchan opened up how the two went from being friends to life partners.
Speaking at India Today Conclave East 2018, Abhishek said, I first worked with Aishwarya in my initial films. We first worked together on Dhai Akshar Prem Ke. We were friends since then. We were dear friends. We were simultaneously doing another film, Kuch Na Kaho. We always had a close friendship, and in time, it evolved into something more than that.
Abhishek Bachchan with Aishwarya Rai and daughter Aaradhya.
Abhishek revealed that the two fell in love while doing the Muzaffar Ali film, Umraao Jaan. Things took a serious turn during Umrao Jaan. After that, I proposed to her and then we got married and now we have a beautiful daughter, Aaradhya, Abhishek said, adding, Aishwarya is dedicated to whatever she does, be it acting, or as a mother.
Earlier, speaking to Hindustan Times, Abhishek had said, Ive never asked who fell in love first, actually. Ill have to ask her that. But the moment we got together we knew this was it, with Aishwarya adding, Its not like we said One minute, let the relationship marinate, we want time to get to know each other.
The Bachchans say theyve learned from each other through nine years together. I dont react to any speculation; my wife taught me that a long time ago, says the actor. One of her favourite phrases is, Its water off a ducks back, that rumours are nothing compared to the amount of positivity you receive, so just treat them as kala teekas and move on.
Fed up with the negativity all around her, actor Sonam Kapoor has said she is quitting Twitter for a while. She says she will be taking a break from the microblogging website and wished peace and love to her fans before signing off.
Im going off twitter for a while. Its just too negative. Peace and love to all !, she wrote in a tweet on Saturday. While Sonam did not give details about what specifically was causing her distress on Twitter, recurring trolls on her timeline could be a reason.
Im going off twitter for a while. Its just too negative. Peace and love to all ! Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) October 6, 2018
On October 4, a man told Sonam through a tweet that she should travel by public transport when she complained of pollution in Mumbai. Its because of people like you,who dont use public transport or less fuel consumption vehicles. You Know that your luxury car gives 3 or 4 km per litre mileage and 10 /20 ACs in your house are equally responsible for global warming. First control your pollution, the man had written.
@sonamakapoor its because of people like you,who don't use public transport or less fuel consumption vehicles.
You Know that your luxury car gives 3 or 4 km per litre mileage and 10 /20 AC's in your house are equally responsible for global warming.
First control your pollution. pic.twitter.com/CrlGmKxv0b anant vasu(AV):&less (@anantvasu) October 4, 2018
And its because of men like you that women find it difficult to use public transport for fear of being harassed Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) October 4, 2018
In her reply, Sonam wrote, And its because of men like you that women find it difficult to use public transport for fear of being harassed. She was then trolled even more for assuming the man to be a sexual harasser without any proof or provocation.
Sonam is still active on Instagram and posted pictures from a friends birthday on Saturday. She will now be seen in The Zoya Factor.
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Bansuri Chaddha thinks she has Glossophobia. So does her father, but just that Chaddha ji thinks it means the fear of not being able to find a glass when it is time for him to have his Patiala peg. I need therapy, Bansuri declared the other day, with a serious expression that made her look even funnier.
Oye tujhe glass kyon chahiye? Aur usko dhoondne ke liye physiotherapy karni hai? Chaddha ji began. I realised just how random this conversation could become in the next 30 seconds or so. Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking, and by therapy, she means getting psychological counselling, I intervened. Speaking mein toh yeh aur iski mummy experts hain. 20 saal se toh chup hi nahi huye, Chaddha ji took a potshot, and before their next family Mahabharat could officially kick-off, I took Bansuri away from the battleground.
Not every fear in life is a phobia, and not every problem requires fancy counsellors. Though quite a few do and its only wise to know when to seek professional help. Not being able to speak confidently in front of people, however, remains one of the most common fears in the universe, cutting across cultures. In fact, a survey reveals that more people are scared of public speaking than they are of death. Ive written about it earlier as well, but Bansuri mere bagal mein baj rahi hai, with a constant demand for calmness tips, so let us revisit this. As you know, mujhe complicated advice dena nahi aata. Heres how I look at the whole issue of butterflies in the stomach before one has to give a speech, a presentation, a lecture etc in front of live audience (as opposed to a congregation of ... err ... spirits and souls, perhaps!)
Read| A Calmer You, by Sonal Kalra: Lets turn pain into a joke
The first step to doing it right is to accept your fear instead of fighting it or thinking of it as a problem with you. Understand, and truly so, that almost every one right from a fidgety fourth standard student in an interschool competition, to the head of a state addressing the United Nations everyone has butterflies in their tummy when on the stage. Its as normal as the reflex action of flinching if someone punches you. And when its that common, it has to be okay to feel nervous about. Right?
Read| A Calmer You, by Sonal Kalra: Is your partner obsessed with friends?
Stage pe kaun hai? ... Aap. Presentation kaun de raha hai? ... Aap (not Kejriwals party, yaar. Tum!) Toh, you must be better than the audience in some way for you to be standing there and not them. The moment you focus on the fact that youve been chosen to do this because youre better, confidence has to trickle in. Uske liye darwaaza toh kholo. Dont keep your mind blocked only by fears ... leave room for a positive feeling about yourself to come in too.
1) Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse: Even top actors do it. And it helps. The mirror is not just to comb your hair and appreciate your own beauty a million times through the day. Its a great tool to do a mock speech and see how impressive or idiotic you look while giving a speech. Improvise accordingly. Always run through the main points, and particularly the introduction of your speech, aloud in a rehearsal, without feeling conscious. I dont know why some people take so much pride in claiming that they come unprepared to give a speech and still deliver so well. Its great to not read from a paper, but to come unprepared is disrespectful to the act, to the audience, and to your own capability. Practise, yaar. It shows.
2) Find that smiling, attentive face: I said this earlier too. Theres ALWAYS at least one face in the audience whos very receptive. That person is like a gift from God to all public speakers. He smiles, nods at the right interval, and is generally the one to ask the easiest question. I call him the genie, who I miraculously find in every audience Ive ever addressed. Find your genie. Its better to look at him than look over peoples heads (something that a lot of people advise). Someone once told me the trick is to imagine that everyone in the audience has a donkeys head. I found that too weird and forgot what I was going to say. Then someone else once told me that one doesnt feel nervous if you imagine that everyone in the audience is sitting naked. Well. He may just be right. Pervert.
3) Ask the positive question: Instead of asking yourself, and others, negative questions like what will happen if I forget my lines? ... Or what will happen if I start rambling or stammering etc ... ask your positive questions. What will happen if I rock the presentation? Remember, good questions bring good answers. Always.
4) Dont read from your slides: This ones particularly for those who make corporate presentations using the Powerpoint and projection tools. It seems like an easy way out to write everything on the slides, look at the screen instead of the audience, and read it out verbatim. Let me tell you that this is the biggest and most common mistake presenters do. If you are reading out the entire sentence from what is projected on the big screen, one of you is completely unnecessary the slide or you. Its the fastest way to get the audience irritated. And unless thats the intent for some weird reason, write only pointers on the slide and justify your existence on the stage by elaborating on those. Please.
5) Breathe deep, pause often, smile frequently: The last ones not for those whose presentation is about the spread of viral fever. But otherwise, it works to have a cheerful demeanour while speaking to an audience. People like smiling faces, and your mistakes will be forgiven sooner than others. Take deep breaths, and dont go into the supersonic mode of speaking non-stop. For some strange reason, we mistake fluency in English with the tendency to speak fast. Woh fatafat English bolta hai, bina rukey, toh woh smart hai, no matter whether the audience can make any head or tail out of what the genius is saying. Get out of this perception. A better speaker is the one who is able to take the maximum people from the audience along, on his chain of thoughts. And the audience have diverse understanding capabilities. Dont run faster than their minds. Speak slow, speak firm, speak clear. Confidence ka toh baap bhi aa jayega.
Sonal Kalra kept smiling non-stop at a recent seminar she addressed on sexual harassment at workplace. Someone has referred her to a psychiatrist now. Mail her at sonal.kalra@ hindustantimes.com or facebook.com/sonalkalra13. Follow on Twitter @sonalkalra
Ten years ago, in the now sadly defunct Mumbai edition of Time Out magazine, I wrote an essay arguing that there were only three properly world cities; London, New York, and Mumbai itself. They all had an extraordinary diversity of religious, ethnic and linguistic groups; all were great centres of trade, finance, and entrepreneurship; all had an effervescent cultural life in publishing, theatre, and the arts. I considered other claimants to the title, and rejected them. Thus Paris was too narrowly French, Shanghai was located in a country that did not permit freedom of speech. I thought that in time, Sydney and perhaps Cape Town might emerge as world cities as I had defined them.
My essay in Time Out was admittedly partisan, based on my own experience of these three cities. Mumbai I had known since I was a little boy. I first came there to visit relatives, then to take part in inter-college quiz competitions, still later to conduct research in its crumbling archives. I first visited New York in my late twenties, when teaching in a college nearby, but had come back quite often since. London I first saw only in my thirties; but thereafter I returned several times a year, to work in the great collection of documents on colonial India in the British Library. I had walked through all these cities, had made professional contacts and personal friends in all of them, had eaten memorable meals and watched fine films in all of them too.
Last fortnight, however, I did something I had never done before; visiting Mumbai en route to London, where I spent a week, and carrying on thereafter to New York. My previous trips to these cities had been discrete and disconnected; now, at the advanced age of 60, I had for the first time travelled from one of my three favourite cities to the second and then on to the third.
I grew up in a small qasba in northern India. The great city closest to us was Delhi, and I felt a peculiar frisson when the bus from my home town crossed the old Jamuna bridge and we saw the ramparts of the Red Fort. I no longer feel any kind of thrill at driving from Palam to New Delhi. But I do when driving from the Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj International Airport into south Mumbai. And when driving from Heathrow into central London, or from JFK to downtown Manhattan.
I think New Delhis claims to being a great city are undermined by two things; by being inland, and by being the centre of political power. Cities located on the coast have a natural openness to winds of all kinds, whether economic or cultural. London is also a national capital, but its location close to the sea has always tempered any tendency to insularity or arrogance. Beijing is akin to New Delhi in these respects; inland, inward-looking, thinking itself superior to all other cities in the nation merely because the Emperor and his courtiers sit there.
My most recent visits to London and New York have come at a time when the nations of which they are part have each been subject to a paroxysm of parochialism. The British have turned away from the continent through Brexit; the Americans have turned away from the world through Trump and Trumpism. Fortunately, the cities I love have themselves stayed resolutely away from this narrowing of the imagination. London voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining in the European Union; a vast majority of New Yorkers are dismayed that an oafish, thuggish, predatory real estate magnate sits where Lincoln and FDR once did.
I love my three world cities, but find it impossible to place one above the others, whether in terms of objective criteria or of personal experience. Mumbai has more languages spoken on its streets than either New York or London. There is more entrepreneurial dynamism in New York than in London or Mumbai (this city never sleeps, while the streets of the others are silent at least between 3 am and 4 am). London is in architectural terms easily the most attractive of the three.
My own main interest is in books, and these cities each have a great deal to offer in this regard. On the first day of my most recent trip to Mumbai I went to the pavement stalls near Flora Fountain, where I picked up, for the princely sum of Rs 400, a first edition (in reasonably good condition) of Nirad Chaudhuris An Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. On the first day of my most recent trip to London I walked, as always, down Charing Cross Road, diving into the second-hand stores as I went. In one, located on Cecil Court, I picked up a paperback copy of the autobiography of the great Irish short story writer, Frank OConnor.
Chaudhuri and OConnor nestled together in my suitcase in the long flight across the Atlantic. I write this column the morning after my arrival in New York. The sun is out, and a cool autumnal breeze is blowing. For lunch I meet two old friends, both long-time New Yorkers, one an author, the other a publisher. After lunch I shall walk in Central Park, then take a cab downtown to the Strand Bookstore. Before or after visiting that great repository of the printed word, I shall pay my respects to the Gandhi statue in Union Square.
Mumbai, London, New York; that has been my itinerary so far. Now it can only go downhill.
Ramachandra Guha is the author of Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World.
The views expressed are personal
Pollution levels in Delhi and its neighbouring cities shot up further on Friday as wind speed dropped to almost zero. In Delhi, the air quality had just breached the poor level on Thursday. It deteriorated further on Friday.
The air quality in some stations of the national capital such as Bawana, Narela, Delhi Technological University, Mundka, Dwarka Sector 8 and Anand Vihar recorded very poor levels of pollution. Gurugram and Ghaziabad also recorded very poor air quality.
According to data collected from the Central Pollution Control Board, the air quality index (AQI) value in Delhi touched 256 on Friday. The AQI values in Ghaziabad and Gurugram were recorded at 302 and 336 respectively.
On a scale of 0 500, an AQI value between 200 and 300 is considered to be poor, while a value between 300 and 400 is considered to be very poor. Anything beyond 400 is considered severe. Delhi usually encounters severe air quality in November. In the winter of 2017, Delhi encountered a week-long spell of smog following which the AQI hit a peak of 486 on November 9.
Pollution levels are shooting up primarily because of unfavourable meteorological conditions. First, the wind speed was recorded at zero during most of the time since Thursday. Second, when wind speed picked up, it was coming from northwest direction, where stubble burning is going on, a senior official of the CPCB said.
The situation prompted Delhi environment minister Imran Hussain to write a letter to Union environment minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday, wherein Hussain requested Vardhan to direct neighbouring state such as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to step up measures to control stubble burning, and in turn, air pollution.
I have also requested Harsh Vardhan to convene a meeting at his level in this regard, Hussain said.
According to data, local pollutants are not getting dispersed and are getting accumulated due to low wind speed. As a result, pollution levels are shooting up.
The levels of particulate matter both coarse natural dust and ultrafine particles that are emitted by vehicles, industries and garbage burning are shooting up. While the level of PM10 (coarse dust particles) shot up 2.7 times above the permissible limits, the level of PM2.5 (ultrafine particles) was at least two times above the safe limits at around 6 pm, said a senior official of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
The air quality level had turned poor on September 29 after a gap of almost two months, soon after the rains stopped. Monsoon withdrew from Delhi on October 1. On October 2, the air quality had turned poor. The air quality turned better for just one day on October 3, after which it turned poor again from October 4.
Such changes in pollution levels are normal during this time of the year. It is the transition phase from monsoon to winter. Air becomes dry and velocity is almost zero. As a result, local pollutants do not get dispersed and pollution builds up. This will continue till wind speed picks up, D Saha, former head of the CPCBs air quality laboratory, said.
Around 80 members of the maritime industry from the Middle East and India attended a seminar in Duai, UAE, yesterday (September 25) which was hosted by leading global marine insurer North P&I Club on some of the most pressing challenges facing the industry.
The event held at the Taj Dubai focused on the practical and legal implications of the changing sanctions regime imposed on Iran and the global fuel sulphur cap being introduced on January 1, 2020, said a statement from North P&I Club.
Norths global director of underwriting Savraj Mehta said: The maritime industry has changed considerably over recent years and we are no different. We continue to enhance and refine our range of support to meet the requirements of our members in an ever-changing shipping and regulatory landscape.
Our loss prevention initiatives and seminars are specifically aimed at encouraging our members to prepare early for the likely operational impact of these changes, he said.
Mark Church, director (FD&D), updated the delegates on the US re-imposition of Iran sanctions.
He said: practical issues will continue to impact on the ability to trade with Iran even where the trade is permissible. We encourage members to enforce their own due diligence and assess high-risk areas to avoid non-compliance.
Alvin Forster, deputy director (Loss Prevention), provided delegates with an overview of the implications of the 2020 sulphur cap.
He said: This isnt a simple choice for shipowners. We want to help our members understand the key issues and support them in making informed decisions on their options for compliance.
The sulphur cap challenges faced by shipowners and charterers are not just technical. Charterparty provisions will require close attention and this will be particularly pressing when fixing long term charterparties that will span the enforcement date.
Paul Watson, group director (FD&D), said: We can assist our members with the potential contractual pitfalls that come with these new rules we cant stress enough the importance of preparing for the change now in order to avoid charterparty disputes in the future.
Mehta closed the seminar with an interactive Q&A panel and thanked Norths Middle East and India based members for their continued support, reaffirming Norths commitment to this prominent membership region for the club, it stated. TradeArabia News Service
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said he was acting against people who are acting against the Constitution irrespective their political or ideological leanings. I am going to crush them, the chief minister said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
The Maharashtra government was recently at the centre of a huge political row over the arrest of five activists. The police had claimed the five activists were part of a larger Maoist conspiracy but the governments critics insisted that the five were being punished for their views critical of the government.
Fadnavis denied that it was a political witch-hunt. Had this account been correct, he argued, the Supreme Court would not have rejected the petition by some pseudo liberals to cancel the case.
But the five activists accused of close links to Maoists arent the only ones on the radar of the police. In recent months, the Maharashtra police have also arrested nearly half-a-dozen people linked to extremist right-wing groups in connection with a terror plot unearthed after seizure of an arms cache.
That is my raj dharma. That is what I am doing. I dont recognise extreme right or extreme left, the Maharashtra chief minister told a gathering of business leaders, diplomats, political leaders and commentators at the summit, the theme of which is Reimagining The Future.
The person, or individual or institution which is acting against Constitution, I am bound to act against them. They may belong to any class, may belong to any caste... any religion, any institution, they may have any leaning but I am going crush them, Fadnavis said to an applause from the audience.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi blew the poll bugle on Friday, drawing the battle lines for the 2019 general election, which he said would be a fight between the perceived authoritarianism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the liberalism he claimed was represented by the 132-year-old Congress. He also attacked the ruling dispensation for undermining social harmony and institutional autonomy.
Gandhi, the keynote speaker on the first day of the two-day 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, said the ruling dispensation had gone to war with its own people, adding that the country was paying the price for the politics of hatred.
The NDA is trying to refashion the diverse nation of 1.3 billion people in the mould of one singular imagination, he said. The Congress, for its part, would initiate a conversation between all sections of the society and in the economic domain, Gandhi said, reaching out to industrialists in an attempt to allay their concerns about his outlook for the economy.
The Congress chief drew a clear distinction between the NDAs vision of India and that of his own party at the event where he spoke about issues ranging from the economy and foreign policy to similarities and differences between his styles of functioning and that of his mother. It (NDA government) wants to impose one singular, suffocating memory on our 1.3 billion memories. The Congress vision of India is of 1.3 billion imaginations, Gandhi said.
Gandhis remarks, at the gathering of business leaders, diplomats, political leaders and commentators at the summit, the theme of which is Reimagining The Future , come at a time the BJP and the Congress are preparing for assembly elections in the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, as well as Telangana in the south, seen as a precursor to next years general election. The Congress has been trying to project the BJP as a party that is against the interests of farmers, the minorities and underprivileged lower castes -- a perception that the ruling party has been trying to dispel.
Dealing with the specifics of the proposed grand alliance to take on the NDA in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi, 48, who succeeded his mother Sonia Gandhi in December as party president, said that the Opposition had agreed on a two-stage process -- the first was to come together on one platform to defeat the BJP and the second was to choose the leadership after the polls.
When asked if he would be open to being the prime ministerial candidate if his party and allies so insist, Gandhi replied, If they want me, yes sure I will.
Referring to the recent decision of Bhaujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati not to tie up with the Congress in state elections at the end of 2018, Gandhi said he had indications that this did not foreclose a 2019 alliance.
On Friday, railway minister Piyush Goyal responded to Gandhis comment that the Congress had a vision of an India of 1.3 billion imaginations. Goyal likened it to the imagination of the fabled character Sheikh Chilli. We are working on the imagination of Mahatma who called for Congress to wind up shop, Goyal said at the HT Leadership Summit. We have reached out to the imagination of the poor day in and day out.
The Congress president also spent time in outlining differences between the organisational character of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Congress - and also between Hindutva and Hinduism. He was asked about his visits to Hindu places of worship in poll-bound states.
Hindutva is a political ideology and Hinduism is a philosophy. My visit to temples has nothing to do with Hindutva. I have been going to temples, mosques, churches and gurudwaras but it got publicised only in Gujarat. It irritates the BJP, they dont like me going to temples, he said, dismissing suggestions that the Congress had adopted a soft Hindutva approach to counter the BJP. It actually infuriates them because they have a sense of monopoly on everything.
Attacking the BJP and the RSS, Gandhi said an ideological war was taking place in the country. The people who define the BJP ideology are the RSS. The BJP does not have an understanding of the core ideas that they are fighting for, the RSS has. On the other side, there are multiple visions contesting that and the Congress is the ideological centre, he said.
Congress party cannot and should not develop the cadre system that the RSS has. The aim of the RSS is to capture all the institutions, we dont want that, he said.
Gandhi was critical of the NDA government over its foreign policy vis-a-vis Pakistan, China and Nepal.
Pakistan is a special neighbour. It has structural problems. Pakistan is four or five different institutions and it is very difficult to understand who to speak to. Pakistan carries out terrorist activities in India. We have different type of relations with Pakistan but there is a lot of room for conversation with Nepal and Sri Lanka, he said.
Nepal is a good case [in point] . Nepal went from being really excited about Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hating him within two months.
On relations with China and the United States, the Congress chief said, India has to navigate its way and stand straight between these two powers. India has to maintain its integrity and its confidence between these two massive powers. And thats not going to happen with a tactical foreign policy. We need a strategic foreign policy.
Gandhi alleged that national institutions were being destroyed under the NDA regime. Supreme Court judges are compelled to go public because they feel intimidated, he said in a reference to an unprecedented January press conference addressed by four senior judges who expressed concern at the way the apex court was being run and cases being allocated to various benches.
The sole qualification of vice chancellor after vice chancellor chosen to lead Indias top universities is that they belong to the RSS, he said.
The Congress chief said no new government institutions had been set up in the past four years.
Fresh thinking is unwelcome. They hate thinkers like (former Reserve Bank of India Governor) Raghuram Rajan, (Nobel laureate) Amartya Sen and the list goes on.
Gandhi also spoke about the economy and accused the government of having decimated it. The rupee is on its knees. Petrol is at an all-time high. The stock market has imploded. Rs 12 lakh crore in non-performing assets (have piled up) and the banking system is jammed shut, Gandhi said.
The informal sector has been decimated as a result of demonetisation and an extremely complex multi-layered GST (goods and services tax). Millions of small and medium businesses have been wiped out. Public confidence is in tatters. This is the price of hatred, he said.
Gandhi said he has learnt a lot from his mother Sonia, most important being value of patience, as he spoke about the similarities and differences between their styles of functioning.
I have learnt a lot from her. She has taught me patience. I used to be much more impatient and she taught me how to be more patient. Thats something she is very good at. Sometimes I tell her she is too patient. I think that we both tend to listen That would be the similarity, he said.
Asked about differences, Gandhi said, She told me yesterday that she goes on gut feeling and I go on thinking. I dont know if I agree with that. How I view it is that leadership is an evolution and it is something that is constantly changing.
Asked if there was any special person in his life, Gandhi said, I have a lot of special people in my life. I have my mother, I have my sister I have my friends I have many special people. There is no one special person, yeah.
At least 22 people died and 14 others were injured when an overcrowded minibus plunged into a 300-foot gorge in Ramban district on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Saturday, a senior police officer said.
The vehicle, packed with office-goers and students, was on its way to Ramban town from Banihal when it careened off the road at Kela Morh around 10.30 am and fell down the gorge, Ramban senior superintendent of police (SSP) Anita Sharma said.
Among the 20 initially confirmed dead were some students of a college and the Government Higher Secondary School in Ramban, a teacher, a revenue department official and the bus driver, the SSP said.
Twelve critically injured passengers were airlifted to the Command Hospital at Udhampur, two of whom later succumbed to their injuries. Of the remaining injured, one was referred to the Bone and Joints Hospital in Srinagar and three to the district hospital in Ramban.
There were conflicting versions on whether the driver, Rehmatullah, lost control of the bus or the vehicle developed a technical snag.
The driver, Rehmatullah, was said to be a professional driver, known for his safe driving skills. Apparently, the vehicle developed some technical snag. Its steering had developed some problem, causing the mishap, SSP Sharma said.
One of the rescue officials said local volunteers had begun relief operations soon after the accident and were shortly joined by quick reaction teams of the police, paramilitary and the Army. After Ramban deputy commissioner Showkat Aijaz Bhat and SSP Sharma reached the site, they requisitioned choppers to airlift the critically injured. A total of six sorties were made by Army helicopters, a private airliner and a state helicopter, the official said.
Deputy inspector general of police of Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range, Rafiq-ul-Hassan, praised the rescuers for reaching the site in the shortest possible time and saving several lives.
Udhampur SSP Mohammed Rayees Bhat said of the 12 people airlifted to the Command Hospital in critical condition, two men died.
Mohammed Iqbal, aged around 26 or 27 years, of Khari village in Ramban district, and Mohammed Rafiq succumbed to their injuries at the Command Hospital, he said.
Rafiqs two daughters had earlier died in the same accident this morning, Bhat added.
The teacher who died has been identified as Mudassar Mir while the revenue department official engaged to be married is Nayeem Ahmed.
Governor Satya Pal Malik and leaders of political parties expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident. Malik announced an ex gratia of ~5 lakh each to the next of kin of the dead and ~50,000 each to the injured.
With agency inputs
Two days after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati ruled out an alliance with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the grand old party could also end up losing Samajwadi Party as a potential ally in MP.
Congress has made us wait for long. We will hold talks with BSP, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. He was asked about a possible alliance with the BSP.
Shortly after Mayawatis announcement on Wednesday, Akhilesh Yadav had said the Congress should show magnanimity to form a grand alliance of like-minded parties for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
I am saying even today that the Congress should show its large-heartedness, and it should contest elections by taking along all the political parties who have similar thoughts and ideology, Yadav said.
He had warned that any delay would endanger the formation of a grand alliance.
The Samajwadi Party is especially keen to contest the elections in on Madhya Pradesh as it tries to increase its footprints in other Hindi-belt states including Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh scheduled on November 28 will be one of the most intensely contested polls of recent times, with the Congress trying to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power in the state since 2003.
In most parts of the state, it will be a two-way contest between the Congress and the BJP, but there are pockets in Gwalior, Chambal and Vindhya region where the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has a presence and a three-cornered contest is likely.
In the 2013 elections, the BJP won 165 seats, the Congress 58, the BSP four and independents three seats in the 230-member assembly.
This year, the main campaigner for the BJP has been chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Through his Jan Ashirvad Yatra that started from Ujjain in July 13, Chouhan is trying to cover all 230 constituencies. Bharatiya Janata party president Amit Shah is also lending his weight in the campaigning. PM Narendra Modi too held a meeting in Bhopal.
For the Congress, party president Rahul Gandhi has given a push to campaigning by holding a series of road shows and public meetings. He has visited the state thrice in the last three weeks. Other Congress leaders such as state president Kamal Nath, campaign committee head Jyotiraditya Scindia and leader of the opposition Ajay Singh have been holding political yatras (journeys).
Farm distress
Farmers are angry over the low price of their produce and increasing input costs over the years. There was a violent farmers protest in the state and six farmers died due to police firing in Mandsaur on June 6, 2017, putting the BJP on the defensive.
Scams and corruption
Alleged multi-crore Vyapam and e-tendering frauds and corruption are being raised by the Congress at its meetings. In its defence, the BJP is saying that it was due to its efforts that the Vyapam and e-tendering frauds had been unearthed.
CMs announcements
The Congress has alleged that during his tenure, Chouhan has made 21,000 announcements, and most of them have remained unfulfilled. The BJP has countered it, saying all promises have been fulfilled and the party has put Madhya Pradesh on a path of development.
Main players
Chief minister Chouhan is trying to overcome anti-incumbency by trying to be accessible to the masses and distributing freebies.
Congress state president Kamal Nath has given momentum to the electioneering. Having been in politics for over 40 years, he commands the respect of Congress leaders. Kamal Naths campaign has been aggressive without being abrasive.
Congress campaign committee head Jyotiraditya Scindia has brought a youthful zest through his aggressive style of campaigning and is hugely popular among the youth. He, along with other top leaders, has been stressing party unity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the Congress at his first election rally in Rajasthan on Saturday, saying the opposition partys politics revolves around one family but his Bharatiya Janata Party takes everyone along.
Their (Congress) high command is one family while the 7.5 crore people of Rajasthan are the BJP s high command, Modi said in his address at Kayad Vishramsthali near Ajmer.
Modi addressed the rally hours before the Election Commission announced the schedule for polls in five states, including Rajasthan, in November and December. Rajasthan would go to the polls on December 7. The rally marked the conclusion of Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Rajes Gaurav Yatra to galvanise support for the ruling BJP ahead of the polls.
Modi said the country has chosen the development path under the BJP. He accused the Congress of 60 years of vote-bank politics, dividing people on the lines of Hindu-Muslim, upper-lower caste, rich-poor, men-women and youth-elderly.
The BJP believes in taking everyone along. On one hand, you have vote-bank politics and on the other you have politics of sabka saath, sabka vikas. There is a vast difference between the two, he said.
He said vote-bank politics destroyed the entire system by dividing the bureaucracy and police and bringing development to a halt. In response to the cheer from the crowd, he said, Your presence and enthusiasm show that you have written Rajasthans future today.
He appreciated chief minister Vasundhara Raje for her work. Taking out a yatra while in Opposition is easy as you can say anything and get away with it as there is no accountability. But taking out a yatra (Gaurav Yatra) after five years in government and giving an account of every penny to the people requires dedication and only BJP governments can do it.
Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma said Modi should not forget that in the 60 years he talked about even late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ruled the country. During his last visit, he gave nothing to people of Rajasthan instead of blaming Congress, she said.
India-China relations in the coming years will be characterised by a mix of cooperation and competition, especially in the Indian Ocean region, and the isolationist approach adopted by the US could see the two countries working together on multilateral forums, experts said on Saturday.
However, countries in Asia, Africa and Europe continue to have concerns about the impact of the rise of China and its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while New Delhi is worried by Beijings stance on a number of key issues, including membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and listing of Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar, as well as the growing trade deficit, they said.
Speaking at a session with the theme India-China relations: Emerging trends at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, they suggested that more communication and people-to-people exchanges could help narrow the trust deficit between India and China.
There will be more room in India-China relations for both cooperation and competition, if not confrontation, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan from Hong Kong Baptist University.
The two sides can cooperate in the fight against terror, Afghanistan and at multilateral forums while there will be competition as well in the Indian Ocean region, he said.
Former foreign secretary S Jaishankar, currently president of global corporate affairs at Tata Sons, said Chinas rise had been largely underestimated and its moves linked to BRI and South China Sea had caused disruptions and turbulence round the world.
Trade deficit is not just with the US, it is a problem of India, Jaishankar said. He added the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at Wuhan was a first attempt to change things.
Huiyao Wang, president of the Beijing-based Centre for China and Globalisation, said both were confronted with similar problems, including urbanisation, environmental issues, population and the unilateralism of the current US administration. Because of the trade issues with the US, India can be a big market for us and we can work together at multilateral bodies such as WTO (World Trade Organisation), SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) and BRICS, Wang said.
Assembly elections in five states, three of them held by the ruling BJP, will be held in four phases between November 12 and December 7, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat said on Saturday. Counting of votes for the five states, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana, will be held on 11 December.
The state elections, seen as a bellwether for next years national elections, will also decide the fate of the BJPs three most prominent chief ministers: Chhattisgarhs three-time Chief Minister Raman Singh, Madhya Pradeshs Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the partys only woman chief minister, Vasundhara Raje.
These are also going to be the most-watched, given that the Congress is the ruling BJPs main rival in these states that are crucial to the BJPs big plan to come back to power in 2019.
These three states send 65 lawmakers to parliament. In 2014, the BJP lost out in just three seats, sweeping all 25 seats in Rajasthan, 10 out of 11 in Chhattisgarh and 27 out of 29 in Madhya Pradesh.
Chhattisgarh is going to be the first of the five to vote and the only one to do so in two phases; November 12 and 20. The Maoist-affected districts in the southern part of the state will go to polls in the first phase.
Madhya Pradesh, which has 230 seats, and Mizoram, the smallest of the five states with 40 seats, will go to polls on November 28. The 200-member Rajasthan assembly will vote on December 7 along with Telangana.
In the desert-state of Rajasthan, which hasnt voted back any chief minister in 25 years, the BJP is seen to have come under pressure following by-poll defeat in three seats this year. Moving into damage-control mode, the BJP replaced its chief in Rajasthan but could not find an alternative to its chief minister and retained Vasundhara Raje.
Raman Singh has held the fort in Chhattisgarh since 2003 and has won all three elections with a wafer-thin margin, the last being with less than one percent. He is hoping to benefit from a divide in the opposition vote and the newly-formed alliance between Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party and former chief minister Ajit Jogis Janta Congress Chhattisgarh.
The BJP also replaced its state president in Madhya Pradesh where its campaign it led by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The BJP has been in power in Madhya Pradesh for last 15 years and is perceived to be facing what some party leaders describe as a voter fatigue. The party proposes to change a large number of sitting legislators to deal with anti-incumbency.
Top party leaders from the ruling and opposition parties have been criss-crossing the poll-bound states addressing rallies and holding party meetings. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing a rally in Bikaner on Saturday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be in Rajasthan on October 9 and 10.
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Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana will be held in four phases between November 12 and December 7, the Election Commission of India announced on Saturday, setting the stage for the polls that will serve as a precursor to the 2019 general election. The announcement acquired a tinge of controversy after being delayed by two-and-a-half hours.
Elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh legislative assembly will be held in two phases on November 12 and 20. Madhya Pradesh,where the assembly has 230 seats, will go to the polls on November 28. The term of the Madhya Pradesh assembly, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power, expires on January 7.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, chief election commissioner OP Rawat said 18 constituencies in the southern part of Chhattisgarh where Maoist rebels have a presence will vote on November 12 and the remaining 72 on November 20.
Mizoram, the smallest of the poll-bound states with 40 assembly seats, will hold the elections on November 28. The tenure of the Mizoram Assembly is till December 15.
Elections to the 200-member Rajasthan assembly will be held on December 7. The term of the incumbent BJP government in the state expires on January 20. The 119-member Telangana legislative assembly will also go to polls on December 7. The polls in Telangana were necessitated by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Raos decision to dissolve the assembly in September, paving the way for early elections. The Congress and the Telugu Desam Party have announced a tie-up in the state to take on Raos Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
Counting of votes will be held across all the five states and results declared on December 11, Rawat said.
The state polls will lead up to next years general elections. Especially crucial are the three states in the Hindi-speaking heartland Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where the Congress party is making a determined attempt to unseat the incumbent BJP governments. Mizoram is ruled by the Congress party.
Rajya Sabha MP and BJP spokesperson Anil Baluni said his party is confident of retaining power in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. We are much ahead of our competition in terms of election preparedness...We will break this myth that no party returns to power in Rajasthan. We were a credible opposition in Telangana and this time we are fighting to form government. We will also emerge stronger in Mizoram. We are aiming for a 5-0 victory.
Congress spokesperson Pranav Jha said his party has learnt from past mistakes. The announcement of assembly elections today is also the beginning of the countdown to the BJPs ouster from the three states...The result is going to be distressing for BJP leadership.
The model code of conduct, a set of guidelines laid down by the election commission to govern the conduct of political parties and candidates in the run-up to election, which is already in force in Telangana, took effect in the other four states with the announcement of the poll schedule on Saturday.
The EC had initially proposed to hold a press conference to make the announcement at 12.30pm but deferred the event to 3pm, triggering criticism from the opposition Congress.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had tweeted that the delay was designed to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi a free hand to make announcements at an election meeting that he was to address in Rajasthans Ajmer. Independence of ECI? Surjewala tweeted after pointing to the change in the timing of the press conference.
Modi made no announcement, but chief minister Vasundhara Raje announced waiver on electricity bills of up to Rs 10,000 per annum for farmers just ahead of the imposition of the model code.
The code , which kicks in as soon as the election commission announces the poll schedule, bars government functionaries from making any announcements that can influence voters.
Rawat, however,denied the Congress allegation. Politicians and political parties are political creatures and they see politics in everything because of their inherent nature, he said, attributing the change in timing to certain technical reasons.
The CEC on Saturday also announced that by-polls in Shimoga, Bellary and Mandya in Karnataka would be held on 3 November.
Bengal police on Friday night arrested two persons and seized 24 weapons after it unearthed an illegal firearms factory in Malda district. This is the third illegal firearms factory raided by police in the past five months. Malda district police superintendent Arnab Ghosh said, the two persons who wee arrested belonged to Bihars Munger district.
On the basis of a tip off, a team of policemen drawn from Kaliachak and Mothabari police stations conducted a raid in a grill factory just opposite to Alipur-II gram panchayat office. We have seized 24 illegal firearms and big quantity of materials used for making firearms. Most of these were one-shoters (crude but lethal firearms that need to be loaded after every shot). Initial questioning has revealed that they were engaged in making firearms at the unit for more than a month, said Arnab Ghosh.
The owner of the grill unit, Farid Sheikh, is on the run, said police officers.
On May 31, Malda Police unearthed a firearms factory in Naldubi area in the district and recovered 22 semi-finished pistols and arrested 10 persons. On July 30, the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police arrested six persons and seized 20 semi-finished firearms from a unit that used to operate behind the facade of a sweatmeat shop in Jagaddal in North 24 Parganas district, about 35 km away from Kolkata.
Fake Indian currency with a face value of Rs 1 lakh was also seized in the raid, said K Kannan, deputy commissioner (zone 1) of Barrackpore Police . The six arrested were also residents of Munger.
On August 18, police in Murshidabad district arrested a class 11 student of Kaliachak High School with 20 firearms and 100 rounds of ammunition. Though investigation revealed that the weapons were made at a local unit, police could not reach the manufacturers.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman insisted the stalled plan to sell shares in oil giant Aramco will go ahead, promising an initial public offering by 2021 and sticking to his ambitious view the state-run company is worth $2 trillion or more.
The comments show 33-year-old Mohammed bin Salmans determination to press ahead with the IPO even after Riyadhs original timetable was undone by skepticism over the companys valuation and a plan for Aramco to buy a controlling stake in the countrys biggest chemical producer, reported Bloomberg
"I believe late 2020, early 2021," he said, discussing the timing of the IPO in an interview at the royal palace in Riyadh.
"The investor will decide the price on the day. I believe it will be above $2 trillion. Because it will be huge," he stated.
The IPO project was first announced in 2016 as the cornerstone of the princes Vision 2030 plan to modernise the Saudi economy.
Officials repeatedly said the deal was "on track, on time" for the second half of 2018, but earlier this year they said it would be delayed into 2019.
Soon after, Aramco put the IPO on hold and instead started talks to buy a majority stake in local petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), a deal potentially worth $70 billion.
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser had told CNBC last month that the IPO would be delayed indefinitely by the Sabic deal.
Despite the delay, Nasser said the government remained committed to taking a portion of Aramco public.
MBS said he expects the Sabic deal to close in 2019, after which Aramco will wait one financial year to launch the IPO.
Speaking late on Wednesday, surrounded by a handful of advisers, Prince Mohammed said the IPO was "100 per cent" in the nations interest.
"Everyone heard about the rumors of Saudi Arabia canceling the IPO of Aramco, delaying that, and that this is delaying Vision 2030," he said. "This is not right."
Prince Mohammed said the IPOs delay had its origin in mid-2017, when it became clear that Aramco needed a push into petrochemicals.
He said it would had been unfair to go ahead with the listing only to surprise investors soon after with a big deal in chemicals.
The Aramco IPO would be a seismic event for financial markets. Prince Mohammed said he hoped to raise a record $100 billion by selling a 5 per cent stake, dwarfing the previous record, set in 2014, when Chinese retailer Alibaba Group Holding raised $25 billion, said the Bloomberg report.
For Wall Street, it would be a money-maker, with banks from JPMorgan Chase & Company to Citigroup already working for Aramco. Yet, in a world moving away from oil, the IPO would be a test of the appetite of global for investors fossil fuels.
A GoAir flight from Goa to New Delhi that was scheduled to take off at around 5:30 pm on Friday was delayed for almost seven hours due to a technical glitch before it finally taking off at 12 midnight with a planeload of irate passengers.
The Airbus A320 flight which arrived from Bangalore at 5pm with a stopover at Goa, was scheduled to proceed to New Delhi where it was to land at 8:15 pm. What angered the passengers was the fact that they were not informed about the cause of the delay or how long it would take to resolve.
Kept us on the Goa runway for three hours, gave out two samosas for a 100 plus people flight, took back the flight for refuelling. Have made us deboard and no one has any idea whats happening, revealed Simrita Takhtar, a passenger.
Passengers were particularly annoyed that they were kept in the plane for over three hours before being asked to deplane as the aircraft was being refuelled.
Responding to the incident GoAir initially tweeted saying they were extremely distressed to hear about this and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.
In a more detailed statement on Saturday, GoAir said that all the passengers were taken care off.
Flight G8 285 (GOI DEL) was delayed due to a minor technical snag. While the issue was being addressed, all passengers were taken care off and were served refreshments on board. The flight was airborne at 00:10 Hours, a GoAir Spokesperson said.
GoAir is committed to the highest degree of safety of passengers and its own crew members and the crew operated within the established guidelines to provide for safe travel, the spokesperson added.
The Airports Authority of India which runs the Dabolim airport confirmed the delay due to a technical glitch but refused any further comment.
Next years Lok Sabha elections will be a contest between the tried, tested and failed idea of a mahagatbandhan (grand alliance) of opposition parties and the promise of stability and coherence held out by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led ruling dispensation that has a strong leader at the helm, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday.
Indias aspirational society will not commit suicide by choosing the former over the latter, Jaitley said at the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
Mahagatbandhans are inherently unstable and their longevity is limited, the minister said, citing the examples of previous coalition governments led by Charan Singh, VP Singh, Chandra Shekhar, HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
(The) 2019 (national elections) will be a choice between a stable government with a coherent policy and a strong leader versus a completely anarchic combination, Jaitley said.
His remarks come in the backdrop of efforts by the Congress and other opposition parties to cobble together an alliance to take on the BJP led by Narendra Modi in the 2019 elections. A successful coalition should have a very strong nucleus, he said.
The finance minister noted that the BJP under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Modi had provided such a nucleus to the previous and current National Democratic Alliance governments.
You cannot have a nucleus of a handful of people... it will then be an unstable nucleus, Jaitley said. Next year is not a time when one can opt for an anarchic combination, he said, adding that an aspirational India, having missed the industrial revolution of the 1970s, wouldnt back such an alliance.
There are some (constituents of the proposed grand alliance) whose leaders are temperamentally maverick, there are some whose interests are purely regional give my state extra money, (they say); and there are some who only want some criminal cases to be closed, he said.
The Congress took exception to Jaitleys remarks. Congress spokesperson Pranav Jha said rather than comment on opposition unity efforts, BJP should worry about a maha gathbandhan of unemployed youngsters, distraught farmers, insecure women and the ignored middle class. Everyone feels cheated and together they are going to unseat this arrogant government from the Centre as well as states, he said.
At the event, in reply to a separate question, Jaitley said trusting individuals who came to the BJP only for positions of power had been a mistake that the party made in the past. Describing such politicians as career nationalists, the minister said they remained nationalist only as long as the BJP offered them a career.
The moment we could not do it, they looked elsewhere. I have always maintained within the party and outside that trusting people like this who hang around in the periphery of political parties was probably a mistake that we historically made, Jaitley said.
He did not name anyone, but it was seen as an oblique reference to former Union ministers such as Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie who have openly criticised the Prime Minister and his government on policy matters and the way Indias ruling party was functioning.
Jaitley also dismissed Congress president Rahul Gandhis statement on Friday at the HT Leadership Summit that the current regime was not allowing a debate to take place and was imposing its own idea of India on others, and particularly Gandhis claim that he had told the finance minister that Kashmir was on fire but he hadnt been heard.
I have heard him say (so) in the past. But I cannot respond to hallucinations, Jaitley said, before adding, I am second man to have suffered from (Gandhis) hallucinations. President (Emmanuel) Macron was the first. That was a reference to Gandhis statement that the French President told him there was no secrecy clause in the deal for Rafale jet fighters signed with Paris; Macrons government denied the claim.
Jaitley also dismissed Gandhis allegation that investigating agencies were being used to clamp down on people and there was fear among businessmen: Tell me in the last two years (the names of) two businessmen who have been wrongly arrested. When you (Gandhi) make a speech something must be based on some factual basis.
A 22-year-old woman was set ablaze by a stalker for rejecting his marriage proposal at Tappa Chabutra in Old City of Hyderabad on Saturday, police said.
The accused, Mohammad Ibrahim, a Bahraini national, also set himself ablaze but neighbours doused the fire immediately.
The womans brother and sister-in-law also sustained burn injuries when they tried to put out the fire and save her. Their house was also partially gutted.
All the injured were rushed to Osmania General Hospital, where the condition of the woman, who sustained 90% burns, is said to be critical.
According to police, Ibrahim, originally a resident of Barkas in the old city, settled in Bahrain. He got acquainted with the woman, a resident of Tappa Chabutra, through Facebook and they got into a relationship. He had been sending her messages for quite some time stating that he would marry her.
Though the womans family agreed for the marriage, they came to know later that he was already married and had two children in Bahrain. The woman subsequently rejected his proposal and stopped interacting with him.
A few days ago, Ibrahim came to Hyderabad and started frequenting her house, pressurising her to marry him. She, however, continued to reject his proposal.
On Saturday morning, Ibrahim came to their house with a can of petrol, doused the woman with it and set her ablaze, before trying to immolate himself, police said.
The Tappa Chabutra police registered a case and are investigating.
The unity of Karnatakas incumbent Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance will be put on test on November 3 when bypolls will be held to two assembly and three Lok Sabha seats.
While the BJP had failed to muster majority in the May assembly elections, bringing the coalition to power, the bypoll results to be announced on November 6 could impact the prospects of the contenders in the general elections next year.
The assembly seats for which the polls will be held are Ramanagara, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, and Jamakhandi in Bagalkot district, in the Mumbai-Karnataka region. And the Lok Sabha seats going to the polls are Ballari, Mandya and Shivamogga.
The Ramanagara constituency fell vacant after chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, who had contested from two seats, took oath as the legislator from Channapatna.
Congress legislator Siddu Nyamgoudas death in a road accident in May, days after being elected to the assembly, resulted in the vacancy in the Jamakhandi.
All three Lok Sabha vacancies arose after the incumbents took oath as legislators of the state assembly. BJP leaders B S Yeddyurappa and B Sriramulu had resigned their membership of the Parliament in May just before staking a claim to form government. However, the BJP had walked out of a floor test as it did not have the numbers.
CS Puttaraju of the JD(S), who was the MP from Mandya, is now the minor irrigation minister in the state.
This will be the first test of the ruling coalition as a combined force as it chose to fight the urban local body polls held in August separately, fearing a backlash from party workers over the extension of the alliance to the grassroots level.
Seat-sharing between coalition partners is expected to be difficult considering the fact that the JD(S) is a force only in the southern regions of the state, whereas the Congress has a presence across the state.
Congress leaders are worried about leaving the southern regions, dominated by the Vokkaliga caste, to the JD(S) as it is the partys direct rival in the southern districts, where the BJP has significantly less influence.
JD(S) national secretary general Danish Ali said it was clear that where the parties had previously won, they would get a chance to field candidates. So, it is natural that we will field the candidates from Ramanagara and Mandya, where we were the incumbent, he said.
This would mean that the Congress would get Jamakhandi. On the two other seats, the Ballari and Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituencies, Ali said a decision will be taken based on the likelihood of victory.
State Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao, though, said nothing had been decided yet. The poll dates have been announced only now. We will now have to sit together and take a call on which party gets which seat, he said.
Gundu Rao said it was premature to say that the JD(S) would contest the two southern Karnataka seats, but concurred on the aspect of victory prospects to choose the candidates.
Meanwhile, the BJP is confident of retaining both the Shivamogga and Ballari Lok Sabha seats. Shivamogga has been won by members of the Yeddyurappa family in the last two elections. It is a district where former chief minister Yeddyurappa enjoys considerable clout, and it is also home to the Shikaripura constituency, which has been retained in the family for three decades.
The BJP has decided that Yeddyurappa and Sriramulu will remain as MLAs and strengthen the party in the state assembly. It is set to field BY Raghavendra, Yeddyurappas elder son who also won the seat in the 2009 general elections, from Shivamogga. However, the party is yet to decide on a candidate for Ballari.
The December 7 polls to the Telangana assembly will be an acid test for chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who rode to power in 2014 as the lone champion of the Telangana cause.
Since then, KCR -- as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) supremo is popularly known has dominated the political arena. Though the TRS got a wafer-thin majority in 2014 with just 63 of 119 assembly seats, he managed to engineer defections from opposition parties and increase its strength to 90.
KCR implemented his agenda of rebuilding a new Telangana and started schemes in the irrigation, agriculture, education and infrastructure sectors. He surprised everybody by dissolving the assembly on September 6, almost nine months before its term ends. He blamed the dissolution on the opposition parties making corruption allegations against his government.
Though almost absent for the last four years, the Congress appears to have resurrected itself in the past year by holding rallies against the government. But it cannot take on KCR alone. So, it has mooted a grand alliance with other opposition parties. As of now, the Telugu Desam Party, the CPI and the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) have signed up.
The BJP is facing an identity crisis, besides the suspicion of having a secret understanding with the TRS. Similarly, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen is confined to the old city and has a friendly relationship with the TRS.
Political columnist and author Sriram Karri said it is going to be KCR on one side and the entire opposition on the other.
Development
The TRS is banking on several social schemes and irrigation projects to return to power, including money before sowing of crops called Rythu Bima, Kalyan Lakshmi, Shadi Mubarak. The opposition has accused him of failure to fulfil the promises.
Unemployment
The opposition has claimed that the KCR?regime has failed to provide jobs to youth. KCR has countered this saying infrastructure development has created thousands of jobs.
Land reform
The TRS government had started a programme to provide three acres to three lakh landless Dalit families. But land has been provided to about 5,000 families only. The opposition says the scheme is a failure but the government claims it is a work in progress.
Main players
The only star campaigner for the TRS, KCR draws crowds with speeches attacking the opposition in Telangana slang.
Pradesh Congress Committee president, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who is leading the opposition campaign is not a great orator but makes his point effectively .
PCC working president, A Revanth Reddy, who is a powerful speaker, has been tearing into KCR and his family, exposing alleged corruption.
TJS head M Kodandaram former Telangana Joint Action Committee chairman who spearheaded the movement for a separate Telangana. He has a following among students, unemployed youth and farmers.
Steve McCurry, the photographer behind the iconic Afghan Girl image that appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine, says he was always more interested in the human consequences, and not the fighting, in war zones he has covered.
And the man known for his simple photos full of graceful beauty that usually capture people going about their daily lives is a confessed fan of camera phones, saying he uses his mobile phone every day, and that he would never go back to using film.
I never thought of myself as a war photographer, although my work in Afghanistan is, I think, some of the most dangerous times in my life, McCurry said during a conversation with photographer Raghu Rai at a session on The Magic Moment at the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
I never really was interested in the actual combat or the fighting. I was always interested more in the human consequences, the refugees, the people who were caught in the middle of these conflicts suddenly theyre living a very peaceful life and then find they are between these warring factions.
I remember hundred of villages were destroyed in Afghanistan and they [the villagers] were all forced to flee for their lives. For me that was the important story, it wasnt the combatants or the fighting, said McCurry, who started his career in India.
It was this focus on victims of conflicts that led to the photograph of the Afghan Girl identified many years later as Sharbat Gula that appeared on a 1985 cover of National Geographic.
During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, McCurry was working in 1984 on the Afghan-Pakistan border, where there were hundreds of refugee camps.
I was at a camp one morning, I was on my way to lunch and I heard these voices coming from a tent, which was a girls school. I walked in and, before I had a chance to ask permission, I saw this little girl in a corner who had these incredible eyes, he said. I knew instantly this was the only picture I wanted to make that day. The light was perfect, the background was perfect, her expression was perfect and I literally didnt have to do anything. I just had to make sure the picture was in focus and sharp and it turned out to be something that changed my life.
Though McCurry traced Sharbat Gula in 2002 and subsequently helped her with financial aid and a home, she was forced to leave Pakistan after it emerged she had fake identity documents. After she moved to Kabul, her family had limited her contacts with the outside world, he said.
As for the future, McCurry is content shooting with his smartphone, besides his camera. Im actually a big fan of cellphones andIve published these pictures in books, they make sizeable prints. Photographers are doing very serious work with cellphones. I think that the quality of this is probably as good as the camera I was using 40 years ago.
CEC on fake ID complaints in MP
We havent received any complaint from Madhya Pradesh. If any complaint is received, EC will take action; FIR will be lodged. Nobody can do anything with fake ID. Its checked at every level for identification, says CEC OP Rawat on fake IDs being allegedly used in Madhya Pradesh, reports ANI.
Lok Sabha bypolls in Karnataka on Nov 3
Lok Sabha bypolls in Shimoga, Bellary and Mandya in Karnataka to be held on November 3, says chief election commissioner OP Rawat.
Counting on Dec 11
Counting of votes to be held on December 11
Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram to vote on Nov 28
Single phase election in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram on November 28.
Rajasthan and Telangana to vote on Dec 7
Single phase election in Rajasthan and Telangana on December 7.
Chhattisgarh to vote in two phases on Nov 12 and 20
18 districts of Maoist-affected south Chhattisgarh to vote in Phase 1 on November 12
Notification: Oct 16 and 26
Last day of nomination: Oct 23 and Nov 2
Scrutiny: Oct 24 and Nov 3
Withdrawal: Oct 26 and Nov 5
Poll: Nov 12 and 20
Model code of conduct
Model of conduct to come into force in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram with immediate effect: Chief election commissioner OP Rawat in Delhi
Changes in nomination procedure
Changes in nomination procedure and advertisements according to Supreme Court order to check criminalisation of politics.
Voters assistance booths to be set up by EC
Voters assistance booths to be set up by EC. We will have all women polling stations where even security personnel will be women. VVPATs to remain. Mock polls to be conducted before start of every poll.
Elections in four states
Simultaneous elections will be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram before December 15: CEC OP Rawat in Delhi
EC on delay in press conference
Politicians have to see politics in everything. No comments on that: EC on delay in press conference
Rahul in Jabalpur today
Posters seen in Jabalpur ahead of Congress president Rahul Gandhis visit today, where he will perform the Narmada puja. He will also address a public gathering in the city.
Madhya Pradesh: Posters seen in Jabalpur ahead of Congress President Rahul Gandhi's visit, where he will perform the Narmada Puja, today. He will also address a public gathering in Jabalpur. pic.twitter.com/5WE6TSOxGf ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2018
Rajputs, Gujjars worry BJP in Rajasthan
The BJP in Rajasthan is fighting unrest among its traditional vote banks such as Rajputs and Gujjars.
Power struggle in Rajasthan Cong unit
In Rajasthan, power struggle between Congress state unit chief Sachin Pilot and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot has the party worried. While Pilot has been credited for steering the party to the three bypoll victories, Gehlot is hugely popular across the state.
Congress sniffs a chance in Rajasthan
Congress upbeat in Rajasthan after its recent bypoll victories in the Lok Sabha seats of Ajmer and Alwar, and assembly seat of Mandalgarh in Bhilwara. All the three seats were held by the BJP.
Rahul in Rajasthan on Oct 9-10
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be in Rajasthan on October 9 and 10 to attend a series of party programmes.
Modi rally in Ajmer today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address rally in Ajmer today.
BSP candidates in MP
Mayawati named 22 candidates in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. Here too, her party has been in talks with the Congress, but they have been unable to agree on seat sharing so far.
Triangular fight in Chhattisgarh
BSP chief Mayawati has announced an alliance with Congress rebel Ajit Jogis Janta Congress in Chhattisgarh, setting the stage for a triangular contest in the state after her talks with the Congress on seat-sharing appeared to have collapsed.
Telangana dates may also be announced
Poll dates for Telangana assembly, which was dissolved by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao last month, may also be announced today. The Congress and the TDP have already announced a tie-up in the state.
Model code of conduct to set in
The model code of conduct, a set of guidelines laid down by the election commission to govern the conduct of political parties and candidates in the run-up to an election, will kick in with the announcement of poll dates.
Indicating that even arch rival CPI(M) is not an untouchable in her fight against the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said she will invite Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to attend the Trinamools proposed mega rally in Kolkata on January 19.
Banerjee said she will also invite (UPA chairperson) Sonia Gandhi, (Bahujan Samaj Party chief) Mayawati, (Samajwadi Party president) Akhilesh Yadav, (former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister) Omar Abdullah and other opposition leaders.
CPI(M) is still trying to conspire against me. But I feel that all Leftists are not bad. So, I have decided to invite Kerala chief minister. I will also invite leaders from Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party and All India Forward Bloc. No one is untouchable for us, Banerjee said after meeting top party leaders on Friday evening where she drafted initial plans for the election campaign.
CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakrabarty did not pay much importance to Banerjees statement. Her party workers are regularly killing our cadres and burning down their houses and she wants us to join her. The dichotomy is glaring, he said.
Slamming the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Banerjee said: I had no idea that RSS is more dangerous than BJP. I used to think it was a social welfare organisation and not a political party. They created communal tension in Uttar Pradesh when Akhilesh Yadav was chief minister. Now they are trying to create tension in Bengal. But it will not pay off. Trinamool will win all the 42 seats.
Both BJP and RSS reacted sharply to Banerjees statements.
The plan to organise such a rally proves how desperate she is to become the prime minister. She has her liberty to dream. But it will never be fulfilled. She should worry about her own chair, Bengal BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said.
Reacting to Banerjees statement on RSS, general secretary of the organisations south Bengal zone, Jishnu Basu said, She attacked the RSS because we have always raised voice against terrorist activities and throttling of democracy in Bengal.
Banerjee thanked Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment Ramdas Athawale for supporting her stand on the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Athawale, president of Republican Party of India (A), an ally of the ruling NDA, said in Kolkata on September 27 that the NRC cannot be applied in Bengal and refugees not having criminal records should be granted citizenship.
I am thankful to Athawale for supporting me on this issue, she said.
She said invitations have been sent to leaders of almost all major anti-BJP forces. Chandrababu Naidu, Omar Abdullah and Arvind Kejriwal have confirmed that they will be present at the rally, she said.
The Indian Meteorological Department on Saturday withdrew a red alert across Tamil Nadu and Kerala issued earlier this week which had warned of excessive rainfall.
The IMD had predicted excessive rainfall in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on October 7 and had issued a red alert for that day.
However, S Balachandran, director, the regional meteorological department said that there are no chances now for excessive rainfall on October 7.
We had predicted that Tamil Nadu would receive an excessive rainfall on October 7. However, the upper air circulation formed over the south-east of Bay of Bengal has weakened now. So, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry would receive only moderate to heavy rainfall until October 8, Balachandran told reporters.
But the officer urged fishermen in Tamil Nadu and Kerala not to venture into the Arabian Sea.
As the sea would be rough in the parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, fishermen are advised not to sail into the sea until October 8, he said.
Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu have experienced moderate rainfall for the past three days. But it was a sunny day on Saturday in many part of the northern Tamil Nadu.
Even as the IMD withdrew the red alert, the revenue department in Tamil Nadu said it has activated all precautionary measures.
We are ready to face the monsoon. District administrations have been alerted to monitor the situations. Rescue forces, volunteers, relief camps are ready, said a top official with the state disaster management agency.
A red alert for the districts of Palakkad, Thrissur and Idukki was also withdrawn on Saturday.
One shutter of the Idukki dam has been opened. But there has been no flooding or damages in downstream areas along the Periyar river.
Supporting Haryana chief minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattars decision to cancel visit to Karnal gurdwara, where portrait of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was displayed, Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, an affiliate of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said on Friday, Those who are displaying his portraits at different places are playing in the hands of Pakistan.
Khattar was scheduled to visit the gurdwara at Dachar village on September 29, but he had put up a prior condition of removing Bhindranwales portrait from the gurdwara. After the gurdwara authorities refused to fulfil the condition, Khattar skipped the visit which angered the local Sikhs who damaged a fire tender in protest.
Following this incident, his portraits are reportedly being put up at several gurdwaras in Haryana. Besides, the Sikh activists also showed black flags to a BJP MLA in protest.
Taking a note of the development, Avtar Singh Shastri, national general secretary of the wing, said, It is unfortunate that few people are putting up Bhindranwales portraits at many places.By indulging in such practices, they are forgetting the contribution of Sikh gurus. This will not be tolerated at any cost.
In a communique, Shastri said, He (Khattar) did not want to cancel the visit but he had to following the advice of intelligence department. Many precautionary measures have to be taken by the officials for CMs security.
After assuming charge as CM, Khattar had paid obeisance at a gurdwara to offer thanks and stated that he achieved this status with blessing of gurus. He has met many demands of the Sikh sangat of Haryana, Shastri said. Shastri added that few people are playing with the sentiments of innocent Sikh people who are peace loving.
The world's largest modern Viking ship and her international crew of thirty-five arrived at the District Wharf today as part of her North American tour. She will be in DC through 15 October with daily ship tours, a nearby Draken Village and cultural events hosted by the Royal Norwegian Embassy. I missed the port call of the Hokulea last year. I have no intention of missing the Draken Harald Harfagre. Wooden Boat magazine had a pretty good write up a while back. I was in awe of the craftsmanship in her construction. I can hardly wait to rub my hands over her timbers and see the iron riveting up close. I want to talk to the crew about how she handles under sail. How close can she sail to the wind without much of a keel? I've been studying the construction and sailing mechanics of South Pacific shunting proas lately. There's a surprisingly large group of proa enthusiasts in Poland and Germany. Maybe I can strike up a discussion on this subject with one of the international crew members. This should be a fun visit to DC next week. Here's a description of the ship from the website.
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With great interest for sailing, boatbuilding and vikings the project to build and sail the greatest viking ship of modern times started. The curator of the project, Sigurd Aase, wanted this extraordinary ship to follow in the wake of one of the most challenging viking explorations the Viking discovery of the New World. In March of 2010, construction began on what would be the largest Viking ship ever built in modern times. Named after Harald Harfagre, the king who unified Norway into one kingdom, the great dragon ship came together in the town of Haugesund in Western Norway.
The Vikings left almost no record of how they built their ships, or how they sailed them. Draken Harald Harfagre is a recreation of what the Vikings would call a Great Ship, built with archaeological knowledge of found ships, using old boatbuilding traditions and the legends of Viking ships from the Norse sagas.
Plank by plank, nail by nail, more than 10 000 of them, the ship was constructed by a band of experienced boat builders, historians, craftsmen and artists. 115 feet from stem to stern, 26 feet wide, 260 square meters of silk sail and a 79 feet tall mast made from Douglas fir. She is a seaworthy ship, able to sail the Oceans of the World. At a hundred and fourteen feet of crafted oak, twenty-seven feet on the beam, displacing eighty tons, and with a thirty-two hundred square foot sail, this magnificent ship is indeed worthy of a king.
Norways leading experts in traditional boat building and the square sail were engaged in the development and construction of the ship. The construction is an experimental archaeological research program, and the aim was to recreate a ship with the superb seaworthiness that characterized the ocean going long ships in the Viking Age.
TTG
https://www.drakenhh.com
Terming the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam as Indias internal affair, a top Bangladeshi official Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has personally assured premier Sheikh Hasina that people excluded from the NRC list would not be deported to the country.
The Supreme-court monitored update of the NRC is an exercise to identify genuine Indian nationals residing in Assam. A political controversy was triggered after the final draft list published on July 30 excluded more than 40 lakh people from the list. Indian Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi personally assured our premier that those who were excluded from the list under the NRC exercise will not be sent to Bangladesh, HT Imam, Political Adviser to Hasina, told PTI when asked to comment on the issue in the wake of media reports.
Though Imam did not elaborate on the two premiers communication, he emphasised, We have been repeatedly assured by India that no such thing (deportation) will happen to create any sort of political instability in Bangladesh, particularly when we (Bangladesh) are approaching our national elections by the end of the year. In September, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav had said people excluded from the final list of Assam-specific National Register of Citizens would be de-franchised and deported to their country.
Addressing a seminar on NRC: Defending the Borders, Securing the Culture, Madhav had said the NRC is being updated as part of the Assam Accord signed in 1985 under which the government had made a commitment to detect, delete and deport all illegal immigrants from the state.
The NRC will ensure the detection of all illegal immigrants. The next step will be delete - means deletion of names of illegal immigrants from voters list and deprive them from all government benefits. The next stage will be deportation, he had said.
Imam also said Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, Harsh Vardhan Sringla, also repeatedly told us not to worry about the exercise and indeed, it should not be our concern either. It is Indias internal affair, he added. Imam, however, said the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent had resulted in huge exodus of people on both sides. But once the exchange of population took place during the partition, people who settled on either of the sides became citizens of the country where they migrated, he said.
You can see Bengalis who migrated to India from here are in leading positions in many fronts of Indias economic, cultural, professional and political arenas...but should they be treated as intruders and sent back to Bangladesh? he asked.
(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged on Saturday that the Narendra Modi government wanted to create two Indias one for people such as Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Mehul Choksi, who were rolling in money, and the other for the poor, farmers, labourers and small traders.
Gandhi was addressing a gathering at Raddi Chowk in Jabalpur, about 330km east of Bhopal, after an 8km roadshow. The road show was preceded by his attending a prayer, performing aarti barefoot, offering kanya poojan and meeting sadhus on the Narmada riverbank where he spent some 15 minutes.
The city was dotted with posters projecting Gandhi as a Narmada bhakt. During his Bhopal visit on September 17, Congress posters had projected him as a Shiv Bhakt, and later as Pandit during his visit to Chitrakoot.
Addressing the gathering at Jabalpur, Gandhi alleged, They want all the benefits of progress to go to 10 to 15 to 20 billionaires of the country.
But we want that there should be one India and the poor, farmer, labourers and small traders all should share the benefits.
On the day the dates for assembly elections in five states were announced, Gandhi called upon the people to dislodge the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.
He said the first priority of a Congress government, if and when it came to power at the Centre and in Madhya Pradesh, would be to offer jobs to the youth and waive farmers loans.
He alleged the Prime Minister had made false promises to people regarding Rs 15 lakh in their bank accounts, jobs to the youth and right minimum support price for crops. Four and a half years had been wasted in the name of Made in India, Start-up India and Swachh Bharat, Gandhi alleged.
Bharatiya Janata Party state spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, Rahul Gandhis posing as a religious Narmada Bhakt is a sham. Voters realize that he is doing it for the elections and therefore they will discount it.
During his Jabalpur tour, the third in Madhya Pradesh within three weeks, he was accompanied by state Congress president Kamal Nath, state Congress election campaign committee president Jyotiraditya Scindia, state Congress affairs in charge Dipak Babaria, leader of Opposition in state assembly Ajay Singh and state Congress media in charge Shobha Oza.
Rajasthan has alternated between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in the last five assembly elections. Voters here havent elected the same party to power for two terms in a row. This is the Congresss biggest advantage and BJPs biggest challenge in this years assembly elections.
The Congress is upbeat over its recent victories in bypolls to two Lok Sabha Alwar and Ajmer and one assembly (Mandalgarh) seats. The seats were held by the BJP. In terms of assembly segments, this translates to 17 seats, including eight each in the two Lok Sabha constituencies.
The Congress hopes to carry the momentum into the state polls riding on anti-incumbency sentiment. However, it also faces a leadership challenge as people are unclear about who will lead the government if the party is voted to power. While state Congress chief Sachin Pilot is being credited for the partys bypoll victories, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot enjoys mass popularity. The party hasnt named a chief ministerial face.
The BJP won a record 163 seats in the 200-member assembly in 2013 elections. The party, however, is facing unrest among its workers and traditional vote banks such as the Rajputs and the Gujjars. Party cadres feel ignored claiming that chief minister Vasundhara Raje remained inaccessible to them.
After the bypoll losses, Raje started an outreach initiative and travelled across the state, first holding Jan Samvads (public meetings) at different locations and then launching the Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra to showcase the work done by her government. Rajasthan was also high on the agenda of BJP president Amit Shah, who held several meetings with party workers. Shah told the party workers to keep their dissatisfaction and other issues aside and work to break the myth that no party can win Rajasthan twice in a row.
Though the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has announced that it will contest all seats in Rajasthan, there has been little scope for a third force in the state. Non-Congress, non-BJP parties have never got more than 10% of the votes.
Former faculty member of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Manohar Lal Yadav said the BJP knows that its electoral prospects are not too good in Rajasthan. The party is aware, after the rout in by-elections, about its poor show in the state. It needs more time to campaign; that is why probably the polling in Rajasthan has been kept to the last and theres a gap of nine days between voting in MP and Rajasthan, he said.
Rajasthan and Telangana go to polls on December 7. Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram will vote on November 28 will Chhattisgarh will have two-phase polls on November 12 and 20.
Main issues
Farm crisis: Rajasthan, for the first time, witnessed suicides by farmers following crop failure and low costs for the produce in the local markets. Farmers protested in several parts of the state and the police used force against them in some places.
Governance and accessibility: The election will be a test for Vasundhara Rajes special focus on empowering women through social schemes such as the Bhamashah card meant to provide free medical care for the poor. The BJP has faced flak for the chief minister, senior ministers and MLAs being inaccessible to people.
Caste indifference: Four communities Gujjars, Jats, Meenas and Rajputs who together can decide wholl form next government, have flexed muscle before the polls making several demands.
Key players
Vasundhara Raje (BJP): The chief minister is leading the BJPs pack. She faces peoples anger in an election in which one of the slogans is Modi tujhse bair nahi, Vasundhara teri khair nahi (We have no malice towards you, Modi, but wont spare Vasundhara)
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (BJP): The party MP from Jodhpur was Centres choice for the state unit chiefs post, but Raje stalled his appointment. Shekhawat was then made convenor of the election management committee and Amit Shah has chosen him to be one of the six lieutenants he is sending out to get a ground report that will form the basis of candidate selection.
Ashok Gehlot (Congress): The former CM is Congress most popular face in Rajasthan. He has been made chairman of the coordination committee for all election panels. Gehlot is seen as a political adviser to Congress president Rahul Gandhi
Sachin Pilot (Congress): The state party chief is credited with steering the Congress to three major bypoll victories in February this year. Since the 2013 elections, the party has won 25 assembly segments in bypolls under his leadership.
The path-breaking judgments of the Supreme Court on gay sex, adultery and the entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala, were needed, and, in some cases, struck down or changed aspects of law that needed to be struck down or changed. At the same time, however, they are problematic because they ventured beyond the points of law being questioned, and linked these to larger constitutional rights.
That was the opinion of Indias finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is also one of Indias best known legal minds and who said he had spent time studying all the judgments in detail. The minister was speaking at the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Saturday.
While writing these historical judgments , the judges get carried away and want to be part of history, he said. You go a step further.
For instance, explained Jaitley, referring to the gay sex case where the Supreme Courts judgment made individual sexual activity a part of free speech (a fundamental right). The court ruled in September that gay sex among consenting adults was not an offence, reading down a British-era section 377 of the penal code that penalises people for their sexual orientation.
Sexual activity as a part of free speech is excessive. The consequences may not be on decriminalisation. But free speech is an entirely different gambit. Free speech can be restrained on grounds of security, sovereignty and public order. And mind you, because there was a tendency to create new fundamental rights everyday ...., and say its free speech , then do you restrain any form of sexual activity, homosexual or bisexual in a school hostel prison or army frontier unless in a subsequent view it is clarified this fourth observation that was not necessary for deciding the case. I think it requires further debate.
In the case of adultery, too, the finance minister said the court ventured into areas best left alone. He clarified that the quashing the adultery law was in order and said it was very badly worded. The old law said that a man could be tried under the adultery law for having a relationship with the wife of another man, without the permission of the latter.
But the court didnt stop at scrapping this. The court went a step further, when it said adultery was like other matrimonial offences, these are personal wrongs and not public wrongs therefore outside the criminal law. Now will it cover bigamy and polygamy also? Will it cover cruelty? Will it cover dowry offences if this was the case, the judgment would be wholly anti women, said Jaitley.
The judgment could, he observed, change the Indian family system into a western family system where the fragility of marriages may increase. And because India does not have the kind of social security systems the West has, and because it doesnt have the kind of divorce settlements the West has, this judgment could actually be anti-women and even lead to their destitution, Jaitley said.
Not everyone agreed. Senior advocate Sanjay Hedge said: The minister seems to harkening back to the glorious past and to values which are these days called sanskari. It reflects a patriarchal mindset which makes a marriage wholly dependent on purity of women. Constitutional morality has outpaced such thinking and the judgment is much more reflective of the times India actually lives in.
The courts verdict on the entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala came in for special criticism from Jaitley who said the court has been selective in targeting one practice.
If you want to take a progressive step under article 14 and 21, it will apply uniformly against all religions. It cannot happen that you select a practice and apply it because that will have many social consequences in a pluralistic society like India, Jaitley said. For instance, it could mean polygamy, oral divorce, or other religions where women are not allowed entry into places of worship are no longer allowed, the minister added.
If you want to be progressive and bold, you cant be selectively so, Jaitley said. If you are willing to proclaim you must be willing to strike -- not only willing to strike at one target but willing to uniformly strike.
Jailtely attacked the 1952 Bombay high court judgment of Narasu Appa, which he described as one of the worst judgments ever delivered in India. He explained that this judgment holds that all laws and tenets, including personal and religious ones, must be tested on the touchstone of fundamental rights. According to Jaitley, the views expressed by MC Chagla and PB Gajendragadkar, whom he described as two legendary judges, held that this touchstone should not apply to religious practices and personal laws. We have to make up our mind, he said.
Jaitley said the right opportunity to clarify this issue and overrule that judgement was in the Triple Talaq case where the court, in August last year, said the practice of instant divorce was illegal, but the reasoning was that the practice was based on arbitrariness and hence we quash it. The court sidestepped the issue whether the personal laws and religious practices must also abide by the constitutional guarantees. One of the judges flagged this, he added, but said we leave this open for a future case.
In the Sabarimala judgment as well , one of the leading judgment alluded to this and seemed to make an argument for overruling the 1952 judgement but stopped short of doing so. The judgment said we leave it open for a future case, Jaitley said.
Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju wrote in a Twitter post: There are thousands of temples, mosques, and gurdwaras in India, many with their own rituals and practices. There are some temples which do not permit entry to women, and some to men. Should courts now start interfering in all these?
A retired judge and his wife were found dead on the railway track outside Andhra Pradeshs temple town of Tirupati on Friday, allegedly having committed suicide in quick succession, police said.
Deputy superintendent of police, railways, Ramesh Babu said the mutilated bodies of Pamuluru Sudhakar (62) and his wife Varalakshmi (56) were recovered from the railway tracks near Chadalavada Engineering College in Renigunta, 10 km from Tirupati. Both seemed to have died within a few hours of each other.
Sudhakar, who retired as additional district judge, allegedly committed suicide in the forenoon by throwing himself under a train, police said. In his suicide note, he said he was ending his life as he was unable to bear the trauma of the kidney ailment he was suffering from for a long time.
As his son Sandeep and daughter Sabitha, who are both working as software professionals in Bengaluru, rushed home on hearing the tragic news, Varalakshmi went to the same spot and ended her life in a similar fashion, the DSP said.
The couple were living in an apartment at Tiruchanuru alone after Sudhakars retirement. The bodies were sent for post-mortem and case was under investigation, the police added.
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court on Friday took strong exception over pornographic contents of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar and other channels on Internet. The high court was unhappy with these channels for broadcasting pornographic contents, crudity, sexual or derogatory language besides violence of various degrees. The court directed the information and broadcasting ministry to initiate effective steps to curb the disturbing trend.
Responding to a public interest litigation, a high court division bench comprising Justice Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Justice Murlidhar Giratkar also directed the ministries concerned to set up a pre-screening committee for curbing crudity, sexual or unsavoury language, vulgar actions, nudity, sex and immodesty on web series, and monitor them as well as advertisements, before they are released on online media.
The PIL, filed a city lawyer Divya Gontiya, requested the Court to issue orders aimed at curbing the deluge of vulgarity, violent scenes and crude language on web series. The screening of pornographic contents, vulgar gestures and talks are overriding the Indian culture and morality, Gontiya stressed in her PIL.
The PIL pointed out that the contents of the web series are in connection with political, physical relationship, and/or other sensitive subjects. Many times the contents hurt religious sentiments. There are content monitoring authorities for TV, newspapers, films, etc. but there is no controlling authority for web series. Therefore, an independent monitoring machinery should be set up to control over such web contents, Gontiya said.
Take care that no series, national or international, is directly published on any platform, the court said and ordered issuance of guiding principles. If the websites are found violating provisions of Cinematograph Act, Indecent Representation of Women Prohibition Act 1986 and other similar Acts, then act tough against the guilty, the high court directed the concerned ministries in the notices.
In a suspected case of honour killing, a 16-year-old girl died under mysterious circumstances in a village in Haryanas Sonepat district, even as police on Friday booked six persons of her family for her murder.
According to police, the girl and a 19-year-old boy, who belonged to a nearby village, liked each other.
They said the girls family had objected to it. The mother of the girl recently accused the boy of attempting to rape her (girls mother) when he had visited their house.
On the complaint of the girls mother, the youth was booked and sent to jail, SHO, Rai, sub-inspector Kuldeep said.
He said after the youth was jailed, the girl had visited his home on September 29. The parents of the youth informed the girls family and asked them to take her back on the same day.
In the meantime, on the intervening night of October 2 and 3, the girl died. Her family claimed that she complained of severe stomach ache and died on way to the hospital. The girl was cremated in the morning of October 3 and her ashes were immersed in nearby Yamuna river, he said.
The SHO said that on October 4, the youths father approached the police alleging that it was a case of honour killing and accused the girls family of killing her.
A case was registered against six persons of the girls family including her father under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the IPC. Further investigations in the case are on, the SHO added.
Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh this year will be a test of popularity for chief minister Raman Singh, who has been ruling the state for 15 years.
The Congress, led by its president Rahul Gandhi, is eyeing to wrest power in the state where the difference of votes secured by it and the Bharatiya Janata Party was less than one percentage point five years ago.
Hoping to make this years elections a three-way contest, former Congress chief minister Ajit Jogis Janta Congress Chhattisgarh has joined forces with Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which got five per cent of the votes polled in 2013. Both Jogi and Mayawati have a support base among Dalits, and their front might hurt the chances of the Congress, whose talks on seat-sharing with the BSP have collapsed. But the Congress believes that Jogis exit he quit in 2016 will help the party win back the support of upper castes, who are traditional voters of the BJP. The Ajit Jogi-Mayawati alliance will have no impact in Chhattisgarh, said Congress strategist Vinod Verma.
Ashok Tomar, a political commentator in Raipur, said, It will be a close fight between Congress and BJP. The impact of Ajit Jogis Janta Congress and BSP will not be on more than a dozen of seats in north Chhattisgarh. I also believe that the voting pattern this time will not be on expected lines and whosoever is the winner will secure a handsome margin and vote share.
Elections in the state will be held in two phases. Eighteen assembly seats in Maoist-affected districts will go to polls on November 12. In the second phase, electorate in 72 seats will vote on November 20.
Unemployment
The Congress is raising the issue of jobs, saying that there about five million unemployed people in the state. The BJP says it has worked towards generating jobs.
Development
CM Raman Singh has been speaking about the roads and bridges his government has constructed, and says nothing was done in the Congresss rule. He is also stressing reforms in the public distribution system. The CM has begun the distribution of five million mobile phones to people.
Main players
After 15 years in power, CM Singh is a trusted face among many sections. He launched various schemes a few months before the elections to woo tribals, youngsters and women. The most important is the SKY scheme, which aims to distribute 5 million smartphones.
State Congress chief, Bupesh Baghel is the partys OBC face, where the community accounts for 47% of the population. The party has been counting on him to galvanise Congress workers ahead of the polls.
An alliance with the BSP is likely to bolster Ajit Jogi . His son Amit Jogi is spearheading the campaign.
Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit on Saturday alleged that money played a crucial in the appointments of vice-chancellors in the states universities.
At a conference on higher education in Chennai, the governor, who is the ex-officio chancellor of the state universities, alleged that when he assumed office, he came to know that paying bribes is essential for appointment of vice-chancellors.
When I came to the state as a governor, I learned the vice-chancellors appointments were not done on the basis of merit. Instead of considering the eligibility and merit of the candidates, money had been considered as the prime reason. However, I am working to eliminate these malfunctions in appointing vice-chancellors, he said in the meeting.
State higher education minister KP Anbazhagan however claimed that the state government does not have any roles in appointing vice-chancellors.
The vice-chancellors appointments are being done by the governor. The government has not done anything in these appointments, he said in response to Purohits allegations.
Meanwhile, state minister D Jayakumar assured that the government would take necessary action on this issue.
If the governor discloses the names of the VCs who have paid money to get their posts, we would take proper action, Jayakumar told media.
When Hindustan Times contacted E Balagurusamy, a former vice-chancellor of Anna University, he echoed the governors stand.
No VC appointment has been done without money since 2005. I have written numerous letters to then governor K Rosaiah. Unfortunately, no action had been taken on this issue. I welcome the current governor for exposing this issue. I believe that he would rectify this problem, he told HT.
The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption has filed cases against Anna Universitys former vice chancellor M Rajaram and six other staff for taking bribes for varsity appointments.
A bus driver of the state road transport service has been taken off duty for allegedly allowing a monkey to steer its wheel in Karnatakas Davangere district, an official said on Saturday.
Driver M. Prakash, 36, who was at the wheel has been taken off duty for allowing the monkey to sit on the steering and handle it, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) spokesperson T.S. Latha told IANS.
The incident occurred on October 1 when the bus was on a regular trip from Davangere to Halekall in the same district, about 30 km away.
An inquiry is being conducted into the incident. As safety of passengers is paramount, a driver cannot risk the life of passengers by allowing a monkey to sit on the steering and handle it.
#WATCH Viral video from Karnataka's Davanagere of a KSRTC bus driver driving with a Langur perched on the steering wheel. The bus driver has been suspended for endangering the lives of the passengers. pic.twitter.com/RexZAfKZdr ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2018
The monkey got into the bus along with a passenger, a school teacher, who boarded at Bettur Halla village en-route and sat along with him on the left seat before jumping onto the steering wheel.
About 30 passengers were on-board the bus when the incident occurred.
We learnt about the incident through social media on the next day (October 2) after a video clip showing Prakash and the monkey at the steering went viral on WhatsApp, said Latha.
As October 2 was a public holiday in view of Gandhi Jayanti, the bus depot manager removed Prakash from duty on October 3 after seeing the video clip.
The video of the incident was uploaded on WhatsApp by a fellow passenger who shot it, added Latha.
By Nikhat Fatima, TwoCircles.net
For most of us especially those living in urban spaces, food items are now available at the mere touch of a button on our smartphones. The choices are endless, the prices as per our affordability and regardless of what day or time it is, there will always be some restaurant ready to feed the hungry.
The same cannot be said of the government when it comes to taking care of the poorest, most vulnerable and the most marginalised.
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Across India, over 50 people have died due to starvation-related deaths in the past four years, mostly after their ration cards were cancelled when they were not linked with Aadhar, as per the data released by two Right to Food Activists.
In India, there are approximately 30,000 deaths reported due to malnourishment every year. As per a recent report published by UNICEF, malnutrition is a direct contributor to nearly half of all deaths of children under five years. Malnourishment is just another name for starvation because these children do not get enough food and are too weak.
These deaths are never called starvation deaths. Many people and even the Government refuse to believe in starvation deaths. Nevertheless, the fact remains that 19 crore people sleep on a hungry stomach in India, which explains why India ranks 100th out of the 119 countries in the global hunger Index.
In July 2018, three little girls sisters ages 2, 4, and 8 died of hunger in Indias capital Delhi. This tragedy should have stirred the government to take concrete steps to provide food security to the poorest of the poor but unfortunately, the politicians were all busy blaming the other parties. Each time a person or a child dies of hunger the government refuses to accept it as hunger death till the post-mortem report reveals that there were no traces of any food in the stomach from a long time. Otherwise, they are passed off as malnutrition deaths.
Two activists, Siraj Datta and Reetika Khera from Bihar and Delhi respectively compiled a list of hunger deaths related to Aadhar both directly and indirectly across India to remember the first death anniversary of hunger death of 11-year-old Santoshi in 2017.
On September 28th 2017, Santoshi Kumari of Jharkhand died due to hunger as there was no food at home. The girl slipped into unconsciousness due to extreme hunger and died in a state of unconsciousness. The truth came to light later that the family had lost their ration card because it was not linked to Aadhar. It is reported that the Government of Jharkhand mass cancelled Aadhar-less ration cards. And Santoshis familys ration card was one among those.
There are thousands of hunger deaths in India and these are only a handful which we compiled that are related to the exclusion caused due to the compulsory linking of Aadhar card to ration card, Said Siraj Datta, who is associated with the Right to Food Campaign. The idea behind this study was to bring out the exclusion caused due to non-linkage to the Aadhar card and to initiate political debates about these deaths. It is sad that these deaths are not being registered.
Of the 56 hunger deaths compiled by the team from 2015 to 2018, 42 deaths have been reported between 2017 and 18. Most of these victims are from the disadvantaged groups such as Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims and a majority of these deaths are from two states Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Common reasons include losing ones ration card or pension for lack of Aadhaar linking, and failure of Aadhaar-based biometric authentication (ABBA), which is compulsory for practical purposes in several states.
Another recent death of two siblings belonging to Dalit community, Govinda, aged 5 years and his sister Munni, 2 years on August 31, 2018, and September 1 occurred in Bihar as they could not get their Aadhar card and as a result, they were denied rations from the last 8 months. With the father in jail due to some protest he was involved in, the mother could not find any work under MNREGA.
More recent is the tragic death of 8-year-old Khushi from Hathras in UP. The family had no ration card and used to buy food grains. But when her father became jobless and could not find a job for two months, the family began to eat less and lesser ill they were finally reduced to go hungry. After a week of remaining hungry, Khushi and her sister fell unconscious. Khushi died on the way to hospital while her sister is being treated.
All this in a state where retailers have been accused of siphoning off over 2.2 lakh tonnes of food grains under the 30 crore PDS scam in which Aadhar numbers of genuine beneficiaries of subsidised rations have been replaced with fake ones.
In case of Santoshi, her mother and sister moved to the Supreme Court to highlight the condition of the Dalit families in Jharkhand who have been denied food grains due to non-linkage of Aadhar and ration cards. Even though they sought criminal action against the officials due to whose negligence starvation death/s have occurred, the SC merely issued a formal notice to the Government. And the Government denied these allegations stating the deaths were due to illness.
The Supreme Court in its latest verdict in September 2018 upheld the constitutional validity of the Aadhar card and although linking Aadhar card to avail certain benefits have been waived; linking Aadhar to avail welfare schemes is mandatory leaving the people with no choice but to comply.
Requests to push for alternative identity in case of non-linkage of Aadhar card with ration card have not been considered.
Prime minister Narendra Modi will launch the BJPs poll campaign in Rajasthan on Saturday with the Vijay Sankalp rally in Ajmer.
The public rally will mark the conclusion of chief minister Vasundhara Rajes Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra.
The BJP is leaving no stone unturned to make Modis public rally a grand success. State BJP president Madan Lal Saini has said that 3 lakh people will be attending the rally.
The district administration meanwhile has put in place tight security arrangements for the PMs visit.
Local BJP leaders are making all efforts to bring a huge crowd for the rally. Teams have been made to bring in people from Tonk, Bhilwara, Nagaur and even from Jaipur districts.
This will be unprecedented public rally in the history of Ajmer since independence, said senior BJP leader Onkar Singh Lakhawat.
Chief minister Vasundhara Raje reached Ajmer on Friday afternoon and visited the venue of the public meeting, met with the local administration as well as BJP workers and took stock of the arrangements.
Stringent security arrangements have been made for the PMs visit. About three thousand police personnel, including a company of paramilitary police have been deployed to provide security cover to the prime minister. Special police officers from Delhi are coordinating the security arrangements.
Inspector General of Police, Ajmer range Biju Joseph told media that tight security arrangements has been made at Kayar Vishramsthali for the PMs visit. Police will be on their toes to take any action against disturbance, he said.
Common people will not be disturbed due to the VIP visit and alternate routes have been identified to divert the traffic on Ajmer- Jaipur highway, said Joseph.
As per the PMs schedule, he will not be visiting the Brahma temple in Pushkar even though the BJP had earlier said Modi would offer prayers at the temple. But now the PM will arrive in Ajmer at 1 pm and head straight to the Kayad Vishramsthali, about 10 kilometers outside the main city on Ajmer-Jaipur National Highway. He will address the public rally and return to Jaipur at 2 pm and then on to Delhi.
Betting on Modis popularity, the BJP plans to hold a series of public meetings across the state targeting areas where the BJP is perceived to be weak. BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said Modis rally in Ajmer and other places will fill the workers with zeal and his popularity among the public will help create a mood in BJPs favour.
On September 28, 63-year-old goldsmith Kishori Lal Soni went missing from Lucknow. CCTV footage showed two people stopping Soni, seen riding a two-wheeler, and shoving him into a waiting car.
On September 29, even as a missing person complaint was lodged at the Madiaon police station, the jewellers family received a call claiming that Soni was in police custody in Nepal where he is wanted in a murder case.
The person on the other end told Sonis wife that Kishori Lal is being sent to prison for his involvement in a murder case, said the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Lucknow Kalanidhi Naithani..
So, how did the jeweller, believed to be abducted from Lucknows Madaion area, land in Nepal police custody?
The Uttar Pradesh police are trying to piece together the case to get answers.
We have intimated officials to track the car shown in the video, the SSP said.
#WATCH: CCTV footage of 65-year-old Lucknow jeweller Kishorilal Soni being abducted on 28th Sept, while he was returning from his shop. He was later taken to Nepal, where he has been placed under police custody. pic.twitter.com/pmAC8w02di ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 5, 2018
The Police have also decided to seek the help of the ministry of external affairs (MEA). We will ask the MEA to contact authorities in Nepal, where missing Soni is reportedly lodged in prison, said Naithani.
The jewellers son Vikas Soni told ANI,Nepal Police abducts an innocent Indian citizen from Lucknow and takes him to Nepal. Does Indian government not feel responsible that one of its citizens has been taken away to another country.
Vikas told ANI he spoke to his father on a number provided by the police. UP police gave us a number on which a Nepal police personnel made me speak to my father. My father said that he was abducted from near his shop but did not know his current location, he added.
UP police gave us a number on which a Nepal police personnel made me speak to my father. My father said that he was abducted from near his shop but did not know his current location. My father's statement was verified with CCTV footage which proved he was abducted: Vikas Soni pic.twitter.com/rN3pJ3FLm2 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 6, 2018
Commenting on the row, UP minister B Pathak was quoted as saying, Nepal is our friend. Nepal and India have a responsibility towards each other and law should be abided by.
In 2004, Soni married off his daughter into a family in Nepal. Two years later, five of the family, including his daughter were murdered.
The investigating team of the Nepal police made Soni an accused in the case and reportedly showed in their records that Soni was arrested from Nepalganj area of Nepal on September 29.
The Maharashtra government issued a notification on Thursday, introducing a blanket ban on hookah parlours in the state with immediate effect.
The notification was issued by the government after the President assented to the bill passed by state legislature in April this year.
Maharashtra is the second state after Gujarat to impose such a ban, which will come into effect immediately.
The amended Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act (COTPA), 2003, imposes a fine of Rs 1 lakh and imprisonment of up to three years for violations. The amendment has also made the offence non cognisable.
Since the notification has been issued, the ban comes into effect immediately. It will be the responsibility of the police to ensure the ban is implemented, said an official from the home department.
The home department had been planning to regulate hookah parlours, but chief minister Devendra Fadnavis insisted on a blanket ban after the fire at Kamala Mills in December 2017, in which 14 people died of suffocation.
According to the report by the probe panel, the fire was caused by an ember from a hookah.
HT had reported on January 11, 2018, that the government planned to ban hookah parlours.
Activists have expressed concerns about how comprehensively the ban will be enforced.
The regulatory ban has been there on hookah parlours after the Bombay high court order from a few years ago, but they were in operation in connivance with the authorities. Now with the blanket ban, the government should ensure its strict implementation, said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, a cancer surgeon and anti-tobacco crusader.
Authorities have said that the ban was not fully implemented owing to dispute over the interpretation of the court order.
A senior corporate professional was allegedly duped of 23.44 lakh by a woman he met through a matrimonial website on the pretext of paying for her fathers medical treatment. An FIR was registered at Powai police station on Tuesday.
According to the police, the 31-year-old complainant came across the womans profile last year and sent her a request. She shared her mobile phone number and the two started texting and eventually calling each other.
The complainant had asked the woman to meet him at least once, but she kept refusing to do so.
According to the police, the complainant and woman agreed to meet each other on her birthday and she made him buy an iPhone. However, on her birthday, the woman cancelled the meeting, saying her father had been admitted to hospital. She then asked for money and that her brother who worked in London would return the money soon.
The woman got her mother, sister and father to request the complainant on the phone, which convinced him to send money online. Citing her fathers treatment, the woman took a total of 23.44 lakh, which includes the cost of the iPhone, through multiple transactions.
On one occasion, she had sent a man posing as her driver to receive the money. While the complainant insisted on meeting the woman, the woman kept refusing until April this year when the man threatened to file a complaint. The woman then met the complainant in Powai, and according to him, he was surprised to see the woman was entirely unlike her beautiful online profile.
The woman confessed to uploading fake photos as she wanted to lure someone who could pay for her fathers treatment, the police said. She then requested the complainant to not to go to the police and that she would return the money soon.
According to the police, the complainant promised to forgive her if she returned his money, however, when the complainant called her last week asking for his money, she threatened to implicate him in a crime case.
For the moment, Syrias final remaining rebel stronghold remains quiet. Turkeys government has brokered a deal that delays the day of judgment when Bashar al-Assads army, backed by Russia, will attack Idlib province to kill the last of its holdouts. That respite is good news for the 2.9 million men, women, and children trapped in harms way, but there is no guarantee this truce will last. That will depend on whether various rebel groups, which together comprise tens of thousands of fighters cornered in Idlib, will lay down their weapons or fight to the bitter end.
If and when the Syrian governments assault on Idlib begins, it will be the last major battle of Syrias seven-year civil war. Full-scale reconstruction can begin when the fighting comes to an end, but this conflict has already killed or displaced half the people who lived in that country in 2011, and it has inflicted irreversible psychological damage on those who have fled and many who remain.
Syrias President Assad wants to avoid a bloodbath if he can. Accusations that he has used chemical weapons banned on international law, including against Syrian civilians, has already inflicted lasting damage on his credibility. But he also wants to begin to reconsolidate control of his country, and there is real cause for concern that his patience with rebels has clear limits.
Hes far from the only interested party here. This conflict has opened Syria to a wide range of outside actors and observers who fear its repercussions for their own interests. To understand this war and the countrys future, its important to see it from multiple points of view.
Iran is Assads main regional ally. Its government, leading a country surrounded by hostile Arab neighbours and under sustained economic pressure from Donald Trump, needs Assad firmly in charge. Iran wants to see the Islamist groups, rebel militias and other Assad enemies crushed, but its leaders also fear their influence in Syrias future will be undermined by Assads other reliable ally, Russia.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, wants very much to expand his countrys influence in the Middle East as a way of enhancing Russian prestige on the world stage and guaranteeing his navy continued access to the Mediterranean. But hes also conscious of damage that a humanitarian catastrophe in Idlib would do to his interests. He wants to avoid a bloody battle would further alienate Europe and make it more difficult to raise funds to rebuild Syria, but like Assad and Iran, hes ready to declare victory and end this war.
No one outside Syria is more determined than Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to avoid an all-out final battle in Idlib. Turkey already houses some 3.5 million Syrians in makeshift camps, a solution that is not sustainable. A full-on Syrian government assault on Idlib would send another tidal wave of desperate civilians scrambling towards the nearby Turkish border. Turkeys economy has enough problems without another surge of refugees purging across its borders.
European leaders are watching closely, as well, especially those who lead countries that are housing significant numbers of migrants from Syria. Whatever their opinions of Assads savagery, they know that the reconstruction of Syria cannot begin until Syrias strongmen re-establishes firm control of the country, and that those Syrians in Europe who might return home wont move until its safe to enter.
Ian Bremmer is the president of Eurasia Group and author of Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism
The views expressed are personal
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An IndiGo flight from Bagdogra to Mumbai made an emergency landing at Patna on Friday after a defence personnel suffered cardiac arrest on board the aircraft .
The passenger, Amarjit Tripathy, 28, a Lemar (Leading Electro Mechanical Air Radio) in the Indian Navy, was rushed to the nearest Paras-HMRI hospital, where doctors were able to save his life.
Tripathy was travelling alone to Mumbai. He is posted in Goa on the INS Hansa.
The IndiGo flight (6E-3175), with 135 passengers on board, had taken off from Bagdogra at 12 noon, but was diverted to Patna at 12.45 pm after pilots sought permission from air traffic control (ATC) to make an emergency landing here.
An ambulance was sent to the tarmac for the patient and after initial medical check-up by Dr Anshu Ankit at our airport medical inspection room, the patient was rushed to the Paras HMRI hospital. The aircraft, after offloading the passenger and his registered luggage, left here around 1.30pm, said airport director Rajender Singh Laharia.
Medical superintendent of the Paras-HMRI hospital Dr Asif Rahman said the patient had suffered myocardial infarction (MI).
We ran a series of tests to confirm MI. Without waiting to complete admission formalities, we immediately took him to the cath lab where our cardiologist Dr Nishant Tripathi performed coronary intervention procedure to remove clots in his left anterior descending coronary artery, said Dr Rahman.
The patient was stable and out of danger, he added.
A doctor with the armed forces in Mumbai was coordinating with the hospital here. The hospital also informed Tripathys sister in Odisha .
An IndiGo flight 6E 3175 operating from Bagdogra to Mumbai was diverted to Patna due to a medical case this morning. The flight crew requested for an ambulance and a local doctor to be at the airport. The doctor along with a crew on-board attended to the passenger. After landing, the passenger was immediately rushed to the hospital accompanied by an IndiGo staff member. We wish our passenger a speedy recovery, said a communique from IndiGo.
A violent backlash against non-Gujaratis following the arrest of a Bihar native for allegedly raping a 14-month-old girl in Gujarats Sabarkantha district last week has sparked an exodus of migrant workers hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Many UP and Bihar labourers on Thursday boarded home-bound trains after north Indians were targeted in several parts of the state following the arrest of the suspect.
They said there was an atmosphere of fear and mistrust across Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Aravalli districts of Gujarat following the violence allegedly sparked by the Kshatriya Thakor Sena (KTS) campaign against migrants.
We do not want to risk our lives. We have been hearing stories about migrant labourers being attacked, Ajay Sao, who was among those headed home, told HT over phone. Sao, a 23-year-old resident of Bhojpur, had been working in a restaurant at Mehsana for three years.
Gujarats Director general of police Shivanand Jha said such attacks had taken place in Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Patan and Ahmedabad districts in the last one week and 150 people had 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 told reporters in Ahmedabad on Friday.
On September 28, a 14-month-old girl was allegedly raped in a village of Sabarkantha district, around 100 km from Ahmedabad, the police had said.
The toddler, who is from the Thakor community, has been admitted to the civil hospital in Ahmedabad where her condition is stated to be stable. Accused Ravindra Kumar worked at a factory near Vadnagar town of Mehsana district.
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.
According to a PTI report, 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 was from Bihar and the victim belonged to the Thakor community, some elements were spreading misleading messages on social media. On October 2, a mob stormed the factory and injured some employees, Inspector general of police, Gandhinagar, Mayank Sinh Chavda told HT over phone on Friday.
He said at least 18 FIRs have been lodged in different areas following attacks on non-Gujaratis.
The home department has also instructed the police to increase vigil at factories, housing societies and keep a watch on social media.
(With PTI inputs)
Opposition parties including Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress held an agitation against Girish Bapat, guardian minister and BJP for cutting the citys water supply despite having enough water storage in the dams.
Opposition parties agitated in Pune municipal corporations headquarters and condemned the ruling BJP governments decision of water cut.
Chandrakant Mokate, city unit president, Shiv Sena said, This is the same party which use to agitate whenever previous NCP and Congress opted for water cut in Pune city. Girish Bapat, guardian minister who was present for the meeting did not oppose the irrigation departments decision to cut the citys water supply.
Chetan Tupe, city unit president, NCP said, We will not allow BJP to cut the citys water supply . If there was less quantity of water, then why was the irrigation department releasing more water from canal till last week? Congress leader Arvind Shinde and Ramesh Bagwe said that mayor had accepted the irrigation departments proposal of bringing down the citys water supply from 1350 MLD to 1100 MLD but when faced with criticism, guardian minister issued a the press statement saying there would be no water cut.
Authorities have deployed around 1,500 cops, including four companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), ahead of the protest march from Kotkapura to Bargari being organised by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rebels, led by former leader of opposition in Punjab assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira, on Sunday.
They have been demanding action against those responsible for the police firing at Bargari and sacrilege incidents in the state in 2015.
Meanwhile, Khaira faction leaders, supported by Sikh radical organisations and parallel jathedars, are putting in all-out efforts to mobilise people for the protest march.
Faridkot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Raj Bachan Singh Sandhu said six superintendents of police (SPs) and 12 deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) have also been deployed to supervise security operations.
Police have also diverted routes to avoid clashes or face-offs between supporters of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Panthic organisations.
Besides, 30 check-posts have set up across the district to prevent face-offs between people going to attend the Congress rally in Lambi and SAD rally in Patiala on Sunday, Sandhu said.
AAP rebel leaders said the march will start from Kotkapura grain market at 10 am and culminate at the Bargari protest site, where Khaira and other speakers will address the gathering.
People coming on their own: Khaira
Khaira said people will be coming to join the march themselves and party leaders are not sending any buses to ferry them as is done by the Akalis and the Congress.
Radical Sikh preacher Baljit Singh Daduwal said, We are receiving tremendous response from the public for the march. I will also go to Kotkapura to offer ardas before the start of the march.
Kotkapura MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that being a Sikh, it has been his moral duty to join the march.
Meanwhile, AAP leaders said they will not take part in the march to be organised by the Khaira group. They, however, confirmed that partys Sikh MLAs from New Delhi will take part in the protest.
Leader of opposition in Punjab assembly Harpal Singh Cheema said chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh is not serious about taking action against those responsible for sacrilege incidents in the state.
After months of will-he-wont-he, Kapil Sharma has announced his return to the TV screens with The Kapil Sharma Show on Sony TV. The comedian-actor has been missing from public life after a Twitter meltdown and allegations of unprofessional beahaviour.
Confirming that he has been on mend, Kapil tweeted, Jalad wapas aa raha hoon The Kapil Sharma Show lekar aap ke liye sirf @SonyTV par. @TataSky subscribers Sony TV ka mazza without any additional cost lijiye, Abhi call kariye 18002086633 or email contact@tatasky.com. It was earlier speculated that Kapil will return with his show in October.
Jalad wapas aa raha hoon The Kapil Sharma Show lekar aap ke liye sirf @SonyTV par. @TataSky subscribers Sony TV ka mazza without any additional cost lijiye, Abhi call kariye 18002086633 or email contact@tatasky.com KAPIL (@KapilSharmaK9) October 6, 2018
Kapil, who was went on a Twitter sabbatical after an ugly meltdown in which he targeted media and his former colleagues, has been writing about Son of Manjeet, a Punjabi film that he is presenting. Photos of a fitter and healthier looking comedian have also been doing the rounds on social media.
Kapil has decided to take charge of his life, an earlier DNA report quoted a source as saying. He not only wants to change his lifestyle (he had tweeted about it) but also wants to become fit. He will be hiring a personal trainer. The comedian also wants to ideate for his new show and is planning to make a comeback to TV in the next two month.
Kapil had also joined a detox programme at an ayurvedic ashram in Bangalore recently. The comedian who has been battling alcoholism was inspired to attend this programme after reading Twinkle Khannas recent book Pyjamas are Forgiving. A friend of Kapil was quoted in a Bollywood Hungama report as saying, He went to the same ashram a year ago left the course incomplete and began drinking again. This time he is determined to sweat it out at the ashram because, as Kapil says, Akshay Paajis wife has recommended the treatment.
A major Islamic charity in Canada that has been penalised by tax authorities was given a grant by Ottawa under its Summer Jobs programme, a media report said.
The Islamic Society of North America-Canada (ISNA-Canada) was suspended for a year from September 12 and fined CA $ 550,000 by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The move came after an audit raised concerns it had provided resources to groups with links to the Hizbul Mujahideen, which is focused on Jammu and Kashmir and listed as a terrorist organisation by India, the US and the European Union.
According to a report in the Toronto Sun, it was provided a grant under the Canada Summer Jobs programme of the Canadian government. While that grant period preceded the CRA measures, ISNA-Canada had been under investigation by auditors of the CRAs Charities Directorate since 2011.
According to a report earlier in the Global News, ISNA-Canada had transferred funds to the Relief Organization for Kashmiri Muslims (ROKM), considered the charitable arm of Jamaat-e-Islami, a Pakistani group whose armed wing, Hizbul Mujahideen, has often targeted Kashmir.
Providing resources to organisations operating in support of a political purpose, including the achievement of nationhood or political autonomy, are not recognised at law as charitable, CRA had stated.
The CRA believed that by acting as a conduit for other organisations, ISNA-Canada may have, knowingly or unknowingly, provided the benefits of its status as a registered charity to support the efforts of a political party and its armed wing, the Global News report said.
While ISNA-Canadas charity status was not revoked, it was required to enter a compliance agreement whereby it must cease its overseas operations. The audit based on ISNAs returns for 2007 and 2009 began in 2011 and concluded with this action.
In recent years, the charity status had been stripped for three affiliated groups: ISNA Islamic Services of Canada, ISNA Development Foundation and Canadian Islamic Trust Foundation.
In a statement responding to the CRA action, ISNA-Canada said it was saddened by this outcome." It added, ISNA Canada abhors and rejects terrorism in all its forms, and categorically denies any terrorist links.
Interpol president Meng Hongwei has been detained in China for questioning as part of an investigation against him, a media report said on Saturday, a day after he was reported missing in his native country.
Meng, 64, the first Chinese head of the international law enforcement agency headquartered in France, was taken away for questioning by discipline authorities as soon as he landed in China last week, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted a source as saying.
It was not immediately clear why he is being investigated or exactly where he is being held.
Meng, who is also a vice-minister at Chinas ministry of public security, is under investigation in China, the Post reported amid mystery surrounding his disappearance after his wife reported to the French police that he had gone missing.
The French police said on Friday that they have launched a probe for Meng after being contacted by his wife.
Interpol, which is based in Lyon, said on Friday that it was aware of reports of Mengs alleged disappearance and that the issue was a matter for the relevant authorities in France and China.
Meng was last seen in France on September 29, according to reports from France. So far neither the public security ministry nor the foreign ministry in China has commented.
Under Chinas supervision law, a suspects family and employer must be notified within 24 hours of detention, except in cases where doing so would hinder an investigation. It appears Mengs wife was not informed.
Reports quoted an unnamed French judicial official as saying that Meng arrived in China at the end of September but there had been no news of him since.
While Meng is listed on the website of Chinas Ministry of Public Security as a vice-minister, he lost his seat on its Communist Party Committee its real decision-making body in April, the Post reported.
According to his own page on the site, Mengs last official engagement was on August 23, when he met Lai Chung Han, a second permanent secretary of Singapore, it said.
Meng was appointed the head of Interpol in 2016. His appointment also sparked concern about China extending its crackdown on dissidents abroad. He is due to serve until 2020.
Interpol is the worlds largest agency facilitating police cooperation with 192 member countries.
A US Navy veteran from Utah was charged on Friday with threatening President Donald Trump, defense secretary James Mattis, the FBI director and an admiral by mailing them letters containing castor beans, from which the deadly poison ricin is derived.
The criminal complaint, filed in the US district court in Salt Lake City, charged William Clyde Allen III with one count of threatening to use a biological toxin as a weapon and four counts of mailing threatening communications.
Allen, 39, could face up to life in prison if convicted, said Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the US Attorneys Office in Salt Lake City.
He is accused of mailing ground-up castor seeds in separate envelopes addressed to Trump, Mattis, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Admiral John Richardson, chief of US naval operations. Each envelope contained a note reading Jack and the Missile Bean Stock Powder, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case.
None of the letters reached its intended recipient, and no one was hurt, officials said.
The accused perpetrator, who ended his four-year Navy stint in 2002 as a seaman apprentice, was not hard to find. The envelopes, all postmarked Sept. 24, bore Allens name and return address, the affidavit said.
He was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Logan, Utah, about 83 miles north of Salt Lake City, and confessed to sending the letters with castor beans he had purchased online, the affidavit said.
It said Allen told investigators that he mailed the letters to send a message but did not elaborate.
The FBI said each envelope tested positive for ricin in two different laboratory examinations, but neither the complaint nor the affidavit explicitly alleged that they were tainted with ricin itself.
The Pentagon has said the two envelopes intercepted there were found to contain only ground castor seeds, which are harmless but triggered the ricin alert. Extracting ricin from castor beans is relatively easy and does not require technical expertise but is dangerous, the FBI affidavit stated.
Tiny doses are lethal to humans if ingested, inhaled or injected, causing death within 36 to 72 hours of exposure. There is no known antidote.
Authorities said Allen has threatened the government before, including an email he sent the CIA in 2015 threatening to kill then-President Barack Obama, and a bomb threat he made against an Air Force Base in Texas last year.
Allen was presented the charges at his initial court appearance on Friday before a U.S. magistrate in Salt Lake City and was ordered to remain in the custody of federal marshals at least until a detention hearing set for Oct. 15, Rydalch said.
No plea was entered. A public defender appointed to represent him, Lynn Clark Donaldson, declined comment on the case.
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.
Drake may have recently released his highly anticipated album Scorpion and currently touring the world with Migos, but that doesn't mean his fashion empire has to suffer. In fact, as recent reports would suggest, business is booming.
According to Business of Fashion, The Torontonian's fashion brand, OVO (October's Very Own) is projected to earn $50 Million in sales before the end of the year. In the words of Drake's business partner, Oliver El-Khatib, OVO was launched out of necessity. El-Khatib told the publication, There was a lot of traveling in different climates, so we needed practical, versatile garments that looked stylish while also being recognizable to security as well as at business meetings."
Fans will know that OVO produces some of the most highly coveted hoodies, T-shirts, sweatpants, and accessories. Prices for the OVO emblazoned gear can range anywhere from $12 to $168. OVO has also experienced immense success with collaborations it has done with Canada Goose and Nikes Jordan brand. Some of the more pricey and limited edition items such as a 24-karat gold hardware line and $5,000 black leather coat have been birthed from such collaborations. Canada Gooses chief executive Dani Reiss told Business of Fashion, Not all celebrity clothing lines work out," but this was not at all the case with OVO. Every collaboration weve done with OVO has been a strong success, and it often sell out in hours, if not minutes, across all of our channels."
Katt Williams has been wilding out lately. After getting into a virtual fight with Kevin Hart, the comedian threatened his rival with physical violence. And now, the Williams finds himself behind bars for an alleged violent crime.
According to reports, Williams has been apprehended for assault in Portland, Oregon. He was arrested by Port of Portland police and taking in for a misdemeanor assault this Saturday, October 6. His bail is said to have been set for the relatively low sum of $2,500.
Katt traveled to Portland for an industry event. He was supposedly planning on making an appearance at Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out Live concert at the Moda Center Friday night in the city, but he apparently never made it to the event.
There is no word on the circumstances that led to the incident. The victim in this pending case has yet to be named as well.
Williams' resurgence into headlines stems from claims he made about Tiffany Haddish and her lack of credibility when it comes to her talents. Since then, the entertainer seems to have been on a bit of a downward spiral, sparring with his peers verbally and getting into physical altercations. The arrest might come as a wakeup call.
Mystikal has been sitting in jail since last Summer. The raspy rapper, who made a name for himself in the early 2000's with hits like "Shake Ya Ass" and "Danger (Been So Long)," was charged with first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping. According to KSLA, a judge recently turned down Mystikal's plea to have his bond reduced.
Caddo Parish Judge Romana Emanuel struck down the request to reduce the bail from $3 million to $500,000 on Thursday (October 4). Mystikal was thrown in Caddo Correctional Center last August, and he is still awaiting trial. His next hearing date is set for October 25. Born Michael Lawrence Tyler, the 48-year-old rapper plead not guilty to the charges that stem from an alleged sexual assault that occurred in October 2016 at a casino in Shreveport. Two other suspects have been charged along with Mystikal. 26-year-old Darnell Holman is being charged with the same two charges as Mystikal, and 42-year-old Tenichia Monieck Wafford is facing one count of obstruction of justice.
Mystikal has a long history with the law that has stunted his success as a rapper. He spent several years in jail for sexual battery and extortion, and is a register sex offender. He was also hit with a domestic abuse charge when he was released from jail, which was a violation of his probation.
Before he takes the stage on SNL this weekend, Travis Scott is going to serve as a special guest on Jimmy Fallon Friday night, where he wont perform but sit down for a little chat. However, prior to his sit down, La Flame decided to show his appreciation for the late night host and gift him with a brand new pair of his exclusive Cactus Jack Air Jordan 4s.
The shoes are arguably one of the most popular sneakers to drop this Summer, currently going for upper hundreds and even thousands dollars a pair right now. Ironically, just a couple weeks ago, the shoes were somehow made available at an outlet store in Florida for a discounted price, causing a frenzy for sneaker heads to get their hands on.
Its unclear if Jimmy Fallon himself is a sneaker fan and appreciates the gift he just received, but he definitely acted like it in the footage thats surfaced online.
Dude what? You didnt have to do this for me man, Fallon told Travis. Im gonna rock these out. Dude this is the best. Thank you so much. Im going to wear them this weekend, Jimmy added.
Check out the clip (below) and be sure to tune to watch Travis on Fallon tonight.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1048360132466421760
Parking garages are becoming the latest canvas for public art as developers aim to create places where people want to be.
Trademark Property Co. has carved out Instagram-worthy spots on traditionally overlooked spaces across several of its developments, including Rice Village in Houston.
People are very against parking garages, even though theyre shaded and cooler, said Cassie King, Trademarks director of design and innovation. To help change that stigma, weve started dressing them up more.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: Why grackles flock to parking garages
Now Playing: "Prevailing Winds," a new art installation on the five-story garage at 250 Assay in McCord Development's Generation Park mixed-use development, is designed to help people visualize the wind. Video: Katherine Feser / Houston Chronicle
Perched above a garage stairwell on Kelvin Drive, an origami-like blue metal owl by California artist Nathan Mabry is reminiscent of nearby Rice University, which owns the Trademark Property-managed shopping district.
Around the corner on Amherst, Michael C. Rodriguezs inspirational mural of a female astronaut against the Houston skyline has become a hot spot for selfies. Prolific Houston muralist Mario Enrique Figueroa Jr., also known as Gonzo247, marked the bricks elsewhere including a Houston Strong message on a colorful hand and heart design.
The theme of connecting with Houston is evident on other garages, too. Earlier this year, Houston-based Wedge Group commissioned international artist C. Finley for the Sky Dance mural on downtowns 1415 Louisiana parking garage. The privately held investment firm collaborated with the Downtown District and the Houston Ballet on the mural, which rises 13 stories tall and depicts three ballerinas to celebrate Houstons art scene. At 230 feet wide by 130 feet tall, its said to be Houstons largest mural.
At Rice University, a recently built garage is more subtle. Angled mesh screens in a fig vine pattern cover the seven-story garage, creating a sculpture that blends in with the heavily-treed campus along Main Street.
The Rice Village garage art is part of a plan to create an urban environment with more plazas and gathering areas, food trucks and art interspersed throughout the shops and restaurants of the 80-year-old shopping district near University Boulevard and Kirby Drive.
The Trademark projects in Rice Village and elsewhere use paint, lighting and design elements to make people feel safer, and keep them engaged and entertained, King said.
PARKING LOT OF THE FUTURE: Coming to inside the loop
We utilize garages in a way for not only way-finding and place-making, but overall experience because that is sometimes your front door, King said. Its your first experience when you drive in property.
In Victory Park in Dallas, a new series of geometric murals by Lesli Marshall with a different color and theme on each floor helps people remember where they parked.
The WestBend mixed-use development in Fort Worth incorporates murals by local artist Kyle Steed using quotes and references to famous Texans. One of the murals in the stairwell depicts a quote by Willie Nelson: Be here. Be present. Wherever you are, be there.
Thats a message that resonated with artists Shane Allbritton and Norman Lee, co-founders of Houston-based RE:site, in their new Prevailing Winds installation on a five-story garage at Generation Park in northeast Houston. Part of the goal was to provide people a pause from electronics and a connection with nature by helping them visualize the wind.
Technology is kind of taking over our lives and taking over our personal time, Allbritton said. Nature is animating this for us.
The metal sculpture, made up of 4,000 blue aluminum squares attached to architectural mesh, drapes down portions of three sides the garage in the developments 52-acre Redemption Square district. The artists, working with the Metalab design firm, used a single color to simplify the piece. The monochromatic squares have a pixel-like quality, responding to even a gentle breeze and light conditions that vary with the clouds and time of day.
Sometimes garage art projects are part of a strategic revitalization, but not always.
I see it in every city I go to, Lee said. The motivation a lot of times is the garages just look so ugly, we need something to make it not ugly.
The Generation Park garage serves the 250 Assay office-retail building and will provide parking for the upcoming Courtyard Marriott and other buildings in the future. The sculpture, which can be perceived as clouds moving across the sky or rippling water, provides not only shade but also a mechanism for people to find their way around as more buildings are added to the development near Beltway 8 and West Lake Houston Parkway.
Its something we may look at doing on other garages as part of our wayfinding, said Ryan McCord, president of McCord Development. Our philosophy around wayfinding is to use words as infrequently as possible and to try to make the built environment as intuitive as possible.
While the garage is ultimately a place to park, that doesnt mean it gets a pass when it comes to design, McCord said.
This is part of the sense of arrival. Everybody benefits if its enhanced architecturally, McCord said. People appreciate beauty. Where you have the opportunity to create it, you should.
katherine.feser@chron.com
twitter.com/kfeser
Mattress Firm, the nations largest mattress retailer, filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, a move that will result in hundreds of store closures as the Houston company seeks to get out from under $3.2 billion of debt.
The retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court in Delaware, acknowledging that it operates too many stores after a spate of acquisitions over the past decade.
There are many examples of a Mattress Firm store being located literally across the street from another Mattress Firm store, chief financial officer and chief operating officer Hendre Ackermann said in the filing.
Bankruptcy proceedings will allow Mattress Firm to exit hundreds of store leases in underperforming and overlapping locations. Mattress Firm said it could shutter up to 700 of its more than 3,300 stores nationwide, using the cost savings to improve its product offerings, open stores in new markets and expand in its existing markets.
The first 200 stores, including 18 in the Houston area, are expected to be closed in the next few days. Decisions about additional store closures will be made in the coming weeks.
More Information Mattress Firm's acquisition history: 2007: Mattress Pro (36 stores) 2011-12: Mattress Giant (236); Mattress Xpress (40) 2014: Sleep Experts (55); Mattress King and Bedmart (67); Back to Bed (131); Sleep America (45); Sleep Train (314) 2016: Sleepy's (1,066) Total: 1,990 stores acquired since 2007 Planned Houston-area Mattress Firm closures: 349 S. Mason, Katy 6429 Westheimer, Houston 2735 Town Center Blvd., Sugar Land 19325 Gulf Freeway, Webster 804 Interstate 45 N, Conroe 20400 Southwest Freeway, Richmond 5710 Texas 6, Missouri City 7592 FM 1960, Houston 1443 S. Mason, Katy 1335 Lake Woodlands Drive, The Woodlands 17689 Tomball Pkwy, Houston 3115 West Loop South, Houston 11470 Broadway, Pearland 26526 Interstate 45 North, Spring 9319 Texas 6 South, Houston 1266 Fry, Houston 9330 Katy Freeway, Houston 1005 Westheimer, Houston See More Collapse
The process we have initiated today will allow us to strengthen our balance sheet and accelerate the optimization of our store portfolio, Steve Stagner, Mattress Firms chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement.
Mattress Firm represents the latest casualty in brick-and-mortar retail, which has struggled to compete with the rise of e-commerce and changing consumer preferences. The mattress retailer joins Toys R Us, Gymboree, Payless ShoeSource and rue21 in declaring bankruptcy in recent years. Other retailers, including Sears and Macys, have shuttered thousands of stores and laid off tens of thousands of workers in a bid to survive the so-called retail apocalypse.
Mattress Firm on Friday said it has received commitments for about $250 million in debtor-in-possession financing, which pending court approval would help the company fund its operations through bankruptcy proceedings. The company also obtained commitments for $525 million of senior secured credit as well.
The chain is working with A&G Realty Partners to close stores and restructure leases. Sidley Austin LLP is the companys legal counsel, Alix Partners is its financial advisor and Guggenheim Securities is its restructuring adviser.
Mattress Firm expects to complete the restructuring process in the next 45 to 60 days.
Mattress Firm started in 1986 with three salesmen and one small store in a Sharpstown strip mall. Over the subsequent three decades, the retailer grew to become the dominant player in the U.S. bedding industry with $3.2 billion in sales and 9,500 employees.
As it grew, the company struggled under the weight of its burgeoning store count and the growing costs associated with operating and rebranding them.
At the same time, Mattress Firm faced growing competition from online bed-in-a-box competitors. Amazon, the nations most profitable retailer, is reportedly joining the fray, looking to introduce foam mattresses starting at $130.
Mattress Firm thought it found salvation in Steinhoff International when the South African retail conglomerate paid $3.8 billion to acquire the company in 2016. However, Steinhoff, according to court filings, saddled Mattress Firm with $3.1 billion in debt upon its acquisition, tying the retailers hands when it came to securing lines of credit for its operations.
Steinhoff late last year became embroiled in an accounting scandal that called into question the value of more than $7 billion in assets. Steinhoff has been working to restructure its debt amid an ongoing investigation into its books, which brought the extent of Mattress Firms financial problems to light.
Mattress Firm, in its filing Friday, said that it would have run out of cash at the end of the month without bankruptcy protection. The company is projected to lose about $150 million in fiscal year 2018, according to filings.
By closing some 700 stores, Mattress Firm can probably raise about $50 million, said Seth Basham, an analyst with Los Angeles-based Wedbush Securities.
With Mattress Firm in bankruptcy, Steinhoff is likely looking to tempt a buyer into acquiring the struggling retailer, analysts said. A restructured Mattress Firm post-bankruptcy could appeal to investors, such as private equity firms.
Mattress Firms business model is OK, but overextended, said Drew McManigle, the Houston managing director of financial advisory firm SierraConstellation Partners. Theres a lot of private equity money looking for good deals and companies to buy.
Mattress Firm did not name a stalking horse bidder, or potential buyer, on Friday. The company has been shopped around since March, but there was an impasse between Steinhoffs creditors and potential buyers over the companys price, Basham said.
As Mattress Firm found itself in a financial pinch, it pressured its longtime supplier, Tempur Sealy International, to ink a new contract with significant concessions. The Lexington, Ky.-based company, one of the nations top mattress makers balked and pulled its high-end Tempur-Pedic beds out of Mattress Firm stores last year.
That was a costly mistake for Mattress Firm, Basham said, as sales of Tempur-Pedic beds represented about a third of the retailers overall sales.
In 2016, Tempur Sealy sold $670 million worth of product to Mattress Firm, of which $400 million were Tempur-Pedic beds. High-end mattresses, those that cost more than $2,000 each, make up about 40 percent of Mattress Firms sales, Basham said.
Mattress Firm scrambled to sign a new contract with Serta Simmons, the nations largest mattress manufacturer with a 40 percent market share. However, the damage was done, Basham said. Mattress Firms sales lagged amid supply chain issues and the loss of a significant revenue generator in Tempur-Pedic.
As their relationship crumbled, Mattress Firm and Tempur Sealy sparred in court, trading lawsuits over trademark infringement and breach of contract.
Meanwhile, Atlanta-based Serta Simmons invested $100 million to open four new plants to meet Mattress Firms bedding demands. The first of the new plants a 265,000-square-foot facility churning out more than 1,000 mattresses daily opened in Houston last year. The two companies also agreed to spend $100 million on advertising to promote their new partnership.
Analysts predict Mattress Firm will emerge from Chapter 11 with new owners and management amenable to reconciling its differences with Tempur Sealy. Its a move that would be a boon to Tempur Sealy and a bane to Serta Simmons, which did not sign an exclusive agreement with Mattress Firm, Basham said.
Serta, which is already highly leveraged, would be squeezed out a little bit if this happens, Basham said.
Reports of Mattress Firms bankruptcy plans temporarily pushed Tempur Sealys stock price up more than 10 percent on Wednesday, but it fell back by Friday.
Scott Thompson, Tempur Sealys chairman and CEO, declined to comment on predictions about selling its mattresses through Mattress Firm, post-bankruptcy.
Serta Simmons, which is rumored to be exploring a bid to acquire Mattress Firm, said on Friday that Mattress Firm will continue to purchase Serta and Beautyrest beds from the manufacturer.
For now, it is business as usual for Serta Simmons Bedding, a spokeswoman said in an email. We will continue to support Mattress Firm as they work through the Chapter 11 process.
Mattress Firms store closures would leave a large hole in real estate markets nationally. The chains average store footprint is 4,600-square feet, which means the company could potentially vacate 3.2 million square feet of retail space should it shutter 700 average-sized stores, Basham said.
A Mattress Firm spokeswoman said she did not have information regarding retail space, nor any estimate of the number of employees affected by store closures.
Ed Wulfe, chairman and CEO of Houston-based retail brokerage Wulfe & Co., said he believes Mattress Firms vacancies will be absorbed relatively quickly. Most of its stores are located on highly desirable end-caps of shopping centers, with high visibility to car and foot traffic, he said.
Mattress Firm leaves very marketable spaces that are small enough to have a lot of potential uses, Wulfe said. We dont need a mattress store on every corner.
Katherine Blunt contributed to this story.
Lauren Hudson ran her hand along the long swaths of lush fabric and smiled.
Theres truly an art to selling Fortuny, said Hudson, flipping through the fabric-covered boards hanging at the front of her Wells Abbott Showroom in the Decorative Center Houston as she launched into a story about this luxurious Italian fabric.
Because the fabric is made when its ordered, showroom samples might not exactly match the bolts that would arrive for a customer, she explained. So when a design client wants Fortuny, get him or her to like three samples so that when new cuttings arrive, one of the three might be the right shade.
Jerry taught me how to sell Fortuny, she said of her business mentor, Jerry Jeanmard, who once was an owner of Wells Design. When its made, the color or texture can be off, so what you see in a sample is not necessarily what you get.
Fortuny is the gold standard of fabric for home design, running up to about $400 a yard. The Egyptian cotton is so fine it feels like silk, and its velvets might be the softest textiles youll ever feel.
The fabric samples hold court in the front of Hudsons showroom, and the line plays a key role in this new chapter of her life as an interior design entrepreneur who has managed to keep alive two legendary businesses that could easily have vanished.
Reinvention
Hudson gets comfortable in an armchair its covered in Tilletts iconic chrysanthemum pattern in a vignette inside her design studio. She has owned Wells Design and the Wells Abbott to-the- trade showroom for just four years, but the short story of how she got here sounds like a made-for-TV movie.
A handful of years ago, Hudson hired Jeanmard to help her update the Highland Village home she shares with her husband, Brock, who works in the oil-and-gas industry, and their 15-year-old daughter. Their friends had used Jeanmard for decorating projects, and she admired his work.
My home is a ranch-style home with 9-foot ceilings and small rooms, but I wanted every inch to be perfect. So we made every inch perfect, said Hudson, 52. Its Cape Cod-meets-ranch, and its got a great vibe.
Working a room at a time, they spent much of 2009 and 2010 reinventing it. When they were done, her friends asked if Jerry might do their homes, too.
The answer was no. Hed already told Hudson that her project would likely be his last. So Hudson made him a proposition: If she helped her friends decorate, could she lean on him for advice?
When Jerry invited her to his office to talk about it, he had a proposition of his own: Would she want to buy Wells Design?
Jeanmard had owned the business since 2000, when he purchased it from his mentor-turned-business partner Herbert Wells, the legendary designer who died in 2010 at the age of 86. Wells put his elegant-but-unpretentious imprint on the homes of some of the citys most notable residents, including philanthropist Louisa Sarofim and former Mayor Bob Lanier and his wife, Elyse.
Jeanmard, now 73, came to Houston in 1968 as a graphic designer and in his late 30s wanted to start a new career in interior design. A mutual friend introduced him to Wells, and Jeanmard became his part-time assistant. Quickly, he shifted to full-time work and eventually was a partner and then sole owner.
Until he met Hudson, Jeanmard was ready to retire to simply close down Wells Design.
Although Hudson was ready for something new, she was hardly ready to take it on by herself, having never worked as an interior designer except for helping a few friends. They struck a deal: She would buy Wells Design, and Jeanmard would spend two years teaching her the business.
That was three-and-a-half years ago, and Jeanmard is still around.
Im very happy I didnt close the business. Lauren has done a good job of keeping the legacy not just alive but vibrant, and the same with Ellouise Abbott, he said. The late Abbott had started the state's oldest design showroom in Dallas.
Diving in
Hudson studied history at the University of Oklahoma and got a job teaching U.S. history at Lee High School in Houston. She was there five years, but former students still show up in her showroom as interior designers looking for fabrics, wallpaper furniture or window shades.
Lee High School endures, she said, laughing. I like to say I was a teacher in my 20s, a recruiter at Arthur Anderson in my 30s, a housewife and mom in my 40s and, now, in my 50s, Im in interior design.
From teaching, Hudson went to work for Arthur Anderson, eventually leading the campus recruiting efforts for its assurance division. It was there that she learned to engage her right brain and get in touch with her inner executive.
I knew I wanted to go back to work. I was asking myself, What do I want to do? What do I feel like Im good at? when the whole Jerry thing fell into my lap, she said. I feel like when you open yourself to other possibilities and explore those things, they have a way of presenting themselves to you.
So she bought Wells Design and learned lessons as they came at her. When their building on San Felipe sold, she and Jeanmard moved it into a temporary space before settling on the third floor of the Decorative Center.
She wanted to reach beyond design to create a showroom and started contacting the firms longtime vendors, such as Ann Morris Lighting and Tillett Textiles.
They were easy calls to make because they had a relationship with Wells Design going back to Mr. Wells. I said, If we were to open a showroom, would you want to be part of it? and they said yes, she said. It began to be the joke around the office that all I did was ask. Before I knew it, I thought, we might have a showroom.
Hudson lined up a variety of boutique fabric makers, most unique to Texas, and in February 2017 held a grand opening.
Betsie Weatherford was Hudsons Decorative Center neighbor, operating the Ellouise Abbott showroom across the hall. One day Hudson was commiserating with Weatherford and made an offhand remark: If you ever want to retire, let me know.
Weatherford didnt hesitate: Well, Im telling you now. I want to retire.
Once she got over the shock, Hudson realized the benefit of acquiring Ellouise Abbott, its exclusive lines and its square footage in the sought-after Dallas Design Center.
In the middle of negotiations, Hudson went on a family vacation, and they agreed theyd finish when she returned. But Weatherford suddenly became ill and died before the contract was signed.
Word got out, and showroom owners all over the area pounced, hoping to acquire the lucrative Fortuny line. Weatherford had exclusive regional rights to Fortuny, and if you were a designer wanting even a single yard of the fabric, you had to go through Ellouise Abbott.
It was a business lesson for Hudson, who managed to keep Fortuny as she learned about the brisk competition in the design world.
I was new to this business and didnt understand that the design hub in this region is Dallas. If you have a showroom in Houston, youre competitive in Houston, but youre not competitive in the region, she said. Betsie summed it up this way: Like it or not, Dallas pulls from five states and Houston pulls from five neighborhoods.
Initially this was a fun little project, Wells Design; it seemed like a good idea at the time. But taking on Ellouise Abbott was serious. Hanging on to those lucrative lines was serious, and competing in Dallas was serious, she said. I was like a deer caught in the headlights, but I managed to hang on. I was able to get scrappy and just figure it out.
Creating a new niche
A vignette inside the Wells Abbott Showroom doors is filled with those colors, and racks of fabric samples nearby create a charming textile boutique with solids, prints and handsome motifs by Fermoie, Nicole Fabric Designs, Fleurons dHelene, Jed Johnson Home, Nicholas Herbert and Chase Erwin. Funkier Pukka Print Linens and prints by Pintura Studio are around the corner.
On a small rack, Jean Roze silk samples dangle like little gems from hanger clips. The Roze line has its own history, dating to 1470 in France, one of the oldest silk factories still in operation.
Hudson has amassed these small boutique lines as part of her business strategy: offering something designers cant find elsewhere in the city.
Lauren has gone out of her way to find uncommon things not only are they wonderful, but they didnt have representation in Texas or, in some cases, the U.S., said J. Randall Powers, one of Houstons most notable interior designers. As a designer, thats appealing. I want to see unusual products or things Ive read about or seen in Europe that are relatively new here.
He also admires Hudsons business sense and tenacity.
I do really love the way she has this gung-ho attitude its very brave. If she had any idea (how tough it is), she wouldnt have done it and I mean that in the kindest way, Powers said. Its like walking to the edge of the high dive and looking down. Sometimes you just run and jump and do it.
Just down the hall are the Lucas/Eilers Design Associates offices, an interior design firm led by Sandy Lucas and Sarah Eilers.
Both knew the original Ellouise Abbott and Betsie Weatherford, too, and theyre glad that Hudson is keeping their friends legacy alive.
They have such a wonderful array, and so many of their lines feel so bespoke the wallpapers that are made on a kitchen table in England or the hand-printed designs that give a real unique feeling to a project, Lucas said.
Ultimately, Lucas and Eilers think that both Herbert Wells and Ellouise Abbott would be pleased with what is now Wells Abbott Showroom.
Ellouise was a wonderful lady, and Herb was such a talented man. Both dedicated their lives to creating businesses that set a level of quality for the city. Its the ultimate compliment that Lauren appreciated that and wanted to keep them going.
Paul and Hunter Bell moved to Houston from Manhattan three-and-a-half years ago. When they needed an interior designer to decorate their new home here, they called on Wells Design in part because Herbert Wells had designed homes for Paul Bells relatives who lived here.
Hunter Bell is a fashion designer who likes more contemporary, forward-looking design. Her husband is more traditional, so it was Hudsons job to create spaces that would please them both, feel unpretentious and handle the wear and tear of the couples three young children.
Their 50s-style Briar Grove home had dark-wood floors, which Hudson had painted a light color, and their foyer has a painted geometric design that reaches into the back hallway. Painted floors were a common theme in Wells projects.
Lauren has so much knowledge and wisdom on these lovely brands and I dont, but I know what I like, Bell said. She and Jerry opened my eyes so much to the interior design world.
diane.cowen@chron.com
Theres nothing ordinary about Enid Almanza.
Almanza wears fur, feathers, bodacious wraps and lace gloves to the grocery store. And like the eccentric designer Karl Lagerfeld, Almanza is rarely seen without his dark sunglasses. Even the fashion models who work with him say they dont see his eyes much.
I dont do this to be pretentious, says the 26-year-old fashion designer, whos a Mexico native. Ive always been dramatic, but theres always a meaning. If I wear a mask of roses, its about the story of my grandmother in Mexico who loved roses. Everything you see is based on a moment Ive lived.
His fashion brand, House of Enid, specializes in creating pieces with an avant-garde spin. So there are golden masks made of zippers and tall crowns made of clothespins. There are body vests that look like armor made from plastic tubing and dresses crafted of vinyl and aluminum.
In 2013, Lady Gaga wore a pair of his sunglasses made of soda cans for the Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular. That put Almanza on the map internationally, but still, in Houston, there was a puzzled response to his work.
I was too outrageous, and Houston didnt get it. Sometimes I doubted myself, but I treated what I did like I was Chanel even though I had $5 in my pocket.
So Almanza poured everything into his first fashion show held at the Heights Theater. Thats where he met creative partner Evey Giron, a graduate of the High School for Performing and Visual Arts who specialized in restoring vintage clothes.
She happened to be dropping off a garment for a client at the theater when she saw photos of Almanzas work and was then introduced to the designer.
I was shocked, moved and inspired by what I saw, Giron said. I knew I wanted to help with his work, so I went home with him.
Actually, Giron spent the next three days in Almanzas home studio helping him sew and construct garments for his show. The two worked nonstop, surviving on Red Bull and doughnuts to get the work done in time. But they almost missed their big moment. The day of the show, both Almanza and Giron overslept and nearly missed it. I fell asleep over the sewing machine, Giron said with a laugh.
Still, the House of Enids debut show, held on Mothers Day 2014 to a packed audience of 500, changed Almanzas life: It took me from being an amateur designer to a true fashion house.
Afterward, Almanza set off for Europe for three years, traveling to Italy, Spain, France and Germany to hone his skill and expand his brand. He returned to Houston even more focused on his craft and opened the House of Enid at Sabine Street Studios, where he uses a variety of textiles vinyl, scuba fabric, aluminum, plastic tubing, knitting yarn, sequins, crystals, pearls, etc. to create his visions, from $25 photo prints to $5,000 masks and dresses.
Almanza and Giron are currently working on the Creation collection with a fashion show planned for later this fall.
Almanza credits the House of Enids growth to its 27,000 Instagram followers. Our success comes from the diversity of people seeing their reflections of themselves in what we do. The House of Enid is a shining light of hope.
With that, Almanza gently adjusts his black rooster-feather jacket on his shoulders.
Lagerfeld would be impressed.
joy.sewing@chron.com
No thinking person would deny the right of a sitting president to appoint a nominee to the Supreme Court when an opening occurs.
Any reasonable observer can see Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has repeatedly been evasive and misleading about his drinking and the misogynistic culture he is said to have taken part in during high school. My first-year law students know that rampant dishonesty disqualifies them as attorneys, and it should disqualify Kavanaugh from the Supreme Court.
As Kavanaugh's name was being considered on a short list for potential Supreme Court nomination during the summer of 2018, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford began the difficult task of bringing to light a deeply disturbing instance of attempted sexual assault. Those allegations were given a prominent hearing last week in a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Dr. Ford walked through her sexual assault, recounting details of that evening, including the "uproarious laughter" she said she heard from Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge during the ordeal, all while educating the committee and many viewers about why the memories of sexual assault victims are extremely reliable.
RAISING THE STAKES: For women's sake, Kavanaugh must be kept off the Supreme Court
Judge Kavanaugh's unfortunate response to these allegations renders him unfit for the Supreme Court, and it should trouble all of us, regardless of our political preference. Kavanaugh responded to these believable allegations by spinning bizarre conspiracy theories and blaming Democratic senators. These were troubling, to be sure, but it was his inability to show deference to the Senate and Dr. Ford that should prevent him from ascending to the highest court. As a law professor, I teach students how to persuade judges. The first lesson is to respect the court. Kavanaugh failed in this basic requirement by failing to respect the Senators doing their Constitutional duty. He refused to answer questions, often speaking over them, and demonstrating a shocking lack of deference.
Supreme Court justices have a difficult task. They must weigh legal texts, evaluate constitutional principles and consider the broader implications of their decision. We have attached the labels "liberal" and "conservative" to how heavily judges weigh these considerations in rendering their opinions.
But no matter their political affiliation, the Supreme Court relies on the parties that appear before them to abide by the decisions they make. This role is such an important one that our system of government tried to set them outside the political ebb and flow by giving justices lifetime appointments, cloaking them in black robes, referring to them as "justices" and setting their court in a marble-clad building modeled after an ancient Greek temple. These things all work in harmony to signify the important role that the Supreme Court serves as co-equal with the executive and legislative branches.
RISKING OUR RIGHTS: Why does a Republican oppose Kavanaugh? The Fourth Amendment.
Judge Kavanaugh failed to respect this process, he failed to respect the Senate and he failed to respect a sexual assault survivor. President Trump should be able to appoint another equally conservative judge to the court. Instead, Kavanaugh and the Trump administration showed to the world how deeply flawed the American legal system is at this moment. American lawyers have too long believed in their own exceptionalism. Lawyers and Americans need to heed this moment and think about how our judicial system and its actors have missed the mark. We have to read, listen to and learn from our colleagues around the world to find a system that can distance the judicial system from politics and sexism.
A good first start would be denying a Supreme Court seat to a man whose honesty is in question and who has been credibly accused of sexual assault.
Derek Fincham is a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, where he teaches legal writing and appellate advocacy.
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The nomination fight over Judge Brett Kavanaugh has injected new volatility into the midterm elections, reshaping races across the country and sharpening the already bitterly partisan tone for the final four-week stretch before Nov. 6.
Much uncertainty remains - not least because of the rapid-fire succession of evolving crises that have marked President Donald Trump's term in office - but for now the weeks-long Kavanaugh saga appears to be pushing House races toward Democrats, even as it has given Republicans better odds of maintaining control of the Senate.
That division stems from the make-up of the races and the political geography of the most competitive battles. House contests this year already were expected to be determined by suburban women, who had pulled away from the president over his term in the White House and appear to be the most sympathetic to Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who testified that Kavanaugh had assaulted her when both were teenagers.
But most of this year's competitive Senate races are in traditionally red states, and as Republicans have rallied to Kavanaugh's side, the chances of Democratic upsets there have dropped, at least for now.
Democrats are growing more concerned about keeping their seats in Indiana, Missouri, and Montana and appear to be losing ground when it comes to potential pick-ups in Texas and Tennessee. One of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who said Thursday that she would vote against Kavanaugh, has fallen far behind her Republican challenger in new polling. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, another vulnerable Democrat, reached for political survival when he became the final senator and only Democrat to announce a vote for Kavanaugh.
But in the House, the Cook Political Report and other predictors have moved more than half a dozen seats in the Democratic direction in recent days, and Republican operatives are bracing themselves for an onslaught of Democratic money that they are calling "a green wave." Gubernatorial races - in which Democrats are trying to regain territory that they've lost in recent years, particularly in the Midwest - are also trending left.
"There's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned Supreme Court fight to polarize the electorate - and that's what we've observed in the past few weeks," said David Wasserman, House editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "The Kavanaugh issue has almost acted as a centrifuge to separate red and blue elements of the electorate even more."
The Supreme Court battle has washed over the campaign in a way that no single issue has before, drowning out topics Democrats want to talk about (health care) or the ones Republicans are pushing (tax cuts and a rosy economy). In a season defined by enough-is-enough female energy - along with white male rage and aggrievement that is stomping back to 2016 levels - the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings were explosive on all fronts.
In recent days, Trump has fiercely defended Kavanaugh and mocked his accusers, candidates have aired new ads on their positions, debates have pivoted on the nomination, and both parties have sensed political advantage in what already had stacked up as an election dependent on each side motivating its base.
The divide into separate camps has been on vivid display among protesters inside the U.S. Capitol - but it is also playing out more subtly in the rest of the country, from retail store parking lots in Fargo, North Dakota, to the bars of Bedminster, New Jersey.
Democrats have always faced a difficult Senate map - six of the competitive seats that they hold are in states Trump won, and five of those states he carried by at least 19 points - but their path now is more treacherous.
In North Dakota, television screens across the state were flashing with ads both attacking Heitkamp and defending her record. At Fargo's VFW Post 762, drinkers pulled their eyes away from the nightly happy hour drink raffle to watch back-to-back political spots.
Now Playing: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders expressed confidence the Senate will vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, adding that once the vote is over, the nation can move forward and "come together as a country." (Oct. 5) Video: Associated Press
Just hours before Heitkamp announced her opposition to Kavanaugh, voters like Stephanie Beyah were still weighing their support for the incumbent based on what the senator might do.
"I think it would be awful [to have Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court]," Beyah, a young woman in her 30s, said as she pushed a cart of purchases through a Target parking lot. "Just beyond the allegations, the way he portrayed himself last week was terrible. This is not a spot on the school board. You're choosing a guy that will change people's lives."
Troy Reich, a burly man in a flannel shirt juggling a stack of boxes as he entered the U.S. Post Office in downtown Fargo, said he was a firm supporter of Heitkamp's opponent, Republican nominee Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. But the Kavanaugh hearings increased his anger at Democrats, and he feels the drama will affect tight races like the Senate contest.
"It was a total witch hunt," Reich said. "I think it was ridiculous, and now they still haven't proven anything. It was totally partisan, and I think it's going to come back around on them."
In Indiana, where Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly is fighting for re-election in a state Trump won by 19 points, the Kavanaugh dispute has riled up conservative male voters who feel he is a victim of partisan smears and unfounded accusations about what amounts to schoolboy antics, said Brian Howey, the author of a website on Indiana politics.
"The allegations of Dr. Ford, they just threw a pipe bomb in this race," Howey said. "Now we're waiting to see who the shrapnel takes out."
Recent polls show a dead heat between Donnelly, who announced his opposition to Kavanaugh last week, and his Republican opponent Mike Braun.
Tim Chapman, the executive director of Heritage Action for America, a conservative political organization, said the Kavanaugh hearing was a "game changer" for red state Democrats like Donnelly.
"He is in a really tough spot," Chapman said. "He is going to vote against Kavanaugh, so for us, that becomes a real issue that we can drive from now until November and remind people that he was on that side."
Kate Oehl, Donnelly's press secretary, said the senator will spend the next month focused on health care, which his campaign believes is a more salient issue for voters.
For Republicans, a major challenge will be keeping their base riled up over how Kavanaugh was treated, even though he was poised to win in the end. Democrats believe that the enthusiasm advantage will shift back their way.
"On our side, the outrage will live for years," said Brian Fallon, a Democratic consultant. "And it'll be very pronounced, particularly among women voters who are already the backbone of the resistance. . . . It'll be year of the women redux."
Democrats believe the Kavanaugh hearings could help them in Nevada - where Rep. Jacky Rosen is running against Republican Sen. Dean Heller for his seat - and in Arizona, where Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Rep. Martha McSally are in a tight race to success Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who opted not to run again.
The dynamics in the House races are completely different because of their political terrain. Of the 68 House races viewed as competitive by the Cook Political Report, only 16 are in states that have a competitive Senate race.
"That's unheard of," Wasserman said. "We just have this huge divergence between the partisanship of the most competitive Senate seats and House seats."
Democrats are feeling confident about winning a net of 23 seats needed to control the House. Already, Republicans are pulling money from several districts they had initially hoped could be within their grasp.
Republicans are suffering particular problems among highly educated voters who live outside urban centers like Kansas City, Philadelphia and Denver.
The National Republican Congressional Committee pulled about $1 million in planned spending from the 3rd Congressional District in Kansas, where Rep. Kevin Yoder is running for re-election. Outside groups have also been pulling ads from districts held by Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., and Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., an indication that they no longer see those races as competitive.
"If the Democratic base gets any more excited they may have to seek medical attention," said Corry Bliss, who runs the Congressional Leadership Fund, which is aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to preserve the House GOP majority. "In the last week things have undeniably improved in our polling. Republican intensity and excitement are through the roof. Now we need to keep the trend going for the next few weeks."
The countervailing forces could be seen in the suburbs outside of Newark, where Republican Leonard Lance is seeking his sixth term in a district that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016.
"It's been a re-energizer, frankly," Janice McLean, 58, said during a Democratic-led protest in New Jersey.
"Republican women are motivated," said Marlene Sincaglia, a retired middle school French teacher, a few hours later and a few miles away.
Lance's opponent, Democrat Tom Malinowski, a former assistant secretary of state under President Barack Obama, released an ad on Sept. 26 featuring a soundbite of Lance seeming to question Ford's allegations that Kavanaugh had assaulted her.
"I think Judge Kavanaugh is a brilliant judge and I tend not to believe the charges," Lance is heard saying on the clip.
Lance told The Post he found Ford's testimony to be credible - as well as Kavanaugh's - and noted that he was among the Republicans who called for an FBI investigation.
Protesters, who have often come to his district office to protest Trump, are now focused on Kavanaugh.
In Westfield, New Jersey, days ago, a 2-year-old girl on her father's shoulders held a message scrawled on the back of a Pampers box: "Believe Women." A 61-year-old artist waved a fluorescent pink sign that said "Hell No Kava-No" in her left hand and a tambourine in her right. Another woman who said her college-age daughter had been raped her freshman year propped up a banner that read "I Believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford!"
Across the district in Berkeley Heights, Lance mingled with constituents nibbling on crudites at a reception before kicking off a Boy Scouts awards dinner. Some of the Republican voters there were fired up - in support of Kavanaugh.
"I look at this and I fear for my 20-year-old son," said Jeanne Kingsley, a Berkeley Heights councilwoman who is a Republican and mother of two sons and two daughters. "I called him and said, 'Do not be alone with a woman. We're in an environment now where someone can say anything they want and not have to back it up.'"
Margaret Illis, another woman at the event, has two sons and two daughters spanning ages 17 to 24. It is her daughters she fears for.
"I don't know a single woman in my generation who wasn't in some way sexually assaulted, whether it was being felt up on the train in New York City or by a boss at a fast food restaurant when you were 16 or a coworker who continually got too close in the elevator," said Illis, 59-year-old former designer and analyst for a software development firm. "I really thought the world had changed. And now I'm opening my eyes to the fact that it hasn't."
Illis, a recently registered Democrat who considers herself an independent, said she has voted for Lance a number of times in the past. She now plans to vote for Malinowski because "I want my daughters to have a better future."
"After the Kavanaugh hearings, people are resolved to do more to try to flip the House," said Illis, who attends house parties where activists send handwritten notes to infrequent voters encouraging them to vote by mail and reminding them of what's at stake.
"I'm passionate now," she said, "about changing my representative in Congress."
- - -
The Washington Post's Laura Meckler contributed to this report.
Paris Williams burst into a northeast Houston laundromat in late 2016, pistol in hand, and fired into the air.
He wanted cash. Instead, the storekeeper dove for the ground, locking the door to the plexiglass-enforced area behind the cash register. Stymied, Williams, and his accomplice, Gabriel Howard, fled moments later.
They wore masks and left few clues. Years ago, that might well have been the end of the case, written off by overburdened investigators as yet another spasm of gun violence northeast of downtown.
This time, however, an officer picked up the forgotten bullet casing and gave it to evidence analysts to compare against a federal ballistics database called the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network, known as NIBIN. Soon they had a lead: the casing matched one from another shooting in a park the day before.
It was something to go on.
Two months later, the suspects were behind bars, nabbed by one of the 2,000 leads in Houston and southeast Texas that have generated more than 100 arrests since federal officials began pushing NIBIN for tackling repeat gun crime.
Even as Houston-area departments credit the ballistics database with leading to more arrests, however, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is still fighting to implement a nationwide gun-fighting strategy among the nations plethora of local and state law enforcement agencies and forensic labs.
At issue: laboratories that often take months to process data, supplying it on the eve of trial instead of during an active investigation; cash-strapped departments that dont consider such testing part of a standard investigation or that balk at the effort needed to speed up testing; and investigators who believe focusing on minor gun crimes those that dont involve injuries or fatalities hampers investigations into on more serious shootings.
We're talking about directly focusing on people that are trigger pullers, Fred Milanowski, Special Agent-in-Charge of ATFs Houston Field Office said. Those are the people we want out of our communities.
Getting comfortable with a gun
Mounting evidence shows that a small portion of shooters commit an outsized portion of gun crimes.
We know that when two shootings are tied together through NIBIN, theres a 50 percent chance that guns are going to be used in another shooting in the next 90 days, Milanowski said, citing a recent study from Rutgers University. Once you're comfortable shooting, youre going to continue to shoot.
The ATF database allows firearms experts to match high-resolution photos of marks left on bullet casings after being fired. The guns' firing pins leave a mark unique to each gun, allowing investigators to connect casings fired at different shootings.
In Houston, those shootings take a notable toll: Firearms were used in more than 600 homicides and suicides in Harris County in 2017, and more guns are recovered in Houston by far than anywhere else in Texas.
The most recent federal data show law enforcement seized 7,398 firearms in Houston last year, more than all the guns collected in Dallas, San Antonio, and Fort Worth combined. After the laundromat shooting, forensic technicians imaged the casing Williams left behind, and entered it into the NIBIN database. That produced a match to the casing left at the park the previous day.
Using clues from those two shootings, investigators from a joint team of Houston police and federal agents ultimately tied the attempted robbery to Williams, 24, who had previously been arrested on burglary charges a year before.
A joint task force of Houston police officers and ATF agents used the NIBIN lead and other clues to bring him in and soon had a case against him.
Spotty implementation
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has spent years trying to convince local agencies to be more proactive in using the database, which is similar to other federal criminal databases of fingerprints and genetic material.
In years past, however, the agency weathered budget shortfalls, disinterested leadership and spotty implementation at the local level, all of which meant that the database was far less effective than it might have been.
ATFs challenge has been to convince the nations fragmented law enforcement system with more than 18,000 agencies across the country to use NIBIN technology as part of a comprehensive effort to curb gun crime. In some states, those efforts have fallen woefully short: In Maryland, officials abandoned a separate ballistics imaging database that failed to produce results despite years of entries. Across the nation, meanwhile, just two states Delaware and New Jersey require law enforcement to use the technology.
Officials say they have renewed backing from the Department of Justice. The agency also received budget appropriations to place imaging machines in 25 more cities across the country. This summer, the agency implemented nationwide operating standards requiring partner agencies to perform and disseminate ballistic analysis within five days or lose access to the database entirely.
In Texas, those efforts are starting to pay off, Milanowski said.
Where testing times at local forensic labs once routinely took as long as 180 days after a shooting allowing cases to stagnate technicians now perform analysis within three days.
Now, most labs across the region have cut that testing time to just a few days, a change officials say is critical to reducing gun crime. Matching those efforts across the region and elsewhere, the Department of Justice imposed guidelines requiring participating agencies to shorten testing times to just two days, a move experts say is critical to making the system actually work.
There was such a time delay between when crimes occurred and hits came out, said William King, a Sam Houston State University criminology professor who previously studied problems with NIBINs effectiveness. Focusing on timeliness -- Im glad ATF has pushed that.
A team of about a dozen investigators from ATF, the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriffs Office took over investigations involving guns used in multiple incidents and funneled leads back to detectives.
Its not enough to get the evidence, to get the hit, said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, whose department recently acquired its own ballistics imaging machine. We have to make sure were aggressively following up on any hit we get on NIBIN. I think thats something new for us, to be honest with you.
Energizing investigators
HPD Assistant Chief Bobby Dobbins credited the system with helping HPD detectives generate dozens of leads in cases within city limits since 2016, as well as others in the county and one as far away as Tulsa, Okla.
Its had a noticeable effect for our officers, Dobbins said. Now they look at it as a tool to reduce the crime in their areas, in a quicker response, so theyre excited to gather more evidence.
North of Houston, the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office obtained and began using its own NIBIN imaging machines in early August, rather than making weekly trips to Harris Countys lab. The department also recently changed policies to require deputies to submit ballistics evidence within 24 hours, with an overall goal of turning leads around within 72 hours.
The quicker we can get the leads out the quicker we can get suspects off the street and hopefully prevent a gun crime, Montgomery County Sheriffs Lt. Scott Spencer said in an email.
Milanowski said ATF also hopes to place a ballistics imaging machine in the Rio Grande Valley, to help speed up gun investigations across South Texas.
Back at the laundromat
At Washateria 4 You, the scent of fresh laundry filled the air on a recent Monday as dryers whirled.
Sandra Nguyen, 50, counted out quarters behind the bulletproof plexiglass in the back of the business. She and her family have run the laundromat, a spartan shop three miles northeast of downtown, since 2001.
It was really bad back then, she said.
Her son, Kenny, an engineer, was working the Sunday her one day off when Williams and Howard burst into the laundromat.
They fired shots into the air, sending terrified customers scattering, then menaced the store clerk as he hid behind the bulletproof cubicle. When that failed to work, they fled.
Williams the main shooter was eventually sentenced to 45 years in prison for aggravated robbery and aggravated assault. Howard, his accomplice, received 10 years for aggravated robbery.
They have to pay for what they did, Nguyen said.
st.john.smith@chron.com
The infamous "La Muneca" who fled the United States before being sentenced for a drug cartel smuggling conspiracy has been extradited back to Texas, according to reports.
The El Paso Times and KFOX-TV report Ana Marie Hernandez, 41, also known as La Muneca, was captured by Mexican authorities in 2015 after she fled the United States nearly five years earlier.
Hernandez, who is the wife of a former U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent Daniel Ledezma, plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to import a controlled substance namely cocaine and another count of aiding and abetting the bribery of a public official namely Ledezma, according to KFOX-TV.
LAWSUIT: Sparkling water has insecticide ingredients, plaintiffs say
Ledezma is serving a nearly 10-year prison sentence for allowing hundreds of pounds of cocaine flow into the U.S. border around 2005 after he was paid $100,000, according to the El Paso Times.
Hernandez was implicated in the cartel bribery and was subsequently charged. She was set for sentencing in 2011, but fled to Mexico for four years before being captured again in 2015.
She is facing up to life in prison for the drug trafficking charge and another 10-year maximum sentence for the bribery charge, according to KFOX-TV.
She is in federal custody in El Paso.
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Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
Imperial Valley News Center
The Wrongful Detention of Tomas Nunez Magdariaga in Cuba
Washington, DC - The United States is gravely concerned about the physical health of Cuban democratic activist Tomas Nunez Magdariaga, who has been on a hunger strike for more than 50 days in protest against his wrongful imprisonment. We understand his health is in a critical state, and that the authorities have denied his family the opportunity to see him.
Cuban authorities arrested Mr. Nunez, a member of Cubas largest opposition group, the Patriotic Union of Cuba, on false charges and convicted him in a sham trial, during which they denied him the opportunity to present witnesses in his favor.
Cuban democracy and human rights activists have long experienced and denounced the Cuban governments use of arbitrary detention on spurious charges as a tool of repression. Mr. Nunezs condition is cruel confirmation of these wrongful practices, and serves as a dark reminder that there is no due process for those who criticize the Cuban government. The United States condemns these practices in the strongest terms, and calls on the Cuban government to release Mr. Nunez, whose life hangs in the balance, and all political prisoners in Cuba.
Imperial Valley News Center
President Trump's National Strategy for Counterterrorism
Washington, DC - Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo: "Todays terrorist threats are more complex, fluid, and fast-moving than ever. Terrorist groups and networks such as al-Qa`ida, ISIS, and Iranian-supported terrorists continue to target us, our allies, and partners. We must combat these threats through a comprehensive and coordinated approach.
"Earlier today, President Trump announced a new National Strategy for Counterterrorism that brings to bear all facets of American power to protect our people and interests. The Presidents strategy emphasizes the importance of diplomacy and the role of international partnerships in combating the terrorist threats we face. The strategy recognizes the need for all nations to equitably share the burden of confronting terrorism, to expand the counterterrorism capabilities of our partners, and to work collaboratively to defeat the terrorists of today and tomorrow. As such, the State Department, in close coordination with other federal agencies, will continue to work with our allies and partners to implement the policies and tools necessary to eliminate our terrorist enemies and their networks of support."
Science and can-do spirit intersect impressively in Southern California pest programs
Los Alamitos, California - A trip to Southern California this week was a welcome reminder of the remarkable work our employees do to protect us from threats posed by invasive species.
My first stop was the joint CDFA/USDA Medfly Preventative Release Program in Los Alamitos. Every day small airplanes fly over the Los Angeles Basin and release millions of sterile Medflies that are reared at the Los Alamitos location and loaded up at an adjacent air strip. The sterile flies have a simple mission locate any wild Medflies in the environment and mate with them. As Medflies mate just once, the steriles disrupt the pests life cycle. The program has been effect for nearly 25 years and has brought a dramatic reduction in the number of Medfly infestations in California.
Secretary Ross with ACP/HLB program manager Magally Luque-Williams at a Southern California property where the tree in the foreground was removed due to HLB.
Another project housed at Los Alamitos is emergency response for Asian citrus psyllid/Huanglongbing (ACP/HLB) detections in Southern California. This program is critical as we continue our work to protect Californias heritage citrus trees at residences and in commercial orchards. I was able to view ACP treatment, HLB tree removal, and delimitation work. It was all enlightening and it left me feeling grateful for the professionalism of our staff and the cooperation and goodwill of the community where all these activities take place.
A great example of that goodwill came near the end of the day two young children at a house where our crews were working came out with a thank you note and a big hug!
The Los Alamitos programs have been headquartered for years in a complex of aging trailers. The dedication and can-do spirit of our staff is the secret to our success there. There is an absolute need for a modernized facility!
New tariffs from China pressure farm exports
Sacramento, California - In the escalating trade conflict between the U.S. and China, more California agricultural products now face new retaliatory tariffs in one of their export markets.
China has implemented a new round of tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, including a wide range of foods and agricultural products. The tariffs came in response to new U.S. duties on $200 billion in Chinese imports.
The new Chinese tariff rates are 5 percent and 10 percent, and target farm products such as wine, cotton, cut flowers and other nursery products, frozen fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, canned peaches, fruit juices, wood and other forestry products, and various processing-tomato products including ketchup, paste and sauces.
Some products are new to the growing list being hit with retaliatory tariffs, whereas others such as wine are incurring multiple hits with this current round.
U.S. wine previously faced an additional 15 percent tariff in April, when China first imposed tariffs on $3 billion worth of U.S. products in retaliation for new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. This week, China implemented new tariffs of 5 percent and 10 percent on U.S. wine, sparkling wine and other wine-based beverages. When compounded with existing duties, the new total tax rate will equal 79 percent, the Wine Institute said.
Despite the increased tariffs, U.S. wine exports to China and Hong Kong90 percent of which are from Californiawent up 34 percent to $118 million during the first seven months of this year, the institute reported.
While increased tariffs are challenging, Chinese consumers are clearly attracted to California wines and appreciate the high quality and great diversity of wines from the Golden State, said Linsey Gallagher, the institutes vice president of international marketing.
Roger Isom, president and CEO of the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, described the increased tariffs on cotton as devastating because the state exports 100 percent of its cotton, with the majority going to China. California cotton exports to China were valued at $88.5 million in 2016, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
China imposed a 25 percent tariff on U.S. uncarded and uncombed cotton in July. In this current round, U.S. carded and combed cotton will be assessed a 10 percent tariff on top of an existing 40 percent tariff. Other cotton products from the U.S. also will be taxed 5 percent.
The higher tariffs come at a time when Chinese cotton reserves are depleted and demand is high for the states higher-end pima cotton, Isom said.
Prices on the lint side are very goodor were, he said. Once these tariffs started coming out and started being announced, the market has dropped and, more importantly, contracts have been canceled or (there are) no new contracts. Were sitting on pins and needles as to whats going to happen.
Though cotton exporters are looking to alternative marketsCalifornia also ships to Europe, Southeast Asia and MexicoIsom said those other markets arent looking for what we have or arent willing to pay the prices the states high-end cotton commands.
He said hes very concerned the tariffs will remain in place past December and into next year, noting that historically when cotton prices become too expensive, buyers turn not only to lower-quality cotton but alternative fabrics such as polyester and rayon.
For crops such as cut flowers, the new tariffs have stalled any efforts to gain additional trade opportunities in China, said Kasey Cronquist, CEO of the California Cut Flower Commission. Though the group completed its second trade mission to China in June and some farms have been establishing business relationships there, he said the current situation has us in a holding pattern until the trade disputes resolve.
We were already facing steep tariffs into China and dont have so much trade going into China, Cronquist said.
Ismael Mel Resendiz, a flower grower in San Diego County who specializes in proteas, was part of the commissions trade mission and described China as a big potential opportunity for our business. Because Chinas climate and soil are not well suited to growing the type of exotic flowers he produces, buyers there want his products, he said.
It was a huge opportunity to expand our business in China, but with whatever is going on right now, looks like its not going to happen, Resendiz said.
For now, he said he will focus on his existing export markets, including Japan, Canada and South Korea, which he described as really good and growing.
For the 30 timber companies in California, the ongoing trade disputes and tariffs have been a mixed bag, depending on the type of wood they produce, said Rich Gordon, president of the California Forestry Association. A wide range of wood products now face a 10 percent tariff going into China. He said a couple of companies that had orders pending to China reported canceled sales due to the new tariffs.
China is not buying California timber, Gordon said. The Chinese said, Were not going to buy American products right now.'
Because wood is not perishable and can be stored, he said some companies will hold onto product and see what happens to the markets.
Meanwhile, shelled almonds and fresh sweet cherries have been added to the commodities eligible to receive direct payments under the Market Facilitation Program, part of a three-part, $12 billion aid package meant to help U.S. farmers directly affected by retaliatory tariffs. Previously, payments were available only to producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy and hogs.
See the original post on the California Farm Bureau Federation site here.
Assistant Secretary of State Kirsten D. Madison Travels to Florida To Engage U.S. and Foreign Law Enforcement Officials
Washington, DC - Assistant Secretary of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Kirsten D. Madison will travel to Orlando, FL, today to participate in a major police chiefs meeting.
The Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), a professional association of police chiefs and sheriffs from the largest U.S. and Canadian cities, is holding its annual fall meeting in Orlando. Following this meeting, Assistant Secretary Madison will host a reception for INLs foreign and U.S. law enforcement partners, many of whom are in Orlando for a training at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Annual Conference.
INL has established partnerships with 107 U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement, corrections, justice sector, and ports institutions to provide criminal justice expertise to international counterparts. Through these partnerships, INL taps into U.S. expertise to help foreign counterparts build capacity, improve efficiencies, and deliver effective criminal justice all key activities for effectively countering the transnational crime and narcotics trafficking that threatens our nation.
Kingdom of Lesotho National Day
Washington, DC - Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo: "On behalf of the Government of the United States of America, it is my honor to send best wishes to the people of the Kingdom of Lesotho on your Independence Day.
"The United States and Lesotho have a long history of partnership, including a particular focus on issues of health. We look forward to continued cooperation between our two countries, especially toward our shared goal of an AIDS-free generation. The United States values its friendship with Lesotho and remains committed to working together to build a healthy and prosperous Basotho nation.
"We wish the Basotho people continued success as you celebrate your national day."
Secretary of State Pompeo's Call With Iraq's Prime Minister-Designate Adil Abd al-Mahdi
Washington, DC - Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke with Adil Abd al-Mahdi, Iraqs new Prime Minister-Designate.
The Secretary congratulated Abd al-Mahdi on his designation as Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq and said he looked forward to working closely with him to help his government deliver stability, security, and prosperity for all Iraqis.
Secretary of State Pompeo's Call With Maldives President-elect Solih
Washington, DC - Secretary Michael R. Pompeo spoke by phone today with Maldivian President-elect Ibrahim Solih to congratulate him on his recent electoral victory.
The Secretary congratulated the Maldivian people for coming out to vote in overwhelming numbers despite challenges. The Secretary noted that the election reflected the will of the Maldivian people, which all parties in the country should respect. He said the United States looks forward to President-elect Solihs inauguration in November and expanding U.S. cooperation with Maldives in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
(Update: After this article was published, I heard from the largest union representing flight attendants about their reaction to the biggest surprises in this law.)
There's giant news out of Washington today that will radically affect life for airline passengers, flight attendants, and other employees. And it has nothing to do with that "other" big Washington story--the one about the Supreme Court.
Instead, this is about the Federal Aviation Administration bill that President Trump signed into law a little before 3 p.m. Friday--just before the moment when everyone else in Washington was watching a key senator's speech about Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
To be clear, there's no suggestion that the White House intentionally picked a time when people weren't paying attention to sign the bill. This law had passed Congress with overwhelming support, and industry players and airline lobbyists have been watching it like hawks for a long time.
But it is striking, given that Congress passed this bill at literally 2:52 in the morning on a Saturday two weeks ago, that it would also be signed at the White House in relative obscurity.
It seems very few people even noticed. I knew about it only because I'd emailed the White House asking for an update on the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 earlier in the day.
The story of this law has been dominated largely by what isn't in it: no restrictions on what airlines can charge for baggage or change fees. But it still changes a lot of things. Here's a quick summary of what's included.
Caroline Lucas is urging British people to reconnect with nature to address the mental health epidemic facing the country.
In a speech lamenting the decline of British wildlife, the Green Party co-leader will call for the government to change planning rules to ensure everyone in the UK has access to green space.
While acknowledging environment secretary Michael Gove has taken green issues far more seriously than his predecessors, Ms Lucas will describe the bigger picture as abysmal.
The UK has been described as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with around 15 per cent of its wildlife facing extinction.
Experts have warned that iconic species like hedgehogs and wildflowers have faced catastrophic declines in recent years due to pesticide use, land conversion and climate change.
According to Ms Lucas, neither of the major political parties had adequately grappled with this crisis, despite warm words from Theresa May about leaving the environment in a better state than we found it.
Chris Packham explains why The People's Walk for Wildlife is important
To save the British countryside and improve the nations health, Ms Lucas will emphasise the importance of individuals connecting with and understanding nature.
All of us need to get back in touch with nature. Were facing a mental health epidemic in this country alongside the systematic degradation of our land, Ms Lucas will say.
Nearly two-thirds of people say they have experienced a mental health problem and this rises to seven in every 10 women, young adults and people living alone.
Research shows moving to greener areas improves peoples mental wellbeing for the long term but with those living in the most deprived areas having the highest rates of mental health problems and the least access to green spaces, we should be taking nature to the people.
That means the government changing planning rules to ensure everyone in the UK lives within five minutes walk of a nature-rich green space, where local people can get involved in regenerating our depleted ecosystem improving the health of communities and the environment.
These comments will come at a panel event Ms Lucas is chairing at the Green Party autumn conference in Bristol.
British mammals fight for survival Show all 11 1 /11 British mammals fight for survival British mammals fight for survival The Mammal Societys assessment of Britains mammal populations is the first such review in over 20 years. The results reveal winners and losers, and highlight some of the key threats facing the countrys wildlife such as habitat loss, invasive species and the spread of diseases. British mammals fight for survival Hedgehogs Populations of the much-loved insectivore may have declined by as much as 73% Richard Bowler British mammals fight for survival Greater mouse-eared bats Only one of these flying mammals has been recorded in the whole country, in a railway tunnel in West Sussex Andrew Harrington British mammals fight for survival Rabbits Despite being a common sight across the countryside, rabbits have decreased in number by nearly 10% Danni Thompson British mammals fight for survival Black Rats Though not generally considered threatened animals, black rats number have collapsed in recent years due largely to pest control measures. However their far more common cousins, the brown rats, are thriving. Tim Melling British mammals fight for survival Red Squirrels Though it is difficult to measure changes in squirrel numbers, their range has shrunk considerably due largely to the spread of squirrel pox virus by invasive grey squirrel Alistair Marsh British mammals fight for survival Wildcats There has been a marked decline in wildcat populations, with only around 200 left in Scotland Rachel Profit British mammals fight for survival Badgers Due to legal protections badgers have recovered from past persecution and the density of their setts (holes) has increased by over 100% in recent decades Phil Mumby British mammals fight for survival Otters The banning of persistent organic pesticides has had a positive population effect on otters Allan Chard British mammals fight for survival Fallow Deer The 2018 review estimates a population size of fallow deer almost three times the size of that estimated in the 1995 review a positive trend that is seen in other deer species. James Shooter British mammals fight for survival Eurasian Beavers These aquatic mammals were nearly extinct in Europe at the start of the 20th century, but their reintroduction to the UK have been largely successful Paul Scott
To instil a love of nature in the next generation, Ms Lucas has also been campaigning for the government to introduce a natural history GCSE that will give children the tools to protect Britains dwindling wildlife.
Mr Gove has agreed to discuss this idea at a meeting on 29 October.
In September Ms Lucas marched on Downing Street with around 10,000 wildlife lovers at the The Peoples Walk for Wildlife.
The event was launched by naturalist Chris Packham to raise awareness of the plight of Britains nature and galvanise a generation of activists to save it from destruction.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a worldwide annual campaign involving thousands of organisations, to highlight the importance of breast cancer awareness, education and research.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK: around 55,000 women are diagnosed every year. One in eight are expected to receive a breast cancer diagnosis in their lifetime.
To help take action against the disease, big retailers collaborate annually with cancer charities to create limited edition products that give back to the cause.
So, this October, make your buying power count by looking and feeling good while doing good.
From T-shirts to lingerie and fragrances, theres something for everyone to join in this Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Fashion
Girl vs Cancer
Bosom Buddies Tit-Tee, 28, Girl vs Cancer
The brainchild of Lauren Mahon a fashion blogger, presenter of the podcast You, Me and the Big C, and breast cancer survivor Girl vs Cancer is donating 25 per cent of sales from its range of boobie-inspired garb to a number of partner charities, including CoppaFeel!, Trekstock, Future Dreams and Look Good Feel Better.
As well as T-shirts emblazoned with words like Bangers and Knockers, Girl vs Cancers third launch is created in collaboration with London-based illustrator Poppy Papercuts. Now, you can get your hands on everything from comfy sweatshirts to aptly named Tit-Tees and tote bags featuring three brand new designs.
Marks and Spencer
Supersoft Hooded Long Sleeve Dressing Gown, 28, Marks and Spencer
This October, Marks and Spencer is helping to fund breast cancer research by donating 20 per cent of proceeds from a range of selected pink products to Breast Cancer Now.
Pieces featuring in the selection include Rosie for Autograph underwear, pyjamas, vests and cosy dressing gowns.
The Daily Edited
Cocktail House Mini Cross Body Bag, 85, The Daily Edited
For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Australian luxury fashion brand The Daily Edited has partnered with New York illustrator But Like Maybe on a limited edition collection.
A portion of proceeds from each product will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Our favourite is the Cocktail House Mini Cross Body Bag which you can personalise with up to four initials for free.
Stella McCartney
Rose Romancing Soft Cup Bra, 110, Rose Romancing Briefs, 85, Stella McCartney
British fashion designer Stella McCartney has released the Rose Romancing bra and brief set in support of breast cancer charities the Hello Beautiful Foundation, Memorial Sloan Kettering and the Linda McCartney Centre, which is named after Stellas mother who died of the disease in 1998 at the age of 56.
A statement from the brand reads: The Rose Romancing set is something beautiful that provides a positive message to break the taboos associated with Breast Cancer; while also highlighting the fact that each and every person, regardless of where they live, what they look like, or what they believe in, can be affected and deserves access to preventative education, holistic support and advanced breast cancer care.
Asda
Tickled Pink Textured Formal Longline Coat, 35, Asda
This year supermarket Asda has launched a Breast Cancer Awareness Month collection that includes everything from outerwear to tops, bobble hats, pyjamas and lounge socks.
If you still need to invest in a winter coat, the Tickled Pink Textured Formal Longline Coat is a perfect way to spoil yourself and help researchers keep working to prevent breast cancer. Costing 35, Asda will ensure that 3.50 from every sale will be split equally between Breast Cancer Now and Breast Cancer Care.
Beauty
GHD
ghd gold by Lulu Guinness, 139, ghd
The longstanding collaboration between ghd and global breast cancer charities has raised more than 10m over the past 14 years and the brand hopes to make this years donation even bigger.
For 2018, ghd has joined forces with Lulu Guinness to create a limited edition featuring Lulus iconic lip print on the new ghd gold styler and ghd air hairdryer, with 10 from every purchase going to Breast Cancer Now.
If you cant afford to buy anything from the range, you can join the movement and help raise additional funds for Breast Cancer Now via social media. For every pouting selfie that is posted on Instagram using #KissThisCancer and tagging @ghdhair and @breastcancernow, ghd will donate an additional 1 to Breast Cancer Now.
Coco & Eve
Like a Virgin Hair Mask, 34.90, Coco & Eve
This year Coco & Eve is showing its support for breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel! which aims to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, and educate young people on the importance of regularly checking their breasts or pecs.
Throughout the month of October, it will be donating 20 per cent of profits from sales of its Like a Virgin Mask.
Jo Malone
Red Roses Cologne, 100ml, 94, Jo Malone
Jo Malone is donating a huge 20 per cent of every sale of its Red Roses 100ml Cologne to the Breast Cancer Campaign Foundation throughout October 2018.
A seriously romantic fragrance, you wont regret splurging on this modern take on a traditional rose scent.
Elemis
Limited Edition Pro-Collagen Rose Cleansing Balm, 68, Elemis
Elemis has launched a dedicated product in support of Breast Cancer Care for an impressive 18 years and this year is no different.
This time round, the skincare brand has unveiled its Limited Edition Pro-Collagen Rose Cleansing Balm and has promised to donate 25,000 irrespective of how many it sells.
Invisibobble
Slim Time to Pink Hair Tie, 5.99, Look Fantastic
Fun, functional and philanthropic, Invisibobble has launched a limited edition version of its original design to support breast cancer awareness, the Time to Pink Hair Tie.
A unique and ultra-comfortable hair tie that prevents headaches, kinks and tangling, Invisibobble is donating 25 per cent of its earnings from this product to a breast cancer charity voted for during September.
Have you ever wondered where all the Burmese restaurants are? I suspect not.
Its probably the most underrepresented region of Asia in this country, where were obsessed with Asian food to the point that Chinese and Indian cuisines have seeped into British culture and formed solid roots, which is thanks to the waves of immigration throughout the past century.
Theres only an estimated 14,000 Burmese people living in the UK, while across the world, there are 4.2 million Burmese people in 17 countries, including Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Thailand and America.
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The majority of Burmese people living outside the country left during the 1960s military dictatorship (which replaced colonial rule) and lasted until 2016.
But Myanmar hasnt managed to free itself from its problems. Between 2016 and 2017 an estimated 625,000 of the million Rohingya Muslims, one of the countrys 135 ethnic groups, fled Rakhine state to Bangladesh. Declared by the UN as ethnic cleansing, the country was widely condemned for Aung San Suu Kyis refusal to admit the true state of the issue, which obviously sat uneasy with those who previously supported her.
Dan Anton and Zaw Mahesh take inspiration from their Burmese heritage and source local and traditional ingredients to create Lahpets dishes (Kathrin Werner)
As a fresh-faced young country, it opened up to the world in 2013: with sanctions lifted and borders opened came travel and the introduction of its food to the rest of the world.
One of the first TV crews allowed into the country five years ago was the team behind Parts Unknown, Anthony Bourdains food-based travel documentary series. Myanmar was the first episode of what went on to be eight series, and for many formed the first glimpse into a world that had been locked away for years.
When the borders opened in 2013, Anthony Bourdian and his TV crew were some of the first allowed in, and shot the first episode of Parts Unknown (CNN)
He brought a whole new dimension to Asian food, eating in traditional tea houses that were previously hot beds for uncensored news and undercover police during military rule, street food vendors and lively night markets, eating classic dishes in his down to earth manner.
In London, which is no doubt considered the food capital of the UK, theres only a handful of places where you can eat Burmese food.
Lahpet, Burmese for tea leaf, offers modern interpretations of traditional dishes, most of them inspired by what the chefs used to eat in Myanmar as children (Kathrin Werner)
To date, there are only three permanent sites in London: the Mandalay, a long-running family-run cafe which recently relocated to a larger restaurant on Kilburn High Road with Indian, Chinese and Thai influences, Shan State in China Town, and Lahpet in Shoreditch.
The latter is pushing Burmese food to the forefront of Londons food scene, not only with its on-point location and Instagrammable interiors, but with its gorgeous and fascinating food created by Dan Anton and Zaw Mahesh, who both have Burmese heritage.
If you know the first thing about Burmese food, youll know the word lahpet is Burmese for tealeaf, its national dish. And of course, thats on the menu along with other traditional dishes like fritters, and salads and fish.
The salads are a dazzling array of colours, full of crunch from beans, crispy, finely chopped vegetables, and whole nuts, with an intense flavour of sunrise dried shrimp, garlic and chillies.
The cuisine is based on sweet, sour, salty and spicy and its a balance of all of them. One of it's most popular dishes is mohinga: a spicy, hot bowl of rice noodles with fish and topped with eggs and flavoured with lemongrass, chilli, ginger and coriander, and its mostly eaten for breakfast.
The new permanent Shoreditch site is much larger than the previous one down the road in Hackney (Kathrin Werner)
Its a modern version of Burmese food, something that people in Myanmar would certainly recognise, but also something that is not too intimidating for people in the UK. People in the UK need to be comfortable with a knife and fork, says Zaw. So dishes are designed to be eaten this way, rather than with your hand, as some are in Myanmar.
I think the reason there are so few Burmese restaurants is because not many people have left the country, so theres not the demand for it, says Zaw.
He left Myanmar aged 10, and cooks dishes from his memories of the food his mother and grandmother cooked at home, whom he still calls to ask for help with some recipes. But here, theres no one to learn from, he says.
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Zaw made tofu, which took six months to perfect, after remembering how a neighbour made it back home in Myanmar when he was just 7 years old.
Although its Burmese food, Zaw aims to use as much local produce as possible, which comes with its own sourcing issues. And of course, he has to import some indigenous ingredients that just dont grow in the UK, such as the traditional tea leaf.
Aside from permanent locations, another team cooking up Burmese food is Cordelia Peel, who is of Burmese descent, Lucy Aebischer and Emma Bebb. Cordelia recently gave up her doctors training to focus more on her Burmese food supper club Bagan, named after the ancient city in the country. Last month, she and her team partnered with Conflict Cafe to offer three nights, serving 75 people a night, to raise awareness of the problems the Rohingya people face in the country.
Bagans semolina cake: the touring supper club is one of the only places that offers the whole experience, with sights, smells and sounds alongside the food (Bagan)
Bagan is still one of the very few places for the public to eat Burmese food in the UK. Its not like this in San Francisco, says Lucy.
Burmese food is really big there and theres a huge community.
Although most of what the world has seen and heard from the country in the past few years hasnt all been positive, it still makes people more interested in it. I think Burma is more on the map now. I hope more people will be more interested in it now tourism has opened up.
Cordelia and her team served Burmese food at a popup with Conflict Cafe last month and to raise awareness of the hardships faced by Rogingya in the country
For Cordelia, what theyre doing with the Bagan supper clubs is a whole experience that focuses on food, along with the sights, smells and sounds of the country. Its all about drawing people in and getting them excited.
We all know what Thai and Indian food is like, but in the middle of those countries is something thats taken inspiration from them all.
I always describe Burmese food as a coming together of lots of ethnic groups, as theres so many of them and theyve all made the cuisine their own, she says.
In the north its inspired by China with Shan noodles, while the west takes some of the Bangladeshi cuisine into it with more spice, and Indian and Thai food are in there too.
But its still like any other cuisine, and because it relies heavily on lots of different condiments, theres so many variations and flavours. Theres always a joke at Bagan that I cook 17 different types of crispy onions as theres always so many elements to one dish. Next year, Cordelia and her team hope to run a Burmese supper club once a month in a few different locations that will hopefully become a semi-permanent addition to the growing Burmese food scene here.
Standing atop a ladder, I gaze into simmering soup. Comforting, hot barley tickles my nose and, like only olfactory memories do, pulls me though space and time as I close my eyes and inhale:
Its the aroma that blankets Cardiff city centre a few times a week; that flies down Edinburghs Princes Street on chilly winds from the west of town; that stung the unseasoned nostrils of my brother and I when we were kids taking turns to investigate the bitter liquid bubbling away in Dads kitchen containers (what the hell did the grownups like about this?): beer on its way into this world.
With a taproom too, the New Bristol Brewery is a one-stop shop for teaching, making and enjoying beer (Nicci Peet)
In the present at New Bristol Brewery, home to Bristol Brewery School, the smell of sweet cereal (like warm Weetabix), with a slight undertone of dog biscuit (pleasing once youre used to it), rises from the mash tun (a huge, cylindrical, wood-jacketed pot) into which Im staring, and where an hour ago, eager students emptied bag after bag of grain.
This 15-strong group and I are on the schools day-long Brewing Crash Course: an entry level class for aspiring professionals and homebrewers, and one of an extensive portfolio of brewing, tasting and business-focused programmes offered on campus.
The brainchild of New Bristol founder Noel James and his wife Maria Knowles, its the UKs first brewery school within a brewery and takes the form of a charming ski chalet slap-bang in the middle of the premises. Conveniently, the tap rooms there too: its a one-stop shop where beer is taught, made and enjoyed.
Craft beers explosion has been fed in no small part by homebrewers going professional. The trickle, then downpour, of progressive styles that have gained popularity over the past couple of decades has provided plenty of inspiration and attracted newcomers to the scene.
And with brewers looking to move their fledgling operations from sheds, cupboards and kitchens to industrial units, theres been an upshoot in the demand for knowledge.
We constantly had people ringing up and asking if they could come and help us as they were desperate to learn from experienced brewers, says Knowles. Branching out into education was the obvious choice. Weve now had a number of students who have gone on to open their own microbreweries in the UK and we love hearing their success stories.
The rise of this business model is why the DIY scene has become increasingly accessible and attractive. This end of the brewing spectrum values micro over mega; provenance, storytelling and small-scale innovation; and generally giving each other a hand.
For James and Knowles, setting up a school inside the brewery was the obvious choice (Bristol Brewery School)
Noel was really surprised and happy to learn how helpful and transparent the brewing industry is, Knowles says when I ask what its like to be arming future competition. We all work cohesively as a group movement.
Full disclosure: Im not a complete beginner Ive had a few forays into the dumbed-down version of homebrewing, which basically involves tipping a gloopy can of extract into hot water and adding yeast. All-grain brewing is the next step up, so Ive been geeking out in preparation and have high hopes to restart production at home.
Tutor Johnny Mills heads up the course, which cuts between the school and the brewery proper, observing James on a professional brew day. Mills is something of a brewing genius, with a catalogue of qualifications: a one-man beer and biochemistry encyclopaedia. I can see why the day is aimed at future commercial brewers as well as beginners.
Science and technical know-how is served up with an in-depth knowledge of the raw ingredients. We crunch our way though I-cant-count-how-many varieties of malted barley; crush the hops scattered on our desks, the wildly complex aromas flooding the classroom; and pop out periodically for key stages in the brewing process, perhaps providing a tokenistic stir of the mash or helping with bags of spent grain here and there. Bless us.
Some of the brewing equipment on site: fermeters (left), mash tun (front right) and brew kettle, where the freshly made wort is boiled (Bristol Brewery School)
And though we cant taste the fruits of todays (Jamess) labours, fresh and tasty draughts are served with increasing frequency from lunchtime towards the end of the day to soften the blow. Thankfully, Millss course notes come fully typed up and bound.
To say the day is a learning experience would be an understatement I head off buzzing with excitement and brewing pipe dreams. Before I move back to the Highlands to persuade my dad back into the beer game though, Ill be making some brewing space in my London flat.
Craft brewing, at home and commercially, is linked to a set of values that are changing the way huge numbers of us consume and thats a necessary shift. Sustainable, transparent, local, small-batch, farm-to-table, quality over quantity trendiness aside, the quality of our food and drink experiences rests now on a greater connection to, and appreciation of, ingredients and process.
As a beer lover, you dont have to know how it works. A great cohort of regular drinkers cant name the four main ingredients, and thats fine. For me though, theres immense satisfaction in understanding the science and the ingredients, and using those in as basic a form as I can get; in escaping the desk, using all my senses and cliched though it is knowing Ive worked for it.
Homebrewtique offers tiny-batch kits that allow you to experiment with flavours and pairings (Homebrewtique)
Putting it to the test
I test out my new found skillset with an all-in-one brewing kit from Homebrewtique. The companys pioneering tiny-batch sets take the all-grain process and boil it down (brewing joke alert) into simple steps which, thanks to dinky equipment, are brilliantly suitable for city dwellers challenged for space.
Kits contain everything you need to begin from scratch (provided you have access to filtered water). Each batch yields 12 bottles or a mini-keg, and you can choose from a range of predetermined recipes or build your own, choosing from metrics such as style, ABV, hops and yeast type.
You can choose from predetermined recipes or build your own, and gift sets are available (Homebrewtique)
Co-founder Claire Russell and her business partner had a few bad experiences with questionable homebrew kits that prioritised yield and cost, and spotted a gap in the market for quality kits where one could customise flavour, experiment with pairings and brew with top quality ingredients.
The second source of motivation was their desire to kick beers old masculine stereotype once and for all. Now we have some fantastic ambassadors for women and beer and through them the message is starting to get out there, says Russell. Women are starting to put their hands up and make some noise about inequalities in the beer industry. Theyve created #shedrinksbeer to help push their ethos yet further.
My India Black Ale kit really is a joy to use. With my new skills from Bristol, I barely have to read the instructions, but following them is perfectly straightforward, the laboured step of lautering (straining out) the grain eased hugely by Homebrewtiques special brewing bag.
Bottling in particular, which once left my entire Edinburgh flat looking like the beer-pocalypse had hit, was conducted with minimal mess and stress. Siphons out, brewing wand in. At the time of writing, my bottled beers are still conditioning developing their final fizz.
Russell says the biggest challenge was getting away from homebrews old roughnready image. Many people have experience of home brewing in some form and generally its not positive. Today its focused on quality and creativity: the end product is king.
Find out more about Bristol Brewery Schools courses at bristolbreweryschool.co.uk
Melania Trump has been heavily criticised for wearing a white pith helmet in Africa, due to its association with colonial rule.
The first lady of the United States is currently visiting the continent as part of her first international solo trip since her husband became president.
While in the Nairobi National Park in Kenya, Ms Trump was filmed feeding baby elephants that had been raised in the park.
She opted to wear tan-coloured trousers, knee-length boots and white shirt, and accessorised with a pith helmet.
But as many people pointed out on social media, the pith helmet is heavily symbolic of colonial rule.
That pith helmet you have carried was used by colonialists during the dark days. Doesnt sit well with us Africans. Who advised you? one person tweeted.
Melania Trump wearing a pith helmet on her trip to Africa is more than a silly sartorial choice, another person wrote.
Its a reflection of her outdated understanding of Africa.
The pith helmet was frequently worn by European travellers and explorers visiting areas such as Africa, southeast Asia and the tropics in the late 19th Century.
Military personnel from countries such as Britain, France, Spain and Italy would wear the helmet while commanding colonial armies.
Elliot Ross, a doctoral candidate at Columbia University, explained the significance of the pith helmet.
The pith helmet is sometimes used to denote a frontier spirit of adventure and exploration, This is wrong, he said.
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Their historical social role was to emblematise white fragility and anxieties, as well as blurring the distinction between white civilians and colonial police/army.
Personally, I think the US First Ladys decision to wear a pith helmet is appropriate.
The regime shes representing in Kenya is a white supremacist one whose policies and ideological grounding are a continuation of earlier forms of imperialism, represented by the pith helmet.
Before feeding the baby elephants at the Nairobi national park, Ms Trump had to be pulled out of harms way by her bodyguard as one of them charged at her.
The British telephone box is not dead yet. In parts of central London, a box stands sentinel every 100 feet and if phone companies got their way, theyd plant one every 50 feet.
But these are not the red cast-iron cubicles that for generations were emblems of Britain. Instead, critics say, they are eyesores, covered in digital ad screens and capable of being turned into surveillance posts.
Worst of all, perhaps, some are being imported from New York.
The result is a battle over Britains public space, waged between local city planners and telecommunications firms. The most contentious fight is in Westminster, in the heart of London, where new phone kiosks are being squished between construction barriers and bus stops on crowded streets.
The classic red booths, with domed roofs and molded royal crowns, were rendered obsolete by the rise of mobile phones. Yet, phone companies never relinquished their rights to the sidewalk. Under British rules that have effectively been in place since before the iPhone existed, phone boxes are still considered vital infrastructure, and companies with proper licenses can keep building them so long as local councils cannot credibly object to the particular site or design.
The new boxes would join, or in some cases replace, of the grimy phone boxes already on the streets (Getty)
And so the phone companies set about to put up a new kind of booth: two-sided digital displays with internet connectivity and touch-screen maps that flash craft beer and credit card ads and also have a phone attached.
A lot of them are advertising totems with a telephone handset on it, said John Walker, director of planning for Westminster City Council. Theyre just a blot on the landscape.
Some councils are being flooded with phone box proposals at numbers 900 per cent higher than a few years ago, according to an association of councils in England and Wales. Companies have submitted proposals for 300 new and replacement kiosks in the last two years in Westminster alone, where the boxes already stand six to a block on a stretch of busy Edgware Road.
The councils are lobbying the central government to change the law.
Critics say the two-sided digital displays are an eyesore capable of being turned into surveillance posts (Alamy)
Critics call the profusion of high-tech, advertising-centric booths kiosks, in the new parlance of phone companies one piece of a broader sell-off of Britains public space. The phone boxes passed from public into private hands in the 1980s when British Telecom was privatised under Margaret Thatcher and its monopoly over the booths ended.
Now, with austerity measures slashing maintenance budgets and leaving streets gashed with potholes, councils are also contending with proposals for what they call glorified billboards.
Some of the proposals in Westminster are for traditional booths with a wall for advertising. Others, like the New York imports, called InLink kiosks, are sleek-looking internet-connected posts with touchscreen maps and electronic signs that flash at passersby while also, privacy advocates say, harvesting data from their phones. Theyre a collaboration between BT, the descendant of British Telecom; Intersection, a smart cities firm with links to Googles parent company, Alphabet; and an outdoor advertising giant.
The most contentious fight is in Westminster, where kiosks are squished onro crowded streets (Shutterstock) (Shutterstock/Anna Moskvina)
Planning documents say the InLink kiosks are expected to be able to anonymously monitor things like pedestrian movement, raising concerns that they can follow anyone whose phone passes within wifi range. The kiosks also come equipped with cameras, though BT says they have not yet been turned on.
The infrastructure for building a surveillance network is being installed on British streets, says Adrian Short, a data analyst who has built a web portal to track InLink applications. And councils either dont have or dont feel they have the right to refuse them.
The new boxes would join or, in some cases, replace a hodgepodge of grimy 1990s-era phone boxes already on the street.
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And because each of Londons 33 local authorities deals separately with planning, it falls to teams of local planners to sift through stacks of phone box proposals.
Walker said they arrive at his Westminster office in paper stacks dozens at a time, sometimes just before the Christmas holiday. Then the clock starts ticking: 56 days until, in the absence of an objection from the council, the phone company has the right to start work.
Establishing credible objections is a laborious process, forcing planners to solicit input from nearby businesses and traffic specialists. The phone companies often promise to remove two 1990s-era boxes for every new one they add, but Walker said Westminster did not want any, period.
The K2 telephone box was voted one of Britains top 10 design icons in 2006 (Getty)
Matthew Carmona, a professor of planning and urban design at University College London, said the situation has, in a way, caught policymakers by surprise. After removing phone boxes that fell into disuse with the rise of mobile phones, he said, the phone companies have realised they can make money from them in a different way, and in doing that they can bypass any regulations.
The spread of the phone boxes has also exposed the drawbacks of Londons fragmented planning system. Accommodations for the visually impaired, for example, differ in each of Londons boroughs.
Sarah Gaventa, a former design adviser to the British government, said a public art project she was working on had required dozens of applications to seven different local authorities, a barrier she said did not exist in other major European cities.
New York City, faced with corner after corner of disused pay phones, took a different tack. It solicited proposals for a custom-designed phone box, and though problems have cropped up with the internet-connected kiosks, the city is now expected to earn half a billion dollars over 12 years from its cut of the advertising revenue.
Some people have come up with creative ways to repurpose disused boxes (AFP/Getty)
London, on the other hand, has largely been left to watch as rival companies vie for space on the streets.
By replacing old booths with internet-connected kiosks, the phone companies say they are decluttering streets and giving Britons and tourists alike modern tools for navigating the city, resulting in more calls and frequent use of the touchscreens. Neil Scoresby, BTs general manager for payphones and InLink, said the company complied with planning laws and, on occasion, agreed to remove a box a council didnt want.
InLink said the company only stores unique identifiers for peoples phones after they sign up for the service and does not currently track pedestrian movement.
Westminster City Council has rejected around 175 applications for additional or replacement phone boxes over the past two years. But the phone companies can appeal to a government planning inspector to erect them anyway.
Now, the Westminster council is seeking broader powers. It filed a claim in the High Court of Justice in August seeking to force the planning inspector to consider, beyond the site and appearance of new boxes, whether there was a need for them.
Walker said the Westminster council has a better idea about what to add when old phone boxes get yanked out: Wed rather have a tree, he said.
New York Times
A top British scientist has called the government totally chaotic as he stands to lose his leadership of major European projects after Brexit.
Professor Peter Coveney heads up three EU projects with a total value of around 15m, and he says work like his will be compromised if a deal is not agreed before March.
His research, which aims to create a forecasting system that predicts disease, involves scientists working across Europe but is led from University College London.
While the government said it will fund British scientists participating in European projects if they lose out on money post-Brexit, it has not promised to support entire projects with UK scientists at the helm.
The EU currently hands British project leaders millions of euros to distribute among their partners, but it will not do this if the UK is relegated to a so-called third country after Brexit.
The big thing that is unclear is that there is no agreement from the government here to continue to support projects that are led by the UK, said Professor Coveney.
So leadership of projects big ones that are influential is thrown completely into disarray.
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Described by Professor Coveney as the medical equivalent of weather forecasting, his work uses supercomputers to simulate human bodies and plan peoples medical treatments and surgeries in advance.
Due to limited British capacity to undertake such projects, he said this kind of research is totally dependent on European collaboration.
His criticism comes after Royal Society president Venki Ramakrishnan and TV particle physicist Professor Brian Cox voiced their concerns about the impact of Brexit particularly a no-deal outcome on British science.
Many leading scientists, including two Nobel prize winners, have backed The Independents campaign for a Final Say on the Brexit vote.
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The UK is currently positioned as a European leader, home to many of the EUs most prestigious research institutions and receiving 15 per cent of the funding from the flagship European funding programme Horizon 2020.
However, this status will be threatened if the nations top scientists are forced to hand over the reins of their research to partners.
Such an outcome now seems likely, as the government expects the UK to become a third country without a deal, and the prospect of a no-deal Brexit now looks more plausible than ever before.
Its totally chaotic, said Professor Coveney.
[Science ministers] Jo Johnson initially and then Sam Gyimah have made these cast-iron guarantees to underwrite the funding for these individual participants in grants, but they havent addressed the big topic here they are somehow dithering.
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He wants reassurances that his projects and the livelihoods of lab members who are paid with this funding are not jeopardised.
Professor Coveney contacted Mr Gyimah to voice his concerns, and received an assurance that the government was seeking discussion with the European Commission concerning a no-deal scenario.
This would need to include projects where the UK participant is responsible for coordinating funding, Mr Gyimah wrote.
Our intention would be to ensure that such projects can continue until their natural conclusion, delivering benefits both for the UK and the EU Member [sic] involves [sic].
Dismissing this response as merely regurgitating information from the governments official no-deal planning documents that was unhelpful in the first place, Professor Coveney said he needs the government to guarantee it will replace any lost funding in its entirety. He has laid out his case in a blog post for the campaign group Scientists for EU.
The picture is as follows: if you were to be a third country following midnight on 29 March and you wanted to continue to run these big projects, it would be incumbent on you to fund the entire thing, he said.
This would mean committing to funding not only the British scientist in charge of the project, but also the international team working with them.
Despite the expense, he said this was a price worth paying to maintain UK leadership in science and protect the health of its citizens by funding medical research.
Archaeologists use laser vision to unveil ancient Mayan Kingdom
Hidden pyramids and massive fortresses in the jungle. Farms and canals scattered across swamplands. Highways traversing thickets of rain forest. These are among more than 61,000 ancient Mayan structures swallowed by overgrowth in the tropical lowlands of Guatemala that archaeologists have finally uncovered using a laser mapping technology called lidar.
The discoveries, published recently in Science, provide a snapshot of how the ancient Maya altered the landscape around them for more than 2,500 years from about 1000BC to AD1500, and may change what archaeologists thought they knew about aspects of the ancient societys population size, agricultural practices and conflicts between warring dynasties.
The ancient Maya flourished in what is today southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and western Honduras. They left behind a rich written history painted and inscribed on wood, stone and ceramics.
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Youre looking at a series of kingdoms all involved in this Game of Thrones political story where they are marrying, fighting, killing each other and backstabbing, says Thomas Garrison, an archaeologist at Ithaca College and an author of the paper. Lidar reveals the stage in which these dramas recorded in texts played out.
Lidar is similar to sonar or radar, but it uses bursts of laser light to map an area.
(Luke Auld-Thoma/Marcello A Canuto/PACUNAM (Luke Auld-Thoma/Marcello A Canuto/PACUNAM)
In 2016, Juan Fernandez-Diaz, a senior researcher at the National Centre for Airborne Laser Mapping at the University of Houston, and his team flew over more than 800 square miles of forest in northern Guatemala in an airplane equipped with lidar. The plane was about 2,000 feet above the jungle canopy, and for every second they flew the lidar sent about half a million laser pulses.
The 3D map they made revealed new settlements with houses and temples, defensive fortifications like ditches and moats, as well as agricultural terraces and roads.
The teams work was funded by Pacunam, a foundation that works to preserve Maya cultural heritage.
Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary
From the data, the team estimates there may have been about 7 million to 11 million people living in the central Maya lowlands during what was known as the Late Classic Period, which lasted from about AD650 to about AD800.
Highly aggressive green crabs from Canada menace Maines coast
(Getty (Getty)
In the mid-1800s, European green crabs hitched a ride on boats and came to the United States. But over the past few years, a genetically different European green crab from Nova Scotia, Canada one that is more combative and more destructive of ecosystems has appeared off the coast of Maine.
To use nice words, I would simply describe them as highly aggressive, says University of New England professor Markus Frederich. In the lab, he and his students use more colourful language while working with the crabs, which come at them, pincers up.
The aggressive nature of the Canadian hybrid, described as the cockroach of the sea poses another problem for Maine, which already struggles to defend its soft-shell clam population from Maine green crabs.
Green crabs slice through eelgrass, an important habitat for other sea creatures, Frederich says. Preliminary research shows that the aggressive crabs from Canada wreak more havoc on eelgrass and soft-shell clam populations compared with their Maine counterparts.
Attempts to reduce the impact of the crabs have included creating products out of them, such as commercial compost and food paste. Fences have also been placed in the water to protect soft-shell clam populations.
Brian Beal, a professor at the University of Maine at Machias, says the crabs from Canada have no native predator in North America, and only cold winters keep their population in check. Rising temperatures in the Gulf of Maine mean conditions are becoming more and more favourable for green crabs to survive and populate areas, he says.
The aggressive green crabs have hurt the states $15m (11.6m) soft-shell clam industry, and they are ravenous in their pursuit.
(audunrikardsen.com (audunrikardsen.com)
Killer whales face dire PCBs threat
Most people thought the problem of polychlorinated biphenyls known as PCBs had been solved. Some countries began banning the toxic chemicals in the 1970s and 1980s, and worldwide production was ended with the 2001 Stockholm Convention.
But a new study based on modelling shows that they are lingering in the blubber of killer whales and they could end up wiping out half the worlds population of the whales in coming decades.
It certainly is alarming, says Jean-Pierre Desforges, a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark and the lead author on the new study published recently in Science.
Whales sit at the top of their food chain. Chemicals like PCBs are taken up by plankton at the base of the food chain, then eaten by herring and other small fish, which are themselves eaten by larger fish, and so on. At each step in this chain, PCBs get more and more concentrated.
Killer whale populations in Alaska, Norway, Antarctica and the Arctic among other places, where chemical levels are lower, will probably continue to grow and thrive, the study found. But animals living in more industrialised areas, off the coasts of the United Kingdom, Brazil, Hawaii and Japan, and in the Strait of Gibraltar, are at high risk of population collapse from just the PCBs alone not counting other threats.
(Jaime Chirinos/Zoological Society of Londo (Jaime Chirinos/Zoological Society of Londo)
The elephant bird regains its title as the largest bird that ever lived
Standing nearly 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,000 pounds or so researchers believed this flightless cousin of the ostrich went extinct in the 17th century, thanks in part to humans stealing their massive eggs.
More recently, the birds designation as the heaviest in history was challenged by the discovery of the slightly larger, unrelated Dromornis stirtoni, an Australian flightless giant that went extinct 20,000 years ago.
But a new study seeks to restore the elephant birds heavyweight title. After taxonomic reshuffling and examination of collected elephant bird remains, researchers say that a member of a previously unidentified genus of the birds could have weighed more than 1,700 pounds, making it by far the largest bird ever known.
Over the centuries, scientists have competed to collect and display the largest elephant bird bones. But, nobodys done any real cohesive research on these birds, says James Hansford, a palaeontologist at the Zoological Society of London and lead author of the study, resulting in a taxonomic muddle for the feathered giants. As a result, more than 15 elephant bird species had been identified across two genera.
Hansford travelled the globe with a measuring tape examining thousands of elephant bird bones. He then used data on modern birds and algorithms to help determine how large the birds might have grown.
His conclusion, published recently in the journal Royal Society Open Science, is that there were actually three genera of elephant bird rather than two, and four species rather than 15: Mulleornis modestus, Aepyornis hildebrandti, Aepyornis maximus and Vorombe titan.
One of those species, A maximus, had long been considered the heaviest elephant bird, until a British scientist in 1894 claimed to have discovered an even larger species, Aepyornis titan. Other researchers dismissed the finding, saying A titan was simply an unusually large member of the A maximus clan.
But Hansford reports that A titan is not only its own species but a separate genus of much larger elephant bird, as evidenced by the distinct size and shape of all three limb bones. He has named the species and genus Vorombe titan; vorombe is a Malagasy word meaning big bird.
Life without males? These termites are giving it a try
Often dismissed as pests, termites have been doing incredible things since the time of dinosaurs, maintaining complex societies with divisions of labour, farming fungus and building cathedrals that circulate air the way human lungs do.
Now, add overthrowing the patriarchy to that list.
In a study recently published in BMC Biology, scientists reported the first discovery of all-female termite societies. Among more than 4,200 termites collected from coastal sites in southern Japan, the researchers did not find a single male.
Toshihisa Yashiro, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sydney and lead author of the paper, says he was utterly surprised by the discovery: I got a headache, because we believed that having both males and females is the rule in termite societies.
The complete loss of males is rare across the animal kingdom, especially in animals with advanced societies. All-female lineages have previously been documented in a few ant and honey bee species, but their colonies are already dominated by queens and female workers.
His team collected 74 mature colonies of Glyptotermes nakajimai, a termite that nests in dry wood, from 15 sites in Japan. Thirty-seven of the colonies were asexual and exclusively female, while the rest were mixed-sex. Egg-laying queens in asexual colonies stored no sperm in their reproductive organs and laid unfertilised eggs.
Genetic analyses suggested that the asexual termites evolved from ancestors that split from other G nakajimai around 14 million years ago. The asexual termites have an extra chromosome compared with the sexual ones, suggesting the two groups may now be diverging into different species, says Nathan Lo, an evolutionary biology professor also at the University of Sydney.
New York Times
The controversial boss of Pimlico Plumbers is refusing to take down a giant bollocks to Brexit sign on the roof of his HQ, despite the local council ordering him to remove it or face prosecution.
Charlie Mullins is citing freedom of speech and a court case involving punk band the Sex Pistols to oppose Lambeth Councils contention that the 100ft-long sign, visible to train passengers arriving at Waterloo Station, contravenes planning law.
The council says that because the sign does not relate to Mr Mullins Pimlico Plumbers business, it does not benefit from deemed consent and must be removed under rules set down in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Mr Mullins says the councils argument is quite ridiculous because Brexit is an assault on businesses everywhere, including his own.
In defending himself from complaints about the signs language, he also cited the 1977 court case in which a former Anglican vicar defended the Sex Pistols album Never Mind The Bollocks from indecency accusations by tracing the root of the word to the Anglo-Saxon for small ball.
Despite being an ardent admirer of Margaret Thatcher who has donated tens of thousands of pounds to the Conservative party and who recently lost a gig economy court case over a plumbers entitlement to workers rights, Mr Mullins erected the bollocks to Brexit sign two weeks ago.
The self-made businessman has emerged as a dogged opponent of Brexit and has publicly called for Theresa Mays cabinet colleagues to grow a pair and oust her.
In defending his decision to keep the sign up at his headquarters near London Waterloo, Mr Mullins claimed that the bollocks to Brexit message had been met with almost universal approval by the thousands of rail users who have passed it every day since it went up.
Insisting that the sign related directly to his business, he wrote in a blog: The economic, social, and security impacts of Brexit on businesses and their staff will cost billions in the coming years, so fighting this madness is a matter of business survival.
So no, I ain't having some busy-body council telling me this ain't about my business!
I'm just so livid that a bunch of petty local officials are trying to tell me what's good for my business [and] that I can't even focus on that part of it, he added. The sign is staying up and that's that.
Brexit will be a national disaster if we sit back and let it happen, and I for one will not stand by and let the UK sleepwalk into a nightmare!
People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Show all 30 1 /30 People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Rex People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young protestor shouts as she takes part in the People's Vote demonstration against Brexit Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A protester's pro-EU t-shirt EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Gina Miller and Caroline Lucas EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Tens of thousands of people march through London EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Demonstrators at the People's Vote March Getty People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal 'Two months too young to decide on my future' REUTERS People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young girl joins in the march PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal An EU flag is draped across the statue of Winston Chruchill in Parliament Square REUTERS People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Vince Cable MP, Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller, Tony Robinson and Caroline Lucas MP join with crowds PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Crowds gather on Pall Mall PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A man resembling Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, joins EU supporters Reuters People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal People gather in Trafalgar Square REUTERS People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller and Tony Robinson PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EU supporters, calling on the government to give Britons a vote on the final Brexit deal, participate in the 'People's Vote' march REUTERS
Mr Mullins told London Live his business was already being affected by impending Brexit causing import charges and the price of spare boiler parts to go up, while fewer skilled tradespeople wanted to come to the UK and more were returning to their home countries.
We need to have a peoples vote, he said. Why should we all wind up poorer because of stubborn ministers who havent got a clue what they are doing?
After Lambeth Council reportedly said it had received complaints about the language on the sign, Mr Mullins cited the Sex Pistols court case, where an ex-vicar informed Nottingham magistrates about the origins of the word bollocks.
The November 1977 case occurred after local Virgin Records shop manager Chris Searle was arrested and charged with contravening the Indecent Advertisement Act 1889 by defying police orders to cover up the word bollocks in a window display advertising the Sex Pistols album.
Searle, 28, was defended by barrister and Rumpole author John Mortimer, who called Reverend James Kingsley, professor of English studies at Nottingham University, as a witness for the defence.
According to the account provided by the Bombed Out Punk website, the former vicar traced the word to its Anglo-Saxon origins and told the court it appears in Medieval translations of the Bible to describe small spherical objects.
Summing up for the defence, Mortimer asked the magistrates: What sort of country are we living in if a politician comes to Nottingham and speaks to a group of people in the city centre and during his speech a heckler replies bollocks?
Are we to expect this person to be incarcerated, or do we live in a country where we are proud of our Anglo-Saxon language? Do we wish our language to be virile and strong or watered down and weak?
Grudgingly acquitting Searle, the chairman of the bench was forced to concede: Much as my colleagues and I wholeheartedly deplore the vulgar exploitation of the worst instincts of human nature for commercial profits by both you and your company, we must reluctantly find you not guilty of each of the four charges.
In the current bollocks to Brexit dispute, Lambeth Council has stressed that despite receiving complaints about the language, it is not acting over the wording of the sign, because that is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The council is objecting on the grounds that such a large sign may breach the Town and Country Planning Act if it does not relate to the commercial activities of the business that erected it.
In an email, it stated: As the sign is not specifically related to the business of Pimlico Plumbers and is well in excess of the size limits, the sign does not benefit from deemed consent and will therefore either need to be removed ASAP or an application for advert consent submitted.
In a further statement, the council told the New European: We are considering whether or not the physical advertisement requires advertisement consent under planning controls.
As part of this process, we contacted the company setting out the normal rules and options available to them.
If the sign does not have deemed consent, the options would be to remove it or submit an application to retain it. We have asked the company to confirm their position.
The planning-related advertising legislation is complex and adverts can be displayed without the need for the councils consent, subject to various conditions and limitations. If this is the case there is no planning action that can be taken.
The remnants of a 200-year-old shipwreck have been found on a beach on the island of Jersey.
Around 21 pieces of copper sheathing were found by metal detectorist Jonathan Bull, who described the find as a bucket list moment.
The pieces of metal are thought to belong to the HMS Severn and one is stamped 1794 the year the ship finished undergoing a refit at Plymouth dockyard.
Recommended Tudor shipwreck given protected status after being found beneath beach
They were found in the Royal Bay of Grouville on Jersey. Records show the Severn was damaged nearby, stranded in the bay with a broken rudder.
Jonathan Bull said: We were there to recover something else and we ended up doing a bit of detecting and found some small pieces of copper.
All of which had naval broad arrows on them along with the square nail holes.
I knew instantly that it was something old and naval.
We found three bits of copper and had a chat that evening and decided that we should probably go back down.
The next day some big sheets came up there were 21 in total and six were complete.
A shipwreck and an 800-year-old 'made in China' label reveal lost history
Mr Bull, who has been metal detecting for five years, added he then declared the find to the receiver of the wreck and handed the items over to Jersey Heritage.
He continued: I am really happy and surprised I knew there were bits and pieces down there but not that much.
I was particularly happy about how the sheets had been date-marked.
It is definitely the Severn. I do not know how it cannot be.
Although the ship was built in 1786, we know that it underwent a refit in 1793 and had the copper fitted to it and it headed out in the summer of 1794.
According to records, the HMS Severn was damaged in December 1804 during a gale in the Royal Bay of Grouville.
She broke her rudder, one fluke of her anchor and damaged her bottom.
It was intended that Thisbe, a ship from Guernsey, would recover Severn but deteriorating conditions prevented it from doing so.
Soldiers from the nearby Fort Henry and Fort William, along with local residents, are said to have tried to save the ship and her crew but were unable to do so.
It was only when another boat Alcmene intervened that her crew were successfully rescued.
SWNS
Labour has been forced to take a significant step towards keeping Britain in the EU single market because of a line snuck into a motion agreed by the partys conference last week, trade unions have claimed.
Union leaders and pro-EU Labour activists claimed a significant victory as they insisted the wording of the Brexit policy approved by the conference would force Jeremy Corbyn and his top team to adopt a position they had previously ruled out.
The motion passed by delegates at the gathering in Liverpool said Labour should support full participation in the single market.
That is a significant shift from the partys current policy, which says only that Labour would seek full access to the single market, according to trade union leaders and anti-Brexit campaigners who drafted the line.
They suggested it would force the Labour leadership to commit, as a minimum, to keeping the UK in the European Economic Area (EEA) in effect meaning membership of the single market.
The Labour leadership has previously dismissed this option, saying it is not right for the UK and would leave Britain as rule-takers not rule-makers. It is also opposed by many of the partys MPs.
Full participation in the single market would also likely mean a continuation of free movement after Brexit, they said another policy the Labour leadership has previously ruled out.
A Labour spokesperson denied the policy had shifted, saying the wording of the motion was in line with the partys plan.
That raises the prospect of a major row between the Labour leadership and some of its key trade union allies, with the two having already offered very different interpretations of its meaning.
Manuel Cortes, a key supporter of Mr Corbyn and leader of the TSSA transport workers union that proposed the change, told The Independent: It is now Labour policy that we must have full participation in the single market, not just access.
We must now fight for a deal which a minimum delivers this, a customs union and Labours six tests as well as keeping Remain on the table.
And a spokesperson for another union, Community, said: With over half of our manufacturing exports going into the single market, we were pleased to see Labour shift its policy in favour of full participation, which would surely mean EEA membership.
This is vital to protecting the jobs of Community members working in manufacturing. Labour took a step forward at their conference by calling for the people to have a final say on Brexit, and they must continue to press the government on the importance of both the customs union and the single market.
The crucial part of the motion reads: Conference believes we need a relationship with the EU that guarantees full participation in the single market. The Brexit deal being pursued by Theresa May is a threat to jobs, freedom of movement, peace in Northern Ireland and the NHS.
People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Show all 30 1 /30 People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Rex People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young protestor shouts as she takes part in the People's Vote demonstration against Brexit Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A protester's pro-EU t-shirt EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Gina Miller and Caroline Lucas EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Tens of thousands of people march through London EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Demonstrators at the People's Vote March Getty People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal 'Two months too young to decide on my future' REUTERS People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young girl joins in the march PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal An EU flag is draped across the statue of Winston Chruchill in Parliament Square REUTERS People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Vince Cable MP, Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller, Tony Robinson and Caroline Lucas MP join with crowds PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Crowds gather on Pall Mall PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A man resembling Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, joins EU supporters Reuters People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal People gather in Trafalgar Square REUTERS People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller and Tony Robinson PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EU supporters, calling on the government to give Britons a vote on the final Brexit deal, participate in the 'People's Vote' march REUTERS
The wording was hammered out during a tense six-hour meeting of delegates that ran well into the evening of the first day of the conference.
While the discussions were dominated by prolonged debate about Labours policy on a fresh Brexit referendum, campaigners believe the reference to the single market that was agreed without major discussion is more significant than many in the room realised.
A spokesperson for the Another Europe is Possible group, which wants Labour to soften its Brexit stance and played a pivotal role in driving through the wording of the motion, said: Staying in the single market ought to mean that an EEA option is Labours baseline.
This should preserve free movement and many of the rights and protections currently enshrined in EU law.
We just wouldnt have any say in making the laws wed have to live by which is why staying in the EU is a straightforwardly better option.
Labour votes to keep open the option of second Brexit referendum
Participation in the single market would almost certainly mean a continuation of freedom of movement, which Labour has promised to end.
The motion also criticises Theresa Mays planned deal for being a threat to jobs, freedom of movement, peace in Northern Ireland and the NHS a significant phrase given Labour is also committed to ending free movement.
Activists claimed this marked a second significant shift in the partys position.
The Labour Campaign for Free Movement said the conference had overwhelmingly voted through a policy committing the party to defending the free movement of people with Europe.
It added: The proposal also seeks full participation in the single market, which is not possible without free movement of people.
That is likely to infuriate some Labour MPs who have argued strongly that the party must not support anything that would keep Britain in the single market or allow freedom of movement to continue.
Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, told The Independent: Any shift in Labour policy that doesnt honour our manifesto commitment to both leave the EU and end freedom of movement would cause real electoral problems for Midlands and heartlands constituencies and would allow the opposition to paint the Labour Party as not honouring the result of the referendum.
The wording of the motion is trying to be all things to all people. It is dangerous because unless there is one clear Labour narrative, its difficult to defend what we are doing. It neither helps me in Stoke-on-Trent nor Ben Bradshaw in Exeter [a heavily Remain area] to have a muddied policy on this. We need clarity on freedom of movement and to show that we accept the result of the referendum.
Labour denied that the wording marked a shift from its current position.
A spokesperson said: The motion passed at conference is in line with Labours plan for a strong single market relationship, with shared institutions and common standards, rights and protections.
This, along with a commitment to negotiate a new comprehensive customs union with the EU, is a strong and balanced package that seeks to retain the benefits of the single market after Brexit.
A judge in Cleveland is refusing to send people accused of low-level crimes into the county jail system, citing safety concerns after six inmate deaths in four months.
The judge, Michael Nelson of Cleveland Municipal Court, said this week that he would release people charged with such crimes until their next court appearance, rather than holding them on bail, which many defendants cannot afford.
Defendants who are released must still agree to any conditions imposed, which could include electronic monitoring or regular check-ins.
Six deaths means the jail is unsafe, Mr Nelson said in a phone interview. You shouldnt die before we see you in court.
Five of the six inmates were being held at the Cuyahoga County Jail in Cleveland, and one was at the Euclid City Jail, which is also run by the county, according to the county medical examiner.
The cause of death has yet to be determined in two of the cases, the most recent of which occurred Tuesday. That prisoner, Allan Martin Gomez Roman, 44, died four days after he was arrested on a warrant stemming from a cocaine possession charge, Cleveland.com reported. Two of the other men who died were found hanging in their cells and two had drugs in their systems at the time of their deaths, the authorities said.
In a statement, the Cuyahoga County sheriff, Clifford Pinkney, said he would ask the County Council to pay for an independent expert to assess the jail system.
He added that the jails were dealing with an influx of people struggling with addiction and psychological problems.
Prison conditions most disturbing ever seen with staff now inured to jails not fit for 21st century, watchdog says in damning report
A report released last year by the Pretrial Justice Institute found that the Cuyahoga County Jail, with 2,100 beds, had been operating at over 100 per cent capacity, on average, in four of the previous five years.
The report, which was requested by local court officials and the American Civil Liberties Union, included a survey of all inmates released on a single day. It found that 73 per cent of them were black. In the latest census, 53 per cent of Clevelands residents were black.
Mr Nelson, a former president of the Cleveland NAACP, said the jails remained overcrowded and staffing levels were not sufficient to monitor all the inmates. He was loath to place people in those facilities because they could not afford bail, he said.
Cash bail, which requires defendants to put up money or other assets to win their freedom, has been widely criticised in recent years. Some states and municipalities have taken steps to reduce its use; California recently abolished cash bail altogether. (The change takes effect next year.)
In Ohio, Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer spent more than a year examining the bail system in a series called Justice for All. Officials in parts of the state, including Cuyahoga County, have initiated changes to bail practices and a state-wide bill was introduced last year.
Critics of the cash bail system argue defendants should be evaluated based on the risk they present to public safety, not on their financial situation.
Low-income defendants often turn to bail bond agents, who function as the payday lenders of the criminal justice world. Commercial bail is a $2 billion industry and agents charge steep fees and can even arrest their clients.
Mr Nelson said the most recent death underscored the need to change bail practices and reduce overcrowding and strain on the jail system.
If the balance of the county had implemented bail bond reform, theres a good chance that young man would not be in jail, period, he said.
The New York Times
Close Sen. Collins: I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh
Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed as the next US Supreme Court justice by the Senate after a highly charged confirmation process in which he was accused of sexual assault.
At a passionate hearing last week, Mr Kavanaugh denied allegations levelled against him by psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford that he assaulted her while they were both at high school in 1982.
Several key wavering senators confirmed on Friday they would approve Mr Kavanaughs nomination to the court after a mammoth series of hearings lasting more than 30 hours.
Ultimately, Mr Kavanaugh was confirmed 50-48.
Republican Senator Steve Daines was not present since his daughter is getting married in Montana today. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski was the lone party defector, but she declined to formally cast her "no" vote out of respect for the party and because it would not have made a difference in the final decision to place Mr Kavanaugh on the court.
The judge scraped through a procedural ballot 51 to 49 after key swing voters such as Republican senator Susan Collins and Democrat Joe Manchin announced they would support his appointment.
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The vote has set the stage for lawmakers to sign off on his ascension to a seat on the nations highest court over the weekend.
However, Mr Kavanaughs appointment has proved contentious after several women came forward during the course of the hearings to accuse him of sexual misconduct.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee received testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, one of Mr Kavanaughs accusers as part of the evidence sessions.
The hearing saw Ms Ford give a tearful account of an incident at a house party in 1982, during which she alleges she was assaulted by Mr Kavanaugh while one of his friends watched on.
The judge, who denies all the accusations made against him, gave a combative and at times aggressive defence of himself to the committee.
Dr Christine Blasey Ford describes alleged sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh
However, he repeatedly dodged the question of whether he would accept an FBI investigation into the allegations that could potentially clear his name.
Protests were staged on Capitol Hill throughout the day, with some women openly weeping over the prospect of Mr Kavanaugh being appointed to the court.
Fridays senate vote appeared to please Donald Trump, who nominated the judge to take the empty seat left by the retirement of judge Anthony Kennedy.
Very proud of the US Senate for voting YES to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh! the president tweeted.
Mr Kavanaughs appointment to the seat previously held by the moderate Justice Kennedy means the Supreme Court is likely to drift to the right for decades.
Conservative judges would outnumber their liberal colleagues five to four on the court once his nomination is approved as expected.
A sadistic couple who tortured and killed women they had lured to their home in a house of horrors case that rocked Germany have been sentenced.
Angelika Wagener and her former husband Wilfried, who have been described as the Fred and Rose West of Germany, had entrapped at least eight women, mostly enticing them through personal newspaper adverts to then physically attack and mentally torment them.
Two of the victims died of their injuries.
Angelika Wagener was jailed for 13 years and Wilfried was sentenced to 11 years in a locked psychiatric ward.
Wilfried, in checked shirt, awaits the verdict (Reuters)
Shortly before the verdict, she apologised to their victims, and her ex-husband claimed: I didnt know right from wrong, adding: A therapy wouldnt be bad. The wife smiled as the verdict was read out, and embraced her lawyer in apparent relief.
The pair tortured their victims at their house in North Rhine-Westphalia by beating, strangling and burning them.
They also scalded them with hot water, used electric shocks and pepper spray, and ripped out the womens hair, the trial heard.
When a 33-year-old woman died of her injuries in 2014, they dismembered her corpse and froze the remains before later burning them in their fireplace.
The victim had responded to a dating advertisement. They spread her ashes along village roads, the court heard.
The couple were caught in May 2016 after they had severely beaten a 41-year-old woman, and their plan went wrong.
They were driving the unconscious victim back to her home but their car broke down, and because there were witnesses around, they were forced to call an ambulance.
Hospital doctors suspicions were aroused and police were alerted.
After their arrest, the couple tried to blame each other.
The case sparked public revulsion, and forensic teams descended on the couples home in Hoxter-Bosseborn. Prosecutors had demanded life prison terms for the pair in the almost two-year trial.
Several deeply traumatised survivors said they would speak out only once the Wageners were in jail.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has insisted there must be limits to the freedom of the press, accusing British media of breaching politicians human rights.
He went on to claim the EU could have swung the Brexit referendum in favour of Remain if David Cameron had not prevented it from intervening in the 2016 campaign over membership.
Mr Juncker, whose enjoyment of alcohol has often been referred to in the media, was scathing about UK press coverage of him, suggesting it violated his rights.
They do not respect the human rights of political actors at all. I will not miss it, he told Austrian journalists.
Press freedom also has its limits One should not bring people in privacy in distress.
He made the criticism as he said the chances of a Brexit breakthrough had risen, suggesting a deal could be reached within two weeks.
Asked how he felt about being the first Commission president to see a member leave the bloc, he said: If the Commission had intervened, perhaps the right questions would have entered the debate.
Now you discover new problems almost daily, on both sides. At that time, it was already clear to us what trials and tribulations this pitiful vote of the British would lead to.
I am always amazed about what I am always blamed for.
Mr Juncker made clear he believed Brussels could have delivered a Remain vote if then prime minister Mr Cameron had not told the EU to stay out of the campaign.
He also expressed concern at confusion in Theresa Mays Cabinet over the UKs withdrawal stance.
Asked whether a Brexit U-turn was still possible, he replied: That is in the discretion of the British Parliament and the government. I do not interfere in inner cabinet debates in the UK. There is enough confusion.
The remarks drew derision from Brexiteer MPs.
Former minister Frank Field said: There is no delusion that does not have an attraction for that man.
Im sure it would have been a more decisive Leave vote if he had intervened.
Tory MP Sir Bill Cash said: Hes completely off the wall. It would have contravened electoral law.
Quite frankly, hes talking through his hat.
People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Show all 30 1 /30 People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Rex People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young protestor shouts as she takes part in the People's Vote demonstration against Brexit Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A protester's pro-EU t-shirt EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Gina Miller and Caroline Lucas EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Tens of thousands of people march through London EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Demonstrators at the People's Vote March Getty People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal 'Two months too young to decide on my future' REUTERS People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young girl joins in the march PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal An EU flag is draped across the statue of Winston Chruchill in Parliament Square REUTERS People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Vince Cable MP, Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller, Tony Robinson and Caroline Lucas MP join with crowds PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Crowds gather on Pall Mall PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal A man resembling Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, joins EU supporters Reuters People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal People gather in Trafalgar Square REUTERS People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller and Tony Robinson PA People's Vote march demanding vote on final Brexit deal EU supporters, calling on the government to give Britons a vote on the final Brexit deal, participate in the 'People's Vote' march REUTERS
Greek former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis tweeted: The one clever thing Cameron did was to ban Juncker from campaigning for Remain. (Had he campaigned, Brexit would have won 80% of the vote.)
The United States could more successfully steer Irans behavior in a cooperative direction if both countries agreed to move their battleground away from the flow of Irans oil to the global markets. Foreign Policy proposed a way to do this in an article "The Road to Tehran Runs Through Oslo", Norways successful experience in translating its natural oil wealth into high standards of living for its people by means of a sovereign wealth fund, which shields politics against the corrupting effects of state control over concentrated oil income and protects the economy against the Dutch diseasethe appreciation of the national currency to the detriment of domestic production of tradable goods in nonenergy sectorsis viewed with envy by Iranians across the political spectrum.
Oman has had friendly relations with Iran, both before and after the Islamic revolution, and has mediated on multiple occasions between Iran and the United States. Given Irans military superiority, neighboring Oman could never afford to betray Irans trust with its national wealth. If Washington wishes to defuse the current standoff, the United States could request that Oman and Norway play the role of independent third and fourth parties in a negotiated agreement with Iran.
Iran would be invited to negotiate the replacement of U.S. oil sanctions with equivalent constraints on the allocation of income from oil exportsboth crude oil and natural gasfor domestic expenditure. A national Iranian oil fund could be established as the sole point of sale of Iranian oil for export markets. The oil fund could then be incorporated as a blind trust in Switzerland, with Iran being the beneficiary and Oman being the trustee. The management of the oil fund would be shared by Oman and Norway. Oman would take charge of brokering the sale of Iranian oil to the highest bidder, while Norway would put its global sovereign wealth fund in charge of investing Irans surplus oil income in international capital markets. The operational cost would be covered by Irans oil income according to a schedule, mutually set by Iran, Oman, and Norway.
The United States could then lift its sanctions against investment in Irans energy sector and issue a general license, exempting the sale of Iranian oil via the oil fund from its new sanctions. The United States and Iran could negotiate a repatriation cap as the amount of income from oil exports that Oman would return to Iran on a regular basis, sending the remainder to the oil funds account with the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund.
Washington and Tehran could further agree to engage in future bilateral negotiations to trade increases of the repatriation cap as well as the removal of the rest of U.S. sanctions for behavioral changes by Iran. As a designated terrorist organization, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) would continue to be subject to U.S. sanctions. The agreement would further require Iran to end commercial activities of the IRGC in the oil business before the implementation of the agreement.
Iran would accept the authority of a Norwegian court to enforce a system of financial penalties, payable from the reserves of the oil fund to the United States, against any Iranian violation of the agreement. The United States and Norway would give Iran the guarantee that the reserves of the oil fund would be entirely immune against seizure for any reasons other than Irans violation of the agreement.
To further assure Iran, the agreement would give Oman the power and the responsibility to terminate the oil funds contract with the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund and return all sale proceeds to Iran if the Norwegian court failed to secure that guarantee. Iran would have the freedom to transform the oil fund from a blind trust into an independent fund under its sovereign control if and when the U.S.-Iranian dispute is resolved with a grand bargain.
The state-owned National Iranian Oil Company and its sister companies earn income both from the external and internal sale of oil. The income is then divided into two parts. One part is kept by the oil company to finance the maintenance and upgrade of existing oil wells and the exploration and development of new oil fields. The other part is paid to the treasury both as royalty and taxes.
Freeing Irans oil industry from sanctions would increase the oil income from internal sales. That increase would be offset by the repatriation cap, restricting Irans access to the oil income from external sales. Thus, the total oil income available for public spending and reinvesting in the oil business would remain at the pre-oil fund level.
Primera came to the rescue after I lost my job at Monarch exactly a year ago today and Im so thankful, I had the time of my life there and Ill never forget it.
So wrote Loz from Cobham in Surrey, who has every right to feel extremely unlucky. She worked as cabin crew for Monarch until it collapsed in October 2017, then for Primera Air, which did the same 12 months later.
She and her colleagues want answers. Such as why, when Primera Air failed on 1 October, were staff as well as passengers left stranded in airports across North America and Europe?
Worked on our days off just to keep the airline going. Just to be s*** on and left without a hotel room, flights or money, with crews stuck in Toronto, Washington, Boston, New York, Paris and Keflavik.
The latter is the international airport near Reykjavik in Iceland, where Primera Air was created and owned.
Ridiculous. And to top it off we didnt get paid for September, she writes.
Mark Platt, who runs the Primera Air Victims Facebook group, representing passengers, also wants answers. He has asked MPs on the Transport Select Committee to investigate what he calls a system-wide failure of airports, regulators and media to properly scrutinise the carriers business model and operations.
Had more of a light been shone on the budget airline, distressed passengers contend, fewer people would have booked and now be needing to try to recoup their losses or still stuck abroad seeking some way home.
I shall leave the airports and regulators to speak for themselves, but allow me to respond as a member of the media.
The Independent took a close interest in Primera Air when last year it announced an ambitious network from the UK to the Mediterranean and, more importantly, North America.
The untested model of a budget airline deploying narrow-bodied jets between major airports across the Atlantic was potentially a welcome addition to travellers choice.
But the carriers erratic behaviour was also a concern promising then abruptly cancelling new routes, and latterly announcing a schedule of 2019 flights that seemed way beyond the capabilities of the fleet.
Recommended UK passengers have stronger rights to flight compensation post Brexit
It was difficult to reconcile the heavy costs Primera Air was evidently incurring, for example for chartering replacement aircraft and crew, with the very low fares it was charging.
Conversely, though, all new routes take time to pay off, and for all anyone knew the airline had deep pockets.
As a privately owned firm, Primera Air did not release the usual operational and financial data that publicly quoted airlines must publish. But as an airline experiencing extreme disruption, it created many unhappy passengers.
A typical story involved a last-minute cancellation, with the affected passengers told to book with another airline and claim back the cost along with incidental expenses such as hotels and meals.
This is at odds with the European air passengers rights rules: the EC261 regulations require a cancelling airline to provide an alternative flight, book and pay for hotel rooms and meals, and arrange transport to and from the airport.
Yet time and again these stipulations are ignored. So it would have been unfair to single out Primera Air as failing to meet its obligations when much larger, highly profitable airlines were doing exactly the same.
Some passengers reported waiting many months for a refund from Primera Air, which now will never arrive. Yet again, I get plenty of complaints from travellers with big airlines who also report responses as lamentably slow.
Right now, were I to warn against travel on all the airlines who appear to disregard their statutory obligations on care and compensation, it would leave very few options.
But were regulators to decide to enforce the rules, it would be much easier to name and shame offenders who lack the cash rather than just the inclination to pay up promptly.
Black History Month is an important time of year to celebrate the often overlooked contributions of the black community in the UK.
Its an opportunity to have our history told in a positive way and free from the sanitised narratives that ignore the injustices weve faced, such as the increasing mistreatment of black migrants in this country.
The Windrush scandal, for example, has seen British citizens, primarily of African and Caribbean heritage who rebuilt the country after the war, lose their jobs, homes, hospital treatment and right to remain in the UK due to the governments hostile environment.
I have always said that ideally I would like to see black history in all its glory incorporated into the history books, so that it is taught daily. While children are taught about slavery in schools, the versions of events passed down tend to omit uncomfortable truths. Our young people should be taught about the horrors of the slave trade so that we never forget, but they also need to understand that their ancestors came from some of the most civilised societies.
That is why Labours new policy to set up an Emancipation Educational Trust is so important, as it will tell the story of how slavery interrupted a rich and powerful black history.
The trust will deliver school programmes for young people and organise visits to historical sites as well as focusing on African advancement before colonisation and the immense resilience and sacrifice of those enslaved and their determined efforts in fighting back. It will also look at hidden histories such as the significant role that women played in the campaign to abolish slavery.
Labours equality team and Jeremy Corbyn visited the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool during the Labour conference and learned more about the historic injustice of the slave trade, and was struck by the realisation that the fight continues. We must learn from this human tragedy and fight against all forms of oppression.
In more recent history, the prime minister vowed to tackle burning injustices in society, but in truth she has only added fuel to the fire. Just last month, the government rejected a recommendation for a cross-departmental race equality strategy. Despite all its talk, the government has no commitment to race equality its just empty words and rhetoric. The prime minister is not sorry or ashamed of the hostile environment she has created.
On top of this, there still has been no action when it comes to the race pay gap. Sadiq Khan as London mayor commissioned an analysis which found that black and minority ethnic public employees were paid up to 37 per cent less on average than their white counterparts.
We know the race pay gap exists but the government must find out the true scale of the problem and introduce race pay reporting requirements, similar to the gender pay reporting.
Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Show all 15 1 /15 Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' arriving at Tilbury Docks from Jamaica, with 482 Jamaicans on board, emigrating to Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaican immigrants being welcomed by RAF officials from the Colonial Office after the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' landed them at Tilbury. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex, speaking at his home in Leeds PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner in Leeds shortly after he arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Gardner was 22 years old when he boarded the ship in Kingston, Jamaica, with his brother Gladstone before they and hundreds of Caribbean migrants called on to rebuild post-war Britain disembarked the ship in Tilbury Docks PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner (right), during his RAF service in 1947 PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The son of Ruth Williams, a Windrush-generation immigrant, wants to the leave the country after threats of deportation. According to his mother, Mr Haynes applied for British citizenship in 2016 but was rejected, despite Ms Williams having lived in the UK almost permanently since arriving from St Vincent and the Grenadines in 1959. Ruth Williams, 75, said she felt "betrayed" by Britain after the Home Office twice turned down applications for her 35-year-old son, Mozi Haynes, to remain in the country. Ms Williams is understood to have cancer and said she relies heavily on her son for support. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The British liner 'Empire Windrush' at port in 1954. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Ruth Williams, 75, with her British passport. "I feel betrayed and a second class citizen in my own country," she said. "This makes me so sad and the Home Office must show some compassion. "I am unwell and almost 75, I live on my own and I need my son to stay here. I need my family around me and I cant face being alone. He has applied to the Home Office and been refused twice." PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK From the top, hopeful Jamaican boxers Charles Smith, Ten Ansel, Essi Reid, John Hazel, Boy Solas and manager Mortimer Martin arrive at Tilbury on the Empire Windrush in the hope of finding work in Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaicans reading a newspaper whilst on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' bound for Tilbury docks in Essex. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK After half a century in Britain, Anthony Bryan decided it was time to go abroad. But the decision set off a nightmare that saw him lose his job, detained twice and almost deported to Jamaica. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaica-born Anthony Bryan poses outside his home in Edmonton, north London. Now 60 and a grandfather, Bryan thought the issue could be resolved swiftly, as he legally moved to Britain with his family as part of the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants after World War II. In 1948, the ship Windrush brought the first group of migrants from the West Indies to help rebuild post-war Britain, and many others followed from around the Commonwealth. A 1971 law gave them indefinite leave to remain, but many never formalised their status, often because they were children who came over on their parents' passports and then never applied for their own. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Three Jamaican immigrants (left to right) John Hazel, a 21-year-old boxer, Harold Wilmot, 32, and John Richards, a 22-year-old carpenter, arriving at Tilbury on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush', smartly dressed in zoot suits and trilby hats. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Newly arrived Jamaican immigrants on board the 'Empire Windrush' at Tilbury in 1948. Getty
Labour has pledged to introduce equal pay audit requirements on large employers to end it. We also successfully pushed the government into getting its ministers to encourage organisations under their remit to submit action plans on how to tackle their gender pay gaps. We now hope the government will follow our lead again and encourage organisations to come forward with action plans on how to tackle race pay gaps.
During this Black History Month it is also important to state that Labour will be taking intersectionality seriously. It is unfair that people cannot bring forward discrimination claims on more than one aspect of their identity at once.
It is no secret that I would eventually like to get to a point where we do not need Black History Month; a point when our history is not confined to 31 days, when all our shared history is celebrated, taught and recognised equally. But until that point I will continue to mark Black History Month with pride and we in the Labour Party will continue fighting for full racial equality.
Dawn Butler is MP for Brent Central and shadow secretary of state for women and equalities
Today is a tragic day for American citizens, who rely on the integrity of the Supreme Court to provide the all-important checks and balances to moderate the partisan whims of their elected officials. The Supreme Court is an arbiter of issues which Congress is unable to solve due to its party political split. The new makeup of the court five right-leaning judges and four liberals will erode its value and challenge its ability to uphold the constitutional rights of the people, regardless of who is president.
The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, amid cries from and arrests of protestors, is the most partisan in history even Trumps first appointee, Neil Gorsuch, secured three democratic votes. Numerous justices, including sitting justice Sonia Sotomayor and Chief Justice John Roberts, have emphasised the importance of the court remaining non-partisan. But this issue clearly eludes not just Donald Trump, who tweeted in March that the court needed more Republicans, but also GOP senators, who with the notable exception of Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who was expected to vote no but abstained to account for another senators absence voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh despite the numerous claims of sexual assault against him.
Senator Joe Manchins decision as the sole Democrat to back Kavanaugh betrayed him as either a misogynist for whom allegations of sexual assault are irrelevant when it comes to rich men, or a power-hungry hypocrite so desperate to cling on to his seat in the midterms next month that hell do anything to appease the heavily Trump-leaning voters of West Virginia.
Susan Collins of Maine, often considered a moderate Republican, also voted in favour of Kavanaugh, justifying her decision in a 40-minute speech yesterday which invoked notions of presumed innocence and burden of proof, and shes not the only one to make such arguments. It seems that many of these lawmakers are incapable of telling the difference between a criminal trial and a job interview. There is no such thing as presumed competence for the role, and Kavanaugh has shown neither the temperament nor the reverence for truth which should surely be paramount.
His statements over the past weeks have been contradictory, overly emotional, inflammatory and partisan to the degree of bordering on conspiracy theories. Retired Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens (also appointed by a Republican president, Gerald Ford) is one of many leading figures arguing Kavanaugh has shown himself to be unfit for the role. Robert Post, the former dean of Yale Law school, wrote that the judge has "stoked the fires of partisan rage and male entitlement" and he will now remain a "symbol of partisan anger, and sitting justice Elena Kagan said that it's an incredibly important thing for the court to guard [its] reputation of being impartial, being neutral and not being simply an extension of a terribly polarising process".
Kavanaughs attitude betrayed a sense of entitlement which many of us may find hard to wrap our heads around, but which Republicans clearly share, decrying his hardship at having to face the allegations, and claiming he was born for the job.
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While Kavanaughs life would have continued on in a bubble of privilege regardless of todays outcome, there are many people for whom his appointment will have a real impact. The symbolism of an alleged sexual predator being appointed to one of the most important roles in the land on the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the Me Too movement is inescapable. Women are angry and rightly so. As Maria Gallagher infamously shouted at Senator Jeff Flake in an elevator last week: I was sexually assaulted and nobody believed me. I didnt tell anyone, and youre telling all women that they dont matter, that they should just stay quiet because if they tell you what happened to them you are going to ignore them. When you add Kavanaugh to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and President Donald Trump, we now have two of the three branches of US government staffed by men who have been accused of sexually assaulting or harassing women. If Trump had his own way and Roy Moore had won the Alabama senate seat, that would have made it three for three.
While the pain of this confirmation will remain with many women forever, its timing offers a glimmer of hope to the Democrats.
Kavanaughs appointment could be key in making left-leaning people angry enough to get out and vote when they otherwise might not have. Weve already seen voters in Maine raise more than $3m to challenge Susan Collins seat in 2020. If the Democrats can leverage the indignation voters are feeling towards the Kavanaugh decision, its possible they could next month regain control of the House of Representatives, which has the power to begin impeachment proceedings Democratic representatives Luis Gutierrez and Ted Lieu have already suggested they would consider this option. In order to oust him from the court, the Senate would have to convict him by a two-thirds majority. Such a turnaround in the midterms seems unlikely, but polls are far from a guarantee in todays complex political landscape.
Many parallels have been made to Clarence Thomass confirmation to the Supreme Court in 1991 despite Anita Hills harrowing testimony of the sexual harassment he allegedly inflicted upon her, and the so-called year of the woman that followed, which saw the number of women in the Senate double (from two to four), and continue to rise throughout subsequent elections. The allegations against Kavanaugh are graver and more credible, and the political backlash could be more immediate.
Sen. Collins: I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh
Regardless of how this affects the outcome of the midterms, some Democrats are thinking about playing the long game, and reportedly considering making Kavanaughs impeachment a key campaign issue for the 2020 election. Only one Supreme Court Justice, Samuel Chase in 1805, has ever been impeached (ironically, the charge was being too partisan), but the Senate did not vote to remove him. However, if the whirlwind of Trumps presidency has taught us anything its that just because something is unprecedented does not make it unlikely to occur.
Politically speaking, Kavanaugh may be the best thing that could have happened to Democrats if his confirmation really does mobilise their supporters while sinking Republican voters into complacency. But theres still a lot of damage a right-leaning Supreme Court can do in the interim.
Recommended We should be wary of those who believe Ford but support Kavanaugh
Much has been made of the possibility that Kavanaugh will be the Supreme Court vote necessary to overturn Roe v Wade, the 1973 court ruling which declared womens rights to abortion. Given his absurd view on contraception (abortion-inducing drugs), perhaps we should also be concerned about him overturning Griswold v Connecticut, which established an individuals privacy in matters of reproduction.
It's also worrying that Kavanaugh employed dazzling verbal somersaults to avoid answering California Senator Kamala Harriss question about his thoughts on Obergefell v Hodges, the 2015 ruling which legalised same-sex marriage. But perhaps the most problematic of his views is also the one that probably got him nominated in the first place: his idea that a sitting president should not be indicted for a crime while in office. If this were to become law, it would mean that if Robert Muellers investigation which has already indicted or got guilty pleas from 32 people, including Paul Manafort and George Papadopoulos turns up evidence of Trumps illegal dealings with Russia, he may not be able to be prosecuted and therefore impeached for it.
Kavanaughs appointment marks the pinnacle of partisanship in the Supreme Court, and a new low for Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party, whose outrageous choice to block Barack Obama from appointing moderate Merrick Garland as Justice Antonin Scalias replacement in 2016 will go down in history as one of the worst examples of party politics trumping democracy.
But more importantly, it shows that there is a new normal in Trumps America one where women are dehumanised, yet rich white men are painted as the victims; a country where truth and integrity matter less than where you went to school. Hopefully, a Democratic win in Congress will go some way to making it worth it, but as a woman Ill never stop wishing it hadnt happened.
In an embargoed report from the British government, which we were allowed to publish at midnight overnight on Wednesday, the National Cyber Security Centre unveiled information it said proved that Russia was behind an international online war targeting elections, metro systems, banks and anti-doping bodies.
And while those allegations which directed the blame specifically at the Russian military intelligence body, the GRU, also allegedly behind the failed assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal were explosive and serious enough, more was yet to come.
As I checked in with our Moscow correspondent, Oliver Carroll, on Thursday morning, he said he had received a mysterious invitation to the Ministry of Defence. No details were given, other than to dress smartly and turn up an hour and a half before the briefing was due to start. Putin himself might be appearing, we surmised.
This week I am in Montreal, Canada, to meet with feminists that work to end male violence towards women and girls. I love this country for its brave and vibrant womens liberation movement, and the indigenous feminist activists from which I have learned so much about the intersections between colonisation, poverty and misogyny.
In 2005, I wrote about a terrible case of Robert Pickton, a serial killer who picked up mainly prostituted indigenous women from Vancouvers Downtown Eastside, one of the most impoverished areas in North America. It took police almost 20 years from the time the missing womens loved ones began to report the disappearances to track down Pickton, and another three years for them to gather evidence for the trial. Eighteen years after the first woman disappeared, in 2001, police finally launched the Missing Women Task Force. But still, age-old racism and sexism collided to bring about the kind of inertia over mass murders of women that led some police to mark the files of murder victims with NHI (No Human Involved).
Across Canada, an inquiry into the murdered and missing indigenous women was established, following years of campaigning by feminists and allies. In the two years that the inquiry has been taking place, feminist voices have been quashed. Cherry Smiley, the indigenous activist and artist I first met when researching my book on the sex trade, puts it this way:
The national inquiry is not the inquiry that so many indigenous women fought for for so long. The inquiry we have today is unfortunately a reflection of modern depoliticised politics that promote ideas of inclusivity and grief at the expense of focused political goals and action. That the inquirys foundation puts indigenous peoples and families before women in our own inquiry speaks volumes to the reach of the anti-feminist, woman-hating culture we live in today.
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Indigenous women and girls are disproportionately the victims of sexual and domestic violence from men, both outside and within their own communities. At the same time, although less than five per cent of the female population in Canada is indigenous, they make up 39 per cent of the female prison population. How therefore, can the inquiry into murdered and missing women and girls recommend anything other than a total overhaul of the Canadian criminal justice system? It is a terrible example of how racism and sexism intersect to make victims and criminals of disenfranchised populations.
Feminist campaigners in Canada tell me that they are concerned about and disappointed in the inquiry. The main challenge, since the beginning, is to keep it focused on mens violence against indigenous women and girls, as opposed to de-prioritising these issues and focusing on the discrimination indigenous peoples face in a general sense. The organised genocide of indigenous peoples makes it hard to pinpoint the role of men in the disappearances and murders of indigenous women.
But I am told by campaigners that the commissioners are hearing (and asking) mainly about the impact of colonialism and the role of the state. Clearly, these are crucial issues, but mixed, as opposed to women-only, native organisations have been always pushing to look at the disappearance of native men, and more recently, to include the experiences of LGBTQ people.
Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage Show all 10 1 /10 Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage Marchers hold up banners as they gather in London to mark 100 years since women won the right to vote in the UK Getty Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage Women hold up banners as they march down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh during Processions 2018 Getty Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage Getty Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage Women march in London Reuters Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage Women march in London AFP/Getty Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage Women march in Belfast Reuters Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage Women march in Belfast Reuters Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage A banner at the London march PA Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage Women march in Edinburgh Getty Processions 2018: March to celebrate 100 years of womens suffrage A samba band performs at the Edinburgh march Getty
Meanwhile, native women are still disappearing and being murdered, as well as being raped and prostituted. At the next hearing, Amnesty International Canada will be participating and activists fear that they will push for decriminalisation of the sex trade as a potential solution to the problems of violence within it, despite there being reams of evidence about the failures of decriminalisation, in particular its failure to protect the women involved.
For Dr Melissa Farley, founder of Prostitution Research and Education: Prostitution is one specific result of colonisation, stemming from the homelessness, land and economic dispossession, lack of educational and employment opportunities, and cultural and physical assaults that indigenous people have suffered. Farley found in one study that 65 per cent of Maori respondents reported a history of homelessness, compared to 16 per cent of non-indigenous women.
For any inquiry into systemic violence against women and girls to be effective, it has to take evidence from experts, including the women who support the victims of sexual abuse. But the commissioners seem to be casting their net too broadly, and ignoring much of what indigenous activists have been saying for decades until womens stories are prioritised and honoured by any such inquiry, the murdered and missing women, such as those murdered by Robert Pickton, will never be afforded their rightful place in history.
I often think of California as the home of the contemporary American Dream. From the Gold Rush to Google, Hollywood to hippy culture and "Arnie" to Apple; if any place in the US has the chutzpah to catapult us into the future technologically, culturally or socially Americas most populous state (whose motto, by the way, is Eureka) is it.
California is arguably the capital of liberal America. Earlier this year, laws were introduced allowing licensed dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana to anyone aged 21 and over. Local law enforcement officials are (under most circumstances) not allowed to cooperate with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on deportation cases. Unlike in other states, officers are not allowed to ask about a persons immigration status.
In the workplace, most Californian employers must provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected parental leave. The states minimum wage, at $11 an hour for companies employing more than 26 people, is also a fair bit higher than elsewhere. If you consider yourself to be progressive, Californias probably not an awful place to live.
A young couple who are hoping to buy their first home have described the current rental market as a "black hole".
Ciara McCaughey (26) and her long-term boyfriend Eoghan have been saving for a deposit on a house for over three years and despite considering themselves lucky to be able to live with their families, theyve faced challenges with their deposit along the way.
"Myself and Eoghan started looking for a house in March this year, but we knew that I was looking for another job and that Id be put on probation, so were looking to scope out the market in the mean-time," Ciara told Independent.ie.
"Its a silver lining in a way because were saving money, but house prices are rising all the time. Were moving forward but standing still at the same time."
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Whatsapp The couple are "constantly worried" that they're going to be outbid.
The Walkinstown-native said the couple have "constant fears" for when they eventually place a bid on the house of their dreams.
"We're constantly worried that were going to be outbid when we start looking again and find the dream home," she explained.
"There's also that constant fear that were going to be bidding against ourselves, is there actually another buyer or do they just want to make the most from this house?"
The couple both currently live with their families in Dublin 12- but some of their friends havent been as lucky, Ciara explains.
"Were very lucky in the fact that we live at home, but I have friends and I know other people of my generation who cant live at home because theyre working in Dublin but theyre from down the country.
"They cant commute so theyre renting in Dublin in places like Rathfarnham or on the edges of town, and theyre paying an extortionate amount.
"Our generation is throwing their rent money into a black hole. Will they ever be able to buy a house?"
Central Bank rules mean first-time buyers must have a down payment of at least 10pc, with 20pc required by other borrowers.
According to the Central Bank report 'Household Credit Market Report 2018', people in Ireland are taking out longer-term mortgages compared to other European countries.
The report added that the average Dublin income for a new buyer was 85,334, and 66,728 for buyers outside Dublin. First-time buyers are generally borrowing 3.1 times their income.
A solution to the current "scary" housing situation isnt a simple one Ciara says but believes that increased education around applying for mortgages should be provided to millennials, describing the process as a "challenging" one.
"When we were shopping around in the banks and trying to figure out a bank that were going to go with, there were a lot of banking and financial terms that we didnt understand. Were not taught that in school.
"Were taught algebra, not about how to file tax returns.
"Were not taught how to get mortgages so thats challenging. Something that could help with that is just educate us better, making the process a bit easier.
"The whole deposit thing is scandalous too. For a first-time buyer I think they should be able to look at the rent youre paying.
"So if youre paying 800-1,000 a month in an apartment in Rathmines, they (the banks) should be able to see that as savings or as a way that youre able to pay it back."
She added that the cost of houses should be regulated, and more houses should be available.
"The housing situation is pretty scary at the moment, its insane how much houses are going for. I just watched that show on RTE, Find Me a House.
"There was a huge house going in Carlow for 595,000 and Im looking at two up two down for 320,000. Its just incomparable.
"We need more houses, we need better houses and we need to stop making them so expensive."
Earlier this week, Independent.ie revealed that a special savings scheme to help first-time buyers is being considered as part of Budget 2019.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is examining how such a scheme might work on foot of demands from Fianna Fail. The initiative would see house hunters entitled to open a savings account for their deposit which the Government would top up with a generous donation when they go to buy a house.
Almost two thirds of Independent.ie readers stated that their childcare costs were more expensive than their rent or mortgage.
Out of a total of 3076 respondents, a whopping 1,953 said that they pay more in creche or childminder fees than they do on accommodation.
Just less than one quarter, 715 people, said that their costs for minding children were actually lower than their mortgage or rent outgoings.
Children's Minister Katherine Zappone is exploring how targeted childcare subsidies can be expanded in the upcoming Budget to include more squeezed workers in both the public and private sectors.
At present, parents who benefit from the targeted childcare subsidies include those on a low income, with medical cards, or in receipt of various social protection payments.
Meanwhile, Early Childhood Ireland held a pre-Budget event in Dublin on Thursday, which was attended by Minister Zappone along with several member of the Oireachtas.
The organisation, which represents 3,800 childcare providers, wants the Government to commit to increasing budget allocation by at least 250m.
Some 408 respondents in the poll said that they pay the same for childminding fees and for their rent or mortgage.
'My business partner Adrienne's late father Paddy used to travel the roads on his bicycle delivering eggs in the 1960s, so our roots go back a long way."
These are the words of Brian Eivers, co-owner of the Nest Box Egg Company, which is based in Castleblayney in Co Monaghan and is shortlisted for the National Organic Food Awards in the export category for its Golden Irish Organic Egg product.
The company has come a long way since its humble beginnings of delivering eggs along winding country lanes over 50 years ago.
The Nest Box Egg Company officially came in to being in 1999 when Foxbrook Free Range Eggs in Trim, Co Meath and Rockfort Farm Eggs in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan amalgamated.
"We joined forces because it made good business sense for us to pool resources.
"It made sense to invest and build our own packaging premises so that we could supply to a larger market. We now produce around 3.5 million eggs on a weekly basis from our free-range hens," says Brian.
These 3.5 million eggs are sold all over Ireland and in to the UK, but one of the company's most recent success stories has been its expansion in to the Middle Eastern market.
And this is one of the reasons Brian thinks that it has been nominated for the prestigious Export Award.
Journey
"We've been exporting in to the Middle East since 2013. It's an interesting journey for us and growing in importance for us.
"Sales are growing there and the demand for organic, free-range eggs is on the rise," explains Brian.
"Organic eggs are important to consumers there because the majority of eggs in the Middle East are produced in very warm houses which are not conducive to good-quality eggs.
"So we've gone from a very domestic-focused market to increasingly export-focused in a relatively short space of time, which is very exciting for us."
For Brian and his business partner Adrienne McGuinness, one of the major challenges of being an organic producer is the availability of the right feed.
"It's a very challenging production sector to be in," he says.
"Our hens can't have conventional feed, they need organic feed and it can be a challenge to make sure they get all their nutrients, but our feed producers plant them with herbs to ensure they get the right volume of nutrients in their diets."
The Nest Box Egg Company is among 20 companies shortlisted by Bord Bia for the National Organic Food Awards. The awards are hosted every second year by Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture.
Winners will receive a tailored support package from Bord Bia to assist in growing their businesses.
Karen Tyner, senior manager, food and beverage, Bord Bia said: "The Irish organic market is currently valued at over 200 million and the global export market is set to jump in value to 224 billion by 2022.
"Innovative products are continuing to contribute to growth in the sector and consumers are seeking more opportunities to choose organic.
"These awards recognise producers and manufacturers whose products differentiate themselves in the marketplace to meet this growing consumer demand both at home and internationally."
Davie Gordon and Lar Halley keep an eye on the cattle prices in Kilkenny Mart. Photo Roger Jones.
As the dust settles on this year's Ploughing we find ourselves approaching the end of a very challenging year with unfortunately far too many empty spaces remaining in silage pits and barns up and down the country.
While the recent spell of dry weather has been a great help and I have some nice aftergrass coming on after my second cut, my hoped-for surge in late summer growth has not really materialised.
I probably have only myself to blame as I don't use fertiliser on my grazing ground and neither do I use concentrates to finish my cattle.
Perhaps I should explain how I came to adopt this low cost/low input grass based production system in the first place.
When I first took over running the family farm, I like most farmers did the usual soil tests and started applying the recommended amount of fertilisers as well as established a 21-day rotational paddock system.
However, after a few years I began to notice that in spite of my increased output my income remained very static.
I started to do a few sums and I discovered that there appeared to be no crock of gold waiting at the end of the more intensive farming rainbow - in my case the increase in output simply did not justify the extra cost.
I then started feeding meal to help finish my cattle on grass but after a few years I stopped and surprise, surprise I saw very little difference except that I had no expensive feed bills to pay and neither did I have to compromise my GM-free stance.
Of course, all farms are different and luckily for me I had eventually realised that I had a farm which could fatten cattle without the use of expensive meal.
So how have I coped with the dry summer?
As my land is quite dry and needs a lot of rain, this year's record period of drought was always going to be a real test of my low cost finishing system.
Thankfully, fat scores continue to hold up well but that's where the good news ends.
As well as falling factory prices I am experiencing an ongoing reduction of about 10kg per head in carcass weights and a huge decline in conformation grades.
Both issues can be directly attributed to this year's disastrous spring and summer weather.
Speaking of poor factory grades, I found it interesting to read reports that one of our major dairy farming organisations has published research showing that declining factory grades cost farmers over 32m in 2017.
While reports such as this help greatly to highlight the issue of declining grades, more cynical observers might suggest that if these farming organisations stopped actively encouraging their members to continue down the Holstein/Jersey route they may not have quite as much to complain about when it comes to grading.
Strangely it appears that unusual forms of logic are not the sole preserve of our farming organisations.
Sustainable farming
Take for example the comments of our own EU Commissioner, Phil Hogan when he spoke to a large gathering of cattle farmers at the recent ICSA 25th Anniversary Dinner.
I felt he appeared to adopt a very selective approach to the issue of sustainable farming.
Of course we all support the concept of sustainable farming and protecting the environment.
However the Commissioner didn't address ongoing Teagasc farm income research which shows that cattle farmers are increasingly being obliged to seek off-farm employment in order to literally put bread on the table.
To me logic would demand that sustainable farming should not simply mean employing sustainable environment practices, it should also mean providing a farmer with a sustainable income to live on.
Sadly with little hope of this happening, our young people are increasingly turning their backs on cattle farming as a career and looking elsewhere to earn a decent income.
Perhaps the Commissioner would like to tell us who he feels will run these so called sustainable cattle farms in the future?
John Heney farms in Kilfeackle, Co Tipperary
U.S. president seems to see America as a defense corporation that sells military and security services to the highest bidder, Anadolu agency writes in an article "Trump views allies as clients". As he hits the electoral circuit to campaign for his Republican party, a month before Congressional elections, President Donald Trump seems to have made extorting Saudi Arabia part of his stump speech. On two occasions, so far, the U.S. president has addressed King Salman of Saudi Arabia, urging him to pay Washington more for the security that the U.S. provides Gulf states.
Trumps condescending tone toward Saudi Arabia and the Gulf seems to be addressed to extreme rightwing Republicans. During his electoral campaign in 2016, Trump ran on banning Muslim aliens from entering the U.S., a promise that he partially kept by denying entry to nationals of five predominantly Muslim nations.
Now that the travel ban has played its course, Trump has come up with a new anti-Muslim rhetoric with which he hopes to boost the shrinking popularity of his party and to maintain Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
But Trumps threats to Saudi Arabia are not only electoral play. Judging by other moves, Trumps policy seems to be based on lowering the defense expenses of the U.S. by transferring them to its allies.
When, in his speech, Trump warned that King Salman would not last two weeks in power without American protection, Trump gave away his thinking that the U.S. does not really care who rules what country, or under what conditions. Instead, the U.S. president seems to see America as a defense corporation that sells military and security services to the highest bidder.
Such expedient defense policy was on display last week, when Washington announced the withdrawal of four Patriot missile defense systems from the Middle East: Two from Kuwait, one from Jordan, and one from Bahrain.
Withdrawal from Jordan is justifiable, now that late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his arsenal of Scud missiles are long gone. But withdrawal from Kuwait and Bahrain, both neighbors of Iran, is perplexing, given that Washington keeps warning of Irans dangerous missile capabilities.
America withdrew its Patriot missiles from other regions in the world. Even though U.S. officials have painted China as an eminent threat to the security and interests of Washington and its allies, the U.S. still withdrew its Patriot missiles from South Korea.
In countries where the U.S. withdrew its Patriot systems from, it replaced them with local capabilities. In South Korea, Poland and Kuwait, national armies are now operating their own Patriot missile defense systems, under American supervision. It seems that Washington has simply privatized defense matters by handing over management, and expenses, to host nations. Under Trump, America is no more an empire with military assets deployed worldwide, but a defense contractor helping states defend themselves, while billing these states for such defense.
Privatization of the military has been so high on President Trumps agenda that, during the early weeks of his presidency, he explored a proposal by Erik Prince, the brother of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and one of the biggest donors to Trumps election campaign. Prince suggested that, instead of the U.S. military fighting in Afghanistan, Washington deploy an army of private contractors and mercenaries, an army like Prince once commanded in Iraq during his days as the chief of the Black Water security agency.
Treating defense as a private enterprise, rather than a national issue, is a trend that started under former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who used proceeds from arms sales to Islamic Iran, in the 1980s, to fund anti-government Contra militias in Nicaragua.
Rachel Maddow, an icon TV host on MSNBC and the holder of a PhD from Oxford University, argued in her book, Drift, that since Reagan, Americas military-industrial complex has succeeded in privatizing defense and transforming the U.S. army from being citizen-based to an army of voluntary contractors. This has made it easier for Washington to go to war with minimum engagement from its citizenry. Such change was coupled with taking away the power of Congress to legislate -- and therefore oversee -- war.
But Trump has taken Reagans policy of defense privatization to new heights. With Reagan, the U.S. perceived itself as a shining city on a hill, and a power whose mission was to spread the principles of the Age of Enlightenment and defend democracy and capitalism around the world. With Trump, the U.S. does not stand for any principles or defend anything. Its allies have become clients, and its joint defense pacts have become simple business transactions.
Since his election, Trump has repeatedly expressed his understanding of America as an arms factory, rather than the leader of the free world. Trump often called Americas arms brighter and shinier than arms manufactured by other countries. When he received Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in the White House, Trump carried a poster showing the value of multi-billion U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Trump even looked at the young Crown Prince and said: You have so much money, we should sell you more arms.
Until recently, Trumps arms clients seemed to be happy with the arrangement: As long as they bought American arms, Washington looked the other way and ignored any possible human rights violations. But Trump suddenly seems to be always coming back for more. Such a relationship between nations cannot be described as one of friendship and alliance, but only one of opportunism and expediency.
Teagasc is to sell its 12ha (25acre) site at Kinsealy with initial valuations putting the site worth in the region of 12m.
The site was identified for sale by the State's agricultural advisory and educational organisation as part of its rationalisation programme undertaken after the financial downtown.
The Kinsealy site situated in North Dublin had been used for research purposes in the past, however, its activities have now been moved to Teagasc's Ashtown site.
Teagasc Director Professor Gerry Boyle, told the public accounts committee this week that while the organisation has not commenced the selling process just yet, it has obtained professional advice as to how to maximise the value of its sale.
"We have an initial valuation without planning of about 12m", he told committee members.
Prof. Boyle said that Teagasc would like to retain the proceeds of that sale for our infrastructural requirements for which he said there are many.
However, he noted that this will be determined by The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
Teagasc owns 1,800ha of land across six research sites and four agricultural colleges.
Prof. Boyle said that there are two sites in Dublin that the state could potentially look at for residential use.
While the Kinsealy site it is not zoned at the moment for residential use, Prof. Boyle said it is a possibility.
However, he said Teagasc's other site in Ashtown in Castleknock is extremely busy with priority activities for the organisation with staff having been transferred from the Kinsealy site.
Teagasc has warned that adhering to strict feeding regimes for housed stock will be critical to safeguard the progress made this autumn in reversing the fodder crisis.
Winter fodder supplies have improved significantly over the last month, with a huge amount of late silage harvested right across the country.
Joe Patton of Teagasc maintained that serious fodder problems were now confined to Wexford, Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, south Tipperary, east Cork and parts of east Limerick.
The fodder shortage in these areas was generally in the order of 20-25pc, with shortages of around 10pc reported in the rest of the country.
However, Mr Patton said farmers needed to be careful not to waste the progress made over the last six weeks.
"A 10pc fodder shortage at this time of the year could become a 40pc shortage by March if farmers are not careful, particularly in the first six weeks of winter feeding," he stated.
He said farmers will have to restrict silage intakes if they are also feeding concentrates in order to reduce fodder usage.
"If silage intakes are not restricted, farmers will have the additional cost of the concentrates, they won't save any silage, and they'll end up with overfat cows calving down," Mr Patton said.
Unrestricted
Teagasc estimates that the equivalent of around 10-15 round bales of silage would be saved over the course of a normal winter if 3kg/day of concentrates are fed to a 100-cow dairy herd, and the cows are allowed unrestricted access to silage.
However, Mr Patton maintained that the saving increases to around 120 bales if access to silage is restricted.
When restricting silage, Mr Patton urged farmers to allocate enough feeding space for all stock after fodder is initially put out to cows, and when it is pushed up in the evening.
He said providing the additional feeding space could involve the use of ring feeders.
Mr Patton said farmers should avoid restricting access to cubicles or lying down areas as part of any silage management regime.
Data compiled by the Teagasc-led fodder task force in September found that 60pc of farmers in Wexford were short of winter feed, with deficit levels averaging 30pc.
In east Cork 58pc of farmers were short of feed, with deficit levels averaging 23pc. In Carlow there is a 27pc fodder deficit, with 54pc of farmers affected.
The incidence of fodder shortage in Waterford, Kilkenny and south Tipperary ranged from 52pc to 56pc, with most short 21-22pc of required feed stocks.
Meanwhile, compounders report that feed sales have eased back from the crazy levels of July and August, with the trade being helped by lower demand and an improved supply of raw materials.
However, sales of dairy rations are still up 40pc on normal, while demand for beef feed is 15pc up.
High Court proceedings aimed at preventing a UK firm from seeking to have the Irish-based Harcourt Developments wound up over a disputed debt of 2m (2.27m) have been settled.
Harcourt, which says it is not insolvent and employs more than 800 people, brought an action against Surrey-based Crest Nicholson (South West) Limited which it alleged was "improperly" threatening to have Harcourt wound up.
Harcourt, built by well-known developer Pat Doherty, claimed Crest Nicholson had "an ulterior motive" in seeking to have it put into liquidation.
Harcourt argued that the petition was an attempt to force it to sell development lands in England at a significant undervalue to Crest.
The parties had previously entered into an agreement to develop the lands near Bristol into housing.
As a result of the dispute, Harcourt Developments Unlimited Company sought an injunction restraining Crest from bringing or advertising any petition to wind up the Irish firm.
It also sought declarations that any dispute arising from the settlement agreement should be heard before an English & Welsh court.
Harcourt previously obtained permissions to serve short notice of the proceedings against Crest.
The matter was adjourned from time to time to allow discussions to take place. Yesterday, Rudi Neuman BL, for Harcourt, told Mr Justice Tony O'Connor that the matter had been settled and on the consent of both parties the entire proceedings could be struck out with no order.
No details of the settlement were given in open court.
Last May Harcourt's counsel, Martin Hayden SC, appearing with Rudi Neuman BL, said the dispute had arisen between the two parties over a previous settlement agreement.
That came out of a dispute over a Joint Landowners Agreement (JLA) in respect of plans to develop the lands.
Harcourt entered into a JLA in 2006 with two entities, one of which was Crest.
The relationship between Crest and the other parties broke down in 2015, and Crest sought to terminate the JLA.
The dispute went before an expert for determination.
Harcourt claimed it believed it had resolved matters with Crest to recommence the development in 2017 when the parties entered into a settlement agreement and paid 1.8m to Crest.
Part of the agreement involved payments being made to Crest for costs it had incurred on the development.
It was claimed that Crest failed to provide Harcourt with vital information it requires to progress the development.
Crest claimed that it would only provide the information after it was paid money allegedly owed to it by Harcourt.
Four Courts return: Justice Seamus Noonan said the case could come back to the High Court next week
A leading road construction materials supplier claims a rival is operating a plant without the required air emission and planning approvals, the High Court has heard.
Lagan Asphalt says there is a commercial aspect to its claims against Mullafarry Quarry Ltd, operators of an asphalt supplying quarry and plant at Mullafarry, Killala, Co Mayo, because the competitor lacks such approvals when it comes to tendering for a Sligo/Mayo road project.
Jarlath Fitzsimons SC, for Lagan, was given permission yesterday to serve at short notice injunction proceedings under planning and air quality laws against Mullafarry Quarry. Mr Justice Seamus Noonan, who heard the application on a one-side only represented basis, said it could come back to court next week given its urgency.
Mr Fitzsimons said Lagan has put in a tender to provide materials for the N59 Ballina to Sligo road improvement scheme. Mullafarry is also one of the tendering parties.
Counsel said his client carried out routine checks on whether potential competitors have obtained the required permissions/licence under the Planning and Air Pollution Acts in circumstances where Lagan has such approvals for its asphalt producing plants. In conducting those checks, it became clear Mullafarry does not have those approvals for the Killala plant, it said.
Aerial photographs show there has been substantial development at the quarry over the years, he said.
Mr Fitzsimons said his client had been in contact with Sligo Co Council, which will decide on the tenders, and Mayo Co Council, in whose administrative area the road and quarry are, but has received no responses yet.
The urgency of the matter was that the tender for the road project is about to the awarded, he said. Asked by the judge if the local authorities had done nothing in relation to the alleged licence and approval matters, Mr Fitzsimons said that was the case and that was why his client took legal proceedings.
Mergon, a Westmeath-based plastics business that makes components for Tesla, has hired Deloitte to advise it on strategic options as it embarks on a significant growth drive.
The company, a substantial player in its sector which employs 600 people across Ireland, the Czech Republic and the USA, is weighing potential acquisitions. That may require a fundraising but the business is not for sale.
Fast-growing Mergon is led by industry veteran Pat Beirne.
The Castlepollard company makes plastic moulding products used by car manufacturers, healthcare companies, and industrial businesses.
Tesla uses the company's products to make windscreen and camera washer systems for its models. Just under half of Mergon's staff are employed in Ireland. The company declined to comment.
Separately, commercial equipment rental company Hire Innovation has hired advisers with a view to taking on growth capital.
That may come via the sale of an equity stake. Hire Innovation is part of the Cross Group but is a distinct entity and the group itself is not participating in the potential fundraising.
Any money raised would be used to fuel international expansion.
Hire Innovation rents out refrigeration equipment, as well as coffee machines and ovens. The company declined to comment.
Another Irish company operating in the refrigeration rental sector - Lowe Refrigeration - was sold to UK business Perwyn for almost 70m earlier this year.
That led to a payday for investors including Irish private equity firm MML Growth Capital Partners Ireland.
America Ferrera said she would not be able to live with herself if she had not spoken out in support of Professor Christine Blasey Ford (Ian West/PA)
Ugly Betty star America Ferrera has said she would not be able to live with herself if she had not spoken out in support of Professor Christine Blasey Ford.
Professor Ford, who has accused US Supreme Court candidate Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers claims he denies gave evidence to Americas Senate Judiciary Committee last week.
Ferrera told Net-a-Porters digital magazine PorterEdit: People are so tired of the daily assault on all of our values that this feels like this another thing. But we cant let it be just another thing. I couldnt live with myself if I stayed silent.
The 34-year-old, who gave birth to her first child a boy named Sebastian with husband Ryan Piers Williams in May, also spoke about how her early role in comedy series Ugly Betty was an anomaly.
She said: We dont make shows about ugly brown girls who have grit.
The Superstore star said she uses her public platform to speak out because being an actor is my profession. It isnt who I am and it certainly isnt where I came from.
Wearing forever-in-fashion dresses, skirts and knits, actress and producer @AmericaFerrera talks #UglyBetty, breaking the Hollywood mold and why shell never give up the fight, with #PorterEdit. Read the exclusive interview and see the shoot now: https://t.co/hkeksgcIrU pic.twitter.com/ugI2MAZAGd PORTER (@PORTERmagazine) October 5, 2018
She added: The notion that I shouldnt fight for the world that I wanna live in because it might threaten how people see me isnt an option.
John McCririck during ladies day of the 2018 Investec Derby Festival at Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom. Photo: David Davies/PA Wire
Flamboyant racing pundit John McCririck has revealed he feels he has no purpose in life after his regular television work came to an end.
The 78-year-old shocked television viewers when he appeared on Big Brothers Bit On The Side on Thursday night looking gaunt and poorly.
The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant has since explained that his dramatic change in appearance is down to intentional weight loss and a severe bout of flu.
However he said his main struggle is being without work six years after his acrimonious departure from Channel 4.
The secret is OUT! We have TWO new housemates entering the #BBUK House on Friday night. Hands up who's excited? pic.twitter.com/61Xss7YKas Big Brother UK (@bbuk) October 4, 2018
The main trouble is Ive got no purpose in life, he told the Daily Mirror.
I worked for well over 50 years and never missed a day. Im not working now and thats the depressing thing.
The pundit, who had a career in television spanning four decades, said that while he has not lost his drive nobody wants to employ him.
Meanwhile, when he goes to the race course he feels like a dinosaur, he said.
McCririck explained the weight loss was in order to better cope with ageing, although he suffered a serious flu infection at the end of last year.
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He said he was feeling stronger and getting better but still weaker because of it.
Channel 5s Bit On The Side Viewers took to Twitter to voice their concern for the pundit after his appearance.
One tweeted: Cant get over how much weight John McCriricks lost! Has he been ill? #BBBOTS
Can't get over how much weight John McCririck's lost! Has he been ill? #BBBOTS sylvie (@sylviesx) October 4, 2018
Another said: Hope John McCririck is really on the mend. Doesnt look well at all.
A fixture on Channel 4s horse racing coverage since the 1980s, McCririck took legal action against the broadcaster in 2013 when they decided against including him on the broadcasting team.
The pundit accused bosses of ageism, although a tribunal found against him, ruling that it was because his pantomime persona had become unpalatable to a wide audience.
Nicknamed Big Mac, Surrey-born McCririck became a household name during the 1980s with his regular appearances on ITVs racing coverage, which later moved to Channel 4.
His colourful image, backed up by his trademark cigar, sideburns, deerstalker hat, multi-coloured clothes and gold jewellery made him instantly recognisable.
A regular attendee at Cheltenham, he revealed that the Alexandra Palace race course remains dear to his heart, even though it no longer exists.
He told the paper that he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered where the furlong pole once stood.
More than 1,200 Toyota cars in Ireland have been affected by a safety recall over potential problems with stalling.
A number of Toyota Prius, Prius+ and Auris hybrid vehicles have been recalled over an issue with the failsafe driving mode.
It is part of a global recall for some 2.43 million hybrid vehicles worldwide.
The company said that in rare cases the vehicles might fail to enter a "fail-safe" driving mode, lose power and stall.
While these cars were designed to enter this mode in response to certain hybrid system faults, this may not operate as intended.
Power steering and braking would still work, but a stall at a fast speed could increase the risk of a crash.
Toyota Ireland has confirmed a total of 1,289 vehicles here are affected.
Chief executive Steve Tormey said: "Toyota is committed to ensure the highest standards of safety for our customers above all else."
"This recall affects limited numbers of customers in Ireland, and if any customer has any queries or concerns our dealer network will be happy to address these," he said.
Toyota Ireland will be contacting all affected customers directly by mail to arrange to have their vehicles checked.
The software will be updated at no charge to the owner.
Fire will affect 1,000 people: General manager Jo Heath surveys the damage to the four mini buses at the Lakers Special Needs facility in Bray, Co Wicklow. Photo: Frank McGrath
An investigation has been launched after a devastating blaze that destroyed four buses used by 350 children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
The fire broke out at the Lakers Special Needs facility in the Brady Centre, Bray, Co Wicklow, shortly after 1.30am yesterday.
No injuries were reported as nobody was in the facility at the time, but four buses were completely destroyed, while damage was also caused to the building.
A Garda investigation is under way into the fire, but at this stage it is not being treated as suspicious.
However, an exact cause has not yet been determined and forensic examinations by gardai based in Bray will help determine the circumstances surrounding the fire.
Jo Heath, general manager of the Lakers, told the Irish Independent the fire had affected around 1,000 people, including 350 members.
"All four buses we've worked really hard to get were completely destroyed. A Garda forensic investigator ruled out an electrical fault, subject to laboratory tests," she said.
"Very little damage was caused to the rest of the building. We have 350 members in addition to that all the family, staff members so at least 1,000 people have been affected because we're like one big family here.
"We rely heavily on our volunteers and this has disrupted all of our lives, we've invested so hard into this club for the well-being of our members who inspire us all."
She added that the club had been planning to fundraise for its own clubhouse ahead of its 50th anniversary next year, but this has been put on hold as a result of the fire.
"Anyone who can help with housing activities which range from sport to arts and craft as well as drama, or with the supply of temporary transfer would be much appreciated," Ms Heath said.
Health Minister Simon Harris, who is also a TD for the area, visited the site yesterday and described it as a "very upsetting day" for the community.
"But we will get through this. Please contact Lakers if you can help at all with temporary venues and transport," Mr Harris added.
A GoFund me page set up in the aftermath of the fire had already raised more than 3,000 in a matter of hours last night.
In an earlier statement, the club said members are "devastated" by the incident.
"No one was injured or hurt as it happened during the night. We are trying our best to contact all members and volunteers so please be patient with us," it said.
The government of Ingushetia agreed to hold a protest action against the agreement on the border with Chechnya during the week of October 8-15, in Magas, a representative of the republics cabinet of ministers said.
According to him, the rally will take place on Idris Zyazikov Avenue on the square in front of the local television and radio company, but only if the requirements of the federal and republican legislation on meetings, rallies, demonstrations, processions are met, Interfax reports.
A MAN is fighting for his life following a shooting in north Dublin on Friday night.
Several garda units were called to the scene in Poppintree Crescent, Ballymun following reports of a shooting at around 11.30pm.
Gardai are investigating reports of possibly two people being involved in the gun attack.
A male is understood to have suffered serious injuries at the scene. Gardai said this morning that there were no updates on his condition.
Letters: Residents outside the offices of Ires Reit in Sandyford yesterday. Photo: Collins
Dozens of tenants gathered outside the offices of Ireland's largest landlord after it decided to hike their rent by up to 25pc.
About 30 students, families and couples from the Maple Apartments in Sandyford, south Dublin, demonstrated at the nearby Ires Reit premises yesterday afternoon in protest at their soaring rents.
The company sent letters to numerous residents informing them of the news that their rent will increase from January 1.
People-Before-Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, who attended the demonstration, claims the price increase is outrageous.
"It is absolutely outrageous that Ires Reit would attempt to inflict a 20pc rent increase on a shockingly high rent of 2,325 per month, bringing it up to 2,800.
"Who can afford this?" he said.
"This case is a microcosm of why we have a housing crisis. A greedy corporate landlord, invited into the country by former minister Michael Noonan, who bought property for a song from Nama, now engaged in rack-renting and profiteering in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis. It's sickening."
In response, a spokesperson for Ires Reit told the Irish Independent: "The increases range from 4pc upwards, only the minority are of the order of 20pc-25pc, and in these cases, it will bring them in line with market rates in comparable rental properties.
"Ires Reit will discuss the proposed changes with its tenants over the coming months."
The cost of accommodation rose by close to 8pc in the past year, official figures show. The average rent nationwide is now 1,094. This is up almost 80 in the past year.
Gardai pictured this morning at the scene of the fatal shooting in Ballymun Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin.
The scene of where Robert Sheridan (inset) was fatally shot on Friday night
A man (45) who died following a shooting in north Dublin last night has been named locally.
Father-of-two Robert Sheridan was shot at Poppintree Crescent, Ballymun shortly after 11pm on Friday night.
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Emergency services were called to the scene, where the man was pronounced dead.
Superintendent Brian Daly said that gardai are following a number of lines of inquiry and that it is currently unknown if the shooting is linked to any gangland feud.
"At 11.15pm last night, two males described as dressed in black and wearing balaclavas knocked on a door. A male opened the door and was shot at the scene. It's understood the two males left the scene and went into Poppintree Park where we are currently searching.
"We understand the two men were carrying handguns and fired a number of shots," Superintendent Daly said.
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Gardai are appealing for witnesses into the fatal shooting and an incident room has been established at Ballymun Garda Station.
Poppintree Crescent and Poppintree Park have been cordoned off and are currently preserved for forensic and technical examination.
The body of the man remains at the scene and State Pathologist has been notified.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Ballymun Garda Station 01 6664400 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.
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Fine Gael TD for Dublin North West Noel Rock condemned the shooting and called for a larger garda presence in the area.
Once again, the community in Ballymun has woken up to news of a shooting. This is becoming all too frequent an occurrence. Unfortunately on this occasion it has resulted in a fatality. Its quite clear we need an increased police presence in this area.
Ive met with everybody possible and hammered home the case for more resources. The reality is that our area needs intervention and assistance from the top level and has for a while now.
In relation to last nights incident, I would urge anybody with information to speak with An Garda Siochana in confidence.
TD Dessie Ellis said that the local community is in shock.
"It's shocking that we now have another incident like this in Ballymun. The community here is very worried that this violence is continuing."
The Dublin North-West TD said that there is a level of fear in the community, but urged witnesses to come forward.
We need to stop them and we need people to give information.
"I know there are certainly some people that are afraid but at the end of the day people have to have the courage to come forward because it will just continue unabated without any help from the public. The public is crucial in terms of information."
The investigation is focused on a garda falsifying documents for a crime gang operating in the county. (Stock picture)
A garda has been suspended from duty following a significant investigation into his alleged links with an international crime group.
The Limerick-based garda is suspected of providing bogus insurance certificates and documents for the 'Rathkeale Rovers' gang. They are responsible for an international crime wave including the trafficking of rhino horns and is a target of several international police forces.
Gardai believe that he was used by the gang after they uncovered "compromising" information on him.
Detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) raided a Limerick Garda station and 16 other homes as part of their probe into the garda.
His home was searched and he has been suspended from duty, but he was not arrested during the operation carried out between Thursday night and Friday morning.
Detectives suspect that the uniformed officer, who is aged in his 40s and originally from Munster, has been "effectively blackmailed" by the 'Rathkeale Rovers' gang over "compromising" information they had on him.
"The garda had become involved with this dangerous group because of a personal relationship he had with a woman who is connected to them," a senior source said.
"It is understood that he developed serious alcohol and drugs issues and this was used as leverage by the gang to help them out.
"He was falsifying insurance productions and certificates for this gang and was being paid in cocaine.
"This man is in very serious bother now," the source added.
Close to 30 gardai and detectives were involved in the operation, led by the NBCI under the command of Detective Superintendent George Kyne.
Four detectives and five search teams were involved in the raid on the Garda station and homes which were searched, with documentation, phones, computers as well as two cars seized.
The garda's alleged involvement with the international crime gang came to light after criminals linked to the group were being routinely stopped for having no insurance.
The senior source said: "When diligent members of the force regularly stopped members of this crime grouping for road traffic offences, they would be directed to produce insurance and other motoring documents at a Garda station.
"However it is suspected that this officer then accepted and registered as legitimate, documents that were either forged or were invalid or simply did not exist.
"It is fair to say that this individual's career in the Garda is over.
"This case is essentially about corruption involving an organised crime gang," the source added.
The crime gang has been a primary target for Europol and is suspected of involvement in international crimes including money laundering, drug trafficking and organised robbery worldwide.
Plans to build the new 300m National Maternity Hospital are in danger of collapse, it was revealed today.
The delay in giving the go ahead to the commencement works on the campus at St Vincents Hospital has put its future in jeopardy, the deputy chair of the National Maternity Hospital Nicholas Kearns warned.
Approval for the works was taken over from the HSE by the Department of Health and is currently with Health Minister Simon Harris, he said.
Approval should have been given six months ago, he told the annual meeting of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association today.
Work on the pharmacy and car park must be started by the end of the year to comply with EU law on European energy requirements for new buildings.
If this does not happen it will fold and we will be back to square one.
The deadline was October 1 and it has not happened, causing grave concern, he added.
He said the delay in approval dates back to the time the Minister decided to refer the case of the late Malak Thawley, who died in Holles Street undergoing surgery for ectopic pregnancy, to the Health Information and Quality Authority for inquiry.
A High Court challenge taken by the hospital to the grounds for inquiry found the referral was unreasonable.
We were completely vindicated and we are at a complete loss to understand the delay."
He appealed to the Minister to grant approval for it to go ahead in light of the suggestion that the health service will get substantial funding in the Budget.
Stephen Teap and Vicky Phelan have both fought a public battle to get better outcomes for women suffering from cancer diagnoses. Picture: PA
Letters from women caught up in the cancer screening controversy ended up being sent to the Department of Agriculture instead of the HSE following a bizarre administrative error.
The women involved were among 1,500 written to as part of a major review of cervical cancer screening being conducted by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in the wake of the CervicalCheck scandal.
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Their consent was sought to include their cases in the review.
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However, due to an administrative error, being blamed on a distribution company contracted by the HSE, the incorrect return address, that of the Department of Agriculture, appeared on the envelope sent to 150 women.
A HSE source said that while the mistake was spotted by most of the women, a number sent their response to the Department of Agriculture rather than to the HSE. This occurred with as many as three letters, the source said.
The letters were subsequently redirected to the HSE but the blunder raises concerns over the confidentiality of the women involved.
The HSE press office did not respond to a number of queries about the return address error, but did say the HSE wished to apologise for "the undoubted distress this will have caused".
A Department of Agriculture spokeswoman said it was making inquiries into the matter.
The revelation comes after the Irish Independent yesterday revealed several women learned they had previously had a cancer diagnosis only when they were contacted by the review.
These were women who underwent procedures following cancer screening and had micro-invasive cancer or precancerous cells removed.
Notifications in relation to these women were later sent to the National Cancer Registry. However, it appears they were not informed of the diagnosis by their doctors.
It is understood none of the women involved has cancer now.
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By Thursday, around 30 women had contacted the HSE with queries regarding the letters they received. Several of these women said they were never previously told about the diagnosis.
Following yesterday's revelations this number grew.
In a statement last night, the HSE said 58 women had now called its information line with queries in relation to micro-invasive treatment. It said the women were "unclear as to why they were being asked to participate in the review".
The statement said that while the National Cancer Registry recorded micro-invasive treatment such as cervical cancer, not all women who received this treatment might have been aware of this.
Stephen Teap, whose wife Irene died after two smear tests failed to show up her cancer, said: "There needs to be a full open and transparent relationship between doctors and patients so that these types of situations don't arise."
A further 300 letters are set to be issued in the coming days, bringing to 1,800 the number of women who will be asked for consent to their cases being included in the review.
Around 500 women have already consented.
A cabinet minister has "absolutely no confidence" the North-south electricity inter-connector between Meath and Armagh will ever happen.
Regina Doherty is on a collision course with her own Government after claiming the long-delayed project should now be scrapped.
Her statement comes despite a report brought to Cabinet earlier this week by Communications Minister Denis Naughten which supported the economic and technical case for using pylons rather than putting cables underground.
Officially the Government has said it will not now intervene in EirGrid's plans to build the cross-Border power lines. However, Ms Doherty, who is a TD for Meath East, said the arguments being made why the inter-connector is needed are a "smokescreen".
She said claims by groups like Ibec - which represents businesses - that it will help attract business are not true.
Speaking to Michael Reade on LMFM, Ms Doherty said Mr Naughten has "no choice" but to support the project, but "the rest of us in Ireland are very aware that there are immense vulnerabilities".
Supporters say it will provide a second high-capacity all-Ireland inter-connector, ensuring the long-term supply and enhancing services to business. But Ms Doherty said: "I have absolutely no confidence that this project will ever be delivered."
Asked whether she was in a difficult position as part of the Government backing the plan, Ms Doherty said her first responsibility is to the people of her constituency.
Fianna Fail TD Thomas Byrne slammed the approach being taken by Ms Doherty, saying she was trying to "wash her hands" of the issue. Mr Byrne, who also opposes the pylons, said it is not possible for a Cabinet minister to be advocating against Government policy.
"Regina likes to just get through the gaps. I'd have no difficulty saying it to her face."
More parents can look forward to a subsidy of up to 145 per week to cover the crippling cost of childcare as Budget talks are finalised.
Children's Minister Katherine Zappone is battling to boost the numbers who qualify for a scheme that is currently open only to parents whose income is less than 47,500 a year.
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Sources said she may seek a threshold of around 60,000, which Fianna Fail is backing - this would bring an extra 10,000 children into the fold.
At the moment, 42,000 children benefit from the payment that ranges from 50 to 145 a week and is paid for children between six months and 15 years.
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Sources said pushing up the cut-off point for this 'targeted' scheme was Ms Zappone's priority at meetings with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.
She is also seeking hikes in a separate subsidy, that is not means-tested, for the parents of babies and pre-schoolers.
This universal subsidy, which is worth 80 a month, is available to all parents whose children are between six months and three years of age.
Fianna Fail is pushing for this subsidy to be doubled.
It is worth up to 20 a week, or 1,040 a year, for 42,000 children.
"Minister Zappone wants as many children as possible to benefit and build on the 84,000 already enjoying extra supports," said her spokesperson. "She remains in regular contact with Minister Donohoe.
"Since 2015 an 83pc increase in childcare investment has been achieved - with 485m this year. We must build on that. We must move forward not backwards."
Fianna Fail spokesperson on children and youth affairs, Anne Rabbitte, said the threshold for the targeted childcare scheme must be hiked to 60,000 "if the Government is serious about childcare".
"They have to make it advantageous for stay-at-home mums to come back into the workforce," she said.
She said she also hoped the minister would get more than 4.4m for an early years capital programme, to build in the sector, which is the amount she received in previous budgets.
Ms Zappone has promised to turn the country's childcare system from one of the most expensive in the world into one of the best.
She admitted this will take a number of budgets.
Childcare bills can often amount to a second mortgage for squeezed families.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions called on the Government to expand high-qualify subsidised early years care in its pre-Budget submission.
It noted that this was recommended by the European Commission.
The document said the average family spent more than a third of their household income on childcare - twice the European average.
Irish childcare costs in 2015 relative to wages were the highest in the EU for lone parents, and the second-highest for couples.
In an interview with Der Standard, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker signaled an unwillingness to spoil relations with Russia amid reports of Moscow's alleged hacking attack on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Sputnik reports.
He underscored that despite an ever-increasing dissatisfaction with Russia, the EU needs to realize again that "we should maintain a dialogue with Russia for security architecture reasons and partially work together."
"I'm not ready for a quarrel with Russia, even though I recently published a communique in Brussels criticizing events [the hacking attack] in the Netherlands," Juncker said, stressing the need to stay calm under the current situation.
His remarks came after a diplomatic source told Sputnik that the ambassador of the Netherlands will be summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry amid accusations against Moscow over its alleged cyberattack on OPCW.
A VICTIM of a road accident given only a 25pc to 50pc chance of surviving a brain injury has beaten all the odds to lead a near-normal life.
At the end of Road Safety Week, Aisling Morriss mother Doreen has urged parents never to give up on their children despite grim medical prognoses, and to ensure they always carry high-viz jackets.
It is almost 13 years since Aisling, then 18, was knocked down just three steps from her gate on the main Navan to Kentstown road in Co Meath.
She had just got off a bus on her way home from an art course in Dublin and was walking across the dark and drizzly road on October 25, 2005.
Doreen heard the bang as Aisling was thrown 50 feet into a ditch when she was hit by an oncoming motorist.
The mum had just walked out of the front door to meet her daughter when she heard the impact so loud she thought it was a two-car collision. On running out to help, she saw her beloved girl lying unconscious.
She was wearing a reflective band on her jacket but it was on the wrong arm, Doreen said.
She had worn it that morning but forgot to change it to the outside arm for the way home.
If she had been wearing a reflective vest I am sure she would have been seen and avoided being hit.
TRAUMATIC
Aisling was taken to Our Ladys Hospital in Navan then transferred to Dublins Beaumont Hospital where she was given just a 25pc to 50pc chance of surviving the night.
She had traumatic head injuries and I remember thinking shed be better off if she had broken every bone in her body instead of a brain injury, Doreen said.
Her limbs went spastic and curled up so badly she had to wear splints and have medical intervention over many months to help them straighten out.
Aisling spent five weeks in a coma before being moved into a high-dependency unit for five months.
The family almost lost her for a second time when she developed pneumonia and had to have a second tracheotomy when the first tube collapsed.
They wanted to send her to a nursing home as the rehabilitation unit in Dun Laoghaire didnt think shed be able to respond to the treatments.
But I fought and fought to give my daughter a chance.
Aisling couldnt walk or talk, was in adult diapers and being tube fed up to the time she entered Dun Laoghaire.
I was driving 100 miles a day to and from the unit as there were times when Aisling would only eat and do her treatments when I was there, Doreen added.
We took her home after five months in rehab, still fairly dependent on her wheelchair.
With a lot of hard work and persistence from her sister Grainne, her dad Jeffrey, myself, her friends, our GP Mary Randles and, of course, Aisling herself, she could stand with the help of a walker and eventually then walk with a stick.
The family moved to Navan three years ago to give Aisling more independence.
MEMORY
We were living in the country and Aisling can never drive because of her poor memory, Doreen said. Moving to Navan was a weight off my shoulders.
Aisling has local and independent access to her doctor, dentist, hospital, chemist, post office and bank, as well as the shops and eateries.
She can even get on a bus herself to meet her boyfriend in Dunshaughlin. She has a life again.
The hated USC is to be cut for almost 1.2 million people in Tuesdays Budget. Workers can expect to get tax breaks worth around 5 a week in what will be the first balanced budget since 2007.
As the final numbers for Budget 2019 were being crunched last night, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe found an extra 1bn in unexpected corporation tax.
Half of this will be used to start a Rainy Day Fund, while another chunk will help plug a 700m black hole in the Department of Health.
The Irish Independent can reveal Fianna Fail has secured a 0.25pc reduction in the 4.75pc rate of USC applied to income between 19,000 and 70,000. The Budget will also include a 5 increase to all social welfare payments, including the pension.
A new Affordable Housing Scheme could also see homes come on the market in Dublin for 240,000.
Budget 2019 will also include:
:: A 130 cap applied to how much a family can spend on prescription medicine in a month;
:: A 300 rise to the Home Carer's tax credit;
:: An extra 45m for the NTPF to tackle hospital waiting lists;
:: Top-up payment for parents reliant on social welfare;
:: A 2pc reduction in tax on savings;
:: The doubling of gambling tax to 2pc;
:: A hike in diesel prices;
:: An increase in the fuel allowance.
The details of a new Affordable Housing Scheme are still being worked out between Mr Donohoe and Fianna Fail.
However, sources have indicated that, under the initiative, a couple in Dublin would be able to buy a house for approximately 240,000. The figure will be lower in some parts of the capital and the regions where the pressure on prices is not as extreme.
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Local authorities will be expected to build around 4,000 homes in a move that could amount to a State subsidy worth around 50,000 to the buyer.
Fianna Fail's finance spokesman Michael McGrath said yesterday that while negotiations were ongoing his party was trying to get the Budget over the line "without any drama".
"Fianna Fail's influence on this Budget will be measured by our delivery on housing," he said.
He said the party's second priority was health, followed by ensuring that workers got some payback through USC cuts.
Sources last night confirmed that the USC element of the Budget has now been agreed. When combined with a Fine Gael pledge to raise the point at which workers pay the higher rate of income tax, it will mean that somebody earning 50,000 will be around 230 better off next year.
However, much of those gains will be taken back through revenue raising measures, including a hike to the special 9pc VAT rate for the hospitality sector. Sources say that, despite massive objections from the Independent Alliance, Mr Donohoe is determined to return the hospitality VAT rate to 13.5pc.
Carbon taxes are also expected to be hiked. If the minister increases carbon tax to 30 per tonne, it would add around 3c to the price of a litre of petrol and diesel.
There will be mixed news for farmers, who have been campaigning for a new 200 payment for suckler cows. The idea had support from Fianna Fail, but Mr Donohoe has ruled the payment out.
The Budget will allow for major changes to the Fair Deal scheme that will benefit farmers and small business owners.
Under the existing regime, farm families are required to set aside 7.5pc of the value of their land annually to fund a place in a nursing home.
From next year, this bill will be capped at three years, giving farmland and business assets the same status as the family home.
The Department of Finance published a White Paper that revealed that corporation tax receipts are massively ahead of target due to changes in international accounting standards.
By the end of the year, an unexpected 1bn will have been paid in corporation tax, mostly by multinational companies.
Some 700m of this will not be repeated next year and has been classified by Revenue as a 'windfall'.
"We have to be very, very cautious regarding the use of these receipts," said Mr Donohoe, who plans to funnel 500m into a new 'Rainy Day Fund' which was originally going to be set up using borrowed money. "Next year we will be fully balancing our books," the minister said.
Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy's words are of "little comfort" to homeless teenagers living in hotels, a leading children's charity has said.
Yesterday, a Leaving Cert student - who has been living with her family in a hotel for two years - said there was no chance of her getting to college in her current situation.
Speaking on RTE's 'Morning Ireland', Amanda (18), which is not her real name, said she couldn't cope with studying in a hotel.
"Time is already flying by, next thing I know I'll blink and it's my Leaving Cert and if I have to do that in here there's no chance of me going to college. There's no chance of me going forward with my education," she said.
"It's really diminishing and degrading having to wake up and look at the dirt, the mould. It's a struggle every day getting up and even just taking the blankets off yourself every morning. It's horrible.
"People need to know that it is deadly to live like this. You feel like you have no life left, living in here with no help, no sense of security, you just think 'what's the point?' you really do.
"Leo Varadkar and Eoghan Murphy and everyone else that's sitting in the Dail, it's their job to care and if they don't, they shouldn't have the job, give the job to someone that actually cares."
Reacting to the interview, Mr Murphy said he heard it and also heard Amanda speak last year and said two years was too long to be living in a hotel.
"I remember at the time thinking how brave she was, but also her family, in telling her story because people need to hear these stories. Too many times when we have a crisis in Irish society, the reaction is to try and ignore it," he said. "We have to confront this head on, because too many families are living in insecure accommodation, are in hotels, and that's unacceptable."
Responding to Amanda's plight and Mr Murphy's comments, head of advocacy at Barnardos June Tinsley told the Irish Independent serious mental health issues are coming down the line for children that have had to live in hotels.
Ms Tinsley said children were being denied the opportunity to reach their potential.
"The long-term implications on their education and the untold psychological damage this crisis is having on children will pan out and is being done so now, but even more into the long term," she said.
"His [Eoghan Murphy's] words are going to offer little comfort to young people who are in that situation today.
"Although we're hearing the minister saying the numbers are going down and our policies are working. On an individual level, she's not experiencing any benefit."
The Labour Party has lost a second member in a week as a Dublin councillor has stepped down from the party.
Mick Duff, who sits for the party on South Dublin County Council, announced his resignation, following in the footsteps of his council colleague Martina Genockey.
Mr Duff - who was one of those seeking a discussion on the party's leadership ahead of the party's think-in last month - referred to the 2016 appointment of Brendan Howlin to lead the party after the 2016 General Election.
"The issue of the parliamentary Labour Party appointing Brendan Howlin as leader in the aftermath of the 2016 General Election had a detrimental effect on the morale of the Labour organisation," he said in a statement.
"We needed a nationwide conversation with the membership after the 2016 General Election, to let people state their views, whether palatable or not, learn from past mistakes and get back to basic core values," he said.
Mr Duff claimed the party has not learned any lessons from its time in government - which left the party severely diminished after the last election - and said the party seems "hell-bent on returning to coalition as soon as we hear the noble call".
The councillor was among those who aired their grievances at a closed-door meeting of the party's entire membership at their think-in in Drogheda.
A number of members hit out at the party's performance during that meeting but ultimately the idea of a leadership change was put to bed by Mr Howlin who said changing the name on the office of the leader in Leinster House was not the solution.
Ms Genockey said the recent debate "opened her mind" about the party and led to her reaching the conclusion that it was no longer the place for her.
A spokesman for the party said it regrets Mr Duff's decision and wished him well.
"After the think-in there was a great sense of unity in the party, so we are sad to see any member leave," he said.
An 'Irish bar and the best of its genre' owned by two young Irishmen in New York has been named as one of the best bars in the world.
The historical Dead Rabbit pub, owned by Jack McGarry and Sean Muldoon, has been claimed the 16th spot in the prestigious World's Best Bars rankings 2018, which is owned and organised by William Reed Business Media.
McGarry and Muldoon modelled their pub in Lower Manhattan in 2013 and modelled it around a traditional Irish scene, while incorporating a sleek modern look to all of the three floors in the pub.
The Dandelyan in London was named the best bar in the world this year, followed by the American Bar - also in London - with the Manhattan in Singapore claiming the third spot.
The team behind the Worlds 50 Best Bars website explained why the Dead Rabbit deserved the 16th spot.
They said: "From decor to drinks to service, few bars are as meticulously thought through as The Dead Rabbit, the former worlds best bar that is fast becoming a classic.
"You can appreciate it on many levels. Its an Irish bar and the best of its genre, a cocktail bar with some of the tastiest mixed drinks around, or a brand steeped in narratives not least its comic book menus, books, merchandise and now self-titled Irish whiskey.
"But as owners Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry would say, all that wouldnt matter if the bar wasnt busy.
"Whether it be after a belly-full of the best Guinness and Irish coffee in New York or Jillian Voses cocktails in The Parlour upstairs, The Dead Rabbit is nothing if not popular."
The Dead Rabbit suffered a setback last July when a blaze caused extensive damage.
After being closed or almost three weeks, work is now underway on an extension to their famed taproom, which the Worlds 50 Best Bars website indicated could cause a further boom for their business.
"Having experienced a fire in the summer of 2018, The Dead Rabbit swiftly bounced back.
"The coasters at the bar now read Born in a hurricane, forged in a fire and will take their place in the Dead Rabbit 2.0 extension next door, which supplies the only thing this bar was missing capacity for the crowds," they said.
The Dead Rabbit has enjoyed cult status since being named the Best Bar in the World in 2015 and 2016.
They say on their website that they have tried to keep their recipe for success simple.
The taproom is an informal ground-floor pub is our take on the great Irish tradition: No-nonsense, no airs and graces. Just your honest, everyday extraordinary.
The Parlour is the cocktail cathedral, a testament to the golden age of all things mixed. Well, that was our starting point anyway. Truly we stand on the cocktail shakers of giants.
The establishment also has a third, top floor, for private functions where the same food and drinks as below can be bought.
The pair said that their hard work over a long period of time only came to fruition when they finally opened the pub.
Of course, it didnt happen overnight, they wrote on their website.
In all, it took us six years to breathe life into the phenomenon that is The Dead Rabbit. Six years of planning and dreaming. Of failing, then failing better.
Finally, we got exactly what we wanted; three floors of welcome, with serious cocktails.
Mr McGarry said earlier this year that the blaze, which began in the ducts of the building and was spotted within minutes, could have been a lot worse.
He told Forbes: "I'm grateful that it wasn't worse, the damage was isolated to the back of the building. That's where the organs of the building are...
"The first thing that happened after the fire is that people were messaging us saying, 'If you need us to take your staff...'
"They were trying to be nice but we invest hundreds of thousands into training these guys. We have to look after them.
"The thing I was most worried about, more than anything else, was the staff A lot of the guys live paycheck to pay check. That was the main thing."
The duo contributed into a $200,000 (173,000) emergency fund, which was used to pay the wages and bills of staff.
On Saturday night I headed for the Beerkeeper Bar where a rather special party was taking place. The Edge hair salon in River Lane was celebrating 30 years in business and owner Gerard Hoey from Inniskeen was there with his family, friends and staff to make sure everyone had a great night.
I was only in the door when I met up with Karen Broderick from Dublin who tried to tell me that Gerard had four franchised shops working just of Capel Street in Dublin! But I'd be thinking she was just trying to wind me up?
I then got a quick word with Eamonn Dunne from Blackrock who said that Gerard should be honoured because he managed to continue to thrive in business for 30 years and was one of the longest serving businesses in town.
I then headed over for a quick word with Paddy Savage and John Murphy both from Dromintee who had absolutely nothing to do with the party, but wanted to wish Gerry all the best for the future anyway!
Heading for an adjacent table I then got talking to Catherine McArdle from Cooley and Anne O'Hagan from Bellurgan who had both worked for Gerard for 28 years and said he is an unbelievable boss. They were with Sonya McMahon from Bay Estate who had been in Jagged Edge (as it was) for 16 years and was delighted to be there to join in the celebrations.
They were having a laugh with Kate Campbell from Killeavy and Shannon Savage from Bay Estate who are part of the current staff and Shannon said she really enjoys their work family.
Not too long later I got talking to Gerard's sisters Bernadette Cumiskey from Inniskeen and Ann O'Reilly from Meigh who were with sister-in-law Geraldine Hoey and Robert O'Reilly who were definitely enjoying the party and Bernadette surprised me with her knowledge of the distant past (Rip Off Promotions indeed)!
Next I got talking to some The Edge's staff and they included Lorraine Boyle, Maria Cotter, Rachel Tasker and Rachel O'Connor who told me they totally love working in the Edge with Gerard.
Heading for another table I got a quick word with Gerard's son Conall Hoey from Inniskeen who was chatting to Gerard's brother Micheal Hoey from Blackstaff who assured me the crack was only just getting going.
They were sitting with Gerard's daughters Gertie and Brigid Hoey from Inniskeen who said it was a brilliant night and were up for a mad one with Laura Meehan from St. Alphonsus Road who works in the Edge and Maria Duff from Ballykelly who was only there for the chicken curry later on!
Finally, before I departed I got a quick word with stylist Rachel Tasker from Oakland Park and shop receptionist Coilfhionn Matthews from Killeavy who told me that Gerard is a lovely boss and they were delighted to be there to celebrate 30 years in business with him and his family and friends.
Local businesses can get the opportunity to avail of a free consultation with a leading designer as part of the National Day of Creativity in aid of AWARE on Wednesday October 10.
Here in Dundalk, the event, which marks World Mental Health Day, takes place in Creative Spark, Clontygora Drive, Muirhevnamor.
Local designers taking part in the Dundalk event include Killian Walsh, Marcus McCabe, Tonya Douglas, Grainne O'Neill, Barry Finnegan, Paul White, Peter Craven and David Henderson.
Dundalk businesses can consult with the best design talent available across a variety of disciplines including graphic design, interior design, illustrators, creative strategy, product designers and user experience designers (UX/UI). This is a great opportunity to explore the value and potential impact that expert design can have on business for a fraction of the usual cost at just 75 per person with all proceeds going to Aware.
There will be two sessions, with a series of workshops with designers focusing on positive mental attitudes, problem solving using design thinking, mindfulness, and healthy work environments in the morning. All participants will make an original design piece to take home. Participants will share a healthy lunch with advice on how to eat well to support their mental health. The afternoon will be dedicated to one-to-one consultations with the individual designers.
To book a place, log onto www.idimindovermatter.ie or email hello@creativespark.ie
Similar events are taking place in Dublin, Belfast, Carlow, Cork, Limerick and Wexford.
Above, Sean Gallagher and his wife Trish at Dundalk Retail Park where they met Aaron Rogers and his daughters Lilly and Lucy
Sean Gallagher suffered one of the most bruising defeats in Irish political history when he crashed out of the 2011 Presidential election. He was on course to victory when he stumbled to answer a question on a live debate on RTE. It didn't matter that it subsequently emerged that the allegation came from a fake twitter account, the damage was done.
For eighteen months after the election, his phone didn't ring. 'No one called except for close family and friends,' he recalls.
It was a tough time. 'Not because I wasn't successful in winning but because of the way it ended,' he says. The timing of the RTE Frontline programme and the radio show the following morning, left him with no time to regroup and fight back.
'A lot of people who watched the programme had discounted the allegation but it wasn't my finest performance.'
He says that in the years since, hundreds if not thousands of people have come up to him and said 'Do you know what you should have said?'
In hindsight, he says he knows what he would have done but in the heat of the moment, under the glare of the studio lights, he doubted his own memory.
'People saw me as something I'm not, they saw me as unconvincing. It took time to come back from that.'
As he reflected on what had happened, Sean says he still believed that he had something to offer the country.
'I wrote to the government, the Taoiseach, the Tanaiste, and said that 'your vision is my vision and I want to help the country recover' but no one responded.'
In addition, 'Tweetgate' had left what he calls 'a lingering cloud' which he needed to dispel so he began a legal challenge against RTE which only ended last December with an apology and an undisclosed payout.
There was, he says, 'a process which Trish and I had to go through. I set out to get a clarification from RTE which led to six years of a protracted case.'
'It's a difficult challenge to take on the national broadcaster, but true to the values of fairness which I believe in, I had to pursue it.'
He says he holds no animosity towards RTE and the only reason he didn't take part in last week's radio debate was because President Higgins wasn't available. 'I will take part in all future debates when all the candidates are available.'
'I never ceased to be committed to Ireland, to Ireland's future, our communities and business,' he continues.
The former Dragon points to the column which he wrote in the Sunday Independent for six years encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs to locate in parts of the country which never get foreign investment. 'I continued to promote and champion the SME sector and the need to create jobs in the areas where the multinationals never located.'
'On a higher point, what mattered to me in 2011 still matters to me but with a different emphasis. At the time there was a crisis in unemployment and emigration and our young people were leaving which was a source of despair all over the country, and I wanted to do something about it,' he explains. 'At the time I was very clear, given my background in youth, development, and community enterprise and jobs, and having worked for InterTrade Ireland, that I wanted to help the country.'
'My cry out was to do for jobs what Mary and Martin McAleese had done for the Peace Process.'
He believes that he can use the office of the President to promote Ireland at home and abroad with the aim of attracting foreign direct investment and developing new markets.
Things have chanced since 2011, both on a national and personal level.
'Trish and I have been blessed to become parents to Bobby and Lucy,' he says. 'So much has changed in our lives and in Ireland.'
There are, he stresses 'whole swarths of Ireland that the recovery never arrived.' And alongside his interest in promotion the SME sector, he says he is now looking at things differently, through the eyes of a parent.
'Now it's about looking at the future as a parent, of wanting to help shape the type of Ireland our children will grow up in, in creating a society of equality and fairness, where uniqueness is celebrated and where the community spirit that I grew up with is cherished.'
He believes that his diverse background, of youth work, enterprise and championing disability, gives him a strong appeal. He has a clear plan for a year long initiative around supportive employment, education and opportunities for people with disabilities.
Although he nows lives in Delganey, Co Wicklow, his roots are along the Border. 'I was born in Monaghan, grew up in Cavan. My father is from Donegal and I spent nearly twenty years in Louth,' he says.
'I believe now we will see a United Ireland in my lifetime and I believe working for this is something which the President can do. I would work to build on Mary and Martin McAleese did so well. They clearly found a way to do make that happen.'
'I want to be President for all the people of Ireland who want me as their President,' he says. 'There are lots of people just a few miles from here who have an Irish passport and consider the President to be their President.
'I would represent them as their President and would be a friend to everyone in Northern Ireland,' he says.
'I think there is a programme of work which needs to continue before you can talk about the unification of territory. I would concentrate on building relations and winning trust which is the foundation of the unification of people, communities and territory.'
'That's a process which needs to be led, supported and nurtured,' he says.
Pointing to the lack of leadership with the suspension of the Northern Assembly and challenge posed by Brexit, he says Ireland has the opportunity to play a stronger role in Europe and the World.
His background in Fianna Fail had been used against him in the last campaign. This time round, he says that he is 'very proud' of his time in the party. 'It taught me a lot about the political process and it was important for me to have an understanding about politics before going forward for election.'
'I am grateful for the support I am getting from Fianna Fail councillors, and indeed Fine Gael and all parties.'
He says that in spite of the process which people have to go through to get a nomination to stand for election, the office of President is non-political. 'It's outside of party politics.'
Rejecting the suggestion that he is a Fianna Fail candidate in all but name, he points out that Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has publicly declared his support for the incumbent.
As his campaign bus rolled into Dundalk last Thursday, he is greeted by friends who campaigned for his last time around and who are supporting him again.
'He's as brave as a lion,' says Derek Roddy who worked alongside him in Smarthomes. 'He's been a good friend for over 20 years and it's great to see him coming back to Dundalk.'
In the Park Cafe, there's no shortage of people coming up to shake his hand and to wish him well. A couple from Carrickmacross are among them. They intend voting for him. 'He came across very well last time. I was sorry for the way he was treated,' says the wife.
Dundalk Gardai have launched an investigation after a series of thefts from students' bags at DkIT last week.
Gardai said they had received a number of reports of theft on the afternoon of Monday last, September 24th.
It was reported that the students were in a drama class at the Blackbox theatre, and had left their bags in changing rooms when the thefts occurred.
Cash and bank cards were reportedly stolen from their bags.
A spokesman for DkIT confirmed: 'An incident of theft involving a number of students on campus was reported to the authorities . There is an active investigation ongoing and DkIT will continue to support Gardai with their enquiries.'
The spokesman added that students affected by the incident are encouraged to contact the local Garda station and they can also contact representatives from the DkIT Students' Union (SU) by contacting info@dkitsu.ie or calling +353(0)42 9370390.
'Following the incident, a communication was issued to all students reminding them to keep a careful watch on all belongings and valuables while on campus. The DkIT Student Services team and the Student Union team regularly provides guidance on information about how to stay safe on campus.'
Meanwhile, Gardai are appealing for information following an assault on man at Rampart Lane in the early hours of yesterday (Monday) morning.
A 26-year-man was attacked by a group of youths at around 2am. He managed to raise the alarm, and was transferred to Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, Drogheda. He is reported to have sustained bruising to the face and torso.
In a separate incident, two men were reportedly injured after a road traffic collision at Sea Road, Blackrock last week. The can they were travelling in was believed to have collided with a concrete wall.
Finally, Gardai seized a small amount of suspect cannabis during a search at Saltown last week.
The new Rape Crisis North East Cherrywood Counselling Centre was official launched yesterday (Monday)
Minister Heather Humphreys, TD, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation of Rape Crisis North East cut the ribbon at the new premises based Great Northern Distillery Offices, Carrickmacross Road.
Minister Humphreys said 'Today is a very proud day for Rape Crisis North East. Today, as you move into your fantastic new building, you take stock of your magnificent work for over 20 years in this region. I hope you will be lucky, happy and successful here and that you will go on making the change - and being the change - in the lives of women, men and young people, who have experienced sexual violence in Monaghan, Cavan, Meath and Louth.
Your hard work and commitment are second-to-none, not alone in the staff and board, but in the volunteers, who have always been the beating heart of Rape Crisis North East. Since 1996, you have provided a strong, compassionate environment in which you have helped countless people, keeping them safe while they came to terms with their shattering experience.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for everything you do for this region. Your dedication serves as an example for the rest of the country to follow. I wish you every success and good fortune here in these new premises'.
Frank McDonnell, Chairperson of Rape Crisis North East explained the background to the new centre.
'We are fortunate to have been given this opportunity to lease the 'Great Northern Distillery' offices from one of Ireland's most prolific entrepreneur John Teeling, the owner of the distillery factory and many other successful businesses'. Our new location will help us continue to grow and develop and to meet the needs of clients attending our counselling centre; allowing us to provide an exceptional and superior service as we go forward.'
Grace McArdle, Manager of Rape Crisis North East added: 'We chose the name Cherrywood Counselling Centre because in our immediate vicinity, on the Carrickmacross Road, we are blessed with exquisite cherry trees - and because Cherry Blossoms symbolise spring, a time of renewal and optimism. We want the people attending 'Cherrywood Counselling Centre' to regard this as a new beginning, a safe haven that is bursting with hope.'
Rape Crisis North East and the Cherrywood Counselling Centre, Governed by a board of directors, Chaired by Frank McDonnell and Managed by Grace McArdle and her team, held the event to highlight not only the new location of their services but also the urgent need to put in place additional Rape Crisis Counselling Services along the border of Cavan and Navan and to expand their counselling services in Dundalk and Castleblayney. Grace highlighted 'We have clients from parts of Meath having to take three buses to get to our Rape Crisis Services and three buses to return home to receive one hour of counselling support on a weekly basis. This is simply just not good enough. Rape Crisis North East should be accessible to everyone in Louth, Meath, Monaghan and Cavan'.
Grace continued to explain, 'The people who attend psychotherapy sessions here in Rape Crisis North East can sometimes be overwhelmed with thoughts about the incident and its related ebbs and flows of emotions. Here, they learn a variety of self-care strategies and tactics to aid them throughout their daily lives. Here they are assured a safe space to talk in confidence. Here they are assured practical and emotional support. Here they have the freedom to express themselves and to be themselves. And here they get a sense of life's possibilities beyond their personal experiences'.
Berlin hosted the "On the Edge of Europe: Situation in the Caucasus Countries" conference. Its participants discussed future developments in the countries of this region, sources told Vestnik Kavkaza.
Researcher of the ZoIS research institute, funded by German government, Tsypylma Darieva, discussed revolution in Armenia. Armenia is an interesting country. Geopolitically, it manages to maintain close economic and political relations with Russia. Even Armenian-Turkish border is guarded by Russian soldiers," she said.
"At the same time, Yerevan maintains good relations with the EU and the United States, thanks to large Armenian diaspora. Many people wonder if powerful Armenian diaspora played decisive role in the Armenian revolution. I think it didn't. It's amazing that diaspora in the United States managed to distance itself from mass demonstrations," expert said.
She also highlighted high migration levels in Georgia and Armenia: Georgia and Armenia are two states characterized by ahigh level of migration. Many Georgians leave the country for southern Europe, Italy. Especially women. Migration is prevalent not just in the capital, but also in different regions of the country, small towns and villages, since standard of living there differs sharply from the capital. Armenia is also known for high level of labor migration. Most migrants live and work in Russia," she pointed out.
"Good relations between the two countries can help to improve situation, but they also gives Moscow more tools to influence internal politics of Armenia. In the past, Azerbaijan was also heavily dependent on labor migration to Russia - Moscow and St. Petersburg had a large number of agricultural traders from Azerbaijan. It's true today, to some extent," expert said.
Darieva also said that Azerbaijan is the only country of the South Caucasus region that chose different path of development.
"Head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that while Georgia and Armenia are trying to find their way into Europe, Europe tries to get closer to Azerbaijan. This proud statement shows intensity of economic relations between Europe and Azerbaijan and economic interest of Europe in this country. Unfortunately, everything remains at the level of economic relations so far," she believes.
A breakthrough in the long running campaign for respite services in Louth emerged this week as it emerged the HSE have entered into an agreement with Praxis Care to open an adult Respite Care centre in Dundalk.
Set to be based on the Dublin Road, the facility has been 'hugely welcomed' by the Dundalk Parents and Friends of the Intellectually Disabled organisation.
Dundalk TD Peter Fitzpatrick confirmed the launch, saying 'I have had the pleasure of representing Dundalk Parents and Friends for the last few years on this issue.' The service will be available in the next two weeks.
'This is something the Dundalk Parents and Friends of the Intellectually Disabled organisation have been working on for twenty years; they have also contributed 35,000 towards getting this facility up and running.'
'Respite Care is an essential part of the overall support that families may need to keep their family member with a disability at home. It is important that carers have breaks to enable them to continue their role.'
The news was also welcomed by Louth TD Declan Breathnach, who warned: 'It is important to note however, that this is an interim measure to provide a much needed respite service for the families of North Louth from now until Christmas, and that negotiations are on-going regarding getting a permanent solution to the respite crisis going forward. HSE funding available is still way short of service costs and negotiations are on-going to keep the service opened long-term. I will be maintaining pressure on the HSE to follow through on a permanent solution.'
A Dundalk tradition like no other, the St. Gerard Majella Novena begins again on Monday next, October 8th.
The St Gerard Majella Novena begins on Monday 8th October and runs for 9 days until Tuesday 16th October.
Rector of St. Joseph's, Fr. Michael Cusack said they are expecting huge crowds to converge on Dundalk to attend the popular novena in honour of St Gerard Majella in the Redemptorist Church.
'This event is now part of the very fabric of life for the people of Dundalk, Newry and the surrounding towns and counties. Hard Brexit or Soft Brexit, life continues for us all with its burdens and challenges. We all have our reasons to be thankful and our special intentions to pray for. This community gathering of prayer and worship has inspired and helped many over the generations and has truly stood the test of time.
He added 'There has been devotion to St Gerard here in this region for over 100 years now. We always look forward to welcoming people back and indeed welcoming new faces. The most important message to get out there is that All are welcome.'
Fr. Cusack explained:'The World Meeting of Families took place in Dublin in August and focused our minds on Family Life today and all its responsibilities and complexities. We will continue this reflection at the novena this year under the overall theme of 'The Joy of Love - Family Life Today'.
Weekday times for novena sessions are: 7.am, 9.30am, 11.30am, 1.10pm, 2.30pm, 4.30pm, 6.pm, 7.30pm, 9.00pm and 10.30pm. Sunday 7.am, 8.am, 9.30am, 11.am, 12.30pm, 4.30pm, 6.pm, 7.30pm and 9.pm.
Some of the special events this year are: This year our guest speaker is Eileen Hoffler from SERVE. Eileen will share with us on the theme of 'Sharing Responsibility for our Global Family' at all novena sessions on Thursday 11th.
On Friday 12th the Sacrament of Reconciliation is celebrated at the 9.30am, 11am, 6pm and 7.30pm novena sessions. The ceremony of the Anointing of the Sick and Elderly takes place on Saturday 13th at 11.30am and 2.30pm. The great celebration of the Blessing of Babies and Children will be held on Sunday 14th at 2.30pm.
Preachers this year include: Fr. Richard Reid, C.Ss.R. (St. Mary's, Clapham, London); Fr. John Littleton (Priory Institute, Tallaght), Fr. Tadhg Herbert, C.Ss.R. (Brazil Mission); Sr. Elizabeth Davis RSM (Newfoundland).
Millstreet Vintage Club and CART Carriganima hosted a hugely successful tractor run that attracted more than 60 tractors from across Duhallow and Muskerry.
The proceeds of the event will go toward supporting the Carriganima Rural Transport Bus Service. Perfect weather conditions added to the enjoyment of the day, as a bevy of tractors took to the tarmac across the picturesque countryside. After their tour of the area, the entourage returned to the Pub in Carriganima for refreshments, which were enjoyed by all.
Organisers expressed thanks to CART Carriganima and Millstreet Vintage Club for contributing to the success of the staging.
Looking ahead, Millstreet Vintage Club host their annual model toy show in Dromtariffe Community Hall on Sunday, October 14. On offer will be an array of models in addition to rally memorabilia and dioramas of diverse scenes with exhibitors from all over southern Ireland expected to travel to the show.
Model toy shows are very popular and a great pastime for children and their elders with farm machinery and sporting vehicles grabbing the attention.
Winner of the Rural Practice of the Year, Dr Michael Kennedy from Buttevant Medical Centre, is presented with his award by Joe Newell, CEO, GPBuddy.ie and David Corkery, Business Development Manager, Affidea Ireland
A North Cork medical practice has been named 'best rural practice of the year' by an industry recognised medical website.
The GPBuddy.ie National GP award recognises practices in a rural region that demonstrates excellence in patient care - for isolated patients in particular.
Dr Michael Kennedy is the principal GP at Buttevant Medical Centre and works alongside Dr Elizabeth Brosnan, Practice Nurse Mary Riordan and Practice Administrators, Liz Hynes and Eileen Palmer.
Formerly known as The Old School House Surgery, The Buttevant Medical Centre was originally established in 1967 by Dr Finbarr Kennedy and Practice Nurse Manager, Mary Kennedy.
In 1998, together with their son, Dr Michael Kennedy, they bought the old boys national school and converted it into what it is today - a high-quality modern medical centre.
Dr Kennedy said that working as a rural GP is an "enormous privilege" noting that this practice enabled them to create strong relationships with their patients while becoming part of a welcoming community.
Dr Kennedy was described as a superb trainer and a constant source of advice. Dr Brosnan was noted for her advocacy on behalf of her patients, stopping at nothing to achieve the best care for them.
Nurse Mary Riordan is a great source of knowledge, while Eileen and Liz at reception were noted to be the backbone of the practice, "running a tight ship whilst protecting the doctors and the patients at the same time".
The awards, held in Dublin, were the third national GPBuddy.ie National GP Awards and were hosted by GPBuddy.ie, an online resource for GPs, in association with Affidea.
Meanwhile, Dr Diarmuid Quinlan from the Woodview Medical Centre in Glanmire received an award for 'Safety in Practice' in recognition of his work in Stroke Prevention screening.
Dr Quinlan and Dr Kennedy were among more than 13 healthcare professionals who were presented with awards from GPBuddy.ie across 11 categories by television personality, Dr Pixie McKenna.
Now in its third year, the annual GPBuddy.ie National GP Awards recognise excellence, innovation and collaboration amongst GPs, hospitals and healthcare professionals all over Ireland.
This year, over 200 nominations were received from all over the country across all 11 categories, from both healthcare professionals and patients.
A request to suspend standing orders was made by a councillor who said the manner in which the Waterloo junction was closed was "farcical".
Cllr Bob Ryan (FF) led the charge at the Blarney Macroom district meeting and said there was ironically "very little light at the end of the tunnel" on the matter.
He said an order to have it further closed until November 30 has been put in place while councillors are adamant they will not support the closure.
"Safety is the ultimate thing but the manner in which this was done has been appalling. This morning I got an email from the Waterloo Action Committee outlining that they are now bringing a Judicial Review on the matter and have engaged the services of a senior counsel," he said.
"This really is serious that a community feel it necessary to do this. We need common sense to be brought back into this process. People's lives have been greatly impinged by closing this junction."
Cllr Michael Creed (FG) supported the words of Cllr Ryan and further added that he has attended numerous public meetings and the "angst and anger" can be clearly seen.
"No councillor in this region supports it. The council are saying that they [closed it] on safety grounds. We will not vote for any road closure and if the community win the judicial review, then so be it," he said.
The Waterloo Junction was closed during the summer to allow work to be carried out on the N20. However, residents were of the view that the closure would be temporary but now, with closure until November, they are livid.
A safety audit was carried out at the junction after a number of accidents. There was also a double fatality last year which involved two US tourists. The review recommended a full closure and the audit found that many of the accidents involved southbound tourists and hire cars making a satnav-directed right turn to Blarney.
Cllr Gobnait Moynihan (FF) said the road was temporarily closed but then it "just stayed closed".
"It really was done so sneaky and is so wrong. The people living in Waterloo and Whitechurch are very annoyed. Another way will have to be found besides closing the road but this must be done soon. People's lives are being severely disrupted, from going to school to getting to work," she said.
Cllr Kevin Conway (Ind) also described the situation as "farcical".
"Indeed, the whole thing is questionable, and just who made that decision to close it? Traffic is now going up a road that is absolutely not suitable, and it is then coming out onto the main road, which is right at a very fast section," he said.
He said in nearby Rathduff there was also a problem with the junction and traffic-calming measures were put in place. Cllr Conway said in August, just prior to the councillors breaking for the summer recess, they all knew that section of road was being done but none of them "knew a thing" about the closure of the junction.
Chairing the meeting, Cllr Ted Lucey (FG) said this issue is "breaking up the community". He said that the Waterloo junction needs to be opened immediately.
Cork County Council's Local Enterprise Office Cork North & West is encouraging more women to go from 'local to global' with their businesses.
This initiative will be highlighted at a special event on National Women's Enterprise Day 2018. On October 18th, the event for Cork and Kerry female entrepreneurs is taking place at the Clayton Silversprings Hotel, Cork City. The keynote speaker will be Eleanor McEvoy, Budget Energy Ltd and also known from RTE's "Dragons' Den".
It will also include an interactive panel discussion of Cork and Kerry women in business.
Rachel Sarah Murphy, founder and CEO of The Irish Film Academy and Free The Way Cleaning, and also known to many as the character 'Jo' in the RTE soap opera 'Fair City', will also speak at the event. Plus there will be plenty of networking opportunities to meet other women in business attending.
Kevin Curran, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Cork North & West, is encouraging local entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners to attend.
"'From Local To Global' as a theme for National Women's Enterprise Day 2018 is very apt, especially with all the uncertainty around Brexit. We want to encourage more female entrepreneurs to diversify and to let them know that their Local Enterprise Office can give them the support they need to explore new markets," he said.
"Last year alone, the Local Enterprise Offices provided training, mentoring and networking to over 18,500 female entrepreneurs along with providing grant assistance to over 280 female-run businesses and these figures continue to grow."
To book tickets for the Cork and Kerry event, which cost 30, please visit: www.localenterprise.ie/corkcity or call the office on 022-43235. All sectors are welcome from entrepreneurs with a business idea, to start-ups and well established businesses.
A plan to install a roundabout at a road junction, once branded "one of the most dangerous in the country", has been rubber stamped, with construction work on the project set to commence in the New Year.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has confirmed that its has earmarked funding for the traffic-calming measure at Ballymacquirke Cross on the N72 between Kanturk and Banteer.
Debate has raged for some time at County Council level over the need for safety measures at the busy junction, with thousands of people from the area even signing a petition calling for action to be taken there.
Among those to champion the issue was Cllr Bernard Moynihan (FF) who, along with other councillors, has repeatedly raised it at meetings over the past couple of years.
Last January the local authority said their consultants had submitted a report to TII with three possible solutions - improving sight-lines by staggering approach roads to the junction; installing a roundabout; or building a flyover over the crossroads.
The following March, Cork County Council's director of services, Tom Stritch, confirmed the roundabout was their preferred option and that their National Roads Office had submitted a report on the recommendation to TII.
"The way that they (TII) are talking, it seems that approval will be given. Of course, we will have to get that in writing," he said.
Welcoming Mr Stritch's comments, Cllr Moynihan said he hoped TII would "move swiftly" to allocate funding for the roundabout. His brother, Cork North West TD Michael Moynihan, recently raised the issue in a parliamentary question to Transport Minister Shane Ross, requesting a progress update on the project.
In reply, the TII head of regulatory and administration, Gary Lynch, wrote that each year the body undertakes an analysis of the national road network to identify locations with high levels of collisions.
He wrote that Ballymacquirke Cross had been identified as a location that "required investigation" and TII had requested Cork County Council to provide a feasibility study for a scheme of safety measures at the junction.
"The study has been submitted and TII has agreed to fund the design and construction of the proposed safety improvement works," he wrote.
"Cork County Council is currently procuring a consultant to prepare a detailed design of the scheme, which will require planning approval, and it is anticipated the works will be undertaken in 2019," he concluded.
Mr Lynch did not say how much the project would cost to implement.
Welcoming the commitment from TII, Deputy Moynihan said it was "wonderful news".
"The significant safety issues at this junction have been a matter of grave concern to the local community and motorists for many years, and this development is great news for the many people travelling through this junction on a daily basis," said Deputy Moynihan.
Seamus Fleming, Cullen Pipe Band performed at the Lackeel Church of Ireland Cemetery Restoration in Kilbrin. All pictures by John Tarrant
An oasis of peace and tranquility surrounds Lackeel Cemetery near Kilbrin and its restoration was formally acknowledged at a dignified ceremony last Saturday.
Kilbrin Cemetery Committee took the project on board as, for a long number of years, the former Church of Ireland church and graveyard was completely overgrown and inaccessible to the public.
However, following a year of painstaking restoration work, the site is now open for local people and tourists to visit. The church building was completed in 1774 and from 1788 it served the communities of Kilbrin and Liscarroll, sited on a thoroughfare linking Limerick to Tralee.
Comprising of a plain and rectangular building with a spire, there was seating for a congregation of 130 with a graveyard adjoining the church. For close on 150 years, Lackeel served its community but falling numbers saw it decommissioned in the 1930s and the church was subsequently felled.
All through the past year, Kilbrin volunteers undertook a series of tasks at Lackeel to restore a peaceful location.
"Some of the work was painstaking, involving slashers and strimmers in addition to some machinery. This work would not have been possible without the help of many people and we're delighted to have completed the project", said spokesperson Tom O'Riordan.
Work at the project began with erecting gates and pillars on the entrance and the site itself has been very much cleared, the gates are over 100 years old and restored to their original state.
Kilbrin organisers acknowledged the support of the Church of Ireland and IRD Duhallow on helping to complete the work at Lackeel Cemetery. IRD Duhallow CEO Maire Walsh commended all involved in the project.
"Once again it been an amazing effort, a small community displaying community spirit, the smaller the community the stronger the work ethic and that's evident here in Lackeel", she said.
Speakers at the event included Canon Eithne Lynch, Fr Michael Leader, Rosemary Cussen, Niall O'Sullivan, Oliver Ryan Purcell and Desmond Sharp Bolster.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman signaled on October 3 that Israel was unhappy with the delivery of Russian-made S-300 air defense system to Syria but wouldn't stop its operations in the region. Speaking to Sputnik, Israeli publicist Avigdor Eskin shared his views on Moscow's move and the future of Russian-Israeli relations.
"Israel is very cool about the deployment of S-300 in Syria," said Israeli publicist and political commentator Avigdor Eskin, commenting on the delivery of the Russian-made air defense system to the Arab Republic.
"As you know, there is S-400 in the area, which also does not make us sleepless. All this is not a challenge for Israeli Air Forces," he stressed. "Eventually, there could be a threat for our civil aviation, but this is also taken into consideration. After all, our border with Syria was 100 percent quiet between 1973 and 2012."
On October 4, Israeli veteran war correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai bemoaned the fact "the Americans have not really interfered so far" and "left Jerusalem to deal with the shooting down of the plane on its own" in his op-ed for Ynetnews.com. So, what's behind the Trump administration's alleged hesitance to "shield" Israel?
"This is normal," the publicist responded. "Israel developed relations with Russia without US participation or approval (not against US interests, but independently). Therefore Israel is fixing the relations with Russia without active US help. We do not need the assistance of Washington in this case. Notwithstanding the fact, that President Trump is our best friend and ally and his administration is the best for Israel in its history."
Meanwhile, Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel's regional cooperation minister and a non-voting member of the country's security cabinet, presumed that the newly-installed S-300 missile system could be defeated by Israel's stealth fighters.
According to Eskin, there is no need to stir up bellicose rhetoric: "The system is not a threat for us [Israel]," he said. "Israel is not going to undermine the Assad regime. The coordination and the cooperation between Russia and Israel are in place and even have not been harmed de facto."
Likewise, there is no reason to expect any aggressive moves from Washington in response to the deployment of the S-300, he believes: "There will be eventually some exchanges of views between Moscow and Washington. Both powers are seriously entrenched in Syria. They are not going to leave in the nearest future. Therefore, there will be certain modus vivendi."
For its part, "Israel will act responsibly as it did before," Eskin pointed out, expressing confidence that for its part, Russia would ensue that there would be no "Iranian installations" near its military bases.
"Israel and Russia will avoid conflicts and their interests meet in many aspects. But Russia has a variety of interests in the Middle East. Therefore the relations will be constructive and not warm," the Israeli publicist concluded.
Scientist Maeve Doyle, a past pupil of St Mary's Secondary School Charleville, is the lead in developing the on-board software for Ireland's first ever satellite, which is being developed by a team of students at University College Dublin.
Details of the satellite, EIRSAT-1, were announced by John Halligan TD, Minister for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development last week, after the first phase of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Fly Your Satellite Programme, the Critical Design Review, was completed. This marks an important milestone for the project and moves it a step closer to launching into space.
The sixteen strong interdisciplinary team of postgraduate UCD students, who are building the satellite with the support of the ESA's education office, will now go on to the next phase of the project which is to assemble and test the an ERSAT-1 prototype in newly installed clean rooms at the university.
Minister Halligan said the project provides the student team with the opportunity to develop skills in satellite development, which will have an impact beyond those directly participating in the project in expanding the space industry sector in Ireland. EIRSAT-1 is a miniature satellite, or Cube Sat, and is comparable to the size of an average shoebox.
Subject to passing further reviews and mission milestones, EIRSAT-1 is expected to be delivered to ESA in mid-2020 with three scientific experiments on board. Once in orbit the satellite will communicate data to Earth through ground radio stations located at the EIR-SAT1 mission control in the UCD School of Physics.
Maeve Doyle, who is a daughter of Cllr. Ian and Angie Doyle of Newtownshandrum, Charleville, went to St. Mary's Secondary School in Charleville.
"The teachers were amazing and always enthusiastic. This enthusiasm inspired my interest in the sciences, in particular Physics," said Maeve.
Following secondary school, she undertook an undergraduate degree at Maynooth University doing Physics with Astrophysics. Maeve then pursued a two-year research Masters with the Space Science group at UCD. At the beginning of the second year of this programme she joined the EIRSAT-1 team, and is now just starting her PhD, which is largely focused on this mission.
With regards to her role on the mission team, she is the lead on-board software developer for the EIRSAT-1 mission, developing software with a group of other UCD students.
"The software we are now writing will go on EIRSAT-1's computer and will determine how the satellite behaves while in space," said Maeve.
A massive idle building in Macroom is set to become home to O'Flynn Medical in Millstreet who are set to move 'lock stock and barrel' to the new premises.
At the Blarney Macroom Municipal meeting on Monday, the disposal of the former council-owned Radon Building in Macroom for 413,000 was on the agenda.
Cllr Michael Creed (FG) said: "I have been working on this for the past eight to nine months and I am delighted that O'Flynn Medical will move to Macroom. The council-owned Radon building has been idle for at least 10 years, so it really is great that O'Flynn Medical, who are highly respected in their field, will move with their 30 staff, and it is also great that, down the line, further jobs will be created. All in all, this will be great for Macroom."
Cllr Creed noted that the company will move "lock stock and barrel" to Macroom and cited that one of the main reasons for the move was the non-possibility of expansion for the company in Millstreet. The Radon Building in Macroom is 1,733.83 square metres.
O'Flynn Medical (OFM) was founded 18 years ago by husband and wife team Tadhg and Anne O'Flynn. They began as a technical services company, providing reactive and preventative maintenance services to the HSE, care facilities, nursing homes and private homes across Ireland. All equipment is required to be routinely serviced, a service which OFM continues to provide.
In 2014, they moved into their current premises, which was the former old creamery in Millstreet. At this facility there is a state of the art decontamination facility.
In addition, the old creamery building was restored to be eco-friendly with a rainwater harvesting facility, UV water-filtering system, air to water pumps for hot water and heating, and a new underfloor heating system.
Presidential hopeful Liadh Ni Riada defended her position on the HPV vaccine by saying she never opposed it but had raised concerns about information.
During her RTE Radio interview along with four of the six candidates, the interviewer Aine Lawlor asked the Sinn Fein candidate if she had written a letter to her daughter's school asking them not to give them the vaccine.
In response, Ms Ni Riada said she wondered where Aine Lawlor was getting her information from.
However, in a 2016 radio interview with 96FM, the MEP said she would not allow her daughter to receive the HPV vaccine. She said in that interview that she had sent a "note" to the school saying she didn't want her daughter to get the vaccine. In the 2016 interview, she said the HSE was "in a shambles" and asked, "how much can you trust this is 100 per cent safe".
However, during the first broadcast of the debate of the presidential election campaign which was held last Thursday, she said that she "didn't write to their school at all," and in turn challenged the interviewer Aine Lawlor by saying, "I don't know where you're getting your information from".
"I never was on record saying I opposed itif you listen back, you will hear me saying 'I am raising concerns about the lack of information; at no time did I say I was against it'."
During the Radio debate, she said she was fully in favour of the vaccine and she didn't think it was fair that journalists were "hounding" her children's private medical records.
When asked why Sinn Fein logos were not on her election posters, she said she wanted to be a candidate for the whole of Ireland.
The MEP also said she would only take a ministerial salary if she was elected and that the remainder of it would return to the exchequer.
She also said that there should be "accountability and transparency" over costs associated with the Office of President.
She also said the President could lead the discourse that is Brexit. With Brexit, she said that we are going to see political as well as constitutional implications. She said because of that, it is about having that dialogue with our citizens so we have "inclusive preparedness" done for a referendum on a border poll.
She also said she would be a President for all the people which included having dialogue with Unionists and reaching out that hand of friendship.
However, when asked about President Donald Trump visiting Ireland, she said she would welcome him and speak to him about the undocumented Irish and his "ridiculous hair".
During the radio debate, neither President Michael D Higgins nor Sean Gallagher took part in the broadcast.
Liadh Ni Riada was joined for the debate by Senator Joan Freeman and by businessmen Gavin Duffy and Peter Casey.
Local residents have engaged a senior counsel to seek a judicial review of the closure of Waterloo Junction.
Writing in the Irish Independent on Tuesday, Ralp Riegel reported that a solicitor acting for local residents has written to the council claiming it has acted unreasonable and will face judicial review proceedings unless the road is re-opened once appropriate works are completed.
In legal documentation seen by Independent.ie, residents warned the council they now face injunction proceedings.
"It appears to us that the council has acted irrationally and unreasonably in closing this pubic road," the letter warned.
"As a result, we have sent the papers to counsel to advise on judicial review proceedings and in particular seeking an interlocutor mandatory injunction compelling the county council to re-open the public road pending the determination of any such proceedings."
The council has been warned that unless the road is re-opened pending a detailed discussion of how to address safety concerns, they will face immediate High Court action.
A spokesperson for Waterloo Access Group (WAG) said it was clear the council never considered the impact on Waterloo or Whitechurch residents of a permanent road closure.
Residents have been backed by the daughter of one US tourist who died in a collision at the junction.
Diane Baker said she believed the permanent closure of the junction appeared to be very unfair to local residents.
"Only one turn seems to be inflating the risk, and that's the right-hand turn from the N20 to Waterloo road that many tourists are directed to take via their sat-nav systems when travelling to Blarney," she said.
Work is moving on with getting the Briery Gap "back up and running", councillors heard at the Blarney Macroom municipal district meeting.
Jim Molloy, SEO of the Municipal District Operations and Rural Development, told the meeting that work has recommenced on a design to get it through the Part Eight planning.
"That will then enable us to get tenders, and while this is subject to funding. there is the Rural Regeneration Fund," he said. He said he was now looking at the funding figures for the library and the Briery Gap.
Chairing the meeting, Cllr Ted Lucey (FG) said it was good to finally hear some positive news. He has been working for many months on trying all avenues to get the much-needed community facility put back into the community once again.
Cllr Gobnait Moynihan (FF) said it was very important that the entire project was "shovel-ready" when it needed to be.
"The cost of this project is 4million, but there's a deficit of 1.5 million, and the Government has only put 6 per cent on the table, and that is pretty poor," she said. The insurance comes to 1 million and then there's 1 million from the council," she added.
Cllr Michael Creed (FG) said that the Rural Regeneration Fund has a pot of 100 million and, as previously outlined by Mr Molloy, they would be seeking a slice of that funding to help them with the project in Macroom.
Cllr Bob Ryan (FF) welcomed the updated process but said what was central to it was the funding. "It's a huge shortfall of 1.5 million," he said.
Cllr Kevin Conway (Ind) said the Briery Gap was a very worthy project and the most important aspect is to now "get and have the money to do it."
Cllr Lucey (FG) said he has been following this project very closely, and Minister Michael Creed and CCC CEO Tim Lucey have met to discuss it.
Cllr Ted Lucey said he is confident that a substantial grant will come from the Department and also from the Rural Regeneration Fund to get the project over the line.
Mr Molloy said that pressure is being put on the Architect's Department to get the Part Eight through by Christmas.
"The sooner that we get that then the sooner we can get it passed and to keep the project moving," he said.
He added that some projects have already been singled out for funding from the Rural Regeneration pot, which includes revamping the Church of Ireland in Macroom and to put it in use as a community facility along with a memorial at Beal na Bleth.
It is a wait and see process to find out what is causing the "desperate smell" that is occurring at times at The Square in Macroom.
At the Blarney Macroom meeting this week after the summer recess, Cllr Gobnait Moynihan (FF) asked if the problem had been solved. She was told by James Dwyer, Senior Executive Engineer, that drainage works were carried out over the last six weeks but it's now a wait and see process.
The issue was previously raised at the July council meeting where councillors heard that the "foul smell" in the square was causing quite the headache for Irish Water.
Chairman, Cllr Ted Lucey (FG) said at that time that staff from Irish Water went to The Square and couldn't figure out what or where the smell was coming from. "They lifted up the water traps and they were clean," he said at the time.
The Dail has supported a Labour Party Bill which, if enacted, will see the restoration of Drogheda Borough Council and the creation of some new town councils across the country.
The government declined to support the legislation with Fine Gael and Independent Alliance TDs voting against allowing the Bill to proceed to the next stage.
"I am pleased to see that this important Bill for Drogheda will now move to the next stage,' Senator Ged Nash stated.
"For Borough Council status to be re-established, the law needs to be changed. This is what this Bill seeks to do. This can be a milestone for Drogheda and I am very pleased that the legislation has cleared the first hurdle.
"We will be pushing hard to see the Bill moved to Committee Stage at the earliest opportunity where it will be examined and debated in further detail."
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein TD for Louth Imelda Munster has also called on the government to reinstate Drogheda's borough council, whilst commenting that Labour's bill on the subject is "hypocritical", given the party's role in abolishing the council in the first place.
"Sinn Fein has always been in favour of retaining town councils. In fact in 2013 when Fine Gael and Labour abolished them, Sinn Fein was calling for reform, and a strengthening of powers for councils in large towns like Drogheda."
"We warned Labour that abolishing the town and borough councils would be disastrous in towns right across the state. Drogheda is a perfect example of this. Under the Labour/Fine Gael government Drogheda lost its borough council, its budget, its town clerk and any shred of local democracy it once had. Under Labour Drogheda became an afterthought, and we've been dealing with the mess they created ever since."
"We all want the councils reinstated, but unfortunately this bill will achieve nothing, and Labour knows that. In the first instance, the bill does not direct the Minister to reinstate the councils, it merely states that he "may" decide to do so. The is because Labour, as an opposition party, are unable to pass bills of this type, calling for radical change, but where Labour were in power they did the exact opposite - they abolished the town and borough councils."
Sinn Fein supported the bill.
Drogheda Grammar School has been honoured with a visit from the German Ambassador to Ireland Deike Potzel.
Ambassador Potzel was greeted by German students, before a performance by the 5th Year music class under the guidance of Ms Norris and songs included Air on the G String by Bach, an Irish version of Fun's "Some Night" and "Muss i denn", a folk song from the Swabian region of Germany.
The Ambassador then delivered a very engaging speech and spoke to the students about her work as an ambassador and the many career opportunities which exist for German speakers. A question and answer session ensued and Ambassador Potzel very thoughtfully answered all questions posed by the students.
German students, Amy White and Jack Finnegan, later presented the ambassador with flowers, an Irish gift and a book on the history of the Grammar School in Drogheda.
Ambassador Potzel gifted a set of German language books for the school's library.
Having achieved a bronze medal for the forth time at the National Tidy Towns competition last week, the secretary of Enniscorthy Tidy Towns says that he believes that a silver medal, and maybe even a gold, is within grasp.
Local Tidy Towns secretary and treasurer Sean Doyle attended this year's Tidy Towns prize-giving ceremony at The Helix in Dublin along with County Council Chairman Cllr Keith Doyle, District Chairman Cllr Willie Kavanagh, District Manager Liz Hore and Senior Executive Engineer Tadhg O'Corcora.
Things started out very well for the Cathedral town with Enniscorthy being announced as the very first recipient of the Royal Institute of Architects Ireland Special Award Certificate.
The win will mean that representatives of Enniscorthy Tidy Towns will now have the opportunity to work with an architect to develop exciting new solutions to problems in the town such as derelict sites, signage, lighting, lack of quality public space, traffic or parking issues.
Overall, Sean says that the committee are happy with how things went this year and the progress that is being made in Enniscorthy.
'This year we received 309 marks, an increase of 6 marks on 2017,' he pointed out.
'We again achieved a Bronze Medal for the fourth time. We are on the verge of a Silver Medal and with another heave we'll have Gold. The overall winner this year was Listowel, Co. Kerry, with 339 marks - we are 30 marks behind them and if we continue to increase our marks each year by six we won't be far away from the top achievers in the Tidy Town Competition.'
'We more or less broke even with Listowel under four headings,' he continued.
'Actually, we received one mark more than Listowel under the heading Built Environment & Streetscape. In the category Tidiness & Litter Control they received 11 more marks than us.'
Sean once again wished to thank everyone who volunteered and put in the hours to ensure Enniscorthy is kept looking beautiful.
He also used the opportunity to seek more volunteers going forward, pointing out that places like Castleblaney, Co Monaghan supposedly have in the region of 400 volunteers.
'I must express the appreciation of the Enniscorthy Tidy Town Committee for our Volunteers,' he said.
'Although few in number they do Trojan work on behalf of their neighbours and the community in general. I must also thank the operatives of the Tidy Town Community Employment Scheme and to the Officials and outdoor staff of Enniscorthy District Council for all their hard work.'
Funding available to small and medium enterprises was the topic for discussion at Kilcannon Garden Centre recently as Enniscorthy & District Chamber hosted a networking lunch and talk with Linda Doran of Baker Tilly Hughes Blake.
Ms Doran outlined how funding of up to 11million is available for small to medium enterprises across the South East and outlined the criteria, urging Enniscorthy businesses to apply. The funding is being made available through EIIS Management Ltd, a joint venture company owned by Goodbody Stockbrokers and Baker Tilly Hughes Blake, who have offices in Enniscorthy and Dublin.
Ms Doran told those present that EIIS Ltd is actively seeking suitable investment opportunities from 500,000 up to 5million and said that, typically, no repayment was required over the four year investment period, giving the company 'space and time to drive growth in sales, profits and cash-flow for the medium term'.
The talk certainly gave some local business people food for thought and Chamber President Maree Lyng and Development Officer Jimmy Gahan thanked her for her informative presentation.
Anyone looking for further information on the funding should contact Linda at Baker Tilly Hughes Blake or the Chamber office.
The condition of three teenagers from Dagestan, who on October 3 were delivered to the burn center of the Volga Research Medical University Clinic in Nizhny Novgorod after an explosion at a school gymnasium in the Levashinsky District, is stabilizing. Still, they are in critical condition, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation reported.
All the required help is applied to the wounded, RIA Novosti quotes the message of the ministry.
Two more wounded adolescents, whose evacuation to Nizhny Novgorod turned out to be impossible by the decision of specialists, are still in grave condition.
Legendary local band, Risky Business have launched their new album in front of a wildly enthusiastic Fingal audience at the Balrothery Heritage Centre.
At a magical night in the Balrothery Heritage Centre Risky Business launched their new album, Unfinished Business to a packed house of invited guests.
Following a glowing introduction from Horslips' Barry Devlin, the band took to the stage to the sound of Endless Art, the classic homage to the world's greatest artists by Irish eighties legends, A-House.
And from the moment they hit the stage, Risky Business had this audience in the palms of their hands.
The set included most of the album's tracks with That's The Way, Troll and the album's title track Unfinished Business being particular stand-outs. Halfway through they were joined on stage by Barry Devlin and Jim Lockhart of Horslips, both of whom have contributed to the album.
The band's time on stages at Electric Picnic and at venues all over Ireland as well as in the UK, Europe and Canada have really honed their stage craft, as they consistently deliver a powerful brand of original and diverse material. The full brass section added colour and texture to a set of great songs.
Unfinished Business has already generated considerable acclaim including ringing endorsements from Cambridge's finest, Stornoway and from Margo Timmins of The Cowboy Junkies.
The CD is now available from the band's Facebook page (www.tinyurl.com/Risky-Fans) as well as a number of local retail and service outlets. It will be available for download from all major online platforms in the coming week.
A former school principal from Swords has been recognised by the Vatican for her 'trojan work in education' after she was made a 'Dame Commander' of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
One accusation often levelled against the Catholic Church is in the exclusion of women, denigration to a seemingly insignificant role within the Church itself. In what is an exclusively patriarchal organisation, women have unfortunately taken second place.
One Swords woman, however, has defied previously held norms within the Church hierarchy, paving the way perhaps to a more open, inclusive form of Church, where women are valued for their contribution.
Anne McDonagh was earlier this year conferred with the Papal award of 'Dame Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great' for her 'Trojan work in education in a time of change.'
The investiture was carried out by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in St. Colmcille's Girls National School in Swords, where Anne herself had attended.
Previously Principal of St. Colmcille's for 26 years and Director of Education in the Archdiocese of Dublin for 10 years, Anne has been honoured in recognition of her contribution to Catholic education and her work in the Dublin Archdiocese.
Speaking to The Fingal Independent, Anne expressed her sense of joy in being awarded the title, which recognised the years of hard work she had carried out in her role in education, saying: 'I was very surprised; I had heard about it before, but I was very surprised and taken aback when I got the phone call. The Archbishop rang me and said the Pope had been talking about me the day before, and I couldn't believe it.
'I was absolutely delighted and honoured to get it. I felt it was an honour not just for me, but for all the people who had been associated with me in my career. I was associated with a lot of people and a lot of people helped me. After the award, I heard from people I hadn't heard from in a long time, so it was a great honour to share it with them.'
In 2005, Anne started work with the Archbishop in the diocesan centre on Clonliffe Road, with all the attendant problems and issues that came with the role. Now living in Malahide, Anne spoke of some of the work she had done there, and in education over her career: 'I was Director of Education in the Archdiocese of Dublin for 10 years, looking after primary, post-primary and third level education, so it was really looking after the Archbishop's responsibilities, where he was looking after 470 primary schools and 200 post-primary schools, and third level institutions as well.
'It meant appointing boards of management to those schools, teachers had to be trained, principals had to be appointed... I did that, and any issues that arose around that. I'm still involved in education, and do different things around the country. I'm also Director on the board of CEIST and Educena.'
The award was undoubtedly an achievement in what is a male-dominated organisation; Anne explained her own feelings on the role of women in the Church: 'I think women's roles in the Church is reflected in women's roles in the rest of the world, that in some ways it has improved, but in some ways it has a long, long way to come. I think that if you look at the Church, you have to look at the hierarchy, and look at the gospel, and there's quite a difference between the two.'
Speaking of her own faith, Anne said: 'I have strong faith, I wouldn't describe myself as religious, but I would say I would have good faith. I'm a practising Catholic, and certainly I would understand what the gospels say, and that's what I would try do is to live my life by the gospel.'
The only privilege that the award of 'Dame Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great' carries with it, other than the title itself, a medal and the uniform (a cape for Dames) is the right to ride a horse through St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, though Anne says she is not quite sure she will be taking advantage of that privilege any time soon.
An indication of the massive opposition that has built up against the National Transport Authority's BusConnects proposals which will rob several towns and villages in Fingal of a direct service to the city centre is news that in Rush alone, almost 2,000 letters of objection were submitted to the NTA by the deadline for public consultation which arrived, last Friday.
Rush Community Council commended the effort of locals on the issue, saying: 'A huge thank you to the people of Rush for the 1,858 submission letters we received during our weekend collections and at the Community Centre, ensuring we keep our direct and express bus service to city centre. These have now been sent to the NTA Bus Connects' together with Rush Community Council's detailed submission.
The community council said: 'This was also a really great collaboration between Rush Community Council and concerned residents which came together to form a working group on the Bus Connects plans.'
Rush Community Council expressed several specific concerns over the BusConnects plans which would see the village lose a direct service to the city.
The community council said in its submission to the NTA: 'As a commuter town, a direct express bus service using M1 and tunnel providing travel times of around one hour is essential for Rush.
'Increased commuting time (2hours+) to city centre will impact quality of life for commuters, school-aged children, university students and elderly people who require a regular direct bus service.'
The community council made the point to the NTA that: 'Current bus and rail services are already beyond capacity. The new proposals will reduce services to woefully inadequate levels. Plus, if the plan was based on current population and not outdated Census 2011 data, it would point to Rush, Lusk, Skerries and Balbriggan needing more services, not less.'
The community council also told the NTA: 'Commuter Rail links are an unacceptable replacement for a direct bus service. Capacity issues notwithstanding, Rush/Lusk rail station is located between both towns and unreachable by foot for many in under 45 minutes. Our communities need bus and rail services. Access to key amenities will require bus changes. Present planning of these interchanges and the extra capacity required will be chaotic enough for most, but for the elderly, disabled people and families with prams, changing buses due to the removal of a direct 33 route into the city centre is absurd.'
The concerns of the community council were shared right across the towns and villages of north Fingal which will all suffer the same fate in losing direct services to the city if the plans are not changed. There has been some indication that the NTA has heard the concerns in Fingal but only time will tell if that is reflected in the final plan.
No bus for Rolestown is 'simply unacceptable'
In Cllr Darragh Butler's (FF) submission to the National Transport Authority Busconnects plans to redesign Dublin Bus routes, he has defended the rights of the people of Rolestown to their bus service.
Cllr Butler told the NTA: 'Rolestown would have no service under BusConnects and this is simply not acceptable. We need you to maintain the 41b, indeed an expansion should be considered, it is a very important route for Rolestown and Swords commuters and students. In short we need more '41b's and it is incredible in the extreme to even contemplate its removal.
He added: 'The Rolestown community relies on its bus services. The outlying areas of Dublin continue to need bus services. This plan would cut services from most of Fingal's commuter towns and see Rolestown's bus services eliminated.'
Cllr Butler outlined the lack of consideration given to places like Rolestown in the plan, saying: 'The BusConnects proposal demonstrates a lack of concern for local conditions and the 41b Route is not even mentioned on the BusConnects Maps.'
He insisted the route stays.
Speaking recently at the Fingal Old IRA 1916-21 Commemorative Society Annual Remembrance at Rath Cross the site of the Battle of Ashbourne, FF Senator Mark Daly spoke of his pride at having the opportunity address the Commemoration at Rath Cross which recalls Thomas Ashe, a fellow Kerry man who lead the Fingal Volunteers at the Battle of Ashbourne.
The Senator said: 'This gathering is here to celebrate the life and legacy of Thomas Ashe. To reaffirm and recommit ourselves to the aims and ideals for which he fought, the ideals as contained in the 1916 proclamation".
He spoke of the motivation for Thomas Ashe and his men, in taking on the biggest empire the world had ever seen. Mark Daly used the words of Ashe's cousin Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in 'To Kill a Mocking Bird': 'If I didn't I could not hold my head up".
Senator Daly set out how a united Ireland might be achieved post-Brexit, saying: 'You do not hold a referendum and afterwards plan for the future and only afterwards tell people what that future will be like. A referendum should be held at the very end of a long process of consultation and engagement, especially with our unionist neighbours.'
The Cathaoirleach of the Society Councillor Cathal Boland thanked the Senator and thanked all those who attended. He spoke of the importance of remembering the past so we chart our future.
The boarded-up home in Brega which was occupied by protesters last week.
Fingal County Council has condemned the occupation of a vacant house in Brega, Balbriggan by a group of housing activists saying their actions may delay the re-letting of the home.
Meanwhile a Sinn Fein councillor has said he understands the motives behind the protest but said there were other ways to make the point.
A group calling itself 'The Fingal Battalion', said they were protesting 'in solidarity' with the Take Back the City campaign which has seen vacant homes all over the country being occupied in protest at the housing crisis.
According to Fingal County Council, the property in Balbriggan was being refurbished, having returned to housing stock in June 2018, and was due to be allocated to a 'qualified applicant' on Fingal County Council's housing list.
The council said a Vacant Homes Officer was appointed in September 2017, along with a Vacant Homes Action Plan in December 2017, which was currently being implemented.
The areas of Swords, Balbriggan and Dublin 15 were said to be the 'initial focus' of the plan, as they were areas of 'high social housing demand.'
Denouncing the occupation, the council said approximately 200 properties have been identified across the county as long-term vacant properties, which would potentially be suitable for social housing.
The council also said that 'damage caused by the trespassers' last week, 'may result in the handover of the property being delayed.'
Speaking to The Fingal Independent, local Sinn Fein Cllr Malachy Quinn said: 'They (the activists) occupied the property to highlight the housing crisis, but there are other ways to do that.
'Unfortunately though, the situation has got so bad that they feel they need to take action.
'Every single issue that comes to my door in my clinic, is people either going into homelessness, or very close to going into homelessness.'
He added: 'We have a situation where people are working, they're earning good money, and they can't afford to rent. They're moving back in with their parents, and that causes difficulties.
'As young adults, there's no chance of independent living.'
'We're going to look back in years to come and our children are going to ask what we did to prevent so many people going into homelessness.
'It's an epidemic, an absolute epidemic and there are some frightening statistics coming out on a monthly basis.'
Speaking on what Sinn Fein planned to do to deal with the crisis, Cllr Quinn said: 'We're working on opening up lands in Fingal, where families would be able to avail of affordable and social housing, so that people who want to remain in their community would have the opportunity to be able to purchase there.'
He concluded: 'We need to build social housing, and we need to buy in from every stakeholder involved, whether that be from local government to central government and from local communities as well to sort this problem.'
Fingal County Council defended its record on turning around vacant homes.
A statement from the local authority said it 'has a strong record in relation to the turn around time for void properties and 1% of the stock is currently void or undergoing pre-let repairs. It cannot always be assumed that empty dwellings are in the possession of the council as the resolution of legal or Tenancy situations may prevent the council from carrying out works.
'In addition, the 2016 Census shows that the County's overall vacancy rate in relation to private housing in the county was 4.7%, which was one of the lowest in Ireland.'
The 'Fingal Battalion' protest group has said it intends to mount a similiar protest in October to keep the local housing and homelessness crisis in the spotlight.
Donabate adventurer has been reunited with his beloved bath tub after more than three years of separation after he hauled the tub on his back up the highest peak in Africa.
Rob Dowling is know nationally and indeed, internationally for his unique adventurers that has seen him row that same bath tub, affectionately known as 'Sheila' down the Amazon before he carried it up Kilimanjaro.
At the end of both trips, circumstances conspired to separate the Rob from his bath tub on the journey home but somehow, now matter how long it takes, it seems they have a happy knack of finding each other again.
This time the separation has lasted more than three years but Rob is recently home from a trip to Africa in a bid to find 'Sheila' again so he can progress to his next epic challenge of circumnavigating the enormous salt flat desert of Bolivia, dragging the bath tub behind him..
After more than three years of separation, it took Rob just two weeks to find the tub, a find he can describe only as a 'miracle' and one that reinforces his belief that somehow he is fated to complete the four challenges with the bath tub he has set out for himself.
Describing how he made the unlikely find, Rob told the Fingal Independent: 'I went over a month ago. Basically she went missing three years and two months ago. I didn't have the heart to look for it for a while, I was just devastated at the loss and I had to concentrate on other things.
'I arrived in Kilimanjaro and met with this guy called Moses who I met three years ago when I did the mountain climb. He is sort of a local fixer. The people I stayed with before who minded the bath for me and they were deeply upset that I never received it - they assumed I had done. I didn't want to contact them and tell them I never got it because I didn't want to upset them.
'I had told them that a shipping agent would come and get it so when someone arrived to come and take it away, they weren't surprised.
'In a nutshell what happened was that the bath was taken by the shipping agent and brought to a warehouse. The person who took it, Daniel, moved on from the job soon after and left the bath in the warehouse. There was no paper trail, no records or anything. So, I tracked him down and we talked.'
He explained: 'The policy is after a year, unclaimed goods are given to what they call a contractor and he scraps it.
'I went to them and nobody had any records of where it went, the staff had all been turned around and nobody knew where it was.
'They directed me to the city dump and that was my low point. I was there talking to the scavengers, who make their living going through the rubbish and selling what they find.
'They told me that the dump was two years old and catered for 1,800,000 people so you can imagine the scale of it. So I didn't know where I was going to start but I gave out some posters, and they were all on WhatsApp would you believe and they talked to each other and I had set a reward and 500 was a lot to them so they said they would put word out on the scavenger network.'
The dump is in Arusha, in the shadow of Kilimanjaro. But as the scavengers searched, Rob was also fielding phone calls from all over the place, thanks to covering a vast area with leaflets promising a reward for the find.
Of course, many of the claims were bogus and Rob insisted on a picture before taking any claim seriously until one day he got a call from a woman who despite having no picture to send, was able to describe the tub in detail, including the metal frame that Rob had put around it so he could carry it on his back, up the mighty mountain.
He said: 'This Sunday morning I got a call from a woman and something told me this was genuine. There was no picture but I made an exception, there was something in her voice that told me she was speaking the truth. She was related to one of these contractors and she said that she knew the whereabouts of the bath tub
'There was no photograph and she said she wasn't able to send me one but she was able to describe the metal frame I had put the bath in so I could carry it on my back on the climb.
'So in the heel of the hunt it was maybe two, two-and-a-half years since she (the bath tub) left the warehouse. She was probably moved all over the place, had water in it at one point and there she was in the shadow of Mt Meru. I had images of her sitting in the shadow of a mountain and that had put me off the trail because I thought it was Mt Kilimanjaro, but it wasn't, it was Mt Meru.
'All I could find out about it that it was holding water for a year or two then it got moved again and damaged and it was no good to anyone anymore.
It was in a small village on the slopes of Mt Meru. There was a about 15 houses in the village and there she was lying on the ground.'
Rob had to restrain himself from showing the delight he felt inside as he feared the price of the reward going up he seemed too excited.
He said: 'My biggest problem was that I couldn't show how excited I was for the simple reason, if I showed how excited I was, they would want more money for it.
'But internally, I was elated. If you told me that I won 10 million on the lotto, it wouldn't have phased me, but that did phase me. I said to Mo, let's get this in the car now and get out of here.'
He paid over the reward and left, elated at the reunion and already looking forward to taking 'Sheila' on another adventure.
Rob's attachment to his adventuring partner is such that he could not even consider completing his next adventure with a replacement tub.
He said: 'Finding her again was a key to a very big lock and without this key, the project means nothing.'
The adventurer found a kind of validation for his mission in being reunited with the bath tub yet again.
'She has been returned to me and that shows me, at a higher level, that the spirit, the universe, faith, destiny, whatever you want to call it, wants me to start the next challenge which I will be taking on in February. Everything depended on finding her again.'
That challenge will be to become the first human to circumnavigate the Bolivian salt flat desert hauling a payload, namely a bath tub behind him.
The tub plus supplies will weigh around 130kg so there is a lot of training to be done before Rob can take this gruelling third challenge on.
He is working with a philanthropist with a charity in Peru to raise money for a surgical centre for street kids which Rob will dedicate his next challenge to.
He hopes to be ready to go to Bolivia in February and get organised locally before setting off on the challenge in the first week in March.
Rob will take on the challenge solo, only meeting with a support crew every seven to 10 days for fresh supplies.
The Donabate adventurer will take about 52 days to complete the challenge which will be the third in a four-part adventure that has so far taken up about 12 years of his life.
The final challenge will be the craziest of them all as he bids to fly the length of the Amazon in his bathtub, by making it the seat in a delta-wing trike.
I spoke to Paul Opp who has a charity called People of Peru. He is an incredible guy who works with street kids and he is building a surgical centre in Akitos for the kids.
Rob said: 'The bigger picture is that I have these unique set of four challenges that no other human has done and all of them were considered impossible until I started doing them.'
These challenges are objectively crazy and yet when you see what Rob has already done with his beloved bath tub, you would be a fool to suggest he will not complete both of them and now that he has found 'Sheila' again, nothing can stop him.
Rob is looking for corporate sponsorship for the challenge and you can contact him at amazonquest@gmail.com
The final fantastic fundraising total is in as Team Invictus celebrate raising over 32,000 for LauraLynn Children's Hospice after participating in the Race Around Ireland cycling event in honour of the memory of Coast Guard winchman, Ciaran Smith who was lost at sea off the Mayo coast following the tragic accident that befell the crew of Rescue Helicopter 116.
The team made up of Ciaran's friends, colleagues and family, including his wife, Martina have revealed their extraordinary efforts in the gruelling four-day, non-stop cycle race has all been worthwhile after raising 32,433.16 for Ciaran and Martina's favourite charity, the LauraLynn Children's Hospice.
Each of the members of the team made it safely to the finish of the epic race and each had their own deeply personal motivations for what they achieved but collectively they kept Ciaran's legacy alive and honoured an extraordinary man in the most fitting way possible, completing a race that he loved and that he completed in an awe-inspiring solo effort.
Team Invictus raised a lot of money for a wonderful charity and anyone involved in the effort, in whatever way, deserves to be mightily proud of the whole enterprise.
Sid Lawrence, who took part in the effort and who came up with the idea to take on the challenge thanked Pilsen Skoda who donated two vehicles to the effort to sponsors, NEUDEA, L&M Keating Construction, AIB Corporate, and the Irish Fair Door Company. Ciaran's community in Oldtown, Rolestown and Swords also weighed in behind the effort in extraordinary ways and were huge contributors to the total raised by team Invictus and Sid thanked them all sincerely.
Team Invictus were made up of riders, Martina Smith, Kevin, Gary and Padraig Brennan, Eoin Murphy, Richie Desay, Dave Richardson and Sid Lawrence. The support crew were Aidan Brennan, Alan Gallagher, Ciaran Murphy and Ann Fox with Lorcan Brerton and Emma Desay providing valuable support back on the home front.
At the launch of Stories from the Shed in Wexford Library, from left (back): Harry Lambert , Cllr Mick Roche, Tony Myers, Brendan Howlin TD, Donnacha Murphy, Tony Kerrigan and Seamus Corrigan; (seated): Tom Lohan, Cathy Fowley, Cllr George Lawlor (who launched the book), Carmel Conroy and Mary Savage (Wexford Library)
A book featuring life stories from a group of Wexford men who never had work appear in print before has just been released by the Silver Thread publishing company.
'Stories from the Shed' was launched by Cllr George Lawlor in Wexford Library and features stories from nine men who come from six Men's Shed projects across the county.
Speaking to this newspaper about the initiative the Wexford Men's Shed coordinator, Donnacha Murphy, said it was a very enjoyable and interesting project that has sparked a lot of interest across the county and across the country as the Wexford group is the first one involved with Men's Sheds anywhere to publish such a book.
'They wrote about their own experiences and they had never written anything before,' said Mr Murphy.
'Some of them never even contemplated writing anything before,' he added.
'We started meeting in May and the publishers held workshops with the writers.'
Mr Murphy said the idea for the book came about from Wexford man John Evoy who is the person behind the Men's Shed movement in Ireland.
'He put me in touch with Silver Thread and I thought it was a really good idea,' said Mr Murphy.
'It gives an insight into the life experiences of the men involved with the sheds,' he added.
'It was very interesting to see guys who had never written anything before take time out from their routines to put pen to paper.'
However, being coordinator in County Wexford meant Mr Murphy wasn't left off-the-hook and he too had to contribute to the book but he said he was more than happy to do so.
Such was the success of the project that Mr Murphy said he is going to seek funding to develop the idea further and to broaden the scope for an even bigger project that would incorporate all of the Men's Sheds in the county.
'I'd like to see it expanded to include more people and also to include everything from stories, songs, and poetry to plays,' he said.
The historical significance of the book is something Mr Murphy was keen to emphasis: 'It's the first time a collection of shed stories has been written anywhere and that's great,'
The book is now available online through the Silver Thread website but it's hoped it will also become available through local retailers in the coming months.
The authors whose work is featured in the book include: Tom Lohan (Corach Men's Shed); Tony Kerrigan (Shamrock Men's Shed), Henry Lambert (Shamrock Men's Shed); Ollie Daly (Bridgetown Men's Shed) and Seamus Corrigan (Enniscorthy Men's Shed) along with Tony Myers, Conor Gleeson, Padraig Manus and Donnacha Murphy (all from Gorey Men's Shed).
Altura Credit Union has expanded yet again, taking in county Wicklow's Carnew Credit Union Ltd under its wing.
As of Sunday (September 30), Carnew Credit Union will operate under Gorey based Altura Credit Union Ltd. This comes after a period of consultation and cooperation between the two businesses, resulting in a strong alliance.
With Altura's common bond area now stretching from south Bray all the way down past Curracloe, the transfer will ensure Carnew continues to have a local credit union office into the near future. Members of the former Carnew Credit Union will have access to all the facilities, products and services Altura has to offer.
Tom Brennan of Altura Credit Union said the coming together of the two credit unions will result in a stronger, more vibrant credit union going forward with over 30,000 members. The former Carnew Credit Union building will remain open to customers in the area.
'Now with four branches and an information centre in county Wicklow supported by head office in Gorey, Carnew's neighbouring vibrant town, it is the natural fit,' added Mr Brennan.
In 2015, a successful transfer of engagements with Avonmore Credit Union Ltd saw Gorey take on three branches in county Wicklow. In 2016, a motion was passed to expand the common bond area to a 10 mile radius of Avoca, Gorey, Kilmuckridge, Laragh, Rathdrum and Roundwood, effectively doubling the area in county Wicklow and south of Kilmuckridge. Last year, the motion was passed to change the name of Gorey Credit Union to Altura Credit Union. This was key part to the future success of the credit union.
Members of Carnew Credit Union will be issued with new member numbers and will see a few new faces in the branch during the training period, however, all Carnew staff will return to work in the branch to serve the customers they know so well.
The Board of Directors of Altura Credit Union Ltd would like to thank the Board of Directors committee members, management, staff and volunteers of Carnew Credit Union Ltd, past and present, for their diligent work over the years.
Mr Brennan said Carnew Credit Union has grown and developed over the years to become an important piece of the fabric of Carnew and as a branch of Altura Credit Union this will continue into the future.
Georgian MyWay Airlines will launch regular flights to Rome, Budapest, Munich, Athens and Dusseldorf, the Civil Aviation Agency of the Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia reported.
The ministry clarified that the direct flights to European countries will be carried out in the winter navigation season.
The charter flights on the route Tbilisi-Rome-Tbilisi will be operated twice a week - on Thursdays and Sundays from October 28 to March 28, 2019.
Back: Oonagh Messett (Wexford County Council), Colm Neville (Wexford County Council), Gwenfair Owen (Ceredigion County Council), John Carley (Wexford County Council), Jayne Pritchard (Carmarthenshire County Council), Ger Mackey (Wexford County Council), Rhian Phillips (Carmarthenshire County Council) and Graham Peake (Pembrokeshire Coastal Park); Front: Cllr Noel Gleeson (Chairman Wicklow Southern Region Area), Cllr Keith Doyle ( Chairman Wexford County Council) and Michael Nicholson (Wicklow County Council) at the presentation of three Interreg Plaques to Celtic Routes partners in County Hall
Specially commissioned plaques have been presented in Wexford to partners involved in a 1.9m project aimed at encouraging visitors to explore new areas of Ireland and Wales.
Six Celtic Routes partners and stakeholders received Interreg Project plaques from the respective Irish and Welsh Project Managers, Oonagh Messett and Rhian Philips, at a stakeholder meeting in Wexford County Council chamber on Tuesday, September 18.
The partners were presented with the plaques in recognition of the co-funded nature of the project.
Representatives of consultant firm, Bluegrass, delivered a very detailed presentation based around market research carried out in relation to the project.
Speaking to this newspaper about the initiative Ms Messett said the Bluegrass presentation gave a strong indication of the viability of the proposed routes.
Over two days representatives from the local authorities in Wexford, Wicklow, Waterford, Camarthenshire, Ceredigion and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park assessed the report and agreed on the next steps to take.
The Celtic Routes project is a co-funded European Territorial initiative that is being led by Camarthenshire County Council in Wales.
It will focus attention on the six areas involved and according to Ms Messett the overall aim is to highlight areas in the six local authority regions that haven't yet been fully utilised.
'The project aims to highlight hidden gems and transform less well known areas from transit zones to new touring sites,' said Ms Messett.
'This will increase the time visitors spend in these regions and capitalise on the opportunities to boost local economies and add value to the combined tourism offerings,' she added.
As part of the project further customer research initiatives will take place in addition to trade events and workshops and there will also be cross-border visits by Welsh and Irish businesses to their respective countries; the aim of those visits will be to develop mew ideas.
Part of the project is expected to include the development of new tourist trails combining a number of themes including: Tracing Your Roots; Pilgrim Trails; Landscape and Living Heritage; Wildlife, and Folklore.
An information evening aimed at people looking to improve their digital skills in a friendly environment will be held in Gorey Library this month.
Mayte McGuinness of MediasKool will host the evening on Tuesday, October 9, at 7 p.m., where members of the public can find out more about the new Digital Learning Club.
The Digital Learning Club is a new initiative to come to Gorey that will help tackle the digital divide. The aim is to encourage people to learn and share digital knowledge, enhance skills and practise using devices such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop or personal computer in a friendly environment.
According to the 2018 Digital Economy and Society Index, half of Irish adults lack at least basic digital skills. There is now a 'digital divide' where many people feel like they are being left out with the pace of change in technology and the widespread adoption of digital services.
'There is a demographic that would like to improve their digital literacy skills but do not want a digital course or training that is heavily structured,' said Mayte, who is the founder and director of MediasKool. 'They want to ask questions and get the answers quickly in a more informal environment.'
The Digital Learning Club is free and will help people to learn and practise using technologies informally at their own pace in a safe and non-judgemental way.
Mayte said people can learn what is relevant to them and build knowledge in small blocks from texting to blogging, to learning about security issues, to doing basic computer programming. She has been facilitating one-to-one digital skills training in Gorey and the wider community since 2014.
Mayte, who has over 10 years experience, is an advocate for helping people to embrace digital technologies and to use them to enhance their life.
Venue and dates for the Digital Learning Club in Gorey are yet to be confirmed and anyone interested will be asked for their contact details on the information night. For more details, call Gorey Library on 053 94 21481.
Raheen woman Nellie Ryan was cheering on her granddaughter Lucy Butler who represented County Wexford in the Miss Ireland competition in the Helix in Dublin.
Lucy came in the top eight and won the social media award on the night. She proudly wore the Miss Wexford sash in the Miss Ireland final, despite hailing from County Tipperary, but it is her Wexford roots which saw her through to getting the chance to live her dream of participating in the competition.
Lucy said: 'For the competition, I was given the title of Miss Wexford. A Tipperary woman, who entered Miss Cork, now titled Miss Wexford?? There's a story behind that one! My grandmother, Nellie Ryan, from Fethard is a Wexford woman. She met her husband, the late Pat Ryan in New Ros. Growing up, Wexford always held a special place in my heart.'
Proving her Wexford bona fides she said: 'My mother would tell me stories of her childhood summers spent in New Ross with her own grandparents, a lot of the time picking strawberries. I was so proud to be Miss Wexford to honour my grandmother's roots there. In fact, my great-great-grandmother was "crowned" the tallest woman in Wexford many moons ago!' She moved to Cork to go to UCC where she studied Commerce as her undergrad and recently completed her masters in Electronic Business.
Earlier this year, Lucy entered the Miss Cork competition, coming runner-up, before being picked as the Wexford entrant.
'I am absolutely delighted with my achievements. I got to meet so many successful Irish business people such as Suzanne Jackson and Rosanna Davidson, for example. I am excited for what is in store for me in my future. The Miss Ireland competition has given me a great platform to pursue my marketing career and also my modelling career. I have just been nominated for a Hi Style award for Most Stylish Model 2018. All in all, it has been the most spectacular experience,' Lucy said.
A Fethard-on-Sea businessman made a remarkable discovery while out kayaking in caves, finding a buoy from Nova Scotia.
Graham Doyle, who runs the Irish experience kayak centre, said the buoy departed Yarmouth, Nova Scotia's coastal waters en route to Wexford several years ago. Graham found the big white balloon bearing Yarmouth fisherman's name David Poole while kayaking the sea caves of Hook Peninsula.
'I knew right enough it wasn't a local fisherman's buoy,' Graham said. 'It could have been three years ago, maybe even seven,' buoy owner David said. Graham had never heard of a Poole resident in the area.
He said: 'I found it while out on tour with a group. They thought I was mad putting it in the back of my kayak. But I knew there was a story behind it. I love that kind of stuff. There is a story behind everything and every person!'
Fisheries and Oceans Canada oceanographer David Brinkman said the buoy could have travelled the Gulf Stream across the Atlantic Ocean in as little as two months.
Doyle was determined to find David Poole. Besides bearing Poole's name, the buoy also had his phone number on it and the name of the boat he sold two years ago so Graham called the number, which was no longer in service. Resolved to get to the heart of the story, he authored a Facebook post with a picture of his find. 'Shout out to David Poole, owner of the Canadian vessel "Lady Delilah,"' the post read. 'We have found your buoy, which has crossed the North Atlantic ocean and found its way into a cave on the Hook Peninsula, Ireland! We are happy to send it back across for you if we can find you.'
The post had shared its way to Poole's Facebook within a few days. Though amazed by the discovery, he didn't want his buoy back. He said so, responding directly to Doyle's post. 'Glad to see that it travelled well, you're more than welcome to keep it,' wrote Poole. 'It was pretty amazing and he would have done a bit of research to find out just where it was from. Pretty interesting that he would devote that much time to finding me but I guess it's like picking up a bottle with a message in it,' Poole added.
'I'm not going to pick up the buoy but I'd love to meet the fella if I'm ever in Ireland. That was very nice of him.'
Brinkman said the buoy would have wandered into the Gulf Stream running through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. 'It's completely interesting but not unheard of that it would end up in the west coast of Ireland. What could typically drive a floating object into the Gulf Stream region are surface winds taking a floating object more directly from Yarmouth across the ocean shelf and out into the Gulf Stream. Or, less likely is that it floated around the coastline of the Gulf of Maine, potentially past Cape Cod and out down to the Eastern seaboard. But that's not a direct connection to the Gulf Stream.'
The story made headlines in Nova Scotia, drawing positive attention to the Hook Peninsula. Graham said he is more than happy to hang on to the buoy and a fun memory. 'It's the people who found the owner,' Graham said Doyle. 'Social media is a powerful tool. Many a man, woman and child left these shores for Canada during hard times, harder times than we can ever imagine. Nova Scotia benefited from some great Irishmen. The connection between our two countries is strong. Now, Canada is repaying us with buoy!'
Gorey town could be facing a future without a St Patricks Day Parade, following an emergency general meeting last week where the turnout was described as disappointing.
The sparse crowd at the Loch Garman Arms was told that a significant increase in parade committee members and event volunteers was needed to ensure the event remains on the Gorey calendar.
The current committee of six held the EGM to highlight the struggles they face each year to ensure the St Patricks Day Parade is staged.
Despite the poor turnout at the meeting, parade secretary Claire Urquhart said the fight was strong with many giving positive feedback and ideas. Diarmuid Deverux of Gorey Chamber agreed to seek help from local businesses, while Cllr Malcolm Byrne, chairman Cllr John Hegarty and Cllr Robbie Ireton agreed to approach the local authorities on the supports needed to keep the parade going in Gorey.
The meeting was held due to two major concerns that have brought the committee to question their future involvement in the Gorey Parade.
The first is the health and safety conditions that need to be met to secure the safe running of the parade and their personal liability should any incident happen. They have approached Wexford County Council in relation to these issues.
The other is the need for more creativity in the Gorey Parade. In recent years they have just focused getting the parade down the town safely and the creative aspect has been neglected.
We are currently working on developing a creative team as well, but still need all the local people to come along and support the future of the parade in Gorey town, added Claire.
Claire said further discussions with elected representatives and local authority are being planned.
It was stressed that the parade is for the people of Gorey and the committee are so proud of their town and the local organisations and businesses, but they need to work hard to keep it going.
To join the committee or to volunteer, call Claire on 087 756 2827.
There were tragic scenes in Courtown on Wednesday afternoon when a 58-year old man died from a suspected heart attack.
It is understood the man is from Dublin and was down for the day with his wife. He got into difficulty at around 4 p.m. while walking on the beach north of Courtown Harbour.
Courtown/Arklow Coast Guard Unit received a call from the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Dublin at 4.05 p.m., requesting them to assist a 58-year-old casualty who had suffered a suspected cardiac arrest.
David Swimburne from the Coast Guard Unit arrived with his crew at 4.12 p.m., he said the paramedics were already working on the man on the beach. Local Gardai were also on scene.
'We were tasked by the Ambulance Service and MRCC called us,' said David. 'We assisted by getting the male off the beach and into the ambulance.'
Despite the best efforts of all involved, the man died.
Some north Wexford villages are under quite a bit of pressure and can't expand their community due to no waste water capacity in the area.
According to Irish Water in a letter to Cllr Malcolm Byrne, there is currently no waste water capacity in Camolin and Ballycanew due to over-loading and compliance issues; there is currently limited capacity at Coolgreany due to compliance issues with its Waste Water Discharge Authorisations; and there is water capacity in Kilmuckridge to meet the projected demand.
Irish Water have said that, in preparing for the next investment plan, they have assessed the capital needs for Ballycanew, Camolin, Coolgreany and Kilmuckridge Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs). But, it will not be known if WWTPs will be selected in the next investment plan until the Commission of Regulation of Utilities have approved the investment plan which is expected will conclude during 2019.
'While some of the plans for investment in improved waste water are welcome, we need to keep the pressure up to ensure this happens,' said Cllr Byrne. 'Villages in North Wexford will not be able to develop unless this investment happens.'
At present, the only really scope for significant growth is in Gorey town. Cllr Byrne said that is not in the best interests of sustainable growth in the entire North Wexford area.
An upgrade of Ferns Waste Water Treatment Plant is included in the current Irish Water investment plan. It is expected that Ferns (North) will be connected to Ferns (South) by circa 2024. An upgrade of Ferns (South) treatment plant will also be completed as part of this project. At the moment, Ferns is served by two Waste Water Treatment Works. Ferns (North) is a small primary treatment plant which has no space capacity. Ferns (South) currently has limited spare capacity due to compliance issues with its Waste Water Discharge Authorisation.
Ballygarrett is one of many small villages in county Wexford where WWTPs only serve Local Authority (LA) housing. The rest of the villages are serviced by septic tanks and Developer Provided WWTPs. In some cases, the LA houses are serviced by communal septic tanks or package plants, but in other cases the LA houses have individual septic tanks in the back yard and a communal percolation are in open space. Irish Water is only responsible for granting permission to connect to its own infrastructure.
In relation to water capacity, Irish Water records indicate that there are adequate water supplies at Camolin, Ferns, Coolgreany and Kilmuckridge to post 2025. In the long term, some of these schemes may be rationalised to the Gorey Regional Water Supply Scheme. Ballycanew is currently connected to the Gorey RWSS which is currently being developed under a significant infrastructure project. There are currently no plans to develop additional water supply capacity at Ballygarrett or Craanford.
Glenn Close as Joan Castleman and Jonathan Pryce as Joe Castleman in The Wife
The mercurial Glenn Close makes a compelling bid for her seventh Oscar nomination in the title role of director Bjorn Runge's slow-burning drama adapted from the novel by Meg Wolitzer.
Oscillating between two time frames, The Wife is a meticulously constructed character study, which exposes the steely resolve and indignation of a woman who has honoured her wedding vows to a man with a roving eye and an insatiable hunger for recognition.
'There's nothing more dangerous than a writer whose feelings have been hurt,' observes Close's dutiful spouse, a casual aside which resonates with increasing ferocity as the plot unravels and dark secrets are unearthed.
Everything we need to know about the central couple's marriage seems to be encapsulated in an opening bedroom scene.
Close wearily fends off her husband as he exercises his early morning conjugal rights.
'You don't have to do anything, just lie there,' he tells her, focused solely on personal gratification.
The enduring pleasure of Runge's film is witnessing the balance of power shift between the well-drawn characters, building to a dazzling explosion of verbal fireworks that makes sense of throwaway comments and gestures that have tantalised us till this turning point.
In 1992 Connecticut, celebrated writer Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) receives a telephone call from Stockholm to confirm he has been selected as this year's recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Joe's wife Joan (Close) celebrates with her spouse yet there is unspoken tension.
The Castlemans travel to Sweden on Concorde and mid-flight, they are pestered by muck-raking journalist Nathaniel Bone (Christian Slater), who is keen to pen a biography on Joe and hopes that he can get to his unwilling subject via Joan.
Nathaniel slyly repeats toxic tittle tattle about the couple's relationship to get a rise from Joan.
'If you're trolling for nuggets of bitterness here, you'll find none,' she coolly rebukes the hack.
While she fends off Nathaniel's unwelcome overtures, Joan also acts as peacemaker between Joe and their son David (Max Irons), a writer desperate for his father's approval.
As the prize ceremony approaches, flashbacks to 1958 Massachusetts reveal the origins of the Castlemans' relationship at a women's liberal arts college where Joan (Annie Starke) is a naive student and Joe (Harry Lloyd) is her married tutor, who intends her to be more than his babysitter.
The Wife is draped elegantly around Close and her deeply moving performance.
Pryce portrays a boor with gusto and he sparks fiery on-screen chemistry with Irons as the prodigal son, whose self-belief can be undermined by a single laser-guided word of criticism from his old man.
By the incendiary final frames of Runge's satisfying film, the younger Castleman discovers that he has been forlornly searching for validation in the wrong place.
A decade on, the talented teenagers of Gorey Community School are once again taking on the timeless classic Les Miserables.
In conjunction with their 25th anniversary, Gorey Community School will host a Gala Night on Friday, October 19, and tickets are 25. This includes a drinks reception before the performance.
The previews will take place on Monday, October 15, and Tuesday, October 16, at a cost of 10. The performances on Wednesday, October 17, Thursday, October 18, and Saturday, October 20, are 15. All evening performances will begin at 8 p.m.
There will be a matinee on Saturday, October 20, at 3 p.m., at a cost of 12. For more information or bookings, call 087 6088184.
A fresh breath of life blew over the windswept hills of Baile na bPoc where hundreds of people gathered in a circus tent for five days of music, dance, poetry and theatre.
The event, which started on Friday, was a welcome injection of life in a townland that has seen its population decimated, along with many other parts of rural Ireland. Breanndan O Beaglaioch - who, along with Glen Hansard, brought the Footsbarn Theatre Company's 'Come On Up To The House mini festival to his family's farm in Baile na bPoc - described how his home village once had a population of 235 people. The Famine took away over 100 of them and numbers have continued to decline ever since. Speaking midway through playing a brace of tunes on Sunday night, Breanndan said there were 28 - 30 people in the village when he was a youngster but now only 12 residents remain.
Breanndan and his brother are both the eldest and most sensible of the last of the Baile na bPocians. At least that's what Breanndan claimed as he introduced Seamus to the stage on a night of exquisite music, held under canvas in Cathair Mor or Cathair Bheag - depending on where you're standing in the field that was both the temporary home of the Footsbarn Theatre Company and the cutting edge of what is happening in the folk and trad music scene in Ireland.
And that was what brought Oscar winners Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, as well as the pride of Cul Aodha led by Peadar O Riada to Baile na bPoc. On Sunday night Breanndan's son Cormac, performing the twin roles of main musical attraction and fear a' ti, brought together a collection of Ireland's finest folk musicians, including Ye Vagabonds, Lisa O'Neill and Liam O Maonlai along with contributions from poet Stephen James Smith. All of this was set in a tent that had already hosted Footsbarn Theatre's productions of Shakespeare's 'Bottom's Dream' and their comic drama 'Mingling with Moliere', which was greatly enjoyed as a Sunday matinee.
The complete package, with food, drink and a warm and welcoming atmosphere, the event will settle into local memory amid the fairy tales of Cathair Mor and Cathair Bheag.
But that's only if there are people there to remember it. At the end of the night on Sunday Cormac made a heartfelt plea for help for Irish speakers who want to build homes in their native place but are unable to do so because of the difficulties they encounter in getting planning permission. One such example, he said, was his father Breanndan who has been trying without success since 2008 to secure planning permission for a house on the family's land in Baile na bPoc.
Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to the Republic of Korea is planned for next year, Federation Council (upper house) Speaker Valentina Matviyenko told journalists on Saturday following her official visit to Seoul, TASS reports.
"Vladimir V. (Putin) accepted the invitation of President of the Republic of Korea (Moon Jae-in), and the visit is planned for next year. Now the task is to coordinate the time through the foreign ministries," she said. Matviyenko stressed that "it will take time" to prepare the trip to make it "a meaningful visit." After the preparations made, and the timing coordinated, "such a visit is likely to take place next year," she added.
According to the upper house speaker, Putins visit to South Korea will follow the visit of "DPRK leader Kim Jong-un to Russia planned by the yearend." "Of course, President (Putins) visit to the Republic of Korea will take place after that visit as it is planned for next year," she noted.
The stunning surrounds of Killarney House will again host the annual 'Autumn Talks Series', which runs from October 4 to November 8. Now in its 35th year, the lecture series initially started out in Muckross House before moving to various hotels in Killarney town centre. But since 2017 it has found a host in The Garden Room of Killarney House, which will stage the event for a second year.
The talks encapsulate various aspects of local heritage, culture and conservation, generating a cross-section of interest for the public. The speakers are experts in their respective fields and, over the decades, each lecture has attracted a loyal following. The Autumn Talks Series also attracts the attention of local schools, whose pupils may have an interest in a particular topic under discussion as part of their curriculum. Among this year's contributors are Professor Tom Cross, whose lecture is entitled: 'The Salmon: A Species Under Threat'. This takes place this Thursday evening, October 4, and will be of interest to anglers across the county as Prof Cross has studied the habits and migratory patterns of salmon since 1967.
Professor of Zoology in UCC prior to his retirement, he is now Emeritus Professor and continues to research the genetic structure of wild Atlantic salmon and its management implications. He is particularly interested in interactions between wild salmon and farm escapes, an issue which threatens wild populations.
On Thursday, October 11, Dr Barry O'Donoghue discusses 'Curlews In Crisis: Could we really lose the Curlew from Ireland? Dr O'Donoghue has worked extensively on ecology and conservation, with a strong emphasis on preserving Hen Harrier numbers. This lecture will discuss the curlew, whose nesting in upland areas is currently a cause of concern. With a strong background in farming and nature conservation in the Stack's Mountains, Dr O'Donoghue is responsible for the Agri-Ecology Unit of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. In 2017 he established the 'Curlew Conservation Programme' for the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
On Thursday, October 18, Michael Lyne will give a talk about the 'Valentia Trans-Atlantic Cable Project'. The story of Valentia as a forerunner to transatlantic communication never ceases to attract public interest. Mr Lyne is the current chairman of Valentia Island Dev Co Ltd and is also a director of Valentia Island Transatlantic Cable Foundation. Their mission is that Valentia and the Transatlantic Cable be designated as a World Unesco Communication Site because of the contribution of the cable to the advancement and development of world communications in 1866.
On October 25, Dr Rory Harrington will give a lecture on 'The Integrated Constructed Wetlands Concept (ICW)'. Over the past 30 years Mr Harrington has pioneered the 'Integrated Constructed Wetland' concept which is used to sustainably treat a wide range of polluted water sources, including municipal waste water; landfill and mining leachate; animal and industrial wastewater; and farm-yard soiled water.
On November 1, 'Restoration Works on Killarney House' will form the focus of Niall Parsons' discussion. Mr Parsons is a Senior Architect in the Office of Public Works and was the project architect on the restoration of Killarney House. Concluding the lecture series on November 8 is 'Where are all the Insects Gone?' by Dr Juanita Browne. Dr Browne coordinates implementation of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan working with councils, community groups, schools and individuals. Her background is in communications, specialising in natural history documentaries, books and wildlife and heritage magazines. Admission to all lectures is free and each lecture starts at 8pm sharp.
A man who assaulted a woman, with whom he was having an affair, in Lixnaw last year was fined 300 at Listowel District Court on Thursday, September 20.
Tony Fitzgerald, Abbington, Murroe, Limerick, pleaded guilty to the assault of Linda Ryan - contrary to section two of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act -at Ballinagare, Lixnaw, on Easter Monday, April 17, of 2017.
Mr Fitzgerald appeared in court on the day alongside his wife, pleading guilty to the charge. Gardai told the court that Ms Ryan alleged she was 'hit to the face, knocked to the ground and kicked' in the assault. They were not in a position to provide a medical report to the court, they said.
Solicitor Padraig O'Connell said his client was in court with his wife with whom he has 'reconciled', explaining that his client had been conducting an 'extra-marital affair' with the injured party. The pair had ended the affair, but got back together again before a final split.
"It is perhaps inconsiderate to say there was an element of a woman scorned," Padraig O'Connell told Judge David Waters, before the judge interjected by advising Mr O'Connell against 'pointing fingers at the victim'.
The judge remarked that it was 'very dangerous' to do so as the victim was not in court to present her evidence, advising Mr O'Connell to concentrate on his own client.
Mr O'Connell said his client had apologised for his behaviour and had instructed Mr O'Connell to apologise directly to the victim on his behalf. Mr O'Connell said he did so and that the apology was accepted.
The incident occurred during what was a 'fraught period between the two,' Mr O'Connell said, explaining that there is no further contact between them, reiterating: "He is here with his wife with whom he is reconciled."
Judge Waters fined Mr Fitzgerald 300 for the charge of section two assault.
Parking in Dingle was again prominent at last Friday's South and West Municipal District meeting in Kenmare, with councillors Michael O'Shea, Seamus 'Cosai' Mac Gearailt and Johnny Healy Rae all putting questions to the council about parking issues in the west Kerry town.
Councillor Healy-Rae said issues with parking in the town, famed for its attractiveness to tourists, "are every bit as important as the traffic jams in Killarney".
"I suppose the most important thing hereis the review of the parking bye-laws [in Dingle]. At the harbour you have paid parking; in the town, you don't. The town and the streets are choked. For the town to maintain its draw for peoplethis is of extreme importance."
Martin O'Donoghue said that the chamber in Dingle accepts, in principle, the need for a fully integrated car-parking plan. The Council said such a review will include plans to expand car-parking charges and proposes to carry out this review of parking bye-laws before the year's end.
Cllr Mac Gearailt enquired about progress on the plan to enhance and extend a car park by St Mary's Church on Green Street, which sets out to provide an additional 75 car spaces. The Council explained that it is in the final clauses of a long-term lease to extend the car park and that it is pursuing funding through grants from the Department of Rural and Community Development.
"The Council is also currently concluding a multi-annual lease of the parking area in front of Marglann an Daingean Teoranta to secure its continuing use as a public car park," the response continued. "Furthermore, we are continuing to make enquiries regarding securing additional cost-effective sites for car-parking."
Earlier in the meeting, Councillor Michael O'Shea explained that residents of Goat Street have requested designated parking by the old hospital over fears they will lose parking space during works on the Dingle Relief Road.
"The detailed design of the final layout associated with the junction of Phase Four of the Dingle Relief Road and Goat Street is currently being concluded," Engineer Padraic Teahan said. "Following completion of same, any requirement for the removal of parking spaces will be apparent, and alternative parking, if feasible, can be considered in the context of the junction design."
The extension of the footpath on the right on the way up to the hospital will also be examined, and Mr Teahan said the Council is open to informal discussions with those impacted by the works.
Several locals living on Valentia Island have spoken of their upset at the major Garda enquiry on the island into the 1984 'Kerry Babies' case.
Last week - in a move that came as a complete surprise to many living on the island - a large number of gardai, investigating the 34-year-old case, descended on Valentia to begin a comprehensive door-to-door canvas of the island.
The canvass of Valentia - which will see Gardai carry out interviews and issue questionnaires to some 600 people with homes or holiday houses on the island - is, according to garda sources, based on "a certain line of enquiry" that the cold case team are following as they try to solve the decades-old murder.
DNA samples may also be sought, though none have yet been collected on Valentia.
While the community have been co-operative, many have expressed anger that the island has been singled out by investigators. The heavy media presence also provoked resentment.
Based on the history of the case, locals were understandably unwilling to go on the record, but several told The Kerryman that they felt 'humiliated' and 'embarrassed' by the media coverage.
Others expressed anger that national media outlets seemed to have been tipped off about the sensitive operation while the community knew nothing.
One man said an elderly relative had been left shaken and confused after they spoke to gardai.
"In fairness the gardai were nice and very professional but (name withheld) was confused after it all and it took us a while to explain they weren't in trouble themselves. That's not fair, and we should have had some more notice the gardai might be calling in," he felt.
Islanders have also cast doubts on garda claims that prevailing tides could have carried the baby's body from Valentia to the mainland.
Experienced boatmen in the area, all very familiar with the local waters, told The Kerryman that the prevailing tides would be far more likely to carry a small body out into the Atlantic.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has instructed the Institute of Technology in Tralee to submit a three-year plan to balance its budget.
The order was revealed during a discussion about funding and management at Ireland's 14 institutes of technology at the Dail Public Accounts Committee last Thursday.
Correspondence from the HEA was provided to committee members including an overview of the financial situation of the various institutes.
IT Tralee is named as one of three institutes - along with Waterford IT and Galway-Mayo IT - that have a combined budget deficit of close to 9.5 million.
Tralee - which according to the HEA figures had a deficit of 1.843 million at the end of 2016 - is still in a markedly better financial position than Waterford and Galway-Mayo, which had deficits of 4.4milion and 3.2 million respectively.
PAC members were told that the HEA has insisted that three-year financial plans be drawn up at each of the three institutes to eliminate their deficits.
"The HEA has been working closely monitoring the financial position of all institutes," said the HEA report.
"The HEA has a policy framework for engaging with institutes in financial deficit which requires institutes to submit a three-year plan to return to a balanced budget situation. All institutes with deficits are engaged in this process," said the HEA.
The Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy told the committee that the deficits at the three institutes can be addressed and relate to "cumulated deficits" that built up over a number of years.
Mr McCarthy added that, according to Department of Education rules, ITs are required to operate in deficit and with an overdraft.
Waterford Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane suggested that the figures revealed a greater issue for the third level sector.
"The deficits have to be seen in the context of the size of the institutes, and I can see where there are problems," said Deputy Cullinane.
"Smaller institutes that have smaller numbers have big deficits, which shows that there is a bigger problem," Deputy Cullinane added.
During the meeting, several PAC members including Committee Chairman Sean Fleming of Fianna Fail and Labour's Alan Kelly raised concerns about expenditure at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), with which IT Tralee is currently in the process of merging.
Marc McSharry of Fianna Fail made reference to a "lavish" retirement function for former CIT President Brendan Murphy which he compared to a "going away party" for Robert Mugabe.
Liebherr Container Cranes have signed a significant deal to supply two large gantry cranes to the Port of Cork.
The twin cranes - which will be located at the new container terminal at Ringaskiddy - will be designed and built at Liebherr's plant in Killarney and are due to be delivered to the Port of Cork by April 2020.
Director of Liebherr Container Cranes Pat O'Leary welcomed the deal. "We are delighted to have received this order and to continue our long-standing relationship with the Port of Cork," said Mr O'Leary.
"In the 1970s, Liebherr Container Cranes supplied the first ship to shore container cranes to the port. Since that time we have supplied further cranes, including two grab cranes; two STS cranes in 1991 and 1999; as well as a rubber tyre gantry crane, all of which continue to be key elements of the port's infrastructure. The signing of a contract for the supply of two new state-of-the-art STS cranes will help drive port productivity and boost business, not only in Cork, but also throughout Ireland," he said.
More than 100 people jogged off for this year's Richie Young run on his beloved Pink Rock road.
It was a beautiful day despite the gloomy forecast and the runners set off in warm sunshine for the 5km memorial run. The event is one of the most popular on the local running calendar and always draws a crowd. A St Joseph's AC spokesperson said: '100 participants turned up to remember Richie who was a fantastic club member. He ran at the Pink Rock for many years.'
Runners and walkers of all ages attended the event, with many families running it together.
'It was suitable for all as you had to predict your finishing time. The nearest to their predicted time was the winner. It was great to see so many supporting as there were lots of events on around the locality that day.'
Some of the money raised will be donated to the fundraiser for Rosbercon woman Imelda McGrath and the club wish her family well.
There were celebrations for the fishing kingpins on board the Screaming Reels boat when they were crowned winners of the Rosslare Small Boats Festival for a record ninth time at an awards ceremony in Coast Hotel, Rosslare.
In what turned out to be the most exciting and closest competition in 33 years, the boat, which is crewed by Rescue 117 Waterford Angling Club, took the spoils once again. The crew started taking part in the competition in 2008 and have enjoyed major success since then.
The crew consists of Martyn Rayner, Neville Murphy and Stephen Donoghue.
This year, they beat 37 boats from Britain and Ireland, catching 28 different species of fish, weighing 12.17 kilos. The prestigious competition generates in the region of 300,000 for the local economy. There were four new boats to the competition this year.
Weather conditions were challenging early on with strong southerly winds delaying the start of the competition.
Due to the expertise at forecasting weather and sea state, the festival committee enabled anglers to get afloat during short windows of weather. Changes of venues meant that on one of the days the boats were launched from the Rosslare Safe harbour with the assistance of the local community.
Conditions then improved enabling the other three days of the competition to be fished from Kilmore Quay.
The fishing was tough but this did not deter the competitors and the competition was neck and neck right until the end with three boats on the same number of species, with only small weights dividing them.
The second and third place boats were from the UK.
The heaviest fish was caught by Jonathan Davis on board the boat '2 JD's' from Bray Head Fishing and Social Club with a Bull Huss of 5.48kgs. They received a cash prize and a perpetual trophy sponsored by Inland Fisheries Ireland.
Many successful conservation initiatives for the marine species have been introduced in the last number of years and these were extended further this year with the vast majority of fish now being caught, photographed and released by anglers at sea.
Species caught included: smoothound, black bream, conger, dab, gurnards, mackerel, mullet, pouting, ray and many mini species such as dragonet and gobies. The new measures meant anglers could target species such as bass and tope for the first time.
In total, 44 different species were caught including a topknot which was recorded for the first time in the history of the competition by the Irish boat 'Fin Chaser'. Anglers fishing the festival have provided a historical map of the movement of marine species over a 33 year period.
Inland Fisheries Ireland officiated at the photographic identification of fish species and a marine fish tank was also used for the purpose of displaying fish species that were caught during the competition. Staff from Inland Fisheries Ireland were on hand to educate the public about the fish species in the area of Kilmore Quay. The public were able to view marine fish such as bull huss, ballan wrasse and plaice which were kept in the fish tank and released back into their marine habitat alive. This was hugely supported by Kilmore Quay's harbour master and staff at Wexford County Council.
Daniel Parker, from 'Shy Torque' in Liverpool, won best junior of the competition with 25 species for 10.03 kilos. Sue Tait from 'Predator 2' in Cork won best female competitor with 26 species for 8.88 kilos. The Ken Evason Memorial trophy for the biggest cod was won jointly by the boats 'Highlander' and 'Strongbow' who each caught a cod of 2.90kilos and they donated the trophy to Ken Evason's family.
The Conningbeg Trophy for the longest bass of 60cm was won by Steve Mills aboard the boat 'Samaki' from Portsmouth.
The Coast Hotel in Rosslare Strand was used as the competition base and the prize giving took place there on the final night when up to 30,000 of prizes were awarded.
Tim McPhearson, one of the festival's sponsors from Saltwater Boat Angling, said: 'I would like to congratulate all competitors on their success at the 33rd Rosslare Small Boats festival. This is the first time I have participated in this competition and I would like to compliment the organisers on their military precision in organising the competition from start to finish, and on their wonderful prize table for this prestigious competition.'
Mick Duffin was one of the youngest meter readers in the country when he set out across the district with his father John 'Ginger' Duffin in the 1950s.
By the time he retired in September after 56 years service with the ESB, he left with the distinction of being the longest serving meter man in the country. Mick, 72, from Ballycullane, recalled travelling across the district in all kinds of weather with his father as a youngster,
'I'd be standing on the chair and reading them for him. Back then there was only 100 houses from Fethard to the Hook and now there are 1,250 houses in the same area.'
The meter run his father had differed greatly to Mick's. When Ginger started rural electrification had only recently arrived in parts of the district. Today there are over ten thousand houses powered by electricity across the district.
When Mick turned 18 in 1962 he started working and enjoyed the freedom the job allowed him. 'You would do the readings over four days in your own time. People would invite you in for tea and it was like the postmen years ago. People's didn't see anyone for a long time and you would have to talk to them. I met lovely people in my work.'
In the old days he had to copy and write down every MPRN and meter reading and they would be posted in. After a few decades hand-held computers came in and he was able to download the readings to Cork. Mick recalls his days working in New Ross as being among his busiest. 'On Hospital Road I could take around 250 readings on average in a day and one some days up to 400.'
Barring exceptionally snowy or windy days, Mick was always able to get his readings. One of the hazards of the job was the dog bite and Mick got his fair share over the years. These days its big electrical gates that posed most problems for the friendly meter reader.
For 47 of the 56 years Mick also worked driving a taxi for the health board from County Wexford to hospitals in Dublin, Cork and Galway. He considered retiring 15 years ago when his son Ivan died in a crash in Slieverue, but decided to continue working.
A friendly man, who always goes out of his way to help people, Mick would always be stopped in New Ross when his wife Carmel was in shopping with a big 'Hello Mick!'.
He has fond memories of working with people like John Caulfield, Barry McManus, Tom Sullivan, Pat Sheehan and many more men at the ESB compound on Robert Street.
Mick said with plans to introduce smart electricity meter readers the days of the meter man will soon be no more. 'People have changed. They used to ask you in for a cup of tea but now everyone is too busy.'
Mick did his final reading in Campile in late September.
'People knew I was going but it was emotional once I handed back the hand-held meter reader. They had a little party for me and my family and I went to Kelly's on Saturday night for a treat.'
He was thrilled to get a lovely card signed by all of the ESB staff in Cork thanking him for his support over the years, saying Mick was always a friendly voice on the other end of the phone.
Now living in Burkestown, Ballycullane, Mick is looking forward to spending more time with his wife Carmel, son John and daughter Melissa.
The US will reportedly provide Israel with more F-35s after Russia supplied Syria with S-300 missile systems. Moscows move came in response to the downing of a Russian military plane, which it partly blamed on Israel, RT reports.
US President Donald Trump decided to lend a hand to Americas most devoted ally following consultations at the highest administration and military levels, DEBKAfile, a military intelligence news site, said to have ties with the Israeli security services, reported.
The move to increase Israels weapon arsenal was taken in the wake of Russias enhanced threat and its decision to deliver S-300 air defense systems to the war-ravaged country, according to the report. The precise number of aircraft destined for Israel, however, has not been disclosed.
It is also understood that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, crown princes Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and Muhammad bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates, were informed of Trump's decision.
The New Ross Bypass will not be open to traffic until the summer of next year.
The opening date of the bypass was due to be April 2019, as outlined in a press release from builders BAM Dragados and Iridium in mid-2016, shortly after works began. The latest update from Wexford County Council is that works will now not be completed until the summer.
New Ross Bypass Project Liaison Officer Sean Dobbs said: 'The project is currently in month 31 of the construction programme and overall approximately 75 per cent of the works are now complete. The PPP company advises that the project is currently anticipated to be completed in the summer of 2019.'
Mr Dobbs said the design and construction of the River Barrow Bridge is a complex engineering challenge of global proportions 'but notwithstanding this the bridge construction is progressing well and is now at a particularly interesting phase, with the bridge deck launched over the river and the pylon towers commenced'.
He said: 'All parties involved in the project are fully committed and working together to ensure that the project is completed safely and opened to traffic at the earliest opportunity to realise the benefits that the project will bring to New Ross and the wider region. The complex design and construction of the River Barrow Bridge brings many engineering challenges, and the project is engaging teams of leading engineers on a local, national and global scale to meet these challenges. No major critical issues of concern have arisen with the construction of either the bridge works or road works.'
Nearly 1.5 million man hours have been worked on the project to date without major health and safety incidents or accidents. The Total Scheme Budget is 230 million for the construction of the project and its operation and maintenance for 25 years after opening.
350 people working on site at present. Limited and confined night time works are in operation for the construction of the main bridge deck span, Mr Dobbs said.
'Approximately ten to 12 staff are working in shifts. Night works are confined to mainly manual operations (such as steel fixing) and no site deliveries or heavy plant are in operation.'
New Ross District Director Eamonn Hore remains confident that the bypass will be open to traffic in quarter two (between April 1 and June 30), of next year. Describing the project as unprecedented because of the engineering processes involved in constructing the 887m span bridge, Mr Hore said: 'It will be seen in an international context. It's unprecedented in the whole of Ireland. It has already won an international engineering silver medal award.'
Describing criticism of a possible delay in the project as 'a little unfair', Mr Hore said: 'The winter will tell the story. The heights the cranes are working at means that if it's a dreadful winter there will be an issue with the works going ahead and if we have a very fine winter who knows.'
The trial into the alleged murder of a County Wexford man by his fiancee who hails from New Ross has been put back by a fortnight in Australia.
Cathrina (Tina) Cahill, from New Ross, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of her fiancee, Enniscorthy man David 'Motcha' Walsh at their home in Padstow, Sydney, between February 17 and 18 of last year.
The 29 year-old father of three, originally from Moran Park, Enniscorthy, died from a wound sustained at their home,
Cahill was remanded in jail in Sydney pending the trial, which is now due to begin on Monday, October 22 and to last between five and eight weeks.
A pre-trial hearing is taking place, beginning next Monday, for an estimated five days.
In February the prosecutor had asked for the arraignment to be stood over until April as police were still making inquires about potential witnesses who live overseas and about whether they would return to Sydney or give evidence from London. But Cahill's lawyer asked for a trial date to be set, saying the inquiries have been going on for more than six months, and her client has been in custody for nearly a year at the time.
Even with a trial date, police could continue trying to get witnesses from Ireland, she said.
Justice Elizabeth Fullerton went ahead with the arraignment and listed the trial, estimated to last six to eight weeks, for October 8, but the trial is not now due to begin until a fortnight later on October 22.
A young chef from Co Wexford has been shortlisted for a national culinary award which recognises those who excel within the Irish hospitality industry.
Lar Whelan (22), from Bannow, works as a sous chef in Mary Barry's bar and seafood restaurant in Kilmore village.
While his inherent talent is obvious to anyone who has visited the restaurant and tasted his food, being shortlisted for the Best Young Chef in Ireland for this year's YesChef Magazine annual awards is an endorsement of what his clientele already know - that he is a chef of immense ability.
The Best Young Chef in Ireland accolade is a much sought after title and is awarded annually by the magazine.
Even getting to the final stages of the competition is an achievement as all of the finalist chefs had to progress through a public voting system before being challenged to develop a four-course menu along with paired beverages.
Those who qualified past the public voting stage had to cook and present their creations to visiting judges from the acclaimed magazine.
For his entry Mr Whelan chose to make fresh Wexford fish the focus of his menu and the high standard of the competition meant he had to cook with flair on the night the judges arrived.
It was a case of showcasing his skill and creativity while at the same time paying special attention to achieving a balance of flavours. He also had to ensure that the food was exceptionally presented.
Speaking about his career to-date and his love of cooking Mr Whelan said that becoming a chef was, for him, something of a vocation in life.
'It is one of the few industries where you can't 'fake it, 'till you make it',' he said.
'You have to have passion and also commit to building strong practical foundations through experience and mentoring.' he added.
Mr Whelan was quick to acknowledge the advice and guidance he has received from his Head Chef, Nicky Cullen.
By nature, Mr Whelan is very easy-going in nature however, when he's in the kitchen he really comes into his own.
'Working in the kitchen is not like work at all,' he said.
'That's especially true when you have a great team around you,' he added.
He also highlighted the fact he loves his job: 'It's a fun place to be and I'm doing what I love; experimenting with food every day.'
Having a lifelong passion for food is definitely an advantage but he is also known for his brilliant organisational skills and that's something he uses to great effect in the kitchen.
Mr Whelan said belief in ones ability is the key to success in any job: 'Dedication and belief is essential for happiness and success.'
He also said it's important to have a focus on what you want to achieve in life and what career path you want to take.
'First, you have to know where you want go in life and when you are clear on that you are bound to get there,' he said.
'You should never doubt yourself or your abilities and always follow your instincts,' he added.
His comments came from experience as he recalled an occasion that inspired him when he was younger.
'I was once told that I would never make a chef but I knew my own ability and where my passion lay,' he said.
'That comment was never going to break me; it was belief in myself that kept me focused and positive,' he added.
The category winners in this year's YesChef Awards will take place in Sligo this coming Tuesday, October 9, and if Mr Whelan does emerge victorious it will be another step on an upward spiralling career path that he was always destined to follow.
Minister Michael DArcy performing the official opening of the Irish America Hall of Fame in the Dunbrody Centre
The Irish America Hall of Fame in the Dunbrody Visitor Centre inducted three world renowned people in September as it expands its offering in a new look centre.
The late Senator Robert Kennedy's daughter Kerry was inducted, as was Brendan Grace and Bernard Trainor. Bernard E. Trainor (September 2, 1928 - June 2, 2018) was an American journalist and a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general. He served in the Marine Corps for 39 years in both staff and command capacities.
After retiring from the Marine Corps, he began working as the chief military correspondent for The New York Times. He was subsequently a military analyst for NBC. With Michael Gordon, he was the author of three accounts of American wars in Iraq, The Generals War (1995); Cobra II (2006); and Endgame (2012). Members of his family attended the event and spoke of their pride and delight in seeing Bernard inducted posthumously.
Brendan Grace, who was in New Ross attending the Kennedy Summer School, lives in America and he said he was honoured to be inducted into the hall of fame, as did Ms Kennedy, who was inducted the night before the ceremony.
A crowd of around 170 people gathered on the Dunbrody Famine ship in glorious sunshine where they were entertained with music by County Wexford dancer Seana Davey, Claire Ronan and Sean Callaghan.
Minister Michael D'Arcy opened the new hall of fame, which has seen major investment in recent times. Mr D'Arcy spoke about the strong connection that exists between New Ross and America.
He praised the staff at the Dunbrody Famine Ship and Irish Emigrant Experience centre for developing the hall of fame, saying it celebrates the contribution made by Irish people in America, from the fire fighter and the policeman, to world renowned leaders of industry and politics.
CEO of the Dunbrody Visitor Centre Sean Connick said: 'We were delighted to get the opportunity to host the ceremony as most inductions are held in New York. We now have an integrated action plan for improving the visitor experience.
'There are ten components of that and one of those was to move from having the Hall of Fame located upstairs down to be incorporated in the Famine Ship Tour. It ties in better as well.'
He said many emigrants endured great hardship and didn't have great success in America, while many others did.
'Brendan Grace has very strong links with Wexford and it was a huge opportunity for us to induct Kerry Kennedy who launched the Kennedy Summer Scheme.
'The hall of fame now has it own dedicated space where you can watch footage and get an audio visual experience of people who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.'
Funding has been announced for a new Savannah wing just before the Hall of Fame where people on the tour will enter a Savannah installation. 'We received really exciting news this week to develop a new Savannah installation. We are working with Savannah to get a real authentic instalment which will be another major addition to the experience.'
A 27-year-old Ballintogher man has been remanded on continuing bail after pleading guilty to a string of road traffic offences around the county.
Michael Lawrence, with addresses at Woodfield, Ballintogher and Mountain View, Tubbercurry, appeared before Judge Kevin Kilrane to face the charges at Tubbercurry District Court last Wednesday 26th September.
Lawrence pleaded guilty to driving without a driver's licence at O'Connell Street, Sligo on 11th April this year.
He pleaded guilty to driving without insurance and failing to produce an insurance certificate at Mountain View, Tubbercurry on 8th January 2017.
The defendant also pleaded guilty to driving without an NCT, licence or insurance at Doorly Park on 22nd November 2017. He also failed to produce the documents required such as his driver's licence, insurance certificate and NCT cert to a Garda station within ten days.
Defence solicitor Ms Laura Spellman told Judge Kilrane that her client was pleading guilty to the above offences.
He is also charged in connection with a hit and run incident at Summerhill, Mountain Road, Tubbercurry on 1st November 2017 - it's alleged Lawrence was the driver of a car which caused damage to a van belonging to Mr Gyorgy Szabados and failed to stay at the scene or report it to Gardai.
He's also charged with failing to produce a driver's licence to Garda Trevor McNicholas within ten days of the incident.
Judge Kilrane remanded Lawrence on continuing bail to 23rd November for service of a book of evidence on the Summerhill charges.
He also ordered the preparation of a Probation Report on Lawrence before sentencing on the offences he pleaded guilty to.
Orna McSweeney of Save Maugherow Post Office said she was "absolutely and utterly shocked beyond belief" at the fact that an independent assessor had made up their mind on the future of Ballinfull/Maugherow postal services by as early as Monday 24th September.
"It's hard to believe a semi-state body are so incompetent and make a mess of everything," she said last evening.
"The absurdity of it is beyond belief, to give a decision on the 24th of September. Minister Naughten has even extended the deadline for making submissions to the Independent Review panel to the end of October.
"How do they get things so wrong, it's just unreal. They had no right to decide before the deadline - this is the really bizarre thing about it.
"It wasn't up to them to decide until they got the submission from the community. We decided to have ours in by the 28th September because we didn't want any delay in having our postal services restored and then discovered that had made their decision on the 24th!" she said.
She supported Cllr Healy's call for an investigation into the review:"There has to be some sort of transparency on how they do business. This is so serious," she said.
Sligo Leitrim Fianna Fail Deputy Marc Mac Sharry who first revealed An Post/Government Plans to close Post Offices last July, condemned the Government's ongoing indifference to An Post Closures of Post Offices nationwide.
"Varadkar's vision for Ireland is clear - milk rural Ireland for every photo call its worth and then close it down. The appeals process was rigged to guarantee that the closure proceeds with a lopsided criteria based on spurious definitions of settlements.
Deputy MacSharry said the timing and design of this plan by An Post was "despicable."
"It never came before Dail Eireann and was effectively agreed to by a Semi-State body and a trade union neither of whom have any authority to represent the interests of communities.
"Subvention is required to ensure a viable wage for post masters and an enhanced role for post offices to offer a broader range of services to entice more use," he said.
The last survivor of a 1934 Nazareth House boys band is returning to Sligo for the first time in 82 years.
Michael Laurence Porter (97) was sent from his original home in Galway to Nazareth House when he was just four years old in 1925, two after his mother died of TB.
He was told he was an orphan and never knew until he was 20 years old that he had an older sister Sadie who was sent to an industrial school in Ballinasloe or that his father was still alive.
He left the former Boys Home in 1936 for a new life in England and never returned.
This coming Saturday, 6th October, he will return to Nazareth House for the first time since then, to formally launch a new biography on the lives of the Brass Quartet.
The greatest triumph of Michael Porter and three pals' childhood lives was winning first prize for their brass band Quartet in the Sligo Feis of 1934. The boys were taught music by the well-known Sligo bandmaster Josie Cummins.
Michael sought to expunge the memory of being a 'Homeboy' - the term used by Sligo 'Townies' of the Nazareth House boys - for the rest of his life. He never told his late wife or children about Nazareth House.
With the help of historian/social worker/teacher friend Michael Murphy, Michael did extensive research into his time at Nazareth House and the photo of the Quartet was found (above). Michael Murphy wrote about the Quartet's time in Nazareth House in his first book, 'The Quartet: Care Lives of Irish Catholic Homeboys'.
He has now written a second book about their adult lives, 'The Quartet: After-Care Lives of Irish Catholic Homeboys' ,which he is launching in the Old Church at Nazareth House at12 noon this Saturday. Michael Porter is making the trip from England to Sligo especially for the occasion. Members of the public are most welcome to attend the launch and talk.
What the proposed maritime centre will look like in Strandhill
There has been broad welcome for a 1.042 grant from Bord Failte for the proposed National Surf Centre of Excellence in Strandhill.
Sligo County Council has been notified by Failte Ireland of capital grant for the development.
The Chairman of the Strandhill Maritime Board, Cllr Declan Bree, said the grant would allow for the project to proceed as planned and provide for the construction of a state of the art new national Surf Centre in Strandhill which will include facilities for the local community.
"Strandhill has gained an international reputation as a surfing destination and in this context it was clear that a new and modern facility was required.
"The construction of the existing Maritime Centre back in 2001 marked a significant milestone and was a testament to the vision and commitment of the surfing community and the people of the Strandhill community who worked with the County Council and other agencies to ensure its success.
"However, with the growth of interest and increased participation in surfing, additional facilities were needed and a new and larger building required.
"Recognising this need the Board of the Maritime Company decided to seek support for the development of a new National Surf Centre in Strandhill.
"There has been extensive consultation with users and the local community and I wish to acknowledge the overwhelming support we have received for the project from all sectors of the Strandhill community.
"The new centre will be a significant facility for the people of Strandhill and the surf coast on the Wild Atlantic Way and will certainly attract increasing numbers of visitors to the region," Cllr Bree said.
He paid tribute to his colleagues on the Board of the Maritime Centre and in particular, secretary Mick McEnroe, for his "exceptional contribution to the development of the Maritime Centre".
"Mick has been to the forefront in advancing this project and I have to say that Strandhill is fortunate to have a person of such ability and energy willing to give so much of his time to the community."
Councillor Chris MacManus has welcomed the news saying Strandhill was the largest village in the county with no dedicated community facility. "This will be a flagship facility along the Wild Atlantic Way," he said.
The 1.3 million development is to be situated at the 'Four Winds' site down at the village front with the Council approved for 1.042m Failte Ireland funding.
Councillor MacManus said: "I'm delighted to receive confirmation that the application for substantial funding to provide this much needed surf centre of excellence at the promenade of Strandhil has finally been approved.
"For too long the community has watched as the village has grown but with no dedicated surf facility.
"This wonderful news however will enhance the tourism potential for the area as a key piece of infrastructure along the Wild Atlantic Way.
"I want to compliment the Strandhill Development Association, the Maritime Centre, Voya and the surfing fraternity for working positively to get the project to this stage.
"I had consistently sought for Sligo County Council to take the role of lead agency in this process, as only the Council has the resources and ability to drive forward a project of this stature.
"A couple of months ago the Council agreed to this and were thus able to submit an application. Failte Ireland has backed this approach and recognise the potential within the Strandhill community to provide a unique experience for locals and visitors alike," he said.
The policemen detained a young man accused of assault on a pensioner in the village of Khorkhi (Mtskheta-Mtianeti region), a relevant message was published on the website of the Georgian Interior Ministry.
According to the investigation, a 23-year-old young man broke into the house of a pensioner (born in 1942). Threatening an elderly man with a knife, he took 9 thousand lari (over $ 3.4 thousand), Sputnik-Georgia reports.
The police seized the knife and all the stolen money as material evidence. The detainee confessed in the crime.
Bestselling Wicklow author Vanessa Fox O'Loughlin (AKA Sam Blake) is the name behind Murder One, Dublin's newest literary festival, and she's lined up a stellar cast of crime and thriller writers for the crime writing festival in November.
Murder One will feature a host of international authors including Lynda La Plante, Peter James, Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Clare Mackintosh, Lisa Jewell, Ruth Ware, Mick Herron and Robert Goddard together with top Irish crime writers including Liz Nugent, Jane Casey, Patricia Gibney, Jo Spain, Karen Perry and many more.
International bestseller Michael Connelly will open the festival with a special preview event on October 28, at 2 p.m. in City Hall with Dublin UNESCO City of Literature's writer in residence, Enniskerry resident Declan Burke, moderating.
The main programme takes place in Smock Alley, from November 2-4.
'As a crime writer myself I'm constantly delighted by the passion and enthusiasm of Irish crime fans and I'm confident that they will welcome this new landmark festival in Dublin. In 2017, the top three bestselling books were thrillers and we plan to thrill festival goers whether they enjoy cosy whodunits or Cold War spy dramas. Check out murderone.ie to see the plot unfold,' said Vanessa.
The first book in Sam Blake's Cat Connolly trilogy, Little Bones, hit the best seller list in May 2016, followed by In Deep Water and No Turning Back, which is garnering plaudits from international crime writers such as Liz Nugent, Alex Barclay and Ken Bruen.
Vanessa's London publishers are releasing the paperback with a new cover to coincide with the festival.
International bestseller Lynda La Plante will host a free workshop for anyone interested in the world of forensics or Crime Scene Investigation. This interactive event will be hosted by Think Forensic, whose experts include CSI's, forensic scientists, and senior investigating officers. In La Plante's CSI Murder Room, visitors will get a hands-on introduction to forensic science and be briefed on the crime of the day, inspired by Lynda's newest thriller Murder Mile. Lynda herself will be interviewed by another Wicklow local, Niamh O'Connor on Saturday, November 3, discussing Murder Mile and the Steve McQueen movie due out in November, based on her novel Widows.
Full details are available at www.murderone.ie
Wicklow and District Lions Club members were proud to be invited by Wicklow County Council to be part of the Enterprise Showcase Day in the Grand Hotel on Wednesday last.
The club was part of the Bank of Ireland's National Enterprising Town Awards which aims to assist in the promotion of enterprise across the country by bringing business and community groups together to showcase to a panel of judges, the spirit of enterprise in their local area.
Wicklow town has been chosen to represent County Wicklow in the 10,001 plus population category and according to the comments of the judges Wicklow performed very well on the day.
There was tremendous support from various organisations on the day and the search is now on for Ireland's most enterprising towns and villages
Team Wicklow wish to present the town as a positive and productive place to do business and a fantastic community in which to reside, work and spend your free time and Wicklow Lions Club is very much part of the local community.
The presentations took 30 minutes and will be followed by a 30 minute questions and answers session and a further 20 minute social time for the judges to meet local business through the expo. The judges visited key initiatives and businesses selected by the organising committee before and after the Grand Hotel visit.
A Wicklow TD has endorsed the newly-launched Fianna Fail ten point emergency plan to combat the fodder and income crisis facing farmers.
Deputy Pat Casey called on the Government to introduce a hardship fund to help Wicklow farmers who have been worst hit by the events of the past year.
'The Government must at once bring forward a nationally financed hardship fund to help Wicklow farmers who have been severely impacted by the fodder crisis, escalating costs, falling cattle prices and extreme weather conditions all year. This would provide funding to support farmers sourcing feed and fodder and deal with mounting input costs,' said Deputy Casey.
He stressed that farmers are 'living on the breadline' and the additional funding they have received is simily a 'token' compare to what has been provided to their counterparts in other countries.
'For example, the Swedish government is helping its struggling farmers by allocating 117 million to cover feed shortages for livestock and income loss. Germany is committing over 300 million to its farmers in supports,' he said.
He raised the issue of cash-flow which is already under pressure for so many Wicklow farmers.
'Many Wicklow farmers' cash flow is already under severe pressure and low-cost credit is critical to helping them survive. Therefore, the Government must immediately introduce a new low interest fodder and income loan crisis fund to help farmers pay down debts incurred.
'Delivery to date on the 25 million low cost Brexit loan scheme for farmers and fishermen, announced in October 2017, has been inept to say the least. The fact that it has yet to be opened tells its own story,' he said.
The water conservation order imposed on County Wicklow during the summer drought has been lifted.
Irish Water confirmed the decision in recent days for Wicklow and surrounding counties Carlow, Wexford and Dublin as well as others in Leinster and Munster.
The order has been lifted following increased rainfall in the southern, eastern and midlands regions.
Irish Water Engineer John Gavin said that as rainfall is now falling at an average rate, water sources are being replenished.
'The Water Conservation Orders were vital for reducing significant peaks in demand that Irish Water witnessed in early June 2018. The orders, combined with excellent conservation efforts made by homes and businesses across the county, and the significant efforts of operational teams on the ground, prevented major outages to water supplies in many communities. As rainfall is returning to more average rates, our water sources, which were very dry during the summer, can begin to recharge more quickly. However, low water levels remain an issue in some communities, such as Kirikee, and Irish Water will continue to liaise with and support those affected,' he said.
Mr Gavin also warned that it is essential that people continue to conserve water.
'We are really grateful for all the efforts people made over the past few months in their homes and businesses. It was really encouraging to see. Conserving water will make our water sources more resilient and help to safeguard our water for the future benefiting communities all across Wicklow,' he said.
The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) has called for more investment in universal youth services in its pre-budget submission.
At present there are 28,370 young people living in County Wicklow, 200 of whom are long-term unemployed and deputy director of NYCI James Doorley has called on the Government to invest a further 11.5 million in universal youth work in Budget 2019 to strengthen voluntary youth work organisations, to provide more supports and activities for young people and to meet the needs of a growing youth population nationally and locally.
'The 2016 census results indicate that the number of young people aged 10 to 24 will increase by 13.2% between 2015 and 2025 and will be just over one million young people by 2025 (1,005,938), making Ireland one of the only European countries with a growing youth population. NYCI is of the view that wise investment in our growing youth population now would be the best way to ensure long term social and economic success and better secure us against potential economic and financial shocks and difficulties,' he said.
Mr Doorley criticised cutbacks in funding which he says is still 20 per cent below that of a decade ago.
'These severe cutbacks have left significant deficits and have put a strain on volunteers, staff and organisations trying to deliver quality youth services and supports for the growing number of young people, while also meeting the increasing level of governance requirements. The Government urgently needs to address the overall funding deficits in Budget 2019.'
Urgent attention must be focused on the Kirikee Water Supply to assist residents in 30 local houses who live in fear of losing their water supply, according to a local councillor.
Cllr Pat Kennedy said that the facility is regularly running out of water and having to be topped up by Wicklow County Council.
The Arklow Municipal District councillor commended Wicklow County Council for managing to maintain supply to date but said that it is unsustainable to be drawing tank loads of water to Kirikee on a daily basis.
'Each lorry brings 4,000 gallons of water. That is 28,000 gallons a week and this has been going on for the last four months.
'This is unsustainable and I have discussed it with both Wicklow County Council and Irish Water,' he said.
Cllr Kennedy called for emergency funding to be sanctioned so that the matter can be properly addressed.
'What I am looking for is a full investigation of the well and the possibility of drilling further bore holes that can feed a reservoir so that there is an adequate supply of water,' said Cllr Kennedy.
Keira Knightley described her experience of giving birth in searing detail for an essay published in a feminist collection (Matt Crossick/PA Wire)
Keira Knightley described her experience of giving birth in searing detail for an essay published in a feminist collection (Matt Crossick/PA Wire) | Inset: Kate Middleton leaving hospital with Princess Charlotte (Anthony Devlin/PA)
Keira Knightley has described her experience of giving birth in searing detail for an essay published in a feminist collection.
The British actress, star of blockbuster films including Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates Of The Caribbean and Love Actually, gave an honest account of motherhood in a new book titled Feminists Dont Wear Pink (And Other Lies).
In an essay titled The Weaker Sex, 33-year-old Knightley described giving birth to daughter Edie in May 2015.
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In graphic detail, Knightley, who is married to musician James Righton, wrote about the physical impact welcoming a child had on her body.
She said: I remember my battleground. Your battleground and life pulsating. Surviving. And I am the weaker sex? You are?
Knightley contrasted her experience with that of the Duchess of Cambridge, who gave birth to Princess Charlotte the same month.
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Kate was pictured leaving hospital later that day wearing a yellow dress having had her hair done.
Knightley wrote: She was out of hospital seven hours later with her face made up and high heels on. The face the world wants to see. Hide.
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Hide our pain, our bodies splitting, our breasts leaking, our hormones raging. Look beautiful, look stylish, dont show your battleground, Kate.
Seven hours after your fight with life and death, seven hours after your body breaks open, and bloody, screaming life comes out. Dont show. Dont tell.
In the essay, the actor contrasted the standards for male and female colleagues in Hollywood, writing; "I turn up on time, word perfect, with ideas and an opinion. I am up with you [her daughter] all night if you need me. Sometimes I cry I'm so tired. Up with you all night and work all day...
"My male colleagues can be late, can not know their lines. They can shout and scream and throw things. They can turn up drunk or not turn up at all. They don't see their children. They're working. They need to concentrate."
The class photo is a picture of happiness, with dozens of teenagers in crisp blue-and-white uniforms smiling brightly at the camera ahead of a weekend Bible camp in the picturesque village of Jono Oje, in the tropical countryside of northern Sulawesi.
Hours after it was taken, many of the students were dead, trapped and suffocated in a church that was wrenched from its foundation and driven 5km away by a wave of muddy sludge triggered by the earthquake that struck the Indonesian island last week.
Hala Tawasa (50) lived beside the church and witnessed the horrific scene as her son carried her to safety from the ruins of their home.
"We had run out of the house when it began to shake. But then the ground began to crack and mud began to spray up like fountains.
"It sounded like bombs exploding. I saw the church moving away like a ship," she said. "My relatives, who later saw the bodies of the children, said that many of them were hugging."
Close to 200 children were attending the bible camp when the disaster occurred. More than 80 went missing and so far only 34 bodies have been recovered.
Gusti Bagus Andronicus, a local pastor, said one of his nephews had survived by swimming out of the mud and clinging to a coconut tree as the deadly torrent rushed by. But his eyes welled up as he described how he had found the bloated, blackened body of his other nephew, Gusti Bagus Agung Anugrah, in a hospital morgue. Like many of the victims, he was just 17.
When the terrifying 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked Central Sulawesi last Friday, reducing multi-storey buildings to a mangled mess, parents of the bible class students were initially grateful that their children were out in the countryside of nearby Sigi province and unlikely to be hit by falling debris.
Nobody had accounted for the phenomenon of liquefaction, which happens when soil shaken by an earthquake behaves like liquid.
Maths and religious books containing teenage scrawls were scattered in the wreckage.
Seska Sumilaf (48), whose daughter Gabriela (17) was at the church, naturally began to worry after the quake shook the family's home in the nearby town of Palu.
"The only thing that made me strong was the knowledge that she was not close to tall buildings. I didn't think anything would happen to her in Jono Oje," she said.
She immediately rang Gabriela, the youngest of her two children. "The first call connected but there was no answer, but I couldn't even get a connection the second time," she said. It was only the next day that Mrs Sumilaf heard the bad news from another parent.
Sesbatian Eckardt (middle), World Banks lead economist in Vietnam, at a ceremony held in June 14 to publicize a report on the countrys economic development in the first quarter and prospects for 2018__Photo: Tran Viet/VNA
, , , ,
Soon after the National Assembly passed the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam in 1987, the country started witnessing Foreign Direct Investment inflows which have made considerable contributions to the national economy. To mark the 30year of Vietnams FDI attraction,talked tolead economist at the World Bank VietnamVietnam has been quite successful in attracting FDI ever since the country opened up to foreign investment, and if we look at the impacts, we can say that FDI has contributed in various ways, including industrialization, where a lot of investment went into the manufaturing sector, building capacity across a range of sectors, including electronics, but also more traditionalized industries such as garments and shoe factories, and so on.[The FDI flows] are really feeding Vietnams strong export performance and creating jobs with higher productivity and better paying jobs, directly and also indirectly, by then creating demand for services for construction, and even agricultural products that are used to supply some of these factories. So I think its a very successful part of Vietnams overall economic development over the last three decades.Vietnam is definitely one of the leaders in the region. It has attracted FDI across a diversified set of economic activities. About 12,000 different firms are operating here, either producing or of course companies that are here to sell products to the Vietnamese market. So there are a lot of inflows and Vietnam has been quite a success.Now what is important to note though is that a lot of this investment is currently in labor intensive and relatively low skilled work, so Vietnam is competitive in one particular part of the value chain where the value added per worker is relatively low, because a lot of the components are imported, and Vietnam is only doing the final assembly.I think there is still an agenda in terms of moving to the next level of attracting different types of FDI, diversifying across the value chain and particularly moving into higher value component of the value chain, be it R&D or downstream like marketing and brand development. That would add a lot more value and would generate higher benefits to the economy of Vietnam.If we look at the ingredients Vietnam has been successful with so far we can say that there are some natural advantages. Geographic location, and as I mentioned, the population. What Vietnam has done quite well is capitalizing on those fundamental advantages and opening up to trade, joining the WTO and coming into several multi and bilateral trade agreements; more agreements than any other economies in East Asia except for Singapore, so Vietnam is really one of the most open economies.At the same time Vietnam has focused on the investment and business environment by reducing hurdles to investment, lowering taxes and improving border and customs clearance procedures, and so on. The Government has made it a clear priority to cut red tape, to streamline procedures and to get rid of those procedures that may not be needed.For that you need smart regulations so I think thats absolutely correct to have an expanding economy that is increasingly sophisticated and has a lot of financial and real interaction with the outside world. That poses a challenge and requires regulations to be adapted, for example, as you mentioned transfer pricing we know is an issue for multinational operations that invest a lot.Its important that you have a good leadership framework to tackle all those issues, so its predictable for firms on the one hand but also empowering the authorities to prevent tax avoidance or profit shifting. You need to create a level of playing field between those enterprises and domestic firm so you need a good legal regulatory framework and good capacity in tax service. What we see in many countries are basically specialized offices in the tax service that deal with large enterprises that need very sophisticated analysis to ensure they pay their due share to the tax system here in Vietnam.The 4Industrial Revolution is widely seen as impacting some of the industries in which Vietnam has traditionally been quite successful and I think there are concern not only here in Vietnam but more generally that technology will modernise manufacturing and basically make some labour intensive manufacturing redundant. There are some risks in terms of jobs so I think Vietnam needs to invest in skills. We know that technological progress is of course a good thing, and I think there is a good reason to be optimistic that the IR4, like the other industrial revolutions, will actually improve the lives of millions of people. But it is important to prepare people with the right skills so they can find jobs and productive employment that complement these technologies rather than compete with technology. I think investing in good education, especially science-technology and maths is important because those are really the skills that I think will be in demand in the future so Vietnam needs to continue that and really make sure it has the human capital that remains competitive as technology changes the way things are produced, how services are delivered.In many developing countries you see similar things happening with the FDI sector often operating quite independently from the rest of the economy. Thats because therere specific policies to attract those enterprises with specific privileges and incentives I specify special economic zones, and they never really connect with domestic enterprises.Thats very different if you look at developed countries where you see they become part of the broader economic organism of the country and I think thats also clearly the challenge for Vietnam to ensure that these enterprises here connect more and build supply chains here in Vietnam and linking domestic firms.If you look at foreign investment in developed countries, one of the considerations is whether you have a supply network that often forms part of the comparative advantage of the developed economies and Vietnam. As a part of the move towards higher value activities, [the country] needs to work on that and make sure that the domestic environment really provides a fertile ground and allows FDI firms to become part of the overall economy, not operating in isolation.-
Duarte Xavier has been jailed posed as Ana on apps and websites over several years Photo: Metropolitan Police
A fantasist tricked four straight men into having sex with him by posing as a woman on dating apps and asking his victims to meet blindfolded.
Duarte Xavier (34) posed as Ana on apps and websites over several years, messaging and sending provocative pictures to heterosexual men, who were fooled into meeting for sex.
Ana would set conditions, including that the victim must wear a blindfold for the duration of the encounter and was not allowed to touch, the Metropolitan Police said.
Xavier, of Wandsworth, south London, has been convicted of six counts of causing a male aged 13 or over to engage in penetrative sexual activity.
After the hearing, police described him as depraved.
He had pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing but has now been remanded in custody to be sentenced on 9 November.
Kingston Crown Court heard that at the first reported incident, a 45-year-old man had arranged through a dating app to meet at Anas flat.
During sex, the victim removed the blindfold, only to see Xavier.
The victim was enraged and immediately left. Xavier sent a message afterwards saying: I got a mental health problem, sorry.
In a case last year, arranged over WhatsApp, the victim also took off his blindfold and saw Xavier.
The victim reported the incident to police and Xavier was arrested on October16 and released under investigation.
A number of mobile phones and masks were also seized, the Met added.
In a third incident, in April this year, Ana stated that she had to conceal her identity to avoid getting caught because she was married.
As the victim went upstairs, he felt a person grab him and pull his trousers down. What he believed to be a pillowcase was put over his head.
The victim used the light from his mobile phone to discover Ana was in fact male, before calling police.
The fourth victim was identified by officers after reviewing records from seized mobile phones.
The 29-year-old man had been too embarrassed and ashamed to tell anyone, police said.
The court heard that Xavier was a liar and fantasist.
Detective Constable Lucy Marsh said after the hearing: The crimes Xavier committed are unique in their depravity; all of the victims had no reason to believe that they were not engaging with a woman and all have stated unequivocally that they would never have given their consent to sexual relations with another man.
He is a sexual predator, and I hope the victims, all of whom were traumatised by their experiences, will now feel that they have achieved some justice.
We are also entirely aware that there may be other potential victims of Xavier who, so far, have also felt too ashamed to speak to police. I would ask those people to come forward, to tell us, and we will treat you with the utmost sensitivity and in the strictest of confidence.
Kunal Dave, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: I hope todays conviction not only makes clear just how important consent is, but also gives these victims some measure of comfort, and sends a message to other victims that they are not alone.
Xavier used platforms including Craigslist, Lovoo and Tinder to reel in his victims, according to the CPS, arranging to meet them either at his home or in the nearby King George's Park.
A key ally of Angela Merkel faces historic losses in regional elections in Bavaria next month, according to the findings of a shock new poll.
The Christian Social Union (CSU), which has governed Bavaria since 1946, has lost almost a third of its support, the ARD television poll found.
The findings will send shockwaves through Ms Merkel's already fragile coalition. But for once it is not the nationalist Alternative for Germany party (AfD) that is the biggest threat to the chancellor and her allies.
Instead, a dramatic surge has propelled the Green Party to second in the poll, on 18pc.
The AfD had hoped to make its first serious inroads in a west German state, but it is stuck in fifth with only 10pc.
If the poll's findings are borne out by the election, they could cause a seismic shift in German politics, which has been focused on the battle with the AfD for the right for the past year.
Major gains for the Greens could herald a resurgence of the centre-left. But the opinion polls were predicting a similar Green surge before last year's general election and it didn't happen. And last year's polls severely underestimated the AfD vote.
What is clear is the dissatisfaction with Ms Merkel's coalition, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) also facing losses.
The CSU is still favourite to come first in Bavaria, but it will have to find a coalition partner to stay in power - something it has only once done before. The CSU has seen its support drop from 47.7pc to just 33pc in the poll.
SEXUAL violence has been used as a weapon of war since time immemorial but two particular examples in recent years stand out: the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo - once described by a senior UN official as "the rape capital of the world" - and the abuses perpetrated by Isil as it gained ground in Syria and Iraq.
Yesterday, Denis Mukwege, a renowned gynaecologist who has spent almost two decades treating victims of sexual violence in his homeland of the DRC, and Nadia Murad, an activist from Iraq's Yazidi minority and survivor of sexual slavery by Isil, were jointly awarded the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.
As the Me Too movement continues to blaze around the world highlighting the abuse and mistreatment of women, it seems fitting the Nobel goes to two individuals who have done so much to draw attention to the horrifying use of rape as a weapon of war.
"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 Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation.
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"Each of them in their own way has helped to give greater visibility to war-time sexual violence, so the perpetrators can be held accountable for their actions."
I interviewed Mukwege during a reporting assignment in eastern Congo in 2012. He told me of the 30,000 patients that have been treated at his clinic in the city of Bukavu since it opened at the height of the conflict in 1999.
The stories of the women, many of whom required surgery to repair their internal organs after being subjected to sexual violence, were shocking. The brutal war that claimed the lives of more than five million people might have formally ended in 2003 but the violence continued, particularly when it comes to women.
Mukwege and other doctors I spoke to feared rape had almost become something close to a norm in a society so ravaged and traumatised by years of war. A study published in 2011 in the 'American Journal of Public Health' concluded that 1,152 women were raped every day in Congo, equal to 48 each hour.
Mukwege's dedication, not only to his patients, but to the wider cause of ending rape as a weapon of war, was clear. Yesterday, the Nobel Committee described him as "the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts."
It added: "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 criticised 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."
Mukwege's campaigning has not been without risk. In 2012 armed men stormed his home, shot at him and killed his bodyguard. Some observers linked the attack to a speech he had given at the UN shortly before in which he had denounced not only sexual violence but the impunity exploited by perpetrators in Congo.
There is a devastating sentence in Nadia Murad's memoir 'The Last Girl'. "At some point, there was rape and nothing else," she writes. "This becomes your normal day."
Murad was just 21 when Isil rampaged through her village in northern Iraq in 2014.
Six of her brothers and her mother were killed while she was taken into captivity and repeatedly raped. She escaped after three months and has now become a women's rights advocate, particularly for her fellow Yazidis, telling the UN Security Council about her ordeal in 2015.
Murad is the second youngest Nobel Prize laureate after Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by militants but who survived to become a campaigner for girls' education.
Asked whether the Me Too movement had inspired the Nobel committee's choice, chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said: "Me Too 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 women leave the concept of shame behind and speak up."
The Nobel Foundation has been hit with its own sex abuse scandal at the Swedish Academy, the body which chooses the winner of the Nobel Literature prize. No Nobel for literature will be awarded this year as a result.
A 15-year-old allergy sufferer was unlawfully killed when she unknowingly ate a takeaway meal containing peanuts, a court heard yesterday.
Megan Lee, who was diagnosed with a peanut allergy aged eight, had an asthma attack a few hours after she and a friend ordered food from the Royal Spice Takeaway in her home town of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire.
Her friend wrote "prawns, nuts" in the comments and notes section of the online order form for food which did not ordinarily contain either ingredient, Manchester Crown Court was told.
Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, explained that a copy of the order form submitted by Megan's friend was subsequently printed off at the Royal Spice and food was prepared on site before despatch. Mr Wright said: "The entry was designed to alert the staff at the takeaway to the risk such foodstuffs pose to a potential customer."
Peanuts were found to be present in the Peshwari naan, the onion bhaji and the seekh kebab, all of which the girls ordered, inspectors found.
The takeaway's owner, Mohammed Abdul Kuddus and manager Harun Rashid deny manslaughter.
The trial continues.
Interpol says it has asked Chinese authorities for information about its president Meng Hongwei, who seemingly vanished on a trip to China.
The international police agency, based in France, said in a brief statement that it looks forward to an official response from Chinas authorities to address concerns over the presidents well-being.
The Lyon-based agency said it used law enforcement channels to submit its request for information about Mr Mengs status.
His wife says she has not heard from him since he left Lyon at the end of September.
Statement by INTERPOL Secretary General Jurgen Stock pic.twitter.com/bRXYjDMCsc INTERPOL (@INTERPOL_HQ) October 6, 2018
France has launched its own investigation. Authorities say he boarded a plane and arrived in China, but the 64-year-olds subsequent whereabouts are unknown.
Mr Meng is a vice minister for public security in China.
The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, has suggested Mr Meng may have been the latest target of a campaign against corruption in China.
The newspaper said that on landing last week Mr Meng was taken away for questioning by what it said were discipline authorities.
The term usually describes investigators in the ruling Communist Party who probe corruption and political disloyalty.
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The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the partys secretive internal investigation agency, had no announcements on its website about Mr Meng.
He is the first from his country to serve as Interpols president, a post that is largely symbolic but powerful in status.
Because Interpols secretary general is responsible for the day-to-day running of the agencys operations, his absence may have little operational effect.
The organisation links police officials of its 192 member states, who can use Interpol to disseminate their search for a fugitive, or a missing person.
Only at the behest of a country does the information go public by a red notice, the closest thing to an international arrest warrant. Yellow notices are issued for missing persons.
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Mr Mengs appointment as president in 2016 amid Chinese leader Xi Jinpings sweeping anti-corruption drive alarmed some human rights organisations, fearful it would embolden Beijing to strike out at dissidents and refugees abroad.
He has held various positions in Chinas security establishment, including as a vice minister of public security since 2004. His term as Interpol president runs until 2020.
His duties in China would have put him in close proximity to former leaders, some who fell foul of Mr Xis campaign. He probably dealt extensively with former security chief Zhou Yongkang, now serving a life sentence for corruption.
Protest: Women take to the street in front of Trump Tower yesterday in New York. Photo: Getty Images
President Donald Trump's nominee Brett Kavanaugh looked headed for a lifetime job on the US Supreme Court after two senators said that accusations of sexual misconduct against the judge would not prevent them voting to confirm him.
If Judge Kavanaugh wins confirmation at a final Senate vote which is likely today, Mr Trump can claim victory in his drive to consolidate conservative dominance of the nation's highest court and move the American judiciary to the right.
Two key senators, Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Joe Manchin, both regarded as swing votes, said they would support Judge Kavanaugh after weeks of intense debate about sexual violence that gripped the nation.
A sharply partisan battle over the nomination became an intense political drama when university professor Dr Christine Blasey Ford accused Judge Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were in high school in Maryland in 1982.
Senator Collins said the accusations against Kavanaugh "fail to meet the more-likely-than-not standard".
As protesters in a Capitol Hill hallway shouted "Shame on you", Senator Manchin told reporters an FBI investigation that did not find corroborating evidence of Dr Ford's accusations was thorough.
Two other women also made accusations of sexual misconduct by Judge Kavanaugh in the 1980s. He angrily denied the accusations.
Earlier yesterday, senators backed Judge Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, by 51 to 49 in a procedural vote that moved the Republican-controlled Senate toward a definitive decision.
If confirmed, Judge Kavanaugh would tip the balance on the court to a 5-4 majority in favour of conservatives in possible legal battles ahead over contentious issues such as abortion rights, immigration, and Mr Trump's attempt to ban transgender people from the US military.
Republicans hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, and with the two key senators choosing to vote in favour of Judge Kavanaugh, the confirmation looked locked in last night.
In theory, Judge Kavanaugh could be confirmed, sworn in and then be able to sit on the bench in his robes on Tuesday when the court is next in session.
The Kavanaugh fight has riveted America and a global audience just weeks before midterm elections on November 6 in which Democrats are trying to take control of Congress from the Republicans.
Mr Trump, himself accused by numerous women during the 2016 presidential election of sexual misconduct, tweeted his approval for yesterday's Senate vote, saying, "Very proud of the US Senate for voting 'YES' to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!"
Mr Trump has made appointing conservative judges a major plank of his presidency, and last year his nominee Neil Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate.
Dr Ford's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee was broadcast live on television and captured the attention of some 20 million people across the States watching on broadcast and cable networks.
In an angry rebuttal later that day, Judge Kavanaugh said the accusations were part of a "political hit" by Democrats.
His nomination became a flashpoint in the #MeToo social media movement against sexual harassment and assault.
Mr Trump mocked Ford on Tuesday during a political rally in Mississippi, further angering Democrats and women campaigning for an end to sexual violence.
The FBI sent Congress documents detailing additional interviews about Judge Kavanaugh that the agency conducted at the request of some Republican and Democratic senators.
While the documents have not been made public, Republicans said they did not back up sexual assault allegations by Dr Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California.
Similarly, Republicans said the FBI found nobody to support assault claims by Deborah Ramirez, who was a classmate of Judge Kavanaugh's at Yale University in the 1980s.
Democrats called the FBI report a whitewash and said the White House placed constraints on the FBI, which did not speak to many potential witnesses.
Melania Trump sashayed to the beat of African music as she was welcomed to an orphanage in Kenya yesterday.
Children living at The Nest, in Nairobi, greeted her with singing and dancing, and it didn't take long before the typically reserved US first lady gave in to the moment. She walked up a pathway holding hands with two children, then began to sashay to the beat as she approached the building.
She was briefed on the children living at the house for babies. Some of them were abandoned or their parents are incarcerated. She was surrounded by babies either sitting in walkers or lying on their backs beneath play mobiles.
Staff praised her for visiting.
"Thank you for what you do and taking care of them," Ms Trump said, while holding a baby girl originally handed to her wrapped in a blanket bearing the logo of Be Best, the child welfare initiative she launched this year and is promoting during this week's Africa visit.
She returned the girl and kneeled down to lift a boy from a mat, and turned to face the news media with him in her arms.
"Do you see the cameras?" she said to the boy before cradling another baby.
The singing and dancing continued outside, where she read a story to the same group of children who had walked up the pathway with her.
A boy read a story to her in turn.
After the readings, she was encircled by the singing children and they danced some more.
Ms Trump is on her first visit to Africa and her first extended solo international trip as first lady.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 05, 2018 | 01:39 PM | PADUCAH
Mayor Brandi Harless has elaborated on her part of the recent discussions regarding a letter written by City Commissioner Richard Abraham, which he claims was, "hijacked," and not sent to state officials.The letter written on city letterhead August 19 to Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Secretary John Tilley and Gov. Matt Bevin regarding concerns about escapes from the Keeton Correction Facility wasn't sent, and members of the City Commission discussed it at length at their last meeting.Abraham said Monday that the letter was not intended to speak on behalf of the city, but was a follow-up from discussions he's had with Tilley since December of last year. He gave an update on what the city has been discussing and attached an emergency ordinance passed on August 28 that gives the city more oversight regarding the facility.On Friday, Harless told West Kentucky Star that City Manager Jim Arndt had mailed a letter to Tilley on August 30 - along with a copy of the ordinance - prior to distribution of Abraham's letter to everyone the next day.Harless said some commissioners expressed discomfort at the style of the letter."A lot of it was discomfort in pointing fingers with the state, not really knowing if they had complied with what they had said they would, things like that," she said.Harless said a couple of weeks went by, and then she and several others traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for the area with federal officials.On September 25, Harless said she sent Abraham an email apologizing for the delay, but saying that most commissioners were uneasy about the letter. So, she proposed he send a letter inviting Tilley and others to come to Paducah to discuss the issues face-to-face."I did apologize for the delay. I did not do that intentionally, it was just a timing issue. So, I'm hoping that Commissioner Abraham and I can sit down and kinda make sure we are on the same page with this, because this issue is bigger than the two of us." Harless said.Regarding opinions expressed by candidates at a Chamber of Commerce forum on Thursday morning, Harless said nothing stood out to her as an immediate solution to the problem."I think all of the thoughts and ideas need to come to the table. I think this is a very complicated conversation that is bigger than the city of Paducah. This is about justice reform in general, this is about how we are going to process our inmates and our parolees and how we're going to help them get back on their feet. So, I don't think this is just a binary decision - whether you tear the place down or you keep it - there's a lot of things that can be done to improve it," Harless said.She added that in the last week, city leaders have begun getting information from 911 reports regarding any calls about Keeton Corrections, so increased communication between officials is beginning to happen.Harless said, "I think we're on the right track, but I think we have a lot more to learn, and I don't think we can do that without Commissioner (James) Erwin (Dept. of Corrections) and Secretary Tilley at the table with us."She added, "We've spent the last week talking about a letter. We need to spend the next week talking about how to engage in the conversation with the state. They have to be a part of the solution. They know way more than we do about the options available. They are the ones in the contract with Keeton. So we have to have them at the table."The City Commission will meet again on Tuesday, October 9.
On the Net:
The hottest topic in Bollywood is Tanushree Dutta, thanks to her courage on speaking about sexual harassment she faced 10 years ago. The actress started the #MeToo movement in India and this is such a relief for other actors and actress too.
Twitter
Yes, seeing Tanushree Dutta talk on sexual harassment, actress Sapna Pabbi too shared her story. The entire Bollywood is supporting Tanushree and lauding her strength and sticking to her stand after a decade.
Twitter
Even Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone spoke about the ongoing fight of Tanushree with Nana Patekar, without taking their names. Ranveer in an HT summit - media interaction condemned sexual harassment and said,
I see it beyond gender emphasizing that harassment, whether it is in the workplace or on the street, is wrong. Ranveer further added, Right now something has happened, and if it has happened, it takes a lot of courage to speak about it. Therefore we must listen to the person.
While Deepika said, For me, the Me Too movement is not about gender. Its about the victory of right over wrong. So, anyone who faces any sort of discrimination or any sort of abuse, I think we as a people must support that person. Its not about a woman or a man or female vs male, lets not get confused in that conversation.
Kudos to Tanushree for taking a stand and more power to these A-listers for speaking their mind.
Police in Gujarat have arrested some 170 people from across the state after migrant workers, mostly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh came under attack. The attacks were triggered following the arrest of a man from Bihar for allegedly raping a 14-month old girl in Sabarkantha district last week.
A man identified as Ravindra Sahu, a labourer hailing from Bihar and working in a local ceramic factory was arrested on September 28, for the rape of a 14-month-old girl in a village near Himmatnagar town of Sabarkantha district.
BCCL/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
Following the incident, the Thakor community, to which the victim belongs, began protesting across various districts of Gujarat demanding outsiders should leave the state. Incidents of attacks have been reported from Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Patan and Ahmedabad districts in the past one week.
Most of those who came under attack were daily wage workers or those selling vegetables and fruits on the street. There were also reports of some factory workers and rickshaw drivers coming under attacks following the incident.
In most of the cases, the attacks were allegedly carried out by an outfit called Kshatriya Thakor Sena, which is headed by Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor.
BCCL/ FILE
Cracking down on the mobs, police have arrested some 170 people from across the state in the past week.
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.
BCCL/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
"Social media messages have fueled violence as the accused is from Bihar whereas the 14-month-old victim is from the Thakor community," Inspector General (Gandhinagar Range) Mayanksinh Chavda said.
As Kerala braces for heavy rains again, the Indian Navys all naval assets, both air and surface, are being maintained at high alert to render any assistance to administration and locals in face of an emergency.
The latest report by IMD says that depression has formed over Southeast Arabian Sea. The MeT department said that the depression will strengthen in the next 12 hours and a heavy downpour will occur in Kerala from Saturday onwards.
afp
A district-wise alert for heavy rains has been issued by the Kerala meteorological department. Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced: "Gates of Idukki-Cheruthoni dam will be raised tomorrow at 6 am and water will be let out at the rate of 50 cubic metre per second as a preparatory measure in the backdrop of heavy rain forecast for the next couple of days".
The rescue and relief machinery has been put on high alert.
Reuters
"Five teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have arrived in the state and they would be deployed in Wayanad, Palakkad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta and Kozhikode," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "We are alert and have taken all precautionary measures. We have issued necessary directions to 32 districts," Udhaya Kumar, Tamil Nadu Minister told news agency ANI.
Warnings have been issued to people living near the banks of rivers.
The Bombay High Court has issued notice to Information & Broadcasting Ministry over a plea seeking regulation of the content of web series or other programmes which are streamed on the internet directly.
A division bench of Justices Bhushan Dharmadhikari and M G Biradkar issued notices to the I&B Ministry, Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Home Affairs and also the Nagpur police commissioner, seeking replies by October 31, says a PTI report.
Advocate Shyam Dewani, the petitioners lawyer, told PTI, We cited before the court various examples of uncontrolled vulgarity, obscenity in such shows and sought a direction to concerned authorities to take appropriate action against all such web service providers. Broadcasting nudity or vulgar scenes is a cognisable offence under IPC, Cinematograph Act, Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 and the Information Technology Act, 2000, he said.
The petition demanded that I&B Ministry should set up a pre-screening committee for web shows, films or other programs which are released directly on online platforms.
afp
As Kerala braces for heavy rains again, the Indian Navys all naval assets, both air and surface, are being maintained at high alert to render any assistance to administration and locals in face of an emergency. Read more
Here's more top news of the day:
1) Well Played, Sir! Banksy Artwork Self-Destructs Right After Being Auctioned For $1.2 Million
The artwork titled Girl With Red Balloon was being auctioned off at Sothebys Auction House when an alarm suddenly sounded off and the piece began to drop down through its frame which concealed a shredder and sliced the artwork into pieces. Read more
2) Alleged Rape Of Minor Triggers Attacks On People From Bihar & UP In Gujarat, 170 Arrested
ANI
Police in Gujarat have arrested some 170 people from across the state after migrant workers, mostly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh came under attack. The attacks were triggered following the arrest of a man from Bihar for allegedly raping a 14-month old girl in Sabarkantha district last week. Read more
3) Bihar Criminals Continue Bloodbath Using Hundreds Of AK-47 Rifles Stolen From Arms Factory
BCCL/Representational Image
Criminal gangs in Bihar managed to lay their hands on the legendary assault rifle in the 1990s when a good chunk of the several hundreds of them dropped by a Latvian aircraft in neighbouring Purulia district of West Bengal in 1995 found its way to the state. Read more
4) Watch: BJP Leader, His Supporters Beat Up Toll Plaza Staff After They Asked For ID Cards In MP
Former Madhya Pradesh BJP president and MLA of Khandwa Nandkumar Singh Chauhan and his supporters were seen thrashing employees at a toll plaza on the Guna-Shivpuri road. The video of the incident has gone viral. Read more
5) Brace Yourself For Censored Online Shows: I&B Ministry May Set Up Pre-Screening Committee
The Bombay High Court has issued notice to Information & Broadcasting Ministry over a plea seeking regulation of the content of web series or other programmes which are streamed on the internet directly. Read more
A $1,300,000 Banksy artwork self-destructed right after it was sold at Sothebys auction.
An alarm sound went off and the frame began to shred the art piece.
The artwork titled Girl With Red Balloon was being auctioned off at Sothebys Auction House when an alarm suddenly sounded off and the piece began to drop down through its frame which concealed a shredder and sliced the artwork into pieces.
As of now, it is unclear if the auction house will provide a refund for the artwork, or if has gone up in value.
It appears we just got Banksy-ed, Alex Branczik, Sothebys European director of contemporary art told the Art Newspaper. He is arguably the greatest British street artist, and tonight we saw a little piece of Banksy genius.
BANKSY CANVAS SHREDDED at SOTHEBY'S AUCTION IN LONDON https://t.co/PmdugKdWwJ pic.twitter.com/oVQHm8xeOl Michael Surtees (@MichaelSurtees) October 6, 2018
Banksy's famous "girl with balloon" piece that came with its own frame shredded itself immediately after being sold for over $1M at a London auction tonight.
Banksy troll level 100 pic.twitter.com/8IBQJlotJ1 Jesschillin (@jesswchen) October 6, 2018
$1,300,000 BANKSY artwork piece just self-destructed right after it was sold at Sothebys auction!
(An alarm sound went off and the frame began to shred the art piece.) pic.twitter.com/TAsrE9ptIh Dan Fleyshman (@DanFleyshman) October 6, 2018
A Banksy artwork self-destructed at a Friday night Sothebys auction in London. https://t.co/qXFZhzmy5I pic.twitter.com/H8SR0HDDAU hyperallergic (@hyperallergic) October 6, 2018
According to the Financial Times, the vendor selling the piece acquired Girl with a Balloon directly from the artist himself. Said Sothebys in a statement, We have talked with the successful purchaser who was surprised by the story. We are in discussion about next steps.
Days after he reportedly went missing, now media reports have claimed that Interpol president Meng Hongwei has been detained in China for questioning as part of an investigation against him in his native country.
Meng, 64, the first Chinese head of the international law enforcement agency headquartered in France, was "taken away" for questioning by discipline authorities "as soon as he landed in China" last week, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted a source as saying.
AFP
Meng, who is also a vice-minister at China's Ministry of Public Security, is under investigation in China, the Post reported amid mystery surrounding his disappearance after his wife reported to the French police that he had gone missing.
The French police said on Friday that they have launched a probe for Meng after being contacted by his wife.
Interpol, which is based in Lyon, said on Friday that it was aware of reports of Meng's "alleged disappearance" and that the issue was a matter for the relevant authorities in France and China.
Meng was last seen in France on September 29, according to reports from France.
So far neither the public security ministry nor the foreign ministry in China has commented.
Under China's supervision law, a suspect's family and employer must be notified within 24 hours of detention, except in cases where doing so would hinder an investigation. It appears Meng's wife was not informed.
AP
Reports quoted an unnamed French judicial official as saying that Meng arrived in China at the end of September but there had been no news of him since.
While Meng is listed on the website of China's Ministry of Public Security as a vice-minister, he lost his seat on its Communist Party Committee -- its real decision-making body - in April, the Post reported.
According to his own page on the site, Meng's last official engagement was on August 23, when he met Lai Chung Han, a second permanent secretary of Singapore, it said.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 06, 2018 | 11:54 AM | PADUCAH
Kentucky Corrections Commissioner Jim Erwin notified McCracken County Commissioner Bill Bartleman on Friday, that the facility has been added to the state's AlertXpress automated telephone notification system. The notification system previously was only available for escapees from state prisons, including the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville.
Bartleman requested that the halfway house be added to the alert system after an escape in August. Although the operator of the halfway house notified local police, the public wasn't notified for nearly 10 hours after it was reported.
To register for notification, call 1-866-445-2867 and follow the instructions. When asked for the location of the institution, enter the zip code 42003. An automated escape notification call will be generated if an inmate escapes. When the escapee is apprehended and returned to custody, another notification call will be made.
"While there are still concerns about the halfway house's location in a residential neighborhood, Erwin and Justice and Safety Cabinet Secretary John Tilley have responded to concerns and required changes to protect residents," Bartleman said. "This is an example of those changes."
After Bartleman, City Commissioner Richard Abraham, and other local officials met with Erwin and Tilley in December, the state stopped sending inmates to the facility for about six months while improvements were made to the facility and policies were changed. Among the policy changes was a requirement to notify local police when there is an escape and being more responsive to pubic concerns. The halfway house also has a new director.
Erwin also agreed to Bartleman's request to come to Paducah to meet with local officials and discuss issues related to the halfway house that is run by Keeton Corrections, which is based in Florida. The meeting will be held during the week of October 7th.
Residents can now be immediately notified by telephone when there is an escape from Keeton Correctional facility in Paducah.
The recently launched budget smartphone in the market, Realme 2 Pro is making waves with its unique campaigns. The most recent one being, heading straight to their customers at Amity University, in Noida. In a first, the company launched their phone at a university campus to capture the attention of their target audience, the youth. Max Power, Max Style the mantra for the Realme 2 Pro hit it off at the campus and was instantly a success. This smooth new move makes you throw the very basic question, what makes the Realme 2 Pro the phone for todays youth? Well, weve got all the answers below.
1. A big screen to simply Netflix and Chill
We are the Netflix and chill generation, and we absolutely want smartphones with better clarity and higher screen-to-body ratio. The Realme 2 Pro promises just that! It comes with a marvellous super view 6.3-inch full dewdrop screen with a 90.7% screen-to-body ratio. The display screen is made of Corning Gorilla glass that is more resistant to abrasion and scratch than other phones. The placement of the front camera is almost like a dewdrop to keep up with the full-screen concept.
Realme
2. Crystal finish back covers
Keeping it stylish, the back cover design is unique with its dewdrop arc and ocean themed colour variants that add a cool vibe to the smartphone. The Realme 2 pro is available in Black Sea tone, Blue Ocean and Ice Lake. The Blue Ocean reminds of the calm Pacific Ocean, while the Ice Lake back cover is like the cold Arctic Ocean. All three variants as trendy as the youth!
3. Hardware processors that make the difference
The Realme 2 pro boasts of an octa-core high-performance Qualcomm Snapdragon 660AIE processor. Staying through to its name, this smartphone makes the smartphone by going about your basic functions like WiFi searching, Bluetooth searching, positioning and communication connection, all in low power consumption mode. The built-in Snapdragon 660AI engine promises a real AI experience to the users.
Realme
4. The high-end storage
Being a first in the under 20K price segment, the Realme 2 comes with three different storage variants 4 GB RAM with 64 GB storage, 6GB RAM with 64 GB storage and the 8GB RAM with 128GB storage. The phone also has an expandable memory up to 256 GB. A first for a smartphone in the mid-segment price range!
5. No battery hassel!
Built with a 3500mAh battery and power consumption control, the Realme 2 Pro battery lasts all day long without the need to charge it. The AI sleeping mode smartly judges usage scenarios and dispatches power saving strategies accordingly.
Realme
6. Insta-worthy clicks and more!
Focusing on absolutely Insta-worthy selfies, the Realme 2 Pro comes with a 16MP front camera and F 2.0 large aperture that brings more light feed, ensuring a brighter selfie. It also has the AI beauty 2.0 feature that can also beauty group photos. The depth-of-field effect of selfies taken by the front camera separates you from the messy background and makes you the sole focus of the photo whenever you want.
Realme
The Realme 2 Pro comes with a 16 MP dual rear camera with the primary camera equipped with the IMX398 sensor that supports dual-core focusing, F1.7 aperture and 6P lens to capture every wonderful moment. The 6P Lens is more efficient in gathering light than 5P lens, with more powerful parsing capacity and higher contrast ratio. The phone also boasts of multiple photography modes and AI scene recognition features. The AI performance takes it a step further by recognizing the editing habits of the users and applying it on portraits pictures that are automatically saved in a separate album.
Realme 2 Pro supports taking videos at up to 4K resolution. The high definition dynamic videos are sufficient to record all the wonderful moments in life; the phone features EIS, thus capable of balancing the influence of shaking on video- and photo-taking by adjusting the shutter speed, ISO, and other settings.
Realme
7. The price point!
The first in the mid-range segment to offer more, the phone has three price points Rs 13,990/- for the 4GB RAM/64GB Storage, Rs 15,990/- for 6GB RAM/64GB storage and Rs 17,990/- for 8GB RAM/128GB storage. The phone will be exclusively available on Flipkart during their Big Billion Day sale from October 11, at 00:00 Hours (October 10 midnight) for purchase! HDFC card users can available a 10% discount on the same. Along with buyback gaurantee and no-cost EMI options, complete mobile protection at just Rs 99. You can also check out similar offers on other models such as the Realme 2 and the Realme C1 during the Flipkart Big Billion Day Sale.
Ready to make the real switch?
"Blistering barnacles" and "thundering typhoons", is you are a Tintin fan you'd know Captain Haddock's love for spilling out Gibberish. And this exactly what this Twitter user named Mixed Raita tapped into and made a meme that will rule the Internet for quite some time now.
He inserted Shashi Tharoor "exasperating farrago of distortions" rant into a speech bubble which shows Captain Haddock saying it. The meme has understandably gone viral.
As a childhood Tintin fan in both English & French, I love this! (Don't take the advice too literally though!) pic.twitter.com/kNeSqYmzIY Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) 5 October 2018
Tintin, who is a journalist asks Haddock to "stop following that Tharoor fella".
Exasperating farrago of distortions, misrepresentations&outright lies being broadcast by an unprincipled showman masquerading as a journalst Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) 8 May 2017
Tharoor himself shared the meme saying, "As a childhood Tintin fan in both English & French, I love this! (Don't take the advice too literally though!"
As a childhood Tintin fan in both English & French, I love this! (Don't take the advice too literally though!) pic.twitter.com/kNeSqYmzIY Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) 5 October 2018
Back in 2017, Shashi Tharoor had responded to Arnab Goswami's newly launched Republic TV and their big "expose" in the Sunanda Pushkar case. He took to Twitter to express his exasperation with "Exasperating farrago of distortions, misrepresentations&outright lies being broadcast by an unprincipled showman masquerading as a journalst".
Soon enough Google was exploding with search for the word 'farrago'.
Australian equity mutual funds provide diversification to a traditional investment portfolio. Investors looking to diversify their portfolios while receiving high dividend yields should consider the AMP Capital Equity Income Generator Fund (40660.AX), the T. Rowe Price Australian Equity Fund (19448.AX), and the Aberdeen Australian Equity Fund (5685.AX). All information presented here was accurate as of Oct. 27, 2020.
1. AMP Capital Equity Income Generator Fund
AMP Capital issued the AMP Capital Equity Income Generator Fund in 2013. The fund aims to provide dividend income that is greater than that of the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index, its benchmark index. The dividend income includes franking credits or credits that return taxes the company paid on corporate profits back to the shareholder. The fund aims to provide an average annual yield of 5.0% over the long term and has an annual management fee of 0.72%.
The AMP Capital Equity Income Generator Fund focuses primarily on high dividend-paying sectors. About half of its top holdings are in the financial services sector, and sectors for other fund allocations include real estate, communications services, and consumer cyclical. The fund has a minimum investment of $10,000.
2. T. Rowe Price Australian Equity Fund
The T. Rowe Price Australian Equity Fund aims to provide long-term capital appreciation by holding a diversified portfolio of Australian equity securities. The fund has outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index, its benchmark index, with an average annual return of 8.48% since its inception in 2012.
If investors choose to invest directly with T. Rowe Price, there is no minimum investment requirement. However, if investors do not invest directly with T. Rowe Price, there is a minimum initial investment requirement of AU $500,000, or US $356,320 which is extremely high for the average investor. The fund charges an annual management fee of 0.60%.
The T. Rowe Price Australian Equity Fund has total net assets of AU $73.9 million, or US $52.6 million, and 33 holdings. About a third of the fund's top holdings were in the financial sector, and sectors for other fund allocations include real estate, consumer discretionary, and materials.
3. Aberdeen Australian Equity Fund
Although the Aberdeen Australian Equity Fund does not offer yields as high as those of the T. Rowe Price Australian Equity Fund and the AMP Capital Australian Equity Income Fund, it had a yield of 3.96% as of Oct. 27, 2020, and has achieved an average annual return of 7.1% since its inception.
Aberdeen Asset Management issued the Aberdeen Australian Equity Fund in 1985. The fund seeks to outperform the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation, its benchmark index, over rolling three-year periods. To achieve its investment objective, the fund invests 88.5% of its assets in equities of listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) that have increased earning potential and the potential for capital appreciation.
The fund has total net assets of AU $119.9 million, or US $85.6 million. About a third of the fund's top holdings were in the financial sector, and sectors for other fund allocations include health care, materials, energy, and industrial.
By The Associated Press Oct. 06, 2018 | 03:25 PM | WASHINGTON
4 p.m.
The Senate has confirmed Brett Kavanaugh as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, putting a second nominee from President Donald Trump on the highest court in the land.
Kavanaugh was confirmed 50-48 Saturday during a historic roll call vote in the Senate chamber. The two-vote margin is one of the narrowest ever for a Supreme Court nominee. The vote unfolded with protesters shouting from the gallery.
The vote closes out a bitter struggle over Kavanaugh's nomination, inflamed by accusations that he sexually assaulted women in the 1980s. Kavanaugh forcefully denied the accusations in sworn testimony.
___
3:55 p.m.
Protesters are disrupting the Senate's vote on Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Demonstrators began shouting "I do not consent" as the roll call on Kavanaugh began. Senators are seated at their desks for the vote.
When Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona cast his vote in favor of Kavanaugh, one protester shouted, "You're a coward Flake, a total coward!"
Vice President Pence, who is presiding, repeatedly called for the Senate sergeant-at-arms to restore order in the chamber. The protesters are being removed by gallery staff.
___
3:50 p.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is praising Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as "among the very best our nation has to offer."
The Kentucky Republican says Kavanaugh "unquestionably" deserves to be confirmed. He says the judge "will make the Senate and the country proud" as a member of the high court. The vote to confirm Kavanaugh as an associate justice began after McConnell's remarks.
___
3:45 p.m.
A roll call vote is under way in the Senate on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Senators are seated at their desks for the historic vote. If it succeeds, Kavanaugh will soon join the court as an associate justice.
Republicans control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, and the vote seems destined to be nearly party-line. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is the only Democrat expected to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is opposed, but says she will vote "present" as a courtesy to another Republican who is out of town.
___
3:40 p.m.
Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer is decrying the expected confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court as "one of the saddest moments" in the history of the Senate and the U.S.
The New York Democrat criticized Kavanaugh in a Senate floor speech, saying he is a nominee "who doesn't belong on the nation's highest bench." He said Kavanaugh is an "extreme partisan" who disqualified himself with testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The vote to confirm Kavanaugh as an associate justice is expected to begin soon. Senators have been advised to be in their seats for the vote.
Kavanaugh is expected to win confirmation by a narrow margin. Republicans have a 51-49 majority in the chamber.
Schumer closed his speech saying Americans opposed to Kavanaugh's confirmation need to vote in the midterm election.
___
3:30 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he's looking forward to the Senate vote that's vote expected to confirm his second Supreme Court nominee.
Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a rally in Topeka, Kansas, that he thinks Brett Kavanaugh is "going to be a great Supreme Court justice for many years to come."
He's also praising Republican Sen. Susan Collins for the speech she delivered Friday announcing her support for the nominee.
And he says he thinks the week-long delay as the FBI investigated sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh was something positive. Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Trump is expected to watch the vote play out from aboard Air Force One as he flies to Kansas.
He's says, "it's a very exciting time."
___
3 p.m.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley is giving his closing argument for the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Grassley is praising Kavanaugh's judicial independence in a speech on the Senate floor and he says the judge won't be beholden to the man who nominated him, President Donald Trump.
He accuses Democrats of doing "everything in their power" to make Kavanaugh's nomination about something other than his judicial record and qualifications.
Kavanaugh faced accusations of sexual misconduct from Christine Blasey Ford and other women. Ford testified that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens. Kavanaugh forcefully denied the accusations.
The Senate is expected to vote soon to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Grassley says he's glad senators had the courage to "stand against the politics of personal destruction."
___
1:30 p.m.
A final vote has been set for Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
The vote on confirming Kavanaugh as an associate justice will begin at roughly 3:30 p.m., and senators have been advised to be in their seats by the time the historic roll call begins.
Republicans control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, and Saturday's vote seems destined to be nearly party-line. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is the only Democrat expected to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is opposed, but says she will vote "present" as a courtesy to another Republican who will be absent for his daughter's wedding.
A few hundred protesters are gathering outside the Capitol before the vote. A group of them climbed the Capitol steps, and some were led away by police.
___
1 p.m.
A large crowd has gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to protest Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
Pumping their fists and carrying signs, a few hundred people climbed the east steps of the Capitol for the demonstration. The crowd has been chanting, "November is coming!" and "Vote them out!"
A much larger crowd of protesters is watching the demonstration from behind a barricade. In between, a line of Capitol police officers is standing with plastic handcuffs clipped to their belts.
The Senate is expected to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on Saturday afternoon.
The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
In 2020, there were 2,095 billionaires in the world with a combined net worth of $8 trillion, according to Forbes. You might wonder what kind of education it takes to join the ranks of the world's wealthiest individuals. What do you need to study to become a billionaire? Is billionaire status reserved for those who graduate from elite universities? And just how important is an advanced degree to achieving extreme wealth?
To answer these questions, we take a look at five billionaires and their educational histories.
Key Takeaways Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates went to an exclusive college prep school and then attended Harvard University for two years before dropping out.
Carlos Slim Helu, who was the world's richest person from 2010 to 2013, graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with a degree in civil engineering.
Spanish fashion executive Amancio Ortega, who has a net worth of $68 billion, grew up poor in a small town and dropped out of school at age 14 to find a job to help his family.
Warren Buffett purchased his first securities at age 11, received his undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska, and then went on to Columbia University where he earned a masters degree in economics.
Billionaire Larry Ellison dropped out of college twice before moving to California where he worked as a programmer and eventually started the company that would become Oracle.
Bill Gates
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft (MSFT), has a net worth of $115.8 billion. Gates attended an exclusive private college prep school where he, along with other students, had access to a teleprinter and a General Electric computer.
Gates began learning the computer language BASIC. One of his classmates was future Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. While in high school, Gates wrote his first computer program, an application that allowed people to play tic tac toe against the machine.
Gates was an excellent high school student. After graduation, he attended Harvard University for two years before dropping out. Soon after, he reunited with his high school computer buddy Paul Allen, and they started the company that would become Microsoft.
Carlos Slim Helu
Carlos Slim Helu, a Mexican investor and telecom CEO, has a net worth of $52.8 billion. Slim, who was the richest person in the world from 2010 to 2013, is sometimes called the Warren Buffett of Mexico. Through his company Grupo Carso, he has massive holdings in many industries. He is also the CEO of Latin Americas largest mobile phone carrier.
Slims father was a Lebanese immigrant who started with a dry goods store and branched out into real estate. Slim was put to work in the family business at a young age. He learned enough about business from his father that by age 12 he had already purchased shares in a Mexican bank. Slim graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with a degree in civil engineering.
Amancio Ortega
Amancio Ortega, the founder of Zara, has a net worth of $68 billion. Ortega is a Spanish fashion executive and founding chair of the Inditex fashion group, which includes international fast-fashion giant, Zara. Ortega grew up poor in a small town where his father was a railway worker. Ortega dropped out of school at age 14 to find a job and help his family. He found work with a local shirtmaker and that is where he started his education in fashion.
Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett, businessman and investor, has a net worth of $80.1 billion. Now known as the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett was the son of a congressman and a precocious student. As a child and teen, he engaged in many side jobs and money-making schemes including delivering newspapers, selling magazines door-to-door, and buying and installing pinball machines at local businesses. At age 11, he had already bought his first securities. In high school, he was able to buy a farm.
Buffett enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania at the age of sixteen to study business and finished his degree at the University of Nebraska. Buffett completed his formal education at Columbia University where he earned a masters degree in economics. He is also fond of noting that he took a Dale Carnegie class in public speaking.
Larry Ellison
Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle (ORCL), has a net worth of $78.9 billion. Ellison is the only billionaire on this list to drop out of not one, but two colleges. He enrolled at the University of Illinois but dropped out after two years. After spending time in California, Ellison returned to the Midwest and completed just one term at the University of Chicago, where he first became interested in computers. Ellison moved to California where he worked as a programmer and eventually started the company that would become Oracle.
The Bottom Line
As of 2017, out of the Forbes list of the 400 richest people, 23 had just a high school diploma. These include Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Sean Parker. As Warren Buffett often says, "The best education you can get is investing in yourself. But that doesn't always mean college or university."
Founded in 1947, Swedish clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (STO: HM-B), commonly known as H&M, has grown into one of the most recognizable brands in the fashion industry. H&M has more than 5,000 stores worldwide and employs 120,000 people.
Not surprisingly, the COVID-19 shutdown had an impact in 2020. The company reported strong growth in online sales but overall sales still came in 5% down in September 2020 over the same period one year earlier.
The company said it would permanently shut down 350 stores starting in 2021, but that doesn't mean it's giving up on brick-and-mortar. Its executives seem to have concluded that the real world and the online world work best in tandem. "More and more customers started shopping online during the pandemic, and they are making it clear that they value a convenient and inspiring experience in which stores and online interact and strengthen each other," said CEO Helena Helmersson. "We are increasing digital investments, accelerating store consolidation, and making the channels further integrated."
H&M is a leader in the "fast fashion" space, competing with Zara and Forever 21.
Fast fashion relies on high volume sales of trendy and inexpensive clothing.
H&M claims its mix of brick-and-mortar and online sales is a business strength.
The Secret to H&M's Success: Fast Fashion
The secret to the success of H&M and its rivals like Zara and Forever 21 can be attributed to the fast fashion business model.
Fast fashion relies on moving a large volume of merchandise from the designer table to the showroom floor in the shortest amount of time possible and at a reasonable price. Aimed at young, fashion-conscious urban consumers, their products are trendy and they're cheap, bordering on disposable.
That naturally has gained them some criticism from advocates of sustainable and ethical consumerism.
Fast fashion retailers make their profits by having a high merchandise turnover and by constantly resupplying the product pipeline with the latest trends.
H&Ms model also relies on a solid marketing team that can quickly determine what the target demographic desires and get it into the supply chain fast.
H&M's Brand of Fast Fashion
While fast fashion is not limited to H&M, the Swedish brand has a distinct business model. Unlike Zara, H&M does not manufacture its products in-house but outsources its production to more than 900 independent suppliers around the world, mainly in Europe and Asia, which are overseen by 30 strategically located oversight offices.
To incentivize fair working conditions, H&M introduced a pilot program for its Bangladesh and Cambodian factories which involved the company purchasing 100% of the factories outputs over a five-year span. H&M hoped that by being the sole customer, it is better able to ensure safe working conditions while increasing productivity more naturally, as opposed to attempting enforcement through routine compliance inspections.
Secondly, only 80% or so of all store merchandise is stocked year-round, while the remaining 20% of H&M products are designed and stocked on the fly in small batches, depending on the prevailing trend. To ensure timely delivery and fast lead times, H&M relies on its state-of-the-art IT network, which allows integration between the central national office and satellite production offices.
H&M Stock
By mid-2021, H&M appeared to be recovering from the pandemic, but not without some difficulty. In June 2021, the company reported sales jumped 25% from the year before but were down 4% from its 2019 numbers.
China seemed to be a problem area. Sales in that nation fell 23% after the retailer was booted off its popular Tmall website and some domestic phone app stores in response to H&M's expressions of concern about alleged human rights abuses. China accounts for 5% of the retailer's total sales and is one of its top suppliers.
American investors can follow Hennes Mauritz via its American Depository Receipt, Hennes Mauritz ADR (HNNMY), which is listed on the NASDAQ.
Shares closed on Aug. 13, 2021, at $4.13. Its 52-week range was between $3.04 and $5.22.
The Bottom Line
Since its founding in 1947, H&M has grown to become the world's second-largest fashion retailer, after Inditex, owner of the Zara stores.
The continued success of both retailers depends on their application of fast fashion, which relies on spotting fashion trends as they appear and getting inexpensive copies of them into their stores as quickly as possible.
Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.
The average stock market return over the past 100 years is around 10%. Thats why its important to not only have a robust investment portfolio but also manage it well. Reading a good investing book can help you make the right financial moves.
Whether youre a finance professional looking to up your game or an amateur investor who prefers to be more hands-on with your investments, weve got you covered with our list of bestsellers. Here are the best investing books from respected industry professionals, as well as the occasional beginners guides to get you started on the right track.
For the tenth time in a row, Aliko Dangote was named the richest man in Africa in 2021, with an estimated net worth of $12.1 billion. The business empire he began to build more than three decades ago, Dangote Group, is one of the largest private-sector employers in Nigeria as well as the most valuable conglomerate in West Africa.
Shortly after graduating from college at 21, Dangote borrowed $3,000 from his uncle to import and sell agricultural commodities in Nigeria, his native country. His business venture quickly became a success, and as a result, he managed to repay the entire loan within three months of starting operations. Ultimately, Dangote was able to turn a local commodities trading business into a multibillion-dollar corporation.
Key Takeaways Aliko Dangote has been the richest man in Africa for ten years in a row, with a net worth of over $12 billion.
Dangote's fortune is primarily built from his company, Dangote Cement, although he started his business empire by selling commodities such as sugar, salt, and flour.
While he grew up upper-class, Dangote was entrepreneurial from a young age and started his first business with a loan from his uncle.
A noted philanthropist, Dangote's Foundation began partnering with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2013 to eradicate polio and strengthen routine immunizations, and in August 2020, the African continent celebrated its official certification as free of wild polio.
Slated to open in late 2021, Dangote's Lagos (Nigeria) oil refinery is the largest industrial project in the history of Africa.
Dangote's business interests encompass many industries, including oil and gas, consumer goods, and manufacturing. However, Dangote Cement makes up the majority of the conglomerate's revenue, of which Dangote owns 85%. According to Forbes magazine, the subsidiary produces 45.6 million metric tons of cement every year and operates in 10 African countries.
Dangote also owns the world's third-largest sugar refinery. As of March 31, 2021, Dangote Cement Group reported quarterly revenue of 332.7 billion Nigerian nairas, approximately US$808.5 million.
Early Life and Education
Born in 1957, Dangote grew up in an entrepreneurial household in Kano State, Nigeria. He was raised Muslim and lived an upper-class life. Dangotes grandfather, Sanusi Dantata, was once named one of the wealthiest people living in Kano. He made his fortune selling commodities like oats and rice. Dantata became Dangotes guardian in 1965 after the death of his father.
Having spent much of his childhood with his grandfather, Dangote quickly became interested in the world of business, once saying, I can remember when I was in primary school, I would go and buy cartons of sweets [sugar boxes] and I would start selling them just to make money. I was so interested in business, even at that time.
At age 21, Dangote graduated from Egypt's Al-Azhar University, considered one of Islams most prestigious universities. It was there the budding entrepreneur furthered his education in business.
Notable Accomplishments
An Empire Is Born
After graduating from college in 1977, Dangote managed to convince his uncle to lend him money to start a business. The funds from the loan allowed him to import soft commodities at wholesale prices from international suppliers. Two of his main imports were rice from Thailand and sugar from Brazil. He then sold those items in small quantities to consumers in his village at a lucrative markup.
The venture quickly became successful and turned into a cash cow. In an interview with Forbes, Dangote claims that on his best days, he was realizing a daily net profit of $10,000. That allowed him to repay his uncle in only three months.
Cutting Out the Middleman
In 1997, Dangote realized that acting as a middleman was a very costly endeavor, so he built a plant to produce what he had been importing and selling for the previous 20 years: pasta, sugar, salt, and flour.
Around the same time, Dangote was awarded a state-owned cement company. Dangote significantly expanded the operations of the company in 2005 by constructing a multimillion-dollar manufacturing plant. The construction was financed with $319 million of Dangote's own money in addition to a $479 million loan from the International Finance Corporation, a sister organization of The World Bank.
Each of his manufacturing divisions has since been separated into publicly traded companies: Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC., National Salt Company of Nigeria PLC., and Dangote Cement PLC.
$12.5 billion Aliko Dangote's net worth, as of Aug. 8, 2021.
Expanding the Empire
Dangote has always reinvested the majority of his profits back into his businessesone reason the company has grown so much since its inception. During an interview with Al Jazeera News, Aliko Dangote explained, We [Dangote Group] are not doing like other Africans who keep most of their money in the bank. We do not keep money in the bank. We fully invest whatever we have and we keep on investing (sic).
Unlike many wealthy Nigerians who made their fortune in oil, Dangote initially chose to go down a different path, but he has since entered the oil and gas industry. In an effort to put some of his cash reserves to work, Dangote is working on a massive oil refinery in Lagos, which is projected to start operations in late 2021. If successful, it could significantly reduce Nigeria's reliance on international suppliers for oil and gas and end the import of $7 billion in fuel a year.
The $15 billion refinery in Nigeria is the largest industrial project ever in Nigeria and is expected to produce 650,000 barrels of oil per day.
Awards and Charity Work
Aliko Dangote is a leading philanthropist and founded his eponymous private charitable foundation in 1994. The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) is dedicated to adding value to people's lives across Africa by supporting health, education, and economic empowerment initiatives. Now, the foundation is the largest private foundation in sub-Saharan Africa.
Notably, Dangote's Foundation began partnering with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2013 in order to eradicate polio and strengthen routine immunizations throughout the country. In August 2020, the entire African continent (of which Nigeria was last) celebrated its official certification as free of wild polio.
How Did Aliko Dangote Get Rich? Aliko Dangote made his fortune by importing and selling agricultural commodities, and later through oil and gas, consumer goods, and manufacturing. The majority of Dangote's fortune comes from Dangote Cement, which produces 45.6 million metric tons of cement every year and operates in 10 African countries.
What Does Dangote Produce? Dangote primarily produces cement, oil, and other commodities such as sugar.
Who Is Aliko Dangotes Wife? Aliko Dangote is a bachelor and not currently married.
Who Is the Richest Black Person in the World? Aliko Dangote is the richest Black person in the world.
How Many Trillionaires Are There in the World? There are currently no trillionaires in the world, but multiple sources estimate that Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, could become the world's first trillionaire by 2026.
The Bottom Line
Aliko Dangote's journey to fortune is not a rags-to-riches story. He came from a wealthy family that was able to provide the financial assistance he needed to start his business. Over the years, Dangote has expanded into new business segments, including telecommunications, real estate, and steel manufacturing.
Today his holding company, Dangote Group, is the largest conglomerate in West Africa. His title as "richest man in Africa" seems to be one he'll hold for years to come.
When it comes to investing and stock trading, news and reaction time can make or break an investor. These are the best apps for up-to-date financial news.
1. CNBC Breaking Business News App
The CNBC Breaking Business News app (available on iPhone and Android) is NBC's flagship financial news app. It gives users access to actionable business news, financial information and market data. The app keeps its users up to date with breaking news alerts that are pushed through even when the app is closed.
The tool allows users to monitor real-time stock quotes and to view interactive charts, receive global business news coverage and watch full episodes of CNBC shows such as "Mad Money" and "American Greed." The app allows for a customizable watch list to track specific stocks and gain real-time access to associated business news headlines.
2. TheStreet App
TheStreet started as an online informational website but has since rolled out an app for both iPhone and Android. The app provides access to financial news, analysis and stock-picking insights from experts associated with the company.
The app supplies up-to-date market news, opinions and commentaries, technical analyses and actionable data. It also delivers detailed quotes and analysis of stocks and offers a proprietary stock rating model called TheStreet Ratings. The app aims to aggregate information to provide a multimedia financial experience based on data, articles, and videos.
3. Bloomberg: Business News App
The Bloomberg: Business News app gives access to the company's global business and financial news, up-to-date market data and proprietary portfolio tools. Bloomberg sets its app apart with articles written by the award-winning business and financial journalists at Bloomberg.
The app (available on iPhone and Android) allows users to receive the latest market data, which can be filtered by specific regions or sectors. Bloomberg's watchlist lets users track securities and other investments, and the company's audio and video services allow users to receive pertinent financial information with their media channel of choice.
When it comes to investing and stock trading, news and reaction time can make or break an investor.
4. Fox Business App
The Fox Business app (available on iPhone and Android) lets users stay connected to the constantly changing business world. The app can track financial markets and send financial alerts to its users. Users can search for stocks by ticker symbol and create watchlists by adding stocks to the app's My Stocks Page.
Additionally, users can access up-to-the-minute news and market data through the use of live Fox business broadcasts and watch clips from their favorite Fox Business Network shows. The app's users can also repost and share articles and videos from the Fox Business app on most social media outlets.
5. Barron's App
Barron's is known as the premier investing news magazine, providing financial analysis and insight in print, and more recently through its mobile app. Available on iPhone and Android, Barron's subscribers can access the company's articles every weekend from this app, along with commentary from Barron's Online edition seven days a week and analysis every weekday.
In 2019, a subscription to Barron's cost around $19.99 a month and gave subscribers access to the app and Barron's website. Users can save articles on the mobile app and access them on the website, and vice versa.
6. MarketWatch App
The MarketWatch app (on iPhone and Android) gives its users access to the latest business news, financial data and market information. Through the use of the app, people can receive breaking news coverage, the most recent market data, and market alerts. The tool also provides an opportunity to create a watchlist and track MarketWatch stories related to the user's stock picks.
7. The Wall Street Journal App
Historically, The Wall Street Journal is one of the most reputable and reliable sources for financial information. Through the Wall Street Journal, both iPhone and Android using subscribers can customize news and notifications to fit their preferences. The publication requires a subscription that cost just under $40 a month as of early 2019.
8. SeekingAlpha Portfolio App
SeekingAlpha is offered to subscribers for free or on a premium basis. Available on iPhone and Android, It is one of the financial industrys top sources for stock news alerts. It also provides in-depth research on a full range of publicly traded stocks and managed funds. Subscribers can receive stock alerts throughout the day on companies and funds that they are following.
The Internet has become such a powerful tool for home buying and selling that its worth asking whether its still worth it to hold open houses. Statistics suggest that it may not be.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), just 6% of buyers found the home they bought by visiting an open house. Not surprisingly, 93% of buyers used websites in their home search, and more than half (52%) found the home that they ultimately bought online. That statistic jumps to 63% for thirty-somethings.
Another factor: the COVID-19 pandemic, which led many Realtors to suspend open houses, at least in the early days. Here are six reasons why open houses may no longer be an effective sales tool.
Key Takeaways Most buyers dont visit open houses and instead use the Internet to browse homes and narrow down their choices.
Open houses may benefit real estate agents more than sellers, because they serve as a way for agents to meet prospective clients.
The risk of theft is a major downside of open houses. Visitors can either steal jewelry and other valuable items or scope out the location for a future break-in.
1. Homebuyers Shop Online
The first step that most buyers take during the home-buying process is to look online for properties for sale, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Buyers do most of their research online, narrowing down their options before they even contact a real estate agent. Real estate aggregator websites allow buyers to search for properties by ZIP code or neighborhood, and filter the results by size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, features, and even keywords (e.g., waterfront). These websites also show price history, property tax details, school system ratings, and other metrics to help buyers make decisions.
The second step that most buyers take is to contact a real estate agent, who can provide access to homes on the buyers schedule rather than during an open house.
2. Real Estate Agents Can Benefit More Than Sellers
Open houses are supposed to attract potential buyers, but often, all they do is bring new clients to real estate agents. Thats because unrepresented buyers frequently go to open houses, which means potential new business for an agent.
It also means that those potential buyers could learn about other homes for sale if your agent talks about them during your open house. That creates an awkward situation, which may sour your relationship with the agent.
3. Looky-Loos Might Be Your Only Open House Visitors
Opening a home to strangers can be a hassle, especially if it turns out that curious neighbors and looky-loospeople who have no intention of buyingare the only visitors.
Lots of people who arent in the market go to open houses out of curiosity or to get ideas for their homes. And while it may be a fun way for them to get decorating ideas, it can feel like a big waste of time for you. After all, serious buyers can contact your agent directly to get a showing.
4. Open Houses Can Attract Thieves and Burglars
One of the risks of an open house is that you could be the victim of theft. Since anyone can go to an open house, it creates an opportunity for thieves to steal cash, jewelry, electronics, and prescription drugs. They can even steal your identity if they get hold of bank statements, credit cards, passports, or USB flash drives with sensitive information.
Also, savvy criminals can use an open house as a way to scope out your home for a future break-in. While its difficult to estimate how many thefts occur during or as a result of open houses, some police departments around the country have issued warnings to homeowners and real estate agents about the risk of being robbed.
5. Open Houses Cost Money
Time is money, and the longer it takes to sell your home, the more costs you will incurincluding the cost to host open houses. There are generally candles, cake, and drinks, for starters. Also, you may have to run the air conditioning or heat more than usual, which means a higher utility bill.
Dont forget the time, cost, and stress of keeping the house in show-ready condition and getting the kids and the pets out of the house. These little things may not seem like a lot, but they can quickly add up, especially if you host multiple open houses before you find a buyer.
45% Percentage of Realtors who suspended holding open houses at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors.
6. COVID-19 and Other Health Risks
The COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed open houses because many sellers don't want strangers in their homes, and many buyers dont want to risk going into someone elses space.
It could be that in the post-COVID world, buyers and sellers still might shy away from open houses. If thats the case, then professional imageryincluding high-resolution photographs, virtual video tours, and drone footagecould become even more important to buyers and sellers alike.
The Bottom Line
Rewind a couple of decades, and open houses were one of the few ways that buyers could see homes for sale. Today, however, the Internet makes it easy for buyers to search and view homes online.
As a result, the open house isnt such a winning proposition anymore. Not only does it take time and money, but also, you are taking a risk by opening up your home to strangers. Add data that doesnt support the effectiveness of open houses, and it may make more sense to put your efforts elsewhere.
By Geoff Percival
Housebuilding group Abbey has moved to ramp up its Irish-based development activity, with construction on a new project in Navan progressing quickly and further residential projects in Meath and Laois due to commence shortly.
At the groups AGM in Malahide, executive chairman Charles Gallagher said Abbey is trading well and remains on course for a growth in building work in its current financial year.
Overall, the group is in a good position to grow output this year. Trading over the summer has been steady.
In southern England our sales have held up well, underpinned by the UK governments consistent support for first-time buyers, he said.
In July, on the back of Abbeys annual results presentation covering the 12 months to the end of April Mr Gallagher said the company was very very focused on increasing its Irish activity, with an increase in the number of houses it builds here being its top priority.
Abbey completed 75 house sales in Ireland in its last financial year, up from 39 in the previous year. While Mr Gallagher said the final outcome of Brexit may hinder Abbeys progress in Ireland and the UK, he expected activity growth in both markets in the current year.
However, Mr Gallagher has also previously said the building of 40,000 new houses per year as has been bandied about as an average output number in order for housing supply to meet demand is an unrealistic and unsustainable target to fix Irelands housing crisis.
He said 25,000 builds per year is a more realistic short-term target.
By Fiachra O Cionnaith and Elaine Loughlin
A global tax clampdown on multinational firms has given the Government an extra 1bn this year to fill the rainy day fund, plug the health service financial black hole, and pay for a string of Budget 2019 giveaways.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe confirmed the windfall last night, despite warning that 700m of the extra money is a one-off that will not be repeated in future years.
Mr Donohoe said Irelands corporation tax intake this year will be 9.5bn 1bn more than planned due to international accountancy changes hitting the worlds biggest firms.
Coupled with a 175m underspend in some departments and a 200m bump in PRSI returns, he said a large chunk of the remaining 300m will be used to plug the expected 700m black hole in health service funding this year.
Mr Donohoe also confirmed half of the 1bn will be paid into the rainy day fund.
He made the comments as the Irish Examiner separately learned Fianna Fail has won a battle to pump up the affordable housing scheme budget by 200m.
Mr Donohoe stressed that Budget 2019 will be balanced, but it is understood that up to 200m will be set aside for rollout of an affordable housing scheme that would see homes sold at below delivery cost.
The 75m Serviced Sites Fund, which lets local authorities get land ready for affordable housing, is likely to be increased to 200m with the policy potentially spread out over two years.
The deal would force prices to be below delivery cost, meaning some three-bed homes could be sold for under 200,000. Instead of setting specific rates depending on the house type or area, those qualifying for the new scheme will be charged the cost of building the unit minus the cost of servicing the land, with money from the Serviced Sites Fund bridging the difference.
A reduction in the 4.75% USC rate and changes to the marginal rate of income tax are also on the cards, said sources, while the special 9% Vat rate for the hospitality sector will return to 13.5%.
The figures emerged as Mr Donohoe also confirmed the social welfare Christmas bonus will be fully restored and that despite the Brexit threat, he expects Ireland to run a surplus budget from 2020 onwards.
A 45-year-old Dublin woman is taking on the world's longest up-hill cycle this December.
Entrepreneur Sinead Kennedy will head to Colombia in 13 weeks to cycle the Alto De Letras.
The Alto De Letras is an 80-kilometre bike ride that starts in severe heat and ends in freezing temperatures, over 4,000 metres above sea level.
Sinead is documenting her challenge and her training regime on the run-up to the tour on YouTube in order to encourage others to get outside their own comfort zones.
- Digital Desk
A club for people with special needs that the recently retired chief executive of Barnardos childrens charity, Fergus Finlay, had wanted to develop has been badly damaged in a fire.
Mr Finlay is the chairperson of Lakers, a sports, social, and recreational club for children and adults with intellectual disabilities in Bray, Co Wicklow.
The premises was badly damaged and four buses used by the club were destroyed in the fire on Thursday night. The building was empty at the time and no one was injured.
Mr Finlays adult daughter, Mandy, is one of the 400 members of the club who are encouraged to develop their innate skills and self-esteem in an environment that is inclusive and supportive.
Mr Finlay said the club that was run on a shoe-string offered an extraordinary range of opportunities in a pretty tumbledown building for their members.
Speaking on RTE radio yesterday, Mr Finlay described the club as a lifeline for its members.
Some members travel to us; some cannot and buses are used for that to bring them to the swimming pool, to football, to wherever activities happen.
Mr Finlay said it appeared that the fire was caused by an electrical fault and he could not say when the club would be up and running again.
Our 400 members will be devastated until we can get going again, he tweeted yesterday.
Mr Finlay announced later in the day that the club had set up a fundraising site with a 100,000 target on gofundme.com in response to the many people who wanted to make donations.
He said one of the buses was brand new, having been purchased after a major fundraising campaign last year.
Extensive damage was also done to the clubs newly renovated training kitchen and an art room where many of the daily activities took place.
Mr Finlay said if they could organise replacement buses, they could organise venues.
Club staff and volunteers met health minister and local TD, Simon Harris, yesterday and will meet him again on Monday to discuss the clubs future.
Fianna Fails health spokesperson and local TD, Stephen Donnelly, said emergency funding must be made available for the facility as soon as possible.
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By Fiachra O Cionnaith, Elaine Loughlin, and Eamon Quinn
Squeezed middle households who could be crucial to the outcome of the next general election are set to benefit from cuts to income tax rates and further reductions to the 4.75% universal social charge as part of next weeks budget plans.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail both flagged the now near certain moves yesterday at separate budget events with just days to go before the financial package is revealed on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters at the briefing on the white paper, which details the financial health of the country at the end of the year if no budget changes occur, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said it is not fair for middle-income earners to be hit with high tax rates.
And asked if he will increase the entry point for the highest rate of income tax to give the widely labelled squeezed middle more financial breathing space, Mr Donohoe indicated the move is imminent.
The tax package is what will be announced on Budget Day, he said.
I dont believe it is sustainable or fair to workers paying high income tax levels.
At a separate event launching Fianna Fails alternative budget proposals, the partys finance spokesman, Michael McGrath, made a rival bid to win over the potentially crucial section of the electorate with the threat of a general election still on the cards.
Outlining the existing 4.75% highest rate of universal social charge, Mr McGrath said that lowering the rate is now likely and that we believe that rate captures the people who deserve to get some break, it makes sense given the progressive nature of our [Fianna Fails] system.
The rival parties focus on the need to win over voters before any future general election will play a key role in next Tuesdays budget announcements, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin keen to be seen to have won out in the financial negotiations.
Underlining the point yesterday, Mr Donohoe said that the Fine Gael-led minority Government is now in line to bring in a balanced budget next year before providing a surplus budget from 2020, and twice pointed out that 2.3m people are now working the highest rate in the countrys history.
At the Fianna Fail launch, the partys public expenditure spokesman Barry Cowen also highlighted the likely 5 per week rise in the State pension and other social welfare payments.
However, indicating the matter has been pushed by Fianna Fail in negotiations, he said nothing is in the bag until everything is in it.
Meanwhile, Mr Donohoe is continuing to meet with Fine Gael ministers, Independent ministers, and Fianna Fail this weekend in a bid to complete a number of budget issues. They include the fact that budgets for the Department of Children and Brexit protections have yet to be agreed, while a housing package is still being finalised.
Although the Independent Alliance is believed to have made gains on the gambling tax, which will see 50m ring-fenced for student and addiction supports, and the return of the Christmas bonus, it is unclear how much of the groups demands have been met.
Separately, Irish Fiscal Advisory Council chair Seamus Coffey criticised political leaking and revealing of the budget plans days before they are announced.
A Cabinet member has come out against the delivery of the North-South interconnector, despite it being Government policy.
Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty has said she has no confidence that the North-South interconnector will ever be delivered.
This week, Communications Minister Denis Naughten maintained the interconnector would go ahead regardless of the outcome of Brexit negotiations.
However, Ms Doherty, speaking on The Michael Reade Show on LMFM, stated: I have respect for Denis and I understand he has a job to do. I know if I was the Minister for Communications and Energy Id have to do the same job.
I wish Denis well... because I have absolutely no confidence that this project will ever be delivered.
The project is a 286m investment that aims to connect cross-border electricity grids. The 400-kilovolt line will run through counties Monaghan, Cavan, and Meath, as well as Armagh and Tyrone.
EirGrid has insisted the interconnector is required to underpin the efficient operation of the all-island electricity market.
Protesters, many in Ms Dohertys Meath East constituency, called for the power lines to be run underground, but costs associated with it are prohibitive.
The aim is to provide a second high-capacity all-Ireland electricity interconnector alongside the existing 275kv overhead line between counties Louth and Armagh.
Fianna Fail constituency colleague Thomas Byrne said Ms Dohertys response was poor.
Its very clear to me what Government policy is in this regard, shes responsible for that, he said.
I dont think its good enough to be coming on local radio and saying something different from the Government policy that she subscribes to. Theres no way a Cabinet minister could say something other than Government policy, but she is saying that. She was organising protests two years ago.
If shes right, I hope shes right and that it wont go ahead. But it seems like Regina wants to get through the gap on these issues. I think the public sees through it.
By Noel Baker, Social Affairs Correspondent
The Cork Marriage Counselling Centre (CMCC) is to have its funding withdrawn by Tusla because it is refusing to cater to same-sex couples.
It is understood that talks between the Tusla, the child and family agency and the CMCC have concluded, with the counselling service informing Tusla that it cannot comply with some of the requirements of the service level agreement because of the terms of its constitution.
The CMCC is a service of Cork & Ross Social Services and has been working with couples since the 1970s.
It receives between 250,000 and 300,000 a year in funding from Tusla, but the arrangement is now at an end, even though the CMCC has been dealing with a steady stream of clients.
Funding is provided on the basis of recipients signing up to service level agreements. Whereas in the past these were general in nature, recent versions have been more specific to reflect changes in legislation, including the passing of the marriage equality referendum in 2015.
It is the most recent change that appears to be a sticking point for the CMCC. The Irish Examiner understands that its own founding constitution prevents it from offering its services to same-sex couples, with the result that it has not been able to sign up to the service level agreement.
The CMCC said it wanted to speak with its 11 staff members and would not be making any comment at this time.
Tusla said it would not be commenting on the case, but offered some general points relating to service level agreements.
A spokesperson for Tusla said: Tusla recognises the need to have all counselling service providers in the community and voluntary sector operating from the same service level agreement, and the importance of public-funded services operating services which are accessible to everyone.
This is why Tusla advocated for the inclusion of this requirement in 2018 service level agreements, to ensure that service providers who receive public money to deliver services abide by Irelands equality legislation.
Following consultations, Tuslas service level agreement for 2018 was sent to all relevant service providers.
The agreement clearly stipulates that services providers must ensure that the services are accessible to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, recognising the diversity of needs of people, including specific needs, from urban, regional and remote areas; and not discriminate on the grounds of gender, civil, or family status, age, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or membership of the Traveller Community.
Tusla inserted this requirement into its 2018 agreements with a view to ensuring that all service providers who receive public money deliver services complying with equality legislation.
Its corporate plan 2018-2020 emphasises the corporate values of trust, respect, empathy, and integrity, and says ensuring equality is inherent in all services we provide, either directly or externally commissioned.
The Labour Party has lost a second councillor in a week amid fresh criticism of leader Brendan Howlin.
Councillor Mick Duff, who led calls during the summer for Mr Howlin to resign, has walked away from the party.
The party has struggled for relevance since being booted from office in 2016 when it lost 30 seats in the Dail.
His decision to resign follows that of his fellow Dublin South West councillor, Martina Genockey, who despite being promoted heavily by Mr Howlin, felt she should stand down.
In his letter to Mr Howlin and party general secretary Brian McDowell, seen by the Irish Examiner, Mr Duff said the appointment of Mr Howlin has had a detrimental effect on the party
Notwithstanding the democratic deficit involved, the decision by Brendan to insist on his not being elected by the membership at a very minimum prevented the catharsis needed for the party in the wake of what was a very difficult period in government and a bruising election campaign, wrote Mr Duff.
He said the party is heading into oblivion like the SDLP in the North.
We have learned no lessons from our time in Government and seem hellbent on returning to coalition as soon as we hear the noble call.
Difficult as it is in opposition as a small party, we could effectively use that time to reorganise, rejuvenate and rebuild.
Regaining trust as a party of social conscience is not easy, but it is a road I hoped the party would travel.
Instead, we hear calls for partnering up with the Social Democrats and the Green Party, bringing Labour into a situation like the SDLP, on a road to oblivion, he wrote.
Effective immediately, I am resigning from my position as DSW Constituency Council Chairperson, Central Council member and my membership of the Labour Party.
I wish all my former Labour colleagues, past and present the very best for the future. I intend to remain on as a non-party member of the current South Dublin County Council, he said.
Mr Duff said the decision by Ms Genockey to resign as a Labour Party member, councillor, and general election candidate gave him a reason to pause and reflect.
I was appalled by the fact that a vibrant, genuine, young representative from a community that the Labour Party was established to represent, would find herself making this decision speaks volumes, he said.
Many constituencies felt isolated and ignored, with no organised support from party headquarters or for that matter, a visit by the party leadership. I am sad to say, we have still not addressed this issue effectually, said Mr Duff.
Responding to the resignation, a Labour spokesperson said: After the Drogheda think-in there was a great sense of unity in the party, so we are sad to see any member leave.
We regret Micks decision to resign but wish him all the best for the future, said the statement.
By Gordon Deegan
Shoplifting amid chaotic scenes at an overcrowded shop during Storm Emma contributed to the loss of 30,000 worth of stock.
That is according to evidence from an unfair dismissal hearing at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) where the retail supervisor put in charge of the store was adjudged to have been unfairly dismissed by his boss on the owners return from overseas.
During Storm Emma, the country was in lockdown with all public transport services shut and major stores closed as people were advised to remain at home.
However, the man fired in the aftermath of the snow storm told the WRC hearing that under severe pressure from his boss, who was overseas at the time, he opened the shop during the storm. The location or name of the store is not disclosed in the WRC report.
The worker said that the store was effectively overwhelmed by customers as most of the major retailers were closed and the situation became chaotic.
During the storm, the convenience store recorded a loss of around 30,000 worth of stock and in his evidence at the WRC hearing, the owner accepted that being overseas he had miscalled how severe Storm Emma would be.
The owner accepted that the significant loss of stock, shoplifting due to the overcrowding during the storm, from the shop was ultimately a result of his decision to remain open during Storm Emma.
A number of days after the owners return on March 8, the owner had a meeting with the retail supervisor.
The worker said he felt unfairly blamed for the stock loss. The meeting was frank and the worker handed back his shop keys and insisted that he did not wish to have any further supervisory role in the shop.
The worker continued working as a till assistant as normal to the end of his shift.
That evening the owner sent a WhatsApp message to the staff telling them that the worker has left the job.
In a further exchange of text messages that night the worker asked if he was being sacked to which his boss replied yes.
At the hearing, the owner said that he did not hold the employee responsible for the 30,000 loss in stock.
He said however, that his employee had abandoned the job.
At two follow-up meetings, the owner offered the employee an opportunity to resume work and this was refused.
In his findings, WRC adjudication officer Michael McEntee found that an unfair dismissal, though in a fit of pique, had taken place.
Mr McEntee said that the worker had contributed significantly to his dismissal by refusing the offers to return at the two follow-up meetings.
Mr McEntee ordered the employer to pay the man compensation of 375 noting that the man had secured alternative, more lucrative employment within four weeks.
By Tommy Barker, Property Editor
Full planning permission has been secured this week for a 140m residential development of 413 homes, to include a tower of 25 storeys, at Corks Jacobs Island, near Mahon Point and the Jack Lynch Tunnel.
Approved by An Bord Pleanala under the Governments fast-track Strategic Housing Development (SHD), the development proposes 413 apartments, in six blocks ranging from six to 25 storeys, and which, if built shortly, would be the countrys tallest tower.
The application was made in July 2018 by OMahony Pike Architects and HWP planning consultants with a decision expected by the end of October. The planning green light was nearly three weeks ahead of that date.
It is the second significant residential grant in Cork under the SHD procedure, in which an application goes directly to An Bord Pleanala, bypassing the initial layers of local authority involvement.
ABP earlier this year approved a plan for 600 homes, in a phased development, at Ballinglanna, Glanmire, for OFlynn Construction. Ground and infrastructure works have commenced on that project, with a sales launch due next spring.
McCarthy Properties/Montip Horizon is behind the Mahon riverside proposal. The family-owned McCarthy firm previously developed the existing scheme called Jacobs Island, spanning 340 apartments, houses, and duplexes at Mahon in the early 2000s.
It also developed 178 apartment blocks across the water at Hartys Quay, Rochestown, Cork in the same period, and all are fully occupied, in a mix of tenure/ownerships.
The new development of 413 apartments, and with planning also granted for a creche and three retail units plus improved access routes, is most likely to be to service the built to rent sector rather than built for individual sales.
It is expected ownership will go to a fund or REIT, such as Kennedy Wilson, which earlier this year bought the fully completed and occupied 17-storey Elysian tower, with 210 apartments plus commercial element, in Cork city centre for 87m.
Tomas McCarthy Sr, the chairman of McCarthy Properties, last night said he gave a warm welcome to the decision of An Bord Pleanala.
We are now engaging with our design team and development partners to bring forward the development as granted.
It is understood the Cork company has already been in discussion with overseas funds/investors as possible partners, as well as being in initial consultations with possible building contractors for the ambitious project, where the 25-storey tower alone holds scope for 100 apartments.
A dream wedding on a Greek island might have to be called off after a Cork travel agency ceased trading.
Derek Hickey, a 35-year-old from Ballincollig, said his September 2019 wedding to fiancee Tracy is now in jeopardy after the surprise announcement on Wednesday that Heffernans Travel was going out of business.
Mr Hickey, who is an international mixed martial arts referee, has already paid up to 8,000 to Heffernans for the wedding on Cameo Island.
He now faces an anxious wait to see how much of that money can be refunded.
Referring to the amount of money he has already paid over for the wedding, he said: If that doesnt come back the wedding is called off, really.
On Wednesday in a notice posted on the door of its city centre Pembroke St premises, Heffernans Shipping and Tourist Agency Ltd, trading as Heffernans Travel and Easy Holidays, said it had ceased trading and that people with current bookings need to contact their airline, ferry company, or travel provider to check on the status of that booking.
It said those who have bought an overseas travel package may be eligible for a refund.
However, Mr Hickey was among a number of people querying the likelihood of that prospect on the companys Facebook page, amid concerns that any bond only covers flights.
He said he does not know what amount of money has been paid to which suppliers in relation to his wedding, with the possibility that it may have to be rescheduled and the couple start saving for it all over again.
On RTEs Liveline programme, a woman said that she may have lost 10,000 due to the closure of Heffernans in Cork.
The woman, who lives in Perth, Australia, but who is due to get married in Spain, said she had planned a full wedding package.
There was also frustration from some commenting on the companys Facebook page that it was advertising holidays right up to the day before it announced it was ceasing trading.
Pat Dawson of the Irish Travel Agents Association said anyone who booked a package which included a flight is covered by the Package Travel Directive and can expect to get their money back.
However, those who did not include flights in any package deal could lose out.
Mr Dawson also suggested that there could be a takeover of the company, although that may not necessarily change the situation for anyone who has already paid over money and who is not covered by the Package Travel Directive.
Heffernans, described as an institution in the Irish travel industry, had been in operation for 95 years.
The Commission for Aviation Regulation said Heffernans has been unable to fulfil its obligations to its customers and the Commission for Aviation Regulation has withdrawn its travel agent licence.
It also said it is consulting with the travel agency to establish how many passengers are affected.
The company was not in a position to provide a comment when it was contacted by the Irish Examiner yesterday.
Nuclear Power in Pakistan
(Updated October 2021)
Pakistan has five operable reactors, with a further unit under construction, with Chinese help.
Pakistan's nuclear weapons capabilities have arisen independently of its civil nuclear fuel cycle, using indigenous uranium.
Because Pakistan is outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, due to its weapons programme, it is largely excluded from trade in nuclear plant or materials, which hinders its development of civil nuclear energy. However, China is positive about nuclear cooperation with Pakistan, and a 2018 International Atomic Energy Agency programme further supports civil nuclear power.
Operable nuclear power capacity
Electricity sector
Total generation (in 2019): 133 TWh
Generation mix: natural gas 61.7 TWh (46%), hydro 27.3 TWh (20%), coal 15.9 TWh (12%), oil 13.5 TWh (10%), nuclear 10.0 TWh (8%), wind 3.3 TWh (2.5%), biofuels & waste 0.9 TWh, solar 0.7 TWh.
Import/export balance: 0.5 TWh imports, no exports
Total consumption: 114 TWh
Per capita consumption: c. 500 kWh/yr
Source: International Energy Agency and The World Bank.
Nuclear Power Industry
Reactors operating in Pakistan
Karachi is also known as KANUPP; Chashma as CHASNUPP.
Enriched fuel for the PWRs is imported from China.
PAEC is responsible for all nuclear energy and research applications in the country. It has two divisions which are responsible for nuclear power programs: Nuclear Power Generation (NUPG) and Nuclear Power Projects (NUPP). The NUPG directorate oversees the operational units, and the NUPP directorate is concerned with the design and construction of planned units, and is closely aligned with the PNRA.
Karachi 1
PAEC's first nuclear power reactor, Karachi 1 (K1, KANUPP 1) at Paradise Point in Sindh province, about 25 km west of Karachi, was a small 100 MWe (90 MWe net) Canadian pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR). The unit started up in 1971 and was shut down in August 2021. It was under international safeguards. It was operated at reduced power for several years before its retirement.
At Karachi (KANUPP) a 4800 m3/day MED desalination plant was commissioned in 2012, though in 2014 it was reported as 1600 m3/day.
Chashma 1-4
The second unit is Chashma 1 (CHASNUPP 1) in Punjab province in the north, a 325 MWe (300 MWe net) two-loop pressurised water reactor (PWR) supplied by CNNC under safeguards. The main part of the plant was designed by Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI), based on Qinshan 1. It started up in May 2000. Design lifetime is 40 years. It, and the following three units at the same site, were built using international design codes and standards.
Construction of its twin, Chashma 2 (CHASNUPP 2), started in December 2005. It was reported to cost PKR 51.46 billion ($ 490 million, with $20 million of this financed by China). A safeguards agreement with the IAEA was signed in 2006 and grid connection was in March 2011, with commercial operation in May. Upgrades have added 5 MWe since (to 330 MWe gross).
In June 2008 the government announced plans to build units 3&4 at Chashma, each 320 MWe gross and largely financed by China. A further agreement for China's help with the project was signed in October 2008, and given prominence as a counter to the US-India agreement shortly preceding it.
In March 2009 China's SNERDI announced that it was proceeding with design of Chashma 3&4, with China Zhongyuan Engineering Co. Ltd (CZEC) as the general contractor and China Nuclear Industry No.5 Construction Company as installer. In April 2009, a design contract with SNERDI was signed, and the government said that it had approved the project at a cost of $2.37 billion, with $1.75 billion of this involving "a foreign exchange component". In March 2010 Pakistan announced that it had agreed the terms for Chashma 3&4, whereby China would provide 82% of the total $1.912 billion financing as three 20-year low-interest loans. It would also provide fuel for the reactors lifetime nominally of 40 years.
The main construction contract was signed in June 2010, detailing that the two 340 MWe CNP-300 (315 MWe net) units were to be completed in eight years. They will have a design lifetime of 40 years and be under IAEA safeguards. Construction of unit 3 officially started at the end of May 2011, and unit 4 in December 2011. Early in 2014 PAEC said they were several months ahead of schedule. In 2015 CZEC said completion of unit 3 would be in 2016, and in fact it was grid-connected in October, with full power and commercial operation in December. Unit 4 started up in March 2017 and was grid-connected late in June 2017.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has raised some questions about China's supply of Chasma 3&4. Contracts for units 1&2 were signed in 1990 and 2000 respectively, before 2004 when China joined the NSG, which maintains an embargo on sales of nuclear equipment to Pakistan. China argued that units 3&4 are similarly 'grandfathered', and arrangements are consistent with those for units 1&2.
During the inauguration of the Chashma 4 unit, the prime minister said the government "is committed to achieve [its] goal of adding 8800 MWe of nuclear energy to the national grid by 2030." This includes Karachi 2, connected to the grid in March 2021, and Karachi 3 currently under construction.
Reactors under construction and planned in Pakistan
Reactor Province Type MWe gross Construction start Planned commercial operation Karachi 3 Sindh Hualong One/ACP1000 1100 May 2016 Late 2022 Total (1) 1100 Chashma 5 Punjab Hualong One/ACP1000 1161 ? ?
Karachi is also known as KANUPP.
Karachi 2&3
In June 2013 the Planning Commission said that two CNNC 1000 MWe class reactors would be used for Karachi 2 and 3 (KANUPP 2&3) near Karachi unit 1. Two coastal sites had been under consideration for the twin 1100 MWe units. CNNC in April 2013 announced an export agreement for the ACP1000, nominally 1100 MWe, apparently for Pakistan. This was confirmed in June by the PAEC which said that the next nuclear project would be 1100 MWe class units at the Karachi Coastal power station.
In July 2013 ECNEC approved two units of the Karachi Costal power project with net generation capacity of 2117 MWe. The total cost of this was estimated at PKR 959 billion ($9.116 billion), with $6.5 billion (68%) being vendor finance. PAEC also said that 82% of the total cost would be financed by China. At the end of August 2013 contracts were signed in Shanghai with CNNC, CZEC, China Nuclear Power Engineering Co. Ltd. (CNPE), Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC), and East China Electric Power Designing Institute (ECEPDI). Groundbreaking at the site near Paradise Point, 25 km west of Karachi, took place in November 2013, but in October 2014 the Sindh high court ruling stopped site work following a challenge on environmental grounds, and the restraining order was extended to early December. The project was re-launched in August 2015, and construction of the first unit started then.
The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority received the safety analysis of Chinas ACP1000 reactor from CNNC and after completing the review granted a construction licence, for the CNNC version of Hualong One, 1161 MWe gross.
In April 2015 China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Group Co (CNEC) won the tender for civil engineering construction and installation work for the conventional island of the plant, which it said would use Hualong One reactors. Construction of the first unit started in August 2015 and is expected to take 72 months (52 months for the conventional island). Construction of the second unit started at the end of May 2016, according to the IAEA, but without any announcement or notification on the PAEC website. In July 2017 the reactor vessel for unit 2 completed pressure tests at China First Heavy Machinery Group's factory in China, and in September it was installed.
A press report in January 2017 said that work on both units was intensifying to meet the operational target, and that it was a CPEC project. In March 2017 the IAEA approved Pakistans request to apply international safeguards to both units.
In November 2019, CNNC reported that cold testing had begun for Karachi 2. Hot testing was completed in September 2020, and fuel loading commenced in December 2020. The unit achieved first criticality in February 2021 and was connected to the grid in March, after 67 months construction. The unit began commercial operation in May 2021.
In light of its inability to buy uranium on the open market, PAEC says that Pakistan has agreed with CNNC to provide lifetime fuel supply for the reactors, specified as 60 years.
Chashma 5
In November 2010 the PAEC signed a construction agreement with CNNC for a fifth unit at Chashma. In February 2013 a further agreement was signed by PAEC with CNNC for a 1000 MWe unit at Chashma. It was reported that China expected that this deal would be controversial under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and guidelines of the NSG. Early in 2013 CNNC confirmed that the reactor would be an ACP1000 unit, though not necessarily at Chashma. In November 2017 CNNC signed a cooperation agreement with PAEC on the construction of Chashma 5 as a Hualong One unit. In 2020 environmental assessment was under way.
Energy policy
In July 2013 the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved about 3.5 GWe of new power projects totalling PKR 1303 billion ($12.4 billion), comprising 2200 MWe nuclear, 425 MWe gas combined cycle, and 969 MWe hydro. These are designed to reduce the high reliance on oil and to reduce power costs. All depend on Chinese support.
Electricity infrastructure is a significant part of the $51 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects from 2016 which will link Kashgar in Chinas Xinjiang region to Pakistans deep-water port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. The CPEC includes roads and railways running much of the length of Pakistan and funded by three Chinese banks, and a 4000 MW HVDC grid development costing $1.5 billion over 2017-18. Some $33 billion of the CPEC total is for energy infrastructure, notably 10 GWe of generating capacity by 2020, mostly coal-fired, which is expected to provide 24% of the countrys power by 2020. Lignite is the main fuel envisaged, from the Thar Desert region of Sindh.
CPEC projects are a significant element in Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and are unprecedented in scale in Pakistan.
In 2005 the Energy Security Plan was adopted by the government, which called for a huge increase in generating capacity to more than 160 GWe by 2030. Significant power shortages are reported, and load shedding is common.
Nuclear policy
An expansion of nuclear power capacity has long been a central element of Pakistan's energy policy.
The 2005 Energy Security Plan included the intention of lifting nuclear capacity to 8800 MWe in the long term, 900 MWe of this by 2015 and a further 1500 MWe by 2020. Projections included four further Chinese reactors of 300 MWe each and seven of 1000 MWe, all PWR. There were tentative plans for China to build two 1000 MWe PWR units at Karachi as KANUPP 2&3, but China then in 2007 deferred development of its CNP-1000 type which would have been the only one of that size able to be exported. Pakistan then turned its attention to building smaller units with higher local content. However, in 2013 China revived its 1000 MWe designs with export intent, and made overtures to Pakistan for the ACP1000 design, which became Hualong One see below.
In August 2011 it was reported that Pakistan aimed for 8000 MWe nuclear at ten sites by 2030. PAEC has apparently selected six new sites on the basis of Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) advice. These are: the Qadirabad-Bulloki (QB) link canal near Qadirabad Headworks; Dera Ghazi Khan canal near Taunsa Barrage; Taunsa-Panjnad canal near Multan; Nara canal near Sukkur; Pat Feeder canal near Guddu; and Kabul River near Nowshera. Early in 2012 Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) said that four reactors were planned for the Taunsa-Panjnad canal near Multan in Punjab.
In January 2014 PAEC announced its intention to build five further 1100 MWe nuclear reactors to meet anticipated electricity demand, and have 8.9 GWe of nuclear capacity online by 2030. "With more than 55 reactor-years of successful operating experience to its credit, the PAEC can confidently move from technology acquisition status to actually starting contributing sizeable electrical energy to the system." PAEC was then quoted as saying that eight sites would be chosen for a further 32 units, four 1100 MWe units at each, so that nuclear power supplied one-quarter of the countrys electricity from 40 GWe of capacity. This evidently assumes a more than tenfold increase in electricity demand by a future date well beyond 2030.
PAEC said an initial 1100 MWe plant would be built at Muzaffargarh, on the Taunsa-Panjnad canal near Multan in southwest Punjab. It was also reported that discussions with China were under way to supply three nuclear power units for about $13 billion.
Despite being outside the UN's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a four-year technical cooperation project "Strengthening and Enhancing Capabilities of Pakistan's National Institutions to Support a Safe, Reliable and Sustainable Nuclear Power Programme," referred to as PAK2007 was launched in 2018. The IAEA amalgamated four of its pre-existing national technical cooperation projects, which supported regulators, operators, waste managers and non-destructive testers to bring together all the relevant nuclear power stakeholders. This considerably boosted international cooperation with Pakistan's nuclear power programme.
Front cycle
Front end
The government set a target of producing 300 tonnes of uranium per year from 2015 to meet one-third of anticipated requirements, but this has not been realised. Low-grade ore is known in central Punjab at Bannu Basin and Suleman Range. In 2015 production was 45 tU.
In July 2017 CNNC signed a framework agreement with PAEC for technical cooperation in the exploration and development of uranium resources.
A small (15,000 SWU/yr) uranium centrifuge enrichment plant at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in Kahuta has been operated since 1984 and does not have any apparent civil use. It was expanded threefold in about 1991, and further since then. A newer plant not under safeguards is reported to be at KRL. It is not clear whether PAEC has any involvement with these plants.
Enriched fuel for the PWRs is imported from China.
In 2006 PAEC announced that it was preparing to set up separate and purely civil conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication plants as a new $1.2 billion Pakistan Nuclear Power Fuel Complex (PNPFC) for PWR-type reactors which would be under IAEA safeguards and managed separately from existing facilities. However, constraints imposed on Pakistan by the Nuclear Suppliers Group may mean that all civil nuclear development is tied to China, and there may be no point in proceeding with this project.
Waste management
The PAEC has responsibility for radioactive waste management. A Central Radioactive Waste Management Fund is proposed in a new policy. Waste management centres are proposed for Karachi and Chashma.
Used fuel is currently stored at each reactor in pools. Longer-term dry storage at each site is proposed. The question of future reprocessing remains open.
Research and development
The Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology (PINSTECH) at Rawalpindi near Islamabad is managed by the PAEC and is one of the largest science and technology research establishments in the country. It has conducted research into reprocessing used nuclear fuel, though today it claims to be focused on research in medicine, biology, materials and physics, including production of medical radioisotopes.
Pakistan has a 10 MW pool-type research reactor, PARR-1, of 1965 vintage, supplied by the USA under the Atoms for Peace program. It was converted to use low-enriched uranium fuel in 1991, and upgraded from 5 to 10 MW. PARR-2 is an indigenous 30 kW miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR) based on Chinese design and using high-enriched fuel operating since 1974. Both are located at the PINSTECH Laboratory, Nilore, near Islamabad. They are under IAEA safeguards. One of them produces some Mo-99 from HEU targets.
New Labs at PINSTECH in Rawalpindi is reported to be a reprocessing plant for weapons-grade plutonium production, and not under safeguards. It is run by PAEC and operational since 1981. This was apparently the culmination of a plutonium weapons program predating the Kahuta HEU weapons program, and replaced an unfinished much larger reprocessing plant (100 t/yr) being built at Chashma by France, but cancelled in 1978.
At Khushab, 200 km south of Islamabad, there are four heavy water reactors dedicated to production of weapons-grade plutonium, plus a heavy water plant. The first of these, a 'multipurpose' PHWR estimated at 30-40 MWt, started operating in 1998. Then a larger (40-50 MWt) heavy water reactor was built there from about 2002, and appeared to be operational at the end of 2009. In 2006, construction started on a third reactor, similar to and adjacent to the second, and this appeared to be operational by the end of 2013. A similar but larger (90 MWt) fourth reactor was built from 2011 a few hundred metres away, and appeared to be operational in January 2015. These seem to add up to a substantial plutonium production capacity. Khushab is reported to be making demands upon the country's limited uranium resources. A small heavy water plant is nearby.
Reprocessing of military material is reported to take place at Chashma, 80 km west, and the original French reprocessing plant is apparently under renewed construction there, a couple of kilometres southwest of Chashma 1-4 power reactors.
The Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at Kahuta in Punjab is described as a weapons engineering R&D institute and research laboratory, focused on producing high-enriched uranium using centrifuge technology originally stolen from Urenco by Dr Abdul Q Khan. Set up about 1976 as the Engineering Research Laboratories it was a key part of Pakistan's weapons program, supported by the Army Corps of Engineers in competition with the plutonium program being pursued by PAEC. It was renamed in honour of Dr Khan in 1981.
Regulation
The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) is responsible for licensing and supervision, and regulates the safety and security of all civil nuclear materials and facilities. In respect to the Chashma reactors, and presumably also the Karachi Coastal power project, it works closely with China's National Nuclear Safety Administration. It was formed in 2001, superseding the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Board (set up by PAEC) and the Directorate of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection.
Pakistan is party to the Convention on Nuclear Safety and two international conventions for early notification and assistance.
Non-proliferation
Pakistan is not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but does have its civil power reactors and two research reactors (PARR 1&2) under item-specific IAEA safeguards. An agreement for two further 340 MWe reactors Chashma 3&4 came into force in April 2011. In March 2017 the IAEA approved Pakistans request to apply international safeguards to both Karachi Coastal units, and the agreement on this came into force in May. Pakistan has refused calls for international inspections of its enrichment activities.
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said in May 2018: "Unlike India, Pakistan has barely separated its civil and military nuclear facilities and in general remains highly secretive about its nuclear program. The opaqueness of Pakistan's nuclear program, its expanding nuclear weapons arsenal, and its refusal to separate its military and civilian nuclear program are cited as reasons by many countries opposing Pakistan's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), as well as [opposing] any country supplying it with additional nuclear power reactors or other fuel cycle facilities or capabilities. Such supply is viewed by many countries as a violation of NSG guidelines."
Pakistan's Kahuta project (incorporating Project-706) to produce a uranium bomb was launched in 1972, following a disastrous war with India. It was partly financed by Libya to 1979. In May 1974 India exploded a nuclear test close to the Pakistan border, galvanising Pakistani efforts. The project was disbanded in 1983 after a successful cold test of weapons components.
In May 1998 Pakistan exploded five atomic devices in Baluchistan. At least one was evidently made from enriched uranium, but the Chagai II test in Kharan desert used plutonium produced by New Labs.
Pakistan is reported to be the sole nation blocking agreement of the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) in Geneva negotiations.
Through the activities of Dr Khan, a centrifuge plant and nuclear weapons designs were secretly supplied to Libya from the late 1990s to 2003 to help build a weapons program there. He also transferred centrifuge technology to North Korea in the 1990s, and to Iran. This is the main basis for the NSG refusing to ease nuclear trade sanctions for Pakistan, as it has for India. China is the only country to act in defiance of trade sanctions, and has deepened cooperation since the international US-led concessions to India in 2008. This is most obvious in 2013 agreements to build the twin-unit Karachi Coastal power plant and the CNNC contract with PAEC for lifetime fuel supply for this.
Addressing the 3rd Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague in March 2014, the prime minister said that Pakistan had been running a safe and secure nuclear program for over four decades with the expertise, manpower and infrastructure to produce civil nuclear energy. He called for Pakistans inclusion in all international export control regimes, especially the NSG. He pointed out that international treaties and forums would supplement Pakistans national actions to fortify nuclear security.
Domestically, he said that today the countrys nuclear security is supported by five pillars a strong command and control system led by the National Command Authority (NCA); an integrated intelligence system; a rigorous regulatory regime; a comprehensive export control regime; and active international cooperation. The security regime covers physical protection, material control and accounting, border controls and radiological emergencies, he said.
Pakistan is a major recipient of technical cooperation from the IAEA, and is one of 35 members of the IAEA Board of Governors, though it remains outside the NPT.
Appendix: Nuclear Proliferation Issues
This appendix is based on paper by Michael Wilson, 1995, The Nuclear Future: Asia and Australia and the 1995 Conference on Non-Proliferation, publ. by Griffith University. Used with author's permission.
Pakistan (along with India and Israel) was originally a "threshold" country in terms of the international non-proliferation regime (see page on Safeguards to Prevent Nuclear Proliferation), possessing, or quickly capable of assembling one or more nuclear weapons. Their nuclear weapons capability at the technological level was recognised (all have research reactors at least) along with their military ambitions. Then in 1998 India and Pakistan's military capability became more overt. All three remained outside the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which 186 nations have now signed. This led to their being largely excluded from trade in nuclear plant or materials, except for safety-related devices for a few safeguarded facilities.
Regional rivalry
Relations between Pakistan and India are tense and hostile, and the risks of nuclear conflict between them have long been considered quite high.
In 1974 India exploded a "peaceful" nuclear device and then in May 1998 India and Pakistan each exploded several nuclear devices underground. This heightened concerns regarding an arms race between them.
Kashmir is a prime cause of bilateral tension, its sovereignty being in dispute since 1948. There is persistent low-level military conflict due to Pakistan backing a Muslim rebellion there.
Both countries engaged in a conventional arms race in the 1980s, including sophisticated technology and equipment capable of delivering nuclear weapons. In the 1990s the arms race quickened. In 1994 India reversed a four-year trend of reduced allocations for defence, and despite its much smaller economy, Pakistan pushed its own expenditures yet higher. Both then lost their patrons: India, the former USSR, and Pakistan, the USA.
Pakistan has offered to disarm and join the NPT if India would, although both countries see the NPT as unfair and India would prefer other international arrangements for limiting weapons proliferation.
Pakistan's weapons technology is based on the production of highly enriched uranium suitable for nuclear weapons, utilising indigenous uranium. It has at least one small centrifuge enrichment plant. In 1990 the US administration cut off aid because it was unable to certify that Pakistan was not pursuing a policy of manufacturing nuclear weapons though this was relaxed late in 2001. In 1996 the USA froze export loans to China because it was allegedly supplying centrifuge enrichment technology to Pakistan.
Pakistan made it clear since early 1996 that if India staged a nuclear test, it had done the basic development work and would immediately start assembling its own nuclear explosive device. Its nuclear weapons capability has since been demonstrated, and it is assumed to have enough highly-enriched uranium for up to 40 nuclear warheads.
In April 1998 Pakistan test fired a long-range missile capable of reaching Madras in southern India, pushing home the point by naming it after a 12th Century Muslim conqueror. This development diminished India's military advantage over Pakistan.
Since then Pakistan has been exposed as having supplied sensitive nuclear technology, notably centrifuge enrichment designs and equipment, to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Its non-proliferation credentials therefore stand in stark contrast to India's. Pakistan's security concerns derive from:
India's possession of a nuclear weapons capability.
Its development of short and intermediate-range missiles and, since their partition in 1947.
Its defeat by India in two of three wars, notably in East Bengal, now Bangladesh, in 1972.
Nuclear arms control in the region
The public stance of Pakistan and India on non-proliferation differs markedly.
Pakistan has initiated a series of regional security proposals. It has repeatedly proposed a nuclear-free zone in South Asia and has proclaimed its willingness to engage in nuclear disarmament and to sign the NPT if India would do so. This would involve disarming and joining as non-weapons states. It has endorsed a US proposal for a regional five power conference to consider non-proliferation in South Asia
India has taken the view that solutions to regional security issues should be found at the international rather than the regional level, since its chief concern is with China. It therefore rejects Pakistan's proposals.
Instead, India's 'Gandhi Plan', put forward in 1988, proposed the revision of the NPT, which it regards as inherently discriminatory in favour of the five nuclear-weapons states, and a timetable for complete nuclear weapons disarmament. It endorsed early proposals for a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and for an international convention to ban the production of highly enriched uranium and plutonium for weapons purposes, known as the 'cut-off' convention.
The USA has, for some years pursued a variety of initiatives to persuade India and Pakistan to abandon their nuclear weapons programs and to accept comprehensive international safeguards on all their nuclear activities. To this end the Clinton administration proposed a conference of nine states, comprising the five established nuclear-weapons states, along with Japan, Germany, India and Pakistan.
This and previous similar proposals have been rejected by India, which countered with demands that other potential weapons states, such as Iran and North Korea, should be invited, and that regional limitations would only be acceptable if they were accepted equally by China. The USA would not accept the participation of Iran and North Korea and such initiatives lapsed.
Another, more recent approach, centres on the concept of containment, designed to 'cap' the production of fissile material for weapons purposes, which would hopefully be followed by 'roll back'. To this end India and the USA jointly sponsored a UN General Assembly resolution in 1993 calling for negotiations for a 'cut-off' convention. Should India and Pakistan join such a convention, they would have to agree to halt the production of fissile materials for weapons and to accept international verification on their relevant nuclear facilities (enrichment and reprocessing). In short, their weapons programs would be thus 'capped'. It appeared that India was prepared to join negotiations regarding such a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) under the UN Conference on Disarmament (UNCD).
However, despite the widespread international support for a FMCT, formal negotiations on cut-off have yet to begin. The UNCD can only approve decisions by consensus and since the summer of 1995, the insistence of a few states to link FMCT negotiations to other nuclear disarmament issues has brought progress on the cut-off treaty there to a standstill. In connection with its 2006 agreement with the USA, India has reiterated its support for a FMCT.
Bilateral confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan to reduce the prospects of confrontation have been limited. In 1990 each side ratified a treaty not to attack the other's nuclear installations, and at the end of 1991 they provided one another with a list showing the location of all their nuclear plants, even though the respective lists were regarded as not being wholly accurate. Early in 1994 India proposed a bilateral agreement for a 'no first use' of nuclear weapons and an extension of the 'no attack' treaty to cover civilian and industrial targets as well as nuclear installations.
Having promoted the CTBT since 1954, India dropped its support in 1995 and in 1996 attempted to block the treaty. Following the 1998 tests the question has been reopened and both Pakistan and India have indicated their intention to sign the CTBT. Indian ratification may be conditional upon the five weapons states agreeing to specific reductions in nuclear arsenals.
Notes & references
General sources
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)
By Liam Heylin
Under Duress was the signature provided at Cork District Court by a 70-year-old man who had previously insisted that he had no name.
The man was remanded in custody on Wednesday until yesterday only because of his refusal to sign a bail bond which would have enabled him to walk free.
Judge Olann Kelleher addressed the defendant yesterday and said: You are an intelligent, articulate man. I cannot force you to do it.
The accused then indicated he would sign a bond.
Inspector Ronan Kennelly asked for conditions to be attached to the bail.
One of them required him to stay away from the Metropole Hotel the location for the charges which brought him before the court in the first place.
Do you reside in Cork? Judge Kelleher asked. The defendant replied: Yes. I love Cork.
Insp Kennelly said the accused had been residing at St Patricks Quay.
As well as agreeing to stay away from the Metropole, he also agreed to sign on at Anglesea Garda Station. The adjournment date was set at October 15.
Judge Kelleher then called the defendant back when he saw the bail bond, noting that the words Under Duress had been written in the area for signature. The judge said that would not be accepted.
After a brief exchange, the man consulted with free legal aid solicitor, Eddie Burke, and signed his name on a new bail bond and was then released.
The 70-year-old said on Wednesday: This is an absolute charade.
You have no authority over me. I am a free and sovereign being. I have lived for four years without a name.
He faces two charges, namely that on October 3 he trespassed at the Metropole without reasonable excuse in a manner as caused or was likely to cause fear in another person, and, having been found at the hotel by Garda Eric Brannigan, he failed to comply with a direction to leave the vicinity in a peaceful and orderly manner.
As Kylie takes to the stage in Dublin tomorrow night, Annmarie OConnor dives into the back catalogue of our favourite showgirls signature style
All hail. The Princess of Pop, Kylie Minogue (OBE), performs at Dublins 02 Arena tomorrow. With 14 albums, 18 tours and 80 million record sales to her name, Australias Grammy Award-winning export has more than earned her proverbial crown; in fact, she helped design it. Evolving both sound and style from bubble-gum to indie, dance to goth, the pint-sized powerhouses latest country persona has fans waiting impatiently for the rumoured disco meets Dolly Parton experience. Whether Stetsons and cowboy boots will ever be a match for cabaret headdresses, Aphrodite dresses or gold lame hot-pants remains to be seen. That said, Kylies ability to set the sartorial tone has been, more or less, note-perfect. Sweet, sexy and oh-so-sassy, its time we dive into the back catalogue of our favourite showgirls signature style.
If theres one thing Kylie does bar none (well, maybe Madonna), its reinvention. Having launched her music career in the late eighties with producers Stock Aiken and Waterman, her tween-friendly image was in no small part due to the success of her role as tomboy mechanic Charlene in the Aussie soap Neighbours. With an international fan base already in tow, the success of radio-friendly tunes like I Should Be So Lucky and Got to Be Certain came with their own brand of PG-13 attire: scrunchies, high-waisted Mom jeans, ra-ra skirts and a questionable perm. Then something changed.
Sexy Kylie emerged. Oh, yeah. By 1990 and the release of her third album Rhythm of Love, a new image (complete with relationship to the late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence) cemented her new status as a burgeoning style icon.
The video for the albums lead single, Better the Devil You Know featured the Melbourne native fleeing from implied danger in a transparent Jean Paul Gaultier trenchcoat as one does. Videos for Shocked and What Do I Have to Do oscillated between Lolita-esque bra and pigtail pairings and guises of Hollywood screen sirens.
While the mid-nineties saw her play with edgier identities on singles like Confide in Me, Did It Again and a cameo on Nick Caves The Wild Roses, the popstrel returned to her floor-filling disco diva trousseau with anthemic videos for Spinning Around and the US breakout hit Cant Get You Out of My Head. Remember those gold hot-pants and that white jumpsuit? Of course, you do.
Now working with stylist and creative director William Baker, Kylies tours became increasingly synonymous with outrageous costuming thanks to designers like Julien Macdonald, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dolce and Gabbana and Manolo Blahnik. Most interesting is how this aesthetic alchemy influenced her personal style choices both on and off the red carpet.
POWER PRINT
Lets talk leopard.
Whether papped in her adopted home of London or posing for the shutterbugs, Kylie is notably fond of a feline fashion statement, especially when that statement is one of intent.
Coats, scarves and shoes aside, her definitive moment came in 2006 when wearing a Dolce & Gabanna leopard print shift dress to the duos spring/summer 2007 show at Milan Fashion Week.
Having recently recovered from a breast cancer diagnosis, a crop-haired Kylie displayed her fierce inner prowess (with a beaming smile).
She also single-handedly redefined the term dressing appropriately.
GREECE IS THE WORD
Given her sovereign style status, its fitting that Kylie is often seen draped like a Greek goddess.
Floor-sweeping frocks became her go-to since wearing Hellenic Jean Paul Gaultier gunas on her 2008 KYLIEX tour and, most memorably, on the cover of her 2010 Aphrodite album.
Although often favouring celestial white, nothing quite beats the royal purple JAton Couture confection she wore in 2008 at GDay USA Australia.com black tie gala diaphanous, dramatic and made for a deity.
WAIST NOT WANT NOT
Although dogged by rumours of a 16-inch waist thanks to oxygen-defying corsets designed by John Galliano and Dolce and Gabbana for her 2005 Showgirl and 2011 Aphrodite: Les Folies tours respectively, Kylie doesnt flinch at the sight of tight; shes far too badass for that.
This is the gal who performs high octane dance routines in high heels involving stairs, vertiginous headdresses and costumes that weigh, quite possibly, more than she does.
Here at the 2010 Capital FM Jingle Bell Ball Kylie segues her signature look with the help of Manchester-born creative director and London College of Fashion alumni Hasan Hejazi whose eponymous label marries Kylies trademark Grecian elegance with a hint of clubland fetish.
CROP THAT
The beauty of Ms Minogue is her refusal to be stereotyped (just watch the Confide in Me video).
Just when you think youve got her sussed, she hikes up her hem length and calls it a party.
Take the lime printed silk georgette Gucci mini she wore in 2013 to the Roc Nation Pre-GRAMMY Brunch.
Pin-worthy and perfect for her petite frame, this 60s throwback complete with angel wing sleeves showcases the fun Kylie we all love, especially when paired with towering Louboutin stilettos.
CAPED CRUSADER
Sure, Kylie may have a gaggle of international designers on speed dial but her Australian allegiances frequently make their presence felt.
Take the Ralph and Russo couture creation she wore to the 2016 Brit Awards. Boasting a 1950s hourglass silhouette, corseted bustier and opaque robe wrought from three-dimensional thread-work, the result is utterly majestic.
Not surprising really, that Meghan Markle chose the ampersand duo for her engagement picture. Oh, and Queen Bey.
A veritable royal family on your client list? Not bad going, chaps.
SHINE ON
Reinvention notwithstanding, the release, this year, of Kylies 14th studio album Golden isnt without subtext.
Although inspired by Country and Western music, the precious metal title reflects her irrepressible star power.
Seen at the Berlin Echo Awards recently in an effulgent Maria Lucia Hohan custom-dyed silk scene-stealer, Kylie reminds us of just why her career has spanned over 30 years.
Shes our golden girl. End of.
Celebrity circles aside and her own relentless drive and high energy, the main reason for Charlotte Tilburys success is the product itself, writes Vickie Maye
With more than 200 products sold in 39 countries, Charlotte Tilbury has achieved the unimaginable. In an already bloated beauty market, the make-up artist to the stars has created a cult brand in little more than five years.
The secret to her success?
I talk a lot about the power of visualisation, she says. Visualise what you want and never give up until you get it. I always say that to be successful you need to love what you do... This was my dream.
Of course, it takes more than a leaf through the pages of self-help bibles like The Secret to build a multi-million euro brand.
The product is key.
Tilbury jetted into Dublin to spread the word about her brand new sell-out concealer (more on that later) and her conversation was peppered with darlings, hugs and air kisses. High energy, screaming creativity, she barely takes a breath between sentences, her PAs hanging on her every word. She name-drops celebs, Amal, Kate they fall off the tongue. These legendary women are friends to her Kate Moss is godmother to her two children, shes named lipsticks after some of her highest-profile clients.
But visualisation and celebrity circles aside, theres a bigger reason for Tilburys success. Theres the woman herself the public fall for her charms every bit as much as the rich and famous.
But really, its all down to the product itself.
Tilbury knows make up like no other and when she sets her mind to creating a product, shell pull in the A-team to make it happen.
Her Magic Cream, one of her first launches, and still the most iconic, sums it up.
A concoction she developed for Fashion Week, she had requests from top models for samples to take home.
Her most recent concealer is another case in point. She was tired, she says, of cakey, chalky concealer, that gathered in a pore or else rolled off the face. So she created, as she puts it in her own words, Spanx for the face.
Darling, its so special. My brand new Magic Away Liquid Concealer is unlike anything you have seen before, she says, as only Tilbury can.
But the truth is, it works. This is a concealer like no other with ingredients and science that come up trumps.
It has Persian silk tree bark extract for youthful looking skin, it can contribute to the illusion of a lifted upper eyelid, as well as reducing the appearance of fine lines, fading dark circles and puffiness, she explains. It also has Palmitoyl Glycine that helps rejuvenate the complexion and makes the skin look bouncy, fresh and youthful, and extract of wild indigo that helps to enhance the skins luminosity and brightens the under-eyes.
Tilbury always talks about the power of make up. She references getting by on fumes of sleep but when shes in full make up, she looks in the mirror and feels instantly energised, plugged into a happy frequency.
Beauty and make up products really are so much more than decoration. They have an incredible ability to empower women and I truly believe they can change your life, she says. Thats the reason behind one of my mantras, Give a woman the right make-up and she can conquer the world. It has this magic ability to morph your state of mind. It can boost your confidence, pick you up when youre feeling down, and literally re-energise you. I call it the psychology of make up, if you look good, you feel good, you exude confidence and the world reacts to you in a powerful, more positive way. Beauty is incredibly powerful and with the right make up, anything is possible. She even admits to wearing make up in bed.
I live in my make up. I always wear a smoky eye to bed, thats where the expression smoky eye til I die originates from. I start by taking off all my make up with my Take-It-All-Off Eye Makeup Remover, followed by my beautiful Multi-Miracle Glow Balm, she says, sharing her night-time beauty routine.
The key to flawless, poreless looking skin at night is my Goddess Skin Clay Mask. I leave it on for 15 minutes. I then smooth on my retinol-infused Magic Night Cream elixir and Magic Night Eye Rescue. I then perform my Tilbury Tap massage to stimulate my circulation, so my skin looks fresh and plumped. For my famous bedroom eyes, I define my eyes using with my Rock N Kohl eyeliner in Barbarella Brown, I like to make my eyes look more almond-shaped eye with my signature Feline Flick it instantly makes eyes look lifted and elongated, giving them the appearance of a more feline, seductive shape and you can rock around the bedroom all night. I finish with a little Legendary Lashes V2 mascara.
My husband has never seen me without make up on. I always say look good, feel good, and a little eye make up at night keeps the magic alive!
Tilbury was discovered when she met legendary make up artist Mary Greenwell at 16 she had already personally discovered the transformative power of make up when she used mascara for the first time in her early teens. She began assisting her on shoots and Vogue covers followed soon after.
George and Amal Clooney at the royal wedding. Tilbury is a friend of Amal and did her make up that day. Picture: PA Wire
Because I have been in the industry for over 25 years I have been lucky enough to have so many incredible experiences and I still do. Ive worked with so many amazing celebrities, all around the world, many of whom are great friends too. One of my favourite moments this year was creating Amal Clooneys mesmerising makeup look for the royal wedding. I love working with Amal, she is absolutely beautiful, with chic, timeless and understated style and always looks polished and perfect. She has the perfect face for makeup too mesmerizing, almond-shaped eyes, dark, thick lashes, and pillowy-rose lips. I always work together with my clients to create their look, they often have inspirations or visions they want to channel and Ill start with that. Its very important for occasions like this to also consider the dress, the shape, the fabric, the cut and of course the colour is key to the make up look. Amal wore an incredible mustard yellow dress by Stella McCartney so I made sure the make up, especially the lip colour, complemented this stunning dress perfectly. For the woman who survives on fumes of sleep she is adamant about family downtime.
My day-to-day schedule is very busy but I love it a little bit crazy. Every year I take time off in August and travel to Ibiza with my gorgeous husband George and my two wonderful boys Flynn and Valentine. Its where I grew up and my parents still live there, it feels like home to me. Its where I go to relax, unwind and it recharges my batteries. Family, friends, music, parties and dancing until late, its my magic fuel! And with that, she bids Dublin goodbye and is off to another city, another launch.
I couldnt be more excited about whats happening next at Charlotte Tilbury. Stay tuned darlings!
Tommy Barker reports
Ballycotton, East Cork - 575,000
Size: 206 sq m (2,235 sq ft)
206 sq m (2,235 sq ft) Bedrooms: 5
5 Bathrooms: 2
2 BER: Pending
IRELANDS coastline is having quite the moment of international recognition, what with the likes of the extraordinarily successful Wild Atlantic Way and the coastal fringe of Irelands Ancient East, and now, the stunningly-filmed, informative and evocative four-part TV documentary on RTE One, Great Lighthouses of Ireland.
Gracing the screen for much of last Sundays first episode was Ballycotton lighthouse dating to the 1840s, a place where the keepers on the island could keep in contact with spouses and family on the mainland, via semaphore signals and spy-glasses. But, decades before the black lighthouse tower was erected,
on the nearby Ballycotton Island, another network of eyes was keeping careful watch that of the coastguard service.
Formed out of the 1809-established British Water Guard, by the 1820s, a staggering 160 Irish coastguard cottages had been established (accommodating/employing over 1,800, including officers and boatmen) under what was by then called the Protective Coast Guard, maintaining vital coastal defences and overseeing revenue protection and generation, in a protective ring around this island. Part of that 1820s drive was the construction of a series of homes for coastguard workers in Ballycotton village in East Cork, overlooking the bay and sheltering pier, set between the road and the waters edge, with sea access via a slipway lower down the sloping grounds.
Theres a half dozen cottages in all, with one in particular a bit bigger and grander and taller than those buttressing it on either side and yes, as you might expect, this superior mid-ships house was a home for the coastguards officer class, with that status delineated by its extra spaciousness, width, and height.
Today, almost exactly 200 years later, it still has that slight standing head and shoulders extra edge over its neighbours, the terrace of homes of the more regular boatmen, wearing its seniority like epaulettes over that same flanking half a dozen houses, all looking out north-east, to the sea, with the main road through the village and towards the cliff path to their back.
And, after 50 years in the same UK-based familys ownership, Atlantic House, or the Coastguard Officers House, is up for sale, pitched at a suitably elevated price of status, pitched at 575,000, by selling agent Adrianna Hegarty in nearby Midleton. She says locals and visitors have coveted this bay-scanning house in particular, over many years, and many may relish the rare opportunity to buy.
Its coming to the open market right when Ballycottons on a bit of a roll, after a locally-born individual returned from the US has invested several million euro in Ballycotton property, including a striking, contemporary private house overlooking Capel Island. and Ballycottons signal outpost, the lighthouse.
Also, the British TV personality celebrity, presenter and journalist Vanessa Feltz has bought a modern build, architect-designed 2,300 sq ft holiday home just over the hill, on 1.5 acres at Ballytrasna with westerly sea views last summer after it appeared in these pages, guiding 490,000. Ms Feltz who has been a regular seasonal visitor to Ballycotton and Ballymaloe for over 25 years has also served her time in the Celebrity Big Brother house, and the Price Register shows her no-bother Ballycotton house purchase fetched a tidy 475,000.
Another architect-designed glass box on Ballycottons Church Hill, which launched in Ballycotton in August at 850,000 via agent Adrianna Hegarty (and which was a cover story here in Irish Examiner Property that month), is now under negotiation. So the bigger picture is that theres a well-beaten path of upmarket home-hunters scouting the area of late.
The last sale, meanwhile, at Ballycottons Coastguard Cottages, appears to be No 1, back in 2015, at 250,000.
The mid-section 575k Atlantic House runs to about 2,000 sq ft, with no fewer than five bedrooms. It has two good reception rooms, either side of a Victorian-tiled central hall, reached past an elliptical porch front entrance with conical slate roof, facing north east. It has a two-storey extension to the back, where theres also a pedestrian gate set into a high boundary wall on to the villages main street, between the Bayview Hotel, and Ballycotton pier.
The 200-year-old stone-built houses overall condition is good, with retained old sash windows, but lacks some modern comforts like proper central heating.
VERDICT: One to watch out for.
Fifty years ago, civil rights marches took place in Derry, Belfast, and Armagh. Activists wanted equality, but what happened next changed the North forever, writes Anthony Coughlan
The TV pictures of the police batoning of civil rights marchers in 1968 on Duke St, Derry, brought the anti-Catholic discrimination that then existed under the Unionist-majority regime at Stormont to the attention of the world.
The images showed Westminster MP Gerry Fitt with blood on his shirt. Three British Labour MPs were beside him in the frontline of marchers.
These events, 50 years ago, made clear that Labour prime minister Harold Wilsons government in London would have to insist on reforms in what some at the time called Britains political slum.
Although there is a library of books on the 1970-94 military campaign of the Provisional IRA and Loyalist reaction to it, there isnt a single one that does justice to the different elements of the complex civil rights movement that preceded it.
I myself was an observer at the founding conference in Belfast in 1967 of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), which sponsored the first civil rights marches.
I walked from Coalisland to Dungannon on the first march in August 1968, which resulted from MP Austin Curries protest at local housing discrimination.
I was also in Duke St , Derry, on October 5. Ten years earlier, I had been active in the Connolly Association when I lived in London from 1958 to 1961, as the association set out to expose the civil rights abuses in Northern Ireland in British labour and trade union circles.
But what were those abuses? The Westminster Government of Ireland Act partitioned Ireland in 1920. Northern Ireland nationalists, overwhelmingly Catholic, suffered under Unionist majority rule at Stormont for the next 48 years.
Majority nationalist towns like Derry, Enniskillen, and Dungannon were gerrymandered to ensure permanent Unionist control. Multiple votes for ratepayers in local elections facilitated this.
Hence the civil rights call for one man, one vote. Anti-Catholic discrimination was widespread in allocating council housing and in public and private employment.
Flying the Irish flag was illegal. Republican clubs were banned. Stormonts Special Powers Act permitted arrest without warrant, imprisonment without trial, and the banning of nationalist publications and meetings.
The auxiliary B-special constabulary allowed volunteers in this wholly Protestant force to intimidate their Catholic neighbours at will.
A young student is dragged away unconscious along Duke St after police attacked and refused the civil rights marchers to proceed across Craigavon Bridge, to the city centre.
In 1949, Britains post-war Labour government passed the Ireland Act, which provided that there would be no change in the constitutional position of the North without the consent of the Stormont Parliament.
Twenty years later, in 1969, Harold Wilson was under heavy pressure from his backbenchers to reform the place. It was primarily the work in Britain of the Connolly Association (CA) and the historian Desmond Greaves (1913-1988), editor of its monthly paper, The Irish Democrat, that was responsible for this change.
This aspect of the civil rights movement has been neglected by historians. Yet it was vital to the outcome.
The CA, which is still going strong, was founded in 1938. In 1955, it adopted its modern constitution which set its objective as winning the support of the British labour movement for ending partition and ensuring that as long as Britain ruled the North, the people living there should have the same civil rights as people elsewhere in the UK.
In 1958, the association sent British barrister John Hostettler to cover police maltreatment of two republicans, Mallon and Talbot, who were on trial in Belfast.
It published a pamphlet in which Hostettler described his impressions. Over the following two years, Hostettler and various CA activists, including myself, spoke at numerous British Labour Party and trade union branches about the misdeeds of the Stormont regime.
The Connolly Association then launched a campaign to draw attention to the fact some 200 republicans were interned for years, without charge or trial, in Belfast under the Special Powers Act, following the IRAs 1950s border campaign.
It organised a series of telegrams to Unionist prime minister Basil Brooke calling for their release.
By 1961, over half of Britains parliamentary Labour Party had signed these. This was years before any civil rights agitation stirred in the North itself.
This work is documented in the Irish Democrat, which is available on the internet.
Image from the 1968 Derry march
While Greaves was a member of the Communist Party, which perhaps explains the slowness of historians to acknowledge his work, the bulk of the CAs membership was non-party, as I was myself.
It was Labour Party members of the association who founded the Campaign for Democracy in Ulster in 1965 to help spread the anti-Unionist message inside Labour.
When Dr Conn and Patricia McCluskey set up the Dungannon-based Campaign for Social Justice in 1964, and began documenting in detail the civil rights abuses in the North, the Connolly Association spread their material in British Labour and progressive circles.
The association was affiliated with the National Council for Civil Liberties, an influential body in 1960s Britain. This leveraged its anti-Unionist message.
In November 1966, Northern prime minister Terence ONeill personally sought to defend his governments position in a response he made to a memo from the CAs standing committee documenting the abuses he presided over.
The outcome of this work meant that when Gerry Fitt was elected MP for West Belfast in 1966, he was welcomed by a cohort of Labour MPs in the House of Commons who wanted Stormont reformed.
In the North itself the following year, 1967, the foundation of the NICRA resulted from the coming together of two ideological elements: The politicising republicans of the 1960s who had come to realise the impracticality of trying to unite Ireland by force, and the trade unionists of the Belfast Trades Council, some of them left wing but of Protestant background. NICRAs demand was British rights for British citizens.
Desmond Greaves: Editor of the Connolly Association paper, The Irish Democrat.
It did not raise the partition question. All shades of Northern political opinion were represented on its first executive: Labour, Liberal, Nationalist, Republican, and Communist, including a Unionist who was co-opted.
Following the Coalisland-Dungannon civil rights march in August 1968, and the Derry one on October 5, in November the Derry Citizens Action Committee, led by the Catholic John Hume and the Protestant Ivan Cooper, marched thousands of people peacefully into Derry city centre, so establishing their right to peaceful protest in their own city. This was the culmination of the non-violent phase of the civil rights movement.
In December 1968, Unionist prime minister Terence ONeill, caught between the local civil rights movement on the one hand and Harold Wilsons government on the other, conceded most of NICRAs demands.
The NICRA executive responded by calling for a moratorium on marches to give time to see what the reforms amounted to.
It was in this context that the left-wing students of the Peoples Democracy, led by Eamon McCann, Bernadette Devlin and Michael Farrell, staged the march from Belfast to Derry in January 1969 that was assaulted by Paisleyite Loyalists at Burntollet.
The Cameron Commission Report, which is still the best account of the early civil rights period, characterised the Burntollet march as a coat-trailing exercise across the province.
The students courage was undeniable, but their actions helped raise the sectarian temperature.
Bernadette Devlin: One of the students who led march in January 1969.
The Peoples Democracy call for socialist measures as well as civil rights ones also caused division in the movement.
A Peoples Democracy march in Newry that January saw marchers hijacking police tenders while the police looked on. Initial Protestant sympathy for the civil rights demands was now disappearing rapidly.
Peoples Democracy leaders Michael Farrell and Kevin Boyle were then elected to the NICRA executive at its third AGM. They proposed holding an unstewarded civil rights march to Stormont going through Protestant East Belfast.
This precipitated the resignation of three of the more moderate members of the NICRA executive, including Betty Sinclair, the full-time secretary of the Belfast Trades Council. The proposed march was then called off. More experienced than the student radicals, the moderates knew the sectarian demons that were awakening.
ONeill, the prime minister, was under attack from Unionist hardliners in his own party and he resigned in April 1969. There followed the attacks by Loyalists on Belfast Catholic areas in August 1969. This led to the disastrous Republican split in January 1970 and the formation of the Provisional IRA, which embarked on a military offensive against the British Army.
By 1971, the civil rights movement was wholly sidelined. British and international opinion, which three years before had been behind the non-violent civil rights marchers, now saw the Northern problem as one of containing IRA terrorism.
There followed the quarter-century-long military campaign of the IRA, until a new generation of Northern Republicans, led by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, ended this in 1994.
A civil rights march in Derry in January 1969.
The IRAs armed struggle generated new divisions between Northern protestants and Catholics. The ultimate responsibility for the violence, however, must lie with successive British governments that let the Northern Ireland civil rights abuses fester undisturbed for decades.
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement is a commitment to a regime of equality of treatment and parity of esteem between Northern Catholics and Protestants. Essentially this is civil rights redivivus.
Equality of treatment and parity of esteem are the only basis on which the possibility exists of Northern Unionists rediscovering, over time, the political implications of the common Irishness they share with their nationalist fellow countrymen and women.
That is the only way in which a United Ireland can ever be attained.
Anthony Coughlan is associate professor emeritus in social policy at Trinity College Dublin. He was a student at UCC from 1953 to 1958, and is literary executor of the estate of the historian Desmond Greaves
The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 is to be held next year in Tel Aviv in Israel, a state associated with Palestinian human rights abuses.
The song contest may be an opportune and beneficial platform for many artists, including songwriters, broadcasters, performers, costume designers, and reporters.
Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed to the US Supreme Court after being confirmed by the Senate.
Kavanaugh won the vote 50-48, with one further Senator voting 'present'.
The confirmation process was marred by allegations of sexual assault dating back 36 years. The allegation led to the vote being delayed while the FBI did a further investigation.
The vote means the 53-year-old will be appointed to the bench of the country's highest court.
Protesters heckled senators in the gallery as the vote was carried out.
In final remarks just before the voting, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said a vote for Mr Kavanaugh was a vote to end this brief, dark chapter in the Senates history and turn the page toward a brighter tomorrow.
Today is a historic day for our country as a majority in the U.S. Senate voted to send a new voice to the Supreme Court who will uphold the timeless vision of Americas founders Judge Brett Kavanaugh. My full statement below: pic.twitter.com/OYlkQEMOCR Vice President Mike Pence Archived (@VP45) October 6, 2018
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer looked ahead to mid-term elections in November, and appealed to voters beyond the Senate chamber: Change must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box.
Rep Joe Manchin, facing a tough re-election race next month in a state that President Trump won in 2016 by a landslide, was the sole Democrat to vote for Mr Kavanaugh.
Every voting Republican backed the 53-year-old conservative judge.
Alaskas Lisa Murkowski, the only Republican to oppose the nominee, voted present, offsetting the absence of Kavanaugh supporter Steve Daines of Montana, who was attending his daughters wedding.
The rare procedural manoeuvre left Mr Kavanaugh with the same two-vote margin he would have had if Ms Murkowski and Mr Daines had both voted.
Republicans hold only a 51-49 Senate majority and therefore had little support to spare.
People march to demand that the Senate reject Brett Kavanaughs nomination (Jennifer Lett/AP)
Democrats say Mr Kavanaugh will push the court too far, including possible sympathetic rulings for President Trump should he encounter legal problems from the special counsels investigations into Russian connections with his 2016 presidential campaign.
And they said Mr Kavanaughs record and testimony at a now-famous Senate Judiciary Committee hearing showed he lacked the fairness, temperament and even honesty to become a justice.
But the fight was defined by the sexual assault accusations. And it was fought against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and President Trumps unyielding support of his nominee and occasional mocking of Mr Kavanaughs accusers.
PA & Digital Desk
In Person Psychologists Guide to Good Mental Health in Modern Myanmar
Dr. Hannah Kyaw Thaung, clinical psychologist and clinic director at Marble Psychological Services. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy
With World Mental Health Day falling on October 10, The Irrawaddy spoke to Dr. Hannah Kyaw Thaung, an Irish-Burmese clinical psychologist, for her advice on maintaining good mental health in modern Myanmar. Hannah gained her doctorate in clinical psychology in the UK where she worked for a number of years before coming to Myanmar in 2013 to establish a private psychology clinic, Marble Psychological Services. Now Marble is an expanding team of four psychology professionals who offer therapy to early childhood, adolescent and adult clients. She also volunteers with Myanmar Clinical Psychology Consortium in their year-long psychology diploma program which will have its first graduates, a group of eight mental health counselors, next week.
What areas do you specialize in? Which psychology services are most in demand in Yangon these days?
I work with adolescents and adults and do couples therapy. The service as a whole is in great demand and theres a need for more mental health services here. For adults services, people mainly present symptoms of anxiety or depression. Some of the younger children have learning difficulties and disabilities and that involves more ongoing support.
What is the perception of mental health and psychology clinics in Myanmar today?
When Marble first opened we had more expat clients and now that has switched over to more locals. I think what happens is there is a lot of stigma here around mental health, as in every country. When people hear one person speak about their mental health or how they got help, that encourages more people [to seek a psychologists advice] and causes a spreading effect.
In terms of mental health in Myanmar, the approach is more of a medical model so people are usually treated with medicine. While its not always bad to treat mental health issues with medication, it shouldnt be the first line of approach.
How do you define a mental health issue? When is it time to seek professional help?
Thats a great question because taking anxiety as an example, we can all experience anxiety at different times of our day and different periods of our life. Its a continuum that we should watch out for. When you notice symptoms that are preventing you from doing the things that you normally do, or your work, or interacting with friends and family in the way that you normally do, thats when it becomes a problem, and thats when its time to get support. Otherwise, it can move further down continuum and get worse.
Specifically, what does a session or set of sessions with a psychologist involve?
It will vary upon the therapeutic approach but the initial consultation is a meeting with your therapist discussing some key issues around confidentiality. This is one of the most important elements of the sessions because it gives you the sense of safety and security that what youre sharing is not going to get around. That person mostly guides the session, sharing what they feel comfortable with. We then discuss a therapy plan and thats where it can start to differ. For example, someone whos having trouble with life transitions, their therapy plan will be very different to someone who is presenting severe depression or fears.
What should we look you for in children and teenagers? How about elderly people in our care?
For early childhood, if there are any changes in their play, sleep or eating, or their interactions with peers or siblings, those are helpful to look out for. Their ability to communicate their own internal world is much more limited than adults so they express that through the basics of their world. Teenagers are more difficult because theyre not telling you somethings wrong. Teachers are quite well placed to share whats going on with a teenager because the friends around them will express their concern to the teacher. Within the elderly population, its much harder to say a particular behavior is a cause for concern because there are so many aspects of behavior that change in later life. For example, depression is quite common in older ages but not often recognized because sometimes the signs are attributed to the older person losing their words and its harder for them to communicate.
How does a psychologist help someone who has had a traumatic experience? What kind of traumas do people commonly experience these days?
Often its younger people that would present symptoms of trauma and adults, recognizing that, bring them to therapy. Trauma happens in so many different mannersroad traffic accidents, abuse, witnessing death, experiencing someone elses death its so diverse that its hard to say one specific trauma is more common than another. Sometimes we help them through behavioral approaches. For example, if they are experiencing flashbacks, we speak with them about ways to manage that moment, how to reduce the effects of the flashback and be able to get back to normal.
Today, there are more trends and influences that negatively impact our mental health than perhaps ever before. What advice would you give readers for taking care of their own mental health on a day-to-day basis?
Sleep is key. A healthy sleep routine has huge benefits on your mental health. You know when you have a bad nights sleep, its harder to deal with bad situations the next day. Routine is also importantensure that you have a routine involving your sleep, regularly eating and exercise. The third this is connecting to other people, being open with difficult emotions. For a lot of people, particularly in Myanmar, theres quite a tight-knit fabric of society so people are close with one another but not always necessarily good at talking about more difficult emotions and the hard things that come up for us. If youre connecting to other people and speaking openly about these things, then it can be really helpful to your mental health.
Dr. Hannah is speaking at the TEDxYangon event this weekend with her talk entitled Opening the Doors to Emotion.
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - Butte County and PG&E have reached a $1.5 million settlement over power lines that caused the Honey Fire in October of 2017.
The settlement will be used to create an enhanced fire prevention and communications program to better monitor the utility's wildland transmission lines. It will be run by Butte County Cal Fire with the goal of preventing fires, like the Honey Fire, in the future.
The Honey Fire was sparked by a tree branch falling on a power line in October of 2017.
The fire burned 150 acres on Honey Road in Butte Creek Canyon, but no homes were damaged.
This settlement averts prosecution of the misdemeanor criminal charge that was being considered by the Butte County District Attorney's Office.
This Week in Review
A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
Interfaith Leader Eboo Patel to Speak in Bloomington-Normal
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. Eboo Patel, a leading national interfaith activist and former speaker at Illinois Wesleyans Founders Day Convocation, will return to Bloomington-Normal on Oct. 9 to deliver a talk at 7 p.m. at Illinois State Universitys Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall, co-sponsored by Illinois Wesleyan University. This event is free and open to the public.
Having served on President Barack Obamas Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Patel is a national authority on religion and interfaith relations in America. He is also the founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a national nonprofit working to build interfaith cooperation through partnerships with American colleges and universities. IFYC provides ongoing training and learning for students, faculty, administrators and alumni to address issues of interfaith cooperation both worldwide and on campus.
Named by U.S. News & World Report as one of Americas Best Leaders of 2009, Patel has spent over 15 years working with governments and social sector organizations in order to facilitate interreligious dialogue. He is the author of Acts of Faith, Sacred Ground, Interfaith Leadership and Out of Many Faiths, and is a frequent speaker on the topic of religious pluralism. Patel graduated from the University of Oxford with a doctorate in the sociology of religion.
Patels talk, Better Together: Bridging Interfaith Barriers, is part of the Illinois State University Speaker Series, and is sponsored by Illinois State University Office of the President and Office of the Provost; Evelyn Chapel at Illinois Wesleyan University; and The Parret Endowment at the First United Methodist Church of Normal.
By Rachel McCarthy 21
FORT BIDWELL, Calif. - This is where the healing begins, said Anita Williams, the coordinator of the annual event created to honor the elders who used to attend the non-reservation Indian boarding school that was located on the site of a former military post in the Surprise Valley.
The event has been held since 2009, to celebrate California Indian Day and honor the elders who attended the boarding school. The school operated on the Fort Bidwell property from 1898 to 1930.
It was created for the Pauite and Modoc tribes and initially served just Paiute children, due to its location in Fort Bidwell. The Warner Mountain range was a barrier to easy travel for the Pit River students. Eventually, children from the Klamath, Miwok, Maidu and Concow tribes attended the boarding school, along with their Paiute and Pit River classmates.
The elders who attended the school are aging, and many have already passed on. Williams, the coordinator on the event, is dedicated to bringing former students home to Fort Bidwell to share their experiences and their tribal histories with the younger generation. Students were forcibly removed from their homes to attend the boarding school, but many family members camped near the school to be close to their children.
There are no schools in Fort Bidwell anymore. The children and teens are bused to Cedarville and Alturas for their education. The boarding school closed in 1930.
The school was on the former grounds of Fort Bidwell, the center for the U.S. calvary when fighting the Modoc Wars and other regional Indian battles in Northern California, Southern Oregon and Eastern Nevada. The Fort opened in 1865 and closed in 1930. The Modoc Wars lasted from 1872-1873.
The militarys Fort Bidwell was named after General John Bidwell, who in 1841 led one of the first emigrant wagon trains from Missouri to California. The farmer, statesman and prohibitionist also is known for founding the city of Chico, Calif.
The Mount Bidwell California Indian Day Celebration and Fort Bidwell Indian Boarding School Reunion takes place Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7, 2018, starting at 9:00 a.m. each day. There is a parade on Saturday morning and a community potluck later in the day.
The Fort Bidwell Reservation Tribal Office phone number is (530) 279-2784.
(Photos courtest of Meriam Library Special Collections)
The Trinity County Environmental Health Department says several banned pesticides found in an illegal marijuana grow may have contaminated parts of the Trinity River.
The pesticides were found on a private parcel of land off Underwood Mountain Road in the Burnt Ranch area of Trinity County during the execution of a search warrant by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Tuesday.
That's where environmental health officials found evidence suggesting the use of carbofuran. methamidophos, and avermectin b1 pesticides all of which are highly toxic and known to cause reproductive harm in humans.
Horticulturist and licensed pest control advisor Leimone Waite says this is a problem across the state with illegal marijuana grows.
Rains come and that leaks all down into our waterways, Waite said. So that can have a really devastating effect on all of the aquatic life that's in the streams.
She said these the kinds of pesticides can also have a devastating effect on wildlife, contaminating plants growing along waterways and indirectly poisoning animals that eat plants or animals contaminated with the chemicals.
Some rodent comes and eats the rodenticide or whatever, whether it's a mouse or a rat or something, and then something else comes along and eats that, Waite said. And there's such toxic levels in that, that it kills that animal as well.
The chemicals found can cause a long list of health effects on humans including miosis, blurred vision, tearing, excessive respiratory secretions, salivation, sweating; abdominal cramps, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lightheadedness, weakness, exhaustion, chest tightness, epigastric pain, labored breathing, cyanosis, muscle twitching, incoordination, convulsions, unconsciousness, respiratory failure, skin irritation and possible effects on the immune system.
Public health officials advise anyone who may have come in contact with these chemicals and is experiencing any of the symptoms to seek medical attention.
Nearby residents are also advised to use a filter for their water.
The Trinity County Environmental Health Department will be holding a meeting to answer questions and address concerns about the spill at the Burnt Ranch fire station at 9AM Monday.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
6:45 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he is a "hundred percent" sure that the woman accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school named the wrong person.
Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate on Saturday by a 50-48 vote. His Supreme Court nomination was roiled for weeks by allegations of sexual misconduct and drunken behavior when Kavanaugh was a high school and college student.
Trump tells reporters on Air Force One that one of the reasons he chose Kavanaugh "is because there's nobody with a squeaky-clean past" like him.
Trump also says he believes a rally speech in which he mocked Christine Blasey Ford's sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh proved to be a turning point for the nomination.
The remarks drew criticism from Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.
___
6:20 p.m.
Brett Kavanaugh has taken the oaths of office to become the 114th Supreme Court justice, just a couple of hours after the Senate voted 50-48 to confirm him.
The quick swearing in enables Kavanaugh to begin work immediately in advance of arguments at the court Tuesday in two cases involving prison sentences for repeat offenders.
The court says Kavanaugh took the oath required by the Constitution and another for judges that is part of federal law in the same room where the justices meet for their private conferences.
The 53-year-old justice's wife, children and parents were in attendance.
Chief Justice John Roberts administered the constitutional oath and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy administered the judicial oath. Kavanaugh is replacing Kennedy on the bench and once served as his law clerk.
___
6:05 p.m.
Protesters are occupying the steps of the Supreme Court following the Senate's confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh.
The demonstrators went up the steps of the Supreme Court holding signs and chanting, "we believe survivors" and "hey hey, ho ho, Kavanaugh has got to go."
Officers are blocking the doors to the court and are face to face with the protesters. Some of the demonstrators are hanging from the columns of the building, and women are sitting on the two marble statues beside the steps.
Republicans have denounced the protests that have gripped the Capitol in recent days as "mob rule."
Kavanaugh was confirmed as an associate justice Saturday in a 50-48 Senate vote. The Supreme Court says he will be sworn in as a justice later Saturday.
---
5:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump flashed two thumbs up when the Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. He also criticized Democrats for what he called a "horrible, horrible attack" on Kavanaugh.
Trump watched the vote Saturday in his private cabin aboard Air Force One as he flew to a campaign rally in Kansas. He invited reporters to join him as the votes were tallied.
Trump predicted the appeals court judge would be a "totally brilliant Supreme Court justice for many years," and went on to praise Kavanaugh's "temperament, his incredible past, his outstanding years on the court."
Trump blamed Democrats for the controversy over allegations of sexual misconduct when Kavanaugh was a high school and college student.
He called it "a horrible attack that nobody should have to go through."
---
4:20p.m.
Brett Kavanaugh will soon don his robes as a justice. The Supreme Court says he will be sworn in later Saturday.
In a statement, the court says Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the Constitutional Oath and retired Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy will administer the Judicial Oath in a private ceremony at the Supreme Court. Both oaths will be administered so Kavanaugh can participate in the work of the court immediately.
A formal investiture ceremony will take place at a special sitting of the court at a later date.
___
4:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump is hailing Brett Kavanaugh's ascension to the Supreme Court after an epic struggle to get him confirmed.
Trump tweets his congratulations and calls the Senate confirmation vote "very exciting!"
---
4 p.m.
The Senate has confirmed Brett Kavanaugh as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, putting a second nominee from President Donald Trump on the highest court in the land.
Kavanaugh was confirmed 50-48 Saturday during a historic roll call vote in the Senate chamber. The two-vote margin is one of the narrowest ever for a Supreme Court nominee. The vote unfolded with protesters shouting from the gallery.
The vote closes out a bitter struggle over Kavanaugh's nomination, inflamed by accusations that he sexually assaulted women in the 1980s. Kavanaugh forcefully denied the accusations in sworn testimony.
---
3:55 p.m.
Protesters are disrupting the Senate's vote on Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Demonstrators began shouting "I do not consent" as the roll call on Kavanaugh began. Senators are seated at their desks for the vote.
When Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona cast his vote in favor of Kavanaugh, one protester shouted, "You're a coward Flake, a total coward!"
Vice President Pence, who is presiding, repeatedly called for the Senate sergeant-at-arms to restore order in the chamber. The protesters are being removed by gallery staff.
___
3:50 p.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is praising Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as "among the very best our nation has to offer."
The Kentucky Republican says Kavanaugh "unquestionably" deserves to be confirmed. He says the judge "will make the Senate and the country proud" as a member of the high court. The vote to confirm Kavanaugh as an associate justice began after McConnell's remarks.
---
3:45 p.m.
A roll call vote is under way in the Senate on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Senators are seated at their desks for the historic vote. If it succeeds, Kavanaugh will soon join the court as an associate justice.
Republicans control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, and the vote seems destined to be nearly party-line. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is the only Democrat expected to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is opposed, but says she will vote "present" as a courtesy to another Republican who is out of town.
___
3:40 p.m.
Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer is decrying the expected confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court as "one of the saddest moments" in the history of the Senate and the U.S.
The New York Democrat criticized Kavanaugh in a Senate floor speech, saying he is a nominee "who doesn't belong on the nation's highest bench." He said Kavanaugh is an "extreme partisan" who disqualified himself with testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The vote to confirm Kavanaugh as an associate justice is expected to begin soon. Senators have been advised to be in their seats for the vote.
Kavanaugh is expected to win confirmation by a narrow margin. Republicans have a 51-49 majority in the chamber.
Schumer closed his speech saying Americans opposed to Kavanaugh's confirmation need to vote in the midterm election.
___
3:30 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he's looking forward to the Senate vote that's vote expected to confirm his second Supreme Court nominee.
Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a rally in Topeka, Kansas, that he thinks Brett Kavanaugh is "going to be a great Supreme Court justice for many years to come."
He's also praising Republican Sen. Susan Collins for the speech she delivered Friday announcing her support for the nominee.
And he says he thinks the week-long delay as the FBI investigated sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh was something positive. Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Trump is expected to watch the vote play out from aboard Air Force One as he flies to Kansas.
He's says, "it's a very exciting time."
___
3 p.m.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley is giving his closing argument for the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Grassley is praising Kavanaugh's judicial independence in a speech on the Senate floor and he says the judge won't be beholden to the man who nominated him, President Donald Trump.
He accuses Democrats of doing "everything in their power" to make Kavanaugh's nomination about something other than his judicial record and qualifications.
Kavanaugh faced accusations of sexual misconduct from Christine Blasey Ford and other women. Ford testified that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens. Kavanaugh forcefully denied the accusations.
The Senate is expected to vote soon to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Grassley says he's glad senators had the courage to "stand against the politics of personal destruction."
---
1:30 p.m.
A final vote has been set for Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
The vote on confirming Kavanaugh as an associate justice will begin at roughly 3:30 p.m., and senators have been advised to be in their seats by the time the historic roll call begins.
Republicans control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, and Saturday's vote seems destined to be nearly party-line. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is the only Democrat expected to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is opposed, but says she will vote "present" as a courtesy to another Republican who will be absent for his daughter's wedding.
A few hundred protesters are gathering outside the Capitol before the vote. A group of them climbed the Capitol steps, and some were led away by police.
___
1 p.m.
A large crowd has gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to protest Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
Pumping their fists and carrying signs, a few hundred people climbed the east steps of the Capitol for the demonstration. The crowd has been chanting, "November is coming!" and "Vote them out!"
A much larger crowd of protesters is watching the demonstration from behind a barricade. In between, a line of Capitol police officers is standing with plastic handcuffs clipped to their belts.
The Senate is expected to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on Saturday afternoon.
___
11:25 a.m.
Deborah Ramirez says the Senate is "looking the other way" when it comes to her accusation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when they were students at Yale.
Ramirez says in a statement released by her lawyers that the FBI refused to speak to witnesses who could corroborate her story. She says senators are "deliberately ignoring" Kavanaugh's behavior.
The Senate is poised on Saturday to confirm Kavanaugh as an associate justice. The vote comes after Kavanaugh faced accusations of sexual misconduct from Ramirez and other women. Kavanaugh has denied the accusations.
The FBI interviewed Ramirez as part of a background check investigation opened by the White House. The Senate Judiciary Committee says the FBI also interviewed two alleged eyewitnesses to the incident named by Ramirez and one of her college friends.
___
10:15 a.m.
The Senate vote on confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is certain to be close, even if the outcome is no longer suspenseful. Enough senators have indicated they will support him Saturday to put him over the edge, with a likely margin of two votes. That's barring a last-minute change of mind.
But will the vote match the closest in history?
The closest confirmation votes for a Supreme Court nominee were decided by a single vote. In 1881, Justice Stanley Matthews prevailed in a vote of 24-23. In 1861, nominee Jeremiah Black was defeated by a vote of 26-25.
Among current justices, the confirmation of Clarence Thomas in 1991 was the closest, with a vote of 52-48. Eleven Democrats voted for Thomas, while two Republicans opposed his confirmation.
The vice president can vote in the event of a Senate tie. That's never happened in a Supreme Court confirmation.
___
9:30 a.m.
Melania (meh-LAH'-nee-ah) Trump is offering some supportive words for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Here's what she tells reporters traveling with her in Egypt: "I think he's highly qualified for the Supreme Court."
The first lady is wrapping up a four-country tour of Africa.
Speaking to reporters near the Great Sphinx, she says she's glad that both Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford, were heard.
Without weighing in on the sexual assault allegations that Ford leveled against Kavanaugh, Mrs. Trump says victims of "any kind of abuse or violence" must be helped. Kavanaugh denies the accusation.
The Senate is expected to confirm Kavanaugh on Saturday.
___
8 a.m.
Democrats don't seem to have the votes to keep Brett Kavanaugh from joining the Supreme Court, but that's not stopping them from taking to the Senate floor in a parade of speeches into the early morning against the conservative jurist.
Hours before the expected roll call vote that would elevate the appeals court judge to the nation's highest court, Democrats are making clear their strong opposition.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (KEER'-sten JIHL'-uh-brand) of New York says there's one fundamental question for senators when they decide Kavanaugh's fate: "Do we, as a country, value women?"
Gillibrand says women who've experienced sexual trauma are "tired of the same old scenario where the men are believed and the women are not."
Allegations against Kavanaugh arose late in the confirmation process that he sexually abused women decades ago. He's emphatically denied the accusations.
Gillibrand says that after the way Anita Hill was treated by the Senate during the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991, "we said it would never happen again. But it did."
___
12:30 a.m.
Brett Kavanaugh seems assured of surviving a Supreme Court nomination fight for the ages after two wavering senators said they'd back him.
The announcements Friday by Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia came after weeks of shocking accusations, hardball politics and Capitol protests.
Their support makes Saturday's vote to confirm Kavanaugh an apparent formality after a battle that riveted the nation for nearly a month.
Republicans control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, and Saturday's roll call vote seems destined to be nearly party-line, with just a single defector from each side.
The vote caps a contest fought against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and President Donald Trump's unyielding support of his Supreme Court nominee.
(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press)
The Hague brands itself as the City of Peace and Justice, but this week the stately seat of the Dutch government also revealed a darker side with the exposure of four alleged Russian spies.
The sedate city bordering the North Sea is home to a slew of international organisations that have also made it increasingly a hive of espionage and cyber-attacks, officials and experts say.
The scale of those normally undercover activities was suddenly thrust into the daylight this week when the Netherlands said it had busted a Russian plot to hack the worlds chemical watchdog.
In scenes that could have come from a spy film, the four alleged members of Russias GRU military intelligence agency were caught red-handed with a car full of electronic gear in a carpark next to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The Hague as a UN city focusing on issues of human security is attracting judicial bodies and international organisations also illicit activities, Jan Melissen, a diplomacy expert at Leiden University and the Clingendael institute, told AFP.
In the past, diplomacy and intelligence used to be seen as almost two concepts as almost watertight compartments. Now they are coming much closer as we see here in The Hague.
A small city
Ever since The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 that helped set down the laws of international warfare, it has drawn a growing array of international bodies.
Their grand headquarters lining The Hagues leafy, orderly streets now offer rich pickings for spooks.
Apart from the OPCW, it also hosts the UNs top International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals the former Yugoslavia war crimes court.
The EUs police agency Europol and judicial body Eurojust are just around the corner.
The Dutch prime ministers office meanwhile is just across the road from the OPCW.
The Hague is very much at the centre of the re-framing of what security, justice and human rights values and violations are all about, said Melissen.
This takes The Hague out of proportion. For a small UN city its becoming very visible.
For a small country, the Netherlands generally attracts plenty of unwelcome attention from spy services.
The two Russians named by Britain as being behind the Salisbury nerve agent attack on a Russian double agent allegedly passed during their travels through Amsterdams Schiphol airport the same gateway that the four alleged OPCW hackers came through and were then expelled from.
Illicit activities
The Netherlands has found itself in Russian crosshairs too during the investigation into the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 over Ukraine as it flew from Schiphol to Kuala Lumpur.
A laptop belonging to one of the four Russians expelled in April had been linked to Malaysia and activities related to the MH17 probe.
I often hear people say that the Netherlands is too small and insignificant to interest hackers, but this is of course not the case, said Ben de Jong, a Dutch specialist in Russian intelligence agencies.
Weve got important organisations here, like the OPCW Besides if you have an in into one NATO country, you effectively have an in into all of them, De Jong told the popular Algemeen Dagblad tabloid.
In modern espionage the lines can be more blurred than ever between full-on intelligence agents, diplomats and others.
One official at an international institution in The Hague described, on condition of anonymity, how a Russian media camera crew had to be escorted out when it became clear they were filming confidential documents.
Melissen said that clearly, this sort of thing has been going on since time immemorial also in The Hague.
There is much greater transparency these days so there is greater awareness of illicit activities also among The Hagues diplomatic corps, Melissen said.
No James Bond
The spying activities that do go on are a far cry from the glamorous world of James Bond as the arrest of the Russian agents showed.
The manager of the Marriott hotel said that Dutch agents had simply come in and asked at reception to see the four men and that by coincidence they came down in the elevator at that moment.
The police officers simply told the men: Will you please follow me and they did!, manager Vincent Pahlplatz told AFP. No Aston Martins, no revolving number plates, nobody sky diving from the rooftop.
Indeed, perhaps The Hagues only appearance in the fictional spy world to date is more apt a bleak beachfront scene in the John Le Carre classic The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, a novel in which no one really knows who is who until it is too late.
jhe/dk/dcr
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL
Malaysia Airlines
Here's the first battle you'll read about here at Age of Autism in the war against parental choice, pediatrician choice, and thoughtful vaccination schedule planning for those who choose an alternative schedule, including no vaccination. We will support and share the stories of any and all providers who are punished by Public Health and medical boards owned lock stock and barrel by pharma and the CDC. You can always email me KimRossi1111@gmail.com for assistance.
Earlier this year, Dr. Bob Sears, a California pediatrician whom millions of Americans know as a member of the AskDrSears.com family and one of the rare doctors who has actively treated patients with autism, was disciplined for exercising caution and providing medical care for a young patient. The "treatment?" He granted a medical exemption for vaccination. In California, vaccine exemptions now verboten for all intents and purposes thanks to Senator Richard Pan's SB277 which effectively eliminated exemptions. Dr. Sears took a risk. He put patient ahead of profit. And he is paying dearly. It's disgusting.
Imagine the stress of being a military parent. You give birth alone as your husband is overseas serving our country. Stability is fleeting with move after move. So when you find a good doctor for your child, you're more than grateful. When you find Dr. Bob Sears, you're incredibly blessed with one of the few pediatricians who really understands and helps treat developmental delays and diagnoses including autism and who respects that every child can not be fully vaccinated with the bloated CDC AAP schedule. Dr. Bob Sears is a lot like our military men and women. He fights for freedom. His freedom to practice "First do No Harm" as is the tenet of his calling as a doctor. Last week, his fight cost him much of his practice and livelihood.
Please join us in supporting him and taking action.
#Istandwithsears, #lovesears, #shameontricare, #militaryfamilieslovesears
#truthresponders)
CALL: Health Net Federal Services, Tricare West 844-866-9378 and (politely) tell them you support Dr. Sears.
###
My dear patients who serve our country in the military:
It is with the heaviest of hearts that I announce that Tricare military insurance, with whom I have been contracted for the past 20 years, has ended my contract to provide medical services to military families - effective retroactively back to July 27, 2018, with no grace period.
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The magic of storytelling through reading was at the heart of Kilkenny County Library Services Summer Reading Challenge which, despite the good weather, attracted over 1,200 youngsters to the libraries in the city and county, an increase of 24 per cent on 2017.
The culmination of the annual challenge was held over two Saturdays in The Springhill Court Hotel, Kilkenny with six comedy shows delivered by RTE Juniors Reuben to hundreds of delighted children.
The national summer reading challenge for 2018, Summer Stars ran through July and August in libraries across Ireland, with children challenged to read eight books each.
Incentives
Various incentives such as bags and stationery and notebooks were awarded to children to keep up the momentum.
The challenge was taken up by 1,260 children in Kilkenny, a record and a sign that our libraries are working hard to attract youngsters.
Over the past five years, numbers completing the challenge have tripled with this year being the biggest ever success.
This initiative is part of a national Right to Read Campaign, which actively supports and helps improve literacy.
Research has consistently shown that reading ability can drop by up to three months during the holidays, which puts children at a disadvantage on their return to school.
This challenge encourages children to maintain and improve their reading skills in a fun way over the holidays, and helps ensure that the school term success of children, parents and teachers is not reversed.
Success
We are blown away by the continuing success of this programme, said County Librarian, Josephine Coyne .
We are delighted to see so many children and families making the time to develop a love of story reading and using their local library to find stories that they enjoy, she added.
This is a simple and cost effective means of encouraging reading skills and improving literacy skills among children and we would encourage children all over the county to visit and use their local library,she said.
It is one of the best free resources for their minds that they have on their doorsteps, she said.
Membership of Kilkenny County Council Library Service is free for all.
x
Stuff reports:
Another round of petrol price increases has motorists paying almost $2.50 in main centres, prompting calls for the Government to signal how it could intervene in the market. Overnight on Thursday the major petrol companies added 4c a litre to petrol, taking 91 octane or regular petrol to $2.489 in many parts of the country. In Auckland, where the Government has introduced a regional fuel tax, at least two stations are charging $2.499 a litre, according to crowd sourced price monitoring company Gaspy.
The Government has intervened in the market. It has introduced a new regional fuel tax and also increased the national fuel tax. That is part of the problem.
The MBIE data show how much prices have increased in the last year. They were at $1.85 and now have exceeded $2.40.
That extra 65 cents a litre hits families hard. The average medium size car does 1,250 litres a year so thats a huge $800 more a year.
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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Two granddaughters of a 77-year-old Louisiana woman found suffering from severely infected bedsores and living in deplorable conditions have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.
The Advocate reports 37-year-old Chasity Lewis and 22-year-old Carlnessa Butler pleaded not guilty to the charge Thursday.
Barbara Lewis-Brown died in July after being found suffering from severely infected bedsores and living in deplorable conditions. A coroner said autopsy results showed the woman died from complications of infected deep pressure ulcers with superimposed fecal contamination. She also was suffering from malnourishment and dehydration.
Lewis' attorney says his client wasn't primary caregiver for her grandmother. Butler's attorney says his client wasn't living with Lewis-Brown at the time of her death.
Lewis-Brown's son and daughter, Carl and Chira Lewis, have been indicted on manslaughter. They'll be arraigned Oct. 18.
___
Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Jin Zheng Shu, left, and Jin Song Gen
By Hwang Jae-ho
The night in Dongdaemun station is no different from any other region in Seoul. The neon signs around the station are blazing, but the only difference is that the signs are in Chinese.
Most of these signs are for restaurants, especially Huo Guo, which means shabu-shabu. I've enjoyed visiting Huo Guo for quite a long time and have known the owners for almost 10 years. They are husband Jin Song Gen and wife Jin Zheng Shu. I always shared greetings with them and ordered a full table of food, but never had an opportunity to hear of their personal life; how they came to Korea, why they settled in Dongdaemun, or how they lived with their two children.
Ethnic Koreans living in China (Josunjok) settled in the three northeast provinces of China to escape the Japanese colony's military pressure in the late 19th century. They continued their lives after 1945, the year of Korea's independence, and started returning to their motherland when the ROK and China established diplomatic relations in 1992.
However, due to being away from Korea for a long time, the frustration they felt in Korea in gaps of culture, generation and wealth was beyond what we could imagine. During the challenges they went through in this country, many may have buckled to the invisible discriminations, but there also were quite a few success stories.
Here, I interview this Josunjok couple who accomplished their dream in the Huo Guo restaurant.
Q: What was your main trigger to come to Korea?
A (Husband): After being discharged from military duty, I had been doing several jobs in Longjing, but then longed to have a higher quality of life. Therefore, in 1999, I decided to come to Korea through paying 70,000 yuan to a broker. That is almost 14 million won in Korea, which is big money. Usually, these brokers swindle the desperate people, but I was the lucky one.
A (Wife): I came to Korea around the year 2000 from Tumen because I wanted a better life as well. In my case, my mom already had Korean nationality, which let me get Korean nationality relatively easier than others.
Q: How did you settle down in Korea and what were the obstacles you had to face?
A (Husband): When I entered Korea, getting a stable job was not easy. As a result, I used to work as a day laborer, such as a carpenter or in the construction field. Even after I met my wife that was my usual life. After all, in 2008, we opened this restaurant, which was about 10 years after we came to Korea, and then we married in 2010.
A (Wife): When we talk about Koreans' bias against Josunjok, it is beyond our thoughts. Regardless of how old you are, as soon as they find out that you have our accent, Koreans' way of speaking changes immediately. I used to work at restaurants as a server and could personally feel discrimination; for example, when the ingredients do not seem fresh enough, they asked me if they came from China. I've spent all my money to come to this country and the only thing I had was my ego. However, sometimes when people gave me sympathetic looks, I instinctually showed somehow an aggressive attitude. I remember one time that people asked me whether I knew what a banana was. (laugh) My answer was, "In China, even pigs do not eat them." Can you imagine how hurt I was when I was answering that negatively? It took exactly 10 years for me to overcome the complex of this bias.
Q: Is there any tips for your success? What is your ultimate goal?
A (Husband): It was never an easy success. For the first 10 years, we worked without any time off, or dared to spend money. We went through failures several times, especially when we challenged for developing this restaurant into a brand approximately seven years ago; it was one great adversity. Back then, we could not fully reflect Korea's regional sentiments or characteristics. We have changed our strategy into expanding only the few selected chain stores by distributing the recipes and ingredients with a low price.
A (Wife): We still struggle with the consulting or advertisements, but above all, "coexistence" is our major motto and that's how we currently have 10 chain stores. We know that "we can survive when they survive," therefore, we provide good quality with a lower price. When we build the contract with the chains, we see how trustful the person is. Besides the trust, another main success factor I am proud of is our own sauce recipe, but I cannot share this with anyone (laugh). The flavor is not exactly the same as in China because seasonings come from Korea, but we stick to its original taste by hiring people from the mainland. Also, one other factor is globalization. Back in 2008, there was one Korean coming out of 10 Chinese. However, nowadays it goes the opposite way because people became more familiar with Chinese food and the world is getting smaller and smaller. If our business continues in good shape like this, my ultimate dream is to possess our own house, not rent. Then my children will be able to live in more stabilized conditions, not like us.
Leg of lamb
New Delhi [India], Oct 05 (NewsVoir): Iconic brand LEGO announced the launch of their most awaited products in India at New Delhi today.
The launch unveiled the LEGO Harry Potter range, LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron, LEGO City Arctic exploration range and robotics powered LEGO BOOST in India.
Inspired by J.K Rowling's world acclaimed fiction-fantasy series, the LEGO Harry Potter collection has evoked excitement across the globe and is now to set to re-kindle childhood nostalgia amongst Potterheads across age groups in India.
LEGO's second launch LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron, a part of the company's line of "Technic" products is another unique introduction that can take car lovers to a perfect adventurous ride during play. The set resembles the mechanical function and structures of the actual Bugatti model.
"We are delighted to launch four of our top selling products in India. This assortment of products has received strong appreciation in the global markets and we are positive that it will create a robust fan pool in India as well. At LEGO, our focus has been to create quality sustainable products for our fans. We aim to continue our journey in bringing the LEGO experience to all our consumers in India," said Amit Kararia, Head-Sales, South Asia, LEGO Group.
Harry Potter has been an integral part of childhood memories especially for Gen Y and Gen Z generation. LEGO Harry Potter tailored collection across themes and price ranges, transports fans to Harry's seven year journey through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The collection is priced from Rs 1799 to Rs 14599 and consists of themed play-sets like LEGO Harry Potter Aragog's Lair, LEGO Fantastic Beasts Grindelwald's Escape , LEGO Fantastic Beasts Newt's Case of Magical Creatures, LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Whomping Willow, LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Great Hall, LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Express and LEGO Harry Potter Quidditch match. These themed collections have approximately 130 to 900 components across sets.
As a part of the 'Technic' series, LEGO's Bugatti Chiron is an auto lover's delight. At 3,599 pieces, it takes the title of one of the most complex LEGO Technic vehicle. The Chiron set, when assembled, comes in at 22 inches long, nine inches wide, and five inches high. Priced at Rs 59,999, the model stands tall of LEGO Group and Bugatti relationship, both brands being flag bearers of detailed designing and quality products.
Like the real car, the one-eighth scale LEGO Chiron comes with a shift able eight-speed transmission, functional steering, and the speed key, which toggles the rear wing's position between handling and top-speed modes. All 16 pistons inside the car's W-16 engine move up and down, and inside the car, a branded Bugatti overnight bag can be found, along with a serial number exclusive to each set.
During the international launch at Grand Prix Formula 1, Italy, LEGO Group unveiled a full-scale, drivable version of Bugatti Chiron crafted using over 1 million LEGO Technic elements and powered exclusively using motors from the LEGO Power Function platform. The life size model is packed with 2,304 motors and 4,032 LEGO Technic gear wheels, generating 5.3 horse power and an estimated torque of 92 Nm. Beholding the tag of the biggest LEGO toy car built, LEGO Bugatti Chiron made headlines across forums upon its debut.
"It is a significant moment for us launching LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron in India. Our partnership with the Bugatti team goes back in history. Bugatti, one of our flagship in the LEGO 'Technic' range, is one of our most complex creations in the range and aims to provide an enriched experience to automobile and LEGO lovers in India," said Rohan Mathur, Head-Marketing, Emerging Asia.
LEGO also formally unveiled the LEGO BOOST Creative Toolbox which was introduced to the market in June 2018. LEGO BOOST is a supercharged 5-in-1 building and coding set empowers children to bring their LEGO creations to life. Having 843 elements in the set, LEGO BOOST can be used to create five diverse models which are Vernie the Robot, Frankie the Cat, the Guitar 4000, the Multi-Tool Rover 4 (M.T.R.4), and the Autobuilder.
It is also the winner of 'Toy of The Year Award' at the 2018 Stuff Gadget Awards and is priced at 19999 in India. In addition to this, LEGO also showcased new products from their world famous LEGO City Arctic range - Arctic Scout Truck, Arctic Air Transport, Arctic Supply Plane, Arctic Mobile Exploration Base, Arctic Exploration Team and Arctic Ice Glider. The products are under the expedition theme of the range.
LEGO Group has been a pioneer in creating interlocking toy bricks across age groups and multiple themes for over decades. The brand with its focus to strengthen market capabilities in India has been instrumental in bringing its diverse world class product portfolio to the market. LEGO lovers in India are a strong and ever growing community and with the launch of these new products, LEGO is lifting consumer delight and brand preference to greater heights.
It's the LEGO season for all Potterheads, auto-enthusiasts and LEGO lovers in India! (NewsVoir)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
A minibus on its way from Banihal to Ramban fell into a deep gorge at Kela Moth on Jammu Srinagar National Highway, resulting into the death of at least 20 people. Rescue operations are underway. More details awaited. Jammu and Kashmir: 17 Die After Matador Van Falls Into Chenab River in Kishtwar.
Earlier, at least 17 people had died after a matador van skidded off the road and fell into Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Friday. 16 people have been injured and 11 have been airlifted by a helicopter to Jammu said DC Kishtwar Angrez Singh Ranapeople, even as the rescue operations are underway. The matador van was carrying over two dozen passengers when it met with the mishap. Bihar Bus Accident: 27 Dead After Bus Catches Fire in Motihari District.
The vehicle was on its way from Keshwan to Kishtwar town when the accident took place. The driver reportedly lost control over the steering Thakrai, nearly 18 km from Kishtwar, and rolled down into Chenab. Locals and the Jammu and Kashmir police rushed to the sport to carry out the rescue operation. A large-scale rescue operation was underway.
"The accident happened at around 9 am earlier in the day in Thakrai area of Kishtwar district, when the vehicle, packed with passengers, was coming from Keshwan," Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar Angrez Singh Rana told news agency ANI.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 06, 2018 11:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Mumbai, October 6: A day after the death of ex-model-turned-fashion designer Sunita Singh's death, her son has been arrested by the Mumbai Police on "culpable homicide" charge. Taken into custody, 23-year-old Lakshya is accused of accidentally killing his mother when the duo began allegedly fighting in an inebriated condition.
Sunita, 49, was consuming alcohol in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, along with Lakshya and his 21-year-old girlfriend Ayesha Priya. In the early hours of Thursday, said a police officer privy to the probe, the mother-son duo began fighting physically after quarrelling over an issue. Former Model Dies In Lokhandwala Apartment After She Hits Her Head On a Wash Basin.
The police on Friday arrested Lakshya and took him into custody. His arrest came hours after he told the Oshiwara police station that his mother accidentally fall on the wash basin and suffered head injuries which led to her demise.
The probing officials have also interrogated Ayesha, but have refrained to take her into custody. The investigation in the case is currently underway, said a senior police officer, adding that they are trying to ascertain the exact cause of quarrel which allegedly led to the murder.
Notably, the deceased was involved in modelling projects until two years ago. She had subsequently turned into a fashion designer. Meanwhile, Lakshay and Ayesha are students.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 06, 2018 05:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Jaipur, October 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Ajmer in Rajasthan on Saturday, marking the conclusion of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's state-wide yatra ahead of assembly elections in the state.
Earlier, Modi was scheduled to visit Brahma temple in Pushkar town but now he will only attend the Ajmer rally.
Raje, BJP state president Madan Lal Saini and other leaders reviewed on Friday the preparations for the rally to be held at Kayad Vishram Sthali on the outskirts of Ajmer where party leaders claimed nearly three lakh people would come.
"This will be a historic rally of the prime minister which will be participated by a large number of people," Onkar Singh Lakhawat, the chairman of Rajasthan Heritage Preservation and Promotion Authority, said. He said the party workers were "fully geared up and filled with enthusiasm" for the rally.
The rally marks the completion of Raje's 'Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra' which she had begun from Rajsamand's Charbhujanath temple. Ajmer District Collector Arti Dogra said the prime minister will arrive in a helicopter at Kayad Vishram Sthali from Jaipur at 1300 hours and return to Jaipur after the programme. ABP-CVoter Poll Survey: Narendra Modi to Become Prime Minister Again in 2019, UPA Vote Share to Increase.
There is no schedule for Brahma temple visit in Pushkar, she asserted. Amin Pathan, the chairman of Ajmer Dargah Committee, said he has urged the members of the minority community to attend the Modi's rally in large numbers.
The state Primary and Secondary Education minister Vasudev Devnani, who represents Ajmer North assembly constituency, has been campaigning in the area and inviting people to attend the rally.
"A large number of people will come to attend the PM's rally which is significantly ahead of the polls," Devnani said. Ajmer district has eight assembly constituencies and seven of them are represented by BJP MLAs while the Congress has one seat of Nasirabad.
The ruling party, which had lost the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency to Congress in bypolls held earlier this year, is trying to build a favorable atmosphere and mood among the voters by holding the rally of Modi, who had addressed an election rally in Ajmer in 2013 also.
The Congress had won the Ajmer Lok Sabha seat by defeating BJP's Ramswaroop Lamba who is the son of former Ajmer MP Sanwar Lal Jat. The seat went to bypoll after the then sitting MP Sanwar Lal Jat died due to cardiac arrest last year. The assembly elections in Rajasthan are due later this year.
Bengaluru, October 6: Senior Congress leader and Local Bodies Minister in the Karnataka government, Ramesh Jarkiholi, has drawn flak for skipping five Cabinet meetings in a row despite holding a key portfolio. The Minister has offered a startling reason for his absence: "I will not attend the meetings till God answers my prayers."
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Jarkiholi said he would not be attending the meetings till his certain prayers are answered by the God. The decision, he added, stems from an age-old tradition where people give up certain duties till their wishes get fulfilled. Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy Says His Government Will Complete Full Term, No Differences With Congress.
"Sometimes when we pray, we stop using bikes or skip activities until our prayer is answered," Jarkiholi said, further adding that he would not be attending the meetings scheduled in the near-future as well.
Local media, however, have questioned the religious reason cited by the Minister for abeyance from Cabinet meets. According to reports, Jarkiholi, along with his younger brother and MLA Satish Jarkiholi, are upset with the Congress' state high command.
The duo, along with a couple of loyal legislators, recently considered to travel to Mumbai despite the party's apprehension. Reports claimed the brothers were considering to meet the BJP leaders outside the state to discuss their potential switch to the saffron party.
Following the incident, the Jarkiholi brothers met the leaders of the Pradesh Congress Committee, who claimed that all issues have been sorted out. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy also met the dissident legislators, urging them not to take any decision which would jeopardise the stability of the government.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 07, 2018 12:06 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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Farah, October 06: As many as four Taliban commanders have been killed in drone strikes conducted by foreign forces in various parts of the Farah province of Afghanistan during the past week. Farah Governor Abdul Basir Salangi confirmed that a Taliban commander - Mullah Bari Jan - who was implicated in at least 300 murders and attacks, was killed in a drone strike in Khak Safid district, Tolo News reported. The Governor further stated that Mullah Hanzala, Mullah Mukhlis and Mullah Abdul Salam, and at least 30 Taliban militants were killed in three different drone strikes in different parts of the province this week. The Taliban has, however, rejected the same. Meanwhile, at least four civilians were killed and a further eight others were wounded in airstrikes conducted in Kandahar province's Maroof district on Thursday. French Air Strike in Burkina Faso Kills Rebels: Army.
A statement from the governor of the province confirmed that Khogyani and Ishaqzai villages in Maroof district were attacked by the Taliban, which was followed by retaliation from the government forces. Members of the Afghan National Police force had called for air support and the Taliban militants were in civilian houses, leading to the civilian casualties. The statement confirmed that at least three women and a child were among the dead, while seven women and a child were among the injured. US Drone Strikes kill 11 ISIS Militants in Afghanistan.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New York, October 6: In a blow to the Khalistan movement, President Donald Trump's adminsitration has declared the Babbar Khalsa International terrorist group a "risk to the US personnel and interests overseas". The National Strategy for Counterterrorism unveiled in Washington on Thursday said that Babbar Khalsa International "is responsible for significant terrorist attacks in India and elsewhere that have claimed the lives of innocent civilians". The document also lists Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) among organisations that are a potential threat to the US. The US State and Treasury Departments had listed the Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation as terrorist organisations in 2002 and the LeT in 2001. The strategy document released by US National Security Adviser John Bolton takes a hard look at not only terrorists directly posing a threat to the US, but also at "separatist movements overseas whose use of violence and intent to destabilise societies". US President Donald Trump Administration Reveals Plan to Block Visas and Green Cards.
Its primary focus, though, was on the Islamic State (IS) and Al Qaeda and their affiliates, and terrorist groups linked to Iran. Both IS and Al Qaeda "will probably remain the most frequent form of radical Islamist terrorism in the US for the next several years", it said. Abroad, the document also identified neo-Nazi and neo-Fascist groups in Europe that attack Muslims among groups that threaten Americans. The strategy calls for broadening the "range of partners" in the fight against terrorism, and encouraging "capable partners to play a larger role in counterterrorism efforts".
It said that groups like the Babbar Khalsa International and LeT may avoid targeting the US now for tactical reason, but still posed risks to it abroad. About groups like the Babbar Khalsa International, it said they "may avoid or deprioritise targeting US interests for now to avoid detracting from their core goals but frequently conduct assassinations and bombings against major economic, political, and social targets, heightening the risk to United States personnel and interests overseas".
Babbar Khalsa International was founded by a Canadian citizen and was based in Vancouver. It has been linked to the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1981 that killed 329 people on the Emperor Kanishka, a Boeing 747 airliner. No one has been prosecuted for the attack carried out from Canada. After Trump Administration Bans CNN Journalist, UN Experts Condemn Donald Trumps Repeated Criticism of News Media.
The US declaration will be an embarrassment to Canada, where posters of the late Talwinder Singh Parmar, the founder of Babbar Khalsa International are displayed at public events. Jagmeet Singh, the leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, the third largest in Canada's House of Commons, has admitted Parmar's role in the terrorist attack.
"The inquiry identified specifically Talwinder Singh Parmar, and I accept the findings of the investigation," he told the Canada Broadcasting Corporation interviewer earlier this year. He also admitted that it was "inappropriate" to display Parmar's pictures at public events. Canada had refused to extradite Parmar, who was wanted in India in connection with the killing of two Punjab police officers. Parmar later returned to India and was killed during a confrontation with police in 1992.
The strategy document added: "The terrorist threat to the US is growing more dynamic and diffuse as an increasing number of groups, networks, and individuals exploit global trends, including the emergence of more secure modes of communications, the expansion of social and mass media, and persistent instability across several regions."
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 06, 2018 12:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Steps to become a Lawyer/Attorney in California Follow the step by step process or choose what situation that best describes you:
Law Careers in California
California has the highest employment level of lawyers of any state in the nation as of May 2017, per information provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). At that time, 79,980 lawyers worked in the state, averaging an annual mean wage of $168,200 (making California the second highest-paying state in which lawyers work, District of Columbia being the first). Attorneys working in certain areas of the state made even higher than average salaries. For example, those in the Glendale-Long Beach-Los Angeles metropolitan area averaged $170,201 per year; while lawyers working in the San Mateo-San Francisco-Redwood City metropolitan area averaged $189,660 annually. Additionally, California is the first state in the country that offers certification in legal specialization areas to members of the Bar, offering them the opportunity to show their expertise in one of 11 areas of law practice (including admiralty and maritime law, bankruptcy law, criminal law and taxation law). Read on to discover how to join the almost 80,000 practicing attorneys in California.
Step 1 Get Your California Undergraduate Pre-Law Major
The State Bar of California mandates that you must have at least two years of an undergraduate education (equal to 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours). Alternatively, you may complete the equivalent through passing certain exams in the College Level Exam Program (CLEP) (see below).
If you are not sure that your pre-legal education qualifies, you may apply to have it evaluated by the Bar. This application must be accompanied by your official college transcripts and a fee of $100 by cashiers check or money order only, payable to the State Bar of California. Mail application, fees and documentation to The State Bar of California, Office of Admissions, 845 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90017-2515.
Accreditation
Check to make sure that your undergraduate institution is accredited by a national or regional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. If it is, it will make your later acceptance into an American Bar Association-approved law school much easier.
Requirements and Standards
While the State Bar of California does not specify an undergraduate degree you must have prior to law school admission, there are some guidelines based upon CLEP test exemptions. If you have not completed at least two years of undergraduate studies, the State Bar has ruled that passing the following CLEP tests with a score of 50 or higher on each will fulfill the pre-legal education requirement:
College Composition and two 6-semester courses or 4 3-semester courses from the following:
Business
Science and Mathematics
History and Social Science
Foreign Language
Composition and Literature (Humanities only)
If you wish to register for the CLEP tests, you may do so online. Each exam costs $87, which may be paid online. Have your CLEP scores sent directly to the State Bars Office of Admissions, 845 S. Figueroa St; Los Angeles, CA 90017-2525, recipient code 7165.
Degree Options
The State Bar of California has ruled that you must complete at least 60 semester hours (90 quarter hours) of pre-legal education, equivalent to at least half the requirements for a bachelors degree. This coursework must be completed with a grade point average that would be acceptable for graduation by the institution at which it was completed.
Law and Paralegal Studies Legal Assistant Legal Studies Paralegal All Criminal Justice Programs Criminal Justice Administration Public Administration and Safety Sponsored
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Pre- Law Advisor
Some undergraduate institutions employ pre-law advisors, whose job it is to assist students planning to attend law school. This assistance may come in the form of helping you choose wise courses and majors, writing letters of recommendation, and assisting you in gathering documentation when it comes time to apply to law school. If your school offers the services of a pre-law advisor, by all means take advantage of this valuable resource.
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Step 2 Take the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) in California
The State Bar of California does not mandate that you graduate from an American Bar Association accredited law school. However, ABA accredited or not, most law schools require that you pass the LSAT, or Law School Admission Test, to gain entrance. Check with your schools requirements to make sure.
How to prepare
The LSAT website provides sample questions and practice tests to help you prepare to take the exam. Additionally, preparation courses, workshops and seminars are offered in live settings and online:
LSAT Exam Prep Courses in California:
LSAT Test Prep Course, Testmasters, locations in Berkeley, Chico, Claremont, Davis, Downtown Los Angeles, Fresno, Fullerton, Irvine, Long Beach, Palo Alto, Pasadena, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and West Los Angeles
LSAT Preparation Courses, Kaplan, offered at University of Southern California, Loyola Marymount University, California State University campuses and University of California Irvine, among other locations
LSAT Preparation Course, California State University-Stanislaus, ed2go.com
Exam content
There are four sections to the LSAT:
Reading Comprehension You will be presented with four reading passages and 27 questions, totaling 35 minutes. You must also write a 25-minute essay based on a passage. Your abilities to draw inferences from the passages, determine their main ideas, and understand and find information that is relevant will be tested in this section.
You will be presented with four reading passages and 27 questions, totaling 35 minutes. You must also write a 25-minute essay based on a passage. Your abilities to draw inferences from the passages, determine their main ideas, and understand and find information that is relevant will be tested in this section. Analytical Reasoning This section consists of 25 questions and takes 35 minutes. It will test your abilities to understand the effects of rules on outcomes and decisions, draw relationships between concepts, analyze problems, draw conclusions based on guidelines, and apply logic to complex situations.
This section consists of 25 questions and takes 35 minutes. It will test your abilities to understand the effects of rules on outcomes and decisions, draw relationships between concepts, analyze problems, draw conclusions based on guidelines, and apply logic to complex situations. Logical Reasoning There are two logical reasoning sections, each taking 35 minutes and consisting of 25 questions. Your abilities to determine the main point of an argument, apply logic to abstract ideas, discover relevant information in a reading passage, analyze arguments, and evaluate arguments will be tested.
There are two logical reasoning sections, each taking 35 minutes and consisting of 25 questions. Your abilities to determine the main point of an argument, apply logic to abstract ideas, discover relevant information in a reading passage, analyze arguments, and evaluate arguments will be tested. Essay Section- This section takes 35 minutes to complete, and tests your ability to form an argument based on facts you are provided, support an argument, and express ideas in writing.
Application process
Applications to sit for the LSAT are submitted online. You may choose a date in the months of June, September, November and January, and the test is offered on Saturdays and Mondays during those months. Each test center does not offer the test on every date, however, so check with the test center that you prefer for its dates:
College of Alameda, Alameda
Humboldt State University, Arcata
Berkeley City College, Berkeley
DOV Educational Services, Burbank
Crowne Plaza, Concord/Walnut Creek
Irvine Valley College, Irvine
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
University of West Los Angeles, Chatsworth
California Northern School of Law, Chico
California State University, Chico
Alameda County Training & Education Center, Oakland
Samuel Merritt University-Health Education Center, Oakland
Folsom Lake College, Folsom
California State University, Fresno
Western State University College of Law at Argosy University, Irvine
California State University-Los Angeles
Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
John F. Kennedy School of Law, Pleasant Hill
California State University-Northridge
University of La Verne College of Law, Ontario
Chapman University, Orange
La Sierra University, Riverside
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park
Lincoln Law School of Sacramento, Sacramento
University of the Pacific-McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento
Skyline College, San Bruno
California Western School of Law, San Diego
Junipero Serra High School, San Diego
San Diego State University, San Diego
Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego
University of San Francisco, San Francisco
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
University of California-Santa Barbara
Empire College School of Law, Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa
Monterey College of Law, Seaside
Humphreys College-School of Law, Stockton
Fees
You must pay $180 to register to take the LSAT (as of November 2018). This fee is payable online by credit card when you register or by check or money order payable to the Law School Admission Council.
Receiving Your Score
Your LSAT score will be emailed to you by the LSAC three weeks after you sit for the exam. You will not be told your score if you call the LSAC office, due to confidentiality clauses. Only you and law schools to which you will apply will receive your LSAT score. You may request that your pre-law advisor receive your LSAT score by filing a release of information form with the LSAC.
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Step 3 Go to Law School in California
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Featured Program: Online Hybrid Juris Doctor: ABA-approved JD program; Prepare to sit for the bar exam in most states; Semester-long legal externship.
Application process
Once you have completed your undergraduate pre-law education and passed the LSAT, you are ready to apply to law school.
Credential Assembly Service
All ABA-accredited law schools, and some that are not ABA-accredited, require applicant to make use of LSACs Credential Assembly Service when applying for enrollment. This valuable service makes the application process streamlined. If you use the CAS:
Transcripts : Complete Transcript Request Forms for each institution you have attended, whether or not you graduated from that institution. This goes for both domestic and international schools.
: Complete Transcript Request Forms for each institution you have attended, whether or not you graduated from that institution. This goes for both domestic and international schools. Letters of Recommendation and Evaluations: Give the LSAC names of people who are going to write your letters of recommendation and evaluate your work and/or character. The LSAC will instruct you to print forms to give to these individuals. These forms must be sent along with the recommendation letters they will mail directly to the LSAC.
: The LSAC charges $195 for the Credential Assembly Service, which is payable online. This fee encompasses the summaries of your college transcripts that LSAC will produce, law school reports they will create, letters of recommendation and online evaluations they will process, and electronic applications they will submit on your behalf to the ABA-approved law schools of your choice.
Accreditation
Under rules of the State Bar of California, you may attend an accredited or unaccredited law school. The Bar has rules and guidelines for both schools approved by the American Bar Association and those accredited by the State Bar of Californias Committee of Bar Examiners. They also allow you to complete four years of study, with a minimum of 864 hours of preparation, at a registered, unaccredited correspondence or distance learning law school. There are separate rules for approved/accredited and unaccredited law schools. If a law school is approved by the American Bar Association, it is automatically exempt from the State Bar of California accreditation rules and considered to be approved by the State Bar. A list of current ABA-approved law schools across the country is included here.
ABA-Accredited Law Schools in California
The following California law schools hold ABA accreditation:
State Bar-Accredited law schools in California
Accredited law schools have been approved by the State Bar of Californias Committee of Bar Examiners, which oversees and regulates these schools. Law schools in California that are currently approved by the State Bar are:
Unaccredited law schools in California
Unaccredited law schools in California must still register with the State Bar. These include correspondence, distance-learning and fixed-facility law schools in the state. Currently registered and unaccredited law schools in the state include:
Registered Unaccredited Correspondence Law Schools:
Online Law Degrees
Registered Unaccredited Distance Learning Law Schools:
Registered Unaccredited Fixed Facility Law Schools:
Course requirements
ABA-Accredited Law Schools
ABA Standard 303 lists the curriculum areas that an ABA-approved law school must cover. These include law, legal analysis, reasoning, legal research, oral communication, problem solving, legal writing, history of the legal profession, professional responsibility, and live client interactions through things such as field placement or pro bono work. An academic year must last at least eight calendar months over 130 days. You must complete 83 semester hours of credit to graduate, and the time it takes to receive your Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree must be at least 24 months long but may not take longer than 84 months.
State Bar-Accredited Law Schools
In order to receive a J.D. degree from a State Bar-accredited law school, you must complete at least 1200 hours of study or 80 semester hours of credit over a period of at least 90 weeks of full-time study or 120 weeks of part-time study. This course of study must take you at least 32 months to complete but no longer than 84 months to complete. The school must provide at least six semester units of competency training through teaching practical skills. The curriculum must include the subjects tested in the California State Bar Exam and a course in professional responsibility. Therefore, subjects that must be taken are Constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, real property, remedies, community property, torts, business associations, professional responsibility, trusts, wills and succession.
Unaccredited Law Schools: Fixed Facility
To graduate from an unaccredited, fixed facility law school in California, you must complete a four-year program requiring at least 270 hours of class attendance per year. The curriculum must cover the subjects tested on the California State Bar Exam (see above) and include six semesters of competency training/practice-based skills.
Unaccredited Law Schools: Correspondence
To graduate from a correspondence law school in California, you must complete a four-year program requiring at least 864 hours of preparation and study per year. The curriculum must cover the subjects tested on the California State Bar Exam (see above) and include six semesters of competency training/practice-based skills.
Unaccredited Law Schools: Distance Learning
To graduate from a distance learning law school in California, you must complete a four-year program requiring at least 864 hours of preparation and study per year. The curriculum must cover the subjects tested on the California State Bar Exam (see above) and include six semesters of competency training/practice-based skills.
Study in a Law Office or Judges Chambers
Under Rule 4.29 of the State Bar of California, you may complete your legal education in a law office or judges chambers. This must be equivalent to four years of legal study in an unaccredited law school. You must study for at least 18 hours a week for 48 weeks to equal one year of study. Your study must be supervised by an attorney or judge who has been a member of the state bar in good standing for at least five years, who personally supervises you for at least five hours each week, and examines you at least once per month. This supervisor must report to the Bar every six months on a special form the number of hours and type of study completed.
Foreign Law Schools
If you attended a foreign law school, you may qualify for California bar admission if you meet one of the following requirements:
Have a law degree from a foreign law school and have completed one year of legal education at an ABA-approved or State Bar of California-accredited law school
Have a legal education (without a degree) from a foreign law school and have studied law in a U.S. law school, law office or judges chambers, and have passed the First-Year Law Students Examination
First-Year Law Students Examination
Under certain circumstances, you may need to pass the First-Year Law Students Examination. Also known as the baby bar, this exam must be taken in the following situations:
You have completed a full year of study in an unaccredited, registered law school
You have completed a full year of study through the Law Office Study Program
You have completed a full year of study at a State Bar- or ABA-approved law school but dont have two years of college work.
Given in June and October every year in Los Angeles and San Francisco, this seven-hour exam includes essay and multiple-choice questions. Subjects that are covered are criminal law, contracts and torts, plus the Uniform Commercial Code Articles 1 and 2. Deadlines to register for the June administration are April 1 and for the October administration, August 1. You may apply for this exam online. Make sure to register with the Bar as a law student before filing to take the exam.
Degree Programs
Under State Bar of California rules, it is preferred that you have a Juris Doctor (J.D.) or Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.) degree from a law school that is accredited by the American Bar Association or the State Bar of California in order to become a member of the California Bar. Alternatively, you may provide proof that you have studied law for at least four years in a registered, unaccredited school (or in a law office or judges chambers as specified above) and passed or received exemption from the First-Year Law Students Exam.
Moral Character Determination Application
The State Bar of California requires that all applicants for bar admission submit a Moral Character Determination application. They recommend that you begin this process during your final year of law school, as it may take up to 180 days to get the results. If you pass the bar exam but do not have a completed moral character determination, you will not become a bar member. Make sure that you have first registered with the Bar as a law student (which you should have done when you took the First Year Law Students Exam). This application may be submitted online.
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Step 4 Take the California State Bar Exam
Once you have completed your pre-legal and legal education and met the state bars requirements, and if you are at least 18 years old, you may apply to take the California bar exam. It is given in February and July over two days in various locations throughout the state.
Preparation
Free and low-cost study aids for the California bar exam are provided at the State Bar of California website. They include study outlines and sample questions, as well as questions and answers from past exams
The National Conference of Bar Examiners website provides free study resources for the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) portion of the California bar exam.
Should you wish to take a bar exam preparation course or workshop, many are available throughout California. They include:
Exam content
During the first day of the exam, you will have three essay questions in the morning and one performance test in the afternoon. Subjects that you can expect to encounter include Succession, Trusts and Wills, Torts, Remedies, Real Property, and Professional Responsibility.
On the second day of the exam, you will take the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), of the National Conference of Bar Examiners. This is a six-hour long exam consisting of 200 multiple-choice questions. You will be tested on your knowledge of Constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, real property, and torts.
Application Process
You must first register as a law student with the State Bar of California Office of Admissions. You may register online to do this, as well as register online to take the California Bar Exam. Your registration with the bar must be approved within 10 days of submitting your bar exam application. You must provide your social security number before you will be allowed to register. Do not use a Tax Identification Number. Once your online application has been successfully submitted, you will receive a confirmation email from the state bar. The bar will then send forms to all schools you attended asking them to certify that you have met the pre-legal and legal education requirements. Schools must also submit official transcripts to the bars Office of Admissions.
Testing centers for the February 2019 administration of the California Bar Exam are listed here.
Fees
At the time of your online application, you will be instructed to pay exam fees. In 2018, the general exam fee is $650. If you plan to use your own laptop to take the exam, an extra fee of $150 is charged.
Pass Rates
Your exam results will be mailed to you no later than four months after you take the exam. You may also access them online on a date that will be issued to you post-exam. The pass rate for first-time takers of the February 2018 administration of the California Bar Exam was 42.8%. For the July 2017 exam, 61.4% of first-time test takers passed.
Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination
In addition to passing the Bar exam, you must pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE). This exam is typically taken after completing the first year of law school. Information and study guides for the MPRE can be found at the National Conference of Bar Examiners website.
Licensing and Admission to the Bar
You must apply for admission to the Bar within five years of passing the bar exam. You will be notified of the time and place for you to participate in a ceremony and take the oath of office. This is a requirement of the State Bar in order to be able to practice law in California, not just a ritual.
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Step 5 Now that Youve Been Admitted to the California Bar
Congratulations, new member of the California Bar! If you are in your first five years of practice or under the age of 36, you are also automatically a part of the California Young Lawyers Association. This group offers valuable resources to young lawyers in the state, as well as discounts for young attorneys starting out in practice.
Well-known law firms throughout California that may be in need of help include Baker McKenzie LLP in San Francisco; Arnold & Porter in San Francisco and Palo Alto; Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp, LLP in Los Angeles; Irell & Manella, LLP in Los Angeles and Newport Beach; and Littler Mendelson P.C. in Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco.
Requirements for maintaining license
California attorneys are required to complete 25 hours of approved minimum continuing legal education (MCLE) every three years. You must report your MCLE online through My State Bar Profile system. You will be assigned a Compliance Group by the State Bar based upon your last name, and must report MCLE for a three-year period based upon your groups deadline.
Legal Specialization
The State Bar of California offers the nations first legal specialty certification program that is affiliated with a bar organization, through the State Bar of Californias Board of Legal Specialization. If you are interested in practicing in a specialized area of law, you can show your expertise through examination and become certified to practice in that area. Currently, 11 areas of specialized certification are offered in California:
Admiralty and maritime law
Appellate law
Bankruptcy law
Criminal law
Estate planning, trust and probate law
Family law
Franchise and distribution law
Immigration and nationality law
Legal malpractice law
Taxation law
Workers compensation law
Additionally, the State Bar of California recognizes the following national certification organizations for lawyers:
For more information on legal specialization in California, contact LegalSpec@calbar.ca.gov or call 415-538-2115.
Court Systems in California
The California Judicial Branch is divided into three sections:
Supreme Court highest court in the state, can review decisions of the Court of Appeal and all death penalty sentences. Located at 350 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102-4797
Courts of Appeal this court reviews superior court decisions contested by a party to the case. There are six appellate districts in California, each with a Court of Appeal:
1st District- 350 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
2nd District-
Divisions 1-5, 7, 8 - Ronald Reagan State Building 300 S. Spring Street 2nd Floor, North Tower Los Angeles, CA 90013
Division 6 - Court Place 200 East Santa Clara Street Ventura, CA 93001
3rd District- 621 Capitol Mall, 10th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814
4th District-
Division 1- 750 B Street, Suite 300,San Diego, CA 92101
Division 2- 3389 Twelfth Street, Riverside, CA 92501
Division 3- 601 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana, California 92701
5th District- 2424 Ventura Street, Fresno, CA 93721
6th District- 333 West Santa Clara Street, Suite 1060, San Jose, CA 95113
Superior/Trial Courts 58 courts throughout California, one in each county, that hear civil cases, criminal cases, family, probate and juvenile cases.
Elective membership organizations
Now that you are a member of the California Bar, think about joining a professional support organization such as:
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Steps to become a Lawyer/Attorney in Indiana Follow the step by step process or choose what situation that best describes you:
Law Careers in Indiana
The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute has compiled crime statistics for the state for over twenty years. These statistics can be helpful to prospective lawyers in Indiana if they wish to determine an area of the law in which to specialize. For example, these are a few of the crime trends published in 2016:
18.9 percent of Indianans reported being a victim of identity theft in 2016
Eight percent of state residents reported experiencing stalking or intimidation in 2016
Three percent of state residents reported experience domestic violence at least once in 2016
5.8 percent of all Indianans report that they had been a victim of violent crime
17 percent of all Indiana residents report that they had been a victim of property crime
It is clear from these statistics that lawyers are highly necessary in Indiana. If you would like to discover how to become a lawyer and help improve Indianas justice system and reduce its crime statistics, read on.
Step 1 Get Your Indiana Undergraduate Pre-Law Major
The Indiana Board of Law Examiners has not ruled on undergraduate education for admittees. However, the American Bar Association (ABA) mandates a minimum of a bachelors degree prior to entry into any ABA-approved law school.
Accreditation
When you apply to an ABA-approved law school, they will demand proof that you have graduated from an undergraduate institution that is accredited. If your undergraduate college or university is accredited by an organization listed on the U.S. Department of Education database, the ABA-approved law school to which you apply should accept such accreditation.
Requirements and Standards
Your undergraduate major has little bearing on your admission to law school. Most law schools are looking to see if you took challenging coursework in your undergraduate studies, and could care less about the actual concentration or major you took. However, there are some courses that certain ABA-approved law schools may look for in your undergraduate course work. These include:
Political science
History
Philosophy
Economics
English
Sociology
Psychology
Communications (oral and written)
Degree Options
The ABA requires that, when you apply to ABA-accredited law schools, you possess a minimum of a bachelors degree. This may be in any major you choose. Many pre-law students choose majors from the above-mentioned coursework options, but any challenging major should help you gain entrance to the ABA-approved law school of your choice following graduation.
Law and Paralegal Studies Legal Assistant Legal Studies Paralegal All Criminal Justice Programs Criminal Justice Administration Public Administration and Safety Sponsored
Law and Paralegal Studies Legal Assistant Legal Studies Paralegal All Criminal Justice Programs Criminal Justice Administration Public Administration and Safety Sponsored
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Step 2 Take the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) in Indiana
Once you have received (or are soon to receive) your undergraduate degree, you are ready to take the LSAT, or Law School Admission Test. This standardized test must be passed in order to be accepted into any ABA-approved law school.
How to prepare
The LSAT website provides many helpful, free study aids to help you get ready to take the LSAT. If you want to take a LSAT Prep or Refresher Course, options throughout Indiana include:
LSAT Exam Prep Courses in Indiana:
LSAT Preparation Workshop, Indiana University at Bloomington Health Professions and Prelaw Center
LSAT Free Practice Test, Kaplan at Indiana University, Bloomington
LSAT Hyperlearning Course, Princeton Review
Exam content
In the LSAT, you will encounter:
Logical reasoning two sections of arguments that you must dissect and analyze, determining strengths and weaknesses
two sections of arguments that you must dissect and analyze, determining strengths and weaknesses Reading comprehension- one section consisting of four passages of 500 words each, with about five questions per passage. Passages are usually on topics including arts, humanities, law, social sciences, and physical sciences. You must find the main idea in the passage, draw inferences, describe the structure, and find information.
one section consisting of four passages of 500 words each, with about five questions per passage. Passages are usually on topics including arts, humanities, law, social sciences, and physical sciences. You must find the main idea in the passage, draw inferences, describe the structure, and find information. Analytical reasoning- one section, also known as logic games. These games concern matching, grouping and ordering elements. You must draw conclusions from statements based on a premise and conditions about the premise. .
one section, also known as logic games. These games concern matching, grouping and ordering elements. You must draw conclusions from statements based on a premise and conditions about the premise. . Unscored Variable section- experimental section that can be on any of the above. As you are taking the LSAT, you will not know which section is the experimental one, so you must do your best on every section.
experimental section that can be on any of the above. As you are taking the LSAT, you will not know which section is the experimental one, so you must do your best on every section. Writing sample- This section gives you a problem and two criteria for making a decision. You must write an essay favoring one option over the other. This essay is not scored by the LSAC and does not figure into your LSAT score. However, it is sent to the law schools to which you apply, and will be read by admissions personnel.
Application process
You must apply to take the LSAT through the LSAC online and create an account with them. The fee to take the test as of 2018 is $190, payable online via credit card. You may sign up to take the LSAT on Saturdays or Mondays in November, January and March. These centers throughout Indiana offer the LSAT:
Indiana University-Bloomington, Bloomington
Wabash College, Crawfordsville
University of Evansville, Evansville
Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne
DePauw University, Greencastle
Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis
Ball State University, Muncie
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame
Des Moines Area Community College, Ankeny
Valparaiso University, Valparaiso
Purdue University, West Lafayette
Receiving Your Score
It takes approximately three weeks to receive your LSAT scores in the mail after you take the test. The lowest score possible is 120, and the highest, 180. The following are the median LSAT scores accepted by Indiana law schools:
Indiana University -Bloomington: 161
Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law: 152
Notre Dame Law School: 164
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Step 3 Go to Law School in Indiana
Featured Law School:
Sponsored
University of Dayton
Featured Program: Online Hybrid Juris Doctor: ABA-approved JD program; Prepare to sit for the bar exam in most states; Semester-long legal externship.
Application process
Passing the LSAT is the next step in your quest to become an Indiana lawyer. Now you must apply to ABA-approved law schools, as the Indiana Board of Law Examiners requires that you be a graduate of one of them when you take the states bar exam. There are more than 200 ABA-approved law schools in the United States. You may attend any one of them, not just ones located in Indiana.
Credential Assembly Service
As an applicant to any ABA-approved law school, you must register for LSAC's Credential Assembly Service (CAS). The CAS helps to create law school reports to send to the schools to which you apply. It will forward your academic summary, LSAT scores, writing samples, copies of all transcripts, and copies of letters of recommendation to these schools for you. It is your responsibility to provide the CAS with information including:
Transcripts from all institutions you attended and received college credit both in the United States and elsewhere
Names of persons who will write your letters of recommendation
Names of persons who will provide online evaluations of your work and character
Fee of $195 for the CAS (payable online through your LSAC account)
Accreditation
The Indiana Board of Law Examiners requires all applicants to take the bar exam to graduate from ABA-approved law schools. Consult the LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools for information about ABA-approved law schools in the United States.
ABA-Accredited Law Schools in Indiana
These law schools in Indiana hold ABA accreditation:
Course requirements
Foundational coursework in any ABA-approved law school should include:
Torts
Contracts
Criminal law
Legal research
Legal writing
Constitutional law
Civil procedure
Property
Jurisprudence
Business associations
Taxation
Ethics and Professional responsibility (the Board mandates at least two hours must be taken in this prior to sitting for the bar exam)
It will take at least two but no more than seven years to complete all requirements for your Juris Doctor (J.D.) professional law degree. The ABA mandates that you complete at least 83 semester hours. Most Indiana ABA-approved law schools require an average of 90 semester hours for the J.D. degree.
Online Law Degrees
View Online and Campus Law and Legal Studies Programs (For students who choose to focus on a subset of law other than an attorney.)
Internship
Clinical programs that you can expect to receive an opportunity to participate in will allow you to work with real-life clients in a legal setting. This may be through pro bono work, in legal aid clinics, in governmental or non-profit agencies, or in other settings in which lawyers work. You will be graded on your performance by in-field supervisors and faculty who will visit you on the job site.
Degree Programs
The Indiana Board of Law Examiners requires that you have a J.D. degree to take the bar exam. You may find other degree options in Indianas ABA-approved law schools, including dual degrees and certificates. Some of these may be:
Dual Degrees:
J.D. /M.B.A.
J.D./M.A. in English
J.D./M.Eng. in Engineering
Advanced Law Degrees (obtained after receiving the J.D.):
L.L.M. in International and Comparative Law
L.L.M. in International Human Rights Law
J.S.D. in International Human Rights Law
Programs of Study/Possible Concentrations in your J.D. Program:
Business Law
Criminal Law
Global Law
Ethics and Public Policy
Public Law
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Step 4 Take the Indiana State Bar Exam
After receiving your J.D. from an ABA-approved law school, it is time to take the Indiana bar exam. This exam is offered in February and July. If you have less than five credit hours to complete to receive your J.D. degree, are within 100 days of graduation, have completed at least two hours of professional responsibility coursework, and have completed all other requirements for bar admission, you may also apply to take the bar exam.
Preparation
Options to help you prepare for the Indiana Bar Exam include:
The National Conference of Bar Examiners website also provides sample questions for the national portions of the test, including the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), and Multistate Bar Examination (MBE).
Exam content
The Indiana Bar Exam consists of:
Indiana Essay Examination, with topics including:
Administrative law
Business organizations
Family law
Federal and state corporate tax, personal income tax, and gift and estate tax
Indiana Constitutional law
Indiana employment law, including wage claim statutes and wage payment statutes
Indiana debt collection, including attachment, garnishment and bankruptcy exemptions
Residential landlord-tenant law
Pleading and practice, including the Indiana Tort Claims Act and statutes of limitation
Secured transactions
Trusts, wills and estates
Multistate Performance Test (MPT), which requires you to perform a lawyers task involving a file and a library. You may be asked to write a memorandum, prepare a legal brief, or other similar performance task. Skills tested include:
Problem solving
Legal reasoning and analysis
Factual analysis
Organization/management of legal task
Communications
Recognizing ethical dilemmas
Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), which could include questions on:
Constitutional law
Contracts
Criminal law
Evidence
Real property
Torts
Civil procedure
Application Process
Apply to take the Indiana Bar Examination online. Make sure that you first register with the Indiana Bar Admission for an account before submitting your bar examination application.
You will be asked for contact information for three references. The Board will send these references forms to complete and return to them.
Pay a $250 filing fee if filing on time or $500 if filing late (after April 16 for the July exam and after November 16 for the February exam) payable to State Board of Law Examiners
Complete the application and submit it before uploading any documents requested. These include Deans Certification- Form C3, Authorization and Release Form, and Certified Driving Record.
Upload a recent photo of yourself that is at least 300 x 300 pixels.
Have your fingerprints taken by going to State Police station or Law Enforcement Facility that takes fingerprints. Upload your fingerprint form when completed.
After your application is processed, you will be contacted with information on your Character and Fitness Personal Interview. This will be conducted in your county at least 30 days prior to the bar exam.
Pass Rates
The Indiana Board of Law Examiners reports the following passing scores for the most recent bar exams:
July 2018- 65 percent overall pass rate, 75 percent pass rate for first-timers
February 2018- 51 percent overall pass rate, 70 percent pass rate for first-timers
Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE)
You must pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) with a scaled score of 80 within two years before or after the date you pass the Indiana bar exam. Consult the above link to register to take this exam.
Attorneys Admitted to Practice in Another State
If you are already an attorney who is licensed to practice in another state, you may apply for admission to Indianas bar in three ways:
Take the bar examination (see above)
Apply for Admission on Foreign License if you meet these requirements:
Practiced for five of the last seven years in your jurisdiction
Intend to actively and predominantly practice law in Indiana
Will practice for at least 1000 hours/year in Indiana
Graduated from an ABA-approved law school
You are in good standing in all jurisdictions in which you are licensed
You pass Indianas character and fitness investigation/interview
Apply for Business Counsel License if you meet these requirements:
Have less than five years practice experience in another state
Reside in Indiana
Receive all your income from your employer
You plan to practice predominantly in Indiana
You plan to practice for at least 1000 hours/year in Indiana
You are in good standing in all jurisdictions in which you are licensed
You pass Indianas character and fitness investigation/interview
For more information about application for Foreign License or Business Counsel License, click on the appropriate link.
Foreign Law School Graduates
Foreign law school graduates are not eligible to take the Indiana bar exam.
Licensing and Admission to the Bar
You should receive your bar exam scores by mail about nine weeks after taking the exam. You will be told of the time and place of your swearing-in ceremony and admission to the bar. This is the oath you must take and subscribe to:
I do solemnly swear or affirm that: I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Indiana; I will maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers; I will not counsel or maintain any action, proceeding, or defense which shall appear to me to be unjust, but this obligation shall not prevent me from defending a person charged with crime in any case; I will employ for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to me, such means only as are consistent with truth, and never seek to mislead the court or jury by any artifice or false statement of fact or law; I will maintain the confidence and preserve inviolate the secrets of my client at every peril to myself; I will abstain from offensive personality and advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, unless required by the justice of the cause with which I am charged; I will not encourage either the commencement or the continuance of any action or proceeding from any motive of passion or interest; I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless, the oppressed or those who cannot afford adequate legal assistance; so help me God.
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Step 5 Now that Youve Been Accepted to the Indiana Bar
Youve done it youve passed the bar exam and are now a licensed lawyer in Indiana! As a new admittee to the Indiana state bar, you must complete a mandatory six hours of applied professionalism coursework in your first three years of membership. You may also want to consider joining the Indiana State Bar Associations Young Lawyers section for a minimal fee. All members under the age of 36 are eligible for membership in this section. It can be an invaluable resource in helping you set up your own practice, familiarize yourself with the laws of Indiana, and in networking for jobs.
If you choose to join an established Indiana legal firm, you have many from which to choose. Names include Bose McKinney & Evans, specializing in trusts and estate law in Indianapolis; tax attorneys Hargrove Madden in Indianapolis; Bunger & Robertson, with a variety of specializations in Bloomington; Faegre, Baker & Daniels, with a variety of practice areas in Indianapolis; Rudolph, Fine, Porter & Johnson, specializing in workers compensation law in Evansville; and the Sweeney Law Firm, specializing in medical malpractice and personal injury in Fort Wayne.
Companies in Indiana that typically hire lawyers in some capacity include pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly in Indianapolis; metals company Steel Dynamics in Fort Wayne; Lincoln Financial Group in Fort Wayne; retailer and merchandiser Vera Bradley Corporate Headquarters in Roanoke; insurers Baldwin & Lyons in Indianapolis; and the main office of health benefits company Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. Indianapolis.
Legal specialty certification
To be recognized as certified in a field of law in Indiana, you must first be an active member of the bar in good standing, as well as be certified by an independent certification organization (ICO) approved by CLE. Furthermore, you must be incompliance with the Indiana Bar Certification Review Plan, the rules and policies of the ICO and the rules and policies of CLE. Approved areas currently include family law, elder law, consumer and business bankruptcy law, civil and criminal trial advocacy, and creditors rights.
Requirements for maintaining license
In order to maintain your law license in Indiana, you must complete 36 hours of continuing legal education (CLE) every three years, with a minimum of six hours completed each year. Three of your 36 hours must be in professional responsibility. For more information consult the Commission for Continuing Legal Education.
Court Systems in Indiana
The Indiana Judicial System consists of the following, from the lowest court to the highest court:
Town Courts consists of 27 courts in towns throughout the state, each court has exclusive jurisdiction of misdemeanors and infractions in the town and violations of town ordinances
City Courts 44 city courts across the state, with jurisdiction of misdemeanors and infractions in the city and violation of city ordinances
Small Claims Court located only in Marion County, the Small Claims Court hears civil cases under $6000
Probate Court- located only in St. Joseph, the Probate Court has original and concurrent jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases, as well as appellate jurisdiction over appeals from city and town courts.
Circuit Courts 91 judicial circuits exist throughout Indiana, one for each of 90 counties (Ohio and Dearborn counties share a judicial circuit). The Circuit Courts have concurrent jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases, as well as appellate jurisdiction over appeals from city and town courts
Superior Courts Usually at least one in each of the 92 counties in Indiana. Superior Courts are trial courts with original and concurrent jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases, as well as appellate jurisdiction over city and town courts. They can also establish small claims cases and minor offense divisions
Tax Court- exists only in Indianapolis, has exclusive jurisdiction in tax appeals. It is located at 115 W. Washington Street, Suite 960S, Indianapolis, IN 46204.
Court of Appeals exist in five districts across Indiana, and reviews final decisions of certain administrative agencies. It also has jurisdiction over appeals not taken to the Supreme Court.
Indiana Supreme Court- Indianas highest court has the power to review and revise sentences imposed by lower courts. It also has exclusive jurisdiction in bar admission, discipline of attorneys, discipline of judges, court jurisdiction supervision, issuing writs, death sentence appeals, denial of post-conviction relief appeals for death sentences, appeals in cases in which a state or federal statute has been declared unconstitutional, and cases involving emergency, great public importance, or substantial questions of law. It is located at 315 Indiana State House, 200 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204.
Elective membership organizations
Although you are a now a member of the Indiana Bar Association, you might also think about joining another beneficial professional membership organization for lawyers in the state, such as:
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Steps to become a Lawyer/Attorney in Kentucky Follow the step by step process or choose what situation that best describes you:
Law Career Information in Kentucky
The American Bar Association lists 13,509 resident and active lawyers in Kentucky as of 2017. Workforce Kentucky predicts about 3324 openings for lawyers across the state from 2016 through 2026. This represents an increase for employment in this profession of 5.8 percent. As of 2017, lawyers in Kentucky earn an average annual salary of $94.196. If you wish to claim one of the many jobs that are expected to become available for lawyers in Kentucky over the next several years, keep reading.
Step 1 Get Your Kentucky Undergraduate Pre-Law Major
The Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions does not call for undergraduate education. The Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions stresses the importance of graduating from a law school approved by the American Bar Association. You must obtain at least a bachelors degree before entering any ABA-approved law school.
College Accreditation
National or regional accreditation by an agency listed with the U.S. Department of Education is mandatory before you will be accepted into any ABA-approved law school.
Requirements and Standards
Pre-law undergraduate education does not have any rules or limits imposed upon it by the ABA. You should take coursework that challenges and interests you. Recommended fields to take courses in include economics, philosophy, political science, English, communications, psychology, and sociology.
Pre-Law Degree Options
The ABA does not require a specific major for your undergraduate degree. Some majors may be more helpful to your future success as a lawyer than others may be. Undergraduate majors taken from the above-listed disciplines have shown to help students the most in law school and beyond.
Law and Paralegal Studies Legal Assistant Legal Studies Paralegal All Criminal Justice Programs Criminal Justice Administration Public Administration and Safety Sponsored
Law and Paralegal Studies Legal Assistant Legal Studies Paralegal All Criminal Justice Programs Criminal Justice Administration Public Administration and Safety Sponsored
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Step 2 LSAT (Law School Admission Test) in Kentucky
All ABA-accredited law institutions mandate that you pass the LSAT, or Law School Admission Test prior to enrollment. It is a six-hour-long standardized test offered four times annually at examination centers all over the world.
How to prepare
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) offers free study materials on the LSAT website that will help you get ready to take the LSAT. If you wish to take formal, paid LSAT preparation courses, the following options are open to you in the Kentucky area:
LSAT Exam Prep Courses in Kentucky:
LSAT Prep Course, TestMasters, Louisville, live classroom and online courses
LSAT Prep, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights
LSAT Prep, Get Prepped!, Lexington
Exam content
The content of the LSAT includes:
Reading Comprehension You must read a complex passage and answer questions based upon that passage
You must read a complex passage and answer questions based upon that passage Analytical Reasoning This may involve various types of logic games, including ordering games, characteristic games, grouping games, spatial games, networking games, and map games
This may involve various types of logic games, including ordering games, characteristic games, grouping games, spatial games, networking games, and map games Logical Reasoning This involves critical reasoning, deductive reasoning and finding logical fallacies and/or conclusions from arguments.
This involves critical reasoning, deductive reasoning and finding logical fallacies and/or conclusions from arguments. Writing Sample You must write an essay during the LSAT on a given topic. This essay is not scored as part of the LSAT but is sent to the admissions personnel at the ABA-accredited law schools to which you apply.
Application process
LSAT applications are accepted online at the LSAC website, where you must create an account and pay the testing fee of $190. You may take the LSAT in November, January and March (over a two-day period each month). Centers throughout Kentucky that administer the LSAT include:
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green
Centre College, Danville
Gateway Community & Technical College, Florence
Kentucky State University, Frankfort
Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights
University of Kentucky, Lexington
University of Louisville, Louisville
Morehead State University, Morehead
Murray State University, Murray
Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond
Receiving Your LSAT Score
Approximately 21 days after taking the LSAT, you will receive your score via postal mail. The lowest score possible is 120, and the highest score possible is 180. The University of Kentucky accepts students with a median LSAT score of 152. The University of Louisville accepts students with median LSAT scores of 151.
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Step 3 Go to Law School in Kentucky - Law Degree
Featured Law School:
Sponsored
University of Dayton
Featured Program: Online Hybrid Juris Doctor: ABA-approved JD program; Prepare to sit for the bar exam in most states; Semester-long legal externship.
Law School Application process in Kentuckly
Kudos to you for passing the LSAT! Now you are ready to begin applying to ABA-accredited law institutions. The Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions prefers that you graduate from an ABA-accredited law institution in the United States it need not be in Kentucky. There are more than 200 ABA-accredited law schools nationwide, listed in the LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools. (Information for graduates of non-ABA-approved law schools and foreign law schools is provided at the end of this section).
Credential Assembly Service
The LSACs Credential Assembly Service (CAS) is a handy and necessary tool when applying to any ABA-approved law school. This service helps you to gather all transcripts from undergraduate and graduate institutions you have attended thus far, as well as gathering recommendation letters and online evaluations of your character and work. The CAS also takes care of applying to the ABA-approved law schools of your choice. The LSAC charges $195 for usage of the CAS.
ABA-Accredited Law Schools in Kentucky
Three law schools in Kentucky are ABA-accredited:
Course requirements
You will take coursework in (but not limited to) the following areas:
Business associations
Constitutional law
Conflict of laws
Civil law and procedure
Criminal law and procedure
Evidence
Federal law
Trusts and estates
Uniform Commercial Code
It must take you at least two years, but no longer than seven years, to earn your Juris Doctor (JD) degree, per ABA rules. This averages to about 83 semester hours in total.
Online Law Degrees
View Online and Campus Law and Legal Studies Programs (For students who choose to focus on a subset of law other than an attorney.)
Internship
You will likely be placed into an internship of some sort during your time at law school. This may involve working in a school-based legal clinic serving indigent clients, working in a governmental agency or office, or working with real lawyers in tandem performing legal research. Your performance on your internship will be assessed by supervisors in the field as well as by law school faculty members.
J.D Degree Programs
The Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions insists that you have a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree before taking the states bar exam. It is preferred that this degree comes from an ABA-accredited law institution, but rules for graduates of non-ABA-accredited law schools and foreign law schools are listed below.
Non-ABA- Approved Law School Graduates
If you graduated from a non-ABA-accredited law school, you may still be eligible to take the Kentucky bar exam. You must meet all of the following prerequisites:
You hold a J.D. degree from a school that is nationally or regionally accredited in the jurisdiction in which it is located
You have graduated from a course of legal study of at least three years and equivalent to that of an ABA-approved Kentucky law school (evaluation equivalency is conducted by the Board of Bar Admissions and paid for by the applicant)
You have worked actively as a lawyer for three of the past five years
You meet all other admission requirements (including moral character and professional responsibility)
Graduates of Foreign Law Schools
Did you graduate from a law school located in another country? You may still be eligible to take Kentuckys bar exam if you meet these prerequisites:
Your education equivalency is evaluated by the Board of Bar Admissions (paid for by you) and determined to be equivalent to that of ABA-approved law schools in Kentucky
You submit a certified copy of your license that allows you to practice law in the country from which you graduated law school
You have practiced law in that country for three of the past five years
Milestones
The University of Kentucky College of Law offers checklists of the following milestones that you should complete at the end of each year of law school:
First Year:
Identify and comply with the bar admission requirements of the jurisdiction in which you wish to practice law
Determine the bar exam subjects for this jurisdiction
Consider applying for a bar exam review course as the cost will be lower now
Consider your states bar exam requirements when choosing coursework
Learn IRAC
Review your performance on law school final exams with professors
Begin learning to write clearly and effectively
Second Year:
Recheck and comply with the bar admission requirements of the jurisdiction in which you wish to practice law in case they have changed
Determine bar exam subjects
Consider bar exam requirements when choosing coursework
Plan ahead to have finances to cover bar exam and review courses
Check into applying for a bar exam loan if necessary
Plan to take off from work during the time that you will study for the bar exam
Plan to take the MPRE (Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam) during the summer after your second year of law school or fall of your third year (depending on your jurisdictions requirements). Apply to take the MPRE here.
Third Year:
Recheck and comply with the bar admission requirements of the jurisdiction in which you wish to practice law in case they have changed
Update any applications you made during your first or second year of law school
Negotiate with employers to pay for bar exam application or bar review fees
Enroll in a commercial bar review course
Register to take the MPRE (if you have not already done so)
Plan ahead to have finances to cover bar exam and review courses
Plan to take off from work during the time that you will study for the bar exam
Plan where you will live while studying for the bar exam. Avoid moving during this study period, as it will take time away from your studying.
Plan to study six hours per day for the bar exam (in addition to daily time spent in bar review courses)
Reserve a room in the city in which you will take the bar exam (if necessary)
Book transportation (if necessary)
Plan to arrive to the location at least a day before the exam
Seek approval for any medication (even over-the-counter) that you may need to take during the bar exam
Study your jurisdictions instructions for the bar exam
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Step 4 Take and Pass the Kenucky State Bar Exam
You must have completed all requirements for your JD degree prior to sitting for the Kentucky bar exam. You must also meet the states Essential Eligibility Requirements to practice law, and pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) with a scaled score of 75 or more before taking the Kentucky bar exam. Apply to take the MPRE here.
Preparation
Exam review material is provided by the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions at its website. Included are past Kentucky essay questions, information on studying for the national portions of the exam (the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) and the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE)). Bar preparation courses that you may take in Kentucky include:
MEE Essay Master Course, AmeriBar, online
Bar Exam Review, Themis Bar Review, online
Kentucky Bar Review Course, Kaplan, in person and online
Exam content
You will take the Kentucky Bar Exam over two days. The first day is devoted to essay questions, with six state essay questions in the morning and six MEE essay questions in the afternoon. Subjects that may be included on this part are:
Administrative Law & Procedure
Agency
Conflict of Laws
Corporations
Domestic Relations
Federal Taxation
Kentucky & Federal Civil Procedure
Partnerships
Personal Property
UCC
Wills & Trusts, and Future Interests
Plus the subjects from the MBE (see below)
The second day is devoted to the MBE, consisting of 200 multiple-choice questions. Subjects may include:
Constitutional Law
Contracts/Sales
Criminal Law/Procedure
Evidence
Real Property
Torts
If you have already taken the MBE in another jurisdiction within the past three years, and obtained a scaled score of 132 or higher, you may arrange for these scores to be transferred to Kentucky.
Application Process
You must apply for admission to the Kentucky Bar online, creating a new online account when you do so. Once you begin your application, you may save it and come back to it any time to complete it. You will be given instructions if you must print out any forms to have notarized and mail in to the Office. You will also be told of any supporting documentation you must send in. After your application is complete, submit the application online by clicking the appropriate button. You must mail your application fee of $875 payable to the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions via certified check, cashiers check, money order, law firm check or corporate check. (No credit cards or cash will be accepted). This fee must accompany the supporting notarized documents you mail to the Office. Mail to Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions, 1510 Newtown Pike, Suite 156, Lexington, KY 40511-1255. Along with your fee and other documents you must mail:
Application signature page, with passport photo taped, signed and notarized
Two Authorization and Release Forms, signed and notarized
Copy of your credit report no more than 60 days old
You must also submit criminal history records from every state where you have lived, worked or attended school for at least six months within the last five years
After applying, you will receive a confirmation email from the Office immediately. The status of your application (and approval to take the bar exam) will be listed on the My Dashboard page of your online account.
Bar Pass Rates
The Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions has posted the following passing statistics for past bar exams:
February 2018: 44 percent overall pass rate
July 2018: 67 percent overall pass rate
Admission Without Examination
If you meet the following requirements you may qualify for admission to the Kentucky bar without examination:
You graduated from an ABA-approved law school with a JD degree
You have already been admitted to bar of another jurisdiction in one of the reciprocal states listed here
You have practiced law in that jurisdiction for at least five of the past seven years
The other jurisdiction has a similar policy that would allow Kentucky lawyers reciprocity without taking their bar exam
You obtained at least a 75 on the MPRE
Licensing and Admission to the Bar
It will take approximately nine weeks to obtain your bar exam scores by email. They will also be posted on the Office of Bar Admissions website. The Office will notify you of the date and location of your bar admission ceremony.
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Step 5 Now that Youve Been Admitted to the Kentucky Bar
Now that you have been admitted to the Kentucky bar, you must decide where you wish to work. Do you want to open your own solo law practice? Would you rather join an established law firm? Perhaps you would like to work for a for-profit or non-profit corporation. All of these avenues are available to bar members in Kentucky.
The Young Lawyers Division of the Kentucky Bar Association can help you in deciding which direction you wish your career to take. If you are a Kentucky lawyer who is 40 years of age or younger or have practiced law for 10 years or less (regardless of your age), you may join the Young Lawyers Division.
Established law firms throughout Kentucky are often hiring new talent. Some of the most famous firms include multipractice firm McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland in Lexington; multidisciplinary law firm Frost, Brown, Todd in Louisville; corporate law and civil defense litigators Boehl, Stopher & Graves in Paducah; civil, criminal and family lawyers Claycomb & Kidd in Richmond; and multipractice firm Blau & Kriege in Cold Spring.
Fortune 500 corporations in Kentucky that may need legal help include wine and spirits company Brown-Forman in Louisville, health insurer Humana in Louisville; food services corporation Yum Brands in Louisville; healthcare services company Kindred Healthcare in Louisville; and restaurant company Texas Roadhouse in Louisville.
Nonprofit organizations throughout Kentucky that may hire lawyers include the Centre for Nonprofit Excellence in Louisville; Center for Women and Families in Louisville; Kentucky Fish & Wildlife Foundation in Frankfort; Step by Step, Inc. in Lexington; and the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville.
Legal specialty certification
Various organizations exist throughout the country offering legal specialty certification to lawyers who wish to practice in a certain area. They include:
Requirements for maintaining license
In order to maintain your law license in Kentucky, you must complete 12.5 hours of continuing legal education (CLE) annually. This must include at least two hours of ethics coursework. Contact the Kentucky Bar Association for further information.
Court Systems in Kentucky
The Kentucky Court of Justice consists of four levels of courts. They are, from highest to lowest:
Appellate Courts:
Kentucky Supreme Court the highest court in Kentucky and the court of last resort, the Supreme Court hears direct appeals involving the death penalty, life imprisonment, and imprisonment for 20 or more years. Other appeals it hears come from the Court of Appeals. It is located in the State Capitol, Room 235, 700 Capitol Avenue, Frankfort, KY 40601.
Kentucky Court of Appeals- usually reviews cases that were decided in Circuit Court. Cases are not retried at the Court of Appeals level, just reviewed by the appellate judges. The Court of Appeals is located at 360 Democrat Drive, Frankfort, KY40601.
Trial Courts:
Circuit Court - Kentuckys court of general jurisdiction hears all types of cases, including civil matters over $4,000, capital offenses and felonies, divorces, adoptions, termination of parental rights, land dispute title problems and contested probates of will. This court may also issue injunctions, writs of prohibition, and mandamus to compel or prohibit acts. Circuit Court may hear appeals from District Court and administrative agencies.
Kentuckys court of general jurisdiction hears all types of cases, including civil matters over $4,000, capital offenses and felonies, divorces, adoptions, termination of parental rights, land dispute title problems and contested probates of will. This court may also issue injunctions, writs of prohibition, and mandamus to compel or prohibit acts. Circuit Court may hear appeals from District Court and administrative agencies. District Court- court with limited jurisdiction, hears cases involving juvenile matters, city and county ordinances, traffic offenses, probates of will, felony preliminary hearings and civil cases under $4,00; as well as cases of guardianship, conservatorship, voluntary or involuntary commitment, child abuse and neglect, and domestic violence.
Elective membership organizations
Think about becoming a member of any of these organizations for lawyers in Kentucky that is applicable to your situation:
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Steps to become a Lawyer/Attorney in Maine Follow the step by step process or choose what situation that best describes you:
Law Career Info in Maine
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor has published figures for May 2017 stating that the average lawyer in Maine earned a salary of $82,610 that year. Lawyers practicing in certain areas of the state made higher annual salaries than average. For example, lawyers working in the Portland-South Portland area earned an average salary of $100,030. Lawyers in Maine specialize in a variety of areas, including health law, insurance law, federal and state taxation, natural resources and environmental law, workers compensation law, womens law, child protection and juvenile justice, and elder law. If you would like to join the 3940 actively practicing lawyers in the state and become a lawyer in Maine, keep reading.
Step 1 Get Your Maine Undergraduate Pre-Law Major
The Maine Board of Bar Examiners requires that you have a minimum of a bachelors degree before beginning your legal education.
Accreditation
Although Bar Admission Rules for Maine do not state any accreditation necessary for your undergraduate education, when you apply to an American Bar Association (ABA)-accredited law school, you will need proof that your bachelors degree is from an accredited college or university. Accrediting organizations listed with the U.S. Department of Education are commonly recognized for such purposes by ABA-accredited law schools.
Requirements and Standards
The only requirement of your undergraduate education is that you obtain a bachelors degree from a nationally or regionally accredited institution. However, the ABA has recommended certain types of courses and subjects that have proven to be most helpful to students when they enter law school. They include:
Economics
Politics and government
Communications (oral and written)
History
English
Psychology
Sociology
World Cultures
Degree Options
Since no major is specified by the Maine Board of Bar Examiners or by the ABA, any major is acceptable in your undergraduate education, so long as you graduate with a bachelors degree. Majors taken from the above course and subject areas are usually the most beneficial to your future law school career, however.
Law and Paralegal Studies Legal Assistant Legal Studies Paralegal All Criminal Justice Programs Criminal Justice Administration Public Administration and Safety Sponsored
Law and Paralegal Studies Legal Assistant Legal Studies Paralegal All Criminal Justice Programs Criminal Justice Administration Public Administration and Safety Sponsored
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Step 2 LSAT (Law School Admission Test) in Maine
You must next pass the LSAT, or Law School Admission Test, before any ABA-accredited law school will accept your application for admission. It is a standardized test of about six hours in duration, given four times annually.
How to prepare
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) provides free study resources at the LSAT website, including practice tests and question/answer explanations. Other LSAT preparation resources include:
LSAT Exam Prep Courses in Maine:
Exam content
There are four scored sections in the LSAT:
Logical Reasoning two sections in which you are presented with a short paragraph and must answer questions based upon the contents of the paragraph. It involves activities like finding answers based upon the paragraph, finding answers that weaken the paragraphs argument, or finding assumptions made in the paragraph.
Reading Comprehension one section consisting of four longer (600-word) passages, and seven questions per passage. You must be able to identify the main point of the passage and make inferences based upon the passage in order to answer the questions.
Analytical Reasoning one section, also known by students as Logic Games. Four games with about seven questions per game are presented. Each game describes a situation and a list of rules. You must determine what is true and what is not true based upon the rules.
Application process
Apply online with the LSAC to take the LSAT. Your exam fee of $160 is also payable online. You may take the LSAT on Mondays or Saturdays in November, January and March. The following centers in Maine offer the LSAT:
Bowdoin College, Brunswick
University of Maine, Orono
University of Southern Maine, Portland
Colby College, Waterville
Receiving Your Score
It takes approximately three weeks before you will find your LSAT scores in your mailbox. The lowest score you can receive is a 120, and 180 is the highest. Scores commonly accepted by ABA-approved law schools in Maine include:
University of Maine School of Law: 152
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Step 3 Go to Law School in Maine
Featured Law School:
Sponsored
University of Dayton
Featured Program: Online Hybrid Juris Doctor: ABA-approved JD program; Prepare to sit for the bar exam in most states; Semester-long legal externship.
Application process
You are now ready to apply to law schools. It is recommended that you apply to ABA-approved law schools, but the Maine Board of Bar Examiners will also accept non-ABA approved schools under certain conditions (see below). There are over 200 ABA-approved law schools across the United States. Services that each requires for admissions are in this list.
Credential Assembly Service
If you do apply to an ABA-approved law school, you must use the LSACs Credential Assembly Service (CAS). It will help you to gather your transcripts from all institutions you have attended up to this point, recommendation letters, and online evaluations. It will also apply electronically to the ABA-approved law schools you choose. You are charged $195 for the CAS, payable online through your LSAC account. Some non ABA-approved law schools may also require you to use the CAS. Check with the schools in which you are interested for their specific admission requirements.
Accreditation
Under the rules of the Maine Board of Bar Examiners, you must graduate either from an ABA-accredited law school or from a law school accredited by the jurisdiction in which it is located. A list of all 200 ABA-accredited law schools in the United States may be found in the LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools.
If you graduate from a law school that is not ABA-accredited, the following conditions apply:
You must have either graduated from a law school accredited by the jurisdiction in which it is located and have been admitted to practice by exam to a US jurisdiction and have practiced law actively in that jurisdiction for at least three years; OR
You must have completed two-thirds of your graduation requirements from an ABA-approved law school and within 12 months after completing these requirements, studied law in a Maine attorneys office full time for at least 12 months.
ABA-Accredited Law Schools in Maine
Only one law school in Maine holds ABA-accreditation:
University of Maine School of Law, Portland
Course requirements
Law school coursework in Maine should include:
Civil Procedure
Constitutional Law
Legal Writing
Torts
Criminal Law
Property
Contracts
Administrative Law
Business Associations
Evidence
Taxation
Trusts and Estates
One upper-level commercial law course (such as bankruptcy, secured transactions or negotiable instruments)
Online Law Degrees
View Online and Campus Law and Legal Studies Programs (For students who choose to focus on a subset of law other than an attorney.)
Internship
Clinical internships/externships give you the opportunity to practice what you have learned in the classroom in a real-life, hands-on situation. Depending upon your law school, opportunities that may be available to you include legal aid clinics, justice clinics, prisoner assistance clinics, human rights clinics, and patent clinics. Your performance will be graded just as a regular academic course would, by on-site supervisors and law school professors.
Degree Programs
You must graduate with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) or Bachelor of Laws (foreign equivalent) degree from an ABA-approved law school (or non-ABA approved school if you meet the conditions outlined above). Other degree programs may exist at your law school, such as:
JD/MBA dual law degree with a Master in Business Administration
JD/MCP dual law degree with a Master in Community Planning and Management
JD/MS dual law degree with a Master in Health Policy and Management
Foreign Law School Graduates
Did you graduate from a law school outside of the United States? You may be eligible to take the Maine Bar Exam if you satisfy the requirements of the states Regulation for Determining Equivalency of Foreign Legal Education and if you have practiced for at least three years in the jurisdiction in which you are licensed. Under this rule, you must complete 24 semester hours of credit at an ABA-approved law school, with at least 16 semester hours in five of the following categories:
Constitutional law
Evidence
Procedure
Taxation
Decedents estates
Uniform Commercial Code
Business organizations/corporations
Real property
Torts
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Step 4 Take the Maine State Bar Exam
Once you have met the states educational requirements, you may sit for the Maine bar exam. It is offered twice annually, in February and July. If you wish to take the February exam, you must file your application between October 15 and December 20. If you wish to take the July exam, you must file between March 15 and May 20.
Preparation
Maine administers the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), consisting of the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), Multistate Performance Test (MPT) and Multistate Bar Examination (MBE). Preparation information can be found at the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) website.
You may also want to consult the following preparation resources before taking the Maine bar exam:
Exam content
You will take the Maine Bar Exam over a two-day period. Parts of the exam include:
Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) 6 hours, 200 multiple choice questions
Multistate Performance Test (MPT) 90 minutes, one performance question
Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) six 30-minute essay questions
Topics that you may encounter on the Maine bar exam include:
Business associations
Conflict of laws
Constitutional law
Contracts
Criminal law and procedure
Civil law and procedure
Evidence
Family law
Maine professional responsibility
Uniform Commercial Code
Taxation
Wills, trusts, estates
Real property
Application Process
Before filing an application to take Maines bar exam, you must answer some preliminary questions found here.
If you graduated from the Massachusetts School of Law, read this.
If you graduated from a foreign law school, read this.
If you have a disability or condition that will affect your ability to take the Maine bar examination, read this.
Read the Maine Bar Admission Rules.
Read the Application Procedures.
Use the correct application form from the ones listed here, along with the supplementary documentation you will need.
The application fee is $600 for applicants who have not been admitted to practice law in another jurisdiction for one year or more. If you have been admitted to another jurisdiction, the fee is $650, plus a fee paid to the NCBE that may be from $90 to $450 (check the NCBE website).
All application fees must be paid via personal check, cashier's check, treasurer's check, or money order made payable to the Board of Bar Examiners
Applications, fees and supporting documentation must be mailed directly to Executive Director, Maine Board of Bar Examiners, 40 Water Street, 2nd Floor, Hallowell, ME 04347.
Pass Rates
According to the Maine Board of Bar Examiners, in February 2018, the pass rate for the Maine Bar Exam was 69 percent.
Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE)
You must also pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) with a score of at least 80 before admission to Maines bar can occur. Consult the NCBE for information on where and when to take the MPRE.
Admission by Motion
You may be admitted to the Maine Bar without taking an examination if you:
Are admitted to practice law in any other state, territory or DC, and
Have been actively practicing law for three of the past five years
Admission by Motion application forms can be found here.
Licensing and Admission to the Bar
It will take about 75 days for the Board to mail your bar exam results to you. Along with your scores will be instructions on where and when your bar admission ceremony will take place.
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Step 5 Now that You Have Passed the Bar in Maine
You have done it! You have passed the Maine bar exam and are now a licensed member of the Maine bar! The Maine Bar Association has many resources to help new lawyers get their careers off the ground, whether you wish to open your own practice or join an existing one. Their free online research tool, Casemaker, is available to all bar members and can help streamline your legal research.
If your idea of being a Maine lawyer is to open your own solo practice, you might benefit from reading this article on MyShingle.com that addresses that very issue. Is joining a larger, more established law firm more to your liking? If so, many laws firms are located throughout Maine, including multi-service law firm Bernstein Shur in Augusta; personal injury specialists Peter Thompson & Associates in Falmouth/Portland; wrongful death attorneys Skelton, Taintor & Abbott in Auburn; criminal lawyers the DeGrinney Firm in Portland; and civil litigators Richardson, Whitman, Large & Badger in Bangor.
Nonprofit organizations often hire graduates fresh out of law school. Such organizations in Maine include Kennebunk Land Trust, Advocates for Children in Lewiston, Biodiversity Research Institute in Gorham, Allies Inc. in Bangor, and Birth Roots in Portland.
Legal specialty certification
Are you particularly interested in a certain area of the law? Why not become certified so that you can specialize in practicing it? The National Board of Trial Advocacy provides certification services for specializations in civil, criminal, and family law; social security disability advocacy and civil trial law advocacy. You must pass an exam as part of the certification process.
Requirements for maintaining license
In Maine, you must complete 11 hours of continuing legal education (CLE) each year to maintain your license to practice law. At least one of these hours must be in professional responsibility and/or ethics, and 5.5 hours of the 11 total must consist of live education credits (not online). Contact the Maine State Bar Association for more information.
Court Systems in Maine
The structure of Maines judicial system includes the following:
Supreme Court- the highest court in Maine, the Supreme Court hears appeals from trial courts in civil and criminal cases, appeals from criminal sentences, and disciplines lawyers in the state
Superior Court- the only level of Maines judicial system in which jury trials are available, the Superior Court is Maines trial court of general jurisdiction. Among other types of cases, it hears adult criminal cases, post-conviction reviews, jury and jury-waived civil cases, and appeals from administrative agencies. Each of Maines 16 counties has one Superior Court (except Aroostook, which has two).
District Court- The district court hears cases in 13 districts throughout the state. Without a jury, it hears civil, criminal and family matters, including domestic relations cases, as well as involuntary commitment cases.
Elective membership organizations
Think about becoming a member of one of the following associations for Maine lawyers. Membership in any of these organizations could help you as you start your career in Maine law:
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Oct 6, 2018, 1:36am ET
Genoa plans ban on pre-1999 Vespas
Vespa owners are fighting back.
City officials in Genoa, Italy, have confirmed a plan to ban pre-1999 scooters from driving into the city center between 7 am and 7 pm in a bid to curb air pollution. Thousands of scooter owners and enthusiasts have vowed to fight back.
Set to come into effect in February 2019, the ban is aimed largely at two-stroke models (including the emblematic Vespa and its three-wheeled derivative, the Ape) not compliant with any of the Euro norms. While that sounds like a small subset of the automotive landscape, the number of commuters who rely on an older Vespa to get to and from work in Genoa is surprisingly high. It's the city the Vespa was born in.
Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera points out there are about 180,000 scooters and mopeds in Genoa, a city of 600,000 people. That's twice the national average in scooter-loving Italy. Genoa also has one of the lowest number of cars per capita in Italy; it's beaten only by Venice, where boats inevitably reign supreme.
Critics argue banning scooters would leave many motorists on foot, especially since the public transportation system is far from user-friendly. Some have also pointed out the city has a much more breaking issue to deal with -- fixing the bridge that recently collapsed in the middle of town, killing at least 26 people -- before it looks at implementing bans to mirror the policies adopted by northern European countries.
To voice their concerns, the opponents of the ban created a group called Genoa on Two Wheels. They want the government to drop the ban; if that's not possible, they want to delay it for as long as possible in order to give scooter riders time to upgrade to a newer model or find another form of transportation.
Enthusiasts successfully shot down a similar ban in 2016. It doesn't sound like government officials will cave this time around, though.
"The pollution is there. I love the Vespa, I've had one, too. But the [older models] pollute too much and the public's health is more important," said the city's environment commissioner in an interview with Corriere della Sera.
Note: Piaggio Ape pictured. Photo by Ronan Glon.
Spoon in hand, pausing about noon Saturday in Downtown Easton, Katy Leclercq said she was having the "most garlicky ice cream I've ever had."
And yes, that's a good thing, assured Leclercq, of Saddle Brook, New Jersey.
It's time for the 16th annual Easton Garlic Fest, which opened Saturday and continues 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday around Centre Square, Third and Northampton streets.
"You're going to find the most amazing foods, all of them with garlic in it -- everything from Bloody Marys to pierogis to beef sandwiches with garlic sauce," said organizer Jo Moranville, owner of the Quadrant Book Store on North Third Street. "We've got tasting contests that you can go into -- that one's a paid event -- and you can taste different chefs' offerings that are all garlicky.
"So what you should do is you should bring someone else who likes garlic because you're going to have bad breath."
Garlic, of course, offers a host of health benefits, from combating cholesterol to anti-inflammatory properties, says Consumer Reports.
It can also be tasty, and apparently a fine reason to hold a festival. On top of the variety of food for sale and libations, from cold craft beer to craft liquor samples, there are also vendors to peruse at the sprawling, free-admission event.
Colleen McIntyre, of Easton, had her eyes on a port wine cheese spread she sampled. Sipping a pumpkin beer, she said she was going to need to find a bag for all the goodies she planned to purchase.
In from Scotch Plains, New Jersey, Colette and Loren Blackwell stumbled upon Garlic Fest. They started off with some garlic risotto balls.
Easton's Khfarshab Club, celebrating the city's rich Lebanese culture, had garlic chicken cooking over charcoal. Dundore & Heister was set up outside Easton Public Market, where they have a butcher stand, grilling grass-fed beef cheeseburgers.
There are also chef demos, garlic covered in chocolate and sampling stations -- like the one Helen Corona, of Bangor, visited that had eight different kinds of garlic spread.
"It's all garlic and it's very good actually, very good," Corona said.
Visit eastongarlicfest.com for the full schedule of events and more information.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
As the lack of truck parking in Pennsylvania gains more attention from state officials, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is discussing ways to cut its own truck parking deficit.
Truck parking shortages are a national problem, said Carl DeFebo, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, and Pennsylvania is a keystone for many commercial vehicle routes.
Back in 2007, Pennsylvania had a truck parking deficit of more than 4,000 spaces.
This year PennDOT has begun working on a public-private partnership, referred to as a P3, to find solutions to truck parking problems in the state.
The state's turnpike commission is also working to tackle its deficit of 890 spots for truck parking.
A 2013 study done by the turnpike commission on parking needs across its system brought to light the deficit of truck parking, said Amber Reimnitz, the commission's senior traffic operations project manager. The commission realized the worst parking availability is in the eastern part of the state.
Then came federal funding PennDOT wasn't using. Now, the turnpike commission is taking action through a pilot program to make changes to the six worst service stations for truck parking along the main turnpike:
Highspire plaza in Middletown, Dauphin County (9 truck parking spaces)
Lawn plaza in South Londonderry Township, Lebanon County (14 spaces)
Bowmansville plaza in Denver, Lancaster County (13 spaces)
Peter J. Camiel plaza in Elverson, Chester County (24 spaces)
Valley Forge in Wayne, Delaware County (7 spaces)
King of Prussia in King of Prussia, Montgomery County (26 spaces)
Truckers park at private truck stops, PennDOT rest areas, welcome centers, turnpike service welcome centers and service plazas. More concerning for transportation officials, though, is when those places are full, drivers park along highways, ramps and side streets/roads.
The plazas in the pilot program have 93 marked truck parking spaces total, but when field observers went out to the plazas between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., they found 195 trucks total parked at the six plazas.
Valle Forge was one of the more dangerous plazas because of the excess trucks. The plaza only has seven truck parking spots, but observers saw 36 parked around the plaza.
"There is truly a lack of parking, and it's also a safety issue," Reimnitz said at a Lehigh Valley Transportation Study meeting on Wednesday.
The pilot program will look at better managing existing truck parking and providing information on available spaces to truck drivers.
"We want to give real-time information to truckers as they are traveling," Reimnitz said, adding truckers often use apps and website to find available parking. "We want to tell them in real-time how many spots are available at the service plaza ahead and the one after it."
The program will also add truck parking. For some plazas, changing the space striping means the commission will be able to add more truck spaces.
For others, like the Lawn service plaza, the turnpike commission owns a lot of the surrounding land. Plans right now are to add 77 more parking spots to the Lawn plaza.
The Lawn plaza expansion must go through design and traffic planning, and plans are to go out to bid next March, Reimnitz said.
Eventually, the commission wants to address truck parking at all of its service plazas, including the Northeast Extension.
Officials recognize these changes won't make parking available for every trucker looking for a spot.
For the Pennsylvania Turnpike, commercial vehicles represent only 15 percent of the traffic volume across the turnpike's 550-mile system, but the trucks represent about half of the commission's revenue.
"This is a critical customer base for us," DeFebo said. "We're sensitive that they need parking. It is a priority. It's just not feasible to accommodate everyone."
Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A man accused in the strangulation death of a model said that he went to her apartment in an affluent Philadelphia suburb to sell her cocaine but that she refused to pay, and that a violent fight ensued, according to a statement read in court.
"I panicked and was scared. I didn't know what to do," Jonathan Harris, 30, said in the statement. "I knew I was going to be in trouble." The statement was read in court Friday by Montgomery County Detective Todd Richard, who interviewed Harris while he was in custody, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Harris is charged with murder, robbery, theft and more in the death of Christina Carlin-Kraft, 36, who grew up in Atlantic County, New Jersey.
Jonathan Harris, accused of killing model Christina Carlin-Kraft in her home August 22, 2018, is led into a hearing Oct. 5, 2018, in Ardmore, Pa. (The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP | For NJ Advance Media)
According to the warrant filed in Harris' arrest, the two met in downtown Philadelphia just hours before her death early Aug. 22. There was no evidence they previously knew each other. Carlin-Kraft's beaten body was found in her bloodstained Ardmore apartment bedroom by police who had been called to check on her.
Harris looked straight ahead and didn't reply while reporters peppered him with questions as he entered and left court Friday.
According to the statement read in court, Harris said he agreed to accompany Carlin-Kraft to her apartment to sell her an ounce of cocaine for $1,200. After the two drank several bottles of wine and had consensual sex, he said, Carlin-Kraft refused to pay for the drugs and hid them.
He described a violent struggle in which Carlin-Kraft hit him with a glass bottle and he slapped her, repeatedly punched her and tied her up when she tried to flee. He gave her a phone when she asked to call her dad, he said, but he started to choke her when she tried to call 911.
When she stopped screaming he fled, he said, taking some clothing, taking the cocaine and jumping over the balcony. He told police he thought she was alive.
Harris' attorney Charles Peruto Jr. said he won't comment on the charges.
"It really leaves a bad taste in my mouth to watch lawyers give press conference before a trial," Peruto said in a phone interview. "It shows your hand, and it's not proper to give evidence before it's heard in court."
Friends and family of Carlin-Kraft, whose modeling profile lists photo shoots for Vanity Fair, Victoria's Secret, Playboy and Maxim, were emotional walking into the hearing Friday.
"She was a great girl, known her for 15 years," family friend Mark D'Ambrosio told KYW-TV. "It's just horrible."
District Judge Michael Quinn held Harris on all charges and scheduled an arraignment for Nov. 28.
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Portlaoise hospital is being allowed to wither away despite promises made by the Minister for Health Simon Harris, according to a Laois GP.
Speaking at the Still Waiting Ireland public meeting in Portlaoise, Dr Gerry White said commitments have not been kept.
He said the hospital remains in a state of stagnation. He said there had been no consultation about its future, no meetings with the HSE, and no appointment by the Minister Simon Harris of a promised consultation facilitator almost a year on from his promise to do so.
We've had no movement forward and no plan, no recruitment and no new investment. Basically Portlaoise (hospital) has been left there like fruit on a tree to wither. This is a huge huge shame, said Dr White.
While he did not expect the hospital to close, he had fears for the future. He said the HSE report proposing downgrade has not gone away.
Stagnation helps nobody. One would think that no news is good news, let's keep going the way we are. That is not good news for anybody. It has come to a position of poor morale. People have fears for the future. It has a major impact on recruitment, he said.
He said staff will look at other jobs because of the doubt over the hospital.
He said a promised fourth consultant paediatrician has not materialised.
He said the backdrop to the lack of commitment was a growth in demand for services and a growing local population.
He commended the staff in the hospital, particularly the two temporary A&E consultants. He said the paediatric and maternity units were 'terrific'. He also praised the surgical and medical service and said it would be 'madness' to allow ICU to close.
All we are asking for is a fair share of the pie, he said.
He said there were would be a knock on impact for community healthcare if downgrade happens. Recruiting staff to the out-of-hours MiDoc GP service is already challenging. He said young GPs will not take jobs if there is no hospital support.
Who is going to take a job if you are going to be run into the ground (as a result of downgrade), he said.
He called again for clarity on the hospital's future.
We need a definite plan. We need recruitment of staff. We need investment to cope with the high volume, low dependency multi-disciplinary hospital that we have. We ar e not looking to do cardiac or brain surgery we just want to provide multi-discplinary services to people, he said.
He said his biggest fear was that the downgrade plan would be dusted off after the General Election.
This plan has to be shredded. The HSE needs to be made aware we are not shrinking violets. We are not just going to go away quietly and take this. We are prepared to take a stand and defend the services that we have, he said.
Im almost two months into my new life as a stay-at-home mum so I thought Id give you all an update on how the new full time job is going!
Read also: Six Kildare members of Defence Forces delayed in Syria
I dont really count the first month because I was so consumed with getting everything organised and done for the house move.
However, Im over a month in the new place and everyday life is settling down.
To be frankly honest, Im not quite sure how I ever managed to work full time.
Granted, the presence of a child minder helped a lot, but janey, theres not even enough hours in the day to get stuff done at home.
My last place must have been a right tip altogether!
Before I quit the day job, I told myself Id have lots of time to write and blog when the kids were at school.
Sarah is gone to playschool from 9am until 12 noon, while Aidan is gone from 9.20am until 2pm.
I was totally kidding myself! I seem to only get time to blink and have to get back in the car again to go and get Sarah.
I dont write a single sentence when shes in playschool and, believe me, Im not sitting around drinking coffee and eating scones either!
Im all about the new house at the moment and desperately want to keep it spick and span.
Housework is a whole lot easier when theres no kids in the picture so thats what I do, Monday to Friday, from 9.30am until almost noon.
I had a cleaner for a while in the old house, but when she quit I never replaced her. I was always good at keeping the house tidy, but I now realised I never properly cleaned the place!
God, its hard work keeping a house properly clean. How the hell does dust accumulate quite so quickly? It actually baffles me!
Oh, and do you know what else baffles me? How men, big and small in my case, lack the inability to look down and actually wee in to the toilet bowl! I dont know who is worse, the five-year-old or the 35-year-old!
Ive also been watching Mrs Hinch on Instagram stories? If you havent heard of her, you may have been living under a rock! That or you actually have something way more cooler to be looking at!
If you havent seen Mrs Hinch, shes a social media cleaning sensation and Im obsessed with using her tips and tricks to keep the gaff shining.
After all the cleaning I get a few minutes to have a cup of coffee before heading out the door for Sarah.
I spend the next two hours serving her up 101 different snacks, listening to her non-stop chat and watching her practice her made-up gymnastics routines!
Then its time to get back into the car and collect Aidan from school. Its only then that all my cleaning work gets properly undone. Apart from coming home and doing his business anywhere bar where he should, hes like a thunderstorm round the house!
The big Lego box gets emptied on to the living room floor, all the cushions get fired off the couch and he jumps all over my made up bed!
But do you know what? Im loving it. I have absolutely zero regrets about quitting full time employment.
Yes, my day might seem boring or uneventful to some but its anything but for me.
I count myself so lucky that Im in a position to be at home to listen to their stories from school, to do the homework and to cook them a meal while they chat away to me.
In a previous column I wrote about how I never thought Id be the stay-at-home mum type and I was genuinely worried as to whether I was making the right decision or not. I can 100 per cent say that I made the absolute right call.
Im busy all day yet life is much slower. I rarely rush anymore. The school journey takes only two minutes so my mornings are so much different to what they used to be.
Instead of throwing together a dinner and shouting at the kids to get out from under my feet, I cook at the kitchen island, while they colour and chat with me.
When Daddy Chambers gets home, he takes over, gets the kids ready for bed and we put them down. Its pure bliss.
Nearly all of my blog and writing work has to wait until the evening time but Im totally okay with that. I quite like it as writing really helps me relax.
So, yeah, life as a stay-at-home mammy isnt half as scary as I thought it would be. Im all the better for it and so too are the kids.
In saying that, I always try to fit in some just me time at some stage during the week even if its just escaping to a coffee shop with a girly magazine of a Saturday morning.
Before finishing up work, I asked a few stay-at-home mum friends if they had any tips to stay sane. One said to make sure to have me time and she was spot on. I never really and truly had that before, because I wanted to be with the kids at the weekend or I had to set time aside to clean because I wasnt at home during the week.
Now though, theres no guilt. I waltz out the door, leaving the other three to it and I dont think about them again until I return.
I do realise just how lucky I am to be in this position and I will try not to take it for granted. But sure dont you know Ill more than likely be back next week moaning about just how much the kids are wrecking my head!
Until then folks!
Diarmuid Walsh, Cloonshanagh, Roosky, Co Roscommon avoided a conviction for drink driving when he appeared before Carrick-on-Shannon District Court last week but he was convicted of dangerous driving.
Giving evidence Sgt Ronan Mooney said he was off duty on April 16, 2017 when he was travelling westbound on the N4 approaching the end of the Dromod by-pass when he observed the lights from a vehicle travelling fast from the old road at Faulties, Dromod.
Sgt Mooney said, It became clear to me he wouldnt stop at the junction. I took evasive action and moved into the filter lane, adding, An Audi came out into the lane I had been in.
Sgt Mooney continued, Because of my momentum I moved ahead of him.
Shortly afterwards Sgt Mooney said he was overtaken by the Audi which also overtook the car in front of him, on a stretch of road with continuous white lines.
Sgt Mooney said he then phoned Carrick-on-Shannon Garda Station giving a description of the driving he had seen and the registration number of the vehicle responsible.
Under cross-examination from defending solicitor Owen Carty, Sgt Mooney said, He didnt go into the hard shoulder, he went into my lane. Once I saw him coming I began to take evasive action.
Gda McCormack gave evidence saying shortly after 10pm he got in the patrol car after the call was received from Sgt Mooney and parked up at Attyfinlay.
Upon spotting the Audi in question Gda McCormack said he activated the blue lights and the driver pulled into Kennedys filling station.
Gda McCormack said he got a smell of alcohol from the defendants breath with Mr Walsh admitting he had been drinking. At 10.26 a requirement was made of the defendant to provide a sample of breath using the roadside breath test which provided a result of fail.
Gda McCormack said he then formed the opinion the defendant had consumed alcohol to such an extent as to be in an unfit state to be in control of a mechanically propelled vehicle.
Under cross-examination Gda McCormack said he was under no requirement to ask when the driver had consumed his last drink before carrying out a roadside test.
Giving evidence Gda Declan Conway said when he arrived at Kennedys filling station Gda McCormack was there and the reported vehicle had been stopped. Gda Conway said he observed Gda McCormack carrying out the roadside test.
Upon returning to Carrick-on-Shannon Garda Station Gda Conway said he informed the defendant that he would be the trained member carrying out the evidenzer (breath) test.
Upon completion of a 20 minute period of observation to ensure the defendant took nil-by mouth at 11.13pm Gda Conway brought the defendant to the evidenzer room.
Prior to commencing the test Gda Conway asked the defendant what he was chewing, to which the defendant replied, chewing gum.
The defendant was informed by Gda Conway the 20 minute period of observation would have to recommence.
The period of observation was completed successfully at 11.43pm with Mr Walsh providing two specimens of breath shortly afterwards.
The court heard Mr Walshes breath revealed an alcohol level of 65mg/100ml.
Under cross-examination Gda Conway said, He took nil by mouth when I was observing him. I didnt see him putting chewing gum in his mouth.
Gda Conway was asked by Insp Denis Harrington, Is it possible the chewing gum was in his mouth before the first period of observation commenced?
In reply Gda Conway said, He could have had it under his tongue. We were talking during it. It wasnt 20 minutes of silence.
A number of legal issues were raised by defending solicitor Mr Carty who pointed to the fact that there was a discrepancy between the evidence of the Gardai with one saying the roadside test took place at Attyrory and the other saying it was in Attyfinlay.
Mr Carty also took issue with the 20 minute period of observation and the fact that the defendants details were inputted into the evidenzer machine in English without the option for Irish being given.
Mr Carty said, There must be a doubt in relation to the prosecution and I ask that you give me the benefit of that doubt.
In relation to the charge of dangerous driving Mr Carty said there was no corroborative evidence and no sketch map provided.
Replying to the issue surrounding the 20 minute period of observation Insp Harrington said, He (Gda Conway) saw the gum and quite rightly he went back and commenced a new period of observation to ensure the accuracy of the machine.
It is possible the chewing gum was in his mouth before the period of observation began.
In relation to the dangerous driving, Insp Harrington said, It is interesting he says he didnt receive a sketch map but when cross-examining Sgt Mooney he said he was quite familiar with the scene. If there was an issue, a sketch map could have been provided.
Judge Kilrane addressed the issue of the language used for inputting the defendants data saying, I take the view it is not specifically necessary to ask the defendant if they want the receipt in English or Irish. He said all conversations took place in English.
Giving evidence the defendant was asked how long he was chewing the gum for to which he replied, I dont know. It was before I got to the Garda Station.
Having heard the evidence in relation to the drink driving prosecution Judge Kilrane said, There are some matters that are still written in stone and one of those is the observation period.
The 20 minute period is set aside to allow the Garda observe. It must be quality observation.
Applying those rules to the present case, the State accept he did not go out of his way to frustrate the prosecution. I have to hold that he had the gum in his mouth for some time. In all probability the Garda didnt notice that.
Dismissing the drink driving charge Judge Kilrane said, It begs the question, what about the delay of 20 minutes caused by the non-quality observation?
In relation to the charge of dangerous driving the defendant said he did not see the lights of Sgt Mooneys car and didnt recall what speed he was travelling at.
Mr Walsh added, I just veered out on to the hard shoulder without stopping. Its what other people do.
Having heard the evidence Judge Kilrane said, He doesnt recall, he had drink taken. He drove straight into the path of Sgt Mooney.
But for the action of Sgt Mooney there would have been a collision.
Its not a merging junction. That breakdown lane is not to be considered any form of merging lane.
Judge Kilrane dismissed the drink driving charge against Mr Walsh but imposed a conviction and a fine of 300 in relation to the charge of dangerous driving.
Recognisance in the event of an appeal was fixed at 300 own bond, cash.
WELCOMING the news that Gatwick Airport has set-up a sensory room, Shannon Airport has called on other European airports to follow suit.
Shannon opened Europes first sensory room in March of last year for children and adults with neurodevelopmental challenges including autism.
The room has prompted many visits from major airports, including Gatwick, who are interested in following Shannons lead, according to Shannon Group plc chief-executive Matthew Thomas.
We know from opening our own airport sensory room in March 2017 that the Gatwick sensory room will be a tremendous assistance to passengers with autism and special needs, Mr Thomas said.
We already have well-established Ryanair services between Shannon and Gatwick airports, and the new Gatwick sensory room means that a trip between the two airports will be even more user-friendly, he added.
With the sensory rooms in operation at either end of the journey to and from the UK, we are making it easier for passengers who need these facilities.
Having them can mean a huge difference for passengers with neurodevelopmental challenges.
Designed by Adam and Friends, the Shannon Airport sensory room is tailored to be a soothing place, away from the activity of a busy airport.
The room includes facilities like an aquatic bubble tube, an undulated wavy wall, colour changing LEDs, wheel projector and other items.
We realised that it was one thing for Shannon to put these provisions in place but if other airports participated in this programme, then it would mean that when the passenger arrives on the other side, they also get special treatment, Shannon Airport managing director Andrew Murphy said.
That would be a huge gift to people with special needs and their families, he added.
The response this drew from the aviation community was astounding, Mr Murphy added.
Since establishing our sensory room, we have received more than 30 enquiries from airports, Government agencies and sporting venues around the world, including Gatwick Airport, looking for advice and guidelines on how best to establish an airport sensory room.
We were delighted to assist Gatwick and we wish them every success. Our offer to assist other airports who might be thinking of following suit still stands.
Shannon Airport also operates an assistance programme for those with special needs.
For more information, email askpa@shannonairport.ie
LIMERICK is continuing to play the winning game, this time in the hospitality sector, adding three top titles in the past week.
Adare Manor Hotel has been named Hotel of the Year 2019 in the Georgina Campbell Awards while John Edward Joyce of The Mustard Seed in neighbouring Ballingarry walked away with the Host of the Year title at the same awards ceremony.
Meanwhile, Adares 1826 restaurant has retained its Bib Gourmand status in the revered 2019 Michelin Guide for Great Britain & Ireland.
Michelin Bib Gourmand awards are a judges choice and recognise those establishments that offer good food at affordable prices of 40 or less for a three-course meal. The 1826 is owned and run by husband and wife team Wade and Elaine Murphy with Wade as chef and Elaine as front of house.
The retained Bib Gourmand adds to the couples long list of awards.
The citation for Adare Manor is enthusiastic about the new lease of life brought about through the acquisition of the hotel by JP McManus and its winning combination of tasteful luxury, excellent food and engaging staff.
Best of all perhaps, while very much a five-star resort, the revitalised hotel and its surrounding estate still retains its original familial warmth and we salute it especially for that, the judges wrote.
Praise is also lavished on John Edward Joyce who took over the reins at The Mustard Seed when Dan Mullane retired in 2016.
This magical hideaway could not be in safer hands, the citation reads.
John Edward is the genial host par excellence and his long association with the house, and the area, makes him the perfect guide, ensuring that the very best time is had by all.
Unfortunately, the judges note, Irish hospitality at the standard demonstrated by John Edward is not always the case.
We are still encountering too many examples of unwelcoming staff and offhand, uninterested service. But when it is right, Irish hospitality really is unique, they say.
All three were also acclaimed last month in the Food & Wine Magazine Awards.
ALMOST 20,000 people in Newcastle West, Abbeyfeale, Hospital and Croom are drinking below-standard water.
And Irish Water will be writing to homes and businesses in these four areas in the coming weeks, alerting them to the fact that there is a water quality problem and their water is not as good as it could be.
The water is still safe to drink in these schemes, a spokesman for Irish Water said this Wednesday. But they want to let their 19,423 customers know what they are doing to improve supply by either an upgrade or a change in how the relevant water treatment plant works.
The move is part of a nationwide undertaking by Irish Water involving 366,000 customers in 55 different water schemes across 16 counties.
In Abbeyfeale and Newcastle West, potential issues have been identified in relation to pesticide exceedances. We are working with a range of other agencies and landowners to better protect these sources from pesticides, Irish Water said in a statement.
In Croom and Hospital potential issues have been identified in relation to cryptosporidium. To address this, new borehole sources are being investigated and these works are expected to be completed by early 2019. The longer term plan for Croom is to supply it from the Limerick City supply.
Irish Water has worked closely with the EPA to identify the public water schemes that need a plan or action to improve their water treatment, Ian OMahony of Irish Water said. We are prioritising our investment in these treatment plants. Providing safe, clean drinking water for all in County Limerick is our first goal.
Everyone we are writing to in County Limerick has access to drinking water that is safe to drink, Mr OMahony said.
The only exception is OConnor Park in Ardagh where a Do Not Use notice is still in force because of a problem with hydrocarbon detected in the water.
We monitor and test our supplies on a continuous basis and if this monitoring indicates a potential water quality issue we consult with the HSE. If there is any potential risk to public health from the drinking water supply we inform the public immediately. If anyone has any questions or concerns they should contact Irish Water.
An individual booklet to be distributed to householders will explain in detail where their drinking water comes from; why Irish Water is writing to them; how Irish Water knows that their water is safe to drink. It will also contain information about regulation and testing; what Irish Water is doing to fix their specific water supply; and where they can get more information.
If members of the public have any questions that are not covered in booklet please phone us on Callsave 1850 278 278 or +353 1 707 2828 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
THE OWNERS of a company that illegally changed the course of a river in order to gain access to a piece of land have been warned they will go to jail if they do not reveal full details of their income and assets.
Limerick City and County Council is seeking to have John Costello and his wife Carol Costello jailed over their failure to comply with a court order requiring them to reinstate the River Corbry at Kilfergus, Glin.
Legal proceedings have also been initiated against Sunfit Holdings Limited which has a registered address near the village.
At Limerick Circuit Court this Wednesday, Peter Clein, BL, representing the local authority, said the matter which dates back to 2009 has had a long history.
He said Mr and Mrs Costello, who have eight children, claim they cannot afford to carry out the works and are opposing the application before the court.
Addressing Judge Gerald Keys, Mr Costello accepted the court had previously directed that he and his wife submit a statement of means.
However, he said he was concerned their financial details would be open to public scrutiny if they complied with the order. This is a private thing, I cannot expose private commercial information which is sensitive, he said, adding that he was reluctant to allow details of his finances to be placed on the court file.
During a sometimes heated exchange, Judge Keys indicated he would find Mr Costello and his wife in contempt of court if they do not comply with his previous order. The court needs to know if you can afford, financially, to reinstate the river, he said.
Mr Costello said he was concerned that journalists would be able to access the court files and that his financial details would be made public if he complied with the order.
I will not sacrifice my family, he said.
After solicitor Will Leahy said Limerick City and County Council had no interest in divulging the defendants financial affairs, Judge Keys suggested a sworn affidavit-of-means be placed in a sealed envelope and lodged directly with the court.
While noting Mr Costellos concerns. Judge Keys said the council and its lawyers were entitled to the information and he warned there will be consquences of the order is not complied with.
You decide if you want to to go to jail or not. You will be in contempt if you fail to comply, he said.
Adjourning the matter for a month, he said he would make a decision on the next date regarding publication having considered the contents of the affidavit.
He indicated he would refuse the councils application if he was satisfied the defendants cannot afford to pay for the works.
Neither Carol Costello or Sunfit Holdings Limited were represented in court this Wednesday.
Just before the dawn of the dinosaurs roughly 251 million years ago Earth's continents abutted one another, merging to form the supercontinent Pangea. That land mass, which straddled the equator like an ancient Pac-Man, eventually split into Gondwana in the south and Laurasia in the north.
From there, Gondwana and Laurasia separated into the seven continents that we know today. But the constant movement of Earth's tectonic plates raises a question: Will there ever be another supercontinent like Pangea?
The answer is yes. Pangea wasn't the first supercontinent to form during Earth's 4.5-billion-year geologic history, and it won't be the last. [What Is Plate Tectonics?]
"That's the one part of the debate that there isn't much debate over," Ross Mitchell, a geologist at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, told Live Science. "But what 'the next Pangea' will look like that's where opinions diverge."
Geologists agree that there is a well-established, fairly regular cycle of supercontinent formation. It's happened three times in the past. The first one was Nuna (also called Columbia), which existed from about 1.8 billion to 1.3 billion years ago. Next came Rodinia, which dominated the planet between 1.2 billion and 750 million years ago. So, there's no reason to think that another supercontinent won't form in the future, Mitchell said.
The convergence and spreading of continents are tied to movements of tectonic plates. The Earth's crust is divided into nine major plates that glide over the mantle, the liquid layer that sits between the core and the semi-solid crust. In a process called convection, hotter material rises from near the Earth's core toward the surface, while colder mantle rock sinks. The rising and falling of mantle material either spreads plates apart, or forces them together by pushing one under another.
Pangea, seen here during the Permian, kind of looks like an ancient Pac-Man. (Image credit: Shutterstock)
Scientists can track tectonic plate movements using GPS instruments. But in order to piece together what these plates were up to millions of years ago, paleogeologists have to turn to natural magnets in the Earth's crust. As hot lava cools at the junction where two plates are colliding, some rocks in the lava containing magnetic minerals, such as magnetite, align with Earth's current magnetic fields. As the then-cooled rock moves via plate tectonics, scientists can use that alignment to calculate where, in terms of latitude, those magnets were located in the past.
According to Mitchell, a new supercontinent forms every 600 million years or so, but that cycle might be speeding up. This suggests that the next Pangea, dubbed Amasia (or Pangea Proxima) would form sooner than we expect. Mitchell thinks the cycle is speeding up because the Earths internal heat hoarded in the planet's core since the time of its formation is dissipating, meaning that convection is happening faster.
"Given that the heyday of Pangea was probably 300 million years ago, Amasia's would be 300 million years from now," Mitchell said. "But it could form as soon as 200 million years from now."
However, predicting the birth year of Amasia isn't so simple.
"The difficult thing about predicting the Pangea of the future is that you can't take present-day plate motions and hit fast-forward," Mitchell said. Plate motions can change unexpectedly, with imperfections in the seafloor causing plates to veer from their trajectories.
Presently, California and eastern Asia are converging toward Hawaii, while North America is moving farther and farther away from Europe, Matthias Green, an oceanographer at Bangor University in the United Kingdom, told Live Science. Meanwhile, Australia is drifting north on a collision course with Korea and Japan, and Africa is rotating northward toward Europe. These movements, of course, are happening at the rate of centimeters per year, about the speed that your hair and nails grow.
Mitchell and Green said there are a handful of prevailing ideas about what the next geologic game of "Tetris" might look like. The Atlantic Ocean could close up, with northern Canada crashing into the Iberian Peninsula and South America colliding with southern Africa roughly where Pangea used to be. Or the Pacific Ocean could disappear, subsumed by Asia and North America. Mitchell had one additional, out-of-the-box hypothesis: that North America and Asia might move northward to converge over the Arctic, quashing the Arctic Ocean.
So, how might the formation of the next Pangea affect life on Earth (assuming there's still flora and fauna 300 million years from now)?
It will definitely change existing weather and climate patterns and affect existing biodiversity, Green said. "The largest mass extinction event to date happened during Pangea," Green said. "Was that because we were on a supercontinent? Or coincidence?"
He's referring to the Permian-Triassic extinction, dubbed "the Great Dying," when 90 percent of the world's species died out 250 million years ago. Just after Pangea formed, two major volcanic eruptions spewed large amounts of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which may have contributed to the mass die-off. But scientists arent in agreement about whether plate tectonics and the convection processes that formed Pangea are linked to these critical volcanic events.
It's unclear what's in store for life on Earth when the next supercontinent forms. But, thanks to scientists like Mitchell and Green, we may at least know what our atlases should look like a few hundred million years from now.
Original article on Live Science.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched the Iridium-7 mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in July 2018 and now, that same rocket first stage is back for another satellite launch, scheduled for Oct. 7.
SpaceX is targeting an evening launch Sunday (Oct. 7) for its next Falcon 9 rocket flight, a mission that will also mark the first land-based landing of the booster on the West Coast. The rocket will lift off from SpaceX's pad at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.
"This will be SpaceX's first land landing attempt at Vandenberg Air Force Base," Air Force officials said in an advisory. "Local residents may see the first stage of the Falcon 9 returning to Vandenberg AFB, including multiple engine burns associated with the landing. During the landing attempt residents from Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties may hear one or more sonic booms."
Smoke billowed around the Falcon 9 Tuesday, Oct. 2, as it briefly fired its engines during a preflight test from SpaceX's SLC-4E launch pad at Vandenberg. After delaying the launch 24 hours for preflight checkouts, it is now set to launch the night of Sunday. The brief ignition, known as a static fire test, is one of the last major milestones in launch preparations, ensuring that all systems are working properly and both the rocket and the pad are ready for launch. [Inside SpaceX's Epic Fly-Back Reusable Rocket Landing (Infographic)]
The launch, carrying an Argentinian Earth-observing satellite, should occur no earlier than 7:21 p.m. PDT on Oct. 7 (0221 GMT on Oct. 8). This flight will mark the first SpaceX launch from its West Coast launch facility since July 25.
This launch will also be the second reflight of a Block 5 Falcon 9 first stage: The same rocket known to SpaceX as B1048 previously lofted 10 Iridium Next satellites into orbit on July 25.
The Argentine Space Agency's 3,527-lb (1,600 kilograms) SAOCOM-1A satellite, the launch's payload, is a part of a future six-satellite constellation that will work in tandem with an Italian constellation known as COSMO-SkyMed. The satellite consortium will take high-resolution images of Earth twice a day.
The flight is also unique because it will mark the first time a Falcon 9 will attempt a return-to-launch-site (RTLS) landing on the West Coast, rather than landing on one of the company's drone ships at sea. So far, all landings on solid ground have been carried out at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
With nearly 30 landings under its belt, SpaceX has proven that recovering first-stage boosters is a breeze, but this landing could be a bit tricker: The launch pad is only a mere quarter-mile (or roughly 400 meters) from the launch pad a stark contrast to Cape Canaveral, where the company's two landing pads are several miles away.
SpaceX could also activate its fairing-catching boat, Mr. Steven, which so far has been unable to snag a piece of the rocket's nose cone as it descends to Earth. This is another facet of SpaceX's effort to reduce launch costs by reusing as much of the rocket as possible.
If this fifth recovery attempt were successful, it could be the ultimate launch trifecta for SpaceX.
Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Animal Rescue Kingdom / Animal Rescue Kingdom of Sugar Land
Animal Rescue Kingdom of Sugar Land is looking for a permanent home for Mickey, who is 1- to 2-year-old male dog thought to be a Brussels Griffon or Shih Tzu mix. He was found a matted mess at a construction site in Texas. He was so matted it took days to shave his hair off. He is much better now and getting used to loving from people. Mickey would do best in an adult household that will be patient with him while he learns to trust people. He would need an experienced and patient new owner. Adoption fee applies. Email animalrescuekingdom@gmail.com or call 832-267-5777.
Although African American and Hispanic students make up only slightly more than half the student population at Fort Bend ISD schools, together they accounted for over 86 percent of all the out-of-school suspensions and more than 92 percent of student transfers to alternative programs associated with more serious discipline incidents last year, district reports indicate.
The statistics represent what district officials acknowledge has been a long-standing problem involving a disproportionate rate of African American and Hispanic students being excluded from the classroom for discipline reasons. District officials say it's a complex issue that administrators and teachers are working to address.
To me, this issue is one that is at the heart of equity, superintendent Charles Dupre told trustees at the Sept. 24 board meeting. This issue is very important to me and its important to my team. Literacy and this discipline issue are the two most critical issues were got to manage right now. This is where we make it or break it as a district.
Problems with equity and discipline at Fort Bend ISD often involve teachers or principals handing out more severe punishments to African American and Hispanic students as compared to white or Asian students for the same infractions. Discipline incident reports reviewed by trustees didnt include specific details related to types of infractions associated with incident outcomes or side-by-side comparisons for each campus. However, agenda documents did show some positive results as the number of discipline incidents appeared to be trending downward. For example, the number of out-of-school suspensions decreased more than 22 percent last year, going from a district-wide total of 4,508 during the 2016-17 school year to 3,480 last year. Approximately 87.65 percent of the out-of-school suspensions involved African American or Hispanic students during both reporting periods, according to district agenda documents.
The number of students students transferred to alternative programs due to more severe discipline problems, also called District Alternative Education Programs (DAEP) placements, also decreased last year from a district-wide total of 253 in 2016-17 to 173. However, more than 93 percent of those involved in DAEP placements last year were African American or Hispanic students, up slightly from 92.5 percent reported for the total 2016-17 DAEP placements.
In contrast, 2017-18 enrollment reports indicate African American students made up 27.35 percent and Hispanic students represented 26.5 percent of Fort Bend ISDs total student population. Asian students accounted for 25.97 percent, 16.6 percent were white and less than one-percent were identified as American Indian, Alaska Native and Pacific Islander.
The statistics were part of a presentation on discipline management and positive behavior supports that detailed annual reports for in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions and DAEP placements.
Mary Brewster, director of student affairs, told trustees about data-validation reports for discipline-related incidents the district must submit to the Texas Education Agency required as a result of continued disproportionality rates for African American students. In addition, district officials must submit a corrective-action plan.
Board members weigh in
Three board members took up the discussion following the presentation to go over concerns and ask questions.
Trustee Addie Heyliger expressed empathy for teachers and students dealing with disparities and questioned the challenges that sometimes cause discipline issues.
I appreciate the data but what I really want to know is what are we doing to support our kids? Heyliger said. I also want to make sure our teachers feel supported by the district and they have everything they need in the classroom.
During the presentation, administrators told trustees some students with behavior problems were acting out because they had suffered a traumatic event recently. Heyliger encouraged administrators to focus on helping students learn to deal with trauma and emotional stress.
How are we utilizing our social workers and counselors to figure out what is going on with kids having discipline issues? she asked. I think that is a major gap because our kids are going through a lot at school right now and we have to figure out how to help them through that process.
The disparities noted by administrators were even more obvious at schools on the east side of the district that feed into Hightower, Marshall and Willowridge High Schools where district officials acknowledge African American students are over-represented in DAEP placements compared to schools in other feeder patterns. For example, of the 2,265 out-of-school suspensions reported last year, 56.8 percent (1,287) involved students attending campuses within the Hightower, Marshall and Willowridge feeder pattern, according to agenda documents.
It's a pattern administrators say they are working to address through expanded teacher training that focuses on encouraging positive behaviors as opposed to punishing students by excluding them from the classroom. Some critics of exclusionary discipline argue it can cause at-risk students to become disengaged from the learning process and more likely to drop out before graduation.
When it comes to classroom misbehavior, how much is too much?
Trustee Dave Rosenthal questioned if too much pressure was being put on teachers to keep students who misbehave in the classroom.
Im hearing that there are a lot of things that students are getting away with, and its being disruptive, Rosenthal said. We are often reminded that kids cant learn if they arent in the classroom. Thats true, but the other kids that are trying to learn have a right to an education too.
Is there a push to keep kids in the classroom? Are we ok to remove students when theyre being disruptive and they cant be controlled? Rosenthal asked.
Deena Hill, executive director of special education and learning support, acknowledged it was a challenging issue for many teachers.
At the campuses, we have conversations with teachers about our policies to make sure were all on the same page, Hill said.
The district supports removing students when it is appropriate, Hill said and added that teacher training focuses on communication clearly with students about expectations and outcomes and maintaining fair and consistent policies for all classrooms.
Trustee Jim Rice questioned why additional training wasnt already mandatory for all teachers and asked why more study was needed if administrators could already move forward with a workable plan.
Instead of studying this more, why cant we just talk to the principals and the teachers now? Rice asked superintendent Charles Dupre. Sometimes I think we study everything to death. Were big on studying but short on action.
Dupre said data indicated that some discipline incident types had decreased more than 50 percent over the last few years.
So, that shows our actions are paying off, Dupre said. But the biggest shift we are having to work toward is getting out of the punishment mindset and into the consequences, growth and development mindset.
Since trustees set goals requiring students be held responsible for their own behaviors that means we have to teach our students, not just punish them, Dupre said.
Our board also set a goal that every student will have equitable access and that includes the student who has behavior problems, keeping them in the classroom and keeping them learning, he said. It also pertains to the student who is trying to learn and study while other students are acting like fools and causing disruptions. So, ultimately it means we have to look at the needs of all the students.
Dupre said the district couldnt afford to hire extra social workers and counselors needed to help students with behavior issues. But, he also told trustees he was proud that mandatory DAEP placements decreased last year and only 82 students were sent to alternative programs.
The numbers are very small, but still each one represents a child whose future is not going to be bright, who will be a drain on society if we cannot help them learn to manage themselves to be successful in school. I just want everyone to know this is very important to all of us and you will be hearing more about this program in the future.
Board president Jason Burdine thanked Dupre for sharing his insight and thanked Mary Brewster and Dena Hill for their input. The presentation and board member discussions lasted approximately an hour. Trustees Kristin Tassin, Grayle James and K.P. George remained silent and no action was taken by the board.
Ben Jealous stunned the Maryland Democratic establishment with his 10-point primary victory, becoming the most high-profile of several insurgent candidates in the state who defeated establishment-backed rivals. Steering a campaign that brought together unions and progressives, he won 22 out of 24 jurisdictions.
But in the general-election campaign, the first-time candidate and former NAACP president has struggled to build similar momentum. He is short on cash and trailing in the polls, and was largely defined by his opponent, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, before he had a chance to define himself.
Jealous says he knew it would be difficult to unseat one of the most popular incumbent governors in the nation. He and his aides insist that he is on track, following his underdog strategy to turn out 1 million Democratic voters by rallying those who stayed home in 2014 and hammering on the need to lower drug and health-care costs, close the achievement gap, and pay teachers more money.
"From our perspective, the race is fundamentally where we expected it to be," said Kevin Harris, a senior campaign adviser. "Our challenge was always going to be getting our message out to enough people. If we do that, Ben will be successful."
But elected officials and outside analysts say Jealous has been hurt by his failure to overcome his outsider status within the state's Democratic power structure, raise enough money to communicate his message and combat attack ads, and quicklyunify Democrats after the primary.
In recent polls, he trails Hogan by double digits - even though registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans more than 2 to 1 in the state. At the same time, in what has the potential to be a wave year for Democrats nationally, two other progressives - Stacey Abrams of Georgia and Andrew Gillum of Florida - are waging competitive gubernatorial races in red states, drawing media attention and potential funding away from Jealous.
Unlike Hogan, who cast himself as an outsider but was deeply involved in the state GOP before running for governor, Jealous has lived most of his life outside Maryland and had few strong ties to the party establishment when he launched his campaign.
"He is unknown in the state," said Melissa Deckman, chair of the political science department at Washington College. "And that problem has snowballed. He's an outsider, he hasn't gained a lot of traction, and many in the establishment in Annapolis and the state are keeping a distance from him."
Aside from choosing Susan Turnbull, a former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee as his running mate, several Democratic officials in Maryland say Jealous has made little effort to build relationships within the party. One state lawmaker said Jealous only recently called him to ask for a campaign donation, months after the primary. On Thursday, Jealous missed a Democratic Party unity dinner in Prince George's County to attend a fundraiser hosted by comedian Dave Chappelle, who will also join him at get-out-the-vote rallies this weekend.
Jealous, who has spent the past five years working as a venture capitalist, has enthusiastic endorsements from prominent national figures, including former President Barack Obama, U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and CNN commentator Van Jones.
But he's gotten the cold shoulder from many Democratic local and state elected officials. Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat who has built a close relationship with Hogan, says he will not vote in the race. State Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert, gave tepid support and Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett has yet to endorse.
"He was relying on Progressive Maryland types, and they are not as effective as they think they are, not when you are talking about organizing and trying to get to voters," said a top lawmaker from Prince George's County, who asked not to be named to speak candidly. (Progressive Maryland is one of several advocacy groups that gave Jealous a strong boost in the primary.)
Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, - the Democratic establishment favorite who came in second in that six-way nominating contest - said Jealous needs Maryland elected officials "to be pumped up" about his campaign to help build out his ground game.
"If you don't have a long history with them, it's a hard task," said Baker, who endorsed Jealous after the primary.
Harris, the Jealous adviser, said the campaign has reached out to party leaders and other elected officials but did not necessarily anticipate their support in the general election.
"We knew going back to the primary that there would be some folks who may not be supportive of Ben in the Democratic Party - and we won their districts, too," Harris said. "That wasn't a surprise to us or a threat to our ability to win the general election. This is always the race that we anticipated to run."
He said many local officials are "helping the campaign in significant ways," including Baltimore City Council member Brandon Scott, who ran for lieutenant governor in the primary on the ticket of James Shea, and Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, a Democratic former state senator who has helped raise money and served as a surrogate for Jealous in the media.
The campaign is also working closely with several Democrats in Maryland's congressional delegation, which is especially eager to have a Democrat in the governor's mansion for redistricting in 2020. "They represent more people and are more known in their districts," Harris said. "A state senator is great, but a congressman is amazing."
Some Democratic activists, such as Sandy Pruitt in Prince George's County, say Jealous has not done a good job selling his vision of universal health care and expanded prekindergarten as bread-and-butter issues Democrats should care about. Former Gov. Parris Glendening, a Democrat, said he thinks Jealous has failed to sharply focus the campaign on the issues that have voters angry and upset. As a result, he said, Democratic leaders have missed an opportunity to rally around those issues.
"I think he is right on all of the issues - growing inequity, the fear of affording college," Glendening said. "I find it personally frustrating that those issues are not the central part of the debate of the leadership. . . . He needs to go out and say how he plans to move the state forward."
Several lawmakers said Jealous squandered an opportunity to connect with local officials and discuss his agenda when he skipped the annual Maryland Association of Counties conference in Ocean City this summer.
"You set yourself up for more talk of 'Oh, he's not a real Marylander,' " said one statehouse Democratic leader, who also asked not to be named to speak candidly.
Timothy Maloney - a prominent lawyer and former Democratic lawmaker who recently endorsed Hogan, a longtime friend - called the decision to skip the conference "a repudiation."
"It was saying, 'I know this is several thousand elected officials, but I'm making a public statement that this wasn't important enough to me,' " Maloney said.
But others disputed that criticism. "He needs to be talking to people," said Del. Cory V. McCray, D-Baltimore City, who is running for state Senate and ousted a longtime incumbent in the primary. "I would challenge that just because you miss MACo, that is going to cost you."
Harris said Jealous spent the time meeting with voters in Baltimore and Frederick and focusing on their concerns. "Most voters don't know what MACo is, but they know their prescription drugs are really high and that the minimum wage should be raised," he said.
It's a different strategy. But McCray, who recently donated money to Jealous, called him a different type of candidate. "He's not an elected official taking a traditional route; he's on a nontraditional route," McCray said. "You are not going to beat a popular governor by taking a traditional route."
Aisha N. Braveboy, the Democratic nominee for Prince George's County state's attorney, said she thinks that Jealous' message is one that appeals to voters but that Hogan, who has a huge financial advantage, has created a narrative that is difficult to combat.
"Our job as a party is to ensure that we give our candidate the best chance to be successful," she said. "We have to do our jobs, too."
CASEVILLE Fall color has always been a major attraction for anyone willing to take a drive up north.
The brilliant oranges, reds, and yellows are striking, thrilling viewers repeatedly. Each display elicits oohs and aahs of wonder. Its one of the benefits of living in a state with four distinct seasons.
Although many travel extensively throughout the state looking for that next eye-catching splash of color, there is no need to leave the county to experience the pleasure of fall.
The Huron County Nature Center Wilderness Arboretum, located at 3336 Loosemore Road, in Hume Township, is resplendent in seasonal fall color. During the fall, the trails are lined with trees of all hues, and visitors continually see falling and fallen leaves of various shades.
Its an autumnal wonderland.
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 13, the nature center will be alive with visitors for the second annual Fall Color Festival.
The day celebrates the fall colors found locally, said Caitlin Webber, a member of the Huron County Nature Center Board of Directors. Everyone travels north for the change, but miss out on the gorgeous colors found right here in the Thumb.
Visitors will be invited to walk the trails and take in the sights of autumn in Huron County. There will be cider and donuts available, and nature center board members will be on hand to talk with visitors about the improvements going on in this beautiful venue.
Were working towards including a five-mile mountain bike trail, Webber said, And there have been renovations and upgrades to our welcome center. Well also have a scavenger hunt, followed by a painting project created from paints well make from things collected on their walk.
The building will be open for visitors, added Kathy Kent, President of the Huron County Nature Center Board of Directors. There may even be a storyteller for kids ... someone reading books to children ... but the main attraction is the fall color. We may even have walking and birding tours.
Also, inside the nature center building will be the 2nd Annual Huron County Plant Exchange and Sale, sponsored by the Huron County Nature Center. The idea is to bring a plant to exchange up to 12 bare root (washed) plants, labeled and packaged in plastic bags. Also accepted are bulbs, corms, and seeds.
There will be perennials, wildflowers, and bulbs for sale, said Dorislee Herriman, a Master Gardner and member of the Huron County Nature Center Board of Directors. Its just in time for fall planting.
The Huron County Nature Center Wilderness Arboretums trail system is open from dawn until dusk 365 days a year. Its a place to enjoy the natural sights, sounds, and smells of Huron Countys woodlands, and get a little exercise in the process. The nature center has miles of groomed trails, including a paved loop that is handicap accessible.
A series of summer programs have been offered for nearly two decades, educating visitors about nature-related subjects. The programs are free and open to the public.
Day-to-day operations of the Huron County Nature Center Wilderness Arboretum are possible only through the continued financial support of individuals, businesses, and organizations dedicated to keeping this beautiful area available for events such as the Fall Color Festival. There is no charge for the festival, but donations are appreciated.
Michigan is a fall color paradise, and this county is no exception. There is no need to travel Up North, when those colors are resplendent at the Huron County Nature Center Wilderness Arboretum. The Fall Color Festival will be a wonderful opportunity to visit this closer Up North.
For further information concerning the Fall Color Festival, the Huron County Plant Exchange and Sale, or the Huron County Nature Center Wilderness Arboretum, call 989-551-8400, or visit www.huronnaturecenter.org
(ANSA) - Milan, October 5 - Italian biologist Alessandro Fantin, together with colleagues at University College London (UCL), has co-authored a study published in the journal Nature on the discovery of new stem cells that can help rebuild blood vessels.
Fantin, who spent 11 years at UCL, recently returned to Italy to continue his research at the University of Milan.
The study used stem cells in mouse embryos, but if the cells can be identified in humans they may open the way to new technologies in regenerative medicine for treating cardiovascular diseases in which blood vessels are damaged.
The study showed that stem cells circulating in the blood can change into endothelial cells, which are important cells that line all blood vessels.
WASHINGTON - For weeks, Sen. Susan Collins was seen inside the Capitol and across the country as a tortured fence-sitter who could sink Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. But over the course of 44 minutes Friday, she revealed herself as a resolute defender of President Donald Trump's nominee, delivering a floor speech that cinched Kavanaugh's confirmation and delighted even conservatives who frequently grumble over the Maine Republican's shows of independence.
Collins' speech, which concluded at 3:51 p.m., was met with a roar of GOP applause. It was, at times, a tribute to the "Me Too" movement, a simultaneous indictment and defense of her Senate colleagues, and a broadside against the pointed Democratic attacks on Kavanaugh.
But it was mainly a robust defense of Kavanaugh's judicial record and a minute dissection of the sexual misconduct allegations levied against him by Christine Blasey Ford, Debbie Ramirez and Julie Swetnick.
It laid bare that Collins, far from being racked with doubt, had long been inclined to confirm Kavanaugh. By the time she declared, "I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court," 31 minutes into the speech, she had long since removed any doubt about how she would ultimately vote.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., quickly rose to pay tribute, comparing Collins to former Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, an early critic of Joseph McCarthy and a personal hero to Collins.
"I've not heard a better speech in my time here, and I've been here a while," McConnell gushed. "It was absolutely inspirational."
Former President George H.W. Bush hailed Collins for her "political courage and class . . . and her principled leadership."
Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate chamber and beyond fumed.
"History will judge this decision harshly," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said. A former Obama administration official, Susan Rice, mused on Twitter about challenging Collins in 2020.
Collins played coy about Kavanaugh's nomination for months, joining Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, under the media spotlight as one of the likeliest GOP turncoats. The high drama remained Friday morning, as Collins cast a vote to close debate on Kavanaugh but would not publicly say whether she would vote to confirm him, saying she would make that announcement later in the day.
Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and John Thune, R-S.D., the second- and third-ranking party leaders, talked privately to Collins on the floor in the morning before she ducked into a private room to take a phone call - a scene reminiscent of when Collins joined with Murkowski and the late John McCain in July 2017 to tank a GOP health care bill. Later, she would have lunch with McConnell in the private Senate dining room.
But the swing-vote shoe did not quite fit in this case: Not only has Collins voted to confirm every Supreme Court justice she has voted on, from Republican and Democratic presidents alike, she also voiced tentative support for Kavanaugh at crucial moments.
When Democrats trained on his potential hostility to abortion rights - which Collins supports - she spoke up to say that she did not believe Kavanaugh would overturn Roe. v. Wade. When activist groups gathered fundraising pledges for a potential reelection opponent, contingent on her vote, she suggested it was illegal.
Later, when the sexual assault allegations emerged Kavanaugh, Collins remained mum as the Senate Judiciary Committee and then the FBI investigated. On Thursday, as Democrats sought to cast doubt on the limited scope of the FBI probe, she told reporters it was "very thorough" after hearing a briefing on its findings.
Even so, her emphatic endorsement of Kavanaugh on Friday contained surprises. Collins dismissed the opposition to Kavanaugh as "a caricature of a gutter-level political campaign" and blasted "dark money" liberal groups who "whip their followers into a frenzy by spreading misrepresentations and outright falsehoods" about Kavanaugh's jurisprudence.
She blasted the allegations of Swetnick, brought forth by lawyer Michael Avenatti, that suggested Kavanaugh was complicit in "gang rapes" during high school - claims that came without corroboration but were lent some credence by Democrats who called for them to be officially investigated.
"That such an allegation can find its way into the Supreme Court confirmation process is a stark reminder about why the presumption of innocence is so ingrained in our American consciousness," Collins said.
Extending that logic to Ford's better-founded claims, she went on to dissect the account that the California professor gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. While calling Ford's testimony "sincere, painful and compelling," Collins not only noted that none of those Ford claimed to have been present corroborated her account, but poked further holes in Ford's 36-year-old memory of the alleged attack.
"The professor testified that although she does not remember how she got home that evening, she knew that because of the distance she would have needed a ride," Collins said. "Yet not a single person has come forward to say that they were the one who drove her home or were in the car with her that night."
"Professor Ford also indicated that even though she left that small gathering of six or so people abruptly, and without saying goodbye," she added, "none of them called her the next day or ever to ask why she left, is she OK? Not even her closest friend."
Moments later, Collins praised the "Me Too" movement as "overdue" and recalled how she had spoken to many sexual assault survivors in recent weeks: "Some were friends that I had known for decades, yet with the exception of one woman who had confided in me years ago, I had no idea that they had been the victims of sexual attacks."
She went on to blast those Democrats who had played a role in making Ford's allegations public against her own wishes.
"You have taken a survivor who was not only entitled to your respect but who also trusted you to protect her, and you have sacrificed her well-being in a misguided attempt to win whatever political crusade you think you are fighting," she said.
Throughout, Collins had a rapt audience of fellow Republicans. McConnell swiveled his chair at his desk so he could watch Collins, standing two rows behind him, during her entire speech.
Three fellow Republican women - Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., each of whom previously voiced support for Kavanaugh - took seats directly behind Collins, putting them in the C-SPAN camera shot as she spoke.
After Collins was recognized on the floor, protesters stood up in the gallery above her, yelling, "Vote no! Show up for Maine women!" Collins kept her eyes down until the protesters were escorted out of the chamber.
After she finished her speech, McConnell led the standing ovation then went over and shook her hand. Several other Republicans did the same; some offered hugs.
Outside, her colleagues left the chamber, expressing relief that the wrenching confirmation was finally reaching an end.
"I thought it was beautiful," Ernst said of Collins's speech as she stepped on an elevator. "Very proud of the diligence she put into that."
- - -
The Washington Post's Paul Kane and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
Brandt Snedeker had plenty of motivation Friday, and it wasnt about rising atop the leaderboard in the second round of the Safeway Open.
I couldnt lose to a 59-year-old, Snedeker said.
He and Fred Couples the 59-year-old standing a few feet away at the time of this good-natured remark each shot 65 at Silverado Resort. Snedekers round propelled him into the lead, and Couples round allowed him to make the cut with room to spare.
They played in the same group the past two days, alongside Patrick Cantlay. Couples, making his first PGA Tour start other than the Masters in more than 2 years, leaped to life one day after shooting an opening-round 73.
He had 32 putts Thursday and only 22 on Friday.
If I can have 22 putts, Im going to shoot a low score, Couples said.
Mulder bows out: Former As pitcher Mark Mulder achieved his goal he didnt finish last.
Mulder, playing on a sponsor exemption, shot 75-74 and missed the cut. But he won a friendly bet with several buddies back home in Arizona, because they established his over-under at 7-over par and he finished at 5-over.
Mulder doesnt expect tournament officials to extend another invitation next year, and hes fine with that.
Would I do it? Sure. But to me this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he said. This isnt my arena, and Im well aware of it. So the one chance to do it was pretty cool.
Mulder finished ahead of tour pros Ollie Schniederjans (7-over) and Wesley Bryan (9-over).
Record-tying round: Ricky Barnes, a Stockton native and 37-year-old journeyman, matched Silverados North Course record by shooting 61.
Barnes collected 11 birdies and seven pars, an impressive display especially one day after he struggled to a 75.
This abrupt turnaround came on the heels of Barnes worst season since he joined the PGA Tour in 2009. He made 11 cuts in 22 starts, posted one top-10 and finished 177th on the money list.
Barnes also began the day tied for 134th in this tournament and now hes tied for eighth heading to the weekend.
Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
Days before he was scheduled for execution, a condemned Tarrant County killer with a low IQ was granted a stay by the state's highest criminal appeals court, opening the door to investigate claims that he's too intellectually disabled to be put to death.
Juan Segundo was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Wednesday night, in what would have been the state's eleventh execution this year. The Fort Worth man was sentenced to die in 2005 for the cold case murder of 11-year-old Vanessa Villa, who was slain inside her family's home while her mother was out doing errands.
But for at least a decade, Segundo's attorneys have argued that he's intellectually disabled, with an IQ in the 60s or 70s. For years, those concerns fell on deaf ears but now, in light of a groundbreaking 2017 Supreme Court decision in a Harris County case, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has stayed Segundo's date with death.
His attorneys declined to comment.
ANOTHER RULING: Texas court upholds death sentence for Harris County inmate
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At the time of the slaying - back in 1986 - Vanessa lived in a crowded Fort Worth home with her mother, baby brother, aunt and three cousins. One Sunday evening that August, the pre-teen came home after working at a flea market and got into bed, then fell asleep with her clothes still on, according to court records.
Later that evening, her mother and aunt left to go buy diapers and run an assortment of other errands. They were gone for about an hour. When they came back, they found Vanessa still in bed - unconscious and half-naked.
It looked like someone may have broken in through the window, but even with semen collected from scene police still didn't connect it to Segundo.
Without any fruitful DNA hits, the case went cold. But then, Segundo got locked up on another charge and, while he was in prison in Amarillo, the state took a blood sample and entered his DNA into a national database. Five years later, officials going through cold cases decided to enter old evidence into the database - and two days after that it came up as a possible match.
During trial, the jury heard about other suspected slayings. The defense offered testimony about Segundo's traumatic childhood, including his abusive upbringing when he sometimes had to scavenge for food while his mother disappeared for days on end. During the punishment phase, the jury heard about his "extensive history of inhalant abuse" and how it may have caused brain dysfunction.
In appeals, his lawyers repeatedly argued that he was too intellectually disabled to execute, suffered from bad lawyering, and that the trial judge erred in allowing evidence about other offenses. But the courts rejected his claims, and a judge greenlit an execution date for October 2018.
Then in late September, his legal team filed another appeal, again raising claims of intellectual disability. This time, though, they had a new court decision working in their favor.
Although courts have decided it's unconstitutional to execute intellectually disabled prisoners, for years the Lone Star State relied on a dated and "nonclinical" test for determining intellectual disability.
Named after plaintiff Jose Briseno, the test relied on seven questions, as outlined in a 2004 ruling that referenced "Of Mice and Men" character Lennie as someone most Texans would agree should be exempt from the death penalty.
But last year, lawyers for Houston-area death row inmate Bobby Moore argued that test was out-of-date and that their client was intellectually disabled in spite of the state's determination to the contrary. The nation's highest court took up the case and invalidated the state's method of determining intellectual disability.
Though the state set a new standard, the CCA determined that Moore didn't meet it anyway. He's still on death row - and trying to get the Supreme Court to take up his case again. But even so, the impact of the Supreme Court ruling in his case has rippled through other court decisions including, most recently, Segundo's.
"In light of the Moore decision and the facts presented in applicant's application," the state's Court of Criminal Appeals wrote on Friday, "we have determined that applicant's execution should be stayed pending further order of this Court."
With Segundo's execution date off the calendar, Kwame Rockwell is the next prisoner scheduled to die. The Lone Star State has executed 10 men so far in 2018. There are another seven death dates on the calendar in the coming months, including two in 2019.
Not long ago, Texas was viewed as a leading state on criminal justice reform. Former Gov. Rick Perry signed legislation that reduced the prison population and was regarded as a model for the country embodying both compassionate and fiscal conservatism. Our states efforts were then embraced by federal leaders, with Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn championing legislation to reduce harsh federal sentences for drug offenses. But now Cruz and Cornyn have become the face of opposition to sentencing reform, and without their support, our state began losing its leadership role on this critical issue.
Although criminal justice reform is very much in vogue in policy circles nowadays, it was Texas that led the way. In 2007, the state faced a prison overcrowding problem crisis, leading officials to consider spending taxpayer dollars badly needed for other critical issues on new prison construction. Fortunately, legislators listened to advocates who suggested pursuing alternatives to incarceration, such as drug treatment and re-entry programs. In 2011, Texas legislators approved using these as a way for prisoners to shave time off their sentences. The prison population dropped and recidivism rates remain low. As a member of law enforcement, I was committed to putting bad guys behind bars, but I also recognized that prison sentences were excessively harsh and that everyone deserves a shot at redemption.
After the 2011 reforms, our federal lawmakers began taking notice. Sen. Cruz was a lead sponsor of legislation that would cut many drug sentences in half. He spoke forcefully on this issue, noting in 2015 that, Right now today, far too many young men, in particular African-American young men, find their lives drawn in with the criminal justice system, find themselves subject to sentences of many decades for relatively minor nonviolent drug infractions. One year later though, Cruz did a 180-degree turn, vociferously opposing a narrower bill the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, stating that I cannot go along with legislation that could result in more violent criminals being released to the streets and potentially more lives being lost. Cruz has continued to oppose sensible reforms.
The case of Sen. Cornyn is even more bizarre. Cornyn was a lead sponsor of the narrower sentencing reform bill that Cruz opposed. While pushing for the bills passage during the last two years of the Obama administration, Cornyn commented that, This legislation builds on reforms in states like Texas that have successfully rehabilitated prisoners, reduced crime rates and saved taxpayer dollars. Following the election of Donald Trump, Cornyn abruptly reversed course, citing Trumps tough on crime position as a reason to discard the issue. In February 2018, Cornyn expressed concern about passing a sentencing reform bill that would be vetoed by a president. He subsequently voted against the very bill he once championed.
While some may criticize Cornyns position, it is somewhat understandable not to push a bill that the president would not sign. Yet Cornyn has continued to oppose sentencing reform even after President Trumps recent announcement that he does in fact support and would sign legislation that proposed substantial sentencing reforms. Just last month, Cornyn the number two Republican in the Senate announced that his chamber would not vote on the Trump-backed deal because it is controversial and contentious.
I am confused and concerned over their position changes when the evidence of reform is positive and clear. While I respect everyones position and their views regarding how to reform the criminal justice system and to end mass incarceration of people of color, I believe that the consensus is that we, as a nation, can no longer ignore the systemic conditions that limit or restrict any American who wants to achieve the American Dream. Therefore, I would ask all stakeholders to look at these issues not from a partisan standpoint but from a humanitarian one. And as Martin Luther King often said, we need a revolution of values, where our focus shifts from being thing oriented to one where our focus is on the well-being of our people.
Hall retired as an officer with Houston Police Department at the rank of lieutenant and with 24 years of service. He has a doctorate in organizational behavior, management and leadership.
Jesse Pate, 17, and Shabo Bishabo, 18, both seniors at Sterling Heights High School in the Warren Consolidated Schools, admit classroom work really isnt for them.
They are doers who like to work with their hands.
Macomb Countys annual Manufacturing Day is made for students like them who may not be interested in a post-secondary four-year degree but would excel in industrial or skilled trades careers.
Students from Stevenson High School in the Utica Community Schools District and those from the Warren Career Prep Center, part of the Warren Consolidated Schools, participated in the fifth annual Manufacturing Day at the FCA US Warren Truck Assembly Plan in Warren on Friday. The program is part of a national campaign designed to create awareness about the economic importance of industry and the interesting, well-paying jobs it provides. Since 2014, more than 7,000 students have participated Macomb Countys program. This year, 82 tours were given by 72 host companies to 2,400 students from 28 Macomb Intermediate School District schools. It is the largest Manufacturing Day yet in the county.
I didnt really know what to expect, but there are lots of robots and machines, more than you would think there would be, and theres a lot more jobs, and its a lot bigger than you would expect, Pate said.
Both teens are interested in auto collision repair body repair for Bishabo and structure and frame repair and welding for Pate. Both envision a career in the trades. Bishabo said he prefers to find work sooner than the time and cost that a four-year degree would require. Pate is still considering a four-year university, but said he probably will pursue a different direction.
Most kids think they have to go to college to make a good living. A lot of kids, college is not for them, but everyone tells them they have to go to college, Pate said. And a lot of times, they end up not doing well and dropping out because its not for them. They dont realize all the jobs that they can get without going to college and make a living for themselves with jobs that they might be interested in.
Ive thought about getting a four-year degree, but my issue is, school has never been my thing, Pate continued. Sitting down in a classroom is not really my thing because I have really bad ADHD, (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) so its even harder with that. Doing is my strong suit. When Im reading, it sort of bores me, but when Im working with my hands Im more interested in it and engaged in it, so its easier for me to retain the information.
Students were given a tour of the 80-year-old assembly line facility that currently builds the Ram 1500 Classic and participated in some hands-on, job readiness activities. Among the activities were dexterity tests and assembly mock up, where students learned the importance of performing every part of the assembly process correctly and how even small mistakes could result in death for those inside the vehicle.
Jim Battaglia, an instructor at the Career Prep Center, said exposure to the opportunities is the value of Manufacturing Day.
Typically, they come away more impressed than when they walked in, he said. Even living in this area, most students would say they didnt even know what was here before we came here today. There are so many career opportunities right here in Michigan.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said Manufacturing Day has become a success in the county for a variety of reasons. The program helped bring high school seniors into industrial plants to see the kind of opportunities that are available and the shortage of workers. School districts have brought back the types of classes that promote skilled trades, and in turn companies have assisted the schools, knowing that they make be helping to train future employees.
Manufacturing Day is important for the kids and the companies, because this is where it first came from with the manufacturing companies. We got a chance to talk to manufacturers and they were really concerned about the workforce and finding and recruiting talent, Hackel said. We partnered with the MISD and the superintendents to find out where is the disconnect, and how can we reconnect, and Manufacturing Day became the catalyst.
These are highly technical jobs, theyre cleaner and in safer environments, Hackel added. Today, were seeing every school district in Macomb County is participating. We have 72 companies participating and some had to be turned away.
Big restaurant chains are sometimes criticized for not being supportive of the communities in which they do business. Independent local restaurants, the narrative goes, are more engaged, helping equip Little League teams, providing gift certificates for charity raffles, and more.
Such a characterization is not entirely accurate, however. Many multi-unit restaurant operations do their fair share to support charitable endeavors, and they deserve recognition for those efforts.
Two examples of restaurant companies stepping forward on behalf of worthy causes are underway this month.
Wilbraham-based FIC Restaurants, Inc., which operates over 230 Friendly's restaurants in 14 states, is once again teaming up with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Throughout the month of October, Friendly's Restaurants are hosting their third annual in-restaurant Halloween "Cones for Kids" fundraising campaign. In exchange for a $1 donation to Boys & Girls Clubs of America, guests dining at their local Friendly's restaurant will receive a "Kid Card" featuring five coupons good for one free single cone, a sweet surprise that's sure to be a hit with neighborhood kids out trick-or-treating.
FIC Restaurants, Inc. is also offering an Adult Coupon book alternative for those making a contribution but not able to make use of the Kid Card.
More information on Cones for Kids can be found at friendlys.com.
October is National Pasta Month and the Tampa-based Carrabba's Italian Grill chain is using the occasion to lend a hand in the fight against cancer.
It's doing so in conjunction with the introduction of Pasta Georgio, a new dish on the menu that features penne pasta with sauteed bell peppers, Romano cheese, and roasted red pepper sauce, all of which is topped with meatballs and mozzarella before being oven-finished.
The dish is named in honor of Carrabba's late Vice President of Operations George Minutaglio, who was a victim of pancreatic cancer earlier this year. For every order of Pasta Georgio sold before Dec. 31, Carrabba's is donating $1 to cancer research.
Carrabba's also maintains a "Carrabba's Cares" program, which allows their restaurants to raise funds for local organizations and thereby have a positive impact on the community that Carrabba's location serves. For more details on the program, go to carrabbas.com/cares
Side Dishes:
It's Oktoberfest season at the Munich Haus German Restaurant in Chicopee, with four celebrations planned in the weeks ahead.
Each event will include live music, a buffet of traditional German dishes such as Oktoberfest chicken, sauerbraten, sausages, and schnitzels. A whole roast pig will serve as the centerpiece of the spread, while a variety of side dishes like spatzle, sauerkraut, cucumber salad, and red cabbage will also be served.
A Vienna-style dessert table stocked with homemade specialties will top off the feasting.
Tickets for the Oktoberfest celebrations, which will be held on Friday, October 19, Saturday, Oct.r 20, Friday, Oct.r 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27, are $28.95. Each adult attending also gets a stein of beer as part of the ticket price.
The Munich Haus is also holding its October Hops Club session on Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. The featured beer will be Erdinger Oktoberfest Weissbier. The $15.95 price for this event include a glass of Erdinger Oktoberfest, a buffet dinner themed to complement the beer, and a program of prizes and giveaways.
Contact the Munich Haus at (413) 594-8788 for more details or to purchase tickets for these events.
In conjunction with Brickroad Productions of Monson, The Steaming Tender Restaurant in Palmer will be presenting "A Haunting at the Steaming Tender" on Wednesday, Oct. 24.
An evening of spooky dramatic fun, the "Haunting" will include a buffet dinner featuring herb-roasted chicken and baked haddock Florentine along with vegetable, potato, and salad. Steaming Tender's signature whiskey bread pudding will be offered as dessert.
The dinner and dramatic presentation is priced at $50; more information on the evening can be obtained by calling (413) 283-2744.
Chez Josef in Agawam will present a tribute show "Remembering John Denver" starring Ted Vigil on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.
The evening will start with a served salad; the dinner that follows will be presented as a "stations menu" that offers a variety of options, including gluten-free and vegetarian.
The tribute show will start at 8 p.m., and open-seating tickets, which can be purchased at chez-josef.ticketleap.com, are $45 plus a $3.25 broker fee.
Chez Josef answers at (413) 786-0257.
The Blue Heron Restaurant in Sunderland will be hosting a Napa Valley Wine Dinner on October 27. The multicourse dinner will be featuring wines from Dunn Vineyards and Tuck Beckstoffer Wines.
For more information on this event, call the Blue Heron at (413) 665-2102.
On Monday, Oct. 15, the Publick House Historic Inn in Sturbridge will be preparing one of its classic turkey dinner feasts as part of a Public House Cooks for Community Organizations evening.
The menu will include roast turkey, cornbread-sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, and cranberry sauce as well as salad, rolls, and dessert.
There will be two open seatings, one at 4:30 p.m. and a second at 6:30 p.m. The cash donation to attend is $14 for adults and $5 for children from five to 12 years of age.
Contact the Publick House at (508) 347-3313 for further details.
On October 25 at 7 p.m. the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford is presenting the first of three food talks it has planned for the months ahead
The evening will be "Restaurant Confidential," a conversation led by freelance writer Frank Rizzo. Along with three of Connecticut's leading restaurateurs, Rizzo will talk about the challenges, sorrows, and joys of running a fine-dining eatery.
Tickets for "Restaurant Confidential" are $30 plus a $5.75 broker fee and can be purchased online at marktwainhouse.org.
The Mark Twain House & Museum answers at (860) 247-0998.
As a follow-up to its successful burger marketing stunt thus summer, the IHOP pancake and coffee shop chain has created its own private label craft beer. "IHOPS," a limited-release seasonal stout, is flavored to taste like pumpkin, maple syrup, seasonal spices, and buttermilk pancakes.
IHOPS won't be available at IHOP restaurant locations, however. Instead it's in limited distribution at licensed outlets throughout portions of Metro New York.
The beer's introduction and promotion is a marketing gimmick supporting IHOPs limited-time seasonal pancake offerings, which include pumpkin spice and "cinn-a-stack," a cinnamon bun-flavored variety. The two new pancake varieties are available at participating IHOP locations through the fall season.
There are IHOP restaurants on Riverdale Street in West Springfield and at the Five Town Plaza in Sixteen Acres.
The Table 3 Restaurant Group in Sturbridge has announced that the October edition of Cooking with Rico & Dan will take place on Thursday, Oct. 18, at 6:30 p.m.
To be held at Avellino in Sturbridge, the evening will explore the cuisines of North Africa and Morocco.
As always, two ticket options are available for this event, one with wine pairings ($52) and a second without ($39).
For more details or to order tickets, call (508) 347-2321.
Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community College's hospitality and culinary arts program and has over 40 years of restaurant and educational experience. Please send items of interest to Off the Menu at the Republican, P.O. Box 1329, Springfield, MA 01101; Robert can also be reached at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com
A man in his 20s was killed and a second male was injured after being shot in Dorchester Friday evening.
Boston police officers responded to a report of a shooting in the area of Alexander and Bird streets at 6:48 p.m. Upon arrival, they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim was brought to the hospital.
While on scene, officers were directed to 11 Emrose Terrace for a second shooting. They found the second victim -- a man in his 20s -- dead from a gunshot wound.
Authorities are investigating the shootings. Anyone with information is asked to contact Boston Police Homicide Detectives at 617-343-4470.
Community members wishing to assist this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word 'TIP' to CRIME (27463).
SPRINGFIELD -- City officials and community activists gathered outside a home in the McKnight neighborhood on Friday for the first private tree planting funded by the $1.5 million Greening the Gateway Cities Program.
The program, announced in the summer, involves planting 2,400 trees in Springfield, specifically in the McKnight, Old Hill and Upper Hill areas, including public and private properties.
"It's not only going to benefit your home but your neighbor's home, and your entire community," Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said.
The city had announced the availability of the free trees during a tree planting in August at the Buckingham Triangle at the intersection with Bay Street in McKnight.
On Friday, a Littleleaf Linden tree was planted in the backyard of Brandi Gamble's house at 42 Thompson St., marking the first private tree under the state-funded program.
The trees are free, and the homeowner incurs no cost for the planting, officials said.
There have been tree plantings in public properties such as terraces this year, but approximately 80 percent of the funds will be designated for private yards, officials said.
The program is provided by the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs through funding from Department of Energy Resources.
The state greening program is intended to increase the tree canopy cover in neighborhoods deemed to have the greatest need for more shade and have challenges such as older homes, officials said.
Patrick J. Sullivan, the city's director of parks, buildings and recreation management, said the trees add to property value "and can be a centerpiece in a home's yard."
Joe Pellegrino, program administrator, said residents can call the city's call center at 3-1-1 to begin the process for the free tree planting.
EASTHAMPTON -- The CEO of the medical marijuana facility known as INSA said his company is on the verge of receiving a final recreational license from the Cannabis Control Commission.
The commission meets again on Oct. 18, and INSA expects to receive its license for recreational sales on that date, said Mark Zatyrka.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to open our doors before the end of October," Zatyrka told The Republican.
State inspectors spent five hours at INSA's 122 Pleasant St. facility on Oct. 2, and "went through everything," he said. "They said that we were one of the most impressive operations they've inspected," he added.
Zatyrka's comments came hours after the cannabis commission on Oct. 4 granted the state's first recreational licenses to New England Treatment Access, LLC, which runs a medical dispensary in Northampton, and to Cultivate Holdings, LLC, with its dispensary in Leicester.
Even with the licenses, the dispensaries can't yet sell recreational weed. Details must be attended to, such as registering employees. Zatryka said it's his hope that NETA and INSA -- separated by only a few miles -- will be able to open on the same date.
INSA applied for three licenses to cultivate, process, and sell recreational marijuana. The company's medical dispensary in Springfield will not go recreational at this time, said Zatyrka.
In Easthampton, there will be separate lines for medical patients and recreational customers, and 35 percent of all products will be set aside for the medical side.
"We expect long lines at first," he said.
Zatyrka said INSA is known for its "Hawaiian Spice" flower, and wholesales its concentrates to other dispensaries. INSA is also building a medical marijuana facility in Pennsylvania.
INSA in August gained its special permit from the Easthampton Planning Board for recreational sales, the same month it gained a provisional license from the Cannabis Control Commission. In July, INSA gained approval to double its cultivation space up to 89,000 square feet.
INSA opened its medical marijuana facility with a flourish in February, and a ribbon-cutting was attended by many local officials and business leaders.
"We value our relationship with the mayor, the city council, and police and fire departments, and are looking forward to providing quality products and services in the recreational market," said Zatryka.
The company's host community agreement with the city has it paying a 3 percent community opt-in tax plus 3 percent of its gross adult use retail sales.
Zatyrka said that on the medical side, INSA hopes to become one of the first dispensaries in the state to offer home deliveries.
More than a dozen tombstones were toppled at Acushnet Cemetery this week in an act of vandalism.
The Boston Globe reported that Superintendent Robert Rodrigues arrived at work Thursday morning and found that 18 tombstones on the west end of the cemetery had been knocked over.
The vandal or vandals also broke solar lights, eternity candles and angel statues near the graves.
"It's heartbreaking for the families," Rodrigues told the newspaper. "They have already been through enough."
A local monument company reset the tombstones.
"It is very sad that we even have to post this, but if anyone has information on this disgusting act, please come forward," the Acushnet Police Department wrote on Facebook. "We at the APD are very distraught over this, and need your help to find the individual(s) responsible."
A female pedestrian was killed when she struck by a tractor-trailer rig in Cambridge's Central Square.
The Massachusetts State Police, detectives attached to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office and Cambridge police are investigating the Friday evening incident.
In a release, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office said a woman in her 20s was struck by a tractor-trailer rig near the intersection of Magazine Street and Putnam Avenue. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident remains under investigation by the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, Crime Scene Services, the Commercial Vehicle Unit, detectives attached to the District Attorney's Office and Cambridge police.
The name of the victim is being withheld pending notification of family.
PITTSFIELD - Authorities in Pittsfield are asking for the public's help in locating a missing 14-year-old boy.
Police say Cole Diegel, of Canaan, New York, was last seen September 24. He was reported missing in Pittsfield, though the youth has no known connection to the city, police said.
He may also be in Amsterdam, New York, officials speculated.
Diegel is described as standing approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing around 140 lbs. Diegel has brown eyes and hair, and was last seen wearing black sneakers, a blue hoodie and blue sweat pants.
Anyone who feels they may have information on the teen's whereabouts has been encouraged to contact the Pittsfield Police Department at 413-448-9723.
An 18-year-old man was arrested just minutes after a shooting on Fort Pleasant Street sent a man to the hospital with a nonlife-threatening injury.
Springfield Police Department spokesman, Ryan Walsh said Emmanuel Sanchez was taken into custody on Coomes Street soon after the 3:05 p.m. shooting on Fort Pleasant Street. A loaded handgun was retrieved.
Sanchez is being charged with carrying a firearm without a license, breaking and entering into a dwelling in the commission of a felony and larceny from a dwelling
Walsh said a man was shot and wounded somewhere in the 1-100 block of Fort Pleasant Street and transported to the Baystate Medical Center for treatment.
SPRINGFIELD -- State Trial Court officials are urging employees to tamp down alarm over health concerns a day after an internal memo was issued forecasting renewed environmental testing at the dilapidated Hall of Justice on State Street.
The memo, obtained by The Republican, went out Thursday to hundreds of employees at the Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse -- which has long been decried by employees and legislators as, well, kind of a dump. But recent concerns include those over widespread illness in the building.
Following the distribution of the memo, courthouse sources told the newspaper they had been advised to obtain blood tests for elevated levels of lead and mercury. The advice comes on the heels of retired District Court First Justice William Boyle publicly disclosing that he attributes his Lou Gehrig's disease diagnosis to environmental factors.
Boyle's predecessor, the late Judge Robert Kumor, was also diagnosed with the relatively rare degenerative neurological disease, which is also known as ALS. Boyle characterized the back-to-back diagnoses as "Powerball odds" and said during an interview that others have since shunned the judges' former chambers out of fear.
A spokeswoman for the Trial Court discouraged an alarmist mentality and said prior and recent environmental tests performed by the state give no indication the building is making its employees sick.
"We understand that people are concerned and we take those concerns seriously. We have conducted testing regularly over many years, including environmental testing a year ago, which came back clean," trial court spokeswoman Jennifer Donahue said in response to a request for comment.
"The Trial Court is contracting with an independent firm to conduct additional comprehensive testing. Initial testing for mercury was conducted today and the results came back normal. We ask that people remain calm while further testing is conducted," she added.
State legislators cite the building as both a health and safety hazard and argue a renovation or complete rebuild should be a top priority for officials in Boston.
After Gov. Charlie Baker in 2016 vetoed a $100,000 earmark for a feasibility study of the value of renovating the building, there have been some slight cosmetic changes to elevators and restrooms, which lawmakers say don't even come close to addressing the building's problems.
"They've tried the Band-Aid approach to that building -- and now it's a fine mess. I think everyone should get blood-tested. I might get tested," said state Rep. Bud L. Williams, D-Springfield, who worked as a probation officer at the courthouse from its opening in 1974 until 2008.
The courthouse has been plagued by deficiencies for decades, according to ongoing news coverage.
Rumblings about something more sinister began when Boyle was diagnosed with ALS just three years after Kumor's death by the same disease -- made all the more eerie because they shared the same office.
Statistics show that around 5,000 new ALS cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S., with 60 percent being men. The disease attacks the nerves and muscles and is incurable.
Informed at an editorial board meeting with The Republican on Wednesday about Boyle and Kumor's circumstances, Baker responded: "We're on it."
During a separate interview, Boyle told an editor with The Republican that he was happy to hear Trial Court officials urging employees to undergo blood tests.
While the memo issued to employees Thursday makes no mention of specific anxieties, it emphasizes: "Your health and welfare is of paramount concern." It urges workers to contact human resources with suggestions for targeted testing.
The memo from the facilities management and human resources departments notes that the state agency has hired a private firm to conduct testing and that results will be shared with employees.
State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, said the Springfield courthouse is among the busiest in the state, and while it was identified as among the most structurally needy after a statewide review, it nonetheless fell behind in terms of priority.
"We were maybe in the top third in terms of need but weren't at the top of the queue for repairs," Lesser said. "Enough is enough. I hope this is a wake-up call to officials in Boston."
State Rep. Angelo Puppolo, D-Springfield, also took state officials to task and urged specialized blood testing for all courthouse employees at no cost or co-payment to the workers.
Every November, voters try to squeeze in a little time on their lunch hour, before work, after work or in between picking up the kids and making dinner to get to the polls.
But what if elections were held on a day when most people didn't work?
One Chicopee city councilor is proposing switching the day city elections are held from the traditional Tuesday to a Saturday.
"As the world has changed, the way we vote hasn't," Councilor Joel McAuliffe said. "We want to expand access to voters. The discussion is good to have."
But his proposal, which was moved to subcommittee in June for more discussion, is being met with skepticism by some and disinterest by others.
"There are a lot of reasons people don't vote and a Tuesday election is not on the top of the list," said Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts. "But if a community wants to try something, more power to them."
Some of the top reasons communities often barely eke out a 25 percent voter turnout include scheduling too many elections close together, having too many unopposed seats and indifference about the candidates, she said.
"It could increase participation and it is possible it may not," Wilmot said of the Saturday voting proposal. "None of it is a silver bullet."
She agreed with McAuliffe that it is worth a try, but added that changing something so entrenched in tradition is not easy.
The proposal would only switch city election days since state and federal elections are set by those governments. That means Saturday elections could only happen every other year when they are held for local races including mayor, city council, treasurer and school committee.
The City Council would first have to agree to change the date to Saturday. If councilors approved the proposal, they would also have to change the city's charter, written in 1897. The charter is changed from time to time, but to do so the council and the mayor must petition the state Legislature or put the charter change on the general election ballot.
City Clerk Keith W. Rattell said he sees logistical issues standing in the way of switching voting days to Saturdays.
"First of all, it is my job and my passion to get as many people as we can in the city of Chicopee to vote in elections, and there are many ways to do that," he said.
On Election Day, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m. and under state law employers must allow workers time off to vote if they request it.
People who know they cannot vote on Election Day can cast an absentee ballot. The city does everything it can to make it convenient for residents to do so, Rattell said. Voters can request an absentee ballot up to a month ahead of time and can come into City Hall in person, request a ballot, fill it out, seal the envelope and give it back all in the same trip. They can also request one by mail or email and send it back, he said.
The clerk's office works with nursing homes if they have residents who are too infirm to come to the polls. Rattell said he remembers one staff member hand-delivering an absentee ballot to someone who was in the hospital and upset she could not vote, he said.
In the November 2017 election, 12.3 percent of Chicopee voters cast ballots. The election had no mayor's race but several hotly contested City Council races. By contrast, there was 66 percent turnout in the November 2016 presidential election.
Saturday elections could create a problem for staffing, Rattell said. Since his employees are unionized, he would have to work with bargaining units to change work hours. Most of his poll workers are retired and available during the week, but on weekends they may rather spend time with family and friends, Rattell said.
Rattell said he also questions if switching days would change turnout much or at all. When the city had early voting last year for the presidential election, it included a Saturday. Plenty of people took advantage, but it did not increase the overall turnout much.
Several people said the biggest impediment to Saturday voting is the Jewish sabbath. McAuliffe said that could be an issue, but added there are very few Jewish people in Chicopee and no synagogues are located in the city. In fact, about two years ago when officials were debating moving a primary election date because of Jewish holidays, Rattell said he could not find any Jewish leaders in Chicopee to consult.
The secretary of state's office does not keep a list of communities that hold elections on days other than Tuesday, but said towns that do not have charters can hold elections anytime between Feb. 1 and June 30. In smaller towns, the date of the annual election is usually set by the board of selectmen, said Debra O'Malley, election specialist for the secretary's office.
Marie Y. Ryan, president of the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association, is clerk in Great Barrington and in Richmond. Great Barrington holds elections on Tuesdays and Richmond holds elections on Saturdays. Ryan said she can see the pros and cons of each.
"Richmond is a very small town and elections have always been on Saturday. Not a lot of people vote," she said.
The reason is not because people don't want to or can't vote on Saturday, but because there are only about 1,400 residents in the Berkshire County town, she said.
"A lot of people work on Saturdays as well and on the weekends people make plans to go away," she said.
One advantage is it may be easier to use schools for polling places on the weekends. It can be difficult to find handicap-accessible places, so most communities set up polling places in school gyms. But concerns about student and staff security makes that more difficult now, Ryan said.
European and Middle Eastern countries hold elections on the weekend, said Linda Matys O'Connell, convener of the League of Women Voters in Springfield.
"I think generally the League is all for anything that will improve the voter experience," she said. "A lot of nonvoters say they are too busy or it conflicts with their schedules."
The selection of Tuesday as the voting day dates to when the U.S. was an agrarian society. People would have to go into town to conduct business and vote at the same time. Weekends were not an option because people would not vote on a religious day, she said.
Im Lana Burgess, a 31-year-old freelance writer passionate about well-being. In this article, I explore why I disagree with my moms decision not to vaccinate me when I was a child and how, as an adult, I decided to finally get vaccinated. Share on Pinterest In a world of so many information sources, its easy to get the wrong idea. It was just after 3 p.m., and school was done for the day. My classmates were all whooping and bounding about the playground, stopping to wave as their parents arrived to collect them. I spied my mom and ran over to her. On the way home, she told me that I would not be going in tomorrow; instead, I was going to stay home. As a child who loved school, my heart sank. My mom said that I had to stay at home because the other children would be getting their measles vaccine tomorrow. We didnt believe in immunization, though, so I wouldnt be getting vaccinated. My mom felt it was best that I stayed home on the day the children were injected with the measles vaccine. She said it was live. If I was at school, there was a risk it would infect me. Not every vaccination day was like this, though; I typically went to school as usual, but I didnt join my classmates as they queued up for their shot. When they asked me why I wasnt joining in, Id explain that I didnt have vaccinations. My mom thought they were bad for me that theyd potentially weaken my immune system. Fast forward to 2018: Ive just had a round of travel vaccinations in preparation for a 6-week trip to Australia, Singapore, and Thailand. So what changed? What made me finally reject my moms antivaccination stance?
Why didnt my mom believe in vaccinations? When I was 3 months old, I had the first round of childhood vaccinations. In the United Kingdom in the late 1980s, this was called the DTP vaccine. It protected against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (also known as whooping cough). After the DTP vaccine, my mom noticed that I seemed irritable and that my normal sleep patterns were disrupted. She felt that the vaccinations were to blame. Her conclusion was based, in part, on the antivaccination literature that was around in the 70s and 80s. In the U.K., a 1974 report mistakenly alleged that 36 children had developed neurological conditions as a result of receiving the DTP vaccine. Although scientists now know that they are safe, it was big news at the time. Seeking answers, my mom went to see a homeopath. The homeopath agreed that the vaccinations had likely caused the changes to my moods and sleep. The homeopath recommended some remedies that they said would help counteract the negative impact the vaccines appeared to have had. They also introduced my mom to the idea that homeopathy could offer an alternative way to vaccinate me. At this point, my mom decided that I would not have any more childhood vaccinations. Her choice seemed wise when, in 1998, a study by conducted Dr. Andrew Wakefield whose work has now been discredited claimed to have discovered a link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism.
My experience of homeopathy I continued to see a homeopath regularly throughout my childhood, and I enjoyed going. I enjoyed going even more so than going to the doctor who I did still see from time to time. When I saw the doctor, the appointment was quick; usually 10 minutes or under. We didnt seem to discuss much. It seemed as if the doctor would just nod and then prescribe something quickly, without really explaining why. With a homeopath, things were different. We would talk for about an hour. They would ask me how I was feeling. I remember talking about my moods, my physical health, my sleep, and what Id been up to at school. After we had talked, the homeopath would pause and think. They would flick through various well-thumbed books. Then, they would prescribe a homeopathic remedy, carefully explaining why. Listening to them describe how it would help me was calming. It made me feel good.
Questioning my beliefs I didnt really question the fact Id not been vaccinated or my moms decision for not vaccinating me until I was in my 20s. In my early 20s, I was studying for my Law degree at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. I loved it and excelled in seminars. I immersed myself in legal philosophy, causation, and reason. Researching and writing essays was immensely satisfying, and I enjoyed having to evidence my arguments. Outside of my studies, I developed a keen interest in atheism, and from here, I started to develop a healthy habit of questioning my beliefs, assumptions, and inherited ideologies. What were they based on? This process of philosophical development led me to question homeopathy. The more I read, the less I believed that the practice had any scientific basis. That said, I didnt question that seeing a homeopath had therapeutic benefits; it was, after all, similar to a therapy session.
Why I decided to get vaccinated Having decided that I didnt believe in the remedy side of homeopathy, I started to think about the fact I hadnt been vaccinated. What was that based on? Did I agree with my moms reasoning? I read about how immunization works. I found myself agreeing with the science. I decided that if I were to have a child, Id want to vaccinate them. I also decided that I should discuss getting vaccinated myself. It took me a while to act on this decision, but this month, I finally took the plunge.
Getting vaccinated as an adult I went to see the nurse at my doctors surgery and explained that Id not had most of my childhood vaccinations. The nurse advised me on which vaccinations made most sense to have as an adult. We prioritized the ones Id require for my upcoming trip, and I ended up having three vaccinations: hepatitis A, diphtheria, and tetanus. The last two were boosters, as I had had the first round of those as a baby. The injections did sting a little, and my arms were a little achy for a couple of days but other than that, being vaccinated was uneventful. It didnt make me feel unwell at all. The nurse advised that I should consider getting the MMR vaccine, too particularly if I plan to get pregnant. Contracting rubella when pregnant can lead to miscarriage. Ive decided Ill definitely get the MMR vaccine if I do decide to have a baby.
Agreeing to disagree No evidence was ever found to support the 1974 allegation that the DTP vaccine caused harm, and researchers have since discredited Dr. Wakefields work, concluding that there is no link between autism and MMR. I feel that not vaccinating me was the wrong choice, but I do have empathy for my moms decision in light of the misinformation she was exposed to. Whats more, I can see how she found the process of getting me vaccinated distressing. Jabbing a baby in the arm is bound to make them irritable. Maybe introducing foreign bodies into their bloodstream does throw them out of balance for a few days, and maybe it will even disrupt their sleep. After a vaccination, a childs immune system is working out how best to fight the intruders. It is through this process that they develop an immunity. If parents do observe what they consider to be a slight adverse reaction, is it really that surprising? Does it mean that immunization is bad for the baby and should be avoided? Id say not.
Community versus individual choice I think that my mom may have framed the problem in the wrong way. Perhaps the decision whether to vaccinate should not be framed as an individual choice; because, in isolation, its possible to see how a parent may decide that the discomfort of vaccination outweighs its benefits. After all, most of the population does get vaccinated. Therefore, the risk of catching the diseases we immunize against are fairly low. The majority of the population is vaccinated, so some individuals can get away with not being immunized but should they? Arguably, the decision to vaccinate a child is bigger than personal choice. Immunization is about community. The decision to vaccinate is a decision to safeguard our herd immunity.
What would happen without vaccinations? The question is not whether each child would be better off if they avoided vaccinations, but rather, how would the decision not to vaccinate your child affect our health as a community, a nation, and globally? What would happen if the majority of people decided not to vaccinate their children? To prevent the outbreak of disease within a population, a high percentage of the population need to be vaccinated against that disease. When people choose not to vaccinate their children, the percentage of the population that is immune drops. If large numbers of people choose not to vaccinate their children, it is much more likely that outbreaks of the diseases we vaccinate against will occur.
Bladder infections are extremely common among women. New research, however, shows that boosting water intake might reduce these infections by almost half.
Share on Pinterest Drinking plenty of water can help keep UTIs at bay.
A urinary tract infection (UTI) can affect any part of the urinary tract, including the urethra, bladder, ureters, or kidneys.
A bladder infection is the most common type of UTI.
Approximately half of all women will experience a UTI in their lifetime.
For those who experience this type of infection once, a solid 25 percent can expect to have another later on in life.
Women are likelier to develop a bladder infection than men due to differing anatomy the female urethra is shorter than that of men, which means that bacteria can reach the bladder more easily.
Also, the urethra opening is closer to the rectum in women, and the rectum houses lots of bacteria. These bacteria are most commonly associated with UTIs.
Bladder infections, when caught early, dont usually cause serious complications, and they are easily treated with antibiotics.
If not treated, however, they can lead to kidney infections. Symptoms of bladder infections include a burning feeling while passing urine and frequent or intense urges to go to the bathroom, even if there is not a lot of urine to pass.
HARBOR BEACH -- Harbor Beach Community Schools recently hosted a Skilled Trades Day at the school.
The event took place for two reasons: To kick-off Michigan College Month and to expose students to the opportunities in the skilled trades professions, which is suffering a huge shortage today.
UPPER THUMB -- This month, history at the Sanilac County Historic Village & Museum will come back to haunt the inhabitants.
This year's Haunted Village takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 13 and 20. The Haunted Village has become a wildly successful October event with 1,000 people attending last year.
There are many area businesses in our county that continually donate to worthy causes. That generosity helps keep our county a great place to live, work and play.
Donations can come in the forms. Money, time, expertise, physical items you name it.
Donations can come in as expected, such as a business donating to yearly events like the Huron County Relay for Life, or the Huron County Child Abuse and Neglect Council's Roof Sit. Other times, donations can come right out of the blue to keep an event from ending.
Such was the case this week for Huron County's Project Connect.
Project Connect has been a staple in helping those individuals or families at risk for homelessness or in need of housing for many years. Last week, the crucial event had to be cancelled by organizers, due to a pullback in state funding.
After learning of the cancellation, organizers say DTE Energy officials stepped up this week with a donation to make the thing possible again. Thanks to the timely donation, this will be the 10th annual event, which is held each year in November.
Huron County Homeless Solutions, in partnership with the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness and the Thumb Area Continuum of Care, have organized the event for the past decade, helping countless local families and individuals in the process.
While free haircuts, health screenings, give-a-ways, lunch and free transportation are available, organizers say it is the informational resources that are available at the event that are most important.
This year's event has been slated for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Nov. 9 at DTE's Discovery Center, located at 1000 S. Van Dyke Road in Bad Axe.
Good work to DTE and Project Connect organizers for helping keep such an important event alive.
SEBEWAING Unionville-Sebewaing Area Superintendent George Rierson is commending law enforcement, teachers and parents for their roles in ensuring students were secure during a district-wide lockdown this week.
Rierson sent a letter to parents Friday explaining the reason for Thursday's lockdown. The school received a suspicious phone call from an unidentified person.
Unionville-Sebewaing Area Schools staff coordinated their efforts to provide a high level of care for our students during the implemented security measure, Rierson said.
The caller stated they were in a white van in a parking lot. The person never identified a specific location or that they were attempting to contact the school, but during the conversation, the caller stated there was an explosive device in a field.
District officials called 911 and implemented a secure mode in all buildings and the staff was informed that a secure mode was to be implemented immediately. At that time, entrances to the building were inspected and secured, while students were placed in classrooms where they could be supervised by staff.
The Huron County Sheriffs Office and Sebewaing Police Department responded to the call and began inspecting the property and buildings for suspicious activity or items.
After a thorough search of the district property and buildings, it was determined that students could be released safely and the district informed parents that students would be released at 4:50 p.m.
I cannot praise them enough for their effort as we extended our day for nearly two hours," Rierson said. "We issued a notice to parents soon after initiating the security measure in order to keep them abreast of the incident and discourage the spreading of rumors and panic.
I truly appreciated the consideration of our parents who, despite the understandable anxiety of the moment, provided us the necessary time for police to conduct a thorough search to assure that the area was secure and to allow for students to be released at the end of the day in a safe and orderly fashion," he added.
The school will be releasing a parent survey by Monday in order to gather information to improve their response and communication if security measures are necessary in the future.
Rierson can be reached at rierson@think-usa.org or at 989-883-2360, for further questions about the incident.
BRIDGEPORT A Manchester man is facing more than 100 years in prison after a jury late Friday convicted him of the Christmas Eve 2016 fatal shooting of a local man during a car show.
Despite a recorded confession from Xavier Rivera, the 12-member jury struggled for three days to arrive at a verdict, at one point telling Superior Court Judge John Kavanewsky Jr. they were unsure they could come to a decision.
But shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Friday, the jury announced it had replaced its foreman and was ready to announce its verdict.
As the 35-year-old Rivera sobbed at the defense table the jury of six men and six women declared they had found him guilty of murder, conspiracy, unlawful restraint and unlawful discharge of a firearm for the death of 33-year-old Miguel Rivera of Bridgeport.
No sentencing hearing date was immediately set.
Im just really happy, exclaimed Miguel Riveras girlfriend, Julie Viera, as she stood crying in the courthouse hallway after the verdict was announced. It has been a long road and Im grateful to the police and now Im going to go home and hug my son.
During the two-week trial Senior Assistant States Attorney Marc Durso presented evidence that on Christmas Eve, Rivera had been admiring the Mustangs and Camaros at a weekly gathering of car enthusiasts in the parking lot of AutoZone on North Avenue when a gold Cadillac Deville pulled up.
Xavier Rivera and Moises Pito Contreras got out of the Cadillac and grabbed Miguel Rivera and dragged him into the parking lot next door, according to testimony.
One of the men began yelling, Wheres my (expletive), as they pistol whipped the victim. They then began firing at him and then drove off.
Miguel Rivera, suffering from gunshot wounds to the right leg, left leg, back and torso managed to stagger down the street before collapsing by the drive through window of Popeyes Restaurant. Witnesses testified Xavier Rivera believed the victim had previously burglarized his apartment stealing cash, sneakers and marijuana.
But the highlight of the trial was when Durso played for the jury a recording of Xavier Rivera admitting to killing the victim that a witness had recorded on his cell phone.
Contreras is awaiting trial in the case.
Luther Turmelle / Hearst Connecitcut Media
CHESHIRE Connecticuts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has been unable to determine the cause of death of Megumi Yamamoto, the Cheshire High School teacher whose body was found in the woods near her home Wednesday night.
Following an autopsy on Yamamotos body, the medical examiner has ruled additional testing is needed and a ruling is pending. Yamamotos body was found near a stream close to the intersection of Mixville Road and Marion Avenue. Yamamotos body was found after she was reported missing Wednesday by someone who Cheshire Police Detective Fred Jortner said was not a member of her family.
Protesters opposing the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh gathered early Friday outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's house for a "confirmation kegger" at which they chugged Pabst Blue Ribbon from red solo cups and chanted "I like beer," a phrase repeated by Kavanaugh when he appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, reported NBC political reporter Kasie Hunt.
"What do you do with a drunken justice?" protesters could be heard singing as they cradled boxes of PBR in a video posted to Twitter by one of the activists, L.A. Kauffman.
More actors have reacted to the controversy and have praised the actress courage to come out and speak about it.
Before Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma, other celebrities like Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor, among others had also supported Tanushree Dutta.
Mumbai/ New Delhi: Anushka Sharma is the latest celebrity from the Hindi film industry to support Tanushree Dutta, saying the details that she has given about her alleged harassment on a movie set are "frightening".
Anushka said Dutta, who has accused Nana Patekar of harassing her during the shooting of a 2008 movie, should be respected for choosing to come out and speak her truth. "Not just as a woman but as an individual, your workplace has to be the safest environment after your home. You shouldn't feel threatened or in danger while performing your duties, whatever profession you might be in.
"It's very frightening to know the details that have come out. For Tanushree Dutta to speak up about this takes a lot of courage to come out there and say these things. But if someone is choosing to come out and speak up, the least you can do is listen to them and be respectful about it," Anushka said at the success press conference of Sui Dhaaga.
The actor hoped that the incident will encourage more women to come forward and share their experiences.
"It's not as if this does not happen everywhere. It will be nice if an atmosphere is created where women feel safe to come out and speak up," she added.
Her co-star Varun Dhawan said it is not a good sign that it has taken ten years for people to react to the incident. Dutta had first spoken about the incident in 2008, but she did not get any support at that time.
"It happened in 2008 and we are reacting to it in 2018, it's not a good sign... If something like this happens on my film's set, I'll personally make sure to prevent it. You cannot let violence take over. Law and order should take its course and investigate the matter.
"Let's get to the conclusion of the matter, enough talk about it. The law needs to step in. I'll give my opinion, someone else will give theirs, but it's time the law steps in," he said.
Anushka said it was wrong to taint Dutta's image by posting pictures in certain clothes.
"Let's all be collectively responsible for something like this. When something like this happens, it's the environment that is to be blamed, not a particular person. Environment breeds people to do the wrong thing.
"... We should stop questioning 'Why is this happening so late?' That's also not right. If justice hasn't been served, it can happen anytime.
Meanwhile, Deepika Padukone said Friday that #MeToo movement is about the victory of right over wrong and should not be reduced to men versus women.
When asked about the #MeToo movement in the light of Tanushree Dutta's allegations of harassment against Nana Patekar, Padukone said, "For me, the #MeToo movement is not about gender. It is about the victory of right over wrong."
"Anyone who faces any kind of discrimination or any sort of abuse, I think we as people must support that person. It is not about a woman or a man or about female versus men. Let's not complicate or get confused in that conversation. I think the #MeToo should not be only about gender. It's about right versus wrong," she said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2018 here.
Actor Ranveer Singh, who had accompanied Padukone to the event and shared the dais with her, said he condemns harassment in every form.
"Harassment per se is just wrong. Harassment of anyone, women, men or any person being harassed is wrong, whether it is in the workplace, public place, street or at home. It is wrong. Right now, there is something that has happened. There is all kinds of speculation.
"But if it has happened, then it takes a lot of courage for somebody to come out and speak about it. You know you have been through some very disturbing experience. It takes courage to speak publicly about it. Therefore you must consider what this person is saying... If it has happened, it is absolutely wrong, and I condemn it emphatically," Ranveer said.
Dutta has accused Patekar of misbehaviour on the sets of a 2008 movie. He has denied the allegations and has slapped her with a notice.
The state of North Carolina provides several veteran benefits. This page explains those benefits.
North Carolina State Veterans Homes
North Carolina runs four state veterans homes in Black Mountain, Fayetteville, Kinston, and Salisbury, Kinston. Honorably discharged North Carolina resident veterans are eligible for admission. They must be referred by a doctor or be otherwise disabled. There is a fee.
North Carolina Veteran Financial Benefits
Income Tax
If you had at least five years of creditable military service as of Aug. 12, 1989, all your military retirement and SBP payments are tax free.
Property Tax
Honorably discharged North Carolina veterans who are 100% permanently and totally disabled by the VA are eligible for up to a $45,000 deduction in the assessed value of their home for property tax purposes.
The surviving spouse is also eligible if they are drawing DIC from the VA.
Vehicle Highway Tax
Disabled veterans are exempt from paying the highway tax on vehicles that are specially adapted by the VA to accommodate their disabilities.
North Carolina State Employment Benefits
State Employment Veterans Preference
Preference in state government employment is given to wartime veterans, spouses of disabled veterans, and surviving spouses of disabled veterans or of veterans who died in action or as a result of service-connected disability.
North Carolina Assistive Technology Program (NCATP)
NCATP is a state program under the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services that can assist veterans with disabilities in transitioning smoothly back to civilian life. NCATP provides assistive technology device demonstrations, short-term device loans, assessments, training, public awareness and technical assistance to individuals and family members.
Business Link North Carolina (BLNC)
BLNC works in partnership with the NC Department of Commerce and provides free services to help veterans and anyone with starting a small business
North Carolina Scholarship for Children of Wartime Veterans
The scholarship is for eight academic semesters and the recipient has eight years to utilize the eight academic semesters. To qualify, the child must be under the age of 25 when applying, and a resident of North Carolina. The veteran must have served during wartime, or be a disabled veteran.
North Carolina Veteran Recreation Benefits
Hunting and Fishing Licenses
All 50% or more disabled veterans can get a lifetime hunting-fishing license for $10 to $110 depending on the type of license.
Active Duty Hunting & Fishing
NC residents on active duty outside the state and home on leave for 30 days or less do not need to purchase a license.
Active duty members and their families stationed in North Carolina can buy hunting & fishing licenses at the resident rate.
North Carolina State Veterans Cemeteries
There are four state veterans cemeteries: Black Mountain, Goldsboro, Jacksonville, and Spring Lake. Honorably discharged North Carolina veterans can be buried for free, there is a small charge for spouses.
Visit the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs website for more information on any of these programs.
Stay on Top of Your Veteran Benefits
Military benefits are always changing. Keep up with everything from pay to health care by subscribing to Military.com, and get access to up-to-date pay charts and more with all latest benefits delivered straight to your inbox.
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- A lack of day care in the largest U.S. military community overseas is straining families and impacting unit operations, as some service members say they had to hire live-in help or had to take their children to work to make up for the shortfall.
Child development centers in the Kaiserslautern military community in Germany are beyond capacity because they cannot hire enough child care workers, military officials say.
Meanwhile, public German day care centers are allowed to take Americans as a lower priority than Germans, but many choose not to do so.
The shortfall in the base community, which acts as a transportation hub for missions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is happening as more service members and their families are moving to the area.
About 500 soldiers from a communications battalion in Bavaria will be transferred to Baumholder by next year, and Kaiserslautern will get 220 more soldiers, the military said, adding to 53,000 Americans living in the area.
"In preparation for our move coming here ... we put our three kids' names on the (day care) list," said a senior officer from U.S. Air Forces Europe and Africa.
Shortly after arriving, the officer, who asked not to be identified due to security reasons, said she and her husband, also in the Air Force, had to go on work-related trips at the same time.
"We had to farm our kids out to people that we sort of knew for two nights just to fill the gap," she said.
They eventually got a spot in the Miesau CDC for their youngest child. But it was about a year before they were offered before- and after-school care. In the meantime, they hired a nanny.
"When I had my youngest at home with a nanny, she couldn't leave to go pick up the kids because she couldn't get on base," the officer said. "I was leaving at 3 p.m. to pick my kids up at school. Sometimes they would hang out in my office. I had a box full of toys and a place to do their homework."
Eventually -- as is the case in many other families -- the officer sponsored her mother to live with her in Germany to look after the children.
Pvt. Cheyenne Fierro, a supply clerk with the 39th Transportation Battalion, has been stationed in Germany since June 25.
"I have called around to find child care (for her 2-year-old daughter) and have been told by multiple people it is a year or longer wait."
Because Fierro's husband hasn't found a job, they're a lower military priority than a dual working couple.
"If my husband is seeking employment we move up on the list," Fierro said. "When he finally accepts the job we move up again. But why would he accept the job if we don't know for sure if our daughter will have a spot?"
Even when a day care offer is received, it can take up to two months before the space is available, the Air Force CDC resource and referral office said during a phone call asking about availability. Air Force officials later said that shouldn't be the case -- a spot should be immediately available and held up to one month to allow parents time to end any previous arrangements.
As of mid-September, there were 206 children on the Air Force CDC waiting list and 225 on the Army's list. Single service members, dual military couples and dual working couples are the highest priorities.
Lack of caregivers
The problem stems from a lack of workers, not a lack of space in the facilities, said Melissa Wesley, head of child and youth services at Ramstein Air Base.
In 2017, child care facilities in the community were impacted when President Donald Trump instituted an immediate, 90-day government hiring freeze Jan. 23.
By March, military officials said that centers could no longer offer hourly care and no new spots could be filled.
Col. John Zapata, 86th Mission Support Group commander, is part of a working group of base officials trying to solve the community's child care woes. He is also a single dad with two boys.
"I've not only seen the readiness issue with me and my ability to get to work, but with the stress that it places on an individual in the family," he said.
The 86th Force Support Squadron has had a very difficult time recruiting, hiring and retaining caregivers, Air Force officials said.
"We have tried to streamline the hiring process as much as we can ... but child care work is hard work," Wesley said. "You're doing eight hours where you are on. Your down time is your lunch, your break."
To compensate employees and new hires, Air Force officials have increased the pay for these jobs twice in the last year to $12-$14 an hour. However, employees at P. F. Chang's restaurant on Ramstein are paid about the same and don't require lengthy training.
Youth services also must hire from a transient workforce, as many potential employees are military dependents in Germany for only about three years.
"We can talk all day about how many people we've brought on," said Dave Driscoll, chief of non-appropriated fund human resources. "At the same time, we have people going right back out."
Off-base woes
The lack of off-base care in the local area adds to the problem.
In Germany, Americans are the last priority for local child care. Facilities are subsidized by local governments and their citizens pay taxes to support this service.
Since 2013, all German parents with a child 12 months or older have the right to a day care center.
"When we got here we were interested in getting our youngest into German kindergarten," said the USAFE officer. "Our town doesn't take Americans (and) there's no way to pay into the system if you don't pay German taxes."
Children of service members and civilians under the NATO Status of Forces Agreement have no legal entitlement to German kindergarten. However, they can attend if the schools have the space and the desire.
Five German child care centers contacted in Kaiserslautern by Stars and Stripes said they were full. Three said they don't take Americans.
Zapata said the base wants to work with the city to try and find a solution.
In the Kaiserslautern area, the Army and Air Force operate seven CDCs on six military installations. Of those, the Kleber Kaserne CDC has been closed for at least 18 months due to construction. Staff shortages are also playing a role, said an official who was not authorized to speak on the matter; however, Army garrison spokesman Ray Johnson said Friday that only construction, and not staffing, was the reason for the closure.
Ramstein Air Base has a second CDC building that is scheduled to open once it is staffed.
Working around the system
Family child care providers who work out of their homes can accept children just like a CDC, but the list is short and the process to become a provider can take months.
Some parents rely on the Facebook page "Ramstein babysitters," where Americans and residents of Germany advertise their services.
Friends and neighbors are an option. But regulations state that a provider not certified by the military can only offer care for 10 hours a week in their home. If the provider comes to the child's home, that rule does not apply, Wesley said.
Lauri D'Ercole, an Air Force civilian, hired an au pair after it became too costly to pay their neighbor 300 euros per week, or about $350, to watch three kids.
"We wound up getting a really good au pair," D'Ercole said. "At a minimum it's 260 euro a month for her, but we also cover her housing allowance, as she moved into our house. She has her own private bedroom, fully furnished with a lock on the door and private bath."
With three kids and two full-time jobs, the D'Ercole family pays their au pair more than the minimum.
"For some people the negatives would be having a stranger move into their house," D'Ercole said. "We felt confident enough because we video chatted with them to see if they were the right fit for our family and to let them talk with our kids to see how they did with them."
New hiring efforts
The Air Force and Army have instituted monthly job fairs to hire child and youth services employees.
In August and September, the Air Force had 47 applicants, and the Army had 75 for day care jobs, including those at Kleber CDC.
"With streamlining the process, in some cases, we have decreased the time to 13 days from initial tentative job offer to starting in the program," Wesley said. "Of course, we must have people actually apply to get to being able to interview and select."
The Army recently changed its process as well. Child care workers can start as a provisional hire after an FBI fingerprint check and receipt of self-disclosure statements that reveal no red flags.
The screening process should take six to eight business days, an Army official said; however, employees will still be required to complete a more comprehensive investigation during the provisional period.
The Air Force is also looking at ways to partner with the community.
"The first step is to find the facilities and the caregivers that are willing and able, and then working to ensure that we have some insight into how they do things so that we can ensure that it meets all our standards and ensure the safety and security of the children," Zapata said. The second step is addressing the cost and looking for ways to make it "cost neutral" to parents.
Ramstein officials will hold a town hall meeting from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Ramstein Youth Center, Building 428.
They will provide information and ask for ideas and comments from concerned parents.
"I think it's a good system of how they take care of the children but just awful on how they don't have enough room for all of the people they bring here with families," Fierro said. "I just feel like they should have it set up a little better."
Forensic Science Advances Mean US War Fighters Are No Longer Likely to Be Buried as Unknown
No American service member killed in action over the past 30 years has been buried as unknown.
The commander of U.S. naval forces in Europe on Friday urged Russian officials to come see for themselves how NATO would respond to aggression by observing the huge Trident Juncture 2018 military exercise beginning later this month.
Trident Juncture 2018, which will feature amphibious landings in Norway by U.S. Marines and allied troops, will "have a deterrent effect on anybody who might think about crossing a contiguous border or violating the sovereignty of a member of the NATO alliance," said Adm. James Foggo, commander of NATO's Allied Joint Force Command, based in Naples.
At a Pentagon briefing, he said Russia has been invited through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to observe the exercise. Though the Russians have yet to respond to the invitation, "I fully expect they'll want to come. It's in their interests to come. I want them to be there so they can see how well we work together."
Foggo, who will direct the exercise from the U.S. command-and-control ship Mount Whitney, said the exercise will involve all 29 NATO member states, including Turkey, which has recently been at odds with the U.S. and NATO over Ankara's plan to buy S-400 anti-air missiles from Russia. Sweden and Finland will also participate as NATO partner states, he added.
NATO officials have said that Trident Juncture will involve about 40,000 alliance service members, 150 aircraft and 70 warships. Canadian Lt. Gen. Christian Juneau, who served with NATO in Afghanistan, will be in charge of the land component and the amphibious landings of about 5,000 troops in Norway.
Foggo said he views Trident juncture mainly as a logistics exercise to test NATO's ability to insert, supply and maintain a response force coming to the aid of a member state under threat.
"We're going to demonstrate the ability to move that force quickly. That's a message we're going to drive home," he said.
The exercise will take place mostly in central and eastern parts of Norway, and involve air and sea areas in Norway, Sweden and Finland. It will begin with advance activities around Iceland from Oct. 15 to Oct. 17, continuing in and around Norway from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7.
Foggo declined comment on whether Trident Juncture would also feature simulations on deterring nuclear and cyber-attacks but said, "We are always vigilant against attacks in cyberspace."
A submariner, Foggo was also guarded in commenting on increasing activities of Russian submarines in the Baltic Sea and North Sea by new classes of submarines that Moscow claims can run silent to avoid detection. He would say only, "We hold an acoustic advantage, and we will continue to do that. Our subs are the best in the world."
Russia has already condemned Trident Juncture as a needless provocation and warned that its military would take "tit for tat measures."
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Moscow's TASS news agency, "The escalation of NATO's military and political activity in the Arctic region -- namely, in the immediate vicinity of Russia on the territory of northern Norway -- hasn't gone unnoticed."
By hosting the exercise, Norway is "setting the course for unprecedented militarization of its northern latitudes," she said.
Zakharova also took note of the "unfriendly steps" taken by Norway in the recent agreement to boost the rotational number of U.S. Marines in the country for training from 330 to 770. "All these NATO preparations cannot be ignored, and the Russian Federation will take the necessary tit-for-tat measures to ensure its own security," she said.
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
The World Affairs Council of Western Michigan will highlight the Middle East in a four-part lectures series starting Oct. 18.
Titled "Shifting Sands in the Arabian Peninsula," the four presentations will cover Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
A variety of guest speakers will lead the presentations, including a former U.S. ambassador and several professors.
The schedule for the series is as follows:
Thursday, Oct. 18: Oman will be discussed by speaker Fahad Bishara, of the University of Virginia. He specializes in the economic and legal history of the Indian Ocean and Islamic world.
Wednesday, Oct. 24: Chase Untermeyer, former U.S. ambassador to Qatar, will discuss the country. He has held positions at all four levels of government--local, state, national and international--over a period of more than 30 years.
Tuesday, Nov. 13: Andullah Alrebh, of Grand Valley State University, will discuss Saudi Arabia and the country's experience with cultural changes.
Tuesday, Nov. 20: GVSU professor Gamla Gasim wraps the series with a look at the country of Yemen.
All presentations will be held in the Grand Valley State University Seidman College of Business multi-purpose room at 50 Front St. SW from 7 to 8:15 p.m.
The World Affairs Council of Western Michigan is dedicated to educating people in West Michigan about the countries and cultures of the world, as well as providing a forum for discussion of critical foreign policy issues. It is a non-partisan, non-advocacy educational non-profit organization.
The Council's Middle East series comes to West Michigan due to a partnership with local company SoundOff Signal and the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center via the national World Affairs Councils of America organization.
The city of Austin, Texas, has officially outlawed restaurants from disposing of food waste in landfills. Instead, restaurants must donate or compost leftovers. Food becomes waste in the U.S. at an astronomical rate, and Austin isn't the first city to pass legislation to limit waste as a result. Supporters of these guidelines are grateful their cities take an active role in food distribution. Others claim food waste laws don't address the root cause of food waste itself, rendering the laws useless. What do you think?
PERSPECTIVES
In early October, a new reality came to Austin, Texas: Restaurants will now be required to donate or compost their food waste, rather than sending it to landfills. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 30 to 40 percent of our food supply becomes food waste:
Throwing away uneaten food at the end of the day is not only "wasteful," but it is also bad for the environment.
Austin isn't the first city to take notice. New York and San Francisco are among the few cities across the U.S. with laws limiting food waste in restaurants specifically. San Francisco diverts about 80 percent of its yearly food waste away from landfills -- an incredible accomplishment -- and aims to reach zero waste by 2020.
According to NBC, San Francisco passed the nation's first mandatory composting law in just 2009. If other cities follow suit, the country will catch up to the San Francisco's precedent within just a few years, saving billions and limiting negative environmental consequences.
Limiting food waste is a noble cause, but there's a ceiling to its effectiveness. Government mandates to donate and compost unconsumed food are difficult, if not impossible, to enforce. France passed a law to limit food waste in 2016. According to HuffPost's Selina Juul, the law required:
Although the public applauded the ordinance, the praise may have been misplaced. According to Juul, the law does not address food waste's root cause: overproduction of food.
Plus, laws requiring restaurants to donate and compost food becomes a logistical nightmare, again, making these laws difficult to follow. The Atlantic's Edward Delman reports on one expert's perspective:
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ALABASTER TWP, MI - Police have released the names of two men killed in a head-on collision in Iosco County.
Around noon on Friday, Oct. 5, 55-year-old James A. Engelmann was driving a Lincoln passenger car north on U.S. 23 near Keystone Road in Alabaster Township (south of Tawas City near the Arenac-Iosco County line) when he lost control. The Lincoln crossed into the southbound lane and collided with Ford box-style commercial vehicle.
Michigan State Police troopers from the East Tawas Post responded and found Engelmann and passenger Michael R. Dady, 54, were both deceased. Engelmann hailed from Au Gres, while Dady resided in San Rafael, California.
The driver of the box truck, a 60-year-old Alpena man, was transported to Tawas St. Joseph Hospital with serious injuries.
Drugs and alcohol do not appear to be factors at this time and the investigation is ongoing. Investigators believe all involved were wearing seat belts.
Troopers were assisted at the scene by the MSP West Branch Post Accident Investigator, MSP Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, the Tawas City Fire Department, and Iosco County EMS. Iosco County Central Dispatch also assisted.
SPARTA, MI -- A man appointed to the Sparta Village Council earlier this year has been charged with two criminal counts, including accosting a child for immoral purposes.
Kent County Jail records show Ryan James Hayes, 34, was booked into the jail on Sept. 25 and posted bond the following day.
Hayes is charged with the "accosting" count,a four-year felony, but also using a computer against the Children's Protection Registry Act, a one-year misdemeanor.
Kent County Undersheriff Michelle Young said the charges stemmed from an Federal Bureau of Investigation task force investigation, but she had no other details.
Hayes did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
He was appointed to the council in February to take a position vacated in November by Hayne Paasch.
Paasch's term was set to end in November and Hayes is on the ballot to retain the position.
Village President Kristi Dougan, an in email to MLive, said Hayes remains on the village council and they "must allow the criminal justice system to work."
She said Hayes has not indicated his plans, given the charges.
"The Sparta Village Council will continue work on behalf of our residents in an efficient, effective and positive manner," she wrote.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Iris Potter remembers her own experience decades ago protesting for women's rights, she said, standing on the side of Michigan Avenue alongside about 100 other people objecting the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh.
Potter, 64, said she did the same thing in the 1970s, and unfortunately things didn't change.
"We're still here today trying to make it right," Potter said.
She was one of about a hundred people who took to the side of Michigan Avenue in Kalamazoo Friday, Oct. 5, to express their anger over the likely confirmation of Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh is now expected to have the votes needed to be confirmed, according to the Associated Press. A final vote, which would grant him a lifelong position on the nation's highest court, is expected Saturday.
His road to the Supreme Court was full of debate and protest after Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 27. Blasey Ford recounted the alleged assault and Kavanaugh denied ever sexually assaulted anyone.
Protesters in Kalamazoo stood in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault. The "We Stand With Survivors" protest was part of One Billion Rising, a national mass action to end violence against women.
Fighting back tears, Paulette Thompson talked about raising the next generation of boys.
"They just need to learn how to treat human beings," Thompson said standing near her 10-year-old son Elijah.
With his dog Babe held securely in a satchel, David Greenquist, 59, said he attended Friday's protest to say there was "no excuse for sexual assault."
Though he never raised children himself, Greenquist said he worked as a security doorman for a ballet school and feels strongly about the cause.
"A man should never put his hands on a woman in anger," Greenquist said. "Anyone who lives by the adage 'boys will be boys' shouldn't be allowed to raise boys."
"And I still believe Anita Hill," Greenquist said, referencing the attorney who took on a similar fight in 1991 against then Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.
Molly Mechtenberg, who's 14-year-old son stood with his friends feet away, said education for teenage boys should begin at home.
Mechtenberg said she recently found a journal she had kept during the time where Anita Hill was accusing a Supreme Court nominee of sexual harassment.
"I was furious," she said. "The very same thing is happening."
"We need to teach teenage boys that this is not acceptable."
Mechtenberg's husband, Jerry Berrigan, said he and his wife have tried to create a culture of openness at home to "teach what it means to be a good man."
Berrigan said supporters of Kavanaugh who would like to see Roe vs. Wade overturned should not overlook or ignore accusations of sexual assault or issues with how women are treated for what they believe is the "greater goal."
"We need to have integrity in who we are and what we believe," Berrigan said. "It is really lacking."
Sitting beside their son on the curb alongside Michigan Avenue, Noah Thompson, 14, said he has stood up to his classmates for mistreating girls at school, including touching them inappropriately.
"You can't do that. That's not cool," Thompson said. "It's really not okay what they're doing, and I told them they need to knock it off because I don't think she likes that and no one likes to see it."
Thompson and his two friends said they don't believe boys should get a free pass to misbehave. They are often expected to behave a certain way because they are stereotyped, he said.
"Not all teenagers drink. Not all teenager do horrible things like he's done," Thompson said in reference to accusations against Kavanaugh.
Though the fight against gender-based violence continues, times are different today because women are talking about their experiences with sexual harassment and assault, Potter said. This was not the case when she was younger, she said.
Standing beside her friend Faith Akerti, 66, Potter said women are sharing stories from decades ago with trusted friends for the first time.
"Everyone is here in solidarity," Potter said. "We need change."
Akerti echoed her friend, adding, "We need positivity. People have to be aware of humanity."
Potter remembered helping as a volunteer at Kalamazoo's first rape crisis center, something that never existed before, she said.
"We are survivors," Potter said.
Rima Das, who has not just written, directed and produced Village Rockstars, but also shot and edited it, is the gentlest of directors.
Rating:
Cast: Bhanita Das, Basanti Das, Kulada Bhattacharya
Director: Rima Das
Theres a word in Japanese mingei describing an art movement, especially in pottery, that began in the 1920s. Roughly translated it means hand-crafted art of ordinary people, of finding beauty in everyday, utilitarian objects created by nameless, unknown craftsmen.
Master potters strive for years to produce a humble piece of pottery often a teacup which resembles the cup made by a common potter. And once realised, the greatest potters leave these pots unsigned.
The technique, the art is supreme, and functionally is out of the ordinary. But theres warmth in its ubiquitousness, and in its simple aesthetics lies the philosophy of surrendering to the material, of allowing the piece, the teacup to rise on the potters wheel as it wants to. Its beauty lies in the fact that it looks and feels like it was born, not made.
To me a mingei pot is a piece of evidence of the moment when an artiste became one with his/her own creation, and hit nirvana.
In cinema its very tough to achieve this to keep the ego away and let the story, the characters breathe in the space they are in, and then play out.
Not just in India, but anywhere in the world its rare to find films that are pure, honest, organic. Where the art, the skill is so stellar, so calmly confident that it doesnt show at all. Where the story, the characters, dialogue feel like they belong to the people and the space they are in.
Rima Das Village Rockstars, which she has not just written, directed and produced, but also shot and edited, is one such rare piece of cinema. It feels like it was born, not made.
The movie, which Das declares at the onset is a tribute to the place, the people, where I come from, tells the story of Dhunu (Bhanita Das), her brother and mother (Basanti Das) and those around them in their village in Assam which sits warily by a river that feeds them but also rises, ever so often, to claim its price.
Dhunu, along with her brother and his friends, goes to school, and together they return joking, chatting, teasing, before heading to their homes to wash utensils, harvest betel nut, take the goat to graze, try to catch fish for dinner, work in the paddy fields.
This cycle of school and work is seamlessly, unending in their world where theres no trace of the state or of its promises of electricity, roads, schools, employment. Its the villagers relationship with their surroundings, the great elements which contributes to and controls their lives.
Theres a fight with the show-off who rides a bicycle to school, and some small delights, like when a rag-tag band comes to their village to perform.
Dhunu, who hangs around only with the boys, now dreams of owning a guitar and, along with her, they all start dreaming of being members of a band.
Stunned by what they imagine could be the unthinkable price of a guitar, `500, they made-do with a thermocol guitar, and a keyboard and drums carved out of some wood, bamboo and patched together with tape.
While working, or after finishing their tasks, Dhunu and her friends play. Then they climb trees and then just lie there. They play in the water for a bit and then just lie there, half-immersed, floating, eyes closed or gently squinting at the sky.
These moments of calm stillness puts them back in sync with the world around, with the cosmic rotation of day and night.
We watch people, animals, the river, the sun, and in between snatches of conversations, none of them long, none of them complete, Das begins to weave in the story of a mother and her daughter.
Dhunus widowed mother is constantly working cooking, collecting stuff, mending this, selling that, spinning yarn. Yet, poverty is evident in the small clump of rice, with a bit of salt, that Dhunu and her brother gulp down hungrily every day, sometimes enquiring whether theres some curry.
Village women scold Dhunu for playing with boys, for climbing trees. But her mother stands by her, and explains to Dhunu why she lets her do everything, why she wants her to learn swimming. And when Dhunu says she wants a guitar, her mother doesnt think for long before saying, Well sell Munu and buy it.
Just like the strong bond between the mother and her daughter, theres a bond between Dhunu and her goat Munu.
Theres a ritual to celebrate and mark puberty, and then the floods come. A family and their belongings are saved. Two plastic chairs, two goats, one trunk, some utensils leave their crumbling home in a boat, to settle elsewhere by the river.
Village Rockstars is a film born of the slow devastation of floods, and the sudden attack by a rascal fox. Repeatedly there are ruptures, and repeatedly people reconcile and try to move on.
Every time Dhunu crosses the embankment she says the same thing that her father would have been alive if the embankment had been built when the river flooded their village last time. Shes heard, but theres no conversation.
Theres tragedy and mourning, but also stoic responses. Theres sympathy, but theres never enough time to dwell on them for too long.
The films title, Village Rockstars, alludes to more than just the desire of six kids who want to form a band. Its a salute to the spirit of the people of this land.
Have you ever sat on the bank of a river and just watched the rhythmic movement of the river and the movement of people in and around it? Unlike the sea, which keep rushing to you, the river just flows, doing its own thing.
Rima Das is the gentlest of directors, and the pace and rhythm of Village Rockstars is the rhythm of life in a place where you see twilight arriving from a distance and it takes its time to get to where you are.
Like the quietude of the village life, the film has a meditative pace which acknowledges peoples constant fight with nature, and the fact that their lives depend on it.
Watching Village Rockstars is like spending a day, from dusk to dawn, by a river that takes its own time to tells its story and that of the people around it.
It doesnt seem like someone wrote, directed and acted in it. Village Rockstars is a piece of art that feels like it was born, not made.
In one particular scene, Dhunus mother sits extracting and killing lice from her hair. My head itched for a long while after that scene, and still does when I think of it.
Ill be surprised, and disappointed, if Village Rockstars doesnt make it to the short list of Oscars. Do not miss it.
Unlike the LPG, which can explode if it catches fire, the methanol canister will burn out without any explosion.
In contrast to the present cooking fuel being used in liquefied gas form, the methanol fuel will come in vapour form.
Guwahati: In a significant way forward, a public sector unit of the Assam government is going to roll out Indias first methanol-based alternative cooking fuel, which will be 30 per cent cheaper than the conventional LPG besides being clean and green as well as easily transportable.
China and Israel have been using methanol as cooking fuel for long, but it is the first time in India that Assam Petrochemicals Ltd will launch the commercial production of methanol-based cooking fuel under NITI Aayogs flagship programme, Methanol Economy.
It will not only help in mitigating the environmental hazards of a growing economy, but will also provide households an alternative to look beyond the ever-increasing fuel price, including cooking fuel.
Assam Petrochemicals Limited (APL) chairman Jagadish Bhuyan told this newspaper, This is going to be a revolution. The pilot project will be launched at our Namrup methanol plant (Dibrugarh district) with a limited distribution of the stove and the methanol canister. We expect to start commercial operation soon.
Pointing out that technology for the canister and the special burner has been provided by Sweden, Mr Bhuyan said that the methanol cooking fuel will be available in canisters of 1.2 kg capacity each, which will be priced at around Rs 32 and about 18 of them would be equivalent to one conventional domestic LPG cylinder.
In contrast to the present cooking fuel being used in liquefied gas form, the methanol fuel will come in vapour form.
Unlike the LPG, which can explode if it catches fire, the methanol canister will burn out without any explosion.
APL is jointly owned by Oil India Limited (49 per cent stake) and Assam government and it is using natural gas supplied by the oil company as the feedstock for methanol production. At present, the Namrup plant produces 100 tonnes of methanol per day. The ongoing expansion of the plant will push production by 500 tonnes per day by September next year. Besides APL, there are four other producers of methanol in India.
Methanol is a clean burning fuel which can replace both petrol and diesel in transportation and LPG, wood, kerosene in cooking.
It is a scalable and sustainable fuel that can be produced from a variety of feedstock like natural gas, coal, biomass, municipal solid waste and CO2.
The concept of Methanol Economy is being actively pursued by China, Italy, Sweden, Israel, the US, Australia, Japan and many other European countries. Ten per cent of fuel in China in transport sector is methanol.
Methanol burns efficiently in all internal combustion engines, produces no particulate matter, no soot and causes near-zero pollution.
The methanol cooking fuel project is also expected to be a game-changer for Assam Petrochemicals Ltd, Indias first natural gas-based petrochemicals company, which has undertaken a Rs 1,337-crore expansion project to produce 600 tonnes of methanol and 325 tonnes of formaldehyde per day by September 2019.
A case has been filed and the matter is being probed, senior officials said.
Lucknow: Sixty persons have been booked for breaking into a church in Prime Minister Narendra Modis constituency Varanasi and creating ruckus.
The incident took place earlier this week at the Saint Thomas Church and action was initiated after Bishop Peter Baldev wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking action against the guilty.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Bishop Baldev urged him to ensure action against those who indulge in violence in religious places and vitiate the peaceful atmosphere.
The Bishop said that activists who claimed to belong to a fringe group, barged into the church and vandalised it , accusing the pastor of converting Hindus to Christianity.
Station house officer of the Dashashwamedh Police Station, B.K. Shukla, said that Nearly 60 unidentified men have been booked for creating ruckus at the church, breaking the lock of the entry gate and also for threatening the members there. We are trying to confirm the identity of the attackers and they will be arrested soon.
In another incident, activists of the same fringe outfit allegedly beat up a man in Orderly Bazar area of Varanasi, accusing the elderly of converting members of a Hindu family to Christianity on Thursday.
A case has been filed and the matter is being probed, senior officials said.
These facts have been brought to the notice of the Union Minister, who has further given necessary direction to CWC officials, he added.
New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Friday expressed confidence that the state will soon get clearance from the Central Water Commission for the proposed `5,912-crore Mekedatu project on the Cauvery river. The chief minister met Union Water Resources and Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in the national capital and raised several issues including Mekedatu project, Mahadayi river as well as funds to repair national highways passing through the state. He also asked farmers to submit requisite details to avail of Rs 45,000 crore farm-loan waiver announced by the government and said there is no need to panic as no deadline has been fixed to submit the forms.
On the Mekedatu project, he (Gadkari) responded positively. After today's talks, I am confident of getting approval any time soon, Kumaraswamy told reporters after the meeting. After getting the CWC approval to the project, the state will have to take forest and environment clearances from the central government, he said.
Expressing concern over delay in construction of the Mekedatu dam project, Mr Kumaraswamy said a lot of time has been wasted and there is an urgent need to minimise the spillage of surplus river water to the sea.
We have already released 346 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu. There is a spillage of over 200 TMC of surplus water into the sea. Had we saved this water, we could have used it next year in times of rainfall shortage, he said.
These facts have been brought to the notice of the Union Minister, who has further given necessary direction to CWC officials, he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Kumaraswamy also asked farmers to submit requisite details to avail of ` 45,000 crore farm-loan waiver announced by the government and said there is no need to panic as no deadline has been fixed to submit the forms.Kumaraswamy said misinformation was being spread in the state that there is a deadline to avail of the benefit, causing panic among farmers.
Mr Kumaraswamy said his cabinet has approved a debt relief act that aims to protect farmers from harassment at the hands of private lenders and appealed them not to take extreme steps like committing suicide.
The state is now awaiting approval from the Centre to roll out the legislation.
"We will be successful in implementing the loan waiver scheme, if farmers provide all details properly. There is no deadline for this. No need to fear. Don't pay heed to misinformation," Mr Kumaraswamy said after meeting the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the debt relief law and flood aid.
Under the loan waiver scheme, farmers are required to submit certain details so that the government can transfer funds directly into their bank accounts and ensure no middlemen takes advantage, he said.
Missile systems delivery likely in 24 months; 8 other pacts inked.
New Delhi: India is all set to acquire the S-400 Triumf, arguably the worlds most lethal surface-to-air missile system, from Russia, overriding a threat of sanctions from the US. The pact for the $5-billion acquisition signed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday along with eight other agreements ranging from nuclear power to space exploration.
The decisions taken today will further enhance our cooperation and contribute to the restoration of peace and stability in this challenging world, Mr Modi said at a joint press event with Mr Putin.
The S-400 deal was the only military pact inked on Friday and yet New Delhi played it down in order to avoid offending the US.
India has already requested the US for a waiver to escape American sanctions on Russian military exports. The US said that its sanctions do not want to hurt military capabilities of its allies or partners.
Prime Minister Modi and Mr Putin, who held their annual summit, did not mention the S-400 deal in their respective press statements. Government officials also did not publicly announce the inking of the deal. However, official sources confirmed that it was signed.
Air Force chief B.S. Dhanoa told reporters, As and when the government approves it, delivery (of the missiles) will be in 24 months.
The S-400 is one of the worlds most advanced long-range air defence systems. It can engage up to 36 targets at a time and simultaneously launch 72 missiles. China was the first nation to buy the S-400 missile system in 2014. Russia has already started deliveries of an undisclosed number of the S-400 missile system to Beijing.
According to reports, India will establish five squadrons of the S-400 missile system
A top Indian official said, Now that the contract is signed I presume the time-line (for the payment mechanism) has to be fairly soon.
The official also asserted that the negotiations for S-400 precede US sanctions against Russia by a long period. It is fulfils a certain defence requirement of the country and, therefore, the government has taken the decision in the national interest, he said.
Mr Modi and Mr Putin also discussed global issues including the role of the United States with whom Moscows ties have considerably soured. Mr Putin is also understood to have even asked Mr Modi for tips on implementing the GST (Goods and Services Tax), which Russia is hoping to roll out soon.
On the S-400 deal, an Indo-Russian joint statement issued said, The (two) sides welcomed the conclusion of the contract for the supply of the S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile system to India.
In fact, this was the only official reference to the deal which was made way below in the joint statement. There was no mention of it when Prime Minister Modi and President Putin addressed the media on Friday afternoon at Hyderabad House in the Capital after discussions between them held at the 19th edition of the Annual Bilateral Summit.
Russia will also fully support India in the Gaganyaan manned space programme expected to be launched in 2022 and the countries are also set to begin a Ganga-Volga Dialogue to revive and give a major impetus to civilisational and people-to-people links between the two countries.
Moscow also said that it was ready to ramp up oil production to stabilise global oil prices, with PM Modi telling President Putin that rising global oil prices had impacted the Indian economy.
In another move, Moscow also offered to sell its commercial aviation aircraft to India and also offered New Delhi mining opportunities in the Russian Far East.
Another proposed deal between India and Russia for construction of guided-missile frigates was also discussed, sources said.
After the talks, Mr Modi said Indo-Russian ties were New Delhis top priority and referred to the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries, adding that Russia has always stood by India.
The two sides also discussed the menace of terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan, with the issue of terror sanctuaries in Pakistan coming up in that context, sources said.
While the joint statement denounced terrorism in all its forms and condemned all kinds of state support to terrorists including cross border terrorism and providing safe havens to terrorists and their network, there was no direct reference to Pakistan and this has raised a few eyebrows. Russias ties with Pakistan have improved significantly in the past few years.
Apart from an MoU between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Federal Space Agency of Russia ROSCOSMOS in the field of human space flight programme, a pact was signed on an Action Plan for Prioritization and Implementation of Cooperation Areas in the Nuclear Field.
The joint statement said, The (two) sides noted the progress achieved in the construction of the remainder of the six power units at Kudankulam nuclear power plant (NPP) as well as the efforts being made in the components manufacturing for localisation.
On trade ties, the joint statement said, The (two) sides reviewed the progress on the achievement of the goal to increase two-way investment to $ 30 billion by 2025.
Apart from Afghanistan and Syria, the two countries also discussed the situation arising from the US withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal. Both Moscow and New Delhi felt it was important to keep Iran in a deal to ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons.
DGP O.P. Singh on Thursday had warned the policemen not to indulge in activities that violate their service rules.
Lucknow: Six police personnel including in charge of three police stations in Lucknow, were removed from their posts and three constables were suspended after their social media posts publicly announcing their participation in observing Friday as Black Day by tying black bands on their arms went viral.
A section of the constables had given a call to observe Friday as Black Day in support of their imprisoned colleagues Prashant Chaudhary and Sandeep Kumar, both accused of murdering Apple executive Vivek Tiwari.
These police personnel have been running a campaign on the social media to mobilise support and funds for their legal battle. They claim that government action against their colleagues is one-sided.
DIG Praveen Kumar told reporters on Friday, In-charge of Naka, Gudam-ba and Aliganj police stations in Lucknow have been removed and a departmental probe has also been ordered in the matter.
He also announced the suspension of three constables posted in these police stations who posed with black bands for photographs posted on the social media.
DGP O.P. Singh on Thursday had warned the policemen not to indulge in activities that violate their service rules.
Earlier, two former constables Brijendra Yad-av and Avinash Pathak were arrested from Vara-nasi and Mirzapur respe-ctively, while a constable, Sarvesh Choudhary, attached to 25 battalion PAC Rae Bareli, was also suspended on Thursday.
An FIR has also been lodged against Sarvesh who posted an 11-minute video in which he claims that he has been collecting money for his two colleagues accused in the killing of Vivek Tiwari.
Meanwhile, chief minister Yogi Adityanath summoned DGP O.P. Singh, instructing him to firmly deal with indiscipline in the police force.
As per National Strategy for Counterterrorism, the Sikh militant group is responsible for terror attacks in India.
In recent months, the Indian government is believed to have raised with the Trump administration the issue of separatist Sikhs using United States as a platform to gain global traction. (Photo: File)
Washington/New Delhi: The US has named Sikh militant group Babbar Khalsa among the separatist movements that pose a risk to American interests overseas by conducting assassinations and bombings against major economic, political and social targets.
Babbar Khalsa International seeks, through violent means, to establish its own independent state in India and is responsible for significant terrorist attacks in India and elsewhere that have claimed the lives of innocent civilians, according to the Trump administration's new National Strategy for Counterterrorism unveiled by the White House on Thursday.
The direct reference to Babbar Khalsa, an international terrorist organisation and banned by several countries including the US, Canada and India assumes significance because its minuscule support base in North America.
In recent months, the Indian government is believed to have raised with the Trump administration the issue of separatist Sikhs using United States as a platform to gain global traction.
In its strategy paper, the White House said there is a broad range of revolutionary, nationalist, and separatist movements overseas whose use of violence and intent to destabilise societies often puts American lives at risk.
"Such groups may avoid or deprioritise targeting United States interests for now to avoid detracting from their core goals but frequently conduct assassinations and bombings against major economic, political, and social targets, heightening the risk to United States personnel and interests overseas," the strategy said.
Among others, the White House said the Nordic Resistance Movement is a prominent transnational, self-described nationalist-socialist organization with anti-Western views that has conducted violent attacks against Muslims, left-wing groups, and others.
The group has demonstrated against United States Government actions it perceives are supportive of Israel and has the potential to extend its targeting to United States interests, it said.
"Similarly, the neo-Nazi National Action Group, a terrorist organization that was banned by the United Kingdom in 2016 for its promotion of violence against politicians and minorities, operates mainly in the United Kingdom but has engaged with like-minded groups in the United States, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, and Poland expanding the potential influence of its violent ideology," the strategy said.
Besides the bustling Western Express Highway adjoining Vakola in Mumbai lies a calm bylane where temples, tuition centres and small offices jostle for space.
A small doorway and a narrow stairway leads into the cluttered yet buzzing office of Medikabazaar, the online aggregator for medical supplies needed for hospitals and clinics.
That small office is the nerve centre for the complex web of e-commerce operation that stocks up around 100,000 products ranging from a machine as complex as an MRI scanner to a cotton roll, and ensure it is delivered to around 16,000 pin codes spread across the length and breadth of the country in less than three days. Around seven fulfillment centres aid in the process of receiving, packaging and shipping orders for goods.
The company follows a B2B market place model where it acts as an aggregator charging a service fee for packing and delivering products depending on category and size. In addition, the company maintains a limited amount of inventory of fast moving goods where it sells directly to customers for a commission.
"At any hospital, the cost of materials constitute between 22 and 24 percent of total expenses, we are helping hospitals to cut down on their procurement inefficiencies and bring down the costs to about 17-19 percent," said Vivek Tiwari, CEO and Director of Medikabazaar.
This we are doing by eliminating middlemen in supply chain, providing choice, bringing transparency to pricing and ensuring delivery of medical supplies on time, Tiwari explains.
Medikabazaar has 15,000 active registered users that includes hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres and individual doctors.
Founded by Tiwari, an alumnus of IIM-Calcutta, Medikabazaar started operations three years ago and has been seeing two-fold growth in sales without losing money.
Tiwari says Medikabazaar has opened up new avenues for manufacturers to penetrate deep into the market, who were otherwise relying on sales people and channel partners to reach out to hospitals and clinics to sell products.
Even some of the largest manufacturers, both directly and through channel partners, are able to reach out to around 5,000-10,000 hospitals. Thats the tip of the iceberg when you consider 2,40,000 medical establishments in the country, he added.
"Manufacturers now understand the power of technology, they directly come to us and say how can we partner and increase the market share, how can we take the products to Tier 2-3 towns," Tiwari says.
The company recently raised around $5 million Series-A funding from venture capital fund HealthQuad, promoted by founders of private equity firm Singapore-based Quadria Capital and existing investors that include Rebright Partners, Sunil Kalra, an independent angel investor for early stage startups and Arun Venkatachalam, an active India-focused angel investor.
Tiwari says he set a target of reaching 250,000 stock keeping units (SKUs), 50,000 hospitals and clinics, 20,000 pin codes and expand fulfillment centre network in the next one year.
To fund that expansion plan, Tiwari said he is planning to once again reach out to investors to raise around $15 million.
Enforcement Directorate
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Saturday it has attached assets worth Rs 5.4 crore in connection with its probe in an alleged Rs 5,700-crore bank loan fraud case linked to a Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company.
The attached immovable properties, one each in Faridabad and Gurgaon, belong to Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan, who was arrested by the ED and is out on bail.
A provisional order for attachment of the assets was issued by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
A similar order was passed against Dhawan by the agency in the past.
The case relates to a money laundering case registered against the Sandesara brothers Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara and Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and their Vadodara-based firm Sterling Biotech Limited and others on October 27 last year, two days after a case of bank fraud of Rs 5,700 crore and corruption was filed against them by the CBI.
"Dhawan is accused of assisting and facilitating Nitin and Chetan Sandesara, directors and promoters of Sterling Biotech group, who are accused in the said bank loan fraud case," the central probe agency said in a statement.
An investigation has revealed that Rs 5.4 crore was diverted from loan funds by Sandersara brothers and others and were subsequently given to Dhawan, it said.
"Dhawan utilised these proceeds of crime to purchase and develop the said attached properties," it said.
The businessman, it said, was "actively involved in the offence of money laundering."
The agency is set to file a fresh, supplementary charge sheet in this case detailing the role of the Sandesara brothers.
It has also notified the Interpol to obtain a global arrest warrant against them as they have left the country for an undisclosed location, with reports suggesting their location to be either in the UAE or Nigeria.
The ED has filed a few charge sheets, called prosecution complaints, in this case in the past against other accused, including Dhawan.
With the latest order, the total attachment in this case by the ED stands at Rs 4,710 crore, it said.
The ED and the CBI have booked the company, its directors the Sandesara brothers, DiChetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Vilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, former director Andhra Bank Anup Garg and a few unidentified persons in connection with the alleged bank fraud case.
It is alleged that the company took loans of more than Rs 5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank which had turned into non-performing assets.
As per the FIR, the total pending dues of the group of companies were Rs 5,383 crore as on December 31, 2016.
IL&FS Transportation Networks | The company defaulted on the interest on non-convertible debentures due on August 25, 2020. (Image: Reuters)
Past the heavily-guarded gates of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) headquarters in Mumbai, the new non-executive chairman Uday Kotak's words about IL&FS being a "maze" with "many complexities" resonate more than ever.
Getting to the press briefing on the 10th floor meeting room of the huge structure, reflected the IL&FS group's complexity further.
Mediapersons had to travel through a maze of a few parking lots to reach the elevator, which went up only till the 9th floor. Walking up the stairs to the 10th floor along with a security personnel, passing multiple cubicles onto the left and then a narrow alley led us finally to the meeting room.
On October 4, the newly appointed seven-member Board met for the first time. After an over five-hour meeting, Kotak said, "The board is committed to an objective process of making a fair assessment of the facts...Keep in mind, for us to be able to assess a whole maze of 348 entities, more than double of what was the earlier assessment, it will take us a longer time."
Vineet Nayyar, who is slated to be the vice-chairman and managing director at IL&FS, said, "...you may not have such a clear-cut solution as there is complexity at multiple levels. But hope we can come out with a solution."
On October 1, the government, which is a quasi-owner of the group, forced out the previous board after it argued at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that the IL&FS management presented a rosy picture when all was not well.
Starting early September, the defaults by IL&FS, which is one of the country's biggest shadow banks, has cast a shadow over the entire non-banking sector.
The defaults by IL&FS raised fears among more likely defaults by other non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
The problem is that most of IL&FS's assets are long-term and illiquid projects. Of late these projects were funded with short-term borrowings while a lot of the company's receivables were stuck due to delays, stalled projects and termination of payments, some from the government itself.
This has led to a cash-crunch situation where IL&FS and some of its arms, including the listed ones have been unable to repay their short-term loans.
Founded in 1987, IL&FS was supported by state-owned banks, to provide finance to local governments for infrastructure. Over 30 years, it has grown into a vast conglomerate, with a web of 348 group companies. This number was 169 as per public records previously.
No shareholder, including the big ones such as Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), State Bank of India (SBI), Orix corporation of Japan, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and Central Bank of India, noticed or could discover the deterioration in the financials.
The government has accused the management of being well aware of the precarious and critical financial position, but continuing to present a hunky-dory scenario which was just a mirage.
IL&FS group's debt nearly doubled to Rs 91,000 crore between 2014 and 2018. The new management says this debt was as on March 2018 and it could rise further given its off-balance sheet liabilities.
It is still unclear on how much funds will be infused by the state-owned and private shareholders, but the government and regulators have assured to keep IL&FS afloat to save its value.
With the new board set to meet more frequently to clear the mess, it remains to be seen if public money, yet again, will be the only bail-out option.
India and Russia on October 5 signed a pact to further enhance cooperation in the area of nuclear energy and agreed to expand collaboration in the arena in third countries.
A joint statement said the two sides reiterated their commitment to further strengthen global non-proliferation, and Russia expressed its support for India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
"The sides noted the progress achieved in the construction of the remainder of the six power units at Kudankulam NPP as well as the efforts being made in the components manufacturing for localization. The sides welcomed consultations on the new Russian designed NPP in India, as well as on the NPP equipment joint manufacturing of nuclear equipment, cooperation in third countries," the joint statement said.
Read Russia signs S-400 missile deal with India: Ifax
Russia has built two VVER reactors with a capacity of 1000 MW each at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. Work on building four more reactors is underway.
"We have discussed in detail the flagship project of Kudankulam on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The first two units of this power plant are running in their full capacity. Third and fourth are being constructed, the fifth and sixth units are being constructed next," he said.
Putin said Russia plans to build 12 more nuclear reactors in the next 20 years.
"In particular the two countries intent to develop the project of six nuclear power units of Russian design at a new site in India, further enhance cooperation in the third countries and in new perspective nuclear technologies along with joint construction of nuclear power plants," the joint statement added.
The two countries are cooperating in the Roppur Nuclear Plant in Bangladesh.
In his joint press statement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the talks, Putin said Russia is a "reliable supplier" of hydrocarbons to India.
He said India imports Russia's Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). "We are supplying this gas from Sakhalin 1 field in which Indian partners own 20 per cent. In June, the first batch of LNG was sent to the Indian market," he said.
Putin also welcomed Indian energy companies to expand their business in Russia.
He said Russian railways companies are ready to participate in the project to build modern railroads in India.
The Rusian President said, "we will work closely to strengthen security cooperation in Asia and will combat threats such as international terrorism, drug trafficking".
The VHP wants that the Ram Temple should be constructed at the site before the last sunset of 2018.
The Ayodhya title suit is scheduled to come up for hearing before the Supreme Court on October 29. (Photo: PTI/File)
New Delhi: Ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in three states and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Friday tried to revive the Ram Janam-bhoomi issue by setting a deadline for the the Narendra Modi-led BJP government to bring an ordinance in the Winter Session of Parliament for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) affiliate VHPs Uchchatar Adhikar Samiti (high-powered committee) of saints and seers, which met at its headquarters in New Delhi, passed a resolution demanding an ordinance in Parliament that would pave the way for the construction of a grand Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
One of the seers, it was learnt, said that if the government can bring an ordinance against instant triple talaq and against the apex courts decision on the SC/ST Act, why cant it bring an ordinance or a legislation for the Ram Temple.
We believe that bringing in an ordinance is not impossible. We hope that this can be brought in during the upcoming Winter Session, said Alok Kumar, VHPs working president, calling it the final battle for the construction of the temple.
If that does not happen, then all the options are open before us. The future course of action will be decided during the two-day Dharam Sansad to be held next year on the sidelines of the Maha Kumbh in Allahabad, Mr Kumar said, adding that huge public meetings would be organised in each parliamentary constituency from next month to mount pressure on the government.
We want that before the last sunset of 2018, the temple should be constructed at the site, said Mr Kumar.
The VHP committee, headed by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the acting chief of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, said that it is unsure if the Supreme Court would deliver a favourable judgment for construction of the temple. The Ayodhya title suit is scheduled to come up for hearing before the Supreme Court on October 29.
The VHP also decided that representatives of Hindu religious institutions would build pressure on governors and MPs to raise the issue with the Prime Minister and in Parliament.
In the evening, a delegation of saints met President Ram Nath Kovind with their demand of construction of the temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The VHP claimed that the President assured them that he would write to the PM on the issue. Seers are also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sources said that a seer suggested that a visit to the Ram Temple site by the Prime Minister would dispel doubts among Rambhakts that the Central government is not serious about building the Ram Temple.
The committee, attended by more than 48 heads of various peeths from across the country, predicted that if the temple is built, the Modi-led NDA would win the 2019 elections with a bigger margin than 2014.
Replying to a question on why the VHP waited for four years before raising the issue just before the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Kumar said that they were getting positive indications from the apex court and had to wait till it delivered a judgment but the case only got delayed.
During the meeting, sources said, seers reminded the BJP of its poll promise of building the Ram Temple and raised questions as to why the construction of the temple is getting delayed when the BJP-led NDA is ruling 22 states.
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Indian markets remained under a heavy selling pressure throughout the week ended October 5 mostly after RBI monetary policy committee surprised the the street with no change in its key rates.
Weak rupee, rising crude oil prices and surprise move by Central Bank dragged the Nifty near to 10,000 level, while Sensex also touched a low of 34,200 during the week
India's volatility index (India VIX) rose 16 percent last week, while largecaps index fell 5.3 percent, midcaps was down 5.1 percent and smallcaps shed 4.9 percent.
In the last week, the Sensex lost 1850.15 points to close at 34,376.99 (down 5.1 percent), while Nifty shed 614 points to close at 10,316.45 (down 5.6 percent).
Here is the list of 10 stocks which moved most in the last week:
J Kumar Infraprojects | Down 34.5 percent
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) ordered exchanges to appoint an independent forensic auditor to conduct the forensic audit of the company for limited transactions recorded in the order.
SEBI passed an Interim Order dated September 28, 2018 in which it has recorded certain prima facie findings against the company on the basis of some prima facie materials. This order is not a final order.
HPCL, BPCL & IOC | Down 22-34 percent
The government announced a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel on October 4. The Centre will bear the burden of Rs 1.50 per litre, while oil marketing companies (OMCs) will absorb another Re 1 in cost, bringing the total benefit to consumers to Rs 2.50.
The Centre has requested the states to carry out a similar cut on the local taxes on fuel.
Bandhan Bank | Down 20 percent
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put restriction on bank for opening new branches and also freezed CEO's salary.
RBI has communicated to us that since the Bank was not able to bring down the shareholding of non-operative financial holding company (NOFHC) to 40 percent as required under the licensing condition, general permission to open new branches stands withdrawn and the bank can open branches with prior approval of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), bank said in press release.
Also the remuneration of the MD & CEO of the bank stands frozen at the existing level, till further notice.
Hathway Cable and Datacom | Up 12 percent
The company has clarified on the media report of RIL in talks to buy Hathway that as per policy, company do not comment on any market speculations and rumours.
The company generally evaluates from time to time various options to grow its business and strengthen its market position and explores discussions in this regards, company added.
VST Tillers Tractors | Down 10 percent
The company reported poor sales numbers for the month ended September 2018. It sold 1,152 Power Tillers in the month September 2018 against 1,855 in September 2017. Also, the tractors sale declined to 801 units from 1,341 units.
On year to date basis the company sold 10762 units of Power Tillers and 4012 of Tractors against 13007 Power Tillers and 5684 Tractors.
ILandFS Transportation Networks | Down 9 percent
As per order of NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) the present board of directors of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (LL&FS), the holding company, has been suspended with immediate effect and 6 new members have been inducted on the board of IL&FS.
The company has made payment of interest to the 4000 rates, listed, secured, redeemable NCDs to the debenture holders.
Gayatri Projects | Up 8 percent
The company has been awarded with the add-on works to our existing works of Chintalapudi Lift Irrigation Scheme.
These two additions lead to a consolidated increase of Rs 548.98 crore, nearly 55% of the existing value. This contract is to be executed under the EPC model, and benefits from the synergies of being an extension of an existing project.
Company also bagged a new order of Rs 1,312 crore for construction of access controlled Nagpur - Mumbai super communication expressway.
SpiceJet | Down 8 percent
Share prices of airline companies remained under pressure after hike in jet fuel prices by the oil companies. Air fuel price has been increased by Rs 5,106 to Rs 74,567/kL in Delhi. Any hike in fuel prices is always have a major impact on aviation companies as it constituted major portion of operational expenses.
The Dutch government plans to increase taxes on heavily polluting companies to help fund the country's energy transition and make sure that climate goals are met.
In draft proposals presented on Friday, the government said it would introduce extra levies on CO2 emissions for different sectors to push companies to clean up their acts.
This should help the Dutch cut their relatively high emissions of greenhouse gasses, such as CO2, by 49 percent by 2030 as promised.
Economy minister Eric Wiebes said it was "inevitable" that the industry would "pay a fair share" of the cost of switching the gas-dependent Netherlands to more sustainable sources of energy.
Wiebes did not specify the level of the taxes, as he is awaiting further talks with industry groups and other sectors involved in the reduction of greenhouse gasses, with the aim of reaching a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year.
He did say that proceeds of the new tax would be used to fund projects to help industrial companies trim their carbon footprints.
The Netherlands remains among the most polluting countries in the European Union, although emissions of greenhouse gasses were 13 percent lower last year than in 1990.
The share of sustainable energy in its total supply is also among the lowest in Europe, and the country has so far failed to meet any of its previously set climate goals.
Industrial companies and energy providers are responsible for more than half of the total emissions, with oil companies Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil, steel maker Tata Steel and chemicals producers such as DowDuPont among the major polluters.
October 06, 2018 / 03:13 PM IST
JUST IN: Model Code of Conduct will be effective from today (after the press conference) in MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram as well as Telangana, says OP Rawat
Interaction between young people of India and Russia, especially schoolchildren, would perhaps be the "most important addition" to the "unprecedented level" of bilateral ties and serve as a basis for a long-term cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Putin interacted with some young talents drawn from India's Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Russia's SIRIUS educational centre.
Modi, in his remarks, urged the youths of both the countries to work on innovation to improve the way of living of the poor and the needy.
A MoU was also signed between AIM and SIRIUS for furthering their cooperation through exchange of visits, sharing best practices in the promotion of educational, scientific and innovation and to foster a knowledge-driven innovation ecosystem in India and Russia.
"With the cooperation of your counterparts, I am sure the interaction between young people, especially between schoolchildren, would be a great addition, and perhaps the most important addition, to the unprecedented level of India and Russia relations that we see these days," Putin said.
"This is the basis for a long-term cooperation," he said.
Modi also expressed his delight in meeting students of both the countries, and pitched for having sustained exchange programmes.
"This (Russian students' visit to India) should be taken forward. Indian students should visit Russian institutions, and more and more such exchanges should take place. India and Russian students together must think what can they do to make lives simpler for people, especially the poorest, to improve their way of living," he said.
The prime minister also asserted that every generation must have a "scientific temper" whether a person turns into a scientist or not.
"Without innovation, (the development) of the world will come to a standstill," he said.
Putin earlier had a one-on-one meeting with the prime minister on Friday after his arrival here Thursday evening. Modi had hosted a private dinner for the visiting dignitary
During the interaction, the two leaders also took a few questions from both Russian and Indian students, on subjects such as value of teachers, scientists and areas of research.
Putin in his parting remarks, said, one student asked about the areas of research to work on, "One area is artificial intelligence. But without human intelligence, at least at this stage, it is impossible to fathom that an AI would be created. In order to continue with that, those who deal with cognitive sciences understand that the main thing is to work as a part of a team."
"So, I am really grateful to the Prime Minister for inviting talented, young Russians to India, which is a practical step to show that you are ready to work as part of a team. So we wish you every success," the Russian president said.
Brightest of minds from the two different countries were brought together by the spirit of innovation at the AIM-SIRIUS bootcamp here.
At the initiative of President Putin, since 2015 in Sochi has been started a year-round Educational Centre 'SIRIUS' (TALENT and SUCESS Foundation) for children who showed endowments in the fields of arts, science and sports.
Modi said he enjoys a close friendship with Putin but the best gift the President gave to him was to take him to Sochi and meet those children.
"For the future of Russia, it is Putin's biggest investment, entire intellectual capabilities, commitment and emotion, he has invested in this (SIRIUS)," Modi said.
Putin to a question from a student on the importance of teachers said the prime minister invited me for dinner last night and one of the subjects he discussed was education.
"So, it looks like education is something that receives a lot of attention in both India and Russia. We celebrate Teacher's Day on October 5 and India marks it on September 5... We are working on strengthening the importance of this area (education), both in theory and practice, and the evidence is this meeting in India," Putin added.
Modi also emphasised that in lives of great men, either their teacher or mother have played an instrumental role.
"I must say, the cooperation between BRICS countries, and this association made not very long time ago, brings meaningful contents to various areas. We are working together on finance, have created modern and much promising financial instruments, agreeing on cooperation in other areas, arts for example. For example, we are thinking about cooperating in humanitarian areas," Putin added.
The Russian president to a question on, which scientist had impressed him the most, said, "Hard to say, which book or which piece of music I like the best, all factors, arts, music, science, culture contribute to the development of mankind. But, I really envy people who have devoted their life to science."
"The visit of the Sirius delegation to India, from September 30-October 7 is the realisation of the idea of bringing together talented students from both India and Russia, for joint workshops, projects and interaction," the MEA said in a statement.
As part of the visit, the delegation has been working with a group of talented students from the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), and the Atal Tinkering Labs, at the IIT-Delhi, it said.
A day after customers felt relief from rising fuel prices as Centre cut excise duty on fuel, the petrol price was up 18 paise in Mumbai at Rs 87.15 per litre on October 6. Diesel price dropped 70 paise to Rs 76.75 in the city following a Rs 1.56 per litre relief from the state on October 5.
Petrol and Diesel prices in #Delhi are Rs 81.68 per litre (increase by Rs 0.18) and Rs 73.24 per litre (increase by Rs 0.29), respectively. Petrol & Diesel prices in #Mumbai are Rs 87.15 per litre (increase by Rs 0.18) and Rs 76.75 (decrease by Rs 0.70), respectively. pic.twitter.com/j23PEYdN0c ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2018
The price of petrol in Delhi increased by 18 paise to Rs 81.68 per litre, while that of diesel rose by 29 paise to Rs 73.24 per litre, according to Indian Oil Corporation ( IOC ).
In Kolkata, the price of petrol now stands at Rs 83.52 per litre, down Rs 2.28, while that of diesel dropped Rs 2.21 to Rs 75.09 per litre.
The cost of petrol in Chennai is Rs 84.89 per litre, while the price of diesel stands at Rs 77.42 per litre.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on October 4 the Centre will bear the burden of Rs 1.5 per litre, while oil marketing companies (OMCs) will absorb another Re 1 in cost, bringing the total benefit to consumers to Rs 2.5. He also said that the Centre has requested the states to carry out a similar cut on the local taxes on fuel.
Petrol & Diesel Rates Nov 12, 2021 Petrol Rate in Mumbai Nov 12, 2021 Current Petrol Price Per Litre 110 110 View more Diesel Rate in Mumbai Nov 12, 2021 Current Petrol Price Per Litre 0 View more Show
Also read: Jaitley rings in festive cheer with Rs 2.5/ltr cut in petrol, diesel; Maharashtra, Gujarat match cut
City Petrol price Price change (increase) Diesel price Price change (increase) (Rs/litre (in Rupees) (Rs/litre) (in Rupees) Bengaluru 82.32 18 73.61 29 Bhopal 84.87 18 74.63 30 Hyderabad 86.59 19 79.67 32 Lucknow 79.12 17 71.28 28 Port Blair 70.29 15 68.53 26
Several states positively responded to the Centre's request, with Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Assam, Haryana, Goa, Chandigarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura announcing a cut on local taxes on petrol diesel by Rs 2.5.
Maharashtra has chosen to carry out the Rs 2.5 cut in value added tax (VAT) on petrol and Rs 1.56 on diesel price. The states of Kerala and Karnataka refused to match the Centre's tax cuts. Others are yet to respond.
Also read: Maharashtra, Gujarat cut fuel prices by Rs 2.50; Kerala, Karnataka refuse
Before the price cuts, the petrol price had risen by Rs 6.86 a litre and diesel by Rs 6.73 since mid-August, which was the highest in any six-week duration after the daily price revision was introduced in mid-June last year.
In a scathing attack Saturday on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the opposition party of practising vote bank politics and dividing people to get into power.
The Prime Minister made the charge at a rally just ahead of the announcement of assembly election dates for Rajasthan and four other states in November and December.
He asked people not to let the Congress get into power again.
Modi said vote bank politics is not limited to elections now.
Political parties which do vote bank politics divide the bureaucracy when they are in power and this badly affects governance, he said.
They allocate the budget as per vote bank politics and therefore overall development does not happen, he said at the meeting which marked the end of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's state-wide political 'yatra'.
The Congress has established this tradition in the past 60 years, Modi said.
"With great difficulty, the country has picked the right direction now after 60 years. Don't give them another chance again, he said.
He said the Congress leaders' high command is a family and they can do politics only be revering it.
He accused the party low-level politics.
The Congress leaders were questioning the surgical strikes by the Army across the Line of Control two years ago and insulting soldiers, he said.
They should be ashamed of indulging in such politics, Modi said.
The rally marked the end of Raje's Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra', an outreach exercise by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The prime minister's rally ended shortly before the Election Commission's press conference in Delhi announcing the polling dates for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana.
Rajasthan will go to the polls on December 7. Counting will take place in all five states on December 11, the EC announced.
President Ram Nath Kovind
President Ram Nath Kovind will Sunday embark on a three-day visit to Tajikistan during which he will hold talks with the top leadership of the country to strengthen India's ties with the Central Asian country.
During his visit from October 7-9, he will meet his Tajik counterpart Emamoli Rahmon, Speaker of Parliament Shukurjon Zuhurov, and Speaker of the Lower House (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of Parliament. Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda will also call on the president, the Ministry of External Affairs said Saturday.
Kovind will also visit the Tajik National University where he will deliver an address on 'Countering Radicalization: Challenges in Modern Societies'.
He will address the members of the Indian diaspora in Tajikistan during his three-day visit.
The president will also pay his respects to Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore by visiting their memorials in Dushanbe and will offer floral tributes.
All areas of bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation are expected to be discussed during Kovind's visit to Tajikistan, the MEA said.
Given the close relationship between the two countries, the visit is expected to lead to further strengthening of the Indo-Tajik bilateral relations, it said.
This will be the first visit of Kovind to Central Asia.
Minister of State for Defence Shubhash Bhamre and Rajya Sabha member Shamsher Singh Manhas will also be part of the president's official delegation.
A. NetFlix and Chill
The Bombay High Court Friday issued notices to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting over a plea seeking regulation of the content of 'web series' or other programs which are broadcast directly through the internet.
A division bench of Justices Bhushan Dharmadhikari and M G Biradkar issued notices to the I&B Ministry, Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Home Affairs and also the Nagpur police commissioner, seeking replies by October 31.
Divya Ganeshprasad Gontia has filed the public interest litigation (PIL).
Advocate Shyam Dewani, the petitioner's lawyer, said, "We cited before the court various examples of uncontrolled vulgarity, obscenity in such shows and sought a direction to concerned authorities to take appropriate action against all such web service providers."
Broadcasting nudity or vulgar scenes is a cognisable offence under IPC, Cinematograph Act, Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 and the Information Technology Act, 2000, he said.
Former President Pranab Mukherjee Friday said he feels that the impasse over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) cannot be resolved politically and the top court will have to be involved at some point. Delivering the 16th V K Krishna Menon Memorial Lecture on the topic 'Sovereignty, International Law and Diplomacy' here, Mukherjee said by accepting the GST, the Centre and states have surrendered their "sovereign rights" over imposing excise duty and sales duty respectively over certain items.
"In India, a debate is going on GST. What is GST? To some extent, the 29 state units and Union Territories have surrendered their taxation authorities, certain subjects mentioned in state list of seventh schedule of the Constitution. Government of India has surrendered its sovereignty with regard to the imposition of taxes with regard to the excise duty which was the exclusive domain of the Centre which was at one point of time a major chunk of tax revenue to India," he said.
"While accepting GST, the Government of India is surrendering its sovereign authority in imposing excise duty and states their authority of sales tax over certain items. I do feel that the matter cannot be resolved finally politically, but through some extend legal guidance or pronouncement from the highest court would be required at some point of time," he said.
The former president also said that sovereignty should be used in a flexible manner by the countries for common gains by actively associating with international organisations.
Mukherjee, however, said the countries will have to concede some of their sovereign rights to others in order to acquire certain benefits.
"Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), European Union (EU) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the three major trading blocs, and if we analyse them, we will find that all the member countries to some extent have surrendered their sovereign rights to acquire the common benefit from the others," he said.
"The sovereignty of the state should be used in a flexible manner by actively participating in international organisations for receiving common gains. The importance of role of international organisations which are at the utmost level trying to promote cooperation between the states. In this respect almost all sovereign states have conceded to others some of these so called sovereign rights in order to acquire facilities," Mukherjee added.
Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur, who presided over the function, said sovereignty may not have the same meaning now as it had four to five decades ago, "particularly considering the globalisation" as a fact of life.
"Over the years, we have seen the growth of European Union and today saw England walking out of it partly because it believes that its sovereignty is compromised," Justice Lokur said.
He also pointed out the instances of strengthened economic sanctions being imposed on certain countries that do not "adhere the mandate" of other economically powerful countries.
China will be part of the solution to the North Korean crisis, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, brushing aside the possibility that worsening U.S. tensions with Beijing could hamper efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
Speaking to a pool reporter en route to his fourth visit this year to North Korea, Pompeo said the aim of his talks in Pyongyang at the weekend would be "to make sure we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve."
He said he also hoped to be able to agree a "general date and location" for a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Asked whether increasing tensions with China would hamper his efforts after Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday signalled a tough new approach to Beijing going beyond a bitter trade war, Pompeo said China had consistently made clear it wanted to see North Korean denuclearization.
"And they have said in spite of places where we have disagreements and other things - we have had disagreement on trade and the like - that they are determined to support our efforts to see this through to its completion, consistently since we first began this process," he said.
"We know that China is going to be part of the solution, that'll ultimately be when we get to the end," he said. "If we do this well we will have signed a peace treaty that ends the armistice, that China will be part of that."
Kim pledged at an unprecedented June 12 meeting with Trump to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but his actions since have fallen short of Washington's demands for irreversible steps to give up an arsenal that potentially threatens the United States.
Pompeo declined to give details of his planned negotiations when asked if he would agree to North Korean demands for a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War or to South Korea's suggestion that to break the current stalemate, he should avoid pressing again for an inventory of North Korea's nuclear weapons.
Pompeo's last trip to North Korea did not go well. He left Pyongyang in July hailing progress, only for North Korea to denounce him for making "gangster-like demands."
Pompeo has angered North Korea recently by insisting that international sanctions must remain in place until it gives up its nuclear weapons. On Wednesday, he said there was unanimous support for this at last week's U.N. General Assembly, even if Russia and China "had some ideas about how we might begin to think about a time when it would be appropriate to reduce them."
Pompeo will visit Japan on Saturday before heading to Pyongyang, where he is due to arrive on Sunday morning local time, or on Saturday evening U.S. East Coast time.
After a stop in Seoul, Pompeo is due to head to China on Monday.
He said that in Beijing, if it was like previous visits, he would meet the Chinese government's top diplomat, Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi, and his predecessor Yang Jiechi.
Mr. Singh said that in both these cases the intended destination of the narcotic substances was Punjab.
New Delhi: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Pakistan charging the neighbouring country of flooding his state with drugs. He further added that the intention of Pakistan was to ensure the rise of addiction in the state to force drop their enrolment in the Indian Army.
Speaking at an event Mr. Singh said, We have had an influx of drugs, which has started to grow in recent years. It is at a critical point and we have cracked down hard on this. Pakistan has a long-term plan of destroying our youth. They are trying to demolish the youth along the border. He further added that if young men along Indias borders are not fit, it will affect enrolment in the Army.
Alluding to recent seizures made by enforcement agencies of hundreds of kilograms of heroin at Gujarats Mandvi port and in Jammu and Kashmirs Uri. Mr. Singh said that in both these cases the intended destination of the narcotic substances was Punjab.
He said the state and Central agencies have identified a few big illegal drug operators and were going after them. In the long run, Mr Singh said he was convinced that Pakistans game plan was to demolish the youth in the countrys northern belt which sends nearly two-thirds of all soldiers in the army. He said his government had cracked down on drugs business.
Fondurile europene disponibile pentru activitatile neagricole in mediul rural s-au epuizat inainte de finalul sesiunii, fiind primite online 1.149 de cereri de finantare, in valoare de peste 204 milioane de euro, informeaza Agentia pentru Finantarea ...
COMUNICAT DE PRESA PRIVIND LANSAREA PROIECTULUI DOTAREA UNITATILOR DE INVATAMANT DIN COMUNA COROD, JUDETUL GALATI CU ECHIPAMENTE ELECTRONICE COMUNA COROD, cu sediul in judetul Galati, localitatea Corod, str. Stefan cel Mare nr. 258, telefon 0236.8 ...
Unul din patru angajatori vor sa recruteze studenti in perioada octombrie-decembrie 2018, iar peste jumatate dintre recrutori spun ca pachetul salarial este egal cu cel al persoanelor angajate pe o pozitie similara cu studiile finalizate, arata un studiu transmis de BestJobs, informeaza Mediafax.
La polul opus, 22% dintre angajatori au declarat ca unul din cinci angajati este student. Jumatate dintre angajatori estimeaza ca vor scoate la concurs pana la 10 pozitii noi pentru care vor recruta exclusiv studenti pana la finalul anului, iar alti 23%, intre 10 si 20 de pozitii noi pentru studenti, conform studiului.
Pentru fiecare pozitie deschisa, companiile cauta sa angajeze intre 1 si 5 studenti, iar cele mai multe job-uri vor fi in domenii precum customer service (25%), logistica si productie (16%), vanzari (10%), marketing si comunicare (8%), dar si domenii mai complexe, precum inginerie (9%) si IT (9%), se arata in comunicat.
Studiul arata insa, ca in perspectiva, chiar daca angajatorii isi doresc forta de munca tanara nu sunt dispusi sa ofere un program de lucru flexibil celor care vor sa-si continue studiile, astfel ca cei mai multi angajatori (62%) recruteaza studenti pe un program de lucru full-time si doar 19% dintre companii mentioneaza un program flexibil sau part-time (19%).
In privinta formarii profesionale a noilor candidati, cele mai multe companii (60%) aleg sa le ofere studentilor training-uri cu specialisti din cadrul companiei, in timp ce 16% ofera cursuri de specializare mai complexe, in afara companiei. Doar 1% dintre angajatori ofera angajatilor lor oportunitati de a-si completa studiile cu programe de masterat, doctorat sau cursuri de management platite.
De asemenea, rezultatele raportului arata ca in privinta platilor pentru tinerii angajati, pachetul salarial este similar celui oferit angajatilor cu studiile finalizate.
Cei mai multi angajatori (44%) spun ca pretentiile salariale ale studentilor variaza intre 2.000 si 3.000 de lei pentru un job full-time si fara experienta anterioara in domeniu, iar alte 36% dintre companii declara ca studentii asteapta salarii cuprinse intre 1.000 si 2.000 de lei, anunta BestJobs.
Peste jumatate dintre angajatori (51%) spun ca pachetul salarial al studentilor este la acelasi nivel cu pachetul salarial al unui angajat cu o pozitie similara, dar cu studiile finalizate. In acelasi timp, 19% dintre companii spun ca ofera un salariu cu pana la 10% mai mic studentilor, in timp ce 13% ofera chiar si cu 25% mai putin decat in cazul unui angajat cu studii finalizate.
The issue was brought to the notice of RRB chairman Gopal Chandra. We have also given him a memorandum, he added.
Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP and Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti Mahasangh general secretary Anil Desai Friday protested before the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) office at Mumbai Central over the employment opportunities in Railways being denied to the sons of the soil.
Mr Desai said that atrocious treatment was meted out to more than 200 candidates who had come to appear for the D group RRB examination held at Narhe in Pune. The Sena also demanded that RRB officials should be prosecuted under the Indian Penal Code.
A delegation led by Mr Desai met the RRB chairman over the issue. After the meeting, the Sena MP said that the candidates had gone to the exam centre with their hall tickets and other valid documents as far as their identity was concerned. However, the RRB officials did not allow them to take the exam. They (RRB officials) have deprived more than 200 candidates of job opportunities, despite showing valid documents to them. The issue was brought to the notice of RRB chairman Gopal Chandra. We have also given him a memorandum, he added.
According to the memorandum, the Sena has demanded two-fold action from the RRB. The Sena MP said, One is against those officials who behaved inhumanely with candidates who had come in search of employment. They be taken out of their jobs. Not only as far as their services are concerned, but besides that, an FIR should be lodged against them.
However, Shah may end up losing his Midas touch if reports from poll-bound Rajasthan are anything to go by.
There was a flurry of activity in the government last week when the massive farmers rally reached Ghaziabad and the protesters insisted on entering the Capital. Ironically, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh, who should have rightfully dealt with the agitating farmers, was nowhere on the scene. The minister was in Motihari, Bihar, to oversee the activities organised in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modis flagship programme Swachch Bharat. Consequently, home minister Rajanath Singh was deployed to negotiate with the farmers. Singh was assisted by a host of ministerial colleagues, including steel minister Birendra Singh, a Jat leader from Haryana who is well networked with kisan leaders and has an understanding of issues relating to the agriculture sector. He was involved in back-channel discussions with the leaders of the kisan unions. The home minister was also joined by the minister of state for agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. But, by the time the protesting farmers ended their agitation, Birendra Singh was pushed to the background by his colleagues for fear that he may take the credit for the successful handling of the farmers stir. Shekhawat was, however, at the forefront and was seen to have played a major role in negotiations with the agitators. The junior minister is said to be the new poster boy in the BJP and is being projected as a future leader with an eye on the year-end Rajasthan polls. Recently, he was also fielded by the BJP to address a press conference on the Rafale deal.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has earned quite a reputation as a master strategist and an excellent organiser, proved several times over in the last four years by the spectacular electoral victories chalked up by the party. However, Shah may end up losing his Midas touch if reports from poll-bound Rajasthan are anything to go by. Though Shah is putting in his best effort to beat the anti-incumbency against Vasundhara Raje government, his team members are having a tough time dealing with the chief minister. Unlike other senior party leaders, Vasundhara Raje has shown that she is no pushover and cannot be dictated to by anyone. According to the political grapevine, the chief minister has not taken kindly to constant interference from the party headquarters and is particularly unhappy with the functioning of Shahs protege Chandra Shekhar, especially deployed in Rajasthan by the BJP president to rev up the party organisation and oversee election-related activities. As mandated by Shah, he has been meeting workers and strategising for the year-end polls. However, this has resulted in considerable tension as Vasundhara Raje is loathed to cede control over the state unit. In a related development, BJP leader and former MP Avinash Rai Khanna, who was given charge of several districts, is said to be incommunicado for the past several days. Clearly, all is not well in Rajasthan for the BJP.
As the next round of elections draws closer, there is palpable tension in the Bharatiya Janata Party. Sitting Lok Sabha members are worried at losing their tickets following inside reports that the party plans to drop a large number of elected members and new faces will be fielded in their place to beat anti-incumbency. Many apprehensive MPs have, predictably, started lobbying with their respective mentors and godfathers in the party to make sure that they are not dropped. Many have made a beeline to veteran leader L.K. Advanis residence to persuade him to break his silence and air his views on the state of affairs in the BJP. They particularly want Advani to go public with the centralised style of functioning of the present BJP leadership. However, Advani has not warmed to the proposal and is of the view that no purpose would be served even if he were to go public with these grievances. Advani and other senior leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi and Yashwant Sinha have been effectively sidelined ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah took charge of the party. These senior leaders did issue a strongly-worded statement following the BJPs humiliating defeat in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls but nothing came of it.
The various committees set up by Congress president Rahul Gandhi to prepare for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls have started working.
While the core committee is yet to come up with an over-arching theme and slogan for next years general election, the publicity committee, headed by former minister and Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma, has laid down some ground rules.
The panel has realised the value of going local and using vernacular languages. It has, therefore, decided that the election publicity material, including advertisements and hoardings, will be put out in local languages. In addition, it was also decided to field local leaders, who can speak fluently in regional languages, to address press conferences.
This followed all-round agreement that regional languages are best in capturing the nuance and flavor of a message which would, otherwise, get lost when communicated in Hindi or English.
The writer is a Delhi-based journalist
EDWARDSVILLE A lawyer that most of her colleagues say is the top prosecutor in Madison County will be moving on to try major cases for the Illinois Appellate Prosecutors Office.
I was born to be in the courtroom, said First Assistant States Attorney Jennifer Mudge originally from Bethalto and a graduate of Civic Memorial High School.
In her current position, she spent much of her time managing other attorneys and other cases that came under the responsibility of the Madison County States Attorneys Office. Her new job begins Jan. 1.
She has been an assistant states attorney for 18 years, not including a brief internship as an intern when she attended St. Louis University School of Law.
She said she is excited to get back to trying cases. As an appellate prosecutor, she will be traveling to various communities to try cases that local prosecutors may be unable to handle for various reasons, including possible conflicts.
I will be concentrating on violent crimes, she said. Before she took on her present duties, she tried, and won, at least a dozen murder cases.
More recently, she was named a special prosecutor in the prosecution of Roger Carroll, accused of killing Bonnie Woodward of East Alton. An investigation revealed that Woodward was allegedly killed in Jersey County. Alton police and Mudge played a large part in the investigation.
Jersey County States Attorney Ben Goetten last April appointed Mudge as a special prosecutor. Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons credited Mudge with getting the case again on the front burner when she suggested going after a number of cold cases, including the Woodward case. She gave it her all, Gibbons said. Goetten may choose to keep her on the case.
Jennifer Mudge is one of the premier prosecutors and trial attorneys in the state of Illinois, and it has been a blessing to serve alongside her for nearly 20 years. We will miss her dearly, Gibbons said.
Circuit Judge Kyle Napp, who mentored Mudge when Napp was an assistant states attorney, said Mudge tried a difficult case with her, just weeks after she returned from maternity leave. I knew then that she was going to be a phenomenal prosecutor. She puts her entire heart and soul into a case, Napp said.
One of her frequent opponents, Public Defender John Rekowski, said she is a tough advocate, but her broad knowledge makes it easier for defense attorneys. I have done battle with her, but she has a good overview of the big picture, which makes it easier to negotiate, he said.
Mudge and Neil Schroeder, now an associate judge, won the 2011 Prosecutors Award from the Southern Illinois Law Enforcement Commission and Southern Illinois Police Chiefs Association. In 2014, she was given the St. Louis Major Case Squad Prosecuting Attorney of Excellence Award.
Reach reporter Sanford Schmidt at 618-208-6449.
The US company submitted a second progress report at the end of September.
Alphabet Incs Google last year offered to allow price-comparison rivals to bid for advertising space at the top of a search page, giving them the chance to compete on equal terms, seeking to appease regulators after the European Commission fined it a record 2.4 billion euros (2.1 billion pounds) for favouring its own service.
Googles proposals to increase competition in online shopping are bearing fruit, Europes antitrust chief said on Friday, suggesting that the company may be able to avoid further fines.
Alphabet Incs Google last year offered to allow price-comparison rivals to bid for advertising space at the top of a search page, giving them the chance to compete on equal terms, seeking to appease regulators after the European Commission fined it a record 2.4 billion euros (2.1 billion pounds) for favouring its own service.
The US company submitted a second progress report at the end of September and failure to comply with the EU competition enforcers order could expose it to fines of up to 5 percent of its average daily global turnover.
European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she saw further improvement since Googles first report in June showed some rivals had benefited from the companys action.
We had another compliance report ... and we see improvements in numbers but we are still following it very, very closely and have taken no decision yet, Vestager told a briefing on the sidelines of the Globsec Tatra Summit.
Google is offering discounted shopping advertisements to comply with the EU antitrust order, Baird Equity Research wrote in a Sept. 30 note
But some competitors in Britain, France, Germany and the United States say Googles changes do not go far enough, and Vestager said she was aware of such complaints.
I take a keen interest in what some of the other shopping comparison services say. Having met with a couple of them, of course that raises new questions for us, she said.
Apple, Amazon Web Services named as being among the US companies subject to the attack.
Bloomberg Businessweek cited 17 unidentified sources from intelligence agencies and businesses as saying that Chinese spies had placed computer chips inside equipment used by about 30 companies and multiple US government agencies, which would give Beijing secret access to internal networks.
Lenovo and ZTE Corp shares slid on Friday, hurt by worries about overseas sales after Bloomberg reported that the systems of multiple US companies had been compromised by malicious computer chips inserted by Chinese spies.
In a report published on Thursday, Bloomberg Businessweek cited 17 unidentified sources from intelligence agencies and businesses as saying that Chinese spies had placed computer chips inside equipment used by about 30 companies and multiple US government agencies, which would give Beijing secret access to internal networks.
Apple and Amazon.coms Amazon Web Services (AWS), named as being among the US companies subject to the attack, strenuously denied the report. Super Micro Computer Inc, which Bloomberg said was the supplier of server boards containing the malicious chips, also denied the report.
Britains National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a unit of Britains GCHQ intelligence and security agency, said it had no reason to doubt the statements made by Apple and Amazon.
We are aware of the media reports but at this stage have no reason to doubt the detailed assessments made by AWS and Apple, it said in a statement.
The NCSC engages confidentially with security researchers and urges anybody with credible intelligence about these reports to contact us.
The Bloomberg report did not say any Chinese tech firms were involved in the attack. But Lenovo shares plunged 15 percent on fears that consumers and businesses could become reluctant to buy Chinese tech goods.
Super Micro is not a supplier to Lenovo in any capacity. Furthermore, as a global company we take extensive steps to protect the ongoing integrity of our supply chain, Lenovo said.
Daiwa Research said: If the hacking concern keeps snowballing, the potential impact on Lenovo could be substantial. It estimates that Lenovo earns more than a fifth of its revenue from the United States.
Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE, the Hong Kong-listed shares of which fell 11 percent, declined to comment.
The IT hardware sector sub-index on the Hong Kong stock exchange plunged 4.7 percent as investors fretted over the impact of the hack report at a time when the industry is already reeling from an intensifying China-US trade war.
This could prove a death blow to Chinas ambitions to leap up the value-chain by 2025 as Western markets are likely to slam shut on the likes of Huawei [HWT.UL], ZTE, etc, Michael Every, a senior Rabobank strategist, said in a note to clients.
Taken together with the imposition of 25 percent tariffs by the US ... this will only accelerate a move of the electronics supply chain out of China and into Mexico.
Huawei Technologies declined to comment.
Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment. Beijing has previously denied allegations of orchestrating cyber attacks against Western companies.
Roughly three-quarters of 15- to 26-year-olds say that online bullying and abuse is a serious problem for their peers.
Teens and young adults say cyberbullying is a serious problem for people their age, but most don't think they'll be the ones targeted for digital abuse.
That's according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and MTV, which also finds that about half of both young people and their parents view social media as having a mostly negative effect on the younger generation.
Fifteen-year-old Matty Nev Luby said she's learned to navigate Instagram and other social media apps by brushing aside the anonymous bullies. "When I see a really mean comment about my appearance or something I did, if someone said that to me online, it means nothing to me, but if I pictured someone I know saying that, I would be really upset," Luby said.
Roughly three-quarters of 15- to 26-year-olds say that online bullying and abuse is a serious problem for their peers. Seven per cent of young people say they have already been a victim of cyberbullying, with young women (11 percent) more likely to say they were bullied than young men (3 percent).
"People will make fun of their outfits or weight, their choices," said Luby, who lives in a suburb of Hartford, Connecticut, and has been dabbling in social media since age 12.
Her popularity on the lip-syncing app Musical.ly, which merged this summer into the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, helped win her some modeling contracts. Now she's mostly focused on Instagram, where she follows makeup artists and fashion trends.
Her mother, Kerrylynn Mahoney, said she's impressed by her daughter's ability to keep bullies at bay.
"Her responses blow my mind," Mahoney said. "I'd be fists up at her age. She's like, 'I'm sorry you feel that way. You should probably think in a more positive way and then we'd have more peace on earth.'"
But she's also vigilant about monitoring her daughter's accounts, blocking any followers who seem creepy or fake and trying to steer her away from fixating on pages that degrade women.
"I have to constantly keep her grounded," Mahoney said. "I'm thankful she's aware that this is not real. It's our jobs as parents to reel them back in."
The poll shows majorities of both young people and their parents think parents have a responsibility to help prevent online harassment.
The long-documented problem with online bullying is that it is relentless. It doesn't let up when kids get home from school, safely in their homes, or even when they move away from their tormentors. Still, like Luby, many young people tend to be more resilient to trolling from strangers online.
"If they don't know who it is, it doesn't seem to bother them as much," said Justin Patchin, a criminal justice professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center. "What concerns them is when it's some kid at school."
Patchin said that among adults, the people perpetuating harassment tend to be strangers, not people they know.
Leslie Hernandez, 39, said she thinks the impact of social media on people her age has been mostly positive.
"Adults tend to stay away from the drama that is part of adolescence," said Hernandez, who lives in Tucson, Arizona. "It allows you to connect with people from your past."
According to the poll, she is in the minority. Among parents of 15- to 26-year-olds, about a quarter, 23 percent, say social media has had a mostly positive effect on people their age, while 31 per cent say it's been negative; 45 per cent say it's neither positive nor negative. Among people aged 15 to 26, 47 per cent say it's had a negative effect on their generation, and 26 per cent say it's been a good thing, while another 26 per cent think it's neither. About half of parents, 53 percent, agree social media has had a mostly negative effect on their child's generation.
No matter their age, the overwhelming majority say they see people using discriminatory language or posting such images. Seventy-eight per cent of people aged 15 to 26 say they see such posts either sometimes or often, compared with 65 per cent of their parents. Only 4 per cent of young people and 10 per cent of their parents say they never see discriminatory language or images.
Companies like Facebook and Twitter have been trying for years to clamp down on abuse and harassment, with varying degrees of success. Both parents (72 percent) and young people (67 percent) think the companies play a major role in addressing these problems.
Roughly two-thirds of parents also attribute responsibility to schools (68 percent), law enforcement (66 percent) and other users who witness the behavior (61 percent).
Currently, young internet users report using YouTube (48 percent), Facebook (47 percent), Instagram (40 percent) and Snapchat (39 percent) several times a day or more. Fewer use Twitter, Reddit, WhatsApp, Tumblr or LinkedIn as regularly. Parents who use the internet are most likely to report using Facebook (53 percent) several times a day or more, with few being heavy users of other social media sites.
Hernandez said she's "pretty active" on Facebook, in part because of her job as a student housing manager at a college.
"Snapchat feels a little less personal to me," she said. "On Facebook you can kind of follow people and see what's going on in their lives in a more permanent kind of way. A Snapchat image, people will forget. On Instagram, people can enjoy the pictures but don't really see a whole (life)."
Ortutay reported from San Francisco.
The Youth Political Pulse poll was conducted Aug. 23 to Sept. 10 by the AP-NORC Center and MTV. The poll was conducted using NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. It includes 580 young people ages 15-26 and 591 parents in the same age group. The margin of sampling error for all young people is plus or minus 6.6 percentage points and for parents is plus or minus 7.5 percentage points.
Two suspects are in custody after opening fire on three pedestrians walking in the Fillmore district Friday night, San Francisco police said.
Three victims were walking along the 1700 block of Eddy Street when a vehicle pulled up and someone opened fire on the trio around 6:45 p.m., said Lt. Christopher Creed of the San Francisco Police Department.
In a video posted by NBC Bay Area editor Kristofer Noceda, Creed said responding officers provided first aid until two of the victims were taken to San Francisco General Hospital.
The third victim later arrived at the same hospital. It is unclear if the third victim drove to the hospital or was dropped off by a companion, Creed said.
All three victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Creed said police officers in the Van Ness area spotted what they believed to be the vehicle involved in the shooting and started to pursue the vehicle.
The suspects vehicle crashed during the pursuit and the driver and passenger fled on foot before subsequently getting detained.
Police found one or two firearms in possession of both of the suspects, Creed said.
Officer Grace Gatpandan, a spokeswoman for SFPD, confirmed police detained individuals possibly related to the shooting. She did not release the identities of those individuals.
Police did not immediately release any information regarding potential charges that could be lodged against the suspects.
Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor
BRIDGEPORT City and school finance officials have spent the week at odds over the bottom line of the districts $230 million operating budget for the current school year.
District officials say the city short-changed the 2018-19 budget by $250,000.
City officials said Friday that the apparent conflict caused largely by the states late budget and budget rescission in 2017 had more to do with confusion over last years school budgets starting point and that the school board would be made whole.
Today, this question was resolved, Rowena White, a spokeswoman for Mayor Joe Ganim, said. The city is working in cooperation with the BOE to cover the $250,000 shortfall for this year.
School officials as of 6 p.m. Friday had not confirmed a solution has been reached, but in an email to school board members on Friday, schools Superintendent Aresta Johnson told them the city is promising to pay for $250,000 worth of school board expenses without transferring the funds to the district.
As part of the agreement, she said, the city must commit to restoring the $250,000 in the 2019-2020 fiscal year budget and the school district must erase it from the bottom line of its current year fiscal documents.
Marlene Siegel, chief financial officer for the school district, told the school boards finance committee on Wednesday that City Budget Director Nestor Nkwo incorrectly treated $250,000 of a $387,593 increase by the City Council to the 2017-18 school budget as compensation for a mid-year rescission of $250,000 by the state it its Education Cost Share grant to the city.
So the bottom line Nkwo started with in building the 2018-19 school budget was $250,000 less than the school boards $230,394,025 starting point.
As a result, the $1.039 million increase approved by the City Council for the district for the current fiscal year adds up to only a $789,419 increase, Siegel said.
These numbers are incorrect, Siegel said. The full amount should have been carried over.
The city council passed its 2017-18 budget months before the state recessions were announced so were not tied to it in any way, Siegel added
State law prohibits municipalities like Bridgeport from reducing its contribution to school districts from one year to the next. Bridgeport contributes 26 percent of the districts operating budget. The state pays 74 percent.
Neither can the municipality treat in-kind services toward its state mandated Minimum Budget Requirement.
Beyond the $1.039 million increase from the city, the district expects a $1.4 million funding increase from the state. The adopted $230.3 million operating budget was millions less than the district said it needed, forcing the elimination of numerous staff positions and programs and leaving officials worried about rising special education costs.
I dont care if it was an accident, (the city) cant take it back, Maria Pereira, a board member, said during the finance meeting.
Pereira likened the dispute to Ansonia, where the district and city are in court after the city announced $600,000 of its contribution to the district in the 2017-18 fiscal year was a loan until the state budget was set. The state Department of Education has sided with the school board in saying the money was not a loan but part of its state aid grant.
White said the situations are nothing alike. She said the state rescission called on the city to hold the school board harmless for the cut, which is why there remains a question about its effect on the base amount of ECS dollars from the state to the district.
Tom Gaudett, an aide to the mayor, said on Friday that there will be a solution but that details are still being worked out.
There was some confusion and I think there still is between what the base number should be, Gaudett said.
The school board meets on Oct. 9. Some board members say they will ask the state to get involved unless the matter is resolved.
lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck
WhatsApp and Jio will travel across India together in vans and visit 10 cities in the states of UP, Rajasthan, and more.
The collaboration also includes street plays, the popular art form of outreach, to engage people and guide them on the meaningful and responsible ways to use WhatsApp on JioPhone.
WhatsApp and Jio have started an educational campaign across India with the goal of showing people how to use WhatsApp on JioPhone to connect with friends and family in a simple, secure, and reliable way. Starting on 9 October, WhatsApp and Jio will travel across India together in vans and visit 10 cities in the states of UP, Rajasthan, and more.
As a part of the campaign, there will be events at each city to show people how to use WhatsApp safely and responsibly. The collaboration also includes street plays, the popular art form of outreach, to engage people and guide them on the meaningful and responsible ways to use WhatsApp on JioPhone. The companies have also developed video tutorials and informative leaflets, available online and in Jio Stores in 11 Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi.
Commenting on the educational campaign, a WhatsApp spokesperson said, Jio has an important role in driving Indias digital revolution by empowering millions of Indians. We are excited to be a part of this journey and help organize a campaign that educates people on how to communicate in a simple and safe way with WhatsApp.
WASHINGTON - Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh as the 114th Supreme Court justice on Saturday by one of the narrowest margins in history amid mass protests, ending a vitriolic battle over his nomination and solidifying a conservative majority on the court.
As a throng of angry demonstrators stood on the steps of the Capitol, the Senate finalized on a near party-line vote of 50 to 48 what will certainly be one of President Donald Trump's most enduring legacies: two Supreme Court justices in two years in an increasingly polarized nation.
The brutal confirmation fight is likely to have far-reaching implications in next month's midterm elections. Republicans are confronting an electrified Democratic base led by women infuriated by the treatment of Christine Blasey Ford, who detailed in emotional testimony last week her allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
Yet Republicans say the battle to get Kavanaugh confirmed - in the face of Democratic opposition and the "mob" of anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators who flooded the Capitol in recent days - only motivated a fractured GOP electorate on a singularly unifying issue for conservatives: the federal judiciary.
"It's been a great political gift for us. The tactics have energized our base," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in an interview Saturday with The Washington Post. "I want to thank the mob, because they've done the one thing we were having trouble doing, which was energizing our base."
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., delivered a message "to so many millions who are outraged by what happened here . . . vote."
Kavanaugh heads to the Supreme Court significantly scarred from the confirmation fight, which had the echoes of the 1991 battle over now-Justice Clarence Thomas who was accused of sexual harassment by law professor Anita Hill and defended himself in an emotional, high-stakes congressional hearing.
Already, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. has received more than a dozen complaints of judicial misconduct against Kavanaugh but is not referring them for investigation for the time being. And in a joint appearance on Friday night at Princeton University, their shared alma mater, Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor raised concerns about how the bitter partisan battle over Kavanaugh will affect the court's reputation.
"We have to rise above partisanship in our personal relationships," said Sotomayor, who was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009. "We have to treat each other with respect and dignity and with a sense of amicability that the rest of the world doesn't often share."
The tension surrounding Kavanaugh's nomination continued until the final minutes in the packed Senate chamber, where several protesters were escorted out after disrupting the vote, during which Vice President Mike Pence presided. Over shouts of "Shame! Shame! Shame!" and screams of "I do not consent!" each senator stood at his or her desk to vote - a move generally reserved for historic roll calls.
White House counsel Donald McGahn - one of Kavanaugh's most ardent defenders within the administration - sat in the front row of the public gallery.
Kavanaugh, who received a congratulatory call from Trump, was sworn in at the Supreme Court on Saturday night.
Later in the evening, Trump touted the victory as a pivotal win for conservatives at a rally in Topeka for Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who's running for governor.
"I stand before you today on the heels of a tremendous victory for our nation, our people and our beloved Constitution," Trump said, emphasizing the importance of electing Republicans to Congress in four weeks, given potential future openings on the Supreme Court.
"It could be three, it could even be four, it could be a lot," he said. "And if you allow the wrong people to get into office, things could change . . . You don't hand matches to an arsonist, and you don't give power to an angry left-wing mob."
Kavanaugh's name elicited thunderous applause, with supporters cheering, fist-pumping into the sky and holding up babies in celebration.
The two-vote margin was the narrowest for a confirmed Supreme Court justice since 1881, when the Senate confirmed Stanley Matthews, a nominee of President James Garfield. The vote reflected the divisiveness of the Trump era, where all but one Democratic senator - Sen. Joe Manchin III, W.Va. - opposed Kavanaugh.
Democrats were enraged by the nominee's partisan criticisms in his Senate defense last week as he cast the opposition to his nomination as retribution for Hillary Clinton's loss in the 2016 presidential election. They questioned whether he had the temperament for the nation's highest court.
Republicans vigorously defended Kavanaugh's character and fitness to serve on the bench and blamed Democrats for the tumultuous battle.
"Democratic leaders did everything in their power to make Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation about anything except his judicial record," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said. "When routine process arguments failed, they resorted to outright character assassination."
Kavanaugh, 53, is a veteran of the George W. Bush White House who has served on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals for a dozen years. He was a top deputy in the office of independent counsel Kenneth Starr in the Clinton administration.
His nomination was fraught with partisan tensions from the start, as he replaced Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Ronald Reagan appointee who nonetheless was a crucial swing vote on landmark decisions involving abortion access and gay rights. His opponents repeatedly warned that Kavanaugh would vote to overturn the 1973 decision Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion.
Much of Kavanaugh's records from his tenure in the Bush administration remains obscured from public view - particularly documents from his three years as Bush's staff secretary, one of the senior-most positions in any White House.
But then his nomination collided with the year-old #MeToo movement after Ford detailed her assault allegation to The Washington Post, which she said occurred at a gathering in suburban Maryland in the early 1980s. Two other women have since accused Kavanaugh of misconduct.
Following a hearing that included testimony from both Ford and Kavanaugh, the confirmation vote was delayed a week to allow the FBI to investigate the allegations. Republicans said the FBI report exonerated Kavanaugh, while Democrats argued it was too limited in scope to be enlightening.
In a new statement on a GoFundMe page, Ford said she believed and still believes "that it was my civic duty to come forward, but this is by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do, much harder even than I thought it would be."
Ford's family had reopened the GoFundMe page to cover the costs of security, housing, transportation and other expenses.
In a reminder that Saturday's vote might not be the last word on the accusations, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she will file a Freedom of Information Act request to make public the FBI report and other related documents.
After the remaining votes fell into place on Friday, Democrats, in a show of defiance, spent all night making impassioned floor speeches against the nomination and continued into Saturday morning.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said that by confirming Kavanaugh, the Senate would be sending a deeply troubling message both to the nation's girls and women - "your experiences don't matter" - but also to its boys and men.
"They can grab women without their consent and brag about it," Murray said. "They can sexually assault women, laugh about it. And they're probably going to be fine. They can even grow up to be president of the United States or a justice on the Supreme Court."
Murray was first elected to the Senate in 1992, in the wake of the chamber's 52-to-48 vote to put Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court, the last time issues of gender were so starkly highlighted in a confirmation process.
The Democratic speeches, many delivered to an almost-empty chamber, were part of their strategy of using nearly the full 30 hours of debate time automatically granted to senators, allowing them to delay the final vote on Kavanaugh until late afternoon.
As they spoke Saturday morning, a mass of predominantly female protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court, chanting "yes means yes, no means no, Kavanaugh has got to go," and "this is what democracy looks like."
Several women detailed their own experiences with sexual assault. In the afternoon, the crowd numbered in the hundreds, with many wearing T-shirts with the words, "November is coming." They marched across the Capitol plaza to the steps, breaking through police barricades. Dozens were arrested, raising their fists as police escorted them away.
But inside, Republicans were lining up in defense of Kavanaugh.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who first became friends with Kavanaugh during their shared time in the Bush administration, said he strongly believes those who commit sexual assault should be punished. But he said he also believes in the presumption of innocence.
"We do not want a system of guilty until proven innocent in America," he said.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., delivered a blistering, two-hour speech, starting at 4 a.m., in which he read testimonies from more than 30 rape and sexual assault survivors who had written to him after Kavanaugh's nomination.
"I've received a lot of letters," he said to a silent chamber, almost an hour into his speech. "I'm going to read more of them now."
The sole Republican to oppose Kavanaugh was Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. But on the floor, she officially withdrew her vote as a courtesy to Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who missed the vote due to his daughter Annie's wedding. The practice, called a "pair between senators," ensures that the vote margin would be the same had Daines been there.
But Trump attacked Murkowski in a brief interview with The Washington Post on Saturday, predicting that she "will never recover" politically for her opposition to his second Supreme Court pick. And the bitter politics over Kavanaugh's confirmation is likely to continue in the coming weeks, months and perhaps years.
"In my view, the biggest losers are the people sitting over there in that court," said Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala. "This is a partisan Supreme Court . . . and they're the ones that are going to have to try to make it nonpartisan because we can't do it at this point."
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The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Gabriel Pogrund and Carol Leonnig in Washington and Ezra Austin in Princeton, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
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Video: President Trump on Oct. 6 said he is "100 percent" certain that Christine Blasey Ford named the wrong person when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.(The Washington Post)
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SYCAMORE (AP) Aiden Anderson, 10, loves to cook all kinds of meat. The Brooks Elementary School fifth-grader said that he hopes to inspire others to do the same through his tasty dishes. And judging by the positive response his French onion turkey received at the fifth annual Kids Can Cook event at Sycamore United Methodist Church, he succeeded.
Ive been cooking a long time, and I like that I can share my food with other people, said Aiden, who made Italian sausage at last years event. I love this event because I can try other peoples food, and its very nice meeting new people.
More than 100 people filled the churchs gym Sept. 15, to taste the mouth-watering desserts, entrees and appetizers made by 16 local children, ranging in age from kindergarten through high school. Kids Can Cook! is sponsored by the Family Service Agency, and all of the money raised from the event supports the Youth Mentoring Program, formerly known as Big Brothers Big Sisters of DeKalb County.
Erin Tamms, community programs director at Family Service Agency, said that she always looks forward to the event because the children get so excited about showing off their dishes.
These kids have wonderful talent. All of the food they prepare is unbelievably good, she said. Theyre so proud of what they make, and they have a blast. They start coming up with their ideas weeks before and are so creative with the concepts they come up with.
As did Aiden, Lindsey Nichols, 11, hoped that her homemade fire-roasted Mexican salsa would encourage others to make their own healthy meals.
The Huntley Middle School sixth-grader said that almost every ingredient used in her salsa came from her familys farm.
I wanted to make this salsa to inspire people to do it themselves because its pretty easy, she said. Mexican food is my favorite, and I also make tacos and guacamole. I like mixing things together and just seeing what happens and trying new things.
For the second year in a row, Sycamore Middle School seventh-grader Peyten Ruby made a dessert from a family recipe. Last year, she brought apple squares, while this year, she made molasses cookies that came from her great-great-grandmother.
I thought that was the perfect recipe for tonight, Peyten said about her cookies. I love to bake because you can be more creative and decorate things differently. It took a few days to make all these cookies, but they turned out well.
DeKalb resident Noah Murcia, 9, has participated in Kids Can Cook! for three years, and this time, he made one of his favorite dinner recipes, pizza waffle bites. The St. Marys Sycamore fourth-grader said that he always looks forward to this event.
I like to cook, and its a fun activity, he said. This is a great, fast dinner and it only takes 10 minutes to make.
Noahs mother, Ashley Murcia, said that she is always proud that he has a continued interest in participating in the event because it supports the Family Service Agency.
We always talk about how this helps kids in our community, she said. Ive volunteered with the program, and he knows what this event means. Im also impressed that he likes to get creative in the kitchen.
Teresa Jacobsen of Sycamore, who was at the event for the first time to support one of the entrants, said that she was amazed at the culinary talents of the children.
Good cooking knows no age, she said. I cant even cook this well. These kids can teach me how to cook. Im enjoying all of this great food.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Friday abruptly replaced his federal personnel director after just seven months, leaving the agency that oversees 2.1 million civil servants with no permanent leadership at a time when the White House has proposed drastically shrinking its mission.
The White House announced Friday that Margaret Weichert, a senior official of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, is taking over for Jeff Tien Han Pon, the head of the Office of Personnel Management.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the departure of Pon, who was confirmed by the Senate in March.
But multiple people close to Pon said he was at odds with the administration over its planned revamp of the personnel agency, which would have diminished his role and authority.
As part of a proposed government-wide reorganization announced by President Trump in June, most of the OPM's functions would be farmed out to other departments and its policy role shifted to the White House.
While Pon publicly backed the plan, he privately told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the reorganization needed approval from Congress, a view that caused him to lose favor with the White House, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Pon could not be reached for comment.
"He was in the position of trying to reform an organization the White House wants to abolish," said Donald Kettl, a public affairs professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
Weichert will continue in her role as the OMB's deputy director for management while serving as acting personnel chief - a move consistent with the administration's efforts to bring decisions on federal personnel policies into the White House.
She has played a crucial role in creating a blueprint to shrink the role of the independent federal agency, which is responsible for employee background checks, retirement claims, benefits and workforce policy.
When asked whether her appointment is a step toward giving the White House more authority over federal workers, Weichert responded, "I wouldn't say that it is directly related to that."
"What I would say is that the broader objectives of the president's management agenda are focusing on driving and really modernizing how we think about governing and our workforce in the 21st century," she said in an interview.
In a statement, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said, "Margaret has my full trust and support, and I know she will hit the ground running to ensure the federal workforce has the right skills and tools to deliver the proper services to the American people."
Pon is a veteran human resources manager who has worked inside and outside government and served in a senior role at the OPM during the George W. Bush administration. He is widely respected as an expert on the federal civil service and how to reform it.
Pon, a political conservative, was not the White House's first choice for the job, and his confirmation was prolonged for months.
While his appointment was pending, the White House did not inform him of its plans to shrink the agency's footprint, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.
"He's a very bright guy who's exceptionally reasonable with respect to civil service issues, but I doubt he's had the ability to push the agency in the direction he wants it to go," said Jeffrey Neal, former personnel chief at the Department of Homeland Security and now a senior vice president at ICF, a consulting firm.
Pon's departure will again leave the agency without a Senate-confirmed leader. Before Pon's confirmation, the OPM had been led by acting directors since mid-2015, when then-director Katherine Archuleta was forced to resign after revealing the theft of personal information on more than 20 million people from two OPM databases.
The plan to shift personnel policy decisions into the White House has drawn opposition from federal unions that argue that it would risk politicizing the hiring, promotion, disciplinary and other policies for career federal employees.
Pon had been focused on a different goal: pushing for a thorough overhaul of civil service laws on the 40th anniversary of the last major revision, the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act. He argued that many of its provisions are now outdated.
Trump has issued three executive orders aimed at restricting the role of federal unions and enhancing management's powers in disciplining employees. A federal court issued an injunction against major parts of all three orders, a decision that is being appealed.
Weichert said her appointment does not signal a change in the administration policy's on the federal workforce.
"The direction that we're going in, that has been spelled out in a number of documents including the reform and reorganization plan," she said. "Those reflect the administration's go-forward perspective. I think as we engage in the execution of some of those, we're learning things that will inform the how of the execution. But I think the fundamental policy direction remains the same."
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
Rita and Maryam are enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture at the citys university. Dread and fear accompanied their comeback, but after a certain time, things were back to normal. Years of Jihadi rule have changed peoples mindset and a certain careful attitude is perceptible. Relations with Muslim students have improved in some cases.
Karamles (AsiaNews) Rita and Maryam are two Christian students who went back to study at Mosul University after it was devastated by the Islamic State group during the period it controlled the city.
For the two young women, going back saw initial dread and fear give way to joy at rediscovering the universitys classrooms after three years of darkness. They were thrilled by the thought of imagining their own future, full of hope for peace, coexistence and unity for the whole of Iraq.
For more than four years, Mosul, a large city in northern Iraq, was under the control of the Islamic State group. So was Mosul University. In addition to violence and terror, the Sunni Jihadi group blocked many courses and devastated the universitys renowned library.
The rebirth of the university and the return of Christian students marked the first steps towards stability in the city. Still, hardships and dangers persist, and lives are still at risk.
Rita Saher Zora and Maryam Elias, both born in 1995, attend the university's Faculty of Architecture. Rita is originally from Mosul, but in 2010 her family moved to Karamles, for security reasons. Maryam was born in Karamles and still lives there after spending some time in Iraqi Kurdistan (like hundreds of thousands of other refugees, Christian and other), waiting for the liberation of the Plain of Nineveh.
The interview was done thanks to the assistance of Fr Paul Thabit Mekko, a Chaldean priest who heads the community in Karamles. Here's what they told AsiaNews:
How did you experience going back to university after the violence of the Islamic State group?
Rita: At first, I felt a sense of fear coming back to the university. However, after a while, things were back to normal. It felt natural. So much so that we can say that today the situation feels almost the same as before the arrival of Daesh.*
Maryam: At first, I had mixed feelings, dread and fear, because I was returning to a city I had abandoned three years ago. So many things have changed, even the mindset of Muslims has changed. I cannot deny that initially I had a certain anxiety. I wondered how this society would receive us, especially Muslim professors and students.
What are the differences with respect to the period that preceded the rise of the Jihadi movement?
Rita: Changes have occurred, many in fact, and not only from the point of view of the infrastructures. Many parts, classrooms, the library itself have been damaged or destroyed. The state of mind and the psyche of some of Mosul's residents have been affected. Residents are not the same as before, and many have not yet recovered.
Maryam: I felt a change in people's mindset, often in a positive way. Most seem willing to better accept others, even if they are not Muslim. This is a great thing after years under the rule of the Islamic State. It provides further evidence that not everyone is like them. On the contrary.
Mosul was the capital of the "Caliphate" for a long time. How much has changed and what is it like to be back in the city?
Rita: There are moments when I feel that the city of Mosul has not changed at all. That some of its residents continue to look at us as enemies and are hostile towards us. However, most are good and eager to establish (or re-establish) bonds. Generally speaking, we can move freely, go back and forth. There is a broad sense of security and comfort that will allow us to complete our studies.
Maryam: Of course, most of the members of the Caliphate have gone but I do not think that the mindset that was left behind the Islamic State has completely gone. When this happens, then and only then can we say we have put that time behind us. Only when our country has built its future on coexistence will we be able to say that the Islamic State is finally finished.
How is the atmosphere now in the university?
Rita: Today we dont have that sense of fear anymore that enveloped Mosul and the Plain of Nineveh when the Islamic State ruled. Of course, the ambiance for studying is not yet 100 per cent safe and calm. We especially feel the lack of joy and carefree attitude that usually characterise all the universities of the world. We still need some more peace and quiet.
Maryam: All of us students were full of fear, Christians and others, because we had to study in burnt-out buildings, with destructions and damages. Despite this, students insisted on attending class all the same, going to the same facilities. We were quite happy to get a spot in the university, as if everything was back to the way it was before.
How are relations with Muslim students?
Rita: We try to have good relations, rebuild old ties and create new ones. We want to talk to them, to have relationships that are good not only at the university but also afterwards, in the future.
Maryam: We Christians have no problem with them; on the contrary, relations with young Muslims seem to be much improved. In a sense, it is better now at the university than before the Islamic State. I think they understand that they were wrong in the past and feel so.
What are your hopes for the future of Iraq?
Rita: My greatest desire and hope are for a future of peace and security, of the common good. I hope that the situation gets better and our effort in this direction Iraq continue, that our contribution as Christians and as citizens not be in vain. However, it is discouraging and depressing to look at certain situations and read certain news, even recent ones.
Maryam: I hope I can finish my studies in peace and security. As for my country, Iraq, I hope that the new generations can change reality and ensure unity and coexistence.
Has the Christian faith been a source of strength in all these difficult years?
Rita: I live my Christian faith every day, even in the university, and I try to carry the image of Christ in everything, even and especially in my relationship with others; first of all, by showing that we Christians do not hate anyone, that we are a bridge for dialogue and meeting. Of course, my faith helps me, especially in times of hardship and helps us better endure problems so that we can go on in everyday life, inside and outside the university.
Maryam: My Christian faith has been fundamental in helping me endure every situation and moment of hardship. It has also helped me accept everyone in spite of religious or ethnic differences. It helps me not feel problems, not be crushed by them, but to live and act according to a principle of humanity.
* Daesh is the Arabic acronym for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, shortened to Islamic State.
Nobel Prize winner Jim Allison was about to walk down the MD Anderson Cancer Center skybridge at 10:45 a.m. Friday, en route to his first Houston news conference since winning the award for his cancer research. But what occurred Friday morning was not really a news conference. It was not a scientist who won an award being congratulated by his co-workers. It was not a ceremony.
Rather, it was Bruce Springsteen on Broadway. It was Justin Bieber being mobbed after a show. It was the new pope riding with his cavalcade down the Vatican.
MD Andersons celebration of Allison winning the Nobel Prize for medicine began with a marching band. The sounds of snares and bass bounced off the glass walls of the skybridge, cutting through the high-pitched screams of scientists turned fans.
Thousands of MD Anderson employees were already on the bridge, waiting. They took selfies. They held signs that said Youre a rock star and Checkpoint: Nobel Prize winners only. Two women danced on the window ledge and twirled pompoms on sticks. They had all been there for quite some time, awaiting his arrival. But the people who wait in Manhattan for New Years Eve or the Macys Day Parade dont complain about standing around. Neither do the Allison fans.
Pat! Pat! Pat! The drum line couldnt be seen, not yet, but just those sounds made people pull out their iPhones, ready to chronicle the appearance of a newly minted celebrity. It was as if they could hear history around the corner, about to walk in front of their eyes.
The drum line came out. The photographers emerged, ducking and pushing to get ahead of the crowd. Look! one fan said, pointing toward the end of the hallway.
It was him. Sporting a grayish-blue jacket and tie with his white hair hung loose behind his neck, Allison walked hand in hand with his wife, researcher Dr. Padmanee Sharma, who wore black heels and a fashionable gold and black purse.
The posse of researchers and staffers trailed behind him in an assembly line. But that neat presentation of band, media, Allison, then posse was soon swallowed by the crowd, who would not abide standing idly next to the window. Several thousand doctors, researchers and students enveloped the septuagenarian.
One woman pushed people aside, saying she was the head of her entire department and that her group needed to be up front.
Where was Allison? The ebb and flow of the crowd made that difficult to assess. Those walking in his wake looked happily stunned. Men and women wearing white lab coats and ID badges jumped up and down, holding their homemade posters above their heads.
One could only imagine how many social-media-ready videos were produced during those short, historic 20 minutes. It ended with Allison disappearing, all too quickly, into a heavily guarded room on the other side of the bridge.
Media only! the guards yelled. They formed a blockade of puffed shoulders and linked arms. Inside that small room, three television cameras and 10 chairs were stationed for journalists.
Dr. Peter Pisters, president of MD Anderson, approached the lectern and gave quick remarks. One could hear the crowd dissipating outside. Allison offered his thanks. One reporter asked him to explain his research. She nodded politely as he spoke about T-cells, melanoma recovery rates and the CD28 molecule.
He said that the Nobel prize wasnt the end-all of his career, that he hopes for something else to celebrate down the road more lives saved. He mentioned this was the first Nobel awarded to cancer research.
One out of 5 cancer patients, he said, has remained alive for 10 years due to treatment related to his teams method of bolstering our immune system a sharpening of our natural anti-cancer defense mechanisms.
But he wanted those numbers to get even higher. When he was an undergrad in the late 1960s, researchers had just discovered the T-cell, the key ingredient to how our body fights certain kinds of cancer. During the ensuing decades of studying the T-cell, immunology continued to grow out of its place as a mere subfield of cancer research. Today, as one of the most successful people in the world of cancer research and a leader in immunology, Allison still saw the long road ahead.
After the press briefing, a girl scampered about the hallways outside. She asked one of the grown-ups if there was a chance shed see the Nobel winner.
No, I dont think youll be able to see him, Im not sure, someone replied.
The girl returned to what appeared to be her parents. But they didnt leave. Not yet. They stayed there, looking in what they believed was Allisons direction, not going to work, still waiting, still hoping for a glimpse of history.
wchen@chron.com
A Bexar County Sheriff's Office dispatcher has been terminated following multiple DWI arrests, according to a news release.
Vanessa Flores, 39, was arrested shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday for driving with a blood-alcohol level above 0.15, a misdemeanor, BCSO reported. Flores was not on duty at the time.
She was previously arrested in 2011 for driving while intoxicated, leading to a 2013 conviction for obstructing a highway while intoxicated, authorities said.
Flores was placed on administrative leave and served a notice of proposed dismissal by Sheriff Javier Salazar, according to BCSO. She had been employed as a dispatcher since 2006 at the county's Public Safety Communications Center.
In a statement, Salazar said Flores' actions and choices had "brought us to this point."
"Her past history has clearly demonstrated a lack of accountability in the past," Salazar wrote. "As I've stated before, any employee who decides to put the community at risk by driving while intoxicated will not be tolerated and will do all that is within my power to separate them from this agency in order to maintain the integrity of the Sheriff's Office."
The BSCO Internal Affairs Unit will also be conducting an investigation.
So far this year, 19 BSCO employees, all deputies, have been arrested.
Myanmars blatant violation of human rights" is the cause, said EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom. European officials will vet the possibility of stripping Myanmar of a special trade status. EU is also set to punish Cambodia for restrictions on democracy.
Brussels (AsiaNews/Agencies) The European Union is sending a fact-finding mission to assess whether to impose trade sanctions on Myanmar over human rights abuses, EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom said on Friday. She also said and the EU will strip Cambodia of its preferential trade status.
The EU mission to Myanmar plans to look into a potential withdrawal of its "Everything but Arms" (EBA) status, which allows the world's 49 poorest countries to sell any goods tariff-free into the EU, except weapons.
"We cannot exclude this outcome. The reason is the blatant violation of human rights in Myanmar," she told a news conference after a meeting of trade ministers in Innsbruck, Austria.
The move confirms what some analysts have said, namely that the European Union was considering punitive action against Myanmar over its handling of the Rohingya crisis in its western Rakhine State.
A recent report by the United Nations accuses the Myanmar military of "genocidal intent in connection with rapes and mass killings committed by its soldiers, and calls for its commander in chief and five generals to be prosecuted under international law.
Myanmar has rejected most of the charges contained in the report, blaming instead "Bangladeshi terrorists" for most of the atrocities.
With respect to Cambodia, the EU had threatened the South-East Asian nation with "specific targeted measures" if it does not stop using the judiciary as a "political tool" to harass and intimidate political opponents, civil society groups, workers' rights activists and human rights advocates.
Last July, Brussels had warned the Cambodian government over the countrys general elections, held without opposition parties. The latter saw Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for 32 years, re-elected for the sixth time.
Both the United States and the EU had previously withdrawn their financial support for the vote, citing government actions limiting the countrys democracy.
"I have notified Cambodia today that we will launch the procedure for withdrawal of EBA. Without clear and demonstrable improvements this will lead to suspension of trade preferences," said Malmstrom who also noted that a EU delegation was already in Cambodia.
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels.
At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning.
Another Instagram profile cited in a mySA.com article last week has also been removed.
The photos show a wide range of activity ranging from the ostentatious jewels, big cats, Lamborghinis, piles of cash and women holding guns to the violent heavy weaponry and bullet-riddled vehicles.
An Instagram spokesperson told mySA.com that they cannot comment on individual accounts and declined to further discuss the matter.
RELATED: Instagram photos claim ties to 'El Chapo,' show off Mexican drug cartel exploits
Drug cartels have used social media for the past decade to display images of violence and intimidation, but publishing photos of luxury cars, exotic animals and cash obtained by cartel means is a recent development, said Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the DEA.
That trend can be attributed to an emerging younger generation of drug traffickers, Vigil said in a Wednesday interview.
"They're not as cunning," Vigil said. "They're not as astute as the older generation who try to keep a low profile. They didn't flaunt the wealth because they knew that, by doing so, they would become high-value targets."
The trend is thought to have been started by Ivan and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, sons of the Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Vigil said.
It's thought that the Guzman brothers, active on social media, are behind much of public flaunting of cartel wealth.
Their father escaped from a Mexican prison in July 2015. Weeks later, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar posted a photo to Twitter that showed a man with a mustache whose face was obscured by emojis, leading to widespread speculation that the man in the photo was Guzman himself. The picture has since been deleted.
"What they're doing is taunting the Mexican security forces, and then at the same time flaunting" their wealth, Vigil said.
However, it's unlikely that law enforcement agencies instructed Instagram to remove the photos. Vigil, who penned the 2014 book "Deal," said agencies can sometimes glean valuable information from photos for investigative purposes.
It's more probable that cartel leaders instructed users to shut down their accounts or that Instagram used its terms of service to remove the photos, Vigil said.
RELATED: These are the world's most wanted drug traffickers, according to the U.S. State Department
Instagram's terms of use forbid users from posting "violent, nude, partially nude, discriminatory, unlawful, infringing, hateful, pornographic or sexually suggestive photos or other content."
Users also may not use "for any illegal or unauthorized purpose" and must abide by "federal, state, local and provincial" laws.
The platform's community guidelines ask users to "follow the law" and say "Instagram is not a place to support or praise terrorism, organized crime or hate groups."
The service also reserves the right to terminate accounts and access to accounts.
Posting photos to social media doesn't always go without consequences for suspected cartel members: Jose Rodrigo Arechiga-Gamboa a high-ranking enforcer for the Sinaloa cartel known as "El Chino Antrax" pleaded guilty in May to a federal charge of conspiracy to import a controlled substance and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison during an Oct. 16 sentencing hearing.
Arechiga-Gamboa was arrested in the Netherlands on Dec. 30, 2013, after months of sharing his exploits online.
Scroll through the slideshow for a glimpse into the excessive lives of some of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations.
jfechter@mySA.com
Twitter: @JFreports
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Ana Marie Hernandez, known as "La Muneca," or the doll, was extradited to the United States after being on the run for about two years, according to reports. PGR/courtesy
Scroll through the slideshow for a glimpse into the excessive lives of Mexican drug cartels.
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, appears to be suspending accounts connected with Mexican drug cartels. At least three accounts showing photos of alleged cartel activity featured in a GQ story published Tuesday were not available as of Wednesday morning. Courtesy Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
An Instagram account gives a peek into what appear to be the opulent exploits of Mexican drug cartels particularly the Sinaloa cartel, whose leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped prison in July 2015. Screenshot Via Instagram
Its time for To Kill a Mockingbird to give up its treasured place in American culture.
The 1960 novel by Harper Lee was published to instant acclaim, has sold more than 30 million copies and is ubiquitous in high-school curricula. The 1962 movie version, starring Gregory Peck, is a classic in itself and won three Academy Awards. A play based on the novel is about to open on Broadway.
This is quite the resume for a book that, prior to the publication of a sequel in 2015 that was really the first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, was Harper Lees only work. But nothing is forever, even for a book commonly called timeless. Lees novel is deeply out of sympathy with a moment when on college campuses, and in the culture more broadly, due process isnt what it used to be, when it is often thought to be a hateful act to insist that allegations of sexual misconduct be proven.
A refresher on the story: It is told from the perspective of a young girl, Scout, who is the daughter of a small-town lawyer named Atticus Finch (played by Peck in the movie). The setting is Depression-era Alabama. Finch is unpopular in town because he has decided to take on the defense of a black man named Tom Robinson who is accused of rape by a young white woman.
And this is where the story, in contemporary terms, goes off the rails. Atticus Finch didnt #BelieveAllWomen. He didnt take an accusation at face value. He defended an alleged rapist, vigorously and unremittingly, making use of every opportunity provided to him by the norms of the Anglo-American system of justice. He did it despite considerable social pressure to simply believe the accuser.
In a gripping courtroom scene, Finch cross-examines Mayella Ewell, the 19-year-old daughter of an abusive drunk from a dirt-poor family who is Robinsons accuser. With all the vehemence and emotion she can muster, Ewell insists that Robinson attacked her after she got him to break up a piece of old furniture at her house.
Without mercy, Finch takes apart her account. In contemporary internet argot, he destroys her. He brushes right by her tears. He doesnt care about her feelings, only the facts. He exposes contradictions in her story and shreds her credibility, especially with the dramatic revelation that Robinson doesnt have use of his left arm when he stands up at the defense table (he is alleged to have hit her with his left hand).
It is revealed that Ewell is lying. She had made an advance on Robinson and gotten caught by her vicious, racist father. The charge of rape against Robinson was a cover story, although the bigoted jury convicts him anyway.
To Kill a Mockingbird stands firmly for the proposition that an accusation can be false, that unpopular defendants presumed guilty must and should be defended, and that it is admirable and brave to withstand the crowd at times in the story, literally the lynch mob when it wants to cast aside the normal protections of justice.
Exactly what has made Atticus Finch such an honored figure in our culture would make him a very inconvenient man at many college campuses today, where charges of sexual misconduct are adjudicated without the accused being allowed to confront the accuser or make use of other key features of our system of justice.
Finch is a rebuke to the shift from a presumption of innocence toward a presumption of guilt that now attends accusations of sexual harassment and assault. He didnt believe that someone being accused of something is enough to establish his wrongdoing, or accept that a category of people were, by definition, to be under a pall of suspicion.
Atticus Finch is not the man for this moment, but we need him, and his reasoned yet unshakable commitment to fairness and justice, more than ever.
comments.lowry@nationalreview.com
The air defence missile system comes with a US$ 5.4 billion price tag. Russias technology was successfully tested in Syrias war. Big power strategic and geopolitical relations are at stake.
New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a deal that would see India buy Russias s-400 air defence missile system at a cost of US$ 5.4 billion.
The agreement renews their traditional close bilateral relationship, which goes back to the 1950s, and signals something more than a transfer of military technology, namely a new geopolitical reality in which both the United States and China are simple spectators.
The S-400 is one of the most sophisticated surface-to-air defence systems in the world. It has a range of 400 kilometres and can shoot down up to 80 targets simultaneously, aiming two missiles at each one. What is more, it has been battle-tested during Syrias civil war, which Russia is using as a warranty of effectiveness.
China has its own version, and for this reason, India had to respond and take a "calculated risk".
For Rajiv Nayan, defence expert at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses think-tank, "India needs to look after its strategic interests. An air defence missile system was the need of the hour. Although The US has said that going ahead with the deal would attract sanctions [. . .] Delhi cannot be seen coming under pressure," he explained.
In fact, buying Russian military technology could lead the US to react. Washington has already threatened to enforce the Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) against countries that engage in "significant transactions" with Russia, Iran or North Korea.
Yet, in light of Indias recent political moves, including the decision to buy Iranian oil, US threats do not appear to have had any significant impact on Prime Minister Modi.
For experts, many factors explain renewed Indo-Russian harmony, such as the arrival of the Trump administration, Russian help to get India into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as well as its support for the South Asian nations entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which controls access to nuclear technology, this despite the fact that New Delhi hasnt signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
A recent national report listed the cities that have created the most employment in the nation during the past 10 years. Austin was first, Nashville was second, and San Antonio was third. Our jobs base grew by 24 percent from 2007 to 2017. That means that just in the past 10 years, San Antonio employment grew by the equivalent of a quarter of the jobs total we have amassed in our entire history.
Our citys growth in jobs and wages has never been so strong. We are enjoying the cumulative effects of more than 40 years of consistent, focused, cooperative economic efforts: new industries, job training, business retention, small-business development, better education, public service employment, expanding biosciences and other growth sectors. And thousands of San Antonians have been the beneficiaries, working in better jobs and living better.
It is very difficult for a city to stay on such a positive course for so long. San Antonio has done it. We have forged a delicate consensus that more jobs and higher wages are our keys to enhancing the climate of prosperity and opportunity for all our residents.
In November, we face a community decision that could end that consensus. Three charter amendments on the ballot will raise serious questions about our finances, our leadership structure, our political processes and, most of all, our stability. That may sound like exaggerations, but the business of keeping a city on the path of job growth is delicate, and it depends in part on many decision-makers across the nation whose opinions matter. So it is not an exaggeration to say that an impetuous, angry or misguided decision on the charter amendments can do grievous damage to our future.
Let me explain.
The first of the proposed charter amendments would reduce the number of signatures necessary to take a City Council decision to a referendum down from 75,000 to 20,000 signatures. And the subjects that can be taken to a referendum would include appropriations, taxes and utility rates.
I know it is tempting to want to try to reverse such decisions because we all hate taxes and rate increases. But imagine a constant stream of elections to reverse financial decisions that are, unfortunately, necessary for city operations, electricity generation and water supplies.
Do the math: To reduce the needed signatures to 20,000 in a city of 1.4 million is a ratio that essentially says that one person in an assembly of 70 could reverse the decisions of our elected representatives and constantly put those decisions to expensive, divisive, repetitious and unpredictable elections. Now that is the definition of municipal instability. We must resist the temptation to put the community into a position where small, disgruntled groups can easily throw our entire political environment into dysfunction. Other cities have only realized the chaos created when they do something like this after they have done it and then it is too late. The time to think about it soberly and calmly is now.
Another of the proposed charter amendments would limit the city managers tenure and cap the salary of the position. Think about it: Over the years, the city managers position in our system has been key to the progress we have made. The council-manager system has contributed to our success. The best-run cities in the nation tend to be council-manager cities, including Austin and Dallas, and we are one of them. Through my various jobs, I have worked in 200 different American cities in every one of the 50 U.S. states, and I have seen the comparison with my own eyes. San Antonio, on the whole, is a well-respected city government.
Now I ask you, how will we recruit from among the highest quality city management talent in the future if the salary is capped and the job tenure is fixed? Those constraints would smell of a troubled, contentious city to any talented city manager looking to work in a stable environment. Because the tenure is limited, after a few years on the job, the limp of a lame duck will be visible and the position will lose its authority to lead.
I am afraid the implications will go beyond the failure of a single city manager. That failure will become a downward spiral, and the system that has served San Antonio well since 1955 will itself be seen as failed. We should not risk the instability that would follow. You can disagree with the present city manager on particular decisions. You may even dislike the person. But you shouldnt vote to sink the entire system because you are angry with or dislike the current occupant. That would be shortsighted and self-defeating for our city.
And though the third amendment seems to be less destructive, it would give the firefighters union the sole right to declare an impasse in contract negotiations, substituting binding arbitration for negotiations. The danger is that the decision concerning what the city has to spend on one municipal function will be taken out of the hands of the city budget officials who know what the city can afford without having to cut other important functions. Arbiters are inclined to split the middle in a dispute, and that middle can be out of balance with what the city can afford. It is this amendment that is most likely to cost the city its hard-earned AAA bond rating.
It is my sincere conclusion that each of the three amendments is bad for the progress we have built together in San Antonio. Nations, states and cities make mistakes that change their arc of progress and that they later regret. Unfortunately, the polls show today the amendments would pass. Some of our fellow residents on the political left may dislike the power of the city manager or are inclined to align with unions. Others on the political right may be inclined to restrict government at all levels. And others without firm political leanings may be tempted to disrupt what they perceive to be established business as usual.
I say, be careful. We are walking toward a dangerous cliff.
I deeply respect, appreciate and admire our firefighters. They have one of the most dangerous jobs in the nation, and they often put their lives on the line for us. They deserve ample pay and benefits. This contract dispute has been acrimonious with many unnecessary elements. There is finger-pointing, blame, hurt feelings and personal animosities all around. But these charter amendments are the wrong way to settle the current negotiations, and they are the wrong way to sustain the economic and social progress that has touched so many lives in the most progressive era San Antonio has ever experienced.
Le me reduce all this to three simple questions. Just ask yourself:
1. Do you believe that calling repeated elections to reverse a broad range of mayoral and City Council decisions would be positive for the stability of city government?
2. Do you believe you could compete for the best person for your business or personal projects if you fixed the salary and limited the tenure for that person?
3. Do you believe ending salary negotiations by allowing one union alone to call in an outside arbitrator at any point is the best way to get to a result that is fair to all city employees and to taxpayers?
If most of you answer these questions yes or I dont care, then the amendments will likely pass, and we will all take our chances with the consequences.
But if you honestly answer these questions no, then vote no on Nov. 6 and let us together build on the progress San Antonio has made.
Henry Cisneros served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton and served four terms as mayor of San Antonio. He is a partner at the infrastructure finance firm Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co.
In Michel Taylors The Smart Money S.A. column of Sept. 23 (City smart to pass on Amazons HQ2 game, Business), a little perspective seems to be in order.
Over many years, local officials, business and community leaders, Chamber of Commerce executives, journalistic and local pundits have used the economic development term to denote some semblance of business activity or development, but we never really know what this means.
In our citys history, this term has never been defined. Because large amounts of public resources are spent each fiscal year in the name of economic development, it has become important to have clarity in its use. You cant measure what you dont define.
Economic development is a public term, yet it is constantly abused to simply reflect business development activity, which obviously is a private pursuit. The best qualified advocate for private sector activity and development is the Chamber of Commerce; this is its mission.
What is the mission of public sector actors? It isnt to heavily subsidize the private sector in market-ready areas. It is to leverage its resources with the private sector to produce targeted public benefits or outcomes, such as job training, technical enrichment, human capital investment, and entry or midlevel employment in areas where needs are greatest moving the needle in real terms.
In a city ranking No. 1 in the U.S. in economic segregation, have the heavy subsidies to the private sector carried out in the name of economic development delivered these public goods after 30 years?
Clearly they have not, as we remain a poor city.
Anyone who has worked in our field doesnt use ideology to support or criticize the use of economic development incentives. In the 35 years Ive worked or studied in this field, I have never seen the left or the right use language to properly describe this planning function.
As a planning tool, economic development techniques are examined for their use and utility, seeking to maximize benefits and examining the cost-benefit trade-offs involved. Yes, there is a lot to be critical of in the manner that economic development is understood and practiced at all levels of government. But using ideological jargon to describe the incentive game doesnt fit in this environment.
With respect to the citys decision not to pursue Amazons HQ2 competition (results of which will be announced soon), it didnt take much smarts to walk away. Our educational, real estate and technological constraints as a metro region fall very short of Amazons requirements. About 50 regions meet the requirement of population of at least 1 million, followed by being competitive in innovation talent top technical and managerial talent. Are we capable of having and retaining a highly educated labor pool?
Seattle, the home of Amazons headquarters, ranks No. 9 of 55 metro areas on this composite talent pool index. Imagine where San Antonio ranks. We dont even rank in the top 20 metros in the U.S. using four key metrics: total metro population with a bachelors degree, the share of metro population with a bachelors degree, the metro areas total number of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) jobs, and the share of STEM jobs in the local labor market. A strong university system is required as well.
Do we need to be smart to recognize our shortcomings on this criteria?
Our region also falls quite short in the core preference for access to mass transit, which means direct access to rail, train, subway/metro and bus routes at site.
In real estate terms, Amazon anticipates a minimum of 500,000 square feet in Phase 1, but with a total expansion of 8.1 million square feet, involving about 33 separate buildings. Then theres the limitation of connectivity to major highways and airports with direct flights to cities all over the country.
This criteria alone disqualifies us. It doesnt take courage to understand that our metro region isnt really for the big leagues.
Our problem is worse than that. Our public actors dont really practice economic development. They practice business development. Their idea of an important term is narrow, limited and superficial. Why are enormous amounts of public funds spent annually to create jobs in an environment of 3.9 percent unemployment? Why is this term even used when it has no definition and doesnt address our economic disparities in areas where needs are greatest?
According to Mayor Ron Nirenberg, We are investing in the fundamentals in terms of housing, water supply, a reliable energy grid. And we have a workforce that mirrors what the rest of the country will look like 20 years from now. We are making investments in that workforce before most cities have even woken up to that reality.
This is all well and good, but, please, dont call these investments economic development.
Just like the citys equity lens mantra, these are all public works programs, projects or initiatives, but how will these public investments address our widening socioeconomic divide? By building a nationally competitive STEM workforce? Luring companies to move to the city rather than having homegrown champions? Heavily subsidizing the private sector instead of the public sectors needs?
Why not, as a community, consider being smart and courageous by replacing the citys urban planning model that measures success in business terms rather than in socioeconomic terms? Raise standards of living, quality of life and upward mobility opportunities not by endorsing charter schools, but by tackling economic segregation. Perhaps more than anything, we need public officials to understand the implications of facilitating and subsidizing their economic growth agenda for the built environment at the expense of struggling low- and moderate-income families.
With the current construct, San Antonio will never become a nationally competitive urban region.
Fernando Centeno specializes in community economic development strategies. He has a masters degree of education, and in administration, planning and social policy from Harvard University. He can be reached at fcenteno@satx.rr.com
Regarding We judge Houstons judges so you can vote with ease (Outlook, Thursday): For those who are not prepped to faithfully vote the straight Republican or Democratic tickets, as the two parties frankly for some good reasons are imploring voters to do, it would be wise to consider the Chronicle editorial boards forthcoming endorsements of both Democrats and Republicans and the boards reasons underlining its endorsements.
Also, voters might want to consider the Houston Bar Judicial Preference Poll results for additional guidance. I would especially request that voters be on the lookout for what is looking like a really bad apple or two or three, but not all 75, praise the Lord. Begin the educational process.
Walter Boyd, Huntsville
Stay vigilant
Regarding the special section titled Breast Cancer Awareness in the Thursday edition: I must salute those women who draw attention to the need for breast cancer screening. Having said that, I must add a precaution that over-screening is common with breast cancer and can lead to harmful and needless treatments. Before being screened, ask your doctor which guideline is being followed to indicate your need to be screened. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer easy-to-understand guidelines that women may use to educate themselves on the need for breast cancer screening.
John T. James, founder, Patient Safety America, Houston
VA woes
Regarding Ex-Army medic gets Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Afghan war (Newsmakers, Tuesday): The medic certainly deserved the Medal of Honor. Just below that story, however, was Terminally ill veteran has yard sale to pay for his own funeral. Why didnt Navy veteran Willie Davis get the care from Veterans Affairs that he needed? The story says he has had constant disappointment with the health care system for veterans.
I talk to every veteran I see to thank them for their service. Many said they gave up on getting help from VA after having to wait for months to get an appointment. Some have gone to private providers in order to get help.
Noel Foreman, Houston
Revenue plan
Regarding Abbott is open to relaxing penalties for pot (A1, Friday): Instead of relaxing laws on marijuana use, Gov. Greg Abbott should recommend legalization and taxation like Colorado and several other states. Colorado budgeted the use of those tax dollars, yet already has a $65 million surplus.
Additionally, Texas should legalize casino gambling and reap those tax revenues. Drive through the parking lots of casinos across the border in Louisiana and Oklahoma and count the number of Texas license plates. It looks to be 80 percent to 90 percent of the cars.
If Abbott truly desires to significantly improve educators pay, he could get it done.
G. Gratzer, Sargent
Clarification
Due to technical difficulties, the name of the author of Credibility in the Letters to the Editor column in Tuesdays editions was inadvertently deleted. The writer was Andrew Edmonson of Houston.
Fellow Texas voters, do you believe that allegations of a serious incident many years ago make Brett Kavanaugh unfit for the Supreme Court? Do you plan to vote for Beto ORourke as senator?
If your answer to both questions is yes, you need to reconsider.
The case against Kavanaugh is, at best, a she said, he said matter. (Accusations of this sort were blithely brushed off when Bill Clinton was accused.) ORourkes DWI incident is a fact. He was driving at a high speed at night while impaired by alcohol. As a result, he was involved in an accident. He willfully jeopardized his own life and others. This reveals bad judgment.
Then he attempted to leave the scene. This isnt part of his criminal record. (Betos assertions of not leaving are true but deceptive). There is credible evidence that he would have left were he not restrained (which he denies). This reveals bad character from both his state of mind at the time and his current evasiveness.
Dont rationalize. ORourkes proven bad behavior occurred when he was in his mid-20s. Kavanaughs alleged bad behavior occurred when he was a teenager. Dont rationalize Beto by saying that he has been a model citizen since 1998. There is ample demonstration that Kavanaugh has been a model citizen since 1982.
Bottom line: If alleged misconduct decades ago renders Kavanaugh unfit for the Supreme Court, then ORourkes proven misconduct decades ago renders him unfit for the Senate.
The only way to rationalize voting for Beto while opposing Kavanaugh is to assert that standards of conduct apply only to people you dont like.
Raymond Franck, New Braunfels
No on amendments
I just cant understand how a city employee tries to tear down our well-run city government by imposing his personal will on the residents of our beautiful city. You only see things like this in a communist country where they impose their own personal agenda simply for their own good.
I know how the communists work; I had 30 months under them as a prisoner of war. They tried to brainwash us into their way of thinking. This is like San Antonio Firefighters Association President Chris Steele.
Wake up, San Antonio, and vote no on his demands.
Oscar Cortez
Money for schools
Re: Students in Texas fall short on college readiness, front page, Sept. 30:
Oh me, oh my! Another front page article highlighting deficiencies in Texas public schools. Anyone parent, student, teacher, retired teacher (of which I am one), administrator will tell you that you cannot improve goals for high school graduates on both career and college tracks without experienced teachers who create and teach innovative curriculum.
And that takes money!
If Robin Hood funds went into a fund for education only and not where they can be pillaged by the governor, the lieutenant governor and the Legislature for their priorities and education is clearly not one high school graduates, whether college-bound or career-oriented, will continue to be ill-prepared for the next level.
Didnt someone once say, Hope springs eternal? Without adequate funding for our public schools, hope is having a very difficult time springing out of the education doldrums.
Sarah Joe LeMessurier
Revising history
Re: Turn back the clock, Your Turn, Sept. 25:
Ann Coulter was right when she said a few years ago, For liberals, history started this morning.
The letter writer accuses the Supreme Court of appointing George W. Bush president in 2000. What happened was that the Gore campaign took the county with the hanging-chad problem to state court to contest the countys recount. When the state judge ruled against the campaign, it took the case to the Florida Supreme Court. The Florida Supreme Court overruled the state court; the Bush campaign upped the ante and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the Bush campaign.
Only Democrats would complain about losing a fight they started. If Al Gore would have won his home state, none of this would have mattered.
Not having learned from history in 2000 that the Electoral College determines the presidency, not the popular vote, they made the same mistake in 2016. Hillary Clinton received nearly 3 million more votes than did Donald Trump, almost entirely from California and New York. Not very many Texans want those big states selecting our president, which is exactly what the founders had in mind when they put the Electoral College in the Constitution.
Ed Pickrel, Universal City
No deal for them
The mayor has consistently promoted recommendations for badly needed affordable housing. Lots of media attention and thumbs-up for great ideas. However, the cheery attitude disappears in the light of reality.
In seeking to build needed infill housing to provide a nearby elder caretaker residence, our family has found we are one of the unfortunate ones told by the San Antonio Water System that we must pay to construct the main sewer line to obtain sewer and water service. This will add thousands onto the cost of a modest home.
While SAWS often constructs main line extensions for high-end, multiple-housing developers, waiving fees and costs in the process, it would not do so for only one house.
Contacts with City Council members, the mayor and several others have yielded no response or assistance. This, while Robert Puente, president and CEO of the San Antonio Water System, was given a 5 percent pay raise, bringing his total compensation to $468,194.40. (He declined a bonus this year.)
Any questions about who truly runs the city?
Teri Frey
A 38-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested for allegedly repeatedly rap_ing his 13-year-old biological daughter at knife point for almost a year.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said the incident occurred between October 2017 and August 2018 in Donnington and was only reported on October 3.
The victim goes to a boarding school and only visits the father during school holidays as the mother works in South Africa.
Sometime in October 2017, the victim was ordered to prepare breakfast by her father while he bathed. After bathing, he ordered her to serve him the breakfast in his bedroom.
Once in the bedroom, he locked the door, threatened her with an okapi knife and rap_ed her once. On several occasions between the stated period, the suspect threatened her with a knife and repeatedly rap_ed her, Insp Ncube said.
The victim revealed the ordeal to the headmistress at her school. A report was made to the police on October 3 and the suspect was arrested.
On another incident which occurred in June, a self- proclaimed prophet rap_ed a congregant who had gone to his house to perform some chores as per church norm.
The suspect and the victim from Nkulumane suburb are church members at Madzibaba Stevens congregation in Tshabalala suburb. Victim went to the suspects house sometime in June to do laundry chores as per church norm and roster. It is their congregational norm that single ladies take turns to wash the prophets clothes and to clean his house.
The victim found the suspect praying while in the sitting room and he forced her to take his clothes into his bedroom. While there, he followed and rap_ed her once. He gave her $5 to silence her, telling her that she would die if she revealed the matter to anyone, said Insp Ncube.
He said the matter came to light on October 3 when the victims mother suspected that she was pre_gnant. The matter was reported to the police and investigations are underway.
The suspect is at large.
Police said 12 rap_e cases were reported between 1-31 September alone in Bulawayo on victims of ages ranging between nine and 84.
Insp Ncube said the figure could be higher as other cases were going unreported.
It is sad to note that most rap_e cases were perpetrated on children under the age of 18 by people close to them or when they are left under their custody. In some instances, victim and suspect live together in the same compound or share the same house as tenants.
Rap_e incidents are committed by people whom they know and trust. The other challenge is that victims are raped several times before they expose or inform third parties, while others report late when or after discovering they are pregnant, he said.
Insp Ncube said rap_e cases perpetrated by pirate Honda Fit operators were also rife.
As the rainy season is about to start, residents are encouraged to move around in groups when going to the fields. We also advise parents to desist from leaving their children in the custody of male adults.
Dont keep quiet, quickly report rap_e incidents within 72 hours of occurrence so that you can be saved from contracting HIV, pregnancy and STIs, he said.
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Chief Inspector Simphiwe Makonese said about six rap_e cases are reported weekly within the province.
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A 42-YEAR-OLD man from Lupanes Tshongogwe area died after being attacked by a crocodile while fetching water from Tshangani River.
Police confirmed the incident which occurred last Saturday morning.
Police spokesperson for Matabeleland North province Chief Inspector Siphiwe Makonese said Frank Ngwenya was in the company of two juveniles when a crocodile attacked him at around 7AM.
We received a report of a man who was attacked by a crocodile while fetching water from Tshangani River on September 29. Frank Ngwenya of Mahloni Khumalo homestead was with Patros Manxeba aged 14 and Silibaziso Moyo aged 15 when they went to fetch water. He went into the water where he was filling buckets and giving the two who were loading onto the scotch cart, said Chief Insp Makonese.
She said a crocodile suddenly appeared and attacked Ngwenya and dragged him under water in full view of the juveniles.
Silibaziso rushed to inform other villagers who made a report at Jotsholo Police Station.
The police sub aqua unit and rangers from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority attended to the scene and searched for the body. They retrieved some body parts while some were not located as the reptile had chomped Ngwenya into pieces.
Chief Insp Makonese urged members of the public to avoid playing or working inside water bodies even if they are shallow, to avoid being attacked by crocodiles or other dangers.
The Chronicle was told that rangers put down two crocodiles at the same pool as they had been causing havoc to villagers.
Villagers said the remains of Ngwenya, who resides at a neighbouring village and had visited his grandmother to help her with household chores, were buried on Sunday.
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MP/lawyer cites conflict of interest
PROMINENT lawyer, Jonathan Samkange has parted ways with former cabinet minister, Saviour Kasukuwere.
Samkange was representing Kasukuwere, who is facing four counts of abuse of office during his time when he was a minister of local government and also indigenisation.
In renouncing agency yesterday, Samkange cited conflict of interest in his duties as a Member of Parliament as well as tenets of Operation Restore Legacy of November last year.
I have to make it known that I have renounced agency.
There is conflict of interest in that in parliament we advocate zero tolerance to corruption and I cant be seen to be defending corruption.
I cant be seen to be defending corruption in the morning in court and in the afternoon denouncing the same in the House of Assembly, said Samkange.
He said Kasukuwere had since taken his file.
Asked why he was still representing Oscar Pambuka and Psychology Maziwisa, Samkange said there were differences in the cases.
Those two are being charged for work they did not do for Zesa which is fraud.
Their case is also different in that they were not declared enemies of the State.
Kasukuwere was declared enemy of the State and it would not be proper to represent someone fighting Government efforts.
He was among the criminals who were said to be surrounding former President Mugabe whereas Maziwisa and Pambuka were not declared criminals surrounding the former President.
The two are still Zanu-PF members whereas Kasukuwere is no longer a member of the party, Samkange said.
Samkange said as a nation that was moving to brighter days, he felt it prudent not to stand for corruption.
I am a Member of Parliament representing Mudzi South so the people who entrusted me to represent them should see that I am zero tolerant to corruption just like other Members in the House, he said.
Kasukuwere was recently acquitted on charges of illegally exiting the country and seeking refuge in Mozambique at the height of the militarys Operation Restore Legacy.
Saviour Kasukuwere is currently facing four counts of abuse of office and is on $3 000 bail.
As part of his bail conditions Kasukuwere was ordered to report twice a day at Borrowdale Police Station, to surrender his title deeds for a property in Inyanga and not to interfere with witnesses.
He was ordered to continue residing at his Helensvale home and surrender his passport with the clerk of court.
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Finance and Economic Development Minister, Mthuli Ncube, last night announced changes to the Intemediated Money Transfer Tax of two cents per dollar transacted by setting upper limits and lower limits.
The tax review which comes into effect on the date of gazette of the relevant regulations will apply to most electronic transactions while a few will be exempt.
In a statement released last night Minister Ncube said as part of the new changes, transactions below $10 will no longer attract the two cents tax, while all transactions above $10 up to $500 000 will have to comply with the new tax regime.
However, all transactions above $500 000 will attract a flat tax of $10 000. Further the tax will not apply to eight types of transactions, namely inter company transfer of funds, including transfers of intermediary accounts, transfer of funds on sale and purchase of equities, transfer of funds on purchase and redemption of money marker instruments, transfer of funds for payment of salaries, and for payment of taxes. It will also not apply to transfer of funds to intermediary accounts (eg conveyancers), transfer of funds in respect of foreign currency related payments as well as transfer of funds by Government.
Minister Ncube said Government had used an evidence-based policymaking approach, where one announces a policy first then fine tunes it taking into consideration reactions and recommendations from key stakeholders.
Previously, electronic transfers attracted a flat five cents per transaction, which was seen as regressive to the poor who would pay an effective five percent per dollar, while the well-to-do would pay five cents for transactions of hundreds of dollars.
The new policy, Minister Ncube said, is progressive as it reduced the tax liability from low value transactions most of which are conducted by the under privileged. Transactions below $10 which used to attract a five cent tax are no longer paying anything.
According to treasury and monetary bosses, the previous taxation system was in a way regressive in that for every transaction, regardless of whether it was big or small, the public had to part away with a significant amount of five cents.
However, following the announcement of the fiscal measures on Monday, social media was awash with claims that no revenue proposals can become law without a Finance Act approved by Parliament and that the new measures are null and void.
Minister Ncube, however, told our Harare Bureau that he was well aware of the requirements of the law and will soon gazette the new measures.
Without giving the exact date of the promulgation, Minister Ncube said: We have to put in a statutory instrument, thats fine, thats normal, we need an SI, tichaita (we will do it).
In announcing the two cents tax, Minister Ncube directed financial institutions, banks and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), working together with telecommunication companies to extend the collection to all electronic financial transactions effective 1 October 2018, even before the SI has been gazetted.
According to a survey conducted by our Harare Bureau, telecommunication players have since complied with this directive although the SI has not yet been gazetted.
Minister Ncube said there was still time to fine tune before gazetting.
You know what is called evidence-based policymaking, which sometimes unoita (you come up with a) policy, then woona (you see) reaction then you adjust, wavane (when you now have) even more evidence, he said.
You can never have all the evidence before your Act. Thats what is called evidence-based policy making. We shall fine tune, there is no problem.
Earlier on during the presentation of the TSP, Minister Ncube defended the two cents tax measure saying it was necessary as we need to stop the bleeding.
The country is faced with a myriad of economic challenges including a ballooning budget deficit, a huge trade deficit and crippling foreign currency shortages.
We cannot do this without pain, my view is that we take the pain at the beginning, in the first year or two, after that we stabilise our macro-economy so that we take the pain together as a nation.
Minister Ncube said most people do not realise they are already feeling the pain given the current economic situation and all Government is doing is fixing the economy through sacrifices.
He said measures that were effective before in broadening the tax base are no longer effective hence new measures have to be introduced as has been done now.
He, however, said there is need to fine-tune Mondays measures and probably put a cap at the higher end, but this is really one way where together as a nation we can fix our problems and we need all hands of the deck to do that.
Minister Ncube said the new measures have been implemented in other parts of the world, with one country charging as much as 15 percent. He said what was needed is for Government to be accountable on the funds and have tangible outcomes that justify the revenue collection.
Newly appointed permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, George Guvamatanga, also spoke on the need for accountability and transparent use of the money collected through the two cents tax. He said it was Governments intention to ring-fence a certain portion of that money, which will be directed to social services within the marginalised areas, focusing mostly on health and education.
We will expand to other areas as part of our responsibility as Government, but I think as soon as we start collecting the funds, you will see roads, and I am saying it and you can quote me, you will see roads in Mabvuku, roads in Kuwadzana being fixed and of course, roads in Kambuzuma being fixed.
This is a commitment that we are making, we are not just going to collect this money so that it goes into travel and subsistent here at Government, so that it goes into purchasing vehicles here in Government.
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THOSE who have been following health developments in Zimbabwe lately know the marvel that Chitungwiza Hospital was turned into.
Dr Obadiah Moyo, the man behind the institutions transformation, has been entrusted to repeat the same feat, this time on a national scale.
Born in Gutu in a family of six, Dr Moyo has become the face behind problem-solving in Zimbabwes public health sector.
All hope is pinned on him that he will transform the sector to a quality, reliable and people-centred service provider.
Dr Moyo started his medical career as a clinical biochemist with special interest in renal dialysis and was assigned to head the renal services programme in 1981 where he was hands-on in dialysis, providing direct service to renal patients.
He was also the head of laboratory services for the whole of Zimbabwe, overseeing 76 laboratories.
His appointment as head of laboratory services resulted in a lot of modernisation and it was through his efforts that the first HIV testing laboratory was established in Zimbabwe in 1986 and eventually decentralised to all the other laboratories.
During his stint as the head of laboratories, Dr Moyo established training programmes for medical laboratory scientists and was instrumental in the establishment of the Bachelor of Science Degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences, Master of Science Degree in Clinical Biochemistry and Medical Microbiology at the University of Zimbabwe.
He was also clinical biochemistry lecturer.
Dr Moyos fame and influence in laboratory medicine spread across Africa and he was elected as the first African on the council of the International Federation of Biomedical Sciences and as president of the African chapter.
He was awarded the American Biographical Institutes Gold Record of Achievement within the medical sciences and the society as a whole in 1996.
Dr Moyo continued to improve himself academically and in order to consolidate and improve his clinical skills and expertise, he engaged in further medical training and qualified as a mature student in medicine, pathology, clinical and renal sciences. He has extensively published articles in nephrology and pathology in reputable international journals.
His thesis at Masters degree level was on The factors contributing to the anaemia of chronic renal failure and for his postgraduate renal course in the management of chronic kidney diseases, his dissertation was on the Methods for the estimation of glomerular filtration rate for the early identification and management of chronic kidney disease in adults in primary and secondary care.
In dialysis, besides haemodialysis, he also introduced another form of dialysis called continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.
The Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists (UK) places Dr Moyo at the epitomy of pathology on an international scale.
He became the first, and remains the only fellow of the Royal College qualified in chemical pathology in Zimbabwe, which in itself is a feat to reckon with.
Dr Moyo also holds postgraduate qualifications in healthcare administration and published articles on the establishment of the renal programme in Zimbabwe from which he eventually became instrumental in the setting up of five dialysis units geographically located around Zimbabwe.
Dr Moyo told The Herald that one of his challenging assignments in healthcare saw him providing dialysis care and treatment to the late former First Lady, Sally Mugabe, who was battling renal failure.
During those years, the lifespan of renal patients was short due to lack of advanced technology, but Dr Moyo said they managed to prolong the late Sallys life for up to 11 years on dialysis.
My first challenging assignment was working with the late wife of the former President Robert Mugabe when she was battling renal disease. We managed to push her life up to 11 years, which was double the expected duration of patients on dialysis, said Dr Moyo.
Because of being deeply involved in healthcare administration for close to 35 years, Dr Moyo said he opted to be in full time healthcare management, using his academic medical qualifications as a source of knowledge and innovations.
This rare combination of skills saw him creating the best hospital in Zimbabwe, which has become an envy for the rest of the region.
In 2005, he was assigned to head Chitungwiza Central Hospital.
The facility had just been upgraded from a general to a central hospital and was a typical picture of most public health institutions in Zimbabwe.
Staff complement did not match the growing burden of care, resulting in long queues and slow pace in assisting patients.
Equipment was obsolete, characterised by repeated breakdowns. Drug shortages were also the order of the day, the same way other public health institutions were affected.
Untidy and dingy corridors, unwelcoming wards with a collection of patients, lack of privacy and uncomfortable metal beds were the norm at Chitungwiza Central Hospital before Dr Moyos arrival.
I was assigned to Chitungwiza, which was dilapidated with no systems in place and poor customer services with no standards. I had to put systems in place.
We had limited financial resources. Sanctions hit us badly, but still I managed to come out of it and produced the best possible results through a cocktail of innovations. The hospital became the best public health institution in the country and the only one that is ISO certified, said Dr Moyo.
Through dedication, commitment and hard work, he managed to bring quality service to the hospital. His administration saw the institutions transformation from a sorry state to a hospital of choice, whose services were now at par with private institutions in the country a level that no other public health institution had ever reached in the country.
In 2008, the hospital acquired the Standards Association of Zimbabwes ISO 9001:2000 certification.
ISO is all about quality and innovativeness. We worked outside the box. We did not just wait for Government to prop us up and also went out looking for funds from the corporate world. That was our attitude. Our attitude was not shying from begging, added Dr Moyo.
Since being ISO certified, the hospital managed to attract more consultants to cover specialties like radiology, ophthalmology, surgery, urology, paediatrics, aesthetics, obstetrics and gynaecology.
Still at Chitungwiza, Dr Moyo tried to set up a renal transplant unit as a permanent solution to dialysis.
In Zimbabwe, Dr Moyos name is synonymous with dialysis.
Apart from initiating the process of kidney transplants at Chitungwiza Hospital, Dr Moyo also had a hand in establishment of renal units at Parirenyatwa, Mpilo, Gweru and Mutare hospitals.
Several local, regional and international organisations and universities have researched on the Chitungwiza Central Hospitals model and recommended it for its adoption for implementation Africawide.
On September 7, 2018, when Dr Moyo was appointed Minister of Health and Child Care, work was still in progress to complete establishment of the kidney transplant unit at Chitungwiza Central Hospital.
His new ministerial position was not smooth sailing either.
Now I got this position and landed into cholera. God gives me challenges and I work on them, so I survive on challenges. When there are no challenges, there is no work, said Dr Moyo.
Apart from cholera, Zimbabwes public health sector has been struggling to provide enough drugs to patients.
It has also been characterised by repeated strikes by critical staff such as doctors and nurses owing to poor working conditions, among other challenges impacting on service delivery.
The burden of care continues to grow owing to increased population and new emerging diseases against limited financial and human resources.
Dr Moyo said he was confident that through his leadership, most of these challenges will come to pass.
I want to end cholera and all the other related medieval diseases. The cholera vaccine that we are currently rolling out is the first step in the right direction. We will soon be having the typhoid vaccine.
We want medicines and surgical sundries to be available to the population.
We are busy working out a plan on how to stock medicines in our public institutions as well as in the private sector. We want to see provision of services, to ensure that our workers are well looked after, and that the environment in which they work is conducive by providing them with all the relevant tools of the trade, said Dr Moyo.
He said as someone who came through the system, he fully appreciates that there was nothing frustrating as working in an institution without drugs and with obsolete equipment.
I have come through the system and I know exactly how it feels like not to have the key medication and enabling equipment at your disposal, he said.
Dr Moyo said it was this experience and lessons picked during his stint in the public health sector that makes him a befitting candidate for the Health and Child Care Ministerial position.
For me, its a matter of applying corrective measures and doing the right thing, he said.
He said his vision was a five-star quality public healthcare system which is people-centred and also caters for vulnerable populations such as people living with disabilities, the elderly, children and the economically disadvantaged.
Privately, Dr Moyo has established Target Pathology Laboratory, registered through the Medical Laboratory and Clinical Scientists Council and The Health Professions Council.
Dr Moyo is married to Lucy Memory and they have four children.
Herald
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Meng Hongweis fate is unknown. Media reports suggest that the Interpol official, who is also Chinas Deputy Public Security Minister, was detained by security officers upon his arrival in China.
Lyon (AsiaNews/Agencies) Meng Hongwei, the Chinese head of Interpol, (pictured), has disappeared, his wife reported to police in Lyon, France, headquarters of the organisation.
In her complaint, made Thursday evening, she said she had not heard from her husband for ten days and that she had received threats by telephone and social media.
Yesterday afternoon, the French Ministry of the Interior announced that it had opened an investigation into Mengs disappearance.
"France is looking into the situation of the President of Interpol and is concerned about the threats his wife has received," the statement said, adding that she was under police protection.
Interpol issued a statement. In it, the organisation said that it was aware of media reports about the alleged disappearance of its president, noting that the relevant authorities in France and China had jurisdiction over the matter.
The Interpol president appears to have gone missing upon his return to China. According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, Meng Hongwei, 64, who is also a vice-minister at China's Ministry of Public Security, was 'taken away' for questioning by discipline authorities 'as soon as he landed in China' last week".
French daily Le Monde believes that Meng was temporarily confined by the Services in Beijing as part of an internal fight within the Chinese leadership.
At just the age of 12, Tyra Angel Odeny, has made not only her parents proud but also Kenyans by being the first ever Kenyan to win a global pageant.
Angel was crowned Little Miss World 2018 Grand Prix on Tuesday, October 2, at the 18th International Childrens Festival of Culture, Fashion and Arts held in Greece.
This was after she scored maximum points in social and charity projects, best outfit creative, best talent - Golden Laurel, speech and questions and answers respectfully.
The little charming girl was among 47 participants from 20 countries who participated in the international festival held between September 24 and 30.
Angel was crowned Little Miss World 2018 Grand Prix on Tuesday, October 2. Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
READ ALSO: Nigerian lady goes emotional as she wins 2018 Miss Nations of the world (photos, video)
Apart from the gold exclusive crown, Tyra was also awarded 500 Euros (N150,840) for scooping the main title at the cultural event.
Speaking on K24 TV shortly after arriving back in the country, the little girl credited her success to her mom whom she said had been very supportive of her.
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Well, here are some of the photos of the intelligent beauty queen during the festival that saw her crowned the new Little Miss World.
She scored maximum points in a number of categories among them speech and questions. Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
The little girl credited her success to her mom whom she said had been very supportive of her. Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
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The little charming girl was among 47 participants from 20 countries. Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
Angel was crowned Little Miss World 2018 Grand Prix on Tuesday, October 2. Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
Apart from the gold exclusive crown, Tyra was also awarded 500 Euros (KSh 58,500). Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
Angel was crowned Little Miss World 2018 Grand Prix on Tuesday, October 2. Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
Apart from the gold exclusive crown, Tyra was also awarded 500 Euros (KSh 58,500). Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
The little charming girl was among 47 participants from 20 countries. Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
The little girl credited her success to her mom whom she said had been very supportive of her. Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
She scored maximum points in a number of categories among them speech and questions. Photo: Little miss Kenya and Miss teen Kenya
Source: Facebook
Legit.ng had also reported the story of a 9-year-old from Abia state who won Little Miss Nigeria. The little girl was crowned at Vantage Point in Ikeja, Lagos state.
Top 4 Most Influential Nigerians in the World: Nigerians in Top Positions - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
All the music enthusiasts are proud of Davido for his outstanding work. His performances gather thousands of people, and millions of fans support his songs. Who is the woman that brought Davido to the world? Read Davido mother biography and discover all the impressive facts about his mom.
Davido and his achievements
The famous Davido, or David Adedeji Adeleke as he was named at birth, is only 25 years old, but he has already gained a lot of fans all over the globe. His music is really innovative and modern, that is why a lot of young people love it and look up to him. He has also got some hardcore fans, who want to know more about the Adeleke family.
Here, you will get touching information about Davido mother and her biography! Read about the woman who made a respectable man out of Davido and passed a lot of life truths to him. Davido mom biography is truly an exciting and emotional ride.
Photo: news24.com
Biography of Davido's mother
The late mother of the popular Nigerian superstar Davido was Veronica Imade Adeleke. She gave birth to him on November 21st, 1992 in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States, even though the family of Adelekes was Nigerian and later moved back to their native country.
Veronica Imade Adeleke was born in 1963. The notable thing about her is that she loved music, just like her son. In the 90s, she had a brilliant music career and was owner of a record label. She was also part of a band named Davids Band. This was not the only thing she named after her son. She also had a security company, which was called Davids security. Her son was really the apple of her eye.
Veronica Adeleke was a lecturer at Babcock University in Osun State. She was very bright, intelligent and loved by all the lecturers and students.
READ ALSO: Davido girlfriends: hot ladies who dated the star
Davido's father and mother: the full story
Veronica Imade met the father of Davido, the influential Yoruba billionaire Adedeji Adeleke in the 80s. They instantly fell in love, and later got married in the beautiful ceremony. Together, Veronica and Adedeji had four children: the sons Adewale and Davido, and the daughters Sharon and Ashley. All of Davidos siblings grew up to be hardworking and determined young people, who now work at their fathers company and have their own businesses. Both of Davidos sisters are married.
Veronica's job at Babcock University, where she was a lecturer and her husband was a donor to the university. At the university, people loved and respected her for who she was the intelligent and educated woman who can give young students a lot of knowledge.
She passed away on March 6th, 2003, which was coincidentally the 40th birthday of her husband Adedeji Adeleke. She was only 39 years old, and her death shocked everyone, starting from her family and co-workers.
As Urbanlife stated, she went to the church in the morning for service and when she came back, she locked herself in a room. A few hours later, she was found dead in her apartment.
The funeral of Veronica Adeleke was held soon after her tragic passing, and her band, Davids Band, played there.
READ ALSO: Davido Adeleke family background
Photo: dailytimes.ng
Even though Veronica Adeleke has passed away fifteen years ago, Babcock University workers and graduates still remember her outstanding influence. Her family commemorates her every year by organizing a large ceremony, where they invite their friends and a lot of celebrities.
Davido still remembers his mother very fondly and has only the best memories of her. He often uploads her old photos and shares the most heartfelt moments with her that he remembers. He even named his two baby daughters after her Aurora Imade, whose mother is the fashion lover Sophia Momodu, and Hailey Veronica Adeleke, born from his romantic connection with the American woman Amanda.
READ ALSO: Davido's children: how many kids does he have?
Davido and his daughter Hailey, photo: Madeinkrockcity.com
Now you know what kind of woman Veronica Imade Adeleke was. Davido still talks about her with pleasure and fondness.
You can also read about Davido's parents and learn more about his father Click here
Source: Legit.ng
- Patrick Obahiagbon, a former lawmaker, emerges a senatorial candidate on the platform of the APC in Edo state
- Ehiozuwa Agbonayima, a member of the House of Representatives for Ikpoba-Okha/Egor federal constituency, was returned
- Christopher Okaeben, a lawmaker in the state, was returned unopposed
A former member of the House of Representatives, Patrick Obahiagbon, on Thursday, October 4, emerged the All Progressives Congress (APC) Edo south senatorial candidate at the partys primaries in Benin.
The Nation reports that Ehiozuwa Agbonayima, incumbent House of Representative member representing Ikpoba-Okha/Egor federal constituency was returned as candidate.
READ ALSO: I am heading to court - Defeated APC senatorial aspirant threatens national leadership
The report also said a serving lawmaker, Henry Okhuarobo, was returned unopposed as the APC candidate to represent Ikpoba-Okha constituency in the state House of Assembly.
Furthermore, Christopher Okaeben, incumbent member representing Oredo west, was returned unopposed.
A serving House of Assembly member, Osaigbovo Iyoha, emerged as the candidate for the House of Representative, Oredo federal constituency.
Legit.ng earlier reported that a former managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ima Niboro, emerged the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Udu, Ughelli south and Ughelli north federal constituency in Delta.
A report said Niboro, who defected to the APC in December 2016, clinched the partys ticket at a primary conducted by the Chief Cyril Ogodo-led state working committee at Otu-Jeremi in Ughelli south.
It was also reported that two governorship candidates emerged from parallel primary elections in the Rivers state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Direct primary election was adopted by the faction of the party loyal to Senator Magnus Abe, while the faction loyal to the minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, went for indirect primaries.
Nigeria Latest News: Buhari Reacts To APC Senators Betrayal | Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit Nigeria
- Atiku Abubakar, former vice president, is said to have met with other PDP presidential contestants
- Atiku, Senate president Bukola Saraki and others are contesting for the presidential ticket
- The party primaries have been scheduled to hold from October 5 to October 6
Emerging reports have claimed that the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, is allegedly under intense pressure to forgo his presidential ambition and support Atiku Abubakar, former vice president, to secure the presidential ticket of the PDP.
According to an online medium, Sahara Reporters, a source close to one of the "other strong aspirants" disclosed that Atiku has been meeting with other contestants, like Saraki.
The source said: Atiku has been meeting with other contestants , such as Saraki, with the hope that they would also drop their ambitions, so that it is going to be a game of Atiku and Tambuwal at the convention ground.
READ ALSO: PDP chieftain endorses Tambuwal for PDP presidential candidacy
I dont think it is likely he would accept but I know he is under intense pressure, said the second source, who asked not to be named.
There is pressure on him; there have been meetings, and there have been talks for him to step down for Atiku. The vice president is trying to build consensus; if Saraki steps down for him, it means he has a good chance because Sarakis delegates would definitely be passed on to him.
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I do not know what Saraki will decide, but I can confirm certainly that yes, he is under pressure to stand down for Atiku.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the Atiku presidential campaign organisation assured delegates to the forthcoming convention of the PDP that the former vice president will not let them down if chosen as the presidential candidate of the party.
The assurance was given in a special letter to PDP faithful , written to the party faithful, a copy of which was made available to newsmen on Tuesday, September 25, in Abuja.
The letter was signed by Segun Showunmi, the director of media and publicity of the Atiku presidential campaign organisation. The PDP primaries have been scheduled to hold from October 5 to October 6.
Nigeria Latest News: Atiku Abubakar - Exclusive Comments About The Elections on Legit.ng TV:
Source: Legit
- 5 PDP presidential aspirants have signed peace accord ahead of the party's presidential primary
- The former ruling party is holding its presidential primary on Saturday, October 6
- Former vice president Atiku Abubakar, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and others were absent at the signing of the peace accord
Five presidential aspirants under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Friday, October 5, in Abuja, signed a peace accord as the party heads to its national convention taking place in Port Harcourt, Rivers state from Saturday, October 6.
Nigerian Tribune reports that those who put pen to paper to ensure that they remain faithful to the party irrespective of the outcome of the primary election, are Senate president Bukola Saraki, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Tanimu Turaki, Datti Babba-Ahmed and Sule Lamido.
READ ALSO: Breaking: APC releases names of 24 approved governorship candidates (full list)
Legit.ng gathered that others were absent at the ceremony presided over by the national chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus at Legacy House, Maitama.
Those absent were former vice president Atiku Abubakar, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, former governor Attahiru Bafarawa, former senate president David Mark, former governor Jonah Jang, Stanley Osifo and Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo.
It was not clear why they did not show up at the meeting.
Speaking after the signing, Secondus assured that primary election to select the partys standard bearer would be transparent and the result acceptable to all.
He stressed the need for the aspirants to remain together no matter the outcome of the convention.
The party boss later handed over the signed documents to all the aspirants present.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday, October 5, promised Nigerians and protesting members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the organisation would conduct credible elections in 2019.
The electoral umpire stated this through its social media handles that the 2019 general elections would be credible.
(The) national commissioners, May Agbamuche-Mbu, and Mohammed Haruna, today assured the PDP leaders of INEC's determination to conduct credible general elections in 2019.
Nigeria News Today: Ibrahim Babangida on Saraki's Nigeria Election 2019 Presidency Bid | - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit
- Ex-Delta state governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, on Friday, October 5, met with President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock
- He said that the ruling APC has now become a formidable party in Nigeria
- Uduaghan also noted that his visit to the Villa was to appeal to the president to reopen the Osubi airport in Delta state
Former Delta state governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, on Friday, October 5, said that the crises rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), including irregularities in primary elections, showed that it has become a strong and formidable party.
The Nation reports that he spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Legit.ng gathered that Uduaghan said that the present APC crises are not unusual.
READ ALSO: PDP convention: Atiku, Kwankwaso absent as Saraki, Tambuwal, 3 other aspirants sign peace accord
He noted that the practice is the same with any government in power since majority of aspirants will naturally want to align with a ruling party.
He said: The crisis in the party shows that the APC has become a formidable party. It is only when a party is strong and formidable that everybody will be showing interest in it.
That we have this kind of issues that are going on. But I also know that the leadership is doing a lot to resolve the issues and with time the issues will be settled and everybody will move forward and move the party forward.
It is not unusual, what is happening is not unusual with a party that is growing and has become very strong, he added.
On alleged parallel primaries in Delta, he said it only existed in the imagination of many as nothing of such took place.
He said: There is nothing of such, some people gathered somewhere and said they were doing primaries. If you notice, the person they declared winner has already disowned them.
The purpose of his visit to the Villa, he said, was to appeal to President Buhari to reopen the Osubi Airport.
According to him, the continuous closure of the airport was rubbing off negatively on the state economy.
I also came to appeal to the President about the Osubi airport which is close to Warri, it has been closed for more than one month because of crisis between NAMA and a private firm handling the airport.
I appealed to him to give an order that they open it while the engagement process is going on between NAMA and the private firm and the line that is supposed to be handling the airport because right now most people travelling to Warri have to go through Benin and even Owerri and that is very discomforting.
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For those of us who work in that area and you know that there are a lot of oil companies there and the workers have to travel by road from Benin so thats why I came to appeal to him if they can quickly open it while discussions are going on whatever issues, he stated.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that violence erupted at the Delta north senatorial district primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday, October 3, leading to the death of two persons.
It was reported that there were varying accounts of what transpired; with some sources claiming the victims were killed by police stray bullets at the Federal College of Education, (Technical) where the exercise was being conducted. Others, however, said the victims were killed by political thugs.
APC is the worst party in Nigeria, i regret being a member - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit Newspaper
-Police in South Africa have apprehended suspected killers of a Nigerian, Badmus Olalekan Ibrahim
- Ibrahim was allegedly tortured by his killer in Vanderbijlpark, near Johannesburg in 2017
- Eight policemen were arrested in connection with the murder of the Nigerian
The Nigerian Union in South Africa and families of Nigerians killed in that country may soon get justice as the South African Police have arrested eight policemen in connection with the alleged brutal murder of a Nigerian in that country.
Adetola Olubajo, president of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, confirmed the arrest of the policemen to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the telephone from Pretoria on Friday, October 5.
Legit.ng gathers that according to him, 25-year-old Badmus Olalekan Ibrahim was allegedly tortured to death by his killers in Vanderbijlpark near, Johannesburg in 2017.
READ ALSO: Buhari's nomination will be ratified by 7,000 delegates - APC
He said: Badmus Ibrahim, a native of Ibadan in Oyo state was tortured and brutally murdered on October 10, 2017, by police officers. The officers were arrested today (October 5) in Vereeniging outside Johannesburg. They will be arraigned in Vanderbijlpark Magistrate Court on Monday (October 8) for murder and torture."
Olubajo said the police officers were indicted for murder and torture by the South Africas Independent Police Investigating Directorate (IPID) on September 27, 2018.
He said the union had since the incident occurred followed up the matter with IPID to ensure justice was served to Ibrahims killers.
He commended IPID for its intervention and cooperation with the union in ensuring the culprits were arrested and charged.
Olubajo added: This is a welcome development as the community and the family of Ibrahim Badmus will hopefully get justice on the murder of their son.
We call on South African authorities to investigate all murder cases involving our nationals irrespective of who is suspected to be the killer."
Olubajo said the eight police officers were currently held in Biopatong Holding Cell, Gauteng Province in the former apartheid enclave.
According to unofficial sources, up to 800,000 Nigerians mostly young people reside in South Africa.
Records show that no fewer than 120 Nigerians have been killed in South Africa since February, 2016.
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Legit.ng previously reported that the Nigerian mission in South Africa confirmed the killing of a 25-year-old Nigerian, Ibrahim Olalekan Badmus, a native of Lagos state.
The killing occurred less than a week after Jelili Omoyele, a 35 year-old cellular phone technician was shot dead at Doornfontein, near Johannesburg.
Nigerians protest against Xenophobia - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit
- Some group of observers have visited the northeast region to access effort of the Nigerian Army in curbing terrorists' activities
- The observers from all works of life said the Army has made the northeast impenetrable for Boko Haram Terrorists to seize any of its territory again
- According to the observers, the observation was made during a 10-days tour in the region
A team of international observers made up of journalists, CSOs, NGOs and social media influencers have commended the Nigerian Army for making the northeast impenetrable for Boko Haram Terrorists to seize any of its territory again.
The team at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, October 5, said a fact finding mission report on the activities of Boko Haram in Gundunbali, Damask and Garshigar of Borno state showed that terrorists cannot take any territory in the region again.
The leader of the team, Daniel Furnard, said the group decided to embark on a 10-day tour of the areas following the avalanche of conflicting reports emanating from the northeast.
He said the team leaders who had worked with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for over 20 years said the tour has put to end speculations about developments in the area.
READ ALSO: LIVE UPDATES: Atiku, Saraki, Kwankanso, Tambuwal others in battle for PDP presidential ticket as party holds national convention in Port Harcourt
Furnard said: "A team of international journalists including, Francois Deburo, local journalists, humanitarian workers and a coalition of civil society organisations undertook a tour of some communities in Borno state in a bid to form an independent assessment of the operations of the Nigeria military, the current state of the war against insurgency and conflicting reports in the media."
He noted that the team is also made up of various organisations like Victims and Disaster Management Initiative (VDMI), Peace Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Initiative (PRRI), Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency as well as participants drawn from various media houses in Nigeria, as well as selected social media influencers in the country.
"It suffices to state that the overarching objective of the tour was to put paid to speculations about Boko Haram occupying territories in some communities in North East Nigeria after some attempts by the terrorists to invade Nigerian communities under the control of the Nigerian Army.
"Consequently, the team decided that there would be no military escort for the duration of the project," Furnard said.
READ ALSO: Policeman, soldier, 2 others killed as suspected herdsmen attack Plateau again
He said the team was on the ground for one week beginning from 25th September to October 4th, 2018.
"In the course of the trip, the members of the group were divided into clusters and each with a local tour guide that assisted with language barrier challenge. Each cluster visited communities and observed their daily activities whilst all the activities were videoed and pictures collected .
"The team discovered that there is no territory under the control of Boko Haram terrorists anywhere within the geographical entity called Nigeria. Using the case of Garshigar as an example, the town enjoys relative peace," he said.
He also said that the team interacted with soldiers from Nigeria Armys 145 battalions on the ground who gave insights into their operations in these communities.
"In the case of Garshigar, it was gathered that Boko Haram terrorists have made several attempts to gain entry into the town, but were repelled by the Nigeria Army.
One of the commanders of the 145 Battalion also hinted that some years back, Garshigar used to serve as one of the training bases of the Boko Haram terrorists until the Nigeria Army dislodged them, hence the repeated attempt to attack the community, but the Nigeria Army has always repelled them.
READ ALSO: PDP delegates besiege Bureau de change in Port Harcourt ahead of party's convention
"Damasak is bustling with economic activities, so much so that people from neighbouring communities of Dogomolu, Douro, and Chemba frequent Damasak to trade. There was also a strong military presence in the town at strategic places. Upon interacting with the indigenes, they heaped praises on the efforts of soldiers in the military base stationed in Damasak.
"The team also observed a high return rate of people that were once displaced by Boko Haram terrorist in times past. Also, there are lots of construction works ongoing in homes and schools. There was also a high presence of humanitarian workers providing health services in the rebuilt general hospital.
In Gudumbali, the story is also the same as that of Garshigar, where Boko Haram terrorists have made several attempts to gain entry into the town. It was discovered that two weeks earlier, (September 8) there was an attempt by the Boko Haram terrorist to attack the town, but they met stiff resistance from the Nigeria Army. Scores of indigenes were seen going about their regular business.
There was also a heightened security presence in the community which is as a result of the constant attempts by dissident Boko Haram terrorist to launch an attack in the town," he concluded.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a survey has shown that the population of out of school children in Nigeria has risen from 10.5 million to 13.2 million, the Universal Basic Education (UBEC) has said.
UBEC said although the National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) conducted by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Nigerian government in 2015 shows the 10.5 million Nigerian children are out of school, the new survey which is yet to be made official shows that an increase of 2.7 million.
Survivors of Boko Haram on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit
- Four persons have been killed in an attack on Plateau by suspected herdsmen
- The attackers also reportedly burnt down 35 houses during the onslaught
- The attack came just 24 hours after the killing of 19 persons in the same LGA
About four persons including a soldier and a policeman have been feared dead after suspected herdsmen attack Nkiendoro village in Bassa local government area of Plateau state around midnight on Thursday, October 4.
The killing came barely a day after the killings of 19 persons in Ariri community in the same LGA.
READ ALSO: Breaking: Police accuse Saraki, Melaye, Murray-Bruce of violently attacking officers
The Punch reports that during the Thursday night attack, a Catholic Church and Evangelical Church, Winning All, along with about 33 other houses in Nkiendoro village were burnt.
Legit.ng earlier reported that President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed concern over the spate of violent attack in Plateau state.
In a statement by Garba Shehu, who is the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, he said Buhari noted that his administration has worked hard to achieve peace.
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The president lamented that some politicians were promoting ethnic violence and called for peace in the region.
Meanwhile, following civil unrest in parts of Jos north and Jos south local government areas of Plateau, the state government, on Friday, September 28, imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the two areas.
Nigeria Latest News: IDPs in Plateau - The Herdsmen Have Taken Over Our Villages | Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit
- Governor Abdul'Aziz has called on his supporters to protest against the national leaders's decision to cancel the governorship primaries in Zamfara
- He ordered his supporters to storm the state police headquarters for a peaceful protest
Governor Abdulaziz of Zamfara, on Friday called out his supporters for a peaceful protest over the decision of the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to cancel the partys governorship primaries held on Wednesday.
I am calling on all our members to come out and storm the state Police Headquarters tomorrow (Saturday) by 10 am for peaceful protest.
We will continue with this decision until the national leadership of our party do what is right on this matter, he said at a press conference in Gusau.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor is having running battle with eight governorship aspirants in the state over the conduct of direct primaries.
READ ALSO: Suspected herdsmen kill four, burn 35 houses in fresh attack on Plateau
The governorship primaries held on Wednesday was cancelled by the partys national secretariat and a fresh one is expected to hold on Saturday.
According to Abu Fari, chairman of the election panel, the cancellation was due to harassment and intimidation of voters and snatching of election materials by thugs sponsored by politicians.
Yari however dismissed the claim by the committee as false and warned its members not to step into Zamfara again.
Our issue is with the National Secretariat of APC where Adams Oshiomhole continue be a dictator to party members, he acts as a mini god.
You know, there is ongoing issue regarding the APC governorship primaries in the state, where the national headquarters sent a committee to conduct the election.
It was very unfortunate that the committee canceled the election on Wednesday.
We heard that the National Working Committee had dissolved the APC executive in the state and also send the same committee to Zamfara to repeat the exercise.
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I want to call on the national headquarters of the party that we will not accept the decision and we are not satisfied with the committee, we dont have confidence in that committee.
I am warning members of that committee that they should never come to Zamfara, they should never put their legs in this state, and anything that happens to them, Adams Oshiomhole should be held responsible.
We will continue with this decision until the national leadership of the party are ready to do justice, he stressed.
The governor dismissed insinuations that he had dumped the APC, saying nothing will make him leave the party.
I remain in APC and I will never leave the party. No amount of pressure will make me to leave the APC.
The governor added: I was among the founders of this party, I was in Lagos, Nasarawa states for meetings before we gave birth to the APC, therefore no amount of pressure will make me to leave the party.
You know, changing political party is not my tradition, therefore I will not change the party and the rumour going round is not true, I am not under any pressure to leave the party.
NAN reports that Yaris travails began when he anointed his commissioner of finance as the sole candidate of APC in the state, a decision challenged by eight aspirants including his deputy, Ibrahim Wakala.
The aspirants locally known as the G8, are a former governor of the state Aliyu Shinkafi, a serving Senator, Kabiru Marafa, and Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali.
Others include, Aminu Sani Jaji, Alhaji Dauda Lawal, Alhaji Abu Mahaji and Sagir Hamidu.
Legit.ng earlier reported that four state governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were reportedly set to fight the party's national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
The state governors - Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara; Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo; Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun, have accused the national leadership of the party of imposition of candidates.
Lagos Governor: Is Sanwo-Olu a Better Candidate Than Ambode?| Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
The ads posted on the Carousell website sparked controversy and outrage in Indonesia. Singapores Labour Ministry slapped 243 charges on company and employee responsible for posts. The city-state has about 250,000 maids, mostly from Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar.
Singapore (AsiaNews/Agencies) Singapore has charged an employment agency for posting ads offering Indonesian helpers for sale on an e-commerce site, Singapores Labour Ministry said.
Singapore is home to around 250,000 maids, mostly from poor parts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar who come to city-state seeking salaries that higher than what they can find at home.
Conditions for Indonesian maids in tightly regulated Singapore are generally regarded as better than in other places, such as Malaysia or parts of the Middle East; however, the ads that appeared on online marketplace Carousell sparked a rare flare-up of tensions.
Posted under the username maid.recruitment, the ads offered the services of several helpers from Indonesia, with some ads indicating maids had already been sold. This triggered anger in Indonesia and were later removed from the site.
Singapores Labour Ministry said on Thursday it had slapped a total of 243 charges on SRC International Recruitment and the employee responsible for the posts. The job agencys licence was suspended last month.
Kevin Teoh, commissioner for employment agencies at the Ministry, earlier said that advertising foreign maids on an internet platform meant for trading goods was completely inappropriate and unacceptable.
Manpower minister Josephine Teo said she was deeply disturbed by the adverts, urging Singaporeans to treat maids with respect.
- A Nigerian has allegedly been murdered by her boyfriend
- The lady who is a model based in Ondo state
- It was gathered that the man has been arrested
Oluwaseun Fiona Ajila, a young lady who was working as a model, has reportedly died in Ondo state. The young lady who is a resident of Ijoka area of Akure, was allegedly murdered by her boyfriend.
After the tragic incident occurred, a campaign #JusticeForAjilaSeun to seek justice for the deceased began on Twitter. Many of the deceased's friends began calling for justice for her.
It was reported that Fionna had graduated from Adeyemi College of Education in Ondo state. She also began a small business to make a living while modelling on the side.
READ ALSO: Nigerian lady gets in trouble for sharing assault video on social media
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According to The Punch, the deceased's boyfriend was arrested by the police. It was gathered that the mother of the deceased lady had discovered her daughter's body on the floor of their home on Thursday, October 4.
The mother returned from work in the evening and met her daughters lifeless body on the floor in a pool of blood. She immediately called the attention of the neighbours to it.
There were many wounds on her body which indicated that someone must have fought with her inside the room and stabbed her to death.
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Femi Joseph, police public relations officer, revealed that the lady's mother noted that she suspects her daughter's boyfriend of the crime.
The lady's mother Yemisi Ajayi had claimed that her daughter had a misunderstanding with her boyfriend, Ebenezer Adedimola.
The woman said she suspected her deceased daughters boyfriend because he had a misunderstanding with her (the model) recently and in the morning of that day, he called her (Ajayi) on the telephone several times to know her whereabouts.
The mother said the boyfriend probably wanted to know whether she (Ajayi) was not at home in order to go and carry out the dastardly act. However, we have commenced investigation into the incident and the perpetrator will be brought to book.
At what point should a person walk out of an abusive relationship? on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit
- President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his heart is with Nigerias Teachers over the issue of unpaid salaries
- The president assured teachers that unpaid salaries would soon become an issue of the past
- President Buhari in a statement expressed his appreciation to all Nigerias teachers
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerias Teachers that his heart is with them over the issue of unpaid salaries, assuring that unpaid salaries would soon become an issue of the past.
The presidents senior special assistant on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement in Abuja on Friday, October 5, said Buhari gave the assurance in a message to this years World Teachers Day.
The president disclosed that he was aware that in some states and local councils of the federation, teachers were being owed salaries of several months.
READ ALSO: Suspected herdsmen kill four, burn 35 houses in fresh attack on Plateau
He revealed that it was specifically to mitigate the situation of unpaid teachers and pensioners that his administration doled out billions of naira as bailout funds to various states.
Sadly, the issue of unpaid salaries remains, he lamented.
Buhari, however, assured that the Federal Government would continue to work with the state governments to ensure that all salary arrears are not just cleared, but that unpaid salaries become an issue of the past.
The president used the opportunity of this years World Teachers Day to express his appreciation to all Nigerias teachers, the usually unsung heroes of our country whose skill and commitment daily mould the minds of our countrys youth, our leaders of today and tomorrow.
While highlighting some of the measures put in place by his administration to improve education and better the welfare of teachers, Buhari regretted as grave and unfortunate that the countrys teachers were often treated unfairly despite their essential services.
According to him, Teachers are the most important segment of workers in the country, invaluable for the essential work they do towards building the countrys future.
He said: Teaching is a noble profession, wielding a strong influence by inspiring and educating our children. The values they inculcate stay with them for a lifetime.
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Legit.ng previously reported that the Lagos state government said it is not obliged to retain teachers posted to the state under the ongoing N-Power programme of the presidency.
Obafela Bank-Olemoh, special adviser to state governor on education, made the declaration in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, July 24, in Lagos.
Bank-Olemoh said: We have made it clear from the very beginning that in the N-Power programme, we are not obliged to employ anybody.
Who should get higher salary - doctors or teachers? on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit
- A farmer has picked the APC ticket to contest House of Assembly seat in Jigawa after defeating an incumbent legislator
- The farmer, Alhaji Sani Zaburan, beat the legislator representing Kaugama state constituency, Usman Masaki
- Alhaji Zaburan polled 298 votes while Alhaji Masaki polled 0 vote, at the primary
Alhaji Sani Zaburan, a small scale farmer, on Saturday picked the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket to contest the Kaugama state constituency election in 2019 after beating the incumbent legislator, Alhaji Usman Masaki.
Zaburan, a sesame farmer in the area, was chairman of Kaugama local government area in 2002. The electoral committees chairman, Alhaji Auwalu Kiri, announced this in Kaugama, Jigawa, on Saturday, October 6, NAN reports.
Legit.ng gathers he said Zaburan scored 298 votes to defeat the incumbent legislator, Alhaji Masaki, who polled 0 vote.
READ ALSO: El-Rufai curses PDP for linking him with serious allegation against Oshiomhole
Kiri said out of the 342 voters in the constituency, 302 were accredited and the total votes cast stood at 302. The chairman said 298 votes were valid adding that four votes were invalid in the election.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Sadiq Jallo was elected as the APCs candidate to contest from the Hadejia state constituency in 2019.
The electoral committees chairman, Musbahu NaAllah, said while announcing this in Hadejia on Saturday, October 6, that that the winner got 195 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Alhaji Ismaila Dawaki, who scored 48 votes in the election.
NaAllah said Alhaji Ahmed Hassan scored 27 votes while Alhaji Abdullahi Yerima and Alhaji Hamza Mohammed scored 24 and eight votes respectively.
The chairman said a total of 327 votes were cast in the election out of which 25 were invalid.
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In an earlier report by Legit.ng, the Jigawa deputy governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan, was elected as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Jigawa Northeast senatorial district in the 2019 general elections.
The chairman of the electoral committee, Alhaji Bello Ibrahim, announced the results in Hadejia on Thursday, October 3.
He said that Hassan scored 1,863 votes to defeat his close opponent, Alhaji Ahmad Garba, who polled 142 votes, while Hussaini Mohammed scored 44 votes.
Let's talk about salaries of Nigerian senators - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit Newspaper
- A trader identified as Helen Akula, is seeking for justice after she was assaulted by a Nigerian soldier in Abuja
- Akula was said to have been assaulted after asking the soldier to help her pick a bottle of drink under his chair
- The soldier, Anayo Aloysius, was said to have admitted to assaulting the trader, but claimed it was a mistake
A soldier Anayo Aloysius, attached to Mogadishu Barracks in Abuja, has assaulted a trader identified as Helen Akula, at the Nyanya Market in the Federal Capital Territory.
Punch reports that Aloysius admitted to assaulting Akula, claiming that he mistakenly punched the trader when he wanted to hit his friend.
Legit.ng gathers that Akula refuted the soldier's defence. According to the 20-year-old victim, Aloysius descended on her after she asked him to help her pick an empty bottle under a chair he sat on at a bar in the market.
Helen Akula. Photo credit: Punch.
Source: Depositphotos
READ ALSO: 2019: Farmer defeats Jigawa legislator, picks APC ticket
She said: I sell soft drinks at a shop in Nyanya market. The soldier comes to the market regularly. He stopped by at my shop that day. In the evening when I was about to close, I went to a shop where I sold drink to somebody to pick the bottle and collect my money.
I met the soldier at the shop. He sat on a plastic chair and the bottle I wanted to pick was under the chair. The person that bought the drink from me sat next to him. I demanded my money from the customer and asked the soldier to please help me pick the bottle under the chair. I felt courtesy demands that I shouldnt just invade his space to pick the bottle.
He started insulting me, calling me a harlot and all sorts of names. I even thought he was joking with me as usual; so I was laughing. When the insult was getting too much, I told him to stop. He stood up, picked the bottle and tried to break it. Somebody then jokingly told him that he wanted to break the bottle which he did not want to pick.
We were just joking about it. I had even diverted my attention from him. Before I knew it, he descended on me and punched me in the eye. I started bleeding and left the place. I noticed he was drunk.
According to Akula, the soldier later admitted that he was drunk and blamed people at the scene for not cautioning him.
Akula added: I want justice. He must be brought to book. The case must not be swept under the carpet by the army. I did nothing wrong to deserve the assault.
Recalling the event of that day, Aloysius said: We were drinking and she (Akula) was the one serving the drink. As a friend and I were arguing, she asked me to help her pick the bottle. While she bent to pick the bottle herself, the blow I aimed at my friend mistakenly hit her.
I begged her and tried to explain to her that it was not intentional. I also begged her parents. Her father said he had already reported me to the army authorities. People have been calling and abusing me. I have been begging her. I am very sorry for what happened.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that soldiers and policemen attached to the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) clashed with officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) after a fight broke out when efforts were made to serve the FRSC office in Wuze Zone 7 a violation notice.
The confrontation ensued when policemen and soldiers with the AEBP officials allegedly assaulted a female FRSC marshal during the service of the violation notice.
Police parade over 50 suspected cultists in Lagos - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit
- Ohanaeze Ndigbo youths (worldwide) says it has decided to vote only for candidates who will restructure Nigeria
- The Ohanaeze Ndigbo youths wants Nigerians to disregard comments from youths in the zone supporting the PDP because of the position of vice president
- The group says it has not endorsed any political party ahead of the 2019 election
The national executive committee of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo youths (worldwide) led by Kingsley Dozie says the members would only vote for candidates who would restructure and introduce policies that would improve lives of Nigerians.
This decision also affects the candidates of the various parties for the presidential election.
The groups national publicity secretary, Osmond Nkeoma, deputy national publicity secretary, Okey Nwachukwu and the deputy national legal adviser, Emeka Odom, said this in a statement in Owerri on Saturday, October 6.
READ ALSO: Live updates of PDP national convention holding in Port Harcourt
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the group, however, said that it was not a political party, but would not endorse any political party or candidate whose mandate would not be restructuring the country.
It said that the apex Igbo cultural group would only seek for and vote government that had policies and programmes that would better not only the lives of Nigerians, but the Ndigbo in particular.
The group called on the public to disregard the vituperations from fictitious Ohanaeze youths backing the PDP and demanding for the position of vice president from the south east in the 2019 general elections.
It alleged that the said youths were using the name of Ohanaeze youths for dubious endorsements ahead of the 2019 general elections.
We did not have any meeting where we discussed on who should be given ticket or not.
We ask the public to be weary of rumour mongers and dubious elements whose work is to use the name of Ohanaeze Ndigbo youths to dupe, disorientate and endorse unsuspecting Nigerians.
No meeting was held to discuss on the party vice presidential slot. These elements who parade themselves hide under the media to propagate lies against Igbo youths.
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Ohanaeze Ndigbo youths will only vote a candidate who will guarantee Igbos welfare and restructure Nigeria and on the basis of personal conviction.
We never sat to endorse any particular political party nor demanded for the position of vice president for any candidate, it said while calling on the public to ignore the position of any other group parading itself as Ohanaeze ndigbo youth group.
Legit.ng earlier reported that the Yoruba Self-Determination Advancement Forum (YOSEDAF) has said that it would work for any presidential candidate who wants to restructure Nigeria during 2019 general elections.
Why President Buhari May Not Defeat PDP In 2019- Agbor Residents Speak| Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit
- The Nigerian Army says it is aware of reports that residents of Dura community are fleeing their homes over a missing retired officer
- The Army pleads with the residents to stay back in their homes and continue with their activities
- It releases phone number for the public to report any information about the missing military officer
The Nigerian Army, on Saturday, October 6, appealed to the residents of Dura - Du district and its environs in the Jos South local government area of Plateau state not to flee their homes over a missing retired officer.
The headquarters of the 3 division of the Nigerian Army said it is aware of reports that the residents had fled and abandoned their homes and business premises to avoid being clamped down by the troops involved in the search and rescue operation for the missing retired senior officer.
READ ALSO: Live updates of PDP national convention holding in Port Harcourt
Please be informed that Nigerian Army is a professional organisation that conducts its operations with international best practices and respect for fundamental human rights.
The troops involved in the search and rescue operation only apprehended those who have information about the missing retired senior officer based on credible intelligence.
Consequently, the good and peace loving people of Jos South local government area of Plateau state and most especially Dura -Du district are enjoined not to desert their homes and business premises and urged to go about their legitimate businesses.
This will prevent hoodlums from breaking into the abandoned homes and business premises.
Anyone with credible information about the whereabouts of the missing retired senior officer should please contact this headquarters on GSM number 09074028881.
Handsome reward awaits a credible informant and the source of information shall be protected.
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Finally, this division also wishes to emphasize its adherence and respect of human rights in the discharge of its constitutional roles.
It further calls on everyone within its area of responsibility to remain vigilant and report any suspected breach of the peace to security agencies, a statement by Colonel Kayode Ogunsanya, the deputy director of Army public relations, said.
Legit.ng earlier reported that President Muhammadu Buhari, said on Saturday, October 6, that the federal government remained committed to getting back all Nigerians abducted by terrorists.
Election 2019: President Buhari Proves He is Fit to Run in 2019 | Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit Nigeria
Yves here. Unfortunately, the scientists warning that will come from next weeks IPCC looks like too little, too late, despite the desperately urgent message. I remember how the Club of Romes Limits to Growth warnings were pooh-poohed. And what government has the will to undertake the needed mobilization, which would need to include reducing offshored carbon production, via buying goods from countries that pollute on behalf of the West.
By Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist and staff writer for Grist, covering climate science, policy, and solutions. He has previously written for the Wall Street Journal, Slate, and a variety of other publications. Originally published at Grist
This week, scientists and representatives from every country on Earth are gathering in South Korea to put the finishing touches on a report that, if followed, would change the course of history.
The report is a roadmap for possible ways to keep climate change to 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. Anything beyond that amount of warming, and the planet starts to really go haywire. So the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change a U.N.-sponsored, Nobel Peace Prize-winning assemblage of scientists wants to show how we can avoid that. To be clear, hitting that goal would require a radical rethink in almost every aspect of society. But the report finds that not meeting the goal would upend life as we know it, too.
This will be one of the most important meetings in the IPCCs history, said Hoesung Lee, the groups chair, in his opening address on Monday.
The report will be released on October 8. From leaked drafts, we know the basics of scientists findings: World greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2020 just 15 months from now. The scientists also show the difference in impacts between 1.5 and 2 degrees would not be minor it could be make-or-break for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, for example, which would flood every coastal city on Earth should it collapse.
The decisions we make now about whether we let 1.5 or 2 degrees or more happen will change the world enormously, said Heleen de Coninck, a Dutch climate scientist and one of the reports lead authors, in an interview with the BBC. The lives of people will never be the same again either way, but we can influence which future we end up with.
The report has been in the works since the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Three years ago, during the climate talks, leaders of a few dozen small island nations and other highly vulnerable nations, like Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Vietnam, demanded the bolder 1.5 degrees C temperature target be included in the first-ever global climate pact. The group represents 1 billion people, and for some of the involved countries, like the Marshall Islands, their entire existence is at stake.
At the time, the lead negotiator from that tiny Pacific island nation used the wordgenocide to describe the inevitable process of forced abandonment of his country due to sea-level rise, should global temperature breach the 1.5 degree target.
Even taking into account the policies and pledges enacted globally since the Paris Agreement, the world is on course to warm between 2.6 to 3.2 degrees C by the end of the century, according to independent analysis by Climate Action Tracker.
According to a U.N. preview of the report, meeting the 1.5 goal would require very fast changes in electricity production, transport, construction, agriculture and industry worldwide, in a globally coordinated effort to bring about a zero-carbon economy as quickly as possible. It would also very likely require eventually removing huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using technology that is not currently available at the scale that would be necessary. And theres no time to waste: The longer CO2 is emitted at todays rate, the faster this decarbonization will need to be.
The world has already warmed by about 1.1 degrees C, and the implications of that are increasingly obvious. In just the three years since the Paris Agreement was signed, weve seen thousand-year rainstorms by the dozens, the most destructive hurricane season in U.S. history, disastrous fires on almost every continent, and an unprecedented coral bleaching episode that affected 70 percent of the worlds reefs.
In this age of rapid warming, the IPCC report is inherently political there are obvious winners and losers if the world fails to meet the 1.5-degree goal. If the worlds governments are to take the implications of IPCCs findings seriously, it would be nothing less than revolutionary a radical restructuring of human society on our planet.
Right now, scientists are trying to find the precise words to describe an impending catastrophe and the utterly heroic efforts it would take to avert it.
Were talking about the kind of crisis that forces us to rethink everything weve known so far on how to build a secure future, Greenpeaces Kaisa Kosonen told AFP in response to a draft of the report. We have to try to make the impossible possible.
Tourism Minister Brendan Griffin joined Irish tourism enterprises including Dundrum House Hotel in London this week, for Flavours of Ireland 2018.
Flavours is Tourism Irelands annual B2B tourism workshop, where tourism companies from Ireland meet and do business with around 100 top UK inbound tour operators.
Now in its 16th year, Flavours of Ireland aims to grow our share of the huge worldwide travel market. Attended by UK inbound tour operators who bring business to Ireland and the UK from all over the world (including the US, Mainland Europe, Asa, Australasia and Africa), this event was an excellent opportunity for the participating Irish tourism operators to highlight and sell their product to these important decision-makers and to encourage them to feature the island of Ireland in their 2019 holiday and tour programmes.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: Tourism Ireland is delighted that so many Irish tourism organisations and so many of the leading UK inbound tour operators took the time to join us at our Flavours event again this year. We very much welcome the business and networking opportunities it presented.
Our aim is to increase awareness of Co Tipperary and Irelands Ancient East among these hugely influential tour operators and to help Ireland and our tourism partners secure a greater share of the huge worldwide tourism market.
Niall Gibbons continued: Figures published by the CSO last week confirm that we welcomed over 7.2 million overseas visitors during the January to August period. This represents growth of almost +8% or 520,600 additional visitors on the same eight-month period in 2017. Tourism Ireland has a really extensive autumn campaign in full swing aimed at boosting late-season travel to the island of Ireland from around the globe.
Rockwell College is celebrating the success of their top student Jake Flannery.
Jake is the Tipperary recipient of the Naughton Foundation award which grants top STEM students 5,000 per annum for 4 years towards their STEM university studies.
One only is selected from each county and recipients must meet criteria and performance targets for the duration of their studies.
Jake was selected from thousands of applicants across the county.
The awards ceremony took place of Saturday, September 29th in Trinity College Dublin. Here, Jake accepted his award in a ceremony attended by the Minister for Education & Skills Richard Bruton. The founders of the scholarship programme, Carmel and Martin Naughton, presented the award.
In addition to the award, the school attended by the recipient received 1000 toward their Science faculty equipment.
Jakes success comes as a result of achieving six H1 grades including the STEM subjects Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Applied Maths.
A very successful Rugby player, Jake will continue his passion for Rugby at College. He has chosen to pursue Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at UL.
Staff at Rockwell College congratulated Jake on this remarkable achievement and Chemistry teacher Ms. Helen Murray travelled to attend the ceremony on behalf of the College.
The Christian mother has been in Multan prison for nine years. According to her husband, she is ready and willing to die for Christ. She will never convert to Islam." Groups of fanatics who do not want the abolition of the blasphemy law are holding the country at a standstill.
Multan (AsiaNews) Asia Bibis last hope lies with Pakistans Supreme Court. The Christian mother of five has been languishing in solitary confinement in Multan prison (Punjab) for the past nine year after a court sentenced her to death for blasphemy. Next Monday, the Supreme Court is set to hear her final appeal.
Members of Bibis family took part at in an event on Thursday organised by Aid to the Church in Need at The University of Lancaster, Lancaster (UK).
After questions from the president of the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA), Bibis husband Ashiq Masih said, She is psychologically, physically and spiritually strong. Having a very strong faith, she is ready and willing to die for Christ. She will never convert to Islam."
In Pakistan, the story of the Christian woman is a very sensitive issue. Asia Bibi was arrested in June 2009 after some farm workers accused her of showing contempt to the Prophet Muhammad. In fact, her only fault was drawing water to drink from the same container used by Muslim women.
After her trial, she was sentenced to death by hanging in November 2010. Since then, she has been in solitary confinement in Multan prison and is allowed one hour of open-air time, three times a month.
Since her incarceration she has been ill several times. Her jailers, who have come to know her, say that she has not been able to receive adequate medical treatment.
BPCA president Wilson Chowdhry said that she is now rarely visited by her family, which may be due to heightened security risk or inability to cope with the depression or dementia-like symptoms she is suffering, which goes against public statements of Asia Bibi's health and assertions that she is being treated well.
For Chowdhry, there is hope that her release will result in serious counselling and health care that she most definitely needs.
Since it started, the story of the Christian mother has polarised Pakistani society and led to more violent episodes, not only against Christians, but also towards Muslims who express support for her.
The best known case is that of Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab, who was murdered in 2011 by his bodyguard because he had criticised the countrys blasphemy law and had offered to ask the president of Pakistan to grant Bibi a pardon.
Over the years, her appeal was postponed several times for security reasons and because one of the magistrates had pulled out of the case.
Next Monday, Bibis case will go before a three-member panel of the Supreme Court, chaired by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar with Justices Asif Saeed Khosa and Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel.
Card Joseph Coutts, who recently spoke to AsiaNews, noted that the country is at stalemate. "The government, he said, is not strong enough to change the blasphemy law.
In fact, Every attempt to change it must necessarily go through the Parliament, and clash with extremist groups that use violence and terrorism to push their agenda in favour of a fanatical and narrowminded Islam, politicising society against anyone who expresses different opinions."
Action film "Bullitt" will celebrate its 50th anniversary throughout the Bay Area this weekend with several screenings.
On Sunday and Tuesday, movie goers can travel back to 1968 to relive the experience of San Francisco Police Department Lt. Frank Bullitt.
The movie stars Steve McQueen who plays Bullitt, a detective who is assigned to protect a star witness in an investigation.
Screenings will include bonus scenes from the Ford Motor Company which will highlight the making of McQueens 1968 Mustang Fastback along with memories from the McQueen family.
Participating locations include San Jose's AMC at Eastridge Mall, AMC Bay Street in Emeryville and San Francisco's Century 9.
Showings will be at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at select theatres.
The national spotlight is glaring on California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her November re-election bid as she takes a leading role in the fight over Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination.
Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have condemned the Democratic senator's handling of sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, alleging she kept them secret until just before the vote for political gain. Likewise, her Democratic challenger, state Sen. Kevin de Leon, initially said Feinstein waited too long to act.
A senator up for re-election in today's tense political climate would appear vulnerable to such stinging criticism. But Feinstein, 85, is well-known to Californians, who have sent her to Washington five times, and hitting her carries risks for both sides.
De Leon has angered some Democrats by siding with Republicans and any criticism he lobs invites scrutiny of his time leading California's state Senate when a #MeToo reckoning hit the capital. Republicans, meanwhile, would be stuck with the more liberal de Leon if she loses.
"Do you want to alienate one of the few Democratic colleagues left who can actually talk to Republicans?" said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a public policy professor at the University of Southern California.
Feinstein has defended her handling of the letter, saying she was respecting Christine Blasey Ford's requests for confidentiality. She denied Republican charges her office leaked Ford's letter accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault to the press. Kavanaugh denies her allegation.
"At no point did I or anyone on my staff divulge Dr. Blasey Ford's name to press. She knows that and believes it, for which I'm grateful," Feinstein said Monday. "I find it interesting that the same critics who last week condemned me for not releasing Dr. Blasey Ford's letter against her wishes are now suggesting I did leak the letter."
De Leon has shied away from criticizing Feinstein's handling of the situation after initially saying she showed a "failure of leadership" by waiting to share Ford's letter.
He's argued Feinstein wasn't aggressive enough in her early questioning of Kavanaugh, particularly given her knowledge of Ford's allegations. De Leon praised California's other senator, Kamala Harris, and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who sought to delay Kavanaugh's first hearing.
"You saw junior senators really carry the torch and move forward in a very assertive way that was expected of the senior member," de Leon said.
He also hit Feinstein for her 2006 Senate Judiciary vote to advance Kavanaugh's nomination to the appellate court, though she did not support him on the Senate floor. Her actions "opened the door" to place Kavanaugh on "the farm team for the U.S. Supreme Court," de Leon said.
De Leon has faced his own accusations that he was slow to act against perpetrators of sexual misconduct in the state capital. De Leon led the Senate last fall when more than 100 women signed a letter calling out a pervasive culture of sexual harassment.
De Leon has forcefully pushed back, noting he introduced a resolution to expel a senator accused of misconduct who was his former roommate and that he hired outside investigators to handle misconduct claims.
Feinstein faces a fellow Democrat in the Nov. 6 election because of California's unique primary system that sends the two candidates who receive the most votes to the general election regardless of party.
Feinstein leads in every public opinion poll and has far more money than de Leon. She was first elected to the Senate in 1992's 'Year of the Woman,' inspired in part by anger at the Senate's treatment of allegations of sexual harassment against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.
De Leon, 51, won the California Democratic Party's endorsement in July, reflecting his appeal among executive board activists. He authored California's "sanctuary state" law that survived a court challenge from the Trump administration and Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed his bill setting a goal to get 100 percent of the state's electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045.
He alleges Feinstein's stance on immigration helped paved the way for Trump's policies of family separation and focus on building a border wall. In an online campaign ad, he recounts his life as the son of a Guatemalan mother who immigrated to the United States illegally.
The ad includes two short clips from 1993 and 1994 showing Feinstein speaking negatively about people who entered the United States illegally.
"We deserve better leadership there's too much at risk," de Leon says.
Feinstein and her defenders point to her long record advocating for immigration reform and her support for a permanent fix for "dreamers," the nickname given to young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. She opposed a 1994 California ballot measure that cut off many public services for people living in the country illegally.
Feinstein has largely avoided engaging with de Leon, instead focusing on her tenure fighting for an assault weapons ban, protecting California's environment and defending access to health care. Feinstein said in an ad ahead of the primary that she supports creating a public health option. De Leon specifically supports a single-payer health care system.
Voters may not have a chance to see the two side by side ahead of the election.
Feinstein's team has pledged she'll debate de Leon, but nothing has been scheduled. Her campaign manager, Jeff Millman, said she's busy with her duties in Washington.
What to Know The Manchester is a Littoral Combat Ship, made to do battle near shore
The new ship's mission is to protect the bigger ships in the fleet from mines and terrorists
Called the "smartphone of ships," it can take on new modules to expand its capabilities
Docked next to San Francisco's colorful and festive Pier 39, there's nothing colorful about the gray, angular Navy ship that's visiting for Fleet Week: the USS Manchester is all business.
The ship's hexagonal profile is designed to thwart enemy radar and its aluminum hull is impervious to rust. It's part of a new generation of smaller, faster ships made to protect the fleet's larger vessels from "asymmetric threats" like mines, terrorists and diesel submarines that are small in size, but still potentially deadly.
Just toured the @USNavys most newly commissioned ship, the USS Manchester. Built to go fast, maneuver in shallow water, and confuse the heck out of enemy radar. pic.twitter.com/MnpeYw29cM Jonathan Bloom (@BloomTV) October 5, 2018
Commissioned in May, 2018, the Manchester is the Navy's 10th "Littoral Combat Ship." The name simply means it's designed to do battle near the shore. Because of its shallow draft, the Manchester and other ships like it can go much closer to land than a larger ship like an aircraft carrier. It's designed to rise up out of the water when it's moving quickly, reducing drag and helping it achieve speeds up to 45 knots. By comparison, a Navy destroyer's top speed is said to be around 40 knots, and an aircraft carrier's is said to be closer to 30. Of course, the Navy keeps the ships' true specifications a secret, and those ships typically travel at only around 20 knots.
Berthed at Pier 35, the Manchester might just have the best view of the San Francisco skyline. pic.twitter.com/8gdImekC39 Jonathan Bloom (@BloomTV) October 5, 2018
With a crew of as few as 70 sailors on board, the Manchester relies on technology to help accomplish work that would've been done by some 300 sailors on an older ship. Young sailors say it's also a great place to pick up extra responsibilities and gain more experience than they would aboard larger vessels.
The Manchester is based out of San Diego, where it will return after San Francisco Fleet Week. Then, it's off to somewhere in the Pacific to begin its first mission.
The Manchesters bridge is a sight to behold. Combat operations are right behind the officers steering the ship, so they can communicate and make quick decisions. By the way, thats bare aluminum around the windows. It wont rust, so they dont bother painting it. pic.twitter.com/WblNwBn15p Jonathan Bloom (@BloomTV) October 5, 2018
Watch the video above to come on a VIP tour of the ship or take your own tour with the 360 photos below!
Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as the 114th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, after a wrenching debate over sexual misconduct and judicial temperament that shattered the Senate, captivated the nation and ushered in an acrimonious new level of polarization now encroaching on the court that the 53-year-old judge may well swing rightward for decades to come.
Even as Kavanaugh took his oath of office Saturday evening in a quiet private ceremony, not long after the narrowest Senate confirmation in nearly a century and a half, protesters chanted outside the court building across the street from the Capitol.
The climactic 50-48 roll call capped a fight that seized the national conversation after claims emerged that he had sexually assaulted women three decades ago allegations he emphatically denied. Those accusations transformed the clash from a routine struggle over judicial ideology into an angry jumble of questions about victims' rights, the presumption of innocence and personal attacks on nominees.
His confirmation provides a defining accomplishment for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which found a unifying force in the cause of putting a new conservative majority on the court. Before the sexual accusations grabbed the Senate's and the nation's attention, Democrats had argued that Kavanaugh's rulings and writings as an appeals court judge raised serious concerns about his views on abortion rights and a president's right to bat away legal probes.
Trump, flying to Kansas for a political rally, flashed a thumbs-up gesture when the tally was announced and praised Kavanaugh for being "able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats." He later telephoned his congratulations to the new justice, then at the rally returned to his own attack on the Democrats as "an angry left-wing mob."
Like Trump, senators at the Capitol predicted voters would react strongly by defeating the other party's candidates in next month's congressional elections.
"It's turned our base on fire," declared Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. But Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York forecast gains for his party instead: "Change must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box."
The justices themselves made a quiet show of solidarity. Kavanaugh was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts and the man he's replacing, retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, as fellow Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan looked on two conservatives and two liberals.
Still, Kagan noted the night before that Kennedy has been "a person who found the center" and "it's not so clear we'll have that" now.
Noisy to the end, the Senate battle featured a call of the roll that was interrupted several times by protesters shouting in the spectators' gallery before Capitol Police removed them. Vice President Mike Pence presided, his potential tie-breaking vote unnecessary.
Trump has now put his stamp on the court with his second justice in as many years. Yet Kavanaugh is joining under a cloud. Accusations from several women remain under scrutiny, and House Democrats have pledged further investigation if they win the majority in November. Outside groups are culling an unusually long paper trail from his previous government and political work, with the National Archives and Records Administration expected to release a cache of millions of documents later this month.
Kavanaugh, a father of two, strenuously denied the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford, who says he sexually assaulted her when they were teens. An appellate court judge on the District of Columbia circuit for the past 12 years, he pushed for the Senate vote as hard as Republican leaders not just to reach this capstone of his legal career, but in fighting to clear his name.
After Ford's allegations, Democrats and their allies became engaged as seldom before, though there were obvious echoes of Thomas' combative confirmation over the sexual harassment accusations of Anita Hill, who worked for him at two federal agencies. Protesters began swarming Capitol Hill, creating a tense, confrontational atmosphere that put Capitol Police on edge.
As exhausted senators prepared for Saturday's vote, some were flanked by security guards. Hangers and worse have been delivered to their offices, a Roe v. Wade reference.
Some 164 people were arrested, most for demonstrating on the Capitol steps, 14 for disrupting the Senate's roll call vote.
McConnell told The Associated Press in an interview that the "mob" of opposition confronting senators in the hallways and at their homes united his narrowly divided GOP majority as Kavanaugh's confirmation teetered and will give momentum to his party this fall.
Beyond the sexual misconduct allegations, Democrats raised questions about Kavanaugh's temperament and impartiality after he delivered defiant, emotional testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee where he denounced their party.
Schumer said Kavanaugh's "partisan screed" showed not only a temperament unfitting for the high court but a lack of objectivity that should make him ineligible to serve. At one point in the hearing, Kavanaugh blamed a Clinton-revenge conspiracy for the accusations against him.
The fight ended up less about judicial views than the sexual assault accusations that riveted the nation and are certain to continue a national debate and #MeToo reckoning that is yet to be resolved.
Republicans argued that a supplemental FBI investigation instigated by wavering GOP senators and ordered by the White House turned up no corroborating witnesses to the claims and that Kavanaugh had sterling credentials for the court. Democrats dismissed the truncated report as insufficient.
In the end, all but one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, lined up behind the judge. She said on the Senate floor late Friday that Kavanaugh is "a good man" but his "appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable."
In a twist, Murkowski voted "present" Saturday as a courtesy to Republican Kavanaugh supporter Steve Daines, who was to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding in Montana. That balanced out the absence without affecting the outcome, and gave Kavanaugh the same two-vote margin he'd have received had both lawmakers voted.
It was the closest roll call to confirm a justice since 1881, when Stanley Matthews was approved 24-23, according to Senate records.
As the Senate tried to recover from its charged atmosphere, Murkowski's move offered a moment of civility. "I do hope that it reminds us that we can take very small steps to be gracious with one another and maybe those small gracious steps can lead to more," she said.
Republicans control the Senate by a meager 51-49 margin, and announcements of support Friday from Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine, along with Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, locked in the needed votes.
Manchin was the only Democrat to vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation. He expressed empathy for sexual assault victims, but said that after factoring in the FBI report, "I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution."
A procedural vote Friday made Saturday's confirmation a foregone conclusion. White House Counsel Don McGahn, who helped salvage Kavanaugh's nomination as it teetered, sat in the front row of the visitors' gallery for the vote with deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah.
Senators on both sides know they have work to do to put the chamber back together again after a ferocious debate that saw them arguing over the sordid details of high school drinking games, sexual allegations and cryptic yearbook entries.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said, "The Senate has been an embarrassment. We have a lot of work to do."
Demonstrators flocked to the nation's capital Saturday amid the Senate's highly anticipated confirmation vote on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, with 164 people being arrested for unlawful demonstrations.
Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Capitol and Supreme Court buildings to protest Kavanaugh's confirmation. Many pumped their fists and carried signs, including ones that read "Believe Women," "Believe Her" and "No!" Some protesters could be heard yelling "November is coming" and "Vote them out!"
A group of them climbed the Capitol steps, and some were led away by police. Officials confirmed that 150 people were arrested on the Rotunda Steps.
The Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The judge was facing public allegations of sexual misconduct in the weeks before the vote, including an accusation by Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party when they were teens.
Inside the Senate building, a group of protesters yelled from the galleries above the floor, interrupting Senate Majority Whip John Cornyns (R-Texas) speech. Sen Todd Young (R-Ind.) reminded those in the room that protests are against Senate rules.
The shouts continued as the vote began, with people yelling from the galleries before Capitol Police removed them. Many yelled "I do not consent. One woman laid on the gallery steps and was lifted from the floor and carried out.
As Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona voted yes, a male protester yelled, "You're a coward." Protesters chanted shame when West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, the only Democrat to support Kavanaugh, was voting.
At one point, Sen. Lindsey Graham laughed and shook his head.
One person was arrested in the galleries before the vote, and 13 were arrested after, police confirmed.
Demonstrators also showed up at the Capitol to support Kavanaugh's confirmation. President Donald Trump tweeted about them Saturday.
"Women for Kavanaugh, and many others who support this very good man, are gathering all over Capitol Hill in preparation for a 3-5 P.M. VOTE. It is a beautiful thing to see - and they are not paid professional protesters who are handed expensive signs. Big day for America!" he wrote.
Protesters have roamed Capitol Hill corridors and grounds daily over Kavanaugh's nomination and the allegations against him, raising anxieties and underscoring the passions the nomination fight has aroused. Hundreds filled the Senate building to support Ford and shared their own stories of sexual assault. Other anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators chanted on the lawn between the Capitol and the Supreme Court and yelled "We believe survivors."
Demonstrators turned out in other cities as well to call for the Senate not to confirm Kavanaugh.
A group of people stood outside Sen. Marco Rubio's office in Miami, holding signs and chanting "Hey. Hey. Ho. Ho. Kavanaugh has got to go."
Others gathered in Chicago and chanted "Womens rights are not for sale. We wont live the Handmaids Tale."
"Were here today to say no, stop," one speaker said. "We need to stand together for women. We believe Ford. ... There is no way we can allow for the appointment of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court Justice. People have the power to make change."
Social media video showed a group gathered outside Sen Jeff Flake's (R-Ariz.) office, carrying signs and chanting "Vote for Kavanaugh" and "We love Trump."
Several groups came together in Boston Friday to protest after learning Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was sticking with her party and voting in favor on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
"I am disappointed, but completely unsurprised," said Reidan Fredstrom of Somerville, Massachusetts.
The disappointment was clear for the couple hundred people holding signs and chanting as they gathered at the Massachusetts State House, hoping to send a last-minute message to senators about Kavanaugh.
"I am concerned that he is partisan," said Laura Bethard of Boston's Allston neighborhood. "I am concerned that he is undervetted."
"His temperament. It is not what I am looking for in the Supreme Court of our land. I'm looking for level-headedness, calm, kind," added Nina Lytton of Beacon Hill.
Presidential historian Tom Whalen of Boston University says the decision by Collins shows she is more right of center than most people think, and the showdown over the judge is an indication the country is moving more to the right.
"You're going to have a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, and that's going to have all sorts of ramifications moving forward," said Whalen. "Culturally, politically and economically."
In Washington, Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts said there could still be a surprise in the expected vote count.
"I think events could still change over the next 24 hours," said Sen. Markey. "This has been a volatile nomination process."
As Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination was officially confirmed by Senate vote Saturday, politicians from across New England weighed in on the contentious nominee, whose polling numbers continued to drop in recent weeks amid multiple allegations of sexual assault.
"Over the past several weeks, so many Maine people particularly women have shared with me their stories about how they have been affected by this nomination fight," tweeted Maine Senator Angus King, an Independent. "All I can say to them today is that we cannot give up hope. The work is not over; it is just beginning."
Meanwhile, Republican Maine Senator Susan Collins became the center of much attention as she publicly purported to remain undecided until Friday, when she gave a lengthy floor speech spelling out why she would vote for Kavanaugh. Collins had been assumed, by some, to be a moderate who might break ranks with her party. But she said Friday she was satisfied with the findings of an FBI investigation into some of the allegations against Kavanaugh that was limited to a week in length.
Speaking to News Center Maine on Saturday, Collins said she had "met with so many Mainers that were sexual assault survivors," but that she "can not conclude, based on the evidence and the complete lack of corroboration that Brett Kavanaugh was [Blasey Ford's] assailant."
She also told the outlet: "I find it extraordinary that certain groups are now targeting me when I've been their advocate here in Washington for 22 years. My voting record clearly shows that."
Other New England senators disagreed.
"Todays vote hurts people," tweeted Democratic Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. "It hurts every victim of sexual assault whos been ignored, every woman whos been told to be quiet, every person wholl be on the losing end when Brett Kavanaugh casts a gut-punching deciding vote."
"Our fight has not been in vain," said Massachusetts senator Ed Markey, speaking at a rally in Washington, DC. "We will use our solidarity to lift up the stories of survivors, no matter how powerful the accused."
"I am disappointed but not surprised by this vote," tweeted Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, an Independent. "Unless Im very mistaken, Kavanaugh will become part of a hard-right majority. Im also deeply concerned that credible allegations of sexual assault were not fully investigated and the precedent that sets for the future."
Sanders' note about precedent was a notable push-back to Republicans who had worried aloud that Christine Blasey Ford's public allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh would set a precedent in which the accused might suffer undue career consequences.
"Today is a sad day in the history of the #SCOTUS," tweeted Democratic Massachusetts representative Katherine Clark. She noted concerns outside of the sexual assault allegations. "During the nomination process, Judge #Kavanaugh demonstrated he does not have the necessary temperament, veracity, or impartiality to serve on our nations highest court."
Concerns were raised by some last week about Kavanaugh's ability to be impartial as a judge for future potential cases involving left-leaning groups when he described the sexual assault allegations during his Senate hearing as the result of "millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups."
Revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition grou
Qasim Ibrahim, founder of the Jumhooree Party, landed yesterday in the capital's airport. Former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was released on bail last week.
Male (AsiaNews/Agencies) Exiled opposition leaders are coming home following the recent victory of opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who surprisingly defeated dictator Yameen Abdul Gayoom in the recent presidential elections.
The first to set foot in the world-famous archipelago of white beaches and coral reefs was Qasim Ibrahim, founder of Jumhooree Party (JP). Yesterday he was greeted at the Velana International Airport in Male by the president-elect himself.
Qasim owns a chain of tourist resorts. He was among dozens of political opponents jailed by former President Gayoom during the countrys constitutional crisis. He went into exile in Germany after undergoing heart surgery in Singapore.
Mohamed Noshed, the countrys first democratically elected president, is set to return next month. He was exiled in Britain and later lived in neighbouring Sri Lanka after being sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges following a 2012 coup.
In February, his acquittal sparked protests, which Gayoom suppressed by imposing a state of emergency and jailing dissidents.
One of the latter was Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the old dictators half-brother, who was released on bail last week after Solih's victory.
The archipelago, which is a tourist destination for many western visitors, is made up of 1,192 islands and 26 atolls, and is home to little more than 40,000 people.
Sunni Islam is the state religion and sharia is applied.
A man has been arrested and charged with murder in connection to a Willimantic, Connecticut woman's death.
Willimantic Police found 27-year-old Angela Martinez-Acevedo's body in an apartment at 36 Ash Street on Tuesday.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the cause of her death was strangulation and her manner of death was homicide.
Officials from the Office of the State's Attorney, the Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Unit, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner's Office, the New York Police Department and the Department of Children and Families were contacted for assistance in the investigation.
Investigators said they reached a point in the investigation where 28-year-old Julio Cruz-Cabrera became a suspect. He was identified, located and interviewed.
Officers said they obtained an arrest warrant for Cruz-Cabrera and he was taken into custody in New York on Friday, where he is being held as a fugitive from justice.
Cruz-Cabrera is facing a murder charge in Connecticut, according to Willimantic Police.
The investigation is ongoing. Police ask the public to contact them with any information that may help their investigation. You can call Willimantic Police at (860) 465-3135 or Connecticut State Police at (860) 896-3230.
The death of a woman whose body was found in an apartment in Willimantic Tuesday has been ruled a homicide, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Family members have identified the victim as Angie Martinez. Police say she was found dead in an apartment on Ash Street in Willimantic Tuesday night. The OCME has identified the cause of death as strangulation and the manner of death a homicide.
Willimantic police said they contacted the state police Eastern Major Crimes Unit and the Office of the States Attorney for assistance in the investigation.
At a vigil Friday, loved ones remembered Martinez as someone who made a big impact on those around her - as a mother, daughter and friend.
"She was a great person. She was always happy. She was always dancing," said friend Genesis Medina.
The news of her death came as a shock to friends, who say she covered the pain in her life.
"She was someone who didn't have any complaints in life, and she's through a lot. Been through hell and back in her life," said friend Zuleika Acosta.
Police said this appears to be an isolated incident and there is no threat to the community, but the investigation is ongoing. A suspect has not been named.
Martinez leaves behind two children - ages 7 and 12. Family and friends are hoping to raise money for those children. They say the children will eventually go back to Puerto Rico to live with their grandmother.
What to Know Jonathan Harris faces murder charges in the death of Christina Carlin-Kraft in her Main Line apartment.
Harris, shackled and wearing a red jumpsuit, said nothing as he arrived for court in Ardmore Friday.
Kraft was found strangled in August by police. Harris confessed to the two getting into a fight over cocaine, according to prosecutors.
The man accused of killing a model inside her Main Line apartment in August told police the two got into a fight after she refused to pay for an ounce of cocaine, according to a statement he made to police.
The statement by Jonathan Harris during his arrest was read in a Montgomery County courtroom on Friday during his preliminary hearing.
Harris, 30, bound in shackles and wearing a red jumpsuit, looked straight ahead and said nothing as reporters peppered him with questions about what happened the night of the killing as he entered court in Ardmore.
The 30-year-old Johnstown man is charged with first, second and third-degree murder as well as robbery and related counts in the Aug. 22 slaying of Christina Carlin-Kraft.
Once inside court, Harris remained silent as all charges were held for trial. He will remain jailed.
Officials say the 36-year-old Carlin-Kraft took a ride-hailing service to Philadelphia where she met Harris. The two later returned to her Main Line apartment.
According to a statement police obtained during his arrest and shared in court Friday, Harris said he was set to sell an ounce of cocaine to Carlin-Kraft for $1,200. After the two drank and had consensual sex, Harris said, Carlin-Kraft refused to pay for the drugs.
He described a violent struggle in which Carlin-Kraft hit him with a glass bottle and he slapped her, repeatedly punched her and tied her up when she tried to flee. He gave her a phone when she asked to call her dad, he said, but he started to choke her when she tried to call 911.
When she stopped screaming he fled, he said, taking some clothing, taking the cocaine and jumping over the balcony. He told police he thought she was alive.
Carlin-Kraft's beaten body was found in her bloodstained bedroom inside her upscale condominium near the popular Suburban Square shopping center after police visited the home to do a wellness check.
Carlin-Kraft's father held a photo of his daughter as he called for justice to be served while arriving to the court Friday. Some of Carlin-Kraft's friends and Harris' mother were also in court for Friday's preliminary hearing.
A part of Harris's confession was played in court Friday. Some loved ones sobbed.
Harris eluded authorities for about a week before getting nabbed while getting off a bus in Pittsburgh, investigators said. He was allegedly trying to leave Pennsylvania.
Harris' attorney Charles Peruto Jr. offered no comment saying only that he refuses to try a case in front of cameras on the sidewalk.
Surveillance video and evidence gathered during the investigation led officials to issue a warrant for Harris' arrest.
Investigators say Harris had been released from state prison in July. He has an extensive criminal record including assault, theft and drug charges, according to online records.
Harris faces life in prison for the murder charges. No decision has been made, at this point, if Harris will face the death penalty.
He's scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 28.
Police are also searching for a man who they say is not connected to Carlin-Kraft's murder but instead burglarized her apartment several days before her death.
An arrest warrant was issued for Andre Melton, 31, of Southwest Philadelphia. Police say Melton stole from Carlin-Kraft's condo on Sibley Avenue and they continue to search for him. He is not considered a suspect or person of interest in her murder, however.
The Vatican responds to Mgr Viganos dossier. "Both abuse and its cover-up can no longer be tolerated and a different treatment for Bishops who have committed or covered up abuse, in fact represents a form of clericalism that is no longer acceptable."
Vatican City (AsiaNews) Pope Francis has ordered the continuation of the investigation of Card McCarrick and has reiterated that the abuse and its cover-up can no longer be tolerated and a different treatment for Bishops who have committed or covered up abuse, in fact represents a form of clericalism that is no longer acceptable, this according to a press release by the Holy See Press Office today.
This follows the publication of the accusations regarding the conduct of Archbishop Theodore Edgar McCarrick, a reference to the not-mentioned dossier by former nuncio Carlo Maria Vigano who, on 26 August, implicated Pope Francis in the cover-up of the accusations against McCarrick.
In September 2017, reads the press release, the Archdiocese of New York notified the Holy See that a man had accused former Cardinal McCarrick of having abused him in the 1970s. The Holy Father ordered a thorough preliminary investigation into this, which was carried out by the Archdiocese of New York, at the conclusion of which the relative documentation was forwarded to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In the meantime, because grave indications emerged during the course of the investigation, the Holy Father accepted the resignation of Archbishop McCarrick from the College of Cardinals, prohibiting him by order from exercising public ministry, and obliging him to lead a life of prayer and penance.
The Holy See will, in due course, make known the conclusions of the matter regarding Archbishop McCarrick. Moreover, with reference to other accusations brought against Archbishop McCarrick, the Holy Father has decided that information gathered during the preliminary investigation be combined with a further thorough study of the entire documentation present in the Archives of the Dicasteries and Offices of the Holy See regarding the former Cardinal McCarrick, in order to ascertain all the relevant facts, to place them in their historical context and to evaluate them objectively.
The Holy See is conscious that, from the examination of the facts and of the circumstances, it may emerge that choices were taken that would not be consonant with a contemporary approach to such issues. However, as Pope Francis has said: We will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead (Philadelphia, 27 September 2015). Both abuse and its cover-up can no longer be tolerated and a different treatment for Bishops who have committed or covered up abuse, in fact represents a form of clericalism that is no longer acceptable.
The Holy Father Pope Francis renews his pressing invitation to unite forces to fight against the grave scourge of abuse within and beyond the Church, and to prevent such crimes from being committed in the future to the harm of the most innocent and most vulnerable in society. As previously made known, the Holy Father has convened a meeting of the Presidents of the Bishops Conferences from around the world for next February, while the words of his recent Letter to the People of God still resonate: The only way that we have to respond to this evil that has darkened so many lives is to experience it as a task regarding all of us as the People of God. This awareness of being part of a people and a shared history will enable us to acknowledge our past sins and mistakes with a penitential openness that can allow us to be renewed from within (20 August 2018).
Calif. Governor Jerry Brown called Judge Brett Kavanaughs confirmation to the Supreme Court Saturday afternoon a real tragedy.
Just minutes after Kavanaugh was confirmed, Brown wrote on Twitter, This controversial and partisan choice further deepens the divisions in America and profoundly undermines democratic governance. A real tragedy.
This controversial and partisan choice further deepens the divisions in America and profoundly undermines democratic governance. A real tragedy. Jerry Brown (@JerryBrownGov) October 6, 2018
Kavanaugh was confirmed 50-48 mostly along partisan lines. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia voted in favor of Kavanaugh and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against him.
Kavanagh has been accused of sexual harassment or misconduct by three women on the record, a subject which has put a cloud over his nomination for the last two weeks and prompted a last-minute FBI investigation last week.
In a Tweet, President Trump wrote in part, I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh's nomination was one of the narrowest ever for a Supreme Court nominee.
What to Know Federal prosecutors have decided not to appeal a federal judge's order to release a pizza deliveryman from an immigration detention facility
Pablo Villavicencio, 35, of Ecuador, was detained June 1 in New Jersey after delivering pizza to the Fort Hamilton Army base in Brooklyn
The detention came as he was in the process of seeking to establish legal residency and overcome a 2010 order to leave the country
An Ecuadorian pizza deliveryman freed from an immigration detention facility by a judge who criticized the handling of the case will remain free after the government declined Friday to pursue an appeal.
Attorneys notified the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that the government won't challenge a judge's July decision freeing Pablo Villavicencio.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said in a statement that he wasn't surprised.
"The federal government is admitting what we already knew - there was absolutely no legitimate reason to lock Mr. Villavicencio up and take him away from his family," Cuomo said.
Villavicencio, 35, was detained June 1 in New Jersey after delivering pizza to the Fort Hamilton Army base in Brooklyn. The detention came as Villavicencio was in the process of seeking to establish legal residency and overcome a 2010 order to leave the country. He is married to a U.S. citizen. Their two young daughters also are U.S. citizens.
Cuomo said his arrest "while he was doing his job was an outrageous affront to our New York values and raised serious concerns of ethnic profiling."
When he ordered the release of Villavicencio over the summer, U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty said he didn't believe the detention was "accidental or random."
"It should not be difficult to discern that families should be kept together rather than be separated by the thoughtless and cruel application of a so called 'zero tolerance' policy," Crotty wrote.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered the policy in April.
Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for government attorneys, said a notice of appeal that had been filed while the government decided whether to pursue an appeal was withdrawn Friday.
In a statement, The Legal Aid Society, which represented Villavicencio, said it was pleased that the government "fully withdrew their challenge to Mr. Villavicencio's hard-won release from immigration detention and his opportunity to pursue lawful status."
What to Know A man who allegedly raped a woman on her own front lawn has been arrested, police said
Ever Martinez Reyes, 24, of Roosevelt, faces charges including first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse in connection with the attack
He allegedly knocked the woman out and sexually assaulted her while she was walking back to her home in Freeport
A man who allegedly raped a woman on her own front lawn has been arrested, police said.
Ever Martinez-Reyes, 24, of Roosevelt, was arrested around 1 p.m. on Friday, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said at a news conference Saturday.
Police arrested Martinez-Reyes after receiving a tip that he was preparing to flee to El Salvador, Ryder said.
The alleged attacker came to the U.S. from El Salvador in 2010, crossing the Texas border, according to Ryder. Martinez-Reyes then returned to El Salvador, but crossed the border illegally again in 2014 and took up residence in Freeport, Ryder said.
Martinez-Reyes has been working in landscaping as a day laborer, and has no prior arrests or known gang affiliation, according to Ryder.
Police said the 36-year-old victim of the attack was walking back to her home in Freeport, on Long Island, around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 28 when Martinez-Reyes hit her in the face and knocked her unconscious.
When the woman regained consciousness, she realized he was sexually assaulting her, according to police.
The woman threw a rock at the front window of her house in an attempt to seek help during the attack, which lasted an hour, according to police.
The woman was bruised and beaten around her face area and had internal injuries, but is "in recovery," Ryder said.
At the news conference, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas called the attack "one of the most brutal rapes that [she has] ever seen."
Martinez-Reyes has been charged with two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree assault in connection with the Sept. 28 attack, and was expected to appear in court on Saturday, police said.
He faces up to 25 years in prison, Singas said. His attorney information wasnt immediately available.
What to Know A man who allegedly tried to scam a 91-year-old woman out of $9,000 has been arrested, police said
A woman claiming to be the 91-year-old's granddaughter told her she needed to pay $9,000 in bail money because she'd been arrested
When 31-year-old Guillermo Fernandez showed up to collect the money, he was arrested, police said
A man who allegedly tried to scam a 91-year-old woman out of $9,000 by getting an accomplice to pretend to be her granddaughter and in trouble has been arrested, police said.
The elderly Farmingdale woman got a phone call from an unknown woman claiming to be her granddaughter around 3 p.m. on Friday, Nassau County police said.
The woman told the 91-year-old shed been arrested in Haiti before passing the phone to a man pretending to be a sergeant, who told the 91-year-old shed need to put $9,000 in her mailbox for her granddaughters bail, according to police.
The 91-year-old withdrew the money from the bank, but then started to get suspicious and called her granddaughter, police said.
After learning her granddaughter was at work, the woman called the police, who told her to put the money in the mailbox as part of a plan to catch the scammer.
Not long after, Guillermo Fernandez, 31, of Washington Heights, drove up to the womans house and went to the mailbox to get the cash, police said.
He was arrested and charged with third-degree grand larceny, and was expected to appear in court on Saturday, according to police.
Police havent yet arrested anyone else in connection with the attempted scam, but an investigation is ongoing.
Indonesia considers making devastated areas mass graves
By STEPHEN WRIGHT and TASSANEE VEJPONGSA, Associated Press
PALU, Indonesia (AP) Search teams pulled bodies from obliterated neighborhoods in the disaster-stricken Indonesian city of Palu on Saturday as more aid rolled in and the government said it was considering making devastated areas into mass graves.
Indonesia's disaster agency said the death toll from the powerful earthquake and tsunami climbed to 1,649, with at least 265 people still missing, though it said that number could be higher. More nations sent aid and humanitarian workers fanned out in the countryside.
The dead were still being recovered more than a week after the double disaster. Eight victims in black body bags of the national search and rescue agency were arranged in a row in the crumpled Palu neighborhood of Balaroa, destined for a mass grave.
Relatives cried as people placed long pieces of white cloth, to represent a Muslim burial rite, inside the bags.
Among them was 39-year-old Rudy Rahman, who said the bodies of his 18- and 16-year-old sons had been found. His youngest son remained missing. He watched as rescue workers unloaded the bags from a truck. His wife wept inconsolably.
"They were found in front of my brother's house opposite the mosque," Rahman said. "They found them holding each other. These two brothers were hugging each other."
Balaroa was one of the areas hardest hit by the Sept. 28 magnitude 7.5 quake, which threw homes in the neighborhood tens of meters and left cars upright or perched on eruptions of concrete and asphalt. Many children were in the area's mosque at the time of the quake for Quran recitation. An assistant to the Imam had said none survived.
Indonesia's top security minister, Wiranto, who uses a single name, said the government is mulling the possibility of turning Balaroa and Petobo, another neighborhood in Palu, into mass graves. Petobo disappeared into the earth as the force of the quake liquified its soft soil. Liquefaction also struck a large section of Balaroa.
Wiranto said efforts to retrieve bodies are problematic in those neighborhoods, where homes were sucked into the earth, burying possibly hundreds of victims.
He said it's not safe for heavy equipment to operate there.
Wiranto also said on local television that the government is discussing with local and religious authorities and victims' families the possibility of halting the search and turning the areas into mass graves. The victims can be considered "martyrs," he said.
A Japanese Self Defense Force plane landed at Palu's airport Saturday morning. Soldiers unloaded tons of supplies, including medicine and small portable generators, in boxes emblazoned with the Japanese flag and the words "From the People of Japan." Several other nations have also sent planeloads of aid. Video showed the military dropping supplies from helicopters in places and a large Red Cross ship docked at a port in the region.
In the dusty one-road village of Pewunu, excited children shouted "Red Cross! Red Cross!" as one of the aid group's medical teams arrived and set up a makeshift clinic in a field where evacuees were sleeping under tarps. One villager said they survived by ransacking shops.
Volunteers laid out a big white tarp on a stage in front of the village office, plonked a green desk on it and interviewed people about their needs as dozens milled around.
Doctors performed medical checks on elderly residents who emerged from tents and climbed the stage's stairs with canes or others supporting them.
People living in the camp said two residents died in collapsing houses in the village. They said they had clean water and noodles but not much else.
"There were supplies, but these were looted. All along the roads toward here, they were looted by outsiders," said Bahamid Fawzi.
"All this while in this crisis, we don't have water, we don't have food," he said. "After that, we started ransacking the stores and the shops. Not because we're thieves, but because we really needed it. There's no water, no food like it or not, we had to do it."
The earthquake and tsunami swept away buildings along miles (kilometers) of coastline and knocked out power and communications for several days.
In a rare move, Indonesia's government has appealed for international help to cope with the tragedy unfolding on Sulawesi island.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says $50.5 million is required to deliver "immediate, life-saving" aid.
___
Associated Press journalists Eileen Ng in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Andi Jatmiko in Palu contributed to this report.
Search teams pulled bodies from obliterated neighborhoods in the disaster-stricken Indonesian city of Palu on Saturday as more aid rolled in and the government said it was considering making devastated areas into mass graves.
Indonesia's disaster agency said the death toll from the powerful earthquake and tsunami climbed to 1,649, with at least 265 people still missing, though it said that number could be higher. More nations sent aid and humanitarian workers fanned out in the countryside.
The dead were still being recovered more than a week after the double disaster. Eight victims in black body bags of the national search and rescue agency were arranged in a row in the crumpled Palu neighborhood of Balaroa, destined for a mass grave.
Relatives cried as people placed long pieces of white cloth, to represent a Muslim burial rite, inside the bags.
Among them was 39-year-old Rudy Rahman, who said the bodies of his 18- and 16-year-old sons had been found. His youngest son remained missing. He watched as rescue workers unloaded the bags from a truck. His wife wept inconsolably.
"They were found in front of my brother's house opposite the mosque," Rahman said. "They found them holding each other. These two brothers were hugging each other."
Balaroa was one of the areas hardest hit by the Sept. 28 magnitude 7.5 quake, which threw homes in the neighborhood tens of meters and left cars upright or perched on eruptions of concrete and asphalt. Many children were in the area's mosque at the time of the quake for Quran recitation. An assistant to the Imam had said none survived.
Indonesia's top security minister, Wiranto, who uses a single name, said the government is mulling the possibility of turning Balaroa and Petobo, another neighborhood in Palu, into mass graves. Petobo disappeared into the earth as the force of the quake liquified its soft soil. Liquefaction also struck a large section of Balaroa.
Wiranto said efforts to retrieve bodies are problematic in those neighborhoods, where homes were sucked into the earth, burying possibly hundreds of victims.
He said it's not safe for heavy equipment to operate there.
Wiranto also said on local television that the government is discussing with local and religious authorities and victims' families the possibility of halting the search and turning the areas into mass graves. The victims can be considered "martyrs," he said.
A Japanese Self Defense Force plane landed at Palu's airport Saturday morning. Soldiers unloaded tons of supplies, including medicine and small portable generators, in boxes emblazoned with the Japanese flag and the words "From the People of Japan." Several other nations have also sent planeloads of aid. Video showed the military dropping supplies from helicopters in places and a large Red Cross ship docked at a port in the region.
In the dusty one-road village of Pewunu, excited children shouted "Red Cross! Red Cross!" as one of the aid group's medical teams arrived and set up a makeshift clinic in a field where evacuees were sleeping under tarps. One villager said they survived by ransacking shops.
Volunteers laid out a big white tarp on a stage in front of the village office, plonked a green desk on it and interviewed people about their needs as dozens milled around.
Doctors performed medical checks on elderly residents who emerged from tents and climbed the stage's stairs with canes or others supporting them.
People living in the camp said two residents died in collapsing houses in the village. They said they had clean water and noodles but not much else.
"There were supplies, but these were looted. All along the roads toward here, they were looted by outsiders," said Bahamid Fawzi.
"All this while in this crisis, we don't have water, we don't have food," he said. "After that, we started ransacking the stores and the shops. Not because we're thieves, but because we really needed it. There's no water, no food like it or not, we had to do it."
The earthquake and tsunami swept away buildings along miles (kilometers) of coastline and knocked out power and communications for several days.
In a rare move, Indonesia's government has appealed for international help to cope with the tragedy unfolding on Sulawesi island.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says $50.5 million is required to deliver "immediate, life-saving" aid.
Remember Anonymous?
One month ago Friday, an unidentified Trump administration official set off a White House firestorm by claiming in a New York Times opinion piece to be part of a secret "resistance" force out to undermine parts of President Donald Trump's agenda.
The article triggered cries of "treason" from Trump and a demand that the powers of the federal government be brought to bear to root out the disloyal officials.
And then ... not much happened.
The investigation, which existed more in name than practice, stalled. A move to clean house never occurred. The author's identity is still a mystery.
Still, publication of the piece, along with a new Bob Woodward book painting a picture of a president whose impulses were being thwarted by his own staff, has had some lasting aftershocks.
The president, already besieged by leaks, has closed ranks around the Oval Office, growing far more suspicious of staff and trusting fewer West Wing personnel. That's according to four White House officials and Republicans close to the White House who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.
The Sept. 5 publication of the op-ed rocked Washington. The author, described only as a senior administration official, wrote that "Many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump's more misguided impulses until he is out of office."
The writer went on: "It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what's right even when Donald Trump won't."
The piece landed the same week as Woodward's "Fear" and emphasized the new book's themes: that Trump appeared unfit for office and some of his closest aides viewed themselves as a bulwark between his worst decisions and the American public.
Trump was incensed about the op-ed, calling around to confidants to vent about the author, solicit guesses as to his or her identity, seethe that it appeared in the newspaper he loves to hate, and complain that a "deep state" within the administration was conspiring against him. At a rally that week in Montana, he called the author "an anonymous, gutless coward."
"You look at this horrible thing that took place. Is it subversion, is it treason?" Trump bellowed. "It really is terrible."
The Beltway guessing game seeped into the White House, as current and former staffers traded calls and texts trying to figure out who could have written the piece, some even asking reporters for clues. Trump ordered aides to unmask the writer, cited "national security" concerns to justify a possible Justice Department investigation and issued an extraordinary demand that the newspaper reveal the author.
Trump's anger triggered an extraordinary parade of senior officials, Cabinet members and even the vice president, who issued statements and stood before cameras to deny that they were part of the resistance.
Some Trump advisers, like attorney Rudy Giuliani, suggested that it would be "appropriate" for Trump to ask for a formal investigation into the identity of the op-ed author. And Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a key ally of Trump's, called for the president to order those suspected of being the author to undergo lie-detector tests.
But then, mirroring the very thesis of the op-ed, Trump's requests to the government largely went ignored.
It was never expected that the Justice Department would move to open an investigation. A White House official later said Trump's call for the investigation was an expression of his frustration with the op-ed, rather than an order for federal prosecutors.
White House chief of staff John Kelly, communications director Bill Shine and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders convened a series of closed-door meetings and ordered a cursory leak search, including enforcing a pre-existing ban on personal phones, according to three White House officials not authorized to speak publicly about internal meetings. But as the op-ed was wiped from the headlines by other news events, most notably the contentious confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the probe was quietly pushed aside.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Though the president continued to vent about the leaks, aides never conducted an exhaustive search, according to two of the officials. And many administration officials recognized that there was a long list of officials who plausibly could have been the author.
The West Wing and, for the most part, Trump himself moved on, focusing on the upcoming midterm elections and the push to get Kavanaugh on the bench.
But Trump has confided to allies that he still is frustrated by frequent leaks and feels that there are few aides around him whom he can fully trust, according to the three White House officials and Republicans close to the White House.
Beyond a network of outside advisers Trump has known for decades, the officials said, those on the inside the president continues to trust include family: daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, both senior advisers.
A San Francisco Bay Area artist's illustration of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will be featured on the cover of an upcoming issue of TIME.
John Mavroudis' illustration shows Ford during her testimony on Sept. 27 against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who is accused of sexual misconduct.
I think it speaks to a moment in our countrys history," Mavroudis said in an interview with TIME. "Im conscious of that when Im doing it.
The cover by Mavroudis combines statements and words from Ford's testimony to create an image of her raising her right hand. Mavroudis said each letter was drawn by hand and described the process of putting the cover together like a jigsaw puzzle.
"I started with an image of Ford and then drew the words in where they might be appropriate," Mavroudis told TIME. The memory quotes would be attached to her forehead area, and the quotes about wanting to help I placed on her hand. The hand could be seen as welcoming, but also deflecting."
The TIME issue featuring Mavroudis' cover art of Ford releases on Oct. 15.
What to Know A tribute to Bryn Mawr College's controversial former president M. Carey Thomas sparked outrage Saturday from some students.
In August, the board of trustees decided to keep her name chiseled on the side of what is now called Old Library.
Protesters claimed Thomas, who served from 1894 to 1922, was racist and anti-Semitic.
A tribute to Bryn Mawr College's controversial former president sparked outrage Saturday from some students, who called the decision to retain her name on the side of a building a "blatant disregard for students of color."
M. Carey Thomas served as president from 1894 to 1922. While she fought for women's right to vote, she also espoused racist and anti-Semitic views, according to historical accounts.
In August, the board of trustees decided to keep her name chiseled on the side of what is now called Old Library.
But students on Saturday decried the decision, arguing that retaining Thomas' name, even in stone, shows a lack of respect for students "most affected by the continued legacy of racism and anti-Semitism on campus."
The board responsible for keeping Thomas' name on the building, which now holds faculty offices and reading rooms, issued a six-page letter over the summer, stressing the former president's contribution to female education.
In a statement, students said they will continue to peacefully demonstrate the use of her name and disrupt school events until the board addresses their list of demands:
Bryn Mawr students are demanding that the Board acknowledges and formally denounces Thomas racist and anti-Semitic past; formally apologies to current students and alumnae/i for the harm that was caused in continuing to display her name on a monument in her honor; provide materials in support for engagement with Thomas history in research funds and campus markers and historical displays; discuss clearly and purposefully and engage with Thomas and her history during orientation for new community members; display a plaque on the building itself that explains Thomas racist and anti-Semitic beliefs, stating that they were wrong in her time and wrong now and that they no longer represent the values of the institution," protesters said in a statement issued over the summer.
Students at Bryn Mawr College have had a history of taking part in national protest campaigns, concerning statues of white supremacy, decolonizing academia, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly state that the building mentioned was a former library. An incorrect quote attributed to the Bryn Mawr College Board of Trustees was also removed.
What to Know Jonathan Harris faces murder charges in the death of Christina Carlin-Kraft in her Main Line apartment.
Harris, shackled and wearing a red jumpsuit, said nothing as he arrived for court in Ardmore Friday.
Kraft was found strangled in August by police. Harris confessed to the two getting into a fight over cocaine, according to prosecutors.
The man accused of killing a model inside her Main Line apartment in August told police the two got into a fight after she refused to pay for an ounce of cocaine, according to a statement he made to police.
The statement by Jonathan Harris during his arrest was read in a Montgomery County courtroom on Friday during his preliminary hearing.
Harris, 30, bound in shackles and wearing a red jumpsuit, looked straight ahead and said nothing as reporters peppered him with questions about what happened the night of the killing as he entered court in Ardmore.
The 30-year-old Johnstown man is charged with first, second and third-degree murder as well as robbery and related counts in the Aug. 22 slaying of Christina Carlin-Kraft.
Jonathan Harris looked straight ahead and said nothing Friday as he arrived for a hearing in the murder of Christina Carlin-Kraft in her Ardmore condo.
Once inside court, Harris remained silent as all charges were held for trial. He will remain jailed.
Officials say the 36-year-old Carlin-Kraft took a ride-hailing service to Philadelphia where she met Harris. The two later returned to her Main Line apartment.
According to a statement police obtained during his arrest and shared in court Friday, Harris said he was set to sell an ounce of cocaine to Carlin-Kraft for $1,200. After the two drank and had consensual sex, Harris said, Carlin-Kraft refused to pay for the drugs.
He described a violent struggle in which Carlin-Kraft hit him with a glass bottle and he slapped her, repeatedly punched her and tied her up when she tried to flee. He gave her a phone when she asked to call her dad, he said, but he started to choke her when she tried to call 911.
When she stopped screaming he fled, he said, taking some clothing, taking the cocaine and jumping over the balcony. He told police he thought she was alive.
Carlin-Kraft's beaten body was found in her bloodstained bedroom inside her upscale condominium near the popular Suburban Square shopping center after police visited the home to do a wellness check.
Carlin-Kraft's father held a photo of his daughter as he called for justice to be served while arriving to the court Friday. Some of Carlin-Kraft's friends and Harris' mother were also in court for Friday's preliminary hearing.
AP
A part of Harris's confession was played in court Friday. Some loved ones sobbed.
Harris eluded authorities for about a week before getting nabbed while getting off a bus in Pittsburgh, investigators said. He was allegedly trying to leave Pennsylvania.
Harris' attorney Charles Peruto Jr. offered no comment saying only that he refuses to try a case in front of cameras on the sidewalk.
Surveillance video and evidence gathered during the investigation led officials to issue a warrant for Harris' arrest.
Investigators say Harris had been released from state prison in July. He has an extensive criminal record including assault, theft and drug charges, according to online records.
Harris faces life in prison for the murder charges. No decision has been made, at this point, if Harris will face the death penalty.
He's scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 28.
Police are also searching for a man who they say is not connected to Carlin-Kraft's murder but instead burglarized her apartment several days before her death.
An arrest warrant was issued for Andre Melton, 31, of Southwest Philadelphia. Police say Melton stole from Carlin-Kraft's condo on Sibley Avenue and they continue to search for him. He is not considered a suspect or person of interest in her murder, however.
In Southern California's most Republican congressional district a GOP incumbent running against a first-time Democratic candidate should be a slam dunk for re-election.
Not this year.
Rep. Duncan Hunter is under indictment as he seeks a sixth term. He has spent as much on legal fees as his re-election campaign while splitting time between meeting voters and fighting corruption charges.
It's become a bare-knuckles affair with Hunter's campaign running an ad saying his San Diego-born opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, changed his name to "hide his family's ties to terrorism" and now wants to "infiltrate" Congress. Campa-Najjar responded by saying Hunter has lost his grip on reality.
Even with the 47-page indictment detailing alleged misuse of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds, Hunter is the favorite. Republicans hold a nearly 15-point registration edge in the district, where many military veterans identify with Hunter's service as a Marine in Iraq.
In the June primary before the indictment Hunter received 47 percent to Campa-Najjar's 17 percent.
A late September poll by Monmouth University suggested Hunter had a lead between 8 and 15 percentage points. If turnout is like prior midterm elections, Hunter has the larger advantage. But among all people the pollster identified as "potential voters," because they cast ballots since 2010 or are newly registered, the advantage shrinks to 8 points, within the margin of error of plus or minus 5.3 percentage points. Other polls suggest a closer race.
Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to take control of the House and Hunter's indictment gives them an unexpected opportunity as they seek to flip five other Southern California Republican seats.
"The district is definitely more competitive than it otherwise would be," said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics when assessing Hunter's district. "But it's still a heavy lift for Democrats. From the perspective of Republican voters, they would rather vote in an incumbent under indictment who votes the way they want as long as he can while he's still in Congress."
Hunter is one of two indicted Republican congressmen seeking re-election. The other is New York Rep. Chris Collins, accused of insider trading.
Both were early supporters of President Donald Trump, who sees the charges as retribution for his election. Trump, who won Hunter's district by 15 points in 2016, has criticized the Justice Department for putting "two easy wins now in doubt."
Hunter benefits from deep roots in the district, which stretches east of San Diego into Riverside County and includes suburban and rural areas. His father, Duncan Hunter Sr., served 14 terms in Congress.
The younger Hunter, a 41-year-old anti-tax, pro-military conservative, was expected to have an easy time in November until the indictments came in August. He and his wife, who served as his campaign chair, are accused of misusing more than $250,000 in campaign funds, including more than $400 on tequila shots at a bachelor party, $250 on airfare for a pet rabbit and $14,000 for an Italian vacation.
Prosecutors say the couple concealed many of the expenses in federal records, sometimes as donations to charities for veterans. The Hunters have pleaded not guilty. Hunter has said that as campaign manager his wife dealt with the finances. He calls the investigation a political witch hunt.
Hunter's attorney, Gregory A. Vega, wrote an August letter to the Justice Department urging prosecutors to delay any action until after the election. He wrote the allegations are "intended to embarrass and humiliate the Congressman shortly before a crucial election."
Vega also said that "while there may be evidence of infidelity, irresponsibility, or alcohol dependence," including incriminating photos, "the underlying facts do not equate to criminal activity."
Hunter's campaign has spent about $615,000 on legal fees since 2017 compared to about $600,000 on his campaign, according to reports with the Federal Election Commission. He has declined to debate his opponent and has run a low-profile campaign, choosing to speak to smaller groups and rarely talking to the media.
Campa-Najjar is a former Obama administration Labor Department employee with a Palestinian Muslim father and Mexican-American Catholic mother. Raised Christian, he grew up in San Diego County and if elected would be the first Latino Arab-American in Congress.
Hunter's indictment helped spur interest in Campa-Najjar's campaign. He has raised more than $1 million compared to about $815,000 by Hunter, according to recent campaign finance reports.
Campa-Najjar says his background reflects a changing district where more Hispanics and Middle Easterners are settling. It also is being used against him by Hunter's campaign, which notes Campa-Najjar's grandfather was a leader of Black September, a Palestinian terror group that orchestrated the attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
Hunter has accused his rival of changing his name to Ammar Joseph Campa-Najjar to hide his family ties to terrorism and sound more Hispanic. Campa-Najjar was born Ammar Yasser Najjar and Hunter has falsely claimed the middle name was a tribute to longtime Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat.
Campa-Najjar's grandfather died before he was born and he has condemned the Munich attack. He said Hunter "knows I'm not responsible for my family's actions, just like his wife isn't responsible for his."
He said his middle name came from his father, Yasser Najjar. Campa-Najjar's parents divorced when he was a boy and he hasn't seen his father in years. He went informally by Ammar Joseph Campa-Najjar when he worked in the Obama administration and legally changed his name in June to better reflect the closeness to his mother, he said.
Campa-Najjar's campaign has focused on winning over military veterans and conservatives with its slogan "Put Country Over Party" in TV ads that call Hunter an embarrassment. One 30-second spot consists of Fox News hosts and commentators criticizing Hunter for insinuating his wife was to blame for the corruption charges.
He supports Medicare-for-all if it does not increase government debt and free college tuition based on merit and need. Campa-Najjar also said he wants to work with the Trump administration on job creation and improving infrastructure.
"A lot of conservatives are pleasantly surprised to meet a Democrat who uses words other than impeachment when describing the president," he said.
Hunter declined repeated requests for comment.
In the farming community of Ramona that feels more Western than West Coast, several Republicans said while the indictment concerns them, more worrying is the party losing a congressional seat.
"It would not make a difference in my vote because the alternative would be far worse electing a Democrat," retired marine scientist Hayden Williams said.
Democrats like Sandra Smith, a retired Ramona teacher who volunteered for Campa-Najjar after hearing him speak, are hopeful for the first time in years.
"We feel like there's a lot of energy to really try to flip the district," she said, adding of Campa-Najjar: "He can reach both sides."
A federal judge denied Planned Parenthood's request for a mid-Missouri clinic to be temporarily exempted from certain abortion regulations, ensuring that the Columbia clinic will not be able to resume abortions.
U.S. Western District Court Judge Brian Wimes wrote in his ruling late Wednesday that even if he did lift the requirement that doctors at the clinic have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals before they perform abortions, the Columbia center still would not be able to provide abortions. Missouri is down to one clinic performing abortions, which is located in St. Louis.
That's because the clinic's license expired Tuesday. Abortions scheduled for Wednesday were cancelled.
Attorneys for Planned Parenthood had requested that Wimes temporarily exempt Columbia from the hospital privileges requirement as Planned Parenthood's broader challenge to abortion regulations plays out in court.
The admitting privileges requirement is important because the Columbia Planned Parenthood clinic has been unable to secure physician privileges or find a doctor with those privileges after a panel of medical staff at University of Missouri Health Care voted to stop offering those privileges altogether in 2015 amid a Republican-led legislative investigation on abortion in the state.
Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson in a Thursday statement called Wimes' ruling a "victory for protecting the sanctity of life." Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains President and CEO Brandon Hill in a Wednesday statement said the ruling is a "disappointing setback in our effort to protect access to safe, legal abortion in Missouri."
Wimes wrote in his ruling that Planned Parenthood can ask again to be exempted from the rule if the state later grants them an abortion license.
It's unclear when, or if, that will happen. State officials have repeatedly cited concerns raised during a Sept. 26 health inspection that found the Columbia clinic was using equipment with tubing that contained "black mold and bodily fluid," according to court documents filed by the Attorney General's Office. The attorney general is defending the state abortion regulations.
"As a Department, we are committed to ensuring the safety of all patients throughout their care at the facilities we regulate and license, including making sure that basic sanitation requirements are met," Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams said in a Thursday statement. "This was not the case during our most recent unannounced inspection of the Columbia facility."
A spokeswoman has said Planned Parenthood takes issue with that description, and said regardless the tubing has been replaced and other concerns raised in the Sept. 26 inspection have been addressed.
What to Know The serial killings between 1986 and 1995 began with the stabbing death of a college student
The case went cold for years, during which the bodies of several women were found in Riverside and San Diego counties
Andrew Urdiales, 54, was arrested in three Illinois killings in 1996, then connected to the Southern California killings
A former Marine who killed five women in Southern California was sentenced to death Friday in a case that spanned more than three decades and went cold for years until a traffic stop in Indiana provided investigators with a break.
Andrew Urdiales, 54, is already serving a life prison term in Illinois for three murders in Chicago. He was convicted of the Southern California killings May 23 by the same jury that deliberated for about a day before recommending in June that he be put to death for each of the five murders.
Judge Gregg Pickett agreed Friday, sentencing Urdiales, discharged from the military in 1991, to death on all five counts of murder. Speaking in the courtroom, Urdiales said he respects the jury's decision and probably would have done the same thing.
"I understand how they voted," he said. "If I were a juror on my case I would probably have done the same thing. There's no hard feelings."
He went on to speak to victims' families.
"I'm a little shaken actually, a little nervous," Urdiales said as he offered "sincere apologies" to jurors, the judge, prosecutors, victims' families and his own family for having to hear the "gory" details of his crimes.
Three people delivered victim impact statement in court Friday, including the father of Tammie Erwin. His daughter was killed in Palm Springs in April 1989.
"I know that I miss her every day of my life," he said.
Urdiales "not only killed my daughter, but he killed me inside," Erwin said. "This has ruined my life. It has turned my physical being into pieces, my mental being into pieces."
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in a statement that the death penalty was the only just punishment for Urdiales.
"When you think about the serial killings and terrible things he did, it's hard to think of Urdiales as a person he's a human monster," Rackauckas said. "He doesn't deserve to be in the planet with the rest of us."
Urdiales killed five women in Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties between 1986 and 1995, but it was an Illinois triple-murder case that brought him to the attention of investigators looking into the Southern California killings.
The California serial killings began with an attack on a 23-year-old Saddleback College student, according to investigators. The body of Robbin Brandley was found in a school parking lot, stabbed 41 times. She had been working earlier than night as an usher at a campus event.
Over that past three decades, her father's memories of the day Brandley left for college and never came home have mingled with frustration and anger. Her mother died in 2011.
"It just takes a terrible toll, 32 years of anger and mistrust, anxiety and pain," said Jack Reilly, the victim's father, after the June hearing. "I think that's what finally did my wife in couldn't take it anymore."
The case went cold for years, during which the bodies of several women with ties to prostitution were found in remote and secluded parts of Riverside and San Diego counties. A break came in 1996 when Chicago police investigating the deaths of three women in Illinois learned that a man later identified as Urdiales had been pulled over with a revolver in his car in Indiana.
That revolver was matched to bullets found in the bodies of the three victims in Illinois.
Urdiales told Chicago detectives that they also might want to ask him about people in California, Orange County prosecutors said in opening statements at his trial. He subsequently spoke with Orange County investigators, and he was arrested in 1997 on suspicion of killing an Orange County woman when he was a Marine at Camp Pendleton. He killed the four other women, in Riverside and San Diego counties, when he was stationed at Twenty-Nine Palms.
Urdiales had been sentenced to death in Chicago for the Illinois murders, but when the death penalty was abolished in Illinois he was re-sentenced to life without parole. He was brought to Orange County in 2011 to be tried for the five murders in Southern California.
Urdiales' attorney, Denise Gragg, argued in court that brain scans and psychological tests showed her client had symptoms of someone afflicted with partial fetal alcohol syndrome. The killer's mother was a steady drinker and imbibed when she was pregnant with Urdiales, she said.
That brain damage combined with a childhood of traumatic events left him with trouble managing his anger and emotions. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran performed well in the structured environment of the military, she argued, but did poorly in less-stable conditions.
Urdiales told investigators that he got into spats with many of the women before he snapped and killed them. Gragg said he would dissociate at times so that he wouldn't even be present consciously during the murders.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy argued there was little evidence to prove Urdiales' childhood was as unhappy as his defense attorneys claimed. There also wasn't as much childhood bullying as the defense alleged, he said.
Urdiales was convicted of killing:
23-year-old Robbin Brandley, who was attacked as she walked to her car following a concert on Jan. 18, 1986, at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo
29-year-old Julie McGhee on July 17, 1988, in Cathedral City
31-year-old Maryann Wells on Sept. 25, 1988, in San Diego
20-year-old Tammie Erwin on April 16, 1989, in Palm Springs
32-year-old Denise Maney on March 11, 1995, in Palm Springs
Urdiales was previously convicted of killing Laura Uylaki, Cassandra Corum and Lynn Huber, who worked as prostitutes in Illinois in the mid-1990s.
Update: The victim has died, police say.
A military veteran is in critical condition after being shot in a Northeast D.C. neighborhood Friday.
Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to the shooting at 15th and D streets within seconds about 5:30 p.m., and within minutes, two people were in custody and two guns had been recovered. The officers were patrolling the area because of a significant increase in gun violence in the area, including the wounding of a 9-year-old girl a week ago.
Police said they arent looking for any other suspects.
The family of the victim, 32-year-old Walter Leon Baylor, said they have no idea why he was shot.
My nephew did nothing to deserve this, said a man who said he is the victims uncle.
In the past two weeks, eight people were shot in five incidents in the area.
Two D.C. residents were killed: 25-year-old Marquiawn Williams, who was shot about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24 in the 1800 block of Benning Road NE, and 27-year-old Wilbert Brooks, who shot just after midnight Sunday in the 1500 block of Benning Road NE. No arrests have been made in either homicide.
A week ago, a 9-year-old girl was injured in a shooting about 9:30 p.m. Sept. 28 in the 1600 block of E Street NE. No arrests have been made.
And two weeks ago, on Sept. 21 about 11:10 p.m., four people were shot in the 1800 block of Benning Road NE. The victims survived. Police arrested 27-year-old Anthony Farmer of D.C. and an unidentified 26-year-old man.
A year-and-a-half after a popular restaurant in Northwest D.C.'s Petworth neighborhood went up in flames, the family-owned business is almost ready to reopen, but its lacking one important thing: food.
Fish in the Hood on Georgia Avenue is a place where locals gather for a perfect combo of soul and seafood.
"He knows how to make a fish dance," one customer said. "My stomach is overdue; it's waiting."
But in April 2017 the day before Good Friday, the restaurants busiest day of the year, Somehow this deep fryer started to flame up like a blow torch, owner William White said.
It got to the point the fire got started, we couldnt get it out," White said. "One of the customers told us, Get out, get out.
Within minutes, the fire department took over.
Then, after a months-long investigation and insurance sorting, work to reopen began.
Im doing all the work, White said. "I've done all the work."
Hes making great progress toward a soft opening in just a few weeks with help from the community and a GoFundMe page that raised $8,000, but he needs about the same amount to finish the work and restock the fish case.
Meanwhile, faithful customers are anxious for that food, and they, too, can see the finish line.
The question is, How do we get across? White said. So were so close, yet so far.
A Rhode Island task force formed to study the state's gun laws has released a series of recommendations, including a ban on high-capacity magazines and raising the age to buy long guns from 18 to 21.
The Providence Journal reports the recommendations released Thursday do not include a ban on military-style assault weapons, but instead a requirement that they are registered with state or local law enforcement.
Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo formed the group in April shortly after the fatal school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
The 43-member task force includes an emergency physician and a former state police major who's a National Rifle Association member.
Raimondo said Thursday "we're going to save a lot of lives," if the group's recommendations are turned into policy.
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.
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with collaborators across the country, report that people who participate in dementia prevention trials are primarily motivated by altruism and pleased to help.
The findings are published in the October 5 issue of Alzheimer's & Dementia.
"For the most part, people appeared satisfied with their experience in a clinical trial," said first author Mary Sano, PhD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "A big takeaway is how altruism and giving back are important to participants. We were also intrigued by the desire for increased social interactions."
The study surveyed 422 non-demented participants, age 75 and older, in the Home-Based Assessment (HBA) study at 27 sites across the country. The HBA study -- a four-year, longitudinal study using novel technologies to determine the feasibility of assessing cognitively normal older adults in their own homes -- was coordinated by the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS), an initiative of the National Institute on Aging based at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Almost 6 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease (AD), according to the Alzheimer's Association, with an American developing the disease every 65 seconds. By 2050, the number of persons with AD is projected to rise to nearly 14 million, making the need for research critical.
Yet little is known about the factors affecting the motivation and satisfaction of participants in dementia prevention trials, say experts. Beyond a motivation to help, the new study was an attempt to determine how future clinical trials might be made more attractive and effective. The HBA study involved various levels of technology, such as mail-in questionnaires, live telephone interviews, automated telephone calls with interactive voice response and an internet-connected, home-sited computer kiosk with responses captured via automated speech recognition.
Researchers found that trial participants preferred staff-administered assessments more than automated technologies; greater opportunity to challenge and improve their own mental function (such as a wider variety of activities during testing); and increased interaction with both study staff and other, older adults. They also sought more personal feedback from researchers as the trial progressed.
Sano said it wasn't surprising that participants became bored with repetitive tasks and frustrated by inevitable equipment glitches.
"It's important to understand because it's common for new trials to have more technology and less human interaction," she said. "While advanced technology is clearly essential, we also must remember that people want to feel valued for their own ideas and personalities."
Co-author Jeffrey Kaye, MD, professor of neurology at Oregon Health and Science University and director of both the Layton Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Center and the Oregon Center for Aging and Technology, suggested technology should be used with participant comfort in mind.
"To maximize the advantages that technologies can bring to clinical trials, it is important to ensure that devices or interactions with technology are integrated into participants' everyday lives. Ideally, the technology works in the background and is as unobtrusive as possible. If there are needed interactions, these must be engaging and minimally burdensome, especially when studies may be conducted over many years."
Senior author Howard Feldman, MD, professor of neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and clinical neurologist and director of the ADCS said the findings should inform and improve future study design.
"By listening to the concerns and suggestions of our participants, we build better, more effective studies in the future," he said. "It's good to know that participants are feeling the spirit of altruism in this work, as we are essentially relying on successful expansion of this community effort to address the ever increasing size and challenges of Alzheimer's disease.
"It is incumbent on us to listen and plan accordingly. It is also important to note, and not to underestimate, the human element described in this research. Direct human interaction seems to be an important contributor to participant engagement and retention. It is a reminder that human contact provides a benefit to these studies, supporting participants in a way that technology cannot."
New Delhi:In what is likely to be a run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, five states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Telangana will go to polls between November 12 and December 7 with the results to be declared on December 11.
While Chhattisgarh will face a two-phase election on November 12 and 20, the four other states will have single-phase elections and counting of votes will be taken up together on December 11, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.
Elections in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram will be held on November 28 and in Rajasthan and Telangana it will be held on December 7, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) OP Rawat announced in New Delhi.
In Telangana, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had dissolved the assembly on September 6, paving way for early elections.
The Congress, which is ruling in Mizoram, is trying to wrest power from the BJP in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In the first phase of elections in Chhattisgarh, 18 seats affected by Left wing extremism will go to polls and in the second phase, voting will be held in 72 seats in the northern parts of the state.
Responding to a question, Rawat defended the decision to have two phases, saying in the past too, voters, political leaders and security personnel have been targeted by Naxals and it was necessary to have polls in multiple phases.
The Model Code of Conduct, which bars the ruling party and even other parties from disturbing level playing field, came into force in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram immediately.
The term of the Madhya Pradesh assembly is ending on January 7, Rajasthan on January 20, Chhattisgarh of January 5 and Mizoram on December 15.
After a recent EC decision to impose model code immediately in states where assemblies are dissolved prematurely, Telangana is already under the poll code. The term of its assembly was to end in June, 2019.
The latest EC announcement, like the Karnataka election dates announcement in May, was also not short of controversy as the poll panels press conference was delayed by 3 hours and Congress smelled a conspiracy behind the move.
The EC was to initially hold a press conference at 12.30 pm Saturday, but the announcements were made only at 3.30 pm.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "putting pressure" on the EC to delay its press conference to announce poll dates in five states as he was scheduled to address a rally in Rajasthan.
With the announcement, Model Code of Conduct comes into effect in all five states, which prevents the state governments from announcing sops and policy changes that might influence the voters.
At an Ajmer rally, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje announced free electricity for farmers, just before the EC announced the dates on Saturday afternoon.
Much is at stake in the polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan as the BJP and the Congress are in a direct contest in the three states after the saffron party had trounced its arch-rival in 2013 and then gone to decimate it in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as well.
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its president Amit Shah, the BJP has since 2014 got better of the Congress in every major state polls where both were the main rivals.
In 2013, the BJP had won 165, 163 and 49 seats Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh assemblies respectively, with the Congress securing 58, 21 and 39 seats. The corresponding strength of these assemblies are 230, 200 and 90.
In Telangana, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi is seen to be going strong and will face contest from the Congress and the BJP. After winning 63 seats in the 2014 assembly polls, the TRS' ranks have swelled with members of rival parties joining it over the years. The state assembly has 119 seats.
In Mizoram, the Congress has been in power since 2008. In the hill state with 40 assembly seats, Congress has been in fight against stae parties Mizo National Front and Mizo Peoples Conference.
Putting in place security arrangements for the polls, the Union Home Ministry has ordered for the deployment of about 25,000 troops for election duties in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
These paramilitary and state police personnel, part of the additional 250 companies to be sent in for the polls, have been asked to take position by October 15 in states assigned to them.
While 50 fresh companies each have been marked to be sent to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the highest of 150 such teams have been earmarked by the ministry to be sent to Chhattisgarh that has its southern part affected by a high-level threat of Maoist violence.
A single state police or Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) company has about 100 personnel.
This time, to ensure "wholesome and constructive participation" of persons with disabilities in the election process, the Commission has decided to issue accessible photo voter slips with braille features to persons with visual impairment.
In a statement, EC said it is "genuinely concerned" about noise pollution and "great disturbance to the peace and tranquility of the general public by the reckless, widespread and flagrant use of loudspeakers during election canvassing and campaign."
It said that the use of public address system or loudspeakers or any sound amplifier, whether fitted on vehicles or in static position used for public meetings for electioneering purposes will not be permitted between 10.00 pm and 6.00 am.
(With PTI inputs)
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Paris : Interpol's Secretary General on Saturday asked the Chinese authorities to clarify the status of the international police organization's President Meng Hongwei, who reportedly went missing while on a trip to China seven days ago.
Jurgen Stock said Interpol used official law enforcement channels to convey its message to the Chinese authorities and also asked them to address concerns over the well-being of Meng, Efe news reported.
"Interpol's General Secretariat looks forward to an official response from the Chinese authorities to address concerns over the President's well-being," said Stock.
The International Criminal Police Organization, more commonly referred to as Interpol, is a France-based organization that links together international police forces and helps facilitate cooperation between them.
France had on Friday opened an investigation into the alleged disappearance of Meng, whose wife said he went missing on a trip to China.
There has been no news regarding his whereabouts since he left Interpol's headquarters in Lyon for his native China on September 28.
His wife, who remained in France with their two children, reported her concerns to the police, who launched a probe.
Meng, 64, a high ranking member of China's Communist Party, was elected as head of Interpol in 2016, replacing Mireille Ballestrazzi.
He thus became the first Chinese national to head the organization, but his nomination met opposition from activist groups critical of China's track record on human rights.
Interpol links police forces in 192 countries and enables them to work together to fight crime on an international scale.
It provides expertise and capabilities, particularly in three main crime scenarios: Counter-terrorism, cybercrime, and organized as well as emerging crime.
Vienna : The EU should remain strong on its commitment to the Iran nuclear deal and not be swayed by a change in policy from the US, the head of the European Commission said on Friday.
Jean-Claude Juncker gave an address at the Austrian Parliament where he said the EU should defend its participation in the historic pact -- which saw Tehran trade-in its nuclear weapons programme for less restrictive international sanctions -- so that European businesses were not affected by fresh US sanctions drawn up after President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 agreement.
"Europeans must keep their word and not give in to a change of moods just because others are doing so," the Luxembourgish politician was quoted as saying by Efe news. "In this context, we must defend ourselves more, because European companies should not suffer under the sanctions imposed against Iran by another, larger power."
The EU took measures to soften the blow of US sanctions in August.
Trump was hostile towards the Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), throughout his presidential campaign and announced Washington's withdrawal in May.
The White House subsequently said it would slap fresh sanctions on the Islamic Republic, an initial round lasting until November 4 to be followed by additional punitive measures thereafter.
In response, Iran filed a lawsuit against the US at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague based on a 1955 bilateral treaty on friendship and economic partnership, signed after the Washington-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was put in power following a coup.
The ICJ ordered the US to ease some of its planned sanctions, prompting the White House to scrap the 1955 deal.
The remaining parties of the JCPOA include the UK, Russia, China, France Germany and the EU.
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New Delhi:
Low-cost carrier IndiGo on Saturday announced the launching of its new international flight services to Male and Phuket from November, an official said.
The Gurgaon-based carrier IndiGo will be connected to Male (Maldives) from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kochi, while services to Phuket (Thailand) will be operated from Delhi from November, the official said.
The carrier will operate daily Kochi-Male flights and five-times a week from Mumbai-Male, the airline said, adding the services on the Bengaluru-Male route will be operated twice a week.
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Meanwhile, the airline said it will operate six weekly flights from Delhi to Phuket.
Alongwith the new flight services, IndiGo has also announced special inaugural fares starting Rs 5,799 for the new flights.
Male will be the 13th and Phuket will be the 14th international destination for IndiGo as part of its overseas expansion, the airline said.
IndiGo Chief Commercial Officer William Boulter told reporters, We are pleased to announce Male and Phuket as our 13th and 14th international destination effective November. We will operate direct flights to Male from three key cities of Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kochi. And we will also operate non-stop flights between Delhi and Phuket.
Read More | CEC OP Rawat announces poll dates for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Telangana
"The new flights are designed to cater to business and leisure travellers from these cities, who are constantly on the lookout for new and affordable flying options," the release said.
IndiGo will continue to expand its network to meet the requirements of both business and leisure travellers wherever they demand it, he added.
With the announcement of new overseas flight services, IndiGo now see great potential to boosting tourism in India, as both Male and Phuket are key markets for the airline, it said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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New Delhi:
A couple of days after the Central governmentas decision to cut the Value Added Taxes (VAT) on fuel prices by Rs 2.50 and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled statesa additional relief of Rs 2.50, fuel prices witnessed a marginal hike yet again as petrol price in Delhi was marked at Rs 81.68 per litre with an increase of Rs 0.18, while diesel was priced at Rs 73.79 per litre, increasing by Rs 0.29. Mumbai witnessed the petrol price surge to Rs 87.15 per litre with an increase of Rs 0.18, while diesel was priced at Rs 76.75, decreasing by Rs 0.70.
aPetrol and Diesel prices in #Delhi are Rs 81.68 per litre (increase by Rs 0.18) and Rs 73.79 per litre (increase by Rs 0.29), respectively. Petrol & Diesel prices in #Mumbai are Rs 87.15 per litre (increase by Rs 0.18) and Rs 76.75 (decrease by Rs 0.70), respectively,a reported News Agency ANI.
Petrol and Diesel prices in #Delhi are Rs 81.68 per litre (increase by Rs 0.18) and Rs 73.79 per litre (increase by Rs 0.29), respectively. Petrol & Diesel prices in #Mumbai are Rs 87.15 per litre (increase by Rs 0.18) and Rs 76.75 (decrease by Rs 0.70), respectively. pic.twitter.com/lZNsqxfkNa a ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2018
Meanwhile, the Bihar government on Friday announced that it would be reducing excise duty on both petrol and diesel while making it cheaper by Rs 2.52 and Rs 2.55 per litre respectively.
In Patna, petrol was marked at Rs 85.28 per litre, while diesel was at Rs 76.30 per litre.
BJP-ruled states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh Thursday announced a reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel prices by Rs. 2.5 per litre,A
Haryanaas Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu on Friday made the announcement of state government's decision to reduce VAT on both petrol and diesel by Rs 2.5 per litre.
aThe state government has decided to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel by about Rs 2.5 per litre. The revised rates would be effective from today mid-night. After reduction, the revised rates of diesel in Haryana would be about Rs 71 per litre and petrol would be about Rs 79 per litre. This would cause an annual burden of Rs 1,920 crore on state exchequer,a he had said.
On Saturday, Gurgaon witnessed the petrol to be priced at Rs 80.37 per litre, while diesel was marked at Rs 72.14 per litre.
The Jharkhand government also levied an additional relief of Rs 2.50 per litre on petrol, making it Rs 78.05 per litre, while diesel stood at Rs 74.81 per litre.
The Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra on Friday decided to slash the price of diesel by Rs 1.56 per litre, making it Rs 76.75, whereas petrol was marked at Rs 87.15 in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, in Kolkata, petrol was priced at Rs 83.52 per litre while diesel was marked at Rs 75.09 per litre.
In Bhubaneswar, Odisha, petrol stood at Rs 80.51 per litre, whereas diesel was priced at 78.59 per litre.
Congress-ruled Punjab is yet to decide on the fuel price cut, however, Haryana announced a cut of Rs 1.50 on both petrol and diesel.
"Chandigarh Administration reduces petrol and diesel prices by Rs.1.50 per litre," a statement read.
As a result, petrol was marked at Rs 77.12 per litre, while diesel was priced at Rs 69.69 per litre in Chandigarh.
Gujaratas Gandhinagar witnessed the petrol price to be at Rs 78.85 per litre, while diesel was at Rs 76.72 per litre.
Meanwhile, in Patna, petrol got up to Rs 85.28 and diesel to Rs 76.30 per litre.
In Guwahati, Petrol stood at Rs 81.56 whereas diesel was priced at 74.07 per litre. Whereas Bengaluru witnessed the petrol price surge to Rs 82.32 with diesel being at Rs 73.61.
Madhya Pradeshas Bhopal saw the price of petrol being marked at Rs 84.87, while diesel stood at Rs 74.63 per litre.
On Thursday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely announced marginal relief for commuters by slashing the oil duty by Rs 1.50 and another Re 1 drop in what the government charges from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
Finance MinisterA Arun JaitleyA announced marginal relief for citizens with an oil duty cut of Rs 1.50 and another Re 1 drop in what the government charges from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
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New Delhi:
In yet another tragic incident, at least 20 people were dead and 16 others injured after an "overcrowded passenger minibus slipped into a deep gorge along a mountainous road in Indian-controlled Kashmir this morning. The mishap took place around 9:55 am after the driver apparently lost control over the vehicle near Ramban district, leading it to plunge off the Himalayan mountain.
The driver lost control over the "overcrowded" vehicle which rolled down the 200-ft-deep gorge at Kela Morh near Maroof, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range, Rafiq-ul-Hassan was quoted by reporters as saying.
The deceased include four women and the driver of the 22-seat minibus, which was carrying at least 36 passengers while on its way to Ramban town from Banihal. The injured, including 10 in critical condition were rushed to Army hospital at Udhampur while two others to Jammu.
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"The critically injured persons were airlifted to Army hospital at Udhampur and Government Medical College hospital Jammu for specialized treatment," the DIG added.
Soon after the incident, local volunteers launched a rescue operation and were shortly joined by the quick reaction teams of police and Army. The rescue team has been awarded with Rs 50,000 for their significant contribution to the operation.
Showkat Aijaz Bhat, the district collector of Ramban has also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the keen of deceased and Rs 50,000 those injured. They praised the rescuers for reaching the accident victims "in the shortest possible time", thus saving many lives.
A minibus had fallen into a deep gorge at Kela Moth on Jammu Srinagar National Highway while it was going from Banihal to Ramban, earlier today. #JammuAndKashmir https://t.co/r0XhNPJSac ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2018
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New Delhi:
At least 13 security forces personnel were injured in a road mishap in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Saturday, defence sources said.
The Army vehicle the jawans were travelling in turned turtle near Kanipora in the south Kashmir district on Saturday morning, the sources said.
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The 13 injured jawans have been taken to a nearby medical facility for treatment. Their condition is stable, the sources said.
In another road accident case, over 15 people were critically injured when a minibus fell into a deep gorge along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near here Banihal, a senior police officer said.
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The vehicle was headed for Ramban from Banihal. On reaching Kela morh near Maroof, the driver lost control over the vehicle which rolled down the 200-feet-deep gorge, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ramban, Anita Sharma said.
She said rescue operation is under way and so far 15 people have been admitted to a nearby hospital.
New Delhi:
Indian model-turned-actress Tanushree Dutta, who has been accusing Nana Patekar of sexual harassment for a quite some time now, has finally filed a police complaint against the veteran Bollywood actor at Mumbai's Oshiwara police station in connection with the 2008 incident at the Filmistan studio 3. According to reports, the written complaint, filed by Dutta, has mentioned the name of actor Nana Patekar, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, producer Sameer Siddiqui, director Rakesh Sarang and a few MNS workers, who were closely associated with the 2009 film Horn OK Please.
Tanushree in her complaint said she has lodged an FIR under section 354, 354 (A), 509 and 34 of IPC against the above-mentioned people. The Maharashtra police will now first investigate the facts and later take any decision regarding the same.
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The complaint filed by Tanushree Dutta is as follows:
"On 23rd March 2008, I was shooting for a song in the film Horn OK Please at the Filmistan studio 3. The song was supposed to be solo on me only. Nana Patekar having only one line in the entire song which was not part of my choreography rehearsal which took place on 17, 18 and 20 March 2008 at Shirique hall under the supervision of choreographer Ganesh Acharya. Before the shoot, I had clearly said I will not enact or perform any lewd or vulgar steps," the complaint read.
"On the 4th day of shoot 26th March, while the shoot was going on, Nana Patekar's behaviour was inappropriate towards me, he was on the set despite his work in the song was over. He was grabbing me by the arms and pushing me towards me around on the pretext of teaching me how to dance. When he was touching indecently and unnecessary than I felt very uncomfortable because of hai behaviour and I felt he has outraged my modesty and embarrassed. He told other staffs and choreographer to step away so that he can teach me dance even though he was not the choreographer," Tanushree recounted.
"I complained this to the producer, director and choreographer, hoping they will take action. When I returned back from my Vanity Van after an hour I was told that a few more steps are added in the song which is with Nana Patekar and all very intimate with him. I refused to do any such steps. I was forced to do the steps by the director, producer and choreographer and all the while when it was happening, Nana Patekar stayed on the set and listening everything,' the actress went on to claim further.
Read | Tanushree Duttas fight is not gender-centric, she is upset with Farah Khan and Priyanka Chopra too
The former Miss India and Bollywood actress had been away from the country for quite some time and returned to India in July this year. In a recent interview with Zoom TV, Tanushree made the shocking revelation on Patekars alleged indecent behaviour with her in 2008 on the sets of film Horn Ok Pleassss.
Everyone knows about Nana Patekar that he has always been disrespectful towards women. People in the industry know that he has beaten actresses, he has molested them. His behaviour with women has always been crude but no publication has printed anything about it, she told Zoom TV.
Read | Nana Patekar has a bad temper, many have faced his wrath: Renuka Sahane backs Tanushree Dutta
Giving another edge to the controversy, Nana, on the other hand, dismissed all such allegations and slapped a legal notice to the actress, asking for an apology.
Soon after the incident took the social media by storm, a number of Bollywood personalities, including Farhan Akhtar, Kajol, Ayushmann Khurrana and Priyanka Chopra came out in support of Dutta.
In what could be another big blow for Patekar, Tanushree will hold a press conference on October 8 at her residence in suburban Andheri, Mumbai on the same.
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New Delhi:
Ray Galton, a comedy writing legend of British sitcom, died after a prolong illness at 88.
Galton died on Friday evening after a long and heart-breaking battle with dementia, his family said in a statement on Saturday.
Ray passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, the statement added.
He (Galton) brought laughter to many millions over 7 decades - and counting, British Comedy Society tweeted.
We are deeply saddened by the death of Ray Galton, the brilliant, iconic comedy writer, who has died at the age of 88. He brought laughter to many millions over 7 decades - and counting. https://t.co/U3mivxtdvv pic.twitter.com/soEkQI5ovU BritishComedySociety (@BritComSociety) October 6, 2018
With his professional partner Alan Simpson, who died last year, Galton co-wrote the landmark British comedy series- Hancocks Half Hour and Steptoe and Son. In 2016, the duo were awarded Baftas highest honour, the Fellowship, said the sources.
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According to reports, their film Steptoe and Son, a sitcom about father-and-son junk dealers, reigned theatres between 1962 and 1974. Later Producer Norman Lear adapted it into the U.S. sitcom "Sanford and Son, it said.
The London-born Galton was diagnosed with life-threatening tuberculosis as a teenager. In a Surrey sanatorium, he met another sick teen, Alan Simpson, and the pair became long-term writing partners and make comedy history.
Galtons manager Tessa Le Bars fondly called them the fathers and creators of British sitcom.
(With inputs from agencies)
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New Delhi:
General officer commanding (GoC) of the Army's 15 Corps, Lt Gen AK Bhatt on Saturday said around 300 militants are active in the Kashmir Valley while more than 250 ultras have been waiting in the launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) to infiltrate into the Indian side.
Our army is alert and ready to stop them," Lt Gen AK Bhatt told reporters in Kupwara district of north Kashmir.
Bhatt also said villagers near the LoC have been supporting the Indian forces, adding that the Army's efforts would be to not let the militants infiltrate into this side.
"Our aim is peace and tranquillity and that the elections are concluded peacefully. We are conducting area domination with CRPF police during day and night," he said.
The four-phased urban local bodies (ULB) elections in Jammu and Kashmir are scheduled to begin on October 8.
(With PTI inputs)
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Bengaluru:
Tamil Nadu is witnessing heightened political drama ahead of the crucial by-elections to two assembly seats Tiruvarur and Tiruparankundram likely to be held along with general elections to five states. Why the two by-elections are crucial, though the outcome will not have any impact on the government of the day in the state, is because they will test the leadership skills of the newly anointed DMK president MK Stalin.
More important, the person who inherited the political legacy of his father, the towering Dravidian and national leader, K Karunanidhi, will have to retain the Tiruvarur seat the DMK patriarch held till his death.
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Here, Stalin is facing trouble from his elder brother MK Alagiri, who has vowed to wreck his brother and his leadership.
For Stalin personally, a victory at Tiruvarur is a must as a victory at Tiruparankundram is a must for rebel AIADMK leader, TTV Dhinakaran to stay relevant in Tamil Nadu politics.
It is with the two by-elections in mind, Dhinakaran and his supporters have unveiled a strategy to create confusion in AIADMK ranks and drive a wedge between the Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.
It is as part of this strategy, Dhinakaran lobbed a bombshell that Deputy Chief Minister Panneerelvam was ready to stab his boss and partner in power, Palaniswami and for this OPS was in constant touch with him. What Dhinakaran gains from this revelation is to increase mistrust between the leaders, who are pulling on despite their differences to ensure the government completes its term.
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AIDAMK deputy coordinator R Vaithalingam asserted that the CM and DCM were working in tandem and there were no differences. TTV Dhinakaran is adopting a divide and rule strategy by making allegations that OPS met him. TTVs tricks will fail as the two leaders are working together, he said.
I see the current allegation of TTV over OPS meeting to remove EPS and the timing of the expose as an attempt to damage OPS and EPS equation, besides trying to take advantage for the by-polls, felt perception strategist John Arokiaswamy. While one of the seats going to by-polls Tiruparangundram will be a triangular contest between the AIADMK, DMK and TTV Dhinakaran the Tiruvarur constituency will see sibling rivalry out on the streets.
But DMK is expected to romp home if it fields a heavy candidate, Arokiaswamy felt. But political analyst Prof Ramu Manivannan of the Madras University said the DMK cannot take Alagiri lightly even though Tiruvarur is the partys bastion represented till his death by party patriarch Karunanidhi.
However, on a day of fast-paced political developments on Union Minister of State, Pon Radhakrishnan met the chief minister and also
Governor Banwarilal Purohit. The chief minister is also slated to meet the Governor and then next week visit Delhi to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Now, all this flurry of activity has given rise to speculations of a snap poll in Tamil Nadu too, possibly to be timed along with the Lok Sabha general elections. Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswamy could, party sources indicate, play ball with the BJP and he feels frustrated by the constant bickering within the party.
All this hectic politicking also comes ahead of a crucial Madras High Court decision on the disqualification of 18 MLAs belonging to the AIADMK. A decision in favour of the disqualified MLAs could mean curtains for the government which will be in a minority. Then there is a resolution to remove Speaker P Dhanpal moved by a supporter of Dhinarakan. Given that the assembly has over two years of life, the DMK would welcome any chance to fell the government.
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Dhaka:
Bangladeshs jailed former prime minister and BNP chief Khaleda Zia was on Saturday admitted to a specialised state-run hospital here for proper treatment following a court order as her health deteriorated.
Zia, 73, is currently on trial for corruption charges in a makeshift courtroom inside a 19th-century British-built prison where she is the only inmate and in failing health.
The former prime minister had recently complained to the court that she was losing feeling in her hand and in a leg.
We have admitted her and took all steps to provide her the required treatment, a Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) spokesman told PTI.
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Zia would be staying at a VIP cabin in the hospital while an adjacent room has been allocated for her, he said.
The Bangladesh High Court on Thursday had ordered the government to shift Zia to BSMMU and reconstitute a medical team for her treatment.
The court ruled that Zia could choose a physiotherapist, a gynaecologist and a technician and a physician from outside Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) for her treatment subject to the approval from the medical team.
It also directed the authorities to start Zias medical treatment soon after her admission to hospital.
Zia filed a writ petition on September 9 seeking treatment for her various ailments at a private hospital of her choice. The government insisted that she must prefer a government facility like the BSMMU or Combined Military Hospital (CMH) for treatment.
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A police car brought the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief out of the prison. Many BNP activists were at the hospital to see Khaleda, but were blocked from approaching her by the police.
Zia was jailed for five years in February after being convicted of corruption involving an orphanage, a sentence that triggered clashes between police and thousands of her supporters.
She was granted bail in a corruption case in May but remains in jail while she fights dozens of other violence and graft charges.
Zia was found guilty then of embezzling money intended for an orphanage, a charge she dismissed as politically motivated.
She is appealing against the verdict which bars her from standing in a general election to be held in December.
The BNP alleges that the trial was politically motivated to debar her from contesting elections, but the government denies the allegation.
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New Delhi:
Interpol president Meng Hongwei, who was reported missing in his native country, has been detained in China for questioning as a part of an investigation against him, according to reports on Saturday.
Meng landed in China last week, and was soon taken away for questioning by discipline authorities, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted a source as saying.
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Sixty-four-year-old Meng is the first Chinese head of the Interpol, the international law enforcement agency. He is also a vice-minister at Chinas Ministry of Public Security. Recently, his wife reported to the French Police that he had gone missing.
Last week, he landed in China amid the mystery surrounding his disappearance. Meng was last seen in France on September 29, according to reports from France.
It was not immediately clear why he is being investigated or where he is being held, sources said.
Also Read | India rejects Pakistan's claim of using chemical weapons on civilians
(With inputs from agencies)
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New Delhi:
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on how the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented in India, a senior official said. Putin told Modi that he was planning to implement the tax reform in his country.
"There was a discussion with President Putin on how we implemented the GST... He is planning to do it. So, there was a long discussion on that," the official said. The GST was introduced in India on July 1, 2017.
The official added that in the the run-up to the 20th Indo-Russia Summit, there was discussion to have a joint tiger conservation initiative at a bilateral or multilateral level.
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Stressing that people-to-people contact between the two countries should increase, the two leaders also decided to select 10 books from their country for translation in each other's countries.
The two leaders also agreed to start Ganga-Volga Dialogue to rebuild the bond between the two peoples.
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CAIRO - The visual was striking - Melania Trump stood in front of Egypt's Great Sphinx, doing something she rarely does: Speaking about the news of the day.
Reporters traveling with her as she traversed Africa this week asked her about the news back home of the confirmation of the president's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her.
"I'm glad that Dr. Ford was heard," the first lady said. "I'm glad that Judge Kavanaugh was heard, FBI investigation was done, is completed, and [the] Senate voted."
She spoke of sexual assault victims who have been speaking up, sounding a far more sympathetic note than President Trump, who has mocked Ford. "We need to help all the victims, no matter what kind of abuse they had," she said. "I'm against any kind of abuse."
The first lady, who so often comes across as sphinx-like herself and has often remained silent amid the din of her husband's administration, was unusually outspoken.
"I don't always agree what he tweets and I tell him that. I give him my honest opinion and honest advice. Sometimes he listens sometimes he doesn't. I have my own voice and my opinions and it's very important to me that I express how I feel."
Asked if she has ever told him to put his phone down, she replied, "Yes!"
As she prepared to end her trip, she lamented the social-media mocking of a pith helmet she wore in Kenya - a sartorial choice many saw as a throwback to the colonial era - saying she wished people would "focus on what I do, not what I wear."
But though she bemoaned the focus on appearances, Trump carefully curates her public image, and no more so than during the week-long visit to Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt.
The journey has produced a set of photos designed to burnish the first lady's public profile and generate goodwill in a continent wary of her husband's administration.
Trump, who often comes across as removed, rehearsed and aloof - a former fashion model perched on five-inch stilettos, reading from scripts - appeared more spontaneous and at ease as she visited tourist sites, schools, hospitals, and orphanages.
In Cairo, Trump was greeted by Egypt's first lady, Entissar al-Sissi. The pair then went to the presidential palace to have tea, where Trump was also greeted by President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi.
The meetings were cordial, absent of any discussions of controversial topics such as President Donald Trump's derogatory comments about African countries, according to local news reports.
By the afternoon, the first lady was on her way to see Egypt's most famous treasures. Near the Pyramids complex, streets were being cleaned and spruced up ahead of her arrival, but hardly any locals were around.
At the base of the Sphinx, Trump observed a project of the United States Agency for International Development to protect the Sphinx and several of the country's other important archaeological sites from rising groundwater.
During a visit Friday to a Kenyan orphanage, she swayed to a drum beat as she walked, holding hands with two children, as they crossed a flower-lined courtyard. She laughed as she fed a baby elephant from a bottle at a refuge in Kenya.
And she appeared visibly moved by her visit earlier in the week to Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, where slaves were held captive in dungeons before they were sent abroad on ships.
"It's very emotional," she said after spending time there and laying wreaths in the cells. "I will never forget the incredible experience and the stories that I heard."
But aside from escaping Washington's tumult and softening her own image, what did she accomplish on her first major solo trip abroad?
She seemed to pass the first test of any diplomatic mission: show up and show good will.
Foreign policy experts, though, say the trip did little to reassure Africans that the Trump administration, which has largely ignored the continent and has proposed budget cuts to programs offering aid, would make them a priority.
"She came, like many U.S. first ladies, to hold children, to say the right thing - and she has done that," said Boubacar N'Diaye, professor of Africana studies at the College of Wooster. "I'm sure in her heart she means those things - but that is very different from real policies that the government cares about."
Others saw the visit as a gratifying gesture and said it raised her profile, even as it was unclear what effect, if any, it would have in terms of U.S. policy.
"My take from the visit is very positive," said Edward Saweregera, Malawi's ambassador to the United States. The first lady was warmly received, he said, and the fact that "Malawi was one of the chosen few countries" she toured underscored the U.S.- Malawi bond. Most people in Malawi didn't know much about Melania Trump before she arrived, so "it was a chance to get to know her," he said.
As for any impact on policy, the ambassador added, "That I will leave to the U.S. government."
Trump's trip was a low-key one that generated few big headlines, a fact that had much to do with the news cycle at home, which was dominated by the Kavanaugh news. And her schedule, including visits to a hospital, a school and American embassies, was relatively light.
Judd Devermont, Africa program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that judging from news coverage in African countries she visited, "interest in her trip ranged from mild interest to indifference."
Before her final story, the first lady spoke publicly only a few times, and then very briefly.
"Thank you for educating them to be best," she said after touring a school in Malawi, echoing the name of her "Be Best" initiative aimed at children's well-being. "And to grow up into educated adults for generations to come."
She avoided, as some quipped, the elephant in the room. She told reporters that her husband's derogatory comments about African nations (he called them "shithole countries" and also wondered whether Nigerians would return to "their huts" after coming to the U.S. on visas) had not come up during her visit.
Lauren Wright, the author of "On Behalf of the President" and a politics lecturer at Princeton, said Melania Trump could have done more to smooth over the president's slurs, and the fact that she chose not to seems significant. "What would help would be is if she directly addressed her husband's comments about the continent," she said. "She doesn't clean up president's messes - she does her own thing. She's made it clear that she's not there to rescue him, even though she's the only one who can do it."
Even Melania Trump's husband reacted to the trip as if it were something he watched on a television set on mute. "Our country's great first lady, Melania, is doing really well in Africa," he tweeted on Wednesday. "The people love her, and she loves them! It is a beautiful thing to see."
But perhaps the trip will spur Melania Trump to find her voice. In addition to the interview in Egypt, she is scheduled for a rare televised sit-down to air Friday on ABCs "20/20." The network is promising a "wide-ranging" interview between the first lady and Tom Llamas, the weekend "World News Tonight" anchor who traveled with her on the Africa trip.
Paolo Zampolli, a longtime friend of the Trumps, says the first lady might make more such trips, possibly to Central and South America next. The trip to the African nations served to "fly the American flag there."
And it remains to be seen whether, up on her return, that the first lady will press the president to take more of an interest in the countries she visited - and whether he will listen.
Even though the Trump administration loosened regulations to allow big-game hunters to import tusks, hides and other parts of animals, and her stepsons, Donald Jr. and Eric are hunters, Melania Trump visited a big-game conservation site.
"She thinks animals are precious and she doesn't like big-game hunting," spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said.
- - -
Raghavan and Heba Farouk Mahfouz reported in Cairo. Heil and Jordan reported in Washington.
DANBURY The four-year effort to open the first public charter school in the citys history has cleared a major hurdle but still faces obstacles before it becomes a reality.
Now that the Danbury Prospect Charter School finally received approval of the state Board of Education on Wednesday, its leaders must turn to their next and most difficult effort: Convincing state legislators to fund the new school next spring.
But with a new governor and legislature looming in the New Year and ongoing tensions over the state budget, the future of the proposal remains punctuated with a question mark.
This is one very important step, but we still have a challenging road ahead of us, said Dan Rubenstein, the charter groups executive director. We know there are still a lot of questions out there.
The proposal has slowly crept toward approval for nearly four years, bringing home the national debate about the efficacy of charter schools among local officials, educators and parents.
With the funding debate still pending, Danbury Prospect leaders already are pushing their planned opening date to fall 2020 back from their hoped-for opening next year and a full two years behind the opening date they had originally envisioned when they began considering Danbury.
Thats a very tight timeline, Rubenstein said. Were most likely looking at a fall 2020 opening.
When we recruit families, we are asking them for an extraordinary amount of trust in us with their children, he continued. The last thing we want to do is not be able to make good on that trust.
Heart of dowtown
Danbury Prospect is designed to become the citys first charter schools with an eventual 6th through 12th grade preparatory school of about 550 students.
If funded, the school plans to open with about 110 sixth graders its first semester and then add a new class each year.
The school will be the first Connecticut location of the New York-based Brooklyn Prospect Charter Schools, which operates four charter schools in Brooklyn with more than 1,250 students. The schools teach curriculum known as the International Baccalaureate an academic program that emphasizes critical thinking through in-depth reading and writing.
But still outstanding, in addition to the state funding, is a permanent location for the school.
Prospect leaders have said they are looking for a location in downtown but have yet to settle on a particular property.
They have the enthusiastic support of Mayor Mark Boughton, though, who has lauded the proposal and pledged to help find and even provide some city funding to build the school near Main Street.
If the legislature votes to fund the operation next spring, Boughton has proposed working with Danbury Prospect to develop a citywide referendum to help fund the cost of renovating a building itself an unknown for the new school.
The city could contribute some, the schools benefactors more and then they could all try to convince the state bond commission to reimburse a major portion of the costs, he suggested last week.
But that idea gets to the heart of lingering skepticism about the proposal locally.
Education dollars
Danbury Public Schools leaders have discussed the idea with caution, not opposing it outright this year but openly worrying that the new school could hobble their lobbying efforts to secure more state funding.
Superintendent Sal Pascarella expressed some of those concerns and questions in a letter to state education officials about whether the local district might face any immediate or long-term costs to support the new charter.
Democratic State Rep. David Arconti said he will not advocate for the charter school because of the possible financial ramifications.
If Im going to advocate for more education money to come to the City of Danbury, its going to be in the form of public school district funding, he said. Thats where were chronically underfunded. And there are so many questions too that the local Board of Education still has and that werent answered clearly.
Proponents of the charter school argue its per-pupil funding is a separate item in the states budget and therefore wont interfere with local district funding.
It will be a long haul ahead with funding, said Rachel Chaleski, an early advocate for Danbury Prospect who now serves on the school board. My priority is of course the district ... But (the charter school) is a separate line item on the state budget.
The legislature has made some progress with fixing the (district) funding, although its not as urgent as wed like the plan to be, she continued. Its about education dollars for the kids.
Managing growth
Some school board members and Boughton also have suggested the charter could help alleviate space concerns at the middle school level, though, even after the addition of modular classrooms at Westside Middle School Academy this fall and the new addition at Danbury High School.
District officials are planning a facilities needs study to start later this year to chart out their classroom needs with hundreds of more students expected in the district every year.
Danbury Prospects addition could be exactly the help the district needs, Rubenstein and Boughton suggested. Prospect Schools leadership will continue to meet with local district officials as they continue to develop their plans, they said.
This is just one other way of managing the explosive growth were experiencing, Boughton said. If theres going to be a charter school in Danbury, this is the group wed want leading it.
You couldnt pick a more top flight organization he said. This isnt like the horror stories youve heard about in other states. Theyre incredibly well managed and do great a job for their kids. And its got to be about our kids.
zach.murdock@hearstmediact.com
DANBURY The iconic Uncle Sam statue that once towered over the Danbury Fair will return home this fall.
Mayor Mark Boughton announced this week he has struck a deal to buy back the 38-foot-tall figure from its current home at the Magic Forest family amusement park in Lake George, N.Y.
There the humungous patriot has entertained thousands since the last Danbury Fair closed 36 years ago. But its time to return the famed piece back to its rightful home, Boughton and Magic Forest owner Jack Gillette agreed.
Danbury that fair in 1981 and 82 (and) the things I bought took my amusement park to another level and allowed me to go even beyond that in two or three years, said Jack Gillette, the longtime owner of the Magic Forest. It really made my park. I thought its only fitting for it to go back.
The $50,000 deal includes Uncle Sam, his fencing and the massive steel pole that helps keep him upright, plus the Cinderella exhibit that was built on the Danbury fairgrounds decades ago and is still in great condition, Boughton and Gillette said.
City leaders have not decided where Uncle Sams should go when he returns to Danbury, but Boughton has suggested they are looking at locations visible from Interstate 84.
It likely will cost another $50,000 to $100,000 to transport, refurbish, install and light the massive pieces, Boughton estimated.
Several businesses have pledged donations, including one to help design the statues base and another fiberglass expert who will work to restore, paint and seal the fiberglass statue against the elements, Boughton said. Another yet-unnamed business has pledged $25,000 in cash for the project, he added.
The city is asking residents to try to raise as much as $50,000 for the effort with a new GoFundMe campaign online and the city will plan to cover the remainder of the costs, Boughton said.
The mayor had fun up here and I made him a good package that I dont think he could have refused, Gillette said. I am ecstatic its going back to Danbury.
For Gillette, sending Uncle Sam back home marks the end of a chapter for his familys amusement park he is selling the business to the son of a family friend who will re-theme the park and replace many of the rides and attractions.
He bought Uncle Sam and 20 truckloads of other Danbury Fair treasures at the one-week auction in April 1982 after the fair closed for the last time. He still has 235 pieces from the fair in Lake George, including the 18-foot-tall Hansel and Gretel statues and one depicting There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.
Danbury Public Works Director Antonio Iadarola laughed recently when asked how the statue will need to be transported. He and his children stopped by the park in August to see Uncle Sam while on a family vacation and he and Gillette discussed how to cut the statue of its base and disassemble several of its pieces including Sams huge hat, which is bolted onto his head.
I suppose you need a crane, but I bought it laying down at the fairgrounds, Gillette said. This is going to sound strange, but Ive put it up twice in my lifetime and Ive never taken it down. It got pulled down by vandals once.
In 1995, a group of teenagers sneaked on to the property and toppled Uncle Sam by breaking him off at the ankles. Gillette doesnt suggest that method for Iadarola and his team, but he does know where the breaks were and will help them spot the places on the statue to be ginger and make repairs, he said.
BRING SAM HOME The city is asking residents to raise as much as $50,000 for the effort to return Uncle Sam to Danbury with a new GoFundMe campaign online. To donate or for more information, go to www.gofundme.com/bring-uncle-sam-back-to-danbury. See More Collapse
The city of Troy, N.Y., also had been interested in buying the statue this summer, Boughton and Gillette said. That is where meat packer Samuel Wilson lived, whom legend has it is the inspiration behind Uncle Sam, but Gillette preferred to send the statue back to its original home in Danbury instead.
Its going to be a project, but I think its going to be a lot of fun, Boughton said. So the next Fourth of July wed like to unveil him and have a big event to celebrate the fair, so weve got that going for us.
zach.murdock@hearstmediact.com
Channeling the Emperor Napoleon he so admires, Emmanuel Macron planned his presidential term like a military campaign.
Only his grand designs omitted one thing -- the human factor. The shock resignation this week of Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, the president's most senior Cabinet member, confronts Macron with a fresh dilemma: whether to simply replace Collomb or to use his departure as an opportunity to reshuffle his personnel and revisit how he governs.
The case for a root-and-branch approach has become more compelling after a torrid few months that have seen his style of governance ridiculed and his ratings plunge. Collomb's messy resignation over two days was just the latest blow; Energy Minister Nicolas Hulot, a popular figure in France, quit on live radio in August. Both high-profile ministers aimed parting shots at Macron as they left.
"Chaos of news, scandals, personal ambitions, all these very human factors have upended Macron's plans," said Bruno Cautres, a professor at Paris-based Sciences-Po institute. "Either he continues to repair every leak or takes a big step to restore stability."
Elected for a five-year mandate with a majority in Parliament and no mid-term elections, Macron should be safe for now. Less than 36 hours after Collomb quit, as he celebrated the 60th anniversary of France's Constitution, Macron praised the presidential system that allows him to continue his reform agenda despite the "tempest, the setbacks" and the "tyranny of the now." The youngest French leader since Napoleon pledged to maintain his course.
For all his bravado in marching ahead, Macron didn't foresee that his close aides could be the ones to force him to alter his path so soon in his term, said Francois Patriat, a senator, early backer and leading figure in the president's Republic on the Move party.
Macron has always seen his mandate in several phases. The first -- and current -- phase consists of implementing tough reforms on tax, labor laws, training, benefits and pensions to revive the economy. Phase Two would benefit from the fruits of those efforts in the run-up to the 2022 presidential election.
"Phase One was always until June 2019, after the European elections, as all the major reforms would be completed," said Patriat. Yet while there is now an urgency to revisit that plan, "the team has to stay and finish the job, even if sometimes there are diverging views," he said.
Macron's dilemma is all the more acute since, according to Patriat, he wasn't planning on making major Cabinet changes until before the 2020 municipal elections, when some of his ministers aim to run for local office. The mayors of major cities in France are powerful roles with prestige that offer the incumbent a regional power base government ministers can lack.
Some are already feeling the lure. Collomb left to seek election as mayor of Lyon for a fourth time, having initially indicated he wouldn't leave the government until next year. Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux is eyeing running for Paris mayor. Even Prime Minister Edouard Philippe hinted on television last month that he may be tempted to go back to city hall in his hometown of Le Havre.
Philippe has said Collomb will be replaced in the coming days. RTL radio reported Thursday that Philippe and Macron will go beyond just one new face and "restructure" the entire presidential team. Griveaux avoided a question about whether it would be a simple replacement or a wider reshuffle.
For Macron, Collomb's resignation is a moment to reassess his governance style which appears to be at the root of the problems he's facing, both within his cabinet and with French voters who label him aloof and even arrogant. His cabinet decision will give a hint on far he is willing to adapt his grand plan.
In a Bloomberg interview last week, Macron said he "is not poll driven." But his approval ratings have fallen faster and further than his one-term predecessor, Francois Hollande, at this stage in his presidency. Recent polls put his support about or even below 30 percent.
Even before Collomb quit, the president had started to rework his approach in a bid to show he can connect with common people. But it obviously doesn't come easily.
On Thursday, as he wandered through a crowd in eastern France during a visit to a monument to Charles de Gaulle, he was confronted by a group of pensioners unhappy at their monthly cheques. Macron cited France's wartime leader, whom he said made it a point of principle never to complain.
"I think it was a good practice of the General," Macron said. "The country would be better if we were like that."
The nomination fight over Judge Brett Kavanaugh has injected new volatility into the midterm elections, reshaping races across the country and sharpening the already bitterly partisan tone for the final four-week stretch before Nov. 6.
Much uncertainty remains - not least because of the rapid-fire succession of evolving crises that have marked President Donald Trump's term in office - but for now the weeks-long Kavanaugh saga appears to be pushing House races toward Democrats, even as it has given Republicans better odds of maintaining control of the Senate.
That division stems from the make-up of the races and the political geography of the most competitive battles. House contests this year already were expected to be determined by suburban women, who had pulled away from the president over his term in the White House and appear to be the most sympathetic to Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who testified that Kavanaugh had assaulted her when both were teenagers.
But most of this year's competitive Senate races are in traditionally red states, and as Republicans have rallied to Kavanaugh's side, the chances of Democratic upsets there have dropped, at least for now.
Democrats are growing more concerned about keeping their seats in Indiana, Missouri, and Montana and appear to be losing ground when it comes to potential pick-ups in Texas and Tennessee. One of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who said Thursday that she would vote against Kavanaugh, has fallen far behind her Republican challenger in new polling. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, another vulnerable Democrat, reached for political survival when he became the final senator and only Democrat to announce a vote for Kavanaugh.
But in the House, the Cook Political Report and other predictors have moved more than half a dozen seats in the Democratic direction in recent days, and Republican operatives are bracing themselves for an onslaught of Democratic money that they are calling "a green wave." Gubernatorial races - in which Democrats are trying to regain territory that they've lost in recent years, particularly in the Midwest - are also trending left.
"There's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned Supreme Court fight to polarize the electorate - and that's what we've observed in the past few weeks," said David Wasserman, House editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "The Kavanaugh issue has almost acted as a centrifuge to separate red and blue elements of the electorate even more."
The Supreme Court battle has washed over the campaign in a way that no single issue has before, drowning out topics Democrats want to talk about (health care) or the ones Republicans are pushing (tax cuts and a rosy economy). In a season defined by enough-is-enough female energy - along with white male rage and aggrievement that is stomping back to 2016 levels - the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings were explosive on all fronts.
In recent days, Trump has fiercely defended Kavanaugh and mocked his accusers, candidates have aired new ads on their positions, debates have pivoted on the nomination, and both parties have sensed political advantage in what already had stacked up as an election dependent on each side motivating its base.
The divide into separate camps has been on vivid display among protesters inside the U.S. Capitol - but it is also playing out more subtly in the rest of the country, from retail store parking lots in Fargo, North Dakota, to the bars of Bedminster, New Jersey.
Democrats have always faced a difficult Senate map - six of the competitive seats that they hold are in states Trump won, and five of those states he carried by at least 19 points - but their path now is more treacherous.
In North Dakota, television screens across the state were flashing with ads both attacking Heitkamp and defending her record. At Fargo's VFW Post 762, drinkers pulled their eyes away from the nightly happy hour drink raffle to watch back-to-back political spots.
Just hours before Heitkamp announced her opposition to Kavanaugh, voters like Stephanie Beyah were still weighing their support for the incumbent based on what the senator might do.
"I think it would be awful [to have Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court]," Beyah, a young woman in her 30s, said as she pushed a cart of purchases through a Target parking lot. "Just beyond the allegations, the way he portrayed himself last week was terrible. This is not a spot on the school board. You're choosing a guy that will change people's lives."
Troy Reich, a burly man in a flannel shirt juggling a stack of boxes as he entered the U.S. Post Office in downtown Fargo, said he was a firm supporter of Heitkamp's opponent, Republican nominee Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. But the Kavanaugh hearings increased his anger at Democrats, and he feels the drama will affect tight races like the Senate contest.
"It was a total witch hunt," Reich said. "I think it was ridiculous, and now they still haven't proven anything. It was totally partisan, and I think it's going to come back around on them."
In Indiana, where Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly is fighting for re-election in a state Trump won by 19 points, the Kavanaugh dispute has riled up conservative male voters who feel he is a victim of partisan smears and unfounded accusations about what amounts to schoolboy antics, said Brian Howey, the author of a website on Indiana politics.
"The allegations of Dr. Ford, they just threw a pipe bomb in this race," Howey said. "Now we're waiting to see who the shrapnel takes out."
Recent polls show a dead heat between Donnelly, who announced his opposition to Kavanaugh last week, and his Republican opponent Mike Braun.
Tim Chapman, the executive director of Heritage Action for America, a conservative political organization, said the Kavanaugh hearing was a "game changer" for red state Democrats like Donnelly.
"He is in a really tough spot," Chapman said. "He is going to vote against Kavanaugh, so for us, that becomes a real issue that we can drive from now until November and remind people that he was on that side."
Kate Oehl, Donnelly's press secretary, said the senator will spend the next month focused on health care, which his campaign believes is a more salient issue for voters.
For Republicans, a major challenge will be keeping their base riled up over how Kavanaugh was treated, even though he was poised to win in the end. Democrats believe that the enthusiasm advantage will shift back their way.
"On our side, the outrage will live for years," said Brian Fallon, a Democratic consultant. "And it'll be very pronounced, particularly among women voters who are already the backbone of the resistance. . . . It'll be year of the women redux."
Democrats believe the Kavanaugh hearings could help them in Nevada - where Rep. Jacky Rosen is running against Republican Sen. Dean Heller for his seat - and in Arizona, where Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Rep. Martha McSally are in a tight race to success Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who opted not to run again.
The dynamics in the House races are completely different because of their political terrain. Of the 68 House races viewed as competitive by the Cook Political Report, only 16 are in states that have a competitive Senate race.
"That's unheard of," Wasserman said. "We just have this huge divergence between the partisanship of the most competitive Senate seats and House seats."
Democrats are feeling confident about winning a net of 23 seats needed to control the House. Already, Republicans are pulling money from several districts they had initially hoped could be within their grasp.
Republicans are suffering particular problems among highly educated voters who live outside urban centers like Kansas City, Philadelphia and Denver.
The National Republican Congressional Committee pulled about $1 million in planned spending from the 3rd Congressional District in Kansas, where Rep. Kevin Yoder is running for re-election. Outside groups have also been pulling ads from districts held by Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., and Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., an indication that they no longer see those races as competitive.
"If the Democratic base gets any more excited they may have to seek medical attention," said Corry Bliss, who runs the Congressional Leadership Fund, which is aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to preserve the House GOP majority. "In the last week things have undeniably improved in our polling. Republican intensity and excitement are through the roof. Now we need to keep the trend going for the next few weeks."
The countervailing forces could be seen in the suburbs outside of Newark, where Republican Leonard Lance is seeking his sixth term in a district that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016.
"It's been a re-energizer, frankly," Janice McLean, 58, said during a Democratic-led protest in New Jersey.
"Republican women are motivated," said Marlene Sincaglia, a retired middle school French teacher, a few hours later and a few miles away.
Lance's opponent, Democrat Tom Malinowski, a former assistant secretary of state under President Barack Obama, released an ad on Sept. 26 featuring a soundbite of Lance seeming to question Ford's allegations that Kavanaugh had assaulted her.
"I think Judge Kavanaugh is a brilliant judge and I tend not to believe the charges," Lance is heard saying on the clip.
Lance told The Post he found Ford's testimony to be credible - as well as Kavanaugh's - and noted that he was among the Republicans who called for an FBI investigation.
Protesters, who have often come to his district office to protest Trump, are now focused on Kavanaugh.
In Westfield, New Jersey, days ago, a 2-year-old girl on her father's shoulders held a message scrawled on the back of a Pampers box: "Believe Women." A 61-year-old artist waved a fluorescent pink sign that said "Hell No Kava-No" in her left hand and a tambourine in her right. Another woman who said her college-age daughter had been raped her freshman year propped up a banner that read "I Believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford!"
Across the district in Berkeley Heights, Lance mingled with constituents nibbling on crudites at a reception before kicking off a Boy Scouts awards dinner. Some of the Republican voters there were fired up - in support of Kavanaugh.
"I look at this and I fear for my 20-year-old son," said Jeanne Kingsley, a Berkeley Heights councilwoman who is a Republican and mother of two sons and two daughters. "I called him and said, 'Do not be alone with a woman. We're in an environment now where someone can say anything they want and not have to back it up.'"
Margaret Illis, another woman at the event, has two sons and two daughters spanning ages 17 to 24. It is her daughters she fears for.
"I don't know a single woman in my generation who wasn't in some way sexually assaulted, whether it was being felt up on the train in New York City or by a boss at a fast food restaurant when you were 16 or a coworker who continually got too close in the elevator," said Illis, 59-year-old former designer and analyst for a software development firm. "I really thought the world had changed. And now I'm opening my eyes to the fact that it hasn't."
Illis, a recently registered Democrat who considers herself an independent, said she has voted for Lance a number of times in the past. She now plans to vote for Malinowski because "I want my daughters to have a better future."
"After the Kavanaugh hearings, people are resolved to do more to try to flip the House," said Illis, who attends house parties where activists send handwritten notes to infrequent voters encouraging them to vote by mail and reminding them of what's at stake.
"I'm passionate now," she said, "about changing my representative in Congress."
- - -
The Washington Post's Laura Meckler contributed to this report.
Phil Bredesen, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate race in Tennessee, said Friday that he would support Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for the Supreme Court, after weeks of demurring and being attacked by Republicans over his equivocation.
In a statement released as senators cast a procedural vote Friday to advance President Trump's nominee, Bredesen said he believed that Kavanaugh has the qualifications, ethics and temperament to become a justice on the nation's high court.
He called Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford a "heroine" who "has brought forcefully into the national conversation the many barriers women face in reporting and dealing with sexual harassment and assault."
"I was disgusted by the treatment she received at the hands of the Senate and am determined to help bring about a fairer and far more respectful treatment of these issues," Bredesen's statement said.
Bredesen, a popular former Tennessee governor, is locked in a tight race with Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a six-term congresswoman and Trump ally. Bredesen is running on a moderate platform with a centrist message in an effort to appeal to moderate Republicans and independents.
Bredesen said he was prepared to say "yes" to Kavanaugh's nomination before Ford's allegations.
"While the subsequent events make it a much closer call, and I am missing key pieces of information that a sitting Senator has, I'm still a 'yes,' " he said.
However, his previous answers to the question were not nearly as definitive as his statement Friday.
Bredesen did not give a firm answer last week at his first debate with Blackburn, when asked whether he would support Kavanaugh given the information available at the time. When he was asked about it at a voter forum Monday, he said he would wait for the FBI investigation to be completed until he made his decision - an answer that met with boos from the crowd.
In an interview with The Washington Post on Wednesday, Bredesen said he was not waiting on any specific information on Kavanaugh from the FBI investigation, but that he wanted more information about Kavanaugh's temperament and personal history that could inform his stance.
"Any president has the right to name or nominate or appoint justices with whom he's in philosophical agreement. . . . I certainly would have wanted [more information] once questions came up about his behavior, irrespective of where they came from," he told The Post.
"This is a difficult one, obviously," Bredesen added.
When asked whether Kavanaugh's combative behavior at last week's Senate hearing raised questions about his temperament that would deem him unfit for the role, Bredesen had declined to give a definitive answer, but said: "It certainly would be something I would note."
Bredesen's reluctance to give a definitive answer on Kavanaugh had left him open to attacks from Republicans, who saw an opening to drive up support for Blackburn, who had said early on that she would confirm the federal judge.
Recent polls show Republican voters in Tennessee and nationally are becoming more galvanized amid a bruising confirmation battle over Trump's Supreme Court pick.
On Friday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee criticized Bredesen over his delay in making a decision.
"Phony Phil's indecisive wavering back and forth should be a red flag for Tennessee voters who want a Senator they can rely on in Washington," NRSC spokesman Michael McAdams said in a statement. "Instead of proudly standing with a majority of Tennesseans who wanted to see President Trump's Supreme Court nominee confirmed from the outset, Bredesen took political cover and only emerged when the final result was all but confirmed. Tennessee voters deserve better."
AI and related technologies such as robots, drones and autonomous vehicles could provide a net boost to employment in China of around 12% over the next two decades, equating to around 90 million additional jobs.
Around 26% of existing jobs in China could be automated over the next 20 years, but this is projected to be more than offset by job creation of 38%, giving an estimated net gain of 12%.
Services (+29%) and construction (+23%) could see the largest net increases in jobs by 2037 in China, offset by estimated net job losses of around 10% in agriculture.
PwC estimates that the boost from AI and related technologies to economic growth in China could create millions of new jobs, more than offsetting displacement of existing jobs. But the report argues there is no room for complacency given the projected scale of disruption to the labor market from these technologies.
This new analysis for China contrasts with PwCs earlier research suggesting a broadly neutral net impact of AI and related technologies on jobs in the UK. In that analysis, PwC found that these technologies could displace around 20% of existing UK jobs by 2037, but could create a similar number of additional jobs by boosting economic growth. Based on previous research, PwC judges that results for the UK are likely to be broadly similar to the average across OECD countries.
Most of the new jobs created will have nothing directly to do with AI or robots, but will simply be the product of a richer society with consequent increased demand for goods and services of all kinds.
Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Dr. Michael Griffins top priority is hypersonic weapons.
The urgency for hypersonic weapons is because of a growing capability gap the American military seeks to close and the very real risk that China and Russia may field hypersonic technology in advance of the United States.
Hypersonic weapons travel faster than 3,600 miles per hour (6 miles per second, 5 or more times faster than the speed of sound) and currently, no military possesses a credible defense.
For years, the Department of Defense treated hypersonics like a mildly interesting science projectspending just enough to keep the concept alive, but too little to realize any operational capability. Today DARPA and the Air Force are leading the way with key industry partners on contracts to develop operational capabilities. Lockheed Martin has been awarded over a billion dollars in contracts to develop two hypersonic weapons and DARPA is soliciting ideas for a Glide Breaker hypersonic missile defense system. Aerojet Rocketdyne, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing also are engaged in this realm.
The digitization and automation of processes and delivery vehicles will reduce logistics costs for standardized transport by 47% by 2030, according to a new report from PwCs Strategy and consultancy.
The Global Truck Study 2018 has found that around 80% of these savings will be attributable to the reduction of personnel in the transport and logistics industry. In addition, there will be enormous increases in efficiency: autonomous lorries, for example, will be able to travel 78% of the time from 2030 onwards, as opposed to 29% of the time since 2030. This will be because there will be no breaks for drivers and idling time will be reduced through the use of algorithms.
The future model will require more engine types, including electric, hybrid, and those powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), liquid natural gas (LNG), or fuel cells. These will coexist with the internal combustion engine that accounts for 97 percent of the market today. With these new engine types, fuel costs for trucking companies will come down significantly.
After fuel, the next biggest cost center is the driver. A fully automated truck obviously does not need a driver, which results in significant savings. Such a truck also eliminates the need for a cab, which will reduce the cost of a truck by about a third, given that the cab is one of the most expensive parts of a truck. The remaining vehicle will be a much more commoditized affair, with the only meaningful differentiating factor being the type of powertrain.
If all countries were to improve their logistics performance and reduce supply chain barriers to just half the level observed in the best-performing country in their respective regions, global GDP could increase by 2.6%.
If countries improve their border management and transport-related infrastructure services to attain 50% of the global best practice level (as observed in Singapore), global GDP would jump by 4.7% six times more than what could result from removing all import tariffs.
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A 2017 Sierra Club study found that the labyrinth of natural gas pipelines underneath Hartford leak enough to power 214 households a year.
Yankee Gas Services the gas provider for Danbury, Stamford, Norwalk and other Fairfield County towns has identified 530 miles of leak prone pipelines in need of repair or replacement, testimony before state regulators shows.
Sudden underground gas explosions in Massachusetts last month rocked neighborhoods in Lawrence and surrounding communities, killing one resident, injuring dozens of others and leaving 8,600 customers without power.
Against that backdrop, a pair of state lawmakers is demanding a comprehensive accounting of the states oversight of Connecticuts more than 8,100 miles of natural gas pipelines.
"Ive sounded the alarm that we should inspect the old lines," said state Rep. Chris Rosario, D-Bridgeport.
"The mayor of Lawrence is a friend and I got a close hand look at what happened," Rosario said. "Its going to take a long time for those families to recover. Many still dont have power. Can you imagine if that happened in Bridgeport?"
Rosario and state Rep. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, said the Massachusetts explosions a sudden pressure spike may have been the cause and growing concern over Connecticuts aging pipelines prompted a request for review by the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
The lawmakers want to know how many pipelines are leaking in Connecticut; the replacement plan; the role of state pipeline inspectors; safety compliance records; emergency procedures; and a overall summary of how PURA guards public safety.
State officials said there is little need for worry and stressed that Connecticut is ahead of Massachusetts in replacing and improving aging gas pipelines and their systems.
"PURA has one of the most robust leak detection programs in the nation that carefully monitors and enforces gas pipeline safety regulations and programs in Connecticut," said Chris Collibee, a PURA spokesman.
Miles of pipe
Connecticuts system of underground gas pipelines has been around for decades, hidden out of sight under tons of dirt, grass and asphalt. But concern over underground pipes is surfacing locally and nationally.
A recent USA Today report found that at least 85,000 miles of aging cast-iron and bare-steel gas pipes are still operating in U.S. communities, despite decades of warnings from the National Transportation Safety Board and other safety officials that they're prone to failure and need replacing.
The best replacement option is plastic pipes that fail at far slower rates than iron and steel pipes.
In 2017, 42.5 percent, or 3,451 miles, of the states main lines and service lines were made of steel and 15.5 percent, or 1,260 miles, were made of iron, according to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which has mandated a replacement program for the states.
More Information Total number of natural gas pipelines in Connecticut: 2017: 8,109 miles 2016: 8,033 miles 2015: 7,983 miles In 2017: 42.5 percent of state gas lines were steel 15.5 percent were iron 42.5 percent were plastic Source: Federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Yankee Gas Services inventory of leak prone main line pipes: Cast iron: 321 miles Bare Steel: 50 miles Coupled Steel: 135 miles Unprotected coated steel: 24 miles Copper: .13 miles Total: 530 miles Source: Yankee Gas Company testimony before the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority See More Collapse
The remaining gas pipeline 3,451 miles or 42.5 percent are made of plastic, PHMSA statistics show.
Collibee said the states Gas Pipeline Safety Unit performs about 450 field inspections annually and reviews the design, operations and maintenance of the pipeline infrastructure to ensure compliance with safety standards.
"Gas utility companies are required to report all leaks to PURA, which then takes action to address those leaks," Collibee said.
"Connecticut is actually in far better shape than our neighbors to the north," Collibee said.
"While I cannot speak for Massachusetts, Connecticut has been very aggressive in the replacement of leak prone infrastructure for many years, and we will continue to do so," Collibee said.
At of the end of 2017, leak prone main pipelines made from iron, steel or copper accounted for nearly 18 percent of the states total main line miles, while nearly 13 percent of service lines were made of iron, copper or steel, Collibee said.
Federal statistics show that gas line leaks in Connecticut have been decreasing, from about 25 leaks per 1,000 miles of pipe in 2010 to about 10 leaks per 1,000 miles in 2017.
Colibee did not provide the number of miles of leak prone pipelines underneath the state, which would include both main transmission lines and service lines.
Paying for replacement
During recent testimony before PURA over a pending rate hike request, Thomas Hart, director of gas engineering for Eversource and Yankee Gas, said leaking pipes have decreased by 52 percent since 2012.
But Hart told regulators the "overall main and service leak rates for Yankee are high within the U.S, and noted those leak rates present "substantial additional risk to Yankees customers."
Hart told PURA those pipes should be replaced as quickly as possible and identified 530 miles of leak prone main lines.
The purpose of Harts testimony was to convince PURA to allocate a portion of the companys proposed rate hike to replacing leak prone gas lines. Yankee G\as is proposing to spend $30 million over the next three years on pipeline replacement and $221 million on reliability.
Michael West, a spokesman for the Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas companies, said "sufficient systems" are in place to ensure public safety.
"Safety is our number one priority for our customers and our employees," West said.
West said Connecticut Natural Gas will spend about $21 million a year replacing gas pipelines and making other improvements and Southern Connecticut Gas plans to spend $86 million by 2020.
West also declined to say how many miles of leak prone pipelines are within the companys service territory.
Deeply concerning
Lesser and Rosario said they dont know the extent of the leak problem in Connecticut, and added thats a troubling admission.
"In wake of the Lawrence disaster, its appropriate to have a review to make sure what happened in Lawrence does not happen here," Lesser said.
"The state does inspections; Im reviewing how that works, Lesser added. They have state workers who do the main transmission lines."
Lesser noted the utility companies are responsible for inspecting service lines that run from the main lines to homes and businesses.
Rosario said the legislature may want to look at PURAs oversight, inspection and safety procedures.
"We want to make sure that the way DOT inspects bridges is something similar to whats done with our pipelines," Rosario said. "Massachusetts found that 70 percent are faulty."
bcummings@ctpost.com
GREENWICH As a ban on plastic bags takes effect next month, environmentalists and policy-makers are turning their attention to use of plastic straws and the damage they can inflict on the environment.
Town lawmakers approved the ban of the thin plastic bags from local stores in March.
The discussion over waste, plastics and single-use straws has now become a major topic for businesses and consumers in Greenwich, following a national trend.
A lot of businesses are being won over, said Claire Werner, a member of the local environmental advocacy group, Bring Your Own (BYO) Greenwich. Everyones looking how to proceed in a responsible and economically viable way to solve this pollution problem.
Starbucks announced last month it would remove single-use plastic straws from its stores by 2020, eliminating more than 1 billion plastic straws per year from their stores. American Airlines made a similar announcement. Earlier this year, Hyatt hotels said plastic straws would be available only upon request. McDonalds is also testing alternatives to plastic straws.
At the municipal level, on July 1, the city of Seattle banned the use of plastic straws, becoming the first major U.S. city to do so. Other cities, including New York City, are considering similar steps.
In Greenwich, those moves by big corporations and municipal governments are being followed closely by members of BYO, the advocacy group behind the move to enact the plastic bag ban in Greenwich.
Weve become too accustomed to being a throwaway society, to believing that convenience is the ultimate priority. In our view, there are other priorities. Theres long term thinking. We dont live in a disposable world anymore, said Mary Shaw Marks, a member of BYO.
She said Greenwich is at the forefront of the movement to limit waste associated with plastics. We feel Greenwich has been a leader in the state in this regard. We were the second town (to ban bags), after Westport, and now dozens of towns are coming to us, asking how you do this, said Shaw Marks.
She said a number of local businesses, clubs and restaurants have been considering the elimination of plastic straws, or switching to paper.
What does your town want to be? Taking a chance of polluting your environment? Or forward thinking and innovative? When the whole world is addressing plastic pollution, why wouldnt Greenwich be right up there, too? asked Jeanine Behr Getz of BYO.
Local businesses have been taking a hard look at the plastic straw issue, few more than Green and Tonic, which produces a large number of smoothies in easy-to-consume cups every day. The store is working toward the elimination of plastic straws.
As a healthy plant-based shop that sells smoothies and strives to keep our eco-footprint small and gentle, weve tried to get away from plastic straws in the past. We currently offer paper ones as an alternative to our plastic ones or re-usable metal ones for purchase, said Green and Tonic marketing manager Emily Watson.
We even encourage our guests to sip their smoothie neat, without a lid or Watson said. When youre on the go, like so many of our guests, however, a lid and straw is almost mandatory. Thats why were really happy and proud to offer a really awesome paper straw in the next several weeks. Its wide and sturdy enough for smoothies, and we cant wait to launch it.
Paper straws will add cost for the store, she said, But we know that our purchases are leading to a more sustainable future and a happier planet. And if more and more shops like ours move to paper straws, it will become the norm and customer expectation will shift for the better.
At Town Hall, Director of Environmental Affairs Patricia Sesto said the town administration isnt contemplating any regulatory action on plastic straws. She said the movement to cut down on plastic straws appears to have plenty of grassroots momentum without any input from government officials.
Right now the social movement associated with it is cruising along pretty well, Sesto said. It just got to the tipping point ... Already, you go to restaurants, and you see paper straws or people declining straws.
While the discussion over straws is continuing, town officials and BYO are focused on the successful roll-out of the plastic bag ban on Sept. 12. Customers will be expected to bring their own bags when shopping, and stores will offer paper bags to those who dont.
BYO has held a collection drive to collect 5,000 reusable bags to give to anyone who needs them. We want to be focused on the bags, to make sure thats successful, that everyone is comfortable, Shaw Marks said.
Sesto said she is cautiously optimistic the bag ban will be an easy transition. She said the town recently carried out a mass mailing to local businesses about the new bag policy, and there were only 10 or so questions about compliance from local businesses.
I see that as a positive, Sesto said.
rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
NEW HAVEN Biodegradable or reusable? That might be future shoppers only choices for bagging their groceries as the city drafts a ban on plastic bags.
The ordinance in the works looks at eliminating plastic single-use bags that come from grocery stores and other retailers. This would be the third time a plastic bag ban has been considered for New Haven.
Click through the slideshow above to see images of the ocean plastic cleanup.
The city had a plastic bag ban from 1991 until 1995, when the Board of Alders repealed it because they said it was a burden on small businesses. A ban on plastic bags at grocery stores and pharmacies was proposed in 2007 but turned down by alders for a similar reason, this time citing a burden on large retailers, according to the Registers news archives.
Stephen Latham, director of the Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, drafted an ordinance on the matter which he submitted to the Environmental Advisory Council at the end of the summer.
I recommended single-use plastic bags be banned and the retail outlets be permitted to give or sell permanent, reusable bags or that they use paper bags made of recyclable material, he said. The idea would be instead of going to the grocery store, instead of getting a thin plastic bag to take your stuff home, you get a compostable bag thats not as dangerous to the environment, or you purchase a more robust bag and that way tons of single-use plastic bags dont end up in landfills or, my concern, the Long Island Sound. The plastics never go away and kill fish and marine life and are a terrible environmental hazard.
Plastic bags cant be recycled curbside and, at a cost to the state, have to be diverted to a landfill, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The only Connecticut towns to enact plastic bag bans in stores are Greenwich and Westport. Legislators in Hamden are working on their own ordinance to ban plastic bags and plastic straws.
Latham drafted an ordinance based on laws in California, where the ban is statewide, , and Massachusetts, where 80 cities have banned single-use plastic bags.
Nadeem Sarward, an owner of S&B Deli and Food Market in New Haven, said a plastic-bag ban wouldnt impact his business much because his store doesnt use that many bags anyway, but the big grocery stores, such as Stop & Shop or Walmart, would be affected.
I wouldnt have a problem because Im a small owner, Sarward said. Im a little guy, independent. Additionally, he said it would be a positive for the city and more people would benefit once they got used to it.
Exceptions to the ban could include butcher meat bags, dry cleaner bags, newspaper bags and others of various kinds, Latham said. The main target is for the single-use plastic bags from grocery stores.
The ordinance still is in its early stages and will go before the Board of Alders for further review and development at future meetings.
When Katharine Weber was shopping around her sixth novel, Still Life With Monkey, she heard that the marketing department people of some large publishing houses were asking: Who would want to read a novel about a monkey and a quadriplegic?
They have now been proven wrong by rave reviews! Weber said as we sat at Willoughbys Coffee Shop on Grove Street in New Haven on a recent afternoon.
The publisher that took on her novel, Paul Dry Books of Philadelphia, is not a big player in the publishing world. But the New York Times reviewer, Lucy Scholes, called the book profoundly humane even while its asking the most difficult questions. And author Ann Packer called it a rich and compelling meditation on the question of what makes life worth living.
Its true, as the marketing people fretted, that the books subject matter is challenging. The main character is Duncan Wheeler, an architect who is enjoying life with his wife, Laura, in their home in New Havens East Rock neighborhood. But then the station wagon he is driving on the Q Bridge! slams into a Jersey barrier and he sustains the injuries that render him quadriplegic. Todd Walker, his friend sitting next to him, dies in the crash.
Wheeler, knowing he will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, wonders whether he wants to go on living. He sees every day as a broken series of unsuccessful gestures.
However, his wife, deeply concerned her husband is so depressed that he has lost the will to live, brings into their home a trained helper monkey: a capuchin named Ottoline.
The monkeys job is to assist Wheeler with basic tasks such as turning the pages of a book, switching on a light or fetching his glasses.
Wheeler initially resists the idea of having a helper monkey around. But gradually, he and his wife develop a deep affection for Ottoline. She becomes a member of their family. (They have no children.)
And yet, its not enough. After months of living with Ottoline spoiler alert! Wheeler concludes that his life simply is not worth living. During weeks of careful planning, he assembles the necessary materials to kill himself. His planning and determination allow him, without Ottolines participation, to end his life.
Although this novel is a work of fiction, Weber spent time with two real-life quadriplegics to help her understand what their daily lives are like and the emotions they experience. She dedicated her book to them: Andrew Zerman, whom Weber knew in high school on Long Island; and Kent Converse of Massachusetts. The books dedication also includes Converses wife, Nancy Converse, and their helper monkey, Farah (named after Farrah Fawcett).
Also, there really are helper monkeys for quadriplegics. They are raised and trained at Monkey College by Helping Hands, a nonprofit organization that has operated in Boston since 1979. Helping Hands has placed more than 150 monkeys, at no cost, in the homes of adults with spinal cord injuries and other mobility impairments.
Did you know about these monkeys and this group? I sure didnt until I read this captivating novel. Weber sees herself as a good will ambassador for Helping Hands and she is donating a percentage of the books sales to the group. She wants to spread the word about its efforts because she believes in the work and the group is so little-known.
Ah, but helper monkeys are controversial. Weber told me 14 states, including Connecticut, do not allow them. Why?
They are not recognized (in those states) as assistance animals, Weber said. Connecticut is being pushed around by animal rights organizations, who have a moral objection to helper monkeys. They dont approve of monkeys being trained to help people in wheelchairs.
Weber noted the argument of the animal rights groups: Capuchin monkeys are tribal. They live in treetops. They did not choose to live in a house, performing tasks for somebody in a wheelchair.
Weber added another objection by these groups: helper monkeys have their canine and incisor teeth removed because if they bite somebody they could be seized by animal control workers and put to death.
But after spending many hours observing Farah interacting with the Converses in their home, Weber clearly believes in the worth of these arrangements. Farah keeps them closer, helps define them as a couple.
Although the Wheelers are not based on the Converses, nor is Duncan Wheeler based on Zerman, Weber benefited greatly from spending time with them, especially the Converses. She said it helped her understand the nuances of the relationships between the Converses and Farah. (Weber has tried to convince Zerman to take in a helper monkey but he has declined to do so.)
Weber also developed a good relationship with Farah. When I walked into their home for the first time, Farah flung herself at me: Its you! Where have you been? I love you! But other times shes indifferent to me because shes distracted. Usually, shell put her arms around me, hug me and squeal.
Weber said she is flattered that Farah likes her. But she doesnt respect me. Shell take off my glasses and throw them across the room.
Weber said the Converses and Zerman like the novel a lot and support it, including Wheelers right to decide to kill himself. I think they felt it was a reasonable possibility for that character.
This, too, has been controversial. In her Washington Post review of the book, author Karen Joy Fowler said the novel is excellent but all but spoiled by its ending. She said it showed a lack of imagination. Were given the same appalling conclusion we see so often in tales of disability.
Weber said Fowler misunderstood, thinking the message was its OK for the disabled to kill themselves. Weber told me, The issue of the novel is the right to die, the right to make that decision. Its about whether the disabled have an equal right to make decisions about themselves, including the right to end their lives...Disabled people should have the same right to make that decision, whether or not they can move their hands.
But Weber added: Suicide is a terrible thing for the family and friends (of the person who chooses that route). Im not an advocate for suicide. I am an advocate for the right to make some rational choices to end your life.
She said of suicides, Usually, its a terrible mistake; often, its not a rational choice. But it can be a rational choice. She cited medical reasons, for example knowing you will be immobilized with a disease.
Weber said Zerman and Converse, like virtually all quadriplegics, pondered suicide but they moved past it. She said Wheeler had a failure of imagination to see other ways to move forward. Its the same failure that (Tolstoys) Anna Karenina had at the train station.
Weber spends part of her year at Ohios Kenyon College, where she is a writing professor. But she is a longtime Bethany resident, so can write knowledgeably about New Haven area sites. When I asked her about choosing that infamous bridge as the place where Wheeler has his horrific accident, she replied: Havent we all been in horrible traffic because of an accident there? It seemed vivid and knowable.
Contact Randall Beach at 203-680-9345 or randall.beach@hearstmediact.com
A judge on Friday ruled the Englewood Cliffs mayor does not have the authority to suspend the borough's police chief, who was recorded saying he wanted to kill a councilwoman.
Mayor Mario M. Kranjac issued an order Sept. 27 to suspend Chief Michael Cioffi after a recording emerged of the top cop saying, "I'd like to kill her but I can't," about Council President Carrol McMorrow.
"She is one hell of a b----, let me tell ya," Cioffi said of McMorrow, according to the recording.
"The Court ordered today that as mayor I do not have the individual authority to put the chief out on administrative leave,' Kranjac said in a statement Friday night. "In the court hearing the Judge repeatedly said the allegations, if true, are 'outrageous' and 'horrendous.'"
He also called on the state Attorney General's Office and Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to intervene.
"No one is above the law, especially a police chief," the mayor said.
Kranjac said it would fall to council members to decide if the chief would be suspended and appoint a hearing officer in the matter.
"I hope they do their jobs and do the right thing," he added.
The chief can return to work immediately, according to one of his attorneys, David J. Altieri, of Galantucci & Patuto in Hackensack.
Another attorney for Cioffi, James Patuto, previously told NJ Advance Media that Cioffi was joking when he made the comments.
Patuto, a Hackensack-based attorney who represents the chief, previously said Cioffi made the recordings himself to protect against unfounded allegations from the mayor. The chief's comments, his attorney said, were only jokes that came amid low morale in the force.
"The chief has been harassed for the last two years by the mayor and council president," Patuto told NJ Advance Media in an earlier interview. "There was some joking going on between a lot of people in city hall just to break the tension."
The recording emerged as part of discovery in a lawsuit Cioffi filed against the borough. Democrats on the council immediately questioned the Republican mayor's authority to suspend the chief, who has repeatedly clashed with the Kranjac.
Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A man accused of stabbing his estranged wife to death as one of their kids looked on has one more week to decide if he will accept a plea deal or face trial.
Jeremiah E. Monell, 33, allegedly stabbed Tara O'Shea-Watson to death in her Commercial Township home on Dec. 18, 2016.
One of the couple's two children witnessed the killing, prosecutor's said.
Friday was supposed to be the pre-trial hearing at which Superior Court Judge Cristen P. D'Arrigo would either hear a plea or set a trial date, but public defender Nathan Perry asked for one more week to allow his client to consider his options.
O'Shea-Watson, 35, had told friends that Monell was abusive to her and that she planned to take her kids and flee to Tennessee. The couple were still married, though living separately.
O'Shea-Watson filed a restraining order against Monell in May 2016. He was indicted in August of that year for a domestic violence charge, but the charges were dismissed at O'Shea-Watson's request.
She was dead a month later.
Following the killing, police identified Monell as a suspect and searched for two weeks before finding him hiding out in a wooded area in Atlantic County.
He was indicted in March 2017 on charges including murder, weapons offenses and contempt.
If Monell goes to trial and is convicted, he would face a mandatory life sentence without parole. Under the state's offer, Monell would "plead open," meaning he pleads guilty and the judge determines a sentence of anywhere from 30 years to life.
The defense made a counter offer of 18 years in prison Friday in return for a plea.
Assistant Prosecutor Charles Wettstein wasn't having it.
"This is a first-degree case involving an aggravating factor for a murder," he said. "The conditions in which this murder was committed are unwontedly vile and very violent. Given that, the state's position is that the defendant is not negotiating in good faith. ... The state has a very strong case."
Perry called the bad faith remark an unfair characterization and asked the judge for more time to confer with his client to ensure Monell understands the implications of whatever decision he makes.
"I want to err on the side of caution," Perry told the judge. "I want him to make a decision with eyes wide open. I need a little more time to do that."
Wettstein countered that the case has dragged on long enough.
"The state is prepared to put this matter on the trial list today, judge," Wettstein said. "This matter has been pending for nearly two years at this point. Mr. Monell is well aware of the state's case."
D'Arrigo decided to give Monell one more week, but made his position clear.
"Mr. Wettstein, I don't think that anything is going to change in a week. But he wants a week. I'm gonna give him a week. But there will not be one more day past a week, Mr. Perry," D'Arrigo warned. "Not one more day. ... So this case is going to go either on the trial list or resolve next Friday."
D'Arrigo said he has allotted time in late November or early December should the case go to trial.
Then he turned to Monell.
"Mr. Monell, you've got some serious decisions you need to make."
In addition to the murder case, Monell faces other charges.
He allegedly spit on and scratched a corrections officer at Cumberland County Jail in April, and he was indicted in August on those charges. That incident occurred as the officer he is accused of assaulting was reading a list of administrative charges Monell faced for violations within the jail.
Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips.
Despite the cloudy weather, art will be colorizing the city for the entire weekend.
The Jersey City Art and Studio Tour, nicknamed JCAST, is celebrating 28 years of art by showcasing nearly 1,000 local and regional artists in more than 150 art spaces throughout the city until Sunday.
JCAST events which kicked off on Thursday -- are open to the public and feature visual art, music, performances and more.
Christ Our Saviour Lutheran Church, one of the Bergen Lafayette tour spots, is offering a "Blessing of the Animals" in honor of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The church will also feature a small concert and photography, embroidery and icon art of local artists that surround the pews.
It will run until 5 p.m. today.
But that isn't the only spot locals are welcomed to visit.
Mana Contemporary, a cultural center for artists and collectors on 888 Newark Ave., is also open all day to the public as part of the JCAST weekend event.
Allison Green, 44, just moved into her studio in September, but she's no stranger to the city. Previously painting at her studio on 4th Street in Downtown Jersey City, Green has used trees from the area as a source of inspiration.
"I find deep joy in the nature that's right here," Green said. "Jersey City has a thriving community of arts lovers and artists."
To get a glimpse of other art spots visit www.thejcast.com for a full map.
Curated tours are offered by bus, bike and foot to make the weekend more convenient. But they are on a first-come, first-served basis and can be reserved at www.thejcast.com.
If you've been enjoying LaCroix sparkling water, a class action lawsuit claims that you may have been ingesting an artificial ingredient found in cockroach insecticide.
A food expert, however, says it is not likely that the chemicals cited in the suit, which he said occur naturally, are harmful.
The suit was filed against LaCroix's parent company, National Beverage Corporation, by the Illinois-based law firm Beaumont Costales on behalf of consumer Lenora Rice and "all those injured by the popular sparkling water brand's false claims to be 'all natural' and '100% natural'."
"In fact, as the filing states, testing reveals that LaCroix contains a number of artificial ingredients, including linalool, which is used in cockroach insecticide," the lawsuit stated.
National Beverage Corporation denied all the allegations in the lawsuit.
"Natural flavors in LaCroix are derived from the natural essence oils from the named fruit used in each of the flavors," the company said in a release. "There are no sugars or artificial ingredients contained in, nor added to, those extracted flavors."
University of Southern California food expert Roger Clemens told Popular Science that the three compounds brought up by the lawsuit are found in low levels in many foods are not harmful at those levels.
"It is very unlikely these naturally-occurring substances pose a health risk when consumed at levels usually found in foods," the report said. "If there were a health risk, then citrus juices and spices, such as curry, would not be consumed or be part of the commodity market."
National Beverage Corporation called the allegations "false and defamatory" and said it would "vigorously seek actual and punitive damages among other remedies from everyone involved in the publication of these defamatory falsehoods."
Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Natural hair braiders will no longer be required to face the expense of securing a cosmetology license under a law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy this week, but will still face state oversight.
The measure, A3754, will create a limited license for hair braiding businesses and reduces the required training from 1,200 hours to 40 or 50.
"Hair braiders are predominantly African-American and African immigrant women. This is a skill that is often learned at an early age and passed down from one generation to the next," said Assemblywoman Angela V. McKnight (D-Hudson).
"We want to make sure that these women are able to use their skills to support themselves and their families, without excessive regulation. We want to support entrepreneurship."
Those natural hair braiders not licensed feared arrest.
The original bill introduced in the spring by McKnight and Assemblywoman Shanique Speight (D-Essex) would have exempted hair braiders from the state licensing requirements and established a new state agency to oversee hair braiding businesses, but was conditionally vetoed by Murphy last month.
The governor, in that conditional veto, said those with experience in hair braiding should be required to go through a maximum of 40 hours of training while someone with no experience receive 50 hours. All of that would include instruction in courses teaching sanitation, decontamination and infection control."
Before the signing of the new law, those who wanted to legally practice hair braiding were required to complete 1,200 hours of training at a cost estimated at $17,000 or more.
The New Jersey Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling will oversee licensing for natural hair braiders and be expanded from 11 to 13 members with the new appointees being "individuals with experience owning and operating hair braiding establishments."
"We want to support entrepreneurship. I also agree with Gov. Murphy that safeguarding consumer protections is important," McKnight said. "This law addresses these concerns by reducing the requirements for hair braiders and by including experienced hair braiders in the Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling."
A companion bill, S2510, was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Fred H. Madden Jr. (D-Camden and Gloucester) and Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Essex, Morris and Passaic).
"The new braiding license is a dramatic improvement over New Jersey's incredibly burdensome requirement that forced braiders to waste their time and money to attend cosmetology schools, which most often don't even teach African-style braiding," said Brooke Fallon, assistant director of activism at the Institute for Justice.
The organization, which supports hair braiders, believes the training this new law requires is unneeded.
"Although the new law is certainly an improvement over the previous regime, it is not necessary to force people to waste 40 to 50 hours on a practice as safe and simple as braiding hair naturally," Fallon added. "Already 25 states, including Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland, don't require braiders to have a license."
McKnight, who has been getting her hair braided for years, told NJ Advance Media earlier this year she was unaware of the rules hair braiders had to meet until one of her stylists brought up the issue.
"The is the entrepreneur life for them," McKnight said of those who braid hair. "It's how they provide for their families."
"Judges, lawyers, business women and plain Janes get their hair braided. It's no reason for them (the braiders) to have to go through this especially if they aren't using any chemicals or dyes."
The law takes effect in three months.
Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips
Authorities in Colorado are searching for a New Jersey man who may be missing after a planned hike in Longs Peak area of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Ryan Albert of Marlton is believed to be missing in a Colorado national park. (Photo Provided/National Park Service)
National Park Service officials say a search team was deployed Saturday morning in an attempt to locate Ryan Albert, 30, of Marlton.
Rangers had been contacted by Denver police Friday by a family member of Albert's who told them he was overdue from a hike in the mountainous park, according to a release from the NPS.
The man's rental car was found at the Longs Peak trailhead Friday afternoon. Park officials said it was unclear what Albert's destination or route was, but it was believed he was attempting a climb at Longs Peak on Thursday.
On Saturday, the NPS said, members of Rocky Mountain National Park's Search and Rescue Team began searching the Longs Peak area including the Boulder Field, the Keyhole Route, The Loft, Chasm Cirque, North Longs Peak and Boulder Brook in the park.
The forecast Saturday in the Longs Peak area called for freezing temperatures and severe and unpredictable weather including snow, hail, sleet, thunder and lightning, according to officials.
Albert was last seen leaving the Denver area early Thursday morning wearing dark clothes and a backpack, officials said.
Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips
Leonard Lance doesn't want to see New Jerseyans lose their health care, and he doesn't want to destroy the Affordable Care Act just for the thrill of watching it die, like most leaders of his party.
The 7th District congressman insists he likes some of its provisions, but he finds Obamacare flawed and unaffordable, which may be why he has voted to repeal, defund, or dismantle portions of it dozens of times.
So call him conflicted. He is a moderate Republican who is routinely overwhelmed by the over-my-dead-body caucus that rules his party, but there's no escaping the fact that at the moment of truth, he voted to pull the plug on Obamacare in March of 2017 without much regard for the consequences.
It came at a time when his party's quest to provide universal health care proved to be as sincere as a presidential compliment: Lance's own Energy and Commerce Committee held no open hearings, it rejected every Democratic amendment, and it refused to wait for a score from the Congressional Budget Office before it advanced the repeal bill in a 31-23 party line vote.
In the end, the people charged with reforming one-fifth of the American economy chose to treat the health of 24 million Americans as collateral damage - until the bill was ultimately torpedoed with a theatrical thumbs-down from John McCain.
So when Lance's Democratic opponent in the Nov. 6 midterms, Tom Malinowski, scored a clean knockdown early in last Friday's News12 debate by pointing out these facts, it was damning that Lance dodged accountability for one of the worst votes of his career.
"Congressman, I'm sorry, you have to level with folks," Malinowski suggested. "You used to campaign on this. You used to brag to your voters that 'I vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act.'"
"Repeal and replace," Lance corrected.
"Well, with what?" Malinowski countered. "And what did you think they were going to replace it with?. . . You voted for it in the Energy and Commerce Committee."
"That's not accurate," Lance protested.
Actually, it's accurate. And it's still repugnant.
It is also true that once the final version of the bill reached the House floor in May, Lance voted against it - largely because he saw the so-called MacArthur Amendment was ludicrously inadequate protection for those with pre-existing conditions. Cheers for that.
But the bill had arrived in his committee as a massive tax cut for the rich - essentially stripping the poor of $600 billion in health subsidies - and it left the same way.
After 28 hours of markups, Lance's committee still eliminated the individual mandate, removed the coverage penalty for employers, replaced the individual subsidy with a tax credit, and butchered Medicaid.
And all that earned the imprimatur of the Congressman from NJ-7: "It moves the process forward," Lance reasoned at the time.
His campaign considers it ancient history. The Monmouth poll shows that health care is the No. 1 issue in the 7th (Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Union, Warren, and Essex), but Lance's people claim that has nothing to do with Obamacare repeal since most constituents have employer-sponsored insurance. They believe that voters will ask "who is best situated to ensure that they keep the health care they love."
Spoiler alert: Monmouth says voters choose Malinowski by a 31-21 margin on that one.
It underscores how Lance is an awkward fit for these political times. He is a throwback to a collegial age, a gentleman who is always inclined towards amicable compromise. Now the Republican majority regards moderation as a dirty word, and Lance is not only powerless to change that, he votes with Donald Trump 87 percent of the time.
This issue illustrates the problem: Lance's vote helped move the Obamacare repeal forward. That's a fact. And despite his reluctance and caveats, that repeal passed the House and came within a vote in the Senate.
This election is largely a Trump referendum. But it's also about the GOP trying to rip health care away from the most vulnerable Americans without offering a plausible alternative. Voters are alert to the possibility that another Republican majority will try to repeal the ACA again. This time, they know McCain's thumb cannot stop it.
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WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Cory Booker exhorted women who came forward with tales of sexual harassment to "never give up" even though the Senate was poised to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court despite accusations of sexual assault.
Booker, D-N.J., spoke on the Senate floor Friday evening after it became clear that Kavanaugh had enough support among Republicans to ensure his confirmation.
"We are a nation that always finds a way to move forward to learn, to grow, and what is dependent upon us doing that is for us to never, ever give up," Booker said.
"Never give up. The days ahead will be difficult. It will not be easy. But I have faith in America."
Like other Democrats, Booker, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, criticized Senate Republicans for refusing to demand a full FBI investigation into sexual assault charges leveled against Kavanaugh by two women, Christine Blasey Ford, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Deborah Ramirez, a classmate of Kavanaugh's at Yale University.
"We don't take the next step to fully investigate their claims so we can know what the facts are," Booker said. "An investigation that gets to the truth is something that the American public deserves, that Dr. Ford deserves, that Ms. Ramirez deserves, that even Brett Kavanaugh deserves."
"But this FBI investigation was part of a larger sham," Booker said.
He said Republicans had a chance to show American women that they took claims of sexual harassment seriously. Instead, President Donald Trump mocked Ford and the Senate GOP just plowed ahead to confirm Kavanaugh.
"There are millions of survivors --- women and men -- watching how this body will deal with the seriousness of sexual assault," Booker said. "Will we listen to survivors? Will we honor them?"
The answer was no.
"We didn't honor a survivor," Booker said. "We didn't listen to a survivor. We didn't take the time in the world's most deliberative body to listen to a woman's claims and take the step to see if they were true or not."
"This is what, to me, is so deeply offensive."
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
WASHINGTON -- After holding off for several days, Senate Republican candidate Bob Hugin supported confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a U.S. Supreme Court justice as lawmakers moved toward a final vote on his nomination.
"Based on everything I know now, I would support Judge Kavanaugh as senator," Hugin tweeted on Friday while his Democratic opponent, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., went to the Senate floor to decry his nomination.
Based on everything I know now, I would support Judge Kavanaugh as Senator. I still strongly believe the FBI report should be released so the American people can see the findings. Bob Hugin (@BobHugin) October 5, 2018
Both Menendez and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., were early opponents of confirming Kavanaugh, but Hugin has offered words of praise for the nominee.
President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh after pledging only to pick Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision legalizing abortion.
Hugin initially delayed expressing an opinion on confirming Kavanaugh, calling him "an incredibly qualified, talented jurist" but saying he wanted to watch the hearings and await the results of the FBI probe.
He said the public should see the FBI investigation, which Senate Democrats have called a sham because the agency did not interview dozens of potential witnesses who could have corroborated the claims by Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist, that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while both were in high school.
The former Celgene Corp. executive donated the maximum $5,400 to Trump's campaign and gave an additional $233,200 to the Republican National Committee to support the GOP nominee, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Running in a state where more than 6 in 10 likely voters disapprove of the president's job performance, Hugin instead has emphasized his differences with Trump rather than his support for him.
His support of Kavanaugh, though, gave Menendez another line of attack to use against him.
"Bob Hugin ended exactly where he began on another Trump Supreme Court pick -- with Trump, against women, against New Jersey's values and for overturning Roe v. Wade, weakening gun safety and gutting environmental protections," Menendez said.
"Hugin is a coward who tries to duck, dodge and mislead New Jerseyans, only to reveal himself with his support of Brett Kavanaugh as the true Trump-loving extreme conservative he is."
Hugin shot back: "Bob Menendez is a corrupt politician and a disgrace. He's not fighting for New Jerseyans, he's only fought for himself and his donors."
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
WASHINGTON -- In the last week, two polls put U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's lead within their margins of error and a Washington publication that tracks Senate races made him just a slight favorite to be re-elected.
Time to call in the cavalry. But don't say the Democrats are in panic mode.
"When you get to a point where the professionals on the team start deciding they need to pull out all the stops to win, everybody calls that a panic," Democratic consultant Glenn Totten said.
"They're going to put their shoulder to the wheel and work very hard to make sure that Bob Menendez wins the race, but they have some urgency now. That's a long way from panic."
With Democrats already a long shot to pick up the two Republican-held seats they need to regain control of the Senate, the last thing the party can afford is a loss in a Democratic-leaning state where 62 percent of likely voters disapprove of President Donald Trump's performance in office.
Instead, the race between Menendez, D-N.J., and former Celgene Corp. executive Bob Hugin is close enough that the Democratic Senatorial Committee is spending another $400,000.
The committee made a similar $500,000 expenditure in August to back Menendez, Federal Election Commission reports show.
DSCC spokesman David Bergstein said Hugin, who put $15.5 million of his own money into the contest though June 30, was trying to buy a Senate seat.
"It won't work and Senator Menendez will continue fighting for New Jersey just as he has throughout his entire career in public service," Bergstein said.
The money will be spent in the New York City and Philadelphia media markets and coordinated with the Menendez campaign, meaning the party will be charged the lower ad rate for candidates rather than the higher rate for outside groups.
"National Democrats are finally recognizing what has been clear for months --disgraced Senator Bob Menendez is toxic among New Jersey voters and his seat is in serious jeopardy," said Bob Salera, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Those national Democrats said they can't envision a scenario in which Menendez loses.
"He is a very skilled politician who knows the state very well," said Jim Manley, a former aide to then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "And probably most importantly, he knows how to play hardball like few others."
Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight, in fact, gave Menendez a nine in 10 chance of winning re-election.
Menendez now leads by 6.3 percentage points in the Real Clear Average of polls while Hugin has never been ahead in any survey. The most recent poll of the race, by Quinnipiac University, put him ahead by 11 points among likely voters.
"When they're in the voting booth and talking to their families and friends, they're going to vote for Democrats in New Jersey," said Israel Klein, a West Orange native and former aide to now-Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who now runs his own lobbying firm in Washington.
Menendez also could receive a boost from the state's competitive House races that are taking place in Republican-held districts. In four of the five GOP-held districts, including two that have been in Republican hands for more than two decades, the Democratic candidate is given no worse than a 50-50 chance of prevailing in November.
"There's a very strong undercurrent of support for Democratic candidates lower on the ballot," Klein said.
At the same time, Menendez's 6-point lead in the most recent Fairleigh Dickinson University likely voter poll was within the margin of error. Before then, a Stockton University survey gave him only a 2-point advantage among likely voters, also with the margin of error.
And the Cook Political Report lowered its rating on Menendez and said he now was just a slight favorite to be re-elected, putting him in the same category as West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin rather than either of the Democratic senators representing New Jersey's neighbors, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.
Unlike his neighbors, Menendez faces a wealthy opponent and has a high unfavorable ratings. He was viewed unfavorably by 53 percent and favorably by 34 percent in the Quinnipiac poll.
Hugin's ads have hit Menendez on his indictment for corruption charges. His trial ended up with a hung jury, and after a judge acquitted him of some counts, federal prosecutors declined to try him again. The Senate, however, severely admonished him for intervening with federal agencies on behalf of a friend an campaign donor, Dr. Salomon Melgen.
"The fundamentals of the race and the political environment are the same," said Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of Inside Elections, another Washington-based publication that tracks Senate races and rates Menendez as a stronger favorite for re-election.
"He's a Democrat running in a Democratic state in a Democratic year. I'm not sure there are enough voters who don't like him who will help maintain the Republican majority in the United States Senate."
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
UPDATE: All of the victims were from the same New Jersey town.
Three people died and two others were seriously injured in a head-on collision Friday night in Pennsville, police said.
The accident occurred around 9 p.m. and involved two cars on South Hook Road, Pennsville Police Chief Allen Cummings said.
The three people who died were all in the same car, a sedan with New Jersey plates, Cummings said.
The driver, a woman in her 60s, the passenger, a woman in her 30s or 40s, and a man in the back seat died, he said.
Police did not release their names Friday night.
Two adults in the front seat of the other car, which had Delaware plates, were taken by helicopter to the hospital with "serious but non-life-threatening injuries," the chief said.
Two children, a 1-year-old and an infant in car seats, were also in the car with Delaware plates, but were not injured.
Cummings said he did not know how the accident occurred
The New Jersey State Police were assisting in the investigation, he said.
South Hook Road was closed from Route 49 to Mahoney Road as of 10 p.m.
Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A decline in the number of youths housed at the Union County Detention Center in Linden has prompted the facility to announce that it's closing next month. All remaining youngsters will be moved to the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center in Newark.
The merger between the two facilities, which becomes official Feb. 28, 2019, is set to save Union County $24.6 million, but it will also effect 82 employees, county officials said.
Civilian workers may be rehired at the Essex County facility, or in other Union County departments, officials said. Those detention center employees left without a job will be eligible for job training and other assistance, officials said.
The reduction in youth detained in the Union facility was credited to the state's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, which provides services and programs to keep young people out of trouble and works to detains only the most serious youth offenders.
In 2012, Union County's Juvenile Detention Center had about 43 youth residents and currently has about 10, a decline of 77 percent, the county reported this week.
"While it is no longer feasible to continue to maintain a facility due to the declining numbers, we sought a solution that is aimed at preserving the rights, safety and dignity of incarcerated youth while minimizing the impact on any affected employees," said Union County Manager Edward T. Oatman.
Sharing youth and detention centers are not uncommon for counties in New Jersey.
In February 2015, the Union County Juvenile Center, which has a capacity for about 76 inmates, began housing juvenile offender from Hudson County which bumped Union's youth inmate population from about 28 youths daily to slightly more than 50.
Hudson County paid Union County approximately $2.1 million annually in 2015 and 2016 for the move which included more than 30 male juveniles according to a 2014 announcement.
Once Union County received the boys from Hudson, Union moved their girls to the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Facility, paying Bergen County $246,375.
The partnership between Union and Essex counties is for five years, with an option to renew. The nationally-accredited Essex juvenile facility -- which has an all-day school, recreation programs and a swimming pool -- is less than six miles away from the current facility in Union.
The state's largest juvenile correctional facility in Jamesburg -- the New Jersey Training School for Boys -- and the Juvenile Female Secure Care and Intake Facility (also known as Hayes) in Bordentown, are also being shuttered.
The two facilities will be replaced with two newly built smaller rehabilitation centers.
In 2012, Advocates of Children in New Jersey issued a report showing that the number of youth in detention centers across the state had decreased since 2004, saving the state $16 million.
Taylor Tiamoyo Harris may be reached at tharris@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ladytiamoyo.
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BOSTON -- Yankees manager Aaron Boone tried deflecting blame from Friday night's humungous missed opportunity at Fenway Park away from his $315 million designated hitter.
Giancarlo Stanton didn't.
He knew that his failures in the clutch were what the Boston Red Sox needed to hold on for a 5-4 win over the Yankees in Game 1 of a best-of-five Division Series.
His sixth-inning single off Red Sox starter Chris Sale helped ignite a comeback from a big 5-0 hole that starter J.A. Happ had dug the Yankees into, but Stanton's four other at-bats all ended with swings and misses.
His third strikeout in his golden sombrero performance was a killer, as he whiffed on a 1-2 curve from Red Sox reliefer Matt Barnes batted with the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh inning of a 5-2 ballgame.
"I thought Barnes made a great pitch against him," Boone said.
Stanton pointed the finger at himself for failing to hit a run-producing flyball.
"I wasn't able to get it done," he said. "I should have put the ball in play."
After Stanton whiffed for the first out in the seventh, the Yankees wound up settling for just one run when Luke Voit followed with an RBI fielder's choice groundout and Didi Gregorius bounced out to second.
Stanton had one last shot to make an impact in the ninth when it was a one-run game.
Two batters after Aaron Judge hit a leadoff homer off Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel to make it a 5-4 game, Stanton struck out for the fourth time.
Stanton also struck out his first two times up facing Sale, in the first inning on a changeup and in the third on a slider.
Stanton was mad at himself because he says his strikeouts weren't results of the Red Sox making a lot of good pitches on him.
"No," Stanton said. "I had pitches to hit in the zone that I fouled off. I didn't get to them so ... You can't give them too many strikes in the zone like that or you're going to end up having a game like I did."
He's had a few games like this in the regular season, as he struck out five times twice and four times twice while fanning a franchise record 211 times in 617 at-bats.
The most Stanton had struck out before this season was 170 times playing for the 2014 Marlins. His 211 Ks ranked second this season in the majors, six behind Chicago White Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada's 217, and is tied for the sixth highest total in major league history.
"Listen, if you play long enough, you're going to strike out plenty of times and obviously with (Stanton) and a lot of our guys, when we're on, we're on and when we're off, we're a little rusty," Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner said. "Just shake it off and forget about it and come out (Saturday) and be ready to do some damage."
The Yankees need a win in Saturday night's Game 2 to avoid heading home in a 2-0 hole.
"We got into every game like it's a must win out," Stanton said. "That's the mentality and that's how we'll go into it."
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting 300 people who have made New Orleans New Orleans, featuring original artwork commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune with Where Y'Art gallery. Today: businessman and civic leader Clay Shaw.
The icon: Clay Shaw.
The legacy: If the world was a fair place, a more decent place, Clay Shaw's 1974 obituary would have described him as "prominent New Orleans business and civic leader" and stopped there. But it's not, and so that sentence continued: "... and the man acquitted of charges of conspiring to kill President Kennedy." Those charges, and the resulting headline-grabbing trial spearheaded by then-District Attorney Jim Garrison, would make Shaw the only person ever prosecuted in connection with the Kennedy assassination. It would also ruin him financially and taint his name for the rest of his life. Through it all, though, Shaw never surrendered his dignity -- and today, belatedly but finally, he's widely remembered as the man he really was: a tireless advocate of the city as an international trade hub, a firm proponent of French Quarter restoration work, and a proud and passionate New Orleanian.
The artist: D. Lammie Hanson.
The quote: "Clay Shaw was a gentleman and a gentle man. Alas, we are in all too short supply of men of his caliber. ... In his passing he was not the victim -- those of us remaining are, for it will be some time, if ever, that a man of his integrity comes into our lives again." -- Poet Rod McKuen, upon the 1974 death of Clay Shaw
Explore more of Hanson's work online at WhereYart.net and in person at the Where Y'Art gallery, 1901 Royal St.
Clay LaVerne Shaw was born March 17, 1913, in the Tangipahoa Parish town of Kentwood. When he was 5, his family moved to New Orleans.
Source: The Times-Picayune archives; staff research
More on 300 for 300:
A man was shot in the chest Friday night (Oct. 5) near a Desire area store, New Orleans police reported.
The wounded man was taken to a local hospital, police said in an alert issued about 8:20 p.m.
At the scene, officers had taped off the Louisa Mini Mart, as well as a wide section of Louisa Street surrounding the market.
NOPD investigators placed several yellow evidence cones in the market's parking lot, directly in front of the front doors. Another cone was placed further down Louisa Street, just past the parking lot.
By 8:30 p.m, the scene had cleared of any onlookers. The shooting occurred along a somewhat desolate stretch of Louisa Street, just off Higgins Boulevard, near Pleasure Street.
Only a couple of passersby paused to look as investigators paced the roadway and photographed evidence marked by the cones.
No further details, such as the victim's condition, were immediately available.
A weather disturbance that was dumping rain near the Yucatan Peninsula early Saturday (Oct. 6) was given an 80 percent chance in 48 hours of forming into a tropical depression or storm as it moved north toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. If named, it would be Tropical Storm Michael.
The low-pressure system was located just north of the Bay Islands of Honduras. At 7 a.m. central time, the National Hurricane Center predicted it would strengthen by Monday.
Louisiana meteorologists see the storm arriving on the Gulf Coast at Alabama or Florida.
"The associated showers and thunderstorms show signs of organization. However, the system does not yet have a well-defined circulation," the Hurricane Center's outlook message says. "Environmental conditions are expected to become gradually more conducive for further development, and a tropical depression or tropical storm is expected to form over the northwestern Caribbean Sea or the southern Gulf of Mexico on Sunday or Monday while the system moves slowly northward.
"Interests in the Yucatan peninsula, western Cuba and the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico should monitor the progress of this system during the next several days. Regardless of tropical cyclone formation, this disturbance will continue to bring torrential rains to portions of Central America, the Yucatan peninsula and western Cuba into next week."
When the Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday (Oct. 6), both Louisiana senators voted as expected with their Republican majority. Here's what they said:
"He's whip-smart. He believes that the role of a judge is to determine what the law is and not what the law ought to be," said Sen. John Kennedy, a member of the Judiciary Committee that narrowly endorsed Kavanaugh. "However, no matter which way you look at it, there were no winners in this process. Washington turned into dysfunction junction."
"Two important things happened today," Sen. Bill Cassidy said. "A highly qualified jurist became Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and secondly, the Senate established that smear campaigns based upon uncorroborated allegations would not be allowed to destroy somebody and their ability to serve our country."
Kavanaugh's nomination by President Donald Trump was divisive from the start, given the partisan gulf in Washington. It almost blew up two weeks ago, when three women accused the nominee of long-ago sexual misconduct, prompting the Judiciary Committee to hold a second round of hearings and the FBI to reopen its background check into Kavanaugh.
. . . . . . .
Drew Broach covers Jefferson Parish politics and education, plus other odds and ends, for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Email: dbroach@nola.com. Facebook: Drew Broach TP. Twitter: drewbroach1. Google+: Drew Broach.
Roseburg, OR (97470)
Today
Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 48F. Winds light and variable..
Tonight
Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 48F. Winds light and variable.
Were a small team, but the scope of what we cover is phenomenal, Dr Robie explains. As researchers and reporters, we look at the repercussions that big issues like climate change, human rights violations and press freedom have on these small communities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Established in 2007 by Professor David Robie in AUTs School of Communication Studies, the centre focuses on postgraduate research projects and publications that impact on indigenous communities across the Pacific.
AUCKLAND - Based at Auckland University of Technology, the Pacific Media Centre is a small team dedicated to telling stories from across the Pacific that you wont read anywhere else.
Some of the Pacific Media Centre team (from left): Sri Krishnamurthi, Blessen Tom, Leilani Sitagata, Assoc Prof Camille Nakhid, Prof David Robie and Del Abcede
The team are active publishers, managing several platforms including the Pacific Media Watch and Asia Pacific Report news websites, the half-yearly academic research journal Pacific Journalism Review and its companion Pacific Journalism Monographs, the blog Niusblog and Toktok, a quarterly newsletter.
The centre has also secured a media partnership with Radio New Zealand the first content-sharing arrangement between a New Zealand university and a news organisation and hosts the weekly Southern Cross radio programme on 95bFM.
Some of the Pacific Media Centre team: Sri Krishnamurthi (from left), Blessen Tom, Leilani Sitagata, Associate Professor Camille Nakhid, Professor David Robie and Del Abcede. Image: Craig Major/AUT
Dr Robie, along with Advisory Board chair Associate Professor Camille Nakhid, sees the centre as having a strong advocacy role across the Pacific and further afield.
I think it is a real strength of the PMC that the team can find issues in the Pacific that just arent covered in the mainstream New Zealand media, then explore them and report on them with authority and conviction, Dr Robie says.
The team is skilled in identifying issues that are beyond the scope of what the public sees in a travel brochure.
Dr Nakhid echoes this sentiment. New Zealands media can be very insular when reporting on what is happening in the Pacific even though there is so much happening right outside our doorstep.
Internally the team takes a cross-discipline approach, working closely with students and staff in the School of Communication Studies (particularly Te Ara Motuhenga, the documentary collective) and the School of Social Sciences.
The centre also has international partnerships, such as with the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, and maintains close ties to Pacific communities based in New Zealand and are sure to collaborate with community groups for events and seminars.
Pacific Media Centre organised a seminar about the refugee situation in Myanmar recently, recalls publications designer Del Abcede. Through talking to the Burmese citizens that we had invited, we discovered a range of issues that only came to light in the mainstream after the Myanmar election.
PMC reporting staff mostly postgraduate students are encouraged to uncover and explore the issues that interest them.
Working with the PMC has been very illuminating, says Sri Krishnamurthi, a postgraduate student who has covered Fiji-based news for PMC, and has interviewed two of the three party heads hoping to win Fijis general election next month.
I have a background in communications and journalism, but doing this kind of reporting has been a real eye-opener, says Krishnamurthi, a Fiji-born journalist who worked with the NZ Press Association for 17 years.
And just this week two students from the centre, Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom, have had their Bearing Witness climate change documentary, Banabans of Rabi, accepted for screening at the 2018 Nukualofa Film Festival.
The freedom to pursue stories in the region is an opportunity for Dr Robie and the team.
Students that work with us learn so much and there really is no underestimation of their abilities, Dr Robie said.
Not only that, it promotes media and journalism as a viable career path for Pacific students, and leads to opportunities for international journalism projects.
DEARBORN, Mich. When Ford Motor was celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Rouge industrial complex last week, its chairman, William C. Ford Jr., offered an optimistic outlook for the years ahead.
The company is still solidly profitable, he said, and while it is losing money overseas, it is working on a solution. Furthermore, he praised the ability and leadership of Fords chief executive, Jim Hackett, who he said was doing a really good job.
I dont think its even close to a crisis, he said.
Not everyone shares his confidence.
The automakers bottom line is weakening despite record sales of its pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. In August, its credit rating was cut to one level above junk status. And Fords stock price has fallen to its lowest point since 2009, when the United States economy was in a deep recession.
The foundation of Ford the trucks is still healthy, but there are concerns about whether Ford has prepared for tomorrow and the future, said Karl Brauer, executive publisher of the auto information providers Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. Ford hasnt been effective enough in convincing investors that they are.
The HPV vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer and other malignancies, is now approved for men and women from 27 to 45-years-old, the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday.
The vaccine is Gardasil 9, made by Merck, and had been previously approved for minors and people up to age 26.
It works against the human papillomavirus, HPV, which can also cause genital warts and cancers of the vulva, anus, penis and parts of the throat. The virus has many strains. It is sexually transmitted, and most adults encounter at least one strain at some point in their lives. The vaccine protects against nine strains, including those most likely to cause cancers and genital warts.
Todays approval represents an important opportunity to help prevent HPV-related diseases and cancers in a broader age range, Dr. Peter Marks, director of the F.D.A.s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement.
Richard Kaplan, who directed an Oscar-winning documentary about Eleanor Roosevelt and oversaw production of an acclaimed portrait of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. two years after his assassination, died on Sept. 29 in Manhattan. He was 93.
His daughter Eve Kaplan confirmed the death.
Mr. Kaplan, whose dream of making scripted feature films had been frustrated by a lack of financing, had been making documentaries and other nonfiction films in Europe and the United States for about a dozen years when he was asked by the producer Sidney Glazier to direct The Eleanor Roosevelt Story (1965).
Mrs. Roosevelt had died in 1962, leaving behind a rich history for a documentarian: a shy woman from a privileged background who emerged from the shadow of her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to become an activist first lady who was often voted the worlds most admired woman.
With a script by the poet Archibald MacLeish, narration by Eric Sevareid of CBS News and an abundance of photographs and newsreel footage, Mr. Kaplan created a warm portrait. He admitted that the film was not critical. But it most likely would not have been negative regardless of the director. Mrs. Roosevelt was still a popular figure, and Mr. Glazier had been the executive director of the Eleanor Roosevelt Cancer Center.
Sydney Goldstein, a San Francisco impresario who helped pioneer the art of showcasing conversation as a cultural offering, died on Sept. 25 in Los Angeles. She was 73.
Her daughter, Kate Goldstein-Breyer, confirmed the death without specifying a cause.
Ms. Goldstein in 1980 founded City Arts & Lectures, a nonprofit organization that brought notable figures mostly writers, critics, artists and musicians to San Francisco for thoughtful, onstage conversations with smart interviewers.
Over nearly four decades, a well-rounded parade of accomplished celebrities were drawn to her stage, among them Stephen Sondheim, Doris Lessing, Bruce Springsteen, Nora Ephron, Maurice Sendak, Pauline Kael, John Updike, Patti Smith, Gilda Radner, Roxane Gay, M. F. K. Fisher, William F. Buckley Jr. and Joan Didion.
Her evenings of literary programming, which were offered as a series, much like subscriptions to the symphony or opera, served as a model in other cities, including Seattle, Pittsburgh and Portland, Ore. They also helped elevate the art of literary conversation, which is vastly more widespread today than it was in the early 1980s. Ms. Goldstein kept ticket prices low so that more people could attend.
Weve been struggling with this all year. Al Franken resigned from the Senate after various women accused him of forced kissing and inappropriate grabbing. In another era Franken could have gotten away with an apology, but he was at the center of a historic moment, when the country had to turn its back on the old boys-will-be-boys ethos that worked when women were supposed to stay home where theyd be safe from wandering fingers.
Boy did he fold up like a wet rag, Trump laughed at a rally this week in Frankens home state of Minnesota. He was gone so fast. It was like: Oh, he did something. Oh, I resign. I quit.
This is exactly what the Kavanaugh nomination has come to represent. A vote for the nomination became a symbolic vote for a political ethos that thinks grabbing private parts is fun and complaining about sexual assault is a threat to young manhood.
Murkowski understood. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat, didnt care and took a dive. Its a real shame. This is a senator whose he-man image is so critical to his identity that he always runs campaign ads in which he shoots offensive legislation with a rifle. Imagine if someone like that had come out against the Kavanaugh nomination just to say that Americans can behave better than this.
I didnt look at this from a political standpoint, he fibbed.
Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, another red state Democrat, understood the symbolism of the moment. When she listened to Christine Blasey Ford testify, Heitkamp said, I heard the voices of women I have known throughout my life who have similar stories of sexual assault and abuse.
Heitkamp won her first senate race by less than 3,000 votes, and cynics assumed she felt free to be brave and vote no because polls suggested her re-election campaign is a lost cause anyway. It is my experience that politicians never believe theyre doomed to defeat unless the mailman ceases deliveries because no one has sent a contribution in six months.
Heitkamp is pitted against Representative Kevin Cramer, who called the Kavanaugh controversy even more absurd than the Anita Hill case. And, he added, Blaseys charges just amounted to an attempt or something that never went anywhere. Basically his position was that if theres no penetration, it doesnt count.
So what now?
The degrading spectacle of Judge Brett Kavanaughs confirmation process is behind us; the degrading era of his service on the Supreme Court lies ahead. If senators vote as expected on Saturday, Judge Kavanaugh, with a razor-thin victory on an almost strict party-line Senate vote, will be sworn in as the newest associate justice of the Supreme Court as early as next week.
Credible accusations of sexual assault, lies told under oath, explicitly partisan attacks on the senators trying to assess his fitness to serve: None of it was enough to give Republican leaders more than momentary pause in their campaign to seize decisive control of the Supreme Court.
Depending on your politics, you might pick one starting point or another for the nastiness of the modern battles between the parties over individual court seats. But it was Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, who openly established partisan control of the court itself as the stakes in the struggle. He refused to allow Barack Obama to fill a vacancy for almost a year, holding the seat open to draw evangelical voters to the polls and elect a Republican president.
That was a clever gambit, though it had the downside of risking the credibility of the American legal system. The bet has now paid off, and the risk has been realized.
Last week I interviewed Colombian President Ivan Duque, who took office in August and calls himself a man of the extreme center. In an era of rising populism, I asked, how should politicians make the case for reviving or strengthening centrist-style politics?
When you see a populist, Duque answered, you always see a demagogue. Societies no longer need demagogues; they need pedagogues people that can tell a country, Where is it that we want to go, how is it that we want to make it happen, and what is it that everybody has to put in the basket to achieve those goals?
Colombians have something to teach the rest of us about the need to preserve a vital political center. Long before cocaine wars and guerrilla insurgencies nearly destroyed Colombia in the 1980s and 90s, some 200,000 people perished in a civil war in the 1940s through the 60s because the countrys liberals and conservatives couldnt settle their ideological differences peacefully.
Politics played as blood sport degrades personal manners and ruins civic institutions. Thats where we are in the United States today. Left unchecked, it blows up countries. Colombians know, because it has taken them three generations to work their way out of the wreckage, and theyre far from done.
The next bit, as our car passed through the New England countryside, moved me as an English major, a native of New Jersey and the grandson of immigrants. Childhood diphtheria left Rodino with a pronounced speech defect that he worked to correct by, in his quoted words, reciting Shakespeare through a mouth full of marbles.
Mythology does build around politicians. Born in a log cabin used to be the label for that. When I told a friend that Nixon financed his first campaign with poker winnings, accumulated on the Navy ship that brought him home from World War II, keeping the cash hidden in his footlocker, my friend wisely said: That footlocker is Nixons log cabin.
But even if those therapeutic Shakespeare recitations, the marbles, the menial jobs are 37 percent fabricated, it is a fabrication I revere: far more heroic, to me, than any number of log cabins or foot lockers.
And the next information is not myth, but fact: During World War II, Rodino was an appeals agent for the Newark Draft Board. That position exempted him from the draft, but in 1941 he enlisted in the Army and was stationed in North Africa, and later in Italy.
After the war, as a representative, he was re-elected by a large margin even in the strongly Republican political environment of 1952, when Dwight Eisenhower carried Rodinos Newark district.
At this point, my feelings for what I was reading merged with my memory of those long-ago televised Judiciary Committee hearings on impeachment. As chairman, Rodino seemed unlikely a frequently applied adjective that may have implied something about the name ending in a vowel and the New Jersey accent.
On July 24, 1974, the opening day of the committee debate on the articles of impeachment, amid the subpoena process for the Watergate tapes, Rodino said, with the eloquence of plain speech: We have deliberated. We have been patient. We have been fair. Now the American people, the House of Representatives and the Constitution and the whole history of our republic demand that we make up our minds. Six of the committees Republicans eventually joined the Democratic majority in passing three of the five articles of impeachment. After the vote, Rodino later said, he phoned his wife and wept, for our country.
Insidious is the man. Insidious is his pollution of the F.B.I., whose former director, James Comey, he fired after Comey refused to show loyalty. Loyalty in this instance meant willingness to shelve, at Trumps demand, an investigation into dealings between his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and Russia.
Now the F.B.I. given a week to investigate what happened 36 years ago between Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford concludes an investigation on which the lives of our children and grandchildren may hinge in less than a week. It does so as Trump, speaking behind the seal of the president of the United States, unloads his bile on Dr. Blasey.
Contagious is the man. Contagious is Trumps view that judges should be agents of those who appoint them rather than the independent guarantors of Americas constitutional democracy. Trump wants loyalty from Kavanaugh, too, and the angry, emotional testimony that the judge provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee carried this subliminal message: I am one of yours. It was right out of the Trump playbook.
The Supreme Court is the ultimate arbiter of the rule of law. It was conceived as a critical part of the political system, not as just another venue for ordinary, ugly, polarized politics. Kavanaughs confirmation would be the capstone to a shift in that direction. Courts were meant to be Americas great levelers, not their great dividers and inciters.
WASHINGTON An exasperated President Trump picked up the phone to call the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, last Sunday. Tell the F.B.I. they can investigate anything, he told Mr. McGahn, because we need the critics to stop.
Not so fast, Mr. McGahn said.
Mr. McGahn, according to people familiar with the conversation, told the president that even though the White House was facing a storm of condemnation for limiting the F.B.I. background check into sexual misconduct allegations against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, a wide-ranging inquiry like some Democrats were demanding and Mr. Trump was suggesting would be potentially disastrous for Judge Kavanaughs chances of confirmation to the Supreme Court.
It would also go far beyond the F.B.I.s usual supplemental background investigation, which is, by definition, narrow in scope.
The White House could not legally order the F.B.I. to rummage indiscriminately through someones life, Mr. McGahn told the president. And without a criminal investigation to pursue, agents could not use search warrants and subpoenas to try to get at the truth.
LONDON The British street artist Banksy pulled off one of his most spectacular pranks on Friday night, when one of his trademark paintings appeared to self-destruct at Sothebys in London after selling for $1.4 million at auction.
The work, Girl With Balloon, a 2006 spray paint on canvas, was the last lot of Sothebys Frieze Week evening contemporary art sale. After competition between two telephone bidders, it was hammered down by the auctioneer Oliver Barker for 1 million pounds, more than three times the estimate and a new auction high for a work solely by the artist, according to Sothebys.
Then we heard an alarm go off, Morgan Long, the head of art investment at the London-based advisory firm Fine Art Group, who was sitting in the front row of the room, said in an interview on Saturday. Everyone turned round, and the picture had slipped through its frame.
The painting, mounted on a wall close to a row of Sothebys staff members, had been shredded, or at least partially shredded, by a remote-control mechanism on the back of the frame.
In the 30 years hes worked at Alaska Airlines, Ray Prentice has never actually heard of a miniature horse boarding one of its flights.
But with a new policy that went into effect this week, the airline has left the possibility open. Miniature horses have joined dogs and cats as one of the three animals expressly allowed on board as service animals, which are trained to assist someone with a disability.
A miniature horse usually between two and three feet tall and weighing between 70 and 100 pounds would most likely be able to stand only in front of passengers seated in the front row of the cabin, Mr. Prentice, the airlines director of customer advocacy, said.
While the use of miniature horses as service animals is thought to be quite rare, some people may prefer them to other animals. The horses are sturdy, have longer life spans, can help those with mobility problems and have been known to guide people who are blind. Others may seek out the horses because they have religious objections to using dogs.
Reeba Susamma Monachan and Keshav Sethi Attrey were married Oct. 6 at Belk Chapel on the campus of Queens University in Charlotte, N.C. Dr. Janice Odom, who was ordained by the Alliance of Baptists at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., performed the ceremony, with the Rev. Father George Philipose, vicar of the Christian Orthodox Church, taking part. Earlier in the day, the couple took part in a Sikh ceremony at the Gurdwara Sahib Charlotte in North Carolina. Gyani Satnam Singh Ji, a Sikh priest and a friend of the couple, performed the ceremony.
The bride, who is 34 and will take her husbands name, works in Redwood City, Calif., as the director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Summit Public Schools, a charter management network across California and Washington State. She is also a board member for EsengO, a nonprofit organization based in Montreal that supports people with mental health issues.
She is the daughter of Soosamma M. Monachan and Monachan M. Varghese of Charlotte. The bride's father retired as a vice president and senior legal officer at Bank of America in Charlotte. Her mother retired as an Ayurvedic doctor in Kerala, India.
The groom, who is 40 and works in East Palo Alto, Calif., is a software development engineer at Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon.com that provides an on-demand cloud computing platform.
He then heads down a stairwell.
Ms. Adesegun said on Saturday that she believed the mayor cared more about his workout than listening to her. Eric Phillips, Mr. de Blasios press secretary, defended the mayors decision to leave.
People working out at the gym shouldnt be worried they will be recorded in highly publicized, videotaped political confrontations every morning, Mr. Phillips said. Its not the right venue for these discussions and the mayor wont have them there.
Homelessness has been one of the most vexing issues facing Mr. de Blasio. The Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy group, says New York is in the midst of the worst homeless crisis since the Great Depression. The citys shelter system houses just under 61,000 people, including more than 22,000 children. In seeking to open 90 new homeless shelters, Mr. de Blasio has struggled to find locations and to overcome resistance from existing residents opposed to new shelters in their neighborhoods. Mr. Phillips says 16 shelters have been opened so far. The city also recently moved to consolidate its confusing system of rental subsidies.
Giselle Routhier, policy director of the coalition, said the group began calling for Mr. de Blasio to increase the number of units in his housing plan about a year ago.
We still have near-record homelessness and its not going down as much as it should be at all, Ms. Routhier said. You cant address record homeless without dedicating a meaningful portion of your housing plan to homelessness.
Over the course of his almost five years in office, Mr. de Blasio has been confronted at the Y.M.C.A. by the union representing uniformed police officers as well as by a large group calling for traffic-calming measures after the deaths of a 4-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy who were struck by a driver a block from the gym.
Every so often a new study will come out about Eastern gray squirrels, he noted, that will tell us something about their intelligence or behavior patterns that we should have figured out a long time ago.
A few years ago there was the revelation that squirrels lie, fake-burying nuts when other squirrels are watching. Last year researchers determined that squirrels engage in spatial chunking, sorting nuts by size, type and possibly nutritional value.
Theres not a lot of squirrel data out there, Mr. Allen, 49, said. So the first step is collecting the squirrel data. You start to see patterns in behavior, and then you can use the data for any research youre working on.
The data from the census in Atlanta was used by a wildlife epidemiologist for a paper on the spread of West Nile virus in a different park in that city.
Another reason for the count is to simply answer the question How many squirrels are in Central Park?
The problem, rather, is that scholars who study these questions have been driven into sub-specializations that are not always seen as integral to larger fields or to the humanities as a whole. Sometimes they have been driven there by departments that are reluctant to accept them; sometimes they have been driven there by their own conviction that they alone have the standing to investigate these topics.
In either case, because graduate students and junior faculty members in the humanities are expected to produce journal articles and citations much in the way graduate students and junior faculty members in the sciences are, and because they are discouraged by tenure committees and sometimes by their own ideological provincialism from thinking broadly and connecting their work to larger questions of universal relevance, there is an increasing incentive to publish in journals with narrow purviews that are read by correspondingly few scholars. The proliferation of journals that few people are invested in, along with the pressure to produce ever greater numbers of articles, leads to more work being published with fewer safeguards guaranteeing its quality.
Furthermore, hyper-specialization in the humanities means that the very people who should be thinking broadly about culture and ideas, and teaching students to encounter and engage with a variety of positions and opinions, are becoming accustomed to defining their interests in the narrowest possible terms. They read and exchange ideas in hermetic academic bubbles, in very much the same way that the public has increasingly tended to read and exchange ideas in hermetic news bubbles.
How the media has responded to the story of the hoax rehearses this very tendency and reveals something about how identity politics is being weaponized in the service of tribalism. The Wall Street Journal broke the story in the form of an opinion essay by Jillian Kay Melchior headlined Fake News Comes to Academia, feeding a popular narrative on the right that universities are overrun by tenured radicals hawking fringe ideas to their innocent students. With stories like this in the news, its hardly a surprise that according to a recent Pew poll, political party affiliation predicts whether one believes universities are having a positive or a negative effect on the country.
The solution is not to attack those scholars who are devoted to studying marginalized people. The solution, rather, is to ensure that the study of the marginalized not itself be marginalized or self-marginalized. The experiences of racial and gender minorities are essential aspects of history, literature and philosophy because they are experiences essential to all societies, and always have been. When disciplines are reformed to include these stories as well as the stories of how they became excluded in the first place, then they are benefiting knowledge as a whole.
Let me ask you to do the impossible, tear your mind away from the Kavanaugh affair for a moment, and cast your eyes from the new Rome to the old one from the American Empires judicial wars to the similar mix of scandal, polarization, and intrigue in the Roman Catholic Church.
The pontificate of Francis and the presidency of Donald Trump have been odd mirrors of one another for a while populist leaders, institutional crises, norm violations, #metoo scandals, leaks and whistle-blowers and cries of fake news and more. And as the Trump era has moved toward its Kavanaugh crescendo, the Catholic drama has also escalated, with the churchs doctrinal conflict and its sex abuse scandal converging in a single destabilizing crisis.
This month the crux of the drama is the Synod on Young People, a meeting of bishops in Rome that like prior synods in the Francis era is a chance for the pope to prod some alteration of church teaching on sexuality through a process stage-managed to give the appearance of consensus.
No such consensus was evident in the prior two synods, in which the contested issue was divorce and remarriage, but the pope forged ahead with an ambiguous revision of church teaching, currently half-digested around the Catholic world. This time, thanks to his appointments there are fewer bishops in opposition, and the synods endgame is probably some ambiguously liberalizing statement on homosexuality, contraception or both.
I can speak for both myself and my older brother, Darryl, when I say that March 8, 2000, was the most regrettable day of our lives. On that day, I accompanied Darryl to an encounter with a gang member who, days earlier, had sexually assaulted Darryls wife. We were both armed. Rather than report the assault, we set out for a confrontation. Within seconds, the situation escalated and Darryl fired several shots in a struggle for the gun, wounding the gang member and himself. Darryl and I survived. The gang member did not.
Months later, we stood shackled and handcuffed inside a muggy Brooklyn courtroom. I was 20 and Darryl was 21. We had every reason to think wed spend the rest of our lives in jail. But Justice Gustin L. Reichbach did something unexpected, something that probably saved both our lives: He did not impose the maximum prison sentence of 40 years to life the equivalent of life without parole and instead sentenced each of us to serve 17 years to life.
We were taken to Five Points Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in upstate New York, to serve our time. That Darryl and I were in the same prison gave us both real advantages. Friends and family could visit us in one place, helping us maintain a connection with the outside world. We were able to reflect together on where we had gone wrong and to commit ourselves to turning our lives around. Seeing each other every day provided a constant reminder of the worst choice wed ever made.
We made a pact not to ever do anything that would separate us. We became partners in accountability, supported each other during difficult times and deepened our faith with the help of wonderful chaplains there. We also had the guidance and wisdom of several old-timers prisoners decades older than us, some serving life sentences, who committed themselves to keeping us out of trouble. It worked. After seven years of good behavior, Darryl and I were granted permission to become cellmates and spent the next 10 years sharing a bunk.
Historically, weve tackled the biggest challenge that of meaning, and the question of how to live a life through the concept of practice, in the form of religion, cultural tradition or disciplines like yoga or martial arts. Given the stark facts, this approach might be the most useful. Practice has value independent of outcome; its a way of life, not a job with a clear payoff. A joyful habit. The right way to live.
Such an approach will require dropping the American focus on destination over journey, and releasing the concepts of winning and winners, at least in the short term. As the journalist I.F. Stone was said to have explained: The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you are going to lose because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins. He added: You mustnt feel like a martyr. Youve got to enjoy it. Or as Camus put it: One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
To save civilization, most of us would need to supplement our standard daily practices eating, caring for family and community, faith with a steady push on the big forces that are restraining progress, the most prominent being the fossil fuel industrys co-option of government, education, science and media. This practice starts with a deep understanding of the problem, so it will mean reading a little about climate science. Our actions must be to scale, so while we undertake individual steps in our lives, like retrofitting light bulbs, we must realize that real progress comes from voting, running for office, marching in protest, writing letters, and uncomfortable but respectful conversations with fathers-in-law. This work must be habitual. Every day some learning and conversation. Every week a call to Congress. Every year a donation to a nonprofit advancing the cause. In other words, a practice.
Maybe this approach doesnt seem as noble as, say, our memory of the civil rights movement. But that eras continuous, workmanlike grinding probably didnt feel all that glorious then, either. With history as our judge, though, it does. And we know what happens when enough people take up a cause as practice: Cultural norms change. Think gay marriage. Think the sharp decline in smoking in the United States.
There should be no shortage of motivation. Solving climate change presents humanity with the opportunity to save civilization from collapse and create aspects of what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the beloved community. The work would endow our lives with some of the oldest and most numinous aspirations of humankind: leading a good life; treating our neighbors well; imbuing our short existence with timeless ideas like grace, dignity, respect, tolerance and love. The climate struggle embodies the essence of what it means to be human, which is that we strive for the divine.
Perhaps the rewards of solving climate change are so compelling, so nurturing and so natural a piece of the human soul that we cant help but do it.
Auden Schendler is a board member of Protect Our Winters and the author of Getting Green Done. Andrew P. Jones is co-founder of Climate Interactive, which contributed climate scenarios to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion).
But on many key votes, her record is about as moderate as Ted Cruzs. In January, she provided the Republicans with the crucial 51st vote for the tax bill. She set three conditions: the additional passage of two separate bills to shore up insurance markets for individuals who werent covered through their work, along with a promise for Congress to undo the cuts to Medicare automatically triggered by the deficit increase from the tax cut.
After that bill was passed, Ms. Collins said the promises to her were ironclad, and that if her conditions were not met, there would be consequences. But the additional bills never got a vote, and a follow-up attempt to add her provisions to the omnibus spending bill in March was defeated, by other Republicans.
Of course they were.
As a voter in Maine for the last 30 years, Ive been represented by a broad spectrum of independent statesmen and women. During my first year living here, we had dinner in a Skowhegan restaurant called the Heritage House, and at the table next to ours was Margaret Chase Smith, who, of course, stood up against the tactics of Joseph McCarthy in 1950 with her Declaration of Conscience speech. We stood up to shake her hand. I still remember that moment, the sparkle in her fierce eyes. It was like looking directly into history.
Weve been represented by other mavericks in the last half-century. Senator William Cohen, another Republican, served as the secretary of defense for a Democratic president, Bill Clinton. George Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader, helped to bring about the Good Friday peace accords in Ireland, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. For eight years we had an independent governor, Angus King, who has gone on to represent our state as an independent in the Senate. (My wife and I are public supporters of, and have a long friendship with, the Kings.) Being independently minded is a tradition in Maine, as much a part of who we are as lobsters, moose hunting and whoopie pies.
But there are different ways of being a maverick. For Smith, it meant taking a stand, opposing McCarthy at the apex of his power. For Arizonan John McCain, it meant voting against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, at least when no provisions had been made for the 20 million Americans who would have suddenly found themselves without health care.
To fight the pestilence, the ants aligned themselves with a bacteria that produces a chemical capable of subduing the parasite. Now, Dr. Currie and his colleagues have found evidence that suggests that the partnership between ants and antimicrobial bacteria has existed for tens of millions of years. The key clues came from two 20-million-year-old ants that were discovered, trapped in amber, in the Dominican Republic.
Image A fossilized leafcutter ant, Apterostigma eowilsoni, trapped in amber. The ant's head had tiny pockets that housed fungus-protecting bacteria. Credit... Hongjie Li et al.
One of the fossilized ants had specialized pockets on its head, called crypts, that are also seen on modern ants. The crypts are known to house the fungus-protecting bacteria, called actinobacteria. The other ant specimen was entombed with gas bubbles on its body, likely produced by the respiration of the actinobacteria.
Its kind of like the ants are walking pharmaceutical factories, said Dr. Currie, who is an author of the study, which appeared Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This indicates that, like in the way ants predated us in growing crops, they also predated us by tens of millions of years in associating with microbes to produce antibiotics.
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Hongjie Li, an evolutionary biologist in Dr. Curries lab and the lead author of the study, was inspecting the amber specimens last summer, using a scanning electron microscope at the Smithsonian Institution, when he and his colleagues found signs that the amber ants carried bacteria in a manner similar to modern ants.
It was a shock to me, said Dr. Li.
The team combined that finding and published data on 69 other ant species to reconstruct the ants evolutionary tree. The results indicated that the ants established their partnership with the bacteria tens of millions of years ago, shortly after they developed their fungus-farming abilities.
The public accounts and conversations, even the ones that feel unsatisfying, hold hidden value because they draw out quieter ones. In the privacy of homes, in office cafeterias and bars, women and men have confided, argued, apologized and reconsidered their own histories in ways that will never be captured by investigative articles, distinguished panels or year-end lists. These exchanges, these collective adjustments of the line between what feels right and what feels wrong, can seem more immediate and impactful than any law.
But are they? So far, the true rules of our society have barely budged. Federal law does not protect freelancers or employees of many small businesses from harassment. The criminal justice system does not come close to addressing sexual abuse, especially when the events lie far in the past. (Do not trust anyone who makes confident assertions about whether Harvey Weinstein will be convicted.) Beyond a scattering of new state legislation, shifts in social attitudes have not been locked in place by law.
Its not clear how much has changed in the past year for a woman who is being hounded and pawed by her boss as she serves burgers for $ 1 0 an hour.
Theres no agreement on which behaviors merit scrutiny, on where the boundaries lie. Some supporters of Brett Kavanaugh are outraged that his confirmation was questioned because of a high school-era allegation. For many on the other side, that was the power of Christine Blasey Fords testimony: She told the country that a traumatic experience from the distant past still matters.
For men (and women) who are accused, a general lack of accountability has given way to a lack of consensus over what kind of behavior merits warning, a firing, or career obliteration.
We are talking to the European Union again, we are talking to Japan again, and we are moving to what I have characterized as a trade coalition of the willing to confront China, Mr. Kudlow said. (He didnt note that hed borrowed a term also used for the allies that joined in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which President Trump has called a disaster.)
The sense among analysts that the administration has been pursuing a single coherent strategy contrasts with earlier in the year. At that point, from the outside at least, the administration seemed to be changing its approach by the week, and sometimes by the day. It has often seemed that there has been a series of improvised moves, with different senior officials favoring different approaches.
Steel and aluminum tariffs were to be applied to all imports, then close allies were exempted, until two months later when they werent.
There seemed to be a deal to increase Chinese imports of American agricultural and energy products, achieving trade peace which crumbled days later, as President Trump changed course and demanded more profound changes in the Chinese economy and trade practices.
Now, with the new North American deal, its become easier to see how the different elements of Trump trade fit together. The nonmarket provision seems devised to give the United States veto power over any deal Canada or Mexico might seek with China.
But just because there is a more coherent strategy in the administrations stance toward global trade than in the recent past doesnt mean it will work. And there are still plenty of reasons for skepticism.
I do think we can see a strategy, but that doesnt mean its a good strategy, said Mary E. Lovely, a professor at Syracuse University and a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Theyre going to use these bilateral deals to strong-arm countries into lining up behind the U.S. on China. But when we get there, whats the next step? I dont know what the endgame is.
Two years ago, a man died of an apparent drug overdose after being held at the Clackamas County Jail in Oregon City, Ore.
This week, video emerged in which sheriffs deputies could be heard laughing as the man thrashed uncontrollably in a padded cell before he died. They joked that he could be used as a cautionary example to warn students about the dangers of drugs.
Should we just take him and put him in front of the classroom? asked one of the officials.
If you could just wheel him in a cage and wheel him back out, said another.
Look what I brought for show and tell today, one deputy said while laughing.
The one holding the cellphone could be heard saying: I wish we could show this to his girlfriend like, You love this?
CHICAGO Officer Jason Van Dyke asked 12 jurors to trust his memory, not a widely circulated dashboard camera video, to know what really happened the night he shot Laquan McDonald 16 times.
The jurors chose the video.
On Friday afternoon, after less than eight hours of deliberating, the jury convicted Officer Van Dyke of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm in the death of Laquan, a black teenager who was carrying a knife but veering away from the police.
Most of the jurors stayed behind in the courtroom to speak to reporters after the verdict, as Officer Van Dyke, who is white, was booked into jail. They said they found the officers description of the Oct. 20, 2014, shooting to be contradictory, overly rehearsed and simply not believable. And they called into question officers tried-and-true strategy of providing tearful testimony to overcome damaging video evidence when charged in a shooting.
It seemed kind of like he was finally giving the play after they had been rehearsing with him for weeks, said one juror, a white woman, who noticed Officer Van Dyke staring at us, trying to win our sympathy when he testified.
WASHINGTON Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Saturday by one of the slimmest margins in American history, locking in a solid conservative majority on the court and capping a rancorous battle that began as a debate over judicial ideology and concluded with a national reckoning over sexual misconduct.
As a chorus of women in the Senates public galleries repeatedly interrupted the proceedings with cries of Shame!, somber-looking senators voted 50 to 48 almost entirely along party lines to elevate Judge Kavanaugh. He was promptly sworn in by both Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy the courts longtime swing vote, whom he will replace in a private ceremony.
For President Trump and Senate Republican leaders, who have made stocking the federal judiciary with conservative judges a signature issue, the Senate vote was a validation of a hard-edge strategy to stick with Judge Kavanaugh, even after his nomination was gravely imperiled by allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that he had tried to rape her when they were teenagers.
The president was exultant. Hes going to go down as a totally brilliant Supreme Court justice for many years, he told reporters, whom he had invited to join him in watching the vote on television aboard Air Force One.
Please raise your right hand. These are the Supreme Court confirmation hearings This is day two. youre probably all familiar with. Bigly. You just said bigly. Bigly. Big partisan productions A charade and a mockery. Anything else you want to say, Judge Bork? that dominate the headlines and the airwaves. This is how they used to be. [crickets] Yeah, there actually werent any. So how did we get from here [crickets] to here? Well start in 1937 with former Senator Hugo Black, whos being congratulated. Thats because hes just been confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice. Hes also been outed as a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. So to explain himself, he gets on the radio. I did join the Klan. I later resigned. I never rejoined. People are not happy. Theyre basically asking: How could the Senate Judiciary Committee let this guy through? Answer: Since the first hearing back in 1873, for this guy, there were no standard ways of holding hearings for Supreme Court nominees. They didnt have to go and testify, and the hearings didnt need to be made public. The senators reviewed the nominees among themselves. But then came a couple of amendments to the Constitution. The upshot is they gave more voting power to the people. So the senators needed to start paying more attention to public opinion. And theyre paying attention when Blacks controversial confirmation drives Americans to ask: Why are these hearings private? Its a big reason why the next nominee to come along gets a public hearing. And its not just a public hearing, its the first that includes no-holds-barred questioning by the committee. Things are beginning to change. Then World War II comes, and goes. America is suddenly a superpower. Business booms, suburbs grow. The protest took the form of a boycott. And we see the beginning of the modern civil-rights era. In 1954, the court rules to end racial segregation in schools. And this marks a point where we really start to see the court using its power to shape parts of American society. That means Americans take a greater interest in who is on the court. That means even more pressure on senators to vet these candidates. Starting with the first nominee after the Brown decision, almost every nominee will have a public hearing. Now change is in full swing. I Have a Dream, the march from Selma, The Feminine Mystique. The court keeps making controversial rulings on race discrimination, gender discrimination, personal privacy. That means more public interest, more pressure on senators, more issues to parse in the hearings. So the hearings get longer. But just wait. 1981 game changer. Good evening. Sandra OConnor First woman nominated to the Supreme Court, first nomination hearing to be televised. The longer senators talk, the more TV time they get. The more TV time they get, the more they can posture for voters watching at home. [senators talking] So the more they talk. With the cameras rolling, well see 10 out of the 12 longest hearings ever. One of those is for Robert Bork With a negative recommendation of 9 to 5. who famously doesnt make the cut. Now onto the aughts. Theres an 11-year gap between nominees. Meanwhile, America has become more politically divided, so has the Senate. Over and over again Wait just a second How many times do we do this before Heres Chief Justice Roberts to explain what happened next. I mean, you look at two of my colleagues, Justice Scalia and Justice Ginsburg, for example. Maybe there were two or three dissenting votes between the two of them. Yep, three votes against Ginsburg in 1993. No votes against Scalia in 1986. Now you look at my more recent colleagues and the votes were, I think, strictly on party lines. Thats pretty much right. And that doesnt make any sense. And thats how we got here. Im not looking to take us back to quill pens. Very long Nah, I just asked you where you were at on Christmas. [laughter] Always very political So your failure to answer questions is confounding me. very public Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Also, something else to notice: Sometimes these nominees give pretty similar answers. The right to privacy is protected under the Constitution in various ways. And it protects the right to privacy in a number of ways. In various places in the Constitution. In a variety of places in the Constitution. Its protected by the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment certainly speaks to the right of privacy. Its founded in the Fourth Amendment. The first and most obvious place is the Fourth Amendment.
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I did not expect this outcome.
Nearly four years ago, a truck driver called 911 to report someone breaking into vehicles in a parking lot in Chicago. When officers arrived, they found Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, near the scene. He refused to stop when they told him to. He had a three-inch pocketknife.
The officers followed Laquan down South Pulaski Road and 41st Street. Officer Jason Van Dyke arrived. Dashboard-camera footage shows Officer Van Dyke shooting Laquan 16 times, the teenagers body spinning as the bullets were pumped into it.
Officer Van Dyke, who is white, was the only one to discharge his weapon. This week, he was found guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery, one for each shot. Officers in police-shooting cases like these are usually acquitted. But maybe, just maybe, were entering a new era.
Another man who fled to Yaounde said he had endured a series of atrocities before finally giving up and packing his family of four into his brothers living room. Eleven people are now jammed into the small apartment, where he has hung a poster of numbers for his 4-year-old daughter. She has forgotten how to count to 10 after being out of school for so long.
In Mile 16, schools have been closed for two years. The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted, said he had repeatedly run into roadblocks from separatists and shakedowns from soldiers who came to homes and helped themselves to laptops, televisions and cash. They even took soda without paying from a 12-year-old girl running a small store near his office, he said.
Were working for you, he said they told her. It was a small thing, but he was outraged.
Then he saw a body floating down a nearby stream, and that of a soldier at a traffic circle.
But what finally pushed him to escape was the aftermath of gunfire as soldiers, shooting wildly, chased two men on motorcycles. One of the bullets entered his neighbors living room window and struck and killed a teenage boy watching television.
When asked if he was going to vote Sunday, the mans eyes widened.
For what? he said. Ive been voting for years and the results have never changed.
NAIROBI, Kenya At least 50 people were killed and more than 100 suffered burns in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday when a tanker truck collided with a bus and caught fire, officials said.
The fire broke out just as local residents had reached the scene to gather leaking fuel, lifting the number of casualties. The accident occurred near the eastern city of Kisantu, about 125 miles south of the capital, Kinshasa.
Seguin Singuela, the Kongo Central police commissioner, said the accident occurred late in the day and could have been a caused by visibility problems. He said a third vehicle crashed into the accident scene and also caught fire.
Atou Matubuana, the interim governor of Kongo Central Province, said officials would assist the wounded and help take care of the dead. The central government dispatched a team led by the transportation minister.
CAIRO No one can say Melania Trump, the first lady, doesnt understand the power of an image.
Standing in front of one of the best known but most enigmatic monuments of the ancient world, the Great Sphinx, Mrs. Trump one of the most mysterious first ladies in modern times agreed to take questions from a group of journalists.
Mrs. Trump wearing another white hat used the symbolic backdrop as a moment to discuss her six-day trip to Africa, including whether any of her hosts had brought up the disparaging comments her husband has reportedly made about African countries.
Nobody discussed that with me, she said of her hosts in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Egypt in the past week. Of the president, she added, I never heard him saying those comments.
When asked about Mr. Trumps claim, made in response to the accusations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh, that it was a very scary time for men, Mrs. Trump walked a line between saying victims needed to be heard and supporting Mr. Kavanaugh, whom she called highly qualified to join the Supreme Court.
SAO PAULO, Brazil There has been no lack of drama in the lead-up to Brazils presidential election on Sunday. One candidate was jailed, another was stabbed and a week before the voting, women organized nationwide protests against the front-runner.
The presidential contest, the most splintered and divisive race since the end of the military dictatorship in the 1980s, has for many Brazilians come down to who is the least bad option.
Who Is Leading?
The front-runner by a wide margin is the far-right former army captain, Jair Bolsonaro, according to the polls. A member of Congress since 1991, he was long a marginal figure best known for incendiary comments defending Brazils military dictatorship and attacking women, gays and blacks.
In addition to electing the next president from a field of 13 candidates, voters will also choose 27 governors and more than 1,600 state and federal lawmakers. In Brazil, there are 147.3 million eligible voters, and voting is obligatory.
KABUL, Afghanistan The Afghan government on Friday signed two contracts for the exploration of copper and gold deposits in the north, in a bid to move away from the countrys dependence on foreign aid by tapping its mineral wealth.
But watchdog groups say aspects of the contracts may violate the law and aggravate questionable practices that have marred the mining sector for years. Strongmen and political elites have long profited from the countrys riches, and mineral wealth could turn into another source of instability in a country mired in decades of war.
The contracts, which had been stalled for years, were signed in Washington between the Afghan ministers of finance and mining, and executives from Centar Ltd., an investment company founded by Ian Hannam, a former J.P. Morgan banker who partnered with local Afghan firms to bid for the mines.
Centars local partner is Sadat Naderi, who until June was Afghanistans minister of urban development. The Afghan minerals law prohibits senior officials from bidding on mining contracts for five years after they leave government.
TOKYO Its going to be tough to replace 83 years worth of grime.
As the fishmongers of Tokyos famed wholesale seafood market, Tsukiji, opened for their final day at their familiar site on Saturday, they and their customers lamented the end of an era of grunge.
Dirty is best, said Yoshitaka Moria, 38, an owner of a fish shop in the Ota ward of Tokyo, who regularly shops for seafood at Tsukiji and was buying an assortment of tuna, sea bream, oysters and amberjack on Saturday morning. It makes this place so vibrant. I know that the fishmongers are working too hard to clean up.
In the waning hours of the market believed to be the worlds largest for seafood, the lumpy cobblestone alleys, sprawled across 57 acres, were soaked in bloodied water, and forbidden cigarette butts mingled with fragments of bone and guts.
Had the weapons been used, it would have added to the horrors of one of the most tumultuous and violent years in modern American history. Johnson announced weeks later that he would not run for re-election. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated shortly thereafter.
The story of how close the United States came to reaching for nuclear weapons in Vietnam, 23 years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan to surrender, is contained in Presidents of War, a coming book by Michael Beschloss, the presidential historian.
Johnson certainly made serious mistakes in waging the Vietnam War, said Mr. Beschloss, who found the documents during his research for the book. But we have to thank him for making sure that there was no chance in early 1968 of that tragic conflict going nuclear.
The new documents some of which were quietly declassified two years ago suggest it was moving in that direction.
With the Khe Sanh battle on the horizon, Johnson pressed his commanders to make sure the United States did not suffer an embarrassing defeat one that would have proved to be a political disaster and a personal humiliation.
The North Vietnamese forces were using everything they had against two regiments of United States Marines and a comparatively small number of South Vietnamese troops.
While publicly expressing confidence in the outcome of the battle at Khe Sanh, General Westmoreland was also privately organizing a group to meet in Okinawa to plan how to move nuclear weapons into the South and how they might be used against the North Vietnamese forces.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina Just before Bosnias presidential elections on Sunday, the separatist Serb leader Milorad Dodik made sure to pay a public visit to one of his most important backers: President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
Mr. Dodik dropped in at a Formula 1 Grand Prix race in Sochi, on Russias Black Sea coast, where the two men were photographed shaking hands last week and Mr. Putin wished Mr. Dodik good luck in the voting. Mr. Dodik proudly noted that the elections fall on Mr. Putins birthday.
He gave the Russian leader a pin as a present, but his real gift to Mr. Putin seems to be doing whatever he can to undermine the fragile state institutions that hold ethnically divided Bosnia and Herzegovina together a goal shared by another ethnic nationalist in the race, the Croat leader Dragan Covic.
Bosnia is hanging by a thread, and Dodik and Covic want to cut it, said Reuf Bajrovic, a leader of the Civic Alliance of Bosnia.
PARIS Interpol has made a formal request to China for information about its president, a Chinese citizen who seemingly vanished on a trip home, citing concerns for his well-being.
The agency for global police cooperation used law enforcement channels to submit its request about the status of its missing president, Meng Hongwei, it said Saturday in a brief statement.
The agency looks forward to an official response from Chinas authorities to address concerns over the presidents well-being, the statement added.
Officials in China, which is in the middle of a weeklong national holiday, had yet to comment.
Mr. Mengs wife says she has not heard from him since he left Lyon, the city in central France where Interpol has its headquarters, in September. France has begun its own investigation, with the French authorities saying that he had boarded a plane and arrived in China, but that his subsequent whereabouts is unknown.
Still, there is some resistance in the Vatican to taking concrete measures. Some bishops have said they consider abuse a problem that has been solved, a vestige from an earlier, less aware, era. Others believe it is drummed up by the secular news media, especially in the English-speaking world, to hurt the church.
Francis has become more aggressive this year in speaking out against abuse, accepting the resignations of Chilean bishops he once defended against accusations of covering up abuse. And he has argued that abuse, and its cover-up, are symptoms of clericalism the notion that priests are more powerful than those they are supposed to serve.
On Saturday, the Vatican reiterated that it understood it needed to hold not only abusive priests accountable, but also the bishops who cover up for them.
Both abuse and its cover-up can no longer be tolerated, the statement said, adding that a different treatment for bishops who have committed or covered up abuse, in fact represents a form of clericalism that is no longer acceptable.
In July, Francis stripped Archbishop McCarrick of his rank of cardinal, prohibited him from exercising public ministry, and sentenced him to a life of prayer and penance. The steps came after grave indications were discovered in a preliminary investigation into the September 2017 accusation of a man who accused McCarrick of abuse in the 1970s, the statement said.
That investigation by the United States church found credible an allegation that Archbishop McCarrick, who referred to himself as Uncle Ted, groped the man as a teenage altar boy. Other accusations have followed, including by men who say they were abused as young teenagers.
The Vatican knew as early as 2000, during the papacy of John Paul II, about complaints from seminarians that Archbishop McCarrick was pressuring them to share his bed.
If history is any indicator, only around 40 percent of eligible voters will vote in the midterm elections. Most people assume that voter turnout remains this low because Americans are apathetic and simply dont want to vote. But its more likely that most Americans do want to vote, and one of the root causes of low turnout is this countrys framework of restrictive voting laws.
The United States is unique in allowing state laws to largely govern voting in federal elections. Ever since key federal protections were dismantled by the Supreme Court in 2013 including portions of the Voting Rights Act, which required some states and localities with a history of discrimination to obtain federal permission before changing voting procedures state lawmakers have had more latitude than ever to enact laws affecting whether, how and when one can vote in a federal election.
To explore the hurdles that voters face this election, we created five voter profiles: the voter with no ID, the procrastinator, the student, the working parent and the convicted felon. There is one figure for each state. In states with a Republican majority in the state House of Representatives, the figure is red. In states with a Democratic-majority House, the figure is blue.
The No-ID Voter
Here we look at voters who have no form of ID that shows name and address (such as a drivers license, utility bill or bank statement) but who have voted at least once before in their state. First-time voters without an ID face especially daunting barriers: Federal law requires all first-time voters who do not supply information that can be verified against other state or federal databases at the time they register to show some form of ID when they vote.
24 could not vote werent able to register 27 could vote werent able to vote
State voter-ID laws vary. Some require all voters to present a photo ID, while others require some sort of official documentation, like a bank statement or utility bill, with at least a name and current address. Both requirements can significantly depress turnout by young and low-income voters, who are more likely not to have a drivers license or to be listed on an official bill.
Registration itself is less complicated, at least on paper. Voters can register without an ID using the mail-in federal form if they know it exists. Among states that offer online voter registration, most require a drivers license.
The Procrastinating Voter
Voter-registration deadlines can catch would-be voters by surprise. Here, we look at voters who have the required ID but put off getting registered until just three days before Election Day. Only a few states allow late or in-person same-day voter registration. Most deadlines range from two weeks to 30 days before Election Day, and voters who fail to register by the specified date cannot cast a ballot.
34 could not vote werent able to register 17 could vote werent able to vote
Even states permitting same-day registration often impose some limitations. In California, for example, voters may register on Election Day, but only provisionally, and in some counties may have to visit a local elections office or designated satellite location.
The Eager Student Voter
Many students face difficulties in meeting state ID requirements. A smaller proportion of students have a drivers license today than in the 1980s, according to a study by the University of Michigan. Those attending school out of state may not have the in-state ID that the law requires. Students are also less likely to have other forms of ID commonly required by state laws, like a utility bill or bank statement with a current address. Some states accept a student ID on its own, but several do not even when it is issued by a public university and includes a photo.
7 could not vote werent able to register 44 could vote werent able to vote
Even among states that accept student IDs, there are sometimes restrictions that limit their use. In Wisconsin, for example, an eligible student ID must include a name, photo, signature, issue date and expiration date. The issue date cannot be more than two years from the expiration date, and students must also present proof of enrollment.
The Working-Parent Voter
Two out of every five people who most likely wont vote next month are already registered and have the proper ID. Many of them face considerable obstacles in getting to the polls because they are parents with full-time jobs who cannot afford to take unpaid time off work to vote. Less than half of the states require employers to pay employees for time off to vote on Election Day.
In this profile, we look at states where parents can take paid time off so they can vote during working hours.
29 could not vote werent able to register 22 could vote werent able to vote
According to a Pew Research Center survey, 35 percent of those who registered but did not vote in the 2014 midterms said that scheduling conflicts with work or school kept them from getting to the polls. For many working parents, the ability to vote by mail or through early in-person voting on weekends is critical. However, a number of states, including Alabama, Michigan and Pennsylvania, give residents neither the option to vote early in person nor the option to vote by mail (without satisfying certain requirements). In such states, without guaranteed paid time off to vote on Election Day, working parents often cant make it to the polls.
Many of the states that require employers to give paid time off have limitations, such as providing only two hours off, or restricting paid time off to voters who do not otherwise have two consecutive hours off while the polls are open. Lets say youre a working parent in a state where polls open at 7 a.m. and your workday starts at 9 a.m. You may not be entitled to any paid time off, even though you have no meaningful ability to vote because youre caring for your children in those two hours before work.
The Convicted-Felon Voter
Many Americans who have been convicted of a felony but are now out of prison, on parole or on probation may want to vote, but many states have laws that expressly limit their voting rights. Those laws have direct historical ties to Jim Crow and racial discrimination. The rapidly expanded prison population in many states since the 1980s means that more than 6.1 million convicted felons potentially cannot cast a ballot, according to the Sentencing Project.
30 could not vote werent able to register 21 could vote werent able to vote
In the last 20 years, many states have made significant strides in changing these restrictive laws. Four states Louisiana, Maryland, New York and Rhode Island recently expanded voting rights to people on probation or parole.
The trend is in a positive direction, said Danielle Lang, senior legal counsel, voting rights and redistricting at the Campaign Legal Center, which created a tool to guide felony convicts through the complicated state laws that determine whether they can vote. States are typically not passing more restrictive felony disenfranchisement laws.
A ballot measure in Florida this year, called Amendment 4, would allow many felons to vote once they completed their sentences. If passed, it could re-enfranchise 1.5 million citizens.
Still, only two states, Maine and Vermont, allow prisoners to vote. And even in states where convicted felons can vote, Ms. Lang said, many still believe they cannot, and the path to registering post-conviction is onerous: waiting periods, board applications, fines or fees, and lots of paperwork. You should not need a lawyer to exercise your right to vote, but for a lot of people with convictions, thats exactly what you need, she said.
The Impact of Restrictive Voting Laws
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, since 2010, at least 23 states have enacted laws restricting the ability to vote in some manner, including many states with competitive midterm races. These new laws limit early voting, make registration more difficult and introduce stricter photo-ID requirements, factors that particularly affect African-American, Hispanic, low-income and young voters. The outcomes in those states this November could hinge on which Americans eager as ever to participate are actually able to cast a ballot.
States With New Voter Restrictions
Since the 2010 midterm election, 23 states have passed restrictions that make voting harder. They are color-coded by the majority of House representatives after the 2016 election
The Brennan Center estimates that as many as 11 percent of eligible voters do not have, and will not get, the documents required by strict voter-ID laws, and these numbers are higher for certain groups.
Paperwork requirements are the No.1 way to suppress the right to vote, Ms. Lang said.
Some of the states that enacted stricter voter-ID requirements after 2010 saw a significant reduction in voter turnout in subsequent elections.
A study of Wisconsins voter-ID laws showed that nearly 17,000 registered voters in two of the states counties couldnt cast ballots in the 2016 election because of a 2011 law that required citizens to show a drivers license, passport, naturalization certificate or other uncommon documents to vote. The law could have made a difference in the states 2016 presidential election outcome: Hillary Clinton lost Wisconsin by just 22,748 votes out of the more than 2.9 million that were cast.
The U.S. Compared With Other Countries
Voting in the United States sits in stark contrast to voting in countries like Belgium and Australia, where it is compulsory, and where voter registration is linked to national records and elections take place on a holiday or weekend. With those conditions for national elections, voting-age population turnout regularly reaches more than 79 percent.
Federal Voting Laws Around the World
Country Turnout in last election Compulsory voting Registration linked to national records Door-to-door registration Weekend/holiday voting BELGIUM (2014) 87.2% YES YES NO YES SWEDEN (2014) 82.6% NO YES NO YES DENMARK (2015) 80.3% NO YES NO NO AUSTRALIA (2016) 79.0% YES YES YES YES FINLAND (2015) 73.1% NO YES NO YES HUNGARY (2018) 71.7% NO YES NO YES NORWAY (2017) 70.6% NO YES NO YES GERMANY (2017) 69.1% NO NO NO YES AUSTRIA (2017) 68.8% NO YES NO YES FRANCE (2017) 67.9% NO NO NO YES MEXICO (2012)* 66.0% YES YES YES YES ITALY (2018) 65.3% NO YES NO YES U.K. (2017) 63.3% NO NO YES NO CANADA (2015) 62.1% NO YES NO NO GREECE (2015) 62.1% YES NO NO YES PORTUGAL (2015) 61.8% NO NO NO YES SPAIN (2016) 61.2% NO YES NO YES SLOVAKIA (2016) 59.4% NO YES NO NO IRELAND (2016) 58.0% NO NO YES NO UNITED STATES (2016) 55.7% NO NO NO NO POLAND (2015) 53.8% NO YES NO YES JAPAN (2017) 53.7% NO YES NO YES CHILE (2017) 52.2% NO YES NO NO SWITZERLAND (2015) 38.6% YES YES NO YES TURKEY (2017) NA YES NO YES YES Note: Date indicates year of last election. Turnout reflects votes as a share of voting-age population. Source: Vote.org
While many countries greatly simplify the voting process or make voting mandatory the solutions here in the United States may not need to be so drastic.
In fact, they are right in front of us. Just as some states that have passed laws restricting access to voting in recent years have seen reduced turnout, states with laws that afford people the greatest access to voting several states where ID requirements are not onerous, where all residents can register to vote online and registration periods extend to Election Day, and where voters have many options to vote early or on Election Day without losing any income have experienced high participation. Our democracy depends on the ability to participate freely, without unnecessary barriers. The voters must choose elected officials, and not the other way around.
Text messages arent just a way to chat with family and friendsthey are a viable method for rapidly gathering information during a public health crisis.
A new study from the NYU College of Global Public Health and NYU Tandon School of Engineering, published in Nature Digital Medicine, used text message surveys to determine in real time how people used maternal health services during a recent Ebola outbreak and measured a drop in hospital-based births during the outbreak.
Sourcing data from individuals directly, such as through mobile phones, has the potential to provide windows into public health phenomena, especially during an acute situation like an Ebola outbreak, said Rumi Chunara, assistant professor of computer science and engineering and global public health at NYU and the studys senior author.
While text messages will not replace national surveys, they can capture changes in health behavior more nimbly. With appropriate methodological approaches, they can be a valuable tool for population health intelligence that allows us to quickly target the affected regions with public health messaging or deploy appropriate interventions.
Public health emergencies profoundly affect local health care systems andas seen in the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africacan overwhelm clinics, erode public trust, and decrease health care utilization.
During the Ebola outbreak, it was suspected that people were hesitant to go to hospitals because they would be more likely to contract Ebola. If you want to deploy treatment or interventions, you need to know if people are coming to hospitals or staying in their communities, said Chunara.
Routine data collection systems, such as surveys of households or health facilities, can take months to collect and analyze and are often disrupted by emergencies in regions with weaker infrastructure.
Mobile technology has emerged as a promising tool for collecting data quickly, at a low cost, and across regions that are difficult to reach. While cell phones are prevalent around the worldincluding in Liberia, where 81 percent of the population had a cell phone subscription in 2015questions nonetheless remain about the accuracy of the data generated by text polls. Cell phone users are often younger, more educated, and able to afford a phone, so may not be representative of the general population.
Closed for Holiday
The Canastota Public Library will be closed on Monday in observance of Columbus Day.
Oneida Library Events
Students in grades 3 and 4 will read Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman and come together at the Oneida Public Library on the evenings of Oct. 10 and 24 to talk about it and participate in activities related to the books themes. Copies of the book can be made available to young readers who register at the library desk.
Actor and playwright Tim Collins returns to the Oneida Public Library to perform his play, Standing By, Standing Up, which follows the trials of a range of characters facing bullying and cyberbullying in and out of school and how they deal with it. The free show is designed for students in grades 3 through 12. The show will run Saturday, Oct. 13, at 11 a.m.
On Oct. 16 at 6 p.m., Professor Jen Herzog leads the way in discovering the geniuses behind the Periodic Table, as revealed in Sam Keans The Disappearing Spoon. She will also guide the participants to designing an experiment. Copies of the book can be made available to registered participants.
On Oct. 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., artist Delynn Orton will conduct a three-hour class, A Study in Blue, on four techniques for pouring acrylic paint onto various surfaces. The class is limited to 10 adults and requires a fee of $45 at the time of registration at the Oneida Library circulation desk. The instructor provides all art materials.
On Oct. 31, Oneida Librarys mad librarian will lock the young people in with no means of escape unless they can follow the clues and solve the frightful puzzle in the Halloween for Tweens Escape the Library. The trick will be followed by the treats.
Canastota Library Events
On Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., Dina Evans will talk about reiki. Reiki is a Japanese healing art that harnesses the bodys energy through the use of a healers hands to focus heat and energy on the places that need attention to promote healing. Reiki Master Evans will talk about the history of reiki and her own experiences with this technique of spiritual healing. Evans is the owner of DME Reiki and Wellness Center on Canal Street in the village.
The second Canalside Talk for this season is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. A Soldiers Journey through the Heart of the Park tells the story of Sgt. John Salvatore Taibi, a World War II veteran, and his trip from Utica to Lake Placid on the New York Central Railroad, now the Adirondack Scenic Railroad. Sgt. Taibi and other veterans from World War II were sent to Lake Placid to acclimate to normal life after living as Prisoners of War overseas. John Ralph Taibi, Sgt. Taibis son, is well known for his knowledge of trains and local railroads. Come and take this whimsical journey with Taibi through the Adirondacks in the 1940s as John tells his fathers story.
The Friends of the Library holds their annual Friends Book Sale Oct. 25-27 in the entire lower level of the library. There will be a great selection of fiction and non-fiction books, DVDs, audio books, music CDs and more. A special Friends of the Library preview will be held on Wednesday afternoon and evening. The sale is open to the public Thursday through Saturday during regular library hours. The prices on all merchandise is very reasonable and Saturday features a bag sale! The Friends of the Library is a wonderful group of volunteers who help to prepare and work this sale. As well, the organization receives help and support from Ralston Supply Company who provide the tables needed to hold this event. If you are interested in donating books or helping with this event, please call the library for more information.
Free movies
The Oneida Public Library will host several free movie matinees.
On Oct. 10 at 5:30 p.m., the library will play Ready Player One, Steven Spielbergs 2018 science-fiction thriller about a virtual-reality game based on the novel by Ernest Cline (Rated PG-13).
On Oct. 13 at 1 p.m., the library will play Everything, Everything, the 2017 romantic drama based on the novel by Nicola Yoon about the romance between a teenage girl bound by chronic illness to her house and the boy next door (Rated PG-13).
On Oct. 15 at 1 p.m., the library will play An American in Paris, the 1951 Academy Award winner An American in Paris, directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron as a pair of starstruck lovers who sing and dance to the music of George Gershwin.
On Oct. 17 at 6 p.m., the library will play Hocus Pocus, the classic Disney horror film from 1993 which follows the comic antics of three Salem witches inadvertently brought back to life by a hapless teenager.
On Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. the library will show Vincente Minnellis Hollywood musical in living Technicolor from 1944, Meet Me in St. Louis, featuring a star turn by Judy Garland. The story follows one family at major occasions in the course of the year leading up to the 1903 St. Louis Worlds Fair.
Youth Bowling League
Children in grades 3-6 are invited to join a youth recreational bowling league at the Sherrill Community Activity Center on Thursdays at 4 p.m. from Oct. 4 through March 2, 2019. There are also recreational leagues for children in grades K-12 that will meet on Saturday mornings from Oct. 6 through March 23, 2019. Registration and weekly bowling fees apply. For more information, contact the CAC at 315-363-6525. The CAC is located at 139 E. Hamilton Ave. in Sherrill.
Fall Harvest BBQ
Cornell Cooperative Extension for Madison County will hold a Fall Harvest BBQ in celebration of National Farmers Day on Friday, Oct. 12, at the Extension Building located at 100 Eaton St. in Morrisville from 6:30- 9:30 p.m. The event will feature a BBQ dinner, raffles, and music by Old Clay Stone. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased online at http://reg.cce.cornell.edu/Fall_Harvest_BBQ_225. Sponsorships are also available. For more information about the event, visit madisoncountycce.org or contact Jessica Burch at jess.brch@gmail.com or 315-380-2714; or Jackie Dickerson at jjd44@cornell.edu or 315-684-3001.
Seances and Spiritulism
What was Spiritualism and why was the Oneida Community interested in it? Join Dr. Timothy McLean on Friday, Oct. 19, and Friday, Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. for an after-hours program that explores 19th century fascination with the spirit world. How did they interact with it and what were their expectations and beliefs? Registration required and limited to 10 people per session. Free to members. Non-members pay $15. Students ages 8-plus pay $5. The Oneida Community Mansion House is located at 170 Kenwood Ave., Oneida.
Oneida, N.Y. Sixty high school students from all over Madison County came together on Friday, Oct. 5, to the annual SADD Conference, sponsored by Madison County STOP DWI.
Madison County was represented by student leaders from Canastota, Cazenovia, Chittenango, DeRuyter, Holy Cross, Madison, Oneida, and Stockbridge.
National Speaker Harriet Turk presented the keynote speech, Just Be A Resource, where she focused on teen issues. She empowered each student by challenging their negative thoughts of self-value. She reminded each student that they are not only valuable, but can make a difference in the lives of their peers.
I am somebody special, if you dont like me, tough, Turk said, as students took up the chant. Cause I am cool enough, smooth enough, and doggone it, I am hot enough to be who I want to be.
Students were given the opportunity to rotate around the Kallet Theater and do hands-on activities they can implement in their school. Each activity focused on educating and preventing peers from using alcohol and other drugs. The students and advisors were given resources to do these activities in their schools and communities. Some stations included: chalk the walk; cups in the fence; and airing out tobacco and alcohols dirty laundry.
Representing the Sheriffs Office, STOP DWI Coordinator Sgt. Matt White opened the day with welcoming remarks. Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood also attended the conference and spoke to the students briefly about his experiences regarding underage drinking and DWIs. Hood reminded them they are important and encouraged them to take what they learned back to their schools.
The conferences primary purpose was to empower students to be a resource, friendly, kind, and a role model, said Jennifer Cottet, a prevention education specialist for BRiDGES-Madison County Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Inc. Reality Check provided a T-shirt for every student and advisor present with the message Just Be.
Yamunotri
The green panel said it was inclined to clear the project -- for connecting Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath -- with requisite safeguards in view of the larger public interest and the country's security in the construction of highway.
"We are of the view that all environmental concerns can be addressed by having a responsible and independent oversight mechanism which may monitor the environmental safeguards during the execution of this project," the bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, said in an order on September 26.
The bench, also comprising Justices Jawad Rahim and S P Wangdi, made it clear that statutory environmental impact assessment under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 was not required in view of exemption granted through notification dated August 22, 2013.
5th anniversary of devastating Uttarakhand floods: Over 5,000 still deemed missing
Gangotri
The bench constituted a committee headed by former Uttarakhand High Court Judge Justice U C Dhyani to oversee the implementation of Environment Management Plan (EMP) of the project.
The committee also comprises representatives of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Disaster Management, Central Soil Conservation Research Institute, G B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment, Forest Research Institute, secretary of Environment and Forest Department and District Magistrates concerned.
The tribunal noted that structural stability of muck-dumping sites was not satisfactory and there was possibility of some caving in during excessive landslides and other natural disasters.
Therefore, stabilizing such sites with Gabion wall/crate wires at places where load is less seems to be adequate but in high load bearing sites, augmented RCC structures followed by strengthening by way of grids through engineering and bio-engineering methods would stabilize such sites.
Kedarnath
"State government will also notify Debris Dumping Policy which includes details of environmental restoration and restitution. The Committee shall also look into disaster management and disaster preparedness measures," the bench said.
The NGT directed the authorities to devise a mechanism to provide pedestrian pathways for devotees who undertake to do 'padyatra' to the religious places viz Yamnotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
The Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, state administration and the project proponent to ensure that no roadside restaurants, dhabas and roadside amenities etc. come up along the expanded road width except at designated places and if need be, the project proponent acquire such land parcels along the road width so that no such road side dhabas come up at the later stage.
"The administration will also ensure that at appropriate locations, additional parking facilities and wayside amenities are provided for tourists. They shall ensure that all the encroachments along entire road length of the Chardham Project are removed and report in this regard be submitted to tribunal," the bench said.
Uttarakhand: Landslide in Tehri-Garhwal leaves 4 dead, rescue ops underway
Badrinath
It also asked them to devise a policy whereby diesel vehicles which are more than 10 years old and petrol vehicles which are over 15 years old are prohibited to ply along the entire road length of the project.
"The Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand and the Uttarakhand Administration shall devise a policy by way of introduction of E-vehicles and CNG buses in a time bound manner," the bench said.
The Chief Secretary and state administration shall undertake appropriate landscaping and develop bio-diversity parks on the muck-dumping sites along the Chardham Project, the tribunal said.
The green panel's verdict came on petitions filed by NGOs Citizens for Green Doon and Common Cause and others, saying that the environment clearance was must for executing the project and the ongoing work was "blatantly illegal".
Advocate Gaurav Bansal, appearing for the NGO Common Cause, had contended that the debris generated during construction of road under the Chardham project along NH 108, was being directly thrown along the slopes next to the road which slides down directly into the river.
PTI
Members of farmers' body detained in Lucknow for trying to burn effigies of PM Modi, Shah
Vivek Tiwari murder: After cops' show support for accused, UP police issues social media guideline
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
Lucknow, Oct 6: Three SHOs have been removed, four constables suspended and two former policemen arrested for putting up posts on social media in support of their colleagues who allegedly shot dead an Apple executive last week.
Constables of the Uttar Pradesh police force have announced an indefinite strike and fast for the policeman accused in the Apple executive murder case.
Apple executive Vivek Tiwari's murder: Two cops named in fresh FIR
They said that they will be observing October 5 as a 'black day' in support of Constable Prashant Chaudhary who shot Vivek Tiwari.
Pictures on the internet show police personnel wearing black armbands in support of their colleagues who were arrested after Vivek Tiwari was shot dead when he refused to stop his car for checking.
The UP police has now issued social media guidelines. Officials said a probe has been ordered into reports that constables were posting their pictures with black armbands in support of their two accused colleagues, and that action would be taken against those found involved in such acts.
Vivek Tiwari cremated, KP Maurya assures severe punishment to those responsible for killing
Tiwari was shot dead early on September 29 when he allegedly refused to stop his car for checking in Lucknow's posh Gomti Nagar neighbourhood.
Two constables, Prashant Chowdhury and Sandeep Kumar, were arrested after an FIR was lodged on basis of a complaint by Tiwari's colleague Sana Khan, who was travelling with him.
Some people claiming to be batchmates and sympathisers of Prashant Chowdhury and Sandeep Kumar are seen campaigning for them on social media, and seeking donations to help them.
(with PTI inputs)
For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications
Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 8:39 [IST]
Bangladesh-India-Nepal: Fake currency route busted, four convicted
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
Patna, Oct 6: A special court of the National Investigation Agency has convicted four persons for damaging the monetary stability of India by way of smuggling and circulating fake Indian currency. The quantum of punishment would be pronounced on October 11.
Those convicted are Afroz, Ishraful Alam, Kabir Khan and Alomgir Sheikh. They were convicted under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967.
NIA arrests two in fake currency case
The NIA had probed the case relating to the recovery of fake currency of the face value Rs 5,94,000. The currency was seized at Jharkahand from Afroze. He was carrying this currency on him and was set to deliver it at Nepal.
During investigation by the NIA, it emerged that a syndicate of FICN smugglers was involved in procuring fake currency smuggled from Bangladesh for supplying it to Nepal and various parts of India.
Further investigation into the matter led to recovery of additional FICN of face value Rs. 3 lakh from an accused Alamgir Sheikh a resident of Malda, West Bengal.
Karnataka fake currency: NIA takes over probe
Forensic examination of the seized notes revealed it to be High Quality Fake Indian Currency Notes. Based on the evidence collected during the investigation, eight accused persons were arrested.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 11:15 [IST]
Chhattisgarh, Punjab govts announce Rs 50 lakh to families of farmers run over in UP
Chhattisgarh's horrific accident: Nobody will be spared, justice will be done: CM Baghel
BJP likely to lose in Chhattisgarh assembly polls: ABP opinion poll
India
oi-Deepika S
New Delhi, Oct 4: The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to lose in the upcoming Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, a survey conducted by C-VOTER and ABP News predicted on Saturday.
In the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly, the Congress is projected to win 47 seats with a 38.9% vote share and the BJP is expected to win 40 seats with a 38.6% vote share.
The ruling BJP, the main Oppositon Congress and regional outfits are eyeing tribal communities, which comprise around 32 per cent of the population and can influence the outcome in a significant number of seats in the 90-member assembly.
Election Commission: MP, Mizoram to go for polls on Nov 28; Rajasthan and Telangana on Dec 7
The BJP, which is in power in Chhattisgarh since 2003, is confident of getting the support of adivasis once again.
Meanwhile, the Congress, which has been struggling to make a comeback in the state after being voted out of power in 2003, too, is confident of getting the support of tribals.
The BJP had then won 50 of the 90 seats and ousted the Ajit Jogi-led Congress government from power. The saffron outfit had managed to bag 25 of the 34 ST-reserved seats.
Assembly elections: BJP likely to lose Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan, predicts survey
The Congress had won 37 seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had to contend with two and one seat, respectively.
In 2008, the BJP retained power, winning 50 seats. Its main support came from tribals as it won 19 of the 29 ST- reserved segments.
The delimitation exercise had reduced the number of ST -reserved seats from 34 in 2003 to 29 in 2008.
Facebook to check 'real' news vs 'propaganda' ahead of 2019 polls
However, in the 2013 assembly polls, the BJP saw erosion in its tribal vote base which shifted significantly to the Congress. However, the shift was not enough for the country's oldest political party to wrest power from the BJP.
The Congress managed to win 18 of the 29 tribal- reserved seats but its overall tally was limited to 39. The BJP registered its third consecutive poll win, clinching 49 seats, 11 of them reserved for tribals.
CCTV cameras were off while hospitalising Jayalalithaa: Apollo Hospital
India
oi-Chennabasaveshwar P
Chennai, Oct 6: Apollo Hospitals Management has informed the Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry, probing the death of former TN CM Jayalalithaa, CCTV cameras were switched off during the hospitalisation of former Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa.
The CCTV cameras were switched off on the request of IG (Intelligence) KN Sathiyamurthy and three police officers. A five-page affidavit was filed by the Apollo hospitals management.
Jayalalithaa DA case: SC rejects curative plea by Karnataka
Apollo said, "The CCTV cameras in the corridors would be switched off when former TN CM Jayalalithaa was taken through the route and it would be switched on when she was back in the room."
No CCTV footage of Jayalalithaa's hospital stay available, Apollo tells probe panel
The Justice Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry probing the circumstances leading to former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's death, completed a year on September 25. Nine persons, including doctors, technicians and a bank manager were cross-examined. Of the 11 summoned, nine appeared and were questioned by N. Raja Senthoor Pandian, the advocate representing Jayalalithaa's long-time aide, V.K. Sasikala.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 13:53 [IST]
BJP stands for Jandhan, Aadhaar and Mobile but SP is for Jinnah, Azam and Mukhtar: Amit Shah
Congress made us wait for too long, will talk to Mayawati: Akhilesh Yadav on MP polls
India
oi-PTI
Lucknow, Oct 6: Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav Saturday said he would consult the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, as he has "waited too long" for the Congress.
His comment comes days after BSP chief Mayawati announced that the party would not ally with the Congress, and would contest the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan elections alone.
ABP 'Desh Ka Mood' : NDA to suffer huge loss in UP if Congress joins SP-BSP
"We have waited too long for the Congress. How much longer should we wait? We will now consult the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), with which we had an alliance, and the BSP for the coming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh," Yadav was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The Election Commission on Saturday announced poll dates for five states. Legislative elections in Madhya Pradesh will be held on November 28 and the counting will be held on December 11.
Rahul Gandhi hopes parties would come together especially in UP for 2019 polls
On Wednesday, Mayawati said that some Congress leaders were out to 'destroy' the BSP though its president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi favoured an alliance. She called the Congress "arrogant" with a "casteist and communal mindset", and said that people had not forgiven the Congress for their "corrupt government".
Why 'golden deer' of Indian politics Mayawati doesn't care for anybody
Yadav had earlier urged the Congress to bring all anti-BJP parties on one platform in the poll-bound states and implied that a delay in this regard might prompt other parties to declare their candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in both states.
PTI
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 17:20 [IST]
Bhopal hospital fire: 4 infants killed even before parents could name them
Viral: Madhya Pradesh man claims buffalo refuses to be milked, goes to police
Schedule for polls in 5 states declared, counting on Dec 11
India
oi-Chennabasaveshwar P
New Delhi, Oct 6: Election Commission announced election dates for all five states on Saturday. Chief Election Commissioner stated that simultaneous elections will be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, before 15th December.
BJP ruled Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and TRS ruled Telangana are going to polls. Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are considered a barometer of the pulse of the public before the general elections.
ABP 'Desh Ka Mood' : NDA to sweep MP, Chhattisgarh
The tenure of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly ends on 7 January 2019 and Rajasthan assembly's tenure ends in January 20, 2019.
In Madhya Pradesh, it is believed that the election will be a direct political battle between the Bhartiya Janta Party and the Indian National Congress. While the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government will try to win for the consecutive 4th term, the Indian National Congress will fight for winning the state after 2003.
ABP 'Desh Ka Mood' : NDA to suffer huge loss in UP if Congress joins SP-BSP
Newest First Oldest First CEC is in touch with social media platforms to keep a tab on fake news: OP Rawat Andhra MPs resignations were accepted on June 4. Lok Sabha term expires on June 3; less than 1 year was left. Since there was less than 1 year left for vacancy no by-elections in Andhra Pradesh On fake IDs being allegedly used in Madhya Pradesh, Rawat says,"We haven't received any such complaint from Madhya Pradesh. If any complaint is received, EC will take action; FIR will be lodged. Nobody can do anything with fake ID. It's checked at every level for identification." Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu has written to the commission that there are forecast of cyclones and rain so please dont announce the dates now: OP Rawat By-polls in Shimoga, Bellary and Mandya in Karnataka to be held on 3rd November. According to reports, when asked why EC announced polls in Telangana without CEC and Commissioners visit to assess state preparedness, CEC OP Rawat said EC ground teams satisfied them and Mizoram also yet to be visited. Counting of votes to be done on 11 December for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana state assembly elections. CEC Rawat says, "Rajasthan and Telangana will go to polls on December 7. Date of counting of votes is December 11." Voter assistance booth will be set up in every polling station: OP Rawat Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram assembly elections to be held on 28th November Phase 1 voting for state assembly election in Chhattisgarh to take place on 12 November, voting for phase 2 on 20 November. Model of conduct to come into force in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram with immediate effect: Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat in Delhi CEC OP Rawat in Delhi, says,"Simultaneous elections will be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, before 15th December." CEC OP Rawat in Delhi, says,"Simultaneous elections will be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, before 15th December." Model of conduct to come into force in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram with immediate effect: Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat in Delhi Phase 1 voting for state assembly election in Chhattisgarh to take place on 12 November, voting for phase 2 on 20 November. Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram assembly elections to be held on 28th November Voter assistance booth will be set up in every polling station: OP Rawat CEC Rawat says, "Rajasthan and Telangana will go to polls on December 7. Date of counting of votes is December 11." Counting of votes to be done on 11 December for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana state assembly elections. According to reports, when asked why EC announced polls in Telangana without CEC and Commissioners visit to assess state preparedness, CEC OP Rawat said EC ground teams satisfied them and Mizoram also yet to be visited. By-polls in Shimoga, Bellary and Mandya in Karnataka to be held on 3rd November. Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu has written to the commission that there are forecast of cyclones and rain so please dont announce the dates now: OP Rawat On fake IDs being allegedly used in Madhya Pradesh, Rawat says,"We haven't received any such complaint from Madhya Pradesh. If any complaint is received, EC will take action; FIR will be lodged. Nobody can do anything with fake ID. It's checked at every level for identification." Andhra MPs resignations were accepted on June 4. Lok Sabha term expires on June 3; less than 1 year was left. Since there was less than 1 year left for vacancy no by-elections in Andhra Pradesh CEC is in touch with social media platforms to keep a tab on fake news: OP Rawat
As of 25th of September 2018, the majority of Madhya Pradesh government officials who are expected to conduct assembly elections have failed in the written test conducted by the Election Commission.
Lalu returns to Patna and minutes later son storms out of mothers home
Bihar By-polls: Lalu Yadav to campaign for RJD candidates on Wednesday to ensure 'visarjan' of Nitish Kumar
He can get me shot, cant do anything else: Nitish on Lalus visarjan claim
Fodder scam: Lalu Prasad Yadav physically unfit to travel, unable to appear before court today
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
New Delhi, Oct 6: Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav who is admitted in Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) have been declared physically unfit to travel by the doctors.
Director of the RIMS R K Shrivastava said that incarcerated RJD chief is suffering from depression.
RJD's Bhola Yadav said,''He is admitted at RIMS, Ranchi, the doctors have declared him 'physically unfit to travel'. Jail authorities have informed the court of his inability to appear before it today.''
Prasad has already publicly shown his preference for younger son Tejashwi Yadav as his heir apparent. But elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, a senior minister in the previous grand alliance, has high public standing.Tej Pratap's padyatra (foot march) from Patna to Sitab Diara, the birthplace of socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan, is seen as counter to Tejashwi's July bicycle yatra from Bodh Gaya to Patna.
Last Wednesday, Prasad was shifted to the paying ward of the hospital after RIMS accepted his prayer that cited poor hygiene, mosquito menace and bark of dogs as perilous to his health.
Prasad, convicted in the fodder scam, was shifted to the 100-bed paying ward, Shrivastava had said. The RJD supremo will have to pay Rs 1,000 per day at the present ward. Shrivastava said the change was done after permission was obtained from the jail superintendent.
After spending a few months out of jail, the RJD supremo surrendered before a CBI court in Ranchi on August 30, upon the expiry of the provisional bail granted to him by the Jharkhand High Court for medical treatment.
On August 24, the Jharkhand High Court had refused to extend the provisional bail of the former Bihar Chief Minister, and Lalu subsequently surrendered before the special Central Bureau of Investigation court on August 30.
The former Bihar chief minister had recently undergone a fistula operation at a Mumbai hospital. He is a heart patient with kidney ailments as well.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 9:58 [IST]
Imphal arms haul case: NIA takes up probe
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
Imphal, Oct 6: The National Investigation Agency has taken over the probe into an arms case reported from Imphal in Manipur.
Bangladesh-India-Nepal: Fake currency route busted, four convicted
On May 21 2018, on the basis of information received regarding concealment of huge quantities of arms and ammunition in a particular house at Mantripukhri Lamlongei area, a search was conducted by Manipur Police in the suspected house and one suspect, namely, Valley Chithung, wife of Honpam Chithung was detained.
On her disclosure about concealment of ammunition and other articles, Police team recovered four numbers of gelatine rods, four numbers of cordite wire, thirteen detonators, one AK-47 magazine, two 9 mm magazines, twenty-nine AK series ammunition, Myanmar and Philippines currencies etc.
Lashkar's hawala network: Nepali currency adds new dimension to probe
Earlier, husband of the accused, namely Honpam Chithung was arrested by Ukhrul Police on the same day along with huge quantities of arms and ammunition. The accused disclosed before Ukhrul Police that a cache of arms and ammunition was stored at his rented house at Mantripukhri.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 12:00 [IST]
Bhopal hospital fire: 4 infants killed even before parents could name them
In poll-bound MP, Shah again calls infiltrators termites; also mocks Manmohan
India
pti-PTI
Bhopal, Oct 6: Addressing a rally at Ratlam in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, BJP president Amit Shah Saturday once again described infiltrators as "termites" and promised to drive them out. He also mocked Manmohan Singh, saying the former prime minister used to read out speeches handed to him by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on foreign tours.
"(Former prime minister) Lal Bahadur Shastri had given the slogan 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'. While you (farmers) feed the people, they (soldiers) guard our borders. But infiltrators are like termites who eat away at the country's security. They need to be removed," Shah said.
Forty lakh people were excluded from the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and all those living illegally in the country would be evicted, he added.
"We will drive out each and every infiltrator. The BJP will not allow a single infiltrator to stay. For us, vote bank is not important, the country's security is," Shah said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief had compared infiltrators to termites at a rally in Rajasthan last month. In his Saturday's speech, he also mocked Manmohan Singh. Referring to the criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his frequent foreign tours, Shah claimed that "Mauni Baba Manmohan Singhji" had made more trips abroad.
"When Manmohanji travelled abroad, he used to carry papers given by Madam (an apparent reference to then Congress president Sonia Gandhi), read them out and come back.
"At times, he used to read the page supposed to be read in Malaysia in Thailand and the page meant for Thailand in Malaysia," the BJP chief quipped.
When Modi travels to a foreign country, thousands of people come to greet him and chant slogans, he said.
"These slogans are not for Modi or the BJP, but out of respect for 125 crore Indians," Shah added.
Earlier on Saturday, Shah launched his party's mass-contact campaign in the BJP-ruled state where Assembly polls will be held on November 28.
PTI
India-Russia trade turnover to triple by 2025, says Russian minister
India
oi-Shubham Ghosh
New Delhi, Oct 6: Russia's Economic Development Minister Makshim Oreshkin on Friday (October 5) said the volume of trade between Russia and India has been seeing a rise and surpassed $10 billion last year. Oreshkin, who was speaking at a plenary session of the India-Russia Business Forum in New Delhi, said: "We have set a target of increasing trade turnover to $30 billion... and increasing investments to $50 billion by 2025."
The Russian delegation on the occasion was led by President Vladimir Putin on came to India on Thursday, October 4, for a two-day visit.
India, Russia sign deal for five S-400 Triumf air defence missiles
Russia's government-aided TV network RT cited statistics as showing that trade between the two traditional allies increased by 20 per cent between January and July, amounting to over $6 billion.
In September, New Delhi suggested establishing a special economic zone for Russian firms, RT further said. "Earlier, the two countries discussed creating a "green corridor" for the smooth transit of goods. They want to create a list of entrepreneurs or companies whose goods will be exempt from regular customs inspections," a report in RT said.
India-Russia economic forum in November
It was also decided during Putin's latest visit that the inaugural India-Russia economic forum will be held in St Petersburg in November, Russian news agency TASS said.
India-Russia can jointly create new technologies than just buying, selling them: Modi
"Today a new strategy of trade and economic cooperation will be presented. It was decided to hold the first Russian-Indian economic forum in St. Petersburg in November," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov told journalists on Friday.
Indian and Russia signed the much anticipated S-400 air defence system deal worth USD 5 billion in New Delhi on Friday.
He throws scraps of onion peel and ripped pasta packets into a garbage disposal bag as he makes his way towards us to inspect the evenings dish washing efforts.
Boskuk moves about busily clearing the other end of a timber platform on which his assistant, Junior, and I recline.
ON THE TRAIL - Empty cans of chicken soup sit beside a small open fire, their metal charring slowly as flames flicker around them.
The third in a series of articles about the need to improve conditions and sustainable development of the trek tourism industry along the Kokoda Trail. The articles are drawn from Rashmiis observations and conversations with Papua New Guinean guides, carriers, campsite owners and communities as she trekked the Trail from 6 -17 August, 2018
The various cauldrons that earlier held the trek groups two-course dinner, have now been washed by Junior and a few carriers, their head torches guiding them at Lubu Creek nearby.
Visibly satisfied, boskuk moves back to the fire to remove the blackened tins, crushing them easily under his feet before placing them in a separate garbage bag.
With no waste disposal system implemented by the Trails PNG-Australian management, Adventure Kokoda adheres to strict company policy that rubbish produced by the group is taken when departing campsites and rest stops.
Boskuk prepares a meal in the haus kuk (camp kitchen)
FOLLOWING the steep descent from Owers Corner, our first day of trekking brought us through the abandoned Uberi village, then across Goldie River before arrival at Imita base campsite.
Lagging behind with my guide and carrier, DE, I had not seen boskuk [head cook] or most of the carriers during those few hours. It was only when I sighted orange tents dotted across an expansive lawn and movement in the open-sided hauskuk [kitchen] did I understand the reason for their rapid pace over the day.
The group would move swiftly from campsite to campsite, where they would construct makeshift tables or lay out a tarpaulin on the leaf-layered jungle floor.
It was all well organised. Boskuk, Junior and the carriers ensured we trekkers could enjoy our refreshment breaks in a timely and hygienic way. Along the Trail, even the most basic facilities for the comfort of trekkers and carriers have been ignored by the Port Moresby-based management.
Over subsequent days, as my fellow trekkers and I heaped spoonfuls of energy-sustaining milo and sugar-laden instant coffee into individual mugs, I thought about the burden placed on Junior. Without the provision of elevated outdoor cooking facilities between villages, making and containing the small open fires fell to Adventure Kokoda.
A little matter, perhaps, but one of many deficiencies large and small which added up to a fundamental neglect of Papua New Guineas premier, money-making tourism lure oversighted by no less than five organisations: PNGs Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA); Kokoda Track Authority (KTA); Tourism Promotion Authority (TPA); and the Australian-steered Kokoda Tours Operators Association (KTOA) and Kokoda Initiative (KI).
With all the funding available, mostly Australian taxpayers money, what consideration does this cumbersome management give to the well-being of Papua New Guinean carriers engaging in their hazardous work.
The Trail, although well-trod, is no walk in the park. It can endanger life and limb. Trekkers like me are privileged to have travel insurance. But what support is available to carriers should they sustain injury?
The conspicuous absence of safety measures such as hand-rails and barriers means that trekkers instinctively rely upon carriers for support as well as labour. They need breaks and rest-time just like those Trail managers back in Port Moresby.
My thoughts extend to the danger of open fires as an accelerant of environmental degradation. The Kokoda Trail is a vital component of the ecosystem of the Koiari and Orokaiva people.
Knowing how vigilant (to the extent of criminal sanctions) Australian society is about fires in forest areas, the seemingly lax approach to fire regulation of the Australian agencies that co-manage the Trail irritates me.
This pattern of managements dismal commitment to environment sustainability and lack of interest in carrier welfare is no more evident than in the work and living conditions at campsites.
Quickly constructed camp table avoids the need to carry more gear
IMITA base is one of the easier campsites for the novice trekker to reach.
The flat terrain surrounded by short, sloping hills makes for a leisurely stroll down to Lubu Creek to bathe. Outdoor bathing is of course a routine challenge for trekkers but, given the popularity of the Trail, I am mystified by the absence of simple outdoor shower facilities.
With the exception of the Bombers and Isurava sites, each afternoon at respective camps our group shuffles across moss-coated boulders and warily traverses razor-edged rocks for a three-second rinse in ice-cold water which at least has the benefit of jolting fatigued bodies back to exhausted life. The drudgery of changing clothes inside a two-person tent is equally unkind.
Half an hour after unsteadily negotiating a fallen tree trunk leading trekkers out of the creek, I emerge from my tent and head towards an impromptu tabol maket [table market] set up by local landowners. My trek mates proclaimed there were K8 cans of Coke and K3 packets of Twisties on sale.
At the tabol maket, I purchase three lukewarm soft drinks, taking one and leaving the others for DE and another carrier who had been gracious in lending his hand when DEs two werent sufficient for my height-fearing brain.
I then saunter across the lawn passing the carriers sleeping quarters, a three-walled structure with an open front for all eyes to peer through. Scattered across the timber floor are rolls of red-cover encased zippered sleeping bags. Blue foam sleeping mats lie alongside bilums and discarded uniform shirts hang on the palm-thatched wall.
But the ghastly stench seeping from nearby camp toilets propels me straight back to the other side of camp, and into the haus kuk.
MOVING between the haus kuk and the neighbouring shelter structure, boskuk issues instructions to Junior before doing the same to a handful of nearby carriers.
I quiz Junior about the shelters tarpaulin roof and the companys rope now strung into clothes lines across its length. Im told this is the campsite owners offering of a drying haus. Adventure Kokoda supplies its own rope, purchases firewood from landowners and makes small fires to improvise a heating facility for trekkers to hand wash their damp clothes.
Boskuk reappears and rations out pasta spirals for the groups evening meal. As Junior moves a water-filled cauldron off the platform, multiple one kilogram bags of rice come into view. I am told they are to be cooked for the carriers dinner. As boskuk moves forward, bending to empty the packets of pasta into the now-boiling water, I divert my eyes to the orange tents ahead of me to conceal my reaction.
I am embarrassed to be sitting idly whilst an older man moves about to prepare a meal for us and but most of all I feel irritated that Papua New Guinean men like boskuk are employed to create a tourism experience struggling with primitive infrastructure.
As night falls, my irritation turns to anger the only source of light for boskuk and Junior as they move about with meal preparation, service and cleaning are our fire and their head torches.
Boskuk tells me he has worked in the industry for nearly 16 years and in all that time work conditions, have changed little. He points out that, with the first nights meal eaten and breakfast tomorrow, the carriers pack weights will be lighter, but only slightly. I am bewildered that there is no en-route storage system at campsites for food, tents and other gear.
THAT evening, and in the days and nights thereafter, I continue to feel the same, distressing emotional outrage at the alphabet soup of KTA, CEPA, TPA, KI and KTOA which promote Kokoda as an icon but do so little for the men struggling on the Trail.
The lack of proper waste disposal systems, the absence of outdoor showers and fixed waist-level cooking facilities, poor drying houses, unsatisfactory toilet facilities, inadequate sleeping quarters for carriers and insufficient lighting.
All indicate a lack of communication, caring and action on the part of the management soup, which should be engaging with local campsite owners and trek companies to provide humane, safe and otherwise reasonable facilities for carriers, guides, trekkers and Trail communities.
Sleeping mat and clothes are aired at a bush camp
THE issues Ive described cause me to consider whether, in striving to achieve the wartime experience, Kokoda Trail management is either ignorant of or unconcerned about the shifting tectonic plates of modern-day standards and expectations.
If it is felt that Papua New Guinean carriers represent some kind of emulation of wartime Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, this is a totally misconceived attitude.
It is one thing for trekkers to voluntarily embark on the challenges of Kokoda; quite another to expect that the workers who make this possible have to endure the poor conditions they do.
Not for them the return to a Port Moresby hotel and a comfortable life in Australia.
Theyre back on the Trail.
Surely the PNG-Australian management of the Trail is not deliberately capitalising on the historical juxtaposition of troops and carriers, consciously limiting its investment in the welfare of carriers and advertently fostering poor practices in Kokoda Trail trek tourism?
Jharkhand asks doctors to write prescriptions in capital letters
India
oi-Shubham Ghosh
Ranchi, Oct 6: Doctors are known to be people with worst handwriting on earth and none other than the pharmacists seem to be capable of deciphering them. To lessen the patient parties' woes, the government of Jharkhand recently made it mandatory for both government and private doctors to pen prescriptions only in block letters.
In a notification issued on September 21, the state government has asked the doctors of all government hospitals and private nursing homes to follow the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, that seeks writing the generic name of drugs besides penning prescriptions only in bold letters, a Hindustan Times report said.
Kolkata: Not newborn skeletons, medical waste found at empty plot say doctors
The notification was issued by Akhauri Shashank Sinha, the state's deputy secretary of health, medical education and family welfare department. A directive issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI) on September 28, 2016, had also asked doctors to prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and in bold letters.
The report cited highly placed sources in the state health department to say a violation of the regulations would lead to a warning first, suspension of a registration for a certain period in second occurrence and the cancellation of registration in the third.
Doctors remove 35 kg tumour from elderly woman
There were, however, voices saying the new order could increase the problem for the patients since writing a prescription in capital letter will consume more time, delaying the service.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 10:40 [IST]
J&K polls: A faceless campaign from the safe houses of Kashmir
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
Srinagar, Oct 6: The local body polls in Jammu and Kashmir are two days away. Polling begins on October 8 and counting for the same would be held on October 20.
Security in the state is at an all time high, with the government determined to ensure that the polling process is conducted successfully and peacefully.
In the run up to the polls there have been several attempts by the Hizbul Mujahideen to disrupt the process. The commander of the outfit, Riyaz Naikoo has threatened to blind the candidates with acid, if they did not withdraw their nominations.
J&K polls: High alert declared, security agencies leaving nothing to chance
There is a sense of fear and panic in the Valley as a result of which the entire election process has witnessed a faceless campaign. Despite efforts being made, some persons have leaked information regarding the candidates and even posted their details on the social media.
None of the candidates are on the ground campaigning. The police have taken almost all candidates to safe houses to ensure that they do not become the targets of terrorists. An official from Kashmir while justifying this action said that their primary concern is t ensure that the candidates do not become vulnerable to attacks.
In many parts of the region, which includes, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama, the candidates are Kashmiri pandits, who originally hail from Jammu. Some have questioned the logic of being kept away from the public and in safe houses. They seek to know for how long they would kept in these safe houses and add that some day or later they would have to return. What happens then, they ask.
What led to the killing of the NC workers in Srinagar
A BJP-Congress fight:
With the NC and PDP pulling out, the direct fight is now between the BJP and Congress. While the campaign so far has been low-key, there is no dearth of candidates. Scores of youth have thrown their hat into the ring and would be contesting as independents.
So far there are around 851 candidates who have filed their nominations for the seats in the 598 wards and 40 municipal bodies in the Valley. Across the state there are 1,145 seats to contested in the 79 municipal bodies and there are 3,005 candidates in the fray.
However in nearly 60 per cent of the wards in the Valley, there would be no contest. In around 172 wards in the Valley no nominations have been filed. In another 190 wards just one nomination has been filed as a result of which there would be no voting. The case is similar for the 40 municipal bodies in the Valley. There will be no voting in 21 bodies.
In Srinagar, 310 candidates have filed their nominations for the 74 wards.
Hizbul's overground module in Kashmir busted
Officials say that this time around there are several new faces in the fray as the field has been left empty with both the NC and PDP pulling out. There are several young faces contesting the polls as independents and one would witness a new breed of politicians in the state. Some also do not rule out the fact that these could be proxy candidates.
The campaign has however been a subdued one. There is a large threat looming over the elections by terror groups. The fact that the NC and PDP have pulled out has taken the sting out of the elections.
The candidates have been advised to maintain a low profile and not speak with the media. The election buzz is missing and the campaign trail has not been able to hit the streets in a big way.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 16:34 [IST]
Kannur International airport to open on December 9
The Kannur international airport will be formally commissioned on December 9. The date for inauguration was fixed as the Director General of Civil Aviation has accorded commercial flight operation licence to the airport, a release from the office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Friday.
Fifth-longest runway in the country
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is also the chairman of KIAL, said on Friday 11 international and six domestic carriers have shown interest in operating from the greenfield airport, which will have the fifth-longest runway in the country with a length of 4,000 metres.
Kerala, only state in India to have four international airports
With this, Kerala will be the only state in India to have four international airports, with the other three located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
Kannur is the only airport in south India which has the facility of a large area. KIAL acquired 2,300 acres for the airport. In this, KIAL has purchased 640 acres of land under the share of the government in the airport project. Rest of the land is not handed over to KIAL yet.
24 check-in and 32 immigration counters
The swanky new Kannur airport has 24 check-in and 32 immigration counters. Also, Parking will be available for 700 cars, 200 taxis and 25 buses outside the airport. The runway will begin at an operating length of 3,050 metres, increasing to 3,400m in 18 months and eventually to 4,000m.The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be in charge of the airport's security operations.
Norovirus outbreak in Kerala: How contagious is it? Symptoms, treatment, all you need to know
Kerala Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran to meet chief priest of Sabarimala temple today
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 6: Kerala Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran will be meeting chief priest of the Sabarimala temple at 5 pm. He is meeting them in the background of Supreme Court verdict at a time when so many protests are going on.
Kerala Director General of Police Loknath Behera said on Friday that women police personnel will be posted at Sabarimala this month, to facilitate pilgrimage of female devotees, following a Supreme Court order in September allowing women to enter the temple. Previously, women between the ages of 10 and 50 were banned from visiting the shrine.
Pravin Togadia's outfit opposes Sabarimala verdict
Meanwhile, the Nair Service Society, the royal family of Pandalam town and family of the temple's chief priest have said they would file a review petition in the top court against its order.
The Sabarimala temple had restricted the entry of women belonging to the age group of 10-50 as part of its age-old tradition.
'Travancore Devaswom Board' set to increase facilities at Sabarimala temple
On October 28, a five-judge constitution bench, headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, lifted the ban on entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 13:17 [IST]
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RSS worker stabbed to death in front of wife in Kerala
Kerala Lottery Nava Kerala NK 01 Results 2018 date and time: Important announcement
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 6: The Kerala Lottery Nava Kerala NK 01 Results 2018 will be declared soon. Once declared the list of winners would be uploaded on the official website.
The Kerala government had said that the Nava Kerala lotteries draw has been postponed to October 15. The draw was to be held on October 3, as per an earlier announcement.
According to latest information, the Kerala State Lottery Department will announce the Navakerala Lottery draw results at Gorkhi Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram at 2 pm on October 15.
Due to a huge number of visitors, the Kerala Lotteries Results webpage may not function properly. The department advises the winners to once verify the winning numbers with the results published in the Kerala Government Gazatte.
The Nava Kerala Bhagyakuri was introduced with the aim of raising funds for Kerala flood relief activities and redevelopment of the state. A single ticket costs Rs 250, while a book of 10 tickets costs Rs 1,943. The proceeds from the lottery draw will go towards the Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).
Nava Kerala NK 01 PRIZE MONEY: First Prize: Rs 1 lakh | Consolation Prize: Rs 5,000. People who purchased the Rs 250 tickets can visit the official website keralalotteries.com.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 7:20 [IST]
Low rainfall drags water levels down in reservoirs in South, only Almatti is full
Kerala rains: One shutter of Cheruthoni dam opened in Idukki
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 6: Due to heavy rainfall in Idukki district, the Kerala government opened one of the shutter of the district's Cheruthoni dam to release around 50 cusecs of water.
Weather forecast for Oct 6: Heavy rains to continue in Chennai for another 24 to 48 hours
The Idukki district authorities on Friday had warned the people living near the dam to take necessary precautions and to be aware of what is happening around them.
Apart from heavy downpour, strong wind has also caused widespread damage in the state's Kasargod district. The rooftops of many buildings and mobile towers were damaged and power supply was also disrupted in the district for over four hours after trees fell on the top of power cables.
Kerala braces for 'heavy rains'; TN, Karnataka, Pondy also on alert
Meanwhile, Kerala Meteorological department has withdrawn red alert issued for Idukki and Malappuram districts of the state.
The district administration has banned the entry of all tourism centres in Idukki from Friday onwards. Night travel in the hilly areas will not be allowed either.
Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said that following the prediction of heavy rains, 5 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had arrived in Kerala and have been stationed in the five districts of Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Wayanad, Kozhikode and Palakkad.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 13:39 [IST]
Lord Ayyappa devotees to reach Jantar Mantar in Delhi against court decision
India
oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla
New Delhi, Oct 6: Protest against women being allowed in Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabrimala in Kerala has reached from Kerala where Lord Ayappa's temple exists to other parts of the country as well. People in other parts too have started coming on street that their religious sentiment must be respected.
In one such move Lord Ayyappa devotees of Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) will be organising 'The Ayyappa Nam Japa Yatra' on October 7, 2018 at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
Pravin Togadia's outfit opposes Sabarimala verdict
Though there is a big following of Lord Ayyappa all across the country but there is a huge section of people from Kerala living in Delhi and NCR who are feeling with the court's decision. They have been supporting the demand of Ordinance that started fro the Kerala Bharatiya Janata Party so that status quo could be prevailed at the temple.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh though respected the SC decision but said that sentiment of people must also be given some space in its statement.
RSS appeals people to respect SC decision but also wants people's sentiment to be honoured
It is not only that people from South India will participate in this symbolic protest against entry of women in Lord Ayyappa Temple but a big section of people from northern India and several other organisations will also participate in this programme.
The court has allowed menstruating women to enter temple however as per tradition of the temple women aged between 10 years and 50 years were not allowed to enter Lord Ayyappa temple.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 17:49 [IST]
Backstabber Sharad Pawar can't be our guru; MVA govt just adjustment: Sena leader
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LS polls: Pawar calls for meet to discuss candidate selection
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
Mumbai, Oct 6: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has called a two-day meeting of leaders of the state unit of the party here to discuss selection of candidates in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha polls.
The meeting will be held Saturday and Sunday, said NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik.
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The party has already demanded 50-50 seat-sharing formula in its talks for alliance with the Congress, Malik told PTI.
Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha constituencies. In 2014 elections, the two parties had an alliance; the Congress had contested 27 and NCP had contested 21 seats then.
Pawar will discuss the current political situation in the 21 Lok Sabha seats the party had contested in 2014 and discuss the process of selection of candidates, Malik said.
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The party has also called leaders from Jalna, Aurangabad, Dhule and Ichalkaranji, as it will stake claim to these four seats which the Congress had contested in the last elections, Malik said.
Ichalkaranji is presently represented by Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna's Raju Shetti, who has quit the NDA and allied with the Congress.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 14:00 [IST]
Massive drubbing for BJP in Rajasthan, mighty comeback for Congress, predicts ABP survey
India
oi-Deepika S
New Delhi, Oct 6: Vasundhara Raje is unlikely to repeat the BJP's landslide victory in 2013 Assembly Elections, predicts ABP voter survey. In fact, BJP is likely to face a similar drubbing that Congress faced in the 2013 Vidhan Sabha Elections.
The survey indicates that that BJP, which had won 163 seats out of total 200 in Rajasthan Assembly Elections in 2013, is likely to be ousted with only 56 seats in their kitty. And Congress is likely to make a major comeback with 142 seats out of total 200.
Election Commission: MP, Mizoram to go for polls on Nov 28; Rajasthan and Telangana on Dec 7
As far as the vote share is concerned, the Congress is seen leading with a comfortable vote share of 49.9% as against BJP's 34.3%.
Rajasthan has alternated between the BJP and the Congress in the last five Assembly elections.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is claiming that she will duck the alternating power pattern in the state and will come back as the chief minister after assembly election.
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The Congress is upbeat over its recent victories in the Lok Sabha and Assembly by-elections where it snatched all three seats from the BJP by winning the Lok Sabha seats of Ajmer and Alwar and the Assembly seat of Mandalgarh in Bhilwara.
Hindutva is likely to be a poll issue in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The killings of Pehlu Khan and Umair Khan in Alwar, Mohammad Afrazul in Rajasamand and Zafar Khan in Pratapgarhmay turn a boon to the Congress party.
Rajasthan has about 88 per cent Hindu voters and around 10 per cent Muslim voters.
Assembly elections: BJP likely to lose Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan, predicts survey
In 2014, the difference in the vote share between the BJP and the Congress was 13 per cent in Rajasthan. The BJP has won the 200-seat Assembly by a massive margin. The saffron party had bagged 163 seats, while the Congress was way behind with a mere 21 seats in its pocket.
The Bahujan Samaj Party had won three seats, National People's Party and National Unionist Zamindara Party won four and two seats respectively while the Independents bagged seven seats.
Meghnad Saha the physicist also known for Planning Commission and providing national calendar
India
oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla
New Delhi, Oct 6: There are many unsung and forgotten heroes that India has in abundance. One such man whose 125th birth anniversary falls today is Meghnad Saha who was not only nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics more than once but was also elected to the first Lok Sabha in 1952 as an independent candidate defeating the Congress nominee Prabhu Dayal Himatsingka. But more interestingly he was the chairperson of Calender Reforms Committee set up in 1952.
No one can forget the role of Planning Commission of India in the growth trajectory of the country which was actually conceived by Subhash Chandra Bose at the Haripura Congress in 1938. Bose as a president proposed it as National Planning Committee in which Saha had shown very keen interest.
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The man of versatile talent is also credited with River Planning as Damodar Valley Corporation goes to his credit but his biggest contribution besides his scientific achievement was providing National Calendar to India consulting 30 kinds of Indian calendar system (panchang) into one National Calendar. He wanted to make Greenwich of India which helped creating Positional Astronomy Centre that now works under India Meteorological Department (IMD). He had worked with Marie Curie and Walther Nernst.
An astrophysicist, who is known for his development of the Saha Ionization Equation, used to describe chemical and physical conditions of stars. He was the man to relate a star's spectrum to its temperature, developing thermal ionization equations that have been foundational in the fields of astrophysics and astrochemistry.
Born on October 6, 1893 in Shaoratoli, a village near Dhaka, the present-day Bangladesh.He was forced to leave Dhaka Collegiate School for his participation in the Swadeshi movement. A student at Presidency College, Kolkata; a professor at Allahabad University from 1923 to 1938, and thereafter a professor and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Calcutta until his death in 1956.
He was fortunate enough to have teachers like Jagadish Chandra Bose, Sarada Prasanna Das and Prafulla Chandra Ray. His class fellows included Satyendra Nath Bose, Jnan Ghosh and J N Mukherjee. He was also close to Amiya Charan Banerjee, a renowned mathematician at Allahabad University.
His best-known work concerned the thermal ionisation of elements, and it led him to formulate what is known as the Saha equation. This equation is one of the basic tools for the interpretation of the spectra of stars in astrophysics, and astrophysicists often use the phrase 'to Saha correctly,' making Saha one of the few scientists whose name is a verb.
By studying the spectra of various stars, one can find their temperature and from that, using Saha's equation, determine the ionisation state of the various elements making up the star. This work was soon extended by Ralph H Fowler and Edward Arthur Milne.
Saha also invented an instrument to measure the weight and pressure of solar rays and helped to build several scientific institutions, such as the Physics Department in Allahabad University and the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Calcutta. Saha died on February 16, 1956 of a cardiac arrest in New Delhi. He was on his way to the office of the Planning Commission in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 19:05 [IST]
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MP: Amit Shah to inaugurate 'Maha Jansampark Abhiyan' from Indore today
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
Indore, Oct 6: Amit Shah will inaugurate the party's Maha-Jansampark Abhiyan (mass contact drive) from Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday. The campaign, which will continue till 8 October, is aimed at reaching out to voters across the state where Assembly polls are due this year-end. He will also meet party workers of Indore and Ujjain regions.
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'Shah will on Saturday address a workers meeting in Ujjain, a mega Scheduled Tribes meeting in Jhabua and farmers meet in Jawara of Ratlam district. The idea is to tell people what the BJP has done for the state's development,' a party spokesman said.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the state party president Rakesh Singh will accompany Shah during all these programmes, the spokesman added.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah had kicked off the Madhya Pradesh election campaign with a party workers convention (Karyakarta Mahakumbh) on 26 September on Deendayal Upadhyay's birth anniversary at Jamboori Maidan Bhopal. State BJP claimed around 8 lakhs party workers and office-bearers had gathered for the event and it has been entered in the World Book of Records (WBR).
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MP Assembly polls: Congress likely to end 15-year BJP rule, predicts ABP survey
India
oi-Deepika S
New Delhi, Oct 6: The Congress party will register a victory in the upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, predicted a survey conducted by ABP News survey.
The ABP-CVoter survey predicted that the Congress party would win the majority by a huge margin in all the three poll-bound states. The grand old party is predicted to win 112, BJP to win 108 out of 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh. BJP's vote share is 41.5% while 42.2% is of the Congress.
The Congress has a big challenge as Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shiv Raj Singh Chauhan has established himself firmly in the saddle. The saffron party's main USP for elections is Hindutva and the BJP has grown in the past three decades by using its Hindu card.
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Chauhan had even placated Hindu mahants by granting six of them status as ministers of state after they threatened to launch a yatra alleging corruption in his government.
To counter this hardline Hindutva, the Congress in Madhya Pradesh is employing a blatant Hindu card. Look at the way the state leaders have been trying to project themselves as devotees of various gods. PCC President Kamal Nath claims himself to be a Hanuman-bhakt and has erected a 110-feet Hanuman statue in his constituency.
Earlier in the day, Akhilesh Yadav said he would consult the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, as he has "waited too long" for the Congress.
Assembly elections: BJP likely to lose Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan, predicts survey
"We have waited too long for the Congress. How much longer should we wait? We will now consult the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), with which we had an alliance, and the BSP for the coming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh," Yadav was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
BSP cheif Mayawati gave a shocker to the Congress as she ruled out any alliance with the party in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Last month, she had ditched the party in Chhattisgarh.
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Several opinion polls,i ncluding CSDS-Lokniti (May) and ABP-C-voter (July,) have predicted that the party is ahead of BJP in view of the severe anti-incumbency.
The term for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly expires on January 2, 2019.
NC workers killed in Srinagar were once active terrorists
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
Srinagar, Oct 6: Ahead of the crucial local body elections in Jammu and Kashmir, two National Conference workers were shot dead by terrorists in broad daylight in the heart of Srinagar's downtown on Friday.
The two persons who were killed have been identified as Nazir Bhat and Mushtaq Wani. Incidentally the duo were former terrorists, who had served multiple jail terms before becoming NC workers.
J&K: Terrorists kill two NC workers in broad daylight ahead of local body polls
Nazir Bhat alias Babloo and Mushtaq Wani alias Beta hailed from Kani Kedal and Palpora Idgah. They were terrorists at one point in time and had served multiple jail terms before joining politics.
It was in the early 1990s that the duo were among the several thousand youth who had crossed over into Pakistan to undergo arms training. Bhat was arrested in the late 1990s and served a jail term of more than 5 years.
Wani on the other hand was a well known activist associated with the now disbanded Students Liberation Front. He was sent to jail for two years and later he was part of a big group that was ready to cross over into Pakistan.
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Upon his return to the Valley, he was arrested by the security forces. He served a jail term of two years. After his release, he returned to the terror fold only to be arrested again in 1994, following which he served a jail term of six years.
He was arrested once again in 2004 and remained in jail till 2006. However upon his release, he decided to join politics. He along with Bhat had campaigned for the NC in the 2014 elections.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 11:30 [IST]
NIA files first chargesheet in Manipur missing arms case
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
Imphal, Oct 6: The National Investigation Agency has submitted its first chargesheet in connection with the missing arms case reported in Manipur. The NIA has charged 8 persons in connection with the case.
Imphal arms haul case: NIA takes up probe
During investigation, NIA had recovered/seized 20 numbers of 9mm Auto 1A Pistols and 05 numbers of Magazines. Seized firearms were missing from DG Pool Kote of Manipur, located at 2nd Manipur Rifles Battalion, Imphal.
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Investigation continues under section 173(8) CrPC, against David Hangshing, Chairman of Kuki Revolutionary Army, Th Diamond Singh and Yamthong Haokip, MLA Saikul LAC, Manipur who are involved in the instant crime and also regarding involvement of other accused persons/militant groups in the instant case.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 12:40 [IST]
Peace and development in Syria and Afghanistan equally important for India and Russia
India
oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla
New Delhi, Oct 6: Besides having mutual cooperation on a slew of issues, India and Russia have expressed their commitment for peace and stability in Syria and Afghanistan. They decided to cooperate for regional peace as growth of the region is not possible unless peace prevails in the conflicting areas.
India and Russia have reaffirmed their commitment for a political resolution of the conflict in Syria, through an inclusive Syrian-led, Syrian-owned political process which safeguards the state sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the country in pursuance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015).
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Both the leaders reiterated their support for the Geneva process and the mediation offered by the United Nations, as well as the Astana process, and stressed the complementarity between the two initiatives calling upon all stake holders to actively engage in building a peaceful, stable and sovereign Syrian nation and support the intra-Syrian dialogue without preconditions or external interference.
They have also called for enhancing efforts to provide all necessary humanitarian assistance to bring the long drawn suffering of the Syrian people to end it as soon as possible, bearing in mind urgent reconstruction needs and return of refugees and internally displaced persons. Ministry sources informed that recently a big Indian delegation visited Syria but investment there.
India and Russia have also declared their support to the Afghanistan government's efforts towards the realization of an Afghan-led, and Afghan-owned national peace reconciliation process. Concerned with the unabated violence and severely undermined security situation in Afghanistan and its adverse effect on the region, both the leaders resolved to work through the Moscow Format, SCO Contact Group on Afghanistan, and all other recognized formats for an early resolution to the long-term conflict in Afghanistan, end to terrorist violence, external safe havens and sanctuaries for terrorists and the worsening drug problem in the country. Both Sides called upon the international community to join efforts to thwart any external interference in Afghanistan, to restore its economy, contribute to sustaining peace and security, economic and political development of a stable, secure, united, prosperous and independent Afghanistan. India and Russia will launch joint development and capacity building projects in Afghanistan.
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The importance of the full and effective implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear programme in order to support international peace and security was also underlined by both the countries, to strengthen non-proliferation regime and to develop normal economic cooperation with Iran. They called for all issues related to the Iranian nuclear programme to be resolved peacefully and through dialogue.
Positive developments in the Korean peninsula was welcomed and they conveyed their support for efforts to bring about lasting peace and stability in this sub-region through diplomacy and dialogue. And they also agreed that while drawing-up the mechanism to resolve the Korean Peninsula issues it is necessary to take into account and address concerns related to its proliferation linkages.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 8:09 [IST]
Tributes pour in for Former CEC T N Seshan, the man who cleaned up the Indian electoral system
EC lifts model code of conduct in Delhi imposed since Jan 6 for assembly polls
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Politicians see politics in everything: CEC responds to Cong charge on delay in presser
India
oi-Deepika S
New Delhi, Oct 6: The Election Commission of India on Saturday made a sharp attack on the remarks made by Congress over the change of press conference timings by the poll body to announce assembly election dates.
"Politicians and political parties have to see politics in everything because of their inherent nature," Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat said on Saturday before announcing the election schedule for the five states that go to polls.
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The Election Commission had initially proposed to hold the press conference to make the announcement at 12.30 pm but later deferred the event to 3 pm.
The Congress claimed that the delay was designed to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi a free hand to make announcements at an election meeting that he was to address in Rajasthan's Ajmer.
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The model code of conduct, which kicks in as soon as the election commission announces the poll schedule, bars government functionaries from making any announcements that can influence voters.
The five states where Assembly polls will be held in November-December are Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana.
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"The EC's explanation for the delay is preposterous. Prime minister Narendra Modi is guilty of pressuring the EC to delay its press conference as he was scheduled to address a rally. The EC was made to wait for Modi's rally," Surjewala told reporters here.
However, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) O P Rawat said in Delhi that the press conference was delayed due to official work.
The prime minister addressed a public rally at Ajmer in poll-bound Rajasthan on Saturday.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 18:45 [IST]
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Rajasthan assembly polls: Modi, Shah set to kick-start election campaign
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
Jaipur, Oct 6: The BJP is all set to launch its election campaign for the Rajasthan assembly elections. The campaign would be launched by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah.
The BJP has scheduled a series of meetings, which would be addressed by Modi, who will also be accompanied by Shah. The BJP's election management committee has proposed a schedule of rallies in seven districts. The emphasis would be on those areas, where the party is perceived to be weak.
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The two month Gaurav Yatra of Rajasthan Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje concludes at Ajmer today. BJP's state president Madan Lal Saini said that a public meeting would held at the Kayad Sthali grounds in Ajmer and this would be a historic one. He said that PM's address would help build a favourable mood.
It may be recalled that Shah had flagged off the Gaurav Yatra from the Charbhujanath temple in Rajsamad district on August 4. Raje had used a modified chariot during the yatra which covered 120 assembly constituencies by spending 35 days on road.
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The yatra had faced disruptions after some miscreants threw stones on the bus during Raje's public meeting in Pipar town. The Gujjars had threatened to stop the march with the demand for reservation.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 9:47 [IST]
Rajasthan: PM for India, but a worker for BJP, says Modi in Ajmer
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
Ajmer, Oct 6: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Ajmer in Rajasthan on Saturday, marking the conclusion of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's state-wide yatra ahead of assembly elections in the state.
Addressing a public rally in Ajmer, Modi said,"I am Prime Minister for the nation, but a worker for the BJP. So wherever I am invited, even if at a booth level meeting, I will be present.''
Modi called himself a "karyakarta" while addressing the rally in Ajmer. He said, "A colleague was telling me that I must make time for Rajasthan, but I want to make one thing clear-- that I am still the same Narendra Modi who was a karyakarta who went from booth to booth on a scooter." The prime minister in the rally talked about his "roots" and said, "I might have become the prime minister, but I have not forgotten my roots, my beginning... I will be there wherever I am required to be; I will be like every other karyakarta."
Modi also said that the ruling BJP government in the state believes in accountability. "We are nearing the end of our term in Rajasthan and we are here to give you a report of all that we have done," PM Modi said. "It is a matter of honour to be here in your service and to fearlessly give you an account of everything we've done for your benefit," the prime minister said addressing a rally in Ajmer.
The BJP is leaving no stone unturned to make Modi's public rally a grand success. State BJP president Madan Lal Saini has said that 3 lakh people will be attending the rally.
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Chief minister Vasundhara Raje reached Ajmer on Friday afternoon and visited the venue of the public meeting, met with the local administration as well as BJP workers and took stock of the arrangements.
Earlier, Modi was scheduled to visit Brahma Temple in Pushkar town and Ajmer Dargah, but now he will only attend the Ajmer rally.
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Ajmer district has eight assembly constituencies and seven of them are represented by BJP MLAs while the Congress has one seat of Nasirabad. The ruling party, which had lost the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency to Congress in bypolls held earlier this year, is trying to build a favourable atmosphere and mood among the voters by holding the rally of Modi, who had addressed an election rally in Ajmer in 2013 also.
The Congress had won the Ajmer Lok Sabha seat by defeating BJP's Ramswaroop Lamba who is the son of former Ajmer MP Sanwar Lal Jat. The seat went to bypoll after the then sitting MP Sanwar Lal Jat died due to cardiac arrest last year. The assembly elections in Rajasthan are due later this year.
Reform in UN and achieving sustainable development goal important for changing world order
India
oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla
New Delhi, Oct 6: With the changing world order, the role of United Nations needs to be redefined. The long pending demand for reform in the United Nations has been reaffirmed by the visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin besides supporting India for permanent member in United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
It has been reaffirmed by India and Russia that there is a dire need of reform the UN Security Council to better reflect the current world order and make it more effective in dealing with emerging global challenges. Russia has reiterated its unwavering support to India for the permanent membership in an expanded UNSC. They have resolved to work closely to ensure peace, security and equitable development both regionally and globally and to coordinate their efforts to address challenges to the stability of the world order.
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Former foreign secretary Shashank told Oneindia that India-Russia relation is very important as it is Russia that will push the case of India for permanent member of security council. It was Russia that had pushed the case of India for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Similarly Russia keeps on talking about reform in security council with inclusion of India as permanent member.
Both the countries have reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of international law and the centrality of the United Nations in international relations. They also shared the view that implementation in good faith of generally recognized principles and rules of international law excludes the practice of double standards or imposition by some States of their will on other States, and consider that imposition of unilateral coercive measures not based on international law, is an example of such practice. They would continue to work together to promote a democratic world order based on global and shared interests.
Reaffirming their commitment to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, India and Russia decided to pursue equitable, open, all-round, innovation-driven and inclusive development, to achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions -- economic, social and environmental -- in a balanced and integrated manner. They reiterated the important role of the United Nations, including the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, in coordinating and reviewing global implementation of the 2030 Agenda. They agree on the need to reform the UN Development System with a view to enhancing its capability in supporting Member States in implementing the 2030 Agenda. They urged the developed countries to honor their Official Development Assistance commitments in time and in full and provide more development resources to developing countries.
North Korea to recieve humanitarian aid despite tough sanctions
Committed to further promote green development and low-carbon economy, in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, they called upon all countries to fully implement the Paris Agreement adopted under the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change including the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and urged developed countries to provide financial, technological and capacity-building support to developing countries to enhance their capability in mitigation and adaptation.
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S400 deal: India caught in crossfire, says Washington Post
India
oi-Shubham Ghosh
New Delhi, Oct 6: As India signed an agreement with Russia to procure S400 Triumf air defence system from the latter on Friday, October 5, during a visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to New Delhi, the eyes were stuck on the United States. Will Washington penalise India for going ahead with the key pact that could see a change of game in South Asia?
The Washington Post came up with an analysis 'The U.S. wants to punish Russia for election interference. India is caught in the crossfire' on Friday whereby it said that Washington enacted sanctions to retaliate against Russia's alleged interference in its 2016 presidential elections and that its goal was to hit its enemy and not penalise its friends.
India, Russia sign deal for five S-400 Triumf air defence missiles
"But that is exactly what could happen as India - a country that the United States has sought to cultivate as a strategic partner - moves ahead with a major $5 billion weapons purchase from Moscow," the piece said.
It said the India-Russia pact theoretically makes India a candidate to face the US's wrath under its Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act or CAATSA. The act aims at panalising countries that engage in a sizeable business with Moscow's defence and intelligence sectors.
The Post said the key question that comes up now is whether Trump will grant a waiver to India for purchasing the S-400 system. In September, the US imposed sanctions on an arm of China's military for purchasing Russian fighter planes besides equipment for the advanced air defence system.
It then said: "The United States and India have drawn closer in recent years as both countries cast a wary eye on China's growing influence in the region. But the tussle over the Russian missile system represents a case of conflicting priorities."
India-Russia trade turnover to triple by 2025, says Russian minister
"From the U.S. perspective, the sanctions are a necessary and appropriate response to Russian interference in the U.S. elections - and Washington expects allies to assist in that effort."
"India, meanwhile, is keen to deepen ties with the United States but not at the cost of severing a long-standing defense relationship with Russia. More broadly, it wants the independence to determine its own approach to countries like Iran and China, where its interests may differ substantially from those of the United States."
Suspected 9/11 plotters Karnataka link under scanner: What have the agencies found
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
Bengaluru, Oct 6: Investigators in India are ascertaining the antecedents of Abu Zubaydah, a suspected 9/11 plotter. The interest regarding this man currently lodged in the Guantanamo Bay jail cropped up after it was learnt that he studied at Mysore, Karnataka.
One of the masterminds of the 9/11 attack and considered Osama Bin Laden's number 3 man, he studied at the Sarada Vilas College in the year 1989. He pursued a course in computer science, but failed to complete his undergraduation as he had failed in his exams.
9/11: Don't miss these NASA images shot after the attacks
He used to live in the Udaygiri area of Mysore. In the year 1990, he left Mysore and reportedly travelled to Afghanistan. Indian investigators tell OneIndia that no concrete Indian link has emerged as yet. There were no complaints regarding him while he stayed at Mysore.
However agencies are trying to track if he was in touch with some Al-Qaeda related elements during his stay. It is clear that the radicalisation process may have started in India itself. This the investigators believe could be possible since he left India and travelled directly to Afghanistan. He stayed in Mysore only for a year.
The agencies are now gathering further details regarding his stay. Details from his college have been collected and the sleuths are now trying to get in touch with a lady, who he was reportedly close to while he stayed at Mysore.
The administrator of the college, Parthasarathi said that the investigative agencies had visited the college to look into the matter. He also said that Abu was in the college for a year. He failed in the first year itself and then left.
The 9/11 files:
Abu Zubaydah is a Saudi Arabian national and is currently being held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2002. Reports say that he was extensively interrogated and water-boarded 83 times.
According to his younger brother Hesham, they had eight siblings. Hesham remembers his older brother "as a happy-go-lucky guy, and something of a womanizer." Born in Saudi Arabia, Zubaydah moved to the West Bank as a teenager, where he joined in Palestinian demonstrations against the Israelis.
17 years on: The 9/11 attacks and the Indian connection
Zubaydah is reported to have studied computer science in Mysore, India prior to his travel to Afghanistan/Pakistan at the age of 20 in 1991.
He joined the mujahideen in the Afghan civil war. In 1992, Zubaydah was injured in a mortar shell blast, which left shrapnel in his head and caused severe memory loss, as well as the loss of the ability to speak for over one year.
On March 28, 2002, CIA and FBI agents, in conjunction with Pakistani intelligence services, raided several safe houses in Pakistan searching for Zubaydah. His pocket litter supposedly contained two bank cards which showed that he had access to Saudi and Kuwaiti bank accounts; most al-Qaeda members used the preferred, untraceable hawala banking.
In a speech in 2006, President Bush claimed that Zubaydah revealed useful intelligence when enhanced interrogation was used, including identification of two important suspects and information that allegedly helped foil a terrorist attack on American soil.
After accusing him of being "No. 3 in al Qaeda" and subjecting him to various forms of torture, the CIA subsequently conceded that Abu Zubaydah was never part of the terror group founded by Osama bin Laden.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 7:04 [IST]
Ramdas Athawale condemns violence at US Capitol, says he will talk to Trump over phone
One by one they will resign: Athawale on Maharashtra ministers
Union minister tells Muslims to come forward and protect cows
India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
New Delhi, Oct 6: Some Muslims faced atrocities in the name of "gau raksha", Union minister Ramdas Athawale said Friday, while urging the members of the minority community to come forward to protect the cow, which is revered by the Hindus.
Releasing a book on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, titled "Musalman Aur Yogi Adityanath", Athawale batted for Hindu-Muslim unity, saying it was needed to make India a strong country.
Rahul Gandhi maligning his own image by leveling allegations over Rafale deal: Athawale
"Some Muslims faced atrocities after the (Narendra) Modi government came to power. Nuisance happened in the name of gau raksha, but Muslims should also protect the cow as Hindus revere the animal," Athawale said.
The Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment asserted that Modi and Adityanath "are not anti-Muslim", which was reflected in the prime minister's "Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas" slogan.
Athawale also recited a self-composed couplet eulogising Adityanath and asserting that the people of the country would defeat those driving a wedge between Hindus and Muslims.
"UP mein chamak raha hai Yogi Adityanath ka tara, Hindu-Musalman ko ladane walon ka baja denge barah, (Adityanath's star is shining in UP, we will defeat those pitting Hindus and Muslims against each other)," recited the minister.
He said Hindus and Muslims should refrain from fighting over the Ayodhya issue and wait for the Supreme Court verdict on it, while claiming that there was originally a Buddhist shrine on the disputed land.
Others affected more, not me says union minister of fuel price hike
The author of the book, Irfan sheikh, a journalist, said he had certain anxieties over Adityanath's fiery statements, but had a change of heart after seeing him weeping in Parliament and saying he had not left home and become an ascetic to face "false allegations".
The book highlights Adityanath's life and works, his political evolution and equation with the Muslims of Uttar Pradesh.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 14:40 [IST]
India clearly conveyed its requirement for S-400 to US
Could this be one of the reasons why S-400 makes the United States uncomfortable?
No doubts on India's Kashmir approach,S-400 missiles to be delivered to India by 2025: Russian envoy
India going ahead with induction plan for Russia S-400 systems despite US warning
How S-400 Triumph will help India repulse air attacks by China, Pakistan
International
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
New Delhi, Oct 6: It was a major step step forward in terms of military capabilities for India after it inked the S-400 Triumf air defence system deal with Russia.
The system can engage up to 36 targets at a time and simultaneously launch 72 missiles.
The long and medium range air defense missile system, which Air Force Chief B S Dhanoa said will provide a much needed "booster" to the Air Force, is designed to destroy air attacks, including stealth aircraft and any other aerial targets.
India, Russia sign deal for five S-400 Triumf air defence missiles
"The sides welcomed the conclusion of the contract for the supply of the S-400 Long Range Surface to Air Missile System to India," a joint statement released after the delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladmir Putin said.
The delivery of the missile systems, tipped to be over USD 5 billion, will start 24 months from the signing of the contract.
Acquiring the missile system will help repulse the air attacks by India's adversaries, especially Pakistan and China.
The signing of the deal assumes significance as China, too, has signed a deal with Russia to procure the same missile system.
India-Russia trade turnover to triple by 2025, says Russian minister
However, the deal comes under the purview of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which targets Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
India has conveyed to the US its necessity to procure this air defence missile system.
In 1999, the system was demonstrated for the first time at the Kapustin Yar practice range (the Astrakhan Region) to then defence minister Igor Sergeyev. The trials of the most advanced air defense missile system were carried out in the 2000s.
The missile system has been in service since April 2007.
The S-400 is based on the S-300PMU2 air defense missile complex.
The air defence missile system comprises a combat control post, a three-coordinate jam-resistant phased array radar to detect aerial targets, six-eight air defence missile complexes (with up to 12 transporter-launchers, and also a multi-functional four-coordinate illumination and detection radar), a technical support system, a missile transporting vehicles and a training simulator, experts said.
S-400 that India is buying from Russia can launch 72 missiles simultaneously
The S-400 system can also additionally include an all-altitude radar (detector) and movable towers for an antenna post, they said.
The target detection range of this system is up to 600 kilometres and its tactical ballistic missile destruction range varies from five kilometres to 60 kilometres.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 10:30 [IST]
Melania Trumps white hat in Africa lands her in colonial controversy
International
oi-Shubham Ghosh
Nairobi, Oct 6: US First Lady Melania Trump has found herself in the middle of yet another controversy related to her attire. The latest one might not be over a stiletto or an 'audacious' jacket, but her picking a white pith helmet during a safari in Kenya on Friday (October 6) was found to be offensive by some Africans, especially those who study the history of the continent.
The white helmet is a common symbol of colonial rule. European militaries used the helmet in their colonies across Africa, Newsweek cited Gentleman's Gazette as saying.
Did Putin scare the bejesus out of Melania Trump: Watch her expression
Kim Yi Dionne, a political science professor at the University of California, who specialises in African politics, told New York Times that Melania's understanding of Africa did not keep pace with time.
"Her attire is a signal of her understanding of what Africa is in 2018. It's tired and it's old and it's inaccurate," Dionne was quoted as saying.
Matt Carotenuto, a historian who coordinates St Lawrence University's African Studies programme, told CNN that Melania's choice of the hat was like her showing up to "an Alabama cotton farm in a confederate uniform."
US immigration crisis: Melania Trump makes surprise visit to border to see ground reality
The US first lady is on a five-day tour of Africa - her first overseas trip without husband President Donald Trump - and she was seen engaging in a number of activities, from feeding formula to elephant calves to promoting her "Be Best" initiative for kids' well-being. In Ghana, she said she was "very honoured" to visit a palace named after former American president Barack Obama and added that it was "very emotional" to walk around a former slave-trading post, Newsweek reported.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 10:52 [IST]
Collapse of Kabul will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history: Donald Trump
Thousands of terrorists might have been airlifted out of Kabul: Trump slams Biden
Never in history has withdrawal from war been handled so badly: Trump
'Toilet paper' sticking out of Trump's shoes leaves Twitter in splits
International
oi-Shubham Ghosh
Washington, Oct 6: The American media never spares President Donald Trump whenever it gets the slightest of chance. On Friday, October 5, Trump was spotted with a piece of 'toilet paper' sticking to one of his shoes and the man went on climbing the stairs of his official aeroplane Air Force One without noticing the white paper hanging from his black shoe heel.
Though the Twitterati wasn't sure whether it was a toilet paper hanging from the president's heel, it nevertheless made enough joke out of it. One even thanked the photographer for taking the funny picture.
US urges Pakistan for a productive campaign against terrorists
Trump was boarding his aircraft to head for a 'Make America Great Again' rally in Minnesota after getting out of his official car. Though there were a number of personnel around, nobody noticed the president's shoes and alerted him. Trump, however, got rid of the paper just before entering the plane, though unknowingly.
In case you were wondering, yes, Donald Trump did board Air Force One with paper or a napkin stuck to his shoe today (via https://t.co/sQgMTPqjBc) pic.twitter.com/q1Gc89ZZl7 Claudia Koerner (@ClaudiaKoerner) October 5, 2018
I honestly cannot believe its taken this long for Trump to board Air Force One with a full strand of toilet paper trailing from his shoe. https://t.co/hLWrqKqsIK Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) October 5, 2018
Tension between US and China prompts Pompeo to visit Beijing
No idea why this cracked me up so bad https://t.co/BQtys4sq8b dommett (@dommett_) October 5, 2018
Trump boarding AF1 today with toilet paper stuck to his shoe. Trump has no friends. https://t.co/BbMU66uwNV FERRARI SHEPPARD (@stopbeingfamous) October 5, 2018
Toilet paper carried 239lbs of shit onto Air Force One#toiletpaperTrump #trump is shit https://t.co/GLXn3fh0Aa loretta faucher (@lorettafaucher) October 5, 2018
This belief has persisted despite what the Chinese regard as the 'century of humiliation' inflicted by the burgeoning European imperial powers and which is seen as having been terminated by the triumph of the communist party in 1949.
However, a consistent thread throughout that history has been China's conviction that it represents the apex of human culture and civilisation and that, as a consequence, all other powers should humbly acknowledge this and submit to its will.
ADELAIDE - The history of China is one in which the power of the central imperial authority waxes and wanes, mostly according the judgement, military capacity, diplomatic skills and luck of the incumbent Emperor and his minions.
By this view, the so-called American Century (which arguably commenced in 1917) is a mere aberration, during which the upstart USA usurped China's legitimate role in the world.
Bearing this in mind, what China is currently doing is reasserting its prestige, military and economic power and authority, starting with South East Asia, still spreading through Africa and now appearing in the Pacific.
The strategic aim is to replace the USA as the world's foremost power, and thus be able to significantly influence if not entirely dominate world affairs to its advantage.
Naturally, the USA is going to push back against the Chinese efforts and this has already commenced. It is exerting its still enormous economic power and Donald Trump's overt belligerence towards China enjoys real support amongst many, probably the majority, of Americans.
While overt warfare seems unlikely right now, a covert digital war is already occurring, with both China and Russia seeking to find ways to disrupt western societies and, especially, the social cohesion amongst democratic societies that is a necessary prerequisite for any effective resistance to their geo-political ambitions.
Right now, the authoritarian regimes across the world seem to be winning this undeclared war.
The western democracies are in almost total disarray, with their political leaderships engaged in ideologically driven conflicts over things like Brexit, immigration policies, economic management, rights of minorities and so forth.
There is clear evidence that Russia at least, has deftly used digital means to exacerbate these divisions to its own advantage. They are following the old adage of 'divide and conquer' to great effect.
I do think that it has belatedly dawned upon our political leadership that we are collectively under real threat but their responses seem to have been inadequate to date.
I guess it takes a long time to overcome the inertia of 30 years of self congratulatory delusion that liberal democracy could not and would not again be challenged by authoritarian powers.
If history repeats itself, this is all going to end rather badly for someone or, maybe, all of us.
In particular, if things go badly for China's economy, there is a real risk that the ruling regime will ramp up its nationalistic rhetoric in an effort to distract the populace from focusing on its various very real failings.
If that happens, then the risk of someone doing something quite stupid escalates very rapidly.
I fervently hope that this is not what happens, but history does not encourage optimism.
Global Ceramic Tiles Market 2024 Top key Manufacturers are LAMOSA, Kajaria Ceramics Limited, SCG, Mohawk Industries, Atlas Concorde, Florida Tile, Inc.
U.S. Ceramic Tiles Market
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Increasing construction spending globally is the key factor driving global ceramic tiles market share over the forecast timeframe. Asia Pacific, mainly led by China, Japan and India construction business is experiencing robust growth owing to boost industry growth. China was the major industry contributor, with construction expenses over USD 1.7 trillion in 2015. Government initiatives towards infrastructure development, rising disposable income and high population density are some of the other factors which are positively influencing construction sector, consequently stimulating the market size.Ceramic Tiles Market for wall might witness gains exceeding 9.5% over the forecast timeframe. Wall tiles are sunlight resistant which helps in retaining its color for extended years. Also, these are available in a wide spectrum of colors which makes them desirable in walls. These are widely used in kitchens owing to their easy to clean characteristics. Ceramic Tiles Market size is set to reach USD 178.16 billion by 2024.Sample copy of this Report @Robust growth in flooring industry, which is an essential portion of residential and commercial structure including airports, railway stations and hospitals, will boost the market share by 2024. In addition, flooring market size in Europe was roughly 3 billion square meters in 2015.In 2015, bentonite clay price was approximately USD 65 per ton. Increasing raw material prices post economic downturn of 2008, will negatively influence ceramic tiles market share over the forecast timeframe. Furthermore, rising demand of these raw materials across various end user industries including thermal & electrical insulation, glass, paints, food packaging and refractories may affect the market price trend.By Product Floor tiles Wall tiles OthersBy Application Residential replacement Commercial New residential OthersMake an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @In 2015, floor ceramic tiles market share was valued at over USD 39 billion. Enhanced product quality including shock & thermal resistance and high durability compared to hardwood and other flooring material will drive industry growth by 2024.In 2015, ceramic tiles market size for residential replacement application was valued more than USD 36 billion. Rising remodeling spending to enhance floor & wall appearances will drive growth.In 2015, North America, mainly led by the U.S, generated revenue above USD 1.4 billion. Inclining remodeling activities laterally with forthcoming construction projects, including both residential and commercial buildings, are the major drivers for regional ceramic tiles market share.Asia Pacific will experience highest growth at over 10%. Growing construction spending in China, Japan and India will drive regional market size. Furthermore, drifting trend towards replacing marble floors, metal slabs and paints will further drive regional growth.Browse Report Summery @In 2015, ceramic tiles market share was fragmented. Siam Cement Group, Mohawk Industries, Lamosa Grupo, Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics and Kajaria Ceramics are significant industry share contributors. Other industry participants are Florida Tile, Crossville, Ceramiche Atlas Concorde S.P.A. and China Ceramics.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:
Computed Tomography Market 2016-2024 | Overview By Leading Players - include Hitachi Ltd., Siemens AG, Toshiba Corporation, Samsung, General Electric Company and Koninklijke Philips N.V.
Computed Tomography Market
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Computed tomography market OverviewComputed tomography is a diagnostic imaging test commonly used to obtain detailed images of cross sections of various internal organs, soft tissues, and blood vessels. In the last decade, imaging modality has proven to be a non-invasive procedure in a wide range of clinical applications. It has a profound impact on the diagnosis and management of a wide range of critical health problems, including those related to the abdomen, pelvis, neurovascular, pulmonary, spinal, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases. The application of this modality has also paved the way for new paradigms in tumour characterization, cancer detection and management throughout the world.Get Sample of the report @The intensification of the prevention of health care among populations around the world has fostered the demand for various medical diagnostic procedures, which reinforces the demand for CT tests. The high demand for image-guided interventions provides a solid foundation for the rapid evolution of the market. Rapid advances in medical care, particularly in emerging economies, and the constant advances in imaging modalities have opened the door to promising avenues in the market.The global computed tomography market was valued at USD 5.1 billion in 2016. The market is expected to have a CAGR of 5% in 2016-2024.Drivers and Restraints:The different types of computerized tomography systems include the upper end, the middle and the lower end. At the end of 2017, the high-end segment had more than half of the global market share. This is mainly due to the strong demand for 64-slice computed tomography systems to obtain high-quality images of the heart at low doses. With adequate radiation for patients of all ages, Multislice computed tomography (MSCT) has become an advanced diagnostic modality for cardiac imaging. The main benefit of MSCT is obtaining non-invasive images of the coronary arteries and cardiac tissue. The technique has wide applications in other radiology segments. The increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is fueling the demand for TSCM.Geographic Segmentation:The computed tomography market is geographically segmented into Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America and the rest of the world (Row). Of these, North America currently accounts for most of the world market. The profitability of the regional market can be attributed to the rapid pace of technological advances in medical care. In addition, the growing demand for computed tomography in elderly patients is also increasing the regional market. This regional market is followed by Europe.At the same time, Asia-Pacific is rapidly emerging as a promising market for computed tomography. The regional market is expected to experience the most attractive annual growth rate during the forecast period. The growing demand for computerized tomography in health facilities in the main economies of the region is the determining factor of the regional market. The sustained and important efforts of private actors and public organizations to meet the impressive demand for computed tomography are creating lucrative pathways in the region.Browse More Details of the report and TOC @Key Players:Key players in the computed tomography market include Hitachi Ltd., Siemens AG, Toshiba Corporation, Samsung, General Electric Company, and Koninklijke Philips N.V.Scope of the report:The report offers a comprehensive analysis of the industry by providing the estimations of market potential and forecasts with utmost granularity. Along this, the factors influential in effecting the market dynamics and trends are discussed in detail at the product level. Further, the performance of the market at the regional and country-level is assessed and the prospects with high growth potential are identified and debated.The key players in the industry are profiled providing insights on their financial performance, market position and growth strategies. Comparative analysis on prime strategical activities of the market players delineating the key developments like mergers & acquisitions, collaborations and an evaluation of the competitive environment within the industry are provided. The report also offers a broad outlook of the market along with recommendations from industry experts on the opportunities for investment activity.What else? Apart from the syndicated report, our in-house team has an expertise and experience in designing custom reports to meet your specific research needs and assist you in making well-informed decisions.Make an Inquiry before buying @Research Cosmos is a provider of standard and customized Industry research, business intelligence and consulting services across more than 100 domains in different industries of the world. We host the trending Industry reports of the worlds top-notch publishing companies, offering services to a wide range of customers from students to fortune 500 companies and discloses the hidden opportunities in every leading industry of the world.Kevin Stewartkevin@researchcosmos.comGlobal Sales ManagerResearch Cosmos+1 888 709 8757LinkedIn -Twitter -Google+ -Facebook -
Treatment Options For Psoriasis Fueling Growth Of The Psoriasis Treatment Market By Market Leaders Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., Cipla Ltd., Johnson & Johnson
Psoriasis Treatment
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Psoriasis is a non-communicable autoimmune disease characterized by patches of abnormal skin. These skin spots are red, itchy, and scaly which may be small and localized or cover the entire body. Skin injury may cause psoriatic skin changes at that spot, a phenomenon called Koebner phenomenon.There are five main types of psoriasis namely Plaque, Guttate, Inverse, Pustular, and Erythrodermic. Plaque psoriasis, also known as psoriasis vulgaris, is the most prevalent type of psoriasis, accounting for around 90% of reported cases. Most commonly affected areas of the body include back of the forearms, shins, around the navel, and the scalp. Guttate psoriasis has drop-shaped lesions. Pustular psoriasis is characterized by the presence of small non-infectious pus-filled blisters. Inverse psoriasis forms red patches in skin folds. Erythrodermic psoriasis occurs when the rash become widespread and can develop from other types. Fingernails and toenails are affected in most people at some point of time. This may include pits in the nails or changes in nail color.Get PDF Brochure of Research Report:"Market Dynamics"Various treatments can help control the symptoms fueling growth of psoriasis treatment market. These treatment methods include administering steroid, vitamin D3, exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) light, and immunosuppressive like methotrexate. Around 75% of cases can be managed with creams alone. Cream and ointments of corticosteroid, and calcipotriol can effectively treat mild-to-moderate psoriasis. However, when condition become more severe, creams are combined with oral medications such as methotrexate, acitretin, and cyclosporin.Topical drugs used in treatment of psoriasis include corticosteroids, vitamin D, hydroxyanthrone, and retinoid aiding in growth of the psoriasis treatment market. Topical corticosteroids are frequently prescribed for treating mild-to-moderate psoriasis. Low-potency corticosteroid ointments are recommended for sensitive areas such as face or skin folds and for treating widespread patches of damaged skin. Medicated foams and scalp solutions are available in market to treat psoriasis patches on the scalp. Vitamin D analogues are synthetic forms of vitamin D and they slow the growth of skin cells. Calcipotriene (Dovonex) is a cream or solution a vitamin D that contains analogue, used by itself to treat mild-to-moderate psoriasis or in combination with other topical medications. Anthralin (Hydroxyanthrone) is used to normalize DNA activity in skin cells. Anthralin (Dritho-Scalp) also can remove scale, making the skin smoother. Topical retinoids normalizes DNA activity in skin cells and decreases inflammation."Key Players Involved In Psoriasis Treatment Market"There are many global players operating in the global psoriasis treatment market. This includes Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., Cipla Ltd., Johnson & Johnson, Rowan Bioceuticals Private Limited, Stiefel Laboratories Inc. (GlaxoSmithKline plc), Win Medicare Pvt. Ltd., and Novartis AG.Speak to Analyst Before Purchasing This Report:"Increasing Prevalence Of Psoriasis Coupled With Early Diagnosis To Propel Growth Of Psoriasis Treatment Market"The growth of psoriasis treatment market is projected to gain traction in North America owing to large patient pool in this region. Also, better medical facilities, commercialization of new diagnostic technology, medical policies, and favorable reimbursement policies are factors fueling growth of psoriasis treatment market. According to the International Federation of Psoriasis Associations (IFPA), around 3% of the worlds population has some form of psoriasis. According to a study published in Cleveland Clinic in September 2013, there are around 150,000 new cases of psoriasis reported each year in the U.S. According to a study published in Medical Journal of Malaysia, in 2015 prevalence of psoriasis varies between 2.0% to 3.0% worldwide. Incidence rate is highest among Caucasians and lowest among Japanese and Africans. The study states that prevalence rate of psoriasis in Japan is 0.05% to 0.1%, as compared to China 0.5% and Taiwan 0.2%, and in India, the prevalence of psoriasis was reported in the range of 0.4% to 2.8%. High prevalence and increasing incidence propels growth of the psoriasis treatment market.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +12067016702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Zika Vaccines Market Revenue Opportunities by Global Top Players - Sanofi S.A., Cerus Corporation, Biken Inc, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Immunovaccine Inc., NewLink Genetics Corp.
Zika Vaccines Industry
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Zika vaccines are developed for immunization & prevention against diseases caused by Zika virus. This virus belongs to genus Flavivirus and is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The virus can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, sexual contact or from infected pregnant women to the fetus. Diagnosis of this infection is confirmed by detecting viral DNA through PCR. However, only 1 in 4 people with zika infection are prone to develop symptoms. In November 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that zika infection no longer constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) as major cases of zika virus were asymptomatic.In April 2015, a major ongoing outbreak of Zika virus was registered in Brazil, which later affected the population in South and Central America. This outbreak caused mild illness (fever, rashes, joint pains, conjunctivitis, nausea, and muscle pain), though the recent outbreaks showed severe complications such as microcephaly, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and various congenital neurological abnormalities in infants who were born to infected mothers. The link between zika virus and microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome was identified and reported in 2015 in Brazil.Request a Sample Copy @Continuous Increase In Human Clinical Trials And Rise In Number Of Zika Cases Will Drive The Growth Of Zika Vaccines MarketAs of March 2016, 67 companies and research institutions were working on various kinds of R&D projects and clinical trials aided to develop effective vaccines against zika virus. The FDA approved the first human clinical trial for GLS5700 in June 2016, a zika vaccine being developed by Inovio Pharmaceuticals. Further in 2017, a grant was approved for phase 2 clinical trials for a DNA vaccine conducted by NIAIDs Vaccine Research Center (VRC).Increasing awareness among the population would aid in controlling the incidence rate of zika infection. The WHO implemented a global framework for creating public awareness through its Zika Strategic Response Framework and Joint Plan in February 2016. This plan outlines all the points to be taken care of at the time of infections. In June 2016, WHO Regional Office for Europe developed a training curriculum to increase awareness by the publication of Zika Risk Assessment for European Region.While major of the Zika virus cases occur in tropical regions such as Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela, Colombia and Suriname, there are higher chances of mosquito infections in tropical areas of the U.S. like Texas and Florida. According to Pan American Health Organization, around 1,246 suspected and confirmed cases were reported between epidemiological week (EW) 10 and EW 14 of 2016 in the sub region which involves Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Ecuador.Competitive Landscape -Some key players operating in the zika vaccines market are Cerus Corporation, Biken Inc, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Bharat Biotech International Pvt. Ltd, GeneOne Life Science, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Immunovaccine Inc., NewLink Genetics Corp. and Sanofi S.A.The companies launched various R&D measures and clinical trials to attain immunogenicity against zika virus. In February 2016, Sanofi S.A launched a vaccine research and development project, with the introduction of Dengvaxia (Dengue vaccine) that will aid the company understand the Zika virus and develop an effective vaccine against it. Likewise, Inovio Pharmaceuticals initiated a clinical study of zika vaccine (GLS-5700) in Puerto Rico in August 2016. This trial may provide a potential push to Inovios vaccine if positive results are reported as there was a rapid progression of zika outbreak in Puerto Rico at that time.Zika Vaccines Market Taxonomy -There Are Different Types Of Vaccines That Provide Protection Against Zika Virus:- DNA-based vaccines- Inactivated vaccines- Live-attenuated vaccines- mRNA vaccines- Genetically engineered vaccinesGlobal Market By Application:- Therapeutic Vaccines- Preventive VaccinesRequest For Customization of Research Report @About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Global Catamarans Market Forecast To 2024 | 2018 Key Players are Beneteau, Catana, Fountaine Pajot, LeisureCat, Outremer Yachting, Robertson & Caine, Sunreef Yachts, Alumarine Shipyard
Catamarans Market
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Powered catamarans market accounted for 943 units in 2017 owing to strong consumer inclination towards high-speed and fuel-efficient boats over long sea routes. Primary advantage offered by these powered cats is to operate at consistent speeds even in absence of wind. Owing to these factors, the segment has witnessed significant applications in commercial and defense sector.North America catamarans market will grow at 3.5% from 2018 to 2024. Rising disposable income has led to increased spending on luxury boating activities such as cruisers and yachts, thereby boosting the industry growth. In addition, the U.S. is largest contributor of the recreational boating industry, providing stable growth platform over the forecast timeframe.Request For Sample copy of this Report @Europe accounted for maximum industry share in the global catamarans market owing to the largest manufacturing base. Advanced manufacturing facilities and highly experienced workforce are significantly influencing the global buyers. Industry players such as Fountaine Pajot, Lagoon, Bali, and Catana Group are highly preferred by high-end consumers present across the globe.Catamarans Market size is estimated to exceed USD 2.2 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc.Catamarans Market, By Product Sailing Catamaranso Leisureo Commercial Powered Catamaranso Leisureo Commercialo DefenseMake an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @Growing popularity of recreational boating sector, specifically in North America and Europe, increasing numbers of aging boats, economic improvement, architectural development, and technological advancement are among key factors fueling catamarans market share. According U.S. National Marine Manufacturers Association, France contributed around 60% of the globally manufactured catamarans.Growing demand for high-performance ships owing to increased recreational boating activities such as boat racing, sailing, and motorsports are propelling catamarans industry growth. Rising disposable income has in turn fueled the overall spending on luxury, comfort, exploration of new routes. Moreover, participation in recreational sporting events are expected to positively instigate the global catamaran market growth.In 2017, powered catamarans market accounts for 943 units and have gained strong attention in high-end consumer segment owing to high-speed and efficient performance for longer routes. Powered ships offer consistent speeds without the requirement of wind in comparison to conventional sail models with highly comfortable ride. Owing to these factors they have found substantial applications as means of passenger transport and defense applications.Browse Report Summery @South Africa exports over 90% of the nations production. Other key manufacturing countries include U.S., Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, UK, and South East Asian economies. These nations have witnessed consistent increase in the production units every year with added convenience and comfort. In conjunction with this, players offering customization in accordance to the client requirements to boost the consumer motivation is propelling the overall catamarans market share.Global catamarans market share is fragmented in nature owing to presence number of companies offering product range across several countries. Major companies include Outremer Yachting, Grup Aresa Internaciona, Catana Group, Fountaine Pajot, Robertson & Caine, and Lagoon. Other key players are Matrix Yachts, African Cats, LOMOcean Design, Seawind, Incat Crowther, Voyage, Alumarine Shipyard, Bavaria and LeisureCat. These companies are focusing on improving structural stability along with developing high speed boats for sporting performance in reducing sailor risk in high-quality product range.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:
Smart Pills Market - Global Industry Insights And New Key Players Entering In Market Boston Scientific Corporation, Olympus Medical Technology, Smart Pill, Medtronic, Philips Healthcare
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Increasing geriatric population creates a large target group for smart pills manufacturers. This demographic group is highly susceptible to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The market has wide scope in the monitoring and diagnosis of the diseases. According to World Health organization (WHO) 50% of people forget to take pills or take wrong medication which will be dangerous for their health, the new smart pills technology is helping in monitoring this conditions. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 1 million people suffered from IBD in the U.S. in 2015. The changing lifestyles, low intake of fibers in the food, stress, food intolerance and allergies are causing the increasing number of gastrointestinal diseases. To cure this disease, conventional methods do not provide accurate results. Need for accurate diagnosis and monitoring for this diseases are some of the major factors driving the smart pills market.The smart pills may alert about the expiry date of medicines, drug completion course and prevent from adverse events. These are expected to replace conventional diagnostic techniques such as endoscopy and colonoscopy. The need for convenient, and accurate treatment strategies has generated the interest in the research of smart pills.Download the PDF brochure@The increasing healthcare awareness and early adoption to novel technologies driving the smart pills market in EuropeRegional segmentation of smart pills market by Coherent Market Insights comprises North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa. North America and Europe collectively dominate the market. The adoption of these regions for novel technologies which is essential for the smart pills market, new marketing and commercialisation strategies, large patient population are some of the causes driving this market in North America and Europe. The Asia Pacific region is one of the growing market however, increasing healthcare awareness, training in endoscope handling, growing predominance of colon cancer and intestinal infections, and major corporate investments in research and development in Japan and other Asian countries would help boost the smart pills market.Though the adaptability in the patients and to customize the product according to consumer needs will be some of the causes which might slowdown the smart pills market.The global smart pills market is segmented on the basis of applications, disease indication and geographyOn the basis of application,Capsule EndoscopySmall-bowl Video Capsule EndoscopyColon Capsule EndoscopyOMOM Capsule EndoscopySmall Bowel Capsule EndoscopyControllable Capsule EndoscopyStorable Capsule EndoscopeColon Capsule EndoscopepH Capsule Wireless Monitoring SystemImpedance-pH Monitoring SystemMiroCamUpgraded MiroCamAdvanced Capsule EndoscopeOthersOn the basis of disease indications,Occult GI BleedingCrohns DiseaseSmall Bowel TumorsCeliac DiseaseInherited Polyposis SyndromesGet PDF for more Professional and Technical Insights@Smart pills can be used to monitor the drug adherence, temperature and some other parameters in the patients. Smart pills are ingestible medical devices that can be taken orally to examine the gastrointestinal tract (GI).The advanced technology of smart pills helps in monitoring of patients, disease diagnosis, and help to improve the drug delivery. This might help physicians to monitor the patients conditions, and to check the timely routine of patients medication.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr.ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email:sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
While trying to appeal to centrist voters in the November governor's race, Republican Knute Buehler has repeatedly touted his green credentials in television commercials and campaign literature.
His claims have drawn protests from environmental groups who say Buehler's statements are little more than greenwashing. As a state representative, Buehler has earned a lifetime failing grade from the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. Though he says climate change is real, he opposes the state's cap-and-trade legislation to address it.
On his campaign website, Buehler says it's not true that he has "sided with big corporations and received $100,000s from anti-environment groups and voted against clean energy and instead for dirty coal." He doesn't cite the source of the claim.
Part of Buehler's assertion is correct. It is not true that he voted for coal. He broke with his Republican colleagues and supported a 2016 bill to end Oregon's reliance on coal-fired electricity.
But another part of Buehler's claim that he has not taken major donations from anti-environment groups -- is false, an analysis of campaign finance disclosures by The Oregonian/OregonLive shows. His campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Some of Buehler's biggest donations at least $884,500 have come from Oregon corporations and lobbying groups that have opposed or weakened environmental regulation, records show.
Since 2011, Buehler has taken:
$350,000 from James Young, co-founder of Entek International, a Lebanon battery parts manufacturer. Entek sued the state in 2017 to prohibit the Department of Environmental Quality from telling neighbors and employees about potentially risky levels of a cancer-causing solvent in the air around its factory. Entek has given Buehler $75,000. Young and company president Larry Keith have also supported organizations funding Buehler's election effort, including Restoregon ($5,000 to Buehler) and Priority Oregon, a group running TV commercials critical of Gov. Kate Brown without disclosing who's funding them.
$160,000 from Roseburg Forest Products. The Southern Oregon timber company has opposed Gov. Kate Brown's toxic air overhaul and efforts to curtail aerial spraying of herbicides in the Coast Range.
$122,500 from Freres Timber. The Lyons timber company's president, Robert Freres Jr., advocates abolishing Oregon's endangered species act.
$90,000 from Lone Rock Timber Management. The Roseburg company tried to buy and log the Elliott State Forest, a sale strongly opposed by environmental groups statewide. If elected, Buehler could wield a tie-breaking vote on whether to reverse course and sell it. He opposed legislation to spend state money to protect it.
$55,000 from Hampton Timber and its owner, David Hampton. The company has advocated for reducing Oregon's endangered species protections for the marbled murrelet, a tiny seabird that nests in coastal old growth forests.
$15,000 from the Oregon Forest & Industries Council and Oregon Business & Industry, lobbying groups that successfully advocated for rolling back public health protections in Brown's toxic air initiative.
$12,000 from CropLife America and Oregonians for Food and Shelter, pesticide trade groups that fought a successful 2017 ballot initiative to ban aerial herbicide spraying on timber clearcuts in Lincoln County.
Some of them have given small donations to Brown previously. The largest was $5,000 from Lone Rock Timber in 2015.
Environmental groups supporting Brown say Buehler's funding is evidence that he is not the environmental champion he's advertising.
"It's clear these corporations see an ally in Buehler, and that should make Oregonians very worried," says Doug Moore, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters' executive director.
His group has given Brown $92,500 since 2008.
-- Rob Davis
rdavis@oregonian.com
503.294.7657; @robwdavis
The Oregonian/OregonLive uncovered serious problems in memory care by examining the state's database on complaints of abuse and neglect in senior care centers. Here are the details of how we conducted the analysis.
Selling Senior Care: False Comfort
Oregon's booming memory care industry charges desperate families premium prices while too often failing to keep people with dementia safe.
What data were used in the newsroom's analysis?
In addition to the complaints database, the newsroom used information from annual surveys of senior care providers, administered by Portland State University's Institute on Aging. The surveys ask facility managers about the needs of their residents, what they charge families, and more.
Reporters also analyzed reports compiled during surprise inspections that the state conducts every two years. The data were used to calculate how frequently facilities were found improperly administering antipsychotic drugs.
What is a complaint?
Oregon long-term care rules say facility administrators must notify the state's Aging and People with Disabilities program any time they witness abuse or suspect it has occurred. The report gets logged as a complaint.
Other complaints come from workers at a facility, residents, their families, or volunteers with the state ombudsman's office. Investigators with Adult Protective Services interview alleged victims and perpetrators as well as witnesses, and they pore through facility records. Investigators determine whether an incident happened, whether the facility or a worker committed "wrongdoing," and whether that wrongdoing constituted abuse.
The outcome ends up in the Department of Human Services database. The Oregonian/OregonLive obtained a copy through a public records request and winnowed it down to substantiated cases of abuse or neglect.
What is abuse?
Under Oregon law, elder abuse includes physical, sexual, verbal or emotional abuse, financial exploitation and abandonment. The term also encompasses neglect, which regulations define as "failure to provide the basic care or services necessary" to keep seniors safe and healthy, resulting in harm or risk of serious harm.
Which complaints did we analyze?
The analysis excluded substantiated complaints that were classified only as violations of state rules -- even though thousands of such "licensing" complaints include incidents such as fights and hospitalizations and findings of potential for harm. The Department of Human Services said licensing complaints should be treated differently because they are classified as less serious than official findings of abuse or neglect. Those findings are the ones the newsroom used in its analysis.
Which facilities were in the analysis?
Reporters focused on facilities licensed as assisted living or residential care. We grouped residential care together with assisted living because they follow nearly identical regulations, except residential care may place residents with roommates.
Any Oregon assisted living or residential care center can also seek an endorsement for memory care. The newsroom's analysis included 163 stand-alone memory care centers operating between 2013 to 2017 and 361 stand-alone assisted living homes, including those that are now closed. We excluded complaints from 39 facilities that had both memory care and regular assisted living components because it's impossible to tell which part of the facility an abuse complaint came from.
How did we calculate complaint rates?
The newsroom wanted to compare annual abuse rates for the typical occupied bed in both senior care categories.
For the numerator, we calculated the total number of confirmed abuse cases statewide from 2013 through 2017, first in memory care and then in regular assisted living.
For the denominator, we added up the cumulative number of beds that were occupied from 2013 to 2017. To estimate occupied beds in each year of the analysis, we multiplied each category's total licensed capacity by the average occupancy rate that year.
Occupancy rates were based on Portland State University surveys of facility managers. For 2013, these rates were not available, so the newsroom used an average of what the university reported from 2014 to 2017.
Ideally, we would have also accounted for differences in average length of stay in memory care and assisted living. This measure was not available, but Portland State's 2018 survey suggests residents stay similar lengths of time in both settings.
What was the result?
Memory care had 2.7 times the prevalence of confirmed abuse as regular assisted living: 6.3 complaints per 100 occupied beds per year, as opposed to 2.3.
Who checked the analysis?
Two academic experts examined The Oregonian/OregonLive's data.
Portland State University's Bruno Jedynak, a mathematics and statistics professor, tried to account for the fact that the newsroom didn't know the specific occupancy rates in each facility. Jedynak used a statistical simulation known as Monte Carlo to randomly assign occupancy rates to each facility. The computer chose rates that would average out to the number that The Oregonian/OregonLive used in its analysis.
Jedynak ran thousands of such simulations. Over the five years, Jedynak found 6.3 cases of abuse per 100 occupied beds per year in memory care compared to 2.3 for assisted living, and he concluded that the difference was statistically significant. He also found the disparity to be "very stable" each year from 2013 to 2017.
Lori Gonzalez, a researcher at the Florida State University's Claude Pepper Center, used an alternative measure to check on the newsroom's results. She examined abuse rates for each facility, rather than for memory care as a whole, and limited her analysis to facilities open all five years.
Using a method known as the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test, she found a statistically significant difference in the data for memory care facilities and assisted living facilities. She found median annual rates of 4.3 per 100 occupied beds in memory care, 2.5 times higher than the median she found for assisted living facilities.
Gonzalez is currently researching the memory care industry for the Claude Pepper Center.
Is it possible that investigators go after abuse cases more aggressively in memory care, making them more likely to find memory care facilities at fault?
We put this question to Tami Black, an investigator for the last 10 years in Adult Protective Services. She said she and her colleagues use the identical approach when looking into complaints at any facility in the state.
Does the wide disparity in abuse rates mean the average person with dementia is more likely to be abused in memory care than in assisted living?
It's impossible to say with certainty based on existing data.
An estimated one-third of assisted living residents have dementia, compared to 97 percent in memory care. It could be that dementia patients are also abused in assisted living at high rates. But we have no way of knowing because abuse investigators don't indicate whether or not a victim suffers from dementia. Even if we knew the rate of abuse for dementia patients in assisted living, dementia patients in this setting are likely to differ from those in memory care in ways we cannot measure.
The only definitive way to know whether a typical dementia patient is better off in ordinary assisted living would be a randomized, controlled experiment.
What we can say is that memory care has more substantiated cases of abuse per occupied bed than assisted living does with the population it serves.
-- Fedor Zarkhin
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When a nation has a president with great power but no moral compass -- who very likely became president through a crime -- it is no wonder I was concerned when my cell phone received the multi-beep presidential alert test on Wednesday.
I was relieved there was no martial-law edict, nor a directive for all persons of any religion or ethnic group to meet at the fairgrounds. But my wonderment continues as to how a president with out-of-bound morals and dictatorial leanings might later utilize this system in the fracturing of our fragile democracy.
Walt Parry, Yamhill
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When Portland State University decided to arm their police officers with guns back in 2015, people were furious. This decision by the university's board of trustees resulted in immediate backlash and protests from PSU students who called for it to be reversed. These students feared that arming police officers would put the lives of students of color, especially black students, in danger given the national level of police brutality and violence against the African American community.
Three years later, these exact fears came true. Jason Washington, a black man, was shot dead by two PSU police officers when he was trying to break up a fight. Since the incident in June, students have led protests and even camped in front of the university's public safety office to demand disarming of the police force.
Washington's death is a huge "I told you so" moment to Portland State. For years, students warned that this exact thing would happen and PSU didn't listen. Their voices and concerns were ignored and the result was the death of an innocent man. PSU is finally considering disarming police after the tragic incident, but it's just unfortunate that it took a man's life in order for them to take any action. I hope this was a lesson learned for the university. Whether they choose to reverse the decision or not, it will now be forever written in their history that they murdered a man.
Jennifer Vo, Northeast Portland
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I grew up in an era when school was taken somewhat seriously. Had we, as a group of students walked out of class to protest something happening on campus, our grades would have suffered as a result ("Madison High students protest handling of sex assault report," Oct. 2). At the very least it would have been counted as an unexcused absence. That students can walk out of class with impunity suggests students, rather than the school administration, are in control of the school. Is it any wonder that respect for authority is crumbling throughout our society?
Marten King, Southwest Portland
Comedian Katt Williams was arrested in Portland on Saturday after police say he assaulted the driver of a towncar at Portland International Airport.
Port of Portland police said Williams, 47, allegedly assaulted the driver shortly after 11 p.m. after an argument about transporting Williams and his dog from Atlantic Aviation, a terminal for private planes, to a performance at the Moda Center. Williams was expected to appear in a live performance of the improv comedy show Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out.
Police said the victim suffered minor injuries to the face, including swelling and cuts, and was treated at a local hospital.
Williams left in another vehicle, police said. He was located and arrested Saturday morning in Portland on suspicion of fourth-degree assault.
The stand-up comedian and actor, whose legal name is Micah Sierra Williams, was lodged in Multnomah County Jail, where he remained in custody Saturday afternoon. He was also being held on a warrant from Georgia.
-- Elliot Njus
Prominent restaurant owner Scott Dolich owes more than $580,000 to 41 former employees for the practice of tip pooling.
A Multnomah County jury decided that the owner of Park Kitchen must pay employees back for six years of tips that were taken and split among kitchen staff, salaried managers and the general manager.
The employees' attorney Jon Egan said that he thinks this decision is the first in the state to hold an employer accountable for tip theft.
Each of the 41 employees who worked either at Park Kitchen in northwest Portland or now-closed Bent Brick will also receive a portion of about $138,000, which will be divided based on what they made for 30 days, working eight hours per day.
The "tip pool" was originally instituted in restaurants to prop up low wages paid to people who prepare food in restaurants. But a federal court ruling in February 2016 said that it was illegal to require servers and other employees who receive tips to share that with cooks and people who do not.
In July 2016, Dolich eliminated tipping all together, in a move he said was more fair and responsive to Oregon's rising minimum wage.
Park Kitchen, which celebrated its 15th anniversary two months ago, had previously been named one of Portland's best restaurants. The restaurant did not appear in the newspaper's 2018 restaurant guide.
The Multnomah County case shows that Park Kitchen and Bent Brick management retaliated against at least one employee who complained about the tip pool. The jury awarded Holly Rice $50,000 in non-economic damages.
Rice and Nancy Allison had previously taken their complaints to the National Labor Relations Board and won there. Rice got about $20,000 and Allison got about $30,000. Allison was not awarded any more money from the Multnomah County jury.
A similar case, with the same employees, is pending in federal court with a Dec. 3 trial date.
-- Molly Harbarger
mharbarger@oregonian.com
503-294-5923
@MollyHarbarger
Despite emotional pleas from family, friends and even a retired assistant police chief for more details about what happened when police fatally shot Patrick Kimmons last weekend in downtown, Police Chief Danielle Outlaw and prosecutors would say nothing publicly Friday.
Outlaw avoided answering specific questions about the shooting of Kimmons, 27, and instead said she was committed to working to bridge the gap between African Americans in Portland and police.
But sources who spoke to The Oregonian/OregonLive on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to release the information painted a somewhat clearer picture of what occurred early last Sunday.
They said police Sgt. Garry Britt and Officer Jeffrey Livingston were in their police cars parked in a lot at the northeast corner of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Harvey Milk Street when they heard gunshots. They alerted dispatch about 3 a.m. and got out of their marked police SUVs.
At the other end of the lot nearer to Southwest Third Avenue, there was a fight and a shooting, leaving two men wounded. Police then saw Kimmons turn toward them or head their way holding a gun, the sources said.
The officers yelled commands and fired at Kimmons with their handguns, striking him in the upper torso and leg. Between the sergeant and officer, 10 to 12 shots were fired.
Private vehicles took the other two men who were wounded, Dante Emanuel Hall, also known as Manny, and Marcel Branch, to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. Kimmons was taken by ambulance to OHSU Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police are awaiting forensic analyses from the state crime lab on a revolver found near Kimmons and four other guns recovered at the scene, but suspect Kimmons shot the two other men at the scene, the sources said.
Family and friends quickly arrived at both hospitals.
So did Officer Rashida Saunders, the police Crisis Response Team coordinator, and volunteers to try to comfort the families and serve as liaisons between the Police Bureau and families.
Saunders said people threw chairs in the lobby of OHSU and smashed out a patrol car's windows.
Volunteer Kimberley Dixon, whose son was killed in a shooting in Gresham in 2013, responded to the hospital to support Kimmons' family and so did gang enforcement Officer Jason Hubert, who has worked closely with Kimmons for 15 years.
Hubert's voice shook with emotion Friday as he recalled speaking to Kimmons, known as Pat Pat, three times last week and called him "a friend.''
Kimmons had been shot in April 2014 in Northeast Portland and had convictions for witness tampering in 2010 and for delivery of cocaine and possession of a firearm in 2011. He had been ordered by a judge to have no contact with gangs in each of those cases, but he had had no serious criminal convictions in the past seven years.
He had received frequent services and assistance through the city and county's Gang Impacted Family Team, which works to break intergenerational gang ties by connecting people to job training, counseling, housing and mentorship.
Hubert, Dixon and others spoke at a twice-a-month community meeting at the police bureau's North Precinct that addresses gang and other violence in the city.
Dixon said she demanded that the hospital allow Kimmons' mother to see her son's body at the hospital to say goodbye before an autopsy. She also thanked police for "standing down'' at the hospital amid the family's extreme grief, commotion and volatile environment.
Sequoia Turner, Kimmons' girlfriend and mother to his 3-year-old and 6-year-old sons, came to the meeting to show support for Kimmons. She said her 6-year-old son wants to be a police officer, so it was hard to explain to him why his dad was killed.
She said she didn't believe Kimmons wanted to hurt anyone, adding: "Sometimes you have to protect yourself.''
"I'm not angry at the police,'' Turner said. "I just want change.''
Pamela Morgan, a grandmother to Kimmons' 8-year-old daughter, said the loss has reverberated among his family and friends.
"He tried to change his life but if you already have a record, it's kind of hard to bounce back,'' Morgan said.
Kevin Modica, who retired as an assistant chief but still regularly attends the community meeting, voiced his condolences to Kimmons' relatives in attendance.
Then Modica turned directly to his former boss before the packed room, filled with officers, prosecutors, gang outreach workers, juvenile justice and probation officers and community leaders.
"The question on the ground is, 'Why so many shots?' Where were the wounds?'' Modica asked loudly.
"Yes, I'm emotional because I've known Pat Pat since he was in diapers,'' Modica continued. "I don't want to hear from Ted Wheeler. I want to hear Danielle Outlaw and Rod Underhill talk about what they can. '' Underhill, Multnomah County district attorney, and Wheeler, the mayor who serves as police commissioner, weren't at the meeting.
"The people want to hear from you and you only to assure there's going to be accountability for what happened on both sides,'' Modica said. "Pat Pat is not here anymore. The community really doesn't know why.''
Outlaw stood up. She told the group that she's the mother of two sons, ages 20 and 17, who were flying to Portland on Friday night to visit with her. She said she came to Portland because she believes she can add value to both the bureau and the city.
"If I can be the person who bridges both sides together, if I don't do anything else, that's what I hope can be done," she said.
"I'm a mother first. I can't even imagine,'' Outlaw said, and offered her personal condolences to Kimmons' friends and family.
She returned to the city Sunday night after a vacation to South Africa, she said. She continues to experience blatant racism, she said, even as a chief in uniform, recounting how she was visiting the U.S. Capitol with other police chiefs when members of the U.S. Secret Service cut in front of her during the tour and asked her if she was with the group.
"Everyone in this room is grieving in some shape or size. The emotions are raw,'' Outlaw said, referring to both officers and local residents. "I need us to get to a place where we recognize we're all community.''
The chief didn't address the number of shots or what led to the shooting of Kimmons.
The state medical examiner's office has declined to release where Kimmons was shot and what shot killed him.
Later bureau spokesman Sgt. Chris Burley, in response to The Oregonian/OregonLive's request for more information about the shooting, released a statement:
"The Police Bureau understands the importance of transparency and building trust within our community as it relates to the timely release of information, but also works to ensure the process remains untainted because accountability is also critical. As soon as the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office determines additional information may be released the Police Bureau will provide more information.''
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian
Shawn McKenzie, one of the two Portland State University officers who fatally shot Jason Washington, left the campus public safety force a week ago, a school spokesman said Friday.
McKenzie went to work at another police agency outside of Portland, officials said.
He already had applied for the other job and had an interview before the Washington shooting, said his attorney, Christine Mascal.
Once the Multnomah County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by McKenzie and PSU Officer James Dewey, McKenzie was offered the other job.
PSU spokesman Christopher Broderick and his lawyer did not identify what agency he's working with now.
The state's police certification agency's database hasn't caught up to his job change and still lists him as employed at PSU. Agencies have 10 business days to report the leaving and hiring of officers.
McKenzie and Officer James Dewey shot Washington, a U.S. postal worker and Navy veteran, in a chaotic scene as Washington tried to break up a fight near the Cheerful Tortoise just before closing time on June 29. Washington earlier in the night had confiscated a friend's gun after a night of drinking and had it when he was shot.
The encounter marked the first fatal shooting by the university's police force, which began carrying guns three years ago in a decision decried by activists and some students. Demonstrators descended on a meeting Thursday of the university's board meeting, calling to disarm school's police force.
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian
It's cold and it's gray and it's rainy. Portland summer is gone.
Since Friday morning, the Portland area has received about a quarter inch of rain in on-again-off-again showers, said National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Bryant.
The rain will keep up throughout the evening and into the morning, before likely giving way to sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s.
Portland received almost an inch of rain Sept. 12, but it was quite warm. Friday is the first day since early June that has looked like a typical Portland day.
Bryant said that while early June might feel like millennia ago because of the unusually hot, smoky summer, the three- to four-month gap between rain showers of this kind is pretty normal.
"It's just a reminder that our summers here are not really that long," Bryant said.
-- Molly Harbarger
mharbarger@oregonian.com
503-294-5923
@MollyHarbarger
Concert pianist Wendy Chu will perform on a 1904 Steinway Model A piano acquired in May in concert Sunday, Oct. 21, at First Presbyterian Church of Caro, 203 N. Almer St. For the 4 p.m. concert, she will present selections by Franz Liszt, Modest Mussorgsky, and LiSan Wang. A reception will follow in the church's parlor.
It is the fourth program of the church's 2018-2019 Friends of Music series.
Originally from Taiwan, she has performed in solo and chamber recitals in Austria, Canada, Taiwan, and the United States. She has made appearance in festivals, concert series, master classes, and has been featured on PBS. A recording artist, Chu has made recordings with vocalist Nicholas Allen, saxophonist Mandy Grezeszak, and pianist Jeanne Hanley Thelen.
A dedicated educator, she employs her training in Alexander Technique and the Taubman Approach to help students overcome technical limitations and prevent injuries, bringing out the music within them. She has taught at Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, and Stella Royce Music Camp. Chu serves as the president of the Midland Music Teachers Association and chairman of the Concerto Competition.
She has also adjudicated for piano competitions and Student Achievement Testing for MTNA. Chu earned her Master of Music degree in piano performance and music education from CMU, where she was the winner of the concerto competition. While at CMU, she studied piano with Alexandra Mascolo-David, piano pedagogy with Adrienne Wiley, and harpsichord with Steven Egler. In 2006, she received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from MSU. Her principal teachers were Ralph Votapek and Panayis Lyras. Residing in Saginaw, Chu teaches at her private studio and Saginaw Valley State University.
The Friends of Music series responds to a regional need for musical arts opportunities of the highest quality with eighteen concerts bringing together musicians of regional and international renown. The series highlights the congregation's Aeolian-Skinner organ (Op. 1166) and 1904 Steinway Model A piano. In addition, the outreach celebrates two new music commissions by respected composers Moonyeen Albrecht and Edward Moroney.
The Midland County 42nd Circuit Court will be one of 80 courts statewide to receive money from the Michigan Supreme Court to help fund the operation of drug and sobriety court programs. Each court will receive a portion of the $12 million in Fiscal Year 2019.
Extensive follow-up analysis shows that in Fiscal Year 2017, adult drug court graduates were more than three times less likely to commit another crime after two years and unemployment among adult drug court graduates was reduced by 100 percent stated a media release. October is National Substance Abuse Prevention Month.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter John Kennett.
Thursday, Oct. 4
1:25 a.m. -- Deputies were dispatched to a Geneva Township residence in reference to a verbal dispute between a 41-year-old Edenville Township woman and her 35-year-old Geneva Township ex-boyfriend. The couple went through a recent breakup, and the woman was at the residence to collect property. No assault. The woman was able to gather the majority of her property, and arrangements were made for her to pick up the bigger items the next day. Both parties were advised to call 911 if they weren't able to handle the property exchange civilly.
9:28 a.m. -- A 39-year-old Edenville Township man reported he was harassed by his 39-year-old city of Midland ex-wife. The man stated for the past two years his ex-wife has been calling him up to 100 times a day. Contact was made with the woman and she was informed to stop calling the man.
9:31 a.m. -- A deputy responded to Larkin Township for a report of an injured deer in the roadway causing a traffic hazard. The deputy removed the deer from the roadway and issued a deer permit to a 58-year-old Harrison man that responded to recover the deer.
10:03 a.m. -- An arrest was made for obstructing justice (bond violation) in the 300 block of East Pine Street.
12:33 p.m. -- Midland County Animal Control was called about a dog bite that occurred in Lee Township. An isolation notice was issued.
1:19 p.m. -- A 36-year-old Jerome Township woman called to report that her 14-year-old daughter's iPad was damaged at school. After contacting a 14-year-old girl that was accused of damaging it and reviewing the video, it was determined to be a civil complaint.
2:24 p.m. -- A salvage inspection was completed in Greendale Township.
4:34 p.m. -- Officers responded to a crash/property damage at West Indian and Fitzhugh streets.
4:44 p.m. -- A warrant arrest for sex offender registry was made in the 400 block of Bayliss Street.
5:23 p.m. -- A PPO violation was reported in the 1600 block of Mill Street.
6:45 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a residence in Lee Township and made contact with a 67-year-old man. He advised that someone has been taking his political signs that are located in his yard. The man advised it has been an ongoing issue. There are no suspects at this time.
7:16 p.m. -- A request was made for a deputy to call a 37-year-old Bay County woman regarding a possible threats complaint at a Warren Township residence. The woman said she's in the process of evicting a 31-year-old man and 28-year-old woman from her Warren Township residence. The subjects received a certified seven-day eviction notice on this date. The 31-year-old man called the complainant, very upset, and made threats to the complainant and her property. The 37-year-old woman requested that the incident be documented in case there were further issues but didn't want the deputy to make contact with her renters at this time. The deputy explained the PPO process in case the complainant had a concern for her safety.
7:33 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a residence in Jasper Township to assist EMS/fire on gaining entry to a residence for a medical call. EMS/Fire were able to gain entry prior to deputy arrival.
8:47 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to Homer Township for an injured deer in the roadway. The vehicle that hit the animal left the area, and as of this report hasn't filed a PDA report. The injured deer was dispatched.
9:03 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to Ingersoll Township for a report of a trailer partially in the roadway. The trailer was moved further off the roadway. The woenr, a 30-year-old Freeland man, is planning on removing the trailer from the shoulder in the near future.
9:31 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Lincoln Township residence for a report of an unknown suspicious man in a 22-year-old Lincoln Township woman's back yard. The woman said this was the second time in the past week she had seen the man. The woman knew the majority of her neighbors and the man wasn't familiar to her. The deputy checked the surrounding area, but the man was gone on arrival. No fresh tracks were located. The woman and her boyfriend said they were going to install cameras on the property.
9:45 p.m. -- A 54-year-old Ohio man stated that he was contacted by Larkin Township and they advised him someone was staying on his mother's property in Larkin Township in a camper. The man said no one was supposed to be on the property and wished to have a deputy check the property. The deputy checked the property and found no one there and it did not appear anyone was living in the camper.
9:58 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to Jerome Township for a possible intoxicated driver. The deputy located the vehicle and stopped it in Lee Township. There was no intoxication.
A long-standing non-profit corporation, Minnesota Bowhunters Inc, isn't endorsing Jeff Johnson according to its Facebook page, but it is touting Jeff Johnson swag in the form of arrow wraps.
The blog post hawking the arrow wraps notes:
Only one candidate for Governor has a concrete plan for legitimizing deer management in Minnesota.
Only one candidate for Governor has his own arrow wraps. The wraps are available here. BUY NOW The link below shares Johnson's plan if he wins in November. Check it out and get some wraps if you like what you see. http://food-plots-for-deer.com/deer-governor/
Click on the BUY NOW link, and there's this:
Johnson for Governor Minnesota 2018 Regular price $19.99 Jeff Johnson For Governor Some of the core principles that guide my thinking on government and the issues: http://www.johnsonforgovernor.org/ I believe that government can only exercise authority granted to it in the Constitution.
I believe that people make better decisions about how to spend the money they earn than government.
I support school choice and the empowerment of parents to control the education of their children.
I believe the right to keep and bear arms for personal protection is a fundamental individual right.
I am pro-life.
My Christian faith guides every decision I make. Archer's, Help support Jeff Johnson for Governor in the great state of Minnesota. IF you support Johnson for Governor $5.00 will be sent in your name to his campaign.
Arrow Tech Archery, the company offering to make the political contribution on behalf of buyers, is located in Cedar City, UT.
There's no disclaimer on the arrow wrap swag, so we question whether "Only one candidate for Governor has his own arrow wraps," as the Bowhunters' blog says. If these items are official, it's possibly a violation of Minnesota campaign finance law.
And those donations to Johnson's campaign "in your name" made by a private business--in Utah or anywhere? Possibly not allowed, either. However, since the contributions would slide under the amount that needs to be itemized, who's to know? (Unfortunately, the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board's website appears to be offline as we compose this, so we'll have to update this post later when it returns).
Does the Johnson campaign even know about this scheme?
We've never seen other outdoors and hunting non-profit groups do this sort of thing.
Here are the screengrabs of the page offering the arrow wraps :
Screengrabs: Various screengrabs related to the story.
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Adobe considers the audience for its consumer-targeted video editing software to be what it calls memory keeperspeople documenting special family moments. But really, anyone who wants to create compelling videos without tackling a complex professional application like Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro can take advantage of Premiere Elements. As well as being extremely easy to use, it lets you go fairly deep with multitrack and keyframe-based editingor you can ignore all that and use its more-automated tools. The program trails Editors' Choice winner CyberLink PowerDirector in the breadth of effects, rendering speed, and formats it supports, however.
How Much Does Premiere Elements Cost?
You can get Premiere Elements bundled with Photoshop Elements for $149.99 or as a standalone app for $99.99. These are one-time feesno subscription needed. Note that Premiere Elements is not a part of Adobe Creative Cloud service. If you're upgrading from a previous version, those prices drop to $119.99 and $79.99, respectively. A free trial gets you 30 days of full-featured program use, but any videos made with the trial are stamped with a watermark.
Can My System Run Premiere Elements?
Make sure you have a fast Internet connection and a capacious hard drive before installing the program, as it requires at least 6GB of disk space. You also need a reasonably powerful machine with a multicore CPU of at least 2GHz and at the very least 4GB of RAM and 5GB available hard drive space. On Windows, the app requires SSE2 support on the CPU and a DirectX 9 or 10 graphics card with at least a 1,280-by-800 resolution monitor. When you first launch the program, it asks if you want to send diagnostic information to Adobe.
What's New in Premiere Elements
A theme of this years Adobe Elements creativity software update is bringing AI smarts from its pro tools, Photoshop and Premiere Pro, to Elements users.
Auto Reframe. This feature made it into Premiere Pro in 2019. The tool analyzes your video clip to determine the subject or what's important and then crops your media to fit an aspect ratio it wasnt originally shot in. It's useful, for example, if you shot a video in widescreen but want to post it as an Instagram square.
Start with Aspect Ratio. A new project startup window lets you choose from among popular social media formats. The format choices come with appropriately sized titles and backgrounds for the project format.
Animated Overlays. Add birds, butterflies, hearts, smilies, stars, smoke, and more around your main video subject.
Shadow and Highlight Guided Edit. Long a staple of digital photo editing (especially when using raw image formats) highlight and shadow adjustment is just as important with video footage when you want to get the lighting right.
New Slideshow Styles. Found in the Organizer module, these include new modern overlay styles, such as the Geometric and Frames templates. Just select some photos or videos and the Organizer creates a slideshow without even taking you to the main video editing interface, complete with background music.
Compress Video Output. This new option lets you shrink the file size of your exported video, showing exactly how big the file will behandy for destinations with file-size limits.
The 2021 version added impressive mask selection tool with motion tracking along with editing speedup with GPU acceleration, 21 new background music tracks, and two new Guided Edits: Double Exposure, and Animated Mattes. The 2020 version introduced some nifty tools, too, such as Video Noise Reduction, Auto-Tagging, and two Guided Edits: Time Lapse and Sky Replacement.
Other recent additions include Auto Creations and a Home window for quick access to your projects and tutorials. Candid Moments, which picks the best still images from your video clips; Smart Trim, which cuts out boring video sections; Freeze Frame motion titles; and Animated GIF creation round the highlights in recent versions.
Organizing Media
When you start up Premiere Elements, you first see the Home screen, a separate window from which you can launch any of the three Elements appsPhotoshop Elements, Premiere Elements, or Organizer. The Home screen also shows help links, Auto Creations, tips on using features, and recent projects. New for the 2022 update is better and clearer display of GIFsyou can play them inside the Organizer now.
The separate Organizer app is where you import, rate, keyword tag, and share media online. It's also where you can output your work to DVDs and other project formats. Mode options appear right at the top of the Organizer, including Media, People, Places, and Events. The last three give you helpful ways of viewing your media. The Organizer is somewhat skewed toward photosits Instant Fix button only works for photos, as does the Places view. It has, however, been much simplified and improved over the years.
The Organizer shows off its chops when you tap the Search magnifying glass icon in the top window border. A set of buttons appears along the left edge, letting you filter your search by automatic AI-generated Smart Tags, People, Places, Dates, Keywords, Albums, Folders, Media Types, and Star Ratings. You can combine search types, looking up, for example, pictures of Joe Smith taken in New York City in September. Automatic object tagging and people tagging works with video content as well. The program did find and identify objects in my videos (even faces), but the People view didn't offer any face tagging from my video clips, which were rife with smiles.
One area where Premiere Elements is falling behind some of the competition like CyberLink PowerDirector and Wondershare Filmora is that it doesn't offer any stock media for its users. This is especially baffling because Adobe has its own repository, Adobe Stock. It's also something that seems eminently desirable for hobbyists and YouTubers. Another action I wish were easier is restricting the gallery to a certain media typevideo, photo, or audio. You have to go through the menu to get to this setting, while other apps have simple buttons. Even the smaller version of Organizer that lives within the editing interface has them.
Auto Creations
After importing about a thousand clips and photos, the home screen showed more than a dozen Auto Creations that it had produced from my content. From photos shot around the same area and time, it produced pleasant collages, which benefited from a bit of editing and photo swapping. The feature also produced several movie slideshows of varying interest from my test media, with effective transitions and backgrounds. The background music was usually well chosen to fit the image subjects, but it often stopped abruptly rather than fading out. Some were also so short as to be pointless. In any case, the project can provide starting points for your own creativity.
Video Editing Interface
Premiere Elements' video editing interface remains largely the same in the latest version, with the standard timeline across the bottom and preview and content panels sharing the top half of its window. I like that the content panel collapses when you're not using it, for a bigger view of the video window. The editing interface has three mode tabs: Quick, Guided, and Expert.
When the editor launches, you get four main options in the middle: Add Media, Create a Template-Based Movie, Tell Your Story Using Titles, and Learn Video Editing. Alternatively, you can choose File > New > Project from the menus, where you now see a choice of aspect ratios for the movie. If the first clip you place on the timeline has a different aspect ratio, the project takes that, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Luckily, a Force Selected Project Preset to This Project check box avoids that issue. Another issue I have with Elements is that you can't change project properties any time after you create it, even during export.
Touch screens on PCs are increasingly common (they're included on all Surface Pros and Surface Laptops), and they get excellent support in the recent versions of Windows. I'm happy to see Adobe also putting in the effort to support this input option, at least in the Organizer and in Premiere Element's Quick mode. That said, the support could be better. You can scrub through video and add and split clips, but some controls are still on the small side for pudgy-finger manipulation. There's no touch-specific interface option like that in Photoshop and Lightroom.
As with most consumer video editing software, the program creates a lower-resolution proxy version of your clips for quicker performance while editing. You can hit the Render button at any time to see the full-resolution movie, but this can take several minutes, depending on your video length and resolution. A line above the timeline shows which clips are renderedgreen for done, and yellow for not ready.
You can capture and import video and photos from within the editor as well as from the Organizer. The Editor's Add Media button offers choices to get media from the Organizer (which opens a preview panel), from files and folders, or directly from cameras and devices. Elements supports 4K content, so owners of a GoPro Hero or any recent flagship smartphone can take advantage of their cameras' top resolutions. In my testing, even 5K footage from a recent GoPro doesn't present a problem.
Premiere Elements now supports the H.265 High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC) format on Windows. This finally worked for me, but when I added an HEVC clip to an existing project containing non-HEVC content, the results were unreliable, sometimes showing ghost images of the other clips and sometimes being oddly framed. When I started a fresh project and inserted HEVC there were no such problems. Also note that the program doesn't let you export to HEVC format, only to import it.
The program still doesn't support 3D or 360-degree VR clips. Those could be considered niche usage cases, but competitors such as Magix Movie Edit Pro, Vegas Movie Studio, and PowerDirector (as well as Final Cut Pro on the Mac) have long supported these formats, and it's not that unusual to see 360 video in social media posts.
Premiere Elements also lacks screen-cam recording, which lets you create videos of desktop activity on your computer screen, a feature offered by Corel VideoStudio Pro and PowerDirector. And there's no multicam editing feature, which lets you sync the same scene shot with different cameras at different angles, as found in PowerDirector and Magix Movie Edit Pro. Mac users get strong multicam editing in Final Cut Pro, our Editors' Choice pick for video editing on the Mac.
The Project Assets panel helpfully drops down to show thumbnails of all your clips, audio, and image files. This resembles the way pro software uses bins to keep track of assets. There's also a helpful History window, which lets you see what your project looked like at any point during your previous edits. You can also search within the transition and effect selection boxes, which I find helpful.
One thing I miss on the Expert mode's timeline is the ability to quickly solo a track, hiding all the others, though you can hide either a video or audio track by clicking on the film or speaker icons at the head of the timeline. Also missing is the ability to zoom the timeline in and out with the mouse wheel, which most competitors offer. You can't pop out panels into their own separate windows as you can in Vegas Movie Studio, but you can use a dual-monitor setup. A final interface annoyance is that Premiere Elements' windows don't follow Windows standards, so you can't for example drag a window to the side to take up half the screen or shake the title bar to minimize other programs.
Quick Mode Edits Your Clips for You
Quick mode offers a clear, simple way to join video clips, add titles, transitions, image correction, soundtracks, and effectsall without requiring you to work in a labyrinth of tracks and controls. It uses an iMovie-like storyboard view of clips and is one of the cleanest views you'll see anywhere. A scrubber lets you move through your movie, and you can easily apply freeze-frames and rotation using buttons. Smart Trim and speed-altering are within easy access from each clip thumbnail. Another button lets you add music, with options to fade in and out.
Auto Reframe
The big new feature for the 2022 release is Auto Reframe. This, as it sounds, changes the aspect ratio of a clip by cropping it. The tool uses Adobe Sensei AI to determine what's important in the frame and crops to show it. In my testing, it worked almost instantly, and unlike my attempts with similar tools in Premiere Pro and Apple Final Cut, it worked quite well in my tests, keeping a person centered, as you can see in the sample here. I've shown the clip in its original aspect ratio in the small trimmer tool on the right. If you're not happy with the crop, you can adjust its offset, position, scale, and rotation, from the Applied FX panel accessible on the right side of the interface.
Smart Trim
Premiere Element's Smart Trim identifies poor-quality sections of your media and can delete them all at once. Style choicesPeople, Action, and Mixaffect what sections of the clips are retained. It automatically selected Action for my bike-stunt test video, and trim suggestions appeared with no waiting required. You can preview the suggested trims. The app did a good job of selecting the most active scenes, though one short section was dull, and some farther-away bike tricks weren't included. It also removed out-of-focus and shaky sections, which I appreciated. Handles let you easily extend the selections, and you can simply use the Delete key to remove one. If you have long footage of limited interest, Smart Trim is a helpful tool.
Candid Moments
This tool is available in either Quick or Expert mode, and it lives in the Toolbar's Tools/Video group. Before you can use it, you have to select a video clip or clips. The tool looks for faces that are in focus and well lighted. It did an excellent job of identifying pleasing stills from my video walk around the office. You can use a slider to create more or fewer shots, or simply click on a tool at the cursor to add one on demand.
Video Stabilization
Premiere Elements lets you apply video stabilization from either Quick or Expert mode by choosing Shake Stabilizer from the Adjust panel. There are two methods of stabilization accessible from buttonsQuick and Detailed. Quick isn't that quick, however. My 1:35-minute clip took about 10 minutes to stabilize in Quick mode. At least Premiere Elements shows you the progressminutes left, percent done, and current frame.
After that, a banner message says, "To avoid extreme cropping, set Framing to Stabilize Only or adjust other parameters." In my testing, this meant going into the Detailed panel and choosing Advanced, where I had a lot of choices, such as smoothness, crop percent, and edge feather. It's a powerful tool, but you need patience for long clips. Large bumps aren't always fixed, even with Smoothness set to 100 percent. One cool choice is Synthesize Edges, which prevents cropping.
Dehaze, a feature that has made its way into a lot of photo editing software, is available from Premiere Elements' Effects panel's Advanced Adjustment section. It did a fine job of adding contrast and saturation to my test landscape footage, as you can see in the nearby screenshot.
Reduce Grainy Noise
The Reduce Noise tool is another example of bringing something from photo editing to video editing. Amusingly, the program has long had a tool for adding noise as an effect, but not a correction. You simply drag the Reduce Noise icon from the FX menu on the right, and then the adjustments for the tool open. You only get three settings for the amount of noise reduction: Default, Medium, and High. It's not going to turn a horribly noisy clip into a great one, but it does smooth out overly grainy shots.
As with most noise reduction, when you remove graininess you also lose some sharp detail, but in video this is less an issue than for photos. In the above screenshot the left has no correction, while the right has Noise Reduction applied. As you can clearly see, the tool works tolerably well.
Auto Smart Tone
A feature shared by Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements is Auto Smart Tone. After adjusting the image to its best-guess fix, this lighting correction shows a control puck in the center of a rectangle, with four extremes shown in thumbnails in the four corners of the preview window, towards which you can drag the puck and refine the app's correction. In Premiere Elements, the tool finds similar scenes within a clip for correcting at the same time. The tool let me noticeably improve a test clip's lighting.
Guided Edits in Premiere Elements
Premiere Elements' Guided Edit tools hold your hand through the steps of creating effects that are more complex than just pressing a button or adjusting a slider. Simply tap the Guided Edits mode-switcher button to see them all. When you go through an edit, a right panel with actions you need to take show up as tooltips that tell you exactly what to do and even prevent you from clicking Next until you've completed a step.
There are now 27 Guided Edits in Premiere Elements. Here's a look at the two new ones (the first two here), along with some of the more interesting ones from previous versions.
Adjust Highlights and Shadows
This new Guided Edit takes you through a basic process often used to improve photos, but in this case, it's applied to video content. After having you drop a clip onto the timeline, it points you to the Effects panel's Shadow/Highlight button. This helpfully includes an Auto Amounts checkbox, which may be all you need. Strangely, moving the Highlights slider to the right darkens the image, while doing the same with the Shadows slide lightens it. Adobe Lightroom made sliders consistent a while back, and it would be nice to see the same in Premiere Elements.
Animated Object Overlays
The last button along the right-side of the interface is a smiley face. Tap it to get to graphics that you can add as overlays to your video project. New for 2022 are Animated Objects. These include butterflies, stars, smilies, fire, and more. I tested this feature by adding a storm cloud over Niagara Falls. On choosing the object, it downloaded, which is nice because it means it wasn't taking up space on my hard drive. You simply drag the object onto the preview window where you want it, and overlay tracks appear for both video and audio (though my lightning had no sound). You can resize, move, and warp the placed object to taste.
Double Exposure
Adobe previously introduced a double exposure Guided Edit in Photoshop Elements, and now the effect makes its way into Premiere Elements. It basically lets you play video under a mask, which can be based on a photo or a pre-supplied graphic included in the program. PowerDirector takes this a step further, letting you animate the mask's size and position with keyframes and even supplying motion templates for them.
Time Lapse
For the Time-Lapse Guided Edit, I found some footage of bikers appropriate for time lapse treatment. The Guided Edit takes you through speeding up the joined videos and replacing the soundtrack. I prefer PowerDirector's similar tool, because rather than just speeding up the joined clips, it puts smooth transitions between them and uses masked transparent titles.
Animate Skies
The Animate Skies effect enhances a photo using a dramatic sky background. The Ultra Key effect and prefab graphics do the job. The edit works better if your source photo's sky is very drab, without visible clouds. For my taste, it's a bit dramatic, but I could see it working for some situations.
Action Cam Fix
There's a big overlap between video editing enthusiasts and action cam shooters. Top adventure YouTubers such as Chris Rogers and Atua Mo'e are good examples. CyberLink PowerDirector also appeals to this audience with its Action Cam Center tool. Like that tool, Adobe's Action Cam Fix Action Cam Footage Guided Edit addresses lens distortion, lighting, and color. The two tools differ in that Adobe directs users to the previously described Smart Trim tool, while PowerDirector adds effects like stabilization, time-shift, and freeze-frame. The Adobe tool does improve footage, but for my money, the PowerDirector version of this offering is more powerful.
Create an Animated Social Post
The Create an Animated Social Post owes its existence to those punchy captioned videos you see on Facebook and Instagram. The guide starts you by directing you to the motion title tool. It also has you apply motion to the main video so that it slides from left to right. Finally, it directs you to the social sharing panel. In all, it's not a very ambitious tool, but some may find it helpful.
Color Pop
The Color Pop Guided Edit replicates an effect that most people first saw in Spielberg's Schindler's List, in which a powerful effect highlighted a young girl in a red coat in the midst of a primarily black-and-white movie. You start with the Color Pop Guided Edit by switching to Expert mode, and then pick the Red Noir Hollywood Look from the Effects menu. Then you open the HSL Tuner tool, from which you can adjust not only the red content, but also that of seven other colors. One weakness of this approach is that it pops everything that's in the specified color. In CyberLink PowerDirector and other apps, you can create a mask or use motion tracking to limit where the color pops.
Advanced Video Effects
The effects we've come to expect in a consumer video editor are all present. There's a wealth of transitions, picture-in-picture, chroma-keying, scaling, opacity, and even keyframe-timed effects. There are dozens of animated and still picture-in-picture presets, but it's easy just to drag a clip above another on the timeline and resize it. And the Graphics tool can insert animated and still objects such as flying birds (and other animals), stars, snow, and speech bubbles. Some advanced effects are GPU-enabled, meaning you don't have to wait for them to be rendered on the timeline to view them immediately.
Selections in Effects
Under the effects entry you now see a Draw button, with options for using a Pen, Circle, or Rectangle. The Pen is what lets you create masks for irregularly shaped objects such as human beings, so is probably the most useful. You can tune your selection with feather, opacity, and expansion sliders. The best part is that you can use motion tracking on them without opening a separate tool. The Pen selection is touchy compared with selecting in Photoshop: The cursor would often unexpectedly and undesirably change into a rotation cursor before I'd finished the selection. You can make multiple selections, and from the menu you can invert the selectionuseful for when you want to apply the effect to everything outside your selection. If you want to apply multiple effects, a Copy selection option eases that operation.
The tracking worked as well as standard motion tracking tools. For my test, the cyclist subject disappears behind a truck momentarily, but after a few tries I was able to move the mask back over her and retrack for some semblance of continuity. Note that selection only appear with actual effects, not with corrections such as lighting or color.
Video Collage
Elements' Video Collage feature is basically a set of templates for Picture-in-Picture Mode. Available from the Create menu, the Video Collage interface does make it easy to drop clips into prefab templates that even include animated motion. It's a lot easier than messing with keyframe editing! You can also add thematic background music with a button click and choose whether to play the component video clips all together or in sequence. Cleverly, the background is lowered during speech in the clips (an effect known as ducking), and it stretches to fit your movie.
Chroma Key
The app's chroma-key works well, with good control over opacity and chroma threshold. At one point while moving the threshold slider, however, my background in the preview switched to blue. When you add a clip with a solid background to your timeline in Expert mode, a dialog asks if you want to use the Videomerge feature, which makes the background transparent. You can even use Videomerge on non-green-screen clips, for a degree of overlay transparency.
Film Looks
You get several spiffy NewBlue effects (as you do in PowerDirector), including Film Look, which adds damage, sepia tint, and jitter with a choice of wear patterns, to make your movie look like it was shot in Charlie Chaplin's day. Frankly, my interest in photos with retro effects long ago wore as thin as the image on a hundred-year-old negative, but I'm sure many still find them charming. The FilmLooks effects offer a variety of looks, including a bright and blurry Dreamy, Hollywood Movie, which pumps up colors, and Pandora, which gives your movie the cool color cast of that title. These effects, however, are not always adjustablesome are either on or off. And applying a FilmLooks effect removes any other effects adjustments you've made to the clip.
A powerful tool in Premiere Elements is the three-way color corrector. This lets you pump up a selected hue separately for midtones, highlights, and shadows.
Titles and Text
The app includes over 20 preset Motion Titles in categories like Contemporary, Formal, Geometric, Decorative, Typography, and Fun, along with a custom option. These are very professional looking, and most offer opening, ending, and lower-third options. You also get good customizability with fonts, background image (including transparent through to your video), and you can even change the animation typewipe to center, fly in with twist, and so on.
There have also long been attractive themed-titling options, like Prime Time, Aquarium, Coming Book, and Ladybug Picnic. Most offer four templates, for credits, frame, lower third, and title. I had to download some of them before I could use them in my testing, but that's pretty painless since installing the content is all handled within the program. WYSIWYG editing makes customizing the text a snap. But you're not restricted to the present templates. You can choose from a huge variety of fonts and sizes, choose a color, drag the text anywhere on the movie, and apply any of 38 animation styles.
Premiere Elements' title masking lets you show moving video behind your text titlesa cool effect, for sure. The procedure is far from taxing, and once you've gone through it, there's ample opportunity for customization. The screenshot above shows the look you get, although here it's static.
Audio Editing
Premiere Elements' Music Remix tool works with any MP3 file and is the default for sound you've placed in the Music track on the timeline. In several tests, it worked acceptably, though there was often extra silence at the end.
The audio-only view in the timeline opens the Master volume control. You see waveforms on the standard timeline, and yellow line in the middle helpfully lets you raise or lower a clip's volume graphically. The Adjustments menu includes volume, balance, and treble and bass boost, as well as AudioGain, which normalizes audio to match sound levels of all your sources. From the Effect menu (the same one from which you get all the video effects), you can choose Audio Effects, which include DeNoiser, delay, dynamics, and more. You get some powerful NewBlue audio effects, too, such as Audio Polish, which eliminates most background noise, a hum remover, and a reverb adder that lets you change the room size.
Elements can pump up your digital movie's aural impact with scores and sound effects. The Scores feature includes dozens of musical backgrounds to fit different moods, but the cool part is that they dynamically adjust their length to your movie. Scores are grouped into categories such as Ambient and Urban, as well as genres like Country and Rock-Pop. You can check the fit-to-entire-video box, and then choose whether to delete existing clip sound.
There's a full selection of sound effectsfrom Air Conditioner to Wire Bunched Hitting Hollow Wood. And a Foley group of soundssuch as Bottle Cap Screwing on and Cell Phone Battery Insertingcan give your video a true Hollywood touch of faux reality. I easily timed an explosion sound effect with a bike jump in my test movie.
Sharing and Output
You can find most output options in the Organizer app, but there is an Export & Share button in the editor at top right that can send your cinematic creations to DVD, computer files, or the web. Upload directly to Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo, choosing HD or SD quality. Saving files for use on Apple and other mobile devices is also simple. The app offers all kinds of control over your output files. You can choose Flash, MPEG, AVCHD, AVI, WMV, or QuickTime, with options for all standard resolutions and bitrate targets, both maximum and minimum.
The Animated GIF export option is a godsend if you're sharing a very short video to a destination (like a photo spot on a website) that doesn't accept video. There's not a big obvious choice for it, though. On the Export panel, you need to choose Devices, then Custom, then tap the Advanced Settings button, and then select Animated GIF from the format drop-down. It's best to keep the video as short as possibledefinitely under 10 secondsand to choose a lowish resolution. Otherwise, your resulting file will be too huge to use on the web.
Quick Export, which outputs to a highly compatible MP4 format, gets a great new feature in the 2022 update: It has a Reduce File Size checkbox and a slider that lets you choose the file size of your exported media. This feature is super handy for sharing to services that only accept limited file sizes.
Performance
Premiere Elements feels quick to start up and when performing the standard video editing procedures. For rendering speed, I tested by creating a movie consisting of four clips of mixed types (some 1080p, some SD, some 4K) with a standard set of transitions and rendered it to 1080p30 MPEG-4 at 15Mbps, H.264 High Profile. Audio was MPEG AAC Audio: 192 Kbps. I tested on my home workstation, a PC with a 3.4GHz Core i7 6700 CPU, 16GB RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 running 64-bit Windows 10 Pro.
Premiere Elements only supports a very particular set of Nvidia graphics cards for rendering acceleration, and I updated the GPU in my test system specifically to one that Adobe supports. This time the rendering test took it 3:41 (min:sec), well behind Corel VideoStudio's 1:12 and CyberLink PowerDirector's 1:15, even with the supported video hardware. During export, Elements does show you a progress bar with the percent elapsed and time remaining, but not the elapsed time, current frame, or a video preview, as some other editors do.
Adobe Premiere Elements for macOS
As mentioned above, Premiere Elements is compatible with macOS 10.14 and later. It runs natively on Intel-based Macs, and those based on Apple Silicon processors such as the M1, but only using Rosetta emulation. Unlike Adobe Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements is unfortunately not available from the Mac App Store for easy installation; you need to install it via an intermediary downloader/installer that you download from the Adobe website.
Happily, the Mac version offers all the same tools and features as the Windows version that you can read about elsewhere in this review, though the Windows version supports a few file formats that the Mac version doesn't. It can't import WAV, WMA, or WMV files nor export AVI, WAV, WMV, or WMA. By comparison, CyberLink's newly released macOS version of PowerDirector, though offering a good helping of the features found in the Windows version, still lacks a few features.
Working with the timeline in Premiere Elements was reasonably responsive on my test 3.1GHz MacBook with Intel Core i5 and 8GB RAM and Intel Iris Plus 650 graphics. In a quick video rendering performance test, however, using the same media I use for the Performance section below, Premiere Elements (as with its Windows version) performed poorly compared with the competition, even with graphics acceleration enabled. It took 7:31 (min:sec) to render the project, compared with 57 seconds for PowerDirector and 1:32 for iMovie.
Ready for the Red Carpet?
If you like the integration of the Elements Organizer and Photoshop Elements, Adobe Premiere Elements is a good choice. It has great features that guide you toward learning how to create compelling projects. It is not, however, the most powerful or fastest enthusiast-level video editor, and it's far from the fastest at rendering projects. Elements is also behind when it comes to support for more-recent standards like 360-degree VR content as well as advanced features like multicam editing. For those, look to our enthusiast video editing Editors' Choice winners, Corel VideoStudio and CyberLink PowerDirector 365 on Windows, and Final Cut Pro on MacOS.
Adobe Premiere Elements 3.5 See It $99.99 at Adobe MSRP $99.99 Pros Clear, simple interface
Guided Edits ease basic and advanced projects
Ample video effects
Solid text tools
Cross-platform support View More Cons Slow output rendering speed
No 360-degree VR or 3D editing
No multicam support
No screen recording capability View More The Bottom Line Adobe's consumer video editor is easy to use and offers plenty of help. It trails the competition when it comes to features and rendering performance, however. New for 2022 are the Auto Reframe feature, more aspect ratios, and additional guided edits.
Blue and white drape the ceiling of the castle-like 23rd St. Armory which, for the weekend, has been transformed into a little Munich outpost.
It's Oktoberfest at the Armory in Philadelphia. The celebration is put on by German restaurant and bar Brauhaus Schmitz and includes beer provided by Paulaner, one only six breweries allowed to serve beer at the official Oktoberfest in Munich. The authenticity continues with festival tables and benches imported from Germany just for the occasion and traditional German food.
The festivities are blocked off into three four-hour sessions complete with folk dancing, live music and numerous chants of "Ziggy Zaggy, Ziggy Zaggy, Oi Oi Oi!"
We stopped by the opening of the Oktoberfest on the evening of Oct. 5. It continues with a sold-out session during the afternoon on Oct. 6 and an evening session (starting at 7:30 p.m.) on Oct. 6 that still has tickets. Each session can fit 1,500 people. Tickets are $25 for general admission, with VIP table options at $85. You can purchase them at this link.
Check out our photos of the Oktoberfest fun in the gallery at the top of this post.
Can't see the gallery? Click here.
This isn't the only Oktoberfest going down in Pennsylvania. Festivities kicked off as early as Sept. 21 and continue until Oct. 21. You can see our full listing of statewide Oktoberfest celebrations in the link below.
Love beer, but not feeling the whole Oktoberfest thing? Check out our list of the best places to grab a beer in the state.
Also, after all that beer one of these might be in order...
23rd St. Armory Oktoberfest Details: 1-5 p.m. and 7:30-11:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at 23rd St. Armory, 22 S. 23rd St., Philadelphia. Cost: $25 general admission, $65 VIP, $85 for UBER VIP Table. oktoberfestarmory.upcomingevents.com/brauhaus/
Yak N Yeti ll has found its competitive niche offering Bhutanese and Nepalese cuisines in Carlisle.
Find it at 49 W. High St. next door to the long-running Hamilton Restaurant and directly across the street from the wildly popular pho restaurant Issei Noodle and Helena's Chocolate Cafe & Creperie.
This newest Yak N Yeti proves to be as popular and inviting as the smaller flagship eatery that opened two years ago in New Cumberland.
The bright red and black entrance marks the spot. Tell-tale Crayola-colored flags and hand-painted Bhutanese designs on the walls give this South East Asia eatery away.
Almost immediately customers are greeted at the front door and escorted to upright booths or tables for two or corralled into Bhutanese style tables close to the ground and surrounded by barely elevated stools.
Yak N Yeti ll offers a lunch buffet Tuesday through Friday.
At the back of the clean, expansive dining room, a lunch buffet draws customers up out of their seats and over to wafting scents of cumin, garlic, turmeric and chile laced freshly filled steam trays. The buffet is offered Tuesday through Fridays.
Vegetarian, gluten-free and chicken dishes, such as Himalayan fried chicken, star on the midday all-you-can-eat lineup for $10.99.
Servers do an excellent job explaining the different Nepalese and Bhutanese dishes to customers. However, there's no explanation needed when it comes to the chicken, beef or vegetarian stuffed momos ($6.99), a tender dumpling.
Anyone who has been to the New Cumberland restaurant knows to order these sumptuously juicy pinched bundles. Cabbage, onion and carrot fill the vegetarian version of this Tibetan appetizer. Other go-to starters are the massive Nepali fries ($5.99), signature deep-fried Himalayan onion rings ($6.99) and the delectably seasoned cauliflower pakora ($9.50).
Chinese and Indian influences surface in the cooking of chef and owner Tenzin Norbu (Sanya Yeh is also an owner) but his parent's Bhutanese and Nepalese roots bring out dishes centered around pork, beef, cabbage and chiles.
Thali, literally the Indian word for plate, is a large round sampler platter of assorted small portioned Nepalese dishes. Chicken Thali ($12.99) has skin and bone-in pieces of mouth-watering stewed chicken. The meat is surrounded by crunchy and hot accompaniments including thinly sliced and spiced zucchini salad, potato and cauliflower mixture, crunchy lightly dressed coleslaw and soupy lentils.
Share an order of buttery, chocolate colored (buckwheat) phuta noodles ($8.99) tossed with lots of garlic and pinned with sliced scallions.
For vegetarians or as a side dish, Shamu datsi ($9.99) are sliced shiitake mushrooms in thin and creamy, pepper heated sauce with smoky cheese. The meaty version of datsi ($11.99) combines made in house, air dried intense beef nuggets the consistency of corned beef but with a little more resistance. They are mixed together with smoked cheese, spinach and saucy, fresh gingery sauce. This dish is refreshingly light.
Vegan turmeric cashew cheesecake is the most popular dessert, if not the best item on the menu and is also popular at the Amani festival in Carlisle. Unfortunately, since the cheesecake had sold out we tried the kheer rice pudding ($5.99). A mild hint of cardamon gave the pudding a pleasant perfume but the rice was cooked to a disappointing mushy texture.
Don't let the dessert dissuade your visit to this downtown Carlisle eatery. Pleasant laid-back atmosphere, attentive service and vibrant cuisine trump any sweet misstep. Keep in mind it's BYOB.
Two Harrisburg School District students are home and being treated for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, known by its acronym MRSA, a bacteria that causes infections in different parts of the body.
A district spokesperson confirmed that Friday.
According to media reports, one of the students attends Foose Elementary and the other is a member of the Head Start program.
READ MORE: Harrisburg School District suspends human resources director
Harrisburg schools spokeswoman Kirsten Keys told WHP TV21 that the situation is an "isolated incident" and the district does not believe the students contracted MRSA while attending school.
She has been told by the parents, she said, that the students wouldn't return until the infection had cleared.
A MRSA infection is caused by a type of staph bacteria that has become resistant to many of the antibiotics used to treat ordinary staph infections.
Here's a link to more information on the infection.
Raymond L. Gover, retired publisher and president of The Patriot-News, died Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. He was 90.
Gover played a major role in bringing news to the people of central Pennsylvania in the pages of The Patriot-News for 20 years.
He was born Dec. 5, 1927, in Somerset, Ky. He graduated from Western High School in Detroit in 1946, then served in the U.S. Army from January 1946 to May 1947, where he was a West Point Band member.
He then attended University of Michigan, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Shippensburg University in 1996.
Gover's professional news career started when he joined the Port Huron Times Herald in Michigan in August 1951 as a general assignment reporter. He later was sent to Sanilac County, Mich., to operate the newspaper bureau there.
In June 1954, he became a general assignment reporter at The Flint Journal in Michigan, covering city news beats. He became assistant city editor at that newspaper in 1960 and city editor in 1965.
He then became editor of The Saginaw News in 1970, serving in that position until becoming editor of The Flint Journal in 1976. Two years later, he became publisher of The Saginaw News. He was named its editor and publisher in 1980.
Gover became publisher of The Patriot-News on Oct. 1, 1981, and its president on July 1, 1997. His many achievements included building the company's Hampden Twp. printing plant and commissioning its state-of-the-art high-speed color presses.
He retired in January 2001 but continued to play a vital role as an informal adviser and institutional memory for the newspaper until his death. He was an elegant writer and his columns on local leaders, published in the paper and on PennLive.com, were a rich source of area history.
"Ray Gover was a visionary, a business and community leader who believed in the vital importance of independent journalism," said Cate Barron, vice president of content for Pa. Media Group, who worked for Gover in several editorial roles.
"He invested in staff and resources and built one of the state's top news operations. Ray stayed current and connected to community events until his final days. I relied on his wise advice countless times. He was a dear friend who will be greatly, greatly missed."
You just don't meet many people like Ray Gover, said John Kirkpatrick, who worked closely with Gover first as editor and then as publisher of The Patriot-News.
"I always felt Ray was the fixed point in the moral compass," Kirkpatrick said. "His first instinct, regardless of consequence, was always to do the right thing."
As an example, he cited Gover's decision on a tough situation that arose in the 1990s when Ernie Preate, then the state attorney general, was running for the GOP nomination for governor.
The paper had been running stories involving corruption allegations against Preate, Kirkpatrick said. As the election drew near, considerable legal pressure was put on the paper to forgo publishing the stories.
It wasn't an easy call. The sources for the stories were no angels themselves, Kirkpatrick said. And there was an argument for backing off until after the election.
Gover made the final call. "He said, 'You know, we wouldn't be much of a newspaper if we believed the next governor of the state is tied up in corruption and we did nothing about it,' " Kirkpatrick recalled. Preate later pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud charges and served 11 months of a 14-month prison sentence.
"He was that kind of a stand-up guy," Kirkpatrick said.
Local Realtor James Grandon called Gover "the dearest friend I ever had."
To the end, Gover was a fascinating conversationalist who stayed up-to-date on the state of the nation, Grandon said.
"He was always articulate and fair in his assessments of what was occurring in the country," Grandon said. "It was just so enjoyable talking to Ray."
Over the years, Gover played an active role in the communities where he lived.
In Michigan, he served on the advisory boards of Flint College of the University of Michigan and Saginaw Valley State College. He was past president of the University Press Club and the University of Michigan Club of Flint and vice president of the Michigan Press Association.
He also was a trustee of St. Mary's Hospital Foundation and the Harvey Randall Wickes Foundation, vice president of the Saginaw Club, and member of the governing boards for the Flint and Saginaw symphony orchestras.
In the midstate, he was a director of Hershey Trust Co., member of the Milton Hershey School Board of Managers, and trustee of the Milton Hershey Foundation, Greater Harrisburg Foundation, Fredricksen Library, Pinnacle Health Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation, where he was president from 2004-05.
He was vice president of the YMCA, vice chairman of both Harrisburg Hospital Board of Directors and United Way of the Capital Region and chairman of a fundraising campaign for the Capital Region Economic Development Corp. He was an elder, former trustee and president of Pine Street Presbyterian Church.
He also was a member of Davison Lodge, F&AM, the Harrisburg Consistory, Foundation for Enhancing Communities, Pinnacle Health Foundation, West Shore Country Club, Penn State University, Harrisburg, Hospice of Central Pennsylvania, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Economics Pennsylvania, Newspaper Association of America and American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Gover received many awards in his career, including the Saginaw Logmark Award for citizenship in 1976, West Shore Chamber of Commerce Business and Community Leadership Award in 1999, Multiple Sclerosis Society Dinner of Champions Honoree in 1998, Mental Health Society Community Service Award in 1995.
He also received the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and the U.S. Coalition of Residential Education Board Member of the Year Award.
Surviving are his wife, the former Frieda J. McGill of Mechanicsburg; a son, Mark H. Gover of Saginaw, Mich., two daughters, Janine M. Park of Camp Hill, and Janet L. Gover of Kalamazoo, Mich.; a granddaughter, two grandsons and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Matthew R. Gover.
State police in Gettysburg are seeking the public's help in finding an 84-year-old woman who went missing on Friday night.
Constance Quilen was last seen leaving her home on Charmed Circle Drive in Gettysburg at around 10:30 p.m. Friday, state police told CBS21.
Quilen is described as 4 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds, and has gray hair. She was last seen wearing a green zippered jacket and black pants.
She is believed to be driving a silver 2007 Toyota Camry with Pennsylvania tag DVA-8631. She is believed to be at special risk of harm or danger.
Anyone with information on Quilen's whereabouts is asked to contact state police in Gettysburg at 717-334-8111.
By Micah Sims
The 2020 Census is a big deal for Pennsylvanians. But do they understand its lasting impact on their future? In less than two years, the federal government will attempt another decennial Census.
And census data will be used to allocate resources based upon what we hope will be a complete and accurate a count of the state's residents.
However, according to recent news reports, the Census may be manipulated by partisan actors, which could result in entrenched inequality.
To review specifics: US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross asked acting director of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights division John M. Gore to find a reason to add an immigration status question to the 2020 Census questionnaire.
The explicit explanation for adding a question about a responder's immigration status was to gather more data to protect minority voters' rights. The implicit reason was to prevent counting of undocumented US immigrants, who may fear that participating in the next census will result in deportation.
According to federal law, the Census should strive for a complete count of all US communities, including recent immigrants. We must do a better job of explaining the 2020 Census to all Pennsylvania residents. The Census count data will determine how many Pennsylvanians get access to good schools, subsidized meals and adequate healthcare.
If Pennsylvania's population is undercounted, the entire state may lose representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Census data is also used to draw legislative districts.
Without accurate data about who lives where, it is impossible to draw fair maps that ensure that everyone, including voters of color and new immigrants, have a say in legislative decisions.
Federal agencies rely on census and American Community Service data to identify trends in housing discrimination and to protect voting rights, educational and employment opportunities. In the past, Black, Hispanic and Asian communities, low-income households, immigrants and young children have been undercounted at disproportionately high rates. We can't afford another undercount.
But the most worrisome result of an undercount is the impact on a state's economy for the next decade.
According to the George Washington Institute of Public Policy, Pennsylvania received more than $26.7 billion in fiscal year 2015 from just 16 federal programs that receive funding based on census data.
This funding affects the state's ability to provide essential services for residents of our Commonwealth. An undercount could dramatically reduce this funding. So a failure to participate in the 2020 Census means a weakening of the social safety net for all Pennsylvanians, but especially low-income children and the elderly.
The 2020 Census will be conducted by surveyors with iPads, by individual Pennsylvanians online, and with no paper back-up for the first time in our nation's history.
This approach has been mandated, despite that fact that more than 800,000 Pennsylvania residents don't have adequate broadband internet access, according to the Federal Communications Commission. These Pennsylvanians may be missed by a digital census count.
What should we do to ensure a fair and accurate Census 2020 count?
We need state, county and local governments to build "Complete Count Committees" to engage people, communicate with stakeholders and work with local governments to be sure everyone is counted.
A "Complete Count Committee" is a committee of volunteers established by state, local and tribal governments and/or community leaders that educates and motivates residents of the community to respond. The committee should develop and implement a plan that is tailored to connect with its community and achieve a complete count.
Pennsylvania's "Complete Count" strategy is simple. The goal is to identify and build a coalition made up of underrepresented community leaders, media, business, faith, housing and activist leaders, urging them to reach out to their neighbors and elected representatives to highlight Census' objectives and importance.
We need to continue to educate Pennsylvania's elected, philanthropic, corporate and nonprofit leaders about the importance of achieving an accurate 2020 Census count. We need to identify and re-double our efforts to count residents of previously undercounted counties and cities, especially those in hard to reach rural areas.
We need to recruit trusted messengers to explain why everyone should participate in the count. Once they have been recruited, we should help them tailor materials and training for their respective audiences.
We need a detailed and coordinated plan. A complete and accurate census count requires a coordinated plan among state, county and local officials to be truly effective. Pennsylvania could achieve real progress - in education, health and wealth outcomes -- from a complete and accurate population count. That's why Common Cause and our Pennsylvania allies are focused on the 2020 Census, our best chance for progress for all during the coming decade. With help from elected officials at all levels and ordinary Pennsylvanians, we can protect the count.
Micah Sims is Executive Director of Common Cause Pennsylvania. He writes from Harrisburg.
A 700g individual of the NWA 869 meteorite. Chondrules and metal flakes can be seen on the cut and polished face of this specimen.
A study of the Northwest Africa 869 (NWA869) meteorite has provided new information about the physical characteristics of asteroids. NW869 refers to a collection of samples from an L chondrite strewn field discovered in Morocco in 2000.
By performing hypervelocity impact experiments on a sample of NW869, researchers examined the effects of the meteorite's porosity on crater production, catastrophic disruption, momentum transfer, and dust production.
The study, "Hypervelocity cratering and disruption of the Northwest Africa 869 ordinary chondrite meteorite: Implications for crater production, catastrophic disruption, momentum transfer and dust production on asteroids," was published in the journal Planetary and Space Science. This work was supported by the Emerging Worlds Program.
The NASA Astrobiology Program provides resources for Emerging Worlds and other Research and Analysis programs within the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) that solicit proposals relevant to astrobiology research.
Please follow Astrobiology on Twitter.
PRESS RELEASE: Rocky Mountain Bicycles
We are very disappointed with this situation, and the impact that it has on our IBD network. We have dealers across Canada that were expecting to receive their order from us in the coming weeks. Raymond Dutil, CEO of Rocky Mountain
During the night of Monday, September 24th, a container full of 160 Rocky Mountain bicycles was broken into, and every single bike was stolen. The container was on the grounds of our warehouse in BC. The 160 bikes were all 2019 models, brand new, and would have been received into the warehouse and then sent out to our network of dealers in Canada based on their orders.The full list of 160 bikes, complete with individual serial numbers, is available at the link below. We are urging any dealers that come across any of these bikes with matching serial numbers (or serial numbers removed), to contact us at info@bikes.com so that we can transmit the information to the Vancouver Police Department, who are handling the investigation.Please see the complete list of serial numbers: HERE
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A restraining, or protection, order is issued by a court to protect a person or an entity, or the general public, in dangerous situations involving domestic violence, harassment, stalking or sexual assault. Every state in America has some form of domestic violence restraining order law, and if the subject of the restraining order does something the court ordered them not to do, or refuses to do something the court ordered them to do, it is a violation of the court order and police are called to enforce the courts wishes.
Nearly all conscious Americans comprehend that a longstanding rule is that only a court can issue a restraining order. However, like many things in 21st Century America, evangelicals refuse to accept that the rule of law applies to them any more than they believe the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Of course, an increasing number of Republican members of Congress, state legislatures, and governors cannot accept the Constitution either, so it was no great surprise that evangelicals followed the lead of two congressional Republicans and issued religious orders restraining the wrong kind of Supreme Court Justices from fulfilling their duly sworn Constitutional duty.
Within the past month, religious Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), and evangelical Representative Steve King (R-IA) introduced legislation in their respective chambers of Congress to prohibit the federal judiciary from hearing or ruling on same-sex marriage cases. Since the two congressional Republicans were unsuccessful in getting their legislation passed and signed into law, the religious right took matters into its own hands and issued a reported 300,000 restraining orders against liberal Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan prohibiting them from hearing or ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges.
The case stems from the 6th Circuit Courts decision to uphold same-sex marriage bans in Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan, and Kentucky. According to their mandate in the U.S Constitution, the justices will decide whether states are required to issue marriage licenses between two people of the same sex, and whether states are required to recognize same-sex marriage licenses from other states under that section of the pesky document Republicans and evangelical fanatics refuse to acknowledge; the 14th Amendment guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law.
One of the pre-eminent religious arbiters of all things relating to the Supreme law of the land, president of Abiding Truth Ministries Scott Lively, has unilaterally disqualified Justices Kagan and Ginsburg from hearing or ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges because he decided they have committed an unparalleled breach of judicial ethics by elevating the importance of their own favored political cause of gay rights above the integrity of the court and of our nation. As a typical religious hypocrite, Lively does not hold the conservatives on the High Court who attend churches preaching against homosexuality, or have been inordinately vocal in their opposition to gay rights to the same standards because something about god, bible, and traditional marriage. None of which have any relevance or impact whatsoever on the 14th Amendment or any part of the U.S. Constitution.
The 300,000 restraining orders that Faith2Action President Janet Porter said were due to be officially served on the nations highest Court, and delivered to the Republican church in Congress, to prevent any Supreme Court Justices from ever ruling on gay marriage were represented by 60 empty boxes. The idea was to symbolize in boxes just how restrained the Court is in the bigoted eyes of the religious right movement. Preacher Porter said, We have appealed to Congress to restrain the judges, and the good news is Congress has heard our cry. She is certain that as righteous Republicans, Congress has the ability to remove appellate jurisdiction. What that means, Porter asserted confidently, is we can actually take from them their right to rule on marriage before they even rule on marriage.
However, that is not the case in the document any sane American understands is the real law of the land. According to the Constitutions Article Six, Clause 2, the United States Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby in spite of any religious edicts or attempts by Republicans in Congress to decide otherwise.
What that means for Steve Kings Restrain the Judges on Marriage Act of 2015 removing jurisdiction to rule on gay marriage from federal courts, and Ted Cruzs Protect Marriage from the Courts Act prohibiting any federal court from having jurisdiction over same-sex marriage cases, is that they are invalid. The Supreme Court retains its right to rule on marriage and anything else the Court deems necessary despite House or Senate legislation, or 300,000 pretend restraining orders issued by religious bigots in the anti-same-sex marriage movement.
Apparently what incited Scott Lively, and Janet Porter for that matter, to attempt to restrain two Supreme Court Jurists from fulfilling their duty was as Lively complained, Kagan and Ginsburgs vividly demonstrated disposition in favor of the same-sex couples. Lively is very angry that Justice Ginsburg officiated over the Washington wedding of Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser and economist John Roberts in 2013. Same-sex unions had been legal in the District of Columbia since 2010, and besides it is not uncommon for High Court Justices to officiate at weddings. Ginsburg even waited until after the announcement in two major Supreme Court same-sex marriage cases ruling that the federal government may not refuse to recognize legally married gay couples and reinstated a lower court ruling that found Californias ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional.
The absurdity of religious right maniacs issuing restraining orders to prevent Supreme Court Justices from hearing or ruling on a case evangelicals cannot accept is as bizarre as Republicans in Congress introducing legislation to restrict the federal judiciary from deciding what is and what is not constitutional. However, it is a trend among the religious right Republican movement to impose its theocratic will on Americans whether by legislation legalizing discrimination disguised as religious freedom or allowing evangelicals to control and restrain women from making their own reproductive health choices.
As some claim, it may well be that issuing 300,000 restraining orders on the High Court and Congress is a desperation act on the part of frightened religious maniacs who think they are losing the war to control America. But because they are frightened and desperate, they are as dangerous as any rabid wild beast and dismissing them as anything less is a monumental error. Because like any terrified true believer, the religious right will not be dissuaded by something they regard as invalid like the U.S. Constitution.
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A Crowdpac to fund Sen. Susan Collins 2020 opponent crashed under the weight of people trying to make donations after she announced her support for confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
The Rage At Susan Collins Literally Broke A Piece Of The Internet
Im watching the crowd pac numbers against Collins take off. What a shameful way for Susan Collins to flame out. A woman who was a deciding vote to confirm a suspected gang rapist to the Supreme Court. Shame shame shame shame shame https://t.co/CI2dfO7er1 Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 6, 2018
So many people are so angry at @SenatorCollins today that the Crowdpac site to donate to her future opponent in 2020 crashed. It's back up now & at over 50% of the goal of $4 mil. Join me in help getting it to 100% by donating here: https://t.co/jgn28UORyO (h/t @mollymcnearney) Jen Statsky (@jenstatsky) October 5, 2018
The #BeAHero crowdpac website to fund an opponent to Susan Collins has crashed. ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) October 5, 2018
People were setting up Act Blue sites to donate to Collins future challenger. One of the Act Blue sites has raised over $200,000.
The eye-popping numbers are piling up on Crowdpac, where over $2.5 million has been raised and will be given to Collins 2020 opponent once that person is identified.
Republican strategists were already warning that the bump in the polls that the GOP got in the polls from their supporters will fade quickly if Kavanaugh is confirmed, but the anger of Democrats and others was likely to grow and last for years over this confirmation. Republicans are going to pay for ramming Brett Kavanaughs nomination through the Senate for years to come.
Democrats are ready. Democrats are angry, and they are opening up their wallets to boot Susan Collins out of the Senate.
For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.
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Without naming him directly, Susan Collins in her horrible Senate speech yesterday seemed to blame Michael Avenatti for her yes vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Avenatti represents the third Kavanaugh sexual assault accuser, Julie Swetnick, and it was her allegations of gang rape which Collins said tipped her vote in favor of Kavanaugh.
She said to her Senate colleagues:
Some of the allegations levied against Judge Kavanaugh illustrate why the presumption of innocence is so important. I am thinking in particular not of the allegations raised by Professor Ford, but of the allegation that when he was a teenager, Judge Kavanaugh drugged multiple girls and used their weakened state to facilitate gang rape.
Using some kind of twisted logic, Senator Collins wants us to believe that it was the extreme nature of Swetnicks charges that convinced her that Judge Kavanaugh could not possibly be the sexual predator his critics were making him out to be.
This outlandish allegation was put forth without any credible supporting evidence and simply parroted public statements of others, Collins said. That such an allegation can find its way into the Supreme Court confirmation process is a stark reminder about why the presumption of innocence is so ingrained in our American consciousness.
Needless to say, Collins statement about his client Swetnick did not go over will with Michael Avenatti. Especially when she said Swetnicks claims were made without any credible supporting evidence.
Senator Collins is channeling Donald Trump. Entirely disingenuous and shameful. Where was she when Judge Garland could not even get an up or down vote? This is all about her post-office job opportunities on K street. We shall never forget. Not in Nov. Not in 2020. Not ever.
.@SenatorCollins is channeling Donald Trump. Entirely disingenuous and shameful. Where was she when Judge Garland could not even get an up or down vote? This is all about her post-office job opportunities on K street. We shall never forget. Not in Nov. Not in 2020. Not ever. Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 5, 2018
Senator Collins should be ashamed of herself for attacking my client and Dr. Ford. How did she make a credibility determination as to my client? How is she qualified to do that without ANY investigation? She did ZERO to determine whether my client and her witnesses were credible.
.@SenatorCollins should be ashamed of herself for attacking my client and Dr. Ford. How did she make a credibility determination as to my client? How is she qualified to do that without ANY investigation? She did ZERO to determine whether my client and her witnesses were credible Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 5, 2018
Although Michael Avenatti turns off many people with his aggressive, publicity-seeking style, he is a fighter who has won some big court cases. And many Democrats will love the combative tone he took in his tweets yesterday. Especially when he said:
We shall never forget. Not in Nov. Not in 2020. Not ever.
The truth is that what Collins said yesterday was the continuation of the Republican war on women sexual assault survivors. Women who come forward to discuss their sexual assault experiences are belittled, shamed, attacked and not believed.
Susan Collins shame is that in her speech yesterday, and in her vote for Kavanaugh today, she has joined the anti-woman chorus in her party. She is supposed to be a champion of women, but she has turned out to be the opposite.
For Senator Collins, and for all other Republicans, Michael Avenattis words will ring true far into the distant future: We Shall Never Forget.
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If Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court today, many aggrieved Democrats have vowed to seek revenge. And the best form of revenge, of course, is to win elections in November and throw Republicans out of power.
A Kavanaugh confirmation will be seen as a big victory for President Trump and the Republican Party but it is a victory that will come with a steep political price. It may help not only this years Blue Wave election but it may also help Democrats win elections in many years to come.
From all reports, Democrats are now more fired up than ever to work hard and turn out voters on election day. There is unprecedented womens anger that an anti-abortion judge will be confirmed despite allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against him. And this anger has already been shown to be a very powerful electoral force.
What I have seen is anger and outrage from women in a way that Ive never seen before, said Karine Jean-Pierre, senior adviser and national spokeswoman for MoveOn.org. I dont think Republicans realize what they have unleashed.
Shaunna Thomas from the national womens group, UltraViolet Action made one short promise on Friday:
This doesnt end tomorrow. It ends in November, she said.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), expressed the views of may in saying that the GOP had disrespected all women by supporting Brett Kavanaugh.
To all survivors of sexual assault: We hear you. We see you. We will give you dignity. Dont let this process bully you into silence, Harris tweeted Friday afternoon.
Some more rational Republicans were concerned when Trump mocked Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, during a rally in Mississippi. They are rightly worried that this kind of rhetoric will cause more loss of support for Republican candidates among suburban women. And when the GOP loses affluent, college-educated voters in suburban districts currently held by Republicans, they are in trouble.
An NPR/PBS/Marist poll from September made very clear that college-educated white women dont like Trump. Fifty-seven percent within that group disapprove of Trumps job performance, while only 38 percent approve.
According to GOP strategist Liz Mair:
The party is already in trouble with suburban women. I just have a sneaking suspicion that the Republicans will find a way to mess this up. We are already in trouble with a group of voters we need to not totally hate us.
But many Republicans believe they will be rewarded by conservative voters for getting Kavanaugh confirmed. They think these voters would not have gone to the polls if they had been unable to confirm Kavanaugh.
Its true that social conservatives voted for Trump in the hope that he would tilt the Supreme Court in their favor, and he has done that. With Kavanaughs confirmation the Supreme Court will have a solid 5-4 conservative majority for many years in the future.
At the moment it appears that Republican voters, Trump voters, have re-engaged and are heading to the polls, said GOP pollster John McLaughlin on Friday.
So both sides believe the Kavanaugh confirmation fight has helped them. With just over four weeks until election day, it wont take long for us to find out which side is correct.
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Last night, just hours after Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh appeared to have secured enough votes to be confirmed, a warning was issued by a current Supreme Court Justice.
Associate Justice Elena Kagan said Friday she is afraid that the high court going forward will not have a justice who will serve as a swing-vote on important cases.
Kagan appeared at a conference for women at Princeton University with fellow Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who also represents the Supreme Courts liberal wing.
Giving some Supreme Court history, Justice Kagan reminded the audience that over the past three decades, first with Justice Sandra Day OConnor and then with Justice Anthony Kennedy, there has always been a swing vote.
To Kagan, the importance of the swing vote is that he or she was the person on the court who found the center or people couldnt predict in that sort of way.
Its not so clear, that I think going forward, that sort of middle position its not so clear whether well have it, Kagan lamented.
All of us need to be aware of that every single one of us and to realize how precious the courts legitimacy is, she added. Its an incredibly important thing for the court to guard is this reputation of being impartial, being neutral and not being simply extension of a terribly polarizing process.
Kagan was an appointee of former President Barack Obama. Many liberals were outraged when Justice Kennedy announced his retirement earlier this year, giving Donald Trump a second Supreme Court appointee in as many years.
Kennedy had cast the deciding vote on many high-profile and nationally important cases during his tenure. So his retirement has caused great concern that the court will not have a swing-vote going forward. This could affect abortion rights, gay rights, womens rights, unions rights and voting rights, to name just a few areas of concern.
A final vote on Kavanaughs nomination is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, ending weeks of controversy caused by allegations of sexual assault and perjury against Trumps nominee.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced Friday that she would vote for Kavanaugh, giving him enough support to get confirmed. The announcements came about a week after Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Ford, his first accuser, testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about Dr. Fords claims that he sexually assaulted her at a high school party in 1982 in Maryland.
Kavanaugh has strongly denied all accusations. He has also denied all sexual misconduct claims from multiple other women, including Michael Avenatti client Julie Swetnick and Deborah Ramirez, a classmate from Yale University.
A week ago the FBI began a supplemental background check into Kavanaugh. Republican senators said that the FBIs report on Kavanaugh found no corroboration for sexual misconduct allegations against him. Democrats immediately called the FBI probe a sham and a farce since few witnesses were interviewed and the results were not made public.
Due to his conservative credentials, it appears that Kavanaugh will immediately join the Supreme Courts conservative bloc. This will mean that Justice Kagan is correct, and there will be a very strong conservative 5-4 majority on the court.
The implications for Kavanaughs approval to the high court will not be fully known for many years, but as of right now it does not appear to be a good thing for America.
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To read what Donald Trump Jr. tweeted youd think that he and his father had lost their battle to confirm right-wing Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
After Senator Susan Collins finished her speech on the Senate floor yesterday, announcing her support for Brett Kavanaugh, the presidents namesake son posted the following:
Trump supporters The fight isnt over. You better believe that Democrats are going to do everything in their power to impeach Kavanuagh from the Supreme Court if they take control of Congress in November.
This is war. Time to fight. Vote on Nov 6 to protect the Supreme Court!
Trump supporters The fight isnt over. You better believe that Democrats are going to do everything in their power to impeach Kavanuagh from the Supreme Court if they take control of Congress in November. This is war. Time to fight. Vote on Nov 6 to protect the Supreme Court! Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 5, 2018
(PLEASE NOTE: The misspelling of the nominees name was done by the presidents son!!)
Unsurprisingly, this tweet led to many immediate and incredulous responses from the Twitter Universe. For example:
The son of the president has just declared war on American citizens. This has to be illegal.
#Resist #ToiletPaperTrump
The son of the president has just declared war on American citizens. This has to be illegal.#Resist #ToiletPaperTrump Mary Saville (@MarySaville3) October 5, 2018
The son of the president declaring war on the liberal majority of our nation is a nice motivator to go out and vote next month.
The son of the president declaring war on the liberal majority of our nation is a nice motivator to go out and vote next month. https://t.co/ZvythHRAhk Justin Peden (@JustAPeden) October 5, 2018
Then there was the discussion of Kavanaughs perjury which might come back to haunt him:
They could only impeach him if he lied to congress. Are you saying he lied to congress?
They could only impeach him if he lied to congress. Are you saying he lied to congress? Savan Kotecha (@Savan_Kotecha) October 6, 2018
Yep. He lied. Tried to get friends to lie for him, too. Innocent people dont ask friends to lie to cover up wrongdoings.
Yep. He lied. Tried to get friends to lie for him, too. Innocent people dont ask friends to lie to cover up wrongdoings. https://t.co/j8ilDIra5l pic.twitter.com/0CfraSgtiE Victoria Hudson (@TheirVictoria) October 6, 2018
Then there were the many people who rightly perceived that when Democrats take back control of Congress there is a chance this will end up with Don Jr. himself going to prison.
Youre only saying this because if we win in November your risk of getting thrown in prison rises dramatically.
You're only saying this because if we win in November your risk of getting thrown in prison rises dramatically. https://t.co/w4olucIlNE Bullshitters Beware (@bullshitbeware) October 5, 2018
Then there were the cynical people who tweeted how ironic it is that a Trump has said in public that he wants a war.
Finally, a Trump man goes to war.
Finally, a Trump man goes to war. https://t.co/cHafTXGjBg Chad Smith (@chadssmith) October 5, 2018
Like his father, Donald Trump Jr. talks tough, even though he has never done any fighting and was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He also tries to emulate his father by being belligerent and controversial in his tweets. Every time he does this is a major fail, but that doesnt stop him.
Don Jr. has now gone on the campaign trail to stump for GOP candidates. It is unlikely that his efforts will pay off in the swing districts that Republicans must win to keep control of the House of Representatives. So he may be right after all. If Democrats control the House they will bring new investigations and hearings into Brett Kavanaughs and possibly the Trump familys criminal behavior.
On October 5, the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported that several dozen people gathered in the center of Magas, the capital of Ingushetia (a federal subject within Russia). The article described the situation in the city as calm, and reported that there was no sign of disorder.
While a photo taken by a Russian correspondent in the city on Friday suggests things have been orderly there thus far, the number of protesters is much higher. His photo shows what appears to be hundreds of people, filling a street. A video posted on Instagram, also on Friday, shows what is alleged to be the Republic of Ingushetias leader, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, and his entourage fighting their way through a large mass of demonstrators. RFE/RL reported that thousands were in attendance. The BBC estimates 2,500 were present on Thursday.
The number of people in his photo is consistent with photos and videos from the previous days protest, which also showed at least several hundred people in the center of the city. In addition, footage from Thursday broadcast by the BBC also shows riot police clashing with demonstrators.At one point, what sounds like gunfire can be heard. The BBC reported that Yevkurovs bodyguards fired into the air after someone threw a plastic bottle at him when he tried to address the crowd.
The RIA Novosti story does not mention anything about gunfire or clashes with riot police.
Protests in Ingushetia broke out in response to an agreement to change the border between the republic and the neighboring Republic of Chechnya. The agreement was signed by Yevkurov and his Chechen counterpart Ramzan Kadyrov on September 26, and approved by the parliaments of their respective republics on Thursday, October 4.
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Adam Parker has covered many beats and topics for The Post and Courier, including race and history, religion, and the arts. He is the author of "Outside Agitator: The Civil Rights Struggle of Cleveland Sellers Jr.," published by Hub City Press.
Charleston's new flood maps won't tell us half of what we need to know about flooding
Coast Guard personnel keep an eye on charter fishing boats during a license and certification patrol in Charleston Harbor on Friday, August 31, 2018. The Coast Guard is stepping up patrol efforts throughout the Southeast, targeting illegal charter operations that mislead or misrepresent themselves to customers and who operate without license or certification. Brad Nettles/Staff
Joseph Cranney is an investigative reporter in Columbia, with a focus on government corruption and injustices in the criminal legal system. He can be reached securely by Proton mail at jcranney@prontonmail.com or on Signal at 215-285-9083.
Hannah Alani is a reporter at The Post and Courier covering race, immigration and rural life across the Palmetto State. Before graduating from Indiana University and moving to Charleston in 2017, her byline appeared in The New York Times.
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
Political Editor
Schuyler Kropf is The Post and Courier political editor. He has covered every major political race in South Carolina dating to 1988, including for U.S. Senate, governorship, the Statehouse and Republican and Democratic presidential primaries.
Hoarding gets worse with age, which is why its often associated with older adults, but it usually starts in childhood.
Thats what Patrick Arbore, founder and director of the Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention and Grief Related Services in San Francisco, told a group of professionals who work with seniors recently. He was one of the speakers at the annual Regional Conference on Aging hosted by Philadelphia Corporation for Aging.
He said people whose homes later become overwhelmed with stuff often begin having dysfunctional relationships with things between ages 11 to 15. They may cling passionately to clothes that no longer fit or toys meant for much younger children. This is an opportunity for parents to teach them how to organize their possessions and discard items they no longer need, skills that are often deficient in adult hoarders.
Arbore thinks much hoarding also stems from trauma or emotional pain. Hoarders fill the emotional holes in their lives with things that seem more trustworthy and comforting to them than their fellow human beings. He said he has had success at reducing hoarding by helping people address their underlying pain and learn better ways to cope.
Overall, though, he presented a depressing picture of a condition that directly affects 6 percent of the population and causes much distress among families and friends. For the elderly, who are more likely to have dementia and physical problems, hoarding can also increase the risk of debilitating falls and isolation. The older population can be especially difficult to work with because their behavior is entrenched and they have a negative image of mental health treatment.
Hoarders can be pack rats, compulsive buyers or more organized collectors whose acquisitiveness has gotten out of hand. Eventually, they run out of room and wind up with narrow walkways and only a tiny place to sit amid what looks like trash to most people but is treasure to them.
Some hoarders grab good deals on furniture they plan to fix someday, but never do. "I am a rescuer of things," one woman told Arbore. "I save them." Some hoarders have a similar attitude toward animals.
"What do you see?" Arbore often asks hoarders. "I see Christmas time," one woman told him as she surveyed the piles of debris in her room. "My cats are really flourishing," another said, even though Arbore saw sickly animals along with some smelly, dead ones.
The cause of hoarding is unknown. Arbore sees elements of addiction and compulsion. The condition may also run in families. Many hoarders reject offers of treatment. "When you try to help guide them," he said, "there is so much resistance."
Arbore said hoarding needs more study. There is currently no evidence-based treatment. While hoarders may seem obsessive, they do not respond well to treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder and anti-depressants have mixed results. Just clearing out their stuff for them doesnt work. Most end up filling up the space again because theyre more comfortable amid clutter. He said one study found that about 70 percent of hoarders responded to cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of talk therapy that helps patients change their thinking patterns, when combined with skills training that strengthens decision-making and organization along with motivational interviewing.
Professionals, he said, should think of hoarding as a chronic, relapsing disease. "Just like when we work with alcoholics, it can be exceedingly painful, and we cant save everybody."
LAKE CITY St. Marks Episcopal Church will host a "Blessings of the Animals" ecumenical service at 10 a.m. Sunday at Handshaw Coulee on the Darwin and Nancy Meyers property in Lake City.
St. Marks will host its next community supper from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at McNairy Hall in the church at 110 S. Oak Street.
The menu include casseroles. Fruit salad, desserts and beverages will be served.
Meditation sessions continue
A meditation session will be offered from 5:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. every Tuesday through Dec. 18 at Assisi Heights Spirituality Center.
The time will begin with Cathy Ashton or Roxanne Schlasner leading a short guided meditation followed by silence. A bell will ring every 15 minutes allowing you to enter or exit as needed. All spiritual paths are welcome.
You may register by calling 282-7441 or going to www.rochesterfranciscan.org. There is no registration fee, but donations are welcome.
Womens Connection luncheon is Tuesday
"Moving in to Fall" is the theme of the next Rochester Christian Womens Connection monthly luncheon on Tuesday at the Eagles Club, 917 15th Ave. SE.
The luncheon starts at 11:45 a.m. and features speaker Laurie Kimball, of Minneapolis, who will deliver the message "See, Say or Do. Which One Are You."
Admission is $15 and includes lunch. Reservations: Call 507-288-1144..
Are you regretting that fish tank purchase? Beta just a little too aggressive for your home?
Flushing an unwanted fish down the toilet seems cruel, and returning them to a pet store often is not an option.
Thats why, for many people, releasing an aquatic pet into the nearest lake or river seems like the best way to get it out of the house without outright killing the gilled critter.
In Duluth, Minn., Sea Grant, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has another, better solution this weekend: surrendering them.
Today, Saturday, Sea Grant is partnering with a Duluth-area pet store and an animal shelter to collect unwanted aquatic pets and plants.
For the past few years, Animal Allies Humane Society, also of Duluth, has hosted and helped with the collection event.
"We realize our work in fostering compassion for nonhuman animals reaches far beyond the cats and dogs served by our shelter," Shawna Weaver, the humane education manager for Animal Allies, said.
Fish and other aquatic animals rarely survive seemingly humane releases into rivers and lakes, Weaver said, and even if they do, their relocation could have serious consequences for native plants and animals.
Tank animals can carry bacteria and organisms that could infect other animals, or they could spread and choke out native flora and fauna which is bad for our rivers and lakes.
Still not sold?
The surrendered pets may go to an aquatics store, or could even be re-adopted through a few Minnesota organizations, Weaver added.
About 500 pets were surrendered in the last two years of the event, according to a press release.
Not planning to be in Duluth this weekend with your aquatic pets? Dont panic!
If people have an exotic animal to surrender after the event, they can call Sea Grant for advice, Weaver said. The phone number is 218-726-8106.
"Most importantly, do not release these animals into the wild, please do not breed them for profit, and do consider adopting domesticated pets in the future, as they are far happier and healthier living in our homes with us," Weaver said.
Last week, I had an opportunity to get a "blood salinity check" with a short trip to San Diego for my nephews wedding. The four days were full of wedding activities, some body surfing, good food and pickleball on a court overlooking the ocean.
However, the highlight for me was swimming with sharks below a La Jolla hillside mansion.
I wasnt sure I wanted to venture too far out into the waters after seeing videos last week of a rare visit to the La Jolla Cove by a small pod of orcas, also called "killer whales."
With voracious appetites, they feed on many large prey including seals, great whites, polar bears, whale young and even swimming moose. Not sure how much I look like any of those, and unfortunately their stay in the cove was a matter of hours, not days.
However, occasional visits by great white sharks to the cove area, coupled with maybe being too tired from pickleball, caused me to pass up my usual mile swim from the cove to the shores. Instead, I snorkeled out to see some other sharks present in big numbers right offshore. I did this seven times in the four days I was there, seeing a couple leopard sharks twice, none twice and dozens the three other times.
Unfortunately, for most people, their view of sharks is as a dangerous predator that kills people. Even after trying to assure Marcus, a man sharing the hotel hot tub with us after we swam with dozens of these sharks, his comment was "a shark is a shark," and he would not consider getting into the water to see them.
Although not a definitive study, it seemed the times we saw large numbers of these sharks swimming about was later afternoon during low tide. Probably only about 50 yards offshore, they would appear below us almost always near the bottom.
We had to be careful when walking through the surf to get to the four- to six-foot deep water, as the sandy bottom also is home to numerous stingrays, as well as an occasional bat ray. Having experienced the extremely painful result of a stingray in Florida decades ago, I made sure to shuffle my feet while walking, and began swimming as soon as the water was deep enough.
Leopard sharks are considered essentially a nondangerous shark species, with minor bites being extremely rare. In addition, they could be considered the best looking of all sharks because of the very colorful mottled patterns that cover at least their top and sides, as I never have seen the underside of any. Although I got a few pictures of these beauties, I relied on my sons partner, Jeff, to get even better ones with his Go Pro.
The area we observed the three- to five-foot long sharks is considered one of the best, if not best, gathering spots along the Pacific coast. Predominantly females are drawn to the area by the relatively warm waters they favor to feed near and incubate the young they will give birth to after 10 months. Their young, often two to four dozen, are born in the uterus, where they are nourished and grow. Once hatched, they are on their own to try to evade young great white sharks and other predators. If they do, they will mature in about 10 years to mate.
Similar to human fingerprints, each leopard shark skin has unique mottled patterns recognizable by researchers or observers of captive specimens. They tend to be found in groups and dont typically migrate long distances.
Caught by fishermen for food and recreation, leopard shark numbers along the California coast declined in the 1980s before tighter regulations allowed them to increase in numbers.
With their close proximity to shoreline beach visitors, they have become an attraction for swimmers, snorkelers and even kayakers. When waters are clear enough, Ive also enjoyed them by just walking and having them cruising around my legs.
Although not as colorful looking as leopard sharks, all other species of sharks still are valuable parts of ocean ecosystems. The killing of them for food or recreation unbalances those systems, or leads to such reduced numbers that extinction of certain species is possible. So, if you are ever in San Diego, take in the leopard sharks, and remember, doing so is a lot safer than driving to work.
More info To learn more about eligibility requirements and how to apply for the Japan Exchange & Teaching Program, visit https://jetprogramusa.org. The deadline to apply is 1:59 p.m. Nov. 18 Guam time. Accepted applicants will depart for Japan the following spring or summer for a yearlong contract.
Applications are now open for the Japan Exchange & Teaching Program, a paid yearlong exchange program offering college graduates living on Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands the opportunity to teach English while exploring Japan.
"The JET Program seeks participants who are adaptable, outgoing and who have a deep interest in Japan," according to a news release from the Consulate-General of Japan in Hagatna.
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Each year, as many as 5,000 people apply for the JET Program, with approximately 1,000 applicants ultimately accepted.
This year, the JET Program hopes to increase the number of participants from Guam and the CNMI, according to the release.
Most participants work as assistant language teachers, or ALTs, working in public schools to support Japanese teachers of English. A select few participants are chosen to work as coordinators for international relations, or CIRs, working in local government offices to promote internationalization efforts by organizing events and teaching adult education classes.
And when work is done for the day, participants have the chance to see Japan as few other visitors do. Past participants recounted weekends spent traveling through the countryside, visiting onsens, playing gigs with a ragtag band and even learning how to snowboard.
Guam resident John Quito worked as an ALT between 2010 and 2012, and he quickly got hooked on onsens, a traditional Japanese public bath in which bathers immerse themselves in a relaxing hot spring in the nude.
Quito and his friends spent their weekends visiting as many onsens as they could, even in the middle of winter.
According to the release, "(Quito) and his friends ... sat in the steaming river, surrounded by the mountains on all sides. A soft layer of snow blanketed the edges of the water ... they ended up staying for six hours, long enough for day to turn into night ... relaxed under the perfect, magnificent stars that came out to greet them."
Another participant, Guam resident Jennifer McFarren, unexpectedly found herself the member of a band dubbed Mr. Sparkle in reference to an episode of "The Simpsons" tied to Japan composed of several JET Program participants scattered around the country.
"The hours spent driving to and from houses for weekend practices and performances meant that (McFarren) saw more of the countryside than most visitors would ever see in Japan," according to the release. "Each time they practiced together in a tiny town on the Japan coast, they made new friends, as conversations about music quickly segued into more, often ending at the local karaoke bar or 'izakaya.'"
The experience that seemed to hold true to most most participants, though, was the warm welcome each participant received from their host community.
Soon after arriving in Japan in 1993, Merizo resident Roisin Wade found herself the recipient of countless invitations to cultural day trips and historical weekend excursions.
"She felt a profound gratitude that she was getting to experience true Japan, and at her side, her local Japanese friends as her personal guide," according to the release.
Back in her Japanese home, on the other hand, "word traveled quickly that she had no idea how to cook and suddenly, there was a weekly cooking lesson arranged just for her! She was constantly invited to local events and festivals."
"Being active in their Japanese community is a vital part of the JET Program," according to the release. "Through travel, volunteer and social opportunities, JETs find diverse and fun ways to get involved with their local communities and with other JETs. This enriching experience is an important part of being a cultural ambassador while in Japan."
The application period is now open. To learn more about eligibility requirements and how to apply, visit https://jetprogramusa.org. According to the JET website, CIR applicants must have a strong command of the Japanese language; however, that is not required for ALT applicants.
The deadline to apply is 1:59 p.m. Nov. 18 Guam time. Accepted applicants will depart for Japan the following spring or summer for a yearlong contract.
Guam police detectives have launched a death investigation after the discovery of a lifeless male in Chalan Pago, a police statement released at 7:57 p.m. Saturday states.
At around 1 p.m., officers from the Hagatna Precinct Command responded to a report that a lifeless male has been found along the jungle line of a home on Chalan Chirik in Chalan Pago. The age of the victim was not released.
Injuries were noted on the victim, prompting the activation of GPDs Criminal Investigation Division to assume the investigation.
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"This case is ongoing as detectives continue to canvass the scene and conduct interviews," Guam police spokesman Sgt. Paul Tapao stated.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause and manner of death.
No other information was available as of 8 p.m. Saturday.
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I had intended to extend this series, but in light of the news in which we have been inundated, I will cut to the chase today. Doing the research for my Cardozo Society talk on fake news this coming Monday, I have been reading Ronald Steels excellent biography of the great liberal journalist Walter Lippmann. Lippmann was instrumental in the development of progressive thought as one of the founding editors of the New Republic. In the interest of political reform Lippmann argued that the press should provide reliable information rather than distorted news.
With his friend Charles Merz he decided to conduct an experiment. They examined New York Times coverage of the Russian Revolution over the three year period from March 1917-March 1920. Focused on coverage of aspects of the Russian Revolution of special importance to Americans, the study was published in August 1920 as a 42-page supplement to the New Republic (embedded below).
The Timess news stories, Lippmann and Merz concluded, were not based on facts, but rather were dominated by the hopes of the men who composed the news organization. Steel relates their findings that the Times cited events that did not happen, atrocities that never took place and reported no fewer than 91 times that the Bolshevik regime was on the verge of collapse.
The news about Russia is a case of seeing not what was, but what men wished to see, Lippman and Merz wrote. The chief censor and the chief propagandist were hope and fear in the minds of reporters and editors. Reporters were guilty of a boundless credulity, an untiring readiness to be gulled and on many occasions a downright lack of common sense. Their contributions to public knowledge at a time of supreme crisis were about as useful as that of an astrologer or an alchemist.
Lippmann Merz ATestoftheNews by Scott Johnson on Scribd
Brett Kavanaugh will be confirmed to the Supreme Court tomorrow, bringing to a close one of the most appalling episodes in American political history. The Democrats shameful treatment of Robert Bork in 1987 has distorted our politicsnot just the politics of the Supreme Courtfor the last 30 years. But the slanders the Democratic Party directed toward Kavanaugh were, if anything, even more disgraceful. We will feel their impact for many years to come.
So, looking to the future, what are the notable features of our political landscape?
1) The validation of violence for political ends. This didnt start with the Kavanaugh nomination. It has been brewing for a while. Barack Obama famously said, If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun. Antifa has been taking Obama at his word for some years.
What we are seeing today is mob action by Democratic Party activists: harassing Republicans when they go out to dinner or walk through airports; busing activists to Republicans homes to harass them and frighten their children; invading Republican Congressional offices with threatening mobs; and, in some cases, shooting or violently assaulting Republican office-holders. I wrote yesterday about Kellie Pauls appeal to Cory Booker to withdraw his incitements to violence. Maxine Waters is another prominent Democrat who has endorsed immoral and potentially illegal harassment of Republicans.
Why are Democrats confident that political violence is a one-way street? Conservatives are, on average, better armed than liberals andI think it is safe to saymore personally formidable. Yet liberals clearly have no fear that conservatives will respond to their violence and mob intimidation in kind. I think that is because they assume we are better than they are. We care about our country, we value its institutions, and we try to maintain the basic presumption of good faith that underlies our democratic system.
The Democrats are right to think that we are better than they are, but conservatives patience is not infinite. The potential for significant political violence is higher today than it has been at any time since the Great Depression, and perhaps since the Civil War. The Democrats are sowing the wind, and they may reap the whirlwind.
2) The final discrediting of the liberal media. This is nothing new, of course. But the manner in which the liberal press jumped on board with the absurd allegations against Judge Kavanaugh exposed reporters and editors, perhaps to an unprecedented degree, as nothing more than Democratic Party activists. The press publicized the most absurd fabrications about Kavanaugh as though they were news: He organized gang rapes when he was in high school!
And they solemnly declared Christine Ford to be credible, when the facts showed that she had massively changed (i.e., fabricated) her story in collaboration with Democratic Judiciary Committee staffers, and when every witness identified by her repudiated her account. The press elevated a transparent liar to the status of a heroine, for political purposes.
Not to mention the ridiculous hypocrisy of smearing a man with the strongest possible reputation on the basis of an unsupported 36-year-old allegation, dating to high school, while studiously ignoring the far more recent and actually true claims of sexual abuse that have been levied against a succession of Democrats. If you are a Democratic Party reporteras virtually all of them areany smear will do, as long as it is directed against a Republican. Otherwise, you avert your eyes.
A lot of voters who are perhaps too young to remember Rathergate learned something about the mainstream media in the course of the presss crazed attacks on Judge Kavanaugh.
3) The yawning chasm between our institutions and our people. Not just the press, but Americas institutions in general disgraced themselves by endorsing the Democratic Partys absurd smear campaign. Take the American Bar Associationplease! The liberal ABA has long been a joke when it comes to politics, but to its credit, its committee on nominations unanimously acknowledged that Brett Kavanaugh is well qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, its highest rating. But ABA President Robert Carlson, apparently going rogue, authored an anti-Kavanaugh letter. Within the last few hours, it was reported that the ABA is re-evaluating its endorsement of Kavanaugh. Of course it is: the ABA is a Democratic Party tool. I know, I was a member for many years.
Then we have the universities. Again, this is nothing new, but the facts are particularly stark, given the thinness of the Democrats attacks on Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh graduated from Yale and Yale Law School, and after an initial expression of support from those who had anything to do with him at Yale Law School, the worm turned. Academics, including those at Yale, pretty much universally joined the Democrats lynch party.
And Kavanaugh has been teaching for some years at Harvard Law School at the invitation of former law school dean and now Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. This is because Kavanaugh is universally acknowledged to be a brilliant legal scholar. But 40 Harvard Law professors signed a letter opposing their colleagues confirmation to the Court, and the law school has announced that Kavanaugh will not be returning as a teacher.
Meanwhile, polls show that most Americans want Kavanaugh to be confirmed. Most people know little about the legal issues that Supreme Court justices address, but they have a basic sense of fairness. It wasnt hard to see that the Democrats behaved in an outrageous manner, or that Kavanaugh is a brilliant and decent man.
Professors at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School and the like think their opinions should influence the rest of us because they are exceptionally smart and knowledgeable. Does anyone buy that claim anymore? I certainly dont, and I graduated from Harvard Law School. I agree with Bill Buckley: I would rather be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston telephone directory than by the 2,000 people on the faculty of Harvard University.
4) In that context, Donald Trump is the man of the hour. The incoherent Democrats are reduced to street violence, the press is discredited, our institutions are mostly pathetic. Who benefits? President Donald J. Trump. Trump truly is the man of the hour. Trump has been on to the fake news press from the beginning. And if there ever was any fake news, it is Christine Fords Democrat-engineered lie. Trump represents normal Americans who didnt go to Harvard or Yale but have a modicum of common sense, which many professors at those institutions obviously dont.
Trump nominated a solidly conservative justice to the Supreme Court, and steadfastly stood by him despite the Democrats wacko smears. I dont think the Democrats understand how many millions of people view their smear campaign with contempt, and appreciate President Trump for standing by his nominee.
Who is about to be confirmed. This is a huge victory for those who vote for Republicans but sometimes despair as to whether it does any good. It is victory, not defeat, that motivates voters. Confirmation of a sane, brilliant, non-political justice to to the Supreme Court is a signal victory for normal Americans. And we have Donald J. Trump to thank. His approval rating is surging, as well it should.
I didnt see this coming two years ago, but President Trump is now the standard-bearer for normal Americans who resist the encroachments of the far Left, which now owns the Democratic Party.
The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, has said that five per cent of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund will go to health emergency management which covers all aspect of health, including accidents and disease outbreaks.
Mr Adewole spoke in Abuja, while receiving top management officials from the Public Health England (PHE) United Kingdom, who were on a working visit to Nigeria recently, according to a statement on Friday signed by the ministrys spokesperson, Boade Akinola.
The Basic Health Care Provision Fund is the one per cent of the consolidated budget approved under the National Health Act (NHA) in Nigeria to substantially increase revenue and improve PHC services.
According to the National Health Act, the Basic Health Care Provision Fund shall be financed from the federal governments annual grants of not less than one per cent of the consolidated revenue fund, grants by international donor partner and funds from any other source.
The minister said five per cent of the fund shall be used for emergency medical treatment which ought to be administered by the committee appointed by the National Council on Health. He is yet to explain how that would be implemented.
Mr Adewole said the move is part of the governments effort to support the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which is the flag-ship of disease outbreak management and control in Nigeria.
He stated that Nigeria needed the expertise and knowledge from the UK, Public Health Office due to her years of experience.
Mr Adewole maintained that synergy between the countries would go a long way in building a strong team for Nigeria and strengthening collaboration between technical agencies and the Federal Ministry of Health.
Earlier this week, NCDC signed a memorandum of understanding with Public Health England (PHE) in a bid to strengthen international disease control across borders.
The agreement means that the British public health institute would be helping Nigeria and four other countries to improve their International Health Regulations (IHR) in disease prevention, detection and control.
This partnership came weeks after two patients were diagnosed and hospitalised for monkeypox in the UK.
The two patients were found to have travelled from Nigeria where there was an outbreak of the disease last year.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive, Public Health England, Duncan Selbie, said their visit to the ministry was to assess the size and scope of the NCDC and the role the organisation plays in the Public Health system.
He noted that PHE had supported NCDC in the development of its National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS), the training of staff from the National Reference Laboratory and other project areas.
Mr Selbie said the UK government is poised to strengthen the Nigerian health sector, considering the strategic importance of Nigeria in the public health region and African continent in general.
Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have agreed not to back any particular candidate at the national convention of the party on Saturday, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
Multiple sources privy to the outcome of a meeting held at Government House in Port Harcourt told PREMIUM TIMES the governors asked all delegates to go and vote for candidates of their choice.
They have just met, and there was no consensus on any candidate the source told PREMIUMS TIMES as he emerged from the meeting at 12:09 a.m. Saturday. The delegates are now free to choose whoever they want.
The decision could prove pivotal in a race largely considered too close to call even hours to its commencement.
There have been fears that all the twelve PDP governors may rally behind a candidate. Considering the formidable influence the governors wield over party affairs, political analysts expect whoever they endorse to easily coast to victory.
Two PDP governors are in the race, with sources telling PREMIUM TIMES the remaining 10 governors felt it would be inappropriate to be openly partisan towards one of them.
But with delegates now being asked to go and vote independently without being instructed by the governors, who often play the role of custodian of delegates, the fierce competition already witnessed in the weeks leading up to the primaries may get even more intense well into the last minute.
Even though governors have their individual preference among the aspirants, the decision to let delegates be free to make their choice could mean there would be more delegates to lobby for aspirants.
At least 4,000 delegates are expected to participate in the primaries, according to party officials. They have been arriving in town since Wednesday, and the last set would arrive by morning on Saturday.
Sources in at least five of the 12 campaigns told PREMIUM TIMES late Friday that their respective candidates would not step down for anyone else.
No one is going to step down amongst the top contenders, a source said. You are more likely to see them win one vote and lose than to step down.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how two of the aspirants, Senate President Bukola Saraki and Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe, publicly denied planning to step down for any candidate.
The 12 candidates in the race are: Atiku Abubakar, Ahmed Makarfi, Aminu Tambuwal, Datti Baba-Ahmed, Attahiru Bafarawa, Sule Lamido, Bukola Saraki, David Mark, Jonah Jang, Kabiru Turaki and Rabiu Kwankwaso.
They have all expressed confidence in their individual abilities to clinch the ticket and face President Muhammadu Buhari as the main challenger in the general election next February.
The Deputy National Chairman (North), of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Lawal Shuaibu, has faulted the decision of the National Working Committee of the party to dissolve the entire party executive in Zamfara State.
The NWC is led by the partys National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, with Mr Shuaibu among the members.
The APC in two separate statements signed by its spokesperson, Yekini Nabena, announced the dissolution of the Zamfara State executive and all executive committees across the state.
However, Mr Shuaibu, who is from Zamfara State, issued a counter statement to say the news going round that the APC Executive have been dissolved is not true.
Mr Shuaibu said the NWC cannot dissolve the party executives in the state because of the existence a subsisting court order.
He said the order had asked the disagreeing parties in a petition challenging the legality of the process through which the state executives emerged to maintain the status quo and should not take any step that would render nugatory the subject of the litigation which is the position of the party before 5th of June 2018.
The deputy chairman said the NWC and the party in the state were both served the court order.
He said the National Headquarters of the party can therefore not take any action except to ensure members of the executives do comply.
In his statement earlier, APC spokesperson, Yekini Nabena, also said the NWC-inaugurated committee for Zamfara State is to conduct the governorship and legislative primaries in the state.
He said the state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, and the dissolved executives in the state should not interfere in the primary elections in the state.
He said the governorship and legislative primaries will hold from Saturday to Sunday.
Allegation Of Bias
Mr Lawal also accused the committee sent by Mr Oshiomhole to conduct the primary in the state of bias.
The Deputy National Chairman (North), of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Lawal Shuaibu.[PHOTO CREDIT: Greenbarge Reporters]
He said that when the election committee headed by Abubakar Faki went to Zamfara State to conduct the primary, they took the sensitive materials along with them and deposited with the commissioner of police in the state.
They called for a stakeholders meeting in which all aspirants were present as well as heads of security agencies in the state.
An agreement was arrived at by all aspirants to the effect that teachers be recruited to conduct the primaries in each ward.
Afterwards, the process had begun in earnest and suddenly when there were skirmishes in some wards arising from activities of some thugs, some aspirants started to send spurious allegations to the committee chairman seated at the state capital, who, without waiting to verify the truth in such allegations, decided to announce cancelation of the process when already more than 10 local governments were collating results, he said.
He said Mr Faki immediately left the state with his team.
To every right thinking person, he didnt show responsibility when he abandoned the exercise without retrieving the materials as at the time of cancellation.
But the big problem some members discovered, including some of the aspirants, is that the same chairman of the primaries committee is a blood relation to one of the aspirants for which reason he could have been disqualified as he is an interested party. This is shocking and unacceptable, he said.
Mr Shuaibu also said a meeting of the NWC which held Thursday decided that another committee should be constituted and sent back to Zamfara.
He said that remains the position of the NWC, and not sending the same committee back.
To send the same committee led by the same chairman cannot be said to be the NWC decision, he said.
He also faulted the decision of the NWC to ask some aspirants to submit lists of election officials.
He said committees are usually given free hand to liaise with key members at local level to handle the process.
The NWC, he said, cannot dabble into local arrangements for conduct of any election but should ensure that guidelines are strictly adhered to by the committee.
The NWC is not expected to change the rules in the middle of an election process, rather, the committee always uses the guidelines as their yardstick for judging the fairness of any election, especially in direct system of primaries.
Our Membership Register is the book through which you identify members of the party in every ward and it is clearly stated in the guidelines.
It serves as our Voters Register and anything short of it makes the process susceptible to hijack by non party members. That is what we know and that is what the NWC stands for, he said.
Loss Of Confidence
Meanwhile, Governor Yari has said that he has lost confidence in the committee sent to the state to conduct the primary election.
Zamfara Governor, Abdulaziz Yari [Photo: The Guardian Nigeria]
Speaking with journalists at the Government House, Gusau, shortly after the NWC decision was announced, Mr Yari also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call Mr Oshiomhole to order.
He also said the national chairman should be held responsible if anything untoward happens in the state.
Mr Yari said he cannot guarantee the safety of the election panel.
Mr Yari, who leaves office next, year is eager to ensure his favoured candidate emerges APC governorship candidate. He, however, faces stiff opposition from other aspirants especially a serving senator, Kabiru Marafa.
Irrespective of how it solves its problems, the ruling party must submit the names of its governorship and senatorial candidates to the electoral commission, INEC, before the October 7 deadline.
The Supervising Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, on Friday expressed serious concerns over the rising incidence of non-performing loans (NPLs) in deposit money banks (DMBs) in the country.
Mrs Ahmed urged the financial sector regulating authorities and insurers, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) respectively, to use the defunct Skye Bank as a test case by fully investigating and prosecuting all directors and executive management who contributed to its collapse to restore confidence in the system.
The minister who gave the directive in Abuja when she visited the executive management of the NDIC led by its Managing Director/Chief Executive, Umaru Ibrahim, said the investigation and prosecution should be extended to all other DMBs in liquidation.
The spate of non-performing loans in the banking industry has become very worrisome. Although the bail-out of distressed financial institutions was necessary in the interest of the stability of the banking system, emphasis should also be placed on the investigation and prosecution of delinquent Board of Directors and Executive management of financial intuitions who abused the trust placed in them by depositors, the minster noted.
The minister urged the CBN and NDIC to use the recent failure of the defunct Skye Bank Plc as an opportunity to deal decisively with any of its directors and management found in the course of the investigations culpable, so as to serve as a deterrent to other operators in the financial system.
She said the federal government was no longer prepared to treat with levity such serious infractions in the financial system.
In his welcome address, the NDIC MD assured the minister the corporation would do all within its capacity to assist in the recovery of all the debts owed the defunct Skye Bank and other DMBs in liquidation.
Mr Umaru equally expressed the corporations determination to ensure all directors found to have perpetrated any illegalities in running the bank were fully investigated and prosecuted by appropriate authorities.
He said the primary concern of the NDIC was to ensure the safety of depositors funds and minimise the disruption of banking services.
The NDIC MD informed the minister that since 1991, the aggregate payment to depositors, creditors and shareholders of 46 closed banks amounted to N11.75 billion.
Out of this amount, he said total payments to insured depositors of DMBs amounted to about N8.252 billion.
Besides, he said about N2.89 billion was paid out to insured depositors of microfinance banks (MFBs), covering about 81,657 individual accounts, with about N69.6 million paid to insured depositors of primary mortgage banks (PMBs).
In addition, about 46 DMBs are currently in liquidation across the country.
The NDIC boss assured the minister the corporation had to adopt the most appropriate failure resolution mechanism in handling the defunct Skye Bank case to save the jobs of over 6,000 employees.
He said the option adopted by the regulating authorities was to ensure its depositors continued to operate their accounts with the new bridge bank, Polaris Bank Limited, which took over the entire assets and liabilities of its predecessor.
On the corporations contribution under the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), Mr Umaru said about N175 billion was paid by NDIC under the Act.
At the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting last week in Abuja, CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the committee expressed serious concerns about rising NPLs in the financial system.
But, he gave justifications why the CBN and NDIC had to intervene the way they did in Skye Bank.
Mr Emefiele said when the regulatory authorities found out two years ago that Skye Bank had slipped into negative capital as a result of non-performing loans, the CBN was compelled to ask the entire board and the executive management, led by Tunde Ayeni, to resign.
He said prior to the forensic audit conducted in the bank, its NPLs stood at about N370 billion, ballooning to close to N800 billion after the forensic audit.
Having established the hold on the bank at this level, if tax payers monies would be invested in the bank as a loan, there was a need to let shareholders know.
The intervention and the name of Skye Bank had to be changed for legal reasons having gotten to a point where the CBN and government had invested close to N800 billion to keep the bank until new investors that can pay a price for the bank is found, he said in response to a reporters question.
Over 6,800 delegates converged at the Eagle Square, Abuja in June to elect a new set of leaders for the governing All Progressives Congress.
The same number or more are again expected today, Saturday, October 6, to affirm President Muhammadu Buhari as the candidate of the party for the 2019 presidential election.
Mr Buhari had already polled impressive results in the direct method of election adopted by the party to choose its presidential candidate.
The incumbent president was the only one who picked and returned nominations forms.
In the direct mode of election, all card carrying party members line up in front of a picture display of their candidates and officials count the number of votes (people on queue) that each person garners openly.
The election of Mr Buhari by party members took place last Friday while he was in faraway New York, USA attending the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Despite his absence, the presidents popularity among party members was visible.
The national leadership of the APC had earlier appointed state governors and party leaders in states not governed by the party as returning officers. Most of the governors announced high number of votes for the president.
Mr Buhari was said to have polled over 2.9 million votes in Kano, over 800,000 in his home state, Katsina and over 700 votes in Bauchi, among others. In all, the president scored between 98 to 100 per cent of total votes cast in the election.
But, is that a sign of victory in 2019?
How It All Began
Before finally clinching the presidency in 2015, Mr Buhari unsuccessfully ran for the office in 2003, 2007 and 2011.
In 2003, Mr Buhari ran under the platform of the defunct, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and he came second behind then incumbent, Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Mr Buhari scored 12,710,022 votes representing 32.19 per cent of total votes cast. Mr Obasanjo scored 24,456,140 votes, representing 61.94 per cent to emerge victorious. That election was reported by most observers as being highly flawed.
Olusegun Obasanjo
In the 2007 election, Mr Buhari again ran under the platform of the ANPP and lost to the late Umaru Yaradua of the PDP. While Mr Yaradua scored 24,638,063 (69.82 per cent), Mr Buhari scored 6,605,299 (18.72 per cent).
Like in the 2003, the 2007 election was also adjudged highly flawed by both domestic and foreign observers as well as the international community. In fact, even the elected President, Mr Yaradua, admitted that the election that brought him to office was flawed.
Late Former President Umar YarAdua
In 2011, Mr Buhari was again on the ballot, this time, as the candidate of the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), a party he formed after he fell out with a cross section of the leadership of his former party, ANPP.
In that election, Mr Buhari scored 12,214,853 (31.98%) of total votes which again, makes him the runner up to incumbent Goodluck Jonathan of PDP. Mr Jonathan scored 22,495,187 (58.89 per cent) of the votes.
In the aftermath of all the elections, Mr Buhari challenged the outcome in the judiciary, always ending up at the Supreme Court, without success.
In 2015, Mr Buharis political fortune finally changed for the better. He defeated incumbent Jonathan of the PDP to win the presidency under the platform of a newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC).
Goodluck Jonathan
APC is born out of a merger of former opposition parties, the ACN, CPC, ANPP and a faction of APGA.
In the election held in March 2015, Mr Buhari scored 15,424,921 (53.96 per cent), while Mr Jonathan scored 12,853,162 (44.96 per cent).
Seeking Re-election
There were media reports that Mr Buhari had pledged to do only one term if elected as president in 2015. However, as preparations for another round of elections in 2019 began to hit up, the president gave the hint that he will seek re-election, in an address to Nigerians based in Cote D Ivoire.
The president arrived late to the interactive session and told the gathering that he had to wait for the two governors in his entourage to accompany him to the meeting because of their electoral value.
First I want to apologise for keeping you for too long sitting, this is because I insisted on the governors attending this meeting.
This is why I came along with them so that when we are going to meet you, when you are going to meet the rest of Nigerians, if you tell them that their governors were in the company of the president, I think that will be another vote for me in the future. Im very pleased that they were able to turn up, Mr Buhari said to thunderous laughter and clapping by the audience.
Again, while on a visit to Kano state, Mr Buhari gave the same hint at seeking a second term when he told a gathering at the Government House that he was sure Kano State would vote for him, going by the huge number of people that came out to receive and show him support.
The president eventually formally declared his intention to run again, in a short address to members of APC National Executive Committee (NEC), at a meeting in Abuja.
Some of APCs presidential direct primary election
Abia 455,656
Adamawa 263,945
Anambra 248,268
Bauchi 786,032
Bayelsa 210,201
Benue 259,130
Borno 1,254,111
Edo 505,827
Imo 697,532
Jigawa 202,599
Kaduna 1, 956, 500
Kano 2, 931,235
Katsina 802,819
Kebbi 123,000
Kogi 387,003
Rivers 388,653
Sokoto 472,344
Zamfara 247,847
Sign of things to come?
The results of the presidential primary election show that Mr Buhari still enjoys the support of his party members. Their commitment to his re-election bid is palpable because despite the fact that he is the only candidate, many chose to come out to vote, to show their support to his candidacy.
However, the major opposition party, the PDP has criticised the Buhari Presidency and the APC for posting fictitious figures as votes secured by Mr Buhari at the APC presidential primary, just to hoodwink Nigerians and create an impression of massive support for President Buhari.
The presidency on the other hand, said the outcome of the presidential primaries, is a major boost to Mr Buharis success at next years general election.
The true picture of the nations political terrain can only be confirmed in February next year when the general populace go to the polls to vote for the candidate of their choice.
Presidential aspirants, delegates, party officials, independent observers, journalists and other accredited participants have gathered in Port Harcourt for the Peoples Democratic Party 2018 National Convention.
The event, officially scheduled for 6-7 October in the major commercial hub, would end in the emergence of a presidential candidate for Nigerias main opposition party.
The PDP governed Africas largest economy and most-populated entity under three successive presidents between 1999 when the country returned to civil rule and 2015 when Muhammadu Buhari emerged the first opposition politician to be elected president.
The PDP has come a long way since March 2015 when Nigerians denied it a fifth presidential election victory. In that general election, the party did not only lose the centre but also saw its grip on over a dozen states successfully wrestled by the All Progressives Congress, which was only established in mid-2013.
Shortly after President Goodluck Jonathan handed over to Mr Buhari at the end of May 2015, the PDP was plunged into a series of protracted internal wranglings that became so critical at some point political observers were predicting its demise.
The crises, which bordered largely on the leadership complexities, were eventually resolved at the Supreme Court in mid-2017, and the party seemed to have steadily regained its posture ever since.
The first sign that the party may enter the 2019 as a strong contender came a few months after the Supreme Court victory in December 2015 when Uche Secondus emerged national chairman at a competitive convention.
Although the outcome was heavily criticised by Mr Secondus challengers, especially those from the South-west who believed the new chairman was helped in by Governor Nyesom Wike to spite the Yoruba and relegate them to the fringes in party affairs, the frayed nerves were soon pacified by a reconciliation committee the party set in motion.
Also, within a few months after the PDP victory, and with the opening of 2019 election season looming on the horizon, political heavyweights began joining the partys folds, and their number built as the election proper approached.
Now months to the general election in February 2019, the party is arguing that but for its top stalwarts who broke away in a major revolt between 2013 when APC was formed and well into the last weeks of the 2015 election, it would not have lost the centre.
The party also said since Mr Buharis performance has been underwhelming beyond belief, Nigerians would not be reluctant in relieving him of power at the polls next year.
But the Buhari administration and the APC have shot back at the oppostion partys talking points, saying the current government had been preoccupied with reversing the disastrous policies of the past and accused the PDP of trying to return to power to continue looting the treasury.
The opposition party, however, apologised to Nigerians for its breach of citizenss mandate during its 16-year reign, promising a new dawn in its conduct going forward.
With former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and a host of other famed politicians who were part of the pre-2015 renegades now back in the PDP and even seeking presidential nomination, the opposition party is now more confident of its standing than at any time since its 2015 shellacking.
The need for aspirants to remain in the PDP and form a united front against Mr Buhari next February has been amongst the top concerns of the PDP in recent days. Last week, the party reportedly demanded that all aspirants must commit to remain in the party and work together after the convention, its outcome notwithstanding.
Party insiders also said the convention was deliberately scheduled to end on October 7 so as to prevent aspirants from decamping to other parties to participate in their convention upon the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for primaries.
Most aspirants have openly expressed willingness to work with whoever emerges the candidate amongst them, and none of them has openly indicated interest in defecting after the primaries this weekend. Instead, they have been largely busy canvassing delegates.
At least half of the 12 aspirants met with delegates at different levels throughout the night between Friday and Saturday.
At least 4,000 delegates, comprising automatic, statutory and ad-hoc members, are expected to vote. Politicking amongst the aspirants for the highest number of delegates score is expected to continue until the last minute.
Organisers estimate voting would start by late evening, and continue well into Sunday at Adokiye Amiesiemeka Stadium.
The 12 candidates are: Atiku Abubakar, Ahmed Makarfi, Aminu Tambuwal, Datti Baba-Ahmed, Attahiru Bafarawa, Sule Lamido, Bukola Saraki, Sule Lamido, David Mark, Jonah Jang, KabiruTuraki and Rabi Kwankwaso. They have all expressed confidence in their individual abilities to clinch the ticket and face President Muhammadu Buhari as the main challenger in the general election next February.
PREMIUM TIMES Samuel Ogundipe, Cletus Ukpong and Nasir Ayitogo are on ground for a real-time coverage of the historic event, whose aftermath would herald the 2019 election campaign proper. Refresh your browser for the latest in our live updates:
2:11pm: Delegates from various states are still being accredited. There is no sign the event will commence in the next one hour. The entire venue is still disorganised.
As at 2:49pm, Rivers State delegates are the first to arrive the venue.
As at 2:49pm, Rivers State delegates are the first to arrive the venue. As at 2:49pm, Rivers State delegates are the first to arrive the venue.
3:28pm: The stadium bowl, main venue of the event is near empty. A few felegates are coming in.
The stadium is still empty, as at this time, there is no indication that the event will start anytime soon The stadium is still empty, as at this time, there is no indication that the event will start anytime soon
PDP Convention: Bidding opens as Saraki doles out $1,000 per delegate
Senate President Bukola Saraki has reportedly started paying money to delegates at the Peoples Democratic Partys national convention, marking perhaps the first move in an expected flurry of payouts which aspirants are keen on raining on delegates to win support for the presidential nomination.
Mr Saraki paid out $1,000 per delegate at about noon on Saturday, hours before voting opens in the convention, PREMIUM TIMES learnt from delegates, including those who received the largesse.
We have received our first goodwill from the Senate President Bukola Saraki, a delegate from Nasarawa State told PREMIUM TIMES. It is our first dollars here, but we know more would still come from other aspirants, they have been calling us since yesterday.
A spokesperson for the Saraki campaign did not immediately return calls for comments. But two sources in his campaign who were amongst those who coordinated the payout stashed in campaign paraphernalia have corroborated the claim to PREMIUM TIMES.
The top lawmaker is perhaps the first to pay out cash to influence the choice of delegates. At least 4,000 delegates are expected to vote for 12 aspirants when the exercise commences at this stadium in a few hours time.
It is still early in the day, as politician insiders tell PREMIUM TIMES that the payout would rise as voting kick off.
Do not be surprised if they hike the rate to $4,000, this is not your average convention, a source attached with the campaign of one of the top-four contenders told PREMIUM TIMES.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara discharging his duties as the chairman, accreditation sub-committee.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara discharging his duties as the chairman, accreditation sub-committee. Speaker of the House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara discharging his duties as the chairman, accreditation sub-committee.
As at 4:07 pm, accreditation of delegates is still ongoing as less than 30 percent of delegates are seated in the main bowl.
A fracas almost occurred at the entrance of the stadium when a handful of youth accompanying music star, Davido, tried to storm through the security check-point. They were fiercely pushed back by security officers who tired teargas. A former senator from Akwa Ibom, Effiong Bob, was seen walking away from the scene, covering his nose, apparently affected by the teargas. Davido was seen walking away angrily from the scene.
Delegates are still walking in droves into the stadium while introduction of dignitaries is going on. Accreditation is also going on outside the stadium.
Delegates are asked to assemble before the Electoral Committee of the National Convention Committee for final accreditation before the commencement of the voting.
6.45pm: Although, none of the presidential aspirants seems to be present at the venue of the convention, there is an announcement that the aspirants should be ready by 7 pm to address the convention on why the delegates should vote for them.
7.23 pm Nigerian music star, Davido, is performing. Many people are leaving their seats and moving towards the stage to watch him perform.
8.21pm The National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, arrives convention venue.
8.39 pm Convention begins with the national anthem followed by Muslim and Christian opening prayers.
8.50pm Ucge Secondus reads his welcome address, surrounded by party chieftains, including the chairman of the convention committee, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State,.
Mr Secondus said the convention is a step towards the partys march to regaining power.
He said the convention will be organised in most orderly and credible manner..
he said the APC has shown that it lacks the wherewithal to manage this country.
The national chairman faulted the corruption fight of the APC He said under the APC administration corruption has become monumental. He said Nigeria has never been divided as it is today. He said the economy has been stagnated under the administration.
Mr Secondus said PDP has helped entrenched democracy in Nigeria since it took over power from the military in 1999.
He said the reform of the electoral process by the PDP led to the defeat of the PDP by the APC in the 2015 presidential election
Mr Secondus lambasted the APC over the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections. He said on Friday he led a protest to INEC and police headquarters over the Osun election. He assured Ekiti and Osun States that PDP is not a violent party and that it will use legitimate means to recover its mandate in the two states.
He asked the delegates to note that the choice they make will go a long way in rescuing the nation from the APC.
He told the aspirants that the primary will be conducted in the most transparent manner. The whole world is watching us and we must deliver. he said.
He said, President Buhari. it is time to go home. Lets take back our nation.
The Chairman of the National Convention Committee, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, delivers his address.
Mr Okowa said a lot of people will be wondering why we are starting late. he said most of our delegates had to travel by road. Glad that the delegates have finally arrived. He thanked God for journey mercies. He thanked God for the confidence reposed in the committee. He said the committee has bee able to put up a process that they are all proud of. he said the committee had finished accreditation and that the process will be free ,fair, transparent and credible. He said they are proud of he various organs of the party as well as the aspirants. he welcome the delegates to the convention. We will do what is necessary to ensure that the process is credible as earlier stated.
The National Secretary of the PDP gives report.. He welcome the delegates. At the end of the exercise the party will have a presidential candidate who will save Nigeria.
The national secretary, Senator Ibrahim Umar Tsauri thanked the partys governors for standing by the party. He said PDP remains the hope of Nigeria and Nigerians. He end his address..
A former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, is addressing the convention.
Mr Wabara said PDP has waited for four years for this moment. He said he speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees He said the ear of impunity and imposition is gone in the party. He said the 12 aspirants are all qualified. He said all the aspirants visited the Board of Trustees. He appealed to them to know that power comes from God and that at the end of the day, the 11 aspirants who will not emerge will rally round the winner. He praised from the convention committee chairman, Ifeanyi Okowa for the wonderful job he has been doing..
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, is about to address the convention.
Mr Ekweremadu is not available. Now the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has been called upon to address the convention. Mr Dogara is also the Chairman of the Accreditation Committee of the convention.
Mr Dogara said said he bring the delegates greetings from the National Assembly. He reminded the delegates of the importance of the event. He said the problem of Nigeria is leadership, not the challenge of infrastructure and the blood letting in some parts of the country. He said we are living in a country with decay infrastructure. He said if there is right leadership education and others will not be a problem. He said with the right leadership Nigeria will not only be the pride of the black man but the entire world. The Speaker said the convention should not joke with todays event in order to pick the right person from the group of eminently qualified aspirants
Today is the beginning of this great journey.
9.55pm The MC welcomes Senator Ademola Adeleke to the convention.
The presidential aspirants are going to speak for three minutes and will do so in alphabetical order, using their surnames,
The MC read out the names of the aspirants. Atiku Abubakar about to address the delegates.
Atiku says delegates have the most important decision to make tonight. He said 2019 elections is going to be the most significant in the history of Nigeria.
To Get Nigeria Working Again, We Must Defeat the APC
Being a Speech by Atiku Abubakar, GCON, former Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, at the Opening Ceremony of the National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, at the Adokiye Amasiemeka Stadium, Port Harcourt
Saturday, October 6, 2018.
My Dear Delegates,
On this day, you have a most important decision in your hands. You must decide who will represent the PDP as our candidate for the President of Nigeria.
This election is one of the most important in the history of our Republic. Four years ago, the people of Nigeria voted for Change, today they are not happy with the change they received.
The economy has slowed bringing hardship across Nigeria, increasing hunger and poverty, farmers struggle, businesses close, and jobs are lost. All the while, our government has become less transparent and deaf to the voices of Nigerians.
It is time we get Nigeria working again. We need jobs, wealth creation for farmers and across the agriculture sector, along with security for every Nigerian so they may prosper.
This is why I ask for your support in seeking the PDP ticket. You are aware of my government service and just as importantly my long work in business helping develop the economy, creating jobs in agriculture, healthcare, and education.
Upon election, I will work with you the delegates of the PDP and every Nigerian in each state to restructure and build the local infrastructures needed to grow the economy, create jobs and bring wealth to every Nigerian.
With your support, together, we can truly get Nigeria working again.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
God bless the PDP.
Atiku Abubakar, GCON
Waziri Adamawa
Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999-2007.
Another aspirant, Attahiru Bafarawa, is addressing the convention. He said he joined politics in 1976, He said he knows the game of politics He served as governor for eight years.
Governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo, is currently addressing the convention.
Mr Dankwambo reeled out his credentials. He said when others ran away from the party in 2014, I stayed and ran for an election under the party and won. At the age of 56 today, Im not too young to run and not too old to retire. If the people of our party find me worthy to fly the partys ticket, I will accept. However, if they find someone else I am ready to accept.
Datti-Ahmed is currently addressing the convention.
He said the choice you are about to make here will make the difference between war and peace, unity and disunity, progress and retrogression. In me you will find the widest gap netween PDP and the nearest runner up.
Another aspirant. A former governor of Plateau state, Jonah Jang is now addressing the convention.
As a military officer, I participated in the civil war to keep Nigeria one.
Many left the PDP and returned, I have stayed to restore the party to what it is today. I cannot stay in the background and watch opportunities given to returnees.
The ticket should be given to one of us who stayed in the party
I am here to make the change and change the change
I will push for restructuring, in fact you can call me Mr. Restructuring Jang
Mr Jang says he stood with other pro-democracy elements to fight for democracy in Nigeria during the military era.
Kwankwaso is now on the podium to address the convention.
He began by apologising to the former administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Any day you want to give an award in Nigeria, give it to Buhari because he has made PDP the strongest political party.
I will like to apologize to the former administration that we thought was the worst government. Today we know better
Try as much as possible to vote for a candidate that will ensure the success of our party- Kwankwaso
I want to assure Nigerians that I will do appropriate restructuring to ensure that the economy improves- Kwankwaso
Sule Lamido taking the podium
Former Governor of Kaduna state, Ahmed Makarfi while addressing the delegates says he is glad the PDP is alive and kicking.
He also says he wont leave the party even if he fails to win the primary.
I will remain in the party, I will remain loyal and committed to the party, he said
Now on the podium is former Senate President David Mark.
Speaking earlier, one of the aspirants, former Governor of Jigawa state Sule Lamido said
Sule Lamido said We have been able to re-arranged and re-brand the PDP to make it a wonderful damsel.
He said delegates should vote their conscience. If you do the wrong thing, we are in trouble, Mr Lamido said.
Im the only one amongst the aspirants who have apointed a female as a campaign DG, that shows I am gender friendly David Mark
We have a blueprint that can revamp the economy of this country in 730 days, I want you to mark my words. It is doable David Mark
Mr Mark says if elected president his focus will be to end insecurity and unite the country.
I can be trusted because youve trusted me over the years.
I will support whoever becomes the candidate of the party Mark
Senate President Bukola Saraki now on the podium.
I have the courage, I have the honour to keep the promise I have made, Mr Mark said, promising not to leave the party if he fails to win the primary.
Mr Saraki says he stands humbled and determined as he look at the faces of the delegates.
Mr Saraki says Nigerians are now more divided, but that poverty does not discriminate.
We cannot vote based on sentiments, we must vote based on competence
If you are looking for a 21st century leader, you will vote for me in the next few hours -Saraki
I promise to work hard to unite this country
I will have a youth driven government Saraki
Speaking now is the Governor of Sokoto state, Aminu Tambuwal. He is one of the aspirants.
Mr Tambuwal says having been a federal lawmaker and a state governor, he has the required experience to run Nigeria.
He promise to promote science and technology, and use it to fight insecurity and crime in Nigeria, if elected president.
He also promised to focus attention on agriculture.
Mr Tambuwal, like most other aspirants, promise to support whoever emerges as PDP candidate if he fails to win the primary.
Aminu Tambuwal as he leaves the podium after addressing the convention
Now on the Podium is former Minister for Special Duties and one of the aspirants, Tanimu Turaki
Mr Turaki says Nigeria has been plagued by insecurity, decayed infrastructure and hardship.
He says all the 12 presidential aspirants are qualified to be elected as the partys candidate and that he is the most honest and credible of all the aspirants.
All the aspirants have finished addressing the convention.
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, is now addressing the convention.
Mr Ekweremadu says PDP started the fight against corruption and also brought the GSM communication to Nigeria.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan is now addressing the convention. Mr Jonathan gets an ovation as he was introduced.
Mr Jonathan says all the aspirants are qualified to be the partys candidate.
He said the delegates must elect one person who would unite Nigeria.
He also says he is glad to hear the aspirants pledge to remain in the PDP and help the party win the 2019 presidential election even if they fail to win the primary.
With speeches over. The voting process is about to commence. The electoral committee, accompanied by agents of the aspirants, is going around the delegates stands to do final verification.
Voting is going to be by open-secret. No voting by proxy. Phone not allowed into the cubicle that will be used for the voting. No two delegates will be allowed to enter one cubicle together, the convention organizers tell delegates.
Chairman of the convention committee, Governor Okowa is currently explaining voting procedures to the delegates.
He appeals to them to cooperate with the orgarnisers for a free and transparent voting.
Mr Okowa, informed the convention that after his committee took delivery of the ballot papers, they went a step further to put a seal on each of the papers to forestall a situation where ballot papers are smuggled in from outside.
Any ballot paper without our seal on it will not be counted as a valid vote, he said.
Voting has finally began.
Jigawa and Abia states are voting concurrently. Henceforth, it will be two states at a time.
The next states to vote are Adamawa with 76 delegates and Katsina with 100 delegates
Now voting are delegates from Akwa-Ibom State. They are made up of 151 delegates.
Voting shortly after Akwa-Ibom are delegates from Kebbi State. They are made up of 66 delegates.
Kogi state delegates now voting. They have a total of 94 accredited delegates.
Kogi is closely followed by Anambra which has a total number of 54 accredited delegates.
Bauchi State with 76 accredited delegates are now voting. They will be voting concurrently with Kwara state which has a total of 102 accredited delegates.
Bayelsa with 74 delegates are now voting together with Lagos with 64 accredited delegates.
Benue State with 121 accredited delegates are now voting. Nasarawa State is voting alongside with 62 accredited delegates.
Borno state with a total of 57 accredited voters are now voting.
Niger State and Cross River state are voting concurrently. They both have a total of 83 and 94 accredited voters respectively.
Delta state with a total of 150 accredited delegates are now voting. They will be followed by Ogun with 21 delegates.
Ondo state has 64 accredited delegates and are about casting their votes
Ebonyi state has 101 accredited delegates and are currently voting. Osun has 89. Voting in a short while
Atiku Abubakar casting his vote Atiku Abubakar casting his vote Atiku Abubakar casting his vote
79 accredited delegates from Edo state are now voting. Oyo state accredited delegates are 88 also voting.
Enugu has a total number of 136 accredited delegates who are currently voting. Plateau state delegates with a total number of 76 are also voting
109 Ekiti delegates as well as the host state, Rivers with 131 delegates are now voting
Wike displays ballot paper, votes Tambuwal
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has shown to the world that he voted Sokoto State Governor and Presidential aspirant, Aminu Tambuwal.
Prior to the convention, he was believed to be backing Tambuwal for the party ticket.
Apart from Wike, 90 percent of the rRivers state delegates also displayed their ballot papers, apparently to show the world where they belong.
Voting is ongoing,
129 accredited voters from Kano are now casting their votes
5.53am 93 accredited voters from Taraba are now voting. 104 Imo delegates are following concurrently
Kwankwaso has cast his vote Kwankwaso has cast his vote Kwankwaso has cast his vote
Voting almost concluded as delegates from Zamfara state and the FCT are now casting their votes. Sorting of the ballot papers will soon start
Voting ends. We have just completed the process of voting. We thank all our delegates. Now we are going to proceed to the process of sorting. Okowa
Security agents are mounting the podium, where the ballots are being sorted1 Security agents are mounting the podium, where the ballots are being sorted Security agents are mounting the podium, where the ballots are being sorted1
Atiku Abubakar appears to be in an early lead at the convention, according to PREMIUM TIMES observation of ongoing sorting of ballots.
The former vice president appears to be trailed closely by Mr Tambuwal, with Mr Saraki holding a third place.
PREMIUM TIMES observation shows that Mr Abubakars sorting box has been replaced at least once by party electoral officers, after being filled, while his closest rivals have their boxed filled but not yet changed.
Dubem Onyia, Mr Abubakars agent, could also be seen clearly receiving more ballots than other agents within the last hour. Mr Tambuwals agent was formerly receiving more, but that dwindled later.
A ballot has approximately 800 ballots, according to party officers.
About 7000 delegates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are expected to converge on Eagle Square, Abuja on Saturday to affirm President Muhammadu Buhari as the candidate of the party in the February 2019 election.
Mr Buhari had earlier been elected by the members of the party via direct primaries held in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on September 28.
Although there were other aspirants, the president was the only one that purchased and returned the expression of interest and nomination forms.
If affirmed today, it will be Mr Buhari fifth attempt at the presidency having failed in 2003, 2007 and 2011 before finally clinching the position in the 2015 elections.
PREMIUM TIMES team of reporters will be at the Eagle Square for the coverage of the event
Eagle square is set for the convention with security officials on ground Eagle square is set for the convention with security officials on ground Eagle square is set for the convention with security officials on ground Eagle square is set for the convention with security officials on ground Eagle square is set for the convention with security officials on ground Eagle square is set for the convention with security officials on ground Eagle square is set for the convention with security officials on ground Eagle square is set for the convention with security officials on ground Eagle square is set for the convention with security officials on ground Eagle square is set for the convention with security officials on ground
Chairman of the convention committee 7:28pm Governor Abiola Ajimobi, senator Shehu Sani also arrive the venue 7:03pm Rivers delegates argue over a place to sit a the Rivers stand has its chairs named after members of the NWC. Kashim shettima arrives Kayode Fayemi, Rotimi Rotimi-minster of transportation, Adebayo shittu, Babatunde Fashola, Audu Ogbe-minister of Agric,
Ondo delegates seated Plateau delegate seat empty, delegates yet to arrive Nasarawa delegates yet to arrive
Edo delegates stand empty, cultural dance seen there practicing their performance APC national convention
Bola Tinubu, Adams Oshiomhole, Godswill Akpabio, senator Abdullahi Adamu 8:22pm sanwo-olu and Ambode arrive eagle square
9:58pm Vice President Yemi Osibanjo arrives Eagles Square.
Chairman of the convention planning committee, Governor Abiola Ajimobi urges all the delegates to affirm president Muhammad Buhari.
We have a tested general who is complemented by his vice Yemi Osibanjo and supported by political veterans.
This convention opens yet a new chapter in our political space. This party today will again pick a time tested general in the Person Of Muhammadu Buhari as its sole candidate.
He is the antidote of all political locust, the machine gun for all the political mercenaries He is the best president for the people.
I call on all of us to reaffirm the greatness of Nigeria by endorsing president Muhammad Buhari as a man to lead us simply because his records represent a man that can lead us.
Let us not succumb to the wicked propaganda of our opponents; let us be steady and keep our eyes on the goal
Lets join hands with president Muhammad Buhari and roll up our sleeves.
10:08pm President Muhammad Buhari arrives Eagles Square.
The national anthem was taken immediately he entered the pavilion reserved for him and other prominent members of the party..
10:35pm. APC national chairman Adams Oshiomhole about to give his speech
Excerpt from the speech of APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole:
Sir (president) we are most privilege I will give thanks to almighty God for making today possible. For us to be able to hold this convention.
It is one very important agenda to determine the next presidential candidate of our party. Looking around I believe my very dear friend and brother, the governor of Oyo state Abiola Ajimobi and members of the organizing committee, I believe they have done a very excellent job, putting this under 7 calendar days.
On behalf of the NWC and the entire leadership and membership of the party, I will like to put on record our appreciation to the Committee for a job well done.
The purpose of today is to formally affirm the presidential candidate of our great party. But even before now we have decide with your encouragement that we will conduct direct Primaries for the presidential candidate. We are very appreciative of the support you gave.
You are the first president to be elected through direct primaries.
When I saw while you were away how party members turn out to support you, that meant everything. It means that we have moved from the era of deceit.
Today we have a high number of APC members who came out to vote to nominate its presidential candidate.
Mr President this has been made possible because in under three months in office, the NWC decided to revive our membership register and has been used to conduct election across the country, that is why we can vouch for the election that has been conducted.
In line with NEC directive, we have conducted, and as we speak some states are conducting their primaries.
As at the time I left office we had results of 29 out of 36 states
I want to appreciate the governors and leaders of our party who have done all to ensure security in their various states.
These primaries have been highly peaceful even though we had cases but those situation are under control.
We thought we could use this convention to discuss policy but we are unable because of the fact that tomorrow is the last day of conducting primaries.
I have had conversations with the organising committee and we agreed in the next two three weeks we will have a manifesto dialogue.
It is my hope that we will have the full support of the president and our governors on this policy dialogue.
The Managing Director of Nigeria Ports Authority, who is serving as the secretary of the national convention, Hadiza Bala Usman has announced the affirmation process which is about to start
The announcement of votes scored by the president in the different states is about to begin
Ekiti state Governor elect, Kayode Fayemi has been called on to guide the affirmation process
Delegates attending the APC National Convention has just affirmed President Muhammadu Buhari as the candidate of the party in the 2019 election.
The affirmation was done through a voice vote by the delegates under the guidance of Ekiti state Governor elect, Kayode Fayemi.
The affirmation was dine after the results of direct primary election from all the 36 states and the FCT were announced.
President Buhari has scored 14, 842,072 votes from the 36 states and FCT.
Vote of Thanks given by Borno state Governor, Kashim Shettima, the vice chairman convention planning committee.
APC had its candidate 180 days ago, we already knew our candidate since April 2018 and we started visiting our delegates at the state level .
The PDP is still trying to get a candidate and we have left them behind 180 days ago.
I predict that APC will win the 2019 election in a landslide.
So that the PDP will stage lots of protests and press conferences.
The APC started this presidential journey 6 month ago leaving the PDP behind and 6 month after today, we will gather here in peace.
Senate leader, Ahmed Lawan in a goodwill message pledge that members of the National Assembly will work with him to ensure success.
Although we had cases of defection this year but we are the most united APC caucus of the Senate.
We remain committed to you, the programmes of this administration, We remain loyal to our party.
Mr president , let me thank you also for supporting senators who have remained loyal to the party.
We believe that between this night and tomorrow, there will be issues that will be resolved in favour of some of our colleagues.
I want to add here that the number of senators remains the largest of the senate. We remain the majority.
Democracy as defined by Plato is the government of the majority while the minority will only have their say.
President Muhammadu Buhari is now giving his acceptance speech.
He began by thanking two national leaders of the party, Bola Tinubu and Bisi Akande.
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the chairman and members of the convention committee. The same appreciation goes to the chairmen of our states.
The primaries this time is different because I am the only candidate. I thank other eligible candidate who deferred to me in the interest of our party. Fellow party members it is with a dues sense of humility that I accept to be the candidate and flag bearer for the 2019 election. I stand before you to say there is no honour greater thanto stand before you
I accept this honour as a tribute and mark of confidence to carry the responsibility and continue the good work of the APC to 2023 and beyond.
We can be proud of our achievements, change has come.
Think of what the PDP did when they governed us.
Internationally Nigeria is now respected. The international community is very supportive of our efforts to put the country together.
I will not let you or the people of Nigeria down unto victory in 2019- Buhari
The National Anthem was rendered at about 1:20am signaling an end to the 4th APC National Convention.
The eighth Conference of Parties of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) ended in Geneva on Saturday, with governments unanimously adopting policies to eliminate the influence of tobacco companies.
Parties also agreed to redouble defences against evolving tobacco industry tactics as well as mandate a study on new tobacco products which pose a threat to public health particularly to children.
For years, the tobacco industry exploited loopholes and sent representatives to pose as members of the public and media, and stack delegations with tobacco-friendly groups in attempts to delay, weaken, or block progress.
On Saturday, Parties adopted a landmark good governance policy that eliminates these loopholes, shutting out the industry and protecting the treaty from interference.
The tobacco industry is the single largest barrier to tobacco control policies globally and these negotiations were no exception, said Michel Legendre, associate campaign director at Corporate Accountability.
We applaud the delegates that stood up to the industry and staunchly rejected their rhetoric. It is thanks to them that governments have now adopted precedent-setting measures that will protect millions of peoples lives.
Parties not only eliminated Big Tobaccos last entryways into the talks, but also expanded the treatys firewall policies that protect public health policy making from the influence of emerging industry tactics.
The adopted policy includes specific language to expose and counteract tactics by companies such as the Philip Morris International-funded foundation, and it called on all institutions to reject any proposed partnership, among other measures.
This deadly industry may claim its turning a new leaf, but we arent falling for its latest scam, said Akinbode Oluwafemi, deputy executive director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN).
Big Tobacco tries to confuse, sow doubt, and derail policy with its PR stunts, but governments around the world are rejecting its attempts.
Nuntavarn Vichit-Vadakan, a delegate for Thailand, said the tobacco industry would stop at nothing to try to undermine the lifesaving measures of the treaty.
Today, we made great strides to keep the industry where it belongs: outside of the talks and away from public health policy.
Parties also called on the Secretariat to fulfil its commitment and provide governments with the necessary resources to hold the tobacco industry civilly and criminally liable for its abuses potentially unveiling a new frontier of tobacco control.
Soon, Parties will have the tools they need to make Big Tobacco pay, said Dr Reina Roa, Panama Ministry of Health.
Liability actions will unlock unlimited potential to transform the way this industry, and other corporations operate globally.
The decisions adopted by Parties is expected to shape the implementation of the FCTC for the next two years and beyond.
The treaty, which entered into force in 2005, contains the worlds most effective tobacco control and corporate accountability measures estimated to save more than 200 million lives by 2050 if fully implemented.
Ahead of the presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday in Port Hacourt, Rivers State, not less than three aspirants have met with the caucus of the National Assembly.
The various meetings which were mostly to solicit support of the lawmakers were held in the same venue, Aztec Arcum, a multipurpose hall next to Swiss Spirit hotel.
All PDP federal lawmakers are delegates for the convention.
Amongst aspirants who visited the lawmakers were Senate President Bukola Saraki, Gombe State Governor, Hassan Dankwambo, and his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal.
As at 3:30 a.m, PREMIUM TIMES learnt the lawmakers were still expecting other aspirants like former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The lawmakers declined to speak with the media. However, one of them who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES in confidence said the aim was basically to seek for support.
About 4,000 delegates are expected to participate in the primaries, according to party officials. They have been arriving in town since Wednesday, and the last set would arrive by morning on Saturday.
The primaries will decide who amongst the 12 candidates will fly the partys flag in the general elections in 2019.
The 12 candidates in the race are: Atiku Abubakar, Ahmed Makarfi, Aminu Tambuwal, Datti Baba-Ahmed, Attahiru Bafarawa, Sule Lamido, Bukola Saraki, David Mark, Hassan Dakwambo, Jonah Jang, Kabiru Turaki and Rabiu Kwankwaso.
They have all expressed confidence in their individual abilities to clinch the ticket and face President Muhammadu Buhari as the main challenger in the general election next February.
The Kaduna State chapter of All Progressive Congress (APC) on Saturday dared the national leadership of the party and conducted a senatorial primary for Kaduna Central zone.
The primaries is ongoing, under tight security.
PREMIUM TIMES observed fully armed security personnel Police, Vigilantes and Civilian JTF, moving around the premises to prevent any breach of law and order.
Delegates and journalists were searched and screened before allowed into the hall.
Five aspirants are vying for Kaduna Central senatorial seat under the APC.
The partys national body had earlier cleared only Shehu Sani as the partys Kaduna Central senatorial candidate for 2019, a decision rejected by the states APC leadership.
Mr Sani is the senator currently representing the zone.
The primaries started around 12:55 pm, with the party delegates from the seven Local Government Areas that form the central senatorial zone, converged at the venue the Murtala Square Hall as early as 9:am.
The Central Senatorial/House of Representatives primaries coordinator for Kaduna State, Eddie Floyd, said five aspirants were expected to participate in the primaries.
He listed their names as follows Sani Saleh, Uba Sani, Shehu Sani, Usman Ibrahim and Shamsudeen Giwa.
Mr Sani, the senator, stayed away from the event.
The senator, who spoke a few hours before the primaries began, described it as a charade.
We wish to inform the general public that Senator Shehu Sani is not part of, and is not participating in a purported Kaduna central APC senatorial primaries, Mr Sani said in a statement issued by Abdulsamad Amadi, his special adviser, media.
Shehu Sani [Photo credit: Instagram]
The said event is a fake charade that is being organized by drowning politicians who want to cause confusion and destabilize (the) APC.
The office of Senator Shehu Sani has not, and will not send anybody as their representative or agent to that illegality.
This is because the national leadership of the APC has not scheduled any senatorial primaries in Kaduna central today, he said.
The senatorial primary election has been concluded and the results are being sorted out for announcement as at press time.
Details later
A group of former governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, known as G-8, is angry with Governor Udom Emmanuel over the outcome of the PDP Senate primary for the Akwa Ibom South District. PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
The G-8 is made up of aspirants who lost the 2015 PDP governorship primary to Mr Emmanuel under controversial circumstances, but chose to remain in the party.
They had thrown their weight behind Mr Emmanuel, instead of defecting like some of their co-aspirants to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The G-8 members include Assam Assam, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a former Nigerian ambassador to Russian Federation and Belarus; Nkpenyong Ntekim, a legal practitioner and former attorney general of the state; Peter Esuh, a professor of mass communication; Samuel Udonsak, a medical practitioner; Ita Udo, a former commissioner in the state; Mike Sebastian, a businessman; and Chris Abasieyo, a former commissioner in the state.
A source, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES Friday morning, said the G-8 members met at Calabar on Thursday to review the outcome of the PDP primary for Akwa Ibom South District in which one of their members, Mr Ntekim, was an aspirant.
Akon Eyakenyi, a former minister of Lands, Housing and Urban development, won the primary.
The source, who did not want his name mentioned because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the group felt betrayed and angry that the governor turned around to support Mrs Eyakenyi after he had given his words to the group that he was going to support Mr Ntekim.
He did not mention how many of the G-8 members attended the meeting.
The governor apart from later endorsing Akon Eyakenyi, caused people around him to sponsor her (Mrs Eyakenyi) at the primary, said the source, who added that the governor met with some party leaders at the Eket Local Government Secretariat on the day of the election and directed them to support Mrs Eyakenyi.
The G-8 has nothing to hold on to, and yet none of its members contested the primary for governor. They have their cards on the table, anything can happen, he said.
When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Governor Emmanuels spokesperson, Ekerete Udoh, he said the issue was purely political, and that a PDP spokesperson would be appropriate official to speak on it.
PREMIUM TIMES couldnt immediately reach the PDP spokesperson in the state, Ini Ememobong, as his telephone line was switched off as at the time of filing this report.
Suspected armed robbers have killed the vice chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ebonyi State chapter, Samuel Nweke.
He died along the Nkalagu axis of the Enugu-Abakaliki expressway while returning from Abeokuta, Ogun State, after attending the NUJ national delegate conference held on Friday.
It was gathered that the bandits intercepted the vehicle near Nkalagu and ordered them to lie down on the expressway. A vehicle on high speed ran over them and killed Mr Nweke on the spot.
Other occupants of the vehicle sustained various degrees of injuries. They are now receiving treatment at Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.
Meanwhile, Governor David Umahi has expressed shock over the incident.
In a statement signed by his chief press secretary, Emmanuel Uzor, Mr Umahi described the journalists death as tragic and called for full investigation into the circumstances surrounding his demise.
He described Mr Nweke as a great journalist and believer in his administrations resolve to develop all sectors of the state economy simultaneously using mass media as vehicle for social engineering.
Meanwhile, the NUJ, Zone C, has declared a one week period of mourning for the slain journalist.
BETHESDA, Md., Oct. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced today that it hired Trevor Blood as Vice President in its Capital Markets group, which brokers commercial real estate loans through its vast network of capital providers. Mr. Blood is based out of the company's Torrance, California office and will play an integral role in the continued expansion of Walker & Dunlop's geographic footprint across the United States.
Cliff Carnes, Chief Production Officer of the company's Capital Markets Group, stated, "We are pleased to welcome Trevor to the team. We are confident that he will be a great asset to the company and the continued growth of our Capital Markets team. Trevor has a strong track record and experience spanning from investment sales to mortgage banking, and we anticipate that he will make a meaningful impact on our platform very quickly."
Prior to joining Walker & Dunlop, Mr. Blood served as a vice president at Pacific Southwest Realty Service (PSRS) where he focused primarily on correspondent loan originations with life companies and brokered loans to various capital providers. Within his first nine months of employment at PSRS, Mr. Blood sourced capital for over $200 million worth of commercial real estate transactions. Previously, Mr. Blood worked on the highest-volume sales and leasing brokerage team in San Diego, with Cassidy Turley.
Walker & Dunlop is a leader in the commercial real estate finance space and has been ranked within the top 50 firms on Fortune Magazine's Fastest-Growing Companies List for two consecutive years. The rapid growth of the company's Capital Markets group has contributed to this ranking; in 2017, the team closed a record $7.3 billion in total brokered volume with over 235 different capital providers, up 75 percent from 2016. The company's growth in the capital markets space is largely due to the its successful hiring and integration of talented bankers and brokers throughout the United States. To learn more about Walker & Dunlop's diverse financing options, visit our website.
About Walker & Dunlop
Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the largest commercial real estate services and finance companies in the United States providing financing and investment sales to owners of multifamily and commercial properties. Walker & Dunlop, which is included in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, has over 650 professionals in 29 offices across the nation with an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction.
SOURCE Walker & Dunlop, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.walkerdunlop.com
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today decried the full Senate's confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Earlier today, the Senate voted in favor of his confirmation, despite the concerns of many Americans about allegations of sexual assault on the part of the nominee and after a contentious Judiciary Committee hearing in which he was belligerent, insulting to committee members, overtly partisan, and appeared to make a number of misleading or demonstrably false statements.
In response to Judge Kavanaugh's Senate confirmation, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
"Judge Kavanaugh's past rulings and statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding civil rights, religious freedom and the rights of immigrants -- along with his expansive views on presidential powers -- would on their own be enough to disqualify him from service on the Supreme Court."
"The Supreme Court's decisions have very real consequences in the lives of all Americans. We are concerned that, as a new Supreme Court justice, Judge Kavanaugh will exhibit the same extreme partisanship and lack of veracity and judicial temperament that we have all witnessed in recent days. A justice on the nation's highest court must be an impartial arbiter of the law, not a vengeful political conspiracy theorist whose truthfulness and neutrality are in doubt."
He added that CAIR is a non-partisan organization and will continue to hold elected officials and the nation's legal system accountable to the Constitution and to universal principles of human rights.
CAIR said it has witnessed an unprecedented spike in bigotry targeting American Muslims, immigrants and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president.
The Washington-based civil rights organization has also repeatedly expressed concern about past Islamophobic, anti-immigrant and white supremacist Trump administration policies and appointments.
CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La mision de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprension del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
CONTACT: CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]
SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Related Links
http://www.cair.com
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Oct. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Education Anew: Shifting Justice 2018 (EASJ2018) is a unique education and youth justice convening co-hosted by Andrus Family Fund (AFF) and the Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF) that will elevate the collective genius of organizers, advocates and youth who have dedicated their lives to creating safe and supportive schools, closing youth jails and prisons, ending the criminalization of and violence against young people of color, and transforming education and youth justice systems. The 2018 convening will be held at La Concha Resort in San Juan, Puerto Rico October 11-14.
EASJ2018 offers a unique opportunity to bring these diverse voices together in one space to create impactful, contextual change and align strategies to address structural racism and inequality in schools, youth systems, and communities. Additionally, EASJ2018 will explore the ways in which communities are building collective power to end the criminalization of youth of color and advance new models of transformative justice that seek to abolish cages and prisons.
Leading up to EASJ2018, participating organizations sought to create space for solidarity-building and education around the global fight against disaster capitalism and colonialism in Puerto Rico and beyond. On August 11, 2018, youth justice organizers from the continental United States joined organizers and cultural workers from Puerto Rico and the diaspora in New Orleans to unpack the economic and social realities of Puerto Rico pre- and post-Maria. EASJ2018 will give participants another opportunity to collaborate, build connections and engage in shared movement-building strategies.
"EASJ2018 gives attendees a chance to step away from the incredible work they are doing every day in their communities and on the state level, and share it with others in this space," said Jaime Koppel, Deputy Director for Strategic Partnerships, Communities for Just Schools Fund.
In an effort to amplify the growing movement against privatized education in Puerto Rico, EASJ2018 will lift up the work of a select group of Puerto Rico-based educator organizers, who are mobilizing to save public schools in the midst of a massive wave of school closures and resisting efforts to privatize public education on the island. EASJ2018 programming will address topics such as Puerto Rican colonialism and resistance, police-free schools, investing in public education and organizing youth-led movements.
Additionally, EASJ2018 will provide an opportunity for cultural exchange and self-care among attendees through workshops and community learning tours.
"This is a movement that highlights the building of power among those who have systematically been denied power and celebrates the genius of those at the center of the struggle," adds Koppel.
Why Puerto Rico
The historical disinvestment in Puerto Rico is structural and historical in nature after more than a century of colonial status. Therefore, the inequities in Puerto Rico are not a result of Hurricane Maria but were exacerbated by it. The day before the storm:
6 in 10 children in Puerto Rico were living in poverty.
were living in poverty. Puerto Rico had a poverty rate that was almost double the poorest state in the United States .
had a poverty rate that was almost double the poorest state in . The median family income in Puerto Rico was $20,438 , which is half of the lowest median income in the poorest state of the U.S.
"The fact that EASJ2018 is taking place in Puerto Rico one year after Hurricane Maria is very intentional. We know that solutions to youth justice and education in Puerto Rico are found from within. Those closest to the problems have the best ideas on how to solve them. So we are entering the communities of Puerto Rico with the understanding that we know nothing and we are here to learn everything. And, that we can bring resources and learnings from different parts of the United States to create fertile ground for real, collaborative work," said Leticia Peguero, Executive Director, Andrus Family Fund.
EASJ2018 will provide attendees with an extraordinary opportunity to learn about the struggles for racial justice, education, and youth justice in Puerto Rico. EASJ2018 will feature speakers, organizers, healers and artists from Puerto Rico as well as community learning tours, where attendees will experience the work of local organizations first hand.
"The time is now to lift the veil of invisibility and work together with our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters to enact inclusive, sustainable change," Peguero adds.
About Education Anew: Shifting Justice (EASJ)
Co-hosted by Andrus Family Fund and Communities for Just Schools Fund, EASJ is an entirely female-led biennial convening that bridges education and youth justice organizers, advocates and funders. The 2018 convening will be held at La Concha Resort in San Juan, Puerto Rico October 11-14 and will include visits to a number of community organizations working in the area. Learn more about Education Anew: Shifting Justice 2018 at http:///www.educationanew.org .
CONTACT: Mary Tveit, [email protected] or 404-432-5067
SOURCE Andrus Family Fund
New Delhi, Oct 6 : The festive season is just a couple of days away, and it will bring along a lot of travel and parties, which can disturb sleep pattern. Ensure you get your dose of sound sleep.
Ankit Garg, CEO and Co-founder, Wakefit.co and Gowri Kulkarni, Head of Medical operations, DocsApp Medical App, suggest tips that can help you get through all the disruption at this time of the year with everyone feeling fresh and well-rested:
Carry your own pillow while travelling: If you are travelling to your relative's place or a new place during the festive holidays, chances are you may not feel comfortable sleeping on someone else's bed or a couch. Sometimes it could even be an inappropriate pillow that can cause pain in the neck.
While you may not be able to do much about it but you can definitely avoid such circumstances by carrying your own height-adjustable memory foam pillow. These advanced technology pillows take the shape of your neck and also aligns it perfectly with your spinal cord giving you restful sleep and helping you wake up fresh even in unfamiliar spaces.
Splurge on a high-quality sleep inducing mattress: After a tiring day of pandal hopping and meeting your friends and family, you all might be yearning for a good sleep at the end of the day when you hit the bed. In that case, you must splurge on a well-designed, comfortable, and orthopaedic foam mattress that guarantees hours of blissful sleep.
Ditch the card games and enjoy the outdoors: Indian festivities are mostly about house parties and chilling with your friends over drinks and food. While they are good for our taste buds, they are detrimental to our health and sleep, resulting in hung-over mornings and lazy days. Why spoil the festive season this way? Instead, plan outdoor events in the daylight like game sessions, outdoor sports, pool brunches, etc that will help keep your daily rhythm in sync and let you end the day with a quality and rejuvenating sleep.
Watch what you are eating and drinking: During festival season, we are unable to control our temptation for sumptuous delicacies. The heavy food and the excuse of drinking at night with friends, impacts our sleep.
Follow basic sleep hygiene: Following basic sleep hygiene is imperative for good quality sleep. Focus on simple things like keeping your bedroom at a comfortable temperature, cutting exposure to bright lights a few hours before sleeping, keeping your hands and feet warm, sleeping a dark and silent room in order to induce sleep. These habits will ensure that external factors don't disrupt your sleep at night.
Washington, Oct 6 : US President Donald Trump has abruptly replaced the director of federal personnel with a top official at the Office of Management and Budget, according to the White House.
On Friday, White House said in a brief statement Margaret Weichert, who serves as deputy director for management at the White House Office of Management and Budget, will helm the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in an acting capacity "in addition to her current duties", reports The Hill magazine.
Weichert will replace Jeff Pon, a business executive who had been in the post just since March.
A White House official said Pon resigned but did not provide a reason for his departure.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Weichert said the decision was in line with Trump's "management agenda".
She has played a key role in the administration's effort to reform the civil service.
"What I would say is that the broader objectives of the President's management agenda are focusing on driving and really modernizing how we think about governing and our workforce in the 21st century. The President wants me to continue the work that we are doing around the President's management agenda," said Weichert.
The OPM is an independent federal agency tasked with overseeing the federal civilian workforce. Its previous Senate-confirmed director, Katherine Archuelta, was forced to resign in 2015 after it was revealed that 20 million people's personal information was stolen in a major data breach.
Lucknow, Oct 6 : At least six people were injured in a clash which erupted between youths of two communities in Varanasi, police said on Saturday.
The incident took place near the Kazzakpura railway crossing late Friday night with reports of stone pelting from both sides.
Tension also spread to nearby localities of Jalalipura, Hanuman Gate and Saraiiya.
Fearing that the clashes could get communal, senior officials led by the District Magistrate (DM) and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) soon rushed to the spot with additional police force and brought the situation under control.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) to the SSP, Varanasi, Sarvesh Mishra told IANS that additional police deployment has been made and that the situation was completely normal.
"No one has sustained any major injury and things are absolutely normal."
Los Angeles, Oct 6 : Actor-filmmaker Denzel Washington has been chosen to receive the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award.
The award will be presented to Washington at a tribute on June 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, reports variety.com "Denzel Washington is an American icon," said Howard Stringer, chair of the American Film Institute (AFI) Board of Trustees.
"As an actor, he stands tall as a heroic, stoic embodiment of the best in all of us, and he does so with heart, humanity, and one of the brightest smiles to ever light up the screen.
"Equally formidable as director and producer, he is a creative force to be reckoned with - and one of the most vital, relevant artists working today. AFI is proud to present him with its 47th Life Achievement Award," Stringer added.
Washington received Academy Awards for the war drama "Glory" in 1990 and for the crime thriller "Training Day" in 2002.
He received Oscar nominations for "Cry Freedom," "Malcolm X," "The Hurricane," "Flight," "Fences," and "Roman J. Israel, Esq."
Some of his noted films include "Remember the Titans", "The Great Debaters", "American Gangster", "Inside Man" and "The Magnificent Seven".
He made his feature directorial debut with "Antwone Fisher" and directed himself in "The Great Debaters".
San Francisco, Oct 6 : Users installing the "Windows 10 October 2018" update have complained that the process wiped out their user profiles including documents and photos, the media reported.
Since Microsoft has not started automatically pushing this latest update out, only people who visit "Windows Update" manually and check for updates are installing the latest software version, The Verge reported late on Friday.
An alarming number of users have taken to social media forums and Microsoft's own support website to complain about the serious issue.
"Last night I updated Windows 10 and it all went smoothly, but then I find that all my files in Documents are deleted. This included many crucial documents and financial info," read a user-complaint on the Microsoft support page.
"Microsoft is currently investigating the reports, but given these early issues it is not recommended to install the Windows 10 October 2018 Update right now," the report added.
Microsoft was yet to comment on the issue.
After its "Windows 10 April 2018" update, in September, the tech giant had announced a refreshed "Windows 10 October 2018 Update" with new features and enhancements for over 700 million devices running Windows 10.
The update rolled out globally on October 2.
Lucknow, Oct 6 : Three people were killed in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district when a speeding truck hit a bike, police said on Saturday.
The accident took place near the Jalalbad round about when the three bike-borne youngsters were returning from Hartara.
The bike was hit by the speeding truck from behind and the victims died on the spot.
All the three were from Lorpur, an official told IANS.
New Delhi : The advent of the festive season has brought good luck for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
After Mayawati's imperious scuttling of any chance of an alliance with the Congress in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the BJP can rest easy with the thought that the projected "mahagathbandhan" (grand alliance) of the national opposition may be now dead and buried.
After several by-election successes in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress appeared to have taken it for granted that the two states were already in its bag with the possibility of winning in Chhattisgarh as well on the basis of an anti-BJP wind blowing in from Madhya Pradesh.
But the Congress hadn't taken into account its own internal fissures along with an ingrained arrogance and deviousness. One manifestation of the cracks within the party was the palpable gulf between two senior leaders in Madhya Pradesh, the party chief in the state, Kamal Nath, and the former chief minister, Digvijaya Singh.
Even as Kamal Nath teamed up with Jyotiraditya Scindia and "negotiated" with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), thereby hogging the limelight, Digvijaya Singh, perhaps feeling left out, decided to make his presence felt by throwing a spanner in the unity efforts.
True, the first chink in the mahagathbandhan was caused by Mayawati when she left the Congress in the lurch in Chhattisgarh, forming an alliance with the breakaway Congress leader, Ajit Jogi, and even announcing contesting 22 seats on her own in Madhya Pradesh.
But there was no immediate need for Digvijaya Singh to see her move as a scared response to the investigations against her by various government agencies.
Although this interpretation was being aired in the media, it was evidently unacceptable to the temperamental BSP czarina to find a senior Congress leader echoing the views of some analysts.
Hence, her huffy departure from any talks with the Congress on the grounds of the party's arrogance and underhand manoeuvres of those like Digvijaya Singh whom she accused of acting at the BJP's behest.
It is also possible that she believed that a tie-up with the Congress will benefit the latter rather than the BSP, not least because she suspected that the Congress was trying to regain its lost position among the Dalits as in the hoary days of the Congress's Brahmin-Harijan-Muslim base decades ago.
This was the reason why she was not too pleased with Rahul Gandhi's earlier practice of spending nights in Dalit villages, alleging that he soaped himself copiously on returning home.
Since then, her attitude has not only changed but, as she said even after the break-up with the Congress, both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were sincere in their desire for an alliance with the BSP.
It is obvious, therefore, that the Congress should have been far more careful in its dealings with Mayawati, with Rahul Gandhi himself playing a more proactive role to placate the oversensitive BSP leader, who is already under considerable strain because of the emergence of young challengers from within her own community like Jignesh Mewani and Chandrashekhar Azad "Ravan".
The Congress's mistake was to leave the task of talking to her only to the faction-ridden Madhya Pradesh unit, especially when disgruntled elements like Digvijaya Singh were lurking in the background, fearing that he would be further marginalised if Kamal Nath and Scindia managed to clinch a deal.
Now that the idea of a mahagathbandhan has collapsed for all practical purposes, it remains to be seen whether, if at all, the Congress is able to pick up the broken pieces.
Its dependence on a "grand" combine was based on the realisation that the only way the national opposition could take on the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah electoral machine was by acting in unison.
This arithmetical approach -- one "strong" opposition candidate against the BJP in every constituency -- was a concession to the fact that the opposition lacked a charismatic leader who could effortlessly draw crowds and articulate an inspiring vision.
Since the Congress and the opposition fail on both counts, the least they could do to offer a credible challenge to the BJP was by ensuring that the different parties developed a close understanding among themselves which took into account the idiosyncrasies of individual leaders and their apprehensions about being deceived.
However, the problem in the non-BJP camp is that it has only local leaders with little national appeal -- Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, Chandrababu Naidu -- while the "naamdars" (leaders with a lineage), to use Modi's sarcastic word for the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, are too preoccupied with rebuilding and even altering their own shattered images by visiting temples to undertake the arduous task of building a coalition brick by brick.
Mayawati's desertion of the secular camp in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh was, therefore, waiting to happen. All that the Congress and the other parties in the national opposition can hope for at present is that the gathbandhans (alliances) elsewhere, notably in Uttar Pradesh, remain intact.
(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
New Delhi, Oct 6 : From working in Indian films for over three decades to achieving global fame with several international projects, veteran actor Anupam Kher, who is currently in the US shooting for his new American series "New Amsterdam", says he can never overlook Indian cinema for foreign projects.
"It feels good when I get recognition for my international movies and shows, but for me, my own (Indian) cinema is very much important. When I am in some foreign country, I always introduce myself as, 'I am an international actor from India'.
"Being an Indian actor, I cannot overlook our cinema. And I feel there is no dearth of South Asian actors in world cinema because it completely depends upon the person whether he/she wants to act in international projects or not. Our Indian cinema is self-sufficient in its own way," Anupam told IANS over phone from New York.
After playing pivotol roles in Oscar-nominated Hollywood movies like "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Big Sick", the 63-year-old is currently working in medical drama "New Amsterdam".
According to Anupam, he has "reinvented" himself by essaying the role of Vijay Kapoor in the show.
"Through 'New Amsterdam', one of the main things I have learnt is the relationship between doctors and patients. For this show, we are shooting in a real hospital, so I often get a chance to meet patients and doctors. Interacting with the patients made me understand the real value of relations and emotions.
"Now I know what families go through if their loved ones are battling with some illness. I am evolving as a person with this project."
As the show is already on air and is garnering great response from viewers, Anupam considers this project a "huge achievement".
Like Anupam always says, "Kucch bhi ho sakta hai (anything can happen)", seeing his journey so far, he wonders how god has forever been kind to him.
Be it his negative role in "Dushmani" or his comic avatar in "Haseena Maan Jayegi", the versatile actor, who has been entertaining people with his performances for over 30 years. He has also been feted with civilian honours like the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
"A young boy from Shimla who dreamt of becoming an actor, successfully paved a path in Bollywood and is now working in Hollywood. What else could I have asked for? I feel blessed that god has always been kind to me. This project has given me a different kind of achievement. I always wanted to do something different and now I have reinvented and explored my new side with 'New Amsterdam'," he added.
Apart from his international projects, Anupam is also preparing for his next Hindi film "The Accidental Prime Minister", a biopic based on the life of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Anupam, who plays Manmohan Singh in the film, underwent transformation to get into the role. He says it is one of the most challenging roles he has ever done.
The actor said: "It took 4-5 months to make my body language similar to Manmohanji and a complete month for having control over my voice. It was not like 'Go inside (the make-up room) and come out (dressed) as Manmohan Singh'. The character demanded huge hard work and I tried my best to play the role with sincerity and conviction.
"Portraying Dr Manmohan Singh's life on-screen was like a scientist working on his/her discoveries and theories because it is not easy to represent someone who is known by the world. Manmohan Singh is a politician and leader of this generation. People know everything about him. I hope I have done justice to his character."
(Simran Sethi can be contacted at simran.s@ians.in)
New Delhi, Oct 6 : The Congress on Saturday questioned the independence of the Election Commission (EC) after it changed the timing of a press conference to announce the schedule of Assembly polls in five states saying it was done to accommodate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was to address an election rally in Ajmer in the poll-bound Rajasthan.
"Three facts- Draw your own conclusions. ECI announces a PC at 12.30 today (Saturday) to announce election dates to the 5 states. PM Modi is addressing a rally in Ajmer, Rajasthan at 1 p.m. today. ECI suddenly changes the time of announcement and PC to 3 p.m. Independence of ECI?," Congress chief Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.
Reacting to the criticism, the EC, in a statement, said: "Prime concern was for convenience of all of you media persons to reach in time at short notice of morning message and arranging logistics here."
Earlier in the day, the Commission sent a message to media persons at 9.50 a.m. regarding the press conference at 12.30 p.m.
Almost after an hour, the reporters received another message that the timing of the press conference had been changed to 3 p.m.
The Commission is likely to announce the schedule for elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram.
Indore, Oct 6 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah reached Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Saturday.
While he was welcomed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other leaders, several people came out on to the streets shouting slogans against Shah. They have been protesting against the amendment to the SC/ST Act.
The police has arrested the protesters.
After praying at the Mahalakshmi Temple, Shah will begin the election campaign in the state. He will address the party workers at the Dussehra Maidan.
From Indore, Shah will go to Jhabua where he will address a group of tribal people. In Jaora he will meet a farmers' group, and in Ujjain the party workers.
Madrid, Oct 6 : Atletico Madrid's Spanish forward Diego Costa sustained a left thigh injury during the Rojiblancos' UEFA Champions League 3-1 win over Club Brugge, the La Liga club has announced.
The Brazilian-born Costa underwent medical scans, after being forced to leave the field shortly after the one-hour mark during Wednesday's game, reports Efe news.
"The report offered by our medical staff indicates that he suffered an injury in the ischiosural musculature of the left thigh," the club said in a statement on Friday.
Costa is expected to miss Atletico's upcoming La Liga clash with Real Betis at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium scheduled for Sunday.
The player was dropped from the Spanish national team's roster for the upcoming games against Wales on October 11 and England four days later.
Gwalior, Oct 6 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi reached Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior on Saturday to support the protesting landless poor who are marching towards Delhi.
He was welcomed by state Congress chief Kamal Nath, election campaign committee head Jyotiraditya Scindia and other leaders.
Gandhi reached Gwalior at around 12.30 p.m. from where he left for Morena in a helicopter. According to Congress leaders, he will address a gathering at Morena district party headquarter's stadium later in the day.
The landless poor have been marching towards Delhi on foot since Thursday. Until now, they have covered a distance of 36 kms. They are expected to reach Morena soon.
Tokyo, Oct 6 : Japan's iconic Tsukiji fish market, considered the world's largest, closed its doors permanently on Saturday after 83 years ahead of its relocation next week.
The market's new home on the artificial island of Toyosu in Tokyo Bay will open to the public on October 11, and will be almost twice the size of the former site, reports Efe news.
The relocation of the market, as part of the urban renovation of Tokyo ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games, has been delayed on several occasions due to fears of contamination of the soil of the new facilities.
While the world's largest fish market will be relocated to Toyosu, Tsukiji's current retail market will be renovated into a "gastronomic theme park", according to the Tokyo metropolitan government.
The origin of the market dates back to 1657, when the Tokugawa Shogunate set up a fish market near Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay and called it Tsukiji, which literally means "reclaimed land".
The market was officially renamed Tsukiji fish market in 1884 but was destroyed, along with most of Tokyo, in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and shifted to its current location in 1935.
Ranchi, Oct 6 : Members of the Sikh community blocked an important road here for over three hours on Saturday to protest against the murder of a businessman.
The agitation took place on the Sujata roundabout of Mahatma Gandhi road also known as the "lifeline" of Ranchi.
On Friday night, Narendra Singh Hora, 56, was shot dead by three unidentified assailants near the Rospa tower while he was returning home from his shop on his scooter.
He was taken to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.
While two criminals escaped on the bike, one took Hora's scooter. According to family members, Rs 5 lakh was kept in the scooter.
Angered over the murder, the protest was called which has been supported by the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Ranchi City Superintendent of Police (SP) Aman Kumar and Traffic SP Sanjay Ranjan reached the spot and held talks with the protesters who demanded the immediate arrest of the assailants.
After three hours, the protesters agreed to end the blockade.
"Ranchi has turned into a crime city... The rape incidents are rising and women have stopped wearing gold chains due to fear of chain snatchers," Kishore Sahdeo, Congress spokesperson, told IANS.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has also condemned the incident.
New Delhi, Oct 6 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly favouring a private insurance company after Jammu and Kashmir government gave it the contract for executing a government employees mediclaim policy.
"When your BFF is the PM, you can get the 1,30,000 Cr. Rafale deal, even without relevant experience. But wait. There's more! Apparently, 400,000 JK Govt staff will also be arm twisted into buying health insurance ONLY from your company!," Gandhi tweeted.
Gandhi's attack comes in the wake of the Governor's administration in Jammu and Kashmir, through an order No 406-FD dated September 20, 2018, choosing Reliance General Insurance as the company for implementing the insurance policy with a coverage of Rs 6 lakh for individual and family members on floater basis.
The scheme has been made mandatory for all state government employees including employees of PSUs, autonomous bodies and universities. It will be optional for pensioners and other categories of employees.
New Delhi, Oct 6 : Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday expressed his disagreement with the Supreme Court's observation that sexuality is part of free speech and said that judgements on the Sabarimala temple, homosexuality and adultery may have an adverse impact on the society.
"If you want to take a progressive step, then Article 14 and 21 will apply against all religions. It cannot happen that you select a practice and apply it. That will have many consequences in a pluralistic society like India," Jaitley said.
Jaitley was responding to a question on his perspective on the recent top court's verdicts at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
The apex court has decriminalised homosexuality and adultery, upheld the Aadhaar law and ordered that women of all ages can enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
The minister welcomed the judgement on the decriminalisation of Section 377 but said: "I disagree with judicial view that sexuality is part of free speech."
"This is little excessive," he said adding that free speech could, under the Constitution be restrained only under certain circumstances such as public order.
"How then do you restrain any sexual activity in Army frontier, school hostel?" he asked.
"Sometimes, you get carried away while making these historic judgements and you go a step further."
He said that the judgement on Section 377 was part of a sustained campaign for social reform.
On adultery, he said that the section itself was badly worded and needed to be struck down.
But, he warned that decriminalising adultery may have an adverse impact and lead to many consequences.
"Such views may apparently appear progressive...but latter view may find the references of western journals very favourably but it may end up converting Indian family system to western and fragility of marriage may increase," he said.
"When you have a complaint about your spouse's adultery, divorce is the only remedy. That doesn't leave scope for the Legislature to re-amend."
Ajmer, Oct 6 : Accusing the Congress of working for only one family, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attacked the party alleging that it was doing vote bank politics and kept spreading lies.
Addressing a public meeting here, the Prime Minister also hit out at the Congress for questioning the surgical strike that demonstrated the valour of the Indian armed forces.
"The BJP believes in presenting the report card of the works its government has done, whether its Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisagrh.
"The BJP never hides its face while giving the report card to the people. But the Congress keeps on spreading lies," he said.
The Prime Minister said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not have a habit of lying as it works on the mantra of 'Sarva Jan Hitay' and 'Sarva Jan Sukhay'.
"But the opposition is fond of doing vote bank politics, and those who do vote bank politics, they enjoy the issue of Hindu-Muslim, older-youth, forward backward, this caste and that caste and man and woman.
"Wherever they get the opportunity they try to divide the society," he said, adding that it was easy to divide but very hard to unite.
"And the BJP believes in uniting the society," he said.
"And this vote bank politics is not limited to elections, but it keeps on going for long."
He said that the result of the vote bank politics is that the poor who voted for them they keep on cursing them for five years.
"The Congress for 60 years followed the tradition of vote bank politics," Modi said.
Accusing Congress leaders and workers of worshipping one family, Modi said: "When I came here, (Chief Minister) Vasundhara Rajeji told me that the Congress leaders are not present in the Assembly, they do not raise any questions, they do not participate in debates.
"They do not do anything like this because they are busy in serving one family, they are busy in worshipping one family.
"For them their high command is one family, but for the BJP our high command is seven and half crore people of the state."
"Should such forces be allowed again to come to power?" Modi questioned the crowd.
"We don't have to allow them to come to power again."
Modi said that the Congress also failed as the opposition.
"Earlier I had said that there should be a clever opposition, dedicated to people, they should have sensibility of people's problem, keep a tab on the government's works, participate in debate and give ideas to the government.
"But it was unfortunate that they have not only failed in the government but they have also failed as an opposition.
"They don't do hard work, thus they have taken the help of lies and false propaganda. And when we dare them for a debate they flee," he added.
Slamming the Congress for questioning the second anniversary of the surgical strike as Parakram Parv, Modi said: "When last week I came to Rajasthan to pay tribute to the brave soldiers, they spread lies that I was going to sound the poll bugle.
"But I was here to celebrate the valour of our armed forces, I was here to celebrate the second anniversary of the surgical strike. "
He said that the surgical strike which was carried out in September 2016 showed the valour of our soldiers.
"But what has happened to Congress? Has politics pushed them to such a low that they belittle the surgical strike? They should feel ashamed for questioning the surgical strike," he said.
Modi also asked the Congress what had stopped them from increasing the minimum support price (MSP) for the farmers.
"What didn't you increase the MSP for farmers? Who stopped you from doing so?
"We (BJP) did that, we increased the MSP of the farmers and now you (Congress) people have a problem with the Modi government that how I did this. And now as nothing is left for the Congress they are every morning manufacturing a new lie," he said.
The Assembly election in Rajasthan is slated for later this year.
Gwalior, Oct 6 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who is on a visit to Madhya Pradesh to support the protesting landless poor who are marching towards Delhi, on Saturday attacked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for being pro-industrialists.
"The present government is partial towards 15 industrialists. For the past four and a half years the government has waived off loans worth Rs 3 lakh crore for the industrialists, the same should be done for the farmers," he said while addressing a gathering at a stadium in Morena district.
He also promised the farmers that their loans would be waived off once the Congress assumes power.
Earlier, on his arrival in Gwalior, Gandhi was welcomed by state Congress chief Kamal Nath, election campaign committee head Jyotiraditya Scindia and other leaders. He then left for Morena by helicopter, according to party sources.
The landless poor have been marching towards Delhi since Thursday. Until now, they have covered a distance of 36 kms.
Jodhpur, Oct 6 : Actor Nana Patekar on Saturday pushed aside the mics at the airport here as media persons urged him to answer questions about Tanushree Dutta's allegation that he sexually harassed her on the set of a film a decade ago. Later, he said that lies will remain lies.
Nana was on his way from Jodhpur to catch a flight to Mumbai when paparazzi questioned him about the accusations. The actor avoided the questions and made his way straight into the airport without saying a word, even as a media personnel asked him thrice as to why he was silent, according to videos across social media platforms.
In another video, before Nana was getting into a car, he said: "I have already answered... Jo jhooth hai woh jhooth hai (what is a lie is a lie)".
The actor, who was in Rajasthan to shoot a film, is likely to hold a press conference in Mumbai in a day or two to address the issue.
Last month, Tanushree came in front of the media and accused the "Welcome" actor of harassing her on the sets of their 2008 film "Horn Ok Pleassss". She had raised her voice a decade ago too, but has said her voice was suppressed by those in powerful positions.
The naming and shaming has led several women to come forward and point fingers at sexual harassment incidents they have faced, and several celebrities in showbiz, who have condemned the practice, have spoken out in support of the #MeToo movement.
San Francisco, Oct 6 : Microsoft on Saturday paused the roll-out of its "Windows 10 October 2018" update after several users complained that installing the update has been wiping off their data.
"We have paused the rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809) for all users as we investigate isolated reports of users missing some files after updating," Microsoft posted on its Support page.
Users who have manually downloaded the update have been advised to not "install it and wait until new media is available".
Microsoft has also provided links for people to contact the company through.
"We will provide an update when we resume rolling out the Windows 10 October 2018 Update to customers," the post added.
Earlier, some users complained that the update wiped out their profiles, including documents and photos.
An alarming number of users took to social media forums and Microsoft's own support website to complain about the serious issue.
Since Microsoft had not started automatically pushing this latest update out, only people who visited "Windows Update" manually and checked for updates installed the latest software version.
"Last night I updated Windows 10 and it all went smoothly, but then I find that all my files in Documents are deleted. This included many crucial documents and financial info," read a user-complaint on the Microsoft support page.
After its "Windows 10 April 2018" update, the tech giant in September had announced a refreshed "Windows 10 October 2018 Update" with new features and enhancements for over 700 million devices running Windows 10.
The Wondows 10 update rolled out globally on October 2.
Washington, Oct 6 : City Attorney for the US city of San Francisco announced a victory in a legal battle against the federal government over an immigration law that was invoked by the White House to deny a federal grant to the city.
In response to a ruling by Judge William Orrick of the US Court for the Northern District of California that declared San Francisco's sanctuary ordinances were lawful, attorney Dennis Herrera said the federal government's attempt to impose conditions on law enforcement grants for the city was "unconstitutional".
"We're pleased the court has recognized that San Francisco's sanctuary laws and policies comply with federal law," Herrera was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Orrick's ruling asked the US Department of Justice to give California $28 million that was withheld after the White House challenged the state's immigration policies.
Herrera filed a lawsuit on August 11, 2017 along with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, after US President Donald Trump threatened to deny San Francisco law enforcement more than $1.4 million in grants for the 2017 fiscal year.
The funds were from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Programme, which was created by Congress and awarded annually for more than 30 years, but the federal government had not disbursed the 2017 funds to San Francisco because of the federal and local disputes over immigration policies.
San Francisco and other sanctuary cities had declined to obey orders from the White House requiring the local police to cooperate with federal immigration law enforcement units in rounding up undocumented immigrants.
The sanctuary cities said such cooperation with federal immigration officers would turn away local people who feared to be questioned about their immigration status if they want to report crimes to the police.
"There is no law requiring state or local governments to participate in immigration enforcement," Herrera said, adding that San Francisco's police and firefighters "were not going to be commandeered and turned into the Trump administration's deportation force".
He said San Francisco will use the Byrne funds for important law enforcement purposes, including programmes designed to reduce recidivism, provide alternative forms of prosecution or enable treatment for underserved populations.
New Delhi, Oct 6 : Setting the stage for the high-stakes battle between the BJP and the Congress in at least in three states ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year, the Election Commission on Saturday announced the schedule for Assembly elections in five states, including Telangana, between November 12 and December 7.
Counting of votes in all the states will be done on December 11, Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat said announcing the schedule at a press conference here.
Voting will be held in a single phase in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram and Rajasthan and Telangana on November 28 and December 7 respectively while Chhattisgarh will have a two-phased elections on November 12 and 20 as the The BJP and the Congress will face head on in Madhya Pradesh (230 seats), Rajasthan (200) and Chattisgarh (90), where the saffron is in power while in Telangana (119) the ruling TRS is seeking a second term. In Mizoram (40) Congress is the ruling party.
The BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh for three consecutive terms while in Rajasthan power alternates between the two parties every election.
The Model Code of Conduct comes into force with immediate effect in four states while in Telangana it was in force from the date of dissolution of the Assembly last month.
In Chhattisgarh, where the Commission decided to go for two phases in view of the maoists problem, voting will be held in the most affected areas of the 18 constituencies in the southern part on November 12 and in the remaining 72 seats, voting will take place on November 20.
Notification for the first phase will be issued on October 16 and the last date for nominations would be October 23. Scrutiny will take place next day and the last date for the withdrawal of the nominations will be October 26.
The notification for the elections in the rest of the 72 constituencies in the second phase would be issued on October 26, while the last day for nominations would be November 2. Scrutiny will be done on November 3 and the last date for the withdrawal of the nominations will be November 5. The tenure of the Chhattisgarh Assembly comes to an end on January 5, 2019.
In Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram, the notification will be issued on November 2 while the last date for nominations would be November 9. Scrutiny will be done on November 12 and last date of withdrawal will be November 14.
While the term of the Assembly in Madhya Pradesh expires on January 7, the tenure 40-member Assembly in Mizoram expires on December 15.
In Rajasthan and Telangana, which will go to the polls in a single phase on December 7, the notifiacation will be issued on November 12 and the last date for filing nominations will be November 19. Scrutiny will take place on November 20 while the last date for withdrawal of nominations will be November 22. The term of the Rajasthan Assembly expires on January 20, 2019.
Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the house last month -- nearly nine months before its term was to end.
Asked about the criticism over rescheduling the time of the press conference from 12.30 p.m. to 3 p.m. and that it was done under pressure from Prime Minister to accommodate his election rally in Ajmer in Rajasthan, Rawat said there was no pressure from anywhere.
"There would not have been a delay of two-three hours but for the problem relating to electoral rolls in Telangana," he said and added parties were free to complain to the Commission if somebody got a concession.
"It is the duty of the Commission to satisfy all the stakeholders. We will hold free, fair and credible elections which is our commitment and compulsion," he said.
Earlier, he had said politicians and political parties make criticism and the Commission has no comments to make on that.
To a question about the Commission declaring the schedule for Telangana without the full commission visiting the state, he said there was a problem about publication of the final electoral roll for which the date has been fixed as October 12 and there was a hearing before the High Court on the issue. Also the elections in the state have been fixed at the fag end of the current schedule so that there was time to rectify any problem.
Rawat said a team of Election Commission officials had already visited the state and held detailed discussions with stakeholders. The commission was satisfied and "that is why we have announced the schedule".
He said the existing electoral rolls in the all the states have been revised with reference to January 1, 2018 as the qualifying date.
The CEC said the Electronic Voting Machies(EVMs) and Voter Varifiabled Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) will be used in the current roud of elections for which arrangements have been made to ensure their adequate number.
Hyderabad, Oct 6 : The Central government uses banks as a weapon to penetrate into jurisdiction of states, said former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Y.V. Reddy on Saturday.
He said by controlling the banking system, the government of India is having access to extra budgetary resources or unaccountable resources to penetrate into the policies which it could not otherwise do.
Speaking at the Indian School of Business (ISB) here, Reddy said since the Union government had no developmental staff in the states, banks were used to penetrate into their jurisdiction.
He attributed the problem of Indian banking industry to the dual control by the Central government and the RBI.
"Recently, we had Urjit Patel (RBI Governor) as saying that regulation should be ownership-neutral. He says I don't have regulatory powers but the government says RBI has enough regulatory powers. What is the truth? The truth is the problem of dual control," he said.
Reddy said the Narasimhan committee recommended that dual control should be done away with, but it has not ended to date.
He identified political economy as another problem and pointed out that unlike in the past, there are many MPs who are businessmen and many businessmen who are MPs with the public sector banks providing the link.
He was delivering key note address at "Artha 2018", ISB's annual financial conclave.
Reddy believes that solution for problem in agriculture lies outside agriculture as the sector faces policy-induced risks and a host of uncertainties.
"Will you put more money in expanding industry or contracting industry?" he asked the students while pointing out that agriculture accounts for 15-16 per cent of the GDP and it is likely to further come down.
Reddy said he was an unwilling party to the biggest farm loan waiver in the country. He was referring to loan waiver by the UPA government in 2008 when he was the RBI Governor.
He believes that farm loan waiver by the Centre is bigger evil than loan waiver by states. "All farmers all over the country can't be distressed," he remarked.
"If Industry doesn't repay, you are a wilful defaulter and you are a criminal. If agriculture doesn't pay you are a distressed farmer. We are not able to define who is a distressed farmer. Distressed farmer is not somebody who is able to get money from bank and certainly not the one who can't afford to repay," he said claiming that only 10 per cent of the farmers get bank loans.
On financial inclusion, he said it was different from economic, social and political inclusion. "We talk as though financial inclusion is going to abolish poverty in India. Financial inclusion is only for those who have finance and if they are not included they will be included," he added.
Jakarta, Oct 6 : Indonesian authorities on Saturday raised the death toll in the devastating earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in Sulawesi Island to 1,649.
National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that among the victims, 1,413 were from Palu city, the hardest-hit in twin disasters, Xinhua news agency reported.
"Most of the victims were found in Palu and they were hit by tsunami, particularly in the coastal areas near Talise beach," the spokesman said.
The remaining deaths were reported in the districts of Donggala, Sigi, Parigi Moutong and Pasang Kayu. Relief aid started arriving in the more remote areas of Sulawesi Island.
Assistance was being provided by local authorities and non-governmental organisations in Donggala and other cut off areas such as Sigi, Red Cross spokesperson Iris Van Deinse said. Work on restoring the power supply to affected areas was ongoing.
The quakes and the tsunami also left 2,549 people injured, with 265 people still missing. The number of people taking shelter in makeshift tents stand at 62,369 now, the spokesperson said.
In Palu, banks and businesses reopened and the chaos surrounding the distribution of food, water and gasoline during the initial aftermath of the tragedy, had ended.
Bodies were still being removed from the other worst affected areas, such as the village of Petobo -- about 7 km southeast of Palu -- and Balaroa, where NGO workers estimated that over 1,000 people could still be buried.
Indore, Oct 6 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, who is on a visit to Madhya Pradesh, said on Saturday the country comes first for the party and no intruders will be allowed in India.
In his address to party workers at the Dussehra Maidan here, he slammed the opposition parties, saying that they support the intruders for political gains but for the BJP the country comes first. This is why the intruders are being identified in several states across the country.
Taking a jibe at the Congress, he said those questioning the BJP-led government on its four-year rule should first give an account of their four-decade rule.
"In the last four years, the BJP has worked for the benefits to reach every section of the society," he said.
While he was welcomed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other leaders, several people came out on to the streets shouting slogans against Shah. They have been protesting against the amendment to the SC/ST Act.
The police arrested the protesters, amongst whom members of the Karni Sena and Swarn Samaj were present.
After laying a wreath at the idol of Ahilya Bai, he went on to pray at the Mahalakshmi Temple.
From Indore, Shah will go to Jhabua where he will address a group of tribal people. In Jaora he will meet a farmers' group, and in Ujjain the party workers.
Kolkata/New Delhi, Oct 6 : Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday accused the Election Commission of deliberately delaying its scheduled press conference to announce poll dates for five states under pressure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused the BJP of acting as "super EC".
The EC was supposed to hold a press conference at 12.30 pm in Delhi on Saturday to announce the assembly poll dates in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana, but rescheduled the announcement to 3 pm.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is guilty of pressuring the EC to delay its press conference as he was scheduled to address a rally in Rajasthan's Ajmer at 1 pm. The EC was made to wait for Modi's rally," Surjewala said at the state Congress office here.
"National BJP IT Cell Head tweeted election dates of Knt. even before ECI. ECI delinked Gujarat elections from Himachal to enable PM Modi to make a slew of announcements. ECI again deferred PC to enable PM Modi to do the same in Rajasthan. BJP the Super EC?" he tweeted later.
The Election Commission has, however, claimed that the announcement was delayed due to official work.
Earlier in the day, the Congress leader took to social media to question the independence of the Election Commission after it changed the timing of the press conference to announce the schedule of polls in the five states.
"Three facts -- draw your own conclusions. ECI announces a PC at 12.30 today (Saturday) to announce election dates to the 5 states. PM Modi is addressing a rally in Ajmer, Rajasthan at 1 p.m. today. ECI suddenly changes the time of announcement and PC to 3 p.m. Independence of ECI?" he had tweeted.
Paris, Oct 6 : Interpol's Secretary General on Saturday asked the Chinese authorities to clarify the status of the international police organization's President Meng Hongwei, who reportedly went missing while on a trip to China seven days ago.
Jurgen Stock said Interpol used official law enforcement channels to convey its message to the Chinese authorities and also asked them to address concerns over the well-being of Meng, Efe news reported.
"Interpol's General Secretariat looks forward to an official response from the Chinese authorities to address concerns over the President's well-being," said Stock.
The International Criminal Police Organization, more commonly referred to as Interpol, is a France-based organization that links together international police forces and helps facilitate cooperation between them.
France had on Friday opened an investigation into the alleged disappearance of Meng, whose wife said he went missing on a trip to China.
There has been no news regarding his whereabouts since he left Interpol's headquarters in Lyon for his native China on September 28.
His wife, who remained in France with their two children, reported her concerns to the police, who launched a probe.
Meng, 64, a high ranking member of China's Communist Party, was elected as head of Interpol in 2016, replacing Mireille Ballestrazzi.
He thus became the first Chinese national to head the organization, but his nomination met opposition from activist groups critical of China's track record on human rights.
Interpol links police forces in 192 countries and enables them to work together to fight crime on an international scale.
It provides expertise and capabilities, particularly in three main crime scenarios: Counter-terrorism, cybercrime, and organized as well as emerging crime.
Washington, Oct 6 : The first human spaceflight aboard a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) is expected to take place in June 2019, while a flight on a Boeing spacecraft is set to follow in August 2019, NASA said.
It is the first crewed mission by the US since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011. NASA astronauts currently use Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and its contract is set to expire in November 2019.
While both SpaceX and Boeing launches have already been postponed several times, NASA on Thursday said that it would now be providing monthly updates on deadlines.
"This new process for reporting our schedule is better; nevertheless, launch dates will still have some uncertainty, and we anticipate they may change as we get closer to launch," Phil McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA headquarters, said in a blog post.
"These are new spacecraft, and the engineering teams have a lot of work to do before the systems will be ready to fly," he added.
In 2014, Boeing and SpaceX were awarded a combined $6.8 billion in contracts from NASA to develop spacecraft capable of flying crews to the space station.
Earlier in August, NASA had also named nine astronauts including Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams for its first human spaceflight programme since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.
"For the first time since 2011, we are on the brink of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine had said while announcing the names of the astronauts.
The crewed flights will succeed uncrewed missions. The first test flight - Demo-1 - is scheduled in December, 2018 but the launch will occur in January, 2019 to accommodate docking opportunities at the orbiting laboratory.
Boeing's targeted readiness for its Orbital Flight Test is March 2019, NASA said.
Boeing and SpaceX have made significant strides in the development and operation of a new generation of spacecraft and launch systems in partnership with NASA's Commercial Crew Programme.
The success of these human spaceflight systems will be an unprecedented achievement for the commercial space industry and will enable NASA to focus on deep space exploration with NASA's Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System, as we return humans to the Moon and on to Mars.
-- With inputs from IANS
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On October 5, FISITA, the international federation for the automotive mobility engineering profession, welcomed Dr. Frank (Fuquan) Zhao as its new president (from 2018-2020).
Dr. Zhao, a Professor and Director of Automotive Strategy Research Institute at Tsinghua University, leads a group of strategic research on automotive industry policy, corporate management and technology strategies. Before joining Tsinghua University, Dr. Zhao had years of experience in Geely Auto, Brilliance Auto and Daimler Chrysler.
In his nearly 30 years of industry experience, Dr. Zhao has led the development of 20 passenger cars, SUVs, and more than 10 powertrain products. Dr. Zhao has published 8 books, over 300 technical papers in Chinese, English, or Japanese and is the owner of more than 200 patents.
In his inaugural speech, Dr. Zhao said that on the basis of mutual understanding and acceptance, the global auto industry will have a promising future. In a new auto era which features mobility and connectivity, Dr. Zhaoas the president of FISITA, will be committed to creating an open cooperation and communication platform for global vehicle engineers and realizing high-quality new development.
Established in 1948, FISITA is the international network for automotive engineers, representing over 210,000 engineers in 37 countries. FISITA provides a global platform for knowledge exchange between industry and academia, helping to guide the future direction of the automotive engineering profession.
New Delhi, October 06 : CPI(M) Kerala unit secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Saturday called for allowing women entry in Sunni places of worship.
Speaking in New Delhi, the CPI(M) leader pointed out that women are allowed inside Mecca and they go on pilgrimage to Hajj, adding that the CPI(M) was of the view that women should be allowed inside Sunni mosques.
He, however, tempered his remarks by saying that such progressive views should emanate from within the Sunni community.
The CPI(M) leaders comments come even as Hindu outfits and right-wing groups are up in arms over the verdict of a constitution bench of the supreme court allowing women of all ages to offer worship in Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala.
The CPI(M)-led LDF government has come under fire over the Sabarimala verdict for filing an affidavit before the apex court favouring entry of women of menstrual age to the hill shrine. The state government has also ruled out filing a review petition against the verdict, much to the chagrin of a section of devotees.
The right-wing BJP had tried to portray the LDF government as anti-Hindu over its stand on the Sabarimala issue.
Responding to Mr. Balakrishnans remarks, muslim league leader K P A Majeed charged that the CPI(M) leaders comments were born out of dejection over the backlash the party suffered following the Sabarimala verdict.
It is for the faithful to comment on matters of faith, Mr. Majeed said, dismissing the CPI(M) leaders words.
Srinagar, Oct 6 : National Conference MLA Shamima Firdous on Saturday alleged that BJP and RSS were involved in the killing of two of her party workers.
"I have no hesitation in saying that the BJP and RSS killed my workers. I have no doubt about it," Firdous, who represents Habba Kadal constituency in the state assembly, said at a press conference here.
on Friday, two National Conference party workers were killed while another was critically injured as militants opened fire, police said.
Municipal elections are due in state from October 8. The National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party have boycotted the local body poll, leaving the BJP and the Congress in a direct contest.
The NC has nothing to do with the municipal election in the state, while the BJP has fielded its candidates, Firdous said.
The slain workers were associated with Firdous and one of them worked as her public relations officer.
"The governor must ensure that the killers of my innocent workers are exposed", she said.
Guwahati, Oct 6 : Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday called for concerted measures to protect the state's rich and diverse wildlife.
"Assam has the proud privilege of sustaining a verdant wildlife in its cradle. However, trespassing into the territory of wildlife by vested interests, including the poachers, has put the population of wildlife in peril," Sonowal said at an event to mark the Wildlife Week 2018 here.
The state government is preparing an all-inclusive roadmap to project Assam as one of the most beautiful and exotic tourist destinations, Sonowal said.
"If the state wants to continue to have its name in the world of wildlife tourism, its floral and faunal resources have to be preserved at all costs," he stressed.
The Chief Minister lauded the role of forest guards, conservationists and the people living in the fringe districts such as Biswanath, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Golaghat and Karbi Anglong of Kaziranga National Park in helping reduce instances of poaching, and a considerable rise in the population of rhinoceros and other wildlives in the state.
Man-animal conflict is essentially due to the shrinkage of habitat and food for animals, Sonowal said, adding that occasions like Wildlife Week should create awareness and build capacity for the protection of animals and their habitat.
Sonowal asked the Environment and Forest Department to organise awareness rallies across the state in order to motivate people to protect the state's rich bio-diversity.
New Delhi, Oct 6 : Though election schedules have been announced for Telangana and Mizoram, the full Election Commission will soon visit these two states to review the poll preparedness in the two states.
Replying to a question at a press conference here as to how the Commission announced a schedule before visiting Telangana, he said: "You're right and this point is very valid. The commission didn't visit Telangana and there is a case pending in the High Court. The High Court case is about the electoral rolls. The High Court wants to see this before its final publication and the Commission has already taken a call keeping in view that there are things to be done.
"The Commission has already extended the time for publication from October 8 to October 12 and by that time we will have an electoral roll," he said.
Keeping the exigencies in mind, the CEC said Telangana has been put at the fag-end of the current phase of elections so that there is ample time available to conduct the poll.
"As regards the visit, that should have been done, but our team has visited Telangana and reviewed everything with the District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, with the state machinery and everyone. They made a presentation to the Commission. We had also called the CEO to satisfy ourselves since the Commission was unable to go."
"These tell us that anything which was not done during the official review has been completed. When the commission was fully satisfied only then the Telangana schedule was included in this phase of the poll," Rawat said.
He said his colleague has pointed out that the Commission has not visited Mizoram because they were hard pressed for time.
New Delhi, Oct 6 : There is great strategic sense in improving the relationship between India and China, former Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said on Saturday.
"That (strategic sense) was what triggered the Wuhan summit. We need to do something to change the contemporary narrative," Jaishankar said while speaking at a session on "India-China Relations: Emerging Trends" at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.
Jaishankar was referring to the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Wuhan in China in April at the latter's initiative after Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a standoff at the Doklam on the India-Bhutan-China trijunction for 73 days last year.
"Wuhan was a significant event for China-India ties," he said but added that he would restrain himself from saying anything more positive.
India and China are now also in talks to update a 12-year-old defence agreement and establish a hotline between their defence ministries.
Jaishankar, who has served as India's Ambassador to China, said the rise of China is hugely underestimated and is disruptive in the kind of turbulence the world is going through today.
"It is our good fortune that China is our neighbour," he said.
"The good news is that we woke up about China but the bad news is that we woke up late."
Jaishankar's comments came after Huiyao Wang, the Founder and President of the Centre for China and Globalisation, said that India and China must work together on global issues through multilateral fronts like the G20, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
"The rise of India and China is seeing shifts in the world economy," Huiyao said.
"India and China can work together in the next 10-20 years," he stated.
However, Jaishankar was of the view that geopolitical issues can't be put aside when it comes to ties between India and China.
"China used the US in the last 30 years to grow in the international order," Jaishankar observed.
Guwahati, Oct 6 : The rise of Islamist extremism in Bangladesh poses a serious threat not only to the religious minorities, secularists, intellectuals and other sects within the Muslim community, but also to India's northeastern states, says prominent Bangladesh-based journalist, Saleem Samad.
He was speaking to a group of journalists at Guwahati Press Club from Dhaka through video-conferencing on Friday evening.
An Ashoka Fellow and Hellman-Hammett Award recipient, Samad said an upsurge of fundamentalist forces in Bangladesh may affect Indian states that share the border with the country.
He said atheist and secularist bloggers are increasingly becoming the target of the Islamic extremists in Bangladesh.
He said other minority sects within the Muslim community such as the Ahmadiyyas also face threats of survival in Bangladesh due to the rise of Islamic extremism in the country.
He said thousands of Bangladeshi youths had joined various militia groups in Syria, Iraq, Chechnya, Indonesia, the Philippines, Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight alongside the jihadists there.
The senior journalist reiterated that currently there is no northeastern separatist leader in Bangladesh as the Sheikh Hasina government in Dhaka continues a rigorous crackdown on fundamentalist outfits.
A champion for media rights, Samad painted a dismal picture of press freedom in Bangladesh as journalists are frequently targeted by both state and non-State actors. He regretted that though 26 Bangladeshi journalists lost their lives to assailants since 1991, most cases remain unsolved.
Replying to questions about infiltration from Bangladesh to Assam, Samad said that none of the Indian leaders visiting Dhaka ever took up the issue of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators in Assam with their counterparts.
Strongly advocating people-to-people contact between Assam (India) and Bangladesh, Samad lamented how Assam had missed the bus despite being so closely located, while other states such as West Bengal and Tripura were taking several steps to improve connectivity with Bangladesh via railway and roadways.
Emphasizing direct air connectivity between Guwahati and Dhaka, Samad said that trade and commerce along with cultural ties would help in erasing many misconceptions prevailing on both sides.
Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Oct 6 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said that social and economic gaps affect women much more than others and that "our daughters should be given freedom to venture out to explore and find their potential."
Addressing an International Conference on Women's Health, Wellness and Empowerment, the President said, "This conference has a commendable theme 'Give her wings and let her soar'. When we give our daughters and young girls in our families the freedom to venture out, to explore and find their potential, they soar higher and higher."
He said that social and economic gaps affect women much more than others.
"They have a particular impact on families and communities from weaker sections of society. It is with this in mind that the entire ecosystem of healthcare is being revitalised," he said.
Lauding the Central government initiatives, Kovind said: "More than 3,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras have been opened to sell and distribute quality medicines at reduced prices.
"These are benefiting fellow citizens from low-income families. And 85 lakh expectant mothers and 3.25 crore children have been provided immunisation cover under Mission Indradhanush," he said.
Hailing the BJP governments recently launched Ayushman Bharat scheme, the President said: "It envisages providing health coverage to socially and economically disadvantaged sections of society. As part of Ayushmaan Bharat, 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres are being opened across India. These will provide services to, among others, mothers and newborn babies."
Later in the day, the President addressed a seminar organised by the Talent Development Council here and unveiled the statue of the late freedom fighter Shyamlal Parshad.
Speaking at the Talent Development Council's seminar, the President appreciated the Council for its efforts to identify and encourage talented students and facilitate their free education.
He noted that a number of students associated with the Council have been successful in engineering, medical and other entrance examinations.
New Delhi, Oct 6 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said he is acting against the people who are against the Constitution, irrespective of their political or ideological leanings.
"I am going to crush them... That is my 'Rajdharma'. That is what I am doing. I don't recognise extreme right or extreme left," he said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.
"I am bound to act against an individual or an institution which is acting against the Constitution. They may belong to any class, may belong to any caste, any religion, any institution, they may have any leaning, but I am going to crush them."
Fadnavis said the arrest of five rights activists was not a political witch-hunt.
Had it been a political witch-hunt, the Supreme Court would not have rejected the petition filed by "so many pseudo-liberals", he said.
He said the Bhima-Koregaon incident was a larger conspiracy to pitch two communities against each other to "create civil war-like situation".
"These designs are out now. After our crackdown, we have ample of evidences. They have been plotting similar things at several places and they are in direct contact with the Maoists, who are actually fighting against the system in Gadchiroli or Jharkhand or Chhattisgarh. So it is a larger conspiracy," said the Bharatiya Janata Party leader.
Yavatmal (Maharashtra), Oct 6 : Veteran Bollywood actor Nana Patekar, currently under a cloud over allegations from actress Tanushree Dutta, found support from unexpected quarters: hundreds of farm widows of Maharashtra.
The Vidarbha Farm Widows Association on Saturday demonstrated at Pandharkavada village, demanding an end to "the victimization of our brother Nana Patekar."
They were led by KBC-fame Aparna Malikar and other prominent activists Bharati Pawar, Anju Bhusari, Geeta Rathore, Vandara Gavande, Archana Raut, Kavita Sidam, Ranjana Khadse, Kamal Surpam, Uma Jiddewar, Sheela Mandavgade, Chandrakala Meshram, Poornima Pokulwar, Babita Agarkar, Jyoti Jiddewar, Rama Thamke, Vandana Shende, Ranjana Gurnule and others.
The women raised slogans in favour of Patekar and said Dutta is "unnecessarily defaming Patekar - a father-figure -- who has helped the cause of the crisis-hit widows for several years" to help them secure justice.
Carrying banners and placards, the women speakers demanded: "Where were these women who are making baseless allegations against our elder brother Patekar, when the farmers were committing suicide and we were left in the lurch? It was only Patekar who came to help us financially and morally during the crises."
Later, shouting slogans and condemning the allegations, they burnt photos and an effigy of Dutta.
Since 2015, Patekar and co-actor Makarand Anaspure have helped around 225 families of farmers who committed suicide by an aid package of Rs 15,000 each.
Then the same year, they set up the Naam Foundation and increased the scope of their from financial assistance to long-term gainful projects for the affected farm-widows.
With donations of over Rs 7 crore, the foundation is taking up a variety of activities in the entire Vidarbha region including afforestation, training centres for farmers and other community programmes.
New Delhi, Oct 6 : Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Saturday said he will "not comprise" on drugs and vowed to make Tripura a drug-free state.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave East 2018, Deb said: "We have found 50,000 kg of ganja, which was cultivated illegally in different parts of Tripura. Small-scale farmers will buy this ganja for Rs 500 to Rs 700 from this organised group and then it travels to Bihar and other states.
"Poor people of Tripura will not get anything out of this, the middleman, the mafia are the ones who reap the benefit. I will not compromise, Tripura must be a drug-free state."
To reduce the drug menace, Deb said he had to arrest 204 people, including 70 police officers associated with the illegal drug trade.
In September after a Union home ministry advisory claimed that Deb has a threat from Myanmar-based drug mafia, the state has stepped up security for the Chief Minister.
Gandhinagar, Oct 6 : : Well-known human rights activist Girish Patel died on Saturday morning in Ahmedabad. He was 86. He suffered from multiple age-related ailments, his family sources said.
Patel was a fighter for the causes of the poor right from the days of Narmada Bachao Andolan and sugarcane workers' agitation.
Despite being labeled as an anti-Gujarati, Patel stood by Medha Patkar for the people displaced by the Sardar Sarovar project.
Sources close to the family said that as per Patel's wish, his body will be donated, sources said.
Patel is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Jaipur, Oct 7 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday announced free electricity for farmers up to Rs 10,000, hours before the Election Commission announced schedule for upcoming Assembly elections in the state.
Addressing a public meeting in Ajmer, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister made the announcement.
According to the announcement, more than 12 lakh farmers of the state will receive free electricity up to Rs 10,000 for a year on their agricultural electricity connection.
The scheme will be effective from November 2018 billing month for the general category rural farmers.
This benefit will be available in the form of grants through Direct Benefit transfer (DBT), confirmed officials of the Rajasthan Energy Department.
The farmers will have to pay the bill first, after which a maximum amount of Rs 833 per month shall be deposited in their bank accounts, explained the officials.
The Energy Department has already issued orders to the power distribution companies in Jaipur, Ajmer and Jodhpur.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has flayed Chief Minister Raje for her bid to "lure" farmers, saying she is reminded of their issues when it is time for her "vidai" (departure).
She announced free electricity for farmers only after the Congress announced to give free power to farmers at "Charbhuja Kisan Sammelan", he claimed.
"What's the meaning of making this announcement an hour before the implementation of code of conduct by this outgoing government?" Gehlot asked, adding: "Why she didn't give free electricity to farmers in her five-year tenure?"
He said in its five-year tenure, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government increased the electricity tariff three times and despite this, it failed to provide sufficient power to them.
"Farmers will not be lured by this announcement," he added.
BTX Global Logistics at Hearst Media's 2018 Top Workplaces Awards ceremony. "My goal is to provide BTX employees with the infrastructure, tools and support needed to make this a positive, fun and happy workplace," said Ross Bacarella, CEO and President of BTX Global Logistics.
BTX Global Logistics Chief Executive Officer and President Ross Bacarella was named the winner of the 2018 Top Leadership award for small employers in Connecticut in Hearst Medias Top Workplaces. The honor was announced at an awards ceremony at The Waterview (Monroe, Conn.) made up of the leading employers in the area where BTX was also recognized as a Hearst Connecticut Media Group Top Workplace for the third consecutive year.
Any company with less than 125 employees in the Connecticut area was categorized as a small business. Businesses with 125-139 employees were considered mid-size and those with more than 400 employees were categorized as large. Although BTX Global Logistics employs staff throughout 28 office locations in the U.S. and Canada, only approximately 100 of its staff is based out of its Corporate headquarters in Shelton, Connecticut.
I am humbled and honored by this nomination. My goal is to provide BTX employees with the infrastructure, tools and support needed to make this a positive, fun and happy workplace, said Ross Bacarella at the Top Workplaces Awards Ceremony accompanied by his wife, children, brother, sister and 11 BTX employees.
BTX Global Logistics is a worldwide provider of shipping, logistics and e-commerce solutions. Bacarella has propelled BTX to the forefront of the shipping and logistics industry through his dedication to service, innovation, technology and attention to the well-being of his staff.
The Top Workplaces list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by Energage, LLC (formerly WorkplaceDynamics), an independent research company and provider of technology-based employee engagement tools. The anonymous survey is sent out to employees to measure several aspects of workplace culture including company leadership, alignment, growth opportunity and training, flexibility, compensation, benefits and engagement.
Top Workplaces is more than just recognition, said Doug Claffey, CEO of Energage. Our research shows organizations that earn the award attract better talent, experience lower turnover, and are better equipped to deliver bottom-line results. Their leaders prioritize and carefully craft a healthy workplace culture that supports employee engagement.
Bacarella added, A happy employee is a good employee that can offer customers the best services.
Click here to view the 2018 Top Workplaces Awards Ceremony Photos.
About BTX Global Logistics
BTX Global Logistics is a full-service transportation and logistics organization specializing in time-sensitive, heavy-weight freight and integrated solutions for customers around the world. With over three decades of experience, twenty-five stations across North America and countless international partners, BTX Global Logistics brings a team of seasoned logistics professionals together to offer you the highest quality of service. For more information about BTX Global Logistics, visit http://www.btxglobal.com.
Congressman Steny Hoyer tours the Thompson Creek Window Company factory with Rick and Brian Wuest. Thompson Creek is proud to be an example of how manufacturing can thrive in America, create jobs and expand opportunities for the people of Maryland.
Maryland Congressman and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer visited the Thompson Creek Window Company today to discuss the Make It in America initiative and tour the companys fast-growing factory and office to learn more about how future policies can help businesses thrive. In addition, today is National Manufacturing Day, which is organized by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to address labor opportunities, connect with future generations of manufacturers and ensure the success of the manufacturing industry.
In 2010, Congressman Hoyer helped create the Make it in America plan and recently unveiled an updated plan based on input from a listening tour across the country. I enjoyed visiting the Thompson Creek Window Company today and touring their manufacturing facility to learn more about the work they are doing, which creates good jobs and helps grow our economy, said Congressman Hoyer. When I unveiled House Democrats updated Make It in America agenda in July, I spoke about the need for Congress to work together with local businesses and workers to help them get ahead. We ought to ensure our workers have the skills they need to find employment in todays in-demand jobs, help small businesses innovate and compete in todays market, and invest in 21st century infrastructure. I appreciate the work Thompson Creek is doing to facilitate manufacturing in our state.
Thompson Creek President Rick Wuest said, We were pleased to host Congressman Hoyer today and appreciate his efforts to promote manufacturing. Thompson Creek is proud to be an example of how manufacturing can thrive in America, create jobs and expand opportunities for the people of Maryland.
For more information about Thompson Creek Window Company job openings, please visit: http://www.thompsoncreek.com/careers.
For more information about the Make It in America plan, please visit: https://www.democraticwhip.gov/issues/makeitinamerica.
About Thompson Creek Window Company
Thompson Creek Window Company is a privately owned, family operated manufacturer and installer of energy-efficient home improvement replacement products. Founded in 1980, the Company has evolved into one of the leading specialty home improvement manufacturing and contracting companies in the nation. We provide top-quality replacement windows and doors, vinyl siding, roofing and a clog-free gutter system. Thompson Creek Window Company is headquartered in Lanham, MD, and manufactures our products in Upper Marlboro, MD, employing about 325 people in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The Companys recently opened a new storefront location in Richmond, VA and launched operations in the VA Beach market. Thompson Creek is listed on the Inc. Top Workplaces 2018 and the Washington Post Top Workplaces 2018.
By offering high-quality, delicious nutrition that helps people transform their lives, Isagenix provides meaningful work for hundreds of employees and tens of thousands of independent distributors, helping fuel the economy. - Travis Ogden.
Isagenix International, a global health and wellness company providing nutrition and lifestyle solutions, is making an impact not only on hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide but also on the U.S. economy, as shown in its latest economic impact report.
In 2017, Isagenix had a $1.6 billion gross domestic product (GDP) impact on the U.S. economy, supporting 14,155 jobs and producing $1.1 billion in labor income, according to the 2017 Economic and Health & Wellness Impact on the U.S. report. The study was conducted by Arizona State Universitys L. William Seidman Research Institute, which serves as a connection between business communities and the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU.
In its home state of Arizona in 2017, Isagenix had a $297 million GDP impact, supporting 3,210 jobs and producing $216 million in labor income.
From a revenue perspective, the company had $958 million in global revenue in 2017, a $34 million increase over 2016 revenue ($924 million). Of the $958 million, $700 million was U.S. revenue, and $258 million was international markets revenue.
By offering high-quality, delicious nutrition that helps people transform their lives, Isagenix provides meaningful work for hundreds of employees and tens of thousands of independent distributors, helping fuel the economy, said Isagenix Chief Executive Officer Travis Ogden. Were pleased our company can make such a significant impact on the world around us.
Additional U.S. highlights of the latest Economic and Health & Wellness Impact on the U.S. report include:
In 2017, Isagenix purchased $372 million in goods and services from nongovernment U.S.-based vendors. These vendors include manufacturers, packaging suppliers, freight companies, farmers, and professional service providers. The total economic impact from these purchases is estimated at $745 million GDP, supporting 7,681 jobs and providing $467 million in labor income.
U.S. wages and benefits for 867 Isagenix employees (permanent, contract, and seasonal) in 2017 totaled $76 million, and employees paid an estimated $13.5 million in state and local taxes. The total impact of the Isagenix labor force on the U.S. economy, including multiplier effects related to employees consumer spending, was $186 million.
In 2017, 78,760 independent distributors representing all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia earned commissions. These independent distributors paid an estimated $64 million in state and local taxes. The total economic impact of U.S.-based independent distributors was estimated at $637 million GDP, supporting 4,385 jobs and providing $489 million in labor income.
From 2012 to 2018, Isagenix and its customers, independent distributors, and employees raised more than $9 million for Make-A-Wish, helping the nonprofit grant more than 938 wishes to deserving children with critical illnesses. The company contributed $6 million to charitable and disaster-relief causes.
From 2014-2017, there were nearly 347,000 entries in the IsaBody Challenge, a 16-week total-body transformation challenge in which participants submit before and after photos, use Isagenix products to support their transformation goals, and submit personal essays describing their journeys to greater health and fitness. Participants who complete the program achieve a wide range of health and fitness goals, including weight loss, muscle gains, energy, and increased performance.
Arizona highlights from the report include:
In 2017, Isagenix purchased $149 million in goods and services from nongovernment Arizona vendors. The total economic impact from these purchases is estimated at $138 million GDP, supporting 1,502 jobs. In 2017, 3,942 independent distributors in Arizona earned commissions. The total economic impact of these independent distributors on the Arizona economy was estimated at $31 million.
Cash and product donations for 2017 in Arizona totaled $498,100. Isagenix provides donations, volunteers, free products, and meeting spaces to many Arizona charitable and civic organizations.
In 2017, there were 2,096 IsaBody completions and 11,388 pounds lost in Arizona.
Isagenix recently shared the report and additional information about the company at the 2018 Direct Selling Day on Capitol Hill, joining more than 150 direct selling distributors and executives representing 14 Direct Selling Association member companies and 28 states. Isagenix and several of its independent distributors met with various members of Congress, which allowed distributors to share personal accounts of how direct selling has positively impacted their lives.
For more details from the report, view Economic and Health & Wellness Impact on the U.S. and Isagenix: Impacting the State of Arizona.
To learn more about Isagenix, visit its Newsroom, like the company on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter and Instagram at @Isagenix.
About Isagenix International
Established in 2002, Isagenix provides systems for weight loss, energy, performance, healthy aging, and wealth creation. With nearly 600,000 customers worldwide and more than 100 life-changing products, packs, and systems globally, the company is committed to producing Solutions to Transform Lives. Since its inception in 2002, Isagenix has generated $6 billion in cumulative global sales through a network of independent distributors in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Colombia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain. Isagenix is a privately owned company with headquarters in Gilbert, Arizona. For more information, visit Isagenix.com.
"Burning Bridges Along the Susquehanna" by Paul Nelson, is a must-read fantasy novel about a teen girl, Lily, and her little autistic brother, Logan. Together, they travel back in time to the old logging days of Clinton County, Pennsylvania. There, with their friend, Iron Joe, they have amazing adventures and also face great danger.
This is a novel of the paranormal, fantasy, History, adventure and a little romance. It's a must-read for ages 15 and up. It's available @ Amazon and Kindle, and may also be ordered through bookstores.
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B06Y124CCS?ref_=pe_1724030_132998070
I really want to thank the entire Vote.net team.
The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA) has selected Vote.net and Max Anderson as the winner of the 2018 Gold W3 Award for Best Political Website and the 2018 Silver W3 Award for the Best Student Website.
The Academy received over 5,000 entries from across the globe. The creativity and quality of this seasons entries surpassed even our grandest expectations. As the digital landscape continues to expand and break new ground, our winners are a testament to the creative capability that makes the internet a true work of art, said Derek Howard, the director of the AIVA.
It is an honor for Vote.net website and our team to be recognized by the Academy. I really want to thank the entire Vote.net team for their hard work and dedication, said Max Anderson.
About Vote.net
Vote.net was conceived, built and launched during 2017 as a nonpartisan student effort to engage young voters in the political process. Vote.nets mission is to create a constructive outlet for the expression of differing political viewpoints and to provide a practical approach to impacting the political process through student activism. Vote.net is releasing its first book, Where the Money Lies, in November 2018.
About W3 and the AIVA
The W Awards celebrates digital excellence by honoring outstanding Websites, Web Marketing, Video, Mobile Sites/Apps & Social content created by some of the best interactive agencies, designers, and creators worldwide. The W3 Awards are judged by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a "Who's Who" of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms. AIVA members include executives from organizations such as Fast Company, Big Spaceship, Wired, Code and Theory, Disney, Microsoft, Facebook, Tinder, MTV, Sesame Workshop, Your Majesty, and Yahoo!.
Salbi, founder of the humanitarian organization Women for Women International, has long worked to improve the lives of women in war-torn countries. In Freedom Is an Inside Job (Sounds True, Oct.), she shares how her activist mindset evolved into one that also embraces self-care. PW spoke with Salbi about dipping her toe into self-help, and what readers in search of a new outlook might learn from someone who isnt a traditional expert.
After years doing humanitarian work, what inspired you to write a self-help book?
Im not a guru or a psychiatrist; Im just sharing my own journey authentically and transparently. In my encounters in war, the women I was working to serve were telling me something different than what I embodied myself. Id ask them, Dont you want pens and paper and slogans? And theyd say, We want lipstick; its the smallest thing where we can still feel beauty. Over time I came to reflect on the fact that any causewomens rights, a mother concerned with her child, a career woman concerned with successdoes not require us to sacrifice things like beauty.
How have you made your experiences relevant to potential readers?
I went about my mission to change the world, and that wound up changing me. I moved from surrounding myself with like-minded people to those with opposing views, so I may be challenged in growing as a person. All these things that helped me are what Im sharing. My editor kept telling me, You have to describe how you do this, this, and this. It has to be four ways to... or seven ways to... But I cannot tell you, Here are the five steps to happiness; I can only tell you, This is my background and how I did it.
Can you give an example of what you mean?
All the workshops and retreats about meditation I used to go toId feel great, then go back to my normal life and not feel great. I needed to figure out how to incorporate all that in my daily life. Anybody who expects the journey to living their truth to be easythey are mistaken. The journey towards freedom and joy takes work: having uncomfortable conversations inside yourself, clearing the clutter in your life, looking at aspects of yourself you dont necessarily like.
Who do you see as the readership for your book?
I would say my main audience is women, always. But I also hope that, because of who I ama woman, a woman of color, a Muslim woman, an activist feminist woman, an American woman, and an Iraqi womanit is every reader who is the other. This book is giving limelight to those not seen otherwise.
Has the role of self-help for women changed in the #MeToo era?
For the first time in long time, women are being heard and taken seriously. Its upon us to demonstrate what good leadership is, and to lead not with fear but with dialogue and compassion. We also need to bring men along with us. In self-help books now, its women versus men. To a certain extent, its okay to tailor discussions to women and to men, because our experiences are different. Its okay to have separate discussions, but in a time of division, we also need to have a common conversation about what it means to live our truth.
Return to the main feature.
In Pablo Cartayas Marcus Vega Doesnt Speak Spanish, the titular character goes in search of his Puerto Rican roots. We spoke to Cartaya about cultural identity, growing up, and finding mirrors in diverse characters.
Marcus Vega feels disconnected from Puerto Rico, his fathers home, but doesnt feel right in Philadelphia either. Can you talk about how you developed his character?
When I was a kidand well into adulthoodI felt I straddled two identities. Im Cuban-American, and I grew up speaking Spanish at home and English at school; eventually, I mixed both as a form of communicating. But I never felt I was enough of one culture or another. Through Marcus, I wanted to speak to the idea of identity as complicated and often alienating.
Marcuss immediate and extended family members are incredibly vibrant. Were they based on anyone you know?
Every character has pieces of people I know, including myself. They carry some emotional and personal truth from my own life. I believe that is our great responsibility as writers: to imbue a sense of personal connection to the characters were creating. This gives them authenticity and truth.
As Marcus seeks out a greater understanding of his roots, he learns a lot about himself. Can you talk about his journey?
Marcus casts aside his previous self-perceptions and gives himself permission to believe that he is more than hes given himself credit for. Ultimately, connecting with his Puerto Rican roots fills a void hes had since his father left him. In the end, it wasnt his father who he needed to feel whole; it was his culture.
How important is it for kids of all backgrounds to see themselves reflected in literature?
It is as important as breathing air. Stories give us permission to reflect on who we are, to feel seen, and to exhale, knowing we are not alone.
Lit Agency Assistant Lands Six Figures
In a two-book deal,at William Morrow paid six figures for North American rights tosdebut novel, The Silent Treatment. Greaves, an assistant at the literary agency Curtis Brown UK, was represented by, who has an eponymous shingle. The book, Morrow said, follows Frank and Maggie, a couple who, after 40 happy years of marriage, are engaging in a six-month bout of the silent treatment. When Maggie becomes sick, however, Frank ends the fight. The book, the publisher went on, explores why the rift occurred and whether its become too late to save Maggie. A number of other deals have been closed for the book, including in Germany, Italy, Portugal, and the U.K.
Tor Nabs Quad by Doctorow
Cory Doctorow closed a six-figure agreement with Tors Patrick Nielsen Hayden for four new novellas. Russell Galen at Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency, who represented Doctorow, said the novellas will be published as a single print volume by Tor under the overall title of Radicalized and individually, in audio, by Macmillan Audio. Slated for a March 2019 release, the novellas will, Galen said, provide a unique take on some of the most urgent and painful issues of our time. The first novella in the collection, Unauthorized Bread, has been optioned for film by Topic Studios.
Moriartys Adult Debut Goes to Harper
Gravity Is the Thing, the first adult novel by YA author Jaclyn Moriarty, was acquired by Emily Griffin at Harper. The book, the publisher said, is about a single mother and cafe owner who has been receiving chapters in a guidebook for living from an anonymous source since the day her brother went missing 20 years earlier. Then, in the wake of a move across continents and the devastating dissolution of her marriage, she receives an invitation to learn the truth about the guidebook. Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management represented the author in the North American rights agreement, done on behalf of Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown Australia. The novel was pitched, Harper noted, as being in the spirit of Maria Semple. In the authors native Australia, Pan Macmillan acquired the novel.
Amazon Lays Out Seven Figures for Ragan
Liz Pearsons at Thomas & Mercer paid seven figures for four books by bestselling author T.R. Ragan. The world English (as well as Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish) rights deal covers three titles in a new series featuring a journalist heroine named Sawyer Brooks, as well as a standalone novel. Ragan has, to date, published three series with Thomas & Mercer, which, the publisher noted, have reached over 2.5 million readers. The author was represented by Amy Tannenbaum at the Jane Rotrosen Agency.
Pride Wins Auction for Cards Ghosts
Simon & Schusters Christine Pride won world rights, at auction, to Maisy Cards debut short story collection, These Ghosts Are Family. The linked tales in the book, per Cards agent, Monica Odom at Liza Dawson Associates, incorporate elements of gothic fiction and Jamaican folklore. The second book in the deal, a novel, said Odom, was pitched as Big Little Lies from the POV of a group of immigrant home-health aides living in a wealthy retirement community in Florida.
Scots Ollie and Harry Head to Norton
Scottish brothers Ollie and Harry Ferguson (ages five and eight, respectively), who became a sensation thanks to their viral Facebook page charting a set of 500 adventures they concocted, sold a book to Simon Boughton at Norton Young Readers. Ollie & Harrys Marvellous Adventures, based on the brothers Facebook page (called The Days Are Just Packed), was preempted for world rights. Lucy V. Cleland at Kneerim & Williams brokered the sale for the book, noting that it is being cowritten by the authors father, MacNeill Ferguson, as well as with writer Garry Jenkins (A Home of Their Own). Cleland added that the title, slated for fall 2019, blends classic outdoors fun with quirky applications of makerspace tech.
Correction: The descriptions of the books in Maisy Card's two-book deal with Simon & Schuster have been updated to address errors in the original synopses. Also, T.R. Ragan closed a four-book deal with Amazon, not a three-book deal, as previously stated.
For more childrens and YA book deals, see our latest Rights Report.
Fit for a Duchess
In the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London, which killed 72 people and injured many others, a group of women from the community gathered at a local Muslim cultural center to prepare meals for their families and neighbors. As word spread, more women joined in, and in January, Meghan Markle, then engaged to Prince William, made her first of several visits.
On September 17, Kensington Palace announced that Markle, now Duchess of Sussex, was supporting a fund-raising cookbook featuring recipes by the women of whats become known as Hubb Community Kitchen. The book, Together, pubbed a week later, and debuts at #7 in hardcover nonfiction.
(See all of this week's bestselling books.)
A Stealthy Climb
Kate Atkinson won the Costa novel award in her native U.K. for her most recent books, 2013s Life After Life and 2015s A God in Ruins. Her latest, Transcription, is enlivened by its heroines witty, sardonic voice, our review said, as she is transformed from an innocent, unsophisticated young woman into a spy for Britains MI5 during WWII. It debuts at #5 in hardcover fiction, with print unit sales showing a slight uptick compared with its award-winning predecessors.
Charting a New Course
This week is the first in which NPD has generated unit sales through its DecisionKey platform. Since BookScan was acquired by NPD from Nielsen in January 2017, NDP has been migrating the data from Nielsen. With the migration completed, slight differences in the processes and methodologies of the two companies have led to minor variances for the overall market (less than 1%), although the differences may be slightly larger for specific ISBNs.
New & Notable
Vince Flynn: Red War
Kyle Mills
#1 Hardcover Fiction, #5 overall
A highly original plot lifts bestseller Millss outstanding fourth entry in the late Vince Flynns Mitch Rapp series, our starred review said of this thriller featuring a Russian president who is a vigorous, unrelenting dictator given to riding horses while shirtless and hunting wild bears.
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
Hank Green
#3 Hardcover Fiction
The first novel by John Greens younger Vlogbrother combines science fiction and mystery with philosophical musings about the perils of internet fame, our review said. A signed edition lands at #6 in hardcover fiction, bringing print unit sales to 24K.
Top 10 Overall
Rank Title Author Imprint Units 1 Fear Bob Woodward Simon & Schuster 70,947 2 Girl, Wash Your Face Rachel Hollis Nelson 37,191 3 Lord of the Fleas (Dog Man #5) Dav Pilkey Graphix 35,124 4 Whiskey in a Teacup Reese Witherspoon Touchstone 29,527 5 Vince Flynn: Red War Kyle Mills Atria 26,908 6 Supernova (Amulet #8) Kazu Kibuishi Graphix 25,407 7 Cravings: Hungry for More Chrissy Teigen Clarkson Potter 23,410 8 In Pieces Sally Field Grand Central 21,845 9 The Dichotomy of Leadership Willink/Babin St. Martins 19,931 10 Juror #3 Patterson/Allen Little, Brown 16,530
All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted.
They were led in prayer by their pastor at a private owned apartment in Rukiga, northern Uganda.
The police were tipped off by the womens husbands had complained about their wives behaviour, saying they had abandoned their marital homes for one week and camped at Kahababos home for day and night prayers.
The District Commissioner, Emmy Ngabirano was surprised and wanted to know why those women have to be naked before they could pray with 'Adah Kahababo'.
He said: We respect the freedom of worship but people must follow the existing laws of operating a church and one of the requirements is to have it registered.
He continued: "The arrested people were holding an illegal assembly in someones house, which they claimed to be their church where they have been praying while naked.
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The former president revealed that the next NDC government would, therefore, dialogue with the nurses about the best way forward in achieving that goal.
Should he return to office, he said, his government will continue with the expansion of health facilities to accommodate all nurses.
Mr Mahama, who is campaigning to be flagbearer of the NDC again, said this at Nalerigu in the Northern Region after students of the Nalerigu Nursing Training College mobbed his convoy.
If you dont create new opportunities for health workers by building new facilities, then you cannot employ them, he said.
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The NDC, he noted, will continue the process that we started of expanding hospitals, building new hospitals and creating opportunities for our health workers to tackle employment.
In his view, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has brought untold hardships on Ghanaians since, according to him, the party made lofty promises which its government is yet to fulfill.
Mr Mahama said the next NDC government will assuage the plight of Ghanaians.
NATO allies and a handful of partner countries are gearing up for the alliance's largest joint military exercises in decades.
Ahead of the Trident Juncture exercises, which are expected to include 45,000 troops, 10,000 vehicles, 60 ships, and 150 aircraft from 31 countries training side by side in and around Norway this fall, the alliance is stressing strength and transparency, and just invited Russian observers so they can get the message up close.
The US Navy admiral commanding the exercise hopes Russia will take them up on the offer.
"I fully expect that they'll want to come. It's in their interests to come and see what we do," Admiral James Foggo told reporters at the Pentagon Friday, "They'll learn things. I want them to be there so they can see how well [NATO allies and partners] work together."
"There's a strong deterrent message here that will be sent," he said. "They are going to see that we are very good at what we do, and that will have a deterrent effect on any country that might want to cross those borders, but especially for one nation in particular."
So far, Russia has yet to accept the offer.
The drills, Article 5 (collective defense) exercises, will include land, air, and amphibious assets training to repel an adversary threatening the sovereignty of a NATO ally or partner state. The admiral refused to comment on whether or not the exercise would include a nuclear element, as an earlier Russian drill did.
Although it was previously reported that these exercises are the largest NATO drills since the Cold War, they are actually the biggest since 2002, Foggo clarified at Friday's briefing. The allied drills come on the heels of massive war games in eastern Russia involving tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Russian and Chinese troops preparing for large-scale military operations against an unspecified third country.
The states chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), made the demand in a statement issued on Friday in Lokoja, to commemorate the day.
The union, while appreciating government for raising their monthly percentage salary from 30 per cent to 54 per cent, insisted that what they deserved was 100 per cent payment.
Mr Thomas Ayodele, the chairman of the NUT, in the statement, also demanded for provision of adequate instructional materials and the full implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage, among other demands.
On its part, the state chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Senior Secondary Schools (ASUSS), said that the prevailing economic hardship had made it impossible for its members to celebrate the day.
Mr Ranti Ojo, the state Chairman of ASUSS, told newsmen that the issue of non-payment of salary to his members was particularly devastating , saying that teachers were going through real hardship.
Teachers are hungry and demoralized; we find it very difficult to feed our families because we are owed six months to 20 months salaries, he fumed.
The venue was the beach grounds of the Hardrock Cafe in Victoria Island, Lagos and there was excitement in the air, the feeling of something special lurking in the nights and the good cheer as the fans gathered in their munbers.
The stage backdrop and lighting was quite maginificent and even though sound on few occcasions wavered, it was good enough for a world class event.
A number of Nigerian DJ's opened up the night alongside one of the hosts Bollylomo, as the combination of DJ Aye, Sensei Lo and CaliX showed that EDM mixes was fast catching up in Nigeria.
The matchup of DJ Crowd Kontroller and D.O.T.U.N was electrifying, next was DJ Smallz who livened things up with his crew, while producer Pheelz alongside Guitarist Femi Leye teamed up to synth perfection.
Next was the turn of DJ Consequence, who delivered a largely Nigerian mix with the third host Nenny B having the floor, while Xclusive dished out both old and new songs from local and foreign acts, even though he barely allowed any of the songs last beyond a few seconds.
There was a brief moment immediately after for Sound Sultan and Korede Bello alongside one of the organizers to sensitize the crowd on the importance of participating peacefully in the upcoming elections.
Taking to the stage
A few minutes passed midnight witnessed the arrival of Major Lazer on stage, there was no need for any grand build-up to their entrance, the fans was hyped for it.
The international EDM group, Major Lazer comprising of DJs/Producers Diplo, The Jillionaire and Walshy Fire are well renowned for their ability to infuse different genres into a wholesome sound that becomes the life of the party and this famed 'legend' is what the Lagos crowd had gathered to put to test.
Diplo and Walshy Fire took to the front stage, while the third and more silent member, Jillionaire settled at the wheels of steel.
Diplo was like a beast unleashed, climbing unto the DJ stand, hyping up the crowd and from the get-go, Major Lazer never faltered all through their over one hour set.
The group dished out a set of old, some new, and but a large number of EDM interpretations of familiar songs from other artists and also tracks from their catalogue, finding a brilliant mix between songs with African artistes and their international hits.
Songs like 'Leg Over remix', 'Run Up' which features Skales and had him joining them on stage for his verse, alongside singles from their recently released ''Afrobeats Mix'' including 'All My Lights' with Burna Boy, 'Tied Up' with Mr Eazi and more made their playlist.
The set closed out with Major Lazer performing their major African hit single 'Particular', which features Nasty C, Ice Prince and Jidenna.
It was a night when the trio highlighted the act of performing on stage as a disc jockey at a higher level, outside the minor disappointment of not seeing some of the Nigerian stars they have worked with join them on stage, this was a splendid showing from the group.
Towards the end of their set, there was the Nigerian flag on stage as they waved it high, preaching peace, love and unity.
The energy levels was high all night, the skill on display was a joy to behold, providing a very bright performance on a dark night.
A statement signed by Air Peace Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah said the airline decided to return to the Asaba route to end the nightmare of air travellers seeking to connect the Delta State capital, Anambra and other adjoining cities.
Air Peace, the statement assured, was going to offer unparalleled on-time, convenient, safe and affordable flight services on the Lagos-Asaba-Lagos and Abuja-Asaba-Abuja routes.
We are pleased to announce our return to the capital of Delta State, Asaba starting October 8, 2018. Air Peace had to suspend flight operations to the Asaba Airport more than two years ago due to safety concerns with the facility.
Since we suspended our operations to the airport, members of the flying public have inundated us with calls and appeals to return to end their nightmare on the route. While we could feel their pain, there really was not much we could do about it since our decision to pull out was anchored on safety, an issue we could never compromise.
We are, however, thankful that the Delta State Government had to intervene to give the airport a facelift. We have been assured that the airport is now safe to operate into and we cannot but move in immediately to end the woes of members of the flying public wishing to travel to Asaba, Anambra and other connecting cities.
We are not just restoring our daily Lagos-Asaba-Lagos service, we are also adding Abuja-Asaba-Abuja flights to the offering to meet the yearnings of members of the flying public. It promises to be quite an exciting time once more on the Asaba route beginning from October 8, the statement said.
The cultural pressure mounted on her caused her many sleepless night. On the occasions when she slept, it happened after a flood of tears.
A 56-year-old Njoki who lives in the Narok County of Kenya told the BBC that she was considered cursed by her community members for bearing a child with disability.
"People said I was cursed, that's why I got a child with a disability. "I hated myself and asked God, why me?", says the mother who had love in her eyes as she played with Samwell.
It was equally a tough situation to be in for Florence Kipchumba whose family sent her packing because of her child's unrelenting tears.
A friend was willing to take her in but a month after moving to her place, she also offers a permanent solution to Meshack, the precious boy that has ensured she is at odds with everyone.
"She asked me to put acid in his food so that he could die, but I refused to do so and left her house," Kipchumba tells BBC's Anne Soy what a friend had advised her to do in order to get rid of her son.
The mum reportedly lives alone in a shack and doing odd jobs to survive. Meshack is now 8 years old. His past disabilities is not too much of a worry. Though with some difficulties, but he can still manage to sit and take short walks.
The soldier visited the relaxation center located in Nyanya market in the evening. She had sought his help of the military official picking up a bottle when he attacked her.
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The victim feels violated and has reported the incident to the army authority in Abuja. Punch News confirms this in a report.
I sell soft drinks at a shop in Nyanya Market. The soldier comes to the market regularly. He stopped by at my shop that day. In the evening when I was about to close, I went to a shop where I sold drink to somebody to pick the bottle and collect my money.
I met the soldier at the shop. He sat on a plastic chair and the bottle I wanted to pick was under the chair.
"The person that bought the drink from me sat next to him. I demanded my money from the customer and asked the soldier to please help me pick the bottle under the chair. I felt courtesy demands that I shouldnt just invade his space to pick the bottle.
He started insulting me, calling me a harlot and all sorts of names. I even thought he was joking with me as usual; so I was laughing. When the insult was getting too much, I told him to stop. He stood up, picked the bottle and tried to break it.
"Somebody then jokingly told him that he wanted to break the bottle which he did not want to pick.
We were just joking about it. I had even diverted my attention from him. Before I knew it, he descended on me and punched me in the eye. I started bleeding and left the place. I noticed he was drunk.
I want justice. He must be brought to book. The case must not be swept under the carpet by the army. I did nothing wrong to deserve the assault, the victims told Punch in an interview.
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ALSO READ: UNILAG final year student dies while trying to join the army
The publisher also gathered that Aloysius hit the woman by accident. This is from a telephone conversation with the soldier who feels remorseful about inflicting an injury on the trader.
We were drinking and she (Akula) was the one serving the drink. As a friend and I were arguing, she asked me to help her pick the bottle. While she bent to pick the bottle herself, the blow I aimed at my friend mistakenly hit her.
Bishop Kukah said this on Friday in Akure, during a lecture at the Federal University of Technology, Akure(FUTA), as part of the events celebrating Odun Ulefunta/ Oyemekun Festival, 2018.
The cleric, who was the guest speaker, stated that the inability of successive leaders to play according to the nations constitution was responsible for some of the problems in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lecture was titled: Building Blocks for a Good Society.
We have a constitution, which is a building block for a society. The challenge now is to play according to the principles enshrined in the constitution and our sacred books. In reality, it is what politics is all about.
Building a nation is tied to rules that make us a society. Anything that is in hands of human beings and is being manipulated is bound for destruction, he said.
He said that Nigeria has all resources it needs to succeed, but they are often in the wrong hands.
We have enough for everybodys needs, but tragically our resources are in wrong hands and they are not able to distribute to all Nigerians, because of greed.
According to him, the country is not helpless, as there are alternatives to adopt, other than violence.
Kukah enjoined Nigerians to always reward those who are doing well, saying issues and policies should be approached scientifically.
A nation without vision and no goal cannot transmute into a good society for all.
Nigeria is either not thinking or not prepared to build a good society.
For us to build a good society, we need to have kind eyes that monitor it, he said.
Kukah also cautioned the people on being accomplices to wrong doings and bad leadership.
In his reaction, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, Deji of Akure, said the lecture called for self-examination and action towards transformation that would bring about a good society.
Aladelusi promised that the contents of the lecture would be studied and hopefully acted upon by all stakeholders.
Let us start thinking of building a good society within ourselves, the monarch said.
Nine children below the age of 12, including 2-year-old Alaska Danladi, were among the 18 residents of Ariri community in Bassa local government area of Plateau who were killed in cold blood on Wednesday, October 3, 2018.
According to residents of the village, suspected herdsmen, clad in black uniforms, attacked the community around 11:30pm on Wednesday and claimed the lives of children, women, and local farmers. Four other residents escaped with gunshot wounds.
At least 10 people were also killed in an attack carried out by suspected herdsmen in Riyom LGA on Tuesday, October 2.
Two undergraduates of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) were reportedly killed when renewed violence sparked in Jos, Plateau State capital, on Sunday, September 30, 2018.
The violence erupted all across Tina, Angwa-Rukuba, British-America, Rikos, Bauchi road, Farigada, Dogon-Dutse and other parts of Jos North local government area.
This attack came on the heels of a similar attack that claimed the lives of many people on Thursday, September 27, 2018.
Sanwo-Olu, Agbaje set for Lagos battle in 2019
Much of this week's bloodshed took a backseat to the politics that took centre stage as political parties conducted their primary elections to elect candidates for the 2019 general elections.
The most significant battle that dominated in the media was the emergence of Babajide Sanwo-Oluwho snatched the Lagos governorship ticket of the All Progressives' Congress (APC) from incumbent, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. Merely three and a half years after being elected governor, Ambode lost the ticket to Sanwo-Olu who humiliated him with a comprehensive victory.
The battle to become the next Lagos governor in 2019 is now primed to be a showdown between Sanwo-Olu and Jimi Agbaje, who won the ticket of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday.
Tanker accidents in Lagos, Ondo
Lagos State was rocked by another tanker accident just three months after at least 12 died when a tanker truck spilled its content and exploded on Otedola Bridge along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
In a related accident that happened on Tuesday, October 2, a fuel-laden tanker spilled its content around Ojo Barracks bus stop along Lagos-Badagry Expressway, resulting in an inferno that consumed no fewer than eight other vehicles. No lives were lost.
The same could not be said for another fuel tanker accident that happened in Ondo State the next day. Five people, including a toddler, were burnt to death when a tanker carrying 33,000 litres of petrol fell at Shagari Village junction on Akure-Owo expressway in Akure on Wednesday, October 3.
The deceased were occupants of the burnt vehicles who were trapped inside them as the inferno spread.
PDP clashes with Police at Abuja protest
Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West - PDP) and Senator Ben Murray-Bruce (Bayelsa East - PDP) were involved in a clash with police officers when the PDP staged a protest at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja on Friday.
The Senators and other leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led protesters to the Abuja office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Police Headquarters on Friday, October 5, 2018.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, presidential aspirants, Aminu Tambuwal and Sule Lamido were part of the protest.
The PDP leaders, during the protests, called for the cancellation of the Osun governorship rerun election which saw the All Progressives' Congress (APC) emerge as the winner.
Destruction of public property
According to a statement issued by the police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood on Facebook, Senator Dino Melaye, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce and others yet to be identified were recorded on Camera pushing Policemen to forcefully enter the Force Headquarters to damage and destroy Police equipment and Government properties while Senator Bukola Saraki was at the scene of the attack in his car also captured on camera along with hundreds of miscreants and thugs in the acts of disturbance of public peace and public safety, unlawful blockade of Shehu Shagari way for several hours preventing motorists, road users and other members of the public from having access and passage on the highway thereby disturbing public peace and public safety and causing innocent people to scamper for safety.
The statement reads:
Senator Bukola Saraki, Senator Dino Melaye and Senator Ben Bruce who were captured on camera to have been involved in the disturbance of public peace and public safety, unlawful blockade of Shehu Shagari way for several hours preventing motorists, road users and other members of the public from having access and passage on the highway thereby disturbing public peace and public safety and causing innocent people to scamper for safety and violent attack on Policemen posted to ensure security of the Force Headquarters, pushing and hitting the Policemen to forcefully enter the Force Headquarters to cause damage to Police equipment and Government properties are hereby invited to report themselves to the IGP Monitoring Unit at the Force Headquarters on Monday, 8th October, 2018 for investigation.
Today at about 1330Hrs, unruly and violent protesters who are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in their hundreds with thugs and miscreants inside several trucks and vehicles blocked the Shehu Shagari way in front of the Nigeria Police Force, Headquarters creating a gridlock of traffic on the highway and preventing motorists, road users and other members of the public from having access and passage on Shehu Shagari way thereby disturbing public peace and public safety and causing innocent people to scamper for safety, suddenly the unruly/violent protesters surge and rushed violently on the Policemen posted to ensure safety of the Force Headquarters premises, pushing and hitting the Policemen to forcefully enter the Force Headquarters to cause damage to Police equipment and Government properties.
2. The Police team headed by a very Senior Police Officer despite the provocation, after issuing words of proclamation, warning this unruly PDP protesters who were chanting war songs of we no go gree o, we no go gree, we no go gree, charged the Police personnel who used minimum force and dispersed them.
3. Senator Dino Melaye, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce and others yet to be identified were recorded on Camera pushing Policemen to forcefully enter the Force Headquarters to damage and destroy Police equipment and Government properties while Senator Bukola Saraki was at the scene of the attack in his car also captured on camera along with hundreds of miscreants and thugs in the acts of disturbance of public peace and public safety, unlawful blockade of Shehu Shagari way for several hours preventing motorists, road users and other members of the public from having access and passage on the highway thereby disturbing public peace and public safety and causing innocent people to scamper for safety.
4. The Inspector General of Police has directed immediate investigation into this unprovoked and unwarranted attack on the personnel of the Nigeria Police Force and the Force Headquarters premises which is against the law and condemnable. The Force will do everything within the law to bring all perpetrators of this crime to justice, no matter how highly placed.
5. Consequently, Senator Bukola Saraki, Senator Dino Melaye and Senator Ben Bruce who were captured on camera to have been involved in the disturbance of public peace and public safety, unlawful blockade of Shehu Shagari way for several hours preventing motorists, road users and other members of the public from having access and passage on the highway thereby disturbing public peace and public safety and causing innocent people to scamper for safety and violent attack on Policemen posted to ensure security of the Force Headquarters, pushing and hitting the Policemen to forcefully enter the Force Headquarters to cause damage to Police equipment and Government properties are hereby invited to report themselves to the IGP Monitoring Unit at the Force Headquarters on Monday, 8th October, 2018 for investigation.
6. Members of the public in the FCT are implored to remain calm as the situation is under control. Further development will be communicated to the public soon.
According to Vanguard, Turaki said him and Saraki are the only two people who possess the pedigree, competence and character to solve Nigerias problems.
People have been arguing that there are a lot of presidential aspirants in PDP. And people are laying ambush, thinking that this election process will create a lot of problem that they could benefit from.
And all of us are speaking to ourselves as speaking to each other
And we agree that anybody who gets the ticket among us, that others will line up behind him.
Both of us have experience. Both of us have knowledge and integrity.
Both of us have character and both of us have that competence. And when you look at our antecedents, our backgrounds, our pedigree, its impeccable.
So I say to Nigerians, particularly PDP delegates, for if for whatever reasons you dont want me, take Abubakar Bukola Saraki as my brother.
I believe that between the two of us, that the problems of Nigeria will be solved decisively, he added.
Sani was earlier given an automatic ticket by the National Working Committee (NWC) panel of the APC.
The Senator, in a statement signed by his media aide, Abdulsamad Amadi said that the ruling partys leadership did not approve any primary election.
According to Daily Trust, 3,000 delegates will be taking part in the senatorial primaries.
The statement reads: We wish to inform the general public that Sen. Shehu Sani is not part of, and is not participating in a purported Kaduna Central APC senatorial primaries.
The office of Senator Shehu Sani has not, and will not send anybody as its representative or agent to that illegality that some desperate people are organising.
This is because the national leadership of the APC has not scheduled any senatorial primaries in Kaduna central today.
Consequently, anybody that goes there does so at his or her own freewill and does not in anyway represent the interest of Sen. Shehu Sani.
The Senator and his team are law abiding citizens and loyal party members who will always obey the directives of the National leadership of our great party.
El-Rufai kicks
This is coming after Governor Nasir El-Rufai, on Friday, October 5, 2018, challenged the automatic ticket given to Senator Shehu Sani by the APC.
The Kaduna state Governor said that Sani has not been loyal, adding that the partys decision cannot stand.
Nwanojuo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone from Johannesburg, South Africa on Saturday that Uzodimma won the election.
He said it was unfair for the party to deny the people the candidate of their choice to who would fly the partys flag in the gubernatorial election in 2019.
According to him, members of the party in Imo cast their ballot for Uzodimma leading to his victory in the primary.
I want to appeal to the National Working Committee of the APC that the will of the majority of Imo people should be respected.
The party should allow the elected candidate, Sen. Hope Uzodimma to take his mandate as declared by the chairman of the state APC governorship election committee.
I urge the good people of Imo to remain calm and law abiding. I believe that the rule of law will take its course, he said.
Nwanojuo said if the result was not reinstated, it might create bad feeling among party members in the state.
In 2001 the Netherlands became the first country in the world to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in a civil ceremony.
Fifteen European countries have followed: Belgium, Britain (but not Northern Ireland, which only accepts civil partnerships), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, with Austria due to join next year.
In several of these countries, gay marriage had been preceded by civil partnerships, which come with fewer rights, Denmark being the pioneer in 1989.
Some European countries still only allow such partnerships, rather than marriage, including Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland.
Slovenians also allow civil partnerships but in 2015 rejected in a referendum a proposal to legalise gay marriage.
Bans in the east
In June 2018 the Czech government backed draft legislation that would make the country the first post-communist member of the European Union to legalise same-sex marriage.
But most Eastern European countries allow neither gay partnerships nor marriages, including Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
In 2014 Estonia became the first former Soviet republic to authorise same-sex civil unions.
In Russia homosexuality was considered a crime up to 1993 and a mental illness until 1999. Now legal, a 2013 law however punishes the promotion of homosexuality among minors.
West opens to gay adoption
Western Europe also leads the way on the rights of same-sex couples to adopt children, whether within marriage or civil partnerships.
This is allowed in Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Malta and The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
Other countries, like Finland and Slovenia, allow gay people to adopt their partner's children.
Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP) is allowed for lesbian couples in Austria, Belgium, Britain, The Netherlands, Spain and the Nordic countries. France is examining whether to make such a move.
Most European countries however ban surrogacy although the use of surrogate mothers is allowed -- as long as they are not paid -- in Belgium, Britain and The Netherlands. In an exception, Greece in 2014 authorised paid surrogacy.
Further afield, homosexual couples can also marry in Canada since 2005 and in the United States since 2015, as well as in four Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay.
Chan attacked China as an empire trying to "annex" and "destroy" Hong Kong in a strident speech at the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC), where Mallet serves as vice president.
China's foreign ministry had asked the club to pull the talk, but the FCC refused, arguing that all sides of a debate should be heard.
Rival protesters picketed the lunchtime event and the city's former leader Leung Chun-ying called for the club to be evicted from its government-owned premises.
The FT said Friday that immigration authorities in Hong Kong had declined to renew Mallet's visa, a decision rights groups and media organisations said was unprecedented.
"We have asked the Hong Kong government for an urgent explanation," the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement.
"Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and its press freedoms are central to its way of life, and must be fully respected."
'Disturbing'
Semi-autonomous Hong Kong enjoys rights unseen on the mainland, including freedom of expression, which are protected in the city's Basic Law and the handover agreement between China and Britain.
But the space for dissent is shrinking as Beijing flexes its muscles.
Hong Kong authorities last week banned Chan's Hong Kong National Party, calling it a threat to national security.
It was the first ban on a political party since the territory reverted to Chinese control in 1997.
The US consulate said Mallet's visa denial was "especially disturbing".
"It mirrors problems faced by international journalists in the Mainland and appears inconsistent with the principles enshrined in the Basic Law," US consulate general spokesman Harvey Sernovitz told AFP.
Hong Kong's last British governor Chris Patten said the move was a "serious blow against free speech" as well as defying the promise of a high degree of autonomy made to the city when it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.
"The Hong Kong and Beijing authorities should think again and fast," Patten told AFP.
A handful of demonstrators rallied outside Hong Kong's immigration department on Saturday morning to protest the decision.
"No political red line. We support free press," protesters chanted as they shredded a strip of red fabric to create a long ribbon.
The slogan was in response to comments by Hong Kong's former leader Leung Chun-ying -- whose administration faced down major youth-led democracy protests in 2014 -- that discussion of Hong Kong independence "is an absolute and clear red line".
The decision to deny Mallet a new visa was welcomed by pro-Beijing media in the city, however.
The Senate vote, set to begin from 3:30 pm (1930 GMT), will bring an end to a raucous nomination process defined by harrowing testimony from a woman who says Kavanaugh tried to rape her when they were teenagers -- and his fiery rebuttal.
If Kavanaugh is confirmed, Trump will have succeeded in having his two picks seated on the court -- a major coup for the Republican leader less than halfway through his term.
His promotion to the Supreme Court will also stand as a demoralizing defeat for Democrats who battled hard to block the 53-year-old judge at all costs.
Kavanaugh's confirmation was all but sealed on Friday when he won the support of key Senate Republican Susan Collins and conservative Democrat Joe Manchin.
Their statements of support brought the number of senators supporting Kavanaugh to 51 in the 100-member chamber.
"This is a great day for America," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News late Friday, congratulating his colleagues for "refusing to roll over under all of this intense pressure."
'Presumption of innocence'
Kavanaugh's nomination as a replacement for retiring justice Anthony Kennedy was controversial from the start -- but the initial focus was solely on the conservative views held by the married father of two.
But his ascent to the Supreme Court was thrown into doubt last week after university research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford testified that he had sexually assaulted her at a Washington area party in the early 1980s.
The brutal hearing sparked a supplemental FBI dive into Kavanaugh's background and a week-long delay of the Senate vote.
While many senators say they were satisfied with the FBI probe, her lawyers say the investigation was insufficient.
"An FBI investigation that did not include interviews of Dr Ford and Judge Kavanaugh is not a meaningful investigation in any sense of the word," they said in a statement quoted in US media.
Collins -- a moderate Republican from Maine -- said Kavanaugh was entitled to the "presumption of innocence" as the allegations against him were not substantiated with corroborating evidence.
While acknowledging that Blasey Ford's testimony was "sincere, painful and compelling," Collins added: "We will be ill-served in the long run if we abandon the presumption of innocence and fairness."
Immediately after that speech, Manchin announced his support, calling Kavanaugh a "qualified jurist" who "will not allow the partisan nature this process took to follow him onto the court."
Manchin faces extraordinary political pressure. He is up for re-election in West Virginia, a state Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016.
The stage was set for Saturday's final confirmation when the Senate ended debate on the nomination on Friday with a procedural 51-49 vote -- a move cheered by Trump, who said he was "very proud."
'Elevator screamers'
If he wins confirmation, Kavanaugh -- who has faced a bruising process that raised questions over his candor, partisan rhetoric and his lifestyle as a young man -- will seal a conservative majority on the nine-seat high court, possibly for decades to come.
His nomination has been met with loud protests, both in Washington and in other cities across the United States. On Friday, more than 100 people were detained.
Trump dismissed the mostly female anti-Kavanaugh protesters -- and claimed that 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 tweeted.
Trump's reference to Soros, who has supported the US Democratic Party for years, appeared aimed at inciting more support and anger from the president's conservative Christian base.
'Agonizing'
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to break ranks.
She described her decision to oppose Kavanaugh as "agonizing," and said that while she hopes he will be a "neutral arbiter" on the court, he was not "the right person for the court at this time."
However, while she plans to vote "no" on Saturday, Murkowski said she would ask to be recorded as "present" in the final tally "as a courtesy" to a fellow Republican so he can attend his daughter's wedding instead of returning to Washington to vote.
"It will not change the outcome of the vote, but I do hope that it reminds us that we can take very small, very small steps to be gracious with one another," Murkowski said late Friday on the Senate floor.
The 12-person jury reached a verdict just one day after beginning deliberations, choosing to convict Van Dyke of a lesser second-degree charge, instead of first-degree murder.
He was also found guilty of 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm -- for each bullet he fired -- and acquitted of one count of official misconduct.
A crowd outside the court house celebrated as the verdict was read and began chanting: "Justice for Laquan!"
"This is historic for Chicago," community organizer Janette Wilson told reporters.
"I would hope that the people of Chicago will really look at this case as a model for the nation."
Under Illinois state law, a second-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of four to 20 years in prison while aggravated battery with a firearm means six to 30 years.
City on edge
The case hinged on the police dash-cam video footage in which the officer was seen continuing to fire after the teen fell to the ground and lay motionless.
The jury reached its verdict after 10 days of testimony in which the officer claimed self-defense, while the prosecution accused him of making a rash and unjustified decision to shoot.
The city was on edge in advance of the verdict, as some activists had called for demonstrations against police abuse regardless of the outcome.
City officials and business owners beefed up security, while police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said thousands of officers were being deployed.
"As always, any and all criminal activity that jeopardizes the safety of the people of Chicago will not be tolerated," Guglielmi said on Twitter.
The city of Chicago had already reached a $5 million civil settlement with McDonald's family.
There were months of protests and calls for resignations following the dash-cam video's release to the public, more than a year after the shooting and only after a judge compelled city officials to do so.
There were also allegations of an attempted cover up, as Van Dyke wasn't criminally charged until the day of the video's release.
The shooting has become emblematic of decades of police abuse in the Midwestern city -- often targeted at Chicago's African-American population.
It has taken on the same dimensions as other similar, high-profile and deadly encounters between police and African Americans that led to the foundation of the Black Lives Matter movement.
But prosecutions around the nation have been rare and officers often have avoided conviction -- demonstrating the difficulty of holding police officers to account for split-second, life-or-death decisions.
In Chicago, the aftermath of the McDonald shooting has convulsed the city's politics and led to significant changes in its police department.
The city's police chief and lead prosecutor both lost their jobs. The new police chief, Eddie Johnson, recommended that seven officers be fired for filing false reports about what had taken place.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Geoffrey Andrews is a self-described aerospace and aviation nerd. He dreamed as a little boy of traveling at hypersonic velocity five times the speed of sound.
So its no surprise that Andrews ended up halfway across the country from his hometown of Long Valley, New Jersey. He is at Purdue University, college home to 24 U.S. astronauts including the most famous of all, Neil Armstrong.
On Oct. 12, First Man, an account of Armstrong and NASAs work on the Apollo 11 mission, which landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, will open in movie theaters across the country. But first, in recognition of Purdues place as Armstrongs alma mater and as the Cradle of Astronauts, the universitys College of Engineering partnered with NBCUniversal to host two advance screenings of First Man. The screenings were shown in two packed theaters at a local movie house. A third upcoming screening is invitation-only at a local cinema.
The screenings are Giant Leaps events, part of the yearlong celebration of Purdues 150th anniversary. Because of Armstrongs moon landing and his legacy, Giant Leaps is the name of Purdues Sesquicentennial campaign. The year will highlight Purdues remarkable history of giant leaps, while focusing on what giant leaps the university can take to address the worlds problems.
Andrews, a co-op student at NASAs Glenn Research Center, where he has worked on hypersonic propulsion systems, has his own giant dreams.
I take massive inspiration from Neil Armstrong, Eugene Cernan, and all of Purdue's astronaut alumni, past and present, said Andrews, a second-year doctoral student in aeronautical and astronautical engineering. Being an astronaut is something of a dream for me. I love the idea of astronauts as both engineers/scientists and pilots and as peaceful, scientific ambassadors for America and for humanity. Purdue's legacy in space highlights the best parts of humanity - our audacity, our ingenuity, and our resolve.
Kate Fowee, a graduate student in aeronautical and astronautical engineering, drew her own inspiration. Both her parents attended Purdue for engineering, and, I cant remember a time that I didnt know Neil Armstrong was a Purdue alum. she said. I grew up a Boilermaker and very aware that Purdue has a long history of aeronautics and astronautics.
In fact, Purdues long history isnt confined to outer space. Thousands of other Purdue alumni have and are working in numerous segments of the space industry. Among them, Mark Geyer is director of NASAs Johnson Space Center; Amy Ross, daughter of alumnus astronaut Jerry Ross, designs the gloves used by spacewalking astronauts.
I definitely think Purdue uses that legacy to help its students take giant leaps and further that legacy, said Fowee, who has interned at Northrop Grumman, where she worked on hardware for the James Webb Space Telescope. I get to study and work in a building named for the first man on the moon, and before that an accomplished test pilot. Of course its inspiring. Since arriving at college I have discovered very few things are more awe inspiring than a rocket launch or meeting someone that walked on the moon.
Armstrong graduated from Purdue, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering.
He was an ardent Purdue supporter throughout the years until his death in August 2012. A YouTube video and photo gallery are available. He co-chaired a major fundraising campaign with fellow astronaut and Purdue alum Eugene Cernan, the last to set foot on the moon. Armstrong made many public appearances at the university and lent his name to the Neil A. Armstrong Hall of Engineering. A statue of Armstrong as a young student and a replica of his footprints on the moon grace the entrance. The footprints show how far Armstrong could step in the low lunar gravity.
Purdue space historian John Norberg remembers Armstrong as a warm, funny and friendly person who didnt talk much about himself. He was a complex man for sure, but a very nice one, he said. And he loved Purdue.
Norberg remembers Armstrong in the buildup to the release of First Man.
Purdue also is home to hundreds of thousands of personal documents, working papers, memorabilia and photos from the 1955 graduates life. The collection includes approximately 70,000 pages of fan mail, which Armstrong continued to receive from around the world for years after he landed on the moon; his Purdue student notebooks and project reports; speech manuscripts; and NASA missions training, execution and results documents. These materials are available for scholarship and learning at Purdue Libraries Division of Archives and Special Collections.
Media contact: Brian Huchel, 765-494-2084, bhuchel@purdue.edu
In Taupo theyre celebrating, but in Rotorua there will be upset at the governments decision to essentially close its air ambulance base.
It has been decided that Taupo will keep its rescue helicopter service base while Rotoruas base will be axed.
Rotoruas base and helicopter has been sold, with five trusts joined together to cover the central region.
Health Minister David Clark emphasised that response times for Rotorua will remain the same or even faster than before.
The Governments $83 million investment over four years will move Hamiltons base to 24-7 staffing, and Tauranga will have paramedics available during the day. Helicopters will be upgraded to twin engines, which will provide enough room for patients to be treated during transport.
The ambulances are in the air faster and they are also treating on the way back to hospital, Dr Clark told RadioLIVE.
By helicopter, Rotorua is 14 min away from Tauranga, 18 minutes from Taupo, and 26 minutes from Hamilton.
Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick, who preciously lobbied for keeping Rotoruas base, said shes been given full assurance from the Health Minister.
"It won't be based in the city, but we will be very well served by Tauranga, Hamilton and Taupo," she told Newshub. "That's the spread for this new, upgraded service."
But Ms Chadwick said the region will be lobbying for a base if the response times arent being met.
Todd McClay, National list MP for Rotorua, told RadioLIVE that hes disappointed in the decision.
The delays will be greater than as [Dr Clark] had said, said Mr McClay.
The National MP reckons the decision was a rushed process and that lives will be lost as a result of the shake-up.
Frankly, while thats good for Taupo, its just not good enough for the people of Rotorua.
Nevertheless, the Health Minister remains confident that the service shake-up and upgrades will serve New Zealanders better than before.
What weve got is a much better service than there has been previously.
The new service starts in November.
A British journalist is visiting New Zealand to help improve the way agriculture is reported in the media.
Nuffield Scholar and journo Anna Jones, who was a keynote speaker at the NZ Guild of Agricultural Journalists, says the challenge is that media is inherently urban.
The media, by its very nature, can sometimes be very much of that urban world. There are not many broadcasters or newspapers that are based in rural areas.
New Zealand still has that cultural connection to agriculture.
Because of this, rural issues are often looked at through an urban lens which can lead to a lack of understanding complex issues facing the primary industries.
But compared to the UK, Ms Jones reckons New Zealand still has a cultural connection to agriculture.
New Zealand is still very much dependent on agriculture for its economy. So theres still an interest there, Ms Jones said, adding that the connection is still not as strong as it is in developing countries.
Ms Jones hopes to see mainstream media outlets use rural journalists as a resource for better reporting.
Reporters with a rural background can help better cover issues in a balanced and impartial way, she said.
On Friday, Ms Jones spoke about bridging rural and urban matters at the 60th anniversary of the NZ Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators.
Rural Exchange with Hamish McKay, Sarah Perriam and Richard Loe, 5-7am Saturday and Sunday on RadioLIVE with Carters Tyre Service. Click here for all the ways to watch and listen.
RadioLIVE.
By Rodney Hide, former ACT Party leader.
OPINION: You and I couldnt tell the boss were taking a few months off for personal health reasons but to keep the pay check coming. The bosss generosity would no doubt demand fuller explanation.
Likewise, we couldnt tell our customers we are off for a few months because: "There are times in life where you have to put your own health and family first. As a husband and a father I need to do that at this time. Oh, and keep paying like Im still delivering.
Life for all of us doesnt work like that. People pay us for what we do. Not irrespective of what we do or whether or not we turn up.
People react well to being trusted. They react badly to being kept in the dark.
And thats why MP Jami-Lee Ross and the National Party under whose banner he stands owe the public a fuller explanation for why Ross is no longer working as MP.
The need to know is not for prurient reason. Its for the simple reason that National and Ross have asked us at every election for our support, asked us to trust them, and in return have promised us they would work hard to support us.
Ross own web page promises us hes a strong local voice for Botany. He needs to explain why for some months he is not what he promised.
I suspect he would be very surprised by our response.
We are a very understanding people. We respond well to the truth. We are good at respecting peoples privacy. We can be trusted.
What we are not good at is being treated as fools. The idea that being an MP is important, that this MP for you is special, but suddenly you can do without them for months without consequence is treating us as fools.
The job of being MP cant just matter when it suits the MP. It must matter or it must not. Its not something that can be switched on and off at the MPs convenience.
We dont like being treated like we cant handle the truth. Those in power can handle the truth. But those of us who just vote, who work, who pay our taxes, who are expected to follow the rules, cant handle the truth because actually, what is the reason? We havent even been told why we cant be told.
I understand the reasons for Ross absence can be both personal and private. But his absence has social and public consequences. The voters of Botany are without their MP, for starters.
It comes with public life that when the personal impacts on the public role the personal needs explanation. People react well to being trusted. They react badly to being kept in the dark.
At the next election, National and their candidate will be asking Botany voters to trust them. They will be promising the voters they have the best candidate. They will be saying they will work hard and will put the peoples interests first.
But can you trust them? The experience of Jami-Lee Ross suggests not.
They wont trust us. Why should we trust them?
Its not that Botany is without an MP for some months that is the problem. Its that no proper explanation has been given for the absence. Thats the problem.
Rodney Hide speaks all things politics every Saturday on RadioLIVEs Weekend Life.
Kiwi actor and comedian Rhys Darby has written (and illustrated) a book for both his and your children. The book, called Top Secret Undercover Notes of Buttons McGinty, will be the first of five books.
While most New Zealanders have signed up for a KiwiSaver scheme, many forget to think of it as a long-term investment.
Kiwi Wealths Joe Bishop reminds everyone with a KiwiSaver that its not a savings account, but rather an investment that should be considered carefully.
Making a choice is really important because it has a real impact on how much money youll get later in life, he told RadioLIVEs Carly Flynn.
The type of investment fund you choose could make a serious difference in what will eventually accrue, Mr Bishop said. But despite this, there are some 400,000 New Zealanders who have kept their KiwiSaver in a default scheme.
The default scheme has a much lower return rate than other funds, explained Mr Bishop, which could seriously limit an investments full potential.
The expert recommends putting your money to work in a higher risk fund, like a growth or balanced fund.
While there will be occasional dips (as there is risk involved), Mr Bishop says its the best way to steadily grow your money over a lifetime.
Youll have to be prepared for some ups and downs along the way, he added.
Mr Bishop breaks down the different types of funds and who theyre best suited for.
Listen to the full interview with Joe Bishop above.
Money Chat on Weekend Life with Carly Flynn is sponsored by Kiwi Wealth.
Weekend Life with Carly Flynn,10am - 2pm on Saturday and streaming live on 'rova' channel 9 - available on Android and iPhone.
RadioLIVE.
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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 10/06/2018
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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.
's Jacqueline Trumbull and Jordan Mauger have called it quits on their romance after just revealing last month they had begun dating."Jordan and I were never in a relationship. We were getting to know each other and discovering what could be possible between us," Jacqueline told Life & Style amid rumors there's a lot of tension and drama between the former couple.Fans began speculating the pair stopped seeing each other on Tuesday after Jordan deleted all photos of them together from his Instagram account and unfollowed Jacqueline on social media.And then on Wednesday, a fan reportedly reached out to Jordan via direct message on Instagram and asked, "What happened between you and Jacqueline? I saw a post on reddit that she cheated on you at a play party. Basically everyone on reddit... is assuming the worst."Jordan allegedly replied, "Worse.""I'm really trying to recover from all this. It's very heartbreaking. I hope you understand I don't really want to go into it," Jordan continued in the DM, according to Life & Style.When asked about the leaked conversation, Jordan explained to the magazine, "This situation is more complex and deeper than people know. I'm not entirely sure how reddit works, but I'm sure it is very upsetting for Jacqueline as she uses it regularly. I'd respect if we could be left alone to recover from this by ourselves."Jacqueline, however, has firmly denied cheating on Jordan and appears distraught over such speculation."None of that comment is true... Jordan is mad about a totally different topic... I do not appreciate being slut-shamed, and the implications of this post are extremely offensive to myself and to the privacy of the play community," Jacqueline told Life & Style."The person who posted this had absolutely no validity and no right to invade my private life. I do not believe that Jordan would want this level of inspection either as this was a private DM."Jacqueline admitted she's "not doing great" and it's been a "very sad" few days.She also claimed she was able to "disprove" the rumor that started on Reddit and moderators ultimately decided to remove the comment in question.Jacqueline's photos of Jordan and herself remain on her Instagram account.While they weren't on this summer's fifth season of at the same time and it remains unclear when their relationship officially began, Jacqueline and Jordan revealed they were dating in a series of social media postings two weeks ago."More desert than beach people I guess... @jord_abroad #burningman2018 #burningman #bachelorinparadise," Jacqueline captioned an Instagram photo showing the couple about to kiss while attending the Burning Man festival which took place near Reno, NV from August 25 through September 3.Beginning September 4, Jacqueline and Jordan both posted photos showing they attended the festival together dressed in elaborate and quirky costumes. They appeared to be flirty and affectionate with each other.Jacqueline is a 27-year-old research coordinator from West Virginia that currently resides in New York, NY, and originally appeared on Arie Luyendyk Jr. 's season of The Bachelor.As for Jordan, he initially starred on The Bachelor New Zealand and was one of the international participants on The Bachelor Winter Games when it aired on ABC earlier this year.Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
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Featured artist Diego Gutierrez Monterrubio, second left, enjoys meeting guests Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 at the Porterville College Art Gallery. Monterrubio is a graduate of the college.
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Justin Trudeau dreams of closer Canadian ties with China. The deal he just made with President Donald Trump makes it harder for that to happen.
The new trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico includes a provision that requires one member to notify the others if it launches trade talks with a non-market economy. If those talks lead to a deal, the signatory could potentially be frozen out of the North American pact.
It's essentially a China clause, with the Trump administration gearing up for trade war with Beijing. It's also partially symbolic. But for Trudeau, it's either a concession or an admission that his aspirations for a free-trade deal China have fallen flat.
The Canadian prime minister's visit to China fizzled last year, and he rejected a major takeover this spring. But in a Cabinet shuffle this summer -- when the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement was still unclear -- he added "diversification" to his new trade minister's title. And now he's effectively siding with the U.S. against the Asian powerhouse.
"The U.S. is going to get all its partners to gang up on China, but it's clear that Canada did this because there was a gun to its head," said Mary Lovely, an economics professor at Syracuse University who studies trade issues. "Now Canada has its hands tied."
The U.S. and Canada reached their deal late Sunday, shortly before a deadline, and published the legal text that would allow it to be signed by the end of November. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as the new NAFTA is known, still needs to be ratified by the U.S. Congress and other legislatures before coming into force.
Article 32.10 requires any USMCA nation to notify the other two members three months before launching free trade talks with a non-market economy. The other countries can review any deal before it's signed and, once a new pact between a USMCA member and a non-market economy takes effect, the other two members can terminate the trilateral North American agreement and strike a bilateral one.
"They can basically pull the chute and kick you out by virtue of what they feel violates that clause," said Peter MacKay, who served as foreign minister under Trudeau's predecessor and is now a partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie. "The government doesn't seem to be very forthcoming as to why they would want to become supplicant to the United States in a trade war with China."
Others argue the change is more symbolic. "While I understand why people see this provision as a bit of an infringement on Canadian sovereignty, that's not typical of an FTA," said Matthew Kronby, a Toronto-based trade lawyer at Borden Ladner Gervais. "At a practical level, it has far less significance than some people are suggesting it does."
Both Trudeau and his foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, have downplayed the significance of the clause. Freeland told reporters in Ottawa Monday that countries are already able to quit the new NAFTA, regardless of the China clause.
Trudeau also signaled he's still interested in wooing Beijing. "China is a significant, growing player on global trade and we as always will look for ways to engage, deepen and improve our trading relationship with them," he said Tuesday at a press conference in Vancouver.
In a statement published Friday, China's embassy in Ottawa said it's "dishonest behavior" to tuck provisions into a trade deal "fabricating the concepts" of different standards for non-market economies.
"We deplore the hegemonic actions taken by some" countries, the embassy said, without specifying which one, and that doing so "blatantly interferes" with the sovereignty of others. "No matter how other countries adopt trade restricting actions against China, China will consistently pursue opening-up at its own pace."
The Trump administration is targeting China and views trade negotiations with other nations as a way to set the stage. The U.S. is in talks with the European Union and Japan, and is moving toward a "trade coalition of the willing to confront China," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told the Economic Club of Washington on Thursday.
Lovely, the Syracuse University professor, worries that joining such a coalition undercuts Canadian and Mexican sovereignty on trade issues. "The U.S. is setting itself up as the rule-writer, judge and jury," she said.
While Article 32.10 doesn't specifically name China, "they will very much take notice and they will do what they think is pragmatic," according to Stewart Beck, a former diplomat who now heads the Vancouver-based Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. The effects of the clause could extend beyond Beijing, he added, potentially preventing Canada from striking a deal with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose members include Vietnam.
Canada probably agreed to the clause -- and other changes in the USMCA -- rather than risk a major rift with the U.S., which is a much bigger trading partner, several observers said. The northern nation exported C$411 billion ($318 billion) of goods to the U.S. in 2017, according to Statistics Canada, compared with C$25 billion to China.
"This was the lesser of evils to accept what the United States had basically thrust upon us," MacKay said. "I don't think the gun was necessarily to our head -- it was in our mouth, with the trigger cocked and a full chamber."
Article 32.10 is already a source of debate domestically. The government of Ontario, Canada's most populous province, wrote to Freeland this week asking how the clause will "affect future trade deals between Canada and other nations." Trudeau's foreign minister defended the deal in her response. "Nothing in this agreement infringes on Canada's sovereign right to develop commercial relations with any country of its choosing," she wrote.
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Bloomberg's Greg Quinn, Saleha Mohsin and April Ma contributed.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said he's ready to allow Turkey to search the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul for a Saudi journalist critical of his rule who went missing after entering the building.
"The premises are sovereign territory, but we will allow them to enter and search and do whatever they want to do," Prince Mohammed said in an interview on Wednesday at a royal palace in Riyadh. "We have nothing to hide."
Jamal Khashoggi, who's been living in self-imposed exile for the past year, has been missing since Tuesday. His fiancee and friends say they fear he's been detained or kidnapped for his criticism of the government, and Turkish authorities believe he's still inside the consulate. The prince, however, said Khashoggi left the building not long after he entered.
Speculation that Khashoggi has been detained focused new attention on what critics say is a broad crackdown on dissent under Prince Mohammed that has coincided with his attempts to loosen social restrictions and create a more dynamic economy less reliant on oil. It also risks worsening ties between the kingdom and Turkey, already strained over Ankara's support of political Islam. Turkey summoned the Saudi ambassador to explain the journalist's disappearance.
The 33-year-old heir to the Saudi throne used the interview with Bloomberg to defend actions that have tarnished his reputation abroad as a man trying to overhaul one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies. He said the arrests of clerics, women activists and some businessmen over the past year were a small price to pay for peacefully eradicating extremism in the world's top oil exporter.
The prince said authorities have detained about 1,500 people over the past three years on national security grounds rather than as part of a clampdown on dissent. The number, he said, pales in comparison with Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has locked up tens of thousands since a failed coup against him in 2016.
"I didn't call myself a reformer of Saudi Arabia," Prince Mohammed said when questioned about criticism of the arrests. "I am the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and I am trying to do the best that I can do through my position."
The crackdown has created some striking juxtapositions. Shortly before lifting a decades-old ban on women driving this year, authorities rounded up several of the kingdom's most prominent women rights activists, charging some of them with collaborating with unspecified hostile foreign entities. Others arrested earlier include Salman Al-Odah, a popular cleric who's facing the death penalty.
The arrests have triggered condemnation from international human rights groups and spilled into foreign policy. When Canada called for the release of two female activists, the Saudi government responded by banning the Canadian ambassador from returning to Riyadh.
The crown prince said he wasn't concerned about his image overseas.
"I don't care how the world views me as much as I care about what's in the interest of the country and the Saudi people," he said. "Whatever serves the Saudi people and Saudi Arabia as a country, I will do it with full force."
Movements for change around the world have come "with a price," the prince said. Ending slavery in the U.S., for instance, was only possible after a civil war, he added.
"Here we are trying to get rid of extremism and terrorism without civil war, without stopping the country from growing," he said. "So if there is a small price in that area, it's better than paying a big debt to do that move."
The prince accused some of those held of giving information to intelligence agencies connected to regional foes Qatar and Iran, and said the government had evidence including videos and recorded calls. He also rejected claims that the arrests have created a climate of fear at home, saying his actions have overwhelming support among Saudis.
Critics such as Khashoggi say otherwise.
An official and unofficial adviser to senior Saudi royals, Khashoggi said last year he moved to the U.S. because of concerns he'd be arrested in Saudi Arabia or prevented from traveling abroad.
"I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice," he wrote in the Washington Post, where he's been a regular contributor. "To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot."
On Wednesday, Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for Erdogan, said Turkey believed Khashoggi was still inside the consulate. "We will continue following the matter closely. There is an international law, Turkish law and humanitarian aspect in this issue," he said.
Asked in the interview whether the journalist faces charges in Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed said it was first important to discover where Khashoggi was.
"If he's in Saudi Arabia, I would know that," he said.
- - -
Bloomberg's Taylan Bilgic and Nayla Razzouk contributed.
It's 4 o'clock in the morning and Dalkhan is already up and getting ready for work. After a quick wash and breakfast, he's out the door, pedaling his battered bike to a nearby state farm. Once there he guides cows to pasture after they've been milked, watches over them, and then leads the herd -- numbering 200 -- back to the barn at the end of the day. It may not sound glamorous, but Dalkhan, a former soldier and military contractor from Chechnya who asks that only his first name be used, is grateful for his new life in an unexpected land -- Belarus. "I never thought in my life that I'd be a cowherd," Dalkhan said in a recent interview with RFE/RL's Belarus Service. "Better to herd cows with a stick than hold a weapon in your hands," he added. "I don't want to even think about the past. There's more good in herding cows." Dalkhan, his wife Zaira, and their eight children have been living in Belarus for about a year and a half now. They settled there after fleeing Chechnya in 2017 after, according to Dalkhan, he refused orders to go and fight with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. He was bent on avoiding his brother's fate, who died fighting in the Donbas, Dalkhan says.
Like many who flee Chechnya, a Russian republic headed by strongarm leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Belarus was supposed be temporary, a launchpad for a better life in the West. But when Polish border guards repeatedly blocked the family's attempts to cross into Poland, a local priest in Brest convinced Dalkhan and his family to settle in Belarus for good. The Eastern European state hardly seems to fit the profile of a refugee's paradise. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ruled the country since 1994. Known as "Batka" (father of the nation), Lukashenka has crushed political opposition, routinely rounding up and jailing activists.
In August, Lukashenka, a former collective-farm manager, launched what analysts described as his boldest effort yet to silence the remaining independent voices on the country's bleak media scene. But Dalkhan says his family has been treated better in Belarus than in Russia. 'Here We Are Free' And with a growing antimigrant sentiment spreading in parts of Western Europe, the family is now convinced that Belarus is the right choice for them. "Chechens in Europe live in camps. Many are deported. And here we are free," Zaira explained.
The 40-year-old Dalkhan is reluctant to describe his former life as a mercenary, saying only that he was paid well -- about 700 euros a month ($800). His brother was also a military man, and, according to Dalkhan, died fighting somewhere in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine in 2016. Dalkhan says after his brother perished, he too was called to fight in eastern Ukraine, but he refused. "Nowhere in my contract was it written that I should kill civilians," he said. "I said I wasn't going to go." The record shows Chechens fighting on both sides in eastern Ukraine, where more than 10,300 people have perished since violence erupted between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in April 2014. One Chechen commander said as many as 300 Chechens were fighting in Donetsk with the separatists in 2015. After he refused to fight, Dalkhan says, he faced threats.
In the spring of 2017, Dalkhan left for good and ended up in Brest, not far from a border crossing with Poland. They thought the western Belarusian town would be just a stop on their journey to the West, hopefully to Germany or France. They were warned not to tell Polish officials at the border of their plans to travel onward and were advised to request asylum in Poland. They never made it -- they were turned back at the border not once, but 17 times. With accommodations in Brest costing 20 euros ($23) a night, money was running low. They tried everything to scrimp and save. For three weeks they even lived at the local train station. Then, a priest in Brest took the family in, offering them shelter at his parish and eventually convincing them to stay in Belarus. "He helped us a lot," said Zaira. "I wouldn't go to Poland now, even if they offered." 'Like Family To Us' In April 2017, the family moved on to a Belarusian village with an abundance of abandoned weather-beaten homes and untended yards belonging to a state farm. They prefer not to give its exact location, fearing retribution from the Chechen authorities. They aren't considered "refugees" in Belarus. Now that they work at a collective farm, or kolkhoz, Dalkhan holds a residency permit for himself and his family. They live rent-free, but conditions are spartan and cramped. The family of 10 shares a three-room abode. They have no car. A fleet of rusty bikes serves as transport. "I've never made less money in my life. But I don't complain. Indeed, complaining is a sin. Maybe that's what fate had in store for me, and after everything will be better."
More than two decades after its signing, Bosnia-Herzegovina is still guided by a stopgap settlement, known as the Dayton Agreement, which brought postwar order to curb hostilities among its three main ethnic groups.
The accord split the country into two entities: the ethnic Serb-dominated Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat federation of Muslims and Croats. The two are linked by joint state-level institutions, including a tripartite presidency.
And therein lies the predicament, according to many diplomats, Bosnians, and analysts alike.
It's a conspicuous problem as the fractious country of nearly 4 million people goes to the polls on October 7 to elect four presidents, two vice presidents, five parliamentary legislatures, and 10 canton assemblies.
The country's eighth postwar elections are likely to clarify little in the bureaucratic maze running of one of the world's most complex democracies, which is wracked by a failing economy, rampant corruption, and nationalist forces that threaten to tear it apart.
"It's a tough situation here, people are voting for the parties according to their ethnicity. Until we get away from that attitude, the perspective isn't going to change," Dalibor Zonic, a retired engineer who lives in the capital, Sarajevo, told RFE/RL.
'Poisonous Atmosphere'
Politics since the 1995 agreement has been dominated by nationalist rhetoric instead of moving toward rebuilding a country ravaged by three years of war that left some 100,000 dead following the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia.
But the current election campaign has been brutal enough for the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo to enter the fray, putting out a strongly worded statement on September 27, noting that public discourse in Bosnia has been "entirely dominated by fear-based rhetoric," which has created a "very poisonous atmosphere."
It warned that "efforts of politicians immediately prior to elections to blind citizens to their true intentions by ceremoniously opening traffic circles, offering free services in hospitals, and other ostensibly helpful activities are a mockery and insult to citizens in Bosnia."
Amid accusations from some quarters that U.S. officials were interfering in the vote, the U.S. statement went on to accuse Bosnian politicians of "misusing public funds and dragging war criminals into campaigns [and] falsely accusing long-standing supporters of Bosnia and Herzegovina of engaging in hostile activities."
Western leaders have meanwhile accused Moscow of interfering in the internal affairs of Bosnia and other former Yugoslav republics.
Though unspoken, the focus of many has been Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, who has two decades of electoral politics under his belt and is running this time for the Serbs' seat in Bosnia's tripartite presidency.
The Bosnian Serb leader, who has openly advocated for independence from the rest of Bosnia, last month accused the United States of using its development agency to interfere in Bosnia's internal affairs and election process, a charge dismissed by Washington.
Once seen by the West as a moderate who would break with the militant Serbian nationalism that led to the Balkan conflict in the 1990s, Dodik has taken a page from nationalist and populist leaders of the past. His current campaign has also included visits from former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and Corey Lewandowski, U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign manager.
Scarce and mainly unreliable opinion polls, coupled with accusations of electoral fraud and irregularities, make it difficult to accurately predict the Bosnian vote results at a time when the country will either follow the path of deeper Euro-Atlantic integration or fall into a hole dug by ethnic rivalries.
"Opinion polls suggest turnoutfor Bosnia's general elections will be below 50 percent in the larger of the country's two entities, the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation. Hardly surprising but a further blow to Dayton-era democratic legitimacy all the same," said Jasmin Mujanovic, a political scientist and author of Hunger And Fury: The Crisis Of Democracy In The Balkans.
In the meantime, the hope that elections will change the country's course seemed to be diminishing.
'Irresponsible Rhetoric'
One of Europe's poorest countries, with an average monthly wage of just over $460, Bosnia's unemployment rate stands at more than 20 percent. The jobless figure spikes to more than 45 percent among young people, who are emigrating -- estimated at about 20,000 annually -- in search of the opportunities politicians have failed to generate at home.
Party platforms have been noticeably bereft of specifics on how to heal the economic malaise or bring Bosnia closer to its main foreign policy goal -- European Union membership.
"It's not only irresponsible rhetoric that is a concern, but also the persistent nationalistic policies of some politicians. Those who remember the 1990s still remember the destruction that such nationalism brought to the Balkans, and especially Bosnia," Valentin Inzko, an Austrian diplomat currently serving as the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, said.
"Of course, politicians largely avoid responsibility for the emigration of the best and smartest people in this country, but it is clear that those who prevent the efficient and successful functioning of the state, while hiding behind nationalist rhetoric, are to blame in this case."
Local media have noted that one village has starker words for how its residents feel about the country's politicians.
Podgora, with around 700 residents and lying just outside the capital, heard enough during the campaign and banned politicians from entering the area.
"You've been lying to us for years. No party is welcome in Podgora," reads a white banner strung across the village's main square.
A weekend general election in Bosnia is being overshadowed by protests attended by tens of thousands in the country's two largest cities and organized by a pair of fathers demanding the truth about the alleged murders of their sons.
Final rallies by political candidates ahead of the October 7 presidential and parliamentary elections were scheduled to occur on the evening of October 5 in major cities, but the Alliance for Victory -- the main opposition bloc in the country's autonomous, predominantly Serbian, entity, Republika Srpska -- cancelled its gathering in Banja Luka, as did two opposition parties in Sarajevo, in a show of solidarity with the protesters.
The two fathers -- Davor Dragicevic, a Serb from Banja Luka, and Muriz Memic, a Muslim Bosniak from Sarajevo -- said they decided to hold simultaneous protests before the vote to put pressure on the judiciary to speed up inquiries into their sons' deaths.
The fathers accuse Bosnian authorities of being involved in what they say were murders that were concealed by police and prosecutors for political reasons.
Widespread public support for the two grieving fathers has bridged Bosnia's ethnic divisions, reflecting discontent with a political system and judiciary mired in corruption and entrenched partisanship in the 23 years since the country's 1992-95 war ended.
"Let's make the revolution with pens," Memic urged several thousand protesters in Sarajevo who chanted "We want justice" and carried placards demanding "Justice for Dzenan," the man's son.
Dzenan Memic, 22, died of wounds to his head in 2016. Prosecutors at first said he was murdered, but later declared that new evidence showed he had been killed in a car accident -- a conclusion never accepted by his family.
In Banja Luka, Dragicevic and his supporters have held daily protests for more than six months over the death of his son David, 21, who was found dead in March in a creek in Banja Luka a week after he went missing.
The father and protesters claim he was captured, tortured, and brutally murdered. The police said he drowned and had alcohol and drugs in his system.
"The Interior Ministry organized the murder of David Dragicevic," his father claimed at the October 5 protest attended by as many as 20,000 people, naming the officials allegedly involved. "This is a criminal state, criminal police."
The crowd chanted "Killers!" and booed when he mentioned Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, whose SNSD party held its final rally at a square just a few miles away attended by a few thousand supporters.
Dodik has said he sympathizes with the Dragicevic family's pain, but the that the son's death is a matter for prosecutors.
The main focus in the run-up to the October 7 elections has been on Dodik's bid to win a seat in Bosnia's multiethnic presidency. Dodik advocates the eventual separation of Serbs from the rest of the country -- the same goal that helped fuel the country's 1990s war.
The ongoing protests over Dragicevic's son's death have been seen as a challenge to Dodik. Republika Srpska authorities have claimed that they are part of a plot to undermine Dodik and accuse the opposition of trying to make political gains by allying with the protesters.
The United States last year imposed sanctions on Dodik, who has accused the United States and Britain of funneling money to his opponents to weaken the Serb mini-state.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has endorsed Dodik, who as a member of the Bosnian presidency would likely seek to strengthen Russia's role in in the Balkan country.
With reporting by AP and Reuters
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has arrived in Serbia for a three-day visit.
Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin welcomed Stoltenberg in the capital, Belgrade, on October 6.
Stoltenberg will meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic during his trip.
Stoltenberg and Vucic will also attend the opening ceremony of the civil emergency exercise "SRBIJA 2018," which is co-organized by the NATO Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center and Serbia's Interior Ministry.
Ahead of his trip, Stoltenberg said EU-mediated talks between Serbia and neighboring Kosovo were important for peace and security in the region.
Belgrade and Pristina in 2013 committed to EU-mediated talks to resolve their differences, but little progress has been made.
There have been continued tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008.
Kosovo's independence has been recognized by more than 100 countries, but not by Serbia.
A Pakistani court has ordered that opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif be remanded in custody for 10 days after being arrested in a corruption case, meaning he will not be able to campaign for his party ahead of crucial by-elections next week.
The National Accountability Bureau said in a statement that it arrested Sharif on October 5 over corruption charges relating to a multimillion dollar housing scheme.
Sharif is accused of misusing his authority as the chief minister of Punjab Province from 2013 to 2018 by influencing authorities to award contracts for a government-run housing program for low-income citizens to a company with which he had political affiliations.
Sharif's lawyer Azam Nazir Tarar said on October 6 that the court ordered his client be remanded in custody for 10 days to be interrogated.
"They cannot arrest the leader of the opposition in this manner," Tarar said.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) party, which Shahbaz Sharif heads, said the arrest was politically motivated and was intended to weaken the party before by-elections scheduled for October 14.
The by-elections are for 11 parliamentary seats and 19 provincial assembly seats.
Hundreds of PML-N supporters gathered outside the court, chanting pro-Sharif slogans as police and soldiers guarded the venue.
Sharif is the younger brother of former ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was disqualified from office by the Supreme Court last year over corruption allegations.
An accountability court in July sentenced the former leader and his daughter to 10-year and seven-year terms in prison, respectively, over the purchase of luxury apartments in London in the 1990s.
They have denied wrongdoing.
Nawaz Sharif was arrested 10 days before the July 25 general election, which was won by cricket star turned politician Imran Khan, who now leads the new government.
Nawaz Sharif was released from prison last month pending an appeal.
The PML-N came in second place in the election, but the party denounced the polls as rigged, alleging that the military and courts tipped the scale in favor of Khan's party, a charge the army and judiciary deny.
With reporting by Reuters and AP
People gathered in the regional capital of Ingushetia for a third straight day on October 6 to protest what they say is an unfair land swap with Chechnya under a controversial deal to establish the border between the two North Caucasus republics.
Hundreds of people remained overnight in a square in the regional capital, Magas, some sleeping in tents, according to local media.
Social media posts showed that protesters had also set up a kitchen and food area near the parliament building.
The demonstration began on October 4 when Ingush lawmakers gathered to vote on a border demarcation deal reached by Ingush and Chechen leaders last week.
The outcome of that vote was unclear. Officials said lawmakers had endorsed the deal, but at least three parliamentarians said the result had been falsified.
The deal envisages a land swap meant to end simmering territorial tensions that emerged after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.
Hundreds of police and security forces have been present but have not intervened against the demonstrators.
But Amnesty International on October 5 said it feared a possible police crackdown against the protesters in Magas.
'Total Lack Of Transparency'
In a statement, the London-based human rights watchdog called on authorities to uphold the right to peaceful assembly and refrain from excessive force in Ingushetia.
"So far protests have been peaceful and law enforcement have conducted themselves professionally," said Amnesty Internationals Russian Researcher Oleg Kozlovsky, though he added that the "situation is delicately balanced."
"If some protesters use violence, they must respond in a proportionate manner," Kozlovsky added. "The reckless rhetoric by some leaders in the lead-up to the border deal, and the total lack of transparency around the agreement, have raised tension and made the possibility of violence more likely."
The Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov recently threatened the protesters in Ingushetia by saying that the demonstrators "will be held accountable."
On September 26, police detained several protesters during a similar rally on the outskirts of Magas against what critics say is the unfair handover of parts of Ingushetia to neighboring Chechnya.
The two regions used to be parts of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. They split in 1992, following the Soviet Union's collapse the previous year.
Chechnya is the site of two devastating post-Soviet separatist wars from 1994 to 2001 and the epicenter of an Islamist insurgency that spread across much of the North Caucasus, igniting violence in Ingushetia and other mostly Muslim republics in the region.
With reporting by Caucasian Knot, AP, Reuters, and AFP
Romanian election officials say a referendum asking to amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage has failed due to low voter turnout.
The country's election commission said that just 20.4 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots by the time polls closed on October 7, the second day of voting. That was well below the 30 percent threshold required by law.
The proposed amendment would change the constitutional definition of marriage from a union of "spouses," to one exclusively of a man and a woman to prevent any attempt to legalize same-sex marriage through legislation in the future.
A conservative group initiated the two-day referendum, and the influential Romanian Orthodox Church and all but one parliamentary party backed the change.
"We call on you to vote, to have this honor, to demonstrate this freedom and right," Patriarch Daniel was quoted as saying in a statement on the news website of the Romanian church.
The measure had passed the country's two chambers of parliament already, making the referendum vote the final stage in the amendment process.
It was not immediately clear whether conservative organizations would make another try at a referendum or give up.
Conservative Romania is one of the few members of the European Union to ban marriage or civil partnerships for same-sex couples. Romania decriminalized homosexuality in 2001, but discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) minority is widespread.
Liviu Dragnea, leader of the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD), was one of the first to cast a vote early on October 6.
"The time has come to decide ourselves how we want to live in our country," he said, adding that a "yes" vote was "absolutely not a vote against a minority."
Before the vote, the 55-year-old Dragnea told television station Romania TV that "many fear what has happened "in other countries" in allowing same-sex marriage.
AFP quoted a retired Bucharest resident as saying, "If we allow gay people to marry, tomorrow they will be asking to adopt children and that would be unacceptable."
Opponents say the new constitutional language is an attempt to make LGBT people feel more like second-class citizens and warned that approval would push the country onto a populist, authoritarian track.
The government's decision to press ahead with the referendum alarmed Brussels, with the EU Commission's deputy chief, Frans Timmermans, reminding Bucharest of its human rights commitments.
"I don't want family values to be transformed into arguments that encourage the darkest demons and hatred against sexual minorities," he said.
The lower house of parliament voted in favor last year and the Senate followed in September, making the referendum the last needed stage.
With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
Romanians began voting on whether to change the constitution to strictly ban same-sex marriage in a two-day referendum in the conservative country.
The proposed amendment would change the constitutional definition of marriage from a union of "spouses," to one exclusively of a man and a woman to prevent any attempt to legalize same-sex marriage through legislation in the future.
A conservative group initiated the referendum, which is being held on October 6-7, and the influential Romanian Orthodox Church and all but one parliamentary party is backing the change.
Romania is one of the only members of the European Union to ban marriage or civil partnerships for same sex couples. Romania decriminalized homosexuality in 2001, but discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community is widespread.
"Many fear what has happened in other countries," the leader of the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea, told television station Romania TV.
Opponents say the new constitutional language is an attempt to make LGBT people feel more like second-class citizens and warned that approval would push the country onto a populist, authoritarian track.
The government's decision to press ahead with the referendum has alarmed Brussels, with the EU Commission's deputy chief, Frans Timmermans, reminding Bucharest of its human rights commitments.
"I don't want family values to be transformed into arguments that encourage the darkest demons and hatred against sexual minorities," he said.
The referendum requires a 30 percent turnout of registered voters to be valid.
A poll released on October 5 by CURS estimated a turnout of 34 percent with 90 percent in favor of the change.
A group called the Coalition for the Family collected 3 million signatures to enable the amendment.
The lower house of parliament voted in favor last year and the senate followed in September, making the referendum the last needed stage.
With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
A Russia-friendly party has won the most votes in Latvias parliamentary elections, ahead of two populist parties.
The Harmony party, which gets much of its support from the Baltic country's Russian-speaking minority, took 19.9 percent of the votes in the October 6 elections, final results showed.
Election authorities reported on October 7 that two populist parties seen as potential Harmony partners, KPV LV and the New Conservative Party, polled 14.1 percent and 13.6 percent, respectively.
The liberal pro-EU and pro-NATO Development/For! party finished fourth with 12 percent, beating the three parties from the current center-right governing coalition of Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis, which won nearly 28 percent between them
Turnout was 54.6 percent of the 1.9 eligible voters, election officials said.
Seven parties and alliances will join the parliament, called the Saeima, and coalition talks could be long and tense.
"No coalition combination is possible without Harmony that would appear able and stable," party leader and Riga Mayor Nils Ushakovs said.
In the past, parties have refused to enter into coalition with Harmony. But many observers say they expect KPV LV and the New Conservatives to attempt to form a coalition with the Kremlin-friendly party.
"No coalition combination is possible without Harmony that would appear able and stable," Harmony Chairman and Riga Mayor Nils Ushakovs told the LETA agency.
"Otherwise, you could have a coalition of xenophobes and gay rights supporters, and such a government would stick together for two or three weeks," he added.
Latvia, a member of the European Union and NATO, shares a 270-kilometer border with Russia.
It has a sizable ethnic-Russian minority of around 25 percent, a legacy of nearly 50 years of Soviet occupation that ended in 1991, when the nation regained its independence.
Latvia's mainstream parties have kept pro-Russia politicians from power as they sought ever closer ties with the West.
At the last election, Harmony won the most seats but was excluded from power when the other parties refused to include it in any deal due to its ties with Russia.
The populist KPV LV party and its leader, Artuss Kaimins, whose popularity has soared as he railed against corrupt politicians, has sent mixed messages on whether he would also rule out such a deal.
A KPV-Harmony ruling alliance would represent "a rather radical change of Latvia's position towards the European Union and towards our security matters which, I think, is very dangerous," Prime Minister Kucinskis said.
With reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and Reuters
Latvia holds parliamentary elections on October 6 in a vote that could propel a populist, Russian-friendly coalition to power.
Latvia, a member of the European Union and NATO, shares a 270-kilometer border with Russia.
It has a sizable ethnic-Russian minority of around 25 percent, a legacy of nearly 50 years of Soviet occupation that ended in 1991, when the nation regained its independence.
Latvia's mainstream parties have kept pro-Russian politicians from power as they sought ever closer ties with the West.
At the last election, Harmony, a party whose main support is from Latvia's ethnic Russian minority, won the most seats but was excluded from power when the other parties refused to include it in any deal due to its ties with Russia.
But the populist KPV LV party and its leader Artuss Kaimins, whose popularity has soared as he railed against corrupt politicians, has sent mixed messages on whether he would also rule out such a deal.
"We are at a crossroads. Either we will form a new government, or they will," said Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis of the Union of Greens and Farmers party.
A KPV-Harmony ruling alliance would represent "a rather radical change of Latvia's position towards the European Union and towards our security matters which, I think, is very dangerous," he said.
Based on reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and Reuters
Russia is augmenting its underwater battle capabilities in a direct challenge to U.S. and NATO forces in the Atlantic and Mediterranean arenas, a top U.S. admiral has warned.
Admiral James Foggo, who heads NATO's Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, told Pentagon reporters in Washington late on October 5 that Russia is investing heavily in its submarine fleet and wants to build an "asymmetric" threat to the United States and NATO.
While the Russian Navy knows it cannot compete with the number of U.S. and NATO aircraft carriers and other larger surface vessels, he said, "they have continued to do research and development and recapitalize the undersea domain."
Foggo said he was concerned that Russian submarines can fire Kalibr cruise missiles that "if launched from any of the seas around Europe...can reach any one of the capitals of Europe."
He said Russia currently has six Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines in the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
When asked if the navy knows where all Russian subs are at any given time, Foggo, who used to command an attack submarine, declined to elaborate.
"I can tell you that we hold an acoustic advantage and we will continue to do that," he said, referring to the listening technologies that allow sailors to locate subs.
Foggo also gave a preview of upcoming NATO military exercises in Norway which he will command and which will be the biggest such drills since 2002.
He said the exercises will be designed to simulate the alliance's response to a theoretical Russian attack on Norway.
Foggo said Russia has been invited to send observers to the Trident Juncture exercises, which are due to begin on October 25, and he urged Moscow to accept the invitation to learn more about NATO's capabilities.
"There's a strong deterrent message here," he said.
The Pentagon said the exercises will involve 45,000 troops from the United States and other NATO member countries, plus Sweden and Finland, which cooperate with the alliance but are not members. Also involved will be about 150 aircraft, more than 60 ships, and 10,000 military vehicles, it said.
With reporting by AP and AFP
Saudi Arabias crown prince in an interview with Bloomberg News is insisting that the kingdom is fulfilling promises to the United States to make up a shortfall in world oil supplies resulting from the loss of Iranian production under U.S. sanctions.
"The request that America made to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries is to be sure that if there is any loss of supply from Iran, that we will supply that," Muhammad Bin Salman, heir to the Saudi throne, told Bloomberg in an interview published on October 5. "And that happened."
Salman said a coalition of producers from OPEC has recently boosted output by 1.5 million barrels a day, which is double the 700,000-barrel decline in output experienced so far by Iran under the threat of U.S. sanctions on its oil sector, which are due to take effect on November 5.
"We export as much as two barrels for any barrel that disappeared from Iran recently," the prince said. "So we did our job and more."
Yet that hasn't stopped U.S. President Donald Trump from continuing to blame the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for a sharp rise in prices this year, even as his administration vows to choke off all of Iran's oil exports.
The increased production also failed this week to prevent premium crude prices from hitting a four-year high above $86 a barrel in London trading.
Oil traders say they are concerned that the kingdom isnt ramping up output quickly enough, and that it may not have enough capacity to fully cover Irans losses.
'Maxed Out'
Saudi Arabia is now pumping about 10.7 million barrels a day -- close to a record -- and can add a further 1.3 million "if the market needs that," Salman told Bloomberg.
However, some analysts doubt that 12 million barrels a day can be reached quickly, or maintained for an extended period.
"Near-term spare capacity is effectively maxed out," said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd.
The Saudi prince claimed in the Bloomberg interview that the kingdom could push its capacity beyond 12 million barrels a day with additional investment, and that extra supplies are also available from its allies in the Persian Gulf region.
The so-called OPEC+ coalition includes other Gulf producers like the United Arab Emirates, as well as countries outside OPEC such as Russia. However, Russia, which rivals the Saudis as a top global producer, does not support the U.S. sanctions against Iran and has vowed to help Iran get around them and keep exporting oil.
Trump announced he would reimpose U.S. economic sanctions on Iran in May after walking away from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But Russia, China, and the three European powers that also signed the deal have continued to honor it and are working with Iran on ways to evade the U.S. sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, like Iran, has blamed Trumps abandonment of the nuclear deal for the sharp rise in oil prices this year.
The Saudis, by contrast, are bitter rivals with Iran in the Middle Eastern region and applauded Trump's decision to quit the nuclear deal. Trump at the time said he expected the Saudis and other Gulf allies to make up the shortfall in Iranian production that would result from the sanctions.
Iran's oil output reached a peak of about 4 million barrels a day after global sanctions were lifted in 2016 in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities under the nuclear deal. But its output has declined sharply in recent months under the threat of U.S. sanctions.
The Saudi prince contended in the Bloomberg interview that the most recent sharp rise in prices to over $80 a barrel is actually being driven by output losses in other countries, not Iran.
"The higher price that we have in the last month, its not because of Iran," he said. "Its mostly because of things happening in Canada and Mexico, Libya, Venezuela, and other countries."
On a related matter, Reuters reported on October 5 that Indian crude importers intend to keep buying oil from Iran in November after U.S. sanctions go into effect and are seeking a waiver from the sanctions from Washington.
With reporting by Bloomberg and Reuters
An Afghan official said at least two police officers have been killed in Taliban attacks in the capital Kabul.
Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for Kabul's police chief, said nine others, including six police officers and three civilians, were wounded in the bomb blasts on October 6.
Mujahid said a roadside bomb hit a military vehicle as police arrived to respond to a militant attack, killing at least one police officer.
He said a second blast took place as security personnel and civilians gathered at the site of the incident, killing at least one other officer.
The city's district police chief was among the wounded, he added.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.
Based on reporting by AP and Khaama
The UN human rights chief is condemning Iran's execution of a woman convicted of murdering her husband five years ago when she was 17 years old.
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on October 5 that Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran had insisted she was coerced into confessing to the 2012 murder and she was beaten by police after her arrest.
Moreover, it said, her claims of being a victim of domestic violence were not adequately considered during her trial, and she was not allowed access to a lawyer until her final trial session, when she recanted the confession that she made under duress.
Sekaanvand was executed on October 2 after her family was given only one day's notice to pay a last visit and "despite a number of appeals from UN Special Rapporteurs and the UN Secretary-General," the UN said.
The sheer injustice in the case of Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran is deeply distressing, Bachelet said. The serious question marks over her conviction appear not to have been adequately addressed before she was executed. The bottom line is that she was a juvenile at the time the offense was committed and international law clearly prohibits the execution of juvenile offenders."
Bachelet called on Iran's government to honor two international treaties it signed requiring nations to end use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders.
Dozens of other convicted juvenile offenders reportedly remain on death row in Iran, which has already executed at least five juvenile offenders so far this year. The UN rights office opposes the death penalty in all cases.
Photo: Darren Handschuh There will be free parking downtown on Saturday.
People visiting Downtown Vernon Saturday can leave their change at home as the Downtown Vernon Association (DVA) is presenting Free Parking Day.
The free parking is part of a campaign designed to put the spotlight on downtown businesses.
Branded as #LoveTheLocal, Free Parking Day allows residents to park stress-free while supporting local businesses.
We encourage people to support local every day of the week, but Free Parking Days allow us to give back to the residents of Vernon, said Dudley Coulter, DVA events and promotions coordinator.
The promotion is a downtown-wide customer-appreciation day.
Not only will there be free downtown-wide parking, but special offers as well, with more than 15 businesses offering special discounts and events.
These offers can be found on the DVA website and on Facebook.
More free parking days are planned for December.
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Some commenters on the forthcoming referendum on the future voting system for British Columbia have suggested that proportional representation would result in government instability.
In our experience in the U.K., it is first past the post that has caused political instability. FPTP manufactures
artificial majorities for parties that have only minority support among the voters. Worse, it then causes a complete change of government when there is a comparatively small change in voting at a subsequent election. One minority replaces another, but usually with a grossly exaggerated majority of seats.
We experienced this in the U.K., particularly in the succession of elections after 1945, when Labour was replaced by Conservatives who were then replaced by Labour only to be replaced by Conservatives. At each change of government, there was complete change of policy: nationalize, denationalize, renationalize, denationalize again.
It was the same in every area of economic and social policy, including health and education. Gross policy instability, and consequent lack of progress, arising directly from the distortions of the FPTP system.
Some call it "strong government" when a party with only minority support among the voters can ram through its policies based on an artificial majority of seats. But those of us who lived through the repeated policy reversals have quite a different view. There is nothing "strong" about government where the central policies of one party are reversed by its successor in government only to be reversed again and again.
At least with PR, small changes in the votes are reflected in small changes in the seats and, usually, small changes in policy. If the voters want a big change, they can bring that about with PR, but then the change will properly reflect the wishes of the voters.
James Gilmour, Edinburgh, Scotland
Air France says plans to increase Cancun flights due to passenger demand
Cancun, Q.R. Air France says that due to an increase in passenger interest, they are working on plans to increase flights into Cancun.
Guilhem Mallet, the general director of Air France in Mexico, said that it is a project they will be working on over the next two years.
All the plans are on the table. We may add more flights to increase the frequency or add the option of changing aircraft to one with a greater capacity such as the 777-200 for 300, which is what we use only during high season.
Everything is being analyzed and nothing is decided yet, but things will be defined within the next two years, he explained.
He added that the reevaluation of the flights is due to an increase in French interest to visit the Cancun, Riviera Maya region. Reports show that from January to July of this year, they have seen an increase of around 10,000 passengers from France to the Cancun International Airport.
The Ministry of the Interior of Mexico reports an increase from 73,577 French passengers for the first six months of 2017 to 83,692 for the same period this year specifically for the Cancun airport.
Mallet says that Europeans enjoy travel, especially to sun and sand destinations as well as archaeological and cultural areas.
We have positive plans specifically for Cancun, he says adding, In Mexico City, we have flight plans to fill the demand there, but for Cancun we want to develop connections, have more flights to have more passengers and offer more travel options in Mexico, he said.
Aeromexico is the domestic company in Mexico with the most important market, so we want to take advantage of that to sell our product and push sales, work on the connections.
For example, to be an integrated product where a passenger who flies from Paris to Cancun can then connect to Monterrey.
Tafer Hotels and Resorts says four more for Mexicos Caribbean
Cancun, Q.R. Four new hotel developments are being prepared for Mexicos Caribbean by Tafer Hotels and Resorts.
The company currently operates several hotels in the area and says they are looking to build four more. Three would be constructed on the mainland of Isla Mujeres and possibly one more in Riviera Maya.
The three for Isla Mujeres would be under the Garza Blanca brand with Hotel Mousai being the Riviera Maya brand.
Robert Kistner, Tafers project manager for the Caribbean, says that the three Isla Mujeres hotels would add another 1,000 rooms to the area.
The first 250 rooms will be in operation in mid-2019. Garza Blanca Cabo is currently being built and will be operational in November. At the end of that we will probably come to build in Riviera Maya in the municipality of Solidaridad, but it is not yet definitive, he explained.
Kistner says that the group sees the panorama views of the Vacation Clubs, who have shown a growth increase of approximately 15 percent in volume of sales with their main market coming from the United States and Canada.
They are hurting agricultural businesses, reducing biodiversity and putting lives at risk. A letter from the Manningham Council and Yarra Ranges, Cardinia and Nillumbik shires to the government, Friday, asked as deer should be officially classified as a pest species. Officials opened up 90,000 hectares of the Alpine National Park to deer hunting permitting businesses to prepare deer for eating.
Professional Australian hunter
Australian Deer Association executive officer Barry Howlett said the strategy struck the right balance between promoting recreational hunting and preserving the environment. A lot of areas in eastern Victoria that have very few visitors could be opened for hunting tomorrow with really no impact on other users, he said. Feral deer are mostly found in south-eastern Australia, but scientific studies have warned conditions are ripe for their eventual migration to northern Australia. Deer populations in south-east Australia are soaring with an estimated 1 million in Victoria alone. It is believed that at least 400,000 a year must be removed. Victorian Environment Minister Lily DAmbrosio said in a statement farmers were already allowed to control deer on private property. We are not talking about a cute little Bambi here. This is a 200-kilogram herbivore thats wreaking a lot of damage on our native bush and impacting agriculture, Victorian Environment Minister Lily DAmbrosio said in a statement.
Photo: Contributed
Kelowna's Royal Canadian Legion branch recently handed out some big cheques, just as it began to ramp up this fall's poppy campaign.
Kelowna is traditionally one of the top fundraising branches across Canada, with individual business campaigns raising more than $50,000 each.
"The Legion recognizes that a lot of fundraising in this day and age is done electronically through social media, but we feel that personal contact serves us well in keeping the Legion name relevant, in honour of all the veterans who have served their country so willingly," spokesman Michael Worth said in a press release.
Funds raised through the poppy campaign help veterans' causes as well as local charities.
The Legion donated $100,000 to the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation, towards construction of JoeAnnas House, which will be a home away from home for families of sick kids who have to travel to Kelowna for treatment.
Also, Branch 26 made a $50,000 donation to the B.C. Cancer Agency towards the purchase of a PET scanner.
In addition, the Kelowna branch distributes about $50,000 annually in bursary funds to local students.
The poppy campaign gets into high gear with a kickoff breakfast on Oct. 26 at the Legion on Bertram Street. After that, you will begin to see volunteers and donation boxes all over town.
Cong practises vote bank politics, divides to rule
In a scathing attack Saturday on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the opposition party of practising vote bank politics and dividing people to get into power. The prime minister made the charge at a rally here just ahead of the announcement of assembly election dates for Rajasthan and four other states in November and December. He asked people not to let the Congress get into power again. Modi said vote bank politics is not limited to elections now.
Narendra Modi accused the opposition party of practising vote bank politics
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Political parties which do vote bank politics divide the bureaucracy when they are in power and this badly affects governance, he said. They allocate the budget as per vote bank politics and therefore overall development does not happen, he said at the meeting which marked the end of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's state-wide political `yatra'. The Congress has established this tradition in the past 60 years, Modi said. "With great difficulty, the country has picked the right direction now after 60 years. Don't give them another chance again, he said.
Congress has established this tradition in the past 60 years: Modi
He said the Congress leaders' high command is a family and they can do politics only be revering it. He accused the party low-level politics. The Congress leaders were questioning the surgical strikes by the Army across the Line of Control two years ago and insulting soldiers, he said. They should be ashamed of indulging in such politics, Modi said. The rally marked the end of Raje's Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra', an outreach exercise by the Bharatiya Janata Party. The prime minister's rally ended shortly before the Election Commission's press conference in Delhi announcing the polling dates for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana. Rajasthan will go to the polls on December 7. Counting will take place in all five states on December 11, the EC announced.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Saturday to address a public rally on the culmination of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra. On his arrival from New Delhi, Modi was welcomed by Raje at the Jaipur airport. He then left for Ajmer in a helicopter, which has reached near the rally venue at Kayad Vishram Sthali on the Ajmer-Jaipur highway.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje
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The prime minister was accompanied by Raje to Ajmer in the helicopter. This is the first political rally of the prime minister in Rajasthan, where Assembly polls will be held later this year. Tight security arrangements have been made for the rally which is estimated to be attended by nearly three lakh people.
President Ram Nath Kovind
President Ram Nath Kovind will Sunday embark on a three-day visit to Tajikistan during which he will hold talks with the top leadership of the country to strengthen India's ties with the Central Asian country. During his visit from October 7-9, he will meet his Tajik counterpart Emamoli Rahmon, Speaker of Parliament Shukurjon Zuhurov, and Speaker of the Lower House (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of Parliament. Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda will also call on the president, the Ministry of External Affairs said Saturday.
President Kovind to visit Tajikistan from Oct 7-9
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Kovind will also visit the Tajik National University where he will deliver an address on 'Countering Radicalization: Challenges in Modern Societies'. He will address the members of the Indian diaspora in Tajikistan during his three-day visit. The president will also pay his respects to Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore by visiting their memorials in Dushanbe and will offer floral tributes. All areas of bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation are expected to be discussed during Kovind's visit to Tajikistan, the MEA said.
Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda
Given the close relationship between the two countries, the visit is expected to lead to further strengthening of the Indo-Tajik bilateral relations, it said. This will be the first visit of Kovind to Central Asia. Minister of State for Defence Shubhash Bhamre and Rajya Sabha member Shamsher Singh Manhas will also be part of the president's official delegation. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has visited India five times, his last visit being in December 2016.
Captain Amarinder Singh expressed concern over certain erosion of the States powers
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday expressed concern over certain erosion of the States powers, leading to a weakening of the Centre-State relations in the federal structure. Participating in a discussion at the HT Summit 2018, the Chief Minister made it clear that he had no problems working with the Centre, from whom it had been receiving full cooperation, but added that the state was facing some issues, particularly in matters of finance and key appointments. Captain Amarinder Singh was joined by Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the discussion, steered by Anand Narasimhan.
Setting the tone for the discussion, Captain Amarinder Singh said control had been taken away from the states and he did not have the power even to appoint his own DGP but had to send a list of names to UPSC. Do they know better than us, he asked, adding that his government was challenging the issue of DGP appointment in the Supreme Court. The Maharashtra CM said his government would back Punjab on the plea as he fully agreed with Captain Amarinder Singh that states should have the freedom to appoint their own DGPs. The states were not consulted in the matter of appointment of judges, Captain Amarinder Singh further said, adding that while earlier the state used to send its recommendations now it was being only given the names.
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In response to a question on drugs, Captain Amarinder Singh stressed the need for a national policy, which he said he had been pursuing with the Centre. Pakistan was pushing drugs through the borders to demolish the youth in the northern states, he said, pointing to the fact that drugs were being sent to Amritsar from Gujarat even though they could fetch better prices in Delhi and Mumbai. The motive was to demolish the youth and starve the Indian Army of manpower in the long run, he felt, pointing out that the Army had two-thirds of its strength coming from the northern belt. If you dont have healthy youth, where will you get jawans from, he asked.
Captain Amarinder Singh asserted that his government was going hammer and tongs to solve the drug problem, which was at a critical point. On the allegations of his government going soft on the Badals, the Punjab Chief Minister said one could not just catch anyone and put them behind the bars. The Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh Inquiry Commission had given its report and an SIT had been formed to get to the bottom of the sacrilege cases, he added. To another question, he said his government did not want to control the SGPC but wanted the Badals out of it as they had made the religious body their fiefdom. The ruling Congress in Punjab would support anyone who could throw the Badals out of SGPC, he said, adding that the Akali leaders were not working for the Sikh community.
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Punjab is feeding the country but the country is not feeding us. We have no industry, Captain Amarinder Singh earlier lamented, adding that the state was facing financial issues, with no money and no industry to strengthen its economy. The state, which had a hostile neighbor, was growing at 5.1% as against the Indian GDP growth rate of 7.2%, he pointed out, expressing concern over the situation.
Kumaraswamy also felt there were certain issues on which the state was not getting support from the Centre, such as the water dispute and GST. We have to rely on Centre for finances. The Centre is taking all powers away from the states, which have no scope for tax collection and no sources of their own left to raise revenues, he added. Captain Amarinder Singh wanted fuel to be kept out of GST, to which Kumaraswamy agreed. Fadnavis was in favour of bringing fuel under GST but agreed with the Punjab Chief Minister that states have less liberty now in matters of finance.
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While Fadnavis mooted alternatives to fuel, suggesting that the ethanol policy could be a game changer, Captain Amarinder Singh felt grain ethanol was a good alternative. The Punjab Chief Minister underlined the need for export of other grains too, apart from Basmati. On the issue of stubble burning, the Punjab Chief Minister said in response to an audience question that even though he did not like doing it, his government was imposing fines on farmers found indulging in the same. Every village in Punjab was plotted on satellite, he said, calling for an economic solution to the problem. He reiterated his demand for subsidy/compensation of Rs. 100 per quintal from the Centre to incentivize farmers against stubble burning.
Photo: Thinkstock.com
A water quality advisory for West Kelowna residents on the Pritchard/Sunnyside system has been rescinded, effective immediately.
However, water advisories in place for the Lakeview and West Kelowna Estates systems remain in effect until further notice.
In the Lakeview and West Kelowna Estates systems, children, the elderly and people with immune deficiencies should continue to use water that has been boiled for at least one minute, or find an alternative safe source, for brushing teeth, drinking, making beverages and ice and preparing baby formula and food.
The City of West Kelowna will continue to provide free water at the bulk filling station at Shannon Lake Road and Asquith Road to all Lakeview and West Kelowna Estates system residents.
The tap is located on the Asquith Road side. Residents need to bring clean containers and hoses for filling.
Photo: Contributed CTV Vancouver
UPDATE: 7:25 p.m.
Surrey RCMP have confirmed that the driver of a black SUV has succumbed to his injuries on scene.
The driver was reportedly a 50 year-old male from New Westminster B.C.
Surrey RCMP, along with B.C. ambulance service and Surrey Fire Department attended to the scene.
Highway 15 is closed between 32nd Ave and 24th Ave., in Surrey, and will remain closed for some time.
Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted Police are seeking the public's assistance.
Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or the vehicles driving before the collision are asked to call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or to call Crime Stoppers in reference to Surrey File # 2018-149086.
ORIGINAL 6:15 p.m.
A serious collision on Highway 15 in Surrey has closed the highway in both directions.
Surrey RCMP are currently on scene.
The crash occurred just before 3p.m. by 176th Street near 32nd Avenue.
Footage from the scene showed a black SUV with a mangled front end stopped behind a blue tractor-trailer.
Several emergency vehicles were at the scene, including an advanced life support ambulance and police cruisers.
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
Authorities reopened 32 Avenue at around 5:30 p.m., but 176 Street remains closed to traffic.
The collision is under investigation.
with files from CTV Vancouver
At least two Afghan security forces were killed Saturday in Taliban attacks in the capital Kabul, officials said.
Basir Mujahid, spokesman for Kabul's police chief, said that nine others, including six police officers and three civilians, were wounded in the bomb blasts.
Mujahid said a roadside bomb hit a military vehicle as police arrived to respond to an insurgent attack, then a second blast took place in the same area causing casualties.
The city's district police chief was among the wounded, he said.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Elsewhere, in the western Ghor province, eleven people, including seven civilians and four police officers, were killed after security forces raided a village to arrest a militia commander, said Abdul Hai Khateby, spokesman for the provincial governor.
According to Khateby, security forces were tracking down the local commander known as Alipoor, who is accused of criminal activities in the Lal wa Sarjangal district. His gunmen battled with security forces causing casualties, he added.
Alipoor belongs to the ethnic Hazara minority, and his supporters in Ghor and elsewhere, including the central Bamyan province, protested the raid conducted by the security forces.
Khateby said security forces are in control of the area but still hunting down the commander who was able to flee the village.
In a stand against sexual violence, banners juxtaposing San Franciscos controversial comfort women statue with slogans like standing tall and courage, resilience, justice unfurled from lampposts throughout the city this week.
The Comfort Women Justice Coalition put up 40 banners all over the city Friday directing onlookers to the memorial, hot on the heels of this weeks letter from Osaka mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura to San Francisco Mayor London Breed ending their sister city relationship.
The purpose is to drive attention to the Chinatown memorial, which pays tribute to victims of sexual slavery in Japanese military brothels during World War II.
Theres still a lot of issues remaining regarding World War II and the current day issues of victimization of women, sexualization, the #MeToo movement, and how all these cases evolved after many, many years, said Julie Tang, a retired San Francisco Superior Court judge who spearheaded the statue and banners.
Although the advertisements had been in the works for months before Yoshimuras letter, Tang said it was a timely statement, especially with the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the #MeToo movement.
Funding was provided by the coalition, which raised $7,000 from donors that included a small monetary gift from some Osakan residents who visited the memorial.
The 40 banners will stand on display until next September on city streets, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Works.
Tang said that putting them on high-traffic streets like Divisadero, Geary and Lombard will hopefully bring tourists and locals alike to the statue.
Few visitors came to the bronze memorial of four comfort women in a quiet corner of St. Marys Square on Friday afternoon. The ones who did found out from social media posts about the sister city fallout or were just using the park as a shady lunch spot.
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Aveda Institute student Ricardo Ramirez saw a Snapchat story about the memorial and brought his classmates to the park on their break.
Its important to always have reminders because when we erase them, we might repeat them again, Ramirez said. Whether its beautiful or ugly, its important to remember history.
While Japan apologized for its wartime treatment of Asian women in Japanese military brothels 25 years ago, its government now denies that the comfort women were forced into sexual slavery.
The San Francisco Comfort Woman Memorial is a symbol of the struggle faced by all women who have been, and are currently, forced to endure the horrors of enslavement and sex trafficking, Breed said in a statement Thursday. These victims deserve our respect and this memorial reminds us all of events and lessons we must never forget.
Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu
Photo: Google Maps The province is opening up 33 new short-term shelter beds in Kamloops.
As the nights in the B.C. Interior continue to get colder, the province is opening 30 new short-term shelter beds in Kamloops next month.
The Canadian Mental Health Association will be operating the shelter at 185 Royal Avenue, providing residents with 24/7 support, with the hopes of helping them transition to more permanent housing.
Supports on site include life-skills training, employment assistance, support groups and referrals to other community services.
The province is calling these short-term beds an interim measure until permanent supportive housing is opened next spring at 317 Tranquille Road and 259 Victoria St. West.
Additionally, 55 temporary supportive homes are under construction on Mission Flats Road.
The most recent homeless count in Kamloops found that 201 people were experiencing homeless in Kamloops.
Hooper Street is as obscure a street as you can (barely) find in San Francisco. Its a single block shadowed by Interstate 280. Until 2015, dozens of self-storage sheds were the main draw.
Now the sheds are gone, replaced in part by perhaps the citys most intriguing and innovative new development an industrial building with an artisanal twist and 21st century political smarts.
This is the beacon that manufacturing is here to stay in San Francisco, Kate Sofis, founder of the industry group SFMade, told an enthusiastic crowd Thursday night outside 150 Hooper St. It is built to stand the test of time.
Sofis was exultant as she spoke, and no wonder: She was hosting a celebration to mark the debut of the Manufacturing Foundry a four-story, 56,000-square-foot structure that offers below-market-rent space to firms that are engaged in production, distribution and repair.
Sponsors for the event included Rickshaw Bagworks and Bi-Rite market. The eight tenants so far run the gamut, from a robotics firm to an old-school sewing business that works with interior designers. A fair number of the celebrants sported haircuts and shoes far hipper than yours or mine.
There also were plenty of local politicians on hand, including Mayor London Breed.
Even though this is one of the first opportunities for affordable manufacturing space in San Francisco, she said, I pledge it will not be the last.
The object of their affection is modest by Financial District standards. The building is a stocky cube with a lean concrete frame that sits behind a deep plaza where the celebration took place. The ground floor has a generous height of 18 feet, tall enough for deliveries to be wheeled in and out with relative ease.
Such buildings were once common in American cities. By contrast, the saga of 150 Hooper is one-of-a-kind.
The place to start is the setting.
The Manufacturing Foundry doesnt stand alone. Its a caboose of sorts, the western end of the much larger 100 Hooper project by Kilroy Properties that also is four stories and has light-industrial space on the first floor. But the rest of Kilroys two buildings are leased to Adobe, and the developer touts the overall complex as a micro community of progressive thinkers and skilled makers connected by sky-bridges and common goals.
Directly to the east is I-280. On the south and west is California College of the Arts, which occupies a former bus repair facility and has expansion plans on one-time parking lots. To the north is a Recology truck storage yard, where the waste recovery firm hopes to build 1,059 housing units plus commercial space.
You get the picture. Its an area in a transition.
The reason SFMade is part of the mix is that activists and neighborhood politicians in recent years have put controls in place to protect industrial spaces in areas like this once-remote set of blocks between Showplace Square and Mission. This includes zoning that requires one-third of new space in some projects to be reserved for light-industrial space. When Kilroy bought the 3.3-acre Hooper Street site in 2015, it agreed to donate the northwest piece to PlaceMade, a subsidiary of SFMade, as part of the effort to satisfy its overall requirement.
A 1-foot-wide seismic buffer is all that separates 150 Hooper from Kilroys 100 Hooper. They share the same architects, Pfau Long Architecture and Forge, as well as the publicly accessible plaza by SurfaceDesign that includes a bioswale so large it looks like a remnant of the marsh that might have covered the site 200 years ago.
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All in all, the pairing of 100 and 150 Hooper St. is a real plus. The market-rate buildings have slightly more elaborate facades, but the overall package has straightforward sophistication. There also are such small delights as the tall, narrow breezeway through 150 Hoopers base, or the benches made from stacks of now-polished concrete that once covered the site.
Heres another overlap between the two. Seven Stills, a brewery and distillery now based in Bayview, leases space in 150 Hooper for barrel storage. Next year it also will expand into 100 Hooper with a tasting room and distillery. Im guessing there will be lots of happy-hour traffic from the well-paid Adobe employees upstairs.
Projects like this can change the nature of development in San Francisco, said Kilroys Mike Grisso, a senior vice president. Theyre more varied, more vibrant.
Itd be nice to hold up 150 Hooper as the first in a series of great things to come, a new artisanal landscape. Thats probably not the case.
The donation of land from Kilroy was a huge economic boost. So was the assistance of City Hall in helping PlaceMade to secure federal tax credits.
But with luck, San Franciscos small but tenacious manufacturing community will continue to carve out enclaves where it can. Smart developers will understand that, like Kilroy, it can make business sense to be flexible when you have a large piece of land.
You can mix manufacturing and office space, Sofis said. Done correctly, you can also make an active city out of it.
John King is The San Francisco Chronicles urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron
For the past year, The Chronicle has been tracking the fallout from the Wine Country fires , from the state investigation into the cause to victims slow recovery to reform efforts intended to prevent such disasters in the future. Here is the latest:
Fire causes
State investigators found that most of the fires that began igniting on Oct. 8, 2017, were sparked by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power lines that didnt withstand a fierce windstorm. The exception is the Tubbs Fire , the most destructive of the blazes, which remains under investigation. The blaze killed 24 people and destroyed 5,636 structures as it raced west from Calistoga to Santa Rosa.
The Atlas Fire, which killed six people and destroyed 783 structures in Napa and Solano counties, kicked up when a tree and a tree limb both fell onto a power line, said Cal Fire, also known as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection . The agency found PG&E broke a law, presumably relating to line maintenance, but has not specified the violation. Officials said laws were broken as well in the Norrbom, Partrick, Pythian, Adobe and Pocket fires in Sonoma and Napa counties, which were similarly linked to PG&E equipment, as well as the Sulphur Fire in Lake County and Blue Fire in Humboldt County.
The Nuns Fire, which killed two people and destroyed 1,355 structures along the ridge between Napa and Sonoma counties, started when a tree limb struck a power line, investigators said. In this case, officials did not find a breach of state law. This was also the finding in the Redwood Valley Fire in Me n docino County, which the state said started when parts of a tree fell onto power lines. Nine people were killed and 546 structures ruined.
Kurtis Alexander
Losses
Homeowners and renters in Sonoma County have filed 14,975 residential insurance claims totaling $7 billion. Of those, 4,869 claims were for total losses, according to the California Department of Insurance. In addition, insurers received 1,819 commercial property claims totaling $826 million. Of those, 153 were for total losses. Total insured losses including residential, commercial, auto and other lines amounted to $8 billion in Sonoma County. While Sonoma was hit hardest, if you add in losses from the October 2017 wildfires in Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Solano, Yuba and Orange counties, insurers received 35,466 claims of all types, totaling $10.4 billion in losses.
Kathleen Pender
PG&Es liability
Facing more than 200 wildfire lawsuits that could cost the company $17 billion, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. mounted a months-long campaign to change Californias liability rules. Under a concept known as inverse condemnation, California utilities can be held liable for economic damages from wildfires sparked by their equipment, even if the companies did nothing wrong. Calling the system unfair, PG&E and the states other big utility companies pushed Sacramento legislators to change it. But the legislators balked at wading into such a complex issue.
They did, however, offer PG&E a lifeline. In the final hours of the legislative session, they passed a bill that will let PG&E use a type of state-authorized bond to pay off wildfire lawsuit settlements. PG&Es customers would pay off those bonds bit by bit through their monthly utility bills. If, however, the California Public Utilities Commission finds that PG&E acted negligently in any of the fires, the bonds to settle lawsuits related to those fires would be paid off by the company and its shareholders.
David R. Baker
Changes at PG&E
The fires forced Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to change the way it runs power lines. The utility now warns customers living in areas of high fire danger that it may shut off their electricity if the weather forecast calls for high winds and low humidity the kind of conditions that can blow tree branches into power lines. Theres no set formula, but PG&E will consider a preemptive blackout if sustained winds are forecast to top 24 mph, with gusts exceeding 45 mph, and humidity falls below 20 percent. Customers have objected to the idea, and the company has not yet carried it out.
PG&E also changed the way it uses devices called reclosers that automatically try to restart power lines following an unexpected interruption, even if the line has been knocked to the ground. The company now reprograms reclosers during fire season to let power lines that trip offline stay dark, a step Californias other big utility companies took years ago. Cal Fire has blamed one of the Wine Country fires the Pythian Fire in the Glen Ellen area on a downed power line that PG&E tried to restart.
The company created a Wildfire Safety Operations Center in its San Francisco headquarters that constantly monitors weather conditions and wildfire threat levels in Northern and Central California. More than 100 new weather stations, installed on PG&Es power poles, feed data to the center. The utility also hired a private firefighting firm to accompany PG&E field crews when theyre doing work, such as welding, that potentially could start fires.
David R. Baker
Emergency notifications
In response to what many considered a government failure to warn people during last years firestorm, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in September requiring statewide standards for emergency notifications. The law also mandates training emergency managers how to use Amber Alert-style warnings, called Wireless Emergency Alerts.
Joaquin Palomino
Mutual aid
After commanders struggled to get outside help during the early and most critical hours of last years firestorm, the Legislature budgeted $50 million to preemptively send firefighters to high-risk areas when conditions are considered prime for wildfires. The goal is to put responders in position to stop fires before they can grow. Lawmakers had initially asked for $100 million.
Joaquin Palomino
Forest management
Finding that overly dense forests and thick coastal brush contributed to the intensity of last years fires, the state took steps to improve land management programs. Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order in the spring that called for reducing the fire hazard by doing twice as much prescribed burning and tree thinning.
A new law that allows PG&E to shift liability to ratepayers provides $1 billion to help clear dense and dead trees over the next five years. In addition, the state budget allots $30 million for new Cal Fire crews to conduct planned burns and vegetation removal.
New legislation also makes it easier for communities and individual property owners to safeguard their lands. One law establishes a grant program to assist with fire prevention funding. Another makes it easier to get permits to clear trees and brush.
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Kurtis Alexander
Home prices
The median price paid for a single-family home in Sonoma County was $670,000 in August compared with $625,500 in August 2017. Despite the destruction of nearly 5,000 homes, that 7.1 percent increase was below the 10 percent increase for the Bay Area overall, according to the California Association of Realtors.
Since November, 616 empty fire lots in the county have been put up for sale. Of those, 351 have been sold, while others were withdrawn. At the end of August, 170 were on the market and an additional 43 under contract, said Rick Laws, vice president for Pacific Union International in Sonoma County. The lots that are easiest to build on went first, he said.
The average number of days it took to sell a fire lot has risen every month, from 16 in December to 103 in August. Fire lots are selling at about 40 a month; the cumulative inventory is building, Laws said. Eventually, that will depress prices. The median price paid for a lot was $245,000 in August compared with $270,000 in July, but up from $230,000 in January and February.
Kathleen Pender
Wine industry
Despite early fears, and with some notable exceptions, last years wildfires had little impact on Northern Californias wine industry. Heat waves earlier in the fall had pushed the 2017 harvest earlier than usual, which meant that the vast majority of the vintages grapes about 90 percent in Napa County had already been picked. According to the Napa Valley Vintners and the Sonoma County Winegrowers, only about 500 of 105,000 acres of grapevines planted in those two counties were destroyed by fire. The total damage to Sonoma Countys wine grape crop is estimated at $1.1 million; its total value exceeds $580 million.
Wines from the 2017 vintage, which will not be released for another year or two, are not expected to show widespread problems. A handful of wineries, including Jarvis Estate in Napa and Viluko Vineyards in Santa Rosa, had to abandon significant portions of their 2017 vintage output due to complications from the fires, including smoke taint. Several others, including Sonoma Countys Paradise Ridge and Napas White Rock Vineyards and Signorello Estate, are rebuilding facilities that were damaged or destroyed by fire.
Esther Mobley
State of the rebuild
Rebuilding the thousands of homes in Sonoma County destroyed by the Tubbs Fire, the biggest of last years blazes, has been a tough slog. As of early October, the county had issued building permits for 573 homes in unincorporated areas, including the community of Larkfield-Wikiup. Of those, 12 have been completed, and 387 are under construction. The city of Santa Rosa had issued 947 building permits for housing units, with 26 homes completed and 751 under construction.
The situation at some of the hardest-hit places, like Santa Rosas Fountaingrove neighborhood and the nearby Journeys End mobile home park, has exposed the complexities of rebuilding after a major fire. The Tubbs Fire burned so hot that it melted the underground pipes in a 184-acre area of Fountaingrove, leaching benzene and other carcinogens into the water. City officials replaced more than 440 water lines and changed eight fire hydrants and three water mains in the hillside enclave to solve the issue.
At Journeys End, 116 of the 160 mobile homes for low-income seniors or retirees were destroyed. Many of those who had been in the remaining homes which are standing, though they are smoke-damaged and sit on condemned ground are in hotels or in temporary housing because of a loophole in insurance coverage. The park will not be rebuilt but instead redeveloped into a mixed-use complex featuring market-rate and affordable condos.
Lizzie Johnson
Theres one, the police sergeant said as we drove through the Tenderloin. Theres one of them there. That guy, see him?
And another. And another. Sgt. Kevin Healy was showing me known drug dealers, and they were everywhere swarming the neighborhood, chatting and smiling. They didnt seem to have a care in the world.
Thats because they dont. Not in San Francisco.
Its almost impossible to get convicted in this city, said Healy, who works in the Police Departments narcotics division. The message needs to be sent that its not OK to be selling drugs. Its not allowed anywhere else. Where else can you walk up to someone you dont know and purchase crack and heroin? Is there such a place?
San Franciscans love to think their city is like nowhere else, but this distinguishing factor isnt anything to brag about.
When Gov. Jerry Brown recently nixed San Franciscos plan to test the countrys first safe injection site where drug users can legally shoot up, he wrote in his veto letter that the plan was all carrot and no stick.
While I thought his veto was wrongheaded, he has a point. This city doesnt seem to know the definition of the word stick, let alone consequence or accountability. Unless, of course, youve parked your car at a meter for five minutes too long. Then you can expect an immediate stick in the form of a high-priced ticket.
As a safe injection site now appears at least a year off, city officials must come up with other ways to combat San Franciscos dire drug crisis. Obviously, far more drug treatment services are needed. But one area officials barely mention is an obvious one: cracking down on the people supplying the devastating drugs. Police say drug dealers from the East Bay ride BART into San Francisco every day to prey on the addicts slumped on our sidewalks, and yet the city that claims to so desperately want to help those addicts often looks the other way.
You can walk through the Tenderloin, Civic Center, South of Market and the Mission and easily spot men handing over little plastic baggies with drugs in exchange for cash like its no big thing. In broad daylight. In front of pedestrians. Even in front of police.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said hes recently gotten complaints from homeless people that theyre afraid to use the restrooms in Dolores Park because theyve been taken over by drug dealers.
Lava Mae, the nonprofit that turns trailers and old Muni buses into showers and restrooms for homeless people, is stationed outside the Main Library every Tuesday. Staffers say they used to see one or two drug dealers milling around, but in just the past month, thats risen to 10 to 15.
The dealers are so brazen, they plant themselves in Lava Maes chairs and deal beneath the nonprofits awning. The nonprofit has already canceled its Friday morning sessions outside the library because of the prolific dealers and is debating whether to continue on Tuesdays.
The Tenderloin Housing Clinic, too, has been making frequent complaints to police. Formerly homeless people need to access its offices on Turk Street to make rent payments, but are often reluctant to enter because drug dealers are stationed outside.
Is this really OK with City Hall? That we make it easier to buy heroin, meth and crack than to obtain a beer and wine license for a new restaurant? That we say we want to help end peoples addictions, but allow drug dealers unfettered access to them when they try to take a shower, pay their rent check or just walk around their neighborhood?
Now Playing: San Francisco Mayor London Breed is disappointed Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed safe injection sites. Video: KTVU
I asked Mayor London Breed about her plans to combat drug dealing. She gave a pretty unsatisfying answer, centering it around her workforce development team trying to offer them jobs.
The goal is to say, Hey, do you want an opportunity to do something where you can make just as much money? she said. What Im trying to do is offer some individuals who are selling drugs an alternative.
Thats nice and all, but it also might be the most San Francisco answer ever. If her effort works, great. But Im dubious. According to police, most of these guys arent city residents. Theyre riding BART in from Oakland and Richmond because we have so many addicts and the perception is they can get away with selling them drugs.
The arrests happen, and people are back on the streets, Breed said. I dont have a lot of control over that part, which is definitely frustrating.
The San Francisco Police Department is trying and seems to have been reinvigorated recently in its effort to arrest dealers. Anybody who follows various stations Twitter accounts sees regular posts detailing arrests with mugshots and pictures of evidence: lots of cash and lots of drugs.
Healy has recently been helping officers conduct undercover operations around Eddy Street and Van Ness Avenue, posing as a drug user complete with track marks on his arms or the black smudges on his fingers common among people addicted to crack. Uniformed officers hiding nearby record the deals on video in hopes of making the cases stronger once they wind their way through the court system.
Healy thinks Superior Court judges need to impose wide-reaching stay-away orders, demanding these dealers stay out of the entire Tenderloin and parts of South of Market. They should be arrested for appearing there again, he said over and over until they stop bothering.
Its not uncommon for drug dealers to be arrested multiple times in one year and to keep being released, returning to the same neighborhoods to deal their illegal wares. According to the district attorneys office, it prosecutes 88 percent of drug-dealing cases, but the courts regularly release the suspects while their cases are pending.
On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union charged in a lawsuit that the San Francisco Police Department was racist in its arrests of drug dealers from 2013 to 2015, targeting African Americans selling drugs but ignoring dealers of other races.
Obviously, such selective policing cannot be tolerated, and City Attorney Dennis Herreras office shot back that the department is one of the most diverse, forward-thinking and transparent law enforcement agencies in the country.
More for you Gavin Newsom splits with Jerry Brown on SF drug injection, abortion pills
I walked with Officer Brian Donohue, who works out of Northern Station, around Van Ness Avenue, Polk Street and parts of the Tenderloin on a recent afternoon. Unlike so many of our city leaders, its clear Donohue is really trying to combat the problem. Hes worked with Healy and his partner, Officer Calvin Wang, to build cases against a raft of drug dealers, almost none of whom has a San Francisco address.
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He called the Tenderloin and surrounding neighborhoods an open-air narcotics market where dealers wrap drugs in plastic so they can easily swallow them if they see police. Another trick is filling little plastic magnetic key holders with drugs and sticking them to cars, mailboxes and trash cans until somebody appears to make a purchase.
They often use bus shelters or parked cars to hide behind. They often stand on corners where the streets are one-way so if they see a police car coming, they can walk in the direction the car cant drive.
Theyre clever, Donohue said. A lot of the people they sell to are homeless folks. It is rare to meet anyone who says, No, I dont want to beat it, but its so readily available.
As we walked south on Larkin Street, we saw a wall with numerous people slumped up against it, passed out and with dirty needles strewn around them. One man looked dead, and Donohue stopped to make sure he wasnt.
Are you good? Good? he said loudly, rousting the man. Hey, come on sir.
The man finally woke up, and Donohue asked whether he needed an ambulance. He declined. Donohue told him to dispose of his dirty needles and move along. The man said his name is Jeffrey, that hes 33 and homeless. He said hes from the East Bay, but sleeps on the streets of San Francisco. He said hes been using heroin and crystal meth every day for years.
I hate it, doing this, he said. As bad as it is, its kind of addicting out here. Theyre a little more lenient. Thats good and bad.
He said hed just purchased the drugs nearby for $10 but didnt want to say how he got the money.
We kept walking, but not before Donohue told Jeffrey: Remember what I told you, dude. It doesnt have to be like this.
Donohue intentionally avoided making arrests while I was with him. But he texted later that in the subsequent days that hed made several more.
I think only a few will be held to answer, he texted. Its discouraging, but I knew the challenge signing up. If I can do the best job I can coupled with a great arrest report, then Ive done the best I know how.
If only the rest of San Francisco did its best too, people like Jeffrey might have a chance.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
It was a proud moment on Alcatraz Island the other afternoon for metal craftsmen who had come all the way from Kentucky to put their firms name on the walls of the most famous prison in America.
It was a mixed occasion that marked the finishing touch to the restoration of a prison cellblock and a time to reflect on the strange fascination that draws more than a million people a year to one of the most grim places in the country.
Stewart Iron Works of Covington, Ky., had its name all over Alcatraz during the islands prison years. Stewart built the steel bars and locking mechanism for 336 cells that held some of the countrys worst criminals.
David Heidrich, Stewarts CEO, stood outside a cell on Block C on Wednesday as Ranger John Cantwell of the National Park Service demonstrated how the mechanism opened and closed the cell doors. Big levers controlled the device, and a whole row of cells opened smoothly, rolling on ball bearings, and slammed shut with a sound that echoed like the crack of doom.
Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle 2018
Stewart made the cell doors of hardened steel, designed to defeat what prison architects called experienced criminals bent on escape. The mechanism that kept the men locked in cells 5 feet wide and 9 feet long was state of the art, and patented when Stewart took the job in 1934. The designers were mechanical geniuses, Heidrich said.
Stewart Iron Works was once a leader in prison work, but the company has moved on, Heidrich said. Now the company specializes in high-end iron and metal products, including decorative fencing. Stewart designed the fence around the White House, the gates on the locks at the Panama Canal, and the elegant fence around the house of the president of Princeton University.
We gave up jail work years ago, Heidrich said, before I took over the company.
But pride in craftsmanship and a sense of history led Heindrich to Alcatraz, now one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world.
Alcatraz, he believes, is part of the American experience. And his firm had a hand in it. Not many companies built bars that held Al Capone or Machine Gun Kelly or Alvin Karpis, the FBIs only Public Enemy No.1 to be taken alive.
Maybe the stories draw tourists to Alcatraz, a place that is famous for being famous. Nobody goes to see Leavenworth, or some country jail, said Brian Tome, pastor of the Crossroads Church in Cincinnati who was visiting the island Wednesday. No other place is like this.
Alcatraz draws 1.3 million visitors a year. It was ranked the No.1 landmark in the country on Trip Advisors Travelers Choice award for the past two years. Boats run from San Francisco to Alcatraz every half hour, and they are always full.
The idea of a prison draws them, Tome thinks. Everybody has a bit of a prison in their past, something they regret, something inside they may have done they keep inside them, like a personal prison.
They see it in Alcatraz, stare in the cells, hear the stories, listen to the slam of the cell doors.
And yet it is one of the most beautiful places you could go to, said Mac Riley, a friend of Heidrichs who came along to see the island.
It is kind of a morality play, too, the old story of the mighty fallen. Big-time criminals were almost folk heroes in the 1920s and 30s John Dillinger, Capone, all the rest. You have to think of how those men lived and what they had and how they came to this, Riley said.
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So it is not a surprise that Stewart would want to put its name back on the prison cellblock. Heidirch believes the ironworks, founded in 1862 in Cincinnati, is part of the islands story.
The company was so proud of its cell bars and locking mechanism that it made 24 bronze plaques, like manufacturers plates, and put them at the end of every tier and cellblock.
But after the prison closed, in 1963, all the old plaques disappeared. Some thought the last guards took them as souvenirs, or that they vanished during the Indian occupation in 1969. By the time the island was transferred to the National Park Service in 1972, they were all gone.
Eventually, the Park Service got Southern Folger Detention Co., which took over Stewarts prison operation, to restore the cellblock locking mechanism. And Ranger Cantwell talked Stewart into reproducing and installing the bronze plaques as a finishing touch.
We are honored to have our craftsmanship on display, Heidrich said.
Carl Nolte is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His column appears every Sunday. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carlnoltesf
There is a silent force emerging in American politics, and thanks to the contentious debate over Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump is tapping right into it.
Im talking about men. Your husband, perhaps, or your brother or son.
Its a very scary time for young men in America, Trump said at a rally last week. My whole life Ive heard youre innocent until proven guilty, but now youre guilty until proven innocent. That is a very, very difficult standard.
While the pundits and my fellow Democrats may rightly blast Trump for his statement, I have to tell you that most men I talk with are privately glad he said it.
Men, even liberal men, tell me they have stopped talking about the Kavanaugh hearings even at home, out of fear of being shredded by their wives or daughters.
The slightest questioning of Christine Blasey Fords testimony is tantamount to being a Trump supporter. Raising any point in Kavanaughs defense is just as bad.
The result is that most men have gone completely silent.
So when Trump said Its a very scary time for young men in America, because they fear theyre at risk of being accused of things they didnt do, he has an audience.
When they go into the voting booth, with no one watching, theres a good chance theyll vote their fear. They wont be voting for Trump theyll be voting to curtail the power of those they feel may be coming after them next.
Well find out soon enough.
Prize trip: Its been a while since Ive been back to Hong Kong, but an invitation to the Lui Che Woo Prize for World Civilization ceremony had me boarding the Cathay Pacific jet at SFO.
Among those who were with me was Lawrence Lui of the Stanford Hotel Group, whose father established the prize. Its awarded for achievements in sustainable development, energy conservation and overall betterment of humanity.
Think of it as a kind of Nobel Prize. The first recipient was Jimmy Carter.
This years winners were the World Meteorological Organization, the Pratham Education Foundation and Hans-Josef Fell, a German pioneer in renewable energy.
It was a glorious few days. Hong Kong has 8 million people crammed into a space not much bigger than San Francisco. No tents, but I felt like the only guy not wearing a surgical mask.
Coming up: It wont be a fight. It might even be fun. The Willie Brown Institutes annual breakfast event Oct. 30 will feature the two candidates for governor, Gavin Newsom and John Cox.
They wont be debating theyll be presenting their personalities and platforms.
Its already nearly sold out, but dont worry I dont take a cut. Sponsors contribute $5,000 to the institute, which helps pay for internships for San Francisco State University students.
Signing off: Congratulations and best of luck to KGO-TVs Carolyn Tyler, who, after 35 years of broadcasting, is headed for retirement.
By my count the only other African Americans to be on the local airwaves that long were Belva Davis and Dennis Richmond. And I think they invented TV.
Movie time: A mandatory must-see, Fahrenheit 11/9. Few movies are this important.
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Michael Moores film covers the goats as well as the gods of our current scene with the same aplomb as the original. See it.
Night School. Kevin Hart shows up in more movies than practically any other actor, which for me means hes overexposed. This is one he should have turned down in its nearly two-hour running time, theres maybe 20 minutes of fun.
Fortunately, you can turn down the chance to see it.
Legal tender: My daughter was asking about college tuition for her kids, which got me going on the subject.
When I got my law degree from Hastings, I noted, it cost me all of $50.
You mean you got a $50 education? she asked.
Yes, and it was worth every dollar.
Badda boom: A guy came up to me the other day and said, Mr. Brown, the Brett Kavanaugh hearings have had at least one impact.
We will never again be able to say sober as a judge with a straight face.
Want to sound off? Email: wbrown@sfchronicle.com
Wall Street may want to commemorate 2019 by flanking its famous bronze charging bull with sculptures of stampeding unicorns.
Six Bay Area mega-unicorns private tech companies valued by investors at more than $10 billion each are likely to thunder into the public market next year, raising buckets of cash for themselves and minting new wealth for their investors, executives and employees.
That would make 2019 the biggest year for tech debuts since Facebooks 2012 initial public offering. The difference this time: Its not just one company, and five of them are based in San Francisco, which could see a concentrated injection of wealth as the nouveaux riches buy homes, cars and other big-ticket items.
Wealth effects, including from IPOs, are an important driver for the Bay Area economy, with more impact here than most metro areas around the country, said Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West in San Francisco.
Rohit Kulkarni, managing director and head of research at San Franciscos SharesPost, which runs a marketplace for shares of private companies, viewed things similarly. Its a clear windfall for many investors as well as employees, and the (money) will funnel back into the Bay Area, he said.
Most of the companies are household names. They include the worlds most-valuable private startup, Uber. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said it is on track to go public next year. Rival ride-hailing company Lyft is reportedly already gearing up for its debut, trying to beat Uber to market, according to multiple published reports.
An Airbnb IPO, which could be in either 2019 or 2020, may spread some wealth among its superhosts. In May, CEO Brian Chesky said, We will be ready to IPO next year, but I dont know if we will. The vacation-rental company last month asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to change rules about employee stock options so it could award pre-IPO stock to its most loyal hosts.
The agency has already been considering updates to stock options for gig-economy workers, which theoretically would mean that Uber and Lyft could reward loyal drivers with stock options. Neither has given any indication of considering this, however.
Payment-processor Stripe likewise is looking at either 2019 or 2020 for its debut. Pinterest is targeting a midyear public market debut, according to published reports. Palo Altos Palantir is reportedly eyeing a 2019 IPO as it achieves profitability. The corporate data-mining firm is the only one of the six not in San Francisco and not consumer-facing.
Besides the mega-companies, plenty of other local unicorns may debut next year, such as Emeryville security company Tanium (worth $6.5 billion) or San Francisco workplace-messaging firm Slack ($7.1 billion).
The success of this years tech debuts Dropbox, DocuSign, Eventbrite, Zuora, SurveyMonkey and Upwork, for instance makes it more likely that other tech players will try to hit Wall Street next year, experts said.
Theyve been putting it off for years, said Matt Kennedy, senior IPO market strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of institutional research. Now it makes sense. The window is open. The S&P is at all-time highs. Investors are comfortable with heavy losses and putting a priority on growth, so these companies can get sky-high valuations on the public market.
In the years first nine months, 44 tech IPOs brought in $17 billion, according to Dealogic. Thats more than tech IPOs reaped for 2016 and 2017 combined.
Holding back some firms from going public is the fear that public markets will assign a lower valuation than the last private valuation. Thats an unwelcome circumstance that can trigger protective clauses that reward investors and punish employees and founders. That happened to Square in its 2015 IPO.
Thats happening less and less frequently: In 2017, one-third of IPOs cut companies valuations as they went from private to public. In 2018, that ratio has dropped to one in six, Kulkarni said.
The public markets are receptive and the waters warm, he said. Its a golden age for IPOs.
Some of that gold should find its way back to the unicorns hometowns.
To start with, theres San Franciscos payroll tax, which is unique among California cities. Its been lowered in phases and now stands at 0.38 percent. San Francisco companies pay that amount on their workers compensation, including exercised stock options. The citys Twitter tax break, which temporarily exempted some Mid-Market companies from part of that, has expired.
Then theres spending by newly cash-flush workers. It could be a significant injection of wealth into the regional economy, said Ted Egan, San Franciscos chief economist.
Thats especially true among the biggest item people buy: real estate.
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Weve seen big spikes in the housing market around IPOs and big VC investments, Egan said. When Uber was getting billions in VC a few years ago, it showed up in the housing data for the city. When Facebook went public, it showed up in the statistics for San Mateo County.
But thats a double-edged sword. Lots of people snapping up multimillion-dollar homes enriches the coffers of the county, the school system and community colleges through higher property taxes and transfer taxes, but makes housing even more unaffordable for everyone else.
San Franciscos median home price already stands at $1.13 million, per CoreLogics September report, and has vaulted 10 percent in the past year.
Housing affordability will likely deteriorate further for many households; well see that gap widen between the haves and have-nots, Anderson said. Rents will get pushed up as well. We could see intensifying migration out of San Francisco for people who can no longer keep up.
A longer-term wealth infusion could come if the proceeds from the Wall Street debuts fuel a new crop of startups.
With all that money floating around, some will find its way into new businesses that could lead to another round of IPOs down the road, Egan said.
Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
Two people were arrested after a shooting broke out in Oakland that left six people wounded, authorities said.
Officers heard shots about 12:10 a.m. in the area of William Street and Telegraph Avenue, according to the Oakland Police Department.
Two men were in a dispute that escalated and they fired guns at each other, police said. Those men, who were not identified, were in critical condition after being shot in the body and limbs, police said.
Now Playing: UC Berkeley law professor and criminologist Frank Zimring describes how crime rates in the Bay Area's three major cities, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, differ and have changed over time. Video: Drew Costley/San Francisco Chronicle
They were arrested after being transported to a hospital.
Three other men in the area were also injured and taken to the hospital.
Authorities said Saturday afternoon that another person was also shot, bringing the total number of victims to six.
The conditions of the victims range from stable to critical, police said. They are between the ages of 18 and 46.
Photos posted on Facebook by the Oakland Police Officers Association showed patrol vehicles with shattered passenger and rear windows as a result of these suspects engaging in a gun battle.
The group condemned the shooting, saying, The violence perpetrated in our city is unacceptable.
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A separate shooting that occurred nearly an hour later about three blocks away injured one man, police said.
The incident occurred about 1:30 a.m. on the 2100 block of Broadway, according to authorities.
The man, who was not identified, had a gunshot wound to the leg and was in stable condition.
Two suspects fled the scene and no arrests were made.
Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
An inmate facing a death sentence for killing a 14-year-old girl was stabbed to death Friday morning while in the recreation yard of San Quentin State Prison, authorities said.
Jonathan Fajardo, 30, who was on Death Row for first-degree-murder in connection with the racially charged shooting death of Cheryl Green in Los Angeles, was stabbed in his chest and neck in the East Block Housing Unit recreation yard just before 10 a.m., according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
He was pronounced dead at 10:34 a.m. Friday, officials said.
Luis Rodriguez, 34, was identified by prison officials as the suspect in Fajardos fatal stabbing. Officials said Rodriguez, who is on Death Row, made the weapon used in the attack. Officials did not immediately release a potential motive in the stabbing.
The San Quentins Investigative Services Unit is investigating the attack.
Fajardo was initially admitted to the Marin County prison from Los Angeles County on May 2, 2011, after receiving a death sentence for two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, officials said.
The Los Angeles Times reported in 2010 that Fajardo had opened fire on a group of people in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Harbor Gateway in 2006 because they were black. Local police believed the attack, and others like it carried out by members of a majority-Latino gang he was presumed to be a member of, targeted black people purely because of their race.
Prison officials said Rodriguez was facing a death sentence on two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances at the time of the Fridays attack. He started his sentence on September 30, 2015.
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Officials did not immediately release any information regarding potential charges that may be lodged against Rodriguez in the stabbing.
San Quentin houses 4,398 inmates and employs 1,870 people. Officials said there are currently 742 criminals on Californias Death Row.
Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com
MIAMI Many of Floridas famous beaches were barren in recent days because of a red tide outbreak that for the first time in decades is plaguing both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts at once.
While the Gulf Coast has suffered the brunt of the toxic algae outbreak all summer, it only just showed up last week on the Atlantic beaches of South Florida.
Miami-Dade County closed Haulover Beach including a popular nudist section Thursday and the growing crisis prompted Gov. Rick Scott to announce $3 million in state assistance for five counties in the region. Most southern Florida beaches were open Friday, but with warnings posted about the toxic algae.
Its very rare for us to have it over here, said Lieutenant Matthew Sparling of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department. People come here to be on the beaches and they dont want to be coming down here to be exposed to red tide or sewage spills or whatnot ... so yeah, I think we can be in trouble.
Red tide can cause breathing problems in humans. Its been blamed for tons of dead fish on miles of beaches.
State officials say a red tide bloom that began last fall now stretches along roughly 135 miles of Floridas southwest coast, affecting businesses, tourism and vacations.
The ocean is big business out here, said Richy Beck as he unloaded a truck full of beach chairs last week at Haulover Beach. Its bad for business, man. It means Im going to be on the unemployment line.
In Floridas Panhandle, crews of county jail inmates are cleaning up piles of dead fish killed by a red tide bloom near Panama City Beach. Bay County had the highest concentration of algae, while Walton, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties had lower concentrations.
Along the mid-Gulf Coast, Pinellas County is partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue a first-of-a-kind air quality forecast to keep residents and visitors safe during red tide.
Nick Shay, Professor of Ocean Sciences at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said the currents that would take red tide from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean are always circulating, but the levels of algae in the Gulf are extremely high.
This year has been an anomalous year for red tide, Shay said, but the algaes reach to the east coast is not a stretch.
The Florida Current, which forms the core of the Gulf Stream, can meander widely, bringing red tide close to shore or holding it out at sea for long periods of time. These meanders can occur daily or weekly or seasonally, Shay said. If the Florida Current meanders toward the coast, that could amplify an already bad situation into a worst case scenario.
The King Tides expected in southern Florida in October and November also could worsen the outbreak, as high levels of seawater push into shore, if large amounts of the algae are flowing close to the shoreline.
Vincent Lovko, a staff scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, said the last time a red tide outbreak affected the Atlantic coast was in the mid-1990s.
Jennifer Kay and Tamara Lush are Associated Press writers.
Photo: The Canadian Press Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington.
UPDATE: 1:10 p.m.
The bitterly polarized U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday to join the Supreme Court, delivering an election-season triumph to President Donald Trump that could swing the court rightward for a generation after a battle that rubbed raw the country's cultural, gender and political divides.
The near party-line vote was 50-48, capping a fight that seized the national conversation after claims emerged that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted women three decades ago which he emphatically denied. Those claims magnified the clash from a routine Supreme Court struggle over judicial ideology into an angrier, more complex jumble of questions about victims' rights, the presumption of innocence and personal attacks on nominees.
Acrimonious to the end, the battle featured a climactic roll call that was interrupted several times by protesters in the Senate Gallery before Capitol Police removed them.
The vote gave Trump his second appointee to the court, tilting it further to the right and pleasing conservative voters who might have revolted against GOP leaders had Kavanaugh's nomination flopped. Democrats hope that the roll call, exactly a month from elections in which House and Senate control are in play, will prompt infuriated women and liberals to stream to the polls to oust Republicans.
In final remarks just before the voting, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said a vote for Kavanaugh was "a vote to end this brief, dark chapter in the Senate's history and turn the page toward a brighter tomorrow."
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York looked ahead to November, appealing to voters beyond the Senate chamber: "Change must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box."
Rep. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, confronting a tough re-election race next month in a state that Trump won in 2016 by a landslide, was the sole Democrat to vote for Kavanaugh. Every voting Republican backed the 53-year-old conservative judge.
Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, the only Republican to oppose the nominee, voted "present," offsetting the absence of Kavanaugh supporter Steve Daines of Montana, who was attending his daughter's wedding. That rare procedural manoeuvr left Kavanaugh with the same two-vote margin he'd have had if Murkowski and Daines had both voted.
It was the closest roll call to confirm a justice since 1881, when Stanley Matthews was approved by 24-23, according to Senate records.
ORIGINAL: 10:20 a.m.
Democrats and demonstrators vented rage and resistance but the Senate rolled toward approving Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination Saturday as President Donald Trump and Republicans approached an election-season triumph in the most electrifying confirmation battle in years.
Capping a venomous struggle that transfixed Americans when it veered into claims that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted women in the 1980s and his fierce denials, the 53-year-old conservative's nomination was on track for afternoon approval. He seemed certain to win by a slender two votes in a near party-line roll call.
Trump weighed in Saturday morning on behalf of the man he nominated in July and who as justice would tilt the court rightward, possibly for decades. "Big day for America!" he tweeted.
Democrats paraded to a nearly empty Senate chamber overnight to lambast the nominee. They said he'd push the court farther right, including possible sympathetic rulings for Trump. And they said his record and fuming testimony at a now famous Senate Judiciary Committee hearing showed he lacked the fairness, temperament and even honesty to become a justice.
But the fight was defined by sexual assault accusations, especially Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that a drunken Kavanaugh tried raping her at a 1982 high school gathering. Kavanaugh vehemently denied all those claims.
All but one Republican lined up behind him, arguing that a truncated FBI investigation turned up no corroborating witnesses and that Kavanaugh had sterling credentials for the court. Exactly one month from elections in which House and Senate control are in play, Democrats tried making sure that female voters were paying attention.
"Republicans are saying: your voices just don't matter," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Saturday. "Your experiences, your trauma, your pain, your heartache, your anger none of that matters. Their message is, 'we don't have to listen. We don't have to care. Sit down and be quiet.'"
As she spoke, several hundred anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators chanted on the lawn between the Capitol and the Supreme Court. "We believe survivors," they yelled. Protesters have roamed Capitol Hill corridors and grounds daily, raising anxieties and underscoring the passions the nomination fight has aroused.
On Friday, announcements of support by Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia made Saturday's confirmation vote an anticlimactic formality. That roll call will end a contest fought against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and Trump's unyielding support of his nominee.
Republicans control the Senate by a meagre 51-49.
Kavanaugh's expected two-vote victory in itself underscored how unusually divisive his nomination fight has been. It would be the closest roll call to confirm a justice since 1881, when Stanley Matthews was approved by 24-23, according to Senate records.
In the moment that made clear Kavanaugh would prevail, Collins delivered a speech saying that Ford's Judiciary Committee telling of the alleged 1982 assault was "sincere, painful and compelling." But Collins said the FBI had found no corroborating evidence from witnesses whose names Ford had provided.
"We must always remember that it is when passions are most inflamed that fairness is most in jeopardy," said Collins, perhaps the chamber's most moderate Republican.
U.S. Forest Service investigators said Friday that superheated pieces of a vehicles catalytic converter ignited dry roadside vegetation, causing the blaze this past summer that killed two firefighters and scorched more than 90,000 acres of the Sierra National Forest.
Investigators announced the findings more than a month after the Ferguson Fire was fully contained on Aug. 22.
The fire ignited on July 13 along eastbound Highway 140 near Savages Trading Post sometime between 8 p.m. and 8:25 p.m. in the Sierra National Forest in Mariposa County and burned in the Stanislaus National Forest, Yosemite Park and on state lands, officials said.
Motorists are responsible for many of the wildfires sparked along our roadways, officials said in a statement Friday.
Two firefighters died fighting the blaze, roughly 19 people were injured, and 10 structures were burned.
Officials are asking the publics help in locating the vehicle associated with causing the fire. Forest officials did not immediately provide a description, make or model of the potential vehicle.
Anyone with information about the vehicle that sparked the blaze may contact the Sierra National Forest at 559-297-0706.
Roughly 900 firefighters battled the blaze and Yosemite Valley was temporarily closed to visitors while mop-up efforts were under way in late August.
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Officials with the National Park Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, assisted with the investigation.
U.S. Forest Service officials said motorists may prevent future vehicle-caused wildfires from occurring by ensuring chains are secure when towing items, ensuring no items are dragging from the vehicle, checking tire pressure and tread, carrying a fire extinguisher, and not parking on dry grass or brush.
Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor
Voters in the San Francisco Bay Area might be feeling a little left out in the run-up to the all-consequential midterm elections. The closest competitive congressional race critical to control of the U.S. House is hundreds of miles away. If my social-media feeds are any indication, folks around here are far more consumed with that Texas Senate race between the great-left-hope Beto ORourke and the sanctimonious smarty of the right Ted Cruz.
Still, there is plenty to sort out on the Nov. 6 California ballot.
Were here to help.
By now we have made endorsements on all 11 state propositions, all eight state constitutional offices, the U.S. Senate race, all five San Francisco ballot measures and citywide offices along with various key races around the region.
Knowing that vote-by-mail begins Monday, our editorial board began holding endorsement meetings in mid-August.
As always, we went into the process with a sense of humility and practicality. Our decisions are never going to be universally accepted, especially in the higher-profile races, where voters have an abundance of information and preconceptions. Die-hard Republicans are not going to concur with our endorsement of Gavin Newsom for governor no matter what we say, and the advocates of $300 million in new taxes for homelessness in San Francisco are never going to be dissuaded from their certitude that nearly doubling the spending is the ultimate cure.
Rather, our goal is to provide an honest, independent assessment of the candidates and the measures on the ballot, offering an analysis and reasoning for voters to consider. While we have no monopoly on wisdom, our editorial board has the time and access to cut through the sound bites. That due diligence makes a difference. The meetings we have with candidates and advocates can be decisive and can change our minds.
Too often, the backstory or motive behind a ballot measure is not readily apparent. The thick official voter guides offer plenty of words, but not necessarily what a voter really wants or needs to know. Those 30-second TV spots, glossy mailers and online videos are typically less than enlightening.
Our editorial boards job, as I see it, is to offer a clear, succinct recommendation to add to voters consideration in going through the ballot.
A couple of notes about our endorsement process worth repeating every election cycle:
Who decides: This is an important and often misunderstood point. Endorsements are made solely by the editorial board, which includes the publisher and editors and writers on the newspapers opinion staff. The Chronicle, like most major newspapers, maintains a firewall between its news and opinion operations. In the business we call it the separation of church and state. The editors and reporters who produce our election news coverage are charged to do so fairly, independently and without regard to our endorsement decisions.
Why we do it: Some U.S. newspapers have stopped making endorsements, sometimes because of the uncertainty it creates about the newspapers commitment to impartial news coverage and sometimes, frankly, as a business decision (fear of alienating readers). Notably, most of those papers have not stopped editorializing on issues facing their communities. In my view, if a newspaper is going to express its values and take a stand on matters of importance to our readers from the housing crisis to climate change to ethics in government it makes no sense to stay silent when it comes time to elect people who can achieve or stymie those objectives.
One point we should all agree on: There are plenty of significant matters on the Nov. 6 ballot. Vote.
John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron
BART, the transit tie that binds much of the Bay Area, has a knack for concentrating and showcasing the regions ills. With a housing crisis forcing commutes that overwhelm infrastructure, the commuter rail has never been more needed or more glaringly unequal to its task.
Elections for four of nine seats on BARTs Board of Directors come as the agency is struggling to keep its stations and trains clean, orderly and safe, with disproportionate rates of violent crime and revenue-robbing fare evasion. Even as passengers pack the system at rush hour, they vote with their Clipper Cards on nights and weekends, opting for alternatives and further sapping the system of fares. In short, the victorious candidates will have work to do.
What you see: The black sand, magnetite, is magnetic. The hang gliders are sensational. Beach walks go on forever. Along Ocean Beach to Fort Funston, about 750,000 people visit this stretch of San Francisco coast each year, according to national park statistics. Most are inspired by the expansive natural beauty and recreation. Ocean Beach and Funston are outstanding destinations for jogging, walking, dogs, fishing, hang gliding and surfing.
Location: Ocean Beach is along the northwestern San Francisco coast, north to the Cliff House and Lands End, south to Funston and beyond past Thornton.
Beach walks: Ocean Beach spans 2 miles. In the distance, the Golden Gate Bridge towers loom as spires to the north, and beyond, there is a beautiful silhouette of Mount Tamalpais. During low tides, this is a great beach to jog on the hard sand that is unveiled with low water. It is also one of the best beaches anywhere to find sand dollars. To the south, the beach extends for miles past Funston to remote Center Hole and beyond to Mussel Rock off Pacifica.
Black sand: At the southern end of the beach, the black sand is magnetite, a derivative of iron ore (not the residue of an oil spill). If you bring a strong magnet to the beach, the particles will stick to it. The magnetite is from the iron of the rust-colored cliff walls. The lighter granules of sand, on the other hand, come from the flow of silt from rivers being washed out to the bay and eventually placed onto the beach with the tides.
Sabertooth past: In the cliff walls, you can find a white, chalky substance, about a foot thick. This is a vein of volcanic ash, created from an ancient eruption, deposited by the flow of rivers. Rangers once found sabertooth tiger teeth in a vein here.
Hang gliders: A staging area for hang gliders at Fort Funston attracts more than 50,000 takeoffs and landings per year. It is an ideal site for the sport because of the cliffs and onshore winds, which create a natural updraft that provides the lift needed to stay aloft.
Surfing: When the waves are right, Ocean Beach is a favorite destination for surfing. The inshore ocean floor changes its contours, which adds to the unpredictability of currents.
Rip tides: Do not attempt to wade out, body surf or swim without a board (which will keep you on the surface, above the rip). Rip tides are dangerous here. They are created by inshore underwater troughs. Wade out a bit, step in one and it can be goodbye. Stairwell 21 can be a treacherous area.
Cost: Parking, access free.
Dogs: Dogs permitted, check for leash rules, which can vary according to site, with some areas closed at Ocean Beach and Fort Funston.
Contact: Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Fort Funston, 415-561-4700, www.nps.gov/goga.
How to get there
From San Francisco: Take Geary Boulevard west. As you approach the coast, it becomes Point Lobos Avenue, and at the Cliff House, curves left and descends to the Great Highway, with Ocean Beach on the right.
From the Peninsula: Take Interstate 280 north to Exit 47 signed for Highway 1/Pacifica. Take that exit and drive 1.1 miles up the hill to the exit for Skyline Boulevard/Highway 35N. Take that exit, merge onto Skyline Boulevard and continue north 4.3 miles to a stop sign (Lake Merced on right, Fort Funston on left). Turn left on Great Highway and continue north, Ocean Beach on the left.
GPS location: 5 Great Highway, San Francisco
Tom Stienstra
Along the West Coast, grape growers and wineries are locked in bitter disputes over what to do with wine grapes that may have been tainted by smoke from the summers wildfires.
Wine producers are refusing to pay growers for smoke-tainted grapes, leaving many small-scale farmers in dire financial situations. Now many are calling for change: Why should vineyards, and not wineries, assume all the risk when wildfire strikes? And how, exactly, should smoke taint be determined?
The conflicts began in late August, when Lake County growers reported that Constellation Brands the global wine company that owns brands like the Prisoner and Robert Mondavi had rejected all of the Sauvignon Blanc it had contracted to buy in the county, estimated at the equivalent of about 100,000 cases of wine.
Clay Shannon of Shannon Ridge Vineyards received Constellations letter on Aug. 29. Due to the impact of excessive heat, ash and smoke caused by the Mendocino Complex Fires, and after careful analysis and a visit to the vineyard, we have determined that the grapes do not and will not meet the applicable Quality Standards and other requirements as set forth in our contract, it read, signed by Ollie Davidson, vice president for vineyard operations.
That was the beginning. Constellation proceeded to reject more fruit from Shannon. Two other major clients, Treasury Wine Estates and Domaine Chandon, followed. In total, the wineries rejected 1,146 tons of Shannons fruit, representing $2 million in revenue.
John Storey / Special to The Chronicle 2018
By late September, a similar saga began to unfold in southern Oregons Rogue Valley. After conducting smoke-taint tests, California-based winemaker Joe Wagner rejected all of the fruit from his 35 contracted vineyards in Rogue Valley about $4 million worth of grapes.
Californias North Coast wine industry harvested $1.5 billion in grapes in 2017, Oregon $192 million. Growers in both Lake County and Rogue Valley are scrambling to try to recoup the financial loss, either by selling off the grapes to another buyer or by filing insurance claims. For many growers, neither is an option. By the time some were notified of the rejections, their fruit was too ripe to pick.
There are vineyards that are going to go out of business over this, says Michael Moore, owner of Rogue Valleys Quail Run Vineyards.
On the other hand, Constellation, Treasury and Wagner insist they are well within the rights of their contracts with the vineyards. The grapes are simply too damaged, they say. If the grapes do not meet our quality standards then they will unfortunately be rejected, which is standard in the industry, Treasury spokesperson Brenton Dodd said in a statement. Constellation released a similar statement, declining an interview.
As farmers and winery executives spar, the debacle has exposed how poorly understood is the science of smoke taint. There is little agreement over what constitutes irreparable damage, and growers laboratory tests dont always match up with wineries results. Theres no proof that these high markers in levels of smoke taint is going to guarantee you have an issue in the wine later on, says Shannon. The jurys still out. Nobody knows.
The situation has also exposed the potentially broken nature of grower-winemaker relationships in the U.S. wine industry. Once the individual disputes have been settled, a larger question looms: If wildfire is indeed a fact of life on the West Coast not the exception, but the rule does the current transactional paradigm need to shift between those who grow grapes and those who make wine?
When wildfire smoke hangs in the air, certain chemical compounds can penetrate grape skins. Researchers believe that eight of these compounds may contribute to smoke taint, and that two are the primary offenders: guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol.
No one disputes that high concentrations of smoke taint render a wine undrinkable. Wines are sometimes described as tasting like an ashtray. But theres little consensus over the threshold for problems. Guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol both occur naturally in wines in low concentrations; theyre part of what gives Syrah its smoky flavor.
Winemaking practices can mitigate the effects of smoke to some extent. Since the compounds live primarily in grape skins, wines that spend less time in contact with their skins whites and roses should be less susceptible to damage. More invasive practices like reverse osmosis and charcoal filtration have been shown to help.
John Storey / Special to the Chronicle
In areas exposed to wildfire, its standard practice to send grape samples to laboratories to measure guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol. But laboratory tests typically look only for free, or unbound, forms of the compounds. Bound forms, undetectable to the human nose, may remain in the grapes and their resulting wine, waiting to emerge. In fact, some bound compounds may only be freed once inside a human mouth, where enzymes are present that can break the smoke-taint compounds bonds.
Its kind of like a sleeping giant, Wagner says.
Thats why, in addition to lab tests, many wineries also conduct their own sensory panels for smoke taint. This typically involves picking some of the questionable grapes, quickly fermenting them and then tasting the resulting wine. Its an imperfect trial; one tasters pleasant smoked-meat note may be another tasters campfire ash. Regardless of who is there, its totally subjective, Wagner says.
Testing protocol has been a major point of contention in the grape-rejection conflicts. One of the things that draws questions among Lake County growers is that Constellation used their own labs to do these analyses, says David Weiss, chair of the Lake County Winegrape Commission (LCWC). Far be it from me to say whether the results were right or wrong, but growers were using third-party commercial labs. (Wagner and Treasury said they used third-party labs in addition to in-house sensory analysis.)
After Wagner rejected 70 tons of Quail Run Vineyards Pinot Noir and Chardonnay worth $154,000 Moore commissioned his own lab tests. He says his guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol numbers came back much lower than Wagners. Indeed, Moore denies that his grapes had any meaningful smoke damage. I talked with seven of the best winemakers I worked with, gave numbers to them, and not one of them said they would be concerned, Moore says.
Still, Moore has been unable to find a last-minute buyer for the fruit, which he says is now overripe. No one interviewed for this story had looked into selling their grapes for any use other than wine. (If a farmer wants to collect on crop insurance which could compensate for up to three-quarters of the loss the grapes cannot be sold for other uses.)
Shannon likewise dismisses the idea that his fruit is excessively smoky. Hes luckier than some growers in that he also owns a winery, so he decided to process the rejected grapes himself. Weve fermented the Sauvignon Blanc and it looks to be perfect, he says. Shannon also absorbed about 600 tons of rejected fruit from other Lake County growers, and so far has not perceived any smoke issues.
Could we have smoke problems? Shannon poses. Absolutely. Are we seeing them yet? Im not.
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Shannon and Moore both believe that the real motivations behind the fruit rejections is not smoke taint at all, but inventory management, in Shannons words.
They claim a slowing market for grapes and wine, coupled with a larger-than-anticipated yield in the 2018 harvest, has made large wineries want to cut back on production. Glenn Proctor, a partner in the wine and grape brokerage firm Ciatti, confirms that the overall grape market and demand for bulk wine has been relatively slow over the last six to 12 month period.
Wagner denies this, and says Elouans sales are growing; why would he want to cut back on production? He maintains that rejection was a last resort for him, since Rogue Valley fruit represents 40 percent of all Pinot Noir and 90 percent of all Chardonnay used in the Elouan brand. His counter-accusation: The Oregon wine industry, enraged by a recent controversy over his wine labels, is out to get him. I think its strategic and its an attack on our brands, he says.
The Rogue Valley winemaking community has mobilized around the Wagner fruit rejections. During the last week of September, it held a meeting to discuss solutions, like crop insurance, and possible litigation.
We obviously have harmed some relationships up there because of this, Wagner said. He said that he is looking into direct financial assistance to the growers, but he declined to provide more details.
A more conciliatory tone has taken hold in Lake County. LCWC president Debra Sommerfield stressed that growers and wineries are working together on this issue. Her organization is funding a major research project in collaboration with UC Davis and the Australian Wine Research Institute, in the hope of determining baseline markers for problematic smoke taint.
That research could help create an industry standard for how much smoke taint is too much a standard that growers and wineries alike say is now necessary.
We have to figure out a better language than whats in the existing contracts, says Peter Molnar, owner of Lake Countys Obsidian Ridge Vineyard and a former LCWC board member. Instead of drafting contracts that give wineries the right to reject fruit based on their own sensory panels, could there be a concrete, industry-wide threshold for guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol? Maybe eventually, though the opacity of the existing research suggests it will be difficult.
More to the point: How can wineries share the burden of collateral wildfire damage with their farming partners? Going forward, Wagner says he will require all his growers to hold crop insurance. If that means an increase in the cost of the fruit, thats fine with me, he says.
Should the inevitability of intermittent damage be factored into every years grape prices? If were gonna be losing one out of every 10 vintages to smoke, says Molnar, wineries are going to have to start looking at how they price fruit over the long haul.
Thats a conversation that the vineyards and the wineries will need to have together and its unlikely to happen while each side is accusing the other of ulterior motives. Ultimately, smoke-tainted wine in the marketplace does no favor to either winemaker or grape farmer.
If we have high smoke taint, no one should be making the wine, Molnar says. The right decision is not to play hot potato with smoky grapes.
Esther Mobley is The Chronicles wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob
Taking into account the Indian side's interest in Russian energy assets and in the implementation of prospective joint projects in the field of renewable energy sources, both the countries on Friday called for deepening the energy cooperation.
The two sides also encouraged their companies to consider a wide range of opportunities for cooperation, including long-term contracts, joint ventures and acquisitions of energy assets in both countries as well as possible cooperation in third countries.
They welcomed the ongoing cooperation between the Russian and Indian energy companies, including investments of Indian consortium in Vankorneft and Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha in Russia and the participation of the PJSC Rosneft oil company in the Essar Oil capital.
Noting with satisfaction the progress made by the companies in the development of comprehensive cooperation and expressed the hope for the completion of negotiations on the Vankor cluster at an early date.
Both sides also acknowledged the interest of Russian and Indian companies in cooperation in the field of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and welcomed the commencement of supply of LNG under the long-term contract between Gazrpom Group and GAIL India Ltd.
Russia and India expressed support for continuing the expansion of the dialogue between PJSC NOVATEK and the energy companies of India and welcomed the joint intention to develop cooperation in the field of LNG.
Both sides also expressed support to the companies of India and Russia for the development of cooperation and exploring opportunities for joint development of oil fields in the Russian territory, including in the Arctic shelf of Russia and joint development of projects on the shelf of the Pechora and Okhotsk Seas.
Welcoming the joint study conducted in 2017 on the gas pipeline supply routes from Russia and other countries to India, both sides noted the ongoing consultations between the Indian and Russian ministries and companies to explore possibilities of constructing the gas pipeline to India. They also agreed to continue to consult each other on the possible conclusion of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two ministries.
(ANI)
TORONTO Heated streets will melt ice and snow on contact. Sensors will monitor traffic and protect pedestrians. Driverless shuttles will carry people to their doors.
A unit of Googles parent company, Alphabet, is proposing to turn a rundown part of Torontos waterfront into what may be the most wired community in history to fundamentally refine what urban life can be.
Sidewalk Labs has partnered with a government agency known as Waterfront Toronto with plans to erect midrise apartments, offices, shops and a school on a 12-acre site a first step toward what it hopes will eventually be a 800-acre development.
High-level interest is clear: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alphabets then-Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt appeared together to announce the plan.
But some Canadians are rethinking the privacy implications of giving one of the most data-hungry companies on the planet the means to wire up everything from street lights to pavement. And some want the public to get a cut of the revenue from products developed using Canadas largest city as an urban laboratory.
The Waterfront Toronto executives and board are too dumb to realize they are getting played, said former BlackBerry CEO Jim Balsillie, a smartphone pioneer considered a national hero who also said the federal government is pushing the board to approve it.
Google knew what they wanted. And the politicians wanted a PR splash, and the Waterfront board didnt know what they are doing. And the citizens of Toronto and Canada are going to pay the price, Balsillie said.
Complaints about the proposed development prompted Waterfront Toronto to redo the agreement to ensure a greater role for the official agency, which represents city, provincial and federal governments.
So far the project is still in the embryonic stage. After consultations, the developers plan to present a formal master plan early next year.
Dan Doctoroff, the CEO of Sidewalk Labs, envisions features like pavement that lights up to warn pedestrians of approaching streetcars. Flexible heated enclosures described as raincoats for buildings will be deployed based on weather data during Torontos bitter winters. Robotic waste-sorting systems will detect when a garbage bin is full and remove it before raccoons descend.
Those are great uses of data that can improve the quality of life of people, he said. Thats what we want to do.
Sidewalk Labs promotional materials promise a place thats enhanced by digital technology and data, without giving up the privacy and security that everyone deserves.
Doctoroff said the company isnt looking to make money on peoples personal information in the way that Google does now with search information. He said the plan is to invent so-far-undefined products and services that Sidewalk Labs can market elsewhere.
People automatically assume because of our relationship to Alphabet and Google that they will be treated one way or another. We have never said anything about the data issue, he said. To be honest people should give us some time. Be patient.
But that wasnt good enough for Julie Di Lorenzo, a prominent Toronto developer who resigned from the Waterfront Toronto board over the project. Di Lorenzo said data and what Google wants to do with it should be front and center in the discussions. She also believes the government agency has given the Google affiliate too much power over how the project develops.
How can (Waterfront Toronto), a corporation established by three levels of democratically elected government, have shared values with a limited, for-profit company whose premise is embedded data collection? Di Lorenzo asked.
Di Lorenzo asks who will own the autonomous vehicles. Is the municipality maintaining the fleet or forcing you to share your vehicle? She also asks if people who dont want their data collected will be allowed to live there.
The concerns have intensified following a series of privacy scandals at Facebook and Google. A recent Associated Press investigation found that many Google services on iPhones and Android devices store location-tracking data even if you use privacy settings that are supposed to turn them off.
It gives all of us pause, Waterfront board chair Helen Burstyn acknowledged.
Bianca Wylie, an advocate of open government, said it remains deeply troubling that Sidewalk Labs still hasnt said who will own data produced by the project or how it will be monetized. Google is here to make money, she said, and Canadians should benefit from any data or products developed from it.
We are not here to be someones research and development lab, she said, to be a loss leader for products they want to sell globally.
Ottawa patent lawyer Natalie Raffoul said the fact that the current agreement leaves ownership of data issues for later shows that it wasnt properly drafted and means patents derived from the data will default to Google.
We just cant be too trusting of corporations, she said.
But Burstyn, the Waterfront Toronto chair, said the upcoming master plan will address data concerns. The agency wants to make Toronto a global hub of a rising new industry, she said.
Everybody gets worried about the digital and technology aspects that might run amok, she said. I dont worry about that as much as I see the opportunities for developing a really interesting, innovative community.
Adam Vaughan, the federal lawmaker whose district includes the development, said debate about big data and urban infrastructure is coming to cities across the world and he would rather have Toronto at the forefront of discussion.
Google is ahead of governments globally and locally. Thats a cause for concern but its also an opportunity, Vaughan said.
Rob Gillies is an Associated Press writer.
In route news, Iceland's low-cost carrier WOW will suspend San Francisco flights next month; United slashes baggage fees for surfers on California routes; American will add several new routes for 2019, including some in California; Delta will begin a new transatlantic route and expand London service next year; European low-cost transatlantic airline Primera bites the dust; and Norwegian trims Florida flights.
A spokesperson for Icelandic carrier WOW confirmed that the airline will discontinue San Francisco-Reykjavik service for the winter season. The flights will end November 6 and are due to resume on April of next year. "This is due to operational logistics as the delivery of our new aircraft has been delayed from the manufacturer," the spokesperson said. "All affected passengers have been contacted and offered a refund or to be rerouted at no extra cost." It will be interesting to see how this affects low-fares to Europe as WOW has been the leader when it comes to discounts. Icelandair's nonstop flights between SFO and Reykjavic are still on the schedule as year-round.
We've also learned this week that Lufthansa will fly away from Mineta San Jose for good this winter. Stay tuned to SFGate for our full report.
Dude, are you looking for endless summer so you can catch a wave and shoot the curl? California recently designated surfing as the state's official sport, and United Airlines is marking the occasion by dropping service fees for surfers (and even for hodads with a board). Specifically, the airline said it will no longer assess the usual service fee of $150 or $200 for travelers who check a surfboard, wakeboard or paddleboard on United or United Express flights that originate or end at any airport in California. The usual checked bag fee will apply for those items, however. (United recently raised checked bag fees to $30 for the first item and $40 for the second.) So pitted! (Remember that? LOL)
American Airlines this week unveiled plans to add several new routes in 2019, both within the U.S. and to Latin America and the Caribbean. The airline will begin eight domestic routes from its Dallas/Ft. Worth hub. On March 3, it will start daily year-round service to Harlingen, Texas; Augusta, Georgia; Gainesville, Florida; Yuma, Arizona; and Bakersfield, California. Then on April 2 it will add daily seasonal service from DFW to Monterey, California, and daily year-round flights to Flagstaff, Arizona and to Burbank, California.
New international service from American coming next year includes daily A319 flights from Miami to Santiago, Cuba, effective May 3; daily E140 flights from DFW to Durango, Mexico, beginning June 6; seasonal service four days a week from DFW to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and three days a week to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, starting June 6-7; and weekly Saturday flights beginning June 8 from New York LaGuardia to Aruba; from Charlotte to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and from DFW to Santo Domingo (seasonal through August 17).
Delta has announced another new seasonal route to Europe for next year. The carrier said it will offer daily flights from Boston to Lisbon from May 23 through September 3, using a 199-passenger 757 with Premium Select, Comfort+ and regular economy seating. (It will no longer offer nonstops to Lisbon from Atlanta.) The airline said its summer 2019 schedule also calls for an increase in Detroit-London Heathrow frequencies from 10 a week to twice-daily starting May 13, and a boost in its Portland-LHR schedule from four flights a week to daily service beginning May 9.
Some previously announced route developments took effect last week, including Delta's launch of new Boston-Philadelphia service, with four CRJ-900 flights a day operated by Delta Connection/Endeavor Air. And United shifted three Newark routes to Washington Dulles, including Chattanooga, Tennessee; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; and Ithaca, N.Y. United also dropped service from Newark to Baltimore/Washington, Des Moines, Ft. Wayne and Hartford.
Primera Air, a relatively new low-cost airline based in Latvia but with mostly Scandinavian ownership, suddenly stopped operating last week and declared bankruptcy, leaving many passengers stranded. Primera had been operating flights from Newark, Boston and Washington Dulles to London Stansted, and from Boston to Paris and London Stansted. It had been planning rapid transatlantic expansion for 2019 with new routes in the works from its U.S., gateways to Brussels, Frankfurt and Berlin. Several other airlines responded to Primera's sudden shut-down by offering discounted fares to its stranded passengers.
Norwegian is suspending service for the winter on a pair of Florida routes. Its twice-weekly Ft. Lauderdale-Madrid service and its three weekly Ft. Lauderdale-Barcelona flights will end on October 28 and resume March 30, according to Routesonline.com.
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One person was released from the hospital early Saturday and two other victims were in stable condition after a shooting broke out in San Franciscos Fillmore District a day earlier, officials said.
A woman in her early 20s was sent home Saturday morning, said Maricella Miranda, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco General Hospital.
A 22-year-old woman and 19-year-old man remained in the hospital in stable condition, Miranda said.
Two suspected gunmen were also injured Friday after being pursued by police. One of the suspects, a 21-year-old man, was in stable condition and the second, another man, was released from the hospital into police custody, Miranda said.
The three victims were walking about 6:45 p.m. on the 1700 block of Eddy Street when a vehicle drove up and someone opened fire, said Lt. Christopher Creed of the San Francisco Police Department. The two women and man were transported to the hospital.
Creed said police officers in the Van Ness area spotted what they believed to be the vehicle involved in the shooting and started to pursue the vehicle.
The suspects vehicle crashed during the pursuit and the driver and passenger fled on foot before being detained.
At least one firearm was found on the two suspects. Their identities were not released.
A motive for the shooting was not disclosed.
Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
Fred Rogers remembers watching as a conga line wound from the door to the bathroom of the Elephant Walk bar during the 1977 Castro Street Fair.
"I called it my windows on Main Street," Rogers describes, as he watched the parade from behind the bar. "People were in various states of dress and undress; there was general gaiety." This is what he loved about the Elephant Walk, the easy flow between the street and the bar the fact that anyone felt welcome.
A big part of that openness was the windows.
You might not think much of those windows if you were looking out of them at the 45th Castro Street Fair this Sunday, but at the time Rogers started the bar in 1974, only one other gay bar Twin Peaks in the Castro was visible from the street.
The windows had metaphorical, as well as literal significance. "Most taverns were dark and dreary throwbacks to an era of anonymity, and they were strictly segregated. But we were not a pickup bar."
Gay, straight, or in between, Rogers describes, it was for everyone and anyone who wanted to dance. The air of conviviality lingers today at Harvey's, the bar with the same address and same spirit as Rogers' Elephant Walk, but its awning bears a new name, a tribute to the former "Mayor of Castro Street," a frequent patron at the Elephant Walk: Harvey Milk.
The bar, started by Rogers and a friend, came out of a conversation about the dearth of casual meetup spots for gay people.
It quickly became known for the frequent appearances of locals like Milk, and the less famous, but equally lively Fabulous Sylvester, the disco diva whose Sunday afternoon performances were renowned on Castro.
Part of the fun was that anyone walking by could look in and join the celebration. But of course, windows are a two-way street.
"There was the reality of the time: There was an unwritten rule that if you were visible to people on the street, you couldn't show lots of physical camaraderie," Rogers describes, for being associated with the bar even if it meant you could be yourself often meant being visible as a gay person. And that often also meant danger. Rogers remembers being beaten up by someone in a passing car, and getting arrested for merely stopping past the stop-sign line when the cop saw his partner in the car with him.
It was a paradox of the time: an entirely open gay bar when being gay was still seen as a psychiatric disorder. The Elephant Walk was a haven for the people who were forced away from their family, and it was also a place of anxiety for people were not out of the closet.
No event better represents this duality than the night of Nov 27, 1978, the anniversary of the bar.
Morning passersby would have been greeted by an arresting display of orchids peeking through the windows, arranged by Rogers in preparation for the anniversary celebration. But the party was over before it began, as word arrived that Supervisor Milk, along with Mayor George Moscone, had been shot and killed.
The Elephant Walk quickly pivoted from a place of celebration to mourning, the gathering place for a spontaneous candlelight march to City Hall.
"That event is etched in my memory as one of the saddest yet most emotionally cathartic experiences of my life. The spontaneous expression of loss from The City at large was overwhelming, and a profound sense of unity emerged," Fred writes in his first-person narrative of the event.
The spontaneous vigil gave the bar publicity that it had never had before, with The Chronicle detailing the mourners' walk in the next day's paper. Yet again, the bar served as window for the outside to see in representing to San Francisco the pain and sorrow emanating from inside the Castro.
Less than a year later, the Elephant Walk found itself at another crossroads between worlds: on May 21, 1979, the day that would have been Milk's 49th birthday, Milk's killer, Dan White, received what many considered to be an unduly light sentence.
Protesters emerged at City Hall, some setting police cars aflame; in retaliation, police targeted the most conspicuous hub of gay life in the Castro. Now, the Elephant Walk's visibility its point of pride became its vulnerability. Acting under the assumption it had been the center of anti-police activity, cops stormed the Elephant Walk, breaking furniture, beating up patrons, and leaving those large windows in pieces on the street in what became known as the White Night Riots.
These decisions were later condemned by the public and police chief as unwarranted, but still served to represent the disparity between out and in.
Rogers wasn't in town, but he returned home in a rush, writing, "500 Castro Street - my glass-walled haven in Gay Mecca - I saw plywood boards covering the front doors where once lovely etched-glass panes had gleamed." The remains are documented by The Chronicle in the following day's article, which described "The Sorry Saga at the Elephant Walk Bar."
In the aftermath of these riots, Rogers remembers the pains taken by the Elephant Walk to rebuild, replacing the windows and furniture. The Castro Street Fair, a community street celebration that was founded by Milk in 1974 (the same year as the Elephant Walk), acted as a sort of suture for the community, winding its way up and down Castro, and eventually into Market, playing a key role in their communal healing process.
"Dan White may have gotten away with murder, but the legacy of those dark and violent events was the growing - and increasingly aggressive - gay power," Rogers writes, describing the optimism he felt to watch the fair, which will celebrate its 45th anniversary Sunday, grow to nearly 250,000 people over the next few years.
But if the Elephant Walk was a window into the external physical danger, it also found itself at the center of something that encroached from inside. "It was really right in the center at the height of the AIDS epidemic," said Steve Porter, the bar's current general manager. He describes how signs with information about the new disease were posted in the windows of the the pharmacy (now Walgreens) across the street.
"Before you know it, we have a name for it and we know how it's transmitted, and then people are dying left and right," he said, talking about how survivors have told him that the Elephant Walk is the first place they came to figure out how they were going to deal with it.
Of the 24 employees in Fred Rogers' original Elephant Walk, he can remember only three who are still alive.
The bar found itself in a precarious state in the late '80s and early '90s, during the tail end of the AIDS crisis, burning down, and almost losing its lease. In 1995, it was reopened, with the new name: Harvey's, to represent Milk's symbolic continuity on Castro Street.
Since then, Rogers and Porter both recognize that the Castro has become much wealthier, and lost what Rogers calls "some of the fun and rough around the edges aspects around the Castro."
"I'm the last vestige of a previous civilization," he said. "Put me up on the gay Mount Rushmore!" But then he pauses to say seriously, "I'm a survivor. That's the good part."
Despite its changes, both Porter and Rogers are optimistic about the future of the Castro, and Harvey's.
"I hope high schoolers get the perspective that even though our current political atmosphere is retrograde, that we have been able to forge ahead and make gains," Rogers said. "It is a better time and a better era."
This Sunday, fairgoers will be able to look in the windows, to see the elephants emblazoned on the upper corners, a lingering testament to the place that has seen and been seen through it all.
Emma Heath is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her with comments or questions at Emma.Heath@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @emmabheath.
SAN FRANCISCO A federal judge struck down an immigration law Friday that the Trump administration has used against cities and states that limit cooperation with immigration officials.
The ruling by Judge William Orrick also directed the U.S. Department of Justice to give California $28 million that was withheld over the states immigration policies.
It was at least the third decision by a U.S. district court judge in recent months declaring the immigration law unconstitutional.
The law at issue forbids states and cities from blocking officials from reporting peoples immigration status to U.S. authorities.
Orricks ruling Friday in lawsuits by California and San Francisco may be the most significant yet because it applies to a major target of the administrations opposition to sanctuary jurisdictions. Orrick forbade Attorney General Jeff Sessions from enforcing the immigration law against California or any of its cities or counties.
DOJ spokesman Devin OMalley declined comment.
The Trump administration says sanctuary cities and states allow dangerous criminals back on the street.
San Francisco and other sanctuary cities counter that turning local police into immigration officers erodes the trust needed to get people to report local crimes.
Orrick said the immigration law undermines existing state and local policies and strips local policy makers of the power to decide for themselves whether to communicate with immigration officials. It also shifts a portion of immigration enforcement costs onto states, he said.
California expresses the legitimate concern that entanglement with federal immigration enforcement erodes the trust that Latino and undocumented immigrant communities have in local law enforcement, the judge said.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the ruling was a victory.
We will continue to stand up to the Trump administrations attempts to force our law enforcement into changing its policies and practices in ways that that would make us less safe, he said in a statement.
The administration cited the law in litigation filed against California in March that sought to block three state laws.
One of the laws prevents police from providing release dates and personal information of jail inmates information administration officials say they need to safely remove dangerous people who are in the country illegally.
U.S. Judge John Mendez in Sacramento has allowed California to continue enforcing that law.
California could use Orricks ruling to ask Mendez to reject the administrations claim that the state is violating the 1996 law, said David Levine, an expert in federal court procedure at UC Hastings College of the Law.
Sessions announced more than a year ago that cities and states could receive Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance grants only if they allow federal immigration officials access to detention facilities and provide notice when someone in the country illegally is about to be released.
Orrick ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice could not require San Francisco and California to meet those requirements to obtain the Byrne grant.
Sudhin Thanawala is an Associated Press writer.
SANTA ANA An Illinois killer convicted of murdering five women in Southern California has been sentenced to death.
An Orange County Superior Court judge issued the sentence Friday for 54-year-old former Marine Andrew Urdiales, convicted of killing five women in Riverside, Orange and San Diego counties between 1986 and 1995. The judges decision came after a jury recommended the death penalty for Urdiales earlier this year.
During the sentencing hearing, Urdiales apologized to the victims families, many of whom were in court, and said he respects the jurys decision.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in a statement that the death penalty was the only just punishment for Urdiales.
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, Rackauckas said. He doesnt deserve to be in the planet with the rest of us.
Urdiales previously was sentenced to death for killing three women in Illinois in 2002, but that sentence was commuted to life without parole after that state barred the death penalty.
Authorities said Urdiales, who moved to Southern California as a 19-year-old Marine, killed four women while in the military and a fifth while vacationing in Palm Springs in 1995.
He attacked Robbin Brandley, 23, a volunteer usher, after a piano concert at an Orange County community college in 1986 and fatally stabbed her 41 times in the parking lot. Two years later, he picked up Julie McGhee, a 29-year-old working as a prostitute, drove her to a remote area, had sex with her, shot her in the head and left her body in the desert, authorities said.
Charles Erwin, whose 18-year-old daughter Tammie was fatally shot in the head after Urdiales picked her up and drove her to a remote area of Palm Springs, talked in court about the severe impact her death has had on him.
Urdiales not only killed my daughter, but he killed me inside, Erwin said, according to prosecutors. This has ruined my life. It has turned my physical being into pieces, my mental being into pieces.
Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, who was reportedly missing from France since September 29, has been detained in China as part of an investigation for questioning, a media report claimed on Saturday.
South China Morning Post, a media house based in Hong Kong quoted a source saying that chief Meng was taken away for questioning by discipline authorities as soon as he landed in China last week. The reason for Meng being investigated and held is still unclear and no official confirmation has been made.
Vice-Minister at Chinas Ministry of Public Security, Meng Hongwei is currently under investigation in China, amidst the mystery surrounding his disappearance after his wife reported to the French police that he went missing.
The French police acted swiftly and launched a probe for Meng on Friday after being contacted by his wife.
Interpol in a statement on Friday said that it was aware of the reports of Mengss alleged disappearance and the issue pertains to the relevant and concerned authorities in France and China. The Interpol headquarters are based in Lyon.
As per the reports from France, Meng was last spotted in France on September 29.
As of now, no official from either the public security nor the foreign ministry in China has commented on the issue.
An unnamed French judicial official was quoted saying in the report that Meng did arrive in China at the last of September but there had been no news of him since then.
Meng was appointed as the chief of Interpol in 2016 which also sparked controversy as it was alleged that China is extending its crackdown on people abroad. His serve ends in 2020.
Also read: India, Russia call for widening energy cooperation
A 70-year-old former Campbell man convicted of wire fraud and money laundering in a $7 million Ponzi scheme was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to five years in prison, the U.S. Attorney's office announced.
Kevin Kyes, formerly of Campbell but most recently a resident of Roseville, was convicted on 17 counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors said the fraud was part of a Ponzi scheme targeting more than 60 Japanese investors. From December 2012 through July 2015, Kyes worked with a partner, John Holdaway, 74, of Sandy, Utah, to defraud the investors through a business they called Money Management Strategies with the promise of high-speed trading and 100-percent annual returns on investment, prosecutors said.
The investors wired money to bank accounts in Northern California controlled by Kyes and Holdaway.
Evidence brought to Kyes' week-long trial showed the men spent the money themselves and used it to fund Ponzi-type payments to other investors.
A federal grand jury indicted Kyes and Holdaway in June of 2016. In October of 2017, Holdaway entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and one count of filing false tax returns. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16.
In addition to Kyes' prison term, he was ordered to pay more than $3.6 million in restitution.
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The Elkhorn Slough, near Monterey Bay at Moss Landing, has been designated a "wetland slough of international importance" by the Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today.
With the recognition, the slough joins 38 other wetland sites in the nation - including the San Francisco Bay estuary - and more than 2,330 sites worldwide under the world's oldest international environmental treaty, which was signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. Nearly 90 percent of members of the United Nations have since adopted the treaty.
"I am proud that Elkhorn Slough is being recognized internationally for what we on the central coast of California have long known -- that this wetland is an environmental crown jewel," Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, said in a statement.
"Elkhorn Slough is a spectacular wetland on the Central California coast, hosting a rich diversity of plants and animals and beloved by the local community," Mark Silberstein, executive director of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, said.
The slough is a seasonal estuary with intertidal marshes, mudflats, eelgrass beds and oyster communities that nourish wildlife. More than 340 species of birds, 100 species of fish and more than 500 species of invertebrates have been documented in the watershed.
The distinctive habitats are among the rarest and most threatened in California and are home to more than 140 Southern sea otters that feed, rest and raise their pups here, Fish and Wildlife officials said.
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A man convicted of murdering his girlfriend in 2008 has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo said Thursday.
Victor Cabrera, 41, was convicted on Aug. 30 of murder and of the special circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain.
On Sept. 28, 2008, Cabrera strangled his girlfriend Roshni Singh in her Marina home.
Prosecutors said he was in deep financial debt and murdered Singh because he was the beneficiary of her $600,000 life insurance policy.
He conspired with co-defendant Francisco Agaton-Hernandez to stage a fake robbery.
After strangling the victim, Cabrera and Agaton-Hernandez drove her body to the car repair shop where Cabrera worked. The suspects staged a robbery and drove the victim's body to a nearby apartment complex, where she was left in her SUV.
Cabrera waited half an hour and called 911 with his tongue. He claimed he was robbed, tied up by two men, and his girlfriend was taken.
Prosecutors said police were immediately suspicious of Cabrera's story and questioned him for five hours.
Without probable cause to make an arrest, police released Cabrera to his parent's home in Salinas. Shortly after, Cabrera fled to Mexico, where he remained for eight years.
Singh's body was found shortly after, and it was determined she was likely killed hours before Cabrera claimed she was abducted.
Cabrera's family was uncooperative with investigators, but phone records led police to Agaton-Hernandez, who was questioned and ultimately admitted to helping move the victim's body and stage the robbery.
Agaton-Hernandez denied having prior knowledge of the murder, but in 2011, he was convicted of aiding and abetting murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
Cabrera was ultimately arrested in Mexico in 2016 and was extradited to the United States to stand trial.
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A person was seriously burned in a two-story apartment fire this afternoon in the unincorporated Contra Costa County community of Bay Point, a fire district spokesman said.
The 2-alarm fire was reported at about 1:40 p.m. on Mary Ann Lane, Steve Hill, spokesman for the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, said.
Hill said a person suffered burns over about 40 percent of their body and was taken by helicopter to a burn center. A dog died in the fire.
But firefighters were able to rescue four other dogs and three birds. No firefighters were injured.
Hill said four units were extensively by flames and smoke and two more units were damaged by smoke and water, displacing six families. The fire's cause is under investigation.
"It's too early to say" what the cause was, Hill said.
The fire did an estimated $900,000 of damage to the 10-unit building.
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SAN QUENTIN (BCN)
A San Quentin State Prison death row inmate was fatally stabbed this morning, prison spokesman Lt. Sam Robinson said.
Jonathan Fajardo, 30, out of Los Angeles County, was stabbed in the chest and neck with an inmate-made weapon around 9:55 a.m. in the East Block Housing Unit recreation yard complex. Robinson said Fajardo was pronounced dead at 10:34 a.m.
The suspect in the homicide was identified as 34-year-old inmate Luis Rodriguez.
Robinson said Fajardo was serving a death sentence on two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances and seven consecutive life sentences. Fajardo was admitted to San Quentin from Los Angeles County on May 2, 2011.
Rodriguez is serving a life without parole sentence for first-degree murder. He was admitted to San Quentin from Los Angeles County on Aug. 22, 2008.
While incarcerated, Rodriguez was sentenced to death in Los Angeles County on Sept. 21, 2015 for two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances. Robinson said Rodriguez began serving his death sentence on Sept. 30, 2015.
The prison's Investigative Services Unit is investigating the homicide and the Marin County District Attorney's Office has been contacted, Robinson said.
There are currently 742 offenders on California's death row, according to Robinson.
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PETALUMA (BCN)
A 62-year-old Petaluma man was arrested this week after officers found suspected bomb-making materials during a probation check, police said.
The materials were found when police conducted a probation search of Robert Brussel's home in the 100 block of Novak Drive, police said in a news release.
Officers found Brussel in the garage and discovered that he was possibly making an explosive or incendiary device, using gunpowder, road flares and a battery-operated electrical panel, police said.
They found 22 empty 12-gauge shotgun cartridges, from which the gunpowder, shotgun pellets and wadding had been removed and separated, according to police.
In addition, three unused road flares and a small amount of methamphetamine were found.
Brussel told police he was making a gunpowder rocket, but wasn't able to explain the presence of the other items, according to police.
The items were removed from residence, and because the materials were not assembled, there appeared to be no safety risk to the neighborhood.
Brussel, a felon, was prohibited from possessing ammunition. He had two active Sonoma County misdemeanor probations for DUI and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, being a prohibited person in possession of ammunition and violation of probation.
Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
A San Quentin State Prison death row inmate was fatally stabbed Friday morning, prison spokesman Lt. Sam Robinson said.
Jonathan Fajardo, 30, out of Los Angeles County, was stabbed in the chest and neck with an inmate-made weapon around 9:55 a.m. in the East Block Housing Unit recreation yard complex. Robinson said Fajardo was pronounced dead at 10:34 a.m.
The suspect in the homicide was identified as 34-year-old inmate Luis Rodriguez.
Robinson said Fajardo was serving a death sentence on two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances and seven consecutive life sentences. Fajardo was admitted to San Quentin from Los Angeles County on May 2, 2011.
Crews working at the closed Salesforce Transit Center in downtown San Francisco will temporarily close a portion of First Street in order to add support to the center above the street as a precautionary measure.
First Street between Howard and Mission streets closed starting at 9 p.m. Friday and will close at the same time over the next few days as crews work to reinforce the bus deck above. The stretch of street will reopen at 5 a.m. on each of the next days.
No cracks were found in steel beams above First Street, but two cracks were found in steel beams on the bus deck above Fremont Street on Sept. 25, prompting the immediate closure of the transit center and Fremont Street.
Mark Zabaneh, executive director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority said in a statement, "Because Fremont and First streets are similarly designed, to be prudent, we have decided to reinforce First Street as a proactive measure."
Felony charges were dismissed in San Mateo County Superior Court against two East Palo Alto men who were accused of brandishing guns in a music video while on probation for previous criminal activity, San Mateo County prosecutors said.
The charges were dismissed Friday.
The felony charges for possession of a firearm by a felon and felony gang activity stemmed from a 2014 case in which the two men, Dellory Marzell Crooks Jr., 28, and Ronald Edward Culps, 27, and two other co-defendants, all known to be members of the Da Vill Gang in East Palo Alto, participated in a rap video posted online called "Murder he Wrote." In the video, the men are seen handling guns that investigators determined were real firearms.
Based on insufficient evidence, Judge Stephanie Garrett granted the defense motion to dismiss the felony charges against Crooks and Culps. The two are still scheduled to go to jury trial Nov. 26 on misdemeanor gang-activity charges, said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
A U.S. District judge in San Francisco ruled that the city's Sanctuary City policies, challenged by the administration of President Donald Trump, comply with federal law.
The ruling came down Friday.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a lawsuit last year, along with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, after the president threatened to deny San Francisco law enforcement more than $1.4 million in grants for the 2017 fiscal year.
"Congress has the power of the purse, not the president," Herrera said in a statement. "The Trump administration attacks immigrants and claims to be fighting crime but then seeks to take away money for police, prosecutors and courts. That makes zero sense.
"We're pleased the court has recognized that San Francisco's sanctuary laws and policies comply with federal law. Not only that, the court found that the federal law that the Trump administration has been trying to use as a hammer against communities is itself unconstitutional," he said.
After a three-month undercover investigation, agents from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) arrested four people for prostitution-related violations and selling illegal drugs at a karaoke lounge in Oakland's Chinatown, the ABC announced.
The announcement was made Friday.
The investigation began after numerous complaints about illegal drug activity, sales to minors and loud music at the Music Caf, 251 Ninth St.
Undercover ABC agents were able to purchase drugs including cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine from caf employees. The agents were also solicited for prostitution.
A person was seriously burned in a two-story apartment fire in the unincorporated Contra Costa County community of Bay Point, a fire district spokesman said.
The 2-alarm fire was reported at about 1:40 p.m. Friday on Mary Ann Lane, Steve Hill, spokesman for the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, said.
Hill said a person suffered burns over about 40 percent of their body and was taken by helicopter to a burn center. A dog died in the fire.
But firefighters were able to rescue four other dogs and three birds. No firefighters were injured.
Hill said four units were extensively by flames and smoke and two more units were damaged by smoke and water, displacing six families. The fire's cause is under investigation.
An ambitious effort to corral and remove plastic from the ocean cleared an open-ocean trial and is now headed to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The trial was completed this week.
The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit that assembled its floating plastic-capture system at the former Alameda Naval Air Station, successfully completed two weeks of testing about 350 nautical miles off the coast. On Tuesday, the team was given the go-ahead to head another 1,000 miles to a location halfway between Hawaii and California.
That's where the world's largest accumulation of discarded junk lurks - fishing nets, plastic bottles, pieces of plastic containers and bottle caps -- drifting across an area estimated to be twice the size of Texas.
When the cleanup crew arrives in about two weeks, the goal is to collect and remove larger pieces of plastic before they are broken down into microplastics.
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SANTA CLARA (BCN)
South Bay politicians and media organizations from Chinese, Indian and Filipino communities educated voters Friday night about housing, jobs and legislation affecting the future of Silicon Valley in preparation for Election Day.
Three panels staffed with ex-mayors, city council members, political candidates and parents dove into propositions and ballot measures voters will face in the coming months.
When discussing transportation, housing or schools, the discussion returned to the importance of the Bay Area's racial diversity and ensuring the increasingly expensive region is welcoming to groups of all income levels.
Panelists, including local politicians Rod Sinks, Savitha Vaidhyanathan, Jose Esteves, Hung Wei and Chris Norwood, spoke about transit-oriented housing, aging infrastructure and mental health issues at competitive schools in the region.
When discussing development, transportation or education, the discussion returned to the importance of the Bay Area's racial diversity and ensuring the increasingly expensive region is welcoming to groups of all income levels.
The League of Women Voters held a brief, 15-minute ballot review to touch on critical propositions, and explained to voters where they could find unbiased, succinct information about Bay Area legislation.
"I became a voter 12 years ago, but only about two years ago, I started paying attention," Diana Ding, founder of DingDing TV said. The Chinese language station teamed up with India Currents and The Filipino Channel to broadcast the voter education session.
DingDing TV operates on a mobile platform and distributes videos to community partners. About one hour into the event, Ding said over a hundred people were watching the panels.
India Currents founder Vandana Kumar said while immigrant voters may not trust mainstream media sources, they placed their trust in "ethnic" community media to inform them about the voting process.
"I remember when I first came here, I didn't understand the system," said Sophia Kao, Saratoga Union School Board candidate, describing herself as a "typical" first-generation immigrant who came the United States in the 90's. Kao said voting can seem daunting, but residents can start off with local issues, then move on to statewide legislation. "['Vote!'] is not just a slogan, it's a lifestyle," she said.
Fremont Unified School District President Yang Shao offered more direct advice. "Don't simply vote by race, because you need to understand how this candidate can help you," Shao said.
Y. Ray Hing, president of AMB China Ventures and an immigrant who came to the U.S. 51 years ago, stood up during a Q&A and said facetiously that he was "depressed" by the small group of about 35 people at the event. "I don't understand what this event is all about," he said.
He raised the question of voter engagement among Asian American communities -- only 18.4 percent of eligible Asian-American voters turned out to vote in the last election -- and asked panelists how they would engage voters.
"If you're depressed, join the club, we are too," Anthony Ng, executive director of Civil Leadership USA said. He explained DingDing would share the event broadly through community partners, and panelists echoed their goals of ramping up voter registration efforts through social media.
"If you're not happy, don't get mad, get even -- by participating," Ng said.
Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
SAO PAULO Business leaders and financial markets in Latin Americas largest economy are shaking off their misgivings to coalesce around the candidacy of poll leader Jair Bolsonaro, a retired army captain who has repeatedly said he doesnt understand the economy.
For many Brazilians, Bolsonaros candidacy in Sundays vote has long provoked fears because of his penchant for waxing nostalgic about the countrys 1964-1985 dictatorship, along with his steady stream of derogatory comments about women, blacks, indigenous peoples and gays. For their part, industry leaders worried about what they saw as a big-government, populist streak in past statements and his voting record.
The growing move by the business community to essentially hold its nose is being driven by factors ranging from Bolsonaros decision to name a respected banker as head of his economic team to fear about a return of the left-leaning policies of the Workers Party.
Bolsonaro leads polls in the crowded 13-candidate field followed by Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad, who is likely to face him in an Oct. 28 runoff.
For the markets, Bolsonaro is not a dream candidate, but he represents less risk than Haddad, said Gilberto Braga, a finance professor at the business-oriented Ibmec university in Rio de Janeiro.
Some are skeptical that Bolsonaro truly represents less risk for the economy, or other aspects of society. Besides divisive comments, some of Bolsonaros proposals, such as cracking down on crime by giving freer rein to already-violent police forces, are sending shivers through many communities.
He has promised to fill his cabinet with current and former generals, raising the specter of a de facto military government. Historically, leaders of such governments in many countries have increased state control of the economy, not reduced it.
The one person who is actually most likely to turn Brazil into Venezuela is Bolsonaro, said Monica de Bolle, director of Latin American Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
In recent months, stock markets have surged and the Brazilian real has gained strength against the U.S. dollar each time Bolsonaros candidacy has appeared to gain strength. Several polls show Bolsonaro gaining more than 10 points since Sept. 6, when he was stabbed and hospitalized while campaigning.
He now commands 35 percent of voter support compared to 22 percent for Haddad, according to a Datafolha poll published Thursday. The poll interviewed 10,930 voters on Wednesday and Thursday and had a two percentage point margin of error.
Mauricio Savarese and Peter Prengaman are Associated Press writers.
CAIRO Melania Trump says she has, at times, told the president to put his phone down. And she says she doesnt always agree with what he tweets.
The U.S. first lady spoke briefly with reporters Saturday as she was wrapping up a four-country tour of Africa with a visit to the pyramids and the Great Sphinx in Egypt.
Standing in front of the Sphinx, Mrs. Trump said she makes her opinions clear with her husband.
I dont always agree what he tweets, she said in a rare, unscripted interaction with reporters. And I tell him that. I give him my honest opinion and honest advice. And sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesnt. But I have my own voice and my opinions and its very important for me that I express what I feel.
As for whether shes ever told him to put his phone down, she said, yes, with a laugh.
Mrs. Trump arrived in Cairo on Saturday after a flight from Kenya. She met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and his wife, Entissar Mohameed Amer, before heading to the nearby city of Giza to see the pyramids and Sphinx to highlight U.S.-backed preservation efforts.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has been working with the Egyptian government for the past several years on a project to lower groundwater levels to prevent additional damage to the landmarks. Saline content in the water can erode their foundations.
The first lady described her tour, which took her to Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt, as amazing and said she hoped people would talk more about her visit and less about her fashion choices.
Thats very important what I do, what were doing with U.S. aid and what I do with my initiatives and I wish people would focus on what I do, not what I wear, she said.
Mrs. Trumps outfit choices have drawn considerable attention, as when she wore a jacket that read I REALLY DONT CARE, DO U? during a trip to visit migrant children whod been separated from their families at the southern border.
The first lady received warm welcomes everywhere she went though there were some reminders of her husbands strained relations with the continent, which he has yet to visit as president.
In Lilongwe, Malawi, her motorcade passed a sign that referenced reports that the president used the vulgar term to describe African nations.
Darlene Superville is an Associated Press writer.
TOKYO Americas top diplomat said Saturday the U.S. will coordinate with allies Japan and South Korea on efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on the eve of the Americans fourth visit to North Korea. Pompeo was looking to arrange a second summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and chart a path toward denuclearization.
Japan has been wary of Trumps initiative, fearing it could affect its long-standing security relationship with the U.S.
Pompeo said it was important to hear from the Japanese leader so we have a fully coordinated and unified view. Pompeo also pledged that during his meeting with Kim on Sunday, he would raise the cases of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.
Pompeo later planned stops in South Korea and China to review the negotiations.
It is important for us to hear from you as I travel to Pyongyang to make sure that we are fully in sync with respect to missile programs, (chemical and biological weapons) programs, Pompeo told Abe. We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well and then we will share with you how we hope to proceed when we are in Pyongyang tomorrow.
Trump is pressing to meet with Kim for a second time after their June summit in Singapore produced a vague agreement on denuclearization with few, if any, specifics. Despite the historic meeting, the two sides are deadlocked over how to achieve that goal. Trump canceled Pompeos initial planned return to North Korea last month.
In contrast with South Korea, where President Moon Jae-in has been at the forefront of encouraging Trumps rapprochement with the North, Japan has been decidedly cautious, insisting its interests and concerns be addressed.
Abe did not speak of differences but highlighted the importance of demonstrating to the world that the U.S.-Japan alliance is more robust than ever and stressing the importance of thorough coordination with Washington on all aspects of North Korea policy.
Pompeo has repeatedly refused to discuss details of negotiations, including a U.S. position on North Koreas demand for a declared end to the Korean War and a proposal from Seoul for such a declaration to be accompanied by a shutdown of the Norths main known nuclear facility.
The U.S. and Japan have pushed for the North to compile and turn over a detailed list of its nuclear sites to be dismantled as a next step in the process; the North has rejected that.
Japans foreign minister, Taro Kono, said the accounting continues to be a priority for his country.
Disclosing all nuclear inventories is the first step toward denuclearization, he told reporters after Pompeo wrapped up his meeting in Tokyo.
North Korea so far has suspended nuclear and missile tests, freed three American prisoners and dismantled parts of a missile engine facility and tunnel entrances at a nuclear test site. It has not taken any steps to halt nuclear weapons or missile development.
Mari Yamaguchi is an Associated Press writer.
BUCHAREST, Romania Romanians have begun two days of voting on a constitutional amendment that would make it harder to legalize same-sex marriage. The vote has raised concerns that non-traditional families will be face discrimination.
A conservative group initiated the referendum being held on Saturday and Sunday, and the influential Romanian Orthodox Church is backing it.
The proposed amendment would revise the definition of family in the Constitution of Romania to make marriage a union between a man and a woman instead of a union between spouses.
Romanian law already prohibits same-sex marriages. Opponents say the new constitutional language is a mean-spirited attempt to make LGBT people feel more like second-class citizens and also could marginalize households led by single parents or unmarried couples raising children.
The referendum requires a 30-percent turnout of registered voters to be valid. The proposed change would prevent any attempt to legalize same-sex marriage through legislation.
Dressed in white robes and a white miter, Patriarch Daniel cast his ballot Saturday, but didnt address the issue of marriage. However, he encouraged Romanians to vote, calling it: a right, an honor and a blessing.
Leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea said Romania should decide how to run its own affairs and praised the traditional family, a man and a woman who have children, either naturally or through adoption.
For years, others have been telling us how we should live, he said after voting. Now is the moment for us to decide for ourselves what kind of society and country we want. However, he added that Romania should create a legal framework for same-sex partnerships.
Prime Minister Viorica Dancila earlier said that I voted for the values in which I believe, adding that it is our civic duty to express our views.
The vote came about after the Coalition for Family submitted a petition with 3 million signatures proposing the constitution be amended. The group said it was concerned young Romanians were learning about non-traditional family arrangements in school.
Gay rights groups say the constitutional revision could encourage homophobia by further promoting the view that only opposite-sex marriages are legitimate and same-sex relationships are unworthy of recognition or protection.
At a rally last week in southern Romania, Orthodox Bishop Sebastian Pascanu told believers that homosexuality was an abnormality that first appeared in Western countries.
This abnormality needs therapy, treatment rather than special laws, he said.
Alison Mutler is an Associated Press writer.
Patchogue, NY
| For the first time in almost a month, the College of Staten Island women's volleyball team fell in straight-sets, taking a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Ramapo College in the opening round of the St. Joseph's College (LI) Invitational Tournament which started today and extends into tomorrow afternoon. Ramapo was victorious by scores of 25-17, 25-14, and 25-15, and improved to 5-15 while CSI fell to 9-6.
It was a tough go of it tonight for the Dolphins, who mustered up only 13 kills next to Ramapo's 38. Aside from the opening handful of points in the first and third set, the Roadrunners led from start to finish a majority of the time.
Ramapo was led by Morgan Ridgeway's nine kills, followed closely by Felicia James' eight and Hannah Fracella's seven. Anna Granquist led the way with four service aces while Kristina Semple tallied a heavy 16 digs.
For CSI, Francesca Castellano was tops with seven kills, leading all Dolphins by a wide margin. She was also the team leader with 14 digs, followed closely by Celina Mendez who tallied 13 and Alexandria Boachie-Ansah who scored 10.
CSI gets back at it tomorrow, as they face the host Eagles of SJC at 10:00 am, followed by a match against Salve Regina University at 2:00 pm later in the afternoon.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. An ex-Wagner College professor claims the school fired him over a securities fraud conviction which he had disclosed before he was hired five years ago, a federal court lawsuit alleges.
Edward J. Strafaci, a former business professor at the Nicolais School of Business, is suing the institution for employment discrimination after the Grymes Hill school declined to renew his contract in April, according to the filing.
The New Jersey man was hired in 2013 despite the 2004 conviction and was even promoted to a tenure track position by 2016, said the suit.
The possible tenured position promised a salary of $85,000 and Strafaci had enrolled in a doctorate program at Pace University because he was informed the degree was essential to making tenure.
On April 6, the staff told Strafaci it was not renewing his contract due to the conviction, the filing said.
After the professor threatened to sue, the school demoted him to a visiting assistant professor while keeping his workload the same. The position only offered Strafaci $6,580, and he lost his full-time benefits package, the suit claims.
A spokesman for the school declined comment.
After decades of relying on the same express buses to travel to and from work on a daily basis, Staten Island riders have had their daily routines upended by a complete overhaul of the boroughs MTA express bus network. Some of these troubled commuters have elected to share their stories with the Staten Island Advance to highlight how the changes to the network have adversely impacted their daily commute. Troubled Travelers is a series of first-person accounts from disgruntled Staten Island express bus riders.
By CAROLANN GRANATA, SIM10 rider
Where do I start? I take the SIM10 (which took the place of the X7) at Keegans Lane and Hylan Boulevard at 5:40 a.m. This trip is now 15 minutes longer because they replaced the X7 with the SIM10. For the past month I have come to work with a pounding headache due to my wonderful new commute. The SIM10 takes the sightseeing tour along Hylan Boulevard with all the traffic and lights, then goes over the Verrazzano to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (yes I will always call it that) and then up the FDR to 23rd Street to 6th Avenue. The X7 was quick along Hylan, no stop on Ebbitts, and down Midland to Father Capodanno with few lights and less traffic. Once in Manhattan we went along the West side to Spring Street and up 6th Avenue, quick ride.
This extra time also allows me to hear the loud announcements on the bus reminding me that I have to pay $6.50 for this wonderful ride or thanking me for riding the MTA (like I have a choice).
All they needed to do was add some routes near Tottenville, but no. They also change the Academy 23 and 24, which no longer run in Great Kills, which was a great alternative if the bridge was backed up. My sisters take the 24 on Huguenot Avenue and now need to walk five more blocks because they removed one stop, Rosedale, which was her stop. By the way she has scoliosis (curvature of the spine).
To boot, why did they move the buses from 34th Street to 42nd Street? Now she needs to take the train to 33rd Street to get the PATH train. Besides that, did they not know within the next two years many companies will be moving to the Hudson Yards (34th Street)?
I never emailed and complained to the MTA, but since this change I have emailed every morning asking them to return the X7 Route. I truly am thinking about retiring because of these changes. Less buses, longer waits. Even coming home, because of traffic in Manhattan, I take the 2 or 3 express train downtown and pick up the SIM1. We have all noticed the longer wait since this change.
I am polite in my emails, but does anyone reading them ever take the express bus during the morning and evening rush? I doubt it.
It really looks like they all got together to figure out a way to mess Staten Islanders up once again.
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WAJIB
M, 96 minutes. Cinema Nova, Cameo, Classic, and Lido Cinemas, opens Thursday
Mixing barbed familial humour and a terrific sense of what is unsaid and what needs to be acknowledged, the new feature from Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir ties the intimate connections of family to the shifting political landscape of Arab Israelis. With his sister Amal (Maria Zreik) soon to be married, expatriate architect Shadi (Saleh Bakri) returns to Nazareth to help with the preparations, beginning with the local tradition of hand-delivering the hundreds of invites to family, friends and expedient guests in the company of his father, school teacher Abu Shadi (Mohammad Bakri); they make it to mid-morning before the first serious argument. Grounded in locations that speak to the broader realities and personal differences in philosophy, the film has wry warmth and unexpected differences hipster Shadi is more fixed in his political views than his father. Set over a day, the movie has every right to feel schematic, yet it's deeply revelatory.
Wajib, which traces family preparations for a wedding in Nazareth, has a wry warmth.
ON DANGEROUS GROUND: IDA LUPINO, TRAILBLAZER
melbournecinematheque.org. Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Wednesday October 10, 17, 24, and 31
Even today, Hollywood is resistant to actresses who want to take control of their career and direct stories that matter to them, yet that was the ground-breaking path forged by Ida Lupino 70 years ago. Born into a London theatrical family, Lupino arrived in Los Angeles under studio contract in the 1930s, and the subsequent breadth of her influential career leading lady, character actor, filmmaker, and television director is referenced in this excellent retrospective program. In 1953's The Bigamist ( , PG, 80 minutes) Lupino co-stars and directs, turning what could have been melodramatic excess into a nuanced examination of incomplete lives as a salesman (Edmond O'Brien) explains to an adoption agency investigator (Edmund Gwenn) how after years with his career-orientated wife (Joan Fontaine) in San Francisco he came to marry a tenacious Los Angeles waitress (Lupino) hoping to find satisfaction through a child. With its noir-like flashback structure and compact expressiveness, it turns mystery into social critique and refuses to apportion easy roles to the protagonists.
Mackenzie was just the sweetest, smartest, most perfect little baby apart from this tiny flaw in her DNA. How can anyone say that sort of thing? Loading The Casellas were called narcissists and accused of using the death of their baby for promotion. It was devastating, Mrs Casella said. In media interviews the Casellas try to preempt negative reactions they had come to expect.
People say that they wouldnt get genetic testing because they would love their child no matter what. That cuts like a knife. "We love Mackenzie ... we would never say Mackenzie shouldn't be here, but we can separate Mackenzie from SMA. Mackenzie's Mission is named after Mackenzie Casella. The seven months and eleven days we had with her were the best of my life and I would live them over and over again, but I wouldnt make her relive the five days in hospital [before she died].
Many people can understand a constant aching kind of grief, but few can comprehend the agony in the detail. Loading People dont think about the last time we put her down and left her in the morgue and had to walk away, or when we picked up her urn. No one should have to go through that, she said. Mrs Casella has panic attacks when she hears ambulance sirens, remembering when the ambulance came for her daughter. She finds moments of escapism in celebrity gossip magazines and reality TV, but never for long.
I see how much money these celebrities spend on cars or luxuries and I think of how many funerals for children that could have paid for. I hate that my head goes there, she said. In August the Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recently updated their prenatal screening guidelines to recommend carrier screening for the more common genetic conditions (cystic fibrosis, SMA and fragile X syndrome) be offered to all women planning a pregnancy or in the first trimester. [Women] wanting more information about carrier screening should be given the opportunity to have a more detailed discussion about carrier screening with an informed clinician. The benefits and limitations of testing, and any associated costs should be discussed, the updated guidelines read. Mrs Casella knows Mackenzies Mission has caused some people with genetic conditions to feel vulnerable or unwanted.
Critics have called the project an exercise in eugenics and designer babies. Loading I hate the idea that our daughters legacy would ever make anyone feel bad," Mrs Casella said. She stressed the trial would be limited to testing for lethal, very severe genetic conditions. Its not about Australia eradicating genetic conditions, its about stopping this pain and suffering, she said.
Its 7.30 on a Wednesday morning and I am sitting in a business class lounge at Sydney airport, one of a select group of writers about to embark on a whirlwind trip to Perth to experience a fabulously indulgent introduction to one of the worlds most luxurious face creams: La Prairies remastered Skin Caviar Luxe Cream.
I am no novice when it comes to caviar; let me say now that I love it, but usually taken by mouth. Having recently returned from a Scandinavian cruise where nightly doses were almost de rigueur, my passion for sturgeon eggs has only been heightened.
La Prairie's new Skin Caviar Luxe Cream.
If it does for my skin what it does for my taste buds, I am in for a treat.
Arriving at the luxurious Crown Perth, a hotel, resort and casino located near the city centre, I am almost instantly ushered into the spa, with its sumptuous aqua-coloured rooms and special La Prairie treatments. For the next 90 minutes, my face is gently cleansed and a light peel applied. This is followed by a massage with warmed rocks while my therapist applies the exotic ingredients contained in La Prairies Caviar Luxe range.
"I hate to use 'cultural moment,' " says Lo. "But all my peers are searching for this, when they wouldn't have cared 10 years ago." There's no one kind of shaman For most of us, "shaman" may evoke images of head-dresses and trippy nights in the forests of South America. But there's no one kind of shaman. The word itself is said to hail from Siberia, and shamans have existed in many forms around the world for centuries: in Korean cultures, they're called mudang; in Yoruba, babalawo; among the Bedouins, fugara. What they have in common, says Susan Mokelke, president of the 35-year-old Foundation for Shamanic Studies in Mill Valley, California, is an ability to converse with spirits. "Shamans alter their state of consciousness," she says. Whether they do that with mind-bending drugs or with a steady beat of a drum, they aim to journey mentally into the depths of another realm. "They acknowledge there are two realities."
Her foundation, started by anthropologist Michael Harner, promotes an amalgam of shamanism from Harner's studies around the world, says his widow, Sandra Harner. "It's acultural," Harner says. "It was important that we weren't stealing anybody's spiritual property." But the shamans of this resurrected New Age have broadened their services. In Miami, the spa at the Faena Hotel enlisted a Mexican shaman to oversee its "healing" treatments, which aren't exactly massages so much as spiritual greasings-up (starting at $US300), complete with "sacred Oils, butters, resins, healing stones and poultices," according to the menu. In the eco-chic Mexican vacation destination of Tulum, shamans lead sweat lodges known as temazcals, drawing seekers nursing broken hearts or stressed-out minds. You can find shamanic drumming playlists on Spotify. For some seekers, the allure of shamanism can be slightly more illicit: some shamans, including Demange, offer ayahuasca, one of the buzziest drugs of the year and a potent ceremonial psychedelic that turns shamanic journeys, into, well, full-on trips. Some shamans don't even call themselves shamans - Hanekamp doesn't, for example - but for many it's part of their marketing. A new generation of self-care devotees is taking up crystals, singing bowls, Mayan sweat lodges and more. Credit:Shutterstock
Colleen McCann is a former fashion stylist who now offers a full array of shamanic services - crystals, sage-burning, energy-channelling - for a client base of music executives, admen, fashionistas, Wall Street titans and staffers for the lifestyle empire known as Goop (she's its in-house shaman and crystals expert). One of her specific market niches: scrubbing bad energies from their wardrobes. It all started one night a decade ago, she says, when she was trying to get a 2am sandwich at a New York bodega. She was struck by a clairvoyant vision - a voice, really, that warned her of a fight that was about to occur over the price of the bananas. What followed was a long string of coincidences, strange encounters and psychic consultations, somehow culminating in her enrolment in shaman school. Speaking during a break at her own shamanic workshop in Nashville, McCann compared herself to social-media trendsetters, who can sway followers' purchases, clothing choices and more. "People say, 'You don't look like a shaman.' Which I take as a huge compliment actually, because we're seeing healers diversify and go into different spaces than they normally would." Her spin just happens to be one part Old World, and one part Instagram. The trend of 'intentional' wellness
Dana Robinson, an Easton, Maryland-based teaching associate with the foundation, has been a seeker since his college days in Washington, in the 1960s. He dabbled with meditation and the Rajneesh movement (the same one chronicled in the Netflix series Wild Wild Country). Then he found shamanic traditions. Now, over the course of two-day workshops, he shows students how to journey to those worlds, too - one of which he describes to me as something like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole. We decide to try to see whether I can journey. Robinson lays out some rules of engagement for entering this otherworldly place, telling me to try to find a hole or staircase in my mind, something familiar, and follow it to what he calls the "lower world". He beats a drum to help me mentally check out of this one. Shamans say most people can journey. But the rabbit hole eludes me. Though they were seekers in the '70s and '80s, Robinson and others from the foundation do not immediately rejoice at the news of a youthful new wave of shamans, whom they view with cautious skepticism. "People who do this work don't make guarantees," says Mokelke. "They're humble."
After all, Hanekamp has dubbed her New York business Mama Medicine. McCann "prescribes" crystals to her clients. Still, she clarifies that seeing a shaman should not replace a visit to a doctor. "East and West medicines, old and new, both have a place and should play together," she says. "It's so important to try everything." Heather Mikesell, executive editor of the trade magazine American Spa, did. She ventured into a temazcal on a recent trip to a Mexican resort, where soul cleansing is listed on spa menus alongside massages and facials. The memory is hazy, naturally. "You're just sweating in there," she says, in the dark, with a bunch of strangers and a shaman, who posed just one question to contemplate: what did she want? The question was probably existential. But "it was intense," she says, laughing. "You're in there for like an hour, and you reach a certain point where you're like, I just need air." This year, American Spa listed "intentional" wellness and crystals as two of its biggest trends. "We're so tethered to technology, all this plays into that," explains Mikesell. "I think people really love rituals. I think we're going to look for other ways to feel 'in' our bodies. People want their chakras aligned."
On a main road in Hawthorn there are two magnificent heritage church buildings. I wondered why one is the headquarters of a highly active Catholic parish while the other has become a beautifully refurbished office building which has just been sold to a Chinese investor.
Is this a sign that people don't find churchgoing valuable these days and so some churches are unnecessary?
"Part of the reason is, of course, demographics," says the priest of the Catholic church, Fr Des Dwyer. "When these churches were built people used to walk to their local church while now they drive to a church of their choice or just don't go near a church."
And why do the people in your parish go to church? "People are spiritual beings when they ignore their spirituality they often find there's a lack of meaning in their lives. This explains a lot of the depression, anxiety and suicides in our population," says Fr. Des.
When you walk into the Hawthorn church you feel a wonderful sense of community. You're immediately welcomed at the door by the priest before you even sit down.
There's been an extreme start to the allergy season in Canberra with several days of high-pollen levels recorded, and experts are warning there could be more to come.
According to data from air monitoring app AirRater, Canberra saw more than 10 days straight of extreme pollen levels since September 19.
Ruben Williams and Daniel Ivanoff enjoying rolling down the hills at Reconciliation Place. Grass pollen levels are expected to increase in coming weeks. Credit:Elesa Kurtz
A high-pollen day is classed as 100 grains of pollen in a cubic metre of air. During the 10-day period, five of those days recorded a pollen count of more than 600 and two had a count of more than 1000.
The highest pollen count recorded in Canberra during the 2017 season was 287.
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- With approximately 900 guests looking on, Ingalls Shipbuilding hosted christening ceremonies for the guided missile destroyer Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) Saturday morning.
The Petersen is the 71st in the Arleigh Burke-class of destroyers, the 33rd built by Ingalls.
DDG 121 honors Frank Emmanuel Petersen Jr., who was the Marine Corps' first African-American aviator and the service's first African-American general. After entering the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in 1950, Petersen would go on to fly more than 350 combat missions throughout the Korean and Vietnam wars.
"We're here to honor a great American, a great ship and a great shipyard as well," said former U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Alfred Gray, the keynote speaker. "Frank is the person who really gave all of the people that you've met here today their inspiration to go forward, to be tough about everything, to be disciplined and to never forget that above all, you're a Marine warrior.
"It is that kind of spirit and that kind of belief that we honor today by naming this great ship Frank E. Petersen Jr."
"We are here to christen this ship to the life and service of a true pioneer in the Navy and Marine Corps, Frank Petersen," said current Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller. "The USS Petersen is now a reality, and it is a ship that will be in service to our nation for decades to come."
Alicia Petersen, widow of the ship's namesake, and D'Arcy Neller, wife of Gen. Neller, served a the ship's co-sponsors. Together, Petersen and Neller officially christened the ship by successfully breaking two bottles of sparkling wine across its bow. Petersen spoke on behalf of both sponsors at today's ceremony.
"Our family has been in Pascagoula for about two days now, and the love and friendship that we have felt from everyone has been so contagious," Petersen said. "We believe that you are our family now and feel so happy that Frank's ship is here in your home being built under the wonderful leadership of Ingalls. Ingalls not only does great work, but they take great pride in its ownership."
Over the course of 30 years, Ingalls has built and delivered 30 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The shipyard currently has five DDGs under construction, including Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), the first Flight III ship, which started fabrication in May. Ingalls was recently awarded a $5.1 billion multi-year procurement contract to build six more destroyers.
"All Ingalls ships are built for men and women like General Petersen with one goal in mind: to protect the brave Americans who defend our freedom, and Frank E. Petersen Jr., the ship, will be no exception," said Ingalls president Brian Cuccias. "Today, alongside our Navy partners, the leadership of the great State of Mississippi, of Jackson County and of the City of Pascagoula, we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in modernizing our facilities.
"Combine that with a hot production line and our talented and experienced shipbuilders, and we are uniquely positioned to provide our country with the highest quality, most capable destroyers in the world. Simply stated, Ingalls builds the finest warships the world has ever known--right here in Pascagoula, Mississippi."
Mountain bikers have hand-built a new trail at Stromlo Forest Park as they look to kick-start a return to the venue's glory days as a "mountain bike Mecca", while the ACT government has announced funding for a new mountain bike trail network.
After The Canberra Times reported on mountain bikers' concerns that Stromlo had fallen off the radar as a world-class facility after hosting world championship events a decade ago, volunteers were given approval last month to build a "raw and natural" trail under the guidance of track development specialists Makin Trax.
Stromlo Forest Park manager Jeff van Aalst, Canberra Off-Road Cyclists vice president Darren Stewart with mountain biker and volunteer trail builder Ryan Walsch at Three Amigos, a new trail. Credit:Elesa Kurtz
The new trail, Three Amigos, is about 750 metres long and made its debut in the 2018 National Enduro Cup.
Josh Kentwell, who helped build the trail, said the feedback from riders at the National Enduro Cup was overwhelmingly positive.
The concerns expressed by The Canberra Times ("Molonglo corridor development must be managed carefully", October 4) are timely and require the government to reconsider its development objectives. As well as concerns about individual projects such as the Zapari development, there is an urgent need to improve the co-ordination of development.
The government needs to explain why Whitlam, north of the river, was prioritised ahead of land adjacent to the main commercial centre proposed for the district, south of the river.
The decision fragments development and delays the provision of major commercial facilities. Whitlam residents by necessity will shop at centres in northern Canberra, a trade that will be difficult to recapture. If Molonglo is to be a coherent development, the major bridge connection linking north and south Molonglo needs to be expedited.
Development in Molonglo and throughout Canberra is rarely high-quality, affordable and/or sustainable. The review of the ACT planning strategy provides an opportunity to place development on a sound footing.
Essential to the review are a detailed analysis of issues and an accompanying infrastructure plan indicating when, where and why development is to occur. A competent review will give the government credibility and hopefully avoid the repeat of decisions such as light rail and the un-co-ordinated acquisition of rural leases.
Multiple Australian charities have had their registrations revoked following recent compliance investigations by the national watchdog.
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission stripped the charity status from 22 organisations in the most recent financial year, new data shows.
22 charities were stripped of their registration by the ACNC last financial year. Credit:Kitty Hill
The number of charities that were revoked after investigations in 2017-18 made up one-third of all charities that have lost registration following compliance audits since the commission began in December 2012.
A spokeswoman for the commission said 108 investigations into charities were carried out in the last financial year.
A former midwife who was ordered to pay $6.6 million to the family of a boy delivered in a botched home birth has been convicted of sending money to New Zealand instead of giving it to the child's family.
Akal Kaur Khalsa, 73, filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after the NSW Supreme Court ordered her to pay damages for negligence over the October 2006 birth, during which the boy sustained brain damage from a lack of oxygen.
Akal Kaur Khalsa filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $6.6 million by the Supreme Court.
The boy subsequently developed quadriplegic cerebral palsy, epilepsy and an intellectual disability and will require a full-time carer for the rest of his life. A court estimate put the cost of his care at $6,140 per week when he is an adult.
In a 2013 judgment, Justice Peter Garling found Khalsa who initially defended the Supreme Court case before withdrawing had been negligent in both recommending and carrying out the home birth.
A man has died after police were called to a fourth Sydney stabbing in 24 hours.
Police say three youths are in custody after a man was found seriously wounded at the Parramatta Station bus interchange on Fitzwilliam Street about 5am.
The 20-year-old victim was taken to Westmead Hospital in cardiac arrest, where he later died.
The trio aged 16, 17 and 19 were arrested at nearby Hassall Street, and have been taken to Parramatta Police Station where they are assisting with inquiries.
No charges have yet been laid.
NSW Minister for Racing Paul Toole has backed his government's decision to order advertising of The Everest horse race on the Sydney Opera House sails, but he's distanced the move from heavy-handed lobbying by 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones amid intense criticism.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore is among the high profile stakeholders to put the NSW government on blast, describing the move as "blatant commercialisation" and encouraging the public to write to the Premier to "voice their disgust".
An image from the Racing NSW submission to the Opera House.
Mr Toole told Fairfax Media he fully supports the Premier's decision and insisted Alan Jones had little if anything to do with it.
"There was a lot of work done behind the scenes before Alan Jones became involved and I fully support the Premier on this," he said. "Alan Jones and Ray Hadley do not make decisions for this government. Theyve called for many heads to be rolled over the years but were still here delivering for the people of this state."
Listen, I hate to be unparliamentary about this, but who the HELL does Alan Jones think he is? His bullying bluster of an "interview" with Opera House boss Louise Herron on Friday morning had to be heard to be believed. It included threatening to call the Premier to have Herron sacked because she declined to have the sails of the Opera House "used as a billboard" to promote a horse race. How she kept her calm reserve, I will never know, as it would have been quite beyond me. But more power to her, and even by Jones' low standards that interview set a post-war record for appalling.
An image from the Racing NSW submission to the Opera House.
Sharma on the right side of issue
The idea was simple, put out by my brother James, and so, endorsed by social media, it needs a wider airing here: Why not build a monument by Bondi Beach, to the Greats of Australian Climate Change Denialism, so future generations can honour their legacy in whatever fashion is deemed appropriate? One of the twitterati suggested it could be part of Sculpture by the Sea. Tony Abbott and Alan Jones could take pride of place of course, with Andrew Bolt in the eaves and perhaps Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly throwing petals. Last week Kelly told a meeting of the Mosman Liberals and I am not making this up: The climate was always dangerous. We didn't make it dangerous, [and] it's fossil fuels that protect us from that climate. Senator Jim Molan, in the audience, thought the speech absolutely fabulous.
Great. His name can go on the monument too. These are the souls who did everything they could to stop action on climate change. These are the one who made sure we were spared the trouble of cleaning up the planet.
Local flavours, good vibes and a mission to break the stereotype of a Gordon Ramsay kitchen is on the cards for the new director of culinary at Howard Smith Wharves.
Originally from Scotland, David Finlayson is set to make the precinct Brisbane's go-to food hub after his success in the Melbourne and Sydney food scene in the past six years.
Mr Finlayson will oversee the food and beverage offerings for Felons Brewing Co, the Overwater Bar, Howards Hall and Rivershed events, and an upcoming restaurant and wine bar.
The operations mastermind behind Melbourne and Sydneys Chin Chin restaurants said he would deliver a product of the highest standard in the precinct.
A man and woman have been assaulted and robbed in a Brisbane home by two men who turned up to buy electronic items.
Police say the men went to the Calamvale house at about 7.45pm on Saturday to buy a mobile phone and laptop, but once inside they assaulted the male occupant, age 27.
The woman, 28, locked herself in an upstairs bathroom but one of the assailants broke down the door and threatened her with a gun.
Police said the two men tried to steal a number of items in the house before fleeing.
AAP
The gloomy weather has not stopped swimmers and surfers from testing the waters despite more patchy rain and thunderstorms predicted for the rest of the weekend.
Surf Life Saving Queensland teams have performed multiple rescues on the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, including saving a surfer who crashed into rocks at Dicky Beach.
Meanwhile, North Stradbroke Island's Main Beach was forced to close due to dangerous surf conditions.
Joe Skryzinski, who oversaw the NSW government's rapprochement with Utzon in 2002, said the move is inconsistent with the 2007 World Heritage status of the Sydney Opera House. "The policy has been to be sparing in the use of the sails, they are not a billboard for hire ... it has been lit up for cultural and community events which are consistent with the activities that occur at the Sydney Opera House. It's not about being elite, it is about appropriate usage. What next? A horse steeplechase around the Sydney Opera House to promote horse racing," Mr Stryzinski said. Peter Hall was an outstanding sportsman who in 1948 batted at No.5 in the first 11 cricket team for Cranbrook School, where he was a boarder and House Prefect. He also captained Sydney Universitys first-grade cricket team. Peter Hall who took over from Jorn Utzon as lead architect for the Sydney Opera House. Credit:Ronald Leslie "My father was a fine sportsman, but for him, sport was something else above sponsorship I think like me he wouldn't have even been comfortable with [Cricket Australia] projecting an image of the cup that holds the Ashes after Australia's wins this year," Willy Hall said.
"I think he would have liked creativity around Vivid but I think we need to be careful about accepting advertising of any sort on the Opera House, it is not a good thing. Former Sydney Opera House chairman Joe Skryzinski. Credit:Anna Kucera "I can't believe both Gladys Berejikian and Opposition Leader Luke Foley think it is OK to advertise this horse race on the Opera House, if that is all we have to choose from we better look for someone else as political leaders." Asked about the treatment of Ms Herron as chief executive, Mr Hall said he was "really cranky about it". "I feel Louise Herron has been bullied by Alan Jones and the NSW government to promote the Everest," he said. "I completely back Louise, and I think all of Australia does too."
Former Opera House director Michael Lynch has hit out at the board, saying it had dematerialised on the issue when it should have mounted a public defence of the building and its chief executive. On Facebook, the horse-racing enthusiast had called on people to save the Opera House from the barbarians and boycott The Everest race. I havent seen many defenders [of the promotion plans] apart from some lily-livered politicians from both sides of politics, he said. Once it is used in this way, its the beginning of utter abuse. Gladys Berejiklian has instructed the Sydney Opera House to allow its sails to be lit up with colours, numbers and a trophy to promote next Saturdays Everest horse race. Credit:AAP 'My father would have been sickened ... he would not have condoned advertising. Willy Hall, son of Peter Hall
Richard Evans, the chief executive before Ms Herron, wrote on Facebook "hard fought, clear positions, erode over time", above a link to a Herald editorial opposing "cheap ads" on the Opera House. Writing from London, former Art Gallery of NSW director Edmund Capon said he was "absolutely appalled" by the "vulgar commercialism" of the plans. "I feel deeply for Louise Herron and support her 110 per cent in trying to resist this disgusting and base conduct," Mr Capon said. Grassroots backlash A Change.org petition to "defend our Opera House - support Louise Herron" had nearly 20,000 signatures by Saturday night.
A protest group called "Defend Sydney Opera House" has already been established, and called on people to gather around Bennelong Point on Tuesday night in a light-based protest and counter-projection event, in order to disrupt the promotion by Racing NSW on the eve of the biggest horse race in the Sydney calendar. Loading The group says it is against "the use of the Sails for advertising purposes - they are reserved for art." Other groups are calling on racegoers to boycott the Everest event next Saturday, which is on the eve of the world premiere on October 14 of a Danish documentary about Utzon at the Sydney Opera House. The screening, expected to be attended by members of the Utzon family, marks the beginning of the 45th anniversary celebrations of the opening of Australia's most famous building on October 20. Peter V'landys, chief executive of Racing NSW, said opposition to the promotion was hypocritical considering past uses and that no one boycotting the Everest would have ever come to a horse race anyway. Asked whether he thought Jones had behaved in a bullying way toward Ms Herron in the interview, Mr V'Landys said chief executives had to expect tough questions.
Pulling six Gs while travelling at speeds of more than 600 kilometres an hour in an aeroplane surrounded by five others less than three metres apart.
That's something Jay Tuffley does most weekends.
The Roulettes performing over Canberra.
When he was seven years old, the Royal Australian Air Force acrobatics team visited an air base near Mr Tuffley's hometown in Western Australia. That experience inspired him, but he never dreamed he'd be squadron leader.
"To think by one day I'd be leading the Roulettes, by no means did I stretch my imagination that far," he said.
Barry Howlett, executive director of the Australian Deer Association Credit:Paul Jeffers
Victoria's feral deer population estimate has soared past more than one million, triggering government plans to unlock more of the Alpine National Park to hunters of a species described as "giant-hoofed cane toads".
Deer numbers have exploded in Victoria since the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires and the animals are increasingly invading Melbournes suburban fringe, causing car crashes and environmental damage in national parks including the Grampians and Wilsons Promontory.
Four outer eastern suburbs councils wrote to Premier Daniel Andrews on Friday, pleading for government help and cash to tackle a problem they argued was hurting agricultural businesses, reducing biodiversity and putting lives at risk.
The letter, from the Manningham Council and Yarra Ranges, Cardinia and Nillumbik shires, says deer should be officially classified as a pest species, a move the Labor government has resisted.
Abortion clinic staff fear going back to the dark ages as anti-abortionists challenge in the High Court the Victorian and Tasmanian laws that banished religious protesters from outside their workplaces
Kathleen Clubb, a mother of thirteen who was the first person to be convicted under those laws, is asking the High Court to consider if the legislation infringes on political free speech.
For decades, self-described "sidewalk counsellors" were a fixture outside centres across the state, until they were finally exiled in 2016 with the introduction of safe access zone laws that obliged protesters to stay at least 150 metres away.
Pro-life protesters outside the Fertility Control Centre in East Melbourne in 2015, before the safe zones were introduced. Credit:Penny Stephens
After Ms Clubb was arrested by police in 2016 when she was caught approaching a couple outside the East Melbourne Fertility Control Clinic, she reportedly said: I dont intend to leave. I believe I have the right to offer my help to women.
An elderly woman who stole nearly $500,000 from her former employer claims she did so in order to make anonymous donations to charity in the hope "a miracle cure" would be found for her injured daughter.
Sharolyn Burton, 66, was jailed for three years when she appeared before Magistrate Michael Antrum in the Queanbeyan Local Court on Tuesday.
Burton, formerly of Sutton, will be eligible for parole on January 1, 2020.
Police facts tendered in court say Burton was a long-serving employee at Queanbeyan firm Advance Detail Joinery, having started there in 1985. She was responsible for book keeping, administration and reception duties.
In December 2012, one of the company owners discovered accounting discrepancies and raised them with Burton, who was subsequently sacked.
Craig Kelly, the Member for Hughes, has twice travelled to Azerbaijan, courtesy of the Azerbaijani taxpayer, to inspect their electoral system.
He has declared it admirable, according to the Azerbaijan media, who reportedly quoted him as saying he had witnessed a coherent, democratic process and an election organisation that surpassed Australias experience.
Praise for Azerbaijan: Member for Hughes, Craig Kelly. Credit:AAP
Kellys opinion on the integrity of Azerbaijani democracy is delightfully idiosyncratic - it is a country where the President took over from his own dad in 2003, appointed his wife Vice-President, extended his own term in an extra-electoral sleight of hand and was this year re-elected with 86 per cent of the vote.
It is the only country to have its electoral commission accidentally release the results of an election the day before voting opened.
So why does May want to keep Britain close to the EU when the country voted to leave, partly so it could go out and strike its own trade deals, and when it pits her against her own party's wishes? The answer is the island of Ireland. A delegate reads a pro-Brexit document during the Conservative Party annual conference in Birmingham. Credit:Bloomberg "The UK decision to leave the EU, which we respect, nonetheless has the capacity, if not properly managed to disturb the delicate and complex balance of the Belfast Good Friday agreement and disrupt the progress that has been made in Northern Ireland over recent years," Ireland's ambassador to Britain, Adrian O'Neill, told a reception. Central to the Good Friday peace agreement is the promise that there be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the republic. To prevent customs checks after Brexit, when the border of Ireland would be the end of the EU and Northern Ireland the start of the United Kingdom, May wants to keep the EU rules in line so goods can be freely traded back and forth.
If any sort of hard border were created, the fragile peace process could be jeopardised and create the conditions for a renewed push for reunification of the island, something the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland vehemently opposes. May depends upon the DUP to prop up her minority government. Any such nationalist instability could encourage Scotland, which voted Remain, to call for a second independence referendum so it could remain in the EU. But Brexiteers say there is another way. Loading They are seizing on an alternative plan drawn up by the influential trade expert Shanker Singham at the Institute of Economic Affairs, who has been an adviser to Johnson and Trade Secretary Liam Fox. The plan proposes using trusted trader schemes, technology and imposing checks only for meat and veterinary goods between Ireland and the North. "[Michel] Barnier has expressly recognised that the type of mitigations we suggest work to protect the integrity of the EU single market because he has suggested the same ones for the GB-NI border," says Singham. (Barnier is the EUs chief Brexit negotiator.)
"In the event of no deal the UK can simply choose not to put physical infrastructure on the border and no WTO member will challenge this, as it is related to the peace process. The EU would have to do the same and if they did not, they would have to justify to the Irish why they are imposing it." But May's deputy, David Lidington, says kicking the can to Europe is not a good enough solution. "It is simply not good enough to say from London that we're not going to do anything on the border, that it's up to Dublin and to Brussels to decide what they want to do on their side. "As she said at Mansion House, we took the decision to leave that causes problems, challenges for the maintenance of that seamless border, therefore we have a responsibility ... to find an answer." While key ministers such as Liz Truss, Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove, another of the Vote Leave figureheads, refrained from criticising May's proposal, there is a widespread expectation that now the conference is over, they will.
That would leave May, who dug in with her plan in her major speech and warned a purist Brexit could result in a no-deal Brexit, stranded and at the mercy of an increasingly rancorous party membership. Loading In a mood reminiscent of the backlash against former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard's "No Carbon Tax" pledge, Brexit supporters at a packed out "Leave means Leave" rally called on Rees-Mogg to "sack the woman" and repeatedly booed the PM, asking how May - who pitched for the leadership on a promise that "Brexit means Brexit" - could be trusted. Rees-Mogg, who insists he wants to change only the policy and not the leader, pushed back, perhaps drawing a lesson from Australia's experience. "The Tory party often thinks that the easiest solution is to change the leader, and actually changing the leader usually causes more problems then it solves," he said. But for Johnson, May's weakness is his opportunity. The guaranteed crowd-pleaser attended just one event during the four-day conference and it was the show-stopper.
"Boris offers this positive hope that we all feel, that's what we want in a leader and that's why people are queuing for two hours to see him," says 48-year-old Lisa Parker from Rugby. Lisa Parker, 48 from Rugby, says Boris Johnson is a "patriot". Credit:Latika Bourke But even she is cautious about change. "I want to see a leader who believes in Britain so if May ditches Chequers, she acknowledges it is deeply flawed, then she would have my support." Alison Joley, a town councillor, also in the queue, said Johnson was too "volatile" to be leader. "He's a little bit like Marmite, you love him or you hate him." Johnson's speech, full of his characteristic verbosity, set out a way to fight Labour leader Jermey Corbyn's socialism and laid into May's Brexit plan as a "cheat". It went down a treat.
But it's not clear from the membership whether they want to elevate and formalise Johnson's circus act or whether they just enjoy a good outing to see the ringmaster perform. Ian Livermore, a lifelong Conservative voter,described the speech as "superb". "But I also respect Jacob Rees-Mogg who is quite clear that Theresa May should change the policy rather than change the leader. So I wouldn't just get rid of Theresa May because I feel she's a very genuine person in her own right," he says. Ian Livermore, left, from south Gloucestershire and Michael Edwards, from Hastings, say Boris Johnson should be leader. Credit:Latika Bourke "But I do feel that what Boris was saying about a clear-cut Brexit ... really does resonate with me." Michael Edwards, a member for 40 years, from east Sussex, says Johnson would "undoubtedly" be the better leader. "He's a highly intellectual man and he at times can behave a bit humorously, a bit too much a buffoon, but beneath that there is a serious political figure of substance.
"We can only win under Boris, we have no chance, Theresa May will not get the chance to fight another election," he said. Former deputy prime minister and May ally Damian Green told Fairfax Media the week was a turning point for the former foreign secretary and the Prime Minister. "There were two separate changes in mood, Boris needed to add substance to his well-known capacity to entertain, and didnt," Green says. "Theresa needed to show both self-confidence and some domestic policy ideas, and did." But there is no doubt that May's immediate future hinges upon the next two weeks and whether she caves into her party's demands for a cleaner cut from Europe. "Talks are now going on with Europe about Chequers 2.0; the next two weeks are crucial," says Green.
Perrior expects May will budge. "I expect there to be movement on both sides over the next few weeks." There is widespread acknowledgement that, short of a catastrophe over Brexit in coming weeks, May's leadership will face a serious threat after Brexit occurs on March 29. Until then, working in May's favour are a strong "anyone but Boris" sentiment among MPs and a growing respect for her personal strength, even by those who want her to change course on Brexit. Lifelong party member Louise Hyams from London sums it up. "She's a gutsy lady, she hasn't got the charisma of somebody like Boris, but that doesn't mean she isn't tough and has the ability to get us through. "She has shown massive resilience when you think about all the knocks she gets, they're rude about her ... she's isolated, she's treated very badly.
Vatican City: Pope Francis has ordered a "thorough study" of all documents in Vatican offices concerning disgraced former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, in the Holy See's first response to accusations raised against the pontiff in the case.
In a document released in August, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the Vatican's former ambassador to the United States, said the pope knew for years about sexual misconduct by McCarrick with adult male seminarians but did nothing about it.
Pope Francis reaches out to hug Cardinal Archbishop emeritus Theodore McCarrick in 2015. Credit:Washington Post
McCarrick in July became the first cardinal in living memory to resign from his position in the Church leadership after a separate review concluded that claims he had sexually abused a 16-year-old boy were credible.
In a statement on Saturday, the Vatican said the McCarrick investigation may reveal "that choices were taken that would not be consonant with a contemporary approach to such issues".
He dedicated his prize to "women of all countries bruised by conflict and facing everyday violence." In a statement, Murad congratulated Mukwege and said she was "incredibly honored and humbled''. She said she shared the award "with Yazidis, Iraqis, Kurds, other persecuted minorities and all of the countless victims of sexual violence around the world." Using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State, she added: "I think of my mother, who was murdered by Daesh, the children with whom I grew up, and what we must do to honour them. Persecution of minorities must end." Nobel Peace Prize recipients Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad. Credit:AP Born and raised in the village of Kojo in northern Iraq, Murad, along with her family, was at the centre of the Islamic State's campaign of ethnic cleansing. Kojo, on the southern flank of Mount Sinjar, was one of the first Yazidi villages to be overrun by the Islamic State, which launched its attack from the south on August 3, 2014.
Residents were herded into Kojo's only school, where women and girls were separated from the men. The male captives, including six of Murad's brothers, were loaded into trucks, driven to a field outside the town and executed. The women and girls were forced into buses. Murad was taken to a slave market, where she was sold to an Islamic State judge. While the wives of Islamic State members were ordered to wear full-covering face veils and gloves, Murad was forced to wear makeup and suggestive dresses with spaghetti straps. At night, the militant forced himself upon her, viciously beating her if she dared to close her eyes during the assault, she recounted. He warned her that even worse things would happen if she tried to escape. When he caught her jumping out of a window, he ordered her to undress. Then he sent in his bodyguards, who took turns raping her until she passed out. "At some point, there was rape and nothing else. This becomes your normal day," Murad wrote in her autobiography, The Last Girl. "You don't know who will open the door next to attack you, just that it will happen and that tomorrow might be worse." But she eventually escaped.
For years afterward, she refused to wear makeup. She embarked on a worldwide campaign, speaking before the UN Security Council, the US House of Representatives, the House of Commons in Britain and other global bodies. Whereas other Yazidi survivors testified before the same bodies with a blanket covering them so that TV cameras would not capture their images, Murad broke with the norms of her honor-based society and insisted on showing her face. In Yazidi villages in her former homeland, she has become an icon. Many carry her image on their phones, and posters of Murad adorn telephone poles. Murad has said that she was exhausted by having to repeatedly speak out, but she said she knew that other Yazidi women were being raped back home: "I will go back to my life when women in captivity go back to their lives, when my community has a place, when I see people accountable for their crimes." In Congo, the injuries that Mukwege has treated are ghastly: women who have had assault rifles stuck inside them; others pierced with chunks of wood; some victims collapsing on the hospital steps with deep rope burns on their necks from where they had been lashed to trees. Mukwege has also treated 2-year-olds and women in their 70s.
"It's not a women question; it's a humanity question, and men have to take responsibility to end it," Mukwege once said in an interview. "It's not an Africa problem. In Bosnia, Syria, Liberia, Colombia, you have the same thing." In 2012, Mukwege delivered a fiery speech at the United Nations, upbraiding the Congolese government and other nations for not doing enough to stop what he called "an unjust war that has used violence against women and rape as a strategy of war." His advocacy nearly cost him his life. Shortly after the speech, when he returned to Congo, four armed men crept into his compound in Bukavu. They took his children hostage and waited for him to return from work. In the hail of bullets that followed, his guard was killed, but Mukwege threw himself on the ground and somehow survived. He spent more than two months in exile but decided that he had to return. "To treat women for the first time, second time, and now I'm treating the children born after rape," Mukwege said. "This is not acceptable." When he returned, he received a hero's welcome. Banners flew across town with messages like "Welcome our Superman." To the people in the crowd, Mukwege urged hope and forgiveness.
A Justice Kavanaugh will almost surely create a significantly more conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Credit:AP
Washington: Republicans and Democrats sharply disagreed on whether Judge Brett Kavanaugh should join the Supreme Court, but across party lines, most agreed on what his appointment means.
A Justice Kavanaugh will almost surely create a significantly more conservative majority on the Supreme Court and shift the law to the right on a wide front - from abortion and affirmative action to 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 on 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 Roberts, 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. The chief justice's desire to avoid abrupt change could affect how quickly the court moves, but probably not its direction.
Chicago: Jason Van Dyke, a white Chicago police officer, was found guilty of second-degree murder on Friday, nearly four years after he shot and killed Laquan McDonald, a black 17-year-old holding a knife.
The violent encounter sparked intense demonstrations across the city after authorities released a video in 2015 showing Van Dyke firing 16 shots into McDonald, which led to a sprawling federal investigation and pushed some top officials out their jobs. The closely watched trial highlighted the fraught relationship between this city's police force and its residents, particularly people of colour, as well as questions about how officers use deadly force.
Van Dyke, 40, also was found guilty on 16 charges of aggravated battery with a firearm, one for each shot fired at McDonald. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the second-degree murder conviction. Each count of aggravated battery with a firearm carries a sentence of between six and 30 years. Van Dyke is scheduled to appear in court on October 31 for sentencing.
Celebrations outside the court after a jury convicts police officer Jason Van Dyke. Credit:AP
The officer testified that he feared for his life as he approached McDonald, who was walking erratically down a street on the city's Southwest Side with a small knife in October 2014. An autopsy found that the teenager had PCP in his system at the time.
Predictably, partisans cannot agree when this trend started or who is to blame. Conservatives blame the divisive Roe v Wade ruling in 1973 and the rejection of nominee Robert Bork in 1987. Liberals will point to the arbitrary 2000 decision in Bush v Gore, which handed the presidency to the Republican nominee. Suffice to say, there is plenty of blame to go around.
It is almost impossible to remember a time when Supreme Court nominees could expect confirmation by unanimous or near-unanimous acclaim. Antonin Scalia was approved by a 98-to-0 vote in 1986. Imagine that. In more recent years, the partisan divide has translated into bitter confirmation battles. The Senate did not even grant a hearing to President Barack Obama's nominee to replace Scalia, Merrick Garland, and it approved Neil Gorsuch, who faced not a single allegation of sexual impropriety, with 45 no votes.
Washington: The swing votes in the Senate on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation - Republican Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Democrate Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota), Republican Jeff Flake (Arizona), Republican Susan Collins (Maine) and Democrate Joe Manchin (West Virginia) - know they cannot satisfy the true believers. However they voted, they would be denounced by zealots on the other side. But they are the heroes of the hour - the only senators who take their duties of "advice and consent" as seriously as the Founders intended.
The result is to make the Supreme Court as divided along partisan (or, perhaps more accurately, tribal) lines as the country at large. Almost all of the 5-to-4 decisions of the last term featured a predictable constellation of "Republican" justices voting against "Democratic" justices. Given the intensive ideological screening of nominees now routine on both sides, it is almost impossible to imagine a Republican-appointed justice such as David Souter establishing a liberal voting record, or a Democratic-appointed justice like Byron White establishing a conservative record.
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More's the pity. Because, if the Supreme Court is seen as a legislative, not a judicial, body, then it will fall as far in public esteem as Congress has already done. President Donald Trump made a revealing slip in 2016 when he referred to judges signing "bills". If they are merely legislators in black robes, then their decisions will not command the respect that the court needs to function.
Sadly, the confirmation of Kavanaugh is likely to accelerate the court's slide into dysfunction and disrepute. If the judge is genuinely innocent - and it is true that the accusations made by Christine Blasey Ford are uncorroborated, if credible - then I can understand his anger at being falsely accused. But he went too far in raining partisan fire and fury on Democrats, trafficking in conspiracy theories by claiming his ordeal was payback for the impeachment of Bill Clinton and the inauguration of Donald Trump, and seemingly threatening revenge ("what goes around comes around") on his tormentors.
Even Kavanaugh recognised that he erred. What other Supreme Court nominee has ever felt compelled to write an op-ed assuring the country, "I am an independent, impartial judge"? But like a president proclaiming "I am not a crook," a judge proclaiming "I am not a partisan" sends another message altogether. All the more so given that this article appeared in the conservative opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal. This, after Kavanaugh had granted an interview to the even more right-wing Fox News, further casts his objectivity and judgment into doubt.
~Civil Servant and PSS Director are being victimized.~
PHILIPSBURG: --- Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin is looking into acquiring a financial injection from Bureau of Telecommunications and Post (BTP) a government-owned company that has their own financial challenges.
The CEO of BTP Anthony Carty attended the soft opening on Wednesday at the former Census and Receivers office that now houses the Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS). While the small gathering with about 30 persons seems promising the future of PSS has a dark cloud hanging over its head.
SMN News learned that the Prime Minister gave instructions to the Supervisory Board to seek the possibility of a financial injection from BTP and also to start the recruitment process of hiring a turn-around manager for PSS who will replace the current manager Antonia Wilson.
It should be noted that BTP has its own financial burdens and struggles and taking monies from one government owned company to sustain another is not a desirable option as BTP is facing its own challenges even in the legal realm.
With regards of the hiring of a turn around manager, one has to wonder if PSS would ever be able to carry the additional costs and moreover one has to question what will happen to Antonia Wilson who served PSS for almost 40 years with a career in Postal Services which began in Saba.
During the soft opening on Wednesday Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin reassured management and staff of PSS that their jobs are guaranteed and that she will assist in reassigning the staff in various post, however, her instructions given to the Supervisory Board is clearly aimed at demoting them from their current position.
It must be noted that the coalition partners are not in agreement with the approach of the Prime Minister in revamping PSS, as it pertains to laying off of staff and approaching a government NV for a financial injection.
Another decision the Prime Minister took was not to reappoint Marisha Richardson in the function of acting head of Personnel Affairs. A function she fulfilled prior to her tenure in the cabinet of the former Minister of VROMI Christopher Emmanuel. The position of acting head of the department became available when Christel Larmonie moved to the Netherlands. SMN News learned that Romeo Marlin was against the reappointment of Richardson to the post and she appointed Erno Labega to that position.
The coalition members of the UD and SMCP continues to state that Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin is acting as if she was one of the biggest vote getters during the February 2018 snap elections, when she only obtained 111 votes, because of the way she is running the country without consulting with them.
NEW YORK Find your nearest interplanetary gateway! The acclaimed anime series "Cowboy Bebop" is celebrating its 20th anniversary in style at New York Comic-Con.
On Thursday (Oct. 4), four creators of the original Japanese "Cowboy Bebop" and two of the show's American voice-over actors gathered at the Jacob Javits Center here to answer questions about the legacy of the futuristic, neo-noir space drama. Sunrise Studios developed the classic anime series that first aired in Japan in 1998, directed by Shinichiro Watanabe.
Set in 2071, "Cowboy Bebop"'s 26 episodes and full-length movie use jazz music, impressive technical design and haunting dialogue to tell the stories of the bounty-hunting crew aboard the spaceship Bebop. In this vision of the future, most humans have moved off Earth and live across the solar system, including on Venus and Jupiter's moons. Hyperspeed gateways act as cosmic highways to bring people back and forth across great distances, and this addition makes the timelines in "Cowboy Bebop" more believable. For instance, our neighbor Mars is, in reality, about a six-month journey from Earth for modern spacecraft, and that's when both are at their closest points to each other but in the show they can get there much more quickly. [New York Comic-Con 2018: Space Panels to Watch For]
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The American and Japanese panelists repeatedly paid compliments to their international counterparts. Each attributed part of their deep connection with the show to those across the ocean.
Steve Blum is the English voice actor for the show's lead character, Spike Spiegel. When asked about the success of the show, Blum said, "there was nothing like 'Cowboy Bebop' at the time" in the United States.
"It seemed to be a great crossover show because it had so many elements from all over the world that people could connect to," Blum added. In the same vein, scriptwriter Dai Soto complimented fellow series writer Keiko Nobumoto for sticking up for her visions of keeping diverse demographics for the characters in the series. Soto said that having this event in New York was especially meaningful because he sees it as a diverse city.
Nobumoto said "Cowboy Bebop"'s success in the United States makes some sense and might be the completion of one big, strange loop. Nobumoto said she grew up watching American shows like "Bewitched" and "Sesame Street," and incorporated some of those elements into her writing.
In the episode "Wild Horses," a space shuttle flight plays a dramatic role. Kimitoshi Yamane a mechanical designer on the show, said on Thursday that a fellow creator and "Star Trek" fan wanted to name the shuttle Enterprise. Yamane said Enterprise would have been OK as the name, but audiences who know a lot about spaceflight would remember that the real shuttle Enterprise rode on top of a jumbo jet and had no engines. Columbia was the name designers ultimately chose for the shuttle; the episode aired in 1999, years before the Columbia shuttle disaster that killed all seven crew members in 2003.
Unsho Ishizuka, the Japanese voice actor for character Jet Black, died earlier this year. "Thank you, Jet!" Nobumoto said midway through the panel as they answered questions about a series revival. Jet Black is a character born on Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moons.
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At the start of the event, the panel moderator announced special "Cowboy Bebop" 20th anniversary merchandise. In the series, Spike steered a spacecraft called the Swordfish II. Representatives from Funimation Productions, the American distributor of the series, debuted a new 1/48 model of this red vehicle moments before Thursday's panel discussion began. They highlighted the Exclusive Collector's Edition, which has sold out.
You can order an Amazon.com exclusive edition of "Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series" here.
Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter@salazar_elin. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Astrophotographer Sean Parker captured this composite view of the amazing Draconid meteor shower of 2015 during his night sky workshop in Tucson, Arizona. The 2018 Draconid meteor shower peaks overnight on Oct. 8 and 9.
If you're a meteor shower fan, mark Monday evening (Oct. 8) on your calendar, particularly if you live in the mid-Atlantic or northeast United States, as well as the Maritime provinces of eastern Canada. On that night, the Earth will pass through the irregular and surprised-filled Draconid meteor stream.
The annual Draconid meteor shower occurs every year around Oct. 8 when the Earth passes through a stream of dust from the periodic comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, which from here on well refer to as Comet G-Z. so named because the meteors appear to emanate from the constellation of Draco, the Dragon.
If you live anywhere else across the rest of North America, the predicted peak of this meteor shower will occur during the afternoon, so by nightfall youll be looking for any possible lingering stragglers of the display if there are any to be seen at all. [Draconid Meteor Shower 2018 Guide: When and How to See It]
The best known meteor display in October is the Orionid meter shower, which peaks around Oct. 21 and is one of the most reliable of the annual displays. This year, however, the Draconid shower is the wild card. Typically, little or nothing in terms of Draconid meteors is seen most years, but the Draconids have a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality.
Notable meteor activity seems to occur when the Earth passes just inside Comet G-Z's orbit shortly after the comet itself has gone by. In 1933 and 1946 skywatchers were dazzled with astounding meteor storms that produced thousands of meteors per hour. In those years Earth crossed through particularly dense filaments of dusty debris that the comet had shed on previous fly-bys around the sun. The Draconids havent put on that kind of performance since, though rates reached into the hundreds per hour in 1985, 1998 and most recently in 2011.
When and where to watch
The annual Draconids Meteor Shower will peak overnight on the night of Monday, October 8. This shower, generated by debris dropped by Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, usually delivers relatively few meteors. But it has occasionally been much more prolific. The best time to watch for Draconids will be after dusk, when the radiant in Draco is high in the northern sky. (Image credit: Starry Night software)
As I mentioned above, the evening of Monday, Oct. 8, is the time to be watching this year. New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces seem positioned to have the best chance. [How to See the Best Meteor Showers of 2018]
Unlike most meteor showers, the Draconids are at their best in the evening rather than after midnight. Their radiant (apparent point of origin die to perspective) in the constellation Draco is high in the northwestern sky when darkness falls; it moves lower throughout the night and is near the horizon by dawn.
Begin watching the sky overhead as soon as it gets dark. No special equipment is needed just an open view of the sky, a reclining lawn chair or blanket on the ground, a watch, and a note pad or tape recorder to keep count of any Draconids seen.
The shower's radiant is close to the lozenge-shaped head of Draco, the Dragon. A shower member is a meteor whose path, if traced backward far enough, would appear to come from this spot. The meteors themselves can appear anywhere in the sky.
Eastern New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada are the places to be for watching whether the Draconids provide any significant meteor activity just after local sunset on Monday evening. Based on a consensus of reputable meteor experts, the shower's peak is predicted for about 23:50 Universal Time (7:50 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time). This map shows the areas that will be in night, astronomical twilight ("Late twilight"), and brighter twilight at that time. However, the time prediction could be off by as much as 20 minutes or so, and some of the meteors may be bright enough to show through a lot of twilight. Observers somewhat west of the prime area could have a chance to spot meteors. (Image credit: Joe Rao, Space.com)
Draconid meteors appear to come at us from the north, almost perpendicularly to the plane of the solar system; the north pole of the ecliptic (in effect, the north pole of the solar system) lies in Draco. The meteors appear to move slowly, their entry speed of 12 miles per second (20 km/s), being among the slowest of any meteor shower.
Notes British meteor astronomer Alastair McBeath: "Poets among us might like to think of these as the 'Dragon's Tears' or as its fiery breath."
Stormy times in 2018?
This plot shows where meteoroids have been thickest around 21P/Comet Giacobini-Zinner, as revealed by Earth getting a shower when it plunged through the comet's orbital plane. The horizontal scale tells the number of days by which meteoroids lag behind the parent comet (+) or run ahead of it (-). The vertical axis is the distance in astronomical units that the particles are outside the comet's orbit (-) or inside it (+). One astronomical unit is equal to 92.9 million miles (149.5 million km). Our pass through the orbital plane in 2018 lies midway between the 1946 meteor storm and the 1985 outburst. (Image credit: Sky & Telescope Magazine)
In October of 1998, I wrote a feature article for Sky & Telescope magazine about the Draconid meteor shower and using data kindly provided by Donald K. Yeomans, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the time, created a diagram which depicted where meteoroids had apparently been thickest around Comet G-Z.
The distance between the two orbits at the nodal crossing point is plotted vertically, and the time when Earth crosses this point ahead of, or behind the comet is plotted horizontally. Eighteen past encounters are plotted. The major showers of 1933, 1946, 1985 and 1998 are shown as starbursts, lesser showers as dots, and years of low or zero reported activity as open circles.
Looking 20 years into the future, I placed a question mark for where Earth would be in 2018 relative to the node of the comet, since the orbital geometry between the two seemed roughly midway between the meteor storm of 1946 (3,000-6,000 per hour) and the strong meteor outburst of 1985 (600-800 per hour) At the time I had a good feeling that 2018 would bring another memorable Draconid shower.
But that sanguine outlook would soon change.
"Poking a hole" in a possible meteor storm
Each Draconid meteoroid follows its own slightly different orbit. Jeremie Vaubaillion modeled the orbits of swarms shed by 21P/Comet Giacobini-Zinner during each of its passes by the sun in 1946, 1953 and 1959. Earth's progress is marked 0:00 UT from October 7 to October 13 (European style of Day/Month is used . . . so "8/10 = October 8). Earth is forecast to pass through a "gap" or hole in the thickly clustered channel of dusty comet debris just before 0:00 UT on October 9, presumably avoiding a potential storm of meteoroids. The GAIA spacecraft, however, is apparently directly in the path of the meteoroid cloud to the right of the Earth's path. (Image credit: Jeremie Vaubaillion IMCCE)
A dense, concentrated meteoroid stream like the Draconids has a complex structure, which years ago was always maddeningly hard to map because we couldnt see it. Twenty years ago, the best we could do was to try forecasting meteor activity by determining when the Earth passed through the orbital plane of Comet G-Z and hope for the best. [Amazing Photos of the Draconid Meteor Shower]
But today, astronomers using computer simulations routinely calculate the locations in space of individual dust trails and have been able to successfully predict the intensity and arrival of the peak of a variety of meteor showers to within an hour, sometimes even to within minutes.
Unfortunately, when meteor experts used their state-of-the-art computer simulations to look ahead to the 2018 Draconids, there was bad news.
What they found was a large "gap" that had seemingly been opened within a channel of a closely bunched group of meteor trails from 1946 through 1959. The Earth is forecast to move through that gap on Monday evening and, for the most part, miss out (by several hundred thousand miles) on a thick cloud of dusty material that might otherwise produce a stupendous storm of meteors.
Interestingly, the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft that launched in December of 2013 to make precise measurements on the positions and distances of stars is located approximately 930,000 miles (1.5 million km) from Earth, and is right smack in the predicted path of the dense cloud of comet debris.
Canadian astronomer Peter Brown told Space.com: "ESA will reorient their spacecraft to minimize the chance of Draconid impacts, though we hope they see something they are one of the most sensitive platforms ever put in orbit for detecting small meteoroid impacts by nature of their mission."
The pundits chime in
Despite Earth likely missing out on a full-blown meteor storm, several forecasts from reputable meteor pundits worldwide suggest that there still could be some modest, albeit short-lived (1- or-2-hour) Draconid activity spike appearing soon after dark for parts of eastern North America on Monday evening.
Brown, who with his wife Margaret Campbell-Brown edits the meteor section of the annual publication "Observer's Handbook" of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC, 2017), predicts a peak at 7:51 p.m. EDT (2351 GMT) with meteor activity not exceeding a few tens of meteors per hour.
Astronomer Mikiya Sato of Japan has found an approach of the Earth to the comet's 1953 dust trail. This trail was slightly disturbed when it approached the Earth in 1985. Consequently, the dust should be spread somewhat, but could still produce recognizable rates in the range of 2050 meteors per centered on 8:14 p.m. EDT (0014 Oct. 9 GMT).
Astronomer Jeremie Vaubaillon of France noted a possible maximum at 7:31 p.m. EDT (2331 GMT) with an hourly rate of about 15 meteors.
A forecast model by Russia's Mikhail Maslov found several dust trails, but none of them close enough to cause high rates in 2018. The closest was the 1953 trail which has been rarified due to previous Earth encounters. Even so, he suggests 1015 meteors per may occur at 7:34 p.m. EDT (2334 GMT).
Will the Dragon flame in 2018?
I think it should be stressed that with the Draconids there is always a chance of a surprise. There are uncertainties in the precise locations of dust trails shed by Comet G-Z that are large enough to sometimes confound attempts to model the shower accurately. Because the Draconid meteoroid stream's orbit extends toward Jupiter, that planet's gravity may have jostled the stream about, hindering accurate predictions for future showers.
In October of 2012 for instance, observers in Eastern Europe were surprised by a brief outburst of dozens of bright meteors, while Canadian radar picked up on thousands of radar echoes caused by interaction of Earth with a trail of dust shed by Comet G-Z in 1966. The experts did not think anything noteworthy would happen, but they were wrong.
So on Monday, without sacrificing any sleep, you'll have a chance to see if another surprise is in the offing. So what do you have to lose? It may rise above your expectations or you may be disappointed.
Admittedly, it doesn't look very good, however, anything can happen. That's just the nature of the October Draconids; you never quite know.
Editor's note: If you capture an amazing photo of video of the Draconid meteor shower of 2018 and would like to share it with Space.com for a story or slideshow, send comments and images in to spacephotos@spcae.com!
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for Verizon FiOS1 News in New Yorks Lower Hudson Valley. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
New York (United States), October 5, 2018 (SPS) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked the Security Council Wednesday to "extend for one year the mandate" of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), in support of the resumption of political negotiations early December in Geneva, Switzerland.
The UN chief calls the Security Council to extend the mandate of MINURSO to 31 October 2019, so that his envoy gets the required time and space to create the appropriate conditions for the political process to move forward.
Guterres urged the parties to the conflict to sit around the table of negotiations in good faith and without preconditions, on December 5-6 in Switzerland, as invited by UN envoy Horst Kohler.
The invitations sent to the parties to the conflict and to the two observers, Algeria and Mauritania, are in line with Security Council Resolution 2414, which shows UN's support to direct negotiations without preconditions. (SPS)
062/SPS/APS
BRIDGEPORT This week American Airlines announced weekly, non-stop commercial passenger service from Tweed New Haven Airport to the plane operators second-largest hub, Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.
The next 18 months will help determine if Bridgeport-owned, Stratford-based Igor Sikorsky Memorial Airport could ever celebrate similar aeronautic big news. The city is drafting a new master plan for Sikorsky the first since the mid-1990s.
Whether or not we bring back scheduled commercial service, thats something that definitely would be looked at, said Michelle Muoio, who just celebrated her one year anniversary as airport manager. Its a very comprehensive study that looks at the physical, business opportunities and the financial, with public involvement (from) tenants and (the) local community.
The master planning process, funded largely by the Federal Aviation Administration, also marks a change in how Mayor Joe Ganims two-and-a-half year old administration has approached Sikorsky. While campaigning in 2015, Ganim floated the idea of a selling Sikorsky and getting it off of financially challenged Bridgeports books. The airport has a $500,000 operating deficit.
As of now were moving forward with the assumption the city will continue to own and operate the airport, said Dan Roach, a mayoral aide. Roach had been working over the last few years to get the Connecticut Airport Authority, which operates several state-owned airports, including Bradley International in Windsor Locks, to buy Sikorsky.
We did run into some issues with identifying funds that the state would use to compensate us for the airport, Roach said.
He said a deal with the state is not off the table but acknowledged the Ganim administration is more open to keeping Sikorsky: Theres some potential there that we werent fully aware of a couple years ago.
Specifically, Roach said, Ive been approached by two different groups in the aviation business expressing interest in a long-term lease. He and Muoio declined to provide additional details.
But, Muoio emphasized, Nobody is going to build new airports any time soon, so just in general airports are an asset.
While it has been decades since Sikorsky hosted commercial passenger service, and, in fact, the old passenger terminal was torn down, the airport is frequently used for corporate and charter flights.
The short runways are still a hurdle when it comes to luring back commercial passenger airlines. But Muoio and Roach said the master plan will determine whether technological advances open up Sikorsky to new possibilities.
Thats a big piece of the study -- forecast and demand analysis, Muoio said. What type of operators are out there, who is interested and compare that with what you can actually support at the airport.
Air traffic control
The master plan effort also includes an updated study of noise and noise management at Sikorsky. That is important given the topic of increased airplane traffic has not, historically, been popular with some residents of the nearby Lordship section of Stratford.
When youre talking about technology, a big word is quieter, Roach said. If were looking to move forward with more operations out of the airport, its not going to mean its a noisier airport.
The FAA recently provided $450,000 for the master plan and $170,435 for the noise study. Bridgeport is chipping in $53,632, and the airport $51,822 out of its budget.
Roach admitted the next challenge will be funding any recommended improvements to runways or other infrastructure: We are trying to avoid using any city money and are in the process of attempting to acquire government and other funds.
Sikorsky could have a friend in gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont. The Democrat, in response to Tuesdays news about American Airlines and Tweed, Tweeted: Rebuilding and expanding ... transportation infrastructure will be a top priority in my administration. Airports, roads, and rail put the connect in Connecticut, attracting jobs and expanding opportunities for all.
David Faile, president of the Friends of Sikorsky Airport, hopes to be involved in the master plan. He agreed with the premise that aeronautic advancements have compensated for the facilitys shortcomings: The corporate aircraft flying in and out are bigger than weve ever had, quieter than weve ever had and use less runway.
But, Faile said, commercial passenger flights will need a terminal and he is not sure where that would be rebuilt: As soon as you have an airline service you have the Transportation Security Administration and all the security requirements.
Stratford Mayor Laura Hoydick, who took office in December, has a seat on the Sikorsky Airport Commission mainly dominated by members from Bridgeport. She noted how Stratford receives property taxes from development at the facility and the airports proximity to the vacant army engine plant next door that her town hopes to revitalize.
The airport is an asset to the region and state, in my opinion, Hoydick said. But, she added, when it comes to changes at the airport, We would have to have all the facts and presentations so the community at large can be involved in the discussion.
Muoio said a goal of the master planning process is ensuring how we can be as best a neighbor as we possibly can be.
Traffic at some of the states general aviation airports including Danbury and Sikorsky has fallen at least 30 percent during the last decade as fewer planes take off or come in for a landing.
Industry officials attribute the decline, which picked up after the 2008 recession, to the rising costs of owning a plane and obtaining a pilots license.
Most general aviation airports in the country have experienced a downturn, said Kevin Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority. Since the recession people havent had the discretionary dollars to purchase an airplane or to pay for the time thats needed to get your license.
As airports are seeing flight declines ranging from 30 to more than 50 percent, they are looking at ways to specialize their air fields and attract more business.
Unlike commercial airports that offered scheduled flights, general aviation airports dont have regularly scheduled passenger service and cater to local businesses and aviation enthusiasts.
While Danbury Municipal Airport was the busiest general aviation airport in the state last year and one of the busiest in New England with 49,083 operations in 2017, thats down from 73,609 in 2007. Operations are defined as the number of planes leaving and arriving at an airport, with each arrival and departure counting as a separate operation.
Both Tweed New Haven International Airport, which does carry commercial services, and Hartford-Brainard Airport have seen operations decline by more than 50 percent during the same time period.
Commercial airports have also seen a decline, in part, Dillon said, because they also provide services to the general aviation community and because commercial operators have been moving to larger aircraft that carry more passengers.
While operations are down at Bradley International Airport, for example, the number of passengers has increased over the past five years.
Sky-high cost
While fewer flights overhead might be comforting news to neighbors near the airports, its a growing concern of industry and government officials.
Several airports in the state, including Sikorsky Memorial Airport and the Connecticut Airport Authority, which operates five airports including Waterbury-Oxford, had annual deficits in the millions of dollars.
One of the problems is that the cost of aviation fuel has gone up exponentially in the past decade, said Wayne Toher, president of Reliant Air, a charter service based at Danbury Municipal Airport. It used to cost not much more than car gas at one time and there are a lot more regulations than ever before.
The price of aviation gasoline has nearly doubled during the past decade alone. The fuel hovered around $2.50 per gallon in 2007 while prices are now about $5.35 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Aviation gas cost as little as $1 per gallon in the 1990s.
The amount of flying time required to obtain a pilots license more than 60 hours is also a consuming effort, said Michael Safranek, assistant administrator of Danburys city-owned airport.
Aircrafts are evolving and people have to learn a lot more than they used to, he said. If someone wants to get their private pilots license, it can cost more than $20,000, and thats a big endeavor financially. Of course, planes that used to cost $20,000 about 30 years ago now cost more than $200,000.
Safranek said the Danbury airport saw the most operations in excess of 130,000 annually during the 1970s and 1980s.
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Upgrades
At Waterbury-Oxford Airport, officials recently completed a $32 million upgrade to the runway and several businesses at the field have also invested in their facilities with new hangers and other amenities.
At Waterbury-Oxford we are targeting corporate growth, due in part to its proximity to New York, Dillon said.
And while city officials in Bridgeport considered selling Sikorsky, they now intend to keep the airport, which runs an annual deficit of about $500,000. The CAA runs an annual deficit of around $4 million.
The city is drafting a new master plan for Sikorsky.
Whether or not we bring back scheduled commercial service, thats something that definitely would be looked at, said Michelle Muoio, who just celebrated her one-year anniversary as airport manager.
David Faile, who chairs Friends of Sikorsky Airport (FOSA), said that things arent quite as bleak as they might seem.
I know that the traffic counts have been down and there was a recession in 2008 and some planes left the airport, he said. Its still a very, very viable business tool and its increasing like mad for the business community.
Faile added there arent as many young pilots learning to fly as in years past. FOSA promotes the airport as an economic engine for the region.
Toher said their charter services in Danbury have been growing but they turn down charter requests due to not having an available flight crew. The industry is experiencing a dearth of qualified pilots.
Our operations are up but we could do more if we could find more pilots, he said.
Expansion potential
Linda Silvestri, who owns two businesses at the airport, including Danbury Aviation, said a longer runway would attract more business from airports such as Westchester County Airport. A plane that could cost as much as $9,000 a month to store at the Westchester airport would cost about $5,000 in Danbury, Safranek said.
During the past decade, Silvestri said the only major airport investment by the city she recalls was the purchase of a new snow plow truck, and for tree removal on adjacent parcels to make the aircraft approaches safer.
Oxford, which has been attracting more business flights, has a a runway thats nearly 6,000 feet, while Danburys longest is about 4,500 feet.
Mayor Mark Boughton agrees that a longer runway would make the airport more popular, but its not something he said is in the cards right now.
But unlike most airports, Danbury is self-sufficient and actually provides a surplus to the city of around $100,000 a year. Money that some local business owners say could be reinvested into the facility.
When deciding about whether to renovate schools or the citys sewage treatment plant, it really comes down to priorities, Boughton said. I agree that a longer runway would increase the viability of the airport, but its also a very expensive and controversial project.
Some at the airport note that recommendations from an airport task force convened five years ago by Boughton have yet to be followed up. Those recommendations included making more city-owned property at the airport available for lease, which would provide more revenue for city coffers and more regional marketing of the airport.
Considering the number of jobs available in aviation, the airport also could be used to train residents for new careers, said James Cordes, chairman for the task force.
Its not just about training pilots, but also about engineering and aircraft mechanics, he said. Many of the kids entering these professions can come out of school making more than $60,000 a year.
dperrefort@newstimes.com
Ongoing talks with North Korea have raised the possibility of a future with far less tension on the Korean Peninsula - even, possibly, a declaration of the end of the Korean War.
But that should not change the long-standing military relationship that cements the U.S.-South Korea relationship, a delegation of South Korean officials who visited Washington this week argued.
"Even after reunification of the Korean Peninsula takes place I believe there will be a need for the continued presence of U.S. forces in Korea, because we also have to concern ourselves with Russia and China," said Hoon Sul, a representative in South Korea's National Assembly.
Hoon was part of a six-person delegation led by Choo Mi-ae, former leader of the governing Democratic Party and a key ally of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
In a group interview Wednesday, Choo said that the lawmakers had come to Washington in a bid to explain Seoul's position to their counterparts in Congress.
"The Korean Peninsula and the U.S. continent are physically quite far apart and, as such, there are times when we are not sure what the other are doing," Choo said. "The choices that are facing us are quite critical in order for us to have a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula."
The visit came just days before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was due to return to Pyongyang to try to kick-start denuclearization talks with North Korea.
One key topic of discussion during Pompeo's trip may be whether the United States will agree to a declaration that the Korean War is officially over. During an interview with The Washington Post last week, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said that such a declaration could be made in return for North Korea permanently dismantling its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.
"I think that's a huge step forward for denuclearization," Kang said.
Speaking on Wednesday, Choo summed up the South Korean policy as "no war, no nukes and no gap" - the last part referring to no gap in expectations between South Korea and the United States. She said that the U.S. lawmakers she had met had expressed skepticism that North Korea is sincere about its willingness to give up nuclear weapons
"We have to create a situation where they have to follow through. That's what we have to do, that's what politics is: We have to make the impossible possible," Choo said, adding that one possibility might be that legislators from both South Korea and the United States could head to North Korea to observe the destruction of Yongbyon and other facilities.
An end-of-the-war declaration was a logical step, she said, as Trump had agreed to end hostilities with North Korea when meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12: "What does it mean when someone says I will end hostilities with you? That means the end of war."
The Korean War halted with a truce in 1953, but a formal peace treaty was never signed. North Korea has demanded a peace treaty in a number of recent propaganda missives; the U.S. president has suggested at points that he considers the end of the war a possibility.
However, many in Washington - both inside and outside the administration - are skeptical about such a move. One particular concern is that an end-of-war declaration (and beyond that, a subsequent peace treaty) could be used by North Korea and China to demand the removal of the 28,500 U.S. forces stationed in South Korea.
Recent polls of the American public have found strong support for keeping at least some of these troops in South Korea - even if North Korea denuclearizes. But the situation is complicated by Trump's own criticism of the U.S. military presence in South Korea. Trump has said that he would be willing to withdraw troops from the Korean Peninsula if Seoul did not pay more for their upkeep.
U.S. military bases are also controversial within South Korea, with many on the left, including supporters of Moon, have pondering the withdrawal of troops. In April, Blue House foreign policy adviser Moon Chung-in wrote it would "be difficult to justify [U.S. troops'] continuing presence in South Korea" if a peace treaty were signed.
Following the collapse of the previous right-wing Park Gyun-hye administration under the weight of numerous scandals, South Korea's conservative politicians - typically the most pro-American force in the country - are in crisis, with little influence in politics at the national level.
Choo said that despite this, it was the position of President Moon and his liberal predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, that U.S. troops should remain on the peninsula.
"As long as the U.S. remains the keeper of global peace, we want to have U.S. forces in South Korea," she said.
"If you were to look at Korean history, because we are a peninsula country we are surrounded by some very strong powers. To us, the U.S. has been - for the most part - our friend," Hoon said, adding that U.S. influence had saved the life of Kim Dae-jung a number of times. "If it weren't for the Americans, I think we might be under communist rule now."
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted against advancing the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to a full vote in the Senate, while Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin backed it -- a sign that the final outcome will come down to a slim margin given the intense pressure on lawmakers of both parties.
Murkowski and Manchin both broke with their parties in Friday's 51-49 vote on Kavanaugh, who's nomination by President Donald Trump has become emblematic of the nation's deep political divide.
"In my view he's not the best man for the court at this time," Murkowski told reporters after her vote. "This has truly been the most difficult evaluation of a decision that I have ever had to make."
Alaska's Murkowski has supported abortion rights, and officials in the state have raised concerns about Kavanaugh's views on tribal rights, an important issue in her state. Alaska's governor and lieutenant governor, both of whom are running for re-election as independents, had announced their opposition to Kavanaugh.
The Alaskan has staked her political career on being attentive to local concerns and interests. In 2010 she won her Senate re-election race as a write-in candidate, a rarity, after she was defeated in the Republican primary by a conservative Tea Party candidate.
While Murkowski won't have to run for Senate again until 2022, Manchin is up for re-election Nov. 6 in West Virginia, a state Trump won by a wide margin. Manchin has remained popular in the state in part by cultivating an image of independence. The few polls of West Virginia voters ahead of next month's vote have shown him with a significant lead over Republican Patrick Morrisey, the state's attorney general.
Another Democrat facing a tough re-election battle in a Trump state, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, announced Thursday she'd vote against Kavanaugh. Her opponent, Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer, accused her of deciding to "vote with Chuck Schumer, and not the people of North Dakota." Schumer is the Senate Democratic leader. Two polls taken in the state last month showed Cramer with a comfortable lead.
The other four Democrats in toss-up re-election contests -- Florida's Bill Nelson, Missouri's Claire McCaskill, Indiana's Joe Donnelly and Montana's Jon Tester -- also voted against advancing Kavanaugh.
Two other closely watched senators, Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine, voted to advance Kavanaugh's nomination. However, a vote to advance doesn't bind a senator to vote in favor of confirmation.
Collins said she'll announce her decision on whether to vote to confirm Kavanaugh later on Friday. Flake, who's retiring from the Senate at the end of the current term, hasn't publicly announced whether he'll back the confirmation when it comes to a vote on Saturday.
As the Senate roll call proceeded on Friday, Murkowski knew the outcome wasn't in doubt by the time it came to her. She looked down for a while, closed her eyes, then looked up and seemed to have resolved any doubt on how she would vote. She then stood up, and softly said "no."
Kavanaugh's nomination was destined to come in the middle of an election year partisan fight, but the intensity accelerated after a California college professor accused him of sexually assaulting her when they both were in high school. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the charge, as well as accusations of sexual misconduct by two other women.
Both parties have reported a surge in donation and voter interest since the accusations against Kavanaugh became public just weeks before midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. While Democrats are in good position to take the House majority from Republicans, the party has a more difficult path in the Senate.
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Bloomberg's Laura Litvan and Steven T. Dennis contributed.
The following editorial appears on Bloomberg Opinion:
Brazilians understand that their economy is in trouble: A remarkable 85 percent say their country is on the wrong track, and fewer than one in five express confidence in the government. Sadly, this weekend's election offers little prospect of relief. Despairing voters have embraced extreme choices. The reforms the country needs will require consensus, and the controversial top presidential contenders seem unlikely to achieve it.
Brazilians have reason to be dissatisfied. The still-unfolding Carwash scandal has ensnared top politicians and business executives. With nearly 64,000 homicides last year, crime and violence and their associated costs are rising to record levels. Brazil is struggling to recover from its worst recession, which caused the economy to contract by more than 8 percent in 2015-16 and pulled millions of newly minted members of Brazil's middle class back into poverty since mid-2014. Unemployment remains at more than 12 percent. Rising debt has left the government little room to maneuver.
Consider the two leading presidential candidates. Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former Army captain, leads the polls. He has extolled Brazil's former military dictatorship, threatened to reject election results unless he wins (although he subsequently walked that back), promised draconian measures on crime and cuts in government, and generally trampled progressive sensibilities.
His nearest rival, former Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad, is the standard-bearer for the left-wing Workers' Party, selected by former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva because his own conviction for corruption kept him from running. Haddad champions the interventionist economic policies that caused Brazil's collapse - but Workers' Party stalwarts seek revenge for Lula's conviction.
What Brazil's economy needs is not firebrand populism of right or left, but pragmatic reforms and political cooperation. Yet centrists among the other 11 candidates have struggled to gain traction.
Nowhere is the need for change more obvious than in Brazil's pension system, a driver of the country's mounting fiscal stress. Brazil's budget deficit now hovers at 8 percent of gross domestic product, three points greater than the Latin American average. Public-sector debt reached 74 percent of GDP in 2017. The country's credit rating has slumped, adding to its already high borrowing costs.
Pensions, at a cost of 12 percent of GDP and rising, are a big part of the problem. They're unusually and unaffordably generous. There's no minimum retirement age, and benefits far outstrip those of Brazil's neighbors and more developed nations. The system is also deeply regressive, helping rich retirees more than the poor. And demography is not on its side: Its pay-as-you-go design is already in the red, and Brazil's population of those aged 65 years or older will more than triple by 2050.
The right to retirement benefits was written into Brazil's constitution, so pension reform requires a two-thirds vote in its legislature. A mostly sensible fix pitched by outgoing President Michel Temer couldn't clear that hurdle. It's doubtful that Bolsonaro, who comes from a small party, or Haddad, who comes from one that's freighted with heavy baggage, can succeed where Temer failed: Both acknowledge the need for reform, but neither has spelled out how it could or should be done.
Pension reform is especially urgent, but Brazil also has many other problems - economic and non-economic - to confront. Even where solutions don't face constitutional obstacles, they typically do demand the ability to strike compromises, which means building bridges between contending factions. This weekend's vote will probably lead to a run-off between two candidates notably ill-suited to that task. Brazil needs a revival of the pragmatic center. It looks unlikely to get it.
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Editorials are written by the Bloomberg View editorial board.
Commuting during the week is draining. This means trekking into the city on a weekend is pretty much out of the question. But, on those rare weekends where I have a spring in my step, it's the promise of a circuit around some of Londons finest menswear stores that tempts me out of my own small corner of London.
Ive been writing about mens fashion for the last four years and during this time Ive learnt what works for me. I like to invest more in less. Ill ignore trends where possible and focus on clothes that leave me feeling good, comfortable and confident.
The below isn't a list of shops in close proximity to Oxford Circus (read: ARKET, Uniqlo and Cos), instead I'm sharing a few of my favourite menswear independents that you might not have heard about.
Shopping selectively has helped me to invest wisely and get to know more about the brands I like to wear. We can all shop online and have our long card number memorised, but nothing tops a good store experience and understanding what goes into the clothes we end up buying.
Here are the menswear shops I find myself going back to again and again...
Oliver Spencer
First up is one of my absolute favourites. British designer Oliver Spencer started on the market stalls of Portobello, before becoming one of our most well known names in fashion. With a few stores dotted across London, my favourite is the newly revamped Berwick Street store in Soho. Easy to get to with some strong food options via the market on the street for before/during/after you step foot in Oliver Spencer.
Address: 81 Berwick Street, Soho
Universal Works
Just down the road from Oliver Spencer is Universal Works. Ive had the opportunity to go and visit them in their offices up in Nottingham and theyve got a very good thing going on. Currently on my wish list is a heavyweight cardigan from their new AW18 collection. Universal Works is perfect for those who like to keep their style understated, yet finished with such quality itll carry you for years to come.
Address: 26 Berwick Street, Soho
Goodhood
Few come close to Goodhoods offering. With homeware on the ground floor and menswear in the basement, youll be in for a treat. Open since 2007, its your one-stop shop for everything you need for your home and wardrobe. Personal favourites from their menswear line up include: YMC, Common Projects and Nicholas Daley.
Address: 151 Curtain Rd, Hoxton
Studio Nicholson
Im a creature of a habit. Once I find brands and pieces that work for me, I very rarely branch out. Yet once in a while a brand like Studio Nicholson will come along and make me rethink everything. The brand is incredibly popular in Japan with ballooning shapes and silhouettes you definitely will not find on the high street. Head to the newly opened store and see if it works for you.
Address: 7 Calvert Avenue, Hoxton
Folk
Im writing this soon after leaving a Folk jacket on a plane, so a trip to the Redchurch Street store is justified, right? The brand hones in on details that most overlook and places equal importance on every aspect of design, from the colour of the item to the material of the button.
Address: 45 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch
Albam Clothing
Along with Universal Works, Albam Clothing is another British brand to come from Nottingham. Albam sits just behind Carnaby Street and its customer base can be anyone from 16 to 60. I enjoy how simple they keep things; nothing too out there or too lavish, just menswear thats produced to a high standard using factories both in Britain and overseas. Product comes first here.
Address: 23 Beak Street, Soho
Kestin Hare
Bookending my menswear round up is Scottish brand Kestin Hare. Though I recommend everyone take a trip to their flagship in Leith just outside of Edinburgh for those closer to London, their Rivington Street store is on hand. Relatively new (started in 2014), youll see that the brand likes to put fabrics on silhouettes you wouldnt expect. Think cord on overcoats and mid layers in Italian nylon.
A hero Londoner has told of the moment he rescued a 91-year-old captain of industry who was shoved onto Tube tracks in a random attack.
Waiter Riyad El Hussani, 24, saved Sir Robert Malpas seconds before a train approached after the former Eurotunnel boss was shoved onto the tracks by a man with paranoid schizophrenia.
Paul Crossley, 46, was found guilty yesterday of attempted murder. Footage of the horrifying incident drew gasps from the public gallery as it was played in the Old Bailey yesterday for the first time.
Mr El Hussani rushed to the aid of Sir Robert, who suffered cuts and a fractured pelvis in the fall.
After Crossley was found guilty, Mr El Hussani said: "As soon as I noticed the man on the tracks I knew I had to act fast as I could hear the train coming.
"I did not decide to jump onto the tracks. It was just instinct. There was no time to think about it."
He told MailOnline: "His face was covered in blood and it was also coming out of his mouth.
The moment Sir Robert was shoved onto the tracks
"It took around thirty seconds before I was able to stand him up.
"By this point there were plenty of people on the platform offering help and we quickly managed to get him off the tracks.
Crossley also attempted to shove another man onto the Tube tracks, but he resisted
"Once we got him onto the platform someone handed me a towel and we used that to soak up the blood.
"It was around three or four minutes before help came."
Lucky escape: Sir Robert Malpas was pulled off the tracks / UPPA Ltd.
He added that he had been thanked personally by Sir Robert.
"We have sent each other a number of emails now and Sir Robert has thanked me for my actions," said Mr Hussani.
Guilty: Paul Crossley / BTP
'He's also asked if we could meet up. So we need to arrange a date for that."
A west London council has requested new powers to take over so-called 'ghost homes' and use them for council tenants when they are left unoccupied for long periods of time.
Kensington and Chelsea council's deputy leader Kim Taylor-Smith has written to the housing minister to call for an overhaul of its powers to acquire unused houses.
Mr Smith said growing demands for social housing in the west London borough had been "framed by the Grenfell tragedy", which led to the deaths of 72 people and left hundreds of council tenants homeless in June 2017.
Kensington and Chelsea was said to have a "huge buy-to-leave investment market", meaning properties are bought and left empty, often to accrue value.
Mr Taylor-Smith said 621 properties in the area have been empty and unfurnished for more than two years, 347 of which are "amongst some of the most expensive in the borough", including one worth almost 30 million.
"At the same time, many residents are desperate for a place of their own, but cannot afford to rent or buy in the borough in which they were born, live and work," his letter continued.
"This disparity does not sit easily with the council's leadership team."
An Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) is required for a local authority to temporarily seize properties and offer them to social tenants, but Mr Taylor-Smith described it as "cumbersome, slow and expensive, making its use prohibitive".
The use of EDMOs was restricted in 2012 by then communities secretary Eric Pickles, limiting them to empty properties that have become "magnets for vandalism, squatters and other forms of anti-social behaviour" and had been empty for two years, according to a House of Commons Library briefing paper.
But Mr Taylor-Smith claimed the prerequisite for a council to demonstrate vandalism had curtailed the use of EDMOs.
"We believe that the burdens can be lightened and EDMOs financially incentivised such that it is easier, quicker and financially viable to target all empty properties that could and should be put to use to alleviate pressing housing needs," he wrote.
His proposal suggested offering a "favourable tax scheme" on rent income for owners of property if they agree to offer the premises to the local authority.
"Owners should not lose out. We want to collaborate with, not clobber, the property investor," Mr Taylor-Smith wrote.
The letter also requested that councils be able to levy a management fee to help cover the costs of taking over the homes.
RBKC owned Grenfell Tower and faced criticism after the fire amid accusations that it and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which ran the block, ignored repeated safety warnings from residents.
The length of time taken to rehouse survivors following the disaster was also condemned, with dozens forced to spend months in hotels.
The study hoped to learn more about the "criminal pathways" for young people who use the underground chat site, Hackforums, and discovered users who were performing DDoS (denial of service attacks), Remote Access Trojans, distributing malware, account cracking, and operating bot shops.
And by looking at common behaviour patterns they were able to predict the paths of activity that users would take such as by looking at who they associate with, and where they learn the skills to commit complex crimes.
The team used Natural Language Processing to scan 30 million posts, and were able to pinpoint technical jargon and online idiosyncrasies which suggested criminal intentions. They combined this with data on the users popularity on the forum, how they moved from gaming related posts to hacking posts, and how some moved from asking users on the forum for help to giving help to others.
The research identified a particular network of closely connected actors exhibiting signs that they could be plotting serious attacks, and to clarify the discovery the scientists read their posts to confirm they were discussing the spreading of malware.
The paper said in its conclusion: We have developed tools for detection and prediction of actors involved in cybercrime activities. These tools help to identify user accounts that might require further investigation by law enforcement and security firms monitoring underground communities.
S taunch conservative judge Brett Kavanaugh has been sworn in as a US Supreme Court justice after a historic and divisive Senate vote.
In the final vote approving his nomination, which was disrupted repeatedly by protesters in the gallery, Mr Kavanaugh's selection was cleared by a narrow margin of 50-48.
Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has received key Senate backing / AFP/Getty Images
His nomination for the supreme court by Donald Trump sparked a national rift after an academic came forward and accused him of sexual misconduct.
But the Senate victory gave the President his second appointee to the court, tilting it further to the right and pleasing conservative voters ahead of November's mid-term elections.
Donald Trump watched the vote on board Air Force One / AFP/Getty Images
Mr Trump said on Twitter: "I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court.
"Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!"
Mr Kavanaugh yesterday cleared another narrow vote by 51-49 propelling him towards the position.
The Senate is controlled 51-49 by the Republicans and yesterday's vote was almost exactly on party lines, with just one defector on each side.
The embattled figure has denied allegations made against him by former Yale university alumni and academic Dr Christine Ford, who accused him of sexually assaulting her at a party in the early 1980s.
Christine Blasey Ford accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s / AFP/Getty Images
Mr Kavanaugh's position was assured after two senators came forward in support of him.
Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced they would back him .
Earlier today Donald Trump said the level of support for Mr Kavanaugh was "a beautiful thing to see."
He also denied people holding placards for Mr Kavanaugh were paid protesters.
The President wrote on Twitter: "Women for Kavanaugh, and many others who support this very good man, are gathering all over Capital Hill in preparation for a 3-5 P.M. VOTE. It is a beautiful thing to see - and they are not paid professional protesters who are handed expensive signs. Big day for America!"
President Trump had already decried people protesting against Mr Kavanaugh as "rude elevator screamers" and "paid professionals."
Melania Trump told reporters in Egypt: "I think he's highly qualified for the Supreme Court."
Democrats had been hugely opposed to Mr Kavanaugh's appointment.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said there was one fundamental question for senators when they decide Mr Kavanaugh's fate: "Do we, as a country, value women?"
Mr Kavanaugh's nomination for the Supreme Court was divisive and had sparked mass protests.
Hundreds of women marched on Washington's Capitol Hill in protest at his nomination.
They were rounded up and arrested en masse. Among the protesters were celebrities Amy Schumer and Emily Ratajowski
Protesters rally against the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh / Getty Images
Mr Kavanaugh was nominated by Donald Trump in July to replace justice Anthony Kennedy, who is retiring.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate's Democratic lkeader said ahead of yesterday's vote: "When future Americans look back at these proceedings, let them draw no lessons from the Senates conduct here.
"Let them look back on this chapter as the shameful culmination of the scorched-earth politics practiced by the hard right in America people who will stop at nothing to entrench an advantage on our nations courts."
However the Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the controversy over Mr Kavanaughs nomination as part of a campaign by Democrats and liberal activists.
He said: "Democrat members of the judiciary committee were racing to announce theyd made up their minds and were totally opposed to his confirmation."
Despite calls for a full FBI investigation, neither Kavanaugh nor Dr Ford were questioned by investigators.
J ean-Claude Juncker has said a Brexit agreement has become more likely in recent days and expressed his desire to get away from this no deal scenario.
The president of the European Commission also said no deal wouldnt be good for Britain or for the rest of the [European] Union, in an interview published by multiple Austrian newspapers on Saturday.
"I have reason to think that the rapprochement potential between both sides has increased in recent days.
"We are not there yet. But our will to reach an understanding with the British government is unbroken.
"We have to get away from this no deal scenario, he said.
Jean-Claude Juncker said he thinks a no deal scenario has to be avoided / EPA
He further stated that if a deal was not completed by the end of October then we will do it in November."
In the broad interview, Mr Juncker suggested the European Commission could have influenced a different result in the referendum, had David Cameron's government not asked him to stay out of the debate.
When questioned on how he felt about being the first Commission president to see a member leave the bloc, he said: "If the Commission had intervened, perhaps the right questions would have entered the debate."
At that time it was already clear to us to what trials and tribulations this unfortunate vote of the British would lead to. I'm always amazed that I'm always blamed."
He was also asked if a reversal of Brexit was possible.
To this query, Mr Juncker said: "That is in the discretion of the British Parliament and the Government. I do not interfere in inner cabinet debates in the UK. There is enough confusion."
Mr Juncker also said a political declaration on future relations between Britain and its former European partners was needed to coincide with the Brexit deal.
"You can't absolutely keep separate the withdrawal treaty and the declaration of the future relationship between the United Kingdom and Europe," he said.
Britain and the EU are trying to push the divorce deal as well as an agreement on post-Brexit relations in time for two leaders' summits.
E ight million pounds has been raised by UK charities for victims of the devastating tsunami and earthquake in Indonesia which has so far claimed over 1,600 lives.
Public donations have been pouring in following the natural disaster which rocked the Indonesian regional capital of Palu, destroying homes and leaving hundreds of thousands of people desperate for food and water.
The 8m total was raised in just two days by charities and partners for the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). The government matched pound-for-pound the first 2m donated by members of the public.
The Queen has also made a private donation to the DEC appeal for survivors, Buckingham Palace announced today.
French rescuers search through the rubble in Palu / AFP/Getty Images
The appeal was launched on Thursday and raised 6 million within a day. Funds have been pouring in since.
The death toll stands 1,649 with at least 265 people still missing after last Friday's 7.5 magnitude tremor and tsunami on the island of Sulawesi.
An estimated 200,000 people are in desperate need of help with food and shelter, according to aid agencies.
A hotel lies in ruins after the tsunami struck / AFP/Getty Images
Rescuers are still searching for survivors on Sulawesi island.
President Joko Widodo has said all of the victims of the 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck on Sept. 28 must be found.
Communities in the south of Palu were particularly hard hit.
The remains of a mosque destroyed / REUTERS
The national disaster agency says 1,700 homes in one neighbourhood alone were swallowed up. Many hundreds of people are now entombed in slowly drying mud churned with heaps of debris and vehicles.
In the Balaroa neighbourhood of Palu, rescuers found 34 bodies on Saturday, and laid them out in a row of blue and orange bags, among them 10-year-old Dede Aulianisa.
Her parents recognised her from the clothes she was wearing when the quake struck.
"I'm certain it's her. She was wearing the exact scout uniform, with a sweater with the words 'Geng 97'," her father, Anwar, who like many Indonesian goes by only one name, told Reuters.
"When the land split, she happened to be on the side that collapsed," he said. "She was such a happy child. Very intelligent. Her teachers loved her and she had many friends."
Arnaud Allibert and four other members of the group Pompiers Humanitaires Francais were the first rescuers to venture into that area.
The team will scour the debris and find and retrieve bodies at the surface, to clear the way for excavators to dig deeper.
"If we see body parts sticking out, we're going to dig to get the body out ... It's a long-term job, but after that, they'll come with the heavy machinery," Allibert said.
Traumatised survivors are desperate for help.
Indonesia earthquake and tsunami kills hundreds 1 /59 Indonesia earthquake and tsunami kills hundreds AFP/Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images EPA EPA AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images REUTERS EPA Xinhua / Barcroft Images Xinhua / Barcroft Images REUTERS REUTERS AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS AP REUTERS REUTERS AP AP Reuters AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images EPA Reuters EPA EPA Indonesian rescue workers evacuate the body of a victim of an earthquake Reuters Indonesian rescue workers evacuate the body of a victim of an earthquake Reuters People walk in an area hit by an earthquake in Petabo Reuters Medical team members help patients AFP/Getty Images Houses in ruins after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake EPA AFP/Getty Images ANTARA FOTO AFP/Getty Images EPA AP AFP/Getty Images Reuters Reuters Reuters AFP/Getty Images Reuters Reuters AFP/Getty Images AP
"There are so many corpses around here," said Irwan, 37, a resident of Petobo, standing amidst the ruins.
"So many are gone," he said, reeling off a list of his missing relatives including a sister, an aunt and cousins.
Aid has arrived from countries around the world.
Michael Lesmeister, director of Germany's ISAR-Germany rescue group, said landing permits for his staff and cargo had come through and, after a three-day wait, they were set to install a water-purification system in Palu.
Deputy Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Mohammad Fachir told a briefing in Jakarta ministries were coordinating to facilitate the arrival of aid.
To make a donation to the DEC Indonesia Tsunami Appeal, visit www.dec.org.uk or call 0370 60 60 900.
Donations are also accepted at high street banks and post offices.
D onald Trump has denied that supporters for Brett Kavanaugh gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington are "paid professional protesters."
The US President described the Supreme Court nominee as a "very good man" ahead of a formal vote later today.
Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: "Women for Kavanaugh, and many others who support this very good man, are gathering all over Capital Hill in preparation for a 3-5 P.M. VOTE.
"It is a beautiful thing to see - and they are not paid professional protesters who are handed expensive signs. Big day for America!"
It comes after a series of protests in defiance of the nomination of Mr Kavanaugh, who had been accused of sexual misconduct by fellow Yale alumni Christine Ford.
Hundreds of women protested his nomination, including celebrities Emily Ratajowski and Amy Schumer, who were both arrested.
Poised to take seat: Brett Kavanaugh / REUTERS
The Senate vote on confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is likely to be extremely close.
Melania Trump told reporters today that Kavanaugh is "highly qualified" for the Supreme Court / Reuters
Enough senators have already indicated they will support him to see him through to victory, with a likely margin of two votes.
Melania Trump today offered her backing to Mr Kavanaugh.
She told reporters travelling with her in Egypt: "I think he's highly qualified for the Supreme Court."
She said she is glad that both Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Ford, had their accounts heard last week.
She said victims of "any kind of abuse or violence" must be helped. Kavanaugh denies the accusation.
T hese incredible images show how Berlin has changed over time since the reunification of the city's east and west when the wall was toppled.
Images from the past and present have been fused together to show how much the German capital has developed.
It coincides with the 28th anniversary of the reunification of the east and west of the city when the Berlin wall came down.
The German capital was left divided when communist East German authorities built a wall overnight on 13 August 1961.
The wall totally encircled West Berlin leaving it completely isolated, with families completely torn apart.
East German guards look on as the Berlin Wall is destroyed in 1989 / Alamy
Armed soldiers patrolled the wall and would shoot anyone attempting to escape. However thousands of people found ways of escaping, hiding in car boots or digging tunnels.
On November 9, 1989, East German spokesman Gunter Schabowski announced that East Germans would be free to travel into West Germany starting immediately.
After hearing the news, East Germans gathered at the wall and demanded to be let through the gates. At 10.45pm, the guards opened the checkpoints and people flocked to the west. West Berliners waited on the other side with champagne and flowers.
That night, Berliners were pictured standing on the wall and cheering in celebration.
In the days after, the wall came down.
East Side Gallery: Nowadays the wall is a major tourist attraction / Getty Images
Germany officially reunited on 3 October 1990, 11 months after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
One image shows the Berlin Wall before it was torn down in 1989 with another showing the capital in present day with people able to freely wander around.
Parts of the wall in the capital still remain. They make up part of the East Side Gallery.
Another image from the collection show Potsdamer Platz in 1945 alongside a modern picture of the area. In the 1945 image, a building can be seen heavily bombed. It would have been taken shortly before the fall of the city to the Soviet army.
Nowadays, Potsdamer Platz is a vibrant area in the capital, full of shops and restaurants and a popular tourist spot.
T he death toll in the devastating tsunami that struck Indonesia last week has reached 1,649 with at least 265 people still unaccounted for.
Officials confirmed the latest death toll amid ongoing internation disaster relief efforts, following the tsunami which followed an earthquake which hit the city of Palu.
The Indonesian government has said it is considering turning some of the earthquake and tsunami-devastated areas into mass graves.
Mourners have been gathering since the disaster struck. They have placed long pieces of white cloth, to represent a Muslim burial rite, inside victims' bodybags.
The devastation wreaked by the Tsunami in Palu / EPA
Among them was 39-year-old Rudy Rahman, who said the bodies of his 18 and 16-year-old sons had been found. His youngest son remains missing.
"They were found in front of my brother's house opposite the mosque," Mr Rahman said. "They found them holding each other. These two brothers were hugging each other."
Balaroa was one of the areas hardest hit on September 28 by the magnitude 7.5 quake, which threw homes in the neighbourhood tens of metres and left cars upright or perched on eruptions of concrete and asphalt.
Indonesia tsunami - aerial pictures show devastation 1 /36 Indonesia tsunami - aerial pictures show devastation An aerial view of liquefaction, or shifting ground REUTERS ANTARA FOTO AP AP AP AFP/Getty Images REUTERS REUTERS AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images EPA AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images REUTERS EPA REUTERS EPA EPA EPA EPA EPA EPA EPA EPA EPA
Many children were in the mosque at the time of the quake for Koran recitation. An assistant to the imam had said none survived.
Indonesia's leading security minister, Wiranto, said the government is mulling the possibility of turning Balaroa and Petobo, another neighbourhood in Palu, into mass graves.
Petobo disappeared into the earth as the force of the quake liquefied its soft soil. Liquefaction also struck a large section of Balaroa.
Wiranto said efforts to retrieve bodies are problematic in those neighbourhoods, where homes were sucked into the earth, burying possibly hundreds of victims.
He said it is not safe for heavy equipment to operate there.
Wiranto also said the government is discussing with local and religious authorities and victims' families the possibility of halting the search and turning the areas into mass graves.
The victims can be considered "martyrs", he said.
A Japanese military plane landed at Palu's airport on Saturday morning, and soldiers unloaded tons of supplies, including medicine and small portable generators, in boxes emblazoned with the Japanese flag and the words "From the People of Japan".
Several other nations have also sent planeloads of aid. Video showed the military dropping supplies from helicopters in places and a large Red Cross ship docked at a port in the region.
In the dusty one-road village of Pewunu, excited children shouted "Red Cross! Red Cross!" as one of the aid group's medical teams arrived and set up a makeshift clinic in a field where evacuees were sleeping under tarpaulins. One villager said they survived by ransacking shops.
Volunteers laid out a big white tarpaulin on a stage in front of the village office, set a green desk on it and interviewed people about their needs as dozens milled around.
Doctors performed medical checks on elderly residents who emerged from tents and climbed the stage's stairs with canes or others supporting them.
People living in the camp said two residents died in collapsing houses in the village. They said they had clean water and noodles but not much else.
"There were supplies, but these were looted. All along the roads toward here, they were looted by outsiders," said Bahamid Fawzi.
"All this while in this crisis, we don't have water, we don't have food," he said. "After that, we started ransacking the stores and the shops. Not because we're thieves, but because we really needed it. There's no water, no food - like it or not, we had to do it."
The earthquake and tsunami swept away buildings along miles of coastline and knocked out power and communications for days.
In a rare move, Indonesia's government appealed for international help to cope with the tragedy on Sulawesi island.
The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said more than 38 million is required to deliver "immediate, life-saving" aid.
A Lego enthusiast who is a YouTube sensation has told of his heartbreak after thieves stole his beloved collection.
French model builder Louis, who goes by the name republicattak, has worked on his own unique Star Wars designs since 2004 and regularly posts videos displaying his carefully crafted models.
But the 20-year-old has been left devastated after crooks broke into his home and stole most of his Lego, which he amassed over 14 years.
Sharing his distress in a tearful video on his channel, he said: Just been burgled; most of my collection stolen, my last creation which took me 10 months that I was about to finished, destroyed; after 14 years of collection and 8 years of YouTube, I'm just ending it. Bye.
In the footage, he speaks of coming home from work to find broken windows and doors, along with a litany of Lego bricks discarded across the ground and on his stairs.
Unable to contain his emotions, he explained his passion for Lego as a means of relaxing when he was home from work.
With so much of his collection stolen and unsure if he could have such a stock of Lego again, he has said he will discard his hobby.
Im just stopping Legos, he said. It really was my passion. It was a part of me.
Speaking to his viewers on his channel, he said: It was really great to have you.
Thank you for following me for these years.
He also shared his bemusement that he felt his Lego may have been intentionally targeted, with a laptop and other expensive items left behind during the break in.
However, since his announcement of quitting, he has received an outpouring of support from people offering to send him pieces and suggesting he does not give up on his passion.
One wrote: "I have some sets I could send you.
"Seriously, I would send them to you. To be honest i dont know the feeling of your collection being robbed but i dont want to see you leaving youtube because of this."
Another said: "Don't give up on your passion."
On Reddit, one person said they had contacted Lego to ask if any of its team may be able to help replace some of the missing items.
The ransacked Lego fan has since posted a list of the specific items stolen to alert anyone to suspicious sellers.
He has asked for anybody who may be offered the items to contact him.
Speaking to the Standard about the support he has received, he said: "It's totally unexpected. I really felt alone, even if my family supported me, and seeing all this support is really reassuring that it's a fan community all passionate about it."
A scientist who gave a controversial talk where he reportedly said physics was built by men claims the backlash against him is simply political correctness.
Professor Alessandro Strumia made the speech, which has been deemed highly offensive, at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva.
In the wake of this, hundreds of scientists have signed a statement condemning his argument that the primary explanation for the discrepancies between men and women in theoretical physics is that women are inherently less capable.
The statement read: As particle physicists, we are appalled by Strumias actions and his stated views on women in high energy physics.
Physics and science are part of the shared inheritance of all people, as much as art, music, and literature, and we should strive to ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to become a scientist.
It went on to look at the points which were made by Prof Strumia and gave more details arguments against each.
It is clear to all of us that Strumia is not an expert on these topics and is misusing his physics credentials to put himself forward as one.
Furthermore, those among us who are familiar with the relevant literature know that Strumia's conclusions are in stark disagreement with those of experts, the statement added.
The statement has been signed more than 1,000 times by academics.
However, in a comment provided to the BBC, Prof Strumia said that those signatories only represented a fraction of the high-energy physics community and they were from countries more affected by political correctness.
[The signatories] mostly come from those countries more affected by political correctness, which I indicated as the problem. This is what leads to academicians that want [to get] others fired for having 'morally reprehensible' ideas, he told the BBC.
Prof Strumia has been suspended from any activity at CERN pending an investigation following the talk on Friday, September 28.
He was speaking to a group of women beginning their careers in science at a workshop on gender and high energy physics.
Dr Jess Wade of Imperial College in London, who attended the talk, said on Twitter: "Short summary of Strumias talk: women arent as good at physics as men and theyve been allocated too much funding/ been promoted into positions of power unfairly."
A statement from CERN said: CERN considers the presentation delivered by an invited scientist during a workshop on High Energy Theory and Gender as highly offensive.
The organisers from CERN and several collaborating universities were not aware of the content of the talk prior to the workshop. CERN supports the many members of the community that have expressed their indignation for the unacceptable statements contained in the presentation.
A shop worker named Brett Kavanagh has said it is a terrible time to have such a similar name to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Mr Kavanagh, from Kentucky, was joined by others sharing their issues with having famous namesakes as his tweet gained more than 250,000 likes.
His post said: "This is a terrible time to be named Brett Kavanagh."
A Susan Collins, who shares the name of a Senator from Maine voting on Mr Kavanaughs nomination, said: Believe me I feel your pain!
Following this one Christine B. Ford, who shares a name with one of the women who has accused Mr Kavanaughs of sexual misconduct, also responded.
The woman, who lives in London and whose profile states "not a doctor" to differentiate herself from the famous Dr Ford, said: Im with you on that one.
Others commenting on sharing their monikers with high-profile figures included an Alex Jones, the name of a controversial conspiracy theorist, who said: I feel ya
Another named Mike Pence, the name of the current vice president of the United States, said: Welcome to the club, brother.
A man named Will Smith, who is not the movie star, said: Im so sorry.
Some responses shared amusement at the tweet and ensuing responses stating they made them laugh out loud.
One gave a suggestion on how the Mr Kavanagh might deal with the similarity and said: If I were you I would legally add not that one after your last name.
Being named similarly to Brett Kavanaugh was said to not be an issue by one, though, who wrote: It's never a terrible time to be named after Brett Kavanaugh. He's an awesome man.
Brett Kavanaugh testified on September 27 / AFP/Getty Images
A vote is to be held on Mr Kavanaugh becoming a member of the Supreme Court is to be held on Saturday.
With the declarations from those voting so far, it appears likely he will approved in the final stage of his nomination.
This process has been embroiled in controversy due to accusations of sexual misconduct against Mr Kavanaugh, which he has strongly denied.
Protesters rally against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh / AP
G rab your tissues, because there is nothing more tragic than a couple who are meant to be but cant.
Weve been bawling our eyes out since star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet took their own lives and Rose let Jack go on that ill-fated Titanic voyage.
We love a good love story, but also a good love story with tear-jerking forbidden partnerships, shock deaths and unfortunate timing.
Bradley Coopers thrown his hat into the ring to direct A Star is Born a story about Jackson, played by Cooper, who mentors and falls for Lady Gagas Ally but you guessed it, they dont get a happily ever after.
A Star Is Born - Trailer
So in celebration of another blighted love story, weve rounded up the 10 most tragic couples in films.
1. Forrest Gump
Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) has been in love with Jenny Curran (Robin Wright) ever since they were children. But despite his absolute adoration for her she tries to keep pushing him away. He doesnt give up and proposes to her years later. She declines but the two sleep together before she leaves early the next morning. Forrest goes running for years before Jenny returns, introduces him to their son and professes her love for him shortly before she dies.
2. Gone With The Wind
Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind / Getty Images
This epic historical romance follows the tumultuous relationship between Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Scarlett falls for Rhett while in mourning after being left widowed. He later proposes and they have a child but she still pines for her lover Ashley. He offers her a divorce but later returns on realising she loved him and not Ashley all along but he rebuffs her advances and leaves her in tears.
3. The Bridges of Madison County
Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep in Bridges of Madison County
Dubbed as the most passionately read love story of our time the film follows Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood) and Francesca Johnson (Meryl Streep) who embark on a four-day love affair. She makes the painful decision to stay with her husband and children over travelling the world with Robert, who she never sees again.
4. Titanic
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic
James Camerons epic romance is a classic tale of love and class divide. Penniless artist Jack Dawson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, falls for first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater, played by Kate Winslet. He teaches her how to dance (and spit long distance), she asks him to draw me like one of your French girls before they consummate their short-lived romance with a steamy session on the back seat of a car only for an iceberg to obliterate their chance of happily ever after.
But this story need never have ended in tragedy. Rose kept shouting for Jack to come back but, lets be honest, there was definitely enough room on that plank to fit the two of them.
5. Steel Magnolias
Julia Roberts and Dylan McDermott in Steel Magnolias
Shelby, played Julia Roberts, marries Jackson, played by Dylan McDermott, before falling pregnant with their first child despite being warned by doctors that her Type 1 diabetes could prove problematic. She gives birth to a baby boy but shows signs of kidney failure and is immediately put on dialysis. She later has a transplant but falls into a coma, with her family left to make the heart breaking decision to turn off her life support.
6. Brokeback Mountain
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain
Ang Lees film is a classic case of forbidden love. Rodeo cowboy Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, falls for ranch hand Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) but they both marry women with Jack fathering a son.
They continue to meet for fishing trips throughout the years as their marriages deteriorate before Ennis receives news that Jack has died.
7. Me Before You
Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin in Me Before You / Warner Bros
Louisa Clark endured the ultimate heartbreak after her love interest opted to end his life. Based on JoJo Moyes award-winning novel, Louisa, played by Emilia Clarke, is hired to care for ex-banker Will Traynor after he is left wheelchair bound following a motorbike accident. He treats her with contempt, before she starts to win him round with the duo becoming good friends and developing feelings for one another.
But Louisa is left distraught after finding out on a holiday in Mauritius that he has booked himself into Dignitas in Switzerland for assisted suicide.
8. Cruel Intentions
Ryan Phillipe and Reese Witherspoon in Cruel Intentions
Ryan Phillipes Sebastian attempts to seduce Annette, played by Reese Witherspoon, as part of a wager. But surprise, surprise he ends up falling for her, tracks her down after her attempts to resist him over her vow to save herself until marriage, and the pair end up in bed together. He later tries to get hold of her to confess the truth about the wager but is hit and killed by a car as he saves her from being mowed down.
9. Ghost
Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in Ghost
Is there anything more heart breaking than a love story with the ghost of Patrick Swayze? Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) and Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) play a couple whose romance is ripped apart after he is murdered in New York. Although he comes back to protect her, through the help of a medium, played by Whoopi Goldberg, they can never truly be together again.
10. Shakespeare in Love
Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes in Shakespeare In Love
Shakespeare was a fan of forbidden partnerships, so it made sense for the famous playwright to be embroiled in his own in John Maddens Oscar-winning film.
Viola de Lesseps, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, disguises herself as a man in a bid to star in one of Shakespeares plays. Predictably they end up falling for one another and having a secret affair but Viola is betrothed to marry Lord Wessex, played by Colin Firth.
Looking back at the moment their relationship began to fissure, one might pinpoint the shrimp paste. (It's always the shrimp paste, right?)
The way Andy Aroonrasameruang tells the story, it was 2003, he and his business partner had just opened their Lakeview restaurant TAC Quick Thai. Among the recipes chef Aroonrasameruang developed was a dipping sauce to accompany
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kai tod
, the Thai fried chicken.
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This sauce was a witch's brew of lime juice, fish sauce, lemon grass, galangal, lime leaves and toasted rice flour. Its key component, though, was
kapi
, or shrimp paste fetid in its raw state but essential in Thai cookery, giving its food that mysterious funky depth.
"We had this argument maybe two months after we opened," Aroonrasameruang said. "(My business partner) tasted the sauce and didn't like it. He said it was too strong. I know my ideas aren't always the best, so I compromised and made it with less shrimp paste than I'd like."
Over the next nine years, TAC Quick gained a cult fan base. Its reputation was buoyed by an intrepid food message board poster, who took the restaurant's Thai-language menu dishes that non-Thais supposedly would never order and translated it into English. The reputation stuck: In a city where
pad thai
and
pad see ew
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are often not more than two blocks and a 30-minute delivery away, TAC Quick was uncompromisingly, unapologetically Thai.
Among Chicago food nerds, Aroonrasameruang like Madonna, Teller and Sting took on one-name celebrity status, known simply as Andy, the Thai cooking wunderkind (perhaps his tongue-twisting last name was a factor).
Then the business relationship went south. Andy and his partner had a falling out, so last month, Andy announced he was leaving TAC Quick to pursue a solo project. He took over a sushi/Thai hybrid beneath the Wellington Brown Line stop and brought with him TAC Quick's menu. Now, no longer shackled by compromise, Andy has been liberated in the kitchen. Which means he can put however much shrimp paste in his dipping sauce as he damn well pleases.
Everything you need to know about his new venture, Andy Thai Kitchen (ATK) and its place among Chicago's Thai restaurant community can be illustrated through that awesome shrimp paste dip: One notch spicier and two notches more funktastic than your neighborhood crab rangoon purveyor. The
kai tod
($8.50), hacked apart before marination, fries up sans-breading into crispy twisted meat gnarls more chicken surface area to absorb that pungent limey-chili hot dip. (Bottle this dip, Andy. Two dabs on the inner wrist will seduce any food blogger.)
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These are staid times for Chicago's Thai offerings. The standards by which these restaurants are held is denoted by an R-worded yardstick: People group them as either reliable or not. For most of the non-Thai general public, there are no varying degrees or nuance. It's the product of an ethnic dining culture that pushes the same dozen dishes however well-executed they may be, it hardly encourages coloring outside the lines.
Last year, when Andy heard a couple of dudes at a restaurant called Next decided they'd tackle Thai street food, he took it as a culinary challenge to step out beyond the compulsory. The result? He takes a venerable starter like
som tam
, green papaya salad, and impossibly improves upon it: With
som tam tod
($10), the quartered limes, tomatoes, dried shrimp and cashews are muddled in a mortar and pestle as standard, but here the green papaya slivers are fried in tempura batter. No matter that the salad suddenly shares the nutritional benefits of a waffle fries basket; the golden shells now pick up just enough fish sauce-lime dressing to straddle those appealing crisp/sog, hot/cool divides. This is my favorite S.I.N.O.S. (Salad In Name Only Salad) in town.
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Its cousin, Crispy On Choy ($12) is a fan favorite from TAC Quick. On choy is water spinach, edible for both its leaf and crunchy hollow stem. Like
som tam tod
, the greens are tempura-fried, tossed here with minced chicken, shrimp and mint. All vestiges of wholesome leafy greenness disappears inside that fried carbonate shell, but, c'est la vie.
That Thai-ubiquitous lime-chili-fish sauce combination pops up everywhere. Raw shrimp ($9) seems better suited at a River North lounge slinging $30 maki rolls, than a restaurant without a functioning website. Yet here it is, a Thai beachfront interpretation of seviche, the creamy and sweet shrimp peeking through the three alarm-spiciness.
Andy's presentations require effort beyond stir-fry and slop. Kapi fried rice ($9.50) is served deconstructed, separated to shrimp paste fried rice here, boiled sweet pork in the corner, mango strips, scrambled egg shreds, dried shrimp and a tongue-destroying amount of bird's eye chili to the side. As fried rice goes, this one's a fascinating melange of sweet and briny, crunchy and tender, messing with your fried rice expectations.
Boat noodles ($8.50, named for the beef vermicelli soup hawked at Thai floating markets) yields a heaviness I wouldn't associate with Bangkok's sweltering climate. The meat fest stars beef brisket slices, squeaky beef meatballs and crunchy pork rinds floating atop like porcine life jackets in the sweet soy-anise pond. It's a hearty satisfying antidote the whole bowl is brown and brooding to the bright and tangy hot-weather dishes on the menu. The heartiness continues with crispy pork belly, which had me at crispy pork belly. There's one fried with basil and garlic, but I dug the Pad Prik Khing version ($9.50) crunchy, chewy pork cubes camouflaged in a red curry herbaceous with lime leaves.
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For all there is to love about Andy's food, the service can approach Mr. Bean-level maladroitness, depending on time of day. Two lunch visits were just fine. On a third, we sat ourselves after several minutes of non-acknowledgment, and when the menus never arrived, we stood up and left. On our lone Saturday dinner visit, our
hanger
levels boiled over (hanger = anger as a result of hunger) when no server took our order for 15 minutes. Throughout this, the restaurant phone rang without pause as take-out orders piled up. Indeed, service expectations of a one-month-old restaurant shouldn't be sky high, but a philosophy of preferential treatment for dine-in customers would be advised.
And there's the rub: You can probably score decent Thai food with less headache at any number of places, but they won't nearly be as thoughtful or crowd-pleasing as Andy Aroonrasameruang's cooking. Still, the pecking order has thusly been adjusted a plurality of reliable Thai restaurants. Hovering above those are standouts Sticky Rice, Spoon Thai and now, Andy Thai Kitchen. Like many breakups, it's probably for the best.
Andy Thai Kitchen
946 W. Wellington Ave.; 773-549-7821
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Open
: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
kpang@tribune.com
Twitter @kevinthepang
A n Islamic feminist scholar has blasted the smash-hit series bodyguard for its depiction of a villain whose character transitioned from one stereotype of a Muslim woman to another.
Ziba Mir-Hosseini said the character of Nadia - stopped by the show's hero David Budd from detonating a suicide vest on a packed train in the opening episode - was initially portrayed as a weak woman oppressed by her jihadist husband.
By the series finale, one stereotype had been swapped for another, she said, with Nadia being revealed as a skilled engineer who had built the bomb that killed Home Secretary Julia Montague.
Nadia told police: "You all saw me as a poor, oppressed Muslim woman. I am an engineer. I am a jihadi."
Dr Mir-Hosseini, an Iranian-born legal anthropologist, said she found writer Jed Mercurio's plot "really puzzling".
"I loved that series and I was following it. I was really surprised how they ended it like that," she said.
"Why we had to make this woman Nadia, who is so timid and everything, which was a stereotype of Muslim women, and then suddenly she became a stereotype of another Muslim woman, one that is a jihadist.
"That was really puzzling for me. Why a film like this has to do that, which actually says a lot to us about how the image of Muslims are made and projected."
Dr Mir-Hosseini, speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival during an event on Islam and feminism, said shows like Bodyguard do not help the struggle Muslim feminists face daily around the world.
BBC/World Productions/Sophie Mutevelian
"How we, without questioning it, we are getting indoctrinated into it. Feminist voices in Islam just can't... it is an oxymoron... because that is the image we have," she said.
"Islamic feminists face a lot of resistance, especially in Muslim majority countries. When you argue for equality in the family, men feel threatened and it is like the whole of society is going to collapse.
"You also face accusations that you have been brainwashed by the West because you are asking for equality and feminism. At the same time you face resistance from those Muslim women who see arguments for equality and justice within Islam as a betrayal.
"What was heresy in one time can become orthodoxy. Change will come."
Aliyah Saleem, a British-born Pakistani who is now an atheist, said Muslim women today have to overcome many stereotypes and prejudices.
Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden in the drama / BBC
"There is a sterotypical view of Muslim women as passive, as lacking in autonomy, and Muslim men are brutes," she said.
"That is very problematic and it is old. It is not a new thing and it has only come about because of 9/11.
"At the same time, not talking about the way Muslim fundamentalism is genuinely damaging the lives of Muslim women around the world is also a problem.
"How do you find the fine balance? I try and speak about both sides as equally as I can."
The ex-Muslim, who is the co-founder of advocacy group Faith to Faithless, said the debate on whether woman should wear the hijab is more complicated that it appears.
"You can say that, Islamically, you do not have to wear a hijab, but that doesn't deal with the shame or the guilt that women feel," she said.
"To say that Muslim women are all oppressed by it is to take away their autonomy and to see them as stupid children.
"But to not talk about that there are millions of children living under laws that force them to wear hijab is disingenuous and demonstrates an ambivalence and I think it is one of the real struggles facing Muslim women today."
Davis County tech startup puts power in the hands of patients
FARMINGTON A Utah-based health care technology startup company, Udo, raised $20 million for its video-based health care application that launched Oct. 25. The application, called Udo Care, is designed to allow patients to take charge of their health throughout all aspects of the health care system. There truly is nothing like Udo, said Danny Frasure, Udo co-founder and CEO. And one of the biggest reasons why is Udo is a patient-centric, or patient-driven platform. ... It empowers not only the patient but has kept them in mind from the very beginning to the end. Where ...
The case clearly cost Mayor Rahm Emanuel his job. Hes not seeking re-election because of the secretive way he tried to handle things. It cost former Cook County States Attorney Alvarez her job at the polls, and it cost former police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, who was fired by Emanuel as his desperate political sacrifice to angry African-American voters.
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Citizens from more than 20 non-EU countries, who live in Brasov, are presenting on Saturday, in Piata Sfatului, their countries' traditions and customs, in marking the 6th edition of the Multiculturalism Day.
Besides the presentations of their countries and traditional costumes, the participants also showed flags, small crafted objects, traditional paintings, sweets or even a traditional bread, as exposed at the stands in Piata Sfatului.
The Brasov inhabitants and the tourists received a "passport" crated by the organisers of the event, which includes self-adhesive "visas," as a symbolic invitation to travel to the respective country."The event grew a lot year-on-year. If the first edition we were able to have it at the Students' House in Brasov, here we are for this 6th edition in Piata Sfatului. The demand was very high coming from the foreigners who live in Brasov and wanted to come to this event, which makes us glad. We printed 500 passports just for this event, which were already gone in one hour. The Multiculturalism Days in Brasov is an event that people are waiting for and the weather too was on our side for this edition," Astrid Hamberger, coordinator of the Regional Centre for Integration of Foreigners in Brasov, the organiser of the event, told AGERPRES.Camilla Salas, 32, from Columbia, has lived in Brasov for the past two years and a half, after she married a Brasov inhabitant. She is learning Romanian language at the Regional Centre for the Integration of Foreigners."I am very happy to live in Brasov. In the two years and a half I have made many friends here. I met my husband back in Columbia, where he worked for a while. I accepted to come to Romania and to live in Brasov and I got used to it very fast. The weather was not a problem. When it's cold I putt on more clothes. I am happy to be here. For Christmas and New Year's Eve we will go to Columbia and the technology that we have today allows me to talk to my mother and my family every day. My city is different from Brasov, we have palm trees there, but we are also going to have an artificial Christmas tree," Camilla Salas told AGERPRES.She also said that she succeeded in two years to learn the language of her adoptive country very well, especially due to her father-in-law, from Brasov, who doesn't let her speak other language than Romanian, which helps her a lot, for she will need to take the interview for obtaining the Romanian citizenship at some point.Visitors in Piata Sfatului were also offered a show of traditional dances from Cuba, Mexico, Philippine, China, Japan, the Republica of Moldova, Peru, the Dominican Republic and a parade of costumes on a stage in the area.Countries such as the Dominican Republic, Columbia, Syria, South Korea, Japan, Philippine, Peru, Mexico, the Republic of Moldova, India, Turkey, China, Ukraine, Jordan, Nigeria, Israel, Egypt, Ecuador, Iran also brought shows to Piata Sfatului.The Multiculturalism Days in Brasov Festival was preceded by a varnishing of the exhibition "Portraits of Migration," which took place on Friday night at the Patria Hall and it will be concluded on Sunday evening, at the Multicultural Centre of the Transilvania University, where there will take place the screening of the film "Stranger in Paradise," followed by a debate on the issue of refugees in Europe.
The spokeswoman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI), Monica Dajbog, on Saturday stated that there were 12 complaints of possible offences or misdemeanors recorded so far related to the referendum on revising the Constitution.
"In terms of public order, there were no special problems signaled so far. But there were 12 complaints of possible offences or misdemeanors related to the referendum; upon checking, three of these were not confirmed", Dajbog specified, in a press conference held at the MAI.
"In Ploiesti, there was a citizen who notified the Police that he was not allowed to vote based on his passport. A police file was immediately opened over preventing a person from voting. We remind you that the Romanian citizens can vote in Romania based on their passport only if the passport mentions their residence in another country than Romania. We are talking here about the simple passport, temporary passport and the electronic passport. Romanian citizens that are established in Romania can vote based on their identification card and the provisional identification card. (...) Also in Pitesti, the members of the electoral office of a voting section left the respective station with the special ballot box being accompanied by a police officer from the Local Police, where he had the obligation to request that a MAI staff accompany him. Police officers have started an investigation in this case", the spokesperson of MAI said.According to Monica Dajbog, in a town in Prahova County police officers are investigation a person who announced the members of the voting station that he voted twice in two different sections."The person, after voting once, realized that he did not vote in the way that he wanted. In Pitesti, the president of a voting section notified that three people were consuming alcoholic beverages close to the voting section. A gendarmes patrol was sent to the location, which concluded that the persons in question were not consuming alcoholic beverages, but were disturbing public order. They were sanctioned 200 Ron each", Dajbog said.In Caras-Severin County, the police officer that was part of the security team of a voting section noticed that a man who was ready to enter the section had a BB gun. He was taken to the police subunit where it was established that he drank alcohol and he was fined according to the Policy for arms and munitions, in which it is forbidden to carry a weapon under the influence of alcohol.The spokeswoman for the MAI specified that of the 674 people with a right to vote from detainment centers and protective custody of the Romanian Police, 513 of them requested to vote with the special ballot box. Until 12:00, 219 of them had voted.
As many as 18,951,721 voters are expected on Saturday and Sunday at the polls for a referendum to revise the Constitution to redefine family as a freely consented marriage between a man and a woman.
Romanians are called to say 'Yes' or 'No' to the question: 'Do you agree with the law on the revision of the Romanian Constitution as adopted by Parliament?.'
There will be 18,662 polling stations in the country, and 1,264 in Bucharest. Romanians from abroad will vote at 378 polling stations: 192 will be organised at the diplomatic missions, consular offices and cultural institutes, and 186 in other locations. Most polling stations will be in Italy (58), Spain (48), Moldova (35), the US (32), the UK (19), France (15), Germany (14).The polling stations open at 07:00hrs, EEST, on every referendum day and close at 21:00hrs.*** Where and how can Romanians voteAll Romanian citizens who have turned 18 by the referendum day, at the latest, except for the disenfranchised, debilitated or alienated under interdiction, as well as persons convicted under final and binding ruling who have lost their electoral rights, have the right to participate in the referendum.Citizens who, on the day of the national referendum, are in a different area than the one in which they are entered on the electoral roll can exercise their voting right in the respective area at any polling station on a supplementary list where recording is done by the chair of the electoral bureau of the section, on the basis of an identity document.Identity documents that can be used to vote in the referendum are: identity cards; electronic identity cards; provisional identity cards; identity bulletins; diplomatic passports; electronic diplomatic passports; service passports and passport and electronic service passports; military service books in the case of military school students; simple passports; simple temporary and simple electronic passports that bear the mention of the holder's country of residence.*** Running the voting processAccess to the voting rooms takes place in series corresponding to the number of booths. Each participant will submit to the election office of the polling station the identity document. The electoral office, after verifying the enrollment with the electoral roll or after registration with the additional electoral list, will hand the ballot paper to the participant and a stamp "Votat" (voted) stamp.The voters will express their will individually in a closed booth by applying the stamp only in one of the two squares of the ballot paper, according to his /her choice.After voting, the participant in the referendum will fold up the ballot paper so that the blank page holding the control stamp stays out and then insert it into the ballot box, taking care not to open it. The stamp handed for voting shall be returned to the chair, who shall apply the polling station stamp to the voter's card.The chair may take measures to ensure that voters at the polling station do not take long to vote beyond an unreasonably long time. He or she may suspend voting for good reasons. The suspension cannot exceed one hour and will be announced by a message displayed on the door to the voting area. All suspensions may not exceed two hours combined. During the suspension, the ballot boxes, stamps, ballot papers and all the documents of the electoral bureau will remain under permanent guard.*** Only one person shall enter the voting boothThe presence of any other person in the voting booth except that who is casting the vote is forbidden. The participant to the referendum, who, for solid reasons, established by the electoral bureau president of the polling station cannot vote has the right to request a chaperone of his choice, in order to receive help.*** The persons who cannot be transported due to illness or invalidity can request a mobile ballot boxAccording to the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC), the requests of people who cannot be transported due to illness or invalidity, who are not in sanitary or social care institutions and who wish to vote through the special ballot box shall be submitted to the electoral office of the nearest polling station accompanied by copies of the papers which reveal their state of health or disability. The requests can be lodged by any person, including in any day of the voting, in due time before the end of the electoral process.The voting requests, through a special ballot box, must be dated and signed by hand, and they will include the name, the surname, the personal numeric code, the domicile or residence, the series and the number of the identity document of each voter.Moreover, the voters who at the date of the election are hospitalised in a public or private sanitary unit, a home for elderly people or other such public or private social facilities may request to exercise the right to vote to the electoral office of the closest polling station through the special ballot box.*** The mobile ballot box is also used for detaineesThe persons detained based on a pre trial arrest warrant or those who serve a custodial sentence, but who didn't lose their electoral rights will vote through a special ballot box.Those who are placed in home arrest can also vote through a special ballot box, if they lodge a request in this regard to the electoral bureau of the polling station in whose territorial area the building is located*** The Constitutional Court (CCR) has the final say in validating the referendumThe results centralised nationwide by the BEC, including the number of the votes validly cast for each response on the ballot paper and the number of spoilt ballot paper shall be submitted, with military guard, to the Constitutional Court within 24 hours of the end of the centralization.The CCR presents Parliament a report regarding the observance of the procedure for organising and carrying out the national referendum and confirms its results.The Law revising the Constitution enters into force on the date of publication in the Official Journal of Romania of the Constitutional Court decision confirming the results of the referendum. The CCR publishes the result of the referendum in the Official Journal of Romania and in the press.*** Conditions for validating the votingAccording to Law No.3/2000, in order for the national referendum to be valid, it's necessary a voter turnout of at least 30 percent of the persons registered on the permanent electoral lists. The referendum will be validated if the validated choices represent at least 25 percent of those registered on the permanent electoral rolls.The draft law to revise the Constitution which stipulates that the family is founded on the freely consented marriage between a man and a woman was adopted in September by the Senate.According to the amendment proposed for article 48 of the Constitution, "The family is founded on the freely consented marriage between a man and a woman, their full equality, as well as the right and duty of the parents to ensure the upbringing, education and instruction of their children."Article 48 of the Constitution stipulates that "The family is founded by the freely consented marriage of the spouses."
President of PSD's (Social Democratic Party) branch in Olt County Paul Stanescu on Saturday stated in Slatina that the vote in the referendum on the revision of the Constitution is a historic one, both for the present and future generations.
He urged the population to show up at the polling stations, for their vote means democracy.
"For Romania I believe that this is a historic vote for both the present and the future generations. I believe that I was educated in the spirit of the Romanian values, with a mother, a father, and I built a family together with my wife, we have children and I cannot vote otherwise (...). And I believe that this is the spirit in which all citizens should come to vote, for voting means democracy after all, and all Romanians, all the Romanian citizens should come to vote in this referendum," said Stanescu.
Deputy PM opined that the Saturday attendance "is not so good" in the Olt County for the people are working, but tomorrow, for it's Sunday and a free day from the God, I hope that they will all come to vote, for this means democracy and I am sure that the referendum on the revision of the Constitution will be validated at last, meaning at 9 pm on Sunday," said Paul Stanescu.
Former president Traian Basescu, senator of the People's Movement Party (PMP) declared on Saturday that he showed up to the referendum for amending the Constitution in order to fulfill his civic duty of voting.
"I must do my civic duty, to vote", Traian Basescu said, after voting at the Jean Monnet Highschool in the Capital, asked about his thoughts when showing up to the polls.
Asked about the incident in the polling station when a member of the committee refused to shake hands with him, the former president said: "Yes, there was a gentleman reading a book, which shows that the committee is also politicized, probably a die-hard social-democrat."The former head of state added that the gesture did not bother him."Stupidity cannot bother you, you can feel sorry for it", he specified.Traian Basescu came to vote alongside his wife Maria Basescu.
Prime Minister Viorica Dancila stated that she voted on Saturday, in the referendum to amend the Constitution, for the values she believes in.
"Consulting citizens is the essence of democracy. It is the civic duty of each of us to express ourselves in regards to the topics important to society. The topic of family is an important one for us all. I voted for the values in which I believe," said Dancila, after voting at the Jean Monnet Highschool in Bucharest.
She added that this consultation of citizens represents an expression of democracy. "And I believe that each one of us has the duty to express ourselves one way or another," Dancila added.The head of the executive mentioned that she came to vote in the morning because she will travel to Focsani later for a public event.The Prime Minister also said that she had a discussion with the chairman of the Social Democrat Party (PSD, major, at rule), Liviu Dragnea, who confirmed that he will also turn out to vote on Saturday. "Yes, I spoke with chairman Liviu Dragnea and he will also come to vote, maybe a bit later," the Prime Minister said.Viorica Dancila came to the polls together with her husband Cristinel Dancila.
Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Saturday paid a visit to the Vrancea County, where she stated that Romania is currently facing a workforce problem, especially when it comes to the skilled workforce, and pointed out that it's important the Romanians working abroad to come back home.
"We must admit when there is a problem. And we do have a workforce problem. We issued a normative act in order to attract more workforce to Romania. We need skilled workforce, which is also why we introduced the dual education system, in order for people to acquire the necessary skills. (...) It is important that we bring home the Romanians who are now working abroad and I think that we have managed to do that in the medical sector. And I mean now the doctors, after we increased their salaries up to 3-4,000 euros, which are pretty high salaries, and this resulted not only in convincing doctors to stay, but also convincing a part of those who already left to return," said the PM.
He also added that, in order to solve the workforce problem in the healthcare sector, a solution was to increase the number of resident doctors."Another normative act that we approved last weeks concerns resident doctors, in the case of whom we increased the number of existing spots from 4,000 up to 5,415," said Viorica Dancila.According to her, the increase in the living standards and salaries could convince a part of the Romanians who left to return home.Viorica Dancila paid a short visit to Focsani on Saturday to participate in the "Bachus 2018" Vineyard and Wine Festival, where she visited the stands of the wine producers and also of artisans who presented their creations at the National Fair of Artisans in Piata Unirii.
PNL leader Ludovic Orban on Saturday stated in Timisoara that it is to early to talk about such understandings with future partners in governing, for the priority is represented now by the elections to the European Parliament, followed by the presidential ones, where PNL is going to endorse Klaus Iohannis for a second term in office as President of Romania.
"We are going to run in the elections to the European Parliament with a list of experienced people, who will be able to help us represent Romania's and Romanians' interests in Brussels. After the elections to the EP we will have the presidential elections, where we already know what to do, for PNL unanimously decided at its National Council to back up Mr. Klaus Iohannis for a second term in office as President of Romania. We are involved in this project to continue the activity of Mr. Klaus Iohannis as President of the country. I don't know what other political actors have in mind and, for now, I don't think it's important either what the other political actors have in mind. After the presidential elections, we will see,"explained Ludovic Orban.
The PNL leader assured that the his party will have the best political strategy, so that "we should have the guarantee that PSD will be sent home, if not elsewhere."
In remarks to reporters after the verdict was returned, several jurors noted how Van Dyke failed to retreat or consider other options to apprehend McDonald, who was refusing to obey police orders. One of the first efforts the department embarked on in response to the Van Dyke scandal was to roll out mandated scenario-based training. The training, which began in September 2016, emphasized de-escalation tactics that sought to remind officers how to slow down and avoid quick, misguided decisions in the heat of an exchange. It was the first regular, in-house refresher training required for officers in as long as anyone could recall.
The Boston Red Sox are going to take this series, so we in Boston stand behind our team and are ready to take it to the Yankees. The Red Sox are going to bring back the World Series to its rightful home here in Boston. New England Clam Chowder is the best and the original, thats a truth that we all know, and so the City of Boston looks forward to whooping New York twice by this series end, said Massachusetts Representative Bradford Hill.
Courtesy Long Island PR
New York State and Massachusetts have declared a Chowder War as the Major League Baseball American League Divisional Series begins and the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees take the field tonight in the greatest rivalry in sports and the greatest rivalry in food begins: the iconic Manhattan Clam Chowder vs. New England Clam Chowder. Winner of the baseball series is one step closer to the World Series Championships.A challenge for the honor of the chowder and for the honor on the baseball diamond will take place this week and all bragging rights depend on the results of the ALDS. The Yankees and Red Sox have an age-old hatred one-another dating back to the early 20th Century, with the chowder rivalry beginning shortly thereafter. Historical reports dispute whether Babe Ruth preferred Manhattan Clam Chowder or New England Clam Chowder.Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony DEsposito, a die-hard New York Sports Fan, has agreed to a wager with Massachusetts State Representative Bradford Hill, with Long Islands famous Peters Clam Bar and The Clam Box, located in Ipswich, which is known as the Home of the Ipswich Fried Clam. Losing teams representative has agreed to eat their opponents clam chowder while wearing the opposing teams baseball cap, and donate chowder to a regional food pantry.New England Clam Chowder and Manhattan Clam Chowder have a 80 year-long rivalry which has pitted the two Northeast cities against one-another. Consequently, New England states debated legislation over the years to outlaw tomato use in chowder, which is the signature ingredient for New Yorks own Manhattan Clam Chowder. Peters Clam Bar, a 75-year old clam house, is widely regarded as Long Islands best Manhattan Clam Chowder. The Clam Box, a critically acclaimed clam restaurant, is a nationally recognized approximately 30 miles north of historic Boston.New York never backs down and I am always pumped to see our teams fighting for the win. We are the home of 27 World Series Championships and where the Great Bambino, Babe Ruth, played his best baseball. I cant wait to see Red Sox Fans eating our-famous red Manhattan Clam Chowder, after we march past Boston to the ALCS and ultimately the world series in Yankees style, said Anthony DEsposito, Councilman, Town of Hempstead.
The foreperson, a white woman, said she knew before she was selected for jury service that the case had drawn national and local attention. She had to discipline herself to consider only the evidence at hand rather than her knowledge of the outside circumstances for example, why certain officers were testifying under immunity from prosecution.
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 almost 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been relegated to the dustbin of history. The United States, Canada, and Mexico have agreed on a trilateral trade deal the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to replace it. As expected, the agreement finalized on Sept. 30 is intended to stimulate production in North America and deter outsourcing to low-wage countries in Asia. Imports from other states are being penalized. The timing is perfect. Now President Trump can tout the USMCA as a win just as the November midterm elections are drawing near.
The USMCA contains a special clause that gives Washington a near-veto over any attempt by Canada or Mexico to make deals with China. It stipulates that if one of the three were to sign a free-trade agreement with a non-market country, either of the other two would have the right to terminate the trilateral USMCA with six months notice and form its own bilateral deal on the same terms. As a result, Canada and Mexico cannot act as back channels to ship products tariff-free to the United States. The US and the EU have not recognized China as a free-market economy. Neither has the WTO.
This is a major threat to Beijings position within the global trading system. China is Canada's second-largest trading partner and Canada is China's 13th largest. What this agreement actually is is a forerunner to an economic and trade alliance created in opposition to Beijing. Once it takes effect after being approved by parliaments and Congress, the USMCA will be the first step in an anti-Chinese global campaign, to be followed by other deals aimed at the same goal. Evidently the US is going to insist that a similar clause be inserted into other trade accords, particularly the ones being negotiated with the EU and Japan, plus the one it is trying to develop with other nations of Asia-Pacific region.
There is a link between the USMCA and the EU. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a free-trade pact between Canada and the European Union, came into force a year ago, eliminating 98% of the tariffs between the two parties.
In July, the US and the EU agreed to a ceasefire. President Trump and the European Commission head, Jean-Claude Juncker, agreed to avoid an all-out war and to open up talks on tariffs instead. But that process might falter.
In March, Canada along with major US allies like Japan and Australia, signed a broad trade deal that includes 11 Asia-Pacific nations. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) drastically lowers tariffs and establishes sweeping new trade rules. Agreement was reached after President Trump pulled the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) soon after his inauguration. The TPP was conceived from the start as a counterweight to China, so the US might join with a little help from its friends, such as Canada and Mexico, both parties to the CPTPP. If it does, the CPTPP will inevitably exert great influence on China and become part of the global anti-Beijing campaign.
Japan, a party to the CPTTP, signed a trade deal with the EU in July. It excludes the US and China. A trade deal between the United Kingdom and the United States is moving forward, although its hard to predict when it might be completed.
The US is expected to eventually become part of all the agreements excluding China that are listed above, on the condition that they include a non-market countries clause. It would please the US if this same provision designed to isolate China were included in other US negotiations with the European Union and Japan. The war is on, and international trade is the domain.
China is engaged in talks on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which consists of 14 countries in Asia and Australasia and excludes the US, but looks like that still has a long way to go. Beijing is also part of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) that was established in 2010. China has free-trade agreements in place with Australia, Chile, Peru, and New Zealand. But thats not enough to counter the economic offensive being launched by the US. All those partners are largely dependent on America. When it comes to trade wars, they certainly cant be viewed as Chinas loyal comrades-in arms.
Under the circumstances, integration with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is a promising project. That Union is made up of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. They control 3.2% ($2.2 trillion) of global GDP. If signed, a free-trade agreement would meet the goals of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Nearly 40 countries, including India, Singapore, and Turkey, have expressed their readiness to begin negotiations on free-trade agreements with the EEU or have already entered them.
Russia and China are natural allies. The BRI and Russias pivot toward Asia complement each other. The modernization of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the project to construct high-speed highways inside Russia, including the construction of a railway line traveling through Kazakhstan to northwestern China, look very promising, creating a link between Russia, the countries of Central Asia, China, and Europe.
Actually, a first step in this direction has already been taken. In May, the EEU and China signed a trade and economic agreement. The deal simplified certain procedures but it did not eliminate duties and non-tariff barriers. But marked the first institutional deal between the two entities on economic and trade cooperation.
Russia and China are in the same boat, as they have found themselves the targets of US attacks. Its only natural for them to integrate economically. The more the US tries to reshape the world, the more resistance that policy will meet, as other nations are pushed closer together, expediting the emergence of a multipolar world.
India is in the process of trying to buy four more Talwar frigates from Russia (for $2.2 billion) and five batteries of S-400 SAM systems (for $5.4 billion). These transactions reflect two problems India is having with military procurement. The first is that India felt it could be capable of building all its own warships by now, as well as modern air defense systems. That turned out not to be the case. While two of these Talwars will be built in India the first two will come from Russia and there will be substantial purchases of Russian shipbuilding technology to enable India to build the other two Talwars. The two Russian built Talwars already exist as Admiral Grigorivich class frigates. These are the Russian versions of the Talwars with some differences in weapons and electronics (that can easily be changed). Russia has not put these two ships into service because they do not have their turbine engines, which are manufactured in Ukraine. After Russian invaded Ukraine in 2014 Russia was unable to get the military equipment it had on order with Ukraine. But India can buy the turbines and has made arrangements to do so and have them installed.
Once all four of these Talwars are in service India will build seven advanced (P-17A) "stealth" frigates. These are larger (at 6,600 tons) than the Talwars India ordered since the 1990s. The Stealthy Talwars have their superstructure changed so as to reduce the radar signature (making the ship less likely to show up on enemy radars). Improved weapons and electronics are installed as well, making it a more formidable warship than the original Talwars. India began building the first of three stealth Talwar (Project 17) ships in 2001 and realized it was going to have a difficult time given the current state of Indian warship construction capabilities. India built three of these Project 17 stealth ships but it took nine years for each one to get into service. India is purchasing more experience and manufacturing equipment to speed up warship construction, especially the P-17A ships.
In 2012-13 Russia delivered the last of three Talwar class frigates. These are the last surface ships India is buying abroad. India ordered these three ships (for $1.6 billion) in 2006. The 4,000 ton P-17 project Talwar's are 124.5 meters (386 feet) long, carry 24 anti-aircraft and eight anti-ship missiles, four torpedo tubes, as well as a 100mm gun, short-range anti-missile autocannon, a helicopter, and anti-submarine weapons (rockets and missiles). The ship has a very complete set of electronics gear, except for a troublesome Indian sonar. There is a crew of 180. All of the Talwars are equipped with eight Indian BrahMos anti-ship missile each. The Talwar is a modified version of the Russian Krivak design.
Meanwhile, India was building its own large warships. In July 2014 the Indian Navy received the first (INS Kamorta) of three Indian made corvettes. These are the first locally built modern surface warships for India. The Kamortas are 3,100 ton ships that are 109 meters (355 feet) long and have a top speed of 59 kilometers an hour. They are optimized for anti-submarine warfare and are armed with a 76.2mm gun, two 30mm multi-barrel anti-missile autocannon, two multi (12) barrel 212mm anti-submarine rocket launchers, 16 Barak anti-missile/aircraft missiles and six torpedo tubes. It has a hull-mounted sonar and carries a helicopter that can be armed with four anti-submarine torpedoes. The ship has stealthy features (small radar signature and more difficult for submarine sonar to detect as well.) By 2017 three Kamortas were in service with another under construction. India than plans to order eight more. Before the first three Kamortas were finished it was obvious that Indian warship tech and capabilities needed more help. One problem with the Kamortas was that construction was delayed by inexperience and also took about nine years per ship. China can put similar ships into service in three years.
At that point, India realized that it needed to obtain more help with shipbuilding techniques and technology and halted its plan to stop buying foreign (Russian) warships. More ships and shipbuilding tech would be purchased from Russia until India felt its own shipyards could do the job at least as well as the Russians. This now includes aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines as well as frigates and corvettes.
There is already a problem with building more nuclear subs in India. India discovered with its first locally built nuclear sub (Arihant) that Indian shipbuilders were not really ready to build more nuclear subs without substantial technology transfer. Details of these deals are still being worked out. Meanwhile, India has twelve more nuclear submarines it is ready to build in India, but not with the current state of Indian nuclear sub construction capabilities.
Then there is another problem; the economic (especially American) sanctions imposed on Russia because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014. In general, these sanctions prohibit the sale of any weapons to Russia. In 2014 Russia in the process of buying several types of weapons (and technology in some cases) from the West. That stopped, with France halting the handover of two Mistral amphibious ships to Russia and refunding the billion dollars Russia had already paid for them. Recently the Americans imposed additional sanctions against Russian weapons exports. In 2017 the United States created CAATSA (Countering Americas Adversaries through Sanctions Act) which made it difficult, and in some cases impossible, for Russia to get paid for weapons exports. China has already run afoul of CAATSA because of Su-35 fighters China is buying from Russia. India, which has been improving diplomatic and military relations with the United States is potentially subject to the full force of CAATSA as it tries to carry out these ship and air defense purchases. India hopes to get an exemption on all or some of these purchases. India and Russia have already agreed to pay for the ships and air defense purchases without using dollars. India would pay in its currency (the rupee) and Russia could use the rupee to buy goods from India. However, full use of CAATSA seeks to prohibit even that and given the control the Americans exercise on the global banking system going full CAATSA would be a major problem for Russia and India. At this point, India does not want to damage its military relations with either Russia or the Americans. While India has been moving away from Russia as a supplier of military goods (because of poor quality and even less effective support) the Indian military is still operating with a lot of Russian military tech. If India is to go from Russian weapons to Western ones it wants to do so in an orderly fashion. Russia can make something of that, giving the Russians more opportunities to show that they have really, really improved. The last few times Russia tried that there was, at best, mixed success. So additional opportunities are something to make the most of.
"We have a hard time getting men on the committee. Do you know that we have got four people that are on the committee because the leader asked them to be there? Because they couldn't fill the seats up," Grassley said in that follow-up interview, suggesting Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has had to practically beg several Republicans to sit on the contentious panel.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has described the closing of its 2015-2025 Long Term Plan as revealing a positive annual report.
The 2017/18 Annual Report sets out how the Regional Council performed against its planned activities, for year three of its 2015-2025 Long Term Plan.
It was adopted by council last week and received an unmodified audit opinion by Audit New Zealand.
Council says it highlights the work it has achieved between July 1 2017 and June 30 2018.
Regional Council chair Doug Leeder says hes proud of these achievements, despite working in an environment which continued to change and required a level of agility and responsiveness from staff.
We managed to achieve a lot despite some of the challenges we were dealing with including the work on our river schemes following the April 2017 flooding.
Repair works have been progressing on programme schedule and 119, or 23 percent of the highest priority work sites have been completed to date.
A substantial part of the Edgecumbe College Road Stopbank Realignment Project has also been delivered along with Stage 4 of the Rangitaiki Floodway Project.
He says council also managed to maintain a strong focus on water management, with progress made implementing the Governments National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management.
This included finalising values and objectives for Kaituna and Rangitaiki Water Management Areas (Plan Change 12) while continuing modelling work.
Improving water quality in Rotoruas lakes continued to be a significant part of our work during the year, he says. The Lake Rotorua Incentives Scheme progressed, with six incentive agreements put in place that, when fully implemented, will see an 11.5 tonnes reduction of nitrogen entering Lake Rotorua.
In addition the Tauranga Harbour Catchment saw strong progress throughout the year, with 340 tonnes of sea lettuce and 1,000 kg of rubbish removed from foreshores, streams and estuaries, progress was made supporting the Kaituna River Re-diversion and Ongatoro/Maketu Estuary Enhancement Project and more than 100 people, including representatives from six Te Arawa iwi gathered at Tukotahi Marae to celebrate the start of construction work on 12 June 2018.
In conjunction, the Papahikahawai Island Biodiversity Management Plan is on track with 90% of all plants now in, as a result of 20,000 new plants put in during the winter of 2018.
He says the council was pleased to be progressing on some of the financial goals it had set for itself.
We delivered our work programme through operating expenditure of $118.3 million compared to a budget of $124.7 million. We also delivered a significant increase in our capital works programme with capital expenditure of $36.5 million, compared to a budget of $43.4 million.
Doug says the Regional Council was now focussed on delivering on its Long Term Plan 2018-2028, which has set the Councils direction and plan for the next three years.
This includes how the Regional Council will deliver on four outcomes for the community: a Healthy Environment, Freshwater for Life, Safe and Resilient Communities and A Vibrant Region.
People can read about these plans on the BOPRC website.
The full Annual Report and Summary are also available online.
Other highlights
Bus services continued for Tauranga, Rotorua and rural areas with more than 2.9 million passengers boarding the services throughout the year, according to figures released by Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
The Western Bay of Plenty Public Transport Blueprint was completed and approved during the year and the bus services tender for the Western Bay of Plenty Blueprint was completed as well.
The Transport Planning Activity completed a review of the Regional Land Transport Plan and submitted this to the New Zealand Transport Agency.
Throughout the year we developed and consulted with our community on our Long Term Plan 2018-2028 consultation document. This gave us the opportunity to engage with a wide range of stakeholders including the general public, iwi, local authorities, community boards, and business and helped inform how we will deliver our activities for our community over the next 10 years.
We continue to support the capacity of Maori to participate in council decision making processes including through councils Komiti Maori and support for iwi members on Treaty of Waitangi co-governance forums.
Fire appliances have been called to a fire in Opotiki this afternoon.
Four appliances were sent to a fire on the corner of St John Street and Ford Street at around 3. 30pm .
On arrival the crews found a hall was on fire. The fire was well involved.
It's understood children were seen running from the scene.
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A former petrol station employee says fuel companies are taking advantage of New Zealand drivers.
More than 15,000 New Zealanders are part of a Facebook group planning to boycott petrol stations throughout the country later this month in protest against rising fuel prices.
Petrol is now above $2.50 a litre is some main centres, due to new Government taxes and higher overseas crude oil prices.
One protester Cory, who's also a former petrol station employee, says his problem isn't with Government taxes, but with petrol retailers.
"Everyone uses petrol, we have to pay for it if we need to get anywhere, but they pay their employees biscuits and to deal with really angry customers, disgruntled people and to deal with hazardous chemicals - petrol is a hazardous chemical."
Z Energy says hands tied over petrol increases
The country's biggest fuel retailer says its hands are tied over higher prices at the pump and is warning more is to come.
Z Energy's chief executive Mike Bennetts says he understood the frustration of those planning to boycott petrol stations.
The lower New Zealand exchange rate, along with higher overseas crude oil prices, had pushed fuel prices upwards, he says.
"There are sanctions going in against Iran that come into effect on 1 November and that's really the primary reason why crude prices have gone up by so much in the last month or two," he says.
Mr Bennetts says there would unlikely be any immediate relief in petrol prices and warned they could go higher.
"We would regret passing that on as I said to businesses and families," he added.
The company's profit margin on petrol has stayed relatively the same, he says.
However Cory says Mr Bennetts' comments weren't good enough.
"I understand we're basically at the bottom of the world, we're the most furthest point from anywhere that creates fuel and pumps it up but I still reckon it's part of an excuse...I mean, petrol's $1.30 in Aussie at the moment so why is it a whole $1.30 more here."
The daily news report is filled with cruelty and injustice. At times, the public is moved to outrage. Once that flames out, we are left with ... ashes. The story rarely comes full circle to justice or redemption.
An exception might be the incident involving a homeless man in Syracuse who fell asleep Sunday night at the Dunkin' donut shop on North Salina Street. He was awakened by an employee pouring a pitcher of cold water on him, and the cell phone he was charging. Another employee caught the act and posted it to social media. After Syracuse.com reported it, the story went viral around the world.
People were rightly outraged on behalf of Jeremy Dufresne, the man who was drenched. An advocate for the homeless threatened a boycott. The owners of the shop first suspended, then fired the workers who mistreated Dufresne; later, they signed up to serve lunch to the homeless. The Glazed and Confused Donut shop donated 1,000 donuts to Syracuse homeless shelters. Our community's response was heartfelt and heartening, dwarfing the considerable amount of money raised for Dufresne through a Go Fund Me page.
Then, another remarkable thing happened. The worker who poured the pitcher of cold water on Dufresne, Shakeen Robbins, publicly took responsibility for his actions. At other times, he said, he had tried to help Dufresne, who has mental health issues. Robbins said his cruel act sprang from frustration.
"It was wrong, completely. I felt wrong as soon as I did it," he told reporter Marnie Eisenstadt. "I want to apologize to him."
Friday, the story came full circle. After consulting with Dufresne and others, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick announced that Robbins would perform 75 hours of community service with the homeless in lieu of a criminal charge. Fitzpatrick called on all of us to "approach the problem of homelessness with a starting point of dignity and respect for all people."
We also are called to live up to the values we try to teach our kids. Have empathy for someone who may just be having a bad day. Own up to your mistakes, even if means a million people who don't know you will hate you for it. Be kind, even when it's hard.
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Syracuse.com reader Glen Owens recently shared the above photo after a friend thought he would find interesting.
It might be one of the most famous photographs ever taken of a Syracuse resident.
The photo, taken on Sept. 3, 1945, shows a World War II soldier from Syracuse, Bernard "Bud" Stapleton raising the first American flag over Tokyo, just one day after the formal Japanese surrender. Bombed out buildings can be seen in the background.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur poses for a portrait in Manila in 1945. The hero of the Pacific in World War II was furious after a Syracuse lieutenant upstaged his flag-raising ceremony in Tokyo following Japan's surrender.
It was run on the front pages of many American newspapers.
Much to the annoyance of General Douglas MacArthur.
Bud Stapleton was 23 years old when he became an overnight sensation. He had grown up on Rider Avenue in Syracuse and was a graduate of Christian Brothers Academy.
He studied public speaking while at CBA, which led to a job at Auburn radio station WMBO and later Watertown's WATN.
He was a radio announcer at Syracuse's WSYR when the United States entered World War II.
"I went looking for war and I found it," he said in 1993.
He joined the service on July 10, 1942 and took an eight-month-long Signal Corps Course at Syracuse University.
In Sept. 1944 he was made a lieutenant following an accelerated course at Officers' Candidates School.
He was sent overseas in Feb. 1945, doing public relations work for the Signal Corps out of Manila in the Philippines, providing news materials to the press services and radio.
In a Sept. 19, 1945 WSYR radio broadcast, Stapleton's friend, E.R. Vadeboncoeur, said that he "was doing a hard and interesting job of helping record the history of the Pacific war, as a writer in the Signal Corps."
Stapleton injured his knee when a land mine exploded under a jeep he was in. Others in the vehicle were killed.
As plans for the invasion of the Japanese mainland began, Stapleton was more than likely preparing to head to China with his unit, when the war unexpectedly ended following the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Japan surrendered unconditionally on Aug. 14, 1945.
It was members of the Signal Corps, including Stapleton, which were the first Americans to arrive in Japan. They set up communications before the rest of the army arrived.
Accounts differ on how Stapleton ended up in Tokyo on Sept. 3, 1945, a day after Japan's formal surrender aboard the U.S.S. Missouri.
Stapleton told the Orlando Sentinel in 1995 that he and Captain Morton Sontheimer, a photographer, decided "on a lark" to sneak into the city.
An Aug 10, 1995 Post-Standard story, said they were there to "make sure the city was safe and to confiscate all Japanese film of the bombing of Hiroshima."
In Oct. 1945, Stapleton told the Herald-Journal what it was like to be an American in Tokyo immediately after the war ended:
"Our first stunt was to walk around the Tokyo streets unarmed just to see what the people would do. They stared after us for blocks, and when we went into a department store all business in the place stopped. We pretended not to notice but of course it was a great show."
On Sept. 3, he noticed a lot of Japanese flags flying.
"I decided we should put something in their place," Stapleton said in 1993.
He and Sontheimer raced to the top of the tall Nippon News building. Stapleton raised the American flag over Tokyo while Sontheimer captured the moment on his camera.
Sontheimer kept his own name out of the caption but identified Stapleton, who figured the photo would never pass the military censors.
But in an ironic twist of fate, Stapleton's cousin, Don McInerney, also of Syracuse, was on the Battleship Iowa where the film was processed. Believing he was doing his cousin a favor, he allowed the photo to clear the censors.
The photo was soon on nearly every front page across the country.
Stapleton was now known as the "Yank in Tokyo" and he even received a letter from the Queen of England, who saw the photo in The Times of London.
"That's our Bud!" his mother exclaimed in the Sept. 7, 1945 edition of the Herald-Journal.
A figure of Lt. Bernard Stapleton stands at an exhibit at the Onondaga County War Memorial honoring veterans of Syracuse and Onondaga County.
(In one of those amazing coincidences that makes history so compelling, Stapleton's brother, Ensign T. Ray Stapleton, made one of the first naval flights over Tokyo in a Hellcat fighter. His mother said Bud's flag display was just another "first for the Stapletons over Tokyo.")
Less excited about Stapleton's stunt was Douglas MacArthur who had planned his own flag-raising ceremony at the American embassy after he entered the city a few days later.
The General had it all planned out: President Harry Truman had sent the American flag used at the German surrender at Potsdam earlier that year.
When he learned that he had been upstaged by the Syracuse lieutenant, MacArthur was furious and summoned Stapleton for a face-to-face meeting.
Stapleton was unconcerned at first.
"The war was over," he told the Herald American in 1981. "The worst he could do was make me a civilian."
Stapleton later said that MacArthur "tore up my promotions, he tore up my decorations" and nearly had him sent to New Guinea.
"You cannot imagine what it is like to be chewed out by a five-star general," he said.
Stapleton returned to Syracuse, and after a period in the hospital to treat his knee and "jungle rot," he became news director at WSYR and later WNDR. He also worked for Barlow Advertising before retiring to Florida.
"I'm alive, but I won't come back to prove it," Stapleton told a Syracuse reporter in 1993. "I don't like the cold."
He died in 1999.
A full-size figure of Stapleton is on display at the Onondaga County War Memorial, a building he had a bit of history with.
In 1949 he had been asked by Gold Star Mothers to help with the ground-breaking ceremony.
His job was to raise the American flag.
This feature is a part of CNY Nostalgia, a section on syracuse.com. Send your ideas and curiosities to Johnathan Croyle: Email | 315-427-3958.
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Big quote: The internet age and digital revolution have changed Americans way of life. As our lives and the U.S. economy are more tied to the internet, it is essential to provide Americans with basic protections online. Ro Khannas introduction to his ten principles of online rights, which he hopes to make legislation if the Democrats win the House back in November.
Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi commissioned Khanna, who is Californias 17th districts representative, to draft this Internet Bill of Rights six months ago. Khanna discussed it with Silicon Valley giants such as Google and Apple (who are based within his district) and with think tanks and experts. Even internet founder Tim Berners-Lee chipped in, saying that if the internet is to live up to its potential as a force for good in the world, we need safeguards that ensure fairness, openness and human dignity.
The ten principles give you the right:
To have access to and knowledge of all collection and uses of personal data by companies. To opt-in consent to the collection of personal data by any party and to the sharing of personal data with a third party. Where context appropriate and with a fair process, to obtain, correct or delete personal data controlled by any company and to have those requests by third parties. 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. To move all personal data from one network to the next. (Data portability) To access and use the internet without internet service providers blocking, throttling, engaging in paid prioritization or otherwise unfairly content, applications, services or devices. (Net neutrality) To internet service without the collection of data that is unnecessary for providing the requested service absent opt-in consent. To have access to multiple viable, affordable internet platforms, services and providers with clear and transparent pricing. Not to be unfairly discriminated against or exploited based on your personal data. To have an entity that collects your personal data have reasonable business practices and accountability to protect your privacy.
Many of these principles have recently been in conflict, with #6 and #8 net neutrality currently in a tug of war between the FCC and California. The European Union has already legislated #3 in whats known as right to be forgotten laws, while Instagram and Facebook have recently implemented #5. Essentially, the purpose of the principles is not to introduce new ideas but to summarize them into one list so that they can be supported and fought for as a whole.
All ten principles are good for internet users, theres no debate there. Pelosi strongly believes that legislation would get public support and promises that Democrats will fight for the bill if theyre successful in the midterms, but will they be successful enough? Even if they are, will they manage to legislate it? Considering how hard the FCC has fought against California creating its own net neutrality, and how they blatantly ignored overwhelming public support for net neutrality, any bill supporting these rights would face an uphill battle.
Khanna agrees it will be a long road: This is a 15-year fight, but I do not think tech is immediately primed against it and Congress is more willing to be strong on regulation, he told the New York Times. Tech is amoral it is great in many ways but not as great in others, and they need to now spend the next 10 years thinking about how they shape that tech for public good.
Pelosi insists that they must try regardless of the challenges they may face. Something needs to be done to protect the privacy of the American people. Think backward a dozen years and look forward a decade. Like they say, you havent seen nothing yet.
Facepalm: On Thursday, Elon Musk tweeted Just want to that the shortseller enrichment commission is doing incredible work. And the name change is so on point. Tesla shares have dropped over 7% since then, taking them even lower than they were after the SEC (which actually stands for the Securities and Exchange Commission) announced their lawsuit. Musk responded by further bullying short sellers on Twitter.
Someone really needs to delete Musks Twitter account. We all know the story by now: Musk suggested on Twitter that Saudi Arabia would be taking Tesla private, sending shares soaring, but changed his mind shortly after, resulting in the SEC filing a lawsuit against Musk saying that he had been manipulating shares. They then agreed to a settlement that was just recently signed by a judge, stipulating that Musk had to step down as Chairman of Tesla and pay a $20 million fine.
It appears a lot of people are very salty about the whole affair. Many Tesla investors took to Twitter to complain that Musk was burning their money with his tweets, one going so far as to even say: I have lost 30 years of my life savings all on Tesla thanks to your tweets, please stop. While venting his anger, Musk took aim at short sellers, tweeting that what they do should be illegal. He later added that the last several years have taught me that they are indeed reasonably maligned.
Greenlight Capital, an investment firm who had just short sold Tesla stocks, felt particularly irritated. In an investor letter obtained by Reuters today, Hedge fund manager David Einhorn compared Tesla to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., a company whose bankruptcy Einhorn had predicted four months in advance. Like Lehman, we think the deception is about to catch up to Tesla. Elon Musks erratic behaviour suggests that he sees it the same way.
Einhorn spent quite some time in his letter insulting the despondent Musk and allegedly doomed Tesla. Musk responded, again on Twitter, by announcing he would send Einhorn a box of short shorts to comfort him during this difficult time.
Musk is a bit too witty for his own good. Rather wisely, the SEC declined to comment on the tweets.
The opposition Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) repeated today its victory in the Argentinean legislative elections, where it retained five new seats in the Senate, although it... | Read More
Former Secretary of State Tom Schedler and the woman who led to his abrupt downfall by suing him for sexual harassment have resolved their differences, their attorneys said in a court filing Friday.
Lawyers representing state employee Dawn Ross, Schedler and the state filed a joint motion to dismiss the lawsuit that Ross filed in Baton Rouge state court in February.
Schedler resigned in May, comparing media coverage of the suit to gossipy "tabloid" fodder. He would have been up for a third term next year.
Both sides are asking state District Judge Tim Kelley to dismiss the case, saying "the parties have amicably resolved their differences."
No terms of the out-of-court settlement are included in the court filing by Jill Craft, who represents Ross; Floyd Falcon Jr., who represents Schedler individually; and Special Assistant Attorneys General John Walsh, Mary Ann White and Caroline Tomeny Bond, who represent the state and the Secretary of State's Office.
Ross, who was Schedler's onetime executive secretary for a time, claims he sexually harassed her for more than a decade and retaliated against her after she rejected his unrelenting advances by transferring her to undesirable assignments.
Ross, who came forward publicly after filing the suit, alleged that Schedler sent her love letters and sex tapes. She also said he sent her Valentine's Day cards addressed to "My Dearest Sunshine," roses and clothing.
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Schedler, who is married, claimed he had a "consensual sexual relationship" with Ross. She denied that assertion.
Schedler sent Ross sexually suggestive emails over the years, emails that were published by The Advocate. The emails showed he made advances toward Ross during the course of regular business exchanges, using his state email account.
In one email, Schedler told Ross he was trying to "undress" her with his mind.
Read the suggestive cards, letters, emails at heart of lawsuit against Secretary of State Tom Schedler Emails, Christmas cards, birthday greetings and other notes obtained by The Advocate offer the first glimpse of Louisiana Secretary of State T
The prominent St. Tammany Parish Republican once wrote a message to the woman saying he loved her and was always hoping "you would love me back!" He referred to Ross in another exchange as a "hot gal."
Schedler also invited her on cross-country trips and propositioned her with wine and hand-written Christmas and birthday cards.
Ross has said she felt even more uncomfortable after Schedler bought a residence near hers in Baton Rouge and began keeping close tabs on her and her visitors.
Less than 36 hours after his release from prison, Steve Perkins sat in front of a class of law students, giving them advice.
Perkins hadn't been in a traditional classroom in more than four decades, yet here he was as evidence that youthful offenders once sent away for life could be rehabilitated even after killing someone.
In the 80s, even though there was no hope (in Angola), I still bettered myself, Perkins told the students. I didnt want to just be the same naive kid that had a murder charge that was in for life.
Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have declared that, except in extremely rare cases of "irreparable corruption," youthful offenders should not be sentenced to a life behind bars, deserving a meaningful opportunity to win their freedom. Justices found that juveniles are inherently different from adults, with diminished culpability and a greater capacity to rehabilitate.
Louisiana had about 300 prisoners like that, placing the state third nationally, behind Pennsylvania and Michigan, in the number of juvenile offenders serving terms of life without parole. Under a new state law, about two-thirds have since received new sentences that include an opportunity for parole, but many of the remaining cases languish.
The effort to win their release has gone slowly, which had brought Perkins to the LSU Law Clinic. He was one of a few with first-hand success, able to advise student interns how to support their future clients other so-called juvenile lifers convicted of murders committed when they were 17 or younger.
+4 With new law on the books, La. courts prepare to re-sentence hundreds of juvenile murderers After spending a half-century serving life without parole for a murder committed as a teenager, Henry Montgomery is now preparing for a parole
The law clinic, along with Baton Rouge-based nonprofit Louisiana Parole Project, aids juvenile offenders through the entire parole process, helping to illustrate the inmates development throughout their time in prison and then prepare a reentry plan.
Perkins went before the Louisiana Parole Committee on July 31, hoping to demonstrate his growth since shooting and killing a grocery store clerk at age 17. He had a negative risk factor the lowest the committee had seen only one disciplinary infraction in the last decade and earned the prison's highest trusty status. In 1987, well before education and rehabilitation courses were mainstream at the state's maximum security prison, Perkins earned his GED. The panel declared him a stand-out candidate for a second chance.
"I am not a religious person, but doing this work makes you believe in redemption, said Perkins' attorney, Bob Lancaster, who directs the LSU Law Clinic. (It) demonstrates the power that individuals have to change their lives.
After Supreme Court mandate: How is Louisiana giving juvenile lifers their shot at freedom? Since the Supreme Court in early 2016 once again ruled that Louisiana was and had been for decades unconstitutionally sentencing juveniles
Freedom after 44 years
Two weeks after Perkins was granted parole, Andrew Hundley and Kerry Myers, the executive and deputy directors of the Louisiana Parole Project, sat in an idling SUV outside the front gates of Angola. They knew exactly what to expect as they had both left the maximum security prison within the last two years: Myers on a commuted sentence for a murder that he has always maintained he didn't commit, and Hundley as the states first juvenile lifer re-sentenced and granted parole after the 2016 Supreme Court ruling that found mandatory life without parole for youth offenders was retroactively unconstitutional.
Moments later, Hundley greeted Perkins with a handshake that quickly turned into a hug, then helped him carry the large white trash bag and a manila folder he carried together holding all of the possessions to Perkins name. Myers snapped photographs of Perkins first steps as a free man in 44 years.
On the drive back to Baton Rouge, Myers evaluated Perkins' know-how for seemingly average tasks often foreign to juvenile lifers institutionalized since they were teens: applying for jobs, filing taxes, learning about email, acquiring health insurance, setting up a bank account.
Theres a lot I dont know, Perkins said.
Hundley was quick to reassure him. That was why he, Myers and their team at Louisiana Parole Project were there on this first day. And they would be there over the next few weeks and as a continued resource for years to come.
Others 'no less deserving'
By of the end of September more than two years after the most-recent Supreme Court ruling on juvenile offenders 31 of Louisiana's juvenile lifers had parole hearings. Eight were denied, while 23 won their release.
The first of those was Hundley, who entered prison for a murder committed at age 15. Benefiting from the Supreme Courts ruling on fellow inmate Henry Montgomery, Hundley, then 34, left prison in the summer of 2016 after serving 19 years. Montgomery, who is in his 70s, was still incarcerated after more than five decades in prison. He was denied parole in February.
All of Louisiana's juvenile lifers had been imprisoned on murder convictions that had carried mandatory life without parole sentences; all had been 17 or younger at the time of the offense and just under half were 15 or 16, according to the Department of Corrections. More than half had already served over 20 years in prison; three quarters were 35 or older. Almost 80 percent were black.
So in many ways, Hundley was an exception. He was young. Hes white. Louisianas justice system had responded relatively quickly, first acknowledging the decisions from the Supreme Court that said children who commit even the most heinous crimes can be rehabilitated.
Cases expected to clog Louisiana courts, and cost millions, after state fails to address unconstitutional life sentences About 300 Louisiana inmates spending their lives in prison for murders committed as teens are turning to the courts after the Legislature fail
But Hundley also knew he was different in other important aspects. His family was able to hire a private attorney for his resentencing and parole hearing. His parents and sister still supported him. He had a community in the free world ready to embrace him. From behind bars, he had completed college courses and found success in mainstream service and leadership organizations.
"Being told that I was paroled was a very bittersweet feeling for me, Hundley said. So many of my friends, so many people I considered brothers, I grew up with were no less deserving than I was.
So just weeks after he reentered free society, Hundley collaborated with Lancaster and Keith Nordyke, the attorney who had represented Hundley through his parole process, to ensure that each juvenile lifer in Louisiana would have the same support and opportunities he had, together forming the Louisiana Parole Project.
1974 deadly robbery
Perkins was 17 when he and a friend robbed the Southside Grocery in old south Baton Rouge, just blocks from his childhood home. During the heist, Perkins shot 32-year-old Rita Decuir, a mother of four. The teens made out with $30.
Within months, Perkins was convicted of first-degree murder and initially sentenced to death. But after Louisiana's death penalty procedures were declared unconstitutional, he was given a life term. In 1977 at age 19, he was sent to Angola.
Perkins had been caught on the wrong path since junior high, emulating older peers in his neighborhood, picking fights, skipping school and committing burglaries.
"Having two older brothers making a name for themselves out in the streets, me being the baby brother, I felt like I had to follow in their footsteps, so that led me to start hanging out, skipping school, stealing just to be in," Perkins wrote about his childhood.
Perkins spent his first three years in a segregated cell block because "he looked too young for the general prison population, his attorneys wrote in his parole packet. When he did join the main prison, Perkins often turned to violence to prove his manhood, and to survive.
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But by the late 1980s, his disciplinary infractions began a sharp decline. He started going to church. A high school equivalency diploma and EMT and CPR certifications followed. Then in 2016, when the possibility of a second chance became real, he wrote to a judge about his case.
What I did was wrong and Im deeply sorry for being responsible for the death of another person, Perkins wrote. I was a kid and I did not know anything about the importance of another persons life, nor was I a responsible individual. But Sir, I want you to know that I am someone that can be a productive citizen.
Decuir's widower opposed Perkins' release.
A 32-year mother was taken away, leaving a husband and four loving children, Alvin F. Decuir Sr. wrote in a letter with Perkins' recent court filings. We have forgiven convict Perkins for the crime he committed but cannot agree to place him on the streets, unemployed, derelict, with no friends and bad habits.
The parole committee is asked to consider victim opposition when taking up case, but for youthful offenders, it is also to give great weight to the fact that youth are less responsible than adults are for their actions, according to the boards updated guidelines after the Montgomery decision. And when he was granted that supervised freedom, it was on the condition that he be released to the Louisiana Parole Project, which has served all but one of the other paroled juvenile lifers.
All of (our clients) are successful, Hundley recently told the parole committee. We will be with him every step of the way.
Francis Abbott, the executive director of the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole, praised Louisiana Parole Projects work with the juvenile lifers, but also other long-serving prisoners known at '40-year lifers,' sentenced in the 1970s with the opportunity of parole but who subsequently saw that chance taken away. None of its more than 40 clients have re-offended.
We have some level of confidence in the work that they do, Abbott said. "I think if the Parole Project took on all parole cases the outcome would be positive, the things they target as needs for these offenders are risks that are rampant across all reentry.
Reentry with the Louisiana Parole Project
Perkins sat in the Louisiana Parole Project's downtown office in late August with a pair of reading glasses on his head. The day's task: developing a budget with Michelle Carriere, a retired Capital One employee and Louisiana Parole Project board member.
Its not going to be that bad, Carriere said.
Perkins hopes to buy a used truck and one day open a shop to sell handmade, wooden furniture. They went over deposits and car insurance and financing. She talked to him about taxes. Then she asked him to distinguish between potential wants and needs and he showed some brief frustration.
All this is new to me, Perkins said. I cant say this is a need because I dont know. Im not familiar. I was a juvenile, I never experienced nothing like this.
So they back up. And slowly, with the help of Parole Project reentry director Steve Amort, Perkins fills out a blank budget based on a potential salary. He catches on to using a calculator, his first time.
After youve been gone that long you need a program like this, Perkins said. They had to let us out, but they were just throwing us out but this program here, its amazing.
Earlier that week, Perkins had already met with a financial literacy adviser to review banking, a human resources professional for mock job interviews and a criminal justice professor to discuss law enforcement interactions. He filled out job applications and completed driving school. Hundley took him to Walmart, where the toothpaste aisle became a lesson on branding and marketing.
In the coming days, there will be sessions on social norms and stress management and meals with peers from the community.
"These are incredibly high-stakes individuals ... because theyre all murder cases. The public is not going to tolerate failure," Nordyke said. "These folks are coming out having never learned to be self-sufficient, theyve never had to scramble for a paycheck, theyve never gone grocery shopping. ... Our job is to teach those skills. If we dont, failure becomes a much higher option.
'For the ones that come behind'
After about a month in transitional housing where Perkins lived in a complex with other former inmates, he prepared to leave his one-room apartment painted an absurd pink and green. (Hundley picked the colors himself watermelon and frolic green, he said for an immediate shock to the senses for client's first days out of prison.)
Perkins had plans to move back into the home where he grew up, but this time it will just be with his now 81-year-old father; his mother died years ago, as did a brother, but three other siblings, who all live nearby, will be frequently in touch.
His focus right now is to find employment. So far, it hasn't been easy: struggling with transportation, finding a decent wage or simply feeling prepared.
Whatever door opens for me, Im going through it, Perkins said. Theyre going to be very impressed with my work ethic; Im not doing this for me, Im doing this for the ones that come behind me.
His niece recently interviewed him for a school project on criminal justice reform. He's attended churches with different friends and family members each Sunday to find the right one. At a lunch with a community member, he was asked to speak to a youth group.
I would love to, Perkins always responds. I appreciate it. I appreciate you.
And he does, gushing about an evening drive with old friends, headed nowhere in particular. Or cutting his father's grass. Or tasting a steak fajita for the first time, after learning how to pile the ingredients inside a tortilla.
Attorneys, prosecutors weigh how to act on decision allowing young murder defendants hope for parole When an Ascension Parish jury found 17-year-old Jeffrey Lively guilty of second-degree murder, President Ronald Reagan was still in his first term.
The Louisiana Parole Project individualizes each of their client's reentry like they did with Perkins, spending more time on cell phones for older clients and explaining online dating to younger ones. Some quickly move back with family after a week of the non-profit's intensive step-down transition program, or others move to a long-term supportive housing program in Opelousas that assists in job placement.
As each one moves forward with the safety net of the Louisiana Parole Project, board member C. Geron "Gee Gee" Hargon counts that as one less person in the states care and one more contributing to the economy.
The cost benefit is just kickass, said Hargon, a longtime Baton Rouge businessman who readily admits he never thought about inmates until recently. With about 40 such inmates successfully released, who they estimate cost the state on average about $38,000 a year, that's about $1.5 million already saved, he said. He points out the program turns the men from "tax burden to tax payer."
+5 One year later: These questions, concerns about big 'reinvestment' from state's criminal justice reforms A year since the state passed massive criminal justice reforms, much of the focus has been on Louisiana newly shedding its notorious title as
But what will come next for the new nonprofit is not clear. The grant that funded their work will run out at the end of the year and they are still waiting to hear back on new funding, including the Department of Corrections community reentry grants.
Hundley often glances at the whiteboard in their office, where they have listed the almost 20 juvenile lifers scheduled for parole hearings through the end of 2018, and many more 40-year lifers, newly eligible parole. Then, the more than 20 juvenile lifers sitting in prison, eligible for parole and without a hearing date. And many others still waiting to get their new sentences after prosecutors filed to deny their chance of parole.
"The work we have to do continues, Hundley said. "I see myself as an example of the power of second chances, but theres no doubt in my mind that if (others) got the same opportunity that I received, that they would excel also.
Since the Supreme Court in early 2016 once again ruled that Louisiana was and had been for decades unconstitutionally sentencing juveniles to life in prison without the opportunity for release, the state has made some substantial strides. But many advocates say Louisiana is far from where it should be.
Prior to a series of court rulings, there were about 300 so-called juvenile lifers in the state's prison system. Two-thirds have since been resentenced and about two dozen have won parole.
I think Louisiana is moving in the right direction, said Heather Renwick, the legal director for The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, a DC advocacy group. The fact that some people are home is certainly a step forward, but the fact that the state continues to seek life without parole (in so many cases) is the most obvious way that Louisiana is out of step with the rest of the country.
+22 'Believe in Redemption': A 17-year-old murderer's 2nd chance, and the team helping him succeed Less than 36 hours after his release from prison, Steve Perkins sat in front of a class of law students, giving them advice.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in 2012, found that juveniles except in the most rare and uncommon of cases were redeemable and deserved a shot at a second chance. In 2016, the justices ruled in Montgomery v. Louisiana that this applies retroactively.
Legislators last year targeted inmates convicted of murders committed when they were 15, 16 or 17. Part of the criminal justice reform 10-bill package, Act 277, gave all of Louisiana's about 300 juvenile lifers the automatic opportunity for parole, but in about a third of those cases district attorneys argued to maintain 'life means life' sentences.
While the majority of those 100 or so cases still await resolution from a judge, juvenile advocates are also monitoring how Louisiana is actually implementing the new sentences and whether it is providing a meaningful opportunity for release through parole.
"The (parole) hearings are moving at a slow pace, said Kerry Myers, the deputy director for Louisiana Parole Project, a nonprofit that assists the juvenile lifers with their parole hearings and, if granted, their reentry into society. There are states that have done completely the opposite, theyre holding hearings, they're expediting the process.
In Louisiana, 23 juvenile lifers had been released on parole as of late September, primarily men in their 50s and 60s who had served decades in prison, according to the Department of Corrections, about 8 percent of the total population.
Meanwhile Pennsylvania, which had the nation's highest number of juvenile lifers in custody in 2016 with about 530, had released almost 30 percent, according to numbers from the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth from mid-September. And Michigan had released almost 15 percent of their initial 360 juvenile lifers, with 50 now free on parole. However, Renwick noted that Michigan officials have sought to keep life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders in a greater proportion of cases than Louisiana, about 60 percent, she said.
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I think (the Louisiana parole committee is) dealing with a little bit of a capacity problem; there are men and women who are in line who need to be seen, said Jill Pasquarella, the supervising attorney for the Louisiana Center for Children's Rights.
There at least 40 juvenile lifers in Louisiana eligible for parole who meet all the state's requirements which include serving 25 years, a good disciplinary record and completing many rehabilitative courses but are still awaiting parole hearings, according to the Department of Corrections.
+6 Do young killers deserve chance at parole? Baton Rouge case grapples with question in court More than 23 years ago, 15-year-old Damien Riley browsed through the Legends Comics and Sports Cards store on Highland Road, then aimed his gu
However, Francis Abbott, the executive director of the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole, noted that more than half of those waiting have hearings scheduled in the next six months, and he maintained the board's commitment to hear these cases, which come on top of all their other parole and pardon hearings.
Were reviewing some violent offenses, were not going to rush through these cases, Abbott said. We dont want anybody to call into question the integrity of one of our board hearings.
Overall, Pasquarella said, she is generally glad to see the way the three-panel parole committee has handled the cases they've heard. Eight of the 31 cases heard by the parole committee at the end of September were denied, about 25 percent so far.
I think that they are making efforts to be responsible, reasonable and thoughtful and that is encouraging, and yet there have been decisions that are extremely concerning for us, Pasquarella said, pointing to some of the denials, like the case of Henry Montgomery. His parole was denied despite being the case the Supreme Court cited in its arguments for why juvenile offenders deserve the opportunity of a second chance.
Still, Keith Nordyke, an attorney who has specialized in parole representation and is a founder of Louisiana Parole Project, said the inches of progress are positive.
Any institutional change is going to take time to implement, Nordyke said. "Frankly weve got to pat the Parole Project on the back because I dont think the board would have been as comfortable releasing many of these cases without having our guys at the front gate to pick them up, hold their hands and re-introduce them to society in a slow, measured way.
That support from the Louisiana Parole Project ensures juvenile lifers remain on the overwhelmingly positive paths they've created for themselves in prison, said Bob Lancaster, also an attorney and founder of the nonprofit. A disproportionate number of the juvenile lifers are prison trustees or work high-stakes jobs.
"The juvenile clients really, really have changed and all of them have done really well in prison," he said. "Theyve all become model prisoners and they dont pose a risk."
WASHINGTON All eyes in the U.S. Capitol were focused Friday on a handful of undecided senators who could tip the balance on Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination.
Louisiana Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, both Republicans, werent among them.
Both have staunchly supported Kavanaugh through much of the nomination process, praising the judges experience, punching at critics and dismissing sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh as uncorroborated or partisan smears.
But neither Cassidy nor Kennedy appeared in triumphant moods after Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, declared her support Friday afternoon, likely sealing Kavanaughs confirmation.
Using a phrase hes leaned heavily on this week, Kennedy again described Kavanaughs confirmation process as an intergalactic freak show and, again, suggested the U.S. Senate mightve hit its lowest point.
Ive only been here 22 months but Ive been around politics my whole life, Kennedy said, This is the darkest of the dark side.
Kennedy himself has contributed to the vitriol. In an appearance on Fox News host Tucker Carlson's show Monday night, Kennedy wondered whether some Senate Democrats "have souls" and whether they were "breast-fed" or "went right to raw meat."
Cassidy, meanwhile, walked into the U.S Senate Friday morning still fuming over how Democratic opponents treated Kavanaugh, calling some of the charges against the judge almost scurrilous and suggesting that many of the allegations leveled against Kavanaugh amounted to innuendo.
The other side of the aisle was using innuendo when they had no facts, Cassidy said. You cant protect yourself against innuendo or people that are unscrupulous.
One of Kavanaughs accusers Christine Blasey Ford appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and tried to pull off her clothes during a high school gathering in 1982.
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Another accuser, Deborah Ramirez, spoke to the FBI about a party during her freshman year at Yale University at which, she claimed, a drunken Kavanaugh exposed himself to her.
Cassidy argued that those allegations were uncorroborated and at least in part refuted by statements from other potential witnesses to the FBI. The FBIs report remains confidential and its contents havent been publicly detailed.
So much corroboration in support of Judge Kavanaugh and so much corroboration against the allegations made against him, Cassidy said. I think the people who voted for Judge Kavanaugh had that sense of fairness in mind.
Democratic critics of Kavanaugh, meanwhile, angrily denounced the FBI probe as half-hearted and inadequate with some going so far as to call it a sham or cover-up and accusing Republicans of simply casting aside the tearful testimony of a sexual assault survivor.
The bitter battle over Kavanaughs allegations led many senators this week to lament that the judicial confirmation process appears to be fully broken, and that the partisan rancor on Capitol Hill had finally boiled over.
+3 John Kennedy, differing with Senate GOP leaders, says Kavanaugh FBI report should be public WASHINGTON Top-ranking senators have no plans to show the American public the results of the FBIs week-long probe into sexual assault alleg
Cassidy, who has been uncharacteristically vitriolic in his defense of Kavanaugh, was quick to point out that not every Senate vote is as starkly divisive. He rattled off a handful of health care policy items that hes working on with Democrats.
We can either ride the anger or solve the problem, said Kennedy. Some people will want to ride the anger and take advantage of it politically. I hope we solve the problem.
But Kennedy, a relative newcomer to Washington who was first elected in 2016, also described his mood in much gloomier terms.
This whole confirmation process is just symptomatic with whats wrong with this town, Kennedy said. If our founders could have envisioned what just went on the last couple of months, I think some of them wouldve just stuck with (British) King George (III).
William Thiele speaks during public comments concerning a resolution by council members Jared Bellard and William Theriot relating to Drag Queen Story Time on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at a meeting of the Lafayette City Council.
WASHINGTON All eyes in the U.S. Capitol were focused Friday on a handful of undecided senators who could tip the balance on Brett Kavanaugh
Weve tried to make the Cook County States Attorneys Office reflect the values and principles of our community regarding conviction integrity, community engagement and police accountability. We recognize that the community had lost faith in our ability to prosecute officers in police-involved shootings and that there were no mechanisms for oversight in 2014 when Laquan McDonald was killed by Van Dyke. This is why we established a third-party, check-and-balance system to ensure we remain impartial and transparent. I fought for legislation to require that additional scrutiny. Now, any time we decline to prosecute, the state appellate prosecutor reviews our investigations to deem whether charges are appropriate. This openness and accountability is our path to healing.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman on Friday gave his approval to the sole remaining candidate for the job of permanent director of New Orleans jail.
Interim jail Director Darnley Hodge Sr. is now in line to take over the permanent post, Orleans Parish Sheriffs Office attorney Blake Arcuri said, with final approval expected soon from the federal judge presiding over the jails reform efforts.
At the end of a selection process that began four months ago, Hodge was the only name that outside agencies suggested to Gusman for the job following a meeting Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Lance Africk has openly expressed his approval of Hodges performance in the interim role, and Hodge also appears to get along well with Gusman, meaning he quickly became the favorite to eventually assume the permanent post.
On paper, Hodge will be the director of the jails efforts to comply with a court-ordered consent decree calling for changes at the long-troubled facility. In practice, he will oversee all the operations of a lockup that continues to have problems with violence, inadequate staffing levels and lapses in inmates' health care.
Hodge was a jail administrator in Virginia before arriving in New Orleans in February to replace former jail compliance director Gary Maynard. Maynard resigned in the wake of scathing criticism from jail monitors over inmate fights and deaths.
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A 2016 court order empowers Gusman to select the jail director from a list of candidates given to him by the U.S. Department of Justice, the city of New Orleans and the MacArthur Justice Center, a law firm that represents the jail's inmates. But that order, citing the disorder at the lockup, sidelined the sheriff from controlling the jails operations.
Four candidates qualified for a second round of interviews to succeed Maynard on a long-term basis, but some later withdrew from consideration, MacArthur Justice Center attorney Emily Washington said. Hodge, she said, was the only one who made it through the second round.
Gusman had until Friday to either accept or reject Hodge for the post.
Washington argued that the jails permanent director will need more resources to run the facility properly, such as a team of corrections experts to assist him. But it is not clear whether Africk will push for hiring of such a team.
Thus The Sunday Age welcomes the Productivity Commission inquiry into the role of mental health in the economy announced today as a promising start to improving the lives of millions of Australians.
It is a deeply complex issue, and, as The Sunday Age recently editorialised on the basis on numerous reviews and studies in the past decade, requires, above all, a significant boost to mental health funding, which currently accounts for a mere 10 per cent of the health budget. This is despite mental health being the most common cause (50 per cent) of visits to GPs.
Despite greater community awareness, the suicide rate increased by almost 10 per cent in the past year, according to official figures.
Twice as many people die by suicide than on our roads. Yet, like the road toll, deaths by suicide are preventable.
The cost to the health system and the economy of mental ill-health is estimated to be billions of dollars each year, and failing to make sufficient humanitarian investment is clearly a false saving.
Suicide rates in Australia have been rising in the past decade. Three in four are men, and three in four were mentally unwell. Indigenous Australians remain twice as likely to die by suicide than the broader population.
For years, countless experts have been imploring governments to provide far more early intervention, particularly for young people, and ongoing support once a problem emerges. Too few people have access to mental-health support.
There are also things we can all do. Most of those in suicidal despair give indications. As many as three in four people experiencing suicidal ideation reportedly not only tell people they are contemplating death by suicide, they indicate when they plan to try. That is a time to talk, to support and to help people get professional help.
First, and most important, though, is that the loved ones of those who die by suicide need to know it is not their fault. The loved ones are not guilty, yet so often, naturally, feel wretched with doubt. They are not guilty of anything. They are devastated.
What is required is open discussion. Talking to someone who is in such danger does not augment the danger. It is a potential lifeline, a way for those in difficulty to know they are not alone. Suicide has touched most of us. Emergency support organisation Lifeline received almost 1 million calls from Australians last year.
A 17-year-old teenager has been charged with murder over the fatal stabbing of a young man at Parramatta Station.
The 20-year-old victim died at Westmead Hospital after he was found with a serious stab wound to his chest just after 5am on Saturday, police say.
The 17-year-old, who was among three males arrested on a nearby street, is due to appear before a children's court later on Sunday.
A 20-year-old who was arrested with him was charged with affray and was bailed to appear at Parramatta Local Court on October 31.
AAP
A Sydney man is fighting for his life and another man from Melbourne has suffered serious head injuries after a light plane crash near Stawell, in Victoria's west.
Emergency crews were called to the scene of a light aircraft crash at Black Range about 12.45pm on Friday.
A witness told the ABC he saw the aircraft in a spin before it disappeared behind trees.
A 28-year-old man from Kellyville in Sydney was flown by air ambulance to The Alfred hospital in a critical condition, an Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said.
He remained in a critical condition on Saturday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Victoria's Education Minister James Merlino is clamping down on facial recognition technology in schools, saying the software's privacy risks makes him uncomfortable.
Facial recognition is being trialled in several schools as a replacement for calling the roll, Credit:Artwork: Stephen Kiprillis. Photo: Alamy
While it might sound like a scene from a sci-fi movie, a small number of Victorian schools have been trialling scanners that sweep classrooms for students faces to ensure no one is missing.
But privacy concerns about the technology has promoted the education minister and Victorias inaugural Information Commissioner to sound the alarm.
Mr Merlino has ordered the Education Department to immediately assess the software and report back to him.
Huge swathes of prime Melbourne real estate about 10 times the size of Melbourne Zoo are being wasted by government agencies and local councils, according to a new report.
University of Melbourne researchers identified 200 hectares of so-called "lazy" land owned by local, state and federal governments that could deliver more than 30,000 homes for low-income Victorians.
The 250 sites predominantly carparks, one-storey community centres, shops and vacant military sites are scattered across inner, middle and outer-ring suburbs, and have been acquired by various government departments and local councils over many decades.
View of city from Abbotsford Convent. Credit:Mathew Lynn
They include a 50,000-square-metre empty block in Highett, a 10,000-square-metre car park in Coburg, a 2700-square-metre section of the Abbotsford Convent, and various tranches of inner-city land the previous state government bought to make way for the now-scrapped East West Link.
Deaths from air pollution would be prevented and the Morrison government would meet its pledge to make electricity more reliable and affordable if more Australians drove electric cars, but a lack of political will is holding back the benefits.
That is the widespread view expressed to a Senate probe into electric vehicles in Australia. Electric car maker Tesla, headed by controversial entrepreneur Elon Musk, is among those who assert that "government leadership" is the main barrier to increasing electric vehicle uptake in Australia, while the governments own infrastructure adviser warned that Australians "risk being left behind" in the global transition.
It is widely acknowledged that electric vehicles improve air quality, help address climate change, boost public health and are cheaper to run than conventional vehicles.
Australia trails the world in the adoption of electric vehicles. Just 2284 were sold last year 0.2 per cent of total vehicle sales. This is largely attributed to a lack of vehicle choice, fears about limited driving range and higher upfront costs than traditional cars.
In contrast, electric vehicles make up about 20 per cent of new sales in Norway, and are expected to reach 30 per cent of sales in China by 2030.
Some locals, including ranchers, think hunting would reduce conflicts between humans and grizzlies one of which killed an elk hunting guide near Jackson Hole in September. The thinking seems to be that if sportsmen shoot a few bears, the others will spread the word that people are not to be trifled with. But its not likely the resumption of hunting for a couple of months a year would make much if any difference in the behavior of grizzlies which, by the way, rarely attack humans.
12-Year-Old Texas Girl Shot While Protecting Siblings
A 12-year-old girl was shot while protecting her siblings at their Houston, Texas, apartment on Oct. 5, police officers said.
Two men knocked on the door and demanded to see the roommate of the girls mother; the girl refused to open the door and herded at least four of her siblings into a back room, reported the Houston Chronicle.
The men became upset and fired at least four shots into the apartment, one of which struck the girl in the stomach, leaving her critically wounded.
She was rushed to Texas Childrens Hospital for an emergency surgery.
Assistant police Chief Bobby Dobbins praised the girl for helping her siblings in the face of danger. She did what was right, Dobbins said at a press conference.
The shooting took place at 8426 Hammerly Rd., police said.
Drive by shooting at 8426 Hammerly Rd, suspects shot into an apartment striking a twelve year old girl. The girl is being transported to the Texas Children Hospital. Investigators are making the scene. CC4 #hounews Houston Police (@houstonpolice) October 6, 2018
Im in northwest Houston where theres a large @houstonpolice presence. Crime scene tape blocks an apartment complex entrance. Im trying to gather information about what happened. pic.twitter.com/zr6RNKf87g Nick Natario (@NickABC13) October 6, 2018
HPD Asst. Chief @BobbyDobbin06 briefs media on shooting of 12-year-old girl #hounews https://t.co/BxXOaHV7rD Houston Police (@houstonpolice) October 6, 2018
LATEST: Houston police are on the hunt for a red sedan believed to have been involved in the shooting of a 12-year-old girl in Spring Branch #hounews DETAILS: https://t.co/kMJ9fGgzDP pic.twitter.com/OqgXQtdXFq Jay R. Jordan (@JayRJordan) October 6, 2018
HERO CHILD: 12-year-old injured protecting several other children during shooting in NW Houstonhttps://t.co/iTPU4doyWU ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) October 6, 2018
The shooting happened around 8:30 p.m., police officers told KPRC. The men fled the scene in a red sedan. Police officers are still searching for them.
The girls mother was not at home when the shooting happened, having gone to the grocery store, and the roommate was at a laundromat at the apartment complex at the time, reported ABC 13.
One neighbor said that at least four gunshots could clearly be heard.
My husband was driving by and he heard multiple gunshots on his way to Walmart, Bobby Binns told the Chronicle.
From NTD.tv
The Webster Avenue McDonald's where Sylvester Zottola was killed, in the Bronx, NY. (Screenshot via Google Maps)
Bonanno Crime Family Associate Shot to Death at McDonalds
A mobster was shot to death in the Bronx, while waiting for a coffee at a McDonalds drive-thru.
It was the latest of attempts to either rough up or kill Sylvester Zottola, a mobster with links to the Bonanno crime family, the New York Post reported.
In September 2017, Zottola was clubbed over the head near his Bronx home. Two months after that, a gunman tried unsuccessfully to force him into a car. In December, three burglars ransacked his home, and one stabbed him in the neck.
In another attack apparently aimed at Zottola, his 41-year-old son was shot multiple times outside of his Bronx home in July, but he survived. Surveillance video captured the attack.
The fatal shooting of the elder Zottola took place at a Webster Avenue McDonalds. A local said things like this are common in the area.
For this area its pretty usual, high school senior Alexandra Cuatlayo told The New York Times. This area is really active. Around where I live, someone was shot there, too. So this area is really iffy.
Sylvester Zottola owned DAZ Amusements, which rents jukeboxes and poker machines to businesses. He was known for putting on a yearly 4th of July block party. Sylvester and son Salvatore built a waterfront property in the Bronx, which is where Salvatore was shot this past summer, the Bronx Times reported.
Sylvester Zottola was in legal trouble before his death. He was facing three felonies and one misdemeanor, after he fired a gun when he says a man approached him with a gun near his residence. Zottola was due to return to court on Oct. 9, according to Heavy.
Zottolas link to the Bonanno crime family was through Vincent J. Basciano, a former leader. Basciano led the family briefly before getting sentenced to life in prison for murder and racketeering, according to The New York Times. Zottolas company serviced the crime familys poker machines. The company has since gone out of business.
The Bonanno crime family is one of the five mafia crime families that operate in the New York City area.
In January, 10 crime family members were arrested. They include the acting boss of the Bonanno crime family and eight of its members. Charges included conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, loansharking, wire and mail fraud, and narcotics distribution.
In a separate indictment, a former New York City police officer was accused of smuggling guns to the Bonanno family, WABC reported.
In August, Bonanno crime family member Ronald Giallanzo was sentenced to 14 years in prison for running a loansharking scheme, the New York Post reported.
You threatened to have people beaten with bats, you had them beaten with pipes, its like in the movies. But this isnt a movie, said Chief Judge Dora Irizarry, during sentencing.
Irizarry was angered when Giallanzos attorney suggested the victims knew what they were taking part in.
As they say, you sleep with dogs, you get fleas. But that doesnt excuse the offense, said Irizarry, via the Post.
Giallanzo had earlier pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and admitted to extorting five people.
From NTD.tv
Presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro listens to the national anthem during a meeting with women in Porto Alegre, Brazil Aug. 30, 2018. (Diego Vara/Reuters)
Candidates Close Campaigns as Brazil Presidential Election Nears
Brazils presidential campaign entered its last 48 hours on Oct. 5, with right-wing front-runner Jair Bolsonaros lead growing before Oct. 7 vote, as candidates and supporters took part in final rallies.
Bolsonaro is recovering from a near-fatal knife attack while he was on the campaign trail.
Final opinion polls ahead of the vote on Oct. 7 are likely to reflect the most polarized election in a generation, forcing a run-off between Bolsonaro and leftist Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad.
An Oct. 4 survey from pollster Datafolha found Bolsonaro had 35 percent support, a jump of three percentage points since Oct. 2. Haddad, his nearest rival, stood at 22 percent. The pair would be close in a runoff, Datafolha said.
Ibope said support for center-left candidate Ciro Gomes remained stable at 11 percent, while business-friendly former Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin dropped to eight percent.
Haddad, a former mayor of Sao Paulo, was confirmed at the top of the left-wing Workers Party ticket three weeks ago, replacing jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was barred from running due to a corruption conviction. He says he takes advice from Lula but denies any plans to pardon the former president or give him a role in government.
You may not have known that boofing is slang for taking alcohol or drugs in suppository form, but now you do, right? You know that Kavanaughs insistence that the have you boofed yet? line next to both his yearbook photo and the yearbook photo of his buddy Mark Judge referred to flatulence is absurd, right?
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders is introduced by Amy Kremer, chair of Women for Trump, at the Women for America First Summit, at Trump International Hotel in Washington on Oct. 5, 2018. (Samira Bouaou//The Epoch Times)
Conservative Women Gather in Washington to Back America First
WASHINGTONWith the midterm elections just a month away, conservative women around the country gathered in Washington to voice their support for President Donald Trump.
Dozens of conservative women leaders and activists from various states have come together at the Women for America First summit, which is taking place between Oct. 4 and 7 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
Conservative women are not going to sit back and let the left and the media define what women stand for in 2018, said Amy Kremer, chair of Women for Trump and host of the summit, in a press release.
We will not be ignored. We are fighting back and that is exactly what this summit is about.
Speaking at the event, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said she was proud to be part of a movement that Trump has started a few years ago.
And we are seeing the culmination of that, she said.
Hopefully, just in a few minutes, we will see one of the more impactful things that he will ever do, which is to completely reshape the judiciary.
Sanders received cheers and applause from the audience.
In her brief remarks, she joked that she rarely received such a warm welcome and that having three kids taught her to be patient with reporters asking the same questions repeatedly.
Sanders spoke an hour before a key procedural vote in the Senate.
The Senate voted 51-49 on Friday morning to advance Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court, clearing a key procedural hurdle. The final vote on confirmation will occur on Saturday.
TOPSHOT - A protester draped in a European Union flag takes part in a protest in support of an amendment to guarantee legal status of EU citizens, outside the Houses of Parliament in London on March 13, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May feared parliament would stand in her way in implementing Brexit but the opposition crumbled and she prepares to open negotiations with the wind in her sails. / AFP PHOTO / Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS (Photo credit should read DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
European Court to Settle Question of Whether UK Can Reverse Brexit Unilaterally
The European Court of Justice has taken on a case that will settle the question of whether the United Kingdom can back out of Brexit without consent from the European Union.
The announcement bolsters a campaign for lawmakers to be given the option to overturn Brexit when they vote on any deal brokered between the EU and the UK.
The UK and EU are coming to the end of an interim period, separated but still married as they hash out the divorce agreement before a deadline of March 29, 2019.
The EU membership treaty is clear that Brexit can be stopped at any point before that date, as long as all 27 member states and the UK agree. However, it isnt clear whether the UK can decide on its own that it no longer wants to leave.
That question will now be answered, after Scottish lawmakers opposed to Brexit filed a petition in the Scottish court, triggering a request to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Sept. 21.
On Oct 3, the ECJ confirmed it had accepted the request for a preliminary ruling.
Take It or Leave It
Theresa Mays government has insisted all along that there would be no going back from Brexit, and political winds have yet to get behind a steadily growing movement pushing for a second referendum.
May has offered lawmakers only the binary option of accepting or rejecting any arranged deal negotiated with the EU when they vote on Jan. 21in the simplest terms, the choice of a hard or soft Brexit.
But the plaintiffs in the legal appeal are demanding a third option for lawmakers: to be able to pull out of Brexit altogether. They said advanced legal clarification on whether the UK can do so unilaterally is vital to the vote.
The UK doesnt have standard membership with the EU, but has, over the years, negotiated various arranged benefits and opt-outs of the standard treaty deal, including keeping its own currency and a handsome rebate. If the UK wishes to remain a member, EU states might decide it needs to start over with the standard package.
If we can revoke the notification without permission, we will retain the rebate and opt-outs we presently enjoy, the Good Law Project, one of the parties behind the case, said in a statement. It can be, legally, like the decision to Brexit was just a bad dream.
If we have to go cap in hand to the other 27 for permission, we are at risk that a country that will benefit from transfers of financial services or manufacturing will block our path to remain.
Neither of the main political parties has put reversing Brexit on the table. Polls show support of remaining in the EU a few points ahead of Brexit, and that public appetite for a second referendum is evenly split.
Given the stance of the UK government, the case was initially rejected by the Scottish court for being hypothetical and academic, but advanced on appeal.
Legal Opinions Split
Steve Peers, a professor of EU law at the University of Essex, said that legal opinion is evenly split as to which way the European court ruling will go. Even the ECJ agrees that though the UK can unilaterally revoke Brexit, it would still prompt constitutional questions in the UK, he said.
It would be a green light as far as the EU side was concerned. But there would still be a question of how exactly that would work if the [UK] government want to do it. Would there have to be another act of Parliament, for instance?
Then theres the politics. Do you have a referendum first? Is there enough time for that? Or do you delay the Article 50 date? Or do you have an election, first?
With EU member states able to present evidence to the court, the ruling could be influenced a little by the political mood music within the EU, Peers said.
But he notes that it isnt clear what might be in the EUs interests. For example, allowing the UK to independently change its mind could be seen as dismantling the EU system. On the other hand, if the UK ends up staying in, that would also be a victory for the unity of the EU.
The ECJ is pushing this case through faster than usual, Peers said. A decision is expected before Christmas, in time for lawmakers to vote.
Many prominent EU leaders have said all along that they would accept Britain changing its mind on Brexit.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the Good Law Project. The Epoch Times regrets the mistake.
Georgia Secretary of State Candidate Talks About Elections, Safety, Prosperity, and Freedom
An exclusive interview with Brad Raffensperger about his views on key issues
Recently The Epoch Times reporter Joan Wang interviewed Brad Raffensperger, the Republican candidate for Georgia secretary of state.
The Epoch Times: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Brad Raffensperger: I am Brad Raffensperger, and I am running for secretary of state. I was in the state house for the last four years, and for part of that I was on the city council in Johns Creek for three years. I am a pro business conservative; I have always worked hard to protect taxpayers and small business owners lives in the Second Amendment. I have a 100 percent rating from the National Federation of Independent Business, which is a small business organization. I also have a 100 percent rating from the Faith and Freedom Coalition.
So I am running for secretary of state to make sure that we have a lawful process for voting so that only American citizens vote. I also want to make sure that Georgia is a great place to find a job and a great place to build a business.
The secretary of states office has three principle duties; it has several others, but the three main duties would be elections, licensing, and corporations.
So, on the administrative side of licensing, I am a licensed engineer and a licensed contractor. So I understand the importance of streamlining the licensing process so you get your license quickly, and when that happens, you can get back to your career, providing for your family, and yourself.
Then, obviously with corporations, as a business owner what we would like to do is have you able to register your new corporation very quickly and obviously for annual renewals, also do that efficiently, so likewise, you can get back to doing what you want to do, work on your business to continually grow and continue the American success story.
Epoch Times: So you want to see Georgia become a place where everyone can find a job and do what they want to do. Can you give me more details about how you will be able to do that?
Mr. Raffensperger: Well, when I was in the State House, I introduced a bill called House Bill 87. What that would do is allow a business owner to renew their corporation for up to three years: one, two or three years. It does require us to update the software to be able to handle that, and so I will implement that, but those are the types of streamline regulations that I would like to look at.
Last year, I introduced a bill, and I hope the House will bring it back this year. We didnt have enough time to pass it, but we were going to waive the corporation fee for three years for a Georgia domiciled, honorably discharged veteran. Many people dont realize that a lot of the veterans werent born in Georgia, but when near the end of their service in the military, they could be stationed here in Georgia.
So, if we threw out the welcome mat to veterans, we also give them a small thank you by waiving the fee for three years. Perhaps then, they will form their corporations in Georgia, and they will create jobs for Georgians. So those are the types of ideas that Ill be looking at.
And Ill also be talking to business owners all the time to see what else we can do to make Georgia a friendlier place to do business. We are a great place to do business; for the last five for six years we have been the number one state in the entire country to do business. Thats what we want to continue that track record of being very friendly to businesses, particularly the small business owner, and the young aspiring entrepreneur.
So how do we create an environment and help facilitate that? How do we make sure that government stays out of the way of the small business owners. Thats probably the number one thing that we can do because the beginning of all job creation really starts at the small business level.
I believe that when small businesses prosper, all of Georgia will prosper. And big business will do fine too, but it really starts with paying attention to the small business owners because, a lot of times, no one is really looking out for them.
Reporter: Based on your successful business experience here, can you share me the good factors that make Georgia a good place to have business?
Brad: Atlanta is the capital of Georgia, and Georgia is the linchpin of the south. Some people would call it the keystone. People in Pennsylvania might object, because they call themselves the keystone state instead. We sometimes call Georgia the empire state of the south, just like New York calls themselves the Empire State. If you look at the map of the southeast, theres one state right in the middle of all that growth, all that action, all that excitement thats Georgia.
Then you look at the metro region, that is the capital city of Georgia. Georgia leads in so many areas. We are connected with transportation. We have the port, we have the Atlanta Hartsfield airport, then we have great research universities. When you have all of these that come together, and we are geographically centralized in the southeast, thats why we have led for so many years.
We have always had a conservative, business friendly approach for a long period of time. I think when you throw out the welcome mat, businesses will feel they are welcomed. People go where they are welcomed. When you are not welcomed, people move to the next town.
So I think Georgia is ideally positioned for continued growth, and I think the port of Savannah is just one of our outstanding gems that we have in the state. Because it just helps us import, export, and it really helps to connect Georgia to the entire world just like Atlanta Hartsfield does with the air travel.
Epoch Times: Brad, can you please give me more details about the fair tax?
Mr. Raffensperger: The fair tax is something I support. It is not something secretary of state would have direct influence over, but I do support it. People sometimes wonder, Well, why do you talk about that if it is not part of your specific job duties?
I think people always like to know what people are thinking about in their heads, whats their value system, and what policies do they like. I like the fair tax because it would eliminate the state income tax, and I think that would be a good path for us to head to.
If you look at two of our big competitor states, Tennessee and Florida, then they adjoin Georgia, and we also have taxes. So you have these three vibrant states; they dont have state income tax, and they seem to make it work there.
Also what you see in Georgia, is that sometimes we lose high networth individuals; particularly as they approach retirement age, they move down to Florida. It is not because they feel Florida is a place they want to go to, its just they feel, from a standpoint of their taxation, it makes sense for them (to go there). So we are losing some of those folks, and when they situate themselves down in Florida, then they may start moving their investment dollars also down to Florida.
So the more we can keep people in Georgia, and make it an attractive place if you look at Tennessee, Nashville is the music capital of the world. It would be great if we were the music capital of the world. Nashville has a big head start, but one of the things that attracts folks there is the capital of music, but also, there is no state income tax there. It is also about making us competitive to our competitor states.
Epoch Times: I know one of your slogans is safer Georgia makes greater Georgia. What are the factors that you think makes Georgia unsafe?
Mr. Raffensperger: I talked about human trafficking when I was on the city council, and a lot of people told us we couldnt do anything because of what the laws were. We had a list of massage parlors that were acting as a front for prostitution, so I reached out to another council member, and reached out to a city attorney and said, These citizens have come to me. Lets go and have breakfast with them.
That was the first meeting we had several years ago, and over the period of 12 to 14 months we worked with attorneys to create a model ordinance to shut down the list of massage parlors. So what I showed there is I brought people together to really move policy forward.
So as I said, as secretary of state, if theres people, bad actors that are doing illegal things operating under the corporation umbrella, then I would certainly join efforts with our local attorney general and law enforcement to make sure they cant operate a corporation in Georgia because what they are doing is against the law. We will revoke their corporate charges.
You also see now, several state representatives are talking about what we can do to stop human trafficking. We are also seeing the efforts at the federal level. So I think all of that is good; people are coming together, working as a team, and I think thats very very important that we work together to solve serious issues.
Epoch Times: Other than human trafficking, is there any other crime that has caught your attention that you think makes Georgia not safe?
Mr. Raffensperger: I think obviously we have gangs and issues like that. I know the attorney general is really addressing that. That goes more along with the law enforcement, not secretary of state. Secretary of state is elections, licensing, corporations, and we have, obviously, the financial aspect and charities. Those three I first mentioned are the key areas where I will focus. Updating our voting machine will be our main focus in the first half of 2019.
Epoch Times: So, mentioning of changing the voting machine, do you have a time frame by which you will be able to change all the voting machines?
Mr. Raffensperger: The general assembly comes back into session in January. Last year we had 3 bills to look at voting machines. None of those made it across the finish line by day 40, so theres work to be done.
[Current] Secretary of State Kemp has formed a bipartisan commission called the safe commission to look into election, security, and the voting machines technology. They will continue doing their work and their second meeting is coming up shortly in the Augusta area. They will be coming out with recommendations I believe. Those recommendations will form the basis for the legislative action to move it forward. I would hope that the General Assembly will be able to do something next year.
The challenge that you have as the secretary of state is that unless its funded, we cannot do it. But I believe that there is a sense in the General Assembly, House and Senate, and also the incoming Governor that we need to update the machines. The machines that we are using right now were put into service in 2002, which was 16 years ago.
If you have a smartphone, when we think about the iPhone now, they are up to their iPhone X and that has been about over 10 years now, so there has been 9 generations of software improvements. The software that we are using right now for voting hasnt been updated since about 2005.
So if you look at how fast the technology improves, what I have said from day one that we really need to bring together, I think, the key state callers which are the House, the Senate, and the governor, because they have to make the hard vote to fund it. Thats a difficult decision when you spend the taxpayers dollars. Also the county election supervisors, because theyll have to implement the system.
Then, obviously some folks that have been really digging into the technology. These people are really well versed and well studied on this. We will bring these five people together, and the citizens who are really watching what happens because I believe everyone wants voters security. They want to know their vote counts. They want to make sure that everyones vote counts once. They dont want all the machines to mess up, and they want to make sure that it counts and counts correctly.
Its very important to get it done, so my goal is to start to rolling that out for the 2019 municipal local elections that we will have. It will really be a benefit for us, because the number of votes you have then is a lower level. So in a way, I dont want to say its a trial run, but obviously it wont be as strenuous on the system as for 2020. Its a great way to get ready for the 2020 primaries, and also the 2020 presidential election. We really need to get it done next year for the 2019 municipal elections.
Epoch Times: I know another one of your emphases is for only US citizens can vote. To me its a common sense, but why do you need to fight for that?
Mr. Raffensperger: Well, if you look at some of the trends that youre seeing from the local Democrats, already in San Francisco, they are allowing non-citizens to vote in the local school board elections. They think thats a good thing; I dont think thats a good thing. I dont think that non-citizens, illegal aliens, people on work visas, I dont think any of those folks should be voting in American elections.
So if you open up the door and allow non-citizens to vote in the city election, then how do you really police that, and how do you manage that? Those people now have a voter card, and they show up for the state election, or for the federal election, so its a very dangerous path.
Liberal Democrats, I think they are just trying to play games with the system and game the system to win elections. But its been American citizens. It is one of the privileges that we have as Americans. I dont believe we should ever sell American citizenship short.
I get that everyone is proud of their country, and they need to be. Its good for their people. When you come to America, become an American, I feel you need to, (I do, and I hope you do too) think America is the best country in the whole world.
Because its the best country in the whole wide world, I think there are two things we should never devalue: our currency and our citizenship. Its very precious, and we are a great beacon to the whole world. People break the doors down to come into our country; no ones breaking the doors down to leave. So we need to protect it and make sure we have systems in place so that only Americans can vote.
Epoch Times: Could you talk about what type of role freedom plays in U.S. society?
Mr. Raffensperger: Free markets have always worked. Sometimes it has booms and busts. The booms are good while the busts are not so much fun. But when free people have free markets and free decisions, then they really have self-responsibility and self-determination. At the end of the day, they will have more freedom within their life. It is something that has always been shown to really lift everyone up.
America has the highest standard of living; we are one of the leaders in the world, and theres other countries that have done great also, that have that free market system. If you look at Japan, the Asian Tigers, Taiwan, Singapore, look at how Vietnam is coming out of all the years communist oppression, and now theyre embracing portions of the free market, and its starting to move them forward. So wherever people embrace free market principles, their people are blessed with prosperity. To me, it just makes sense.
Epoch Times: Theres trade negotiation between President Trump and China, do you think that will influence Georgias economy a lot, either from the agriculture or from the small business side?
Mr. Raffensperger: I think we just need to wait and see. President Trump has shown himself to be a very gifted negotiator. We just heard today he has struck a deal with the Mexican government with the New American-Mexico trade pact. I hope at the end of day, when President Trump says to reduce tariffs on both sides, it will be a good thing.
If you look at all the other nations, America has the lowest tariffs. Other countries have been erecting barriers. Its time that we have open trade with everyone, its fair, and we have the same level playing field between each other. Im hopeful that at the end of the day, that President Trump will have success there also. He likes to win and he wants America to win. I think its great to have an American President who wants Americans to win.
Epoch Times: Everyone wants to win; how we can win is what everyone has been pursuing.
Mr. Raffensperger: As it relates to the fair trade, we really want to win with a level playing field. We dont want to push anyone back. We are saying your tariff is 5 percent, then we will have 5 percent; we have 0, you should have 0.
So to me, I think it seems to be a very friendly and fair way to approach trade. You cant throw 20 percent tariffs on our product and expect us to have 3 percent on your product. Thats unilateral disarmament. That doesnt make a lot of sense. Thats what President Trump said.
I think people are starting to understand. Hes been fighting hard, and he is going to get some good deals. Its going to be good for America. Already the economy is doing very well, and Georgias position is very well. Thats a good thing.
California Governor Jerry Brown speaks during a press conference at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, California, on March 7, 2018. (Stephen Lam/Getty Images)
Governor Brown Vetoes Drug Injection Sites in California
SACRAMENTO, Calif.On Sun. Sep. 30, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed AB 186, the controversial bill to give San Francisco City legal status to operate drug injection sites (SIS) for illegal drugs.
Brown in his letter to the Legislature, while addressing the voices from both supporting and opposition sides, clearly stated his reasons for vetoing the bill: I conclude that the disadvantages of this bill far outweigh the possible benefits.
Fundamentally, I do not believe that enabling illegal drug use in government sponsored injection centers- with no corresponding requirement that the user undergo treatment-will reduce drug addiction, Brown said.
Brown also said, It would be irresponsible to expose local officials and health care professionals to potential federal criminal charges.
Browns statement clearly responded to U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rosensteins opinion article on New York Times. In his article Rosenstein said that SIS operations are illegal, and violations will be punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
San Francisco Mayor London Breeds office, after learning AB 186 was vetoed, immediately issued a statement expressing Breeds disappointment. If we are going to prevent overdoses and connect people to services and treatment that they badly need to stop using drugs in the first place, we need safe injection sites, the statement said.
However, those opposing AB 186 publicly expressed feelings of welcome and relief at Browns veto.
The California Coalition Against Drugs (CCAD), the organization which took the leading role in opposition to opening an SIS in the city, released a letter to the public on Oct. 1, stating: Our coalition applauds the decision of California Governor Brown to veto AB 186.
The letter from CCAD also urged San Francisco Mayor London Breed to be responsible to both City employees and votersto terminate any effort along this line now.
Assembly member Susan Eggman, the legislator who originally initiated AB 186 back in January 2017, had issued a press release on Sep. 15, stating that she would not bring this bill for another vote prior to the end of the legislative session.
However, Eggman also stated that she was committed to finding a way forward next year.
GLIDE Foundation, the organization that provided the mockup SIS site in the Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco last month, also released a statement expressing its disappointment.
In its statement, the GLIDE Foundation said, We were proud to host the Safer Inside demonstration of a safe injection site last month, and stated the foundation would continue to work with Mayor Breed.
Actress Caterina Scorsone attends the People's Choice Awards 2017 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, Calif. on Jan. 18, 2017. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images for People's Choice Awards)
Greys Anatomy Star Shares Photos of Daughter to Support Down Syndrome Awareness Month
Actress Caterina Scorsone shared photos of her daughter on her Instagram account recently in order to show support for Down syndrome awareness month in October.
Scorsones daughter Paloma Michaela, was born with the common chromosomal condition in Nov. 2016, and ever since then, the mother has been constantly showing her support for children with Down syndrome on social media.
In an Oct. 2 post, she wrote, October is Down syndrome awareness month. Heres a little info. 1 in 700 babies is born with Down syndrome. Language is important. Parents dont have a 1 in 700 RISK of having a baby with Down syndrome.
Scorsone added, Parents have a 1 in 700 CHANCE of having a baby with Down syndrome, just like they have a 50 percent CHANCE of having a girl and a 50 percent CHANCE of having a boy.
Differences are beautiful. Language changes how people think. Words are important. #hitthejackpot #theluckyfew#nothingdownaboutit #love, she told her fans and followers.
The star also praised brands such as American Girl, Gerber and Anthropology earlier this year for incorporating children with Down Syndrome into their promotions of baby foods, doll, and clothing, according to People.
In addition, Scorsone has spoken out about the need for more research on chromosomal disorders.
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Grape must is fermented, cooked, and concentrated. (Courtesy of Consorzio Balsamic Vinegar of Modena)
Italys Black Gold, Balsamic Vinegar: How to Tell the Real From the Fake
Real balsamic vinegar is so valuable that it inspires knock-offs
MODENA, ItalyFrom the land of Maseratis and Ferraris comes another export that you might think you know well: balsamic vinegar.
Youve probably seen bottles of it on supermarket shelvesbut few people know that there are fake balsamic vinegars. Like Louis Vuitton bags, plenty of them flood the market, capitalizing on the popularity of the real thing.
The liquids may be made to look similar, but make no mistake that the tastes are worlds apart. The knock-offs can taste acrid, with metallic notes, and have no regulations against additives. Real balsamic vinegar is incredibly balanced, harmonizing between sweet and acid, and its production, contained within a limited geographical area of Italy, is also strictly regulated.
Where Its Made
First-time tourists to Italy tend to make a beeline for the classic cities of Rome, Florence, and Venice, often unaware that theyve passed by one of the countrys gastronomic treasures.
The region of Emilia-Romagna, the gastronomic heartland of Italy, is where real balsamic vinegar is produced. Modena, in particular, has gained increasing fame, thanks to celebrated chef Massimo Bottura; his restaurant Osteria Francescana has been deemed one of the best in the world. But as any chef worth his salt knows, the ingredients are the unsung supporting cast. In this area, there are culinary gems aplenty, from Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to silky Prosciutto di Parmaeach, like balsamic vinegar, with a long and ancient history.
Ancient Origins
The history of balsamic vinegar can be traced back to Roman times.
At the time when Julius Caesar mounted campaigns against Gaul, the Romans were already known to cook grape must to better preserve it. The resulting balsamic vinegar was said to have medicinal properties that disinfected the digestive tract. In the kitchen, it was used as a sweetener.
During Italys medieval and Renaissance periods, it was seen as a priceless luxury. Each family had its own recipe and stash, meant to be enjoyed at banquets of the time but also to be kept and aged for future generations to enjoy.
Only in the second half of the 19th century was the recipe standardized to a single method.
How to Tell Real Balsamic Vinegar
Real balsamic vinegar has protected status, with its own labels of appellation, either PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) or PGI (Protected Geographic Indication), recognized by the European Union and bestowed by consortiums. When you shop, you simply need to look for a label that says PDO or PGI.
There are three authentic kinds of balsamic vinegar: two traditional PDO types, one from Modena and another from Reggio Emilia, aged at least 12 years and priced to match. And then theres Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI, aged for less time, but much less expensive and more versatile.
There are also two types of the latter: Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI is aged for over 60 days, and Aged Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI is aged for over 3 years.
Unlike fake balsamic vinegars, the labels wont sport any extra, ostentatious adjectives like select, fine, superior, or classic, nor should there be any numbers that refer to the aging period.
How Its Made
Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is made from grape must that is fermented, cooked, and concentrated. The grapes themselves can only come from select varieties: Lambrusco, Sangiovese, Trebbiano, Albana, Ancellotta, Fortana, and Montuni.
Then, a minimum of 10 percent wine vinegar is added, as well as some aged vinegar thats at least 10 years old.
After the liquid is converted into vinegar, its left to mature in barrels made of precious woods like chestnut, oak, mulberry, and juniperall of which lend it their particular notes. Only after passing strict tests can the product be certified as Balsamic Vinegar of Modena.
How to Savor It
Balsamic vinegar is versatile; its rounded acidity, with a subtle sweetness, often completes a dish. It works equally well with savory dishes and desserts (try it on strawberries or vanilla ice cream), and has even found its way into cocktails, from Bloody Mary to Spritz.
One of the simplest and most classic pairings comes straight from the Emilia Romagna region: a chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano. The result is an impossibly perfect marriage between savory, acidic, and sweet.
Here are some recipes that showcase balsamic vinegars versatility:
Avocado Filled With Fruit and Vegetables and Topped With Drops of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI
Preparation time: 20 minutes
2 ripe avocados
250 g/9 ounces pineapple, melon, and pear
250 g/9 ounces vegetables: fennel, carrots, zucchini, and radishes
56 Datterino tomatoes
1 small sprig fresh mind
1 small piece of ginger
1 lime
Salt
White pepper
Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI
Extra virgin olive oil
Edible flowers or sprouts, as you like
Dice the fruit in a bowl. Make sure to dice evenly. Cut fennel, carrots, zucchini, and radishes the same size as the fruit.
Slice the tomatoes in half, remove the inside seeds, and dice the pulp.
Mix all together, add salt and pepper.
Peel and grate the ginger; squeeze to get the juice and set aside in a cup. Add lemon juice, two spoons of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI, and 4 spoons of olive oil. Mix for a few seconds with a hand held mixer. Dress the diced fruits and vegetables with the emulsion, add the mint leaves in small pieces, and let marinate for 10 minutes.
Cut the avocados in half, removing the seed, and spoon out the pulp. Blend the pulp and add it to the rest of the ingredients.
Stuff the avocados with the vegetables, dress with a few drops of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI and, if you like, add the edible flowers or the sprouts.
Carrot and Quinoa Patties
Serves 4
100g/3.5 ounces quinoa
150g/5 ounces carrots
30g/1 ounce hazelnuts, chopped
2 eggs
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Garlic
1 organic lemon
4 tablespoons of creme fraiche
1 avocado
1 bunch of radishes
2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI
Thoroughly rinse the quinoa using a fine strainer. Cook in salted boiling water for 10 minutes Turn off the fire and leave to rest covered for 5 minutes. Drain and put in a bowl.
Peel the carrots and grate them finely. Mix them with the quinoa. Add the hazelnuts, eggs, and chopped parsley. Flavor with a bit of lemon rind, salt, and pepper and Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI.
With the mixture, form patties with a 1.52-inch diameter, slightly flattened. Cook in a frying pan with a dribble of oil until golden brown on both sides.
Slice the avocado, dress it with the lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Thinly slice the radishes and salt them slightly.
Serve the patties warm with the vegetables and creme fraiche. Douse with some drops of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI.
Risotto With Pumpkin Cream, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI, and Hazelnuts
Preparation time: 30 minutes
300g/10.5 ounces pumpkin flesh
1/4 onion
20g/1.5 tablespoons olive oil
300g/10.5 ounces Superfino Carnaroli rice
1 liter/4 cups vegetable stock
30g/1 ounce butter
30g/1 ounce grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
60g/2 ounces toasted and peeled hazelnuts, chopped
Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI
Fresh thyme
Dice the pumpkin, add to a pan with a glassful of water, a pinch of salt, and cook until soft. Blend it with a hand-held mixer and put it aside this pumpkin cream.
Chop the onion finely, and brown it in olive oil in a risotto casserole.
Add the rice and stir for some minutes until the rice is slightly toasted. Add hot stock to cover the rice. Let the rice cook, adding alternately a spoon of pumpkin cream and a ladle of hot stock as soon as they are absorbed by the rice (this will take approximately 1518 minutes). Continue until you use all of the pumpkin cream and stock.
Once cooked and off the heat, add butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Serve with a sprinkle of chopped hazelnuts, drops of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI, and fresh thyme leaves.
Recipes by Licia Cagnoni, courtesy of the Consortium for the Protection of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
Deborah Yun contributed to this report
Kanye West Donates Money, Shoes to Homeless Man in Chicago
Kanye West was captured on camera donating $100 to a homeless man and promising to get him a free pair of Yeezys.
The interaction took place in Chicago on Oct. 5, following Wests trip to a dentist, reported TMZ.
The homeless man gave West his mothers contact information so West could follow through on the promised shoes.
A video recorded by TMZ showed West dialing the number in his phone.
The homeless man asked for the Yeezys, saying he hadnt owned any shoes for six months.
Kanye West Gives Homeless Man $100, Promises to Send Him Free Yeezys https://t.co/QKqOmSkzYr TMZ (@TMZ) October 6, 2018
Moving Back to Chicago
West recently announced that he plans on moving back to Chicago.
During an event for Open Mic Chicago in support of public schools in the city on Sept. 17.
I gotta let yall know that Im moving back to Chicago and Im never leaving again, he said, according to TMZ.
Sources told the outlet that West and his wife have already found a house in Chicago, but noted the couple is planning on keeping all of their properties in Los Angeles.
In addition to moving personally to Chicago, the rapper and businessman plans to move his Yeezy offices from Calabasas to Chicago.
Wests third child was named Chicago West.
Kanye and I are happy to announce the arrival of our healthy, beautiful baby girl, Kim Kardashian West wrote on her app at the time of the birth, in January. We are incredibly grateful to our surrogate who made our dreams come true with the greatest gift one could give and to our wonderful doctors and nurses for their special care.
Twitter user @andyeezus posted a video of the crowd cheering as West spoke to them, and before he came on they chanted his name.
KANYE SAID HE MOVED BACK TO CHICAGO AND HES STAYING HERE PERMANENTLY. I LOVE YOU BRO pic.twitter.com/BAoilsoOAb morechairs (@andyeezus) September 18, 2018
Wests Support of Trump
West has been in the news frequently for supporting President Donald Trump.
The rapper performed on Saturday Night Live recently, while wearing a Make America Great Again hat.
West said he was bullied by people backstage, who tried to get him to take the hat off.
They bullied me backstage. They said, Dont go out there with that hat on. They bullied me and then they said Im in the sunken place! he said. I think the universe has balance. Ninety percent of news is liberal90 percent of TV, L.A., New York, writers, rappers, musiciansso its easy to make it seem like its so, so, so one-sided.
West has been praised by President Trump for his support.
From NTD.tv
Man Found Guilty for Pushing Two Men Toward London Underground Tracks
Paul Crossley of East London was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder on October 5 for pushing two men toward the tracks of the London Underground earlier this year.
According to a press release issued by the British Transport Police as well as reports from The Telegraph and the BBC, Crossley first attempted to push 23-year-old Tobias French onto the tracks at Tottenham Court Road Station on April 27. French caught himself before falling, and this incident is visible in the latter half of the video embedded here.
Later that day, Crossley, 46, successfully pushed another man, 91-year-old Robert Malpas, onto the tracks at Marble Arch Station. Malpas, a former Eurotunnel boss who had been knighted in 1998, suffered fractures to his pelvis and a head wound after he fell onto the track. He was saved by bystander Riyad El Hussani, who jumped onto the tracks to assist him. El Hussani suffered burns to his hand from touching the electrified track.
Crossley was arrested shortly afterwards and told officers: I didnt get much sleep last night. According to the BBCs report, he had taken crack cocaine prior to the incident and apparently chose his victims randomly.
Crossley will be sentenced on November 9.
By Storyful
Louise Turpin appears in Riverside County Superior Court during an information hearing in Riverside, Calif., on Aug. 3, 2018. (Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register/SCNG via AP, Pool, File)
Mom Charged With Torture Denied Mental Health Diversion
RIVERSIDE, Calif.A Southern California judge on Oct. 5, denied a request by a woman charged with the torture and abuse of most of her 13 children to be considered for a mental health diversion program, authorities said.
Louise Turpins attorney, Jeff Moore, made the request during a court appearance in Riverside, arguing his client had been diagnosed with histrionic personality disorder, the Riverside County District Attorneys office said in a statement.
Histrionic personality disorder is a pattern of excessive emotion and attention seeking, according to the American Psychiatric Associations website. A person with this disorder may be uncomfortable when not the center of attention or display rapidly shifting or exaggerated emotions, the site said.
The judge denied the request and found Turpin posed an unreasonable risk to the public, the statement said.
A message left for Moore was not immediately returned.
Turpin and her husband David Turpin are charged with the longtime abuse and torture of 12 of their 13 children. The couple was arrested in January when their 17-year-old daughter escaped from the familys Perris home and called 911.
Authorities said some of the girls siblings had been shackled to their beds. The children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29, were severely underweight and hadnt bathed for months and the house reeked of human waste.
The Turpins have pleaded not guilty. They are being held on $12 million bail each and are due back in court Nov. 30.
In California, a diversion program lets defendants put their criminal cases on hold so they can seek mental health services, and could lead to the dismissal of criminal charges, according to the district attorneys office.
Prosecutors opposed the request for Louise Turpin, and no request was made for David Turpin, said John Hall, a spokesman for the district attorneys office.
Hall said he could not confirm whether Turpin had been diagnosed with histrionic personality disorder.
A 'Make America Great Again' hat in a file photo. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
NBC Affiliate Fires Reporter After He Wore a MAGA Hat While Covering Trump Rally
A local NBC station has fired a reporter after he was seen wearing a Make America Great Again hat while covering a rally featuring President Donald Trump on Oct. 4.
James Bunner, a multimedia journalist for KTTC-TV in Austin, Minnesota, was fired the day after the rally in Rochester.
People attending the rally snapped pictures of Bunner, as did Mark Vancleave, a photographer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
KTTC-TV News Director Noel Sederstrom told The Associated Press that the station does not allow staff members to cover stories while wearing apparel from political campaigns.
The Make America Great Again, or MAGA, gear stems from a slogan Trump used while campaigning for president and often invokes during his rallies.
The gear includes hats, shirts, and other items.
According to a now-deleted profile of Bunner on KTTCs website, he joined the broadcaster in December 2017. He has not commented on why he wore the hat.
Rally Attracts Thousands
A City of Rochester spokesman told KTTC that 14,000 people attended the rally, which included thousands who werent able to get in.
Trump told people to vote for Republicans in Minnesota, including Karin Housley, who is running against Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.). Smith is filling the seat vacated by Al Franken.
Trump focused on the battle over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, reported The Epoch Times.
Tina Smith is voting against Judge Kavanaugh, can you believe that one? Trump said as he called for Smith to be voted out. Vote for Karin!
Trump has been rallying across the country ahead of the November mid-term elections, repeatedly telling people to get out and vote.
On Tuesday, November 6, I need your vote. I need your support to stop radical Democrats and to elect proud Minnesota Republicans, Trump said on Oct. 4. If Democrats take over congress the stock market will plummet.
He also noted that a larger Republican majority in the House and Senate will allow him to implement more of his plans. Were getting the wall but its so difficult to get the money for the wall, he said, citing Democrat obstruction.
He has rallies scheduled in Topeka, Kansas; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Erie, Pennsylvania; Lebanon, Ohio; and Richmond, Kentucky.
From NTD.tv
North Carolina Man Matthew Phelps Apologizes for Killing His Wife
A North Carolina man who pleaded guilty to killing his wife apologized to her family in a courtroom.
Matthew Phelps, 29, was accused of stabbing Lauren Phelps, 29, to death. A medical examiners report said she was stabbed 123 times.
I am sorry that I took away Laurens life. This was a senseless and mindless act, and I regret every step that led me in that direction. I consider my own life worth nothing in the shadow of the tragedy weighing over my mind and on the hearts of so many people in this room today. I feel like a monster, he said.
I hope my life will be an example of the consequences for those who think that drinking, drugs, and carelessness will only affect themselves and noone else.
After pleading guilty, Phelps will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Cold Medicine Blamed
At the time of his arrest, Phelps blamed cold medication he was taking for the vicious attack.
Phelps called 911 and claimed he woke up from a dream on Sept. 1, 2017 and found his wife stabbed to death.
I have blood all over me and theres a bloody knife on the bed, and I think I did it. I cant believe this, he said, reported The Associated Press.
The 7-minute 911 call included a sobbing Phelps saying his wife didnt deserve to die.
Prosecutors later said that Phelps appeared to make a calculated effort to clean up his wifes blood, discrediting his claim that taking too much cold medicine led to the murder, reported WTVD.
Court is back from recess and the emotional impact statements are continuing. Matthew is sitting quietly listening as friends/family recount all the memories they have of Lauren. #ABC11 pic.twitter.com/yjQRnTfuz0 DeJuan Hoggard (@DeJuanABC11) October 5, 2018
Matthew Phelps just entered the courtroom. Laurens Light supporters are sitting in their seats, several wiping tears from their face. #ABC11 pic.twitter.com/5RQkgQrUqB DeJuan Hoggard (@DeJuanABC11) October 5, 2018
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Family Members Read Statements
Phelps friends and family members read emotional statements prior to Phelps apology, including her mother.
The last time I was at Laurens house, the walls were painted, the carpet was replaced. All the furniture was moved out. There was nothing left, her mother said, reported WTVD.
I laid down on the spot where Lauren was murdered and I was outside of my body. I couldnt believe the animalistic cry I was hearing.
Many of Lauren Phelps supporters wore blue shirts with Laurens Light on them.
From NTD.tv
Officer Jason Van Dyke Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder in Laquan McDonald Shooting
Video shows moment McDonald was gunned down by police. Warning: Disturbing footage
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder and guilty of aggravated battery charges in the killing of Laquan McDonald, 17, in 2014, in an incident that triggered a number of protests in the city.
He was found not guilty of official misconduct, according to a live stream of the trial.
Van Dyke, who is white, had faced two counts of first-degree murder, 16 counts of aggravated battery, and one count of official misconduct in the shooting of McDonald, who is black.
Van Dyke is the first Chicago police officer charged with first-degree murder since 1980.
Video footage of the shooting was released in November 2015, showing McDonald walking away from the police when he was shot. Police said he was holding a knife.
Van Dyke Attorneys Put Laquan McDonald's Troubled Past On Trial https://t.co/wrPYwgk2Hi pic.twitter.com/h6YqlcO9VG Beverly-MtG Patch (@BeverlyMtGPatch) September 27, 2018
A toxicology report of McDonald revealed that he had PCP in his urine and blood at the time of the altercation and subsequent shooting. PCP, known as Phencyclidine, is a dissociative hallucinogenic drug known to trigger outbursts of violence in users. It has street names like Angel Dust, Sherm, embalming fluid, and wet.
James Thomas ODonnell, a pharmacologist who testified in the trial, said that someone with as much of PCP in his system as McDonald had in his bloodstream could have a feeling of omnipotence, according to The Associated Press. He said the person could feel like having superhuman powers, adding that it could put a person at risk of harming others around him.
JUST IN: Jason Van Dyke charged w/16 counts of agg. battery w/a firearm, 1 for each shot fired in the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald pic.twitter.com/00AmeU5QXQ FOX 32 News (@fox32news) March 23, 2017
APs report noted that witnesses testified McDonald refused to put down the knife as police had ordered. They said that he stabbed the tire of a police vehicle before the shooting.
ODonnell said that such violent rage behavior could be explained by the PCP in his system.
But ODonnell said that he had no information on whether Van Dyke knew if McDonald was high on PCP when he was shot.
Daniel Herbert, Van Dykes defense attorney, told the jury that the shooting was a tragedy but not a murder, USA Today reported.
Laquan McDonald was the author, choreographer of this story, Herbert added.
Sarah Palin Hints at Senate Challenge to Murkowski After Alaska Senators Vote on Kavanaugh
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin suggested shed challenge Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) after Murkowski voted no during a cloture vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and announced shed also not vote for Kavanaugh in the final vote, which is slated for Oct. 6.
Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault by three women, but none have been able to provide any evidence supporting their claims.
Murkowski said after much deliberating that she will not be voting for Kavanaugh. I believe that Judge Kavanaugh is a good man. Hes a good man. Hes clearly a learned judge, but in my conscience, because thats how I have to vote at the end of the day, with my conscience, I could not conclude that he is the right person for the court at this time, she said during a speech on the Senate floor on Oct. 5.
Palin, a former vice presidential candidate, took to social media after the Alaskan Republican Senator announced her decision.
Hey @LisaMurkowski I can see 2022 from my house Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) October 5, 2018
Hey @LisaMurkowski I can see 2022 from my house Palin wrote.
Murkowski was re-elected in 2016 and Senators serve six-year terms, so she will be in office until at least 2022.
Laura Ingraham of Fox News also floated the possibility of challenging Murkowski, writing on Twitter: I like Alaskaa lot. Maybe its time to run for Senate after all. @lisamurkowski has abandoned all principles of due process and fairness. Disgraceful.
Feinstein must of intimidated her. Thank you Q pic.twitter.com/dJXhH3y93h Tina Maas (@tina_maas) October 5, 2018
Republicans Support Kavanaugh
Murkowski is the only Republican Senator to indicate she wouldnt vote for Kavanaugh. The Senate is currently composed of 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and two Independents; the latter typically vote with Democrats.
If everyone except for Murkowski votes along party lines, the vote would be 50-50, but one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), also announced his vote on Oct. 5, stating hed be voting yes on Kavanaugh.
Based on all the information I have available to me, including the recently completed FBI report, I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution and determine cases based on the legal findings before him, Manchin, who also voted for President Donald Trumps first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, said in a statement.
The vote is thus expected to be 50-48, as Murkowski has said shell vote present, not no, and one Republican Senator will be at his daughters wedding.
Manchins announcement came soon after Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), another Senator who had been undecided, announced her support for Kavanaugh, noting how she pored over his extensive judicial record and also met privately with him and asked him additional questions over the phone.
She also slammed an allegation of gang rape that was brought forward against Kavanaugh with no evidence, yet circulated widely by Democrats and a number of media outlets.
The presumption of innocence is relevant to the advice and consent function when an accusation departs from a nominees otherwise exemplary record. I worry that departing from this presumption could lead to a lack of public faith in the judiciary and would be hugely damaging to the confirmation process moving forward, she said.
This outlandish allegation was put forth without any credible supporting evidence and simply parroted public statements of others. That such an allegation can find its way into the Supreme Court confirmation process is a stark reminder about why the presumption of innocence is so ingrained in our American consciousness.
She also noted that Christine Ford, the first woman to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault, named four witnesses but none of them, including a life-long friend, was able to corroborate her claim.
From NTD.tv
Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during the first day of his confirmation hearing to serve as Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court at the Capitol in Washington, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
Senate Set to Confirm Kavanaugh for Supreme Court in Rare Saturday Vote
WASHINGTONThe Senate is expected to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on Oct. 6, after a weekslong delay caused by unsubstantiated allegations brought against him by three accusers.
Update: The Senate confirmed Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on Oct. 6.
Original story continues below.
After weeks of intense debate, which has gripped the nation, the appeals court judge won vows of support on Oct. 5, from two centrist senators, leaving no clear path in the Senate for Kavanaughs opponents to block him.
He cleared a procedural test on Oct. 5, when senators voted 51-49 to advance his nomination to a final vote, which is expected to occur around 5 p.m. on Oct. 6.
Kavanaughs confirmation will give President Donald Trump a clear win in his drive to cement conservative dominance of the high court, a key campaign promise, which the president said contributed to his victory in the 2016 election.
Trump nominated Kavanaugh to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
With important cases on social issues and business regulation headed for the court, Kavanaugh will likely give conservatives the upper hand.
His confirmation will also allow Trump to hit the campaign trail ahead of the Nov. 6 elections celebrating that he has kept his 2016 promise to confirm conservative justices to the Supreme Court.
I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh, declared Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), on the Senate floor on Oct. 5.
She praised his judicial record and argued there was no corroboration of the sexual assault charges made against him by psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford. All of the witnesses Ford named refuted her account. Two other women also accused Kavanaugh of misconduct but did not provide witnesses or evidence. Kavanaugh has denied all the allegations.
Moments after Collins pledged to back Kavanaugh, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), in a tough race for re-election in West Virginia where Trump is popular, also declared his support.
Many Democrats vowed to derail Kavanaughs nomination minutes after Trump announced his choice for the Supreme Court. In a move that left Republicans furious, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) withheld the allegations against Kavanaugh for eight weeks until after the confirmation hearings were completed.
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell led the nominees defense, calling him one of the most impressive, stunningly qualified nominees in our nations history and accusing Democrats of a smear campaign.
Trump reaffirmed his support for Kavanaugh with hours left before the vote.
Women for Kavanaugh, and many others who support this very good man, are gathering all over Capital Hill in preparation for a 3-5 P.M. VOTE, the president wrote on Twitter. It is a beautiful thing to see and they are not paid professional protesters who are handed expensive signs. Big day for America!
Reuters contributed to this report
Jonathan Wesley Harris, of Johnstown, Pa. Harris is accused of strangling Christina Carlin-Kraft in one of Philadelphia's affluent suburbs. He arrived for a preliminary hearing on murder charges in Ardmore, Pa., on Oct. 5, 2018. (Montgomery County District Attorney's Office via AP)
Suspect in Models Death Told Cop They Fought Over Cocaine
ARDMORE, Pa.A man accused in the strangulation death of a model said that he went to her apartment in an affluent Philadelphia suburb to sell her cocaine but that she refused to pay, and that a violent fight ensued, according to a statement read in court on Oct. 5.
I panicked and was scared. I didnt know what to do, Jonathan Harris, 30, said in the statement. I knew I was going to be in trouble. The statement was read in court by Montgomery County Detective Todd Richard, who interviewed Harris while he was in custody, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported .
Harris is charged with murder, robbery, theft and more in the death of Christina Carlin-Kraft, 36.
According to the warrant filed in Harris arrest, the two met in downtown Philadelphia just hours before her death early Aug. 22. There was no evidence they previously knew each other. Carlin-Krafts beaten body was found in her bloodstained Ardmore apartment bedroom by police who had been called to check on her.
Harris looked straight ahead and didnt reply while reporters peppered him with questions as he entered and left court Friday.
According to the statement read in court, Harris said he agreed to accompany Carlin-Kraft to her apartment to sell her an ounce of cocaine for $1,200. After the two drank several bottles of wine and had consensual sex, he said, Carlin-Kraft refused to pay for the drugs and hid them.
He described a violent struggle in which Carlin-Kraft hit him with a glass bottle and he slapped her, repeatedly punched her and tied her up when she tried to flee. He gave her a phone when she asked to call her dad, he said, but he started to choke her when she tried to call 911.
When she stopped screaming he fled, he said, taking some clothing, taking the cocaine and jumping over the balcony. He told police he thought she was alive.
Harris attorney Charles Peruto Jr. said he wont comment on the charges.
It really leaves a bad taste in my mouth to watch lawyers give press conference before a trial, Peruto said in a phone interview. It shows your hand, and its not proper to give evidence before its heard in court.
Friends and family of Carlin-Kraft, whose modeling profile lists photo shoots for Vanity Fair, Victorias Secret, Playboy and Maxim, were emotional walking into the hearing Friday.
She was a great girl, known her for 15 years, family friend Mark DAmbrosio told KYW-TV. Its just horrible.
District Judge Michael Quinn held Harris on all charges and scheduled an arraignment for Nov. 28.
The Situation Gets 8-month Sentence in Federal Tax Case
NEWARK, N.J.Michael The Situation Sorrentino, whose abs became famous on the hit reality show Jersey Shore, was sentenced on Oct. 5, to eight months in prison for cheating on his taxes.
A federal judge sentenced the star shortly after his brother, Marc Sorrentino, received a two-year sentence on a similar charge.
Both brothers pleaded guilty in January. They were charged in 2014 with tax offenses related to nearly $9 million in income.
Michael Sorrentinos attorneys had sought probation, while prosecutors wanted a sentence of 14 months. He is free on bail until he has to report; its not been determined where hell be incarcerated or when the term begins.
The Situation declined to comment while leaving the courthouse with his fiancee, whom he is scheduled to marry next month, his attorney said. Other Jersey Shore cast members who attended the sentencing also didnt comment afterward.
In a statement to the judge before sentencing, Sorrentino apologized for his conduct and said he is overcoming my demons and putting my life back together after years of alcohol and drug use.
Today Im a man that I should have been years ago, he told U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton.
Attorney Henry Klingeman portrayed Sorrentino as the son of an abusive father who suffered from substance use problems and low self-esteem before he rocketed to celebrity and riches on the MTV reality show that followed a group of boozing, rowdy housemates at the New Jersey shore.
Prosecutors painted a contrasting picture. While conceding The Situation may have played a lesser role in the tax scheme than his brother or accountant Gregg Markwho also has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencingthey noted he had the presence of mind to split up bank deposits into amounts lower than $10,000 so as not to trigger federal reporting requirements.
This was a deliberate course of criminal conduct with a blatant disregard for the law, Assistant U.S. Attorney Yael Epstein told the court.
Michael Sorrentino pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and admitted concealing his income in 2011 by making cash deposits in amounts that wouldnt trigger federal reporting requirements. Marc Sorrentino pleaded guilty to one count of assisting in the preparation of a false return.
In pronouncing sentence, Wigenton commended Michael Sorrentino for his progress in overcoming substance abuse but stressed that his actions in the conspiracy were made knowingly.
With celebrity comes responsibility, she told him. Part of the cost of making money is you have to pay taxes. We all have to.
John Tafur, head of IRS criminal investigations in Newark, called the brothers crimes an outright theft from the hardworking American public.
The Situation appeared on all six seasons of the reality show that ran from 2009 to 2012. The cast members were known for their drunken antics and the phrase they used to describe their lifestyle: gym, tan, laundry.
Republican former Gov. Chris Christie criticized the show for promoting stereotypes. Last year, he signed a bill capping the amount of state money universities can pay for speakers, because Rutgers University paid Jersey Shore cast member Nicole Snooki Polizzi $32,000 in 2011.
By David Porter
Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino arrives at the "Jersey Shore Family Vacation" premiere in Los Angeles on March 29, 2018. (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
The Situation Gets 8-month Sentence in Federal Tax Case
NEWARK, N.J.Michael The Situation Sorrentino, whose abs became famous on the hit reality show Jersey Shore, was sentenced on Oct. 5 to eight months in prison for cheating on his taxes.
A federal judge sentenced the star shortly after his brother, Marc Sorrentino, received a two-year sentence on a similar charge.
Both brothers pleaded guilty in January. They were charged in 2014 with tax offenses related to nearly $9 million in income.
Michael Sorrentinos attorneys had sought probation, while prosecutors wanted a sentence of 14 months. He is free on bail until he has to report; its not been determined where hell be incarcerated or when the term begins.
The Situation declined to comment while leaving the courthouse with his fiancee, whom he is scheduled to marry next month, his attorney said. Other Jersey Shore cast members who attended the sentencing also didnt comment afterward.
In a statement to the judge before sentencing, Sorrentino apologized for his conduct and said he is overcoming my demons and putting my life back together after years of alcohol and drug use.
Today Im a man that I should have been years ago, he told U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton.
Attorney Henry Klingeman portrayed Sorrentino as the son of an abusive father who suffered from substance use problems and low self-esteem before he rocketed to celebrity and riches on the MTV reality show that followed a group of boozing, rowdy housemates at the New Jersey shore.
Prosecutors painted a contrasting picture. While conceding The Situation may have played a lesser role in the tax scheme than his brother or accountant Gregg Markwho also has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencingthey noted he had the presence of mind to split up bank deposits into amounts lower than $10,000 so as not to trigger federal reporting requirements.
This was a deliberate course of criminal conduct with a blatant disregard for the law, Assistant U.S. Attorney Yael Epstein told the court.
Michael Sorrentino pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and admitted concealing his income in 2011 by making cash deposits in amounts that wouldnt trigger federal reporting requirements. Marc Sorrentino pleaded guilty to one count of assisting in the preparation of a false return.
In pronouncing sentence, Wigenton commended Michael Sorrentino for his progress in overcoming substance abuse but stressed that his actions in the conspiracy were made knowingly.
With celebrity comes responsibility, she told him. Part of the cost of making money is you have to pay taxes. We all have to.
John Tafur, head of IRS criminal investigations in Newark, called the brothers crimes an outright theft from the hardworking American public.
By David Porter
President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, on June 8, 2018. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
USMexicoCanada Trade Agreement a Win for All 3 Nations
Trade between the United States and Canada has long provided millions of good livelihoods across both countries. Many people thus supported the 1988 Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and its expansion in 1994 to include Mexico in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
After more than a year of negotiations, the three national governments, sometimes referred to as the Three Amigos, recently agreed in principle to change and rebrand NAFTA, which today regulates what has grown to more than $1.2 trillion yearly trade in goods and services. The new agreement is renamed the U.S.MexicoCanada Agreement (USMCA).
Read More Phoenix-Like, a New NAFTA Rises
What else has changed?
The investor-state dispute provisions (Chapter 11), highly detrimental to Canada, have been removed.
The U.S. attempt to remove protections for Canadas cultural and media industries was abandoned.
The three governments agreed to improve labor and environmental rights. Mexicans will be able to form unions more easily; their trucks crossing the U.S. border will have to meet tougher environmental standards.
A joint committee to review the conduct of macroeconomic policy in the three countries has been introduced.
Canada successfully fought off the U.S. attempt to remove NAFTAs independent dispute-resolution mechanism (Chapter 19). The three countries may now challenge each others anti-dumping and countervail duties before panels of USMCA representatives, rather than in U.S. courts.
American dairy farmers get improved access to the Canadian marketa victory for U.S. President Donald Trump. Canada has agreed to expand duty-free access to its domestic marketreportedly slightly more than was already offered in the renamed Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations with the Obama administration. In practice, this affects only a fraction of 1 percent of Canadas total exports.
The contentious class 6 and 7 milk products are normalized. Canadian dairy farmers are understandably displeased with the Trudeau governments decision to let more American milk pass through the tariff wall that protects the supply-management system. While there will be subsidies for Canadian dairy farmers to compensate, the agreement will have little or no impact on consumer prices in Canada.
The steel and aluminum tariffs Trump imposed on Canada under the pretense of U.S. national security have done damage to both economies. Ford Motor announced that the two levies cost it more than $1 billion last year alone.
The head of the U.S. Steelworkers Union has come out against both measures. They remain in place because Canada has already responded to them with dollar-for-dollar retaliation; now is an excellent time for both governments to call a truce.
Praise came from both the auto workers union, Unifor, and the Canadian Labor Congress for avoiding similar tariffs on the auto sector.
USMCA will limit the number of cars and value of automobile parts that Canada can ship to the United States without paying higher duties. Beginning in 2020, in order to qualify for zero tariffs, a car/truck will have to have at least 75 percent of its parts produced in the United States, Mexico, or Canada.
Also beginning in 2020, at least 30 percent of the work done on a qualifying vehicle will have to be done by workers earning a minimum of $16 per hourroughly three times more than Mexican auto employees now earn. This will be a boost for auto industry workers, but it will increase car prices and make it harder for North American-made cars to compete on international markets.
USMCA forces Canada and Mexico to respect the long patents the United States gives to its pharmaceutical companies. Specifically, the intellectual-property chapter includes an extension of the length of time new, very costly biologic drugs will be protected from generic drug competition.
The extension means that U.S. drug companies will be able to sell their biologics in Canada for a full decade, delaying the entry of cheaper generics by two years. McGill law professor Richard Gold, an expert on intellectual property, says this could cost Canadians tens of millions annually.
One of USMCAs new features is a clause that effectively provides the United States a veto over any free trade deal the other two partners might wish to negotiate with a listed non-market country, such as China (which is already on the U.S. list).
The Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman correctly predicted years ago that Beijings ongoing refusal to let its currency float would cause retaliation from economies where a manipulated yuan creates an enormous competitive advantage for China.
Chrystia Freeland, Canadas respected foreign affairs minister, says the new agreement preserves the successful economic architecture that has long governed North American trade. Critics judge that the United States is determined to dictate the terms of commerce, and the smaller partners could either go along or face years of harassment.
Despite all, the USMCA is for now seen as a win for all involved. Trump gets his first major trade deal just in time for the midterm elections. Mexicos outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto leaves office proudly; president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador avoids facing trilateral trade negotiations. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can assert that he successfully defended Canada from an economic calamity.
David Kilgour, a lawyer by profession, served in Canadas House of Commons for almost 27 years. In Jean Chretiens cabinet, he was secretary of state (Latin America and Africa) and secretary of state (Asia-Pacific). He is the author of several books and co-author with David Matas of Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong for Their Organs.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Use of Deadly Force by Police in N.H. Shootout Justified: Report
The New Hampshire Attorney Generals Office ruled on Oct. 4, 2018, that the use of deadly force by the police officers in Douglas Heaths death was justified.
According to an Oct. 4 report (pdf) released by the Office of Attorney General, 38-year-old Douglas Heath was spotted on Aug. 20, driving an SUV similar to the one he drove two days earlier while fled a traffic stop in Rochester. When the police chased and tried to arrest him, he again sped away but stopped after crashing at the corner of an intersection.
Heath left the SUV through the front passenger-side door after the crash, with a loaded semiautomatic pistol in his left hand. He fired three shots, two of them in the direction of police officers on the scene.
Two state troopers, Haden Wilber and Nathaniel Goodwin, and two police officers, Michael Lambert and Geoff Moore, fired off 30 shots at Heath after he fired the third shot. He died during the exchange of gunfire.
No one else was hurt in the incident. The police recovered a gun near Heaths body after the shootout.
The incident was recorded on videos by police camera and several citizens.
In the video released by the authorities, Heath can be seen firing while the officers shout drop your gun! drop it! loudly and repeatedly.
Witness Austin McKenziewho recorded the fatal confrontation with his cellphonesaid that Heath fired at officers first, WBTS-LD reported.
The guy rolled out of the car wielding a handgun and started firing off a couple of shots, McKenzie said, He was endangering lives of police officers.
Heath was wanted on multiple warrantsincluding fleeing from Maine State Police and trafficking narcoticsaccording to the authorities.
Four officers were placed on leave following the deadly shootout after the Attorney Generals Office began to investigate the incident.
The Attorney Generals Office held a press briefing on Oct. 4, and announced the conclusion of the investigation while releasing the investigation report.
The report says that Heath was actively using deadly force despite directives and opportunity to stop and the situation required an immediate response from the officers to eliminate the active and ongoing threat to their lives and the lives of many other people in the area.
The four officers were legally justified in using deadly force against Douglas Heath, and no criminal charges will be filed against any of them as a result of Mr. Heaths death, the Attorney Generals Office concluded in the investigation report.
From NTD.tv
What Time is the Vote on Brett Kavanaugh? Where to Watch and Expected Vote Count
UPDATE: The Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Original story below.
The U.S. Senate is set to vote on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on Saturday, Oct. 6.
The final vote was expected to take place at around 5 p.m. ET, following yesterdays advancement of Kavanaughs confirmation in a 51-49 cloture vote. However, according to Chad Pergram of Fox News, the vote is now slated for between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The cloture vote, which took place just before 11 a.m. on Oct. 5, triggered a 30-hour time period during which senators can speak about the final vote; the maximum time period is 30 hours, but the vote can potentially happen earlier if Republicans and Democrats come to an agreement.
Where to Watch, Expected Vote Count
The Epoch Times will be broadcasting live from the Senate floor as the vote happens. CSPAN has been broadcasting a live stream from the floor as senators speak.
The drama surrounding the vote culminated on Friday, with three undecided Senators announcing they would vote yes on Kavanaugh, starting with Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) then said in a speech on the Senate floor that she would vote yes on the judge, explaining how she pored over his extensive judicial record and also met privately with him and asked him additional questions over the phone.
She also slammed an allegation of gang rape that was brought forward against Kavanaugh with no evidence, yet circulated widely by Democrats and a number of media outlets, and noted that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the first woman to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault, named four witnesses but none of them, including a lifelong friend, were able to corroborate her claim.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) became the only Democrat to announce hed vote yes on Kavanaugh shortly after Collinss speech. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is the only Republican expected not to vote for Kavanaugh, but she said shell be present not no. Additionally, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has said he will be at his daughters wedding on Saturday.
Thus, the vote is expected to be 50-48, with one present. The Senate is currently composed of 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and two independents; the latter typically vote with Democrats.
According to CBS, a private swearing-in ceremony could take place as early as Saturday night, with a public event expected on Monday.
Thank you @SenatorCollins for standing by your convictions and doing the right thing to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) October 5, 2018
White House Reacts
Collinss speech was praised by White House officials, including press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Thank you @SenatorCollins for standing by your convictions and doing the right thing to confirm Judge Kavanaugh, she said after Collinss speech.
President Trump, who has backed Kavanaugh through the assault allegations, said after the cloture vote, Very proud of the U.S. Senate for voting YES to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!
Vice President Mike Pence said he is ready to see Kavanaugh confirmed. He will likely be at the vote on Saturday.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh has impeccable credentials and a proven judicial philosophy. He has a strong record of support for limited government, religious liberty, and our 2nd Amendment, Pence wrote on Twitter. Hes a conservative who will interpret the Constitution as written. Its time to #ConfirmKavanaugh.
From NTD.tv
MILFORD Connecticuts craft brewing industry is booming growing from a dozen in 2012 to more than 80 this year.
But the industry faces challenges and setbacks including state regulations on how much beer small breweries can sell directly to consumers, high excise taxes and, now, higher production costs due to the Trump administrations tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Ned Lamont and Susan Bysiewicz, the Democratic nominees for governor and lieutenant governor, visited Tribus Beer Co. in Milford Thursday to tour the facility and announce their plans to encourage continued growth of Connecticuts craft breweries, distilleries and wineries.
The reason I want to do this is I started up a business, Lamont said. I understand small businesses, and I understand how important it is sometimes just to get the government out of the way. Clear out some of the underbrush.
Lamonts plan includes eliminating limits on beer sales and lowering the excise tax.
Connecticut is home to more than 80 operational breweries with another two-dozen in the works, employing nearly 11,500 people across all aspects of the industry from brewing to wholesale and retail. In-state business and personal taxes generated from the beer industry totaled more than $420 million, and the industry contributed a more than $745 million to the state economy in 2017, according to data from the Independent Craft Brewers Association.
But the industry is reeling from a hit by the Trump administrations tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Aluminum cans make up more than 10 percent of the cost of manufacturing beer in the United States, making it the single largest cost in beer production. The majority of beer manufactured nationwide comes in aluminum cans, and a 10 percent aluminum tariff could cost the industry around $347 million annually.
The federal government temporarily reduced the federal excise tax on craft brewers by half, but their profit margins still face a potential decrease due to the tariffs. Lamonts plan would cut the states excise tax on craft breweries by more than half from $7.20 to $3.30 per barrel to be more competitive with neighboring states, and make it easier for brewers to expand their business. Lamont said the tax savings will help offset the increased cost of aluminum due to the Trump tariffs.
Craft breweries serve as a bright spot in our states economy, Bysiewicz said. However, the continued growth of Connecticuts craft beer industry is under siege from Trumps aluminum tariffs.
Tribus is one of the states newest breweries, having just opened its doors in August and it does not yet can its beer for distribution. Tribus co-founder Matt Weichner said they are already looking at doubling the production scale and preparing for distribution, which requires purchasing expensive new equipment made from steel, which is also affected by the tarrifs.
Lamonts plan also includes lifting the 9-liter limit on retail sales, a measure that has been opposed by distributors in the state every time its come up in the legislature. Distributors argue it could turn breweries into monopolies, armed with the power to manufacture, serve and sell more of their beer.
Distributors can compete just fine, Lamont said. When I took on the cable-TV industry they didnt want me competing with them either. These guys can compete. Thats what Americas all about.
For breweries like Tribus, the limit discourages them from canning their beer for distribution.
Were already looking to expand ... and starting to can, and this 9-liter limit law is getting in the way of when we do start producing these cans, we want to sell them in-house, Weichner said.
kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt
Special Events
Wednesday, Oct. 10 Author Talk: Charles Belfoure: The Fallen Architect, 7 8:30 p.m. Novelist Charles Belfoure, whos been called an up and coming Ken Follett (Booklist), is the nationally bestselling author of The Paris Architect. An architect by profession, he graduated from the Pratt Institute and Columbia University. His area of specialty is historic preservation, and he has published several architectural histories. Q&A will follow the talk. Book signing and purchase will be available courtesy of Elm Street Books, New Canaan. No charge. Registration highly recommended. Register online or call 203-762-6334.
Saturday, Oct. 13 Innovation Day, 1-5 p.m. Discover, dabble, DIY at Wilton Librarys annual Innovation Day! Join us for a festival of making, creating and demonstrating. Explore, try, learn and have fun! Test out virtual reality; ride a hovercraft; watch a portrait painter at work; learn to solder; make jewelry, gift tags and button pins; experiment with LEDs; check out a telescope; watch 3D printing; get a henna or spray tattoo and so much more! The day is free and open to all ages! Certain activities will have a nominal fee to offset costs. Make your day! Sponsored by Rings End.
Now through Thursday, Oct. 25 25 for 25 Challenge Grant Campaign In this years budgeting process, the library was challenged by the town of Wilton to raise $25,000 in additional funding which would be matched by the town, thereby reaching Wilton Librarys original budget request. The shortfall of $50,000 in the librarys Fiscal 2019 budget is crucial to the librarys operations. The library needs 1,000 people to donate just $25 or more each. Please visit wiltonlibrary.org to find out more and to donate. Please help us reach our goal of $25,000 so that the town can release the additional matching funds.
Calendar
Tuesday, Oct. 9 Breast Cancer Survivors Support Group, 6-8 p.m. Post-treatment breast cancer survivors are invited to join in this monthly support group led by Nina Marino, LCSW. Marino was the clinical director for 15 years of the former Breast Cancer Survival Center and is a breast cancer survivor. Please email Marino at Cancersurvival2@aol.com with any questions. No charge. Registration highly encouraged. Register online or call 203-762-6334.
Wednesdays through Oct. 24 Autumn Poetry with Judson Scruton: In the Shadows of Poems, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Judson Scruton leads this four-part Autumn Poetry Seminar Series in which we will do a close reading of five pairs of poems in the context of William Logans new book Dickinsons Nerves, Frosts Woods, Poetry in the Shadow of the Past. Please note: this series is taking place on Wednesdays, not our usual Thursdays. Scruton has taught creative writing and literature at prep schools and universities. He is currently an adjunct professor of English at Fairfield University. Poetry packet available at front desk one week before the seminar begins; in addition, the library will have copies of Logans book available for use in the library. No charge for the program. Advance registration required. Register online or call 203-762-6334.
Wednesday, Oct. 10 Wilton Library Readers: Pachinko, 12-1:30 p.m. Professional book discussion leader Susan Boyar discusses Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Bring lunch; beverages will be provided. Group meets second Wednesday of each month through June. For a complete listing of meetings and titles, visit wiltonlibrary.org and click on Wilton Library Readers in Books. Advance registration suggested. Register online or call 203-762-6334.
Thursday, Oct. 11 Around the World, 4-5 p.m. Come and learn about different cultures around the world through stories, crafts and food. For children in grades 3 to 5. This month we will find out about British food and folklore. There will be folktales about Jack and the Giant and others. Participants will enjoy a high tea and a craft as well. Registration required. Register online or call 203-762-6336.
Thursday, Oct. 11 Medicare Bootcamp, 7-8:30 p.m. Ever wonder how to sign up for Medicare, when you are eligible, or what your options are? Please join us for a community conversation which will provide information for those who will be new to Medicare in the near future. Learn the ins and outs of Medicare enrollment and how to avoid mistakes that can be costly. And, most important, please bring questions of your own. There will be a brief presentation by Nancy Lombard, long-term options specialist and CHOICES counselor for the Southwest CT Agency on Aging, and Lauren Hughes, coordinator of senior services for the Wilton Department of Social Services. No charge. Registration recommended. Register online or call 203-762-6334.
Sundays through April 7 Girls Who Code, 3:30-4:30 p.m. If youre a girl in grades 6-12 and want to learn to create mobile apps, games or websites, join our Girls Who Code (GWC) Club. No experience necessary just enthusiasm and willingness to try new things! Were part of a national organization that offers project-based activities in a fun and creative environment. This is an on-going program where each week builds on skills learned in previous weeks. Sessions will be run by Sarah, a computer science major who participated in a GWC Club and its summer immersion program while in high school. Sarahs eager to share everything she learned! The club meets on Sundays from 3:30-4:30 p.m. through the first week of April. Registration required. Must be able to commit to the weekly sessions. Supported by Girls Who Code and the Amadeo Family Fund.
WILTON LIBRARY 137 Old Ridgefield Road 203-762-3950 www.wiltonlibrary.org The Library will be closed Monday, Oct. 8 for Columbus Day. See More Collapse
Classes in Innovation Station There are no classes scheduled in Innovation Station this week as the library prepares for Innovation Day on Saturday, Oct. 13, from 1 to 5 p.m.
Childrens programs Tuesday, Oct. 9: Terrific Tales for Twos and Threes, 10:15-10:45 a.m.; Wednesdays, Oct. 10: Books for Babies, 10:15-10:45 a.m.; Wonderful Ones and Twos, 11-11:30 a.m.
With southwest flow at upper levels aloft, it looks like another low pressure system will move out of the central Plains through our area, triggering another round of potential flood-producing downpours Saturday night through Sunday night. A significant buckle in the jet stream over the western U.S. will result in strong southerly flow returning at lower level, and the injection of much warmer and more humid air into our area beginning Monday and continuing into midweek.
BETHALTO The village of Bethalto on Friday notified residents that a mosquito found in the village has tested positive for West Nile Virus.
In a message on its Facebook page, the village said it had just received notice from the Health Department that a mosquito from Bethalto had tested positive for the virus.
Its not the first positive test in the state this year. The first mosquitoes testing positive for the virus were found in May in the Chicago suburbs Glenview and Morton Grove. Shortly after, a Chicago resident was found to have the first human case of West Nile in Illinois in 2018.
West Nile virus is transmitted through the bite of a Culex pipiens mosquito, commonly called a house mosquito, which has picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird. Common symptoms include fever, nausea, headache and muscle aches. Symptoms may last from a few days to a few weeks. However, four out of five people infected with West Nile virus will not show any symptoms. In rare cases, severe illness including meningitis or encephalitis, or even death, can occur. People older than 60 and individuals with weakened immune systems are at higher risk for severe illness from West Nile virus.
Precautions to Fight the Bite include practicing the three Rs reduce, repel, and report.
REDUCE make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens. Repair or replace screens that have tears or other openings. Try to keep doors and windows shut.
Eliminate, or refresh each week, all sources of standing water where mosquitoes can breed, including water in bird baths, ponds, flowerpots, wading pools, old tires, and any other containers.
REPEL when outdoors, wear shoes and socks, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, and apply insect repellent that contains DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or IR 3535 according to label instructions. Consult a physician before using repellents on infants.
REPORT report locations where you see water sitting stagnant for more than a week such as roadside ditches, flooded yards, and similar locations that may produce mosquitoes. The local health department or city government may be able to add larvicide to the water, which will kill any mosquito eggs.
Monitoring for West Nile virus in Illinois includes laboratory tests for mosquito batches, dead crows, blue jays, robins and other perching birds, as well as testing humans with West Nile virus-like symptoms. People who observe a sick or dying crow, blue jay, robin or other perching bird should contact their local health department, which will determine if the bird will be picked up for testing.
EDWARDSVILLE - Project Restore, an Edwardsville-based nonprofit, continues its mission to address education, clean water and medical care issues in developing countries.
It currently is in the process of building a computer lab for students at the Nabitalo Senior Secondary School in Uganda that serves more than 700 teenagers, many of whom were orphaned in the Sudanese Civil War.
Catherine Keck, Executive Director of Project Restore, explained that the computer lab was just another step in helping this school.
We started working with this school about three years ago, she said. Within that three years, we connected electricity to the whole school, we connected running water, and we painted and rehabbed the main school buildings. We have sponsored students there as well. We only will stay five years because we dont want any direct or indirect dependency on that.
She further noted that the school is accountable for the sustainability of everything that Project Restore tries to establish. We wont come back and build another computer lab. Its their ownership its their piece in this that they have to keep it going, Keck stressed.
Project Restore began the computer lab project last year. They had a building so our first step was to completely refurbish the building. It had crumbling walls, no windows, no doors, and no electricity, but it was a building that we could fix up and make a computer lab out of it for this school, Keck explained.
The arduous process began to repair the walls, wire the building for electricity, install windows and secure the doors and windows.
We even put a bar gate on the door too just to make sure it was really secure because theft is so prevalent around there, Keck said. So that was our first step, and we completed that last year.
The next step, obtaining computers, actually came from a local source SIUE which is donating 50 laptops to Project Restore.
The laptops will be scrubbed clean, Keck said. We will have to get the operating system, software and all of that. Then were going to get security devices that attach to the laptops that then attach to the desks, and then we will get a big metal locking cabinet so that they can lock the laptops up in there too. But during the day, the laptops will be secured to the desks so that they dont just happen to walk away.
In addition to the donated laptops, Project Restore has also received a donation of old dictionaries from the Edwardsville District 7 Schools. We have delivered about a total of about 125 dictionaries. Those were split between the secondary school and the primary school, Keck pointed out. They were incredibly thrilled to get them. You would had thought I gave them $100. They were thrilled. They said, These are so expensive here, and we cant get these here
At one time I had my whole spare room closet full of dictionaries, Keck added. As we take teams (to Uganda), we take them in our spare luggage. You cant take a lot because they are heavy, but it gives the dictionaries second life too.
Keck emphasized that completing the computer lab is especially important for these students. The government requires computer classes and computer training, but gives absolutely no funding for computer labs so 90 percent of the schools teach computers from a book. These kids dont have any practical application so building a computer lab will give these kids such a tremendous opportunity to get the training for this digital age so that they can go out and get a better job than if they didnt have a computer lab.
Funding for the laptop software and security will come from Project Restores annual Howl-O-Ween Dog Costume Parade that takes place Oct. 20 at Joe Glik Park in Edwardsville. This popular event provides community members with an opportunity to show off their four-legged, furry pets in their Halloween best.
Our goal is 100 dogs registered, Keck noted. If we hit that, we should raise enough to buy operating software and the Microsoft Office Suite for all 50 computers as well as the security devices. Thats our goal.
Theres still time to pre-register for the event online at www.project-restore.org or Venmo at Project-Restore for a discount of $15 per dog. The day of the event on Oct. 20, the fee is $20 per dog, and registrations will be taken that morning.
Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. with the parade beginning at 12:30 p.m. Cash prizes will be awarded for the best pooch costume based on originality, creativity, behavior and theme. Its free to watch the parade but lawn chairs are encouraged.
Dogs must remain leashed, have current rabies and vaccination tags, and wear I.D. tags at all times. No puppies under 4 months old are allowed.
To learn more about Project Restore or its annual Howl-O-Ween Parade, visit the Project Restore Facebook page or www.project-restore.org.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates are among the most important events in the United States history.
The seven debates were conducted throughout Illinois in the summer and fall of 1858. Not only significant in their own time, the debates have since been recognized as an ultimate example of our political process which has continued throughout the centuries as most office seekers nationwide debate each other every campaign season.
Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln were respectively the Democratic and Republican party candidates for the U.S. Senate. The primary question these men discussed was whether slavery should be extended into the nations territories.
Lincoln was not an abolitionist, but he loathed slavery and looked forward to a time when it would disappear. He also maintained that it should be forbidden from being established in new states that desired to join the Union. Douglas defended the concept of Popular Sovereignty, whereby the people who resided in western territories should have the right to decide if slavery would be allowed.
The slavery question was so important then that no other political issue was raised by either candidate during the debates.
Public oratory was popular in the 19th century; both candidates often used harsh language and outspoken mud-slinging to characterize each other. People attending these contests also shouted out derogatory comments and catcalls toward both men. Spectators came from every part of Illinois to hear the speakers and newspapers throughout the country published detailed accounts.
The first debate, in Ottawa, was held on a blisteringly hot day in the third week of August. Most historians agree Douglas put Lincoln on the defensive; consequently, the Little Giant appeared to be the winner.
However, at the second contest in Freeport, Douglas was put on the defensive. Lincoln asked Douglas how he could reconcile his Popular Sovereignty stance with the Supreme Courts Dred Scott decision, which ruled that slaveholders had the right to introduce slavery into the territories. If Douglas responded that he supported the Dred Scott decision he would please Southerners, but if he stood by his Popular Sovereignty position, most Southerners would never forgive him.
His reply that day has since been dubbed the Freeport Doctrine. Douglas responded to Lincolns query by saying the people who settled a territory would determine whether or not slavery could exist there. Put back on his heels, he hoped his answer would satisfy all parties, but it failed.
More Information Lincoln vs. Douglas debates 1. Ottawa - Aug. 21, 1858 - Attendance: 10,000 to 12,000 2. Freeport - Aug. 27, 1858 - Attendance: 15,000 3. Jonesboro - Sept. 15, 1858 - Attendance: 1,500 4. Charleston - Sept. 18, 1858 - Attendance: 12,000 5. Galesburg - Oct. 7, 1858 - Attendance: 15,000 6. Quincy - Oct. 13, 1858 - Attendance: 12,000 7. Alton - Oct. 15, 1858 - Attendance: 5,000 Source: Lincoln Home National Historic Site See More Collapse
The third debate, in mid-September in downstate Jonesboro, was poorly attended. In southern Illinois, slavery was popular with many citizens. Lincoln finally came out more forcefully in Jonesboro, but he faced a hostile crowd and was characterized by Douglas as a radical. This debate is considered by most scholars a somewhat inglorious affair. The fourth debate, in Charleston, was on neutral ground for both men and is remembered as a stalemate.
On a chilly day at Knox Colleges Old Main in Galesburg, the fifth debate on Oct. 7 drew more spectators than any of the other six contests. Lincoln scholars are nearly unanimous in describing this debate as the one where Lincoln found his legs, displaying a confidence he had not shown before.
Lincoln knew Galesburg was an abolitionist town, known for harboring fugitives on the Underground Railroad. Standing erect and self-assured on a stage above the crowd, Lincoln spoke for the first time at length about the immorality of slavery.
I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country that contemplates slavery as a moral, social and political evil, he said. Paraphrasing Henry Clay, he accused Douglas of blowing out the moral lights around us.
Lincoln biographer Benjamin Thomas described the Galesburg contest as the turning point for Lincoln. One Boston newspaper reporter described Lincoln as eloquent and bold. Lincoln was so successful emphasizing this moral theme in Galesburg that he repeated it at the sixth debate in Quincy.
Douglas, often a heavy drinker, was described as tightand spoke slowly, hammering home his contention that decisions about slavery should be left to local and state governments. In the final debate, at Alton, which was a rehashing of the previous points, Douglas, his voice fraying, seemed worn down. An energetic Lincoln said the Declaration of Independence applied to all men, not just some, and the slavery question was between right and wrong.
In November, the state Legislature re-elected Douglas by 54 to 46, but the debates catapulted Lincolns name and reputation across the nation; the Republican Party nominated him for the presidency two years later. His election victory proved to be a significant watershed in American history.
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The Fox River Study Group is in the final phase of a four-phase work plan, according to Phipps. The phase involves using a watershed model as a management tool to ensure efficient use of taxpayer and private money on watershed projects, assess the effect of various development options throughout the watershed, educate residents, identify sensitive regions within the watershed and develop effective monitoring programs.
I have worked diligently at creating a beautiful and safe neighborhood, Peterson wrote. I have moderated meetings with crowds large and small regarding topics both mild and controversial. I learned a great deal about what homeowners care about and the forums they choose to voice their concerns. I believe all of those things are vital in an alderman.
But Cichy held out, and on the day he was scheduled to go to trial this year, prosecutors made the stunning announcement that they were dropping all charges against him. Assistant States Attorney Timothy Diamond said the key undercover informant in the case, Michael Mathieu-Duran, had been accused of committing two previously undisclosed crimes.
Investigators are looking into whether Minneapolis police have shown a pattern or practice of policing that is unlawful or unconstitutional. They are also examining the police departments use of force, including against protesters, its treatment of people suffering from behavioral health issues, its systems of accountability and whether officers have engaged in discriminatory policing.
Heavy weather warning issued for Phuket, Andaman
PHUKET: The Phuket branch of the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) issued a heavy weather warning for provinces in the Andaman region including Phuket from today until tomorrow (Oc 6-7).
weatherSafety
By The Phuket News
Saturday 6 October 2018, 03:34PM
TMD issued a weather warning for Phuket and the Andaman coast, advising small boats to stay ashore. Photo: TMD
The advisory forecasts strong wind and heavy rains with possible flash floods and landslides in Phuket, Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang and Satun. Waves are forecast to reach two meters high in the Andaman Sea. All ship captains are advised to monitor the weather forecast closely and proceed with caution, while smaller vessels are advised to stay ashore. TMD's warning follows similar announcements by the national Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office (DDPM) made earlier this week. DDPM called on all residents and officials in high-risk areas of Phuket and throughout Southern Thailand to be on full alert for possible floods and landslides (read here). Heavy weather has already prompted Phuket Vice-Governo Snith Sriwihok to urge the islands three district chiefs to be prepared to carry out evacuations in their areas (read here).
No specific date set for enforcement of Supreme Court beach evictions in Phuket
PHUKET: MaAnn Samran, chief of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor), has assured Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana that he will carry out Supreme Court evictions on 178 rai of beachfront land at Layan and Leypang beaches, on Phukets west coast.
tourismlandconstruction
By The Phuket News
Saturday 6 October 2018, 11:00AM
Occupiers of beachfront plots at Layan and Leypang beaches were given until March 5 to vacate their plots or face having their businesses demolished. Photo: Supplied
Mr MaAnn was questioned about his ability to carry out Supreme Court evictions during the new Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatanas first Governor Meets Press function held at Phuket Provincial Hall this Thursday (October 4).
The dismantling of structures along Layan and Leypang beaches is on hold because five new people filed their appeals to the Court of Appeals claiming to own the land. The Court of Appeals dismissed these claims last month, Mr MaAnn said.
Next I will send a letter to Phuket Legal Execution Department (PLED) to reclaim this land for the Government. The land will be public and beautiful, he added.
Mr MaAnn did not specify when the letter to PLED will be sent. As of October 5, it was yet to happen.
We are still waiting for this letter from Mr MaAnn because actions can be taken only after a complaint, a PLED official told The Phuket News.
In accordance with the final warning from Phuket officials, occupiers of beachfront plots at Layan and Leypang beaches mostly restaurants and other businesses that cater to tourists were given until March 5 to vacate their plots or face having their businesses demolished (read here).
Contacted by The Phuket News on March 5, Mr MaAnn said he was ready to proceed with demolition but needed instructions from PLED.
Im ready. I am waiting for PLED to inform me of what action is to be taken, Mr MaAnn said.
I can only take action by command from the Legal Execution Office only, he added (read here).
PLED officials at that time expected local authorities to make the first step.
"Phuket officials must go to check that people have vacated the land. If they have not, the officials must come to report it at the PLED. Our role is just to support officials in enforcing the law. Thats all, PLED Director Kattakamon Tunwun said.
Sashimi at sunset - Hansha @ The Nai Harn
As I meander along the country lanes through Nai Harn I am reminded on this rather drizzly evening of my homeland, and the spectacular landscape that is the Mull of Kintyre. Arriving at The Nai Harn is an experience in itself; this historic lodging has been refurbished and sympathetically restored to its rightful place as a Phuket icon. Its heritage carefully preserved as a reminder of the golden age of hospitality, whilst also brought up-to-date.
Dining
By Chris Watson
Saturday 6 October 2018, 11:00AM
Hansha at The Nai Harn
Smartly uniformed staff greet and direct me to an elevator which transports me to Hansha, the hotels latest venture into Japanese Sushi and Sashimi. Located in Reflections, an ocean fronted rooftop terrace lounge, the views demand a short pause to fully savour; perched atop the cliffs and looking out across the Andaman sea.
I am warmly welcomed by Executive Chef Mark, a fellow Brit from south of the border who introduces me to Chef Arnu, who has gained extensive experience in several highly rated Japanese restaurants in Bangkok. Having joined the hotel many years ago, he has now, at Hansha, found his true passion.
Arnu recommends me to dine Omakase, (priced at B3,750 net); this directly translates to I leave it up to you, enabling the Chef to serve the best of the days catch. The almost exclusively Japanese sashimi grade quality fish is regularly flown in direct from Tsukiji market in Tokyo. A la carte options are available, as are value for money sashimi and sushi platters, refreshing salads, Chefs signature innovative Maki alongside the more traditional for those less adventurous.
I begin with an artfully presented sashimi salad containing delicate chunks of Hamachi, salmon, tuna and octopus, bathed in a piquant miso dressing, accentuating the freshness of the fish. The quality of the fish is exceptional, the flesh melting in the mouth. This is followed with a glistening Fine de Claire oyster topped with fresh ginger and mirin, the latter adding mild acidity to balance the richness of the stunning oyster.
I am delighted to discover that Mark has chosen to serve Hebridean salmon, 100 % Scottish and the heir to ancestral bloodline stretching back a millennium. The cold and stormy weather enables them to become firmer, offering a distinctive fresh and succulent taste.
I am keen to try this product and select an a la carte dish of salmon, ponzu and jalapeno. The plate arrives, pretty as a picture and I can now say, without any nationalistic bias, that this salmon is truly very special indeed.
Arnu now serves me with expertly formed sushi. Precision carved slivers of Hokkaido scallop, kingfish topped with foie gras, and a brightly shimmering shard of tuna topped with fresh ginger and spring onion.
The rice, with which they are lovingly bonded, is a premium imported Sasanishiki rice from Sendai. The grain and texture of the rice, world class and Arnu elevates it even more with a hint of yuzu. The vegetables are also imported; fresh root wasabi, yuzu, mirin, rice wine vinegars, soy and shin-shoga no amazu-zuki or Japanese pickled ginger to the uninitiated.
A welcome comforting miso soup brought my meal to a close.
However, Arnu would not let me leave without experiencing a dessert from the tempting selection.
I am brought a green tea creme brulee with homemade vanilla ice cream. It is again a lesson in art and I feel guilty to eat it; well almost! A crunchy layer of sugar on top of a warm, smooth and tasty green tea custard blends perfectly with a chilled yet creamy vanilla ice cream.
As I bid farewell, the Scottish inclement weather continuing to prevail, I reflect on a truly authentic evening. The bar is cosy, requires reservations and is only open evenings, Friday to Tuesday. However, for those Phuketians seeking an experience evoking the essence of Japanese cuisine, with premium sushi and sashimi, book your counter seats at Hansha, you will not be disappointed!
Chris is a former Michelin Guide Inspector who following an international career in hospitality spanning 30 years in both the Middle East and Asia. He has now settled in Thailand and will contribute a monthly restaurant column.
NORRISTOWN A man involved in an Upper Hanover crash is headed to jail after he claimed damage to his car occurred after he obtained an insurance policy when, in fact, the damage occurred just moments before he obtained the coverage.
State agents alleged Steven Francis Notter, 51, of the 900 block of East Montgomery Street, Salisbury Township, Lehigh County, actually obtained the insurance coverage while at the scene of the two-vehicle crash along Route 663 and Geryville Pike in Upper Hanover.
Notter was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to nine to 18 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of insurance fraud and attempted theft by deception in connection with events that unfolded after the April 2016 crash. The sentence was imposed by Judge Richard P. Haaz, who accepted a plea agreement in the matter.
The case was investigated by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.
Notter, according to a criminal complaint, was operating a Ford Econoline E-350 van involved in a collision with a 2002 GMC Savana van operated by a Quakertown, Bucks County, man at the Upper Hanover intersection on April 11, 2016. The second driver took cellphone photographs of the collision that were timestamped between 3:56 p.m. and 4:17 p.m., court papers indicate.
A state police trooper said the second driver contacted police about the crash at 4:07 p.m. and the trooper arrived on the scene at 4:13 p.m. The trooper noted in his report that Notter did not have proof of financial responsibility and when asked to call his insurance company to get the policy number, Notter took a relatively long time to get the information, according to the criminal complaint.
The investigation determined Notter contacted Nationwide Insurance by phone at about 4:20 p.m. April 11 and obtained a six-month liability automobile insurance policy for his van, according to the arrest affidavit.
During the recorded phone conversation, Notter was asked if he had any accidents or violations in the last three years and he responded, Uh, no, according to the criminal complaint, and the policy was issued at 4:47 p.m.
However, when insurance company officials investigated further, including obtaining information from the second drivers insurer, they determined Notters policy was not in force at the time of the collision, according to the criminal complaint filed by Special Agent Richard Weisbrod of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.
Weisbrod alleged Notter made misrepresentations by stating that he obtained an insurance policy with Nationwide prior to being involved in a collision, when in fact the policy was obtained after the collision occurred.
Notter also committed application fraud when he obtained the insurance policy by answering Uh, no when asked if he was involved in any accidents or had any violations in the past three years, Weisbrod alleged in court documents.
In addition to the jail time, the judge said Notter is on the hook for the $500 deductible the second driver had to pay out in connection with the $2,369 bill to repair his vehicle.
One of the officers fired several shots at the driver, and the Cadillac ran into parked vehicles as well as the officers car, police said. The driver was taken to a hospital for treatment of two gunshot wounds to the shoulder, according to police.
Perhaps the most pernicious thing that was said in recent weeks was when Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii literally told men to shut up in regard to determining the truth behind differing accounts of high school memories involving Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The Kavanaugh ordeal has been miserable in so many ways. A woman in pain may have been used for ideological purposes. A man and his family went from a moment of civic honor to one of humiliation and horror.
As Kavanaugh was about to come up for a vote, my friend Ed Mechmann, a former prosecutor who works for the Catholic Church in New York, was being awarded the Great Defender of Life award from the Human Life Foundation. At the ceremony, he talked about the death of truth and our societal tendency to devalue, dehumanize and dispose of people. And its no surprise this could connect to Kavanaugh because its hard to escape the suspicion that so much of the circus around his nomination has everything to do with the ideological divide over abortion.
What makes this so repulsive, besides the fact that the majority of abortions are unnecessary if we were all a little more generous and loving in our outreach and creativity, we could eliminate most of them is that so many of us who have supported the nomination of Kavanaugh at the same time had our hearts broken for Christine Blasey Ford. Obviously, she went through some pain in her life. If weve learned anything from the #MeToo movement, it is that theres a whole lot of pain and injustice in the world today. Which gets us back to telling the truth.
Theres a synod on youth going on in Rome right now. An archbishop from Australia, Anthony Fisher, took to the floor in the opening days to apologize for abuse in the Church and the Churchs inappropriate or insufficient responses to it.
As humans, we do things that we are ashamed of. By Gods grace, the wisdom of experience and the process of maturity, hopefully we move beyond some of the worst of it. But the shameful behavior continues today in our national life and in our politics. Its a bipartisan problem, as one side can feed the other. Instead of destroying lives actually ending them in moments of utter vulnerability or tearing them apart in a media frenzy how about embracing and lifting up the people who help, the people who give their all to spread love in the world, so that people can see thats part of the reality of American life today, too?
The night of Eds award, I ran into Cheryl Calire, who runs a Mother Teresa home for mothers in need in upstate New York. Shes one of the people whose existence in the world constantly reminds me that there is something better out there beyond the constant churn of terrible headlines.
The denial of truth is certainly not a new phenomenon, Ed said. But in the communication age, it is spreading like a virus and is having a corrosive effect on society on all levels from our public institutions down to our own individual lives.
Our challenge is the same it has always been, in every movement to eliminate injustice and oppression from abolitionism to the civil rights movement to our pro-life movement. Abraham Lincoln once said, (T)he real issue is the eternal struggle between these two principles right and wrong throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle.
Ed also said: We are all united in one human family what hurts one hurts us all. Because either everybodys life matters or nobodys life matters.
That includes everyone we watch on TV, who steps up to the plate to serve or say their piece. Lets drop the devaluing, dehumanizing and disposing. Everything might just become a little more humane if we insist on it.
(Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.)
CALGARYDoug Ford and Jason Kenney brought a united front against carbon taxes to a crowd of conservative supporters in Calgary on Friday night.
Ontario Premier Ford was invited to join Kenney and the United Conservative Party for a Scrap the Carbon Tax rally, where the two politicians promised to work together to fight the federal governments levy plan.
Kenney estimated 2,000 people were in attendance at the BMO Centre.
Ford and Kenney praised opposition to the federal carbon tax thats come across the country from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and recently from Manitobas government.
Ford promised the crowd that just as a new day dawned in Ontario with the PCs win after 15 years of Liberal government, a new day will dawn for Alberta with a UCP victory in next springs election.
I have a message for all the people of Alberta. Stay strong, your next election is one that conservatives can win, an election we will win, and an election we must win, Ford said.
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Kenney also spoke about Albertas carbon tax, saying it wasnt mentioned during the last provincial election campaign, arguing it took voters by surprise. Kenney promised UCPs first bill passed if the party forms government next year will be to repeal Albertas carbon tax.
The multibillion-dollar job-killing carbon tax that they did not mention in the last election, it isnt just the biggest tax hike in Alberta history, it is the biggest lie in Alberta history, Kenney said.
But not everyone is thrilled about a Toronto politician bringing his message to Alberta.
Chief of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Tony Alexis, put out a statement Friday morning criticizing Kenneys desire to scrap the climate change plan if his party forms the next provincial government, calling it reckless.
It seems Kenney values Doug Fords position on this plan over the Indigenous peoples who actually live here in Alberta, he said.
During an interview with StarMetro, Alexis said he was worried about the future relationship between the provincial government and Indigenous peoples in Alberta should Kenneys party win the coming spring election.
Weve been moving forward in building a relationship with the government and my opinion is that Jason Kenney will not continue that. As a matter of fact, he may take some steps back, he said.
Its important for us, especially Indigenous people, we rely on the land. Weve always had this relationship with Mother Earth.
Alexis said he also found it odd that Kenney would bring a politician from Central Canada to the rally and said, based on Fords actions in Ontario, he thought Alberta voters should be extra cautious.
It makes no sense to me. (Kenney is) a person of this region. What he should be doing is speaking to the people here he doesnt need anybody from outside here to try to rally the people of this region.
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Fords appearance in Calgary follows a stop in Saskatchewan where Ford met with Premier Scott Moe, another ally opposing carbon taxation. Ford has already launched a constitutional challenge in court against the federal carbon tax, after having dismantled Ontarios cap-and-trade program earlier this year.
The federal governments plan would require provinces and territories to put a price on carbon emissions, or have a $10 per tonne tax imposed on them next year, which would rise to $50 per tonne in 2022.
Kenney and Ford have praised each others work in the past to oppose carbon tax legislation. Earlier this year, Kenney spoke at the Ontario PC convention, where he noted his support for each of the major leadership candidates opposition to the federal carbon tax.
Likewise, as a leadership candidate, Ford said he could already envision Ontario, led by his government, working with a Kenney-led Alberta to unite their efforts against the federal Liberals carbon tax.
David Taras, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said Fords invitation to Alberta may actually play into the hands of the Alberta NDP. Taras pointed to Premier Rachel Notleys strategy to point out budget cuts promised by the UCP and how this would impact education, health care and infrastructure.
Ford does not have the adoring affection of a lot of Ontario voters. Most voted against him and a lot of Albertans are just horrified by him. Bringing him out and making a spectacle of an alliance between the UCP and Kenney and Ford may be playing into the hands of his opposition, Taras said.
It reminds voters of the things Ford is doing that are unpopular, including unpopular in Ontario, and that would include cutbacks.
Ultimately, Taras said bringing Ford to Calgary plays to the UCPs existing base of support, stirring passions within the party, even if it alienates other Alberta voters.
But the question remains about what a Kenney-led UCP government would implement to replace the provinces carbon tax, as Albertas Official Opposition hasnt put forward its own environmental policy.
Its easy to say, no carbon tax and also to say, well, we do care about the environment, but then what do you actually do in terms of environmental policy? Taras said.
One of the things that was very painful to watch and very sad for a lot of environmentalists was to watch the Tories in power in Alberta. A lot of big talk about the environment and at the end of the day, I dont even think most Albertans knew if the party had an environmental policy.
But the criticism goes beyond the scrap of the tax and stretches outside Alberta as well.
Friends of Medicare, an Edmonton-based non-governmental organization, put out a news release on Friday with words of warning from the Ontario Health Coalition.
Albertans can take warning from what is happening in Ontario, said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, a group representing over 400 member organizations.
Doug Ford ran his election campaign and refused to reveal an actual platform stating what he intended to do if he won. Now we are seeing major cuts to programs across the board and a big manipulation to try to create a false crisis in order to soften up the public for the real agenda: cuts to public health care and privatization of services.
A small group of protesters gathered outside the BMO Centre to oppose the rallys stance against carbon taxes, as well as Fords changes to Ontarios education curriculum and cuts to Toronto city council.
Womens March Canada invited Calgarians to protest the rally, targeting Fords education stance, according to the groups website.
The event listing says Kenney promised to shred the curriculum and now he is meeting with Doug Ford (who) is trying to impose a 1998 health curriculum in Ontario that predates the change in consent law and erases LGBT people (and even set up a snitch line to report teachers that defy his direction).
An estimated 30,000 students walked out of Ontario schools in September to protest Ford reverting to the 1998 sex-education curriculum. The so-called snitch line was put in place for parents to report teachers who refused to use the 1998 sex-education curriculum and the move met with fierce opposition.
Albertas Education Minister David Eggen echoed these concerns about Ontarios education policy and was critical of the UCPs invitation to Ford, given the Ontario PC governments actions.
In the three months that Doug Ford has been the premier of Ontario, he has unleashed mayhem into the education system, attacking teachers, taking (millions of dollars) out of maintenance, attacking curriculum, Eggen said.
Eggens said Albertans should take a long second look at what the similarities between Kenney and Ford mean for Albertans.
With Kenney having previously announced his plans to repeal Albertas carbon levy if the UCP is elected, Eggen said its important for Alberta to have a carbon plan of its own
Part of what we need to do is make sure that we take positive action on carbon. If you dont have these things, then you end up with a plan made in Ottawa, Eggen said. It goes back to Albertans looking after ourselves, making decisions about what we can do to help diversify the economy and to be energy leaders into this 21st century.
Michael Janz, an Edmonton Public Schools trustee, said Kenney standing alongside Ford sends a political message that should be read with alarm.
Kenney is a smart politician and to have somebody like Doug Ford on stage, its not just about the carbon tax, said Janz.
Its a dog whistle to all of those other extreme, socially conservative, regressive elements that are sowing division in our society and I worry that theyre going to feel emboldened by Doug Fords presence.
Janz criticized Fords record on public education and said if Kenney were to form a government, many similar policies could be seen implemented in Alberta.
Politics is all about perception, he said.
You cant just put a Make America Great Again hat on and say its because you like the colour red. This is a very, very powerful symbol and an allegiance, and to see those two working together this is really concerning.
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Traditionally, tourists have trekked to the star of Thailands north in search of MEAT: markets, elephants, artisans and temples. And Chiang Mai, a laid-back old riverside city whose population (fewer than 200,000) is a fraction of Bangkoks (more than 8 million), obliges those fantasies. But these days the 700-year-old city is brimming with far more modern attractions, too, namely the works of artists and designers. Thanks to a blossoming creative scene, a Chiang Mai weekend now offers the chance to soak up contemporary art in world-class exhibition spaces, purchase stylish 21st-century design in new shops and craft villages, and sleep in gallery-like new hotels, from the frivolous to the fancy. The culinary and night life scenes are also thriving, with ambitious upstart restaurants and a buzzing bar district joining the citys traditional eating rooms and street-food zones. Just be careful to avoid Chiang Mai in March and April, when the regions farmers burn brush and overgrowth en masse, filling the air with smoke and ash.
FRIDAY
5 p.m.: Handmade haven
Handmade creations abound along Charoenrat Road. Siam meets Soho at Woo, a cafe and concept store that blooms with Thai creativity literally starting with plants and exquisite floral arrangements. The upstairs art gallery exhibits painting and sculpture, while the boutiques wide-ranging collection includes rice extract lip balm, minimalist ceramics, kaleidoscopic hippie-chic dresses and a skull covered with tiny white seashells that would make Damien Hirst jealous. Down the street, the Meeting Room Art Cafe is piled with stacks of prints and canvases by local artists all for sale while elegant Sop Moei Arts sells textile creations to decorate your body or home, from scarves to embroidered wall hangings.
7 p.m.: Sunset on the river
For a sunset drink on the Ping River, the most stylish hangout is On the Ping in the Sala Lanna hotel. With its swimming pool, white lanterns, white canopies and white couches, the back lawn channels the spirit of St.-Tropez. The menu, meanwhile, includes house cocktails like the Ping River (vodka, lychee, lemongrass and lime; 290 baht, or about $8.70 U.S.), Thai craft beers and even Thai rose.
9 p.m.: Quirky and romantic
It looks as if some eccentric, globe-trotting English lord is behind Ginger & Kafe restaurant. Who else would dare add sliced cucumber and toast points to the chicken satay? Who else would include scones in the dessert menu? And who but an aristocratic British bloke would decorate the space with chandeliers, armchairs, Oriental rugs, lacquered chests, flickering candles and other drawing-room accoutrements? English lord or not, Ginger & Kafe is a quirkily romantic place to pop the question, or simply your gut courtesy of braised beef in lime-coconut reduction, pork ribs in tamarind sauce, or a red curry with duck breast and tropical fruits. (A three-course meal for two costs around 1,800 baht.)
Then move to the adjoining House Lounge, another elegant throwback where monkeys and birds frolic (on the wallpaper) and vases of plants and flowers complete the jungle lodge vibe. A Colonial Cordial (Scotch, Papidoux calvados, Grand Marnier, thyme liqueur, bitters; 350 baht) is practically a must, and the dress code is BYOPH: Bring your own pith helmet.
SATURDAY
10 a.m.: Wisdom of the Wat
First the bad news: All things arise, exist and expire. On the other hand: Detachment is a great way to relax. Such are just a few of the maxims on signs that adorn trees in Wat Umong, a forested sprawl of temples, pavilions, statues, fountains and lakes. Founded in the late 13th century and still home to many Buddhist monks, the complex is best known for its bell-shaped, 14th-century stone pagoda reached by stone stairs lined with scaly beasts and rock caverns filled with Buddha statues and figurines in the niches and alcoves. Beat the heat by arriving in the morning and taking a meditative stroll amid a soundtrack of birds, roosters, chants and bells.
Noon: A crafty scheme
The mood shifts from contemplation to creation in the nearby forest clearing containing Baan Kang Wat artisan village. Meandering paths lead to cafes, tea houses, juice stands, funky shops and craft studios selling everything from handmade paper goods to baby clothes. Follow the sound of hammer-tapping to Saprang, where award-winning jewelry designer Supat Suwannasing makes delicate earrings and bracelets that often employ nature motifs such as leaves and vines. Wood and ceramics are the choice materials at BooKoo Studio, which sells smooth and simple creations such as bowls and chopping boards.
2 p.m.: Pig out
Your lifelong quest to consume spicy frog soup and stir-fried ant eggs ends at Huen Muan Jai restaurant, another villagelike sprawl of rustic wooden houses and pavilions. Porcine dreams are also satisfied, with a menu that features pork wrapped in banana leaves, tossed in jackfruit soup, stir-fried with mushrooms, encased in an omelette or cooked to cotton-ball softness in a red curry as thin and powerful as a flyweight boxer. More mainstream meats and fish also make appearances in local specialties like khao soy a mix of chicken or beef with boiled and crispy noodles in sweet coconut broth while desserts combine coconut milk with either bananas or corn and sticky rice to ambrosia-like effect. Two can lunch copiously for 600 baht.
4 p.m.: Creative corridors
You can hardly hurl a beret without hitting an art or design business on Nimmanhaemin Roads side streets. Local artists have contributed to almost every space in Art Mai? Gallery Hotel, from the themed rooms to the restaurants recipes, but nowhere more so than the ground-floor art gallery (well curated, with artist biographies in English) and boutique (which sells drawings and canvases, along with artist-designed scarves and bags).
Southward, Gallery Seescape has rotating exhibitions and also showcases the work of its founder, Torlarp Larpjaroensook including his dreamy abstract paintings and playful robot sculptures while Jojo Kobe specializes in screen prints by artists like Kittisak Chaimoonta (notable for his surreal, dark humanoid figures) and Thaiwijit Puengkasemsomboon (a devotee of colourful abstraction). Farther south, a sculptural white unicorn announces Chiang Mai University Art Center, a Le Corbusier-inspired concrete-and-glass structure filled with airy white galleries, modernist Bauhaus lines, rotating contemporary art exhibitions and puzzlingly few visitors.
7 p.m.: Seafood speakeasy
How do you like your crab fat? If you answered, As a warm brown gravy for a crispy crab meat wonton with pickled local cabbage, please, then you will get along swimmingly with Blackitch Artisan Kitchen. Another hidden gem off Nimmanhaemin Road, the cult restaurant is not fancy (simple cement floor and tile tables), not romantic (bright lighting), not large (barely space for a dozen), not easy to reserve (you must book the day before you want to dine), not easy to find (one floor above street level and almost unmarked) and not abounding with choices (the nightly set menu, at 1,800 baht, is the only option). But the imaginative seafood-rich dishes are exceptional: roasted, basted catfish in a juice made from its own head and tail on a velvety sweet puree of lotus seed boiled in coconut oil; or perhaps a seaweed-wrapped mackerel nugget topped with salmon roe on a cube of smoked yuzu-marinated rice larded with river shrimp and pink petals. Whatever the chefs whim, it will likely be precise, daring and exquisite.
10 p.m.: Beer and botanicals
Along nearby Nimmanhaemin Road you can travel the world in 80 beers more, in fact at Beer Lab. The convivial outdoor bar draws college kids, NGO workers, expats and local young professionals with its menu of beers from the United States, Australia, Europe, Asia and beyond, including Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale from Japan (310 baht) and Chiang Mais own Tropical Wheat beer (220 baht). Or you can soar above the city at the open-air rooftop bar of the Hotel Yayee. Plants hang from the rafters and sometimes end up in your drink, too, thanks to botanically infused cocktails (260 baht) like Anandas Flyboy (juniper spirit, aloe vera, thyme and white grape).
SUNDAY
11 a.m.: Art of Asia
Surely you have wondered: What would happen if Hieronymus Bosch was reincarnated as a LSD dealer with a pop-culture obsession in 21st-century Thailand? He might create something similar to artist Navin Rawanchaikuls Super(M)art Bangkok Survivor, a huge, frenzied, feverish, cartoonish wall-size painting that bursts with debauched Thai characters, real and invented, including a Kalashnikov-toting Buddha; vomiting tattooed monks; elephants; Vespas; blimps and the famous twins, Chang and Eng Bunker. The work is the marquee attraction of Maiiam, a world-class museum that opened in 2016. The permanent collection of Thai contemporary art also features playful and sinister severed sculptural limbs by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, and paintings of pained, howling faces by Chatchai Puipia. Maiiam is about 30 minutes from the city by taxi or ride share. Admission: 150 baht.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Somebody likes bikes at Room No. 7 Hotel (9 Nimmanhaemin Soi 7, 66-63-797-7997), which opened in 2016 in the Nimmanhaemin Road district. Some of the 21 rooms have a motorcycle theme (others are more minimalist white or grey), and common areas are decorated with vintage Vespas and motorbikes. Doubles from 1,250 baht.
A luxurious and stylish option along the riverfront, the 19-room Hotel des Artists Ping Silhouette (181 Charoenrat Road, 66-53-249-999) is a jigsaw of right angles and dark colours with pool, spa, tea room, restaurant and large groomed backyard lounge along the water. Doubles from 4,000 baht.
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Living on a remote island at the mercy of nature demands resiliency, and the Azores do qualify as remote: nine volcanic islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, 850 miles off the coast of Portugal, their protectorate. The Azores are known for volcanic craters, natural hot springs, 600-foot waterfalls, mountains, cerulean lagoons and dense forests.
But it has not always been idyllic on the islands. Throughout their history, Azoreans have had to overcome disease, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and hurricanes that have decimated their food supply and threatened their economy and survival.
But they are masters of reinvention and ingenuity: They have learned how to cultivate tea and coffee, plants that are not native to the islands but flourish in the temperate climate and mineral-rich volcanic soil. They have also preserved and perfected centuries-old traditions in cheesemaking and wine production to ensure sustainability and safeguard their culture. They proudly share their agrarian heritage with travellers seeking an authentic Azorean experience.
Coffee
I had to walk briskly to keep up with 66-year-old Manuel Nunes. He climbs the hillsides of his coffee farm with the sure-footedness of a ram, easily negotiating the rocky terrain. His muscular fingers are adept at plucking the beans swiftly from their stems. He will dry them in the sun and roast them on his stovetop in a cast iron pan, to sell as beans and to serve as coffee at Cafe Nunes in Faja dos Vimes, a village of 70 people on Sao Jorge Island.
Nunes tiny farm is the largest plantation in Europe, with 700 plants yielding approximately 1,600 pounds of coffee annually tiny when compared to major coffee-growing countries. The low altitude coupled with high humidity makes this microclimate ideal for growing arabica coffee. There are no insects on the island that destroy the beans so no chemicals are required. The result is a strong cup of Joe without acidity. Nunes does nearly all the work himself, including the long harvest from May to September.
Its what I love to do. Its my passion. Its where I belong. I feel well here, he said (his daughter, Dina Nunes, did the translating).
The plants came from Brazil, though no one knows exactly how they arrived. A lot of people immigrated to Brazil in 1800s after the 1757 earthquake, but some returned, probably with seeds or plants, Dina Nunes said.
At first, Manuel Nunes grew coffee for his own consumption and, as was the custom, to serve to his wifes clients while they considered purchasing one of her handmade bedspreads.
Maria Alzira A. Nunes is renowned for a style of weaving called high point, one of the islands most famous handicrafts. On a wooden loom built by her husband, she weaves together a patchwork of predominantly red and yellow squares and rectangles, a technique passed down from her great-grandmother.
People started coming a lot, and that was a lot of coffee, Dina Nunes said. My father said, Work for nothing? No! So he built the cafe in 1997.
At first only locals came, but the Nunes reputation grew, and now tourists as well as locals come to buy coffee, tour the plantation and watch the bedspreads being made.
Cheese
Queijaria Canada is a small, family-run cheese factory in the farming village of Santo Amaro on Sao Jorge Island. The enterprise has one vat that is filled with fresh milk twice a day by Joao Silveira after he milks his cows. His mother, Graca Silveira, separates the curds and whey. Her husband and Joaos father, Manuel Silveira, presses the curds into round moulds to give the cheese its shape. After 48 hours, the moulds are removed and the cheese is stored on crude wooden shelves to cure for 60 days.
Manuel Silveira is a third-generation cheesemaker. He produces only one type, called Canada, a semihard, spicy cheese with a buttery tang similar to other cheeses produced on Sao Jorge. He sells about 3,700 pounds a year to restaurants and specialty stores on the other islands, in Portugal and at his dairys shop, where visitors can sample the cheese and see it being made.
If you go to a restaurant here or on another island, they will ask if you want the cheese of Sao Jorge or if you want the normal cheese, Silveira told me (Dina Nunes again did the translating). Normal cheese in this case means whatever brands have been imported.
Cheesemaking in the Azores dates to the 15th century with the arrival of Flemish settlers, who, through a royal decree by a Portuguese prince, Henry the Navigator, were brought to the Azores for colonization.
Silveira makes cheese in small batches to ensure the flavour is consistent. (The cows eat lots of organic green grass, and you can taste it in the cheese.) He sends soil samples to the University of the Azores on Sao Miguel Island for analysis to determine what the land needs.
We make this cheese with intelligence, love and passion. Its very important. If Sao Jorge doesnt do it, another island will, and on Sao Jorge, we are farmers. We need this tradition to survive, Silveira said.
Wine
On a clear day from Sao Jorge Island, you can see Mount Pico on Pico Island. A short ferry ride will take you there. Mount Pico is 7,713 feet tall and its towering height is one key to the islands successful viniculture.
This huge mountain grabs most of the clouds so we have more sunlight here than on the other islands, said Antonio Macanita, co-founder of the Azores Wine Co. It has 247 acres of vineyards and produces 40,000 bottles of wine a year.
Here, the vines grow on the ground rather than on trellises. Instead of being hindered by an overabundance of volcanic rocks, the Azoreans have used them to their advantage. Black basalt walls protect the vines from harsh wind and seawater and keep them warm with heat retained from the sun although temperatures rarely dip below 52 degrees or exceed 80 degrees*. These 3-foot-tall rectangular pens, called currais, are visible all over the island at vineyards and farms and in backyards, where wine is produced for personal consumption.
Salt is terrible for a vineyard, but the vineyards that have survived here are from here and can take a bit of salt, said Macanita, who makes white wine using the Indigenous grapes verdelho, terrantez do Pico and arinto dos Acores. Each varietal has its own distinctive notes but shares a refreshing blend of fruit, mineral and salt, much like the Azores themselves. Its the only white wine I have ever tasted that I have liked.
Grapes have been cultivated on Pico since the 15th century, after early settlers recognized the vines fared well in the volcanic soil. With an influx of new immigrants came different grape varieties, and a thriving export business to the United States, Europe and even Russia until the mid-1850s, when its vineyards were devastated by twin plagues of mildew and vermin.
This took production from 10 million litres to 25,000 litres by 1859, Macanita said.
One way we survived that crisis was by planting rootstocks from America and Europe that were more resistant to mildew, a tradition we maintain today, said Ana Ferreira, the marketing director at Pico Wines, a co-operative of 300 members who grow the grapes from which the wine is made and share in the profits. The co-op was formed in 1949 to help resuscitate the declining industry.
The crumbling currais were rebuilt, native grapes were replanted, and a cultural legacy was revived. In 2004, UNESCO recognized the efforts when the landscape of the Pico Island vineyard culture was named a World Heritage site.
Its pretty extreme to do grapes here, but when you mix these factors volcanic soil, proximity to the ocean, this latitude and three Indigenous grapes the taste is completely different, Macanita said. Authenticity for wines is most of all a sense of place. You have no doubt when you put one of these wines to your nose what type of place it comes from.
Tea
Cha Gorreana, the oldest and largest tea plantation in Europe, is on Sao Miguel Island, a 50-minute flight from Pico.
My family put the tea in, and we had faith it would grow, said Madalena Mota, whose relatives founded Gorreana five generations ago in 1883 when blight wiped out their orange crop.
The first tea plantation was started around 1820 by Jacinto Leite, who brought camellia-sinensis seeds to the Azores from Brazil.
Only Gorreana and the neighbouring Cha Porto Formoso plantations remain from a once-thriving industry that peaked in the 20th century. Mota attributes Gorreanas longevity to the use of hydroelectricity, which runs the machines required for manufacturing. This practice has not changed since 1920, when it was implemented by her great-grandfather.
To make black tea, the leaves are air-dried for 10 hours, then placed in a rolling machine to remove the sap; they are oxidized, dried again and then packaged. The process for green tea is similar except the leaves are steamed before going into the roller and are not oxidized before drying.
The water comes from our stream. This energy keeps me alive now because we are in Europe, and energy is expensive. If we didnt have my energy, we would close, Mota said.
Gorreana produces 40 tons of green and black tea annually from the plant camellia-sinensis; it is sold in the Azores and exported to niche markets in Canada, the United States and Europe.
The company does not use chemicals, as there are no funguses that adversely affect the plants on the island. It is aromatic and smooth with a rich, full flavour.
Gorreanas 86 acres are open daily. Visitors can walk the fields, take a tour, observe the tea-making process and sample tea, all at no charge.
This is my passion, Mota said. But Gorreana is not mine. Its from the Azores, from Portugal. To pass it on to the next generation is to keep it alive.
A man has been rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries after his vehicle collided with a pole in Scarborough, initially trapping him inside.
Police arrived at the parking lot of Rouge Hill GO Station shortly after 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning and found that a male driver had gotten into a single-vehicle collision and was stuck in the wreckage.
One other person was inside the car but was not injured, police say.
It took around 15 minutes to extricate the man, police said, and he was rushed to hospital with critical injuries.
How the collision occurred is not yet known.
Police are investigating.
Toronto police are investigating a collision as a possible assault after a male pedestrian was hit by a vehicle in Scarborough early Saturday morning.
The collision occurred near a plaza on Warden Ave. south of Eglinton Ave at 12:46 a.m.
Police say the victim, who is believed to be in his 30s, suffered serious leg injuries as a result of the collision.
The vehicle that hit the pedestrian fled the scene.
Police continue to investigate and are looking for the vehicle.
Three people have died and two others are seriously injured after a head-on crash near Port Perry, early Saturday morning, Ontario Provincial Police say.
Police were called to the scene at 1:14 a.m after a two-vehicle crash on Highway 7/12 at 4th Line in Scugog Township, northeast of Toronto.
An SUV travelling northbound with one occupant moved into the southbound lanes of the highway, hitting a southbound sedan with four people inside, according to Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.
According to OPP, there were four occupants in the sedan. A 59-year-old male driver from Goodwood, Ont., and two female passengers, one of them aged 44 from Port Perry, Ont. and another aged 55 from Goodwood, were pronounced dead at the scene. A 41-year-old female passenger, also from Goodwood, was transported to the hospital along with the male driver from the SUV, both with serious injuries.
Highway 7/12, which was closed overnight in both directions between Scugog 3rd Line and Scugog 4th has since reopened.
BELLAIRE, OHIOThe former Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice has been hired by a police department in a small Ohio village.
The Times Leader reports Bellaires police chief confirmed Friday he hired Timothy Loehmann as a part-time officer.
Richard Flanagan said Loehmann was never charged in Tamirs death and deserves a second chance.
Bellaire is a village of about 4,000 along the Ohio River, more than 241 kilometres south of Cleveland.
Tamir, who was Black, was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation centre in 2014 when he was shot by Loehmann, who is white.
A grand jury declined to indict Loehmann. He was fired last year after it was discovered he was previously deemed unfit for duty.
SRINAGAR, INDIAAt least 20 people were killed and 16 others injured on Saturday when an overcrowded minibus fell into a deep gorge along a mountainous road in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.
The 22-seat minibus was carrying at least 36 passengers when it plunged off a Himalayan mountain road near southern Ramban town, said police officer Anita Sharma.
The vehicle fell into a deep gorge when the driver apparently lost control due to mechanical failure, Sharma said.
The injured were hospitalized, including 12 in critical condition.
In a separate road accident in the region on Saturday, a private truck carrying a group of Indian army soldiers skidded off a road in the southern Shopian area. At least 16 military commandos were injured, police said.
India has the worlds deadliest roads, with more than 110,000 people killed annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.
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SEATTLEThe epiphany that mushrooms could help save the worlds ailing bee colonies struck Paul Stamets while he was in bed.
I love waking dreams, he said. Its a time when youre just coming back into consciousness.
Years ago, in 1984, Stamets had noticed a continuous convoy of bees travelling from a patch of mushrooms he was growing and his beehives. The bees actually moved wood chips to access his mushrooms mycelium, the branching fibres of fungus that look like cobwebs.
I could see them sipping on the droplets oozing from the mycelium, he said. They were after its sugar, he thought.
Decades later, he and a friend began a conversation about bee colony collapse that left Stamets, the owner of a mushroom mercantile, puzzling over a problem. Bees across the world have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Parasites like mites, fast-spreading viruses, agricultural chemicals and lack of forage area have stressed and threatened wild and commercial bees alike.
Waking up one morning, I connected the dots, he said. Mycelium have sugars and antiviral properties, he said. What if it wasnt just sugar that was useful to those mushroom-suckling bees so long ago?
In research published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, Stamets turned intuition into reality. The paper describes how bees given a small amount of his mushroom mycelia extract exhibited remarkable reductions in the presence of viruses associated with parasitic mites that have been attacking, and infecting, bee colonies for decades.
In the late 1980s, tiny Varroa mites began to spread through bee colonies in the United States. The mites which are parasites and can infect bees with viruses proliferate easily and cause colony collapse in just years.
Over time, colonies have become even more susceptible, and viruses became among the chief threats to the important pollinators for crops on which people rely.
We think thats because the viruses have evolved and become pathogenic and virulent, said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a University of Maryland professor in entomology, who was not involved in the mycelium research. Varroa viruses kill most of the colonies in the country.
He likened the mites to dirty hypodermic needles; the mites are able to spread viruses from bee to bee.
The only practical solution to date has been to keep the number of Varroa mites within beehives at manageable populations.
Stamets idea about bee-helping mycelium could give beekeepers a powerful new weapon.
At first, mushrooms were a hard sell.
When Stamets, whose fascination with fungi began with magic mushrooms when he was a long-haired hippie undergraduate at The Evergreen State College, began reaching out to scientists, some laughed him off.
I dont have time for this. You sound kind of crazy. Im gonna go, he recalled a California researcher telling him. It was never good to start a conversation with scientists you dont know saying, I had a dream.
When Steve Sheppard, a Washington State University entomology professor, received a call in 2014 from Stamets, however, he listened.
Sheppard has heard a lot of wild ideas to save bees over the years, like harnessing static electricity to stick bees with little balls of Styrofoam coated in mite-killing chemicals. Stamets pitch was different: He had data to back up his claims about myceliums antiviral properties and his company, Fungi Perfecti, could produce it in bulk. I had a compelling reason to look further, Sheppard said.
Together with other researchers, the unlikely pair have produced research that opens promising and previously unknown doors in the fight to keep bee colonies from collapsing.
This is a pretty novel approach, vanEngelsdorp said. Theres no scientist who believes theres a silver bullet for bee health. Theres too many things going on. ... This is a great first step.
To test Stamets theory, the researchers conducted two experiments: They separated two groups of mite-exposed bees into cages, feeding one group sugar syrup with a mushroom-based additive and the other, syrup without the additive. They also field-tested the extract in small, working bee colonies near WSU.
For several virus strains, the extract reduced the virus to almost nothing, said Brandon Hopkins, a WSU assistant research professor, another author of the paper.
The promising results have opened the door to new inquiries.
Researchers are still trying to figure out how the mushroom extract works. The compound could be boosting bees immune systems, making them more resistant to the virus. Or, the compound could be targeting the viruses themselves.
We dont know whats happening to cause the reduction. Thats sort of our next step, Sheppard said.
Because the extract can be added to syrups commercial beekeepers commonly use, researchers say the extract could be a practical solution that could scale quickly.
For now, they are conducting more research. On Wednesday, Hopkins and Sheppard spent the day setting up experiments at more than 300 commercial colonies in Oregon.
Meanwhile, Stamets has designed a 3D-printable feeder that delivers mycelia extract to wild bees. He plans to launch the product, and an extract-subscription service next year, to the public.
Stamets said he hopes his fungus extract can forestall the crisis of a world without many of its creatures, including bees. He is alarmed at how fast species are going extinct.
The loss of biodiversity has ramifications that reverberate throughout the food web, he said, likening each species to parts of an airplane, that hold the Earth together until they dont.
What rivet will we lose that well have catastrophic failure? I think the rivet will be losing the bees, he said. More than one-third of our food supply is dependent on bees.
Like many parents of special needs children, love thrust them into the world of advocacy. When there was no preschool for their son, Rosemary started one. When the concept of housing adults with Down syndrome in group homes instead of institutions was proposed, they jumped on board landing smack in the center of a national debate and garnering the attention of ABC-TVs Nightline with Ted Koppel.
Introduction by co-author Ylva Ostby
On Sept. 27, Christine Blasey Ford gave a powerful lecture on memory, in which she thoroughly accounted for all that she had forgotten about the alleged assault by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Forgetting had taken its toll on her memory over the course of 36 years, leaving out information about the address, and many details from within the house where it took place.
As described in the following excerpt from our book Adventures in Memory: The Science and Secrets of Remembering and Forgetting forgetting is inevitable, and most of it happens in the time shortly after the episode has taken place. Still, when a memory is recalled, it may feel as rich with details and as vivid as it felt soon after it happened.
The hippocampus, a small brain structure within our temporal lobes named after the seahorse it resembles in shape, grabs hold of the important and extraordinary parts of an experience for lifelong storage, while soon getting rid of mundane details that are not considered (by the brain) important for understanding the event. We dont need all those details, because our brain can recreate the episode based on what is stored, together with what we fill in based on general knowledge of the world. A traumatic episode is generally remembered painfully well over long periods of time. That doesnt mean it is a complete recording of what happened. Importantly, it doesnt need to be, for it to be trustworthy.
This excerpt takes a look at an unusual study that helped paved the way for our knowledge about remembering and forgetting.
Berlin, 1879. The citys most prominent citizens promenade beside the river Spree. Along Unter den Linden, they sit at outdoor cafes, enjoying the warm weather and the blossoming linden trees. They rearrange their dresses and their top hats and breathe in the spring smells: horse manure in the street and fresh-baked pretzels. The abundant foliage casts shadows on the ground.
What a wonderful time! these bourgeois may be thinking beneath the tree canopy in Berlin. I wonder if this particular moment will stay with me for life. Will I remember the breeze making the linden trees sway, when I think back on this a year from now, five years, twenty years? How much of this will I forget?
Meanwhile, in a laboratory at the University of Berlin, a lone researcher is about to begin a groundbreaking experiment. He is going to attempt something never before tried in history.
He is not going to conquer a mountain, invent the lightbulb, or travel to the Moon. Nobody in high school history class will read about what he is going to do. But in the history of psychology, he will be hailed as a great hero, a man who walked where no one had walked before.
Hermann Ebbinghaus will be remembered forever for his efforts to do something completely ordinary forget. While Berlins upper classes stroll the river in the spring sun, Ebbinghaus feeds his memory with meaningless syllables. BOS DIT YEK DAT. He studies them intensely and tests himself, hour after hour, day after day, until he can repeat every list of 25 nonsense words in the right order. While life unfolds outside the University of Berlin, Ebbinghaus immerses himself in syllables.
Hes chosen to study empty combinations of letters because they are completely free of the troublesome contamination of emotions, ideas, and his own life. He tests how much he can still remember after a third of an hour, an hour, nine hours, a day, two days, six days, and 31 days.
He wants to find out how fast he forgets; its as simple as that. Sure, outside of psychology circles, this may not seem like an accomplishment worthy of much celebration. We can plant a flag on the South Pole, but we cant do the same with the act of forgetting we cant discover it and declare, Here it is!
While Solomon Shereshevsky could make a living and earn applause by remembering superhumanly long lists of words and numbers, nobody would pay a nickel to see Ebbinghaus stand onstage and forget. Its safe to say that he had undertaken an unglamorous task.
Though what he did wasnt particularly exciting on the surface, it was actually quite sensational. Psychology was a brand-new field of research; nobody had researched memory like this before. Up to that point, measuring thoughts wasnt something anyone could have imagined. But Ebbinghaus performed such a significant feat that scientific society was forced to take him seriously.
It was a demanding task to document forgetting. Ebbinghaus didnt want to leave anything to chance, so he did all the experimenting on himself and, really, who else would have agreed to the job?
That way, he could trust that he was in full control of all variables. It meant he also had to keep his own personal life in check, so no sensational memories could influence the impersonal, scientific building blocks he was memorizing. After several years of intense and one could say ascetic work memorizing and forgetting, Ebbinghaus published the book Uber das Gedachtnis (About Memory).
Up until 1885, memory had belonged to the realm of philosophers, writers, and alchemists. Never before had science focused on forgetting. How, then, do we measure a vanishing memory?
If Ebbinghaus memorized a list of nonsense words and after a while lets say after one day could come up with only a little more than half of them, had the rest been forgotten? Yes, there and then, some words were forgotten, and the difference could be measured and called forgetting. But this was not thorough enough for Ebbinghaus.
It could have been that the words were still stored in the brain and only the access to them had been weakened, so that he couldnt reach them by will. It could be that, deep down, there were remains of memory traces that could be wrung out like water from a wet cloth.
We cannot, of course, directly observe their present existence, but it is revealed by the effects which come to our knowledge with a certainty like that with which we infer the existence of the stars below the horizon, he determined.
He chose to approach forgetting from another angle. If he had forgotten a list of meaningless words, how long would it take for him to relearn them after some time had passed?
For every new learning effort, he measured how many repetitions, or seconds, were required for him to remember the list again. If the list had been completely forgotten, so that not a single strengthened synapse remained, relearning the list would take him as long as it did the first time around. But if hed retained anything, it wouldnt take as long to relearn it.
In this way, he calculated the natural course of forgetting and discovered that our memories disappear most quickly in the first hour. After a day, more has been lost, but the process of forgetting quickly slows down, so that after a month, weve forgotten only slightly more than after a week. His research led to what we today call the forgetting curve. Shown as a graph, it descends quickly in the beginning and then tapers off.
Never has any researcher exposed his own weakness his forgetfulness for the benefit of humanity with such intense dedication as Ebbinghaus. For several years, he wrote page after page about what he had forgotten and tracked forgetting with tables and numbers, satisfied to have contributed to the science of psychology.
Maybe he would have preferred to be in the streets of Berlin enjoying the spring sun, sipping a cup of coffee with friends, and strolling slowly along the river. But he wrote nothing about his personal memories from the time of the experiments except that he strove to keep personally meaningful experiences to a minimum, in the service of science.
What Ebbinghaus proved was that memories, when they dont have anything to do with ourselves or what we care about, gradually wither. But he had no way of understanding exactly what crumbles in our brain. The creation of memory traces was, as weve said before, not proven until the 1960s by Terje Lomo.
Memory traces probably weaken over time. It seems as though, unless we practise and maintain knowledge until its become firm in memory, the neurons involved in remembering eventually return to their original state. This is probably a good thing. It gives the brain space for new memories.
The other thing Ebbinghaus revealed was that the brain begins tidy-up work shortly after new experiences have entered memory. This too is probably a practical trait in memory. Its better to clean up sooner rather than later. And it ought to be obvious fairly early on whether or not an experience is important enough to be stored. When Ebbinghaus researched forgetting by measuring learning, he also made it clear forgetting and remembering go hand in hand. They are two sides of the same coin.
If we dont forget, the storage space in our brain fills up (Solomon Shereshevsky and his like notwithstanding). For most of us, some memories have to depart to make room for new, perhaps more important ones.
If we remembered everything, we should on most occasions be as ill off as if we remembered nothing. It would take as long for us to recall a space of time as it took the original time to elapse, and we should never get ahead with our thinking, William James pointed out in 1890.
Still, forgetting is something we fear. Forgetting is aging; its decay and impermanence, a memento mori. When the days pass and we cannot remember them, it means were one step closer to the end of life, without anything to show for it.
Thats why blogger and author Ida Jackson has kept a diary since she was 12. It feels like its helping. I lose fewer things that way. If I look up a certain day in my diary and see that we had dinner with friends, then I remember more of that dinner, even if I didnt write down any details. Ida is a collector of memories, scared to death that the moments will be gone forever.
Generally speaking, forgetfulness reminds us that we are not in full control. It is, after all, impractical to forget appointments, friends birthdays, phone numbers, and everyday experiences. Forgetting names can be embarrassing. But forgetting is much more common than the most intense hypochondriacs like to believe, and it is seldom a sign of dementia or early Alzheimers. Lack of sleep and general exhaustion are enough to cause important things to slip.
Even when our brains work perfectly, most of us forget more than wed like to.
Excerpted from Adventures in Memory: Exploring the Science and Secrets of Remembering and Forgetting by Hilde Ostby and Ylva Ostby (October 2018, Greystone Books). Reproduced with permission from the publisher.
The authors will be in the GTA for two talks:
Oct. 10, 7 p.m., A Different Drummer Books, 513 Locust St., Burlington
Oct. 11, 7 p.m. TPL Reference Library
Dear Canadians,
Please forgive the United States for its temporary insanity. We know Canada is our best friend, even if our president seems to think its Russia.
Well start proving our friendship to you in our November mid-term elections, and well complete the job two years from now in our presidential elections.
Thank you for your patience.
VANCOUVERAnimal rescuers were shocked to discover 111 cats and kittens in an Okanagan mobile home, leading to the felines overwhelming shelter resources this week.
Every surface was covered, the BC SPCAs chief prevention officer, Marcie Moriarty, told StarMetro on Friday.
Two weeks ago, 65 cats from the small home in Penticton were seized and arrived at the South Okanagan Similkameen branch. In the last few days, the remaining cats were rescued, totalling 111.
The animals had limited access to the outdoors, Moriarty said. The accumulation of ammonia and feces inside of the residence was overwhelming, to put it mildly.
Moriarty said animal-welfare cases in which cats are found in small spaces are the most prevalent but also the most challenging. In some instances of hoarding, rescuers find cats hidden inside drawers and under couches, and the animals often exhibit anti-social behaviour.
This has placed an enormous strain on the resources of our Penticton branch and on other branches helping to provide veterinary care and shelter for them, Moriarty said. In addition to individual medical care, the incoming cats and kittens require spay and neuter surgeries, which will cost the BC SPCA thousands of dollars.
Other BC SPCA locations such as Salmon Arm have been taking in many cats as well. At least 29 cats were taken in earlier this week, also from a single owner.
The massive intake has been overwhelming the SPCA, she said, and the society is in urgent need of donations to offset the extra medical and sheltering costs.
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Beyond that, 60 officers have purchased pink badges to wear during October and the department is selling Cops for a Cure T-shirts to raise money for breast cancer research. Even Tango, the departments K9 unit German Shepherd, is pretty in pink thanks to the polish on her nails, a brightly colored collar and a pink-hued chew toy.
Another Columbus Day approaches.
When I was young, I never quite grasped the sense of discovery, as the Vikings landed in North American centuries before, rumors of other sailors finding our shores persisted. He was seeking a good trade route to Asia. Many had the idea that the earth was round, but we had no idea of the distance needed to circumnavigate our planet. Indeed, he did not come to the full realization he had stumbled onto a new land.
Columbus Day had some local following, but it caught fire for the 400th anniversary. The Chicago Worlds Fair was also called the Columbian Exposition. Major architects, including Olmstead of park fame, planned it for symmetry and splendor.
The first Ferris wheel was a prime attraction. Lectures were given, and the World Parliament of Religions introduced many to the vast variety of religious expression, especially from Eastern cultures. The fabled White City of buildings, illuminated at night, spurred the development of city planning and beautification in the face of the horrors of tenement buildings, especially in a city that had been decimated by fire a generation before. School children recited the Pledge of Allegiance for one of the first times in public there.
In the face of prejudice against Italians, the Knights of Columbus sought support for a holiday. In 1937, FDR signed a proclamation for it. One can be surprised that such an action was taken when fascism had raised its head in both Italy and Spain for some time, the lands of Columbus in the first place.
Like so many of us, Columbus fit what he encountered with what he knew already. He placed his findings into categories already familiar to him.
Few of us are unalloyed heroes, and Columbus did evil. He almost immediately chained people to slavery, even as he thought they should be converted. He permitted, even encouraged, torture of the indigenous people who resisted tyranny. It pains me still that he brought Christianity by the sword to the peoples he encountered.
Greed for gold animated the Spanish conquest. Columbus ordered tribute payments of gold to be made. The Spanish worked the natives to death, so that within a generation only about 200 survived in Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti).
All commemorations are going to bear some unwelcome memories. In response, some states and cities have an alternative to Columbus Day that recalls the aboriginal settlers of our continents .It marks the terrible cost of the European settlement of the Americas.
Some will deride it as political correctness. Others may defend it as a way to present a fuller approach to history. Some of the same arguments about Confederate monuments could be applied to Columbus. Our history has attempted to erase the stain of slavery from both sets of memorials.
In my youthful mind, I connected the courage of Columbus with the dawn of space flight. In his tiny ships, the trackless ocean may have seemed as limitless as our initial forays into space.
It seems our willingness to explore has lessened, and space travel seems more for future space tourism than exploration of the cosmos. Even as we despoil of our planetary home, we seem more willing to hunker down in the familiar.
Heroism is rarely demonstrated by the perfect, or even the good, on balance. Courage and valor can be deployed for terrible ends by hateful means. Ennobling virtues are not always animated by the good.
Yet, seekers we are. Columbus Day highlights that impulse to exploration and discovery. We should continue to be on the lookout for fresh heroes. Heroism models our impulse to go beyond our limitations, to seek a far horizon, the great vista of the future.
David Crowley is former pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Alton.
Sometimes, it is at the most unexpected places and in extraordinary situations that the smallness of your existence dawns upon you. One of those rare occasions made a house call just last week. I received an invitation from Bernhard Steinruecke, director general, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, to speak at the 62nd AGM of the chamber in Mumbai. I first met Steinruecke when he was director of the Deutsche Bank in Mumbai. Tata House, in the citys Fort area, the residence of the Tatas till 1992, had just been restored. And Deutsche Bank opened their head office on the premises in 1995. To experience Deutsche Banks art collection was nothing but exhilarating. Deutsche Bank must be one of the biggest art collecting banks in the world.
Steinruecke had great taste for art and was an avid collector. This was reflected in his personal life. He found his life partner in the Mumbai art world, the beautiful Ranjana Mirchandani. Ranjana and her mother, Usha, now run one of the best contemporary art galleries in IndiaGalerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke. I have seen the growth of the new tasteful gallery and one could notice that Steinrueckes influence had transformed it.
Photo (From left) Bernhard Steinruecke, Bose, Martin Ney, Monika Grutters and Thomas Fuhrmann
It was indeed a great honour for me to address the gathering at the IGCC, among whom was the chief guest Monika Grutters, German federal government commissioner for culture and the media, and minister of state to the German chancellor; Martin Ney, German ambassador to India; and the guest speaker Sabyasachi Mukherjee, director general, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai (formerly the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India). I have immense respect for Mukherjee, for the commitment, passion and open-mindedness that he shows towards running the best public museum in India. To my chagrin, he says all of it is possible, and the museum is sustaining itself, because of the beautiful people of Mumbai.
The subject of IGCC this year was business and culture. My talk was primarily about the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and how the fledgling event has turned out to be South Asias largest and the only peoples biennale in the world. In fact, the IGCC is hosting its delegates in Kochi during the opening of KMB this year. I was pretty pleased with my presentation till my somewhat bloated ego was punctured. Thomas Fuhrmann, IGCC president and CEO, Grutters and Ney told me about how much Germany invests in culture every year. It is nearly 2 billion, which goes into the 6,200-plus museums and 800 opera houses they have. Not to speak of the year-round cultural activities and, of course, the art institutes.
Last year, when Grutters announced a 23 per cent boost for annual national arts funding, she said that it was meant to emphasise how culture is the foundation for our open and democratic society. This year she got the German Bundestag to up it to 1.8 billion. Today, Berlin is the hub of culture in the world. Any art organisation worth its salt wants to have a foothold in Berlin. I personally know of artists from different parts of the world who have migrated to Berlin. I am not saying that we in India should be like Germany. In fact, we cannot come anywhere near even if we try. But what I am saying is that it shows how much Germany cares for its culture. The German parliament could dare to set aside that kind of money only because they are well aware of the fact that there would not be any public backlash. If we begin to care, our politicians will begin to dare!
editor@theweek.in
The adage that failures can teach many lessons seems quite...
It sounds very good on the surface except if youre a district that chooses not to go down that road, and theres a tragedy at your school and people will ask why didnt you put the trained person inside the building to begin with, Fielden said. Its still a double-edge sword in my mind and doesnt really solve the problem.
The Uttar Pradesh government has taken serious note of a complaint that students of an aided inter college in Ballia district were being punished for singing Vande Mataram or chanting Bharat Mata ki Jai and ordered an inquiry into it.
Members of social welfare organisation Manas Mandir, who visited the GMAM Inter College on Bilthara Road on Friday, found that the students in the institution were being punished for singing Vande Mataram or chanting Bharat Mata ki Jai after the school prayers and complained about the same to the authorities.
According to the manager of Manas Mandir, Shiv Kumar Jaiswal, not only the students, but the teachers also complained about the same on camera.
"Economics teacher Sanjay Pandey told us that there was a ban on singing Vande Mataram and chanting Bharat Mata ki Jai in the school and anyone doing so is punished," Jaiswal said on Saturday.
"Pandey told us that one student, who mistakenly had chanted Bharat Mata ki Jai after the assembly, was made to squat under the sun for hours," he added.
"The students also told the members of our team that they were punished if they tried to sing Vande Mataram," Jaiswal said, adding that he had already sent a copy of the complaint, along with the video recordings of the statements of the students and teachers, to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
When contacted, District Magistrate Bhawani Singh Khangaraut said the matter was serious and that District Inspector of School (DIOS) Narendra Dev Pandey was directed to look into it.
"Stern action will be taken against those found responsible for it," he added.
The principal of the school, Majid Nasir, however, claimed that the complaint was a conspiracy to defame the institution.
The video containing the statements of the students and teachers has also been uploaded on social networking websites by the members of Manas Mandir.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday said it will take up the final appeal of a Christian woman, who was awarded death sentence in a blasphemy case, next week.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhe will hear Asia Bibi's appeal on October 8.
Bibi was given capital punishment by a court in 2010 for passing derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed during an argument with a Muslim woman.
Her case hit the headlines after former Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who spoke out in support of Bibi, was gunned down in broad daylight in Islamabad in 2011.
His assassin Mumtaz Qadri was executed in 2016 after the court found him guilty of murder.
Blasphemy is a sensitive topic in Pakistan and the accused face threat of being targeted by the extremists.
So far nobody has been convicted under blasphemy laws which were introduced by former military dictator Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1980s.
If Bibi's appeal gets rejected by the Supreme Court, her only recourse will be a direct appeal to the President for clemency. If that fails, she could become the first person in Pakistan to be executed for blasphemy.
Welfare works: The Tribal Cultural Society, Jamshedpur | Janak Bhat
JAMSETJI NUSSERWANJI TATA was one who knew how to acquire and how to dispose of a fortune, wrote Frank Harris in Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata: A Chronicle of His Life. Jamsetjis breadth of vision and genius for organization combined with his altruistic and benevolent nature was at the core of the Tata Group's philosophy of giving back to society. That is why, perhaps, he is called a pioneer and a philanthropist. So deeply ingrained is this philosophy that not just his sons, Sir Dorabji Tata and Sir Ratanji Tata, but even their successors and lieutenants have pledged their unflinching support to improving the quality of life of Indians.
Over the decades, the Tata Trusts (comprising J.N. Tata Endowment, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Lady Tata Memorial Trust, Lady Meherbai D. Tata Education Trust, J.R.D. and Thelma J. Tata Trust, to name a few) have not only contributed enormously to nation-building, but also given India some of its finest institutes such as the Indian Institute of Science, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the National Centre for the Performing Arts. The Tata Trusts, which hold two-thirds of the shareholding of Tata Sons, have also worked tirelessly to uplift the underprivileged sections of society.
Take, for instance, the work that the Tata Trusts is doing in cancer care. Dr Mammen Chandy, director, Tata Medical Center, Kolkata, said the trusts are working towards making cancer care affordable and accessible. The trusts are working with the government to develop tier one, tier two and tier three centres, and are going to provide a cancer care facility in each medical college so that there is more access, said Chandy. Through the Assam Cancer Care Foundation, 19 such centres will come up in the state, which would be connected via Digital Nerve Centre (DiNC).
DiNC is a smart initiative of Tata Consultancy Services, started a year ago at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. Thanks to the concept of patient navigation, wherein the appointment system was streamlined, DiNCs have simplified the lives of patients, allowing them to reach the next desired clinical service effortlessly, said Chandy. Besides AIIMS, Tata Medical Center, Kolkata, Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, and Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, DiNCs are also being introduced in hospitals on the National Cancer Grid.
Along with health departments of states, NGOs and other stakeholders, the trusts also work extensively in infant and maternal health care. The underlying idea is that no underprivileged child or pregnant woman should go without a wholesome meal. The trusts have tackled the malnutrition issue head on by working through anganwadis and reaching out to schoolchildren via midday meal schemes.
At Kalinganagar in Odisha, where Tatas new steel plant has come up, the trusts have started the 1,000-school project. Along the 260km Jamshedpur-Kalinganagar corridor, teams that are mapping the corridor have been visiting villages in six districts and ensuring that all children go to school and don't end up as labourers. So, if we say this corridor will be child-labour free, that is a big ambition to have, said T.V. Narendran, CEO and managing director, Tata Steel Limited. But, it is not just about making headline-grabbing statements; it is about doing the groundwork and saying these are the outcomes. This is an example of the trusts encouraging us to think a little bit bigger.
The trusts are also working towards empowering tribals. Jiren Topno, from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team of Tata Steel Limited, said it was J.R.D. Tata who, in the 1970s, first thought of interacting with tribals. That is how Tribal Affairs was formed. It later became the Adivasi and Harijan Cell, and finally evolved into the Tribal Cultural Society. Now, they concern themselves with four aspectseducation, maternal and neonatal health, livelihood and tribal identity. So, they have scholarships such as Jyoti Fellowship and Tata Steel Scholarship and health programmes like MANSI (Maternal and Neonatal Survival Initiative). Through MANSI, they have been able to bring down the infant mortality rate by 50 per cent. Apart from creating employment opportunities, the CSR team is hard at work to understand the sociocultural context of the tribal people. Tata Steel cant tell someone what their identity is, said Sourav Roy, chief, CSR, Tata Steel Limited. We can, at best, only gently nudge them in the right direction and help them make choices.
Tribals are more evolved than what we assume them to be, said Sunil Bhaskaran, vice president, corporate services, Tata Steel Limited. There is a lot that we can learn from them, he said. Their way of looking at life is a little different. Our work has mostly been in trying to engage the tribals to understand better what their worldview is and about being able to help them. We try to work a lot on protecting their culture, art and history. We are doing our best in terms of skilling and giving them the opportunity in education and the corporate structure.
In Kalinganagar, 1,234 families were displaced owing to the new plant. As part of the rehabilitation and resettlement policy, one member of each family was promised a job. Till I left [Kalinganagar] two years ago, I was in-charge of getting them a job, and I had completed around 500 families. Of these, 18 had joined as officers, said Topno. The trusts provided them with scholarshipssome opted for MBA, while others chose engineering. Once the course was complete, they were employed as officers. Topno said eight to ten people had come for internships last year. Six of them, including two tribals, have been given pre-placement offers. We havent just made inroads, said Topno, we have made highways into their lives.
SINCE ITS INCEPTION almost 75 years ago, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, has been a mecca of sorts for most cancer patients across India. But, as Dr V.R. Ramanan, deputy director, medical, Tata Medical Center, pointed out, 60 per cent of our countrys medical facilities are located in the south. Kerala, with a population of three crore, has 19 cancer hospitals, whereas Bengal, with a population of nine crore, had only one and a half cancer hospital, he said. While the east and the northeast see many cancer cases, there are not enough centres to treat them.
Aware of this disparity, Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata donated 14 acres towards a world-class cancer hospital in Kolkata. Designed by architects at CannonDesign, the Tata Medical Center, costing Rs 340 crore, was inaugurated on May 16, 2011. With a built-up area of 3.30 lakh sqft, it could then accommodate 167 beds (now 183). By the end of this year, the centre will get another building, with a built-up area of 2.50 lakh sqft, taking the number of beds to 254.
Director Dr Mammen Chandy, who was brought to Kolkata from Vellore by Tata, is clear about the centres focus. Our mandate is, he said, one, to provide the highest quality of care; two, to provide diagnostic facilities that are reliable and that move us into personalised medicine, where a patient is treated according to his mutation; and three, to build an institute where the patient is at the centre of our activity and [to see] that we are constantly innovating.
A not-for-profit venture, the centre has full-time doctors. We have more than 200 doctors and 320 nursesa ratio not available anywhere on this planet, said Ramanan. A bachelors degree in nursing is a must here, and the centre has a postgraduate nursing programme, too. The best in the batch are sent to Duke University, United States, for training. The centre has also provided free training to around 30 doctors from the Bangladesh army, 15 doctors from Nepal and also from Bhutan, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Palestine. The centre gets patients from hospitals abroad, too. What they see in a month, we see in a day and a half, said Ramanan. Chandy added that the centre has a state-of-the-art molecular diagnostic system and a central sterile supply department, which was rated the best in the country by the prime ministers office (PMO).
Its director Dr Mammen Chandy | Janak Bhat
The centre is also equipped to conduct stem cell transplants, and is, therefore, looking at diseases like thalassemia, too. It also has a national childhood leukemia programme.
While the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, gets a Rs 400-crore grant from the PMO every year (which is why it offers free services), the Tata Medical Center receives an annual subsidy of Rs 90 crore. We do not offer anything for free, but we do heavily subsidise, said Ramanan, adding that donors, too, pitch in with funds.
Waiting lists are a crime when it comes to cancer, said Ramanan, as you cannot delay treatment. Also, it is a time-consuming process. We are not doing cataract, that you come in and you are out in one hour. We are treating cancer! You stay here for two weeks to four months, he said. In 2017, the centre saw 17,000 new patients apart from 1.6 lakh old patients. That is the rate of followup in cancer. Cancer is a long-distance game. You have to keep coming, said Ramanan.
For patients travelling from far-flung places, the centre has a ten-storey residential facility nearbyPremashrayawhere 500 patients or their kin can stay during treatments for Rs 100 a night. Built on an acre with a CSR contribution of Rs 45 crore from Coal India, it is a beautifully maintained facility with 24/7 housekeeping, security, customer care, technical team, cafeteria, store and ATM.
Sudeshna Dutt, head of operations, Premashraya unit, Tata Medical Center, and her team ensure that patients and their families get ample emotional and mental support. Assisting them are Sister Genevieve and two nuns from the Daughters of the Cross Convent, Kidderpore. Many new patients come here. It is an unknown place for them. I speak to them, and familiarise them with the people and the place, said Sr Genevieve. She also gives patients company when their relatives step out to buy food or medicines. And, in their final moments, she prays for them, helping them prepare for a peaceful death.
While the Tata Medical Center, with its top-notch facilities, has been a ray of hope for cancer patients in east and northeast India, the war is far from over. We are on the battlefront, said Ramanan. We need to keep battling.
Mumbai, Oct 6 (PTI) Filmmaker Hansal Mehta and screen writer Apurva Asrani are among the first voices from the Hindi film industry to condemned "Queen" director Vikas Bahl over the sexual harassment allegations against him.
Last year, a woman employee at Phantom Films, which had Bahl as one of the partners along side Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, had levelled allegations of molestation against Bahl, who she said behaved inappropriately during a trip to Goa.
In a recent article in Huffpost India, the woman has reiterated the allegations, sharing further details about the incident.
According to the report, in October 2015, the woman reached out to Kashyap and detailed her experience, but no action was taken while Bahl continued to harass her until she finally quit the company.
Sharing the article on Twitter, Mehta wrote, "Will anybody do anything about this bloody creep or will the industry protect him like it always does?"
Asrani said such incidents made him feel "sick".
"Why was no action taken against Vikas Bahl in over 3 years? To think that the victim had to continue to work in the same office and even be assigned to report to him is awful," he tweeted.
Critically-acclaimed filmmaker Onir said it was sad that some of the biggest stars in the Hindi film industry were still working with Bahl.
"It's sad that inspite of knowing the truth... studios and stars continue to turn a blind eye to the perpetrators."
Bahl is currently directing his next venture "Super 30", featuring Hrithik Roshan in the lead.
Quoting the story, "Sacred Games" actor Kubbra Sait tweeted, "The details in here are gory. But necessary to read. May the girl continue to fight knowing that her story isn't wasted. Thank You for the courage. #MeToo #TimesUp".
"Shubh Mangal Saavdhan" director R S Prasanna said the revelations were "shocking".
"This is so very shocking. #MeToo seems to have become the forest fire that it deserves to be," he said.
Producer-director Nikkhil Advani said serious action must be taken against the culprit.
"Serious action, serious introspection and serious correction is required from an industry that has forever been plagued with ill repute. This is not the story of one girl or one incident but symptomatic of a work ethic at large," he wrote.
In the article, which has since become viral on social media, Kashyap has admitted he had failed the woman, three years after he first learnt of the allegations.
"Whatever happened was wrong. We didn't handle it well, we failed. I cannot blame anyone but myself. But now we are determined to do better. We believe her completely. She has our undying support. What Bahl has done is horrifying. We are already on our path of course correction and will do everything in our capacity to fix it," Kashyap said.
According to the publication they had also sent detailed questionnaires to Phantom Films's remaining three partners -- Bahl, Motwane and Mantena.
Before the article was published, the four partners Saturday announced that have decided to dissolve their joint banner Phantom Films, without citing the reason for this decision. PTI SHD
SHD
Mumbai, Oct 6 (PTI) Tanushree Dutta filed Saturday a police complaint against Nana Patekar for allegedly harassing her on the sets of a film in 2008, police said.
"Tanushree Dutta has given us a complaint against Nana Patekar. As of now there is not any FIR registered in this case," Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Manoj Kumar Sharma told PTI.
Dutta, in an interview recently, had alleged that Patekar misbehaved with her while filming a special song for the film "Horn Ok Pleasss" 10 years ago.
Several actors from Bollywood lauded Dutta for talking about this incident but there were some celebrities who questioned her for not taking a legal route.
Patekar, who was shooting for "Housefull 4" in Jodhpur, landed here Saturday.
"I said this 10 years ago...A lie is a lie (Dus saal pehle bol chuka hoon, ab jo jhoot hai woh jhoot hai)," Patekar told reporters here at the airport Saturday.
The actor will hold a press conference on October 8 at his residence in suburban Andheri.
Patekar's lawyer has sent a legal notice to Dutta demanding her apology. PTI KKP DC DPB
New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) Following are the top foreign stories at 1700 hours:
FGN10 PAK-SHAHBAZ
Pak opposition leader Shahbaz sent to 10-day NAB remand in Rs 1,400 cr housing scam
Lahore: An anti-corruption court in Pakistan on Saturday granted a 10-day remand of opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif to the country's top anti-graft body in a Rs 1,400 crore housing scam, the latest setback to the embattled Sharif family. By M Zulqernain
FGN9 US-LD S400
US sanctions waiver intended to 'wean' countries like India off Russian equipment: White House
Washington: The US presidential waiver on weapons deal with sanctions-hit Russia is intended to "wean" countries like India off the Russian equipment, the White House has said as New Delhi inked a USD 5 billion deal to purchase S-400 Triumf air defence system from Moscow. By Lalit K Jha
FGN7 CHINA-INTERPOL-PREZ
Missing Interpol chief detained in China for questioning: report
Beijing: Interpol President Meng Hongwei has been detained in China for questioning as part of an investigation against him, a media report said Saturday, a day after he was reported missing in his native country. By K J M Varma
FGN4 US-KAVANAUGH
Kavanaugh steps away from being confirmed as US Supreme Court judge
Washington: Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, 53, was a step away from the apex bench as the ruling Republican party managed to gain the crucial backing of enough Senators needed to confirm his nomination. By Lalit K Jha
FGN6 US-CHINA-DEFENSE INDUSTRY
Aggressive Chinese industrial policy impacting American defense industry, says Pentagon report
Washington:The aggressive Chinese industrial policies has adversely impacted some of the critical American capabilities and its defense manufacturing base, the Pentagon said in a report.By Lalit K Jha
FGN5 US-CHINA-HUMAN RIGHTS
US senators denounce human rights abuses in China
Washington:A bipartisan group of 18 powerful American lawmakers has condemned China's alleged persecution of religious minorities and actions to limit free expression and practice of faith.By Lalit K Jha
RUP
RUP
Prince George's County Fire Department(NEW CARROLLTON, Md.) -- A woman who allegedly started a massive fire in a Maryland apartment building because she was upset with her ex-boyfriend has been arrested and charged with arson, authorities said.
Natasha Ciara Joyner, 32, allegedly sparked the huge blaze in the three-story building at 5334 85th Ave. in New Carrollton on Sept. 17 around 3:30 p.m., according to a release to Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department.
Firefighters spent two hours that day working to get the three-alarm blaze under control.
In a video posted to the departments Twitter account, flames can be seen shooting out high above the roof of the apartment complex with thick smoke billowing into the sky.
There were no injuries to any of the residents or the firefighters who worked to extinguish the fire, the department said.
The fire displaced 132 residents and caused $2.2 million in damages, the fire department said.
The National Capital Region of the American Red Cross provided water, bedding and toiletries to residents who were affected by the fire.
Joyner was arrested and charged with arson, malicious burning, malicious destruction of property and reckless endangerment for allegedly sparking the huge blaze, the department announced Friday.
Additional charges are pending, according to a release by the department.
It was not immediately clear if Joyner had legal representation.
Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Im here for the beer and brats, and there was a nice event they had here last December and were hoping for more of the same today, Welch said. This is a chance to see something about another culture and get some experience.
New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) Following are the top foreign stories at 2000 hours:
FGN10 PAK-SHAHBAZ
Pak opposition leader Shahbaz sent to 10-day NAB remand in Rs 1,400 cr housing scam
Lahore: An anti-corruption court in Pakistan on Saturday granted a 10-day remand of opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif to the country's top anti-graft body in a Rs 1,400 crore housing scam, the latest setback to the embattled Sharif family. By M Zulqernain
FGN9 US-LD S400
US sanctions waiver intended to 'wean' countries like India off Russian equipment: White House
Washington: The US presidential waiver on weapons deal with sanctions-hit Russia is intended to "wean" countries like India off the Russian equipment, the White House has said as New Delhi inked a USD 5 billion deal to purchase S-400 Triumf air defence system from Moscow. By Lalit K Jha
FGN7 CHINA-INTERPOL-PREZ
Missing Interpol chief detained in China for questioning: report
Beijing: Interpol President Meng Hongwei has been detained in China for questioning as part of an investigation against him, a media report said Saturday, a day after he was reported missing in his native country. By K J M Varma
FGN4 US-KAVANAUGH
Kavanaugh steps away from being confirmed as US Supreme Court judge
Washington: Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, 53, was a step away from the apex bench as the ruling Republican party managed to gain the crucial backing of enough Senators needed to confirm his nomination. By Lalit K Jha
FGN6 US-CHINA-DEFENSE INDUSTRY
Aggressive Chinese industrial policy impacting American defense industry, says Pentagon report
Washington:The aggressive Chinese industrial policies has adversely impacted some of the critical American capabilities and its defense manufacturing base, the Pentagon said in a report.By Lalit K Jha
FGN14 BANGLA-LD-ZIA
Khaleda Zia admitted to specialised state-run hospital
Dhaka: Bangladesh's jailed former prime minister and BNP chief Khaleda Zia was Saturday admitted to a specialised state-run hospital here for proper treatment following a court order as her health deteriorated. By Anisur Rahman
FGN5 US-CHINA-HUMAN RIGHTS
US senators denounce human rights abuses in China
Washington:A bipartisan group of 18 powerful American lawmakers has condemned China's alleged persecution of religious minorities and actions to limit free expression and practice of faith.By Lalit K Jha
FGN17 DRCONGO-LD CRASH
50 killed, 100 burnt in oil tanker road crash in DR Congo: Official
Kinshasa: About 50 people died and 100 were burnt on Saturday after an oil tanker collided with a vehicle on an arterial highway in the west of DR Congo, the acting governor of the region said. (AFP) RUP
RUP
Vatican City, Oct 6 (AFP) Pope Francis said Saturday that silence on sexual abuse can "no longer be tolerated" as he ordered an investigation into Vatican archives concerning former archbishop of Washington Theodore McCarrick, who resigned in July.
"Both abuse and its cover-up can no longer be tolerated," said Francis in a Vatican statement in which he declared the Church had to tackle "the grave scourge of abuse within and beyond" the institution.
The case of McCarrick triggered a storm in August after Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to Washington, dropped a bombshell letter accusing the pope of ignoring allegations about the prominent US cardinal, one of the most senior Catholic leaders to face abuse allegations.
Following Vigano's letter, US groups representing survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests urged the Vatican to publish a list of clerics accused of sexual assault.
Saturday's Vatican statement said Francis was "aware of and concerned by the confusion that these accusations are causing in the conscience of the faithful."
The statement added: "Both abuse and its cover-up can no longer be tolerated" and said the Church had a duty "to prevent such crimes from being committed in the future to the harm of the most innocent and most vulnerable in society".
The statement also underlined that Francis had in an August letter to Catholics stated that "the only way that we have to respond to this evil that has darkened so many lives is to experience it as a task regarding all of us as the People of God.
"This awareness of being part of a people and a shared history will enable us to acknowledge our past sins and mistakes with a penitential openness that can allow us to be renewed from within," said the statement.
Regarding McCarrick, the Vatican said Francis "has decided that information gathered during the preliminary investigation be combined with a further thorough study of the entire documentation present in the Archives of the Dicasteries and Offices of the Holy See ... to ascertain all the relevant facts, to place them in their historical context and to evaluate them objectively."
The Vatican concluded the Holy See recognised "it may emerge that choices were taken that would not be consonant with a contemporary approach to such issues" but that, as Francis said in 2015, "we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead."(AFP) RUP
RUP
Islamabad, Oct 6 (PTI) Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Saturday said the US should not view its relations with the country only through the perspective of the ties with India or the Afghan issue.
He also said it would be wrong to expect that all differences between the US and Pakistan could be resolved in one day, the Dawn reported.
Qureshi said regional situations evolve and requirements change, but Pakistan's contribution for peace and stability in the region should be acknowledged.
"It will not be appropriate to view our (US-Pak) relations going as far back as seven decades from the Afghan perspective or the Indian lens," he told reporters in Multan after returning from his 10-day visit to the US.
The foreign minister said he had tried to make his American counterparts realise this.
Qureshi, who had met US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton in Washington, said the Foreign Office will continue its efforts to represent Pakistan effectively on international fora. PTI SCY SCY
SCY
Kolkata, Oct 5 (PTI) Gowher Rizvi, the special advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Friday said India needed to prove that the illegal immigrants in the north-eastern states were indeed Bangladeshis.
The controversy over illegal immigrants in the north-eastern states has emerged as a major issue and some of the states have demanded a National Register of Citizens (NRC) on the lines of Assam.
"At present, they (people whose names are not there in the NRC list) are residents of India and India should prove that they are residents of Bangladesh, not India," Rizvi, also a historian, said at an interactive session at the "India Today Conclave - East" here.
On the issue of the Rohingyas, he said, "We should distinguish between the Rohingyas and the illegal immigrants in north-east India. The two cases are entirely different."
The Rohingyas, Rizvi said, were persecuted and deliberately thrown out of Myanmar as a part of ethnic cleansing, adding, "It is not acceptable."
Close to one million Rohingyas are currently living in Bangladesh.
"The immediate burden has fallen on our shoulders. Our prime minister has shown a humanitarian gesture. We are not a wealthy country. But our prime minister has stated that we will share our meals with them," Rizvi said, adding that India was immensely helping Bangladesh by providing relief materials.
"In fact, India was the first country to bring relief to Chittagong. Secondly, India has promised to build homes for the Rohingyas in Myanmar. It essentially means that the Rohingyas would have homes when they go back," he said.
Asked about the chances of Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League in the coming general election in Bangladesh, Rizvi said, "We have established democracy and have thrown the military regime out. Elections are predictable, but even with such a fantastic economic and political record, we cannot comment that we will win."
On West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said "We (Bangladesh) have good relations with her. She is universally called 'didi' and we do not have any problem with it." PTI AKB KK RC
Guj: Dy CM writes to chief justice for speedy trial in rape
case of infant
Ahmedabad, Oct 6 (PTI) Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister
Nitin Patel Saturday said that he has written to Chief Justice
R Subhash Reddy of the Gujarat High Court seeking speedy trial
in the rape case of a 14-month old girl.
On September 28, a 14-month-old girl was allegedly
raped in a village near Himmatnagar town, around 100 km from
Ahmedabad.
One Ravindra Sahu, a labourer hailing from Bihar
working in a local ceramic factory, was arrested the same day
and charged with the toddler's rape.
Patel said he has also sought setting up of fast-track
courts for the speedy trial in two other similar cases in
Surat and had also requested the chief justice to ensure that
the accused get the harshest punishment possible, including
capital punishment.
"I have written to the chief justice with request to
set up a special fast-track court so that trial in rape cases
at Himmatnagar (in Sabarkantha district) and Surat are held
there and completed in a month or so," he told reporters here.
He said he has also sought "harshest punishment" for
the accused, including capital punishment.
Hate messages on Whatsapp, following the incident, led
to violence and attacks on some people, mostly belonging to
Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, in several parts of the state.
Police have arrested around 170 people in connection
with these attacks. PTI KA
BNM BNM
Adopt do and die mantra to protect Arunachal's unique identity
: Tuki
Itanagar, Oct 6 (PTI) Senior Congress leader in
Arunachal Pradesh, Nabam Tuki Saturday exhorted the Congress
cadres to adopt do and die mantra to protect the unique
identity of the state and its people.
It is time to work out a strategy under the Congress
to "wipe out" BJP from the state to protect its indigenous
identity, he told a Congress meeting held here to discuss
strategies for the 2019 Lok Sabha and state assembly poll.
Assembly poll in the BJP-ruled north eastern state is
due in 2019.
"Our identity is under threat ... It is time to work
out a foolproof strategy under the leadership of Arunachal
Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Takam Sanjoy to
wipe out BJP to protect the indigenous identity of this
protected state and also for the all out development of the
land-locked state," Tuki, the two-time chief minister said.
Congress symbolizes sacrifice for the society, the
state and nation, he said asked the party's frontal
organizations like Arunachal Pradesh Mahila Congress,
Arunachal Pradesh Youth Congress and NSUI to struggle
peacefully for the purpose.
Sanjoy asked party cadre to create awareness of ruling
BJP's actions which, he claimed, are having damaging effects
on the state.
Describing BJPs principles as "destructive", he said
it is leading to "psychological and spiritual dereliction" of
the people.
Congress, he claimed, will give a befitting reply in
2019 political battle by capturing 33 of the total 60 assembly
seats. PTI UPL KK
KK KK
New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) President Ram Nath Kovind will Sunday embark on a three-day visit to Tajikistan during which he will hold talks with the top leadership of the country to strengthen India's ties with the Central Asian country.
During his visit from October 7-9, he will meet his Tajik counterpart Emamoli Rahmon, Speaker of Parliament Shukurjon Zuhurov, and Speaker of the Lower House (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of Parliament. Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda will also call on the president, the Ministry of External Affairs said Saturday.
Kovind will also visit the Tajik National University where he will deliver an address on 'Countering Radicalization: Challenges in Modern Societies'.
He will address the members of the Indian diaspora in Tajikistan during his three-day visit.
The president will also pay his respects to Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore by visiting their memorials in Dushanbe and will offer floral tributes.
All areas of bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation are expected to be discussed during Kovind's visit to Tajikistan, the MEA said.
Given the close relationship between the two countries, the visit is expected to lead to further strengthening of the Indo-Tajik bilateral relations, it said.
This will be the first visit of Kovind to Central Asia.
Minister of State for Defence Shubhash Bhamre and Rajya Sabha member Shamsher Singh Manhas will also be part of the president's official delegation.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has visited India five times, his last visit being in December 2016. PTI ASK KJ
(Eds: Recasts intro, adds quotes; drops word from intro)
Ajmer, Oct 6 (PTI) In a scathing attack Saturday on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused it of practising vote bank politics, telling lies and creating doubt and fear in the minds of people.
Modi made the charge here at a rally, where Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje also announced free electricity up to a specific limit for farmers with general category power connections.
The meeting ended just ahead of the Election Commission announcement in New Delhi of Assembly poll dates for Rajasthan and four other states. The ECs model code of conduct for political parties then kicked in.
Modi said vote bank politics is not limited to elections now, but is destroying the entire system.
The prime minister said parties which follow vote bank politics divide the bureaucracy when they come into power, appointing officials who fit into their scheme.
They allocate the budget as per vote bank politics and therefore overall development does not happen, he said.
The Congress has established this tradition in the past 60 years, Modi said. "With great difficulty, the country has picked the right direction now after 60 years. Dont give them another chance."
The meeting on the outskirts of Ajmer was scheduled to mark the end of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Rajes Gaurav Rath Yatra, an outreach exercise by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party which is pitted against the Congress in the state.
Modi said he was for a strong opposition in a healthy democracy, but a set of people had not only failed in the government but also as opposition.
Why is the Congress not fighting elections on facts? Why are they indulging in spreading lies? he said, charging the opposition of avoiding discussion on issues related to development.
All they are interested is in telling lies, creating doubt and fear, he said, accusing the opposition of manufacturing lies".
You live in a world of lies, he said.
Modi said the Congress enjoyed playing games dividing Hindus and Muslims, the backward and the forward castes, and the rural and the urban.
While the others believed in dividing society, the BJP is for uniting it, he said. The prime minister said his government worked on the principle of `Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' (development for all).
Modi said Congress leaders are busy serving one family, which is their high command.
They do not have time to come to state assembly to raise issues concerning the people of the state, and development issues, he said.
He also accused the party of playing low-level politics, criticising its leaders for questioning the Army's surgical strikes across the Line of Control two years ago and insulting Indian soldiers.
The rally ended before the announcement of the polling dates for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana.
Rajasthan will go to the polls on December 7. Counting will take place in all five states on December 11, the Election Commission has announced.
The prime minister said his government has fulfilled the promise of enhancing the minimum support price of farm produce.
He also mentioned the increase in maternity leave and the governments decision to bring in a Bill in Parliament against triple talaq.
We are against any discrimination, he said. Women, whether Hindus or Muslim, are equal, he added.
He referred to the enactment of a law allowing death penalty to those convicted of raping children.
Modi said his government had worked to provide electricity to every village in the country.
PTI SDA AG ASH
ASH
ASH
Ajmer, Oct 6 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Saturday to address a public rally on the culmination of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra.
On his arrival from New Delhi, Modi was welcomed by Raje at the Jaipur airport. He then left for Ajmer in a helicopter, which has reached near the rally venue at Kayad Vishram Sthali on the Ajmer-Jaipur highway.
The prime minister was accompanied by Raje to Ajmer in the helicopter.
This is the first political rally of the prime minister in Rajasthan, where Assembly polls will be held later this year.
Tight security arrangements have been made for the rally which is estimated to be attended by nearly three lakh people. PTI SDA NSD
NSD
Kanpur (UP), Oct 6 (PTI) President Ramnath Kovind Saturday lauded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government's awareness campaign to promote health and education for women and girl's.
While inaugurating an international workshop of the Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Society of India (FOGSI), organised at the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical (GSVM) college, President Kovind said even though daughters faced more restrictions than sons, they were surging ahead in many areas.
Kovind said some people in our country were unable to understand the importance of daughters.
Speaking about the Centre's initiatives for women, he said, "I am happy that the central government's schemes like 'beti bachao, beti padhao', 'sukanya samriddhi' and 'kishori yojna' etc., are changing the mindset of countrymen." He added that there has been an improvement in the sex ratio.
Referring to other initiatives, Kovind said the Centre's 'safe motherhood campaign' was aimed at providing free health services to pregnant women.
He said under the Maternity Benefit Act of April 2017, maternity leave was increased from 90 days to 182 days. This is a powerful example of women welfare and empowerment, he added.
The President also addressed a seminar organised by the Talent Development Council, Kanpur, where he unveiled a statue of late freedom fighter Shri Shyamlal Parshad.
He also took a part in the programmes at Chandra Shekhar Azad (CSA) University for Agricultural and Technology later. PTI Corr SAB IJT
Olthoff, 61, is a businesswoman who owns VIA Marketing, a marketing communications firm. She resides in the panhandle section of Merrillville with her husband, Ron. She previously served on the Merrillville Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. She is a former Athena Award winner, given to a woman in business who helps other women in the work world.
Lucknow, Oct 6 (PTI) The father of Uttar Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya passed away here Saturday. He was 80.
In a tweet, the deputy chief minister said: "An extremely sad moment in my life. Today, my father Shyam Lal Maurya passed away at 3.30 pm."
UP Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) media coordinator Rakesh Tripathi said Shyam Lal Maurya had been hospitalised after he complained of chest pain.
"He was admitted today at Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences at 11.30 am following pain in the chest, and he passed away at around 3.30 pm," Tripathi said.
He added that the cremation will take place on Sunday in Kaushambi.
Shyam Lal Maurya was a father to three sons and three daughters, Tripathi said.
"Shyam Lal Maurya ji's life has been full of struggle. He belonged to an ordinary family, but he instilled values in his children," he said.
Expressing condolences, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath spoke to the deputy CM on phone to console him. PTI NAV RHL
Muzaffarnagar, Oct 6 (PTI) A lineman was electrocuted to death when he was working on an electricity pole at Chitoda village here, police said Saturday.
The deceased, Mohit Kumar (22), an employee of the electricity department, died Friday after coming in contact with a wire, they said.
The matter is being investigated. PTI CORR ANB
ANB
New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) A day after the Jawaharlal Nehru University academic council discussed about placing teachers under the Conduct of Central Services Rules, the varsity's teachers' association said the "very role that academics are supposed to play in the classroom and in civil society has become criminalised".
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) alleged the current administration has decided to impose Conduct of Central Services Rules on JNU teachers, which restricts them from expressing dissent.
The JNUTA said the rules apply to government servants and prohibit them from being "a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics".
Some other rules prohibit government servant from resorting to strike or coercion, canvassing in election and there are other similar rules.
Under these rules, economics professors can be punished for discussing economic policy, political scientists can be punished for discussing politics and environmental science professors can be punished for discussing environmental policy and scientists can be punished for discussing government science policy, the JNUTA said.
"All educationist can be punished for expressing their views on educational policy. The very role that academics are supposed to play in the classroom and in civil society, has become criminalised," it said.
The rules also prohibit government servants from being associated with newspapers.
The strictures on publication mean that routine academic work of writing and publishing papers becomes a violation of service conditions. Matters of academic honour such as being invited to be on the editorial board of journals will become a violation of service conditions, the teachers' association said.
Strictures prohibiting publications that are 'capable of embarrassing the relations' between the Centre and states or between India and other foreign states would mean that not only can one not make any critical comments about inter-state relations or international relations, but even a critical commentary on literary and art traditions could invite punitive action, they added. PTI SLB DPB
Two Railways employees held in hoarding frame collapse case
Pune, Oct 6 (PTI) Two Central Railways (CR) employees,
including a junior engineer, were arrested Saturday in
connection with the hoarding frame collapse incident in which
four people were killed and five others injured, police said.
The tragic incident took place Friday afternoon when a
40-feet hoarding metal frame collapsed on vehicles which had
stopped at Shahir Amar Shaikh Chowk traffic signal near Pune
Railway Station.
Five auto-rickshaws, a two-wheeler and a car were
damaged in the collapse.
"We have arrested one Sanjay Singh, a junior engineer
of the Central Railways and his assistant, identified as
Pandurang Wanare, who works as a 'lohar' (blacksmith) in the
Railways in connection with the Friday's incident.
"They have been arrested under the IPC section 304
(culpable homicide not amounting to murder)," said Jayashree
Gaikwad, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Lashkar Division).
The giant hoarding was being dismantled at around 2 pm
by a contractor hired by the railways when it came crashing
down, Deputy Commissioner of Police B Singh had said.
The deceased were identified as Shamrao Kasar (70),
Shamrao Dhotre (48), Shivaji Pardeshi (40) and Javed Khan
(40).
On late Friday night, a case was registered against
the railway officials, contractor and his workers who had been
given the responsibility to dismantle the structure.
A CR official said an inquiry has been initiated into
the incident. PTI SPK
RSY RSY
SSB SSB
New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) The Jamia Millia Islamia University administration has accepted the students' demand to appoint Turkish teachers, even as the students claimed they got only a 'verbal assurance' from the varsity, officials said Saturday.
A spokesperson from the administration said they have accepted the demands of the students.
The students have been sitting in protest against the absence of Turkish language teachers. On Friday, they had a meeting with the administration where they said the administration agreed with them on most of the issues.
"Whatever administration is promising us is verbal. We don't trust the administration promises as we learnt a lesson with last interactions with administration," said a statement from the protesting students.
They demanded that the administration give them things in writing.
"If administration is promising us why are they not giving it in written form. This shows their negative intention to stop the movement," the statement added.
The students had demanded that the programme be shifted to the MMAJ academy of International Studies.
"We wanted Dr Mohsin Ali to teach in Turkish language programme as a teacher with no replacement. We also wanted a permanent recruitment of an Indian teacher so that we do not face delay in re-evaluation and rechecking," the statement said.
The teachers recruited should be at least BA (Hons)/ MA Turkish /PhD in Turkish and should not only have advanced diploma degrees, the statement added.
A spokesperson from the administration said they have accepted the demands of students and two teachers will be joining from Monday.
Meanwhile, the students alleged the administration was spreading rumours of only third-year students participating in the protest.
"Can they pin-point which third year students are part of the protest? They even said we are forcing women students to sit with us which is totally wrong information being spread by them," they added. PTI SLB
DPB
I think its regrettable and unfortunate that Dr. Pruitt finds herself in this position. I can only hope and pray everything works out for her, he said. It points out that there has to be accountability and transparency in government. If we have that, then a lot of these things will be eliminated.
A fraudster behind a controversial action group set up to sue the Royal Bank of Scotland is being accused of using small investors money to pay himself and his colleagues 1.9 million.
The revelation comes as the RBoS Shareholders Action Group faces a police probe in the wake of concerns raised by a year-long investigation by The Mail on Sunday.
The group, co-founded by Irish businessman Gerard Walsh, was established to sue the bank for compensation for investors who felt they were duped into buying shares in 2008.
However, it has since been sidelined from management of the claim.
The RBoS Shareholders Action Group faces a police probe after Mail on Sunday investigation
Manx Capital, an investment vehicle of tycoon Trevor Hemmings, took its place at the top of the mass legal action.
The 7,000 small investors who signed up to the group won a 200 million settlement from RBS in June last year, meaning the bank could avoid a high-profile court case.
Much of the 200 million has yet to be paid out and serious concerns have been raised about the action group companys management of the claim, although these are firmly dismissed by the group.
This newspaper revealed last year that Walsh was described as a fraudster by the Jersey Royal Court in 2014.
In 1997, the High Court of Ireland found him guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation by posing as a Lamborghini salesman.
A court heard earlier this year that Walsh was claiming a 3.75 million success fee from the 200 million RBS settlement, despite allegedly presenting himself as a volunteer.
Tycoon Trevor Hemmings: Manx Capital took its place at the top of the mass legal action
In a High Court dispute between the action group company and Manx, a judge heard that Walsh was charging 80 an hour plus expenses for his services.
Manx, which instructs law firm Signature Litigation on behalf of investors who signed up to the action group, has now provided further details of payments made to Walsh.
In a letter sent to investors, Signature says the action group collected 8 million in subscription fees from both small investors and large institutional funds which originally signed up for the claim.
The letter also alleges that up to 1.9 million was paid to Walsh, as well as entities or people believed to be associated with him.
It said this money apparently went towards paying for leaflets, professional fees and administrative charges.
The RBoS Shareholders Action Group did not address this figure when asked for comment, but said Walshs consultancy contract with the company came to an end 18 months ago when RBS agreed to a settlement.
A spokesman for the group added: We have no issues with him whatsoever.
The group also pointed out that it has had a serious falling out with Signature Litigation.
The spokesman added: The group has been run in an honourable and ethical way throughout its ten-year existence.
The Signature Litigation letter, seen by The Mail on Sunday, also refers to Walshs links to two other organisations the RBS GRG Business Action Group, set up to sue the same bank over mistreatment of small businesses, and a campaign group set up following the Grenfell Tower disaster.
Directors of the Grenfell group have denied knowledge of Walshs involvement. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing in respect of either of these groups.
It emerged last month that the Ministry of Justice the Government department which regulates claims management companies has passed a dossier of information relating to the RBoS Shareholders Action Group on to the City of London Police.
Several small investors have also asked the City of London Police to investigate this year.
The force confirmed it has received the MoJ dossier and said it is assessing its contents.
This came after Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb, who was alerted to the firm by this newspapers investigation, discussed his concerns with MoJ representatives.
The MoJ has also told Lamb that it is planning to pass the dossier to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and is now considering whether to also share it with the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Lamb said: These new revelations of the amount of money that it appears Gerard Walsh was personally making out of this operation make it all the more important that the police and potentially the Serious Fraud Office treat this case with the utmost seriousness.
Campaigners are urging the Chancellor to act urgently to fix a tax quirk that deprives low earners of free pension cash handed to better off workers.
The technicality that denies top-ups to hundreds of thousands of savers must be addressed, according to a letter to Philip Hammond signed by two ex-Pensions Ministers, industry experts, a leading charity and the TUC, among others.
In a 'secret scandal' previously highlighted by This is Money, the lower paid are being blocked from receiving up to 720 a year of Government cash that is given to most other workers.
Pension tax quirk: A technicality is denying pension top-ups to hundreds of thousands of savers
Campaigners who include Former Pensions Minister Ros Altmann, NOW: Pensions and the Chartered Institute of Taxation, say action is necessary now to prevent auto enrolment being undermined.
They fear a new pension mis-selling scandal is brewing, as low earners realise that the well-publicised promise that Government tax relief, in addition to free employer cash, will be paid into their pots is not being fulfilled.
'Many are unaware of this, but we urge you to address the situation urgently for these low-paid workers who can least afford the added cost,' says the letter. Read it in full below.
Why is tax quirk hitting lower paid? Workers auto-enrolled into pensions are told the money they pay into their retirement pots will be topped up with both employer and Government cash. But for many on a low pay-rung this is not the case. They never get the Government tax relief, because their employers - often unwittingly - sign up to one of the many 'master trust' pension schemes that don't pay it into their pots. Those which use a 'net pay' system exclude low earners from getting tax relief, while those using a 'relief at source' system allow all workers to get it. Read more here.
The letter signers point out that the Treasury is already working on a related problem that affects 21 per cent Scottish taxpayers.
They are missing out on the 1 per cent extra tax relief they are due, compared to English and Welsh taxpayers on 20 per cent, because of the technicality hitting the low paid - and the solution to this could help both groups.
Lady Altmann said: 'There is a growing recognition at last of the injustice of this situation.
'I will not stop pressing the Government to sort this out as soon as possible.
'I am horrified that there has been no resolution and the problem is still being swept under the carpet.
'I have been promised a meeting with Treasury but it is being delayed.
'Meanwhile low earners, mostly women, keep losing more and more money. The Department for Work and Pensions and the regulator need to ensure action is taken to give these low earners their money. I am going to keep the pressure up within and outside Parliament.'
Troy Clutterbuck, chief executive 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.
What does the Government say? A Government spokesperson said: 'The government is looking at the opportunities provided by the move to a modern digital tax system to tackle any differences of treatment in provision of tax relief for pensions.' It has previously said on this issue: 'We are committed to helping people save for retirement and building on the success of automatic enrolment with 9.5million people now newly saving or saving more as a result. 'Both net pay and relief at source arrangements have advantages, with relief at source arrangements being particularly appropriate for lower earners but ultimately is up to employers to decide what is most appropriate for their staff. 'NEST [the state-backed auto enroment scheme], which now has over 6 million members, operates a relief at source arrangement as do several other large schemes used for automatic enrolment.'
'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.'
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: 'Lots of low earners, particularly women, whose employer uses a net pay scheme are failing to get the Government contribution towards their pension saving.
'This is deeply unfair and means that the very people who are likely to need this financial help the most aren't getting it, which potentially could have significant knock-on consequences for their finances and make them more likely to opt-out from pension saving.
'It's vital the Treasury reform the pensions tax relief system to ensure that those most in need are not losing out when saving for their future.'
Paul Nowak, deputy general secretary of the TUC, said: 'Everyone deserves a decent retirement. But many low earners are being denied the tax benefits other savers receive.
'They end up having to save more just because their employer has put them in a particular scheme. The government must act now to end this pensions lottery.'
Challenger bank Masthaven has launched a number of fixed rate savings accounts for small and medium-sized businesses paying up to 2.35 per cent in interest.
The top rate applies to a five-year deal, turning a 10,000 balance into 11,231 over the period.
Other highlights include a one-year and three-year account paying 1.65 per cent and 2 per cent in interest respectively.
Shop for the best rate: Chances are, you're more likely to get a better rate with a smaller player
While the typical business mantra is 'cashflow is king', locking cash away from your business for a longer period can actually make a lot of sense - so long as you definitely won't need access to it before the end of the savings term.
We take a look at how Masthaven's deals compare to others on offer and consider when tying up business cash can work well.
What's Masthaven offering?
The new product range has been designed to help small and medium-sized firms put money away for tax bills, new equipment or a rainy day according to the banks chief operating officer, Simon Furnell.
He said: 'Just like our personal savings accounts, our business savings proposition is competitive, innovative, easy to use, online and backed by our experienced savings specialists.
'Our SME customers will be able to personalise their fixed term and manage their maturity options online, meaning the customer is able to choose and manage a product to fit around their needs quickly and efficiently.'
Business customers can save between 5,000 and 500,000 from six months to five years and choose exactly when their account matures, offering interest on a sliding scale.
Remember, you won't be able to access your cash once you've deposited it into a fixed rate account until the end the specified term.
How does it compare?
Things to consider when comparing Is there a temporary rate bonus? Some easy-access accounts may offer a 12-month rate bonus - this means rates drop dramatically after a year so they may not be the best option if you are unlikely to switch again after a year. Does your business fit the bill? Check the qualifying criteria as some accounts may not allow sole traders to open them, while others restrict accounts to limited companies. What's the minimum balance required? If your balance drops below a certain limit you may not earn interest, some bank's minimum deposit requirements are higher than others.
There aren't as many savings accounts for small businesses as there are for personal use. However, there are a handful for small business owners to choose from.
Al Rayan Bank currently pays the best rate on a one-year fixed bond at 2.02 per cent. It also tops the best buy table over an 18 month and two year period, paying a fixed rate of 2.07 per cent and 2.17 per cent respectively.
These accounts can be opened with a minimum deposit of 1,000.
It is important to flag that as a Shariah-complaint bank, Al Rayan offers an expected profit rate rather than guaranteed interest according to Islamic finance principles.
You can read more about Shariah banking here.
All deposits with the UK bank are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to a value of 85,000 per person.
There are even fewer five-year savings products for SMEs in market but Masthaven's offering is market-leading, with a rate of 2.35 per cent on a minimum deposit of 5,000.
Meanwhile, rival challenger bank Aldermore offers a five-year fixed rate account requiring a smaller minimum deposit of 1,000 but pays a lower rate of interest of 2.25 per cent.
Why put company cash in a fixed rate account?
There is little point leaving spare company cash in a business current account because very few offer interest on the capital. You can make the money worker harder by putting it into a savings account.
There are two main types of business savings accounts: fixed rate and easy access.
The former typically offers a better rate than the latter, but the trade-off is you won't be able to withdraw your money early than the specified fixed term.
Easy access accounts are variable rate deals so rates can go up or down.
When picking a business savings account, it is important to consider whether or not you'll need access to the cash instantly.
Do you envisage the need to buy another oven for your bakery business in the near future? If so, it might not be the best idea to tie up your cash in a five-year fixed term deal.
Or perhaps the spare cash will go towards paying a hefty tax bill in the near future - in which case it might be worth considering a shorter fixed rate deal or even an easy access account.
Is five years too long to tie up business cash?
Masthaven's most interesting deal is a five-year fixed rate account which offers 2.35 per cent in interest. But five years is a long time not to have access to your company's cash.
Five years is a long time not to have access to your company's cash.
Although you may feel that you have enough money in your business current account to cover running costs and extra for any unexpected expenses that may arise, you can never be too sure.
For example, in the Autumn Budget last year, the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced that UK business rates revaluations will take place every three years instead of five.
The idea here is that shorter revaluation periods will reduce the size of changes in valuations.
But this means that many business bosses will now have to contend with the prospect of more frequent hikes in business rates, and therefore must ensure they have enough readily available cash to fund the worst case scenario.
Tax planning
It could make sense to lock cash away for five years as part of wider tax planning in a limited company structure however. Cash left in businesses can still make more in a savings account than in a current account.
For example, many small limited company directors choose to leave some of their profits in the business for many years for tax purposes.
They pay themselves out of company revenues up to the income tax-free allowance, and then pay the rest of their income in dividends which are taxed at a lower rate of 7.5 per cent, 32.5 per cent and 38.1 per cent for basic, higher and additional rate taxpayers respectively - compared to 20 per cent, 40 per cent and 45 per cent income tax rates (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
Tax planning in a limited company structure can be extremely complicated to do right, so if in doubt, consult a specialist tax adviser
In order to take the cash you've retained in the business there are, broadly speaking, two routes: either paying yourself a special dividend, or at the point at which you're ready to wind the business up, you can pay capital gains tax on your profits.
In 2008 Government introduced entrepreneur's relief, allowing individuals in this position to pay capital gains tax at a reduced rate of 10 per cent up to a lifetime allowance of 10million - half the usual capital gains tax rate of 20 per cent for higher income tax payers.
This is extremely complicated to get right so if you're planning to do this, it's a good idea to instruct a specialist tax adviser who will be able to navigate the process for you.
Why choose business over a personal account?
If you're sole trader, because the business is in your name you are allowed to open a personal savings account with business cash.
This gives you access to the top personal saving accounts which trumps specific business accounts.
You can find the best savings account using our independent savings tables. But as an example - the best five-year fixed rate for personal savings is also offered by Masthaven. It pays 2.69 per cent in interest, turning a 10,000 into 11,438 over the course of the fixed term.
The equivalent account for business owners comes with a lower rate of 2.35 per cent and would generate 1,246 in interest - 192 less.
However, if you run a limited company your business becomes its own entity - separate from your personal finances - meaning you can't put cash contained within the business into a personal savings account.
This is because you can't transfer cash into your own name without triggering a tax liability which could include national insurance, so company chiefs looking for somewhere to stash their money and interest are limited to business savings accounts.
Is it safe to save with a challenger bank?
Masthaven is a newer challenger bank, but this shouldn't dissuade you from opening an account with it or other challenger banks from that matter.
Chances are, you're more likely to get a better rate with a smaller player than a high street provider. The key is to shop around.
Remember, savings deposits made into any certified bank or building society are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to the tune of 85,000.
But this limit applies per banking licence and can often be shared across a number of brands in a banking group.
For example, First Direct and HSBC share the same banking licence; the Post Office falls under the Bank of Irelands licence; and deposits across Yorkshire, Barnsley, Chelsea and Norwich & Peterborough building societies are only covered once.
If you are putting away larger sums you may want to spread your cash between banks to make sure it is all protected should the worst happen and it go bust.
Bear in mind however that while business and personal accounts are typically regarded as separate entities under the scheme meaning both will be covered up to the 85,000 limit, if you are a sole trader the limit will apply to accounts jointly.
The maximum protection limit covers the combination of all balances deposited.
The Nepal-China Expo 2018 kicked off in Lalitpur district, Nepal on Friday, aimed at boosting trade and economy.
The five-day expo was inaugurated by Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali.
"Since Lalitpur is rich in handicrafts including metal, stone and wood carvings, such events are very important to promote trade between the two countries," the minister said.
The fair can also work as a bridge between Nepal and China by strengthening people-to-people relations, Gyawali added.
Noting that Chinese technology and economic achievements can be beneficial for Nepal's trade, Gyawali said Nepal wants to grasp opportunities from the Belt and Road Initiative.
Other speakers of the inaugural event highlighted that such expos should be held regularly to enhance trade between the two countries and to promote economic development.
There are 100 stalls in the expo, from both the Nepali and Chinese sides. Chinese companies showcased products like garments, electronic items, and accessories, among others, while the Nepali side displayed products such as stone, wood and metal carvings, textile, jewelleries, and local garments.
Ratna Bhakta Mali, a wood craft entrepreneur from Lalitpur, told Xinhua that "as wood craft is our family business, I have been involved in this over the last 26 years. Majority of our products are sold in China and the business is very impressive."
Besides the display and sale of products, the event also features cultural performances and fashion shows.
Continental Building Products Inc (NYSE:CBPX) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November, 12th. The construction company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks' consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The construction company earned $127.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $127.16 million. Continental Building Products had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 18.84% and a net margin of 12.12%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share.
View Continental Building Products' earnings history.
Ecuadorian authorities on Friday signed investment contracts worth about 1.6 billion U.S. dollars with private companies to develop six oil fields in the country's northeastern provinces, local newspaper El Comercio reported.
Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno was present at the signing ceremony held in the coastal city of Guayaquil.
With four other contracts signed in February, the country has "picked up investments of more than 2.3 billion U.S. dollars in the petroleum sector" this year, Moreno said.
According to the president, the country produces some 500,000 barrels of crude oil daily and with the new investment, the output will increase by about 6 percent in the next 15 years.
Ecuador is one of the smallest producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Oil is the main source of its export earnings.
DR. OAKLEY, YUKON VET
Nat Geo Wild, 8 p.m.
Season Premiere! Dr. Michelle Oakley returns for Season 6 as she makes veterinary house calls across Canada's Yukon Territory. This season, her older daughters Maya and Sierra are a big part of the action. Dr. Oakley shares, "In Season 1 they were like 14 and 15, and now they're 20 and 21, so everybody's grown up. And now, they're like right in there helping me. One daughter is pre-vet, the other one is criminology, but in the summers they work for me, and we're 'Team Oakley,' getting it done."
CRIMINAL CONFESSIONS
Oxygen, 8 p.m.
Season Premiere! From Executive Producer Dick Wolf (Law & Order) comes a new season of the show that gives viewers an inside look at actual police interrogations around the country with detectives who will stop at nothing until they find justice.
FALLING FOR YOU
Hallmark Channel, 9 p.m.
Original Film! While planning a fundraising event, the manager of a small New England town's radio station (Taylor Cole) meets her match in a visiting businessman (Tyler Hynes) who can't seem to see beyond the screen of his laptop computer until she ropes him into participating in her bachelor bake-off to help save the station.
GHOST ADVENTURES: "GRAVEYARD OF THE PACIFIC"
Travel Channel, 9 p.m.
New Miniseries! In this special four-part event, Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley head to the "Graveyard of the Pacific" a treacherous nautical region within the Pacific Northwest where the freshwater of the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. Here, the ocean has claimed thousands of shipwrecks and countless lives, while unexplained deaths, diseases, fires and murders have impacted areas around the shoreline. The investigation takes the team to multiple haunted locations, culminating at the North Head Lighthouse in Washington, site of some of the most tragic shipwrecks in this area.
VERSAILLES: "SMOKE AND MIRRORS"
Ovation, 10 p.m.
Season Premiere! In the third and final season, Louis XIV (George Blagden) resolves to regain control of his own life, his precious Versailles and France itself. Emboldened by his new favorite mistress, Madame de Maintenon (Catherine Walker), Louis won't relent in his quest for absolute power. Meanwhile, Queen Marie-Therese (Elisa Lasowski) becomes intimate with her cousin, Louis' archenemy Leopold (Rory Keenan), and Prince Philippe (Alexander Vlahos) suspects his brother is hiding a dark secret that only a mysterious prisoner in an iron mask can corroborate.
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS: LIVE IN LONDON
HBO, 10 p.m.
Taped before a sold-out audience at the Eventim Apollo in London, musical comedians Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement return to HBO to perform their classics and new original songs from their "Flight of the Conchords Sing Flight of the Conchords" tour.
HIT PROPERTIES WITH NATHAN MORRIS
DIY, 10:30 p.m.
New Series! Nathan Morris, founding member of the hit pop band Boyz II Men, is swapping his microphone for blueprints as he applies his innovative, high-end flavor to the house-flipping market. His four-part series follows him as he transforms an 8,200-square-foot, dated and neglected mansion in Orlando, Fla., into a magnificent modern estate. "On the business side, I've invested in some lucrative real estate deals and, on the personal side, I've done some construction, renovating and designing," Morris said. "But I've never brought the two together in one project. This was my chance to do that on a massive scale!"
Brought to you by the publishers of TV Guide. TV Guide 2018
ALBANY Three Capital Region residents were sentenced Friday for conspiring to distribute crack and cocaine, prosecutors said.
Shenika D. Boyd, 38, of Albany, was sentenced four years in prison and six years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York said. Boyd is also known by the nickname "Misses," prosecutors said.
NAIROBI, Kenya A half a world away from the spectacle of Washington, Melania Trump still managed to create one of her own during a Kenyan safari on Friday, riding out into the grassland wearing a crisp white pith helmet a common symbol of European colonial rule.
It may not have been the most glaring faux pas the hyper-scrutinized Trump has ever made. That title probably goes to the I really dont care. Do U? jacket she wore on the way to visit detained migrant children in Texas in June.
But to some especially those who study African history her fashion choice in Kenya was still a big error on the global stage: the sight of a first lady wearing something so closely associated with the exploitation of Africans.
Hours before Washington woke up, critics were pointing out how Trump who is here representing a husband widely reported to have disparaged African nations as shitholes had fumbled this segment of her visit. Trump is in Africa on a four-nation tour, with plans to visit Egypt this weekend after stops in Ghana, Malawi and Kenya.
The criticism was not universal. Several large Kenyan news sites focused not on the safari fashion but on Trumps other attention-grabbing activity of the day: feeding baby elephants, and a fall broken by a Secret Service agent.
But on social media, the angry tweets and hashtags about the helmet rolled in: #FLOTUSinAfricaBingo documented what some felt were Trumps tone-deaf fashion choices.
Kim Yi Dionne, a political science professor who specializes in African politics at the University of California, Riverside and a creator of the hashtag said what looked like a quibble over aesthetics was actually a more substantive criticism of the first ladys understanding of Africa.
When people think of Africa, they have these standard narratives, Dionne said. Her attire is a signal of her understanding of what Africa is in 2018. Its tired and its old and its inaccurate.
When reached for comment about the criticism on Friday, the East Wing did not immediately respond.
While in Africa, Trump has gone into almost no specifics about her visit, except to say that she has hoped to learn more about life in Africa and to promote her child-focused Be Best platform.
She is contributing to the Trump administrations mixed signaling, participating in a ceremonial donation of more than 1 million textbooks in Malawi, one of the worlds poorest countries, on Thursday, even as President Donald Trump has suggested deep cuts to foreign aid funding that could supply future donations.
In each country on her visit, Melania Trump has seemed at ease, and perhaps happy to be out of Washington. She has posed for photos with babies and children, often murmuring the same things at each stop Beautiful! and Hi, guys! while holding their hands or waving at the cameras. And with Washington imploding over a battle to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, the presidents nominee for the Supreme Court, Melania Trump seemed free of the usual scrutiny that nips at her stilettos in Washington.
On Friday, she looked happy as she visited a red clay feeding pen for orphaned elephants at the Nairobi National Park. She administered them formula in oversized baby bottles, patted the animals on their heads and inspected their floppy ears. Trump, a former model who is poised and hypersensitive to the criticism she receives for putting one toe out of place, wore a pristine white shirt to see the elephants. She emerged without a smudge.
After the elephant feeding, she added the pith helmet to her outfit, and social media began to light up. As the first lady sat alone in her vehicle, peering through binoculars and shooting photos of zebras, giraffes and impalas on her iPhone, critics were parsing her decision to wear the attention-grabbing white hat.
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Its like showing up to a meeting of African-American cotton farmers in a Confederate uniform, Matthew Carotenuto, a coordinator of African Studies at St. Lawrence University, wrote on Twitter. Historical context matters.
Beyond hosting first ladies at the White House or meeting with them at the United Nations, it is unclear how much Trump knew about Africa before she decided to visit. Throughout her trip, observers have been trying to read the reasons behind her journey, searching for clues that might place her in studied opposition to her husbands harshly leveled stereotypes about African nations.
But Trumps seemingly small decision to wear the helmet appeared to show a similarly limited understanding of the places shes been this week, argued Dionne, the political science professor.
In other ways, Trump has seemed independent. She came here without Donald Trump and has managed to avoid some of the more uncomfortable situations that previous visitors have faced: President George W. Bush encountered elephants mating when he embarked on a safari in Botswana in 2018. (The Kenyan elephants seemed solely interested in their bottles.)
An hour into her safari ride, Trump adjusted her outfit and climbed out of a vehicle to visit an ivory burn site, where the material has been destroyed to discourage the ivory trade. She bent down and scooped up some of the burned ivory, rubbing it lightly in her hands, finding herself once again at odds with her husband as the cameras caught her every movement. His administration has moved to lift a ban on some elephant trophy imports.
It is sad to see this, the first lady said to her guide, her hands covered in ash.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times
The perceptions that we have of Chinese hi-tech companies are changing drastically, according to Jonas Kjelberg, the co-founder of Skype.
Skype helped to revolutionize the work of telecommunications making cheap audio and video calls available to anyone with a laptop, PC, tablet or smartphone, but it is not Kjelberg's only success as he has been involved with internet retail businesses Zalando, Rocket Internet Lamoda, Jabong, Avito, and Hallo Fresh.
The Swede spoke exclusively to Xinhua during a short visit to the EAE Business School in Madrid on Friday where he talked about the rise of Chinese hi-tech companies.
He said the former perception of Chinese companies was that now "they are thinking how to innovate and be at the forefront," of technological development.
He gave Swedish car manufacturer Volvo as an example of this change: "If I'd said 20 years ago that Swedish engineers would not be able to figure something out and have to sell it to the Chinese, who will then tell Sweden engineers how to build cars, I would have been laughed at; but that's the reality today," he said.
Kjelberg admitted that "Silicon Valley (California) is still the epicenter of hi-tech innovation," but he believes "the whole mindset of becoming an entrepreneur and building new companies is growing everywhere. You see hubs in Madrid, Barcelona, Stockholm, Shanghai, Beijing..."
"Everywhere there is enormous growth with people trying to catch the next wave of customer products."
Within that growth, China is moving into a leading role. "People underestimate the talent and the money that is being spent in rethinking new technology in China, so I think there is an enormous amount of new companies that are going to come out that will really challenge the way we see things," explained Kjelberg.
The Swede said there was "already a huge market for high-tech products in China," but stressed that China is not an easy high-tech market to enter.
"The challenge for people who are not in China is to get into China. The product market fit is very different there," he said, adding that the issue went both ways. "To some extent, Chinese companies have been struggling with building products that fit the rest of the world."
However, if that situation hasn't changed already thanks to companies such as ZTE and Huawei, then the Skype co-founder believes the change is just around the corner; "there is a rapid shift in that and we see a lot of Chinese companies coming out and being global players," said Kjelberg.
SCHOHARIE -- A motor vehicle crash involving a limousine carrying a wedding party and another vehicle at a notorious intersection killed several people and sent others to the hospital Saturday afternoon in Schoharie County.
County dispatchers said they received the first of many 9-1-1 calls at 1:55 p.m. after the wreck near the Apple Barrel Country Store in the town of Schoharie.
Oslo, Norway
Raped after being forced into sexual slavery by the Islamic State group, Iraqi Nadia Murad did not succumb to shame or despair she spoke out. Surgeon Denis Mukwege treated countless victims of sexual violence in war-torn Congo and told the world of their suffering. Together, they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Friday for drawing attention to how rape and sexual abuse are used as weapons of war.
The award "is partly to highlight the awareness of sexual violence. But the further purpose of this is that nations take responsibility, that communities take responsibility and that the international community take responsibility," said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee that bestowed the $1.01-million prize.
"Dear survivors from all over the world, I would like to tell you that, through this Nobel Prize, the world is listening to you and refusing indifference," Mukwege, 63, told a news conference outside the hospital he founded in Bukavu in eastern Congo, where he has treated tens of thousands of victims, he said Friday.
"The world refuses to remain idle with arms crossed facing your suffering. We hope that the world will not put off acting with force and determination in your favor because the survival of humanity depends on you," Mukwege said.
Mukwege said he was in surgery when the announcement came, and he learned about it from patients and colleagues who were crying with joy.
Murad, 25, was one of an estimated 3,000 girls and women from Iraq's Yazidi minority group who were kidnapped in 2014 by IS militants and sold into sexual slavery. She was raped, beaten and tortured before managing to escape three months later. 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.
In 2016 she was named the United Nations' first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking, and her advocacy helped spur a U.N. investigation that is collecting evidence of war crimes by Islamic State extremists.
In a statement, Murad said she was "incredibly honored" by the prize.
"As a survivor, I am grateful for this opportunity to draw international attention to the plight of the Yazidi people who have suffered unimaginable crimes since the genocide" by IS, she said. "Many Yazidis will look upon this prize and think of family members that were lost, are still unaccounted for, and of the 1,300 women and children, which remain in captivity."
This year's peace prize comes amid heightened global attention to the sexual abuse of women in war, in the workplace and in society that has been highlighted by the "(hash)MeToo" movement.
"#MeToo and war crimes are not quite the same thing, but they do, however, have in common that it is important to see the suffering of women," said Reiss-Andersen of the Nobel committee.
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Many of the women treated by Mukwege were victims of mass 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.
Solange Furaha Lwashiga, a Congolese women's activist, noted the surgeon's work repairing not only the physical damage but also the mental scars suffered by the victims, empowering them. "Dr. Mukwege brings smiles and helps repair women from the barbaric acts of men in Congo," she said.
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 grab control of some the central African nation's vast mineral wealth.
Iraqi President Bahram Saleh praised the award for Murad, saying on Twitter that it was an "honor for all Iraqis who fought terrorism and bigotry."
Congo's government congratulated Mukwege, while acknowledging that relations with him have been strained because of his criticism of the government.
In a statement, President Joseph Kabila's special representative said: "We are proud that the fight and initiatives led by (Democratic Republic of Congo) through Dr. Mukwege, for the re-establishment of the dignity and the respect of women is finally recognized internationally."
The nomination fight over Judge Brett Kavanaugh has injected new volatility into the midterm elections, reshaping races across the country and sharpening the already bitterly partisan tone for the final four-week stretch before Nov. 6.
Much uncertainty remains - not least because of the rapid-fire succession of evolving crises that have marked President Donald Trump's term in office - but for now the weeks-long Kavanaugh saga appears to be pushing House races toward Democrats, even as it has given Republicans better odds of maintaining control of the Senate.
That division stems from the make-up of the races and the political geography of the most competitive battles. House contests this year already were expected to be determined by suburban women, who had pulled away from the president over his term in the White House and appear to be the most sympathetic to Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who testified that Kavanaugh had assaulted her when both were teenagers.
But most of this year's competitive Senate races are in traditionally red states, and as Republicans have rallied to Kavanaugh's side, the chances of Democratic upsets there have dropped, at least for now.
Democrats are growing more concerned about keeping their seats in Indiana, Missouri, and Montana and appear to be losing ground when it comes to potential pick-ups in Texas and Tennessee. One of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who said Thursday that she would vote against Kavanaugh, has fallen far behind her Republican challenger in new polling. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, another vulnerable Democrat, reached for political survival when he became the final senator and only Democrat to announce a vote for Kavanaugh.
But in the House, the Cook Political Report and other predictors have moved more than half a dozen seats in the Democratic direction in recent days, and Republican operatives are bracing themselves for an onslaught of Democratic money that they are calling "a green wave." Gubernatorial races - in which Democrats are trying to regain territory that they've lost in recent years, particularly in the Midwest - are also trending left.
"There's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned Supreme Court fight to polarize the electorate - and that's what we've observed in the past few weeks," said David Wasserman, House editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "The Kavanaugh issue has almost acted as a centrifuge to separate red and blue elements of the electorate even more."
The Supreme Court battle has washed over the campaign in a way that no single issue has before, drowning out topics Democrats want to talk about (health care) or the ones Republicans are pushing (tax cuts and a rosy economy). In a season defined by enough-is-enough female energy - along with white male rage and aggrievement that is stomping back to 2016 levels - the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings were explosive on all fronts.
In recent days, Trump has fiercely defended Kavanaugh and mocked his accusers, candidates have aired new ads on their positions, debates have pivoted on the nomination, and both parties have sensed political advantage in what already had stacked up as an election dependent on each side motivating its base.
The divide into separate camps has been on vivid display among protesters inside the U.S. Capitol - but it is also playing out more subtly in the rest of the country, from retail store parking lots in Fargo, North Dakota, to the bars of Bedminster, New Jersey.
Democrats have always faced a difficult Senate map - six of the competitive seats that they hold are in states Trump won, and five of those states he carried by at least 19 points - but their path now is more treacherous.
In North Dakota, television screens across the state were flashing with ads both attacking Heitkamp and defending her record. At Fargo's VFW Post 762, drinkers pulled their eyes away from the nightly happy hour drink raffle to watch back-to-back political spots.
Just hours before Heitkamp announced her opposition to Kavanaugh, voters like Stephanie Beyah were still weighing their support for the incumbent based on what the senator might do.
"I think it would be awful [to have Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court]," Beyah, a young woman in her 30s, said as she pushed a cart of purchases through a Target parking lot. "Just beyond the allegations, the way he portrayed himself last week was terrible. This is not a spot on the school board. You're choosing a guy that will change people's lives."
Troy Reich, a burly man in a flannel shirt juggling a stack of boxes as he entered the U.S. Post Office in downtown Fargo, said he was a firm supporter of Heitkamp's opponent, Republican nominee Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. But the Kavanaugh hearings increased his anger at Democrats, and he feels the drama will affect tight races like the Senate contest.
"It was a total witch hunt," Reich said. "I think it was ridiculous, and now they still haven't proven anything. It was totally partisan, and I think it's going to come back around on them."
In Indiana, where Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly is fighting for re-election in a state Trump won by 19 points, the Kavanaugh dispute has riled up conservative male voters who feel he is a victim of partisan smears and unfounded accusations about what amounts to schoolboy antics, said Brian Howey, the author of a website on Indiana politics.
"The allegations of Dr. Ford, they just threw a pipe bomb in this race," Howey said. "Now we're waiting to see who the shrapnel takes out."
Recent polls show a dead heat between Donnelly, who announced his opposition to Kavanaugh last week, and his Republican opponent Mike Braun.
Tim Chapman, the executive director of Heritage Action for America, a conservative political organization, said the Kavanaugh hearing was a "game changer" for red state Democrats like Donnelly.
"He is in a really tough spot," Chapman said. "He is going to vote against Kavanaugh, so for us, that becomes a real issue that we can drive from now until November and remind people that he was on that side."
Kate Oehl, Donnelly's press secretary, said the senator will spend the next month focused on health care, which his campaign believes is a more salient issue for voters.
For Republicans, a major challenge will be keeping their base riled up over how Kavanaugh was treated, even though he was poised to win in the end. Democrats believe that the enthusiasm advantage will shift back their way.
"On our side, the outrage will live for years," said Brian Fallon, a Democratic consultant. "And it'll be very pronounced, particularly among women voters who are already the backbone of the resistance. . . . It'll be year of the women redux."
Democrats believe the Kavanaugh hearings could help them in Nevada - where Rep. Jacky Rosen is running against Republican Sen. Dean Heller for his seat - and in Arizona, where Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Rep. Martha McSally are in a tight race to success Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who opted not to run again.
The dynamics in the House races are completely different because of their political terrain. Of the 68 House races viewed as competitive by the Cook Political Report, only 16 are in states that have a competitive Senate race.
"That's unheard of," Wasserman said. "We just have this huge divergence between the partisanship of the most competitive Senate seats and House seats."
Democrats are feeling confident about winning a net of 23 seats needed to control the House. Already, Republicans are pulling money from several districts they had initially hoped could be within their grasp.
Republicans are suffering particular problems among highly educated voters who live outside urban centers like Kansas City, Philadelphia and Denver.
The National Republican Congressional Committee pulled about $1 million in planned spending from the 3rd Congressional District in Kansas, where Rep. Kevin Yoder is running for re-election. Outside groups have also been pulling ads from districts held by Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., and Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., an indication that they no longer see those races as competitive.
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"If the Democratic base gets any more excited they may have to seek medical attention," said Corry Bliss, who runs the Congressional Leadership Fund, which is aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to preserve the House GOP majority. "In the last week things have undeniably improved in our polling. Republican intensity and excitement are through the roof. Now we need to keep the trend going for the next few weeks."
The countervailing forces could be seen in the suburbs outside of Newark, where Republican Leonard Lance is seeking his sixth term in a district that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016.
"It's been a re-energizer, frankly," Janice McLean, 58, said during a Democratic-led protest in New Jersey.
"Republican women are motivated," said Marlene Sincaglia, a retired middle school French teacher, a few hours later and a few miles away.
Lance's opponent, Democrat Tom Malinowski, a former assistant secretary of state under President Barack Obama, released an ad on Sept. 26 featuring a soundbite of Lance seeming to question Ford's allegations that Kavanaugh had assaulted her.
"I think Judge Kavanaugh is a brilliant judge and I tend not to believe the charges," Lance is heard saying on the clip.
Lance told The Post he found Ford's testimony to be credible - as well as Kavanaugh's - and noted that he was among the Republicans who called for an FBI investigation.
Protesters, who have often come to his district office to protest Trump, are now focused on Kavanaugh.
In Westfield, New Jersey, days ago, a 2-year-old girl on her father's shoulders held a message scrawled on the back of a Pampers box: "Believe Women." A 61-year-old artist waved a fluorescent pink sign that said "Hell No Kava-No" in her left hand and a tambourine in her right. Another woman who said her college-age daughter had been raped her freshman year propped up a banner that read "I Believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford!"
Across the district in Berkeley Heights, Lance mingled with constituents nibbling on crudites at a reception before kicking off a Boy Scouts awards dinner. Some of the Republican voters there were fired up - in support of Kavanaugh.
"I look at this and I fear for my 20-year-old son," said Jeanne Kingsley, a Berkeley Heights councilwoman who is a Republican and mother of two sons and two daughters. "I called him and said, 'Do not be alone with a woman. We're in an environment now where someone can say anything they want and not have to back it up.'"
Margaret Illis, another woman at the event, has two sons and two daughters spanning ages 17 to 24. It is her daughters she fears for.
"I don't know a single woman in my generation who wasn't in some way sexually assaulted, whether it was being felt up on the train in New York City or by a boss at a fast food restaurant when you were 16 or a coworker who continually got too close in the elevator," said Illis, 59-year-old former designer and analyst for a software development firm. "I really thought the world had changed. And now I'm opening my eyes to the fact that it hasn't."
Illis, a recently registered Democrat who considers herself an independent, said she has voted for Lance a number of times in the past. She now plans to vote for Malinowski because "I want my daughters to have a better future."
"After the Kavanaugh hearings, people are resolved to do more to try to flip the House," said Illis, who attends house parties where activists send handwritten notes to infrequent voters encouraging them to vote by mail and reminding them of what's at stake.
"I'm passionate now," she said, "about changing my representative in Congress."
- - -
The Washington Post's Laura Meckler contributed to this report.
A 74-year-old Vietnam War veteran who won a military sharpshooting decoration ambushed police officers coming to his South Carolina home to question his adult son about a child sexual assault, killing one and wounding six others, the sheriff investigating the case said Friday.
Frederick Hopkins was charged with murder and six counts of attempted murder Friday, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said. Hopkins has been in the hospital since he was taken into custody after the Wednesday afternoon shooting, but should be released and taken to jail Friday, Lott said.
Florence County investigators called Hopkins' home and arranged to speak to his 27-year-old adopted son, Seth Hopkins, about a sex assault investigation Wednesday afternoon, Lott said, adding that they had a search warrant.
The three deputies were shot without warning as they got out of their car, he said.
Dozens of officers rushed to help, and the gunman shot four city of Florence officers. Police Sgt. Terrence Carraway was killed.
So many rounds were fired with such powerful weapons that it took up to 30 minutes to get an armored vehicle close enough to rescue the wounded officers, Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler said. The standoff lasted two hours.
Several children in the home were not harmed, authorities said.
Seth Hopkins was charged Friday with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Authorities didn't immediately release details about the crime. Lott said he also ended up in the hospital after the shooting but should be released Friday.
Authorities have not said whether the men have attorneys to speak on their behalf.
Frederick Hopkins' wife, Cheryl Turner Hopkins, is an attorney and attended a hearing Friday that Solicitor Ed Clements said concerned emergency custody for children in the home. The solicitor did not provide details on the hearing and the Family Court judge sealed the case.
Cheryl Turner Hopkins told a WPDE-TV reporter outside the courtroom that she is sorry of the officers' families and asked for prayers.
Richland County deputies are investigating the case at the request of the Florence County Sheriff's Office.
Lott said a special FBI team that investigated the fatal shootings of five police officers in Dallas in 2016 and deaths of 59 people and wounding of hundreds more in Las Vegas last year is helping collect evidence from the crime scene at an upscale Florence subdivision.
"This is a large crime scene. This is a very large, complex puzzle that we are still filling the pieces in," Lott said.
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Two of the wounded officers have been released from the hospital. Lott said others remain in critical condition but did not provide details.
Frederick Hopkins is a Vietnam veteran and a disbarred attorney. His U.S. Army records obtained by The Associated Press show he was awarded a marksman badge with pistol bar and a sharpshooter with rifle bar decorations during 11 years of service starting in 1966.
Hopkins also was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroism defending a firebase under attack by North Vietnamese forces on May 6, 1970.
Hopkins then a U.S. Army captain carried medical supplies across an open area, "braving shrapnel from exploding mortar rounds," according to the letter explaining the award.
He was critically wounded when a mortar round exploded near him, the letter said.
Hopkins earned his law license after he left the military but was disbarred a few years later for mishandling money. Several Facebook posts in recent years were about guns, including celebrating his 70th birthday by repeatedly firing his M14 rifle "set up exactly like the one I used in Vietnam."
Authorities also released the names of all the wounded officers. Florence County Deputy Arie Davis, investigator Sarah Miller and investigator Farrah Turner were shot as they got to the home and Florence Police Officers Brian Hart, Travis Scott and Scott Williamson were wounded along with Carraway as they rushed to help.
Carraway's funeral is scheduled for Monday at the city's civic center.
CLIFTON PARK - Town taxpayers will see an bump in taxes due to highway spending increase next year, Town Supervisor Phil Barrett said.
Barrett released details of his tentative 2019 budget Thursday. The spending plan will again have no general fund property tax and it does not exceed the state tax cap, Barrett said.
The highway fund budget would be $5.73 million, or less than a 1 percent increase over 2018. The tax based on the fund would rise from about 28 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to about 30 cents, he said.
The general fund totals $17.58 million, a 1.6 percent increase over the 2018 budget.
Barrett said spending increases are related to more road paving and infrastructure projects and rising fuel and road salt prices. The winter season for 2017-18 was long and expensive for the highway department, he noted.
The EMS tax will fall from 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to 24 cents. The rate has decreased by more than 30 percent in recent years "due to the burgeoning healthcare industry in Clifton Park, an expanding commercial tax base and responsible budgeting," Barrett said. The tax in 2000 was 26 cents per $1,000.
The budget does not include any cost-of-living raises for employees.
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(For 2018 salaries, see the last pages of this budget document)
The town is negotiating with its two Civil Service Employee Association bargaining units.
Also included in the budget is money for a free hazardous waste collection program for town residents, to be held in September. The budget does not use available carry-over from previous budget years as allowed by the tax cap formula, Barrett said.
Barrett said the state Comptroller's fiscal stress monitoring test results reflect the town's positive cash flow, very low debt and significant fund balance. The town will continue to invest in the expansion of the recreational and trail network, infrastructure, family programs and all elements of the community that protect and enhance our quality of life, he said.
The missing St. Johnsville woman found dead Tuesday was described as "a loving and caring daughter and sister" in an obituary posted online Friday.
Michaela J. R. MacVilla, 21, was born in Missoula, Montana, and graduated in 2016 from Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville High School in Montogmery County. She worked at Stewart's Shop in St. Johnsville, where she was last seen alive on Sept. 25.
It was "a job she really enjoyed," according to her obituary. "She loved visiting with the customers and working with her coworkers."
MacVilla is survived by her parents, Samantha and Kevin Jump, as well as her sister, Tabitha, and two brothers, Jarrid and Kyle. Her fourth sibling, Kimberlee Jump, died in August.
"She enjoyed being active in her community and was always the first to lend a hand. When she was relaxing at home she could be found cuddling with her cat, Mr. Perfect," her obituary says.
MacVilla's body was discovered in heavy brush Tuesday by a resident searching his Oppenheim, Fulton County, property for signs of the missing woman.
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The State Police said Friday that an autopsy had been completed. Troopers declined to discuss the criminal investigation further. Anyone who may have seen anything suspicious or has any information about the case is asked to call investigators at 518-783-3211.
Calling hours for relatives and friends will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, followed immediately by funeral services, at the OESJ High School Auditorium in St. Johnsville. The burial will be private.
[October 05, 2018]
Azure Summit Technology Secures $5M Second Delivery Award to Provide RF Transceivers to the Navy
FAIRFAX, Va., Oct. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Azure Summit Technology, provider of high-performance RF electronics hardware, firmware, and software products for the Department of Defense, announced today that it has received a second delivery order on its five-year, $48.5 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract with the US Navy to support the AN/ZLQ-1 V2 Common Chassis for the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA), Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems (PMUAS), and Submarine Sensor Systems Programs.
Through this new delivery order, in excess of $5 million, the Navy is procuring four, five, and eight-channel radio frequency (RF) transceivers and 16x12 fully non-blocking RF Switch Matrices for systems deployed on submarines, manned aircraft, and unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) in support of U.S. Navy missions worldwide. This latest delivery order continues Azure Summit's prtnership with the Navy as a premiere provider of high-performance software-definable RF transceivers.
"Azure's Switchblade transceivers provide modular, open-architecture, cutting-edge RF performance with substantial reductions in cost and SWAP compared with alternative approaches. This delivery order further illustrates the increasing importance of Switchblade-based solutions in enabling critical mission capabilities for a growing list of U.S. Navy platforms," stated Azure Summit Technology CEO, Dr. Thomas Green, Jr.
Azure Summit Technology is a mature, growing small business with locations in Fairfax, Virginia, and Melbourne, Florida that develops and delivers high-performance RF hardware, firmware, and software products, and innovative, practical, multi-function RF systems solutions that address emerging missions of national importance for customers across the Department of Defense.
For more information on Azure Summit Technology, please contact CEO Dr. Thomas Green, Jr., at (571) 308-1400 or visit www.azuresummit.com.
View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/azure-summit-technology-secures-5m-second-delivery-award-to-provide-rf-transceivers-to-the-navy-300725464.html
SOURCE Azure Summit Technology
[October 05, 2018] Pharmaceutical Industry's Evolving use of Display Methods for Scientific Information at Medical Booths is Examined in New Study
CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Oct. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical booths at annual conferences such as the American Society of Hematology are a prime opportunity to highlight a pharmaceutical company's pipeline and products to healthcare professionals. However, new technologies and compliance concerns have made it challenging for some medical communications leaders to update their company's approach to educational displays at medical booths. When should an iPad be used instead of a static panel? Should all therapeutic areas (TAs) be treated the same? To share current pharmaceutical medical booth practices, research and consulting leader Best Practices, LLC has published a new study, "Medical Meeting Excellence: Best Practices in Improving Medical Information/Affairs Booth Impact at Critical Medical Congresses." The study, which includes a Hematology/Oncology segment, found that HemOnc is more aggressive than other TAs insofar as booth display methods. At least 50 percent of the HemOnc Segment use more than one type of display method for 13 of the 17 medical content types evaluated in the study. A majority of the HemOnc Segment use static panels, handouts, interactive and iPads to display their pipeline, clinical trial, nd disease state information, according to the study.
The 86-page report presents insights on questions such as: What types of content do companies display at medical congresses/conferences and do they share it proactively or reactively?
How do they display the content static panels, interactively, iPads or other methods?
How prevalent is it for companies to host poster/investigator receptions and what type of content is used? Pharmaceutical leaders will be able to use the research results to compare their congress booth planning and execution with industry peers.
Best Practices, LLC engaged 21 Medical Affairs leaders at 20 pharmaceutical companies for this research project. In addition to utilizing a survey to collect quantitative data, the study included four executive interviews to collect qualitative data. Data in this research are presented into two segments: Hematology/Oncology vs. Non-Hematology/Oncology and Company Size (Large vs. Small Companies). To access the full report or to download a complimentary summary containing insights found in this report, click on the following link: http://www.best-in-class.com/rr1514.htm. For related research, visit the Best Practices, LLC Web site at www.best-in-class.com/. ABOUT BEST PRACTICES, LLC Best Practices, LLC is a leading benchmarking, consulting and advisory services firm serving biopharmaceutical and medical device companies worldwide. Best Practices, LLC's clients include all the top 10 and 48 of the top 50 global healthcare companies. The firm conducts primary research and consulting using its comprehensive proprietary benchmarking tools and analysis. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pharmaceutical-industrys-evolving-use-of-display-methods-for-scientific-information-at-medical-booths-is-examined-in-new-study-300725348.html SOURCE Best Practices, LLC
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[October 05, 2018] Global AI in Manufacturing Markets 2017-2018 Forecast to 2024 - Growing IIoT and Usage of Big Data Technology in the Manufacturing Industry is the Key Driver
DUBLIN, Oct. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market - Technologies, Market Share and Industry Forecast to 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Global artificial intelligence in manufacturing market is expected to rise with the CAGR of about 52% during the forecast period 2017-2024. The major drivers for this market are growing industrial IoT and usage of big data technology in the manufacturing industry, rise in usage of computer-based technology extensive usage of robotics by manufacturing companies, significant increase in venture capital investments and cross-industry partnerships. The major restraint for the market is lack of technically skilled personnel. Also, increasing operational efficiency in manufacturing firm and scope for AI based technology across emerging regions are major opportunities for the market. However, data privacy and security concern is the major market challenge.
North America is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period. Presence of majority of the market players of artificial intelligence across the region, venture capital investment across the region, etc. contribute towards the dominance of North America during the forecast period. However, Asia Pacific is expcted to be the fastest growing region in artificial intelligence in manufacturing market during the forecast period due to growth in manufacturing sector across the region, increasing investments in artificial intelligence technologies, etc.
The growth in global artificial intelligence in manufacturing market is also influenced by the presence of major players such as NVIDIA Corporation ( United States ), Oracle Corporation ( United States ), Microsoft Corporation ( United States ), Intel Corporation ( United States ), IBM Corporation ( United States ), etc. To gain competitive advantage, the major players of global artificial intelligence in manufacturing market are adopting various strategies such as mergers & acquisitions, product launch, strategic partnership, collaboration, joint ventures, investment, strategic expansion, funding etc. during the forecast period.
Key Topics Covered
1. Introduction
2. Market Overview
3. Market Determinants
4. Global Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market By Offering
5. Global Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market By Technology
6. Global Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market By Application
7. Global Artificial Intelligence Market By Industry
8. Competitive Landscape
9. Geographic Analysis
10. Company Profiles
AIBrain (U.S.)
Alphabet Inc. (U.S.)
Cisco Systems, Inc. (U.S.)
Datarpm (U.S.)
General Electric (GE) Company (U.S.)
General Vision, Inc. (U.S.)
IBM Corporation (U.S.)
Intel Corporation (U.S.)
Microsoft Corporation (U.S.)
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation ( Japan )
) Nvidia Corporation (U.S.)
Oracle Corporation (U.S.)
Rockwell Automation Inc. (U.S.)
Siemens AG ( Germany )
) Sight Machine (U.S.) For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hg5vwn/global_ai_in?w=5 Media Contact: Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
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With Egypt's strategic location and improved infrastructure, the North African country is becoming a regional hub for energy trade, said experts.
"Egypt has all the conditions needed to turn into a regional hub for energy trade. It has a very unique location among the three continents, besides its Suez Canal and internationally standardized infrastructure," Salah Hafez, former deputy chairman of the General Authority for Oil, told Xinhua.
"Egypt also owns gas pipelines to Israel and Jordan, gas liquification stations in Damietta and Edko in northern Cairo, and sea ports," Hafez said.
The Egyptian government announced on several occasions a two-phase plan to turn Egypt into an energy hub. The first will be carried out by construction of electricity networks between Egypt and its neighboring countries.
The electricity connections with Libya and Jordan have been in operation, with other networks linking Egypt with Syria and Iraq still under construction.
By the end of 2018, the electricity links with Sudan will start working. Egypt also plans to establish a sea cable for electricity connection with Greece, Cyprus, and Saudi Arabia, the spokesman of the Electricity Ministry told Xinhua.
Egypt has invested 515 billion Egyptian pounds (28.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the electricity sector since 2014, apart from El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant, 130 km north of the capital Cairo.
These investments have changed the electricity production in Egypt from a shortage to a surplus in 2016 which could be used for export.
The second phase of the government's plan aims to import natural gas from neighboring countries such as Israel and Cyprus for liquification in Egyptian fields before re-exporting it to other countries.
"The African and European needs for natural gas are large, and Egypt has the infrastructure to transfer it," Hafez said, adding that Israel will export its gas surplus via Egypt because it lacks the infrastructure, so do Saudi Arabia and Cyrus.
Egypt and Cyprus have signed an agreement on Sept. 19 for the construction of underwater pipelines to pump natural gas from the Cypriot Aphrodite field to Egypt to be liquified before exporting it to world markets.
During his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Sept. 25, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov expressed his desire to join the gas project which links Egypt, Greece and Cyprus, saying Egypt is a possible natural gas source for his country.
In February, Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings signed a 10-year deal worth 15 billion U.S. dollars to import gas from Israel and liquify it in Egypt before exporting it to other markets.
Maher Aziz, advisor to the former Minister of Electricity, agrees with Hafez, saying Egypt's infrastructure enables it to be a regional hub for energy trading.
He highlighted the important role of the Suez Canal, adding that the current pipelines, the gas and oil networks, and the oil refining and natural gas liquifying fields will also promote Egypt's role in energy trade.
However, Aziz pointed to several political challenges for Egypt.
Turkey is worried about possible expansion of Egypt's influence in the eastern Mediterranean region, which Ankara sees as a threat to its interests. Besides, financial challenges, such as insufficient funds, might hinder development, he explained.
Still, the Egyptian expert believed that Egypt could overcome all challenges, as Egypt will benefit a lot by imposing passing tariffs and easily meeting its own needs of energy.
[October 05, 2018] Ketel One Inspires Bartenders to Create More Sustainable Cocktails
BERLIN, October 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Why Doing Good, Tastes Better This weekend at the world's biggest bartender competition the bartender's favourite vodka[1] - Ketel One - unveiled some of the possibilities that could make the drinks world a more sustainable and better place. While the world is catching on to sustainable straws, the family-made vodka believes there's much more the drinks industry can do. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/755144/Ketel_One.jpg )
(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/755145/Ketel_One.jpg )
(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/755146/Ketel_One.jpg )
At the prestigious World Class competition, this year hosted in Berlin, a bar made from reclaimed wood and recycled furniture; chairs made from repurposed plastic bottles, old DVDs and scrapped mobile phones once destined for landfill; tables made from pressed yoghurt pots; and, of course, a Ketel One Bloody Mary made with locally sourced ingredients - critically home-grown, not flown - encourages people and bartenders to think about how preparing their drink can help them do better. The commitment to 'better' doesn't stop there - Ketel One aims to inspire bartenders around the world to re-think the recipes of their most popular drinks to have a more positive impact on their communities. Espresso Martinis, Bloody Marys, Vodka and Sodas and Dutch Mules are all reimagined using reduced waste, natural ingredients and locally sourced garnishes to ehance their flavours.
The move reflects a wider shift in culture which has seen people drinking less but drinking better, seeking out brands that are sustainable or endeavouring to have a positive impact on the world around them[2]. Alexandre Rodrigues, Global Brand Director of Ketel One explained why they are so invested in this shift: "People are increasingly looking for premium refinement and quality that's down to earth, simple and honest. This search for 'better' isn't just with ingredients, but with experiences and a brand's impact on society as a whole.
"Cultural consciousness has been at the heart of Ketel One, that's why we decided to help inspire bartenders and bars around the world about how they can offer an even better drinking experience." The real surprise is, far from looking like a craft project, the drinks and sustainable bar wouldn't be out of place in any of the world's top bars. Bob Nolet, the 11th generation of the Nolet family - the creators of Ketel One - explained why he is so passionate about inspiring bartenders and bars on this movement: "My family has been distilling spirit since 1691 and from that moment we have always sought the perfect balance between a commitment to taste, a commitment to bartenders and a commitment to the world around us. "We built the world's largest windmill to help power our distillery and our family still tastes and approves every batch of vodka before it leaves our distillery to ensure the highest quality standards. We want to encourage bartenders to have the same attitude: always deliver the best drinks they can while also having a positive impact on their communities - this is what motivates me and my family every day." Johann Bodecker, Pentatonic Founder and CEO, who helped co-create the Ketel One sustainable bar said: "Pentatonic collaborates with consumer brands worldwide. Whether it's consumer electronics, fashion or automotive, shifting to a circular model that avoids waste and reutilises post-consumer materials is a high priority for all forward-thinking consumer brands. "Together with our brand partners we are making real progress by changing materials, processes and most importantly habits. Working with Ketel One to do just that has been brilliant. The drinks industry is growing fast and if we can take a lead in showing other industries how to turn waste into something that improves customer experiences and business practices, then we're starting to make a difference." Both the Ketel One sustainable bar and 'Better' serves will be used to inspire bartenders around the world over the next year.
1. Drinks International Brands Report 2018 http://drinksint.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/7481/Brands_Report:_Vodka.html 2. Neilson https://www.nielsen.com/eu/en/press-room/2015/consumer-goods-brands-that-demonstrate-commitment-to-sustainability-outperform.html Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/taranurin/2018/01/31/ten-trends-that-will-determine-your-drinking-in-2018/#77ae1bca2992
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[October 05, 2018] Supermicro Refutes Claims in Bloomberg Article
Supermicro along with Apple and Amazon refute claims in Bloomberg story SAN JOSE, California, Oct. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI), a global leader in enterprise computing, storage, networking solutions and green computing technology, strongly refutes reports that servers it sold to customers contained malicious microchips in the motherboards of those systems. In an article today, it is alleged that Supermicro motherboards sold to certain customers contained malicious chips on its motherboards in 2015. Supermicro has never found any malicious chips, nor been informed by any customer that such chips have been found. Each company mentioned in the article (Supermicro, Apple, Amazon and Elemental) has issued strong statements denying the claims: Apple stated on CNBC, "We are deeply disappointed that in their dealings with us, Bloomberg's reporters have not been open to the possibility that they or their sources might be wrong or misinformed. Our best guess is that they are confusing their story with a previously reported 2016 incident in which we discovered an infected river on a single Supermicro server in one of our labs. That one-time event was determined to be accidental and not a targeted attack against Apple."
Steve Schmidt, Chief Information Security Officer at Amazon Web Services stated, "As we shared with Bloomberg BusinessWeek multiple times over the last couple months, 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.?" Supermicro has never been contacted by any government agencies either domestic or foreign regarding the alleged claims.
Supermicro takes all security claims very seriously and makes continuous investments in the security capabilities of their products. The manufacture of motherboards in China is not unique to Supermicro and is a standard industry practice. Nearly all systems providers use the same contract manufacturers. Supermicro qualifies and certifies every contract manufacturer and routinely inspects their facilities and processes closely. Follow Supermicro on Facebook and Twitter to receive their latest news and announcements. About Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI)
Supermicro, the leading innovator in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology is a premier provider of advanced Server Building Block Solutions for Data Center, Cloud Computing, Enterprise IT, Hadoop/Big Data, HPC and Embedded Systems worldwide. Supermicro is committed to protecting the environment through its "We Keep IT Green" initiative and provides customers with the most energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly solutions available on the market. Supermicro, Server Building Block Solutions, and We Keep IT Green are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Super Micro Computer, Inc. All other brands, names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. SMCI-F
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[October 06, 2018] Foresters Financial and KaBOOM! Partner to Increase Play Opportunities for Black Mountain Kids
The Black Mountain community was revitalized today thanks to a new playground built at Black Mountain Primary. In just six hours, more than 200 volunteers from Foresters Financial, the YMCA of Western North Carolina, Buncombe County Schools and the national non-profit KaBOOM! created the new playspace, which will serve more than 1,800 children and their families in the local community for years to come. "For over 140 years Foresters Financial has focused on our Purpose, which is to help families and strengthen communities," said Jim Boyle, President and CEO, Foresters Financial. " This partnership creates safe play areas where families can spend quality time together while developing young bodies and minds. We know the Black Mountain community will use this playground for many years to come." The design for the new playground is based on drawings created by neighborhood children at a special Design Day event held August when community members met with organizers from KaBOOM! and Foresters Financial to design their dream playground. The drawings inspired the final playground design. "We are honored that Foresters and KaBOOM! have chosen to partner with us to build a community playground at Black Mountain Primary, where we have an active afterschool program," said Melissa Wiedeman, vice president of operations for K-12 child care at the YMCA of WNC. "The Y is all about bringing the community together for a common cause, and providing a safe and fun environment where our kids can play is a cause we can all support." Since 2006, Foresters Financial and KaBOOM! have built 150 beautiful playspaces across 86 cities in 31 states and provinces throughout North America. Thanks to the hard work of over 9,900 Foresters members, sales partners and guests for the last eleven years, we are positively impacting the lives of more than 5 million children by providing them with access to play. Through each new playground, families are better able to spend quality time together right in their own neighborhoods, playing alongside Foresters members and community partners. "As an educator, I believe that active play is essential to growing children," said Malorie McGinnis, principal of Black Mountain Primary School. "As they play, they explore their environment and learn to build healthy relationships with peers. The Black Mountain Community looks forward to supporting students and families as we play and grow together!" Play is the business of childhood and is essential to the physical, cognitive, creative, social and emotional development of every kid. It's how kids build strong muscles and healthy bodies; it's how they learn problem-solving, conflict resolution and creativity; it's how they make friends and build strong bonds with adults. Play is critical to a kid's ability to thrive. Foresters Financial is a KaBOOM! Founding Partner and National Partner. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has been dedicated to ensuring that all kids get the balance and active lay they need to thrive.
About YMCA of Western North Carolina The YMCA of Western North Carolina is one of the area's leading nonprofits, strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. Founded in 1889, we engage more than 50,000 people - regardless of age, income, or background - to nurture the potential of children and teens, improve the region's health and well-being, and provide opportunities to give back and support the community. It does this through eight YMCAs, dozens of program sites, and YMCA Camp Watia. As the state's largest provider of licensed school-age child care, it gives more than 1,000 children a day the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive. For more information, please visit ymcawnc.org.
About Buncombe County Schools Buncombe County Schools (BCS) is the 13th largest school system in North Carolina. We educate just over 24,000 students and employ over 4,000 dedicated and caring teachers and staff. Each and every day, our cafeteria staff members prepare healthy and delicious food to nourish our students and ensure they can learn and benefit from their time in the classroom. The BCS Nutrition Department, with the help of community partners, serves a varied selection of nutritious menu options, and we locally source food when possible. BCS is dedicated to helping our students reach their highest potential and serving healthy food in our cafeterias is a key part of our mission. Please visit https://buncombeschools.org/ to learn more. About Foresters Financial Foresters Financial is a purpose-driven financial services provider with more than three million clients and members in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and total funds under management of $45.1 billion1. With a history of more than 140 years, we provide life insurance, savings, retirement and investment solutions that help families achieve their financial goals, protect their families and improve their communities. For more information, visit foresters.com. Foresters Financial and Foresters are trade names and trademarks of The Independent Order of Foresters (a fraternal benefit society, 789 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9) and its subsidiaries. Products offered vary by country. Not all products are available for distribution in all jurisdictions. In the United States, products are offered by The Independent Order of Foresters and its subsidiaries, including Foresters Financial Services, Inc. a registered broker-dealer. Securities, life insurance and annuity products are offered through Foresters Financial Services, Inc. or independent producers. Insurance products are issued by Foresters Life Insurance and Annuity Company, New York, or The Independent Order of Foresters. Investment advisory products and services are offered through Foresters Advisory Services, LLC, a registered investment adviser. 1 in Canadian dollars as of December 31, 2017 About KaBOOM! KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to giving all kids - especially those living in poverty - the childhood they deserve through great, safe places to play. KaBOOM! inspires communities to make play the easy choice and works to drive the national discussion about the importance of PLAYces. KaBOOM! has collaborated with partners to build or improve more than 17,000 playspaces, engaged more than 1.5 million volunteers and served over 9 million kids. To learn why play matters for all kids, visit kaboom.org and join the conversation at twitter.com/kaboom, facebook.com/kaboom and instagram.com/kaboom. #playmatters #PLAYceforKids 414828I CAN/US (03/18) View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181006005005/en/
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People needing assistance with activities of daily living (such as bathing, walking, eating, dressing, toileting, transferring, continence) or instrumental activities of daily living (using the phone, shopping, food preparation, housekeeping, laundry, transportation, or finances) may need in-home services. Helping people find those resources will allow them to stay in their homes as long as they wish.
CHOICES (TennCare)
TennCare CHOICES is a program for adults (21 and older) with a physical disability and older Tennesseans (65 and older) who need help with everyday activities. CHOICES services include care in a nursing home, as well as services in the home. You must be Medicaid eligible.
OPTIONS for Community Living
OPTIONS for Community Living is a state-funded program created to provide older Tennesseans, as well as adults with disabilities, home- and community-based service choices.
Contact Information
Contact your local Area Agency on Aging and Disabilitys (AAAD) Information and Assistance (I&A) specialist toll free at 866-836-6678 for resources in your area.
Download or print ""Tennessee In-Home Care Programs" in PDF format.
NOTE: The individuals listed on this site do not represent all missing persons in the state. Those posted below may be those in a variety of circumstances, including parental abductions, children considered at-risk, those who've left home on their own, individuals who meet criteria for AMBER, Endangered Child, or Silver alerts, and other types of cases in which publicitity may prove helpful in locating them. Click each picture for more details in a printable poster.
If you have information about any of these individuals,
please call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
There are many advantages of becoming a Tennessee state chartered institution:
Greater Access to the Regulator - Because state banks in Tennessee have closer geographical proximity to their primary regulator, communication is more direct and more effective. The Department of Financial Institutions has an "open door" policy with regard to all institutions. Representatives of any institution may call staff members or the commissioner with questions or concerns and get a personal audience quickly. We encourage officers, directors and employees of banks and other institutions to stay in close contact with us; no problem is deemed unimportant.
The Department's main office is located in Nashville, Tennessee. However, the Department maintains field offices located in East, Middle and West Tennessee. The Department's examiners work from the various field office locations and are familiar with the local community and the market area in which they work. This provides a better and more feasible working environment for the examiner and the banker. In addition, if needed, a one on one audience between the examiner and banker can easily be arranged.
The Department prides itself on maintaining experienced staff members. The Nashville office staff and the examining staff have multiple years of experience in handling examination and application related issues.
We invite every banker to visit our Department at any time, to ask questions and/or provide suggestions. We welcome and appreciate comments on how we can provide a better and more efficient regulatory environment.
- Because state banks in Tennessee have closer geographical proximity to their primary regulator, communication is more direct and more effective. The Department of Financial Institutions has an "open door" policy with regard to all institutions. Representatives of any institution may call staff members or the commissioner with questions or concerns and get a personal audience quickly. We encourage officers, directors and employees of banks and other institutions to stay in close contact with us; no problem is deemed unimportant. The Department's main office is located in Nashville, Tennessee. However, the Department maintains field offices located in East, Middle and West Tennessee. The Department's examiners work from the various field office locations and are familiar with the local community and the market area in which they work. This provides a better and more feasible working environment for the examiner and the banker. In addition, if needed, a one on one audience between the examiner and banker can easily be arranged. The Department prides itself on maintaining experienced staff members. The Nashville office staff and the examining staff have multiple years of experience in handling examination and application related issues. We invite every banker to visit our Department at any time, to ask questions and/or provide suggestions. We welcome and appreciate comments on how we can provide a better and more efficient regulatory environment. Lower Fees and Assessments - Generally, the fees charged by the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions are lower (e.g. application fees, assessments) than those charged by the OCC. Specifically, pursuant to T.C.A. Section 45-1-118(c)(1)(B), no state-chartered bank is charged, in its annual banking assessment, more than it would be charged if it were nationally chartered in Tennessee. For our largest institutions, the fees may be the same as the OCC fee, but they will not be greater.
- Generally, the fees charged by the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions are lower (e.g. application fees, assessments) than those charged by the OCC. Specifically, pursuant to T.C.A. Section 45-1-118(c)(1)(B), no state-chartered bank is charged, in its annual banking assessment, more than it would be charged if it were nationally chartered in Tennessee. For our largest institutions, the fees may be the same as the OCC fee, but they will not be greater. Examinations - The department has cooperative examination agreements with both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve, whereby examinations are conducted on an alternating basis. We make every effort to have minimal disruption on operations. The use of cooperative examination agreements between state banking supervisors and the FDIC essentially assures that a state bank will have only one regulatory examination on either a 12 or 18 month cycle since each agency relies on the alternating examination agreement.
- The department has cooperative examination agreements with both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve, whereby examinations are conducted on an alternating basis. We make every effort to have minimal disruption on operations. The use of cooperative examination agreements between state banking supervisors and the FDIC essentially assures that a state bank will have only one regulatory examination on either a 12 or 18 month cycle since each agency relies on the alternating examination agreement. Commitment to Quality - The department is committed to the provision of quality constituent services, both by its central office and field office staffs. This commitment includes an out-reach to the banks we supervise, encouraging their input for improvements in our processes and procedures. We are actively involved in strategic planning at all levels of the organization and trust that our commitment to quality translates into better service to the institutions that we regulate.
Working Relationship with Tennessee Bankers Association - The department enjoys a close working relationship with the TBA. We share ideas and honest assessments, work together on legislation, continuing education and other areas that affect state chartered banks and together strive to make banking a more profitable enterprise in Tennessee.
- The department is committed to the provision of quality constituent services, both by its central office and field office staffs. This commitment includes an out-reach to the banks we supervise, encouraging their input for improvements in our processes and procedures. We are actively involved in strategic planning at all levels of the organization and trust that our commitment to quality translates into better service to the institutions that we regulate. Working Relationship with Tennessee Bankers Association - The department enjoys a close working relationship with the TBA. We share ideas and honest assessments, work together on legislation, continuing education and other areas that affect state chartered banks and together strive to make banking a more profitable enterprise in Tennessee. Working Relationship with Federal Regulators - The department enjoys a good working relationship with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve Banks. We interact well with other regulatory agencies both state and federal on those occasions when our regulatory paths cross, providing mutual assistance when possible and necessary.
Generally, federal regulators typically will consult with the state banking supervisor as to an appropriate remedy for problem issues involving state chartered institutions, since the state banking supervisor is the chartering agent for the bank. This state/federal consultation process often results in greater overall flexibility on the part of the regulators.
The new bank application and/or conversion process is a joint effort between the State and Federal regulator which minimizes investigation and turnaround time. In many instances, the Department will accept a copy of the federal application filing so that regulatory burden on the applicant is reduced. See Link to Application Forms to obtain a copy of the Interagency Charter and Federal Deposit Insurance Application and the Interagency Biographical and Financial Report.
Our alternating examination program with the federal regulators minimizes the intrusion of examiners into institutions which are well-managed and well-capitalized, freeing up staff to concentrate on institutions in need of closer supervision.
- The department enjoys a good working relationship with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve Banks. We interact well with other regulatory agencies both state and federal on those occasions when our regulatory paths cross, providing mutual assistance when possible and necessary. Generally, federal regulators typically will consult with the state banking supervisor as to an appropriate remedy for problem issues involving state chartered institutions, since the state banking supervisor is the chartering agent for the bank. This state/federal consultation process often results in greater overall flexibility on the part of the regulators. The new bank application and/or conversion process is a joint effort between the State and Federal regulator which minimizes investigation and turnaround time. In many instances, the Department will accept a copy of the federal application filing so that regulatory burden on the applicant is reduced. See Link to Application Forms to obtain a copy of the Interagency Charter and Federal Deposit Insurance Application and the Interagency Biographical and Financial Report. Our alternating examination program with the federal regulators minimizes the intrusion of examiners into institutions which are well-managed and well-capitalized, freeing up staff to concentrate on institutions in need of closer supervision. Training of examiners - The department endeavors to provide up-to-date training for its examination staff and other professional staff in order to better assist banks with the difficult issues which face financial institutions in this competitive environment.
- The department endeavors to provide up-to-date training for its examination staff and other professional staff in order to better assist banks with the difficult issues which face financial institutions in this competitive environment. State law parity statutes - Admittedly, the OCC has been very progressive in its efforts to allow national banks to engage in a number of activities beyond traditional banking. However, Tennessee has a parity statute, commonly referred to as the wildcard provision, which allows state banks to engage in any activity that a national bank may engage in, subject to safety and soundness. For that reason, state banks can have the same advantages and the same competitive edge that a national bank would have.
- Admittedly, the OCC has been very progressive in its efforts to allow national banks to engage in a number of activities beyond traditional banking. However, Tennessee has a parity statute, commonly referred to as the wildcard provision, which allows state banks to engage in any activity that a national bank may engage in, subject to safety and soundness. For that reason, state banks can have the same advantages and the same competitive edge that a national bank would have. Relationship with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) - The department is active in the CSBS and has worked with our counterparts nationally to effect a seamless regulatory system for financial institutions doing business on an interstate basis. The Department is a party to the nationwide agreement providing a single regulatory point of contact at both state and federal levels for multi-state, state chartered banks. The home state regulator of a state chartered bank is the primary regulator and the single point of contact for the bank. Through the commissioner and senior staff, on-going efforts are being made to assure that banks can compete on an interstate basis.
- The department is active in the CSBS and has worked with our counterparts nationally to effect a seamless regulatory system for financial institutions doing business on an interstate basis. The Department is a party to the nationwide agreement providing a single regulatory point of contact at both state and federal levels for multi-state, state chartered banks. The home state regulator of a state chartered bank is the primary regulator and the single point of contact for the bank. Through the commissioner and senior staff, on-going efforts are being made to assure that banks can compete on an interstate basis. Director training -The Department recently formulated a training program for directors of new Tennessee state chartered banks. The training is typically a one-day session in the Department's Nashville office. Staff members are on hand to be sure that all aspects of director responsibility are covered. The training session was formulated to give directors hands on experience and provide information as to expectations as to their role as a director of a new bank. In addition, the session provides opportunity for the Directors to meet with Department staff, to ask questions and to discuss, face to face, any concerns, issues or suggestions they may have.
We believe that the combination of access, low fees, expertise and experience of the department's staff, and favorable state laws make the state banking charter the charter of choice for Tennessee banks. We welcome your interest and would encourage you to contact us if you need additional information or if we may offer assistance to you.
In summary, state banking supervisors are not only regulators assuring that banks under our supervision operate in a safe and sound manner, we support the dual banking system and encourage the formation and prosperity of all banks under our supervision. We operate in a manner that encourages state banks to remain state banks, and to encourage the formation of new banks. The department tries to create a positive environment and by doing so we encourage the formation of new banks as well as the conversion of existing financial institutions into state chartered institutions.
We look forward to working with you during the new bank or conversion process and appreciate your confidence in the Department and its staff.
Thank you for helping us to make the Tennessee state charter the charter of choice.
A swim-proof design, improved touchscreen and potential for deeper sleep insights make the Fitbit Charge 3 the best all-around fitness tracker for the money.
A swim-proof design, improved touchscreen and potential for deeper sleep insights make the Fitbit Charge 3 the best all-around fitness tracker for the money.
When it comes to the hardware, the $150 Fitbit Charge 3 is a solid upgrade from its predecessor and capable alternative to its successor. The design isnt radically different, but a larger display with an actual touchscreen that responds instantly to swipes and taps is a huge improvement. The new band is swim-proof and offers a new swim workout mode, which makes it more useful for people who enjoy a variety of exercises.
But thats not the most important feature. Fitbits efforts in sleep make the Charge 3, which has an SpO2 sensor that could potentially be used to diagnose sleep apnea, more exciting than other affordable fitness trackers on the market.
Like Apple, Fitbit is thinking beyond basic activity-tracking and notifications to give you deeper insights into your health. The Charge 3 is a step in that direction, although the health features with biggest potential arent quite ready for primetime.
If you're thinking of picking up the Fitbit Charge 3, you may want to consider the Fitbit Charge 4, which costs $150, but also has GPS built in, better sleep tracking, and the ability to control Spotify playback from your wrist. Read our full Fitbit Charge 4 review (and Fitbit Versa 2 vs. Fitbit Charge 4 face-off) to see why it supplanted the Charge 3 as the best fitness tracker.
If you own a Fitbit Charge 3, Charge 4, Inspire HR, Ionic, Versa, Versa 2, or Versa Lite, you can enroll in Fitbit's new heart study, and the company will notify you if your device detects an irregular heart rhythm that indicates AFib. Fitbit will also connect you with a doctor for a free consultation. The Fitbit Heart Study, open to U.S. residents 22 years or older, is being conducted to determine how accurate its devices are in detecting atrial fibrillation, as the first step to receiving FDA approval. Here's how to sign up for the Fitbit Heart Study.
Fitbit Charge 3 cheat sheet: Whats new
Bigger touchscreen display: The Charge 3s responsive screen is 30 percent bigger than the Charge 2s, which makes viewing information a lot easier.
The Charge 3s responsive screen is 30 percent bigger than the Charge 2s, which makes viewing information a lot easier. 7-day battery life: You can easily sail through a week on a charge, even with daily workouts.
You can easily sail through a week on a charge, even with daily workouts. Swim-tracking arrives: The Charge 3 is water-resistant, unlike its predecessors, so it can track pool workouts.
The Charge 3 is water-resistant, unlike its predecessors, so it can track pool workouts. Connected GPS: The Charge 3 quickly latches on to your phones GPS, but built-in antennas would be more convenient.
The Charge 3 quickly latches on to your phones GPS, but built-in antennas would be more convenient. New sensor for sleep insights: An SpO2 sensor will be used to alert users enrolled in the Fitbit Sleep Score Beta program if they experience breathing disturbances. That program starts in November.
Price and availability
The Fitbit Charge 3 is available to buy now for $149.95. You can order the fitness tracker directly through Fitbit's website or from a variety of third-party retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy.
Design: Subtle but meaningful changes
Fitbit isnt reinventing the wheel with the Charge 3, which looks identical to the Charge 2 at first glance.
The biggest change on closer inspection is the display, which is 30 percent larger than its predecessors. The companys goal is to put more information on your wrist at a glance, which is a good thing. But the taller screen makes some of Fitbits accessory bands, like the Horween leather strap I tested, sit awkwardly on my arm. The sporty bands are thicker than the leather options but also fit more comfortably around my wrist.
If youre upgrading from the Charge 2, youll notice that the side button is no longer a mechanical piece that depresses when you touch it. Fitbit engineered an inductive button that responds with haptic feedback when you use it to toggle through the menu or pause a workout. The new button creates a sleeker look, and also makes the Charge 3s design swimproof.
I like the new look, and I also appreciate the feel of the haptic feedback, which is a slight, subtle vibration that radiates throughout the device.
The biggest change is the touchscreen display, which is 30 percent larger than its predecessors.
Like the Charge 2, you can easily swap in bands made of different materials to switch up your look. The band pieces attach easily it takes just seconds to remove one piece and slide in another.
Display: Larger touchscreen makes a difference
Fitbits larger screen definitely comes in handy. Now you can read entire messages and notifications without having to follow side-scrolling text, and view multiple apps on the screen at the same time. (Just two, but thats an improvement.)
But more importantly, the Charge 3s display is now fully touchscreen. The Charge 2 was more of a tap-screen you had to jab at the display with your finger to view stats such as mileage covered and calories burned. Now you can simply swipe up on the home screen to view all of those metrics and quickly scroll through them.
The new tracker doesnt have a full-color display; instead, its text and animations come in 16 shades of grey. Color would be a nice touch, especially when running outside. The reflective screen can be tough to see in the morning light, even without a direct glare. Red or yellow text would be easier to glance at.
Another minor complaint: Fitbit should minimize the bezels on its fitness band displays. Everyone can tell youre wearing a Fitbit; theres really no need to take up valuable real estate with a logo on the chin.
Workouts: Improved, but not perfect
The Charge 3 can now withstand water submersion, so swimmers can track their laps with the new band by activating the new Swim workout. On your wrist, youll be able to see time elapsed and calories burned, and then view full workout stats when you sync the Charge 3 to the Fitbit app.
This is a big deal for swimmers who dont want to splurge on a waterproof swim-tracker such as the $199 Versa or the $279 Apple Watch Series 3.
Fitbit now has just one fitness tracker with on-board GPS, the Ionic, which one of the companys worst-designed devices. I was hoping the Charge 3 would improve upon the Charge 2 by adding GPS, but unfortunately, the new band has to connect to your phones GPS to accurately track workouts instead. The good news: The Charge 3 locks onto your phones GPS within a second (literally). The band also tracked one 3.18-mile run fairly accurately even without GPS activated it logged the run as 3.24 miles.
I tested the Charge 3 against a Polar H10 chest strap, the gold standard for consumer-grade heart rate-monitoring, and found that the band accurately measured my BPM while resting, but wasnt spot on while running. After a 3+-mile run, the Polar chest strap calculated that my average heart rate was 163; the Charge 3 estimated the average was 158 BPM. The Charge calculated my max heart rate at 173, while the Polar reported 180 BPM. The Charge also lagged behind the Polar by more than a minute in the beginning of my run when my heart rate jumped up to 156.
This isnt a huge deal in terms of activity-tracking, because heart rate is more useful to gauge trends and overall fitness level. But as Fitbit prepares to move into health diagnostics (more on that later), accuracy will become essential.
The redesigned touchscreen display makes it easier to swipe through metrics while running, but Id prefer to see more stats on-screen at the same time rather than having to swipe with sweaty fingers to see current pace, average pace, heart rate and time.
MORE: Fitness Tracker Buying Guide
The Charge 3 didn't automatically track runs at launch, but Fitbit fixed that with an update in December.
Sensors and sleep: Serious potential
Like Fitbits Versa and Ionic smartwatches, the Charge 3 has an SpO2 sensor for measuring blood oxygenation levels. With that information, Fitbit can tell if you experience breathing disruptions while you sleep. Or it will soon.
In November, Fitbit is opening up a Sleep Score Beta program to qualifying Fitbit users that will use the Charge 3s SpO2 and heart rate sensors to assess your sleep quality and rate it out of 100. (If you own a Fitbit without an SpO2 sensor, you can still participate in the beta, but you wont get alerts about breathing disruptions.)
Fitbit will soon let Charge 3 users leverage the SpO2 and heart rate sensors to assess your sleep quality and rate it out of 100.
Fitbit could also use the SpO2 sensor to diagnose sleep apnea with clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, though its unclear as to how far along in that process Fitbit is. Apple just received FDA clearance for two Apple Watch features, one an electrocardiogram app that uses the Series 4s electrical heart rate sensor to diagnose atrial fibrillation, or irregular heart rhythm. The other is a watchOS feature, not exclusive to the Series 4, that alerts users if they experience five instances of irregular heart rhythm.
MORE: Best Running Apps for iOS and Android
Fitbit is also working on atrial fibrillation, but has already differentiated itself with in-depth sleep analysis, which the Apple Watch doesnt offer. With an SpO2 sensor, the Charge 3 (alongside the Versa and Ionic) could give Sleep Score Beta participants life-changing health information. The potential is huge.
Battery Life: As good as promised
Where Fitbit routinely pulls ahead of the competition is battery life, and the Charge 3 delivers up to a week of fitness-tracking and notifications on a charge. After three days and three workouts, the band was still chugging along at 68 percent. Thats impressive, because I was also using the band to check notifications, the weather and playing with settings with the brightness on auto (as opposed to dim or normal, which would conserve battery).
Fitbit makes trade-offs to keep battery life lengthy, but for many people, week-long battery life would be a great reason to buy this band.
Bottom Line
Fitbits most high-profile new devices have been smartwatches, but the company hasnt forgotten that its best-selling product is the Charge 2. The Charge 3 is an obvious upgrade if youre a swimmer who wants in-depth sleep analysis in a device that can last a week on a charge.
The Charge 3 doesnt blaze any trails at least not yet. Im curious to see what Fitbit does with the Sleep Score Beta data, which could inform medical-grade software features down the line.
Fitbit still hasnt made the perfect fitness tracker. But the Charge 3 is one step closer.
Credit: Tom's Guide
T-Mobile CEO gives message of 'one company' during visit to Spring HQ OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - While the Sprint/T-Mobile merger is on hold by the FCC, T-Mobile CEO John Legere visited the Overland Park Sprint campus Friday. Outside Sprint World Headquarters in Overland Park were protestors. But inside, Sprint employees heard a message of unity.
It's disappointing to see that MSM isn't helping locals prepare for the economic bloodletting that's on the horizon in Johnson County. For instance, they keep calling it a "merger" and it's more like an acquisition. Accordingly, this motivational speech is really just a sign that some serious job cuts are in store and a lot of jobs are soon to be eliminated.Take a look:
Renault showed off at the Paris Motor Show with its new personal assistant, the Augmented Editorial Experience, or AEX, which was developed as an A.I. that would help the driver and the other occupants of the car enjoy each trip to the fullest.
The Full Story
When presenting the elaborate EZ-Ultimo concept. which completes the EZ trinity of concept cars, Renault Designer Laurens van den Acker said that "Renault is not a premium brand, evidently, but we are good at democratizing innovations."
The new AEX seems to be another Renault attempt to democratize an idea, although maybe not as novel as others before it since many manufacturers are working to include "mobile Alexas" into their cars.
We know that Renault is preparing to launch an all-electric compact SUV for the Chinese market, previewed by the K-ZE Concept, which was presented to journalists at the Paris Motor Show, which is part of their "Drive The Future" programme. This will also see the introduction of a Clio hybrid as well as plug-in hybrid versions of the Megane and the Captur.
But besides electrifying - or, for now, hybridizing - its range of cars, Renault also looks to bolster their offerings on the tech side. As such, the French manufacturer took the wraps off a new personal assistant for the driver that can make the time spent inside your future Renault more enjoyable by giving you a tailor-made multimedia experience. This goes hand-in-hand with new autonomous systems so that you wont have to worry about driving as well as keeping up with what the AEX has in store for you.
With the advent of connected, autonomous vehicles, customers will expect more of their traveling time. Experimenting with Groupe Challenges, we imagine what tomorrows connected, personalized mobility experience could be, Carlos Ghosn said. Access to premium content delivered through unique onboard experiences for drivers and passengers will become key differentiators. The system could be experienced by show-goers thanks to a full-size capsule where there are multiple large-scale screens that present four scenarios in a 222-degree projection.
The scenarios presented by Renault to show the abilities of its new system are: starting the day, traveling to a business meeting, heading home, and a trip with the whole family.
In each of these scenarios, the driver can talk to the AEX assistant to keep up with the news, the weather forecast or to check his e-mails. In turn, the assistant can change the lighting in the car or the music being played in the speakers to adjust to the mood inside the vehicle. Basically, Renault wants the AEX system to make all passengers inside the autonomous Renaults of the future feel welcomed and to keep them amused and informed all the way to their destination.
Fittingly, the EZ-Ultimo luxurious rent-a-limo concept is placed right next to the augmented experience booth on the Renault stand. What this means, though, is that this system wont be ready in the near future as its something that will come by the time cars are able to drive themselves safely, otherwise, it would make little sense to have a virtual A.I. that could potentially distract you from driving.
Further Reading
Read about the Renault EZ-Ultimo Concept.
Read about the Renault K-ZE Concept.
Read our full review on the 2018 Renault EZ-GO.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has stressed the revitalization of China's northeast region with fresh efforts.
Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during a research trip from Tuesday to Friday to the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning.
To revitalize the region, China should implement a series of policies made by the CPC Central Committee, stick to the new development philosophy, forge ahead with determination and an open mind, maintain targeted and continued efforts, deepen reform to tackle contradictions and make good use of advantages while avoiding shortcomings, Xi said at a symposium during the trip.
Han Zheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese vice premier, attended the symposium.
On Tuesday, Xi inspected Jiansanjiang, an important grain production base in Heilongjiang Province. At a local agricultural machinery center, Xi listened to briefings on modern agriculture development, grain production and water resource utilization.
In the rice field, Xi talked with farmers on grain production and asked about their livelihoods.
Xi stressed that agricultural reclamation has made significant contributions to ensuring national food security and supporting national development while maintaining stability at the borders.
He called for implementing the new development philosophy and accelerating the development of large modern agricultural bases, companies and industries.
"It is necessary to speed up the development of green agriculture and work to avoid the loss and degradation of black soil," Xi said. "China should always have control over its own food supply."
At an agricultural science park at Jiansanjiang, Xi was briefed on the research and application of agricultural technology.
China's modernization cannot be achieved without agricultural modernization, the key to which is science and technology and talent, Xi said, adding that more prominence should be attached to the development of agricultural technology and vigorous efforts should be made to advance mechanized agriculture and smart farming.
On Wednesday morning, Xi inspected two large state-owned equipment manufacturers in Qiqihar, an old industrial base in Heilongjiang Province.
During a visit to CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock Co. Ltd., a freight train producer, Xi heard reports on its production and sales and watched fatigue and vibration tests of freight trains. The president recognized the company's achievements and encouraged it to achieve new successes by further exploring global markets and better serving the Belt and Road Initiative.
Equipment manufacturing is a pillar of the nation, as well as a significant component of the real economy, Xi said, asking the company to make greater efforts to step up indigenous innovation and develop new technologies and products.
Xi also went to the workshops of China First Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. and learned about its world-class, self-developed 15,000-tonne hydraulic press.
High quality development of the manufacturing sector, in particular that of equipment manufacturing, plays a major role in China's drive toward high-quality development of economy and is indispensable for a modernized nation, Xi said.
China must stick with the path of self-reliance amid rising unilateralism and protectionism in the present world, Xi said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Xi inspected the ecological protection of Chagan Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country.
The sound environment is a precious resource for the economic and social development of the northeastern region, serving as an advantage for its revitalization, Xi said, asking local authorities to give priority to environmental protection and remain steadfast in green development.
In the city of Liaoyang, Xi visited a local branch of state-owned oil giant PetroChina Thursday, stressing that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) hold an important position and play a key and irreplaceable role as a significant strength for the Party and the nation to count on.
SOEs should also make reforms and innovation and constantly improve and develop themselves, Xi noted.
He urged consistency in upholding the Party leadership over SOEs and in advancing SOE reforms in order to achieve development of higher quality and better efficiency with improved structure.
Also in Liaoyang, Xi visited a private industrial enterprise, where he stressed that China adopts a basic economic system in which public ownership is the mainstay of the economy and economic entities of diverse ownership develop together.
"Private enterprises should strengthen their confidence," he said, noting that the CPC Central Committee has always supported and encouraged the development of the private economy and has rolled out a slew of reforms to help the sector develop since the 18th CPC National Congress.
Xi urged efforts to create a sound legal and business environment for private enterprises, protect their rights and interests in accordance with the law and work to encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector.
On Friday, Xi visited a memorial hall for Lei Feng, a soldier well-known in China for his generosity and altruistic deeds, in the city of Fushun, Liaoning, where Lei served in the army.
Calling Lei "a model of the time" and the Lei Feng spirit "ever-lasting," Xi said more models of the time are needed to achieve national rejuvenation.
"We should learn from Lei's spirit and practices to turn lofty ideals, convictions and moral qualities into concrete actions in ordinary life and work, and make our due contributions so as to carry on the Lei Feng spirit for generations," he said.
While inspecting a coal mine in Fushun, Xi said well-conceived assessments should be made to comprehensively improve the conditions of areas affected by coal mining-induced subsidence.
He then visited a community relocated from the subsidence-affected area and chatted with residents, noting that he is very much concerned about the transition and development of resource-exhausted cities.
Xi said it is necessary and worthwhile for the CPC Central Committee to make significant investments into rebuilding shanty towns and improving the conditions of subsidence-affected areas.
Solving problems concerning people's livelihood and helping those living in difficulties should be given priority in the transition and development of resource-exhausted cities, Xi said.
On Friday afternoon, Xi convened and presided over a symposium on advancing revitalization of northeast China, in the city of Shenyang, Liaoning Province. He delivered a speech at the symposium on the issue, where he gave six-point instructions on making further progress of the cause.
First, efforts should be made to comprehensively deepen reform on the basis of improving the business environment. Reforms should be refined with solid steps taken in facilitating the deepening of supply-side structural reform, fostering new growth drivers, energizing market entities and strengthening the people's sense of fulfillment, as well as mobilizing and protecting the enthusiasm of officials and the people.
Xi called for comprehensive measures to make certain that the region can retain talent.
Second, priority should be given to fostering new growth drivers and stimulating the internal forces powering economic growth.
Xi urged efforts to solidify and strengthen the real economy by relying on innovation, comparing the efforts in supporting faster development of emerging industries to "vacating the cage and changing the bird" and the "nirvana of the phoenix."
Third, Xi stressed efforts in developing modern metropolis circles and enhancing the cooperation in key regions and areas to forge greater synergy of the region's opening-up.
Xi highlighted integrating the northeast region's development with the country's major development strategies, including the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and development of the Yangtze Economic Belt.
Fourth, Xi called for efforts to better support ecological construction and food production to build on the strength of green development.
Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets and so are ice and snow, Xi said, calling for making the local environment even better and giving a full play to the region's special resources and strength in developing winter economy.
Fifth, Xi stressed the need of deeply integrating the region with the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative toward new heights in opening up.
Major tasks concerning the pilot free trade zone in Liaoning Province should be implemented in a faster manner, while infrastructure of major border ports should be improved and clusters of competitive industries should be developed, Xi said.
Sixth, Xi called for greater efforts in shoring up points of weakness related to public well-being to let the gains of the revitalization benefit the people.
Upholding and strengthening overall Party leadership are strong guarantees of the region's revitalization, Xi said.
Xi also called for strengthening Party building in the region, improving the Party's political ecosystem and showing zero tolerance for corruption.
pardeepdhull@gmail.com
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Rohtak, October 6
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij has ordered the suspension of Dr Nitya Nand, Senior Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine at the Rohtak PGIMS, who is also serving as the director of the institute.
In the said order, Vij has maintained that going by a communique received at his office, it appeared as if Dr Nitya Nand had been favouring a private laboratory by referring patients and placing orders for medicines.
Hence, I would like that the said doctor be suspended with immediate effect and departmental enquiry conducted against him, the order states.
The University of Health Sciences (UHS) Registrar, Dr H. K. Agarwal, conceded that a copy of the said order was received by the university authorities late last evening.
On the other hand, Dr Nitya Nand has refuted the allegations.
The 19th Chinese medical team in Rwanda has taken over the role from their predecessors following Friday's farewell and welcome reception in Rwanda's capital city Kigali.
The size of the Chinese medical team in Rwanda reached over 200 members in only 18 missions, signifying the intensity of health cooperation between Rwanda and China, said Zuberi Muvunyi, Director General of Clinical and Public Health Services at Ministry of Health of Rwanda at the reception.
Muvunyi, who awarded certificates of honor to members of the 18th Chinese medical team, said health cooperation between the two countries have important developments in different areas including infrastructure, equipment and education, envisaging further cooperation in redeveloping Rwanda's health sector in harmonization with needs of the Rwandan people and considering developments in regional integration.
The 18th Chinese medical team working in Kigali's Masaka Hospital and Kibungo Hospital in Eastern Province made real contribution to the improvement of local health services, said Xing Yuchun, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda.
Since 1982 when China sent its first medical team to Rwanda, Chinese medics have treated more than 800,000 Rwandans and carried out over 26,000 operations, said Xing. Besides, they have been providing medical equipment, training Rwandan medical personnel and transferring medical knowledge and skills to trainees and other Rwandan people, she added.
The Chinese medical team helped us and treated our patients, which led to improvements of Rwandan people's health, director of Kibungo Hospital William Namanya told Xinhua.
They also helped capacity building of medical staff working in the hospital, said Namanya.
rchopra@tribunemail.com
Amir Karim Tantray
Tribune News Service
Jammu, October 6
Twenty-two persons were killed and 14 injured when a minibus fell into a gorge at Kela Morh near Marog on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Ramban district on Saturday.
Thirteen critically injured passengers were airlifted to military hospital in Udhampur. Two of them died at the hospital. Three persons with minor injuries were discharged after first aid.
Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban Range DIG Rafiq-ul-Hassan said the minibus was on its way from Banihal to Ramban when it veered off the road around 9.55 am.
Thirty-six persons, including the driver, were travelling in the 20-seater vehicle. The driver probably lost control over the overloaded minibus, which fell into the 200-metre gorge, Hassan said.
The police, with the help of the Army and locals, immediately launched a rescue operation and shifted the injured to the district hospital in Ramban. As many as 19 passengers died on the spot, he said.
Most of the passengers were residents of Banihal and surrounding villages and were headed to Ramban. The rescue operation lasted for a few hours as it was difficult for the rescuers to reach down to shift the injured passengers and retrieve the bodies.
Accidents appear to have become a routine on the 30-km Ramban-Banihal stretch on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, said a villager, adding that thousands of lives had been lost on this link over the years and no action has been taken to address the problem.
Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi has announced ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to next of kin of the deceased.
rchopra@tribunemail.com
Singapore, October 6
Actor-director Nandita Das hopes that her latest feature Manto gets a global release, especially in Pakistan, as the film is a biographical drama on famed Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto who had left India after Partition.
I wish, like many other Bollywood films, it is screened in Pakistan, she told PTI after screening of Manto at the South Asian Film Festival on Friday.
Manto must be shown in Pakistan as the author is an Indian and a Pakistani too, said Das, who left for Busan for the films screening at the Korean film festival.
The film follows the title character, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and shows the painful strains of separation following the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.
Das said Indian writers should be known globally, with Manto being one of the greatest among them, just like Shakespeare is considered a great playwright, not just one of an English origin.
Manto opened the Singapore festival to a full house at the 1,000-seat cinema hall, one of the largest seating capacity theatres in the country.
Thirty-five films from South Asian countries are scheduled for screening over the 10-day festival, said Abhayanand Singh, CEO of organisers, Indie Moviz Pte Ltd.
At the heart is great content and good cinema, added Singh, pointing out that Manto had attracted strong interests even from non-South Asian cinema fans in Singapore.
The festival is also hosting a series of other cinema-related events, including workshops on acting and filmmaking as well as the inaugural film market, where investors would evaluate opportunities to finance creative films, said Singh. PTI
amansharma@tribunemail.com
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 6
With as many as 679 Assembly seats at stake, the BJP on Satruday exuded confidence of not just retaining the three of the five states for which the Election Commission announced poll dates but also doing well in the other two two-Mizoram and Telengana.
The Election Commission today announced dates for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly elections.
Apart from Telangana and Mizoram, the three Hindi-belt states are with the BJP and the results there will define saffron party's prospects and future in soon-to-follow Lok Sabha elections.
In all, 679 Assembly seats are at stake in five states-Rajasthan (200), Madhya Pradesh (230), Chhattisgarh (90), Telangana (119) and Mizoram (40).
Exuding confidence, union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the BJP would win Chhattisgarh, MP, and Rajasthan elections "convincingly and also do well in Telangana and Mizoram".
"BJP will contest elections in a very conclusive and decisive manner. We will repeat our victory in Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan convincingly. People will give their blessings to us, we are sure about it. We will also do very well in Telangana and Mizoram," he said.
To ensure favourable results, the BJP is taking no chances while finalising names for poll panels on each seat, the work on which will begin after the Pitr Pakha gets over on October 8.
It is amid some ominous surveys, predicting that it could lose Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan but the Narendra Modi factor would swing it back in its favour in 2019, that the saffron party is approaching these elections.
The saffron party has been in power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh for three terms while in Rajasthan, the Congress and the BJP have been alternating in power. BJP Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje claims she will break the pattern to return back to power.
Notably in the 2014 Lok Sabha, the BJP earned maximum gains from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, practically sweeping the three states. While the BSP and the Samajwadi Party decisions have given it reason to cheer for, factors like fuel prices, famers' distress and unemployment continue to haunt BJP's chief ministers, who are counting on the appeal of Prime Minister Modi and "achievements of the Central and states government" to woo the voters and beat the anti-incumbency factors.
The issues the BJP is expected to use in election campaigns are Pakistan and illegal Bangladeshi migrants. It is also trying to connect Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the Modi government with similar sentiment expressed by Pakistan.
amansharma@tribunemail.com
Smita Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 6
A day after India and Russia inked the USD 5.4 billion S400 'Triumph' air defence missiles pact, US State Department has cautioned on sanctions it could attract under American law CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions).
The US Embassy Spokesperson in Delhi on Friday had said, "The waiver authority is not for a blanket waiver. It is transaction-specific. There are strict criteria for considering a waiver." Today in response to an Indian media query, a State Department spokesperson further added, "We urge all of our allies and partners to forego transactions with Russia that would trigger sanctions."
India has been in talks with the Trump Administration on Capitol Hill as well as leveraging bipartisan support in the US Congress to seek a waiver for the deal. US lawmakers have earlier not ruled out completely the possibility of a carve out for India even as the administration has maintained that "CAATSA is not intended to impose damage to the military capabilities" of American allies or partners.
"This (S400 deal) is a negotiation that precedes CAATSA by several years and months. It fulfils a a certain defence requirement of the country. The government has taken a decision in its national interest," an official source said adding that the implications of the sanctions if it were to be imposed are still being weighed in. There is no clarity if the sanctions could kick in when the first transfer of payment is done.
On September 20, State Department and Treasury named China's Equipment Development Department (EDD) , Ministry of Defence and its Director Li Shangfu for violating US sanctions on Russia for taking delivery of Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 missiles. Both transactions were from negotiated deals pre-August 2, 2017 though. Beijing lodged a diplomatic protest with DC on the issue amid growing trade war between the two countries. Among the 39 entities listed by the US on the ban list is the Rosoboronexport -- Russia's main arms exports entity.
Even as India has increased its defence acquisitions from US, Israel and France, Moscow still remains the single largest supplier of weapons and military equipment to India accounting for nearly 62 per cent of its imports.
gspannu7@gmail.com
Mumbai, October 6
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta and screenwriter Apurva Asrani are among the first voices from the Hindi film industry to condemn Queen director Vikas Bahl over the sexual harassment allegations against him.
Last year, a woman employee at Phantom Films, which had Bahl as one of the partners alongside Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, had levelled allegations of molestation against Bahl, who she said behaved inappropriately during a trip to Goa.
In a recent article in Huffpost India, the woman has reiterated the allegations, sharing further details about the incident.
According to the report, in October 2015, the woman reached out to Kashyap and detailed her experience, but no action was taken while Bahl continued to harass her until she finally quit the company.
Sharing the article on Twitter, Mehta wrote, Will anybody do anything about this bloody creep or will the industry protect him like it always does?
Asrani said such incidents made him feel sick.
Why was no action taken against Vikas Bahl in over 3 years? To think that the victim had to continue to work in the same office and even be assigned to report to him is awful, he tweeted.
Critically-acclaimed filmmaker Onir said it was sad that some of the biggest stars in the Hindi film industry were still working with Bahl.
Its sad that inspite of knowing the truth... studios and stars continue to turn a blind eye to the perpetrators.
Bahl is currently directing his next venture Super 30, featuring Hrithik Roshan in the lead.
Quoting the story, Sacred Games actor Kubbra Sait tweeted, The details in here are gory. But necessary to read. May the girl continue to fight knowing that her story isnt wasted. Thank You for the courage. #MeToo #TimesUp.
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan director RS Prasanna said the revelations were shocking.
This is so very shocking. #MeToo seems to have become the forest fire that it deserves to be, he said.
Producer-director Nikkhil Advani said serious action must be taken against the culprit.
Serious action, serious introspection and serious correction is required from an industry that has forever been plagued with ill repute. This is not the story of one girl or one incident but symptomatic of a work ethic at large, he wrote.
In the article, which has since become viral on social media, Kashyap has admitted he had failed the woman, three years after he first learnt of the allegations.
Whatever happened was wrong. We didnt handle it well, we failed. I cannot blame anyone but myself. But now we are determined to do better. We believe her completely. She has our undying support. What Bahl has done is horrifying. We are already on our path of course correction and will do everything in our capacity to fix it, Kashyap said.
According to the publication they had also sent detailed questionnaires to Phantom Filmss remaining three partnersBahl, Motwane and Mantena.
Before the article was published, the four partners Saturday announced that have decided to dissolve their joint banner Phantom Films, without citing the reason for this decision. PTI
editorial@tribune.com
Lahore: The ashes of veteran Indian journalist Kuldip Nayar were immersed on Friday here in the river Ravi by his granddaughter. Nayar passed away on August 23 in New Delhi. His granddaughter Mandira, also a journalist, scattered his ashes. She later visited the Lahore Press Club where the honorary membership of the club was bestowed on her. Nayar was born in Sialkot. PTI
Website, app to analyse drought situation
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has launched a website and an application for collectively analysing the rainfall, crop situation and underground water level, using modern technology. The Central government in 2016 laid down criteria for declaring drought in an area. According to it, drought is declared if there is no rain for 21 days in continuity and considering the study of humidity of soil, situation of crops and level of groundwater. PTI
IndiGo announces flights to Male, Phuket
Mumbai: Budget carrier IndiGo on Saturday announced expansion of its overseas network with the launch of flight services to Male and Phuket from next month. Male will be connected with Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kochi, while services to Phuket will be operated from Delhi. IndiGos announcement comes ahead of GoAirs launch of flight services to the two new destinations in Thailand and Maldives from next week onwards. PTI
rchopra@tribunemail.com
Lahore, October 6
The ashes of veteran Indian journalist Kuldip Nayar were immersed on Friday here in the Ravi river by his granddaughter.
Nayar passed away on August 23 in New Delhi.
His granddaughter Mandira, also a journalist, scattered his ashes in the Ravi. She later visited the Lahore Press Club where the honorary membership of the club was bestowed on her. After her grandfather, she became the second Indian to be given the honour.
My grandfather was not a member of the New Delhi Press Club, but of the Lahore Press Club. Although he lived in Delhi, he was spiritually part of Lahore. His will to scatter his remains in the Ravi at Lahore is a testimony to his spiritual connection to the place. The late journalist lit the candle of peace and it will be kept burning, said Mandira.
Nayar was born in Sialkot and studied at Forman Christian College then the Law College in Lahore, obtaining a law degree.
When violence broke out at Partition in 1947, the family migrated to India. PTI
pardeepdhull@gmail.com
Washington, October 5
The US has named Sikh militant group Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) among the separatist movements that pose a risk to American interests overseas by conducting assassinations and bombings against major economic, political and social targets.
The BKI seeks, through violent means, to establish its own independent state in India and is responsible for significant terrorist attacks in India and elsewhere that have claimed the lives of innocent civilians, according to the Trump administrations new National Strategy for Counterterrorism unveiled by the White House yesterday.
In its strategy paper, the White House said there was a broad range of revolutionary, nationalist, and separatist movements overseas whose use of violence and intent to destabilise societies often put American lives at risk.
Such groups may avoid or deprioritise targeting US interests for now to avoid detracting from their core goals, but frequently conduct assassinations and bombings against major economic, political, and social targets, heightening the risk to United States personnel and interests overseas, the strategy said. Among others, the White House said the Nordic Resistance Movement is a prominent transnational, self-described nationalist-socialist organisation with anti-Western views that has conducted violent attacks against Muslims, left-wing groups, and others.
The group has demonstrated against US Government actions it perceives are supportive of Israel and has the potential to extend its targeting to US interests, it said.
Similarly, the neo-Nazi National Action Group, a terrorist organisation that was banned by the UK in 2016 for its promotion of violence against politicians and minorities, operates mainly in the UK, but has engaged with like-minded groups in the US, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, and Poland, the strategy said. PTI
pardeepdhull@gmail.com
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, October 5
Deputy Director of the Enforcement Directorate Niranjan Singh, who had been investigating the infamous Bhola drug case and had interrogated ex-Akali minister Bikram Majithia, on Friday took voluntary retirement from the department, three years before his term was to end.
Having served in the ED for 32 years, Niranjan Singh is said to have been given three month notice while putting in his papers to ED Director Karnal Singh.
The ED director is yet to take a final call on the matter. Niranjan Singh confirmed the development saying that he had put up his paper owing to personal reasons.
However, there are various theories running on what led him to take the step when his retirement was due in 2021.
Those siding with Niranjan Singh have been maintaining that his inquiry was being suppressed by various ways.
Less than a month after he had summoned Majithia in December 2014, he was transferred to Kolkata. We had taken up the matter in his favour and got his transfer stayed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said lawyer Navkiran Singh adding that there were several attempts to scuttle the investigation later too.
His team had been reduced. He had to present several details in the court in a sealed cover. Off late, I too began to feel that he was not working to his capacity as nothing was coming since the past one and a half years but I never knew that he was under so much pressure. I realised this when I met him last in the court, he seemed to be very much frustrated, Navkiran Singh further said.
Insiders also shared that after he got promoted in October 2016, his powers had been curtailed to being a supervisory officer and he was no longer the inquiry officer.
Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu also reacted to the development saying, The step he has taken is very abnormal especially since he was handling such a big case. I see no other reason for him to step down at this juncture when he had three more years to perform. I want the Government of India to investigate the circumstances under which he had to put in his papers.
Sidhu added, I hope that his VRS will not be accepted as it will have a huge demoralising effect on the entire team of the investigating body.
A President Medal awardee in 2014, Niranjan Singh had lodged a case against ICE king Raja Kandola in 2012. Next year, he had taken up the drug case of Anup Kahlon, which ultimately came to be called as Rs 6,000-crore Bhola drug case.
He had dug up various cases related to FEMA including Rs 800 crore nexus involving money changers. He had also done preliminary investigation in the FEMA case against ex-IAS Swaran Singh. But after his transfer issue cropped up, all other cases were taken back from him.
With regards to the case, nearly 71 persons have already been charge sheeted (none in the last one and a half years).
The main accused, including Bhola, Anup Kahlon, Bittu Aulakh and Jagjit Chahal, are behind bars since 2013, mainly because of proceedings filed by the ED in the case.
Look Out Notices (LOC) against three NRIs said to be involved in the case had been issued by the Canadian authorities. The next hearing in the case in high court is on October 11.
However, off late there also had been severe criticism against Niranjan Singh from various circles for not being able to conclude the inquiry even after five years.
Timeline:
March 3, 2013: Canadian NRI Anoop Kahlon arrested in drug case by Fatehgarh Sahib police.
November 12, 2013: Dismissed cop Jagdish Bhola arrested.
November 15, 2013: Amritsar-based SAD leader Bittu Aulakh and businessman Jagjit Chahal arrested.
December 13, 2013: Delhi-based alleged smuggler Varinder Raja arrested by police.
February 18, 2014: I-T department seizes a diary of Goraya-based businessman Chunni Lal Gaba which proved his links with politicians.
May 22, 2014: Jails Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur resigns.
June 21, 2014: Chunni Lal Gaba arrested by Patiala Police.
June 24, 2014: Son of former minister Phillaur, Damanvir appears before ED after having been summoned since February.
July 4, 2014: Chunni Lals son Gurmesh Gaba appears before ED
October 13, 2014: Former minister Phillaur and CPS Avinash Chander appear before ED
October 17, 2014: Jalandhar Congress MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh appears before ED
October 20, 2014: Former NRI Sabha Chairman Kamaljit Hayre appears before ED
December 26, 2014: Majithia appears in ED.
January 8, 2015: Varinder Raja and Sukhjeet Sukha brought by ED in its custody for four days.
January 12, 2015: Bittu Aulakh taken by ED in its custody for two days.
January 16, 2015: Inquiry Officer Niranjan Singh transferred to Kolkata.
January 21, 2015: High Court orders stay on transfer of Niranjan Singh.
October 6, 2016: Niranjan S promoted as Deputy Director.
October 5, 2018: Niranjan S opts for VRS.
China's first test-tube baby was born 30 years ago. While it's still uncommon to hear about "in vitro fertilization" (IVF) in public, and even fewer admit to having one, there is a test-tube baby boom going on in the country.
Career woman Zhang Li is one among the growing number of hopeful parents. At 38, she regrets having waited so long to start.
Her best bet now is to have a baby via the test tube. She's already spent 300,000 yuan (about 45,000 US dollars) on the attempt. Zhang told CGTN that for many in China, going through IVF procedures takes a lot of money, meaning skimping on everyday life. Nevertheless, she is prepared to spend even more.
"I've never thought of giving up (even if the cost adds up too much). We will continue, so long as our doctor says there is a chance," she said.
She is not alone. In a country where having a test-tube baby is still a hushed topic (even for those who successfully give birth through that way, many keep it a secret for fear of biases), demand has definitely grown.
And private hospital groups are now tapping into the market, which they say has seen "blowout growth."
That's how Wang Jing, from the IVF Medical Group that's based in the city of Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, described the market growth since 2015.
"The number of outpatient/counseling sessions has climbed rapidly since 2015 almost 20 percent growth each year," she told CGTN. "And our group's operation has expanded to third and fourth-tier cities too."
"So long as there is enough population density, you bet they will need such medical services," Wang noted, predicting that more will opt for the IVF procedure in the next few years.
According to a report by the China Population Association, there are some 40 million Chinese having trouble giving birth, and they are willing to spend up to 500 billion yuan (about 73 billion US dollars) to have babies of their own.
By 2017, some 200,000 babies had been born in China via IVF procedure.
Since the dissolution of the one-child policy, more couples have pledged to try IVF. But doctor Ou Xianghong, also director of the Reproductive Center at Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, said it only partly explains the change in demand.
"China now has the world's highest number of test tube babies. And the biggest reason is the change in attitudes. People now view work and life differently. They are choosing to have children much later than before. And the older you are, the more likely you're left with IVF as a reproductive option," she said.
The social structure might have changed, but Ou cautioned that IVF works best among younger women. The success rate dwindles after the age of 35.
Zhang Li is now sharing her experiences with other hopeful mothers who are trying IVF. She said she hadn't expected the process to be so trying when she started, but she's not giving up.
"It's been difficult. But the wish is simple I want to be a mother," she said.
amansharma@tribunemail.com
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, October 6
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sunil Jakhar on Saturday said he wanted Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal to reply as to why he had gone to Mumbai and met Dera Sacha Sauda chief on September 14, 2015, just four days ahead of the release of the latter's film 'MSG 2'.
Jakhar, who was in city today, said, "As Sukhbir will address the people of Punjab tomorrow at Patiala, he should reply to my allegations that he had gone there for a deal or a partnership as the film could not have been released in Punjab." Asked if he had evidence for the same, he replied, "I have all the proofs. Let him deny first."
Jakhar said Akali Dal being a panthic party, Sukhbir should not have gone to meet dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim without seeking permission from the Akal Takht, which had expelled him from panth. "So his meeting is a very serious allegation to which he must reply," he dared the former deputy CM to reply on several unanswered questions, including the key query as to who shot down two youth at Behbal Kalan.
The state Congress chief also put forth another point, "Former Punjab CM Parkash S Badal and his son Sukhbir say that they did not pass any orders of firing. The Punjab police fired shots on October 14, 2015 at 6.47 am on peaceful protesters at Kotkapura. Three-and-a-half-hours later, they again fired at Behbal Kalan. Surely, the then rulers must have patted the back of Punjab Police officials for firing shots at Kokapura that they again gathered courage to do the same in Behbal Kalan."
Further trying to validate his point, Jakhar said, "Had they been pulled up for the first firing episode, they would have certainly not dared the second attempt where they shot two youth. Had there been no orders for the first round, the SSP and DGP would have been ousted within minutes. Besides, the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report says that there was atmosphere of jubilation in the Punjab Police after have cleared the site by force at Kotkapura. That perhaps was because the cops felt orders of the rulers had been accomplished."
pardeepdhull@gmail.com
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 6
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday made a compelling case for a crackdown on drugs in the northern belt by saying that neighbours Pakistan and China were working on a long-term plan to destroy the Indian Army using drugs as the weapon.
Speaking at a media event in the National Capital, Amarinder said Pakistan and China were working on a systematic plan to spread drug addiction among youth in north India and this they were doing as a long-term strategy to weaken the Indian military.
Two-thirds of the Indian Army regiments come from north India. If China and Pakistan can destroy the youth of the northern belt, where will the Indian Army go? If the youth of the north are not healthy, what will happen? We have to look at that, Singh said.
He said consignments of drugs recovered from Kashmir and even ports far off Punjab were found earmarked for Amritsar.
What does this show? This shows drugs are being deliberately pushed by Pakistan into Punjab as part of a long-term strategy. The idea is to make all youngsters along the north belt bordering Pakistan an addict, Singh said accusing Pakistan of exporting narco terror to India.
Singh delineated the steps his Congress government in Punjab was taking against drug traffickers and said heroin, which was previously available at the rate of Rs 1,200 a gram, was now available for Rs 6,000 a gram.
This shows our crackdowns are working but this is an ongoing battle, he said.
editorial@tribune.com
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana October 5
Two bike-borne men opened fire at an Akali worker at Lalto village late Friday evening.
The injured has been identified as Manjinder Singh, a commission agent and a former block samiti member of the village. He suffered three bullet injuries and was rushed to a hospital where his condition is stated to be critical.
Old political rivalry is stated to be the reason behind the attack. The Sadar police booked three Congress men Parminder Singh Lalmua, Tarlochan Singh and Parminder Singh besides several others in this regard.
Jagjinder Singh, village sarpanch, said the incident occurred at 7.37 pm outside his house.
Manjinder came in his car and was waiting for me outside my house. The moment he reached outside my house, two bike-borne men with covered faces opened fire at him. Bullets pierced through the window glass and injured him. He suffered three bullet injuries on forehead, stomach and shoulder, Jagjinder said.
amansharma@tribunemail.com
Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, October 6
Amid the recitation of Gurbani, new gates were installed at the Darshani Deori, an arch before the causeway to the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple, here on Saturday.
Golden Temple's head priest Giani Jagtar Singh performed the ardas.
Earlier, a Gurmat programme was held in front of the Akal Takht in which Hazuri Raagi performed Gurbani Kirtan.
SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal commended Baba Kashmir Singh of Karsewa Bhuriwale and Baba Sukhwinder Singh for exactly replicating the doors installed by legendary Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh about 200 years ago.
He assured that the Shiromani committee would steadfastly maintain the original doors and showcase to the visiting sangat.
Longowal said Sheesham wood was used in preparing the doors which were covered with 60 kg silver foil on a side and seashell on another.
Natural effects like trees, vines and birds were engraved on doors. Skilled artisans from Agra and the holy city were roped in to roll out desired designs. These doors are 118-inch high and 110-inch wide.
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and other Sikh religious personalities apart from a large number of devouts were present on the occasion.
The original doors having sandalwood base with the ivory carving and golden screws, were unhooked for preservation in 2010. The wood was beyond repair and the government had already banned on ivory trade. So seashells were replaced to give the desired effect.
monicakchauhan@gmail.com
London, October 6
Idiocracy, nothingburger and fam are among the 1,400 new words to make an entry into the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as part of its latest update.
Idiocracy refers to a society consisting of or governed by people characterised as idiots.
In what may be seen as a reflection of modern-day politics, the word is also defined as a government formed of people considered stupid, ignorant, or idiotic, by the definitive lexicon of the English language.
"Words like democracy and aristocracy originated in ancient Greek, but by the 18th century, -ocracy was being added to English words," explains Katherine Connor Martin, Head of US Dictionaries at OED.
"In the 19th century, the trickle of such formations became a flood, with many of the new words being terms of ridicule, a tradition to which idiocracy belongs," she said.
Some of the other stand-out entries in the latest update include nothingburger, defined as a person or thing of no importance, value, or substance, especially something which, contrary to expectations, turns out to be insignificant or unremarkable.
Fam, short for family and with a wider connotation for family and close friends, has been added due to its prolific use as a slang in reference to relatives and mates.
The OED notes that the word is now most prominently used in the UK, especially in London, and on social media.
Another new addition is alt-right, which is short for "alternative right" and came to prominence in recent years especially in the US after Donald Trump's election campaign for President.
The OED classifies it as "an ideological grouping associated with extreme conservative or reactionary viewpoints, characterised by a rejection of mainstream politics".
The OED has also updated the way films are described according to particular styles of acting and filmmaking.
Tarantinoesque refers to the works of Quentin Tarantino and was first used in 1994 after the release of his hit film 'Pulp Fiction'. It refers to the director's use of graphic and stylised violence, non-linear storylines and sharp dialogue.
The OED is updated four times a year, with the next update is due in December.
The material added to the dictionary includes revised versions of existing entries, which replace the older versions, as well as new words and senses. PTI
shalender@tribune.com
BRASILIA, October 6
Candidates began their last day of campaigning on Saturday for Brazils most polarised presidential race in decades that could elect a far-right former army captain who promises to crack down on corruption, ease gun laws and defend Christian family values.
Front-runner Jair Bolsonaro, 55, has surged on widespread anger over rising crime, a drifting economy and the prospect of the leftist Workers Party returning to power. His closest rival is Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party, whose leader is in jail for receiving bribes.
Final opinion polls on Saturday show Bolsonaro has enough support to win the election outright on Sunday. However, if no candidate gets a majority, the race will go to a second-round run-off between the two top vote-getters on October 28.
Bolsonaro, who is recovering from a near-fatal stabbing at a rally one month ago, appealed to Brazilians to vote for him in a live Facebook feed for his home on Friday night. He asked them to give him a majority to avoid a second vote, which some polls have shown his leftist challenger winning.
Haddads support relies on the popularity of his mentor, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was barred from running due to a corruption conviction. Haddad will campaign on Saturday in Bahia state in the northeast of Brazil where Lula is still a hero because his government did much to relieve poverty.
About 26 per cent of voters say they have yet to decide who to vote for, according a Datafolha poll released on Thursday. It showed outright victory by Bolsonaro was still possible but not likely. We will accept the result whatever it is, there should be no doubt of that, Bolsonaro said. The assurance was aimed at calming fears he would call for a military coup if he lost. Bolsonaro, who is backed by a group of retired generals, said last week he would only accept victory.
A Bolsonaro government would speed up the privatization of state companies to reduce Brazils budget deficit and relax environmental controls for farming and mining. It would also block efforts to legalize abortion, drugs and gay marriage.
In an interview published on Friday by the newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo, one of the candidates top economic advisers said Bolsonaro would push ahead with privatising state power firm Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, or Eletrobras. Reuters
gspannu7@gmail.com
Ankara, October 6
Turkish authorities have arrested 137 people in a country-wide operation over two days aimed at the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), state news agency Anadolu said Saturday.
The PKK, designated as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies, is regularly targeted in security forces raids.
The authorities are still battling the over three-decade insurgency of the PKK which initially took up arms for a separate state but now demands a degree of autonomy.
The clashes between Turkish security forces and PKK members have resumed after a fragile ceasefire collapsed in 2015.
The PKKs armed struggle with the Turkish government has killed more than 40,000 people since 1984.
On Thursday, eight soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in southeastern Turkey in an attack the government blamed on the PKK.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a TV address Saturday that at least 800 terrorists will be made to pay for the attack. AFP
pardeepdhull@gmail.com
Hong Kong, October 6
Hong Kongs decision to effectively blacklist a senior Financial Times journalist required an urgent explanation, the UK said Saturday, as foreign governments sounded the alarm over eroding freedoms in the former British colony.
Victor Mallet, the FTs Asia news editor and a British national, earned the ire of authorities for hosting a speech by Andy Chan, the leader of a tiny pro-independence political party.
Chan attacked China as an empire trying to annex and destroy Hong Kong in a strident speech at the citys Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC), where Mallet serves as vice president.
Chinas foreign ministry had requested the club to pull the talk, but the FCC refused, arguing that all sides of a debate should be heard.
Rival protesters picketed the lunchtime event and the citys former leader Leung Chun-ying called for the club to be evicted from its government-owned premises.
The FT said on Friday that immigration authorities in Hong Kong had declined to renew Mallets visa, a decision rights groups and media organisations said was unprecedented.
We have asked the Hong Kong Government for an urgent explanation, said the UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office in a statement.
Hong Kongs high degree of autonomy and its press freedoms are central to its way of life, and must be fully respected. Semi-autonomous Hong Kong enjoys freedoms unseen on the mainland, including freedom of expression, which are protected in the citys Basic Law and the handover agreement between China and Britain.
But the space for dissent is shrinking as Beijing flexes its muscles.
The US consulate said Mallets visa denial was especially disturbing.
It mirrors problems faced by international journalists in the Mainland and appears inconsistent with the principles enshrined in the Basic Law, US consulate general spokesman Harvey Sernovitz told AFP.
But the decision to deny Mallet a new visa was cheered by pro-Beijing media.
A commentary in the Ta Kung Pao newspaper on Saturday said the journalist had to pay the price for giving exposure to Hong Kongs fringe independence movement, and said authorities may still act to evict the FCC from the premises it has occupied since 1982.
Hong Kong authorities last week banned Chans Hong Kong National Party, calling it a threat to national security.
It was the first ban on a political party since the territory reverted to Chinese control in 1997. AFP
pardeepdhull@gmail.com
Washington, October 6
A bipartisan group of 18 powerful American lawmakers has condemned Chinas alleged persecution of religious minorities and actions to limit free expression and practice of faith.
The persecution of religious minorities at the hands of some Chinese government officials is wrong and must stop, Senator Chuck Grassley said on Friday.
People, no matter where they live, should be able to freely express their religious beliefs. As we work with China on issues of trade and intellectual property, we need to also make fighting for religious liberty a central part of the United States relationship with China, he said.
Senator David Perdue alleged that the Chinese Communist Party continues to engage in a violent crackdown on religion, employing tactics reminiscent of Maos Cultural Revolution.
From burning Bibles and demolishing Christian churches to the mass internment of hundreds of thousands of Uighur Muslims, the Chinese government is inflicting terror on its own people. The United States must condemn these egregious human rights abuses, he said.
A resolution moved in this regard in the Senate condemns violence against religious minorities in China and actions that limit free expression and practice of faith.
Reaffirming Americas commitment to promote religious freedom and tolerance around the world; the resolution calls on China to uphold its Constitution in addition to internationally recognised human right of freedom from religious persecution and to end violence and discrimination against religious minorities.
The resolution urges President Trump to take appropriate actions to promote religious freedom of religious minorities in China, using the powers provided to the President under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, and the Global Magnitsky Act.
Senator Ted Cruz alleged that the Chinese Communist Party is persecuting millions of its own people because it fears religion.
It cannot abide an authority higher than the Party. Christians, Uighurs, Falun Gong practitioners, and many others live under threat of imprisonment, torture, and death. America must always stand for the free exercise of religion and I am proud to join Sen. Perdue and my colleagues in this effort, he said.
Meanwhile, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Commissioner Gary Bauer, in a statement, echoed Trump administrations condemnation of widespread religious freedom abuses in China as he announced his adoption of imprisoned Christian church leader Hu Shigen.
Hu, a religious freedom advocate who had suffered torture during a previous 16-year prison sentence for human rights advocacy, was detained again in 2015 and sentenced in 2016 to a 7.5-year sentence for subversion of government power.
The USCIRF said it also remains concerned by the many unresolved issues, including the reported forced disappearances of Catholic clergy, that remain following the agreement in late September between Beijing and the Vatican.
Religious persecution is unacceptable and should be condemned in of its all forms. China must address their dismal human rights record and its brutal treatment of religious minorities, including Uighur Muslims and Christians, said Senator Van Hollen. PTI
- T. S. Eliot
Thoughts After Lambeth
"The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide."
National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds is anticipating an increase in crime when the state of emergency (SoE) is lifted on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced at the Covid-19 news conference last Saturday that Parliament will meet on Wednesday to bring an end to the SoE, as it had achieved its objective.
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Last July I traveled to Massachusetts and rented a car there for the trip. I drove to Philadelphia and went through the Tappan Zee bridge. My MA rental did not have any EZ Pass transponder and up until I got near the bridge I did not know it was converted to EZ Pass only toll (last time I was there in 2015 they still accepted cash). No problem since I saw the toll by mail sign. My rental car company did not bill me for the toll but instead forwarded my contact information and I got a bill by mail about two weeks ago (two full months after the fact). I am now trying to pay the bill on the web site but it seems like the only option is sending a check via snail mail.
I tried using the toll bill number and license plate but it says my bill cannot be found. Then tried to search by license plate but the only information I can provide is the plate number and state since the car is not registered to me, so I cannot do that search. Then tried another search by date for rental cars/loaners but it won't allow searching more than 20 days before today's date so that is a no go too. Tried calling the phone number and same thing, cannot find my toll bill with the information given. Even tried putting MA in front of the license plate number but no luck.
Any solution other than writing a check and putting it in the mail?
Thanks.
I am travelling to Vietnam late January. Spending until the 27th January in HCMC. I was unaware it was TET when I booked and have heard many horror stories about travelling that time of year. I keed to be back in HCMC 9 February.
I am travelling with my 3 young children who will not handle long days in cars very well.
Would it be wiser to travel to Cambodia from 27-9 or do you think we will be okay to stay in Vietnam?
We are on a tight budget so the most economical option is likely best for us. My plan for Vietnam was going to be
HCMC
Hoi an/an bang (5 days)
Bana hills (2 days)
Nha trang (1 day)
Dalat (3 days)
HCMC.
Still not sure what the plan for Cambodia would be but thinking
Pnompenh
Sen monoram to see EVP
Siem reap (worried about distance from sen monoram to siem reap)
Thanks any tips appreciated
Hi all
I am struggling with putting together a basic itinerary for a 12 day trip to Japan that we've booked for next May. It appears that accommodation is already heavily booked so I'm feeling like I need to get a wriggle on and get the itinerary sorted (at least to a point that we can book our accommodation).
We are a family of five - 2 x adults and 3 kids (10, 12 and one adult son aged 21 who will be travelling with us). We love to hike, see new things and would like to arrange a holiday heavy on the cultural aspects of the country. Not really any requirement to build in time for shopping or anything like that. I am debating Japan Disney - but the kids have never been to any kind of Disneyland so they are pretty keen on including if we can afford it.
This is what I've put together so far. Is this reasonable and am I on the right track?
DAY 1: SUNDAY 19th MAY Arrive Osaka 7.30pm
Stay overnight Osaka
DAY 2: MONDAY 20th MAY
Day trip to Himeji Castle
Stay overnight Osaka
DAY 3: TUESDAY 21st MAY
Forward luggage to Kyoto?
Travel to Hiroshima: Peace Memorial Park, explore Hiroshima, Head over to Miyajima in afternoon
Stay overnight in Miyajima
DAY 4: WEDNESDAY 22nd MAY
Miyajima - Climb Misen for views over Hiroshima Bay
Depart for Kyoto
Stay overnight Kyoto
DAY 5: THURSDAY 23rd MAY
Kyoto Hozu-gawa River trip, the Arahiyama Bamboo Grove, Fushimi Inari-Taisha, Geisha
Stay overnight Kyoto
DAY 6: FRIDAY 24th MAY
Spare day in Kyoto not sure what to do this day or whether we should move the time to elsewhere on the itinerary?
Stay overnight Kyoto
DAY 7: SATURDAY 25th MAY
Day trip to Nara Full day sightseeing at Nara Koen, deer, Great Buddha.
Stay overnight Kyoto
DAY 8: SUNDAY 26th MAY
Travel to Tokyo. Explore Tokyo afternoon - Ueno park, Shinjuku gyoen, Yoyogi Park where is near the Meiji Jingu , and Yasukuni shrine.
Stay overnight in Tokyo. Book in for dinner at the Robot Restaurant.
DAY 9: MONDAY 27th MAY
Tokyo Disney or other theme park
Stay overnight in Tokyo
DAY 10: TUESDAY 28th MAY
Tokyo Senso Temple, Tokyo Sky Tree, Shibuya Crossing. Would love to see Sumo. Possibly Mario Cart driving if we can arrange with the children.
Stay overnight Tokyo
DAY 11: WEDNESDAY 29th MAY
Tokyo Day trip to Nagano to see the monkeys in Jigokudani
Stay overnight Tokyo
DAY 12: THURSDAY 30th MAY
Travel to Hakone Owakudani volcanic area up a rope bridge, Onsen and hot springs Tozan Train and Cablecar. Try black eggs.
Stay overnight Hakone
DAY 13: FRIDAY 31st MAY
Travel Hakone to Osaka - Store bags somewhere and explore Osaka until departure 9pm
Any thoughts or recommendations would be much appreciated. I will be plugging it all into the free website that I've seen around to work out whether the rail pass would be good. Cost is definitely a factor with a larger family so if we can get a deal with the JR rail pass we are happy to try to work our travel around that too. The luggage issues/travelling on trains are doing my head in a little but I understand we can forward luggage and there are also options to store it at train stations.
Thankyou in advance!
Welcome to the forum Jeanette.
The following link will give you an idea of diving in the various regions of Fiji. Some resorts are also listed. Have a look at their websites for information on prices, types of accommodations, meals, transportation, tours/activities, etc. Some resorts have their own onsite dive operation. Those that don't will be able to make arrangements for you.
Ferry service is available from Port Denarau, about a 20 minute drive from Nadi Airport. South Sea Cruises service the Mamanuca Islands, the Yasawa Islands by the Yasawa Flyer. They can also be reached by helicopter, or sea plane which are more expensive. The easiest/best way to get to Taveuni, and nearby islands is to fly with Fiji Link. The plane is a twin engine Otter seating about 16 people. Views of the islands and water is breathtaking. It can also be reached by ferry which departs from Suva, a several hours drive from the airport. It doesn't run every day, and takes about 14 hours.
Beqa Resort is known for its shark diving if that is of interest. Taveuni is our favorite region of Fiji. The island is stunning with its lush, green vegetation, jungle, and rugged mountainous terrain. Other activities include Bouma Waterfall Hike, Lavena Coastal Walk, village/school tours, and more. Beaches are smaller than those in the Yasawa and Mamanuca Islands. Taveuni is home to Rainbow Reef, known for some of the best diving in Fiji. Paradise Taveuni has no beach in front of the resort. We knew that before going, so weren't disappointed. Nearby Matangi, our favorite resort in Fiji, and Qamea are worth a look though they don't go to Rainbow Reef.
Hope this helps.
Edited: 3 years ago
Re: Crossing the Rainbow bridge From NY to Canada at night
3. Re: Crossing the Rainbow bridge From NY to Canada at night
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How do I get from the airport (JFK, LGA, or EWR) to Manhattan?
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- Irungu was arrested and probed over murder of Monica Kimani
- He did not take plea when he was produced before a Kiambu court as investigators sought more time for investigations
- DNA analysis confirmed Irungu was at the crime scene on the night Monica was killed
- Samples obtained from his DNA analysis matched those obtained from blood stains of the victim with the standard 99.9 %
Detectives investigating the gruesome murder of business woman Monica Nyawira Kimani have had a major breakthrough after a DNA analysis placed the main suspect right at the crime scene.
Homicide detectives investigating the mysterious and gruesome killing confirmed Joseph Irungu, a prime suspect in the case, most likely perpetrated the crime.
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READ ALSO: Monica Kimani's parents cry foul after mourners stole smart phones, handbags during burial
A DNA test has by the homicide detectives investigating murder of Nairobi business woman Monica Kimani has confirmed Joseph Irungu, aprime suspect in the case was at the crime scene. Photo: Nation.
Source: UGC
READ ALSO: Pasta akamatwa akifanya maombi na wanawake 7 wakiwa uchi nyumbani kwake
The detectives' findings indicated samples obtained from Irungu matched 99.9% with those taken from a masking tape used to muzzle the victim, proving he was in the apartment in which Kimani was killed.
The test specimen further corresponded to DNA samples on a rope used by the killer to tie her hands and those on blood stains discovered on a seat inside the slain woman's house.
The 28-year-old Kimani was found dead in her posh house on Thursday, September 20, in Kilimani, Nairobi, a day after jetting in from South Sudan.
Her throat was cut from ear to ear with her mouth sealed and her body left in a bathtub with water running.
Police are holding three suspects including Irungu's lover Citizen TV news anchor Jacque Maribe in connection with the murder.
Both Maribe and Irungu were produced in court but did not take any plea as investigating officers wanted more time to conclude the probe.
Maribe would thus be expected to appear in court again on October 11, while her fiance will be held in police custody until October 9 when he will take plea.
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Migori Residents Demand The Release of Okoth Obado - On Tuko TV
Source: Tuko News
- The South Sudanese official said he did not know Monica neither did he know her father as earlier claimed
- He however noted he might have met Monica's father in the course of his work as a governor but could not remember him
- The official who is also a presidential advisor said he had lodged a complaint with the Kenyan embassy in Juba and was considering legal action
- The official was alleged to have been behind the slain business woman's success back in Kenya
- She was found murdered in her apartment in Kilimani with her throat cut from ear to ear and her body left inside a bathtub
- New DNA analysis has since put TV girl Jacque Maribe's lover, Joseph Irungu, at the crime scene
Top South Sudanese Government official alleged to be behind slain business woman, Monica Kimanis success has strongly dissociated himself from links to her murder and her family.
The South Sudanese Governor and Presidential Advisor, General Awet Akot, said he did not know Monica nor her family and neither did he work with her at any point.
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READ ALSO: Pasta akamatwa akifanya maombi na wanawake 7 wakiwa uchi nyumbani kwake
Top South Sudanese government official distances himself from slain business woman Monica Kimani
Source: UGC
READ ALSO: Monica Kimani's parents cry foul after mourners stole smart phones, handbags during burial
The general who spoke on phone to Saturday Standard, also denied knowing Monicas father, Paul Ngarama, noting he does not remember meeting him as earlier claimed by a section of local media.
How would you have worked with somebody you dont know? asked Awet through his executive manager at his office, Deng Aoch.
He, however, said he could have met Ngarama but there is no way he could remember him claiming he must have met so many people in the course of his work as a governor.
READ ALSO: Police arrest TV girl Jacque Maribe over murder of Monica Kimani
Top South Sudanese government official distances himself from slain business woman Monica Kimani
Source: Facebook
We are wondering what is the relevance of saying the governor had a relationship with Monica. Are they trying to imply that the general had a hand in the murder? asked Aoch.
The only true thing about whatever is being peddled in the press in Kenya about this whole matter is that the General was a governor in Rumbek, he said.
Ngarama, who used to sell newspapers in Juba before starting a string of churches, claimed he had met Akot when he was the chair of the Kenyan Business Community in Rumbek.
READ ALSO: DNA analysis places Jacque Maribe's lover at Monica Kimani's murder scene
Top South Sudanese government official distances himself from slain business woman Monica Kimani
Source: UGC
The warlord turned politician also denied he owns properties in Nairobi which were alleged to be under the supervision of Monica.
He further noted the South Sudanese government had raised an official complaint with Kenyas embassy in Juba and was also considering legal action.
This follows new developments in the murder of the business woman who was based in South Sudan as DNA analysis placed TV girl Jaque Maribe's lover, main suspect in the murder, at the scene of the crime.
READ ALSO: Police summon three journalists over Monica Kimani's mysterious murder
Top South Sudanese government official distances himself from slain business woman Monica Kimani
Source: Twitter
Prior reports by TUKO.co.ke indicated homicide detectives investigating the mysterious and gruesome killing confirmed Joseph Irungu, most likely perpetrated the crime.
The detectives' findings indicated samples obtained from Irungu matched 99.9% of those taken from a masking tape used to muzzle the victim and a rope used to tie her hands.
The 28-year-old Kimani was found dead with her throat cut in her posh house on Thursday, September 20, in Kilimani, Nairobi, a day after jetting in from South Sudan.
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Migori Residents Demand The Release of Okoth Obado - On Tuko TV
Source: Tuko.co.ke
President Uhuru Kenyatta called on all Kenyan to unite and work together for the good of the country.
The President also said the government will work closely with locals to enable unity among Kenyans and improve their living standards.
Uhuru was speaking at the Uhuru market on Saturday, October 6, along Jogoo road during the third monthly clean-up of Nairobi county also attended by officials from UN.
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READ ALSO: Pasta akamatwa akifanya maombi na wanawake 7 wakiwa uchi nyumbani kwake
The President said the government will work closely with locals to enable unity among Kenyans. Photo: Mike Sonko
Source: Facebook
READ ALSO: Looming showdown as Machakos MCAs plan parallel demonstrations against and in support of Governor Alfred Mutua
"Come lets us join together and unite, Kenya is for all of us , nobody here has anywhere else to go If we spoil it, if we spill blood, it is not blood from somewhere else but that of Kenyans, If we argue it is our children who will miss education," said Uhuru.
The president further noted the government will also work closely with locals to ensure services was delivered and young people were employed.
On his part, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko said the Nairobi cleanup will be a regular exercise because city residents have seen its benefits.
READ ALSO: Outrage as Nyandarua governor drives in top-of-the range cars to launch mabati structure
The president further noted the government will also work closely with locals to ensure services was delivered. Photo: Mike Sonko
Source: Facebook
The Governor challenged community groups especially youth organisations to take the lead in cleaning up the city.
He further thanked the National Government for supporting the ongoing efforts to improve the living conditions in the city through the Nairobi Regeneration Programme.
Here are some of the photos from the clean-up exercise
READ ALSO: Kenya seeks KSh 7.8 billion loan to upgrade Nairobi railway station
The clean-up exercise was also attended by officials from the UN. Photo: Mike Sonko
Source: Facebook
The President led locals in the cleaning of Uhuru market along Jogoo road. Photo: Mike Sonko
Source: Facebook
President Uhuru urged Nairobians to always come out during the exercise to make Nairobi clean. Photo: Mike Sonko
Source: Facebook
Nairobians turned up in huge numbers to participate in the cleaning of Uhuru market. Photo: Mike Sonko
Source: Facebook
Several officials from the United Nations office also graced the event. Photo: Mike Sonko
Source: Facebook
Residents of Nairobi urned up to clean Uhuru market along Jogoo road. Photo: Mike Sonko
Source: Facebook
President Uhuru said it was the responsibility of every Kenyan to ensure the country was clean. Photo: Mike Sonko
Source: Facebook
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Kenya News: Former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero Arraigned in Court Over Corruption Charge| Tuko TV
Source: Kenyan Breaking News
- Governors Sonko and Wa Iria have been fighting over Ndakaini Dam water
- Wa Iria wants national government to pay KSh 2 billion for water flowing from Murang'a into Nairobi county
- Sonko however insists Nairobi county has title deed to the controversial dam
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday, October 6, warned Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and his Murang'a counterpart Mwangi wa Iria to stop water politics between the two county governments.
Speaking during the monthly Nairobi county clean-up exercise, Uhuru said water was a free gift from God and it was unfortunate the two governors were claiming ownership of water drawn from Ndakaini Dam.
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READ ALSO: Pasta akamatwa akifanya maombi na wanawake 7 wakiwa uchi nyumbani kwake
Uhuru speaking during the Nairobi clean-up exercise on Saturday, October 6. Photo: Mike Sonko/Facebook.
Source: Facebook
READ ALSO: Murang'a Governor Wa Iria incites residents against paying water bills in bid to cripple water companies
"We want to ensure we have enough clean water. This why I'm appealing to the leaders, please let's stop this petty water politics. Water is gift from God to mankind. What we need to focus on is how to utilise it for the good of the people. It is our resources," he said.
Wa Iria demands the government to pay KSh 2 billion for water flowing from the dam and used by consumers outside his county.
The county chief also had instructed his electorate not to pay water bills to Murang'a Water and Sanitation Company until he orders otherwise.
READ ALSO: Muranga water minister charged with robbery with violence
He took issue with Water Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui and his Principal Secretary Peter Irungu, whom he claimed had deployed troops of police to harass locals for not paying their water bills.
In a rejoinder, Sonko maintained his county government has title deed to Ndakaini Dam whose main source of water he said is Chania river and the Aberdare hills, all in Nyandarua county.
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Mike Sonko Exposes Pumwani Hospital | Tuko TV.
Source: Tuko
- Ruto said he supports call for referendum, has numbers to win and needed proponents to give question and date of contest
- The DP said he had given referendum call wide berth because he was busy implementing Big Four Agenda promises to Kenyans
- He challenged every group vouching for Constitution amendment irrespective of reason to converge, agree on issues to be voted for and avail date
- Ruto who consistently opposed referendum calls said those pushing agenda needed to commit they would accept results when beaten
- In an apparent reference to Opposition leader Raila Odinga, Ruto said some leaders were using referendum call and handshake with President Uhuru Kenyatta to divide country
Deputy President (DP) William Ruto has said he supports calls for a referendum to change the Constitution spearheaded by Opposition leader Raila Odinga among other politicians.
The DP who had consistently trashed calls for a plebiscite said he did not have a problem with proposals by proponents who sought to have elected and nominated legislative seats reduced or other political positions created.
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READ ALSO: Pasta akamatwa akifanya maombi na wanawake 7 wakiwa uchi nyumbani kwake
William Ruto has toned down his hard stance against a referendum saying he supported it but was to busy to engage in discussions around Constitutional amendments. Photo: William Ruto/Facebook.
Source: Facebook
READ ALSO: TV girl Jacque Maribe is ready to testify in murder case against Jowie - Lawyer Katwa Kigen
Speaking in Tharaka Nithi on Saturday, October 6, Ruto was categorical that individuals who thought he was afraid of the referendum were wrong, saying he was only opposed to it because he was busy implementing Jubilee government's Big Four agenda.
"We do not have a problem with the referendum. Those advocating for it should bring it on. We have been against these noises because some of us are busy implementing development projects we pledged to the electorate," Ruto said.
He challenged those behind the referendum for whatever reasons to discuss and agree among themselves what they needed the referendum to entail and give them a date for the contest, either before or after the 2022 General Election.
"I urge those groups who want to reduce the burden, add the burden or create new political positions to converge and agree on the question and date and bring to us their agreement for a contest. We are more than ready because we have the votes," he said.
Deputy President William Ruto said he was sure he would beat proponents of Constitution change saying he had votes to back his position. Photo: William Ruto/Twitter.
Source: Twitter
READ ALSO: Kenyans will not eat from political parties, they need your service - Uhuru tells leaders
The DP in a thin veiled attack to Raila who has been a front runner in calls for a new Constitution to create a three-tier system of government asked the proponents of the plebiscites to also commit they would accept defeat.
Ruto poked holes to the handshake deal between Raila and President Uhuru Kenyatta saying the deal was meant to unite and not divide Kenyans, insinuating some leaders were using the Building Bridges Initiative to pursue a divisive agenda.
"If we believe the handshake is meant to unite Kenya then let us not drag in the referendum issue and use it as a dividing factor. We don't want people to try to use referendum to divide Kenya at all," Ruto added.
His sentiments came just two days after Raila said a referendum before the 2022 General Election was inevitable because it was was part of handshake deal with Uhuru.
Raila who was campaigning for Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) senatorial candidate in Migori's by election on Thursday, October 4, taunted Ruto saying he was afraid of the plebiscite.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga said referendum was inevitable before 2022 General Election. He disclosed it was part of his handshake deal with President Uhuru Kenyatta. Photo: Raila Odinga/Twitter.
Source: Twitter
READ ALSO: Top South Sudanese government official distances himself from slain business woman Monica Kimani
The Opposition leader had received support for his push for a referendum from a section of Jubilee leaders like Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria on one side but received tough opposition from a section of his National Super Alliance brigade.
The DP's turn has left his foot soldiers like Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen and his National Assembly counterpart Aden Duale in limbo since they had religiously sang to his tune of opposing the referendum.
Whether it was a strategy by Ruto a renowned political genius to concede to wide calls for a plebiscite or pressure from a section of politicians and citizens who had endorsed a referendum call is a matter of time.
Thirdway Alliance Kenya party leader and former presidential candidate Ekuru Aukot was the brainchild of Punguza Mizigo (ease the burden) popular initiative Constitution change and had obtained more than 500,000 endorsement signatures out of the required one million.
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Migori Residents Demand The Release of Okoth Obado - On Tuko TV
Source: Tuko Breaking News
- Munyu under investigations over an alleged misapproriation of KSh 6 billion
- Governor Njuki claimed the graft case is manufactured and all politics
- Njui described the ex-CEO as man of integrity and dignity
The embattled ex-Rural Electrification Authority (REA) Chief Executive Ng'ang'a Munyu is the new economic adviser for Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki despite corruption allegations hovering over his head.
Munyu is currently under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) over an alleged misappropriation of the authority's fund to KSh 6 billion.
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READ ALSO: Forget central Kenya support in 2022 - Tharaka Nithi governor tells William Ruto
He is is accused of using his office to manipulate tenders and mislead the board which resulted into procuring of faulty tenders during his tenure. Photo: Nation.
Source: Facebook
READ ALSO: Tharaka Nithi deputy governor survives road accident, links it to political enemies
He was accused of using his office to manipulate tenders and mislead the board which resulted into procuring of faulty tenders during his tenure.
But speaking at Kathwana on Friday, Njuki described his new employee as a man of whose integrity is above reproach and the allegations against him were manufactured by people to malign him.
"What my economic adviser is going through is just sheer politics, he said.
READ ALSO: Pasta akamatwa akifanya maombi na wanawake 7 wakiwa uchi nyumbani kwake
The anti-graft agency summoned Munyu on Friday, September 27, to respond to the findings of audit queries on the number of primary schools which benefited from power supply between 2013 and 2015.
As of October, 2016, it was clear to the Board that there was an issue with the identification of the primary schools electrified, or the data presented to the Board, and therefore, the Board initiated an audit, reads part of the report.
Munyu was suspended thereafter alongside five other senior managers to pave way for investigations.
"However, following the suspension of the senior officers of the Authority, the staff members felt free to engage with the Board and became a resource to this audit, says the report.
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Migori Residents Demand The Release of Okoth Obado - On Tuko TV
Source: Tuko Kenya
- Bobi Wine organised the concert following pressure from his fans and followers
- The concert will be held at Uganda's biggest stadium, Namboole stadium
- This will be Bobi's first ever performance in a very long time after he was elected to parliament
Before he was elected to parliament as the Kyadondo East MP, Robert Kyagulanyi, known to many as Bobi Wine was a very popular musician.
Then, he would command masses with his music and lifestyle.
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READ ALSO: Pasta akamatwa akifanya maombi na wanawake 7 wakiwa uchi nyumbani kwake
READ ALSO: Bobi Wine rearrested at Entebe Airport
Despite his vast success in music, Bobi never showed it off hence he was labeled the Ghetto President.
However, politics came calling and music he 'dumped' as he headed to the Ugandan parliament.
Well, his fans missed him a lot and pressured him to hold a concert following his recent multiplied popularity.
READ ALSO: Bobi Wine's bodyguard goes missing after being picked up by security officers
Being a good leader, Bobi listened to his people and duly granted them what they wished for.
TUKO.co.ke has learnt Bobi Wine will be hitting the stage to rock his fans at a concert dubbed Kyarenga Concert organised by himself.
The concert will be held on Saturday, October 20, in Uganda's biggest stadium Namboole.
This, the politician and musician confirmed on Thursday, October 4, in a social media post seen by TUKO.co.ke.
READ ALSO: Firebrand Uganda MP Bobi Wines ribs crushed, cannot stand on his own - Lawyer
''We shall be live in concert in Namboole Stadium on the 20th of October 2018. Be there or be no where. #KyarengaNamboole.'' Bobi wrote on Facebook.
The concert comes barely weeks after Bobbi went through a myriad of troubles courtesy of the Ugandan government.
As reported by TUKO.co.ke earlier, Bobi was arrested, detained, tortured and humiliated by police who claimed he was planning treason against Museveni.
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Kenya News: Former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero Arraigned in Court Over Corruption Charge| Tuko TV
Source: Tuko
-Benjamin Kiplimo was proprietor of Silverline Group of Hotels and Butcheries in Eldoret
- The hotels are popular for hosting Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago's supporters during August 2017 General Election
- Mandago habitually gathered his supporters outside Silverline Hotels along Oginga Odinga street during key addresses
- The governor's close competitor in the polls Buzeki found himself in trouble for trying to address the public from the 'reserved' Silverline grounds
- Kiplimo died after losing control of his car along around Moi University, Annex School of Law Eldoret-Nakuru highway when he attempted to avoid head on collision with a truck
Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago was overcome with grief on learning his key campaigner in August 2017 General Election Benjamin Kiplimo had succumbed to injuries following tragic accident along Eldoret-Nakuru highway.
Kiplimo, proprietor of Silverline chain of hotels in Eldoret was the face behind Mandago's campaign team and helped him beat stiff competition from billionaire Bundotich Zedekiah Kiprop alias Buzeki in the tight contest.
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READ ALSO: Pasta akamatwa akifanya maombi na wanawake 7 wakiwa uchi nyumbani kwake
Benjamin Kiplimo was a close ally and campaigner of Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago. He died after his car lost control and rolled severally. Photo: Thaddeus Asesa/TUKO.co.ke.
Source: Original
READ ALSO: Buzeki summoned for using Uhuruto images
TUKO.co.ke established Kiplimo died after his Subaru Forester lost control, veered off the road and rolled several times at Moi University's Annex School of Law along the busy highway on Thursday, October 4.
"I am still coming to terms with the reality of the passing on of my friend who contributed a lot to the community. I will always remember his dedication to my re-election campaign. I retained my seat through his ability to mobilise people and generosity to have my campaign team and supporters use his premises," Mandago posted on his Facebook page.
Mandago's die hard supporters used Silverline Hotels along Oginga Odinga Street in Eldoret as strategy bases where most of campaign schemes were hatched and public addresses made.
Benjamin Kiplimo lost control of his Subaru Forester car rolling severally after he attempted to avoid head on coalition with truck. Photo: Thaddeus Asesa/TUKO.co.ke
Source: Original
READ ALSO: TV girl Jacque Maribe is ready to testify in murder case against Jowie - Lawyer Katwa Kigen
"He worked tirelessly to build his business and made Silverline group of hotels and butcheris a great brand for Eldoret and larger North Rift. He was a devoted family man, businessman, farmer and an astute Christian who served as the Chairperson of St Thomas Catholic Church, Cheptiret," added Mandago.
TUKO.co.ke learnt Kiplimo was driving to his Cheptiret home from Eldoret town when the unfortunate incident occurred.
Eye witnesses said Kiplimo was avoiding a head on collision with an oncoming truck.
He succumbed to the injuries at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and the body is lying at Eldoret Hospital.
Story By Thaddeus Asesa, TUKO.co.ke Correspondent- Eldoret
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Migori Residents Demand The Release of Okoth Obado - On Tuko TV
Source: Tuko.co.ke
Three families in Marigat, Baringo county are mourning after loose walls of a river collapsed and buried three children alive on Saturday, October 6.
The unlucky kids aged between five and ten years, were playing near river Eldume with their two friends who sustained multiple injuries when the tragedy occurred on the afternoon.
Residents who witnessed the tragedy rushed the five little ones to Marigat sub county hospital but unfortunately the three passed on before they could get any first aid service.
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Three children buried alive in Baringo after loose river walls cave in
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Their parents claim the deaths could have been avoided if the health facility was well equipped with enough gas cylinders to handle emergency cases.
"It is so unfortunate this hospital does not have enough facilities, if it had about three gas cylinders each kid would have been served well and maybe they would have survived. We lost them just few minutes upon arrival,"said one female resident.
The two are now recuperating at Baringo County Referral Hospital where they had been referred to for further treatment.
Health officers confirmed the victims were in stable condition.
"We have done resuscitation and they are in stable condition. We have however referred them to Baringo sub county hospital for further treatment," said officer in charge of Marigat sub county hospital.
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Migori Residents Demand The Release of Okoth Obado - On Tuko TV
Source: Tuko Newspaper
Dutch Professor of International Criminal Law Geert-Jan Alexander Knoops considers vague from a legal point of view the reasons for expulsion, rather than arrest of four Russian intelligence officers for plotting a cyberattack in The Hague.
The lawyer said this in an exclusive comment to Ukrinform, when asked why Russian spies were not arrested in the Netherlands.
"The chief of the [Dutch] Military Intelligence Service told the press that their arrest would have endangered the operation to prevent their actions. On the other hand, after the suspects were expelled from the Netherlands, the Dutch Prosecution did start a criminal investigation. In the Dutch press it has been said that this was to assist the U.S. in building a criminal case against seven Russian suspects among which these four persons are. In other words, it is legally quite inconsistent to expel these persons while at the same time the Dutch Prosecution assists in a criminal investigation," Knoops said.
The expert also noted that the four individuals cannot be extradited from Russia since the Russian constitution prohibits the extradition of nationals.
"On the other hand, a criminal trial will not prevent acts of alleged espionage," he added.
As reported, on October 4, the Netherlands named four Russian intelligence officers who planned a cyberattack on the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague in April this year.
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement after a press conference in the Netherlands and announced charges against seven Russian GRU officers over hacking of anti-doping agencies and other organizations. Among them are four GRU employees whom the Netherlands expelled in April Alexei Morenets, Yevgeny Serebryakov, Oleg Sotnikov and Alexei Minin. The FBI placed them on the wanted list.
The volume of trade between Ukraine and Moldova grew by 40% in the first half of this year.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said this at a joint press conference with Prime Minister of Moldova Pavel Filip in Chisinau within the framework of the GUAM Summit, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.
In the first half of 2018 alone, the volume of trade between our countries grew by 40% and amounted to about half a billion dollars. Ukraine and Moldova have the potential to increase these indicators, which proves good relations between our countries, Groysman said.
According to the Ukrainian prime minister, thanks to a constant and constructive dialogue between the states, it is possible to solve many problems that have accumulated since the nineties of the last century.
Groysman also noted that the roadmap for economic cooperation between Moldova and Ukraine, which was signed last year, was successfully implemented.
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Ukraine and Georgia simplify border crossing procedures, which make it possible for their citizens to travel between the two countries without a passport, only with an ID card.
The relevant agreement was signed by the Heads of Government Volodymyr Groysman and Mamuka Bakhtadze in Chisinau within the framework of the GUAM Summit, the Government portal reported.
Commenting on the signing of the documents, the Heads of Government noted that economic growth should be reflected in the welfare of citizens. And so, removing trade barriers, the barriers between people should be eradicated.
"The main thing for us is human relations," Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze stressed.
"Strengthening cooperation is not only economic decisions, but also human relations," Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman added.
According to the agreement, Georgian and Ukrainian travelers do not need a visa to visit each other for a 90-day stay. They will only need an electronic ID card.
A common history and common challenges unite Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, as all these countries have experienced occupation by the Russian Federation.
Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy said this at the first meeting of the Georgia-Moldova-Ukraine Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the press service of the Ukrainian parliament reported.
A common history and common challenges unite us. Our countries know the horror of the occupation - there are Russia's occupation troops in Moldova, Georgia, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and we have to respond to these challenges together, Parubiy said.
He noted that all shared the desire to defend independence of their countries. After all, the threat coming from the Russian Federation is often not only military. Aggression is in all sectors, including energy, information, spiritual, through cyber attacks. We feel it every day. Therefore, the development of a common strategy is one of our tasks. Solving the issue, we should take responsibility for each other," Parubiy said.
Noting the experience of Georgia, a country with occupied territories, which quickly raises the economy and is an example for Ukraine, Speaker Parubiy expressed confidence that the foundation that is now being laid will have a great future.
The pledge is a great friendship between our countries. Victory will be ours because the truth and God are with us, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine said.
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By extending the law on the special status of Donbas, Ukraine has fulfilled all the obligations of the Minsk Protocol.
The Ukrainian president's envoy for the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas, Verkhovna Rada First Deputy Chairwoman, Iryna Gerashchenko, said this at a press conference after the opening of an exhibition of drawings by Ukrinforms journalist Roman Sushchenko, illegally convicted in Russia.
"Ukraine has fulfilled all the clauses of the political block of the Minsk agreements. The Russian Federation has not fulfilled a single clause - either security or humanitarian one ... I believe that the time is now for the whole world, the countries of the Normandy format, the USA, all our partners from the European Union and the G7 to urge the Russian Federation to release immediately all hostages, she stressed.
Gerashchenko also noted that this decision was necessary to strengthen the negotiating tools of Ukrainian diplomats and international partners of Ukraine.
I hope that our partners will not only say well done to the Verkhovna Rada and the Ukrainian president, but will appeal to the Russian Federation demanding the release of Oleg [Sentsov], Roman [Sushchenko], Stanislav Klykh, Mykola Karpiuk, Volodymyr Balukh and and all other prisoners of the Kremlin, as well as dozens of military and civil Ukrainians who are illegally detained in the occupied Donbas," the vice-speaker said.
As reported, on October 4, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law that extends the special order of local governance in Donbas until December 31, 2019, inclusive.
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Klimkin says all cases of obtaining Russian citizenship should be investigated by the Ukrainian special services.
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin says he is ready to discuss criminal liability for citizens of Ukraine who have covertly acquired Russian citizenship as their second one.
"As for Russia and acquiring concealed Russian citizenship from the aggressor country, I am absolutely ready to consider such an opportunity. I think this idea should be discussed and it makes sense. As for [citizenship] from other countries, I believe such criminal liability and conviction for [dual] citizenship is not the best option," he told TV Channel UA Kharkiv.
Read alsoKlimkin proposes to discuss dual citizenship in Ukraine
"I think we need a new law on citizenship, but I want to say right away, and it's very good that it is discussed here in Kharkiv with any innovative ideas that we need to discuss not only with our politicians, but, first and foremost , with the public, I categorically object and am categorically against even the very idea or thought concerning the legalization of dual citizenship with Russia, with the aggressor," Klimkin said.
In this regard, he noted that all cases of obtaining Russian citizenship should be investigated by the Ukrainian special services.
The minister also added that it was impossible to know how many Ukrainians had received Russian citizenship. "Unfortunately, we can't get such statistics from Russia. Russia will use it for manipulations. Russia will try to lure our citizens, and we should also warn everyone about it. But I really hope, and if you want, this is my call for everyone don't go there before you check what has really been happening in Russia, what kind of country it is, what kind of society it is in terms of a mindset, propaganda everything that has been happening there," Klimkin said.
He says he is sure Russia will continue granting Russian citizenship to Ukrainians.
Bodnar noted it was not only about issuing passports or creating the post of an authorized minister responsible for the development of Transcarpathia.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar has said Hungary began to act as if Ukraine's Zakarpattia region was its territory.
Bodnar noted it was not only about issuing passports or creating the post of an authorized minister responsible for the development of Transcarpathia (or Zakarpattia in Ukrainian, which is an administrative unit of Ukraine).
Read alsoIssues with Hungary should not affect UA cooperation with NATO, EU - Poland
"If Ukraine does not respond to such actions of Budapest, this impunity will lead to unpredictable consequences. Our goal is to show that Ukrainian sovereignty extends to the region, and we will defend this sovereignty," he told DT.UA.
As UNIAN reported earlier, a video was posted on social media showing the consulate of Hungary in Berehove reportedly issuing Hungarian passports to citizens of Ukraine. Klimkin called on Hungary to take action after the publication of the video.
In turn, MFA Hungary claimed no law in Ukraine banned citizens from obtaining another country's passport.
On October 4, the Hungarian Consul in the town of Berehove was declared persona non grata. He must leave the territory of Ukraine within the next 72 hours. In a retaliation move, Hungary announced the expulsion of the Ukrainian Consul in Budapest.
Sentsov on Friday announced the end of hunger strike from October 6 because of possible forced feeding.
Amnesty International's representative office in Ukraine declares the inadmissibility of forced feeding of illegally convicted Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who announced the end of hunger strike from October 6.
"We declare the inadmissibility of forced feeding, which is actually a form of torture, and demand that Oleh receive timely and effective medical care. We continue to demand his immediate release from prison!" the agency wrote on Facebook.
Read alsoECHR accepts Sentsov's application in case against Russia
As UNIAN reported earlier, Sentsov on Friday announced the end of hunger strike from October 6 because of possible forced feeding.
"They plan to resort to forced feeding soon because of the critical state of my health, as well as the pathological changes in the inward parts of the body that have begun. But my opinion is not taken into account. Allegedly, I am no longer able to adequately assess the state of health and potential threats. Forced feeding will be part of resuscitation measures to save the patient's life. Under such conditions, I'll have to stop my hunger strike from tomorrow, October 6, 2018," Sentsov said in a statement he sent to his lawyer, Dmitriy Dinze.
Sentsov began his hunger strike on May 14, 2018, demanding that Russia free all Ukrainian political prisoners.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Sentsov was arrested in Russian-occupied Crimea in spring 2014 and in August 2015 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison following an unfair trial where he faced "terrorism" charges stemming from his opposition to Russia's occupation of Crimea.
He has been serving his term in a penal colony in the town of Labytnangi, Russia's Yamal.
Two enemy troops were killed and another seven were wounded, intelligence says.
Russia's hybrid military forces mounted 19 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA).
"Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in the past day. According to intelligence reports, two occupiers were killed and another seven were wounded," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in an update published on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on October 6, 2018.
Read alsoDonbas militants amass military hardware beyond withdrawal lines JCCC
Russian occupation forces opened aimed fire from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, 120mm and 82mm mortars, weapons installed on infantry fighting vehicles, an anti-tank missile system, and small arms to attack the defenders of the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Krymske, Vilniy, Komyshuvakha, Troyitske, Luhanske, Shumy, Novotroyitske, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Vodiane, and Lebedynske.
"Since Saturday midnight, Russian-led forces have mounted three attacks on the Ukrainian positions near Shyrokyne and Vodiane, using grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and small arms. No heavy weapons were used. There have been no casualties among Ukrainian troops since the start of the day," reads the report.
The situation in the area of the Joint Forces Operation remains under control of Ukrainian troops.
Russia's hybrid military forces mounted nine attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas on October 6, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA).
"Two Ukrainians soldiers were wounded from 07:00 to 18:00 Kyiv time," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in an update on Facebook.
Read alsoDonbas update: Ukraine reports 2 WIA's in past 24 hours
Russian occupation forces opened aimed fire from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms to attack the defenders of the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Novotoshkivske, Shumy, Nevelske, Novotroyitske, Hnutove, Vodiane, and Lebedynske.
In addition, the Ukrainian fortified positions near Shumy, Hnutove and Lebedynske came under fire from 82mm mortars. Moreover, the Ukrainian positions near Lebedynske were attacked with the use of 122mm artillery systems.
In case of threat to life, military commanders made a decision to fire back to suppress the enemy's fire activity.
The situation in the zone of the Joint Forces Operation remains under control of Ukrainian troops.
Juncker emphasized that the history of the 1990s still has not been overcome in the Balkans.
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker warned on Friday that there is a danger of new military conflicts in the Balkans, if the countries of the region are left without European perspective.
"If such a complex European region gets an impression that we are not serious with the European perspective, we will experience, sooner rather than later, what we had in the Balkans during the 1990s," stressed Juncker in a speech titled "For Europe as a Foreign Policy Actor" delivered in front of the Austrian Parliament, according to European Western Balkans.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine answers question why NATO must expand - media
Juncker emphasized that the history of the 1990s still has not been overcome in the Balkans.
"The history of the 1990s was made possible because the past decades and centuries had not been dealt with," he stated.
He nevertheless pointed out that the road of Western Balkan countries towards the full EU membership is still long. According to him, a progress can be seen, but it does not stand out enough.
Juncker proposed that the Western Balkan countries should be offered some kind of an economic area in which they could partially act the way they would when they become full members.
Full membership is not expected before 2025, Juncker said. He underlined that EU should intensively work with the region and help it where necessary, but also make it very clear that every border dispute should be solved before entering the EU.
It is noted they've got this photo from an anonymous source, so it's hard to speak about the authenticity of the document.
Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) investigative group has published a photocopy of driving licence issued to Anatoliy Chepiga with a photo of "Ruslan Boshirov" suspected of poisoning Sergey and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury.
The photo was posted on the investigators' Facebook page. The driving licence was issued in 2009 and is valid until 2019.
It is noted they've got this photo from an anonymous source, so it's hard to speak about the authenticity of the document.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Bellingcat and its investigative partner The Insider Russia established conclusively the identity of one of the suspects in the poisoning of Sergey and Yulia Skripal, and in the homicide of British citizen Dawn Sturgess.
Bellingcat was able to confirm the actual identity of one of the two officers. The suspect using the cover identity of "Ruslan Boshirov" is in fact Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, a highly decorated GRU officer bestowed with Russia's highest state award, Hero of the Russian Federation. Following Bellingcat's own identification, multiple sources familiar with the person and/or the investigation have confirmed the suspect's identity.
MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) The government of Ecuador, represented by the state-run Petroamazonas energy company, signed investment contracts worth $1.62 billion for the development of six oil and gas fields, local media reported.
The contracts concern the Cuyabeno-Sansahuari, Yuralpa, Oso and Blanca-Vinita fields, located in the provinces of Orellana, Napo and Sucumbios.
Under the deals, the contractors would fund the development projects, while Petroamazonas would pay for their services in line with tariffs tied to WTI crude oil price, the Telegrafo newspaper reported on Friday.
The government had also reconsidered its contracts on the Shushufindi and Pardeliservices consortia, which would allow it to receive the additional investment of $895 million in the projects, the outlet added.
Over the past months, the authorities of Ecuador have been seeking to attract foreign investment to boost oil production.
(@rukhshanmir)
ZAGREB, Trade unions: High time for change HINA 2018-10-06 17:35 (PKT) print The Independent Trade Unions (NHS) and the Federation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (SSSH) on Saturday drew attention to the injustices of the global economic system affecting Croatian workers and labour legislation, stressing the need to change the existing rules.
ZAGREB, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :ZAGREB, Trade unions: High time for change HINA 2018-10-06 17:35 (PKT) print The Independent Trade Unions (NHS) and the Federation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (SSSH) on Saturday drew attention to the injustices of the global economic system affecting Croatian workers and labour legislation, stressing the need to change the existing rules.
"The application of the existing rules has led to the deeply rooted injustice of the global economic system, weakening democracy and reducing labour rights in many countries. Since the rules and laws are not on the side of workers, we are facing unprecedented and destructive levels of economic inequality and insecurity," the two union federations said in a joint statement marking the 11th World Day for Decent Work, which is observed on October 7.
There are enough resources in the world to satisfy the needs of present time - to create decent work for all, ensure social protection, address climate change and all other things that need to be done so that people can live decently on a sustainable planet, but that requires changing the present rules, said the statement signed by NHS leader Kresimir Sever and SSSH leader Mladen Novosel.
For many years now Croatian workers have increasingly been working in unsteady, insecure and underpaid jobs. Since 2004, between 94 and 96 percent of all new employment contracts have been signed for a fixed period of time, a result of which more and more young people are becoming disillusioned and are leaving the country. On the other hand, the resulting shortage of labour is difficult to offset by importing foreign workers because they prefer working elsewhere, the statement said.
"There is no decent work without security, decent work conditions and decent pay. Along with decent work, decent work conditions and decent pay, workers are also entitled to rest from work. Croatia obviously needsa major housecleaning," the two union federations said, calling for compliance with labour legislation andbanning work on Sundays and public holidays.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil producers are discussing the possibility of holding one of the meetings of the output cuts Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) in Venezuela next year, Venezuelan Governor for OPEC Angel Gonzalez Saltron told Sputnik.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil producers are discussing the possibility of holding one of the meetings of the output cuts Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) in Venezuela next year, Venezuelan Governor for OPEC Angel Gonzalez Saltron told Sputnik.
"Venezuela will be OPEC president next year and we are talking about that one of JMMC meetings could be held there.
All members agree," Saltron said.
In 2016, OPEC members, including Venezuela, and several non-OPEC oil producers agreed to cut output by a total of 1.8 million barrels per day in an effort to stabilize global oil prices. The agreement, which came into effect in 2017, has been extended twice since then and will remain in force until the end of 2018.
JMMC was established by countries party to the deal to ensure that oil producers stick to their commitments on cutting output.
(@rukhshanmir)
Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said on Saturday that government was working on introducing a uniform education system across the country.
LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said on Saturday that government was working on introducing a uniform education system across the country.
Chairing 53rd meeting of Governing Body of Iqbal academy Pakistan (IAP) here at Aiwan-e-Iqbal,he mentioned that government was also reviewing the existing educational curricula as it had been observed that students of English medium educational institutions,by and large,managed to grab most of the employment opportunities and excelled in competition examinations like CSS etc.
Shafqat Mahmood said that government was focused on introducing an equal system of education so as to enable the students of government's educational institutions and of madrassahs to avail jobs and other opportunities. He said,"We are also analyzing the content of the uniform education curricula to be introduced across Pakistan", adding that there should be five to six co-subjects which should be taught in all educational institutions and its certification should be mandatory for all.
Federal Education Minister also assured that IAP would be taken well on board in the formulation of the new and comprehensive curricula.
Shafqat Mahmood also underlined the need for presenting the teachings/message of Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal in a more effective manner so as to increase students' interest in this regard. Iqbal Society should be established in schools and colleges as well, he added.
The Minister suggested the IAP keep its website up-to-date about Iqbal's poetry and philosophy because it would provide an authentic platform to those who wanted to read Iqbal or conduct research on Iqbaliyat.
He said that Chairman of Higher Education Commission (HEC) would be contacted for establishment of Iqbaliyat Department/Faculty in other varsities of the country, as currently Allama Iqbal Open University alone had Iqbaliyat Faculty.
The meeting was told that IAP was organizing a National Conference on Allama Iqbal in Karachi by mid November this year.
IAP Vice President Dr. Shahzad Qaisar, Federal Secretary for National History Engineer Aamir Raza and others members of the board were also present.
Later,the Federal Education Minister took a round of various sections of the IAP at Aiwan-e-Iqbal.
The authorities have arrested several Hurriyat leaders and activists ahead of the so-called local bodies and panchayat elections to prevent them from conducting poll boycott campaign in the Indian occupied Kashmir.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :The authorities have arrested several Hurriyat leaders and activists ahead of the so-called local bodies and panchayat elections to prevent them from conducting poll boycott campaign in the Indian occupied Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Indian police arrested the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Muhammad Yasin Malik, from his office at Aabi Guzar in Srinagar on Tuesday to stop him from carrying out the election boycott drive.
A JKLF spokesman said that many party leaders and activists had also been put behind the bars during the past few days to prevent them from campaigning against the polls.
Earlier, Indian police had arrested the Chief spokesman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Ghulam Ahmed Gulzar, from his residence in Srinagar on September 27 and later booked him under draconian law, Public Safety Act (PSA). He is currently lodged at Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu.
Other APHC leaders including Hakeem Abdul Rasheed, Muhammad Yasin Attai and Syed Imtiaz Haider have also been put under illegal detention.
The APHC Chairman, Syed Ali Gilani, is under continued house arrest at his Hyderpora residence in Srinagar since 2010 while the authorities have also placed Hurriyat leader, Mukhtar Ahmed Waza, under house detention in Islamabad town.
A police official told a local English daily Rising Kashmir that in coming days the Chairman of Hurriyat forum, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and the Chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, would also be confined to their residences.
On the other hand, Indian police have also arrested scores of people during its crackdown in different areas of the Indian occupied Kashmir.
It is to mention here that the four-phase polls for the local bodies in occupied Kashmir would be held onOctober 8, 10, 13 and 16.
(@FahadShabbir)
The Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, today distributed food aid to 600 families, or about 3,000 persons, at Al Hami, Ash Shahar District in Hadramaut.
ASH SHAHAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 05th Oct, 2018) The Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, today distributed food aid to 600 families, or about 3,000 persons, at Al Hami, Ash Shahar District in Hadramaut.
This is in the framework of the ERC's humanitarian project to restore normalcy to the lives of families facing dire humanitarian conditions.
The assistance included basic humanitarian needs and foodstuff.
The beneficiaries extended thanks for the UAE's humanitarian gesture which contributed to alleviating the hardship of the Yemeni families while appreciating the ERC's efforts to deliver the aid and ease the suffering of their daily lives.
Officials at Ash Shahar district also commended the role being played by the ERC and the work of its team that exerted huge efforts to deliver assistance to the underprivileged in various areas in Hadramaut.
Meanwhile, more than 22,456 food baskets that targeted 112,280 persons were dispatched to Hadramaut since the beginning of the Year of Zayed 2018.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, has participated in celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic.
GROZNY, Chechnya, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 06th Oct, 2018) Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, has participated in celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic.
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak's attendance is part of his current visit to the capital at the invitation of Ramzan Kadyrov, President of the Chechen Republic. The Minister of Tolerance arrived in Grozny on Friday accompanied by Sheikh Mohammed bin Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mubarak bin Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Saeed Ahmed Ghobash, Chancellor of the United Arab Emirates University, and a number of other officials.
Upon his arrival in Grozny, the minister made his way to scene of celebrations at the centre of the city where he was received by President Ramzan Kadyrov, a number of ministers and senior officials of the Chechen Government, and Maadhad Hareb Mughair Al Khaili, UAE Ambassador to the Russian Federation.
Sheikh Nahyan conveyed to President Kadyrov the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and their wishes for Chechnya further progress and development.
The Chechen President of in turn reciprocated his greetings to the UAE leaders, wishing the UAE further prosperity.
Sheikh Nahyan said that participating in this celebration reflects the deep relations between the UAE and the Chechen Republic.
In his speech during the ceremony, the UAE Minister said he wishes for further expansion of these relations based on mutual trust and respect, adding that the UAE is keen to strengthen aspects of cooperation with the Chechen Republic under the support of its leadership. He also congratulated President Kadyrov and the Chechen people on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the founding of Grozny and wished the Chechen Republic further progress and prosperity.
Following the ceremony, the Chechen President held a dinner in honor of the UAE official and his accompanying delegation.
The UAE Federal National Council's, FNC, Parliamentary Division concluded its participation in the Asian Parliamentary Assembly meeting held between 4th and 6th October, in ?zmir, Turkey.
IZMIR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 06th Oct, 2018) The UAE Federal National Council's, FNC, Parliamentary Division concluded its participation in the Asian Parliamentary Assembly meeting held between 4th and 6th October, in ?zmir, Turkey.
Eighteen parliamentary delegations participated in the event including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Palestine, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, Cyprus and Turkey.
The UAE delegation reviewed the UAE's efforts in combatting human trafficking, protecting the rights of expatriate workers, providing all means of a decent life for them, as well as the country's concrete and effective efforts in the fight against terrorism and extremism through the establishment of the Hedaya and Sawab Centres.
The delegation, comprising members of the FNC, included Hamad Abdullah bin Ghaleita Al Ghafli and Azza Sulaiman bin Sulaiman. They presented the proposals and views on a draft resolution on the protection and promotion of the rights of labour in Asia.
It also emphasised that the UAE plays an important role in combatting human trafficking through the establishment of national committees and institutions to combat it, as well as its efforts to ensure the provision of all rights guaranteeing the rights of migrant workers, from the right to human dignity through economic, social, health and educational rights, and finally to make all legislative arrangements to ensure the protection of their wages.
The meeting also discussed a number of issues and proposals on its agenda.
The police arrested nine accused and recovered narcotics and illegal weapons from them.
SARGODHA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) -:The police arrested nine accused and recovered narcotics and illegal weapons from them.
A police spokesman said on Saturday that during continued drive against drug pushers and criminals the teams of different police stations arrested nine accused and recovered 1890 grams Hashish, 56 bottles of liquor, two pistols, a gun from their possession.
They were identifies as-- Michael, Masih,Tajammal, Riaz, Arshed, Shaukat,Imtiaz, Abid, Bilal and Sabir.
Police registered separate cases against the accused and started investigation.
(@rukhshanmir)
The Supreme Court Friday rejected a plea seeking cancellation of bail granted to accused police officers Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Oct, 2018 ) :The Supreme Court Friday rejected a plea seeking cancellation of bail granted to accused police officers Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa heard the appeal against the Lahore High Court decision of granting bail to former City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi Saud Aziz and former Superintendent of Police (SP) Khurram Shahzad in the case.
On August 31, 2017, an anti-terrorism court of Rawalpindi had sentenced the two police officers for 17-year imprisonment for their negligence, However, the high court had later granted them bail.
During the course of proceedings, their counsel pleaded the SC to declare the petition ineffective following the death of petitioner Rashida Bibi, widow of Benazir's security guard Akram Kaira, who had also been died in the 2007 Liaqat National Bagh blast.
The bench, however, rejected the request, when it was informed that on last hearing the daughter of Rashida Bibi had become a party in the case.
Sardar Latif Khosa, counsel for the petitioner, pleaded that the high court did not examine the facts before granting bail to the accused, whose release on bail was against the law and based on ill intentions.
He informed the court that both the officers had retained their jobs in the police force despite being nominated in the case, which had dragged on for over 10 years.
Latif Khosa said the accused, who even did not even conduct a postmortem of Benazir Bhutto in violation of the law, could be granted bail when they were sentenced to 17 years in prison by the ATC.
Musharraf, he said, was also accused in the case.
Justice Khosa remarked, "BBC produced a 10-series documentary report on the murder and conducted more investigations into it than our agencies. " He said the court would have to consider the angle that whether innocent persons were being trapped in the case or not.
He said he was shocked when the accused washed the crime scene. He asked his friends what they were doing as doubts could never replace evidence.
Latif Khosa remarked that it was said saying that suspects were the favoured children of courts. The high court had dealt with the case like that of a theft case. For a decision the courts needed evidence, he added.
Khalid Ranjha, counsel of the police officers, said his clients were not named in the case initially. "Their Names were added on November 13, 2010," he said.
Justice Khosa asked Ranjha, "Have the accused washed other crime scenes as well during their service?" Training was imparted to police officers to secure crime scenes, he added.
Subsequently, the bench rejected the plea.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Friday said no decision was taken to put the name of Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique on the Exit Control List (ECL) and denied the news in this connection.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Oct, 2018 ) :Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Friday said no decision was taken to put the name of Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique on the Exit Control List (ECL) and denied the news in this connection.
The minister, in a statement, said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was an independent institution and the Federal government would assist it under the law and implement its decisions.
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Prime Minister Imran Khan along with Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan and lead federal ministers on Saturday visited Headquarters Southern Command at Quetta Cantt.
QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :Prime Minister Imran Khan along with Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan and lead Federal ministers on Saturday visited Headquarters Southern Command at Quetta Cantt.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa received the Prime Minister at Quetta Air Base. A detailed briefing on security situation of the Province, challenges and response was given to the Prime Minister Imran Khan .
According to a press release issued here today by ISPR, Prime Minister was also briefed about socio-economic development based Khushal Balochistan program, security of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and progress of fencing along Pak-Afghan border.
COAS said that having achieved stability in troubled areas of KP, lately our focus has been on Balochistan which is economic future of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister acknowledged and appreciated contributions of security forces towards improving peace, stability and socio-economic development of the Province.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said that through a comprehensive national effort, cooperation between federal and provincial governments and assistance of Army we shall realise the true potentials of Balochistan.
He said that a cohesive national effort would Inshaa Allah take provinces and the country to the rightful destination of peace, progress and prosperity.
The Supreme Court on Saturday issued notices to the federal government, advocate generals of all provinces and mineral water companies on a suo motu notice over alleged exploitation of underground water resources by mineral water companies.
LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :The Supreme Court on Saturday issued notices to the Federal government, advocate generals of all provinces and mineral water companies on a suo motu notice over alleged exploitation of underground water resources by mineral water companies.
The bench also ordered to hold Nestle's forensic audit in the Supreme Court building besides asking the company CEO for ensuring his presence during the process.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar passed the orders while hearing the matter at the Supreme Court Lahore Registry.
During the proceedings, Nestle submitted record comprising 81 cartons for audit purposes in compliance with the court orders.
However, the chief justice expressed displeasure over submitting irrelevant record.
Subsequently, the bench ordered the accountant general Punjab for forming a team for forensic audit and sought a report in this regard.
It is pertinent to mention that the Supreme Court had ordered forensic audit of Nestle mineral water operations.
Spokesman of Directorate of Archeology Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muhammad Asif Raza has said that work on construction of three new museums is in progress.
PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :Spokesman of Directorate of Archeology Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muhammad Asif Raza has said that work on construction of three new museums is in progress.
Talking to media men during the visit of Peshawar Museum, Muhammad Asif Raza disclosed that currently work on three new museums are in progress and the museums are being constructed at a cost of 60 million rupees in Abbottabad, Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan.
The government has also planned to establish at least one museum in each district of the province that will portray culture and historical background of the respective district, he added. Muhammad Asif Raza said 12 existing museums in the province have already been renovated.
A Chinese telecom company will further increase its investment in 4G in Pakistan and would build 5,000 base stations in the next three years.
BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :A Chinese telecom company will further increase its investment in 4g in Pakistan and would build 5,000 base stations in the next three years.
The company entered in Pakistani market a several years ago, has now over 31 million consumers with a market share of about 21 per cent and ranks third in the industry," Wang Hua, Chief Executive Officer of CMPak said in an interview published by China Daily on Saturday.
"Our company began with the acquisition of Paktel in 2007. Occupying only two per cent of the market back then, it has seen growth over the past years to increase its market share by a factor of 10," he added.
Highlighting the company's 4G service, he said, "We have more than 8 million 4G users, edging out all other operators in this area and taking 75 per cent of the market." The company was a forerunner to introduce 4G in Pakistan when the government auctioned the 4G spectrum in 2014.
In the future, Wang said that his company's investments in 4G will further increase and expected it would build 5,000 base stations in the next three years.
The advanced 4G technology has also helped promote the development of relevant industries. "We've collaborated with popular ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Careem to facilitate transportation for people," Wang shared, citing traffic benefits as an example.
Wang is confident that CMPak still has great potential to grow under the support of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key part of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the company's 20-year-old experience in technology development, operation management and marketing.
Pakistan currently has the only overseas communications network of China mobile, a pioneer in Chinese telecom companies' strategy to go global.
Since its establishment in Pakistan, the corporation has invested a total of $2.7 billion there.
Internationalization for the company also means "cultivating international talent", which includes sending Pakistani senior and middle-level staff to China for management training.
"CMPak is a localized company. So far, we have 3,100 employees. Among them, only 24 are Chinese," Wang noted. "Chinese colleagues account for less than one per cent of the staff." Thus cross-cultural training has become equally important. "It's an effective way to promote communication between Chinese and Pakistani colleagues, such as training Chinese employees on local customs," Wang said.
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The Trump administration's new National Counterterrorism Strategy is right to acknowledge domestic terrorism as one of the threats facing the United States, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement on Friday.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2018) The Trump administration's new National Counterterrorism Strategy is right to acknowledge domestic terrorism as one of the threats facing the United States, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement on Friday.
"While the strategy is primarily focused on the Islamist extremist threat, the administration's plan acknowledges the wide range of threats faced by the United States, including domestic terrorists. This is an important recognition," Greenblatt said.
However, Greenblatt said the administration would only undermine its strategy if it continued to scapegoat Muslims, refugees, immigrants and other marginalized communities.
ADL data shows non-Islamic terrorism is the most lethal extremist threat in the United States, and as the strategy noted, white-supremacist groups and anti-government extremists are on the rise, Greenblatt added.
US President Donald Trump announced the new counterterrorism strategy on Thursday, which called for enacting a domestic terrorism statue and improving Federal response to hate crimes as well as strategies for the broader war on terror.
One child has been killed and another one sustained injuries as a result of a clash between Taliban militants and members of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) in eastern Afghan Kunar province on Friday, local media reported on Saturday.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) One child has been killed and another one sustained injuries as a result of a clash between Taliban militants and members of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) in eastern Afghan Kunar province on Friday, local media reported on Saturday.
The Khaama Press News Agency reported citing the Afghan military that at least four militants of the Taliban movement had been killed, while another three had been wounded. The outlet added that the Islamic State had lost four militants as well.
According to the news outlet, the clash claimed the life of a two-year-old girl, while another girl, aged one, suffered injuries.
Neither of the groups involved in the clash has given any comments regarding the incident, the outlet added.
The Taliban movement is a major force fighting Kabul for control over the country. The group managed to seize power in the middle of the 1990s before being overthrown in 2001. The Islamic State terrorist group has been operating in the country since 2015.
MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) Colombian President Ivan Duque said he did not engage in insulting other people after his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro called him a "devil."
Maduro made his remarks on Friday, also calling Duque a satellite ally of the United States.
"I do not engage in assaults on other people, I protect democracy, freedom and [I do] what all the states, protecting democracy, should do - condemn the abuses of dictatorship," Duque said on Friday, as quoted by the Tiempo newspaper.
The relations between Colombia and Venezuela have been strained.
They escalated further after the assassination attempt on Maduro, in which the president was unharmed and seven Venezuelan soldiers sustained injuries, in August.
Caracas accused Bogota, particularly Colombian ex-president Juan Manuel Santos, of having a role in the attack. Moreover, Venezuela said it would put blame on Colombia for any future attack on its territory. The Colombian Foreign Ministry denied any involvement of Bogota in the assassination attempt on Maduro.
European Union Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has warned of a new war in the Balkans if Bosnia, Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo do not feel the EU is serious about offering them future membership.
Vienna, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :European Union Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has warned of a new war in the Balkans if Bosnia, Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo do not feel the EU is serious about offering them future membership.
"If, in Europe's highly complicated landscape, the impression arises that we're not serious about offering the prospect of EU membership to the western Balkans, then we might see later -- and probably even sooner -- what we saw in Balkans in the 1990s," Juncker said in a speech to the Austrian parliament.
The six Balkan states -- which during the 1990s formed the battleground to Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II that led to the break-up of former Yugoslavia -- are currently at different stages of accession talks with the EU.
While membership negotiations have officially started with Serbia and Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia are still in the waiting room to talks and classified as "candidate countries". Bosnia and Kosovo are listed as "potential candidates".
Juncker already said last December that expanding into the Balkans was vital to maintain stability in the region and he expected Serbia and Montenegro to join the bloc by 2025.
Nevertheless, the road to full EU membership for those states was "still very long", Juncker said.
While some of the countries had made progress, "that progress still hasn't gone far enough." He suggested that the EU could offer the states a sort of "economic area where they can partially behave as they will eventually do as full member states." And Juncker reiterated that he didn't see any of them attaining full membership "before 2025, and even then it won't be quick".
The EU must "tend to the west Balkans intensively and help where necessary," the EU Commission chief said.
It should "ensure it is understood that all border conflicts between the west Balkan states must be resolved before the membership can be attained," he said.
Among the most pressing issues is the status of Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
Juncker was in Vienna to attend the centenary celebrations marking the foundation of the Republic ofAustria.
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Greece will create an asset protection scheme to help major banks struggling to offload billions in bad loans, a government spokesman said Friday, as banking shares tumbled on the Athens stock exchange.
Athens, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Oct, 2018 ) :Greece will create an asset protection scheme to help major banks struggling to offload billions in bad loans, a government spokesman said Friday, as banking shares tumbled on the Athens stock exchange.
"We have specific plans. Part of them, in addition to speeding up efforts to clear bad loans, is to create an asset protection scheme," government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told 24/7 Radio.
"It is nothing more than an umbrella to further protect the bank system," Tzanakopoulos said.
There are no plans to create a "bad bank" -- which would take over non-performing loans from lenders -- and the asset scheme will not be backed with public funds, Tzanakopoulos added.
"The banks have adequate capital," he insisted.
On Wednesday, Greek bank shares tumbled amid a damaging budget squabble between Italy and the European Union, and concern about the lingering size of the banks' bad loans portfolio, currently at nearly 90 billion Euros ($105 billion).
After a breather Thursday, the Athens stock exchange on Friday closed 2.57 percent lower with bank stocks hammered again.
Among the leading Greek lenders, Piraeus bank shed 3.52 percent, Alpha lost 3.23 percent and National Bank dropped 2.61 percent.
The European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the eurozone's bailout fund, has denied reports that it is part of the asset protection scheme.
"The ESM is following closely the latest developments in the Greek financial sector as part of its obligations as Greece's largest creditor. However, press reports about the ESM being part of preparatory work for a possible intervention plan in favour of Greek banks are wrong," the organisation said.
According to reports, the four main Greek banks -- which received the lion's share of 45 billion euros used to recapitalise the nation's lenders during the crisis -- plan to offload some 20 billion euros in bad loans by the end of the year.
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Guinea is interested in the purchase of Russian military equipment, and cooperates with the country on military issues, Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea Ibrahima Kassory Fofana told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Rhodes Forum.
RHODES (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) Guinea is interested in the purchase of Russian military equipment, and cooperates with the country on military issues, Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea Ibrahima Kassory Fofana told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Rhodes Forum.
"Absolutely, why not," the prime minister said, when asked if Guinea would be interested in buying Russian military equipment.
Fofana added that Russia and Guinea had a history of cooperation.
"Sixty percent of our soldiers are trained in Russia, 60 percent of military equipment comes from Russia. So by now on the day-to-day basis we are purchasing materials from Russia," the prime minister added.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and the Guinean prime minister discussed potential cooperation in geological prospecting. The two countries are already working together on bauxite production, with Russian aluminum company RUSAL owning the development rights to Guinea's Dian Dian deposit, which is estimated to have a record capacity of 564 million tonnes.
The two-day Dialogue of Civilizations forum began on the Greek island of Rhodes on Friday.
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Japan's Self-Defense Forces Chief of Joint Staff Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano will pay a visit to Russia and Finland between October 7-12 and his first stop will be in Russia, the Japanese Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) Japan's Self-Defense Forces Chief of Joint Staff Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano will pay a visit to Russia and Finland between October 7-12 and his first stop will be in Russia, the Japanese Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
"During his official visits to Russia and Finland, during meetings with these countries' chiefs of staff, he [Kawano] intends, along with strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation and exchanges in the defense sector, to make a statement about the strategy in the free and open Indian Ocean and measures taken by the [Japanese] Self-Defense Forces for the sake of peace and stability," the ministry said in a statement.
According to the ministry, Kawano will participate in bilateral talks in Russia on Monday. On Tuesday, the admiral will visit a military base and will later depart for Finland where he is set to stay until Thursday.
Kawano's visit to Russia was announced by the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the Eastern Economic Forum in early September.
GAZA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) The number of Palestinians injured in clashes with the Israeli army near the Gaza Strip border on Friday reached 376 people, Gaza Healthcare Ministry spokesman Ashraf Qidra told Sputnik, adding that two other people died in the violence.
On Friday, Qidra told Sputnik that 45 people had been injured in the fighting.
According to the Palestinian health authorities, 192 people have been hospitalized, including 7 people who sustained grave injuries in the clashes. A 12-year-old boy is among those killed.
The clashes in the area have intensified in late March when Palestinian protesters began a large-scale campaign, dubbed the Great March of Return, prompting attempts to suppress the rallies by the Israeli forces.
The violence reached its peak in May amid the opening of the US embassy in Tel Aviv timed to the anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel. Then, Over 60 Palestinians were killed and over 2,700 others were wounded by the Israeli forces in the course of two days.
Latvians voted Saturday in a general election expected to yield a ruling coalition of pro-Kremlin and populist parties and tarnished by a hacker attack on a popular social network.
Riga, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :Latvians voted Saturday in a general election expected to yield a ruling coalition of pro-Kremlin and populist parties and tarnished by a hacker attack on a popular social network.
Hackers targeted the Draugiem.lv network, second in popularity only to Facebook in the Baltic state, with a pro-Russian message.
"Comrades Latvians, this concerns you. The borders of Russia have no end," it said in Russian, followed by images of unmarked Russian soldiers in green uniforms annexing Crimea, Russian tanks parading in Moscow and a smirking Vladimir Putin.
"We expected such incidents during the election day," Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics told news agency LETA, adding investigations were under way.
Polls have suggested the governing centre-right coalition has lost ground despite righting the economy after the 2008 financial crisis.
After casting his ballot, President Raimonds Vejonis called on fellow Latvians to come to the polls, pointing to the Brexit vote as an example of what might happen if they didn't.
"It shows us that we should not stay at home and that we should express our opinions," he said.
But with three hours to go, turnout was low at 39.06 percent, according to the election website.
Latvia is a member of both the eurozone and NATO, having joined the military alliance in 2004.
Latvia's ethnic Russian minority makes up about a quarter of the country's 1.9 million population and the pro-Kremlin Harmony party, which was formerly allied with Putin's United Russia party, is popular with them.
The party has won the largest number of votes in the last three elections, and did not enter government only because it failed to attract coalition partners.
But this time could be different.
- 'Red October' - Along with fellow Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania, Latvia declared independence in 1918 after the Tsarist Russian empire collapsed.
But it was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II, and then by the Soviet Union for nearly half a century until 1991.
After the last election in 2014, the centre-right Greens and Farmers Union, the right-wing National Alliance and the centre-right Unity formed a three-party coalition to run the country.
But polls suggest that voters are abandoning the ruling coalition.
"Voters want new faces: the current ministers cannot offer anything entertaining," political scientist Filips Rajevskis told AFP.
The established parties tried to bring in fresh blood, but that tactic did not appear to have worked, he said.
"Therefore there's the possibility of a Russia-oriented coalition after the election." Casting his ballot in the eastern town of Rezekne, Aigars Karklins said the prospect of Harmony teaming up with populists was realistic.
"I am going to make my choice for Latvia as part of the EU and NATO, and I hope most of us will do, otherwise this election will be remembered as the Red October," he told AFP.
- 'No red lines' - Polls suggest the Greens and Farmers Union, which currently holds the posts of both president and prime minister, will win no more than 15 seats in the 100-seat parliament.
The National Alliance is expected to win 13 and Unity, now rebranded as New Unity, might not even meet the five-percent election threshold.
Harmony meanwhile has signed on some high-profile ethnic Latvians as their frontrunners, and is on track to come out ahead with at least 28 seats.
And this time, after a decade of trying, the party may finally manage to form a government by joining forces with newcomer populists.
KPV LV, a populist party led by former stage actor Artuss Kaimins, is a potential coalition partner. The party could win at 15 seats or more.
Kaimins was briefly detained over alleged corruption in June, but that does not appear to have bothered voters.
And the party's candidate for prime minister, lawyer Aldis Gobzems, recently suggested they were open to working with other parties.
"KPV LV can work with anybody, we don't have any red lines regarding any other political force," Gobzems said during a TV24 debate.
A total of 16 parties are on the ballot. Polling stations are open until 1700 GMT on Saturday, with exit polls soon after and results expected early Sunday.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) The advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) is hopeful that the US Congress will eventually ban arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, because unlawful attacks against civilians in Yemen have persisted since they last considered such a measure, HRW Deputy Washington Director Andrea Prasow told Sputnik.
"The last time that the Senate voted on stopping arms sales, it came very close to passing," Prasow said. "The significant number of unlawful attacks that have occurred since, I think, suggests that if the Senate faces that kind of vote again, it might pass, and the Senate might actually try to ban arms sales to Saudi Arabia and possibly the UAE. It shouldn't come to that though. The US government should decide on its own that it shouldn't send this signal to the Saudis that they can continue with unlimited US support."
Prasow noted that HRW and other rights groups consistently urge the Congress to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia so long as such armed attacks on civilians continue, though such efforts have not yet yielded results.
She also emphasized that most of the unlawful attacks are carried out by the Saud-led coalition.
"Human Rights Watch has documented 87 unlawful attacks some of which are war crimes. And there's been virtually no investigation and no accountability for those attacks," she added.
The rights activist noted that HRW and other rights groups have been able to document the use of specific US weapons in many of these attacks.
"We can document which companies have manufactured them and when they were sold," Prasow explained. "I think these companies have to be asking themselves as well whether they are living up to their own independent obligations.
Knowing that these weapons are being used unlawfully, can they really continue to sell them?"
The US Congress earlier this year passed a measure requiring the secretary of state to notify Congress whether the Saudi-led coalition was taking steps to prevent the loss of civilian lives in Yemen.
Failure to certify such steps could have forced the Trump administration to halt US refueling of Saud-led coalition aircraft or possibly even US arms supplies to the kingdom.
But in September, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo certified to Congress that Saudi Arabia and the UAE were trying to limit civilian casualties in the conflict, paving the way for continued US military support to the Arab alliance.
A recent UN report said Saudi-led coalition airstrikes were responsible for most of more than 16,000 civilians killed or injured in the Yemen conflict over the past three years.
Saudi airstrikes have hit open-air markets, health clinics, schools, funerals and weddings, killing scores of civilians. An August attack on a school bus killed more than 40 Yemeni students who were on a field trip.
Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels for several years. The Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf nations has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.
The situation in the war-torn country has deteriorated sharply since June, when the Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive to seize Al Hudaydah, a key port city for humanitarian aid, from the Houthis.
BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) A delegation of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) will visit Brussels next week to hold a seminar on Tuesday, Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov told reporters on Friday.
"The FAS delegation headed by deputy head of the service Andrey Tsyganov will visit Brussels [next week]," Chizhov said.
The diplomat pointed out that the delegation would take part in the seminar in order to exchange experience with the European partners.
Further details of the visit remain unknown.
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Western accusations that Russia allegedly staged a cyberattack on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are very strange and complete nonsense, Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov told reporters on Friday.
BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2018) Western accusations that Russia allegedly staged a cyberattack on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are very strange and complete nonsense, Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov told reporters on Friday.
On Thursday, the Dutch Defense Ministry announced that the country's intelligence services had allegedly prevented Russia's cyberattack on the OPCW. According to the Dutch authorities, four Russian citizens suspected of being involved in the incident had been expelled from the Netherlands on April 13.
"One can hardly see any logic in this hype. First of all, why did the Russian intelligence services need to intrude an organization while Russia is a full-fledged member of it? As far as I know, there can be no supernatural secrets there by definition. Secondly, there is a lot of other kind of nonsense. With all due respect to the mentioned organizations, they are unlikely to send their employees to missions by taxi as well as with receipts. For an impartial observer that seems strange, if not funny," Chizhov said, referring to the details of the alleged incident provided by the Netherlands.
He pointed out that the accusations had been voiced in order to justify an intensified effort in fighting cyberthreats on the part of NATO in other words, the creation of some kind of cybertroops as well as to expand the OPCW mandate by giving it the right to determine those responsible for chemical attacks.
The Russian Foreign Ministry refuted the Dutch claims on Thursday and stressed that the "spymania campaign" unleashed in the Netherlands was seriously hurting bilateral relations with Russia. The ministry pointed out that the Netherlands made the statement ahead of the OPCW opening session, which could set up the "'necessary' political background" to push through some initiative. According to the ministry's commentary, the OPCW is set to discuss financing for a mechanism hat would allow the OPCW to attribute guilt. Russia has been against the initiative.
US Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said Thursday that the United States had filed charges against seven alleged Russian military intelligence officers for taking part in an alleged conspiracy to hack US, Canadian and other foreign organizations. Four of the suspects were the same Russian citizens that Amsterdam expelled.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov expressed regret over the US authorities' continued attempts to "poison the atmosphere of Russia-US relations with new portions of baseless accusations against Russia, which some other NATO countries rush to repeat on orders from Washington."
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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov will visit Guinea at the end of October, Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea Ibrahima Kassory Fofana told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Rhodes Forum.
RHODES (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov will visit Guinea at the end of October, Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea Ibrahima Kassory Fofana told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Rhodes Forum.
"I just came out of a meeting with Mr. Bogdanov. We have no important issue that requires a meeting now [with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov]. Everything was set out over the last year. In a few weeks from now at the end of this month precisely Mr. Bogdanov will be in Guinea," the prime minister said.
Fofana said he was ready to go to Russia if invited.
The prime minister added that the Guinean-Russian intergovernmental commission was held in July last year. The two countries are cooperating in mining, military training, and healthcare, he said, stressing that Russia had been of great help in fighting Ebola crisis.
"I know that besides the Russian government, the Russian private sector is very active. So there are a lot of possibilities to increase the volume of economic cooperation. It could be agriculture, it could be fishery," Fofana said.
The two-day Dialogue of Civilizations forum began on the Greek island of Rhodes on Friday.
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The Russian Emergencies Ministry's Il-76 transport aircraft has departed for Indonesia, which is dealing with the aftermath of the recent deadly earthquake and tsunami, with over 20 tonnes of humanitarian aid on board, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018)
"On October 6, Il-76 aircraft that will deliver over 23 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the people of the Republic of Indonesia departed from Moscow," the ministry said via its official website.
According to the statement, the humanitarian aid consists of blankets, portable power stations and water treatment systems, as requested by the Indonesian side.
On September 28, the Indonesian island of Sulawesi was hit by a series of powerful earthquakes and tremors, which also triggered a tsunami. According to the latest reports, the death toll has exceeded 1,550 people.
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Representatives of human rights groups and the media need to have access to Yemen given that the Saudi-led military coalition has largely restricted it, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Deputy Washington Director Andrea Prasow told Sputnik.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2018) Representatives of human rights groups and the media need to have access to Yemen given that the Saudi-led military coalition has largely restricted it, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Deputy Washington Director Andrea Prasow told Sputnik.
"Access that journalists and human rights investigators have to Yemen is relatively circumscribed. So, it's hard for us to document that [violations]," Prasow said."[Access is limited] largely by the Saudi-led coalition, which has restricted, for example, flights going to Sanaa."
Parsow also said that the Saudi-led coalition only allows access to "humanitarian actors, not human rights actors or journalists."
People have to go either by boat or through the south and travel by land which can be a very fraught attempt, Parsow explained.
"Of course, there is a conflict going on but Human Rights Watch goes to conflicts all over the world, we can handle that. But we do need increased access," Parsow said.
Human Rights Watch is concerned about unlawful detention and torture in detention by really all parties to the Yemeni conflict, Parsow noted.
The organization has documented torture in United Arab Emirates (UAE)-run prisons either by the UAE or by Yemeni forces trained and backed by UAE as well as by Yemen's Houthi rebels, she said.
"So, this is a huge problem," Parsow said. "People are being detained by multiple parties for political reasons, because of tribal disputes, unlawfully, not charged with crimes, tortured in detention, disappeared. So that's another huge problem and there isn't a lot of visibility into that. People are often held in sort of unofficial detention centers, so it's hard to track that," Parsow said.
Prasow also expressed concerns about implications with respect to human rights over the humanitarian crisis in Yemen's port city of Al Hudaydah.
Yemen has been gripped by the civil war with the government headed by Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi fighting the Houthi movement. The government is backed by the Saudi-led coalition that has been carrying out airstrikes targeted at the areas controlled by the Houthis since March 2015.
Six police officers were killed in an ambush with an improvised explosive device in the northern Burkina Faso town of Solle near the border with Mali, security sources told AFP Saturday.
Ouagadougou, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :Six police officers were killed in an ambush with an improvised explosive device in the northern Burkina Faso town of Solle near the border with Mali, security sources told AFP Saturday.
"A police convoy was ambushed in Solle" late Friday, a security source said.
"The leading vehicle ran over a mine and six were killed." The convoy then came under gunfire and some more police were injured, the source said.
Another security source said that "at least" six police had died, adding that a search for the attackers was under way in the area.
The attack came a day after six soldiers were killed in the east of the country in similarcircumstances.
Two Cameroonian opposition parties agreed a coalition on Friday to jointly contest this weekend's presidential polls, a spokesman said, in an effort to dislodge six-term President Paul Biya.
Yaound, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :Two Cameroonian opposition parties agreed a coalition on Friday to jointly contest this weekend's presidential polls, a spokesman said, in an effort to dislodge six-term President Paul Biya.
Akere Muna, leader of the People's Development Front (FDP) agreed to "withdraw his candidacy... and to support Maurice Kamto," leader of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), ahead of Sunday's polls, Muna's spokesman said in a statement.
The announcement confirms rumours of an opposition manoeuvre to try to defeat Biya, 85, but the new union does not include the main opposition Social Democratic Front's hopeful Joshua Osih.
Cameroon's authorities have long faced accusations of unfairly favouring Biya, one of Africa's longest serving rulers who won 78 percent of votes in 2011's polls which were described as "flawed" by observers and the opposition.
Cameroon will vote amid tight security including a ban on travel by road, rail or air from 1700 GMT Saturday until the conclusion of voting.
The borders of the central African nation of 25 million people will also be sealed 48 hours ahead of voting day, according to a decree seen by AFP.
(@rukhshanmir)
(UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) Defense giant Lockheed Martin won more than $390 million to develop 360 air-to-surface cruise missiles for the US military and three unnamed foreign countries, the Defense Department said in a press release.
"Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida, has been awarded a $390,792,959...
contract for Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) lot 16 production for 360 JASSM-extended range," the release said on Friday.
The order involves three foreign military sales and also calls for separation vehicles, tooling and test equipment, according to the release.
The JASSM is a low observable standoff air-launched US cruise missile. It is a large, stealthy long-range weapon with a 1,000 pound armor piercing warhead that entered service in 2009.
(@rukhshanmir)
The US military planned to bring nuclear weapons to South Vietnam in 1968 for possible strikes, but then President Lyndon Johnson overruled the move, local media reported Saturday citing declassified documents.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2018) The US military planned to bring nuclear weapons to South Vietnam in 1968 for possible strikes, but then President Lyndon Johnson overruled the move, local media reported Saturday citing declassified documents.
Under a secret operation dubbed "Fracture Jaw," US Forces Commander Gen.
William Westmoreland was preparing to make nuclear arms ready for use on short notice against North Vietnamese troops in case US soldiers were nearly defeated at Khe Sanh, The New York Times reported.
Johnson was informed about the plan by his national security adviser Walt Rostow, and the president rejected the plan.
Lyndon Johnson was fearing that the Vietnam War would turn into "a wider war," meaning China's possible involvement, according to then-special assistant to the president Tom Johnson.
Seoul, South-Korea (UroToday.com) Maurizio Brausi, MD gave a detailed overview of the management of recurrent non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) with white light is the gold standard treatment for the diagnosis and treatment of NMIBC. However, the TURBT mush is adequate, with all visible tumors resected, with muscle present in the specimen, with no bladder perforation and no bleeding encountered.The role of the pathologist is most important, and the pathological report must contain data on the type of tumor, stage, grade, vascular invasion, lymphatic invasion, perineural invasion, the presence of carcinoma in situ (CIS) and presence of molecular markers -P-53, Ki-67, BcL2, and ploidy. Following adequate TURBT, adjuvant intravesical therapy is usually administered to reduce recurrence and progression. Nevertheless, despite adjuvant intravesical therapy, approximately 40-50% of will recur with time. NMIBC includes both Ta-T1 single, or multiple low-grade tumors, and Ta-T1, single or multiple high-grade tumors, with or without CIS.The rationale for adjuvant treatment of recurrent Ta-T1 disease is the destruction of circulating tumor cells after TURBT, and the ablation of residual tumor cells at the resection site and on small overlooked tumors. The risk of progression/recurrence depends on several clinical, molecular and pathological characteristics of the tumor. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) has looked at patient prognostic factors several times and found that the most important prognostic factors for recurrence were the number of tumors, prior recurrence rate, tumor size, and Grade. In contrast, for progression, the most important factors were tumor grade, response rate at entry, and whether the size of the tumor was larger than 3 cm. The EORTC initially divided patients to three risk categories according to prognostic factors: low, intermediate and high risk. Later, a more precise scoring system was developed with the EORTC tables and nomograms. (1,2) The CUETO group formed the CUETO scoring system as well in 2009This enables tailoring adjuvant instillation therapy according to the risk of each patient.The European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines propose a risk stratification of the disease, with tumors being defined as low, intermediate or high-risk tumors. Low primary solitary tumor, Ta, grade 1, less than 3 cm, and no CIS. High should have any of the following: T1 tumor, high grade, CIS, multiple, recurrent and large tumors (over 3 cm). Intermediate all tumors not defined in the low and high-risk categories.When assessing recurrent tumors, it is important to remember that: Intermediate risk tumors are defined as Recurrent Ta, single, or multiple low-grade tumors. High-risk tumors- Recurrent T1 single or multiple high-grade T1 tumors, or recurrent multiple Ta low-grade tumors less than 3 cm. Very high-risk tumors - Recurrent multiple T1 high-grade tumors with associated CIS, or LVI, or variant histology.Next, Dr. Brasui discussed some controversies in recurrent NMIBC. These included the usage if either BCG or chemotherapy in intermediate-risk disease, BCG therapy in high-risk patients which dose? for how long? And device assisted therapy. The first controversy discussed was the therapy for the intermediate disease. In a meta-analysis of randomized trials comparing BCG to Mitomycin C in NMIBC patients, no significant difference in progression and survival was seen, but in BCG there was a 32% reduction in the risk of recurrence.Another study compared the long-term results of the comparison between BCG and Epirubicin in intermediate risk patients with a median follow-up of 9.2 years.The results demonstrated that BCG is more effective than Epirubicin with respect to time to first recurrence, time to distant metastasis, and time to death.The next controversy discussed was the appropriate treatment for recurrent high-risk patients who previously received chemotherapy instillations. For these patients, BCG is considered the optimal therapy. The full dose of BCG was compared to a 1/3 dose in another study.With a median follow-up of 7.1 years intermediate-risk patients who received 1/3 dose of BCG maintenance for one year had a higher recurrence rate than those who received full dose. High-risk patients who received full-dose maintenance for three years had the best results. However, no significant differences were noted in the time to progression, duration of survival, or treatment toxicity in 1/3 and full dose of BCG. The authors summarized that 1/3 dose is not associated with less toxicity and has a higher recurrence rate, therefore full dose should be given to both intermediate and high-risk patients.The last controversy discussed was the usage of device assisted therapy as an improved treatment, compared to BCG. The electromotive drug administration (EMDA) system entails iontophoresis and electroosmosis/electrophoresis (solute-solvent and solute-solute coupling). The rationale is to enhance the penetration of mitomycin C into the bladder wall (4-7 fold). In a study comparing sequential BCG and EMDA with MMC vs. BCG alone, there was a statistically significant difference in favor of the sequential therapy in response rate, death from any cause and death from bladder cancer. These results were later replicated by other studies.In very high-risk patients, as defined by the EAU guidelines (multiple high-grade T1 diseases, associated with CIS, LVI, or variant histology) the appropriate treatment is radical cystectomy. In these patients who have failed BCG therapy and who refuse or are unable to undergo radical cystectomy, the alternative treatments include EMDA, hyperthermia Mitomycin C, and Gemcitabine.Dr. Brausi summarized his talk emphasizing the appropriate treatment for the different risk categories of NMIBC patients. For intermediate risk disease- BCG maintenance for one year with a full dose is required. For high-risk disease, the treatment is BCG maintenance full dose for three years or sequential therapy with BCG and MMC/EMDA. Lastly, for very high-risk disease, radical cystectomy is the most appropriate therapy. If patients are not fit for surgery or refuse to undergo surgery, it is possible to offer bladder sparing alternatives with BCG, hyperthermia/MMC, MMC/EMDA, or gemcitabine.Presented by: Maurizio Brausi, MD ItalyReferences:1. Sylvester et al. Eur Urol 20062. Cambier et al. Eur Urol 2016 3. Fernandez-Gomez J Urol 20094. Malmstom PU et al. Eur Urol 20095. Sylevester RJ et al. Eur Urology 20106. Oddens J et al. Eur Urol 20137. Di stasi et al Lancet Oncol 2006Written By: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Twitter: @GoldbergHanan at the 38th Congress of the Society of International Urology - October 4- 7, 2018 - Seoul, South Korea
Seoul, South-Korea (UroToday.com) In this work, Dr. Sami-Ramzi and colleagues described their experience with anterior prostate tumors in patients undergoing MRI-fusion biopsies. It is known that a substantial proportion of prostate cancers are located in the anterior segment of the prostate, leading to a phenomenon called evasive prostate cancer syndrome. Diagnosing these anterior tumors during a transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) biopsy is quite challenging, with multiple repeat biopsies and extended number of cores needed. As a result, these lead to a delay in diagnosis. The authors hypothesized that using MRI fusion biopsies will help identify these tumors more easily. In this study the authors examined the distribution of PIRADS >=3 lesions in the anterior and posterior segment of the prostate and reported the histopathological characteristics of these lesions.A total of 1161 patients underwent MRI/Ultrasound fusion guided targeted biopsies. Patients were stratified according to the number of prior systematic biopsies (SB) they underwent. Targeted biopsies were performed in 513 (44%) SB naive patients, 396 (34%) patients with one prior negative SB, and 252 (22%) patients who had more than two prior negative SB. The proportion of patients with exclusively anterior located MRI PIRADS >=3 lesions increased from 3.5% to 9.1%, when patients were stratified according to number of prior SB sessions. Interestingly, clinically significant cancer (Gleason 3+4 and 4+3) were more often identified in exclusively anterior compared to exclusively posterior tumors (31% vs. 21%, p=0.016).Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that exclusively anterior located MRI PIRADS >=3 lesions are a significant risk factor for detecting clinically significant prostate cancer (Gleason 3+4 or worse), with an odds ratio of 2.6 (1.3-5.2), p=0.007. Other significant factors predicting the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer disease in the anterior prostate included PIRADS >=4 lesions, previous history of two negative SB, clinical stage T2, and rising age.The authors concluded that these results demonstrate an increasing proportion of anterior located MRI PIRADS>=3 lesions, when patients were stratified according to the number of prior SB. Interestingly, an increasing proportion of unfavorable prostate cancer within these anterior lesions was recorded, as compared to posterior prostate lesions. A practical recommendation that results from this interesting study, is consider an MRI of the prostate before planning a repeat biopsy after an initial negative transrectal ultrasound guided SB. This will help in the identification of elusive anterior located tumors.The findings of this study are most interesting and show the real-world data on the importance of identifying and sampling anterior prostate tumors. The major limitations of this study include the fact that it is a retrospective single center study.Presented by: Sami-Ramzi Leyh-Bannurah, Martini-Klinic, Hamburg, GermanyWritten By: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Twitter: @GoldbergHanan at the 38th Congress of the Society of International Urology - October 4- 7, 2018 - Seoul, South Korea
Matsuoka et al. AJR 2017 Borkwertz, Wirth et al. AUA 2018 Jasson et al. Eur Urol 2018 Wiklund et al. BMJ 2014 Cooperberg et al. Cancer 2010 Nam et al. Lancet Oncol 2014 Shelley et al. Cancer Treat Rev 2009 Bolla et al. Lancet Oncol 2010 Gratzke et al. Eur Urol 2014 Culp et al. Eur Urol 2014 Cho et al. Plos One 2016 Tilki D et al. Int. J. of Urol 2018
Seoul, South-Korea (UroToday.com) The role of radical prostatectomy in locally advanced and oligo-metastatic disease was discussed in this interesting talk given by Dr. Manfred Wirth from Germany, as part of the European Association of Urology (EAU) lecture in the SIU 2018 meeting.High risk tumors in prostate cancer have at least seven different definitions, beginning from the first definition created by DAmico in 1998 and published in JAMA, to the most recent definition described in the EAU guidelines in 2018. In recent years there has been an increasing use of radical treatment in the setting of locally advanced and very high-risk prostate cancer, as can be seen in figure 1.Figure 1 Increasing use of radical treatment for high risk prostate cancer:There has also been an increase in the usage of mpMRI prior to surgery to try and predict extracapsular extension. The reported sensitivity and specificity of mpMRI in this setting has been shown to be 92.9% and 66.9%, respectively.In addition, there has been an increase in the usage of fusion biopsies, demonstrating that the best results are obtained when both systematic and fusion biopsies are performed concomitantly.When treating high risk-prostate cancer, several additional controversial issues need to be addressed. One of these controversaries include whether standard or extended pelvic lymph node dissection should be performed. There is some data showing a survival benefit for patients undergoing an extended pelvic lymph node dissection, as shown in figure 2.Figure 2 Survival outcomes in standard vs. extended pelvic lymph node dissection in radical prostatectomy:The number of involved lymph nodes has a profound effect on the survival outcomes of patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. Data from Dr. Wirths institution in Dresden, Germany, clearly showed a long-term survival advantage for patients undergoing radical prostatectomy with node negative disease, compared to patients with node-positive disease (Figure 3).Figure 3 Comparison of long-term mortality in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy with node negative and node-positive disease:Concordance exists between the functional outcomes of these patients to the tumor risk category, with higher risk disease having lower functional scores.The next topic discussed was whether adjuvant or salvage radiotherapy should be given to these high-risk patients, following surgery. Data published in 2012 has shown that early adjuvant treatment confers an advantage in biochemical progression free survival, as shown in figure 4.Figure 4 Postoperative radiotherapy for high risk disease:Another topic discussed was the comparison between radical prostatectomy and radiotherapy. Data from the national prostate cancer registry from Sweden, demonstrated a benefit for radical prostatectomy in grade group 1-3 disease.A similar comparison between radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy and hormonal therapy from the CaPSURE database has also demonstrated an advantage to surgery over radiotherapy and hormonal treatment.On a side note, radiotherapy has been shown to increase the risk of secondary cancers following treatment for prostate cancer with an odds ratio of 2.08 (1.48-2.91), p=0.0001.In a systematic review and meta-analysis analyzing the effect of neoadjuvant hormonal therapy prior to radical prostatectomy, no significant evidence had been presented to show an advantage of neoadjuvant hormonal treatment.Therefore, there is currently no role for neoadjuvant hormonal therapy prior to surgery. However, in a randomized prospective trial, flutamide given to patients with pT3-4N0 disease after radical prostatectomy, has been shown to improve recurrence free survival but not overall survival, as seen in Figure 5.Figure 5 Randomized controlled trial comparing placebo to Flutamide after radical prostatectomy in patients with pT3-T4 N0 disease:When radiotherapy is given to high-risk patients, long term hormonal therapy (for 3 years) has been shown to increase survival, with a hazards ratio of 0.6 (95% C.I. 0.45-0.8), p=0.0004.However, there has been a recent publication in the European Urology journal, demonstrating that for high-risk patients, hormonal therapy for 18 months instead of 36 months confers better biochemical failure and similar disease-free survival rates, as shown in figure 6.Figure 6 Comparison of 18 months vs. 36 months of hormonal therapy with radiotherapy for high-risk disease prostate cancer:The last topic discussed was the role of surgery in oligo-metastatic disease. There have been some retrospective analyses, including a population-based SEER study, demonstrating a benefit for oligo-metastatic patients undergoing cytoreductive radical prostatectomy.Furthermore, studies assessing the effect of radiotherapy to the prostate in oligometastatic patients have also shown a benefit to this cytoreductive treatment in both biochemical free survival and overall survival.However, in a systematic review of these studies, published in 2018, the authors concluded that although local treatment in metastatic prostate cancer appears to be feasible, its oncological effect remains unclear due to high susceptibility of available studies to significant selection bias.Dr. Wirth concluded his talk emphasizing some key points. First, radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy with hormonal therapy confer promising results for high-risk prostate cancer patients. Second, adjuvant or early salvage radiotherapy after surgery improves disease control and offers a second chance of cure. Third, radiotherapy might confer an increased risk of secondary malignancies, while radical prostatectomy does not. Fourth, the role of cytoreductive local treatment in oligo-metastatic disease is unclear and there is a desperate need for randomized controlled trials in this setting, before clear answers can be given.Presented by: Manfred Wirth, Dresden, GermanyReferences:Written By: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Twitter: @GoldbergHanan at the 38th Congress of the Society of International Urology - October 4- 7, 2018 - Seoul, South Korea
Pope Francis greets 1,300 pilgrims from the Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Presov Eparchy, in the Paul VI hall.
Its been 200 years since the Presov Eparchy, was born from the dismemberment of the Eparchy of Mukacevo. The present Eparchy has developed to form other eparchies, such as in Canada, which became the headquarters of the Metropolia sui iuris ten years ago.
In prepared remarks to the Bishops and pilgrims present on Saturday, Pope Francis, quoting from his predecessor St John Paul II described the Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia as exemplifying the beauty and goodness of the Creator.
Addressing the Bishops present, the Pope invited them to continue their work as guides and fathers of the people of God who have been entrusted to them. He also called on them to, spread goodness, peace, generosity and meekness, with profound humility and simplicity.
Mission of Family
Eastern Catholic churches have their own liturgical, spiritual, and theological traditions, while remaining in communion with the Pope. They share with the Orthodox churches a common Christian heritage, received from the Apostles and handed on by the Fathers. Like the Orthodox, they have preserved a married priesthood; that is, married men are able to be priests. Once a man has been ordained, however, he is not subsequently permitted to marry.
In his words, Pope Francis said that, the families of priests live a particular mission today, when the very ideal of the family is questioned if not explicitly attacked: you bear witness to a healthy and exemplary life.
He went on to say, you too can draw from the examples present in the history of your Church during the decades of persecution in the second half of the last century, in deportations and deprivations of all kinds. Today, Pope added, it is up to your generation to show the same loyalty, perhaps not in the face of direct and violent persecution, but in the presence of difficulties and dangers of another kind, that of secularism, and sterile clericalism.
Europe and its Christian roots
Turning his attention to the pilgrims present, the Pontiff told them that, the continent of Europe, in the East as in the West, needs to rediscover its roots and vocation; and from Christian roots they can only grow solid trees, which bear fruits of full respect for the dignity of man, in every condition and in every phase of life.
He also encouraged the pilgrims gathered to be custodians of their Byzantine tradition, and paid a special tribute to parents and grandparents from whom the many present, he said, had learned their first prayers. In his concluding remarks, Pope Francis prayed to Our Lady for her intercession for the Church in, as he put it, this time of trial and watch over the work of the Synod on Youth.
Ashiq Masih (R), the husband of Asia Bibi, with their youngest daughter, Eisham Ashiq, in Rome in February 2018.
Asia Bibi has been held in solitary confinement since November 2010, when she was sentenced to hang for insulting Prophet Muhammad, an allegation she denies.
The fate of the first Catholic woman to be condemned to death under Pakistans controversial blasphemy laws, will be decided next week.
Asia Bibi has been held in solitary confinement since November 2010, when she was sentenced to hang for insulting Prophet Muhammad, an allegation she denies.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has set up a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, to hear the final appeal against the execution of Asia Bibi on October 8.
The court has issued a notice to the additional prosecutor general of Punjab Province to be present for the hearing. Also in attendance will be lawyers Syed Fayyaz Ahmed Sherazi, Saif-ul-Malook Chaudhry, and others.
The Supreme Court had earlier adjourned her death sentence appeal on October 13, 2016, after one of the 3 judges recused himself from the case.
Sensitive blasphemy laws
So far nobody has been convicted under blasphemy laws which were introduced by former military dictator Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1980s.
Insulting the Prophet Muhammad in Pakistan is a crime punishable by death, while offending the Koran, Islam holy book, incurs life imprisonment.
The blasphemy laws remain an extremely sensitive issue in the predominantly Muslim nation and they have drawn intense criticism even within the country. Rights organizations say the law is often misused to settle personal scores.
Former Punjab governor Salman Taseer and Catholic minister Shahbaz Bhatti were both assassinated in 2011 after they defended Asia Bibi and spoke out against her death sentence and the misuse of the blasphemy laws.
Crucial hearing
Asia Bibi has been detained since 2009 on charges of blasphemy reported by Muslim women and an Imam, following an argument over sharing a bowl of water with fellow workers in a field. In November 2010 she was given the death sentence by the lower court in Nanka district and four years later the verdict was confirmed by Lahore High Court.
If Asia Bibi's appeal is rejected by the Supreme Court, her only recourse will be a direct appeal to the President for clemency. If that fails, she could become the first person in Pakistan to be executed for blasphemy.
Family
Ashiq Masih, the husband of Asia Bibi told Catholic News Service on Friday that if his wife is released, the entire family will immediately seek sanctuary in one of several countries that have offered them exile, because it is too dangerous for them to remain in Pakistan.
Ashiq, a builder from Sheikhupura, Pakistan, was in England with his youngest daughter, Eisham Ashiq, as guests of Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic charity helping persecuted Christians.
Popes
Earlier in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI had added his voice to international calls for the release Asia Bibi. During a special event organized in Rome on 24 February to express solidarity for those persecuted for their faith across the world, Pope Francis had a private meeting with Ashiq and Eisham.
Top Washington correspondents discuss the latest Issues in the News. The mysterious disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist in Turkey tops the headelines this week. Listen in as Michael Williams of CBS Radio, Tom DeFrank of the National Journal and Steve Goldstein of MarketWatch discuss this and other Issues in the News on the Voice of America.
"Dough & Cookies, a play by Lee Universitys Stacey Isom Campbell, associate professor of creative writing, has been nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize by The Barter Theatre. The theatre nominated Ms. Campbells play after doing a mini-production of it in August of this year.
Im really proud of the development of the play and the collaboration with the Barter Theatre over the last year, said Ms. Campbell. The nomination is something that I never expected to happen. Many plays that I admire have been finalists or awardees of this prize, so its a great honor to be nominated.
The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize was established in 1978 and is given annually to recognize women who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. The prize is administered in Houston, London, and New York by a board of directors who choose six judges each year. Additionally, nine finalists for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize have gone on to later win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is the largest prize of its kind and requires a nomination from a professional theatre company. A company can only nominate one play a year for this award, so its a huge honor for Ms. Campbells play to be nominated.
According to the synopsis of Dough & Cookies, Darlene and Charlene, twin sisters from South Carolina, steal $20.5 million from the Department of Defense through a loophole. What begins as an accident turns into a seven-year fraud that these middle-aged Baptist women justify. While Dough & Cookies is a cautionary story about greed, it is also about grief and the surprising journeys of a wounded heart.
Ms. Campbell joined Lees faculty in 2007. She holds Master of Fine Arts degrees from Old Dominion University and Regent University and a bachelors from Lee.
To see the Barter Theatres listing for Dough & Cookies, visit: https://bartertheatre.com/shows/dough-and-cookies/201806271353445166.
For more information on the Susan Blackburn Prize, visit: http://www.blackburnprize.org/the-prize/.
This exciting episode features new and old music from Guinea, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Heather brings in special guests to discuss Bobi Wine and listen to his single "Kyarenga", and her feature interview spotlights the South African trio The Soil. She and Kwame Ofori present eShun's song 'AKiya" as Song of the Week. Music Time in Africa is VOAs longest running English language program. Since 1965, this award-winning program has featured pan African music that spans all genres and generations. Ethnomusicologist and Host Heather Maxwell keeps you up to date on whats happening in African music with exclusive interviews, cultural information, and of course, great music.
Aid agencies are gearing up for a major relief operation to help the survivors of the earthquake-tsunami disaster in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck just over a week ago, killing more than 1,600 people, with death toll continuing to climb.
Now that search and rescue missions are winding down, aid agencies are focusing on providing earthquake survivors with immediate and long-range relief. U.N. and international agencies are conducting assessment missions to pinpoint areas of greatest need.
And, the needs are great. An estimated 65,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed, with more than 70,000 people made homeless. The United Nations is appealing for $50.5 million to assist more than 190,000 people over the next three months.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has deployed three experts in disaster relief to Sulawesi to oversee its extensive relief operation. IOM spokesman, Paul Dillon, says a priority will be to reach people in hard-hit areas that remain inaccessible.
Part of the problem is the areas that are closest to the tsunami; where the tsunami hit hardest, are literally buried in mud. So, you have people circling those areas trying to get in but it is literally inaccessible. You are 200 meters from the remains of buildings, but you cannot actually get into those areas because the mud is thigh or waist-deep, Dillon said.
On Saturday, IOM will deliver more than 83,000 liters of drinking water in re-usable plastic bottles to Donggala, one of the worst affected towns. It also will be distributing thousands of emergency shelter kits and non-food items to Sulawesis earthquake survivors.
The Indonesian Red Cross operation is focusing on finding shelter for the displaced, on providing medical care, and on tracing and reuniting families who have been separated by the disaster.
A U.S. judge Friday blocked the Trump administration from placing conditions on public safety grants to further its crackdown on illegal immigration, and he ordered the grant money to be released to California "sanctuary cities."
However, while Judge William Orrick in San Francisco found that the conditions placed last year on public safety grants by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions were unconstitutional, he stayed a nationwide injunction pending appeal.
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.
The grant conditions required recipients to provide Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents access to jails and prisons, provide notice when detainees were being released and certify that information was being shared with federal authorities.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sued the administration in August 2017. The state argued that putting the conditions on the $28 million in federal funds it expected would undermine law enforcement and deter police cooperation by immigrants, a major population in the state.
Scores of jurisdictions around the United States have adopted some form of "sanctuary city" policies, which generally prohibit cooperation with immigration officials. U.S. President Donald Trump had made a removing illegal immigrants a key campaign pledge, and he often criticizes the sanctuary cities.
Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles have successfully sued the Trump administration over the conditions on the public safety funds, known as a Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, and those cases are pending appeal.
The use of nationwide injunctions by U.S. district courts has been a major roadblock to numerous Trump policies, and the appeals in the sanctuary city cases may provide an avenue for the administration to curtail their use by lower courts.
Last-minute changes to a new North American trade deal sank U.S. hopes of making Canada and Mexico allow higher-value shipments to the countries by online retailers, such as Amazon.com, a top Mexican official said on Friday.
The revised pact was set to double the value of goods that could be imported without customs duties or taxes from the United States through shipping companies to Mexico.
But Canada's adoption of a more restrictive threshold during its efforts last month to salvage a trilateral deal prompted Mexican negotiators to follow Canada's lead, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday.
The final version of the trade agreement will insulate retailers in both countries from facing greater competition from e-commerce companies like Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc.
"It was the solution liked much more by Mexican businesses," Guajardo told local television.
The change was came so last-minute that it was not written into the agreement published last weekend.
The new deal, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), was meant by U.S. President Donald Trump to create more jobs in the United States. Trump had been highly critical of the prior NAFTA agreement since before he ran for president.
U.S. negotiators originally pushed Mexico and Canada to raise import limits to the U.S. level of $800 from current thresholds of $50 and C$20, respectively.
Traditional retailers in Mexico opposed such a big hike, fearing online companies would sell cheap imports from Asia through the United States. Even so, Mexico initially agreed in August to raise the threshold on customs duties and taxes to $100 in its bilateral deal with the United States.
Guajardo said that Canada, after Mexico had finished negotiations, set its sales tax exemption at just C$40, about $30, and put a ceiling of C$150, about $117, on custom duties exemptions.
The Retail Council of Canada said the deal will protect retailers against a "massive change in the competitive landscape."
Mexico decided to follow suit, Guajardo said, favoring local clothing, footwear and textile industries, as well as the finance ministry that collects duties and taxes.
Mexican negotiators lowered the sales tax exemption back to the $50 level, while raising the customs duties limit to $117, matching Canada, Guajardo said.
"Mexico offered a deal where it really didn't concede anything," said Adrian Correa, a senior lawyer at FedEx Corp.
Mike Dabbs, eBay's government relations director for the Americas, said separate tax and custom duty thresholds could create confusion.
"That does not help the experience for small businesses and consumers," he said.
Representatives of dozens of U.S. and Latin American advocacy groups pressed their case Friday for access to an FBI-run DNA database to help them locate and identify the remains of thousands of migrants thought to have disappeared over the last several decades while crossing the Mexican border into the United States.
U.S. officials pledged to continue talks on sharing forensic information and efforts to identify the missing, but they said they are prevented from making the information public by a federal law that strictly restricts access to and sharing of information from the database.
The comments came during a hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The commission, part of the Organization of American States, conducted a weeklong series of hearings on various hemispheric issues at the university.
Advocacy groups say they have compiled more than 4,000 DNA profiles of people reported missing and presumed dead along the border with samples from relatives. The groups want to compare those samples with the FBI-run U.S. national database.
Facilitating talks
As some in the audience held enlarged photos of the missing, rights commissioner Margarette May Macaulay offered to facilitate talks to find a solution the groups say they've been seeking for years.
"I have great faith that you do intend and have the will to work toward solving this egregious situation and give peace to these people,'' Macaulay told U.S. officials attending the hearing.
Carlos Trujillo, the U.S. permanent representative to the OAS, and Paula Wolff, an attorney representing the FBI, pledged cooperation on an issue that predates the Donald Trump administration but cited restrictions on what the FBI can do under the 1994 DNA Act, which governs use of the national database.
Wolf cited legal and logistical technicalities preventing sharing of the database with the advocates, academics and investigators collectively organized as the Forensic Border Coalition. Among them:
The law authorized the database for use by law enforcement, not private actors such as the coalition.
It requires that DNA samples be taken in the presence of and documented by police officials a deterrent to relatives of the missing distrustful of Mexican police or who, because of their immigration status, fear coming forward to U.S. authorities.
DNA matches or other results can be released only to criminal justice organizations and not, for example, to Argentine investigators who have worked in Mexico and along the U.S. border for years. That group has more than 4,000 DNA samples it's eager to cross-reference with the U.S. data.
Distrust of Mexican authorities runs deep, and many Mexicans have turned to the experts, known as the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, to help alleviate their suffering in Mexico's bloody drug war and in locating and identifying those who disappeared migrating north.
All three U.S. officials declined to immediately answer questions by the rights panel but promised to submit written responses. Those queries included how to prevent destruction of remains by local U.S. authorities.
Mothers' testimony
Two mothers of missing children testified during the brief hearing. One of them, Irma Carrillo, is a native of the Mexican state of Sinaloa and mother of two children, ages 25 and 27, reported missing nearly 20 years ago as they were crossing the border into Arizona. She wept after speaking privately with OAS Ambassador Trujillo.
"A solution can change the direction of my life,'' Carrillo said. "We only want to know what happened to them.''
Delegates from 148 parties to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are calling for new heated tobacco products on the market to be regulated in the same way cigarettes and other tobacco products are.
Heated tobacco products (HTPs) are not e-cigarettes. They are products that contain nicotine and other chemicals, which are inhaled by users, through the mouth. The tobacco industry markets these devices as being less harmful than regular cigarettes.
But the head of the convention secretariat, Vera da Costa e Silva, said there was no evidence that HTPs are less harmful than conventional tobacco products. She said they are tobacco products in the same way as cigarettes and should be subject to the same regulations imposed on standard tobacco products under the treaty.
"Governments should implement ... a ban on advertisement, promotion and sponsorship" of heated tobacco products, da Costa said. "Parties to the treaty are legally bound to the provisions of the treaty and they should regulate heated tobacco accordingly."
Da Costa told VOA the tobacco industry is marketing heated tobacco products as a harm-reduction strategy. She said many are sold with flavors, which appeal to young people. For now, she said, the products are mainly being marketed in developed countries.
"But they are already being marketed very aggressively with high lobbying, and there are many, many concerns," she said. "Lots of concerns raised by African countries, Latin American countries, Asian countries that do not feel they are prepared for this epidemic of heated tobacco products."
Da Costa said evidence is accumulating that the nicotine inhaled from HTPs is unhealthy, causing dependence and disease. The long-term health impact from vaping is not yet clear. But the World Health Organization notes illnesses related to regular tobacco products prematurely kill more than 7 million people every year.
The discrimination and objectification of women in Hollywood is not a new phenomenon. For decades sexist behavior by powerful men in the industry has been part of the star system, and it has influenced how stories were told on the large screen. In the first part of a two-part series on Gender Inequality, VOA's Penelope Poulou examines sexist stereotypes in iconic films that have permeated our popular culture.
Interpol has formally requested information about its missing leader from China, where the Chinese national, Meng Hongwei, seemingly disappeared on a trip home.
The Lyon-based international police agency said Saturday that it used law enforcement channels to submit its request about Meng's status to Beijing, citing concerns about his well-being.
China has not yet commented and is in the midst of a weeklong holiday.
Meng's wife lives in Lyon and recently contacted French police after not hearing from her husband since he traveled to China in late September.
Meng, 64, was elected to lead the organization in November 2016 for a four-year term. A former vice minister of public security in China, he is the first Chinese national to hold the post.
According to Meng's bio on Interpol's website, he has almost 40 years of experience in criminal justice and policing, during which he's dealt with issues related to legal institutions, narcotics control, counterterrorism, border control, immigration and international cooperation.
The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, has implied Meng may have been the latest target of China's ongoing anti-corruption campaign. The newspaper said last week that Meng had been "taken away" for questioning by what it said were "discipline authorities."
That term is frequently used to describe investigators in the ruling Communist Party who probe graft and political disloyalty.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's secretive internal investigation agency, had no announcements about Meng and couldn't be reached for comment, according to the Associated Press and Reuters.
Roderic Broadhurst, a professor of criminology at Australian National University, said Meng's disappearance would be "pretty disconcerting" for people in international bodies that work with China, and could harm China's efforts to develop cooperative legal assistance measures with other countries.
"It is bizarre," Broadhurst said Saturday, noting China most likely would "brush off" any political damage to Beijing's involvement in international bodies. "It's a price that might have to be paid, but I guess they would see that as a cost worth bearing."
Russia continues to compete for influence in Afghanistan, where international reconciliation efforts are underway, while Iran is playing both sides of the Afghan conflict, according to a top U.S. military official.
The head of U.S. Central Command, Army Gen. Joseph Votel, told VOA that Moscow was posturing to be a "player in the solution" to the decades-long conflict.
"I think what they [Russia] are doing trying to do is they are pursuing a strategy which is to compete with us by trying to exert their influence wherever they can, whether it is in Afghanistan or Syria or anywhere else," Votel said.
"They are continuing to use disinformation to create the narrative that they want," the CENTCOM commander noted. "They continue to perpetuate this idea, not just in Afghanistan, but in Iraq and Syria as well, that the United States is responsible for supporting and propagating ISIS."
Votel said the notion that the United States was somehow promoting the Islamic State terror group, also referred to as ISIS, was "ridiculous."
Russia's spoiler role
Matt Dearing, an assistant professor at the Washington-based National Defense University, said Moscow's involvement in Afghanistan comes as no surprise.
"They have every incentive to play spoiler in Afghanistan. I expect they will continue to do so on multiple fronts, whether it is engaging Taliban or supporting government opposition parties," Dearing said.
"It is unfortunate when political figures in Afghanistan accept Russian support, as this creates further divisions in politics and weakens the legitimacy of GIROA [Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan]," he added.
Thomas Johnson, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and author of Taliban Narratives, said that while Russia is trying to assert influence in Afghanistan, its role is somewhat exaggerated.
"I think the notion that they [Russian officials] play a role on [the] Taliban is overblown," Johnson said, adding that Afghans, including the Taliban, have a vivid memory of Russian intervention in late 1970s and that "Afghans dislike Russians."
Johnson, who has spent time in Afghanistan, said Russian President Vladimir Putin ultimately wants to see the U.S. fail in the war-torn country.
"I think Putin has a global view. I think that he is playing chess. I think he is trying to ensure that the United States does not achieve any of its goals in Afghanistan," he said.
Omar Samad, a Washington-based former Afghan ambassador, said new regional fronts and alliances have taken shape in recent years, undermining regional and international consensus that once existed on the goal of counterterrorism.
"The issue of Afghanistan, until two to three years ago, was a relatively black-and-white issue, where you had the international community, including countries like Russia and Iran, backing the Afghan government and standing united against terrorism," Samad told VOA's Afghan service.
"Now countries have created new alliances, and peace talks in Afghanistan mean different things to different countries," he said. "The definition of friends and foes has changed."
Russian contacts with Taliban
Moscow does not deny its contacts with the Afghan Taliban, but Russian officials assert the country is in touch with the insurgents to encourage them to engage in peace talks.
"We maintain these contacts primarily for the sake of the security of Russian nationals in Afghanistan, Russian agencies there, and also to convince the Taliban to renounce armed conflict and join the national dialogue with the government," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in August, after the Afghan government voiced concerns about the issue.
Lavrov rejected Afghan assertions that Moscow's ties with the insurgents were aimed at using the Taliban to fight Islamic State militants.
"I cannot imagine how Russia even hypothetically could use the Taliban against ISIS," he said, using an acronym for Islamic State. "We are fighting ISIS with every tool we have. We support Syria in this fight and provide assistance in equipping the Iraqi army for the same purpose. Of course, we want the Afghan people to get rid of ISIS."
Earlier this year, Moscow planned a regional conference in Moscow for September and invited representatives from 11 regional countries, including China, Pakistan and Iran.
Afghan officials expressed concern about the conference, fearing it would undermine the country's long-held stance of leading and owning the peace talks with the Taliban.
A phone call between Lavrov and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani led to both sides postponing the meeting.
Iran's role in Afghanistan
Russia is not the only nation seeking influence in Afghanistan. CENTCOM's Votel said the Iranians have "hedged their bets" in Afghanistan, by trying to have relationships with both the Afghan government and the Taliban.
He said that unlike Russia, Iran is more concerned about its own stability.
"They [Iranian leaders] don't have any, obviously, any love for us [the U.S.] here, but I do think Iran shares concerns along their eastern border, the western part of Afghanistan, and is concerned about the threat of this emanating onto them," Votel told VOA on Thursday.
Anthony Cordesman, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington research group, said the relationship between the Taliban and Iran was more of a contingency plan.
"They are creating relationships that they hope will make the Taliban safe if it takes over from the Afghan government," Cordesman said earlier this year, following reports of Tehran's involvement in the large-scale attack on Afghanistan's Farah province in May, which borders Iran.
"Another source of speculation is that Iran is supporting the Taliban as a counterbalance to the growing role of ISIS inside Afghanistan," he added.
VOA's Mehdi Jedinia, Khalid Mafton and Ayaz Gul contributed to this report.
Allegations of sexual assault against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh have mobilized women across the country to share their own stories of sexual assault and hold elected officials accountable. VOA's congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson speaks with Ana Maria Archila, the sexual assault survivor whose personal challenge to Senator Jeff Flake last week may be a turning point in the #MeToo movement.
President Donald Trump, American lawmakers and a wide range of public policy groups on Saturday registered sharp reactions to judicial conservative Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court.
"I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court," Trump tweeted. "Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!"
WATCH: US Senate Confirms Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court
"I couldn't be prouder of the Senate Republican conference," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a news conference shortly after the chamber voted 50-48 to confirm Kavanaugh. "We stood up for the presumption of innocence. We refused to be intimidated by the mob of people that were coming after Republican members."
Democrats had a very different reaction.
"From start to finish, President Trump's nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court has been one of the saddest moments in the history of the Senate," Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. "Truly, Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation is a low moment for the Senate, for the court, for the country."
The Senate Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, said the Kavanaugh confirmation "shifts the court far to the right, putting women's reproductive rights, civil rights, environmental protections, workers' rights, the ability to implement gun safety rules and the ability to hold presidents accountable at risk for a generation."
At the White House, press secretary Sarah Sanders reacted with jubilation.
"Congratulations Judge Kavanaugh!" Sanders tweeted. "Instead of a 6-3 liberal Supreme Court under Hillary Clinton, we now have a 5-4 conservative Supreme Court under President @realDonaldTrump, cementing a tremendous legacy for the President and a better future for America."
A wide variety of organizations also weighed in.
"Kavanaugh's confirmation is devastating as unresolved questions remain about his human rights record, including in relation to the U.S. government's use of torture and other forms of ill treatment, such as during the CIA detention program," Daphne Eviatar, Amnesty International USA's director of security with human rights, said in a statement.
"Today the United States Supreme Court has gained an exceptional Justice in Brett Kavanaugh," Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, which opposes abortion, said in a statement. "We look forward to Justice Kavanaugh's tenure on the bench and the impact his dedicated public service will have towards creating a country where every human life is valued and protected equally under the law."
Many noted the acrimony surrounding the confirmation process.
"The road that led us here has been bitter, angry and partisan," Schumer said.
McConnell predicted the tempest would pass.
"The Senate and the country will get past this. We always do," the majority leader said.
The contrast was stark.
Christine Blasey Ford was calm and careful as she testified to U.S. senators last week that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her as a teenager. Then Kavanaugh sat at the same table and angrily denied the allegations. He talked back to his questioners; he called the process a national disgrace.
Kavanaughs behavior triggered a new line of debate in his bid to be confirmed to the nations highest court whether he is temperamentally suited for the job. As senators prepare to take their final vote on his lifetime appointment, his fury that day and how womens and mens anger are perceived differently in politics and beyond has been front and center in the national conversation.
Powerful white men in this country have often been able to use anger to emphasize the seriousness of the points they want to make, said Rebecca Traister, a political writer whose book Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Womens Anger, came out this week.
Women are told if they want to be taken seriously, believed, respected, they must not speak out of anger or use angry tones, she said. If they do, theyll sound irrational, unserious, emotional, and not trusted or respected in a public or political sphere.
Kavanaugh was able to choose anger as a tool in his own defense, but that tool wasnt even on the table for Christine Blasey Ford, Traister said in an interview at VOA in Washington.
Collective anger
At the same time, she said, womens collective anger has often been the catalyst for real social change. Her book details how U.S. movements from abolition and suffrage to civil rights, gay rights and womens rights in the 1970s revved up when women came together in anger about perceived injustices.
If you look at the history, though weve never really been told their stories, there are furious women at the beginning of all those movements, she said.
That may be happening now as well. Women protesters flooded Senate office buildings and marched to the Supreme Court this week, calling on senators to vote against Kavanaugh.
WATCH: Kavanaugh Confirmation Battle Opens Space for Women's Anger
The he-said-she-said testimony, with little to gain for Ford, was just the latest in a series of events that have upset American women, especially those who support Democrats, since Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election to Donald Trump almost two years ago. On the day after his inauguration, Jan. 21, 2017, millions took to the streets of Washington and cities across America and the world for the Womens March, igniting political action that has led to record woman candidates in the midterm elections Nov. 6.
Anger is a motivating, propellant force for all kinds of political activism, Traister said. There is a vast and rich history of women coming together in frustration and resentment and anguish and fury around the world, and in working to change the structures that contain and subjugate them.
Individual anger
For one woman protester last week, activist and sexual assault survivor Ana Maria Archila, getting angry and letting it show changed the conversation. She was one of two women who challenged Republican Senator Jeff Flake in an elevator, demanding that he take survivors testimonies into account in his decision on Kavanaugh.
In an interview, Archila said she was reacting to reports that Flake was going to give his unconditional support to Kavanaugh, and she decided to show how she really felt.
I was reacting to how that felt in my body, what that meant for my children, and I think I was not going to try to censor myself, not going to try to be obedient and behave well, she said. I was really going to try to help him understand the message that he was sending to women across the country.
After the interaction, which was caught live on CNN and widely viewed around the world, Flake and Democratic Senator Chris Coons delayed the confirmation process by asking Republican leaders for an FBI investigation of the Ford allegations.
That report was completed Wednesday, and senators had the chance to read it Thursday. Susan Collins, the Republican senator from Maine who was reported to be unsure about whether she would vote for Kavanaugh, confirmed Friday she didnt find reason in the report not to support him.
For his part, Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell blasted the crowds of angry women turning out to oppose Kavanaugh.
Can we be scared by all these people rampaging through the halls, accosting members at airports, coming to their homes? Trying to intimidate the Senate into defeating a good man. Are we going to allow this to happen? In this country? he said on the Senate floor Thursday.
Even as Kavanaugh is likely to join the high court, Traister and Archila both say this most recent episode may help shift the power dynamic between men and women in Washington.
We are usually not alone, and connecting and being curious about other womens anger, perhaps at the same things, is one of the pathways forward, Traister said.
U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told Reuters on Saturday that the political brawl over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation would help Republicans retain control of the Senate, calling it a
"seminal event" leading into the November elections.
"We'd been trying to figure out how to get the base excited about this election, and nothing unifies Republicans like a court fight," McConnell said in a phone interview just before the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a 50-48 vote. "It's been a seminal event leading into the fall election."
The intense debate over sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh gripped the American public for weeks, bringing protesters out in force on Capitol Hill and across the country, including near the homes of lawmakers.
"We've literally been under assault by the mob," McConnell said.
Unifying force
But he claimed the intensity has proved to be an aid to Republican unity in the Senate, as the party prepares to take the issue onto the campaign trail.
"This has all really helped me, No. 1, unify my conference, and No. 2, underscore the significance of the Senate," the Kentucky Republican said.
McConnell even welcomed the acrimony of the political brawl: "I don't want it to dissipate over the next four weeks, I can tell you."
Republicans are trying to cling to a narrow 51-49 Senate majority in congressional elections that will be held on Nov. 6. Several Democrats are running for re-election in states that Republican President Donald Trump won in 2016, making for an uphill fight for them to win a Senate majority.
"We fully intend to be talking about this going into the fall election," McConnell added. "The energy level is high. We've seen the numbers in the races shifting in our direction. This has been good for us politically."
FBI probe
Kavanaugh's confirmation appeared to be in trouble a week ago, when three Republican senators, along with Democrats, demanded a supplemental FBI investigation into allegations brought against the nominee by women, including psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford and a former Yale University classmate, Debbie Ramirez.
McConnell credited a meeting to discuss the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe with undecided Republican Sens. Jeff Flake, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski as proving critical to the success of Kavanaugh's confirmation.
"The scope of the FBI's ... investigation was determined not by the administration but by us, this group," he said. "I think that was the key moment."
Flake and Collins voted in favor of Kavanaugh's confirmation, while Murkowski opposed it but asked to be recorded as "present."
Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Saturday urged pharmaceutical companies in the country to keep prices down or face losing out on government business to competitors abroad.
During a speech in the western city of Morelia, Lopez Obrador said the government was paying too much for medicine.
For the budget to be able to provide the public with free medicine, this "corruption" would have to end, he added.
Lopez Obrador, a leftist who will take office Dec. 1, said he wanted to support the national pharmaceutical industry.
But he warned the industry his government would seek cheaper medicine elsewhere if firms overcharged and acted as "accomplices to corruption."
"We'll open the bidding tenders to buy medicine anywhere in the world that they offer better prices," he added, estimating that the government spend about 100 billion pesos ($5.31 billion) on medicine each year.
Lopez Obrador, 64, won office in a landslide in July and has pledged to slash public waste and corruption.
Separately, the incoming president reiterated that his government would guarantee prices for certain foods, including milk, beans and corn, in order to support farmers.
Milk would be guaranteed at 8.20 pesos per liter, beans at 14,500 pesos per metric ton and corn for 5,610 pesos per metric ton, he said. "We're going to pay the producers well," he added.
A Salvadoran woman whose unexpected recovery from a life-threatening condition was deemed a miracle, paving the way for the upcoming canonization of the late Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero, said Friday shes convinced he is a saint.
Speaking days before a planned pilgrimage to the Vatican along with her husband and thousands of others, Cecilia Maribel Flores also expressed hopes of meeting Pope Francis, who earlier this year approved the miracle and decided to elevate the martyred cleric to sainthood.
We know that Romero is a saint, a man of God, who as a pastor defended his flock, defended the poor, the most needy, the victims, Flores said during a visit to the hospital chapel where 38 years ago Romero was shot to death while celebrating Mass.
What God has given me, I must share, she added.
Beloved archbishop
Romero, already known to many as Saint Romero of the Americas, was beloved among the working class and poor for defending them against repression by the army. He was equally loathed by conservative sectors who saw him as aligned with leftist causes as the country descended into a 1980-1992 civil war.
Crucial to Romeros canonization, scheduled for Oct. 14, was Francis approval of a miracle attributed to his intercession in Flores case.
If you believe in God or if you believe in anything, ask Him for your wife to be saved with a miracle thats what a doctor told Alejandro Rivas in September 2015 after Flores, his wife, underwent an emergency cesarean section for their third child and was diagnosed with an infection that left her in a coma.
Suffering from internal hemorrhaging and with her kidneys on the verge of collapse, she was not expected to survive.
They had told me that she was dying and I had to figure out what to do, Rivas said Friday, what was going to happen with her and with my children.
Prayers to Romero
Arriving back home he remembered his late grandmother had tried to instill in him her devotion to Romero, although it had never quite resonated for him. He asked his grandmother for help.
Later he picked up her Bible and inside found a card with Romeros image. Kneeling, Rivas prayed to Romero for intervention.
He slept, woke up in the morning and returned to the hospital, where a nurse had stunning news: Flores had begun to improve around 2 or 2:30 a.m., the same time he had made his prayer.
It left me frozen. I didnt understand what was going on, Rivas said. Now I do understand, that it is an incredible miracle.
Flores made a full recovery.
Beatified in 2015
Romero was previously beatified, a necessary step before canonization, in May 2015 in an emotional ceremony in the Salvadoran capital, San Salvador.
The day before his assassination, Romero sent a blunt message to the countrys military in his Sunday homily: In the name of God and this suffering people, I implore you, I order you, in the name of God, to cease the repression.
The gunman who killed him was contracted by right-wing death squads. A U.N. truth commission determined that one intellectual author of the assassination was Maj. Roberto dAubuisson, a founder of the conservative Arena party that governed the country from 1989 to 2009.
DAubuisson died in 1992. Neither he nor anyone else who may have ordered the killing was ever punished.
A 1993 amnesty decree prevented prosecution for civil war-era crimes for over two decades until it was declared unconstitutional in 2016.
Four more cases of Ebola have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the past two days. And the World Health Organization says officials are now concerned the virus will spread beyond the DRC. The total number of cases is now 165, with 106 deaths. But some new drugs are being deployed to fight the deadly virus. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports.
Travelers entering New Zealand who refuse to disclose passwords for their digital devices during forced searches could face prosecution and heavy fines. Border authorities say the move could be a world first.
Under the new 2018 Customs and Excise Act officials in New Zealand can force travelers to unlock any electronic device so it can be searched. Anyone who refuses can face prosecution and a fine of more than $3,000.
The legislation, which is thought to be the first of its kind anywhere, also gives agents the authority to copy any data on devices they search.
The New Zealand government said in a statement that the traveling public is unlikely to notice much difference at the border.
The Customs Minister Kris Faafoi says the measure will boost national security.
A lot of the organized crime groups are becoming a lot more sophisticated and the ways that they are trying to get things across the border and if we do think that they are up to that kind of business, then getting intelligence from smartphones and computers can be useful for prosecution, Faafoi said.
But New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties chairperson Thomas Beagle says the new law is a "grave invasion of personal privacy.
Nowadays we have got everything on our phones. We have got all of our personal life, we have got all our doctors records, our emails - absolutely everything on it, and Customs can take that and keep it, Beagle said.
Customs officers will be able to search any device that gives them a reasonable cause to suspect wrongdoing.
In New Zealand, as in other countries, including Australia, customs agents already had the legal power to search and seize digital devices if there was a suspicion they contained evidence of criminal activity.
But the law did not previously force travelers to open their devices for inspection by entering a password.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Japan Saturday where he met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Kono.
Heading to Asia on Friday, Pompeo said he hoped to develop options for the timing and location of the next summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un.
His Asia tour will include a stop in North Korea, his fourth visit to the isolated nation, where he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
There are complex scheduling, logistics issues, said Pompeo en route to Japan, adding he was hopeful that a general date and location could be reached after his meeting with Kim.
When asked if he is bringing any message or gift to Kim on Trumps behalf, Pompeo told the traveling press: I am not bringing anything that we are prepared at this point to talk about publicly.
Pompeo's trip to North Korea this year comes as Washington and Pyongyang are making arrangements for a second summit between their leaders.
Im optimistic that well come away from that with better understandings, deeper progress, and a plan forward not only for the summit between the two leaders, but for us to continue the efforts to build out a pathway for denuclearization, said Pompeo earlier this week.
But analysts said Pompeo faces challenges to ensure a second summit produces real progress toward denuclearization.
I think they cannot come out of these trips any more with broad statements of principles; there needs to be some actual, tangible movement on the nuclear issue, said Victor Cha who is senior advisor and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The core issues have not been addressed by North Korea, including a list of nuclear weapons and facilities, a way to verify that information, and a timeline for disposing of these things, added Cha during a phone briefing on Friday.
North Korea has been seeking a formal end to the 1950-53 Korea War, but the United States has said Pyongyang must give up its nuclear weapons first. North Korea has not satisfied Washingtons demands for a complete inventory of its nuclear weapons.
At a briefing on Wednesday, Pompeo would not give details of the ongoing negotiations, including the possibility of an end-of-war declaration.
While there is value to engagement at the highest levels, the downside is that this publicly raises the stakes for each meeting, according to former U.S. officials and experts.
Real progress can only come from a sustained diplomatic process at lower levels, grounded in realistic expectations about what both sides can achieve, former State Department official Mintaro Oba told VOA.
We dont have a diplomatic process in place, said Suzanne DiMaggio, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "I would really like to see him go in there and lay out the vision for how do we get to a peace regime, step-by-step.
While Washington is resisting calls from Russia and China to relax tough international sanctions against North Korea, some former U.S. officials say the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign is diminished by Trumps sometimes undiplomatic rhetoric.
Theres an 800 pound elephant in the room and that is our own president, said former principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton who recently retired.
His actions have helped put the nail in coffin of maximum pressure. For example, when he says North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat that undercuts our diplomats, added Thornton at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Friday.
Pompeo is traveling to Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and China from October 6-8. In Tokyo, he is meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Abe and Foreign Minister Kono. In Seoul, Pompeo is meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. In Beijing, he is meeting with his counterparts and likely will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The top U.S. diplomats trip to Beijing comes after Vice President Mike Pence stepped up criticism and laid out a more competitive strategy with China during a major policy speech at the Hudson Institute on Thursday.
Observers said Washingtons new approach to Beijing is characterized by competition and confrontation.
There is the beginning of some talk that we are really moving toward a renewed cold war, this time between the U.S. and China, said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at CSIS.
While China wants stability in the Korean Peninsula and does not want a U.S. presence, Beijing is using the North Korea issue to strengthen its relations with Washington, added Glaser.
My own guess is that the U.S.-China relationship will pretty much be on hold until after the midterm elections. The Chinese have some hope that some of what is going on is being motivated by political concerns and that there might be more of a chance for some reasonable, constructive dialogue with the United States after the midterms, said Glaser.
Senior officials traveling with Pompeo include Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia Patrick Murphy, and White House National Security Councils lead Korea official Allison Hooker.
This would be Bieguns first travel to Pyongyang as the U.S. envoy. It is widely expected that Bieguns counterpart--North Koreas vice foreign minister Choe Son-hui will return to Pyongyang from Beijing for talks.
The invitation for Pompeo to return to Pyongyang was made during his meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly session.
Hong Kong has refused to renew a work visa for the Asia news editor of the Financial Times, who is also an official of the citys Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC), a decision that has shocked many in the financial hubs international community.
The news comes two months after government officials in China and Hong Kong condemned the FCC, one of Asias leading press clubs, for hosting a speech by an independence activist, reigniting debate about the viability of the citys promised freedoms.
The Hong Kong authorities have rejected an application to renew the work visa of Victor Mallet, Asia news editor at the Financial Times, the newspaper said in a statement. This is the first time we have encountered this situation in Hong Kong. We have not been given a reason for the rejection.
Mallet, who is the FCCs vice president, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Hong Kongs immigration department said it did not comment on specific cases.
Andy Chan speech
In August, Mallet, who was the FCCs acting president at the time, hosted a speech by pro-independence activist Andy Chan in a move strongly condemned by Chinas Foreign Ministry.
The ministry had urged the FCC to withdraw its invitation to Chan, a founder of the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party, which was formally banned by Hong Kong authorities last month.
Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have said the notion of independence is inconsistent with the principle of one country, two systems under which the territory has been governed since Britain handed it back to China in 1997.
The principle promises Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed elsewhere in China.
Mallet said in August the FCC neither endorsed nor opposed the diverse views of its speakers, fully respected the law and championed free speech and freedom.
Full explanation
The FCC said it was expecting a full explanation from the Hong Kong authorities.
In the absence of any reasonable explanation, the FCC calls on the Hong Kong authorities to rescind their decision, the club said in a statement late on Friday, describing the move as extremely rare, if not unprecedented.
Reuters received multiple messages via email and social media from foreign banking and legal professionals expressing shock at the decision.
Reporters Without Borders called on Hong Kong authorities to reverse their decision.
This is clearly a form of retaliation for his involvement in the public talk organized in August by FCCHK, which angered Beijing by featuring a pro-Hong Kong independence activist, the group said in a statement. Such action is yet another proof that the Chinese authorities are extending their policy of intimidating foreign journalists to the territory of Hong Kong.
In a statement, New York-based Human Rights Watch said the visa rejection, together with the unprecedented banning of the Hong Kong National Party, showed a quickening downward spiral for human rights in Hong Kong.
This is shocking and unprecedented, it added. The Hong Kong authorities visa renewal rejection without explanation of a journalist whos done nothing more than his job smacks of Beijing-style persecution of critics.
The FCC, whose members include senior lawyers and government officials besides journalists, has long portrayed itself as fostering and defending free speech.
Mallet has worked as a journalist and foreign correspondent for more than 30 years, first at Reuters and then for the Financial Times, including more than 12 years in Asia.
Romania is holding two days of voting on a proposed change to its constitution that would define marriage as "a union between a man and a woman instead of "a union between spouses."
Same-sex marriage is already prohibited under Romanian law.
Critics say a change in the wording of the constitution would make it just about impossible for gays and lesbians to marry in the future.
The country's LGBT community says the referendum will do nothing more than make people feel like second-class citizens and will fuel homophobia even further.
The ruling Social Democrats are responsible for bringing the measure, which is supported by the countrys Orthodox Church, to a vote on Saturday and Sunday.
The referendum has alarmed Brussels and the European Union Commission's deputy chief has reminded Bucharest of its human rights commitments.
Frans Timmermans said recently at a debate on Romanian reforms: "I don't want family values to be transformed into arguments that encourage the darkest demons and hatred against sexual minorities."
Civil rights groups have urged voters to boycott the referendum. "In a democracy, the rights of minorities are not put to a vote. That's the difference between the Middle Ages and the 21st century," said the Center for Legal Resources, a non-profit NGO.
Thirty percent of the country's registered voters must participate in the referendum for the vote to be valid.
Flash
China on Friday hit back at U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's unfounded accusations against China on issues concerning Taiwan, the South China Sea, human rights and religion.
Pence delivered a speech at a think tank on the evening of Oct. 4, claiming that China interferes in U.S. internal affairs and elections and making accusations against China's domestic and foreign policies.
"There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, adding the U.S. 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, the spokesperson said.
"We urge the U.S. to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three Sino-U.S. 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-U.S. relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," said Hua.
Hua said China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters, and that installing necessary national defense facilities on the Nansha Islands which are Chinese 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'," she said.
"We urge the U.S. to stop stirring up troubles and creating tensions. The U.S. should respect efforts made by relevant parties to resolve the issue through negotiation and consultation," said Hua.
The spokesperson said the Chinese government attaches great importance to protecting and advancing human rights, and people of all ethnic groups in China enjoy full freedom of religious belief in accordance with law.
The Chinese people have a greater say on the human rights situation in China than all others, said Hua, calling on the U.S. side to "look in the mirror and reflect on its own human rights problems," instead of exploiting human rights and religious issues to interfere in China's internal affairs.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom has met its promise to Washington to make up for Iranian crude oil supplies lost through U.S. sanctions.
The request that America made to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries is to be sure that if there is any loss of supply from Iran, that we will supply that. And that happened, Prince Mohammed told Bloomberg Friday.
Iran reduced their exports by 700,000 barrels a day, if Im not mistaken. And Saudi Arabia and OPEC and non-OPEC countries, theyve produced 1.5 million barrels a day. So we export as much as two barrels for any barrel that disappeared from Iran recently. So we did our job and more.
Saudi-Russia deal
Russia and Saudi Arabia struck a private deal in September to raise oil output to cool rising prices and informed the United States before a meeting in Algiers with other producers, Reuters reported this week.
U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for high crude prices and called on it to boost output to bring down fuel costs before the U.S. congressional elections Nov. 6.
Benchmark Brent oil rallied above $86 this week mainly stemming from a decline in oil exports from OPEC member Iran because of fresh U.S. sanctions. It settled at $84.16 a barrel Friday.
Iran, OPECs third-largest producer, has accused Trump of orchestrating the oil price rally by imposing sanctions on Tehran and accused its regional archrival Saudi Arabia of bowing to U.S. pressure.
Saudi Arabia is the worlds top oil exporter and OPECs de-facto leader.
Oil prices rise
The Saudi crown prince said the recent rise in oil prices was not because of Iran.
We believe the higher price that we have in the last month, is not because of Iran. Its mostly because of things happening in Canada, and Mexico, Libya, Venezuela and other countries that moved the price a little bit higher, he told Bloomberg.
But Iran, definitely no. Because they reduced 700,000 barrels and we have exported more than 1.5 million barrels a day.
Saudi Arabic is now pumping about 10.7 million barrels per day and can add a further 1.3 million bpd of production if the market needed that, Prince Mohammed said.
We have spare capacity of 1.3 million without any investment. ... And with other OPEC countries and non-OPEC countries we believe we have more than that, a little bit more than that, he said. Of course there is opportunity for investment in the next three to five years.
Saudi Arabia is the only oil producer with significant spare capacity on hand to supply the market if needed. The kingdom has a maximum sustainable capacity of 12 million bpd.
Neutral Zone production
Prince Mohammed also said he hoped to resume oil production from the Neutral Zone, which Saudi Arabia shares with Kuwait, after resolving pending issues between the two Gulf OPEC allies.
We believe that we are almost close to having something with Kuwait. There are only small issues that have been stuck there for the last 50 years. The Kuwaiti side, they want to fix it today, before we continue to produce in that area, he said.
Were trying to have an agreement with the Kuwaitis to continue to produce for the next five to 10 years and at the same time, we work on the sovereignty issues.
The crown prince flew to Kuwait on Sunday to discuss the resumption of oil output from the Neutral Zone, a source familiar with the matter had told Reuters.
The resumption of the Neutral Zones oilfields could add up to 500,000 bpd of oil output capacity to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements began, many films have offered more nuanced and textured female characters and are telling more women's stories. But activists say more needs to be done to increase women's equitable treatment in Hollywood. In this installment, VOA's Penelope Poulou talks with activists, filmmakers and actresses about the legal and behind the cameras groundwork that will empower women in the film industry.
The decorated 74-year-old Vietnam War veteran accused of shooting seven South Carolina law enforcement officers had set an ambush for investigators coming to question his adult son about a child sexual assault, the sheriff investigating the case said Friday.
Frederick Hopkins was charged with murder and six counts of attempted murder Friday, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said. Hopkins had been in the hospital since he was taken into custody after the Wednesday afternoon shooting, but was to be taken to jail Friday, Lott said.
Florence County investigators called Hopkins home and arranged to speak to his 28-year-old son, Seth Hopkins, about a sex assault investigation Wednesday afternoon, Lott said, adding that they had a search warrant. Officials had previously given the sons age as 27.
The three deputies were shot without warning as they got out of their car, he said.
Dozens of officers rushed to help, and the gunman shot four city of Florence officers. Police Sgt. Terrence Carraway was killed.
Father, son both charged
So many rounds were fired with such powerful weapons that it took up to 30 minutes to get an armored vehicle close enough to rescue the wounded officers, Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler said. The standoff lasted two hours.
Several children in the home were not harmed, authorities said.
Seth Hopkins was charged Friday with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Authorities didnt immediately release details about the crime. Lott said Seth Hopkins also ended up in the hospital after the shooting but was to be released from hospital care Friday.
WBTW-TV reports Judge Tommy Mourounas denied bail for Frederick T. Hopkins, who needed help getting in and out of the courtroom and appeared dazed and tired.
Mourounas asked Hopkins You understand where youre at right now?
Hopkins responded, saying No, where am I?
The judge replied, Youre at bond hearing court.
The court did not decide whether to appoint him a lawyer, delaying that issue until his financial status can be verified.
The judge also denied bail for Seth Hopkins, who was not assigned a public defender.
Child custody
Frederick Hopkins wife, Cheryl Turner Hopkins, is an attorney and attended a hearing Friday that Solicitor Ed Clements said concerned emergency custody for children in the home. The solicitor did not provide details on the hearing and the Family Court judge sealed the case.
Cheryl Turner Hopkins told a WPDE-TV reporter outside the courtroom that she is sorry for the officers families and asked for prayers.
Richland County deputies are investigating the case at the request of the Florence County Sheriffs Office.
Lott said a special FBI team that investigated the fatal shootings of five police officers in Dallas in 2016 and deaths of 59 people and wounding of hundreds more in Las Vegas last year is helping collect evidence from the crime scene at an upscale Florence subdivision.
This is a large crime scene. This is a very large, complex puzzle that we are still filling the pieces in, Lott said.
Two of the wounded officers have been released from the hospital. Lott said others remain in critical condition but did not provide details.
Vietnam veteran
Frederick Hopkins is a Vietnam veteran and a disbarred attorney. His U.S. Army records obtained by The Associated Press show he was awarded a marksman badge with pistol bar and a sharpshooter with rifle bar decorations during 11 years of service starting in 1966.
Hopkins also was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroism defending a firebase under attack by North Vietnamese forces on May 6, 1970.
Hopkins, then a U.S. Army captain, carried medical supplies across an open area, braving shrapnel from exploding mortar rounds, according to the letter explaining the award. He was critically wounded when a mortar round exploded near him, the letter said.
Hopkins earned his law license after he left the military but was disbarred a few years later for mishandling money. Several of his Facebook posts in recent years were about guns, including celebrating his 70th birthday by repeatedly firing his M14 rifle set up exactly like the one I used in Vietnam.
Authorities also released the names of all the wounded officers. Florence County Deputy Arie Davis, investigator Sarah Miller and investigator Farrah Turner were shot as they got to the home. Florence Police Officers Brian Hart, Travis Scott and Scott Williamson were wounded along with Carraway as they rushed to help.
Carraways funeral is scheduled Monday at the citys civic center.
The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements address the sexual harassment and abuse of women by powerful men in Hollywood and elsewhere today. But systemic sexism in the film industry goes back decades, influencing how stories have been told on the silver screen.
Consider the cartoon Pepe Le Pew, about a persistent skunk in relentless pursuit of Penelope Pussycat. When the TV series first appeared, more than half a century ago, it was considered cute and romantic.
Todays audiences find the skunks unwanted advances creepy, and reflect female characters as passive sexual objects, said George Mason University professor Lisa Koch.
Domestic abuse and patronizing behavior of husbands toward their wives were often glorified as passionate relationships, Koch added, such as in the narrative of the 1939 epic drama Gone with the Wind. The character of Rhett Butler, played by Clark Gable, is derisive and controlling toward his on-screen wife, Scarlett O Hara, played by Vivien Leigh. She is scripted as petulant, erratic and manipulative.
Hollywood glamorized and validated the hypermasculine male character who had to rein in the manipulative and childlike female characters, Koch said.
On screen, behind the scenes
Sexism and abuse on screen also reflected the pervasive sexual abuse actresses often endured behind the scenes, said Giovanna Chesler, director of film and video studies at George Mason University.
You read about how Bertolucci and Marlon Brando had an arrangement for their actress in Last Tango in Paris. They knew that this would be a rape scene they would be filming but she (actress Maria Schneider) did not. Chesler was referring to Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci as well as U.S. actor Brando.
In her 2016 autobiography, Tippi Hedren: A Memoir, the actress who was Alfred Hitchcocks main muse and star of his films The Birds and Marnie, writes that when she turned down the filmmakers sexual advances, he threatened to destroy her career.
Chesler says this pervasive culture of sexism and blackmail produced men like Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
He was the Oscar maker and he anointed all of these actresses into Oscar-producing roles. Chesler said. They thought that once they really broke through, they would get out of being sexualized on screen. How ironic that in order to do so, they had to deal with this predator.
Dozens of women have accused the disgraced Hollywood studio boss of sexual misconduct that includes harassment and assault. Earlier this year, Weinstein was indicted on sex crimes charges but remains free on bail while he fights the accusations.
Beyond Hollywood
Since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements began, many films have offered more nuanced and textured female characters and are telling more womens stories.
But activists say more needs to be done to increase womens equitable treatment in Hollywood. Lisa Koch says there is definitely power in the number of women who are uniting against sexism and sexual abuse from all walks of life.
It started with 300 women in Hollywood, she said. It has expanded dramatically, so 700,000 farm laborers pledged their support and that is just one example across the spectrum. Within the first 60 days, the movement raised $21 million in financial backing.
WATCH: Sexism, Assault in Workplace, Including Hollywood, Stopped by Balancing Power
Activist and filmmaker Shannon Lee says female producers and behind-the-scenes artists are offering women jobs, equal pay and creative expression, such as film producer Ava DuVernay, who has an artist collective that distributes films and mandates that all the directors be female.
Lee cautions, however, that sexism against women in the workplace is too pervasive to change overnight.
When there is an imbalance of power, there is an abuse of power. USA Today did a survey that came out in 2017 saying that 94 percent of women in the film industry have had some experience of sexual harassment or sexual assault, Lee said.
Koch offers another statistic: Ninety-five percent of Hollywood directors are men, 18 percent of those involved in film production as directors, producers, writers cinematographers, editors, are women.
Both women say the goal in the industry is 50/50 by 2020.
Where there is 50 percent male and 50 percent female, you dont have the opportunity to this gross misconduct, Lee said.
Sunu Chandy is the legal director of the National Womens Law Center in Washington. She represents thousands of women who have come forward to seek legal support against sexual harassment and discrimination. She says both the #MeToo movement, where women openly addressed the abuse they suffered at the hands of men, and the #TimesUp movement, where sexual predators like Bill Cosby have been prosecuted and convicted for their crimes, are significant legal steps in establishing gender equity in Hollywood and elsewhere.
Hiring women into roles that are traditionally male roles is absolutely something that we are pushing for, Chandy said. But if someone goes there and is sexually harassed and leaves, its continuing the problem. If the Times Up fund helps that case to come forward and be publicized and that company takes meaningful steps to create a better workplace, more women will be encouraged to apply there.
Chandy says that although progress is being made in offering women the legal help and support they deserve, much still has to be done to bring about real change in the workplace, be it a factory, a farm or a Hollywood movie set.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump arrived Saturday in Cairo, Egypt, where she was greeted at an arrival ceremony by President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and his wife, Entissar Mohameed Amer.
After a visit to the presidential palace and a stop at the U.S. embassy in Cairo, the first lady visited the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx. Egypt is Melania Trump's last stop on a four-nation tour of Africa that also included a visit to Kenya, where she visited two orphanages, one for children and the other for elephants.
Trump stopped by the elephant orphanage on a visit to Nairobi National Park, a nature preserve located just a few kilometers south of the Kenyan capital.
Park rangers told the first lady about steps Kenya is taking to conserve the elephant and rhino populations, which have been decimated by poachers. Another 11 rhinos died in July from drinking salty water after a transfer to a new Kenyan sanctuary.
WATCH: Melania Trump Visits Kenyan Children and Elephants
A new Chinese-built railroad running through the park also has been a source of controversy. The project, which split the park in two, was backed by the government over the objections of conservationists who complained of inadequate environmental impact studies.
On Friday, Trump fed a baby elephant using a giant bottle, then got a small bump from another pachyderm as she tried to administer another feeding.
During a 90-minute tour of the park, where she caught glimpses of hippos, a giraffe and other animals, Trump got out of the car to look at an ivory burn site, where the material has been destroyed to discourage the trade in elephant tusks.
After the visit to the park, Trump visited a Nairobi orphanage known as The Nest, which cares mainly for children whose parents have been incarcerated.
Trump's first-ever visit to Africa and her first extended solo international trip as first lady have included visits to Ghana and Malawi.
She will depart Egypt for the U.S. later Saturday, capping a tour to highlight child welfare, education, tourism and conservation.
Trumps visit includes promoting the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the funding of which President Donald Trump has twice proposed slashing by nearly a third. Lawmakers, however, have not approved those requests.
The U.S. Senate voted Saturday to approve Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, following weeks of controversy over sexual assault accusations and attacks on his character and temperament.
Kavanaugh was confirmed in a 50-48 vote. Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana was absent because he was attending his daughter's wedding. That prompted Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to vote "present," in a practice called "pairing" between senators. Murkowski was opposed to sending Kavanaugh to the high court, but withdrew her "no" vote as part of the pairing practice so that Daines would not have to be in the chamber.
As the senators voted, protesters in the Senate gallery screamed, "I do not consent!" and "Shame!" Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the session, repeatedly called for order.
President Donal;d Trump tweeted after the vote:
Analysts said Kavanaugh's presence would give conservatives a 5-4 majority on the court. The lifetime appointment means the 53-year old Kavanaugh's may serve on the highest court for decades.
WATCH: US Senate Confirms Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court
He replaces retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. The nine-member court is currently operating with only eight justices.
Kavanaugh was accused of sexual misconduct by a woman who said he assaulted her at a home in suburban Washington when they were teenagers in the 1980s. He denied the accusation made by professor Christine Blasey Ford, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee more than a week ago.
The Senate narrowly voted Friday to limit debate on Kavanaugh's nomination, advancing it to Saturday's final confirmation vote. Senators have been confronted by protesters who oppose the Kavanaugh nomination, and police at the Capitol have arrested hundreds of demonstrators.
One of the women who accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct during his time at Yale, Deborah Ramirez, said in a statement Saturday that the senators discussing the impending vote brought her back to the moment of the alleged misconduct.
"As I watch many of the senators speak and vote on the floor of the Senate I feel like I'm right back at Yale where half the room is laughing and looking the other way. Only this time, instead of drunk college kids, it is U.S. senators who are deliberately ignoring his behavior," Ramirez said. "This is how victims are isolated and silenced."
Shortly before the vote, Trump said Kavanaugh "will be a great justice of the Supreme Court."
"He's just an extraordinary person ... and I think he's going to make us all very proud," Trump added.
A U.S. Navy veteran from Utah was charged Friday with threatening President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary James Mattis, the FBI director and an admiral by mailing them letters containing castor beans, from which the deadly poison ricin is derived.
The criminal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, charged William Clyde Allen III with one count of threatening to use a biological toxin as a weapon and four counts of mailing threatening communications.
Allen, 39, could face up to life in prison if convicted, said Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Salt Lake City.
He is accused of mailing ground-up castor seeds in separate envelopes addressed to Trump, Mattis, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Admiral John Richardson, chief of U.S. naval operations. Each envelope contained a note reading Jack and the Missile Bean Stock Powder, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case.
No one hurt
None of the letters reached its intended recipient, and no one was hurt, officials said.
The accused perpetrator, who ended his four-year Navy stint in 2002 as a seaman apprentice, was not hard to find. The envelopes, all postmarked Sept. 24, bore Allens name and return address, the affidavit said.
He was arrested Wednesday at his home in Logan, Utah, about 83 miles north of Salt Lake City, and confessed to sending the letters with castor beans he had purchased online, the affidavit said.
It said Allen told investigators that he mailed the letters to send a message but did not elaborate.
The FBI said each envelope tested positive for ricin in two different laboratory examinations, but neither the complaint nor the affidavit explicitly alleged that they were tainted with ricin itself.
The Pentagon has said the two envelopes intercepted there were found to contain only ground castor seeds, which are harmless but triggered the ricin alert.
Earlier threats
Extracting ricin from castor beans is relatively easy and does not require technical expertise but is dangerous, the FBI affidavit stated.
Tiny doses are lethal to humans if ingested, inhaled or injected, causing death within 36 to 72 hours of exposure. There is no known antidote.
Authorities said Allen has threatened the government before, including an email he sent the CIA in 2015 threatening to kill then-President Barack Obama, and a bomb threat he made against an Air Force Base in Texas last year.
Allen was presented the charges at his initial court appearance on Friday before a U.S. magistrate in Salt Lake City and was ordered to remain in the custody of federal marshals at least until a detention hearing set for Oct. 15, Rydalch said.
No plea was entered. A public defender appointed to represent him, Lynn Clark Donaldson, declined comment on the case.
Flash
South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday held a joint event in Pyongyang to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the 2007 inter-Korean summit, according to a pool report from South Korean media.
The ceremony was held to mark the 11th anniversary of the 2007 summit in Pyongyang between then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and then DPRK leader Kim Jong Il, the father of the current leader.
It was the first time that the two sides jointly held the celebration event as the inter-Korean ties improved after three summits in 2018 between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un.
A South Korean delegation, composed of about 160 public officials and civilians, arrived in Pyongyang Thursday for their three-day visit to the DPRK.
The delegation was led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and Lee Hae-chan, chief of the ruling Democratic Party.
Cho said at the ceremony that inter-Korean relations were developing into a new high level, adding that the two sides will go step by step toward peace on the Korean Peninsula.
From the DPRK side, about 3,000 people attended the event, including 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 Fatherland.
Flash
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea called for a complete end to the danger of war, the official media reported in Pyongyang Saturday.
The appeal was issued on Friday at an event held here to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the 2007 inter-Korean summit and released on Saturday by the Korean Central News Agency.
Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, and Unification Minister of South Korea Cho Myoung-gyon were present at the ceremony.
The two sides called for "a complete end to the danger of a war on this land and turn our land into the peaceful one without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats."
They also called for thoroughly carrying out the historic Panmunjom declaration signed at the 2018 inter-Korean summit held in April and the September declaration signed last month by leaders of the two countries.
In October 2007, then DPRK leader Kim Jong Il and then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun held a summit in Pyongyang. Both sides announced a declaration on the development of inter-Korean relations and peace and prosperity.
The South Korean delegation led by Cho and Lee Hae-chan, chief of the ruling Democratic Party, arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday.
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Lauren Wright, the author of On Behalf of the President and a politics lecturer at Princeton University, said Melania Trump could have done more to smooth over the presidents slurs, and the fact that she chose not to seems significant. What would help would be is if she directly addressed her husbands comments about the continent, she said. She doesnt clean up presidents messes she does her own thing. Shes made it clear that shes not there to rescue him, even though shes the only one who can do it.
Devastated: Your mother is certainly entitled to her opinions, and she seems equally comfortable with the consequence of expressing them. If she wanted things to be different with her grandson, she could convey this to you (or him), and you could then worry about how to get the two of them in a room together.
Flash
Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP) urged the U.S. Congress on Friday to put an end to the economic and financial blockade against the island nation.
In a public hearing, Cuba's highest legislative body condemned the economic embargo imposed by Washington on the country almost six decades ago.
"We invite the U.S. Congress to listen to the opinions of the majority in broad sectors of its society, who are advocating an end to the blockade, and thereby finish off this obsolete policy against Cuba," said Yolanda Ferrer, president of the ANPP international relations commission.
The ANPP also invited other countries to "reinforce the international demand" to eliminate this "harmful policy" that contravenes the rights of Cubans and other states.
"We call on parliamentarians from all nations to speak up, encourage and support their respective foreign ministries in support of Cuba's draft resolution at the UN to end the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade," added the lawmaker.
In recent days, several public hearings have been held all over the island nation by different sectors of the country to reject the U.S. embargo and expose the damage caused by this policy in different spheres.
On Oct. 31, Havana will present for the 27th time before the UN General Assembly a non-binding resolution condemning the unilateral policy. Year after year, Cuba receives overwhelming support from the international community.
In 2017, only the United States and Israel opposed the Cuban initiative, while 191 countries condemned Washington's policy towards Cuba.
However, the United States is not obliged to comply with the UN mandate and claims the blockade is a bilateral issue with Cuba which should be resolved between the two nations.
In its annual report to the United Nations, Havana indicated that economic losses caused by the U.S. blockade, which has been reinforced during Donald Trump's administration, totaled over 4.3 billion U.S. dollars between April 2017 and March 2018.
The victim, 6-month-old Brooklynn Zakiyaa Hill-Davis, was found suffering from injuries Sept. 5 by police who were called to her home in the 1900 block of Valley Terrace SE. After the girl died in a hospital five days later, an autopsy revealed hemorrhaging in her back, a possible fracture of her right femur and thermal trauma to her abdomen, back and lower chest, authorities said.
Correction
An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect figure for the lead in an internal poll released by Elissa Silverman. The poll shows her with a 17-point lead, not a 30-point one. The story also gave an incorrect name for the Apartment and Office Building Association. And the story incorrectly said Lopez hung up on a reporter seeking comment; he first said he had no comment and then hung up. This story has been updated.
Chanting We believe survivors! Vote them out! and Shame, shame, shame! hundreds of demonstrators converged on the Capitol early in the afternoon, where they mixed with tourists and onlookers on the Capitols East Front plaza. They had gathered, they said, to express their displeasure with senators who voted to confirm Kavanaugh despite the allegations of sexual assault made against him by Christine Blasey Ford and their belief that he was not truthful in his testimony before the Senate.
The contentious races come as the school system reels from controversies and city leaders debate whether there should be more checks and balances on the mayor, who appoints nearly all of the citys education leaders. The D.C. Council is considering measures that would take away the authority of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) to appoint the state superintendent of education and create an education research center beyond the purview of the mayor.
As soon as she arrived at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup, Cook immediately began to explore education and self-help opportunities, according to the motion. She was not eligible for many during her first few months, but within a year or so was enrolled in a peer-led program that promotes understanding and healing between offenders and those whose lives have been damaged by the crime; enrolled in a class that focuses on the impact of crime on victims; took Bible classes and courses on transitioning back into society; and attended weekly prison-wide Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Jealous says he knew it would be difficult to unseat one of the most popular incumbent governors in the nation. He and his aides insist that he is on track, following his underdog strategy to turn out 1 million Democratic voters by rallying those who stayed home in 2014 and hammering on the need to lower drug and health-care costs, close the achievement gap and pay teachers more money.
But Vogel testified that the day after Turners arrest in March, Jennings checked information about witnesses in his case and that that was not among her job duties. Authorities think Jennings passed the information to Turner as to who any witnesses were in his case. Vogel said no witnesses in cases Jennings reviewed were harmed.
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Flash
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko highlighted the importance of creating new types of Belarus-made weapons and modernizing the existing military equipment, the presidential press service said Friday.
Visiting the training ground in the Brest region in the southwestern corner of Belarus, Lukashenko said that in recent years, Belarus had to modernize and adapt its armed forces to modern conditions several times, taking into account the experience of wars and local conflicts in the world, as well as the development of technical means.
He said it is the fourth attempt to upgrade the Belarusian armed forces.
According to Lukashenko, Belarus first cut its armed forces to about 100,000 people and stopped the sale of the remaining weapons from the USSR, the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Then, Belarus launched research groups to study modern warfare. At the third stage, Belarus set up special operational forces.
In light of the current situation, one task is to proceed with the development of new types of weapons necessary for the defense of Belarus, the president said.
That sounds far-fetched, and yet in 1964, the Leader newspaper of Lexington, Ky., opined that the countrys swing to the right as evidenced by the nomination of Barry Goldwater as the GOPs presidential candidate resulted from two things: the Post Office Departments Zip code and the IRS ruling that people had to use their Social Security numbers on their taxes.
The region needs commitments from the jurisdictions as much as from the service providers, said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. The jurisdictions control the roadways and are responsible for accessibility of bus stops, curbsides and traffic operation improvements that can contribute to better performance of buses. They decide whether to give up general traffic lanes for bus lanes and facilitate the implementation of a signal priority system that gives buses the right of way at traffic lights.
A national poll of 1,200 randomly selected adults conducted in July by the Kaiser Family Foundation for this story found that 26 percent said they did not have a primary-care provider. There was a pronounced difference among age groups: 45 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds had no primary-care provider, compared with 28 percent of those 30 to 49, 18 percent of those 50 to 64 and 12 percent age 65 and older. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)
Man sentenced to death in killing of five women: A former Marine convicted of murdering five women in California was sentenced to death on Friday. An Orange County Superior Court judge issued the sentence for Andrew Urdiales, 54, convicted of killing five women in Riverside, Orange and San Diego counties between 1986 and 1995. A jury recommended the death penalty earlier this year. Urdiales previously was sentenced to death for killing three women in Illinois in 2002, but that sentence was commuted to life without parole after that state barred the death penalty. Authorities said Urdiales, who moved to Southern California as a 19-year-old Marine, killed four women while in the military and a fifth in Palm Springs in 1995.
Rwanda court orders critic of president released: A Rwandan high court judge ordered the release on bail of an opposition activist and her mother who were detained last year on charges of incitement after she was barred from standing against President Paul Kagame in elections. Diane Rwigara, a 37-year-old accountant, repeatedly accused Kagame of stifling dissent and criticized his Rwandan Patriotic Front's near-total hold on power since it fought its way to office to end a genocide in 1994. She had planned to run against Kagame in an August election, but her candidacy was blocked by the electoral board on the grounds that she had not submitted enough supporters' signatures and that some of those she did submit were forged.
We supported the FCCs 2013 plan to allow cellular data in-flight so that flyers who wanted to stay tethered to those on the ground could do so more easily. Today, as then, there is no reason not to let passengers turn off airplane mode with the right technology on board. But the question here is not whether airlines open themselves up to cell service along with WiFi. It is whether either of those systems can be used to facilitate bothersome babbling. Passengers will still be able to access their smartphones for texting, emailing and browsing. That means if fliers need to connect, they can without annoying their neighbors.
Many of the words Smith uttered long ago apply now to the current administration. Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who . . . ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism, she said, including the right to criticize and to protest. Though lamenting the ineffective Democratic administration of Harry S. Truman, she said replacing it with a dishonest Republican one might be a fleeting victory for the Republican Party, [but] it would be a more lasting defeat for the American people.
Regardless of what may or may not have happened more than three decades ago, I do not think Kavanaugh deserved the way the leakers of Fords letter stage-managed this process into a public trial. He didnt deserve to have so many journalists convict him before they had collected evidence or had even quite settled on the crime. Nor the abuse that partisans lavished on him and his family. It would be only human if Kavanaugh looked on those people and their arguments with an unfriendly eye.
If the world was just about money, and the primary goal of U.S. foreign policy was just to get more of it, then Donald Trump might be someone you would want in the White House. With tough talk, threats of tariffs, and last-minute accommodations and concessions, the president has squeezed new deals out of allies such as Canada and Mexico that may be marginally better for some U.S. industries than were the old ones. He may have similar successes in his trade war with China, if only because, contrary to the declinist talk of the past decade, the United States, with its massive and lucrative market, enjoys real advantages over its trading partners. If a president is willing to exploit them, as Trump has been, he can force others to knuckle under.
THE SENATE voted Saturday to confirm Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, after one of the most contentious nomination battles in history and by the slimmest margin for a justice in the modern era. Now, difficult as this seems, it will be up to the new justice to seek to reassure a country riven over his selection that he has the temperament and judgment to do the job; as important, it will be up to the court as a whole to demonstrate that it is not just another partisan institution. And it will be up to those who opposed his confirmation, including this page, to evaluate Mr. Kavanaugh fairly in his new position.
The key issue, said Washington lawyer Kannon Shanmugam, another Supreme Court regular, is how is the new court because the court is always a new court when it has a new member going to approach the subject of stare decisis and the extent the new justice has diverging views from Justice Kennedy. . . . I think there are good reasons to believe it will be gradual.
People familiar with the matter say the allegations made in the complaints that Kavanaugh was dishonest and lacked judicial temperament during his Senate testimony had already been widely discussed in the Senate and in the public realm. Roberts did not see an urgent need for them to be resolved by the judicial branch while he continued to review the incoming complaints, they said.
For years, Trumps followers have said that he seems like the sort of guy they would want to have a beer with (even though he doesnt drink). Those who did meet him often gushed about how Trump made them feel like the most important person in the world during their short interaction. Ahead of Thursday nights rally in southern Minnesota held in a congressional district where seven counties flipped from voting for Barack Obama to Trump GOP gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson said that meeting with Trump was like talking to my dad.
In my view, the biggest losers are the people sitting over there in that court, said Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.). This is a partisan Supreme Court . . . and theyre the ones that are going to have to try to make it nonpartisan, because we cant do it at this point.
McConnell said he became confident he had the votes only when the roll call occurred Friday morning, when the Senate narrowly moved to advance Kavanaughs nomination. He announced last week that the Senate would vote on Friday following a brief FBI investigation a probe demanded by a trio of influential Republican senators who had yet to announce how they would vote on Kavanaughs nomination.
I feel like there was a primal scream-type reaction from the Republicans overly white, overly male base, Fallon said of the response to the Kavanaugh controversy. It may have been a repeat of the reaction in the fall of 2016, when a recording from Access Hollywood showed Trump boasting of groping women. Very few people were willing to grapple with the idea that it may have had a galvanizing effect that further polarized the country, Fallon said.
I dont know a single woman in my generation who wasnt in some way sexually assaulted, whether it was being felt up on the train in New York City or by a boss at a fast-food restaurant when you were 16 or a co-worker who continually got too close in the elevator, said Illis, 59-year-old former designer and analyst for a software development firm. I really thought the world had changed. And now Im opening my eyes to the fact that it hasnt.
For defenders of Kavanaugh, this was, as Trump put it, a scary moment for men who fear they can be falsely accused of sexual misconduct. They argue, as McConnell did repeatedly on Kavanaughs behalf, that no one was able to corroborate Fords charges, that innocent until proven guilty is still a fundamental principle of American justice. This view is also held by many women who are loyal to Trump, who have known and worked with Kavanaugh or who want to see more conservative judges appointed to the courts.
The president went on to tell The Post, You can also say that this is the president that gave Alaska ANWR, which is the biggest oil deal in the world. Okay? You know, its like the biggest in the world. That Ronald Reagan could not get through, that no president could get through.
Tuesday evening in Southhaven, Miss., Trump laid into Ford with the ruthlessness of an attack dog and the pacing of a stand-up comedian. The crowd roared with laughter and applause. Aides privately crowed as footage of the performance was played and replayed many times over, shifting the national discussion from scrutiny of Kavanaughs honesty and drinking habits to doubts about Fords memory. And in Washington, Republican senators though they condemned Trumps mockery of Ford felt emboldened to aggressively demand Kavanaughs confirmation, which became a near-certainty Friday and looks to become official with a vote Saturday.
The professor testified that although she does not remember how she got home that evening, she knew that because of the distance she would have needed a ride, Collins said. Yet not a single person has come forward to say that they were the one who drove her home or were in the car with her that night.
She was torn after a process she said was neither fair to Kavanaugh nor satisfactory for victims of sexual assault. I believe we are dealing with issues right now that are bigger than a nominee, she said, and it just may be that in my view hes not the right man for the court at this time.
Grassley contends that, after Bork and Thomas, the succeeding decade of judicial confirmations changed. But then, he said, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), as a junior member in 2001, led a strategy that enabled Democrats to block President George W. Bushs nominees based on legal ideology rather than qualifications for the posts. Soon after that strategy took hold, Democrats blocked conservative lawyer Miguel Estrada from an appellate court seat because they said he did not answer their questions about his ideology.
He should be doing more, said Indriani, 43, who was camped with hundreds of others in a park in front of the mayors office, among the hundreds of thousands now homeless in the region. Even if he isnt helping, at least he could come meet his people.
The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, has asked for a special Vatican-led probe a so-called apostolic visitation into McCarricks rise and whether figures within the church hierarchy knew of his behavior. But the Vatican has so far declined to order such a probe, one of its most powerful tools, which it used recently in Chile to investigate systemic abuse and coverup.
The Humanities and Fine Arts Division of Chattanooga State Community College will host the second lecture of its 5th annual Chautauqua Lecture Series on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. in the Humanities Auditorium on Chattanooga States main campus.
In 1874, people gathered on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in New York State to enjoy speakers, teachers, musicians and specialists who entertained and educated members of the community, thus catalyzing an adult education movement that subsequently spread throughout rural America.
Since 2014, Chattanooga State has hosted its own monthly Chautauqua to unite faculty, students, staff and the larger Chattanooga community in exploring a wide array of topics within the Humanities.
This year, Chattanooga States Chautauqua Series features the informative and unique research of seven Humanities & Fine Arts faculty, as well as the series finale with Writers@Work 2018-2019 visiting authors Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin.
This months Chautauqua lecture takes its cue from the spooky month of October, and will feature a topic and refreshments inspired by the spirit of Halloween.
Assistant Professor Mindy Griffin and Director of the Andrews Writing Center Mollee Shannon will present Double, Double, Toil and Trouble: The History of Witchcraft and Demonic Women in Literature, Media and Culture.
Throughout history, witches and witchcraft have surfaced in almost every generations cultural icons. Join Griffin and Shannon as they ask: Why witches? What characteristic of these hellish creatures continues to command cultural relevance through centuries of social change?
Griffins interest in witches dates back to graduate school, where she focused on the connection between women and weather in Shakespeares works, and where the Weird Sisters of Macbeth first piqued her interest in the topic. Since then, Griffin has extensively researched the Salem Witch Trials.
Both Griffin and Shannon see their joint presentation as an opportunity to show that the history of witchcraft and demonic women "has less to do with the veracity of witchcraft itself," and more to do with "how the belief of the existence of witchcraft and its subsequent persecution reflects our ever-changing cultural fears and anxieties."
Following Ms. Griffin and Ms. Shannons October lecture, four other Chattanooga State faculty will present lectures in their field of study. The final installment in the 2018-2019 Chautauqua Lecture Series will be a special event offered in partnership with the Humanities Departments Writers@Work program, entitled Writers@Work: The Art and Craft of Writing. During this session, the 2018-19 Writers@Work visiting authors, Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin, will discuss their writing process, their collaboration on the novel The Tilted World and the art and craft of writing.
Lecture series events will be held from 2-3 p.m. on Oct. 18, Nov. 15, Feb. 21, 2019, March 21, 2019 and April 11, 2019 in Humanities Auditorium, Chattanooga State Main Campus, 4501 Amnicola Hwy. The events are free to all members of the public.
If the reports of Jamals murder are true, it is a monstrous and unfathomable act, Fred Hiatt, the director of The Posts editorial page, said in a statement. Jamal was or, as we hope, is a committed, courageous journalist. He writes out of a sense of love for his country and deep faith in human dignity and freedom. He is respected in his country, in the Middle East and throughout the world. We have been enormously proud to publish his writings.
We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well, he said. And then we will share with you how we hope to proceed when we are in Pyongyang tomorrow. So we will have a fully coordinated, unified view of how to proceed, which will be what is needed if we are going to be successful on denuclearizing North Korea.
Mention the words Pine Gap to anyone who came of political age in the 1980s, and the lyrics of Midnight Oil's song about US military and cultural imperialism, Power and the Passion, probably spring to mind. "Flat chat, Pine Gap, in every home a Big Mac/And no one goes outback, that's that." But mention it to anyone under 40, writer Felicity Packard says, and "very few people have heard of it".
It's no accident the joint Australian-American surveillance facility in the Central Desert, about 20 kilometres from Alice Springs, isn't really on the radar; secrecy is its stock in trade. And when it comes to the business of creating a drama set there, that's more blessing than curse.
"It's a real place but so little is known about it, it just gave us a wonderful opportunity to explore something while keeping it real," says Packard, who created the show with Greg Haddrick.
Essentially, what the six-part series explores is secrets and lies. Produced by Screentime (Underbelly, Anzac Girls) and co-funded by the ABC and Netflix, the show begins with the detection of a missile being aimed somewhere in Asia, far too close to where the US President happens to be at that moment. Is it deliberate or coincidence? And why didn't Pine Gap know about it beforehand?
Fremantle midfield supremo Lachie Neale is fully committed in his switch to Brisbane in a shock move in what is shaping to be the biggest trade period in AFL history.
Neale is known to have told Dockers officials that he wants a trade after weeks of uncertainty as the star on-baller considered a whopping five-year deal believed to be almost $1 million a season.
Lachie Neale is looking for a trade to the Brisbane Lions. Credit:AAP
It is even understood Lions powerbrokers are prepared to extend his lucrative package to six years to further strengthen appeal to join other Brisbane ball-magnets Dayne Zorko and Dayne Beams.
The highly popular Dockers leader has concluded all negotiations with Lions management and wants to leave Fremantle despite a year to run on his current contract.
Seven WA teachers were banned or suspended from teaching for posing a serious risk to children over the last year, the WA Teacher Registration Board has revealed.
The new figure illustrates the number of cases that have come before the State Administrative Tribunal between July 2017 and July 2018, with offences ranging from sexual misconduct to inappropriate relationships with students.
The education department carries out rigorous checks on its teachers before employment. Credit:Fairfax
The latest public cancellation came in October last year, when a WA teacher was investigated for gambling with his students and hand-delivering a card with $20 inside to a student's workplace.
It was found the 55-year-old science teacher requested the school girl become his Facebook friend and soon after in February 2017, began discussing personal details about his wife's cancer battle with her.
Theresa May has said she won't accept different customs arrangements in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain. Credit:AP
London: The European Union is preparing to offer British Prime Minister Theresa May a supercharged free trade deal but will reject Mrs Mays demands for frictionless trade, it has emerged.
The offer from Brussels, which will be put to British negotiators on Wednesday, is said to contain 30 to 40 per cent of the demands made in Mrs Mays Chequers proposal.
Irelands Europe Minister suggested on Friday that a deal could be done ''in the next 10 days''.
Hearst Connecticut Media / Christian Abraham
BRIDGEPORT Several construction vehicles were stolen from a city company on Sunday and still havent been located, police said.
Multiple vehicles and backhoes were taken from the yard of Candee Construction, at 3255 Fairfield Ave., shortly before noon on Sunday.
Clarence Shwaluk stood at the edge of a sprawling farm field in southeast Manitoba, surveying the crop. Local farmers, he said, had been talking about it.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 5/10/2018 (1136 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Clarence Shwaluk stood at the edge of a sprawling farm field in southeast Manitoba, surveying the crop. Local farmers, he said, had been talking about it.
"This crop is definitely unique. It looks completely different from other crops that are grown here, the corn or the wheat thats grown, or soybeans," he said.
"So it does get a lot of attention.... Theyre looking at it and theyre going, Well, that looks like marijuana."
Clarence Shwaluk, director of farm operations for Manitoba Harvests parent company Fresh Hemp Foods, surveys a hemp field near Kleefeld, Man. (Photos by Andrew Ryan / Winnipeg Free Press)
In a sense, it is marijuana. Then again, its definitely not.
It was a few weeks back, a hazy August day near Kleefeld, and the roughly 160 acres of cannabis in this field were almost ready for harvest. If this cannabis were meant for recreational or medical drug use, the harvest would gather the female plants pungent buds.
But this is hemp, and the buds are just a byproduct; Shwaluks employer wants the seeds.
Shwaluk is the director of farm operations for the parent company of hemp food retailer Manitoba Harvest, and hes visiting a farm owned by one of the companys suppliers one of the first hemp farms in this corner of the province, he said.
Shwaluk holds a female seed-bearing plant in a Hemp Oil Canada field.
At the end of their journey, the hemp seeds from this prairie field will end up in someones meal. But in order to get those seeds on a customers plate, Manitoba Harvest needs the public to understand the difference between hemp and marijuana, which are both specially-bred varieties of the same plant, Cannabis sativa.
"With the changes in the legislation theres obviously a lot of focus now on... recreational or medical cannabis," Shwaluk said.
"We do need to have our consumers understand that this is neither of those, its low-THC, and what we do with the crop is provide a healthy, nutritious food product."
THC is the chemical compound responsible for marijuanas euphoric effects, but hemp has almost none of it. The federal government, which regulates all commercial hemp production in Canada, requires all hemp crops to contain less than 0.3 per cent THC in the leaves and buds.
Hemp Oil Canadas facility in Ste. Agathe.
But it can be hard to tell the difference between hemp and marijuana by just glancing at the plants, or even by smelling them. The unmistakable, pungent scent of cannabis lingers at the fields edge.
"Ive heard stories from growers where they see a footpath and a bare spot in the middle of the field," Shwaluk said with a laugh.
"But youre not going to have any impact if you try to smoke it. You may get a headache, but thats about it."
This year, Manitoba Harvest is working with about 60 Canadian hemp growers as far east as Quebec. (Saskatchewan cultivates the most acres of government-registered industrial hemp among all the provinces, according to the most recent Health Canada statistics. Alberta is second, followed by Manitoba, with Quebec in a distant fourth place.)
Quality control technician Bryce Desender inspects hemp seeds for impurities at Manitoba Harvests Ste. Agathe facility.
The hemp seeds harvested by Manitoba Harvests suppliers called "grain" in industry parlance get shipped to the companys primary production facility and head office in Ste. Agathe. Decorative hemp plants sprout from planters out front, and the boardroom is dominated by a massive conference table featuring a layer of hemp seeds under glass.
Manitoba Harvest was bought by U.S. firm Compass Diversified Holdings in June 2015, then merged with bulk hemp food supplier Hemp Oil Canada later that year. The combined company, called Fresh Hemp Foods Ltd., is easily the worlds biggest hemp food company, chief operating officer Barry Tomiski said. It processes more than 30 million pounds of hemp annually.
"If you go back half a dozen years ago there was probably three or four competitors," he said. "Now theres probably a dozen.... Weve seen a lot of new entrants into the business over the last five years."
After being cleaned by third-party seed cleaners and undergoing grading at the Ste. Agathe facility, seeds destined for Manitoba Harvests retail products get shipped to the companys secondary processing and packaging plant in a northwest Winnipeg industrial park. The Free Press is allowed inside for a tour, but photography is not permitted, in order to protect the companys intellectual property.
Manitoba Harvest's chief operating officer Barry Tomiski says the company processes more than 30 million pounds of hemp annually.
"Were pioneers in the industry, here, which is why everything inside the plant is proprietary," plant manager Kevin Kaluzny explained as he walked among giant outdoor hoppers that can each hold more than 40,000 kilograms of hemp seed. The pre-recorded cries of predatory birds echoed across the courtyard, warding off scavenging animals in search of a hemp meal.
Inside the cavernous processing plant itself, the warm, nutty scent of hemp seeds was overwhelming. An endless stream of seeds hummed through enormous machines that cracked and separated the hulls and removed any foreign materials. All that was left were the seeds cores, which ended up in 900-kilogram bags to await final tests for unwanted microbes and gluten.
Some of those seed cores branded by Manitoba Harvest as Hemp Hearts end up processed into hemp seed oil or hemp protein powder, but most would be packed into pouches and shipped off to stores.
Getting consumers to pick hemp foods off a grocery store shelf requires some guidance, said Sarah Malloy, an integrated marketing specialist with Manitoba Harvest.
Lab technician Aaron Cassels at work in a health and safety lab at Hemp Oil Canada.
"Educations our No. 1 marketing tactic," she said. "People dont know what hemp is, and if they do know what it is they dont know how to use it. And some people dont even know that its a food."
The company did about 1,800 demos in more than 500 Costco stores in August, Tomiski said.
"And what theyre doing is, theyre saying, here, try this on your yogurt, here, try this on your toast with avocado," he said.
"Once people get that initial first taste, and theyve never had it before, they go, Wow. This is kind of good, its kind of nutty, its a little bit like a sunflower seed, but its different."
Shelled hemp seeds are branded as Hemp Hearts.
Tomiski has yet to hear "anyone say they that dislike the taste of hulled hemp seed."
"But I think what they like about it is the versatility and how they can use it, and the fact that theyre getting a boost of (omegas and amino acids)," he said.
The healthfulness of hemp seeds is a key marketing message, Malloy said; words such as "protein" and "omegas" are given prominence on Manitoba Harvests retail packages. The companys target demographic is men and women between the ages of 25 and 45.
"Theyre people that are interested in health and wellness and trying new foods, (and are) more adventurous when it comes to what they make," she said. "And a lot of moms that are health-conscious when it comes to what theyre feeding their kids."
Edible Hemp oil is available at the Hemp Oil Canada retail store.
Still, those consumers have to be taught how to use hemp seeds in their cooking.
"We try and share some recipes on social media and show that its really an easy thing to add to any meal," she said. "Just sprinkle it on anything salad, cereal, yogurt."
But some future Manitoba Harvest products will be more like ready-to-eat, packaged snack goods. A new line of hemp granola products will launch in 2019 with three flavours.
"We wanted a breakfast option, a snack option that was high-protein, low sugar," Malloy said.
"And granola is something that a lot of people use hemp in already, either theyre adding it to pre-made store-bought granola or theyre adding it to their homemade granola. So it seemed like a natural fit."
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Even with recreational cannabis legalization focusing public attention on the cannabis plant, Tomiski said Manitoba Harvest works hard to differentiate the companys product from drug-type marijuana. For him, even the word "cannabis" is one to avoid.
"It has the connotation that its the other sister to hemp, which has the THC and the psychoactive component to it," he said.
"And weve been diligent, over the past 20 years, (in) explaining those differences, and that hemp is a health food that does not contain the psychoactive component that people are looking for, perhaps, on the other spectrum."
Could cannabis legalization make it easier to explain that difference to people?
"Well, that remains to be seen," he said.
solomon.israel@theleafnews.com
The provincial government's decision to abandon its proposed carbon tax has created greater uncertainty in the Manitoba business community than there was a week ago.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 5/10/2018 (1136 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The provincial government's decision to abandon its proposed carbon tax has created greater uncertainty in the Manitoba business community than there was a week ago.
While some business leaders breathed a sigh of relief that the province's $25-a-tonne carbon levy would be scrapped, many had supported the Manitoba plan over Ottawa's, which would see the tax rate climb to $50 a tonne in a few years.
Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce president Loren Remillard preferred the province's $25-per-tonne plan because of its cost certainty. (Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Under Manitoba's Climate and Green Plan, the province had exempted farmers from paying the carbon tax on farm fuels, including those used for drying grain or heating barns.
Farmers have received no assurances they'll receive the same exemptions from Ottawa, which plans to impose a $20-a-tonne carbon tax on Jan. 1 in provinces that have not implemented their own tax. Manitoba's plan was to take effect Dec. 1.
Bill Campbell, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said farmers are "in limbo now," not knowing how a growing rift between Ottawa and a growing number of provinces opposed to the carbon tax is going to play out.
"Now, we don't know where we're at in this whole process," he said Friday.
The trucking industry is especially vulnerable to a carbon tax, the Manitoba Trucking Association says. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said given the choice of the flat $25-a-tonne flat tax proposed by the province and a federal tax climbing to $50, business chose the provincial plan.
The chamber is disappointed that Ottawa was not prepared to allow Manitoba to show that its tax model was more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as the province claimed, he said.
"We preferred the Manitoba approach because it created a little more (cost) certainty," Remillard said Friday.
But he said he also respects Premier Brian Pallister's decision to take a stand now against Ottawa's insistence on an escalating carbon tax, noting that the federal tax would rise to $30 in a little over a year.
"If it's a choice between Ottawa's imposition (of a higher tax) or Manitoba pushing back, we support the province in pushing back," Remillard said.
For the trucking industry, there was relief this week that the province was abandoning its tax plan. Manitoba truckers and heavy-equipment operators faced a combined cost increase of $1 million a week from provincial carbon tax. So, there's been a temporary reprieve until a federally imposed tax takes effect.
Terry Shaw, executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association, disagrees with some in the business community that the provincial plan offered more cost certainty than Ottawa's. In the long-term, there was never any guarantee that Ottawa would have allowed Manitoba to maintain its flat tax rate, he said.
"There's certainty (in Ottawa's carbon tax regime), it's just bad certainty," Shaw said.
The trucking industry is especially vulnerable to a carbon tax, operating in a competitive market with no corresponding tax south of the border. Unlike individuals, trucking companies cannot reduce their carbon footprint simply by buying a more fuel-efficient vehicle or choosing to take a bus or ride a bike to work, he said, adding companies are already investing in modern trucks and more efficient tires to reduce fuel costs.
Manitoba's manufacturers say they are also disproportionately affected by a carbon tax.
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Ron Koslowsky, Manitoba vice-president with Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, said companies are always trying to reduce their energy costs. Given some financial breathing room, they'll make the necessary investments, but that becomes more difficult when their costs go up as a result of increased taxes.
"You're actually defeating the very goal of helping manufacturers invest in the thing that will make a difference (in controlling greenhouse gases)," he said.
Meanwhile, farm and business leaders are eyeing the growing divide between Ottawa and the provinces on the carbon tax issue with interest.
With the election of Doug Ford's Conservatives, Ontario is now staunchly opposed to a carbon tax, as is Saskatchewan. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is refusing to raise her province's carbon tax in line with federal requirements now that the Trans Mountain pipeline project is stalled. Manitoba is now threatening to challenge the federal carbon tax in court.
"We can expect some very difficult conversations between provincial governments and the federal government in the months ahead leading up to the (2019 federal) election," Remillard said.
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Bill, my friend, says Keanu Reeves character in the surprise hit movie Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure of three decades ago, Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 5/10/2018 (1136 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
"Bill, my friend," says Keanu Reeves character in the surprise hit movie Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure of three decades ago, "Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
Indeed, they are.
Whats strange is that all the Macs Convenience Stores in Manitoba are being renamed Circle K. Quebec-based parent company, Alimentation Couche-Tard, is retiring the Macs name in favour of its more widely used brand, Circle K.
Couche-Tard has made many convenience store acquisitions over the years it purchased Macs in 1999 and Circle K in 2003 and felt it was time to put them all under the same brand.
"They had different names under its umbrella and it really made more sense to go with the one global brand," said Dayna Palmer, Couche-Tard marketing manager for Western Canada based in Calgary.
"We want to be the McDonalds, the Starbucks, of the convenience store world," Palmer said. "So when you walk into a place, whether its in Thailand, whether its in Norway, whether its in Arizona or Manitoba, you know youre getting the same customer service and products."
Circle K is in 14 countries other than Canada and the U.S., including China, Costa Rica, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates.
The Circle K name won out over Macs because its Couche-Tards main store name, particularly in the United States. It is also large in Ontario. The Macs brand dominated in Western Canada with 305 stores.
There were 16 Macs stores in Winnipeg, 21 in Manitoba, before the signs started being changed. There were two existing Circle Ks in Winnipeg, one on Gateway Road and the other on Kildare Avenue, prior to the rebranding.
The changeover began in May in Western Canada and in Manitoba just in the past month. The conversion of Macs stores is expected to be completed by spring next year, Palmer said.
"One of the biggest things people believe is that this is an American chain coming up (and purchasing the Macs stores), but thats not the case. Canadians actually own Circle K. Its still a very proud Canadian brand," Palmer said.
Circle K originated in El Paso, Texas, as Kay Foods it was renamed Circle K, a ranch-type name, when it changed ownership.
The Macs stores have existed for 57 years. Macs Milk Ltd. was founded in 1961 by Ontario businessmen Ken and Carl McGowen. The name changed to Macs Convenience Stores in 1975.
Other Couche-Tard store names to be rebranded as Circle K include Kangaroo Express (purchased by Couche-Tard in 2014) and Statoil (purchased in 2012) in the U.S., Canada, Europe and other countries.
However, the Couche-Tard store name in Quebec will remain because the brand is very strong there.
The change has been in the works for several years. There will be no layoffs of Macs workforce of 8,000 people at 800 Macs stores in Canada.
The Macs stores will remain virtually the same, except for the sign in front and some renovations where required. "I promise you Frosters arent going anywhere," Palmer said. Frosters are Macs equivalent of competitor 7-Elevens Slurpee.
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But going with a global brand allows the company to initiate any changes or introduce new products across all its stores.
For example, Circle K will soon be introducing a new product called "Real Hot Dogs" that are made from an assortment of sausages like the honey mesquite, a Gouda cheese sausage, an Angus beef, with unique toppings available like warm macaroni and cheese.
Palmer said there will be some public events next spring once the signage change is completed. "Its a little cold right now," she said.
The majority of Circle K stores are open 24 hours, seven days a week.
bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca
When the Winnipeg company Permission Click started five years ago, the idea was to find a way to design an online, digital format to make life easier for teachers and parents by digitally replacing all those consent forms that kids previously stuffed in their knapsacks.
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This article was published 5/10/2018 (1136 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
When the Winnipeg company Permission Click started five years ago, the idea was to find a way to design an online, digital format to make life easier for teachers and parents by digitally replacing all those consent forms that kids previously stuffed in their knapsacks.
Now the company is about to officially roll out a massive school-district version of the platform that many believe is at the forefront of a digital transformation that could streamline the way school districts around the world communicate with their schools.
Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files Curwin Friesen is chairman of Friesens Corporation, an investor in Permission Click, which he says created a solution for an unidentified need.
Organizations including the 587-school Toronto District School Board, Microsoft Canada and the Australian Scholarships Group are already firm believers in Permission Click.
The 15-person company operating out of Kelly House, the little red house on Innovation Alley, is in the process of doubling its workforce, attracting software developers from as far away as Brazil and establishing a sales force across Canada and the U.S.
Chris Johnson, 35, the founder and CEO of the company, said the road to get to where theyre at now has been fraught with challenges, like the time they finished a round of funding to scale up sales and then discovered it wasnt the schools, but the school divisions, that they really needed to be targeting.
Curwin Friesen, board chair of Friesens Corporation, an investor in Permission Click, said, "We realized this is bigger than was originally sketched out. School boards have a need that was previously unidentified and we had a solution... Now we were writing code with specific needs in mind as opposed to building something and then hoping someone had had a need."
After a few years in the market with a free product used by thousands of schools and community groups, the company had to go back to the drawing board.
But with the availability of technology such as robust cloud computing storage, Permission Click now has a platform that will do all the workflow mapping a school district needs. It will ensure that the right templates are used and the right approvals are obtained. And everything can be digitally stored for audit.
The districts can be confident that their schools are consistently using the right policy.
"Were not a digital permission form company anymore," Johnson said. "Were a risk-transference, liability-management tool, helping districts manage important liabilities."
Iain Riffel, assistant superintendent of program at Pembina Trails School Division, has been a Permission Click fan for close to five years. He said Pembina Trails was eager for a tool that would support and streamline policies to make sure that the schools were compliant, that everything was covered off related to safety and that the right people were seeing the right things at the right time.
"I dont see every field from every school, but if there is high-risk activity we are able now to vet them, for instance, through the phys-ed consultant in a paperless way," he said. "And if there IS a reason to see the details of a field trip, now we can."
There is some competition for Permission Click, including all sorts of free digital forms that can be found online, but Johnson and others believe the Winnipeg company has a solid lead in the market from a technology point of view.
Matthew Decker, who runs the office of youth, young adult and campus ministries at the Catholic Diocese of Dallas in Texas, uses Permission Click for a growing number of functions. He said digital documents are are a dime a dozen, but they are not safe or secure.
He said, "I cringe when I hear people say they use something like Google Docs for permission or some sort of legal signature. Because the person who creates the form can change the language whenever they want. Permission Click can be used as a legal document that cannot be altered. It captures the legal signature better than people realize and cant be alterable afterward."
Its the kind of solution the Australian Scholarships Group (ASG), a $2.5-billion member-owned mutual organization, was looking for. The ASG invested in the companys last round of financing earlier this year and is now in the process of setting up its own sale force to start selling the service in Australia after a complex partnership deal was hammered out.
Also in the last year, in addition to signing on the Toronto District School Board ("the motherlode," Friesen said), Permission Click signed a key partnership with Microsoft Canada, allowing the small Winnipeg company to leverage the credibility of Microsoft, which is opening all sorts of doors. It is one of only 20 companies out of thousands of such partnerships that Microsoft is giving a priority push to.
Microsoft doesnt do that just because it wants to help a little company grow. It does it because it will help Microsoft grow. Permission Click uses the Microsoft Azure cloud platform; the more school divisions that use Permission Clicks service, the more data storage business there is for Microsoft Azure.
Nancy Teodoro, education partner lead with Microsoft Canada, said, "Were very excited about the partnership. They have a very bright future ahead of them. The road map looks very promising. Im super impressed with the people I have met. They have rock stars in terms of talent."
Johnson, who made a name for himself as one of the founders of AssentWorks and as an original board member of North Forge Technology Exchange, convinced fellow North Forge board member, Jerin Valel, the former director of digital at Bell MTS, to become Permission Clicks product vice-president
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Valel said that after running a large team of developers at Bell MTS, he knew the pitfalls and challenges and how to help a young company negotiate major partnerships like the ones with Microsoft and ASG.
"When I came on (less than a year ago) the company was launching into some real strategic discussions," he said. "The ASG deal means true global expansion. The company is growing at a crazy rate and Im happy to help build something where people are going to be able to have very long careers."
Valel says he wants to be able to help Johnson and his team have the kind of success where "they can all drive Teslas."
The company has closed millions of dollars of contracts still, Johnson has slept in airports "countless times" to avoid paying for hotels but hes mostly looking forward to things like being able to hire a quality assurance professional so he wont have to keep taking everyone on his team away from their work whenever there is a new release.
"Its all hands on deck, and the entire staff gets in a room to go through 200 test cases for hours at a time. Its insane," he said. "We need to take it to the next level. The product is too big now."
martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Winnipeg would receive more foreign investment if it had a foreign-born mayor, a candidate for mayor told the crowd at a forum on multiculturalism and integration Friday night.
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Winnipeg would receive more foreign investment if it had a foreign-born mayor, a candidate for mayor told the crowd at a forum on multiculturalism and integration Friday night.
"The only reason weve not had foreign investment is because we dont have enough immigrants elected," said Don Woodstock, who immigrated to Canada from the Caribbean.
"Until we change that, it wont happen," he said at the forum organized by the Pakistan and Muslim community at the Grand Mosque on Waverley Street.
Seven of the eight mayoral candidates were there incumbent Brian Bowman, Umar Hayat, Tim Diack, Doug Wilson, Venkat Machiraju, Woodstock and Ed Ackerman.
A press release from the organizers said all the candidates confirmed theyd take part in the event, but Bowmans main rival, Jenny Motkaluk, didnt attend. Her campaign manager said Friday that they provided ample notice to organizers that she would not be there.
"We appreciated the invitation and look forward to participating in future events that engage all candidates in vigorous discussion beyond a series of prepared statements," Motkaluks campaign said in email.
The candidates were asked questions such as if elected mayor, would they push for permanent residents to have the right to vote in civic elections and what would they do to attract foreign investment to Winnipeg. Woodstock said he doesnt believe Canadian-born political leaders or mainstream media are interested in dealing with foreign-born Winnipeggers.
"They dont want us at the table," he said. "Theyre offended at having you around," he said, offering the example of a radio station that accused him of harassment after he called and asked for news coverage.
TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Women peek into the mayoral debate at Winnipegs Grand Mosque on Friday.
"Winnipeg has always been a trading city," Bowman said. During his first four years as mayor, he said, he attracted investment to Winnipeg from inside Canada, touting the $35-million investment from video game giant Ubisoft after his trade trip to Montreal. Bowman said he was one of Canadas big-city mayors who lobbied the U.S. during NAFTA negotiations and that he wants to work with the province and Winnipeg MP Jim Carr, the federal trade diversification minister, to promote Winnipeg internationally.
Hayat, who immigrated from Pakistan and has been the biggest proponent of foreign investment among the mayoral candidates, drew some of the loudest applause when he introduced himself in his mother tongue.
He told the crowd of 100, many from Pakistan, his hopes for wooing investors.
"People in Pakistan have billions of dollars," Hayat said. "We do need proper planning... and we need to be showing how friendly we are. We have much room to grow."
When asked if the candidates would push for permanent residents who pay taxes and receive services to be allowed to vote in civic elections, the candidates were all for it except Bowman, who wasnt sure.
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He said city councils in Vancouver and Toronto have voted to call on their provincial legislatures to change the voting laws to let permanent residents vote in municipal elections, but B.C. and Ontario havent followed through to allow it.
"I need to research and better understand what the rationale was for the provincial governments not making a change," he said. "You want to have a good understanding," Bowman said.
"I appreciate the fact that permanent residents are Winnipeggers theyre our friends and neighbours and colleagues... I appreciate the desire of citizens who pay taxes to be enfranchised."
The question of whether only Canadian citizens should be allowed to vote in municipal elections may come up again at a mayoral forum Saturday organized by and for newcomers. The Got Citizenship? Go Vote! forum is at 2 p.m. at Hugh John MacDonald School gym, 567 Bannatyne Ave.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 5/10/2018 (1136 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Mayoral candidate Jenny Motkaluk nailed it.
Late in Thursday nights mayoral forum at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain presented by WinnipegREALTORS and the Winnipeg Free Press an exasperated Ms. Motkaluk suggested the event needed "a fact-checker."
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Jenny Motkaluk at Thursdays mayoral forum.
It wasnt an unreasonable request.
If there is one quality that links all of the mayoral debates to date, it has been candidates almost ritual abuse of fact.
Numbers are conjured out of thin air. Allegations are levelled without regard to reality. Statements of supposed fact are often little more than suppositions, theoretical musings or out-and-out fibs.
Truth is easily sacrificed in such debates, largely because its apparent that some participating candidates lack even the most basic understanding of city government. That hardly creates a breeding ground for fact-based exchanges.
This was never more obvious than during the portion of Thursdays debate when each candidate was given an opportunity to direct a question to another candidate of their choosing.
When they were called upon, candidates were asked to identify which candidate would be the target of their query. This caused more than a few awkward pauses if the candidates did not know who they wanted to question, it was even less likely they would know what they wanted to ask.
When questions were finally summoned, they ranged from the purely innocuous to dangerously misguided, occasionally verging on defamatory. The most obvious example of the commotion caused by certain candidates lack of familiarity with facts was the exchange that prompted Ms. Motkaluk to demand fact-checkers.
Several candidates attempted to level allegations that Ms. Motkaluk was in a conflict of interest because one of her brothers happens to own a local construction company that has secured road-renewal contracts from the city.
Candidate Ed Ackerman played the role of instigator, twice baiting fellow mayoral hopeful Venkat Machiraju who had originally issued the conflict-of-interest allegation in a news release on Wednesday into confronting Ms. Motkaluk. Candidate Don Woodstock got in on the exchange, demanding to know how voters could trust Ms. Motkaluk when there was such a clear conflict involving a family member.
The allegation showed all three candidates to be divorced from logic.
Having been awarded city contracts without a sister in the mayors office, Ms. Motkaluks brother has already proven he is worthy of the work. That pretty much eliminates any concern about a conflict should Ms. Motkaluk triumph in the election.
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But as sympathetic as Ms. Motkaluk was in her pleas for factual accuracy, she herself seemed willing to manipulate facts.
Truth is easily sacrificed in such debates, largely because its apparent that some participating candidates lack even the most basic understanding of city government. That hardly creates a breeding ground for factbased exchanges.
Ms. Motkauluk and candidate Tim Diack, a city police officer, repeatedly hammered incumbent Brian Bowman for the recent surge in meth-related crime. Both promised to make the city safer; Mr. Diack went further, saying that he would only serve one term as mayor, seemingly because he only needs four years to solve the meth crisis.
Leaders of local government cannot, on their own, "solve crime." Crime particularly the recent wave fuelled by meth addiction is, at its heart, a mental-health challenge. And as such, it falls largely into the purview of the provincial and federal governments.
A mayor can certainly help, with an effective interdiction strategy that tries to interrupt the flow of meth into the city, but promising to solve the meth crisis from a perch in city hall is simply not realistic.
Fact-checkers might be a good addition to mayoral debates. But what civic politics also needs are mayoral candidates who have at least a passing familiarity with facts before they register to run.
While it appears nurses in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority are working fewer overtime hours now than they were a decade ago, critics say government is skewing the data to spin the best story about the state of the health-care system.
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While it appears nurses in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority are working fewer overtime hours now than they were a decade ago, critics say government is skewing the data to spin the best story about the state of the health-care system.
On Thursday, a spokesperson from Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living provided the Free Press with the numbers of overtime hours nurses worked in the WRHA from July 2008 until June 2018. The statistics encompass nurses working in Winnipeg hospitals and home care, and in Churchill, which also falls under the WRHAs umbrella.
The trend-line begins with the period between July to September 2008, when nurses reported working 88,018 hours of overtime. Ten years later, that number dropped slightly to 82,815 hours from April to June 2018. The peak amount of overtime occurred from January to March 2016 with 125,417 hours clocked.
Health Minister Cameron Friesen pointed out a 29 per cent decrease in overtime worked since the peak period, which he counted as a win.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen.
"Have we solved everything yet? No. The health-care system is big and these numbers, on a month-to-month basis, do bounce around. But whether measured on a three-year basis or whether measured on a 10-year basis, the nursing overtime hours are down," Friesen said in an interview Friday.
"So were standing up against misinformation that the opposition parties are peddling by suggesting that nurse overtime is at some record level. Theyre just wrong. Its false and the public deserves to be in possession of correct information."
A breakdown of the data reported at every Winnipeg hospital since 2016, however, shows some facilities saw improvements, but are currently seeing overtime hours inch higher. St. Boniface Hospital is the worst culprit, with Concordia Hospital and Victoria Hospital also trending upward.
JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont.
Liberal leader Dougald Lamont who raised the issue of staffing levels at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at St. Boniface Hospital in the legislature this week said the government isnt listening to nurses concerns.
In August, 70 NICU nurses co-signed a letter to the St. Boniface Hospital president and Friesen detailing their frustrations.
"We are feeling stressed, burnt-out, and exhausted," they wrote. "...It has reached the point where parents are staying overnight in the NICU because they are fearful about the quality of care their baby will receive from exhausted nurses staying for prolonged shifts."
"So to say that in the big picture everythings fine when you have 70 nurses saying, 'theres a crisis here,' is sticking your head in the sand," Lamont said.
Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson noted the overtime hours reported by nurses have gone up since the province implemented the first phase of its Winnipeg health-care system overhaul last fall.
'We are feeling stressed, burnt-out, and exhausted... parents are staying overnight in the NICU because they are fearful about the quality of care their baby will receive from exhausted nurses staying for prolonged shifts' Letter co-signed by 70 NICU nurses to the St. Boniface Hospital president and Health Minister, Cameron Friesen
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"Even their aggregate numbers, which misrepresent the situation by including all nurses in the WRHA and not just those at affected facilities, show a significant spike post-implementation," Jackson said by email. "...The problem is made worse by the fact that theyre relying on a smaller pool of nurses, which increases the likelihood of burnout, exhaustion, increased sick time, and retention issues."
Friesen said he wasnt aware of any problems finding nurses to hire in Manitoba, though there are some vacancies within the WRHA.
The minister said any nurse who wants to work within the WRHA will find a job, though it may be a bit different than what they were accustomed to before.
"Listen, we understand there are uncertainties caused by changes that are going on right now in the health-care system," Friesen said. "We truly believe it will produce better outcomes... we will continue to dialogue with the union to make sure that were hearing from our health-care providers as well. I would say at this point in time (its) so far, so good."
jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @_jessbu
OTTAWA A Manitoba MP whose constituent was killed in a tornado last August is asking Parliament to probe how spotty cellular service endangers Canadians during natural disasters.
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This article was published 6/10/2018 (1135 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
OTTAWA A Manitoba MP whose constituent was killed in a tornado last August is asking Parliament to probe how spotty cellular service endangers Canadians during natural disasters.
"Intermittent cell service is a problem throughout significant portions of Canada," Conservative MP Robert Sopuck said.
His riding includes the town of Alonsa, which is 200 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. Thats where a Category 4 tornado touched down in August, killing 77-year-old Jack Furrie.
It was the first time since 2006 that a tornado killed someone in Manitoba. Local residents reported there were inconsistent warnings; some received emergency alerts on their cellphones and others lost connectivity.
A month later, a handful of tornadoes tore through the Ottawa region, knocking out power lines and cellphone reception.
Earlier this month, Tory MP Dane Lloyd asked his colleagues on Parliaments industry committee to start hearings on "how Canadas telecommunications networks operate in public-safety and natural-disaster emergencies."
The committee has yet to vote on the motion, which has the support of the NDP.
Sopuck said he hopes hearings will go beyond scenarios in which a storm knocks out connectivity, and instead look at gaps in Canadas telecom system.
"The two are obviously related," he said. "I think its a very good idea to bring the top experts, and let us know whats going on."
In the case of Alonsa, cell service become spotty when Bell MTS completed upgrades a few years ago. Some residents got advanced LTE connections and others saw a decrease in service.
Sopuck recalls that cell service was problematic when residents of the southern Manitoba town of Vita were forced to evacuate during wildfires in October 2012. Driving around his own riding, Sopuck has noticed improvements since taking office in 2010, but said there are still "significant logistical issues" in keeping people connected.
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He also said public awareness campaigns could help Canadians understand how they can stay connected. He understands being cut off from the outside world. In late September, heavy snow knocked out power to Sopucks farm. He could make cellphone calls, but tried to conserve his battery power by using his landline. He couldnt connect because all the landline phones were cordless units that require electricity.
"We learned the hard way to have a plug-in phone," he said with a laugh.
Provinces generally deal with gaps in cell service, and Premier Brian Pallister said in 2016 hed be open to the idea of helping to upgrade rural areas to LTE service.
But this summer, Pallister called that a "premature suggestion," and his office added "the federal government is best positioned" to address the issue.
"I think there are some great opportunities for partnership," said Sopuck, who believes such funding could even put a dent in the ballooning disaster-relief payments Ottawa pays to the provinces.
dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Two RCMP officers accused of impaired driving will not face any criminal charges, due to a lack of evidence, Manitoba's police watchdog has concluded.
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Two RCMP officers accused of impaired driving will not face any criminal charges, due to a lack of evidence, Manitoba's police watchdog has concluded.
The incident involving two off-duty officers allegedly occurred June 30, 2017, following a party at another officer's home in the Rural Municipality of Whitemouth, but was not reported to Manitoba East District RCMP until a week later. It wasn't until Aug. 11 the allegations were reported to D Division headquarters, and passed on to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.
The reporting delay significantly hampered investigators' ability to gather evidence, IIU director Zane Tessler wrote in a report released Friday.
"Due to the passage of time, specifics from various witnesses were affected," the report read. "Forensic analysis of physical findings was unable to be undertaken as evidence was lost. Opportunities to gather evidence from civilian witnesses or other sources had been hampered."
IIU investigators interviewed 11 witnesses who had been at the party, all of them police officers. The two accused, identified in the IIU report as SO1 and SO2, declined to be interviewed.
According to the IIU report, the two accused officers had allegedly been drinking at the party, before they left in separate vehicles around 3:30 a.m. The officers allegedly did "doughnuts" on Highway 44 and drove at high speeds before returning to the party 15 minutes later, at which time they told the host (also an officer and the only other person at the party still awake) what they had done.
The party host, identified in the report as WO1, told investigators he saw tire marks on the highway later that day, but they did not appear to be fresh.
Another party attendee, who had been sleeping at the time of the alleged incident but learned of it later from WO1, told investigators, "He felt he had a moral obligation to report this to his supervisors," according to the IIU report.
Witnesses told investigators the accused officers had been drinking but showed no visible signs of impairment.
"It cannot be ascertained with any degree of certainty how much alcohol may have been in either SO1 or SO2s system at the time of driving nor what effect, if any, alcohol had on eithers ability to operate a motor vehicle," the report reads. "It cannot be ascertained with any degree of certainty if either SO1 or SO2 operated their respective vehicles in the early morning of June 30 and, if so, what route may have been taken."
Robert Taman, whose wife, Crystal, was killed in 2005, after an off-duty police officer fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into the back of her car, said the incident reveals police officers still aren't taking drinking and driving seriously.
"Obviously, there hasn't been the change some of us had hoped for," Taman said Friday.
The fact the incident was not immediately reported shows police "aren't concerned about what the ramifications might be," he said. "It's a whole system failure, and it will continue until the next person dies."
Derek Harvey-Zenk was returning from a night of partying with other officers at a home north of Winnipeg when he crashed into Crystal Taman's car, stopped at a red light on Lagimodiere Boulevard.
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Harvey-Zenk was later convicted of dangerous driving causing death, and had all alcohol-related charges dropped because East St. Paul police botched the investigation into the crash.
One former and one serving Winnipeg Police Service officers are currently before the court on drunk-driving charges.
Justin Holz, 35, was charged in October 2017 with impaired driving causing death, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and other offences in connection with a fatal hit-and-run that killed 23-year-old Cody Severight. Holz no longer works for the WPS.
Leslie McRae, a 10-year member, was charged in 2017 with refusing to provide a breath sample and having care and control of a motor vehicle while impaired. The breathalyzer charge was dropped in September.
The IIU investigates all serious incidents involving police officers in Manitoba, whether occurring on or off duty.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Ray Houssin, a retired teacher, vice-principal and principal, is still educating people, but now its about himself and how hes learned to live with mental illness, thanks to help from United Way agencies.
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Ray Houssin, a retired teacher, vice-principal and principal, is still educating people, but now its about himself and how hes learned to live with mental illness, thanks to help from United Way agencies.
"With my first depressive episode, people thought I had a nervous breakdown," said Houssin, 59.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Former teacher Ray Houssin now educates people as a speaker on mental health issues, discussing his own battle with depression.
It was 1997, and it happened before he was to teach a high school math class. It hit hard.
"The bottom fell out," is how Houssin described it. He said his principal saw what was happening and took him out of the classroom. The normally friendly and outgoing teacher "was in a daze."
Houssin has shared his story many times as a volunteer speaker with the Canadian Mental Health Association and the United Way. He goes to schools to teach youth mental illness literacy education, as part of the Speak Out program.
"Students should start talking about it early so they can benefit from early intervention," Houssin said. He goes to workplaces and shares his story of how he was helped by organizations that receive United Way funding. "Im incredibly indebted to these agencies."
Before getting that help, Houssin, who experienced suicidal thoughts and was hospitalized, said he felt disconnected.
"I had really good professional medical treatment, but it wasnt enough," he said. "I felt alone, and isolated myself."
Then, he attended group sessions at the Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba.
"It was a place where there was a lot of compassion. When I went there, I realized theres people just like me you dont feel alone," Houssin said. "When you hear all the similarities, you see that its the disease, not the person or their personality. It was a very good way for me to learn more about the illness."
Fifteen years later, Houssin attended the Mens Resource Centre and took a six-week course about men and mental illness. It dealt with the stigma men with mental illness encounter, and how theyre expected to "just suck it up" and "pull yourself up by the bootstraps," he said.
The men who participated in the course got to talk about their illnesses and developed coping strategies, Houssin said.
Through the centre, he connected with a one-on-one therapist who worked with him for 18 months to help get to the root of his depression.
"She helped me save my own life," Houssin said. "I never thought I would be able to get to that point."
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He later connected with the Canadian Mental Health Association and volunteered with the Speak Out program and the United Ways speakers bureau.
"My main message is: Your contribution went toward me saving my own life," Houssin said, adding the reaction from Winnipeggers has been positive. "People are so compassionate."
Very often, after his talk, hell be approached by members of the audience saying his story resonates with them they have a loved one whos dealing with mental health issues.
"If we had an environment that said mental health is as important as physical health, wed all be better off," Houssin said.
More than 325,000 Winnipeggers visit United Way donor-supported agencies each year.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
It has been known for some time that electric vehicles (EV) are good for Manitoba: improving the environment, reducing economic leakage, creating a local, high-value market for our electricity. At issue is how to make the shift happen, particularly in light of financial constraints faced by our province.
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Opinion
It has been known for some time that electric vehicles (EV) are good for Manitoba: improving the environment, reducing economic leakage, creating a local, high-value market for our electricity. At issue is how to make the shift happen, particularly in light of financial constraints faced by our province.
As indicated in a recent Free Press editorial on Sept. 26, 2018, EV are becoming economical, but there are important subtleties. EV can reduce operating costs, but it depends on how you drive. With reasonable assumptions, annual savings translate to about $1,500.
At the same time, EV still cost more up-front, in the range of $10,000 to $15,000. The cost premium has reduced, but this has been blunted by the weakening Canadian dollar.
Calculating the payoff is not so simple, given that many people finance their cars. It is necessary to apply a dollar-value cost, with the result that you have to keep an electric car for its full life of 10 to 12 years for it to pay off. However, people here generally keep vehicles for only four to six years.
As such, a gap remains in the total cost of ownership, of around $5,000 to $6,000.
In economic terms, this is why EV have not become popular.
So, what is to be done? According to the editorial, a proposal by the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association should be adopted, with the Manitoba government co-funding around 20 new rapid-charging stations, termed "Level 3," throughout the province. Further, a total cost of around $3 million has been suggested, but is that a good idea? The answer is that caution should be exercised. Such a move would help somewhat, but is unlikely to jump-start EV adoption.
Rapid-chargers provide benefits to existing EV users, but are less useful for encouraging new consumer uptake. Theres lots of evidence on this, including a definitive study by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Tufts University this past summer.
It is also clear, from this and other work, that if money is to be spent, a more effective approach is upfront rebates, similar to the hybrid rebate program here roughly a decade ago.
The purpose of rebates is not virtue-signalling, but incrementally changing purchase decisions. If a modest incentive of $5,000 per new EV was provided, bridging the cost gap noted earlier, it would yield 600 new EV, almost quadrupling the number in the province. Lifetime emission reductions for these vehicles would exceed 30,000 tonnes, translating in total to less than a $100 per- tonne reduction, a modest relative cost before even considering direct net-backs to the government. The number of new EV purchases related to rapid-chargers is highly uncertain, but, based on experience, likely to be much lower.
Rapid-charging technology is also tricky and carries significant risks, especially for government. It is expensive. A 2016 report by Marcon shows installed costs in Canada range from $50,000 to $90,000 per unit. The costs proposed above for Manitoba are even higher, roughly $150,000 per station.
Automakers all warn against over-using rapid chargers, given potential damage to vehicle batteries. This means rapid chargers should be used sparingly, not regularly.
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Rapid-charging currently involves four different standards, increasing costs and risk of obsolescence. Indeed, one major rapid-charger manufacturer has already exited, leaving its systems orphaned. Selecting optimum sites and achieving adequate utilization is tricky and difficult to predict. Looking at charging stations across Manitoba, some are well used, such as those now at Red River College, while others are not.
This infrastructure-related chicken-and-egg problem is exacerbated for governments. Several years ago, B.C. aggressively installed Level 3 chargers, but this action was labelled by Macleans as one of "99 stupid things the government has done with your money."
Certainly a cautionary tale. Macleans noted at the time that the outlay of $2.7 million was related to only about 210 electric vehicles in B.C. This seems problematically close to what is being suggested here.
Lastly, private-sector companies are already now implementing such stations without any direct funding from Manitoba.
Yes, electric vehicles are important and potentially beneficial, but selecting a suitable approach to accelerate uptake in Manitoba requires careful consideration.
Robert Parsons teaches sustainability economics in the MBA program at the I.H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 6/10/2018 (1135 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Opinion
Something is seriously amiss with the provinces books.
This was the consensus Sept. 28 when Finance Minister Scott Fielding presided over an annual rite of passage, the release of Manitobas public accounts.
The public accounts are the final, official accounting of the provinces finances for a single fiscal year. Given that it takes some time to prepare these statements and have the auditor general review them, the public accounts are not tabled for about six months after the March 31 deadline for the end of the previous fiscal year.
In most years, the public accounts are an opportunity to ask several important questions about the integrity of the governments budgeting process. Did the government meet its spending targets and, if not, where were the additional expenditures or savings? Is the deficit larger or smaller than projected?
This year, there were additional questions to be asked. Not about the integrity of the Progressive Conservative governments 2017-18 budget, but about the integrity of its bookkeeping.
The public accounts show a total summary deficit of $695 million, which is $145 million less than forecast in the 2017-18 budget. However, by all reasonable accounts, it should have been much, much less.
Manitoba auditor general Norm Ricard noted in his opinion that the government made two "significant errors" in the public accounts, both of which contravene accepted public-sector accounting practices.
The Tory government deliberately decided to exclude all assets of the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) from last years summary statement. Ricard said in his report that this is an error because the WCB continues to be, in an objective sense, a government reporting entity (GRE), an accounting term for an entity that is completely controlled by the government. Therefore, it must be included in the summary financial statement.
The second decision was to move all the assets of the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp., a lending and insurance entity for farmers, into a trust account, a move that also removed it from the summary financial statements. Ricard was concerned about the appropriateness of this change, and the decision to book it under the 2017-18 fiscal year even though the changes were not effected until well after March 31 of this year.
"The result of these (two) errors is that the summary deficit is overstated by $347 million," Ricard said. "That is half the reported deficit."
Ricard has used the term "errors," but in an interview, he confirmed that these were most definitely errors of commission. The government was aware of his concern that these decisions violated the rules of public-sector accounting and decided to proceed anyway.
To fully grasp the importance of this story, it deserves to be noted that qualified opinions from the auditor general are not unprecedented. But they are rare.
Manitoba has not had a qualified opinion on its public accounts since 2005 when then-auditor general, Jon Singleton, asked the province to change the way it booked school capital expenses. In that instance, however, the qualified opinion was the result of new guidelines from the Public Sector Accounting Board, a non-governmental agency that sets standards for generally accepted public-sector accounting practices.
In this instance, we have a government making an error of commission. A deliberate and, one would think, strategic decision to breach accepted accounting practices.
But to what end? Why would a government committed to balanced budgets and fiscal stability overstate its deficit?
Political opponents have suggested that this accounting sleight-of-hand is designed to divert attention from the fact the government has cut more deeply, and more broadly, than it promised in the 2016 election and in its budgets.
Despite rejecting any allegation that it has an austerity agenda, its true that the Pallister government is significantly below budgeted expenditures in almost every department, including health, which has been significantly under budget for the last two fiscal years. If the deficit were to be cut by nearly half a billion dollars in one year alone, the government would likely face some tough questions about how it accomplished that remarkable feat.
The premier wants to balance the budget, but not so quickly that he appears too enthusiastic.
There are other theories circulating as well. Accounting experts, who asked not to be identified, said the Pallister government appears to be trying to overstate the deficit this year so it can report a balanced budget next year. The changes flagged by Ricard are one-time events, which means they are already nearly $350 million ahead on balancing the budget for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2019.
However, there is also a possibility that the Pallister government has looked into its crystal ball and can see trouble ahead for the GREs that it has improperly removed from the summary budget.
Ricard said in his interaction with finance officials, he did not receive a clear explanation. The closest they got, Ricard noted, was an admission that the province was looking at ways of reducing "volatility in its financial results."
Ricard elaborates in his report on the 2017-18 public accounts. "Government officials, in the 2018 budget document and in discussions with our office, expressed a concern that financial volatility in some components... can have a significant impact on the governments annual results," Ricard wrote. "As a result, the government is looking for ways to reduce the GREs exposure to this type of volatility."
Right now, the WCB and the Farm Services Corp. have surpluses, but its entirely possible they will face tougher times ahead. Removing them from the roster of GREs ensures the Pallister government wont have to contend with any "volatility" from those two sources. That is important if, say, you have a looming political promise with a $350-million price tag.
At the centre of all this manipulation is Pallisters pledge to cut one point off the provincial sales tax. Made during the 2016 election, Pallister took the unusual step of promising to cut the PST by the end of his first term in office, long before he promised to balance the budget, which was to be done by 2024.
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The order of those pledges meant that Pallister might have to borrow money to cut taxes, a fiscal policy that would have been frowned upon by political opponents and bond rating agencies alike.
Whatever the motivation, the fact is that the premier and his government are messing with the provinces books and theyre not being forthcoming about what theyre doing and why.
Public-sector accounting practices are designed to, as much as possible, keep the politics out of financial statements. You cant totally remove politics from the budgeting and accounting process they are politicians, after all but you can limit it so that the public can have confidence in the integrity of government.
In manipulating accounting rules for political purposes, Pallister, who is a financial planner by profession, is doing a disservice to the public.
Pallister is saying one thing, and then doing another, and manipulating the books to cover his tracks. The premier obviously believes that a balanced budget and a tax cut are fair trade for a calculated manipulation of the provinces financial statements. He will put that theory to the test when Manitobans next go to the polls in 2020.
dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Everest Re Group Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of reinsurance and insurance services. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Reinsurance, International, Bermuda, and Insurance. The U.S. Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance and specialty lines of business, including marine, aviation, surety, and accident and health business, on both a treaty and facultative basis, through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies primarily within the U.S. The International segment offers foreign property and casualty reinsurance through Everest Re's branches in Canada and Singapore and through offices in Brazil, Miami, and New Jersey. The Bermuda segment comprises reinsurance and insurance to worldwide property and casualty markets through brokers and directly with ceding companies from its Bermuda office and reinsurance to the United Kingdom and European markets through its UK branch and Ireland Re. The Insurance segment writes property and casualty insurance directly and through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents within the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartere
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The following companies are subsidiares of Quaker Chemical: AC Products Inc., Applied Surface Concepts Holdings Ltd. , Binol AB, Binol Biosafe OY, Commonwealth Oil Corporation, DA Stuart India Private Limited, DA Stuart Shanghai Co, ECLI Products LLC, EFHCO LLC, Engineered Custom Lubricants, Engineered Custom Lubricants GmbH, Epmar Corporation, G.W. Smith and Sons, GH Holdings Inc., GHG Lubricants Holdings Limited, GHGL London Ltd., GHI Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Global Houghton Ltd., Houghton (Shanghai) Specialty Industrial Fluids Co. Ltd, Houghton Argentina S.A., Houghton Asia Pacific Co. Limited, Houghton Australia Pty. Ltd., Houghton Benelux BV, Houghton CZ s.r.o, Houghton Canada Inc., Houghton Denmark AS, Houghton Deutschland GmbH, Houghton Europe BV, Houghton Holdings Limited, Houghton Iberica S.A. , Houghton International, Houghton International Inc., Houghton Italia S.p.A., Houghton Japan Co. Ltd., Houghton Kimya Sanayi AS, Houghton Magyarorszag Kft, Houghton Mexico S.A. de C.V., Houghton Oil (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd., Houghton Polska Sp. Zo.o., Houghton Romania S.R.L., Houghton S.A.S., Houghton Sverige AB, Houghton Taiwan Co. Limited, Houghton Technical Corp., Houghton Ukraine ToV, Houghton do Brazil Ltda., Houghton plc, Internationale Metall Impragnier GmbH, Lubricor Inc, Lubricor Inc., Lubricor Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Lubricor USA Inc., MIH Acquisition Company LLC, MX Systems International Ltd, Maldaner GmbH, NP Coil Dexter Industries, New Houghton Brazil Inc., Norman Hay Engineering Ltd., QH Chemical Limited, QH Europe BV, QH Holdings Limited, QH International Limited, Quaker (Thailand) Ltd., Quaker Australia Holdings Pty. Limited, Quaker Chemical (Australasia) Pty. Limited, Quaker Chemical (China) Co. Ltd., Quaker Chemical B.V., Quaker Chemical CV, Quaker Chemical Canada Holdings Inc., Quaker Chemical Canada Limited, Quaker Chemical Europe B.V., Quaker Chemical Holdings South Africa (Pty) Limited, Quaker Chemical India Private Limited, Quaker Chemical Industria e Comercio Ltda., Quaker Chemical Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Quaker Chemical Limited, Quaker Chemical MEA FZE, Quaker Chemical Operacoes Ltda., Quaker Chemical Participacoes Ltda., Quaker Chemical S.A., Quaker Chemical S.r.l., Quaker Chemical Services EURL, Quaker Chemical South Africa (Pty.) Limited, Quaker China Holdings B.V., Quaker Denmark ApS, Quaker Houghton (Finco) Ltd., Quaker Houghton Holdings Limited, Quaker Houghton Holdings Ltd., Quaker Houghton International LP, Quaker Houghton Ltd., Quaker International Holdings LLC, Quaker Italia S.r.l., Quaker Russia B.V., Quaker Sales Europe BV, Quaker Shanghai Trading Company Limited, Quaker Spain Holding SLU, Quaker Specialty Chemicals (UK) Limited, SB Decking Inc., SIFCO Applied Surface Concepts (UK) Ltd, SIFCO Applied Surface Concepts LLC, SIFCO Concepts Sarl, SIFCO Concepts Sweden, Sterr & Eder Industrieservice GmbH, Summit Lubricants Inc, Summit Lubricants Inc., Surface Technology (Coventry) Ltd, Surface Technology (Dalian) Co Ltd, Surface Technology (East Kilbride) Ltd., Surface Technology (Leeds) Ltd, Surface Technology Aberdeen Ltd, Surface Technology Australia, Surface Technology Holdings Ltd., TecniQuimia Mexicana, Tecniquimia Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Thai Houghton 1993 Co. Ltd., Ultraseal Asia Limited, Ultraseal Chongqing Limited, Ultraseal Germany GmbH, Ultraseal International Group Ltd, Ultraseal Machinery Dongguan Ltd, Ultraseal Shanghai Limited, Ultraseal USA Inc., Unitek Servicios De Asesoria Especializad S.A de C.V., Verkol S.A.U., Verkol SAU, Wallover Enterprises Inc., Wallover Oil Company Incorporated, Wallover Oil Hamilton Inc., and Wuhan Quaker Technology Co. Ltd.
CIBT Education Group Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an education and student housing investment company in Canada and China. The company engages in education, media communications, and real estate development businesses. It offers accredited programs, which include general English, college pathway, business English, medical English, English language test preparation, vacation English, online English, TESOL teacher training, automotive technical training, business management, customer service, English teacher preparation, and accounting, as well as junior and high school preparation programs for overseas study, and other career/vocational training; and interpreting and translation for Koreans and online English teacher training. The company also provides private career and technical training diplomas and certificates in health care, tourism, hospitality, business, administrative, technical trades, and international studies; and English as a Second Language, and accounting programs in China. In addition, it recruits international students and on-ground concierge services for various kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, universities, and colleges in North America; and offers web design and advertising services to the real estate industry. Further, the company invests in, develops, and manages education related real estate projects, such as student hotels, serviced apartments, and education super centers in Canada, as well as develops and manages real estate projects for technology workers and working professionals. The company was formerly known as Capital Alliance Group Inc. and changed its name to CIBT Education Group Inc. in November 2007. CIBT Education Group Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Vodafone Group: 360 Connect S.A., [email protected] Telecom, A-ccelerator B.V., A-ccelerator Holding B.V, AAA (Euro) Limited, AAA (MCR) Limited, AAA (UK) Limited, Acorn Communications Limited, Africonnect (Zambia) Limited, Ag Mercantile Company Private Limited, Al-Amin Investments Limited, Amsterdamse Beheer- en Consultingmaatschappij B.V., Apollo Submarine Cable System Limited, Array Holdings Limited, Asian Telecommunication Investments (Mauritius) Limited, Aspective Limited, Astec Communications Limited, Autoconnex Limited, Aztec Limited, BelCompany BV, Bluefish Apac Communications Pte. Ltd, Bluefish Communications, Bluefish Communications Limited, Business Serve Limited, C&W Worldwide Nigeria Limited, C.S.P. Solutions Limited, CCII (Mauritius) Inc., CGP India Investments Ltd., CGP Investments (Holdings) Limited, COOP Mobil s.r.o, CT Networks Limited, CWGNL S.A., CWW Operations Limited, Cable & Wireless Access Limited, Cable & Wireless Americas Systems Inc., Cable & Wireless Aspac Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Services Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Svyaz LLC, Cable & Wireless Capital Limited , Cable & Wireless Communications Data Network Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Starclass Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Technical Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd (Beijing Branch), Cable & Wireless Europe Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless GN Limited, Cable & Wireless Global (India) Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Business Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Holding Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Telecommunication Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Holdco Limited, Cable & Wireless Networks India Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Trade Mark Management Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Waterside Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Pension Trustee Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Voice Messaging Limited, Cable & Wireless a-Services Inc, Cable & Wireless a-Services Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited Indian Branch Office, Cable and Wireless Nominee Limited, Cable and Wireless Worldwide South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cavalry Holdings Ltd, Celfocus Solucoes Informaticas Para Telecomunicacoes S.A, Cellops Limited, Cellular Operations Limited, Central Communications Group Limited, Central Telecom (Northern) Limited, Centurion GSM Limited, Chelys Limited, City Cable (Holdings) Limited, Cobra do Brasil Servicos de Telematica ltda., Commnet Cellular Inc., Complete Network Technology, Connect (India) Mobile Technologies Private Limited, Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited, Dataroam Limited , Device Insight, Digital Island (UK) Ltd, Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, East Africa Investment (Mauritius) Limited, Emtel Europe Limited, Energis (Ireland) Limited, Energis Communications Limited, Energis Holdings Limited, Energis Local Access Limited, Energis Management Limited, Energis Squared Limited, Erudite Systems Limited, Esprit Telecom B.V., Eudokia Limited, Euro Pacific Securities Ltd., Eurocall Holdings Limited, Europolitan Holdings AB (now Europolitan Vodafone AB), FB Holdings Limited, FM Associates (UK) Limited, FinCo Partner 1 B.V., FireFly Networks Limited, Flexphone Limited, GS Telecom (Pty) Limited, Gateway Communications Africa (UK) Limited, Gateway Communications Tanzania Limited, General Mobile Corporation, Generation Telecom Limited, Ghana Telecommunications, Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited, Global Cellular Rental Limited, Globe Limited, GrandCentrix GmbH, Grupo Corporativo ONO S.A.U., H3ga Properties (No 3) Pty Limited, HBO Nederland Cooperatief U.A., HBO Netherlands Channels sro, HBO Netherlands Distribution B.V., Hellas Online, How2 Telecom Limited, Hutchison Essar Ltd, Indus Towers Limited, Intercell Communications Limited, Internet Network Services Limited, Invitation Digital Limited, Ipergy Communications NV, Isis Telecommunications Management Limited, Jaguar Communications Limited, Jaykay Finholding (India) Private Limited, Jupicol (Proprietary) Limited, KABELCOM Braunschweig Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, KABELCOM Wolfsburg Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, Kabel Deutschland, Kabel Deutschland Holding, Kabel Deutschland Holding Erste Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Holding Zweite Beteilgungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Neunte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Siebte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabelfernsehen Munchen Servicenter GmbH & Co. KG, LG Financing Partnership, LGE HoldCo V B.V., LGE HoldCo VI B.V., LGE HoldCo VIII B.V., LGE Holdco VII B.V., LLC Vodafone Enterprise Ukraine, Le Bunt Holdings Limited, Legend Communications Limited, Liberty Global, Liberty Global Content Netherlands B.V., London Hydraulic Power Company, M-PESA Foundation, M-PESA Holding Co. Limited, ML Integration Group Limited, ML Integration Limited, ML Integration Services Limited, MV Healthcare Services Private Limited, Mannesmann AG, MetroHoldings Limited, Mezzanine Ware Proprietary Limited (RF), Mirambo Limited, Misrfone Trading Company LLC, MobiFon S.A., Mobile Commerce Solutions Limited, Mobile Phone Centre Limited, Mobile Wallet VM1, Mobile Wallet VM2, Mobile by Sainsburys Limited, Mobiles 4 Business.com Limited, Mobileworld Communications Pty Limited, Mobileworld Operating Pty Ltd, Mobilvest, Motifpros 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Multi Risk Indemnity Company Limited, Multi Risk Limited, ND Callus Info Services Private Limited, Nadal Trading Company Private Limited, Nat Comm Air Limited, National Communications Backbone Company Limited, Navtrak Ltd, Netforce Group Limited, Netgrid Telecom SRL, Number Portability Company (Proprietary) Limited, ONO, Omega Telecom Holdings Private Limited, Oni Way Infocomunicacoes S.A, Oskar Mobil S.R.O., Oxygen Solutions Limited, P.C.P. (North West) Limited, PPL Pty Limited, PT Network Services Limited, PTI Telecom Limited, Peoples Phone Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Group Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Limited, Plex Limited, Plustech Mercantile Company Private Limited, Prime Metals Ltd., Project Telecom Holdings Limited, Quickcomm Software Solutions, Radio Opt GmbH, Rian Mobile Limited, SBC SMART CITY 1517 B.V., SMMS Investments Pvt Limited, Safaricom Limited, Safenet N.P A., Sarmady Communications, Scarlet Ibis Investments 23 (Pty) Limited, Scorpios Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Silver Stream Investments Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Ltd., Singlepoint Payment Services Limited, Siro Limited, Spar Aerospace (Nigeria) Limited, Sport TV Portugal S.A, Starnet, Stentor Communications Limited, Stentor Limited, Storage Technology Services (Pty) Limited, T.W. Telecom Limited, T3 Telecommunications Limited, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern Beteiligungs GmbH, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern GmbH & Co. KG, TNAS Limited, TSM NZ Limited, Talkland Airtime Services Limited, Talkland Australia Pty Limited, Talkland Communications Limited, Talkland International Limited, Talkland Midlands Limited, Talkmobile Limited, Tele2 Italia SPA, Tele2 Spain, Telecom Investments India Private Limited, Telecommunications Europe Limited, Ternhill Communications Limited, The Cobra Group, The Eastern Leasing Company Limited, The Old Telecom Sales Co. Limited, Thus Group Holdings Limited, Thus Group Limited, Thus Limited, Thus Profit Sharing Trustees Limited, TnT Expense Management LLC, Tomorrow Street GP S.a r.l., Tomorrow Street SCA, Torenspits II B.V., Townley Communications Limited, Trans Crystal Ltd., UMT Investments Limited, UPC Nederland Holding I B.V., UPC Nederland Holding II B.V., UPC Nederland Holding III B.V., Unified Communications, Uniqueair Limited, Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH & Co.KG, Usha Martin Telematics Limited, VAPL No. 2 Pty Limited, VBA (Mauritius) Limited, VBA Holdings Limited, VBA International (SL) Limited, VBA International Limited, VEI S.r.l., VM SA, VND S.p.A, VSSB Vodafone Shared Services Budapest Private Limited Company, Verwaltung Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH, Victus Networks S.A., Vizzavi Finance Limited, Vizzavi Limited, Voda Limited, Vodacall Limited, Vodacash s.p.r.l., Vodacom (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business (Angola) Limitada, Vodacom Business (Ghana) Limited, Vodacom Business (Kenya) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa (Nigeria) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group Services Limited, Vodacom Business Cameroon SA, Vodacom Business Cote Divoire S.A.R.L., Vodacom Congo (RDC) SA, Vodacom Financial Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Group Limited, Vodacom Insurance Administration Company (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Insurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom International Holdings (Pty) Limited, Vodacom International Limited, Vodacom Lesotho (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Life Assurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom Payment Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No.2 (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Tanzania Limited Zanzibar, Vodacom Tanzania Public Limited Company, Vodacom UK Limited, Vodafone (NI) Limited, Vodafone (New Zealand) Hedging Limited, Vodafone (Scotland) Limited, Vodafone 2, Vodafone 4 UK, Vodafone 5 Limited, Vodafone 5 UK, Vodafone 6 UK, Vodafone Albania Sh.A, Vodafone Alternatif Telekom Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Americas 4, Vodafone Americas Virginia Inc., Vodafone And Qatar Foundation L.L.C, Vodafone Asset Management Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Automotive Electronic Systems S.r.L, Vodafone Automotive France S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Iberia S.L, Vodafone Automotive Italia S.p.A, Vodafone Automotive Japan K.K, Vodafone Automotive Korea Limited, Vodafone Automotive SpA, Vodafone Automotive Technologies (Beijing) Co Ltd, Vodafone Automotive Telematics Development S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Telematics S.A, Vodafone Automotive UK Limited, Vodafone Belgium SA/NV, Vodafone Benelux Limited, Vodafone Bilgi Ve Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, Vodafone Business Services Limited, Vodafone Business Solutions Limited, Vodafone Canada Inc, Vodafone Cellular Limited, Vodafone Central Services Limited, Vodafone China Limited (China), Vodafone China Limited (Hong Kong), Vodafone Connect 2 Limited, Vodafone Connect Limited, Vodafone Consolidated Holdings Limited, Vodafone Corporate Limited, Vodafone Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Czech Republic A.S., Vodafone DC Pension Trustee Company Limited, Vodafone Dagitim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Data, Vodafone Distribution Holdings Limited, Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications S.A.E., Vodafone Elektronik Para Ve Odeme Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Empresa Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda, Vodafone Empresa Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., Vodafone Enabler Espana S.L., Vodafone Enterprise Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Austria GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Bahrain W.L.L., Vodafone Enterprise Bulgaria EOOD, Vodafone Enterprise Chile SA, Vodafone Enterprise Communications Technical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Denmark A/S, Vodafone Enterprise Equipment Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited Czech Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited DubaiI Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Finland OY, Vodafone Enterprise France SAS, Vodafone Enterprise Germany GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Global Businesses S.a r.l., Vodafone Enterprise Global Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network HK Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network Pte. Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Hong Kong Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Italy S.r.L, Vodafone Enterprise Korea Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Luxembourg S.A., Vodafone Enterprise Netherlands BV, Vodafone Enterprise Norway AS, Vodafone Enterprise Regional Business Singapore Pte.Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Singapore Pte.Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Spain S.L.U. Portugal Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Spain SLU, Vodafone Enterprise Sweden AB, Vodafone Enterprise Switzerland AG, Vodafone Erste Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Vodafone Espana S.A.U., Vodafone Euro Hedging Limited, Vodafone Euro Hedging Two, Vodafone Europe B.V., Vodafone Europe UK, Vodafone European Investments, Vodafone European Portal Limited, Vodafone Finance Limited, Vodafone Finance Luxembourg Limited, Vodafone Finance Sweden, Vodafone Finance UK Limited, Vodafone Financial Operations, Vodafone Financial Services B.V., Vodafone Fixed Ltd, Vodafone Foundation, Vodafone Foundation Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Gestioni S.p.A, Vodafone Ghana Mobile Financial Services Limited, Vodafone Global Content Services Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Hong Kong) Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Italy) S.R.L., Vodafone Global Enterprise (Japan) K.K., Vodafone Global Enterprise (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Vodafone Global Enterprise Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise Russia LLC, Vodafone Global Enterprise Taiwan Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise Telecommunications (Hellas) A.E., Vodafone Global Network Limited, Vodafone Global Network Limited Slovakia Branch, Vodafone Global Services Private Limited, Vodafone GmbH, Vodafone Group (Directors) Trustee Limited, Vodafone Group Pension Trustee Limited, Vodafone Group Services GmbH, Vodafone Group Services Ireland Limited, Vodafone Group Services Limited, Vodafone Group Services No.2 Limited, Vodafone Group Share Trustee Limited, Vodafone Hire Limited, Vodafone Holding A.S., Vodafone Holdings (Jersey) Limited, Vodafone Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Vodafone Holdings Europe S.L.U., Vodafone Holdings Luxembourg Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Finance Pty Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Receivables Pty Limited, Vodafone IP Licensing Limited, Vodafone India Digital Limited, Vodafone India Limited, Vodafone India Services Private Limited, Vodafone India Ventures Limited, Vodafone Institut fur Gesellschaft und Kommunikation GmbH, Vodafone Intermediate Enterprises Limited, Vodafone International 1 S.a.r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone International 1 S.a r.l., Vodafone International 2 Limited, Vodafone International Holdings B.V., Vodafone International Holdings Limited, Vodafone International M S.a r.l., Vodafone International Operations Limited, Vodafone International Services LLC, Vodafone Investment UK, Vodafone Investments (SA) Proprietary Limited, Vodafone Investments Australia Limited, Vodafone Investments Limited, Vodafone Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Vodafone Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone Ireland Distribution Limited, Vodafone Ireland Ltd., Vodafone Ireland Marketing Limited, Vodafone Ireland Property Holdings Limited, Vodafone Ireland Retail Limited, Vodafone Italia S.p.A., Vodafone Jersey Dollar Holdings Limited, Vodafone Jersey Finance, Vodafone Jersey Yen Holdings Unlimited, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Field Services GmbH, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Kundenbetreuung GmbH, Vodafone Kenya Limited, Vodafone Leasing Limited, Vodafone Libertel B.V., Vodafone Limited, Vodafone Luxembourg 5 S.a r.l., Vodafone Luxembourg 5 S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone Luxembourg S.a r.l., Vodafone Luxembourg S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone M-PESA SH.P.K., Vodafone M-Pesa S.A, Vodafone M.C. Mobile Services Limited , Vodafone Magyarorszag Mobile Tavkozlesi Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Vodafone Malta Limited, Vodafone Marketing UK , Vodafone Maroc SARL, Vodafone Mauritius Ltd., Vodafone Mobile Commerce Limited, Vodafone Mobile Communications Limited, Vodafone Mobile Enterprises Limited, Vodafone Mobile NZ Limited, Vodafone Mobile Network Limited, Vodafone Mobile Operations Limited, Vodafone Mobile Services Limited, Vodafone Multimedia Limited, Vodafone Nederland Holding I B.V., Vodafone Nederland Holding II B.V., Vodafone Nederland Holding III B.V., Vodafone Net Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Network Pty Limited, Vodafone New Zealand Foundation Limited, Vodafone New Zealand Limited, Vodafone Next Generation Services Limited, Vodafone Nominees Limited1, Vodafone ONO S.A.U., Vodafone Oceania Limited, Vodafone Old Show Ground Site Management Limited, Vodafone Overseas Finance Limited, Vodafone Overseas Holdings Limited, Vodafone Panafon International Holdings B.V., Vodafone Panafon UK, Vodafone Partner Services Limited, Vodafone Payment Solutions S.a r.l., Vodafone Portugal Comunicacoes Pessoais S.A., Vodafone Procurement Company S.a r.l., Vodafone Property Investments Limited, Vodafone Pty Limited, Vodafone Qatar Q.S.C., Vodafone Retail (Holdings) Limited , Vodafone Retail Limited, Vodafone Roaming Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Romania S.A, Vodafone Romania M - Payments SRL, Vodafone Romania Technologies SRL, Vodafone Sales & Services Limited, Vodafone Satellite Services Limited, Vodafone Servicios SL.U, Vodafone Servizi E Tecnologie S.R.L, Vodafone Servicos Empresariais Brasil Ltda., Vodafone Shared Services Romania SRL, Vodafone Specialist Communications Limited, Vodafone Stiftung Deutschland Gemeinnutzige GmbH, Vodafone Technology Solutions Limited, Vodafone Teknoloji Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Tele-Services (India) Holdings Limited, Vodafone Telecel-Comunicates Pessoais S.A., Vodafone Telecommunications (India) Limited, Vodafone Telekomunikasyon A.S, Vodafone Towers Limited, Vodafone UK Content Services Limited, Vodafone UK Investments Limited , Vodafone UK Limited1 , Vodafone US Inc, Vodafone Ventures Limited1 , Vodafone Vierte Verwaltungs AG, Vodafone Worldwide Holdings Limited, Vodafone Yen Finance Limited , Vodafone m-pesa Limited, Vodafone-Central Limited Vodaphone Limited, Vodafone-Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications Company S.A., VodafoneZiggo Group Holding B.V, Vodata Limited , Vouchercloud SA (Pty) Ltd, Wataneya Telecommunications S.A.E, Waterberg Lodge (Proprietary) Limited, Wayfinder, Wheatfields Investments 276 (Proprietary) Limited, Wireless Interactions & NFC Accelerator 2013 B.V., Woodend Cellular Limited, Woodend Communications Limited, Woodend Group Limited, Woodend Holdings Limited, XB Facilities B.V, XLink Communications (Proprietary) Limited, Your Communications Group Limited, ZUM B.V., ZYB, Zelitron S.A., Zesko B.V., Ziggo B.V., Ziggo Bond Company B.V., Ziggo Deelnemingen B.V., Ziggo Finance 2 B.V., Ziggo Financing Partnership, Ziggo Holding B.V., Ziggo Netwerk B.V., Ziggo Netwerk II B.V., Ziggo Services B.V., Ziggo Services Employment B.V., Ziggo Services Netwerk 2 B.V., Ziggo Zakelijk Services B.V., and Zoranet Connectivity Services B.V..
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. engages in the provision of equipment, systems, and value-added services for the rail industry. It operates through the following segments: Freight and Transit. The Freight segment involves in the manufacture and offers services components for new and existing locomotives and freight cars; supplies rail control and infrastructure products such as electronics, positive train control equipment, and signal design and engineering services; overhauls locomotives; and provides heat exchangers and cooling systems for rail and other industrial markets. The Transit segments includes the manufacture and providing services components for new and existing passenger transit vehicles, including regional trains, high speed trains, subway cars, light-rail vehicles, and buses; supplies rail control and infrastructure products such as electronics, positive train control equipment, and signal design and engineering services; builds new commuter locomotives; and renovate passenger transit vehicles. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.
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Yext, Inc. is an emerging growth company engages in software development. It offers a cloud-based digital knowledge platform, which allows businesses manage their digital knowledge in the cloud such as financial information, resources and performance of these resources on a consolidated basis and sync it to other application such as Apple Maps, Bing, Cortana, Facebook, Google, Google Maps, Instagram, Siri and Yelp. It offers the Yext Knowledge Engine package on subscription basis, which has an access to Listings, Pages, Reviews and other features. The Listing feature provides customers with control over their digital presence, including their location and other related attributes published on the used third-party applications. The Pages feature allows customers to establish landing pages on their own websites and to manage digital content on those sites, including calls to action. The Reviews presence enables customers to encourage and facilitate reviews from end consumers. The company was founded by Howard Lerman, Brent Metz, and Brian Distelburger in 2006 and is headquartered in New York, NY.
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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!
Conagra Brands, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of processed and packaged foods. It operates through the following segments: Grocery and Snacks; Refrigerated and Frozen; International; and Foodservice. The Grocery and Snacks segment includes branded, shelf stable food products sold in various retail channels in the United States. The Refrigerated and Frozen segment comprises branded, temperature controlled food products sold in various retail channels in the United States. The International segment consists branded food products, in various temperature states, sold in various retail and foodservice channels outside of the United States. The Foodservice segment focuses in the branded and customized food products, including meals, entrees, sauces, and a variety of custom-manufactured culinary products packaged for sale to restaurants and other foodservice establishments in the United States. The company was founded by Alva Kinney and Frank Little in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.
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iShares S&P 500 ETF's stock was trading at $275.41 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, IVV stock has increased by 70.3% and is now trading at $469.16.
View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
Ellie Mae, Inc. provides cloud-based platform for the mortgage finance industry in the United States. It provides Encompass, an enterprise solution that engages in running the business of originating mortgages, including marketing and lead management; loan origination and processing; underwriting; preparation of mortgage applications, disclosure agreements, and closing documents; loan funding and closing; compliance with regulatory and investor requirements; and enterprise management. The company's Encompass Digital Lending Platform helps lenders and investors across their workflow from the prospective customers to the point of loan delivery. In addition, the company provides education and training services; professional and technical support services; and loan product, policy, and guideline data and analytics services. Ellie Mae, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Quest Diagnostics: AmeriPath, AmeriPath Cincinnati Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Cleveland Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Consolidated Labs Inc. (FL), AmeriPath Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Hospital Services Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Indianapolis PC (IN), AmeriPath Kentucky Inc. (KY), AmeriPath Lubbock 5.01(A) Corporation (TX), AmeriPath New York LLC (DE), AmeriPath Texas Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Tucson Inc. (AZ), American Medical Laboratories, American Medical Laboratories Incorporated (DE), Associated Clinical Laboratories L.P. (PA), Associated Clinical Laboratories of Pennsylvania L.L.C. (PA), Athena Diagnostics, Athena Diagnostics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics, Blueprint Genetics FZ-LLC (UAE), Blueprint Genetics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics Oy (Finland), California Laboratory Associates, Cape Cod Healthcare - Business, Celera, ClearPoint Diagnostic, Clearpoint Diagnostic Laboratories LLC (TX), Cleveland HeartLab, Cleveland HeartLab Inc. (DE), Clinical Laboratory Partners, Colorado Pathology Consultants P.C. (CO), ConVerge Diagnostic Services, Consolidated DermPath Inc. (DE), DFW 5.01(a) Corporation (TX), DGXWMT JV LLC (DE), Dermatopathology of Wisconsin S.C. (WI), Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma LLC (OK), Diagnostic Pathology Services Inc. (OK), Diagnostic Reference Services Inc. (MD), ExamOne Canada Inc. (New Brunswick), ExamOne LLC (DE), ExamOne World Wide Inc. (PA), ExamOne World Wide of NJ Inc. (NJ), Focus Diagnostics, HemoCue, Hoffman M.D. Associated Pathologists Chartered (NV), Institute for Dermatopathology Inc. (PA), Isabella Street Urban Renewal LLC (NJ), Kailash B. Sharma M.D. Inc. (GA), Kilpatrick Pathology P.A. (NC), LabOne, LabOne LLC (MO), LabOne of Ohio Inc. (DE), Laboratorio de Analisis Biomedicos S.A. (Mexico), Lancet Labs, MACL, Med Fusion LLC (TX), Med fusion, MedPlus, Mid America Clinical Laboratories LLC (IN), Nomad Massachusetts Inc. (MA), Nuclear Medicine and Pathology Associates (GA), Ocmulgee Medical Pathology Association Inc. (GA), Pathology Building Partnership (MD) (gen. ptnrshp.), PeaceHealth Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories PLLC (WA), Q Squared Solutions Holdings LLC (DE), Q Squared Solutions Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (China), Quest Diagnostics Brasil Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Domestic Holder LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics HTAS India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Health & Wellness LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Incorporated (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (MD), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NV), Quest Diagnostics India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Infectious Disease Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics International Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics International LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Investments LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Ireland Limited (Ireland), Quest Diagnostics LLC (CT), Quest Diagnostics LLC (IL), Quest Diagnostics LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Massachusetts LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Mexico Holding Company Trust (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Mexico S de RL de CV (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute (CA), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute Inc. (VA), Quest Diagnostics Receivables Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Subsidiary Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics TB LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Terracotta LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Venture LLC (PA), Quest Diagnostics Ventures LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics do Brasil Ltda. (Brazil), Quest Diagnostics of Pennsylvania Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics of Puerto Rico Inc. (PR), Quest HealthConnect LLC (CA), ReproSource, Reprosource Fertility Diagnostics Inc. (MA), Solstas Lab Partners, Sonora Quest Laboratories LLC (AZ), Specialty Laboratories Inc. (CA), Summit Health, UMass Memorial Medical Center - Anatomic Pathology Outreach Laboratory Business, Unilab Corporation, and Unilab Corporation (DE).
The following companies are subsidiares of Hyatt Hotels: CHANCELLOR STREET CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION INC., GLENDALE HOTEL PROPERTIES L.L.C., HT-SEATTLE HOLDINGS LLC, 1379919 ALBERTA INC., 319168 ONTARIO LIMITED, 3385434 CANADA INC., ADMINISTRACION DE PERSONAL ANDARES S. DE R.L. DE C.V., AIC HOLDING CO., AIRPORT PLAZA ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, AIRPORT PLAZA HOTEL LLC, AIRPORT PLAZA OFFICE BUILDING LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, AMERISUITES FRANCHISING L.L.C., ARANCIA LIMITED, ARUBA BEACHFRONT RESORTS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, ARUBA BEACHFRONT RESORTS N.V., ASIA HOSPITALITY INC., ASIA HOSPITALITY INVESTORS B.V., ASIAN HOTEL N.V., ATRIUM HOTEL L.L.C., AUSTIN RESORT BEVERAGE LLC, AmeriSuites Hotel, BAKU HOTEL COMPANY - AZERI, BAKU HOTEL COMPANY - CAYMAN, BASTROP MARKETING L.L.C., BAY II INVESTOR INC., BELLEVUE ASSOCIATES, BH PLAZA LLC, BRE/AMERISUITES PROPERTIES L.L.C., BRE/AMERISUITES TXNC GP L.L.C., BRE/AMERISUITES TXNC PROPERTIES L.P., BURVAN HOTEL ASSOCIATES, CAL-HARBOR SO. PIER URBAN RENEWAL ASSOCIATES L.P., CELAYA RESORTS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., CHESAPEAKE COMMUNITIES LLC, CHESAPEAKE RESORT LLC, CIUDAD DEL CARMEN DIAMANTE RESORT S. DE R.L. DE C.V, COAST BEACH L.L.C., COMPAGNIE HOTELIERE DE LAGON BLEU, CPM SEATTLE HOTELS L.L.C., CRW INVESTMENT LLC, CTR INTEREST HOLDCO INC., DALLAS REGENCY LLC, DENVER DOWNTOWN HOTEL PARTNERS LLC, DESARROLLADORA HOTELERA ACUEDUCTO S. DE R.L. DE C.V., DH BEVERAGE LLC, DIAMANTE RESORT LA PAZ S. DE R.L. DE C.V., DISTRICT HOTEL PARTNERS LLC, EXHALE ENTERPRISES GIFT SERVICES COMPANY, EXHALE ENTERPRISES II L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES III INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES IV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES V L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES VIII INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES X INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XIV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XIX L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XV TCI LTD., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVIII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XX L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXI INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXIV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVIII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXIII INC., FAN PIER L.L.C., FAR EAST HOTELS INC., G.E.H. PROPERTIES LIMITED, GAINEY DRIVE ASSOCIATES, GALAXY AEROSPACE COMPANY LLC, GHE HOLDINGS LIMITED, GRAND HYATT BERLIN GMBH, GRAND HYATT DFW BEVERAGE LLC, GRAND HYATT SAN ANTONIO L.L.C., GRAND HYATT SF L.L.C., GRAND RIVERWALK BEVERAGE LLC, GRAND TORONTO CORP., GRAND TORONTO VENTURE L.P., GREENWICH HOTEL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, H.E. ATLANTA CENTENNIAL PARK HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. AUSTIN L.L.C., H.E. BERMUDA L.L.C., H.E. CAP CANA L.L.C., H.E. DRISKILL LLC, H.E. GRAND CYPRESS L.L.C., H.E. IRVINE L.L.C., H.E. KANSAS CITY L.L.C., H.E. LENOX L.L.C., H.E. NASHVILLE L.L.C., H.E. NEWPORT L.L.C., H.E. ORLANDO L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC HOTEL L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC PARKING L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC RETAIL L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA SANSOM L.L.C., H.E. PORTLAND HC L.L.C., H.E. PORTLAND L.L.C., H.E. PROPERTIES HOLDING L.L.C., H.E. PROPERTIES L.L.C., H.E. SAN ANTONIO I L.L.C., H.E. SAN ANTONIO L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON JV L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON OWNER L.L.C., HAPP INVESTOR LTD., HARBORSIDE HOTEL LLC, HARBORSIDE LAND LLC, HC PORTLAND JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HC ROYAL PALMS L.L.C., HCV CINCINNATI HOTEL L.L.C., HE ORLANDO HOTEL LLC, HGP (TRAVEL) LIMITED, HH NASHVILLE HOLDINGS L.L.C., HH NASHVILLE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HH PORTLAND L.L.C., HHMA BURLINGTON BEVERAGE L.L.C., HI HOLDINGS (SWITZERLAND) GMBH, HI HOLDINGS BAJA B.V., HI HOLDINGS BRAZIL S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS CELAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS CIUDAD DEL CARMEN B.V., HI HOLDINGS CYPRUS LIMITED, HI HOLDINGS CYPRUS-INDIA LIMITED, HI HOLDINGS GUADALAJARA B.V., HI HOLDINGS HP CABO B.V., HI HOLDINGS HP TIJUANA HOTEL B.V., HI HOLDINGS KYOTO CO., HI HOLDINGS LA PAZ B.V., HI HOLDINGS LATIN AMERICA B.V., HI HOLDINGS NETHERLANDS B.V., HI HOLDINGS PLAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS RIO S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS RIVIERA MAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS VIENNA S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS ZURICH S.A.R.L., HI HOTEL ADVISORY SERVICES GMBH, HI HOTEL INVESTORS CYPRUS LIMITED, HIHCL AMSTERDAM B.V., HIHCL HP AMSTERDAM AIRPORT B.V., HIHCL HR AMSTERDAM B.V., HILP HOTEL SERVICE PROVIDER LLC, HOTEL AM BELVEDERE HOLDING GMBH, HOTEL AM BELVEDERE HOLDING GMBH & CO KG, HOTEL INVESTMENTS HOLDING CO LLC, HOTEL INVESTMENTS L.L.C., HOTEL INVESTORS I INC., HOTEL INVESTORS II INC., HOTEL PROJECT SYSTEMS PTE LTD, HOTEL SERVICES CIUDAD DEL CARMEN S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HOTELS CS CELAYA S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HP ATLANTA CENTENNIAL PARK JV LLC, HP AUSTIN L.L.C., HP BEVERAGE DALLAS DFW AIRPORT LLC, HP BEVERAGE SUGAR LAND LLC, HP BOSTON HOLDINGS L.L.C., HP GLENDALE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HP GLENDALE L.L.C., HP INDIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, HP LAS VEGAS BEVERAGE L.L.C., HP M STREET L.L.C., HP ROUTE 46 TEXAS LLC, HP SAN FRANCISCO L.L.C., HP SAN JUAN L.L.C., HP TEN TEXAS LLC, HPHH ATLANTA L.L.C., HPHH DENVER L.L.C., HPHH SAN JOSE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HPHH SAN JOSE L.L.C., HQ CHESAPEAKE LLC, HR LOST PINES RESORT LLC, HR MC HOTEL COMPANY S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HR MC SERVICES II S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HR MC SERVICES S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HRHC LLC, HT- WAILEA LLC, HT-AVENDRA GROUP HOLDINGS L.L.C., HT-AVENDRA L.L.C., HT-CHESAPEAKE COMMUNITIES INC., HT-CHESAPEAKE RESORT INC., HT-HOTEL EQUITIES INC., HT-HUNTINGTON BEACH INC., HT-JERSEY PIER INC., HT-JERSEY PIER L.P., HT-JERSEY PIER LLC, HT-LONG BEACH L.L.C., HT-MIAMI BEACH L.L.C., HT-PARK 57 INC., HT-SEATTLE LLC, HT-SIERRA L.L.C., HT-VANCOUVER INC., HTLB L.L.C., HTS - NS L.L.C., HTS - NY L.L.C., HTS-ASPEN L.L.C., HTS-BC INC., HTS-INVESTMENT L L.C., HTSF L.L.C., HTW BEVERAGE LLC, HY LONG BEACH HOTEL LLC, HYATT (BARBADOS) CORPORATION, HYATT (JAPAN) CO. LTD., HYATT (THAILAND) LIMITED, HYATT ARUBA N.V., HYATT ASIA PACIFIC HOLDINGS LIMITED, HYATT AUSTRALIA HOTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LIMITED, HYATT AUSTRIA GMBH, HYATT BEACH FRONT N.V., HYATT BORNEO MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED, HYATT BRITANNIA CORPORATION LTD., HYATT CC OFFICE CORP., HYATT CHAIN SERVICES LIMITED, HYATT CRYSTAL CITY LLC., HYATT CURACAO N.V., HYATT DISASTER RELIEF FUND, HYATT DO BRASIL PARTICIPACOES LTDA, HYATT EQUITIES L.L.C., HYATT FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT SERVICES INC., HYATT FRANCHISING CANADA CORP., HYATT FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT FRANCHISING LATIN AMERICA L.L.C., HYATT FULFILLMENT OF MARYLAND INC., HYATT GLOBAL SERVICES INC., HYATT GTLD L.L.C., HYATT HOC INC., HYATT HOLDINGS (UK) LIMITED, HYATT HOSPITALITY SERVICES L.L.C., HYATT HOTEL MANAGEMENT LIMITED, HYATT HOTELS CONSULTANCY SERVICES ASIA PACIFIC LIMITED, HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION OF KANSAS, HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION OF MARYLAND, HYATT HOTELS FOUNDATION, HYATT HOTELS MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, HYATT HOTELS OF CANADA INC., HYATT HOTELS OF FLORIDA INC., HYATT HOTELS OF PUERTO RICO INC., HYATT HOUSE CANADA INC., HYATT HOUSE FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT HOUSE HOTEL HOLDING COMPANY L.L.C., HYATT INDIA CONSULTANCY PRIVATE LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL (ASIA) LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL (EUROPE AFRICA MIDDLE EAST) LLC, HYATT INTERNATIONAL - JAPAN LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL - SOUTHWEST ASIA LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL -ASIA PACIFIC LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL -SEA (PTE) LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, HYATT INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS CO., HYATT INTERNATIONAL HOTEL MANAGEMENT (BEIJING) CO. LTD., HYATT INTERNATIONAL MILAN L.L.C., HYATT INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (BEIJING) CO. LTD., HYATT INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL SERVICES INC., HYATT JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HYATT LACSA SERVICES INC., HYATT LOUISIANA L.L.C., HYATT MAINZ GMBH, HYATT MARKETING SERVICES INC., HYATT MARKETING SERVICES NIGERIA COMPANY LIMITED, HYATT MINNEAPOLIS LLC, HYATT MINORITY INVESTMENTS INC., HYATT MSS L.L.C., HYATT NORTH AMERICA MANAGEMENT SERVICES INC., HYATT OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HYATT OF BAJA S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HYATT OF CHINA LIMITED, HYATT OF FRANCE S.A.R.L., HYATT OF GUAM LIMITED, HYATT OF ITALY S.R.L., HYATT OF LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN L.L.C., HYATT OF LATIN AMERICA S.A. DE C.V., HYATT OF MACAU LIMITED, HYATT OF MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., HYATT OF PHILIPPINES LIMITED, HYATT PARTNERSHIP INTERESTS L.L.C., HYATT PLACE ANNE ARUNDEL BEVERAGE INC., HYATT PLACE CANADA CORPORATION, HYATT PLACE FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT PLACE OF MARYLAND INC., HYATT REGENCY COLOGNE GMBH, HYATT REGENCY CORPORATION PTY. LIMITED, HYATT SERVICES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED, HYATT SERVICES CANADA INC., HYATT SERVICES CARIBBEAN L.L.C., HYATT SERVICES GMBH, HYATT SERVICES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, HYATT SHARED SERVICE CENTER L.L.C., HYATT TRINIDAD LIMITED, HYCANADA INC., HYCARD INC., HYSTAR L.L.C., Hyatt Corporation, INFORMATION SERVICES LIMITED, INTERNATIONAL RESERVATIONS LIMITED, JOINT VENTURE ITALKYR CLOSED JOINT STOCK COMPANY, JUNIPER HOTELS PRIVATE LIMITED, KSA MANAGEMENT INC., KYOTO HOLDING CO., LHR-PARTNERS LTD., LORING PARK ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, LOST PINES BEVERAGE LLC, MACAE PARTNERS S.A.R.L., MAHIMA HOLDINGS PRIVATE LIMITED, MARION RESERVATION CENTER L.L.C., MEXICO CITY HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V., MILAN HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V., MIRAVAL ARIZONA GUARANTOR LLC, MIRAVAL GROUP LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA HOLDINGS LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA OPERATING CO. INC., MIRAVAL RESORT TUCSON LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS I LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS II LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS III LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS TRUST, MRG ATX BEVERAGE HOLDINGS LLC, MRG ATX HOLDINGS II LLC, MRG ATX HOLDINGS LLC, MRG ATX INVESTMENT LLC, MRG ATX MANAGEMENT I LLC, MRG ATX MANAGEMENT II LLC, MRG ATX OPERATIONS LLC, MRG CRW HOLDINGS LLC, MRG CRW MANAGEMENT I LLC, MRG CRW MANAGEMENT II LLC, MRG CRW OPERATIONS LLC, MUNICH OPCO GMBH, Miraval Resort, OASIS LUXURY RENTALS INCORPORATED, PARIS HOTEL COMPANY B.V., PARK HYATT HAMBURG GMBH, PARK HYATT HOTEL GMBH, PARK HYATT WATER TOWER ASSOCIATES L.L.C., PH NEW YORK L.L.C., PHMC RESIDENCIAS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., POLK SMITH REGENCY LLC, PT HYATT INDONESIA, PVD INVESTMENT COMPANY S.A.R.L., Peabody Hotels & Resort, RCG PROPERTIES LLC, REGENCY BEVERAGE COMPANY LLC, REGENCY RIVERWALK BEVERAGE LLC, RESERVATIONS CENTER L.L.C., RIO JV PARTNERS PARTICIPACOES LTDA., RIO PRETO PARTNERS HOTEIS LTDA., RIO PRETO PARTNERS S.A.R.L., ROSEMONT PROJECT MANAGEMENT L.L.C., ROUTE 46 MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES CORP., RUNWAY HOLDING L.L.C., RUNWAY L.L.C., SAO PAULO INVESTMENT COMPANY INC., SAO PAULO INVESTORS LIMITED, SASIH, SDI EQUITIES INVESTOR L.L.C., SDI INC., SDI SECURITIES 11 LLC, SDI SECURITIES 6 LLC, SELECT HOTELS GROUP L.L.C., SELECT JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., SEOUL MIRAMAR CORPORATION, SERVICIOS DE HOTELERIA SAN JOSE S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SERVICIOS HOTELEROS LA PAZ S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SETTLEMENT INVESTORS INC., SHG PUERTO RICO INC., SIERRA HEALTHSTYLES LLC, SJC DESARROLLOS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SKS CORP. N.V., SMC HOTELS B.V., SOROCABA PARTNERS HOTEIS LTDA, SOROCABA PARTNERS S.A.R.L., STANHOPE L.L.C., STARHILL LORING PARK L.L.C., SUGAR LAND/HP LLC, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL COMPANY LIMITED, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, TIJUANA PARTNERS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., TR MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT LLC, TUCSON VILLAS HOLDINGS LLC, TUCSON VILLAS LLC, TWO SEAS HOLDINGS LIMITED, Two Roads Hospitality, WAILEA HOTEL & BEACH RESORT L.L.C., WAILEA HOTEL HOLDINGS L.L.C., WAILEA MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION L.L.C., WAILEA RESORT VILLAS HOLDINGS L.L.C., WAILEA RESORT VILLAS L.L.C., WEST END RESIDENCES L.L.C., XENIA ASSURANCE COMPANY INC., XENIA ASSURANCE COMPANY OF ILLINOIS, ZURICH ESCHERWIESE HOTEL GMBH, and ZURICH HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V..
Wells Fargo & Co. is a diversified, community-based financial services company. It is engaged in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance. It firm operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Wealth & Investment Management, and Other. The Community Banking segment offers complete line of diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses including checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards, and automobile, student, and small business lending. The Wholesale Banking segment provides financial solutions to businesses across the United States and globally. The Wealth and Investment Management segment includes personalized wealth management, investment and retirement products and services to clients across U.S. based businesses. The Other segment refers to the products of WIM customers served through community banking distribution channels. The company was founded by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo on March 18, 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
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Reinsurance Group of America, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of traditional and non-traditional life and health reinsurance products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. and Latin America; Canada; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Asia Pacific; and Corporate and Other. The U.S. and Latin America segment markets individual and group life and health reinsurance to domestic clients for a variety of products through yearly renewable term agreements, coinsurance, and modified coinsurance. The Canada segment offers individual life reinsurance, and to a lesser extent creditor, group life and health, critical illness and disability reinsurance, through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements. The Europe, Middle East, and Africa segment serves individual and group life and health products through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements, reinsurance of critical illness coverage that provides a benefit in the event of the diagnosis of a pre-defined critical illness and underwritten annuities. The Asia Pacific segment comprises individual and group life and health reinsurance, critical illness coverage, disability, and superannuation thr
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The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc., ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics.
Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF's stock was trading at $25.82 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, PCY shares have increased by 3.4% and is now trading at $26.71.
View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
Saga plc provides general insurance, package and cruise holidays, and personal finance products and services in the United Kingdom. The company operates in three segments: Insurance, Travel, and Other Businesses and Central Costs. It offers car, home, health, travel, landlord, boat, motorhome, caravan, pet, and personal accident, breakdown cover, building, content, renter, holiday, and holiday home insurance. The company also operates and delivers package tours and cruise holiday products; and provides equity release and care funding advice, savings accounts, credit cards, and wealth management services, as well as shares ISA and share dealing services. In addition, it offers mailing house services; retirement benefit schemes; and publishes Saga Magazine, as well as repairs automotive vehicles. The company was formerly known as Saga Limited and changed its name to Saga plc in May 2014. Saga plc was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Folkestone, the United Kingdom.
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Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. provides marine transportation, oil production, storage, long-distance towing and offshore installation, and maintenance and safety services for the oil industry. It operates in six segments: Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO); Shuttle Tanker; Floating Storage and Off-Take (FSO); Unit for Maintenance and Safety (UMS); Towage and Offshore Installation Vessels; and Conventional Tanker. The company serves customers in offshore oil regions of the North Sea, Brazil, and the East Coast of Canada. As at December 31, 2018, it had a fleet of 35 shuttle tankers, 2 chartered-in vessels, 1 HiLoad dynamic positioning unit, 8 FPSO units, 6 FSO units, 10 long-distance towage and offshore installation vessels, 1 UMS, and 2 chartered-in conventional oil tankers. Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. serves as the general partner of Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. The company was founded in 2006 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. is a subsidiary of Brookfield TK TOLP L.P.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Valero Energy: AIR BP-PBF DEL PERU SAC, BELFAST STORAGE LTD, CANADIAN ULTRAMAR COMPANY, COLONNADE TEXAS INSURANCE COMPANY LLC, COLONNADE VERMONT INSURANCE COMPANY, DIAMOND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY LLC, DIAMOND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY OF CANADA INC., DIAMOND GREEN DIESEL HOLDINGS LLC, DIAMOND GREEN DIESEL LLC, DIAMOND K RANCH LLC, DIAMOND OMEGA COMPANY L.L.C., DIAMOND SHAMROCK REFINING COMPANY L.P., DIAMOND UNIT INVESTMENTS L.L.C., DSRM NATIONAL BANK, ENTERPRISE CLAIMS MANAGEMENT INC., GCP LOGISTICS COMPANY LLC, GOLDEN EAGLE ASSURANCE LIMITED, HAMMOND MAINLINE PIPELINE LLC, HUNTWAY REFINING COMPANY, MAINLINE PIPELINES LIMITED, MAPLE ETHANOL LTD., MICHIGAN REDEVELOPMENT GP LLC, MICHIGAN REDEVELOPMENT L.P., MRP PROPERTIES COMPANY LLC, NECHES RIVER HOLDING CORP., NORCO METHANOL LLC, OCEANIC TANKERS AGENCY LIMITED, PARKWAY PIPELINE LLC, PENTA TANKS TERMINALS S.A., PI DOCK FACILITIES LLC, PICKARD PLACE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, PORT ARTHUR COKER COMPANY L.P., PREMCOR USA INC., PROPERTY RESTORATION L.P., PURE BIOFUELS DEL PERU S.A.C., PURE BIOFUELS HOLDINGS L.P., Parkway Pipeline, Premcor, Pure Biofuels Del Peru, SABINE RIVER HOLDING CORP., SABINE RIVER LLC, SAINT BERNARD PROPERTIES COMPANY LLC, SUNBELT REFINING COMPANY L.P., THE PREMCOR PIPELINE CO., THE PREMCOR REFINING GROUP INC., THE SHAMROCK PIPE LINE CORPORATION, TRANSPORT MARITIME ST. LAURENT INC., ULTRAMAR ACCEPTANCE INC., ULTRAMAR ENERGY INC., ULTRAMAR INC., Ultramar Diamond Shamrock, V-TEX LOGISTICS LLC, VALERO (BARBADOS) SRL, VALERO (PERU) HOLDINGS GP LLC, VALERO (PERU) HOLDINGS LIMITED, VALERO ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO ARUBA ACQUISITION COMPANY I LTD., VALERO ARUBA FINANCE INTERNATIONAL LTD., VALERO ARUBA HOLDING COMPANY N.V., VALERO ARUBA HOLDINGS INTERNATIONAL LTD., VALERO ARUBA MAINTENANCE/OPERATIONS COMPANY N.V., VALERO BROWNSVILLE TERMINAL LLC, VALERO CANADA FINANCE INC., VALERO CANADA L.P., VALERO CAPITAL CORPORATION, VALERO CARIBBEAN SERVICES COMPANY, VALERO COKER CORPORATION ARUBA N.V., VALERO CUSTOMS & TRADE SERVICES INC., VALERO EAST BAY LLC, VALERO ENERGY (IRELAND) LIMITED, VALERO ENERGY ARUBA II COMPANY, VALERO ENERGY INC., VALERO ENERGY LTD, VALERO ENERGY PARTNERS GP LLC, VALERO ENERGY PARTNERS LP, VALERO ENERGY UK LTD, VALERO ENTERPRISES INC., VALERO EQUITY SERVICES LTD, VALERO FINANCE L.P. I, VALERO FINANCE L.P. II, VALERO FINANCE L.P. III, VALERO FOREST CONTRIBUTION LLC, VALERO GRAIN MARKETING LLC, VALERO H2 PIPELINE COMPANY LLC, VALERO HOLDCO UK LTD, VALERO HOLDINGS INC., VALERO INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS INC., VALERO LIVE OAK LLC, VALERO LOGISTICS UK LTD, VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY (PANAMA) LLC, VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY COMPANY, VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPY INTERNATIONAL LTD., VALERO MARKETING IRELAND LIMITED, VALERO MKS LOGISTICS L.L.C., VALERO NEDERLAND COOPERATIEF U.A., VALERO NEDERLAND COOPERATIEF U.A., VALERO NEW AMSTERDAM B.V., VALERO OMEGA COMPANY L.L.C., VALERO OPERATIONAL SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO OPERATIONAL SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO OPERATIONS SUPPORT LTD, VALERO PARTNERS CCTS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS CORPUS EAST LLC, VALERO PARTNERS CORPUS WEST LLC, VALERO PARTNERS EP LLC, VALERO PARTNERS HOUSTON LLC, VALERO PARTNERS LOUISIANA LLC, VALERO PARTNERS LUCAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS MCKEE LLC, VALERO PARTNERS MEMPHIS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS MERAUX LLC, VALERO PARTNERS NORTH TEXAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS OPERATING CO. LLC, VALERO PARTNERS PAPS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS PORT ARTHUR LLC, VALERO PARTNERS SOUTH TEXAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS TEXAS CITY LLC, VALERO PARTNERS THREE RIVERS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS WEST MEMPHIS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS WEST TEXAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS WYNNEWOOD LLC, VALERO PAYMENT SERVICES COMPANY, VALERO PEMBROKESHIRE LLC, VALERO PEMBROKESHIRE OIL TERMINAL LTD, VALERO PLAINS COMPANY LLC, VALERO POWER MARKETING LLC, VALERO RAIL OPERATIONS DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO RAIL OPERATIONS DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO RAIL PARTNERS LLC, VALERO REFINING AND MARKETING COMPANY, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-ARUBA N.V., VALERO REFINING COMPANY-CALIFORNIA, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-OKLAHOMA, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-TENNESSEE L.L.C., VALERO REFINING-MERAUX LLC, VALERO REFINING-NEW ORLEANS L.L.C., VALERO REFINING-TEXAS L.P., VALERO RENEWABLE FUELS COMPANY LLC, VALERO SECURITY SYSTEMS INC., VALERO SERVICES INC., VALERO SKELLYTOWN PIPELINE LLC, VALERO TEJAS COMPANY LLC, VALERO TERMINAL HOLDCO LTD, VALERO TERMINALING AND DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, VALERO TERMINALING AND DISTRIBUTION DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO TEXAS POWER MARKETING INC., VALERO ULTRAMAR HOLDINGS INC., VALERO UNIT INVESTMENTS L.L.C., VALERO WEST WALES LLC, VRG PROPERTIES COMPANY, VTD PROPERTIES COMPANY, WARSHALL COMPANY LLC, and ZELIG COMMERCIAL INC..
Whitbread has been the subject of 7 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.
According to analysts' consensus price target of GBX 3,715.56, Whitbread has a forecasted upside of 16.1% from its current price of GBX 3,200.
Whitbread has received a consensus rating of Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.90, and is based on 9 buy ratings, 1 hold rating, and no sell ratings.
4.7 Community Rank
Outperform Votes Whitbread has received 821 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)
Underperform Votes Whitbread has received 346 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)
Community Sentiment Whitbread has received 70.35% outperform votes from our community.
MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Whitbread and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe WTB will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe WTB will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Crown: Adularia Inversiones 2010 S.L., Angleboard Sweden AB, Bates Cargo-Pak ApS, Butimove, CMB Machinery and Technology (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CROWN AP (Thailand) Company Limited, CROWN Aerosols & Promotional Nederland, CROWN Aerosols Italia Srl, CROWN Aerosols Nederland BV, CROWN Aerosols UK Limited, CROWN Americas LLC, CROWN Arabia Can Company Ltd, CROWN Asia Pacific Holdings Pte. Ltd., CROWN Asia Pacific Investments (T) Limited, CROWN Bevcan Espana S.L., CROWN Bevcan France SAS, CROWN Bevcan Slovakia s.r.o., CROWN Bevcan Turkiye Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, CROWN Bevcan and Closures (Thailand) Company Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans (Cambodia) Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans (Dong Nai) Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Beijing Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Changchun Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Danang Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Hangzhou Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Hanoi Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Heshan Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Hong Kong Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Huizhou Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Malaysia Sdn Bhd, CROWN Beverage Cans Nanning Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Putian Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Saigon Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Shanghai Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Sihanoukville Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Singapore Pte. Ltd., CROWN Beverage Cans Ziyang Limited, CROWN Beverage Packaging LLC, CROWN Beverage Packaging Puerto Rico Inc., CROWN Cans Ghana Limited, CROWN China Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited, CROWN Commercial Belgium BVBA, CROWN Commercial France SAS, CROWN Commercial Germany GmbH & Co. KG, CROWN Commercial Hungary Kft, CROWN Commercial Netherlands B.V., CROWN Commercial Vermogensverwaltung GmbH, CROWN Cork & Seal USA Inc., CROWN Embalagens Metalicas da Amazonia S.A., CROWN Emballage France SAS, CROWN Emirates Company Limited, CROWN Envases Mexico S.A. de C.V., CROWN Famosa S.A. de C.V., CROWN Food Packaging (Thailand) Public Company Limited, CROWN Foodcan (Hat Yai) Company Limited, CROWN Foodcan (Nakhon Pathom) Company Limited, CROWN Foodcan Germany GmbH, CROWN Foodcan GmbH, CROWN Imballaggi Italia Srl, CROWN Imgallaggi Italia Srl, CROWN Italy Finance srl, CROWN Khmer Beverage Cans Limited, CROWN Maghreb Can, CROWN Magyarorszag Csomagoloipari KFT, CROWN Metal Packaging Canada Inc., CROWN Metal Packaging Canada LP, CROWN Middle East Can Co. Ltd., CROWN Packaging (Barbados) Limited, CROWN Packaging Holdings LLC, CROWN Packaging Investment (H.K.) Limited, CROWN Packaging Ireland Ltd, CROWN Packaging Jamaica Limited, CROWN Packaging Polska Sp.z.o.o., CROWN Packaging Technology Inc., CROWN Packaging Trinidad Limited, CROWN Packaging UK Limited, CROWN Promotional Packaging UK Ltd, CROWN SIEM, CROWN Senegal, CROWN Societe Malgache d'Emballages Metalliques, CROWN Speciality Packaging BV, CROWN Speciality Packaging Investment Pte. Ltd., CROWN Specialty Packaging UK Ltd, CROWN TCP Beverage Cans Company Limited, CROWN Verpakking Belgie NV, CROWN Verpakking Nederland B.V., Caretex Asia Ltd., CarnaudMetalbox Engineering Ltd, CarnaudMetalbox Food South Africa (Pty) Limited, CarnaudMetalbox Group UK Limited, CarnaudMetalbox Overeseas Limited, CarnaudMetalbox Overseas Limited, Cierres Hermeticos S.A. DE C.V., Constar International, Crown Americas Capital Corp., Crown Americas Capital Corp. II, Crown Americas Capital Corp. III, Crown Americas Capital Corp. IV, Crown Americas Capital Corp. V, Crown Americas Capital Corp. VI, Crown Brasil Holdings Ltda., Crown Canadian Holdings ULC, Crown Closures Spain S.L., Crown Colombiana S.A., Crown Comercial de Envases S.L., Crown Commercial Italy Srl, Crown Commercial Polska Sp. z.o.o., Crown Consultants Inc., Crown Cork & Seal Company (DE) LLC, Crown Cork & Seal Company Inc., Crown Cork & Seal Deutschland Holdings GmbH, Crown Cork & Seal Receivables (DE) Corporation, Crown Cork & Seal de Portugal Embalagens S.A., Crown Cork Kuban, Crown Cork and Seal Receivables II LLC, Crown Developpement SAS, Crown European Holdings, Crown Food Espana S.A.U., Crown Foodcan Turkey Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Crown Hellas Can Packaging SA, Crown Heshan Trading Company Limited, Crown Holdings Italia Srl, Crown Holdings Spain S.L., Crown International Holdings B.V., Crown International Holdings Inc., Crown Luxembourg Holdings, Crown Mexican Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., Crown Overseas Investments B.V., Crown Packaging Commercial UK Limited, Crown Packaging Distribution UK Limited, Crown Packaging European Division GmbH, Crown Packaging European Division Services SAS, Crown Packaging European Holdings GmbH, Crown Packaging Lux I S.a.r.l., Crown Packaging Lux II S.a.r.l., Crown Packaging Lux III S.a.r.l., Crown Packaging Manufacturing UK Limited, Crown Packaging Maroc, Crown Receivables III, Crown Services Iberia, Crown UK Holdings Limited, Crownway Insurance Company, Dacro B.V., EMPAQUE, Fabricas Monterrey S.A. de C.V., Form Koruyucu Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Foshan Continental Can Co. Limited, Foshan Crown Easy-Opening End Co. Limited, Glass & Silice S.A. DE C.V., Globoplastt s.r.o., Gunther S.A.S., Haloila Bulgaria EOOD, Interstrap B.V., Josef Kihlberg AB, Kiwiplan GmbH, Kiwiplan Inc, Lachenmeier ApS, Liljendals Bruk AB, Litec France S.A.S., Mezger Heftsysteme GmbH, Mima Films S.a.r.l., Mima Films Sprl, Mima Packaging Systems S.A.S., Mivisa, Nordic S.A.S., Norsk Signode AS, Oy M. Haloila AB, PT CROWN Beverage Cans Indonesia, Package Design and Manufacturing, Prolatamex S.A. DE C.V., Quandel Verpackungs- und Foerdertechnik GmbH, SMB Schwede Maschinenbau GmbH, SMP Schwede Maschinenbau Weischlitz GmbH, SPG Denmark, SPG France Holdings SAS, SPG Germany Service Management GmbH, SPG Industrial Packaging S.a.r.l, SPG Netherlands B.V., SPG Packaging Ireland Limited, SPG Packaging Systems GmbH, SPG Packaging UK Ltd, Scybele S.A.S., Shippers Europe S.p.r.l., Signode BVBA, Signode Brasileira Ltda, Signode Hong Kong Limited, Signode Industrial Group, Signode Industrial Group AB, Signode Industrial Group Colombia S.A.S., Signode Industrial Group GmbH, Signode Industrial Group Holdings Lux S.a.r.l., Signode Industrial Group Holdings US Inc, Signode Industrial Group Lux S.A., Signode Industrial Group Mexico, Signode Industrial Group Sweden AB, Signode International Holdings LLC, Signode International IP Holdings LLC, Signode International Investment LLC, Signode Kabushiki Kaisha, Signode Korea Inc, Signode NZ Limited, Signode Netherlands B.V., Signode Packaging (Qingdao) Co., Signode Packaging (Shanghai) Co., Signode Packaging Espana S.L., Signode Packaging Group (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Signode Packaging Group Australia Pty Ltd, Signode Packaging Group Canada ULC, Signode Packaging Group NZ, Signode Packaging Systems Limited, Signode Pickling Holding LLC, Signode Polska sp. Z.o.o., Signode Singapore Pte. Ltd., Signode Sweden Holdings AB, Signode System GmbH, Signode System Packaging GmbH & Co. KG, Signode Systems (Thailand) Ltd., Signode US IP Holdings LLC, Silice De Veracruz S.A. DE C. V., Silice Del Istmo S.A. DE C.V., Silices De Veracruz, Societe Civile Immobiliere Rousseau-Ivry, Societe Civile Immobiliere des Baquets, Societe de Participations CarnaudMetalbox, Stopak India Pvt. Ltd, Strapex Austria GmbH, Strapex Embalagem L.d.a., Strapex Holdings Limited, Strapex S.A.S., Strapex Srl, Superior Investments Holdings Pte. Ltd., Superior Multi-Packaging Limited, TopFrame LLC, V.A.C. B.V., Vichisa S.A. de C.V., and Warehouse Automation Iberia S.L..
Asia is the worlds largest and most populated continent. However, the 48 UN-recognized states observe up to eleven time zones, spanning UTC + 2 to UTC + 12. Some countries do not offset their local time ahead of UTC by a full hour. For instance, India is 5.5 hours ahead of GMT (UTC), representing its time zone as UTC + 5.5. Nepal, another Asian country, is 5.75 hours ahead of UTC and represents its time as UTC + 5.75. Several countries also do not have Daylight Saving Time.
Asia Time Zones By Regions
Time zones of Asian countries.
According to the United Nations Statistics Division, Asia is divided into six major regions for statistical reasons. These regions are Northern, Central, Western, Eastern, Southern, and Southeastern Asia. However, one of the eleven Asia time zones can be observed in more than one region. Northern Asia, also known as Siberia, is mainly Russias Asian part, comprising regions east of Ural Mountain. This region has eight time zones, spanning UTC + 5 to UTC + 12 or Moscow Time (MSK) +2 to MSK+9.
Central Asia comprises five countries having two time zones. Five Kazakhstani regions, alongside Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan observe UTC +5, while Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstans western two-thirds have UTC+6. The 19 Western Asia countries fall within five time zones. Countries on and around the Arabian Peninsula observe standard UTC +3, while Israel, Cyprus, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Palestine have standard UTC +2 and daylight UTC+3. Iran uses standard UTC+3.5 and daylight UTC+4.5. Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan observe UTC+4.
Russia time zone map.
Five time zones are observed across Southern Asia, including UTC+4 (Afghanistan), UTC+5 (Pakistan and Maldives), UTC+5.5 (Sri Lanka and India), UTC+5.75 (Nepal), and UTC+6 (Bhutan and Bangladesh). The East Asian countries have three time zones: UTC+7, UTC+8, and UTC+9. UTC+7 is mainly used in the western part of Mongolia, while UTC+8 is used in Mongolia (eastern part), China, Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Japan and the Koreas observe UTC+9.
Southeast Asia comprises eleven countries divided into five time zones. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have UTC+5.5, while Myanmar and Cocos Islands use UTC+6.5. UTC+7 is used in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, parts of Indonesia, Cambodia, and Christmas Island. UTC+8 applies in parts of Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. Only Timor-Leste and portions of Indonesia use UTC+9.
Daylight Saving Time
Daylight Saving Time is not used in most Asian countries. Countries that use DST are Mongolia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Iran, and Syria. However, some countries like South Korea, Singapore, Russia, and Turkey observed DST in the past but no longer use it. In countries where it is observed, DST runs from the last Friday in March to last Friday or Sunday in October.
On the day marking the reunification of Germany, 40,000 people demonstrated in the Bavarian capital against racism and the new Police Task Law (PAG) with which the CSU state government plans to curtail civil rights and massively extend the powers of the security forces. This latest protest was the fourth major demonstration in Munich in recent months.
The protest was carried out under the slogan: Now it's up to you! - Together against a policy of fear. The demonstration was called by the Alliance against the Bavarian Police Task Force (noPAG) and the organizers of the #outraged demonstration, which took place in July this year.
Among the participants were various civil rights associations and refugee workers. As was the case with previous demonstrations, significantly more people participated than organizers and police had expected. Many school pupils and students, as well as families were among those present. Home-made posters bore statements directed against the far right AfD and the right-wing policy of the Bavarian state government led by the Christian Social Union (CSU). The CSU has long since adopted the policies of the AfD, implementing a strict deportation policy and setting up so-called anchor centres to incarcerate migrants. Many expressed their disquiet at the far-reaching powers of the police resulting from the new PAG.
In fact, the PAG is a major step towards a police state. Previously the police could act if they had evidence of a concrete danger. But now on the basis of so-called imminent danger suspects can be subjected to covert investigations, wiretapping, or have their computers searched. The law regulating the secrecy of post has also been suspended, allowing the police to search letters and parcels on mere suspicion.
As early as July 2017, the state government introduced a new preventive detention regime. Accordingly, suspects can be detained for up to three months, after which a judge must decide whether detention is to be extended. There is no longer a maximum period of detention and no crime need be committed.
The Bavarian state government has made no secret of its contempt for democratic rights. Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) defended the PAG and referred to the protest in a press release as a whipping up of vile sentiments. He told demonstrators they were making common cause with left-wing extremists - the state governments designation for anyone who rejects their right-wing politics. Everyone has the right to demonstrate. But there were very many leftists on the march, complained Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soder on Thursday on Bayerischer Rundfunk.
The mass demonstration, which received little coverage in the media, underlined that the majority of the population rejects racism, militarism and police state rearmament. The official opposition, consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Left Party and the Greens, is far removed from the concerns of the protesters. They feigned support for the demonstrators in speeches at the closing rally and voiced their opposition to the PAG, but all of these parties have for some time carried out virtually the same policies when they enter a state or federal government.
At the federal level, the SPD and the conservative Union (Christian Democratic Union and CSU) form a grand coalition in which the CSU sets the tone with regard to refugee policy. With the decision to continue the grand coalition, the SPD made the AfD the head of the countrys official opposition and all of the parties work closely together with the AfD on a number of key parliamentary committees.
The participation of Natasha Kohnen in the demonstration was a desperate attempt to win votes. Kohnen is the leading candidate of the SPD in the state election due to take place in Bavaria in just over a week, but the SPD is widely despised because of its right-wing politics. The latest polls place the Social Democrats at just 11 percent.
As for the Bavarian Greens, there is a growing chorus campaigning for a possible coalition with the CSU after the elections. Local councilor Wolfgang Rzehak is one of many Green politicians who consider such a coalition to be possible. Both parties defend conservative values and there are many reasonable people in the CSU, he said.
In the neighbouring state of Baden-Wurttemberg, a CDU-Green Party coalition has been in power since 2016. BW Premier Winfried Kretschmann (Green Party) also considers a coalition of his party with the CSU in Bavaria to be possible. The Bavarian Greens were not about to officially issue a statement in favour of a coalition with the CSU before the state election, but they did not want to remain in opposition and would rather co-govern, Kretschmann said on Tuesday in Stuttgart.
The former Left Party leader Gregor Gysi has intervened in the Bavarian election campaign to support Left Party candidate Ates Gurpinar. The Left Party shares the line of the Union parties when it comes to beefing up the state apparatus and agitating against refugees. In Brandenburg, the SPD-Left Party state government plans to massively strengthen local police laws this year, adopting in large measure the Bavarian PAG. The Left Party has also advocated allowing the police unlimited access to messages from messenger services. As in Bavaria, police will be equipped with body cameras to film suspects.
In addition, the government plans to make extensive online searches on a preventive basis. i.e., before any offence has been committed, while increasing the number of police and intelligence services for undercover investigations. In addition, electronic ankle bracelets are to be introduced.
With regard to refugee policy, the Left Party has also adopted the policy of the extreme right. After a dispute in a club in Frankfurt (Oder), Left Party Mayor Rene Wilke initiated an order for the deportation of seven refugees from Syria, Pakistan and Palestine. His move was hailed by the AfD. The Brandenburg state chairman, Andreas Kalbitz, who is aligned with the ultra-right wing of the AfD, declared: We feel confirmed in our demands.
This is the first part of a four-part series. The second part will be published Monday, October 8.
Since taking office as Ontarios new Premier in late June and declaring the province open for business, Doug Ford and his Conservative government have declared war on the working class and shifted politics in the province and across Canada sharply to the right.
The Ford government has made a series of policy announcements aimed at demonstrating the new governments resolve to slash social spending, while further reducing taxes for big business and the rich. It has also underlined its support for a reactionary tough on crime agenda and is employing Trump-style rhetoric to scapegoat refugee claimants for Ontarios chronic lack of social housing and dilapidated public services. As a down payment on the coming austerity drive, Ford has imposed a provincial government hiring ban, an across-the-board freeze on incidental expenditures, and an indefinite wage freeze for civil service managers and administrators.
Over the past two weeks, the Tory government has released a projection of a $15 billion budget deficit this year, and a report on government spending that claimed outlays rose by 55 percent during the previous 15 years of Liberal rule. The transparent aim of these announcements is to lay the groundwork for wide-ranging privatizations, user-fee hikes, and social spending cuts, or, as the spending report puts it, decisive action.
Within hours of the government taking office, Health Minister Christine Elliott made sweeping regressive changes to a recently introduced, aged-limited Pharmacare program that provided free prescription drugs for all Ontarians aged 24 or under. Now these benefits will be restricted to those without any existing drug coverage. Days later the government passed strike-breaking legislation against a five-month strike by York University teaching assistants. On Tuesday, Ford announced the government would rescind the modest improvements in provincial labour standards the Liberals introduced late last year in a vain attempt to avoid retribution at the polls for imposing years of austerity. Were going to make sure were competitive around the world, declared Ford. Were getting rid of Bill 148.
Ford and his ruling class backers are well aware that this reactionary agenda cannot be implemented democratically. That is why Fords declaration that he was ready to invoke the Canadian Constitutions notwithstanding clause to cut the number of seats on Toronto City Council in the face of judicial opposition, and that he would invoke it again to suspend democratic rights whenever needed, was eagerly welcomed by much of the establishment, including the National Post and Toronto Sun. Fords power-play was rightly interpreted as a warning that he will use the full force of the capitalist state apparatus and turn increasingly to authoritarian forms of rule to impose his socially incendiary, pro-corporate policies.
Workers will bitterly resist the ruling class attempt to destroy what remains of the social rights it won through the mass struggles of the last century and do so as part of a growing rebellion of the working class in the US and around the world. But to mount a successful counter-offensive, workers in Ontario and Canada must break free of the political and organizational grip of the pro-capitalist trade unions and the social-democratic New Democratic Party (NDP), and advance their own solution to the capitalist crisisthe fight for a workers government and the socialist reorganization of society.
At the NDPs main post-election rally, party leader Andrea Horwath said the social democrats would be the voice for the people of Ontario who did not vote for cuts. Ontario Federation of Labour President Chris Buckley later claimed, The labour movement will hold Doug Fords feet to the fire, while Jerry Dias, the president of Unifor, Canadas largest industrial union, said the premier-elect will be very surprised if he thinks that the result of this election is a carte blanche to wage attacks on workers and unleash cuts to public services.
All this is hollow bluster, aimed at positioning the unions and NDP to contain and politically derail working class opposition to the Ford government and ensure it does not become a threat to capitalist rule.
The NDP is a pro-austerity party and like social-democratic and labour parties around the world utterly subservient to big business. If it was relegated to third-party status for a generation in Ontario, it was because the only ever NDP government in the provinces history, headed by Bob Rae between 199095, cruelly betrayed the hopes of working people, slashing public services, suspending collective bargaining rights in the public sector, and imposing a wage- and job-cutting social contract.
As for the unions, over the past 15 years they were close allies of the big business Liberal government in Ontario just as they are currently partnering with the federal Trudeau government.
In order to cover for this treachery, the pseudo-left groups that orbit around the NDP and the trade unions have called for these organizations to resurrect the anti-austerity campaign that was launched against a previous Thatcher-Reagan styled Conservative government led by Mike Harris. That campaign of civil disobedience, contract disputes, and a series of 11 one-day Days of Actionpolitical protests involving rallies and one-day walkoutsbegan in 1995. When the opposition movement threatened to escape the unions control and a province-wide illegal teachers strike raised, once again, the need for a political general strike aimed at driving the Conservatives from office, the unions shut the movement down.
A closer look at the events during this time will show that rather than being a vehicle for resistance, the unions and the NDP are in fact the principal obstacles to the mobilization of the working class against the Ford government. Only by drawing the lessons of the failure of this movement will it be possible to politically prepare a working class counter-offensive to Fords depredations.
The anti-Harris agitation in Ontario was the largest and most sustained working class opposition movement in North America during the 1990s. During that time, governments across Canada and of every political stripe imposed sweeping social spending cuts in the name of eliminating budget deficits. What distinguished the Harris government was its readiness to slash taxesin their first term the Tories cut personal income taxes by 30 percentthus exacerbating the budget shortfall and increasing the pressure from the provinces creditors for public service cuts. (During Harris first four years in office, the provinces accumulated deficit rose by $22 billion.)
While other governments claimed the deficit crisis left them no choice but to cut expenditures, the Conservatives unabashedly declared that their aim was to roll back governmentthat they were intent on redistributing money from public services and transfers to the poor to beleaguered taxpayersin reality, to the more privileged sections of the middle class and the rich.
The Conservative tax cuts had a three-fold purpose: to garner votes by appealing to discontent among working people, the vast majority of whose incomes had fallen or stagnated for well over a decade; to swell the incomes of the well-to-do by clawing back an increasing portion of the tax revenue that previously sustained public and social services; and last, but not least, to ensure that future governments did not have the financial means to reinvest in social and public services.
Years of under-funding, Harris calculated, would so undermine the quality of healthcare, education and other public services that a popular constituency would develop for privatization. As Harriss first Education Minister John Snobelen once conceded, the Tories aimed to provoke a crisis so they could push through deep cuts.
In subsequent years, the Conservatives took further steps to boost the share of social wealth appropriated by the privileged and to ensure that no future government had the means to redress the crisis in public and social services.
Harris introduced a vast array of cuts to personal income, corporate and capital gains taxes. Corporate taxes were reduced by $1.3 billion in the first fiscal year, and were halved over the next five years. By 2004 corporations were paying $4 billion less in taxes per year. Over the same period, the portion of capital gains subject to taxation was reduced from 75 percent to 50 percent. Corporate high-flyers also benefited from a new tax exemption on their first $100,000 in annual earnings from stock options.
With billions going to tax relief for the well-off, social service cuts left the public health system on life-support. Hospitals closed, nurses were laid off and new investment stalled. Regulatory changes, privatizations and cuts to health and safety supports led to reduced water-quality standards and the eventual poisoning of the water supply in Walkerton, Ontario, that left 7 dead and over 2,000 sickened. Toronto also experienced the worst outbreak of SARS in the developed world in 2003, when at least 32 people lost their livesan outcome directly attributable to the Tory cuts.
In education, over $5 billion was hacked from the budget. University fees were hiked by as much as 20 percent. Private for-profit universities were enabled and the length of the working day for high school teachers was increased even as wages stagnated. Cuts in property taxes and increased enrollment meant school boards received less per student in each year of the Conservative reign. With their education reforms, the Tories effectively stripped teachers of their collective bargaining rights and arbitrarily rewrote their working conditions. Teachers no longer had the right to negotiate workload and working conditions. Grade 13 in the high schools was eliminated. Thousands of teachers were laid off.
Harris introduced a welfare reforma 21.5 percent cut in welfare benefits and the introduction of workfareand billed it as his governments most significant accomplishment. Military style boot camps for young offenders were introduced. Super-jails were built. Provincial transfers to municipalities were gutted. As homelessness became a national emergency, a Tory budget actually cut $90 million from the municipal affairs and housing ministry. Panhandling was criminalized. The minimum wage was frozen for a decade. Labour law protections for workers were eviscerated.
This right-wing, anti-social agenda spearheaded a mounting class war in which all levels of government and all partiesfrom the NDP and Parti Quebecois through the Reform Party/Canadian Allianceparticipated. In October 2000, when the Chretie n-Martin federal Liberal government implemented the biggest-ever tax cuts for big business and the rich, Harris gloated that the Liberals were talking my kind of language.
Workers came forward en masse in opposition to this reactionary agenda. Between 1995 and 1997, over a million workers and young people joined protests, strikes and other anti-Harris actions. But the treacherous role of the union bureaucracy proved decisive in shutting down the anti-Harris movement. With the Ford government now preparing attacks that go even further than Harris, it is critical that workers make a political appraisal of the rise and fall of the 199597 anti-austerity movement in preparation for the bitter class battles to come.
Eight days after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and tsunami devastated central Sulawesi, Indonesia, the death toll continues to climb. The official figure has now surpassed 1,570 and there are more than 2,500 injured. Thousands more bodies, however, are thought to be buried in mud, under collapsed buildings, or swept out to sea.
An area with over 1.5 million inhabitants, including the cities of Palu and Donggala, has been devastated. In Palu, population 380,000, thousands of poorly-constructed houses were swallowed up by liquefaction (when an earthquake causes the ground to liquefy). Others were swept away in the tsunami. Some villages have been wiped off the map.
At least 70,000 people are homeless or displaced, many sleeping in tents or in the open. Hospitals are overflowing and medical supplies are scarce. Power has not returned to most areas. Food and drinking water are in desperately short supply. Thousands of people have been reduced to scavenging in farmland and searching abandoned shops and warehouses for food.
Ordinary people responded to the disaster with bravery and selflessness. Many spent days digging through rubble by hand in search of survivors, who were crying out for help. By yesterday, all the voices had gone silent. The lengthy delay in sending rescue teams and excavating machinery led to countless avoidable deaths among those who were trapped. Some areas have still not been reached by rescuers.
There is widespread outrage over the uncoordinated and grossly inadequate official relief operation. President Joko Widodo initially tried to downplay the catastrophe, refusing to declare a national disaster. His administration did not call for international aid for three days. Military and police were quickly sent to guard private property and suppress any unrest, with orders to shoot on sight desperate people caught robbing shops for food and water.
The amounts donated by foreign governments so far are a pittance, showing their disinterest and lack of concern for those affected. The US government offered to send a Navy hospital ship, turning the disaster into a military exercise, but Jakarta rejected the proposal.
The horrific suffering and loss of life in Sulawesi is not the result of random, natural forces. It is a crime produced by the capitalist system. All the resources needed to prepare for such disasters are monopolised by the super-rich.
Adam Switzer, a scientist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told the Guardian the disaster was not unexpected. A paper published in 2013 suggested that the Palu fault, which is very straight and very long, had the potential for causing a very destructive earthquake and tsunami. Yet nothing was done to prepare.
Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, located in what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire due to its highly volatile tectonic fault lines. Earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding and volcanic eruptions regularly kill hundreds or thousands. The Lombok earthquake on August 5 killed over 400 people, largely because of cheap and unsafe housing, without adequate foundations or reinforcements.
The catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004, killed more than 230,000 people in 14 countries, including 167,000 in Indonesia, and displaced 1.7 million people. Fourteen years later, there is nothing to prevent a tragedy on the same scale from happening again.
The Indonesian government refuses to pay for even the most basic precautions, such as educating the population about tsunamis. Reports indicate that the first waves hit Sulawesi about 25 minutes after the earthquake, yet many people did not understand that the quake was a warning to move quickly inland. A text message sent by Indonesias disaster agency five minutes after the tremor did not reach many people because of damaged phone towers. There were no coastal sirens or other warning mechanisms.
After 2004, governments in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and many other countries promised to establish a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean. Indonesias 22 tsunami detection buoys installed as part of that system have not worked since 2012 due to budget cuts and a lack of maintenance. An advanced network of undersea sensors and cables, which could provide early tsunami warnings, has been stalled in its prototype phase because of what one report described as inter-agency wrangling over a mere 1 billion rupiah ($69,000) needed to finish the job.
There is no shortage of money in the hands of the rich in Indonesia and globally that could be used to vastly improve the warning system. Like the rest of the world, Indonesia has become increasingly socially unequal. Last year, 32 dollar billionaires had a combined wealth of $113 billion, while 93 million people, more than a third of the population, lived on less than $3.10 a day.
Successive governments have stripped away funding for basic infrastructure, including emergency systems, while slashing corporate taxes and regulations that are seen as constraints on profits. Mining companies, palm oil plantations and other businesses are given free rein to pollute the environment and destroy forests, raising the risk of landslides and floods. Building standards are also routinely flouted with impunity.
Vast sums of money are squandered on the military. Indonesias defence budget soared from $2.5 billion in 2005 to $8 billion in 2018. Like other countries throughout the Indo-Pacific region, Indonesia has become embroiled in the US-led military build-up and threats against China, which Washington views as a potential challenge to its global hegemony.
In the heavily-militarised South China Sea, advanced warships and planes from several countries stand ready to launch devastating attacks at a moments notice. But just 600 miles to the southeast, in Sulawesi, thousands of traumatised quake victims are forced to spend days and weeks without assistance, told by President Widodo to be patient.
During the 2004 disaster, the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono left hundreds of thousands of tsunami victims to fend for themselves. Displaced people spent years living in squalid camps, while reconstruction dragged on for nearly a decade. Survivors of the Sulawesi quake, many of whom have lost everything, can expect the same callous treatment.
Indonesia is far from unique. Throughout the world, from earthquakes in China and Nepal, to hurricanes in the United States and Haiti, profit-driven considerations make natural calamities immeasurably worse. The results include climate change and environmental degradation, the lack of emergency services, poverty and social inequality, and the failure of governments to cooperate internationally in the interests of protecting vulnerable people.
Wije Dias, general secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka, noted in a statement on the first anniversary of the 2004 tsunami: The humanitarian instincts of ordinary people stood in marked contrast to the reaction of the political establishment. They provide a small glimpse of what would be possible if the vast resources created by the international working class were utilised to meet the social needs of the worlds population.
The failure of the international aid operation, he explained, posed the need for a conscious political movement that sets out to replace the outmoded capitalist nation-state system, with one based on international socialism. The building of such a movement, fought for by the World Socialist Web Site and the International Committee of the Fourth International, is today more urgent than ever.
A federal judge in California has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administrations executive order which would remove Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from hundreds of thousands of immigrants. US District Court Judge Edward Chen ruled Wednesday that TPS for migrants from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Sudan, and Haiti must be maintained until a lawsuit challenging the legality of the order has been settled.
The four countries cited in the lawsuit represent nearly 300,000 of the 437,000 refugees who are currently receiving TPS in the United States. There have been an additional 273,000 children born in the US to these migrants. In issuing his ruling, Judge Chen asserted that the administration may have ended TPS for migrants on the basis of a racist policy that sought to restrict non-white immigrants from entering the country.
According to Chen: There is evidence that this may have been done in order to implement and justify a pre-ordained result desired by the White House. In addition, plaintiffs have also raised serious questions whether the actions taken by the Acting Secretary or Secretary was influenced by the White House and based on animus against non-white, non-European immigrants in violation of Equal Protection guaranteed by the Constitution.
Chen cited multiple documents from administration officials which demonstrated that the latter sought to revoke the refugees protected status in spite of the fact that they would still face grave dangers if they returned to their home countries. In many cases, Trump officials directly contradicted the risk assessment made by career state department officials of the countries in question.
In one exchange cited by CNN, Francis Cissna, the director of US citizenship and immigration services, made the observation that a document seeking to justify the revocation of TPS for Sudanese migrants seems to make the opposite case until it was altered by Trump administration officials.
The 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 of out of the way, and finished the memo. Am I missing something?
Officials also expressed similar misgivings in regards to documents that sought to justify the ending of TPS for immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In an email exchange, policy adviser Kathy Neubel observed that The problem is that it reads as though wed recommend an extension b/c we talk so much about how bad it is, but theres not enough in there about positive steps that have been taken since its designation.
Prosecutors demonstrated that Trump administration officials sought to revise the traditional interpretation of TPS, claiming that since the conditions in the countries in question that led to TPS being granted in the first place no longer exist, they could be rescinded. This is in spite of the fact that all four of the countries affected by the ruling are wracked with civil war, extreme poverty, and political repression.
In making this case, Brandon Prelogar, a state department official, wrote the following: We can comb through the country conditions to try to see what else there might be, but the basic problem is that it IS bad there (with regards to) all of the standard metrics. Our strongest argument for termination, we thought, is just that it is not bad in a way clearly linked to the initial disasters prompting the designations. We can work to try to get more, and/or comb through the country conditions we have again looking for positive gems, but the conditions are what they are.
Documents show continuous interference on the part of administration officials in the risk assessment process, including the direct intervention of Gene Hamilton, then a senior counselor at the Department of Homeland security and a political ally of attorney general Jeff Sessions. Hamilton made last-minute revisions to some reports, including removing references to human rights violations, in order to make a stronger case for removing the protections.
Approximately 1,000 refugees from Sudan, who were originally granted TPS in 1997 due to civil war and whose protected status was subsequently renewed multiple times, would have faced deportation on November 2 of this year had Trumps order not been blocked. DHS officials sought to justify the revocation by claiming that the armed conflict that has plagued Sudan for decades was now confined to specific regions, even though they acknowledge in the same document that hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled the violence there in recent years and that the region still suffers from acute levels of food insecurity.
Thus far the DHS has declined to lift the protected status for refugees from South Sudan, which has the smallest number of enrollees in the program of any country.
Haitian migrants were originally granted protected status in 2010 due to the earthquake in January of that year that killed at least 160,000 residents and destroyed 250,000 homes. Haiti has never fully recovered from the damage wrought by the earthquake.
As of 2017, the UN has stated that there are still at least 55,000 Haitians in refugee camps and that Many are still living in unsanitary conditions due to displacement caused by the earthquake. The country has also suffered from an ongoing cholera epidemic in the wake of the 2010 earthquake, which has afflicted 800,655 Haitians and killed 9,480.
Haiti was also severely impacted by Hurricane Matthew in October of 2016. The storm made landfall in Haiti as a category four hurricane and destroyed an estimated 200,000 homes. Approximately 45,000 migrants from Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, would have faced deportation in July of 2019 before the stay was issued.
Nicaraguans were first granted TPS in 1998 in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, which killed at least 3,800 and displaced an additional 368,300 people. The storm caused an estimated $1 billion in damages. This country, which is now ruled by Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega, has seen ongoing political violence in recent years as the former Marxist guerilla leader has sought to slash pensions and increase social security contributions in line with International Monetary Fund dictates. Over 5,300 refugees from Nicaragua, devastated by decades of US-backed dictators and pro-business austerity, faced deportation in January of 2019 due to Trumps order.
Nearly 200,000 refugees from El Salvador, representing the largest total number of TPS recipients from a single country, would have faced deportation in September of 2019. Like the other countries on Trumps list, El Salvador is one of the poorest in the world. A quarter of Salvadoran children under the age of five live in extreme poverty and 36 percent of the total rural population live in destitution. The country also has the highest youth homicide rate in the world.
Salvadorans were granted protected status after the earthquakes of 2001, which killed over a thousand and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
The Obama administration had already revoked TPS for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in 2017, in spite of the wretched conditions in those countries. Now, hundreds of thousands more refugees will see their lives imperiled as the Trump administration launches further attacks against immigrants and refugees in an attempt to mobilize its far-right base as a hedge against growing social discontent.
Russias ruling party, United Russia, suffered a number of defeats in recent regional elections. The electoral upsets come amidst widespread popular opposition to the passage of a bill raising the official retirement age by five years for both men and women.
In voting held in early September to elect representatives to local assemblies, United Russia won less than 50 percent of the ballots cast in eleven of the sixteen races. In three regionsIrkutsk, an area in Siberia that borders Lake Baikal and is home to nearly 2.5 million people, Ulyanovsk, which is southeast of Moscow and has a population of almost 1.3 million, and Khakassia, a Russian republic with around a half million residents located north of the countrys border with Mongolia, China, and KazakhstanUnited Russia lost altogether to the Communist Party by between two and six percent.
In addition, four of the Kremlin-backed candidates for regional governorships failed to win a majority. This resulted in run-off elections in three places and the invalidation of the election in another, amidst claims of voter fraud.
In Primorsky Krai, a region in Russias far east and home to the port city Vladivostok, officials were compelled to throw out a narrow win by United Russia incumbent candidate Andrei Tarasenko. His opponent, the Communist Partys Andrei Ishchenko, was in the lead in ballot counting until the very last minute when, suddenly, he lost by 7,000 votes. Allegations of voting irregularities affecting precincts that accounted for at least 24,000 votes, more than enough to have changed the outcome of the election, prompted protests. New elections are now scheduled to take place in December, and Putin has ordered Tarasenko be replaced by an interim leader, a United Russia representative who previously governed Sakhalin.
In Khabarovsk, the federal region just north of Primorsky Krai, the Kremlins candidate lost heavily in a second-round run-off vote to the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) candidate, Sergei Furnal. While both sides claimed electoral fraud, the Central Election Commission declared that whatever violations occurred were not enough to shift the results. A similar outcome occurred in Vladimir Oblast, due east of Moscow, where the incumbent United Russia candidate lost in a run-off vote to the LDPR challenger by about 20 percent.
In Khakassia, United Russia also failed to secure the governorship. Its candidate, Viktor Zimin, lost to the Communist Partys Konstantin Konovalov by about 12 percent. Election authorities scheduled and then cancelled a run-off for October 7, postponing the second round of voting until October 21. Zimin and a third candidate from the Just Russia party have now dropped out of the race. Konovalov will face off against the fourth-place winner in a few weeks.
A recent report on the September elections by foreign policy institute BMB observes, Shifts in basic measures of economic well-being since 2014unemployment, population below minimum wage, and changes in median incomeswere strongly correlated with the decline in UR support.
In Khakassia, over 17 percent of the population make less than the minimum wage recognized by the federal government as necessary to survive, and male life expectancy is lower than the recently-raised legal retirement age.
In the wake of the electoral turmoil, the Kremlin, which has the right to appoint interim governors, has replaced the leaders of Astrakhan, Kabardino-Balkaria, and the countrys second largest city, St. Petersburg.
The election results point to the possibility of regionalist tendencies emerging in Russia, as local leaders in the countrys nominal opposition work to take advantage of social discontent and simultaneously enrich themselves.
In commenting on the broader implications of the declining support for UR, the authors of the BMB note, For investorsboth foreign and domesticthis means that the investment and operating environment will become increasingly fragmented across different regions. Russia is made up of disparate regions that vary substantially in terms of their industrial base, natural resources, socio-cultural features, and their roles in the national and global economy.
Further evidence of the ruling partys unpopularity continues to mount. On Friday, Russias Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) announced the results of a new poll that showed that the ruling partys approval rating has fallen to a record low. Were elections to the parliament to be held now, UR would garner just 31 percent of the vote, a slide of 5 to 10 percent from July of this year and down from a recent high of 55 percent in 2015.
Assistant City Manager Beau Falgout named interim replacement; Landon in line to get severance package worth about $250K
PALM COAST Longtime Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon is out as the citys chief of staff.
Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to immediately terminate his contract with the city and appoint Assistant City Manager Beau Falgout as his interim replacement.
Landon said thank you and walked out of City Hall through a side door immediately after the decision, which came during the final moments of the boards regular council meeting Tuesday morning.
Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland made the motion to fire Landon and apparently convinced fellow council members to go along after airing her grievances during an impassioned 10-minute plea.
I feel like we are standing still and I do not think thats in the best interest of our residents, Holland said during the discussion. I want a sense of urgency by our city manager that we need to get these strategies done.
Holland said she felt that Landon, who has been Palm Coasts city manager since 2007, has not adjusted to the vision of the current administration, which has shifted one of the citys primary focuses to upgrading its technological infrastructure. She also criticized Landon for lapses in communication with council members.
But perhaps her biggest frustration was a lack of progress on policy initiatives that council members laid out as priorities earlier this year. Holland blasted Landon during an Aug. 28 workshop, saying he had not made progress on some of the citys goals from last year.
Weve taken a tremendous amount of time and effort to discuss those priorities as a whole, Holland said during Tuesdays meeting. And to have a manager come back to us and not even work on one of the priorities as identified, not even start on one of them ... I think is frankly astonishing that you would even come back with that.
Outgoing Councilwoman Heidi Shipley was absent from Tuesdays meeting due to illness.
Councilman Nick Klufas supported Hollands motion and lobbied Councilmen Robert Cuff and Vincent Lyon. He said he felt the need to replace Landon during the Aug. 28 workshop as well.
The day-to-day operations of the city are continuous ... he said. But the priorities that the council sets for the single person thats responsible to answer to us werent being moved forward. At that point in time, I told myself that if this moment were to arise that I would state that and I thought we need to move forward as rapidly as possible.
Cuff seemed surprised by Hollands drastic proposal at the back end of the meeting and asked for the issue to be discussed during a special meeting. He initially said he didnt feel comfortable supporting Landons immediate termination but later voted for it after Klufas, Lyon and Holland had already done so.
The city must now pay Landon a severance package that, according to his contract, includes six months salary, unpaid personal leave and a year of insurance benefits if he is terminated. Thats estimated to cost about $240,000.
Last year, Landon announced plans to retire in the summer of 2019 after his granddaughter graduates high school. Council members said he never gave them a firm retirement date and refused to do so until next year. Holland said that put the city in a predicament.
Landon did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
Palm Coast hired executive search firm Strategic Governmental Resources earlier this year to conduct a nationwide hunt for Landons replacement. Those talks had been put on hold at Landons request, but Holland directed staff members to ask members of the search firm to attend the councils next meeting and deal directly with them.
Holland was one of Landons biggest advocates when former Palm Coast city councilman Steve Nobile pushed to have him terminated in August 2017. But she emphasized a sense of urgency numerous times Tuesday, saying she felt the need to terminate Landon as soon as possible.
Holland said state Rep. Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, has asked us to position ourselves accordingly for when he assumes the role of Floridas speaker of the House in 2022 and she argued its critical for the city to part ways with Landon now.
Ive been thinking about it for a while, Holland said during an interview after Tuesdays meeting. I certainly think not giving us the agenda well in advance of our meetings was a source of frustration for myself and other council members.
I just felt a very serious disconnect for a while, she added. It has been a series of frustrations that has caused me to take a different thought process on how we move forward.
Kris Long, an anchor for the CBS affiliate in Palm Springs, California resigned from the station on Friday, a few weeks after posting a lengthy Facebook post defending Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh, an employee at the news channel told TheWrap.
In a written statement on Oct. 5 obtained by USA Today, Gulf California Broadcast Company General Manager Jerry Upham wrote that the Palm Springs-based CBS affiliate had accepted Longs resignation effective immediately.
Kris Long has been an integral part of this companys news organization and wed like to thank him for his many years of service, wrote Upham.
Also Read:Hollywood Slams Susan Collins' Yes on Kavanaugh: 'I Can't Watch This Anymore'
Long published a lengthy Facebook post on Sept. 17, which you can see here, via USA Today, where after saying he was a supporter of the #MeToo movement, he then appeared to defend Kavanaughs actions as a 17 year old. You are beyond dreaming of you think 17 year old boys are not going to misbehave from time to time as they begin to attempt relationships with the opposite sex. That is just the way we animals are made! He then described the actions that Kavanaugh was accused of by Christine Blasey Ford as some lesser miscreant behavior from four decades ago.
Related Video: What Will Kavanaugh Confirmation Mean for Midterms?
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Long had not appeared on air since the Sept. 17 newscast. He deleted his post the next day, writing: The previous post to this page has been deleted. This is a sensitive and controversial subject and I apologize for any offense that this has caused.
On Friday, Sen. Susan Collins said toward the end of a lengthy speech on the Senate floor that she would vote to confirm Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court.
Also Read:Lady Gaga Calls Kavanaugh Debate 'One of the Most Upsetting Things I Have Ever Witnessed' (Videos)
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The decision from Collins all but assures that Kavanaugh will be confirmed to the United States Supreme Court by what is expected to be a razor thin 51-49 margin. The vote is expected to run almost totally along party lines, with West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin defecting from his party by also saying he would vote yes on Kavanaugh while Republican Lisa Murkowski split from her side as well by announcing she would vote no.
Kavanaugh has denied every accusations leveled against him, testifying under oath last month that he had never committed any act of sexual misconduct toward anyone.
Read original story California CBS Anchor Resigns After Defending Brett Kavanaugh on Facebook At TheWrap
Judge Brett Kavanaugh will become Justice Brett Kavanaugh, so says the Senate, who voted 50 to 48 Saturday to confirm him to fill the ninth seat in the Supreme Court.
Kavanaughs nomination was split down party lines, with all but one member of the Democratic caucus opposing him and all but one Republican backing him. Alaskas Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted with the Democrats against Kavanaugh, while West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin split with his party and supported Kavanauagh. The final margin of victory was provided by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who announced her support for the nominee in a lengthy Senate floor speech on Friday.
Saturdays vote was interrupted multiple times by loud protests from the gallery, as Vice President Mike Pence repeatedly called for the sergeant at arms to restore order. Shame on you! one protester was heard yelling as the votes were taken.
Shortly after the confirmation, President Trump tweeted, Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in.
Also Read: Here's the Penalty Amy Schumer and Emily Ratajkowski Will Face for Arrest at Anti-Kavanaugh Protest
In an exclusive Axios poll, 45 percent of Americans approved of Kavanaughs nomination, while 50 percent disapproved. From early September to this week, strong disapproval rose from 26 percent to 35 percent, while strong approval rose from 23 percent to 30 percent. The gender gap is significant, with just 36 percent of women approve of Kavanaugh, compared to 55 percent of men.
The confirmation is a big win for President Trump, who staked much of his political capital backing Kavanaugh. As the vote neared, Trump repeatedly doubled down on the judge, blasting critics and calling the sexual misconduct charges leveled against him a smear.
The Senate vote caps weeks of, at times, graphic accusations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh from his high school days and years at Yale. On Sept. 27, the judges most serious accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying Kavanaugh tried to rape her while he was intoxicated during a party in the early 1980s.
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Later that day, Kavanaugh also testified. With his remarks veering between angry and tearful, he denied misconduct. In what many on the left called a show of political bias, he also called the scrutiny he was under a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about president trump and the 2016 election.
Kavanaugh also faced two additional charges, one from Deborah Ramirez, who told the New Yorker that Kavanaugh thrust his genitals in her face without her consent while at a freshman year party at Yale.
Also Read: Over 1,000 Law Professors Sign Open Letter Opposing Kavanaugh
A third woman, Julie Swetnick, said in a sworn statement that she attended parties where Kavanaugh along with his high school friend Mark Judge participated in spiking punch at house parties with drugs and/or grain alcohol so as to cause girls to lose their inhibitions and their ability to say No.' Swetnick is currently being represented by Michael Avenatti.
Last week Republican Sen. Jeff Flake threw yet another wrench into the nomination after demanding an FBI inquiry into the misconduct allegations. The move, which GOP leadership had strenuously resisted, delayed the final vote by a week.
The final report of the bureau was never made public and was only viewed by members of the Judiciary Committee, whose assessment of the findings broke down along partisan lines. Republicans like Chuck Grassley said it showed nothing new, while Democrats like Bob Menendez call it a bulls probe.
Read original story Senate Confirms Brett Kavanaugh to United States Supreme Court At TheWrap
Photo credit: Tom Williams - Getty Images
From Esquire
(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blog's Favorite Living Canadian)
The Great State O'Maine has one great senator, and it's not Susan Collins. It's independent Angus King, who was fed up with the nomination process afforded Brett Kavanaugh weeks before everyone else was. He thought the nomination ill-conceived and the process ludicrously hasty, and that was before boofing had become part of our national political conversation. After his colleague, Susan Collins, gave up the store on Friday, King-aka The Mustache Of Righteousness-took to the floor of the Senate and delivered his own verdict.
Let's just say that the Maine delegation in the United States Senate is not unified on the subject of Brett Kavanaugh.
The FBI report that I reviewed today does not confirm or contradict Judge Kavanaughs statements, nor does it undermine the credible testimony of Dr. Ford. For me, my decision is based on Judge Kavanaughs record, which indicates an overly rigid judicial philosophy that would threaten protections for healthcare, personal liberty and a womens right to choose, the environment, and campaign finance laws; it is based on his refusal to recuse himself from any cases that may come before the court involving presidential power as it applies to the President who nominated him for the seat; it is based on his partisan behavior during last weeks hearing, which does not match the temperament and impartiality needed to serve on our nations highest court; and it is based on the voices of Maine women who in recent weeks have shared with me their deep concern about this nomination. Based upon what Ive seen, read, and witnessed, I remain a no vote on his confirmation.
Collins's speech is going to go down as a landmark in the annals of congressional smarm. It was too long. It was badly delivered. It made little or no coherent sense. Beyond the aesthetic, it was a suicide note delivered on behalf of her entire political identity.
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This was perhaps my favorite passage-and by "favorite," I mean, "completely detached from any possible empirical reality on any plane of existence in this particular universe."
My fervent hope is that Brett Kavanaugh will work to lessen the divisions in the Supreme Court so that we have far fewer 5-4 decisions.
My fervent hope is that I will awaken tomorrow with six pounds of gold in each of my shoes, but I'm not counting on leprechauns.
Photo credit: Pool - Getty Images
The only people who acquitted themselves well in this prairie dog town were Heidi Heitkamp and Lisa Murkowski, who looked at the same evidence King did and came to the same conclusion-that even if you ignore the what Dr. Christine Blasey Ford came forward to tell the Senate, this is a guy who by temperament alone doesn't deserve the promotion he now apparently will get, and that even if you ignore the privilege-fueled tantrum he directed at the Senate Judiciary Committee, this is a guy whose judicial philosophy was not nurtured in academia or in the actual practice of the law, but in the rage-furnaces of modern conservative Mordor, and that these, taken in tandem, make him somebody who shouldn't be allowed within five blocks of the Supreme Court.
Moreover, and this is just what we all need, no matter whether he's confirmed or not, the stories about him are going to keep piling up, which in turn will make the FBI's perfunctory seven-day "investigation" look ever more like at best inadequate, and at worst, a deliberate cover-up. For example, from The New York Times:
White House officials insisted that neither Mr. McGahn nor any other West Wing lawyer prohibited the F.B.I. from interviewing them. But some former law enforcement experts said it was an odd decision not to include the two people at the center of the controversy. Robert Cromwell, a former F.B.I. agent who oversaw sensitive background investigations of political appointees, doubted that agents decided not to interview Dr. Blasey and Mr. Kavanaugh on their own. I dont think that it was in the parameters of the request, he said. Thats what I would assume. It would be frustrating as an investigator. The nature of investigators is to get to the bottom line. Youd want to talk to both of them.
Photo credit: Alex Wong - Getty Images
Or, from NBC News:
Jen Klaus, the former roommate, told NBC News that committee staff members called her at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, put her on speakerphone and asked about Ramirezs drinking habits, whether there was a Yale student known for dropping his pants and the party culture at Yale. She says they suggested the allegation was a case of mistaken identity. It just gave me the impression they were suggesting perhaps it was (another classmate) who threw his penis in her face instead of Brett. Why would they be asking me this? said Klaus, who now resides in Brookline, Massachusetts...Two former Yale classmates say they have made several attempts to share text messages raising questions about whether Kavanaugh tried to squash the New Yorker story that made Ramirez's accusations public - and say the FBI did not respond to their calls and written submissions to its web portal. The text messages involve one potential eyewitness to the incident and the wife of another potential eyewitness.
The texts are a conversation between Kathy Charlton and a mutual friend of Kavanaugh's who, NBC has confirmed, was identified to the FBI by Ramirez as an eyewitness to the incident. NBC News has received no response to multiple attempts to reach the alleged eyewitness for comment. The story detailing Ramirezs accusation was published in The New Yorker on Sept. 23. Charlton told NBC News that, in a phone conversation three days earlier, the former classmate told her Kavanaugh had called him and advised him not to say anything "bad" if the press were to call. Then on September 21, according to the texts, that same person sent Charlton a text accusing her of disclosing their conversation to a reporter. Hellllllooooo. Dont F****** TELL PEOPLE BRETT GOT IN TOUCH WITH ME!!! I TOLD YOU AT THE TIME THAT WAS IN CONFIDENCE!!!
That's one of the aspects of this story that has gone curiously unexplored-what, if anything, did the nominee have to do with the apparent campaign to squash the Ramirez allegation, and with the bizarre theory promulgated by Ed Whelan-and now, apparently, adopted at least sotto voce, by almost every Republican in the Senate-that someone else assaulted Dr. Ford? Given Kavanaugh's previous career as a conservative political activist, it is not idle speculation that he might have been part of that exercise in some way.
And then there is this piquant detail from the electric Twitter machine account of Jamie Roche, Kavanaugh's roommate at Yale who already has accused the nominee of lying to the Congress about his boozing.
I just heard about another clasmate at Yale who reached out to the local FBI field office to describe Kavanaugh drinking, "a nasty drunk, definitely blackout" and gambling. No reply. - Jamie Roche (@jamie_roche) October 6, 2018
Kavanaugh and games of chance was another topic around which the Senate Judiciary Committee did a delicate little dance. It was intimated that the sporting life had something to do with the massive debt load that Kavanaugh was carrying before, somehow, it was wiped out before his nomination. Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns, and Money has been tracing this tangled strand, and Campos has done a good job at explaining that Kavanaugh's explanation for this sudden improvement in his financial fortunes doesn't make a lick of sense.
First, how does buying four season tickets per year for twelve years (2005-2016) result in at least $60,000 of current credit card debt as of 2016, especially since, per Kavanaughs account, hes only supposed to be paying for a small part of the cost of these tickets, since they are being split via a ticket draft?
Second, Kavanaughs explanation for the sudden disappearance of his credit card debt in 2017 is that his friends paid him back. Paid him back for what? For their share of the cost of the tickets that Kavanaugh had been charging to his credit cards since 2005? Again, thats just preposterous on its face. If youre in this kind of ticket sharing arrangement, youre going to be expected to cover your share of the costs up front, not up to twelve years later!
Third, who exactly are these friends? Do they perchance have names, current addresses, and functioning phone numbers? Are any of them lawyers? And/or people who belong to organizations that had legal business before the DC Court of Appeals between 2005 and 2016? And are they going to confirm - under oath naturally - Kavanaughs remarkable story about how he loaned them tens of thousands of dollars for years, before they all suddenly decided to pay him back at the same time?
Make no mistake: The Many Lives of Brett Kavanaugh is now an ongoing series, a beat, as we used to say in newspapers. Because of the rushed nature of his confirmation, and because so much of the material about his life was held in some form of secrecy or another, journalistic curiosity has gone unslaked for far too long. In addition, by not interviewing witnesses who were virtually begging to talk to its gumshoes, the FBI has guaranteed that these witnesses will tell their stories somewhere.
It's already started. And it's going to continue, even when he's sitting on the Court, which will do wonders for that institution's credibility, and while he's hearing appeals brought by all the groups he's already told us were conspiring against him. So, no, I don't think Susan Collins's fond wish for a conciliator is going to be answered. What a godawful chewy cluster of fck this thing has been.
The conviction of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke for the murder of 17-year old Laquan McDonald was the only spot of unalloyed justice in a week where any kind of justice was terribly hard to find. Van Dyke is the first Chicago cop convicted of murder in half-a-century. His lawyers finagled a jury with one African-American on it. Yet the jury stepped up and did the right thing. One of the most chilling moments came when Van Dyke's convictions for aggravated assault were read out. He was convicted of aggravated assault on each one of the 16 shots he fired into McDonald one night almost four years ago. It was as sad a public litany as can be imagined-"Shot One: Guilty, Shot Two, Guilty..."-and it seemed like the pain was being carefully measured out and that each wound in the public heart was being cauterized in turn.
Of course, Van Dyke likely would have skated had there not been a dashcam video of him pumping bullets into McDonald, and we wouldn't have seen the video at all if the Chicago police department had had its way. Two former officers and a former detective are awaiting trial on charges that they conspired to cover up Van Dyke's crime in the old familiar way. From The Chicago Tribune:
Officer Thomas Gaffney, former Detective David March and ex-Officer Joseph Walsh are charged with conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice in connection with their involvement in the McDonald investigation. Prosecutors allege the three officers lied in reports about the threat posed by McDonald, 17, before he was shot to death Oct. 20, 2014.
Photo credit: Antonio Perez - Getty Images
In the case against the three officers, The states evidence will show that the object of the conspiracy was to conceal the true facts of the events surrounding the killing of Laquan McDonald by Officer Individual A, (Officer Van Dyke), the filing reads...An unidentified officer is expected to testify that March - the lead detective on the case - told her to report falsely that Van Dyke was injured by McDonald, according to the filing. One of Marchs reports contained purported statements from that officer about McDonald raising his arm and facing Van Dyke, but that officer is expected to testify that she did not make those statements and that those statements are false, according to the filing.
In this, the Chicago police were aided immeasurably by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who fairly well cemented his reputation as one of the least excusable political figures of the past quarter-century. Emanuel tried to bury the events, and especially the damning dashcam video, because he wanted to run for re-election and Ferguson, Missouri had exploded, and he didn't want that to derail his campaign. It took a brave freelancer named Brandon Smith to pry the video loose with a lawsuit.
A lot of people did the right thing in this case. The only right thing Rahm Emanuel did was to drop out of public life, which was too little and a decade or so too late. Even a small moment of justice glows like a star these days.
Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: "Walk of Shame" (Truckstop Honeymoon): Yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans. (And, yes, I picked this partly because I absolutely adore the name of this group, and they've got quite the saga behind them, too.)
Weekly Visit To The Pathe Archives: Here's Senator Margaret Chase Smith, Republican of Maine, campaigning in New Hampshire ahead of the 1964 Republican primary there. I don't know why I needed a video of a principled woman senator from Maine today. Must be something in the air. History is so cool.
What the hell is wrong with Houston anyway? Why do they hate technological progress and the American entrepreneurial spirit? I thought Texas had such a business-friendly environment that it could absorb the occasional fertilizer plant explosion that takes out a whole town? From The Houston Chronicle:
Toronto-based KinkySdollS had planned to open a Houston branch where it would sell adult love dolls constructed of synthetic skin and highly articulated skeletons. The company intended to sell the human-like dolls, and rent them out so customers could use them in private rooms at the location.
At Wednesdays meeting, the council expanded its definition of an arcade device - which is used to view adult content - to include an anthropomorphic device, or one with human characteristics...Mayor Sylvester Turner said the amendments are intended to update loopholes to make the ordinance more current, specifically in dealing with changing technology. I think the change in the ordinance will certainly capture businesses of this kind and would prevent businesses from operating in the way that this one has been described, Turner told reporters.
Actually, this is the creepiest damned thing I've ever heard of. I would support a resolution that would mandate that the knowledge that this exists be washed from my memory forever.
Is it a good day for dinosaur news, National Geographic? It's always a good day for dinosaur news!
The 83-million-year-old fossil, found in 2014 at a paleontological site in Alabama, adds to growing evidence that these weird wonders on wings were sometimes snacks for dinosaurs, prehistoric crocodile relatives, and large fish. After all, pterosaurs were not just bags of bones and leathery skin, as people might assume. Pterosaurs actually had a lot of meat on their skeletons, says Michael Habib, a pterosaur expert at the University of Southern California who was not involved with the latest find. They were not the skinny animals often depicted in films and art. The flight muscles in particular would have made a great meal.
Alabama apparently has been serving up the good BBQ for millennia.
The chewed-up wing bone of this particular pterosaur, a Pteranodon, suggests that it had a 15-foot wingspan. But the animal may have weighed just 60 to 90 pounds, which would have made it easy prey for a large bony fish or a Squalicorax, an extinct shark that reached up to about 15 feet in length.
I love wings. I eat them slowly as I ruminate on how dinosaurs lived then to make us happy now.
The Committee loves itself some new knowledge. In fact, it yearns for it. So when Top Commenter Walter Lipman dropped The Plumber's Credo into one of the Kavanaugh threads, zing went the strings of The Committee's heart.
I prefer the Plumbers' Credo:
Hot's on the left.
Cold's on the right.
Water flows downhill.
Wash your hands before lunch.
Payday's on Thursday.
Volleyed and thundered! And 92.20 Beckhams to you, good sir.
I'll be in The Good Land all weekend and into next week for some Wisconsin midterm goodness. Be well and play nice, ya bastids. Stay above the snake-line, and, for the love of god, don't come home a'drinkin' with Kavanaugh on your mind.
Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here.
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Melania Trump wraps her 1st major, solo overseas trip to Africa with message, 'We care' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Melania Trump concluded her first major, solo international trip as first lady by saying her four-country tour of Africa was meant to send a message that "we care."
The trip to Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, and Egypt thrust the characteristically private first lady into the global spotlight and out of the glare bearing down on Washington amid a bitter and contentious Supreme Court confirmation battle over Brett Kavanaugh.
Her trip stood as a bright spot in the Trump administrations relations with Africa, which has been dampened by the presidents past disparaging remarks about some African nations.
We care, and we want to show the world that we care, and Ive partnered and am working with USAID. And thats what I want to share, that we care, Trump told reporters at her final stop in Egypt.
She also said none of her hosts brought up the disparaging comments that have been attributed to the president, adding that she never heard him say the remarks.
President Trump in a meeting with lawmakers in January grew frustrated at a proposed bipartisan immigration plan and asked those in the room why they would want people from Haiti, Africa and other "s---hole countries" coming into the United States, according to multiple sources either briefed on or familiar with the discussion.
PHOTO: First lady Melania Trump holds a baby as she visits Greater Accra Regional Hospital in Accra, Ghana, Oct. 2, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
The first lady said on the last day of her travels in Africa that it had been "incredible" and "unforgettable."
The trip was largely focused on children in keeping with Melania Trump's Be Best initiative, and it sought to highlight the positive impact of U.S. aid on the continent, another point of contrast to the president, who has proposed cutting U.S. aid by more than 30 percent.
Congress has rejected that proposal.
The first lady offered praise for what she described as successful programs by USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development, that she observed during her trip.
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But she demurred when asked if she would push the president to increase funding to the foreign aid agency.
We are having funding, so we are helping the countries, and we are working hard for helping them and we will continue to help, she said.
PHOTO: First lady Melania Trump visits Chipala Primary School in Lilongwe alongside head teacher Maureen Masi, Oct. 4, 2018 during a visit in Malawi as part of her week long trip to Africa to promote her 'Be Best' campaign. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
During her travels, the first lady was warmly welcomed by her hosts, with young girls bearing flowers and the first ladies of each respective country there to greet the first lady when she arrived at the airport.
The first leg of Trumps trip brought her to Ghana, where she visited with mothers and children in a hospital and laid a wreath at the "door of no return" in Cape Coast Castle the last place many kidnapped Africans saw before they were crammed onto ships and sent to the Americas for a life of bondage.
She also visited Obama Hall, named for the 44th president after he visited the continent in 2009 with his family.
A photo of the Melania Trump cuddling a baby boy during her visit to a hospital in Ghana went viral in the United States, offering a diversion from an otherwise intense domestic news cycle.
PHOTO: Accompanied by museum educator Kwesi Essel-Blankson, first lady Melania Trump tours the Cape Coast Castle in Cape Coast, Ghana, one of dozens of hubs of the transatlantic slave trade, Oct. 3, 2018 during her trip to four African countries. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via Redux)
The first lady then traveled to Malawi, where she visited a primary school in Lilongwe that benefits from USAIDs literacy program. She was greeted by a choir of singing students upon her arrival at the school, where she interacted with the children and donated school supplies.
Welcome, welcome, welcome, the children sang. We are happy today, we are happy to see you.
She reciprocated with thanks, saying she and her husband appreciate their support.
Thank you for having me here and thank you for a beautiful warm welcome, she said at the school in Malawi, I wanted to be here to see the successful programs that the United States is providing to the children. And thank you for educating them to 'Be Best' be their best and to grow up into educated adults for generations to come."
PHOTO: First Lady Melania Trump is pictured as she arrives at the State House in Lilongwe, Malawi, Oct. 4, 2018. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)
Melania Trump then traveled to Nairobi, Kenya. There, she fed baby elephants one of which playfully but forcefully nudged her -- and went on a safari.
The first ladys emphasis on wildlife preservation in Kenya drew another contrast to the policies of her husbands administration, which earlier this year overturned an Obama-era ban to allow for some elephant trophy imports.
She also visited an orphanage in Kenya, where she held and bounced infants and was encircled by a group of older children in song and dance. The first lady swayed side to side and smiled as the children presented her, stem by stem, a bouquet of red and white roses.
PHOTO: First lady Melania Trump gives an interview to ABC News' Tom Llamas. (Tony Karumba/ABC News)
On the final stop of her trip, Melania Trump traveled to Egypt, where she was received by President Al Sisi and the first lady of Egypt at the presidential palace. She then toured the pyramids and the Great Sphinx.
What she wore during the trip drew attention and commentary, including whether she intended to send a message on gender equality with her choice to wear a tie and pants during her visit in Egypt.
When asked about her fashion choices by a reporter while in Egypt, Trump said, I wish people would focus on what I do, not what I wear.
PHOTO: First lady Melania Trump stands in front of the Sphinx as she visits the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, Oct. 6, 2018. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)
President Trump for his part has yet to visit the continent of Africa since he took office, and the White House has not said whether he intends to visit at some point in the future.
At a rally this week, he offered his a positive review of his wife's trip.
She's doing a great job as first lady, I will tell you. Really great," President Trump said at the Tuesday rally in Mississippi. "And you think that's an easy job? That's not an easy job. That's a tough job. She's fantastic.
In this piece, writer Veronica Walsingham takes a look back at the series Gossip Girl and how the pilot parallels current discussions surrounding the Kavanaugh hearing.
The glittery excess and dramatic storylines of Gossip Girl never leaned heavily into realism. Yet, the very reality of 2018 is that Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court Justice nomination pushed the seemingly consequence-free misdoings of those attending the countrys elite prep schools into the news cycle. Which is not to say that teenaged Kavanaugh behaved exactly like a student at Gossip Girls Constance Billard School for Girls or St. Jude's School for Boys. But the show does feature an attempted rape similar to the one that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford describes in her allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. Its this attempted rape and its repercussions that may be one of the shows most realistic moments and a very accurate portrayal of sexual violence on television. Gossip Girl might be a fantastical series about a made-up group of prep school kids, but this fictional world keenly mirrors the allegations we heard about throughout the Kavanaugh hearing.
During the pilot episode of Gossip Girl, Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) is a sexual predator plain and simple. This is a character who says men like he and fellow Upper East Side socialite Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) are entitled to tap that ass in terms of their virginal girlfriends. While dwelling on the beauty of Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), Chuck delivers this line: Theres something wrong with that level of perfection. It needs to be violated. Violated. In a presidential campaign, Chuck would perhaps argue that his saying a beautiful woman should be violated was just locker room talk, yet its not just talk. Later in the episode, Chuck attempts to force himself on a visibly intoxicated Serena, who physically and verbally expresses her unwillingness to sexually engage.
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Chucks predatory behavior only gets worse as the episode continues, with his assault of Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen). Chuck pins down Jenny, holds her wrists, and tells her to be quiet while attempting to force himself on the 15-year-old. Like Serena, Jenny physically and verbally expresses that this is against her consent, but Chuck doesnt relent. Its clear what would have happened had Jenny not been saved by her brother Dan (Penn Badgley) and Serena, at which point Chucks defense is, Its a party. Things happen.
Gossip Girls attempted rape didnt take place at a beach house, nor was there an accomplice present and music playing with the volume turned up high, as was the scene Dr. Blasey Ford described. But there are still some eerie similarities, like the environment of the party, the ages of those involved, intoxication, and the victim not reporting the incident to local authorities. Of course, the biggest similarity may be that Gossip Girl and Dr. Blasey Fords allegations both feature perpetrators who were teenage boys of privileged breeding, facing great opportunity and great expectations in terms of their future.
Chuck eventually becomes the shows romantic lead, inciting countless YouTube videos highlighting his adoration of Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), without ever being held accountable for his actions. And its this allowing Chuck to be both prince and predator that elevates Gossip Girls portrayal of sexual violence to a level a nuance other shows rarely achieve. He wasnt just a villain capable of perpetrating sexual violence against women; he was also a character capable of making grand romantic gestures, having his heart broken, caring for the adorable dog he adopted, and donating large sums of money to charity. He is often the most sympathetic character on the show, but that doesnt negate his sexual violence. This is true of real life, too. Every day men, even those celebrated by society and considered to be the good guys, are capable of sexual violence, yet this remains something other television shows fail to deeply explore, often opting for narratives in which sexual predators are just sexual predators.
It seems the only reason the pilot episode characterizes Chuck as a sexual predator is because it follows the blueprint of events in the book upon which the show was based. Following the pilot episode, the show deviates from the book series, forming its own narrative. In the television shows timeline, Chuck is the Bad Boy With Daddy And Mommy Issues Turned Good For Love, not a sexual predator. Aside from Jennys discomfort around Chuck for a short period and remarks made by others, the show never examined this juxtaposition of Chucks character and actions.
GOSSIP GIRL, Taylor Momsen, Ed Westwick, (Season 1), 2006-. photo: The CW / Courtesy: Everett Coll CW Network/Courtesy Everett Collection
Many times, sexual assault storylines include a revenge fantasy. Shows such as Big Little Lies, Game of Thrones, and The O.C. showed sexual predators being killed at the hands of women who were victims. Meanwhile, Gossip Girl presents a more complicated, more realist examination of sexual violence and its aftershocks (or lack thereof), especially highlighting how sexual violence inflicted by teenage boys raised within a certain socio-economic class is often disregarded in favor of their futures. Being that Chucks sexual assaults seem to have been accidentally included, the intention of the shows creators and writers likely wasnt to highlight the reality of how often sexual violence occurs against women with the perpetrators rarely facing substantial consequences but thats exactly what the show achieved.
Its also worrisome how many cliche and false conversations about sexual violence continue to happen. Many uninformed conversations about sexual violence continue to be perpetuated today, including defenders of Kavanaugh claiming Dr. Blasey Ford would have reported the crime. The sitting POTUS tweeted that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. Meanwhile, RAINN reports 2 of 3 sexual assaults go unreported, with statistics for attempted sexual assault likely even lower. Another defense made for Kavanaugh is that successful men the types that graduate from Ivy Leagues, excel in competitive fields, and drive carpool simply do not attempt to rape girls in high school. Gossip Girls depiction of attempted sexual assault dispels these stereotypes, as neither Jenny nor Serena report their experience and Chuck goes on to be a Successful Man. At the same time, the show reinforces rape culture by romanticizing a character who moved through his life, including the sexual assaults he perpetrated, free of consequences, almost supporting the argument that the alleged actions of Kavanaughs youth shouldnt affect his adulthood. Gossip Girl accurately depicted sexual violence, but in doing so, it also promoted a rape culture in which sexual violence is normalized and glossed over, the trauma endured by teenage girls simply inconsequential.
Gossip Girl, of course, is not a perfect barometer for reality nor is it being investigated for the highest court in the land. While its still the show that coined the phrase Nairtini, it also told a story of about how privilege and money often protect men from being held accountable for their sexual misconduct. Both in Gossip Girl and in life, a select group of teenagers not yet old enough to legally imbibe the martinis they drink get away with criminal behavior in their youths, only to become the decision-makers of the world in their adulthoods.
Related: The FBI Ended Its Brett Kavanaugh Investigation Without Interviewing Dr. Ford
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The intersection of fashion and politics continues to strengthen amid the protests against Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court. Designers are getting in on the action by designing tees, bags, sweaters, and other political merch to galvanize voters to go to the polls in the upcoming November midterm elections.
On Friday, the Senate voted 51 to 49 to advance Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination forward to a final vote. This vote comes just one day after hundreds gathered to protest Kavanaugh outside a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., which included comedian Amy Schumer and model Emily Ratajkowski, who were both arrested at the scene.
On Thursday night in New York, designer Rachelle Hruska, of Lingua Franca, who is best known for her hand-stitched, politically charged cashmere sweaters, celebrated a special partnership with fashion company MZ Wallace. The two fashion labels joined to unveil a new quilted tote bag stitched with the words, give a damn. And 100 percent of the bags proceeds will benefit She Should Run, a nonpartisan organization that provides support and resources for aspiring female political candidates. The launch event included attendees such as Womens March organizer Sarah Sophie Flicker who recently debuted her own Stop Kavanaugh tattoo at the Emmys as well as former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, who wore a November is coming custom sweater by Lingua Franca.
In September during New York Fashion Week, designer Jeremy Scott walked out for his finale bow wearing a white T-shirt that read, Tell Your Senator No on Kavanaugh 202-902-7129. Scott is just one example of many past designers who have used their fashion platform for a political cause. Past fashion week seasons saw the the rise of political statement T-shirts as well as the public endorsement of Planned Parenthood by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Now, in the midst of what will likely be a confirmation of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, fashion designers are encouraging people to head to the polls to vote in the November midterm elections, which will include a record number of female candidates on the ballot.
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Ahead, see all of the political fashion merch you can buy today and show your support for the Nov. 6 Election Day.
Yahoo Lifestyle may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page.
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Edinburgh (AFP) - Some 20,000 people marched through Edinburgh on Saturday calling for Scottish independence, officials said, less than six months before Britain's planned departure from the European Union.
Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to outline her plans for another independence referendum "when the terms of Brexit become clear".
An announcement was widely expected at the party's conference next week, but with Brexit negotiations between London and Brussels deadlocked she has warned she may delay her plans until later in the year.
Voters in Scotland backed remaining in the EU by a significant margin in the 2016 referendum and Sturgeon has remained a vocal opponent.
Prime Minister Theresa May has refused to permit another independence vote, which must be authorised by parliament in London, complicating Sturgeon's desire to stage a poll before Britain is due to leave the EU next March.
Scottish police said in a statement that 20,000 people took part in Saturday's march, based on City of Edinburgh Council estimates.
Pressure group EU Citizens for an Independent Scotland, who fear many Europeans will leave Scotland before they get a chance to vote for independence, were among those at the rally.
Organiser Ellen Hofer, 31, from Germany, told AFP: "This Brexit situation is just despicable.
"We can't stop Brexit, we can't help what is happening with the UK, but we can help with what we are doing here in this country with independence."
Representatives from English Scots for Yes, a group set up to dispel the notion that Scottish nationalism is 'anti-English', were also present.
"People who say that we're anti-English in some way are, quite frankly, ludicrously stupid," its national director Math Campbell, 31, originally from Cambridge, told AFP.
"It's not about nationalities, it's not about where we were born, it's about where we're all going together as a country."
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Nationalists gathered in Holyrood Park in the shadow of the devolved parliament, defying a warning from local authorities that the rally was unauthorised.
Historic Environment Scotland, the custodian of Scotland's parks, refused to issue a permit for the rally, insisting it does not allow demonstrations of a political nature.
However, organisers were emboldened when Police Scotland said they would only enforce public order laws prohibiting unlawful gatherings if safety was at risk.
A small counter protest featuring union flags on the city's Royal Mile led by A Force For Good, British unionist organisation, was drowned out by thousands of nationalists waving the Saltire, the flag of Scotland.
Buea (Cameroon) (AFP) - Three anglophone separatists were killed in clashes with Cameroonian security forces in the flashpoint southwest town of Buea, a day before presidential polls, sources said Saturday.
The incident on Friday followed the killing of an English-speaking priest by a soldier on Thursday in Bamenda, capital of the northwest -- the other largely English-speaking region engulfed by the anglophone separatist uprising.
The churchman's slaying was confirmed in a statement issued by the town's diocese.
The unrest came as Cameroonians prepared to vote in polls that will be marked by unprecedented violence in the anglophone regions and opposition manoeuvres to oust President Paul Biya who is seeking a seventh term.
"Three separatists were killed Friday in Small Soppo, Buea," said a source close to the security forces, whose account was confirmed by witnesses contacted by AFP.
"They were killed during exchanges of fire between the security forces and the separatists," added the source.
"I saw the bodies of three people in Small Soppo," added one of the witnesses.
The army also attacked a separatist base at Lysoka, some 15 kilometres from Buea, but no estimate for injuries or fatalities was immediately available.
In Bamenda the priest was killed in front of a church following a mass, according to the statement which was signed by the archbishop of Bamenda, Cornelius Fontem Esua, as well assistant bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi.
A soldier fired "three shots into his neck and he died instantly," said the statement.
The situation in the southwest was tense on Saturday a day ahead of polls.
It follows the killings of a civilian, a police officer and a suspected separatist in the town of Kumba, 55 kilometres (35 miles) north of Buea in the week.
Eight candidates, including Biya, 85, will face off in polls which will feature a limited opposition coalition for the first time since 1992 after presidential hopeful Akere Muna threw his weight behind Maurice Kamto on Friday.
Separatist fighters have threatened to disrupt the vote in the anglophone regions but Yaounde has insisted that a raft of security measures will protect the poll.
The defense industry has momentum.
U.S. investors have been uneasy in 2018 as the international trade war escalated. But while investors consider how to play defense with their portfolios, Morningstar analyst Chris Higgins says it may be a good time to consider buying defense industry stocks, especially after the November midterm elections. The Trump administration has made defense and infrastructure spending top priorities, and Higgins says U.S. defense spending will likely continue to accelerate at least until the 2020 election season. Here are seven ways long-term investors can bet on defense stocks.
Boeing Co. (ticker: BA)
Boeing stock is up 17.8 percent in the past six months as the company's strong fundamental performance has alleviated concerns about the trade war's potential impact on Boeing's China business. Higgins says Boeing's biggest challenge will be meeting rising demand for commercial aircraft. He says Boeing's backlog of nearly 6,000 aircraft orders will result in an uptick in production. High-margin 737 production is expected to increase by 35 percent from 42 per month in 2016 to 57 per month by 2019. Morningstar has an "overvalued" rating and $323 fair value estimate for BA stock.
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC)
Higgins gives Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush credit for boosting the company's operating margins from the mid-single-digits back in 2004 to 12.6 percent in 2017. He says Northrop is poised to be one of the prime beneficiaries from the Trump administration's increase in defense spending. Higgins says it's difficult for defensive investors to find cheap defense industry stocks these days, but Northrop is one of the few names in the group that is currently trading at a valuation discount relative to peers. Morningstar has an "fairly valued" rating and $320 fair value estimate for NOC stock.
L3 Technologies (LLL)
L3 Technologies gets about 70 percent of its revenue directly from the U.S. government, meaning an increase in government defense spending is always good news for LLL stock investors. Higgins says L3 was forced to clean up its portfolio and restructure its business during the defense downturns and Iraq and Afghanistan troop drawdown of the past decade. Today's L3 is a leaner business with higher-margin operations, and Higgins says the current environment should enable the company to continue to create long-term value for its investors. Morningstar has a "fairly valued" rating and $204 fair value estimate for LLL stock.
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Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)
Lockheed Martin is the largest defense contractor in the world, and 80 percent of its revenue comes from the U.S. government. Like many other U.S. defense companies, Lockheed has spent much of the past decade divesting underperforming businesses, reducing its headcount and improving its operating efficiency. Now that the defense industry is booming once again, Higgins says Lockheed is running like a well-oiled machine. Higgins likes the company's management, its pursuit of long-term growth and its commitment to capital returns. Morningstar has a "overvalued" rating and $327 fair value estimate for LMT stock.
Raytheon Co. (RTN)
Raytheon has improved its operating margins from 7 percent in 2004 to 12.4 percent in 2017. Even though annual revenue has declined by about $2 billion since 2011, better efficiency has allowed the company to improve its return on invested capital in that stretch. Higgins says these improvements have cleared the path for Raytheon to invest in its business, fund its pensions and commit cash flow to capital returns. Like Northrop Grumman, Higgins says Raytheon is one of the few compelling value plays in the defense sector at its current share price. Morningstar has a "fairly valued" rating and $212 fair value estimate for RTN stock.
General Dynamics Corp. (GD)
When General Dynamics completed its buyout of CSRA in the second quarter, is roughly doubled the size of its IT business, which now accounts for about 25 percent of its overall revenue. Higgins says General Dynamics' ground vehicle business could get a huge long-term boost from a U.S. Army vehicle modernization initiative which will play out in coming years. He says the CSRA acquisition coupled with General Dynamics' compelling value make it his top long-term stock pick in the defense sector. Morningstar has an "fairly valued" rating and $220 fair value estimate for GD stock.
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA)
For investors who agree that defense spending will be a top priority in Washington but aren't convinced of the best stock to buy, the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Aerospace & Defense exchange-traded fund may be the best way to take a diversified position in the U.S. defense industry. The ITA ETF holds all of the six previously mentioned stocks plus shares of 33 other major U.S. defense and aerospace companies. The ETF's 250,000 average daily trading volume suggests plenty of liquidity, and its relatively low 0.45 percent expense ratio means investors won't be paying too much in fees for the relative safety of diversification.
Wayne Duggan is a freelance investment strategy reporter with a focus on energy and emerging market stocks. He has a degree in brain and cognitive sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and specializes in the psychological challenges of investing. He is a senior financial market reporter for Benzinga and has contributed financial market analysis to Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha and InvestorPlace. He is also the author of the book "Beating Wall Street With Common Sense," which focuses on the practical strategies he has used to outperform the stock market. You can follow him on Twitter @DugganSense, check out his latest content at tradingcommonsense.com or email him at wpd@tradingcommonsense.com.
(MANILA, Philippines) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he might have cancer and added that I dont know where Im now physically as he awaited the result of recent medical tests.
Duterte said in a speech in Manila that he underwent an endoscopy and colonoscopy about three weeks ago but his doctor was advised this week to repeat the tests. Both tests aim to diagnose any abnormality in the digestive tract and colon.
I dont know where Im now physically but I have to wait for that. But I would tell you if its cancer, its cancer, the 73-year-old Duterte said to a Philippine Military Academy alumni group and top security officials.
Duterte added that if its third stage, no more treatment. I will not prolong the agony in this office or anywhere.
Rumors have swirled for some time that Duterte, known for his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs, might have a serious illness. Duterte and his aides, however, repeatedly said he was generally fit although he had grown tired of politics after serving for about 40 years in different government posts.
I really dont want it because Im tired and I know that times up for me, Duterte said, adding that physical limitations usually come at around age 70.
I cant say now if I really got hit or not, he said, noting that he has other illnesses such as Barretts esophagus, a condition thought to be caused by stomach acid washing up into the esophagus.
He has said in the past that he has sustained other ailments as a result of a motorcycle accident and drinking. I did not stop drinking but no more, regret is like that. It always comes late. So it got worse, he said.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque told reporters earlier Thursday that Duterte is fine but will inform the public if he has a serious ailment as required by the constitution. The president is a lawyer. He will inform and conform with the constitution if theres a serious health ailment, but there is none, Roque said.
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Roque posted on his Facebook account a video of Duterte arriving Thursday for a conference at the presidential palace with top military and police officials to show that the president was at work.
Roque and another key presidential aide, Christopher Go, made the assurance after rumors circulated that Duterte missed a ceremony Wednesday because he was hospitalized.
Go denied the rumors and said Duterte skipped the event because he was tired from a provincial trip the day before and opted to go to a private meeting and have some personal time.
Jersey Shore star Mike Sorrentino was sentenced Friday to eight months in prison for tax evasion.
He has already paid nearly $124,000 in restitution and was fined an additional $10,000.
He said on Instagram after the sentence that he was very happy to put this behind us, adding to fans: Thank you so much for all the Love and Support.
Sorrentino must surrender to serve his sentence in 30 to 60 days, and he plans to marry his fiancee before then. Michael accepts the Courts judgment. He is looking forward to marrying his college sweetheart, Lauren Pesce, next month, and moving forward together after he serves his sentence, attorney Henry Klingeman said in a statement to E! News.
Prosecutors had sought a 14-month sentence to send a message that tax fraud will be met with real punishment, People magazine reported. Sorrentinos attorney had pressed for no jail time, arguing that Sorrentino, 37, played a minor role in how his taxes were prepared and was suffering at the time from addiction to painkillers. He also emphasized that Sorrentino has gone through rehab to break his addiction and has been sober for 34 months.
Sorrentino appeared in New Jersey federal court in Newark with Pesce and flashed a peace sign as he exited when a reporter asked if he had a message for his fans, People magazine reported. His Jersey Shore castmates were also there, including Vinny Guadagnino, Jenni JWoww Farley, Ronnie Margo-Ortiz, DJ Paulie D and Nicole Snooki Polizzi, reported the Asbury Park Press.
Sorrentino must also perform 500 hours of community service and will serve two years of probation after his prison term is up, the New Jersey Advance reported.
Sorrentino was one of the self-described guidos among the pack of hard-partying pals featured on MTVs Jersey Shore, which premiered in 2009. He returned for the program reboot, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, now in its second season. His worries about sentencing often surfaced on the new program.
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Sorrentino and his brother Marc were indicted in September 2014 after allegedly failing to pay taxes on $8.9 million in income for appearances and endorsement deals from 2010 to 2012. In 2017, both men were indicted on additional charges.
Sorrentino pleaded guilty in January to one count of tax evasion. His brother, who was sentenced to two years in prison Friday, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding in the preparation of a false and fraudulent tax return.
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When an $18.6 million fortune was discovered in his bank account, a Pakistani ice cream vendor says he was stunned, and not in a good way.
Muhammad Abdul Qadir was interrogated last month by Pakistans Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after the authorities found 2.3 billion Pakistani rupees ($18.6 million) hiding in a bank account under his name, the Guardian reports.
The suspect sum, which was withdrawn from Qadirs alleged account in 2015, is believed to be just one piece in a sprawling money laundering operation that took advantage of local laborers.
But the hapless sweets seller says he didnt have an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of his unknowing collaboration.
I am the most unlucky man in the world, Qadir, 52, said in a television interview, according to the Guardian. When I came to know about [the huge sum], it was no longer there.
Qadirs account is believed to be among at least 77 under investigation by the FIA as part of a massive, 35 billion rupee ($283 million) money laundering scheme that may implicate former president Asif Ali Zardari, according to the Guardian.
Zardari is currently free bail after a notice for his arrest was issued earlier in the month.
Zardari served as Pakistans president from 2008 and 2013 following the assassination of his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. He earned the nickname Mr. Ten Percent over bribery allegations.
Luckily for Qadir, the FIA was convinced of his ignorance about the exorbitant account by an undeniable defense: he could not sign for the 2.3 billion rupees transaction because he cannot write.
For Qadir, the entanglement with vast riches has only resulted in further poverty. The self-described, penniless billionaire told the Guardian he used to make about $4 per day selling ice cream, but now his mother is afraid he will be targeted for robbery or kidnapping due to rumors of his fictitious wealth.
People started taunting me by saying, Look a billionaire is selling falooda [an ice-cream topped desert], he said.
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Why would I be spending this miserable life if I have billions in my account? he added.
Correction: Oct. 5
The original version of this story misstated the sum found in Qadirs bank account. It was worth the equivalent of $18.6 million U.S. dollars, not $31 million.
Celebrities Amy Schumer and Emily Ratajkowski among more than 300 arrested on eve of key vote
More than 300 protesters, including the comedian Amy Schumer, have been arrested at the US Capitol in Washington as they made a final, desperate appeal to senators to reject the embattled supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Demonstrators chanted, unfurled banners and staged a sit-in at a Senate office building, one day before the body is poised to take its first vote on the judges nomination to Americas highest bench.
A crucial Senate ballot on his confirmation is expected on Friday before a final vote on Saturday. His chances were boosted earlier on Thursday when two key Republican Senators who support is vital, Jeff Flake and Susan Collins, said they were satisfied by an FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations.
Kavanaugh, who has also faced criticism over a furious Senate appearance last week in which he claimed the allegations were revenge on behalf of the Clintons, made a further pitch to wavering Senators with an article in the Wall Street Journal on Friday conceding he might have been too emotional.
The scenes in Washington on Thursday were unprecedented for any supreme court nominee in recent history. Thousands of protesters, survivors of sexual assault among them, gathered outside the courthouse in the US capital where Kavanaugh currently sits as a federal judge and walked in unison to the supreme court, where he hopes to secure a lifetime appointment.
They marched to a rallying cry: We believe Dr Christine Blasey Ford, the university professor who has accused Kavanaugh of drunkenly and violently sexually assaulting her at a party when they were teenagers.
Its time for women to be heard, said Karen Bralove, an alumna of Holton-Arms, the all-girls preparatory school Ford attended in the early 1980s when she alleges Kavanaugh attempted to rape her.
Demonstrators gather on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on 4 October. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
I dont know whether Brett is going to be confirmed, but women and survivors are not going to be quiet any more.
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As protesters brandished signs that read Kavanaugh lies and Never again outside the steps of the supreme court, senators huddled behind closed doors in the Capitol on the other side of the street to digest the findings of an FBI investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh. The reaction to the FBI report fell firmly along partisan lines, and the Republicans are in the majority in both houses of Congress, but those who took to the streets said they werent giving up hope just yet.
Events on Capitol Hill moved swiftly as an array of politicians, activists and sexual assault survivors by turns grabbed a megaphone from a makeshift podium outside the supreme court. The crowd roared at the news that Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat facing an uphill re-election battle in conservative North Dakota, had announced her opposition to Kavanaugh. Another Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, remained undecided on Thursday afternoon.
From the exterior of the supreme court, by late afternoon demonstrators marched directly to the scene of the debate. Thousands packed the atrium of the Hart Senate office building, while streams of protesters flooded each floor with chants of Our court and Justice now. Many spread out banners and sat on the floor, then were put in plastic handcuffs by law enforcement and led away.
Protesters also gathered in New York. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
US Capitol police said 302 were arrested. Among them was Schumer, who is involved with the Times Up movement against sexual violence and harassment and is a distant relative of the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, and the model Emily Ratajkowski.
Today I was arrested protesting the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, a man who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault, Ratajkowski wrote on Twitter. Men who hurt women can no longer be placed in positions of power.
Today I was arrested protesting the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, a man who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault. Men who hurt women can no longer be placed in positions of power. pic.twitter.com/nnwq1O4qk3 Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) October 4, 2018
Although Kavanaughs nomination was met with protests from the outset with activists repeatedly interrupting his confirmation hearing in early September the scenes have escalated and grown more impassioned following the allegations of sexual misconduct.
Angela Trzepkowski, a homemaker who drove from Delaware first thing in the morning to join the protests, said: You cant stay at home with something like this going on. Women are feeling empowered and stronger, and its no longer going to be the good ol white boys club. It cant be any more.
Emotions were heightened after Ford recounted in gripping detail what she says was Kavanaughs attempt to rape her, in testimony before the Senate judiciary committee last week. Appearing after Ford, Kavanaugh vehemently denied the charges in a fiery speech that was also striking for its overtly partisan tone.
Bralove added: This is so triggering for so many people. She added the fight would not end even if Kavanaugh is confirmed. We do not do 10 days of marching and then go back to our lives, because nothing is the same any more. Nothing.
This year's Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) opened on Thursday with a movie portraying the plight of a North Korean defector and the unlikely family she formed during her harrowing journey.
South Korean feature film "Beautiful Days" centres on Zhen Chen, a young Korean-Chinese man who visits Seoul to find the mother who abandoned him 14 years ago, in a bid to fulfil his dying father's wish to see her.
The college student is left disappointed by the cold reception from his mother, played by top South Korean actress Lee Na-young -- a bar waitress who lives in a decrepit house with her gangster lover.
But Zhen Chen soon finds out his mother's dark secret -- she was a defector from the North sold by human traffickers to his father, a poor Korean-Chinese farmer living near the border.
Once full of resentment over her fate, she eventually finds peace with her newfound family but her dark past continues to haunt her, leading to tragic events that leave her separated from her husband and son.
The sombre, 104-minute film borrows many bleak details from the reality of the border between North Korea and China, home to a booming trade in human trafficking, drugs and prostitution.
Those fleeing poverty and repression in the North must first cross this border -- but many women who do so are sold by human traffickers to rural Chinese men as brides or forced into sex work.
Many endure a life akin to slavery, fearing harsh punishment at home once they are caught by Chinese authorities and are sent back.
China largely considers the North's defectors as economic migrants and repatriates them to the North where they face imprisonment, torture or time in labour camps.
- Reconciliation -
Director Jero Yun said his earlier chronicle of North Korean defectors -- and many people he had met at the frontier between the North and China -- inspired the latest film.
"Madam B" - his documentary released in 2016 -- told the story of a married North Korean refugee sold to a poor Chinese farmer, who she lived with for more than a decade before escaping to the South.
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"I was always interested in telling stories of those at the margins of society... including those marginalised by the division of the two Koreas," the French-educated director told reporters.
"I wanted to pose questions about 'What is the true meaning of family?' by portraying (a) family that is unconventional in many aspects," he added.
Despite the bleak plot, "Beautiful Days" ends with cautious optimism, which Yun said was a metaphor for hopes of reconciliation and a better future between the two Koreas.
The flashpoint Korean peninsula is the last frontier of the Cold War, where hundreds of thousands perished during the 1950-53 war that sealed the division between North and South.
The two rivals have occasionally clashed over the heavily-fortified border, and the North has staged nuclear tests for decades.
But ties have warmed to a level unseen for decades after three historic summits between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and the South's dovish President Moon Jae-in.
"One of the key messages I wanted to convey through this movie is 'starting anew,' regardless of what happened in the past," Yun told reporters.
"And the two Koreas coincidentally are moving closer to each other these days as if starting their once-fraught relationships anew... I find the whole development very positive," he said.
Body found as authorities continue search for missing Maine teacher originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
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.
(MORE: Dozens searching for missing Maine woman: 'This is very abnormal,' says brother)
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.
PHOTO: Kristin Westra, 47, is pictured with her husband, Jay Westra. (Courtesy Eric Rohrbach)
Kristin Westra was last seen by her husband before he went to bed Sunday night, Stewart told ABC News.
(MORE: Hunting bees and plucking huckleberries: How hiker survived 6 days on Mt. St. Helens)
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.
PHOTO: Kristin Westra is pictured with her brother, Eric Rohrbach, when they were children. (Courtesy Eric Rohrbach)
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.
(MORE: Family of girl missing since 1970s helped dig in search for remains after cold case reopened)
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.
PHOTO: Kristin Westra is pictured in this undated photo released by Cumberland County Sheriff's Office. (Cumberland County Sheriff's Office)
It is unknown if Westra has a vehicle or "why she would be missing," according to a release from the sheriff's office.
Senators are reviewing the FBIs latest background check on Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee, in a secret Capitol Hill location.
They are expected to vote on Friday on whether to move forward swiftly on Mr Kavanaughs nomination to a likely confirmation vote at the weekend.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said senators have been given ample time to review this seventh background investigation into Mr Kavanaugh, who denies accusations of sexual misconduct when he was in high school and college. The White House was confident the Senate will vote to confirm the judge, he added.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley tweeted early Thursday that he had received the FBI file. He and his colleagues began reviewing the documents on Thursday morning.
Republicans agreed to ask the FBI for an additional background check on Mr Kavanaugh after his first accuser, Dr Christine Blasey Ford, testified last week that he had sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted to move the nomination to the full Senate but had asked that the FBI investigation be conducted.
Dr Fords attorneys have said she was not contacted for an interview. But the FBI spoke to a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, who claims Mr Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when they were in college. Mr Kavanaugh says that accusation is false.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has, however narrowly, the support he needs in the Senate to be confirmed Saturday.
Outside the Capitol, however, Kavanaugh has attracted a level of opposition unmatched by other recent nominees, polling shows.
In Gallups latest survey, released Wednesday, 45 percent of Americans polled said they would not like to see the Senate vote in Kavanaughs favor roughly equivalent to the 43 percent who opposed George W. Bushs failed nominee, Harriet Miers. No other nominees, dating back to failed Ronald Reagan nominee Robert Bork in 1987, saw more than 40 percent opposition in Gallup polls.
(Photo: HuffPost)
Fox News, which has polling on nominees starting with John Roberts in 2005, found Kavanaugh was the first to hit 50 percent opposition among registered voters. The second-most unpopular was President Donald Trumps nominee Neil Gorsuch, who saw 39 percent opposition. NBC/Wall Street Journal polling, which also goes back to Roberts, put opposition to Kavanaugh at 38 percent in mid-September, compared with a previous high of 30 percent for Sonia Sotomayor. Support for Kavanaugh was at 34 percent the first time in the NBC/Wall Street Journal polls history that a nominee was underwater.
Even before he faced accusations of sexual misconduct, Kavanaugh was on shakier ground than past nominees. He started off with unusually poor numbers and little bipartisan support and saw his numbers only drop from there.
Although the allegations against him certainly did nothing to help his standing, the degree to which they harmed him was never entirely clear in the polls. As the charts below suggest, the trendlines for Kavanaughs support varied widely among surveys. Some including Gallup and HuffPost/YouGov polling found his numbers remaining largely stable, while others including Quinnipiac and Ipsos/Reuters surveys charted a significant decline.
Gallup
HuffPost/YouGov
Marist/NPR/PBS NewsHour
Politico/Morning Consult
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Quinnipiac
YouGov/Economist
Ipsos/Reuters
No prior nominee has been as politically polarizing as Kavanaugh, and that pattern was well-established long before sexual assault allegations against him surfaced, Gallups Jeffrey M. Jones wrote. But, he noted, in an era where nominees can be confirmed with a simple majority vote, the division of opinion on Kavanaugh nationally may matter less than his maintaining widespread support from Republicans.
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Susan Collins, Jeff Flake and Joe Manchin have all announced their support for Brett Kavanaugh, paving the way for the embattled nominee to be seated on the nation's highest court.
He was accused of sexual assault by at least two women during a contentious and historic Supreme Court nomination process, but the three key swing votes mean he will now have enough support when the US Senate votes on Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation over the weekend.
The federal circuit judge narrowly scraped through a procedural vote on Friday, with 51 senators supporting his nomination moving forward to a final vote and 49 opposing the narrowest threshold for a Supreme Court nominee in modern history.
Later, Mr Flake, who previously forced the Republican majority to delay Mr Kavanaugh's vote one week to allow for an FBI investigation into the sexual assault claims made against him, said he would vote for the nominee barring any major changes.
Shortly after his announcement, Ms Collins held a highly-anticipated 3pm speech in which she emphasised why she was planning to support Mr Kavanaugh.
"I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the Court," the senator said, referring to allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford and others. She went on to describe Dr Fords testimony as "sincere, painful and compelling."
"Nevertheless, the four witnesses she named could not corroborate" her accusations, Ms Collins added.
The senator also laid out several examples of Mr Kavanaugh's track record as a federal circuit judge, celebrating his support for cases like Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka.
After Ms Collins announced her support for Mr Kavanaugh, a crowd pac website to fund her opponent in the 2018 midterm elections was flooded with users, causing the page to repeatedly crash. Reports indicated her future opponent had surpassed $2m during her lengthy speech.
A few minutes after Ms Collins' nearly 45-minute speech, Mr Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, announced he would vote "yes" as well.
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I will vote to support Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. pic.twitter.com/1FfuMTOZz8 Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) October 5, 2018
"I have reservations about this vote given the serious accusations against Judge Kavanaugh and the temperament he displayed in the hearing, Mr Manchin said in a statement. However, based on all of the information I have available to me, including the recently completed FBI report, I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution and determine cases based on the legal findings before him."
In an interview with reporters immediately after announcing his decision, Mr Manchin was met with screaming protestors who shouted, "Shame!" and "Look at me!". Near the close of the interview, one protestor yelled at the Democrat, "What is wrong with you?"
"I do hope that Judge Kavanaugh will not allow the partisan nature this process took to follow him onto the court," Mr Manchin continued.
The Supreme Court nomination process to potentially confirm Donald Trump's second pick to the court has devolved into a "circus," several senators have said.
Hey @LisaMurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house... Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) October 5, 2018
Lisa Murkowski, a crucial swing vote who opposed the advancement of the nomination during a procedural vote on Friday morning, was lambasted as the sole Republican to vote against Mr Kavanaugh. In a tweet, Sarah Palin appeared to challenge the senator of Alaska to a primary race during her next election, writing, "Hey @LisaMurkowski, I can see 2022 from my house."
Scores of protestors have been arrested throughout the days since Dr Ford's testimony, with demonstrations continuing across Capitol Hill and celebrities like Amy Schumer and Emily Ratajowski being detained for their activism. The high-profile events appeared to take over Senate offices, with countless stand-ins at the offices of Mr Flake and other key swing senators focused on sexual assault survivors and their stories.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers have decried the FBI's investigation into sexual assault claims against Mr Kavanaugh. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the first senator to receive notice of the accusations, described the probe as "incomplete" during a speech ahead of Friday's procedural vote. Dr Ford's attorneys said she had not been contacted by the federal agency during its investigation, along with numerous former roommates and college friends of Mr Kavanaugh.
Several of those longtime associates of the judge have said he was not fully truthful in his testimony, pointing to his alleged excessive drinking throughout high school and college, as well as numerous references to alcohol in his yearbook.
Mr Kavanaugh published an article in the Wall Street Journal ahead of the Friday procedural vote, titled "I am an independent, impartial judge."
"I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been," he wrote. "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. I hope everyone can understand that I was there as a son, husband and dad. I testified with five people foremost in my mind: my mom, my dad, my wife, and most of all my daughters."
The US Senate will now schedule its vote for the weekend, expected to arrive on Saturday after lawmakers debate the nomination. The Senate Judiciary Committee has allotted 30 hours of debate before a final vote on Mr Kavanaugh.
BEIRUT (AP) Two Syrian rebel groups began withdrawing their heavy weapons Saturday from a northwestern area of the country where Russia and Turkey have agreed to set up a demilitarized zone, opposition activists said.
Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Free Idlib Army and Failaq al-Sham started removing artillery and mortar pieces from areas close to the town of Maaret al-Numan.
There was no immediate confirmation from the two groups that are part of the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front, a coalition of 12 rebel factions.
Bassam Haji Mustafa, a senior official with the Nour el-Din el-Zinki group, which is part of the NLF, said the withdrawal of heavy weapons began two days ago.
Last week, Failaq al-Sham said that it has no heavy weapons to withdraw from the area where the demilitarized zone is to be established by Oct. 15. The group said its heavy weapons are far from the front lines.
The Turkey-Russia deal was agreed last month to avert an all-out offensive by Syrian government forces on the area and calls for the removal of all members of Syrian radical groups from the demilitarized zone. It also calls for the removal of tanks, armored personnel carriers and rebel artillery weapons form the area.
The demilitarized zone will cover a stretch of about 15-20 kilometers, about 9-12 miles, with troops from Russia and NATO-member Turkey conducting coordinated patrols in the zone.
Last month, two jihadi groups in Idlib the al-Qaida-linked Horas al-Din, Arabic for Guardians of Religion, and Ansar al-Din, Arabic for Partisans of Religion rejected the deal calling it a "great conspiracy" against insurgents.
However, the largest militant group in Idlib, the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Arabic for Levant Liberation Committee, has not yet announced its position regarding the demilitarized zone.
Earlier Saturday, an explosive device detonated in a northern town held by Turkey-backed opposition fighters killing four people, including two children.
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The Observatory said the car bomb went off at the entrance to the industrial district of the town of Azaz.
It added that the explosion occurred near a tanker filled with fuel, causing a fire.
The Aleppo Media Center, an activist collective, also reported four people killed including two children, adding that the explosion occurred inside a shop that sells fuel.
Car bombs have been common since Syria's conflict began in 2011.
Northern Syria has been fraught with clashes between rival insurgent groups including al-Qaida-linked militants and Turkey-backed rebels.
On Friday, clashes broke out between al-Qaida-linked HTS and Turkey-backed Nour el-Din el-Zinki group in Aleppo province but the situation was calm on Saturday after the two groups reached a deal, according to activists.
Large crowds gathered to protest at the Gaza-Israel border near the city of Khan Younis on October 5. Footage from the protest shows tear gas, burning tires, and injured protesters.
The Israeli Defense Forces said that approximately 20,000 protesters gathered at the border, attempting to break through it. Two airstrikes were carried out on Gaza in response, they said.
Two Palestinians, including a minor, were killed during violent clashes along the Gaza-Israel border, local media reported, quoting the Gaza Health Ministry. Credit: Quds Network via Storyful
Governments must provide "major" investment in flood risk reduction to save coastal cities around the world, a charity said Friday, as rising seas and sinking urban areas pose unprecedented threats to millions of homes.
Cities such as Jakarta -- which is sinking 25 centimetres (0.8 feet) each year -- Bangkok, Houston and Shanghai risk being inundated within decades as a mixture of poor planning, megastorms and higher tides wreaks havoc.
London-based charity Christian Aid studied eight coastal cities around the world that are sinking, potentially compounding the misery that rising sea levels will inflict on inhabitants.
"The impacts of climate change will be seen across the world and as you saw this summer we had a very warm northern hemisphere, very abnormally so," Kat Kramer, global climate lead at Christian Aid, told AFP.
"Many of the big cities in the developing world are extraordinarily vulnerable to climate change which is why it's very important that they are given support to adapt and build resilience.
"Lives are already being lost through extreme weather events," Kramer added.
The call coincides with the release next week of a major United Nations report expected to urge governments to drastically increase their efforts to limit global temperature rises.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will examine the effect of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels.
That is the most ambitious target that nations signed up to in the 2015 Paris treaty on climate change, which aims to limit temperature increases to "well below 2C" by the end of the century.
- 'Natural measures' -
But even keeping the world within that temperature range will have a catastrophic impact on coastal cities, with some studies showing a 2C increase could raise global sea levels by up to half a metre.
Thursday's paper picked out Jakarta, Bangkok, Lagos, Manila, Dhaka, Shanghai, Houston and London -- home to a combined 100 million people -- as particularly at risk.
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The charity highlighted a host of local factors that contribute to sinkage, the majority manmade.
In Jakarta, a city of 10 million people that sits on a confluence of 13 rivers, half the population lacks access to piped water, so many dig illegal wells to extract groundwater.
This puts greater pressure on the soil, which doesn't get replenished as it should by rainfall as nearly all of the city is covered in asphalt and concrete.
In Houston, efforts to provide a growing population with drinking water have also caused land to sink -- an effect made worse by sea level rises and storm surges.
Kramer said large infrastructure such as sea walls or London's Thames Barrier could help mitigate the damage, but also urged governments to preserve nature's own defences.
"Something noticeable with the Asian tsunami (2004) of was that areas that had their mangroves intact had greater resilience to that kind of storm surge," she said.
"There are many ways that natural measures can help if they are left intact."
Christine Blasey Fords lawyers denounced the pending confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, arguing that Republicans were trying to undermine Fords credibility.
As the Senate debates the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, numerous false claims have been repeated to undermine the credibility of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, her lawyers said in a statement to HuffPost.
Whatever the outcome, Senators deserve to know the truth:
An FBI investigation that did not include interviews of Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh is not a meaningful investigation in any sense of the word.
We believe Christine Blasey Ford and we fully support her, they concluded. Senators claiming to want a dignified debate should not repeat lies constructed by the Judiciary Committee that were cynically designed to win support for Judge Kavanaugh.
The statement was signed by attorneys Debra S. Katz, Lisa J. Banks and Michael R. Bromwich.
Kavanaugh is set to be confirmed Saturday, after several weeks of defending himself against Ford and other womens accusations of sexual assault and misconduct. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) all announced Friday they would support Kavanaugh, giving him the 51 votes necessary for confirmation.
Ford testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kavanaugh pinned her down in the presence of his friend, groped her and attempted to take her clothes off during a gathering in the summer of 1982.
The FBI did not question Ford about the incident in an investigation requested by several senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who said hed only help advance Kavanaugh in a procedural vote if the bureau further examined Fords accusations.
On Thursday, Fords lawyers called the FBI investigation a stain on the process, on the FBI and on our American ideal of justice.
If the FBI had interviewed Ford, her attorneys argued on Friday, she would have provided evidence that corroborated her accusations, including medical records and access to the phone she used to contact a reporter about Kavanaughs misconduct prior to his nomination.
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The attorneys slammed committee Republicans for refusing to allow other witnesses to testify, including the former FBI agent who administered the polygraph test to her in August.
They also rejected claims that Fords testimony was delayed because of her fear of flying. They said the timing of the hearing was affected by Ford taking measures, including speaking to the FBI, to protect her family from threats.
President Donald Trump, who nominated Kavanaugh to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy in July, stood by his pick throughout the confirmation process, labeling Fords accusations false and arguing that she was part of a Democratic con job.
Trump mocked Ford at a campaign rally on Tuesday, a move some senators called just plain wrong and unacceptable.
Read Fords lawyers full statement below:
As the Senate debates the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, numerous false claims have been repeated to undermine the credibility of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Whatever the outcome, Senators deserve to know the truth: In her testimony, Dr. Ford said: It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth.
We believe Christine Blasey Ford and we fully support her. Senators claiming to want a dignified debate should not repeat lies constructed by the Judiciary Committee that were cynically designed to win support for Judge Kavanaugh.
Carla Herreria contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
New York Comic Con, taking place October 4 7 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, is the largest pop culture event on the East Coast.
The event has seen tremendous growth over the last 12 years, going from fewer than 50,000 attendees in 2006 to an estimated 250,000 this year.
ReedPOP, the conventions organizer, told Fox Business that the company made more than $100 million in revenue from events and merchandising in 2017. (More than 700 companies participated in last years convention.)
New York Comic Con has seen super growth. (Graphic: Elena Sweeney/David Foster/Yahoo Finance)
Impressively, Comic Con has managed to become more inclusive over time while also growing rapidly.
Being a woman in the industry, where its really male-dominated, has been a great experience for ReedPOP, Event Manager Kristina Rogers told Yahoo Finance, because our team is so inclusive.
Yahoo Finance spoke to several women attendees about how the convention has evolved and what theyd like to see going forward.
By Crispin Kyalangalilwa, Ted Siefer and Nerijus Adomaitis BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo/CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts/OSLO (Reuters) - 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." U.N. 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. (GRAPHIC: Nobel laureates - http://tmsnrt.rs/2y6ATVW) (Additional reporting by Fiston Mahamba in Bukavu, Raya Jalabi in Baghdad, Giulia Paravicini in Kinshasa, Tim Cocks in Dakar, Lefteris Karagiannopoulos, Gwladys Fouche and Ole Petter Skonnord in Oslo, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Writing by Terje Solsvik and Gwladys Fouche, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Theresa May withdrew the whip from two Tory MEPs over Brexit: AP
The MEP who was leader of the Conservative group in the European Parliament under David Cameron has said the party has now drifted into far-right ideology and intolerance.
Richard Ashworth was expelled from the Tories this week, along with his colleague Julie Girling, after previously having the whip removed for defying it on Brexit.
Last month the two MEPs voted the opposite way to their Tory colleagues to censure the far-right government of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, along with a large majority of other MEPs in the European Parliament.
Theresa May had withdrawn the whip from both the MEPs last year, but they continued to be members of the Conservatives until this week. A statement by the MEP said his expulsion had been consequent to the vote on Hungary, though the party says it was unrelated.
Having been a party worker for over 30 years and, having been a former group leader and party board member, I find this extremely disappointing, Mr Ashworth said.
I always have been, and always will be, a Conservative. However, I am surprised that the party does not apply the same standards in Westminster and I am extremely concerned that this once broad church, pragmatic Conservative party has deserted the centre ground in favour of far-right ideology and intolerance.
Mr Ashworth was previously leader of the Conservative Party in the European Parliament from March 2012 to November 2013 and was first elected as an MEP in 2004.
The MEPs have been expelled from the Conservative party, having previously lost the whip (AFP/Getty)
The Tories faced criticism back in the UK for siding with Hungarys government in the vote because of its governing partys record of antisemitism, Islamophobia, crackdowns on freedom of expression, and abuse of the rule of law.
Jewish and Muslim leaders in the UK criticised the decision, while John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, called on Theresa May to distance herself from the MEPs votes. She did not do so, and the Conservative party was sent a letter of thanks for its solidarity by the Hungarian government. Mr Orban also said he would work to get the UK a good Brexit deal.
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The party said it voted as it did because it did not believe it was the European Parliament's place to censure Hungary's government.
Mr Ashworth and Ms Girling earlier this year left the European Conservatives and Reformists political group in which the Tories sit and joined the mainstream centre-right grouping, the European Peoples Party.
Ashley Fox, the current leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, said Mr Ashworth was expelled for leaving the ECR group and joining the EPP.
The two rebel MEPs will now sit as independents in the European Peoples Party group. Britain is set to lose all its members of the European Parliament after Brexit in March 2019 when it is expected to leave the European Union.
The next elections to the body will take place in May of that year, with Britains places redistributed amongst other countries and also used to reduce its overall size.
KCRA - Sacramento Videos
A former El Dorado County teacher is set to appear in court after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography and child abuse charges. His entire case began after a video sent by mistake. Ryan Michael Pullen, who was a Union Mine High School drama teacher in the El Dorado area near Diamond Springs, is scheduled for sentencing in relation to his charges, according to the El Dorado County District Attorneys Office. The district attorney's office said his offense came to light when Pullen inadvertently sent a 7-minute homemade video of multiple female students undressing and changing into costume to fellow high school employees. He was attempted to upload video to a Google Drive after the high school's assistant principal requested event content to add to a promotional video for incoming 8th-graders.
Kinshasa (AFP) - DR Congo on Friday congratulated crusading Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege for his "very important work" in helping women recover from rape and sexual abuse but accused him of mixing humanitarian work and politics.
Mukwege was operating at his hospital in the country's east when the news broke, sparking cheers, hugs and wild ululations from his co-workers and admirers.
"I was in the operating room so when they started to make noise around (it) I wasn't really thinking about what was going on, and suddenly some people came in and told me the news," Mukwege told Norwegian daily VG.
He later dedicated the prize to women victims of conflict and violence around the world.
"This Nobel prize is a recognition of the suffering and the failure to adequately compensate women who are victims of rape and sexual violence in all countries around the world," he said, speaking outside his clinic.
"It's an important step towards this long awaited reparation that we all owe to these women who have suffered so much," he said.
"For nearly 20 years I have witnessed war crimes committed against women, young girls, tots and babies," Mukwege said, adding that he had operated on some 50,000 women victims of rape and sexual abuse.
Reacting to the news of the prize, DR Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende told AFP: "The government congratulates Doctor Denis Mukwege for the very important work he does although there are often disagreements between us."
"We have had differences with Denis Mukwege every time that he tried to politicise his work which however is important from a humanitarian standpoint," Mende said.
The 63-year-old doctor has regularly spoken out against a spike in sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and criticised long-serving President Joseph Kabila, who is due to step down in December after prolonging his mandate, saying: "We are governed by people who don't love us."
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- Mukwege 'not infallible' -
Mukwege had asked the Congolese in early July to "peacefully fight" the Kabila regime and said the long-delayed December 23 presidential election would be marred by fraud.
The following month Kabila finally pledged to step down after 17 years and designated his chosen successor.
"He erred in thinking that President Kabila wanted a third term," Mende said, adding: "He is not infallible.
"We think that the recognition by the Nobel (committee)... is merited but we will continue to oppose whenever anyone tries to mix humanitarian work with politics."
Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi was far more generous, tweeting: "I can say it: I am proud to be Congolese."
Another opposition figure Vital Kamerhe said: "This distinction is an honour for DR Congo and the whole of Africa."
Mukwege has treated tens of thousands of victims of rape at Panzi hospital which he founded in 1999 in South Kivu province.
Known as "Doctor Miracle", he is an outspoken critic of the abuse of women during war and has described rape as "a weapon of mass destruction".
burs-ach/har
SEATTLE (AP) A new scientific effort will sequence the genomes of critically endangered Pacific Northwest orcas to better understand their genetics and potentially find ways to save them from extinction.
The collaboration announced Thursday involves scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the nonprofit Nature Conservancy and BGI, a global genomics company.
The project will sequence the genome the entire genetic code of a living thing of more than 100 southern resident killer whales using skin or other samples collected from live and dead orcas over the past two decades. Initial results are expected next year.
Scientists said the information could help explain, for example, whether internal factors such as inbreeding or genetic variation in immune systems are preventing the whales from rebounding.
The distinctive black-and-white fish-eating orcas have struggled with pollution, boat noise and a dearth of their preferred prey, chinook salmon. The death of a young orca last month despite a weekslong international effort to save her leaves only 74 in a group that has failed to reproduce successfully in the past three years. That's the lowest number in over 30 years.
"This will help us fill in some really critical gaps in our understanding about why the population is not recovering," Mike Ford, director of conservation biology at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, said during a news conference in BGI's Seattle office. "As we fill in those gaps that will lead us to potentially better solutions."
Ford was lead author on a study published earlier this year that found that just two males in the small population fathered half of the calves that were born and sampled by scientists since 1990.
"Inbreeding could be a problem but we don't have enough data to study that in-depth," Ford said.
Inbreeding, for example, could affect whether a female orca will become pregnant, whether she'll have a calf or how likely that calf would be to survive.
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Female orcas have been having pregnancy problems because of nutritional stress linked to lack of salmon. A multi-year study last year by University of Washington and other researchers found that two-thirds of the orcas' pregnancies failed between 2007 and 2014.
BGI will sequence the orcas' genomes and provide analyses and results to U.S. fisheries biologists and other scientists. They'll compare that research to the genomes of the Alaska population of killer whales that have been thriving, as well as mammal-eating transient whales.
Yiwu He, CEO of BGI Groups USA in Seattle, said that like so many others in the region, he and his family have been captivated by the iconic whales that spend time in the inland waters of Washington state.
"We very much want to do something to help," he said, adding the genome sequencing could help unravel questions about why the animals are not reproducing. He noted that BGI has extensive experience sequencing whole genomes of humans, plants and animals.
Kevin Werner, science and research director for the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, said the project enlists more experts outside of government to work on the problems.
Ford said the results could put other problems faced by the whales, such as lack of prey or contamination, into context and could lead to different solutions. Whales found to have weaker immune systems because of lack of genetic diversity of immune-system genes, for example, could warrant more active treatment or management in the future.
"We don't know what we're going to find," Ford said, adding: "Maybe we'll learn something new about the population that we don't already know."
Montevideo (AFP) - Evangelical churches are flourishing across traditionally Catholic Latin America and as the religious movement grows, its influence -- including in this weekend's elections in Brazil -- transforming the region and swinging its politics to the right, analysts say.
Sharply opposed to abortion, same-sex marriage, the legalization of marijuana and leftist ideology in general, the evangelical movement has boosted conservatives and helped unseat a slew of left-leaning governments across the region.
Powerful evangelical churches are now helping tip the balance in Brazil, where far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro is riding high in the polls ahead of Sunday's presidential election first round.
"The recent elections in Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala and the upcoming one in Brazil reveal both greater electoral polarization and a shift to the political right," says Andrew Chesnut, director of Catholic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.
In Mexico, "even though he's left of center, Lopez Obrador felt he had to make an alliance with a small conservative party founded by a Pentecostal pastor, to ensure his victory," he says, referring to President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
- Political fervor -
Latin America has 40 percent of the world's Roman Catholics, but evangelical churches that grew out of American Protestantism at the beginning of the 1900s are attracting more and more followers, and they are increasingly influential come election time.
According to a 2014 study by the Pew Investigation Center in the US, one in five Latin Americans are Protestant.
The figure rises to 41 percent in Honduras and Guatemala, where General Efrain Rios Montt became the world's first Pentecostal head of state when he came to power in a 1982 military coup.
Most of the new churches are Pentecostal, a movement energized by expectation of the imminent second coming of Christ.
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Pentecostal growth has been so strong in Brazil that the South American behemoth "now is home to the largest Pentecostal population on earth with more believers than even in the USA," said Chesnut.
William Mauricio Beltran, a professor at Colombia's National University, said evangelical churches had "managed to respond better to the needs of new generations of Latin Americans.
"Particularly in the context of accelerated social change, characterized by rapid urbanization and globalization, increasing uncertainty, and increasing social pluralization."
Those "processes that have left large sectors of the population excluded, or with very few opportunities."
For both Beltran and Chesnut, pedophile scandals in the Catholic Church -- of the kind currently roiling the church in Chile -- have helped push more Christians towards evangelical movements.
- At the heart of political debate -
Evangelism has played a key role in some of the biggest political upheavals in the region in recent years, said Gaspard Estrada, a specialist in Latin American politics at Paris' Science Po university.
They include the impeachment of Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff, the "No" vote in the Colombian referendum on the 2016 FARC peace deal, and Guatemala's recent decision to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
"The themes that are dear to the evangelicals are increasingly present in public debate," said Estrada.
He points out that the evangelism embraced by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales weighed heavily on his decision to move the embassy.
According to evangelists, Jews should rebuild their biblical temple in Jerusalem, which is a key step in a series of events that would lead to a second coming of Jesus Christ on Earth.
"Evangelical pastors intervene much more in the daily lives of the faithful, they have no problem to call on people to vote for someone," said Estrada.
Ahead of Brazil's election on Sunday, the influential Universal Church of the Kingdom of God has come out strongly for Bolsonaro, the tough-on-crime former army captain who is favored to win.
- Swing to the right-
Even more than a swing to the right, the Evangelical surge "is a victory for alternativsm," Estrada believes.
"Because of the corruption scandals, lack of leadership and stalled growth, there is a radicalization of the electorate in Latin America. Voters are being pushed to extreme and alternative candidates," Estrada said.
"This affirmation of the evangelical and conservative vote is a reaction to the progress of feminist voting and civil society."
According to Beltran from Colombia's National University, the churches have managed to mobilize into a political machine "whose role and power must be taken into account at each election."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Friday that wage increases are a likely outcome of the current contract talks between U.S. steel companies and the United Steelworkers union, and said that they would be a bellwether for the broader U.S. labor market.
"In many ways the current negotiations between the steel companies and the USWA (United Steelworkers) probably will be a bellwether," Ross said in an interview with Reuters. "It wouldn't be surprising if there are some wage increases coming from that," he added.
United States Steel Corp and ArcelorMittal USA, a unit of ArcelorMittal , are currently negotiating labor contracts for about 31,000 workers represented by the United Steelworkers union.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld, David Shepardson, David Lawder and Chris Sanders; Editing by Leslie Adler)
(LONDON) Irelands data regulator has launched an investigation of Facebook over a recent data breach that allowed hackers access to 50 million accounts. The probe could potentially cost Facebook more than $1.6 billion in fines.
The Irish Data Protection Commission said Wednesday that it will look into whether the U.S. social media company complied with European regulations that went into effect earlier this year covering data protection.
Its the latest headache for Facebook in Europe, where authorities are turning up the heat on dominant tech firms over data protection. Last month, European Union consumer protection chief Vera Jourova said that she was growing impatient with Facebook for being too slow in clarifying the fine print in its terms of service covering what happens to user data and warned that the company could face sanctions.
The commission said in a statement that it would examine whether Facebook put in place appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security and safeguarding of the personal data it processes.
The commission said earlier this week the number of EU accounts potentially affected numbered less than 5 million.
Ireland, which is Facebooks lead privacy regulator for Europe, has moved swiftly to investigate the U.S. tech company since the breach became public on Friday.
Facebook said Friday attackers gained the ability to seize control of user accounts by stealing digital keys the company uses to keep users logged in. They could do so by exploiting three distinct bugs in Facebooks code.
Facebook also said the hackers could also have used those stolen digital keys to access outside services or apps that let people to log in with their Facebook usernames and passwords. The company said it hasnt found any evidence of this happening.
The company said it has fixed the bugs and logged out the 50 million breached users plus another 40 million who were vulnerable to the attack in order to reset those digital keys. Facebook said it doesnt know who was behind the attacks or where theyre based. Neither passwords nor credit card data was stolen. At the time, the company said it alerted the FBI and regulators in the U.S. and Europe.
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Facebook said in a statement Wednesday that it has been in close contact with the Irish agency since it became aware of the breach and will continue to cooperate with the investigation.
Facebook has faced a tumultuous year of security problems and privacy issues . News broke early this year that a data analytics firm once employed by the Trump campaign, Cambridge Analytica, had improperly gained access to personal data from millions of user profiles. Then a congressional investigation found that agents from Russia and other countries have been posting fake political ads since at least 2016. In April, Zuckerberg appeared at a congressional hearing focused on Facebooks privacy practices.
The European Union implemented stronger data and privacy rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, in May.
The case could prove to be the first major test of GDPR. Under the new rules, companies could be hit with fines equal to 4% of annual global turnover for the most serious violations. In Facebooks case, that could amount to more than $1.6 billion based on its 2017 revenues.
The new rules also require companies to disclose any breaches within 72 hours. The commission said Facebook informed it that its internal investigation is continuing and that it is taking actions to mitigate the potential risk to users.
(Reuters) - President Donald Trump's nomination of conservative federal appeals court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to hinge on the votes of a handful of senators: three Republicans and two Democrats. The Senate on Thursday was reviewing an FBI report on allegations of misconduct by Kavanaugh that have jeopardized his selection for a lifetime seat on the nation's highest court. [nL2N1WK07H] It was not immediately clear if the report, seen already by some Democrats as inadequate, would satisfy senators who have concerns about Kavanaugh's past, his character and temperament. Any nominee to the Supreme Court must be approved by the Senate, where Trump's fellow Republicans hold a 51-49 majority. If all the Senate's Democrats and independents were to oppose Kavanaugh, Trump could not afford to lose more than one Republican vote for his nominee, with Vice President Mike Pence casting a tiebreaking vote. That calculation would change if one or more Democrats were to vote in favor of Kavanaugh. No Republicans have said they will vote against him, but three intervened in the confirmation process last week to demand closer scrutiny by the FBI of Kavanaugh's past conduct. Here are the five whose views will be crucial. A procedural vote could come on Friday and a final vote shortly after that. REPUBLICANS * Jeff Flake. He voted in favor of Kavanaugh at the committee level, but only after extracting a promise from other lawmakers that the FBI would look into the allegations against the nominee. It was unclear whether Flake's final vote would be contingent on the FBI probe. He is not running for re-election and has been seen as a possible challenger to Trump in 2020. * Susan Collins. A moderate who sometimes breaks from party ranks, Collins joined Flake in calling for additional FBI scrutiny. CNN on Thursday reported Collins as saying that the FBI probe "appears very thorough." * Lisa Murkowski. An occasional party renegade, she has not said how she will vote. She sided with Flake and Collins on the FBI probe. Murkowski on Wednesday described as "inappropriate" comments by Trump on Tuesday mocking university professor Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were high school students in 1982. DEMOCRATS * Joe Manchin. Facing a re-election vote in November in the pro-Trump state of West Virginia, he said on Friday he supported Flake's call to delay voting so the FBI could investigate. Manchin has not said how he will vote on Kavanaugh. * Heidi Heitkamp. Facing a re-election campaign in North Dakota, also a heavily pro-Trump state, she called even before Flake did for further investigation of Ford's allegations. Five weeks before the Nov. 6 elections, Heitkamp faces a difficult decision. If she opposes Kavanaugh, she risks alienating conservative voters who support him. If she supports Trump's nominee, she might provoke a backlash among core supporters that could depress Democratic turnout in her bid for a second term. (Reporting by Richard Cowan, Amanda Becker, David Morgan, Lawrence Hurley and Tim Reid; editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Jonathan Oatis)
Egypts national airline has doubled down on a bizarre in-flight magazine article on Drew Barrymore after the actress representatives denied an interview had taken place.
The profile piece, published in EgyptAirs magazine Horus, went viral after journalist Adam Baron tweeted images of the glossy spread on Tuesday, calling it surreal.
This interview with Drew Barrymore in the Egypt Air in flight magazine is, umm, surreal. pic.twitter.com/fN3lNHXbL0 Adam Baron (@adammbaron) October 2, 2018
Riddled with grammatical oddities and outlandish statements, the article focuses on Barrymores supposed abandonment of her acting career for motherhood.
It opens with a psychoanalysis of the former E.T. star, who is designated unstable and seemingly chastised for her romantic history of almost 17 failed relationships. The author assures readers that psychologists conclude Barrymores condition is only natural since she lacked the male role model following her parents divorce as a child.
The piece then moves on to parenting, which Barrymore, 43, allegedly refers to as performing the most important role in life. She is quoted as likening raising her two daughters to growing a small plant, waiting for its ripe delicious fruits after a few years.
The article concludes with a meditation on gender equality. Barrymore allegedly acknowledges the significant progress made by women in society, but contends, Women exert tremendous efforts that men are incapable of exerting due to their numerous commitments and obligations.
An unnamed spokesperson for Barrymore told the Huffington Post that the actress did not participate in the interview.
The president of Barrymores film production company said that the article was based on what [the author] says she heard Drew say at a press conference. So technically Drew did not sit down with EgyptAir for an interview, Flower Films president Christopher Miller told Buzzfeed News.
But EgyptAir defended the article on Wednesday. In a tweet, the national carrier said that it was based on a professional magazine interview.
The carrier also retweeted a clarification from the author who claimed she spoke with Barrymore several times.
(LOS ANGELES) A judge on Thursday sentenced former rap mogul Marion Suge Knight to 28 years in prison for the 2015 death of man he ran over outside a Compton burger stand nearly four years ago.
Knight listened without reaction as members of the dead mans family addressed the court, describing 55-year-old Terry Carter as a deeply devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend during the hearing.
Carters daughter Crystal called Knight a disgusting, selfish disgrace to the human species.
Knight wore a large cross and orange jail attire during Thursdays sentencing, which draws to a close a nearly four year court saga over the fatal 2015 confrontation. He had been fighting with a longtime rival through the window of his pickup truck outside the burger stand, struck that man with his truck before running over Carter.
Knights numerous defense lawyers had contended he was acting in self defense, but the Death Row Records co-founder pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter last month, averting a trial on murder and attempted murder charges.
The prison sentence represents the low point of a long decline for Knight, one of the most important figures in the history of hip-hop. At his pinnacle in the mid-1990s, he was putting out wildly popular records that are now considered classics from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur.
Knight was at the center of the feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers that marked the middle of that decade. Shakur was in Knights car when he was killed in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas in 1996.
He answered procedural questions but did not address the court Thursday.
Knight has felony convictions for armed robbery and assault. He lost control of Death Row after it was forced into bankruptcy. His previous convictions make him ineligible for probation, Los Angeles Superior Court Ronald Coen ruled.
In January 2015, he got into a fight with a longtime rival, Cle Bone Sloan, a consultant on the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton.
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In a moment captured on surveillance video, Knight backed his truck into Sloan, who was injured, then drove it forward into businessman Terry Carter, who died from his injuries. Knights attorneys have said it was an act of self-defense.
Voluntary manslaughter would normally bring a sentence of 11 years in prison, but Knights conviction along with his previous felonies triggers Californias three strikes law. That doubles the manslaughter sentence and adds an extra six years.
The agreement also clears Knight in two other cases, both from 2014. He was accused of stealing a camera from a woman and of sending threatening text messages to Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray.
Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - A German court on Friday temporarily blocked energy giant RWE from razing part of an ancient forest to make way for a giant open-pit mine, in a rare victory for anti-coal campaigners.
The Hambach forest near Cologne has been occupied by activists for the past six years, but its fate had appeared sealed after authorities last month ordered police to dismantle their treehouses in a forced eviction that made headlines at home and abroad.
"This is a good day for nature and climate protection and a milestone for the anti-coal movement," Greenpeace's Martin Kaiser told a press conference.
In an emergency ruling, judges at the higher administrative court in Muenster said they needed more time to consider the complaint brought by environmental group BUND.
The plaintiffs are arguing that Hambach forest, located in the industrial heartland of North Rhine- Westphalia state, is home to rare species like Bechstein's bat and therefore qualifies as a protected area under EU law.
Judges said RWE did not have the right to create an "irreversible" situation on the ground before they had ruled on the "complex" case.
RWE, which owns the forest, had planned to begin clearing half of the woodland's remaining 200 hectares (500 acres) from October 15.
The company claims that the expansion of its massive lignite mine is necessary to ensure the energy supply of nearby coal-fired power plants -- which are among the most polluting in the European Union.
The David-versus-Goliath battle in the forest has come to symbolise resistance against brown coal mining in Germany, a country that despite its green reputation remains heavily reliant on this dirtiest of fossil fuels.
Environmental groups had called for a mass rally at the forest on Saturday but police cancelled the demo at short notice citing safety concerns.
Despite massively investing in renewables in recent years Germany still gets around 40 percent of its energy from coal -- in part to offset the impact of Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision after the Fukushima disaster to exit nuclear power by 2022.
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The government admitted in June that it will miss its target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Rather than cutting CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2020 compared with 1990 levels, Europe's top economy expects to come in at 32 percent.
"We will remain dependent on brown coal for a long while yet," Frank Weigand, head of RWE's power division, recently told German broadcaster ARD.
By Tom Kackenhoff
DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - German utility RWE (RWEG.DE) on Friday said a court ruling which delays its ability to mine brown coal in Hambach, Germany will result in a more than 100 million euro fall in operating profit for its Lignite & Nuclear division in 2019.
A German court told RWE (RWEG.DE) that it could not start logging in an ancient forest until a separate court had reviewed environmental claims, potentially delaying the start of lignite mining in the area until after 2020.
"As a result, as of 2019, the earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of the segment Lignite & Nuclear will be negatively affected in the range of a low three digit million euro amount per year," RWE said on Friday.
The utility giant, one of Europe's largest carbon dioxide emitters, has drawn heavy criticism from environmentalists over the planned clearing of the Hambach forest that it bought decades ago to expand mining in the area, located in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Germany aims to raise wind and solar power's share of energy generation from a third now to 65 percent by 2030 to help to cut carbon dioxide emissions and achieve its climate commitments, as Europe's largest economy works on ways to phase out its coal-fired power plants.
RWE has said it would lose as much as 5 billion euros ($5.75 billion) if it could not continue to mine lignite by removing the last bit of the ancient Hambach forest..
The administrative state court in Muenster said that RWE could continue to mine lignite as long as it does not use forested areas in Hambach.
But it said RWE may not start logging until a separate court in Cologne has ruled on environmental group BUND's suit against the company's plans for the mine.
The case entails several hundred pages of correspondence and dozens of boxes of documents, which means it will take some time to decide, the Muenster court said in its statement, adding that RWE had failed to make its case that it was necessary to start logging quickly.
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RWE had planned to start clearing the forest in mid-October, but a spokeswoman for the Cologne court said a decision was unlikely within a few weeks.
A spokesman for BUND told Reuters that he did not expect a decision until at least April of next year.
Controversy over the project came to a head in September, when riot police cleared environmental activists from treehouses in the forest, dismantling a protest camp set up five years ago to block a coal mining project.
RWE had no immediate comment on the court ruling.
In January, in its core markets Germany, Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands, RWE operated nearly 19 gigawatt of hard coal- and lignite-fired power plants, about 47 percent of its total generation capacity.
Shares in RWE fell as much as 4.7 percent to 19.48 euros on Friday, reaching their lowest level since early July. Germany's blue-chip DAX index was 0.8 percent lower.
(Writing by Tom Sims, Caroline Copley and Edward Taylor; Editing by Edward Taylor and Elaine Hardcastle)
Oslo (AFP) - The bookies' odds point towards the Koreans, or Donald Trump. The experts are betting on the fight against sexual violence or defenders of the press. But all speculation ends Friday when the Nobel Peace Prize is unveiled in Oslo.
At 0900 GMT, the annual Nobel prize-giving week reaches its peak as the five-member Norwegian committee ends the guessing game by announcing this year's winner.
And anticipation is likely to be heightened after the postponement of this year's Literature Prize for the first time in 70 years over a rape scandal that came to light as part of the #MeToo movement which took off exactly a year ago.
This year, a total of 331 individuals and organisations were nominated for the prestigious peace award, almost a record number. But with the list a closely guarded secret, guessing who might be a contender is largely a game of chance.
Among the bookmakers, the choice was largely unanimous with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in frontrunners for the prize for their efforts at rapprochement between the two nations.
But choosing Kim may be a step too far for the Norwegian committee, given the UN's damning verdict on North Korea's "long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights".
Another unexpected favourite is Donald Trump, who at 7-1 is one of three frontrunners flagged by online bookies Betsson, with the odds suggesting the bombastic American president is 10 times more likely to win than figures like France's Emmanuel Macron or Russia's Vladimir Putin.
Taking a step back from the international spotlight, several Nobel experts see the prize honouring those involved in the fight against sexual violence at a time when the aftershocks of the #MeToo movement are still making waves around the globe.
A top contender would likely be Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, better known as "Doctor Miracle", who has spent two decades helping women recover from the violence and trauma of rape in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Another possible laureate is Nadia Murad, a 25-year-old Yazidi woman who was kidnapped by Islamic State militants in 2014 and endured three months as a sex slave before managing to escape.
- Taking on 'fake news' -
One area yet to be honoured by the Nobel committee is the campaign to protect press freedom, which has been spearheaded by organisations like the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Such an award would be a nod to the role of a free press as a pillar of democracy at a time when the profession is increasingly under threat from repression, violence and the proliferation of "fake news".
Other potential laureates include the World Food Programme, the UN refugee agency UNHCR, jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi and Russian human rights champions like the NGO Memorial and opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
Last year, the prize was won by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
The 2018 Nobel season opened on Monday with two immunologists, James Allison of the US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan, winning the Medicine Prize for research into how the body's natural defences can fight cancer.
Tuesday's Physics Prize was won by three scientists, Arthur Ashkin of the United States, Gerard Mourou of France and Donna Strickland of Canada, for inventing optical lasers that paved the way for advanced precision instruments used in corrective eye surgery.
And on Wednesday, US scientists Frances Arnold and George Smith and British researcher Gregory Winter won the Chemistry Prize for applying the principles of evolution to develop proteins used to make everything from biofuels to medicine.
This year's award season will end on Monday with the economics prize.
Up to three nominees can share the prize, which consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a cheque for nine million Swedish kronor (around $1 million or 867,000 euros).
The award will be presented at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of prize creator Alfred Nobel, a Swedish philanthropist and scientist.
Tokyo fishmongers gathered before dawn Saturday for one final tuna auction at the world-famous Tsukiji market before it closed its doors to move to a new site.
It was an emotional moment for veterans of the market, the beating heart of Tokyo's culinary scene for decades, which many acknowledged had become too rundown to support its mammoth operations.
"I'm almost crying," said Hisao Ishii, a retired seafood auctioneer who was back at the market for its final day.
"Today is a sad day of goodbyes. Tsukiji tried to meet the times, but it is getting older," the 68-year-old told AFP. "I came here today to tell Tsukiji thank you and goodbye."
In the weak early-morning sun, traders filed into a warehouse for the last tuna auction, an indispensable ritual in Tokyo's culinary world, and a major tourist draw.
Hundreds of fresh and frozen tuna tagged with their weight and port of origin were laid out in lines in a refrigerated warehouse, as buyers in rubber boots quietly inspected the wares.
They rubbed slices between their fingers and shone torches into the insides of the fish, swapping information with rivals before the showdown began.
At 6:00 am sharp, handbells rang to signal the auction was under way and the air filled with the sound of auctioneers yelling prices at buyers, who raised fingers to indicate interest.
The highest bidder at Saturday's auction paid 4.4 million yen ($38,700) for a bluefin tuna -- a threatened species -- weighing 162 kilograms (357 pounds) caught off Aomori, northern Japan, according to the market.
It was far below the record 155.4 million yen paid at the first auction of 2013. Buyers traditionally offer eye-watering prices as a "New Year gratuity" when the market resumes operation after winter holidays.
- 'Pass the baton' -
Fish wholesaler Takeshi Yoshida said Tsukiji had left "its mark on history" but it was time to "pass the baton".
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Tsukiji's inner market, known as "Japan's Kitchen", will now move to Toyosu, a site in eastern Tokyo, where operations will begin on October 11.
"It will be the first massive move in our history," said Hiroyasu Ito, chair of the market association.
"We want to club together and get through it," he told reporters.
The move has been in the works for years, prompted by Tsukiji's dilapidated state.
Wholesalers had raised concerns about the antiquated facility's earthquake resistance, sanitation and fire safety, as well as the structure's use of asbestos and its crumbling walls.
The crowds of tourists who would mob the market, including groups who lined up for hours to win one of just 120 spots for the tuna auction, would also irk wholesalers by interfering with business.
The new site will feature state-of-the-art refrigeration, while tourists will be confined to special galleries behind glass.
But the move has proved controversial, with rows breaking out over pollution and the loss of Tsukiji's globally recognised brand.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike was forced to delay the move after a series of problems at Toyosu, formerly home to a gas plant, including soil and groundwater contamination.
Local authorities paid hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up the new facility and Koike took the final decision to move the market there in late 2017, ending years of delays.
- 'Hopes and fears' -
The move affects not only the famed fishmongers, but also fruit and vegetable vendors, restaurants and other shops in the inner market.
"I feel nostalgic as Tsukiji has been my home ground for 15 years. We are sad to lose the Tsukiji brand," vegetable wholesaler Tsukasa Kujirai told AFP.
He acknowledged the need for the move but said he was torn between "hopes and fears" about the new site.
The final day of the market looked much like any other in the decades since it opened on the site.
Cars and small "turret trucks" used by vendors whizzed along the roads around the market, which was full of buyers.
As the market closed at noon, workers busily mopped the empty floor after the auction, while hundreds of tourists flocked to the gate, taking pictures of the market's nameboard.
"It's so sad to hear that this very popular and interesting tourist spot will be closed," said Rodolfo Hernandez, a 28-year-old graduate student from Mexico.
The so-called outer market, with brick-and-mortar shops selling everything from seaweed to coffee, will remain after the move.
But the warehouses that housed vendors and additional shops and restaurants are expected to be levelled to make way, initially, for a transport depot for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Beyond that, Koike has suggested the site could be transformed into a kind of culinary theme park, commemorating the market's colourful history.
GOLAN HEIGHTS (Reuters) - Carrying Syrian flags and pictures of President Bashar al-Assad, dozens of Arab Druze who live on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights gathered on Saturday to celebrate what they consider to be success in the Syrian civil war. Dressed in traditional black garb and white hats, the small crowd chanted and shouted into megaphones, pledging loyalty to Assad, while Syrian soldiers, hundreds of meters away, across a security fence and on the opposite side of a valley, yelled back in support. The Druze are an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam and whose adherents in Syria have long been loyal to the ruling Assad family. Emil Masoud, 38, who lives in the village of Massade, said they gathered to "celebrate the final stages of the war ... and to celebrate with our people in Syria the final stage of victory." Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines of Syria's seven-year civil war. The border itself has been mostly calm, with occasional stray fire from Syria or brief exchanges, though heavy fighting could be easily heard and seen in the distance. Israeli Druze, some of whom have influence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government and the military, have at times urged Israel to intervene across the frontier, where hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed and millions driven from their homes during the civil war. The Golan was part of Syria until Israel captured it in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the territory in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. Once willing to consider returning the Golan for peace with Syria, the Israelis have in recent years argued that the war in Syria and the presence there of an Iranian garrison backing Damascus show they need to keep the strategic plateau. (Reporting by Rami Amichay and Ammar Awad; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
By Andrew Hay
(Reuters) - Human rights advocates on Friday pushed the U.S. government for access to an FBI-run DNA database to help identify the remains of thousands of immigrants who have disappeared on the U.S.-Mexico border.
U.S. officials pledged continued talks on identifying remains but said they were limited by U.S. law on what database information they could make public.
The comments came at a hearing in Boulder, Colorado, of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), part of the Organization of American States.
The Forensic Border Coalition (FBC), a group of forensic scientists, academics and human rights organizations, sought the hearing after what it said were six fruitless years of talks with U.S. officials.
The FBC wants to carry out comparisons of thousands of DNA samples its members have taken from missing migrants' relatives with DNA of immigrant remains collected by the National DNA Index System (NDIS) database.
"There is no legal or technical reason that justifies the United States' refusal to conduct a large-scale comparison," said Roxanna Altholz, a professor at Berkeley Law School and FBC member.
U.S. Border Patrol statistics indicate nearly 7,000 deceased migrants have been found on the U.S. side of the border since the late 1990s. Over 2,500 people are missing and hundreds of remains are unidentified in morgues and cemeteries, the FBC said.
Among obstacles to getting access to the NDIS are requirements all DNA samples submitted to the database be taken in the presence of law enforcement and only law enforcement may access its information.
Families of many missing migrants are reluctant to approach police because of their own legal status or because of distrust of authorities and instead submit DNA to FBC-member organizations, the group said.
Paula Wolff, a lawyer representing the FBI, said her agency was committed to finding a solution to an issue she described as "extremely devastating" for relatives.
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"I don't think we have any disagreement on the 'what' must be done, the only issues are working on how it is to be accomplished," Wolff said.
IACHR President Margarette May Macaulay offered to facilitate further talks.
Relatives said access to NDIS could end decades of pain not knowing the fate of loved ones.
"I am here today to beg for your support. I have already given DNA," said Irma Carrillo, a native of Mexico and mother of children aged 24 and 27 who went missing crossing the border in Arizona.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay; editing by Bill Tarrant and Leslie Adler)
By Sanjeev Miglani and Geert De Clercq
NEW DELHI/PARIS (Reuters) - India and Russia on Friday signed a pact to build six more nuclear reactors at a new site 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.
Russian state-owned reactor manufacturer Rosatom said in a statement that the two countries want to build six Russian-design nuclear reactors on a new site in India, boost nuclear cooperation in third countries and new nuclear technologies and are considering building nuclear plants together.
The firm said Russia would offer to build its third-generation VVER reactor on the new site and would increase the level of participation of Indian companies in the project.
A Rosatom official told Reuters the pact is not a firm contract yet, but an agreement to work towards a contract.
India has not chosen the new site yet, which could be controversial as the country has seen vehement protests against new nuclear sites.
If confirmed, the agreement would be one of the biggest nuclear industry deals in recent years, and would bind the two countries for decades.
Two Russian-built VVER-1000 reactors have been in commercial operation in Kudankulam, southern India, since 2014 and 2017 respectively. Construction on two more started last year with a target for commercial start-up in 2025 and 2026.
Last year, the Russian and Indian governments signed an agreement to build reactors 5 and 6 on the site and Putin said at the time that Russia is ready to build a dozen reactors in India over the next 20 years.
"We expect to start building a series of new units at a second site in India in the near future," Rosatom Director-General Alexey Likhachev said in a statement.
Rosatom has become the world's largest nuclear reactor builder as the financial problems of the two big Western firms Westinghouse Areva have crimped their ability to develop nuclear plants abroad.
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Rosatom operates 35 reactors in Russia with a combined capacity of 28 gigawatt and says it has a portfolio of 36 nuclear power plant projects in 12 countries.
Westinghouse and Areva, now owned by EDF, have for years negotiated deals to build reactors in India but have made little progress, partly because Indian nuclear liability legislation gives reactor manufacturers less protection against claims for damages in case of accidents.
(Writing by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
French police launch investigation after Meng Hongwei, the director of Interpol, is reported missing - REUTERS
French authorities are investigating after the Chinese head of an international police agency was reported to have vanished.
Meng Hongwei, the president of Interpol, was reported missing by his wife, who told police she has not heard from him since he left on a trip to China last Saturday.
Police in Lyon, where the international police cooperation agency is based, have launched an inquiry into what they called a worrying disappearance.
Interpol has refused to clarify Mr Meng's whereabouts, saying the case is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China.
Mr Meng, a vice-minister of Chinas Ministry of Public Security, was elected to a four year term as president of Interpol, a global body that facilitates international police cooperation, in 2016.
He is the first Chinese national to hold the post and had been one of Beijing's top law enforcement officials, overseeing the country's coastguard and counter-terrorism efforts, as well as international police cooperation.
In recent months there have been signs that he has fallen out of the favour with the ruling Communist party.
In April this year he was removed from the ministrys powerful Communist Party committee. Earlier he reportedly missed a series of high-level meetings, and stopped serving as director of the coast guard and deputy head of the state oceanic administration. It is not clear if he resigned those posts or was fired.
Mr Meng likely worked closely with Zhou Yongkang, a former head of the Ministry of Public Security, who was expelled from the Communist Party in 2014 and later convicted for corruption, bribery and leaking state secrets. He is currently serving a life sentence in prison.
Several high ranking Chinese officials, wealthy businessmen and even celebrities have disappeared without explanation since Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign after coming to power in 2012.
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About 1.5 million government officials have been punished for wrongdoing in the crackdown, which critics say is an excuse for president Xi to target political enemies.
If somebody more powerful than you accuses you of something they don't like...it does not matter whether you even broke a law, said Sophie Richardson, the China director for Human Rights Watch. What matters is that you've irked somebody further up on the food chain and you're going to pay a price.
High profile cases include that of Fan Bingbing, China's highest paid celebrity, who disappeared in June amid reports she was being investigated for tax evasion.
The rumor mill continued churning until this week, when she re-appeared and was ordered to pay millions in back taxes and fines.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on Friday that Mr Meng was being held for questioning. It was not clear what, if any, charges have been leveled against him.
High-ranking party officials are generally subject to a separate disciplinary system that has no legal basis, Ms Richardson said.
They can be detained indefinitely and kept out of public view while party leaders decide their punishment.
In March the authorities created a new agency, the National Supervision Commission, to act as the country's highest ranking anti-corruption body.
Calls to the press office of Chinas Ministry of Public Security were unanswered on Friday evening in Beijing.
China is at the end of a week-long national holiday period celebrating the countrys founding.
"Exchanges with Chinese authorities continue," the French interior ministry said in a statement. "France is puzzled about the situation of Interpol's president and concerned about the threats made to his wife."
While Mr Mengs global role at Interpol could have afforded him some political protection, human rights and legal advocates criticised his appointment over concerns Beijing would use his authority to silence and pursue dissidents abroad.
In China, nobody is safe everybody has got to be looking over their shoulders thinking, Are they coming for me next? Ms Richardson said.
Interpol said in a statement it was aware of media reports in connection with the alleged disappearance of its president, but refused to confirm or deny rumours that Mr Meng had been arrested in China.
It said theorganisations secretary-general was the full-time official responsible for daily operations.
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's defence minister on Saturday ordered a reduction of the fishing zone along the Gaza Strip's coastline, in retaliation for clashes along the border fence with the Palestinian enclave.
The fishing zone will be reduced to six nautical miles (11 kilometres) from nine nautical miles, a statement by Avigdor Lieberman's office said.
Restrictions on the extent of fishing zones along the Gaza shoreline form part of Israel's economic blockade of the Strip, which has been in place for more than a decade.
Under the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s, fishermen are supposed to be allowed to operate up to 20 nautical miles off the coast.
Lieberman decided to reduce the fishing zone after violent incidents on Friday along the border between Israel and Gaza, the defence ministry statement said.
Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during protests along the border fence on Friday, while 376 were wounded, including 126 with bullet wounds, Gaza's health ministry said.
The Israeli army said around 20,000 Palestinians had demonstrated, throwing grenades, explosive devices and stones towards soldiers posted behind the border fence.
Ahead of the latest protests, Lieberman had on Friday issued a warning to Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls Gaza.
The defence minister indicated that Israel would step up its retaliation against the protests after the Jewish holiday season, which ended early this week.
"We got through the High Holy days exactly as we had planned, without an eruption ... and while exacting a high price on the rioters along the Gaza border", he said in a tweet.
"But the holidays are now behind us. I tell the leaders of Hamas: 'Take that into account'", he added.
Palestinians have been protesting at least weekly along the Gaza border since March 30 in what they call the "Great March of Return".
Protesters are demanding an end to the blockade and for Palestinian refugees to be allowed to return to homes their families fled in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.
Friday's protests were bigger than those in recent weeks.
At least 198 Palestinians have been killed since the protests began, while one Israeli soldier has been shot dead over the same period.
Jersey Shore cast member Mike Sorrentino, better known as The Situation, was sentenced on Friday to eight months in prison for tax evasion.
The MTV star and his brother Marc Sorrentino appeared alongside one other in federal court in Newark, N.J. Marc Sorrentino was sentenced first, receiving a two-year prison sentence for the same charge.
The Sorrentino brothers were first indicted in 2014 after failing to pay taxes on 8.9 million dollars in income between 2010 and 2012. They were handed additional charges in April 2017, according to an official statement by the Department of Justice. Both men pleaded guilty in January and were facing up to 5 years in prison. Prosecutors had sought a 14-month sentence.
In addition to the terms of their imprisonment, both men received hefty fines for their crimes. Mike Sorrentino will be required to pay $123,913 in restitution, as well as a criminal fine of $10,000. Marc Sorrentino will pay a lesser criminal fine of $7,500.
Lying to and defrauding the federal government is a very serious crime, regardless of a defendants celebrity status, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman said in a statement, according to a Justice Department press release. The Sorrentino brothers chose to use Michaels fame to benefit themselves at the expense of the American taxpayer, and with the help of our federal partners, they were held accountable.
In pre-sentencing documents obtained by the Associated Press on Thursday, attorneys for the MTV star said they hoped to get him probation, citing Sorrentinos struggles with substance abuse during the time. Sorrentinos lawyer was not immediately available for comment after the sentencing.
Sorrentinos fellow Jersey Shore cast-mates, including Jenni JWoww Farley, Nicole Snooki and DJ Pauly D DelVecchio showed their support outside the Newark courthouse Friday morning, dressing in all-black clothing.
Jersey Shore first premiered in 2009 and ran for six seasons before ending in 2012. A majority of the original cast returned in 2017 for a new series titled Jersey Shore: Family Reunion, which is currently in its second season.
By Suzannah Gonzales
CHICAGO (Reuters) - White Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder on Friday for the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald, touching off celebratory street demonstrations in a case that had laid bare tensions between the black community and police.
Van Dyke, 40, was also convicted of 16 counts of aggravated battery, one count for each of the shots fired. McDonald, 17, was killed while armed with a knife as he walked down the center of a street in the third-largest U.S. city.
Jurors said they faulted Van Dyke for escalating the conflict when he could have waited for more police assistance, such as an officer with a non-lethal Taser weapon.
Van Dyke sat emotionless as the verdict was read. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Gaughan immediately revoked bail and Van Dyke was escorted out of the courtroom and into Cook County Jail.
He faces up to 20 years in prison for the second-degree murder conviction and up to 30 years for each of the 16 counts of aggravated battery.
His conviction seemed to quell any potential unrest of the kind that has occurred in other U.S. cities in recent years when white officers have been cleared of charges in the shooting deaths of black men.
"The end of this trial brings an opportunity for the community to come together," special prosecutor Joseph McMahon told reporters.
Police killings of mostly unarmed black men elsewhere in the United States helped fuel the Black Lives Matter movement and became an issue in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
Chicago had its own unrest when a police dashboard camera video was released more than a year after the shooting which occurred on the night of Oct. 20, 2014.
The video showed Van Dyke shooting McDonald as he walked down the middle of the street, veering slightly away from the officer. The aftermath led to the dismissal of the city's police superintendent and calls for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign.
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After Friday's verdict, small, peaceful demonstrations assembled in central Chicago. About 100 people marched toward a gathering spot.
"Whose streets? Our streets!" some chanted. One protester bellowed into a megaphone: "This is what black power looks like."
"We are in celebration mode but we also want to hold more people accountable," said one of the protesters, Darius Parker, 28, who estimated the crowd would have been 10 times larger had Van Dyke been acquitted.
The 12-person jury, which included one black person, began deliberations on Thursday afternoon.
After failing to reach a verdict on Thursday night, they began anew on Friday, finding enough mitigating circumstances to convict Van Dyke of second- rather than first-degree murder, jurors told reporters.
"In Van Dyke's mind, he was doing the right thing. He was experiencing an extreme threat ... he needed to protect himself," one man on the jury told reporters. The jurors who spoke to reporters were not identified by name.
But jurors were swayed by the video, which prosecutors showed repeatedly during the three-week trial and which jurors reviewed during deliberations.
"We kept watching the video where he kept making the steps forward," said another juror. "We watched that more than once. More than three times."
Van Dyke testified in his own defense, saying he feared for his safety and fired because McDonald was advancing on him. Both the officer and his lawyers argued that the angle of the video did not reflect the incident from Van Dyke's perspective.
But Van Dyke's testimony seemed rehearsed and "we just didn't buy it," a third juror said.
Defense lawyer Daniel Herbert said he would appeal and push for a change of venue, which was denied to the defense in this trial.
"We knew coming into it with a Cook County venue in this case with the Cook County jury there was not a chance in the world we were going to come away with a complete not guilty," Herbert told reporters.
(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Additional reporting by Robert Chiarito, Karen Pierog and Mark Weinraub in Chicago; Writing by Joseph Ax and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
(Reuters) - Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said on Thursday that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh does not belong on the high court because of "potential bias" he showed in his recent Senate confirmation hearing.
Speaking to an audience of retirees in Boca Raton, Florida, Stevens, 98, said he started out believing that Kavanaugh deserved to be confirmed, "but his performance during the hearings caused me to change my mind."
Stevens cited commentary by Harvard University law professor Laurence Tribe and others suggesting Kavanaugh had raised doubts about his political impartiality when he asserted that sexual misconduct accusations he faced stemmed from an "orchestrated political hit" funded by left-wing groups seeking "revenge on behalf of the Clintons."
Kavanaugh had spent more than three years working for Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated Democratic President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
Kavanaugh also testified last week that allegations against him were being fueled by "pent-up anger" over the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, who nominated Kavanaugh to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Thursday, Kavanaugh said he "might have been too emotional at times" in his testimony. Kavanaugh wrote that his testimony "reflected my overwhelming frustration at being wrongly accused."
Some critics have argued that Kavanaugh's highly partisan remarks so compromised his ability to appear politically fair-minded that he would be forced to recuse himself on many cases to preserve the court's integrity.
Stevens said he, too, has come to believe that Kavanaugh, a U.S. appellate judge, "demonstrated a potential bias involving enough potential litigants before the (high) court that he would not be able to perform his full responsibilities."
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"I think there's merit in that criticism, and that the senators should really pay attention to it for the good of the court. It's not healthy to get a new justice who can only do a part-time job," Stevens said.
Stevens, a lifelong Republican and appointee of President Gerald Ford who ended up as a generally liberal voice on the court by the time he retired in 2010, spoke at an event hosted by a Palm Beach Post reporter. Video of his remarks was shown by the C-SPAN television network.
Stevens acknowledged praising Kavanaugh and one of his rulings on foreign campaign contributions in his 2014 book "Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution."
Stevens went on to say that his change of heart on Kavanaugh's fitness for the high court was "for reasons that have really no relationship to his intellectual ability or his record as a federal judge. He's a fine federal judge."
Asked whether questions raised about Kavanaugh's credibility during the hearings should be disqualifying, Stevens said, "Not necessarily."
Stevens also said political leaders and the court have failed to repair the nation's confidence in the judicial branch's separation from the president and the legislature.
"I think it's worse, I regret to say it," he said.
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation on Friday.
An FBI report to the Senate Judiciary Committee concluded an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh by California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford and former Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez.
(The story was refiled to remove extra words in paragraph 7)
(Reporting by Bill Tarrant and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Leslie Adler)
(Reuters) - Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh does not belong on the high court, the Palm Beach Post reported. Speaking to an audience of retirees in Boca Raton, Florida, Stevens, 98, said Kavanaughs performance during a recent Senate confirmation hearing suggested he lacks the temperament for the job. Stevens, a lifelong Republican, praised Kavanaugh and one of his rulings on a political contribution case in the 2014 book Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution. "At that time, I thought (Kavanaugh) had the qualifications for the Supreme Court should he be selected, Stevens said at the event hosted by a Palm Beach Post reporter. 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. Commentators, Stevens said, have argued that Kavanaughs blistering testimony during a Sept. 27 hearing on sexual misconduct allegations demonstrated a potential for political bias should he serve on the Supreme Court. Stevens said political leaders and the court have failed to repair the nations confidence in the judicial branchs separation from the president and the legislature. I think its worse, I regret to say it, he said. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on Kavanaughs confirmation on Friday. An FBI report to the Senate Judiciary Committee concluded an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh by California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford and former Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez. (Reporting by Bill Tarrant; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Friday accused protesters massing in Washington against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of being "paid professionals" funded by billionaire investor and liberal donor George Soros.
"The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Don't fall for it!" Trump said on Twitter.
"Also, look at all of the professionally made identical signs. Paid for by Soros and others. These are not signs made in the basement from love! #Troublemakers"
The Senate was due Friday to vote on moving ahead with the nomination of Kavanaugh to the highest court in the US, 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 Trump's embattled nominee, who if approved would seal a conservative majority on the nine-seat court for decades.
On Thursday 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.
US-Hungarian business magnate Soros was a supporter of Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
Listed by Forbes magazine as one of the world's richest men, he is accused by nationalists around the world of sponsoring protests and seeking to push a liberal, multicultural agenda.
In 1992, the Wall Street trader became known as "the man who broke the bank of England" when his aggressive speculation against the sterling sent it crashing out of the European exchange mechanism.
Keira Knightley at the premiere of Colette on Sept. 14 in Beverly Hills. (Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Keira Knightley is calling out Kate Middleton for setting unrealistic expectations for women after giving birth. The British actress, 33, wrote a powerful essay titled The Weaker Sex, which appears in the collection Feminists Dont Wear Pink (and Other Lies), and she takes on the Duchess of Cambridge for looking perfect hours after going into labor.
Knightley welcomed daughter Edie Righton one day before Middleton gave birth to Princess Charlotte on May 2, 2015. The Colette star vividly remembers watching Middleton leave the hospital, her appearance televised around the world.
We stand and watch the TV screen. [Kate] was out of hospital seven hours later with her face made up and high heels on. The face the world wants to see, Knightley writes. Hide. Hide our pain, our bodies splitting, our breasts leaking, our hormones raging. Look beautiful. Look stylish, dont show your battleground, Kate.
She continues: Seven hours after your fight with life and death, seven hours after your body breaks open, and bloody, screaming life comes out. Dont show. Dont tell. Stand there with your girl and be shot by a pack of male photographers.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, depart St. Marys Hospital in London with their newborn daughter on May 2, 2015. (Photo: Neil Mockford/Alex Huckle/FilmMagic)
The Oscar-nominated actress recalls in detail the pains of her own childbirth. My vagina split, the first line of the essay reads. You came out with your eyes open. Arms up in the air. Screaming. They put you on to me, covered in blood, vernix, your head misshapen from the birth canal. Pulsating, gasping, screaming.
Knightley remembers the s***, the vomit, the blood, the stitches. I remember my battleground. Your battleground and life pulsating. Surviving. And I am the weaker sex?
She also calls out the sexist double standard for actors and actresses who are parents. I turn up on time, word perfect, with ideas and an opinion. I am up with you [her daughter] all night if you need me. Sometimes I cry Im so tired, Knightley writes. Up with you all night and work all day. My male colleagues can be late, can not know their lines, she says. They can shout and scream and throw things. They can turn up drunk or not turn up at all. They dont see their children. Theyre working. They need to concentrate.
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Feminists Dont Wear Pink (and Other Lies), which is available now, also features essays by Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Adwoa Aboah, and Jameela Jamil.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
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(WASHINGTON) The Senate is poised to take a crucial vote Friday on whether to advance Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court as key Republican senators remain undecided amid allegations of sexual misconduct and intense protests that have divided the nation.
The 53-year-old judge made what were in effect closing arguments by acknowledging that he became very emotional when forcefully denying the allegations at a Judiciary Committee hearing last week. I said a few things I should not have said, he wrote in an op-ed published Thursday evening. But he said he remains the same hardworking, even-keeled person he has always been. Going forward, you can count on me, he wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
The op-ed, as well as a late boost from President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Minnesota, appeared aimed at winning over the three wavering senators from the slim GOP majority Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has yet to announce his position.
Ahead of Fridays voting, Republicans emerged confident that an FBI investigation into the allegations unearthed no new corroborating details, they said. But a level of uncertainty lingered as Collins and Flake spent hours Thursday pouring over confidential FBI documents in the secure basement briefing room long after others had left seemingly satisfied with the findings.
Even without locking in support, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed ahead with trying to move Trumps nominee forward in what would be an election year win for his party. The Republican leader has little room for error with his partys slim 51-49 hold on the Senate, even if Vice President Mike Pence is called in to break a tie. A final vote is expected Saturday.
Tensions have been high at the Capitol with opponents of Kavanaugh, including survivors of sexual assault, confronting senators in the halls and holding vigil across the street at the Supreme Court. Supporters of Kavanaugh also turned out.
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Trump said the protesters rage-fueled resistance is starting to backfire at a level nobody has ever seen before. He was referring to polling that shows some improvement for Republicans heading into the midterm election.
Fridays vote is a procedural one to end the debate, and some fence-sitting senators could conceivably vote to advance Kavanaughs nomination but still hold out their support ahead of a final confirmation roll call over the weekend.
Two of the undeclared Republicans emerged from the secure briefing facility Thursday accepting the FBI report as thorough, bolstering GOP hopes for confirmation.
Flake told reporters that weve seen no additional corroborating information about the claims against Kavanaugh.
Collins also expressed satisfaction, calling it a very thorough investigation. She paid two visits to the off-limits room where the document was being displayed to lawmakers.
Murkowski said she was still reviewing her decision.
Democrats complained that the investigation, running just six days after Trump reluctantly ordered it, was shoddy, omitting interviews with numerous potential witnesses. They accused the White House of limiting the FBIs leeway.
Those not interviewed in the reopened background investigation included Kavanaugh himself and Christine Blasey Ford, who ignited the furor by alleging hed molested her in a locked room at a 1982 high school gathering.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the Judiciary Committees top Democrat, said while her party had agreed to a weeklong FBI probe with a finite scope, We did not agree that the White House should tie the FBIs hands.
A hefty police presence added an air of anxiety, as did thousands of anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators. U.S. Capitol Police said 302 were arrested among them comedian Amy Schumer, a distant relative of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, issued a statement late Thursday that said the FBI reached out to 11 people and interviewed 10. Six of the witnesses involved Fords claims, including an attorney for one of them, and four were related to Deborah Ramirez, who has asserted that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when both were Yale freshmen. Grassley said the FBI concluded there is no collaboration of the allegations made by Dr. Ford or Ms. Ramirez.
Senators said the documents they examined totaled about 50 pages.
The underlying material from the FBI included text and Facebook messages, said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., including screenshots that were very helpful in understanding the communications between various people discussing the situation.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said nine of the pages were about Mark Judge, the Kavanaugh friend who Ford said also jumped on her while Kavanaugh assaulted her. Judge has said he doesnt recall the incident.
White House spokesman Raj Shah rebuffed Democrats complaints, saying, What critics want is a never-ending fishing expedition into high school drinking.
Barring leaks, it was unclear how much if any of the FBI report would be made public.
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AP reporters Mary Clare Jalonick, Matthew Daly, Kevin Freking, Padmananda Rama, Juliet Linderman, Eric Tucker, Michael Balsamo, Catherine Lucey and Zeke Miller in Washington and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed.
WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
1 a.m.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says the FBI interviewed 10 people while investigating sexual misconduct claims against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and found no corroboration of the allegations.
Sen. Chuck Grassley's statement, issued around midnight, reiterated what he and other Republicans had said earlier in the day about the findings of the confidential report. But it provided the first official list of those interviewed by the FBI.
Democrats on the committee had objected to Grassley's earlier statement that the investigation "found no hint of misconduct." They said that based on their briefing and study of the document, "That is not true."
The Senate is poised to take a crucial vote Friday on whether to advance Kavanaugh's nomination. Three Republican senators and one Democrat remain undecided.
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8 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is acknowledging he "might have been too emotional" in Senate testimony but says he can be counted on to be an "even-keeled" judge.
Kavanaugh said Thursday in an op-ed that his "tone was sharp" and he said "a few things" he should not have during testimony to the Judiciary Committee about accusations of sexual misconduct. He forcefully denied the allegations.
Kavanaugh's op-ed in The Wall Street Journal was published on the eve of a key procedural vote in the Senate on his nomination. His column appeared aimed at winning over the three GOP senators who remain undecided.
He wrote that he always treats others with "utmost respect," and "going forward, you can count on" him to be the "same kind of judge" he's always been.
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7:30 p.m.
The Senate is poised to take a key procedural vote at 10:30 a.m. Friday on whether to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled the vote as part of the process toward a final confirmation vote this weekend.
Kavanaugh has not yet locked up the votes needed. Key undecided senators spent hours Thursday in a secure briefing room pouring over the FBI's report on allegations of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
While most Republicans say the findings of the FBI affirmed their support for Kavanaugh, three senators Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have yet to announce how they will vote.
Two Republican "no" votes could sink the nomination.
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7:15 p.m.
Republican Sen. Steve Daines says he's going to attend his daughter's wedding back home in Montana on Saturday regardless of a possible weekend Senate vote on embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Daines told The Associated Press Thursday in a statement that two things are going to happen this weekend: There's going to be a new Supreme Court justice and Daines is going to walk his daughter down the aisle.
Daines has supported Kavanaugh throughout a confirmation process that's turned increasingly bitter following sexual misconduct allegations against the nominee. Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
The senator's spokeswoman, Katie Schoettler, says Daines read the FBI report on the allegations and saw no evidence corroborating claims made by Christine Blasey Ford and two other women.
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6:45 p.m.
U.S. Capitol Police say 302 people were arrested Thursday for illegally protesting inside Senate office buildings against the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.
The protesters had originally planned to protest on the Capitol steps. But after police blockaded the steps, protesters headed to the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building.
The vast majority of the arrests 293 took place on the Hart atrium floor. Another nine people were arrested for another demonstration on the fourth floor of the adjacent Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Videos posted on social media showed comedian Amy Schumer, who spoke earlier at an anti-Kavanaugh rally, apparently being arrested. Model Emily Ratajkowski said on Twitter that she was also detained and arrested.
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6:30 p.m.
Sen. Susan Collins says she has finished reading an FBI report on sexual allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but she still isn't saying how she'll vote.
Collins visited the secure room where the report is held several times Thursday. Leaving for the last time around 6:15 p.m., she said she had "finished reading and reviewing all of the interviews" but would not comment any further. The report is a series of interviews conducted by the FBI.
The Maine Republican is one of a handful of undecided votes on Kavanaugh's nomination. Her vote could decide his fate.
Collins would not tell reporters whether she is still undecided or when she will announce her decision. A key procedural vote is expected Friday.
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6:10 p.m.
A member of Christine Blasey Ford's legal team says FBI interviewers are focusing on the wrong date.
The FBI has interviewed people who, calendar entries show, were present for a July 1, 1982, gathering of high school students, including Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
But Ford has never believed the assault occurred that night because some of those listed as having been present are people she knew well and would have remembered.
The legal team member, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private investigation, says Ford also would have told the FBI that the evening she was assaulted was just a regular night for everyone else and there was no reason they'd have remembered it.
Neither Ford nor Kavanaugh was interviewed for the reopened background investigation.
Eric Tucker
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5:05 p.m.
Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is quoted as saying that Brett Kavanaugh shouldn't be confirmed to the high court because of Kavanaugh's potential political bias.
It's rare for a retired justice to weigh in on a pending nomination.
The Palm Beach Post reports that Stevens, in remarks to a group of retirees in Florida, suggested Kavanaugh lacked the temperament for the lifetime appointment.
Stevens, who's praised Kavanaugh before, says he's changed his mind about Kavanaugh for reasons unrelated to Kavanaugh's "intellectual ability."
Stevens is quoted as saying, "I feel his performance in the hearings ultimately changed my mind."
He says commentators have argued that Kavanaugh's Senate testimony last week showed a potential for political bias.
And the newspaper says Stevens says he thinks "there's merit to that criticism and I think the senators should really pay attention that."
The 98-year-old Stevens was nominated to the court by Republican President Gerald Ford and served from 1975 to 2010.
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4:20 p.m.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says Democratic criticism of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is in his words a "demolition derby."
Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley says Democrats have "just about destroyed a good person" by questioning Kavanaugh about sexual assault allegations against him.
Grassley and other Republicans say a confidential FBI background report sent to the Senate doesn't corroborate the allegations.
But Democrats say the report actually raises more questions about Christine Blasey Ford's claim that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were in high school. A second woman says Kavanaugh exposed himself to her in college.
Kavanaugh denies the accusations.
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4 p.m.
Capitol Police have begun arresting about 300 protesters who staged a sit-in on the floor of a Senate office building's atrium.
They're demonstrating against the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.
At a signal from organizers, the group began holding up signs and chanting. Others who were watching on upper floors unfurled banners that said "we believe Christine Ford."
She's the California college professor who testified last week at a Senate hearing that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh also testified and denied the allegations.
As police started to empty the Senate office building's atrium, those protesters willing to be arrested sat down and began loudly chanting. Police have surrounded the protesters and are leading them off a few at a time wearing plastic cuffs
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3:55 p.m.
A spokesman for West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin says the Democrat won't immediately say how he's going to vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Manchin spokesman Jonathan Kott says there will be "no decision likely" until Friday. That's the day when there's a procedural vote scheduled on Kavanaugh's nomination.
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3:50 p.m.
North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (HYT'-kamp) says questions about Brett Kavanaugh's temperament ultimately led her to decide that she'll vote against his Supreme Court nomination.
But Heitkamp a Democrat in a tight re-election race also says she believes Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford "without hesitation."
Ford is the California college professor who's accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulted her in high school when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
And Heitkamp says a new FBI background report on Kavanaugh has "created inconsistencies" with some of the nominee's statements.
Heitkamp says Kavanaugh's harsh exchange with Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar when she asked him at a Senate hearing last week whether he'd ever blacked out from drinking was the moment when she "really began to question his judicial temperament."
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2:25 p.m.
It's going to be a "no" vote on Brett Kavanaugh from North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp (HYT'-kamp), one of the few Democratic senators who'd been undecided on the Supreme Court nominee.
Heitkamp says in a statement that "there are many extremely qualified candidates" for the nation's highest court and she's ready to work with President Donald Trump "to confirm a nominee who is suited for the honor and distinction of serving this lifetime appointment."
But there's no sign Trump is abandoning Kavanaugh, and a procedural vote is set for the Senate on Friday.
Heitkamp has come under pressure over where she stood on Kavanaugh's nomination. She's facing a tight re-election race in a state that Trump won by a large margin in 2016. Her opponent is a GOP congressman, Kevin Cramer, and the race is seen as critical for Republicans' chances to keep the Senate.
When anti-Kavanaugh protesters outside the Supreme Court heard the news about Heitkamp, they let out a huge roar.
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1:50 p.m.
About 3000 demonstrators have gathered outside the Supreme Court to protest Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the nation's highest court.
The protesters include a loud contingent from Maine, and they're calling on Susan Collins, a key Republican senator, to vote against Kavanaugh.
Collins said Thursday that the FBI appears to have conducted a "very thorough investigation" of the sexual misconduct claims against Kavanaugh.
A procedural vote on Kavanaugh's nomination is set for Friday. He denies the allegations.
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12:50 p.m.
Lawyers for Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford have given FBI Director Chris Wray the names of people they say the FBI should contact to corroborate her account of having been sexually assaulted as a teenager by Brett Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh denies the claim and is awaiting a Senate vote on his nomination to the Supreme Court.
Ford wasn't interviewed by the FBI as part of its supplemental background investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct dating to Kavanaugh's high school and college years. That report has been turned over to the Senate.
Lawyers for the California college professor say in their letter to Wray that the FBI hasn't interviewed any of the people whose names they've provided. That includes Ford's husband and others who, the lawyers say, Ford told about the alleged assault.
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12:45 p.m.
A lawyer for a former girlfriend of a key figure in the assault allegation against Brett Kavanaugh says the FBI didn't respond to her client's request to present evidence as part of the FBI's background investigation into Kavanaugh.
Elisabeth Rasor is a former girlfriend of Kavanaugh prep school classmate Mark Judge.
Rasor's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, sent an affidavit last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee questioning Judge's background, but didn't hear back from the FBI.
Judge has denied any recollection of Christine Blasey Ford's account that he witnessed Kavanaugh's alleged assault on her. Kavanaugh denies the accusation.
In the document, Rasor says Judge had confessed that he and several Georgetown Prep classmates had sex with an inebriated woman. Rasor says Judge didn't provide the names of the other classmates.
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12:40 p.m.
The Supreme Court confirmation fight is bringing in record donations for the Republican Party.
That's according to a GOP official, who says the Republican National Committee and its associated groups raised more than $3 million in digital donations this past weekend the most it's ever raised online.
And last Saturday was the GOP's highest single-day online fundraising haul. The official wasn't authorized to publicly discussing the fundraising details and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The party says the fundraising is being propelled by donors anger over how allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh have played out. The White House says the drama is "energizing" the GOP's base.
Kavanaugh denies the allegations, and Senate Republicans have set a procedural vote on the nomination for Friday.
Associated Press writer Zeke Miller.
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12:20 p.m.
A key undecided Republican senator on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says the FBI appears to have conducted a "very thorough investigation" of the sexual misconduct claims against Kavanaugh.
But Maine's Susan Collins says she wants to read the report for herself.
Collins is among the few wavering senators who could decide whether Kavanaugh is confirmed for a seat on the high court.
That group includes fellow Republican Lisa Murkowski, who tells reporters she's heading to the secure room in the Capitol complex where the FBI report is available to be read.
Other Republicans who've left a briefing on the report says there's nothing in it to corroborate the allegations against Kavanaugh. He denies the accusations.
Senate Democrats say the investigation was incomplete and may have been limited by the White House.
A procedural vote on his nomination is set for Friday.
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11:50 a.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the FBI's background investigation of Brett Kavanaugh didn't corroborate any of the sexual misconduct allegations against the Supreme Court nominee.
McConnell says the FBI didn't uncover information from any witnesses to corroborate the claims against Kavanaugh, including from people his accusers named as eyewitnesses. Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
McConnell says senators won't be "hoodwinked" by those who have tried to "smear" Kavanaugh's reputation.
The FBI's confidential report was delivered to the Senate overnight. Senators have to read it in a secure room in the Capitol complex.
Senate Democrats says the investigation was incomplete and may have been limited by the White House.
The Senate Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, says it appears the White House had "blocked the FBI from doing its job."
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11:30 a.m.
Senate Democrats are criticizing the White House for what they say is a limited FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (FYN'-styn), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says the most notable part of report into sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh "is what's not in it."
Kavanaugh denies the accusations.
Feinstein says the report made available to senators on Thursday is "very limited" and she says "it looks to be a product of an incomplete investigation."
Feinstein says the White House may have limited the probe.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says he disagrees with a statement by the committee's GOP chairman that the report found "no hint of misconduct" by Kavanaugh.
Schumer is calling for the report to be made public as well the directive the White House gave the FBI ordering the investigation.
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11:10 a.m.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says there's nothing new in the FBI's supplemental background investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
And she says the White House is eager for the Senate to vote on the nomination.
Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
Sanders tells reporters that "we didn't learn anything new and based on what we knew before, we felt very confident."
She's declining to say whether the president has read or been briefed on the FBI report. But Sanders says "the president's aware and feels very confident in his selection and his support" of Kavanaugh.
Sanders said earlier on Fox News Channel that the politics Democrats have injected into the process has "upended our judicial system" and energized Republicans.
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10:40 a.m.
President Donald Trump is tweeting that "Due Process, Fairness and Common Sense are now on trial!" as the Senate considers the fate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Trump is citing the latest FBI report on Kavanaugh and says, "If we made it 100, it would still not be good enough for the Obstructionist Democrats."
The White House says it received the FBI's supplemental background investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh, and that the report has gone to the Senate.
Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
Trump wrote earlier that "this great life cannot be ruined by mean & despicable Democrats and totally uncorroborated allegations!"
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10:15 a.m.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says the FBI found "no hint of misconduct" in its background investigation of sexual misconduct claims against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Sen. Chuck Grassley says he's received a briefing from staff on the confidential report. And the Iowa Republican says in a statement that "there's nothing in it that we didn't already know."
He says the FBI couldn't find any people who could "attest to any of the allegations" against Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
The FBI report was given to the Senate overnight. Senators are reading it Thursday in a secure room in the Capitol complex, but aren't expected to discuss specific details of what they learn.
Grassley said it's time to vote on Kavanaugh's nomination.
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9:20 a.m.
Some senators might need to wait until Friday for the chance to see the FBI report on sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
A Democratic senator says lawmakers are being told that time slots for reading the report are getting full.
Illinois' Tammy Duckworth tells reporters that "it's so backed up I might have to wait until tomorrow. They're so swamped."
Senators are expected to begin reviewing the confidential FBI report on Thursday in a secure room in the Capitol complex.
Kavanaugh denies the allegations of sexual misconduct when he was in high school and college.
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5:50 a.m.
The White House says it has received the FBI's supplemental background investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and senators have enough time to review it and vote.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley tweeted early Thursday he also had received the file.
White House spokesman Raj Shah says senators "have been given ample time to review this seventh background investigation" into Kavanaugh, who denies accusations of sexual misconduct when he was in high school and college.
Shah says the White House is "confident the Senate will vote to confirm" Kavanaugh.
Democrats argue Republicans have been rushing to confirm him.
The full Senate is preparing to weigh in on Kavanaugh's nomination with an initial vote on Friday.
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5:15 a.m.
The Senate Judiciary Committee says it's received an FBI report on sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley tweeted early Thursday, "Supplemental FBI background file for Judge Kavanaugh has been received."
Because the report is confidential, senators will not be allowed to talk about what's in it.
Republicans agreed to ask the FBI for an additional background check on Kavanaugh after his first accuser, Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford, testified last week that he sexually assaulted her when they were in high school. Kavanaugh denies the accusation.
Ford's attorneys have said she wasn't contacted for an interview. But the FBI spoke to a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, who claims Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when they were in college. Kavanaugh says that accusation is false.
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1:30 a.m.
The full Senate is preparing to weigh in on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court with an initial vote on Friday.
In setting the voting process in motion, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is likely to call for a final vote over the weekend.
Allegations of sexual misconduct when Kavanaugh was in high school and college have rocked President Donald Trump's effort to put the conservative appeals court judge on the high court. Kavanaugh denies the accusations.
PARIS (AP) The Latest on the disappearance of the president of Interpol, Meng Hongwei (all times local):
6:00 p.m.
A Hong Kong newspaper has cited an anonymous source saying the president of Interpol was taken away for questioning by "discipline authorities," a term that usually describes investigators in the ruling Communist Party who probe graft and political disloyalty.
The South China Morning Post reported Friday that Meng Hongwei was placed under investigation in his native China as soon as he arrived in the country last week.
An Interpol spokesman says the international law enforcement agency is aware of the Post's story, but would not comment on it or say if Chinese authorities had detained the 64-year-old Meng.
Meng's wife says she has not heard from him since he left Lyon, France, where Interpol is headquartered, at the end of September.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party's secretive internal investigation agency, had no announcements on its website about Meng and could not be reached for comment.
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2:55 p.m.
Interpol says it's aware of reports that President Meng Hongwei has been reported missing while making a trip to his native China.
The international law enforcement agency based in Lyon, France did not provide details about Meng's disappearance and said in a statement Friday: "This is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China."
Meng's wife reported Friday that she had not heard from him since the end of September, when he left Lyon. French authorities have launched an investigation.
The president of Interpol heads its executive committee. The police organization said in its statement "the day-to-day running of Interpol" is carried out by its secretary general, Jurgen Stock.
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A French judicial official says the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to his native China,
The official says Meng Hongwei's wife reported Friday that she had not heard from her 64-year-old husband since the end of September, when he left Lyon, France, where Interpol is based. The official said Meng did arrive in China.
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The official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of an ongoing investigation.
There was no further word on Meng's schedule in China or what prompted his wife to wait until now to report his absence.
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.
LOS ANGELES (AP) The Latest on a California man suing the Vatican for the release of the names of all offenders within the church worldwide. (all times local):
3:40 p.m.
A California man suing the Vatican to release the names of all sexually abusive priests worldwide says he's fighting for the truth for victims.
Manny Vega of Oxnard said at a news conference Thursday that priests raped him and countless other children across the world, and that abuse and a culture of secrecy are still rampant within the Catholic church.
Vega's lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in California seeks to have the Vatican ordered to release the names of all priests accused of abuse and to turn over the names of those found guilty to law enforcement. It doesn't seek monetary damages.
Jeffrey Lena, the Vatican's U.S. lawyer, declined to comment.
Vega reached a settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2007, but his lawsuit says that doesn't release the Vatican from responsibility. One of his lawyers has tried unsuccessfully to sue the government of the Catholic Church in U.S. courts before.
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A California man who says he was sexually abused decades ago by a priest over a five-year period is suing the Vatican.
Although the lawsuit says the man reached a settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2007, his attorneys said Thursday that doesn't release the Vatican from responsibility.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses the Vatican of placing the Rev. Fidencio Silva-Flores in a position of power at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in the southern California coastal city of Oxnard and says it should have known he posed a danger to children.
The lawsuit says Silva-Flores sexually abused the plaintiff between 1979 and 1984. Silva-Flores was charged with 25 counts of molestation in 2003 but they were dropped.
Jeffrey Lena, the Vatican's U.S. lawyer, declined comment.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) The Latest on Melania Trump's visit to Africa (all times local):
5:05 p.m.
Melania Trump has met with Kenyan first lady Margaret Kenyatta for tea.
Mrs. Trump is on her first extended solo international trip as U.S. first lady and her first visit to Africa. After having tea with Kenyatta on Friday she attended a children's dance performance at the National Theater in Nairobi.
Earlier Friday, Mrs. Trump sashayed to the beat of African music while being welcomed to an orphanage. She had opened the Kenya portion of her visit by feeding baby elephants at Nairobi National Park and going on a safari.
Egypt will be the next and final stop on her Africa tour. She previously visited Ghana and Malawi.
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Melania Trump has sashayed to the beat of African music while being welcomed to an orphanage in Kenya.
Children living at The Nest in Nairobi greeted her Friday with singing and dancing, and it didn't take long before the typically reserved U.S. first lady gave in to the moment. She walked up a pathway holding hands with two children and then began to sashay to the beat as she approached the building.
Mrs. Trump is on her first extended solo international trip as first lady.
She opened the Kenya portion of her visit earlier Friday by feeding baby elephants at Nairobi National Park and going on a safari. She plans to meet with Kenya's first lady and take in a performance at Nairobi National Theater.
Egypt will be the next and final stop on her Africa tour. She previously visited Ghana and Malawi.
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Melania Trump is visiting a national park in Kenya to highlight animal conservation efforts.
The U.S. first lady arrived at Nairobi National Park on Friday to learn about steps the east African nation is taking to conserve elephants and rhinos. She'll also go on a quick safari.
Mrs. Trump plans to visit with children at an orphanage and take in a children's performance later Friday at Nairobi National Theater.
She is on her first-ever visit to Africa and her first extended solo international trip as first lady. Mrs. Trump opened the trip Tuesday in Ghana and visited Malawi on Thursday.
Egypt is the final stop on a four-nation tour of the continent to highlight child welfare, education and tourism and conservation.
OSLO, Norway (AP) The Latest on the awarding of the Nobel Prizes (all times local):
5:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump hasn't commented on the new Nobel Peace Prize winners but his new ambassador to Congo has.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Hammer says in a Twitter post: "Congratulations Dr. Denis Mukwege! Looking forward to visiting Panzi Hospital and seeing firsthand your remarkable work against sexual violence and in support of survivors."
This year's Nobel Peace Prize is shared by Mukwege and Nadia Murad, an Iraqi woman who has become a global advocate for rape and torture victims like herself of Islamic State militants.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the panel wanted to "send a message" that those who use sexual violence against women "have to be prosecuted and held responsible."
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The Congolese surgeon who shares this year's Nobel Peace Prize says he is dedicating the award to "the women of all the countries of the world wounded by conflict and confronted by violence every day."
Dr. Denis Mukwege spoke to jubilant colleagues and supporters at their hospital in eastern Congo, where news of the award arrived while Mukwege was finishing an operation.
The 63-year-old Mukwege said for nearly 20 years he has witnessed war crimes "against women, teenage girls, small girls, babies."
He said "dear survivors around the world, I want to tell you that through this prize the world is listening to you and refuses indifference ... We hope that the world will no longer delay taking action in your favor, with force and determination, because the survival of humanity depends on you. It's you women who carry humanity."
Mukwege shared the prize with Iraq's Nadia Murad, a global spokeswoman for Yazidi women and girls kidnapped into sex slavery by Islamic State militants.
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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is hailing Nobel Peace Prize winners Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad as "defenders of human dignity."
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Guterres spoke Friday at the U.N., which in 2016 named Murad its first Goodwill Ambassador for the dignity of survivors of human trafficking.
She was among an estimated 3,000 female members of the Yazidi religious minority who were kidnapped, abused and sold into sex slavery by Islamic State militants in Iraq in 2014. Guterres noted that Murad's "powerful advocacy" helped spur an ongoing U.N. investigation into possible war crimes committed by IS.
Mukwege, a surgeon who has treated many women who were raped in conflict-wracked Congo, has faced attempts on his own life. Guterres calls Mukwege "a fearless champion for human rights."
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The European Union says this year's Nobel Peace Prize "celebrates the strength, the courage and the vision" of co-winners Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, who were recognized for their work in combating the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
The EU was awarded the peace prize in 2012 for advancing peace, democracy and human rights in Europe. The block said in a statement Friday that the latest laureates "risked their own lives to help, protect and save others."
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini praised the two, saying they "worked tirelessly within their communities to bring about change and put an end to the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war."
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani commended their "courage and resilience." He said that "in their fight for common human values, (they) richly deserve the Nobel Peace Prize."
Murad and Mukwege previously won Europe's top human rights award, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
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Congolese surgeon Denis Mukwege says the news that he was a co-winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize came while he was at the operating table.
In newly posted audio on the Nobel site, Mukwege says Friday he really doesn't have time to chat but he described the moment that he heard the news as "touching."
The doctor who treats rape victims in the central African nation that was been wracked for decades by conflict says he was nearing the end of his second operation of the day when he heard people crying.
Mukwege says "I can see in the faces of many women how they are happy to be recognized ... this is really so touching."
He and Yazidi activist Nadia Murad won for their campaigns to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
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Iraq's newly elected president has congratulated Yazidi activist Nadia Murad for being a co-winner of 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.
President Barham Saleh said that honoring Murad is an international recognition of the "catastrophe" that Yazidis were subject to by Islamic State militants. Murad was captured by IS militants at 19 and raped, beaten and tortured daily before escaping and becoming an international spokeswoman for victims.
State TV quoted Saleh, who was elected by parliament earlier this week, as saying the award is also recognizes all victims of "terrorism" in Iraq. State TV says Murad is the first Iraqi to win any Nobel prize.
She and Dr. Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who treats rape victims in the Congo, won the 2018 prize for combating the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
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Iraq is celebrating the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to former Islamic State captive Nadia Murad, saying she is the first Iraqi citizen to win the top international award.
Iraqi state TV interrupted its normal programs Friday for a special broadcast about Murad's award of the Nobel Prize.
It reported that outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi expressed his happiness.
State TV correspondent in Europe Amer al-Moussawi said in his report that "this is a victory for the just cause that Iraqis fought for against international terrorism."
Hussam Abdullah, head of the Yazidi Organization for Documentation, using an Arabic term to refer to IS, said "this win represents the international recognition of the genocide that was committed by Daesh."
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Congolese politicians are expressing pride but taking the opportunity to make political jabs after surgeon Denis Mukwege was announced as one of the winners of this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his work on combating the use of sexual violence in war. He is the country's first Nobel laureate.
"I am proud to be Congolese," says the country's top opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, in a Twitter post. "Good done for others always ends up being rewarded."
Another opposition leader who was recently barred by the government as a candidate in December's presidential election, Moise Katumbi, tweets that the award puts Congo in the global spotlight. But he adds that "it's time for a new political leadership to end the tragedy of raped women."
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A U.N. spokeswoman says that the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their work in combating the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war is a "fantastic announcement."
Alessandra Velluci told reporters in Geneva that "this is a cause that is very close to the United Nations and as you know we have a special representative who is also working towards this, and I'm sure that this Nobel peace prize will help advance the cause of ending sexual violence as a weapon of conflict."
Murad is the U.N.'s Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad.
Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday that the German chancellor has "great respect for their work."
Seibert said Murad came to Germany in 2015 as part of a special program for female victims of violence and met Merkel in 2016 to discuss her work helping others.
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12:50 p.m.
A Dutch-based foundation named for Dr. Denis Mukwege has welcomed the announcement that he has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
In a statement, The Mukwege Foundation says the award granted Friday to the Congolese gynecological surgeon and to Yazidi activist Nadia Murad sends "a clear message that sexual violence in wars is unacceptable and must stop."
Mukwege is a special advisor to the foundation that works to end sexual violence in wars.
The foundation says it will "continue to work with Dr. Mukwege and his team, as well as Nadia Murad, towards a world in which sexual violence as a method of warfare is abolished and survivors receive the care they need."
Praise also poured in from other colleagues and supporters of Mukwege.
"Well deserved and long awaited," said the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Ken Roth.
"It is 10 years since I first proposed heroic Mukwege for Nobel Prize," tweeted Jan Egeland, a former U.N. official who now leads the Norwegian Refugee Council.
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12:45 p.m.
Congo's government is congratulating surgeon Denis Mukwege on his Nobel Peace Prize, while acknowledging that relations have been strained over the years.
Spokesman Lambert Mende tells The Associated Press that Mukwege has done "remarkable work" treating victims of sexual violence during years of conflict in the country's east.
Mukwege in the past has criticized the Congolese government and accused its troops of having a culture of sexual violence.
Congo's government spokesman says "we have not always been in agreement" and says Mukwege has had a tendency to "politicize" his humanitarian work. However, "we salute that a compatriot is recognized."
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12:35 p.m.
Congo, the sprawling central African nation where 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege works, has been called "the rape capital of the world," by the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict.
Eastern Congo has seen more than two decades of bloody conflict among armed groups that either sought to unseat presidents or simply grab control of a piece of the country's trillions of dollars in mineral wealth. Rape has been used as a vicious weapon of war.
Millions of people have been killed over the years and millions more have fled. Dozens of armed groups still roam the region and some now are disrupting attempts to fight a new Ebola outbreak in Congo's northeast, causing alarm among health workers.
Armed men tried to kill Mukwege in 2012, forcing him to temporarily leave the country.
He won the peace prize Friday with Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman who became a global spokeswoman for victims after being raped and tortured by Islamic State militants.
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Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad was captured by Islamic State militants at 19 and raped, beaten and tortured daily before managing to escape.
Following treatment in Germany, Murad became a global spokeswoman for Yazidi women, telling their ordeal to the U.N. Security Council and being named a U.N. special ambassador.
Tens of thousands of Yazidis escaped to Mount Sinjar in Iraq in 2014, where they were surrounded and besieged by Islamic State militants. The U.S., Iraq, Britain, France and Australia flew in water and supplies until Kurdish fighters opened a corridor to allow them to flee.
The U.N. has called the IS assault a genocide, saying the Yazidis' "400,000-strong community had all been displaced, captured or killed." Of the thousands captured by IS, boys were forced to fight for the extremists, many of the men were executed and women and girls were sold into slavery.
Germany's Yazidi community reached out, and the state of Baden Wuerttemberg established a program to bring women abused by IS to Germany, including Murad.
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The head of the foundation behind the award known as the "alternative Nobel" says giving the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize to Congolese surgeon Denis Mukwege "is a fantastic choice," because he "not only helps mend (women) physically but also restores their human dignity."
Ole von Uexkull, head of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, says the 2018 award "must be a clarion call to putting an end to violence against women everywhere around the world."
He said Friday Mukwege was given the Right Livelihood Award in 2013 for "his courageous work healing women survivors of wartime sexual violence and speaking up about its root causes".
The Norwegian Nobel Committee jointly awarded the peace prize to Mukwege and to Nadia Murad, a Yazidi who was a captive of the Islamic State group.
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The Congolese gynecological surgeon who has won the Nobel Peace Prize for treating victims of sexual violence has previously called gender inequality a disgrace to society.
Dr. Denis Mukwege made the comments last year to an international assembly of the Lutheran church in Namibia. He said churches must speak out against sexual abuse, and he condemned what he called the "inhumanity" that some men show toward women.
Mukwege has treated thousands of women in Congo, many of whom were victims of gang rape in different conflicts. Armed men tried to kill him in 2012, forcing him to temporarily leave the country.
Mukwege won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday along with Nadia Murad, a spokeswoman for Yazidi women abused by the Islamic State group.
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The Norwegian Nobel Committee says that Denis Mukwege is "the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts."
Mukwege and his team have treated thousands of patients who have been raped or sexually abused in Congo's long civil war.
"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 committee said in its citation Friday.
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Nadia Murad, one of the two winners of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, has become a spokeswoman for Yazidi women abused by the Islamic State group.
In December 2015, she told the U.N. Security Council how she and thousands of other Yazidi women and girls were abducted, held in captivity and repeatedly raped after the Iraqi area of Sinjar fell to IS militants in August 2014. She escaped after three months in captivity.
A year after most IS-held areas were retaken by Iraqi security forces, around 3,000 Yazidi women and girls are still missing, most presumed dead.
At the age of 23, Murad was named the U.N.'s first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.
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The head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee says this year's Nobel Peace winners were chosen to draw attention to the fact that "women are ... actually used as weapons of war."
Berit Reiss-Andersen said after announcing the prize Friday that both laureates, Denis Mukwege of Congo and ethnic Yazidi Nadia Murad, had put their personal security at stake as activists on the issue.
Oyvind Sternersen, a Nobel historian, said "This is a Nobel bullseye; recognizing victims of war has a long history in the peace prize."
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The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict."
The winners were named Friday by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Congolese doctor Mukwege has been a critic of the Congolese government and has treated victims of sexual violence. Murad is a Yazidi who was a captive of the Islamic State group.
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The Nobel Peace Prize is always widely anticipated and sometimes controversial.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which will announce this year's prize on Friday, has received nominations for 216 individuals and 115 organizations. But only a few dozen of them are known the committee keeps the list of nominations secret for 50 years, although some candidates are revealed by their nominators.
Among those put forward this year are the Syrian civilian aid group White Helmets, Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper, Edward Snowden and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Last year's winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
The 2018 prize is worth 9 million Swedish kronor ($1.01 million). Past winners who came under criticism include former U.S. President Barack Obama, who won in 2009 after less than a year in office.
Riga (AFP) - The pro-Kremlin Harmony party won Latvia's general election ahead of populists, final results showed Sunday, but talks on forming a governing coalition looked thorny due to the country's fragmented political scene.
Harmony topped Saturday's vote with 19.8 percent of the vote ahead of two populist parties -- KPV LV with 14.25 percent and the New Conservative Party with 13.6 percent.
"No coalition combination is possible without Harmony that would appear able and stable," Harmony chairman and Riga mayor Nils Ushakovs told the LETA agency.
Harmony is popular with Latvia's ethnic Russian minority which makes up about a quarter of the country's 1.9-million population.
It was formerly allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party and has won the largest number of votes in the last three elections.
It never entered government as it failed to attract coalition partners, but KPV LV suggested before the vote that they may help propel it to power this time.
"KPV LV can work with anybody. We don't have any red lines regarding any other political force," lawyer Aldis Gobzems, KPV LV's candidate for prime minister, said in a recent TV debate.
But the New Conservative Party leader, Janis Bordans, ruled out any cooperation with Harmony, saying this was "our red line before and after the election."
Political analysts predicted hard and long talks. They said Harmony and KPV LV looked too lonely to form a coalition, mustering a mere 39 seats between them in the 100-member parliament.
"On the one hand, voters want changes. On the other, people do not want their country given away to the Kremlin and populists," analyst Marcis Krastins told AFP.
"It looks like Harmony and KPV will indeed work together... in opposition!" voter Andris Latvers quipped on Facebook.
- 'Fragmented' -
The pro-EU, pro-NATO liberal For Development/For! party came fourth in the vote with 12 percent, beating parties from the current centre-right governing coalition including the rightwing National Alliance, which earned 11 percent.
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The centre-right Greens and Farmers Union of Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis won 9.9 percent and New Unity took 6.7 percent as the last party crossing the five-percent threshold to have seats in parliament.
The ruling three-party government coalition fared poorly despite having improved the country's economy, which was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis.
Still, its leaders and analysts believed it would have a say in the next government coalition.
"I am sure that initiative in the coalition talks must come from the centre-right parties," Augusts Brigmanis, the Greens and Farmers Union chairman, told LETA.
Political scientist Filips Rajevskis said the new parliament is "very fragmented" and predicted "ugly" talks.
Political science professor Juris Rozenvalds from the University of Latvia said the talks could go on until the end of the year with the old cabinet kept in place for the time being.
- Pro-Russian hack -
The vote was tarnished by a hacker attack on the Draugiem.lv social network, second in popularity only to Facebook in the Baltic state, which displayed a pro-Russian message.
"Comrades, Latvians, this concerns you. The borders of Russia have no end," it said in Russian, followed by images of soldiers annexing Crimea, Russian tanks parading in Moscow and a smiling Vladimir Putin.
Turnout for Saturday's vote was 54.6 percent, according to the election website.
Formerly part of the Soviet Union, Latvia is now a member of the eurozone and NATO, having joined the military alliance in 2004.
Harmony has suggested it may tip Latvia's foreign policy in favour of Russia.
Political analyst Marcis Bendiks said Harmony's campaign promise to cut defence spending to one percent of GDP went against NATO agreements.
Latvia is one of NATO's most disciplined spenders on defence, meeting the two-percent-of-GDP target demanded by the Alliance.
(Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) says she will oppose Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trumps nominee to the Supreme Court.
I believe Brett Kavanaugh is a good man, Murkowski told reporters on Friday after voting against bringing his nomination to a final vote. In my view, hes not the right man for the court at this time.
Murkowski, a key GOP moderate, said she did not come to a decision until walking onto the Senate floor on Friday. The long-awaited announcement comes as a relief to Democrats and womens groups who view the appellate court judge as a serious threat to the Affordable Care Act and reproductive rights, which Murkowski supports. Her decision probably also had something to do with loud opposition to Kavanaugh from Alaska Natives, who were crucial to Murkowskis re-election in 2010.
Murkowski was also under pressure to reject Kavanaughs nomination based on the allegations of sexual assault that were leveled against him late in the confirmation process. Last month, the Alaska centrist called for a pause in the process to hear from Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her in high school when they were both teens, as well as an investigation of the charges. The FBI conducted a limited probe of the allegations but the report proved inconclusive.
Its unclear, however, whether Murkowskis opposition to Kavanaugh will be enough to stop him from being confirmed. The Senate is expected to hold its final vote on the nomination on Saturday when several other moderate senators could help get him a seat on the Supreme Court.
Nominated by Trump in July to replace former Justice Anthony Kennedy, the 53-year-old Kavanaugh is viewed by legal experts as a reliable conservative who will tilt the balance of the Supreme Court to the right for decades.
Murkowski, like fellow Republican centrist Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, supports abortion rights. Democrats and progressives groups hoped to sway her vote with an intense monthslong lobbying campaign, arguing that Kavanaugh would roll back abortion rights for millions of women in America. They had some reason to be optimistic: Both GOP senators bucked Trump when they helped vote down last years effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
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But Murkowski stayed quiet on the matter, even after Democrats released an email Kavanaugh wrote in 2003 as a White House official for George W. Bush in which he seemed to question whether Roe v. Wade the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide was settled law.
While both GOP senators faced pressure to reject Kavanaugh based on his views on abortion rights, Murkowski was also urged to reject the nomination by advocates for Alaska Natives who had concerns with the judges record on climate change, voting rights and fishing rights. Alaska Native rights groups were particularly concerned about how the conservative judge would vote on a case they fear could destroy the way of life for tribal communities who rely on subsistence fishing in protected federal waters.
Alaskan tribal representatives, including leaders of the Hughes Tribal Council, the Ruby Tribal Council, the Tanana Tribal Council and the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government, spoke out against Kavanaughs nomination.
Murkowski got even more reason to oppose Kavanaugh last month when Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott (D) came out against the nomination, voicing concern about the judge potentially voting to strike down the Affordable Care Acts Medicaid expansion and its protections for patients who have pre-existing conditions.
Murkowski, 61, isnt up for re-election until 2022 a timeline that surely gave her some breathing room on Kavanaughs nomination. She owes little to the GOP establishment, having mounted a successful write-in campaign in 2010 with the help of tribal communities and Alaska independents.
None of this has been fair, Murkowski told reporters on Friday about the Kavanaugh confirmation process.
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Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Friday voted against proceeding to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and said she would vote against his confirmation the only Republican Senator to do so after weeks of pressure from her constituents in a state with the countrys highest rate of sexual assault.
I have been wrestling to really try to know what is fair and what is right, and the truth is that none of this has been fair, Murkowski told reporters at the Capitol on Friday.
I believe that Brett Kavanaugh is a good man. I believe he is a good man. It just may be that in my view hes not the right man for the court at this time, she said, adding that we need to be thinking again about the credibility and the integrity of our institutions.
Kavanaughs confirmation was stalled by allegations of sexual assault against him, though he looks likely to be confirmed in a final vote on Saturday. Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Washington, D.C. and around the country this week, calling on Senators not to confirm Kavanaugh in the midst of a national reckoning over sexual harassment and assault.
That issue has particular urgency in Alaska, where the rate of sexual assault is nearly three times the national average. About 33% of women in Alaska have experienced sexual violence, according to the 2015 Alaska Victimization Survey, conducted by the University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center for the state Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
Thats one out of three Alaskan women, says Ingrid Johnson, an assistant professor in the Justice Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage, who studies the issue of sexual assault.
With the research that I do, when I talk to people about it, almost anyone can immediately start telling me about a friend or a family member they know who has experienced violence, she says. There arent six degrees of separation from the issue up here. More like one or two degrees of separation.
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Murkowski did not directly link her decision on Kavanaughs confirmation to the rate of sexual assault in Alaska, though she has spoken out about the issue previously and has introduced legislation to help victims of sexual assault. A spokesperson for Murkowski did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
In addition to Kavanaughs confirmation hearings, high-profile cases of sexual assault recently brought the issue to the fore in Alaska. Last month, an Anchorage man pleaded guilty to assault after offering an Alaska Native woman a ride, strangling her unconscious and then ejaculating on her. He received no jail time a sentence the assistant district attorney described as his one pass, KTVA reported.
The issues of sexual assault and sexual abuse are just very raw right now for Alaskans, and because the rates are so high, more and more people are finding their voice to say, Stop ignoring us,' Johnson says.
More than 100 women flew from Alaska to Washington, D.C. with the ACLU this week to lobby Murkowski in person, demanding that she listen to sexual assault survivors and vote against Kavanaughs confirmation. More than 350 female attorneys signed a letter calling on Murkowski and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan to vote no, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
But Murkowski faced a different political calculation on this vote than Sullivan and other Republican Senators. In 2010, she won re-election in a historic victory as a write-in candidate, defeating a Tea Party candidate who had won the Republican primary with support from then-Gov. Sarah Palin. While Alaska voted for President Donald Trump by a 15-point margin in 2016, Murkowski was elected with broad support from non-Republican voters.
She won with the considerable support of nonpartisan and undeclared voters, and very strong support from the Alaska Native community, so those circumstances are different from those of any other Senator, says Jerry McBeath, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She has the latitude to vote against the confirmation.
Alaska Natives, who remain an influential part of Murkowskis base, experience a significantly higher rate of sexual assault in the state. Alaska Native women comprised 42% of victims of all reported felony sex offenses in 2017, though they make up roughly 20% of the state population, according to a 2018 report from the Alaska Department of Public Safety. But native groups had also voiced opposition to Kavanaugh based on his rulings on the rights of native peoples.
The Alaska Federation of Natives praised Murkowskis vote on Friday. She heard our concerns about Judge Kavanaughs record on the constitutional rights of Native peoples, and voted accordingly this morning on cloture, the group said in a statement. AFN will continue to advocate against his confirmation and will work to get other senators to join Senator Murkowski prior to tomorrows final floor vote.
But it appears no Republican Senators will follow Murkowskis lead.
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake has said he intends to vote for Kavanaugh unless something big changes. Maine Sen. Susan Collins announced her support for Kavanaugh in a speech on the Senate floor Friday, all but assuring he will be confirmed. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announced minutes later that he would vote for Kavanaughs confirmation as well.
I feel pretty pessimistic about it, I guess, maybe that she only feels comfortable voting no because she knows hes actually going to pass, Johnson says of Murkowski. I dont l know what her reasons are voting the way she is. I know that its disturbing that shes the only one willing to vote no.
Tokyo (AFP) - They're far from floral, but fungi could be just what the doctor ordered for bees, according to a study that shows mushroom extracts could protect against viruses decimating bee populations.
"Colony collapse disorder" -- or massive die-offs of bees -- has caused international alarm in recent years, with experts blaming mites, viruses and pesticides for the phenomenon.
The UN warned last year that nearly half of all insect pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, were at risk of global extinction.
Some countries have already moved to ban certain pesticides, and beekeepers use poisons to tackle mite infestations that can take out whole colonies.
But new research published Thursday in the journal Nature Scientific Reports suggests fungi extracts could effectively inoculate bees against some of the most devastating viruses attacking them.
The research was inspired by the observation that honeybees appear to feed on fungi in the wild, and a "growing body of evidence (that) indicates honey bees self-medicate using plant-derived substances", the study says.
Mushroom extracts are already used against several viruses in humans and the authors reasoned fungi might have similar properties for bees.
"Previous anti-viral results of mushroom extracts when tested on human viruses suggested that this would be a promising line of research," co-author Walter Sheppard, a professor at Washington State University's entomology department, told AFP.
- 'Significant antiviral activity' -
The researchers started by narrowing down which fungi they would feed their test bees, eventually focusing on amadou, a spongy material produced by hoof fungus, and reishi, a fungus that grows in shelf-like formations on trees.
The study looked at whether the extracts could protect bees from two viruses that have proven particularly devastating to the industrious insects: deformed wing virus (DWV) and Lake Sinai virus (LSV).
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Initial tests were run on caged bee populations in laboratories, with one group receiving the mushroom medicine and another a plain sugar syrup solution.
The extracts "exhibited significant antiviral activity", the study found.
Testing then moved outdoors, where the researchers created 30 colonies, each with a queen and around 8,000 worker bees, allowing all the bees to feed freely.
They provided some of the foraging bees with their mushroom extract, and gave the others the sugar syrup, finding the dosing reduced DWV 79-fold and LSV a whopping 45,000-fold compared to the control groups.
Sheppard said the discovery was a promising result with potential real-world application for beekeepers looking to protect their colonies.
"The material is well-suited to use by beekeepers, as the method of application... is already widely used by the industry to provide supplemental nutrition," he said.
Sheppard and his colleagues are already pursuing additional research based on their initial findings, including further investigation into how the fungi extracts work.
"We will conduct experiments to tease apart whether virus levels are reduced through direct anti-viral activity of the extract or through improving immune function in the bee," he said.
Sheppard said the team was also "working to develop and refine application methods", including testing how to offer the treatments on a large scale and tinkering with just how much mushroom "medicine" bees should receive.
By Brendan Pierson
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Irish national on Friday pleaded guilty to U.S. charges that he helped run the now-defunct Silk Road, an online black market where illegal drugs and other goods were bought and sold.
Gary Davis, 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman to conspiring to distribute illegal drugs. Davis said his work for Silk Road included "helping the site run smoothly" and providing customer support.
He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Davis was indicted by New York federal prosecutors in 2013, but fought extradition in Irish courts. He said he suffered from Asperger Syndrome, depression and anxiety, and argued that incarceration in the United States could hurt his mental health and endanger his life, violating his fundamental rights.
Ireland's Supreme Court rejected those arguments, and he was extradited to the United States.
Prosecutors have said Silk Road was used in the sale of more than $200 million worth of illegal drugs and other contraband.
Silk Road was shut down in 2013 when authorities seized the website and arrested its creator, Ross Ulbricht, who was tried and convicted of drug trafficking charges, and sentenced in 2015 to life in prison.
Davis was indicted along with two others accused of working on the site. Peter Nash, an Australian, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served after 17 months in jail in 2015. Andrew Michael Jones, an American, also pleaded guilty but has not been sentenced.
In June, prosecutors announced the extradition from Thailand to the United States of another defendant charged in connection with Silk Road, Roger Thomas Clark. Clark, a Canadian national, has been accused of acting as Ulbricht's "right-hand man."
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
A meteorite in Michigan worth $100,000 has been holding open a door at a Michigan farm for the past 30 years.
According to Central Michigan University, the 22-pound meteorite rock was brought in to be examined by an unnamed man who said he had been using it as a doorstop for several decades. CMU geology professor Mona Sirbescu said that this is the first time in her time at the university that a rock she has been asked to test actually turned out to be a meteorite.
Central Michigan University Professor Mona Sirbescu shows off a meteorite
The chunk of ironwhich was confirmed as a space rock by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.is the sixth-largest meteorite ever found in Michigan, according to the museum. Its the most valuable specimen I have ever held in my life, monetarily and scientifically, Sibescu said.
In the final days before the Senate vote on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the national debate over the right course of action was distilled into one key question: Whom to believe?
The hearing process provided a stage for the striking testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who accuses Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were in high school, and the emotional rebuttal of Kavanaugh, who denies those claims. A limited FBI investigation over the past week seems to have given Republicans the assurance they need to vote to confirm Kavanaugh, while Fords supporters have turned their belief in her statements and in all survivors who find the courage to speak out into a rallying cry.
The news has also drawn attention to a fundamental principle of law that, it turns out, is more complicated than it seems: the presumption of innocence.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has defended Kavanaugh on the principle that he is innocent until proven guilty, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has made the point that the hearings are not a lawsuit and thus the legal presumed innocence rule is basically irrelevant. The two senators, despite working within the same system, are able to find very different guidance from the same concept. But that gap isnt whats surprising, says Francois Quintard-Morenas, a lawyer and the author of a 2010 article on the history of the presumption of innocence in The American Journal of Comparative Law.
What he does find ironic is which senator is on which side, as the narrowing of the concept is due in part to decades of effort by American conservatism.
Schumer is not technically wrong, Quintard-Morenas tells TIME. Over time, the principle in the United States has been weakened considerably, for various reasons and mostly by conservative justices who didnt want to expand the principle beyond the court of law.
In examining the history of the idea, Quintard-Morenas went way back. He found that the ancient Babylonian Code of Hammurabi put the burden of proof on the accuser; that the ancient Greek statesman Demosthenes wrote about the importance of not calling people criminals before they were convicted; that a key third-century Roman legal document set forward rules about the evidence an accuser must supply; and that a Medieval European legal principle specified that conviction, not accusation, defined a criminal. Roman legal codes with clear analogs in U.S. law instructed judges to allow bail, treat defendants respectfully and conduct trials as speedily as possible so that the guilty and innocent could be properly sorted. An accused person was entitled to benefits that might be denied to a convict, such as conducting business or passing down an inheritance. The basic idea is, to Quintard-Morenas, a necessary logical premise for a functioning legal system.
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It starts a long time ago, in antiquity. If you allege that someone has done something wrong, the [burden of] proof is on you to demonstrate that what you say is true, he says. Thats a first principle of law that everybody knows.
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He traces the precise phrase innocent until proven guilty to Johannes Monachus, a French clergyman and expert in Church law who lived around the turn of the 14th century. But, as simple as it sounds, it actually has two fairly distinct meanings, which Quintard-Morenas calls the rule of proof and the shield against premature punishment.
The former is a legal concept, applicable narrowly in a courtroom setting, which declares that the burden of proof rests on a prosecutor. Thats the one Schumer was talking about. The latter is a relatively broad idea, with legal and social implications, that a person who has not been convicted deserves to be treated as innocent up until the moment of decision. Thats the one McConnell was talking about.
Quintard-Morenas says he saw the difference between these two meanings first-hand. In law school, as a French student, I learned it was a rule of proof and a shield against punishment, but when I went to Georgetown to do my masters degree, I learned that it was only a rule of proof, he says. One way in which the difference worked out was immediately clear: American suspects were commonly handcuffed upon arrest, a practice that to his French eyes seemed to diminish the dignity of a presumed-innocent person.
But in the course of his research, he found that the application of the idea in French history was subject to a series of ups and downs, to put it mildly. Although a French man coined the phrase, in 17th century France the maxim had some competition: the idea that he who spares the guilty punishes the innocent. Torture was used to elicit confessions, and certain punishments were meted out upon accusation rather than conviction. Though King Louis XVI supported the presumption of innocence in the 18th century, the French Revolution dealt the idea a major setback. Quintard-Morenas quotes Robespierre on the subject, wondering what would happen to the Revolution if the King himself were presumed innocent. However, over time and with the knowledge of how far things could go in the other direction, the presumption came back strong and in recent years, French law has gone even further in strengthening the idea of the presumption of innocence in the broad sense as a matter of human dignity to which all citizens have a well-defined right.
In Anglo-American law, things went a different direction. The idea of innocent until proven guilty was common knowledge in the English-speaking world in the 17th century an idea Quintard-Morenas backs up with mentions in plays and other popular writings, as well as legal cases and theres plenty of evidence that in the 18th and 19th century it was understood in a broad sense. For example, the Rhode Island Constitution enshrines it as a right. But, around the end of the 19th century, U.S. jurists started to argue that the narrow sense of the idea was a better way to apply it.
Quintard-Morenas traces the shift, in part, to the fight against crime around the turn of the 20th century and in its first decades. In that period, some American scholars even argued that a literal and broad interpretation of the presumption of innocence would cripple the legal system because it would mean you couldnt arrest someone until their guilt was proved. Later law-and-order campaigners would make similar arguments; under Richard Nixon, the Justice Department specifically clarified that the idea had was merely a rule of evidence with no application to pretrial proceedings, Quintard-Morenas writes. Finally, in the 1979 case Bell v. Wolfish, the Supreme Court weighed in, with Justice Rehnquist declaring that the presumption of innocence was only to be applied inside the courtroom. In his ruling he made clear, as a conservative justice, that the presumption of innocence was just a rule of proof that has no place before trial, Quintard-Morenas says. One recent example of how this plays out, he says, is that the presumption of innocence cant be used as an argument against websites that post mugshots.
In the U.S. system today the presumption of innocence is only a rule of evidence that applies only to the prosecutor. Thats how legal people understand it, he says. Today its mostly a rhetorical device outside a courtroom, not anything more.
To Quintard-Morenas, this trend toward a more narrow conception of presumed innocent is not a positive one.
You can see how swiftly and surely you evolve to a world where the words accused and convict became synonyms, he says. Thats against a thousand years of fundamental principles of law.
But in todays world, of course, that fundamental principle isnt simple either. For one thing, it would be extremely hard to actually enforce the presumption of innocence as anything other than a rule of evidence. Quintard-Morenas says he thinks that perhaps what the U.S. and the world need is a culture of respect, whereby both accuser and accused are heard properly without anyone jumping to conclusions either way. Echoing a position taken by other commentators, he says hes glad that more sexual-misconduct accusers feel comfortable coming forward, but that he urges people at the same time to be careful about the impact of their words. Of course, he acknowledges, the better situation he envisions requires that accusers are listened to and not intimidated, and that both sides have faith in the judicial system working properly.
I might be naive. At the end of the day, everybody has an agenda, and you can see it in the Kavanaugh hearing, he says. I think we can get there and were probably not doing a good job today.
Cairo (AFP) - US First Lady Melania Trump held talks in the Egyptian capital Saturday on the final leg of a solo four-nation tour of Africa that will also see her visit the Pyramids.
The low-key tour, during which she has made no comment to reporters, has contrasted with the political tumult back home where her husband was set to score a big political win after days of acrimonious deadlock inside and outside the Senate over his Supreme Court pick.
The former model stepped off a plane at Cairo international airport wearing high-waisted white pants, a pleated white shirt and a black tie with a beige jacket hung over her shoulders.
She was welcomed by Egyptian First Lady Intissar Amer al-Sisi, an observant Muslim who wore an ankle-length blue dress and matching headscarf.
Security was tight with police deployed along the route and on rooftops as her convoy drove from the airport to the presidential palace.
The visit comes as security forces face a persistent jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula across the Suez Canal to the northeast.
The First Lady held a one-hour meeting with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his wife at the palace, the longest of her tour, and was then driven to the US embassy before heading to the Pyramids of Giza.
During her whistlestop five-hour stay in Cairo, she was also scheduled to visit the new National Museum under construction next door to the Pyramids.
On the previous leg of her tour in Kenya, her choice of a white colonial-style pith helmet while on safari drew some criticism on Twitter, with one person comparing her look to that of a "colonial administrator".
Melania Trump, in Africa to promote her children's welfare programme, began her trip in Ghana, where she visited mothers and their newborns, and toured a former slave trading fort.
She then made a brief stop in Malawi where she toured a primary school.
On Thursday, her husband tweeted: "Our country's great First Lady, Melania, is doing really well in Africa. The people love her, and she loves them! It is a beautiful thing to see."
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Trump's predecessor Barack Obama criticised alleged human rights abuses in Egypt following the army's 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi but relations have since stabilised.
Back in Washington, the US Senate is expected to give President Trump a big political win later on Saturday by confirming conservative judge Brett Kavanaugh as the next Supreme Court justice.
Washington has been gripped by high drama and emotion for days, from the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford -- who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault -- to protests against his nomination.
emp-pool/hc/hkb
Danger can come from anywhere when youre a security agent for the first lady of the United States, even from baby elephants.
Melania Trump, who is visiting Africa on her first extended international solo trip since her husband Donald Trump assumed office, was shoved by one calf while visiting an elephant and rhino orphanage in a Nairobi National Park.
A security agent leapt into action, pulling Ms Trump out of harms way, although the disturbance was soon over.
During the visit, Ms Trump fed formula to two of the elephants being raised at the park and reached out to others, patting ones back and stroking the ear of another.
Video: Melania Trump Feeds Elephants in Kenya
For more news videos visit Yahoo View.
She also went on safari in the park, taking photos on her phone and peering through binoculars for a closer look at zebras, giraffes, impalas, rhinos and hippos bobbing in water.
She also stopped at a site where 105 tonnes of ivory was burned as part of an effort to discourage the trade.
Earlier this year, Mr Trump decided to once again allow Americans to import body parts of African elephants shot for sport.
Associated Press contributed to this report
Cairo (AFP) - Smiling for the cameras in the shadow of the pyramids, US First Lady Melania Trump wrapped up her four nation Africa tour in Egypt on Saturday, far from the political tumult back home.
In rare comments to the press, Trump said her trip -- which also took in Ghana, Malawi and Kenya -- was designed to "show the world that we care".
Asked about reports earlier this year that her husband President Donald Trump referred to African nations and Haiti as "shithole countries", the First Lady said "nobody discussed that with me and I never heard him saying those comments".
"I don't always agree what he thinks and I tell him that", Mrs Trump said. "I give him my honest opinion and honest advice and sometimes he listens, and sometimes he doesn't."
- 'I have my own voice' -
"I have my own voice and my opinions and it's very important for me that I express what I feel", she added.
The low-key tour came to an end as her husband was set to score a big political win after days of acrimonious deadlock inside and outside the Senate over his Supreme Court pick.
The US Senate is expected to confirm conservative judge Brett Kavanaugh Saturday as the next Supreme Court justice.
Washington has been gripped by high drama for days, from the testimony of Dr Christine Blasey Ford -- who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault -- to protests against his nomination and an FBI investigation into the allegations surrounding the judge.
Mrs Trump said Kavanaugh was "highly qualified for the Supreme Court" and was glad that both Ford and Kavanaugh had been given their say in front of the Senate.
Asked if she believed Dr Ford's testimony, the First Lady indicated she did not want to comment directly.
"I think all the victims, they need -- we need to help all the victims, no matter what kind of abuse they had, but I am against any kind of abuse or violence", she added.
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Mrs Trump finished the Egypt leg of her tour with a visit to the Giza pyramids near Cairo, where she posed at the foot of the Spinx, wearing a white panama hat.
- Pith helmet controversy -
On the previous leg of her tour in Kenya, her choice of a white colonial-style pith helmet while on safari drew some criticism on Twitter, with one person comparing her look to that of a "colonial administrator".
In her comments to the press on Saturday, Trump said she wanted "to talk about my trip and not what I wear".
Earlier in the day the former model stepped off a plane at Cairo international airport wearing high-waisted white pants, a pleated white shirt and a black tie with a beige jacket.
She was welcomed by Egyptian First Lady Intissar Amer al-Sisi, an observant Muslim who wore an ankle-length blue dress and matching headscarf.
Security was tight with police deployed along the route and on rooftops as her convoy drove from the airport to the presidential palace.
The visit came as Egyptian security forces face a persistent jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula across the Suez Canal to the northeast.
The First Lady held a one-hour meeting with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his wife at the palace, the longest of her tour, and was then driven to the US embassy before heading to the Pyramids of Giza.
Washington has long maintained a strong relationship with Cairo, which was briefly soured by the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and the temporary suspension of $1.3 billion in military aid under US President Barack Obama.
Bilateral relations have since stabilised.
Trump, in Africa to promote her children's welfare programme, began her trip in Ghana, where she visited mothers and their newborns, and toured a former slave trading fort.
She then made a brief stop in Malawi where she toured a primary school.
On Thursday, her husband tweeted: "Our country's great First Lady, Melania, is doing really well in Africa. The people love her, and she loves them! It is a beautiful thing to see."
emp-pool/hc/dwo/del
BEIJING (AP) The missing president of Interpol, Meng Hongwei, has deep ties to China's sprawling domestic security sector, including a lengthy term as vice minister of public security.
Here are some facts about Meng that might have a bearing on his disappearance during a trip to China.
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WHAT'S HIS BACKGROUND?
Meng's official biography says he was born in 1953 in the northeastern city of Harbin and graduated with a degree in law from prestigious Peking University. He appears to have moved swiftly into the central government in Beijing, acting as an assistant to the public security minister China's top cop as well as head of the transportation department. By 2004, he was a vice minister of public security and that same year became head of Interpol's China branch. He was head or deputy head of branches of the coast guard, and in 2016, he was elected Interpol's president.
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WHAT ARE HIS DUTIES?
Meng's position as Interpol's president is less hands-on than the organization's secretary general, but he works out of its headquarters in Lyon, France, and has made frequent appearances at crime prevention gatherings. According to Interpol's website, in May he delivered a speech in Ireland in which he discussed the changing face of global crime and the need for Interpol to remain above political considerations. "First, it is obvious that globalization, virtualization and high-tech are the new features of crime. Second, crime has become a global security issue. This was not the case in the past," Meng said. He also referred to the global governance structure as "entering a period of change," saying that, "Under such circumstances, I hope that we will adhere to our neutral and apolitical positions on major issues." Despite such statements, rights groups expressed concern that Meng would help further China's agenda of attacking the government's political foes while neutralizing criticism.
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___
WHY DID HE DISAPPEAR?
Meng's various jobs put him in close contact with Chinese leaders in the security establishment, a sector long synonymous with corruption, opacity and human rights abuses. While there are no public allegations against him, Meng, a member of the ruling Communist Party, likely worked closely with former security chief and Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang, who is now serving a life sentence for corruption. Zhou was one of the highest-profile figures caught up in President Xi Jinping's sprawling campaign against graft at all levels of government, military and state industry. Officials under suspicion often disappear into the party's investigatory body, which can hold them for months without releasing information or providing them with legal counsel.
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WERE THERE ANY INDICATIONS SOMETHING WOULD HAPPEN?
Xi has been seeking the return of officials and businesspeople accused of fraud and corruption from abroad, sometimes with the help of Interpol in an arrangement human rights advocates say is prone to abuse. Since Meng continued to hold positions in the security establishment concurrently with his role as Interpol president, that may have placed him under additional pressure. Reports from April said Meng had been relieved of his position as a member of the party committee at the Ministry of Public Security, with no explanation given. That could have been a sign of his declining political fortunes, or simply a prelude to his impending retirement, given that, at 64, he was approaching the age when officials generally begin stepping down from their positions.
These days, and especially since the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Va., last August, it has become clear to many Americans that the specter of Nazism in their country is not resigned to 1930s history. But until very recently, even that part of the story was less well known than it is today.
In fact, when Bradley W. Hart first started researching the history of Nazi sympathy in the United States a few years ago, he was largely driven by the absence of attention to the topic. Harts new book Hitlers American Friends: The Third Reichs Supporters in the United States argues that the threat of Nazism in the United States before World War II was greater than we generally remember today, and that those forces offer valuable lessons decades later and not just because part of that story is the history of the America First idea, born of pre-WWII isolationism and later reborn as a slogan for now-President Donald Trump.
Theres certainly a raw and visceral shock to seeing swastikas displayed in American streets, Hart tells TIME. But this is a topic Id been working on for quite a while at that point, and while it wasnt something I expected, it was a trend Id been observing. I wasnt terribly shocked but theres still a visceral reaction when you see that kind of symbolism displayed in the 21st century.
Hart, who came to the topic via research on the eugenics movement and the history of Nazi sympathy in Britain, says he realized early on that there was a lot more to the American side of that story than most textbooks acknowledged. Some of the big names might get mentioned briefly the radio priest Father Charles Coughlin, or the highly public German American Bund organization but in general, he says, the American narrative of the years leading up to World War II has elided the role of those who supported the wrong side. And yet, American exchange students went to Germany and returned with glowing reviews, while none other than Charles Lindbergh denounced Jewish people for pushing the U.S. toward unnecessary war. In its various expressions, the pro-Nazi stance during those years was mostly focused not on creating an active military alliance with Germany or bringing the U.S. under Nazi control (something Hitler himself thought wouldnt be possible) but rather on keeping the U.S. out of war in Europe.
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So why was that past overlooked for so long?
In part, Hart theorizes, its because the American story of World War II is such a powerful national narrative. The United States, that narrative says, helped save the world. Rocked by Pearl Harbor, Americans stepped up to turn the tide for the Allies and thus solidified their nations place as a global superpower. That narrative doesnt have much room for the relatively small, but significant, number of Americans who were rooting for the other side.
Its always been uncomfortable in this country to talk about isolationism, though the ideas are still out there, he says, Its part of the American mythology. We want to remember ourselves as always having been on the right side in this war.
It was also possible for those who had participated in Nazi-sympathetic groups to later cloak their beliefs in the Cold Wars anti-communist push a dynamic that had in fact driven some of them to fascism in the first place, as it seemed tougher on communism than democracy is, as Hart puts it. (One survey he cites found that in 1938, more Americans thought that communism was worse than fascism than vice versa.) Such people could truthfully insist that theyd always been anti-communist without revealing that theyd been fascists, and their fellow Americans were still so worried about communism that they might not press the matter.
We still dont totally know the scope of this, he adds, noting that some important documents are still classified.
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Plenty of the storys beats have modern counterparts. For example, the Foreign Agents Registration Act that ensnared Paul Manafort was a product of that time. Harts book also covers controversy over whether those with extreme political views should be allowed to speak on college campuses, a debate that still rages today. The most interesting parallel to Hart himself is that between the type of social-media misinformation campaigns that popped up around the 2016 election and the use of propaganda by Nazi agents in the United States. (In one remarkable incident, a German agent and a sympathetic congressional aide were able to take advantage of franking privileges free mailing services available for Congressional communication with constituents to distribute a massive amount of official-looking propaganda.) In both cases, one major goal of those involved was simply to create a situation in which Americans werent sure what to believe. The takeaway, he says, is that the effect of unreliable news may be more important than the actual content of those stories.
They werent trying to push the U.S. into an alliance with Nazi Germany. They see that as outlandish, though they would have loved it. What they want to do is confuse American public opinion. Thats what were seeing coming back in the era of social media, he explains. Confusion means theres no public will to do anything and in a democracy we rely on the public will to take action.
But perhaps the biggest reason why its possible for the U.S. to have forgotten about this history is that its worst potential a sympathetic politician reaching the highest levels of power on an isolationist platform was never realized.
The real threat here, which the U.S. was fortunate to avoid, was a figure like Charles Lindbergh managing to bring all these groups together in time for an election, Hart says. The timing just never really worked out for that, fortunately.
The real heroes of this story, as Hart sees it, are Americas political parties, and the establishment politicians who kept extreme isolationists off ballots. Today, now that primary elections generally make those decisions instead, thats a role that falls to every American.
The responsibility has passed from party elites down to primary voters, Hart says. Thats something that anybody who votes in a primary should think about: Is this person Im voting for really the right person not just for the party but for the country?
Candidates for state office in Florida owe millions of dollars in student loans, a reflection of a soaring student loan debt crisis affecting young people across the country.
State candidates owe an eye-popping $3,826,920 in student loan debt, based on a review of all the candidates financial disclosure forms. That includes 243 major-party candidates running for state House, state Senate and the statewide offices of governor, lieutenant governor, chief financial officer, agriculture commissioner and attorney general.
Among the 10 candidates who were deepest in the red with net worths ranging from about negative $64,000 to negative $239,000 seven would have a positive net worth were it not for student loans. An eighth would almost break even.
The numbers are high even by national averages for undergraduate student debt, though many of the candidates borrowed to attend law school, for which the average debt is about $140,000.
According to the Federal Reserve, as of June 2018, some 44 million Americans owed more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. Thats about $400 billion more than the total owed on car loans. Student loans are now the second highest category of outstanding debt, second only to mortgages.
And the issue is only getting worse. According to an October 2017 study published by the U.S. Department of Education, students in the 2000s borrowed more than those in the 1990s, paid it off at a slower rate and defaulted more often as tuition rates rose.
For state Rep. Amy Mercado, D-Orlando, its a combination of two children who are in college still, one in nursing school, one working on an MBA, and Mercados own ambitions, which saw her attend school later in life, complete a bachelors degree and then a masters degree last year.
It was worth it to me for my personal education, and obviously I want my children to graduate college, she said. But the baggage that all these younger kids are going to have on their backs, this is real. I feel it.
Mercado listed her net worth on her financial disclosure form at negative $151,344.14. She owes $183,388.70 in student loans. Thats the third highest amount of student debt owed by any state legislative candidate this year, behind state Rep. Nick Duran, D-Miami, and state Rep. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, who owe $218,415.80 and $287,934.08, respectively.
At age 44, Mercado is somewhat older than the other two state representatives, who are both in their 30s. All hold advanced degrees, and its graduate degrees that are one of the main drivers of the student loan debt crisis nationally.
In Florida, low tuition and the states Bright Futures scholarships have kept student loan debt lower among undergraduates than in most other states. But higher tuition rates and the absence of those scholarships mean major jumps in cost for grad students.
Like Duran and Burgess, Broward County state House candidate Emma Collum took out loans to get her undergraduate degree and a law degree from City University of New Yorks Public Interest Law School. She also worked as a bartender, lifeguard, swim instructor and other jobs simultaneously. She reported a negative $144,411.75 net worth due to $159,990.62 in student loans.
Student loan debt is everyones problem, especially in a state as reliant on property taxes as Florida, Collum said.
A big problem with this is that in making a long term investment in my education ... its the equivalent of mortgage payments a month, she said. This is what keeps folks life myself from investing in the real estate market and being larger consumers.
Collum is running in House District 93, which includes all of Broward County east of Dixie Highway and north of Port Everglades. The district leans slightly Republican, and its an open seat, with state Rep. George Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale, term-limited out of office. She faces Republican Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca in November.
two bachelors degrees, two masters degrees and is currently studying for a doctorate, all from the Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Democrat Anna Eskamani is running for an open House seat in an Orlando-area district against Republican Stockton Reeves. She hastwo bachelors degrees, two masters degrees and is currently studying for a doctorate, all from the University of Central Florida . She has no student debt.
I struggled to save the money to pay for my tuition, she said. When I would finally feel like I was in a financially secure spot, I would have to pay that tuition again.
Eskamani worked full time at Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida through graduate school as the organizations senior director of communications. She credits her ability to remain debt free in part to the University of Central Floridas payment plan, which allows her to pay tuition in installments.
All three candidates have similar ideas on how to reduce student loan debt:
-- Mercado would like to see some form of work-related debt forgiveness, including for teachers and nurses if they work certain jobs. Maybe for every year on a job or a specific career path, you can get some form of reimbursement or forgiveness for your loan.
-- We need some level of student loan debt forgiveness, Eskamani said. There are intentional steps we need to take to protect people pursuing an advance degree in fields that are so needed in Florida.
-- We have look at programs that have service work, Collum said. If you go to a four-year state college, you should be able to work in an industry where, if you give a certain amount of time back to the state, your loans are forgiven.
Collum acknowledged that there are similar federal programs but said the acceptance rate is so low that the effect on the debt crisis is negligible. She attended one of the top public-interest law schools in the country, where her fellow graduates have gone on to work in legal aid and state attorneys offices. Only about 13 percent of those who apply for public interest loan forgiveness actually get it, she said.
Another solution could be a renewed concentration in the Legislature on access to state colleges and technical schools.
As Ive talked with people while campaigning, a lot of small- and medium-sized businesses have trouble finding people to hire, Collum said. It wouldnt just benefit individuals, it would benefit Florida as a whole, so Im absolutely in favor of vocational and job training when its in the best interest of the person.
That may be the rare issue in which Republicans and Democrats can work together.
William Clyde Allen III has been charged with threatening to use a biological toxin as a weapon by sending letters to US president Donald Trump and other leaders containing ground castor beans (Picture: AP/Davis County Sheriffs Office)
A Navy veteran has been charged with threatening to use a biological toxin as a weapon after sending letters containing ricin to Donald Trump and other leaders.
William Clyde Allen III claimed to have sent similar letters to Queen Elizabeth II, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the secretary of the Air Force, though it is not clear whether those envelopes were found.
According to court documents, the 39-year-old told investigators he wanted to send a message.
Authorities traced Allen after finding his return address on the envelopes which contained ground castor beans the substance from which the poison ricin is derived.
The envelopes that tested positive for ricin also had a note that said Jack and the Missile Bean Stock Powder, the documents said.
Letters Allen said he sent the letters to Donald Trump to send a message (Picture: Reuters)
The envelopes were mailed to Mr Trump, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and the Navys top officer, Admiral John Richardson, authorities said.
They were intercepted and no one was hurt but the FBI said all of the letters tested positive for ricin.
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Allen, who served in the Navy from 1998 to 2002 according to Navy records, was arrested on Wednesday at his house in the small city of Logan, north of Salt Lake City.
He told investigators he had purchased castor beans on eBay in case Word War III broke out, so he could defend our nation.
He could face up to life in prison if convicted on the biological toxin charge, one of five counts in the complaint.
He is also charged with four counts of making threats through the mail, which carry 10-year sentences.
At a court hearing on Friday, Allen did not enter a plea and cried as he told a judge that his wife suffers from a spinal condition and he helps her put on her shoes in the morning.
The case is expected to go before a grand jury and Allen could face additional charges at a hearing on October 18.
He has a criminal record in Utah including child abuse and attempted aggravated assault.
He also had a history of sending threatening emails over the last few years to then-US president Barack Obama, the Air Force and the state of Utah, investigators said.
Lagos (AFP) - Nigeria's two major political parties hold primary elections this weekend to select their nominees for presidential polls scheduled for February 2019.
This time last year, political pundits were hard pressed to name an opposition candidate who could beat President Muhammadu Buhari and his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which enjoyed power since democratic rule was restored in 1999, was in disarray after being ousted from power for the first time in 2015.
But since then, Buhari's party has seen a wave of defections in protest at his leadership style and a surge in PDP contenders that could give it momentum as the vote approaches.
With Buhari expected to be endorsed unopposed at the APC convention in Abuja, all eyes will be on the southern city of Port Harcourt to see who emerges victorious for the PDP.
Barring any surprise, the candidate will come from the Muslim-majority north, following an unwritten rule in Nigeria that the presidency should alternate every two terms between a candidate from the north and south.
- Who are the main PDP contenders -
Perennial presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, a 71-year-old former vice-president from the northeastern state of Adamawa, was the one of the first big names to throw his hat in the ring.
Then, after lawmakers crossed the floor in July, former Kano state governor Rabiu Kwankwaso emerged as a leading opposition candidate, promising he can secure the key northern state.
Sokoto state governor Aminu Tambuwal joined the PDP defectors and declared his candidacy to pry northern voters away from Buhari, who enjoys mass support across the north.
Finally, the ambitious Senate leader Bukola Saraki, a former Kwara state governor who is seen as the shepherd of the defectors, announced he would campaign for the top job.
- Why is Buhari targeting a second term? -
Buhari, a 75-year-old former military ruler, is still seen as an anti-corruption crusader in graft-tainted Nigeria and the APC has claimed a PDP victory will mean more state looting.
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But the opposition maintains the fight against corruption is a political witch-hunt, as most of those arrested and put on trial are PDP members.
Questions were raised about Buhari's fitness to govern and run for a second term after he left the country for months in 2017 for treatment for an undisclosed illness.
Dubbed "Baba Go Slow" because he took six months to appoint cabinet ministers, he has also faced attacks for his handling of the economy, which plunged into recession in 2016.
Meanwhile, with Boko Haram jihadists still launching bloody attacks in the northeast, there are doubts about his repeated claims that the Islamists are close to defeat.
- What are the main election issues? -
Personalities, power and alliances are everything in Nigerian patronage politics, as there is little ideological difference between the main parties.
Some issues come around every election, not least promises to improve Nigeria's inadequate infrastructure.
More specifically, economic growth is a priority with high levels of unemployment, especially among the vast and booming youth population, where joblessness is hovering around 50 per cent.
Africa's largest oil producer is tentatively emerging from recession, buoyed only by the rise in global crude prices while the non-oil sector remains stagnant.
Buhari's government contends that it has helped diversify the oil-dependent economy but opponents say more liberal policies would have done better to boost growth.
Security is also a concern, as tit-for-tat clashes between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers in central states have escalated into a violent crisis with a wider ethnic, political and religious dimension.
Rising tensions and divisions have been reflected in hotly contested local party primaries, said Idayat Hassan, director of the Centre for Democracy and Development in Abuja.
"These primaries have been fractious," she said. "It's one of the most contentious in a long time."
- What happens next? -
After the PDP officially chooses its presidential candidate, the party will select a running mate, who will likely come from the largely Christian south.
A key question is if the party that enjoyed uninterrupted power for 17 years is able to reinvent itself as a formidable opposition and overcome the power of incumbency at the polls.
The APC coalition of parties managed to do so in 2015 to deliver the first opposition victory at the ballot box in Nigeria's history.
"What we're waiting to see is if the (PDP) will be able to continue as one," said Hassan. "Now they are putting up a united front -- but will that continue?"
Port Harcourt (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will run for re-election in February 2019 against former vice president Atiku Abubakar, a Muslim from the country's north who was nominated on Sunday as the main opposition party's poll contender.
Buhari, a 75-year-old former military ruler, was the sole candidate for his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party, so his confirmation by some 7,000 delegates gathered in the capital Abuja was a mere formality on Saturday.
The APC swept to power in 2015 with the first opposition victory at the ballot box in the country's history.
But next year's presidential race appears to have tightened in recent months with the APC hit by a wave of defections over Buhari's leadership style.
On Sunday, delegates to a convention of the former ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Port Harcourt, nominated Abubakar, 71, as his challenger for next year's poll.
Reacting to the nomination, the presidency congratulated Abubakar but added that it "noted with interest all the reports in the media as to massive vote-buying at the PDP primaries".
"One wonders what such a candidate would do with public funds," the statement added.
The politician and business tycoon has made four previous bids for the top job in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.
Abubakar comes from the Muslim-majority north, and his nomination follows an unwritten rule in Nigeria that the presidency should alternate every two terms between a candidate from the north and south.
Despite humble beginnings in northern Nigeria, he rose through the ranks of the customs service for two decades before entering the private sector, investing in oil services and agriculture, among others.
From there he joined the civilian government where he became one of Nigeria's most recognisable and enduring politicians.
But he has been dogged by controversies over his numerous wives and more than 20 children as well as corruption allegations.
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- 'Baba Go Slow' -
Buhari, the retired general who headed a military regime in the 1980s, has faced growing pressure to step down because of failing health after spending several months in London last year receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment.
Dubbed "Baba Go Slow" because he took six months to appoint cabinet ministers, he has also faced attacks for his handling of the economy, which plunged into recession in 2016.
He has also come under criticism on security issues, including the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, long-running farmer-herder clashes in the centre and militancy and kidnapping in the south.
Also Sunday, fierce Buhari critic Obiageli Ezekwesili announced that she would throw her hat into the ring for the presidency.
The 55-year-old former minister, who was also the World Banks vice president for Africa from 2007 to 2012, said in a statement that Nigeria was becoming "a country where the worth of life is trending down to zero."
Ezekwesili, co-founder of the Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International, is best known in Nigeria for creating the BringBackOurGirls movement after Boko Haram jihadists abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in 2014.
Also in the running is Donald Duke, the former governor of the southern Cross River state, whose opposition Social Democratic Party formally elected him its flag-bearer on Sunday.
As governor in 2004, Duke initiated the Calabar carnival that is now popularly known as "Africa's biggest street party."
Nigerian law allows for a president to serve a maximum of two four-year terms.
Voters in the former British colony will elect governors and lawmakers as well as the president in elections set for February and March.
Dr Denis Mukwege hits out at violence and failure to protect women in his home country
Dr Denis Mukwege talks to the media after his Nobel peace prize win, at the Panzi hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photograph: Reuters
The Congolese doctor named the joint winner of this years Nobel peace prize has called on the Congolese government to leave power, describing the polls scheduled for December as a parody of an election.
Dr Denis Mukwege, who was in surgery when he heard that he had won the prize for his treatment of 50,000 survivors of sexual violence, has been an outspoken critic of the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, and his government. He told the Guardian he held them responsible for not protecting women in the country.
The Congolese people live with unheard-of violence. Unheard of, Mukwege said by phone from his hospital in Bukavu, in eastern DRC. He [Kabila] is responsible for not putting an end to the violence. His role is to protect his people and their belongings. We see that 20 years after it came to power, this government does not protect women.
Kabila refused to leave power when his mandate ended nearly two years ago and his anointed successors strongest competitor has been forbidden to run.
Ive always said that its an illegal and illegitimate government, Mukwege said. They must hand over to a caretaker government, which can organise free, fair, credible elections, and this transition must also put in place the foundations to build a solid democracy.
I think well have elections on 23 December, but I think well elect the same people, and the same actors will produce the same system that perpetuates the violence. The December elections do not seem credible or transparent its a parody of an election.
On Friday, when he was awarded one of the worlds most prestigious prizes, Mukwege had arrived in his surgery at 7.30am as usual. He was operating on his second patient when he heard some of his patients and colleagues crying; this is how he learned he had won.
When I got the news, I was on my second procedure. Unfortunately then, the hospital was invaded by women and my personnel and so regrettably I couldnt continue my programme for the day, he said.
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Mukwege grew up the son of a pastor in the DRCs South Kivu region. When he came back from training as an obstetrician in France, the first patient treated in the maternity clinic he founded was a rape survivor. As dozens more poured through his doors, he realised that rape was being used as a weapon of war.
Atrocity followed atrocity. A mass rape of at least 119 women in Songo Mboyo in 2003 unusually resulted in convictions and, in theory, damages, but the money was paid out to the wrong person and was never recovered. In 2012, hundreds of women and children were systematically raped in the town of Minova.
Beginning in 2013, Mukwege and his team had to care for dozens of girls from the town of Kavumu who were taken from their beds and raped by a militia led by a provincial member of parliament who believed raping children would protect them from their enemies. Eleven men including the MP, Frederike Batumike, were eventually convicted of crimes against humanity in a landmark trial.
Despite the efforts of Mukweges Panzi hospital and charity and others to treat the thousands of survivors, fight for justice and help them reintegrate in a society that stigmatises those who have been raped, the situation in the Kivus is getting worse.
In 2016 we saw the number of armed groups grow. Unfortunately since the beginning of this year, we have been receiving calls about mass rapes, Mukwege said. Its very sad. Its a drastic situation for women and for the population in general.
There were mass rapes in Kabikokole in February and Wameli in April. Panzi has treated 2,077 victims so far this year. Campaigners says sexual violence is rising steeply in other parts of the vast country too. Mass rapes have been reported in Kasai, where a conflict is raging that could be a harbinger to genocide, the UN has warned.
Mukwege and his family survived an attempted kidnapping and murder in 2012. He fled to the US, but returned after three months to continue his work. He would like to live in town, but has to stay in the hospital, watched over by UN peacekeepers, as the death threats keep coming.
I havent dared to leave the hospital because of the threats, he said. As long as theres no rule of law, as long as we have arbitrary rule, nobody can know who does what and for whom.
Having been shortlisted for the peace prize for a decade, he was jointly awarded it on Friday with Nadia Murad Basee, an Iraqi campaigner who survived sexual slavery at the hands of Isis jihadists and who has fought for the plight of Yazidi women to be recognised.
He said that the worth of the prize would be measured by its power to transform the lives of the women he served. All its importance will be in its capacity to change the situation of victims in conflict zones, he said.
NRATV host Dan Bongino went on a tear Friday about the drama between Democrats and Republicans over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, declaring: My entire life right now is about owning the libs.
After baselessly arguing that Democrats didnt even read the FBI investigation of Kavanaugh and questioning whether Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) looked confident, Bongino said that he is dedicated to owning the libs.
Thats it. The libs, because they have shown themselves through this Kavanaugh abomination of a process to be Im talking about the libs on Capitol Hill and sadly some of these radical groups to be pure, unadulterated evil, what they did to this guy, he said.
You have to lose, Im sorry. We win, you lose, the new rules are in effect. My life is all about owning the libs now. We have got to get this guy appointed on the Supreme Court.
With those words, Bongino effectively became a living, breathing meme the face of the right-wing phrase own the libs.
In July, Eve Peyser in Rolling Stone described the concept of owning the libs as blatant self-sabotage for dumb political reasons. She wrote, To own someone on the internet is to dominate and humiliate them, and the libs can loosely be defined as anyone to the left of Sean Hannity.
Peyser said the phrase own the libs came about in 2015 when someone tweeted at Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, attaching a photo of himself lying face down in a dumpster. User @randygdub then tweeted, Thinkin about the one guy who laid down in a dumpster to own libs online and hoping ted cruz does it too.
NRATV is no stranger to stirring up controversy. Last month, Relentless host Dana Loesch attacked the childrens show Thomas & Friends for introducing an African tank engine named Nia and even depicted the shows characters with Ku Klux Klan hoods on their heads.
The imagery sparked serious backlash on social media. Mattel, which owns the Thomas the Tank Engine brand, told The New York Times that the company is not associated with images that promote hate and denounce any images of our brands that are being used to convey a message not in line with the values of the company.
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Washington (AFP) - In the buzzwords of George W. Bush's administration, China needed to become a "responsible stakeholder." For Barack Obama, China had an interest in embracing "the rules-based international order."
President Donald Trump's message to Beijing is, true to his character, starker. Trump, his Vice President Mike Pence vowed, "will not back down."
On Thursday, Pence delivered one of the most hawkish speeches by a senior US official since the two countries restored ties four decades ago.
Pence assailed China as a military aggressor, a prolific thief of US technology and, controversially, as interfering in American elections.
Yet in a sign that the United States still sees a need for China, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit on Monday after his latest negotiations in North Korea, the nuclear-armed regime which counts on Beijing as its diplomatic and economic lifeline.
Pompeo, speaking to the traveling press on his way to Asia, said China was "determined to support our efforts" on North Korea despite the high tensions.
Pence in his speech said the United States still hoped for improved relations with China but otherwise drew a bleak picture.
He said the United States will keep ramping up its military spending to counter a rising Beijing and he renewed threats to more than double the $250 billion in tariffs placed on Chinese products.
"I do think that this marks a significant change in the bipartisan approach to China that has dominated over the last several decades," said Jamie Fly, a former official in the George W. Bush administration who heads the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Pence's speech "doesn't completely preclude cooperation on narrow areas like North Korea, but it's much more clear in the US assessment of Chinese intentions and China's goal of really replacing the US and pushing back US power," he said.
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- Wide US pessimism on China -
While Trump and Pence are polarizing figures, the hard line on China has been increasingly shared across the US political spectrum.
Few policymakers with ties to the rival Democratic Party raised broad objections when the Trump White House in December released a National Security Strategy that cast China as a competitor.
The bargain set forth by former president Bill Clinton when he welcomed China into the global trading order -- that greater prosperity would bring reforms -- has fallen flat, with President Xi Jinping increasingly clamping down on domestic dissent and religious freedoms tightly controlled.
US business leaders, who long advocated warm ties with China as they coveted the world's largest consumer market, have cooled markedly toward Beijing amid complaints of widespread industrial espionage, which Beijing denies.
A survey published in August by the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of Americans who viewed China favorably had fallen to 38 percent.
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking China expert who now heads the Asia Society in New York, in a recent speech said that "engagement," for decades the narrative in relations for both Washington and Beijing, "is now officially and effectively dead."
"As a result, I fear we may now also find ourselves on the pathway to medium-term strategic confrontation, as each side competes for ascendancy in what is now seen increasingly on both sides as a zero-sum game," he said.
- Domestic factors for Pence -
China denounced Pence's speech as "ridiculous."
But it has largely stayed measured in its public statements, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi promising last week at the United Nations that the Asian power had no ambition to overtake the United States as the pre-eminent global power and wanted to nurture a stable multilateral system.
Without naming the work, he voiced anxiety about the popularity in the United States of Harvard scholar Graham Allison's theory of the "Thucydides Trap," which cites the lessons of ancient Athens and Sparta to predict inevitable US rivalry with a rising China.
Beijing may also be emboldened by the turmoil in US politics, with chief Asian allies Japan and South Korea both unnerved by simmering trade tensions with Trump.
And Pence was clearly speaking at least partly for a domestic audience in his speech, delivered at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, a little over a month before critical congressional elections.
Pence charged that China was taking action that is more malicious than Russia's, just as Trump is under a cloud as special counsel Robert Mueller probes whether his presidential campaign colluded with Moscow.
And as evidence of China's election meddling, Pence cited a paid advertisement in a US newspaper and countertariffs that targeted politically important states -- both steps that are commonplace.
"China poses a major challenge to the US economic, political and strategic posture, but gratuitously demonizing them with half-truths and distortions only complicates efforts to find a new balance of interests and a redefined relationship with Beijing," said Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - China will be part of the solution to the North Korean crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, brushing aside the possibility that worsening U.S. tensions with Beijing could hamper efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. Speaking to a pool reporter en route to his fourth visit this year to North Korea, Pompeo said the aim of his talks in Pyongyang at the weekend would be "to make sure we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve." He said he also hoped to be able to agree a "general date and location" for a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Asked whether increasing tensions with China would hamper his efforts after Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday signaled a tough new approach to Beijing going beyond a bitter trade war, Pompeo said China had consistently made clear it wanted to see North Korean denuclearization. "And they have said in spite of places where we have disagreements and other things - we have had disagreement on trade and the like - that they are determined to support our efforts to see this through to its completion, consistently since we first began this process," he said. "We know that China is going to be part of the solution, that'll ultimately be when we get to the end," he said. "If we do this well we will have signed a peace treaty that ends the armistice, that China will be part of that." Kim pledged at an unprecedented June 12 meeting with Trump to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but his actions since have fallen short of Washington's demands for irreversible steps to give up an arsenal that potentially threatens the United States. Pompeo declined to give details of his planned negotiations when asked if he would agree to North Korean demands for a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War or to South Korea's suggestion that to break the current stalemate, he should avoid pressing again for an inventory of North Korea's nuclear weapons. Pompeo's last trip to North Korea did not go well. He left Pyongyang in July hailing progress, only for North Korea to denounce him for making "gangster-like demands." Pompeo has angered North Korea recently by insisting that international sanctions must remain in place until it gives up its nuclear weapons. On Wednesday, he said there was unanimous support for this at last week's U.N. General Assembly, even if Russia and China "had some ideas about how we might begin to think about a time when it would be appropriate to reduce them." Pompeo will visit Japan on Saturday before heading to Pyongyang, where he is due to arrive on Sunday morning local time, or on Saturday evening U.S. East Coast time. After a stop in Seoul, Pompeo is due to head to China on Monday. He said that in Beijing, if it was like previous visits, he would meet the Chinese government's top diplomat, Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi, and his predecessor Yang Jiechi. (Reporting by pool reporter; Writing by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Tokyo (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hoped to accelerate a second summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump as he kicked off an Asian trip Saturday featuring a meeting with North Korea's leader.
Pompeo arrived in Tokyo on the first leg of a tour that will take him to Pyongyang for a fourth time as the contours of a possibly historic US-North Korea deal take shape.
Speaking on the plane on the way from the United States, Pompeo said his aim was to "develop sufficient trust" between the historic foes to inch towards peace.
"Then we are also going to set up the next summit," said Pompeo.
However, he played down expectations for a major breakthrough, saying: "I doubt we will get it nailed but begin to develop options for both location and timing for when Chairman Kim will meet with the president again."
"Maybe we will get further than that."
In June, Trump 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.
Since the Singapore summit, which yielded what critics charge was a vague commitment by Kim towards denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, the road towards better ties has been bumpy.
Trump scrapped a previously planned trip by his top diplomat to Pyongyang after what he said was insufficient progress towards implementing the terms of the Singapore declaration.
But the unorthodox US president has also declared himself "in love" with the strongman in Pyongyang.
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 strict enforcement of sanctions on North Korea in the meantime.
- 'Grand bargain' -
Pompeo kicks off his trip in Tokyo, holding talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Kono.
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Japan, which has seen North Korean missiles fly over its territory and been threatened with annihilation, has historically taken a hard line on Pyongyang and stressed the need to maintain pressure on the regime.
More recently, however, Abe has said the only way to improve strained ties is a face-to-face meeting with former international pariah Kim.
After Tokyo, Pompeo travels to Pyongyang and then on to South Korea, whose dovish president Moon Jae-in has served as a go-between for the two sides.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has given a hint of what a grand bargain between the two countries could look like.
In an interview with the Washington Post, she said 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 concluded 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.
Pompeo refused to be drawn on the outlines of a deal, saying only that his "mission is to make sure that we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve."
After Seoul, Pompeo closes his trip Monday in China, North Korea's political and economic lifeline.
The Beijing stop could be tense as it comes days after Vice President Mike Pence delivered a blistering speech accusing China of military aggression, commercial theft, rising human rights violations and electoral intervention against Trump.
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By Johan Ahlander and Gederts Gelzis RIGA (Reuters) - Latvia's ruling coalition lost its majority and two newly formed parties took more than a quarter of the votes amid widespread disillusion with the Baltic country's politicians, the result in Saturday's parliamentary elections showed with 80 percent of the votes counted. The country of 2 million, a quarter of whom are ethnic Russians, is a frontline state in Europe's and NATO's increasingly tense relationship with Vladimir Putin. The pro-Russia party Harmony remained the biggest with 20 percent, due to its support from Russian-speakers, but will find it difficult to get in government as parties that oppose it because of its Moscow ties won enough votes. Latvia has long been plagued by corruption and money-laundering issues. The country's central bank governor is currently awaiting trial for accepting a bribe. In part because of those issues, two newcomers, populist party KPV LV and anti-corruption party the New Conservatives, both won around 14 percent of the vote each to became the second- and third-biggest parties. "This political party doesn't take instructions or orders, whims of its founders, supporters or various other people who stand behind it," Janis Bordans, party leader for the New Conservatives, told supporters after the election. "Faith in the rule of law will return to the people!" The new parliament will be more fragmented and a broad coalition of ethnic Latvian parties is seen as the most likely outcome by political analysts. However, with seven parties winning seats, coalition talks could go on for weeks or months. "Forming a new government will be very difficult," current Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis of the Union of Greens and Farmers said after the election. The ruling coalition consisting of his party, the National Alliance and the Unity party appear to have lost almost half of its votes. "The messages that the voters have tried to send is that we're going to have some new faces in politics," Janis Ikstens, political scientist at Latvia University, told Reuters. "And perhaps theyre not happy with the neglect of social needs." Before the election, some Latvians feared a strong result for Harmony and KPV could lead to them forming a government and bringing the Latvia's foreign policy closer to Putin's Russia. But given the result, that looks unlikely, according to Ikstens. Harmony recently rebranded itself as a Western-style Social Democratic party, saying it is committed to the European Union and NATO. But it only last year ended its official cooperation agreement with Putin's United Russia Party, raising concerns its transformation is only skin deep. Latvia, a member of the European Union and NATO, shares a 276-kilometre (167 miles) border with Russia. NATO currently has more than 1,000 troops deployed in the Baltic country of 2 million and even the potential of a minor shift in allegiance in Latvia will worry both Brussels and Washington. (Reporting by Johan Ahlander and Gederts Gelzis; Editing by Ros Russell, Hugh Lawson and Dan Grebler)
By Ingrid Melander PARIS (Reuters) - French police are investigating the disappearance of Interpol chief, Meng Hongwei, who was reported missing after traveling from France to his native China, and they have placed his wife under protection after threats, the interior ministry said on Friday. Meng's wife contacted police in Lyon, the French city where the international police agency is based, after not hearing from him since Sept. 25, and after receiving threats by phone and on social media, the ministry said. A person familiar with the investigation into the disappearance said the initial working assumption of Western investigators was that Meng had antagonized Chinese authorities in some way and had been detained as a result. "France is puzzled about the situation of Interpol's president and concerned about the threats made to his wife," the ministry said. Meng's wife, who has remained in Lyon with their children according to police sources, was receiving protection, it said, adding: "Exchanges with Chinese authorities continue." There have been several cases in recent years of senior Chinese officials vanishing without explanation, only for the government to announce weeks or even months later that they have been put under investigation, often for suspected corruption. It was not clear why Meng, 64, who was named Interpol's president two years ago, had traveled to China. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted an unnamed source as saying Meng had been taken for questioning as soon as he landed there, but it also was not clear why. French police are investigating what is officially termed in France a "worrying disappearance". Interpol, which groups 192 countries and which is usually focused on finding people who are missing or wanted, said it was aware of reports about Meng's "alleged disappearance". "This is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China," the agency said in a statement. Presidents of Interpol are seconded from their national administrations and remain in their home post while representing the international policing body. Meng is listed on the website of China's Ministry of Public Security as a vice-minister, but lost his seat on its key Communist Party Committee in April, the South China Morning Post reported. Reuters was not immediately able to reach China's Ministry of Public Security for comment. Meng has almost 40 years' experience in criminal justice and policing, and has overseen matters related to legal institutions, narcotics control and counter-terrorism, according to Interpol's website. Interpol staff can carry special passports to help speed deployment in emergency situations but that would not have given Meng any specific rights or immunity in his home country. When Meng was named Interpol's president in Nov. 2016, human rights groups expressed concern that Beijing might try to leverage his position to pursue dissidents abroad. Beijing has in the past pressed countries to arrest and deport to China citizens it accuses of crimes, from corruption to terrorism. At the time, Amnesty International called Meng's appointment "at odds with Interpol's mandate to work in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Diplomats say the role of Interpol president is largely ceremonial, with day-to-day work carried out by its secretary general, Juergen Stock, and his staff. (Reporting by Catherine Lagrange in Lyon, Richard Lough, Simon Carraud and Sarah White in Paris, Mark Hosenball in London, Yawen Chen in Beijing; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
WASHINGTON (AP) The FBI has wrapped up its background investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but much of what it did remains a mystery, including its decisions about whom to interview.
Investigation details have not been publicly disclosed. Republicans say the probe was thorough and reinforces their support of President Donald Trump's nominee. But Democrats decry it as incomplete and constrained, and Kavanaugh's accusers say the FBI didn't interview witnesses who could have corroborated their accounts.
Republicans say the FBI reached out to 11 people, 10 of whom agreed to be interviewed, and produced detailed summaries of the questioning.
Among those not interviewed were Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the California college professor who testified last week to Congress that a drunken Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were high school students. Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
Here's a look at who was questioned and who was not:
WHO HAS THE FBI INTERVIEWED?
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the 10 witnesses questioned include several of Kavanaugh's high school friends, some of whom are listed in the judge's calendar as having attended a July 1, 1982 party that Kavanaugh attended.
Also questioned was Deborah Ramirez, who told the FBI that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party in the early 1980s when they were students at Yale. The FBI also interviewed a close friend of Ramirez's from college and two other people who Grassley said were identified by Ramirez as eyewitnesses. A third potential witness declined to be interviewed, though Grassley did not identify any of them.
An unidentified lawyer for one of the witnesses was also interviewed.
The FBI questioned Mark Judge, a high school friend of Kavanaugh. Ford says Judge was in the room when Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s. Judge has said he did not recall the events described by Ford and that he never saw Kavanaugh act in the manner that she describes.
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Agents also spoke with two people who Ford said attended the party where she said she was attacked, though she says they did not witness the incident.
Ford's friend Leland Keyser was questioned Saturday and said she didn't know Kavanaugh and doesn't remember being at a party with him. Keyser believes Ford's account but is "unable to corroborate it because she has no recollection of the incident in question," her attorney, Howard Walsh, said.
Patrick "P.J." Smyth, who Ford said had also attended the party, told investigators he had "no knowledge" of the gathering Ford described or any allegation of misconduct by Kavanaugh, according to his attorney, Eric Bruce.
The FBI also spoke with two more of Kavanaugh's high school classmates, Chris Garrett, whom Ford has said she "went out with for a few months," and Timothy Gaudette, who is listed in Kavanaugh's calendars as having hosted the 1982 gathering that Kavanaugh attended.
A member of Ford's legal team said in a statement that had Ford been interviewed, she would have told the FBI that the assault did not occur at the party because she knew well the people who were listed as having attended and would have remembered if they were there.
WHO HASN'T BEEN INTERVIEWED?
Top on the list are Ford and Kavanaugh. The FBI also hasn't interviewed several potential witnesses identified by Ford's attorneys as people who could corroborate that she provided details of the attack years ago a counterpoint to claims that her allegations may be politically motivated.
Ramirez's lawyers provided the agents with a list of more than 20 witnesses, including some who Ramirez believes could corroborate her account, though it was unclear if the witnesses identified by Grassley were among those on Ramirez's list.
Several of Kavanaugh's Yale classmates also reached out to the FBI, but were never contacted. They include Charles "Chad" Ludington, who has challenge Kavanaugh's testimony about his drinking and said Kavanaugh was "a frequent drinker, and a heavy drinker."
Another classmate, Kerry Berchem, said she's made multiple submissions to a tip line but has not received a return phone call or substantive response from the FBI.
The FBI also never contacted Julie Swetnick, who has alleged she was victimized at a party attended by Kavanaugh and his friends. Swetnick accused Kavanaugh and Judge of excessive drinking and inappropriate treatment of women in the early 1980s, among other accusations. Kavanaugh has called her accusations a "joke." Judge "categorically" denies the allegations.
Also not questioned: Judge's former girlfriend, Elizabeth Rasor, who said Judge told her in 1988 that he and several Georgetown Prep classmates took turns having sex with an inebriated woman. Rasor sent an affidavit to the Senate Judiciary Committee, but her lawyer says the FBI didn't respond to her client's request to be interviewed. Judge's lawyers have said he denies her account.
WHY WEREN'T MORE PEOPLE INTERVIEWED?
The answers aren't clear. The White House and the FBI aren't saying.
The Trump administration said it cleared the FBI to interview any witnesses it deemed relevant. But a retired FBI assistant director, Joseph Campbell, said the White House nonetheless sets the parameters for the people it wants contacted.
"It's not like a typical type of investigation, where the FBI has wide latitude to pursue facts and evidence and information as necessary to develop a case or develop information for national security purposes, that type of thing," Campbell said.
The absence of interviews of Kavanaugh and Ford has particularly raised eyebrows.
Chris Quick, a retired FBI special agent with experience in background investigations, said the White House and the FBI may be reluctant to have them rehash things they both already stated under oath to the committee especially given the one-week time constraint.
"Part of it is she already testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee, both of them," Quick said. "So what's to ask them that hasn't already been asked."
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Follow Mike Balsamo and Eric Tucker on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/MikeBalsamo1 and https://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP .
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For more coverage of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, visit https://apnews.com/tag/Kavanaughnomination .
(DAKAR) The international community is sounding new alarm after three Red Cross workers were attacked while trying to contain the latest deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo.
The U.N. Security Council seeks an immediate end to hostilities as it leaves for a Congo visit Thursday. Human Rights Watch urges an investigation into massacres that have killed well over 200 civilians this year in and around Beni, where health workers Ebola efforts are based.
Two of the Red Cross workers were seriously wounded Tuesday when community members attacked them while they were carrying out safe Ebola burials in the northeastern city of Butembo, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
It was the most violent attack on Red Cross workers in this outbreak, the organization said in a statement. In September, a Red Cross volunteer was injured when people threw stones at a vehicle transporting a burial team.
While we categorically denounce the attack on our colleagues, we understand the fear and frustration that many communities in North Kivu feel right now, said Dr. Fatoumata Nafo-Traore, IFRC regional director for Africa. People are scared and there are many rumors circulating that only serve to heighten the sense of fear and distrust.
This is the first time this part of Congo has faced an outbreak of Ebola, which is spread via the body fluids of infected people, including the dead. Congos health ministry says there have been 130 confirmed Ebola cases, including 74 deaths, since the outbreak was declared Aug. 1.
Safe burials are critical in stopping the spread of the disease, and the Red Cross said it has carried out 162 in North Kivu since the outbreak, Congos tenth, began.
Insecurity is also a major challenge to health workers. Several armed groups roam the heavily populated region near Uganda, carrying out attacks and causing an estimated 1 million people to be displaced in North Kivu province alone.
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The World Health Organization, which last week announced that the risk of Ebolas spread over Congos border was very high after cases were confirmed near Uganda, now says the outbreak is at a critical point. The WHO director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has expressed concern about the virus spread into inaccessible red zones where armed groups have control.
Human Rights Watch on Thursday said more than 235 people have been killed in the Beni area this year in attacks with guns, axes or machetes. More than 165 others have been kidnapped. In the past four years more than 1,000 people have died.
The brutal killings of Beni residents wont end until the commanders of the responsible forces are brought to justice, said Ida Sawyer, the groups deputy Africa director. As Congolese authorities have not credibly investigated or prosecuted these atrocities, the International Criminal Court should investigate them for future trials.
Though many attacks have been blamed on Allied Democratic Forces rebels, Human Rights Watch said other armed groups and certain Congolese army officers might be involved.
Military operations launched in the region have been ineffective, the rights group said.
By David Morgan and Amanda Becker
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans gained confidence on Thursday that his U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, could win Senate confirmation after two wavering lawmakers responded positively to an FBI report on accusations of sexual misconduct against the judge.
The report, sent by the White House to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the middle of the night, was denounced by Democrats as a whitewash that was too narrow in scope and ignored critical witnesses.
Thousands of anti-Kavanaugh protesters rallied outside the Supreme Court and entered a Senate office building, holding signs such as "Believe Survivors" and "Kava-Nope." Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested, including actress Amy Schumer.
But Republicans moved forward with plans for a key procedural vote on Friday and a final vote on Saturday on confirming the conservative federal appeals judge for a lifetime job on the top U.S. court.
The timing of the vote could be complicated by Republican Senator Steve Daines, whose office said on Thursday he planned to attend his daughter's wedding in Montana on Saturday, making him unavailable to cast his vote.
Republicans control the Senate by a 51-49 margin. With Daines out of the picture, the party would need every other Republican to vote for Kavanaugh for him to be confirmed in a Saturday vote in the event all Democrats oppose him.
No Republicans have said they will vote against Kavanaugh, although four have not committed to supporting him.
Comments by two of them - Jeff Flake and Susan Collins - indicated the FBI report, which was the latest twist in the pitched political battle over Kavanaugh, may have allayed their concerns about him. Flake, a frequent Trump critic, was instrumental in getting the president to order the FBI investigation last Friday.
Trump, himself accused by numerous women during the 2016 presidential race of sexual misconduct, wrote on Twitter that the FBI report showed that the allegations against Kavanaugh were "totally uncorroborated."
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Collins said the FBI investigation appeared to be thorough. Flake said he saw no additional corroborating information against Kavanaugh, although he was "still reading" it. Another undecided Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski, did not offer her view on the FBI report.
Cory Gardner, a Republican from Colorado, wants to finish reading the report before he makes a decision, his spokesman Casey Contres told the Denver Post. Gardner's spokesman did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
While the comments by Flake and Collins were positive, neither explicitly announced support for Kavanaugh.
A previously undecided Democratic senator, Heidi Heitkamp, said she would vote against Kavanaugh, citing "concerns about his past conduct" and questions about his "temperament, honesty and impartiality" after his angry, defiant testimony a week ago to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senator Joe Manchin, the only remaining undecided Democrat, said he would finish reading the report on Friday morning.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein noted that the FBI did not interview Kavanaugh himself or Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor from California who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault in 1982.
"It smacks of a whitewash," Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters, saying the report should not give political cover for Republicans to vote for Kavanaugh because "it is blatantly incomplete."
Most Democrats opposed Trump's nomination of Kavanaugh from the outset. If confirmed, he would deepen conservative control of the court. The sharply partisan battle became an intense political drama when Ford and two other women emerged to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in the 1980s when he was in high school and college.
'I KNOW MY TONE WAS SHARP'
Ford testified last week at a dramatic Judiciary Committee hearing that when she was 15, a drunken 17-year-old Kavanaugh pinned her down, tried to remove her clothing and covered her mouth after she screamed. Kavanaugh denied the allegation in testimony following Ford's, painting himself as the victim of a "political hit."
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Thursday, Kavanaugh said he "might have been too emotional at times" in his testimony.
Kavanaugh wrote that his testimony "reflected my overwhelming frustration at being wrongly accused."
"I know that my tone was sharp," he wrote, "and I said a few things I should not have said."
On Thursday afternoon, retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens told a small gathering in Boca Raton, Florida, that Kavanaugh should not be confirmed. Video of his remarks was shown by the C-SPAN television network.
Stevens, who was appointed by Republican President Gerald Ford and who often sided with liberal justices on key rulings, said he initially thought Kavanaugh was qualified, but his "performance during the hearings caused me to change my mind."
The Kavanaugh fight has riveted Americans weeks before Nov. 6 elections in which Democrats are trying to take control of Congress from the Republicans.
Kavanaugh's nomination has become a flashpoint in the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault. The nomination battle boiled down to a "he said, she said" conflict requiring senators to decide between diametrically opposed accounts offered by Kavanaugh and Ford.
Trump mocked Ford on Tuesday during a political rally in Mississippi.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
The FBI report was not released to the public. Senators were allowed to read it behind closed doors in a secure location in the Capitol, without taking notes or making copies.
A senior Senate Republican aide said there was growing confidence that Collins, Flake and Manchin - all swing votes - would support Kavanaugh. If so, that could be enough for a Trump victory.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said the Trump administration was "fully confident" Kavanaugh had the necessary support.
Some protesters, many dressed in black, crowded into the Hart Senate Office Building after rallying in front of the Supreme Court on a sunny, warm autumn day.
"I'm sick and tired of seeing women's experiences not be given weight," demonstrator Christine Zagrobelny, 29, a software engineer from New York City, said outside the Supreme Court.
Republican leaders sounded unmoved.
"When the noise fades, when the uncorroborated mud washes away, what's left is the distinguished nominee who stands before us," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor.
(Reporting by Amanda Becker, David Morgan and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Nathan Layne, Sarah N. Lynch, Lisa Lambert, Lawrence Hurley, David Alexander and Brendan O'Brien; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Peter Cooney)
For many on the fringe, lies about Ford are more palatable than the idea that she is telling the truth about Brett Kavanaugh
Christine Blasey Ford on Capitol Hill in Washington on 27 September 2018. Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters
Conservatives did not stand idle while the FBI completed its limited investigation on Brett Kavanaugh. While this unfolded, Dr Christine Blasey Ford has been subjected to a full-frontal personal attack, which has been taken up by all segments of rightwing media.
But while most ostensibly respectable outlets contented themselves with attacks on her credibility, others have leapt headlong into conspiracy theory.
The idea that Ford is a deep-cover operative, placed by a hidden hand to destroy Kavanaugh, circulated remarkably quickly and very widely after her identity was revealed by the Washington Post. This only intensified after her testimony before the Senate judiciary committee.
This conspiracy thinking was by no means confined to the low-traffic online fringe websites it was amplified and further disseminated by some of the countrys most prominent rightwing broadcasters. So much so that it once again raised the question of where the border between conspiracy theories and respectable conservative media lies.
A tweet by talk radio star Michael Savage whose show, the Savage Nation, reaches up to 11 million people according to industry website Talkers last week alleged that Ford was tied to the CIA via her brother, her father, and Stanford University.
Savage claimed that Ford herself ran a CIA internship program at Stanford, that her brothers former law firm created Fusion GPS (originators of the Trump pee tape dossier) , that the firm was collocated (and therefore connected) with CIA-aligned companies run by her father, Ralph Blasey Jr, and that her grandfather was a CIA agent named Nicholas Deak.
The tweet summarized his argument with a screenshot of an all-caps post from Savages blog. This, in turn, was a recapitulation of the case he had yelled at his listeners several times in the days following Fords testimony (The Savage Nation, is perennially among the top 10 most listened to radio programs in the country, according to Talkers annual Heavy 100 survey).
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He has continued attacking Ford, often using baseless claims, as the country has waited for the FBI to complete its investigation, and for the Senate to vote on Kavanaughs nomination.
None of the claims Savage made are true, as is painstakingly detailed in a rebuttal at Snopes. Stanford has no CIA internship program; Deak is not Fords grandfather; Ralph Blasey III was not working at law firm Baker Hostetler when it worked with Fusion GPS; her father has no relationship with most of the companies mentioned, and the one he does work for has no connection to the CIA.
But after Savage gave it a run, the conspiracy theory was, in turn, elaborated on and pitilessly hammered by Alex Jones and Infowars, who have run stories on Fords supposed CIA connections, and false allegations about her personal life, for the last week. (Though Joness reach has been reduced by social media bans, his website has 4.3 million monthly uniques according to traffic monitor Alexa, and his radio show has almost 6 million weekly listeners.)
Savage didnt originate the theory himself. It appears to have first been floated in a rambling piece on the notorious (and eye-searing) conspiracy site, whatdoesitmean.com, posted the day after her identity was revealed.
The post incorporates some familiar tropes and stock characters from conspiracy subculture, like Deak, whose murder at the hands of a homeless woman have long fueled speculation. A writer who goes by Sorcha Faal at whatdoesitmean.com adds some more conspiracy culture red meat by claiming that Fords connection to Deak is via a Stanford scientist, Frederick Melges, who Faal claims was engaged in work on the MKUltra mind control program.
Were these falsehoods confined to sites like this, it would only be of interest to those with a yen for subcultural arcana. But these lies then spread through better-read conspiracy sites like Zero Hedge, who called Ford a CIA honeytrap.
Wherever Savage read it, thanks to him and Jones, millions of Americans have heard, and perhaps believed, that Ford only came forward with her accusations because of a deep state plot against Kavanaugh, and by extension the president.
Other conspiracy theories about Ford have proliferated, some even more fantastical than the one Savage mainstreamed.
The influential anti-feminist and white nationalist blog Chateau Heartiste amplified theories that Ford was an FBI asset.
And as reported on Right Wing Watch, conspiracy broadcaster Rick Wiles suggested that Ford was a sleeper agent whose conditioning was triggered by the use of the word lodestar in the op-ed by an anonymous administration official which was published by the New York Times.
The trajectory of these falsehoods shows how quickly and broadly conspiracy theories about crucial political stories can now proliferate. The alacrity with which Savage seized on them also suggests that they have become part of the rapid-response armory for the political right.
Kate Starbird, who analyses disinformation networks at the University of Washington, says conspiracy thinking is more evident on the left and the right. She says that, as in the Ford case, one of the things that disinformation does is to try to discredit opposition sources.
Starbird says that increasingly conspiracy theories start from the ground up and are taken up by conservative media elites, like high-profile broadcasters. That means they can reach a mass of people.
She says it is hard to measure whether conspiracy theories are becoming more widespread, but most troubling is that they are beginning to get into the minds of people in power. Starbird points to General Michael Flynns penchant for spreading multiple conspiracy theories.
And just this morning, Donald Trump continued his long history of promoting conspiracy theories when he blamed the Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros for the protests against the Kavanaugh confirmation at the US Senate. (Soros is frequently the focus of conspiracy theories, many of which have antisemitic overtones.)
So why do masses of ordinary people believe such convoluted tales? Starbirds explanation is appealingly simple: People want to believe in their side of politics. They grab on to evidence that can support the things they believe. Conspiracy theories can help explain things in a way that aligns with their worldview.
For many on the fringe, and increasingly for broadcasters like Savage a bestselling author, a Trump confidant, and an inductee to the Radio Hall of Fame lies about Ford are more palatable than the idea that she is telling the truth about Brett Kavanaugh.
Influential broadcasters whether from cynicism, credulousness, or a blend of the two now readily spread outlandish theories in order to quiet the clanging cognitive dissonance of a particularly gullible, or committed mass of rightwing Americans. Anything, it seems, is preferable to the thought that ones party, and ones president, might be knowingly promoting an abuser to the highest court in the land.
(LONDON) A top Russian diplomat is warning the U.S. that its allegations of cybercrimes by the Russian intelligence could dangerously escalate tensions between the nuclear superpowers.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a statement that the U.S. is taking a dangerous path by deliberately inciting tensions in relations between the nuclear powers. He added the U.S. allies in Europe should also think about it.
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday charged seven Russian military intelligence officers with hacking anti-doping agencies and other international organizations. Britain and the Netherlands accused the Russian GRU intelligence agency of a series of global cybercrimes.
Ryabkov rejected the accusations as unfounded. He said they were intended to support Washingtons claims of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and create a pretext for new sanctions against Russia.
SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> on Friday said its third-quarter operating profit likely jumped by a fifth to a record high, in line with market expectations, on demand from data centres and improved production yields.
The third quarter is, however, expected to mark a peak in earnings as a two-year super cycle of tight supply and soaring demand comes to an end, with prices of some types of chips already sliding sharply.
Samsung, in a regulatory filing, said July-September profit was likely 17.5 trillion won ($15.5 billion), up 20.4 percent from the same period a year earlier. That compared with an average forecast of 17.2 trillion won in a Refinitiv poll of 15 analysts.
The firm did not elaborate on its performance and will disclose detailed earnings in late October.
Revenue likely rose 4.8 percent to 65 trillion won, matching the average of Refinitiv estimates.
($1 = 1,132.8500 won)
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Ju-min Park; Editing by Stephen Coates and Edwina Gibbs)
The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the Saudi ambassador in Turkey after a dissident journalist entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday and vanished.
Jamal Khashoggi, a harsh critic of his country's ambitious Crown Prince, has been missing for over 48 hours.
An official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the Saudi ambassador was "invited" to the ministry on Thursday.
The envoy claimed that the kingdom had no information about the reporter's disappearance and that the consulate was looking into the matter.
Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that the ambassador also said during talks at the ministry that he would let officials know once he obtained information.
Turkish and Saudi authorities have given conflicting accounts about the whereabouts of the journalist.
Mr Khashoggi moved to Washington from Saudi Arabia last year, fearing retribution for his views.
The reporter previously had a friendly relationship with the country's government, particularly under the rule of the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
But the 59-year-old had been in self-imposed exile ever since the ascent of Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful Saudi prince who has introduced a string of political and social reforms in the country and overseen a harsh crackdown on dissidents and rival royal family members.
Mr Khashoggi served for years as editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan, appeared regularly on television and contributed to The Washington Post.
He visited the consulate in the Levant district of Istanbul on Friday, to finish some paperwork ahead of his marriage to his Turkish fiancee.
The journalist was told to return on Tuesday at 1:30 pm.
His fiancee, Hatice, took his valuables and electronic devices before he returned to the embassy. Hours passed and she grew alarmed as he failed to emerge from the building.
She began to panic and called Mr Khashoggi's friends.
"I don't know what has happened to him. I can't even guess how such a thing can happen to him," Hatice told The Associated Press.
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"There is no law or lawsuit against him. He is not a suspect, he has not been convicted. There is nothing against him. He is just a man whose country doesn't like his writings or his opinions."
The Washington Post said that it was extremely concerned about Mr Khashoggi's disappearance.
"We have reached out to anyone we think might be able to help locate him and assure his safety, including U.S., Turkish and Saudi officials," the newspaper's editorial page editor Fred Hiatt said in a statement.
Officials inside the consulate claim that Mr Khashoggi left the building before he vanished. Turkish police reviewed footage from security cameras and said that the journalist had not exited the consulate.
"According to the information we have, this person who is a Saudi citizen is still at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul," a spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday
"We don't have information to the contrary."
Turkish police have launched an investigation into the journalist's disappearance, the Sozcu newspaper website reported on Thursday.
The Saudi consulate in Istanbul said that it is "carrying out coordination with brotherly Turkish local authorities and is following up in order to reveal the truth about the conditions of Khashoggis disappearance after he left the consulate building," according to a statement posted on its Twitter account in Turkish.
The journalist's disappearance threatens to further damage relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The countries are on opposing sides of an ongoing four-nation boycott of Qatar.
Fears are also growing that Mr Khashoggi's apparent detention could signal a new level of brazenness from Saudi security forces, who may be seeking to silence dissent at home and abroad.
Officials in Saudi Arabia recently arrested Essam al-Zamel, an economist who criticised the Crown Prince's financial plans, on treason and terrorism charges.
Additional reporting by agencies
Operation Rescue Congratulates Judge Kavanaugh on His Confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court
info.operationrescue@gmail.com Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-683-6790 ext. 111; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President, 316-516-3034; both with Operation Rescue
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- Operation Rescue congratulates Judge Brett Kavanaugh on his confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The following quote is attributable to Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue:
The confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh represents a turning point in American jurisprudence, which has suffered under the activist philosophies of those who have all too often legislated from the bench. Roe v. Wade was such wrongly decided ruling that has cost over 60 million innocent lives.
I understand that overturning that horrendous decision will take time, but now, I believe we are now at last on the final road to accomplishing our goal of ending abortion in America. I look forward to President Trump's next Supreme court pick, and pray the process will not stoop to the same level of rancor that Judge Kavanaugh was forced to endure.
The following quote is attributable to Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President, Operation Rescue:
Sexual assault is a very serious crime, and needs to be taken seriously. However, in this case, the allegations never rang true and appeared to be completely motivated by politics. Many women said we should trust the accusers without question or corroboration, but this was always an unjust and insincere request. Instead, as a woman, I chose to trust the evidence, of which there was none, and above all, trust God to use the process to reveal the truth. That's why we never wavered in our support of Judge Kavanaugh, and in fact, became more certain he was the man for the job as the process dragged on.
I am so very proud of Judge Kavanaugh for withstanding the vicious onslaught of baseless gutter-level attacks that tried so desperately destroy him and provoke his withdrawal from the process. From the beginning when his name was first announced, I had faith that President Trump chose well, and I not have great faith that Judge Kavanaugh will distinguish himself on the Supreme Court with unbiased decisions based in the law.
NEW YORK (AP) A research arm of the U.S. military is exploring the possibility of deploying insects to make plants more resilient by altering their genes. Some experts say the work may be seen as a potential biological weapon.
In an opinion paper published Thursday in the journal Science, the authors say the U.S. needs to provide greater justification for the peace-time purpose of its Insect Allies project to avoid being perceived as hostile to other countries. Other experts expressed ethical and security concerns with the research, which seeks to transmit protective traits to crops already growing in the field.
That would mark a departure from the current widely used procedure of genetically modifying seeds for crops such as corn and soy, before they grow into plants.
The military research agency says its goal is to protect the nation's food supply from threats like drought, crop disease and bioterrorism by using insects to infect plants with viruses that protect against such dangers.
"Food security is national security," said Blake Bextine, who heads the 2-year-old project at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense.
The State Department said the project is for peaceful purposes and does not violate the Biological Weapons Convention. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said its scientists are part of the research, which is being conducted in contained labs.
The technology could work in different ways. In the first phase, aphids tiny bugs that feed by sucking sap from plants infected plants with a virus that temporarily brought about a trait. But researchers are also trying to see if viruses can alter the plant's genes themselves to be resistant to dangers throughout the plant's life.
Still, the research is raising concerns.
"They're talking about massive release of genetic modification by means of insects," said Gregory Kaebnick, an ethicist at the Hastings Center bioethics research institute in Garrison, N.Y., who has studied genetic modification. He wasn't part of the Science paper but said Insect Allies technology could end up being destructive.
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Kaebnick questioned how well the viruses and insects carrying them could be controlled. "When you are talking about very small things insects and microbes it might be impossible to remove them" once they are introduced into farmers' fields, he said.
Dr. David Relman, a professor of medicine and microbiology at Stanford who has advised the Obama administration on bio-defense but is not part of the DARPA research, said the project could play into longstanding fears among countries that enemies might try to harm their crops.
Still, Relman said the technology could potentially help farmers fight a "bad plant virus moving across the plains" or protect crops from bioterrorism. Since insects often spread crop diseases, Relman said DARPA is trying to use the bugs' own biology to "recruit them as allies" in spreading protective traits.
Though it's not a household name, DARPA helped develop the Internet and its mission is to research potentially pivotal new technologies. The agency announced the Insect Allies project in 2016.
Guy Reeves, a co-author of the Science paper and a biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany, says the technology is more feasible as a weapon to kill plants than as an agricultural tool. As a result, he said DARPA could be sending an alarming message regardless of its intentions.
"It's really about how it's perceived," he said.
The papers' European authors say the mere announcement of the program may have motivated other countries to develop their own capabilities in the arena. They say the project also underscores the need for greater discussion of the regulatory and ethical concerns of such developing technologies.
Todd Kuiken, a senior research scholar at North Carolina State University, said he doesn't think the military intends to attack another country with insects. But he said it looks bad that DARPA is funding the project.
"The pure fact that this is a military program would naturally raise these sorts of questions," said Kuiken, who last year raised concerns similar to those published in Science.
Tom Inglesby, a professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins, said the technology is being developed specifically to protect crops. But he acknowledged it could be misused.
Concerns that a new technology could be weaponized are to be expected, even if that's not the intention, said Paul Thompson, a professor of agriculture and ethics at Michigan State University who is on an advisory board for DARPA.
"Once you make those kinds of breakthroughs, you are in a new world. It's a morally ambiguous place. You wonder, 'Is this something that we should never do?'" he said.
Some experts have questioned whether the project's ambitious goals are even achievable.
North Carolina State University entomologist Fred Gould, who chaired a National Academy of Sciences panel on genetically modified food and is not part of the DARPA research, said too many biological interactions would need to be perfectly manipulated, so the chance of it working is "pretty close to zero."
It may not ever work, but Relman said that's DARPA's role: Exploring the "bleeding edge of challenging work" to anticipate future threats.
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Borenstein reported from Washington, D.C.
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The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
By Heather Somerville
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California startup Bird said on Friday it has launched its electric scooters in Mexico City, expanding its effort to shake up urban transportation globally.
The launch marks Bird's entry into Latin America, a market that transportation startups and investors see as ripe for growth. The company also said it would expand its operations to Brazil.
Bird is operating out of a shared office space in Mexico City and has been recruiting locally for weeks, according to public job postings. It has hired some local staff and is building up a network of workers tasked with keeping the electric scooters charged, the company said.
Bird is still looking for a country manager, the company said, and in the interim a general manager based in Austin, Texas, will oversee Mexico operations.
Latin America has in general fewer regulatory hurdles for electric scooters than for car-hailing companies such as Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL], creating an easier path for growth, according to a Bird investor.
Bird has joined a trade association of mobility companies in Latin America, known as MaaS Latam, which is working to promote its services with regulators and local authorities.
However, questions about where scooter users should ride the vehicles, the impact on bicycle lanes, helmet laws and liability have concerned regulators globally, leading some cities to limit scooter permits. The dockless scooters have also posed safety issues when they are abandoned on sidewalks and in driveways.
Transportation startups of all kinds have looked to Mexico and Brazil for growth. The countries are two of Uber's biggest markets globally, and China ride service Didi Chuxing last year acquired a Brazilian ride-hailing startup, 99, and in April brought its own ride-hailing network to Mexico.
Bird said last month that its e-scooter service has completed 10 million rides since launching a year ago. The company has raised $418 million and is valued at $2 billion, a large sum for a company just a year old.
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Some scooter companies will struggle to live up to their valuations. In the last year, electric scooters have blanketed the streets of American, European and Chinese cities, and this proliferation is widely expected to result in price competition that could eat into profits and force consolidation in the industry.
In Brazil, Bird will face an already crowded market of local competitors, including Yellow, started by the founders of 99, as well as startups Ride and Scoo.
(Reporting by Heather Somerville in San Francisco. Additional Reporting by Julia Love in Mexico City.; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
By Jan Wolfe and Michelle Price
(Reuters) - Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) Elon Musk could settle with U.S. regulators who have sued to remove him from the electric carmaker's leadership, but he is prepared to fight the securities fraud lawsuit against him in court, sources said on Friday as shares plunged about 14 percent.
Musk, Tesla's chairman and chief executive, has been directly involved in almost every detail of its product development and technology strategy, and is credited as the driving force behind the loss-making company's ability to raise capital.
The cost of insuring Tesla debt against default rose to its highest price ever on Thursday and the plummeting share price attracted new short sellers, who bet against the stock. Short sellers notched $1.27 billion (974.8 million pounds) Thursday alone in paper profits, according to S3 Partners, which said Tesla recently regained the title of most-shorted U.S. stock.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Musk on Thursday of tweeting false and misleading information in August about financing for his now-abandoned plan to take the company private, and said it was seeking to remove him as an officer or director.
The billionaire entrepreneur said he had done nothing wrong and the company's board said it supported him.
The Wall Street Journal on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that Musk believed he had a verbal deal for financing from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund to take Tesla private.
Musk last month in a blog said he left a July 31 meeting with the fund's managing director "with no question that a deal with the Saudi sovereign fund could be closed."
The SEC in its suit said the meeting between Musk and the fund "lacked discussion of even the most fundamental terms of a proposed going private transaction."
Musk, 47, walked away at the last minute from a settlement with the SEC that would have required him to give up key leadership roles at the company for two years and pay a nominal fine, according to reports on Friday.
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But sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, told Reuters that while Musk was ready to go to trial he could still settle. They did not discuss possible terms.
CNBC reported that Musk had turned down an SEC deal to give up his role as chairman, while Fox Business Network reported that Musk had been offered a temporary ban as CEO.
Aeisha Mastagni, a portfolio manager for the California State Teachers Retirement System, a Tesla investor, said she was concerned about the board's ability to oversee Musk and the company and that she would welcome changes to Tesla's board.
"I think this board is insular, ripe with conflicts; its the poster child for bad corporate governance," she said.
The board also lacks a director who could take over for Musk, said investment adviser Cornerstone Capital's research chief, John Wilson. The problem for investors is that an investment in Tesla is an investment in Elon Musk, he said.
Musk has hired Stephen Best at Brown Rudnick, who successfully defended internet billionaire Mark Cuban in an insider trading case, according to people familiar with the plans who also asked not to be identified. He also hired former Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Clark of Latham & Watkins to defend him in the case, the people said.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The SEC declined to comment on the settlement reports.
One person with knowledge of the SECs thinking said on Friday that the SEC civil lawsuit or a potential settlement did not preclude further action by the Justice Department, which has a higher standard of proof to make a criminal case.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
In a previous fraud case over blood-testing firm Theranos, the Justice Department brought criminal charges three months after the SEC announced its settlement with the companys founder Elizabeth Holmes.
The SEC wouldnt delay its case for the DOJ, said Teresa Goody, CEO of law firm Goody Counsel and a former SEC attorney.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
At least five research firms said Musk might have to resign following the SEC lawsuit.
"I think it was a big mistake to turn down the settlement offer," CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson said.
Some analysts said the SEC's action was the beginning of a legal battle with authorities, short-sellers and other investors over Musk's actions that could cost Tesla heavily.
Musk has driven the company to the verge of profitability with a costly ramp-up of production of its Model 3 sedan over the past year.
Electric vehicle news site Electrek reported that Tesla had produced 51,000 Model 3s with a couple of days left in the quarter, hitting its goal of 50,000 to 55,000 Model 3s.
The bottom line is, what he did was stupid, it was wrong, I dont think hes going to be thrown out," said a large Tesla investor, who asked not to be identified due to sensitivity of the situation.
"My guess is hell pay a big fine. I wouldnt be surprised if as a settlement to the SEC he drops his chair of the board role.
Ihor Dusaniwsky, head of research at financial analytics firm S3 Partners, said in an email that he had seen several hundred thousand shares of new short selling in Tesla.
Short interest in Tesla shares totals nearly $10.2 billion, with more than 33.1 million shares sold short, roughly 26 percent of its float, he said.
Shares fell 13.9 percent to $264.77, wiping about $7 billion off Tesla's market value.
Tesla stock timeline - https://tmsnrt.rs/2IkPQ8S
The SEC's lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, caps a tumultuous two months set in motion on Aug. 7 when Musk told his more than 22 million Twitter followers that he might take Tesla private at $420 per share, with "funding secured."
The regulator charged that Musk "knew or was reckless in not knowing" that his tweets were false and misleading.
(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil, Sonam Rai and Vibhuti Sharma in Bengaluru; Michelle Price and Jan Wolfe in Washington; Ross Kerber in Boston; writing by Peter Henderson; editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Tom Brown)
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday alleged that Elon Musk chose a $420 price for possibly taking Tesla private because it is a marijuana culture reference that would "amuse" his girlfriend.
A spokeswoman for Tesla told CNBC on Friday that the company had no additional comments to make regarding those allegations.
Tesla TSLA CEO Elon Musk picked $420 as the share price for possibly taking the company private in August because it is a reference to pot culture, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged on Thursday during a news conference .
The SEC has sued Musk for fraud , charging the Tesla chief with making "false and misleading tweets," and for failing to properly notify regulators of material company events.
Musk said the SEC's allegations are "unjustified" and that he acted in the best interests of investors.
"We allege that Musk had arrived at the price of $420 by assuming a 20 percent premium of what Tesla's then existing share price (was), and then rounding up to $420 because of the significance of that number in marijuana culture, and his belief that his girlfriend would be amused by it," Steven Peikin, co-director of enforcement at the SEC, said during the conference.
A spokeswoman for Tesla told CNBC on Friday that the company had no additional comments regarding Peikin's allegations.
In August, Musk tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private. He added: "Funding secured."
The tweet sent Tesla's stock see-sawing for weeks. Musk later explained that he had been in discussions with the Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and felt confident the funding would come through at his proposed price of $420 per share.
'Fully confident in Elon'
Tesla and its board of directors defended Musk Thursday, releasing a statement saying: "Tesla and the board of directors are fully confident in Elon, his integrity, and his leadership of the company, which has resulted in the most successful US auto company in over a century."
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"The timing of this could not be worse from an automotive market standpoint," Rebecca Lindland, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book, told CNBC's " Squawk Box ." Tesla is facing "a lot of competition from BMW, from Audi from Jaguar the level of competition in the luxury electric vehicle space is increasing," she added.
According to Lindland, it's unlikely that Musk would choose to step down from the top role. She added that she also does not see Tesla's board asking for his removal.
Shares fell sharply in after-hours trading Thursday.
A large part of Tesla's $52.4 billion market cap, has to do with Musk's presence at the company, D. R. Barton, chief technical analyst at Moneymorning.com, told CNBC's " Street Signs " on Friday.
"A lot of that market cap is based on the fact that Musk is such a force of personality," he said. "I have millennial friends in Silicon Valley that would love to work for Elon Musk. So, without him, it's just a really well-engineered car with a company with too much debt and burning too much cash."
CNBC's Sara Salinas contributed to this report.
More From CNBC
Brett Kavanaugh has taken a crucial step forward to becoming a justice on the USs highest court, after senators voted to move forward with a confirmation hearing for Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee.
By the thinnest of margins 51 to 49 the senate decided to proceed to a confirmation vote for Mr Kavanaugh, scheduled for Saturday.
It was the yes vote of Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, that ultimately gave Mr Kavanuaghs nomination sufficient support to move forward; Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who had raised questions about the judges views on womens reproductive rights and who recently criticised Mr Trump for mocking a survivor of sexual assault, noticeably voted no.
Mr Kavanaughs confirmation is not a done deal yet. Mr Manchin, who is facing a tough re-election contest in a state that Mr Trump won by more than 40 percentage points in 2016, later said he would vote to confirm the judge, as did Susan Collins, another Republican swing-voter, who delivered a 45-minute speech explaining why she was voting yes. Jeff Flake also indicated he would support the judge.
There have been a number of instances when senators have voted yes at this procedural so-called cloture stage, to subsequently then vote no. The late John McCain famously voted no to Mr Trump and Republicans efforts to further strip away Barack Obamas healthcare programme, having earlier voted yes. In reality, however, such instances are not common.
If the confirmation vote is locked 50-50, then vice president Mike Pence will step forward to provide the tie-breaking vote to confirm Mr Kavanaugh.
Reports said Mr Pence watched the vote from the White House. He is heading to New York later on Friday for a congressional fundraiser, but will be back in Washington for the final vote.
Despite the uncertainty, Friday mornings decision was enough for supporters of the 53-year-old nominee to leap on.
Among them was Mr Trump, who tweeted: Very proud of the US Senate for voting YES to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!
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The nomination for the jurist, who spent his last 12 years working at the federal appeals court in Washington DC, considered the second most important in the country, was always controversial because of Mr Kavanaughs previously stated views on abortion rights.
Opponents of the devout Catholic claimed he was open to overturning the 1973 landmark Roe v Wade ruling that has been used to guarantee women access to legal abortion.
The first day of his confirmation hearing was met by large numbers of protesters who marched with placards outside the Supreme Court, close to where he was being questioned by senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
But it became even more toxic after at least three women stepped forward to accuse Mr Kavanaugh of sexual assault or misconduct allegations he stridently denied and which even led him to give an interview to Fox News an unprecedented event for a Supreme Court nominee still awaiting confirmation.
One of the women, Christine Blasey Ford, testified to senators how Mr Kavanaugh had tried to sexually assault her at a high school party in Maryland in 1982. A second woman, Deborah Ramirez, said Mr Kavanaugh had exposed himself to her at a drunken dormitory party at Yale University.
A third women, Julie Swetnick, provided senators with a sworn statement saying she had been present at at least 10 parties where the teenage Mr Kavanaugh and a friend, Mark Judge, had drugged young women so that they could be gang-raped.
Mr Kavanaugh and Mr Judge denied all of these accusations.
One of the women who confronted Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) in an elevator to tell him about her own sexual assault shared a message of staunch resilience after the Senate confirmed accused sexual assaulter Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in a 50-48 vote Saturday.
When we band together and tell our stories, we can change the future of this country, Ana Maria Archila said in a statement calling Kavanaughs confirmation a sham process.
We have told the truth about sexual predator Brett Kavanaugh. We have made clear the Republican Party has no respect for our bodies, our choices, or our voices, said Archila, executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy.
She had not spoken out about her sexual assault before the confrontation, which CNN caught on camera. Archila and another woman, Maria Gallagher, a recent college graduate, stopped Flake and his aides before the elevator doors could close and laid into him for potentially supporting Kavanaugh.
What you are doing is allowing someone who actually violated a woman to sit on the Supreme Court! Archila shouted at Flake. What are you doing, sir? This is the future of our country!
Gallagher demanded Flake not avert his eyes.
Look at me when Im talking to you! she shouted. Youre telling me that my assault doesnt matter.
Ana Maria Archila addresses anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday. (Photo: The Washington Post via Getty Images)
In an unexpected move, Flake, who is retiring from the Senate, pushed his Republican colleagues to ask the White House to open an FBI investigation into the accusations against Kavanaugh late last month. He said that the elevator confrontation struck a chord with him and he found the tension between Republicans and Democrats worrisome.
Yet Republicans said the completed FBI report contained no corroborating information, while Democrats blasted it as woefully incomplete because of tight restrictions the White House reportedly placed on the investigation. Flake ultimately voted yes on Kavanaugh.
After Saturdays confirmation vote, Archila said on CNN that she feels we have elected officials that dont know how to listen, citing the number of people who showed up at senators offices to speak with them.
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I was in that elevator deadly afraid that my children will have fewer rights than I do today, she added.
Kavanaughs confirmation was thrown into disarray last month when the first sexual misconduct allegation against the judge was revealed. Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor, soon came forward as the accuser, saying that when they were teenagers in 1982, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and tried to remove her clothing while grinding against her. When she tried to scream, he covered her mouth, she said.
Two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, later came forward with allegations against Kavanaugh, all of which he denied.
Archila said in an op-ed piece for USA Today that she was inspired by Fords courage to come forward and subsequently testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Women will not be silenced. Women will not be afraid. And on election day, women will vote, Archila said after Kavanaugh was voted onto the nations highest court. When we cast our ballots this November, we will elect true leaders who respect our bodies and our interests.
Archila went on to commend those who protested many of whom were arrested at demonstrations on Capitol Hill and around the country, saying, Were just getting started.
Kavanaughs confirmation was all but guaranteed on Friday afternoon when Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced her support, joining fellow swing senators Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Flake. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was the lone Republican who joined Democrats in voting against Kavanaugh.
In our resistance we exemplified the true spirit of popular democracy imaginative, informed and sustained participation by all of us, Archila said.
She concluded: November is coming.
This story has been updated with Archilas comments to CNN.
Related Coverage
All The Lies Brett Kavanaugh Told
Trump's Mockery Of Christine Blasey Ford Draws GOP Concern
Ellen DeGeneres Is 'Furious' At People Who Don't Believe Christine Blasey Ford
Need help? Visit RAINNs National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Centers website.
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By Tatiana Jancarikova and Jason Hovet STRBSKE PLESO, Slovakia (Reuters) - Slovakia must produce deeds not words to stamp out corruption and mafia-style crime, the prime minister said, after the murder of a journalist investigating EU subsidy fraud rattled the nation and prompted the resignation of his predecessor. Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said the killing in February of 27-year-old reporter Jan Kuciak, who was found shot dead at his home along with his fiancee, had tarnished Slovakia's image. Kuciak brought attention to Italian businessmen in Slovakia with suspected mafia links and their alleged subsidy fraud in eastern Slovakia. Pellegrini said his cabinet had initiated legislation to strengthen the independence of the police chief to tackle corruption. He said his government was looking at new systems to prevent subsidy fraud. "We will not tolerate any mafia in Slovakia. Not in the field of (agricultural) subsidies, not in the field of EU funds. We will apply a zero-tolerance policy," he said. "We have to produce deeds, not words to restore trust in this government among those people who have lost it," Pellegrini said. After almost a decade-and-a-half in the European Union, Slovakia has seen living standards jump among its 5.4 million people, thanks to strong economic growth driven by automotive production. But many people complain about perceived public corruption often involving well-connected businesspeople. Kuciak's murder led to massive nationwide protests against corruption and the government, prompting the resignation of longtime prime minister Robert Fico. However, his government coalition remains intact, led by his former deputy Pellegrini. Police made their first arrests in the case after raids last week, but prosecutors have yet to detail motives in the killing. "The arrests of the (suspected) murderers are not the end of the investigation," Pellegrini said on Friday on the sidelines of the Globsec Tatra Summit at a Slovak mountain resort. "The only catharsis will be to identify who ordered the murder, convict him or her and deliver a fair verdict," he said in an interview with Reuters. Slovakia is a member of the Visegrad group of central European countries - along with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland - that have battled with the EU executive over migration policy in recent years. Their opposition to Brussels-imposed quotas to re-distribute asylum seekers led to the plan being dropped. But Pellegrini said the Visegrad group, whose members are among the EU's fastest economic growth engines, should not be labeled "troublemakers" and disputes should be resolved through dialogue. Hungary and Poland have been under the threat of facing the bloc's punitive Article 7 procedure over rule of law concerns that could eventually strip them of voting rights. "I strongly believe... that dialogue will lead to concessions on both sides that will result in an agreement, avoiding the vote and activation of Article 7 that bans a member state from voting... That would be very bad," he said. (Reporting by Tatiana Jancarikova and Jason Hovet; Editing by Ros Russell)
Madrid (AFP) - Cities across Spain are grappling with electric scooters that have popped up on sidewalks across the country, helping riders zip around but exasperating drivers and pedestrians.
In Madrid public opinion is divided over the hundreds of electric scooters which California-based start-up Lime -- partly owned by ride-hailing Uber and Google parent company Alphabet -- has made available since mid-August.
Unlike schemes involving shared bicycles that typically must be left in docking stations, the scooters are dockless, leaving riders responsible for parking them out of the way. The next rider can find the nearest scooter with a smartphone app, unlock it and use it for a fee.
Similar electric scooter sharing programmes have been introduced in other European cities including Paris, Vienna and Zurich.
In Madrid, Lime's scooters -- which have already been used over 100,000 times -- are tolerated by the left-wing city hall, intent on reducing pollution.
But the scooters are often left in places where they obstruct sidewalks -- and their users often speed by pedestrians or hog roads.
Last month a video of two people, including a child, wearing masks while they raced along a highway near the Mediterranean port of Valencia on an electric scooter went viral.
"They don't respect anything at all. We need rules. It's crazy. They ride on lanes reserved for buses and taxis. They cross in front of cars," Fernando Sobrino, a 59-year-old taxi driver, told AFP as he waited for passengers in the centre of Madrid.
Jose Manuel, a 55-year-old salesman, complained the scooters "ride on sidewalks without any control".
"There is a risk of getting rear-ended by one as happened to me the other day," he said as he made his way along the Gran Via, a busy shopping street in central Madrid.
- 'Dangerous and annoying' -
The arrival of the scooters in Madrid follows the introduction of a public electric bike share system in June 2014.
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Users of the scooters are delighted.
"You move around faster, you can visit more areas, it's relaxing and easy to use," said Monica Rodriguez, 58, at Madrid's bustling Retiro park.
She admitted, though, that the scooters can be "dangerous and annoying for people who are walking".
The introduction of this new form of transport caught big Spanish cities off guard.
In Madrid, which is home to around 3.2 million people, the city hall only adopted measures on Friday.
The scooters are banned on pavements and pedestrian streets, but they are authorised on all roads where the speed limit is 30 kilometres (19 miles) an hour -- a limit set to be implemented soon on 80 percent of the city's streets.
Valencia is set to adopt new rules banning scooters from sidewalks.
- Seizures -
Barcelona, Spain's second-largest city which is overwhelmed by mass tourism, already bans the use of privately owned scooters from sidewalks.
"Self service" scooter rentals like those offered by Lime are banned.
When German firm Wind launched an electric scooter sharing programme in Barcelona in August, within hours police removed the vehicles from the streets.
The municipality of Llobregat near Barcelona stopped Lime from setting up shop.
The scenario was repeated in Valencia, which has an extensive network of bike lanes.
Lime deployed a fleet of scooters in the city in August without authorisation from city hall, which demands a licence for anyone who carries out a commercial activity on public roads.
Lime's scooters were removed and the firm was slapped with a fine. It is now trying to convince Valencia city hall to allow it to pay a fee in exchange for an operating licence.
Lime's representative in Spain, Alvaro Salvat, said he regrets the lack of specific laws for electric scooters in Madrid and most Spanish cities.
"We are the first to ask for them for our users, for residents, so we know where to go and where not to go," he told AFP.
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Friday dismissed the appeal of an ultra-nationalist Buddhist monk and upheld his six-year sentence for contempt of court.
Galagodaatte Gnanasara had appealed over the sentence handed down for disruptive behaviour during a trial in 2016.
The original case had seen the firebrand cleric jailed for six months for intimidating a woman, whose cartoonist husband was abducted by the military.
Gnanasara, who has faced several previous cases on charges of hate crimes against minority Muslims in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka, has been in and out of hospital since his imprisonment in June this year.
His Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or Buddhist Force, has denied allegations it was behind riots against Muslims in 2017 and 2014 that left four people dead.
Gnanasara's intimidation of Sandya Eknaligoda took place when he attended the 2016 trial of military officers accused of abducting her husband Prageeth in 2010, whose cartoons lampooned former strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse.
Last year, Gnanasara spent a month on the run as police pursued him in connection with a string of attacks against Muslims. He later surrendered.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen announced Friday that he would support Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for the Supreme Court, a key choice in a tight Tennessee race that he says became a "much closer call" after the woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault in high school came forward.
The decision caps weeks of questions about whether the former governor, who has been running on a message of political independence, would back President Donald Trump's high court pick, despite Christine Blasey Ford's allegations and the divide over how they should affect Kavanaugh's nomination.
Bredesen's announcement Friday came just moments before the Senate voted to bring Kavanaugh's nomination to a final vote expected to come Saturday afternoon.
Bredesen's support for Kavanaugh is the latest move to attract independent and moderate Republican votes and insulate himself from criticisms by Republicans who say he'll align with Democrats in Washington.
But the decision could contain pitfalls, since he still needs enthusiasm at the polls from Democrats and hopes to maintain his current polling edge among women over his opponent, Republican U.S. Marsha Blackburn.
Bredesen said Friday that Ford is a "heroine" who "has brought forcefully into the national conversation the many barriers women face in reporting and dealing with sexual harassment and assault." He said he was "disgusted" by how the Senate treated her and is "determined to help bring about a fairer and far more respectful treatment of these issues."
He also said presidents have the right to appoint justices who share their values and elections have consequences. He added that a senator's responsibility should be to focus on the qualifications of the nominee, their ethics and their temperament.
"I believed that Judge Kavanaugh initially met this test, and I was prepared to say 'yes' to his nomination prior to Dr. Ford's coming forward," Bredesen said in the statement. "While the subsequent events make it a much closer call, and I am missing key pieces of information that a sitting Senator has, I'm still a 'yes.'"
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Bredesen is ensnared in a tough contest with Blackburn, a Trump-aligned conservative Republican who has chided Bredesen for holding out until now on saying how he would vote. Blackburn quickly backed Kavanaugh when he was nominated and has not wavered.
"His campaign is bought and paid for by (Senate Minority Leader) Chuck Schumer and national Democrats, including (former New York Mayor) Michael Bloomberg," Blackburn said in a statement Friday, referring to an upcoming Bloomberg fundraiser for Bredesen. "He put off an answer on Judge Kavanaugh for 88 days, under Chuck Schumer's direction to stay neutral as long as you can."
At a debate last month, Bredesen distanced himself from national Democrats by saying he would not vote for Schumer for majority leader if he's elected. Democrats are hoping to overturn a 51-49 Republican Senate majority.
But Bredesen's Kavanaugh decision stung for Democrats. State party chairwoman Mary Mancini called it a "disappointing statement based on imperfect and limited information as a result of a flawed and secretive process," but said Bredesen would be "far superior" to Blackburn.
Hours after Bredesen announced his decision, the progressive group MoveOn tweeted that it will cancel a planned six-figure video ad buy for him because of his Kavanaugh stance.
A major Democratic-aiding super PAC, Priorities USA Action, hasn't been spending to help Bredesen in Tennessee. But "any option to is now off the table," group spokesman Josh Schwerin said.
Bredesen won't lose the help of the main outside group boosting him with millions in spending, Schumer-aligned Majority Forward.
"Phil Bredesen is the only candidate who has an independent record of results for Tennessee families," Majority Forward spokeswoman Hannah Hurley said Friday.
Local faith leaders and others gathered outside the Nashville offices of GOP Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker on Friday to urge them to reconsider their support for Kavanaugh. Afterward, some demonstrators were exasperated with Bredesen's backing of Kavanaugh.
Nettie Kraft, a small business owner, actor and sexual assault survivor from Nashville, said Bredesen is catering to rural populations in the state by supporting Kavanaugh, and the ends don't justify the means. But she still plans to vote for Bredesen, citing how Trump won in 2016 when some voters shied from Hillary Clinton.
"I'm ashamed of Bredesen," Kraft said. "And I'm ashamed that I'm going to have to swallow my pride and I'm still going to have to vote for him because I guess he's at least better than Blackburn."
By Akanksha Rana
(Reuters) - Shares of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) fell 7 percent on Friday, as David Einhorn's hedge fund Greenlight Capital slammed the electric carmaker the day after Tesla CEO Elon Musk mocked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Twitter.
The sell-off started in morning trading the day after Musk stirred nerves about a settlement of his securities fraud lawsuit by calling the SEC the "Shortseller Enrichment Commission" on Twitter. His tweet came hours after a federal judge ordered him and the regulator to justify their settlement.
"Just want to (sic) that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work," Musk, a frequent critic of investors betting against the electric car company said in the tweet. "And the name change is so on point!"
In its quarterly letter, Greenlight said on Friday its short position on Tesla was its second-biggest winner in the third quarter. The hedge fund said Musk has been deceptive and the carmaker's woes resemble those of Lehman Brothers before its collapse.
Tesla shares plunged last week after the SEC accused Musk, 47, of fraud over "false and misleading" tweets on Aug. 7 that promised to take Tesla private and said funding had been secured.
The lawsuit threatened Tesla and Musk with a long fight that could have undermined the company's operations and ability to raise capital.
In the settlement announced over the weekend, Tesla and Musk agreed to pay $20 million each to the regulator while Musk, also a large Tesla shareholder, would step down as chairman but continue as CEO.
The settlement provided for appointment of a new chairman and directors, as well as moves to oversee Musk's output on social media.
Peter Haveles, a partner in the Trial and Dispute Resolution Practice Group, said Musk's tweets showed his lack of self discipline and puts intense pressure on Tesla board.
Several Twitter users also criticized Musk, who has over 20 million followers on the social media platform, for his tweets targeting regulators and short sellers.
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"I have lost 30 years of my life savings all in $tsla thanks to your tweets please stop," TrendTrader007 wrote.
"If you continue this self destructive path you will lose all your ardent supporters and the goodwill from diehard $tsla longs like me," the user tweeted.
Teresa Goody, a former SEC attorney and CEO of The Goody Group, said Musks contempt for the SEC is sending a message that he has no regard for the securities laws that are intended to protect investors and ensure a fair and efficient marketplace.
In a separate tweet, Musk took another shot at shortsellers and accused BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) of enabling them by saying, "The big funds can & will (sic), as they're suffering a net loss. Index managers like Blackrock pocket (sic) make excessive profit from short lending while pretending to charge low rates for 'passive' index tracking."
Widely seen as the driving force behind the company, Musk's talent for promotion has helped Tesla vault much bigger manufacturing operations like General Motors (GM.N) and Ford (F.N) to become America's most valuable car company.
As news on the settlement emerged at the weekend, he told employees in an email that Palo Alto, California-based Tesla was "very close to achieving profitability."
Production numbers on Tuesday showed the company finally meeting its promises on output of the Model 3 sedan seen as crucial for the its long-term prospects, while also fighting hard to overcome logistical issues with deliveries.
Shares of the company, down around 14 percent this year but still up almost 30 percent since the start of 2017, were last down 6.9 percent at $262.63.
(Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Katanga Johnson in Washington D.C.; Editing by Patrick Graham, Arun Koyyur and David Gregorio)
New York (AFP) - 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 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.
The comments come five days after 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.
Buir (Germany) (AFP) - Thousands of anti-coal demonstrators descended on Germany's Hambach forest Saturday, celebrating an unexpected court victory that suspended an energy company's planned razing of the woodland to expand a giant open-cast mine.
The ancient forest near Cologne has been occupied by activists for the past six years and become a symbol of resistance against coal energy in Germany, a country that despite its green reputation remains heavily reliant on this dirtiest of fossil fuels.
Basking in early autumn sunshine, young people, families and pensioners flocked to a field next to Hambach forest, a day after a court in Muenster said it needed more time to consider an environmental complaint against RWE's upcoming clearing operations.
Organisers said 50,000 people had turned out for what they called the region's "biggest-ever anti-coal rally". Police however did not confirm the figure.
Chanting "Hambi bleibt!" (Hambi stays) and cheering loudly, the crowd listened to live music and speeches in a festival-like atmosphere.
Many held up banners and balloons demanding an immediate exit from coal energy.
"The mood is great," said Greenpeace spokeswoman Gesche Juergens, welcoming "the strong signal" sent by the court.
"But it's only a first step. The battle goes on to start phasing out coal."
The forest's days had appeared numbered after its owner RWE announced plans to clear half of the remaining 200 hectares (500 acres) from October 15 to expand its massive nearby open-pit coal mine.
Police last month began dismantling activists' treehouses in a forced eviction that took nearly three weeks and fanned public sympathy for the activists' cause.
Tragedy struck when a freelance journalist covering the evictions died on September 19 after falling through a walkway suspended between two trees.
Demonstrators at the rally held a moment's silence in honour of the victim, Steffen Meyns.
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- Saved by a bat -
RWE on Friday said it believed a final judgement in the court case could take until late 2020, sending its share price plunging -- the mention of which was greeted with loud applause at the demo.
The energy firm has long argued that the expansion of Hambach mine in Germany's industrial heartland of North Rhine-Westphalia state is necessary to fuel coal-fired power plants in the region -- which are among the most polluting in the European Union.
But judges said RWE had not sufficiently proved that renewed logging was urgently needed to ensure energy supply.
The plaintiffs in the case, environmental group BUND, meanwhile are arguing that the forest is home to rare species like Bechstein's bat and therefore qualifies as a protected area under EU legislation.
The fight has taken on fresh urgency as it comes just as a government-appointed coal committee is discussing an end-date for coal in a bid to combat climate change.
Germany gets around 40 percent of its energy from coal, contributing significantly to the country's carbon dioxide emissions and undermining Chancellor Angela Merkel's role as a leading advocate of the Paris Climate Agreement.
- 'They can't keep us down' -
Buoyed by the court's temporary reprieve, demonstrators said they were hopeful Hambach forest could be saved.
"I have faith. So much can happen in two years' time, they'll have no choice but to keep the forest," said 43-year-old teacher Julia.
"I hope so," her son Arne, 10, chimed in.
But forest occupiers were more muted in their celebrations, saying it had been a bitter experience to watch police tear down more than 80 treehouses they had built with their bare hands.
"It's a double feeling," said Musel, a dreadlocked man in his early 50s who was twice dragged out of the trees by police and even wrapped himself in barbed wire.
"The court's decision is a step in the right direction... but the people who have lived here for years are traumatised."
But he added that the activists were unbowed, and that the rebuilding had already begun.
"The first hammocks are already back up," he smiled.
"They can't keep us down."
At the edge of the forest, demonstrators paused to take in the sweeping view of RWE's open-pit mine.
Two coal plants in the distance were belching clouds of smoke into the sky, while dozens of wind turbines dotted the horizon.
"One is the future, the other is the past," mused 40-year-old local resident Benjamin.
Donald Trump's opponents are rejoicing after the US president lost out on the Nobel Peace Prize.
Along with Kim Jong-un, he had been a frontrunner to win the award among bookmakers. He had been nominated by Republican lawmakers who said he should win "in recognition of his work to end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula, and bring peace to the region".
But the committee gave the prestigious award instead to campaigners who have fought against sexual violence. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad were praised by the committee "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict".
Many Twitter users took to the site to rejoice that the president had been skipped over for the award.
"How sweetly ironic that the Nobel peace prize winners are anti-sexual violence campaigners, when you thought you were in with a shout," one posted to the president. "Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un's nominations beaten by heroes," wrote another.
Allies of the president had already used the possibility he would win to mock his opponents. Lindsay Graham said that Mr Trump deserved the award for what he claimed were successes fighting Isis and taking on Iran.
"If Donald Trump gets the Nobel Peace Prize, liberals all over the world would jump out of buildings," the Republican senator said before laughing.
Mr Trump and his allies have been largely silent since the winners of the award were announced, which happened during the very early morning US time.
Nadia Murad, one of the two winners of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, has become a spokeswoman for Yazidi women abused by the Islamic State group.
In December 2015, she told the U.N. Security Council how she and thousands of other Yazidi women and girls were abducted, held in captivity and repeatedly raped after the Iraqi area of Sinjar fell to IS militants in August 2014. She escaped after three months in captivity.
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A year after most IS-held areas were retaken by Iraqi security forces, around 3,000 Yazidi women and girls are still missing, most presumed dead.
At the age of 23, Ms Murad was named the U.N.'s first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee says that Denis Mukwege is "the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts."
Dr Mukwege and his team have treated thousands of patients who have been raped or sexually abused in Congo's long civil war.
"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 committee said in its citation Friday.
Additional reporting by agencies
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will sign a bill on Friday granting the U.S. government new powers to shoot down threatening drones and creating new consumer protections for airline passengers, officials said on Thursday. Trump is set to sign the bill on Friday that will, among other measures, bar airlines from removing seated passengers and require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to write new rules to allow commercial drones to deliver packages. The U.S. Senate in a 93 to 6 vote on Wednesday approved a 1,200-page bill overseeing the FAA that includes some new airline passenger protections. For instance, the FAA must set minimum dimensions for passenger seats, including legroom and width "necessary for the safety of passengers". The bill also gives the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security new authority to disable or destroy drones if they pose a threat to government facilities. The Trump administration had said it did not have legal authority to address such threats. The airline industry scored a significant win after Congress dropped plans to mandate "reasonable and proportional" baggage and change fees after heavy lobbying by United Airlines and American Airlines Group Inc. The bill also requires airlines to refund passengers for services they paid for but did not receive. It will enshrine in law a prohibition on passengers making mobile phone calls while in flight or using e-cigarettes. It also requires airlines to allow passengers to check strollers for small children and gives the FAA authority to require airlines to allow pregnant passengers to board earlier. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Susan Thomas)
By Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish authorities believe that prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared four days ago after entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, was killed inside the consulate, two Turkish sources said on Saturday. "The initial assessment of the Turkish police is that Mr. Khashoggi has been killed at the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul. We believe that the murder was premeditated and the body was subsequently moved out of the consulate," one Turkish official told Reuters. The sources did not say how they believed the killing was carried out. There was no immediate comment from the Saudi authorities. Saudi Arabia's consul-general told Reuters earlier on Saturday that his country was helping search for Khashoggi, and dismissed talk of his possible abduction. Khashoggi, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Washington for the past year fearing retribution for his criticism of Saudi policies, entered the consulate on Tuesday to secure documents for his forthcoming marriage, according to his fiancee, who waited outside. He has not been heard of since. Since then, Turkish and Saudi officials have offered conflicting accounts of his disappearance, with Ankara saying there was no evidence that he had left the diplomatic mission and Riyadh saying he exited the premises the same day. A Turkish security source told Reuters that a group of 15 Saudi nationals, including some officials, had arrived in Istanbul in two planes and entered the consulate on the same day Khashoggi was there, and later left the country. The source said Turkish officials were trying to identify them. Turkey's Anadolu news agency also reported that the group of Saudis were briefly at the consulate. DEEPENING DIVISIONS Khashoggi's disappearance is likely to further deepen divisions between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Relations were already strained after Turkey sent troops to the Gulf state of Qatar last year in a show of support after its Gulf neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, imposed an embargo on Doha. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said this week that the kingdom would allow Turkey to search the consulate for Khashoggi. But he also criticized Turkey's crackdown following a 2016 failed coup against Erdogan. On Saturday, Yasin Aktay, Erdogan's AK Party adviser and a friend of Khashoggi, told Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera: "We demand a convincing clarification from Saudi Arabia, and what the crown prince offered is not convincing." He also said what happened to Khashoggi was a crime and those responsible for his disappearance must be tried, Al Jazeera said. Turkish prosecutors have begun an investigation into the case, officials said on Saturday, and a spokesman for Erdogan's AK Party said authorities would uncover his whereabouts. "A journalist disappearing in such a way is something a confident country like Turkey will look at sensitively. The condition of the lost journalist, details on him and who is responsible for this will be uncovered," Omer Celik said. Khashoggi is a familiar face on political talk shows on Arab satellite television networks and used to advise Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to the United States and Britain. Over the past year, he has written columns for newspapers including the Washington Post criticizing Saudi policies towards Qatar and Canada, the war in Yemen and a crackdown on dissent which has seen dozens of people detained. On Saturday Saudi Arabia's consul-general in Istanbul, Mohammad al-Otaibi, opened up his mission to Reuters to show that Khashoggi was not on the premises, and said talk of his abduction was baseless. Opening cupboards, filing cabinets and wooden panels covering air conditioning units, Otaibi walked through the six floors of the building including a basement prayer room, offices, visa counters, kitchens and toilets as well as storage and security rooms. He said the consulate was equipped with cameras but they did not record footage, so no images could be retrieved of Khashoggi entering or leaving the consulate, which is ringed by police barriers and has high security fences topped with barbed wire. (Additional reporting by Sarah Dadouch, Tuvan Gumrukcu and Dominic Evans; Editing by Nick Tattersall)
By Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two well-financed liberal groups that help elect Democratic candidates will not aid the campaigns of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin or Senate candidate Phil Bredesen because the two support Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. Super PACs MoveOn and Priorities USA, which raises money to support Democrats, on Friday said they would no longer support the two men, even as the party tries to leverage a potential wave of liberal voter anger to pick up the two additional Senate seats it would need to take a majority in that chamber. The withdrawal of support is a sign of how charged the debate around Republican President Donald Trump's second nominee for a lifetime seat on the nation's top court has become. Democrats have organized to oppose Kavanaugh, with opposition intensifying after Christine Blasey Ford last month accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were teenagers. Bredesen, who polls indicate is locked in a dead heat for the Tennessee seat being vacated by a Republican, said in a statement Friday that he would have voted for Kavanaugh had he been in the Senate. Manchin, who is leading in his re-election bid to represent conservative-leaning West Virginia, said Friday that he will back Kavanaugh in the final senate confirmation vote expected on Saturday. MoveOn said on Twitter it has canceled campaigning for Manchin and would also cancel more than $100,000 worth of online advertising it had planned to buy in support of Bredesen. Priorities USA has not yet spent any money to support either candidate and will not do so following their support of Kavanaugh, spokesman Josh Schwerin said in a phone interview. Manchin is expected to be the only Democrat to join Republicans in approving Kavanaugh. Priorities USA and MoveOn are among the largest liberal "super political action committees" or Super PACs. At the end of August, Priorities USA had spent $16 million for this election cycle and had $7 million on hand, according to Federal Election Commission filings. By the end of June, the most recent data available, MoveOn has spent $13 million so far this election cycle and had $7 million in cash. Senate Majority PAC, a separate super PAC run by allies of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, will continue to spend in support of Manchin and Bredesen, said the group's spokesman, Chris Hayden. Under U.S. law Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited sums of money but are barred from donating directly to candidates or coordinating with their campaigns. (Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Editing by Scott Malone)
By David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence intensified Washington's pressure campaign against Beijing on Thursday by accusing China of "malign" efforts to undermine President Donald Trump ahead of next month's congressional elections and reckless military actions in the South China Sea. In what was billed as a major policy address, Pence sought to build on Trump's speech at the United Nations last week in which he accused China of trying to interfere in the vote that will determine whether his Republican Party will keep control of Congress. Neither Trump nor Pence provided hard evidence of meddling by China, which last week rejected the president's allegation. Pence's speech at Washington's Hudson Institute marked a sharpened U.S. approach toward China going beyond the bitter trade war between the worlds two biggest economies. It highlighted disputes such as cyber attacks, Taiwan, freedom of the seas and human rights. Pence said China was waging a sophisticated effort to sway the elections against the Republicans in retaliation for Trump's trade policies. He vowed to continue to expose Beijing's "malign influence and interference." Pence said Beijing, with an eye not only to the congressional elections but also to Trump's 2020 re-election bid, had mobilized covert actors, front groups, and propaganda outlets to shift Americans perception of Chinese policies and was targeting its tariffs to hurt states where Trump has strong support. "China wants a different American president," Pence said. He said that in June, Beijing laid out its strategy in a sensitive "Propaganda and Censorship Notice" which stated that China must "strike accurately and carefully, splitting apart different domestic groups" in the United States. The allegations, however, have raised questions as to whether Trump and his aides are trying to deflect attention from an investigation of his campaigns possible ties to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and also set up China for blame if Republicans do poorly in November's vote. China's embassy in Washington referred queries about Pences speech to an interview Chinese ambassador Cui Tiankai gave to National Public Radio on Wednesday. Cui said Beijing wanted to resolve the trade war through negotiations but that would required goodwill from both sides. U.S. goodwill was currently insufficient, Cui said. CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS Washington has long cited China as a major culprit in the hacking of U.S. government and corporate databases. But U.S. officials and independent analysts say they have not detected the kind of systematic manipulation of social media and email hacking Russia was accused of in 2016. Even so, 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." 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 expert Chris Johnson, a former CIA analyst now at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Pence's speech appeared aimed in part at building a narrative that a vote for the Democrats would be vote for China. "Another part of it is trying to distract attention from the real threat, which is Russia," he said. "There's nothing in that speech that rises to the level of 2016 Russian active measures." Trump has justified his trade policy by accusing China of stealing intellectual property and limiting access to its market. The two countries have imposed increasingly severe tariffs on each other. Pence said Chinese security agencies had masterminded the "wholesale theft of American technology," including military blueprints, and warned Washington would continue to take action. He urged Google to end development of its "Dragonfly" app that would make it easier to track Internet searches and strengthen Chinese censorship. Google declined comment, except to reiterate that its China search engine project was "exploratory" and not close to launch. Bloomberg Businessweek cited 17 unidentified intelligence and company sources as saying that Chinese spies had placed computer chips in equipment used by about 30 firms, as well as multiple U.S. government agencies, which would give Beijing secret access to internal networks. Apple Inc and Amazon denied the report. Pence also said China had deployed anti-ship and anti-air missiles on artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea, despite promises not to militarize them. He accused Beijing of "reckless harassment" in an incident on Sunday in which a Chinese naval vessel nearly collided with a U.S. destroyer near the Spratly islands. "We will not be intimidated," Pence said of the operation, the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijings efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters. China said a Chinese warship had been sent to warn the U.S. vessel to leave an area of irrefutable Chinese sovereignty. Pence accused China of using its economic power to bully smaller countries and said it had threatened the stability of the Taiwan Strait by pressuring three Latin American countries to sever ties with Taipei and recognize Beijing. Pence also denounced Beijing's crackdown on minority Muslims in the Xinjiang region. Last month, a U.N. rights panel said it had received credible reports that up to one million ethnic Uighurs may be held in extra-legal detention in Xinjiang, which China says faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists. U.S. officials have said they are considering targeted sanctions for human rights abuses. Daniel Russel, Washington's top diplomat for East Asia until last year, said there was a lot to dislike about Chinas behavior. But he said the claim that China was working to defeat Trump at the ballot box "rings hollow" and the approach could be counterproductive. "Even if you accept all of Pences complaints at face value, its hard to make the case that the administrations Cold War-style vilification of China will be effective or beneficial to U.S. interests, since it's clearly pushing Beijing to intransigence, not compromise." (Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Christopher Bing, Paresh Dave and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Bill Trott and Grant McCool)
HANOI (Reuters) - A Vietnamese court found five people guilty of attempting to overthrow the state on Friday, and sentenced them to between eight and 15 years in prison, police said after a one-day trial in Ho Chi Minh City. The indictment cited by police said the five had founded in 2016 a group called the "Vietnam National Coalition" that was intent on overthrowing the state. The group's chairman, Luu Van Vinh, had written posts on social media "saying that the current political regime of Vietnam was outdated and would be eliminated", the Ministry of Public Security said on its official news website. Vinh was handed a 15-year jail term, while the others were given lighter sentences, but even after their release they will all face additional three years of house arrest, the police said. Reuters could not immediately reach the lawyers for the five. VnExpress online newspaper reported that Vinh had not pleaded guilty at the trial. Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam's ruling Communist Party does not tolerate criticism and is particularly sensitive to organized groups of dissidents. State media reports cited the indictment as saying that the coalition "distorted the guidelines and policies of the (Communist) Party of Vietnam". Vietnam earlier this year had jailed several members of a pro-democracy group, having accused them of "anti-government activities". Several members of the Viet Tan, a U.S.-based human rights group that Vietnam regards as a "terrorist" body, have also been jailed in Vietnam over the recent years. (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
When people envision the South, they may conjure images made by photographers who stylized the Southernization of aesthetics during the last century. Walker Evans, Gordon Parks, Sally Mann and William Christenberry. There are the pastoral landscapes covered in Spanish moss; the storybook scenes of small towns and people whose lives have only known those small towns; historical images of segregation and stereotypical images impoverished Americans in crumbling homes. These images have had a lasting impact, but at a cost.
The perception of the South in photography is 50 years behind the reality, says Richard McCabe, curator of photography at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. Its a place thats shrouded in mystery and mythology and legend.
Marine, Hotel near airport, Richmond, VA, 2009, from the
Mamou, Louisiana, 2018, from the
New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014, from the
TIME recently devoted a special issue to the changing South, with photographers who reflected a variety of voices that either showed us the familiar in a surprising way, or a subject matter that we had not seen before. Their work, and more, is included in two upcoming exhibitions: New Southern Photography (opening Oct. 6) at the Ogden, and Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South (opening Oct. 19) at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston. Both exhibitions explore the sense of time, place and identity of a region in flux.
The show at the Ogden, curated by McCabe, features the work of 25 emerging, mid-career and established photographers. It explores the role of photography in formulating the visual iconography of the modern New South. The photographers probe regional identity, memory, deep familial connections to the land and tension between past and present.
The exhibition at the Halsey, co-curated by Mark Sloan, its director and chief curator, and Mark Long, a professor of political science, features 56 photographers who have captured the region since the turn of the century. Its purpose, according to the museum, is to investigate senses of place in the South that congeal, however fleetingly, in the spaces between the photographers looking, their images, and our own preexisting ideas about the region.
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Cat-Call, 2010, from the
From the ongoing Nashville Nights series, 2018. Potters new book Manifest
Titan, Hernando, MS, 2011, from the
As the two upcoming photography exhibitions make clear, the contemporary work being made in the South today works to break free of standards and stereotypes. The collective work illustrates the regions evolving demographic and geographic identity, widening our understanding of what the South is and can be.
One of the significant events taking place in the South today, as it grows and converts from being rural landscape to being suburban and urban landscaped, is the tension between the way the land has been for hundreds of years and whats happening on the outskirts of Orlandos and Atlantas and Charlottes, Alan Rothschild, founder of the Do Good Fund, an organization developing a permanent collection of Southern photography since World War II, tells TIME.
People are playing with traditional genres landscape, portraiture and still-life. Whats happening, especially in the landscape, its a post-modernist take on the landscape, people manipulating the image reimagining of the imagery in the studio, applying paint onto the surface, McCabe tells TIME. He points to the work of John Chiara, whose photographs of the Mississippi landscape, made through a large pinhole camera on the back of a trunk, become painterly, abstract and highbred-like images.
They Will Be Punished with Everlasting Destruction, from the
Trevor Blake, 22, Genderqueer, Athens, Ga., from the
Oakhurst Road at Payne Road V1, 2018, featured in the
Rothschild points to the work of Atlanta-based photographer Peyton Fulford as an example of successful chronicling of communities that historically have not received much attention. Fulfords project Infinite Tenderness focuses on intimacy and identity among queer youth who grew up in small towns and rural areas. McCabe cites the work of Tommy Kha, a queer, Asian-American photographer from Memphis, whose work focuses on his personal identity through self-portraiture.
Another photographer, RaMell Ross, who is based in Alabama and Rhode Island, has been photographing and filmmaking in Hale County, Ala., for seven years. In McCabes words, it is the most, probably, iconic county in Southern art and Southern photography. Ross, who TIME commissioned for a portfolio of film sets in Georgia, or Hollywood South, is exploring Hale County to uncover elements left out by Christenberry and Evans, who largely focused on the white communities.
The African American community is largely invisible in the early work of Evans in Hale County, Long tells TIME. As McCabe tells it, there is a significance to an African-American returning to Hale County and taking control of the narrative. It shines a light on communities that were previously invisible.
Berea, Kentucky, Aug. 2016
Maw Maws New Braids, Duncan, Miss., from the
Super Sunday Uptown, New Orleans
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, 2017, featured in the
Mary Bell #305026 (Incarcerated at Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women), Anna, 2013, from the
Couple in Park, 2016, featured in the
Snake, 2015, featured in the
Jihad Lamp, Fort Polk, Louisiana, 2006, from the
WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump's national security adviser on Thursday unveiled the administration's long-awaited counterterrorism strategy, delivering it with harsh words for Iran.
Calling Iran the "world's central banker of international terrorism," Bolton said the strategy will rely on traditional military action to fight terrorists, but also seek increased emphasis on non-military means to battle not only Islamic State militants but those backed by Iran and other groups.
"We recognize that there's a terrorist ideology that we're confronting, and I think it's long been the president's view that without recognizing that we're in an ideological struggle, that we can't properly address the terrorist threat," Bolton said.
In line with the Trump administration's "America First" policy, the strategy also calls for sharing the burden and expense of fighting terrorism with allies.
"The strategy also places greater emphasis on protecting the homeland, preventing attacks, and mitigating the impact of an attack, should one occur," Bolton said.
It's the first U.S. strategy on counterterrorism since President Barack Obama released his approach in 2011, but it has similar themes to those released by previous administrations.
The strategy's goals are far-reaching: pursue terrorists all the way to the source of their support, modernize counterterrorism tools, counter radicalization, protect U.S. infrastructure, strengthen borders and limit militants' ability to recruit online.
Bolton said radical extremists represent a "pre-eminent transnational terrorist threat" to the U.S. and its interests abroad. The new strategy is broader than those released by previous administrations, he said.
"We're looking at all of the threatening ideologies that we face, including not just Sunni ideologies" espoused by IS militants, but Iran-sponsored terrorist groups, such as Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad, Bolton said. He noted that the Treasury Department issued sanctions earlier Thursday to disrupt Hezbollah's financial support networks.
Lalish (Iraq) (AFP) - Yazidi pilgrims trekked up a mountain in northern Iraq barefoot Friday for their most important ritual, their joy doubled on hearing that their "daughter" Nadia Murad had won the Nobel Peace Prize.
During the seven-day festival, known as the Jemayyiat, friends and families gather around the tomb of their founder Sheikh Adi at a mountain top temple in the holy town of Lalish.
They unite as a people to worship and eat together in a festive mood which this year has taken on a whole new flavour because of Murad.
"We are very happy because she won," said pilgrim Loqman Suleiman as he walked along the one-kilometre path to the temple.
"She is the Yazidi voice from abroad and she speaks for all our nation," he said.
All around him, pilgrims flocking to Sheikh Adi's shrine are all smiles and proud of the young Nobel peace laureate, the first Iraqi to receive such an honour.
Murad, a 25-year-old Yazidi campaigner, will share the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize with Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege for their work in fighting sexual violence in conflicts around the world.
The young woman is a former Islamic State group sex slave who in 2014 was kidnapped by the jihadists and held three months before she managed to escape.
She survived the worst cruelties inflicted on her people.
Thousands of Yazidi women and girls were abducted, raped and brutalised by jihadists during their assault on the Kurdish-speaking minority, which the United Nations has described as genocide.
- 'We pray for her' -
Murad once lived a quiet life in the village of Kocho in the Yazidi stronghold of Sinjar close to the border with Syria before the jihadists turned it into hell.
Years after her ordeal she campaigns for the 3,000 Yazidis who remain missing, presumed still in IS captivity, with Lamia Haji Bashar, a friend with whom she shared the 2016 Sakharov human rights prize.
Zeri Khodr, who is also from Kocho, said 12 members of her family who were abducted by IS jihadists are still among the missing and Nadia's efforts to lobby for their release is of utmost importance.
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"Nadia used to visit us in the (refugee) camps to ask about our welfare," Khodr, 40, said.
"She is like a daughter to us and we pray that she will continue her fight" for the missing Yazidis, she added.
The Yazidis are one of Iraq's most vulnerable minorities who mainly live in remote corners of northern Iraq and are followers of an ancient religion that emerged in Iran more than 4,000 years ago.
Their faith is rooted in Zoroastrianism but has over time integrated elements of Islam and Christianity.
With no holy book and organised in castes, Yazidis pray to God facing the sun and worship his seven angels -- first and foremost Melek Taus, or Peacock Angel.
Yazidis believe that the seven angels gather during the seven-day Jemayyiat festival to shower those who gather at the Lalish temple with their blessings.
And on Friday they were truly blessed as the Nobel committee announced that Murad became a peace laureate.
"Today marks a special day for the Yazidis and other minorities and all victims of Genocide and mass atrocities committed" by IS, said the Yazidi NGO Yazda.
"We hope that this recognition will help Nadia and Yazidis endeavours to bring justice, peace, and coexistence," Yazda tweeted on Friday.
The United Nations is facing new allegations that peacekeepers in Central African Republic sexually assaulted at least three children under 18 and raped three adult women earlier this year, the latest in a series of sexual misconduct claims that have marred UN peacekeeping efforts in recent years.
The UN said Friday it has detained a suspect after its preliminary inquiry into the allegations involving the minors, who were allegedly abused by Mauritanian troops participating in the peacekeeping mission . The rape accusations pertain to troops from Cameroon who haven't been identified, the UN said.
China will be part of the solution to the North Korean crisis, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, brushing aside the possibility that worsening US tensions with Beijing could hamper efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
Speaking to a pool reporter en route to his fourth visit this year to North Korea, Pompeo said the aim of his talks in Pyongyang at the weekend would be "to make sure we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve."
The residents of Kibbutz Kerem Shalom have expressed their anger and frustration amid the continuous launching of incendiary kites and balloons into the Gaza border communities and the burning of tires during weekly "March of Return" riots on the Gaza border fence.
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More than 2,000 fires have broken out during the past six month, consuming thousands of dunams of farmland and natural grove.
Thick smoke covering Kerem Shalom area (: )
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Throughout Friday, at least seven fires erupted in the Gaza border communities as a result of incendiary balloons flown into Israel from the strip. Firefighter teams gained control over the fires.
An average of 20 fires sparked per day as the kites and balloons terrorism began. Several months later, an average of 10 fires broke out each day, and currently the figures show some 12 conflagrations erupt daily.
Meanwhile, as the negotiations talks to achieve ceasefire between Israel and Hamas reached a dead end, the Gaza border fence riots turned much more violent.
Some 20,000 protesters gathered Friday along the Gaza border fence to take part in the weekly border clashes, burning tires and hurling explosive devices at IDF troops.
Kibbutz Kerem Shalom was covered with a cloud of thick smoke as a result of the tire burning.
Fires break out throughout Gaza border communities (Photo: Barel Efraim)
Firefighting teams operating at the scene used super-sized fans in an attempt to prevent the smoke from penetrating into the Kibbutz.
Gaza Division Commander Brig. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs arrived in the community to encourage its residents. However, they lashed out at him saying, "The situation here is intolerable."
"The Palestinian protest is dictating our lives. We are living in a black suffocating cloud of smoke and tear gas," they vented.
"We don't intend to contain this situation, which disrupts our lives," the Kerem Shalom residents exclaimed.
"We are not talking about one or two incidents. This is our daily routine. How is it possible that the powerful State of Israel is unable to eradicate the tire burning phenomenon?" one of the resident wondered.
"We are strong and determined to stay here and raise our children, even under challenging conditions," he asserted.
Earlier, Yair Farjun, head of the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, sent a letter to the Kerem Shalom residents regarding a possible escalation on the border fence.
Gaza border riots (Photo: AFP)
"We are all aware of the option of a military escalation. The decision to increase the IDF forces deployment as well as Iron Dome batteries stress the concern of escalation. The IDF adopted a protocol according to which it faces security challenges and its activity is daily.
"The Ashkelon Regional Council is closely monitoring any security developments, and I'm in constant contact with the IDF and the security forces," Farjun wrote.
"The instructions are to maintain routine procedure. The security coordinators and the emergency teams are informed, and are prepared to assist the Gaza border communities, its residents and all those seeking their help," he concluded.
During the weekend's border fence skirmishes, rioters set alight tires and threw explosive devices at IDF troops, who responded with riot control measures, which for the first time included the use of sponge-tipped bullets.
However, this week's protests were less violent than those taking place during the past few weeks.
Incendiary balloon launchers
The Hamas terror organization said that "The response to the Israeli threats against the March of Return campaign ... was the mass participation in the protests," adding that "those who participated decided that nothing would stop them from marching until their goals are achieved."
The Palestinian health ministry said that three demonstrators aged 12, 24, and 28 were killed during the riots, and 126 were wounded.
The IDF Spokespersons Unit said in a statement that in response to "grenades and explosive devices" hurled at troops during the protests, an IAF aircraft carried out two airstrikes on Hamas terror posts in the strip. The statement added that some protesters crossed the fence to throw grenades on Israeli territory before returning to the strip. No Israeli casualties were reported.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the situation on the southern border during Friday's meeting with German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas.
"Israel would take strong action against Gaza for every action against Israel and the residents of the south," he stressed.
In addition, the newly elected leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nakhala, spoke publicly for the first time since his official appointment a week ago, warning the Gaza border communities residents.
Death is life for our people and life for our children, and capitulation is our death. The Israeli aggression against the 'March of Return' campaign and the killing of our people must stop, he stated.
The resistance must take responsibility for this. It has the ability to turn the Gaza border region and its settlements into a place that is not life worthy," Nakhala threatened.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Photo: Defense Ministry)
"We say to (Palestinian President) Mahmoud Abbas: our people's historical enemy doesnt understand words of peace and compromise, but of war and sanctions," Nakhala said addressing Abbas.
"We've recently worked to strengthen our relations with all parties, especially with Hamas," he added.
Prior to the demosntartions, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman conveyed a message to Hamas leaders.
"We got through the High Holy Days just as we had planned, without a war erupting and while exacting a heavy price from the rioters on the Gaza border," Lieberman tweeted. "But the holidays are now behind us, and I tell the heads of Hamas: 'Take that into account.'"
Lieberman thanked the IDF troops for their hard work defending the border fence, wishing them "Shabbat Shalom."
The defense minister held security consultations on Thursday with the IDF chief of staff, the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, the coordinator of government activities in the territories (COGAT) and other senior defense officials to discuss the situation in Gaza.
Russia is attempting to establish channel of communication between Israel and Iran, the Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported Saturday.
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According to the report, a Russian source said Moscow has begun investing efforts in promoting the move, which is meant to "ease tensions in the area and lower the chance of friction" following the transfer of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Syria.
Left to right: Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and PM Benjamin Netanyahu
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry released footage of the S-300 system arriving in Damascus.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Russian President Vladimir Putin that the S-300 system had arrived in Syria.
Footage showing S-300 system transfer to Syria (: )
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"The work was finished a day ago," Shoigu said to Putin. He also added that it will take three months to train Syrian personnel to operate the system.
"The equipment transferred includes 49 unit of military gear, among them radars, operation systems and four launchers," Shoigu added.
Russia announced last week that it would supply the anti-aircraft missiles after Syrian forces responding to an Israeli airstrike in the coastal city of Latakia two weeks ago mistakenly shot down a Russian military reconnaissance plane, killing all 15 people on board.
Russia views Israel as the responsible for the downing of the plane. Moscow claims Israel has misled it about its attack zone and did not inform the Russian air force enough time in advance about the strike.
S-300 arrives in Syria
While speaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a the phone, Putin said that Russias actions "are aimed at protecting its military."
During a press conference held on the sidelines on the United Nations General Assembly last weekend, Shoigu said that the surface-to-air missile system would be delivered to Syria, despite Israel's requests not to provide the embattled country with the system due to Israel's activity in the area.
Addressing the S-300 system transfer to Syrian soil, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that it would cause "a serious escalation in concerns and issue going on in Syria."
She added that the US cannot yet confirm that the system in fact arrived in Syria.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday he would coordinate closely with Japan during denuclearization talks with North Korea and promised to raise the issue of the abductions of Japanese citizens in his meetings in Pyongyang.
"We will have a fully coordinated, unified view of how to proceed, which will be what is needed if it is going to be successful in denuclearizing North Korea," Pompeo told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.
"We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well," he said.
The UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees expressed concern on Friday over moves by the mayor of Jerusalem to close down its operations in the city.
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Mayor Nir Barkat said on Thursday he had developed a plan to end the Jerusalem operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and to replace them with Israeli services.
UNRWA (Photo: MCT)
UNRWA has faced a financial crisis since the United States in August announced it was cutting aid to the body, calling it an "irredeemably flawed operation" with an "endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries".
Barkat, on Twitter, said the US decision created an opportunity to change the current situation, which he said would otherwise "perpetuate the 'refugee problem' and encourage incitement".
UNRWA, in a statement, said it "expresses its concern about recent statements made by the mayor of Jerusalem on its operations and installations in east Jerusalem".
"UNRWA has continuously maintained its operations in east Jerusalem since 1967 with the cooperation and on the basis of a formal agreement with the State of Israel, which remains in force," it said.
It said it provided education, health, relief and social services in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as a capital of a future state.
Barkat said that under his plan the municipality would take over education, welfare and health services. "We provide services for all residents alikethere are no refugees in our city," he said.
The government's Central Bureau of Statistics says Jerusalem has a population of 900,000, including about 340,000 Arabs.
UNRWA was founded in 1949 after the first Arab-Israel warthe War of Independencein the wake of the exodus of around 700,000 refugees who fled or were driven out of Israel on its founding as a state.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat (Photo: AP)
The nascent state of Israel absorbed Jewish refugees who were expelled or who fled from neighboring Arab countries, while other Arab states refused to grant the Palestinians citizenship.
UNRWA now looks after more than 5 million descendants of those original refugees, in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel argues that UNRWA perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem by grossly inflating the number of bonafide refugees.
Since the agency includes descendants of Palestinian refugees from the War of Independence, it grants refugee status to Palestinians according to a criteria that is not adhered to in any other refugee question.
In the absence of a solution, the UN General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said UNRWA should be abolished and its responsibilities taken over by the main UN refugee agency.
Some in Israel have even tougher criticism, accusing UNRWA of teaching hatred of Israel in its classrooms and tolerating or assisting Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
The US meanwhile has demanded the agency carry out reforms before it restores funding.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been sidelined, isolated and humiliated by the Trump administration. But the embattled Palestinian leader might have the final say in determining the fate of the White Houses long-awaited vision for Mideast peace.
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In recent weeks, Abbas has thwarted a series of internationally backed initiatives aimed at rehabilitating the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. With Gaza expected to be the centerpiece of the US peace plan, Abbas has given himself a virtual veto over the expected American initiative. The deadlock over Gaza appears to be a key reason behind the repeated delays in unveiling the plan.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
The US is trying to use the humanitarian situation in Gaza as a tool to implement its plan, said Mohammed Ishtayeh, a top Palestinian official. We say that Gaza is an integral part of the Palestinian lands, and solving the problems of Gaza should be in the context of a broad political framework.
For all of its talk about bringing a new approach to Middle East diplomacy, the Trump White House is running into a familiar obstacle that has confounded its predecessors and the international community for over a decade: the Hamas terror groups continued control over Gaza.
The American refusal to work with the terror organization, and its inability to oust it, has made it virtually impossible to move forward on the diplomatic fronta weakness that Abbas now appears to be exploiting.
Abbas has two main concerns. First, he fears that any interim ceasefire deal in Gaza will deepen Hamass control over the territory.
Second, after Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital and his attacks on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Abbas fears the US is trying to remove sensitive issues from the negotiating agenda. For him, Gaza is the last obstacle preventing the US from forcing what he sees as an unacceptable plan on him.
US President Donald Trump
What is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people? Humanitarian solutions? Abbas said in an address to the UN General Assembly last week.
Hamas,which opposes Israels existence, seized control of Gaza from Abbass forces in 2007. Despite three wars with Israel, and an Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has devastated the economy and international isolation, Hamas remains firmly in control.
Abbas says there can be no progress on the diplomatic front until he regains control of Gaza. Attempts to reconcile with Hamas have repeatedly failed, leaving the Palestinians divided between rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza.
Abbas seeks an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalemareas captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. The two-state solution has widespread international support.
But since taking office, President Donald Trumps Mideast team, led by his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, has backed away from the two-state solution. Although the Trump team has refused to reveal details of its plan, the Palestinians fear the US is plotting to impose a mini state that would consist of Gaza and only small pieces of the West Bank.
Two senior Palestinian officials confirmed that Abbas has been working behind the scenes to scuttle UN and Egyptian attempts to forge a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas or to carry out large infrastructure projects that would bring relief to Gazas beleaguered population.
(Photos: Yonatan Sindel, AFP)
As the officially recognized Palestinian representative, Abbass government continues to coordinate the movement of goods through Israeli-controlled crossings into Gaza. This has given him the ability to block large-scale projects, even when approved by Israel.
Israel, which has come under fierce international criticism over Gazas dire state, has in recent days seized on the Palestinian president's moves, perhaps to deflect attention from its own policies.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Abbas of choking Gaza, warning it could lead to very difficult consequences.
The Palestinian officials also said Abbas has relayed messages to the US through his Arab allies, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, that there can be no peace plan that excludes him from Gaza.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal Palestinian deliberations, said Abbas fears various plans under consideration will end up entrenching Hamas and freezing him out of Gaza.
Abbas believes there can be no significant progress in Gaza without a reconciliation deal that brings him back to power in the territory. The talks have repeatedly broken down over Hamass refusal to disarm.
This week, another set of Egyptian-brokered talks ended inconclusively, according to people close to the talks.
Until yesterday, we did not reach any result worth mentioning, said Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas official in Gaza. He accused Abbas of taking retaliatory action against the people of Gaza.
Hamas delegation in Egypt
Abbas has taken a series of measures against the territory, slashing the salaries of thousands of former government workers in Gaza and cutting fuel subsidies to pay for electricity, all in an effort to step up pressure on Hamas.
These measures, combined with the decade-long blockade, have sent Gazas economy into freefall. The increasingly desperate Hamas has stepped up mass protests along the Gaza border in hopes of pressuring Israel to ease the blockade.
In his address to the UN General Assembly last week, Abbas threatened to tighten the screws even harder, warning he could not bear any responsibility for Gaza if the deadlock with Hamas continues.
At the same time, Israel and international donor nations were meeting on the sidelines of the assembly to discuss ways to improve conditions in Gaza. Those talks, like similar meetings in recent months, ended inconclusively.
Jason Greenblatt, the White Houses Mideast envoy, blamed Hamas for the dire conditions in Gaza and said the US will not fund a situation that empowers Hamas.
Yet he also voiced frustration with Abbas, urging other countries to be direct and frank in pushing the Palestinian Authority to forge a new, sustainable path.
The Gaza conundrum is just the latest obstacle for the US peace plan. The Palestinians cut off ties with the White House after Trump declared Jerusalem to be Israels capital and moved the US Embassy there.
The Trump administration has also cut hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Palestinians, including $300 million for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and shuttered the Palestinians diplomatic mission in Washington.
Accusing the US of being unfairly biased toward Israel, Abbas has already said he will not consider the American peace plan.
Greenblatt acknowledged the challenge ahead at the donor meeting. Refusing to say when his plan would be released, he pleaded for all sides to consider the proposal.
Palestinians and Israelis deserve to read it, think about it, engage on it, and see if we can make it happen, he said.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he had ordered his ministers to stop receiving consulting services from US firm McKinsey, after the deal came under fire from the main opposition.
Last month, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who is also Erdogan's son-in-law, announced that Turkey had decided to work with McKinsey as part of efforts to implement a new medium-term economic program.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), this week accused Erdogan of siding with US firms at a time when relations with Washington have been hit by the detention of a US evangelical pastor in Turkey and other issues.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman instructed Saturday to scale down Gaza Strip's fishing zone from nine to six nautical miles, following Friday's violent rioting on the Gaza border and attempts to launch flotillas from the strip.
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Lieberman held consultations with senior IDF and Shin Bet officials as well as with the coordinator of government activities in the territories (COGAT) and instructed them to be prepared for "additional steps if the violent incidents continue."
Other measures could include more restrictions at Kerem Shalom, Gaza's prime commercial crossing point and the only one with Israel.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman
Lieberman cited Friday's riots at the fence dividing Gaza and Israel as contributing to his decision, in addition to the midweek beach protests in which fishing boats and protesters gather at the northwest end of the Gaza Strip where its sea and land barriers meet with Israel.
Some 20,000 protesters gathered Friday along the Gaza border fence to take part in the weekly border clashes, burning tires and hurling explosive devices at IDF troops and covering the adjacent Kibbutz Kerem Shalom with thick smoke.
The IDF said that some protesters crossed the fence to throw grenades on Israeli territory before returning to the strip.
The IDF responded with crowd dispersal measures, which for the first time included the use of sponge-tipped bullets.
Three Palestinians aged 12, 24, and 28 were killed during the skirmishes.
No Israeli casualties were reported.
Rampant violence on security border (Photo: AP)
In response to "grenades and explosive devices" hurled at troops during the protests, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft carried out two airstrikes on Hamas military positions in the Gaza Strip.
Ahead of the Friday clashes, the IDF closed to traffic at least four roads in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip border due to fears of a possible escalation of hostilities in the area.
Throughout the day Friday, at least seven fires broke out in the Gaza border communities as a result of incendiary balloons being launched into Israel from the strip. Firefighter teams gained control over the fires.
Gaza border riots (Photo: AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the situation on the southern border during Friday's meeting with German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas. "Israel would take strong action against Gaza for every action against Israel and the residents of the south," he stressed.
The military brass headed by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot toured Friday the Gaza border area, after which they held a situation assessment.
IDF chief Eisenkot tours Gaza border (: " )
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During the riots, the newly elected leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziad al-Nakhala, spoke publicly for the first time since his official appointment a week ago, warning the Gaza border communities residents.
Death is life for our people and life for our children, and capitulation is our death. The Israeli aggression against the 'March of Return' campaign and the killing of our people must stop, he stated.
The resistance must take responsibility for this. It has the ability to turn the Gaza border region and its settlements into a place that is not life worthy," Nakhala threatened.
"We say to (Palestinian President) Mahmoud Abbas: our people's historical enemy doesnt understand words of peace and compromise, but of war and sanctions," Nakhala said addressing Abbas, adding "We've recently worked to strengthen our relations with all parties, especially with Hamas."
Carrying Syrian flags and pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad, dozens of Israeli Arab Druze who live on the Golan Heights gathered on Israeli-Syrian border Saturday to celebrate what they consider to be success in the Syrian civil war.
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Dressed in traditional black garb and white hats, the small crowd chanted and shouted into megaphones, pledging loyalty to Assad, while Syrian soldiers, hundreds of meters away, across a security fence and on the opposite side of a valley, yelled back in support.
The Druze are an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam and whose adherents in Syria have long been loyal to the ruling Assad family.
Emil Masoud, 38, who lives in the village of Massade, said they gathered to "celebrate the final stages of the war ... and to celebrate with our people in Syria the final stage of victory."
Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines of Syria's seven-year civil war.
The border itself has been mostly calm, with occasional stray fire from Syria or brief exchanges, though heavy fighting could be easily heard and seen in the distance.
Israeli Druze, some of whom have influence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and the military, have at times urged Israel to intervene across the frontier, where hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed and millions driven from their homes during the civil war.
Once willing to consider returning the Golan for peace with Syria, Israel has in recent years argued that the war in Syria and the presence there of Iranian troops backing Damascus show they need to keep the strategic plateau.
BEIRUT - Two Turkey-backed Syrian rebel officials told Reuters that rebel groups had begun to withdraw heavy weaponry from a demilitarized zone in northwest Syria on Saturday morning.
"The process of withdrawing heavy weapons began this morning and will continue for a number of days," one rebel official told Reuters.
PARIS - French police are investigating the disappearance of Interpol chief, Meng Hongwei, who was reported missing after travelling from France to his native China, while his wife has been placed under police protection after receiving threats.
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Meng's wife contacted police in Lyon, the French city where the international police agency is based, after not hearing from him since September 25, and after receiving threats by phone and on social media, France's interior ministry said.
A person familiar with the investigation said the initial working assumption was that Meng had antagonized Chinese authorities in some way and had been detained as a result.
Meng Hongwei (Photo: gettyimages)
"France is puzzled about the situation of Interpol's president and concerned about the threats made to his wife," the ministry said, adding that it was in contact with China.
Meng's wife, who has remained in Lyon with their children according to police sources, was receiving protection, it said.
It was not clear why Meng, 64, who was named Interpol's president two years ago, had travelled to China, which has not commented officially on his disappearance.
China's Ministry of Public Security did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment and there was no mention of him in official media on Saturday.
There have been several cases in recent years of senior Chinese officials vanishing without explanation, only for the government to announce weeks or even months later that they have been put under investigation, often for suspected corruption.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted an unnamed source as saying Meng had been taken for questioning as soon as he landed in China, but it was not clear why.
French police are investigating what is officially termed in France a "worrying disappearance."
Interpol, which groups 192 countries and which is usually focused on finding people who are missing or wanted, said in a statement from its secretary general, Juergen Stock, that it had asked China for clarification.
"Interpol has requested through official law enforcement channels clarification from China's authorities on the status of Interpol President Meng Hongwei," Stock, who is in charge Interpol's day-to-day running, said on Saturday.
'Bizarre'
Roderic Broadhurst, a professor of criminology at Australian National University, said Meng's disappearance would be "pretty disconcerting" for people in international bodies that work with China, and could ultimately damage China's efforts to develop cooperative legal assistance measures with other countries.
"It is bizarre," Broadhurst said on Saturday, adding that China was likely to "brush off" any political damage that it would cause to Beijing's involvement in international bodies.
"It's a price that might have to be paid, but I guess they would see that as a cost worth bearing," Broadhurst said.
Presidents of Interpol are seconded from their national administrations and remain in their home post while representing the international policing body.
Meng is listed on the website of China's Ministry of Public Security as a vice-minister, but lost his seat on its Communist Party Committee in April, the South China Morning Post reported.
Meng has almost 40 years' experience in criminal justice and policing, and has overseen matters related to legal institutions, narcotics control and counter-terrorism, according to Interpol's website.
Interpol staff can carry special passports to help speed deployment in emergency situations but that would not have given Meng any specific rights or immunity in his home country.
When Meng was named Interpol's president in November 2016, human rights groups expressed concern that Beijing might try to leverage his position to pursue dissidents abroad. Beijing has in the past pressed countries to arrest and deport to China citizens it accuses of crimes, from corruption to terrorism.
At the time, Amnesty International called Meng's appointment "at odds with Interpol's mandate to work in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
Two Turkey-backed Syrian rebel officials told Reuters that rebel groups on Saturday began withdrawing heavy weaponry from a demilitarized zone agreed by Turkey and Russia in northwest Syria.
"The process of withdrawing heavy weapons began this morning and will continue for a number of days," a rebel group commander told Reuters.
The official said the Turkey-backed National Front for Liberation (NFL) rebel alliance will extract its heavy weaponrysuch as rocket launchers and artillery vehiclesand bring it 20 km (12 miles) from the contact line between insurgents in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province and government forces.
The interview given by Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, to Yedioth Ahronoth and La Repubblica was met with criticism in the strip and suspicion and skepticism in Israel.
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Sinwar, who came under fire in Gaza for agreeing to give an interview to an Israeli newspaper, claimed Italian journalist Francesca Borri asked to interview him for La Repubblica and the British Guardian newspaper and made no mention of Yedioth Ahronoth.
He also claimed the interview was not done in person, but rather by correspondence, with the journalist sending her questions and receiving answers.
Sinwar with Italian journalist Francesca Borri
However, Sinwar knew ahead of time the interview will be published in Yedioth Ahronoth, and even conveyed a message directly to the Israeli public.
Furthermore, the Hamas leader and his organization know Borri from previous articles of hers that were published in Yedioth Ahronoth, reporting from the Gaza Strip.
Finally, photos published in Yedioth Ahronoth show Sinwar with Borri at his office in Gaza City, showing the interview was indeed conducted face-to-face.
In Israel, opinions were split about the interview.
"Sinwar sounds like a level-headed man who knows exactly what needs to be done, and I believe he doesn't want wars, but he's not alone in the Palestinian arena," said Batya Holin, who lives in Kfar Aza, which is located on the strip's border. "Unfortunately, on our side I don't see anyone who has any sort of strategy."
Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, whose city is under constant threat of rockets being fired from Gaza, said he did not believe a word Sinwar said.
"Sinwar's words are nonsense, with him blaming everyone for the Gaza residents' situation except himself," Davidi criticized. "The hudna (truce) Sinwar is talking about will only happen after the elimination of him and of the Hamas leadership in Gaza."
Shaar HaNegev head Alon Schuster, whose regional council is also under constant rocket threat, noted that "Sinwar's words demonstrate the pragmatism of Hamas's heads."
"Israel has the responsibility to leadalong with the international communitya move that would give the strip's residents a basis for existence," he opined.
Israeli politicians mostly responded to the interview with skepticism.
Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant quoted Chazal, saying "the best among the serpents, crush his head..." adding that "Sinwar is a venomous serpent who is trying to dress up as an innocent sheep."
Zionist Union MK Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin accused Sinwar of "playing, (speaking) in ten different voices," claiming that "if he does indeed seek peace, only actions to calm down the tensions will prove that and not empty statements."
Her fellow Zionist Union MK Leah Fadida noted that "while the interview is indeed an impressive journalistic achievement, it is also testimony of the complete loss of deterrence," blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The rare interview received wide coverage around the world, with all news agencies reporting on it alongside leading newspapers in Europe, the US and the Middle East.
The Washington Post's story about the interview was headlined "Hamas leader gave rare interview to Israeli newspaper, then said he was duped," putting an emphasis on Hamas denying knowing the interview was for an Israeli newspaper.
Borri is quoted in the Post as saying that the Palestinians "know my work is translated into Hebrew and they know that through me they can reach Israel. I am totally transparent.
French newspaper Liberation questioned Hamas's denials; pointing to the fact Sinwar himself mentions his desire to send a message to Israelis in the interview.
The Abu Dhabi-based English newspaper The National reported on the interview in an article titled "Hamas chief: I don't want any more wars with Israel," while Turkish news company TRT World noted Hamas's objective with this interview was to address Israelis directly and described it as "Sinwar takes an opportunity to search for peace."
Women wishing to become active in local government in Israel still face a glass ceiling, female politicians have argued. In fact, after MK Rachel Azaria (Kulanu), and producer Zippi Brand Frank both dropped out of the upcoming Jerusalem and Tel Aviv races respectively, there are no women left to run for the mayoral races in Israels two biggest cities.
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In the upcoming municipal elections, slated for October 30, voters will select from a range of candidates for city council, in addition to voting for the mayoral slot.
MK Rachel Azaria
Azaria quit the race after her campaign racked up debt funding a lawsuit against the Egged bus company, forcing it to allow political advertisements featuring female candidates on Jerusalem buses. These images are often the targets of vandalism by members of the ultra-Orthodox community, who fervently object to images of women in public.
Brand Frank withdrew her mayoral candidacy for Tel Aviv last week, joining Asaf Zamir, her former rival, to run as his number two, in a bid to unseat current mayor Ron Huldai, who has served in the position for 19 years. Brand Frank had pushed a political platform focusing on children and education.
Zippi Brand Frank
Chairman of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, MK Aida Touma-Suleiman (Joint List), believes the lack of female representation at the local level is due to both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv being particularly complicated cities for women to navigate politically.
Local politics in Israel have a different dynamic (than national politics), Touma-Sliman told The Media Line. Local elections require a candidate to either be part of a strong party, or to run costly campaigns independently with their own funds.
The lawmakerwho also founded the Women Against Violence Association which aims to advance the status of women in Israels Arab sectornoted that local governments often rely on unpaid voluntary work, which is more difficult for women to provide, given they are traditionally responsible for a larger share of domestic duties. She also argued that the system in place at the local level still very much favored male candidates.
I think women can be more politically successful by going through large, well-organized parties rather than by running independently because then there is a support system in place, Touma-Sliman asserted. In Israeli politics, there is still very much of a conservative, male-dominated and patriarchal atmosphere.
Women currently hold 28 percent of parliamentary seats (34 out of 120) and 18% of ministerial posts, the highest on record since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
MK Aida Touma-Suleiman (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Though the representation of women in the Israeli parliament has significantly improved over the past two decades, with women now holding more seats than ever, their numbers in local government positions have conspicuously lagged behind.
For instance, only six out of 256 local government heads serving in Israel are women, and overall, women make up only 13 percent of all council members in the country.
According to the World Economic Forums 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, which measures things like economic opportunity and participation as well as political empowerment, Israel ranked 44th out of 144 countries, down nine places from its position a decade ago.
Some activists are trying to address the gender imbalance by getting women more involved in municipal elections. One such effort has been undertaken by HALOThe Women of Tel Aviv party, an all-female list of candidates running for Tel Avivs city council.
Founded by Shelly Harel, who previously worked in the mayors office, the group hopes to address the gender gap in municipal representation.
This is the first ever all-female municipal party to run for city council in Tel Aviv, Maayan Bodenstein, a deputy of the party, explained.
Out of 31 council seats, only eight today are held by women. Unfortunately, not many women run for mayor (in Israel) and its not yet the norm, which is something we are trying to change. But were not there yet.
MK Aida Touma-Suleiman (Photo: Knesset Channel)
Some of the issues that HALO mentions in its platform are providing financial aid to female students who are single mothers, promoting female entrepreneurs and business owners, and adapting public spaces to women (or men) with strollers.
When asked whether the party intends to join the mayoral race, Bodenstein replied that it is currently focusing its efforts on reaching gender equality in the city council.
We believe that 2018 is the year for women, Bodenstein said, referring to the #MeToo social media movement against sexual harassment and assault, which has dominated the headlines over the past year.
Women can advance issues affecting everyone, but only women can properly address issues facing women, which men might ignore.
Touma-Sliman also emphasized the importance of women being politically active in local government. Every citizenwhether male or femalehas the right to be represented, she declared.
Anyone who wants to serve the public shouldnt have to face obstacles. Women have their own experiences and bring their own perspectives, which I think is very important. They have to represent their own interests to bring about a more egalitarian society, she concluded.
Article written by Maya Margit.
One of the largest fires over the past six months broke out Saturday evening in Ein HaBesor, a moshav in the Eshkol Regional Council.
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The fire was possibly caused from an incendiary balloon flown from Gaza, as minutes before the fire broke out balloons were seen being blown from the strip.
Fire at Ein HaBesor (Photo: Tamara Cohen)
Large firefighting forces, security personnel and farmers from the area are working to stop the fire from reaching the moshav's greenhouses. The fire is spreading quickly, and the residents have asked for reinforcements.
One resident told Ynet that "One of the residents of the area saw an incendiary balloon land and within minutes the fire broke out. We rushed to the place and tried to gain control of the fire, but since this is a very dry area, the fire simply spread. We're worried we might need the help of firefighting planes. A lot of people want to come and help, but it is very dangerous."
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Eli Cohen, a spokesman of the southern district's fire department, said that "since this is a landfill fire, it could burn for several days and the smoke will continue spreading at the wind's direction."
He noted this was the third landfill fire in the southern district over the past two days. "The findings in previous fires pointing to it not being caused by a balloon. The conclusions will be released at the end of the investigation," Cohen said.
(Photo: Roee Idan)
Earlier Saturday, a fire broke out as a result of an incendiary balloon in the Kissufim area. It was put out fairly quickly.
Friday saw several fires caused by incendiary devices from the strip on top of violent clashes on the border in which some 20,000 Palestinians took part and three were killed.
The IDF Spokespersons Unit said in a statement that in response to "grenades and explosive devices" hurled at troops during the protests, an IAF aircraft carried out two airstrikes on Hamas militant positions in the Gaza Strip. The statement added that some protesters crossed the fence to throw grenades on Israeli territory before returning to the strip.
Residents of kibbutz Kerem Shalom, which is also close to the Gaza border, closed themselves up in their homes on Friday because of the heavy smoke that spread throughout the area.
(Photo: 24/7 News on Facebook)
As a result of the violent rioting, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman decided Saturday to scale down the Gaza Strip's fishing zone from nine to six nautical miles.
Lieberman held consultations with senior IDF and Shin Bet officials as well as with the coordinator of government activities in the territories (COGAT) and instructed them to be prepared for "additional steps if the violent incidents continue."
The interview with Yahya Sinwar , which was published this Friday in Yedioth Ahronoth and La Repubblica, could go down in history as an interview given on the eve of war. Even though the Israeli defense establishment will likely dismiss the interviewthis is a strategic warning. Over the heads of the Israeli leadership, which ignores him and pushes him to the side, Sinwar is sending a message between the lines to the Israeli public: I cannot accept the increasing chaos in the Gaza Strip. If the stalemate in negotiations continues, neither I nor the Hamas movement can survive the public opinion at home. And so you leave me no other option, except perhaps war. If you don't stop Gaza from going hungry, I'll make sure you suffer too.
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In the interview, Sinwar presents his own alternative to war. He is worried by the destruction another round of fighting could leave in the strip. Such a military campaign, Sinwar knows well, is the physical eradication of Hamas's military wing, which will also include serious harm to the civilian population and damage to infrastructure.
In his eyes, the Israelis view him as a bloodthirsty psychopath, a manipulator whose way is the way of terrorism and his ambition is the extermination of Israel. The two years that have passed since he gained power did not change this image. Now he's trying to send a message that the average Israeli has yet to hear directly from him, and that might be accepted by some Israelis as something that makes sense. Perhaps that way there could be public pressure on the Israeli government to talk to him.
Yahya Sinwar (: EPA)
Israeli officials, meanwhile, claim that while he is trying to reach an arrangement that would lead to calmhe wants it on his own terms; a direct agreement with Israelvia the UN, the US and Egyptwhich bypasses the Palestinian Authority. Such an arrangement could serve both to boost Sinwar's status and to strengthen the Hamas organization ahead of the expected power struggle in the Palestinian arena in the post-Abbas era.
A prisoner's mentality
Sinwar was and remains, mentally, a life prisoner. In the interview he describes his life in Gaza as a direct continuation of the almost 23 years he spent in Israeli prison. The same conspiratory nature, the same compartmentalization, the same survival tactics facing the Israeli jailer continue flowing through his blood.
His relationship with those who surround them is also not different in essence to the one he had when he led the Hamas prisoners in Israeli prison. People around him were afraid of him. Before he entered prison, he established and commanded over Hamas's internal security mechanism (al-Majd), which was entrusted with exposing traitors and eliminating them.
He was considered a strong man: he was the one determining strategy that others would then carry out. This is what allowed him then, in prison, and today, in the strip, to run a very pragmatic policy. Had there been a weak leader in Gaza, an all-out war would've erupted long agoas this is the popular solution a weak leader would've erred in choosing.
Sinwar on the bus on the day of his release from prison
Sinwar, even in prison, never went straight for the extreme solution. He preferred launching "soft" protest measures: prisoners closing themselves up in their cells, not spending time out in the prison yard, disrupting the orderbut don't throw out the rule book. Only in the end, when all of these measures failed to help, he would decide to launch a hunger strike or attack prison guardsextreme measures the prisoners paid dearly for, but at least this got their voices heard.
The leader of the prisoners, who became the leader of two million citizens in the Gaza Strip, has not changed his spots. To him, reaching an arrangement is the preferred step to break the stalemate. If that doesn't work, the second stage is popular protests on the border: first once a week, later at night as welluntil it becomes a daily occurrence. With time, the violence at the protests escalates further and further: from stones and tires to incendiary kites and balloons, and from there to explosive balloons. To him, burning fields and fences is still a popular protest move.
Sinwar visiting protesters on the Gaza border
The next stage would include makeshift explosives thrown at soldiers and attempts to breach the border fence. If all of that doesn't work, a drastic move will follow, which could rock the region and bring to the change Sinwar mentions in the interview. As far as Hamas is concerned, this doesn't necessarily mean firing rockets and closing down Ben-Gurion Airport. It could also be an infiltration to Israel by breaching the fence or through a tunnel and the abduction of civilians or soldiersand not a handful, but a big group. Sinwar knows Gaza would pay dearly for this, as the prisoners sent to attack the guards paid. He knows the IDF will go mad. But after the anger, Israel will start having serious talks with him about an arrangement and prisoner release.
The interview with Sinwar is being published before this stage of throwing out the rule book. Hamas and the other factions in the strip are currently busy thinking and making decisions ahead of the move to the third stage. This is probably what Sinwar means when he says this interview is a historic opportunity to make change and reach stability and security. He doesn't want to miss this opportunity and hides a threat between the lines: If you don't accept my proposal, you'll suffer greatly.
Sinwar with Italian journalist Francesca Borri
Sinwar doesn't set a deadline to commit him to escalating the situation if Israel doesn't accept his proposal. But during an internal briefing to journalists in Gaza in late July, he said: "Hamas will not accept the continuation of the existing situation in the strip and will do everything to change iteither by negotiations or with a conflict. The citizens of Gaza should feel that change by mid-October." Here he actually does point to a deadline: if there's no change, we'll be at war by mid-October.
And when Sinwar describes this war to the journalists, he brags: "We can fire in five minutes the same amount of rockets we fired during the 50 days of the last war." He also warned then that if Israel tries to attack Hamas's rockets apparatus, the rocket-alert sirens won't stop going off in the greater Tel Aviv area for six months. In this interview, he foregoes threats of this type and tries to turn to Israelis' conscience.
The 'traitor' from the Mukataa
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman recently said in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth that based on the information on his desk, if elections were held in Gaza today, Hamas would lose. If that is accurate, Hamas doesn't need Lieberman's opinion to see the severity of its political situation. The Hamas movement, which marked 30 years to its establishment last year, is currently at the lowest point in its existence. Despite the fact it is being led by a Gaza-born man, who is charismatic, popular, with an impressive and impeccable record of fighting Israel, the strip reached its lowest point in quality of life and standard of living. This is a true catastrophe. And if that's not enough, Hamas has gotten no achievements to show for in the field of the "Muqawama"the armed resistance.
Sinwar and his gang know well that all of the problemsthe personal, the social and the economicwill get even worse come winter. No gas, no electricity, houses are burning down from fires lit for heating and cooking, diseases spreading, people freezing to death. Both in the interview and in the internal discourse in Gaza, Sinwar and Hamas are not taking any responsibility for the situation. Everyone's to blame: Israel, the Europeans, the PA. Everyone, except Hamas. However, it's clear to Hamas that without an improvement in the quality of life in Gaza, the public will grow tired of it. When Sinwar is talking about a historic opportunity to reach an arrangement, to him it's a historic opportunity to survive in power. Holding onto power is the supreme goal, which justifies, to Hamas, a sort of pragmatism when it comes to dealing with Israel.
The last time Yahya Sinwar gave an interview to an Israeli media outlet was in 2006, long before he became the leader of Hamas, when he was still a prisoner in Israeli prison. When it comes to Hamas's long-term strategy, he hasn't changed his position one bit. Back in 2006 he explained that as a Muslim, he cannot accept Jews living on the Islamic holy landbut Israel is an established fact.
Sinwar, right, with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on the day of his release from prison
Sinwar's pragmatic side tells him: in the current conditions, I cannot annihilate Israel. If in 2006 he was talking about how Israel has 200 nuclear bombs, today he's talking in terms of slingshots facing an air force. This is why, in the current stagewhich is not limited in timehe offers a temporary truce, a hudna. Not quiet for quiet, as the Israeli government proposes, but quiet from him in return for the improvement of the standard of living in Gaza. And not just a humanitarian improvement, but a wide-scale move that includes mass investment in infrastructure that would lead to prosperity in the strip. A kind of hope for the residents of Gaza.
This isn't just the cynical views of a politician seeking to remain in office. Sinwar's motto as Hamas's leader is: Gaza First. And when he's talking about the distress of the youth in Gaza, it's real. That is why, in his softened rhetoric, he's willing to accept Israel as an established fact for an undetermined period of time. As far as he's concerned, the solution can come in the next generation. Until then he is not willing to give up the organization's military buildup and its armsbecause he knows no one would even look his way if he didn't have weapons to make threats with. He doesn't say when, if at all, he would agree to discuss the strategic aspects with Israel, and whether Hamas would draw its arms the moment a permanent solution is on the table that is not acceptable to the movement. The mission now is to save Gaza, nothing else matters.
By the way, in the Hamas parliament meeting that was held the day Abbas spoke at the UN, Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal were talking about the "traitor" who signed the Oslo Accords. They didn't mention him by name, but they meant Yasser Arafat. While they were at it, they declared Abbas's rule illegitimate, as his term ended in 2009, and since then he's had no authority to represent the Palestinian people. Meaning, they reject both the accords and the Palestinian leadership.
Khaled Mashal and Ismail Haniyeh (: AP)
Now Sinwar comes and tells the Israeli public: Give me a few good years to reorganize, rebuild Gaza, allow it to prosperand I'll give you quiet during that time. I'm not going to sign any peace agreements with you, and I'll make sure no Palestinian does so either. We will have a relationship of convenience, until one day I'll kick you out. Unless by the next generation we get used to one another, and then we might find another solution for you.
Sinwar is creating the feeling that this temporary situation can last for many years, without Israel having to recognize Hamas and without Hamas having to recognize Israel. This, by the way, was already proposed by Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin 21 years ago, and Israel wouldn't accept it as it was not willing to live next to a ticking time bomb that would one day decide to go off. Furthermore, Hamas would be an obstacle to any possible arrangement with the Palestinians in the future.
The Iranian connection
The Israeli defense establishment sees things differently. While Sinwar is talking about calm in return for changing the standard of living in Gaza, the relationship between Hamas and Iran is gaining momentum; there is sharing of knowledge and transfer of funds from Iran to Gaza at an unprecedented scope. The influence of Hamas's representative in Lebanon, Saleh al-Arouri, on the Hamas-Iran-Hezbollah ties and Hamas's terror activity in the West Bank is significant. Israel is very worried by the Iranian involvement in the strip, which fuels the fire along the border and bolsters the extremist positions against Israel.
Furthermore, at the moment there seems to be no change in the massive investment Hamas makes in building up its military force. There are no signs of investment in the civil sector at the expense of the military buildup. Israel would've liked to see some sign of goodwill, beyond rhetoric, but Hamas is not providing this sign.
Sinwar also wouldn't budge on the issue of Israel's MIA and POWs held in Gaza. To him, this issue is an inseparable part of negotiations to release Palestinian prisoners, mostly those arrested before the second intifada, who Israel allegedly committed to release as part of the Shalit deal in 2011.
The first sentence he said when he got off the bus in October 2011, upon his release from prison as part of the Shalit deal, was: "We left our brothers behind, and we won't forget Hassan Salameh and Mahmoud Issa" (who were arrested before the second intifada). Sinwar sees Hassan Salameh's mother, who lives next door to him, every morning when he leaves the house. She makes sure he won't forget her son, whom he left behind, for even a moment.
By STEVE NEWMAN
[email protected]
Marenisco Waupaca Foundry, a company subsidiary based in Waupaca, Wis., held a job fair Friday that continues today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Marenisco Town Hall, with the possibility of locating a plant on the Gogebic Range.
According to Donna Kenney, of Marenisco Township, the company approached the township about a job fair two to three weeks ago. According to Richard Bouvette, township supervisor, Waupacas interest in locating in the area is extremely serious and they are looking for a viable workforce. He indicated among area locations, Waupaca is looking at the Marenisco location as its first choice.
The company already held a job fair at the Ojibway Correctional Facility, west of Marenisco, on Tuesday and Wednesday for workers who may be displaced if the Michigan Department of Corrections is successful in closing the facility as planned on Dec. 1.
From what he has heard from the company so far, it would offer competitive wages, with benefits including 401k plans and health insurance.
According to company spokesperson Sara Timm, Waupaca is interested in expansion. The two most important factors in deciding where to expand, according to Timm, are workforce availability and state incentives.
The company is holding the job fair in Marenisco to assess workforce availability in the area. The jobs that Waupaca is initially looking to offer would be entry-level, with competitive wages. Timm stressed that Waupaca is looking at multiple options in several states for expansion. Timm said the workforce assessment could be complete in a couple weeks, but that any announcement of expansion could be made in anywhere from six months to years.
Waupaca Foundry is headquartered, and has three foundries in Waupaca. Timm mentioned the company employs 1,600 people in three foundries in Wisconsin and 4,500 people nationwide.
The company is the leading maker of castings for the automotive industry. It makes cast parts for cars, including brakes and engines.
Waupaca Foundry also has foundry operations in Marinette, Wis .; Tell City, Ind .; Etowah, Tenn., and Lawrenceville, Pa.
Additionally, Waupaca has machining and assembly operations in Effingham, Ill.. and Wellsboro, Pa. The company is part of the Hitachi Metals Group, a Japanese company, and has won numerous awards for quality, as well as professional excellence.
The company recently opened its own free medical clinic for employees and retirees and their dependents in Waupaca.
For more information on positions at Waupaca Foundry, check online at jobs.waupacafoundry.com.
Living Section
Yuma, Arizona - The Heritage Library Book Club will meet Saturday, October 20th, to discuss Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare at 11:00 a.m. All are welcome to attend.
The Heritage Library is located at 350 S Third Avenue. For more information, call (928) 783-5415.
Yuma News
Yuma, Arizona - The Yuma Main Library, in collaboration with AARP, will host Social Security & Medicare on Saturday, October 20th, at 10:00 a.m. There is no charge to attend.
Karl Koenig, a trained volunteer with Arizonas Community Educators Program, coordinated through the Arizona AARP State Office, will discuss the following topics:
How and when to start retirement benefits
Other benefits offered by Social Security
Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage
How Parts A, B, and D work with each Medicare option
Changes for 2018
The Main Library is located at 2951 S 21st Drive. For more information, call (928) 782-1871.
Yuma News
Yuma, Arizona - The Yuma Police Department has received various calls from the community in reference to a phone scam. Reporting parties stated they received a phone call from a Yuma Police Department Detective, advising them they are in some type of legal trouble. They are asked for payment in order to resolve the issue.
The Yuma Police Department does not and will not call residents to request payment of any kind.
When in doubt, call and double check information so you do not become a victim of this type of scam.
The Yuma Police Department would like to remind the community that:
The Yuma Police Department does not make any phone calls for the collection of money.
The Yuma Police Department does not request credit card information over the phone.
The Yuma Police Department does not give warrant information to the public over the phone.
Request a contact name and phone number for verification purposes, then contact the Yuma Police Department at (928) 783-4421.
If you believe you have been a victim of this type of crime, please report it to your local law enforcement agency.
Today
Sunny. High 89F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight
Mainly clear early, then a few clouds later on. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable.
Tomorrow
Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. High near 85F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
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iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF's stock was trading at $35.66 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, EWL stock has increased by 43.2% and is now trading at $51.07.
View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
There are a number of food processing companies in Ghana. There are those that deal in fresh food and those that deal in the processing of raw agricultural produce. Some of the major food processing companies in Ghana have large production capacities due to the machinery and staff they have while others are small production units. Many of these production companies today are start-ups. In this article, we will talk more about the food processing companies in Ghana as well as their location and useful contact information. We will provide you with names of food processing companies in Ghana.
Food processing companies are spread across the country but there are quite a number of them in Tema Ghana. The food processing companies in Tema, Ghana vary, with some being agro food processing companies in Ghana and others being fruits processing companies in Ghana.
Food processing companies in Ghana
Here is a list of food processing companies that function in Ghana.
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1. NOBAC Food Processing Limited
This is one of the many food processing units across the country. The company is mainly into cultivation and processing of rice for export. NOBAC processes and produces grade A, 100% sorted and export standard perfume rice at its multistage commercial rice processing factory based in Tema in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.
They are committed to ensuring the nutritional quality and improvement of locally produced rice. The company established in the year 2017 is in the process of applying for a license as a free zone company, and as a free zone-based company, it intends to export 80% of processed rice and sell 20% to the Ghanaian local market. It is categorised as one of the budding agro-food processing companies in Ghana.
NOBAC Food Processing Limited, one of the many food processing companies in Tema Ghana employs between 500 and 1000 workers depending on the levels of production of the company. They can be contacted by:
phone at +233246585134,
Email: info@nbhghana.com
website.
If you want to reach them by post, NOBAC's postal address is P. O. BOX BT 632, COMMUNITY 2 TEMA, Tema, Ghana.
2. Cocoa Processing Company Limited
Located in Tema in the Greater Accra region, it was started in 1965 as a cocoa processing company with three (3) factories, one being a confectionery factory and the two others operating as cocoa factories. The company has over the years proven to be one of the few well-managed state-owned agro-food processing companies in Ghana achieving great success.
Cocoa Processing Company Limited is an agro-food processing company in Ghana which processes products like butter, cocoa powder and liquor. Chocolate bars, chocolate dragee, chocolate spread, chocolate drinks, and chocolate couverture are also some products produced by the company.
In 2002, Cocoa Processing Company Limited presented nine of its products at the World Quality Selection and managed to score a gold in eight of their products while one received a silver rating. If you didn't know this company produces the famous golden tree chocolate bars which include Kingsbite, Oranco, Akuafo, Coffeechoc, Protem pride, Protem nut Tettehquarshie (TQ) and Aspire, now you do.
Cocoa Processing Company Limited contact information
Telephone: +233-0303-212153 /+233- 0303-212154
Email address: info@goldentreeghana.com
3. Nestle Ghana Limited
Nestle Ghana Limited is a member of the Nestle group with its headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland. The company produces a wide range of products from confectionary, to dairy products to cosmetics as well as pet food products. In Ghana, it started operations in 1957. Some of its products are Ideal and Carnation milk, Milo, Cerevita, Cerelac and Nescafe 3 in 1. The company is among the few with offices in Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale and Koforidua. Nestle Ghana employs 1813 people directly.
Nestle Ghana can be found on Plot 9, Motorway Extension, Adjacent Fiesta Royale Hotel, Accra, Ghana and can be contacted on +233 0303304181 / +233 244 330914. Further enquiries can be ascertained on their website.
4. Homefoods Processing & Cannery Limited
This is a limited liability company focused on processing and packaging various ethnic foods for the export market. It is also engaged in the importation of partly processed food items for re-processing and packaging by fusing flavours and spices from around the world to suit both domestic and international markets.
It is a 100% wholly owned Ghanaian company with its state of the art factory at the Tema Freezone enclave. Felicia Twumasi, a graduate of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Homefoods. Homefoods commenced operations in August 1995 but diversified in 2009 by adding other products to its already existing Red Palm Oil.
Now the company is also engaged in the production of vegetable oil, gari and other food product lines like various food seasonings. The processing company works with over 5,000 co-operative women with the aim of empowering them and suppliers. Homefood's major export destinations are Europe, America, South Africa, Gambia and Equatorial Guinea. In Britain,\ for instance, it has managed to keep a 70% market share in the Red Oil Palm business.
Homefoods is open for business from Monday to Friday between 8 a.m and 5 p.m.
Telephone: +233 302 303 914/ 302 325 570
Website
5. Nkulenu Industries Limited
With its production facility based in Madina, a suburb of Accra, Nkulenu Industries, is a leading food processing company in Ghana. It was established in 1942 by Dr Mrs Esther Ocloo (Nee Nkulenu). The company is the first indigenous food processing company from Africa to be officially certified in the USA and Europe.
Nkulenu cans almost all Ghanaian vegetables and foods. The most successful one is the Palm Soup Base for preparing palm soup and stews, which was developed in 1970 and launched at New York and London in 1972. Nkulenu also bottles Palm Wine. Over the years, the company has won several awards including the 14th National Gold Award for Export Achievement in 2002.
Nkulenu can be reached on phone +233302500923 / +2333042291127 or WhatsApp +233503062597, Email: info@nkulenu.com or visit their website. If you want to reach them by post, Nkulenu's postal address is P. O. BOX MD 36, Madina, Ghana West Africa.
6. SAMBA Foods Limited
Among the major food processing companies in Ghana is SAMBA Foods Limited, a wholly Ghanaian owned indigenous food processing and preservation business based in Tema, Greater Accra region around West Coast Dyeing Industries compound, Heavy Industrial Area. The company commenced operation in 1994 as a micro-enterprise. Today, it is a member of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and was the first to commercialize the production and distribution of the local traditional pepper sauce known as SHITO.
The Company also produces spices and as well as grades, sorts and roasts peanuts for further production into chocolate pebbles. SAMBA Foods serves as producer of the peanut butter paste used in the production of Choc Delight by the Cocoa Process Company (CPC).
The contact information for SAMBA Foods
Postal address: P.O.Box 186, Community 2 Tema
Email: info@sambafoodsghana.com
Tel: +233-244-694682
Fax: +233-265-084529
Website
7. Piccadilly Biscuits Limited
Picadilly Biscuits Limited is an affordable and wholesome biscuit brand that has been in existence in Ghana since the early 1960s. The company was established by Dr Samir Eid, a third-generation baker. Unlike imported biscuits, Piccadilly only bakes oven-fresh biscuits for its customers. The company is located in Accra, off the Palace Street North Kaneshie. It is known for popular brands like 'Hye me ma', the mainstay of many hungry students, ALL Time, Digestive, Malt and Milk biscuits, and Gem biscuits. The Gem biscuits are common during Christmas and are uniquely baked to an original recipe formulated in the UK over 150 years ago. The production unit of Piccadilly opens 6 a.m to 12 midnight from Monday to Saturday while the sales unit opens at 8 a.m and closes at 5 p.m.
Piccadilly Biscuits Limited contact information
Tel: +233 302 230 030 / +233 263 793 614
P. O. BOX GP 922 ACCRA-GHANA
Email: william.eid@piccadillybiscuits.com
Website
8. Eden Tree Limited
The company is located at Cambodia Estates, Community 18, Lashibi in Accra. The company has a track record of producing and distributing high-end fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs in Ghana. This company does not just produce and supply its produce from its own farms in the Eastern and Volta regions of Ghana but also serves as one of the food packaging companies in Ghana. Eden Tree was incorporated in 1997 and has some of its products 'Ghana Green Label' certified; they are produced with food safety and environmental sustainability in mind.
The contact information for Eden Tree
Address: P. O. Box 165, Legon, Accra Ghana.
Tel: +233 20 726 5066 / +233 50 129 6110 / +233 50 155 2781
Email: edentreegh@gmail.com
Website
9. Gees Fresh Point Limited
Gees Fresh Point Limited is a guinea fowl processing company in Lamashegu, Tamale, Northern region. It was started in 2007 by Mr Kofi Gyamfi and has been incorporated since February 10th, 2015. The company's products come from smallholder farmers in the Northern region. Gee's Fresh Point Limited opens weekdays from Monday to Friday at 8 a.m and closes at 5 p.m. It only works from 8 a.m to 12 p.m on Saturdays. They are located on Plot 19 Lamashegu, Industrial Park, Tamale, Ghana. For more information contact
Phone: +233 54 840 0244 / +233 20 785 8666
READ ALSO: This UG Food Process Engineering graduate is now a janitor
10. Blessed Child Foods
Blessed Child Foods is located at North Kaneshie, Accra near Demod Bus stop. Its offices are open for business from 9 a.m to 5 p.m Monday to Friday. Blessed Child Foods packages brown sugar and produces assorted nutritious food products like cereal-plus, Tom Brown, Dry Chilly Pepper Sauce and So-Tea made of organic soy and vanilla flavour.
Blessed Child Foods contact information
Post Office Box NT722, New-Town Accra
Tel: +233-277707666 / +233-242376586
E-mail: info@blessedchildfoods.com / bernibbey@yahoo.com
Website
List of fruits processing companies in Ghana
Below is the list of fruit processing companies in Ghana
1. Blue Skies Holdings Limited
Blue Skies is unarguably Ghana's best fruit processing company, which delivers the freshest and highest possible quality fruit products. The company was established in 1998 at Doboro off the Accra Nsawam road in the Greater Accra region. Blue Sky produces juice and beverages in different flavours to supply the local market with freshly squeezed 100% natural fruit juice. It is a limited liability company which operates daily from 6 a.m to 8 p.m. Packaged in plastic bottles, blue skies come in mango, orange, pineapple, passion fruit, banana and pomegranate.
Blue Skies contact information
Tel: +233 (0) 244 344 578
Fax: +233 (0) 302 290 714
P. O. BOX 3506, Accra
Email: sales@blueskies.com
Website
2. Erofrah Fruit Processing Industries
This is a fruit processing company located in Tema that continues to scale up its production. Erofrah Fruit Processing Industries currently supplies pubs and clubs with its drinks. They are located at Kpone Light Industrial Area, Tema, Ghana and you can contact on +233 277 546 418.
3. Vineyard Exotics
Unique from all other fruit processing companies in Ghana, the Exotic juices are slowly pressed from Ghana's organic vegetable and herbal farms incorporating sun ripe fruits. The company was established by Sarah Amoakoh out of a hobby in 2010. Currently, the company employs about 15 workers and is a registered manufacturer and distributor of new speciality juices with the combination of HERBS, FLOWERS, and FRUITS, bringing together Tradition, Innovation and Passion. The fruit processing company can be found at 19 Volta, Airport Residential Area, Accra, Ghana or contact them on phone numbers +233 548 766 193 / +233 578 036 774.
4. Quin Organics
Quin Organics is a subsidiary of Quin Initiatives which produces organic fruits, herbs and juices for both the local and international market. For its fruit juices, the company produces various blends of freshly-pressed organic fruit juices ranging from pineapple to coconut juices.
Quin organics packages its juices into 210-litre steel metal drums for export and 330ml, 500ml, 2 litre, 4.5 litre and 10 litres for the local market. The company is located at Madina Old Road M575/29 and headed by Samuel Nii Quarcoo.
Quin Initiatives contact information
Tel: +233 (0) 287 010 438
P. O. BOX 313, Trade Fair, Accra
Email: quarcoo.initiatives@gmail.com
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Sometimes it can be very difficult locating the kind of food processing company you need to engage or even locate to purchase their products or to get sponsorship. That is now a thing of the past as this article provides the names and contacts of the food processing companies in Ghana.
Source: Yen
Do you need practical ways to get the best out of your single-room apartment? Or are you looking for the best single room decoration tips that you can follow to help you remodel your single room so that it reflects you? Then this article is what you need. This article discusses different single room decoration ideas that will inspire you and boost your creativity. By this, you will be able to come up with a unique style for your room while you enjoy the comfort that you so much desire. Then, we also take a look at some African single room decoration methods that you can follow to make your room breathe the culture of Africa. The ideas are easy to follow, so read on to discover more.
Having a single room grants you the opportunity to make the most out of it. Apart from the fact that it is easy to keep up, it also gives you some form of privacy. More so, you will have a sense of ownership and control over your space. The simple single room decoration tips discussed here will definitely help you to achieve the best with your room.
However, the first thing you need to do before we start discussing these decoration ideas is that you need to clean up your room. You need to get rid of all the debris and other things that you think are no longer worth keeping. With that single space available to you, what you really need to keep are the things that are important to you. The moment you settle this, you can move ahead to the next set of discussions.
African single room decoration ideas
As an African man or woman, there are decoration tips that you can employ to make your single room apartment appear as a truly African one. You can showcase your heritage in ways that will wow your guests and give them the feel of an African empire when they come into your world. Let us consider some of them.
1. Use the right paintings
Paint your room with colours that have a blend or tone of the earth. Make sure the colours are bold and dark enough to create an African effect. Some of the colours you should consider include coffee, sky blue, eggshell and off-white. Use them to make a lasting effect in the minds of your visitors.
READ ALSO: Ideas for Church Wedding Decorations in Ghana
2. Go for animal prints
You will find so many of them in the form of carpets, rugs and wallpapers. There are lots of wallpapers that will fit into the interior decoration for a single room. Some of these wallpapers carry the designs of African native themes like landscapes portraying sunset and sunrise in Africa. There are others as well that have the pictures of animals and rural things that you can use. In fact, the good thing about them is that they are cheap and can help you to minimise the cost of your budget.
3. Think of wooden figures or clay works
This should be relatively easy for you to get. If you cant buy, there are local craftsmen around you who can help you carve out whatever image you want from wood, based on your request. You can also get masks that are made from clay. All these are simple, and they carry valuable aesthetic properties that can transform your single room.
4. Go for African furnishing works
Africa is known for materials like clay, rosewood and bamboo, to mention a few. There are also leathers like savanna animal skins and palm bark. Many of these materials are made into beautiful objects. There are furniture works made with cane, bamboo and animal skins like that of the zebra. They are simple, rough and can be heavy. But then, they make good interior designs.
Check out these single room decoration pics. You can find lots of other pictures of single room decoration online.
Ghana single room decoration ideas
The Ghanaian culture is one of the most beautiful cultures in Africa. As such, it has lots of accessories that you can use to beautify your single room. Consider below, different ways in which you can decorate your single room to make it appealing to anyone who enters into your world.
1. Use wallpapers that display nature
There are different kinds of 3D wallpapers as well as wall stickers that you can go for. Especially with wall stickers, they are easy to paste and remove. By implication, you can always change them any time you feel like giving your room a new-look.
2. Explore different ways of painting a room to make it colourful
You could use a monotonous (single) paint colour or have a combination of colours depending on your preference. An important point to bear in mind is that you should not apply the paints in such a way that your room would appear busy. More so, you can add flowered or pattern motifs to amplify the aesthetics of your room.
READ ALSO: Room painting designs for guys
3. Give your windows a special treatment
There are a variety of options that you can choose from. You could go for louvres or blinds that will give way for plenty of natural light to flush in. Also, make sure that whatever you go for, gives way for the natural breeze to blow it.
4. Get some African traditional accessories to accessorise your single room
You can go for designed calabash, small woven baskets and carved images to beautify your room. There are local beads that you can lay your hands on. If you dont know how to make them or you do not have the time, you can buy them from bead makers. A number of these bead makers have beaded flower vases, beaded animal images and so on, that you can put in your room.
5. Consider mounting something on the wall
Instead of placing things on the floor, consider mounting the ones that are mountable on the wall. Your photo frames, flower pots/cups, artworks and so on can be mounted on the wall. In fact, you can mount your TV as well. All of these attempts will make your room look more beautiful.
Nigeria single room decoration
Decorating a single room in Nigeria can be so easy and relatively cheaper than you think. Depending on your budget, there are things you can do to make your single room look like a haven. With an understanding of what to do based on the ideas discussed below, you should be able to come up with a befitting room.
1. Instead of large furniture, think of smaller and fold-able items
There are compact fold-out tables and chairs, mountable shelves, and so on that you can go for. This will help you conserve the space available to you. Sometimes, the smaller the furniture, the fancier it looks.
2. Combine colours for special effects
Make sure that the colour of your trinkets, cushions and throw pillows have a correlation. The beautiful thing about this is that it has a way of injecting some form of personality into your home.
3. Put a plant in your room
There is a range of artificial plants that you can buy with fancy plant holders. But if you dont want to buy a plant holder, you can make a colourful one yourself or search online on how to make one.
4. Get the right lightings
Get some colourful baton fit light shades to illuminate your room and create a mood. There are some of these lighting materials available in lighting stores at cheap prices. More so, a number of them are easy to fix, so you may not even need an electrician to help you out.
5. Go for classic cabinets
Instead of the swinging door-like cabinets, there are classic ones whose doors open through a lifting mechanism. With that in place, you can store up as many things as it can contain. At the very least, you can neatly arrange your clothes, shoes and some other valuable items inside.
6. Transform your ceiling
If you have the money, change your ceiling and give it a POP design. On the alternative, you can apply wallpapers or wall stickers. To make it more conventional, let the wallpapers or wall stickers, depending on what you are using, cover both the ceiling and the four walls. You will be amazed at the beautiful result you will get eventually.
Best single room decoration ideas
Below are the best single room decoration ideas that you can work with. They never go out of fashion!
1. Use light to create a mood
Lighting can enhance the aesthetic appeal and ambience of your single room. You can use it to either illuminate the whole room or highlight special elements in the room. Thanks to modernisation, there are picture frames and mirror frames that come with inbuilt lighting which you can use to emphasise certain parts of your room walls. You can also get recess lighting with a downward glow to illuminate the floor of your room.
2. Hang a mirror
A mirror works like magic with the powerful effect it gives to small rooms. In fact, it can give a small space an effect of a larger room. To get the perfect result, what you need to do is that while hanging one, put it in a prime place where natural light rays can fall on it. With this, when the light hits the mirror, it automatically reflects back into your room. That is how it works.
3. Make an impact with your colour combinations
Be intentional about the positioning of things in your room. More so, use bold colours instead of mild ones. The wall paints, your cushions and pillows should have a variation of bold and bright colours. Use colours like yellow, orange, burgundy, red, and buttermilk. This is because single rooms arranged in this manner make more impact than others.
4. Pimp your roof
The ceiling of your room is an important part of the room, which needs enough attention just like the other things. When you do it well, it amplifies the beauty of your single room. To achieve this, consider adding a pop of colour to it. As against the popular white colour, you may consider colours like pale blue or maintain the same colour you used to paint the wall. A few other things you can do to the ceiling is to add wallpaper, tile it, cover it with attractive fabrics or stencil it with artworks.
READ ALSO: African polished cotton dresses for ladies
5. Carve out zones
Your single room is the only space you have, so you have to maximize it to its full capacity. It can be very amazing how beautiful your room can look when you use curtains or anything you have chosen to partition the room to make more rooms. There are room separators that you can use creatively to make your room appear bigger and more beautiful.
6. Make the floor count
Dont leave the floor of your room bare, especially if it is not tiled. Go for a rug or a carpet. If you cannot afford to cover the whole place, you could just cover the centre of the room to add some beauty to the space. In fact, there are rugs now that can also double as art. They are worth going for.
7. Get a wall desk
The fact that you have a single room does not mean you should be denied the comfort of a mansion. To make up your office space, think of mounting a wall desk rather than going for the one with legs. You can even mount a shelve where you can keep some of your important.
The single room decoration tips that have been discussed so far are very easy to carry out and they can fit into most budgets. The main reason behind this is to make sure that your room looks like a haven and make your guests admire your space.
Source: Yen Ghana
- Some students have chastised the SRC of UDS over a party that was organised for first year students
- Reports have it that the party turned into something else as students were allegedly seen having intercourse in public
There is anger at the Nyankpala campus of the University of Development (UDS) after the Students Representative Council (SRC) was accused of organising an 'atopa' party on campus to welcome freshers.
According to a report sighted by YEN.com.gh on Starrfmoline.com, the said party was held last Friday, September 28.
The confusion and uproar emerged days later after some obscene photographs of the alleged event were posted on social media.
Scenes from the party. Credit: Starrfmonline.com
Source: UGC
READ ALSO: Wendy Shay reacts to viral 'half-naked photo of her'
The photographs, posted by angry users who claimed they were students of the university and attended the event, showed participants in compromised scenes.
Some said the whole party was turned into an atopa party and alleged they saw others having intercourse in the crowd while people were dancing.
Th report continued that during a visit to the institution, the allegation against the SRC was already a talking point among students.
The situation has drawn a growing anger from a lot of Christian ministries on the campus who are 'up in arms against the SRC for what they claimed to be a case of failed leadership.
Scenes from the party. Credit: Ghanaweb.com
Source: UGC
The Deeper Life Campus Fellowship, one of such angry religious bodies on the UDS campus, condemned the event and tagged it not good and unacceptable.
READ ALSO: Fresh photos and details of Ghanaian lesbian couple in viral bedroom video pop up
A senior member of the fellowship, Charlies Atonive, said the SRC which organised the event did not consult the religious bodies on campus.
According to the report, it was not exactly what happened during the event and whether students were really caught having intercourse in the crowd but the rising anger provides a broader scenario of how serious the students have taken the incident.
The Deeper Life Fellowship preached against the misconducts displayed in the photographs by the students, calling it evil and added that it breached the schools principles guiding students conduct on campus.
READ ALSO: Menzgold's George Quaye resigns with immediate effect
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- Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah has reportedly gifted a brand new car to be awarded to the 2018 best teacher in the Techiman Municipality
- Korsah made the donation after organisers of the scheme extended an invitation for help to him
- He mad other donations in addition to the car gift
The Deputy Minister for Regional Re-organization and Development, Martin Adjei Mensah-Korsah, has reportedly donated a brand new car to the 2018 Best Teacher of the Techiman Municipality in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The Hyundai EON salon which comes along with a five-year warranty and comprehensive insurance within same period aimed at encouraging teachers in the area to give off their best.
According to a report YEN.com.gh sighted on Mynewsgh.com, officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES) had suspended the scheme in the last nine years due to lack of funds to get prizes for deserving teachers.
Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah (Source: Myjoynline.com)
Source: Instagram
An invitation was extended to the Minister who hails from the area to support acknowledge the contributions of teachers to improve on the level of education in the area and therefore offered to make available awards for teachers who were supposed to be rewarded but received nothing.
READ ALSO: Drama as hairdresser pulls out hair she made for slay queen who refused to pay (Video)
According to organizers, the Deputy Minister made available table top fridges, motorbikes, gas cookers and other items for the awardees.
Friday October 5, 2018 marked World Teachers Day, also known as International Teachers Day held annually worldwide on this day.
Established in 1994, it commemorates the signing of the 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status which is a standard-setting instrument that addresses the status and situations of teachers around the world.
This recommendation outlines standards relating to education personnel policy, recruitment, and initial training as well as the continuing education of teachers, their employment, and working conditions. World Teachers Day aims to focus on appreciating, assessing and improving the educators of the world and to provide an opportunity to consider issues related to teachers and teaching.
READ ALSO: Handsome 19-year-old boy causes stir as he marries 39-year-old woman (Photos)
Meanwhile, former Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) boss, Kojo Bonsu, has said it is time for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to move on from electing only Ewes and Northerners into leadership positions.
According to him, no Ashanti has ever occupied the position of Chairman or Presidential aspirant in the party and that must change.
Speaking on Metro TVs Good Evening Ghana show, the NDC flagbearer hopeful said the time is right for Ashantis to also take prominent positions in the NDC.
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- Former President Rawlings has vowed to react to a recent documentary aired by the Multimedia Group, with regard to the murder of judges in 1982
- He promised to ensure that some facts concerning the matter are laid bare
- He added that despite his health challenges, he has not lost lost his youthful zeal
Former President Jerry John Rawlings has disclosed that he will soon react to a documentary on the murder of judges, which was aired by the Multimedia Group.
According to a report by MyNewsGH.com, he stated that there are certain issues that need to be addressed and put in the right perspective.
Rawlings passed the comments on the sidelines of the United Nations Youth summit held in Accra.
Busts of the three murdered judges Source: classfmonline.com
Source: UGC
READ ALSO: Mahama jabs Akufo-Addo over political lies
In response to the question of what he makes of the documentary, he said that I will respond to the Multimedia documentary in Kumasi. I will boom on that platform to lay some facts bare.
He went on to say that he has health challenges at the moment, but that will do little to quench his youthful zeal.
As part of Multimedias attempt to unravel circumstances surrounding the killings of three judges in Ghana, a full documentary dubbed Who killed the judges was aired on October 2, 2018.
It regenerated the discussion on the matter and stimulated opinions from a cross-section of Ghanaians.
Three judges of the Supreme Court of Ghana, Justices Poku Sarkodie, Cecelia Koranteng-Addow and Kwadwo Adjei Agyepong, were abducted from their homes at Ridge in Accra and killed on June 30, 1982.
The circumstances surrounding their murder have allegedly been shrouded in secrecy.
READ ALSO: Only NPP lies to Ghanaians - Mahama
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The National Road Safety Commission in the Ashanti Region has revealed that 265 people have lost their lives through road accidents from January to September 2018 in the region alone.
The Commission has described the situation as alarming warning that the figure may rise further if stringent measures are not put in place to arrest the situation.
The Ashanti Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Commission, Ing. Samuel Obeng Asiamah in an interview with Ultimate FM stated that the Commission will adopt new measures to sensitize road users to curb the trend.
265 people die in road accidents from January to September 2018
Source: UGC
READ ALSO: NDC not an Ayigbe or Northerners party- Kojo Bonsu declares
This is a huge number, this is a number that is human resource capital to the nation in some cases we should call this an alarming situation where we should have a three-day mourning for something to be done about this issue. Because for 265 people to die on our roads is something that is alarming and this in only in the Ashanti Region, and these are provisional figures. Its likely to go up when we confer with the hospitals.
Initially, commercial vehicles were higher than private but now it looks like private vehicles are also becoming an issue. Going forward we need to we strategize on the way we do our education to a more direct campaign, Ing. Samuel Obeng Asiamah noted.
Last year 2017, it was reported that, 2,076 people died through road traffic accidents, 8 people less than the 2016 figure which was 2,084.
The National Road Safety Commission ( NRSC), is a body which has been established by an act of Parliament with the mandated to play a lead role in championing, promoting, and coordinating road safety activities in Ghana.
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READ ALSO: Quest for tithe and offertory pushed Ofori Amponsah to become a pastor - Kofi B
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- The Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo, has argued that asset declaration in sealed envelopes serves no purpose
- According to him, there is a need for public officials to openly declare their assets
- This, he said, will give Ghanaians the right to seek for clarifications with regard to the assets of public officials
The Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo, has stated that there is an urgent need for public officials to openly declare their assets.
This, he argued, will be preferred to the current situation where assets are declared using sealed envelopes, as stipulated in the Asset Declaration Act.
According to him, the current asset declaration regime does not enhance accountability and does not ensure compliance by officials.
Auditor-General, Daniel Domelovo Source: Supplied
Source: UGC
READ ALSO: Only NPP lies to Ghanaians - Mahama
Speaking at the Ghana Integrity Initiatives multi-stakeholder forum on business integrity in Accra, Domelevo said, if the declaration is made publicly, citizens will be empowered to lodge complaints to the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), when they feel that a public official has under-declared his assets.
Non-compliance or not doing the full disclosure should be reported to the CHRAJ. How will the public know if they dont even know what has been disclosed?
What has been disclosed is only between you and the Auditor General, so these are some of the legal questions we must be solving now rather than later, he explained.
This is not the first time the Auditor General is raising questions about the countrys asset declaration regime.
Last year at a round table discussion themed: Fighting corruption in the public sector of Ghana, the role of Assets Declaration, organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), he described the regime as a joke
He said the current Act does not make it compulsory for public officers to declare their assets, hence no punishment can be meted out to those who refuse to do so.
READ ALSO: I will soon respond to Multimedia's documentary on judges' murder - Rawlings
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- Musician, Nicholas Omane Acheampong, has confirmed that he no longer attends Prophet Badu Kobis Glorious Wave Church International
- He explained that life-threatening messages from some people in the church forced him to take the decision
- He however added that he is not scared for his life
Ghanaian gospel musician, Nicholas Omane Acheampong, has disclosed the reason behind his exit from Prophet Badu Kobis Glorious Wave Church International.
According to him, a number of factors compelled him to take the decision to absent himself from the church.
In an interview on Adom FMs Work and Happiness, he revealed that he has been close to Prophet Kobi for several years.
Nicholas Omane Acheampong Source: etvghana.com
Source: UGC
READ ALSO: Asset declaration by Ghanaian public officials is of no use
He went on to say that he has enjoyed a close relationship with the man of God, and Prophet Kobi has been the inspiration behind several songs he released.
Acheampong added that things changed when a Ghanaian actor and political figure, Mr. Beautiful began attending the church.
Mr. Beautiful, together with another man, Pastor Appiah created a wedge between him and Prophet Kobi.
This was reportedly followed by several threatening messages from Pastor Appiah, via Whatsapp, a social media platform.
This, he said, was because Pastor Appiah was under the impression that Prophet Kobi has a good relationship with Acheampong.
Mr. Beautiful, he further revealed, informed Prophet Kobi that he (Acheampong) no longer comes to church, an assertion that was not true.
He however stated that he has no problem with all of these developments, because no one can harm him.
READ ALSO: I will soon respond to Multimedia's documentary on judges' murder - Rawlings
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A young man has been strangled by a snake allegedly given to him by a spiritualist whom he consulted for good luck charms.
From Damongo in the Northern Region, YEN.com.gh has sighted a video of a young man being strangled to the valley of death by a huge python. Allegedly, the snake was a good luck charm given to the young man by a spiritualist.
The news was first reported on Mynewsgh.com. YEN.com.gh can however not confirm if the young man is dead or not.
Due to the disturbing nature of the video, we are unable to publish it. It is however gathering momentum thanks to social media.
READ ALSO: Manifest and other Ghanaian celebrities who have politicians as fathers
Our source also reports that eyewitnesses to the strangling know the young man very well from the area.
He is known as one of a group of boys who visit the spiritualist from time to time. It is also reported the young man tried getting away from the reptile after he suspected the animal could be dangerous to him.
The name of the young man is as of yet, unknown.
READ ALSO: Video proving alleged half-naked photo of Wendy Shay is not 'fake' pops up
Spiritual exercise for money or what has come to be known as Sakawa is quite popular among young men. It is quite prevalent among poo and uneducated youth.
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Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported on the traditional marriage ceremony between UK-based Ghanaian businessman, Philip Frimpong and Carissa Sharon, the first daughter of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.
Well, the two have been joined together in a white ceremony.
The couple whose traditional ceremony was a colourful blend of the different heritages they belong to.
Philip Frimpong and Carissa Sharon at their traditional wedding (Source: Naij.com)
Source: Instagram
Philip's Ghanaian culture and the Edo background of Sharon Oyakhilome were well depicted through the attires they wore and more.
READ ALSO: Video of slay queen being beaten by hairstylist for refusing to pay her goes rival
In the white wedding which was held on Saturday, October 6, 2018, the same colour, beauty and exuberance that happened in the traditional ceremony was repeated.
First glance at the white wedding ceremony of Sharon Oyakhilome and Philip Frimpong Photo: Chris Oyakhilome holding his daughter by the hand Source: www.loveworldplus.tv
Source: UGC
Sharon who wore a beautiful white off shoulder ball gown was walked down the aisle by the father, Chris Oyakhilome, who is the founding pastor of Christ Embassy Church which is also called Believers' Loveworld Incorporated.
First glance at the white wedding ceremony of Sharon Oyakhilome and Philip Frimpong Photo: Officiating minister Benny Hinn Source: www.loveworldplus.tv
Source: UGC
She was then joined with her husband who was also looking dapper in a black suit by a popular American pastor Benny Hinn.
READ ALSO: Man drops wild video to 'prove' Wendy Shay's half-naked photo is not fake
First glance at the white wedding ceremony of Sharon Oyakhilome and Philip Frimpong Photo: Benny Hinn marrying the couple Source: www.loveworldplus.tv
Source: UGC
The church ceremony was also attended by the creme de la creme in the religious and business world.
First glance at the white wedding ceremony of Sharon Oyakhilome and Philip Frimpong Photo: The bridal maid Source: www.loveworldplus.tv
Source: UGC
The illustrious, memorable event was shown live on www.loveworldplus.tv, the official channel of the church.
READ ALSO: Handsome 19-year-old boy causes stir as he marries 39-year-old woman (Photos)
First glance at the white wedding ceremony of Sharon Oyakhilome and Philip Frimpong Photo: A glance at the big church Source: www.loveworldplus.tv
Source: UGC
It would appear that the big church used for the service must have been one of the many branches of Chris Oyakhilome's church.
First glance at the white wedding ceremony of Sharon Oyakhilome and Philip Frimpong Photo: Wedding guests Source: www.loveworldplus.tv
Source: UGC
Even while holding the hands of his daughter and giving her in marriage to her Ghanaian sweetheart, the excitement on the face of the pastor who is now estranged from his former wife was glaring.
READ ALSO: Wild photos of commandos guarding Melania Trump in Ghana shake Ghanaians
First glance at the white wedding ceremony of Sharon Oyakhilome and Philip Frimpong Photo: The pastor comes in holding his daughter Source: www.loveworldplus.tv
Source: UGC
The newly wedded couple got engaged earlier in the yea after dating for sometinme.
First glance at the white wedding ceremony of Sharon Oyakhilome and Philip Frimpong Photo: Benny Hinn addresses the newly weds Source: www.loveworldplus.tv
Source: UGC
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The government has formally moved to seize several of Paul Manaforts assets including unit 43G in Trump Tower after the onetime Trump campaign chairman agreed to forfeit various properties and bank accounts in a plea agreement signed last month with special counsel Robert Mueller.
In a court document filed on Friday, Mueller asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to grant the government full and exclusive custody and control over nine assets previously belonging to Manafort.
Three of Manaforts New York properties and four bank accounts are to be handed over to the government immediately, Mueller wrote, adding that two additional properties the Trump Tower apartment and his sprawling Long Island mansion will need to change hands by October 20.
Manafort entered into a plea agreement with Muellers team in September in the Washington case, agreeing to admit guilt to two counts of conspiracy against the United States related to financial crimes, witness tampering, and foreign agent registration violations. Manafort also agreed to cooperate with Mueller as he and his team of prosecutors continue to probe Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
As part of the deal, Manafort admitted guilt to ten related federal charges in Virginia that a jury was unable to reach consensus on at a trial in August. The jury had already found him guilty on eight charges in the Virginia case.
The agreement marked a turning point in the Mueller investigation, providing prosecutors a first-hand account from one of Trumps most senior former campaign aides someone privy to the inner workings of the campaign during critical months in 2016. Manafort also participated in the now-infamous Trump Tower meeting, in which a Russian lawyer came to New York and met with top Trump aides during the campaign after intermediaries promised dirt on Trumps Democratic opponent.
Manaforts sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Around forty Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) concerning the agricultural sector will be terminated by the end of 2019 , a spokesperson to the Agriculture Ministry said.
He told Daily Mirror on Thursday that these MoUs would be terminated owing to several reasons which include failure to provide background information on the MoUs entered into with the Agriculture Department.
Those MoUs are mainly based on training, managing export trade, scientific aspects, development of infrastructure facilities, development of agricultural production, machinery training, product increment and developing agriculture-based knowledge, he said.
They were signed by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, former premier D. M. Jayaratne, President Maithripala Sirisena and Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe respectively, he added.
He said MoUs were signed with Egypt, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Philippines and South Korea. He also said some of these MoUs had already expired.
It was reported that the MoU signed with China on exporting Bananas will also be cancelled accordingly.
Meanwhile, when contacted Ministrys Deputy Director (Projects) P.N.N. Jayaneththi said there was no need to implement some MoUs and added that it was the ministrys responsibility to implement them in a fruitful manner, if signed.
However, several attempts made by the Daily Mirror to contact Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera and the Ministrys Secretary in this regard ended in failure. (Indika Sri Aravinda)
China is using debt diplomacy to expand its global influence and Hambantota Port could soon become a forward military base for Beijings growing blue-water navy, US Vice President Mike Pence has said on Thursday.
According to PTI, Pence said China was offering hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure loans to governments from Asia to Africa to Europe to even Latin America.
Yet the terms of those loans are opaque at best, and the benefits flow overwhelmingly to Beijing, Pence said.
In a foreign policy speech at the Hudson Institute, a top American think-tank, Pence alleged China uses so-called debt diplomacy to expand its influence.
Just ask Sri Lanka, which took on massive debt to let Chinese state companies build a port with questionable commercial value. Two years ago, that country could no longer afford its payments so Beijing pressured Sri Lanka to deliver the new port directly into Chinese hands. It may soon become a forward military base for Chinas growing blue-water navy, Pence said.
Beijing is also corrupting some nations politics by providing direct support to parties and candidates who promise to accommodate Chinas strategic objectives, he said.
Since last year, the Chinese Communist Party has convinced three Latin American nations to sever ties with Taipei and recognise Beijing. These actions threaten the stability of the Taiwan Strait and the US condemns these actions, Pence said.
He said while the Trump administration will continue to respect One China Policy, as reflected in the three joint communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act, America will always believe Taiwans embrace of democracy shows a better path for all the Chinese people.
These are only a few of the ways that China has sought to advance its strategic interests across the world, with growing intensity and sophistication. Yet previous administrations all but ignored Chinas actions and in many cases, they abetted them. But those days are over, Pence asserted.
Under President Trumps leadership, the US interests have been defended with renewed American strength, he claimed.
The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday said the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) was without a president as one hadn't been appointed even though two months had lapsed since the post fell vacant.
Former SLMC president Prof. Colvin Gunarathne tendered his resignation to Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne on July 31, owing to several shortcomings attached to the healthcare system.
GMOA Assistant Secretary Dr. Naveen De Soyza told Daily Mirror that it was the responsibility of Minister Senaratne to appoint a new president to the SLMC following the resignation of Prof. Gunarathne. However, Minister Senaratne was attempting to go forward by making amendments to the Medical Ordinance. The delay in appointing a new president to the SLMC is yet another attempt by the minister to paralyze the SLMC, a move that puts the entire healthcare system in the country into jeopardy, he said.
The authorities should appoint a new president to the SLMC without further delay, he added. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)
Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide yesterday praised Sri Lanka's efforts in bringing about reconciliation and said the country had set an example to the whole world.
She said this when she met Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the visiting delegation.
The Prime Ministers office said Ms. Soreide pledged Norways fullest support for Sri Lankas reconciliation efforts and that both parties had highlighted the need for improving economic, political and diplomatic ties between the two countries.
She pledged Norways support for the development of Sri Lanka's fisheries sector and the proposed University of Police and Crime.
Meanwhile, Ms. Soreide in a twitter message said that at the meeting with Premier Wickremesinghe, she discussed the importance of continuing political and economic reforms in Sri Lanka, bilateral ties between the two countries and Sri Lanka's engagements with the UN. (Yohan Perera)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) So you have extra cash to either burn, save or invest. You choose the latter as the idea of growing your money seems to be much wiser. As you search for options, real estate investing may have caught your eye.
No, we are not talking about regular houses, but assets called real estate investment trusts - REITs for short.
REITs are companies that own a lot of different properties. Some focus on one type of real estate - apartments, hospitals, malls, or office buildings. They make money by collecting rent. Investors can enjoy a steady dividend from REITs as everyone needs a place to work or live.
But here in the Philippines, there's a big problem when it comes to REITs: We have yet to see REITs actively trading on the stock market. Despite having an existing REIT Law [Republic Act No. 9856 of 2009], stakeholders have been reluctant to form a REIT corporation.
In a report, the National Tax Reform Center said that the Philippine Stock Exchange [PSE] has continually urged the Security Exchange Commission to review the imposition of the 67 percent minimum public ownership [MPO] rule as it is difficult to achieve.
"The PSE claims that the original MPO is already difficult to achieve and that the increased MPO requirement makes the Philippine REIT regulatory regime the 'most aggressive in the region' making it the 'least conducive for investments and cross-border listings,' " the research agency said.
But don't fret yet. The party for REITs may still have to start in the Philippines, but our neighboring countries in the Asia Pacific region have already developed thriving REITs markets.
The more-developed REIT markets in the region like Hong Kong and Singapore are way ahead in amending rules to ensure the healthy growth of the market. China and India are ironing some legal impediments as well as REITs are seen to drive economic growth.
According to Manulife Asset Management and Trust Corporation [MAMTC], Filipinos can invest offshore through a Unit Investment Trust Fund [UITF], a collective investment scheme wherein money from various investors are pooled together into one fund to achieve a specific investment objective. UITFs are managed by a professional investment team that aims to maximize returns within reasonable risk levels. Under its Manulife Asia Pacific REIT Fund of Funds, investors can gain access to a well-diversified mix of high-quality retail, commercial, hotels and industrial REIT holdings across Asia Pacific. The Fund seeks to provide semi-annual income payout and long-term growth. Investors may invest in U.S. dollar or Philippine peso for as little as USD1,000 or PhP50,000.
Investors can also invest in best-of-breed companies in Asia. MAMTCs Manulife Asia Best Select Equity Fund is a UITF that seeks to achieve capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of best-in-class companies in Asia. The Fund provides investors access to equity investment opportunities in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, People's Republic of China, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan for as little as USD100 or PhP5,000.
For more information on this fund, you may click on this link.
Manulife Asset Management and Trust Corporation (MAMTC) is part of Manulife Asset Management, the global asset management arm of Manulife, one of the world's leading financial services groups that traces its roots and investment management experience back to the 1800s.
PHILADELPHIA The woman who escaped custody from an Upper Darby district court last month and has been evading police ever since has finally been captured.
Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said Thursday that Carolyn Quiah, 26, was arrested by Philadelphia police after leading police on a car chase that afternoon that ended in West Philadelphia.
Quiahs arrest comes three weeks after she fled from the district court of Magisterial Judge Kelly Micozzie-Aguirre in Secane, where she was scheduled for a preliminary arraignment. She was charged with simple assault for allegedly biting a county social worker during a home visit earlier that week.
Im glad shes in custody, said Chitwood. She was a dangerous individual and she put other people at risk so she could continue her scourge on the community.
According to Chitwood, the department had been in touch with the U.S. Marshals to help locate and arrest Quiah. A cell phone Quiah was using was pinged and the Marshals were able to track her down in Philadelphia and notified Philadelphia police. How Quiah got the phone was not immediately known Thursday.
Early Thursday afternoon she was spotted in Philadelphia and led police on a chase that ended in the area of 56th Street and Whitby Avenue in West Philadelphia. Chitwood said a number of cars were damaged when the chase came to a crashing end, pinning Quiah in her vehicle. She was extricated and transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center for injuries she sustained.
The vehicle Quiah crashed, according to Chitwood, was not the Kia Sedona van she allegedly stole after fleeing district court and was previously spotted in. Quiah allegedly stole someones identification and rented the car that she was captured in, said Chitwood.
In addition to the counts she faces in Upper Darby, a slew of charges are expected in Philadelphia courts for Thursdays evasion of police. A criminal docket for Quiah in Philadelphia courts was not prepared late Thursday afternoon detailing any charges.
Thursdays chase is the most recent incident of Quiah evading police.
After a warrant was issued by Upper Darby Police for her arrest for allegedly biting the county worker on Sept. 10, Quiah led police on a chase in the western end of the county. She crashed her car and was treated at Paoli Hospital before going to Micozzie-Aguirres court. On Sept. 13, she was given a sheet to cover-up her hospital gown to appear before the judge and then tossed it on a constable in the court and fled the court building.
She was spotted fully-clothed, but shoeless, in a beauty supply store the next day on the Lansdowne/Upper Darby border talking on a phone and driving a Kia Sedona van.
A few days later she was located in the Kia van in West Philadelphia. An officer on patrol around 46th Street and Fairmount Avenue went up to the vehicle and found Quiah sleeping in it around 4 a.m. When the officer returned to his vehicle, Quiah again fled.
Chitwood said a detainer has been placed on Quiah and expects her to be arraigned in Philadelphia for charges related to the police chase before coming back to Upper Darby.
Its good shes off the street; shes a dangerous, dangerous woman, said Chitwood.
On top of Upper Darby and Philadelphia, Quiah faces charges in Sharon Hill, too.
Sharon Hill police also had a warrant out for her arrest and officially filed on Thursday nine charges against her including kidnapping of a minor, burglary, recklessly endangering another person, and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer. The charges stem from a Sept. 11 incident in the borough, one day after she allegedly bit the county worker.
In the affidavit of probable cause filed by Sharon Hill Detective Vincent Port, Quiah entered a residence in the first block of Barker Avenue and allegedly took a 1-year-old girl from the residence. The girl and a months-old boy living in the house are foster children of the woman who filed the criminal complaint with police. Quiah is the biological mother of the girl, according to the affidavit.
Sharon Hill Police Chief Richard Herron could not be reached Thursday afternoon for further information.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 4) Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday said the Philippines is rushing to have the framework on joint gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea with China.
"So we are trying to rush the framework so that if it's acceptable to both sides, even an agreement of principle with the DFA and the MoFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) of China will be a giant step forward," Cayetano said.
The most recent draft outlines the basic principles to be exchanged with Cayetano's counterpart, Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi, who is expected to visit the Philippines in October.
However, the country's top diplomat said he does not want to issue a final deadline, especially with Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the country slated in November.
Cayetano said they are also in coordination with the Filipino companies whose service contracts will be affected by the joint exploration.
"Part of the framework will be a commercial agreement between our commercial entity and China's commercial entity," he said.
He added the government is working on the joint exploration with China "cautiously" and "enthusiastically."
"Enthusiastic because it seems that we all agree that it will benefit our region, benefit Philippines, benefit China. We all agree that there can be and there is a framework which will be constitutional under Philippine laws and acceptable under Chinese laws. Cautious because it's a delicate matter. It has to pass the scrutiny of Congress and the Judiciary," he said.
TikTok, the worlds fastest-growing short-form video app, has announced the winners of its first-ever 1 Million Audition in the Philippines, besting over 31,000 videos received in just two weeks. Led by three celebrities Bela Padilla, Ella Cruz, and Donnalyn Bartolome, the 1 Million Audition contest aims to find the most talented creators in the country.
The top three winners are:
#1MPHComedy Gyl St. Pierre
#1MPHTalent Issey Miyake Parto
#1MPHFashion Vishnu Isles
Gyl, a tech-savy creator, has gained almost 73,000 followers on TikTok for his impeccable comedic timing and impressive editing skills. Im really excited thankful for this opportunity to meet the creators from all over the world, said Gyl.
#1MPHTalent winner Issey, meanwhile, is a budding performer with over 177,000 followers who
have gotten front row seats to her growth as an artist. And for college student Vishnu, his experience of sharing slices of life has helped discover his passion and given him the chance to connect with his 239,000 fans.
The three winners received Php20,000 each and won a trip to attend the TikTok Gala in Seoul, South Korea in November to meet and celebrate with other creators from the apps global
community.
TikTok, which has 500 million users across 150 countries and regions worldwide, on September 29 gathered the Filipino 1 Million Audition winners and other top creators to spend time together to collaborate on their videos and exchange tricks and tips on creating effective short-form videos.
The Filipino version of the 1 Million Audition was held on September 7 until September 21 and led by Filipina trendsetters Bela Padilla for the Fashion category, Ella Cruz for Talent, and Donnalyn Bartolome for Comedy.
Launched in 2017, TikToks 1 Million Audition provides budding artists a platform to showcase their diverse talents and win millions of followers and rewards at the same time. It has been successfully held across India, the United States, Latin America, Europe, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam with over one million participants.
About TikTok
TikTok is a destination for short-form mobile videos. Our mission is to capture and present the worlds creativity, knowledge, and moments that matter, directly from the mobile phone. TikTok enables everyone to be a creator and encourages users to share their passion and creative expression through their videos. TikTok is based in Los Angeles, with global offices in London, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Jakarta, Mumbai, and Moscow. In early 2018, TikTok was one of the most downloaded apps in the world. TikTok is available worldwide for iOS and Android. Visit tiktok.com.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 6) A coalition of indigenous groups, environmentalists and social activists called on the government to stop the construction of several dam projects that are a part of the New Centennial Water System (NCWS).
The No to NCWS Network formally convened today in Quezon City to form a unified action against the construction of the P18.724 billion project which would be funded through a Chinese official development assistance (ODA) grant.
Said grant would be signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he visits the Philippines this November, according to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). If completed, the dam projects would provide a second source of water for Metro Manila.
However, No to NCWS Network claims that it could damage the composition of the land where the dam would be constructed, as well as increase water costs and consumer collection by at least P6 billion pesos from 2008 to 2011.
Haharangan niya yung natural flow ng tubig, nag-iipon talaga yan ng mga detritus, ng mga sediments, ng ibat-ibang mga biomass, said Leon Dulce of the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment.
[Translation: It blocks the natural flow of water, and will trap detritus, sediments and other biomasses.]
Alfredo Itarag from the local government of Infanta, Quezon, which is one of the sites for the NCWS, said that the construction falls within the forests of Sierra Madre which protects them from natural calamities.
Kahit po ang mga karatig naming bayan ay sumang-ayon na at sumusuporta riyan, ang Infanta po ay nananatiling hindi sumasang-ayon, Itarag said.
[Translation: Even if nearby provinces areas have agreed to and support this project, we in Infanta continue to reject it.]
Infanta was one of the areas strongly ravaged by typhoons Violeta, Winnie and Yoyong in 2004.
CNN Philippines has reached out to MWSS for comment.
Cebu City (CNN Philippines, October 6) Christopher "Boyet" Tangag, 23, finished college with the help of stipend from the government. Now, his family needs nothing more than justice for him.
Tangag was among the five people brutally killed in a suspected ambush in upland Barangay Malubog at dawn on October 4. Two survivors accused the police of being behind the killing, a claim the Central Visayas police belied.
The supposed ambush happened as police conducted a "One Time Big Time" anti-drug operation in Cebu City, which left nine people dead.
READ: 9 killed, 60 arrested in Cebu City police operations
"I seek justice, if ever there really is such thing as justice. He never was involved in illegal drugs. You can ask anyone here if you want," said Tangag's father who refused to be named for security reasons.
He described his son as a hardworking man. Tangag, a scholar of the Cebu City government graduated at the Asian College of Technology. He later worked in a business process outsourcing firm, and even sidelined as a habal-habal (motorcycle) driver to better provide for his family.
He picked up a passenger in barangay Guadalupe at night on October 3 when a group of armed men intercepted and blindfolded them, and forced them to board a van going to Malubog. That's where Tangag was shot dead along with four other men: Carl Cabahug, 20; Leyster Abella, 26; Rolando Tayor, 29; and a certain Dirovan Sarijorjo.
Tangag is survived by his wife and a nine-month-old child. His father said he wanted to avail of a housing loan to provide better living conditions for his family, as they have been renting a small room in Barangay Basak San Nicolas.
Tangag's father said he prays that his son could rest in peace and promises to continue praying until justice is served.
This is the latest in the spate of killings in Cebu City, mostly of drug suspects and drug enforcement agents.
'Blocking F-35 sale to Turkey to create problems'
Halting the delivery of new generation F-35 fighter jets to Turkey could cause serious problems for its maker Lockheed Martin, a report said Friday.
In August, Congress passed legislation that could block the sale of 100 of Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets to Turkey because of an agreement Turkey have to buy a Russian air defense system.
In an article released by Bloomberg magazine, "Turkey is a global leader in aerospace manufacturing, and 10 Turkish companies will make about $12 billion worth of parts for the F-35, including key components such as the center fuselage and some landing gear," said.
Bloomberg believes that if the U.S. Congress blocked the sale of F-35s to Turkey, Ankara could stop supplying crucial parts for the jet.
"If the Turkish supply chain was disrupted today, it would result in an aircraft production break, delaying delivery of 50-75 jets and would take approximately 18-24 months to re-source parts," U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis wrote in July in a letter to Congress.
President Erdogan puts end to McKinsey issue
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan made statements to the members of parliament from his ruling AK Party during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara.
Speaking at the ruling Justice and Development AK Party's consultation meeting in Kizilcahamam district of the capital, President Erdogan expressed that Turkey is open to all kinds of investments, support but will not compromise on its sovereignty and future.
TURKEY TACKLES DIFFICULTIES WITH OWN SOLUTIONS
President Erdogan said his ministers not to receive any financial advice or consulting from U.S. firm McKinsey, saying the government would rely on domestic capabilities instead.
"To overcome economic hardship we have implemented and undergone major reforms and radical changes swiftly, that in normal circumstances would have taken years," he added.
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.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 6) A suspect in two bombings in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat was killed in a military operation at dawn on Saturday, authorities said.
Norodin Taib, described by the military as a "notorious bomber" of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), was slain by government troops at Sitio Lab in the village of Kuloy, Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao at around 2 a.m. This is according to a press release of the Sixth Infantry Division.
"While the troops were moving towards at the house of the suspected bomber with more or less five individuals scampered towards different directions, but one of them threw a homemade hand grenade which prompted the troops to neutralize the said suspect," the military said.
It said the suspects were behind the blasts in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat on August 28 and September 2. Four were killed while dozens were wounded when an improvised explosive device went off in those two occasions. The military then suspected the involvement of the BIFF, a group of armed rebels linked to international terrorist network ISIS.
The August 28 attack during the celebration of the Hamungaya Festival, Isulan town's founding anniversary, even led to talks that President Rodrigo Duterte would ask Congress for another extension of martial law in Mindanao. Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said this was an option, although it would be too early to make a recommendation.
Martial law is in effect in Mindanao until December 31, 2018, after Congress granted Duterte's second request for an extension to quell threats of rebellion amid efforts to rehabilitate Marawi City. Marawi is the provincial capital of Lanao del Sur that was the battle ground of terrorists and government forces from May to October last year. More than a thousand were killed, mostly terrorists.
READ: Malacanang official: Mindanao martial law extension 'an option' after Sultan Kudarat blast
. HBO. , . [ ] , 30 [...
ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- A White House spokesman defended the "emotional" Senate testimony of Brett Kavanaugh, who is poised to be confirmed Saturday to the Supreme Court, saying the nominee will be a fair and evenhanded justice.
I don't think one can hold against Judge Kavanaugh for being emotional in his testimony last week given what he's had to deal with, what he and his family have had to deal with, White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said Saturday on Good Morning America, referring to allegations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct against the nominee.
But if you look at his actual record over 12 years, and he talked about it in this recent op-ed with The Wall Street Journal, in which he is committed to being a fair, impartial and evenhanded justice on the Supreme Court, Shah said.
Kavanaugh's at times combative testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week raised questions among some observers about his judicial temperament. In the op-ed on Thursday, he said his "sharp" tone was because he was speaking as "a son, husband and dad."
"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. I hope everyone can understand that I was there as a son, husband and dad, Kavanaugh wrote.
Kavanaugh is expected to be narrowly confirmed to the Supreme Court along partisan lines with the exception of one Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who -- facing a tough re-election battle -- announced he will support the president's pick. Only one Republican, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, has said she will break with her party and not vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
Shah on Saturday continued the White House's defense of the president's references to Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford at a rally last week, saying Trump was not mocking her but stating facts about the gaps in her memory of the alleged assault.
You can disagree with his tone, but can you disagree with the substance? Shah said. And I think that the key here is that what he was pointing to are facts. He was stating facts.
Shah said the president, who previously called Blasey Ford a credible witness, found the accusers testimony to be sincere but that she lacked corroborating evidence to meet the 'more likely than not' standard.
Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
macrohistory.com
home | before 1000 BCE EGYPT and CIVILIZATION in NORTH AFRICA (1 of 5)
Egypt and North Africa
Agriculture and Herding in Northern Africa | Agriculture and Power Politics along the Nile | Ideology and Myth in Egypt | Succession Problems to the 12th Dynasty | Conquest by Hyksos, Egyptian Expansion to Ramses II
Agriculture and Herding in Northern Africa
Between 9000 and 4000 BCE, northern Africa and the Sahara were grass and woodland with an abundance of rainfall, rivers, lakes, fish and other aquatic life. Anthropologists speculate that from North Africa's Mediterranean coast, people migrated into the Sahara and that people migrated into the Sahara from the south. In the Sahara, communities raised sheep and goats, as people did along the Mediterranean coast. And communities of people fished in the lakes and rivers of the region, using intricately made bone harpoons and fishing hooks, some using nets with weights and other tools for harvesting aquatic creatures. Living a settled life, people began using pottery and growing food, using stone and wooden tools. To the east, along the upper Nile, including what was to be Nubia, people by 6000 BCE were growing sorghum and millet and a wheat believed to be of African origin. And by 4000 BCE, people in the middle of the Sahara region were raising cattle. Then around 3500 BCE the climate of North Africa began to dry, perhaps in part because of overgrazing wetness needing vegetation as well as vegetation needing water. The Sahara started to change from grass and woodland to desert.
Agriculture along the Nile
Anthropologists speculate that some people fled the drying to the northern Nile River, taking with them their cultivation of wheat, barley, flax, various vegetables and their goats and sheep. And perhaps some people in western Sahara retreated southward to a wetter climate, taking with them their pigs, sheep, goats, cattle and knowledge of farming. In the Ethiopian highlands, herding and farming appeared, people there growing a cereal crop called tef and starchy stalks called enset. Remaining in the Sahara region were sparse populations of dark skinned people and also a people called Berbers, the Berbers occupying territory near the Mediterranean Sea. Those who had migrated to the northern Nile were related to the Berbers, or at least the languages of the two people were related a language that has been classified as Afro-Asian. And scholars speculate that the Afro-Asian dialect had origins with people who had come to Africa from the eastern side of the Red Sea.
Meanwhile, in Africa south of the desert region many had begun small-scale farming and raising cattle. Those living in the continent's equatorial forests continued to rely almost exclusively on their hunting and gathering, which provided them with all they needed. It would be want and deprivation elsewhere that would mother new ways of doing things. People in the equatorial forests saw no reason to hack clearings to grow food that was already sufficient for their few numbers.
South of the Sahara, the raising of cattle was at first limited to regions without the blood sucking tsetse fly, which could spread disease fatal to both cattle and people. It took many generations for people to build immunities to local diseases, which kept migrant communities from growing in the moist valleys and thickly wooded regions where the tsetse fly thrived. In some other parts of Africa where inadequate rain or other conditions discouraged farming, people continued to gather food that grew wild. Using exquisitely hand-crafted spears, bows and arrows, animal snares and poisons, they hunted small game. And with food supply limited, the populations of these various areas remained sparse, unlike what was developing along the northern Nile.
By 1000 BCE, people in western Africa would be clearing portions of tropical forest with stone axes and planting yams, harvesting fruits and palm nuts and keeping goats. And east of central Africa's equatorial rain forest cattle raising was being extended, with cattle raising favored in the drier areas free of the tsetse fly. Peoples that herded more than they farmed were neighbors to those that farmed more than they herded, each side believing that their way of life was superior to the other.
Sources
Copyright 1998-2018 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.
macrohistory.com (PORTUGAL in AMERICA, to 1600 continued)
home | 16-17th centuries index PORTUGAL in AMERICA, to 1600 (2 of 2)
Colony Building and Enslavement
The wealth that Spain was taking out of their areas in the Americas inspired the Portuguese, and in 1531 five vessels and four hundred colonists arrived on Brazil's coast, and that year they established a colony they called Sao Vicente (Saint Vincent), on the coast about south of what today is Rio de Janeiro.
Those who emigrated to Brazil were looking for land and an easy life. They had no intention of doing manual work, expecting that they could have the Tupi do their work for them. When the Indians refused, the colonists made slaves of those captured in the frequent wars between Indian tribes or by taking people in raids on Indian villages.
African Substitutes
Failing to enslave enough Tupi, the Portuguese in 1532 began shipping African slaves to Brazil. Africans had an immunity to tropical diseases that served them well in Brazil and they were believed to be able workers in mining and tropical agriculture. A circular trade was established, the Portuguese taking metal manufactured goods to Africa, trading these goods for slaves, shipping slaves to America and transporting from Brazil whatever they thought they could sell in Portugal.
In the 1530s the Portuguese established another colony, Olinda, to the north on the shore near the eastern-most point of the continent. In 1549 the Portuguese founded their colonial capital city in Brazil: Sao Salvador da Bahia (Salvador). By now their original colony at Sao Vicente had a population of around 5,000. In 1554 the Portuguese founded Sao Paulo. Meanwhile, French Protestants Huguenots running from persecution had founded a settlement at what was to be called Rio de Janeiro, and in 1560 the Portuguese drove them out and began building their own settlement there.
Jesuits, Tupi and more Expansion
In 1554 the Portuguese started to move inland, and the attempt to exploit the Tupi continued. Wars between the Portuguese and Tupi were described by Father Nobrega in 1558, as putting an end to cannibalism and the "hellish mouth that has eaten so many Christians." Another Jesuit, Father Jose de Anchieta, to be called the "Apostle of Brazil" and made a saint, described fighting the Tupi in his poem De Gestis Meni de Saa, written around 1560. He wrote of the Portuguese destroying villages and fields. and wrote of the "heroic deeds" of soldiers "in the immense wilderness."
For the Portuguese soldiers it was a war to exterminate and subjugate. The Portuguese had begun building plantations. The churchmen and others saw the war and the taking of slaves from warfare as morally correct. Jesuit correspondence with the King of Portugal supported subjugating and enslaving the natives in order to convert them, and, the letter went on, "Your Highness will draw much profit because there will be many stock farms and many plantations, even if there be not much gold and silver." note7
The Jesuit program was to settle the Indians into villages (aldeias) that they ran, similar to Spanish missions and forced Indian villages. Here the Indians were denied the nomadic hunting and gathering ways, and here they could absorb Christian doctrine and morality, learn a trade, pursue their native crafts, learn to read and write and they were protected from unapproved enslavement. Father Jose de Anchieta was the major architect of this program.
The Jesuits in Brazil came into conflict with Brazil's colonists much as Jesuits in Spanish America came into conflict with Spanish colonists. The colonists wanted a supply of labor and the Jesuits wanted to protect their Indians, which led to appeals by both sides to the king of Portugal. The crown's decree of 1574 reflected a partial victory for the Jesuits, granting them full control over the Indians in their villages while permitting the colonists to enslave Indians captured in "legitimate" warfare.
Bandeirantes
The Bandeirantes (followers of the banner) are credited with expanding Portugal's colony into the interior. They were also known as Paulistas. Many were descended from Tupi mothers and Portuguese fathers. These were men who wanted to become rich quick. They worked as free-enterprisers in a group as opposed to expeditions funded by the Portuguese government.
The Bandeirantes had firearms and the Tupi had bows and arrows. The Bandeirantes pursued their slave gathering by disguising themselves as Jesuits, sometimes singing mass to lure the Tupi from their settlements. If luring them didn't work, the Bandeirantes might surround a settlement and set it afire to force them out. Sometimes the Bandeirantes conducted a surprise attack. Another Bandeirante tactic was to set one native tribe against a second tribe in order to weaken them and then to enslave both of them.
The Bandeirantes collected those they captured in a large outdoor pen until, maybe weeks or months later, they had enough to justify a return trip to the coast, where the captives would be sold as slaves. For the journey to the coast the captives were stripped and tied to a long pole to prevent them from trying to flee.
At least some of the Jesuit missionaries considered themselves opponents of the Bandeirantes but they accompanied them, providing mass before an expedition and serving the dying or the souls of those killed.
Bandeirantes were frontiersmen. They planted and harvested food patches as they went. They built roads and founded settlements. They provided colonial administrators with information useful for mapping the land while not claiming property rights.
As the natives diminished in number, the Bandeirantes moved on to searching for gold and silver. Word was out, with some exaggeration, on discoveries made by the Spanish. In the 1660s, the Portuguese government offered rewards to those who discovered gold or silver deposits in inner Brazil, and the Bandeirantes responded.
Slaves from Africa
The dearth of slaves in Brazil led the colonists to purchase more slaves from Africa. The Portuguese had begun crystallizing sugar by boiling sugar cane cuttings in large in vats. A new industry to make money putting sugar on Europe's dining tables was in the making. By 1600, the colony had around 120 sugar plantations, with sugar and dyewood being its main exports, sugar exports around 50 million tons a year. In the colony were around 30,000 black slaves and about 50,000 Portuguese and half Portuguese, and about 680 head of cattle. A century later there would be around 1.5 million head of cattle, tobacco exports would increase, the white and mixed race population would be around 150,000, and African slaves would number around 150,000. note8
Sources The Brazilian People, by Ribeiro Darcy, University of Florida Press, 2000 The Brazilian Empire: Myths & Histories, Revised Edition, Chapters 1 through 3, by Emilia Viotti da Costa, 2000 Latin America: the Development of its Civilization, Third Edition, by Helen Miller Bailey and Abraham P Nasatir, 1973 Additional Reading Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond, 1999
Copyright 1998-2018 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.
macrohistory.com (JAPAN from TOKUGAWA to MEIJI continued)
home | 18-19th centuries index JAPAN from TOKUGAWA to MEIJI (5 of 5)
Imperialism to 1900
Japan had a dearth of raw materials and was importing raw materials from elsewhere in Asia and exporting finished products. By industrializing, Japan was able to dominate in the sale of manufactured goods, especially textiles, to those areas abroad that it was closer to geographically than were the Western powers. And Japan remained determined to assert itself as a great nation and not to suffer domination by the West as was China. One of the oligarchs running Japan in the name of Emperor Meiji, Fukuzawa Yukichi, in 1885, described Japan's need to be a leading power in Asia and to behave "in the same way as the civilized countries of the West are doing." He added: "We would do better to treat China and Korea in the same way as do the Western nations."
Militarily, Japan benefited not only from its rapid industrialization but also by being an island nation, and by having as a neighboring military rival a crippled power China. And Japan had an advantage over Europe and the US regarding Asia by being geographically closer to targets of imperial interest.
Naval ensign, from 1889
Japan had another ingredient useful for imperial expansion arrogance a view of their country as the land favored by the Gods, the land that others should recognize as superior. This was expressed as early as 1868 when Japan sent to Korea an announcement of the Meiji restoration. The announcement implied that Japan's monarch was superior in status to Korea's monarch. Diplomacy would have been served by Korea smiling at Japanese arrogance and accepting the announcement. Instead the Koreans rejected it, and Japan's militant patriots and supporters of Meiji rule considered Korea's response an affront to Japan's national dignity, and exchanges in the months that followed failed to mollify the irritation felt by both sides.
In the 1870s, Japanese warships, with troops, threatened the Koreans and struck at Korea's port city of Pusan and at Kanghwado island. Japan was proving its perceived superiority militarily, and in 1876 Korea signed a treaty, drafted by the Japanese, that granted the Japanese in Korea extraterritoriality (exemption from the jurisdiction of local law), exemption from tariffs and recognition of Japanese currency at ports of trade.
In 1878 a branch of Japan's Daiichi Bank was established in Pusan, which encouraged more Japanese merchants to do business in Korea. Japanese merchants purchased rice, soy beans, cattle hides and alluvial gold at low prices and sold these in Japan. Exports from Japan to Korea were mainly Japan's reselling of European, especially English, and American commodities.
By the 1890s, with Russian expansion in mind, Japan's military strategists were looking upon Korea as a zone of defense. In 1894, a war was approaching between Japan and China regarding Korea. Korea had xenophobes as did Japan, and in July in southern Korea a peasant and anti-foreign rebellion, the Tong-hak rising, occurred. note97
Korea's king called on China for help in suppressing the riots. China landed a force of 2,000 in Korea. Japan objected, claiming that this violated an agreement in 1885 the Tianjin Convention. In Japan, patriotic activists claimed that Japan's national honor was at stake, and public opinion in Japan agreed with the super-patriots. Japanese soldiers took control of Korea's royal palace. By the end of September, 1894, Japan's army was in control of most of Korea and its navy was in control of the Yellow Sea (Huang Hai). Korea's king, Min, found refuge in the Russian legation. Some Japanese were involved in the assassination of Queen Min, who had been making overtures to China and Russia. And the Japanese forced out of Korea's government those who favored China.
Japanese army divisions crossed northward from Korea into Manchuria. Three divisions moved southward in Manchuria and captured a Chinese naval arsenal and fortress at the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, at what is today Lushun to be known as Port Arthur. Japan's army occupied Weihaiwei, on the Shandong Peninsula. China's antiquated military was overwhelmed by Japan's modern forces, and China in 1895 signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki. This ceded to Japan control over Lushun (called Port Arthur by Westerners) and nearby Dalian on the Liaodong peninsula, at the southern tip of Manchuria. It ceded to Japan the island of Taiwan and permitted the Japanese to live and trade in China.
A group of leading Taiwanese, aided by rebellious Chinese officials, defied the Japanese and declared Taiwan a republic Asia's first independent republic. Japan sent in troops and within a few months crushed that independence, Taiwan becoming part of Japan's empire.
Meanwhile, in 1894 in London, Japan had signed a new commercial and navigation treaty the Aoki-Kimberley Treaty with Britain. Power had brought Japan respect from a fellow imperial power. The treaty abolished extraterritorial rights for the British in Japan and provided reciprocity in most favored nation treatment. The US followed this with a similar agreement, and Russia and Germany established similar agreements in 1895, with France and the Netherlands joining them in 1896.
Britain welcomed Japanese imperialism as a counter to Russian expansion. The US government instructed its representatives to make no statement unfavorable to Japan. France and Germany supported Russia, and Russia saw Japan's gains as a threat to her rail line through Manchuria to China.
Pressure from Russia, France and Germany the so-called Triple Intervention resulted in Japan returning its gains in Manchuria and the Shandong peninsula to China, but China was also a loser in the transactions. With some bribing of Chinese officials, Russia acquired a 25-year lease at Lushun (Port Arthur), Germany acquired control over Jiaozhou Bay at the south of the Shandong Peninsula. Britain leased Hong Kong for 99 years and took control of Weihaiwei in the north on Shandong, agreeing to stay there as long as the Russians remained at Lushun. France also took control of a piece of the Shandong peninsula and took control of Guangzhou (Canton) in southern China. The Japanese public went from exultation over their country's victories to bitterness. And the Triple Intervention inspired the Japanese to further build the strength of its military and to improve its manufacture of military equipment.
Russia improved its ties with Korea, including the sending of a military mission there. In 1898, Russia and Japan agreed to refrain from interference in Korean politics and to consult with each other before sending military or financial advisors to Korea seven years before the outbreak of war between these two countries.
State funding will create this new workforce development program with the affects of climate change in mind.
The sights of home : Bonn photographers depict their region
Bonn Helmut Reinelt and Axel Thunker are photographers. They love depicting their home region. The new images by Reinelt are currently being exhibited at the valley station of the Drachenfelsbahn.
Stefan Lindauer from Oberstorf and Horst Gotzl call themselves home region photographer too. Lidauer celebrates Oberstorf and the surrounding area with almost dramatic, sometimes even dark and menacing and cloudy landscape images, reminding the observer of pictures of romanticism. Gotzl rather catches land and people in his new exhibition. Sleepless is the title of one picture series, in which the landscapes get an unusual colouring and atmosphere in the dusk and during the night.
To capture the home region with a camera seems to be a basic need amongst amateurs as well as professional photographers.
Helmut Reinelt from Bad Honnef calls his new series of photographs No mans land, the images are currently being exhibited in the valley station of the Drachenfelsbahn. He removes all man-made details from his usual surroundings, returns the landscape to a state of purity and originality - thus making it look rather strange. He digitally removed all traces of civilisation, and leaves behind only a landscape shaped by time (behind). Is this still a home region then? An interesting question which even Reinelt, who is highly fascinated by the visual experiment, cannot answer lightly.
Where I feel at home
Home is the place where I belong, where I am from, where I feel at home, says Reinelt. Different experiences played into this, he adds, he was born in Bonn, and grew up in the Siebengebirge and in Graurheindorf. He studied photography in Munich. I managed to stay there for five years, he recalls, and I met many Cologne and Rhineland people in Bavaria - which was a little piece of home - and I realised that I belong here in the Rhineland.
So it was back to Ittenbach, since 1988 he lives in Bad Honnef. He travelled for various tv stations all over the world, considered living abroad. But Bonn, the Siebengebirge, the Rhine, thats my home. Here, he looks at the people and the nature with a special eye. I try to retrieve something original: What kind of a landscape is this, can it be compared to others? By reducing the landscape to its actual morphology, he gets closer to it and re-discovers it.
Axel Thunker impresses with fantastic images of the Rhine in and around Bonn, of the Siebengebirge and the Eifel area. His motivation: First of all, to see my surroundings. His problem: He knows the region all too well. He was fascinated looking at the American west coast photography, was inspired by those images: The photographers there have a lot more possibilities than in the Eifel or the Siebengebirge, he explains. He went on a round trip through the United States to pursue this phenomena. And he had to admit that you can find more potential than here at the Rhine.
The first contact is important
But his photos of the Eifel and the Bonn region refute this: He discovered colours and formations, atmosphere, geological and topographic characteristics, found natural phenomena, bizarrely shaped stones and unspoilt vegetation.
The first contact, he says, is important, the immediate access. He had that in the States on the west coast - because he didnt know the area. But his home region he knows too well. Still, finding something new in a well-known area is exciting. I like the solitude, the nature, which a city person can discover there. His photos are not edited: I only take images I would also take with an analog camera.
His panoramic image of the Siebengebirge is four meters wide, which is hanging in the Siebengebirsmuseum in Konigswinter as a giant slide - it was built together from 50 single images. I only worked on the brightness and contrast, he admitted six years ago when it was first exhibited.
You have to be able to read the history of the landscape, he says. You have to spend time with it and in it. And with the expression of home, which has changed for him, says Thunker. To me, this is a space in which my life takes place with all its facets, to where I can return to start over again and again. Home means feeling comfortable too.
Trial in Bonn : Sentence for Siegauen rapist reduced to ten years
Bonn The man who attacked a young woman and her boyfriend camping in the Rheinaue had already been sentenced to a long term in prison. The district court in Bonn now reduced the sentence to ten years after a new hearing.
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The man who attacked a young woman and her boyfriend camping in the Rheinaue had already been sentenced to a long term in prison. The district court in Bonn now reduced the sentence to ten years after a new hearing. The accused showed no reaction during the sentencing: Eric X., who got known as the Siegauen rapist was sentenced to ten years in jail for a particularly grave rape and particular gross extortion on Friday, in what was a second attempt by the third special main criminal court in Bonn.
That the 34-year-old had assaulted a young couple who were camping in the Siege and that he had raped the woman, had been confirmed by the Federal Supreme Court (BGH) already, who sent the case back to the district court in Bonn for a retrial. Only the sentence level was supposed to be checked again. The rejected asylum seeker from Ghana had been sentenced to eleven-and-a-half years, and had appealed that decision at the BGH.
Complete lack of empathy
With great sincerity and calmness, chamber president Klaus Reinhoff read out the sentence: The outrage and dismay in regard to the crime has been noticeable in every person present on the first day of the trial. The accused shows obvious signs of antisocial and psychopathic streaks, which did not cause a restriction of his criminal liability in the sense of a pathological disorder. This has been revealed clearly by the expert report of the forensic psychiatrist employed by the court. At exactly that point the BGH had ordered a new detailed assessment of the sentence.
Eric X., according to the judge now, has been cognitively unable to show discernment and to control his behaviour during the time of the crime. His antisocial streaks and complete lack of empathy had enabled him to manage to flee in adverse circumstances and follow his own interests entirely ruthlessly. At the evening of the crime, these streaks had led him to take advantage of the circumstances ruthlessly and to ignore the possibility of negative consequences for himself.
Public opinion completely irrelevant
The court had to consider in its decision that the sentence had to be proportionate to similar judicially pronounced cases. Therefore public opinion is completely irrelevant to the determining of the sentence. For both charges the law considers between five and 15 years in prison, whereby the higher sentence is intended for the most serious imaginable crimes.
At the end the judge turned to Eric X.: He had shown no remorse and a lack of any empathy; he had damaged the life of two people permanently. Instead of being self-righteous, he would be better to grapple with the fate of his victims. The defending lawyer Martin Worsdorf wants to check if he will lodge a new appeal. He said that he doesnt deem it unlikely that the sentence is waterproof.
kacylee at 6-10-2018 08:47 AM (3 years ago) (f)
Two men have been arrested by the Edo State Police Command for robbing a policeman and dispossessing him of his service pistol in the Oredo Local Government Area of the state.
Two men have been arrested by the Edo State Police Command for robbing a policeman and dispossessing him of his service pistol in the Oredo Local Government Area of the state.
The suspects were alleged to be members of a five-man gang who specialised in unleashing terror on unsuspecting residents of Siluko, Iriri and Ekenhuan axis of the state capital.
Southern City News gathered on Friday that the suspected robbers had accosted the policeman in Oliha, Oredo Local Government Area of the state, and ordered him out of his vehicle.
It was learnt that on sensing danger, the plain-clothe security officer, was said to have attempted to use his service pistol, but was overpowered by the gang.
The robbers allegedly made away with the gun.
But two of them, identified as Emmanuel Oghenevo and Kelvin Aroiwa, were later arrested following a tip-off.
He explained:
One of us, called I. Y., collected the pistol from the policeman and hit him on the head. As the policeman was coming out of his vehicle, he brought out his gun to shoot us.
We did not know that he was a security operative. As he brought out his gun, I. Y. dodged and pushed him. Another member of our group, Emma, pinned his hand and took the gun.
The suspect, however, alleged that he was pushed into crime by poverty and the hardship he was going through.
I started robbing early this year. But I have not killed anyone. My family was suffering and there was no other way to feed. So, I decided to join the gang.
I am not happy about my arrest and I advise those involved in crime to desist from it. If I am forgiven, I will leave robbery and join the police, he said.
But Aroiwa, who claimed to have been under the influence of alcohol when the crime was committed, told Southern City News that he was arrested by policemen at his hideout in the Aduwawa area of the Benin metropolis.
The native from Odighi community in the Ovia North-East Local Government Area of the state, said:
We were at Ring Road (in Benin) when one of us told us to go to Oliha. I told them that I was drunk and would not be able to go.
But they insisted. So, I followed them. I did not even know when we got to Oliha. To say the truth, I did not even know when they collected the gun from him (policeman).
He added:
As we were driving out, they woke me up angrily and told me that they had collected a pistol. We later went to Ekenhuan road where we robbed another man. I was at Aduwawa smoking when the police arrested me and took me to a police station.
However, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, assured that the suspects would be arraigned in court at the end of the investigation. The suspects were alleged to be members of a five-man gang who specialised in unleashing terror on unsuspecting residents of Siluko, Iriri and Ekenhuan axis of the state capital.Southern City News gathered on Friday that the suspected robbers had accosted the policeman in Oliha, Oredo Local Government Area of the state, and ordered him out of his vehicle.It was learnt that on sensing danger, the plain-clothe security officer, was said to have attempted to use his service pistol, but was overpowered by the gang.The robbers allegedly made away with the gun.But two of them, identified as Emmanuel Oghenevo and Kelvin Aroiwa, were later arrested following a tip-off.He explained:he said.But Aroiwa, who claimed to have been under the influence of alcohol when the crime was committed, told Southern City News that he was arrested by policemen at his hideout in the Aduwawa area of the Benin metropolis.The native from Odighi community in the Ovia North-East Local Government Area of the state, said:He added:However, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, assured that the suspects would be arraigned in court at the end of the investigation.
Post Reply I have been reporting for several years now and I am very interested in visual news reportage with strong inclusion of photos and video multimedia. Posted: at 6-10-2018 08:47 AM (3 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Kevin Parker, who was formerly Rhode Islands director of government innovation, has been appointed the CIO for the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technologys education cluster.Parker started work in Illinois in July after spending more than a year and a half doing tech and innovation work for the state government in Rhode Island, where his title was director of government innovation. Before that, Parker spent just over eight years in a similar capacity with the municipal government in Boston. The Illinois position will have Parker overseeing state work that essentially falls at the intersection of education and tech and innovation.During a recent phone conversation withabout his new role, Parker said the main thrust of the job is coordinating the relationships with internal, education-focused agencies. Although there are also outward-facing efforts underway in his office too. Parker also identified four specific categories that his offices work falls into.The first was working with the governors statewide data team and childrens cabinet, a group of senior-level leaders convened to improve the lives and futures of Illinois youth. That group has seven projects underway ranging from early-childhood development work to apprenticeships for high school students and Parkers office is working to support those projects with data and other insights.Next, Parkers office is working to strengthen collaborations related to education, both within the state government and with key external partners, most prominently the University of Illinois system, which has campuses throughout the state. The collaboration with U of I is one with much potential, Parker said, noting that one key way the state can benefit is by lowering barriers of entry for college students who are interested in gov tech, even if its as simple as making sure that job postings are written in a way thats relevant and attractive to todays workforce.A third major area of focus is digital literacy and inclusion, which is increasingly a priority for state and local governments across the country. Parkers office is hoping to partner with school districts and other education agencies in Illinois to make sure that all students there have access to high-speed Internet, whether they live in Chicago, Peoria, Mount Vernon or Rockford.And finally, Parkers arrival in the state came just a few months before the launch of the Illinois Government Innovation Academy, which is designed to bolster gov tech knowledge, buy-in and skills among the state governments 60,000-some employees by facilitating a five-week leadership development program, among other efforts.We want to make sure were helping to lead the state as best we can, Parker said, not only in our external, nontraditional approaches, but also with our own internal staff.The academy, with its lessons on everything from basic gov tech work to human-centered design as it relates to government, is key to bolstering the culture of innovation in Illinois, Parker said.Jennifer Schultz, a spokesperson for the state, said they were happy to have someone like Parker to bring a new level of energy and a new way of thinking to the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology.
(TNS) Russian military hackers targeted employees of Cranberry, Pa.s Westinghouse Electric Corp. four years ago as part of an expansive influence and disinformation campaign serving their countrys government, U.S. law enforcement agencies announced Thursday.The FBIs Pittsburgh office and the U.S. Attorneys Office in Western Pennsylvania led an investigation into allegations that the Russian hackers stole information from Westinghouse which supplies nuclear fuel to Ukraine and from international chemical weapons organizations and anti-doping agencies that were investigating Russian athletes.The hackers, working for a Russian military intelligence agency known as GRU, obtained computer login information for employees of Westinghouse and the other agencies through so-called spearfishing campaigns and other techniques, according to court documents. They stole information, in some cases publicizing what they found to engage in influence and disinformation operations to advance the interests of the Russian government, according to the documents.This is not spy versus spy, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Scott Brady said during a news conference in Washington announcing the indictment of seven Russian military spies on charges including conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, wire fraud and money laundering.This is a criminal conspiracy, which caused real harm to real victims. When the GRU target American corporations to steal trade secrets and technology, it costs American companies billions of dollars in investment and there is a real cost to American workers, Brady said, adding employees could lose work if companies production and sales suffer.Russian hackers targeted Westinghouse starting in 2014, setting up a fake domain and website, https://webmail.westinqhousenuclear.com, and then sending emails to employees corporate accounts directing them to go to the site and enter their login information, according to the court documents.In a separate attack in early 2015, two employees involved in new and advanced nuclear reactor development clicked on links in spearfishing emails that would have enabled theft of their logins, according to the documents.Westinghouse didnt respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.The alleged activities were part of a broad campaign that ran from December 2014 until at least May 2018 and targeted American citizens, U.S. corporations and international organizations based on their strategic interest to the Russian government, officials said.Moscow denied the allegations Thursday.Since the U.S. has no extradition agreement with Russia, the indicted men would have to be arrested in a country that has an extradition agreement with the U.S. in order to be tried here.We want to bring them to Pittsburgh and we want them to stand trial, and we want to put them in jail, Brady said in the news conference. These defendants must be held accountable for their crimes.When asked at the news conference why the investigation was based in Pittsburgh, Brady said, the reason they come to Pittsburgh is because we have the best prosecutors and agents in the Department of Justice.The FBI and U.S. Attorneys Office conducted the sweeping investigation into the hackers activities along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Switzerlands Office of the Attorney General and intelligence agencies in the Netherlands and United Kingdom.Brady is scheduled to hold a related news conference Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh, along with FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Jones and Mark Flynn, the cyber director general for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Here in the western United States, smoke from wildfires is becoming a seasonal hazard to be dealt with by emergency managers and health professionals. In the Puget Sound region (think Seattle) we have had two successive summers with significant wildland fire smoke rolling in from Canada.Now there is this Harvard study,King County, my old emergency management stomping ground was called out as one of the specific counties in the USA that will be most impacted by this new regional hazard.Interestingly back as a kid growing up in Illinois I had lots of sinus issues and the doctor told my parents they should consider moving west to a place like Arizona for a better climate. We didn't move ... they didn't love me ...But I'm thinking about why people are moving to the Pacific Northwest. One of the factors they should consider but likely won't have any visibility on is this smoke hazard.Lastly, at some point in a future "smoke event," I expect with the hazard name of "Smoke Wave" that a "Smoke Tsunami" is in our future.Nathaniel Matthews-Trigg, MPH a disaster public educator (new to our field) and someone interested in the impacts of climate, shared the Harvard Study link above.
(TNS) Honda showed off its latest smart intersection technology Thursday morning, part of the companys long-term plan to evaluate how its vehicles can connect within a city environment to prevent serious crashes.Honda has been testing the system for months, but Thursday was the automakers first public demonstration of how a series of cameras and sensors could warn drivers of potential crashes before they happen.The manufacturer employs about 1,400 workers from Clark and Champaign counties and 14,000 Ohioans overall.The research, being conducted in downtown Marysville, will tell the company whether the technology is effective in reducing accidents and how best to deploy similar systems moving forward, said Ted Klaus, vice president of strategic research at Honda Research and Development Americas Inc.The research is an important step toward developing a safer transportation system and cutting accidents, he said. Accidents at intersections make up about 40 percent of all crashes, Honda officials said, and almost 20 percent of the 35,000 traffic-related deaths annually in the U.S.We have to understand the behavior of all road users, both those inside the vehicles and outside the vehicles, Klaus said.The project was developed in partnership with the city of Marysville and the state of Ohio as part of the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor Project. The corridor is a 35-mile stretch of U.S. 33 between Dublin and East Liberty being lined with fiber-optic cable that can collect data on autonomous and connected vehicles.The demonstrations Thursday included scenarios in which the driver of a Honda Pilot sport utility vehicle received visual and audio notifications to avoid a pedestrian crossing a downtown Marysville street and a second car that ran a red light. A third scenario warned the driver of an emergency vehicle passing through the intersection, allowing the connected Honda vehicle to pull over and the emergency vehicle to pass.The system used four cameras mounted at each corner of downtown Marysvilles main intersection, said Sue Bai, principal researcher at Honda Research and Development.Honda uses its software to create an image that can detect and identify vehicles and pedestrians and sends it to connected vehicles nearing the intersection. The connected vehicles on-board computer can then provide warnings to drivers to avoid potential obstacles.As long as you have connectivity in your car, you can receive these images, Bai said.The vehicle used in Thursdays demonstration was outfitted with special upgrades to collect the data and notify the driver. But its possible customers could have similar systems installed in their current vehicles if the technology becomes more widespread, Klaus said.Ohio Gov. John Kasich said the state has to make sure rules are in place so new technologies are safe while also allowing high-tech companies freedom to conduct research that can lead to future investments. He said the state has been ahead of the curve in pushing for new research in the auto industry.If Ohio is going to lead, we need to be risk-takers like the Wright Brothers were, Kasich said.The demonstrations were just one aspect in Hondas efforts to develop new transportation technologies. In a separate project, Honda announced a total investment of about $2.75 billion over 12 years to develop an autonomous vehicle in a partnership with GM and Cruise, GMs self-driving car unit.The companies will partner to develop an autonomous vehicle for Cruise that can be manufactured at high volume, according to information from the company.Honda chose to collaborate with Cruise and General Motors based on their leadership in autonomous and electric vehicle technology and our shared vision of a zero-emissions and zero-collision world, said Honda Executive Vice President and Representative Director COO Seiji Kuraishi in a news release We will complement their strengths through our expertise in space efficiency and design to develop the most desirable and effective shared autonomous vehicle.Kasich said Thursday the state needs to think about how the new technologies should be utilized to ensure the industry continues to provide good-paying jobs while improving safety for consumers.Its really about saving lives, Kasich said. When you think about the technology thats why you shouldnt be afraid of it.
Question: The Port would not say how much was requested, but would it have been less costly in the long run to pay the bitcoin?
Phil Blair, Manpower
Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research
David Ely, San Diego State University
Gina Champion-Cain, American National Investments
Alan Gin, University of San Diego
James Hamilton, UC San Diego
Gary London, London Moeder Advisors
Norm Miller, University of San Diego
Jamie Moraga, IntelliSolutions
Austin Neudecker, Rev
Bob Rauch, R.A. Rauch & Associates
Lynn Reaser, Point Loma Nazarene University
John Sarkisian, Motion Ventures
Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health
(TNS) The San Diego Unified Port District fell victim to a cyberattack recently with attackers demanding bitcoin for access to computer systems. The port did not say how much the attackers asked for but there is some evidence of bitcoin ransomware attacks being cheaper just to pay off. In March, the city of Atlanta received a $51,000 ransomware demand that it refused to pay. Atlanta has spent around $5 million so far fixing the problem, accord to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution NO: The ransom amount is minimal compared to the long-term disruption and cost afterward. Pay the ransom and then power down on never letting it happen again. Then, share what you learned with all other governmental and private bodies to help them protect themselves from the issue. We all have to stay far ahead of this disruption.NO: It may be understandable to want to just pay the ransom, but that simply encourages extortion scams to continue. There is no guarantee data will be restored. Data still may be damaged remain infected. Funding cybercriminals also incentivizes larger cyberattacks, so paying does not make the issue go away. Costs of implementing cybersecurity by necessity are spent in any case to forestall future attacks, while sensible policies regularly backing up systems are essential.NO: There are strong arguments for why paying a ransom is not the best response for the long run, even if the amount demanded is small. There is no guarantee that the attacker will enable the recovery of data once the ransom is paid. Also, an organization that demonstrates a willingness to resolve ransomware attacks by paying a ransom probably increases the likelihood that it will be the target of additional attacks.NO: The two macro issues to deal with are system vulnerability and the need for cryptocurrency regulation. Proactive "hardening" of systems will always dwarf the direct cost of a ransom as will the cost to repair and restore the breached system. Additionally, ransom payment without system reconfiguration will invite future ransom. These crypotcurrency ransom events are directly related to the nearly untraceable nature of the currencies. Regulating this payment method would reduce threat.YES: For individual entities, it is usually less expensive to pay the ransom. It is really costly to recover information that is lost or held hostage, but organizations have to get it back to function. Unfortunately, this would contribute to increased incidents of this behavior in the future as the perpetrators are rewarded. This is a situation where what is good for an individual entity might be bad for society as a whole.NO: The more hackers succeed financially with these attacks, the more of them were going to see. The only viable strategy is for every enterprise to recognize that new technology raises new vulnerabilities. We continually need to develop better measures to defend the integrity of the systems we rely on. A key step is making sure all employees understand how they can help keep hackers out of the system.Not participating this week.NO: Anyone answering "yes" is a short-term selfish myopic. Im certain no one will say yes. Society must stand up against such bullies or else fuel their future larceny. The ransom writers have exposed a weakness in the security of the Port, and what would help the most is to provide us and McAfee, and similar firms, with a diagnosis of the method used to hack their system so others can be shielded.YES: It could have been but without the facts its hard to say definitively. The Federal Bureau of Investigation doesnt advocate paying ransom to an adversary. However, if businesses or organizations are faced with an inability to function, they should assess all options to protect their business and its assets. Training, patching, anti-virus and anti-malware software, and regular backups (on and off site) are just the tip of the iceberg in protecting your business. Cybersecurity threats are dynamic, and they evolve daily.NO: Ransomware and other cybersecurity attacks will increase over the next decade until we modernize our defenses and pass new laws protecting our citizens. If those affected pay the ransom, even when it makes short-term economic sense, we will embolden the criminals to attempt larger heists.NO: In the long run, it is more important to have a robust cybersecurity defense in place. These criminals claim they will put your business documents back in place but they may not. If they do, they may try again via another attack, perhaps using a slightly different approach. It is akin to drive-by Americans with Disability Act lawsuits aimed at businesses. Sleazy lawyers sue and it seems cheaper to cave in. Often, it is not. Fight.NO: While operations could be disrupted, customers adversely impacted, and repairs expensive, acquiescing to ransom demands could only invite further attacks. It would also encourage attacks of other enterprises. The need to upgrade cybersecurity remains vital. Such investment is expensive, but the consequences of not doing so can be vastly more costly.NO: If the Port of San Diego pays ransom without fixing the problem they will leave themselves open to further attacks and ransom demands. Paying ransom encourages and incentivizes criminals to attack other organizations. In the long run that makes it more expensive for all.NO: In the short run, it absolutely would have been cheaper to pay a ransomware demand, but not in the long run. Giving in to extortionists is the same as giving into terrorists. It just encourages them and others to attack more vulnerable sites in the future. That means the cost and risk to society will increase. Better to spend money up front to harden the target than to pay a ransom or the repair costs later.
An angry Maurizio Arrivabene has lashed out after reports emerged that a second FIA sensor has been added to the 2018 Ferrari.
Following suspicions about the legality of the Maranello team's power unit, some believe the second sensor is the reason Ferrari's recent performance has slumped.
"That's right, there's an extra sensor," team boss Arrivabene told the German broadcaster RTL.
"We have no problem following the FIA's request, but it's strange that everyone else knows about the second sensor," he added.
"Our battery layout is quite complex, but it is still the intellectual property of Ferrari," said the Italian.
Arrivabene said the fact that details like the second sensor get into the public sphere is a "serious matter".
He insisted that the Ferrari car is "totally legal today as it was at the beginning", and said the addition of the second sensor "did not make us lose anything in performance".
Arrivabene also told Sky Italia: "It is our competitors who talk, so I hope that a project that is our intellectual property is not known all over the paddock."
(GMM)
Electrovaya announced that it has received new purchase orders worth more than US $1.9 million (Cdn $2.4 million), bringing the total value of announced purchase orders received since the end of the 30 June 2018 quarter to US $3.2 million (Cdn $4.1 million). These orders are from the MHEV and Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV) sector which requires highest-quality batteries as the vehicles tend to operate for extended periodsup to 24 hours a day.
During Q3 2018, the Company entered into a binding agreement for the sale and leaseback of its Mississauga, Ontario headquarters for gross proceeds of Cdn $22.5 million. Proceeds will be used to pay down debt and for working capital purposes. The closing date for the sale has been extended to 22 October 2018.
Dr. Sankar Das Gupta, Electrovayas Chief Executive Officer, was recently invited to participate in a panel discussion attended by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and several of his ministers, regarding the energy transformation of India. The company noted that India could become one of the largest markets for lithium-ion batteries as electric vehicle adoption in the country increases and the government plans to generate increasing amounts of energy from solar and other intermittent renewable sources.
Mercedes-Benz has begun construction of a new battery factory, located near the vehicle production site in Tuscaloosa, to provide batteries for future electric SUVs under the product and technology brand EQ.
The new production site for batteriesalong with the new Consolidation Centeris located seven miles from the Mercedes-Benz Cars vehicle production site in Tuscaloosa. The Consolidation Center, also announced as part of the 2017 investment announcement, will consist of three major areas, including the body parts preparation area, the assembly parts preparation area and the empties storage. It is expected to be operational in 2019.
The new battery facility near the Tuscaloosa plant is part of a global battery production network of in total eight factories in Kamenz, (Germany), Stuttgart-Unterturkheim (Germany), Sindelfingen (Germany), Beijing (China), Bangkok (Thailand) and Tuscaloosa (USA).
The worldwide network of battery factories allows Mercedes-Benz to react flexibly and efficiently to market demands and requirements. The different sites supply local vehicle production and are ready to export batteries, if required.
Mercedes-Benz Cars will offer at least one electrified vehicle in each model series by 2022 totaling up to more than 130 models. Mercedes-Benz is about to start the production of electric passenger cars as part of its worldwide electric initiative. This includes the production of an all-electric SUV in the US.
Mercedes-Benz has already invested more than $6 billion invested in the Tuscaloosa plant since 1995. The additional $1 billion will help Mercedes-Benz Cars expand its industrial footprint in the region, most of which is slated for the electric initiative. It is expected that, once completed, these investments will create more than 600 additional jobs in Alabama.
Tuscaloosa has served as the traditional production site for SUVs since 1997. This factory supplies the current GLE, GLE Coupe and GLS models to customers worldwide. These models are made exclusively in Alabama and two thirds of them are exported to almost every country in the world.
In Marysville, Ohio, Honda held a demonstration of its Smart Intersection technology for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication designed to reduce traffic collisions at roadway intersectionsone of the first such deployments of V2X technology in a real-world setting.
Developed in partnership with the City of Marysville as part of the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor project, the pilot project seeks to address the limitations of on-board vehicle sensors in addressing traffic collisions at roadway intersections. Intersection collisions account for roughly 40% of all collisions and 20% of the nearly 35,000 traffic-related deaths that occur in the US each year.
The Smart Intersection technology, utilizing Hondas proprietary object recognition software in conjunction with intersection-mounted cameras and V2X communications, allows cars to virtually see through and around buildings and walls in virtually all weather conditions to help identify and alert drivers to otherwise hidden hazards.
Four cameras mounted above the traffic lights at each corner of the intersection capture birds-eye-view video of surrounding vehicles and pedestrian traffic out to a 300-foot range. Hondas proprietary image processing software then creates a 360-degree image of the intersection that classifies vehicles and other moving objects, such as pedestrians, motorcycles and emergency vehicles, and broadcasts pertinent information to surrounding vehicles via a dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) signal.
Each connected vehicles on-board computer decodes the information and, when necessary, provides both visible and audible alerts to the driver, intelligently supporting them to take corrective action to avoid a potential collision.
Honda has committed to using 200 connected vehicles for evaluation in the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor and Smart Columbus projects.
In order to prepare the Port of Rotterdam Authority for the arrival of autonomous navigation, the Port of Rotterdam Authority has converted a patrol vessel (RPA3) into a floating lab that collects data, including about the vessels operation and power.
By making these data available to the business community and education, further research can be conducted into the introduction of autonomous navigation and the Port of Rotterdam can make further preparations for this event. The first partnership for data exchange from the floating lab has now been signed with startup Captain AI. They are adding artificial intelligence to the data, which enables computers to be trained as artificial captains to navigate independently through the port.
We expect the arrival of autonomous navigation to further increase the safety and accessibility of the Port of Rotterdam and, moreover, it will be an effective aid for skippers and shipping traffic controllers. That is why the Port of Rotterdam Authority aims to test this application, which has already been used in aviation for many years, together with other parties. Ronald Paul, Port of Rotterdam Authority COO
The Port of Rotterdam Authority equipped the former patrol vessel with cameras, sensors and measurement equipment to obtain data about weather and water conditions and about the vessels operation, power and engine.
In addition to autonomous navigation, the floating lab will test other applications. The use of cameras will be tested for automatic inspection of quay walls or detection of objects in the water, for example. The combination of sensors on the water with land-based sensors to develop a network and smart infrastructure will also be investigated.
News
6 Asians held for kidnapping, assaulting compatriot in Dubai
The victim said that he has some financial dispute with the main suspect, who invited him to tea, but forced him into his vehicle with the help of the other suspects and took him to the villa where the suspect resided.
Haiti - Security : The river Canari in flood makes 7 victims, of which 3 are dead
On the night from October 4 to 5, a vehicle loaded with 7 people returning from a funeral in Ouanaminthe, neglecting weather warnings and precautionary measures, tried to cross the river Canari in flood after the torrential rains that are slaughtered on the department, between Ouanaminthe and Mont-Organise (North-East).
Despite all the efforts of the driver, the vehicle was unable to escape and was washed away by the waters trapping the 7 passengers.
Four of the seven people in the car survived, while three others were drowned, including Judge Joseph Ostwalde of the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince, his bodyguard and a police officer Mathieu Joseph. The four survivors were found Friday and rushed to the hospital.
See also :
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25728-haiti-alert-navigation-not-recommended-on-the-north-and-south-coasts-of-haiti.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25714-haiti-notice-weather-risks-of-floods-and-landslides.html
PI/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - FLASH TPS : Senator Campbell welcomes the temporary blocking of expulsions
US District Judge Edward Chen's decision to grant a preliminary injunction on Wednesday temporarily barring the Trump administration from expelling TPS (Temporary Protected Status) beneficiaries https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25726-haiti-flash-federal-judge-prevents-trump-administration-to-cancel-tps.html rejoiced the Democratic Senator of Miami, Daphne Campbell.
"This brings me great joy. I advocated for an extension and was pleased when the Trump Administration extended the program for an additional 18 months. However, I was disheartened when he ended the program https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22759-haiti-flash-tps-more-than-50-000-haitians-will-have-to-leave-the-usa.html indefinitely," said Senator Campbell, who originally hails from the small Caribbean nation. "The decision made by Judge Edward Chen gives many Haitians and other immigrants a sigh of relief. It allows them to hope and know that we are fighting daily on their behalf."
Remember that during the 2018 Legislative Session, Senator Campbell filed Senate Memorial (SM) 442 Haiti Temporary Protected Status https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22892-haiti-flash-tps-senator-campbell-at-the-head-of-the-haitian-temporary-relief-task-force.html and SM 888 Extending Status protection for Eligible Refugees with Established Residency (ESPERER) Act of 2017 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22733-haiti-flash-usa-law-to-extend-tps-adopted-by-first-senate-committee.html
Both were earmarked for the President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of State, and the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security urging both the extension of Haiti TPS and allowing those immigrants who received TPS before January 13, 2011, to adjust their status to legal permanent residency.
See also :
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25726-haiti-flash-federal-judge-prevents-trump-administration-to-cancel-tps.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25166-haiti-usa-110-members-of-congress-ask-the-trump-administration-to-reinstates-the-tps.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24140-haiti-flash-diaspora-tps-lawsuit-of-the-naacp-against-the-dhs-is-reinforced.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22892-haiti-flash-tps-senator-campbell-at-the-head-of-the-haitian-temporary-relief-task-force.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22816-haiti-tps-we-will-not-permit-trump-to-trample-the-rights-of-haitians-dixit-senateur-hamilton.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22781-haiti-flash-tps-reactions-multiply-against-the-decision-of-the-trump-administration.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22759-haiti-flash-tps-more-than-50-000-haitians-will-have-to-leave-the-usa.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22733-haiti-flash-usa-law-to-extend-tps-adopted-by-first-senate-committee.html
SL/ HaitiLibre
Suing over 'surcharge'
From Grassroot Institute, October 5, 2018
Shakespeare said that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet proof that he wasnt a lawyer or a politician. Either of them would tell you that a surcharge smells a lot better to voters than a tax.
And thats one of the problems with the ballot measure to raise taxes for public education.
The actual wording of the proposal that goes before Hawaii voters Nov. 6 is, Shall the legislature be authorized to establish, as provided by law, a surcharge on investment real property to be used to support public education?
Youll notice that not only does it not define the term investment real property or what precisely will be funded in public education, but it also doesnt use the word tax.
That may seem like a little thing, but consider if the question was worded more accurately: Shall the legislature be given a new constitutional power to raise taxes on real property for state use?
Giving the Legislature an entirely new taxation power is a much different thing in the eyes of voters than levying a surcharge, which implies a trifling sum, like a tip or service charge.
Language matters. The fact that the ballot measure was worded in this way was a clear attempt to sway voters to a particular side. And that isnt how the democratic process should work.
Thats why the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has joined the amicus brief of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii in the lawsuit by the counties to stop the measure from appearing on the ballot. The counties argue that the language on the ballot is intentionally deceptive, and we agree.
Courts have been clear that the language of a ballot measure should not be designed to mislead or deceive voters. In addressing a similar attempt at wordsmithing on a proposed amendment to the state Constitution, the Supreme Court of Florida wrote, The voters deserve nothing less than clarity when faced with the decision of whether to amend our state constitution, for it is the foundational document that embodies the fundamental principles through which organized government functions.
The lawsuit from Hawaiis counties isnt just a technical matter or a last gasp to control property taxes. As proof that it touches on a serious question of law, the Hawaii Supreme Court has accepted the case for oral argument, which will be held Thursday, Oct. 18, at 8:45 a.m. Because most extraordinary writ petitions are denied without argument, the fact that the court has allowed this one to proceed likely indicates that it is concerned about the question at stake.
It is true that the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has concerns that go far beyond the wording of this amendment, but part of the problem is that the language of it forestalls a fair public debate.
There is a time and place for clever wording and persuasive language. But that place is not a ballot measure that would dramatically change our states founding document.
E hana kakou! (Lets work together!)
Keli'i Akina, Ph.D.
President/CEO
* * * * *
Hawaii Supreme Court grants counties Petition for Extraordinary Writ Seeking Pre-election Relief regarding constitutional amendment
News Release from City and County of Honolulu, October 4, 2018
Honolulu After the filing of a Petition for Extraordinary Writ Seeking Pre-election Relief by the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii County, the County of Kauai and the County of Maui on September 26, the counties learned today that the Hawaii Supreme Court has agreed to schedule oral argument on whether the Legislatures proposed constitutional amendment to tax real property is unclear and misleading (note attached order).
In the writ the counties ask the Hawaii Supreme Court for an order invalidating the ballot question prior to the November 6 general election. If the states high court finds the question is invalid, the states chief election officer could then issue a public proclamation stating that the question regarding the constitutional amendment should not have appeared on the ballot and should be considered stricken, and that any votes for or against the measure will not be counted and have no impact.
The counties filed this petition for extraordinary writ so that we could argue the merits of our case before the states highest court, and we are pleased that chance has now been afforded to us, said Honolulu Corporation Counsel Donna Leong. Hawaii residents should know exactly what they are voting for and the counties believe thats clearly not the case since the question that will appear on ballots proposes a new tax, but does not mention the word tax. The question that is being asked also fails to define investment real property, which would be the basis of the new tax.
The Hawaii Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument on the proposed constitutional amendment on Thursday, October 18 at 8:45 a.m. at Aliiolani Hale.
PAU
PDF: Court Order
Maui County News Release: Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii Accepts Counties Petition Regarding Constitutional Amendment
SA: Hawaii Supreme Court will hear counties challenge on constitutional amendment question
SUPREME COURT AFFIRMS PARENTAL OBLIGATIONS UNDER MARRIAGE EQUALITY
HAWAII SUPREME COURT AFFIRMS THE EQUAL PARENTAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARRIED SAME-SEX COUPLES
News Release from Hawaii AG, Oct 4, 2018
HONOLULU The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled today that same-sex spouses must be treated as the presumed parents of children born during their marriage, just as opposite-sex spouses are.
The case involves a dispute between L.C. and M.G., a formerly married same-sex couple, regarding whether L.C. is a legal parent of a child conceived using anonymous donor sperm and born to M.G. during the marriage. L.C. asked the Hawaii Supreme Court to rule that she is not a legal parent and has no obligation to pay child support because she is not biologically related to the child.
The State of Hawaii submitted a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of M.G., urging the Court to read Hawaii parentage law in a gender-neutral manner, as required by the Marriage Equality Act, and to apply the marital presumption of parentage equally to both same-sex and opposite-sex married couples. Todays ruling did just that.
Attorney General Russell Suzuki said, The State submitted its brief in this case to ensure that the Marriage Equality Act is properly enforced, so that the children of married same-sex couples have the same opportunity to receive child support as the children of married opposite-sex couples.
According to Solicitor General Clyde Wadsworth, who argued for the State, The Marriage Equality Act says that all laws regarding marriage must be applied equally to same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The Court today made clear that all means all.
A copy of the opinion is attached here.
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Songkick To Shutter In November
Ticketing company Songkick revealed that they plan to cease operations at the end of the month, according to a client letter from the company.
_____________________________
Songkick, which allowed artists to sell tickets directly to fans, said in the letter that they plan to continue their lawsuit against Live Nation and their ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster, but would effectively shutter the company next month,
In the lawsuit, Songkick alleges that after they acquired the ticketing company CrowdSurge in 2015, rival Ticketmaster hired one of CrowdSurge's senior execs who Songkick claims absconded with proprietary internal databases which he then provided to Ticketmaster. Songkick alleges that the misappropriated data allowed Ticketmaster to poach their prospective clients.
In February, Live Nation said that the lion's share of Songkick's original suit had been dismissed by the court and said that Songkick's amended lawsuit lacked legal merit.
In July, Songkick sold off a number of key assets to Warner Music, including their concert discovery app and website, as well as the Songkick trademark. For now, its business as usual for artists wanting to use Songkick to promote their dates across the web.
The letter obtained by Variety in full:
Before I say anything, let me say thank you. Thank you to the artists and managers who entrusted us with their tickets and audience; to the agents, labels, promoters and venues that partnered with us to make artists visions into realities; and to the many always committed and now nearly all former employees of CrowdSurge and Songkick who worked tirelessly over the last 10 years with nothing short of a remarkable passion to better the live experience for artists and fans. With that said, Im sad to write that on October 31, Songkick will bow to pressure from Live Nation and Ticketmaster and complete the shutdown of all ticketing operations (including the design and maintenance of artist webpages) we began earlier this year when Ticketmaster and Live Nation effectively blocked our US ticketing business. Songkicks concert discovery app, which was sold to Warner Music Group in July, will continue uninterrupted under the WMG umbrella. Our antitrust, trade secret misappropriation and hacking lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster will continue unabated, with trial currently scheduled to begin in the second week of November, just a month from now. Many of you receiving this note have helped us immensely as we prepare for our day in court, and even as we shutter our business, we will remain focused on pursuing a legal victory and making the live music industry better for artists and fans. If you are an artist, promoter or venue for whom we have sold tickets to a show occurring on a future date, you will be contacted individually over the following three business days to arrange for payment. All outstanding amounts will be paid in full. If you are an artist, promoter or venue currently using our services to sell tickets, list shows, store customer data or power parts or all of your website, these services will become unavailable on October 27. On behalf of myself and all of my colleagues, its been a pleasure to work with you. Once again: thank you, for everything. All the best,
MJ (Songkick founder Matt Jones)
via Celebrity Access
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Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid attended a high-level event on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly, where Estonia and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched their cooperation project to support the development of e-governance, informs LETA/BNS.
The cooperation project is a major initiative to support the digital transformation of UNDP and developing countries. The aim of the project is to share Estonia's e-governance expertise with nearly 170 countries and territories. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia will provide the seed funding of 102,000 to launch the project, spokespeople for the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
"Too often digitalization within countries happens in isolation, effectively meaning that everybody is inventing the wheel. It makes a lot of sense to bring the best practices and the best experts together in one project that has the ability to impact many countries," Kaljulaid said of the reasons why Estonia decided to join forces with UNDP.
UNDP is the UN's global development network working in more than 170 countries. The organisation aims to reduce poverty in developing countries and support states in their development agendas and strategies and in using money more efficiently. UNDP focuses on the development of democracy, crisis prevention, poverty reduction, environmental sustainability and HIV/AIDS prevention.
The e-governance project will be implemented by UNDP and Estonia's E-governance Academy and the seed funding of 102,000 euros is allocated from the foreign ministry's development and humanitarian aid fund
Source: http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/modern_eu/?doc=143769
iciHaiti - Economy : Haitian businessmen in Chile
Thank to the funding of the Investment Facilitation Center (IFC) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a delegation of Haitian businessmen and officials of investment promotion of CFI participated in the 10th edition of the International Forum "Lac Flavors 2018" held in Santiago, Chile in late September.
Recall that "Lac Flavors" is the largest Food and Beverage Forum in the region, which brings together hundreds of Latin American and Caribbean producers and exporters, with dozens of buyers/importers from around the world.
The members of the Haitian delegation were able to meet several actors who had previously expressed the desire to subcontract their productions to Haitian suppliers.
It should be noted that this year the "Lac Flavors" Forum was marked by the "Espacio Food & Service 2018" event, which brought together all the branches of the food industry's value chain in the region.
IH/ S/ iciHaiti
When speculations started a few weeks back that a new man was about to take away Governor Akinwumi Ambodes job, many waved it off as mere speculations. Many reports had it that that incumbent governor had stepped on many toes, and lost the support of stakeholders of the Lagos state All Progressives Congress (APC), including Bola Tinubu, his political godfather.
It seemed unlikely that an unknown name like Babajide Sanwo-Olu would, just a few weeks later, come to be the candidate to fly the partys flag in next years gubernatorial election in the state.
It is what it is, Ambode is out and Sanwo- Olu is in. So, if like many Lagosians you didnt know a thing about Jide Sanwo-Olu, then here are 10 facts about him.
See video below
Vanguard
President of the senate and one of the contenders for the presidential ticket of the major opposition political party in Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has met and addressing delegates from Imo and Anambra States at the ongoing PDP Convention holding at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
Thisday
A defeated Borno North senatorial aspirant, Hajiya Fati Kakenna has expressed readiness to drag the All Progressives Congress (APC) and her opponent Senator Abubakar Kyari to court over the manipulation of the primary in her senatorial zone.
The Sun
The policemen quickly reacted by firing tear gas canisters, as well as shooting into the air to disperse the opposition party leaders.
Guardian
The Spokesman of the Tambuwal Presidential Campaign Organization, Dr Okey Ikechukwu, has said that Nigerias best chance of a president that can unite Nigeria, restore a sense of community and give the nation 21st Century leadership is governor Aminu Waziri Tam
Daily Times
October 6, 2018 The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has said that the Federal Government would do all it can to take more Nigerians out of poverty and improve the countrys Human Capital Development index.
Leadership
Six delegate members of All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for Jigawa Northeast Senatorial district died few hours after casting their vote.
Tribune
The All Progressives Congress, (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) has released names of 24 governorship candidates who emerged as its standard bearers in its ongoing primaries.
The Nation
Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese has said that no president of any country in the world can be as irresponsible in the usage of power as a Nigerian president.
Kukah said this in Akure, Ondo State on Friday while delivering the annual Ulefunta/Oyemekun Festival lecture, entitled: Building blocks for a good society. held at the Francis Idibiye Lecture hall of the Federal University of Technology, Akure.
According to Kukah, the structure of the Nigerian presidential office makes the holders of the office extremely powerful, so much that he can deploy power the way he want.
He said:
No president in the world has the kind of power the Nigerian president has and as such, no president in the world can be as irresponsible as the Nigerian president. His power is so much that he can give oil bloc to his girlfriend and many others. You thus cant be a man of honour and live in a country like Nigeria and not be angry.
Kukah said that from the first Nigerian Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, to President Muhammadu Buhari, virtually all of them were dragged into the presidential office, maintaining that this was unlike the presidency of the United States of America where the president does not emerge by circumstance.
He said: the problem? It is the dilemma of leadership. In America, there are basic expectations of what a president should be. For instance, he must have gone through Harvard as an institution, he must have language and track records, not even wealth. You cant surprise the system. Here in Nigeria, local government chairman wants to be governor; the governor wants to be president and the president doesnt want to go! Many states have two governors representing them at the National Assembly. Governors have control and monopoly of resources of state and they use same resources to oppress them.
Kukah, who said that the Nigerian society is in ferment, maintained that although Instability, the type that Nigeria faces as a country, is inevitable in any system, however noted that developing mechanisms that will confront the instability is the hallmark of great countries.
In Nigeria, it is not a question of looking for trouble because trouble is already here. The Nigerian state has no capacity to protect itself and there is no loyalty to Nigeria from its citizens but to those who help individuals to get to positions in the system, he said.
Kukah however singled two former Nigerian leaders out of the leadership rot, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Alhaji Aminu Kano, whom he called architects of a good society.
He said: Awolowo, for his major quintessential evidence as somebody who already figured out what he would do with power if he got it. He understood the building blocks for an egalitarian society. Aminu Kano single handedly took on the feudal class in Northern society and had a deep understanding of society, even as he textually talked about a free society in a way and manner that didnt offend religion.
While stating that it is not enough for a people to have the building blocks of a good society alone, Kukah also maintained that Nigeria has not been able to build a good society because the country has not obeyed the rules of design.
He said: We have to understand the building blocks of society which is not too different from the rules of building a house. A good society is not different from the building blocks of society. When a building collapses, it didnt collapse in a day. It began to collapse a long time ago. For us to build a good society, we have to have eyes that monitor the needs, growth and development and feelings of that society. Then you can be sure of the quality of that society.
While reviewing the lecture, Prof. Kole Omotoso, lauded Kukah for what he called a very profound lecture and said the only point of departure he had was Kukahs submission that education has the potential to remedy the problems of Nigerias existence.
Guests at the occasion included the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi; and Chief Reuben Fasoranti, the chairman of the occasion.
Senate President Bukola Saraki, Senators Ben Murray Bruce and After and Dino Melaye have been summoned to appear at Force Headquarters.
By the way, let me ask the Police when they would conclude investigation into the attempted mace theft.
Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) leaders and members on Friday, staged a protest at the National secretariat of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) asking that Ademola Adeleke be declared winner of the Osun state governorship election.
There were reports that the peaceful protest got out of control, and Senator Bruce even reported that he was teargassed .
However, the statement by the police is that, the summoned lawmakers went to the Police Headquarters and attacked policemen with the intention of entering the premises to destroy police property.
iStock/Thinkstock(LYON, France) -- French police are investigating the disappearance of the president of Interpol during a trip to China, authorities said.
An investigation has been opened by French police about the disappearance of the Chinese president of Interpol, a French official told ABC News.
He left Lyon for China last week.
Chinese politician Meng Hongwei was first reported missing by his wife after traveling to China. He is not believed to have disappeared in France, where the International Criminal Police Organization is based, according to French media, quoting authorities in France.
Interpol, which coordinates worldwide policing efforts, says it is aware of media reports in connection with Hongweis disappearance.
In a statement, the organization said: This is a matter for the relevant authorities in France and China. The Secretary General is the Organizations full time official responsible for the day to day running of Interpol.
Hongwei, 64, was elected president of Interpol in November 2016. His term is due to run until 2020.
He is a senior Communist Party official in China and has formerly served as the deputy head of public security.
Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Bloombergs report from earlier this week of Apples using compromised servers has managed to stir quite a bit of noise. Apple refuted the report not once but twice, with Amazon, Supermicro, and other major tech giants also strongly discrediting the report and claiming its baseless.
Supporting Apple, a British national cybersecurity agency based on its own assessments says that it has little reason to doubt Apples or Amazons claims here.
We are aware of the media reports but at this stage have no reason to doubt the detailed assessments made by AWS and Apple, said the National Cyber Security Centre, a unit of Britains eavesdropping agency, GCHQ. AWS refers to Amazon Web Services, the companys cloud-computing unit
Even Apples retired general counsel, Bruce Sewell, told Reuters that no one at Apple or the FBI is aware of anything like this happening.
Apples recently retired general counsel, Bruce Sewell, told Reuters he called the FBIs then-general counsel James Baker last year after being told by Bloomberg of an open investigation into Super Micro Computer Inc , a hardware maker whose products Bloomberg said were implanted with malicious Chinese chips. I got on the phone with him personally and said, Do you know anything about this?, Sewell said of his conversation with Baker. He said, Ive never heard of this, but give me 24 hours to make sure. He called me back 24 hours later and said Nobody here knows what this story is about.
The same theme continues when talking with insiders at Apple. BuzzFeed talked to multiple senior Apple executives and no one knew of any such incident and were confused by the report from earlier this week. The report cites some very senior executives who work on the security and legal teams.
We tried to figure out if there was anything, anything, that transpired thats even remotely close to this, a senior Apple security executive told BuzzFeed News. We found nothing.
Another senior Apple security engineer who was a part of the internal investigation said he had never seen a chip like this and he was not even sure if it existed in the first place. The sources also declined Apple ever contacting the FBI about this or any other similar incident. Similarly, the FBI, CIA, NSA, or any other government agency never contacted Apple with any such incident.
The report says Apples infosec team is horrified by the claims in the report.
This did not happen, a senior Apple security executive told BuzzFeed News. This person insisted, vehemently, that there is no dissembling in the companys response, that it didnt secretly remove compromised servers, or discover compromised servers during the acceptance process and stop short of deploying them. We have literally seen nothing like this.
Apple executives also vehemently denied lying to the public in the interest of national security.
Our Take
It is interesting to see both Apple and Bloomberg stand with their respective statements. Despite the strong denial from all accused tech giants in the report, Bloomberg continues to stand by its report which it says was the result of an investigation conducted over the period of one year and involved interviews with multiple Apple and government executives.
For now, it looks like we will have to believe Apples words as it is rare for the company to come out so strongly and deny any such report.
[Via Reuters
With the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR, Apple is finally fulfilling a major wish of its customers in China and parts of Asia: Dual SIM functionality. The iPhone XS series is the first from Apple to feature Dual SIM technology but just like the company does every time, its implementation is widely different from everything else in the market. And the way it is implemented, the Dual SIM feature of the iPhone XS and iPhone XR might not even work in most parts of the world.
So, if you are wondering how to use the Dual SIM functionality on the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or iPhone XR, read below.
1. Theres only One SIM Slot
Unlike other Dual SIM devices, the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR only feature a single nanoSIM slot except for the units sold in China. For the second SIM, Apple is using the eSIM technology which it first debuted on its iPad lineup followed by the Apple Watch Series 3 LTE last year. This allows the company to save on internal space which can then be used for other components.
Apple is selling a dual-SIM variant of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR with two physical nanoSIM slots but thats only limited to China. Wondering why? Read below.
2. Carriers Need to Support eSIM
The biggest issue with eSIM right now is that it also needs to be supported by your carrier. So, if none of the carriers in your country support eSIM, you are out of luck as you cannot take advantage of the dual-SIM capabilities of the iPhone XS and iPhone XR.
Right now, eSIM support is offered by select carriers in 10 countries across the world. This includes Austria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, India, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S. In these countries also, not all operators support eSIM technology.
If you live in any other part of the world, you are out of luck and the only thing you can do is wait for carriers in your region to start supporting eSIM technology. It is due to this reason why Apple has launched a special version of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR in China with two physical nanoSIM slots. Due to government regulations in the country, the eSIM technology is unlikely to be widely adopted anytime soon.
However, Apple could not have launched its new iPhones without dual-SIM support in China since it has become an important feature to have for customers in the region. At the moment, it is unclear if the Chinese variant of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR with two physical nanoSIM slots will work properly in other parts of the world or not.
3. Limitations
There are some limitations as to how you can use two SIMs on your iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or iPhone XR.
To connect your iPhone XS or iPhone XR to two different network operators, you must own an unlocked device. On a carrier locked iPhone, you will be limited to using two SIMs from the same operator.
If you use a CDMA SIM in the first slot, you cannot connect to another CDMA network with the secondary SIM.
Finally, the dual-SIM feature on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max is not enabled as of now. It will be enabled with the upcoming iOS 12.1 update.
4. How to Setup eSIM on iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR
It is strongly recommended that you keep your primary numbers nanoSIM and use eSIM for the secondary number.
Step 1: Scan the eSIMs QR Code
To set up eSIM on your iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or iPhone XR, you will either need to download your carriers official app or use a QR code generated by them.
To scan the QR code, launch the Settings app, and navigate to Cellular.
Tap Add Cellular Plan and then scan the QR code provided by your carrier. You might have to enter a confirmation code provided by your carrier for security purposes as well.
Alternatively, you can use your carriers app to select a plan and activate the number on your iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or iPhone XR.
Theres also the option of storing multiple eSIM information on your iPhone XS or iPhone XR, though at any given point of time, you can only have one eSIM active.
Step 2: Label the Two SIM Cards
To help make it easier to manage multiple SIMs on your iPhone XS or iPhone XR, it is important that you label them. If you have two separate numbers for Personal and Business or for Business and Travel, you can label them accordingly. Your iPhone will refer to your SIM cards via this label so this is important. If you want, you can also enter a custom label name.
You will be automatically prompted to label the numbers after initially setting up dual-SIMs on your iPhone.
You can also do it later on from Settings -> Cellular, select the SIM whose label you want to change followed by the Cellular Plan Label option.
Step 3: Set a Default SIM
Make sure to set a default number as this will be the one used by iMessage and FaceTime for sending/receiving messages. Your default line will automatically be automatically used for cellular services, mobile data, phone calls, and SMS. You do have the option of using your secondary number for mobile data purposes, while your primary number will be used for voice, SMS, iMessage etc.
5. How to Check Signal Strength of Primary and Secondary SIM
You will be able to see the signal strength for both SIM cards on the status bar itself. The primary SIM will display its signal strength as usual, with the secondary SIM signal strength being shown right below it in the form of four dots as you can see below.
You can get a better idea of the signal strength and which carrier both SIMs are connected to by swiping down on the top right corner to access the Control Center.
6. How to Switch Between Primary and Secondary SIM For Calls
By default, your iPhone will automatically use your primary number to call any contact or for sending an SMS. Alternatively, it will use the same number which you used to call a contact the last time around. So, if you called someone using your secondary number, your iPhone will automatically call that contact using your secondary number henceforth.
To switch between numbers from the Phone app, simply enter the phone number and proceed to tap your primary numbers label you see at the top and tap on the other number to switch to the second line.
7. How to Switch Between Primary and Secondary SIM for iMessage and FaceTime
Switching numbers for iMessage and FaceTime is slightly more complicated. Follow these steps:
Navigate to Settings -> Messages. Tap iMessage and FaceTime Line. Tap the number you want to use.
If you live in China or manage to get your hands on the iPhone XS or iPhone XR variant with two physical nanoSIM slots, all the steps shown above barring the eSIM setup process will also be applicable for you.
Are you happy that Apple has finally added Dual SIM support to this years iPhone lineup? Or are you bummed with how the company has implemented it?
SALEM, Ore. While the black widow spider is no stranger to Oregon, state officials now say that its African cousin the brown widow has made its first appearance in the state, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA).
At least one specimen was discovered at a property in Oregon City during September of this year. It was previously unknown in Oregon, but has made appearances in California, Florida and the Gulf States.
Officials do not yet know how the spiders arrived in this area.
The brown widow looks similar to a black widow, but is lighter in color and has an orange hourglass-shaped marking on the underside of its body that is somewhat different from the scarlet markings on the black widow. The spider also lays spiny-looking egg sacs in "dark corners and other sheltered area," according to ODA.
Although the brown widow packs venom that is very similar to that of the black widow in potency, ODA says that bites are "potentially medically significant.
ODA says that it is trying to determine whether the brown widow has established itself "out of doors" in Oregon. If you believe you have found a brown widow, ODA asks that you take images and notify them at plant-entomologists@oda.state.or.us or 503-986-4636.
"Remember!" ODA said in a Facebook post, "Most spiders you're seeing outdoors are cross spiders with big webs. The brown widow likes hidden, dark spaces. Check carefully before sending in photos of suspected brown widows."
By LINDSAY WHITEHURST , Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A Navy veteran was charged Friday with threatening to use a biological toxin as a weapon by sending letters to President Donald Trump and other leaders containing ground castor beans, the substance from which the poison ricin is derived.
William Clyde Allen III, 39, told investigators he wanted the letters to "send a message," though he did not elaborate, FBI investigators said in documents filed in U.S. District Court of Utah. Authorities zeroed in on Allen after finding his return address on the envelopes, according to the complaint.
The envelopes that tested positive for ricin also had a note that said "Jack and the Missile Bean Stock Powder," the documents said.
U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber declined to comment on Allen's mental state, but said the case is "no laughing matter."
"When you're dealing with suspected ricin, this is nothing to trifle with," Huber said.
During a court hearing Friday, Allen cried as he told a judge that his wife suffers from a spinal condition and he helps her put on her shoes in the morning. He smiled at family members and said he had been looking forward to an upcoming general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He did not enter a plea, and his attorney, Lynn Donaldson, did not comment.
Allen could face up to life in prison if convicted on the biological toxin charge, one of five counts in the complaint. He's also charged with four counts of making threats through the mail, which carry 10-year sentences.
The envelopes were mailed to the president, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the Navy's top officer, Adm. John Richardson, authorities said.
They were intercepted and no one was hurt. The FBI said all of the letters tested positive for ricin.
Allen told investigators he also sent similar letters to Queen Elizabeth II, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the secretary of the Air Force, though it's not clear whether those envelopes had been found. The case is expected to go before a grand jury and Allen could face additional charges at a hearing Oct. 18.
Allen was arrested Wednesday at his house in the small city of Logan, north of Salt Lake City. He told investigators he had purchased castor beans on eBay "in case Word Ware III broke out," so he could "defend our nation."
He is being held on a $25,000 cash-only bond, though U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead is expected to review that on Oct. 15.
Allen served in the Navy from 1998 to 2002, according to Navy records. He has a criminal record in Utah including child abuse and attempted aggravated assault.
He's also had a history of sending threatening emails over the last few years to then-President Barack Obama, the Air Force and the state of Utah, investigators said.
UPDATE: Thomas Copeland was booked into the Lane County Jail Friday night at 10:31 p.m. and charged with murder.
______________________
HARRISBURG, Ore. -- A man has been arrested in connection with the deadly shooting in Eugene Friday morning.
Thomas William Copeland, 30, of Milwaukie, Oregon has been charged with the murder of Frank Ledgett and unlawful use of a weapon. Police said Copeland is being held at the Lane County Jail.
RELATED: Security guard killed in overnight shooting in Eugene
Copeland and an unidentified woman were arrested in a takedown at the Harrisburg Station Eagle Mart on 3rd Street around 5:30 p.m. Friday.
The woman was not charged.
Sgt. Tim Haywood with Eugene police said there are no outstanding suspects at this time. They did not find a weapon in Copelands possession.
The Eugene Police Department worked with the U.S. Marshals Service and the Linn County Sheriffs Office.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa A former North Iowa investment broker is going to federal prison.
Darrell Smith of Forest City pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Authorities say between 2010 and 2013, Smith either forged his clients signatures or used pre-signed forms to take money from their accounts and use it to prop up a bio-fuel company in Delaware County called Permeate Refining or invest in other companies without his clients knowledge or consent.
In one instance, federal prosecutors say Smith took $30,000 from the account of a client who lived in Alaska.
Smith was sued by his clients and had his license suspended in 2013. On Friday, he was sentenced to 14 years and seven months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Smith must also pay $1,056,909.68 in restitution.
ROCHESTER, Minn. A former fugitive is pleading guilty to child sex abuse.
Majed Isaac Ijong, 25 of Rochester, entered a guilty plea Friday to one count of 2nd degree criminal sexual conduct. Ijong was charged in October 2017 with three counts of 1st degree criminal sexual conduct and two 2nd degree counts, all involving a child under the age of 13, and was arrested a month and a half later in California.
Ijong was found incompetent to stand trial in March but a judge reversed that ruling in September after a mental evaluation of Ijong.
His sentencing is now scheduled for December 10.
For previous coverage of this story, click here, here, and here.
FOREST CITY, Iowa A Minnesota duo caught with marijuana at a Winnebago County apartment are pleading guilty.
Jonah Pedar Remker, 24 of Owatonna, MN, and Isaiah Eugene Craig, 21 of Apple Valley, MN, were arrested in March after Forest City police say they searched an apartment and found 41 grams of marijuana, $1,865 in cash, a scale, multiple baggies, and pre-rolled marijuana joints.
Remker and Craig were living in the apartment at the time it was searched.
Remker pleaded guilty Friday to possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. His sentencing is set for December 14.
Craig has entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit a felony. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 2.
Only 17 percent of Iowans who become young parents have completed an associate's degree or higher, making it difficult to find family-sustaining jobs. (flocrito.org)
North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Sun-hui is leaving the VIP room after she arrived at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Saturday. Yonhap
A senior North Korean diplomat will have talks with Russian and Chinese officials on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, following her arrival in Moscow on Saturday, Russian media reported.
Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui departed for Moscow earlier in the day following a two-day visit to Beijing.
Her trip comes ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's fourth visit to Pyongyang on Sunday for talks about Pyongyang's denuclearization and a possible second summit between the U.S. and the North.
Citing Russian embassy staff in the North, the news agency Tass said that Choe will have talks with her Russian counterpart on Monday and then trilateral talks with her Chinese and Russian counterparts the following day.
The bereaved family of a South Korean man killed in last week's powerful earthquake in Indonesia has completed funeral procedures for the victim in the Southeast Asian country, a diplomatic source said Saturday.
The family, along with the man's remains, is set to arrive in Korea on Sunday, the source said.
Typhoon Kong-rey has left two people dead and one missing, displaced hundreds of people and caused power outages to more than 61,000 households across the country, the state disaster management agency said Saturday.
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said the typhoon, which left the Korean Peninsula earlier in the day, killed a 66-year-old man while he was crossing a bridge in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, just south of Seoul.
An 83-year-old man was also found dead, having earlier gone missing in Yeongdeok, North Geyongsang Province, 350 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
A 76-year-old man is still listed as missing after he slipped on a river barrage and was washed away in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, 370 kilometers south of Seoul.
By David Tizzard
Professor Mark Peterson has recently been taking Korean history, its historians and the process in which it is taught to task. His articles here in The Korea Times, as well as his lectures and wider work, speak of a discipline that favors oft-repeated misnomers and vague ideas over any actual exploration and academic rigor designed to ascertain the true facts of the past.
Peterson places the blame, in part, at the feet of the multiple-choice exam format Koreans are generally required to take. In these tests, students simply choose the correct answer as already predetermined by someone else. There is little in the way of critical thinking or argument-making. Compare this with the French baccalaureate exam.
This year, young students had to write a four-hour paper, under test conditions, on questions such as "Does culture make us more human?" and "Is desire a sign of our imperfection?"
That might not sound like a lot of fun to some people. But it's a school test. It's not meant to be fun. It's designed to promote critical thinking, historical awareness and social values in accordance with the sovereignty of the individual. And, for the most part, it seems to work.
But this is not to say the entire Western world, or indeed any part of it, is great. Nor conversely is the Korean education system wholly bad: Literacy rates and test performances (if not Nobel Prizes) will testify to this.
One growing problem, however, seems to revolve around when things are willfully misrepresented so that they might fit into a particular political agenda or ideology. This surfaced in a Quillette article last week that detailed a two-year project from three American professors who had decided to try to infiltrate the fields of study revolving around gender, race and sexuality.
James Lindsay, Helen Pluckrose and Peter Boghossian wrote intentionally broken and, at times, ridiculous articles to see if they could get them published in respected peer-reviewed academic journals. They promised to detail the results, positive or negative, and what they discovered was a certain formula. By adhering to a particular ideology, they could get their work past the gatekeepers.
They wrote articles deliberately filled with nonsense, including a feminist rereading of Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and one on sexual consent among female dogs. By simply toeing the ideological line, these were all accepted, sometimes with glowing reviews.
But what does the tragic state of post-modern education in America have to do with Korean history?
The Korean Peninsula is at a very important crossroads. Its leaders have met three times this year and have exhibited a bonhomie rarely seen across the DMZ. There are liaison offices, talks of train routes, economic cooperation and possibly even a visit to Seoul from Kim himself.
The mood in general is very much of positivity, of peace, and of a future that shines brightly for the people here and their land. President Moon Jae-in must be applauded for having achieved so much in terms of his foreign policy decisions to date. Dealt with a seemingly impossible task of balancing Trump and Kim, President Moon has transformed fire and fury into friendship and finger hearts. Strange as it sounds, Trump has even suggested that love really is in the air.
And so as Korea faces this monumental and pivotal moment, I can only suggest that it does so bravely and with an eye on a critical understanding of both the past and the present so that it can build a more prosperous future.
BBC's Seoul correspondent Laura Bicker was treated to a barrage of online abuse for reporting on facts that weren't currently in line with the wider mood here on the Korean Peninsula. What we saw was people arguing that facts weren't important if they misjudged the wider goal. Political ideology, it seemed, was to take precedence over honest reporting.
I'm not suggesting that this is happening at a governmental level, nor do I have any answers for Korea's future. But I would like to encourage the normal citizens and social media users of South Korea (because, unfortunately, we cannot really communicate with those in the North) to think upon the mistakes and failings of what we are seeing in America.
Yes, constructing new ideas and paradigms are important, particularly when they are aimed at peace. The classic texts of the field, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann's "Social Construction of Reality" and Alexander Wendt's "Social Theory of International Politics," are required reading in that regard.
But a future that will last for generations to come has to be built on the firmest possible foundations. The rocks upon which Korea rests must be strong enough to support the lives and dreams of millions for many years ahead. And, because of this, the rocks required will not be easily obtainable nor will they be pleasant to uncover and place down. But it is in that very arduous process that value will be found.
One of Peterson's observations about Korean history is that it has a long tradition of peace, not war. That it has had multiple successful dynasties. That is has demonstrated how to have a peaceful and amicable change of power in its past.
Thus, instead of grieving and finding racism, imperialism and oppression at every turn, let us try to leave our political coats at the door once in a while and look properly into the past, so we can see the present more clearly, and help shape a tomorrow that will last forever more. Or at least until the next dynasty.
David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University and host of TBS eFM's cultural radio show "A Little of a Lot." The show can be heard every Sunday from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. on 101.3 FM or downloaded via online platforms such as iTunes and Podbang.
Koreans visiting a British warship at Geomun-do, circa 1886
By Robert Neff
Shortly after Lucius Foote, the first American Minister to Korea, arrived in Seoul on May 12, 1883, he declared that his sole purpose in coming was to extend the influence of the United States and to open new fields for commerce. What he didn't mention was the role he would play behind the scenes for his own benefit.
Foote was fascinated with pearls and was delighted to discover that Korea had a small pearl industry. During his short tenure, he bought $400-$500 worth of pearls and was quite pleased with them showing them off to the handful of guests who visited him. When Foote resigned his post in January 1885, he returned to San Francisco with his pearls and sought out potential partners or investors.
But he wasn't the only one in the American legation in Seoul that found the pearls alluring and as a possible source of riches. Ensign George C. Foulk, a naval officer who replaced Foote as the American representative, also speculated on Korean pearls.
He bought one for $10 (convinced that it was worth between $400 and $1,000) and sent it to his parents but cautioned them that they should keep the matter private so as to "avoid anything which might furnish food for talk that [he] was speculating in pearls, while an officer of the Navy. There is no harm in doing so actually, but the talk would be disastrous."
Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, Foote managed to sell his pearls for nearly $3,000 dollars and approached a friend, H.A. Newell, with a business proposition. If Newell could provide a ship and crew, Foote could arrange an exclusive pearl concession. Newell agreed and Foote went to work to arrange the concession through Foulk.
Korean tax collectors at Geomun-do, circa 1886
On November 14, 1885, Newell was granted an exclusive right to fish for pearl oysters along the entire coastline of Korea (with the exception of Jeju Island) for 20 years. It was also stipulated that pearl fishing operations had to begin within a year or the contract would be regarded as void and annulled. For this privilege the Korean government received 10 percent of the net profits.
In the early summer of 1886, a small schooner, aptly named The Pearl, and commanded by Captain C. H. Anderson and a small crew, sailed from San Francisco for Korea. The Pearl arrived in Fusan (Busan) in mid-July and took on supplies while Anderson plotted where he should begin pearl fishing.
Undoubtedly, Anderson was aware of the political situation in Korea regarding the British occupation of Geomun-do (see last week's articles) but he seems to have been rather naive in the manner in which a Korean official used him as a political weapon.
The Korean official suggested that the captain begin hunting pearls in Geomun-do a place that was famous for pearls. Maybe, to support his claim, he showed Anderson an article from The North China Herald that stated pearls were readily accessible in the island group. Anderson needed little persuading and within days set sail for the British garrison Port Hamilton.
The British navy landing cattle on Geomun-do, circa 1886
The decay of politics in the South is a result of a hyper-commercialism and fetishistic approach to human experience. Yonhap
By Emanuel Pastreich
The most remarkable moment in President Moon Jae-in's visit to Pyongyang was his speech before 15 thousand North Korean citizens gathered in the massive May Day Stadium. The enthusiasm that radiated from this massive crowd was startling in its intensity and President Moon himself was visibly affected. Every word Moon uttered was highlighted and animated by the cheers of the audience, coming together, as Kim Il-sung once spoke, as if they were "one body." You would never get that sort of a crowd, or anywhere near that sort of enthusiasm in South Korea for anything other than a concert by BTS or Big Bang.
You could see just how seductive for President Moon that level of enthusiasm in Pyongyang was, especially as the politics practiced in Seoul has degenerated into the empty ritual of bowing before those with power and money to receive their blessings, or PR sessions in which one takes selfies with voters so as to demonstrate how accessible you are.
The power of the political crowd in North Korea cannot be simply dismissed as the product of an authoritarian regime. For all the showmanship and coercion that may go into putting together one of those mass rallies, with their perfectly coordinated dance routines, they also exude a palpable energy that is not a show, but rather a result of actual engagement in a political event.
But such a politics of engagement of people has withered away in South Korea. The candlelight protests have come and gone and now the progressive government severely restricts what you can protest about in downtown Seoul.
Part of the problem with politics in the South is a result of a hyper-commercialism and fetishistic approach to human experience. Every aspect of life is presented as some sort of a service offered for pay. In addition, the emergence in Korea of a superannuated society means that we find a large part of the political process dominated by the aged and the vast majority of youth alienated from the political process, and few with a strong desire to participate.
The progressive movement has lost much of the fervor that animated the democracy movement of the 1980s, or even the Roh Moo-hyun administration of the early 2000s. Especially notable is collapse of the progressive political debate into a narrow range of symbolic issues. There is no end to the discussion of the "comfort women" sexually abused by the Japanese during the Pacific War, but little interest in the abuse of foreign women by Korean men today. The radical concentration of wealth that is tearing Korea apart is rarely subject to careful analysis, or the systematic corruption that has reduced politics to an empty ritual.
Many of the leaders in progressive politics are lost in the memories of the "democracy movement" of the 1980s and not engaged in the real problems of working class youth in Korea today. Many of them have become quite well off and are more concerned about getting their kids into good colleges (or their grandchildren) and not about a more equitable society.
I was recently invited to book signing hosted by important progressive political activists and I was shocked to discover that I, at 53, was the youngest person in the room. For hours, the allosauruses and the dimetrodons who assembled there waxed poetic about the student struggles where they met in the 70s and 80s. Then they sang their songs. They talked about democracy and were critical of conservative politicians, but there was not a word about the nightmare world faced by ordinary youth as they struggle to survive the degradation of contemporary education.
One thing is sure, the young Koreans who are on the front lines in a decaying economic system, caught between the rapaciousness of cram schools "hakwon" and the haughty indifference of the corporations that are supposed to hire them, did know about that event and if by mistake the aged progressives present had invited them, I do not see how could have derived any benefit from it. The discussion about the "Candlelight Revolution" was far detached from the harsh reality that most working Koreans face.
I was invited to an event at a progressive bookstore recently and I found it completely empty of customers. The books on display were excellent and the owner was most thoughtful, but there seemed to be an unbridgeable gap between the space created by older intellectuals and the world of ordinary people struggling to find direction in a confused society. I am sure that many of my students could have benefitted immensely from the books there, not to mention many living in a state of spiritual despair at convenience stores or coffee shops, but they know nothing of the existence of such stores and would find it rather alien to the world they to which they are accustomedeven if the truths in those books would be of tremendous value to them.
I have there are many progressive organizations run by educated and prosperous people with good intentions who feel no need or desire to try and reach those who are drowning among youth.
I joined four progressive NGOs during the eleven years that I have lived in Korea, but I quit all of them because I felt that there was no culture of participation. I was expected to pay my monthly fee, and was invited to a yearly party, but there was no change for me to attend events, and no way for me to actively help. I made proposals to three of those NGOs that I hold an event for internationals to learn about their needs and concerns. Although, I would have only needed to be given a room and have the NGO put up a posting for the event, I was refused.
One major problem is that progressive NGOs are less and less interested in membership. Of course members who make monthly payments are important, but increasingly NGOs look for funding to wealthy individuals with progressive proclivities, to corporate funded foundations and to government projects. The primary job of the administrator becomes locking down such sources of funding, not addressing the needs of working class people. In a sense, the well-off donor is the customer they must service. You do not ask youth for their import any more than Greenpeace asks the polar bear for advice on their policy.
After being a member of PSPD People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy for five years, I quit because they never invited me to any events and had no interest in my suggestions, especially my numerous requests that we reach out to multicultural families. Four months ago, I received a call from PSPD asking me why I had ceased to be a member. I explained my reasons, but said that if I could meet one of their administrators to discuss how I could be more involved, I would be happy to rejoin. I never heard back.
Memberships in progressive NGOs offered almost nothing for me. If I were working in a convenience store, I would have zero incentive to join such an organization. .
Angola, IN (46703)
Today
A few snow showers scattered about the area in the morning, otherwise a good deal of clouds. High 38F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 30%..
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Kendallville, IN (46755)
Today
Scattered snow showers during the morning. Then partly to mostly cloudy for the afternoon. High 37F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 30%..
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For years, LGBTQ students at the evangelical Christian Azusa Pacific University had to hide their sexual orientation. But when classes started in late August, they no longer had to.
After months of negotiations with LGBTQ student leaders the previous academic year, administrators eliminated section 9.0 of the student conduct code, which read: "Students may not engage in a romanticized same-sex relationship."
The administration's second major change was to allow Haven -- the long-standing LGBTQ unofficial student organization which had met off-campus -- to meet on campus and advertise its meetings.
Gay and lesbian students were in shock.
"I was amazed," said Courtney Fredericks, an Azusa Pacific junior studying psychology. "We talked about it happening but we didn't think it actually would. It was incredible, we were finally in equal standing on this campus."
The university also revised its official statement on human sexuality.
It deleted the line: "Heterosexuality is God's design for sexually intimate relationships."
A paragraph that cited scripture as expressly forbidding "homosexual acts" was removed.
The school took out language saying it's "a sin" to deviate from the "biblical standard" of sexuality.
The new phrasing declares that such deviation is "an opportunity for repentance, grace, and redemption."
(Photo by Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist)
THE LOSS OF 'GOD FIRST'?
It didn't take long for people inside and outside the university to say the changes went too far and question whether Azusa Pacific remained an evangelical Christian institution.
"More and more, it seems clear that various spirits of the age are being raised up at APU, such that the God of traditional Biblical understanding, and what He asks of us, is being redefined," wrote Azusa Pacific Professor Barbara Harrington in a Sept. 24 letter to the university's board of trustees.
"The loss of 'God First' means APU stops progressing and loses itself and its defining character in a wave of change," she wrote. "It becomes a university indistinguishable from so many others who are sinking in the 'messy middle' of post-modern confusion," she added.
The American Conservative, a Washington D.C.-based publication quoted Harrington's letter in an article and echoed her concerns.
(Photo by Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist)
A leader of one of the nation's most conservative evangelical Christian denominations stepped into the fray to turn up the heat on Azusa Pacific.
"What you have is a process that can only end one way or another, either sooner or later, in an abandonment of a Biblical sexual morality or understanding of gender," said Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in his Sept. 25 podcast.
Mohler and others said that allowing gay romance would lead to allowing gay marriage, which is anathema to most evangelical Christians.
THE REVERSAL
Last Friday, Azusa Pacific's board of trustees decided to undo the changes. In an email sent to university employees, students and alumni, the board reinstated the ban on gay romance and affirmed that it was a Bible-centered evangelical Christian institution that believed marriage should be between a man and a woman.
"I was disappointed, devastated," said Fredericks.
Wondering what to do about the board's action, Fredericks and other LGBTQ students gathered on the main steps of Azusa Pacific University on Monday morning.
"Students came out in their pride gear, rainbows and everything, and they lined up here and they linked arms and they prayed for the university for 20 minutes," she said.
Students filled the steps with messages in multi-colored chalk: "you are seen," "Yes, we are radical, so was Jesus." Fredericks wrote on a Post It, "Queer, Christian, and Proud."
"We are Christians, we do believe that we are loved and affirmed by God in our Queer identity, we want people to know that," she said.
'A RAISED FIST AND ANGRY SLOGANS INSTEAD OF AN OPEN HEART'
Azusa Pacific was the first Bible-based college on the West Coast when it was founded by Quakers in 1899. Today it defines itself as "a community of individuals representing diverse Christian backgrounds, yet at its core is an identity built on the Wesleyan Holiness tradition," a strain of evangelical Protestantism. Forbes ranked the university 76th best among West Coast colleges.
The school's motto is "God First." Who God accepts as a member of its family appears to be at the center of contention in the debate over the rights of Azusa Pacific's LGBTQ students.
In her letter to the board, Harrington argued that some of the schools' theology, Biblical studies and other courses are exposing students to "radical beliefs that deride and malign traditional Biblical Christianity."
She went on: "Before long, the students espouse errant ideological trends that leave them isolated from the community, embittered against Christian faith and values, and approaching the world with a raised fist and angry slogans instead of an open heart and saving truth."
LGBTQ student leaders said their demands and the solutions from administrators were arrived at within the context of their Christian beliefs.
Azusa Pacific ethics professor Rob Muthiah went to Monday's protest, although he said he was there more as an observer than as a supporter. Still, he expressed sympathy for the students' position.
Azusa Pacific University ethics professor Rob Muthiah attended a protest by LGBTQ students on his campus. (Photo by Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist)
"Your sexual identity isn't the marker that determines whether you can be in the family of God or not," he said.
Muthiah said a conversation with a female freshman student during the protest made him think about Christ's teachings to help the most marginalized people in society.
"As we talked, she said her parents sent her to APU because they knew she was identifying as a sexual minority and they thought they wanted to send her here to set her straight," he said. She told Muthiah that when classes started she wasn't interested in being Christian.
"What was so inspiring to me is in the month that she has been here she's been around people who are helping her see, given how she identifies as a sexual minority, how she can hold that with being a Christian," he said.
'WE'RE GOING TO ADD QUITE A BIT OF PRESSURE'
The email sent by Azusa Pacific's board of trustees said the ban on gay student romance would be reinstated because board members hadn't approved it in the first place.
"The process got out in front of the board and some of it was misrepresented to the public as to a significant change in who APU is," board Chairman David Poole told KPCC's AirTalk.
But the university is not turning away from LGBTQ students, he said.
"We continue to look for ways in which we can engage in a meaningful dialogue, including [with] those who are dealing with sexuality issues," said Poole.
(Photo by Adolfo-Guzman-Lopez/LAist)
Former student and LGBTQ activist Erin Green said there was plenty of dialogue last year, adding that she and current students will try to get the board to reverse itself.
"We're going to add quite a bit of pressure ... on several fronts, through petitioning, possibly through more direct action organizing on campus," she said.
Any protests will be non-violent, said Green, who graduated from Azusa Pacific last spring and is now co-executive director of Brave Commons, a group that advocates for LGBTQ rights at Christian universities.
HAVEN
For the time being, Azusa Pacific's administration is letting stand the other change made this year. The unofficial LGBTQ group Haven continues to meet on campus. Courtney Fredericks said over 100 students attended the group's Oct. 2 meeting.
The board of trustees does have one request of Haven, she said: It has asked it to change its name. While it did not suggest a new name, the board "asked that we call it a ministry rather than an LGBTQ+ pilot program," Fredericks said in a text. She said the members of Haven don't like the idea, but they'll respect the board's wishes, adding that they haven't settled on a new name yet.
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By Carla Javier, Ryan Fonseca, and KPCC's Take Two
Vijay Gupta wasn't thinking about being named a MacArthur 'Genius,' when the L.A. Philharmonic violinist created the non-profit Street Symphony seven years ago.
Not that it's an award you can apply for anyway. The prestigious fellows -- who get $625,000 to use however they choose -- are selected through a secretive nomination process. Twenty-five new fellows were named this week and Gupta, who is just 31 years old, was one of three based in Los Angeles.
"I'm still kind of reeling from the announcement," Gupta told KPCC's Take Two. "But certainly I'm very grateful to have the affirming support for Street Symphony as an organization."
Gupta's inspiration for the organization -- which brings professional musicians into communities where you might not expect to see them, like Skid Row and county jails-- came from a fellow violinist, a homeless man named Nathaniel Ayers.
Ayers was a frequent subject of L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez, who also wrote a book about Ayers titled "The Soloist." If you saw the film adaptation, Ayers was played by Jamie Foxx.
"He was a person who absolutely deserved to be on any concert hall stage in the world," Gupta said of Ayers. "But, because he was poor, because he experienced a mental illness and undoubtedly, because he was black, he was also somehow homeless. And that was something that didn't make sense to me, that someone that talented spent 20 years living in the 2nd Street tunnel."
That, Gupta said, made him wonder: "'Well, how many more Nathaniels are out here?'"
Street Symphony now works with eighty musicians to bring performances and workshops to underserved communities.
And every year, the organization helps community members create original pieces to perform along with Handel's "Messiah" on Skid Row.
Here's a clip produced by Street Symphony from the 2017 performance:
Gupta told Take Two that there was always music playing in his childhood home.
"But at the same time, I also grew up around abuse, and I grew up around mental illness," he said. "When I started making music on Skid Row with my colleagues, there was a part of me that felt very somehow grounded and engaged making music in a county jail, or a shelter, that I didn't necessarily feel playing for the most elite audiences that I get to play for at a place like Walt Disney Concert Hall."
This honor was the latest in a string for Gupta, who joined the LA Phil at just 19 years old. He was a 2017 Citizen Artist fellow with the Kennedy Center and teaches at the Colburn School, just to name a few accolades and accomplishments.
He said artists like him have a responsibility to be engaged in "social and civic discourse."
"We need art now more than ever, as a public health intervention," Gupta said. "Because what comes with art is human acknowledgement."
One of Gupta's colleagues at Street Symphony and at Colburn, Jazmin Morales, said she believes this recognition will help other arts organizations fulfill their missions, too.
"It is so urgent, timely, and necessary for this type of recognition," Morales said. "In a lot of these music and social justice circles, there's always so much resistance of the work and so these sweeping recognitions only work to empower us, and keep us going."
Two other 2018 MacArthur Fellows are also based in the Los Angeles area.
Matthew Aucoin plays piano at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York, NY on September 15, 2018. (Photo by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.)
Opera composer and conductor Matthew Aucoin, 28, was recognized for "expanding the potential of vocal and orchestral music to convey emotional, dramatic, and literary meaning." He is an artist-in-residence at the Los Angeles Opera.
He told NPR he's planning on giving "a substantial chunk of this money away," referring to the $625,000 grant that comes with the fellowship.
"For as long as anybody is starving in the world, we starving artists should be relatively far down the totem pole of who gets help," he said. "So I would feel seriously guilty keeping all of this money for myself."
Neuroscientist Doris Tsao works in her office and lab at California Institute of Technology. (Photo by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.)
Caltech neuroscientist Tsao, 42, caught the foundation's eye with her research on facial recognition.
"By providing a systematic model for how the brain accomplishes a complex task essential for stable social interactions, Tsao's experiments hold the potential to illuminate a range of other neural computation and sensory-processing functions," the MacArthur Foundation wrote about her work.
She said she was in an airport in Virginia when she got an unexpected call from the MacArthur Foundation.
"My lab is taking some completely new directions right now--venturing into new parts of the brain and a new species," Tsao said in a Caltech press release. "This award says to us, 'Go ahead, take whatever risks necessary.'"
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The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Dr. Francis Gurry commended Sri Lanka on the progress achieved in several important areas of protection and promotion of Intellectual Property during his meeting with the delegation of Sri Lanka attending the 58th Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of WIPO from 24 September to 2 October 2018.
Mrs. Geethanjali Ranawaka, Director General of the National Intellectual Property Office (NIPO) of Sri Lanka, accompanied by Deputy Permanent Representative Mrs. Samantha Jayasuriya and Minister Counsellor Ms. Shashika Somaratne of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva held discussions with WIPO Director General on 1 October 2018. Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific of WIPO Mr. Andrew Ong was present.
The Director General of NIPO briefed Dr. Gurry on the state of progress with regard to Sri Lanka's accession to the Madrid Protocol, stressing that Sri Lanka looked forward to joining WIPOs Madrid System as an important additional tool for protection of Intellectual Property, at a time when the number of innovations in Sri Lanka were on the rise. It was further explained that the draft enabling legislation, following its finalization and approval by the Cabinet of Ministers, would be presented to the Parliament of Sri Lanka next year.
The Delegation of Sri Lanka informed WIPO regarding the progress achieved on implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired or otherwise Print Disabled. The Delegation stated that implementation continued in consultation with the stakeholders following Sri Lanka's accession to the Treaty in 2016.
Acknowledging the technical assistance and expertise of WIPO in providing required training and capacity building during this process, the Sri Lanka Delegation conveyed its sincere appreciation to Dr. Gurry and his team at WIPO for the consistent support and cooperation extended. Further opportunities for training and capacity building of the officials in NIPO were discussed.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Geneva
5 October 2018
In November, Californians will go to the polls to decide whether to give cities the option of sharply expanding protections against steep rent increases. But as tenants at a 38-unit Tarzana apartment complex recently discovered, its also possible to have existing rent controls revoked.
The property on Reseda Boulevard fell under the city of Los Angeles rent control ordinance, which also provides tenants assurance they cant simply be kicked out as long as they follow the rules. Then last year, the protections disappeared.
For the record: A previous version of this story said Morris is a part-time bookkeeper. She is a freelance bookkeeper.
Now the tenants face large rent hikes.
You can see the slide coming, said tenant Holly Morris, who is facing a 40% bump next month. You really start looking at the people in the Winnebagos and thinking, Wow, they were probably like me at one point.
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The rare stripping of rent protections stems from a dispute between the city of Los Angeles and owner JKP Apartments over whether the Tarzana property was built two weeks after the 1978 cut-off date for rent control.
The case highlights an issue before voters in November unmovable cut-off dates for rent control.
Its outcome appeared to ultimately hinge on competing interpretations of a 40-year-old building record. The housing department changed its rent-control determination at least twice before JKP threatened to sue the city for wrongly subjecting it to price caps. The city settled before JKP sued, agreeing to forever exempt the building from rent control.
Larry Gross, the executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival, who pushed for rent controls passage in 1978, said this is the first time hes seen a building removed from the ordinance because the landlord disputed its age. He said the loss of protections is concerning because the city is already losing 5.5 rent-controlled units a day to demolitions and condo conversions.
The decision had somewhat predictable results. An attorney for the owners said that with new, higher rents it is feasible to make improvements to the aging property.
Greg Kirakosian, an attorney for JKP Apartments who is related to the owners through marriage said his family isnt a greedy landlord. He said most tenants havent complained over the increases, which have made various improvements possible, including parking lot repairs, new security cameras and landscaping.
The owners also plan to power wash and repaint the building and begin an earthquake retrofit, Kirakosian said.
Its not like we are pocketing the cash, he said. We are using a large percentage of that money and putting that back into the building for the tenants.
Morris said most residents are too afraid of retaliation to complain, particularly because strong eviction protections no longer exist. She and others said they dont notice much improvement to the property, nor is the landlord quicker to respond to repair requests.
In August, several tenants sued JKP Apartments and the city to regain protections and reverse the sharp increases.
With the housing crisis going on wouldnt they bother to put up a fight? said Morris, who helped organize tenants.
The Housing and Community Investment Department declined to comment. City attorney spokesman Rob Wilcox, citing attorney-client privilege, declined to say why the city settled but said in an email, there were factors leading the city to deem the settlement the best course of action.
Among the worried tenants is Laher Pour, an 85-year-old who lives on a fixed monthly budget of only $927, according to the complaint. In July, her rent jumped 42%, from $592 to $838. When she found out, she cried uncontrollably and worried she would become homeless, the lawsuit says.
Her brother, Bijan Fereybouny, said he is helping his sister, who hardly speaks English, navigate the increase. That includes helping her pay the rent. Hes not sure how long he can continue.
Kirakosian said units are still priced below what many nearby landlords charge, particularly Pours one-bedroom.
If we looked at this only in financial gains, we would have raised the rents all the way to fair market value and she would have had to vacate, Kirakosian said. We care for these tenants and try to be respectful of their needs.
At the heart of the controversy is whether the building is old enough to qualify for rent protections.
Novembers Proposition 10 would repeal the states Costa-Hawkins Act, which restricts the age at which municipalities can extend rent control to buildings. Generally, owners of Los Angeles apartment buildings built on or before Oct. 1, 1978, can charge whatever rent they want for vacant units. But once a tenant moves in, they face limits on rent increases, usually capped at 3% a year.
Owners of buildings built after Oct. 1, 1978, generally face no restrictions on increases. The cutoff date exists to encourage construction and avoid exacerbating the housing crisis.
Its unclear exactly why the city previously believed the building should be under rent control. But the determination is usually made by the date on which a certificate of occupancy or temporary certificate of occupancy was issued. Those documents mean the city has allowed residents to move in.
Los Angeles issued a certificate of occupancy to the then-owners of the Reseda Boulevard building on Oct. 16, 1978. Years later, the current owners discovered the document and in May 2016 sought to have the housing department remove rent restrictions, Jerie Petrosian, one of the owners, wrote in a sworn declaration.
The department initially agreed. But the department reversed itself after Gross reached out on behalf of Morris, who said she found a document on microfiche dated Feb. 16, 1978. She said Building and Safety workers told her it was a temporary certificate of occupancy. The city reversed itself in July 2016 and told the owners the building was rent controlled, citing the same reason.
The owners said they pulled records after the citys reversal but could only find a Request for Modification of Building Ordinances dated Feb. 16, 1978. Petrosians declaration said Building and Safety employees confirmed the document the same one Morris found was not a temporary certificate of occupancy. The owners threatened to sue.
The city responded that it made another mistake and reversed course yet again, removing the property from rent control before it settled the owners claims for wrongly subjecting the building to price caps for decades, according to the declaration.
Tenants lost a motion for a temporary restraining order to reverse the increases, but are still trying to overturn the citys decision in court. They cite a clause in the settlement where the city maintains that evidence supports the contention the property was issued a temporary certificate of occupancy on Feb. 16, 1978, and thus is subject to rent control.
To further the argument, tenant attorney Noah Grynberg noted the document under question says temporary certificate of occupancy under the request section and a box that indicates the department granted it is checked.
Morris believes if there was a basis for keeping the building out of rent control, the original owners would have fought tooth and nail to exempt it 40 years ago. And Grynberg said other records show the building is old enough to be under rent control.
Kirakosian disputed that and called the settlement language standard. City attorney spokesman Wilcox declined to comment on the rent control status but said that all parties will be meeting in the near future to explore potential resolution of the case.
For now, Morris, a freelance bookkeeper, is looking for a better job to more easily afford her rent increase of nearly $350 a month. She can make the increase work for now, but she worries future jumps may force her from her home.
Its like you are on a four-legged stool and someone took out a leg, she said. You lost your stability.
andrew.khouri@latimes.com
Follow me @khouriandrew on Twitter
Air travelers who have been complaining about ever-shrinking airline seats may get some relief in a five-year funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration that President Trump signed into law Friday.
Still, passenger advocates didnt get everything they wanted from the 540-page bill.
Overall, its definitely a step forward, said Paul Hudson, president of Flyersrights.org, a passenger rights group with about 60,000 members. However, much more needs to be done.
The so-called reauthorization bill includes language that instructs the FAA to draft regulations establishing minimum seat dimensions, including width, length and pitch commonly referred to as legroom.
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The countrys airlines have long opposed government-imposed dimensions, saying regulators should be concerned only that passengers have enough space to exit the cabin quickly in an emergency.
But with airlines reducing legroom space and passenger rights groups demanding relief, lawmakers added language to instruct the FAA to reexamine its standard.
Safety must never take a backseat, much less a shrunken seat, to profits, said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who along with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) proposed the seat provision included in the bill. The safety of the public must be the airlines primary concern, and this bill now requires the FAA to take it seriously.
Airlines for America, the trade group that represents the nations biggest airlines, said it supports the bills language, noting that the FAA has not objected to the seats already installed on all of the airlines even those that passengers complain are too cramped.
We support the federal governments role in determining what seat size is safe as required by this bill, said Alison McAfee, a spokeswoman for the group.
But Hudson said he worries that the FAA will consider only safety when creating minimum seat dimensions, ignoring the comfort and health of travelers.
They could simply set the standards at where they are now or even lower, he said.
The bill also prohibits airlines from involuntarily removing a passenger who has a confirmed reservation and has already checked in a response to the ugly scene last year when a Kentucky physician was dragged off an overbooked United Airlines flight.
Language in the bill that would have allowed the Department of Transportation to regulate unreasonable passenger fees charged by airlines was killed in a conference committee.
Congress has missed an historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to stop gargantuan airlines from gouging Americans with exorbitant fees every time they fly, said Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who drafted the language to regulate airline fees.
Airlines, which lobbied hard against the provision, are probably breathing a sigh of relief.
In 2017, the countrys airlines collected $4.6 billion from baggage fees and $2.9 billion from reservation change fees, which represent the only two ancillary passenger fees the airlines are required to report to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
hugo.martin@latimes.com
To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.
Lampposts around downtown Los Angeles are being wired with fiber optic cable and shoebox-sized gadgets to beam the fifth and fastest generation of cellular data, known as 5G, into homes and mobile devices.
This high-tech infrastructure build-out is the result of a deal between the city and Verizon Los Angeles gave the wireless carrier a break on the fees for taking up space on streetlights in exchange for a package of amenities and services.
Such arrangements are common nationwide, where local governments have long leveraged access to public property and rights of way as a bargaining chip to accomplish policy goals.
But late last month, the Federal Communications Commission took the unusual step of nationalizing public infrastructure for 5G installation, throwing L.A.s deal with Verizon and agreements between other cities and carriers into question in the process.
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The FCC established a maximum price that local governments can charge telecom companies for small cell installations on public poles and in city streets: $270. The agency also established what it called a shot clock mandating that permits for small cell infrastructure be processed within 60 to 90 days, depending on the type of installation. If the permits take longer, the telecom companies can take cities to court.
Cities charging more than the maximum rate of $270 are open to litigation, and according to the ruling will have to prove that the higher fee is a reasonable approximation of costs.
There has never been a federal decision to price-regulate the way local governments provide access to their own property, said Blair Levin, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who served as chief of staff to the Clinton-era chairman of the FCC. Thats an extreme step.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the ruling will hasten the rollout of the new technology, which debuted in the homes of some Verizon customers in Los Angeles this week. Big-city taxes on 5G slow down deployment there and also jeopardize the construction of 5G networks in suburbs and rural America, he wrote in a statement accompanying the ruling.
Local governments across the country, however, say the rules are too friendly to the telecom industry.
The United States Conference of Mayors called the ruling an unprecedented federal intrusion into local (and state) government property rights that will have substantial and continuing adverse impacts on cities and their taxpayers, including reduced funding for essential local government services, and needlessly introduce increased risk of right of way and other public safety hazards.
On Tuesday, Seattle announced plans to appeal the decision in federal court.
This is more than just an unfunded mandate, requiring us to do something without paying for the cost, said Seattle city attorney Pete Holmes. This is more like a taking, frankly, without due process and without compensation. Cities have property rights, and that has really just been thrown out with this ruling.
He called the deal a gift to the industry that will deny us a return on our assets that we enjoy today.
Fees and processes vary widely from place to place, and are often used to fund other city services. Holmes said that companies in Seattle can pay up to $1,800 per pole as an annual fee; prices go up to $5,100 for prime Manhattan locations and down to $148 in neighborhoods where the city wants to incentivize more deployment, according to Bloomberg.
In Los Angeles, the city said that the break-even point for small cell facilities is $800 per installation. But in exchange for amenities such as free Wi-Fi in Skid Row and at recreation centers, $400,000 of scholarship money, and launching an innovation center in the city, L.A. is charging Verizon just $175 per device per year for 10 years for up to 1,000 installations, plus the cost of electricity.
Jeanne Holm, L.A.s deputy chief information officer, said the city cut a good deal: Verizon brought a bunch of stuff to the table which, in my opinion, is well worth that offset, and our financial analysts have also agreed.
The details of the citys deal with Verizon are currently in front of the City Council for approval, as are preliminary plans for a mobile 5G deal with AT&T.
Although the citys fee for Verizon is below the maximum set by the FCC, the new rules could give the carrier a chance to renegotiate on terms it considers more favorable.
Jonathan LeCompte, president of Verizons Pacific market, said he couldnt speak on the specifics of the Los Angeles deal without the financials in front of him, but said if its a little bigger delta between the numbers, there might be a different plan of attack.
In a letter to the FCC, Mayor Eric Garcetti urged the commission to rewrite the ruling before its adoption, arguing that the decision would insert confusion into the market, and sow mistrust between my technology team and the carriers with whom we have already reached agreements.
The L.A. city attorneys office did not respond to requests for comment.
Small cell 5G technology relies on higher-frequency radio waves than current wireless services to deliver faster speeds but at shorter ranges. Those higher-frequency signals, which measure in millimeters, can be obstructed by objects of a similar size, such as leaves and raindrops.
Twenty U.S. states have enacted legislation that streamlines regulation on 5G small cell installation, and a California bill that would have reduced local power to block new installations was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown late last year.
The FCC says the new rule will save money for telecommunications companies, which will redirect those funds to deploy 5G service to less-connected rural areas.
Industry experts dispute this hypothesis and leading telecoms say rural areas are not their first priority for 5G service.
No one believes thats going to happen, said Levin, the former FCC official. Inside the Beltway, they say if they save them a buck in New York theyll go deploy in Montana. Thats not just dumb, thats a special kind of stupid.
The FCC did not respond to a Times request for comment.
Scott Mair, AT&Ts president of operations, said small cell technology will start initially for mobile networks in dense urban areas and suburban areas.
Rural America will have 5G over time, he said.
LeCompte, of Verizon, said that rural markets are not a part of the companys initial rollout plan, but added that obviously, we need to care for those.
LeCompte praised the permitting process in Los Angeles and Sacramento, but said in general the permitting process and the flow of paperwork is a long pole in the tent on deploying 5G.
The deal between Verizon and Los Angeles has allowed the city to focus on infrastructure in underserved neighborhoods with low broadband access.
For the initial rollout, we agreed that the downtown area made a lot of sense partly because we knew the convention center would be an early hub, and wanted to reach out to areas like Pico-Union and others that are underserved around USC, Holm said.
She estimated that it would take 8,000 to 10,000 small cells to fully cover the city.
sam.dean@latimes.com
Follow me on Twitter: @samaugustdean
Youve probably noticed that were a bit older than we were formerly, said Jemaine Clement, one half of the musical-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, to open a new HBO special Live in London. Were not ill, he assured the crowd before empathizing with how hard it can be when viewers see familiar TV characters age.
Its difficult for us to see you, because youre older as well, Clements bandmate, Bret McKenzie, added. But the lights are quite dark, so its quite flattering on you guys.
Times change, hair turns gray, but the deadpan comic reversals of Flight of the Conchords are forever.
And though the New Zealand duo has performed a number of times since ending their self-titled HBO comedy series after two seasons nearly 10 years ago including a 2016 U.S. tour forever is something akin to what it feels like since they were on TV together.
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Back then, Netflix was still mostly known for delivering DVDs in red envelopes, the U.S. was slowly coming out of a recession and Flight of the Conchords was setting a quirky template for an eccentrically comic look at the little moments that come with living in New York City that you can still see echoed in shows such as Broad City and High Maintenance.
Since ending the show in 2009, the duo havent exactly vanished. Clement has been a more common sight onscreen, lending a welcome oddball presence to indie films and FXs Legion along with co-creating the 2014 vampire comedy What We Do in Shadows (soon to be adapted for the network as well). McKenzie is now an Oscar winner for original song, having been honored for his work on The Muppets big-screen return in 2011.
But for all the comedy HBOs Flight of the Conchords found in the gentle misadventures of two Kiwi musicians in the big city, the shows offbeat musical interludes were its sharpest weapon. As catchy as they were funny in parodying artists and styles they admired, the Conchords dynamic duets were where their career took off years ago on stages including L.A.s Largo. And its where they return in Live in London, which was recorded at a sold-out show earlier this year.
As a result, the series isnt so much a focal point here there are no cameos from former castmates such as Kirsten Schaal or Arj Barker as the back-and-forth dynamic and musical moments that built it.
Between songs, Clement and McKenzie traded familiar jokes about their home country, at one point introducing the backing of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (a bassist named Nigel). Still in-character as a far bigger band, the duo dryly tweak their decadent rock n roll lifestyle in banter about the pleasures of a free hotel muffin. Whether in these exchanges or in song, both remain lethal with subtle reactions, loading enough expression in a raised eyebrow or tilt of the head to be worthy of the silent era.
This being a reunion show, the hits are to be expected. With both paying different vocal tributes to the late star, Bowie in Space carried more of a wistful note than years past, and, with the help of some expert drum programming and synthesizers from Clement, the moody Inner City Pressure remains the best Pet Shop Boys song not actually written by the Pet Shop Boys.
Never content to stay in the realm of the targeted artist homages of Weird Al Yankovic, the Conchords also touched on airy French pop in the vocabulary test nonsense of Foux Du Fa Fa and medieval madrigals with Summer of 1353, which boldly answers whether the lunging onstage theatrics of a guitar solo can also be applied to the humble recorder.
But more just revisiting the past, the Conchords also arrived with some fresh material. A folky ode to the love between father-and-son opens the show on a heartfelt note that takes several unexpected twists, and before performing a Franz Ferdinand-esque rock number about a lusty office romance between Deana and Ian, the Conchords self-effacingly described their roles in the song before apologizing for a lack of inclusion.
We are aware that comedy is a very male-dominated industry. Were writing the roles for women, but the problem is, the band itself is very male-dominated, McKenzie explained. Its systemic, added Clement, twirling his finger in a circle above him.
It was a playful instance where 2018 briefly caught up with the Conchords, whose special mostly offers a welcome, proudly silly respite from current affairs. But should the band ever mount another reunion tour like so many real-life rock stars who came before them, their genial, finely tuned perspective ensures theyll still sound timeless.
Flight of the Conchords: Live in London
Where: HBO
When: 10 p.m. Saturday
Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)
chris.barton@latimes.com
Follow me over here @chrisbarton.
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Its not over until its over. Olivia de Havilland is taking her Feud case to the Supreme Court.
The 102-year-old actress filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, asking it to review a California Court of Appeals decision to toss out her case against FX over her portrayal in the 2017 miniseries Feud: Bette and Joan.
The U.S. Supreme Court grants very few writs; however, this case is of immense social significance and popular concern over the California Courts use of the First Amendment to immunize Hollywood businesses when they knowingly publish unconsented falsehoods about living people in commercial productions, said de Havillands attorney Suzelle Smith, of the firm Howarth & Smith, in a press release.
She added: The Court of Appeals decision is a radical departure from traditional First Amendment precedent, and benefits no group other than those who seek to use the names and identities of others in untrue and salacious historical dramas for their own profit.
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We must persevere and speak truth to power, said de Havilland in the press release. The fight is itself important to the principle of honesty, so much in need today in the face of deliberate public confusion for selfish agendas.
The legendary Gone With the Wind actress claims that FX and producer Ryan Murphys use of her identity in the series Feud was unauthorized and inaccurate.
But Californias 2nd District Court of Appeal wrote in its March decision to that whether a person portrayed in [an] expressive work is a world-renowned film star a living legend or a person no one knows, she or he does not own history Nor does she or he have the legal right to control, dictate, approve, disapprove, or veto the creators portrayal of actual people.
At the time Smith blasted the disappointing opinion as entirely in favor of FX and the industry.
The appellate decision reversed Superior Court Judge Holly Kendigs ruling that had allowed the case to go to trial. FX appealed that decision.
In May, de Havilland and her team petitioned the California Supreme Court to review the appellate courts decision. That petition was denied in July.
tracy.brown@latimes.com
Twitter: @tracycbrown
If not for Nathaniel Ayers, I probably never would have met Jim Preis, a lawyer, and Vijay Gupta, a violinist.
Thats the kind of journey it has been with Ayers, a homeless skid-row musician I met in 2005. Hes taken me places Id never been to, like the White House, where he performed at the invitation of the Obama administration. And hes made connections for me with mental health advocates.
People such as Preis, who will be honored this month by the Mental Health Advocacy Services nonprofit he ran for nearly 40 years. And L.A. Philharmonic musician Gupta, the recipient Thursday of a MacArthur Foundation genius grant honoring his nonprofit Street Symphony, which takes classical music to prisons, mental health clinics and shelters. Gupta was chosen for bringing beauty, respite and purpose to those all too often ignored by society.
A few days ago, when I visited Ayers at the mental health rehabilitation center where he lives, he told me he was on an Andre Watts jag and couldnt get enough of the classical pianist. I got out my phone, as I often do during our visits, and asked Ayers what he wanted to hear. The Liszt Sonata in B Minor, he said. So we watched Watts hammer that for a while before Ayers asked if I could find a video of Watts playing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2.
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As we shared that, Ayers who played briefly with Yo-Yo Ma in the Juilliard School student orchestra told me he had also once played double bass on a New York stage with Watts.
The man never ceases to amaze.
Nathaniel Ayers plays in downtown Los Angeles in 2008. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
Thanks to Ayers willingness to let me write about him, Preis and his nonprofit honored us at their 2008 gala.
Ten years later, the gala is scheduled for later this month, and as I said, this time the honoree is Preis himself. He is retiring after four decades of defending the rights of those with disabilities and mental illness. But several days ago, I learned from Bob Sipchen my former editor and a close friend of Preis that Jim is fighting the spread of cancer and is worried he might not be able to attend the event.
Sipchen and Alex Raksin won the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for a series of Times editorials on solutions to people living on the streets with mental illness and addiction. Back then, Sipchen learned that Preis was a national authority with firm convictions but a civil nature, even if he disagreed with you.
Our editorials wound up advocating for, among other things, expanding the way that people with mental illness could be involuntarily committed. Jim remains passionate in his belief that on this point we were wrong, Sipchen said.
Sipchen admired the way in which Preis and his team fought for equal protection of everyone, including those too ill or poor to take the fight to the courts or legislatures themselves. In recent weeks, Sipchen was inspired by the courage and dignity with which Preis faced his own disabilities, such as getting in and out of a car on cancer-withered legs. I suspect his attitude stems from him always seeing the dignity in the people he works to help.
Elyn Saks, the USC law professor who wrote about her own struggles with schizophrenia in the book The Center Cannot Hold, said Preis her faculty mate at USC has fought ferociously to make sure the wishes of patients are heard.
He really wanted to find alternatives to hospitalization so people would be neither institutionalized nor living on the streets, Saks said.
I went to the hospital Friday morning to visit Preis, but he was too sedated for us to have a conversation. His wife, Debbie, daughter Annie and son John were at his side, hoping doctors could stabilize him so he could begin immunotherapy treatment.
He made very clear the best thing you could do with your lifes work was public service, said Annie, a U.S. Navy lawyer. John is on that same track after serving as a nuclear engineer in the Navy.
In the hospital waiting room, John worked on a Facebook tribute to his father, saying the only thing his dad was never good at was raising enough money for the nonprofit to meet a growing demand for help.
I only hope I can tell him before he goes that his lifes work is on sturdy footing, John wrote, calling attention to the fundraising tribute to his father later this month.
Im humbled by people like Preis, and by Gupta. Id left him a message, congratulating him on the MacArthur award, and he called back as I was leaving the hospital Friday.
I am elated, he said during intermission of a Disney Hall concert in which he was performing.
I met Gupta in 2007 in the office of Adam Crane, who was then communications director for the L.A. Phil. Gupta was only 19, and said hed had trouble deciding between music and a career in neuroscience, with a focus on brain disorders.
I introduced him to Ayers, they clicked, and Gupta was happy to offer violin pointers. Inspired by Ayers passion for music, Gupta and Crane teamed up to start Street Symphony, operating on the principle that great art shouldnt be available only to a privileged minority, even as thousands of less fortunate people sprawl on city streets below Disney Hall.
Since 2011, said Gupta, there have been roughly 500 concerts involving about 100 musicians, including everyone from L.A. Phil performers to Colburn School students and skid-row residents.
I havent made plans yet as to what to do with the $625,000 grant, Gupta said. But I feel absolutely that the work of Street Symphony is just beginning.
His immediate goals are to have more concerts in more locations, including performances of Messiah in womens prisons, and to hire more skid-row residents to the nonprofit staff.
Gupta threw a nod to Ayers, saying this might never have happened without his inspiration. When I called Ayers to tell him that on Friday, he was thrilled for Gupta, and wanted to know when the violinist could visit the mental hospital and give him another lesson.
Hang in there, Mr. Ayers, itll be soon, Im sure.
Keep sawing away, Vijay Gupta.
And thank you, Jim Preis. The impact of your tireless devotion to a noble cause is incalculable.
(To find out more about Street Symphony and see a list of concert dates, go to streetsymphony.org. To find out more about the work of Mental Health Advocacy Services and the fundraising tribute to Jim Preis, go to mhas-la.org.)
Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopez
The wildfire that forced the closure of Yosemite Valley this summer began when a hot part of a vehicles exhaust system ignited dry vegetation along a key canyon highway route into the national park, officials investigating the Ferguson fire have concluded.
The U.S. Forest Service said Friday that superheated pieces of a catalytic converter came into contact with dry, roadside vegetation on the shoulder of Highway 140, along the Merced River. The roadway is one of just a few that bring motorists from the cities of California to Yosemite National Park.
The fire which grew to nearly 97,000 acres, an area triple the size of San Francisco is believed to have begun on eastbound Highway 140 near Savages Trading Post between 8 p.m. and 8:25 p.m. on July 13. Anyone with information on the vehicle that may have caused the fire is asked to call the Sierra National Forest at (559) 297-0706.
It wasnt clear how the exhaust parts came into contact with the vegetation.
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The Ferguson fire burned in the wildland mountains west of Yosemite Valley. Although the fire did not reach Yosemite Valley, its proximity closed that area of the park. (Los Angeles Times)
It wasnt clear how the exhaust parts came into contact with the vegetation.
Driving on dry grass or brush can lead to the ignition of devastating wildfires. Motorists are responsible for many wildfires that start along roads, the U.S. Forest Service says, and taking the following precautions can prevent almost all of them:
Secure chains when towing
Be sure there are no dragging parts on a vehicle
Maintain tires check tire pressure and tread to prevent a flat tire causing a spark
Dont toss cigarette butts out the window.
Do not drive or park on dry grass or brush
The Ferguson fire began in an extremely vulnerable location in the heart of mountainous wildlands that had become a tinderbox, devastated by trees killed by five years of drought and whose weakened condition left them to be infested by bark beetles. More than 129 million drought-stressed and beetle-ravaged trees have died across 7.7 million acres of California forest since 2010, mostly in the Sierra Nevada.
The dead trees left behind flammable needles whether remaining on the tree, draping brush or carpeting the ground the U.S. Forest Service has said, contributing significantly to the rapid spread of the fire.
The fire also occurred during an extraordinarily hot month. In the nearby San Joaquin Valley, Fresno recorded its warmest July on record. From July 6 through Aug. 4, Fresno recorded 30 straight days where temperatures reached or exceeded 100 degrees the longest continuous stretch on record.
The fire is believed to have started on eastbound Highway 140 just east of Savages Trading Post. (Los Angeles Times)
Across California, July recorded the hottest average minimum temperature of any month since 1895, rising to 64.9 degrees.
Two men fighting the Ferguson fire died. Braden Varney, 36, of the Madera-Mariposa-Merced Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, was killed on July 14 when the bulldozer he was driving to cut flammable vegetation tumbled down a canyon.
Brian Hughes, 33, was killed two weeks later when a tree fell on him while working with his crew to set a backfire a tactic designed to limit a fires spread. Hughes was the captain of the Arrowhead Interagency Hotshots from Sequoia and Kings National Parks.
Thousands of firefighters were called to battle the blaze, lugging hoses and hand tools through rugged terrain while water- and retardant-dropping aircraft roared overhead. Ten structures were destroyed.
Yosemite Valley was ordered closed to visitors on July 25, forcing tourists to leave all hotels and campgrounds at the heart of the nations fifth most-visited national park. The smoke blanketed the valley and created air conditions worse than in Beijing, which notoriously suffers from bad air pollution. Officials handed out high-grade filtration masks and set up clean air centers where visitors and workers could get a break from the smoke. The park service reopened Yosemite Valley to visitors on Aug. 14.
The Ferguson fire was declared 100% contained on Aug. 22.
More than 1.5 million acres of land has burned in California this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
ron.lin@latimes.com
@ronlin
In the wake of revelations that a prominent Pasadena obstetrician had been accused repeatedly of sexual misconduct, Huntington Memorial Hospital announced Friday that the doctor no longer had a leadership role at the hospital and will have a chaperone when treating women in the maternity ward.
A hospital spokeswoman also said Dr. Patrick Sutton, who has practiced at Huntington since 1989, has been removed from the list of doctors who are on call to deliver babies at the hospital.
These changes are effective immediately as we await results of further review by the Medical Board of California and our medical staff, said Eileen Neuwirth, the hospitals communications director.
The medical board accused Sutton, 64, in a Sept. 24 filing of making inappropriate comments to a patient about her appearance and sex life during a 2016 appointment. The Times reported the board action Monday and noted that it was the fifth complaint against the doctor for sexual misconduct toward a woman in his care.
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Sutton has not responded to the most recent accusation and settled the previous four without any admission of sexual misconduct. Reached by phone Friday, he confirmed that his private practice near the hospital remained open but referred additional questions to his attorney.
In an email to The Times, attorney Gary Wittenberg noted that only a few patients in Suttons long career had complained and that his client voluntarily cooperated with medical board investigations that resulted in probation only for medical record-keeping issues.
The allegations in the pending accusation are untrue and we will prove that in court, Wittenberg said in the email. The changes at Huntington Hospital were agreed to by Dr. Sutton and are temporary, pending our successful defense to these baseless allegations.
Neuwirth said Huntingtons medical staff committee was performing a confidential peer review of Suttons practice.
Sutton was until Friday chair-elect of Huntingtons nationally ranked obstetrics and gynecology department and due to assume control of the department in January. He is one of the most experienced obstetricians at the hospital, having delivered by his count more than 6,000 children during his three-decade career.
Although he was well known in Pasadena medical circles, the accusations against him over the past 20 years were not. Following a 1998 prenatal appointment, a patient complained to the medical board that Sutton had asked her what she called inappropriate questions about her sex life and inserted his ungloved fingers inside her during an ultrasound exam.
After an investigation, the board accused Sutton of gross negligence and sexual misconduct for needlessly and inappropriately sexualizing her physical examination.
Under a settlement agreement, he admitted to another charge involving a different patient failure to keep and maintain adequate and accurate records and was placed on probation for four years. The sexual misconduct charge was deemed unproven. He was ordered to complete a class on maintaining professional boundaries.
In 2005, while still on probation, Sutton was accused by two patients of sexual battery and sexual harassment in a Los Angeles County Superior Court lawsuit. The women alleged improper touching, crude sexual comments and intrusive questions about their bodies and sexual habits, according to a draft complaint in the case, which has since been destroyed by court officials.
The patients and Sutton reached a confidential settlement.
Following a 2008 appointment, another patient complained to the medical board about Sutton. The woman said that Sutton asked her a series of explicit and inappropriate questions about her sexual practices and instructed her to call him to share a fantasy or any new sexual adventure.
In a settlement with the board, Sutton again admitted failing to maintain medical records, and the allegations of sexual misconduct were dropped. He was placed on probation for three years and ordered to enroll in psychotherapy as well as another class on maintaining professional boundaries.
In the most recent accusation, the medical board alleged that Sutton told a woman seeking treatment for a cyst that he really could not see down there because she was really hairy, according to the board filing.
After Suttons female office assistant left the room to answer a telephone, according to the medical board filing, the doctor asked the woman, Do you have sex?
She replied, No, adding that she had an abusive relationship and now dedicated her life to her kids, according to the filing.
Sutton continued pressing her, according to the court papers, asking, Do you enjoy orgasms, you are a very beautiful woman?
The patient, who was wearing a paper gown, was intimidated and did not know how to get out of the situation, the medical board filing said.
matt.hamilton@latimes.com
Twitter: @MattHjourno
harriet.ryan@latimes.com
Twitter: @latimesharriet
UPDATES:
6:35 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from an attorney representing Dr. Patrick Sutton.
This article was originally published at 4:45 p.m
She will stand tall, with a torch held high, on a hilltop in San Ysidro, overlooking the U.S.-Mexico border region.
Inspired by the Statue of Liberty, the 40-foot-tall monument of Mary, mother of Jesus, will stand as a symbol intended to welcome immigrants and refugees headed to the U.S.
The statue will go up on the hilltop parking lot of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, where community members convened Friday to kick off a crowdfunding campaign to raise $1 million to build the monument.
It will stand as a beacon of hope and encouragement for people engaged in the struggle of the migrant, said artist Jim Bliesner, who drew inspiration from immigrants across San Diego for the statues design.
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The $2-million project, spearheaded by nonprofit San Diego Organizing Project, already has received $1 million from the California Endowment, a private health foundation. The hope is to raise the next $1 million and build the statue by early 2019.
It will be named Welcome the Stranger.
The monument and its location will send a strong message about the border, said Bishop Robert McElroy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego.
It is a symbol and powerful reminder that for us, for us as people of faith, for us as America, the border represents not a line of separation, he said, but a line that unites us to Latin America.
He said the statue will commemorate the past, the present and the future of the U.S.
First, he said, it will be a reminder that the U.S. is a nation of immigrants who contributed to help build America.
That gets lost in the current conversation so easily, he said.
The statue also will represent hope for a brighter future for the immigrants and refugees who one day will begin what McElroy described as an arduous journey to the U.S.
The idea of the sculpture surfaced roughly a year ago. It was designed by Bliesner with input from community members who attended workshops, where they shared their ideas and personal stories.
Most of the inspiration came from listening to members of the congregation and the community about how emotional this subject is. People were crying, people were telling their stories, Bliesner said. I couldnt help but take that away as the primary element in creating the piece.
As ideas were generated, Mary emerged as a symbol of hope. Community members noted she fled with her family to Egypt as a refugee soon after the birth of Jesus.
The statue incorporates several symbolic elements. The turgid, severe geometry of Marys robe, which has several perforations, represents the difficult trek immigrants embark on, while spots of color in the folds of her robe symbolize moments of kindness in their journeys, Bliesner said.
The torch, he said, represents hope for a brighter future.
LEED lighting within the statue will illuminate it at night. Seating and drought-tolerant landscaping will surround the base.
As part of the fundraising campaigns kickoff, community members tied ribbons to a makeshift fence at the site where the statue will stand. On the pink, orange, green and yellow ribbons were the names of loved ones affected by the countrys immigration policies, including relatives who were deported or who are living in the U.S. illegally.
San Ysidro resident Maria Elena Esquer, a parishioner at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, wrote the names of her two adult sons who live in Tijuana and are awaiting visas to visit her.
I have a lot of faith they will come, she said.
Carolina Ulloa wrote the names of her brother, who was deported 15 years ago, and her sister, who was deported 10 years ago.
She said she hasnt lost faith that her siblings will be able to return to the U.S.
For more information about the statue, visit welcomethestranger.us.
david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com
For generations, it was known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
But the tune changed Friday.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced it was formally switching the name of the world-famous choir to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, as part of a rebranding effort by the Utah-based church to eliminate the name Mormon as a general reference and to instead only call the faith by its formal name.
A new name for the Tabernacle Choir will represent a change after so many years, said Ron Jarrett, president of the choir. The name may change, but everything that people know and love about the choir will not only be the same but will get better and better.
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Its one of the most high-profile name changes since the churchs president, Russell M. Nelson, announced in August that only the full name the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints be used.
Nelson said in a talk in Montreal days after the August announcement that the name of the church is not negotiable and that it being called the Mormon Church was an error that crept in over the ages.
We know its going to be a challenge to undo tradition of more than 100 years, Nelson said. The Lord has told us what his church shall be called.
The new name for the choir references the historic Salt Lake Tabernacle at its location on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
According to the church, Mormon was one of the prophets who compiled the historical and religious records of the faith that were eventually translated by founder Joseph Smith and became the foundational text for the Book of Mormon.
Irene Caso, spokeswoman for the church, said the Mormon term was a nickname that has been used as shorthand for decades. She said the new directive was a way to reinforce the name Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The rollout has been ongoing and Caso said it is a big undertaking. She said she wouldnt be surprised if the topic was discussed among members at the chorus General Conference this weekend.
The choir consists of about 360 members and has performed at many high-profile events including the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and at presidential inaugurations ranging from President Reagans to the 2016 inauguration of President Trump.
It also has a large recording catalog, including dozens of best-selling Christmas-themed albums, and ones based on show tunes and music performed in remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001. It continues to have its music carried on over 2,000 radio and television stations more than 4,500 episodes in all since it began broadcasting Music and the Spoken Word in 1929.
Andrea Thomas, a marketing professor at the University of Utah, said the choirs name change might seem dramatic to some, but noted that only one word was dropped in the new name and that the choir would still be found on the same broadcasts and would provide the same listening experience.
She said the churchs name, however, was about brand discipline.
The members of the church are part of your communications channel, Thomas said. They are starting with the membership and they are hoping it catches on and others start talking about it using the full name.
Thomas, who worked for more than 20 years in corporate branding for Pepsico and Walmart, said branding could take anywhere from six months to seven years to put into place. She said rebranding whether it is Kentucky Fried Chicken changing to KFC or Walmart eliminating the star in its name is often a large undertaking.
She said there would be affiliated groups that might have to adjust their branding based on the new directive coming from the 16-million-member church, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City.
The Los Angeles Times is monitoring the rebranding, but its stylebook still allows for the use of the word Mormon. The Associated Press also reported its stylebook would remain unchanged and the term Mormon was still acceptable as a reference though the news-gathering organization is also monitoring the rebranding effort.
Some members of the faith seemed relatively nonplussed by the changes.
Natalie Gordon, a 46-year-old from Salt Lake City, said although she might feel a little nostalgic about the name, it didnt appear to change what it meant to her.
Im not bothered by the name change. I think, in general, the move away from Mormon helps members focus more on Christ, so it makes sense to change the name of the choir, Gordon said. We didnt need the word Mormon to distinguish the Tab Choir from all the other tabernacle choirs. And I love making Temple Square more inviting.
The name change also generated a lot of conversation on Twitter, with some having fun with it.
MoTab is no longer MoTab. It is the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. But I will call them the Artists Formerly Known as The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, tweeted a user identified as Ryan Hannah.
Caso said the branding change was an ongoing effort but couldnt say what other announcements might be forthcoming.
david.montero@latimes.com | Twitter: @davemontero
The Senate on Saturday approved Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court with a 50-48-1 vote, the narrowest margin for a confirmation vote in more than 130 years.
In 1881, Stanley Matthews, President James Garfields pick to replace Justice Noah Swayne, won confirmation by a single vote, 24 to 23 (51.06%).
Since then, the next closest came on Oct. 16, 1991, when Clarence Thomas won confirmation 52 to 48.
Kavanaugh's vote of 50-48-1 was 51.02%. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) was attending his daughter's wedding Saturday, and with Kavanaugh having enough other votes to win confirmation, Daines did not return to Washington for the vote. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who had planned to vote against Kavanaugh, instead voted present as a courtesy to Daines.
Close votes that ultimately confirm a Supreme Court nominee are rare. More often, nominees have been confirmed by wide margins.
Two-thirds of successful nominees were confirmed by at least 75% of the Senate, excluding those confirmed by a voice vote.
And 10 nominees have received at least 96% of the vote.
As the country and the Senate has become more sharply divided along partisan lines, the divide in Supreme Court confirmations has become more stark.
The tightening began with the 2005 confirmation of Samuel A. Alito Jr., a George W. Bush nominee.
The vote became closer with the confirmation of Neil M. Gorsuch, President Trumps first nominee. The Democrats used a filibuster to oppose the nomination and keep Gorsuch from receiving 60 votes required to advance. The Republican-controlled Senate then removed the filibuster for future Supreme Court nominees.
Of the 18 Supreme Court nominations since 1980, four were made by Democratic presidents while Democrats also held the majority in the Senate. Republican presidents nominated eight people to the Supreme Court while the GOP held the majority in the Senate.
Most of the big battles have come with the nominations in which the president and the Senate majority were of different parties: The defeated nomination of Judge Robert H. Bork in 1987, followed by the nomination and withdrawal of Judge Douglas Ginsburg; the Thomas vote in 1991; the Senates refusal to consider President Obamas nomination of Judge Merrick Garland.
The other two nominations made with the president and Senate in different parties went more smoothly George H.W. Bushs nomination of David H. Souter and Reagans nomination of Anthony M. Kennedy, the man Kavanaugh has been nominated to replace.
Supreme Court nominees since 1980 The U.S. Senate has considered 18 Supreme Court nominees since 1980. Nominee Presidential party Senate majority party Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Republican Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 51.02% Nominee Neil M. Gorsuch Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Republican Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 54.5% Nominee Merrick B. Garland Presidential party Democrat Senate majority party Republican Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation No vote held Nominee Elena Kagan Presidential party Democrat Senate majority party Democrat Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 63.0% Nominee Sonia Sotomayor Presidential party Democrat Senate majority party Democrat Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 68.7% Nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Republican Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 58.0% Nominee Harriet Miers Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Republican Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation Nomination withdrawn Nominee John G. Roberts Jr.* Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Republican Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 78.0% Nominee Stephen G. Breyer Presidential party Democrat Senate majority party Democrat Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 90.6% Nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg Presidential party Democrat Senate majority party Democrat Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 97.0% Nominee Clarence Thomas Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Democrat Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 52.0% Nominee David H. Souter Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Democrat Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 90.9% Nominee Anthony M. Kennedy Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Democrat Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 100.0% Nominee Douglas H. Ginsburg Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Democrat Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation Nomination withdrawn Nominee Robert H. Bork** Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Democrat Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 42.0% Nominee Antonin Scalia Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Republican Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 100.0% Nominee William H. Rehnquist*** Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Republican Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 66.3% Nominee Sandra Day O'Connor Presidential party Republican Senate majority party Republican Percent of votes
in favor of confirmation 100.0% * Initially nominated for associate justice, resubmitted for chief justice
** Rejected by U.S. Senate
*** Sitting justice nominated to chief justice Source: U.S. Senate Supreme Court Nominations: present-1789
The Kavanaugh confirmation process was one of the longest of the 189 nominees to the Supreme Court dating back to 1789. Kavanaughs confirmation process lasted 88 days, which is the eighth-longest and the longest since Reagan nominated sitting Justice William H. Rehnquist to replace Warren Burger as chief justice in 1986.
UPDATES:
5:35 p.m.: This article was updated to note that Kavanaugh won 51.02% of yes-or-no votes cast.
2:05 p.m.: This article was updated with details on Kavanaughs confirmation.
1:28 p.m., Oct. 6: A graphic in this article was updated to reflect the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh was the narrowest margin in modern history.
This article was originally published at 6:54 p.m. on Oct. 5.
Democrats and demonstrators vented rage and resistance but the Senate rolled toward approving Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination Saturday as President Trump and Republicans approached an election-season triumph in the most electrifying confirmation battle in years.
Capping a venomous struggle that transfixed Americans when it veered into claims that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted women in the 1980s and his fierce denials, the 53-year-old conservatives nomination was on track for afternoon approval. He seemed certain to win by a slender two votes in a near party-line roll call.
Democrats tried making sure that female voters were paying attention.
Republicans are saying: your voices just dont matter, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Saturday. Your experiences, your trauma, your pain, your heartache, your anger none of that matters. Their message is, we dont have to listen. We dont have to care. Sit down and be quiet.
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As she spoke, several hundred anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators chanted on the lawn between the Capitol and the Supreme Court. We believe survivors, they yelled. Protesters have roamed Capitol Hill corridors and grounds daily, raising anxieties and underscoring the passions the nomination fight has aroused.
Good morning. Theres a lot going on in Los Angeles these days, with splashy new restaurants opening seemingly every week, plenty of food festivals on the clock La Feria de los Moles is Sunday in Grand Park including one of our own, happening in two weeks in Costa Mesa.
After a brief, fire-related closure, Suzanne Goin and Caroline Stynes wine bar A.O.C. reopened a few days ago; a new pizzeria debuts in Culver City; and, if you love both cocktails and Art Deco architecture, two new bars just opened in Union Station. We have a first look at another new restaurant in Highland Park, a neighborhood that has lately been a magnet for chefs. And we check in with a chef in Irvine whose own restaurant itinerary reads like that of a Michelin inspector: She not only dines at many of the worlds best restaurants, she also interviews their chefs, attends their food conferences, and wants to start one of her own.
If youre spending your weekend in the kitchen rather than pulling up restaurant chairs, we have some recipes for you highlighting Asian pears, now loading market stands. We also have a recipe for tuna salad from one of this towns best chefs. What to pair with all this stuff? How about a pint of brut IPA, the latest beer trend. Maybe get a few for your Dodgers playoff party. Have a good weekend.
Amy Scattergood
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CURRY AND CONVERSATION
Geeta Bansal, chef-owner of Clay Oven, the Indian restaurant in Irvine. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
For the past 32 years, Geeta Bansal and her family have been making progressive Northern Indian food in their Irvine restaurant Clay Oven. Bansal has also been pulling up chairs at some of the best restaurants in the world, interviewing the chefs, and attending the food conferences that many of those notable chefs have been organizing. Its a conversation she tells me that she wants to bring closer to home, as part of a Southern California food symposium she hopes to organize. Meanwhile, shes continuing the cooking that has made Clay Oven a neighborhood favorite, including a seasonal watermelon curry, for which we got her recipe.
HIGHLAND PARK PAELLA PARTY
The mariscos paella, with prawns, mussels, squid, lobster fumet and sherry aioli, at Otono. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Among the restaurants that have lately opened in Highland Park, a neighborhood that is currently undergoing something of a renaissance, is Otono, a Spanish-influenced place from chef Teresa Montano. If you remember the now-shuttered Racion, the Basque restaurant in Pasadena where Montano was the opening chef, you wont be surprised to see plates of jamon and braised octopus with summer beans. Food writer Ben Mesirow also suggests the cocktails, and of course theres paella, pans of the stuff, brimming with seafood and bearing socarrat, the blissful crunchy layer on the bottom.
SAND PEARS? SAND PEARS
Penryn Orchard Specialties Laurence Hauben holds two types of Chinese pears, Yali, left, and Tsuli, at the Santa Monica farmers market. (Noelle Carter / Los Angeles Times)
In her Market Report this week, Noelle Carter considers Asian pears also sometimes called sand pears or apple pears, as they taste kind of like a cross between an apple and a European pear. Whatever you call them, theyre pretty fantastic: crisp, tart and deeply flavorful. Penryn Orchard Specialties brings nine varieties of pears to the Santa Monica farmers market, including four Asian pears and two Chinese pears. As for what to do with them, we have recipes for tarts and crisps, even galbi jjim.
BEER AS DRY AS CHAMPAGNE
A brut IPA from San Leandros Drakes Brewing Co. The Brightside is a great point of entry, perfectly emblematic of the style. (Drakes Brewing Co.)
We check in on one of the latest beer trends: brut IPAs, a style of beer that began in San Francisco and has recently spread down the coast. These are dry, fizzy beers, so named for their resemblance to Champagne, and a reaction to the surfeit of sweet hazy IPAs. Ben surveys a number of local brewers who are making the stuff and making it available at breweries and brew pubs in Long Beach, El Segundo, San Leandro and Redondo Beach, so you can make your own rounds when you get thirsty.
TUNA SOS
Tuna salad from Scopa Italian Roots. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
Tuna salad, not unlike tuna casserole, is an often forgettable dish. But the version that chef Antonia Lofaso puts on her menu at Scopa Italian Roots will make you forget about the stuff you had in your lunchbox or childhood potluck. Noelle gets Lofasos recipe for her latest Culinary SOS column, a combination of Sicilian canned tuna, haricots verts, capers and little potatoes, dosed liberally with lemon juice. Have a restaurant dish youve been obsessing over? Let us know and well try to get the recipe for you, then test it and run it in the paper.
The Taste OC: For the first time, were holding a Taste food festival in Orange County. From Oct. 19-21 were having a food and drink party at the MET in Costa Mesa, with plenty of chefs, cooking demos and so much food and drinks. For more info and early tickets, go to extras.latimes.com/taste.
Check us out on Instagram at @latimesfood.
And dont forget the thousands of recipes in our California Cookbook recipe database.
Feedback? Wed love to hear from you. Email us at food@latimes.com.
If the California Department of Educations recent press release about the latest results of its annual standardized tests were graded as an essay, it would get an A for creativity and obfuscation.
The department started by pointing out that scores on the tests, which are taken in third through eighth grade and again in 11th grade, had increased further this year even beyond gains in 2017. In fact, the percentage of students who passed the English proficiency test hasnt even budged by a full point since 2016. Scores were lower in 2015, but those were the first results from the new test, when performance is always low because of the unfamiliarity.
Third- and fourth-graders did somewhat better this year, but 11th-grade scores dropped to slightly below where they were even in 2015 on the English test. The press release mentions the gains in the youngest students test results, saying they bode well for the future. Maybe, but we havent seen such a pattern in the past.
The department didnt mention the slide among high school juniors or the stubborn achievement gap between white students and black and Latino ones, though it conceded that more work needed to be done to make sure all students continue to make progress, as state Superintendent Tom Torlakson put it. It then went on to list a few bright spots around the state in graduation rates and suspensions.
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Overnight miracles arent expected, but no one should think this years test results look promising.
Wed like to hand back the departments press release with some corrections. Heres what it should have said:
Half of our students havent passed the English test and less than 40% passed in math. Those numbers have barely budged over the past couple of years. Clearly, California isnt doing well, and we owe it to our students and the public to delve deeply into where were falling short.
Finding the answer to these problems will require much more information than we have given the public so far. For example, when we say 39% of students met the states standards in math, that doesnt reveal whether most of the rest came pretty close to passing or were far below proficiency levels. We will pore over these numbers, look at the schools where test scores are improving at a more promising clip, and come back to you with answers and suggestions for still-struggling schools.
And whats with that abysmal showing by 11th-graders? Those scores are the only ones we have for high school students, so its especially frightening to think that were moving in the wrong direction with the very students who should be getting ready for college or good jobs at this point.
Its nice that third- and fourth-graders showed some decent improvement this year, but we cant sit back and assume that those early gains will translate into higher scores in middle and high schools down the road. That never happened with the old testing system; lower test scores continued to plague the higher grade levels.
Under the states Local Control Funding Formula, more than $27 billion in extra funding has gone over the last three years to schools with large numbers of disadvantaged kids to help the students with the biggest educational challenges. Yet our achievement gap remains huge. Only one in five black students met the states standard for the math test. White students were twice as likely to pass as Latino students. Are schools using the extra money in the right way? A new state law will require school districts to be more transparent about how they use this money, and we at the state will need to take a look at whether its really being used to help the intended students.
Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion
Whether we need to devise more math and reading interventions, provide more tutoring or look at providing extra help with healthcare, safe passage to and from school and other unmet needs that can interfere with academic performance, the leaders of this state are committed to getting to the bottom of this and taking action.
There, fixed that for you.
Test scores dont tell you everything you need to know about school performance, but they are a reality check for all the talk about increased graduation rates and reduced suspensions (two easily manipulated numbers). Not counting that first year of the new tests, this is the third year of testing, and the situation is bad.
This is Torlaksons last year in office, and it should be the last year we see rosy talk about test scores that should be described as disappointing. Overnight miracles arent expected, but no one should think this years test results look promising.
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In the late 1960s, in Plymouth, Minn., Amy Klobuchar, who is now a Democratic U.S. senator, was nearly kicked out of her elementary school for being the first girl to show up for class in pants.
According to her 2015 memoir, The Senator Next Door, the school principal, Mrs. Quady, cast a cold eye on little Amys bell-bottoms. The verdict: Wear your culottes and your knickers and your trousers at home. At school, stick to skirts.
For the record: An earlier version of this op-ed said Amy Klobuchar was in elementary school in the late 1970s. She was in elementary school in the late 1960s.
We know where fables like this lead in the memoirs of powerful men.
The young George, Abe or Brett squares his boyish chin and says, Mrs. Principal, I respectfully disagree. Because I chopped down a cherry tree, grew up in a log cabin and went to Yale, Ill do whatever I want.
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Klobuchars story ends differently. I wish I could say I talked back, she writes. Or started a girls-can-wear-pants petition drive. Or, even more dramatically, a lawsuit.
The world is upside down, but Klobuchar is not.
She goes on: But since I was the good girl, who had never been called to the principals office before, and who didnt know how to take on the likes of Mrs. Quady and talk back, I simply cried. I got a permission slip, walked home, put on a skirt, and returned to school.
Its hard to say what part of this is most poignant. High on my list is: I got a permission slip.
Like most normal members of the Senate, Klobuchar is both a proceduralist and a decent person.
A permission slip is what a fourth-grader needs to go home on a school day to change clothes. Thats proceduralism; its like the rules of order in the Senate. Or the notion that a Supreme Court nominee who has been accused of serious misconduct will undergo a thorough FBI investigation.
But a decent person as distinct from the archetype of the good girl is one who, with or without procedure, initiates petition drives, oversees prosecutions and, even more dramatically, asks questions that reveal a Supreme Court nominees fatuousness and lack of integrity.
Klobuchar says she learned from her fourth-grade capitulation to a discriminatory dress code that she didnt want to capitulate again.
Shes stuck to this. Klobuchar is the member of the Senate Judiciary Committee whose shrewd questions of Brett Kavanaugh, nominee for the Supreme Court, elicited his rudest, and what many believe was his most revealing, behavior.
So youre saying you never drank so much that you didnt remember the night before? she asked the nominee. Perfect question: It went to the reliability of Kavanaughs memory, the consistency of his self-accounting, his history of reckless behavior and his capacity to be honest.
Its youre asking about, you know, blackout, Kavanaugh said, his chin dimpling in what looked like despair. I dont know. Have you?
Could you answer the question. Is that your answer?
Yeah. And Im curious if you have.
I dont have a drinking problem, Judge.
Yeah, nor do I, Kavanaugh said.
With his chippy answers, Kavanaugh seemed to close the case against himself. He was out of evasions, down to the bottom of his box of tricks: raw pain and projection. He couldnt think straight under pressure. He was willing to show aggression toward a woman and a U.S. senator. He lacked the capacity for elementary professional equipoise and the common sense to see the wretched optics of the occasion.
Whats more, Kavanaughs projected accusations revealed a stunted emotional life. I cant bear this pain; I will force it back on her.
Later, Klobuchar said that had she talked to Kavanaugh like that in his courtroom, he would have had her tossed. But this time, no one not the judge, not Mrs. Quady could throw Klobuchar out.
She accepted, with detachment, an apology from Kavanaugh, who regretted having answered a question with a question. (Is that all he did there?)
But she never accepted his non-answer to the blackout question. Instead, she took to cable news to explain levelly that she believes any hard drinker who can break out of denial can get sober. (Klobuchar says her father, now in his 90s, is sober and in Alcoholics Anonymous.)
Kavanaughs evasions only redoubled Klobuchars commitment to an FBI investigation, to procedure. Of course, what Klobuchar advocated never came about. Instead, the Senate accepted a cursory FBI report and, in a 51-49 cloture vote, rushed the final decision on confirmation.
Where is the bravery in this room? Klobuchar had asked right after the hearings.
Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute
As of Friday afternoon, with nearly all of the senators making their intentions clear, Kavanaughs confirmation to the Supreme Court seemed certain. The reverberations of this catastrophic act despite the copious evidence of Kavanaughs dishonesty, history of reckless behavior and tendentious partisanship will be with us a long time.
For his part, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has called on Klobuchar to apologize to Kavanaugh.
Oh really? Kavanaugh was the one who asked Klobuchar insulting and irrelevant questions about her drinking habits. Kavanaugh was the one who acted both equivocally and menacingly toward the senator. And Kavanaugh was the one whose lies, insubordination and partisanship were on lurid display.
Would she apologize?
Of course not. No more capitulation. The world is upside down, but Klobuchar is not.
Twitter: @page88
A list of major politicized court nominations over the last 80 years, a history leading up to the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.
This piece is part of a series on whats next for the Supreme Court. Click here to read more.
1937 | FDR tries to pack the court
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, frustrated that the court overturned several pieces of New Deal legislation 5 to 4, tries to add as many as six more justices to the Supreme Court. After much strife, the Senate kills his court-packing bill.
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1967-68 | Pushing back against the Warren court
A series of rulings under Chief Justice Earl Warren including desegregating schools, prohibiting prayer in school, expanding the rights of the accused spurs conservatives to go after President Lyndon B. Johnsons nominees. An alliance of Republicans and Southern Democrats tries to paint Thurgood Marshall as unqualified in 1967, but he is confirmed. The next year the promotion of liberal Abe Fortas from associate to chief justice is at stake. It is revealed that Fortas was paid large speaking fees funded by private companies. After a four-day filibuster, Johnson withdraws the nomination.
1969-70 | Payback
When it comes out that Fortas had accepted other payments as well, he resigns rather than face impeachment. Then Democrats sink President Nixons first two choices to replace him both Southerners in part by pointing to ethical missteps and stances on civil rights. It is still seen as out of bounds to oppose a candidate for his legal or political ideology, but the list of other disqualifying sins grows longer.
1973 | Roe vs. Wade
The court rules 7 to 2 that unduly restricting or criminalizing abortion violates the right to privacy implicit in the 14th Amendment. Nomination battles get more fierce, especially when Republicans appear poised to line up a court majority that would overturn Roe vs. Wade.
1987 | Robert Bork nomination
President Reagan nominates Bork, a former federal judge and conservative legal theorist. Democrats object to his record opposing gender equality, civil rights laws and the right to privacy. Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts leads the charge, and Borks nomination is defeated 58 to 42. The term borked is coined.
1991 | Clarence Thomas confirmation
Thomas nomination seems assured until Anita Hills testimony that he sexually harassed her becomes public. Thomas eventually is confirmed 52 to 48, at the time the narrowest margin in a century. Hills harsh treatment by the all-male Senate Judiciary Committee inspires the Year of the Woman in 1992, the first time four women were elected to the Senate in one year.
2000 | Bush vs. Gore
After this Supreme Court ruling decides who becomes president, Americas politics become increasingly polarized. Instead of confirmation votes that were nearly unanimous, nominees begin receiving more no votes in a closely divided Senate: John G. Roberts, 22; Samuel Alito, 42; Sonia Sotomayor, 31; Elena Kagan, 37; and Neil Gorsuch, 45.
2002 | Filibustering Bushs appellate nominees
Democrats stage the first-ever partisan filibuster of a nominee to a federal appeals court, Miguel Estrada. Estrada was filibustered seven times and withdrew his nomination in 2003.
2013 | Senate weakens filibuster rule
The Democratic-controlled Senate reduces the threshold from 60 votes to 51 votes for approval of executive and judicial nominees to fill spots on the federal bench. The change, called the nuclear option, doesnt yet apply to the Supreme Court.
2016 | Ignoring Merrick Garland
Justice Antonin Scalia dies on Feb. 13. The next month, President Obama nominates Merrick Garland. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refuses to hold any hearings and keeps the seat vacant until after the presidential election.
2016 | Trump reveals his short list
To reassure Republicans wary of letting an unpredictable Donald Trump pick Scalias successor, the then-candidate releases a short list of 11 potential nominees pre-vetted by the arch conservative Federalist Society. Its the first time a candidate has publicized such choices during an election.
2017 | Going nuclear to confirm Neil Gorsuch
Democrats wage a filibuster against President Trumps nominee, Neil Gorsuch. The Republican-controlled Senate deploys the nuclear option and, on a party-line vote, removes the Supreme Court exception created in 2013. Gorsuch is confirmed 54 to 45 the next day.
The rule of law is supposed to be different from enforcing policy preferences. Yet attaching partisan labels to judges has become almost inevitable now because methods of legal interpretation largely track with our ideologically sorted parties.
If youre an originalist if you believe that the meaning of a constitutional provision is the same now as when it was ratified only a Republican president will appoint you. If, on the other hand, you think that the Constitution changes to adapt to social norms, then you better hope for a Democratic White House.
The contretemps over Brett Kavanaughs nomination is the culmination of a tit-for-tat escalation between these competing camps. It doesnt really matter where it began. Todays brinksmanship in the Senate is symptomatic of a larger problem: the self-corruption of the Supreme Court as it has aided and abetted the expansion of federal power by Congress and the executive branch.
For the nations first 150 years, the Supreme Court hardly ever had to strike down a law because Congress generally stayed within its bounds, subject also to the presidential veto. In 1887, for example, President Cleveland vetoed an appropriation of $10,000 to buy seeds for farmers in drought-stricken Texas because he could find no constitutional warrant for such action. But as government expanded, so did the laws and regulations over which the court has power.
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Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion
It was during the Progressive Era that the idea emerged that the General Welfare Clause justifies any legislation that gains a congressional majority as opposed to limiting federal reach to truly national issues. After 1937, the court began approving grandiose legislation of the sort it had previously rejected. It wouldnt again strike down legislation for exceeding federal power until 1995. The New Deal court thus laid the foundation for politicized judicial mischief of every stripe be it letting laws sail through that should be struck down or striking down laws that should be upheld.
Depoliticizing judicial nominations is a laudable goal, but thatll happen only when judges stop ratifying the growth of the federal government. And the only lasting solution is to devolve power to the states, so that far fewer big decisions for the whole country are being made in Washington. Federal courts will still need to step in when local governments violate individual rights, but there will be less political toxicity if the feds arent constantly generating one-size-fits-all mandates.
And so whatever one thinks about Sen. Lindsey Grahams role in the Kavanaugh fight, he and several others, including those who cast critical votes are wrong to say that senators should defer to any presidents choice, so long as the nominee is qualified to be a justice. For senators and citizens alike, its absolutely appropriate to question judicial philosophy and to vote accordingly.
Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute.This piece is part of a series on whats next for the Supreme Court. Click here to read more.
Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
To the editor: Investigative journalist David Cay Johnstons op-ed article, Following Trumps money exposes the awful truth: Our president is a financial vampire, nicely brought together the disparate fraudulent business practices of our president. The common theme is hes crooked, of course. As an attorney, I dealt with people who just couldnt do something honestly even if it was in their best interest to do so. Fraud is just what they do.
Im likely more conservative than Johnston. As a former Republican voter turned independent, I think I understand Trump voters well and why many dont care about the presidents glaring faults and obvious unsuitability for the office. Liberals have ignored much of middle-class white America. Trump panders to these people, and to pander to people, you have to at least pay attention to them.
Trumps voters feel they have a choice between politicians who ignore or even resent them, or a pandering crook who pays attention to them. At least hes our crook, they might say, so they vote for Trump and yes, they would still do so if he shot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue.
If Trumps opponents want to use the presidents fraud to remove him from office, they should at the same time indicate concern for his voters and the issues they care about.
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Kurt Osenbaugh, Pasadena
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To the editor: Investigative journalists may best serve the public by following not only Trumps money, but what appears to be the truth within the Trump con.
The president brings a certain genius to his position, evidenced by his ability to channel public resources to those who already have plenty. The recent tax cut may be the most glaring example.
Trump routinely diverts the publics attention to marginal job increases and a relatively booming stock market and away from the corporate stock buy-backs inflating this market. He also ignores the national debt and the governments inability to help finance our way out of the next recession.
The revelations about the Trump familys finances reveal where and how he likely acquired this skill. It wasnt at Wharton.
Gary Bock, Los Angeles
..
To the editor: Here we have a case where an apple does not fall far from the tree.
In this case, a rotten apple (Donald Trump) fell not fair from the rotten tree (Fred Trump, who gave his son much of his wealth), and the rotten apple hatched more rotten apples (the people in his administration and other appointees).
No wonder our precious country and democracy are teetering on the brink. I am worried for our children and future generations.
Apparently, the Republican Party does not give enough thought to the future. As Trump would say, Sad!
Adam Mekler, Pasadena
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To the editor: The recent revelation about the origins of Trumps wealth and the various unseemly tax schemes he used to grow and protect his money prove that the president was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.
Mike Reardon, Fallbrook
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To the editor: Johnston concludes with credible documented information that Trumps finances have been considered corrupt for decades. Do tax and other financial laws not apply to Trump, or was he simply so successful and obfuscating the truth?
No matter how Trump got away with this, why isnt there an investigation of the presidents tax dodging that captures the publics attentions as much as Judge Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court confirmation battle?
Bunny Landis, Oceanside
Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
A mixture of a recovering economy and proactive marketing has helped boost Burbanks tourism economy, officials said last week.
Mary Hamzoian, the citys economic development manager, briefed City Council members about how the Burbank Hospitality Assn., also known as Visit Burbank, performed during the 2017-18 fiscal year and outlined plans for the upcoming year.
Hamzoian said the 18 hotels in the city generated about $11.7 million in transient-occupancy tax during the last fiscal year, which is nearly double the amount generated during the 2011-12 fiscal year.
Through a hotel partnership program with Universal Studios Hollywood, about $1.28 million was generated from 10 participating hotels in calendar year 2017. Hamzoian said the program has already made about $780,000 through June of this calendar year.
Additionally, about $257,000 was generated last fiscal year from hotel stays in correlation with five events in the city the Burbank Comedy Festival, Burbank International Film Festival, Burbank Beer Festival, Burbank Winter Wine Walk and CTN Animation Expo.
Hamzoian said Visit Burbanks multi-faceted marketing campaign helped give the citys tourism economy a boost.
About $829 million was spent by visitors during the last fiscal year, with about $206 million in retail sales, about $208 million on recreation activities and roughly $146 million on food and beverages, according to Hamzoian.
With about 3.4 million people visiting the city last fiscal year, Hamzoian said tourism generated about $36.7 million in tax revenues for Burbank.
Hamzoian explained the various ways Visit Burbank puts the city on the radars of those who live outside the region.
The traditional approach of purchasing digital advertising, either on the states tourism website or through ads on Google or Facebook, resulted in about 179,000 people going to the Burbank Hospitality Assn.s website.
Hamzoian added that partnerships with Visit California, Discover Los Angeles, Brand USA and Expedia resulted in about 118,000 website visits.
In addition to digital ads, Hamzoian said Visit Burbank is trying to be active on different social-media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Posts made by the organization have been seen by about 1.39 million users and resulted in about 32,900 followers on all platforms.
However, Hamzoian said influencer campaigns have helped boost those numbers over the last year.
Influencers are people on social media with thousands of followers who have an impact on other people, such as influencing people to follow or purchase items from a particular brand, or in Burbanks case, visit the city.
Hamzoian said Visit Burbank hires influencers to stop by the city and visit specific areas or businesses to promote them to that persons followers. So far, three influencers have had social-media campaigns for the city, and another four people are scheduled to have campaigns through the end of this year.
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro, is looking to create an easier way for public-transit users to get from the middle of the San Fernando Valley to the San Gabriel Valley by implementing a bus rapid-transit system.
However, residents told transportation officials during a community meeting at the Buena Vista Branch Library in Burbank Thursday night that the proposed project may be unnecessary, and that improving on existing services should be their priority.
The proposed bus project would start from the North Hollywood Metro station and work its way to Pasadena, either by traveling on surface streets or taking the 134 Freeway, said Scott Hartwell, project manager for Metro.
Hartwell described bus rapid transit as light rail on rubber tires, in which the bus would use a mixture of dedicated travel lanes, streets and freeways, as well as have fewer stops to get riders to their destinations quickly.
Metro currently operates several bus rapid-transit routes, including the Metro Orange Line in the San Fernando Valley.
The agencys preferred street route would be about 18 miles long, in which buses would travel south on Lankershim Boulevard, east on Riverside Drive, north on Olive Avenue, east on Glenoaks Boulevard, south on Brand Boulevard, east on Broadway and continue onto Colorado Boulevard until reaching Pasadena City College.
As an alternative, the preferred freeway route would have the bus traveling on the 134 Freeway, make a quick detour in Burbank at Olive and hop back onto the freeway at Buena Vista Street before ending in Old Pasadena.
This is really the first bite of the apple for community input to really help us through this, Hartwell said. There will be plenty more opportunities for public input along the way. We want to get this thing right.
There are some alternative routes that Metro officials have identified for both the street-based and freeway-based routes.
Instead of taking the 134 Freeway from the North Hollywood, Hartwell said the bus could go north toward Hollywood Burbank Airport and use the 5 Freeway before connecting to the 134.
However, many residents were concerned about an alternative street route that would have the bus travel down Chandler Boulevard, which is already being used as a bikeway.
Hartwell said Chandler was considered in the project because a portion of the street is a Metro right-of-way.
He added, however, that he and his colleagues have heard loud and clear from the community that using Chandler is not an option.
Burbank resident Paul Dyson, who was member of the citys Transportation Commission for several years, said some of Metros proposals, especially the freeway route, are similar to existing bus routes and would be redundant.
Dyson added that the Metro 501 bus route, which currently offers rides from the North Hollywood station to Pasadena, has low ridership, which makes him question how successful the proposed rapid-transit line would be.
There is no existing railroad right-of-way that they can use, so the only alternatives are to use existing streets, and that makes it either slow or its going to be disruptive to the existing traffic, he said. Its a real dilemma.
Dyson continued, I dont think its even worth it. Metro should focus their resources and make existing routes better.
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
I am a member of Burbank Boy Scout Troop 209 and I am working on a communications merit badge. I have been asked to send a letter to an editor as part of my requirement.
My mom doesnt let me read the newspaper very much because theres so much bad stuff happening in the world, but she does let me read the good stuff that the Burbank Leader puts in. So, the more positive stories you run, the more I can read! And I believe that would make everyone happier, too.
I like stories like the one about the Burbank police department painting their cars pink to address people about cancer awareness. I saw one of the cars at the station the other day and I remembered your article.
Ogden Lucsik
Burbank
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I have said it many times to anyone who would listen and according to the evening ratings at KFI, that number might be fairly small. I moved to Burbank because of the cops, the schools, and other city services. (This city is a race track and a casino away from being paradise!)
I didnt have the best experience with LAUSD nor did they have an amazing 12 years with me either, I call it a wash. I was never a proponent of public schools, but that all changed when I moved to Burbank. The schools in Burbank are incredible, with the most wonderful teachers and counselors, and I want to keep it that way!
The politicians in Sacramento are doing a lousy job of providing funding for education, but we can change that here in Burbank. The single best way to keep your property values increasing year to year is to have the greatest school system in SoCal. Please join me in voting Yes for Measure QS to ensure our local students receive the funding they deserve!
Tim Conway Jr.
KFI AM 640 host
Burbank
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There is a long list of things that are useless. I name only a few of them here: 1) a white crayon 2) a glass hammer 3) a knitted condom 4) the g in lasagna. To this list I add another item that easily surpasses them all: the bike lanes on Verdugo Avenue. I drive this route several times a week and can count on one hand the number of bicyclists that use these lanes. Get rid of them!
Mike Davison
Toluca Lake
John Wayne Airport ranked highest among large airports in J.D. Powers 13th annual airport survey, the Costa Mesa-based firm announced.
The 2018 North America Airport Satisfaction Study gave JWA a score of 815 on a 1,000-point scale based on aspects such as check-in, food, beverage, retail, accessibility, terminal facilities and baggage claim. Scores were determined from responses gathered from more than 40,000 travelers throughout the past year.
Dallas and Portland, Ore., came in second and third, respectively.
Muppets-inspired pop-up store open in Costa Mesa through Wednesday
South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is hosting a Muppets-inspired pop-up boutique store through Wednesday.
The Muppet Show x Sandro is on Level 2 near Carousel Court and features womens clothing and accessories and a childrens collection inspired by Muppets characters.
The boutique is one of two worldwide where shoppers can browse the collection in person, South Coast Plaza said.
Newport Beach chamber to present economic forecast
The Newport Beach Chamber of Commerces annual economic forecast is scheduled for Friday.
The event at the Balboa Bay Resort, 1221 W. Coast Hwy., will feature research from the USC Marshall School of Business. It is set for 11:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets start at $65. Lunch is included.
Topics will include the expected state of the U.S. economy in 2019, an economic outlook for California and Orange County, and Proposition 10, a November ballot measure about rent control.
For more information and to buy tickets, visit newportbeach.com or call (949) 729-4400.
H.B. credit union members OK merger
Members of Huntington Beach-based Nuvision Credit Union have approved a merger with Denali Federal Credit Union, based in Anchorage, Alaska. The merger became effective Monday.
The combined credit union will have more than $2.2 billion in assets and serve more than 160,000 members throughout the western United States.
Newport restaurant raises funds for CHOC
Fly N Fish Oyster Bar & Grill in Newport Beach is raising money for Childrens Hospital of Orange County through its Chowder for a Cause campaign.
Throughout October, proceeds from sales of New England clam chowder bowls will be donated to the hospital. The annual benefit has raised more than $30,000 since 2015.
A Restaurant celebrates 10 years with $10 specials
A Restaurant in Newport Beach is celebrating its 10th anniversary throughout October with menu items priced at $10.
The specials which include spicy yellow tuna, a hatch chili sausage and fried green tomatoes are served from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
As communities across the country face an ongoing opioid epidemic, the Costa Mesa Police Department has equipped vehicles and staff with a fast-acting drug that can help reverse an overdose.
In the past month, all Costa Mesa police vehicles got kits containing Narcan, a nasal-spray device that administers the prescription drug naloxone, an opioid-overdose antidote.
Opioids include powerful legal prescription painkillers such as hydrocodone, morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone, as well as illegal substances like heroin.
As unfortunate as the opioid problem is, we have a tool to help, said Det. George Maridakis, one of two staff members who received extensive training on how to use the kits and train others to use them.
Each bright yellow hard-case kit costs $75 and includes two single-dose Narcan dispensers, a protective face mask and goggles. The boxes go alongside the first-aid kits already furnished in police vehicles.
Narcan kits include two single-dose dispensers of naloxone, plus a face mask and goggles. (Photo by Julia Sclafani)
The department bought 100 kits, which were distributed in September to the fleet of more than 50 vehicles, along with various locations, including the watch commanders office and the crime scene investigation lab.
Though naloxone is a prescription drug, pharmacists in California can dispense it without a prescription in non-emergencies if they have the required training in its use and how to screen patients.
Before the Narcan kits introduction, there was some hesitation in the Police Department related to fears of liability or that dispensing the drug is invasive, Maradakis said.
However, he said, naloxone is harmless and has no effects other than reducing or reversing overdose-related symptoms.
Before the kits, police officers were limited in the tools at their disposal in an overdose emergency.
The only thing we could do if they were in respiratory arrest or respiratory distress is start CPR, Maridakis said. This is just another tool that we can use.
The drug not only can help protect opioid users from an overdose but also protect first responders, police said.
Police are at risk of overdose from unintended contact with or inhalation of substances during investigations or interactions with opioid users, authorities said.
Contact with quantities of fentanyl as small as a grain of rice can cause overdose, Maridakis said. Police and other first responders across the country have been facing that hazard with the rising consumption of the synthetic drug, which is similar to morphine but considered 50 to 100 times more potent, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Emergency room visits stemming from opioid use increased 141% in Orange County from 2005 to 2015, with Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa among the leading cities, according to a 2017 study by the Orange County Health Care Agency.
In line with national trends, the county has seen an increase in drug overdose deaths in the past 15 years, according to the health agency.
Between 2011 and 2015, 7,457 Orange County residents went to an emergency room for treatment of opioid addiction or overdose, the report said, citing the most recent information available.
Huntington Beach, with 726 cases, was a close second to Santa Ana in opioid-related emergency room visits during that four-year period. Costa Mesa was fourth, with 559.
Drug overdose deaths involving prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999, which is alarming, Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel said in a statement. There must be a community effort of individuals, private and nonprofit organizations and the government to reduce the number of people dying in this completely preventable manner.
julia.sclafani@latimes.com
By the time you read this, more likely than not Brett Kavanaugh will have become the 114th Supreme Court justice in American history.
Next to the 45 presidents, it is the second most exclusive job one can hold. And unlike presidents, justices jobs are for life.
The controversy over his confirmation concerning alleged sexual misconduct from his high school and college days has underscored the divisions among political parties and the public.
For me, the issue isnt the alleged sexual assault. It isnt even the decisions he has made as a federal judge. It was his histrionic performance at last weeks Senate judiciary hearing.
He wasnt just angry, he was furious; he wasnt just defiant, he was combative; he wasnt just teary, he was red-in-the-face near full-out bawling.
And remember, he was exhibiting these emotions reading from prepared remarks, not speaking extemporaneously.
Are these the traits of a Supreme Court justice who needs to be measured and reasonable when deciding cases?
Someone with the temperament of Kavanaugh should not be a judge, especially on the Supreme Court, one of the most hallowed government institutions.
Of course, the same could be said about Trump regarding the presidency. He has drained the office of all decorum. Is it any surprise that he chose a less-than-stellar candidate for the court?
Too bad that the confirmation vote was delayed a week because all it served to do was to give those Republicans on the fence a the-FBI-could-not-find-corroboration excuse to vote for him.
The whole delay was an agonizing tease for those who did not want a justice with an asterisk by his name like Clarence Thomas.
Now for the next 30 years or so, we will have a judge who could have assaulted a woman.
When my students study characters in literature, we talk about how all of us have different sides to our personalities.
It is very possible that Kavanaugh has many positive sides to him. The problem is that there is a darker side to his character.
We should expect those nine people who serve this country on the Supreme Court bench to be of the highest moral fiber. Kavanaughs demeanor last week should have sealed his fate.
It didnt.
In this age of Trump, the decency bar continues to sink lower.
We have a president who ridiculed professor Christine Blasey Ford at a rally, with the crowd encouraging him to continue.
Trump could care less about the twisted optics of his mockery of a sexual assault victim, even as he stands accused of sexual misconduct himself.
More disturbing were the people laughing at his insulting behavior.
Based on his resume, Kavanaugh looked like a cinch for the court. He declared it as such in his remarks last week.
Like a spoiled brat, he assumed that coming from a wealthy family, attending the right schools and working for the right powerful people meant he could walk right through the doors to the Supreme Court building. And he may yet do it.
If he is confirmed, he should remember these words:
To be a good judge . . . its important to have the proper demeanor to keep our emotions in check. To be calm amidst the storm.
He should remember them because he said them back in 2015. So just who is the real Judge Kavanaugh?
BRIAN CROSBY is a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District and the author of Smart Kids, Bad Schools and The $100,000 Teacher. He can be reached at www.brian-crosby.com.
As Brazilians prepare to go to the polls Sunday, they seem to have had enough of politics as usual.
The left-wing Workers Party, which headed the country for almost 13 years and was credited with pulling Brazil out of poverty and into economic prosperity, fell from grace after several of its members were among the more than 100 high-ranking politicians implicated in the billion-dollar Car Wash corruption scandal and the economy began to founder.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the partys golden boy who left the second term of his presidency in 2010 with an 87% approval rating, was found guilty last year of accepting $1.2 million in bribes from a contractor. Last month, Lula, who had been staging a comeback from jail, was ruled ineligible to run by Brazils top electoral court.
Lulas successor, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached in the first half of her second term and convicted by senators of breaking Brazils fiscal responsibility law before the 2014 presidential elections by making it look as if the economy wasnt spiraling downward after her first term.
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With the country still in shambles under Michel Temer, Rousseffs conservative vice president who took her place when she was removed from office two years ago, Brazilians have become exasperated with what they see as the old political class.
Its that disdain that has propelled far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro to the front of the presidential race. While not a newcomer to politics the former army captain has been a member of Congress representing Rio de Janeiro for almost three decades Bolsonaro is considered apart from other top politicians because of his blunt talk, even though some of it is seen as hateful toward women, black people and those in the LGBTQ community.
Bolsonaros political incorrectness, which has garnered comparisons to President Trump, has bolstered his candidacy in a country where many voters consider him their only shot at a new start. The latest poll from the Brazilian institute Datafolha shows 35% supporting Bolsonaro, who has said that women should be paid less because they get pregnant and that he would rather have a dead son than a gay son.
He is expected to face Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad, who has 22% of the projected vote, in a runoff this month, where predictions show the two would be running neck and neck.
Despite his near-constant lead in the polls, Bolsonaro faces spirited opposition, with almost 4 million women around Brazil organizing online in a Facebook group called Women United Against Bolsonaro. The group has led nonpartisan protests across the country, with hundreds of thousands of Brazilians marching against the candidate they say they would never vote for.
Earlier in the campaign, Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen at a rally in the town of Juiz de Fora by a man who told police that God told him to do it. Adelio Bispo de Oliveira has since been charged under Brazils National Security Law with committing a politically motivated assault.
The stabbing and the protests against Bolsonaro have not hindered his campaign. The far-right candidate has steadily gained steam in the polls since undergoing emergency surgery to repair intestinal damage and stop internal bleeding. In two Ibope polls after the protests, his support from women voters increased from 18% to 24%, and then to 26%.
Langlois is a special correspondent.
On the one-year anniversary of the global #MeToo movement, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared a solution for Western women facing sexual harassment: wear a hijab.
His statement comes amid growing unrest over the law that mandates that Iranian women wear the hijab, or headscarf, in public. In recent weeks the Iranian government has arrested several activists who have protested the law.
Khamenei took to Twitter Wednesday to give his advice, posting a two-minute-long video that accompanied his tweet, which he titled The disaster of countless sexual assaults on Western women including incidents leading to #Metoo campaign and Islams proposal to resolve it.
It showed women across the U.S. and Europe talk about their personal stories of harassment and included a link to an article chronicling speeches Khamenei has given over the years about the headscarf.
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The disaster of countless sexual assaults on Western womenincluding incidents leading to #Metoo campaign and Islam's proposal to resolve ithttps://t.co/ocpv1cUHPI pic.twitter.com/TV1TzFcra4 Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) October 3, 2018
The remarks demonstrate Khameneis attempt to leverage the power of the #MeToo movement to criticize immodest attire that women in Western societies wear, while praising Islam as the solution.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are the two countries that require women to wear headscarves in public. Still, millions of Muslim women across the Middle East and the West choose to wear the hijab on their own.
For many, the decision to wear a headscarf goes beyond religion. It can be tied to culture, as well as fashion and politics.
In Iran, the hijab has long been politicized.
In 1928, Reza Shah Pahlavi banned the hijab to encourage Iranians to dress more like people in Europe. In 1941, the ban on hijabs was lifted for university students and professors. Shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women were forced to wear the hijab in public.
Human rights advocates this week were quick to call out the supreme leaders hypocrisy, pointing to longstanding laws that have discriminated against women and punished those who speak out.
[Khamenei] is trying to take the moral high ground. But within Iran, the government and hardliners views towards women has very much not been in the defense of women, said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, an advocacy group. Hes been calling for policies that roll back the rights women have gained on their own. He is being opportunistic.
The video begins with a shot of two-time Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman confronting former U.S. gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar in court over sexual assault allegations. It then jumps to various clips of well-known figures accused of sexual harassment, such as film mogul Harvey Weinstein. It also includes politicians, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, speaking about the plight women face.
Toward the end of the video, Khamenei is shown delivering a recent speech that suggests how the hijab protects women against harassment.
You might have heard, a few months ago, that a large number of Western, female politicians announced, one right after another, they had been subjected to abuse, harassment or violence at times when they were working in government offices ... Khamenei said. By introducing hijab, Islam has shut the door on a path that would pull women towards such deviation.
Over the last decade, women in Iran have been growing more aware about the legal and political impediments that stand in their way of achieving equality. For instance, women still need their husbands or fathers permission before they are allowed to leave the country.
Frustrated over such discriminatory laws, a burgeoning womens rights movement has emerged in recent months that challenges the mandate that women must wear headscarves in public.
Women have called for anti-hijab protests, and videos that show women pulling their headscarves off in public spaces have gone viral.
In response, the Islamic Republic has clamped down on dissent, arresting several womens rights activists and human rights defenders.
In June, prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested and taken to the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. Sotoudeh, who has defended women arrested in the anti-hijab protests, started a hunger strike in August.
In September, three womens rights advocates were arrested. Hoda Amid and Najmeh Vahedi were arrested by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a few days before they were scheduled to host a workshop, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran. Womens rights activist Maryam Azad was arrested a few weeks later before boarding a plane en route to Istanbul.
As President Trump imposes further sanctions on Iran, the arrests suggest how hardliners within Irans establishment, particularly its intelligence and security services, are gaining more control and are trying to discourage women from protesting, Ghaemi said.
Its a signal to activists. They are trying to intimidate them. The security enforcers are assuming more control of the domestic environment as sanctions come in. Its a bad omen for the limited activism that was allowed in Iran up till now and signals more oppression thats to come, Ghaemi said.
melissa.etehad@latimes.com
Follow me on Twitter @melissaetehad
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to a former sex slave in Iraq and a doctor in Congo working to halt systematic rape in some of the worlds worst conflict zones at a time of increasing global awareness of abuse against women.
The prize went to Nadia Murad, an Iraqi Yazidi who was enslaved in 2014 by Islamic State extremists before escaping and becoming a United Nations advocate against sexual assault, and Dr. Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist from the conflict-riven Democratic Republic of Congo who treats victims of sexual violence. Each has faced life-threatening risks.
Both laureates have made a crucial contribution to focusing attention on, and combating, such war crimes, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its statement announcing the award. 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.
Rape and sexual abuse are often used as strategic tools of war by soldiers against noncombatants such as women and children. The victims may be singled out for their ethnic, racial or political identities and have little access to justice.
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We want to send out a message of awareness, that women who constitute half the population in most communities actually are used as a weapon of war, and that they need protection, and that the perpetrators have to be prosecuted and held responsible for their actions, said Berit Reiss-Andersen, committee chairwoman, in a televised news conference.
The Nobel committees decision came a year after investigative journalists published allegations of sexual assault and harassment by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, which intensified attention paid to sexual abuse in among other settings corporate offices, at high school parties and in lawless war zones.
Those locales might not otherwise have a lot in common. But a consistent theme of the #MeToo movement has been to raise awareness about the prevalence of sexual violence and predation, and also to highlight the impunity of perpetrators a consistent theme of Mukweges and Murads stories.
#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, Reiss-Andersen said.
A U.N. report this year on sexual violence in conflict zones noted that despite the increased awareness of the issue, most incidents of mass rape continue to be met with mass impunity.
Murad, 25, is Yazidi, an ethnic and religious minority in northern Iraq that suffered some of the worst abuses of Islamic State during the radical groups dramatic expansion in 2014.
Hundreds of Murads fellow villagers were slaughtered, and Murad along with thousands of other Yazidi women was captured, kept as a slave, raped repeatedly and threatened with execution unless she converted to Islam.
Murad later recounted the horror of her experience in a book, The Last Girl, describing in personal terms how Islamic State had used rape to subjugate women and girls, not just physically, but psychologically.
At some point, there was rape and nothing else, Murad wrote. You stop thinking about escaping or seeing your family again. Your past life becomes a distant memory, like a dream. Your body doesnt belong to you, and theres no energy to talk or to fight or to think about the world outside. There is only rape and the numbness that comes with accepting that this is now your life.
After three months in captivity, Murad escaped, and her advocacy began. In 2016, she became U.N. goodwill ambassador for the dignity of survivors of human trafficking, and like many other women, she has publicly told her traumatic story to raise visibility for others.
Murad responded to Fridays prize by turning the spotlight back toward Yazidi women and children who are still being held in captivity.
Persecution of minorities must end, Murad said in a statement. We must work together with determination to prove that genocidal campaigns will not only fail, but lead to accountability for the perpetrators and justice for the survivors.
We must remain committed to rebuilding communities ravaged by genocide, she said. Survivors deserve a safe and secure pathway home or safe passage elsewhere.
Mukwege, 63, has treated tens of thousands of sexual assault victims over the last two decades at the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Congo, where long-running internal strife has left millions of Congolese dead since the turn of the century.
Many of Mukweges patients are victims of the conflict. When war broke out two decades ago, 35 of his patients were killed in their beds, which led him to flee. In 1999, he saw his first rape victim from the war, who had also been shot in her genitals and thighs. Soon, he began to see more horrific injuries, along with evidence of systematic abuses.
I started to ask myself what was going on, Mukwege wrote in a column for the BBC in 2013. These werent just violent acts of war, but part of a strategy. You had situations where multiple people were raped at the same time, publicly. The result of this strategy is that people are forced to flee their villages, abandon their fields, their resources, everything. Its very effective.
The systematic abuses led Mukwege to turn to international activism to denounce the impunity of the perpetrators and the ineffectiveness of the Congolese government, which, in turn, elevated the danger against Mukwege himself.
In 2012, Mukwege and his family barely survived being kidnapped at gunpoint after armed men invaded his home, killing one of Mukweges security guards.
But Mukwege refused to stay away. When Fridays award was announced, he was in the middle of performing surgery at his hospital.
For almost 20 years I have witnessed war crimes committed against women, girls, and even baby girls not only in my country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also in many other countries, Mukwege said in a statement accepting the honor.
To the survivors from all over the world, I would like to tell you that through this prize, the world is listening to you and refusing to remain indifferent, Mukwege said. The world refuses to sit idly in the face of your suffering.
matt.pearce@latimes.com
Twitter: @mattdpearce
Americas top diplomat said Saturday the U.S. will coordinate with allies Japan and South Korea on efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on the eve of the Americans fourth visit to North Korea. Pompeo was looking to arrange a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and chart a path toward denuclearization.
Japan has been wary of Trumps initiative, fearing it could affect its long-standing security relationship with the U.S.
Pompeo said it was important to hear from the Japanese leader so we have a fully coordinated and unified view. Pompeo also pledged that during his meeting with Kim on Sunday, he would raise the cases of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.
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Pompeo later planned stops in South Korea and China to review the negotiations.
It is important for us to hear from you as I travel to Pyongyang to make sure that we are fully in sync with respect to missile programs, [chemical and biological weapons] programs, Pompeo told Abe. We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well and then we will share with you how we hope to proceed when we are in Pyongyang tomorrow.
Trump is pressing to meet with Kim for a second time after their June summit in Singapore produced a vague agreement on denuclearization with few, if any, specifics. The two sides remain deadlocked over how to achieve that goal. Trump canceled Pompeos initial planned return to North Korea last month.
In contrast with South Korea, where President Moon Jae-in has been at the forefront of encouraging Trumps rapprochement with the North, Japan has been decidedly cautious, insisting its interests and concerns be addressed.
Abe did not speak of differences but highlighted the importance of demonstrating to the world that the U.S.-Japan alliance is more robust than ever and stressing the importance of thorough coordination with Washington on all aspects of North Korea policy.
Pompeo has repeatedly refused to discuss details of negotiations, including a U.S. position on North Koreas demand for a declared end to the Korean War and a proposal from Seoul for such a declaration to be accompanied by a shutdown of the Norths main known nuclear facility.
The U.S. and Japan have pushed for the North to compile and turn over a detailed list of its nuclear sites to be dismantled as a next step in the process; the North has rejected that.
Japans foreign minister, Taro Kano, said the accounting continues to be a priority for his country.
Disclosing all nuclear inventories is the first step toward denuclearization, he told reporters after Pompeo wrapped up his meeting in Tokyo.
Kono also said he and Pompeo didnt go into details of a possible war-end declaration because its premature while there is virtually no progress in denuclearization. We are not even talking about whether to do it or not, he said. Its not an issue that we are even considering.
Many believe such a declaration could reinforce North Koreas demands for the U.S. to withdraw its forces from South Korea and Japan.
While traveling to Asia, Pompeo said his mission was to make sure that we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve ... and how we can deliver against the commitments that were made in Singapore. He said they would develop options, if not finalize, the location and timing of a second Trump-Kim summit.
He has also distanced himself from an earlier stated goal of achieving North Koreas nuclear weapons abandonment by the end of Trumps term in January 2021.
Since the effort got underway with a secret visit to the North by then-CIA chief Pompeo in April, there has been only limited progress.
North Korea so far has suspended nuclear and missile tests, freed three American prisoners and dismantled parts of a missile engine facility and tunnel entrances at a nuclear test site. It has not taken any steps to halt nuclear weapons or missile development.
The North also has accused Washington of making unilateral and gangster-like demands on denuclearization and insisted that sanctions should be lifted before any progress in nuclear talks. U.S. officials have thus far said sanctions will remain in place until the Norths denuclearization is fully verified.